And we're back with more of this people!
Been a while I know, but we finally got around to doing this.
Now, as you may already have figured out since this is in the past, we can't take too much from the main MHA story, so we're skipping ahead through time in bursts at times, such as what happens here.
Hope you'll enjoy.
Weeks, months, passed as the school year went on normally. During the time, the class went through various training exercises, as well as normal classes. So far Murasaki was able to handle it well enough, maintaining at least a B average for any classes she was having difficulty on. As for her friends, Toshinori was so far able keep his grades pretty decent, being mainly A and B. Shouta was, despite his lazy appearance, actually a pretty good student, so he was the one of their group who got mainly A grades. As for Nemuri and Hizashi...well...they weren't bad, but they weren't the best either, mainly getting B grades and a few C grades for classes they had trouble with...and that's when the others had helped them. Speaking of which…
"Sweet freedom!" Hizashi cheered after the exam was over.
"So glad that's finally over." Nemuri breathed in relief.
"You two really need to study more." Shouta said in his usual dry tone.
"He's right you know, you only have yourselves to blame." Murasaki added.
"Traitors!" both of them accused, comically pointing their fingers at the two who just said that.
"Now now everyone, settle down," Toshinori chuckled, being the peace keeper of the group. Again. "Exams are over with, so now we've got a week to both relax and get ready for the next big event."
"Oh yeah, the Sports Festival is coming up," Murasaki mused. "It's supposed to be a good chance for new aspiring heroes to show their stuff. Plus it looks good on your resume."
"Personally I don't really see the big deal. I mean, isn't that basically geared more towards combat quirks in the end?" Shouta pointed out.
"Says the guy with the quirk cancelling power," Nemuri deadpanned.
"Well, looks like we know what we're gonna be doing this week," Hizashi grinned. "We gotta pump up and get stronger so we can show the world how badass we are!" he even emphasized with a pantomime of pumping iron and flexing his muscles...when his build was rather slim.
"That would have looked better if you were a bit more muscled," Murasaki snorted. "But he's right. We might as well do what we can to get ready. Sides, the Sports Festival sounds fun."
"Of course, we'll probably be getting training from school, but I'm assuming you want to find other places to get some extra training in, right?" Toshinori said.
"That WOULD be good," Nemuri mused. "But anyone know where we could do that?"
"Why not use my house?" Murasaki offered.
"You sure? We wouldn't want to impose," Toshinori started, but Murasaki was having none of that.
"Nope, not a problem," she reassured. "My parents aren't around so it's just me and my sister. Sides, we've got our own gym and field, so it really won't be a problem. There ARE some perks of having famed superheroes as parents."
"Well...if you're sure, I suppose it should be okay," Shouta shrugged.
"...okay, I knew her family was rich, but…" Nemuri chuckled weakly at the sight of the MASSIVE estate before them. The gate itself was ridiculously big and encompassed what seemed to be a small forest, with a pathway leading to the main mansion...which they couldn't even see.
"This feels like it's somehow defying reality…" Shouta deadpanned.
"Yeaaah...mom and dad went a bit overboard for this house and well...me and Aoi added our own ideas and well...yeah…" Murasaki scratched the back of her head awkwardly as she pressed the doorbell. "I'm home."
"Welcome home, my lady," came the voice that sounded like a stereotypical butler as the gate was opened and the group walked in.
"You have… a butler." Toshinori spoke slowly.
"Several actually, and maids as well." Murasaki said with a shrug.
"Of course you do." Hizashi deadpanned as his sunglasses slipped down his face.
"Well...shall we go in?" Murasaki laughed a bit as they did just that.
"...you could open a small hero school here," Toshinori whistled as currently they were in the gym...which aside from having a complete set, had an indoor track and even a pool.
"Yeah...it's a lot. So honestly, It's nice to have visitors every now and then," Murasaki admitted. "Speaking of which, I should introduce you to my little sister. She should be coming home soon."
"You have a little sister?" Nemuri asked with a raised eyebrow.
"We're twins, but I was born first." Murasaki clarified with a shrug.
