AN: Happy belated new year, everyone! Let's all do our part to make sure 2021 is better than 2020. Though, given what happened in Washington on January 6th, it's not off to a great start.
Also, more art! Now we have a pic and bio of Milia (DeviantArt, Hero Academia DxD OC: Milia Takamaki)! And again, if any of you are willing to do any fan art for the fic, either by commissioning it or doing it yourself (i.e., if you're a starting artist and want to practice) don't be afraid to do so.
Bakugo quietly sat in Principal Nezu's office, the rat principal drinking a cup of tea. "Tell me, Bakugo, do you know why I called you here?"
Bakugo didn't say anything, still sulking after that humiliating defeat from Crosshair Eyes.
Nezu, seeing this, continued. "It's because you nearly attacked Hatsume. While I can understand why you did so, considering how your fight ended, the fact remains you nearly attacked a fellow student outside of your tournament battles, one who wasn't even in the heroics course. If it wasn't for Midnight, you might've succeeded. Aizawa has told me you did the same thing to Midoriya on your first day here, correct?"
Bakugo just tsked and crossed his arms. "The fake doesn't deserve to be here," Bakugo responded, his first words since arriving at Nezu's office.
"He scored first in the entrance exam, so he has every right to be here, same as you," Nezu responded, "but that isn't why you attempted to attack him, correct? The reason is because of your wounded pride."
Bakugo merely gave Nezu a glance as a response.
"You have an exceptional amount of talent and surprisingly high grades, which is surprising given your temperament," Bakugo growled at that. "That said, you let your temper and pride cloud your judgment. Had it been anyone else, your attempted attacks on Midoriya and Hatsume would've resulted in your expulsion."
Bakugo's face soon contorted to one of worry. "But… that won't happen. If we were to expel you right here and now, it could push you to become a vigilante at best, a villain at worst."
"Like hell, it would!" Bakugo yelled, the first time he's raised his voice since arriving.
Nezu nodded. "Perhaps, but there is always a chance. But let me make it clear that there are two conditions you must follow from now on: One, you must see a therapist to help temper your anger. U.A. has a licensed therapist on staff year-round, Hound Dog, so we can easily set up an appointment. And two, if you attempt to attack a fellow student outside of training one more time, you will be expelled. Am I understood?"
Bakugo stared at him for a minute in silence. He harrumphed and threw himself back into his seat. "Fine."
"…Am I understood, Bakugo?"
Bakugo flinched. Even though he still had his pleasant smile, Nezu's body seemed to produce a terrifying aura that sent shivers through Bakugo's spine. "Y-Yes, sir."
"Excellent!" The terrifying aura disappeared, and Bakugo released a sigh of relief he didn't know he held onto. "You may leave now, Bakugo."
At that, Bakugo stood up and walked to the door.
"One last thing, Bakugo Katsuki." Bakugo froze at Nezu's words. "I trust that we will not find ourselves in this situation again, yes?"
"Y-Yes sir," Bakugo replied as he walked out.
As soon as Bakugo left, Nezu pulled out from his drawer a slip of paper, something he received from the police a few days ago.
It contained details of the first-year Sports Festival and how it would end, from the events to the individual fights. It even said how those fights would end, including how Bakugo would lose against Hatsume. So far, whoever wrote this did so with 100% accuracy. And, according to the police, it was believed that this was the same person who filed the tip regarding the attack on the USJ.
'This mysterious benefactor… just what is their goal?' The enlightened animal hummed in thought. Thousands of possibilities ran through Nezu's mind on who this person is and how they could've acquired this information.
"Still no sign of Bakugo, huh?" Kirishima asked. "Any idea why the principal called him, Iida?"
"No," Iida replied. "But if I were to hazer a guess, it may have something to do with Bakugo-kun attempting to attack Hatsume after the match. Such behavior is unbecoming of a hero!"
"That's certainly a possibility," Jurota nodded. "I would not be surprised if Bakugo faced expulsion because of that."
"Yeah, that was unmanly," Kirishima then looked over to Izuku. "What do you… think… Midoriya?" His voice trailed off when he noticed Izuku writing in his notebook at lightning speed. He could also catch a few words as Izuku muttered to himself every now and then. "Where'd he get the notebook?" The dyed-redhead wondered, as well as did a few others who turned their attention to Izuku.
