With only one more match before hers, Mai decided to find a way to watch this next battle in the waiting rooms on her own, without all of Class 1-K's attempts at conversation. Unfortunately, since this was the area where students still competing could focus, it seemed just about every hallway was completely bare of any broadcasts or windows or any hint of the Sports Fest happenings. Thankfully, Mai did reach a set of restrooms bordering the student's areas and the public areas where there was an adjacent television showing what anyone needing a bathroom break might have missed. Without anyone around to question it, she leaned against the wall, as if waiting for a friend, and watched the second-to-last fight.
"Our next match is another battle between representatives, one from Class 1-C and the other from hero department's Class 1-B." Mai found it a bit weird to be hearing Present Mic's voice echoing through the halls and again from the broadcast with a small delay, but it was better than watching the festival with the possibility of having to maintain a conversation constantly looming over her. "First we have the dedicated Komura Takahiro, a hero who can get just about everything done with the help of his Clones. His opponent: a truly hard-working student in General Studies, just don't underestimate him; his skin can secrete some useful stuff. Give it up for Motomizu Akihito!"
Komura entered the stadium with a very good-natured smile on his face and the close-up showed his eyes twinkling in anticipation. Motomizu had a much more determined look on his pale pink face, but it seemed more distracted than focused. As the two were getting into position Mai was suddenly alerted to the sound of people from the student's perpendicular hallway coming her way and just about jumped into her bat form.
"No, you need to save your energy," she murmured to herself, forcing herself to remain in her position on the wall. "You've made it farther in the Sports Fest than 95% of first years; there's no need to feel intimidated."
And, of course, when they turned the corner, it was the three members of Class 1-A who already had their first matches of the third event, and thus were in the intimidating 5% of first years. It was opening speech guy – Meotooku, the veins girl who defeated him earlier – Chikawa, and snake arm dude who had just barely made it into the second round – Nakatsuka. It seemed like Meotooku and Chikawa were debriefing Nakatsuka on his bout.
"How could you not have gone into it with a plan?" Chikawa was saying as she readjusted her thick red ponytail. "Did you even consider that she might beat you?"
"Of course I did; my plan was to go plus ultra and push past my limits." Nakatsuka managed to receive a double facepalm from his classmates.
"I can't believe you got lucky enough to make it as far as I am now," Chikawa muttered.
"Nakatsuka, you're going to get yourself killed someday." Meotooku lifted his head, revealing that he was restraining his laughter. "Never change." He looked up and noticed the stream of the Sports Fest Mai was watching. "Oh hey, it's Motomizu's match." He nudged Chikawa, clearly trying to help Motomizu's progress with her.
"They've just about started," she commented. "Come on, if we hurry we can watch it live."
She ran off without waiting for the others. Nakatsuka started to follow her, but then turned around, tactfully saying "Oh right, I had to poop," before slipping into the restroom. Meotooku was about to leave too when his eyes locked with Mai's and he hesitantly stepped forward.
"Beni – hato was it?"
"Benihama."
"Right. Won't you be next?"
"Yeah, I figured I'd watch from where I could quickly get into the arena." Mai didn't mention how she was trying to get some peace.
"Good idea, here I should watch with you."
"Oh, you don't –" But Meotooku had already joined her leaning against the wall watching the television.
The broadcast's audio was purely Present Mic's commentary so Mai couldn't hear if the competitors were saying anything, but it didn't seem to make much difference since the two were acting like gentlemanly professionals. Komura instantly made several clones to surround Motomizu and dog-pile him, pausing only to make sure he wasn't hurt. Motomizu easily slipped through them all, leaving behind a slippery gel, and threw down something that stuck to the edge of his capture tape and kept it in place on the ground. He then leapt forward on all the Komuras before they had a chance to get up and wrapped the whole pile in his capture tape. Midnight leaned forward to see if the match was over, when another Komura who had been laying low on the side politely tapped Motomizu on the shoulder. In a blink, there were now two Komuras, stretching the capture tape in between them and edging Motomizu towards the corner of the battleground.
It was kind of difficult for Mai to really focus with Meotooku standing next to her, clearly wanting to start a conversation without the ability to say anything (Mai could easily decipher the awkward eye shifts she knew she did all the time). She tried to distract herself from the tension by enveloping herself in the match, but with Motomizu's avoidance techniques the action had slowed a bit.
"Oh hey Motomizu's switching up the gels," Nakatsuka suddenly said as he left the bathroom. "You know his gel has different properties depending on which area of his body he secreted it from?" He looked over at where Mai and Meotooku were standing. "What are you guys doing there?"
Mai bit the inside of her lip and resolutely moved her eyes back on the screen. Motomizu threw some of his gel from his arm at Komura's capture tape and, hitting its mark, a long line of sticky gel stretched from Motomizu's body to Komura's capture tape.
