Prodigies - My Hero Academia

Test of Courage

TW: violence, serious injuries, gore, blood

As the sun begins to set, Midoriya enters the 1-A boy's cabin to retrieve a sweatshirt from his bag. Before making it to his luggage, he notices a suspicious pile next to his bunk. Upon further inspection, he realizes that the pile is bits of dry cheese sprawled out in a message.

I'M WATCHING YOU

His blood runs cold. 

A lone light comes on, taking Midoriya's attention away from the message and makes him completely forget the reason why he came into the cabin in the first place. He peeks his head around the bunk ladder, laying eyes on Akechi seated comfortably in his bunk with a book in hand.

"Akechi?", Midoriya calls, "Are you coming out?"

"No." His tone is flat.

"Why not?"

"This sort of game is not for me."

"But you're Class Rep. Shouldn't you.. y'know-"

"I said I'm not going."

With a mildly irritated huff, "Ida can't keep filling in for you."

"Ida is just more social than me. You have no idea how much I do for you and this class.", Akechi finally looks up from his book, "Also, my role doesn't require me to host your events."

Instead of continuing the confrontation, Midoriya becomes distracted as he now remembers the reason why he came into the cabin. Without destroying the message next to his bed, he reaches over for his bag and pulls out a gray sweatshirt and throws it on quickly. After zipping it up, he leaves the cabin and heads onward to meet his classmates at the beginning of the trail. 

***

At the clearing, students congregate into groups and chat amongst themselves as they await the test of courage.  However, Ida stands alone and stares down at his wristwatch. He taps his foot impatiently. Once one of his classmates makes an appearance, he approaches to express his annoyance for unacceptable behavior.

"Midoriya, you're late."

"Right, sorry!"

The towering trees swallow almost all sunlight from view. 

Kendo crosses her arms and scans over the people present, "We're still missing a few people."

Jirou turns to look into the tree line, "This is the route we agreed on, right?"

"A couple more minutes and I'm sure everyone will be here." Yaoyorozu reassures.

The sky starts to dim, allowing the full moon to show overhead.

Midoriya mumbles to himself, "I wonder how Kota is doing."

"Who's that?" Todoroki questions.

"The kid that's here. The one we saw on the ledge. Mandalay's cousin- nevermind. He doesn't like heroes. Actually, he hates the whole concept of superhumans, quirks and everything. I've been trying to talk to him, but it seems like all I do is make things worse.", Midoriya sighs, "I was wondering what All Might would have said if he were here. I mean, what would you tell him?"

"It depends."

Embarrassed, "Sorry, that was a stupid question."

"To have a complete stranger try and shift your mindset sounds like a pretty irritating conversation. What matters are actions. You have to show him what you're trying to prove, right? If you're going to rely on word alone, they would have to be very powerful. What you say doesn't matter near as much as what you do.", Todoroki answers eloquently, "I don't know what your intentions are with this child, but you shouldn't be sticking your nose in a delicate situation."