The Sports Festival made them famous.
"THE KINETIC COUPLE," one headline read. "U.A.'s New Power Duo."
Rei hated it. Midoriya found it amusing. They were both approached by pro heroes—Rei by Edgeshot, who admired her precision; Midoriya by Gran Torino, who muttered something about "damn All Might, making me babysit."
But the real consequence came from Shiketsu.
Rei's father arrived on Monday morning.
She felt him before she saw him—his kinetic signature, familiar and hated, a controlled precision that made her own Quirk feel wild in comparison. He was waiting outside U.A.'s gates, in a hero costume she remembered from childhood: black and silver, all sharp angles, like a weapon made flesh.
"Father," she said, stopping. Midoriya, walking beside her, tensed.
"Rei." Kazuki Daichi—Vector, formerly Rank 12 Pro Hero—looked at her with eyes the same mismatched color as hers. "You've grown reckless."
"I've grown free."
"Free?" He laughed, cold and controlled. "You destroyed a stadium. You nearly killed yourself. You attached yourself to a boy who breaks his own bones for fun." His eyes flicked to Midoriya. "This is your influence?"
"Sir," Midoriya began, "with respect—"
"Silence." Daichi's Quirk activated—a precision kinetic pulse that should have knocked Midoriya down. Rei nullified it automatically, felt the impact rattle her teeth.
"Don't touch him," she said, voice shaking.
"You're protecting him?" Daichi stepped closer. "From your own father? You, who couldn't even protect yourself at Shiketsu?"
"I protected everyone," Rei snapped. "That's why I overflowed. Because I cared more about my classmates than my ranking. Because I wouldn't let them hurt to save myself."
"Sentiment." Daichi's lip curled. "Your greatest weakness."
"It's my greatest strength." Rei stepped forward, into her father's space, letting her Quirk expand. "You taught me control. U.A. taught me purpose. And Izuku—" She reached back, found Midoriya's hand, held it. "He taught me that love isn't a vector to be redirected. It's the force that moves everything else."
Daichi looked at their joined hands. Something flickered in his eyes—pain, maybe. Or memory.
"Your mother," he said slowly, "had a similar Quirk. Weak. Uncontrolled. She overflowed constantly, made messes, broke things." He looked away. "I loved her anyway. It killed her."
Rei's breath caught. "What?"
"Uncontrolled power burns out the user. She knew. I knew. We thought we could manage it together, but..." He closed his eyes. "She discharged into me, once. To save me. It was too much. Her heart stopped."
"I didn't know," Rei whispered.
"No. I never told you. I thought if I taught you perfect control, you wouldn't... you wouldn't follow her." He opened his eyes, and they were wet. "But you're not her. You're stronger. And you have something she didn't."
"What?"
Daichi looked at Midoriya. "Someone who can take the overflow. Who wants to."
He turned to leave. "Win, Rei. Not for me. For yourself. And..." He paused. "Invite me to the wedding. If there is one."
He was gone before she could respond.
Midoriya squeezed her hand. "Rei?"
"I'm okay," she said, and was surprised to find it true. "He... he wasn't wrong. About the danger. About my mother."
"But he was wrong about control being the only answer." Midoriya turned her to face him. "You're not a battery to be managed, Rei. You're a person. My person. And I'll take your overflow, your emotions, your everything, as long as you'll have me."
"Forever," Rei said, not caring that it was too soon, that they were teenagers, that the word was too big for their small lives. "I'll have you forever."
He kissed her in front of U.A.'s gates, with her father's shadow still lingering, and for the first time, Rei felt truly free.