26/11/2022
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The Emperor's Dragon
Emergence 28 - Information
Aizawa hated the Sport's Festival. The noise. The people. The teenage dramas. But there were a few things he didn't mind about it. He had to admit that some of the matches could give those staff who cared to look a good insight into a student's capability and he, if he got the right room, he could nap for most of the time.
So it wasn't completely bad, but it was tending towards bad. At least he hadn't got announcer duties this year, for any year level. Nemuri was pretty salty that she had, and for the first years but these were the duties of a UA teacher.
With the matches done it was time he put in an appearance at the Teacher's Lounge or the rat would send someone to find him… probably All Might. He didn't need that. He wriggled his way to the door. It was interesting. This room was one of the ones closest to the stadium and no one had used it. It was good that way. He assumed everyone thought it was already occupied and saved him from having to find somewhere to nap deeper in the bowels of the stadium.
Aizawa nudged the door open and then froze. There were three people in the corridor and from the way they were standing they weren't moving. He didn't feel like trying to inch past them. And he was somewhat interested in their conversation. Watching the Sports Festival could give insights into who their students were, but so could listening in on what they thought were private conversations. Besides, he was somewhat interested in these students. It wasn't every day a Management Student got to the final and then withdrew! And the heroics girl had done remarkably well against Bakugou. Far better than he'd originally pegged her as doing.
"Little Dragon!" She seemed relieved.
The Management Student smiled at her. It looked a bit pale. "I'm sorry," he said as he came up to his friends.
"What for?" That was the General Studies student. Some would say he was simply lucky to have gotten to the tournament round and maybe he was but he'd won one match himself so he had some ability.
"I should have stayed to watch your matches," he explained.
The girl waved off the explanation. "Are you alright?" she asked earnestly.
Aizawa remembered the conversation he'd heard at the entrance exam so it didn't take much to put two and two together. The kid had encountered All Might.
"I'll be fine," the boy said.
She didn't look convinced. The other teen looked even less convinced.
"I will be fine," the Management student, Mitei Chui repeated. "It's just… I know Toxic Chainsaw is why dad is injured but…" He huffed. "I guess a part of me blames All Might." He looked to the ground when he said that.
It was a very interesting sentiment. Aizawa was surprised to hear it. He thought the only people who hated All Might were villains, whose opinions didn't count and those who were jealous. Or those who thought he was too much of a showboater.
"It's okay, Little Dragon," the girl said.
"If he hadn't gone after Toxic Chainsaw in the middle of the day in the business district," the blue haired boy said… There were a lot of ifs there but Aizawa couldn't help but agree to at least some of them. He knew though that All Might hadn't been going after Toxic Chainsaw. There was some other villain… and from what Scarab had hinted at, that other villain was one who hid himself with the civilian population. Given the location he was probably a very respected businessman and Chui's father had simply been collateral damage. There may not have been another time or place to go after the real villain.
But… that didn't make it easier on people like the kid.
He shook his head, before reaching up to sweep his curls out of his eyes. "Anyway, enough of that. How did your matches go?" His eyes were intent.
"We both went out in the second round," the General Studies student said. There was an edge to his voice that both Aizawa and his friend picked up on.
Mitei tilted his head to ask the question.
"You go first," the General Studies student, who's name Aizawa finally remembered, was Hitoshi Shinsou, said.
His friend, Ochaco didn't look impressed but she nodded. "I got passed Ibara from 1A in the first round," she reported.
"Which one's Ibara?" Mitei asked.
"The girl with the vines for hair," Ochaco elaborated.
Chui nodded. "How'd you do it?" He asked.
It had actually been quite a simple match and Aizawa would be working with his class about the dangers of heading straight into combat. It probably wouldn't make an impact on Katsuki but the others should take the lesson to heart. Ibara had been defeated because she'd assumed that once she caught Ochaco, she'd win. Instead, the 1B student had, by touching her vines, removed what control Ibara might have over them and had lifted her into the sky. At that point the match was over.
There were things Ibara could have done and he'd be pointing them out to her. He didn't know what response Vlad's student would have made but it would have been a more even match.
"So basically what you are saying is she should have used her vines as whips and never let you touch them?" Chui came to much the same conclusion he had.
Ochaco nodded. "But, she didn't, so-" she shrugged.
That was about all that could be said really. Vlad's student had won, fair and square.
"And the second round?" Mitei pressed.
