Mina Ashido always tried to be the life of the party. Always tried to put a smile on her face, no matter what. Always tried to be the one to take the leap. She wasn't the smartest in academics, but when it came to helping people make friends or distracting villains who might attack people, she could do the job. But she felt nervous. She always felt a little nervous in big events, but right now she was going up against someone who she had no idea what his Quirk was. She had no idea what he could do. And she had no idea if he knew anything about hers.

And it didn't help that Andros had been teasing her about it! Bah, she'd have to show him… as much as she was tempted, as she walked out onto the stage, to plan for just sliding towards the chubby boy as fast as possible… she shook her head slightly. No, what if his Quirk was like Izuku's or Eijiro's? She might act on instinct a lot, but that same instinct was telling her not to underestimate someone who could get away with that sort of look. She wasn't even listening to the announcements, just waiting for the match to start, her holed shoes on and ready.

"START!"

And as Midnight declared the start of the match she started to run towards the boy, but not relying on her Quirk… not yet at least, she wanted to throw him off about just how well she could move about. Even so, as she moved she saw the boy simply… punch the ground in front of him?

"Fire," Shoda said, and a tremendous sound of concrete crumbling sounded out, a crater tearing itself into the stage in front of him! The impact didn't just make the concrete that was there vanish either, chunks of the stuff tearing their way out of the stage, one of which the boy soon picked up and threw at her! Her eyes widened as she started to move-

"Fire."

And with that the chunk of concrete went racing towards her, barely giving her time to react. Mina fell back, quite literally, onto old instincts in times like this, falling onto her back and immediately pushing on the ground in front of her, pulling a full 360 rotation breakdance spin to get her back to her feet! Clearly this guy could make whatever he did way stronger, so she focused and let the slippery acid she was most used to gather in her hands and spray from her feet, quickly being slathered in front and to the side of her as the next chunk raced at her, letting her slide out of the way in time.

Thing is she wasn't entirely sure what to do. Oh sure, she could keep dodging, but it'd only take one good hit to knock her off balance, and then he could come to her and do some sort of enhanced punch. Or he could just keep her at range and try to knock her unconscious, very uncool! Still, she could try to wear him out-

And as she thought that Shoda had grabbed a bigger, heavier looking chunk, before throwing it down hard onto the ground in front of Mina! He was trying to trip her? Well, he could try…. She grinned and pushed into a leap, the acid spraying from one of her shoes briefly changing from more clear to slightly less glossy, a different kind of acid spitting down onto the stone, starting to eat away at the massive chunk. While she wasn't smart, she'd gotten Mei to explain to her what each kind of acid could do well and to give the reaaaaaally simple version as to why. Toothpaste Acid (Hydofluoric was a bit hard to always get right) liked to get really charged with stuff and stick together, making it super corrosive! If he wanted to lay traps like tha-

"Crack."

And with a resounding sound much like the effect, Shoda had just gestured, the still melting rock sunk in deeper, the stage splitting in half as a fissure formed in the middle of it! He was trying to reduce the areas she could dodge in! And even as she started to skate forward, he made two more craters, gathering up more rocks as he moved about. He didn't seem to want to risk her getting too close… so he was relying on the rocks? Either way, she needed to find some way to keep him from getting-

Oh. Oh, that could work. Mina slowly let a smile from across her face.

Nirengeki Shoda knew the move he'd made just now was a risky one. He'd hoped that the pink-haired and skinned girl would have just tried to skate around the rock, and the acid she'd flung onto said rock had weakened the effectiveness – he'd hoped to create all sorts of pitfalls so the terrain would be to his favour. But with plenty of ammunition, he could keep at this to his own devices, tossing out two chunks of rock and firing them in different directions at the girl, causing the next arc of her acid to go wide, causing her to stumble slightly for him to go for a follow-up.

And he was keeping his distance for a reason, as he tossed out the last of the rocks, he could see that she wasn't moving with the same grace she had been before. She'd hopped off the slime trail, ducking and weaving around the rocks as she had to abandon any opportunity to make another, the slime she was tossing going wide. She was off-balance.

