When the girls arrived back to the observation room their loudest classmates intercepted them.

"That was really manly, Midoriya!" Said Eijiro with excitement.

"Yeah, girl!" Continue Mina. "I knew you were strong but damn! You and Bakugou almost leveled the building!"

"Yeah, that was scary but cool... Kinda sexy too." That was Denki's contribution.

Enough for Tsuyu to put him in her blacklist along with Mineta.

"...Guys, I think she is more beaten up than we thought." Added Jiro. Then they noticed Izumi's arm, and their expressions turned grim.

"A-Are you fine, Deku-chan?!" "Midoriya-san!" Yelled Ochako, pushing Kaminari out of the way to get closer, with Iida just some steps behind her.

Their more reserved classmates simply observed with worry from a distance.

Katsuki wasn't in the room.

In any case, before they could continue gushing around Izumi, All Might approached. "YOUNG MIDORIYA!"

"G-Guys, don't worry, I'm fine!" After a tentative look to Tsuyu, Izumi lifted it slowly to show her point. "I-It's not even broken."

"STILL, YOU SHOULD GO TO THE INFIRMARY SO RECOVERY GIRL CAN TAKE A LOOK." That was enough to make Izumi flinch.

'Izumi-chan fears her...? Weird, kero.'

"B-But if I go, I won't hear our results... And Recovery Girl probably won't let me back to see the next battles." She said, pouting slightly. Tsuyu could only blush at witnessing such an adorable expression.

"DON'T WORRY ABOUT THAT, YOUNG MIDORIYA! TOMORROW YOU'LL RECEIVE THE RECORDINGS OF THIS EXERCISE." Said All Might in his always confident tone.

Though he was avoiding Izumi's gaze, so apparently not even he was immune to her pouting face. 'Such a frightening weapon, kero!'

"All Might-sensei. Can I help Izumi-chan along the way? Her feet are bruised too, kero."

"Eh, actually I can walk better already-. T-TSU?!" She latched tightly on her Izumi'sgood arm.

"THAT'S NICE OF YOU, YOUNG ASUI! WELL, GO AHEAD!"

And so she did... While trying to avoid looking at Izumi's sad puppy eyes.

Just when they were in front of infirmary, the door opened bluntly and Katsuki came out.

He looked the same as always. The only visible signs of the previous fight were his bruised lip and the band-aid over his eyebrow.

Izumi's expression turned serious, while Tsuyu glared at him.

What was his reaction...? He just squinted his eyes and stared back at them. Then, he walked away.

"...Do you think he'll stop being such a colossal idiot, kero?" Tsuyu asked when he wasn't visible anymore.

"Hmm. I d-don't think that's physically possible for him." Izumi answered, half-joking. "But at least, maybe he'll stop underestimating me and everyone else so much."

Tsuyu didn't believe that'll happen... Or at least not so fast.

But that was fine too if it meant to have Katsuki getting his ass kicked, eventually.

---

It only took Tsuyu a few minutes to understand that the old nurse knew Izumi from before. And she didn't know if giggling or take pity on Izumi because of the current situation.

In the end, she could only remain silent while the nurse chewed Izumi for her actions.

"...Well. Surprisingly, no bone is broken." Commented Recovery Girl with a sigh.

"That's good!" Said Izumi, relieved, while sitting on one of the infirmary beds.

"It's not, you reckless girl!" The nurse hit the poor freckled girl with her cane. "Your bones are fine, but in exchange, you are now damaging your muscles."

"I-I see."

"No. You don't." The old woman frowned. "Yours is a Grade 1 injury; mild damage to the muscle fibers. Which would mean about a month of light physical activity to recover without my Quirk's help. Now, a Grade 2? Extensive damage, resulting in 2 to 3 months of complete rest... But a Grade 3 injury...?"

"H-Half a year of recovering?"

"Grade 3. Complete rupture of the muscle. It would require surgery." Izumi flinched in clear fear. "I'm sure you don't want to pass through that... Again." That made Tsuyu open her eyes wide and look at Izumi with worry. Noticing how the other girl just stared at her scarred arms.

'Oh. So those scars...' Tsuyu gulped, feeling cold and scared. Just the thought of Izumi in such pain made her feel sick.

Recovery Girl sighed again. "Just rest in here for this period... If you take it easy, you should be fine by tomorrow." With that, the old woman walked away, leaving them alone...

Wanting to finish with the awkward and depressing atmosphere of the room, Tsuyu got closer to the bed.

They looked at each other, and then she took out her shoes and sat beside Izumi. The bed was small, so they were close to each other.

"Tsu?" The girl looked at her curiously.

Suddenly, Tsuyu hugged Izumi from her side, the other girl letting out a little yelp. "Don't be sad. You'll be fine, kero."

"B-But you heard Recovery Girl." She shooked her head and looked away. "I need to get better at using my Quirk, or I could hurt m-myself or someone else badly."

