I don't own One Punch Man, nor do I own My Hero Academia. Each Franchise is owned by their respective owner..
mindofmine6020: I will continue all my unfinished fics when I'm done with One Punch Might, and yes, this fic is ending soon. After this arc, there'll be a final arc that will conclude the whole story, and I've planned a sequel but I won't go right into it immediately.
Anyway, ENJOY!
-- BATTLE 1 OF THE THIRD HALF --
"My turn once again, I guess..." Yagi muttered to himself, soaring to the public with his newly worn costume.
Woah, did the notorious and powerful One Punch Man got himself a new outfit?! Such a pleasant sight! Simple as it may be, the design, but it fits a guy like him perfectly!
The crowd cheered in agreement.
Yagi didn't even bother to protest against the nickname anymore. He only focused his gaze on the front, taking the stairs with his fierce gaze fixed on the other end...
Please be Hayato
Please be Hayato
Please be Hayato!
Yagi had enough of the weird matches he got for the past two battles. The first match he got was against a martial artist who doesn't understand the concept of a personal space. The second one?
He almost got himself naked in front of the entire world.
Something interesting has to happen soon.
Then, the announcer announced the next combatant.
Yagi's prayers were answered.
AND NOW! For the next combatant, we welcome! HAYATO SUIRYU OF CLASS 1-A!!!!!
Suiryu emerged out of the enclosed space at the other end, his ponytail hair reaching the back of his body, fierce blue eyes locked to the sight of the yellow suited boy standing at the edge of the arena, his white cape flowing smoothly in the air.
Suiryu's attire consisted of a navy blue Chinese-style martial art uniform with white linings.
Yagi's heart were filled with happiness, at last. No more weird matches.
This whole tournament felt like a chore rather than something that he enjoyed...
Wait...
Now that feels familiar, does it?
He really needs a hobby after this, other than playing a game with Tatsumaki.
Wait, have you all noticed how this whole tournament is being dominated by Class 1-A?! How cool is that?!
Yagi raised his brow in acknowledgement, "Huh...I haven't noticed that, to be honest."
Suiryu stepped into the arena, his mushy extensive hair smoothly flowed in the air due to the force of the wind.
He crossed his arms, smiling confidently, "So, as I expected, we finally have the chance to face against each other."
"Yeah. Honestly, the last two matches were weird for me. Everyone else were having fun, meanwhile all I got is some weirdo with no grasp at the concept of a personal space and a hot-headed guy who tried to burn my favourite costume off, which by the way, I'm still heartbroken by." Yagi said in slight irritation, "You're a nice change of pace."
"Hopefully, you'll learn the true meaning of a fight after this match." Suiryu said as he prepared himself a fighting stance.
ARE YOU READY?!
"Sure. Give it your best shot, Hayato-san. Give me a taste of your martial arts." Yagi said, his expression still neutral.
FIGHT!
As his words dawned on Suiryu's mind, he rushed forward, before delivering a barrage of rapid kicks towards Yagi's body, causing a great gust of wind to glide forward across the arena.
Something unexpected happened.
A decent amount of Yagi's hair began to fall out.
"Oh no, not again, not here!" Yagi muttered to himself as he began to gain some distance from Suiryu by leaping forward, landing at the center of the arena, holding his hair as if trying to prevent it from falling even further.
Suiryu raised his brow at that, "Why is-?"
"You'll know soon!" Yagi interrupted, embarrassed, "Just keep going at me, got it?"
"Fine." Suiryu stomped on the ground, before spinning around in the air, hurling himself rapidly towards the blond haired boy.
He landed a kick on Yagi's shoulder, fracturing the floor below his feet.
The arena was split in half.
Come onnn, do we have to fix the arena whenever a half is finished?!
The announcer lamented lamely.
Both the fighters ignored it, before continuing their fight.
"Why aren't you fighting back, Yagi-san?" Suiryu landed on the ground neatly, "You know I can handle whatever you will throw at me."
Yagi didn't reply, keeping his stance up.
