Hello, hello!
Just wanted to pop in quick and thank everyone for their support! hope you enjoy the new chapter!
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"Hey, Rukia."
"Hmm?"
"What's your tattoo supposed to mean?"
The white-haired girl tilted her head, confused. "What tattoo?"
"The number on your neck."
She instantly stiffened, having forgotten about that particular detail. She instinctively brought up her hand to the back of her neck, where she could only feel normal skin, but in which she knew had been inked a series of numbers and letters. It was fairly small, easily forgettable even, and she hadn't expected Shinso to notice it.
"It's… nothing, really. Just a lame inside joke with Shota-san, don't mind it."
She offered him a smile, though it was a bit on the wobbly side. If Shinso noticed, he didn't comment on it, and simply returned to eating his lunch. A few minutes later, the rest of their friends came to sit at their table, and the conversation quickly took a much lighter turn. Rukia ate to her heart's content, laughing as her friends shared their experience with the Sports Festival so far.
Out of nowhere, though, Yaoyorozu suddenly ran up to their table, her eyes wide.
"Rukia-chan! Have you heard anything about a cheer battle in the afternoon!?"
"A what now?"
Jiro started choking on the noodles she had been eating, while Ashido turned around and shot a wide-eyed stare at the American cheerleaders practicing their choreography on the other side of the room.
"Kaminari-kun told us about a cheerleading battle that was going to take place…" As she said that, Yaoyorozu's shoulders slumped. "He was lying, wasn't he?"
"Most probably," confirmed Rukia, patting her shoulder in comfort. "I haven't heard anything from Aizawa-sensei and, if you haven't either, then I doubt it's true. I can always call him to check, if you want, but…"
"No, no, it's quite alright," assured the Class Representative, a bead of sweat rolling down her temple. "Thank you, Rukia-chan. Apologies for disturbing your meal—and congratulations, too, for advancing to the finals! You too, Mina-chan, Kirishima-kun, Sero-kun, Shinso-kun!"
"Oh, same to you, Yaomomo-chan!" beamed Ashido.
"And don't worry about Kaminari," added Jiro, cracking her knuckles. "I'll go teach him a lesson or two about not being a pervert."
The rest of the boys at the table could only gulp slightly at the somewhat vicious glint in her eyes, and Rukia simply laughed. The blond had definitely brought it upon himself.
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"Now that lunch is over, it's finally time to reveal the last game! But before that, there's good news for all of you who didn't make it to the finals: this is just a Sports Festival, so we've prepared recreational games that everyone can participate in, oh yeah! And we've even brought real cheerleaders from America to liven things up!"
Rukia tried to muffle her laughter, she really did, but Kirishima and Sero didn't have the same kind of restraint and their boisterous laughs joined the cheers from the crowd as none other than Kaminari showed up on the field wearing an orange cheerleader outfit. Apparently, it was Yaoyorozu and Jiro's way of making him pay for his attempt to humiliate all of the girls from their class but, surprisingly enough, he didn't seem to mind. If anything, he was playing along and enjoyed the ridicule.
Well, I suppose there's no harm in having fun, even if he's dressed like that.
As if taunting her, he mimicked sending a kiss Jiro's way, and the purple-haired girl instantly flipped him off.
"All right, everyone! Let's have fun competing in the recreational games! And when that's over, the sixteen from the four teams that made it to the final round will duke it out tournament style, one-on-one!"
Sixteen? Rukia glanced around, confused. But Shinso and I were only two on our team, so who are the other two contestants?
"I'm gonna stand on the stage that I watch every year on TV!" gasped excitedly Kirishima.
"Was it a tournament last year, too?" asked Ashido, curious.
"It's different every year, but there's a one-on-one competition every year," confirmed Sero, grinning broadly.
"And if you've watched it for a for years, you'll notice that they bring back each event once every five years—so, it was actually pretty easy to predict that it was going to be a fighting tournament this year," added Rukia, still a tad puzzled. "But if there are sixteen people—"
"Now, let's draw lots to determine the bracket!" suddenly announced Midnight, picking up a yellow box. "Once the bracket is determined, we'll have the recreational games first, and the tournament afterward! The sixteen finalists can choose whether or not they want to participate in the recreation. After all, I'm sure that some of you want to rest and save your strength in order to shine in the last event. Now, for the bracket—"
Shinso suddenly raised his hand. Surprised at being interrupted, Midnight then granted him permission to speak up.
"You keep talking about sixteen finalists, but there's only fourteen of us," he stated, straight to the point. "Who will be filling in the two open spots?"
"A very good question, Shinso Hitoshi-kun!" beamed Midnight, nodding firmly. "We hadn't made an announcement yet, but the team that came in fifth place was asked earlier to choose two of its members to move to the finals. You will hear their names as soon as we've drawn the lots!"
"Understood. Thank you."
Well, that explains that, mused internally Rukia, sparing a smile for Shinso. It looks like I wasn't the only one bothered by the numeral inconsistency.
"Good! Now, here is the bracket based on the results of the drawing!"
Todoroki-kun VS Momo-chan, Iida-kun VS Hatsume-san, myself against Mina-chan, Eijiro-kun VS Tetsutetsu-kun, Tokoyami-kun VS Ojiro-kun, Shinso-kun VS Sero-kun, Kaminari-kun VS Shiozaki-san, and Bakugo VS Ochaco-chan. This is an interesting bracket, uh?
"Yosh, Airu-chan! Let's do our best!" beamed Ashido.
Rukia could only smile back. "Right! No holding back!"
"All right! Let's leave the tournament aside for a momentary interlude, and let's have some fun with the recreation!"
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As much as Rukia wanted to participate in the recreational games with her friends, she also knew for a fact that the incoming fights were not something to treat lightly. Even if she was going to face her friends, everyone was aiming for the top and, as such, she needed to take it seriously—take them seriously.
Mina-chan scored fairly well in the physical tests, and she's strong and flexible. With her acid, she can also become pretty fast, and she might use it as a means to keep me at a distance. In terms of fighting technique, though, she's inexperienced—a few well-placed hits and I should be able to kick her out of bounds. I'll really have to avoid her acid, though—
"Hey. Nervous?"
She offered a small smile as Kirishima sat down next to her. "Not really, no. I'm confident in my abilities and, so long as I don't get ahead of myself, I should be fine. What about you?"
"Excited. And maybe a little nervous," he admitted, scratching his cheek in a sheepish manner. "I've always watched the Sports Festival from afar, so to think I'm going to be on that stage now… It's a lot of pressure, but it's also super exciting! I can't wait!"
The girl chuckled lightly. "I get what you mean. I'm not really intimidated by the crowd, but… there are some people I don't want to let down. So, I'm gonna do my best!" She extended her fist to him. "You better win your first round, Eijiro-kun. I want my rematch!"
"Ah, you can count on it!"
He brought his fist against hers with a matching grin, and they then returned to watching the recreational games happening in the arena below. After a few more minutes, though, the recreation came to an end and all of the students were asked to go take their seats. In the meantime, Cementoss got to work on building up a large stage in the center of the arena.
"Ooh, the first fight is going to be intense, isn't it?" exclaimed excitedly Ashido, entering the stands reserved to 1-A.
"I don't know, Todoroki looked pretty annoyed when we crossed paths earlier," remarked Kaminari with a light shrug.
Jiro hid her face in her hands. "Kaminari, please go get changed into something decent. I can't tolerate the sight of you in a skirt any longer."
"Aa? You're the one who made me put it on in the first place—and I look fantastic, thank you very much!"
"You guys are loud," snapped Bakugo, going to sit in the furthest corner. "Shut up."
"Show some more respect toward your fellow classmates!" chided Iida.
And on and on it went, with more and more students slowly trickling inside and taking their seats in their reserved stand. After about two minutes or so, Cementoss was done building the stage, and so it was now time to go back to the main event.
