Mai woke in Recovery Girl's office to Ai mumbling half-asleep in her ear. "And this is Mai, my flying sister."

"Ai, what are you on about?"

Ai lifted her head, her eyelids fluttering half-open. "The kind man just introduced us to his flying friend."

"Family friend, Benihama, my family friend."

Mai managed to move her twin off her enough to sit upright and see Komura visiting the nurse's office with another girl while Recovery Girl worked at her desk. The girl with Komura was rather cute with wavy black hair and a rounded figure, and she was on the short side judging by how long the UA uniform skirt looked on her. Since she was wearing the UA school uniform, but not the one for gym currently being worn by all the first years, she was probably an upperclassman, but it didn't explain why she was here.

"Erm – we just woke up, uh, what were you saying?" Mai said, shaking Ai fully awake.

"Is – is she asleep? Then, how were we just talking with her?"

"She happens to be very good at talking," Mai said quietly as she stretched herself awake. "But um, why exactly are you here?"

"Right," Komura hurriedly pulled something out of his pocket. "Since you don't know anyone in the third event, I wanted to help you out a little." He handed it to Mai, which was an empty bracket with the first round's pairings written out. Underneath each name was their class and a brief description of their quirk.

"We both asked around to get the information as best as we could," the girl said. "I'm from Class 3-E, a quirkless General Studies student, and seeing someone from the Management Department make it to the third event has finally made the Sports Fest fun for me. Thank you for that," she added with a bow. "I'm happy to provide any support to you."

"Wow, this is so valuable!" Ai said, looking at the bracket.

"Mm-hm," Mai nodded. "But it's not like I'm the only untrained competitor; what about the Class 1-C people?"

"They've had the opportunity to talk with the other orange team members while you were unconscious," Komura said. "Besides, they at least have someone from their class. You have nobody." His friend smacked him upside the head.

"Well, now I know the Clone quirk doesn't include any element of tact, shall I write it with the rest of my third event data?" Mai joked to Ai.

"Oooh, burrrrn!"

"Sorry," he said, rubbing his head. "Anyway, your match will be the last of the round. The first battle should be starting soon, if you want you can watch with us in Class 1-B's stands."

"Absolutely not!" Ai sat up on her knees indignantly. "I may not be in the third event with her but she still has me in her corner. Let's go watch the third event, Mai." She grabbed her hand and began marching out the door.

"Hold up," Mai stopped her. "Did you need me for anything else, Recovery Girl?"

"The extra rest should complete the rest of your recovery," Recovery Girl said, leaning back in her desk chair to look at Mai. "I pushed back your next fight as long as possible, but if you're feeling up to it I have no reason to keep you from returning to the Sports Fest."

Now that she thought about it, Mai realized her body didn't feel stiff or sore anymore. In fact, she felt more ready for the Sports Fest than ever (which wasn't saying much, seeing as she was barely more than dreading it before) and at this point maybe she could luck her way out of dying in a fight.

"You're my number one hero, Recovery Girl," Ai grinned and dragged Mai out into the hallway, only to crash into someone else.

"Oh, Benihama, are you free to watch the third event with us now? We can help you prepare for your battle."

The twins had run into two students Mai recognized as being in Class 1-K with her. Since she tended to focus on her own studies during class, she didn't know the names of any of her classmates, but she did know a few details on each of them from her observations. The one they had run into was her class rep; a natural leader whose head happened to be a round lightbulb which would sometimes glow when he was using a lot of energy, physical or mental. He sat in the exact middle of the classroom, right in front of Mai, and he sometimes ended up lighting her desk more during exams, which was totally worth sitting behind what was literally the largest head in the class. The other person was their class's top student, a hard-working girl with brown velvet animal ears on top of her head and a correlating fuzzy tail. She often offered to have study groups with others and apparently would practice swordsmanship while discussing material, saying it helped her truly learn the material.

"Woah, that guy's face is a lightbulb," Ai murmured in Mai's ear.

"Yeah, Ai, meet some of my classmates." Mai avoided revealing she didn't remember their names. "And nice job restraining yourself to a whisper."

"I know right, I'm so proud of me." Ai laughed.

