After All Might, with a final booming pronouncement, called an end to the intense confrontation between the teams, he swiftly requested a pair of specialized medical robots to transport Todoroki Shoto to the infirmary. The hero's concern was palpable, ensuring that the powerful blow Todoroki had received to the head was not too severe and that he would receive immediate attention. The two gleaming, white robots, designed for precise and gentle patient transport, efficiently lifted the unconscious student and began their quiet journey.
After what felt like a dozen long minutes, the remaining participants from the last battle, Lena, Toru, and Shoji, finally made their appearance in the bustling oversight room. The contrast in their moods was strikingly apparent, almost comical.
While Lena and Toru walked side-by-side, their expressions conveyed an almost gleefully smug satisfaction regarding their unexpected victory, their shoulders slightly back, a faint aura of triumph about them.
Shoji, on the other hand, averted his gaze slightly, his brow furrowed in a deep frown, clearly annoyed and frustrated by the stinging taste of defeat. His multi-limbed form seemed to slump subtly. While a part of him vehemently desired to place all the blame for their loss squarely on Todoroki's arrogance and overconfidence, he possessed enough self-awareness to recognize that he, too, bore a significant portion of responsibility for this unexpected outcome. Lena's relentless kicks and punches, though numerous, had inflicted hardly any discernible damage to his incredibly resilient body or his reinforced limbs. He could have easily continued moving forward, enduring the pain of the attacks, and pressed the offensive. Instead, he had allowed himself to become singularly fixated on engaging Lena in direct combat, hoping to defeat and capture her, entirely oblivious that this prolonged skirmish was precisely what was consuming valuable time and ultimately costing them the match. The realization, though bitter, was undeniable.
As much as the defeat rankled him, and despite the lingering upset he felt, Shoji knew he could only swallow his pride and accept the outcome. It was a hard lesson in strategy and focus.
Observing that their comrades had finally returned, Kirishima Eijiro and Ashido Mina swiftly bounded towards them, their faces alight with broad, infectious smiles. Their boundless energy seemed to instantly uplift the mood in the room.
"Toru! Lena! You two were absolutely amazing out there!" Ashido exclaimed, her voice bubbling with enthusiasm. She embraced Lena and Toru in a quick, exuberant hug, her smile radiating such warmth that it felt capable of melting a metaphorical iceberg. "Your plan was absolutely brilliant, Lena! I swear, I never would have conceived of something so audacious and effective!"
Toru and Lena simply smiled, a shared glance passing between them, before falling into an easy conversation with Ashido. The pink-skinned girl seemed to be striking all sorts of dramatic poses as she spoke, her eyes wide and sparkling, almost as if she had literal stars dancing in them, reflecting her boundless admiration.
"Dude, Shoji, you were seriously incredible out there!" Kirishima said, delivering a light, friendly punch to Shoji's shoulder to capture his attention. "Man! You put up such an awesome, manly fight against her!"
Shoji shook his head, biting his lip in lingering frustration. "But I lost, Kirishima. Besides, I didn't accomplish much. I merely provided Lena and Toru's location to Todoroki, and then I just wasted time trying to fight Lena." His self-reproach was evident.
"Dude, you gotta think about it differently," Kirishima offered, his voice genuinely sympathetic, his eyes gleaming with encouragement. "Even though you lost, you put up a mind-blowing battle against Lena, who's ranked in the Top 3 in the entire class! Not only that! Her attacks basically tickled you! You were like a goddamn wall, bro! You held your own for quite some time, fighting her one-on-one while locked in a narrow hallway, and you still managed to land a couple of hits on her! If that's not awesome and manly, then I'll let a truck fall on me!" His words were filled with genuine admiration, intended to boost Shoji's spirits.
Shoji simply looked at Kirishima, surprised by the fierce, unwavering support, before a faint smile slowly formed on his face. "I guess I did manage to make a good impression, then..." The compliment seemed to genuinely reach him.
Kirishima chuckled, then adopted a heroic pose, his fist raised in a display of resolute determination. "Totally, man! You're absolutely awesome!"
