A.N: Aaaand welcome back everyone! As of last night, the story has officially reached 10K views! On top of that, we're closing in on 100 favs, follows and reviews! Thank you all for your continued support, because it really keeps me motivated to pump this stuff out. Onto Reviews!

JJKR (Guest): Unfortunately no, it isn't one of the Eight Gates XD. Though, you aren't necessarily wrong in thinking about it like that, in that the Advance is still a power-boosting technique that pushes the user's body past its normal limit or base-form.

Longnose: Always happy to craft another chapter dude! I agree, canon Rappa would literally be perfect for a series like Baki, and hell, I see him doing pretty well in it too.

God Doesn't Love You: The 'borrowing power' phrase is more of a metaphor than anything else. Essentially, the Advance allows him to push his body beyond the limit of his base-strength: he's using power that his body cannot naturally attain with his regular athletic ability, or at least as of this current moment, hence the phrase 'borrowing power'. Hope that makes sense!

SkeenTheDream: Best Hokage unfortunately doesn't win this fight :(. Jokes aside, happy you're enjoying the story so far dude! Glad that you picked up on Shinji's character growth, I honestly found him to be such an interesting character to write. As for Death Arms, you'll see next chapter ;D. In terms of Rumi and Kendo's promise, it's kinda funny you should mention that, considering that this is what the chapter covers (though it may not be in the way you expect). All for One now... well, he has his hand to play in the story too, albeit more indirectly. You'll see what I mean. Thanks for the support my guy!

With that being said, let's head into the show!

Rumble, Young Man Rumble!

Chapter 19

From uncertainty, resolve rises!

Rumi was currently worried. Aside from the match that Kendo fought Yu in, she hadn't seen him at all. It wasn't like him to hide, and she knew that wasn't what he was doing, but for him not to show his face for the past six (seven if you counted the one she was currently in) fights. Even as her sharp eyes darted across the seats of class 1-A in the stadium, she didn't spot him at all.

'What happened to you Big-g-AAAH!'

She barely held back a pained scream as a chain cracked into her ribs, bringing her out of her mind and back to reality.

"Look at THIS! Rumi Usagiyama, with all her speed, seems to be having a great deal of trouble trying to get past Eiyu's endless chains!" Said blonde was smirking widely as two more portals opened up behind him, chains with blunted ends firing off like bullets. Not once during the match had he moved from his sport, nor had he ever been forced to move.

'MotherFUCKER!' Rumi visibly snarled, clenching her fist. 'Why the fuck am I getting distracted like this!? I gotta get my head outta my ass…' She glared right back at Eiyu, the blond flinching in surprise at the intense look directed his way. 'And focus on what's in front of me!'

'Hooh? The look in her eyes has changed. Her resolve to finish this is more solid than diamond! This is an opponent worth beating!' Sweat began to pour down his forehead as he threw his arms out, four portals turning into eight, then sixteen, then thirty, bathing the arena in a soft golden hue.

"Is that hardened resolve of yours worth the full might of the Gate of Babylon? Show me, Rumi Usagiyama!"

"I'll shatter that gate to reach my goal!" She roared back, "So bring it!"

It was as if an endless storm of chains exploded from those portals, whipping around and shooting out at completely random angles that forced Rumi to think and move far faster than she ever had previously. Sidestepping from one bundle forced her to duck out of the path of another, the metal simply grazing the side of her ear enough to punch a gash right into it. Pain was an old friend, so she pressed on, darting from side to side while constantly dodging. She wasn't blind: she saw how the ends of those chains blasted right through the stone floor before dissipating. 'Any one of those land a clean shot on my head, it'll definitely stun me long enough to let his other chains restrain or blow me away!'