"You know I could still hear you, right?" Mai's classmate interrupted.

"I am less proud of me," Ai said. "Well, since I've already ruined my reputation, can I touch your ears?"

The girl was taken aback as though nobody had ever been so upfront with her. "Oh, absolutely; I actually don't mind it once someone asks." She bent her knees and leaned forward a bit so Ai could reach the top of her head.

"Wow, so soft! Do you know if they're supposed to be from a specific animal?"

"A raccoon, I believe."

Mai gave in and reached out to touch her classmate's ears too. They were really soft, not as velvety as a cat's or a rodent's, but still soothing to pet.

"Alright, you can go ahead and feel my tail, too."

"Yay!"

Her tail's fur was even more dense and warm, it was the kind of thing Mai thought would be great to curl up next to at a sleepover. She wondered how her classmate might listen to music, since a normal earbud would go too deep into the ear, and if she had to get holes put in her hats so she could still hear, or if hearing through a hat wasn't a problem. She wanted to ask, but as she opened her mouth her throat constricted and nothing came out. Mai watched Ai move on to her class rep and ask him about the logistics of his head and suddenly wished she could be bolder, like her twin.

"Hey Benihama, we should hurry; you'll want to watch as many fights in the final event as possible."

"Oh, I was going to –" Mai looked at Ai since she thought they'd watch together with Class 1-G since it wasn't like she really knew anyone in her own class.

"Well, I'll probably visit you in the waiting room at some point. Have fun with your class, Mai!" Ai was no help as she abandoned Mai with a cheerful wave and took off down the hallway.

Mai went back with her classmates to the Class 1-K stands just before the first battle started. She looked down at the bracket Komura had given her; first up was Meotooku and Chikawa. Okay, Meotooku she knew from the opening speech, and she at least remembered Chikawa's name from that Motomizu guy (who clearly had an incurable crush on her). As she started reading their quirk names, Present Mic announced them into the ring.

"First up we have someone who's bound to make a wave with his heartbeat of atmospheric pressure. It's Class 1-A's representative, Meotooku Tomoaki! And in this corner; her heart is always on her sleeve, as are her veins, which she can literally use to kill you, Chikawa Hiromi, the deputy representative also from Class 1-A! It's a battle of partners, a true test of strength, this is the third event!" The stands erupted in cheers as Meotooku and the girl with the red hair and soft voice, despite her rough way of talking, entered the cement square in the middle of the staduim. "Now remember folks, the challengers must either force the other out of the ring or wrap two or more of their limbs with their given capture tape."

"Oh, good to know." Mai said quietly to herself. She quickly read over their quirk descriptions before Midnight started the match. Like Present Mic said, Meotooku's heartbeat could create pressure waves, which he outputted through the palms of his hands. Chikawa could control her blood veins to shoot out of her body like vines which she could then use to her digression.

"BEGIN!"

At Midnight's signal, Mai turned her attention fully to the battle in hopes she could at least to glean something from it. Meotooku made the first move and sent out a sonic wave through the ground to knock Chikawa off balance, but she was able to shoot out veins from her fingertips to keep herself from falling over. Meotooku didn't give her a second to counter and rearranged his hands so his atmospheric pressure waves were more focused and continually hit Chikawa so she was forced to keep stepping backwards just to stay upright.

"He's going to force her out of bounds," someone in Class 1-K commentated.

"It looks like she's more of a short-to-mid range attacker, so keeping his distance is his only move."

Chikawa was a few steps away from the edge of the battleground when she braced herself and used her veins to create a shield of sorts on her left arm, allowing the waves to slide around her. Digging her feet into the ground, she pushed forward and managed to get about halfway to Meotooku. She reached out her right hand, about to send more veins against him, but was forced back as Meotooku switched tactics and drove her to take a knee. Now Meotooku was producing waves the size of a classroom door and stepped closer and closer to push Chikawa out of bounds. When she was barely a step away from elimination, Midnight lifted her hand to end the match.

"Meotooku's legs have been secured with the capture tape. Chikawa moves on to the next round!"

Everyone froze and stared at Meotooku's legs and, sure enough, they had been wrapped together with capture tape. Looking closer, there was a singular blood vein reaching across the ground where no one was watching from Chikawa's right arm the bottom of Meotooku's legs where it used the capture tape to cinch the match.