"Benihama was watching the event from here and I decided to keep her company," Meotooku said in a business-like way, though Mai could tell he knew the company he was providing was minimal at best.
Yanking on the gel, Motomizu pulled the capture tape out of the hands of Komura and his clone, but then his gel string snapped in the middle and the capture tape flew out-of-bounds.
"Like, you were watching it together-together?"
"Oh no!" Present Mic's voice announced. "That's one capture tape out-of-bounds and another capture tape stuck in a sticky mess. It looks like our challengers are going to have to push the other out if they want to win."
"Of course not. But, I should probably head back to the stands with you," Meotooku added as he made to leave with Nakatsuka.
"Only if you want to," Mai interjected before she could even think through her own words. "I mean, you don't have to feel obligated either way." She quickly turned her attention back to the Sports Fest. With both capture tapes out of the picture, Komura and Motomizu were keeping their distance while they each tried to think up a new strategy.
"Oh," Meotooku said, taken aback. "Okay."
"Whatever," Nakatsuka shrugged and headed back into the student's section and Meotooku returned to his position on the wall.
"You don't have to feel bad for not knowing what to say," Mai whispered softly. "I'm used to being quiet."
"I just didn't want you to be all alone, but I guess staying made it worse."
"I appreciate the thought," Mai shrugged. "But you don't need to force anything."
Motomizu was now throwing the gel from his palms in front of him so he could slide out of reach of all Komura's clones while they all tried to corner him. Being able to secrete different kinds of gel really made him a strong opponent seeing as he was able to use it to slide across surfaces, stick to things, stretch between stuff, and at one point he used it to make something like marbles to trip up Komura. Mai wondered if any of his gel was edible, like gelatin, and immediately regretted her entire existence for letting that thought happen.
"That's the way to do it!" Meotooku suddenly cheered as all the Komura clones hit their time limit and vanished, leaving only one from the crowd. "Get him out fast before your gel runs dry!"
"I didn't think you knew Motomizu," Mai said.
"Yeah, a little; he, Chikawa, and I all went to the same middle school. We usually end up walking to school together since we're coming from the same area."
"That's nice you got to start the year with friends," Mai nodded. He seemed the kind of person who could use that kind of support.
"Well, I guess we're classmates so we're friends, but it's not like we're 'friends-friends' – alright you got him!" He shouted at the screen as Motomizu used the string-like gel combined with the slippery gel he had been spreading all over the ground to swing the final Komura out of bounds. Midnight lifted her arm to call the match when Komura disappeared, apparently another clone. In the confusion, the real Komura sprinted from where he had been waiting, forgotten by everyone else, to give Motomizu a strong shove out of the arena, truly ending the fight.
"Oof," Meotooku winced. "Good fight, Motomizu, you held out a long time." He immediately stopped watching the broadcast and sheepishly looked down at the ground away from Mai. "Sorry for shouting; I know he can't hear me."
"Don't worry about it," Mai said in an attempt to console his awkwardness. "Well, I'm next. Nice watching with you I –" She bit her tongue before she could say 'I guess', knowing it would destroy any ounce of self-confidence Meotooku still had. Looking at his earnest but conflicted face, she felt a pang in her chest as she realized how similar they were with their socialization struggles, though where she was shy around new people, he seemed to constantly switch between reaching out to others and stepping back from them. Despite his awkwardness, he really was a good guy, maybe he just needed others in the same way Mai sometimes felt she needed Ai.
"Hey, if you're ever looking for someone to have lunch with, feel free to find me." Mai said. "My sister and I would love to have your company."
Meotooku seemed taken aback by the invitation, but before he could respond one of Mai's classmates abruptly walked by them.
"Oh good you're already here, Benihama, I was just thinking you should probably start heading over to your match."
"Mm-hm, that's why I've been waiting here." Mai nodded, suddenly feeling all her body's heat rush into her face. Keeping her head down, she hurried past her classmate towards her designated entrance to the arena grounds. "Thanks though."
"Good thinking there," her classmate continued talking even though Mai was already rounding the corner. He acted like she had been idly sitting in the stands during the last fight; did Class 1-K even notice she wasn't watching with them anymore?
On the bright side, her classmate showing up did finalize the conversation (of sorts) she was having with that Class 1-A rep dude. Urgh, inviting him to eat lunches with her and Ai, what was she thinking? That all the people she met at the Sports Fest would become the best of friends after this, having picnics together and singing around the fire?
"Just keep it together," she muttered to herself as she reached the tunnel to the battleground and waited for her cue to enter. At this point she was the only student not from the Hero Department who had a chance of moving on in the Sports Fest, meanwhile all the other competitors were focused on honing in their skills since this was a time for them to be scouted; they actually had something riding on their battle performance. Realistically speaking, Mai should be surprised if anyone she met at the festival even remembered her name, attempting any form of bonding with them would just be stupid. Even the Management Department used this time to network at most, not make friends. Why was Mai even trying with the people around her?