Suddenly, a loud, yet pleasant chuckle resonated through the room, drawing all the students out of their excited chatter and turning their attention towards the stage.
"HA! HA! HA! That was an absolutely awesome team battle, wasn't it, young heroes!" All Might boomed, his voice full of warmth and pride as he looked at his students, a wide smile fixed on his face. "Does anyone wish to conduct the battle analysis for the class?!"
In less than a heartbeat, Yao (Momo) raised her hand, her arm shooting up as fast and precise as a guided missile, eager to share her detailed observations.
"Proceed, Miss Yaoyorozu!" All Might encouraged, gesturing grandly towards her.
"Alright, to begin, Lena and Toru's team executed an exceptional performance, both individually and as a cohesive unit. Lena's strategic decision to engage in combat and buy valuable time against Shoji, coupled with Toru's crucial movement of the bomb to a new location once the initial target site was compromised, were both highly effective maneuvers. However," Momo paused, her tone becoming more analytical, "I must highlight that this outcome was primarily attributable to Todoroki's specific choice not to fully freeze the bodies of his opponents. Had he opted to completely encase the entire building, bomb and all, he would have secured an effortless victory. Which brings me to my next point..." Yao took a deliberate moment to draw a breath, allowing her precise words to sink in. The rest of the class simply nodded steadily, some listening intently, others letting Yao's complex analysis flow in one ear and out the other, impressed by the sheer volume of her detail. "Todoroki and Shoji's team, conversely, did not perform as effectively. Todoroki placed excessive reliance on his Quirk's raw power and the limited initial information he possessed about the situation inside the building, in addition to unilaterally pushing Shoji away. Had he brought Shoji into the building with him, they could very possibly have avoided the temporary blindness inflicted by Toru's Quirk and successfully evaded Lena's attacks, leading to a quick and decisive victory. Instead, they succumbed to overconfidence..."
All Might simply nodded, maintaining his cheerful demeanor, though it was evident he wasn't entirely grasping the intricacies of Momo's detailed tactical breakdown. "A very good analysis, Yaoyorozu, truly comprehensive! And according to your assessment, who would be designated as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of this event?"
Momo brought a hand to her mouth, her head tilted down in thoughtful consideration for a few seconds. After this brief pause, she raised her head, her gaze clear as she delivered her answer. "I believe the MVP was Toru, All Might."
Toru's invisible form seemed to flinch in confusion. "Me?! But all I did was follow Lena's instructions!" Her voice was filled with genuine surprise.
"No, actually, she's correct," Lena said, scratching her head, the sudden attention from the entire class making her feel a little nervous, a rare display for her. "What I mean is, she was the one who reacted instantly to Todoroki's initial attack. It was her incredible reaction time that prevented her from being completely frozen next to me. She was also the reason why I was able to successfully knock out Todoroki without much trouble due to her blinding flash, and she also expertly moved the bomb to another room while I was engaged in combat with Shoji." Lena's explanation was precise, giving credit where it was due.
'Hmm, I understand your point, Lena, and I partially agree, but you're forgetting that Toru alone couldn't have defeated either of them in direct combat... this entire confrontation was a masterful demonstration of exceptional teamwork... so—' All Might thought, his internal monologue running through the nuances of the battle, before audibly clearing his throat. "Very good, Lena! But I believe Team Toru and Lena performed so masterfully as a unit that they both equally earn the MVP title! Their combined efforts were exemplary! Now, prepare for the final showdown of the day!"
As the remaining teams prepared to leave for the final confrontation, Lena, driven by a sudden, intense pang of hunger, approached All Might with a slow, deliberate pace.
"Before we proceed, All Might," Lena spoke softly, looking at him with a hint of anxiety in her eyes, "Could I possibly go get something to eat? I'm absolutely starving."
All Might looked at her for a moment, a flicker of surprise in his eyes, before nodding slowly, a broad, understanding smile returning to his face. "Of course, young Oxton! Go right ahead! Tell Lunch Rush that I personally sent you to his cafeteria!"
