Todoroki was glaring daggers at Midoriya.

  “So... you brought me here, now what?” Midoriya’s voice echoed slightly in the small, lonesome corridor. Todoroki didn’t reply.

  “We... we should probably eat soon. The cafeteria’s gonna be busy,” he said, trying to lighten the mood. Another moment of silence followed. Then the icy boy spoke.

  “I was overwhelmed. And it made me break a promise I made to myself a long time ago.” Midoriya slumped slightly, his eyes widening a bit as Todoroki raised and looked at his left hand.

  “None of the others felt it. In that moment, I was the only one who could sense your true power. It reminded me of something... Experiencing All Might’s quirk.”

  Midoriya tensed up even more. “Umm, okay. Is that all?”

  “I’m saying, the power coming from you felt like All Might’s,” Todoroki said, lowering his hand and staring at Midoriya.

  “Midoriya, tell me... Are you really All Might’s secret love child or something?” he asked in a serious, accusatory tone.

  Robinn stabbed her chopsticks into the Omurice, then turned to Uraraka. “Does Lunch Rush really have to draw All Might’s face with ketchup onto every Omurice they serve?”

  She turned to face the dish again. Sure enough, a perfect U.A. Omurice with a neat red caricature of All Might smiled up at her. The look on her face was definitely not mimicking her food.

  Uraraka just laughed. “I like it. Reminds you that we’re in the most prestigious hero school in Japan.”

  Robinn rolled her eyes and started eating it.

  “Hey, by the way, Robinn. Congrats on the win! Though we almost had you,” Uraraka said between bites.

  “Oh, thanks I guess. But it’s all thanks to Iida, Momo, and Todoroki. I barely did anything.”

  Uraraka raised an eyebrow. That didn’t sound like Robinn was beating herself up. Just stating a fact.“Well, you did support Todoroki, didn’t you?”

  “Eh, I guess so,” Robinn said before continuing with her food.

  “Also, by the way, why aren’t you with your team?” Uraraka asked, leaning closer.

  Robinn raised an eyebrow. “You aren’t with yours either.”

  Uraraka shrugged sheepishly. “Well, I couldn’t find any of them. Deku disappeared before I could even say anything.” She straightened up and looked around the cafeteria. “But I see Momo and Iida over there. Why not hang with them?”

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “Because we aren’t a team anymore. The last round of the festival is always one on one battles,” Robinn said before taking the last bite of her Omurice. “And besides, none of us are really that talkative. Especially me.”

  “Of course I know that... I guess I thought you’d built some sort of camaraderie.”

  She looked down at Robinn’s now-empty plate. “Wow, you do eat fast. Kaminari wasn’t joking.”

  Robinn blinked once. “He said that about me? Huh.”She stood up and stretched a bit. “Anyways, I’m gonna go hit the bathroom.”

  Uraraka’s eyes lit up. “I’ll join you!” she said, straightening up in her seat.

  Robinn just replied, “Finish your food first.” She gestured to the half-full plate, then turned to leave.

  Uraraka slumped, but she wasn’t one to waste food, so she stayed.

  Robinn spotted him as she rounded the corner. “Huh. Why do you look like you’re hunting prey?”

  Bakugo swung his neck around with a frustrated scowl. He hadn’t heard her approach.“Shut up and lower your voice,” he hissed. His tone was unusually low. Tense. Not his usual bark.

  Robinn raised an eyebrow and peered into the hallway he’d been watching. She spotted Todoroki pinning Midoriya in place with his gaze, voice steady but cold.

  “...I remember my mother called my left side unbearable, before she poured boiling water on my face.”

  Robinn immediately pulled back and pressed herself against the wall beside Bakugo. Both their eyes widened. They stared at each other in tight, mutual silence.

  Then Todoroki’s voice again, slightly muffled but still sharp.

  “The reason I picked a fight with you was to show my old man what I was capable of doing, without having to rely on his damned fire quirk.”

  Another tense pause.

  “You see, I’m going to show him that I reject his power, and that I can take first place without using it.”

  Footsteps followed, heavy and deliberate.

  “You’re obviously connected to All Might, even if you won’t tell me about it.”

  His voice faded out. Robinn and Bakugo couldn’t hear the rest.

  Bakugo glanced at her. Robinn’s expression had changed slightly. She had raised an eyebrow at the mention of All Might’s name but said nothing.

  Another set of footsteps started moving away. The moment stretched.

  “Well,” Robinn finally said, breaking the silence with a small grin. “That was a bit intense, wasn’t it?”

  Bakugo scoffed. “Shut the hell up. Why are you even here?”

  “Well, unlike Mr. Eavesdropper here, I was just heading to the ladies’ room,” she said as she walked past him and past the hallway.

  She paused, just briefly, before tossing a glance over her shoulder.

  “By the way, Bakugo. See you in the finals.”

  Bakugo’s eyes widened. His mouth twitched like he was about to snap back, but nothing came out.

  Intimidation? No. That wasn’t it. But something locked him in place.

  He stayed frozen for a second, watching Robinn walk away, her ponytail swinging with each step.

  A bit later, after Robinn came back from the bathroom, Mineta and Kaminari approached her.

  “Hey Robinn! We couldn’t find you, but the rest of the girls are already out there. You all have to wear these cheer outfits for the cheer battle happening in a bit,” Mineta said, holding up an orange uniform with a big U.A. on the chest and a very short skirt.

  Robinn looked down at it like it was a bug.“Yeah, no,” she said, walking off without another word.

  “I told you she was going to say no,” Kaminari said, nudging Mineta with his shoe. “Even if it was a real rule, she probably wouldn’t do it.”

  Mineta just stared at her as she walked away.“She’s... way too intimidating.”

  Kaminari raised an eyebrow. “Intimidating? How come? Robinn’s, like, super nice.”

  “Too tall. Way too tall,” Mineta said, dropping the uniform to the ground and looking vaguely ill.

  “Well yeah, she’s basically twice your height,” Kaminari said, patting Mineta’s bouncy hair.“Anyways, let’s go watch the other girls do the cheering.”

  The two boys happily wandered off to watch the cheer squad they had created.