I don't speak French. Google translate kind of speaks French. The French will probably be incorrect as a result. You've been warned.

Third person pov

The field was chaos.

Blood was being spilled left and right. There were explosions going off in the background, courtesy of Bakugo and some blond asshole who'd stolen his quirk. Headbands were flying through the air, odd patches of ice littered the ground, and dark shadow loomed over anyone who got too close, blocking out the light and making half the field seem even duller than it was meant to. And in the middle of it, Harper and her team...

Were doing great, actually.

"Hey, you." Hitoshi goaded. "Yeah, you. Why is your head that shape? Were you dropped as a baby?" 

"Why, I'll-" And then they went dead-eyed. Just like that. It was incredibly handy. At first their team had seemed ragtag. Actually, it still was, but it was doing so much better than literally any of them had assumed it would. Harper had somehow gotten chosen as the rider. After examining her weight and quirk versus Hagakure's, they'd made a unanimous decision to place her on top. Kirishima was in the front, Hitoshi on Harper's right, and Hagakure on the left. 

The redhead had been dying almost the entire fight, his face red and his grin stretching side. His hair was surprisingly soft to be honest. Kirishima's thoughts were pleading to the heavens above, begging her to touch it. She'd accidentally ghosted over it at some point, but Kirishima's strangled yelp and sudden jolt of surprise had prevented her from going anywhere near it if she could help it.

As for team dynamic, Kirishima was the hull of their horrifying, dinky little ship. People came at him, he hardened and kicked them. He'd kicked four people in the nuts and one girl straight in the stomach. It was nice to see some gender equality being practiced. He'd had no hesitation as he rammed his foot in her gut. The satisfaction she felt from the mental "oh, shit" was so immense she'd almost laughed. Almost.

Harper was on top acting a shitty, discount command central. If someone was coming their way or trying to pull a fast one on them, she simply... told them. That's pretty much all she did. That, and if someone or something was flying for the headbands around her neck, she'd dodge to the best of her ability. Who knew she was that flexible. Harper was pretty sure she could do a complete back bend, even if her spine had all but snapped it two when she flung herself back and away from Sero's tape.

Hitoshi and Hagakure were the real apple of this pie, however. Hagakure's hands were invisible. Rolling up her sleeves completely to make her shirt appear as more of a tank top meant nobody could see where her free arm was flying, and it had already saved them a few times. On top of that, she could refract light. She'd brought an entire team crashing to the ground because she'd blinded one of the back legs of the group. Harper had been afraid of disqualification, but because they hadn't been aiming to knock them down, it was easily let go.

Hitoshi was their prime defense. His quirk was incredibly versatile, and Harper was mere inches away from throwing it all out the window and giving him her spot in the hero course. She wasn't sure if that was a possibility, but his use of his power was nothing short of 1-A worthy. She kept shooting looks at the announcers box where Aizawa was and gesturing subtly to the purple haired boy with hidden urgency. Could they kick out Mineta? They should kick out on Mineta. Perving on girls was shitty, but perving on guys was just as bad.

Speaking of Aizawa, he'd been screaming at her mentally.

The whole time.

"You can do it! Go Harper! Omg, so cute, I'm dying, someone save me- AH! Tsuyu's tongue! Look, it did a little frog thing and- right, right, right! Harper, good work! You're in forth place! I see you gesturing to that boy! Yes, he's very cute! No? That's not what you meant? Why are you shaking your head? Omg! You like him?! Tea!" Aizawa shrieked. Harper wanted to pull out her hair, shaking her head again. "No? You don't like him? Oh, I see! You want him off your- no, that's not it either? I love charades! This isn't charades. This is more of a guessing game. Those are fun! I should ask Mic what he thinks!"

"Oi." Aizawa grumbled dryly. Mic glanced at him with raised eyebrows and a grin. "Why is Harper gesturing to that kid so much?"

Mic turned his gaze to where Harper was dying, her hands braced against Kirishima's shoulders and her head lowered. The redheaded boy's lips were parted in slight shock as he mindlessly walked forward, seemingly surprised by the fact that she was touching him. The blond voice hero snorted. "Someone has a crush. Poor kid. Harper probably knows all about it! Gnarly. Now, let's see, purple hair..."

"Oh." Mic blinked, covering the microphone so the stadium couldn't hear him. "He's got a brainwashing quirk! Hitoshi Shinso: an applicant for the hero course who got unlucky due to the use of robots! She's probably trying to tell you he needs to be in the hero course or something, yo!" 

Harper began to nod rapidly, glancing down at Shinso when he asked what the fuck she was doing. The girl answered by ducking out of the way of, once again, Sero's tape. Did the guy ever give up?

