"Not… Really."
"Wow. You've really been missing out! Well, we'll have to rectify that! Once the festival's over, you and me are gonna have a movie night with the alien series! The good ones anyway!"
...
Izuku was about to try making some protest, but it was quickly shut down as Mina's look got kinda serious.
"So, is that why you're depressed? Your ultimate move turning out to be way too awesome to use?"
"A… Bit I guess. There's… There's some other stuff too…"
Mina, as she was want to do, instantly changed her look from serious, to that of a concerned friend. She was way more expressive than Izuku was.
She didn't say anything though, letting Izuku take his time.
"Well… Once I realized the whole ultimate move thing wasn't gonna work out for the tournament… Well, I tried some other stuff… Stuff related to my black Webs."
Mina nodded.
"And that's going badly?"
Izuku winced once more. Then, with just one single bit of hesitation, he nodded.
"Yeah… Like, I can do basic web and lines just fine, but when I try anything advanced stuff without Venom holding my hand… Well… The aim is the least of my problems."
"I see…" Mina had put her hand up beneath her chin in a classic stereotypical thinking pose.
"Well, I'm not sure how I can help you with that, but if you want, we could train together? I offered to spar some with Uraraka yesterday, to help her out with her issues."
"You… You've been helping out Uraraka-San too with this?"
"Of course! She's my friend, and it's been clear she's been really stressed lately. Like, even worse than you are."
Then her expression shifted once more, this time to an angry, yet adorable pout.
"I tried talking with Bakugou too, but he just told me to fuck off! The jerk!"
Izuku was for one moment pulled between a burst of anger at Katsuki, and a strange urge to just smile at Mina's expression.
Instead, he considered her offer.
"Thanks for the offer Mina, but… I think I'd prefer training alone for the tournament." For one thing, he wouldn't look like a complete moron trying to launch small cannonballs from his fists.
It wasn't that he didn't appreciate Mina's offer. He did, but… Right now he just did not want to train with anyone. He liked being alone, with Just him and Venom to witness his failures.
Mina looked him over in silence for a moment.
"It's scary right?"
"What?"
"Having to perform in front of thousands of people, for all the world to see. That's what's bothering you isn't it?"
Izuku just stared at her, then almost resigned, he slumped his shoulders.
"... Kinda.".
She nodded in an understanding manner.
"Yeah, I kinda thought it might be something like that. I mean… You're not exactly the most self-assured guy I know."
Putting it mildly.
"I know several of the rest of the class are pretty scared about it too. It's kinda silly, to be scared of performing in front of others when you've proven you're able to do or die, but I guess it's just the way it is."
Izuku was well aware of just how silly it might be.
It didn't change how he felt about it.
"Are… Are you afraid?"
"Nope."
The certainty in her voice was surprising, though Izuku wasn't all that surprised. Mina didn't really seem like the kind of person who crumbled under pressure.
"I mean, I guess I'm a bit afraid of screwing up and looking like an idiot on national TV, but I'm not worried about the festival in itself. It's just a sports tournament. We're not gonna die if we don't do well in it."
That… Was kinda a different way of looking at it.
"... So you're not worried about losing?"
"Of course I am! I'm planning to win the tournament after all. Like, why would you bother participating if you weren't gonna give it your all?"
"But If I lose… Well… It's not the end of the world. It's just a competition after all. I mean, mom never won any contests, and she did great for herself."
Izuku had gotten the impression from Uraraka that All Might's daughter was kind struggling to live up to the great image of All Might. That she was kinda being crushed under the expectations of her inherited legacy.
He had, somewhat erroneously it seemed, thought Mina might be feeling similar pressure. If so, she didn't show any of it.
Black Cat's legacy seemed to be a great strength for Mina to draw upon. It made perfect sense of course. It was just a concept so removed from Izuku's world. Izuku had gotten many good things from his parents, but a legacy to take great pride in as a source of strength for his hero career wasn't one of them.
His mom had until recently been a failed lawyer, and his dad a common salaryman. It was quite a humble origins.
Not quite like Black Cat.
She'd been a great hero before she even came to Japan.
"So, what about you Midori?" Mina looked at him with those Black and golden eyes, filled with concern.
"You worried about the contest itself?"
"...Yeah."
"You wanna talk about it?"
"Not really…"
Mina continued looking at him like she was internally debating whether to push further or not. In the end, she sighed, then stood up while stretching her arms over her head.
"Well, I can't force you, but if you wanna talk about it, I'm here. Also-" She nodded at the box. "Not gonna tattle on you about your secret forbidden delights or anything, but if you plan on eating alone from now on, you should tell Tenya and Uraraka about it. They've been really worried about where you've been running off to."
Then she gave a cheery wave as she walked off towards the exit.
"See Ya later Midori!"
"... Later."
As she left, Izuku just looked after her, thinking about what they had just talked about.
It wasn't anything Venom hadn't talked with him about before, but somehow it was different to chat about it with someone who wasn't trying to push him about it.
Still, what was there to say? That he was terrified of losing because he felt like it would prove he hadn't changed at all from who he used to be? That'd require him to explain that he had been a complete failure not too long ago.
He didn't want to talk about that. He didn't want to talk about those days. As far as he was concerned, he wanted to pretend who he was had begun on that day on the junk-filled beach so long ago now that it felt like another lifetime ago.
Mina, Uraraka, Tenya, his entire class. None of them knew who he had been. The only one who did was Bakugou, and he couldn't do anything about him. But the rest…
The rest of them didn't need to know about Izuku the useless, Quirkless weakling. The only Izuku they needed to know was the one he was now. The shy guy who was occasionally an idiot, but had the strength to actually do something in the world.
Although… He really should have told Tenya and Uraraka about these running offs of his. Mina was right. They were probably worried about him.
Frankly, he had to find some other time to eat this part of his daily meals… For as long as it went. He had kinda been pushing his cash reserves to the limit of chocolates. They'd run dry soon.
God, spending all his pocket change on chocolate…
Venom finally decided to appear on his shoulder.
"The Alien mythos eh? That's gonna be fun."
Izuku, who hadn't really been thinking about Mina's promise about movies, and who knew absolutely nothing about the ancient film franchise other than a vague idea of them being about some black alien creature, was surprised with the really approving way he said that.
"So they're… Good movies then?"
"Exceedingly so. Great atmosphere, thrills, and especially good, realistic architecture. But the real fun will be watching you react to them. Yes, that will be hilarious."
Izuku just stared at him for a second, before it clicked. Then dread clenched in his gut.
"...They're horror movies aren't they?".
...
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