The waiting room had emptied out considerably after Bakugo's fight, and the few people who remained had scattered through the hallways to stretch their legs or grab some water before the next round kicked off. Ren sat against the back wall with his eyes closed and his arms crossed over his chest, pretending to rest when really his head hadn't stopped spinning since he'd seen the semifinal bracket.
Momo Yaoyorozu. The girl with the biggest encyclopedia in the world crammed inside her head and a Quirk that let her create anything she understood on a molecular level. Against Kirishima she'd used polymer foam and a compressed air cannon. Against Iida she'd used magnesium powder and adhesive fibers… Both times she'd won without taking a single direct hit.
Momo studied their weaknesses and built the perfect tools to exploit them. She's gonna do the exact same thing against me, and the problem is that my telekinesis doesn't have a fixed pattern she can predict in advance.
That should be an advantage… but knowing her, she's already figured out a way to turn it into a problem.
A sudden tug on his left ear ripped him out of his thoughts.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow!" Ren brought his hand to his ear and turned his head to find Mina leaning behind him, arms crossed and wearing an amused expression. "Mind telling me why you did that, Ashido?"
"Listen up, shiny head!" Mina leaned forward until she was dangerously close to Ren, pointing at his chest with one finger. "None of your weird tricks with Yaomomo, got it?"
She lowered her voice, though her eyes were still burning with indignation.
"Because it's one thing that you caught me off guard during our fight, but if you try something like that with Momo in front of the whole country... I'm gonna make your life a living hell! Are we clear?"
"People judge me without even knowing me, seriously, folks just don't have any..." Ren stopped halfway through the sentence and finally let his shoulders drop with a sigh of surrender. "Ahem, yeah, whatever you say, I wasn't planning on doing anything like that to Momo."
"You better not."
Ren rubbed his ear a couple more times and then poked Mina on the cheek with one finger, pressing lightly while watching her with curiosity.
"I only did it to you because you were being way too annoying during our fight and someone needed to knock you down a peg," he said casually, noticing that Mina's pink skin was ridiculously soft to the touch. "Also, I've been meaning to ask you something since then."
Mina blinked in confusion and took half a step back to get away from the finger on her cheek, but Ren leaned in and whispered in her ear.
"When were you planning on telling me about the liquid your Quirk produces? The pink stuff that came out during our fight, I mean... is it a variant of your acid or is it something completely different?"
The color in Mina's face climbed several shades until it reached an intense magenta that made her cheeks look almost red against the natural tone of her skin, and she started waving her hands in front of her as if trying to shoo the question away.
"Wh-What?! Don't ask me stuff like that out of nowhere!" she protested, flailing her hands as she stepped back. "It's something completely new, okay?! I only discovered it a few weeks ago and I'm still trying to figure out how it works. I don't even know when it activates!"
She pointed at herself with her thumb, puffing out her cheeks.
"So quit acting like I've got an instruction manual or something! And stop snooping around in my business, shiny head. You're such a gossip!"
"Alright, I respect that." Ren raised both hands in a peace gesture and switched his tone completely, tilting his head to one side. "But changing the subject, when?"
"When what?"
"When do you wanna do our cake date, Mina."
Mina's blush dropped a couple of shades as surprise replaced the embarrassment.
"Huh? The cake date?" she repeated, and a smile started spreading across her face. "Well, now that's an important question!"
She giggled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Whenever works for you. Seriously! I'm not that picky, you know?" She raised her hands in surrender. "As long as there's cake and good company, I'm already happy."
Then she pointed at Ren with a mischievous smile.
"Although if you make me wait too long, I'm gonna start thinking you're trying to keep all the desserts for yourself. I'm not as fussy as you think, Hayashi-san. As long as there's cake involved, I'm in."
That was... surprisingly simple and cute. Sometimes Mina reminds me why it's impossible not to grow fond of her even though she calls me a pervert every five minutes.
"Deal," Ren said, and before he could add anything else, a pair of arms wrapped around his neck from behind and a familiar voice spoke right into his ear.
"Ren-kun, Ren-kun! Are you ready for your fight?" Toru hugged him enthusiastically while her gym uniform floated around him like an affectionate ghost. "Momo-chan is super strong, so you'd better have a really awesome plan!"
"I'm working on it, Toru, but it's kinda hard to concentrate when I'm being strangled." Ren tried to loosen her grip without much success while Toru laughed against his shoulder.
Then the invisible girl seemed to notice something on the other side of the railing.
"Oh, Mina! I think Present Mic is calling you."
"Huh? What?"
Mina immediately lifted her head and stood on her tiptoes to scan the stands.