"You need practice, yeah. But you did your part and dealt with Bakugou. So I would say you aren't as bad as you think, Izumi-chan."

"I know I'm not... But I'm still not where I want to be." Tsuyu frowned. Izumi was being too hard on herself, though she supposed it was difficult not to when you had a constant reminder of your failures in your arms... Also, Tsuyu doubted Izumi had received many words of support before.

"But you'll be... And if you want, I can help." She hugged her tighter. "So have more confidence in yourself, kero." Izumi finally smiled.

"Thanks, Tsu."

"You feel better?" She stopped the hug.

Izumi nodded but kept on looking at her.

"Kero?"

"...I apologize if I'm being too forwards but, eh, could you do that again?" She whispered while looking at her feet. "T-The hug... It was nice." Izumi's face was as red as her shoes.

"K-Kero! It would be a pleasure."

---

Izumi and she were now eating in the cafeteria along with Ochako and Iida, discussing the results of the exercise.

"So I was the MVP, kero?" Tsuyu asked with surprise.

"Why are you so surprised? You were amazing, Tsu-chan!"

"S-She is right, Tsu. You pulled off the plan perfectly."

"Yeah, I have to recognize you put me in quite a troublesome situation, Asui-kun." Iida nodded.

"Call me Tsu. And well, I just followed Izumi-chan's plan, so it's weird for me to take all the credit."

"I-It's not... I know you had certain doubts about my plan. So you could have done as Katsuki did with Iida-san, and ignore me and the plan."

"...I would be a terrible partner if I had done that." She said, frowning.

"E-Exactly! But instead, you trusted me and did your part! That makes you deserving of being the MVP." Tsuyu blushed.

"S-Still, I dislike that you aren't given any credit at all, kero."

"T-That is my own fault." Izumi said, flustered. "I let myself get pulled into Katsuki's mind games... I should have remained calm and ignore his taunting. But I didn't and we end up causing a lot of damage to the structure. So logically, I couldn't be the MVP."

"That surprised me a lot! I didn't know you could swear like that, Deku-chan!"

"Eh, Izumi-chan swore?" Tsuyu couldn't imagine her doing such a thing.

"Really!?" Iida was the same.

"Yes! It was pretty shocking!"

"P-Please don't continue, Uraraka-san!" Izumi begged. "It's embarrassing."

"Ah. Sorry, Deku-chan."

"...Hmm. D-Did you guys in the observation room heard everything Katsuki and I said?"

"Not everything. All Might-sensei muted the video." Izumi sighed in relief. "But in any case, all of you were amazing!" Ochako smiled brightly at them. "It would be great if you could give me some tips! I want to be a badass girl like you two!" She punched at the air excitedly.

After that, the conversation went to lighter topics, as their food, family, hobbies, etc. However, Tsuyu slowly noticed how Izumi was distracted or worried about something, constantly looking at her surroundings with a perplexed expression every few minutes.

"Are you fine, Izumi-chan?" She asked in a whisper, while Iida and Uraraka chatted with each other.

"Eh?"

"Is something the matter?"

"Ah. No, I'm fine, don't worry."

"Izumi-chan." She insisted.

"...S-Sorry. It's just... I felt like if someone was observing me." Tsuyu blinked. "But every time I looked around, I couldn't find anyone doing it... Weird, right?"

"Not really. It's said that there's always someone looking at you. But maybe that person wasn't looking at you specifically but just in your general direction, kero."

"Oh, you may be right." Her expression relaxed. "Thanks, Tsu... And sorry for bothering you with my silly worries."

"Nothing of you is silly, so don't hesitate to 'bother' me, kero." She said with a smile, successfully reassuring Izumi that everything was alright... But she didn't believe so.

Izumi had excellent instincts, so if she thought someone was looking at her furtively, then that was probably the case.

So when the girl joined Ochako and Iida's conversation, Tsuyu took the opportunity to look around, trying to detect anyone suspicious.

It only took her a pair of seconds to find five possible suspects sitting on a close table.

They were their age. Their group was formed by three guys; one with a ponytail, one that looked like an insect, and a feral-looking one. And two girls; one with an equine-like face and horns, and a regular-looking girl with green curly hair.

All of them were looking at Izumi. That was a fact. But while the horse girl and the guys -especially the one with the pony-tail- seemed simply curious. The green-haired girl looked at Izumi as a hunter stalking her prey... It both angered and unnerved Tsuyu greatly.

Looking around some more, she found other students glancing at Izumi with curiosity. And practically all of them had in common an animal mutation.

She felt like an idiot for not noticing this the previous day... And the implications made her uneasy.

"Kero." She stood up.

"Eh, Tsu?"

"Sorry, Izumi-chan. I forgot I had somewhere else to be, but it won't take much. See you later." She smiled at her friends and then moved to a table occupied by a very distinctive group of her classmates: Mezo, Fumikage, Koji, and Mashirao. All of which were observing Izumi before. "...Can I sit for a moment, kero?" They nodded and she sat with them. "I suppose you guy are the same as me, kero?" She asked, her tone was neutral but sharp. Because if she was right, then around 20-25% of the school population were now her rivals.