"Hey guys, are you reaaaady? A lot's happened, but it's now come to this: a serious battle! You can only depend on yourself! Even if you're not a Hero, you'll face lots of situations like that, right, Eraser Head!?"
"Get to the point already," replied flatly his colleague.
"Ah ah, you got it! Heart, skill, body, wisdom, and knowledge! Use all of that to rush up! Now… AUDIENCE! The finals that you've all been waiting for are finally starting! Match number one!"
"It's time, it's time!" gasped Hagakure, jumping to her feet. "Go, Momo-chan!"
"Taking a shared first place, then a third one! Despite what the numbers show, he's standing on a stage of his own—he wasn't recommended for admission for nothing! From the Hero Course, it's Todoroki Shoto! VERSUS! All-purpose Creation! She was also admitted through recommendations, so her abilities are certified! From the Hero Course, it's Yaoyorozu Momo!"
Everyone cheered as their friends stepped outside and onto the stage. Rukia couldn't help but notice how they were holding themselves, though—one was tensed, visibly angry, and the other was closed up, nervous to the point of being frozen.
"The rules are simple! Force your opponent out of bounds, or immobilize them! You'll also win by making your opponent say 'I give up'! Bring on the injuries, because we've got our very own Recovery Girl waiting on standby! Put your morals and ethics aside for a moment! But of course, anything life-threatening is crap. It's not allowed! Heroes should only use their fists to catch Villains, so keep that in mind!"
"I'll stop things if they get too far," added Cementoss, positioning himself in the referee chair.
"That being said, let's not waste any more time! Now… STAAAART!"
After a few tensed seconds, the signal to begin was given. However, before Yaoyorozu could even think of moving, a burst of cold air engulfed the entirety of the arena and, in the span of a second, an actual iceberg rose up in the middle of the stage and high above the walls of the stadium, effectively trapping her in place.
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"Ya- Yaoyorozu-kun is immobilized and can no longer fight," announced Midnight, literally half-frozen in place. "Todoroki-kun advances to the second round!"
At which the crowd, which had fallen completely silent due to shock, started chanting "don't mind" over and over again, while Todoroki quickly went over to Yaoyorozu in order to melt the ice encasing her body. Rukia bit her lower lip at the sight, somewhat worried for both of her friends down there. She knew Yaoyorozu's pride and confidence had just taken an extremely harsh blow, and it'd take a lot of work to build it back up, but she also wondered what, exactly, could have made Todoroki react in such a way.
Of course, there was no point in holding back, but this was not him going all out—it was him losing control.
"W- well, that was fast," sweatdropped Kirishima, shuddering a bit.
"Ugh, I'm freezing all of sudden!" groaned Jiro, rubbing her arms.
Todoroki-kun… frowned Rukia.
"Yes, well, I certainly didn't expect that… Ahem! With an impressive display of power, Todoroki Shoto is the first to move up to the second round! We'll move on to the next fight in a few minutes, once we've gotten rid of all the ice! Thank you for your patience!"
"We'll now get started on the second match, everyone! It's like he's the epitome of the middle of the pack! From the Hero Course, it's Iida Tenya! VERSUS! Fully-equipped with support items! From the Support Course, it's Hatsume Mei!"
"He's up against the Support Course, uh?" mused Jiro, watching intently.
"I wonder what kind of fight it'll be," added Asui, biting her lower lip.
"I mean, what is that?" added Sato, confused.
The students could only watch in astonishment as the Vice Class Representative strapped some equipment of his own, one that looked very similar to what his opponent was sporting.
"That's generally against the rules for those in the Hero Course," warned Midnight. "Those who must use equipment needed to petition beforehand."
"Gah! I completely forgot about that!" gasped the bespectacled boy, horrified.
But, as it turned out, Hatsume Mei had been the one to give him the equipment, claiming she wanted a fair match and, as such, she was counting on him to give his all. The Chief Umpire ended up giving her permission for him to use the equipment, and they finally got started on the second match of the day.
As soon as the signal was given, though… everything went sideways once again.
Apparently, Hatsume Mei was quite brilliant, if not a little insane. She used the visibility offered by the Sports Festival to present the support items she created, and she also used Iida as a testing dummy in order to prove their efficacy. Upon realizing that this fight was going to last for a fair amount of time, both Ashido and Rukia decided to head out and stretch their legs a bit before their own fight.
"Poor Iida-kun," snickered Ashido, her arms crossed behind her head. "He's so earnest, he probably didn't realize how fishy her offer was."
"Well, I can't really blame her for doing this," replied Rukia, admittedly amused by the pink-haired girl's antics. "Since she's not planning on becoming a Hero, the Sports Festival holds little meaning to her. However, she still managed to exploit this opportunity and earn the attention of the support companies and Pro Heroes that were amongst the crowd."
"Still, our fight is going to be the first real one, uh? We'll have to give them a real show!"
"Right! Though, now that you mention it, Momo-chan hasn't returned to the stands yet," then realized Rukia, frowning a bit. "Do you think she's alright?"
"Yaomomo…" Ashido made a small face. "She's a really hard worker, so she probably took her loss a lot harder than others would have. Plus, she's always comparing herself to other people, so for her to lose to someone else who got in through recommendations…"
"I know." An idea then popped in Rukia's head, and she smiled at her friend. "Hey, I got the idea from Kyo-chan, but how about we all go out together after the Sports Festival? All of the girls, I mean."
"Oh, like a girls' day out? And a sleepover too? That'd be so much fun!" exclaimed Ashido, instantly perking up. "Yeah, definitely! Let's do it!"
"Alright, we'll talk with the others later, then—"
"Hatsume Mei willingly stepped out of bounds, therefore letting Iida Tenya move on to the second round. The third match will begin right away!"
"Gah, it's our turn! Good luck, Airu-chan!"
"You too, Mina-chan!"
The two girls quickly parted ways after that, both finding their way to their respective entrances. As soon as Rukia arrived, she was greeted by one of the people responsible for coordinating the event. The supervisor made her sign a form, before signaling her arrival to the Heroes in charge of animating the event. As she went to take place on the stage, she managed to tune out the noisy crowd, though Present Mic's commentary could hardly be ignored.
"Yosh, let's move right along to the third match! Now, is something going to come out of those horns? Will it? From the Hero Course, it's Ashido Mina! VERSUS! She's been hoarding that first place since the prelims, and I doubt she'll give it up now! From the Hero Course, it's Aizawa Rukia! Now, why don't we get moving? Third match, START!"
At once, Rukia pounced forward, and Ashido instantly threw a round of acidic projectiles. Having expected as much, and because she trained with her in the last week, the white-haired girl managed to swiftly avoid every single drop of acid, all the while closing in on the girl.
Upon realizing her long-range attacks wouldn't work, Ashido decided to aim for the ground instead. Acid spread over the stage as she started sliding away with the grace and agility of an experienced skater, and Rukia was forced to fall back in order to avoid slipping. As she started giving chase to her opponent around the stage, all the while evading her attacks, Rukia couldn't help but notice how Ashido's arms kept on moving upward—as if she was aiming for projectiles that weren't there.
That's right, during training, she got used to me throwing rocks at her!
She could definitely use that to her advantage. If Ashido kept this up, there'd simply be no end to this game of cat and mouse, but Rukia wouldn't be able to close in on her as long as she was the focus of her attacks. So, doing the only thing that came to mind, she stopped running as soon as her back was turned to the sun and, at once, she jumped. Then, as Ashido lifted her arms to throw more acid, Rukia quite literally kicked her shoes off and sent them flying her way. By reflex, Ashido instantly targeted them instead, and her eyes widened as she realized her mistake half-a-second too late.
"Got you!"
Now free to move as she pleased without having to fear an acidic attack, Rukia landed right before Ashido and, with a powerful swipe of her leg, she managed to make her fall. As soon as the pink girl hit the ground, Rukia was upon her, bringing her arm up in an arm lock and effectively immobilizing her.
"Gah! I give, I give!"
"Ashido-kun has forfeited! As such, Aizawa-kun moves up to the next round!" instantly announced Midnight.
