Silent Together

The man sitting next to Isla seemed nervous as the students started racing out the chute to begin the obstacle course. He was wringing his hands together, and she thought he heard him mumbling to himself. What's even stranger; she thought she heard Midoriya's name. It would make sense if he's a UA teacher; he probably knows the green-haired boy. And it's not like Isla was an expert on all the staff at the school yet.

Between giant robots, Todoroki's massive displays of ice, Bakugou's propelling explosions and Midoriya, quite literally, blasting over both of them to take first place; the beginning of the Sports Festival was a complete blur. Out of the all the first year students, only 42 advanced. Pretty much all of them were from Class 1A and 1B; as Isla read over their standings.

The second event reminded her of a game she used to play with her friends in elementary school. You rode on someone's shoulders and tried to knock everyone else down and be the last one standing. In this case, based on what place everyone came in, people were worth a certain number of points. Groups could be up to four people. One person would ride on top and wore a headband with a point value. Each person's individual point score was added together for their group. The point of this event, what they called a cavalry battle, was to steal as many headbands as you could to get the most points. Out of the 42 students who crossed the finish line first from the obstacle course, only 16 would move on to the final event.

Poor Midoriya. Because he came in first place, he was worth the most at ten million. As Isla watched everyone look for their ideal team, she realized no one was wanting to be on his team because they wanted to be the ones to take his points. And unfortunately, whoever teamed up with him would end up a target and then risk not advancing to the next round.

Once the teams were all said and done, three of them stood out; Midoriya's, Todoroki's and Bakugou's.

At first everyone was, no surprise, rushing for Midoriya's team; Ochako, Tokoyami and a girl Isla didn't recognize. Obviously she was from one of the other classes. Tokoyami's Quirk is called Dark Shadow. Basically, he has a being living inside him that he can summon whenever he wants. He was the one in front and had the creature watching all of their surroundings, fending off any attack. Ochako would float the entire team to easily get away from sudden advances from the other groups. Without really understanding what the fourth member of his team was for, Isla thought Midoriya picked some great followers.

It had only been seven minutes when Present Mic's voice sounded over the PA system. "Let's take a look at each team's point values thus far!"

The jumbo screens around the stadium showed each teams rank. And other than Midoriya's team, who still had their one headband, the rest of Class 1A wasn't doing very well. In fact, even Bakugou's team had zero points. When did they all lose their headbands? Perhaps Isla was paying too much attention to Midoriya's team to really focus on everyone else.

That's when it hit her.

Midoriya and Todorki still had all their points. So they were in first and second place. The other teams after them were all made up of students from Class 1B. It couldn't have been a coincidence. Did they all come up with this plan; thinking everyone would focus on the top point values, thus not paying attention to what the other teams were doing? Isla remembered what Midoriya said while they were in the waiting area before the first event of the festival. All the other classes were going to come at them hard.

Todoroki and his team; Kaminari, Yaoyorozu and Iida had finally cornered the ten million plus team, pushing them to close to being out of bounds. Isla saw the unmistakable flashes of light form Kaminari's Quirk. Moments after, Todoroki covered an entire half of the battle field behind him in ice, completely disabling the teams on that side.

"Another incredible display of ice from Shoto Todoroki!!" Present Mic declared over the system. "Got anything to add, Mummy Man?"

Isla giggled. He knew he was talking about Mr. Aizawa.

"He was able to freeze everyone on the spot thanks to Kaminari's high voltage shock," she heard her homeroom teacher say. "Which immobilized the students. He must have remembered how some were able to propel over his initial attack at the start of the obstacle course. He's adapting his strategy and learning from his mistakes."

There was only one minute left of the battle. Midoriya and his team had utilized some sort of strategy that enabled them to keep Todoroki's team at bay. Without any sort of warning, a burst of energy emanated from Iida's calves; propelling his team forward, past the ten million team. If you blinked you would have missed Todoroki seizing Midoriya's headband from his head.

"Holy smokes folks!!" Present Mic's voice sounded. "Why didn't he show off that speed in the preliminary? This show of speed has just turned this game completely on its head!! Team Todoroki has the 10 million points! Team Midoriya has nothing at all!"

Isla was on her feet, hands tightly grasped on the railing in front of her. "You can get it back!!" she attempted to shout over the roar of the crowd.

Ochako began pushing her team forward with ten seconds left, on a mission to get their headband back. Midoriya was preparing himself to use some sort of attack, no doubt from his Quirk. Isla was cheering as loud as she could; excited to see what the green-haired boy was going to do with his powers. As the two teams clashed, she saw the tiniest hint of a flame from Todoroki.

"Half hot. Half cold," she mumbled.

Midoriya was able to grasp a headband. The man next to Isla stood up with such force, thrusting his fists into the air. "YES!" he shouted.

But looking at the standings on the board, it wasn't the ten million headband. The number 79 flashed next to Midoriya's name just as an air horn went off, signaling the end of the cavalry battle.

"Way to go teams!" Present Mic's voice thundered with excitement. "Now let's see who your top teams are!"

"In first place is Team Todoroki!"

"In second place! Team Bakugou!"Isla noticed the blonde boy throwing some sort of tantrum, no doubt because he didn't come in first.

"In third place is Team Tetsutet – Wait. No it isn't! It's Team Shinsou? When did they come back from the dead?!"

Isla turned to look at the one of the screens with the standings flashing brightly. As she read down first, second and third place, the fourth place team caught her attention.

"And in fourth place! It's Team Midoriya! These four valiant teams are going to advance to the final round!"

Searching for the mop of green hair, Isla saw a headband that Dark Shadow was holding in his beak. He must have grabbed it while Todoroki was distracted during Midoriya's attack.

