"Cover the track with ice on my command, Shoto-san," Arata says, her green eyes never straying from I-Kart 1 and I-Kart 5. "As much and as far as you can."
"What?"
"It will make them slip."
"Aren't you forgetting something? We're behind them. If I do it, it means that we also will have to pass through the frozen track." A frown is etched deep on Shoto's forehead as his gaze flits to the last hairpin turn. "And in that case, no way we'll get past that **turn without going off-track."
"What if I have a way to keep us from slipping?"
"How?"
"Ice skating, but there's no time to explain the details!" Arata replies, her tone a bit tense. Their competitors are preparing to enter the last sharp turn. An obstacle-free straight course lies after the turn, giving them full access to the finish line. "Didn't you say that staying in the lead is my job? Just leave this one to me."
What is she thinking? This can very well be a suicide move.
"Please, Shoto-san? You don't have to do everything by yourself. We're on the same team."
"Are you sure, Ara?"
"Let me try."
How come she can be so sure about this? Could it be that she has something up her sleeves?
Pushing his doubts aside as best as he can, Shoto shakes his head and glares at the back of Arata's helmet. "Fine, it's not like we have any other choice. Tell me what to do."
"Thanks. Get ready to freeze the track."
"Now?"
"Wait a second." The moment Bakugou emits an explosion to turn I-Kart 1 to the right, tailing I-Kart 5's rear closely, Arata exclaims, "Now!"
In an instant, a layer of ice spreads from Shoto's palm, coating the asphalt course with a thick, freezing coldness. As it reaches the hairpin corner, disaster strikes.
A slippery turn is deadly, especially one as sharp as 180 degrees. Kirishima yells in surprise as I-Kart 1 slips on the ice mid-turn, sending him and Bakugou crashing next to the wall.
Failing to stop his cornering in time, Dace and his mother in I-Kart 5 sail straight toward them. Kirishima barely has time to harden himself to defend before I-Kart 5 loses its grip on the track and collides with them, the impact sending them careening into the wall.
"Fuck you, Half-and-Half Bastard!" Bakugou's roar booms among the deafening smash.
That looks painful, Shoto furrows his eyebrows as he sees their competitors slam onto the wall with a sickening crack, coupled with Bakugou's enraged shouts. His attention is drawn back to Arata again when their I-Kart trotters on the slippery ice, the last hairpin turn looming like an ominous entity a few meters ahead. "Now what? This I-Kart won't last long on ice."
Her half-hearted sigh, "brace yourself," is almost inaudible in his ears, and something in it makes him think that she doesn't actually want to do this. But, before he can ask about it, she unbuckles her seatbelt and leans to the right.
Her right hand leaves its spot on the steering wheel and hovers over the air at the right side of their I-Kart. And in front of his own eyes, a green exoskeleton starts to form beneath her racing suit. The sharp spikes rip open the fabric easily, and instead of her human arm, hangs a praying mantis' foreleg.
His eyes widen when she swings it into the ice layer underneath and stabs through. With a firmer control on the icy road than before, their I-Kart thrusts forward with half of her foreleg embedded inside his ice, leaving a visible fissure on the surface.
"Now," Arata grits her teeth, trying to ignore the dreadful coldness and pain enveloping her right limb, "we're going ice skating, Shoto-san."
At that time, she thinks Shoto is yelling something to her, but she can't hear it. Her only focus is the upcoming hairpin turn in her vision and the rushing blood in her ears. When she twists their I-Kart to the right to ride the corner, a jolt of pain shoots up her mantis foreleg.
The pain is worse than what I've imagined. Did I overuse it as a pivot to turn? Arata blinks back tears that are welling up behind her eyelids as she clutches the steering wheel with her left hand harder. Ugh, I don't think I can bear it anymore.
Hold on. Hold on... Just a little more...
A blurry view of a frozen straightaway greets her peripheral view, however it seems wrong, as if it is not where it is supposed to be. Damn, did I not manage to do the hairpin turn correctly? If only I was a little more to the right—
"We're getting off-track, Ara!"
