Me: Hello everybody, my name Tokusatsu Universe and welcome back to Toku no Hero Academia! Now we are at part four of the Sports Festival arc and this chapter will cover the Quarter Final round.
Here with me again is my beta-reader Milarqui making sure things are in the right place here!
Milarqui: Yes, lots of things needed to be organized in order to make for a good chapter. You and I need to have a few words re: certain things, man!
Alright let's begin!
Chapter 10: Sports Festival Part 4
Back from behind his desk, Omocha continued to watch the UA Sports Festival, enjoying the young men and women as they proved their worth, particularly that of young Izuku, who had reached the next round of the tournament.
'Even though Midoriya-shonen didn't sign the contract, he is still helping our business,' he thought, looking out of the window to see the employees under his charge: all of them were being overwhelmed by the sheer number of calls from stores all over the country, all of them wanting more Tokusatsu merchandise: between the stand they had managed to get at the Festival, the TV advert they had shown in the intermission between the obstacle race and the cavalry battle and the fact that Izuku kept making Toku-based moves, they were being rapidly sold out everywhere.
Nodding and giving a small smile, Omocha turned back to the television as the next round began, hoping to see the young man win.
"ALL RIGHT! Now that we have all of the brackets settled, let's move on to the quarterfinals!"
The crowd cheered in delight at Present Mic's words, and Izuku stood up.
"Well, that's my cue," he said, rolling his shoulders. "I'll see you guys after the fight!"
"Good luck!" Mina, Momo and Ochaco simultaneously said, and Izuku went down to the passage that led to the ring.
"Let's begin! Competitors, step forth!" Present Mic said, and as the four corners of the ring were ignited in fire, Izuku and Tenya entered the ring, ready for a fight. "This time, we have on one side the fan favorite, the Tokusatsu Powerhouse! Midoriya Izuku! And, on the other side, the blue-haired speedster, Iida Tenya!"
As they looked at each other, Tenya hardened his stare before bowing respectfully at Izuku.
"I hope we will have a great match, Midoriya-san. However, I will beat you here!"
Izuku bowed back, answering to the other boy's stare with a confident smile.
"Likewise, Iida-san. But if I were you, I wouldn't be confident about the end result of this fight. But, yes, let's do this!"
Izuku and Tenya got into their stances, ready for Midnight to give the call that would begin the first match of the quarterfinals. This time, Izuku chose to use a different martial arts stance than the one from the previous match: left hand forward and low, right hand to the rear, left heel risen.
"Ready... BEGIN!" Midnight shouted, letting the boys know they could start.
Immediately, Tenya activated his Engine Quirk and accelerated towards Izuku: knowing that the best chance laid in a quick victory, he chose to use the same strategy that had worked on Shinsou in his previous match – grab his rival by the shoulder and push him out of bounds.
Unfortunately for him, Izuku was more than prepared to deal with such an attack and quickly leapt out of the way.
"That's not going to work on me!" Izuku shouted, waiting for Tenya's reaction. The blue-haired boy turned around and tried to rush Izuku again, but he avoided the attack again. Deciding it was his turn to do something, Izuku created several energy balls that began to float around him. Tenya raised an eyebrow at the unknown move, and Izuku motioned his arms forward.
"Ambassador Magma Meteor!"
The energy balls quickly flew towards Tenya and attempted to hit him. However, Tenya proved himself a worthy member of the Iida family by using his superior speed to dodge all the incoming energy attacks. Seeing that this attack was having no effect at all, Izuku decided to stop it, making the remaining balls vanish in the air. When Tenya saw it, he stopped, deciding to give his Engine Quirk some rest.
'I have to find a way around Midoriya-san's attacks and push him out of bounds! If he lands a hit on me, I'm done for,' Tenya thought, keeping an eye on Izuku in case he came up with some powerful attack. Much to his surprise, Izuku closed his eyes for a moment, before smiling and opening them again.
"I can tell that you have been training hard these past couple of weeks for the Festival. Or maybe it was just for me?"
"I see that you noticed," Tenya replied, narrowing his eyes. "As I said before, I was going to challenge and defeat you, didn't I, Midoriya. Are you ready?"
As Tenya's Engines fired again, Izuku started to glow green, small particles of energy surrounding him
"You better believe I am, Iida! Show me what you're made of!" he challenged his friend and rival. Iida got into stance.
"Let's go!"
The two competitors then dashed towards each other, so fast that people could only see the streaks of color they left behind as they clashed against each other over and over.
"Woah, would you look at that? They're going so fast that it's almost impossible to see them!" Present Mic screamed, and everyone else watching agreed about how impressive the fight had just become.
Woosh! went the air as Izuku tried to land a punch on Tenya, only for the latter to lean his head back, letting the fist fly a few centimeters away from his face.
Foosh! sounded out as Tenya fired his engines to kick Izuku, but he ducked, letting the heel brush over his hair.
And so they went on for a minute, so fast that they were managing to raise a dust cloud that made it hard to discern what was going on. When it finally cleared, it was to show Tenya turning to the spot he had expected Izuku to be...
… but he was not there.
"Where did Midoriya go!" Tenya yelled out, trying to locate Izuku and knowing that losing sight of him was a terrible mistake.
A whistle called his attention to the middle of the ring, and when he turned he was Izuku staring at him: as soon as he did, Izuku crossed his arms and started to spin around, turning very fast around himself as energy began to form around his body.
Tenya was as astonished as the audience, but unlike the latter, he could not afford staying in place.
'I don't know what he is up to... but I need to finish this now, before he finishes his move!'
Seeing the potential opening, he activated his special move for the second time in the day.
"RECIPRO BURST!" Tenya called out as blue flames fired from his calves, and he began to run towards Izuku, jumping high into the air.
"Wow, what a jump!" Present Mic commentated as Tenya descended towards the block of energy concealing Izuku.
'It's all or nothing! Five seconds before my engines stall!'
Aiming his kick at where he thought Izuku was, Tenya struck with all the power in his legs, disbanding the energy cover – but, much to Tenya's shock, he flew through it as it vanished, showing that Izuku was nowhere to be seen.
