~ Third Person P.O.V ~

You just need to find that someone.

Those words stuck with Shoto like glue for the rest of the day. Who was that 'someone'? Is there even that 'someone'? It was bullshit, right? Just something Izuku was saying in order to make him feel better. It gave the impression of being the most cerebral solution to the whole ordeal, at least in Shoto's mind it did. The Japanese-American had gone inside a few minutes after the duel-haired male's outburst, leaving the man to fully gain control over his emotions and think for a while.

However, his mind had been drawing blanks over the course of the next few hours— so he opted for watching the scenery around him. Relishing in its beauty, well, beauty in its own deserted Texas way that is. The once, violet, pink, and orange early morning sky was now a vast cloudless blue; the dominant rays of sunlight draping over Shoto like a sultry blanket. The tall pine trees adorning the sides of the hotel rustled and swayed in the breeze, the seemingly never-ending rattling noise of the branches and leaves cutting the air and filling Shoto's ears.

He kicked at the gravel he sat on, every now and then he'd find a sizeable rock out of the plethora of elfin pebbles— and he would throw across onto the cement road a few yards ahead of him.

Shoto's eyes snapped forward at the sound of tires pushing along the cement, scathing the gravel laid out in front of the hotel. It was a Jeep, looking fairly similar to the one Shoto and the others had driven in. A grimace brought itself to his lips once his duel-colored-eyes landed on the driver and passenger.

'Oh, great . . .'

"Hey, Todoroki," Monoma greeted with a honeyed smirk, hopping out of the Jeep with a loud slam of the door. "Now tell me, how did you manage to fuck things up under twenty-four hours?" He asked, tilting his head to the side as the taller male gritted his teeth.

"Monoma," Shinsou started, "Do us all a favor and shut the hell up,"

Before the blond could retort with an angry comment, Katsuki and Kirishima stepped outside. The ash-blond had his hands shoved deep into his pockets, whereas the black-haired male folded his arms tightly around his chest.

"What'd I tell you, Shitty Hair? I thought I smelled a jackass out here," Katsuki snickered, sizing the other blond male up and down. "Why the fuck are you here Monoma?"

Shinsou raised his hands in the air, an amused yet somewhat hurt expression flickering across his features. "So basically a big 'Fuck you' to me, huh?" He chuckled, as Kirishima made his way over to give him one of those 'guy' hugs.

Rolling his carmine eyes, Katsuki squares his shoulders before repeating himself. "Why the fuck are you here Monoma?" He asked, allowing more bite to enter into his tone as he spoke.

"I'm here because apparently, I'm the guy they call when two dumbasses screw up a mission,"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Katsuki was livid. Shoto was livid. And those two with both of their tempers rising in the same area was never an astute gallimaufry, it was only a matter of time before one of the two snapped— and when one started, the other would follow right behind him. Either way, if Monoma pursued with his non-stop boasting and ridiculing, the two Master Sergeants would predictably kill him where he stood. And none of the other soldiers would do a single thing to impede that from occurring.

The group, including Monoma and Shinsou, were all currently a few miles down the road from the hotel; Shinsou was working on the oil change while Monoma talked. Both Katsuki and Kirishima had their hands placed on Izuku's shoulders ever since the rambling blond made a few racial slurs directed to the Japanese-American. The two boys knew about Izuku's feisty manner, which would almost certainly turn into elfin spouts of anger.

And they wanted to avoid that altogether. . . No matter how pissed off they were.

Ashido stood off to the side as the blue-eyed blond kept up his talking, her and Kaminari quietly conversing over the matter as he continued on. To say the pink-haired woman wasn't too fond of him would be an understatement, she absolutely loathed Monoma— and that's saying a great deal for the unpretentiously friendly woman.

"Just wait 'till we get back to the Base," Monoma smirked, "Captain will just love what I have to report to him,"

"What the hell are you talking about Monoma?" Ashido queried, crossing her arms and popping out her hip to the side. "He already knows this mission was delayed two days, what more is there to say?"

With an avowedly innocent shrug of his shoulders, Monoma leans back against the side of the Jeep— picking at the sides of his nails as he spoke. "I could always bend the truth a little bit, have Bakugou and Todoroki demoted and Cap' will have no choice but to promote me to Master Sergeant,"

He didn't know what it was that struck him at that moment, nor did he know where it came from. Call it what you damn well please, kindness, the already built-up frustration with the talkative blond, or just out of plain boredom— but Izuku snapped.

Striding up to Monoma, Izuku's grabbed the front of his jacket hauling him down to eye level with a prominent scowl. It's just like tossing around a sack of potatoes. He tried to remind himself of this as he kneed the blond in the groin, making it easier for him to flip Monoma on his back.

"Shove it up your ass Monoma," Izuku growled as he got on top of the elder, continuously kneeing him if he tried to make a move. "Bakugou and Todoroki are amazing at their jobs, you wouldn't feel the need to lie to your Captain if you knew you'd be any good at like they are. So for the love of God, shut the fuck up, and leave them alone!"

Everyone remained quiet for a few moments as Izuku got off of the visibly hurt and perplexed blue-eyed male. Nobody daring to utter a single sound, unlike Shinsou who was laughing his ass off underneath the car.

"I guess your training paid off, huh Todo?" Katsuki snickered, clapping Izuku a little too hard on the back.

The duel-haired male nodded his head absentmindedly as he secured his hand around Izuku's arm, dragging him away from the others and out of earshot. Izuku gazed up at him, eyebrows scrunched and beads of sweat from the sun and his actions from earlier pooling around his forehead and cheeks.

"Why did you do that?" Shoto questioned him, genuinely curious about the reasoning behind Izuku's actions.

The freckled male gave a light shrug of his shoulders, his mouth twisting from one corner to the other every now and then before answering. "I guess I just felt the need to be that someone I was talking about earlier,"