"Yosh, now that's more like the kind of fights we wanted to see—even though Aizawa lost her shoes in the process… With a rather unexpected move, Aizawa stays at the top and claims victory once again! Gooooood job!"
Laughing a bit, Rukia was quick to release her friend and help her back to her feet. Ashido dusted herself as the two of them walked off the stage, and Rukia picked up her now ruined shoes on the way out.
"Mou, it was a little unfair to use that move on me," pouted Ashido, though she wasn't really angry, nor all that disappointed for that matter. "But, I guess I should have seen it coming. Now that you've beaten me, though, you better make it to the finals and win, got it?"
The wolf girl could only laugh again. "Got it."
The following fight would, most assuredly, be recognized as one of the most intense ones there had been in this year's Sports Festival. With Kirishima facing against Tetsutetsu, the two of them literally duked it out on the stage. Hardening VS Steel, neither boy was willing to give up an inch and, soon enough, most of the stage was reduced to dust and rubbles… as they knocked each out at the very same time.
"The two guys with the same Quirks! Tetsutetsu versus Kirishima! A head-to-head fistfight! The winner is—"
"Both contestants are down! It's a draw!" announced Midnight, therefore ending the match.
Rukia cringed a little upon noticing the sorry state of her friend as he was escorted out of the arena on a stretcher. Thankfully enough, a draw didn't equal a loss and, as such, the boys would have the chance to break the tie as soon as they had recovered.
So, they moved on to the fifth fight of the day: Tokoyami VS Ojiro. However, while Ojiro's experience and fighting techniques were superior to his opponent's, Tokoyami's all-rounded Quirk simply couldn't be defeated through sheer force alone. So, although Ojiro put up a good fight, he was eventually kicked out of bounds by Dark Shadow.
The seventh fight was one Rukia had been waiting for with a tad more anticipation and nervousness than the others. On one hand, Sero didn't have any object within the bounds on which he could use his tape but, on the other hand, he already knew of Shinso's Quirk and how to counter it.
And neither of them are especially good fighters when it comes to physical combat, she added, narrowing her eyes as they stepped on stage. How will this turn out?
"Next up are these guys! He's good! He's good, but what's with that plainness he just can't get rid of? From the Hero Course, it's Sero Hanta! VERSUS! Despite landing in first place during the Cavalry Battle, he's yet to make any actual wave and doesn't stand out much more than his opponent! Now, battle… START!"
Like most of the students from 1-A expected, Sero instantly used his tape to tie up Shinso, who didn't even bother to duck out of the way. As soon as the tape was around him, though, he firmly planted his feet in the ground and lifted his hands to take a hold of the tape. He then pulled harshly, making Sero stumble a bit, and he instantly ran up to the boy. He rammed into him using his entire body weight, then leaned down to say something to Sero. Because of the distance and all of the noise around them, Rukia didn't manage to catch whatever he said, but it startled Sero enough to reply… and he instantly fell victim to Shinso's brainwashing.
"Wow, didn't think he'd fall for it twice," mused Sato, thinking back to the battle simulations they had gone through weeks ago.
"I'm surprised," admitted Ojiro, nursing a bruise on his forearm. "Shinso isn't the type to be so proactive—I didn't think he'd attack Sero head-on like that."
"Probably why his strategy worked so well," shrugged Jiro, somewhat impressed. "He didn't just attack randomly—all of his moves were planned out."
"Looks like he's trained a lot in the last two weeks," simply stated Shoji.
Sero, now completely brainwashed, simply released Shinso before walking out of bounds. As soon as he did, his blank face twisted in horror as understanding dawned on him and, albeit a little confused, Midnight declared Shinso the winner of the round.
They wasted no time in moving on to the seventh match, which also happened to be the last one with a student outside of 1-A. As soon as Kaminari walked out onto the stage (thankfully, he was back in his sports clothes), though, Rukia knew he was going to lose—the face he was making showed he would be going all-out from the get-go, but they all knew what happened to him whenever he let loose with his powers.
"He's going to fry his brains, isn't he?" deadpanned Jiro.
"Most probably."
"The assassin from Class B! Pretty things have thorns, you know? From the Hero Course, it's Shiozaki Ibara! VERSUS! Sparking Killing Boy! From the Hero Course, it's Kaminari Denki! Now, we'll have a super flashy battle this time—"
"Ano? Please excuse the interruption, but what exactly do you mean by assassin?" suddenly questioned Shiozaki, effectively rendering the entire crowd silent.
As the girl got lost on an evangelic tangent, Rukia felt a bead of sweat roll down her temple. She thought that her classmates were a little on the special side, but it appeared that it was actually a personality trait shared by all of the students in the Hero Course.
But then again, that Hatsume Mei from the Support Course was pretty special too… Maybe it's actually a U.A. thing?
Present Mic ended up apologizing to the ranting girl, and the match finally got started… only to end in an instant. Kaminari instantly sent a powerful discharge, but Shiozaki used her vinery mane to not only render his attack useless, but also to immobilize him, thus claiming victory.
Jiro grinned a tad wickedly. "I'm so going to rub it in his face later."
"You—"
"Ooh? Didn't he say he'd settle this in a second?" The students looked up to find a boy from 1-B leaning over the wall separating their booths. "But that's strange, because he was defeated in a second, wasn't he? Class A is supposed to be better than Class B, so isn't that weird? Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah—ack!"
His eyes rolled back and he collapsed, vanishing from sight. A moment later, a pretty girl with long orange hair leaned over the wall, offering them a friendly smile.
"Sorry about him!"
And then she disappeared too.
As confused as they were, the 1-A students didn't really have the time to ponder over it as the last match of the first round popped up. They all immediately tensed up with varying degrees of worry and anticipation.
"Next might be the most disturbing match-up, ne?" pointed out Asui.
"I almost don't want to watch," admitted Jiro, rubbing her arms to get rid of the goosebumps.
"This is going to be painful, isn't it?" cringed Ojiro.
"Aa," nodded Shoji.
"Aah, I hope Bakugo won't go too hard on her," sighed Sero, suddenly walking in.
"Oh, Sero-kun!" exclaimed Hagakure. "Good work down there!"
"Yeah, well, I still lost, but thanks," he chuckled, rubbing the back of his head.
"We were all wondering, what did Shinso-kun tell you?" suddenly asked Ashido, curious.
"Uh? Oh, he told me: It's over, I win—I've pushed you out of bounds. I was so surprised by everything, I couldn't help but reply…"
What a cheap trick! Chorused internally most of the students.
"Oi, pay attention," suddenly warned Shinso, also stepping in the booth. "They're coming out."
"I hope Uraraka-san will be fine," frowned Sato.
"Why are you guys so worried?" suddenly asked Rukia, tilting her head in confusion. "It's not as if this was a death match."
"Well, yeah, but she's facing Bakugo," replied Jiro.
"And her Quirk is of no use in such an environment," added Iida, also frowning.
"Also, she's not well-versed into hand-to-hand fighting," pointed out Tokoyami. "Considering the odds stacking up against her, I daresay that she's fated to lose."
"So what?" There was a moment of silence, and Rukia reported her attention to the field below, her eyes alight with eagerness. "Ochaco-chan is like all of us—she wants to win. She's not going to give up so easily! In fact, I'm sure she already has a plan! Have some faith in her! And Bakugo… He's not going to hold back, and that's okay. If anything, I think it'd be a lot more painful for Ochaco-chan if he went easy on her."
"The eighth and last match of the first round! He was kind of famous in middle school! This isn't the face of a regular person! From the Hero Course, it's Bakugo Katsuki! VERSUS! She's the one I'm rooting for! From the Hero Course, Uraraka Ochaco! Battle… STAAAART!"
At once, Uraraka started running toward Bakugo. The best strategy in this situation was to somehow make contact with him and use her Quirk to make him float out of bounds, but he was obviously expecting such a move and, as soon as she got close enough, he swung his fist forward and created an explosion right in her face.