"What are you writing, Midoriya-chan?" Tsuyu asked curiously.
"Huh? Oh, just taking some quick notes about everyone's Quirk so far," Izuku replied, looking up. "I didn't get the chance to earlier."
"Do you mind if I take a look?" Iida asked, curiosity winning him over.
Before Izuku could reply, the intercom suddenly called. ["Liana Kozuki, Midoriya Izuku, please report to your waiting rooms."]
"Looks like we're up," Liana said as she stood up. "Don't take it personally when you lose, Midoriya."
Izuku blinked before he smirked. "Same to you," Izuku then passed his notebook to Iida. "Make sure to keep it for me. You can look through it if you want."
Izuku and Liana left to prepare for their match. Once they were gone, Mina leaned over toward Iida. "So, what's it say?" She asked curiously.
"I admit, I am also interested," Shoji commented.
"To see what our fellow classmate wrote will be enlightening," Tokoyami nodded.
"Did he write anything about us?" Honenuki asked.
Iida opened the book to a random page; Hagakure's. "Ooh, it's about me!" Hagakure cheered, taking a peek over Iida's shoulder. "What did he write about?"
The others couldn't help but look over Iida's shoulder, interested in Izuku's writing. A couple winced, though, waiting for when Mineta would say something perverted and be punished for it. But that didn't come.
Turning around, everyone saw Mineta, his entire body wrapped in Sero's tape like a mummy, leaving only his nose exposed, stuck to the wall behind the seats. "I figured that, since most of the remaining fighters are girls, I'd keep Mineta contain until the festival's over." Sero smiled.
Mineta produced a muffled scream in response.
Hyde chuckled. "Nice one, Sero. So what did Midoriya write?"
Iida began to read the notebook out loud with Hagakure, Mina, Hyde, Setsuna, Itsuka, and Kirishima hovering over it.
"Let's see… looks like some basic information about Hagakure-kun… he has even made a stats chart on you. Think he's correct about it?" Iida asked her.
"Well… I guess he's not wrong," Hagakure admitted. "If he's scaling it to his own personal strength or the average of the class, I would be on the lower scale on strength and speed."
"Looks like he also wrote some suggestions, too," Itsuka pointed out. "Some form of martial arts training, mainly on ending fights swiftly, along with grappling. Aiming to hit pressure points. I can help you with that if you want."
"Really?" Hagakure asked 1-B's class rep. "You mean it?"
"Of course."
"Wait a minute, Kendo! Don't be so quick to offer help to those 1-A idiots!" Monoma protested. "They might use what you teach them to-"
*CHOP!*
Monoma was cut off by a well-placed karate chop, courtesy of Itsuka. "They're not the idiots," the redhead groaned.
Mina chuckled at Monoma's misery as she continued to look at the notebook's contents. "Look, he's even written about your Quirk, Toru," she pointed out the arrows drawn all over to represent Hagakure's Quirk, Invisibility. "'Possible mutant and emitter type'? What does he mean by that?"
"I'm… not sure?" Hagakure guessed. "My Quirk is labeled as a mutant type, but I never really thought about it till now. I should see if Aizawa-sensei can erase it."
"He's even written about your hero uniform," Hyde pointed out. "He thought you were wearing special clothing that happened to work with your skin, but it looks like he crossed it out and written…" Hyde blushed a little. "…nude," next to the written word were several exclamation and question marks.
"Wait, you mean her hero costume really IS just a pair of shoes and gloves?!" Awase exclaimed, blushing at the implication.
"I… thought she just wore a special suit," Jurota muttered, blushing also.
"It's not like I could do anything about that," Hagakure huffed. "Any clothes I wear just paints a target on my back. I can't even wear a sports bra or any type of support for my chest. I'm lucky and unlucky I'm a B cup. Not large enough to cause lots of sagging for everyday life, but enough to hurt if I try to run with it. I just have to power it through."
"It looks like Midoriya-kun wrote something next to your hero costume," Iida noted. "It just says… Hagakure's hair for material."
"What's that mean?" Hyde asked.
"I think I know," Setsuna spoke up. "My hero costume is made with my own cells, so it splits along with me, unlike this tracksuit," to demonstrate, Setsuna's arm split off from her shoulder, but the sleeve for the jacket remained.
"I see," Iida nodded. "Then if Hagakure-kun asks for a costume that integrates her hair, it could potentially be invisible along with her."
