In the aftermath of Todoroki's overwhelming victory, festivities were ground to a halt until the several dozen metric tons of ice in the stadium could be adequately removed. Todoroki himself could have assisted in this task, though he'd been spared having to participate beyond freeing Tokoyami and Dark Shadow on account of the fact that he still had at least one more match ahead of him to fight through. Fortunately, with so many Pro Heroes either on patrol outside the stadium or spectating directly inside, there was no shortage of able-bodied individuals with powerful enough Quirks to expedite the excavation of the intrusive ice.

A few minutes had passed since the process had begun, and the two fighters for the next match had left for their respective waiting rooms, but those merely watching the events of the festival unfold still had ample time to do other things without the risk of missing out on any action.

Akiko and her circle opted to spend this time speculating.

"Yaoyorozu's up against Bakugo, huh…" Denki wondered aloud. "Anyone else feeling a little weird about this match-up?"

Kyoka shot him a look. "Why? Because it's a girl against a guy?"

He threw up his hands in his defense. "No! Well, yeah, but hear me out! Uraraka was up against Aoyama, sure, but there's a big difference between those two and Yaoyorozu and Bakugo. They aren't monsters, and Yaoyorozu isn't either, but Bakugo? We saw how badass Yaoyorozu could be in a fight back at the USJ, but…" He paused. "You see what I'm getting at?"

"Yeah, I guess I do," Kyoka agreed. "Yaoyorozu might be a recommendation student, and pretty punk rock, but Bakugo's already got his battle instinct down beat by beat, at this point."

"Can't argue with that," Jomei said. "As much as I hate to admit it, Bakugo knows how to fight better than any of us, from what we've seen of him. Remember, he had Midoriya on his last legs almost the entire time they were fighting during the battle trials, and Bakugo even straight-up beat Kurogiri the second he had another opportunity to attack him."

"Don't forget, both of those fights were against people whose Quirks he didn't know anything about, either," Akiko chimed in quietly. "For whatever reason, he didn't even think Midoriya had a Quirk until he saw it during Aizawa's Quirk test, and there was no way he could've known what Kurogiri's was until we were all being warped away. Assuming he hasn't really been ignoring everyone else in class like it seems he does, he'll already know the basics of what Yaoyorozu can do, and with that information alone he might be able to come up with some kind of plan to beat her."

Kyoka nodded. "Right. He did the same with Kurogiri, and he didn't even have half the intel about that guy's Quirk available to him as he's been able to get about Yaoyorozu's, by now."

"He's insane…" Denki awed. "How the hell can she hope to beat him? Could she like, throw a net at him or something? Stop him in his tracks?"

"He'd just blow up the net before it ever reached him," Jomei countered. "I guess this fight's all gonna boil down to if Yaoyorozu can outsmart Bakugo, because she sure doesn't have the firepower to match him in a one-on-one fight."

On that note, Akiko's attention turned inward, and her friends' conversation faded. All the things they'd discussed so far were apt observations, and as such, her faith in the idea of the class deputy emerging victorious wavered. Even if she could hold onto some semblance of confidence in the possibility that she'd eke out a win, or at the very least hold her own for a little while, the fact remained that she was as nervous as she imagined Yaoyorozu could be right now.

She was trying to avoid thinking about her own match against Kirishima being next, and was certain she was somewhat successful since she wasn't as severely nervous as she thought she'd be, but the fact remained that those nerves were there to begin with. Kirishima may have been someone she beat before, and wasn't the smartest person in class, but he definitely wasn't an idiot, either. Of course, he also made up for this gap between them with the overwhelming physical strength he possessed – something that, even among the other girls, Akiko herself lacked in comparison. If Kirishima could even land a single hit on her faster than she could react with her body or her Quirk to avoid the attack, she knew it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that her chances at victory in the festival would be jeopardized instantly.

All elements combined, and of course she found herself worrying about her fight. She was hoping that Yaoyorozu's performance would impress her enough to provide her some confidence by proxy, but the fourth match was still at least a few minutes out, and it wasn't like any continued speculation with her friends about how bad Yaoyorozu had it would help her on that front.

"Oh, hey, Tokoyami. Good to see you're back," Ojiro said.

"Yeah! You did awesome back there!" Hagakure emphatically agreed. "I thought you had Todoroki on the ropes and everything!"

But maybe talking to someone about something other than the upcoming match would help. It'd help her combat her innate overanalysis of the imminent situation she'd be facing, she'd be able to see how Tokoyami was handling his loss, and she wouldn't even have to bother Jomei with her worrying to do any of it.

In her eyes, that last part was almost as valuable as the reprieve from her thoughts talking to Tokoyami would provide her.

She twisted around in her seat as she turned to face Tokoyami. "Hey, Tokoyami?"

His arms were crossed and his expression was unreadably calm. "Hm? What is it, Takara?"

"Nothing, it's… I was wondering how you were holding up, is all," she admitted. "And hey, I was thinking… even if you didn't end up winning against Todoroki, there's still a chance that some of his attention may rub off on you. If he ends up going far, it'll just show everyone who was watching how strong you were to have fought as long as you did against him. You could still get scouted by pros, that way."

"A wise interpretation of the situation, and one I thank you for being sure to inform me about in the wake of my defeat," Tokoyami said. "But as for how I'm 'holding up,' as you put it? I can assure you, I haven't become anywhere near despondent nor deeply disheartened by my loss. Unfortunate though it may have been that my path was cut short on this day, your concern, while appreciated, is unnecessary. I know that I'll still have plenty of opportunities yet to show the world the power I possess."

