Coco: Hey, everyone! How are you all? I hope you're doing well! Well, this is basically the last chapter before we bring the sports festival to a close. I'm skipping the last fight between Shoto and Katsuki. I'm sorry for those who wanted to it wrote out, but not in this chapter, but the next we'll have the awards ceremony and the two days of rest the students had earned. And after that we'll have our dear students picking out hero names and deciding what agencies they want to join for their internships, which will be fun. And with that chapter will come the original mini arcs for our other leading ocs: Konan, Hachiro, and Ayumi. Though I guess the last too aren't so much "original" since I'll be using that filler episode for Hachiro and canon for Ayumi, but you get the idea.

Speaking of special chapters, in celebration of hitting over 1,003 followers (something I've never come so close to before in the past), I am going to be writing a special chapter featuring Class 1-A! I guess you could treat it like an OVA. It won't have any real tie to the timeline, and it'll just be a little fun chapter revolving around the class we love dearly and of course, they will be some Katsuki/Ayano moments thrown in there. So, be looking forward to that.

Though don't expect it too soon. Between work and school, I literally have no days whatsoever just to myself anymore. I'm either at work or at school, or I'm going both in the same day meaning, I get up at 5am to get ready for school, at 2:30pm when school ends I head straight to work with barely enough to grab a bite to eat, then I clock in at 3pm and don't return home until about 10pm once I finish work. So...yeah, but a student holiday is coming up soon. It's just one day, and I'm going to try and get work off that day too. Fingers crossed. If I manage to pull it off, I might be able to catch up on a lot of my work here on this site.

Oh, and before I forget, here's the next OC profile!

Name: Sebone Rina

Nickname/Alias(s): Magpie, Richan (by Toga/Rina doesn't approve of it), Imperfect Masterpiece (All for One)

Age: 19

D.O.B: November 7th

Gender: Female

Height: 162cm (5'3")

Quirk: Memory Manipulation, Telepathy, Empathy (quirk gifted to her by All for One), (natural quirk...? XD)

Birthplace: N/A

Occupation: Villain

Affiliation: League of Villains

Trivia

-Rina is the second born daughter of Sebone Giichi and the late Etsudo. This makes her the younger sister of Kazane and the elder sister of Ayano.

-Rina once dreamed of becoming a pro-hero like her parents.

-After her mother's passing, she had been sent by her father to live with her maternal grandparents (Kichigai Idenshi and Nozomi).

-It is unknown how she came to be in All for One's possession.

-Rina's favorite manga genre is horror.

After the matches of Fumikage vs. Mina and Katsuki vs. Eijiro were finished, Ayano found herself out on the ring once more as she faced Shoto. She wasn't sure how exactly this match would go, but knowing Shoto, who has worked with her in training and seen all her matches, he's probably thought of measures to keep his feet on the ground. Also, with his ice mostly used for capturing, he'll have to think of other measures to counter against her. Meaning this match would most likely be won through knock out or getting an opponent to yield.

"It's the first match of the semi-finals!" Present Mic shouted. "Both have been at the top of these games since the very beginning! It's a battle of the elites! From the hero course—Ishida Ayano vs. her classmate—Todoroki Shoto!"

The crowd cheered for the two students as Ayano and Shoto stared each other down. They both knew this fight wasn't going to be so easily won.

"Start!" Present Mic gave the okay.

Instead of sending a wave of ice towards Ayano has he's done the others, Shoto heavily iced around his feet.

'He's created an anchor on his feet, so I can't simply lift him up and toss him out,' Ayano thought as she grinned. "I could try to box him in as a way to cut through the ice, but I can't clearly see where his feet are meaning I could hack through them. Not exactly something a hero would do, and I'm not looking to maim anyone. So, what to do?'

As she thought it over, Shoto—despite having his feet incased in ice, was able to send a torrent of ice at her. Though getting caught wouldn't really hinder her, Ayano activated her board to take flight to get away from the upcoming ice. As she went up, Shoto frowned. He knew this wasn't going to be easy. His ice might not by any help at all during this match. However…Shoto's frown deepened as he clenched his fist on his left side.

'Should I really use my flames again?' He wondered.

He didn't have much time to think it over as Ayano sent several baseball-sized psionic orbs at Shoto. He had to quickly create a wall of ice in front of him, and when the orbs impacted, they shattered through nearly half the wall.

