*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!*

Inko Midoriya walked up to the door and opened it. She found an old friend of hers standing outside. "I'm glad you could come, Detective Tsukauchi."

"It's always a pleasure to work with you, Mrs. Midoriya," the detective replied, bowing down a little. "Still, I do have to warn you I'm busy with a case right now, so if you could make it quick-"

Inko shushed the man, and without missing a single beat, she took him close to the TV and turned it on. The screen displayed a versus screen, showing Shiozaki silently praying while Mina flashed a cocky grin.

"Is that..." Tsukauchi remarked, his eyes widening at the sight.

"The supposed apprentice of Hero Killer Stain? Yes," Inko finished as she pocketed her hands. "Apparently, some genius at U.A. thought it would be a good idea to let that psychopath enter the sports festival, and she's even managed to hurt students already!"

Tsukauchi flinched. "Has she?!"

"She nearly burnt off a girl's arm, and I believe she had something to do with a sudden burn wound in another guy's leg," Inko shrugged. "Anyway, that's besides the point: she's out there, she's still fighting, and something needs to be done about her before she goes too far."

The detective regained his composure and nodded. "I'll get us an arrest warrant immediately, and drive us to the site."

"Please do so, Tsukauchi."

Inko walked into her room, then walked out, now wearing a trenchcoat on top of her normal clothes.

"The longer we take, the more time she has to cause pain and suffering to another hero student."


Ibara Shiozaki stood in front of the board, showing the remaining fights. Midoriya and Melissa had advanced to the next round, as Present Mic said before, and the very next fight was...

Between her and Mina.

She put a hand over her chest, and closed her eyes as she silently prayed for a miracle to come.

"Hi, Shiozaki."

The greenette flinched and turned around, calming down significantly once she saw the person talking to her was none other than Midoriya, who was accompanied by Hatsume.

"Don't scare me like that, Midoriya!" she chided. "I'm about to face the greatest, most dangerous challenge in my life, and the last thing I need is a heart attack!"

"Told you we should've waited until she stopped praying," Hatsume said, gently hitting Midoriya in the shoulder.

"I was hoping we could reach her before she got into it," Midoriya said, scratching his head with a sheepish smile. "Anyway, Hatsume and I wanted to talk to you before the match."

"If you want to encourage me, I appreciate it, but I don't think any words alone will help me that much in this endeavor," Shiozaki sighed. "The match starts in a couple minutes, too, so-"

Hatsume shushed the vine-haired teen, then grabbed the swan feather on her head and showed it to her. "I want you to take this."

Shiozaki blinked twice. "I... don't think I understand?"

"This feather was created by Midoriya, and it allows him to know when you're in danger, among other things," Hatsume explained with a little smile. "I also think of it as a lucky trinket that helps build confidence, and considering who you're facing, that's definitely something you need."

"Mina has already hurt Kendo and Hatsume, and if what Melissa told us is true, she's even gone so far as to hurt her own classmates," Midoriya added. "If it's possible, I want to help you prepare enough to give Mina a piece of your mind. And, hopefully, knock her out before she gets the chance to play with your head."

Shiozaki looked back at the feather, then at Midoriya and Hatsume's reassuring looks, which made the feather look even more enticing. Even so...

"I appreciate the offer, but I'm afraid I can't take it-"

Hatsume lowered her eyelids. "If this has anything to do with honor or your religious beliefs, I'll just be blunt with you: none of them will matter when Mina's digging your face into the ground."

"Hatsume!" Midoriya snapped.

"You can't say that's something she wouldn't do!"

"What I mean is," Shiozaki blurted, getting the duo's attention. "As much as I want to accept your offer of protection, I can't accept it knowing that, if Mina finds out about it, she's going to see it as an excuse to go all out. She seems to have it out for you two, for some reason."

Midoriya and Hatsume exchanged looks, then lowered their heads with angry looks.

"Besides, even if I took the feather, I feel like I'd be outmatched regardless," Shiozaki clasped her hands together. "I'm not someone who enjoys violence: I completely detest it and would never resort to it. But Mina... she's proven to be quite violent. Even if I did my best, she'd have me beaten in how cruel and perverse her actions could get."