Meotooku untangled his legs while Chikawa summoned all her blood back into her. They managed to respectfully shake hands with each other before Meotooku fell to the ground and Chikawa vomited next to him (thankfully she missed Meotooku's unconscious body). Mai winced and filled out the results from the first match into her bracket, only six more to go before she could fly home.

"Their quirks both put serious strain on their bodies," the boy sitting next to Mai said thoughtfully. He had a very kind face despite the red scar-like mark on his forehead and his eyes and hair shared a warm shade of reddish brown. "His quirk utilizes pressure waves and hers messes with the normal blood flow of her body. It's honestly impressive they managed to have such a strong battle before the side effects incapacitated them; it really shows they're truly dedicated and are putting their all into becoming heroes."

"They knew Recovery Girl could tend to them before the next round so they went all out."

Meotooku was brought off the field on a stretcher while Chikawa simply wiped her mouth and went into the arena's stands as if she hadn't just lost her lunch. Midnight looked like she was about to vomit herself while Cementoss simply rearranged the concrete so a volunteer could easily clean the tainted area.

"When you market those two, you would really have to stress their willpower so people forget their limitations."

"Keep in mind they're still first years; they'll probably figure out more ways to use their quirks without it putting as much stress on their bodies."

Yep, that's Class 1-K, always thinking about the selling points. Knowing Ai's class, Mai figured Class 1-G was discussing support items to help elevate the drawbacks of the competitors' quirks, because they weren't a bunch of dweebs. As the area was preparing for the next battle, Mai looked down at the bracket she was given to read a bit about who she'd be battling soon.

It looked like she'd be up against Asamu from Class 1-B. Ruling out the females Mai already knew by name meant Asamu was the girl with the messy bun of purple hair. Apparently her quirk was called Illusion and she could create mirages of a person's strong thought by making physical contact with them. Okay, Mai could probably deal with that, she just had to not think of anything embarrassing and then maybe she could at least put up a fight.

"Benihama?"

"YES?" Mai was suddenly shocked out of her thoughts when one of her classmates called her name and nearly dropped the paper.

"I – I just was asking you your thoughts on the last bout," the boy sitting next to her said.

"Oh, um –" What were her thoughts? Both opponents seemed to rely on their strength without really presenting themselves as outright power heroes, though Mai supposed that also came with the versatile training heroes needed. The match was won by meeting power with power and adding some stealth in before it was all over; which was not to say the loser had a lack of creativity in his methods, he definitely had multiple techniques in his arsenal. In the end, without negating Meotooku's skill and strength, Chikawa won by utilizing her quirk's flexibility before his power overwhelmed her.

"It didn't end the way I thought it might," was all Mai ended up saying.

"Yeah, I didn't think anyone really could expect it," the boy nodded. "And you even fought with them in the last event."

"Well, not really. I only interacted with the two I was paired with when our team split up."

"Right, that makes sense."

It was kind of interesting to see Meotooku fight; with his earnest disposition, Mai didn't expect him to be so formidable. Practically speaking though, his fighting style was just the way his quirk worked, and someone's special abilities was determined by their genetics, not their personality. After all, Ai could obtain more energy by consuming another's life-source, but her character was far from being anything malicious (at least, purposefully malicious).

Almost to provide an antithesis to Mai's thought, Present Mic's voice boomed across the stadium. "Now it's time for the second match! Here we have a truly daunting challenger with serpentine arms that will always keep him company, Nakatsuka Issei from the hero course Class 1-A! Verses: it's the silent assassin of Class 1-C. Quiet as the night itself, she's Niseyoko Michiru!"

The two competitors entered the stadium as Mai checked the notes she had on them. She already knew Niseyoko's Mimic quirk, and it looked like Nakatsuka person – who apparently was the guy with stringy green hair – had a power which transformed his arms into two controllable snakes.

"If you win your first match you'll be up against whoever wins this one, Benihama," one of Mai's classmates sitting behind her said. "Who do you think will win?"

