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"I think you did great."
Shiozaki stopped on her tracks and turned around to see a surprising, yet upsetting sight: it was Midoriya, with one of his arms in a cast and with bandages adorning his body.
His tender smile betrayed his troubled looks, however.
"Once I managed to recover, I got to see how the rest of the tournament fights went down," he explained. "And I saw how you did against Iida-kun. And I know it's a bit late, but-"
"You're injured."
Midoriya flinched as Shiozaki faced him with a look of disapproval.
"Your fight with Todoroki-kun was a spectacle. A massive, disturbing spectacle. You didn't come out of that fight unscathed... and rather than get the rest you need, you force yourself to stand up and tell me I didn't do too bad?"
"I didn't really force myself: my arm got injured, not my legs," Midoriya scratched his head. "Besides, even if I need to rest, I still have to go back to U.A.-"
"Then go back there with your classmates!" Shiozaki chided. "Don't take a brief detour just to try cheer someone who's not even part of your class!"
Midoriya fell silent, and lowered his head.
"Look, I..." Shiozaki sighed. "I'm happy that you came here to tell me I did well, I really am. But the fact you'd go out of your way to cheer up a member of your rival class for no reason..."
"Well, actually," Midoriya scratched his chin. "I guess you could say I saw a bit of myself in you."
Shiozaki raised an eyebrow.
"To work so hard to achieve something, to impress everybody... only to fall short in the end..."
Shiozaki smiled with bemusement.
"That fits just about everybody else who fought in the tournament and lost. Are you going to cheer them up, too?"
"No, they seem to have dealt with their losses just fine. Sure, they're upset, but they have people and classmates they can talk to about it."
Shiozaki raised an eyebrow. "And since Monoma-kun's given a bad first impression of what Class 1-B is like, you're worried he'll upset us even more because we were overshadowed by your class again?"
Midoriya opened his mouth... then took a moment to think about it.
"Huh, when you put it like that, that does sound like something he'd do."
Shiozaki let out a quiet giggle before taking a deep breath.
"Thanks for the words, Midoriya-kun, but I honestly think you should focus on yourself first."
Midoriya smiled and nodded. "I'll start resting as soon as I can."
"And for everybody's sake, try to find a way to not blow yourself up every time you use your Quirk."
"Duly noted."
And with that exchange, the green-haired duo went to their respective classes' bus, Shiozaki breathing a sigh of relief as she sat down.
"Whoa, are my eyes deceiving me?" one of the 1-B students asked. "Shiozaki-san is actually smiling!"
Shiozaki blinked twice. "Is that weird?"
"You usually have a neutral expression that's only beaten by Yui-san," Kendo pointed out. "What happened that brought a smile to your face?"
Shiozaki looked back at the stadium, then back to her classmates, waggling her finger as she replied:
"That's a a secret."