'If those had hit me…' Shoto trailed off.

Ayano sent another volley of orbs towards Shoto, but this time from behind. Shoto had to quickly use his left side to melt the ice around his feet, so he could turn around to create more ice to shield him.

'So, he is willing to use his left side,' Ayano thought as Shoto anchored himself to the ground again with ice. 'Definitely makes things more difficult.'

Though he wasn't using his fire yet, so that was a good thing for Ayano. As she spun in the air to avoid the pillar of ice sent her way, the crowd cheered.

"Look at these two give it their all!" Present Mic announced. "Neither of them holding back as they try to best the other!"

Up in the student section, Izuku, who was now back with his classmates, watched carefully as Ayano swiftly circled around Shoto while trying to hit him with another volley of orbs.

'I've never seen her use a move like that,' Izuku thought. 'Granted she's never used her psionic construction much before coming to U.A. And most of the time she used her powers defensively, but now she's taking the offensive.'

She must have used that time training with Katsuki to learn how to use her quirk for offense. It was amazing to see just how much Ayano has adjusted and bettered her quirk in those few weeks of training with their childhood friend. Izuku glanced towards Katsuki, who was standing behind the rows of seats, as the blonde was watching the fight closely as well.

'This match-up isn't the best.' Katsuki thought. 'That icy-hot-bastard can defend against Aya's attacks and has a way to keep himself anchored to the ground. Two things that put Aya at a disadvantage. However, as long as he only uses ice, he hinders himself as well. This match could end when one of them tires out.'

As he was thinking that, Ayano had to pull a quick halt as Shoto shot a huge pillar of ice out in front of her. She frowned as she had to swiftly right herself in the air as her board wavered.

'This isn't getting either of us anywhere,' She realized. 'We're both just straining our quirks without gaining anything in return.'

There had to be something she could do to give her the advantage. She frowned once more while knowing something that could work, but she didn't like using it. But she had to do something or this match would go on forever. Besides, she came her to win and she couldn't be afraid of using that technique forever. She came to U.A to gain more control. To break her limitations. Time for a test.

With that in mind, Ayano flew around the wall of ice to head straight for Shoto whose eyes widened at her new tactic. He wasn't the only one surprised. Katsuki and Izuku both stiffened as they wondered just what changed her methods all of a sudden.

"Looks like Ishida has thrown caution to the wind as she rushes her classmate!" Present Mic announced.

As Aizawa narrowed his eyes at the scene, Shoto tried to quickly knock Ayano down or at least keep her at bay as he shot several pillars of ice forward. Ayano dodged all of them. And then as she was about to be in front of Shoto, she deactivated her board. She hit the ground on her feet while using the momentum to shoot her forward. She wasn't very athletic, but thanks to the force behind her landing, she closed the rest of the gap between her and Shoto in seconds.

Then before he could counter, she grabbed the top of his head with her thumbs connecting to his temples. After that things went completely still, which had everyone murmuring in confusion. Izuku, who knew what Ayano was doing, stared with wide eyes.

'She's using a full-on telepathic attack…' Izuku realized with wide eyes. 'What she did earlier in the cavalry battle wasn't much. Something she could do without batting an eye, but this…she's delving deep inside Todoroki's head. Blocking his own thought process with her mental presence.'

She hasn't done anything like this since they were kids, and she had done it mostly by accident. It hadn't ended well. Even as a child, Ayano's mental prowess has been more than just exceptional. Without much effort she had hurt her parents—Gokuri and Kiru. She shattered their psyche without meaning to because she invaded their minds even if it was just to show them something she thought was special. Izuku remembers that day. It hadn't been pleasant.

After that day, Ayano never went any farther than the surface of someone's mind. She tells people she's unable to get farther inside their head without knowing them better. That she needs more information to peek farther in. Partially that was true. However, if she really wanted, she could delve as deep as she wanted, but it would be rough on the person whose mind she was invading. And there was the high risk of their minds ending up like her parents' minds.

'What changed?' Izuku wondered. 'What gave her the confidence to do this again?'

Even as he was wondering this, his eyes flicked over to Katsuki as the blonde was watching very closely to the match. As the stillness continued in the arena, more people started chattering as they wondered what was going on.

"It looks like all has stopped in the ring, sports fans!" Present Mic shouted. "Just what could Ishida be doing?! Is this the end of the match?!"