He didn't grin. She naturally smiled, but he wouldn't disrespect his opponent by being someone he wasn't. He brought up his fists into a boxing stance pushed his feet down… and with a burst of his Quirk rocketed towards Ashdio-san. Honestly, she was adapting to the ranged attacks better than he had expected, she was only off-balance, not tiring out, but she was still off-balance, and it would be enough to land him the finishing blow as he came to a skidding stop. He lead with the momentum of the burst of speed to slam a heavy fist into Ashido's gut, causing her to let out a cough… as the second impact hit her harder, sending her skidding backwards on her own trail of slime towards the boundary!

He couldn't let up though. Any fight like this was the same as any old boxing match, it was a skill of not just physical impacts, but relentlessness. A single punch, or even a one-two combo, wasn't usually enough to take out a fighter, so even as he ran at her he brought up his guard, dropping himself down to the left as he focused all his weight on it with the step, then lifting himself back up, repeating the step with his right foot. The motion starting to have him bob back and forth like a figure eight

My eyes widened as I saw what Shoda was going for. "Holy crap is that a Dempsey Roll?!" I blurted out.

"A Dempsey what?" Mineta asked

The Dempsey Roll. It was an overly aggressive move in boxing invented in a time before Quirks, virtually unknown outside of the world of boxers and boxing fans like himself. A maneuver where one uses the motion of your body to push all the weight into each of your blows, rapidly hammering away at the opponent until they are knocked out or break free somehow. Not exactly subtle, but in a situation where his opponent was fast and couldn't be allowed to think for too long, it'd have to do. Shoda felt no satisfaction as he put all his weight into the first blow, slamming into a hastily assembled guard from Ashido and forcing her to take a step backwards, the follow-up punch making that another step before an impact went off and forced her arms apart, leaving her face and center exposed. He swung back for another punch, another step forward, his fist slamming into her chin and sending Mina sprawling backwards, dangerously close to the barrier line, but another impact would only scatter her back towards him, he took a step forward for one more punch-!

And as he took that step forward his foot sank deeper than he expected. He looked down and his eyes widened. They were back towards where he'd started, but the crater he'd made on the floor was partly full with some sort of… goop? Acid, it'd need to be acid, but what sort? It wasn't eating away at his shoe, in fact, it seemed goopy, sticky, refusing to let it pull away.

"Heh… didn't expect you to go for the punches like that." Ashido commented… but she had a confident smirk on her face. "Really it was a good plan. You made me think you were really good at ranged attacks and only them. You could just keep moving backwards." She pulled herself to her feet with a grin, starting to run back towards the slime trail. "But not all acid is just the melty type!"

Shoda's eyes widened. "You weren't scattering the acid from my shots!" He exclaimed. "Those were sticky traps!"

"Well… sorta, but I bet you wouldn't risk it." Mina noted… before she started to slide towards him faster and faster. Shoda's eyes widened, he focused the impact of the punch on her cheek, but Ashido seemed to expect it – mostly. While she managed to turn it into a more elegant turn, she stumbled briefly, forcing her off the slime trail and onto the concrete. Shoda pushed his feet forward with twin impact… and widened his eyes as the goop still seemed to tug at him, requiring himself to force the impact forward again.

"Not bad… your sticky acid that is. I've never had to use my Quirk twice to get out of something." Shoda admitted.

"Yeah… your Quirk packs a punch too." Mina confessed… before letting a smirk join her face. "I think it's time we finished this though!" With that, she seemed to toss acid… and tossed it wide, forming a semicircle of goop she soon jumped over. She ran at him, Shoda pulling up into a boxer's stance once more to block the punch thrown at him… but she swung early, barely touching him and falling to the floor once more, spinning in seconds as she brought her feet around in a sweeping low kick!

Shoda knew that he couldn't jump in time and simply fell with the sweep, lashing out with a punch down towards Mina, one that hit dead on the head and knocked her against the floor of the arena, twice as he activated his Quirk on sheer instinct! He winced at that, having tried to swing lower to avoid that, it didn't feel satisfying if he accidentally knocked her out-

And then he let out a cough as he violently breathed out, Mina's fist having buried itself into his gut, the impact and strength of the fist combining with the spin she'd gone into on the floor of the arena and his own fall. As he flew off to the side, his body rolling to a stop just before the boundary, he groaned and looked at Mina's raised fist… it was steaming slightly, before Mina threw her arm to the side, a handful of acid she'd planned to flick at him clearly in her fist. Slowly the pink-skinned girl pulled herself to her feet, breathing hard, her nose bleeding and her cheeks slightly swollen, but a look of determination in her eyes.

