A.N. (4/3/22) - Check out the extra content on the SB Thread version of this story!

Chapter 18 - Second Match Start

"Walk off the stage."

The murmurs of the crowd showed their unease as Shinsou's quirk easily took control of Uraraka, forcing her to obey his command. While this wasn't the first time I witnessed his quirk in action, it was only now that I was able to get a good look at how it affected his targets.

It was a short fight, barely lasting a dozen seconds. The following matches were supposedly more exciting, although I didn't watch them myself. Instead, I decided to wait in the waiting room for the second round of matches to begin, watching the battles from my phone instead.

Midoriya easily won against Ashido, only using a single finger to quickly end the match.

Bakugou faced off against Hatsume, who managed to put up a good fight before surrendering after a minute of dodging most of Bakugou's attacks.

Next was Torodoki versus Sero, with a clear victory on the former's part.

Surprisingly, the longest-lasting match was between Yoarashi and Kirishima, with the two having equal levels of enthusiasm and respect for one another.

Yaoyorozu was able to easily defeat Kaminari with a smart application of her quirk.

And finally, Aoyama did his best against Tokoyami and would have even won if it wasn't for the drawback of his quirk.

If you had to ask me which I thought was the most impressive, it would have to be the match between Yoarashi and Kirishima. After going through my memories from [Zero], I finally recalled who exactly Yoarashi was and why his appearance here was so unusual.

Inasa Yoarashi, a recommended student for UA that decided to enroll in Shiketsu High School instead. Or at least, that was what I recalled from my previous life's memories. But possibly due to some circumstances, he was now a student of Class 1-B in this world.

Scary. To think that my presence would change things in this direction, how surprising. His presence here was a reminder that the knowledge I acquired from my past life was not something I could rely upon forever.

Even someone like Shinsou was far different compared to what I knew of him in my past life. Other than simple broad strokes, it was best to not rely too heavily on my foreknowledge too much.

Speaking of Shinsou, it was time.

Exiting the prep room and making my way to the stage, I was greeted by the loud cheers of the crowd and the booming voice of the announcer.

"Thank you for waiting everyone," Midnight shouted. "To continue, we have the first match of the second round of the tournament. Starting things off will be two students from the general department. Even better, both of them are classmates and even former teammates from the second event."

Shinsou stood across the stage from me, his gaze more serious than usual. For some reason though, the way he looked at me was strange. While I had some complicated feelings about facing off against him, the look on his face almost made it seem like he was… disappointed?

"Contestant Iijima will now face off against contestant Shinsou. This match will determine the first who will move on to the semi-finals. Both have shown that they can quickly defeat their opponents in an instant, but who will prevail in the upcoming battle?!"

"...Hatsu," Shinsou finally spoke. "I don't think I have to tell you now, but I won't expect you to hold back."

"Eh… yeah."

For some reason though, my response only made him more annoyed.

"Are you even taking this seriously?" he asked me. "You know what my quirk is, so why are you so careless about talking back to me?"

"Well… I just assumed that you wouldn't do anything until the match starts," I replied. "Obviously, I'll try not to respond later."

"That careless attitude," Shinsou mumbled. "I should have known better… never mind. Just make sure to go all out when we fight."

"Huh?"

Before I could ask him to clarify what he was about to say, Midnight interrupted us.

"Match two, begin!"

Immediately, I kept my mouth shut. Shinsou didn't even bother to move as I slowly began to approach him.

Unlike Iida, Shinsou knew how I fought somewhat thanks to the times we interacted over the past two weeks. Even if I never showed him my full skillset, the possibility that he interrogated Kyotaro-sensei wasn't zero. If that was the case, then it might be dangerous to carelessly attack.

"What's wrong?" Shinsou sneered. "Go ahead and come, Hatsu!"

But really, what was his plan? There was no way Shinsou was capable of stopping me physically. In terms of strength and technique, I outclassed him. It was to the extent that if I fought him seriously, he could get gravely injured.

And he knew better than to think otherwise.

"I'm not sure if you've heard of this before," Shinsou began talking. "But there's a little life lesson I've learned about when I was younger. It's that you can't compare your own hardships with that of someone else."

What is he talking about?

"Under the facade of a successful person, there may be a history of overcoming ordeals to reach that point." Shinsou continued to talk while he circled the field. "Even the hero students, I can't say that I truly hate them. After all, the truth is that they've managed to succeed while I failed the entrance exam. My bitterness towards them is a fault of mine. I know that it's irrational to blame them for my failings."