"Than I don't have to run around naked anymore!" Hagakure realized. "I need to ask Izi more about this later. And thank him. Maybe with a kiss?" She hummed in thought, earning a quick glare from some of the girls.
Ochako leaned over to Ibara and whispered, "We all need to talk about this."
"Yes. All of us," Ibara nodded.
"I think we should focus on the fight," Shoji said. "Midoriya and Kozuki will be called to the ring any second now."
"Ah, yes, we should show our support to our fellow classmates by watching!" Iida nodded, putting the notebook away.
["Loyal listeners, we are ready to get the quarterfinals underway! Are you all ready!?"]
The crowd exploded into screams and excited shouts.
["That's what I like to hear! In the right corner, she's a girl who gives new meaning to the phrase, 'bad to the bone'! It's Liana Kozuki!"]
The crowd's screams and cheers grew louder as Liana walked into the ring with a smirk, confidence radiating off her.
["Verses! He's been going on a winning streak here! It's the lean, mean, green, fighting machine of 1-A, Midoriya Izuku!"]
Izuku shyly tucks his head in trying not to let the audience see his blushing face. "I'm never going to get used to this…"
Liana and Izuku stared at one another a good space away, Liana stretching her arms and Izuku rotating his shoulder.
"Ready, Midoriya?" Liana formed a serious look on her face as she got into a fighting stance with her palms open and straight.
"Yeah," Izuku nodded as he got into his own fighting position, slightly bending his knees and clenching his hands into fists.
"FIGHT!"
Liana immediately took off at a sprint, rushing toward Izuku with a desperate sense of urgency, a giant clawed gauntlet made of bone forming over her right arm.
Izuku jumped, somersaulting over Liana as he spreads his wings, his Boosted Gear appearing as he readied an attack. "Dragon Shot!" Izuku fired the bolt of green energy at the bone-wielding girl.
Liana responded by forming a bone blade from her left arm, using it to deflect the Dragon Shot away. Not wasting time, Izuku flew forward, swinging his leg down in an attempt to ax-kick her. But Liana weaved to the right and grabbed hold of Izuku's leg with her bone gauntlet.
'Uh-oh!'
Liana proceeded to slam Izuku into the ground like a rag doll, repeating the process a couple of times before she flung him away. Izuku, while a little disorientated, regained his balance in the air and flew back to the ring, landing a few feet away from Liana.
["And right off the bat things are off to a hectic start!"] Present Mic commented.
Izuku had a stern look on his face as he glared at his opponent. 'Her Quirk lets her grow and manipulate the bones in her arms, using them to create anything she can imagine. With the way she can still move her arms even with the giant things she creates, she's a lot stronger than she looks.'
As if to prove him, Liana's bone gauntlet grew in size as she jumped into the air, the gauntlet forming a fist as gravity directed her towards Izuku. Izuku jumped back, and Liana's bone gauntlet hit the ground, cracking the cement easily under the destructive force.
Quickly detaching from the gauntlet, a bone spike formed from Liana's right arm as she stabbed it into the ground, causing several more spikes to burst out of the ground, each pointed directly at Izuku.
Izuku took to the air, avoiding the spikes, only for Liana to grab him by his ankle with her right hand, a thick coating of bone covering both quickly. Izuku screamed as Liana bulled him down, attempting to pin him down. Izuku didn't hesitate to point his Boosted Gear at her, concentrating One for All into the limb.
'One for All, 5%!' The orb of energy in the Boosted Gear's hand glowed brighter and expanded. "Delaware… Dragon Shot!" Izuku was nearly thrown back by the force of the Dragon Shot firing.
Eyes widening, Liana quickly let go and formed a shield from her right arm to block the oncoming attack. But the Delaware Dragon Shot exploded upon hitting the shield, destroying it and sending Liana flying back.
Acting quickly, Liana jabs the bone sword into the ground, stopping her from flying out the ring, the sword just a few centimeters away from the ring's edge. Lifting herself up, Liana jumped back into the ring with grace, detaching from the bone sword.
["Whoa! Kozuki just barely avoids a ring-out!"] Present Mic exclaimed, causing the audience to roar loudly in excitement.
Izuku panted as he looked at his opponent, who was beginning to grow tired herself. "I wonder how long you can continue to enjoy yourself," Liana said. "You seem to be getting tired."