The stadium began clearing out as Present Mic made one more announcement. "Time for an hour lunch break before we start the afternoon festivities! See you soon!"

The rest of the UA teachers and Isla's parents stood from their seats and began filing out making their way from the topmost floor of the stands. "Exciting stuff so far, isn't it?" the man sitting next to Isla asked.

She nodded her head. "Yes, sir. It really is! I'm looking forward to what comes next!" She waved him off as she checked in with her mom; how she had plans to meet with her class in the cafeteria.

"Do you want us to walk you there?" John asked, as he waved to one of the teachers who looked like a sheriff from those old Wild West movies. Except. Maybe more like a robot sheriff?

"I think I can figure out how to find it, dad," Isla rolled her eyes. "You forget that I learned Japanese in two weeks."

He held up his hands in surrender and chuckled. "You're right, you're right. Well then, your mom and I will meet you back at the car when the last round has finished. You'll want to sit with Class 1A in the stands."

She smiled, waving her parents goodbye as she scooted out the opposite side of the row to descend the stadium quicker. Adults sometimes walked a little too slow.

Now. It was true that Isla had an aptitude for learning languages. It is also true that she learned to speak Japanese in a matter of days before moving. But reading the language? That was another story. She'd hoped the directional signs would have had a rudimentary English translation at least. She knew the cafeteria was on the ground level of the stadium, so naturally she walked down all flights until she was there. One direction seemed to lead completely away from the arena. Logically. She should go the other way. It's not like she could text Ochaco, Midoriya or Iida. They didn't have their phones on them.

As she rounded one of the corners, she noticed a figure leaning against the wall. A figure with a very familiar head of spiked, heavily gelled hair. Isla stopped and debated going in the opposite direction if it meant she didn't have to deal with him. But she was hungry. And the cafeteria was probably going to be insanely crowded. She resolved that she would simply walk past him without as much as a look in his direction.

However, as she got closer, she could hear voices.

She glared at him before turning sharply to confront him.

"What do you think you're doing --?!" she accused.

In one fluid motion, Bakugou put a hand over her mouth, backed her against the wall and used his other hand to hold her right wrist against her thigh. His body was basically pushing against hers. Isla panicked and attempted to scold him; her voice obviously muffled from being restrained.

"Shut. Up," he cautioned, voice low and gruff. She felt lips graze her ear.

Isla froze. All of a sudden, her senses were on fire; she could see the tiny beads of sweet on his temples, see the steady rise and fall of his chest. And she caught the aroma of burning wood; like a bonfire.

Todoroki's voice snapped her out of her trance. "He's using me to usurp All Might. It's so annoying. I refuse to be a tool for that scumbag."

Wait. Who was he talking about? Who would be using a student to overtake the Hero known as The Symbol of Peace? He was obviously having this conversation with someone, which is probably one of the reasons, if not the reason Bakugou was eavesdropping. She attempted to turn her head to peek around the corner, but the blonde's hold had her completely stuck. Todoroki spoke again. This time, though, Isla noticed his voice softer. Almost breaking. Like how someone sounds if they're trying not to cry. "In every memory of my mother. I only see her crying. I remember she called my left side unbearable. Before she poured boiling water on my face."

Her eyes went wide and she took in a sharp breath. The scar. Over his left eye. That was from his own mother? Isla's vision began to blur. She refused to let Bakugou see her cry and she blinked furiously in an attempt to stop any tear shed.

"The reason I picked a fight with you was to show my old man what I was capable of doing without using his damned fire Quirk." His tone was harsher now. Who was his father? Was it his father wanting him to surpass All Might? What kind of parents would do this to their own child? "I'm going to show him I can take first place without his power."

Isla was holding her breath. She heard footsteps walking away from where Bakugou had her pined and she tried to break free of his hold.

Then she heard Midoriya's voice. "Hey wait!"

It was then she put two and two together; The person Todoroki 'picked a fight with'. What happened in the locker room. Why Todoroki was only using his ice during the first event. Why his main focus was Midoriya's team during the cavalry battle. How shocked he looked when flames erupted from his left side and that Midoriya was the one who seemed to lead to it.

"You're obviously connected to All Might in some way," Todoroki called as his voice sounded further away. "But no matter how fiercely you come at me in the future, I will defeat you using only my right side. I can assure you of that."

"You declared war on me earlier," Midoriya affirmed. "Well, right back at you. I'm only here because of how others have supported me. I've seen that more since coming to UA. I know my motivation might seem stupid to you, especially with what you've gone through. I'm sorry, I really am. But I can't lose this either. I owe it to everyone who has helped me get this far."

Things were silent for a couple minutes. The boys must have gone their separate ways. Without saying a word to her, Bakugou released his grip and walked away. Before making sure he had disappeared around the corner, Isla peeked down the chute. Midoriya wasn't there anymore either, but she did catch a glimpse of red hair against an outside wall of the stadium. Todoroki was crouched down, forearms resting on his thighs. A warm breeze blew her auburn hair and she caught the scent of the blossoms on the trees like those in the courtyard of the school. She tucked her wispy strands behind her ears, which caught Todoroki's attention. He watched her, but not with an annoyed expression like he's usually shown.

Isla slowly approached him, afraid he would walk away from her, scold her, or remind her what 'her place is'. He hadn't moved an inch, other than returning to avoiding her gaze.

Time was no longer irrelevant. It felt like she stood there with him for hours in complete silence. She wanted to ask him. She couldn't ask him. She wasn't about to admit that she accidently eavesdropped on his conversation with Midoriya. She wanted to comfort him. Wanted to take care of him. She wanted to ask him if he'd eaten anything yet. Or if he needed water. She wanted to help him. Wanted to do something to be there for him.

Instead, they stayed silent. Together.