[Yaoyorozu Momo]
Of all of the people in the stadium, Momo felt that she was the most surprised. Tenya was someone she knew in middle school, and as such she knew the vague capabilities of his Quirk. Like her own Quirk, Creation, it allowed him to turn his thoughts into reality, and required he fuel that power by eating immense quantities of food. However, where her own quirk created matter of arbitrary chemical compositions, he instead created energy and twisted physics to the limits of his mathematical understanding. Also unlike hers, his food requirements were the same even if he wasn’t using his Quirk, which was a bit strange but Hinako always thought he was just hiding his Quirk training, and Momo couldn’t completely rule it out, even if she was sure Tenya would know that she would be happy to help.
Then again, Tenya always did come off as someone who always knew what to do, taking what life dealt to him with a stoicism that was the envy of the class. He was multitalented, succeeding with apparent ease, but was still polite in defeat, merely congratulating whoever he lost to (frequently her) with his usual placid expression, never emoting anything greater than annoyance, disappointment, and vague satisfaction at any point during the years she has known him.
Even in UA, he calmly sat next to her at lunch, as if being enrolled in the top hero school in the country was no more life-changing than sitting at the next table over. They discussed their classes, the teachers, what they’d done with their Quirks recently, normal things to discuss with classmates, even if he only ever spoke with her at lunch, even during middle school. At first, she thought he was trying to befriend her because of her parent’s wealth, but he seemed most comfortable just asking about her progress on becoming a hero, and asking her what she thought about the latest party trick he figured out how to pull off with his Quirk, which was all he thought it good for.
He did have a truly wide variety of those, though. Instantly melting or freezing water, making things float, turning random flat surfaces into mirrors, cutting paper by running his finger over it, making his eyes glow, a laser pointer out of his finger… the list went on. She honestly thought that he had a real chance at getting into the hero course if he had tried, but he didn’t get a recommendation like she did, and he resigned himself to the business course, which was plenty prestigious of course but in UA, everyone knew that it was the hero course that was what the school was made for.
He didn’t let that bother him though, unlike some other students Momo could point at. She didn’t see him during that fracas where about a dozen general studies students, led by that mysterious boy with the purple hair, spitefully issued a challenge to 1-A, and he gave insightful advice about her own Quirk use when the topic came up. She had even brought up to him how students who did well in the sports festival could transfer into the hero course, and while his words were bland and conciliatory, his eyes were more active than she had ever seen with that offering of hope. He was interested. He did promise to do his best for her, and knowing him, she was ready to be impressed.
But she did not expect him to literally just fly over every obstacle without a care and seize first place with casual ease. He never mentioned that he could fly, and that’s the kind of thing you brag about! She was so shocked that she completely missed that little troll Mineta affixing himself to her butt, forcing her to literally carry him throughout the entire course like he was a child. She couldn’t think of a way to easily ditch him short of ejecting sharp objects to cut away all of her clothes and replace them. She probably would have done that, but Ms. Midnight explicitly forbade her from doing anything that would damage her underwear even for a moment, and her jacket was too loose to cut away without collateral damage.
It was so unfair. Still, he wasn’t very heavy, so Momo trudged along, creating what she needed to overcome the obstacles in a way that was flashy enough to draw attention from potential heroes. In the end, she secured a reasonable place in the low 20’s, which while disappointing, was still acceptable.
Fortunately, Mineta knew not to press his luck and willingly released the orbs of his quirk that he was using as handholds within seconds of the race completing. Immediately, Momo went up to Tenya to congratulate him.
The boy seemed more lost than anything, which was something Momo had never seen from him. “Deguchiya?” Momo asked instead. “Could you always fly?”
Being addressed seemed to snap him out of it, but his expression still retained a much softer tone than his usual. “Momo?” He began, before flushing, another first. “I mean, Yaoyorozu, hello. I see you scored twenty-first, good job.” Now that was an interesting reaction. Tenya never addressed anyone by their first name, as far as Momo was aware. “Yes, I could. That was the first time in many years, though, I nearly crashed into the stands twice. It was more throwing myself into the air and missing the ground for long enough to reach the finish line.” Momo frowned at the self-deprecation. That was how flying generally worked, after all.