"What makes you say that?"
"You're breathing heavily," she told him, then allowed herself to try and taunt him. "And I nearly forced you down to your knees," Liana then smirked. "I'm winning."
"Sorry to disappoint, Kozuki-san," Izuku replied. "But I can keep this up all day."
A snort from Midnight caught their attention. She had an… odd look in her eye.
"What's… with her?" Izuku nervously asked.
"I'm not sure we want to find out," Liana replied.
Izuku glanced back at Liana, then noticed something. Her right arm wasn't moving. At least, she wasn't moving it. In fact, now that he thought about it, she hadn't created any new bone weapons or even moved the arm at all for a little while. Izuku's eyes then winded as he realized why. 'Now I get it! Her arms lock up if she overuses her Quirk!'
Forming a plan, Izuku went on the offensive. Taking to the air, Izuku activated One for All, using 7% in his wings Izuku moved in a flash, circling around Liana, attempting to confuse her.
But Liana kept her calm. While her eyes tried to follow Izuku, she knew she just needed to wait until Izuku made his move.
[Boost!]
Izuku's speed increased as he stopped circling around her and darted towards her from her right. Liana's eyes widened when she saw Izuku move towards her from the right. 'Did he figure out my Quirk's limits?'
Liana created a shield with her left arm and tried to block Izuku's strike, but it was already too late. Using his speed, Izuku avoided Liana's shield and grabbed her right arm. Liana instinctively had several bone spikes extend from her shield into the ground in an attempt to stay put.
It succeeded… somewhat. Izuku's assault resulted in the two tumbling to the ground.
["Eh?"] For the second time today, Present Mic didn't know what to say. Aizawa let out a loud, annoyed groan. Most of the audience began to laugh and chat among themselves. Mineta, still trapped in Sero's tape, screamed in muffled rage, sensing a great disturbance in the Force.
All the while, Izuku groaned, annoyed at how his plan went. 'Not what I intended. Guess I still need to work on using Boosted Gear and One for All together like that.' He opened his eyes as he attempted to get up…
*Squeeze*
"Kya!"
…And flinched, looking directly at the blushing, embarrassed face of Liana, his body over hers as she stared back at him… his hand groping her breast.
"That lucky bastard!" Kaminari hissed. Kyoka proceeded to incapacitate the electric teen for his comment. A few of the other boys were also somewhat jealous of Midoriya, though they wisely decided to keep quiet about it. The rest were gapping in shock, particularly Iida. Several of the girls were glaring at Izuku, angry that he groped Liana's chest, while some (Rias, Ibara, Ochako, and Milia the most prevalent) were upset it wasn't them.
"WHA!" Izuku jumped back, sweating profusely as he blushed like crazy. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!"
Izuku's apology didn't seem to calm Liana down, whose embarrassed look quickly turned to anger.
["Uh-oh. Looks like Midoriya's in for it now."]
"Pervert!" Liana charged at Izuku, forming a large bone sword.
'Not good! Not good! Not good! Not good!' Izuku was only able to dodge as Liana swung her blade at him. But he wasn't able to avoid all of her strikes, receiving several cuts in his abdomen and arm. 'I need to end this, NOW!'
When they were near the edge of the ring, Izuku ducked under another of Liana's attacks and grabbed her by her still immobile right arm.
The moment Liana felt contact on her arm, she immediately turned the sword into another gauntlet and tried to get him out of bounds, using it to push him out.
But Izuku used that arm against her.
He spun around her gauntlet right before it could touch him, putting his back on her and grabbing her arm with both of his hands. 'One for All, 5%…'
Izuku pulled Liana over his shoulder.
"Wha-!?" The girl's eyes widened before Izuku slammed Liana's back right over the out of bounds line. "Ack!" Liana let out a cough as she bounced off the ground.
Everyone was in stunned silence by how fast everything seemed to go. Until Midnight raised a hand. "Liana Kozuki is out of bounds! Midoriya Izuku advances to the semifinals!"
The crowd cheered madly as Izuku finally caught his breath, crouching over the ground and taking deep breathes.
'That was too close…'
[Yeah. But now might be the best time to apologize to her.]
Izuku blinked before he blushed, realizing he still needed to apologize. He turned to look at Liana, who wobbly stood back up to her feet, rubbing her right arm.
