Narration POV
Toru was more than a little nervous. She had never seen Arthur so... mad. No, mad wasn't quite the right word. It was else, still she had never seen it from Arthur.
She watched as the spot where he'd been standing remained empty for several long moments, the air still disturbed from his sudden departure with Shinsho. Sato stood beside her, rubbing his neck with obvious discomfort.
"That was..." Sato began, then trailed off, unable to find the right words.
"Yeah, I didn't like it one bit, either," Toru finished for him, her voice uncharacteristically quiet.
Just as she was about to say more, Arthur appeared before them, his sudden presence causing both of them to take an instinctive step back. His face was carefully neutral, but as his blue eyes found Sato and her, something softened in his expression, and a genuine smile bloomed across his face.
"Come on, don't be so down," he said, his voice warm and reassuring. "Sure, we got controlled for most of it, but we won nevertheless. You both did great."
"Honestly, I don't think I did much," Sato said, scratching the back of his head while keeping his eyes downcast. His usual cheerful demeanor was completely absent, replaced by something that looked almost like shame.
Arthur stepped closer to him, and he pat Sato on the shoulder, a little too hard maybe in Sato's opinion.
"You did great, Sato, really," Arthur said, his voice firm but kind. "Don't beat yourself up about what happened. You couldn't have known about Shinsho's quirk, none of us could have. And that moment against Kendo? When you blocked both her giant hands while we were trapped? That was incredible. We wouldn't have made it without you."
Sato looked up at that, a flicker of his usual smile returning. "You really think so?"
"I know so," Arthur replied the smile on his face widening.
"IT'S TIME FOR THE LUNCH BREAK!" Present Mic's voice suddenly boomed across the stadium, echoing off the walls. The announcement seemed to break whatever tension remained, and stars seemingly twinkled in Arthur's eyes at the words, a little saliva dropping from his mouth.
Toru couldn't help but giggle at the sight. Even after everything that had happened, Arthur's love for food remained unchanged.
Rikido waved them goodbye, his spirits visibly lifted. "I'm going to meet my parents for a bit. They came all the way from Chiba to watch. See you guys after the break."
"Bye Sato!" Toru yelled excitedly, waving both her gloves enthusiastically. "Tell them you did amazing!"
As Sato walked away, Toru turned to Arthur. "Well then, let's go catch up with the rest. They're probably wondering where we are."
She grabbed Arthur's hand and began pulling him towards where the rest of their friend group was gathering near the exit. She could feel the slight tension in his grip, the way his fingers twitched slightly as if he was still processing everything that had happened.
Arthur POV
As Toru pulled me along, I couldn't help but notice how easily she'd bounced back from what Shinsho had done. Or maybe she hadn't, and this enthusiasm was her way of coping. Either way, I was grateful for her energy.
We found our friends clustered together, all talking animatedly about the cavalry battle.
"Can't believe most of us made it," Kaminari said, his hair still slightly standing on end from his electrical discharge during the battle. "Though I basically turned into an idiot after that big attack."
"Damn, I missed it again," I said, I couldn't believe I had missed all the times Kaminari overloaded.
"Yeah, you were all whey and thumbs up," Mina laughed, mimicking his dopey expression. "But honestly, I kind of feel like I didn't do much. I just got into Bakugo's team because my acid is a good counter against Todoroki's ice, so I don't know if it really reflects my abilities."
"You earned your place, Mina," Tsuyu said, direct as ever, her large eyes blinking slowly.
I smiled as I heard them talk, their casual banter helping to wash away the bitter taste that my confrontation with Shinsho had left. But as they continued discussing what happened in the cavalry battle, my gaze moved to the only person from our group who wasn't with us yet.
Kirishima.
My enhanced vision picked him out easily. He was standing with Bakugo near the arena's edge, and even from this distance, I could see the serious expression on Kirishima's usually cheerful face.
I watched as Bakugo suddenly turned and began walking away, leaving Kirishima standing alone for a moment before the red-haired boy shook his head and jogged over to us.
"What was that about?" Kaminari asked immediately, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"It's nothing," Kirishima replied, his wide-toothed grin conspicuously absent.