Mai shrugged. Niseyoko was clearly at a disadvantage as a General Studies student whose quirk wasn't suited for face-to-face fights like this, but she was the type who had a lot of secret skills too so Mai couldn't really expect anything for this match. She imagined what a fight between her and Niseyoko would be like, and if she were being honest a good chunk of it would probably involve them awkwardly staring at each other. Mai didn't know anything about Nakatsuka outside the basics written in her bracket, which meant he was even more of a wild card for her.

"Come on, you've got to have some more insight than that; my cousin's got a bet riding on this."

"I, really – I don't know," Mai stuttered. What she wouldn't give to be with Ai right now. "Um, the guy with snake arms, erm," she quickly checked her bracket, "Nakatsuka, well he has more training for this kind of thing."

"Yes, but according to my intel he's an idiot so there's a chance he'll botch the match."

"I guess, I can confirm Niseyoko is very smart, so she has that going for her." Mai bit the inside of her lips, hoping this was the end of the conversation. Thankfully, Midnight had raised her arm to start the fight, drawing all attention to the battleground.

"Competitors, you may begin!"

Quite a contrary to the last match, neither of them began with an immediate attack, which wasn't surprising for Niseyoko, but Mai a least expected Nakatsuka to start charging. Instead, both keeping their distance, Nakatsuka lifted his hands to his mouth to shout across the ring.

"Hey, Class 1-C chick! You afraid of snakes?"

Niseyoko stared at him a moment, then shook her head.

"That's cool beans! Guess I won't be holding back then. Try to keep yourself from getting hurt!" He grabbed his capture tape in his left hand and braced himself with his right. "Lefty, go!"

His arm seemed to stretch and change into the same green of his hair as it transformed into a snake with the capture tape in its mouth. Niseyoko simply watched it shoot towards her before taking a calculated leap backwards, just out of the snake's range and still a safe few steps from the edge of the ring. As Lefty writhed in its attempt to reach her, she simply looked at it as though studying it, still not saying a word.

"Oh cool, you're clever." Nakatsuka laughed as it returned to his side and transformed back into an arm. "Let's see how you do against Righty. You got this, Righty!" Now his right arm shot forward with the capture tape, but for some reason it seemed to have a longer reach than his left arm and Niseyoko had to hold it back with her one arm.

"Can't capture me when you can only reach one limb, can you?" Even though she was mocking her opponent, Niseyoko's voice was still as dreamy as ever, as if she were discussing shapes in the clouds. With a sudden and unexpectedly powerful roundhouse kick, she sent the snake back to Nakatsuka.

"Wow you can really hold your own! After the Sports Fest, we should totally hang out sometime. Okay, guys, time to execute power move Make-Opponent-Go-Splat!" Reaching both of his arms in a V-shape, Nakatsuka's arms both shot forward and hit the ground on either side of Niseyoko and dug their fangs into the cement. Before Niseyoko could brace herself, Nakatsuka leapt in the air and as his arm snakes shortened their length, he came flying toward her like a sling-shot. Only a yard away from colliding, a new voice appeared in the arena.

"Alright Nakatsuka, that's enough."

Instantly Nakatsuka's quirk deactivated at the sound of Mr. Aizawa's voice and landed flat on his face.

"Wait," he said, looking around. "My quirk wasn't actually erased, my body just assumed it was. But where's Mr. Aizawa?"

"Oh, I just Mimicked his voice." Niseyoko said with a small smile on her face. "Now Righty and Lefty, time to tangle yourselves up in this," she said in Nakatsuka's voice, holding out a stretch of her capture tape. At the sound of their master's voice, Nakatsuka's arms transformed into snakes and moved towards her capture tape.

"Wait, no, don't do that!"

The snakes stopped, but were still close enough for Niseyoko to wrap up herself. The match was moments away from being won when Niseyoko sneezed. This wasn't an accidental game-changer in itself, but Niseyoko was the type of person that when she had one sneeze, a sneezing fit was right behind it. Reflexively stepping backwards, Niseyoko tripped over her feet and ended up finishing her sneezes on the ground right out of bounds. Midnight stood for a moment, staring at the ring in shock before raising her arm to end the battle.

"Nakatsuka wins by sheer coincidence! He will move on to the next round!"