A.N. (3/28/22) - Note that there's more content on my SB thread, including extra drawings omakes of Hatsu. Check them out if you have the time.
Chapter 17 - First Match Begins
A notification sounded off from my phone, and I took a second to glance at the screen.
"Huh, looks like I won't be strapped for cash anytime soon."
"What do you mean?" Shinsou asked.
"Just trying my luck at some online wagering. Looks like us winning helped tip the odds for the pool in my favor."
"Wait, what?"
I glanced up and began to explain. "While betting is still mostly illegal under Japan's Criminal Code Chapter 23, a lot of foreign groups have made it possible to wager for any participants to win in the event due to how much international attention the festival has. It's a bit of a legal gray area, but there are several websites that allow us to bet on who wins the competition. Since the government doesn't actively pursue these sportsbook websites, you can get away with earning a quick buck if you play your cards right."
"That sounds pretty risky."
"I mean, I just won the equivalent of a year's worth of instant ramen* due to making it past the first two events. Underdogs seem to net more profit since nobody expects the Gen-Ed kids to win."
"Wonder why…"
Midnight began to explain the rules of the third event, which was unsurprisingly a tournament. As she revealed the top fifteen students who made it through, there was some confusion as to who would fill the remaining spot to make an even sixteen. This problem came about due to the fact that Midoriya's team won with only three members.
Eventually, they decided to take a member from the fifth-place team and have him join. And once it was confirmed that Class 1-B's Inasa Yoarashi would be advancing.
That piece of news was especially troubling, especially with his showing during the second event. In terms of raw output, I was pretty sure only Todoroki was his equal, which was a terrifying concept to grasp if I took into account what I remembered from my past life of Todoroki's capabilities.
"Alright, everyone come up here to draw lots so we can decide the matchups."
Before long, the results were displayed on the monitor for everyone to see. My eyes widened as I realized that I would be the first person to fight against Iida, while Shinsou would be fighting after me against Uraraka.
If both of us won, then that would mean the two of us will battle in the next round.
The two of us glanced at each other.
"Good luck," I told him.
He nodded but didn't reply to my words.
}-{
I spent the remaining time before my match alone in the prep room.
Honestly, I was almost glad that I was going to be participating in a match. The earlier events were hard-pressed for me to take advantage of without any special abilities. But here, this event was just two people beating the shit out of each other. Simplicity at its finest.
When it was time for me to go, I found myself exiting the stadium and walking towards the prepared field for the match between me and Iida. The bespeckled boy nodded toward me as we both stepped onto the stage.
"Blue and pink half-toned hair, just like he said."
I tilted my head. "Huh?"
"You're the reason that my brother made it here today," Iida said. I paused at those words. "He said that one of my classmate's friends convinced him to come today. But I talked with everyone in Class 1-A, and nobody seems to know who you are."
What was I supposed to say to that?
"Erm…"
"Regardless, I have no plans on losing today." Iida positioned himself into a running stance. "With my role model himself watching over me today, there is no possible way I can lose. Whatever your intentions, know that I am at my peak performance right now."
For some reason, it seems that there might be some strange misunderstanding going through his head. Not that I had time to figure it out, because almost immediately, the match started off after Midnight shouted to begin.
Only a dozen meters separated us.
Against a person who had a quirk that increased their speed, such a distance could easily be shortened in an instant.
Iida immediately shot forward into a sprint, his quirk making his strides longer and faster. From how fast he was moving, he would soon reach me within a few seconds if I didn't move. Even still, there was a chance that I wouldn't be fast enough to avoid him in time.
And yet, I knew…
Before he moved close enough, I moved at the last second. Charging past me, Iida turned around and yelled as he shot forward at me again. But once more, I dodged the instant before he could enter reaching distance of me.
…he couldn't touch me.
There was no doubt in my mind. If this was all he was capable of, there was no way Iida could ever beat me. After all, the usage of his quirk in this manner meant that his speed would give him a linear boost whenever he ran. But the weakness of such an action meant that he would not be able to easily turn in time.
"What's this?!" Midnight's commentary echoed throughout the arena. "Iijima is dodging attack after attack with Iida unable to do anything!"
This was too easy.
Because with such a weakness, I can predict his next move even if given only a few seconds to think. Compared to a tennis ball shot at thirty meters per second, or a punch flying a fraction of a second, this was much easier to avoid. Even with the full force behind his entire body flying at me, there was no danger if I could easily move out at the last instant.
Such a simple explanation, yet it was only due to my previous experiences with learning how to avoid fast-moving objects that allowed me to accomplish this. It was my past experience that was allowing me to gain the upper hand. Me—a general department student—taking advantage of the inexperience of a hero department student.
Iida soon realized that he was getting nowhere. Scowling, he gazed at me with a serious expression.
"I see. It looks like your eyes are able to keep track of my movements." He tilted his glasses. "With your reaction speed, the only way I'll be able to hit you is if you're exhausted. But still, you haven't attacked me back yet. Unless you do so, keeping at this won't let you attain victory in the end."
His explanation wasn't exactly correct, but it was close enough. Rather than using my eyes to track him as he moved, I was relying on other factors instead. The feel of the wind, the sound of his footsteps, the weight of his approaching presence. Rather than consciously processing this information though, I was relying entirely on my instincts to tell me when to dodge.