"So," I said, trying to lighten the mood and distract myself from the lingering thoughts about Shinsho. I wish my stomach could have growled to indicate my feelings, but alas Avalon prevented that from happening. "Lunch?"
"Let's go!" Toru yelled enthusiastically, and we began to walk out with the rest of the students. The crowd was thick, everyone buzzing with excitement about the upcoming final rounds, but as we moved through the mass of people, my enhanced hearing picked up something from Uraraka a few meters away.
"Where's Deku?" she was asking, not with concern, but more so out of curiosity.
I scanned the area and realized she was right. Deku, alongside Todoroki and Bakugo, were strangely missing from the exodus of students heading to lunch. That was odd, especially for Midoriya who usually stuck close to his friends.
Then I heard it, Deku's voice.
"So... what did you want to talk about?"
My head whipped toward the source of the sound. In a corridor that branched off from the main path, I could just make out Deku and Todoroki standing face to face. Their body language didn't seem immediately confrontational, but there was definitely tension there.
I remembered Todoroki's declaration before the sports festival began, how he'd said he would beat Midoriya, still they didn't seem about to get into a fight, so I let it go.
I heard Deku speak again, his voice nervous. "If we don't hurry up-"
The rest of his words were cut off as Kaminari slapped me on the shoulder, jolting me back to the present.
"Yo dude, you okay? You look a little spaced out. Still thinking about your superhuman appetite?" he joked.
"Oh, I'm fine," I replied, forcing my attention back to my friends.
"Are you still thinking about the Shinsho thing?" Toru asked, and I could hear the concern in her voice even though I couldn't see her expression.
"Shinsho thing?" Mina, Tsuyu, and Kirishima asked almost in unison, their curiosity piqued.
"It's nothing really," I said quickly, not wanting to get into the details of what had happened. "And no, Toru, I'm not thinking about the Shinsho thing. Come on, let's hurry up or I won't be able to eat nine servings of Lunch Rush's menu."
"Nine servings?!" Kirishima exclaimed, his mood lifting slightly. "Dude, where do you even put it all?"
"Foodie to your core, huh," Mina said with a knowing smile as we crossed into the main building.
The cafeteria was already packed when we entered, the noise level almost overwhelming even for normal hearing. For me, it was like standing in the middle of a thunderstorm of conversations. I had to consciously dial down my enhanced hearing to focus on just our table.
We found seats together, and I immediately began attacking my first tray of food with enthusiasm. I mean Lunch Rush's cooking was on another level, it was so finger licking good.
However, just as I was finishing my third helping, Mineta suddenly appeared at our table, sidling up to Kaminari with an expression that could only be described as scheming.
"So Kaminari, still up for it?" he asked in what he probably thought was a subtle whisper.
Kaminari looked at Mineta, then back at us, then back at Mineta again, his face cycling through several expressions before settling on apologetic. "Sorry, dude, but no."
"It's alright," Mineta replied, though his tone suggested it was anything but. He scampered off, shooting disappointed looks back at Kaminari.
"What was all that about?" Tsuyu asked, her head tilting in that distinctive way of hers.
"You guys don't wanna know," Kaminari said quickly, a slight blush coloring his cheeks. "Trust me on this one."
I finished eating the last bit of my yogurt, scraping the container clean. My stomach was already demanding more.
"Well, I'm sure it couldn't have been that bad," I said, choosing to give Kaminari an out. "I'm gonna go get another serving. Anyone want anything?"
"Dude, you inhale your food," Kirishima said, watching with amazement as I stacked my empty containers. "It's manly don't get me wrong, but you're gonna choke one of this days, if you aren't careful."
Would it matter if I choked? I mean Avalon should heal it right?
I shrugged, standing up from my seat. "Back in a minute."
I walked over to the serving line once more, which was thankfully empty as most students had already gotten their food. As I loaded up another tray, I noticed that neither Midoriya, Bakugo, nor Todoroki had arrived yet. Whatever conversation Todoroki had wanted to have with Midoriya must have been serious.
I was just adding a fourth rice bowl to my tray when my enhanced hearing picked up on something that made me pause. Mineta's voice, coming from across the cafeteria.