"Ah, makes sense." Aizawa grumbled, and Mic snorted at the tired expression on his face. He had no idea what was going on in the Erasure hero's head. "O-M-G. You want another friend in the hero course! That's so cute! I'll totally see what I can do! We can trade him and Mineta! I don't like Mineta. He's not cute at all. He could be if he wasn't such a fucking cunt bag piece of-"

Harper groaned loudly, throwing her head back. Hagakure and Hitoshi were both becoming increasingly more concerned for her mental state. Understandable, all things considered. Her constant nodding and desperately gesturing to Shinso would worry anyone. Said boy's thoughts were asking as such, "Is she okay? What is she even doing? I swear to god, if I'm being sabotaged... yeah, I wouldn't be surprised. Whatever, I probably deserve it for being a jackass in general. Maybe the ice cream upset her stomach and this is her petty revenge."

"Uh... Harper, are you okay? What were you doing just now?" Hagakure was the only one brave enough to voice it. "Geez, I'm ready to drop dead. Well, I died a long time ago, on the inside. I'm just waiting for my shell of a body to give out. I'd say it's holding up pretty well! Which sucks, because I really just want to sleep. Eternal coma, yo holla at yah girl, Toru in the house. Satan won't know what hit him. Literally. I'm invisible, and in this essay, I'll-"

"Trying to convey that I want Hitoshi in the hero course." Harper answered bluntly, prying her eyes from the announcers box and glancing at Kirishima with the slight furrowing of her brows. They were asking if she was okay, but was he? Damn.

"OhmygodshetouchedmyshouldersIcandiehappyIlovehersomuch-" His thoughts were a stream with no visible pauses. Did she want to try and decipher any of that? Absolutely not. There as no way. Whatever. She gave him an awkward pat on the shoulder before retracting herself as much as possible in an attempt to repair the damage. Somehow, she knew that wouldn't do much, but it was fine. He'd get over it... eventually.

"Wait, what?" Hitoshi sputtered. "She? Wants me? In the hero course? Ç'est quoi ce bordel? Est-elle sérieuse? Elle doit plaisanter!" 

What... the fuck?

Was that French? Harper stopped herself from twisting around to stare at him incredulously. He had to be joking. This had to be a joke. How the fuck was she supposed to read his thoughts if he was panicking in another language?! Not even Aoyama thought in French, even though he definitely spoke it. She tried to be nice, tried to do a good thing, and now strings of frantic French were slowly numbing her brain. 

"Oh, that's a great idea! Your quirk is totally perfect for the hero course! I bet the only reason you didn't get in is because of the robots in the entrance exam!" Hagakure gasped, and Harper had a feeling she had a rather wide eyed look on her face at the moment. "This is insane. Totally insane! Hitoshi would be perfect in the hero course. How did I not think of that? More proof that an early grave is just the thing I need. I'm not even suicidal, just tired. Kumbayaaa, my lord-"

"You... want me in the hero course?" Hitoshi finally managed to get out. They'd been standing in one spot near a corner for a while, and nobody had approached. Harper reminded herself to keep an eye out. Ear out? Mind out? She had no fucking idea. "They want me in the hero course? This... This is crazy. They're 1-A students, and they think I should be in the hero course. With them. In the hero course. This is fucking insane."

"Y-Yeah. You'd be great in the hero course! Your quirk is so manly, dude!" Kirishima finally managed to break out. "Deep breaths. Holy shit, I think my heart almost gave out. I can't freak out every time she puts a hand on me! What if we bump shoulders or something and I lose it? That wouldn't be manly at all. She probably thinks I'm so weird too. Man..."

"Oi, the team with Discount Kirishima is on its way, from the right. And yeah, you'd do great in the hero course. I think Aizawa got the gist of what I was trying to... tell him." Harper seemed to decide as Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu's team approached. Who did that to a kid? Seriously. On the bright side, Aizawa really did get what she was saying, and he was already doing something about it. And by that she meant he was sending grumpy and vague texts to the mandatory teacher group chat.

"Hi-to-shi! Hi-to-shi!" The dark-haired man chanted cheerfully in his mind, his face outwardly blank and grumpy. "I sort of ship him and Harper. They're both so tired, it's adorable! But Kirishima and Harper... Iida and Harper... Ochako and Harper... Hagakure and Harper... Kaminari and Harper? So many possibilities! I ship everyone with everyone! But Kirishima is the most likely. I'm going to go with that for no- she's looking at me. Don't worry Harper! I'm finding you a significant other!"

Harper bit back a groan.

