ATOMIC STRUGGLE

3「be mine」4

"wHAT?!" Present Mic screeched at this new turn of events. "AHHHHH! Midoriya's obeying him!"

"Oh no Deku, what are you doing?!" Uraraka's voice was laced with concern as Iida began to do some hand chopping motions in his own distress of the situation.

"He can't walk out of the ring! He'll lose the match if he does!"

"Shinso Hitoshi, his quirk: brainwashing!" The blonde hero went off on a tangent. "When an opponent answers his question, it flips a switch in their mind, forcing them to do whatever he says! Not every question does it, though, he only brainwashes when he wants to~ Not very flashy but it'll sure get the job done!" The guy went on and on about how cool it was.

He's right, it is pretty cool, Izak's eyes were like fire as he watched the person that Present Mic was getting so hyped about. I want him.

Then, a powerful gust of wind slapped through the stadium, and Midoriya was found to have not stepped out of bounds, only mere centimeters away from the deciding line. In exchange for breaking Shinso's hold, however, he had broken two of his fingers by using 100% of his power on them. At least he minimized the damage, Izak thought.

"I'll be right back," Izak said, standing up and shoving his hands in his pocket.

"Oh! Wait for me!" Mihoko was instantly on his toes, and the rest of class 1A watched the two go with weird looks on their faces. Bakugo just tutted, returning his gaze to the match. "Where are we going Izzy?" The little girl asked as she hurriedly walked beside her guardian. Glancing at her briefly, Izak answered just as briefly.

"Down."

"Well I can see that," Mihoko deadpanned at him, then tugged one of his hands out of his pockets to hold onto. The maroonette didn't protest, but did raise an eyebrow at the action. Just then, Midnight's voice came through the speakers.

"Shinso is out of bounds. Midoriya advances to the next match!" She pronounced, and cheers answered her proclamation. At this sound, Izak sped up but not so much as to leave Mihoko in the dust. She did wind up panting after they had finished transversing the hallway, ending their excursion in the tunnel that the loser of the first one-on-one battle would be returning to.

"AWW YEAH~" Mic's voice broadcasted around the walls thanks to how stupidly loud his voice was. "That was actually kinda a boring first match, kids, but both of them fought bravely. Let's show them some love, everyone!" He grinned as he finger gunned, causing the audience to erupt in applause. A few moments later, Izak could see his target approaching the tunnel.

"You were great out there Shinso!" A voice called from the stands, causing the purple-headed boy to look up.

"We're proud of you!" Another voice, feminine this time, yelled.

"You didn't tell us you were that good!"

"Yeah, you're the star of our program!"

"I can't believe you put up such a great fight against the dude that was in first place earlier!" Another person beamed, then pointed towards the pros. "Listen to them." The heroes were talking about how nice a quirk like his must be, and how stupid UA was to not have put him in the hero course. "Shinso, you hear that?"

"It's great! They think you're incredible!"

Izak could see a hint of a smile cross the boy's face before he spoke up, his words intended for Midoriya to hear. "Depending on the results, they might transfer people into the hero course. Remember that. Even if it didn't work out this time, I'm not giving up. I'll get onto the hero track, get certified, and then I'll become a better pro than any of you," He swore, making the greenette take a deep, excited breath.

"Mmn!" He nodded, then flinched as his mind was taken over. Izak sweatdropped, what an idiot. And then he saw Shinso huff a quiet laugh.

"You know, usually people tense up whenever they talk to me," He glanced at his former opponent. "If you're not on guard, someone's going to defeat you, so be careful," Shinso warned, then dropped his control. "You better not lose and make me look bad."

"I won't!" Midoriya promised, and got brainwashed again. Shinso almost rolled his eyes, but turned and began walking into the tunnel, releasing the greenette from his control the moment he was engulfed by the shadows of the lightless pathway.

It didn't take him very long to see that someone was in the tunnel with him, and they looked to be waiting for him, so he slowed down and got ready in case they wanted something bad. However, before he could open his mouth to ask them what they wanted, the person was already talking. "I want you to be mine." He stated simply.

Instantly, Mihoko sweatdropped at Izak. "W-What are you talking about? No, wait, who are you?" Shinso demanded, his face flushed and his eyes darting around as his hand went to cup the back of his neck awkwardly. He was too embarrassed to even think about using his quirk as he fumbled for words. "I mean, I do swing both ways, but I don't even know you, and--"

"You don't need to know me to be mine," Izak said, causing the boy to blush even brighter at how hard this guy was flirting. He'd never gone through this before, sure he'd had some crushes in the past, but Shinso had never flirted with anyone, let alone have anyone flirt with him!

"Wait, wait, this is too much," Shinso held his hands out in front of him defensively, like they could shield him from Izak's provocative words. Taking this moment to act, Mihoko tugged on her guardian's arm, causing him to look down at her.

"Izzy, what are you doing?" She asked, squinting at him.

"I'm trying to make him mine," He replied, and an audible gasp escaped Shinso's mouth at the blatant comment. The girl, though, just squinted harder at the maroonette, finding this to be unlike what her Izzy would actually be doing in this situation. Slowly, she pieced it together.

"Ahem," She cleared her throat, grabbing Izak's free hand in hers to make him give his whole attention to her. "Izzy, are you trying to make Shinso your wife?"

"My what?"

"His what?" The two squaked in unison, one turning redder by the second while other other just seemed confused.

"Because saying you want him as yours is probably making him think you want that kind of relationship," Mihoko informed her guardian, who looked thoughtful as he frowned down at her. "That's not what you're trying to do, is it?"

"No," He confirmed her suspicions, making her internally high-five herself for figuring out the situation from the scarce amount of clues she had.

"Okay, so then what kind of relationship are you trying to get from Shinso?" The child asked.

"I want him to be mine--"

"Using different words," Mihoko exacted with a roll of her eyes. It was silent for a second as Izak processed exactly how he wanted Shinso's relationship to him to be, then he spoke.

"A life and death companion."

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