"Ahhhhh, what the fuck?!"

Leizcio's mind was finally not foggy anymore. He was able to tell more or less what was happening but he couldn't break out of it. He doesn't remember who he was talking to before his mind had gone blank but he could've sworn it was someone with purple hair.

"Esperanza are you awake?" A distressed Ojiro called out to him.

"Yeah! What's happening though?"

"We got brainwashed by this guy!" Ojiro said looking upward towards the person they're carrying.

Leizcio's assumptions were right, it was some purple-haired person, but before Leizcio could say another thing, Mic had announced that the time was up. The teams that had won had announced and the person who was "leading" their team was Shinso, and they ended up getting 3rd place.

"Thanks for your hard work." was all that Shinso said as he walked away leaving Leizcio and the others extremely confused as to whatever happened during all of that. Looking around the field, Leizcio saw a huge... fountain? Wait no, that's just Midoriya crying.

"Wait Ojiro, were we brainwashed the whole time?"

"Yeah, he just used us to get into the final round. I don't think I'm going to be moving on though."

"Wait why not?"

"Well, everyone else was able to give it their all out there but I wasn't able to do so. It may seem dumb considering all the pros watching us but it hurts my dignity as well if I were to go up there."

Leizcio was understanding the words he said but he knew that it was also not the best idea to not continue into the final round. He lets out a small sigh, respecting Ojiro's decision.

"I understand Ojiro, but I'm going to be moving forward. But I'll also be fighting for you because there's no way I'm letting Shinso get away with using us." Leizcio said trusting Ojiro's decision.

"Thank you Esperanza. Now let's go get something to eat."

As the two headed to get something to eat, Leizcio felt a bit fired up for the final round now that he has to prove himself after being used as fodder for some dude who brainwashed him. He went on to get several servings of food. His classmates are used to it more or less due to his quirk, however, some people do tend to stare and Leizcio can't blame them. Not every day someone of his stature eats that much unless they were some sort of competitive eater.

Shortly after, they returned to the field and something was genuinely confusing Leizcio. Why were the girls in cheerleader outfits? Unsure, Leizcio goes up to Ochaco to ask her what's going on.

"Ochaco, why are you guys dressed up like this?"

"It was Mineta and Kaminari, they tricked us into wearing this." Ochaco said with a sigh.

"I'm not surprised it's those two, to be honest." Leizcio said in a sigh of disappointment. Looks like he had to go do something really quick.

On the lookout, he spots Kaminari and Mineta. Walking up to them, Mineta is just standing there but Kaminari has a look of worry on his face.

"Mineta, were you the one that tricked the girls into wearing the outfits?"

"Yeah, pretty genius huh?" Mineta said with a smirk.

Tired of it Leizcio just rushes him out of the stadium and leaves him there, giving Mineta time to think about what he did as he walks back. Taking a look at Kaminari, he had a look of fear in his eyes. Leizcio didn't do anything to him but just a look of disappointment. Heading back to the stage, a large screen had now displayed a tournament bracket with the combatants yet to be decided. Leizcio was a tad bit worried, mostly because he never really had much of a "friendly" competition. Mostly because he's beaten up villains and thugs during his patrols. Maybe he should view his opponents as thugs and that'd make it easier? Either way, Leizcio was a bit nervous but also pumped for the tournament.

"Now let's draw lots to determine the brackets! Once the bracket is determined, we'll have the recreational games and then start! The sixteen finalists can choose whether or not they want to participate in the recreation. Now from the first place team-"

"Um excuse me! I'll be withdrawing!" Ojiro said as he raised his hand ready to back out of the tournament. People were questioning his choice but at that point, it was Ojiro's choice and Leizcio understood why. Then the other person that was brainwashed with them also spoke up and withdrew and surprisingly Aoyama as well? He just told Lezcio, "Please do it." The best that Leizcio could understand was to whoop ass for him. It was already the plan, but that added fuel to Leizcio's drive.

The bracket was shortly decided after, and Leizcio was going to face off against Ashido from his class. He doesn't know her all that well but her quirk is something to be worried about. Sure Leizcio might heal faster than others but acid can still mess him up pretty badly. Upon looking more at the bracket, turns out Midoriya was going against the guy that brainwashed him and Ojiro.

However, Leizcio notices that Midoriya was about to respond to Shinso and zoomed over and covered his mouth with his hand as did Ojiro with his tail. Shinso just smirked and left the three of them.

"Ojiro, Esperanza, what's the matter?"

"Don't answer him, if you respond to anything he says, he'll brainwash you."

