With the last three fights soon to happen, Present Mic wasted no time introducing the next fighters.

"ON THIS CORNER, YOU MAY KNOW HER AS THE APPRENTICE TO A CERTAIN STAIN, AND A REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE! ALSO A HORROR WAITING TO HAPPEN, BUT NOBODY LISTENS TO ME ANYWAY! IT'S CLASS 1-A'S MINA ASHIDO!"

"AND ON THIS CORNER, THE ONE PERSON KEEPING ALL OF CLASS 1-B TOGETHER, AND THEIR EMOTIONAL SUPPORT IN HARD TIMES! IT'S THE MOTHER OF CLASS 1-B, ITSUKA KENDO!"

"So, Kendo, it's been a while since we've last talked," Mina spoke with a friendly, yet menacing tone. "How's your arm? Has it healed yet?"

Kendo put a hand on her arm and growled, "It's healed enough to let me fight."

"I sure hope so," Mina raised an eyebrow. "And have you tried to do anything with Midoriya? Because I'm certain I gave you a clear message-"

"There's nothing romantic going on between me and Midoriya!" Kendo narrowed her eyes. "There never was, nor will there ever be!"

"Are you sure about that?" Mina smirked. "He's getting so many potential girlfirends lately, I wouldn't be surprised if you joined the harem!"

"START!"

Mina bolted straight for Kendo, her arms outstretched as Kendo cracked her knuckles and took a defensive position.

Once she got close enough, Mina coated her fingers in acid and swung them like claws, each hit narrowly missing the redhead before she enlarged one of her hands and trapped Mina in it. She reeled it back, ready to throw the pink girl out of the arena, but a burning sensation caused Kendo to open her hand, release Mina, and shrink her hand back down as Mina landed right behind her and grabbed her free arm.

Right in the same spot she got burned before.

"Do you remember this, Kendo?" Mina chuckled as she began dripping acid on the arm. "Last time, I was more than happy to let you go off without a warning. But this time..."

Mina tightened her grip. "There's only one thing you can say to keep your arm."

Kendo gritted her teeth, trying to bear the pain long enough to think of a plan. However, it was when the acid began dripping into her bones that she screamed:

"I concede!"

Midnight raised her whip. "Kendo has conceded! Ashido goes to the next round!"

Mina released Kendo's arm and patted her back. "Good girl, I'm glad to see you're still cooperative."

Kendo gritted her teeth and shot a glare at Mina as both she and the acidic girl left the arena, all while the baffled audience watched them.


"That was a very dirty trick you pulled on Kendo, Ashido," Yaoyorozu sternly stated.

"Everything's fair on love and war, Yaoyorozu, and the Sports Festival is the ultimate war," Mina calmly responded. "Sure, it's a war to get noticed by the pro-heroes, but it's a war nonetheless."

"And you're about to get noticed in the worst way possible," Bakugou stated.

"Better that than not getting noticed at all," Mina folded her arms. "Speaking of being noticed, you're up next, Kirishima. Give it your all, alright?"

Kirishima sighed as he stood up. "Yeah, I know. Wish me luck everyone."

Kirishima left the stands, and Bakugou waved goodbye before he turned to face Mina, who gave the redhead a wink before she turned back to see the explosive blonde glaring at her.

"What?"

"You're not going to do anything when he loses, right?"

"Ohoho, Bakugou, what are you saying?" Mina lowered her eyelids. "There's no way Kirishima would lose to a shirmp like that support student."

Speaking of the support student, Mineta walked down the hallways as he headed to the arena, his hands on his pockets.

Okay, Mineta, you're about to go out and face off against a hero course student, right in front of the pro-heroes of Japan. It's nothing to worry about! It's just every person in the most popular occupation in the world judging you for a chance to become their intern... actually, now that I think about it, do support students get internships like hero students?

Just then, the guy heard someone growling in exasperation, and he stopped. He turned around, and saw none other than Eri, sitting on a bench with a tired expression.

Oh hey, it's the girl who split the arena into three. What's she doing here?

"Would you stop staring at me?" Eri sternly asked.

Mineta took a step back, but quickly regained his composure. "You're still upset over what happened at the past event, aren't you?"

Eri rolled her eyes. "Why yes, I'm upset about that. Thanks for reminding of that."

"I-I didn't mean to, I just didn't want to jump to conclusions," Mineta took a deep breath. "If it makes you feel any better, I think your strategy was actually pretty good. Heck, I don't think most of us would've passed if you hadn't created those fire walls-"

"And that's thing: everybody but me went to the next round!" Eri put her hand on her cheek. "It was my chance to make a good impression on the teachers and I blew it!"