"Uh, K-Kozuki-san. I-"
"Congratulations, Midoriya," Liana simply said, her voice calm again as she walked towards the entrance.
"Hold on, wait!" Izuku ran after her.
["Oh look, there they go."] Aizawa said as he and the audience watched the two leave for Recovery Girl's office.
["Ah, but they didn't even shake hands, say 'GG' or anything!"] Present Mic complained.
["Just move on you idiot…"] Aizawa sighed.
As Izuku accompanied Liana to the nurse's office, an awkward silence accompanied them. "I-I'm sorry f-for earlier," Izuku spoke up, referring to when he accidentally groped her. "I-It was an a-accident and-"
"It's fine," Liana, whose face was burning red at the reminder, replied. "I know it was an accident. You're not the type who would willingly do something like that. And I'm the one who overreacted." Though she would never say it out-loud, Liana actually kinda like the sensation she felt from Izuku's hand squeezing her boob and was kinda disappointed when he let go.
It was then that a horrifying thought crossed the redhead's mind. 'Oh god, I hope Aunt Milly and Cera didn't see that. I'd never hear the end of it!'
Behind her, Izuku sighed in relief. 'Thank goodness, she doesn't hate me. I was worried she would cut my head off for a minute there.'
As they approached Recovery Girl's temp office, they found Liana's sister, Cynthia, waiting for them.
"Cynthia?" Liana said.
"You did amazing, Lia," Cynthia smiled as she hugged her little sister. "I'm sure our moms and dad would be proud."
"Yeah," Liana replied, hugging her back.
Not wanting to interrupt, Izuku quietly entered Recovery Girl's office.
"By the way," a mischievous smirk crossed Cynthia's face, which sent chills down Liana's spine. "You were oddly forgiving of Midoriya for what happened. Normally you'd try to skin someone alive if they did something like that to you."
Liana didn't deny that. She would probably cut off Mineta's balls and then feed them to him if the grape pervert tried something similar.
"Midoriya's not like that," Liana answered. "It was an accident."
Cynthia nodded. "Maybe, but I'm not sure that's the only reason. You don't happen to like him, do you?"
"Of course, he's a friend."
"No. I mean do you like like him." Liana fidgeted a little, now realizing what her half-sister meant. Sure, she was interested in him, but only because of his odd power, and he was somewhat decent in chess, getting better every time they played, but that didn't mean she has a crush on the cute green-haired boy.
'Wait, where the hell did that come from!?' Liana screamed internally, mildly blushing as she realized that she thought Izuku was cute.
Her blushing face was all the answers Cynthia needed. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about your crush on him… as long as you help me and Sakura with something later."
"…You have been spending way too much time with Aunt Milly."
It took a few minutes for Recovery Girl to release Izuku, wanting to make sure his injuries were completely healed. When he walked back out, Izuku found Cynthia and Liana were still talking, though Liana was blushing for some reason. When he asked, Liana just told him to head back to the others as she went into Recovery Girl's office, all the while Cynthia had a knowing smirk on her face.
Deciding it may be best not to question what that was about, Izuku took his time to make his way back to the seating area. Mostly to mentally prepare himself for how everyone would hound him about what happened with Liana. "I sure hope they forget about that soon," he mumbled, embarrassed that he grouped a classmate in front of a live audience for all the country to see. No matter how hard he tried, Izuku just couldn't get over how squishy and soft Liana's boob was-
"Damnit, not again!" Izuku screamed, shaking his head in an attempt to get the thought out of it.
[Izuku.]
Izuku stopped, surprised by the tone Ddraig's voice took. 'What is it, Ddraig?'
[Be on guard. I feel an incredible power nearby.]
Izuku's eyes widened. 'Is it the White One?'
[I'm not sure. It is possible but unlikely. If it really were Albion and his host, they would stay hidden until they felt the time was right to confront us.]
Izuku made an audible gulp. 'I need to tell Rias right away!' Hurrying his pace, Izuku made his way to the stands where Rias and the other devils were. But when he rounded the corner, he collided with something, falling hard on the floor.
Groaning, Izuku immediately realized that he ran into someone. "Oh, I'm sorry! I wasn't paying attention to where I was going!"
"It's fine. I wasn't really paying attention either," the person replied, their voice oddly sounded like Bakugo's.
