The Pleasantries End

U.A. Stadium

The next few matches proceeded rather quickly. Mina managed to take advantage of her superior agility against Aoyama in their match to close the distance. All she had to do after that was melt her opponent's belt when she got in range with her acid and then deliver a swift uppercut, ending the match. "She just knocked you the $ $ out!" Cheered Clay at the end of the match.

The next match, Momo vs Tokoyami, was over just as quickly as the first, but was much less enjoyable for Slade. Thanks to Tokoyami being able to call on dark shadow instantaneously, Momo had no time to form anything other than a shield to defend herself. But Tokoyami was relentless and managed to push the creation quirk user out of the ring without her even realizing until it was too late. "I'll be back," Slade had said as Momo walked off the field, obviously going to make sure his good friend was okay.

The match after that was Kirishima against Tetsu Tetsu, both of whom got practically the same introduction. Unlike the two matches proceeding it, this match lasted several minutes. Thanks to the two of them having basically the same type of hardening quirk, it all came down to which one could take more punishment. "Think you could handle that amount of punishment," Questioned Clay as they watched the two students continue to slug it out.

"Their weight doesn't change quite as much as mine can," answered Slade as he and Momo sat down, "So they may be able to hit hard. But if they can't muster up enough force to move me, then its game over for them. So yeah, I guess I could take it." As he finished his explanation, Kirishima and Tetsu Tetsu clashed with two powerful blows, knocking them both down onto the concrete floor of the ring. Midnight walked over to examine them, noting how exhausted each one was before making her declaration. "This match is a draw!" Announced Midnight, before signaling the medical robots to carry them away on stretchers.

"Wow, double knockout," said Clay with a whistle, "They're not only similar in quirk and fighting style, they even have the same amount of endurance in a fight. It's gonna be hard for them to find a tie breaker, aye Uraraka-?" But as he turned to look, he noticed that the gravity quirk girl was gone, and so was Midoriya as well. "Oh that's right I forgot, she's up next."

"I'll go check and see how she's doing," Said Iida as he also got up and left. Clay and Slade gave a parting wave to their glasses wearing friend as he proceeded to the student locker rooms. Shortly after that, though, their expressions turned somewhat angry.

"This is not gonna be a fun match to watch," Said Clay as he crossed his arms with a grimace on his face.

"Do you think Bakugou is likely to hold back against someone like Uraraka," asked Momo.

"No, he won't," Said Slade with an equally foul grimace on his face, "A person like Bakugou only cares about one thing, being better than everyone else."

"Or at least acting like he's better than everyone else," Added Clay, "His natural skills have been his only saving grace so far when it comes to staying in U.A., at least in my opinion." Slade nodded his head in agreement while Momo seemed to get lost in thought at this answer. The conversation from that point on was sparse as Midoriya and Iida returned to their seats. Shortly after that, the eighth and final match of the first round began, Uraraka against Bakugou.

From the start it was brutal. Uraraka charged in, attempting to tag Bakugou with her quirk. But Bakugou blasted her away with his explosion quirk. Uraraka wouldn't give up easily, though and charged again and again and was repelled each time by another explosion. A number of the 1A students couldn't even bare to watch the match because of how one-sided it was becoming.

Slade wore a frustrated frown on his face, often averting his eyes whenever their gravity manipulating friend took a hit. As for Clay, he kept an impassive face, hiding his emotions like his Uncle taught him too. Though if one looked closely enough, they'd notice how tight of a grip he had on himself as he sat with his arms crossed. "That's strange," Slade said suddenly as he nudged Clay, "Take a look at that."

Clay looked where his friend was indicating, finally noticing the same thing. There were no debris being blasted outside of the ring. It was hard to tell from all the smoke caused by Bakugou's explosions, but some of it actually seemed to be floating up. Just as he put two and two together, the crowd started yelling a chorus of 'boos' and jeers at the stadium, namely at Bakugou. It was no wonder really, given how Bakugou was continually blasting Uraraka back over and over again without any form of hesitation.

Even Present Mike agreed, that is until Aizawa sensei's voice came over the mike. "I demand to know who started this commotion!" Said Clay's uncle over the loudspeakers. "If you're a pro hero making this racket, then you should hang up your cape now and find a different career!" This quieted the crowd down a fair bit as the U.A. teacher continued.

"Did it not occur to any of you that Bakugou is fighting fiercely not because he's toying with his opponent but because he's actually taking her seriously?" He knows full well she deserved to make it to this point!" Clay simply rubbed his forehead at his Uncle's statement.

"Sensei seems to be in a bad mood for some reason," Observed Slade.

"He's just being harsh as always," Replied Clay, "He forgets sometimes that not everyone sees things the way he does. It's only natural the crowd would get upset at watching an innocent looking girl like Uraraka get thrashed about by a bully like Bakugou, they don't personally know how strong she really is. But that's not the main reason he's getting on to the crowd." Clay directed his gaze upward, with the rest of class 1A eventually following suit. "He's most upset that supposed pros didn't notice that."

High above the ring was a floating mass of all the debris which had been blasted off of the ring during the match. Uraraka had been using her quirk to keep them there while also keeping Bakugou's attention on her by attacking relentlessly. Somehow, even a number of pros had missed the floating debris hanging above the ring, save of course for Aizawa and a few other onlookers. But now the field had become dense enough to be used as a weapon, and with a quick release of her quirk, Uraraka brought down a hail of stone on her opponent.