Mineta raised an eyebrow. "Okay, this might be a dumb question, but why do you wanna make a good impression on the teachers? Shouldn't you try make a good impression on the other pro-heroes?"

"Don't you know anything? The Sports Festival isn't just a chance for hero course students to get internship offers," Eri turned to Mineta, folding her arms. "It's also a chance for those in the other courses, primarily general education, to earn a chance to become a member of one of the hero course classes."

"And in order to do it, you'd need to show the teachers you do have the potential to be a pro-hero," Mineta continued. "And your idea to do that was to split the arena in three with your fire walls and snatch Melissa's headband?"

"Exactly," Eri smiled, though it quickly turned into a frown. "But my entire idea got ruined when time ran out, so I'm probably going to stay in general education."

Mineta scratched his head. "Well, if you don't mind me asking, why did you apply for general education if you wanted to be a hero?"

"My Quirk stockpiles power, but it takes a really long time to do it," Eri sighed. "The time limit provided in the exam wasn't long enough to show what I'm capable of, so I applied for general education and waited until the sports festival to prove my worth."

"COULD THE FIGHTERS PLEASE PRESENT THEMSELVES AT THE ARENA, PLEASE?!"

"They're calling for you," Eri took a deep breath. "You should go. Otherwise, you're gonna be disqualified."

"Yeah... good talk."

Mineta kept walking to the arena, and once he had left, Eri looked at where he had gone and stood up, before walking back to her stand.


"ON THIS CORNER, A SUPPORT COURSE STUDENT WHOSE GADGETS PROVES HE'S ALL BALLS TO THE WALL! A ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR MINORU MINETA!"

"Woo! Go Mineta!" Hatsume chirped.

"AND ON THIS CORNER, THE EMBODIMENT OF MANLINESS, OR SO HE'D LIKE YOU TO BELIEVE! IT'S CLASS 1-A'S EIJIRO KIRISHIMA!"

"Show him the might of the hero course, Kirishima!" Mina shouted, raising her fists.

"You're not in any position to say anything about the hero course, Pinky," Bakugou hissed.

"Shut up and cheer Kirishima on!"

Kirishima looked at Mina's cheering and sighed before he turned back to Mineta. "Look, don't listen to what she says, okay? Let's just give it our best."

"Agreed, and I hope you don't mind," Mineta reached for his back, and took out a blaster-like gadget, with four tubes connecting to the purple balls that formed his mohawk. "But I'll have to use a little support to give it my all!"

"WHAT'S THIS! IT LOOKS LIKE MINETA HAS BROUGHT A SUPPORT ITEM WITH HIM TO THE BATTLEFIELD! CAN THIS MACHINE HELP HIM EVEN THE DUEL?!"

"Actually, is it even legal?"

"I'll allow it!" Midnight exclaimed.

"IF THAT'S THE CASE, THEN START!"

Kirishima hardened his skin and rushed towards Mineta, who promptly aimed his blaster at him and shot several of his balls at him. Kirishima braked slightly and dodged the incoming balls, slowly but surely getting closer to the purple dwarf.

I see, the machine automatically plucks off and shoots Mineta's balls, and at a slightly faster rate than if he were to do it with his bare hands. Hatsume remarked, scratching her chin with a wide smile. He has a slightly higher chance of injuring his head like this, but as long as he gets one of the balls to hit the opponent, it's a risk worth taking.

Hatsume flashed a proud grin. I can't wait to fight it!

Mina, meanwhile, looked dumbfounded at the spectacle. She wasn't exactly sure what she was looking at, but she knew she didn't like it.

Finally, at the general education stands, Shinsou and Eri watched the fight with interest. "Huh, looks like the little purple dwarf got something on his mind," Shinsou said with a raised eyebrow. "This oughta be interesting, right?"

Eri said nothing, knowing what Shinsou's Quirk could do, so she instead nodded and kept watching silently.

Back with the fight, Kirishima got close enough to punch Mineta, but before he could do that, the guy dodged the strike and jumped into one of the balls in the arena, jumping up and down on it repeatedly as he gestured Kirishima to go after him.

Accepting the challenge, Kirishima smiled and chased after Mineta, who jumped to another ball once Kirishima got close enough. He did this again, and again, and this continued until they were both close to the edges of the arena.

Once there, Kirishima threw another punch, but rather than jump to another ball, Mineta jumped over Kirishima, got on his back, and jumped off, sending him straight out of the boundaries and into the grassfield.

"Kirishima is out of bounds!" Midnight proclaimed as she raised her whip. "Mineta goes to the next round!"

