All throughout lunch, I was in a sour mood. After snapping at Todoroki, I barely managed to find the first aid room. Recovery Girl let me use another school owned wheelchair since the other one they lended me was barely functional. I could at least be grateful that I hadn't used my own.
I stayed in there for the rest of the lunch hour while my vision slowly regained its usual function. My lunch was just a small bag of chips from a vending machine. I was too grumpy to attempt to find something better. Mina did eventually find me in the room, after asking a my Calvary team. But when she came in, it pulled me out of my bitter mood for a second.
"What are you wearing?"
"Apparently all the girls are suppose to participate in the cheer squad after lunch. So Yaoyorozu made us uniforms!" She explained, pulling out a neatly folded uniform for me. I stared at the cloth for a second. It was yellow with UA printed in white bolded letters, barely any length to it too.
"Absolutely not," I looked back deadpan.
"Wadaaa! You gotta!" She whined. I shook my head and backed up away from it as if it was vicious creature.
"I'd rather take punishment than that."
"If you too are going to bicker, than you can do it outside!" The school nurse shouted at us.
•••
"I'm telling you, no."
"Wada, Aizawa said that we had to."
"I didn't hear it, so no."
The other girls were trying very hard to get me to put on the uniform at least, and I was having none of it. I was settled in my mood of sour and salt and unwilling to delve into the humiliation of wearing that outfit.
"Ivy? Is that you?" I hear someone call out in English. One of the official cheerleaders for the recreational event hurried over to me, almost pushing my classmates out of the way. "Omg, Ivy! It is you! Oh gurl, how are you doing?! I haven't seen you in, like, years!"
"Selina?" I questioned, completely caught off guard by the sudden appearance of an old acquaintance. A sense of dread began to pool in my stomach seeing her. She hadn't changed at all. Selina was still slender and tan with bouncing blond hair. It seemed like she also remembered my sensitivity to personal space, as she was close but just in a comfortable range.
"Yes, it's me! Omg, you're in UA? I thought you wouldn't because, like... you know..." she trailed off, obviously referencing the situation that led to me leaving the USA. "But, anyways, how are you??"
"Wada, you know her?" Uraraka asked.
"Um, yeah. She older sister of friend in America," I explain to her in Japanese, my voice unable to form proper sentences. I turn to Selina and switching to English clumsily. "I'm well, how are you?"
"Ugh, so grammatically correct as always. But I'm good, Harleen misses you a lot, speaking of which, do you have a phone? I want you to have her number." The active female grabs a cell from the waistband of her uniform.
"Sorry, I don't," I lied. Guilt punctured my heart as the words left my mouth. I don't typically lie to those around me, I try and keep honest. But the thought of anyone from America having my contact gave me chills.
"Boo, you should really get one. Wait," she slides her phone back before producing a business card. It was white with blue letters spelling out the name and number of, what I assume, was the cheerleading team. "Here take this, if you get a phone, try and contact me there!" I took it with caution, like it was an illegal bribe. Before I could even get a word out, one of her squad member called out to her.
"Selina! It going to start soon! Hurry up!"
"Oh! Sorry, got to go! Hope to see you later!" She waves and raced off to her squad.
My heart ached and my stomached clenched, like I'd been caught for a crime. All I wanted was to leave my old life behind and start anew. Just the interaction of seeing her felt like the claws of my mother's grasp trying to reach me and pull me back. I felt like throwing up. What happen if everyone found out about my mother? I wanted to separate myself from her.
"Dear, you know you can't do that."
"Oooohhh, so that's why you have an accent..." one of my classmates realized.
"...yeah." I quietly respond. Without saying much else, I left the girls. I felt the beginnings of an anxiety attack bubbling inside, my body yelling at me to get out of there.
•••
"I regret nothing."
Luckily for me, no one went to force me into that outfit while I went to deal with my anxiety attack. When everyone regrouped at the field I'm the stadium, only Class A girls were wearing the cheerleader clothing, having believed the lie.
"Mineta! Kaminari! You tricked us?!" Yaoyorozu yelled at the two from a far. She slumped forward, looking dejected while Uraraka comforted her. "How'd I let myself get fooled by Mineta's stupid prank..." Most of the girls were peeved by the ruse, except Hagakure who was jumping up very animatedly.
"Once that's over, we're on to the final event!" Present Mic shouted through the speakers. "Between the 16 members of the four winning teams... we'll have a formal tournament! A series of one-on-one battles!!" The crowd went wild at the announcement. Everyone involved seemed nervous or serious about the upcoming event.
•••
There was plenty of chatter after the cheerleaders from America had come and gone. I hoped that Selina wouldn't get to see me again. I felt horrible for lying to her, but it was hard to see her again. It would've be worse if Harleen was here. I don't think I'd be able to handle it, most likely, I would have another anxiety attack.
"The matchups will be decided by drawing lots. Once that's settled, we'll move on to the festivities and then the tournament itself!" Midnight explained, holding up a small box label "lots". "It's up to each of you 16 finalists wether or not you participate in the fun. I expect some of you would rather take a breather and save your strength. Now, let's start with the first-place team..."
"Um... excuse me." Ojiro raised his hand, catching the attention of Midnight's. "I'd... like to drop out."