It was a young Asian man, a few years older than him, with short black hair and blue eyes, wearing some sort of outfit that seemed to be a mix of a Japanese school uniform and traditional Chinese garbs.
The young man offered his hand. "I'm Cao Cao."
Smiling, Izuku took hold of his hand. "Midoriya Izuku. It's nice to meet you."
"Likewise."
A phone began to ring, drawing the two's attention. Izuku took out his phone, only to find it wasn't his that was ringing. It was Cao Cao's.
"Yeah?" He spoke into the cell. "I'm fine. Just checking out the Sports Festival, that's all," Cao Cao glanced at Izuku. "I need to go. Good luck with the Sports Festival."
"Thanks," Izuku nodded, the two continued on their way.
Before they got too far away, though, Cao Cao cast one last glance at Izuku. "I hope we meet again… Red Dragon Emperor."
Izuku froze in his tracks, eyes wide as he slowly turned his head. He caught sight of a small smile on Cao Cao's face as he disappeared around a corner.
'Ddraig, was that…?'
[Yes. He's the source of the power I felt, but he isn't the White One.]
Izuku agreed. Cao Cao's voice sounded nothing like the White Dragon Emperor's. He needed to find Rias.
"Sorry about that," Cao Cao spoke through his phone. "How's the Neo Hero Faction coming along?"
"{Pretty well.}" a young woman's voice answered. "{We have two potential recruits, one of which inherited the spirit of Hua Mulan. Though the other is, well… let's just say she's a bit hyperactive. But they're both pretty good fighters.}"
"Then there shouldn't be much of a problem."
"{By the way, who were you talking to? Sorry if I interrupted.}"
"It's fine, Jeanne." Cao Cao smirked. "As for who it was, it was the Welsh Dragon."
"{Really? You didn't try to challenge him or anything, did you?}"
"No. We just talked a bit, but I may have let slip I knew who he was," Cao Cao smirked. "Anyway, I better leave before the devils know I'm here. See you and the others later."
"{See ya. Oh, and don't forget to buy groceries on your way back. It's your turn to cook tonight.}"
Cao Cao fidgeted slightly, silently hoping that Jeanne won't find out he spent most of the money he had for a Sports Festival ticket. 'Guess I'm making instant noodles tonight.'
["Everyone, thank Cementoss for his great work! And now, let's get on with our second quarterfinal match! One of contrasting styles! First up, we have Class 1-B's own Queen of Thorns, Shiozaki Ibara! Verses Class 1-A's amphibious assailant, Asui Tsuyu!"]
As the two girls walked into the ring, they both going over what they needed to do in order to win. Tsuyu knew she needed to avoid Ibara's vines, since one vine may be enough to hold her down. And she couldn't use her tongue, it would simply serve as an appendage for the vines to latch onto.
'Shiozaki-chan doesn't need to move in order to win, unlike me,' the frog girl mentally noted. Her best chance was her acid as well as a roundabout kick.
Ibara, meanwhile, knew she couldn't let her guard down.
"Are both contestants ready?" Midnight asked.
"Yep, kero," Tsuyu said.
"Yes," Ibara nodded.
"FIGHT!"
When Midnight brought her bullwhip down, Tsuyu bolted to the right. She hopped along the edge, as a literal wave of vines came from Ibara's left side to meet the frog girl. Tsuyu leaped into the air, and the vines followed her like locusts. Tsuyu spat out her tongue, latching it to the ground. She pulled, landing on her feet and bounding straight toward Ibara the second her feet touched the ground.
Ibara looked surprised at the speed but the other half of her hair came up to defend her. Tsuyu dipped under it, the greenery barely managing to miss her. And suddenly, she was right there.
Tsuyu lashed out with a kick that would net her the win.
Only for a vine to sprout out of the ground and catch her foot in midair. The world twisted as Tsuyu felt weightless for a moment only for a vine to wrap itself around her mouth. She caught sight of Ibara giving her one last glance before dropping Tsuyu out of bounds.
"Asui is out of bounds! Shiozaki Ibara moves on!"
As Tsuyu got up, she gave off a disappointed sigh. "Good match. You did well," Tsuyu stated with a shrug.
"You did well, Asui-san," Ibara replied.
"Call me Tsuyu-chan."
"I missed Ibara's match. Aw man…" Izuku groaned, reaching the seating area where Rias and the other girls were.
"Izuku?" Rias blinked, she and the other's noticing his presence.