"Uraraka-san!"
"Ochaco-chan!"
"Oh no!"
"Even though you're fighting a girl, you have no mercy, do you, Bakugo?"
Smoke and dust clouded most of the stage by now, and Uraraka used that to her advantage. With her Quirk, she sent her jacket flying over toward Bakugo and, while he was busy getting rid of her decoy, she tried to attack him from behind. As clever as it was, though, Rukia knew instantly that it wouldn't work—Bakugo's reaction time was definitely equal to that of a Pro, hence why surprise attacks rarely had any effect on him. And, as expected, he managed to blast her away once again just as she was about to make contact.
"He moved after he saw her!?"
"With that reaction time, it doesn't matter if there's a smokescreen!"
But Uraraka kept on attacking, and Bakugo kept on blasting her away, and she kept jumping back to her feet and coming back for more. She was determined to beat him, determined not to give up, and Rukia couldn't help but feel like there was something more. Uraraka was a very passionate person by nature, but she wasn't the kind of person to rush ahead recklessly.
What are you planning, Ochaco-chan? What are you seeing that we can't?
"Uraraka keeps attacking without rest, but… this is…"
From the nervous mutters coming from the crowd, it was easy to tell that those watching were of the same mind. It didn't take long for most of the civilians to get worked up and start calling out to the referee in order to make him put an end to the fight. And, when that didn't work, some started calling out to Bakugo himself, some even downright insulting him.
"There's booing from part of the crowd! But honestly, I also feel the same—ack! An elbow!? What're you doing, Eraser Head!?"
"Was that a Pro accusing him of playing around?" Rukia couldn't help but smile upon hearing her guardian's unimpressed voice. "How many years have you been a Pro? If you're saying that with a straight face, there's no point in you watching anymore, so go home! Go home, and look into changing careers! Bakugo is being careful because he's acknowledged the strength of his opponent who has made it this far. It's because he's doing everything he can to win that he can't go easy on her or let his guard down!"
The smoke and dust started clearing from the stage, revealing Bakugo's wary stance and Uraraka's exhausted form. And yet, Rukia instantly noticed the satisfied, somewhat smug smile gracing the girl's lips as she straightened up and brought her hands together. Rukia's eyes widened, recognizing that movement as the one she used whenever she released whatever she was making float with her Quirk, and her head shot up.
Holy crap!
Dozens and dozens of rocks and debris, pieces of the stage that Bakugo had destroyed in his attempts to keep Uraraka away, were floating above their heads. The smokescreen from earlier had completely masked them but, now that it was dissipating, everyone could see it. Then, at once, Uraraka released her hold on the debris, and they all started falling back onto the stage.
"A meteor shower!?"
"You should have noticed."
As the debris started falling, Uraraka started running forward. Hoping he'd get distracted by all of the rocks threatening to smash his head, she was aiming for the inevitable opening.
Everyone is doing their best! Everyone is giving it their all! I've managed to come this far… I won't back down now!
But just as she thought that victory was hers to claim, Bakugo lifted his hand and, with a single, powerful explosion, managed to blast away every single piece of debris. The blast was so powerful, it also sent her flying to the edge of the bounds, and it reduced her last plan to dust—quite literally, at that.
"Ba- Bakugo delivers a satisfying explosion! He blasts boldly through Uraraka's secret plan!"
He didn't even need to finish Uraraka off. As soon as he started running toward her, she collapsed, her body no longer responding to her demands. She started crawling, of all things—unwilling to give up despite everything. Upon seeing this, Midnight stepped in and, after a few seconds, she lifted her hand.
"Uraraka-kun is out of commission. As such, Bakugo-kun advances to the second round!" she announced.
After a moment of hesitation, the crowd started cheering—for the both of them. Despite their earlier booing, there was simply no denying the power and abilities of Bakugo, but they also acknowledged the determination of his opponent. While she was taken to Recovery Girl, unconscious, Bakugo returned inside. He wasn't scowling nor was he grinning in satisfaction, so Rukia figured he was impressed by the fight Uraraka put up, if nothing else.
"The eighth match of the first round… Oh, Uraraka… Oh, yeah, Bakugo advances to the second round, I guess."
"If you're gonna do it, do it properly."
"Whatever! Now, let's pull ourselves together—the first round is all done! Let's move on to the quarter-finals quickly after a short break!"
There was still a certain tension in the 1-A stands, but Rukia's earlier words and Eraser Head's comment had made most of them come to terms with their worries. By the time Bakugo returned to the booth, everyone had mostly gotten over their initial uneasiness.
"Oh, Bakugo! That was tough, uh? Playing the bad guy," remarked Sero, half-teasingly.
"Even if it was because of the match-up, you played an amazing Villain, Bakugo," added Asui.
"Shut up! Be quiet!"
"But man, I can't believe you were able to aim such a huge blast at a frail girl," pointed out Kaminari, a tad hypocritically. "I couldn't help but hold back."
"She kicked your ass without breaking a sweat," corrected flatly Jiro.
"Tche. What part of her was frail?" snapped back Bakugo, falling into his seat.
Rukia simply smiled at that. "It was a good match, Bakugo. Kept you on your toes, didn't she? But congratulations on your victory."
"… it was a close call," he finally admitted, before glaring at her. "You better make it to the finals so I can kick your ass properly."
"What, still mad about losing two weeks ago?"
"It was a draw!"
While the light banter continued, the stage below was quickly built back up by Cementoss and, as soon as he was done, none other than Kirishima and Tetsutetsu came out, decided to settle their fight. Since they didn't want to drag this out, it was decided that the tie would be broken by an arm-wrestling contest.
"The draw from the fourth match of the first round, Kirishima and Tetsutetsu! The winner of their arm-wrestling match to decide who advances to the second round is…"
The pedestal cracked under the strength deployed by the two boys but, eventually, so did Tetsutetsu's metal fist. Kirishima didn't relent in his efforts to bring his opponent down and, after a minute or so of struggles on both sides, he finally managed to slam Tetsutetsu's fist down, destroying a part of the stage while he was at it.
"Kirishima-kun is the winner! He advances to the second round!"
"The one who won his ticket is Kirishima!"
"Yes!" cheered Rukia, jumping to her feet. "This is going to be fun!"
"You know, upon meeting you, I thought you were the shy, quiet type," remarked Kaminari, sweatdropping a little. "But the more time passes, and the more I realize that you've just been hiding your crazy better than other people."
"Hey, there's nothing wrong with enjoying a good fight," she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. Her grin then turned a little sharper. "Though, I guess you wouldn't know what a good fight is, since you're always losing."
"Geh!"
"Ooh, nice one!" grinned Jiro.
The two girls high-fived, while the boy slumped in his seat. "So mean, Rukia…"
"Now, we've got everyone who's advancing to the quarter-finals! So, let's get started—as soon as Cementoss is done repairing the stage again."
"Alright, I'm heading to the waiting room," announced Rukia, rising to her feet. "And I'll check up on Ochaco-chan while I'm at it, too. Tokoyami-kun, Shinso-kun, Bakugo—good luck!"
"I'm counting on you, Airu-chan!" beamed Ashido.
"Kick their asses!" added cheerfully Jiro.
"We're rooting for you!" exclaimed Hagakure, bouncing in place.
"You can do it, Rukia-chan," nodded firmly Asui.
The rest of her classmates also bid her good luck, though Bakugo did tell her off for wishing him good luck when he was "obviously better than the rest and didn't need luck". Laughing a bit to herself, she then quickly headed out. As much as she wanted to watch the fight between Iida and Todoroki, she really wanted to check up on Uraraka, who had yet to make a reappearance.
As soon as she reached the waiting room, though, she heard them—the muffled sobs.
Oh. Maybe… maybe now's not a good time, then.
Rukia realized her friend probably wouldn't want to see anyone right now. In her eyes, she had lost, and it was the only thing that mattered. In fact, Yaoyorozu seemed of the same mind about her own fight, and she had been spacing out a lot earlier.