All of a sudden, the scattered energy latched onto Tenya, forming energy rings ensnaring him in place and preventing him from moving from where he was.
"What is this?" Tenya exclaimed, surprised, as his best move failed and he was left defenseless: trying to break free, he felt his strength leaving him while he struggled.
Izuku dropped from the barrier he had placed beneath his feet and grinned at Tenya, trapped in his Help energy rings.
"It's the trap I've been working since I realized that you were too quick to just hit with one of my normal attacks. I knew you would try and rush at me the moment I left an opening you could take advantage of, so I deliberately stayed up in the middle of the ring and created the energy barrier so you couldn't see where I was. The moment you ran, I jumped up, and transformed the energy into those capture rings. Once more, you have fallen right into my trap, Iida-san!"
'Again? I played right into his hands again!'
"WHAT A CLEVER PLAN, LISTENERS!"
"He is certainly very dangerous when he uses his mind..." Aizawa said, amazed at how he had chosen guile rather than brute force, the way he did at USJ the previous month.
"Come on, why does he keep getting more dangerous!" Denki yelled as the other Hero Course students, both 1-A and 1-B, were struck at their fellow hero-in-training's cunning.
"And now... time to end this!" Izuku said, energy and lightning starting to appear around him. Tenya looked dumbstruck as Izuku sprinted forward before leaping into the air, ironically similar to what Tenya had done earlier, but this time the attacker would not fail.
"Rodan Smash!"
Izuku kicked Tenya straight in the chest, so hard that it knocked the wind out of him while he was sent flying straight out of the ring, where the energy holding him vanished and dropped him to the floor.
"Iida Tenya is out of bounds!" Midnight said, raising her whip. "Midoriya Izuku advances to the semi-finals!"
The crowd cheered loudly at the spectacular fight that had just taken place, while Izuku jogged over to check on Tenya's state.
"You okay, Tenya-kun?" he asked, worried: while he had used some energy to ensure that the strike would not be centered on his friend's chest, he was still unsure if he hadn't caused any grave injuries.
Fortunately, save for the pain caused by the kick, it seemed like Tenya was fine, because he stood up on his own and then offered his hand at Izuku.
"Thank you for worrying, Midoriya. I am well. Quite the great plan you came up with back there," Tenya replied with a smile, and Izuku shook his hand.
"YEAH! Midoriya is the first competitor to reach the semi-finals! Now, let's move onto the next match, and we'll find out who joins him!"
The crowd cheered, anticipating what would happen in the next matches.
"You completely outclassed me, Midoriya!" Tenya said, chopping the air with his arms as they walked down the halls that led to the waiting rooms. "I thought I had a chance to win, but it seems as though you will always be several steps ahead of everyone else!"
Izuku chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Don't sell yourself short, Tenya-san. You did great out there, and you almost caught me several times. Just keep training hard, and I know you will become a great Hero, just like your brother."
"Thank you, Midoriya! I won't let this keep me down!" Tenya replied, nodding. As they reached the waiting room Tenya had been in before the match, he halted. "Would you excuse me for a moment? I need to give my brother a quick call – I will meet you and the others in a while."
"Sure, no problem. Take your time, we'll see you in a while," Izuku replied, continuing to walk while Tenya went into the waiting room. Picking his phone, he found his brother's contact and called him. When the tone ended, Tenya spoke up.
"Hello, Tensei? It's me, Tenya-"
"Sorry, but I am currently on a mission and cannot answer the phone. Leave a message if you need to talk to me," Tensei's voicemail played, and Tenya decided to hang up, staring blankly into the air.
"Tensei... I hope you are alright..."
Unbeknownst to Tenya, just as he left the waiting room, the Pro Hero Ingenium was locked in a desperate battle against the Hero Killer.
In the other waiting room, Ochaco was now waiting, anxiously, for Present Mic to call on her. She certainly was nothing like her usual bubbly self.
"I'm going against Bakugo..." she muttered.
She knew that Bakugo was very strong, and the match would not be easy, but she knew she had a chance and she had to take it. Someone knocked on the door, interrupting her musings, and she stood up as the door opened.
"Hey," Izuku said, popping into the room.
"Huh? Dekiru-kun? Why are you here?" Ochaco replied, approaching the boy she had a crush on.
"Well, your match is next, and given who you are fighting... also, I can tell that you are nervous, what with your eyebrows wrinkling," Izuku pointed out.
"Man, it must be really bad if my nerves reached up to my brows," she replied, taking a deep breath to relax.
"Can't blame you. Bakugo is not going to go easy on you," he said. "So, I decided to come here, see if you wanted some help, or just someone to talk with."
"Yeah... I'm really scared right now," she admitted. "Thanks, Dekiru-kun, I appreciate your offer, but...
"But?"
She took another deep breath before lacing her fingers with each other.
"Don't get me wrong. You are an amazing person... spectacular, even. Every day that passes, particularly today, I keep seeing more amazing sides to you. During the Cavalry Battle, I thought it'd be easier to team up with friends..."
Izuku stared at her, slightly surprised, as she continued to talk.
"But, now that I think about it, maybe I was trying to rely on you. When Iida-san said he wanted to challenge you, I realized that teaming up with Todoroki-san instead of you was good. I want to stand up on my own as a hero, instead of leaning on someone else."
Izuku nodded, understanding what his friend-slash-crush said.
"That's why it's fine now," she said. "Everyone's facing the future and trying their absolute hardest: even if we are all friends at class or when school is out, right now we are all rivals. So..."
Ochaco took the door and made to go through, before giving Izuku a thumbs up along with a confident smile, that managed to hide a good part of her nerves.
"Let's meet in the semi-finals!"
"This is the second match of the quarter-finals, and now come our participants!"
"This is going to be a disturbing one," Tsuyu said.
"I almost don't want to watch..." Kyoka replied, shuddering as she voiced what pretty much all of her classmates were thinking.
Down at the ring, Ochaco and Katsuki had already entered. Katsuki looked dead on at her while his expression remained stuck showing his feelings. Ochaco, however, did not allow herself to falter against his intense gaze, locking her eyes on his. Katsuki took a deep breath, preparing himself while considering Ochaco's Quirk, trying to figure out strengths and weaknesses from what he had seen in the Battle Trial.