"Don't take your One Punch Man nickname seriously. It's not a basis on what your actual strength can offer. There are many people in this world, and yet you think you're stronger than all of them?" Suiryu said again, making his point.
"I don't care about the title, if anything, it's annoying." Yagi finally spoke.
"Then why aren't you fighting?"
"Because," Yagi lifted his fist with a serious look, "not meant as a snobbish remark, but I can end this whole ruckus with a single punch."
And I really don't want to repeat the same mistake twice again. Maybe I could help this guy get the attention of the other heroes. It's unfair to everyone, having a power like this.
Yagi didn't have an answer besides that, really. He was expecting an aggressive response from his opponent.
But what he got was the opposite.
Suiryu laughed delightfully. "I know that look when I see one."
"What?"
"Boredom. Immense boredom, that's what you feel, right?" Suiryu then asked, "Tell me, why are do you want to be a hero?"
"Is that a necessary question?" Yagi asked.
"I'm trying to get to know you better. I've seen that look, a look of immense, overwhelming boredom that lacks any sight of thrill." Suiryu said.
"I'm only here to help people, that's all. A simple resolve, nothing too noteworthy." Yagi replied.
"What a dull motive," Suiryu said condescendingly, "You're strong, and all you're interested in is to help people? Let me rephrase that, ungrateful people?"
"Is that frowned upon or something?" Yagi raised his brow.
"I see it as a simple minded motivation. Why should you help people when you can satisfy yourself?"
Yagi narrowed his eyes in mild irritation, "Oh boy, so this is going to be one of those speeches, huh?" He muttered to himself
"I can show you what I mean through my actions, I'll show you the real meaning of a fun," He nimbly ran towards the opposition, "IF YOU FIGHT BACK!"
Yagi sighed, "Not a speech, good."
Suiryu swiftly walloped his opponent's belly with an upward thrust of his fist, before doing a side roundhouse kick, meant to send him off arena.
Yagi blocked the attack with a simple raise of his hand, sending him sliding across the arena, albeit unharmed.
He halted himself when he was at the edge, as Suiryu appeared at his side to deliver a rapid amount of kicks towards him, to which, he dodged them all with ease.
Yagi was about to move away, before he found himself being kneed in the chest, sending him flying into the air.
Yagi was surprised by the force behind the kick that sent him flying.
Suddenly, Suiryu appeared above him, before getting kicked into the ground, as his body sunk below the concrete.
What is this sight, folks?! Out of every match that we have witnessed, Hayato was the first one to have the ability to even send Yagi flying into the air!!
Can it be that he will be the one that will finally end this beast's absolutely terrifying one strike winstreak?!
Yagi held his hair up, a bits of it still falling into the ground. Damn, this guy was crazy strong, but it wasn't enough to put a dent on his body, or even hurt him.
He looked to the sky, before getting a knee into his face, as his hands were spread away from it's original place forcefully.
Suiryu jumped into the air, landing besides Yagi, who's body were still in the ground.
This earned a collective expression of concern from all the audience's.
IS YAGI OKAY?! WILL HE BE ABLE TO CONTINUE THE FIGHT AND EMERGE UNSCATHED?!
"Did I go too far?" Suiryu asked slyly, "Not that it matters. That's what you get for underestimating me."
Yagi snorted, before getting himself off the concrete floor, "Damn, caught me by surprise there, Hayato-san."
Still not enough to hurt me, but still..
"Does this convince you to fight back?"
Yagi still didn't respond.
"Heh," Suiryu crossed his arms, "I can admit that you're strong. I don't know your fullest potential since you're so insistent to not fight back, but I do know that you're strong, stronger than all those weakling fools that participated. Yet you're here trying to help me by holding back your immense strength and not fighting back. Why not have fun a little and let your true self be free?"
Not receiving a response, Suiryu replied, "Don't think that I don't know what you're trying to do for the past few matches. You hold your strength back in fear that you'll kill the opposition, but I'm pretty sure it's much more deeper than that. You said your motives here are to help people. It sickens me."
