At the end of the month, in light of the Sports Festival being only a few days away, the Ultimate Moves' training was put on hold.
After dinner, the girls of Class 2-A crashed in the Common Room.
"Man!" Mina stretched on the sofa, melting into its softness. "I am beat!"
Momo, Jiro, Uraraka, Tsuyu, and Toru reflected the same feeling on their faces, exhaustion building up under their eyes as well.
"Three days' rest is nearly not enough to prepare for the Sports Festival," Uraraka complained, drinking juice. "I fear I might not even clear the first stage this time…"
"You are not the only one thinking that…"
Nyx's caw rang in their ears as she came flapping in.
"What do you mean?" Momo asked as the bird settled on her shoulder.
"Many of the boys aren't excited about the Sports Festival, either," Nyx told them. "They don't want to use their Ultimate Moves before the Provisional Hero License Exam."
The girls exchanged glances, now thinking the same.
"I don't understand…" Tsu said, finishing her juice. "Why's UA holding a Sports Festival this year? Won't Villains prepare themselves against us if they know our fighting style? That's what happened to Uraraka and me at the Training Camp…"
"Yeah…" Mina added. "I heard that Fire Villain… Dabi, was it? Anyway, he knew exactly how to dissipate Tokoyami's Dark Shadow…"
Momo put her head down with an apologetic expression.
Last time during the Sports Festival, it was she who had used fire against Dark Shadow to win the match against Tokoyami.
"Yeah," Tsu said. "I think… they should cancel the Sports Festival. Or hold it only for the first years…"
"No."
Heads snapped toward Momo.
She took a deep breath and said, "I am only guessing here, but I think I can understand the rationale. Consider all the Pros out there. Day and night, they all work in the field, using their Quirks for not only rescue operations, but also to fight against Villains.
"More often than not, such confrontations are reported live. Even if it's not live, footage still gets leaked through social media… Anyway, the point is, no matter what trump card these Pros have, Villains ultimately get to learn of it, right? Then… why should we be any different?"
A silence fell upon the girls.
"I think…" Momo held her chin. "… by holding the Sports Festival, UA wants to accomplish two goals. First, they want people to trust it more by showing them how much progress has been made by the first and second years' students in just one year. Second, in a more… subtle way, they want to declare that it doesn't matter if Villains learn our fighting style. No matter how much the Villains prepare, UA's students will always remain a step ahead of them."
The girls' eyes shone as they heard Momo's words.
In only a moment, the doubts bubbling in their minds were quashed by her well-placed reasoning.
And it didn't go unnoticed.
"Nicely put, Yaoyorozu…"
The girls looked on one side and found Erasure Head walking toward them.
Before the girls could get up and greet him, he raised his hand. "No need," he said. "Yaoyorozu, Snipe has accepted your request. School's off till Sports Festival, but, if you want to, you can report to him as soon as tomorrow."
Momo's entire face lit up, the tiredness vanishing.
"Yes, Sir!" she shouted cheerily.
Aizawa smiled. "Alright, continue," he said. "I need to have a word with Bakugo, too."
When Erasure Head was gone, the girls looked at Momo curiously.
"What was that all about?" Jiro asked. "Teacher Snipe accepted your request?"
Uraraka's eyes glowed suddenly. "I know, I know!" she shouted, excited. "Are you trying to learn sniping?"
An image appeared in all their heads, with Momo coolly sniping Villains from hundreds of meters away before blowing the smoke off the barrel.
"Cool!" the girls shrieked, giggling.
Momo's lips twitched. "Well, not exactly," she said. "But… I do have something in mind. In the last month, I realized something. You all have your… particular way to advance. While I just focus on creating more things. I am becoming a Support person. I don't mind that, but… I also want to contribute more actively. At least enough to save myself so that others won't get injured doing the same…"
Slowly, the smiles on the girls' faces became soft expressions.
They had learned how the Nomu had chased Momo, and she couldn't do anything but run away from it. But that was a freaking Nomu! She was supposed to just run and wait for a Pro… Who would have thought that incident was still bothering her?
"Also," Momo added, bringing a cheeriness to her voice, "I want to get the Provisional Hero License Exam this time only. I heard the exam happens twice a year, in June and September. Still… I am sure in one and a half months after the Sports Festival, I should be able to come up with a style unique to me. That will be my Ultimate Move!"
Uraraka raised her fist. "Let's do it!"
"Let's do it!" The rest of the girls joined in.
A silence lingered between them for a while.
Suddenly, Tsuyu looked over her shoulder. When she found no one else in the Common Room, she looked at Momo. "I… I wanted to ask something," she admitted. "You can refuse to share…"
"What is it?" Momo asked.
The rest of the girls shifted in their seats, closing in involuntarily as well.
"Well…" Tsuyu continued, a touch of seriousness appearing on her face. "… During the Training Camp, did… Dr. Blessed hurt you?"
"Impossible! He will never hurt someone!"
All heads slowly turned toward the girl who had screamed out the words.
Even Nyx had lifted her head, staring in the same direction with her red eyes shining bloody.
Because… it was Toru Hagakure.
"I mean…" Toru stuttered. "Haha… I mean, the guy's a joke, no? Also, with that mask on, who knows who's under it? Dr. Blessed or someone else? Yeah? Haha…"
As the other girls laughed, the sudden seriousness vanishing off their faces, Momo's eyes narrowed. She hadn't told anyone about her feeling that it might not have been Dr. Blessed who appeared that night.
Momo wasn't alone in narrowing her eyes at Toru, though.
Nyx flew off Momo's shoulder and arrived at Luke's room, hurriedly writing something on paper.
The Magician repeated the same question seven times, letting the Topaz Pendulum dangle on it.
And when she opened her eyes, the gem was rotating clockwise fast, suggesting a positive answer.
"Oh…" Nyx cursed, her eyes widening. "… fuck!"
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