Well, at least she could be sure that Tenya hadn’t actually changed. “Are you hungry? I need to restock on lipids while I can, and I don’t know how much of your reserves were taken up by that, from what you’ve said it was probably a lot.” Walking away, she gestured for him to follow her to the snack table. “Let’s get some food.” Next to the snack table everyone else got to use, with easy pre-portioned food like onigiri, takoyaki, and healthy portions of soybeans and other vegetables, was another table with more substantial fare for those like Momo, who didn’t even blink at eating full meals as a snack. Soba, various combinations of meat, sauce, and vegetables on a bed of rice, and even desserts like cake and mochi for Sato. Lunch Rush stood proudly behind that table, making sure that no one sabotaged themselves by overeating before the next event by dealing out portions himself, assisted by two of his many robotic sous chefs.
Tenya seemed to appreciate the suggestion, if his audibly growling stomach meant anything. His expression hardened up again, and he adjusted his glasses, the light reflecting off of them in a flash. “Yes, good idea. One can’t do their best on an empty stomach, after all.”
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By the time Tenya had devoured the second massive bowl of food, passing the empty ones to the bulky dishwasher robot, he seemed to have fully recovered his usual equilibrium. He thanked Lunch Rush for the consideration and brought no more attention to the matter, which was a level of self-confidence that Momo could never quite manage whenever she needed to push her digestion to the limit to refuel her quirk. The stares and jokes were difficult to ignore, but it was something Tenya could manage without trouble. If he noticed her using him as cover from the other snack table, where most other people were, he didn’t say anything about it. Still, he could probably use some reassurance for the coming trials. “Don’t worry. If you do even half as well as you did in the first event in the other two, you’ll get in the hero course, no problem. I’ll put in a good word for you with the teachers, too.” She told him with a nudge to the side as they waited around for Midnight to announce the next event.
He waved off her offer idly, maintaining his unflappable mein. “You don’t have to do that, Yaoyorozu.” He paused as Midnight started her announcement about the end of the first event, going over each placement. When she paused to let people review the scoreboard as a whole, he continued: “No need to put yourself at risk on my account. The hero course is reserved for the best of the best, after all.” Momo could understand wanting to avoid the feeling of not having earned his place, it was why she didn’t plan on interning with Uncle Sobi if things went poorly here, so she’d just have to ask Mr. Aizawa about it later.
Midnight continued her explanation of the next event, a cavalry battle. Every team gets a headband with their point total, which is determined by their ranking in the race. Tenya, as first place, gets an eye-dropping ten million points, more than everyone else combined two thousand times over. The top four teams proceed to the next round, and fifth place gets a chance if smaller teams get in the top four. Directly attacking formations to make them fall was forbidden, of course, but despite that it was a simple enough exercise.
Momo was about to confirm that she was willing to partner with him despite the target on his back, when a girl with poorly washed pink hair bounded up to him. “Mr. Ten Million!” she shouted. “You have to take me on your team! Everyone’s eyes will be on us, and I can show off my beautiful babies to the world!” Momo hoped ‘babies’ was a euphemism and not a weird quirk thing. Momo was pretty sure this girl wasn’t in 1-B… “The support companies will see my work and they’ll line up to endorse my genius! What do you say?” Her mutated eyes, resembling crosshairs, were manic as they stared straight into the steely blue ones of Momo’s friend. Oh, she was just a support student. That made sense.
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He took a step back when the support student invaded his personal space, but after she finished her proposal, he actually smiled before replying. “Yes, you have the right idea of things here. I will be in your care.” He examined the equipment she had strapped to her with vague interest.
The girl beamed at the compliment. Was she his type? “Great! Come on, the rest of my babies are over here with Baby 5, the robot over there. I’m not allowed to use her in the events, but she carries my spare gear.” She dragged him off to the robot wearing the maid outfit next to the organized pile of gadgets.
Before she could follow them, three of her classmates approached: Tokoyami, who was alone, and Todoroki, who was being followed by Kaminari. Both glanced at each other, before simultaneously speaking over each other. After a heated glare exchanged, Todoroki spoke first: “Join my team. We’ll crush that management department weakling and bring those points back where they belong, with the hero course.”
