The rankings for the tournament had finally been revealed, and the trio of Melissa, Midoriya, and Hatsume gathered close to them to see their matches:
1.) Izuku Midoriya Vs. Katsuki Bakugou
2.) Ochako Uraraka Vs. Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu
3.) Melissa Shield Vs. Tenko Shimura
4.) Momo Yaoyorozu Vs. Shoto Todoroki
5.) Denki Kaminari Vs. Ibara Shiozaki
6.) Mina Ashido Vs. Itsuka Kendo
7.) Minoru Mineta Vs. Eijiro Kirishima
8.) Hitoshi Shinsou Vs. Mei Hatsume
"I have the first match..." Midoriya grimaced. "And it's up against Bakugou..."
"And my match will be against Tenko," Melissa sighed. "I can only imagine how badly this is going to affect his self-esteem. He tends to beat himself up pretty badly when he messes up."
Hatsume, meanwhile, remained silent. Not because she was speechless over who she was going to face, but because she was, for lack of a better word, muttering on her head.
I see, so the first fight I'll have will be against that jerk that made me reveal Izuku's identity and the gadget I made for him. Good, that means I'll be able to give him the beating he so rightfully deserves!
She took a moment to realize what she did, and blush accordingly.
W-Wait, why am I calling Midoriya by his first name? I only do that in serious situations, and this certainly isn't serious yet!
"Hatsume?"
The gadgeteer turned to see both Midoriya and Melissa looking at her, one with concern, one with curiosity. Guess which of them had which expression.
"Are you okay? You're blushing."
"Oh, uh, it's nothing, Izuku," Hatsume turned back to the rankings. "It's just that my opponent's someone I got a bit of a beef with."
"Izuku?"
Hatsume flinched and turned around again, this time seeing a blushing Midoriya and a gasping Melissa, the latter whose wide mouth formed into a smile as she put her hands on her cheeks.
"W-Wait, i-it's not what you think-!"
"You just called him by his first name!" Melissa chirped, pointing at Midoriya.
"No! I mean, yes, but-!"
"So cute!"
"W-Well, I did ask for it, didn't I?" Midoriya argued, scratching the back of his head with a sheepish smile.
"You're not helping, Izuku!" Hatsume slapped herself. "Gah, I did it again!"
After another chuckle, Melissa calmed down and turned back to the matches, which made her smile falter. "And apparently, Mina's going to fight Kendo."
"Did someone mention my name?"
The trio turned and, to their displeasure, Mina was calmly walking towards them, holding a smug, snobby smile as she pushed past them and looked at the matches.
"No way! I'm gonna fight Kendo?! I can't wait to bring our little scuffle from so long ago full circle! I bet we're going to be friends by the end of it!"
"Cut it with the false joy, Ashido!" Midoriya chided, getting the acidic girl's attention. "We all know you're only happy for the match up 'cause it'll let you hurt Kendo again!"
Mina giggled. "Perhaps that's the reason. Or perhaps I'm happy because the road to facing Hatsume has just been made infinitely easier; I just beat Kendo, and whoever comes next, and Hatsume has to beat..."
Mina looked at the last match, and grimaced. "That bastard Shinsou."
"Now that you mention him, does anybody even know what he does?" Melissa asked, scratching her head. "I've never seem him use it."
"He can only activate his Quirk with a question, I think, and the telltale sign is the sound of bells," Midoriya explained, folding his arms. "If they sound threatening, he's angry, but I think they sound normal for everything else."
"And that question thing isn't even a limitation: he simply spoke to me during my detainment, and the bells still rang," Mina confessed, putting a hand on her hip. "Also, if you do talk to him when the bells ring, you'll be under his control until he tells you what to do, snaps his fingers, gets you to do that thing, and then snaps them again to turn you back to normal."
"So that's what he did," Hatsume scratched her chin. "I remember him coming to the support room, he asked a question, I replied, and next thing I know everything was blank."
"For all intents and purposes, then, you can't speak to him during the entire match," Melissa hummed. "You weren't planning of talking too much during the match, were you?"
Hatsume blushed and looked elsewhere as she twiddled her fingers.
"Don't tell me you were planning to turn the match into a sales pitch," Mina teased.
"Would you leave us alone already!?" Midoriya snapped.