"Doesn't mean you're more mature." spoke a voice from the doors to the gym, making the group turn to see a girl just about identical to Murasaki, the only really noticeable difference was hair style, as this girl in a blue dress had her hair cut short.
"Says you Aoi." Murasaki said with a snort "Anyway, perfect timing, these are my friends from UA."
"Ah, so these are the colorful bunch you've been talking about so much," Aoi chuckled. "If I were to guess…" she then proceeded to name them each correctly. "Is that correct?"
"Wow, does she have a psychic quirk?" Hizashi couldn't help but ask.
"No, my sister is just really accurate at describing people. THIS is my quirk." Aoi said as a large hammer made of blue hardlight just appeared on the ground in front of them.
"Hardlight constructs? Wow, you must be one heck of a hero candidate," Nemuri said impressed.
"Ah...about that...I'm...actually not attending a hero school," Aoi admitted.
"Why is that? With a quirk like this you'd be an incredible hero," Toshinori asked, honestly surprised.
"I just...don't have the stomach for the hero life. I know we're a famed hero family and all that, but I just can't see myself being out there fighting crime and the like. I guess I'm the oddball of the family who'd rather live as a civilian," Aoi said, scratching the back of her head awkwardly.
"Nonsense," Toshinori grinned. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to live a normal life."
"Thanks." Aoi said with a smile "Anyway, what are you all doing here?"
"Training for the Sports Festival… even though I'd prefer to be cloud watching." Shouta said, mumbling out his complaint to himself.
"Oh right, the UA Sports Festival is a really big thing. Even schools like mine enjoy getting a chance to watch it," Aoi nodded. "If that's the case, I'd better leave you all to your training. Mind if I watch though?"
"Of course," Nemuri grinned. "This IS your house, and you're Murasaki's sister. Of course you're welcome to watch."
The next few hours were spent training with the various equipment and practicing on a few tricks intended to give them an edge using their quirks. Training went smoothly, and overall it was productive day. Along the way Aoi watched them train, and even helped out a few times, making a few constructs to add to the training.
"Dear lord Toshi how much can you bench press?" Hizashi couldn't help but ask while drinking some water, watching Toshinori lifting some… VERY heavy weights.
That stopped his fellow blonde short "Uh… I didn't actually check their weight, I just piled on as much weight as I could and went with what was comfortable."
"Seriously? You make it sound like that strengthening quirk doesn't have an upper limit you know of," Murasaki gapped.
"Uh…" was all Toshinori could manage.
Everyone stared at him at that in silence "Jesus fuck…" Shouta whispered after a few moments.
"That is even more baffling than how my quirk came to be." Nemuri said silently.
"Yeah, my parents don't know how I got that too. Heck, it only showed up a lot later than most people do," Toshinori chuckled nervously.
"Huh, guess it fits then. Odd circumstances, odd quirk. Still fits you though," Murasaki mused.
"I guess that makes sense," Hizashi chuckled. Any further conversation was stopped when Aoi came in, pushing a tray of tea and some cakes.
"I thought you'd all like some tea after all that training," she said with a smile.
"Thanks sis, you're the best," Murasaki grinned.
"Hell yeah! Cake!" Nemuri cheered as she quickly grabbed one and scarfed it down while humming in content.
She wasn't alone in eating the cake, as the others joined in and took a break for now, before they eventually got back to training, still needing to get ready for the next week.
The days passed quickly, as the group met up after school every day after school, with the two sisters happy to have them, it was certainly livening up the house, and it made for a nice change of pace. Aoi also enjoyed talking to them. Even if she didn't want to go into the kind of world they were going for, she still enjoyed their company when it happened.
Before long, it was time for the Sports Festival, and the five friends were as ready as they could be.
"I kind of hate I can't have my suit." Hizashi said as he, the other boys, and likely the girls as well, had to wear their gym clothes.
"I kind of get what you mean, but they want to make sure we don't have any unfair advantages over others." Shouta said as he was making sure to use his eye drops now even if his eyes weren't too dry.
"Do we even know what we're doing exactly?" Hizashi asked.
"Well, the battle portion is likely there, but I'm not sure about the other two, I've heard they switch them up every few years." Toshinori commented while stretching out his limbs.