They're both really frustrated about their losses… and I would have been that way too, had I been in their shoes, she realized, backing away from the closed door. I'll leave her be for now. Hopefully, that "Girls Day Out" project will help cheer them up later.
She turned around, deciding to head back to the stands. From what she could hear, the first fight had yet to start, so maybe she'd be able to catch the end of it—
'THUD'
She rammed into someone. Startled, she looked up, and her eyes went wideas she realized just whom exactly she had just run into.
"Hey, where's Rukia?"
"Oh, she already went out," answered Sero.
"Oh. I wanted to talk before our fight, but I guess it'll just have to wait," mused Kirishima.
Rukia felt a little dizzy, all of sudden. Before she could ponder over it, though, none other than Endeavor, the Number Two Hero, stepped around the corner. She could only stare with a mix of astonishment and confusion as he faced her, towering over her rather intimidatingly.
"Ah, I finally found you," he stated, crossing his arms over his chest.
"You were looking... for me?" she replied, even more confused now. "What for?"
"You're the brat from the Endoru Lab Affair, aren't you?"
She instantly froze. "I—what? How- how do you…"
He stared at her for a moment, before sighing. "Any high-profile Hero can have access to that sort of archive. Eraser Head ended up taking you in, then?"
"I—well, yes, but I- I don't understand what—"
"I need your help."
She cut herself short, truly taken aback by his request. He then pulled out a folded paper from a hidden pocket on his costume, which he handed to her. Still a little confused, she took it and unfolded it, only to find a childish face staring up at her.
A picture…?
"Do you ever remember seeing that boy in the lab?" he then asked, his voice strangely subdued.
Surprised at first, she then looked back at the picture. It was a young boy with vibrant red hair and a rather plain expression. His pale blue eyes were rather noticeable, a vivid contrast with the color of his hair, but nothing about his appearance particularly stood out in her memory, saved for his uncanny ressemblance to her classmate and to the Hero now standing before her.
"I… I'm sorry, Endeavor-san," she murmured, handing back the picture. "When I was… there, I didn't see anyone other than researchers. I- I know of what happened to the other patients, but I don't… I've never met any of them. I'm sorry."
He simply nodded, taking back the picture and putting it away. "No matter. I apologize for disrupting your day. Good luck in the tournament, Aizawa."
Nodding mutely, Rukia could only stare as he walked away without another word. His appearance had been entirely unexpected, and his request had been quite odd, and she couldn't help but feel somewhat sorry for the man. If the picture he had shown her was anything to go by, along with his strange question…
"Rukia."
"To- Todoroki-kun!"
She spun around and found her classmate now walking right toward her, his eyes narrowed and his fists clenched. He appeared angry, even more than before, and she had no idea why.
"What did he want?"
"What?"
"My father," he practically spat, stopping once he reached her. "What did he want?"
"W- well, he just asked me a few questions, nothing big… Todoroki-kun, what's wrong?" she asked, her brows furrowed. "You've been acting weird all day. Why are you so angry?"
He stared at her, much like Endeavor had just done, but Rukia suddenly realized that if he was there, then that meant his fight with Iida was over, and hers was next.
"Crap, I'm going to be late! We'll talk later, Todoroki-kun!"
Still puzzled by her encounter with Endeavor and her classmate's behavior, she took off and started running in direction of the entry point she had been assigned to. Thankfully enough, she arrived just in time for the introductions.
Ugh, Shota-san would have had my head if I showed up late…
"Yosh, the second match of the quarter-finals is about to start! On one side, we have the boy who won't back down! The strong, the unshakable, the manly one! From the Hero Course, Kirishima Eijiro! VERSUS! She's just as strong, if not more, and she's got the bite to back up her bark! From the Hero Course, Aizawa Rukia!"
Climbing on stage, she couldn't help but exchange a grin with Kirishima as they both came to stand face to face. Then, he extended his fist to her.
"Don't hold back, alright?"
Without hesitation, she bumped her own against it. "Same to you."
"What wonderful youth!" cried out Midnight in the background.
"Yosh, it's with good spirits that the two classmates now face each other! Without further ado, let us begin the second match of the second round! START!"
Rukia instantly activated her partial transformation, hoping her claws would give her some sort of advantage against his Hardening Quirk. She knew it wouldn't pierce through, but it'd definitely force him to strengthen his defense. By doing this, he'd exert a lot more energy, and so he'd get tired more quickly—and, between the two of them, she had the most stamina.
They clashed, and instantly started exchanging blows. Contrarily to when they had faced each other in the simulation, they didn't have to worry about a time limit or a secondary goal other than pummeling each other into the ground, and it showed. Their classmates could only watch with growing awe as the two opponents exchanged one powerful blow after the other. With Rukia's techniques giving her an edge in their fight, but with Kirishima's Quirk rendering him almost invulnerable to all of her attacks, they stood on equal grounds.
"Wow, I'm suddenly glad she didn't use that kind of strength to fight me," remarked Ashido, gulping a little. "She would have busted my ribs with one blow!"
"Even with her enhanced strength, though, she can't get past his Hardening," pointed out Ojiro, leaning forward as he tried to keep up with their movements. "Each blow she manages to land must be really painful for her and, contrarily to him, it's going to hurt every time he hits her."
"Still, she's faster than him," countered Jiro, thinking it over. "Plus, she's received specialized training. Even if he can block her attacks with his Quirks, she's got the technique down and, comparing fighting skills alone, she's obviously a lot better than him."
"But in a fight like this, fighting skills aren't everything, ironically enough," retorted Tokoyami, shaking his head. "It's about knowing your opponent's weakness and exploiting it."
"Weakness? Seeing them like this, it doesn't feel like either of them has a weakness, though," pointed out Hagakure.
"Well, Rukia is physically superior to most of us thanks to her Quirk and her training. As we've seen before, though, she tends to get caught up in the heat of the moment and, as such, she's more prone to acting recklessly, leaving openings, and making mistakes," summarized Shinso, intently analyzing the ongoing fight. "She's smart, there's no denying that, but she'll use brawns over brains any chance she gets."
"That being said, Kirishima is pretty much the same type of person," mused Kaminari, leaning back in his seat. "The only thing that can get the best of them is exhaustion."
"In that case, it's not a matter of who hits the hardest, but who lasts the longest," concluded Iida, who was doing his best to forget his quick defeat at the hands of Todoroki. "In a battle of stamina, however, I'm unsure of whom would come out as the victor—"
"It's Fangs." All eyes turned to Bakugo, who was watching the clash with narrowed, calculating eyes. "She's had it all figured out since the start."
"What do you mean, Bakugo?" asked Asui, tilting her head in confusion.
"Rukia is the one who's landing the most blows, isn't she? She's moving faster and her hits are stronger—wouldn't it be natural that she grew exhausted a lot quicker than him, then?" wondered Sero, also confused.
"Watch, you extras," he growled out, a tad annoyed at having to explain everything. "She's been hitting the same spots over and over again. Even if it looks like it, she's not hitting randomly."
At that, they instantly reported their attention to the fight below. After a few seconds of intense observation, they quickly realized that Bakugo was right: Rukia was hitting his left side, his right thigh, and his right shoulder alternatively, but systematically. She sometimes hit somewhere else when she saw an opening, but she visibly focused on those three parts.
"Kirishima is on the defensive, but Aizawa's constant attacks don't seem to have any effect! They've been at it for over five minutes now, and neither seems willing to give up yet! How will this intense showdown—wait! What happened!?"
A grin split Rukia's lips as she noticed the falter in Kirishima's movement, and she instantly used the opportunity to hit him square in the stomach. He had been so focused on hardening the three parts of his body that she had been targeting, he had completely strained himself and had ended up leaving himself wide open.