Back at the bleachers, Izuku tightened his fits.
'You can defeat him, Ochaco-chan!'
"This time, we have the Explosion boy, Bakugo Katsuki, versus the Infinity girl, Uraraka Ochaco!"
"Wanna withdraw, Round Face? You'd better do it now, because if you don't you won't get off with just a little 'ouch'," Katsuki stated, continuing to stare at her with eyes that betrayed the fury he felt, one goal in his mind: getting into the semi-finals and beating Deku. When he did, that would hurtle him forward as the true number one, no matter what fancy light shows his former friend might make. And he was certain he wouldn't be stopped by his current opponent.
Ochaco just gritted her teeth and glared at the boy in front of her: she had reached this far on the strength of her body, her mind and her Quirk, and she was not going to back down now.
At the bleachers, Momo leaned towards Izuku.
"Do you know what strategy is Ochaco going to use against Bakugo?" the girl asked.
"Bakugo is strong. The more the match lasts, the more he sweats, which makes his Explosion Quirk stronger, and he can use his blasts to move around in the air and attack from a distance. But if it becomes a close quarter combat, Ochaco-chan has a good chance at winning – if she manages to use her Quirk on him to make him float, she would have the upper hand. So, if I had to guess... the first thing Ochaco-chan will do is..."
"Brat! If you lose, I'm going to be teasing the hell out of you for the next week!" Mitsuki was heard shouting from the bleachers. Katsuki twitched in annoyance at his mother's antics as Midnight got ready.
"Ready... BEGIN!" the R-Rated Hero announced.
Immediately, Ochaco rushed forward, quickly reducing the distance separating both of them: her speed had grown by leaps and bounds thanks to all the training she had undergone since she joined U.A., and it showed.
"... a swift attack," Izuku confirmed as Ochaco stretched out her right hand, clearly planning to tackle her rival.
"Withdrawing is not a choice!" she yelled out. 'I just need to touch him, then I can win!'
"As I expected. If she manages to touch him, then Bakugo will be left floating and Ochaco will have a chance to ring him out," Izuku said, glad to see that Ochaco was not going to back down any time soon.
"Do you think Bakugo-san will even let Ochaco-san get that close to him?" Tenya asked.
"Probably. It depends on what he plans to do, but he'll probably want to counterattack instead of evading."
Katsuki scoffed at Ochaco's charge. As far as he cared, she had chosen to fight, and he was going to show her the mistake she had made.
"Then, die!" he said, bringing up his right arm. Ochaco saw it, knew it was his usual opening move and kept running, getting ready to duck.
'Almost... almost... almost...' she thought, trying to time her dodge to get under his arm. 'There!'
Unfortunately, she ducked a second too late and failed to take into account the explosive blast he had prepared: the girl was sent reeling back from the force of the explosion.
'She wasn't fast enough,' Izuku thought, frowning. All of 1-A winced at the blow.
"He blasted her like she was nothing," Hitoshi said.
"C'mon, Uraraka, you can't lose against that jerk!" Setsuna shouted from her seat, drawing an annoyed look from Neito.
"Even though you are fighting a girl, he still has no mercy," Tsuyu stated, knowing, like her classmates, how ruthless Katsuki Bakugo truly was.
The explosion, meanwhile, had created a smoke cloud that blocked the line of sight between the two fighters, allowing Ochaco to stand up without being attacked.
'This is no good. I knew what move he was going to make, and yet I still couldn't react in time,' she thought, coming up with a plan to take advantage of the smoke.
At the other side of the ring, Katsuki got into his stance while narrowing his eyes: the cloud from his explosion was preventing him from giving the coup de grace to the girl, and it also kept him on his toes, as she could now attack from anywhere.
"I'll make short work of you, Round Face!" he called out, hoping to get her to make a dumb mistake.
"Don't underestimate me, Bakugo!"
Katsuki heard movement behind him and he turned on a dime, smacking down the first thing he saw moving towards him in the smoke with another violent explosion.
However, he soon realized something was wrong: the girl had not screamed in pain, and the sound of the blast striking flesh was similarly missing. The smoke cleared off enough, and he was in shock to see that all he had struck was a P. E. uniform.
That was the moment Ochaco chose to rush out of the smoke from behind Katsuki: the cloud had allowed her to make him think she was elsewhere, and she had thrown the top half of her uniform as a distraction while she went the other way. She considered herself lucky that she was wearing a black tank top under the uniform.
"OH! She made her jacket float and sent it over there! And did it in an instant, too!"
'This is my chance!'
Before she could get close enough to touch him, though, Katsuki turned around and blasted her again, this time with an explosion that was more powerful than the first. Ochaco felt pain spiking through her body as she was blown back. The explosion had hurt a lot... but she was still in the game. She was still standing on her feet, and she wasn't going to give up easily!
"Shit, he moved that fast after he saw her?" Hanta commented, unable to believe how quick Bakugo had reacted and counterattacked.
"With that kind of reaction time, it won't matter if there's a smokescreen. With her unable to use her Quirk unless she touches him, she's at a clear disadvantage – and he's not holding anything back, either," Eijiro noted, knowing that the matchup was quite slanted against the girl.
One thing that she was not was hesitating, and Ochaco proved it by charging forward again, trying to catch him off guard.
"TOO SLOW, ROUND FACE!"
This time, the explosion went off right in front of her face, making the entire crowd cringe at the pain the girl had to be suffering: most of them even felt the heat of the explosion all the way from the bleachers. Nevertheless, Ochaco kept trying to get close enough to Katsuki.
"TAKE THIS!" Ochaco yelled out, trying to distract him just long enough to touch him, but she was just hit again by an explosion, tossing dust and rubble everywhere. The brutality of the attack was such that several people in the audience decided to stop watching the fight and closed their eyes, unwilling to keep seeing a girl sent rolling along on the ground every time she attempted to get close.
But yet Ochaco kept trying.