'And I misinterpreted how someone would react to a loss again. First Ashido, now Tokoyami… I should probably stop thinking everyone's like me when it comes to this kind of stuff.'

"Oh…" Akiko trailed off. "Well, I'm glad that you're feeling okay, then. Sorry about thinking you were upset about the loss and everything."

"Although unwarranted, I accept your apology," Tokoyami said, a hint of amusement in his voice tugging the corners of his beak upward. "Though if you're still in the mood for contributing condolences to others, I would be tempted to recommend you seek out Todoroki."

"Todoroki?" She confusedly asked. "Why's that?"

Tokoyami tilted his head in his direction. "For reasons even unbeknownst to me, he seems clearly awash in emotion. As someone as introspective as yourself, I would hope that you too would be able to perceive his perturbed state."

As her eyes followed the path his gesture had led her, she quickly noticed exactly what Tokoyami meant. She hadn't interacted with Todoroki any more than she had in the obstacle race earlier, but she was still able to discern the emotion his stoic demeanor was working to hide from where he sat all by himself. It was an emotion she knew all too well.

Todoroki looked sad.

She didn't have time to wonder why though, as the screens in the stadium audibly returned to their active states, ready for whatever Present Mic's next round of energetic announcements had in store for them.

The fourth match was about to begin.

"Now that we've cleared out that freaky amount of ice, it's time for the fourth match! Time to watch two new players duke it out!" Present Mic cried, his voice straining to the point of breaking under his vigor.

"Mic, you literally just spat everywhere," Aizawa complained. "You're lucky I'm not fit for combat right-"

"And let's take a hot second to introduce them, shall we?" Present Mic continued. "First up, it's the great creator! She was admitted because of recommendations into the hero course and I think we can all see why! It's Yaoyorozu Momo!"

If not for the patience of stone she'd developed against such wily personalities in her brief time at U.A., Yaoyorozu was sure that she would have been much more taken aback by the exuberance a thirty-something-year-old man could possess. As it stood though, she instead focused her attention to folding up the sleeves of her sports uniform instead of the din of noise that surrounded her. She needed skin on display to use her Quirk without tearing her clothes apart, and it was the least she could do before the fight's start, lest she wish to put her considerable bust on barely-concealed display.

She'd still do so if she had to, though. It may have looked odd to onlookers when she had undone her jacket during the first two stages of the festival, but she'd long since overcome the idea of concerning herself with what others thought of her appearance. When she needed to use her Quirk, she'd put as much of her body on display as she thought necessary.

There was a reason her costume was designed to balance along the line of legality, after all.

"Her opponent? Kinda a hotshot in junior high, and definitely not a fan of playing the nice guy! I mean just look at that determined face!" Present Mic hollered, and Yaoyorozu looked up from her work to see the irreverent, lip-curling sneer Bakugo had chiseled onto his face. "Also from the hero course, Bakugo Katsuki!"

Knowing full well that her victory hinged on her analysis of both her opponent and the situation, Yaoyorozu immediately set to work in coordinating her plan of attack. The delicate dance of premeditating a plan for attack was a complicated one in a world of Quirks, but it was one that had served her well thus far.

First, of course, she had to understand who she was fighting.

'Alright, so Present Mic's description of Bakugo wasn't inaccurate. From what I understand from his interactions with Midoriya and the rest of our class he has an ego and a penchant for violence under the assumption of his own power. Still, despite his hotheadedness and other less-than-desirable personality traits, he's not a fool – his previous combat performance indicates that his claims of strength are far from hollow. He's immensely talented, and as such, I have to treat him as if he's a combat veteran insofar as his Quirk is concerned; which, for all intents and purposes, he is.'

Second, what he was capable of unleashing on her.

'As for his Quirk? While not confirmed by Bakugo himself, rumors spread by proxy of Midoriya's immense understanding of his Quirk reveal that Explosion is not a power that should be taken lightly. It could easily spiral out of control, given how its power depends on the amount of sweat he can utilize at any given moment. Because of this, the longer our fight wears on, the stronger he'll become simply by merit of his sweat output increasing over time, to speak nothing of his seemingly natural combat ability.'

Thirdly, and finally, how she could plan around his firepower.

'Even though I don't know how powerful he can be in battle when merely starting up, it is possible that my best bet is to try and weather his assault. Indeed, he'll grow stronger over time, but the more he sweats, the more liquid his body is losing. No matter how powerful his blasts may be, he's still human, and he'll eventually reach the point of his dehydration. That said, I'm also at a disadvantage in being unaware of where his limits in terms of stamina and offensive blast potential lay, so perhaps opening with a shield to weather his initial attacks will be my best bet. From there, I can-'

"Fourth match! BEGIN!"

Bakugo exploded into the air with both hands, and another detonation with his Quirk sent him careening towards her.

'What?! I thought I had more time!'

"Come on, ponytail! It doesn't matter if you just stand there or fight back, I'm still coming for you either way!" Bakugo grunted, a third explosion renewing his blistering speed and bolstered by gravity in his airborne charge towards her.

In the face of his imminent attack, she opted to rely on her half-constructed plan. 'Quickly, I need a shield!'

Iron. Carbon. Furnace. Steel. Hammered flat, cooled, process repeating to ensure proper shape.