"Yaoyorozu, Jirou," he was saying, and something about his tone immediately put me on alert.
"Hmm? Did you need something?" Yaoyorozu asked as she turned toward him, her usual composed demeanor in place.
I could hear Mineta's heart rate spike dramatically as he turned and pointed to a group of girls from the general courses who were walking by. "Well, I'm sure you already know this, being a class rep and all, but they said that everyone has to wear those clothes to do a cheer battle in the afternoon."
Those clothes? I followed his gesture and noticed the general course girls were carrying what looked like cheerleading uniforms.
"I didn't hear anything about an event like that though," Yaoyorozu replied, her brow furrowing in confusion.
Neither had I, and as class president, I definitely should have been informed, then again most of the information I had was thanks to Yaoyorozu, I should really thank her more for all the help she does.
That's not the point though, the point is that I decided to walk over to them
"Hey Yaoyorozu, Jirou, Mineta," I said, keeping my voice casual. "What's this I hear about an event?"
"Yeah, Mineta is saying-" Yaoyorozu began.
"I didn't say it," Mineta interrupted quickly, his heart rate spiking even higher. I could practically hear the blood rushing through his veins. "I heard it from Aizawa-sensei."
Was he lying?
"I thought that maybe you'd forgotten," he continued, looking directly at Yaoyorozu, "so I'd tell you just in case."
Yaoyorozu forgetting something? That was perhaps the most unbelievable phrase a human had ever spoken. I had seen her notebook, she had pretty much everything planned out perfectly to the most minute detail.
"Hey Mineta," I said. "How about we just go to Aizawa-sensei? With my speed, we'll be able to go to him and clear this up in a jiffy."
The color drained from Mineta's face. "Uhhh, hey Arthur, come with me for a sec," he said quickly, desperation, for some reason, creeping into his voice.
I glanced at Yaoyorozu and Jirou, who were looking at us with increasing suspicion, then followed Mineta a few steps away. I had to lean down considerably to hear him as he whispered urgently.
"Come on, man, don't you want to see the girls in cheerleading outfits?" he whispered, as if this was some grand conspiracy we should both be in on. "Think about it, Yaoyorozu, Mina, Toru... well, you can't see Toru, but the outfit would be visible and-"
"The thought never crossed my mind," I interrupted firmly. "So, no."
"Really?" His eyes widened in disbelief. "You really don't want to see the girls-"
"Mineta," I interrupted again, my patience finally running out. The events with Shinsho had left me with zero tolerance for manipulation today. "Did Aizawa-sensei really say that they had to wear the outfits?"
"Uhh..."
"Please be honest," I said, my voice taking on an edge. "I've had enough manipulation for today, and again, we can just go to Aizawa-sensei right now. So please, don't lie to me."
He seemed to shrink under my gaze, his shoulders slumping. "Okay, it's a lie. But come on, Arthur-"
"Mineta, no." My voice was flat, final. "This isn't happening."
He held his head down and began to walk away, muttering something about killjoys and no one understanding art. I didn't care enough to listen to the specifics.
I walked back over to Yaoyorozu and Jirou, who were waiting with raised eyebrows.
"So?" Yaoyorozu asked, though her tone suggested she'd already figured out what was going on.
"You don't have to wear anything," I said simply. "It was just a... misunderstanding."
"A misunderstanding," Jirou repeated flatly, clearly not buying it but choosing not to press the issue. "Either way thanks, Arthur."
"Don't worry about it," I replied, already looking down at my own tray of food, which I wanted to start digging into right away. "See you in the tournament, Yaoyorozu."
"See you, Arthur."
A/N: Sorry for the late chapter, I got held up by college stuff (which I started today, kill me now), I ended at like 7pm, so I could do nothing about today's chapter. As for today's chapter, liked a lot of stuff about, mainly Kaminari being poisoned by Arthur and the rest of the group's goody twoshoesness (that's not a word btw, but it works in the context) and yeah Arthur also stopped Mineta's plan we destroying all of fan service with this one.
Still don't understand how Momo believed Mineta though in the original, like seriously you're supposed to be the smartest person in your year, I know she's not great with people but still.
I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, send those stones, if you want those bonus chapters. Author out.