"Geez, fine, you really do get cranky when people tease your girlfriend," Mina spoke as she walked away, not even waiting until she was out of view to add, "Hey, Yaoyorozu! Are you sure you want that guy as your mate!? He's one cranky asshole!"
The trio simply shook their heads and turned back to the matches, just in time for another person to join their ranks: Uraraka, who walked past the trio and looked closer at her match with a slightly concerned expression.
"Uraraka?"
"Oh, h-hi!" the Brunette greeted nervously. "S-Sorry, I didn't notice you were there! I was very focused on the matches!"
"It's okay, I understand," Midoriya turned back to the board. "You're facing off against one of my classmates, Tetsutetsu."
"Yeah, and you'll be facing off against Bakugou," Uraraka sighed as she turned back to the board as well.
And then she noticed Melissa and Hatsume staring at them. "S-S-So sorry! I didn't notice you either!"
"How? I'm the tallest woman in the whole first year bracket!" Melissa quipped with a lighthearted chuckle. "Nah, just kidding. You already know me, right?"
"Melissa Shield, famous ex-inventor and daughter of support specialist David Shield," Uraraka nodded. "I know who you are, you're in my classroom."
"Um, ex-inventor?" Melissa folded her arms. "Excuse me, I'm still an inventor."
Uraraka tilted her head. "Are you sure? Because I haven't seen you invent anything since the school year started."
Melissa flinched. "I haven't?"
"Well, I certainly have invented stuff!" Hatsume butted in. "Mei Hatsume, at your service!"
Uraraka's smile faltered slightly. "Oh, so you're the girl that told Bakugou about Midoriya showing my class his Quirk, right?"
"Pretty much!"
Uraraka's face looked concerned. "Have you two hung out since then?"
Hatsume scratched her head. "Not much, really, he just visits the support room sometimes in order to get me to look at his support items."
"I see," Uraraka sternly uttered, her frown gaining a hint of disapproval.
Why is she getting upset?!
"Anyway, back on to the matches," Midoriya blurted. "Melissa, what do you know about this Tenko Shimura you're fighting?"
"Just general knowledge: he's a kid who was rescued by All Might, he's a member of the Shimura family of heroes and other things, and he's rather shy," Melissa shrugged. "That's it."
"So, you're going in blind," Midoriya took a deep breath. "Well, I'm gonna go clear my head until my match starts."
"Bye-bye, Midoriya!" Hatsume chirped, waving her hand cheerfully.
The boy separated from the girls, and walked around the stadium, seeing the food stands, the people conversing, and just all around trying to calm himself down before the tournament portion of the festival started.
"I'm telling you, that this is the best chance you got to convince Deku to drop out!"
"And I'm telling you, I'm not going to fucking do that!"
Well it didn't take long before he stumbled into an interesting scene. And, sadly enough, one that was related to his fight with Bakugou. Against his better judgement, Midoriya approached the scene, and found none other than Mina and Bakugou talking together.
"Uh, what's going on here?" he asked.
Bakugou turned around and saved his hands on his pockets. "Nothing, Deku, just Pinky being a stubborn little bitch."
"Stubborn little bitch?!" Mina repeated, feigning shock. "How could you call your sister such a horrible thing?!"
A long silence came and went...
"W-Wait a minute, you two are related?!" Midoriya exclaimed, taking a step back. "H-How would that even be possible?!"
"Trust me, I didn't believe it either, so I asked my parents about it and guess what? Dad apparently had an affair in which Pinky came out as a result," Bakugou rolled his eyes. "And I don't know which is worse; the fact Pinky's my sister, or the fact my Mom knew about the affair and was actually okay with it."
Midoriya frowned. "You have to be kidding me!"
"Nope, what we're telling you's the truth!" Mina chirped. "I was born in an attempt to reel in Bakugou's insanely temperamental attitude; something about the idea that having a little sister would make him behave."
"Although considering who you are right now, I don't think being around you would've helped. At all."
"And if you're wondering why we were talking about you..." Mina folded her arms behind her back and approached Midoriya. "Well, simply put, Icarus, you're inches away from coming face-to-face with the sun."
"Icarus? Face-to-face with the sun?" Midoriya folded his arms. "What are you talking about, Ashido?"
"Just pure nonsense, Deku, don't listen to her."