"Well, if it helps, she's been forced to wear a support item that renders her acid useless at long range," Hatsume remarked, lifting her head and smiling a bit. "And your Quirk does seem to have a decent middle-to-long range cover, so as long as you don't get too close, she won't be able to hurt you... that badly."

"And you don't need to beat her either, you can just trick her into falling out of the ring," Midoriya added. "Which, now that I think about it, is how many of these fights have concluded, actually. Not that that's a bad thing."

"Except for the announcers," Hatsume quipped. "Imagine them getting all hyped up for an epic battle and then, blam, ring out."

The duo laughed for a bit, with Shiozaki looking confused at them before she joined in for a brief moment. "Again, thanks for the offer, but I'll use my own wits to ring her out. Because I don't think I'll be able to knock her out."

Hatsume put the feather back on her head. "Well, alright then, Shiozaki, if you say so."

"We wish you good luck in your match," Midoriya said as he gave the girl a thumbs up. "Give Ashido a piece of you mind!"

"Oh trust me, I will," Shiozaki lowered her eyelids. "And, before you go, there's something I want to ask you, Midoriya."

The boy raised an eyebrow. "Me?"

"I've noticed you've been surrounded by a notable female presence since the festival started," Shiozaki folded her arms. "I don't want to make any assumptions, especially because you seem like a nice guy, but... are you trying to make a harem, Midoriya?"

Midoriya raised an eyebrow. "A harem? What's that supposed to be?"

"You don't know what a harem is?" Shiozaki smiled with approval. "You really are as pure as I hoped you would be!"

Hatsume poked Midoriya's cheek. "A harem is-"

Shiozaki promptly slapped her with her vine hair. "Shush! Don't corrupt the pure child!"

"Well, anyway, if you're talking about how I'm often surrounded by girls, no, I'm not planning to get anywhere romantically with them," Midoriya added. "Kendo's just a friend, Melissa's also just a friend, Hatsume's my protectorate, and I'd rather die than even humor the idea of having a relationship with Ashido."

"What about Yaoyorozu?"

"She's the one pining for me. And I'm not really interested."

"COULD THE CONTESTANTS PLEASE HEAD TO THE ARENA, RIGHT NOW?!"

"That's your cue," Midoriya remarked. "Good luck out there."

Shiozaki smiled and nodded, clasping her hands and praying once again as she headed to the arena and left the duet alone.

"So, do you think she's gonna win?"

"As long as she gives Ashido a piece of her mind, I'll count it as a win."


"Mina!"

The pink girl stopped, turned around, and saw Kirishima approaching her with Bakugou by his side.

"Well, if it isn't Kirishima, and my dear little brother," Mina remarked with a little smile. "I'm about to have a match, so if you need something, say it quick-"

"Don't go all out!"

Mina narrowed her eyes and glared at Bakugou. "After that statement you gave earlier today, it's quite hypocritical to ask that, Bakugou-"

"I wasn't the one who asked that."

Mina raised an eyebrow and turned to face Kirishima, who was looking at her with a serious expression. "So, you said that, Kirishima?"

The redhead sighed and nodded. "Mina, I know how you can take things to the extreme, and give an even more intense response. Even considering what Bakugou said at the start, and what your limiting gadget can do, I can't just trust you not to go overboard!"

"Hmph, and what makes you think just asking me to hold back will work?"

"Because I'm the only person outside of Stain who you'd ever bother listen to."

Mina's eyes widened for a moment, before she lowered her eyelids and smirked. "Clever, Kirishima. I guess you're not just a sack of brawns after all."

The pink girl turned around and began walking away.

"Oh, and by the way, Kirishima?"

The redhead raised an eyebrow.

"You passed the test: facing off one of the Big Three already made you look like quite a hero. But actually trying to convince me to hold back makes your heroic potential very clear."

With that said, the acidic girl kept walking until she left for the arena, leaving the guys behind. When she did, though, they exchanged concerned looks.

Somehow, one way or another, it felt like Mina was still gonna pull something out of her sleeve...