Mineta took off the gadget, jumped down to the grass, and helped Kirishima stand up. "Hey, good fight back there."

"Yeah, same to you," Kirishima said with a proud smile. "I gotta say, you totally caught me off-guard with that jump. Hey, think you could make a gadget for me sometime?"

Mineta shrugged and smiled. "Sure, just ask for permission, tell me what you need, and I'll see what I can do."

Kirishima patted Mineta's back, and the duo went back to the stands, laughing all the while.


"Oh my goodness, Mineta, I'm so happy for you!" Hatsume shouted joyously as she hugged Mineta as tightly as she could. "Good work out there!"

"Thanks!" Mineta said, his voice muffled by the hug. "I bet you're gonna do amazing on your match, too!"

"Oh, right, my match!" Hatsume put Mineta down and grabbed her toolbox. "I need to go get a couple of things ready for it! Be back in a bit!"

Hatsume ran off, and Mineta sat back down on his seat.

"H-Hey."

The purple dwarf turned around, and Eri was standing right near him. "Oh hey, the girl from general education-"

"Eri." she played with her hair. "My name's Eri."

"Eri, then," Mineta raised an eyebrow. "What do you need?"

Eri twiddled her fingers and avoided eye contact with Mineta. "W-Well, I watched your fight, a-and I just wanted to say... you did good out there."

Mineta smiled. "Why, thank you."

Eri looked at Mineta, and she barely saw his smile for a second before she hastily said, "W-Well, that's all I wanted to say! G-Good luck on your match!"

Eri ran off soon after, and a confused Mineta could only ask, "What just happened?"

Meanwhile, over on Kirishima's end, the redheaded guy scratched the back of his head and laughed as he sat down. "Man, that was quite a defeat, wasn't it?"

"You can say that again," Sero answered. "That little guy made you go all over the place and then he pushed you out of the arena like that."

"I kinda wonder," Uraraka scratched her cheek. "Would hardening your back have helped?"

"Unlikely," Yaoyorozu shook her head. "The increased weight from the hardening would've increased Kirishima's weight-"

"What the hell..."

Everybody turned around, and next thing they knew, Mina was right up in Kirishima's face, lifting him by the neck of his shirt as she yelled:

"What the hell was that pathetic showing, Kirishima!? Why didn't you kick that supporter's ass when you had the chance!?"

"M-Mina, calm down!" Kirishima replied, hardening his skin.

"How am I supposed to calm down after you made such a massive screw up!?"

Bakugou put a hand on Mina's shoulder. "That's enough, Pinky-"

"Don't touch me, you little shit!" Mina hissed, releasing Kirishima and using the same arm to slap Bakugou's hand away. "First you hold back enough to let Midoriya go to the next round, and now you want me to calm down after Kirishima let that little midget win!?"

Uraraka frowned, while everybody else, including Yaoyorozu, widened their eyes. "Bakugou held back?"

"Bakugou's Howitzer Impact gathers oxygen and stuff to power the explosion he unleashes after the spiral," Uraraka explained, getting everyone's attention. "However, like with most of his explosions, Bakugou can choose not to blow up all of the stuff he's accumulated; however, doing this causes a heavy toll on his body."

Yaoyorozu turned back to Bakugou. "So, the Howitzer Impact he did against Midoriya..."

Bakugou rolled his eyes. "If I wanted, I could've unleashed an even bigger, even stronger explosion, that even the enhancement your feather gave to Deku's wings would've done nothing to protect him."

"Yes, you could've, but you didn't, and Midoriya's still in this stupid tournament!" Mina hissed, spitting venom as she leaned forward until she was face-to-face with the explosive blonde. "And again I ask, why would you do something so idiotic!?"

Bakugou, without warning, smacked foreheads with Mina hard enough to send her straight into the wall separating the hero courses, with the rest of Class 1-A watching in shock.

"You... you dare-"

"I allowed Deku to win for a couple, simple reasons," Bakugou smirked. "For starters, it pisses you off."

Mina gritted her teeth and growled... for about a second before Bakugou grabbed the neck of her shirt and lifted her.

"Secondly, remember what I said about me fucking you up once you crossed the line? Well, letting Deku win was precisely what I meant by that: I've noticed how you've grown scared of him since the festival started. How you tried to avoid him, how you were vehement on me defeating him, and how, once he beat me, you froze up and began to panic on the inside."

"W-What the hell are you talking about!?" Mina spat. "I'm not scared of that little jerk!"

"I'm pretty sure you are."