"You planned ahead," Shoda noted, awe-struck. "You made it so I couldn't go past you, I could only pull back and give you the advantage, jump and get hit by your acid, or get knocked over and punched by you." He slowly pulled himself up onto one knee, breathing a little harder after Mina's blow.

The pink-skinned girl shook her head. "Nah… I just wanted to hit you with the dance. I honestly thought you'd jump over it… I don't think things like that through." She admitted, slowly walking closer. "But you need to hit harder than that. My classmates hit harder." At this point, she was right in front of him, and formed her hands into fists… only for Shoda to hold up a hand.

"I'm in no state to continue the fight. I yield." Shoda explained, smiling at Mina. "And thank you. That was a good match."

"Shoda Nirengeki has admitted defeat! The winner of this match is Ashido Mina!" Midnight declared, a smile on her face as Mina held out her unburnt hand to lift Shoda out of his kneeling position.

"Thanks!" Mina replied with an eager grin… and a wince as a pair of stretcher robots came towards the two. "Though I'd probably make a terrible boxer."

"It was a good fight," Ojiro noted. "Instinct vs Skill. I'm quite surprised Andros-san, I didn't know you knew what a Dempsey Roll is – I didn't."

"Unless it was-" Sero started, only to stop as I crossed my arms. "Wait really?"

"I watched stuff other than you guys. Is it so hard to believe I watched a boxing anime?" I asked incredulously.

Jirou and Hagakure snorted in unison at that. "Given what you watch, I-I thought it was a boxing Rider." Hagakure teased, which was only joined by peals of laughter from Jirou and a snort from Sato.

"Or a Boxing Sentai," Sato added, only renewing the giggles and laughter. I groaned, hanging my head as I started to pull myself up from the seat. "Huh? Where are you going?"

"I'm up after Tokoyami and Momo." I pointed out. "I need to get to my prep room. Plus, I want to pop by the Nurse's Office and see if Mina's ok."

And suddenly Mineta was to my left, looming over with a dark look in his eyes. "And how is-" Before he can even start on that, an earphone jack zoomed out and dangled threateningly in front of his vision, before Mineta cleared his throat. "Um… I mean, you just going there as a friend, eh?" And now he's teasing me. Thanks, Jirou.

I just let out a sigh and rolled my eyes. "I'm one of her friends, and I'm on my way down. I might as well pop by." I pointed out with a slight growl.

"Yeah, we know. Just teasing ya!" Jirou pointed out with a smirk. "Besides, if complimenting a girl meant you were going out with them, I'd ask what a Hazard Level rating is."

And there goes me with a blush and Hagakure and Sato laughing at my expense. Gah, forget it, I pointedly stomp away from the group over dramatically before letting out a sigh. I wasn't even sure I knew if I wanted a girlfriend – I never had a partner in the last life. And while I'm not even entirely sure where I'm meant to be age-wise – sure you could count mental age but five years forgetting and having the body like this means… I don't even remember how old I was when I died the first time. It's not something I like to remember because there's just… no happy ending to trying to. And... and…

THWACK

And I just walked right into a wall, didn't I? Gah! Am I overthinking things? Bleeeh, this is something I wish I could talk to people about, but Mei doesn't think it's something to worry about and Monoma seems to forget sometimes so… I dunno.

"You're really that worried about that dude?" Kirishima asked, having been exiting the Nurse's Office just as I came by. Right, he and Mina went to the same middle school. "Honestly, if it's been five years, I say you're more the dude you are now than the old you – for better and worse. It's like… reincarnation, y'know? Same soul, different person?"

I blinked. Huh. Put it like that and… "Thanks. See you in the next match High School Debut-san." I teased with a grateful smile.