"Discount Kirishima?" Kirishima himself questioned as the trotted away from the team trying, and failing, to sneak up on them. "Wh-What does that does that mean? Are we friends? Off topic. I want to be friends with her. She's soooo cool. And womanly. I'm in love. This is fine. Chaos, but fine. Sort of. Okay, it's not, I'm totally freaking out!"

"That guy. 1-B, Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu, has a hardening quirk similar to yours, only his skin to steel and not to rock. You're a quality person. He's second-rate, and therefore discount." Harper tried to explain. Hitoshi was still processing and Hagakure was mentally cackling over how dumb Harper sounded. Acceptable. "In simple terms, I like you better."

"She likes me." Was immediately where Kirishima's brain went, and then he... stopped moving. Completely. He just fell still, turned red, and stood there for a moment. Hitoshi almost ran into him and dropped Harper, and Hagakure's mental cackling increased by a tenfold. Harper paled as she felt Kirishima's entire body light up with fuzzy, giddy warmth. His face went red right up to the very tops of his ears. "Oh my god. Oh my god? Oh my god. No, calm down, she didn't mean it like that you idiot! But she likes me better. Likes. She likes me. She doesn't hate me or anything. This is amazing. My face has never been so red. Why can't I move? She's going to hate me after this. It's almost worth it."

"Shit." Harper twisted around as Tetsutetsu and his 'posse', as he mentally called it, approached. Vines shot out at her from prayer girl's head, twisting towards the headbands around her neck. She dodged as Hagakure sent light right into the girl's eyes, causing them to stumble. Harper swatted Kirishima lightly on the head. No reaction. Just more gibberish. She couldn't fucking believe it. She'd caused Kirishima to buffer. That's exactly what he was doing!

"Uh oh, what's this?! Team Rye has run into some trouble, and time's almost up!" Mic crowed. "Looks like the spunky red one stopped! Poor kid looks like a tomato. Just what did they do to him?"

"YOU CAN DO IT HARPER!" Aizawa's thoughts screamed. Outwardly, he was blank. "Go! My baby, you can do it! Oh my god I'm so proud. Dadzawa is cheering, sweetie, do your best! This is the best day of the life. Look at her, focusing despite all the sound. Beautiful. All my children are flourishing! I could cry."

Harper cursed under her breath. Hitoshi jumped into action.

"Is there anything better than pussy?" The tired teen blurted out in a panic. Plant girl gasped in absolute horror, her and her team coming to a dead halt that was full of unease. They obviously had no idea what to do or how to respond. Harper held her breath. "Oh my god, I panicked. I always spout vines when I panic. Why did I do this to myself?"

"Lord above, please forgive this lost soul. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9."

Harper really, really wanted to bash her own head in. Maybe bury her face in Kirishima's hair until she suffocated. One of the two.

"Yeah, a really good book-" Yosetsu was cut off, eyes going blank. Kirishima blinked back into reality, mind still screaming and flushed, but he'd manage to reboot himself enough for his legs to function. They jolted forward, Hitoshi briefly telling Awase to turn around and go away. They would have asked for their headbands, Awase was only a horse, not the rider, so it could have been viewed as them trying to topple their formation. Harper didn't really want that. Especially when they were so, so painfully close. 

"Wow, that was a close one!" Hagakure commented. "My whole ass mother fucking life flashed before my eyes oh my fucking god-"

"S-Sorry you guys! I had a moment." Kirishima sputtered, clearly embarrassed. "I can't believe I did that. She has to hate me. I sort of want to cry, but that would be unmanly of me. Why can't I ever do anything right?! Sometimes I just feel so useless, with this quirk, and with the way I am! It's dumb... I just like her a lot and... god, I'm an idiot..."

"It's alright, Kirishima. It happens to all of us. No harm, no foul." Harper assured, patting his shoulder with a silent sigh as to not upset him further. Kirishima didn't have good taste in women, but she didn't want him to feel shitty for being human either. "Nice save, Shinso. Thanks for that."

"Yeah, anytime." Hitoshi said, a smile present in his voice. Kirishima shook his head a few times as though to clear his mind, taking some deep breaths and plastering on a grin. Harper was glad to see his spirits a bit lifted. She could feel a migraine forming, spreading from her eyes up to her forehead. The sun's light was a bit much, and the sound was beginning to get to her, even if she had adjusted and was trying to treat it as nothing more than background noise. There was only so much a quirk could take before side effects presented itself. For someone who couldn't turn their power up, that was an issue.

"Time's up!" Mic announced with a booming smile. Aizawa was mentally buzzing, though outwardly he looked tired and ready to lay down and die. Harper really, really wanted to know where he learned to do that, and more importantly, why he did it at all.