No, this was his plan.

He was using his words to distract me. Letting him talk was a mistake, better to just attack now before I let him get to me.

"But you're different." Shinsou stared at me. "Unhappiness and suffering are what feeds our craving for more and our fear of losing what we have. Knowing your history, I wonder… what exactly is your desire?"

Huh?

"Despite everything that's happened to you, I honestly believe that you're stupidly lucky." Shinsou's words surprised me. "Your circumstances are completely different from mine. Friends that accept you for who you are, teachers that help you achieve your goals, I can say without a doubt that I hated you at first."

Shinsou clenched his fist. "Until I met you, I didn't crave people's attention. The feeling of wanting to be liked by someone, having people support me, being somebody else's number one. Those kinds of thoughts… I didn't need them. Your life is so blessed, but I don't need that kind of luck. I've always had to struggle to reach where I am, and that defines my true self. Even if everyone hates me for who I am, I know that staying true to myself makes me strong."

This had gone on long enough.

Charging toward him, I shifted my body and left his field of vision. Twisting around, my arm bent to prepare for a powerful elbow strike to his side.

Flutter.

Something flew into my eyes, and I was distracted long enough for Shinsou to tackle me to the ground.

"By the way, nice of you to teach me that even a sock can be used as a weapon."

I gasped. His arm was wrapped around my neck, and I recognized the move as something Kyotaro-sensei knew. He must have taught Shinsou this technique over the past week while I wasn't there.

"Oh!" Midnight's surprised voice rang out. "An arm-triangle choke, that's going to be hard to escape for Iijima!"

This was bad. I assumed that Shinsou would use his quirk on me, not to try and strangle me while I was distracted. Already, I could feel the lack of oxygen affecting me.

No, it was obvious. The fact that he only recently learned this move meant that he wasn't proficient in it yet. The way to escape was something I learned long ago already.

Moving my arm, I felt a gap in his technique and immediately exploited it. Pushing my body to the side, I immediately rotated in the opposite direction while swinging my arm to create a wedge for it to escape. His arms broke apart, and I quickly escaped the first chance I got.

I took in a deep breath of air. Only afterward did I realize that I could have turned the situation around on Shinsou, but it was too late. The other boy had already gotten up and was now warily watching me from a distance.

"Damn," Shinsou winced. "Was sure for a moment that would have worked. Gotta thank Sensei for that one later."

I looked down on him too much. Instead of taking him seriously like Iida, I thought he was only going to rile me up to use his quirk. I didn't expect a novice like him to pull out a move like that.

No, this was my mistake. He even said not to underestimate him before the match started.

"Looking at you irritates me," Shinsou said. "You don't even know what you're lacking now, do you?! Because of that, it irks me how you can think you can act happy like everyone else."

Act… happy?

"Even a weakling like me can get the jump on someone like you." He sneered. "If that is all it takes to defeat you, then it's no wonder that someone like your previous self got killed."

…what?

"Oh? Did I hit a nerve?" Shinsou noticed the look on my face. "If I did, what are you going to do about it? I've heard stories, you know. Kyotaro-sensei was all praises for his former wonder student. I heard that you quit going to his dojo a while back. Did it pain you to listen to the reminders of who you used to be? Or did you realize… that everyone around you preferred the former version of you instead of your current self."

I stared at him in shock, and he took that as permission to continue. "I mean, think about it. I've seen how your so-called best friend acts around you. Does she truly see you as who you are now, or is she still playing with the ghost of her old friend? What do your parents think when they look at you. Do they still think you're the same child they gave birth to, or are you just a monster that took their child?"

No, he was just trying to get into my head.

I knew that, and yet…

"Even Kyotaro-sensei, and the other students at the dojo. Calling you 'Princess, Princess!' Do they really see you as who you are now? Or rather, do they prefer who you used to be instead?"

Shinsou leaned forward and gave me a malicious smile.

"Face it, everyone would prefer if you never existed. The only ones they care about are your former selves."

"Wha-"

I couldn't help it. The word barely escaped my lips before I felt Shinsou's quirk grab hold of me. My body locked into place as I lost control of my body.