This earned an alarmed glare from Yagi.
"Fine intentions, noble deeds, lofty morals, heroic justice... they're nothing but contaminants staining the thrill of the life that I seek. I'm not here for noble intentions. I'm here for my own satisfaction. You should do that too, Yagi-san." Suiryu said, his expression became more serious than before.
Yagi stood still, his fists clenched, his pupils darkened, as if he was..angry.
Noticing this, Suiryu asked, "What's wrong? I only offered you an advise because you're one of the strong, but," Suiryu nimbly moved forward, before performing a back kick towards Yagi's right cheek, much to his annoyance.
A CLEAN HIT!
"Contaminants?" Yagi began, his tone low, unscathed by the attack. "That doesn't matter."
Yagi slowly lifted his gaze, "You look down on people with noble intentions, yet you're here wasting your time participating in a tournament just because your life got boring."
He slowly lifted his right fist, "I know how it feels like, that's right. But I'm not a hero for fun. I'm not here for the thrill. I'm here because I still have to make a difference. While you? You're wasting your time, trying to grow stronger over something so trivial. Want a piece of my advise?"
Yagi cocked his fist back, his glinted royal blue eyes shimmering with anger, "Until you find a real purpose, maybe growing stronger can ultimately be pointless for you."
Yagi pushed his fist forward, and all Suiryu saw...was his certain DEATH.
As Yagi's fist gradually goes closer, Suiryu's entire perception of the world slowed down momentarily.
But his fist halted midway, causing a large gust of wind to flew past him with a great force.
Suiryu's clothes were wrenched off his body, the shredding of the fabric fell slowly into the ground.
His eyes were widened at witnessing the full force of Yagi's fist.
Or maybe it wasn't the full force at all.
YAGI FINALLY THREW AN ACTUAL ATTACK FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE MATCH! But oh, why did he prevent himself from pushing his fist even further?
Yagi snapped out of his grumpy mood, "Oh jeez, I almost sent him flying away from the ring again..." He muttered to himself.
Suiryu, despite his shocked state, tugged his lips upward, forming a grin of excitement, "Oh you.. you're one, special specimen, aren't you?!" He stomped on the ground, clenching his fists tightly, "I'm gonna have so much FUN!"
Yagi internally sighed. This guy is going to destroy the whole arena, and that's because he lost his cool for a bit.
Fuck.
"Hey, about that speech-"
He was interrupted when an uppercut advanced to his jaw, but Yagi kept his guard up to prevent himself from falling.
Suiryu began spinning around, releasing a series of rapid, deadly hits, meant to paralyze and immobilise his opponent severely.
Sadly, Yagi took all the attacks head on, unharmed.
Suiryu leaped out of the need to gain some distance, before stomping on the ground rapidly, creating an aggressive stance that fractured the entire area, splitting it in another half.
He then hit the ground where Yagi stood, but he quickly evaded the attack, before the other half of the floor sprung up into the air.
...You know what, I'm not even going to bother anymore.
Yagi landed on the unscathed half, still standing straight, "Did you forget about the rules of the match?"
Suiryu landed in front of him, "Doesn't matter." He slid his fist across the platform, preparing to strike him again.
Yagi's mouth formed into an 'O', before speaking again, "You know, I'm starting to get what this martial arts stuff is all about."
"Really? Have I given you an inkling of what martial arts is supposed to be?" Suiryu asked in a slight gleeful tone.
"Got the gist of it." He replied simply, "Essentially..."
Yagi then continued, "Martial arts is a series of moves that looks cool and flashy, right?"
Suiryu looked at him incredulously, silence reigned on them both.
S- such shallowness! After all the shit I've thrown at him, that's the only conclusion he can come up with?!
"That spinning move you did was neat. I want to learn how to do it." Yagi started nonchalantly spinning himself around in a ridiculous manner at the center of the arena, "I mean, wouldn't it be cool if I can finish off a villain like this?"
Suiryu has enough of this boy's antics, "DON'T MOCK ME!"