Ravel glared at the green-haired boy. "Looks like you saved us the trouble of finding you later. Care to explain what you were doing with Kozuki?"
Izuku blushed. "N-Nothing! It was an accident and…" he shook his head. "Never mind! Listen," Izuku quickly explained his encounter with Cao Cao.
"Someone as strong as the Vanishing Dragon is here?" Yuuto asked, shocked.
"Yeah," Izuku nodded. "He knew who I was, too."
"What did this guy looked like?" Koneko asked.
"Well, he seemed Chinese, but wore what looked like a Japanese school uniform. He also seemed a few years older than me."
"What was his name?" Xenovia asked.
"He said his name was Cao Cao."
"Cao Cao!?" Sona suddenly exclaimed.
"You know him?" Rias asked.
"I've heard of him," Sona readjusted her glasses, looking serious. "He's the current wielder of the True Longinus."
Every devil present paled considerably, chills running down their spines. "Are you fucking kidding me?!" Cammie exclaimed.
"The True Longinus… is here?" Reya stuttered.
[Yes.] Ddraig spoke up, allowing the devils to hear his voice. [When I first sensed his presence, it reminded me of a Longinus Scared Gear. I wasn't away it was the True Longinus, though.]
"That's bad, right?" Saji nervously asked.
"Very bad," Ravel confirmed.
"Buchou, what should we do?" Izuku asked his King.
The crimson-haired girl hummed in thought. "I'll report his to my brother later. For now, we should enjoy the festival. With so many people and heroes here, I doubt Cao Cao would try something. And Izuku," Rias, despite her sweet smile, gave off an icy aura. "Please don't repeat what happened with Kozuki later, okay?"
Izuku flinched. "H-Hai."
["Are you licensers ready for the third match of the quarterfinals?"] Present Mic asked, the audience roaring in excitement as an answer. ["That's what I like to hear! First up, we have the cool prodigy, Todoroki Shoto! Verses! The crazy inventor who won in an unorthodox way, Hatsume Mei!"]
"Mwehehehe! Me and my babies are ready for this!" Mei chuckled devilishly.
Todoroki, meanwhile, stared at Mei with her typical coolness.
"FIGHT!"
Immediately, Shoto launched a barrage of ice with the intention of freezing Mei, but the pink-haired girl quickly dodged out of the way. "You didn't even give me time to get ready for my announcements!" Mei complained.
"I don't intend to be your guinea pig," Todoroki cooly replied before she attempted to freeze Mei again. Mei, using her newly repaired electro-shoes, using them to skate across the ring, keeping her distance from Todoroki as planned on how to attack.
All of a sudden, Todoroki changed her trajectory and shoulder charged Mei, causing her to squeak and cough in surprise. Before she could react, Todoroki had already grabbed her wrist and activated her Quirk, causing frost to quickly spread up her arm. Soon, she was encased in an icy glacier that only left her head free. "M-My p-p-po-poor b-ba-babies," Mei stuttered from the cold.
"Hatsume has been immobilized! Todoroki advances to the semi-finals!" Midnight declared.
Todoroki quickly melted the ice and allowed the robot paramedics to transport Mei away.
["Ooooh, looks like Todoroki stopped Hatsume cold!"] Present Mic commented. This resulted in most of the audience groaning.
["…Really?"] Aizawa deadpanned.
"And the big man returns!" Sero grinned as Izuku returned to the student's seats.
"You missed the last two matches. Where were you?" Mina asked.
"I… had to take care of something," Izuku answered before taking an empty seat next to Iida.
"Did it involve Kozuki?" Kaminari asked. Izuku blushed in response. "So, what was it like to-" Kaminari stopped, practically feeling Kyouka's ear jacks aiming for him. "-I mean, you okay after that, man?"
"Where is Kozuki-kun?" Iida asked.
"Still in Recovery Girl's office, I think," Izuku answered. "She was talking with her sister when I left."
Before anyone could ask what Liana was talking with her sister about, Present Mic's voice rang throughout the stadium.
["Alright, loyal listeners, it's now time for the last match of the quarterfinals! In one corner, the Queen of Creation, Yaoyorozu Momo! And, in the other corner, the Karate Princess, Kendo Itsuka!"]
As the crowd cheered, Momo and Itsuka stood across from each other. "Ready to get your butt kicked, Yaoyorozu?" Itsuka semi-taunted her, evident by how she was smiling.