Mina huffed. "You say that now, but when the fight comes up and you end up burning his wings out of the tournament, you will remember me."
With that said, Mina strolled off, and Midoriya threw a confused look at Bakugou, prompting the explosive blonde to explain himself:
"Pinky had the idea that, since I've had my Quirk for years and you only had yours for basically one year, that the discrepancy between our experience would give me an easy win. However, I get the feeling she's only saying that because she's desperate for you two get out of this thing."
Midoriya lowered his eyelids. "I scared her, didn't I?"
"Well, you did shoot quite the glare at her, so the possibility you two could end up fighting would no doubt make her uncomfortable," Bakugou sighed. "But we won't know if she's scared until the fight."
Bakugou saved his hands on his pockets and walked away, leaving Midoriya alone to continue his trek across the stadium.
"Oh, Midoriya!"
At least until Yaoyorozu popped up.
"Oh, hi Yaoyorozu," he greeted. "I was just taking a walk to prepare myself for my fight."
"Yeah, I know, and I don't plan to take too much of your time," Yaoyorozu clasped her hands. "I just want to let you know that I'll be cheering you on."
Midoriya raised an eyebrow. "Does this have anything to do with the fact you want me to become your mate?"
Yaoyorozu blinked. "N-No? Why would it have anything to do with that?"
"Well, you did come to my class's training ground and kinda gave everyone a heart attack with what you did."
"Yeah, on hindsight, that was a horrible first impression, but Midoriya..." Yaoyorozu put a hand on his shoulder. "Whether we become mates or not, I want to try establish a friendly relationship between Class 1-A and Class 1-B. And since you seem to be among the friendlier members of 1-B..."
"Okay, I get it," Midoriya smiled. "Thanks, Yaoyorozu. I'll be cheering you on when your match starts, too."
Yaoyorozu smiled and blushed with a simple nod, before separating from the boy.
And before anybody knew it, the tournament started, Bakugou and Midoriya taking their spots at the edges of the arena while Midnight stood at the sidelines.
"AND NOW, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IT'S THE MOMENT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR! THE FINAL EVENT OF THE SPORTS FESTIVAL, THE TOURNAMENT!"
"Yay, tournament! Oh! And it looks like we got an interesting match up to start things off!"
"STOLE IT RIGHT FROM MY MOUTH, YOUNGLING! ON ONE CORNER, WE GOT THE BOY WHOSE SWAN DIVE GAVE HIM A NEW, DEFINITELY QUIRKY LIFE! IT'S CLASS 1-B'S IZUKU MIDORIYA!"
"Go, Midoriya!" Yaoyorozu exclaimed from the stands, making the boy flinch and blush.
"AND ON THE OTHER CORNER, HIS EXPLOSIONS ARE ONLY MATCHED BY HIS TEMPER! ONE OF THE STRONGEST STUDENTS OF CLASS 1-A, KATSUKI BAKUGOU!"
"Become a supernova that'll burn him to a crisp, Bakugou!" Mina shouted with excitement, earning a disapproving look from Yaoyorozu. "What? I'm only being honest: Bakugou has a far higher chance of winning than Midoriya, be realistic."
Uraraka joined in giving Mina a stern look, before she turned back to the arena.
In there, Bakugou briefly took a look at the audience, and though they were far away, he still caught two sights that intrigued him.
The first one was Uraraka, who looked at him with a concerned look before she noticed him, and promptly turned elsewhere, narrowing her eyes in a pout.
The other sight was Mina, who was waving her arms with the smugest shit-eating grin Bakugou had ever seen. Yes, even compared to his earlier grins.
"They're watching us, Midoriya," Bakugou stated as he turned back to the swan knight. "Pinky, Round Face, and Black Swan are going to have their eyes on us the whole fight."
Black Swan? Midoriya raised an eyebrow. Is he talking about Yaoyorozu?
"START!"
"Well then, show me what you got, Midoriya!"
With that said, Bakugou sprinted towards Midoriya, and the boy quickly responded by crouching down, pressing a button on his boots, and then jumping high enough to reach the sky. He promptly fell down, and before he hit the ground, he sprouted his swan wings and flew up, with Bakugou wasting no time in giving chase.
"I see you've managed to find a way to work around your jumping requirement!" Bakugou exclaimed, unleashing explosions downwards. "Who made those things for you? Bullseye?"