"Here's hoping they don't pick anything too troublesome," Shouta sighed.
"Come on, where's your sense of excitement? I think it's pretty cool that they keep the challenges secret until the last minute," Hizashi grinned.
"Then why did you ask in the first place?" Shouta asked dryly.
Hizashi shrugged "Can't blame a guy for being curious can you?"
"You've gotten a lot better at managing your quirk by the way." Toshinori commented.
"Thanks, took a lot of practice, but I made it Perfect!" Hizashi grinned, slipping into english at the end.
"Well, I think it's about time we get going. Might as well go and face the music," Shouta shrugged.
"Yeesh, it wouldn't kill ya to sound a bit more motivated," Hizashi said flatly, earning another noncommittal shrug from Shouta.
Along the way, the group of boys met back up with the girls from their class, with them continuing on towards the gate, hearing an announcer starting to introduce them.
"And here comes the first heroes of the next generation, class 1-A!" the announcer cheered, something which was replicated by the many spectators. The reactions from the students varied, some of them clearly enjoying of the attention, others looking pretty overwhelmed….and then there were others who didn't give a shit.
"Thousands cheering our names. Cool," Murasaki chuckled as she and Nemuri met up with their friends.
"Its definitely a new experience," Toshinori admitted.
"But definitely one we could get used to," Hizashi grinned.
"I think I'll pass," Shouta snorted.
"Awww, what's the matter? Not one for the crowds?" Nemuri laughed, ribbing him slightly.
"Why would I want to deal with crowds of people when my hands are full dealing with you guys already," he snorted in response, his face turning into one of its rare amused grins.
"Guys, looks like they're about to tell us the competition," Murasaki said, focusing everyone's attention on the announcer.
"As always, the Sports Festival will be divided into three rounds. The first round will be a race for all competitors to determine their position for the next round. For this year, it will be a triathlon style track. Competitors will need to complete the three sections of the course which have been set with obstacles and traps to hinder their progress. If any competitors cannot finish the race or are forced out of the track, they will be automatically disqualified. Any questions from our competitors?"
The only question that came up came from one of the female competitors, asking about clothing seeing as a triathlon starts with the swimming section, to which the announcer explained that the sports outfits were made from durable and easy to dry materials, meaning that it would dry very quickly once they finish the swimming course. Even then, drying stations had been set up for any who finished the course for good measure.
"Now, everybody line up at the starting gate!" the announcer exclaimed as a wide gate started to open up, with a set of lights above it.
With that signal, everyone got into position, as the announcer began again. "On your marks...get set...GO!" the sound of a starting gun could be heard as everyone took off to a running start. Well...most did, as a few had suddenly dropped to the ground sleeping, Nemuri not wasting any time to start using her quirk on anyone who got too close. They'd wake up soon enough, but by that time, they'd have gotten a rather sizeable disadvantage.
And that's when she noticed Murasaki wasn't even next to her anymore "Sneaky." she said after a moment, looking ahead to see the ravenette having used her portals to get a head start, evident by the sudden splash, as she was already in the water and wasting no time to swimming in order to cover as much ground as she could. At first she had a very notable head start until…
"Time to JET!" Hizashi shouted as he was suddenly being propelled through the water...facing backwards. He'd used his quirk to essentially blast himself through the water, while also slowing down anyone behind him as they were forced to cover their ears. It wasn't long before he actually managed to blow past Murasaki...before promptly falling into the water as his throat finally gave out, so now he was stuck swimming as well. It wasn't long before they were met with the obstacles of this area, a bunch of buoys that had nets attached to them, forcing the competitors to avoid the nets, with a few getting impatient and getting tangled in the nets, to which the buoys beeped and literally dragged them off the course, disqualifying them.
Eventually, they reached the end of the swimming section of the course, and after a quick stop in the drying stall, they quickly went and grabbed the bicycles provided and began pedalling. This time the track was going uphill, which made for a more tiring experience, with some competitors using their quirks in creative ways to make up for the lost time. Murasaki had thought about using her portals, but decided against it when she realized she'd have to very precisely clear the ring or risk throwing herself off the bike. As such, she'd be better saving her quirk for the final leg of the race.
