It happened during the U.A. Sports Festival qualifiers.
Rei had been holding back—too much, too long. She'd redirected kinetic energy from a dozen opponents, storing it all, and now her Quirk was screaming for release. Her vision was tunneling. Her hair stood straight up, crackling with potential.
"Rei!" Someone grabbed her arm. "You're overheating!"
Midoriya. Of course it was Midoriya. His hand was warm, grounding, and she realized with horror that she was about to discharge into him.
"Let go," she gasped. "I'll hurt you—"
"Your Quirk stores kinetic energy, right? So you need to release it safely." He was already moving, positioning himself, calculating. "Use me."
"What?"
"Redirect it through me. My Quirk—One For All—it's a stockpiling power too. I can take the hit. Trust me."
She shouldn't. She couldn't . The amount of energy she'd stored would shatter bones, rupture organs—
But he was looking at her with those eyes, that impossible faith, and she realized she'd been falling since the moment he asked about feedback loops.
"Vector: Transfer," she whispered.
The world went white.
When she could see again, she was on her knees, and Midoriya was standing over her, smoking slightly, his hand still wrapped around hers. He was grinning, wild and exhilarated.
"That was close ," he laughed. "You pack a serious punch, Kazuki."
"You idiot," she breathed. "You could have died."
"So could you." He helped her up, steadying her when her legs wobbled. "We're partners now, right? That means we look out for each other."
Partners. The word echoed in her chest.
"Midoriya," she said, before she could stop herself. "Why did you—why do you trust me so easily?"
He tilted his head, genuinely puzzled. "Because you're good. I can tell. The way you control your power so carefully, even when it's overwhelming—you're always thinking about not hurting people. That's... that's heroism, Kazuki."
She wanted to kiss him. The impulse was so sudden, so terrifying , that she stepped back, breaking the contact.
"Thank you," she managed. "For saving me."
"Anytime," he said, and meant it.
That was the problem. He meant everything.