"Thanks, All Might!" Lena exclaimed, her face brightening instantly at the prospect of food.
Neither of them, however, noticed a certain girl with peculiar earphone jacks looking at Lena with a curious and contemplative expression, her unique 'Jacks' twitching subtly, betraying her heightened interest in Lena's unusual request and her interaction with All Might.
Slowly opening his eyes, Todoroki Shoto perceived an unfamiliar, pristine white ceiling above him. He felt an overwhelming reluctance to extricate himself from the bed; its soft comfort was simply too inviting to abandon. Yet, he knew he couldn't remain in such a state indefinitely. The memory of his defeat, however, was slowly encroaching on his returning consciousness.
With a minimal effort, Todoroki managed to sit up, his legs still feeling a bit heavy, and swung them off the side of the bed. He looked down at his lap, still groggy from waking up, his mind struggling to fully reorient itself.
"Ugh... Where am I?" Looking around, Todoroki could discern that he was in a medical room, clearly an infirmary. However, he couldn't immediately recall how he had arrived here... "Damn it!" he muttered, a sudden surge of frustration.
"DO NOT SCREAM, BRAT!" A sharp, elderly voice cut through the air, startling him.
Before Todoroki could fully comprehend the source of the voice, a shadowy figure swiftly materialized and delivered a surprisingly forceful blow across his forehead, causing his head to snap back involuntarily, forcing him to look directly up at the ceiling.
Todoroki groaned in pain, instinctively rubbing his throbbing forehead. He slowly turned his head, his gaze narrowed, to identify his assailant, who turned out to be...
An old woman. A very small, elderly lady with a stern expression and a syringe-like staff.
Todoroki regarded her with a mixture of confusion and disbelief, a nascent theory forming in his mind that he was still in the midst of a vivid dream. "Who are you?" he asked, his voice still a bit hoarse.
"My name is Recovery Girl, brat. I am U.A.'s resident Doctor and nurse," Recovery Girl stated, her voice firm, as she looked at Todoroki with a disapproving frown. "Who would have thought that two individuals would find themselves in my infirmary in a single day... and one of them being a recommended student, no less? That's not a particularly common occurrence, you know, for recommended students to be so careless." Her tone was laced with a dry, knowing reprimand.
"..." Todoroki offered no verbal response, simply rising from the bed. His head still throbbed from the unexpected blow he had received from Recovery Girl, but he chose to ignore the lingering pain, his mind fixed on a new objective. He simply walked out of the medical room, making his way towards the supervision room where the rest of the class would be. He completely disregarded the little old lady's exasperated shout behind him.
'I lost...' The very thought of it was foreign, unsettling. The word itself was alien to him, a sensation he was unaccustomed to, and he struggled to comprehend how to feel about such an outcome. It gnawed at him, a bitter, unfamiliar taste of defeat.
'I became arrogant... just like him,' Todoroki thought to himself, his gaze drawn to a nearby window, its reflective surface showing his own face. His eyes fixed intently on the large, jagged scar that bisected his face, a constant, painful reminder of his past and his father. 'Just like the man I vowed never to become.'
Suddenly, the ambient temperature in the hallway plummeted, growing noticeably colder, and tiny shards of ice, almost imperceptible, could be seen beginning to emanate from his hands and feet, a direct manifestation of his uncontrolled Quirk. Todoroki's gaze became much colder, sharper, as his heart burned with a pure, unadulterated hatred, the ice mirroring the cold fury within him.
'No! No! Calm yourself, Shoto... I am nothing like him, and I never will be...' Todoroki thought, forcing himself to regain control, his strides returning to their normal pace as he continued down the hallway. His heart felt heavy, burdened by the internal conflict, and he bit his lips, the physical discomfort a small anchor in the storm of his emotions. His breathing, previously ragged, became a little slower, more controlled. 'I don't care who I face; I will crush them without relying on his Quirk, without using a single flame...' His resolve hardened, a new, cold determination setting in.