Looking around quickly, she noticed her friends were using their own tricks to keep the competition off their backs if not removing them, especially Nemuri who'd put more people to sleep, while Shouta had used his quirk here and there to cut off some more troublesome powers, though he was careful not to overuse. Then there were the spike traps littered around the course on top of it being uphill. Suffice to say, it was a nightmare to navigate, but eventually they all got through, reaching the final leg.
Quickly parking their bikes, each contestant started immediately on the final leg, putting everything they had into it...which wasn't easy since it turned out there were some pit traps in the wide running course. Likewise this was the part where everyone was going all out, among them, Murasaki was using her portals to get an advantage….only for two figures to blow past her, revealing to be Enji using his fire quirk to launch himself forward, and Toshinori who was making several mighty leaps through the air. Murasaki blinked, before her expression became determined as she used her own quirk to try to get ahead. Eventually the finish line was in sight, and as the three were neck in neck trying to get an advantage, they crossed at almost the same time, with the final result being….Toshinori in first place, Enji in second, and Murasaki in third.
"And we have our top three for the first event of the day people! Yagi Toshinori, Todoroki Enji and Yaoyorozu Murasaki all from Class 1-A!" the announcer exclaimed. The cheers that were rather loud, as clearly the crowd had enjoyed the race, as well as the various applications of powers. "And give a round of applause for all our competitors who made it to the end. They will all be moving on to the next round!"
"That was fun," Murasaki chuckled.
"Says the girl who was jumping ahead with portals," Shouta deadpanned.
"Hey, quirks allowed in the Sports Festival. No reason not to use mine," Murasaki said, playfully sticking her tongue out.
"Well, point is we all got through, so that's cool. Great work that you and Tosh got into the top three," Hizashi grinned.
The competitors who made it to the next round were given a 30 minute break to catch their breaths and the like. As such the five of them were once again gathered. They'd tried to invite Enji to join in seeing as the guy was on his own but well…
"What a jerk," Nemuri huffed as said classmate had completely ignored them.
"If that guy becomes a hero, I bet he's not gonna be winning any popularity points," Murasaki agreed with an annoyed look.
"Now now, maybe he just enjoys being by himself," Toshinori said.
"He took one look at us and walked away without so much as saying anything," Hizashi AND Shouta said dryly. At the same time.
"Well… when you put it like that." Toshinori said with a light grimace.
"Jerk has a stick up his ass if you ask me." Nemuri muttered.
"No arguments there," Murasaki huffed.
Toshinori sweat dropped at the turn their conversation had taken. "So...shouldn't we be getting information on the next event soon?" he said quickly.
"Hm…" Shouta idly checked his watch. "Yeah...we got a few more minutes. Might as well get going."
"...okay...so now we're about to play laser tag. Cool," Hizashi mused as everyone was now decked in light armor and wielding a mock laser gun.
"And we have to work in teams… with three certain people being the biggest targets." Nemuri commented as she glanced at Toshinori and Murasaki who were still glancing at the scoreboard from time to time, mostly due to how many points the two of them were worth.
Toshinori was worth 500 points while Murasaki was worth 100, meanwhile, Enji was worth 300 points.
And a LOT of people were eyeing the three up like predators on the prowl.
"...you get the feeling you regret putting your all in round 1?" Murasaki gulped.
"Yeah...I'm right there with you…" Toshinori had a huge sweat drop.
"So...who wants to be on team suicide?" Shouta asked flatly...before walking up to Toshinori.
"Thank you so much!" Toshinori said, and Shouta was suddenly wrapped up in a bone crushing hug… emphasis on bone-crushing.
"You're welcome… now let go!" Shouta wheezed out.
"Sorry!" Toshinori gasped as he let go, earning a few chuckles from the friends.
"Well, since Shouta's doing it, I'll help out too," Hizashi grinned as he walked up to them.
"It's five people teams, right?" Murasaki asked hopefully as she looked at Nemuri, who chuckled.
"It is, so we're all sticking together." Nemuri said with a grin.