"Yeah see yo- wait you know about that?!" Kirishima asked incredulously. I just flashed a cheeky grin before I pulled my way into the Nurse's office. Oh, it doesn't totally settle my mind, but for now, it's going to have to do.

Recovery Girl looked up at me and frowned. "I'm going to have the two of you in here next, aren't I?" She questioned. I simply shrugged and a frustrated huff escaped her. "Fine but make it quick."

I gave her a grateful nod before I headed over to where Mina was lying in a half-awake daze. "Oh, heeey Andros!" Mina called out, her nose and cheeks covered in bandaids and looking slightly queasy. "I'd be standing but Recovery Girl's told me to lie down for the next few minutes… somethin' about letting her Quirk just speed things up."

I just grinned at that. "Well, that's good… just wanted to see how you were doing after that match, and needed to ask you a favour." I remarked… before pulling out the Blood Stark Figuart. "Could you hold onto this guy for me? I'd ask Neito but-"

"The last time he borrowed something from you it ended up with him banned from the toys right?" Shoda asked from the next bed over. "Pony was asking about Japanese toys one day and… it kinda came up."

I let out a sigh… but smiled. "At the time I was on a bit of a… 'Stays in the Packaging' phase. Neito took them all out and posed them like the Ginyu Force." A trio of chuckles joined in at that. Dragon Ball has ironically survived Quirk Society, although it's mostly seen as an old comic and cartoon, it is still admired as a classic.

"How do you think Momo's doing against Tokoyami?" Mina asked.

Things had been going very well for Tokoyami. Dark Shadow and he had been rapidly assaulting Momo, alternating between Dark Shadow himself and, as a change, direct assaults from himself to change things up. To leave no window of opportunity for her to strike back. Dark Shadow's hits, despite it being close to midday, were coming in stronger than ever against Momo. Tokoyami was starting to hang back to let Dark Shadow just push her out.

And then a little bulbous doll popped out of her leg and onto the floor of the arena. Dark Shadow, being the curious sort, stopped briefly and reached down with one claw, grabbing it and starting to open it.

It was at this time that Tokoyami saw the smirk on Momo's face. "Dark Shadow! It's a tra-"

And then there was just blinding light and a powerful burst of sound.

I shrugged. "It all depends on how quickly she thinks on her feet," I admitted. "Tokoyami will go for a relentless attack on her after all."

"But YaoMomo has been getting better – she's been training more physically." Mina insisted.

I shook my head. "Even if she goes for Dark Shadow's weakness-"

"He has a weakness?"

"He's a shadow."

Mina slapped her head at that.

I chuckled at that. "But yeah, even so… Tokoyami doesn't give up easily." I pointed out.

Opening her eyes after the Flashbang had gone off, Momo ran towards Tokoyami! With Dark Shadow weakened from the blast, all she had to do was get close to him at this point and force him out, even as she pulled her shielded arm up for the impact-

Only for Tokoyami to dodge underneath the blow, lashing out with a punch that she only barely managed to avoid. "When you live in the darkness… you learn how to deal with sudden light." Tokoyami explained

Momo frowned, but simply manifested another doll, tossing it over her shoulder to ensure Dark Shadow would be kept out of the fight. "Then it looks like we're going to show how good we are in hand to hand!" She declared, lashing out with a sudden kick.

"That's a good point," Mina noted… before smirking. "But if they finish it too quickly, you might not get to your match in time!" She pointed out, giggling all the while. My eyes widened at her remark and I ran out the door in a hurry, the last thing I needed was to be late for my own match!

Kirishima had to admit that when it came to a manly contest of strength, there were a few people in his class he had been wanting to go up against ever since they had been reminded about the Sports Festival. Bakugou was pretty obvious, the unstoppable force against the immovable object. Midoriya was another for mostly the same reason, but more focusing on a raw contest of strength against strength. And of course, Rikido Sato and Mezo Shoji ranked up rather high as well. But Andros? He was just after Midoriya. His Quirk had already been pushed past the point of its limits, just like Midoriya was dealing with his own. Just like how Kirishima was using his in whole new ways. And he had to admire his classmate's style, even if it wasn't exactly his thing.