"We've hit the final match of the first round!" Present Mic announced, the cue for Mai to shove all her thoughts out of the way until she could be done with this. "This fight will between someone who's in touch with her enemy's emotions and someone who's in touch with her animal side, it's Asamu Risa from Hero Department Class 1-B and Benihama Mai from Management Department Class 1-K! Wait – can bats camouflage?"
Mai looked at the jumbo screen to see what Present Mic was talking about, only to feel even more embarrassed. (Seriously, it was like the Sports Fest was trying to set a record for how many times Mai could want to hide her face in one day.) The screen showed the school's Sports Fest profile pictures for the two competitors, which apparently had to be taken separately from their official school pictures, probably so people could see the students in their gym uniforms as they would be for the event. Her opponent – Asamu, that's who Present Mic said she was – looked fairly good with a cool smirk and her arms folded behind her back, giving the impression she had something on you. Mai remembered by the time they got to Class 1-K, the photographer was trying to wrap it up as quickly as possible and while taking Mai's picture, she sneezed so violently she had leaned out of the frame and her Sports Fest picture was an empty photo, not even a hint of a human being there.
Thanks to Present Mic's comment, Mai could feel everyone looking at her and wondering if her Bat Transform also had the ability to basically become invisible. As she reached the concrete square serving as the fight ring, even her opponent Asamu was looking at her questioningly. She was a slender girl who seemed to always be on her tip-toes, her brilliant purple hair tied up in a messy bun and her greeny-blue eyes piercing everything. Wait, was Asamu's powers of illusion activated via physical contact or eye contact? Had Mai already ruined her chances? Well, that wasn't really possible; ruining her chances would imply Mai had any chance at winning at the start. Mai readied her given capture tape in her hand and braced herself to transform as she watched Midnight raise her arm to start the match. Even if no one after today remembered Mai faught alongside them in the Sports Fest, she could still go plus ultra, specifically with the purpose of not dying.
"Challengers, you may begin!"
Mai immediately transformed and flapped around a little as a bat before realizing she couldn't access the capture tape in her bat form; as an inanimate object directly connected to her body, it went into her bat form, just like her clothes did. Well, shoot. And it wasn't like she could push someone out of bounds in her bat form either, so her quirk was completely useless for this kind of battle. Double shoot.
Mai transformed back and suddenly thought she might have flown out of bounds in her bat form, it wasn't like she was paying attention while awkwardly waving around her wing with the capture tape absorbed into it. In her rush to check where she was standing (and see she was in the exact middle of the cement square) she felt something hit her shoulder and whipped around to see Asamu landing a beautiful handspring. Asamu playfully lifted the hand that managed to make physical contact with Mai. "Gotcha," she laughed. "Distraction!"
Alright, this setback wasn't an automatic loss, all Mai had to do was figure out a way to reach Asamu without being confused by her quirk or using Bat Transform. The bracket of information Komura had given her described Asamu's ability as creating illusions, which meant everyone could see them, and thus the images could also trip up Asamu. The advantage here would go to the person least affected by the mirages.
Mai quickly closed her eyes to keep herself from seeing the illusions, before recognizing this too as a terrible idea. Being able to see is a little necessary to wrap someone's limbs in capture tape, even with echolocation. Let's see, was there a way for Mai to see without actually seeing, like using a smokescreen or making everything a blur? Oh right, that's how Mai naturally saw the world.
With a dramatic flair, Mai opened her eyes and ripped off her glasses, tossing them aside as she made the human versions of the clicking noises her quirk used to echolocate. Okay, Asamu was still standing where she landed her handspring, and since Mai was farsighted, she could actually make out Asamu's face a bit. "Can't be misled by something I can't see right?" Mai called to her opponent. "Good luck distracting me now; without my glasses I'm blind as a... bat. I hate myself." She muttered after hearing what ridiculously ironic idiom had escaped her mouth.
Mai maintained her echolocation pinpointed on the defined figure with the purple mesh on top and started to amble across the stage. She probably should run, but with all the colorful blurs dancing in and out of her vision, Mai settled on just speed-walking so she could better focus on her echolocation.
Despite this, Mai was face to face with Asamu (even though she couldn't really see her face) a moment later. Readying her capture tape, Mai realized just how little she thought through this plan. What, was Asamu just going to hold her arms out on a silver platter? She may not have moved since activating her quirk, but Mai couldn't quite make out the details enough to chase down Asamu's arms. Using the same thread of pitiful strategy that seemed to be Mai's trademark for the Sports Fest, she stretched the capture tape between her two arms and attacked Asamu in a tackle hug to pin her arms down.
This was also not well thought through. Mai and Asamu crashed to the ground and for a brief and terrifying moment Mai felt her lungs lose all their air. Once she could breathe again, Mai heard the words she never thought would happen.
"Benihama has secured Asamu with her capture tape; she will move on to the second round!"