"No matter how much we may come to regret it," Murasaki chuckled, as when she said that, a LOT of eyes were now on them. "...which I think will be VERY soon…"
"Alright, quick recap, in total, our team is worth 621 points, meaning we're the biggest target out there, but MOSTLY Toshi, which will be even more dangerous, since he's one of the tallest in the class along with flame brain over there." Shouta said as he got serious, hooking his thumb at Enji at the end who seemed to have reluctantly teamed up with a few others.
"Now then, the stage is set and competitors may enter the field!" the announcer said, as the teams entered the arena, and were met with the sight of a replication of a city with an almost maze-like design. "To progress to the next stage, teams need to gather enough points to allow their team to pass. To do so they need to tag other competitors and depending on who they tag, the number of points they earn vary. Furthermore, they must not tag their own teammates. Friendly fire will result in deduction of points equivalent to that teammate's value. Navigate through this city based maze and rack up points as fast as possible!" the announcer commanded as each team was ushered to a different entrance.
The countdown was quick to begin, and once it reached zero… let's just say 'hell breaking loose' was an accurate description.
Almost immediately, Murasaki opened a portal as she was able to spy another gate just barely through the maze, and got 32 points for her team, while fully eliminating another.
"Good start, now we just have to be careful, if anybody tags Toshi, they get the biggest score, one that I doubt we can catch up on." Nemuri said as she kept her eyes open.
"Unless of course we tag flame brain." Hizashi said with a grin as he imagined shooting down Enji from his high horse.
"As great an idea that is, I think we'd all rather avoid dealing with a torrent of flames just yet," Shouta pointed out, and even if his quirk could negate it, it only lasted as long as he didn't even blink...which would be VERY hard.
"Good point," Toshinori nodded right as he finished shooting down several would be attackers.
"Next option is we just tag as many as we can. We'll move on regardless of how many points if we can beat everyone." Murasaki said.
"Likewise we'll have to be careful to avoid getting hit ourselves," Nemuri frowned. As it was, most of them were worth a decent sum of points.
"Then we'll just have to make sure we hit them before they hit us," Hizashi said, before a thought crossed his mind. "Nemuri, how far can you spread your sleep gas again? And can you like...direct it to a degree?"
"That depends on what you have in mind?" Nemuri asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Sleep bombs. You send some of your sleeping gas through one of Murasaki's portals to knockout anyone we see." Hizashi suggested.
"That could work. All I need is to make sure a part of me is through the portal and it should work," Nemuri nodded.
"And alternatively, you can use me to catch them off guard. A loud voice is bound to scare the pants off of them," Hizashi snickered.
"And if Mura can see them, so can I, meaning I can cancel their quirks." Shouta added with one of his rare grins.
"Strangely, I don't mind feeling a bit useless in this scenario." Toshinori said with a chuckle.
"Nonsense. You'd be great for a quick getaway. Have you seen the dust clouds your punches kick up?" Murasaki grinned.
"Just give me a warning before you do those. I'd rather not have a face full of dust," Shouta sighed.
"Right. Looks to me like we've got a good attack plan. Let's do this," Toshinori grinned.
And the plan worked like wonders, as they quickly put it into effect, one of the rare cases of a plan surviving first contact with an opponent, and they racked up as many points as they could.
The only gripe Hizashi had was that they weren't able to take out Enji, but that just meant they had a chance at fighting him in the last portion. As it was, they'd managed to clear the round...without losing any of their members at that. Eventually…
"And that's it for the second round. 16 Contestants remain, and have racked up the necessary points. They will now proceed to the final round," the announcer started "As for what the final round is exactly? Just a simple fighting tournament of course! Our 16 competitors will go up against one another until only one remains standing! Now, before we can begin this brawl, we need to decide the order of the matches, so our final fighters will draw lots to choose who fights who."
The screen came up with the bottom row in numerical order, so number 1 would fight number 2, number 3 would fight number 4, and so on. With that, everyone took a random draw, and their positions were in.
"So I'm fighting first huh?" Murasaki mused as she looked up at the board, before glancing down at the arena, her opponent standing across from her.
A girl with pale blonde hair in pigtails with blue eyes.