"And the only way to break out of it is to be hit physically by something, the only reason why I was able to break out was that Ojiro hit me to 'wake' me. "

"I see, was there anything else I should be concerned about?" Midoriya asked, now a bit wary for his first match.

"No, just don't say anything and you'll be fine." Leizcio said, hoping that Midoriya can rough him up for him.

"Okay, thank you for the warning!" Midoriya says as he runs off to probably prepare for his match.

After the announcement of the bracket, Leizcio makes his way up to the stands ready to watch the match. Sitting alongside Ochaco and Iida, he watches in anticipation as Midoriya and Shinso made their way onto the arena. Present Mic went on to explain the rules, so long as you force someone out of bounds, immobilize them or make them give up, you win.

"Ready?"

"Start!"

Not much was happening and Shinso was still running his mouth, however, seemed like something aggravated Midoriya as he started to move forward. Leizcio is now slightly worried. However, that sense of worry immediately became dread as he saw Midoriya come to a full stop.

"Me and Ojiro warned him too!" Leizcio said annoyingly as he facepalmed at what he saw.

He just stood there and not a single thing else from him had moved. That's when he started to slowly walk towards the boundary, no doubt Shinso using his quirk to force him to do so.

Midoriya was scarily close to boundaries and Leizcio thought there was no hope at that point. However, he started to notice Midoriya's hand glowing, it must be his quirk working! With that, a sudden gust of wind surrounded Midoriya, standing right next to the boundary but now awake again.

"YEAHHHH!" Leizcio yelled in excitement glad that whatever Midoriya did broke him out of the trance

Midoriya seized this opportunity and tackled Shinso with his arms towards the boundary. Even when he was hit with a right hook, he powered forward. However, Shinso took the advantage and punched his broken fingers, throwing Midoriya off. He tries to push Midoriya out of boundaries but it only leads to his failure as Midoriya grips his arm, lifting him and slamming Shino down onto the ground, with his legs going out of bounds.

"Shinso is out of bounds! Midoriya advance to round two!"

"YESSS!" Leizcio screamed glad that Midoriya won his match. Whatever he did, in the beginning, was an absolute miracle but it just worked. Either way, Leizcio is proud of his friend's advances in the tournament.

"You're quite supportive aren't you Esperanza?" Iida asked him, a bit surprised to see Leizcio riled up like this.

"Hehe, kinda. Can't help but be happy for my friends when they do well!" Leizcio said scratching his neck in embarrassment.

Shortly after, Midoriya returned to the stands with Ochaco, Iida, and Leizcio waiting for him. Looking at who was next, it was Sero VS Todoroki. Don't get Leizcio wrong, he always hopes for his friends but this is something else. Todoroki easily froze a building and quite frankly, Sero isn't going to be able to win against him no matter what he does.

Soon as the match started, Sero wrapped Todoroki in his tape and started to throw him into the boundaries until a sudden wall of ice was in front of Leizcio's face. It was quite clear who going to move into the next round. Sad, but it was expected to be honest.

Next up was Shiozaki VS Kaminari. Ibara seemed like she had some plant-related quirk and can probably make vines from her hair. Then we have his good friend Kaminari. He's not the brightest but he sure is strong. The question is he going to think about this strategically?

Upon seeing him put his hands on the ground, Leizcio was disappointed because he knew it was over right then and there. He unleashed his 1.3 million volts onto the arena but Shiozaki was able to make a shield of vines to protect her. She easily then captured him, declaring her the winner and advancement into the second round.

"That's strange, he was defeated in a second, wasn't he? Class A is supposed to be better than Class B so isn't that weird?" A random blonde from over the wall started rambling. He was then knocked out by some orange-haired girl that apologized. Leizcio was just kind of confused by the whole ordeal.

Hearing some muttering coming from nearby, Leizcio could hear everything that Midoriya was saying about the recent match, how the electricity was practically useless, how her binding vines would make it difficult to beat unless one went through with brute force or just tore them off. Even Leizcio was starting to have difficulty keeping up with what he was saying.

However, it had quickly become Iida's match against the support gear girl. While Leizcio wanted to watch his friend, he decided that he'd go into the waiting room to prepare against his match with Ashido. He tends to go to be on his own so that he can relax his mind and be mentally ready. But it usually doesn't take 10 minutes... What the hell was going on out there?

Once Iida's match was finally done, Leizcio steeled his mind and proceeded to walk out the gates. There awaited an entire crowd, no not a crowd, a literal stadium of people watching him. He was nervous as all hell but if he was going to get his name out there, he'll have to get used to it. Ashido was walking out from her side and she seemed unbothered and if anything ready for this fight.