Down below in the ring, Ayano frowned. No, this wasn't the end. She was merely putting a small stopper in the part of Shoto's brain that let it tell the rest of his body how to move. Most people forget that the brain controls everything, everything the body does. While normal day to day activities such as walking, breathing, blinking, happen so naturally and with such little effort, it's still because the brain is telling the body to do so.

Now, Ayano is letting enough commands go through Shoto's subconscious to keep him breathing and all his other organs functioning, etc. However, the part where the brain tells his body to move and how to move is blocked. That includes the ability to control his quirk. But here's the thing, she can't control his brain enough to tell him to forfeit. Nor can she get him to walk out of the ring. All she can do his block certain parts of his brain that control certain parts of his body's natural rhythm.

Could she knock him out? Perhaps. If she stopped all functions to the brain long enough for his lungs to stop, so he'd pass out, but Ayano wasn't about to do that to a classmate. Nor was she going to use such a strong mental signal to fry his brain either. So, the question was…

'What do I do from here?' She thought. 'Technically he's immobilized. Just not physically. Meaning, I highly doubt the judges would call this a win. Which also means, I need to think of something else to do and quick.'

She just didn't know what, and the longer she took to think, the less of a hold she had on Shoto's mind. This wasn't good at all. As she struggled to figure out what to do next, Shoto could feel the tiniest of moments in his toes. He wasn't sure exactly what Ayano had done earlier to make him lose his ability to move. But it was wearing off. Meaning, he could take his chance soon. Up in the stands, Katsuki frowned as his jaw clenched.

'That idiot is hesitating,' Katsuki thought heatedly. 'She could have already won this match.'

But he knew she basically forfeited the right to move on the second she decided not to go along with the strategy Katsuki had made her work on during their training. He then narrowed his eyes when he could have sworn, he saw the ice behind Ayano shift.

'It's all over now,' Katsuki thought. 'Icy-Hot can move again.'

Just as the thoughts went through his head, Shoto attacked. Everyone gasped as Shoto formed a large blunt chunk of ice that came up from the ground behind Ayano. Ayano gasped as well while turning her head, which proved to be a bad mistake on her part as the ice hit her alongside the left side of her face. It even caused a small cut alongside her temple, and she was certain she felt her cheekbone fracture.

"Todoroki seems to have gotten control back over his body and doesn't hesitate to go for a knock-out as he hits Ishida hard!" Present Mic shouted as the crowd cheered.

Ayano stumbled back away from Shoto as she placed her hand against her throbbing temple. She couldn't think right and the constant filter she has up to prevent a thought overload was slightly crumbling. Thoughts came pouring in from everywhere, which had Ayano shaking her head as she had trouble trying to sort through them.

"I'm sorry," Shoto said as he walked towards Ayano. "I didn't want to hit you so hard, but we both know you wouldn't have gone down either way."

He then finished his attack as he swept Ayano's feet out from under her. She fell back onto the concrete ring with her head taking another crack. Ayano groaned curling up as she held her aching head.

"Is this the end for Ishida?!" Present Mic said as Ayano was seeing dark spots color her vision.

'How could I let things end like this?' Ayano thought hazily. 'I told him…I'd meet him…at the top…'

Her thoughts started becoming less coherent as Midnight paused the match to check on Ayano. She knelt down next to the girl while placing a gentle hand on Ayano's head. Ayano flinched a bit but was otherwise unresponsive. Midnight sighed.

'She can't go on,' Midnight realized. 'She's reached her limit.'

Midnight stood up as the crowd waited quietly to hear the verdict. Midnight whipped her tassel towards Shoto.

"Ishida Ayano is unable to continue!" Midnight announced. "Todoroki moves on!"

The stands erupted into cheers for Shoto as the medical robots came to pick up Ayano.

"Well, you heard it, folks!" Present Mic yelled. "In the Battle of the Front-Runners the winner is Todoroki Shoto!"

Said student walked alongside the medical robots as they took Ayano off the ring. Up in the stands, All Might looked sympathetically down at Ayano's unmoving body. He knew she wasn't going to take this loss well, and he wasn't sure if he should try to speak with her later or not.

"So, she finally lost," Rina said casually as she looked up from her manga. "Was she even trying to get to first place?"

Tomura looked away from his computer screen with his red eyes meeting Rina's gaze.