"Where?"
"Over there, near the competitors' entrance."
"I don't see him..."
Mina turned toward the arena and stood on her tiptoes to look over the railing, trying to spot him, and the moment her attention shifted away, Ren felt Toru's hands turn his face and soft lips pressed against his for a brief instant.
"Good luck down there," Toru whispered so close that he could feel her breath against his skin. "Go kick some butt, baldy."
And she pulled away like nothing had happened, going to hug Mina from behind with a squeal of excitement that made the pink girl jump.
Okay... how is it possible that Toru can be so spontaneous and so warm and at the same time insist she doesn't want anything formal?
Mina shot him a look over her shoulder while Toru dragged her toward the seats, and Ren could clearly read the question in her yellow eyes: How the heck did this stupid baldy figure out about my Quirk? He flashed her an innocent smile back that clearly didn't convince her one bit, and the two girls walked off, whispering between themselves.
Momo's footsteps echoed down the hallway before she appeared in the entrance of the waiting room, adjusting the collar of her gym uniform with smooth motions that betrayed the nerves underneath her usual composure. When she saw Ren sitting alone on the bench, she walked over and stopped a meter away from him, her hands clasped in front of her.
"Ren-kun," she began, and Ren immediately noticed she was choosing every word with care, "I want you to know that I prepared my strategy for this match taking into account everything I saw in your fight against Jiro-san. I studied the way you control multiple objects, your elevation range, your reaction speed against surprise attacks, and the way you build defenses out of debris."
"Sounds like you've been doing your homework," Ren said, genuinely impressed.
"Of course I have." Momo lifted her chin slightly, and for a moment her nervousness was hidden behind academic pride. "Against Iida-san I used a plan based on exploiting his straight line speed, but with you it's different because your telekinesis doesn't follow a predictable attack pattern. That forces me to bring multiple options prepared and adapt on the fly, which is considerably more demanding in terms of lipids."
"Momo, you don't have to explain your strategy to me before the fight." Ren cut her off with a half smile. "Save the surprises for when we're down there, alright?"
"You're right, I got carried away," she admitted, and the mask of academic confidence slipped just enough to show the anxiety underneath. "It's just that I want you to know I'm going to fight with everything I have."
"I know, and I hope you do, because if you don't take this seriously I'm gonna feel insulted."
"Don't worry, I fully intend to beat you," Momo said with a firmness that pulled a laugh out of Ren.
Then a blush appeared on her cheeks and her voice dropped a tone as she looked away toward some undefined spot on the floor.
"Ren-kun, I wanted to ask you something before we start..."
"Go ahead."
"Regardless of what happens down there... the bet still stands, right? About going to the local festival together after all of this."
Of all the things she could've asked me before a semifinal match, Momo Yaoyorozu, heiress to one of the richest families in Japan, the student with the best grades in our entire class, and probably the smartest person in first year at all of UA... is asking me if our date is still on...
"Of course it still stands," Ren answered, and he made sure to look her right in the eyes when he said it. "Even without the bet, I'd want us to go together."
Momo's expression softened instantly. It was as if she could finally let out the breath she'd been holding for a while; a shy smile appeared on her lips and her eyes shone with such obvious relief that Ren didn't need her to say a single word.
"That makes me really happy, Ren-kun," she said.
"Alright, are we ready then?" Ren stood up and stretched. "You're going to try to beat me with your whole arsenal, I'm going to try not to let you, and after one of us loses we're going to go eat cotton candy together at a festival."
"That sums up the situation pretty accurately." Momo laughed softly and the laugh lit up her whole face.
"ATTENTION, COMPETITORS!" Present Mic's voice boomed through the speakers. "THE SEMIFINAL MATCHES ARE ABOUT TO BEGIN! FIRST MATCHUP: REN HAYASHI VERSUS MOMO YAOYOROZU! BOTH PARTICIPANTS, REPORT TO THE ARENA IMMEDIATELY!"
Momo took a deep breath, smoothed her uniform one last time, and gave Ren a determined look.
"See you down there," she said, and turned to walk toward the entrance tunnel with her back straight and her step firm.
Ren watched her walk away for a couple of seconds before heading toward the opposite tunnel.
Good luck, my dear Momo.
*******
Author's Note: This chapter was originally part of a much larger one — around 5,600 words total — but I decided to split it off and let it stand on its own. It has this quiet energy to it, a real calm before the storm kind of feel with a slice-of-life touch, and I didn't want that to get buried. I hope you enjoyed it for what it is!
Chapter 119 now available at:
Patreon.com/itszeroo