"Ochaco-chan..." Tsuyu muttered, worried about her friend's well-being.
"I can't watch!" Kyoka said, covering her face with her hands.
"Man, Bakugo, I didn't know your tastes ran in that direction..." Denki said with a pervy tone, only for Kyoka to slap him with her earjacks even though her face was covered.
Ochaco kept trying to get close, and every time she did Bakugo fired yet another explosion, relentlessly hitting the girl dead on every time. And every time he did that, the rest got more and more uncomfortable with the match.
'Not... yet...' Ochaco thought. It hurt like her, getting blown off every time she tried to attack him, but her plan was working as every explosion kept breaking apart after each attack.
"Uraraka keeps attacking without rest, but... this is..." Present Mic stopped mid-sentence, not knowing what to say. What could he say? He was witnessing a massacre.
"Her substitution earlier didn't work, so she's getting desperate," a Pro Hero commented from the crowd.
Neito looked at the bandages wrapped around his injured arm, then looked to the Pro Hero and sighed in annoyance.
"What an idiot."
"Hey! Shouldn't you stop this already? This is going a little too far!" a random member of the crowd yelled at Cementoss, who kept grimly watching the fight as Ochaco's charge was halted by another explosion.
"Boy! How can you say you want to be a hero like that? If there's such a huge difference in your abilities, just hurry up and send her out of bounds! Stop bullying the poor girl!" the Pro Hero said, starting to boo.
"Yeah! Yeah!"
Soon, what had been a few people became a whole crowd, booing at Katsuki for 'bullying' Ochaco. The ash-blond boy ignored them as he kept blasting the girl away whenever she charged in, but Mitsuki was not willing to let an insult to her son go unanswered, and soon enough Masaru, Inko and Toshinori had their hands full trying to hold her back from hurling objects or worse at the Pro Heroes that had started the reaction.
"The crowd clearly doesn't like what they are seeing... and, honestly, I also feel the sa-"
Before Present Mic could finish the sentence, Aizawa struck him in the face and covered the microphone.
"What the hell?" Present Mic asked, stunned by his fellow teacher's sudden attack, while Aizawa decided he had to make things clear to the obtuse.
"Was that a Pro saying Bakugo is playing around? You have been a Pro for how long?"
The crowd instantly stopped their verbal blasting of Katsuki, while Aizawa glared at the one who had started it all.
"If you are saying that with a straight face, then there's no point in you watching anymore, so you'd better go home and look into changing careers!"
The words hit the Pro Hero dumb: clearly, he wanted to argue, to bluster, to say something – but no words came out. In hindsight, he should have known better than to argue against one of U.A.'s Hero Course teachers. He certainly was now looking like a fool, while everyone else was left confused.
"Eh? What do you mean, Eraserhead?" Present Mic asked after recovering his microphone.
"Bakugo is being careful because he's acknowledged his opponent's strength, one who has reached as far as he has. The reason he won't go easy on her or let his guard down is because he's doing everything he can to win and because he knows that underestimating her would be a fatal mistake. So, all of you who think like that idiot does, either sit down and shut up or go home and quit being a Hero!"
Now suitably chastened, the jeerers chose to Aizawa's 'suggestion' and sat down again, meekly, not wanting to draw any more attention, while the irate Mitsuki calmed down and nodded towards the booth in gratitude for the Hero's defense of her son.
Meanwhile, at the ring, the smoke cleared out, and showed Ochaco still standing on her feet. Injured, tired, panting, but still unbeaten.
'Shit, she's not dead yet,' Katsuki thought, acknowledging the fact that Ochaco was tougher than she looked, and actually commended her for lasting so long. Not that he would say so to her face.
At the bleachers, Izuku also nodded, acknowledging the truth behind Aizawa's words, and even if he disliked his former friend, he could respect his attitude, particularly since he could easily tell from the distance that Katsuki had accepted that Ochaco was worthy of respect.
"It's time... I think... thanks, Bakugo..." Ochaco said, panting, and bringing her hands together. "Thanks for not letting your guard down!"
"Huh?" Katsuki asked, narrowing his eyes at her in confusion.
In the bleachers, Neito noticed something and looked up, nearly letting his jaw drop.
'From where the idiot is, it would have been hard to notice, but the fact that the Pros missed it is absurd,' he thought as he saw the trap Ochaco had prepared with no one noticing. 'She kept her body low as she advanced, kept him concentrated on the ground while she gathered her arsenal, one he unwittingly created.'
It was then that Katsuki noticed several strange shadows around him, and when he looked up he saw there was a great load of rubble and debris floating above him – rubble and debris he had created but had not noticed was gone because of his tunnel vision.
'Damnit, how the hell did Round Face pull that off?' he asked himself, quickly positioning himself, knowing that every second counted.
"I'm gonna win!" Ochaco shouted with determination, and she released her Quirk. "METEOR SHOWER!"
That was when everyone else realized what was happening as the rocks began to fall when the Zero Gravity effect on them was cancelled. Katsuki's eyes widened in shock.
"METEOR SHOWER?" Present Mic exclaimed, saying out loud what most of the crowd had been thinking.
"You should have noticed," Aizawa fired, once more shaming the Pro Heroes in the bleachers.
"She had such a desperate plan up her sleeve?" Tenya yelled out in shock, as, much like most of Class 1-A, he hadn't even realized that she had planned her attack from the beginning.
Not so Izuku, who had smirked when Ochaco unleashed her special move. He had noticed what she had been doing from the beginning of the match, but had wisely chosen to keep quiet so she could better surprise both Katsuki and everyone else.
'YES! You have an opening! Take it now, Ochaco-chan!'
"Kick his ass, Uraraka-chan!" Mina cheered.
"Kero, it seems we underestimated her," Tsuyu admitted.
"Damn, that's so manly! I could tank that, but what will he do?" Eijiro shouted.
In the few seconds that passed as the rocks fell, both Hero classes considered what they could have done, and they all knew that only a few of them would have been able to do anything about the meteor storm.
As soon as she released her attack, she had started to sprint, using her Quirk on herself to go faster than normal.
'No matter what he does, he will have to leave himself open, and then I'll be able to touch him!'