So, he'd be lying if he said he WASN'T really prepared for this match, practically brimming with anticipation. It was all he could do not to just harden his skin, but he saw that Andros hadn't transformed yet, and was paying him the same courtesy in kind. Transformation vs Transformation, a clash of titans.

But when Andros stepped out on the other side of the stadium and started to walk towards the arena, Present Mic's yell was outdone by the screech of some other speakers and then… music?

"REJOICE!" The distinctive voice of Hatsume Mei declared. "Behold the heir to the power of Nebula Gas! Donning the mantle of a villain from myth to bring it about once more as a hero! And now you've witnessed the entrance onto the fighting stage."

"… Class 1-A's Nebulos Andros." Present Mic finished off, sounding more subdued. "Hey, maybe I should consider inviting students up here."

"You're talking into the mic." Aizawa deadpanned, the far more subdued teacher still in the commenters box to keep a handle on Mic. Kirishima, on the other hand, saw that Andros was literally steaming, his face red with embarrassment and Nebula Gas seeming to bloom off of him before it started to splutter, the other student clearly starting to get his own emotions under control.

Kirishima just smiled at his classmate, giving him a thumbs-up, a gesture Andros simply replied to by rubbing the back of his neck and having a sheepish smile. Still, the two slowly pulled themselves into battle-ready poses, tension once more mounting until…

"START!"

"Vaporize!" Andros declared, a cloud of smoke billowing out, bigger than his usual ones but just as dark as ever. Kirishima rushed forward, his body hardening at once, turning rocky, jagged, the one wall that all attacks would break on. He knew that his classmate was way faster than he was, and there was no real way he could match that, but he had a plan.

The artificial-seeming red, silver and cyan form of Andros' transformed state leaped out of the dispersing gas swinging out wildly with one arm. Kirishima didn't even raise a guard, just swinging his fist back at Andros, both narrowly missing colliding with each other, slamming into their respective faces, but while Kirishima could take the blow with nothing but a slight wince from the sensation of that super strong hit, Andros stumbled a step. "Heh, you can dish it out but you can't take it huh?" Kirishima taunted.

"You and I both know I'm only getting started!" Andros declared, swinging out more focused blows this time, but you didn't need to be a martial arts master to tell Andros was just brawling without any real style to it, same as Kirishima really, who responded in kind, fists slamming both against each other and into the opposite person, each blow coming in strong. And while it took a little, Andros took a step back from the force of the blows, Kirishima taking a step forward, in turn, to try and push him back. This was what he lived for, a manly straight on clash! And if this kept going he could speed up his punches, push Andros to the edge and-

Andros leaped back from the next punch, Kirishima's blow swinging wide as he did, causing him to stumble, having to overcorrect to avoid falling on his face. Before Kirishima could even say anything Andros moved, seeming to leave a reddish blur behind him as he always tended to when using that odd extra speed of his. It might not be anything like what Iida pulled, but in a one on one fight against someone like Iida, it still made it problematic. He barely had time to turn before a punch landed against his shoulder, barely catching sight of Andros before he moved away, the next blow landing against Kirishima's back with enough force to actually force him to stumble forward a step, then another blow, and another – a knee this time given a brief delay in attacks. But Kirishima grinned, he'd expected this sort of attack at some point, and he'd prepared for it in the simplest way. While people like Iida and Andros could move fast, their brains only moved as fast as normal. This meant that when the next punch landed against Kirishima's chest he grinned, swinging one arm behind and forming both of them into hooks, spinning immediately as he did… and only stopping the instant he felt something slam into them. He looked out and chuckled as he saw Andros pull himself up slowly. "How'd ya like the Red Braker?" Kirishima boasted. "I thought you'd try to wear me down like that."

"Yeah, should've figured you-" And just as he pulled himself back to his feet Andros suddenly stopped. "Braker… as in Brake and Breaker. You've been keeping up with your English!"

Kirishima grinned more openly at that. "Well, you can't just pull cool names out of thin air."