Her arm glowed pink, a steel heater shield appeared in her hand, and she braced herself for the inevitable impact of Bakugo's first blast. She had to consciously force herself to look Bakugo dead in the eye rather than flinch under the intensity of rage on his face. Looking away would just give him the advantage.

"Oh a shield, huh? Cute, but that's not gonna be enough to stop me!" Bakugo roared, smoke hissing from his palm as he prepared a right hook. "Now die!"

Yaoyorozou felt her legs cry out against the explosion, but she remained stalwart and endured through it. The shield had performed its function.

But the explosion had made her flinch.

She looked beyond her shield and Bakugo was nowhere to be found, and she felt her heart skip a beat when she realized she was under the shadow of somebody overhead. In record time she twisted around and raised her shield to the sky, finding Bakugo a shadowy figure blotting out the sun from where he flipped through the air above her. Maybe she had time to react, to counter!

'I need a weapon!'

Iron. Carbon. Furnace. Steel. Poured into a mold to-

Another explosion nearly caused her legs to buckle even through the defense her shield provided her. She heard another detonation and the sudden reveal of the sun nearly blinded her, but she put two and two together too late to raise her defense again.

Bakugo smashed into the ground in a crouch, and the two-handed explosion that he unleashed next hit her square in the chest, sending her flying back the way he'd propelled himself from. Yaoyorozu shrieked and cringed as her exposed flesh was dragged along the ground and her shield screamed against the concrete. When she finally stopped, it was all she could do to climb back onto one knee before the power of the explosion's concussive force rippled through her body, almost causing her to double over in pain.

'I don't have time to think!'

"Your Quirk takes time to create shit, right ponytail? Then that means that all I've gotta do is never give you a chance to fight back!" Bakugo shouted, and he blasted himself forward again, this launch faster than his last.

Yaoyorozu froze. 'H-how does he already have so much power? How do I-'

Another burst of Bakugo's Quirk snapped her to attention, though she was almost too petrified to raise her shield in time.

"DIE!"

With a loud cry of pain, she was sent tumbling back head over heels, the scrunchie holding her ponytail in place blown apart and her heater shield sent flying right out of her hand and well out of her reach. She wound up on all fours and looked up at her opponent through the abundant loose hair that had spilled over her eyes. Bakugo was standing still, and the stadium all around them almost unnaturally quiet compared to its usual buzz of noise, but she ignored it. She whipped her hair back behind her head with one hand and pushed herself back upright as quickly as she could with the other, ignoring how weak her legs felt after Bakugo's last attack.

'It doesn't matter why he's stopped! Now's my chance!'

In the only respite she'd gotten since before their fight, Yaoyorozu finally had the moment to think she needed. A steel quarterstaff and another heater shield replaced her lost one, and she had just swung both into a battle-ready position when a voice calling out to her explained the unsettling silence in the stands.

"Yaoyorozu!" Midnight warned, pointing her coiled whip at her. "You're out!"

"What?"

Against her better judgment, she whipped her attention down only to find herself entirely outside the boundary line.

'Bakugo blasted me out of the ring… and I never even noticed…'

She looked back up, and her grip on her weapons loosened when she saw the borderline boredom and contempt that was on Bakugo's face now that his victory had been all but outright stated. Her weapons fell with an unceremonious clatter to the ground, and an uncomfortable weight came down on her shoulders to replace them.

"The winner of this match based upon the rules of the final stage is clear," Midnight went on, her whip now gesturing to him instead, "Bakugo Katsuki is the victor!"

"Tch," Bakugo huffed out. "Whatever."

Upon his beginning his journey back out of the arena, Yaoyorozu was left to do nothing but simply watch after him in shock. Her body refused to move, not that her mind was in any right space to give it any orders to do so, and her spirit itself felt all the more suffocated the farther away Bakugo went.

"Yikes! Talk about an overwhelming win!" Present Mic stressed. "Is this because Bakugo's a nonstop pain train who don't have any brakes? I think so! Is this a good thing? I have no idea, sports fans!"

"Mic, you're supposed to be unbiased," Aizawa intruded.

"Either way, after some quick repairs to the stage because of Bakugo's really reckless explosions, we'll be right back with the fifth match!"

Aizawa sighed. "Or not…"

"I lost…" Yaoyorozu trailed off.

Her thoughts wandered to her past triumphs. Coming in first in Aizawa's Quirk assessment test, all she'd done against the zero-pointers at the obstacle course, how many villains she'd fought through at the USJ, all of it…

All of it meant nothing.

Bakugo had dismantled every element of skill she thought she had, and what's worse, it seemed like he did it without even trying. She was a recommendation student while he was just a brash bully with an innate instinct for battle, and yet despite years of training and prior performances, she had lost.

And the worst part?

"I didn't even…" She looked down, embarrassment and shame causing her hands to bunch up nervously at her sides. "Do anything…"

At this point, maybe her belief that she possessed any talent meant nothing, too.

Back when Akiko elected to watch Yaoyorozu and Bakugo's match instead of taking the opportunity to fully prepare herself in the isolation the stadium's waiting room would provide her, she had hoped their fight would distract her. Ease her nerves about her own imminent match by means of how well another girl could handle one of the most able-bodied boys in Class 1-A. In fact, while the two of them were being introduced before the fight began, Akiko had even felt that she had nothing to worry about, and that she should just relax and everything would turn out just fine.

She now regretted that decision.