Simply put, our brains are constantly processing information. Gut feelings and instincts were simply predictive algorithms telling us what to do by analyzing a lot of tiny details. My past experience merely helped train this instinct of mine to easily recognize when to avoid attacks.
This was even the basis behind Shinsou's training over the past two weeks, although it would be a while before he would achieve similar results.
"Looks that way." I smiled. "Then I guess that means that I'll have to fight now. But first, let me ask you something. Do you know what humanity's oldest weapon is?"
"Huh?"
"If you're thinking of an object, then most would probably answer either a rock or a stick." I got into a stance. "But before all that, the simplest answer is that the first weapon is one that is most readily available to us. Rather than an external object, the overlooked answer is that we ourselves are the weapon."
Right after saying that, my body disappeared.
An application of the 'moving stance'**, there was no warning before my body shot forward. It was almost as if I was gliding over the distance that separated me and Iida. My foot planted firmly onto the ground, I brought my fist forward and slammed it into his chest like a missile.
Iida had no chance to defend himself. Unable to react to my instant movement, his body shot backward as the explosive force sent him tumbling out of the stage.
Everyone watched with shock.
What just happened had nothing to do with flashy or special powers. Simply by throwing a punch, I had instantly taken out a powerful foe with seemingly no effort. But truthfully, there were other factors that allowed me this victory.
Rather than a simple punch, I had executed the entirety of my body into that blow. From the force of my feet meeting the ground, the turning motion of my back, the twisting of my shoulders, all of that was brought forth and concentrated into a single point.
This cumulated explosive force was the product of several years of training as [Three] in her hopes of reaching the goal of becoming a hero, her only method of evening the odds between her and those who had advantages over her due to their quirks.
And yet, that was not the only reason I was able to hit him.
In action scenes depicted in anime or television, the idea that characters would have the time to talk things out during the middle of a fight is laughable. But truthfully, a skilled orator would be able to use banter and theatricality itself as another weapon. By distracting the opponent, a fighter could take advantage of that opportunity to strike while their attention was diverted.
Basically, I lulled him into a false sense of security before striking with a powerful blow.
"Iida is out of bounds!" Midnight spoke up. "Iijima advances to the second round!"
The noise from the crowd shocked me awake, and I felt myself relax as my mind left its tensed state that I maintained throughout the fight. Jogging forward, I jumped off the stage and held a hand towards the fallen Iida.
"Hey, sorry about that. Are you okay?"
"Ugh…" His moan expressed what he truly felt. "You wouldn't happen to have a strength-boosting quirk, would you?"
"Nope, just pure muscle conditioning and technique." Although Regeneration did wonders in giving me an optimal body. "You need me to bring you to Recovery Girl?"
"Please."
It seems that there were no hard feelings between us, and I helped walk him off the field.
"Would you look at that!" Midnight continued to give commentary even as we left. "A touching moment between two opponents, what a truly inspiring scene of sportsmanship. A beautiful spirit of competition if I say so myself. Let's give them another round of applause for showing a true act of heroism."
I hurried the pace as I felt my face warm slightly from embarrassment.
"Ugh, how will I be able to look my brother in the eye after this…"
"Hey, I'm sure your brother is just glad to have seen you do your best. Speaking of which, I'm pretty sure he was cheering the loudest as we left."
"Really?"
"No clue," I shrugged. "Why don't you meet up with him and ask yourself. At the very least, enjoy the fact that he came here to watch you. Not a lot of relatives are able to take the time off to do so after all."
"I believe I will." Iida smiled. "Thank you, Iijima-kun."
"What for?"
"I'm not sure. But somehow, I feel as if I should give you my thanks for some reason."
"Huh. Well, if you don't mind, I guess you can repay me by cheering me on in the next round."
"But of course. I wish you luck in all of your upcoming matches after this."
And with that said, the first match concluded.
Hopefully, I can maintain this pace of one match per chapter. If this goes well, I can probably finish off the tournament arc in the next couple of chapters.
As to how well Hatsu can fight in this universe, recall that [Three] was seriously training to become a hero even with her effectively quirkless status. Since she knew heroes such as Eraserhead and Nighteye existed, she knew that it was technically possible to fight without a quirk, which helped her envision what to train towards in her mind.
Not to mention that her pain threshold is a bit warped due to her experiences with dying twice, meaning that she knows better than anyone how far to push herself. Plus some unseen side-effects of Regeneration Energy helping her get stronger than average for baseline humans.
—
The full roster for matchups is below:
1. Iida vs Iijima
2. Shinsou vs Uraraka
3. Midoriya vs Ashido
4. Bakugou vs Hatsume
5. Sero vs Todoroki
6. Yoarashi vs Kirishima
7. Kaminari vs Yaoyorozu
8. Aoyama vs Tokoyami
—
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Notes:
*(instant ramen) - Assuming instant ramen costs 100~130 yen, three meals a day for an entire year would be around 109,500~142,350 yen (or around 1,000~1,400 USD).
**(moving stance) - The 'moving stance' is used in Hakkyokuken, which is a martial arts style often seen in Japanese popular culture such as fighting games, anime, and manga.