Tokoyami cut in with his own pitch. “I believe your Quirk’s ability to spread darkness will be quite useful, and I wish to join forces.” He spoke a bit more directly than he usually did, which was considerate of him. He glances over to Todoroki. “I do not object to binding all four of us in a dark brotherhood, Todoroki.”
Todoroki shook his head, his cold expression unwavering. “No. Our last member needs to be someone that can enhance our mobility. Iida ideally, but Sato, Shouji, or Kirishima will suffice.” It was difficult to discern Tokoyami’s expressions, given the bird head, but Momo was reasonably certain he was scowling.
With a cough, Momo cut in on their argument. “Actually, I was going to join Tenya’s group. We’re friends, and I promised to help him get into the hero course.” She nodded to Tokoyami. “You can join us, I’m pretty sure he’s only got one other teammate for now.” Despite his dramatics, Tokoyami was genuinely one of the more powerful members of 1-A, and without the ego of Bakugo or Todoroki.
Todoroki’s response was to darken his expression even more. “Are you sure? I’m coming for that headband, and you want to place yourself in my way?” Hm. Todoroki had been irritable and melodramatic since the festival began, but he was probably just feeling the pressure. His father was here watching, after all. Momo’s parents had always been very supportive and preferred to console her whenever she had fallen short rather than angry, but more than a few friends back in middle school had, when Momo offered them a sympathetic ear, complained about how high expectations could be. The number two hero likely had very high expectations indeed for his son.
After a moment of silence passed between them, Todoroki became convinced of her convictions and stormed off. “Come on Kaminari, we need to secure Iida. Then… maybe Ashido?” Momo glanced at the Iidaten heir, who was emphatically discussing strategy with Midoriya, Uraraka, and Aoyama. Good luck, Todoroki.
Still, Momo still needed to confirm the team with Tenya before anyone else joined him, although given the headband’s value Momo didn’t think it a serious concern. Jogging over, she called out to him once she approached earshot: “Deguchiya! This is Tokoyami, one of my classmates. He’d like to join us.” Momo turned to Tokoyami: “Tokoyami, this is Deguchiya Tenya, a friend of mine, and…” Momo realized the support student didn’t introduce herself.
Fortunately, she was quick enough on the uptake to notice the pause and presented her hand to the bird-headed boy for a handshake. “Hatsume Mei, at your service. What’re your Quirks? I’m sure I have some babies here that will make them pop!”
“About that,” Tenya interrupted. “While I’m unsure what role you would play as of now, I do have a strategy in mind: Hatsume is confident she could convert her flamethrower to act as a burner for a hot air balloon, if you were to create a cloth we could use as a gasbag.” He gestured to himself: “Naturally, I would be the one to provide the initial thrust. If I don’t need to keep us up there, it should be within my limits.”
Tokoyami grunted in approval. “If we are to soar into the air, Dark Shadow will rule the skies with a shadowed fist. All who approach will despair at his strength.”
“Perfect.” Tenya replied. “The plan is a go, then.” Momo removed her jacket for the large creation. The back would probably be best, the sports bra can be pulled out of the way then. “Now how much does everyone weigh? I need to crunch numbers to see how much I need to compensate for the balloon.” Oh. Momo never liked that question.
Hatsume immediately responded, quickly grabbing all of the equipment she intended to use to make sure it was counted. “How many significant digits?” She moved her goggles over her eyes. “My hover soles are reporting a total load of… 76453 grams.” Looking at the equipment in her arms and the size of those arms, Momo didn’t doubt that was accurate, despite her height.
Tenya nodded easily in response, and when Tokoyami muttered his own weight Tenya turned to Momo, who was shirtless and blushing, with those conditions having nothing to do with each other. “I’m not sure.” She eventually said.
Tenya understood the issue, fortunately. “Ah, of course.” He walked in front of her and gestured with his hands. Not entirely sure what he was up to, Momo nodded and immediately regretted it as he put his hands on her thighs and lifted her, weighing her like a grandparent would a child and with just as much effort, his eyes subtly glowing with the power of his quirk. “About eighty three or four kilograms, I’d say.” She usually ranged from seventy to eighty-five kilograms unless she went too far either stocking or using her Quirk, so that sounded about right after she restocked from the table. An embarrassing figure, but muscle is heavy, so… “Okay, so with the power of the flamethrower and the potency of the fuel, we’ll need the following dimensions:” Tenya deposited her on the ground, and walked behind her without even giving her heart a chance to slow down, rattling off the exact measurements of the nylon sheet that would be required.