It was a tense moment as the gravity quirk user rushed forward while a mass of rubble fell towards her opponent, the idea being to strike at an opening created by the debris. It was a good plan, and one that Clay had heard even Midoriya hadn't thought of. And it would've worked if her opponent had been someone besides Bakugou. The explosion quirk user kept his cool as he raised his left arm and fired off the biggest explosion he'd ever used, blasting away all of the falling debris and even sending Uraraka flying backwards. The air pressure from the blast created a massive gust which could be felt throughout the audience, and almost managed to blow Mineta away if not for Shoji holding on to him.

As the smoke cleared on the arena, Bakugou was still standing with hardly a scratch on him. For a moment, Clay say the explosion quirk user holding his left arm where he'd produced the explosion from, but that was the only damage he'd received. As for Uraraka, she tried charging one last time, only to collapse onto the ground from exhaustion. Midnight called the match shortly after that, with Bakugou as the winner. The crowd wasn't cheering much at the outcome of this match as Slade and Midoriya got up to leave, because the next match after the tie breaker was Slade's.

U.A. Stadium Locker Rooms

Slade and Midoriya kept relatively quiet as they walked down the hallway, neither one of them really feeling like striking up a conversation. Both of them were so lost in thought that they almost didn't notice the blond menace walking up the stairs. "What the $% are you two doing here?!" Questioned Bakugou in his usual angry manner.

"Oh uh hey Kacchan," Said Midoriya nervously, "You know the two of us were just, well-."

"This stadium hallway is open to all competitors, staff, and VIPs," Snapped Slade, cutting off Midoriya in the process of answering Bakugou, "We don't need your approval to be anywhere around this stadium. And if you must know why we're here, my second match is coming up and as for Midoriya that should be $ $ing obvious, so if you'll excuse us." Slade began walking again, directing his gaze forward. Midoriya nervously followed him after another second.

"It was you who gave her that idea, wasn't it Deku," Said Bakugou as he stepped to the top of the stairs. "That annoying, desperate strategy is something only you could come up with. If the two of us end up-."

"You've got it wrong," Said Midoriya, all the nervousness suddenly going out of his voice as he turned back to Bakugou. "Uraraka came up with that plan on her own. I had no idea she'd thought of a maneuver like that. So if it turned out to be tougher than you expected, than it was all because of Uraraka and not me." Bakugou grit his teeth at that answer as Midoriya and Slade walked off. After another minute, they found Uraraka in the competitor's waiting room.

"Well I guess I lost," Said Uraraka, surprisingly happily as she rubbed the back of her head while sitting at one of the tables provided in the room. "That's too bad, but I guess that's what happens when you get carried away." Slade and Midoriya were both a little taken aback by their friend's surprisingly happy mood.

"But I thought you were hurt," Said Midoriya, clearly confused at what was going on.

"Oh that," Said Uraraka as she pointed to one of the small bandages on her face, "I already saw recovery girl and she took care of the worst of it. Though she had to avoid draining too much of my stamina so I've still got some bruises and scratches."

"But otherwise okay I see," said Slade as the last of his worry faded away, though much of his anger still remained.

"Yeah but I got so close," Said Uraraka, in a surprisingly cute form of frustration, "But I never knew that Bakugou was so freakin' powerful. That means I've got so much more training to do before becoming an actual hero."

"Are you sure you're doing alright?" Questioned Midoriya, more than a little surprised by how well Uraraka was taking her loss.

"Considering who I went up against, I'm doing great," Answered Uraraka as her phone started ringing. "Losing just means I have to work harder from this point on. You've always gotta look at what's ahead." Slade was about to say something when the sound of a cheering Present Mike let them know that the tie breaker between Kirishima and Tetsu Tetsu was over, with Kirishima as the winner.

"And that's my cue," Said Slade as he went to head out the door, "I'll try not to break Iida's glasses."

"Oh, good luck out there Slade," Said Uraraka with a wave, "Try not to get knocked around yourself."

"Uh yeah," Said Midoriya, feeling kind of weird that he was wishing his friends good luck at beating each other up. "Good luck in your match."

"It'll be a battle of momentum, that's all," Said Slade as he headed out the door. "It just comes down to whose got more and if it'll be enough." Midoriya simply nodded at that statement as Uraraka answered her phone. The green-haired student exited the room shortly after that, giving his friend the privacy she needed to talk to her parents.

Back out in the arena, the crowd was cheering once more as Present Mike introduced both Slade and Iida. "I just want you to know Slade," Said Iida as he adjusted his glasses, "This is nothing personal, but I won't be holding back." Slade responded by cracking his neck a little before speaking.

"I'd be disappointed if you did," responded Slade with a smirk, "So just try to move me." A tense moment passed as Present Mike yelled out for the match to begin. Iida wasted no time as he jetted forward with the engines in his legs. It was almost faster than Slade could react, almost.

Iida slammed his leg into the side of Slade's neck, the force causing him to nearly double over. But he wasn't able to withdraw his leg quickly enough and the density quirk user grabbed a hold of his outstretched limb and spun him around. Reacting quickly, Iida slammed his other leg into Slade's hand, forcing him to let go as he rolled several feet away before righting himself. Slade stood back up to his full height as he stared down his opponent.

"I've always wanted to say this to you Iida," Said Slade as a smirk appeared on his face, "You'll have to be faster than that."

The Semifinals have finally begun, and the matches grow tenser and more painful with each round. How much longer can Slade and Clay last? On a more important note, I'd like to apologize for the lateness of this chapter as life has been moving me around a lot over the last several days. So thank you all for your patience and understanding, and as always I encourage my readers to leave reviews and critiques to help make this story better. Be sure to stop in next time as the weight of the competition dawns on Slade and Clay while they fight some of their good friends for a spot at the top. 'Til next time.