The hit landed on semi-hard skin but, this time around, it wasn't enough to entirely protect him from Rukia's blow. With a swift punch, she finally sent him tumbling backward. Dropping to the ground to gather momentum, she then pounced on him. Kicking off the ground, she slung a leg around his neck and forcibly brought him down, knocking his head harshly into the concrete.
The stage cracked under the strength of the impact.
"Ooh!"
"Ouch. That's going to leave a mark," winced Jiro.
"So harsh…" gawked Kaminari.
"What is this? What is this!? Kirishima has been harshly pinned down and isn't getting up!"
Midnight quickly stepped onto the stage, and Rukia instantly released the boy and stepped back to allow the Chief Umpire to do her job. Midnight checked on the boy, before grinning a bit and jumping back to her feet.
"Kirishima-kun is unconscious! Aizawa-kun is the winner!"
Rukia pumped her fist in the air as her partial transformation receded, while medical robots came to pick up Kirishima in order to bring him to the infirmary again. Silently promising to make it up to him later, she then walked off the stage and headed back inside.
"That was a pretty harsh blow, Rukia," greeted Kaminari once she returned to the booth. He looked a little pale. "Is Kirishima okay?"
"Uh? Yeah, of course. Why wouldn't he be?"
"Oh, I don't know… maybe because you just smashed his head into concrete hard enough to make said concrete crack!?"
She chuckled a bit at that, shaking her head. "Don't worry, don't worry. The concrete is the only thing that cracked—his skull is fine."
"How can you be sure of that, Rukia-chan?" asked curiously Asui.
"Because he knew what I was going to do as soon as I got a hold of him. At that point, I had already pushed him to the verge of exhaustion, so he had to make a choice: either he gathered all of the strength he had left to protect his head by hardening it and, as such, would fall unconscious and therefore lose—or, he could refuse to do it, have his head bashed into the ground, risk potential brain damage, and still lose because Cementoss would have stopped the fight at that point." She smiled a tad too brightly for someone speaking of cracking skulls open, showing off her fangs. "So, he's fine! He made the right choice!"
"You're merciless, Rukia," gulped Kaminari, now even paler than before. "Completely merciless."
She simply shrugged. It's not as if she'd have done that if she thought Kirishima would really get hurt. She knew he could take it, and he did, and that was that. Even if she promised not to hold back, she didn't want to accidentally, seriously injure one of her friends, or worst. So, rather than holding back, she adapted.
"And now, for the third match of the quarter-finals!"
The following two matches weren't as exciting to watch, so to speak. First up were Tokoyami and Shinso but, against such an opponent, the purple-haired boy really didn't stand much of a chance. Tokoyami was too cool-headed to fall for his taunts, and his all-rounded Quirk was simply impossible to beat for someone so clearly lacking when it came to sheer fighting skills. As such, even if he tried, Shinso was quickly kicked out of bounds by Dark Shadow. However, he had obviously expected such an outcome, and he didn't appear unhappy. If anything, he was glad that he had somehow made it this far into the competition.
The last match of the quarter-finals opposed Shiozaki and Bakugo. Once again, he kept his distances as his opponent sent all sorts of thorny vines after him. However, what really made the difference in this match was their movements: Bakugo kept on running around, while Shiozaki stood still and never moved from her spot. So, after a few minutes, Bakugo maneuvered in a way that made her blind herself with her own thorns, and he used that opportunity to blast her out of bounds.
"That completes the best four, everyone!" On the screen above, pictures of Todoroki, Rukia, Tokoyami, and Bakugo appeared. "We'll take a five-minutes break before getting started on the semifinals, yeah!"
"Alright, I'm up!" grinned Rukia, jumping to her feet. "I'll definitely beat those guys!"
"Woo! Show them what a girl's capable of!" cheered Ashido.
"Do your best!" encouraged Hagakure.
Though no one mentioned it, it was obvious to everyone in Class A that the four students who had reached the semifinals were also the top four students of their class in matters of heroic potential, so to speak. It wasn't only a matter of strength or power, but also a matter of training, determination, and dedication. Of course, there was no denying that their respective Quirks were very powerful in their own rights, but they were all well-aware of the training those four went through in order to hone their skills and become as strong as they were today.
"Still, Rukia's going to fight Todoroki, isn't she?" then recalled Kaminari, looking up at the match-ups on the screen. "That's going to be a tough fight for her…"
"Close-range versus long-range, uh? And she's already tired from her previous fights, too," realized Jiro, frowning a bit.
"And Todoroki hasn't been holding back at all since the beginning of the event," pointed out Shoji. "In this fight, it won't be stamina that'll matter, but speed."
"As in, can Rukia outrun Todoroki's ice?" understood Sato, rubbing his chin. "That's going to be tough. As fast as she is, her Quirk isn't like Iida's…"
"That being said, Iida-kun almost won earlier!" pointed out Uraraka, perking up. Her tears had long since dried, and she was now trying her best to enjoy the rest of the festival, and she had heard of the boys' fight in great details. "He was really fast, and he managed to land a serious hit on Todoroki-kun!"
"If Rukia-san can take advantage of that, she might have a chance," agreed Iida, thoughtful. "But the previous fights and events have already taken their toll on her body. She has amazing stamina, but even she can't outrun over-exhaustion."
"You were waiting for it, and now you have it—the first match of the semifinals! Both of them have Hero parents, so it's a battle of the elite, for sure! First up, the boy who has yet to use his fire since the beginning of the event! The one who's been holding back, yet who's still managed to make it this far! From the Hero Course, Todoroki Shoto! VERSUS! The one who's been going all out from the get-go, and the only girl who's still in the running! Also from the Hero Course, it's Aizawa Rukia!"
There wasn't much Rukia could do in terms of planning. With Todoroki's Quirk, her only option was to be faster than him and force him to engage in hand-to-hand combat. If he pulled out another stunt like what he did with Yaoyorozu, though, she was done for. So, she crouched down, ready to move at a moment's notice, while he braced himself—
"START!"
She pounced, instantly running toward him. Having expected it, he sent numerous layers of ice her way, forcing her to divert her course. She didn't slow down, though, even though she kept an eye on his hands. From what she had gathered, he couldn't control his ice as well with his other limbs, which meant that his options were even more limited.
So long as I can get him near the edge, she told herself, eyes alight with determination.
Another wall of ice rose on her left, but she didn't let that deter her. She jumped, using it as leverage to propel herself toward him. She was moving too fast for him to directly freeze her, so he settled for making a wall of ice rise between the two of them. She landed on his icy shield but, undeterred, she punched it with unrestrained strength, and the ice instantly flew in pieces.
"You can't beat me with just your ice, Todoroki-kun!" she exclaimed, landing a few meters away from him. "I'll break it every time, and you'll freeze before I do!"
He stiffened at that, knowing she was right. He didn't know how much stamina she had left, but she obviously could keep going for a while, and half of his body would soon freeze up if he kept on using such powerful attacks. She didn't leave him the time to think, though, and pounced at him once again.
This time around, he let her get close enough to reach her directly and, without hesitation, he grabbed her arms and completely encased them in ice. What he didn't expect was that she had seen it coming: she grabbed his arms just as his ice grew, therefore trapping the two of them together.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Aizawa just turned Todoroki's attack against him, and they're now literally stuck together! What's going to happen next!?"
She flashed him a grin, showing off her fangs. "I'm stronger than you!"
She jumped over him in a backflip and used the momentum to throw him over her shoulders just as she landed on the ground, effectively slamming him harshly into the concrete. He choked out a pained gasp, the injury he sustained from his earlier fight with Iida now acting up, and she activated her partial transformation—effectively breaking through the ice trapping them together.
"A serious blow, if not a little unusual one! Aizawa is now in the lead!"
Just as she was about to kick him, though, he hit the ground with his palm and covered it with frost. She didn't even bother avoiding it, though, merely breaking free once the ice completely encased her legs.
"I told you," she growled, hitting her fists together. "I'm not the kind of person you can beat while holding back! You declared earlier that you'd beat me and become the best, but you're still not taking any of this seriously!"