"ALRIGHTY EVERYBODY, WE'RE READY TO BEGIN THE NEXT MATCH IN THE TOURNAMENT! AREN'T WE, HADOU?!"

"You bet, Present Mic! And this match is going to be real interesting!" Nejire chirped, clapping repeatedly as she chirped, "Because we got a fight between a pair of students: an impressive one, and a devilish one!"

"CHANGE "DEVILISH" TO "INSUFFERABLE" AND I'LL AGREE WITH YOU, BUT THAT'S BESIDES THE POINT! LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!"

Both Shiozaki and Mina entered the arena, the latter flashing a smug grin that immediately got on Shiozaki's nerves. It was quite amazing that even after so long since their first interaction, Mina still acted like the same infuriating little shit.

"ON THIS CORNER! CAN HER FAITH PROVE STRONG ENOUGH AGAINST THE DEVIL SHE'S ABOUT TO FACE?! IT'S CLASS 1-B'S IBARA SHIOZAKI!"

"Go, Shiozaki!" Midoriya exclaimed, raising his fist.

"Show that jerk what Class 1-B can do!" Monoma shouted, pounding his knuckles. "Avenge Kendo!"

"Um, I'm still alive, you know?" the redhead growled in exasperation.

"T-That's not what I meant-"

"SHIOZAKIII!"

The teenagers turned around to see Melissa not only standing up, but flailing her arms up and down while shouting at the very top of her lungs. Her classmates looked rather surprised by this, but she paid no attention to them.

"BREAK BEYOND YOUR MORAL SELF-RESTRICTION! GIVE ASHIDO THE BIGGEST BEATING OF HER LIFE! SHE DOESN'T DESERVE MERCY AFTER EVERYTHING SHE'S DONE!"

"M-Melissa, calm down, please!" Shimura weakly pleaded, clasping his hands. "You're giving us unwanted attention..."

Seeing the guy was right, the blonde inheritor huffed and sat back down, adjusting her glasses as she folded her arms.

"VERSUS! I WANNA MAKE A JOKE ABOUT HER FIGHTING SHIOZAKI'S FAITH, BUT I REALLY DON'T WANNA GIVE HER ANY IDEAS! IT'S CLASS 1-A'S MINA ASHIDO!"

The pink girl smirked as not only Shiozaki's glare fell upon her, but also glares from the entirety of both Class 1-A and 1-B, with a glare from Hatsume thrown in.

"Haha! I can sense everyone's disapproval from here!" Mina chirped as she stretched. "I know I should feel a little ashamed because of all the terrible things I did, but I'm sorry, the sheer hypocrisy being shown all around me is just too much!"

Shiozaki raised an eyebrow.

"Hypocrisy?" You're probably wondering," the pink girl continued. "Well, think about it: in this world, heroes react, and villains do. Theoretically, a hero does nothing but wait until a villain shows up, and they then get up their lazy butts to stop them. So I, using the same "rational falsehood" that Eraserhead uses all the time, decided to help everyone gain a more proactive streak, and everyone disapproves of it."

Mina flashed a sadistic grin. "Isn't the hypocrisy in that statement just delicious?"

"START!"

Shiozaki wasted no time and she planted her hair on the ground. The hair spread across the ground in front of her until it burst from underneath Mina, the pink girl jumping up just as the hair contorted in the form of a cage.

"I guess you're just as blind as everyone else," Mina spoke with disappointment as she generated some acid from her palm. "Well then, have at you!"

Mina swung her arm and shot the acid... which dissipated into the air mere seconds after it left her palm, not even reaching anywhere near Shiozaki.

"Oh right, this little thing on my neck forces me to stay close range! I totally forgot, my bad!"

She didn't forget anything! Hatsume thought. She's just screwing around!

Mina fell on top of the cage, and jumped off before she ran towards Shiozaki. The vine-haired girl immediately reacted by morphing the cage into several vines that tried to strike Mina as she ran. However, no matter how fast they struck, the pink girl simply dodged each and every strike.

She even managed to grab one of the vines to inspect it closer.

