Mind Boggled

Chapter 16

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Third person pov

Harper held her breath, her posture tense as she waited for Sero to move first. It wasn't like she'd be able to get the jump on him. Going towards him would only ensure that she got herself taped in the face. Besides, she was already counting on failing. Of course she knew going in with that mindset was essentially suicide on her part, but she couldn't help the inevitable. Tape against mind reading, the latter of which couldn't be used to its fullest potential. If people knew of her real quirk, she could use it to fuck with people. If only. For now she was stuck hoping Sero thought out each of his moves instead of acting without thinking like people like Kaminari did.

She'd never sparred with Sero before. He was a quiet thinker, much like Shoji, Tokoyami, and Momo. Unless she sought their thoughts out, she really didn't hear them over the volume of her classmate's. It was something she really needed to work on if she was being honest with herself. If she was going to try this whole hero thing out with a mental quirk that didn't help her physically in the least, she'd need to hear everything, not just the loudest people in the vicinity. But that would require a hell of a lot of focus, and Harper wasn't sure if she had the patience for that.

Sero was assessing her, and the stadium's noise seemed to drop as the tension rose. Harper gazed across the field, not sure what to do with herself. Did she awkwardly clasp her hands behind her back? Let them hand by her side? Crouch into a fight-ready position? She had no idea. The urge to fold her arms over her chest was incredibly immense. The girl was beginning to sweat under the pressure of all the thoughts directed her way. Though her parents and Aizawa were really the only ones who did it, when thoughts were focused on her or intended for her to hear, they were louder. Stronger, in a sense.

"You can do it, Harper!" Ochako's thoughts were determined and extremely sure. She had the utmost confidence in her brunette friend, which would only make Harper impending loss all the more disappointing. Harper let out a breath of air through her nose, willing herself not to tense. She'd be fine. Sero wasn't the type to go overboard with these types of things, like maybe Bakugo or Todoroki. They'd clobber her for sure if she were up against them.

"She's not moving. I guess she can't really predict what I'm going to do if I'm not planning on doing anything." Sero's thoughts seemed to decide. "Still, I can't believe she managed to squirm out of Shigaraki's grasp. There's go to be more than meets the eye here."

Harper froze.

What.

No fucking way.

Harper stared at Sero, lips parted in surprise and eyes blown wide. She was honest to god stunned. Sure, her luck was bad, but this bad? Holy shit-- maybe she was hallucinating. Sero was the fucking traitor? She swore to every deity about that she'd heard him refer to Shigaraki by name, and to her kidnapping. The kidnapping that nobody aside from UA's most trusted staff and her parents, who'd been carted off the a far off location, knew about. The only other person who could ever even begin to have an inkling about it was Shinso, and that's because she landed half-dead in his backyard.

"She looks scared all of a sudden. Man, I can't believe I thought she was the one to rat out the janitors and that idiot gardener. It was probably Jiro, or Shoji, maybe someone from another year. Someone who could easily overhear those dumbasses and their plotting. Whatever. Still, Harper is the daughter of a detective, so I guess I'll need to exercise extra caution around her. Especially if she accidentally reads me as threatening..." Sero trailed off. Harper stared at him, pressing her lips together into a tight, thin line. Of course. Of fucking course. God dammit. And here she was hoping today would go semi-smoothly. Why would it? When did things ever go her way?