Yagi accidentally struck his opponent with a hip attack, sending him off the arena. "Oh." He mouthed.
Suiryu laid with his hands spread on the concrete of the wall, resting his head inside it, a look of shock plastered all over his face.
He fell into the ground, using his hands to support himself from laying on the floor.
YAGI WINS THE MATCH WITH A HANDY HIP ATTACK! HE WILL ADVANCE TO THE FINAL HALF!!
Yagi took a last glance at the defeated boy, feeling an ounce of sympathy towards him.
He exhaled his breath, before walking away. At least he helped him a little by letting him shine a bit, so no need to overthink that.
Wait...
Was that a little bit arrogant of him?
...
Yagi went into the waiting room alone. The place was devoid of any human presence, so he could think..just think, for a moment.
He couldn't bear to see himself sunk to the level of an arrogant, haughty person.
His strength didn't matter. It doesn't make him better than all of the participants that took part in this tournament.
If anything, he's equal to them.
Then why, why did he keep holding back even though his opponent didn't desire for it? But then again..
His strength, if not used carefully, can kill someone, or break their bodies apart beyond repair.
Hell, he destroyed a mountain with a punch that wasn't even the full force of his full power!
He sat down near the corner, clasping both his hands, looking at the desk blankly. He didn't know what to think of himself.
For the past three matches, he knew, that he had been looking down on his opponents unintentionally.
He had no choice but to take it easy.
Suddenly, the door opened, revealing a girl with a curled up viridescent hair entering the room.
Yagi shifted his eyes to the side, "Oh, you, Tats."
"What a coincidence." Tatsumaki said, "I was about to come here to get some space, but you're already here."
"Should I go?" Yagi asked.
"No, no, it's fine. It's not like your presence is unbearable." Tatsumaki then sat across his seat.
Yagi gave her a thoughtful look, before noticing that there's something off with her.
"Are you..alright?" Yagi asked.
Tatsumaki quickly jolted her eyes up, "I'm fine. Don't worry."
Yagi raised his brow, "Come on, anyone can notice that something is definitely wrong with you."
"I'm fine, just..thinking, about stuff." Tatsumaki replied.
Yagi gave her a concerned look, before standing up, moving to her side of the seat, sitting besides her, "You know you can talk to me, right?"
"..." Tatsumaki didn't reply for a while.
Yagi did the same to not push her.
She then finally spoke, "I can't bring myself to act like everything's fine when that monster is still out here, experimenting on people, turning them into lizards.."
"All For-?"
"Don't you dare mention his name." Tatsumaki said, albeit a bit harsh, "I'm in enough bad mood as it is."
"I..I apologise for my blunder." Yagi apologised.
Tatsumaki looked at him for a moment, before looking away, "No, no, it's fine, I'm..sorry, didn't mean to..I...agh, FUCK!"
Yagi put his hand on her shoulder, "It's okay, anyone can get upset, even myself."
Tatsumaki sighed, "Sorry for barging in this room only to saddle you with my baggage. I can sense that you're in distress. I'm sorry that I couldn't be any more of help, but I just can't right now.."
Yagi gave her a saddened look.
"I just don't want to live in a world where that crazy fucking megalomaniac exists and breathes the same air as I do. Do you even know the tiniest detail of what he fucking did to me?!" Tatsumaki yelled, on the verge of tears.
"I can't.. just thinking about it, I just...want to..I don't want to live anymore.." She dug her nails deep in her facial skin, blood coming out of it.
Yagi was alarmed, quickly holding her hands from digging even further, "Tats, you're hurting yourself."
Tatsumaki didn't reply to that, before continuing, "He ruined my life, he stole my childhood, and for what?! Because my fucking foster parents were broke?! Was I nothing more than a bargaining chip for them?!"
She covered her face with her palm, "I miss my mom, I fucking miss my mom so much..I want to see her..but everytime I try to sense her, it feels like something is preventing me, I don't know what it is, but it's something... It's like.. it's like she didn't want me to find her."
