What The- (MHA Chatfic... Sorta)

Chapter 35: Acid vs Robotic Engineering

A/n: there is a panic attack - or something similar, I dunno - so if you find that triggering or uncomfortable to read, you should be fine to skip to the next chapter.

Takara Rui wasn't afraid to admit that she was at least a little nervous. She had confidence in her abilities as an engineer of support items, yes, but she hasn't trained in combat like her opponent was. Ashido had likely been training her quirk for years to have a certain degree of control over it, being careful with acidity levels and usages. Rui had spent years designing tools for other people's uses, and wasn't used to making things that were designed to be used by herself since she never expected to be the one in combat.

Suffice to say, she felt very underprepared, even with what she could make in the time they were given to prepare for the festival.

So, as she walked up the steps of the concrete platform, watching Ashido's confident smirk, she became hyper aware of everything around her. Little bits of pebbles and debris crunching under her shoes, banners fluttering in the wind, the sound of every individual person in the crowd, her short hair blowing across her face, the fabric and metal against her skin, she took in all of that information and more. And, yet, she couldn't peel her eyes away from Ashido.

Rui knew she had multiple advantages in this fight. She had her gear, her ability to understand a person's physical standing through quick analysis - a skill she picked up since she designed support gear for others - and the fact that her opponent didn't know her quirk and not vice versa. But, seeing Ashido's lean but strong frame, the absolute confidence in her expression and stance, made Rui feel like she was going to be overpowered, and fast.

However, all of the processing being done in her head made her entirely miss the starting sound.

Ashido rushed at her before she could react, the pink skinned girl being faster than Rui had initially anticipated. Rui dodged to the side upon pure instinct, analysing every detail of the way her opponent moved, trying to figure out her thought process. She watched as a goopy blob of acid formed in Ashido's hand, and panicked.

She knew Ashido likely wouldn't use anything strong enough to melt through her skin, or would just aim for her tools. But, Rui knew through experience the consequences of human error, especially when you in an unpredictable situation.

So, after dodging a few more attacks, Rui decided she needed to calm down. Getting worked up obviously wasn't helping, and she needed full focus to use her tools to the fullest ability. Not only did she wants to win, but she wanted to show potential sponsors what she could do. She counted her breaths, trying to focus on absolutely anything other than the absolute chaos erupting around her.

After she felt like she was sufficiently calmed down, Rui pulled out a device from a holster on her leg. It looked like a gun of sorts, but it had an entirely different purpose to a regular one. Instead of shooting bullets, it was designed to be able to completely destroy certain elements within a certain radius of it.

While Rui didn't know what kind of acid Ashido specifically could produce, her best guess was that it included the flourine. She wasn't expecting to up against Ashido, but brought the device as a last minute decision. And, boy was she thankful she did.

Rui pulled the trigger when Ashido got close to her again, which made Ashido's acid just melt out of her hand and drop on the ground. Since it was missing the key element in it, the chemical balance that made up her acid was no longer good enough to keep it together, and it just fell apart.

Rui allowed a small, shakey smile on her face as she watched her opponent's confusion, finding a new sense of confidence. With Ashido's quirk out of the way, it gave her more opportunities to use different gadgets and possibly even her quirk. With her plan in her mind, she put the gun away without turning it off, planning to pull out a different support item suited for her quirk to show off how she could design things alongside quirks to potential sponsors.

Until Ashido slipped on the puddle of goop that used to be her acid, hitting her head against the concrete just out of bounds.

There were a few cheers from he crowd who didn't realise that there was an injury, but most people went quiet. Rui went absolutely dead still, not moving a muscle or even breathing.

She had won, but it was by default. She hadn't been able to actually show her abilities well, and had possibly injured another student. She didn't feel like her win was deserved in any way, and that she could've done so much better. She had an opportunity, and she had wasted it. She has messed up, and had likely disappointed her teachers, friend, and any curious sponsors wouldn't consider her. Her entire plan had crumbled to pieces.

And, it was overwhelming.

She didn't notice Cementoss and Midnight calling out to her, or Present Mic over the speakers. All she could do was stare at Ashido's motionless body, feeling the weight of her mistake bearing down on her. Did she accidentally kill her? Would she go to prison? Would the school kick her out for endangering a student? Was everything she had worked for her entire life all for naught?

Rui clutched the fabric of her shirt over her heart, her breathing picking up. Her head raced with thoughts, and all of the sounds and feelings around her blended into an incomprehensible cacophony of sensory overload. The only thing she could make out was Ashido's blurry form on the ground, warm tears stinging her eyes and dripping down her face. She couldn't put into words how she was feeling, but all she wanted to do was sink into the ground and never come up for air.

Though, after what felt like hours, something blocked her vision of the pink girl, warm hands cupping her cheeks. She took a few moments to let everything settle, looking at Izuku's face. She didn't even hear or see him jump down from the seats and come up to her, but she was so, so thankful he was here. She felt bad when she saw the concern etched into his expression, his large emerald green eyes meeting her icy blue ones, but she didn't care for long.

She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his shoulder, trying to escape everything around her. She felt Midnight's hand on her shoulder, too, but was more focused on her friend in front of her.

He whispered calming things to her, and even if she couldn't make out the words, she was thankful for his effort. He coaxed her to follow him out of the arena, leading her to a quiet room where people didn't pass often. She just followed him without question, trying to calm herself down enough to process the events that just occured. She knew she'd probably overreacted, making people think she wasn't capable and probably having to go into the next round with a bad track record in people's heads. But, with Izuku leading her by the hand, she found she didn't care as much as she usually did.

Notes

Hello! We got Takara's perspective! I was planning on doing this chapter in Izuku's perspective, but thought it'd be more fun this way. I don't really know why I gave her my best description of a panic attack, but I felt like putting it there. Sorry if something was described incorrectly or anything, but that was my best shot at it. It's not something I write often, so it was hard to put into words. Anyway, sorry for the late chapter, happy New Year, and I'll see you next chapter!