Her movements turned even more precise, less frantic, more focused and calculated even in the storm of gilded metal. She bounced into the air, twisted and tucking her body into a flip as more chains raced past her, one of them tearing her right sleeve clean off. She kicked off a chain mid-air, grinning as she confirmed that it was as solid and stable as the actual floor, so long as it wasn't moving too fast. She used it to her advantage, springing off of the chains before they could dissipate and closing the distance even faster. Her eyes caught a chain racing at her dead-centre, her arm punching down as hard as she could to outright deflect it, launching her up and into the path of another. Again she tucked and twisted, this one brushing her knee before she bounced right off of it. Though, in the back of her mind, something felt off. 'There's less chains than before. Why?' With each passing moment, she saw that chains began to dissipate more rapidly than before, while she felt that she had far more room to move around. Her eyes darted over to Eiyu, seeing the sweat literally pouring down his face, his breathing noticeably heavier. 'Stamina fuels his Quirk. He's never had to exert himself anywhere near this much. Hell, it's probably why he prefers to stand still!' She moved closer and closer, able to lash out more freely with punches and kicks to deflect the dwindling number of chains coming her way, her progress not going unnoticed by the crowd or her opponent.

'She's almost in range…' He thought, feeling power flowing up his arm.

'I'm almost there…!' She thought, again kicking off the ground and tucking her legs in as a chain curved through the air in an attempt to spear her feet. She blasted right off of it, heading like a bullet right for him. It was only then that she noticed his glowing arm. Every portal appeared right over his hand, crackling with power as they compressed and layered upon each other, grinding and swirling in random directions, his palm faced right towards her.

"Mortar of the Stars: ENUMA ELISH!"

Time felt like it crawled to a halt as chains bathed in golden energy spewed from his palm, all of them coalesced into a single, spiralling mass that was headed right for her. And yet, that sense of danger literally racing right at her with enough force to blast her sky-high made her feel more alive than ever. The saw every little detail in front of her from every drop of sweat on Eiyu's face of triumph to the smallest little scrapes and nicks in the very chains that sought to defeat her. That split second vanished, but she knew what to do.

She wildly contorted her body, using every ounce of flexibility as the attack just barely scraped into her side, her nerves lighting up as if she'd been shocked by a car-battery. Still, if only barely, she dodged, her body spinning through the air like a top, helped on by the impact of Eiyu's attack right as she finally reached him, every ounce of momentum built up as their eyes met.

'I'll be damned,' He sighed internally. 'It appears that I've lost this one.'

"LUNA VORTEX!"

Her kick crashed into his chest and exploded like a point-blank grenade, his body flying clean out of the ring and crashing into the grass.

"AAAND WE HAVE A WINNEEEER! RUMI USAGIYAMA BLASTS EIYU OUSAMA OUT OF THE RING IN A SINGLE SWEEP!" Present Mic screeched as the crowd went wild. Landing down and taking a dee[p breath, Rumi suddenly panicked as she rushed over to check on Eiyu: her kick packed more than enough momentum to snap bones like twigs, and to land something like that at point-blank range… she raised her brows un surprise as he suddenly sat up, coughing and lightly holding his right side.

"Holy crap, how're you still conscious?" Rumi asked as she helped him to his feet. The boy laughed boisterously, lifting his shirt to reveal much smaller chains wrapped around him, literal chainmail armour created by his Quirk. They vanished into golden motes of light not long after.

"I'm not foolish enough to walk into a fight against a physically stronger opponent without the necessary precautions. Do not worry about me and hold your head high: you just defeated the future King of Heroes after all!" Rumi couldn't help but raise a brow as his unwavering (if somewhat overbearing) confidence in himself.

"Heh… alright. It was a really good fight."

"Indeed," He hummed, "Farewell, Usagiyama."

"Oh! Um, before you go," She said, "Have you seen Kendo? You know, big, tall, muscular, brown hair that's never been combed?"

"Hmm… ah, I believe that I saw him coming from the male bathrooms and going to the Infirmary. I must say, he looked quite worn out, or rather groggy. Granted, that was almost an hour ago or so, but you never know."

"Thanks goldie!" She quickly ran off, throwing a quick wave at the crowd before she ran into the tunnels, worry worming into her heart as she raced for the infirmary. 'I gotta know, what happened to you?' It took a few minutes of frantic searching but she finally reached it, opening the door with her eyes darting around and quickly meeting Kendo, the boy standing in the centre of the room with Recovery Girl next to him, a gentle golden glow fading from his body.