At her question, Mezo was thoughtful, while Mashirao and Koji looked flustered. And Fumikage...

"When Icaro flew towards the sun he didn't think once on the possibility of burning his wings. He was just too fascinated by the pureness of Elios' mighty light to stop his flight because of such nonsense." Said the raven boy, just being himself.

"Man, don't say ominous stuff like that when the mood is already weird." Rebutted Mashirao.

"...Asui-san, you seem on the defensive. But I think you are misunderstanding the situation."

"Then, you guys don't like Izumi-chan too?" Such a question made the four of them embarrassed. But specially Mashirao, who choked with his own saliva; and Koji, who shooked his head vigorously, red like a volcano about to ignite.

"Hmm... 'Too'?... Thou said 'too'." Repeated Fumikage with a smug expression.

Tsuyu gulped, her cheeks red. 'I suppose that's out of the bag, kero.'

"Back to your question." Interjected Mezo in a calming tone, sending a scolding glance at Fumikage. "Midoriya-san is an agreeable and kind person, so we don't dislike her in any way. But the answer to your question is no. We don't like her romantically."

"But then why were you staring at Izumi-chan so much...? Though, you weren't the only. Many people were doing it too, kero."

"Infinite light draws everlasting darkness." Recited Fumikage crossing his arms.

"Ah, What Tokoyami means is that Midoriya is 'interesting', in a weird sense." Added Mashirao.

"My animals are curious about her too." Said Koji in a quiet voice.

"It's like they say. There's something special about Midoriya-san that is making us, animal-type mutants, want to keep an eye on her and make sure she is safe and sound. Even if we don't completely understand why..." Finished Mezo.

"...Yeah. Watching her fight with Bakugou was really uncomfortable. That guy is awful..." Mashirao said with a frown and Koji nodded.

"A hideous monster can only hide in a hideous form." Said Fumikage.

Well, that was a relief. More people looking out for Izumi's safeness and no dozens of love-rivals for her.

"But from what you said, the way you feel about Midoriya-san is a lot different, right?" Questioned Mezo.

"K-Kero."

"It's fine, you don't need to answer if you don't want to." He said, and the rest gave her encouraging nods.

"Thanks, guys. And sorry for being rude before." She smiled at them. "...Hmm, Mezo-chan. Could you do me a favor?"

"What is it?"

"Could you tell me something about that girl?" She subtly pointed at the green-haired girl from before.

That girl was the only person in the cafeteria looking at Izumi with lustful eyes. It made Tsuyu's stomach churn to see how that girl ogled at Izumi with a dumb smile on her face. 'I don't look at Izumi-chan like that, do I...? Because if I do, I really need to put myself together, kero.'

"No problem." Mezo grew an extra eye and nose and pointed them in the girl's direction. He remained silent for a moment and then tilted his head. "Curious." He said, morphing his arms back to normal.

"What is it, kero?"

"Despite her normal appearance, she is an animal-type like us. And if I'm not wrong, she has a reptile mutation... The curious thing is that somehow she feels similar to you." Tsuyu frowned.

She had a rival after all.

---

Meanwhile, the conversation on Izumi's table continued. Though she was too distracted to take part in it.

She was too busy watching Tsuyu discuss with their classmates.

'Tsu is amazing and friendly. I shouldn't be surprised that she has more friends.' She bit her lip. 'Then, why do I feel bad about it?'

---

(Omake: AU if Izumi told Katsuki about OFA)

---

"-And don't you dare get the idea that you'll ever beat me again...! Fuck!" Yelled Katsuki without even looking at her, and then finally walked away.

Izumi was both speechless and concerned. Maybe telling Katsuki the truth about her Quirk was a mistake...

"That sure was something, kero."

"Yeah." She nodded. "It wa- T-TSU?!" She turned around in complete surprise. "W-What are you doing here?!"

"Kero?" The girl touched her mouth with her index finger. "...I was walking to the train station like you, Izumi-chan."

"...H-How much you heard?" Izumi asked, sweating coldly. She couldn't be so bad at keeping secrets that already two classmates knew about OFA by her second day in UA!

"Hmm, not much. Barely got here to see how you made Katsuki cry."

"E-EH?! I didn't make him cry!"

"I'm pretty sure those were tears in his eyes. It's cool but worrying to know you can be mean when you want to, kero."

"Y-You are misunderstanding!" But she had no way to explain the situation without telling the truth. So she let it be.

Izumi even suspected the possibility that Tsuyu was lying.

'Someone else gave Izumi-chan a Quirk...? That would explain a lot. And considering how similar their Quirks are, that person could be All Might-sensei, kero!' Tsuyu gazed at the girl.

But if Izumi's bright smile was a sign, she would be a great successor.

---