"OK, LET'S PUT THE TOURNAMENT ON HOLD FOR A MOMENT AND ENJOY SOME RECREATION!"
Even though he said that, it was hard not to feel really stressed. I spent my time alone, outside by the trees. It hardly seemed like any time had passed.
From inside the training room, I could hear Mic commentating before the first match started. "HEY GUYS ARE YOU READY? WE'VE GOT A BUNCH IN STORE FOR YOU! IT'S HERE THAT YOU WILL BRAWL! THE RULES ARE SIMPLE! THE SCUFFLE IS WON BY RINGING YOUR OPPONENT OUT, RENDERING THEM UNABLE TO MOVE, OR GETTING THEM TO SAY I GIVE! FEEL FREE TO WOUND! WE HAVE RECOVERY GIRL WAITING IN TEH WINGS! I HOPE YOU'VE LEFT YOUR SENSE OF MORALS AT THE DOOR! THOUGH YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO ENDANGER EACH OTHER'S LIVES! NOW LET'S START!"
It was enough to know that Midoriya was the winner - not that I'd had any doubt. I was more interested in focusing on my upcoming match with Sero. Though even that I wasn't especially worried about. As I left the prep room, an awful sight was waiting me in the hallway.
"Out of my way," I told my damned old man.
"You disgrace me, Shoto," he said, standing there before me with his arms folded, glowering that awful look down his nose at me. "If you had used the power in your left side, you could have crushed both the obstacle race and the cavalry battle easily. Your resistance is childish and tiresome. Stop screwing around and see to your duty to surpass All Might. Do you understand? You're different from your siblings. You're my greatest masterpiece!"
Every word you say is pissing me off more. "Is that all you have to say? I will never use my left side. I'll win and advance using only mom's quirk."
"Even if that works for you now," the old man promised, "You'll reach the limit soon enough."
I headed into the ring to face Sero. Still clenching my fists and trying not to shake with rage.
"SORRY TO KEEP YOU WAITING, FOLKS! NEXT UP ITS TEHSE TWO! HE'S TURNED IN AN EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE TO MAKE IT THIS FAR, AND YET WHAT'S WITH THAT PLAIN FACE? DOES IT COME OFF? HANTA SERO FO THE HERO COURSE! VS! THE ONE WHO STANDS AT HTE TOP OF THE TOP! ALMOST TOO STRONG FOR HIS OWN GOOD! FROM THE SAME HERO COURSE, SHOTO TODOROKI!"
When the start buzzer rang, Sero tossed tape at me and wrapped me in it, trying to throw me from the ring.
"A LIGHTNING QUICK SURPRISE ASSAULT AIMING FOR A RING-OUT! ALMOST WITHOUT A DOUBT THE BEST CHOICE HE COULD HAVE MADE! GIVE IT YOUR ALL, SERO!"
"Apologies," I said, as my foot connected with the ground, and every bit of mom's ice quirk I could muster burst forth straight at Sero. A glacier sized attack.
"A little much, don't you think?" shook Sero.
"SERO, CAN YOU MOVE?" asked Midnight, who was frozen too.
"No, obviously not."
"Sero has been immobilized!"
"Don't mind, nice try!" cheered those in the stands.
I walked over to him. "I'm sorry," I said, seeing him shaking and clearly in pain. "I overdid it. I was angry is all." I placed my hand on his chest to dissolve the ice with heat. And as I did so, i couldn't help but feel…terribly sad.
The rest of the first round moved swiftly. Kaminari was easily defeated by a girl from Class 1B. Iida was used as a kind of billboard by a girl from the support course, who walked out of the ring at the end allowing him to advance. Ashido defeated Aoyama with an uppercut to the jaw.
Round 6 was between Yaoyorozu and Tokoyami.
"OFFENSE AND DEFENSE IN ONE BODY!" announced Mic. "THE DARK SAMURAI ACCOMPANIED BY DARK SHADOW! FROM THE HERO COURSE, IT'S FUMIKAGE TOKOYAMI! VS! ALL PURPOSE CREATION! SHE WAS ADMITTED THROUGH RECOMMENDATIONS, SO HER ABILITIES ARE CERTIFIED! FROM THE HERO COURSE, MOMO YAOYOROZU! 6TH MATCH START!"
Tokoyami unleashed Dark Shadow on Yaoyorozu right away. She created a shield to block his attack, but it looked almost as though she had no backup plan in mind - like it was reactionary. Dark Shadow knocked the shield from her hand and she created another - to withstand another attack. Then as he held for a moment, she'd created a staff, not realizing that…
"YAOYOROZU! OUT OF BOUNDS!" Said Midnight. It looked as though she hadn't even noticed. The match had lasted less than a minute, and she'd lost.
"A COMPLETELY OVERWHELMING VICTORY! IS IT POSSIBLE THAT DARK SHADOW IS THE GREATEST QUIRK EVER?"
Kirishima and Tetsutetsu were to fight next, and ended their match in a double knockout. The final match of Round 3 would be between Bakugou and Uraraka. Squaring off in the ring, he looked noticeably much taller than her.
"IT'S THE LAST MATCH OF HTE FIRST ROUND!" announced Mic. "THE BOY WHO'S BEEN FAMOUS SINCE MIDDLE SCHOOL, BUT THAT'S NOT A NORMAL FACE! BAKUGOU KATSUKI OF THE HERO COURSE! VS! THE KID I'M ROOTING FOR! URARAKA OCHAKO OF THE HERO COURSE!"