Everybody turned to see the source of the voice; Melissa. "I saw you shaking and everything when the obstacle course was over, and before the arena was split into three, I saw you watching Midoriya with caution."

Mina narrowed her eyes. "Melissa, you traitorous bitch..."

"And finally, the most important reason, is because you deserve to get fucked up by Deku," Bakugou continued. "You've already done so much bullshit to hurt him and his friends, that even I feel disgusted by the fact we share a father."

"You what?!" the rest of Class 1-A exclaimed.

"It's a long story that I didn't want to bother to tell, because as far as I'm concerned, this little shit isn't my sister; she's just an asshole who pulls dick moves left and right for her own amusement," Bakugou dropped Mina on the ground. "And now, it's time for all those moves to catch up to her."

With his words spoken, Bakugou walked back to his seat and sat down, all while Mina looked at him with a rabid glare. She didn't do anything besides sit back down, but as the wait for the final fight began, an uneasy tension filled the 1-A stands.


And thus, in the blink of an eye, the final battle arrived.

"ON THIS CORNER, FROM GENERAL EDUCATION, HE'S SOMEONE WHO TRAINED SO HARD TO BE A HERO, HE KINDA FORGOT TO TAKE A SNOOZE! IT'S HITOSHI SHINSOU!"

"AND ON THIS CORNER, FROM THE SUPPORT COURSE, THE MOST ENTHUSIASTIC GADGETEER YOU'LL EVER MEET! IT'S MEI HATSUME!"

Hatsume finished adjusting the arm brace when she heard Shinsou's voice speaking:

"So, we meet again, huh?"

Hatsume shot a glare at Shinsou, but the boy kept talking undeterred.

"I gotta say, this match up really put a wrench in my plans. I was planning to use the information I got to try gain an advantage over that Midoriya guy you told me about. But clearly, that's not what happened."

Hatsume narrowed her eyes.

"Now, I'm facing you instead, and you seem to have a sweet little gadget to give me a beating for what I did. And I don't blame you... but you can't blame me either."

"START!"

"Just think about it: I don't know what your Quirk did, but it probably helped you with the support course, right?"

Hatsume lowered her head, looking saddened at the mention of her lost eyes, before she regained her composure and got ready to run.

"I'm almost the same: my Quirk would be completely useless against the robots we faced at the entrance exam. I could get someone else to destroy one for me, but that would only help them, and I'd be left in the dust."

Shinsou looked at the ground and frowned.

"I don't expect you to understand... I don't expect anybody to understand... but I really wanted to get into the hero course, to prove that, even if my Quirk was villainous, that didn't mean I couldn't be a hero... even if I had to resort to underhanded tricks to do it. I was hoping that impressing the school enough to get a ticket to the hero course would at least help justify my methods, even if they were inexcusable."

Hatsume raised her head, and began walking towards him as both Class 1-A and Class 1-B frowned at Shinsou's continue statement:

"The hero course has it so easy, with all its flashy members with their flashy, powerful Quirks. Even the less useful ones like a simply upgrade to their defense makes them perfect heroes in the eyes of the world. And then there are people like me, people whose Quirks have been stereotyped to be stuff worthy of villains. Stuff that, assuming you have it, your only real future is as a villain."

Midoriya lowered his eyelids. "Shinsou..."

"I do understand."

Midoriya. his classmates, the audience and even Shinsou flinched as they saw Hatsume was right in front of Shinsou, ready to throw a punch.

"But you still ruined my trust, so I can't help you get to the hero course now."

Hatsume threw a punch, and her brace glew before it increased the force of the punch by twice its output, sending Shinsou right out of bounds and into the soft grass below.

"Shinsou is out of bounds!" Midnight exclaimed. "Hatsume goes to the next round!"

"Ugh, dang it," the insomniac-looking guy spoke as he got up. "I ruined someone's trust, and even the trust of one of my upperclassmen, for nothing."

"Maybe today, but not always."

Shinsou looked up, and once again, Hatsume was right nearby, this time offering a hand to him.

"Look, my trust is still pretty hurt, so every time you talk I'll do my best to not respond... but, I also understand your plight, so, how about I make you a support item to help you get to the hero course?"

Shinsou accepted the hand, and fully stood up. "You'd be willing to help me even after everything I did?"

Hatsume smiled. "That's what the support course is for, right?"

Shinsou smiled, nodded, and he and Hatsume shook hands before they left the arena, just in time for Mic to chime in:

"AND THAT DOES IT FOR THE FIRST ROUND OF THE TOURNAMENT! WE'LL TAKE A HALF HOUR BREAK AND RETURN WITH EVEN MORE EXCITING ACTION!"