"Blunt ends? Come on, Shiozaki, this just won't cut it!"

Mina created some acid from her palm and cut the vine in half with it, doing the same with the other vines before she continued her run.

Shiozaki detached her hair from the ground just as Mina got close, with some steaming acid coming out of her palms. Shiozaki took a deep breath, clenched her fists, and closed her eyes as Mina smirked and lunged straight for her.

Shiozaki simply ducked, waited until Mina was right on top of her, then unleashed an uppercut with all her strength, right on her stomach.

The resulting force of the attack not only sent Mina rolling off to the side, but it also stunned her long enough for Shiozaki to connect her hair to the remaining vines, and seemingly absorb it.

"I'M NOT GONNA LIE, THAT WAS SATISFYING TO SEE!"

"That looked like it hurt!"

"IT SURE DID! IBARA SHIOZAKI DODGED THE ATTACK AT THE LAST MOMENT AND THEN COUNTERED WITH A STRONG UPPERCUT! I ALMOST WISH THIS WOULD BE THE END OF IT, BUT THIS IS A TOURNAMENT ARC! IT'S NEVER THAT SIMPLE!"

Nejire raised an eyebrow. "Tournament arc? What are you talking about?"

"I DON'T KNOW!"

Mina slowly stood up, clutching her chest as she caught her breath. After doing this a couple times, she chuckled, and looked at Shiozaki with amusement.

"So, you're not just going to stay on the defensive, huh? Good, you're starting to show promise!"

Shiozaki narrowed her eyes. "The last thing I want from you is any sort of approval!"

"And the last thing I want is a vine up my ass again," Mina smirked as she prepared to run again. "But I feel I'm gonna get that anyway!"

Blushing at the reminder, Shiozaki quickly shook it off and shot another barrage of vines at Mina, who flashed a grin before she sidestepped the incoming vines, sliding all over the place until she decided to stop, and get hit by one of the vines.

Her cheek was grazed, but it was otherwise unharmed.

"Still going keeping the blunt ends, even after proving you're willing to attack?" Mina narrowed her eyes and kept running. "Just 'cause you don't want my approval, doesn't mean you should want my disappointment!"

Once close enough, Mina grabbed Shiozaki's shoulders and began pushing, with the vine-haired girl grabbing the acidic girl's shoulder and pushing back, keeping them at a standstill.

"IT LOOKS LIKE AFTER SEVERAL SHOTS FROM SHIOZAKI, WHO HASN'T MOVED AN INCH, THE FIGHT HAS DEVOLVED INTO A PUSHING STANDSTILL!"

"Does this mean one of them's going to push the other one out?"

"ONLY ONE WAY TO FIND OUT, FOLKS! KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED!"

Mina gritted her teeth, constantly gaining the upper hand against Shiozaki, only to go back to the standstill. "You have enough upper body strength to keep me at bay, and you still waste your time using your blunt ends!"

"I'm not going to be an action hero!" Shiozaki snapped back. "I'm going to be a rescue hero! Someone who rescues civillians and deals with disaster situations!"

"That's assuming you don't die first!"

Mina stepped on Shiozaki's foot, and the girl groaned as she slammed her hair back on the ground, then released it under Mina's leg, quickly wrapping it in place with her vines as she turned up

"The Hero Business that you and all those jerks look up to is not the same as it used to be! What was once an occupation to keep up morale and to give hope to the common folk, has devolved into nothimg more than a popularity contest between fakers who are more interested in their own popularity than the safety of people!"

The pro-heroes at the stands frowned, disapproving, yet being unable to deny Mina's claims. Even some of the teachers frowned at this, in particular All Might.

"E-Even if that's the case..."

Everyone lifted their heads, and listened as Shiozaki gritted her teeth and proclaimed:

"Not all heroes care about popularity! Some care about the people they're supposed to save, which is more than can be said about someone like you!"

Shiozaki headbutted Mina hard enough to crack her nose, but the pink girl quickly recovered and leaned closer to the vine-haired girl, putting her hands on her back.