"I will win! I will win... and be just like Dekiru-kun!"
She outstretched her hand, now just a handspan away from touching Bakugo, from achieving her hard-earned victory. Fingertips away from victory, from being like her Izuku!
But, right before she could claim her victory, Katsuki raised his left hand and ignited the biggest explosion he had let out in the entire day, so strong that, even though it was not pointing at her, it still blasted Ochaco away – and sent the closest people in the bleachers flying against their seats.
"Since you're friends with Deku, I figured you'd be up to something. That nerd is too smart for him to not rub off on you," Katsuki said from within the massive cloud that had formed after the explosion. When the cloud cleared, it was to show Katsuki Bakugo... unscathed.
Ochaco stared, wide eyed, in horror. Of the debris that she had so painfully worked to place on the sky so it would distract Katsuki, there was no trace.
"I-in one shot?" she whimpered. After all the planning and work she had put into her plan, he had dismantled it in a few seconds.
Katsuki had to admit that it had been a close call. Had he been off for a second or two, he knew he would have lost. Then he felt his left arm twinging in pain, and when he looked it was obvious that the explosion had been too hard for him to handle without his special gloves. His left arm spasmed, but he shrugged it off as though it was little more than a temporary nuisance.
"AND BAKUGO DELIVERS A SATISFYING EXPLOSION! IN SPITE OF BEING CAUGHT BY SURPRISE BY URARAKA'S SECRET PLAN, HE BOLDLY BLASTS THROUGH A METEOR SHOWER!" Present Mic stated, still stunned at such a display of raw power.
Ochaco shook as she tried to process everything that had just happened.
'I-I did as much as I could... but he was not fazed at all...'
'C'mon, Ochaco-chan, don't give up! You can still win this one!' Izuku thought, his breath hitching as he noticed Ochaco's distress. His heart soared when he saw Ochako getting back on her feet.
Katsuki smirked.
"Alright, let's get serious then, Uraraka!" he shouted, lowering his stance.
'Did he just call her by her name?' Izuku thought, surprised.
"If it were Dekiru-kun..." Ochaco mumbled, stumbling on her legs as she faced Katsuki, "he would never give up."
Ochaco felt her body screaming in pain. Her legs were about to give out, unable to support her weight. Her skin was burned. Her stomach was close to heaving from Quirk overuse. But she told her body to shut up and give her the strength she needed.
"It's not over yet!" she shouted, and suddenly she lunged forward in a last-ditch effort to touch Katsuki.
However, Katsuki managed to grab her wrist and pulled her close enough to punch her in the stomach, hard enough that she unwillingly stepped back just enough to let him unleash another explosion on her face, sending her to the ground, rolling.
"Ooh, what a deadly blast from Bakugo! This could be the last straw for Uraraka!" Present Mic shouted.
"I hope you still have some strength left, because I have more energy to spare!" Katsuki shouted, bringing his right hand forward in order to fire an explosion as soon as she tried to move.
Ochaco tried with what remained of her strength. However, even as she got her chest up, her arms and legs had already given up. But she did not want to give up.
'My... body... it won't... do... what I want...' she thought, trying to move but collapsing entirely, completely spent. 'I... still can...'
"When I get big, I'll help you and Mommy!"
"That would make me happy, Chaco-chan, but as your dad I'd be even happier if you could achieve your own dream. When that happens, you can take us to Hawaii!"
"Then I'll be the best Hero! I'll help everyone, and I'll use the money I earn for you!"
"Daddy... Mommy... Dekiru..." she mumbled as her vision turned blurry, and finally her body shut off.
When it was obvious that Ochaco was not moving, Midnight approached the young girl and found her unconscious. She sighed and made the call.
"Uraraka Ochaco is unconscious! Bakugo Katsuki advances to the semi-finals!"
The jumbotron immediately displayed Katsuki's face above the word 'WINNER', but the blond boy barely paid attention to the smattering of applause as he left the ring, now partially destroyed from the brutal fight that had just taken place. While Cementoss started to repair the ring so it would be ready for the next match, the robot paramedics arrived and carefully placed Ochaco on a stretcher.
"Take her to Recovery Girl, now," Midnight commanded, and the robots wordlessly carried the unconscious girl to U.A.'s healer's temporary office, so Ochaco could get patched up.
"So ends the second match of the quarter-finals... oh, Uraraka... and, yeah, Bakugo advances to the semi-finals," Present Mic announced, his tone making it clear he was upset that Ochaco hadn't pulled off the win he and a lot of other people were hoping for.
"If you are going to commentate, do it properly. You are supposed to be unbiased," Aizawa commented with a monotone voice.
"Now, let's pull ourselves together-"
"You are really letting your personal feelings take over..."
"Alright, fine, yes." Present Mic groaned. "I'll do it properly from now on, but it doesn't stop me from hoping that Bakugo would lose."
SLAM!
Present Mic jumped back, nearly falling off his seat, as a soda cup suddenly slammed the window of the announcement booth: had the window been open, he would have been hit straight in the face.
"See, this is why it is important to be unbiased," Aizawa lectured, clearly unfazed. "You are lucky this booth is protected, otherwise you would have been knocked out."
"Point taken."
Tracing the trajectory of the cup, Aizawa found himself slightly unnerved when he saw that the origin came from a very pissed off Mitsuki, who had not been stopped in time before she could let her feelings out in such a drastic way.
"Well, we still have two more matches left in this round! We just need to give our good friend Cementoss a little more time to fix up the ring, but as soon as he is done the third match will take place!"
The crowd cheered in excitement: after two impressive matches, they couldn't wait to see what else was in store.
Izuku, though, could only watch as Katsuki walked away while Ochaco was being carried in order to be treated for her wounds.
"Let's meet in the semi-finals!"
Izuku decided to get up and left the bleachers: he needed to go check on Ochaco.
Quickly navigating the stadium corridors, Izuku easily found the temporary hospital Recovery Girl had set up for emergencies such as this one. Knocking on the door, it opened on its own, revealing a smiling Ochaco, now wearing a new P.E. Uniform to replace the one she had lost in the fight.