But I pull all my best stuff out on the fly!... no, that's a lie, I'm terrible at naming stuff, always have, always will be. The issue is that despite our back and forths, Kirishima's adapting far faster than I expected, and I'm starting to run out of plans I can do that isn't "Wail on him until one of us tires out", which is a terrible plan. But if there's one thing I know, Kirishima can only take so much punishment before he has to turn back, so it's time to try something different. As Kirishima started to move towards me, I push myself to start running around him… but no singular strike this time, not yet, let him look around, wait for it and… he's probably trying for the Braker again, but that technique only works as a general defence to stop rapid strikes!

I stop as his back is turned, clasping both hands together and running towards Kirishima as fast as I can, aiming for an overhead strike with as much force as I can, a small leap giving me enough to slam it down-

With a sound of a sharp crack, my hands slammed down into Kirishima's suddenly raised overhead guard. I hissed out in pain, as it felt like I'd just slammed both hands straight on into a brick wall, lifting my arms away as I pulled back from the pain, only for a heavy hardened fist to slam into my gut, sending me flying briefly before I rolled onto the ground, gripping my fists. I took a second to simply breathe, and I could already feel the pain fading, as the Blood Stark state started to translate it into what I was going to feel later… probably still a bruise, but I wasn't going to be winded at least. I pulled myself to my feet.

Staring Kirishima dead in the face, I blur towards him again, but not for a punch. If the last strike was anything to go by, I don't move fast enough to get away with that, not unless I want to turn this into a match of endurance. No, I wrap my arms around his waist and-

CRA-CRAK!

What? I look down at the source of the sound and… well if I could I'd jaw drop right now. "How did you-?" I started

"Figure out you were going for a grab?" Kirishima asked. "Kinda figured it after that last move of yours. So, I decided to plant my feet!"

Quite literally in fact! Kirishima had hardened his feet and slammed them down into the stage, before moving his stance slightly to bury his feet in the concrete! Before I could respond further, I saw both of Kirishima's arms swing down and slam into the sides of my head, sending the world spinning as my defended but still enhanced ears took a beating, forcing me to let go and stumble back. This is bad, while Kirishima's basically entirely given up any movement, he's in a position now where he can defend himself as much as he likes and drag the match out. I need to… I need to focus.

For a brief moment, I try to focus as the world still spins slightly, and I swing a hand in front of me to try and check if I'm steady. But as I do, I can feel the cord on that arm loosening, threatening to swing out and attach to Kirishima. I growl, stopping the motion of my arm mid-movement, as I can feel the cord slide up slightly… and then pull back in. Side-effect? Am I just losing control?

"Don't you DAREdo that to yourself Andros."

No… no, I'm overthinking it. It's a part of my body and I was unsteady. Of course, it'd move.

"Uh, dude, you ok?" Kirishima called out. "Cause if so, the match is still on."

I snapped my head up slightly, and let out a light chuckle. "Sorry about that. Just thinking." I lied, even as I considered. What to-

Oh. Ohohohoh. This is so dumb but it just might work. I grin, even as I start to gather pressure into my pipes, I force myself to another headlong rush, faster than before, ignoring the slight feeling of irritation that comes from grabbing Kirishima's body at that speed.

"You sure? Cause this is just gonna end up the same!" Kirishima insisted.

I just chuckled in response… and with a pair of pops in unison, steam blasted out of my pipes, suddenly pushing me forward at a greater speed and force than if I'd simply been running., With the sound of crumbling concrete, Kirishima's feet came free and we both flew forward, before I grabbed onto the sides of Kirishima's body and forced him away from me, sending me tumbling back – and as I saw briefly while I did, sending Kirishima over the boundary line and onto the grass below.

"Kirishima is out of bounds! Andros is the winner!" Midnight called out, even as I sighed… and with that sigh, let go of the sensation I associate with my transformation, letting the Nebula Gas flow off of me before starting to be absorbed back into my body, a brief sensation of itchiness soon passing as I walk over to the side, climbing down to find Kirishima.

"Hey, good match there." I insisted, holding out a hand as he pulled himself to his feet.

Kirishima, despite his loss, was all grins. "Yeah, it was! Didn't think you'd be able to use your jets like that." He pointed out. "But uh… what was up with the arm before?"