"What would you know!?" he retorted, his anger rising at once.
"If you were serious, you'd be using your flames by now—those, I wouldn't be able to counter," she snapped back, falling into a more defensive stance. "But you're still messing around, and it pisses me off! If you had the galls to declare war earlier, then have the fucking sense to see it through!"
She pounced again, and he tried to block her, but his movements were easy to read at that point. His own ice was now slowly growing in a thin layer of frost over his right side, therefore slowing his movements considerably, and all he could do was fall on the defensive as the blows rained down on him. At some point, he was forced to create a wall of ice behind him in order to ensure she wouldn't be able to push him out of bounds.
"I will reject him," he finally spat out. "All of him, continuously! I'll never accept him!"
A blast of sharper ice debris forced her to back away a little, and she glared. "I have no clue of what you're talking about, but I can tell you this: the battlefield is no fucking place for your emotional issues! If you can't go all out because of some misplaced anger, then I suggest you drop out of the Hero Course entirely, because this world has no need for a Hero who won't do everything in his power to make it better!"
"Shut up! You don't know anything!"
Her fangs grew sharper, the fur on her arms grew thicker, and her tail was standing on end in an aggressive display. "Aren't you the one who said that those who hold back because of their feelings aren't worthy of calling themselves future Heroes!? If you can't commit to using all of your power in order to become a Hero, then this isn't the stage for you! So stop holding back, or get out of here already!"
At that, Todoroki could only gape in shock, his eyes widening slightly. For a moment, echoes of the past washed over his mind and, for half-a-second, everything went… blank.
::
"Everyone here has been training their hardest, and just because we're friends doesn't mean we'll hold back. We all want to win, Todoroki-kun, so don't go looking down on the others so easily. You just claimed yourself to be one of the bests in this class but, if you're too blinded by your arrogance to acknowledge the efforts and the determination of those around you, it won't take long before you're knocked off your imaginary podium. You're the one who's naïve, here. Take this seriously!"
::
He couldn't stand the thought of becoming like his father, he intended to reject him in every way, at every chance he got, no matter the circumstances—
::
"I have no clue of what you're talking about, but I can tell you this: the battlefield is no fucking place for your emotional issues! If you can't go all out because of some misplaced anger, then I suggest you drop out of the Hero Course entirely, because this world has no need for a Hero who won't do everything in his power to make it better!"
::
Damn it… Damn it…
He could no longer deny it: if he didn't use his flames, he was going to lose—and, above everything else, he refused to lose. Getting a little too caught up in the moment, all of his hesitations and doubts faded away as he noticed the sheer determination written over her face, the intent desire to win that matched his own… and the aching need to prove herself.
The need mirroring his.
Letting out an angry shout, he slammed his palms into the ground and sent another wave of ice that completely encased her body from her feet to the upper-half of her body. Just as she started breaking through the ice shell, though, his left side suddenly became encased in hot, unrestrained flames.
"Oooh! At last, Todoroki makes use of his fire! Come on, Rukia-chan, get him—I mean, is Aizawa going to be able to escape from that one!?"
"Don't blame me if you can't dodge that one…!" he called out, definitely pissed—both at her and at himself.
Just as he sent his flames forward, though, he saw it—the smirk gracing her lips. His eyes widened slightly as he used his fiery attack, a niggling thought at the back of his mind.
She was waiting for this.
And then, she opened her mouth.
Instead of her voice coming out, though, she howled. The sudden noise acted like a powerful sound wave and, trapped on both sides by his own ice, Todoroki could do nothing but stand there and take it. What he hadn't counted on was for the blast of sound to be powerful enough to counter his flames, though, and a smokescreen instantly covered the entirety of the stage, a low rumble echoing in the background, and the entire arena trembling on its foundations.
"What- what was that!? Can anyone see anything!? What happened? Since when can she do that!?" Present Mic was trying to catch a glimpse of the stage, but grey smoke covered everything. "Trapped by Todoroki's ice, Aizawa used a sound-based attack to counter his flames! What a powerful move! It was—wait. Look at that! Look at thaaaat!"
The smoke cleared at last, revealing Rukia who was no longer trapped in ice, but who had put a knee to the ground and was panting harshly. However, there was simply no sign of Todoroki, who had seemingly vanished from the stage. After a few seconds of confusion, though, everyone finally noticed the poor boy who now was stuck into the wall of the arena. The sound blast had been so powerful, it had literally sent him flying, and he was now visibly unconscious.
"To- Todoroki-kun is out of bounds! Aizawa-kun moves on to the finals!" finally announced Midnight, a tad taken aback by this turn of events.
There was a moment of silence. Then, at once, the entire stadium started shaking under the loud cheering and applauds of the crowd. Absolutely no one saw that special attack coming, and it had been grandiose.
Smiling a bit sheepishly, Rukia waved at the crowd for a bit before running off the stage and toward the medical bots. She followed them inside as they carried Todoroki on a stretcher, and it's only a minute later that he woke up.
"The fight—"
"I won," she instantly answered, not wanting him to exert himself by talking. "I blasted you out of bounds with my Howl."
"… I see."
"Todoroki-kun… I don't really get what happened back there, and I don't know what you've gone through that made you treat your Quirk this way… but I'm here, if you wanna talk about it," she then said, smiling a little. She patted his shoulder in comfort. "It was a good fight, but I wouldn't have lasted for long if you had gone all out. So, next time around, I'm counting on you not to hold back, alright?"
He didn't say anything, seemingly in a daze, and she didn't know if it was because of the shock of having used his fire at last, or because of a concussion resulting from being sent flying into a wall of concrete. One way or another, though, she decided to let him rest and, if the occasion arose, to let him come to her if he wanted to talk about it.
Waving him goodbye, she then found her way back to the 1-A booth. As soon as she stepped inside, she was greeted by the cheers of her friends and their proud grins.
"Yosh! You really showed him, Rukia-chan!"
"That was amazing!"
"I didn't know you could do that!"
"How do you feel, Rukia?"
"You were great out there!"
"Rukia!" Kirishima managed to push past the rest of the students, grinning. "Good job out there! You were great!"
"Thanks!" Smiling, she turned to the others, jabbing a thumb at the red-haired boy beside her. "See, guys? He's perfectly fine!"
"It was a great fight, but I'll definitely beat you next time around," Kirishima assured, slamming his fists together as he grinned. "If anything, I'll take that round as payback for that time I slammed you into a wall and scarred your nose."
"Ah ah, fair enough!"
"How you guys are friends is beyond me," sweatdropped Kaminari.
"Match two of the semifinals! On one side, the dark knight with the all-powerful Quirk! From the Hero Course, Tokoyami Fumikage! VERSUS! On the other side, the explosive hothead who's blasted his way to the top! From the Hero Course, Bakugo Katsuki!"
Upon hearing the introduction to the second match of the semifinals, everyone quickly settled down in order to watch it unfold. Rukia wasted no time in sitting down, enjoying the small break she had been granted before her last match and, below, the fight started.
"Bakugo's rush is unstoppable! Tokoyami has advanced this far with his almost invincible Quirk but, this time, he's completely focused on defense!"
"Gah! Tokoyami, what's going on?" protested Ashido. "He wasn't shy in attacking Sero and Shinso earlier, was he?"
"Dark Shadow can't switch to the offensive because of the light from the explosions," realized Uraraka, biting her lower lip. "This is the worst match-up possible for Tokoyami-kun."
Below, Bakugo was relentless with his attacks. Whether he had noticed Dark Shadow's weakness or not, he wasn't afraid to get close and attack him head-on. Rukia easily noticed how he kept on going faster and, at one point, he managed to get behind Tokoyami. Not wasting a second, he released an actual stun-grenade-like attack, effectively blinding everyone in the stands and creating a smokescreen.
After a few seconds, the smoke dispersed, revealing Bakugo now standing atop of Tokoyami and pinning him down.
There was a moment of tenseness, then—
"Tokoyami-kun has forfeited! Bakugo-kun wins!"