Shinsou gave out a sigh of relief. "Thank god that worked. Honestly, I wasn't sure if I could have said anything worse if that didn't work." He looked up. "But now that I've got you, let's get this over with. Walk off the stage."

I heard somebody commenting on the situation, but it was as if all sound faded away from existence. My body began to move of its own accord without my input.

Really, this is his win. I completely fell for his plan like an idiot.

But what is this feeling of dejection? I wasn't angry with him, I knew that his words were intended to provoke a reaction from me. Yet his words were still hurtful…

Either way, this was my loss.

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(Idiot, it's too early to give up.)

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And suddenly, I was back in reality.

"What th—," Shinsou immediately noticed something was wrong. "What did you just do?!"

Turning around, I crossed the field within seconds and entered his range. Shinsou quickly tried to move back, but I struck first.

"Hatsu school of fists arts," I muttered. "Three Lives Arrow Fist."

Despite the fancy name, it was nothing more than a well-executed senshippo*. Using the technique of the Eight Extremities Fist, the move consisted of a flying punch—basically lunging toward the opponent fist-first in a leaping stride.

Still, the effect was devastating. Unlike the punch that knocked out Iida off the stage in the previous match, this caused Shinsou to not only fly across the field but also crash against the wall that surrounded the area. Shinsou's body, which took the full force of the blow, crumpled around the area I struck, almost knocking him unconscious immediately.

Had I been less careful, the lethality of the blow would have outright crushed his lungs and heart. Even holding back, no doubt a few of his ribs were broken.

I blinked in realization.

"Fuck!" I immediately jumped off the stage and ran to his side. "Are you alright, Shinsou!?"

"Ugh…"

"Do you feel any broken ribs?"

"Ughhh…"

"I-Is that a yes or a no?"

"Ugh… just shut up already, please."

"And it looks like the match is over," Midnight announced. "Once again, Iijima has prevailed with his physical prowess. To think that he would manage to break out of Shinsou's quirk and finish things in a single hit yet again."

"H-Hey, please tell me you're not dead. I'll be in so much trouble if I accidentally kill you."

"M'not dead…" Shinsou muttered. "Gu...? Owowow…? M-My chest hurts…"

"I'm so sorry! I ended up almost using full force without thinking!"

"D-Don't worry, I was asking for it." He winced in pain. "Literally, in this case."

"About that… what was up with your words earlier? Do you…"

"Geez," Shinsou sighed. "I was just messing with you. Please don't take what I've said to heart, I'll get roasted by Kyotaro-sensei if he learns what I said to you. I don't want to lose a friend over this."

Friend?

"We're friends?!" I asked incredulously.

"Are you kidding?" He stared at me. "You're serious. Did you really think that we weren't—" His words broke off. "Yes! Oh my gosh, how is this even a question?! Yes, we're friends. I literally call you by your first name, how much more obvious does it have to be?"

Huh.

"I… think I'm an idiot."

"Well, obviously." Shinsou winced again. "Hey, not to interrupt your epiphany, but can you please get me to Recovery Girl already?"

"Oh!" My eyes widened. "H-Hold on, I'll take you to the first aid room."

Leaving the area with Shinsou, I absentmindedly went over everything that has happened over the past few minutes. Somehow, I managed to win yet again. Even though I would have been fine with losing to Shinsou, things somehow ended up this way without me realizing it.

But still, that moment when I was caught by Shinsou's quirk.

That voice…

No doubt about it, I recognized that voice. After all, there was no way I would not be able to recognize my own voice.

[Three]

Was this a situation similar to Midoriya? Did vestiges of my past incarnations still exist within my quirk? And how was it that I've only managed to realize it now? Was it because of Shinsou's quirk?

Even after spending several years getting used to this quirk, there were still so many things I didn't know about it.

"Ugh…"

"I'm so sorry, Shinsou! Let's quickly find Recovery Girl, she'll help you get better."

Either way, that was something to look into later. For now, it was better to concentrate on the current situation.

The full explanation for Hatsu's martial arts is a bit wordy, and you can find the full passage on the thread version of this story on SB. But basically, [Three] created her own self-style of Hakkyokuken (a.k.a. Eight Extremities Fist/Bajiquan) called the Hatsu Iijima School of Fists Arts. To sum it up, it's literally anime martial arts, so don't think too hard about it.

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Note:

*(senshippo) - lit. Arrow Fist/Flashing Arrow Step/Arrow Sprint/etc.