"Ochaco-chan?" Izuku asked, worried, entering the office and standing next to her. "How... how are you? And your injuries?" Izuku asked, worried: after all that she had suffered, it was quite natural.
"Hi, Dekiru-kun! I'm fine, Recovery Girl took care of me! She only took out the worst injuries so I wouldn't be too drained, and the scratches will heal naturally," she replied, still smiling, but Izuku could tell that the smile was brittle. "And you? Why are you here?"
"Well, I came to check on you, you know? You got so badly hurt that I was worried."
"Thanks for comin'. Man, Bakugo got me hard, and here I thought I had a chance to win! I need to work harder if I want to catch up," she said. It was quite obvious that she was just trying to put up a front.
"You did have a chance to win, and you almost managed to take it. It was only bad luck that prevented you from taking the victory," Izuku told her, as suddenly Ochaco's phone began vibrating. When she checked the caller ID, it read 'Daddy'.
She pushed her phone towards her chest, and looked back at Izuku.
"Hey, no need to worry about me, Dekiru-kun. I lost, but you are still in, so you should go focus so you can do your best in your match against Bakugo, alright?"
"Are you sure? Momo and Itsuka's match will still take a while to begin, so I can keep you company if you want."
"No, I'm fine! Go and join the others, I just need to make a call, okay?" Ochaco reassured him, and he gave her a soft smile.
"Okay, if you say so. Take your time, Ochaco-chan," he replied, leaving the room and closing the door behind him.
As soon as Izuku was gone, Ochaco pulled up her phone and dialed her father's phone number: it only took a ring before he picked up.
"Hi, Daddy. Sorry about not picking up earlier," she said.
"It's fine, Chaco-chan. I supposed you were busy recovering. Your mom and I were watching you on TV, and you were so amazing out there!"
"I wasn't amazing, Daddy. I rushed too much in the end and I didn't have a plan for what to do if the meteor shower didn't work. I... I was completely beaten," she replied with a low, sad tone, her eyes looking down the entire time as she let her mask crack.
"Is that so? Little girl, I don't fully understand how all of this works, but just because you lost a match it doesn't mean that your path has been closed off, right? You still have next year to show off how good you are."
"The further you advance in the tournament, the more you can show how well you do against different types – and the scouts can't tell with just two matches," she replied, starting to choke on her words.
"What are you in such a hurry for?"
"I mean... I want to h-help you guys..." she explained, tears starting to leak out of her eyes.
"Chaco-chan, you don't have to rush. You're such a good person that I am sure you will be able to show off even more the next time. You are going to be a great Hero, mark my words."
Ochaco started to sob as the tears began to drip on the cot she had sat on while she talked. Her father was so good! Even after she failed, he was still encouraging her.
"T-thank you, Daddy! I won't give up, no matter what. I will become a Hero!"
"That's my girl! Now, don't worry and join your friends again. Your mom and I are going to keep watching the Festival, so have fun, and call us when you get home, alright?"
Ochaco wiped her tears away, wishing she could just hug her parents, but she would settle for this talk.
"Okay. Bye, Daddy. I'll call you later. I love you, and tell Mom I love her, too."
"I love you too, sweetie. And don't worry, I'll let her know. Take care!"
Hanging up, Ochaco placed her phone on the cot and kept wiping the tears that refused to stop coming out, when someone knocked on the door – followed by the door opening again, showing Izuku.
"Are you better now?" he asked, more worried than early.
Without a word, Ochaco, who could not hold it in any longer, jumped on Izuku and held him in a crushing hub, and she began to sob again. Izuku made a calming noise as he rubbed his fingers through her brown locks.
"W-What are you doing h-here, D-D-Dekiru-kun? I t-told I was f-fine," she said.
"Isn't it obvious? I could tell that you were frustrated and sad about losing when you were so close to victory, so when you got your call, I thought to stay out there and give you time to end it before returning. Besides, I just couldn't stand to let my best friend stay sad. You've encouraged me before, so I thought it was high time I returned that favor."
Ochaco sniffed again, burying her face into Izuku's chest.
"I... I wanna help them, I really, really wanna, Dekiru-kun, but... but I lost. I don't know how much longer they can wait, but every year business has been declining, and I couldn't even make it to the semifinals to face you, like I said I was. I just looked like an idiot, like a fa-"
"Don't you dare finish that sentence," Izuku whispered, loud enough to ensure Ochaco would hear it. She gasped and she looked up to him, to see him staring at her with both unrelenting resolve and unending softness.
"Don't say something like that about yourself ever again, Ochaco-chan, you hear me? You. Are. Not. A. Failure. Listen, it's okay to lose, everybody does at some point. And right now nobody is upset with you for that. All I could hear out there was about how impressed people were that you did so great in your match. You had the disadvantage in the match, but you didn't give up at all. You held your ground and kept going forward no matter what happened. Even when you were hurting, you came up with several great plans that would have worked if Bakugo had not looked the right way at the right point. Hell, you even caught him off guard, and that's worth a win in my book. After all you did in the race, the battle, and now the fights against Sero and Bakugo... do you honestly believe that the Pros would ignore your talent? You are going to be a great Hero, Ochaco-chan, and I am sure your parents are proud of having such a wonderful daughter... the same way I am proud of my best friend."
Ochaco sniffed and rubbed her eyes, looking back at Izuku.
"When you say all of that to me... do you really believe it?"
Izuku nodded.
"Why would I say it if I didn't believe it to be true?"
Ochaco smiled as she hugged him tighter than before.
"Thank you, Dekiru-kun. It meant a lot to me."
"Anytime," he said, hugging her back. "What are Heroes for?"
The feeling of Izuku's warm arms around her body suddenly made her quite conscious about the fact that said arms were hard and strong, and as she pressed into his body she realized he had the body of a star athlete – she had known about it, but it had escaped her mind until now.
Unwittingly, the image of a shirtless Izuku cropped into her mind, and she felt her face flush red. However, even though she was embarrassed about the feeling, she did not want to ruin the good moment, and besides her body was unsurprisingly unwilling to leave the refuge she had walked into.