In fact, she felt worse than before. Instead of witnessing Yaoyorozu hold her own in battle against Bakugo, she saw a recommendation student – someone who was supposed to be on par with Todoroki in terms of intellect and ability with her Quirk – get completely decimated in record time. What made it worse in Akiko's eyes was that she wasn't a recommendation student herself; furthermore, she was up against Kirishima, the physical embodiment of muscle. Not only that, but while he had a Quirk befitting the stalwart nature of his will and his headstrong attitude, she had one that was far from fit for prolonged fights thanks to the risks she took whenever she performed any particularly powerful feats with it.

But at least Kirishima wasn't Bakugo, and was kind enough to everyone that calling him the glue that held Class 1-A together wouldn't be an understatement, but still, she couldn't – and wouldn't – underestimate him. It was like she said, she'd beaten him before, but that was far from justifiably the rule. What's more, his ability to sit and even reliably associate somewhat with Bakugo without getting mauled was something she chose to interpret as meaningful.

She assumed Kirishima's sheer strength, something she had only been able to circumvent due to their unfamiliarity with their classmates' Quirks during the battle trials, was a large part of it.

Now, Akiko paced the halls of the stadium with unnecessary haste to try and dispel some of her anxious energy before it could impair her when she arrived at the arena. Regrettably, that same anxious energy was being equally replenished the closer to the arena she got.

She knew that once she got there, it wouldn't be hyperbole to say that millions of eyes would be on her, and even if she low-balled things and only focused on the people in the stands, that was still a number that went well into the tens of thousands. This time, there'd be no pretending no one was watching her due to technically not having people nearby, as things had been during the battle trials. This time, it was exclusively up to her to figure out some way to deal with that abundant attention.

A nervous growl rumbled her throat and her hands tightened and twisted at her waist. Her brow furrowed further. She had to get herself under control, and soon.

'Come on… focus! I can't go ahead and let this get the better of me! I need to focus, just like I've been doing the entire festival so far, and maybe I'll keep doing well. I'll impress others, maybe even myself with what I can do, and everything will be okay no matter what.'

More reassuring thoughts cascaded forward from there. Her promise to Hitoshi to give it her all immediately stood out above the rest, of course, but a similar promise she'd made to Denki and Kyoka also came to mind, as well as the promise she'd made herself to avoid forcing Jomei into being concerned with her internal struggles because of her fretful nature. Besides, she owed it to herself to keep moving forward as an individual, or else she'd never achieve the mental fortitude she'd always dearly desired.

The fact his match would follow immediately after hers helped add to the sense of urgency to get over herself, too. Knowing him, he'd probably pass on his chance to prepare at all in favor of cheering her on, just like he'd always done. Even if they'd only been friends for a few weeks, she had a distinct feeling that Denki would be doing the same. Kyoka hadn't even made it to the final stage, so her cheering Akiko on was a foregone conclusion.

It then occurred to her that all the promises she'd made and the praise she'd been receiving made her success in her first match all the more important to achieve, lest all her friends' support of her be for nothing. The pressure this realization endowed her with was… less than pleasant.

"You don't have to keep it all bottled up, Akiko," Jomei said behind her.

Turning around at the sound of his voice, her heart swelled. Of course he had followed her down towards the arena. His being there reminded her of just how fortunate she was to have a partner who'd long since been her best friend, too.

"I know that. I'm okay. I'm fine," Akiko dismissed. "You should be preparing for your own match, right now."

"I'm fine Akiko," Jomei said. "And I know that you aren't okay."

One of her hands massaged the palm of the other as her nervous tic re-emerged. "You're right. I know that, but… I want to be strong enough to keep myself together without needing to lean on you all the time."

"Well, don't forget how well you've been doing so far," Jomei praised, a soft look appearing on his face. "Remember how impressed and excited I was at how well you were doing during the cavalry battle? I mean, people don't usually change overnight, but you've already grown a lot since the beginning of the year. You're doing great. It's okay to be nervous."

Looking down, Akiko found her crystal core flushed an anxious grey, and her rhythmic massaging continued. "That doesn't change that this stupid little amount of stress is still almost getting the better of me right before my match…"

"Akiko," Jomei more firmly stated, drawing her attention back to him. "Anyone would be stressed right before the start of their first one-on-one fight. It's just a matter of how you handle it, and honestly, you're handling it way better than you would have yesterday, or the day before that. You'll need some time and practice to keep building up that confidence, sure, but I don't want you to think that being independent means taking on everything alone. It isn't a sign of weakness to ask for help. It's a sign that you have good friends you know you can talk to."

Her hands slowly stopped their movement, and a long exhale dispelled the coloration in her chest. "Yeah. I guess you're right. Again. Sorry."

Jomei moved closer to her and wrapped her in a hug. "Don't apologize. You're amazing in every single way, and I couldn't be happier seeing how awesome you've already been so far in the festival. You're going to keep doing great. I know you are."

With her arms pressed onto her sides from his hug, Akiko relaxed against his shoulder and quietly responded. "Thank you, Jomei. For everything."

As the noise of the arena grew, he released her and stepped back. "No problem. Now kick butt out there. Good luck!" He shouted, a thumbs up and a smile thrown over his shoulder as he swiftly started jogging back to 1-A's booth.

Her eyes followed him until he disappeared around a corner of the hall, and the warm and fuzzy feeling in her breast replaced most of the tension she'd been feeling. How ever she had happened across someone like him, she'd never know, but she knew she was blessed simply by having found him in the first place.