Fortunately, Momo never bothered to learn the material and compositions of common materials when she could instead learn of superior ones. In other words, she wasn’t limited to a mere nylon balloon. There was an alternative from some Chinese laboratory Momo never learned the name of that was half the weight, three times as heat and tear resistant, and twenty times the cost. Momo learned it for the purposes of making parachutes, but it should work fine here with just a bit of bolstering of the thread count.
With the material and arrangement firmly in mind, Momo reached behind her and pulled up the back half of her bra as she focused, the cloth bundled up to barely be within the available area. Tenya pulled out the balloon, tossing it up and down to weigh it as Momo fixed her clothing.
As he was passing it to Hatsume to rig up to her flamethrower, Midnight came by, passing the team the headband with their team total on it. Tenya took it and stared at the eight numbers while mumbling to himself, probably thinking deeply on strategy and the logistics of his plan. As the dominatrix-themed heroine walked off with the last headband, Momo followed her for a bit and started whispering when she noticed and turned to listen: “Ms. Midnight? I’m going to be the rider, but could we be Team Deguchiya? Tenya’s trying to get into the hero course, so he could use the exposure.”
Midnight lit up at the request, with a grin that could only be described as filthy. “Oh ho? Do we have some childhood friend romances here? Want to think of yourself as Mrs. Deguchiya?” Before Momo could correct that severe misconception, Midnight cracked her whip like a judge would swing their gavel. “I LIKE IT! Approved!” The theoretical adult dashed off, passing the headband in her hand to the group of 1-B girls led by Kendo, their class president before taking an acrobatic leap back onto her podium.
Cracking her whip once more, she tapped what was presumably her microphone before making her announcement: “Okay! The Cavalry battle teams are now finalized! If you will turn your attention to the board, we have point totals and teams listed here!” Cracking her crop again, each team got a few seconds listing each of their names and point totals.
At around the fourth team, Tenya turned towards Momo and whispered a question. “Yaoyorozu, which do you think is our greatest threat, of the class 1-A teams?”
Momo took a glance around the field to check formations. “Well, if we maintain an altitude of sixty meters, we should avoid most Quirks. Exceptions would include Aoyama’s Navel Laser and possibly Todoroki’s fire throwing, but I’ve never seen him attack with fire directly, and I don’t think he’ll change that today.” It was a sensible decision really, fire inflicted a lot more damage and didn’t restrain people like ice could. Mr. Aizawa had made some pointed comments about how Todoroki wasn’t using his fire, but he still used it to melt his own ice and warm people who he hit with it, so Momo didn’t see the problem. “Moving on to mobility, Bakugo can fly short distances, but he struggles to fight gravity and won’t be able to build up any large explosions when he has teammates to worry about.” Really, the temperamental teen’s personality would be the bigger problem, because he was definitely going to try and seize the ten million points, even if there would be plenty of time to respond to his ascent. Wait… idea.
Right, other issues. “Moving on, Uraraka is the real threat on the mobility side of things. She can make her team weightless, and she’s teamed up with Midoriya and Iida, both of which could provide the necessary thrust to maneuver with the reduced weight.”
“Aoyama too.” Tenya observed. “Clearly, Team Midoriya is an incredible threat.” Hatsume finished strapping herself to Tokoyami, having utterly ignored the announcements, and Momo quickly helped the pair set up the harness, and with the bridge between the three “horses” of the formation Momo climbed onto it. Remembering what Tenya said about lifting off, Momo then proceeded to lean forward and grip onto his back, ready for whatever horrible G-forces he planned to inflict on everyone. She couldn’t see his face, but between the subtle spike in his body temperature and his tone, he seemed excited. “Just… perfect.”
Momo was a little surprised, Tenya never really seemed that competitive with how he kept flitting from sport to sport, but in this case she agreed: the event would be boring if there wasn’t at least one team that had a good chance to grab their headband.
It was a good thing she made that backup plan, then. All other thoughts were drowned out by Midnight’s pronouncement: “BEGIN!”