After a few minutes, she finally managed to get her thoughts under control and dried her face, chuckling softly afterwards.
"Look at me, acting like a big baby, crying in front of you. Sorry about that, Dekiru-kun."
"Hey, don't apologize for crying. It actually shows that you are strong, and it helps you release all those pent-up feelings you've been holding back. Do you feel better now?"
"Yes, yes I do! Thank you so much!" she chirped, now back to her bubbly self, much to his happiness.
"Now, one last thing. You are strong and kind, Ochaco-chan, so give yourself good credit and work harder to improve yourself. That way, you won't ever have to rely on another person, because you will be right where you need to be. Can you do that for me?"
Ochaco blushed faintly as Izuku's gentle touch grazed her shoulders, but still she nodded, now full of hope and determination.
"I will! I will work, and I will become the great Hero I have always wanted to be!"
"Perfect," he replied. "How about you take a few minutes for yourself, and then join us in the bleachers? The next match is going to begin in a few minutes."
"Thank you, Dekiru-kun. You are a great friend!" she said, hiding the cringe at her saying he was her friend. Considering how she held herself in competition with Itsuka, Momo and Mina over him, it didn't sit well with her to refer to him as such.
"As always."
In the room assigned to her, Momo waited until the signal came to indicate Cementoss had finished fixing the ring from the brutal fighting between Ochaco and Bakugo. To say she was nervous was a given: this fight was going to be hard enough, thanks to Itsuka's fighting skill, but in some way she was worried about what it might do to their bludgeoning friendship, and also there always was the matter of Izuku.
And, talking about the devil, the green-haired boy entered the waiting room, carrying a box with him.
"Hey, Momo. I thought you might be hungry, so I brought some food," he said, offering her the box.
"Thank you," Momo said, taking the box and starting to gobble down the high-calorie bars contained within: every bit of energy would be fundamental if she wanted to win. And just as she finished swallowing the last bit, she got the warning that the ring had been fixed, signalling that soon her match would begin.
"Well, time for me to go," Izuku stated, taking his leave. "You are smart and strong, so believe in yourself and you will be able to win. Do your best, alright? I know you can do it!"
Momo placed her right hand over her heart, smiling as she watched the boy she liked leave.
"Izuku-kun... thank you," she whispered, and then she left the room, ready for her second match.
"Everyone, thank Cementoss for his great work! And now, let's get on with our third quarter-final match!" Present Mic announced, carefully eyeing the part of the bleachers where Bakugo's mother was, in case she decided to try her luck with a second attempt to hit him. "Both girls fighting now are their classes' representatives, and now they represent them in this fight! On one corner, the Queen of Creation, Yaoyorozu Momo! And, on the other corner, the Karate Princess, Kendo Itsuka!"
As the crowds cheered, Momo and Itsuka stood across from each other: they were friends, partners, study companions – but now they were rivals, both in the field of battle and when it came to the green-haired boy that was watching them.
"Ready to get your butt kicked, Yaomomo?" Itsuka taunted her, smiling to show she was not being serious.
"You wish," Momo fired back, undoing the zipper holding her uniform in place, uncaring of the fact that the audience was probably ogling her.
"And..."
When they heard Midnight speak up, the girls got into their stance.
"BEGIN!"
Immediately, Itsuka enlarged her fist and charged forward before throwing a hook at Momo, only for her to block the strike with a shield and countering with a staff. Itsuka managed to dodge it easily and struck back. Soon, the two girls were engaged in hard combat as they kept hitting and dodging blows before backing off for a second and starting again.
"Look at these girls go! It's a real battle we have here!"
In the booths used by the Hero Course students, each class was cheering on their classmate, while Vlad did the same from his seat in the teachers' booth.
"Just look at them go!" Eijiro exclaimed.
"It seems like they are at a stalemate," Tsuyu said.
"Well, duh!" Mina said as if it were obvious. "They've been hanging out together since the school year started, of course they know how they act in a fight."
"It will be interesting to see who will come out victorious. After all, Yaoyorozu-san is our representative while Kendo-san is Class 1-B's," Fumikage remarked.
Knowing that she had to change strategies if she wanted to win, Momo crafted a new plan as she tried to keep Itsuka away and prevented her from attacking her right side. When Itsuka backed off a step, she saw the chance.
Quickly creating a flashbang, she threw it on Itsuka's face while covering her own, hoping it would work the third time. However, Itsuka was able to cover herself with her large hands just in time. Momo had already created and thrown a second flashbang, hoping it would catch Itsuka off guard: at the very least, she could manage to keep her distracted.
While the crowd tried to get over the dizziness of two loud and flashing explosions close to each other, Momo rushed at Itsuka, raising her staff before bringing it down on her. Itsuka managed to catch the staff with her right hand, and the two briefly struggled before Itsuka managed to pry the staff off Momo's hands and throw it out of the ring.
The weapon out of the way, Itsuka unleashed a flurry of blows on Momo, who tried to block the attacks with her shield. Suddenly, Itsuka reduced her hands' size and charged, parrying the shield with a hand before attacking with both hands, activating her Quirk just before impact to maximize damage.
"Double Jumbo Fist!"
The strength of the double punch sent Momo into the air, but just as it seemed like she would fall off the ring she managed to create a short sword she used to stab the ground, halting her momentum just as her heel touched the edge.
Deciding it was time to go all out, Momo created a cannon from her abdomen and fired an iron ball at Itsuka, who managed to block the attack with her left hand, although it was still strong enough to push her back and hurt.
The balance reestablished, both girls glared at each other before charging once more: Momo created a second shield and put them both up to act as a wall while Itsuka enlarged her hands again.
BANG!
The slam as both girls clashed caused another stalemate, as they attempted to push each other. However, soon Momo found herself losing ground, a victim of Itsuka's greater strength and training. Step by step, Momo was forced back towards the edge.
Itsuka took her by surprise by enlarging her hands to their biggest size yet again and pushed her, unbalancing her enough that she lost one of her shields, giving Itsuka the opening she needed to grab Momo with her hands. Momo attempted to move or create something that could free her, but Itsuka's grip was too strong to break free and there was not enough room to create.