"Is something going to come out of those horns? Well? From the Hero course, it's Mina Ashido!"

"Versus-"

"Make sure you don't blink or you might miss him! From the Hero course, it's Leizcio Esperanza!"

"You might be fast Espe but I'm still gonna beat ya!" Ashido said challenging him.

"Um, let's do our best to win?" Leizcio said unsure of what to say in response.

"Fifth match start!"

Ashido had waited for Leizcio to make a move and had her hands at the ready. She knew that it'd be useless to outpace him but she did have an idea in mind. She saw that he made a move forward and immediately threw acid around the stage. However, Leizcio didn't even move from where he stood. He simply faked her into thinking that he was going to run forward.

"Sorry Ashido!" Leizcio said as he took a long jump to get over the acid she created and to get to her. Before she could create acid from her palms to stop him, Leizcio had already managed to grab her and immediately take her out of boundaries in the span of a few seconds.

"Ashido is out of bounds! Esperanza advances to the second round!"

"Geez Espe, shoulda given me a chance!" Ashido said pouting at him.

"Sorry, but I couldn't risk it!" Leizcio said apologetically, knowing that he didn't let her do much.

"Ah c'mon I'm joking! Don't worry about it you did well! Now let's go back into the stands!" Ashido said lightly jabbing him in on his shoulder.

As they both went back to the stands, Iida Ochaco and Midoriya congratulated Leizcio on his win. Next up was Yaoyorozu and Tokoyami. Leizcio has already seen Yaoyorozu's creation quirk before, and he knows that it takes some time to create anything, even it is something as small as tape. Whereas dark shadow is... practically instant.

Leizcio couldn't focus on the match, he started to feel a bit out of it, his heart going a bit faster. Seeing dark shadow reminded him of the shadow beast quirk he went up against. He was struggling a bit but he managed to steel himself. But by the time he did so, the match was already done, Yaoyorozu had lost as she was out of bounds. However, she looked extremely upset about it. It's one thing to be frustrated over losing but this is something else. However, something else had also crossed Leizcio's mind.

He'll have to face Tokoyami in the next match since he won against Ashido, he'll have to face off against him. He's not scared of Tokoyami himself, rather, his quirk reminds him of that day. Sure he might've gotten out of it alive, but the fact that he was tossed around easily and could've died right there and then still haunts Leizcio. But Leizcio saw that Ochaco wasn't in her seat for quite some time. Then it hits him, she's going to be facing Bakugo of all people, she probably is nervous as hell. Looking to see who'd be next, it was Kirishima against Tetsutetsu. Figuring it'd be a draw, Leizcio heads into one of the waiting rooms to look for Ochaco.

Heading towards the second waiting room, he came across Midoriya who was also just about to enter.

"Oh hey, Midoriya, what're you doing here?"

"Uh well, I came to offer a plan against Bakugo for Uraraka."

Slightly confused as to why Leizcio opened the door so that the both of them could enter.

"Uraraka!"

"Deku! Leizcio! You don't want to watch the others' matches?"

"To be fair, they were pretty quick and Kirishima is fighting that steel dude."

"Then, next... soon..."

Despite knowing her for a while, Leizcio has never seen Ochaco as nervous as she is now. It started to make him worry a little bit for the match ahead.

"But, well, I don't think even Bakugo would use a full-strength explosion on a girl..." Iida said hoping that he was right.

"He would. Everyone's trying to become number one to make their dreams come true. Even if it's not Kacchan, no one would think about holding back."

"You've helped me so much, Uraraka. That's why I thought maybe I could help you a little."

Midoriya proceeds and pulls out his burnt-up notebook.

"A plan to use your quirk against Kacchan- It's rough but I came up with something."

Leizcio didn't show, but he felt a bit of disappointment towards Midoriya. Not for making the plan as that probably was quite the thinker, but more so that it doesn't seem like they have much faith in her to have planned something out. Yes, Bakugo is a beast, but Ochaco isn't someone who goes down easy.

"Thanks, Deku, but it's fine."

"You're amazing Deku. I keep seeing more and more amazing sides to you. During the cavalry battle, I thought that it'd be easier to team up with friends, but now that I think about it, I might've been trying to rely on you. That's why when Iida said he'd challenge you, it actually made me feel a little embarrassed."

She gets up out of her seat and proceeds to walk out of the room but before she leaves the others she has one last thing to say.

"That's why it's fine. Everyone's facing the future and trying their hardest. That means we're all rivals, right? That's why... Let's meet in the finals!" She said with a nervous smile and a shaky thumbs-up.