The crowd started cheering and Rukia's heart throbbed in eagerness and anticipation. Total victory was only one match away, and her final fight was bound to be interesting.
"With this, the final match has been decided! It'll be between Bakugo and Aizawa!"
"Still, it's too bad about Tokoyami-kun," sighed Uraraka.
"I seriously thought Tokoyami would win," admitted Sero, a tad troubled.
"I guess this means he isn't invincible," mused Kaminari.
"So light is his weakness, uh? I see. Bakugo likes to go after stuff like that," cringed Kirishima, scratching his cheek. He then turned to Rukia. "Any idea on how to beat him?"
"Not really, no," she admitted, getting up. "If it was only hand-to-hand combat, claiming victory wouldn't be too hard. Since he can use his Quirk, though, forcing him to engage in a direct fight would only render him even more powerful and dangerous."
"Because the more he moves, the more he sweats, and it's his sweat that allows him to create those explosions," understood Asui, nodding.
"Exactly. So, I guess I'll just have to do this the old way: beat him up 'til he can't get up!"
Kaminari shook his head. "I don't know if I should be more worried about you or about Bakugo."
"It's finally the last battle of the U.A. High School Sports Festival! The top of the first years will be decided with this one match! The final, so to speak! Now, take a good look at our two finalists! He's brash and vulgar, and nothing can stand in his way! From the Hero Course, Bakugo Katsuki! VERSUS! She's cute, but feral, and she'll definitely mess you up if you underestimate her! From the Hero Course, Aizawa Rukia! Go kick his ass!"
"Mic, no favoritism," warned flatly Eraser Head.
"Ahem! Let's not wait any longer, then! Let the final battle… STAAAART!"
At once, the two opponents pounced at each other. As soon as they got close enough, Bakugo swung his right fist, but Rukia saw it coming and bent over backward, kicking her leg up. She managed to land a blow under his chin and make him stumble backward, but he instantly replied with an explosion from his left, forcing her into the defensive. Activating her partial transformation, she started parrying each of his blows, diverting their courses before they could land—if he managed to touch her, it would hurt.
"Wow, wow, wow! Aizawa is completely on the defensive, and Bakugo is relentless in his attacks! Who's going to give in first!?"
Growing a tad impatient, Rukia decided to give up on caution and grabbed his arm instead of diverting it. Bakugo's explosion followed but, contrarily to what everyone expected, she wasn't blasted away—she took it head-on and didn't release him despite the painful burns stinging the left side of her face. With a shout, she lifted him up and threw him over her shoulder, slamming into the ground much like she had done with Todoroki earlier.
"Ouch! Serious blows on both sides, yet neither seems able to gain the upper hand!"
Almost as soon as Bakugo's back made contact with the ground, pain shot through his entire body, but he ignored it and used the momentum to propel himself upward using his explosions. As soon as he was in the air, he started gathering his power and propelled himself directly at the white-haired girl below. Rukia's eyes widened upon noticing the small tornado forming around his body and, as soon as he released his extremely powerful attack, she had no choice but to counter with her own special move.
She howled, the sound wave crashing against the explosive power so harshly it made the entire arena shake. She slid back a few feet but managed to stand her ground.
"Bakugo added momentum and rotation to the huge blast—the same one he used in his fight against Uraraka! He was like a human projectile, but Aizawa successfully countered the powerful blast using her sound wave attack!"
Bakugo wasn't about to give her any time to rest, though. The smoke had yet to disperse, but he was already upon her again, firing explosion after explosion. She gritted her teeth upon realizing that, contrarily to most people's Quirks, his own didn't grow weaker the more he used it, which meant she'd grow exhausted long before him.
I need to finish this quickly!
"Why aren't you using that howl again?" She stiffened, and a smug grin stretched his lips as she blocked one of his punches. "You can't, can you? There's a limit to how many you can use!"
Crap!
More explosions blinded her, and the noise was absolutely deafening. As he once again forced her on the defensive, she suddenly realized what he had been aiming for all along.
He's blinding all of my senses!
She could barely hear anything because of the onslaught of explosions and, not only was the smoke blinding her, it also rendered her sense of smell entirely useless. She cursed, though it came out more like a garble of sounds because of how hoarse her voice was.
How did he know I was relying on all of my senses to fight!?
It's not like she had the time to ask, though. Not only was she fairly tired out because of her previous fights, but the edge her enhanced senses gave her in any sort of combat situation was now a burden. If she didn't do anything now, she was going to lose!
But then, she saw it—his shadow.
Got you!
She didn't hesitate in using her Howl again, blasting through the smoke and hitting the target head-on. As soon as she released the sound wave, however, she realized her mistake—but it was too late.
"Gah! Bakugo copied Uraraka's move and only sent his jacket flying, and Aizawa fell for it!"
Fuck!
Because of her blinded senses, she saw him too late. He was upon her in an instant, once again using his most powerful explosion and, this time around, she wouldn't be able to counter it. So, she did the only thing she could think of in this crucial moment: she stood her ground.
An explosion even more powerful than the first one once again made the entire stadium shake on its foundations, and smoke billowed and spread over the entire stage. It wasn't lost on anyone that, this time around, Rukia hadn't used her sound attack and, as such, had taken the hit head-on. Most were already looking around the field, expecting to find her crumpled body outside of the bounds.
"That- that was a direct hit…" Present Mic's voice was now strangely subdued, and he gulped loudly. "A- a clever move on Bakugo's part, but Aizawa is…"
At last, the smoke cleared up. The first thing everyone saw was Bakugo, who had one knee on the ground and was panting heavily, still conscious. But then, much to everyone's shock, they found the white-haired girl still standing, her arms raised defensively before her face. It took the crowd a few seconds to realize that the reason why she hadn't been blasted away was… well, mostly out of sheer stubbornness, and her unwillingness to give up.
"In- incredible! Refusing to back down, Aizawa literally planted her feet into the ground in order to avoid being blasted out of bounds!"
The concrete had cracked underneath her as she had stomped her feet hard enough to make them crack through the concrete, thus allowing her to stay in place. However, after a few seconds of complete stillness, many noticed how she had yet to move. Frowning, Midnight quickly stepped onto the stage and went to check on the girl, while Bakugo rose back to his feet, ready to pounce as soon as the Chief Umpire gave the go. After a few more seconds, though, Midnight shook her head.
"Aizawa-kun is unconscious! Bakugo-kun is therefore the winner of the final round!"
…
…
…
"Ba- Bakugo is the winner! Despite standing her ground 'til the very end, Aizawa knew she was going to lose, and so she decided to do it on her own terms! Amaaazing! Congratulations to those two for an incredible fight! And now, all of the events have been completed! The winner of this year's first-year U.A. Sports Festival is, from Class A, Bakugo Katsuki!"
A tad dumbstruck by how quickly the fight had ended, Bakugo could only stare as Midnight and Cementoss worked together to pull the unconscious girl out of the concrete she had dug herself into. Although he knew that he was going to win, he hadn't expected Rukia to make such a reckless decision merely in order to avoid being blasted out of bounds.
Though, then again, he'd surely have made the same decision in her shoes.
Aizawa Rukia…
He watched as she was carried out on a stretcher. Her forearms were thoroughly burnt, and her face was singed, too. Despite her current state, though… she didn't look like a loser—at all. She had lost on her own terms, and every single Pro watching could only respect her for it.
"Tche."
With that being said, it wasn't a full victory for Bakugo—he hadn't managed to crush her entirely, and it both annoyed and impressed him. It had been a good fight, though, and, thanks to that, he finally managed to prove to everyone that he really was the best.
Frankly, victory had never tasted sweeter.
Sooooooooo...
That happened? I had a lot of fun writing those fights, not going to lie.
Now, for any of you who might be disappointed that Rukia is taking up Midoriya's spot: Midoriya is LITTERALLY not there. However, Todoroki's character development was important, so I compromised.
I really hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please leave a review, they're always appreciated!