"Oh, yo Usagi!" He waved with a grin, though it was hard to miss the slight bags under his eyes, or how slightly sluggish his moves looked. "Sorry I didn't get to cheer you on in the crowd, but that was one hell of a kick that you landed."

She couldn't stop the dopey smile from stretching across her face for a moment but forced it down and walked up to them. "That's fine, but what the hell happened to you? You didn't take that much damage in your fight…"

"On the contrary," Recovery girl started, "He almost fractured his spine from the two neck-slams, suffered broken ribs from Yu's knee to his chest, a bruised oesophagus and back."

"O-oh… that's…" Rumi started, feeling herself go a bit pale.

"Those are the minor ones," Recovery Girl sighed, reaching for her clipboard as Kendo tiredly sat down, his body shaking a bit. "I'm sure you are aware of the 'power-up' that young Rappa here uses, where his skin steams and turns pink?"

"Yeah, what about it?" She asked lowly, feeling her stomach drop as her eyes switched between the elderly lady and Kendo, who looked oddly… mellowed out.

"The reason why his body turns pink and emits steam it because his internal temperature rises to the point where his sweat literally evaporates. This is because Rappa has somehow managed to actively use his Quirk on his own heart. He massively increases the rate of his heartbeat, which in turn leads to explosive blood circulation throughout his body. In addition to a frankly inhuman boost to his speed, acceleration and torque, it appears that by suddenly throwing his body into a state of cardiovascular chaos like that also activates an extremely high release of the adrenaline hormone into his body. In turn, more oxygen is diverted to his muscular system, increasing his overall lifting and striking-strength."

"That… that sounds badass as all hell, but what are the downsides?" She asked, fearing the worst.

"…The heart can be considered the engine of the human body," Recover Girl sighed after a moment. "Its vessels the pipes and the various muscles the wheels, so to speak. Rappa is overclocking his cardiovascular system to such an insane degree in such a short period of time that some of his weaker vessels have literally ruptured inside of his body, even with his stronger ones undergoing damage and tearing. I know that the further he pushes his heart, the more likely he'd die by heart-failure, regardless of the outcome of a fight. The first time he used it, he underwent literal brain-haemorrhaging. That's not even mentioning the countless other injuries that he could attain in future fights, which he wouldn't even notice thanks to the extreme dosage of adrenaline. If he was wounded deeply enough, he would bleed out in under thirty seconds!"

The more and more Recovery Girl talked, the further Rumi felt her heart drop. As soon as she was done, she turned to Kendo. "Please tell me you're dropping out." He just raised a brow and grinned.

"Pfft, nah. Besides, I'm gonna keep my side of the promise."

Her open hand cracked across his cheek, stunning him for a moment before he looked at Rumi, her eyes a little wet as her ears creased down, her face scrunched in frustration. "Idiot!" She barked, grabbing him by the collar and yanking him close. "What's the point of a promise if you die before you get to keep it!? I don't want you dying in some shitty way like that!" The tears flowed much more freely as she let her head fall into the crook of his neck. "I don't want you to die! So please… please just forfeit. I don't care about a promise, because I'd rather both of us break it than you dying trying to reach it."

Taken aback, Kendo hugged her back tightly for a moment. They sat there in silence, Rumi crying all her frustrations and worry as Kendo simply sat there, gently patting her back. Recovery Girl simply opted to sit back and focus on her work, giving them as much privacy as possible. After a minute, Kendo gently separated them. "I hear you Rumi, I really do. But… who the hell would I be if I just gave up here?"

Rumi's face looked like she was about to vehemently disagree until Kendo raised a hand, placating her. "Hear me out before you beat the shit out of me," He chuckled. "I'm not an idiot. I won't use the Advance unless I absolutely need it, and if I do, I won't go wild with it. I'm not gonna die before I finally get to clash with you, nor will I die after. I'm a bit drained, but Recover Girl healed up all my damage."

"E-even if you're not hurt anymore, you're still in no condition to fight! Tetsude's way, way more dangerous than we was a month ago. Trying to take him on as you are now is suicide!"