Her focus returned to the exit into the arena, a renewed vigor helping keep the war waged within her mind at bay for the time being. It'd only be a minute or two before her first match began, now, and no matter what happened, she wouldn't let her worries get the better of her as they nearly had those short few moments ago.

She'd make sure of it.

"So…" Denki idly started. "How do you think Akiko's gonna do?"

Kyoka hummed, staring down at the empty arena for a moment before fully regarding him. "I think that even though she beat Kirishima before, this whole match depends on what he plans to do, rather than the other way around."

"What do you mean?" Denki asked.

She rolled her eyes. Why she ever expected Denki to be able to follow along without her explaining her thought process sometimes would forever be a mystery to her. "Okay, then let's take it from the top. Akiko has power, but I think we can both see that she pretty much has Kirishima beat when it comes to technique. Her Quirk basically forced her to become pretty good at that considering how bad its drawbacks are if she goes overboard – which is exactly the problem here. Her Quirk seems like it's going to hit its limit way faster than Kirishima's, since unless you've seen something I haven't, Kirishima hasn't needed to lower his defenses once for as long as we've ever seen him fight. Whether he's learned to fight around Akiko's Quirk will decide if this match ends fast, or if it'll be drawn-out enough that he can outlast Akiko and brute force beat her down from there."

Denki made an uneasy noise. "That sounds… really rough, for her."

"Yeah. I know it's Kirishima she's up against and not Bakugo, but still," she held herself and rubbed her upper arms as if cold, "it feels like it's going to hurt to watch if she gets hit. I almost don't want to look if things get to that point."

"I'm right there with you," Denki agreed. "And she's just our friend. Think about what Jomei might be thinking right now…"

"You can just ask, you know," Jomei cut in.

He collapsed into his seat with a relieved huff, and Denki looked at him. "Uh, how much did you hear back there?"

"Enough that I know you're worried about her," Jomei answered, sitting up a bit straighter now that he was able to catch his breath. "I guess you wanted to watch Akiko instead of winding up bored and alone in the waiting room before our match too, huh? That's cool."

"Yeah, but… you seem pretty lax about your girlfriend taking on one of the strongest guys in class in her first one-on-one match," Denki observed. "What gives?"

He shrugged. "Look, the last thing Akiko needed before her first fight would be to see that it looks like I see her as frail. Yeah, I don't want to see my girlfriend get punched or beat up by Kirishima if he can reach her, but… she's strong. I believe in her."

"You know what," Kyoka intruded, "you're right. It might be tough, depending on how Kirishima decides to take her on, but she's still got a lot more technique and skill than he does, that's for sure. It isn't just you that believes in her. We all do."

Jomei smiled, and Denki nodded firmly. United in their common cause to hold out hope for their friend's victory over the hardening mass of muscle that was Kirishima, they all looked down upon the fighting stage below in anticipation of the fifth match.

Kyoka would be lying if she said she wasn't a little excited to see what came next.

Akiko took in a final steadying breath, and saw the glorious four distant braziers of the fighting stage roar back to life. There they now stood as triumphant pillars of flame, bellowing with shared intensity into the sky as if to act as beacons to the two fighters on either side of the arena. Their flames almost looked inviting, calling for them to cross the threshold onto the stage so that they both might fight for the chance to etch their names into the annals of history.

"Now that another round of repairs is done, let's charge on along to the fifth match!" Present Mic said. "So come on out fighters, we're all ready and roaring for this fight to start on up!"

Akiko emerged into the sunlight and ascended the steps with confidence, focusing solely on each step she took in front of her instead of the crowd or the sound of her heartbeat. As she reached the top of the stage and stopped at her designated starting point, she saw that Kirishima had simultaneously done the same. He wore an expression of contentment and easy confidence, and the contrast against the air of calm and cool collectedness she was trying to keep up wasn't lost on her.

"He's chiseled like a rock and as manly as they come! It's the kid from the hero course with dyed red hair and teeth like razors! Kirishima Eijiro!"

Baring his teeth in a grin, Kirishima calmly waved to the crowd, clearly unbothered by the number of people that were all looking at him and cheering him on as he was introduced.

"And on the other side, we have someone who's got grace and technique all wrapped in one perfectly lithe little package! She's the nimble, noble elemental specialist of Class 1-A! Takara Akiko!"

The same as with Kirishima, cheers of eager excitement rained down upon Akiko, and her composure remained mostly intact, the small amount of tension that returned only making her look slightly downward with the focus it took to keep it at bay. To those watching her, she could only hope that her hint of weakness was entirely invisible. She couldn't imagine all that many pros wanting to take a nervous student under their wing when all was said and done.

Kirishima stretched his arms and cracked his neck. "Hey, Takara!"

Blinking, her head tilted up at him.

"I wasn't lying earlier," he called out, "Even if I don't think hurting a girl's all that super manly, I really am lookin' forward to this fight. You seem kinda off, though." He paused and lowered his arms to his hips as he finished stretching. "I'm guessing it's because of all the eyes that're on us right now."

"It's that obvious, huh?" Akiko chuckled mirthlessly.

"Believe it or not, I actually know a thing or two about that kinda feeling too," Kirishima commented. "But hey, I know it's hard to believe, so just go ahead and try to take my advice anyway – zone 'em all out. Think of this as just a grudge match between both of us that other people just happen to be watching. Sound good?"

