CHAPTER 18 – The Second Resident

"Cementoss, I have never seen you mess up something like this!", said a rather surprised Midnight. Stopping the match due to any issue was somewhat embarrassing for UA, but letting the match continue in such an event would be irresponsible too.

"I didn't! I did it like I do every time, there is no way a 'tile' would come out! Heck, this is not even a tile, it just looks like it, it's a huge block of cement.", defended Cementoss. But other than the fact that this was shameful, he was completely dumbstruck as to how it happened!

"It's not a set of tiles? Huh! I never noticed that. So, what happened?"

"Something impossible.", the hero was dead serious when he said this. "It would take ridiculous strength to break it into a tile, then additional strength to sink one end in. On top of that, we couldn't even notice it! All Might and Endeavor are in the stadium, they didn't see anything either!"

"I'll notify the others!", Midnight said as she shifted the mic's broadcast from audience to security. "Possible hostile present inside! Stay on guard for any suspicious individual, we have no idea how they look, but suspected to have both super strength and super speed!"

While this was a buzzkill for almost everyone, it was especially so for the participants. If anything, they were in the mood to fight and being stopped in between a fight is the worst feeling they could experience besides a loss! In a way this time could be used to mentally regroup oneself, but since it was this early in the match there shouldn't have been anything to regroup themselves from. Nanami, however, could have used this time to calm down and let her anger cool off.

But with all the stress, expectations, tiresome preliminaries piling up on top of each other, Nanami could not absolutely let it go!

"He thinks he helped me, and so he is such a fucking saint! I'll show him who needs to pity the other…", Nanami endlessly grumbled to herself as Cementoss fixed the stadium.

"You do realise that you would have lost otherwise, right?", said another voice but no one was nearby. Kirishima was waiting on the other end of the stadium.

"Who?"

"I think I am you, but I'm not sure though. I guess I only know what you… I know"

"Is this someone's quirk. Show yourself! It's creepy to look inside a teen girl's head. Pervert!", Nanami was now actively trying to look for someone suspicious in the crowd, but nothing raised any flags!

"I mean I guess that's logical but honestly a paranoid hero doesn't really look like a good nickname, just relax! Don't make your chances of being picked up for an internship worse than you have already made it!"

"You have my voice but you… sound like Tetsuya!"

"You think so?"

"…"

"I told you I am you, no one else would have understood the nonsense you blurted out."

"THAT MADE TOTAL SENSE… So, what are you? My voice of reason and so you sound like Tetsuya?"

"Seems like a good explanation but I only know what you know."

"Wait I didn't know that you only know what I know! But you do! Doesn't that create a paradox or something like that?"

"Perhaps. Don't overthink it, I guess. But seriously calm down! Kirishima seems like a nice guy, don't kill him."

"I won't. I want to continue in this tournament and not get kicked out. But I won't forgive him."

"Jeez, at least you are calm. Later then!"

"Wait what? Aren't you in my head? Where can you even go? Oi Tetsuya TWO-POINT-O?"

There was no reply. That was weird, to say the least… But by now, Cementoss had fixed the stage and it was time to start their match!

"I would be lying if I said I wasn't thankful for what you did, or rather didn't…", Nanami said to Kirishima as the match started. "But that doesn't mean I liked it! The only way I can repay you for that act of disrespect is to emulate it in my own way. Eijiro Kirishima, I know you can't hear me saying this but, I will beat you without using my quirk!", Nanami promised to herself as she dashed towards Kirishima, who was ready to take her punch and then counter-attack! But this punch was considerably faster and stronger than the one he faced before the break. It not only pushed him back considerably but even cracked his weak Hardening, which he had tuned to her previous punch.

"She was holding back!", Kirishima realised as his hardening broke off! However, he wasn't scared by it, since it just meant he had to harden harder!

"If it cracks then it can be broken!", Nanami exclaimed as she soon followed it with a stronger and swifter punch on the same area. However, Kirishima managed to harden it by the time her punch landed! His hardening didn't crack but he could feel the punch getting stronger and thus pushing him back further than before!

"Damn you are just showing off now. But that is kinda cool in its own way I suppose…"

"I thought you were going away for now."

"I mean I'm still in your head, where can I even go now"

"Yeah…", she landed an even stronger punch as she tried to ignore the distraction in her own head. Anyone seeing the match, or for that matter, even Kirishima who fighting her couldn't guess for even a moment that she got distracted! In fact, if anything she got even more into her punches and managed to slightly crack the hardened Kirishima!

"Harder, even harder! I have to be the unbreakable shield which no one can break!"

Despite her strong hits, which managed to be even stronger than the former ones, it wasn't a punch without consequences. Not only was Kirishima's skin hard, but it was also rough! But, even as blood started flowing out of her fists, she didn't seem fazed in the slightest.

"When two fighters are matched in a fair 1 on 1 battle, the only thing which separates them is their tenacity, their perseverance and their will to fight on longer in the face of a threat. But the battle doesn't care about what the fighter feels if they are not matched in strength and technique, the superior fighter wins.", Eraser Head gave his occasional input about the match from the commentary box.

Kirishima could not let his opponent be the superior in fighting skill and technique and, in an attempt, to do so, he hardened beyond anything he had ever done before! Though this slowed him down to the point that he could barely move, Nanami soon realised what she was up against. A wall that she could not break, at least without any quirk, and one she could definitely not just push back!

Though Kirishima could only attack her if she attacked him and got close enough if she couldn't attack the situation was bound to become a stalemate.

"Any ideas Tetsuya2.0", being pushed back to a literal wall Nanami was ready for any advice. Even from her imaginary second self who seemed eerily similar to Tetsuya. However, soon she realised that she was on her own. This was mostly peaceful even if it meant that she had to come up with a tactic on her own to overcome the wall put in front of her…

"Sorry for the delayed response but I honestly thought you wanted me gone or something… Let's see what we have here… Does he have an armour around himself or something like that?"

"Ah yes, should have realised that myself…"

"Technically, you did!"

"If there is an armour, there has to be areas of weakness!", as both the voices in her head merged into one. She charged towards the super-hardened Kirishima who was just waiting for a moment to counter!

However, Nanami soon realised what she was against! This wasn't a normal armour with the usual areas of weakness, he was rock solid! But even so, the match was still a stalemate as before Kirishima could connect a hit Nanami could easily back off.

Having no weakness in an armour of rock might have seemed like the move at the time, but that absolutely took away his mobility.

"Because he can not physically move his own joints anymore!", a single voice spoke in her head as she charged at Kirishima while leaving visible openings.

"She'll get hit with a strong punch if she does this", the students who were watching from the stands worried, except a few who understood what she was trying to do! Mineta however was waiting for just that but he was smacked down by Tsuyu just for thinking what he did.

The aspiring Red Riot saw the openings and went for the attack however he played right into his opponent's trap as Nanami easily dodged his attack held his hand, while doing so, did a backflip on him and landed behind him, all the while forcing his hand to rotate in an unnatural direction till when it got locked into position by his hardening! This turned him into a heavy block of rock with a holdable part sticking out of it (his hand). On a normal day, Nanami couldn't have lifted him, but with the momentum from her backflip and incredible resolve to win, she managed to execute a near-perfect throw!

"Kirishima is out of bounds! Nanami wins!"