Chapter 57: The Semi-Finals

"Come in," Chiyo said as she heard a knock on her door. Kaminari entered the room quietly and stared at Izuku and Watanabe, both of whom were sleeping, "Are they alright?" he asked.

Chiyo rolled her eyes, "What do you think?" She asked rhetorically. After a short silence, she spoke, "Izuku will be fine. Just some light bruising, a broken finger, and a dislocated arm,"

Kaminari nodded, "What about Watanabe?"

"He has two broken ribs, a broken leg, and a dislocated shoulder. I patched him up so that he can go home but he needs to sleep," Chiyo replied.

"Watanabe will be pissed that he got disqualified,"

"Health is more important. You've seen what happened to Toshinori," Chiyo said bitterly. Kaminari became quiet at that, "I thought more of your classmates would come,"

Kaminari looked up, "Oh yeah, they did. But Iida was sure that you'd not let anyone enter if we all came. So, they sent me," he grinned.

Chiyo smirked, "You lot learn faster than Mirio,"

"Who?"

"You won't know him yet. Anyway, they need rest so go now. I'll wake Izuku before his fight," Chiyo informed. "Yes sensei," Kaminari said and left the office.

"What did she say kero? Are they alright?"

"Well, they won't die," Kaminari replied, earning a punch from Jiro, "No one was thinking that you idiot!" Kaminari laughed, "Izuku's fine, but Watanabe has broken ribs so he'll take some time to recover,"

"Is he awake?"

"Nah. You really think he'd let Chiyo disqualify him otherwise?" Kaminari asked.

"I suppose not,"

"Alright since they're alright, let's help Tokoyami plan for his fight!" Hagakure exclaimed.

"It's supposed to be a solo event, right?" Momo asked carefully.

"Yeah, but we can't let 1B win!" Hagakure said.

"But it's too unmanly," Kirishima objected.

"1B will be doing the same thing you know?" Jiro said, getting behind the plan.

"Just because they're doing it doesn't mean we should too! It's unethical!" Iida chopped the air.

"Guys, let Tokoyami decide?" Kaminari broke the argument.

"Oh yeah, sorry. What do you think Tokoyami?" Hagakure asked.

"I'd like to try to fight myself. I won't always have people to help me," Tokoyami replied.

Kaminari nodded, "Good luck! Your fight's going to start too it seems," he gave a thumbs-up as Mic called the contestants for their fight. Tokoyami nodded gratefully and lost.

"I sure hope he doesn't lose though. 1B will be intolerable if they win," Hagakure moaned.

"We still have Izuku in the other fight," Uraraka pointed out enthusiastically.

"With his state, I don't think he'll be able to cope," Tsuyu said bluntly.

"That's a bit mean,"

"It's the truth,"

"Izuku better win!" Bakugou fumed.

"Aww look! He cares!"

"Shut up!"

"It's time for the first semi-final; Tokoyami vs Shiozaki!" Mic announced. The crowd cheered loudly in response, "Tokoyami has blown past everyone so far in this tournament, with only Tsuburaba coming close enough to beat him. Meanwhile, Shiozaki has slipped past everyone's thoughts to come into the semi-finals! Maybe another class 1B student is needed to defeat Tokoyami?" Mic attempted to rile up the crowd.

"He always has to undercut the other student, doesn't he?" Midnight shook her head, "Anyway, are you two ready?" She asked as per custom.

The two nodded, "Then fight!"

Tokoyami immediately launched Dark Shadow at Shiozaki who stopped it dead in its tracks with her vines. Tokoyami didn't panic and tried to bring back Dark Shadow towards him but Shiozaki had trapped it within her vines.

"Oh! Shiozaki has efficiently used her vines to capture Dark Shadow! How will Tokoyami deal with this?" Mic yelled.

Tokoyami still did not hesitate and instead kept trying to pull Dark Shadow free. "It's not going to help you know," Shiozaki said, not amused. She stepped back and unleashed a forest of vines on Dark Shadow, engulfing it.

"Give up. There's no way you'll win," Shiozaki ordered.

Tokoyami smirked in response, "You should be wary of taking the bait." On cue, Dark Shadow yelled and broke free of the vines, taking everyone by surprise. Shiozaki gaped at Dark Shadow's enormous size and could not even get a word in before she was slammed out of bounds.

"Tokoyami wins," Midnight announced.

"Oh right, Tokoyami's Dark Shadow becomes stronger in the dark. He must have baited Shiozaki to bury Dark Shadow into darkness," Izuku whistled.

"Midoriya! When did you get back?" Iida asked.

"Just now," Izuku smiled sheepishly.

"You are doing fine, I hope?" Iida asked.

"Yup! Never been better,"

"Good. I wish I could stay for your fight, but I have to get going," Iida said and brushed past Izuku before he could ask for any explanation, "What was that about?" Izuku asked his classmates.

"No clue. He wasn't here for Tokoyami's fight either," Shouto observed.

"Strange," Izuku thought, but he had no time to lull over it as Kaminari slapped his back, "I'm surprised you actually hit Watanabe at such close range!"

Izuku turned red, "I lost control. I wanted to use only 50%"

"Ah don't sweat it," Kaminari grinned, "Watanabe won't be mad, so relax!"

Izuku gave a nervous laugh, "Yeah, I guess he won't but I still feel bad about it,"

"You can think about that later. Clear your mind now, your fight's next after all. And Hatsume is no pushover," Kaminari advised his friend.

Izuku nodded, "I know that. I'll talk to you after the fight." Kaminari gave a simple thumbs-up in response.

While Izuku was walking to the grounds for the fight, he overheard Iida's voice. He paused for a second, deciding whether or not to eavesdrop. On one hand, he knew it was a bad habit but he was concerned for his friend.