The tension faded, and Akiko even smiled slightly as she stood up straight again. "It does, actually. I appreciate the advice, even if we are about to fight."

"Think nothing of it, Takara," Kirishima smirked toothily as he dropped into a combat-ready crouch. "No point in trying to be a man if you don't look out for others and make sure they're at their best before a brawl. Now don't hold anything back!"

She was in the midst of a nod of agreement when Present Mic's voice returned for his final proclamation. "Hope you got a good look at our fighters, sports fans, because it's about time that we got this party started! Fifth match! Begin!"

The concrete of the stage cracked and broke under the force of Kirishima's feet the moment he started running. A stray thought concerning the strategy she'd employed to defeat him back in the battle trials jumped into Akiko's thoughts, and her features rapidly swapped from purple to the familiar greens of her emerald mode. She didn't need to be a genius to understand that fighting against someone with rock-hard durability meant that she needed to respond with just as durable attacks, but the fact remained that she could still end this fight here and now if Kirishima fell for the same trick twice. It was at least worth the attempt.

Her foot slid out sideways to readjust her stance before twisting as it stopped, and a small circle of the concrete ahead of Kirishima churned into ensnaring quicksand. Kirishima either anticipated the attack or saw it coming, though, as he dove to the side to avoid the trap and curled into a ball as he flew through the air. He hardened as he hit the ground and rolled with the impact, leaving scars in the stone where he'd landed.

"Saw that one coming, Takara!" Kirishima shouted as he fluidly jumped back into his run towards her. "I'm not falling for the same trick twice!"

Well, attempt was the keyword there.

The technique's failure to beat Kirishima again wasn't an unforeseen outcome, though, and Akiko continued her assault. A strong punch summoned a large rock from the stage hurtling Kirishima's way, and a series of speedy jabs sent forth a flurry of smaller stones following after it. There'd be no point in giving him a reprieve from her attacks, even if it meant she had to forsake being more conservative with her Quirk, as she would've liked to be.

That series of attacks fell too under the might of Kirishima's fists. One hardened right hook cracked the larger rock apart and enabled him to merely harden his way through the ensuing shrapnel as well as the rest of the stone that barraged him, and he emerged from the onslaught with a smile on his face.

Akiko remained steadfast. If smaller attacks didn't have any effect on him while he was at full power, then she needed to test just how strong her opponent really was. Her palms faced outward and her fingers raked through the air when she pulled her arms upward, and the earth heeded her command as a large wall of concrete was raised to stand against Kirishima.

"A real man tackles his problems head-on!" Kirishima shouted.

And he plowed through that obstacle in short order, his momentum only impeded for as long as it took him to clear the rubble he'd created.

"That doesn't mean you don't have a limit, though…" Akiko whispered to herself.

She was no fool. She understood that if Kirishima got to her that all it would take was one or two clean shots and she'd be out of commission, but she'd avoided his blows up-close before, and she now had a good read on how strong he truly was. Even if he could destroy anything she could create to try and stop him, that didn't mean he was infallible. He and his Quirk had limits like everyone and everything else, and all she needed to do was wear him down to try and find out where his laid.

It wasn't a foolproof plan, and it'd make her walk a dangerous path where her Quirk's strain was concerned, but it was the best one she had.

A second stony barrier was raised in her defense.

Kirishima bowled through that one too.

A third followed before he had a chance to speed up.

Hardened fists pounding into the brittle rock tore that one apart, and Kirishima kicked himself back into high gear before Akiko could hinder his advance again.

Several rocks raced towards him instead, and his hardening held strong. "You know what, Takara?" he said, pausing to punch through a larger stone as it arrived, "I think it's pretty cool, what you're doing for me here!"

"And what would that be?" Akiko responded, and a salvo of earth erupted from within the grassy field behind her with a series of curling and pointing Kirishima's way with her fingers.

This time, Kirishima slowed down and shielded his eyes with his hardened arms before hastening toward her again. "You're giving me the chance to show off! Even if my Quirk isn't flashy, it sure as hell helps me break through this stuff!"

Akiko didn't give him a response. A bead of nervous sweat rolled from her temple as he came dangerously close to her position – no walls or other attacks she could throw at him would keep Kirishima at bay now, and she wasn't about to run an unnecessary risk by remaining where she was. Her crystal core tingled, but the sensation was a testament to how far she'd grown even in the few weeks she'd been at U.A.

She could keep going for a good while longer.

Kirishima broke through her ceaseless barrage of concrete, and Akiko tensed her legs in the same way she had at the start of the obstacle race. Her foe wound up a fist aimed for her abdomen, and-

'Now!'

It hit empty air. In place of where Kirishima's fist would have landed was nothing but a rectangular pillar. Akiko had propelled herself through the air and landed firmly on the opposite side of the fighting stage, and the two fighters simultaneously turned around to regard each other.

They'd essentially traded starting positions now, give or take a slight angle. Present Mic made a comment that might have made note of this fact, but Akiko didn't pay attention and instead opted to take even the small scrap of time she'd bought herself to think things through a little more.

Her Quirk's other modes were quickly concluded to be useless in this situation. Ruby mode was too risky in terms of the harm it could unleash on Kirishima's flesh should it affect him through his hardening – she couldn't afford to be villainously cruel to her opponent. Sapphire mode was flexible but there wasn't any water nearby for her to make use of, and she didn't doubt Kirishima's capacity to break free of an icy prison after making such short work of the more concrete obstacles she'd put in his way. Peridot mode was the last one she hadn't tried, and even that one's utility in this situation was niche at best, because unless he was already airborne, no gust of air she could easily come up with would even throw him off-balance.