"You're getting angry, aren't you? I knew it," Mina snickered, narrowing her eyes. "Behind your facade as a righteous, holy crusader, you're just another irritable little faker, like everyone else in this damn stadium!"

Mina placed her fingertips on Shiozaki's back and began releasing steaming acid. "How do you expect to be a honest heroine if you're not honest with yourself!?"

Shiozaki gritted her teeth and kneed Mina, causing the acidic girl to release her and clutch her stomach before she was kicked right in the teeth. Even with this, however, Mina kept her grip on Shiozaki's shoulders.

"Come on, be honest, Shiozaki! You're enjoying this, aren't you!?" Mina scoffed. "You could've grabbed me with your vines and flung me over the arena, and that would be the end of it!"

"Q-Quiet!"

"But instead, you're keeping me at bay, punching and kicking me to slowly wear me down, until I'm weak enough so that you can give me a beating I'll never forget!"

"I said quiet!"

"And you know, now that I think about it..."

Mina leaned closer to Shiozaki's ear and whispered:

"Doesn't that make us similar?"

Shiozaki's eyes widened as her pupils flashed red for a split second. And in another split second, one of her vines detached from the ground, formed a sharp end, and stabbed Mina right in her right eye, causing her to reel back and scream in back as blood shot from the socket, right on Shiozaki's face.

The audience gasped, and among them, Melissa put a hand on her mouth, Midoriya stood agape, Hatsume covered Mineta's eyes just like Shinsou did with Eri, and the pro-heroes and teachers stood utterly horrified at what just happened.

"HOLY SHIT! I EXPECTED TO SEE SOME BLOOD TODAY, BUT NOT LIKE THAT!"

"Present Mic, I'm scared! Somebody needs to stop it!"

"I AGREE! MIDNIGHT, PUT AN END TO THIS!"

The referee flinched and began searching through her gadgets as Mina recovered from the

"What the hell are you-!?"

However, once made the mistake to look at Shiozaki's bloodied face, she was met with a furious glare, eyes diluted to the point they seemed bloodshot, and emanating an aura that she was far too familiar with.

For the glare was nigh identical to the glare she got from Midoriya earlier.

And it was in that moment that Mina felt an emotion she hadn't felt since the start of the tournament.

Genuine fear.

"I con-!"

Before Mina could finish her statement, vines wrapped around her mouth and covered it, with some extra layers added just in case she tried to melt them away. She whimpered and cried, trying to break free as Shiozaki grabbed her hand and hissed:

"Oh no you're not! You got all the way over here by trampling others and being an utter dick! I'm not gonna give you the pleasure to just give up and get away with everything like the coward you are!"

Shiozaki tightened her grip on Mina's arm and began pulling, while the vines keeping Mina's leg in place gained sharp ends and began piercing it.

"I'm gonna make sure you feel the same pain you gave everyone, with extra interest!"

Midnight found a small bomb-like object, and removed the pin. "Alright, that's enough!"

The pro-heroine threw the gadget, and as soon as it hit the girls, it blew up and released a purple smoke cloud. However, a couple seconds after the fact, an ear-piercing scream was heard as something flew out of the cloud, high into the sky.

The wind dissipated the smoke covering it... and in their utter horror, everyone saw the object was an arm.

A freshly-ripped, pink arm.

Shortly after that, the smoke cloud covering the girls dissipated, revealing the duo had fallen asleep, and neither looked good.

Blood coated Shiozaki's hands and arms, and her hair looked like it was brutally ripped off.

But that paled in comparison to Mina. The acidic girl has marks around her mouth, a bloody stump where her arm used to be, a bleeding eye socket, and an exposed leg with several holes formed around it.

And, with both girls unconscious, Midnight only had one thing to say:

"It's a tie!"


Detective Tsukauchi's vehicle parked right outside the stadium of the sports festival, and both him and Inko stepped outside and began walking towards the stadium, where the jumbotron hanging up showed the results of the latest fight.

That is to say, it showed the mess left after Shiozaki and Mina's scuffle.

"Dang, looks like we arrived too late," the detective remarked.

"No," Inko lowered her eyelids. "We arrived just in time."