"You wish," Momo fired back, undoing the zipper holding her uniform in place, uncaring of the fact that the male half of the audience would probably ogle her. Mineta was still restrained, so she wasn't worried.
"And…"
When they heard Midnight speak up, the girls got into their stance.
"FIGHT!"
Itsuka took the initiative and charged forward. In response, Momo took up a defensive position, a shield forming in her right arm and staff in her left.
Itsuka's eyes narrowed 'She's planning something. I know she has more up her sleeve than just something simple like that, and the time to make it.' Once she was on Momo, she stepped forward and pulled back her right hand, readying a palm strike. Momo made no moves, simply keeping her defensive position. Itsuka sent her palm forward, enlarging it near the point of impact, slamming it into Momo's shield.
Momo struggled against the force of the attack as Itsuka gripped onto the shield. 'What's she planning?' Momo mentally questioned before her eyes went to Itsuka's free arm. She felt something slam into her knees causing her to cry out in pain.
Itsuka had slammed her foot into Momo's knee. It bent her leg at an awkward angle causing her to lose her footing. 'Darn it! I was so worried about her hands that I forgot about her legs.'
Itsuka pulled Momo towards her and sent a palm strike towards Momo. She enlarged it upon impact, slamming her opponent with even greater force. Momo cried out in pain but held fast. Sparks gathered around her shield.
Itsuka screamed as she was electrocuted, causing her to release her grip on the shield. Momo recovered quickly and slammed her staff into Itsuka's stomach. The red-head gagged and slowly backed away, holding her stomach. Momo rushed at Itsuka, electrically charging and raising her staff before bringing it down on her. Itsuka managed to catch the staff with her right hand, and through gritted teeth, managed to pry the staff off Momo's hands and throw it out of the ring.
The weapon out of the way, Itsuka unleashed a flurry of blows on Momo, who tried to block the attacks with her shield. Suddenly, Itsuka reduced her hands' size and charged, parrying the shield with a hand before attacking with both hands, activating her Quirk just before impact to maximize damage.
"Double Jumbo Fist!"
The strength of the double punch sent Momo into the air, landing out of the ring before she could recover.
"Yaoyorozu Momo is out of bounds! Kendo Itsuka advances to the semifinals!"
"YES! You go, Kendo!" Tetsutetsu exclaimed.
"That was awesome, Itsuka!" Setsuna screamed.
"HA! Choke on that, Aizawa!" Vlad yelled in excitement. Aizawa decided to ignore him.
As soon as the match was called, Itsuka headed over to Momo. "That hurt," the pony-tailed devil muttered.
"Here let me help you help up," Itsuka expressed, reaching her hand down towards Momo.
"Thanks," Momo replied as she took hold of it.
"Good match out there," Itsuka said as she helped Momo to her feet.
"You as well. Though I feel ashamed I could not win it even though it was within my reach," Momo said, somewhat downcast.
"Don't worry too much about it," Itsuka said with a smile. "You fought well and made it hard to win. Besides, so long as you learn from this it's not really too bad of a loss."
"I suppose that's one way to look at it," Momo said with a soft smile.
The two made their way out of the arena.
["What a show of sportsmanship ladies and gentlemen!"] Present Mic exclaimed. ["And what a match as well. It wasn't too long but there was an impressive display of fighting skill on both sides."]
"The quarterfinals are over!" Midnight announced. "These are the two semifinals! Whoever wins them will reach the final match!" Midnight declared as the jumbotron showed the next two matches that would begin soon.
Round 1: Midoriya Izuku vs Shiozaki Ibara
Round 2: Todoroki Shoto vs Kendo Itsuka
Izuku and Ibara exchanged brief glances at each other.
["There you have it, listeners! The tournament is nearing its end, and soon we will know who wins this year's First-Year Sports Festival!"]
AN:
Well, this chapter was long and annoying to finish, especially with everything that happened in real life, but I managed to get it finished. I kinda struggled with writing this one, especially with the fight between Izuku and Liana.
Anyway, we're approaching the end of the sports festival. Finally! I honestly cannot wait to finish, just so I can get closer to doing a chapter that has the pool scene everyone's asking me to do. But until then have patience, people. So stay safe and stay healthy. Go beyond, PLUS ULTRA!