The girl grimaced and shook her head. "I got that explosive boy from 1A. I did my best," she gulped. "But-" she didn't finished.
Aizawa saw Hitoshi shake his head. "Ochaco got him good!" he praised his friend. "Every single time he made debris, she put it into the air."
"Oh…" Mitei said, nodding slowly. "And you showered him?"
"Yeah, but it wasn't enough," she pointed out.
It nearly had been. And he'd seen that Katsuki had been pissed about that.
"Bigger rocks next year?" Mitei suggested.
That got him a weak smile.
"Or, Ochaco does her new finishing move," Hitoshi said.
"Finishing move?"
The girl shook her head. "I tried what you suggested," she said.
Mitei was silent for a moment and then his eyes lit up. "Did it work?"
To Aizawa's eyes she looked a little disappointed but the General Studies student laughed.
"She clocked him good!"
She had. The rock had come from out of nowhere and had only angered Bakugou more but he had acknowledged her as a decent fighter. The one thing about that boy was that he took no mercy on anyone.
"It worked!" Mitei cheered.
"I need more practice," she said bashfully.
"I only suggested it today."
Aizawa thought about that. If she'd only had that move suggested to her today then… she had very good control over her quirk. Hardly surprising since Vlad focused on control and strengthening drills but she also had good combat instincts given her performance against Bakugou. She was probably going to be a good hero in the future.
"You'll get better," Mitei reassured her. She would get better, Aizawa acknowledged. Her quirk seemed quite simple but that suggested that with the right mind set, she could come up with a lot of different uses for it. Mr Number One never seemed to have a problem with the fact that his only gift was stupendous strength.
"You should watch the playback," Hitoshi suggested.
Aizawa didn't hear anything in the boy's voice but apparently his friend did. There was a sharp movement before he relaxed and nodded. "I'll probably wear out the rewind on a particular part," he suggested before they all laughed.
"So… Hitoshi?" Mitei asked in a way that told Aizawa that the General Studies student was used to going last with explanations, and then often being forgotten and so never having to give the explanation. It didn't appear to be something that disturbed him.
The purple haired teen sighed and even the girl looked down. That wasn't the reaction he'd been expecting. The boy had done well against Mashirao, somehow using his quirk to get the boy to walk off the stage but against Todoroki- No!
Aizawa resisted the urge to shake his head. The movement might attract attention but he knew better than to assume the General Studies student should have lost against Todoroki.
Mitei interpreted their silence and he sighed. "Okay, I know from the first round, Endeavor's son made a huge ice glacier against that kid with the sticky tape," he said. "He did that against you?" He asked pointedly.
Hitoshi nodded.
"Did he cover your mouth?" Mitei asked. He sounded angry at the thought.
It was a bit odd. On the platform his friend had tried, and succeeded in getting a headshot in on Katsuki but that was sort of the point of the fight. It was a fight! Deliberately attempting to suffocate someone was just a bit different.
"He didn't," Ochaco said sadly.
It took Mitei a moment to understand that statement and his expression was interesting. From where Aizawa was he saw the blue haired boy's eyes open wide, along with his mouth before that snapped shut. Then his expression shifted into outrage. "She fucking didn't?" he demanded. That was more than outrage, that was rage.
Aizawa was confused. The trio obviously knew what he was speaking about but what had Nemuri done?
The two remained silent.
"She didn't?" Mitei demanded again, his teeth clenched.
Eventually Ochaco sighed. "She did."
Her response seemed to free Hitoshi to answer. He looked to the ground. "She did. Midnight called the match almost as soon as I was encased."
"She didn't even check with you?" Mitei demanded, actually stamping his foot slightly.
Hitoshi shook his head.
"The stupid, sanctimonious, useless, hero bitch!" Mitei snarled. "Wait no, that's an insult to dogs, and I like them. Sea slug!"
Aizawa was surprised by the venom in the kid's tone. There was real hatred there, but then he recalled the conversation at the Entrance Exam and the kid's history. He had reason to dislike heroes but this was beyond that.
"So she just assumed that because you were trapped you were helpless?" Mitei asked.
"She doesn't know what my quirk does," Hitoshi defended Midnight.
"That's not the point!" his friend responded immediately. "What were you meant to do, tell her, 'oh, don't worry, I'm okay, I'm just going to mind control him to walk off the stage'... I mean, you could have, but then… actually it probably would have worked against the Iida's youngest. Not so sure about Bakugou," Mitei allowed.