"I thought you didn't care." Tomura said. "But you've been paying attention this entire time, hmm?"

Rina frowned at her companion as she finally snapped her manga closed to set it off to the side.

"I don't care how well she does in her schooling or how far she goes as a hero." Rina said. "If things go to plan, she won't even get to see her last year at U.A. However, she lost because she hesitated. With her power, she could have easily knocked the boy out without even having to get near him. I find it disgraceful. I hope she's at the very least ashamed of her performance."

Tomura didn't comment at first as he just stared at Rina. His look had her frown deepening.

"So, in other words you do care, even if it is in your own twisted way." Tomura summarized.

Rina' brow twitched though she said nothing in return. It'd only bring her more of a headache if she continued this conversation.

"Though I do agree." Tomura continued. "She could have won that match if she had used the full extent of her quirk. Yet even in the incident against All Might and those brats, she never once portrayed this scary power you and Master spoke about. It makes me wonder…"

Tomura trailed off as he scratched the side of his neck in thought. While Rina didn't say it aloud, it puzzled her as well. When Ayano was born, her quirk had been hard to handle. She and Kazane weren't allowed much near their baby sister because the newborn couldn't control the quirk she was born with. Many a time, Etsudo had taken Ayano to see their grandfather who had his own strong psionic quirk.

After each visit, Ayano's quirk seemed more…tamed, but Kazane and Rina still had to be supersized by one of their parents whenever they wanted to play or hold Ayano. Then not long after her last session with their grandfather, Etsudo and Giichi had separated the girls. Did that last visit to their grandfather finally calm Ayano's quirk? Or did something else happen? Rina wasn't sure, but even still, she knew Ayano was dangerous even if her little sister didn't know it herself.

Izuku looked down at Ayano worriedly as the girl laid unconscious in the recovery room. Recovery Girl had already healed her wounds, but Ayano hadn't woke up.

"She'll be fine," Recovery Girl assured Izuku. "She's just had a long day."

Izuku nodded though that didn't make him worry any less. He reached out to take Ayano's hand. He knew when she woke up that she would be upset. She tried so hard today, and stumbled when she was nearly at the finishing line.

"You were amazing today, Ayano." Izuku told her even if she might not be able to hear him at the moment. "You always surprise me. I've known you all these years and there's still things I don't know or understand about your quirk. But I do know that it's incredible. It always has been."

Ayano didn't reply, but it wasn't like Izuku expected her to. Izuku then jumped when the door to the recovery room was slammed open.

"Where is that idiot?!" Katsuki demanded as he marched in.

Izuku sweat-dropped and wasn't surprised when Ayano started to stir. Katsuki was being pretty loud.

"You're being much too noisy." Recovery Girl chastised. "She needs her rest."

"She can rest when she's dead!" Katsuki snapped as he stepped beside Izuku—next to the bed. "Wake up, moron!"

Ayano's eyes slowly started to open before she turned them towards Katsuki and Izuku.

"Kacchan, Izuku…" She murmured.

Izuku smiled while glad she was awake even if she just woke up because of Katsuki's shouting. However, Izuku's smile dropped when he could have sworn, he saw Ayano's eyes begin to water. Ayano quickly sat up while turning her back to the boys, which had Izuku frowning in concern.

"Sorry, if I worried you." She said. "You really should have bothered yourselves with checking up on me."

Katsuki just snorted as he crossed his arms over his chest. If she thought she wasn't getting an earful for her loss, she was even more stupid than he thought.

"Aren't you supposed to be in a match anyway, Katsuki?" Ayano continued.

"I already beat Bird Boy." Katsuki retorted. "They're taking another small break before the next fight. But I didn't come in here to check on you. I wanna know what the hell did you think you were doing in your match, huh?!"

"Kacchan, come on," Izuku began as he tried to calm the blonde down.

Katsuki shot him a glare though that had him shutting up as he learned away from the explosive boy. Katsuki's question had Ayano's shoulders and back growing taunt as her hands clenched the sheets of the bed.

"I lost it's as simple as that," Ayano said with her voice wavering ever so slightly.

Katsuki growled—clearly unhappy with her response. He then started stomping around the bed to make Ayano look at him when he spoke.

"You wouldn't have lost if you had just—!" Katsuki stopped speaking abruptly as he finally made it in front of Ayano.

His eyes widened partially when seeing the stray tears escaping from Ayano's watery eyes.

