Chapter 10

I found Endeavor and Todoroki talking in the corridor. Or well, at the end of their talk as Endeavor declared that Todoroki will reach his limit soon. I could only roll my eyes at his words. Then again, someone as blinded by power and greed as him would not be able to see things my way easily. It was going to be a ton of work, and I was fairly sure I wouldn't be successful.

But hey, Todoroki did nothing to deserve such harsh words from his father. As someone who 'accidentally happened upon them and overheard their talk', it was my right to make a decent move in Todoroki's favour.

I 'bumped' into Todoroki as he just walked out of the corridor. The rage on his face almost made me whistle in astonishment. Living with that much hatred must be mind-numbing. And Sasuke-ish. Definitely not the best way to live or think given how poisonous it can turn one into. Or obsessive.

I made a deliberate action of looking towards Endeavor, who was observing us critically. Mischief made its way in my actions and I grinned at the ablaze hero. "Yo!"

Endeavor grunted in irritation as he straightened up from his leaning posture against the wall. "I hope you do better than that runt, Shoto. You might just have to use your fire."

"Oi!" I called in annoyance before Todoroki could get a word in edgewise. "I did nothing for you to call me a runt!"

Endeavor simply hmphed and turned around, not even bothering to reply. I glared at his retreating figure, considering how to make him stop. Then, my brain came up with a brilliant idea that could very well dig my grave. "Things like that are the reason you're not as well-received as All Might."

I must have made his blood boil—or in his case, vaporize—given the size of his flames now. He turned around, absolutely flipping mad. Honestly, his expression would give Bakugo's furious one a run for its money. It was like an angry Pomeranian raised to the power of another angry Pomeranian. That was the best way to describe it. I waited for his reaction with bated breath.

Surprisingly enough, he didn't explode like I had been expecting him to. He simply grunted again, more angrily, and turned around. "As if a runt like you would understand the reality pro heroes face."

"I'm fairly sure I understand it better than you," I snarked back, emboldened by his lack of a violent reaction. "At least, I don't deny reality."

I never got a response back, verbal or non-verbal. The second-ranked hero left my sights, leaving me and Todoroki alone. I glanced at him. "You weren't kidding. Your father is quite the arse."

Todoroki's expression mellowed slightly but that was all I got from him. His name was already being called out in the stadium so we had to separate. He simply nodded at me, and went outside.

As I walked back towards the stands, I mused about the interaction. I was quite disappointed I couldn't get a rise from Endeavor but I had expected that somewhat. A hero wouldn't be second-ranked if he couldn't maintain his image. You know what I mean, yeah?

By the time I made to the stands, Todoroki was just done melting his ice. I watched the remaining matches happen without much enthusiasm; I could practically predict accurately just who would win this tournament.

Spoilers! It ain't me!

Some of the matchups had changed spectacularly with my presence in the universe. So, there was no way for me to predict exactly who would win. But I could tell it wasn't me. Simply because I had no real counter to Bakugo. And I had no intention of getting burnt should he be my opponent at any point.

Sadly, my costume wasn't done yet. I had given Power Loader my full body scan a while ago, before my talk with the police. I knew it would take time and because of my lateness in applying for one, I couldn't have it ready by the time for the festival. As such, I was not in a position to really take on quirks like Bakugo's or Mineta's.

And so, I watched as Todoroki, Tokoyami, Itsuka, Bakugo, Izuku, Mei, and Monoma of all people won. For someone with a copy quirk with a ten-minute time limit, Monoma was spectacular in learning and applying the quirks he copied. That was a real talent of his. I hoped that he was a better person overall and interacting with him would not bring out his insanity and inferiority complex from canon.

My next match ended up with Tokoyami as my opponent. I was pretty disappointed; I wanted Itsuka as my opponent. It'd have been fun battling her.

My wish to get close to her had nothing to do with my feelings at all. You are mistaken if you think so!

And keep your mind out of the gutter!

Sheesh, people these days…

Thus, I stood there against the bird-head, wondering how I'd deal with him. Sure, Dark Shadow wasn't as powerful in the bright light as it was in the dark but that meant nothing when it could just very well push me outside the ring with its speed. I didn't want to use anything lethal against Tokoyami even if healing quirks were a thing; it was not a pleasant experience having air ripped out of your lungs. I had tried it once on myself and done it much more slowly than I'd normally go against a villain and let me tell you, it was not fun feeling my lung getting crushed from outside in. I had to stay in the hospital for literal months with the doctors making sure I was not using my quirk and that my lungs were healing correctly.