I flinched at that. "Ah… my cords can pierce things but… I haven't exactly practised with them. And they are meant to inject people with Nebula Gas. Lots of it." I explained.

Kirishima blanched at the explanation. "So you just didn't wanna risk it?"

I simply nodded. Of course, if I'm being honest, there's more to it. Whenever I use the cords, for a brief moment… I think of him. The original Blood Stark. The one who the voice I imitate… who the voices of my wanting to win sounded a lot like. And the original Blood Stark…

No. No, I need to focus. I shook my head as I walked into the hallways, heading back towards the stands… there was still Bakugou vs Uraraka to see after all, and then the next round. I can't let myself focus too much on that. And I'm fine. I'm fine.

As they passed in the hallways, Weird Hair waved vibrantly, but as for Gas Suit… he seemed off in his own world. Distant, but trying not to look like anything was bothering him.

Bakugou waited until they passed… and then clicked his tongue as he made his way forward.

After all, if it was that easy for him to see it, then even Gas Suit should know he's lying to himself at the moment.

While it had been a spectacle to behold, and he imagined aside from his actual opponent few others noticed, Neito knew something was up with Andros. It wasn't a surprise really. While he could say all the encouragement that he wanted, he knew it would only comfort someone long term. It wasn't like how Andros had talked with him about his own Quirk – Andros had been dealing with his Quirk as an active danger his whole life, he wore a containment suit most of the time for crying out loud! And having more about it seem to unravel his control? It needed someone with better words than he had to help him out. And really… it pissed him off that he had to do that. To rely on someone else to make the judgement. To make the call.

So when the Uraraka vs Bakugou match started, he was happy to have something to take his mind off his friend. Watching the plucky young gravity-defying girl charging at the arrogant angry attacker, with strategy after strategy she deployed… and yet not a single one of them worked. One might think he'd mock someone for being in that sort of situation but really, it was the opposite. He could see that Bakugou wasn't letting the strategies be pulled off. He wasn't pitying her, he wasn't holding back, he wasn't pretending like what she was doing was working. But he also wasn't belittling her. He wasn't holding back in the slightest – even if he tried to send her flying out of bounds, she could easily grab a destroyed section of the ground to stop it. It wasn't arrogance… it was caution. Caution that was being used against him because Uraraka was using a different strategy entirely. One that couldn't be seen so easily from where Bakugou was.

But when the booing started, that's when he started to get annoyed. The Pros can't even notice?

"Hey! How can you claim you're trying to be a hero like that?" One hopefully rookie hero cried out. "If you've got this much of a power gap, stop playing around and just send her out of bounds already!"

"Yeah-" Another heroine started, and that was about the last bit that Neito could stand.

"Ahrerere?!" He bellowed. There was a slight silence… before a moment later, a helicopter drone flew over carrying Mei's speaker system. Perfect. "Ahem… Ahrerere?! Was that a pro saying that he's just toying with her? That's weird, right? It's weird? After all, you'd think a pro could try and look beyond what seems to be the most obvious path."

"What are you talking about?" The first hero called out. Impressive set of lungs on that one, but he'd already lost.

"Well, I'm just saying it'd be a shame if you were complaining about a Hero Course student because you couldn't notice what they were actually doing!" Neito replied. "After all, he's doing everything he can to win… does that mean he should let his guard down? When his opponent has made it this far?"

"While not with the words I'd use to express it, young Monoma is correct," Aizawa responded from the stadium's systems. "And the fact that a single student can see what several pro heroes couldn't should speak for itself, shouldn't it?" The edge of his voice in that one statement had Neito stop and gulp slightly. And he thought Vlad-sensei was intense. "Also, return that speaker system and Hatsume, leave it off for the rest of the matches. While it's interesting having students react, it can be disruptive… and I think Mic might revolt if there's another interruption."

"Oi! Since when did I become the straight man here?"

Neito chuckled in embarrassment even as he turned off the speakers and handed the system back to the drone. Ah, right. UA. Equal parts weird… and serious.

Still, even he was amazed as he watched the floating debris fall like a hail of meteors… and was even more so at the explosion that followed. If nothing else… it was a reminder to him not to underestimate anyone.