Way to be an impartial narrator, was my thought on the matter. Bakugou seemed to be saying something to Uraraka,, but from our perspective nobody could hear them.
"START!" Came Mic's announcement. Uraraka instantly started running straight at Bakugou, keeping her body close to the ground. Bakugou aimed a retaliating blast straight at her, throwing her back before she could touch him and float him out of bounds. The blast created smoking clouds, making it difficult to see what was going on.
Bakugou seemed to spot Uraraka inside the cloud, and jumped forward to blast her - but had only grabbed her jacket, which she had floated in front of him to trick him. The actual Uraraka popped up right behind him, hand extended, ready to float him out of bounds once more.
"WOW! SHE MADE HER JERSEY FLOAT AS A DECOY! YO, SHE MUSTA DONE THAT ON THE FLY!" cried out Mic, clearly thrilled that Uraraka was doing well.
Bakugou tossed another explosion straight back at Uraraka, throwing her across the ring once more before she could float him. She ran back towards him again, keeping close to the ground, and once again he tossed an explosion in her face. Repeated over and over.
The reaction of the crowd, I sensed, was a feeling of horror at Uraraka getting tossed around, with little to no sense of triumph for Bakugou's success…It really seemed pretty hopeless for her. Why didn't she just accept the defeat? She was no match for Bakugou's power.
"SHE'S PRESSING ON HER CHARGE WITHOUT A MOMENT'S REST, BUT…SEEING THIS…" said Mic, clearly disappointed that his favorite was going to lose.
The pros in the crowd were shaking their heads at Bakugou. Much like they'd pitied Sero after I'd overwhelmed him.
"Yo, you sure it's ok to let it go on like this? This looks terrible!" they were shouting at Cementoss, the referee.
Yet again Bakugou blew her a cross the ring. This time a pro stood up to shout at him. "HEY! DO YOU MEAN TO BE A HERO WITH CONDUCT LIKE THAT? IF YOUR STRENGTH LEVEL IS THAT MUCH BIGGER, JUST BLOW HER OUT OF BOUNDS ALREADY! HOW DARE YOU TOY WITH A GIRL LIKE THAT?"
"AND THE STANDS STAND TO BOO HIM!" cried Mic, as the pros were yelling more and more at Bakugou. "YEAH, I'VE GOTTA SAY I AGR - OW! HUH? YOU ELBOWED ME - WHAT'RE YOU -"
His voice was cut off by Sensei's. "Who said he's toying with her? You a pro? How many years? If you said that in your right mind, then there's no meaning for you to keep watching. Do us all a favor and go home. I'd suggest looking into another career."
Huh? What on earth was he saying?
"Bakugou's fierceness is an acknowledgement of his opponent's strength. He knows she deserves to have made it this far, and he's staying on guard because of that. It's because he's doing everything in his power to win that he's refusing to let his guard down or stay his hand."
The whole thing seemed to turn on a dime then. Suddenly, we weren't watching a Goliath tossing around a helpless David-girl. Then, it became just another match, between classmates and equals. And while we'd been distracted, Uraraka placed her fingers together in her usual gesture of release.
Floating above us - and falling down rapidly - were chunks of the ring, the pieces that Bakugou had blown up as he'd attacked back, and which Uraraka had been floating the entire time with every shot she had. What we'd been missing - what none of us had seen - was that she'd had a plan the whole time…
"A METEOR SHOWER!" cried Mic. Indeed, the fragments rained down, and it looked as though Bakugou was going to be flattened, against all odds. Uraraka ran towards him, hand held out, ready to float him -
And with one shot, he blew up the entire shower into smithereens.
Whoa, I thought to myself, watching pretty stunned as everything turned again.
"HE MUST BE CONTENT WITH HIMSELF, WITH THAT EXPLOSIVE SHOWING!" cried Mic. "HE TOOK URARAKA'S SECRET STRATEGEM AND CRUSHED IT!"
Uraraka had been blown across the ring, but not out. She was slowly standing up, but her body was shaking. Bakugou ran towards her, getting ready to retaliate again - but this time, she fell down, her energy spent. He stayed, ready to fight her, until the very last moment, when Midnight announced,
"Uraraka is unable to move. Bakugou advances to the next round."
Uraraka was taken to recovery girl.
"AW, URARAKA. UH, OH YEAH, BAKUGOU MOVES ON TO ROUND 2," said Mic, impartial as ever. "ALL RIGHT, NOW THAT I'VE COLLECTED MYSELF, THE FIRST AROUND IS NOW O VER! WE'LL GET BACK TO IT AFTER A SHORT BREAK!"
It was time, then. I left for the waiting room. To prepare myself for my greatest obstacle. Round 2. My fight with Izuku Midoriya.
We stood in the ring, facing each other. So All Might's got his eyes on you, huh. "You came," I murmured as I watched him.
"AND NOW FOR THIS GO-ROUND OF THE SPORTS FESTIVAL! BOTH COMPETITORS ARE AT THE TOP OF THEIR CLASS, AND THE WORLD AIN'T BIG ENOUGH FOR THE BOTH OF THEM. TODOROKI VS MIDORIYA!"
