"....Shit."

Aizawa rubbed his eyes. "I'm sorry to hear that." He grumbled with a frown.

"Do you have any idea what happened?" Nova asked with a worried frown. It wasn't like Iida at all to leave in the middle of a school event, especially not the sports festival. He had been so excited, it must've been something bad.

"...I think it has something to do with his brother." Midoriya said nervously. "Also um... Congratulations... On making it so far Nova... Everyone's rooting for you..." He said, looking over at Nova with a small smile.

Nova's face reddened slightly. Was that true? Surely he was just talking about himself and Uraraka right? Shoji too...

"Damn it." Aizawa groaned again. "Nevermind." He said after a long sigh, standing up again. "Kurayami, you're back on. I'm going to speak with Mic and contact Midnight about Iida. Go to recovery girl you'll need to be fixed up again, be prepared for another lecture through."

"Wait! Really?!" Nova asked with sudden excitement. "You mean I can still do it?!"

"Apparently." Aizawa said with a frown.

"You mean you weren't going too?" Midoriya asked them in confusion.

"Change of plans." Aizawa pointed at Nova. "When school starts back you're getting detention instead of not participating in the sports festival."

"Yes sir!" Nova nodded. Detention wasn't anything new to her anyways. She'd gotten it several times in previous schools. Anything was better than being expelled or kicked from the festival.

"That means you're fighting Kacchan next..." Midoriya mumbled as Aizawa left the room.  "Want... Want me to go to recovery girl's office with you?"

"Huh? Oh um... Yeah! Thanks..." Nova nodded and Midoriya gave her a sweet smile. She walked through the door with him and down the hallways in a slightly awkward silence.

"Are you.... Okay?" Midoriya asked her suddenly. "You know after..." He didn't have to finish.

"I uh..." Nova looked away. "I'm fine..."

"...you sure?" Midoriya asked, clearly not believing her all that much. "That's a pretty hard thing you know... I don't think many people would just be fine afterwards..."

Nova didn't respond to that. He had a point after all. It was too shitty of a thing to just gloss over.

"I'm sorry! I shouldn't be asking all of this! I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable I-I- just-"

"No it's fine..." Nova shook her head. "Like actually fine, I'm not just saying that..."

"...Right it's just..." Midoriya scratched the back of his neck. "I... I know what it's like... Being picked on and bullied and... Mistreated for something I couldn't help... Not that it was anything compared to this! Sorry I realized that Maybe it sounds like I-" He waved his hands nervously as he started rambling apologies.

"Don't apologize..." Nova said with a small smile. "Thanks Midoriya..."

She didn't realize Midoriya had been really bullied before. But then again his nervousness around people and fear of Bakugou made it easy to believe. She wondered if Bakugou had been the one to torment him... If so... How come Midoriya still seemed to want to be his friend?

"Honestly..." Nova frowned and reached her hand up, tugging one of her locks of hair. Cut apart and barely even a curl. "Is it vain... If I'm only really upset about my hair?" She whispered. "I wouldn't be that upset if they had just hit me..."

"That's not vain at all... It's horrible for anyone to go through that." Midoriya shook his head as a look of pity crossed over his face. Nova's hair had been so long, a beautiful feature that was the first thing about her anyone noticed. Now it was gone.

He looked down. It made complete sense for her to be distraught over it. The forceful cutting of hair represented banishment, humiliation and loss of power.  It was also a violation of someone's Autonomy similar to other types of physical assaults.

"Hey um... I wanted to apologize... Again." Midoriya mumbled.

"You don't have anything to apologize for Midoriya." Nova shook her head.

"I do... I should have... I should have approached you at the beginning of the year. Instead of avoiding you like everyone else. Back at middle school... I would have given anything to have someone kind approach me... But when I had the chance to give it to someone else... I didn't." He looked down at his shoes. "I'm supposed to be a hero... But I was no better than anyone else."

"Don't say that..." Nova whispered, wiping her nose. She had just stopped crying, now he was making her start again. "Just... Be my friend now..."

"Right." He nodded, looking up with a new look of determination. "I will! I can make up for it! I promise."

Nova covered her mouth with a small giggle. "Alright..."

Midoriya stared at her for a second in shock. "Hey... I've never heard you laugh before." He said, tilting his head. Nova looked away.

"Oh well-"

"It's nice." He finished. They stopped outside the nurses office, and Nova looked around.

"I should probably go in alone... I don't want you to get caught up in her lecturing me."

"Right... Good luck on your match! Kacchan's pretty strong but... I think you can beat him. Your quirk is amazing."

"..thanks Midoriya." Nova smiled, touching the door handle. "You're a good friend."

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

Whoever wins these next fights would advance to the semi finals. Nova had just barely made it, only because Iida dropped out.

Nova sat in the waiting room. Next was her match against Bakugou. She tried not to think about it too much. Bakugou absolutely hated her, he wouldn't hold back. He proved that in his match with Uraraka. It didn't matter who he was fighting, he'd go all out. He had too, after his declaration at the beginning of the sports festival.

Nova stared down at her phone, her mind preoccupied.

Pro hero INGENIUM taken to Hosu hospital after deadly encounter with a villain. Possibly another attack by the infamous hero killer; Stain.

There were few news sites covering it. The ones that did had limited information. Apparently Ingenium, Iida's older brother. Had been found in critical condition in an alleyway. Somewhere in Hosu, which was far from his agency.

Nova frowned and closed it. Apparently it seemed like it was the hero killer because of the reported stab wounds and nature of the crime.

No wonder Iida left so quickly, Nova would have done the same if it was her sibling...

She didn't know what she would do if she found out Zoey got hurt, all of her own motivations would have been abandoned immediately. She wondered if it felt the same for an older sibling to get hurt... She imagined it would be just as scary. She remembered how upset Zoey had been when Nova didn't show up on time after the USJ attack. Tenya probably felt the same, only worse considering his brother's condition.

Nova hoped he'd be okay.