He shook his head; it wouldn't be a good idea to violate Iida's trust. He went on quietly but flinched as he heard Iida yell, "STAIN! I WON'T FORGIVE HIM!"

Izuku heard Iida walk rapidly towards him and quietly slipped into a nearby room. Iida marched across the corridor, tears streaming down his face. Izuku watched helplessly as he ran past and vanished. He quietly opened the door and stared with concern, "Stain… the name sounds familiar…" he thought to himself. However, he had no time to ponder as Mic yelled out for him to come onto the field.

Izuku only hoped that nothing bad had happened.

"Midoriya Izuku controversially knocked out the tournament favorite Hattori Watanabe in the last round. On the other hand, we have the first student to come from the support department to compete in the semi-finals. This will surely be an interesting watch!" Mic analyzed, "Who do you think will win, Aizawa?" Mic asked, turning off the speaker.

"Izuku has the versatility and intelligence to pull it off, but Hatsume seems to keep pulling inventions out of her hat. Even so, Izuku can blow her away, but it would come at the cost of him losing in the finals," Aizawa replied.

"You're really blunt, aren't you?"

Aizawa shrugged, "It's the truth. At the moment, Izuku doesn't have the potential to defeat both Hatsume and Tokoyami,"

"Hmm, that may be true," Mic admitted, "He had a grueling fight with Watanabe too, he should be exhausted,"

"Exactly."

On the field, Midnight did her customary, "Are you ready?" to which she got determined nods, "Fight!" she yelled.

Izuku retreated back, expecting Hatsume to rush at him but surprisingly, she didn't, "That's weird. She always attacked first in the previous matches," Izuku frowned in confusion.

Hatsume grinned, "You really think I'd risk getting into close combat with you after that last fight?"

Izuku set into a more relaxed stance, "I suppose it was stupid to think only I'd analyze fights," he muttered to himself, "Well, easier for me," he mumbled and readied his finger.

Hatsume grinned, "Yes, that's it!" she thought excitedly. Izuku flicked his finger, releasing an airwave, blowing dust everywhere.

"That was a strong blow! Hatsume must have been thrown away by the wind!" Mic watched with anticipation as the dust settled. Suddenly, Hatsume flew out of the dust. She hacked into the speakers again, "Look at my newest invention people! It's the rocket boots!" Hatsume pointed to her feet, "With these beauties, it doesn't matter how strong an attack is, you will always be faster than it!"

Izuku twitched, "Is she… advertising?" he asked with disbelief.

"Did you not watch her fight with Monoma?" Cementoss asked rhetorically from outside the ring. Izuku sighed, if that's what Hatsume wanted to do, so be it. He pumped One for All throughout his body and activated full cowling. He tried to jump at Hatsume but she maneuvered out of his reach with ease.

"These babies can go up to a height of 50 feet. There's no way he can reach me!" Hatsume continued with her advertisement.

Izuku got up quietly and rubbed off the sand on his clothes. He turned and stared at Hatsume with a cryptic smile. Mei anticipated another attack but Izuku simply kept standing, "What the hell is he staring for? It's creepy,"

"Oi, oi, what the hell is going on? Why are they just standing around?" The crowd yelled.

"Leave it to the support department to make things boring,"

"Nah, the girl was entertaining. It's that green-haired boy that's dragging this out,"

"HURRY UP!" The agitated crowd began to yell.

Izuku ignored their comments, "There is no fuel bag on her, which means all the fuel is stored in the shoes. She'll fall soon,"

Sure enough, Hatsume fell right then. She cursed, "That's what he was waiting for! I was so stupid!"

"AHH! It seems like Mei's fuel has run out. Izuku is preparing for a blow! Is this what he was waiting for?" Mic asked.

The crowd tensed as Hatsume hurtled towards the ground. Izuku readied his finger to blow her away while Cementoss and Midnight readied themselves to catch her. Even Yagi had transformed to his All Might mode.

Just as Izuku would make contact, Hatsume suddenly disappeared. Izuku's eyes widened and he halted his attack. He scanned wildly for any signs of Hatsume but a split second later, he was knocked to the ground with tremendous force. He passed out on the spot and fell with a thud.

The crowd stared at the ground, still with no signs of Hatsume. "Where did Hatsume go? Does she have a phantom quirk or something?"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Aizawa told his friend.

"There!" A member of the crowd yelled out as a faint pink strand of hair was seen suddenly becoming visible, on top of Izuku. Mei grinned, "That. Was my very own refraction cloth. It's a digital screen that automatically refracts light so that everything within becomes invisible! Your very own invisibility cloak!"

At this statement, the crowd roared with excitement.

"Whoa! So cool!" Kaminari watched with shiny eyes. Jiro slapped him lightly, "Shouldn't you be more worried about your friend!?"

"He'll be fine!"

"He got hit by someone falling from 50 feet!"

"Is that… bad?"

"OBVIOUSLY!" Jiro hit Kaminari again.

"That cloth looks kinda like my quirk," Hagakure spoke in a disappointed tone.

Momo smiled warmly, "Don't worry! That thing can still get damaged easily! But you won't, so you're more reliable!"

As Midnight announced Hatsume's win, Hatsume bathed in the crowd's appreciation, but not all of them were necessarily good.

In one of the corners, a member of the audience beckoned his assistant towards him, "Make sure no one gets Hatsume Mei, except us." He ordered.

"Yes sir," The assistant replied and walked away to carry out the order.

A/N: Next up the finals, along with the identity of these mysterious people :)

P.S: Also, I know the fights aren't up to the mark, but I can't really do much better considering my abysmal combat writing skills :( But, after the sports festival, I'll move onto the major plot point which will shift the timeline and bring all the chaos from the start of this fic, so do bare with me ^^