Just as she thinks her foreleg will break in two because of the friction between it and the ice, a hand clasps her right forearm and frost creeps on it, sheathing her green exoskeleton with ice down to the tip of her mantis foreleg.
Her body's reaction towards the numbing cold is immediate. Shivers and nausea implode in her. A crushing fear takes hold of her conscience, and it convulses together with each of her heartbeats. If she can be honest, she might prefer the pain of a fracture more than this familiar sense of cold.
Fighting back the urge to break down on the spot, she answers Shoto with a choked murmur, "M— Make a ramp—"
"And fly our I-Kart straight to the finish line?" Shoto finishes her line effortlessly. "Sure."
A short moment before their I-Kart touches the curb, an ice ramp is erected in front of them. Directing their I-Kart towards the ramp with a great struggle, she lets out a sigh of relief when her foreleg doesn't have to drag through the ice anymore.
With the flying sensation, Shoto suddenly realizes that Arata's seatbelt is unbuckled and there is nothing to keep her stay inside the I-Kart's cockpit anymore. His left hand quickly loops around her shoulders, alarmed at the view of her floating freely.
"Hey, watch it!"
He grasps her tighter when their I-Kart crashes down half a meter after the finish line, the impact colliding her helmet with his. Its dull thud is quickly drowned out as the audience in the stadium erupts into cheers.
"W— Wow!" the lady announcer chimes, her bubbly voice cleaving through the claps and whistles. "And now we have the winner of I-Speed! With a creative use of their quirks to turn their I-Kart into a makeshift snowmobile, I-Kart 8 overtakes its competitors and leaves them in the dust! Or should I say, ice?"
"It worked, Ara. Your idea was a success. We won."
"..."
Blocking off the announcer's squeals, Shoto focuses on the trembling girl in his grasp instead. His grey-cyan eyes dart to the arm she is cradling stiffly, her nails boring into the pale skin. Ragged sleeves hang shy above her elbow, where her transformation's area of effect didn't extend to.
"Ara, are you okay? Is your right arm all right?"
His right hand reaches for her limp arm, but Arata recoils before it manages to touch her. Shoto can't see her expression under her helmet, but her reaction is enough to make his stomach sink like an anchor in the ocean.
Ice. Cold. Snow.
"I— I..." Arata climbs out from the cockpit with shaky hands, cowering at the sight of him. She can't see his white hair behind his helmet's face shield, but she knows it is there. It is there, and the remnants of his ice are dangling on her arm like a blaring reminder.
That was my own idea. He didn't force me to stick my arm into the ice. He didn't force me to use my quirk. He didn't force me to do anything.
Why am I behaving this way? Why am I so afraid?
"— Oooohh, now we also have the runner-up, I-Kart 5! Followed very closely by I-Kart 1! Too bad, I-Kart 1! You've just missed the second place by a second! But, worry not! All three winners will receive a gift from I-Speed."
"GODDAMNIT! No way I only got third place!"
"Serves you right, you moron."
Bakugou and Dace loudly bicker with each other. Kirishima and Dace's mother are trying to break their scuffle. Their voices should be close, but right now all Shoto cares about is the girl in front of him and her frightened response to him.
"Ara?" Shoto retracts his hand. The hesitation and hurt in his voice are muffled by his helmet. He saw how much it took from her to tear apart the ice, and he just wanted to cushion the damage for her. "You know I did it to—"
"For the drivers and co-drivers of I-Kart 8, I-Kart 5, and I-Kart 1, we are inviting you to join us on the stage!"
"I know." Arata's voice wavers as she takes another step back. "I'm... sorry... I— I need to be alone for a while... I hope you don't mind... I'll— I'll wait outside."
All Arata leaves for him is a soft mumble of apology. She scampers to the exit of the I-Speed race course as fast as she can, leaving a sinking feeling in his stomach.
Even though he has won a race and the stadium is full with people chanting "I-Kart 8! I-Kart 8!", he doesn't feel pleased at all. It is as if Arata has sucked all of the lingering excitement with her when she left the stadium.