"Yeah, probably," He said with a grin, "But what kind of hero fights only when they're in their best condition?" She pouted at that, silently admitting that he was right. "Besides… I'm sort of gonna have ta' break our promise," He chuckled bashfully. "You're my goal for the Tournament, that hasn't changed. But if I only focus on trying to reach you, I won't be able to focus on what's right in front of me. Is… is that making any sense?"

Thinking back, Rumi just remembered her recent fight, how her obsession with trying to reach Kendo in a way distracting her from what she was currently facing. It didn't make her like him any less, but the idea was more than sound. "Yeah… yeah I get you," She sighed. "So we're breaking a promise to keep it, huh? Kind of a roundabout way to get something done but…" Kendo laughed, still full of confidence and glee, enough that she let out a soft laugh of her own too, wiping her eyes. "Still… how are you going to beat him? This hasn't changed the fact that in raw strength, Tetsude beats us both out," She said, a bit worried. Though, that immediately changed as she laid eyes on Tetsude's face. She wasn't imagining it: perhaps it was the threat of death at his own amateurish actions, but whatever the case, he definitely had mellowed out more, his quiet confidence burning in his smouldering gaze.

"Thanks to you, I think I'm… figuring something out," He said, popping his knuckles. "I've been fighting wrong this whole time, and I think it has something to do with the idea that I always have the Advance up my sleeve to just overpower someone. Thinking back, I'm pretty sure I've always had a way to win that doesn't rely on the Advance."

"You're… you're serious about this," Rumi muttered, shocked at his conviction, at his resolve. The way his eyes shined, the small grin on his face… 'Oh God, he's actually really hot when he does that,' She thought as her face heated up. She coughed into her hand, straightening up as she stood, smiling back at him. "Well, I ain't stopping you. Do your best out their Kendo." He stood and they bumped fists, Kendo rolling his shoulders out as life seemed so slowly seep back into him.

"I ain't gonna do anything less," He said. Just as Rumi turned to leave, Kendo stopped her with a gentle hand on her shoulder. Curious, she turned back.

"What's u-?"

She froze for a moment, her ears shooting up in shock as she felt his lips lightly brush against her cheek. "Don't mind some luck this time around," He said with his usual dopey grin, his cheeks a bit pink as he walked off to get ready. Rumi stood there for some time, trembling as she watched him disappear around the corner. Her face felt like it was on fire, the feel of his slightly chapped lips on her cheek sending waves of electricity through her. Recovery Girl walked up to her, a small smirk on her face as she tapped Rumi's foot with a cane.

"You alright young lady?"

"Y-yeah…" She muttered, flustered as all hell, but unable to hide her own goofy smile. "Yeah, I'm alright. Imma just make may way back to the… yeah…" Recovery Girl chuckled as she watched the young girl hop off, trying and failing to hide how happy she was. Though, as soon as she was gone, the smile dropped off her face, replaced by a worried look.

"You'd better not do anything foolish young man…"

…

(An undisclosed location…)

"Hmm, the boy is up next then?" The man asked, grinning wide and displaying a row of bloody teeth. He gently placed down the spherical android, removing the memory-chip and placing it in a drawer. "Already, some are calling him Ashura. Another demon, like me? Then… he'll be interesting to devour. I'll give him time to grow, time to increase his power. When I'm strong enough…" Pale skin suddenly turned pitch-black, the man's teeth turning sharper as his bones popped and muscles bulged. "I'll devour that damned All For One, and take my rightful place as Emperor!"

(To Be Continued...)

A.N: Evil lurks in the shadows... and surprisingly, it isn't AFO this time! That's a story for another time though. So finally, we get an explanation for the Advance. I based it off of the idea of 'if Rappa's Quirk revolves around repetitive muscle movements, what would happen if he was able to use it on certain other body-parts?' Consequently, his heart is a muscle, so you put two and two together and voila! Needless to say, it really isn't something he can properly use without harming himself... for now.

Eiyu Ousama is based heavily off of the Hero-King Gilgamesh from the Fate/Stay Night series. He was definitely a fun character to add into this fic, and I hope to put more of him in!

Either way, get ready for the next chapter: the final showdown between Kendo and Tetsude! Peace out, and hope you all enjoyed!