'She's crying…' He thought.

Ayano, who was unable to meet Katsuki's gaze, turner her head to the side and slightly down.

"I messed up," She said. "I know…but I didn't want to hurt him. I didn't want resort to something I saw as something a villain would do…not a hero. That and I…I'm still not strong enough."

When that last sentence left her mouth, Ayano's voice had become soft. But the boys heard it loud and clear. Izuku's eyes widened as he hurried—as best he could—got out of his seat.

"That's not true!" Izuku said. "You've always been strong."

Ayano didn't react to his words as she finally looked up at Katsuki to meet his gaze as a few more tears fell.

"It looks like you got what you wanted," Ayano said without malice or resentment. "I'm still not able to surpass you."

Katsuki's face curled up in a snarl as an almost painful feeling entered his chest. It burned almost, and it made him uncomfortable. Without thinking, Katsuki reached out to grasp Ayano by the shoulders to jerk her up on her feet. Izuku gasped at his rough treatment of their injured friend, but Katsuki didn't pay him or Recovery Girl any attention. Ayano's eyes widened in surprise as well since she was once again, nose-to-nose with Katsuki.

"So what? You're going to give up just because you lost that one fight?" He demanded as he looked her right in the eyes. "I didn't help you train these last four weeks just to see you give up! You said you were going to surpass me and that shitnerd! Don't tell me that was all talk, Aya."

Ayano's eyes widened even more at Katsuki's words as he continued to stare into her eyes. Izuku just looked between them nervously as he wondered if he should step in.

"Don't tell me you've giving up." Katsuki said.

Ayano's eyes watered a bit more. She slowly lowered her head, which put her forehead against Katsuki's chest. Her shoulders shook as she clenched her hands into fists.

"I haven't given up." Ayano said. "I…I will surpass you. I'll surpass you and you will have to catch up to me."

Katsuki snorted as he stepped back from the psychic youth as Ayano kept her head down.

"I wouldn't go that far, stupid." Katsuki said. "Now get some rest. When all this is over, we're hitting training again. And I'll be three times as hard as before, so you better get ready for it."

He then marched his way out the door while slamming it behind him, which seemed to make the room shake a bit. After that the room became quiet. Izuku watched Ayano carefully as the ginger girl wiped the tears away.

"Ayano…" He began though trailed off.

He wasn't sure what to say, but he knows how she's feeling. He used to feel the same way. He used to get so frustrated when seeing how far she and Katsuki were going. They had wonderful quirks and could do so many wonderful things. And to him, he was still at the bottom.

"You should go watch the final match up, Izuku." Ayano said as she sat down on the bed.

"Yeah, but, what about you?" Izuku asked.

"I don't think I'm ready to return to the loudness of the arena just yet." Ayano said. "Will you go cheer Katsuki on for me?"

Izuku looked unsure, but supposed he wasn't helping Ayano just by standing here. Especially since he didn't know what to say.

"Yeah, of course." Izuku said. "Are…are you sure you're going to be okay?"

Ayano let out a sigh before turning to finally look at Izuku. She gave him a tired smile, but it seemed genuine.

"Yes," Ayano said. "I'll be fine. I'll wallow in self-pity a bit then be back to normal before you know it."

Izuku slowly nodded his head, but before he went to leave, but placed his hand on Ayano's head.

"Get some rest, okay?" He requested.

Ayano nodded then watched as Izuku left the room. Once he was gone, Ayano laid back now.

"Sorry for the dramatics, Recovery Girl-san." Ayano said as she glanced to the elderly woman.

"It's quite alright, dear." Recovery Girl assured her. "Those boys seem to care about you a lot. Be sure not to let this loss keep you down for long. I'd hate to see what your loud friend would do next just to cheer you up."

Ayano chuckled a bit. She wasn't sure if Katsuki was exactly trying to cheer her up. It was more like he was trying to get her not to give up, and she wasn't going to. But it feels like after taking such a big step forward, she just took several feet back through that one loss. She wasn't stopping here though. She was going to keep pushing forward. No matter what.

"Now you just get some rest." Recovery Girl said. "I will wake you once it's time for the reward ceremony. While you might not have taken first place, third place just as exceptional."

Ayano nodded her head then allowed herself to drift off. She was tired and the throbbing in her head hadn't completely ceased. So, a nap did sound nice.