"Why did she sent me away.." She whimpered to herself, grasping her hair violently in distress.
Yagi didn't know how to respond to this. He never experienced this beforehand. He only rubbed circles in her back.
"You're the only one that has ever seen a worth in me." Tatsumaki said, her voice shaking, "No one else..not even...not even my mom...she sent me away.."
This statement alone shattered Yagi's heart.
Yagi then decided to ask, "I have never asked you this but...why did your mom sent you away..?"
"She thought it was dangerous to have me around. I don't know if she's telling the truth, or if she's just..bullshitting out of her way to get me out of her life." Tatsumaki replied back.
Yagi was slack jawed. She and Kotarou has so much in common, huh? Maybe he'll try to help her find hers like he's doing with Kotarou.
"I'm sorry.. I'm usually the one who's trying to help you, but.." Tatsumaki sobbed, "I- I'm just sorry. I'm sorry if I disappointed you.."
Yagi looked at her for a moment, before smiling softly, enveloping her in his arms, "It's okay. I love you, Tats.."
"I.." Tatsumaki choked on her own words, "I love you too."
Yagi kissed her in the forehead, "You're gonna be fine." He rubbed circles in her back, he won't touch you.
...
Nana couldn't believe the sight set before her eyes. Civilians were dying, mysterious beings were running rampant around the city.
Has this been going on since she left for the festival?
As she strode across the blood stained street, she pinched her nose in disgust. All of these were monster blood, and it looked like something, no, someone was here to take care of it.
A hint of a presence was felt behind her, courtesy of her danger sense quirk.
She looked back, only to see a silhouette of a man lunging at her.
She quickly evaded out of the way, before keeping herself on guard, "Who-?"
She interrupted herself when she noticed the familiar figure before her.
"Puri Puri Prisoner..?" She said the name.
A very tall and large muscular man with a stubbly, cleft chin, large lips, and black bushy hair turned his back, staring at her, "...oops, my apologies, I thought you were a monster."
"You thought or..." She squinted her eyes in suspicion.
"...fine. My eyesight has been a pain in my old age. I thought you were a very, very beautiful, volumptious man with a very endearing physique, that I wish to bathe myself in-"
"Okay, stop right there," Nana pointed at him, "Don't wanna hear it. Just tell me what's going on in here?"
"What do you think? Mysterious beings are everywhere, and the main perpetuator of this whole thing is your little sports festival event." Puri Puri Prisoner explained.
Nana looked around, before saying, "Look, we gotta stick with each other, as much as I hate it."
"You're not a man." Puri Puri Prisoner lamented.
"Does that matter?" Nana asked in exasperation, "Think with your brain instead of your dick for once, god damn."
"Fine. I'll stay with you." Puri Puri Prisoner reluctantly accepted.
"Wait, I think I spot something.." Nana then pointed to a rooftop, "There, you see it?"
"Hmm?" Puri Puri Prisoner squinted his eyes, "Wait.."
Multitude of mysterious figures were standing atop of a distant rooftop.
"I think I'm gonna have to make a call." Nana said to herself before picking her phone from her pockets, "Gotta stop the festival before it gets worse."
-- FINAL BATTLE! --
King already did his part in the last match. He only lasted a few seconds, before Garou decided to send him off the arena.
Yagi was proud of that. Proud of both Tatsumaki, and King himself. He always knew that the girl has a heart of gold beneath that 'tough girl' charade she's putting up.
I hope she's doing fine right now.
As he stepped forward to the arena, Garou was already waiting for him, his arms uncrossed, before letting his quirk envelope his body.
"We're finally here, the moment of truth, the moment where we settle which one will be the victor, and which one will lose." Garou said as he smiled, "Don't go easy on me, will you?"
Yagi winced at that.
"Yeah. Do your best, Garou." He smiled regardless, putting his fist at the front as a means to encourage his opponent.
ARE YOU READY?!
FIGHT!!
Garou dashed towards Yagi with an offensive position, before moving his hands forward, trying to intercept the boy's nerve points.