With no other option clear to her right now, the only thing she could think of doing to win would be to just keep doing what she already had in hopes she could outlast him. Worried thoughts of how unlikely that scenario was pulled wretchedly at the back of her mind, but she clamped down on them the instant she felt their vile presence there.

'Just keep going. That's all you can do, right now.'

Present Mic's voice finally wormed its way back into her ears. "It's a battle of brains and brawn at the moment and it looks like brawn's winning right now! So here's the question – who's gonna last long enough to triumph in this rocky rumble! I for one can't wait to find out!"

Her eyes widened. For once, the Pro Hero's announcement had helped her realize something. She really wasn't playing to her strengths, right now. She was raising walls and that action alone took a bit more effort than merely slinging rocks around, sure, but she still didn't feel the strain of it. She needed to alternate her techniques and attacks in such a way that they actually did something other than provide her opponent an opportunity to look good for the cameras.

The best part of this newfound effort would be that it'd force Kirishima to use up his stamina that much more quickly. If he couldn't keep taking a straightforward approach and instead had to truly exert energy to focus on what was coming at him, then Akiko's chances of making it to the next round would only go up.

Slowly, Kirishima rolled his head and neck around. Everything around and above his torso still hardened, the snap of his neck sounded like the crunch of gravel underfoot. He smashed his fists together, sparks flying from where his hands met, and he began a slower and more menacing acceleration in her direction than he had at the start. He was determined.

As was she.

'Let's do this.'

A flurry of her fists flying into the air opened her offensive. Stones violently tore from the ground and flung forward, pelting Kirishima in a jagged storm of debris he had to shield his face against. More bursts of earthen barrages followed suit, with larger rocks spruced in throughout the bombardment to further test the might of Kirishima's Hardening. He endured it all, but Akiko knew he would, and continued her intermittent assault whenever she wasn't raising additional walls that Kirishima crashed his way through as a display of his strength.

Thus far, the three techniques she employed were layered atop one another in such a way that Kirishima had no time to rest, but Akiko didn't stop there. Whenever he'd break through a barrier in his way, a stone pillar would punch with the force of a contained earthquake into his sides or anywhere else amidst his defense, and even when he tackled his way through those, another storm of stone would bombard wherever he left undefended.

Pillars, walls, stones, and small rocks all combined into a cataclysmic cannonade. Judging by how much harder Kirishima pressed both himself and his Quirk to continue his charge toward her, however, Akiko was confident in her assumption that her efforts were starting to pay off.

At least, at first.

"You should know by now that it's gonna take a lot more than sticks and stones to break me!" Kirishima grunted, punching through another incoming attack.

For a split second, Akiko paused. 'Come on, how much stamina does he have?'

Kirishima continued his advance, now unimpeded even as her next salvo of strikes connected cleanly into his hardened body. "Sorry Takara!" He shouted, and his body let out a rocky groan as his Quirk intensified and he wound up a punch. "But I have to win this!"

He was dangerously close once more. The single moment Akiko had taken to think had come back to bite her, and she didn't have time to think of what to do next. Instead, she resorted to raising another concrete wall in an attempt to impede him for even a second, to provide herself enough time to launch herself away once more and rethink her situation.

But it wasn't meant to be. Kirishima rode the wall as it rose up and landed right down in front of her, and for a brief instant, their eyes met. His burned with intensity and demonic menace beneath his jagged brow, and hers were warped with a mix of shock and horror as she realized what was about to happen.

Kirishima's fist flew, and a breathless wave of pain and nausea overwhelmed her when it drove straight into her gut.

The wind knocked out of her, she flew through the air with the recoil of the clean blow Kirishima had landed. She hissed in pain as she skidded on a course dead set for the boundary line of the stage but she forced her feet to dig in and halt her devastating slide. Upon barely stopping at the edge of the stage, she tried to rise to her feet, only to have her legs give out. She was lucky she was even still in the game, right now, and she was certain she wasn't the only individual that had recognized that.

She whipped her head up, and Kirishima was already on his way. "Here I come, Takara! Time to end this!"

By luck alone, several thoughts and observations hit her at once. For starters, she easily recognized by the stirrings of a deep throb in her chest that she was hitting her limit. No matter what she tried, she now had utter confidence in thinking her frontal attacks would never be able to penetrate her opponent's Hardening. It was plain to see that Kirishima was caked in dirt and dust from her many failed attempts at destroying his defense, but he was still more ready to keep fighting than Akiko could ever hope to be in her present state. She just wasn't strong enough to beat him head-on, plain and simple.

All Might had once told her that brawn wasn't everything, though.

Her eyes flicked to her starting point, behind where Kirishima was stampeding his path in slow motion through the concrete to reach her and deliver the decisive blow that would end their match. Everything she'd thrown at him had been destroyed by his sheer might, with rubble and ruin from the many walls and pillars she'd created lying scattered across the stage. Only one thing remained standing despite the carnage.

The pillar she'd originally launched herself from.

"Kirishima?" She started, a determined glint in her eye. "I'm sorry too."

Kirishima frowned.

Akiko lurched onto her feet, ignoring her lightheadedness. "Because I'm not going to let you beat me!"