"Ojiro! Why?!" Some shouted. Others told him that this was a big opportunity for him. He looked very stressed with his decision, sweat forming at his temples. It was kinda unexpected that someone would want to drop from the tournament and loose their ability to be seen by pro heroes. I didn't really care at the moment, there was too many emotions bubbling inside for me to care about someone else's matter. So many things were circling my head, trying to pull my focus on each of them.
I was yanked from my thoughts when Midnight cracked her BDSM whip and announcing that Ojiro and another kid had officially withdrawn from the tournament. Two from the 5th place team would be their replacements. Both were from class 1-B, next door to our class.
•••
"Where am I?"
"Uhh, oh! You're up against Yaoyorozu,"
I stare up at the giant screen listing the matches. My vision was still a little blurry, so I could quite read the letters. Ashido read out mine for me cause the text was small. There were some other battles that I overheard that seemed a little out of balance. Sero versus Todoroki sounded unfair for the guy. Uraraka and Bakugo's wouldn't end well either. I was curious about the guy from general studies that Ojiro mentioned. He was the one who gave me a nasty stare when basically challenging our class.
"Ahh... oh no..." A pained groan came from my pink skin friend.
"Hm?"
"If I win, and you win... we'll have to go against each other." She explained. The girl faces me with a giant smile on her face. "You'll go easy on me, right?"l
"No way," I responded. My emotions were being slowly eased by Mina. "You know too much,"
She gave a pained whine, with a defeated look and slumped shoulders. "Waadaaa,"
"Do you want to participate in the festivities?" I asked, noticing they were soon to begin. She perked up, now seeing that the active were being set up.
"Ahh, I think some of the girls are going to do some cheer, since we're in the uniforms. Maybe if you change-"
"No."
Mina laughed lightly. "Thought so. I guess I'll see you later?" I nodded and went on my way to the nearest exit.
•••
The sky was bright and clear, clouds lazed through the air, a breeze gently rocked tree branches to and fro. The grass was bright green where I was stationed. I held my cell in my hands, contemplating wether or not to call Manami. I want to tell her that I saw Selena today, but she just might pull me out of the Sports Festival. She'll think that it'll be for my own good, but I just want to talk to her about. I don't want to do anything else other compete here. There's a part of me that wants someone else to know my situation so I can vent about it all, but the other side of me dreads that. I don't want others to compare me to my mother, take pity on me, or treat me differently. It happened at school when the whole thing was broadcasted all over the nation. Kids would whisper behind my backs, bullies would say I deserved it for being so privileged. The bullies would even try and trigger a panic attack, now knowing my trigger. It was hell.
"So you do have a cell?" I flinched at the surprise guest, shoving the device in my jacket pocket. Anxiety slowly started to fill my body as I look over and see Selina, now dressed in casual wear, standing with arms crossed.
"I-I..." I try and get something out but my throat closes on me, silencing my words. It suddenly felt like a was a cornered prey staring back at the predator. My body starts getting shaky as all of the bitter, dread, worry come rushing back to me.
"Shh, it's fine. I get it," she interrupts me. She walked closer to me and took a seat in the grass, showing a calm vibe. Her eyes gaze out into the distance, whilst pulling one knee to her chest and stretching out the other. "After what happened with your... mother... Me and Harleen were really worried. We didn't know how things were going to play out. Even mum and dad submitted the offer to adopt you into our family. We tried to get a hold of you, but nothing we did worked. You just... disappeared off the face of the Earth."
I was absolutely shocked. I had no idea that a friend from middle school's family would openly welcome a young, disabled stranger. The social workers had said that they found a wonderful family in Japan, and that was basically my only choice. It was probably because of Manami's profession of a counsellor and Hibiki's quirk that sold it.
"But then... today I realized that it was for the best that you left." Her stare dropped down to the green grass she sat on top of. "You deserve a new chance at life. And you shouldn't have to face your past just yet," Selina turned her head to face me, staring up into my eyes. "I know Harleen misses you, but, you can contact her when your ready."
A weight had lifted off my shoulders, giving me a chance to breathe. Anxiety drained from my veins and out my body and relief filled its place. My body trembled as it was feeling overwhelmed by the new wave of emotions. "Thank you." I whispered out, tears covering my eyes, some slipping away down my face. I cover my face with my hands as more started to fall. Selina still sat there, her presence comforting me. She was aware that I needed this and was happy to let me know that she was there for me.
•••
I had missed the first round between Midoriya and the guy from General Studies but Mina filled me in. She asked me where I was and I just replied that I was stuck in a conversation with my parents on the phone. She didn't question, knowing that my mother was overly protective of me.
"Oh! It's Todoroki versus Sero!" Ashido exclaimed, seeing as the two were just entering the field. I hummed at the knowledge, staring down at the concrete arena. Present Mic gave each of them a quick introduction- Sero's sounded more insulting than flattering. His opponent's was definitely pushing for him to seem like he would undoubtedly win, which I'm sure would happen.
It took a moment to start, but when it did, Sero immediately wrapped Todoroki in his tape. The black hair kid pulled hard on the sticky material, lifting the other off his feet and swinging him towards the edge of the battlefield in hopes of getting him out like that. I applauded his attempt but...
It was the second where my view was blanketed by a cliff of ice. The whole front row looked petrified with the ice a foot away from their faces. A wave of chill swept over our class, emphasizing the coldness from Todoroki.
"I wonder who won," I say sarcastically, unfazed by the large iceberg engulfing half the stadium. "Seems cold to do that." Mina glancing at me before putting a small smile on her face.