Leizcio, Iida, and Midoriya started to head back up to the stands, seeing that Kirishima and the guy from class 1-B had ended in a draw. Following suit, Ochaco and Bakugo had made their way onto the stage. Leizcio took a deep breath as he readied himself to see this battle, having faith that Ochaco will be able to pull through.

The match starts, and Ochaco begins with a dash towards Bakugo, with a strong sense of determination that even Leizcio could feel it from the stands. As she was closing in, he threw a blast towards her covering the majority of it in smoke. Leizcio could hear his friends around him respond in shock but he was in complete focus on the match. Amongst the smoke, Ochaco appeared again, making Bakugo throw another blast. However, it was just her jacket that was floating there as Ochaco had managed to sneak up on him. She's about to make him float but Bakugo's reflexes prove to be fast as he immediately defends himself and throws another blast at her, sending her back.

Now he's on the offensive, making another explosion whenever he sees her closing in on him.

Blast after blast, she continues to push forward, attacking without rest.

But Leizcio was starting to get worried, a bit uncomfortable even that she was continuing to get hurt, but he still holds onto hope for her. Despite the number of hits she's taking, she's still fighting on, so why shouldn't Leizcio still have faith in her?

But there was suddenly a rise of Boos coming from the other side of the stadium. They must've been booing Bakugo for not holding back. But Aizawa speaks his mind, and it was what Leizcio had also been thinking. Bakugo knows not to underestimate his opponent, knowing that Ochaco is strong, thus not letting his guard down.

As she was catching her breath, Ochaco suddenly puts her hands together and rubble starts to fall from the sky. This whole time, she'd been letting the arena get destroyed so that she could use its remains as weapons against Bakugo. She began to make a dash towards him but as he raised his palm into the sky, delivering a large explosion. Every piece of rubble that was in the sky before was now nothing but dust. Ochaco was knocked down to the floor from the sheer power of the blast. In a desperate attempt, she runs towards Bakugo to continue fighting but her body fails her as she collapses, but even then she doesn't stop, crawling.

Her body has hit its limit, and she faints, making Bakugo the winner of this match. Leizcio was hurt by what had happened. Yes, Ochaco is strong and didn't give up even when her body refused to continue. But it hurt to see her hurt that much. Now that he thinks about it, that's probably why she was so mad at him back then. She had enough of seeing her friend so beat up.

Getting out of his seat, he heads over to the waiting room to gather his thoughts and calm down. He once again runs into Midoriya entering the room.

"Ah sorry Midoriya! I'll go into the other room so you can prepare for your match!"

"No, it's okay Esperanza!"

As the two entered the room, to their surprise, Ochaco was waiting in there.

"I got carried away at the end thinking I could do it, dang it."

"Uraraka, what about your injuries are you okay?"

"Yeah, Recovery Girl took care of me! It was only moderate healing so it wouldn't drain my stamina, so I've still got scratches and stuff, though. "

"Man but that Bakugo was really strong! He totally got me I need to work harder too!" Ochaco said in a suddenly frustrated tone. It concerned both Midoriya and Leizcio a little bit.

"Are you all right?" They both had asked.

"I'm fine! better than expected!"

"I mean you immediately started looking ahead Deku and Leizcio you always continue to fight on."

"That's-"

A sudden announcement interrupts Midoriya stating that Kirishima has won and will be moving on into the next round. They decided to immediately start with the next round which would be Midoriya against Todoroki.

"Already? Well... Later..." Midoriya said as he went to go onto the stage.

"Oh, sorry Deku! You weren't able to prepare since we were here..."

"No I'm fine."

"I'll be watching, kay? Good luck!"

"You got this Midoriya!"

"Thanks." Midoriya said with a nervous smile as he went to go to the stage, leaving Leizcio and Ochaco in the waiting room.

"Ochaco, I know you're frustrated, but you still did amazing and continued to hold your ground! There are still going to be pros that notice your skills and we still have more chances! You did amazing Ochaco!" Leizcio said a bit sad to see her that frustrated.

Leizcio wonders for a second if he should give her a hug for comfort but is able to see her dad is calling her. He already knows that Ochaco lives on her own since going to UA so he decides to leave her to it.

"Thank you Leizcio! I'll be seeing your match too!"

Leizcio gave a small smile and thumbs up to her before leaving the room. As he leaves, he's still a bit sad, but also feels a sense of pride knowing that Ochaco still didn't give up. But now was going to be Midoriya's battle, and Leizcio is concerned if not more, knowing that boy's ability is self-destructive.

But he has faith in his friends despite all odds.

Chapter 19

END