Outside the Infirmary

"Hey Suzumi", Aome greeted.

"Hey Aome. Woah! What happened?!", Suzumi asked worriedly.

The wolf-girl had lots of bandages wrapped around her. Her head, arms and legs were heavily bandaged and she seemed to be barely able to stand.

"My fight with Narruk wounded me really bad. You should've seen Recovery Girl scold me", Aome told her with a laugh.

However, Suzumi was worried for her friend. With those injuries, she might get into real trouble in the next round. Every time Aome would fight, Suzumi would get worried. Even though Aome gets stronger as she gets hurt, that doesn't mean that she should fight recklessly.

Aome sat down beside Suzumi and took a deep breath. Recovery Girl only did minor healing on her since Aome would pass out if she would receive a full-blown healing.

"Who's next?", Aome asked, trying to alleviate some of the tension.

"The next match is Daichi vs. Jacob", Suzumi answered.

"Daichi huh? There's no doubt he's strong. Let's see what Jacob can do against him"

UA Tournament Stadium

"AN IMPENETRABLE DEFENSE AND HIGH MOBILITY! THE TRANSFORMING STUDENT FROM THE HERO COURSE: DAICHI HISAKAWA! ALL AROUND SUMMONING OF OBJECTS! THE FLEXIBLE STUDENT FROM THE HERO COURSE: JACOB WILSON!", Present Mic announced.

Jacob and Daichi faced each other in the arena. There was nothing but silence between the two of them as tension filled the air.

"START!"

Infirmary

Mitsuji woke up, and immediately felt pain all over. Then he remembered; he had lost. Frustration welled up inside him, and he covered his eyes.

How the hell am I supposed to show Sis my progress? And Senpai…. I'm so sorry!

A knock on the door jolted him from bed. "Who is it?" he asked nervously.

"Niriyama. I'm coming in." said the unexpected guest, and he opened the door.

WAH! Has he come to finish me off!? Surely not… was Mitsuji's panicked reaction, but he calmed down when he saw that Niriyama had a troubled expression on his face. He seemed…soft. Somehow.

"W-what's up?" Mitsuji said in his most fearsome voice.

"Don't try to act tough kid. It was a good match".

"What are you, an old man? Wait…really?" said Mitsuji aloud, catching onto the rest of Niriyama's sentence.

"Yeah. While I take issue with your frankly unhealthy ideologies, your power is real. I have to acknowledge that; I honestly analyse you to be at least top 5 in our class. If you gain confidence, I'll really have to watch for you."

"O-oh. Wow…but seriously, what's your problem with me wanting to be a hero? I just want to save people" Mitsuji complained and he was silenced when Niriyama shot him a cold look.

"Just stop. You remind me of my old self. And look at me now. I can't form any meaningful connections, and I've isolated myself from everyone. And I don't think this is something where I can just turn off a switch and re-join society. You'd do well to remember that. Don't get obsessed with heroism and dogmatic goals. There is more to life outside it."

The introspective moment was cut short when Mitsuji unintentionally voiced out loud "He really does speak like an old man." Causing Niriyama to glare his way. Mitsuji yelped and retreated to the other side of his bed. Niriyama sighed and continued.

"I need you to know…why I am the way I am."

And he recounted his story, all the hatred and pain he had felt during their match, while Mitsuji listened intently. Afterwards, he simply left the room. They both knew somehow that Mitsuji would not spread this information, and that no further words were needed.

As he walked towards the stadium, he steeled himself for his coming matches.

Hisakawa…

UA Tournament Stadium

Daichi transformed into a mantis shrimp while Jacob made an ethereal spear and an ethereal round shield. Jacob charged at the mantis shrimp and thrust his spear at it. However, its exoskeleton was too tough for the spear to even scratch. The mantis shrimp threw a punch and Jacob blocked it with his shield. His shield shattered upon impact and he jumped backwards.

The problem is his tough exoskeleton. If only I could get to the chinks of his armour, then I could win. I can't crush him with Big Ben since I have to conserve my energy. Think Jacob! he scrambled.

He directed his attention towards the approaching mantis shrimp. It was slow but it was indestructible. Or so it seemed. Jacob believed that it must have some sort of weakness. Or even a chink in its armour. That was when he had a reckless plan forming in his head.

Jacob charged at Daichi and created an ethereal shield. Daichi punched the shield causing it to shatter but Jacob didn't stop. He crawled on the ground and created an ethereal staff. The staff extended and hit the bottom of the mantis shrimp causing it to be turned over.

He saw that the armour below was less tough than the armour above. Jacob created a war hammer. He swung it down but Daichi barely managed to escape by transforming into a dragonfly.

The dragonfly transformed back to Daichi and he had a troubled look on his face. That expression didn't escape Jacob's watchful eyes.

Is he troubled since I outsmarted him and almost got a hit? No. He shouldn't look that bothered because all he needs to do is just be on guard. Then what is bothering him? I don't have enough information! Jacob thought.