With every ounce of strength she could muster, she dragged her arms through the air like claws to herself, and the pillar heeded her call.

It all happened in a second. Stone snapped in the distance with the motion Akiko had made one instant and the pillar exploded into motion like a bullet launched from its chamber. Kirishima only took one more step, and the pillar acted like a missile, rocketing right into his side a moment before he could recognize and harden through the human-sized haymaker.

He flew sideways, and Akiko's features flared yellow. 'Don't let him land on the stage! If he does, he'll just have the advantage again and it'll be all over!'

Peridot mode finally found its use. Her arm stretched out straight to her side and whipped around like a fan to point at her opponent, and a gale-force gust whirled its way through the air before it cast Kirishima aside like nothing more than a pebble amidst a storm. Akiko wobbled unsteadily where she stood and watched in a mix of awe and shame as he landed with a sickening skip along the ground, though his hardening remained intact enough to let him endure the meteoric plow through the dirt that followed.

Akiko's colors returned to their normal purple, and she felt her crystal core's internal throbs, but she ignored her overexertion as best she could. Kirishima was out and on the ground, which meant that all that was left were the words she'd been hoping to hear since before she stepped into the arena.

"Kirishima is out of bounds!" Midnight proclaimed. "Takara stands victorious and will advance to the second round!"

Even knowing those words and the deafening cheers that followed were coming, Akiko found herself in disbelief. The screams around her didn't even register, and she realized that a precedent had been set by her performance in this fight. If she could perform this well with all of Japan watching, then maybe she really could overcome her nerves going into the future. That sentiment was enough to make her think that with her own strength alone, maybe she well and truly could go the distance. Easily over half the country was watching her, and she'd triumphed.

"Talk about a turnaround! From a gut punch to gale-force winds forcing her opponent outta bounds, did Takara have this planned all along?" Present Mic asked. "I dunno sports fans, but I know for a fact that she took one helluva hit and still came out on top! Let's give both of these fighters some love though, ya feel me!?"

She looked at Kirishima again. He was still in the same spot and was now sitting up, but his shoulders were slouched, and there was a look on his face that Akiko could recognize a mile away even with his attempts to keep his head down.

He was hurt, but not physically.

Ignoring the pain in both her chest and gut from the fight, Akiko didn't hesitate to jump off the stage onto the field below. She landed with a huff of exertion and wasted no time before she started to swiftly make her way to his side.

"What's this? It looks like Takara's jumped off the stage to talk to Kirishima? Could this be some kind of comradery or something else? Again, I have no idea what's going on here!" Present Mic happily stressed.

"Then why'd you point it out if you didn't have a point?" Aizawa droned.

"Eh. Habit."

Akiko blocked out the sound of the announcers' voices as she reached Kirishima, instead opting to crouch down upon one knee before him. Thanks to his defeated body language and the clear disappointment on his face, for once, she was confident that her typical tender approach to her peers' losses wasn't unwarranted.

"Hey, good fight…" she carefully started, and reached out a hand to pull Kirishima up.

Kirishima sighed. Accepting her wordless offer, he shrugged. "Thanks. And hey, you won fair and square. You fought smarter than I did at the end, that's for sure. You were probably thinking up strategy all the way until you knocked me outta the ring while I mighta been a little too focused on showing off what I could do for the pros. I tunnel-visioned hard, for sure."

"Still…" she said, "I for one think you did really well."

"Heh. Well, who knows? Maybe I'll still get lucky and get scouted by a pro out there that was watching. It's not impossible, right?"

Akiko nodded. "Not at all. You'd deserve it, too."

The crack of a whip nearby jolted them both from their conversation.

Midnight smiled at them, a scandalous glint in her eye. "Well done, you two! All this youthful sportsmanship… it turns me on!"

If it wasn't yet known to be humanly possible for two people to blush the same color as Kirishima's hair, the Sports Festival that year would prove such a thing to be real. With the pair's beet red faces setting the precedent, they both scurried out of the arena.

Authors Note: Y'know, I understood Yaoyorozu vs Bakugo was gonna be a short n' sweet fight that paralleled Yaoyorozu vs Tokoyami, but damn. It was surprisingly much harder to write than I thought it'd be! Dialogue-wise it was easy enough, but getting that analytical and methodical thinking and Quirk-activating style I had in mind for Yaoyorozu in the middle of a fast-paced fight was way more involved than I figured it'd be.

Nevertheless, I think Akiko vs Kirishima was my favorite thing to write thus far amidst the all-original fights – who woulda guessed that I'd enjoy giving one of WFAF's protags something to do again after two chapters of just… existing? But in all seriousness, I had way too much fun digging into my vocabulary to get some of the oomph of Akiko's attacks down pat. She's tall and thin, but she definitely has some spur-of-the-moment talent going for her, that's for sure. Well, that and a good group of friends, an increasingly stable head on her shoulders, a reliable support system she now understands she can still fall back on… all that stuff too.

Oh, and time to reveal some fun facts that make me a bad person. Alternate titles for this chapter include 'Akiko Gets Gutpunched' and 'Akiko Fucking Dies.' Why? Because for some reason I could only think of the memes I'd be able to put over that moment in the fight, should it ever be drawn or animated as I imagined it.

Regardless! Stay awesome and be prepared for next time, where two bros duke it out to the death in the arena, one buff guy attempts to kick a girl directly in the face, and a stick of sentient bubble gum disintegrates discount spooder-man. Or something.

I'm tired.