The possibility became academic soon, though, as Itsuka shouted and threw Momo away with all her might, causing her to land out of the ring.
"Yaoyorozu Momo is out of bounds! Kendo Itsuka advances to the semifinals!"
"YES! You go, Itsuka!" Tetsutetsu exclaimed.
"Great job," Neito said, smiling proudly as he clapped for his classmate.
"That was awesome, Itsuka-chan!" Setsuna screamed.
"The only classmate to represent us in the finals," Yui noted.
"HA! Choke on that, Aizawa!" Vlad yelled in excitement, pointing to his fellow homeroom teacher, who studiously ignored him through the experience he had accumulated along the years.
As soon as the match was called, Itsuka headed over to Momo and helped her back on her feet. Momo took her loss with grace, and both girls smiled as they shook hands.
"That was great, Itsuka-chan," Momo complimented her.
"You were great too, Yaomomo-chan. We'll have to see what happens next time."
Momo smirked with confidence.
"Next time I will defeat you."
Itsuka smirked back.
"We'll see about that."
The fire in both girls' hearts brightened with competitive passion, Itsuka's tiger to Momo's dragon, as they left the ring together.
"Another amazing match, between two great young ladies! And now, let's move on to the last match of the quarter-finals!"
Mina grinned as she stood up.
"Awesome! It's my turn now!" she said.
"Good luck, Ashido-san!" Izuku called out.
"Thanks, Midori-kun! And call me Mina-chan!" she replied, leaving the booth to go downstairs.
"And here they are! To the east, the cool prodigy, Todoroki Shoto, and to the west, the marketing campaign victim, Ashido Mina!"
"Hey! Did you have to remind them of that?" Mina shouted, still stinging over how Mei had used her for her own plans.
Shoto, meanwhile, stared at Mina with his typical coolness, but Mina held her ground, unafraid.
"You may be powerful, Todoroki-san, but I will not go down without a fight!" Mina shouted.
"And... BEGIN!"
Immediately, Shoto launched a barrage of ice with the intention of freezing Mina, but the pink-haired girl quickly dodged out of the way before throwing two balls of acid at him. Shoto had been expecting her to avoid the attack, since he knew that, after the first match, everybody would seek to counter it. As for the acid balls, he only had to step out of the way before throwing an icy wind at Mina, hoping it would slow her down and give him a chance to freeze her.
"Haaa!" Mina shouted as she burst through the wind, throwing more acid at Shoto. The dual-haired boy dodged to his right, intending to set up an attack to answer with his ice, but Mina threw a barrage of acid that caught him off guard and prevented him from having a chance to dodge. Soon enough, Mina was pressing her advantage, aided by her use of acid to skate across the ring, and she kept attacking Shoto as he continued to dodge her attacks.
All of a sudden, Shoto changed his trajectory and shoulder charged Mina, causing her to squeak and cough in surprise. Before she could react, Shoto had already grabbed her wrist and activated his Quirk, causing frost to quickly spread up her arm. Mina attempted to use her acid to melt the ice while kicking Shoto away, but her legs were frozen to the ground as well too fast for her to do anything.
Soon, she was encased in an icy glacier that only left her head free, unable to make any acid that would allow her to escape and definitely completely stuck.
"Ashido Mina is immobilized! Todoroki Shoto advances to the semifinal!" Midnight declared. Quickly, Shoto melted the ice and quietly apologized to the girl before she was taken away by the robot paramedics.
"Oooh, it seems like Ashido was not cool enough for Todoroki!" Present Mic commented.
"Really? That's the pun you came up with?" Aizawa deadpanned, but his protest was ignored.
"These are the two semifinals! Whoever wins them will reach the final match!" Midnight declared, as the jumbotron showed the next two matches that would begin soon.
1st Match: Midoriya Izuku vs Bakugo Katsuki
"Finally, I'm going to get my hands on you, Deku!" Katsuki yelled, happy that he would finally get his chance to fight Izuku and beat him in front of everyone. Their parents looked with worry at the teens, while Toshinori watched his successor with confidence in his victory.
Izuku just gave Katsuki a confident smile and cracked his knuckles.
"Bring it on, Bakugo. Let's settle this once and for all!" he answered, his resolution to never back down still strong.
2nd Match: Kendo Itsuka vs Todoroki Shoto
Looking into Shoto's cold stare, Itsuka ensured she would be telling him without any words that she was not going to back down to him any time soon.
In the bleachers, Endeavor looked sternly at his son, annoyed that he kept refusing to use his left side, only to spite him.
"There you have it, listeners! The tournament is nearing its end, and soon we will know who wins this year's First Year Sports Festival!"
Soundtrack: Ultraman Squad from ULTRAMAN when Izuku vs Tenya fights begins. Repel from Godzilla COTEOB when Ochaco vs Katsuki fight begins then Impossible Victory from Yu-Gi-Oh! GX when Ochaco unleashes Meteor Shower. Sadness from Sonic Adventure when Izuku comforts Ochaco. Battle Theme 02 from MHA One's Justice when Momo vs. Itsuka fight begins.
Me: Okay, we finally going to end this arc with an intense and emotional chapter next up. What do you think, Milarqui?
Milarqui: That there's still a lot that can happen. And also that it is good to see Mina being versatile enough to prevent Shoto from achieving another easy victory.
Izuku outsmarts Tenya! Ochaco is overpowered by Katsuki! Izuku comforts Ochaco! Itsuka beats Momo! Shoto stops Mina cold! The end is near for the Sports Festival!
Izuku's Super Moves shown-
* Ambassador Magma Meteor: A 1965-67 Manga/Tokusatsu about a living giant forged from gold who predates Ultraman by just six days.
* Rodan Smash: A giant Pteranodon who appeared in his film on 1956.
That's all for now folks, so please leave a review. NO FLAMES, RANTS OR NEGATIVE COMMENTS! Criticism, negative or positive is great, I'll take it and will respond in PM. I also will not accept guest reviews and decline the ideas from them.
Thanks for reading everybody, I'll be seeing you in the next chapter, buh bye!