Daichi was still in his human form as he looked at Jacob. He had to wait for his next move otherwise he would get caught off-guard again. Thinking of it as a chance, Jacob ran towards Daichi with an ethereal war hammer on hand. Daichi turned into a crab and used its claw to block Jacob's swing. Its other claw then thrust at Jacob but he created a shield just in time to defend himself.

The crab was tougher than the mantis shrimp and so Jacob couldn't do much. Daichi was now cautious so he couldn't use the same trick twice. So that meant that he had no choice but to use another trick.

Jacob slammed the hammer at the crab's armour and it retaliated with an attack. The ethereal shield blocked it and Jacob attacked at the same spot again. He repeated on attacking at the same spot while defending from the crab's attack until he saw the desired result: a small crack. Jacob jumped up and made a two-handed hammer. He swung it at full-force against the same spot he had been hitting and the armour broke.

Daichi returned to his human form and he grovelled on the ground. Just when Jacob was about to smash him, he transformed into a dragonfly and put some distance between them.

That wasn't enough. I doubt he'll allow me to do that again. This is bad. I still haven't got a good grasp of his Quirk, Jacob thought.

"I didn't expect that. You did well", Daichi praised him.

"Why thank you.", Jacob replied.

Daichi then transformed into a human-sized bee and flew towards Jacob.

"You've got to be kidding me!", Jacob shouted as he looked at the sharp stinger.

Regular bees hurt. What could large bees do? Jacob didn't want to find out so he summoned an ethereal bow and shot arrows at the bee. It avoided all of the attacks and Jacob ran.

What should I do? Okay. Calm down. Panicking won't do anything good. That's right. It's just a bee. I just have to avoid its stinger", Jacob thought and faced it.

He summoned a mace and a shield. Then, he ran towards the bee and swung the mace. The bee avoided it and tried to stab him with its stinger but Jacob blocked it with his shield. Unlike the mantis shrimp, the bee's force was weaker so the shield didn't break. Cracks appeared though but Jacob easily repaired it.

Jacob continued blocking the bee's attacks and swinging his mace. He was getting tired as his arms were getting sore. But then, the bee backed away and it transformed back into Daichi.

What's going on? Why did he stop? Is he tired? No. He is not even panting. Then why? Why did he return to being human? Is this a trap? Jacob thought.

He let his arms rest as his weapons disappear.

My arms are sore. Is he giving me a chance to rest? No, he's not that type of person to underestimate. I think. How long have we been fighting? My arms are really sore and I'm tired as hell, he continued thinking.

Wait… How long… have we been fighting?... If I'm right, it's been about more or less 5 minutes. Time… 5 minutes… Time… Limit…, a sudden realization hit Jacob.

He summoned a mace and a shield again and charged at Daichi. Daichi didn't transform into anything as he assumed a fighting stance.

I knew it!

Jacob swung his mace but Daichi dodged it. He slammed his shield against him but Daichi withstood the impact. Daichi grabbed Jacob's arm that was wielding the mace and threw him to the ground. Jacob made his shield disappear and replaced it with a knife. He tried to stab Daichi but Daichi saw it and backed away.

If his Quirk is like Saiga's, then there must also be some time before he can use it again. I need to defeat him before he transforms into those annoying insects! Jacob thought.

Daichi played defensively and stalled for time as Jacob attacked him. He was actually skilled in avoiding Jacob's attacks. Spears, swords, maces, and even arrows were nothing to him as he dodged all of them. The arrows were dodged through years of training in predictive analysis for evasive manoeuvres.

Jacob was now reaching his limit. His Quirk consumed his stamina every time he creates a weapon. Daichi was strong. Despite his strong Quirk, he trained his body well and he also had good judgment. That made Jacob want to defeat him. Against a strong opponent like Daichi, Jacob would prove to the world that his Quirk wasn't useless.

He made a staff and swung it down. Jacob has been swiftly switching weapons in order to confuse Daichi. He would swing using a sword and at the next second, he would thrust using a spear. A shield would then bash Daichi followed by a hammer hit to his face. Daichi was getting hit by the attacks as he couldn't react in time. He couldn't predict what weapon Jacob would create next so he couldn't defend properly.

A minute and a half had already passed since Daichi couldn't transform. Daichi transformed into a mantis shrimp and punched Jacob's gut. Jacob tried to stand on his feet but he got hit with another one. A final blow hit him and he fell on the ground. Fatigue and pain washed over him as he looked at the mantis shrimp.

Jacob turned over and looked at the blue sky. His muscles ached and he knew full well the outcome of the match.

"You got me. I give up", Jacob said.

"Jacob Wilson gives up! Daichi Hisakawa wins!", Nagusawa announced.

Daichi returned to his human form.

"You managed to drive me to a corner. It's been a tough fight", Daichi told him.

"Same to you", Jacob replied and the infirmary robots took him away.