"Thank god." Harper muttered as she was lowered carefully to the ground. Kirishima whirled around to see if she was okay, as though something had happened. She rolled her shoulders and popped her neck, glancing at Hitoshi and Hagakure questioningly as they stretched. "You guys good? Thanks for bearing my weight."

"Eat more." Hitoshi advised. "She needs ten more tubs of ice cream for her weight to be something to bear."

"Ignore him. You're average." Hagakure assured, clapping her hands together happily. "I don't know how many points we have, but I sure hope we passed! That was exciting! Now I'm ready to go crawl into a deep, dark hole somewhere to pass out."

"Sorry for ducking out there, again. I could have cost us big time." Kirishima grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck with pink cheeks. "That was so embarrassing! Harper looks so cute. I still can't believe she put her hands on my shoulders. I mean, it makes sense. Seeing as she was like, supposed to. Other people on other teams were. Not a big deal. At all. Deep breaths, Kirishima! Keep your cool, man! You've got to like... like, impress her, and... and stuff."

"Like Harper said, it's not a big deal. Nothing happened. It could've happened to any one of us." Hitoshi shrugged. "I can't believe they want me in the hero course... and Harper got Eraserhead to notice me too! Eraserhead, the underground Erasure hero! Aka my idol. He's what I aspire to be."

Harper held in her wince. If only Hitoshi really knew. If only anyone knew.

"And with that, the second round is officially over, everyone!" Mic clapped as everyone was set down and the few people who needed medical assistance were met by the nurses on staff. "Now, let's look at who our top four teams are!"

"Thank god that hell is over."

"I almost lost a leg back there man. I ain't about this life!"

"Wow, this tournament is intense. If I'd known what I was signing up for..."

"I never should have signed that fucking waver man."

"Bruh."

"Wow. No points. Go me."

"I'm unsurprisingly tired and ready to sleep for eight million years. Yeet."

"And I oop-"

"Did that purple haired kid reference a vine? Is he a closet memer? He's hot. I'm hot. We're both hot. Is he gay? I'm very gay. I wonder if he likes blondes."

Harper glanced at the blond 1-B kid staring at Hitoshi and snorted. Classic comedy. Hitoshi was hot enough that yeah, he was probably gay, or at least bi. He seemed like the type to keep his options open.

"Now, let's take a look at who our top four teams are!" Mic grinned. Harper swore her entire team held their breath. "In first place, we have Team Todoroki! In second place, Team Bakugo! In third place, Team Rye! In fourth place, Team Midoriya!"

"Holy shit." Hagakure blurted out, turning to them. Harper blinked in surprise, turning to look at her gaping team. Hagakure seemed to be gaping. "H...Holy shit. We passed! We passed the second part of the tournament! We got enough points!"

"We did it?" Hitoshi blinked. "Damn, okay son."

"We did it!" Kirishima laughed jovially. Hagakure let out a loud squeal that made Harper's already pounding head weep with pain, grabbing Hitoshi and Harper and pulling them towards Kirishima. Harper found herself crashing into the redhead, Hitoshi's back meeting hers before Hagakure wrapped her arms around them as far as she could go. Kirishima laughed happily and followed in suit. "Oh yay, group hu- Harper's face is in my chest and she's right hereinfrontofmeholyshitI'mhuggingHarperRyeI'minlove-"

"Yay. Group hug." Hitoshi didn't sound pleased. Harper could relate. "I've never been in a group hug. I'm going to pretend to hate it even though this is the new highlight of my life."

"Group hug. Right." Harper sighed, wrapping her arms around Kirishima awkwardly and patting his back. He let out this little wheeze that made him sound like he was out of breath and dying, both at the same time. She patted his back awkwardly a few times before dropping her arms. Damn, he was muscular. Like, she'd seen his hero costume and all, but seeing and feeling? Two different things. 

"HARPER OMG!" Aizawa's thoughts screamed, piercing through the rest as their happy little group hug dispelled. The crowd was roaring with cheers still as the other teams around them celebrated. Hagakure leapt at Harper, wrapping her in an individual hug. "YOU DID IT! YOU PASSED! AND YOU HUGGED KIRISHIMA! I CAN DIE HAPPY, EVERYONE, YOU HEARD IT HERE TODAY. TAKE PICTURES PLEASE THANK YOU-"

Harper just sighed and gave Hagakure a tired half smile, trying not to laugh at Hitoshi trying to snap Kirishima out of whatever daze he'd fallen into. 

"I thought I'd turned as red as possible before." Kirishima thought distantly as he gaped at Harper like a dying fish. "I've never felt more wrong."