After a moment, his breathing and body temperature slowly returned to normal, the ice shards dissipating as he regained control of his emotions. He closed his eyes, taking a deep, cleansing breath, pushing the turmoil down. 'Lena Oxton...' The name echoed in his mind, the girl who had unexpectedly defeated him.
"No matter who it is..." Todoroki opened his eyes, revealing a gaze that was now piercingly cold, filled with a renewed, almost predatory focus. "I will crush them all..." His words were a silent vow, a declaration of his altered path.
After a long period of emotional stagnation, Todoroki Shoto felt an unfamiliar, yet exhilarating, sensation: excitement.
'U.A. is much more interesting than I had initially thought...' he mused, a faint, almost imperceptible smirk touching his lips.
After the last confrontation of the day concluded, marking the end of the combat tests, everyone could finally make their way home. Some of the students were visibly exhausted, their bodies drained from the physical and mental stress of the battles, yet their faces also radiated the lingering excitement of having pushed their limits. The U.A. campus, typically bustling, was now slowly emptying, students dispersing towards various exits.
In front of the main school gate, a small group of girls could be seen happily conversing, their voices light and animated.
They were none other than Lena, Jiro, and Toru. By the end of this eventful first day, they had naturally formed a sort of close-knit group among themselves, talking about almost anything that came to mind, their personalities meshing surprisingly well. Lena was genuinely surprised at how quickly she had transitioned from barely talking to anyone to comfortably engaging in conversation with three people at once. It was a novel and pleasant experience.
Obviously, Lena wasn't entirely accustomed to having a group of people openly discussing various topics with each other, so she still felt a little self-conscious, a faint discomfort lingering within her. Jiro, too, seemed to be in a similar state, occasionally fidgeting, not quite used to such open camaraderie.
"Hey, Lena, did you meticulously plan that entire strategy against Todoroki from the very beginning, or was it something you cleverly improvised on the spot during the battle?" Jiro asked, giving Lena a narrowed, inquisitive look. Her curiosity was clearly piqued by the unexpected victory.
The invisible girl, Toru, followed up, tilting her head forward, as if straining to hear Lena's precise answer. "Yeah, I was wondering that too! It seemed so complex!"
"To be perfectly honest with you both, at first, I genuinely believed it was an inevitable defeat for us," Lena admitted, scratching the back of her neck nervously, a slight blush rising to her cheeks. "Their combination, Todoroki's sheer power and Shoji's defensive capabilities, was simply too formidable, too well-balanced for what we had initially."
"Really?!" Toru exclaimed, her invisible mouth agape in surprise. Of course, Lena had told her earlier that she didn't have a pre-existing plan for Todoroki, but to hear it confirmed was still shocking.
"Yes, but when you casually mentioned that you could generate light, Toru, my brain instantly went to work, processing the new variable," Lena explained, shrugging her shoulders with a slight, almost self-deprecating smile. "I don't think I'm particularly adept at crafting elaborate, long-term plans. It just... came to me on the spot, an improvisation without truly accounting for all the potential variables... plus, pure luck played a very important role too, I'll admit." She gestured emphatically. "As Yao meticulously explained, if Todoroki had chosen to freeze everything—the bomb, us, the entire building—or if Shoji had simply followed Todoroki inside, it would have been a definitive 'Game Over' for us from literally the very first second."
"I see..." Jiro nodded, making a mental note in her head, adding this insight to her growing understanding of Lena's unique thought process. "Then, by that logic, you're essentially an airhead, Lena." Her tone was flat, almost teasing.
Lena blinked, then glared at Jiro, a playful frown on her face, her hands resting firmly on her hips. "Oi! And pray tell, why would you deduce that?" Her voice held mock indignation.
"I mean... because you literally slept through the initial briefing instead of thinking of a possible plan or strategy?" Jiro simply gave Lena a flat, unimpressed look, raising an eyebrow. "I don't think that was particularly smart or strategic of you, Lena."
"She's right, Lena," Toru confirmed, her invisible form nodding in agreement, and Lena could almost feel her eyes rolling.