But as it hit them, Yagi didn't even budge.
"H- huh?" Garou widened his eyes as he slammed his fist across the blond boy's cheeks, and to his surprise, he was unharmed.
He growled, before doing a spinning kick towards Yagi's cheeks, before jumping away to gain some distance, preparing another stance, "Come on, are you going to attack?"
"Sure." Yagi simply said, before bending his body over, putting his hands over the floor, "Killer Move..."
Garou squinted his eyes in curiousity on what will the boy do.
"Serious Series." He started to put more force into his grip, shattering the entire arena.
"SERIOUS TABLE FLIP!" He lifted the entire thin layer of the arena into the air, and in turn, propelled Garou into the air as well.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! This is the second tim- You know what, screw this.
They ignored the announcer's lamentation.
Garou's perception of the stadium went obscure at the sight of the many rubbles standing in the way of his line of vision.
Amidst the destruction, he caught a glimpse of the boy standing in one of the rubbles.
Garou narrowed his eyes, before jumping from rubble to rubble, "Gotcha!"
"Did you?" Garou heard a monotone voice calling from behind.
Garou moved immediately, trying to strike his eye to divert his utmost attention away from him.
But Yagi caught his expeditious attack rather quickly, catching his hands on right between his two fingers.
Garou gritted his teeth, before delivering a barrage of attacks towards the blond haired boy, to which, he blocked them effortlessly.
Garou spun his arms around smoothly, before delivering a double palm strike into Yagi's chest, sending him flying to the nearest rubble.
The audience were watching the spectacle in awe, as Yagi began to leap himself out of the rubble, and like a ping pong, he bounced from one rubble to another.
Garou used his enhanced vision quirk to catch a glimpse of the boy, before using a speed quirk to launch himself off the singular rubble.
They began chasing with each other, colliding with each other, producing a large amount of shockwave across the stadium.
As the rubbles began to dawn on the floor of the arena, both the fighters jumped away.
Garou landed neatly at the center, spinning his arms around, "Damn, that hurt, but at least I got a glimpse of the kinetic force you exerted while we were clashing with each other."
He stomped on the ground,
"Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist," He bended his knees, causing the shockwave to travel swiftly behind him, a whirl of energy stream encircled his body delicately.
He then used the force exerted by his legs to leap towards where Yagi stood, "ONE STRIKE KNOCKOUT!" He used both of his fists to strike Yagi in the chest, causing a gust of wind to travel to the front, creating a large quantity of smoke, covering the whole arena.
WHAT A NICE, CLEAN HIT! As expected of Garou!
As the smoke cleared out, Garou was astonished when he saw that Yagi was clearly unaffected by the attack.
And, like a champ, Yagi took the attack head on and came out unharmed! Who will win in this battle between two beasts?!
"Sorry, bud, normally, if I don't keep my guard up, I would've been sent flying off the arena and would've lost." Yagi said with a flat tone.
Garou took a step back. This was a fight that he can't win. He knew it. If even the strongest attack that he could muster couldn't even budge this monster...then what could?
God damn it, and he's quirkless?
Suddenly, Yagi was in front of him with his fist pulled back, "It's over. You did fine. Nice fight." He then punched Garou away, sending him propelling into the wall.
Yagi's fist was covered in a miniscule amount of steam. He made sure that the punch didn't give out the fullest extent of his true power.
Yagi closed his eyes, "Huh, it's over now, is it?"
YAGI TOSHINORI OF CLASS 1-A WINS, AND ULTIMATELY, IS THE CHAMPION OF THIS YEAR'S UA SPORTS FESTIVAL!
And the crowd erupted with a collective cheer and clapping.
Yagi smiled. Now he can share his confidential information with the rest of the world..
He'll give them hope this time.
This will be the time, where the world will finally know that quirkless doesn't mean powerless.
This is how the Symbol of Peace will rise.
THAT'S ALL FOR TODAY'S CHAPTER! Stay tuned for the next! I hope you enjoyed!
TO BE CONTINUED!