That was the first and last time I used my quirk lethally. Sure, I continued practicing so I wouldn't lose my edge but it was against non-living things. I had since kept my lethal moveset locked up inside my brain, and only chose to use suffocation as a method to win because it left no mark and no lasting damage as long as I was aware of how long I was suffocating my target.

That, unfortunately, wouldn't work against Dark Shadow which was basically a personified quirk. It didn't breath, so it couldn't be suffocated. So, I had to be more violent in some way. And make sure it didn't affect Tokoyami. As far as I was aware, damage sustained by Dark Shadow did not transfer to Tokoyami when it was returned so I had that much leeway.

But still, no concrete plan.

I guess I was just going to have to wing it.

Get it? Wing it!

I chuckled to myself as I waited for Midnight to announce the start of the match.

I was going to have to think of a plan on the fly.

…

Alright, I will stop with the puns. But you will hear me grumble about humourless readers.

Midnight signaled the start and Tokoyami responded by launching Dark Shadow at me. 'No time to respond, eh?' I thought as I reflexively jumped to the side.

It was in vain.

Dark Shadow was a sentient quirk. It was going to be a homing attack so simple dodging was useless. I could only scream in disbelief as I was caught unawares and Dark Shadow straight up picked me up and threw me away basically outside the ring.

I did the only thing I always had done so far in UA: created a huge compressed air bomb at where I presumed my landing was and let it explode. The resulting shockwave slapped me right back just inside the ring. I immediately got up and ran, and not a moment too soon as Dark Shadow whizzed by where I had been sitting.

'Holy shit!' was the only thought in my mind at that moment. 'I severely underestimated Tokoyami's quirk. It's insanely flexible and responsive!'

"Heh. Not bad," I heard Tokoyami say. "Not many can escape my dark abyss."

"No kidding!" I exclaimed back, quite grateful. His words helped me focus back on to the main issue with this fight. I had to find a way to push Tokoyami himself out. Or force a way to weaken or strengthen his quirk. Strengthen and force it out of his control.

As I dodged Dark Shadow continually and forced my brain to run a mile a minute, I recalled a few physics lectures from my middle school. About total internal reflection. If I were to make air higher up in the stadium unnaturally dense, I could potentially reduce the incoming light.

But I scrapped the idea instantly. Because it was approaching noon. And total internal reflection only happened when light hit at an angle.

Alright, modifying-air-to-change-the-intensity-of-light-idea was out.

Well, I could always go with my working air bombs. But if I didn't show something new to the watching heroes, I wouldn't get enough options for the internships. So, I needed to show something creative enough with my quirk and that would net me an instant win without me having to be lethal.

What could I do?

At that moment of need, some memories from my previous life made their way to the forefront of my mind. No, I wasn't some military guy who watched anime or something. That'd be an obvious deus ex machina out of this situation. No, no, no! What I remembered was the One Piece anime. Or more specifically, the Marineford arc. Ace. Fire bullets.

Could I make air bullets?

Well, why not try? I hadn't tried to create air weapons so far simply because I thought it'd be difficult. And I was lazy. No change in personality even if reincarnation, remember?

I held up my finger towards Tokoyami, who still hadn't moved from his place; created a sharp column of air, roughly the shape of a rifle bullet, and shot it, in pretty much a similar fashion.

The effect was instantaneous. The air bullet hit him in the shoulder and with enough force to make him take a step back. A look of horrified disbelief crossed his features for just a split second before he dug his feet in the ground and gave himself a more solid foundation, this time definitely intent on getting me.

But his worst mistake was still there. He still hadn't moved from his place.

I could only chalk it up to his confidence that he would put me out of commission before I could get him another time.

Well, too bad for him.

I was fairly sure I had put a significant amount of power behind that bullet when I had shot it. And it had managed to just make him take a step back, instead of throwing him off his feet like I had wanted it to. Perhaps, the size of the air missile I created mattered as well?

The only way to know was to create one. This time, I made a javelin pole of some length—I wasn't aware of the exact length—and waited till Dark Shadow came at me again. As soon as it did and I dodged, I took an aim and threw the air spear at Tokoyami. I took extreme care to remove all air in the javelin's path so that it shot as straight as it would if it were in space without any gravitational impact on it.

It shot straight as a bullet and actually pierced right through the centre of Tokoyami's torso.