Aizawa wasn't really listening anymore. It did appear they were right, Midnight had fucked up if the kid's quirk was really mind control and he had no reason to believe it wasn't.
"She was just, as usual, assuming that might makes right," Mitei said, shaking his head. "I expected better from someone with a more subtle quirk. Darn it. I'm sorry I wasn't here."
"What would you have done, Little Dragon?" Ochaco asked.
Aizawa was beginning to see where the nickname came from. Mitei appeared passionate defending his friends. It was probably something he'd done all his life. But he was also interested in the answer. He wanted to know if Midnight had messed up or if the kids were just overly confident of their friend's quirk.
"After I finished calling her out for her blatant and obvious favouritism?" Mitei responded rhetorically. "A rematch would be stupid and there's no way they would have done it, but I would have insisted upon a private demonstration to prove you could control Endeavor's son and then I would have pushed for the overturning of the result and the instatement of a properly neutral referee."
It sounded like he really would have done all of that. And… actually it would have been good for Todoroki to lose that way. It might have woken him up to the fact that he couldn't always rely on half his quirk, especially against… well, those who appeared harmless. And if the boy, Hitoshi had gotten to the final and Bakugou hadn't worked out the trick of his quirk, though he probably would have… that would have been interesting. At least Mitei seemed to acknowledge that his friend likely wouldn't have won over all but could have gotten further and… Aizawa sighed mentally. It might be that Midnight had been too hasty.
"I'm regretting withdrawing now."
"But-" Hitoshi objected.
"Oh, if I faced one of you, I would have let you win," Mitei said, waving one hand. "Mei too, if that's what she wanted. But if I went up against those over entitled pricks… I would have wiped the floor with them."
He sounded completely assured of his abilities, which meant he either had them or was delusional. Aizawa wasn't sure which it was quite yet but the kid obviously had good observation and analytical skills. And, his mind reminded him, he was quite strong given his performance in the first two events. He might not be talking it up that much.
Ochaco laughed. "There's no need for that, Little Dragon. I'll wipe the floor with them next year," she stated confidently.
The group laughed and Aizawa saw the tension which had been building in the kid seem to drain away. "Good," he agreed. "By next year the two of them will-"
"Two of who?"
"Endeavor's son and the other one," Mitei clarified with a shrug. "I'm sure they'll both have new moves, but they won't have the subtlety you will."
"What do you mean?"
"They both rely on brute force," Mitei explained to his friends. "Eventually, they're gonna hit something that won't yield," he added with a smile that suggested he'd very much like to be there when it happened. "After all, they aren't All Might," he concluded.
Aizawa felt a stab of concern at the conclusion. Mitei had grimaced when he'd said it. Just a little and there was a note in his voice that suggested he was lying. But why would a statement about All Might sound that way? Or was it just that he didn't like mentioning Mr Number One, given his legitimate reason to dislike him?
That was certainly the more logical explanation than believing the kid knew that All Might was injured. He nodded to himself. The kid was perceptive, and passionate but not that perceptive. Not when All Might's injuries were practically a state secret.
"All Might is focusing on 1A," the girl said with the barest trace of bitterness in her voice. "So they will probably run into him," she added.
That got a laugh out of the group and they moved away.
"Still, it's good you got into the second round, both of you," Mitei said as they walked.
"Yeah! Though I told you both earlier, 1B will probably adopt you both-" she said before they were out of ear shot. For all the corridors of the stadium looked like they should transfer sound, they didn't. At least not around corners. That's why the openings to the main arena were actually short. The sound from the crowd reverberated down the short length and then dissipated, leaving the surrounding areas quiet.
Aizawa got up. That had been interesting and while at least some was simply teen bravado, there were some interesting points made. He'd be watching all three. The Management Student obviously didn't want to be a hero but… he was going to manage some good ones and if the other boy's quirk worked as they explained then… Midnight had screwed up a bit.
He'd rewatch the match before deciding if to have a word with her. The matches were decided now but it would have done both Todoroki and Bakugou good to lose! Especially with Bakugou's performance on the podium.
He still hated the Sport's Festival. It brought out the worst in people. But at least he had something to think about.
-ted-
Aizawa should just admit he's a professional eavesdropper and be proud of it. Though he now has some things to check and the heroes were dumb, which is only going to make Mitei's father all the more happy!
My discord is on this code: ZX2R5h2cEm FFN will remove links but you should be able to figure that out. There's a heap of other authors there, so come along and chat to us all!
-ted-
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