"If you're talking about Hatsume, then yes; I asked her to build the boots, and she delivered," Midoriya answered, getting ready to dodge. "You got a problem with that?!"
"Not at all," Bakugou smiled with confidence. "It'll even the field, if only so slightly!"
"WOW! THE FIGHT'S BARELY STARTED AND BOTH OUR FIGHTERS HAVE DECIDED TO TAKE THINGS TO THE SKY! WHICH ONE OF THEM WILL FALL FIRST? WHICH ONE WILL LOSE FIRST?!"
"And most importantly, can I hug Midoriya when this is over?!"
"THAT'S... AN ODD REQUEST, YOUNGLING."
"His wings just look so fluffy!"
And as the commentators kept talking, Bakugou kept throwing explosion after explosion at Midoriya, who flew out of the way each time, narrowly missing the strike. This continued until Bakugou decided to fly slightly more up than Midoriya, confusing the guy before he followed him.
Once high enough, Bakugou swung a kick right at Midoriya's face, then followed that by throwing an explosion on his face, sending him flying towards the audience seats.
However, Midoriya quickly regained his composure, and flew away before he crash-landed, the audience cheering as he flew right back to Bakugou, who gritted his teeth as he shot off some more explosions.
The boys chased after each other, forming what basically amounted to a light show until they both went back to the arena: Bakugou landing on his feet, while Midoriya kept himself suspended from the ground so his wings wouldn't vanish.
"I gotta admit, Deku, you're definitely not like the little Quirkless loser that used to be beneath me," Bakugou smiled. "And you're certainly not the loser that couldn't compare to me anymore."
Midoriya raised an eyebrow. "Well, thanks? Honestly, it feels kinda weird to be praised by you."
Bakugou unleashed small firecrackers and leapt high. "That's the idea!"
Midoriya looked up, and he brought his wings in front of him, with the black feather on his head glowing as Bakugou spun around, put his arms up close and shouted:
"Howitzer Impact!"
What Bakugou unleashed next was the mother of all explosions, covering the entire half of the arena, and having enough force to shake the entire stadium.
"Midoriya!" Class 1-B exclaimed in horror.
"Izuku!" Hatsume screamed in disbelief.
Melissa, though staying silent, gritted her teeth as she threw a disapproving look at Bakugou.
"I said it once, and I'll say it again."
Melissa turned around, and saw Mina looking at the fight with a bemused expression.
"Midoriya flew too close to the sun, and got caught up as it turned into a supernova."
And finally, Yaoyorozu clasped her hands together and looked at the giant explosion as it began to dissipate, hoping that, even if Midoriya was out of the tournament, that he was still relatively okay. Or, at the very least, alive.
"That attack took everything I had," Bakugou said as he took a couple deep breaths, his arms shaking slightly. "But as long as it got the point across..."
The cloud smoke fully dissipated, and it revealed Midoriya laying on the ground, the wings in front of him looking pitch black before they cracked and dissipated into light.
"It was worth it."
Several seconds passed as Midoriya didn't move an inch, with Midnight too stumped to say anything.
"AND BAKUGOU HAS UNLEASHED WHAT CAN ONLY BE HOPED TO BE HIS STRONGEST ATTACK! MIDORIYA MIGHT STILL TECHNICALLY BE ON THE RING, BUT IF HE'S NOT EVEN CONSCIOUS TO COUNTERATTACK, THEN WHAT'S THE POINT?!"
"Hey, your name's Midnight, isn't it?" Bakugou snapped at the referee. "He's not going to stand up after that attack-"
"You... think so...?"
Everybody turned to see Midoriya's side of the arena, and all sorts of mixed reactions came in: Mina was flabbergasted, Yaoyorozu was relieved, Melissa was glad, Hatsume was almost on tears, and all of Class 1-B rejoiced.
And what they were seeing, was Midoriya stand back up, heavily bruised but still in the fight.
"Maybe when we were younger... but not now..."
Bakugou looked dumbfounded at the still standing swan knight for a moment. But his shock was soon replaced with an amused smile.
"You really have changed... Deku..."
With his words spoken, Bakugou collapsed, and soon after, Midnight spoke:
"Bakugou can't go any longer! Midoriya goes to the next round!"