I watched, horrified, as Tokoyami fell, blood shooting through the newly made hole in his body.

"Oh shit." I ran towards him, not caring about the match. I didn't mind losing since I didn't aim to be a hero to begin with. What I did mind was having the guilt of an accidental murder on my conscience. I was not a murderer; I was not a violent psychopath.

Dark Shadow had already returned within Tokoyami by the time I reached him. A quick lookover told me that my attack had not punctured his lungs. In fact, it just barely missed doing so. I could guess that it hit one of the ribs and dissipated.

"Are you okay?"

I helped Tokoyami up slowly as he seemed to be trying to do so. He glanced at the hole in his body, breathing and sweating heavily. "What did you do?" He rasped out.

"Just an experiment gone wrong."

"You guys should take more care when fighting each other."

Both of us looked up to see Recovery Girl standing over us, her face a grim expression. She bent down and kissed the hole. In front of our eyes, the hole sealed up and Tokoyami instantly felt and looked a hundred times better.

"Thank you," I breathed out in relief as I helped up Tokoyami. "I wasn't prepared for my attack to be that lethal."

"You were experimenting with your quirk mid-battle?" Midnight asked in disbelief.

I hadn't even realized she had walked up to us. I simply breathed in and out a couple more times before replying. "Yeah, I hadn't tried it before and it only occurred to me when I was fighting." I turned towards Tokoyami and bowed. "I am honest-to-goodness sorry, Tokoyami. I should have been way more careful with my quirk usage."

Tokoyami looked uncomfortable at my heartfelt apology. He held up his hand and cleared his throat. "It's fine, Korai. Mistakes happen. I'm sure you will handle the darkness of your quirk better with this experience."

I gave him a wry smile. "I'm fairly sure it couldn't have been called a mistake if you had died. It was a dangerous move, no matter what the final outcome would have been."

"Now, go, you two," Midnight said, lightly pushing us towards our respective gates. "The next match needs to be started soon."

I looked up at her in surprise. "Already? I thought we'd have to fight again?"

"Only if you'd tied," the hero clarified. "It was your win."

"Despite me accidentally almost killing my classmate?"

"It was accidental, and everyone who enrolls in UA is assumed to be self-driven enough to learn from such experiences. It's what freestyle education is all about."

I dumbly nodded before making my way out, my mind still reeling from everything that had happened in the last few minutes. I was definitely going to need an hour or two to wind down from the adrenaline and the stress.

Instead of going to the stands, I chose to sit in a seat in the corridor leading to them. It was quiet since everyone was watching the fest so I'd have enough time to process what had happened and what I could do to prevent it from happening again.

But of course, Fate had other plans.

"There you are."

I looked up from my thoughts and saw Endeavor there, looked at me like a stepping stone. That was probably closer to the truth than I thought. And I'd learn that in the next few minutes.

I gave him a tired look. "Is there anything I could do for the second-ranked hero?"

"Don't give me lip, runt," the hero said in his usual condescending tone. "The way you use your quirk is quite dangerous against villains."

"I know that," I snapped back, annoyed. "That's why I wanted to avoid it in the first place. Now, what do you want, mister?"

"My boy, Shoto. He has a duty to surpass All Might. His match against you will…"

I was gaping at him. Why did I have to match against Todoroki?! What is that bullshit?!

"…so, give it your all."

I shook myself from my reverie and stared at him in disbelief. "You want me to go all out against your own son despite knowing how dangerous my quirk can be?"

"If he can't even climb a single step like you, how will he be able to climb the mountain that is All Might?" He hmphed as if he had made his point. "That's all I have to say. Sorry for my bluntness."

I stared at his retreating figure with sheer disgust in me. I knew he was piece of shit in the beginning but goddamn, if you wanted to kill your son, why even have him in the first place? As if losing Toya wasn't enough.

I decided to gamble and take a huge risk again. "Endeavor," I called out, making his pause and turn back.

"What if I told you"—a knowing smirk slowly worked its way up on my face— "your first son is alive?"

Writing Tokoyami's speech is not easy. My uncreative brain really struggles when conjuring up words for him. But well, challenging things like that are fun in itself.

Also, Haru seems to have a death wish what with his constant antagonization and making fun of Endeavor.

While the story might seem to follow the manga flow for now, I think it's only a few more chapters after which the story will change drastically. Butterfly effect and all, y'know? Look forward to it!

Signing off!