"Oi! Toru! I thought you were unequivocally on my side!" Lena exclaimed, dramatically placing a hand over her heart, pretending to have been pierced by an invisible arrow. "Agh, look, I simply didn't want to stand idly by, bored out of my mind, while watching the others' battles. It was painfully slow!"
Jiro simply facepalmed, a gesture of exasperation. And though she couldn't visually see Toru, Lena could tell, by the way her invisible friend stood, that she was looking at her with an utterly deadpan, unimpressed stare.
"Ahem, and how did your fight go, Jiro? How did your team fare?" Lena asked, quickly attempting to deflect the conversation away from her own questionable decisions.
Suddenly, Toru looked at Jiro with renewed interest, and Lena could almost picture her invisible face breaking into a giant, mischievous grin. "Yes, Jiro~ do tell us how your confrontation went~ you looked very happy with Kaminari~" Her tone was overtly suggestive.
Lena, seeing a perfect chance to avoid being "canceled on Twitter" (a modern phrase she sometimes used) by her two friends' combined teasing, looked at Jiro with a shark-like smile. "Yeah, yeah, do tell us all the details, Jiro~"
Jiro simply frowned, a faint blush creeping onto her cheeks as she averted her gaze, clearly uncomfortable with the sudden spotlight. "It was nothing noteworthy. I was simply pleased to have a partner who was easy to work with, someone cooperative..." Her voice trailed off, attempting to downplay any perceived romantic undertones.
"Aww... so you're not actually interested in him? Not even a little?" Toru pressed, unwilling to let the topic drop. "Then how about the other boys in the class? Do any of them seem handsome or appealing to you, Jiro?"
Jiro simply looked at Toru with a blank stare, though her cheeks were now noticeably flushed, betraying her inner turmoil. "Almost all the boys in our class are objectively handsome, yes." Her response was deliberately generic.
Lena simply looked up at the sky, contemplating, as she shrugged her shoulders. "I cannot entirely disagree with that assessment. Well, there are some minor exceptions, but generally, yes..."
"Ohu?" Toru raised an invisible eyebrow, sensing an opening. "So, are you perhaps interested in any of them, Lena?" Her invisible head tilted, awaiting Lena's answer.
Lena adopted a thoughtful pose, closing her eyes for a few seconds, considering the question seriously. After a brief pause, she opened them again, shrugging dismissively. "Nope. Not a single one."
Jiro and Toru both lowered their heads, looking at Lena with a mixture of confusion and intense curiosity.
"I've never genuinely fallen in love with someone, so I wouldn't truly know if I like someone in that way," Lena explained simply, the truth of her words echoing her genuine inexperience in romantic matters.
Toru, with astonishing speed, in less than a second, grabbed Lena by the shoulders and shook her hard, a surprisingly forceful movement. This was a bit difficult due to the noticeable height difference between the two. "You've never had a boyfriend or anything like that, ever?!" Toru's invisible mouth was agape with disbelief.
"I can certainly understand that..." Jiro muttered, her voice barely audible, which caused both Lena and Toru to turn and look at her, surprised by her quiet interjection. Jiro simply grabbed her earphone Jacks and began to nervously shake them, a tell-tale sign of her discomfort. "I haven't had a romantic partner either... although I have had crushes on a few people in the past, I'll admit."
Toru simply looked at them both with wide, unseeing eyes, a silent expression of astonishment, not that they could visually perceive her eyes, of course.
Toru then placed her invisible hands on her hips, letting out a depressed sigh. "That's certainly... peculiar... but well, I guess that's just life, isn't it?"
"Now you're sounding exactly like an eighty-year-old woman, Toru." Lena chuckled, finding the comment amusing.
"Shut the hell up, Lena!" Toru retorted, a burst of mock indignation in her voice, and Lena could almost feel an invisible punch.
As they continued their lively conversation, punctuated by laughter and playful teasing, they walked onward towards the bus stop, the setting sun painting the sky in hues of orange and purple, marking the end of their first, unforgettable day at U.A.