"Our first match of the day is Yaoyorozu Murasaki of Class 1-A VS Takamaki Ann of Class 1-B!" the announcer called.
"Let's have a good fight!" Takamaki said with a grin, with Murasaki returned with a nod.
At the signal of the announcer, both girls charged forward, meeting each other in the middle of the way, trading blows and kicks. For a few moments the two were in a stalemate, before they soon broke away.
"You're good," Murasaki smirked.
"Thanks, you're not bad yourself," Ann chuckled.
"Well then, I'll do better," Murasaki said before punching forward, right into a portal, which the other end opened right in front of Ann's face, which shot the fist out...only to stop short as Murasaki shouted in pain when she felt her fist impact something hard.
She retracted her fist back, wincing as she shook it around "Holy hell that hurt! What was that?" she hissed.
"My quirk of course," Ann chuckled. "Invisible walls."
"Oh… that's gonna be a problem." Murasaki summed up dryly.
"Not for me it's not~" Ann teased.
What followed was a seesaw battle as Murasaki did her best to find an opening...but every attempt she had at striking was met with a literal wall, but at the same time, Ann was pinned down as she couldn't move as easily under Murasaki's assault.
It was looking as if the fight would be determined by who had the most stamina… until…
By complete accident, Murasaki opened a portal behind Ann, and actually hit her in the leg. "Huh?" Murasaki blinked as Ann stumbled forward. Acting quickly, she created another portal behind her and hit her again. "Ooooh, I get it. You can only make walls where you can see...huh, we got the same weakness."
"Huh? You too?" Ann blinked. "Too bad I can't make use of this…" she groaned, as Murasaki simply made a portal behind her, and gave her a strong push, which was repeated again and again, from various angles, and even spinning her around until…. "Someone stop the arena from spinning…" she groaned as her eyes were dizzy and she fell over… outside of the arena.
"Well, after a rather interesting fight, it seems Murasaki has claimed victory with a ring out!" the announcer exclaimed as people started to cheer.
With the outcome decided, Murasaki went over to Ann and helped her up.
"Thanks," Ann said still a bit dizzy. "You got me good this time, but next time I'll be sure to win," she said.
"I'll be waiting for that then." Murasaki said with a grin as the two shook on it.
With that, the two returned to the spectator area, while the next fight began. The fight was between Toshinori against another student from 1-B. He was a rather strongly built young man with bleached blonde hair and a few piercings that made him look like a punk.
"The second match will be between Yagi Toshinori of class 1-A and Tatsumi Kanji of class 1-B!" the announcer declared.
"Looks like we're going to have one hell of a fight." Kanji grinned as he cracked his knuckles.
"It does look that way." Toshinori said with a chuckle.
The moment the signal was given, Kanji went charging forward, aiming to land a haymaker into Toshinori's face. However, Toshinori wasn't about to just stand there and take it as he dodged and countered, the two young men soon trading blow after blow.
"Wow, that guy's as tough as Tosh," Murasaki whistled from the spectator seat for contestants.
"And THAT is saying something," Nemuri agreed.
"Yeah...Kanji is the kind of guy who can never stay down. And he hasn't even used his quirk," Ann chuckled.
"Well then, this is going to be something," Shouta mused.
Back on the arena, the two had separated after a rather savage exchange of blows. "Heh. You're pretty good. How about some of THIS!" Kanji called out as he stomped on the ground, and a tremor shook the arena.
Toshinori stumbled from the tremor, as did many other people who were close, before he managed to regain his balance "I see… earthquakes, an impressive power." he muttered in understanding.
"You got that right. I can shake the world itself!" Kanji grinned before he triggered another tremor, which had Toshinori off balance, before dashing forward and punching him in the face.
Toshinori was sent tumbling back, but managed to get his footing before he was out of the ring. At the same time, Kanji was getting ready for another shot, but…
"That's a powerful quirk yes, but there is a weakness," Toshinori grinned before raising his fist and bringing it down to the ground right as Kanji stomped the ground again. "Nevada Smash!" he shouted as a tremor was felt, before nothing.
"Wait, what? What just happened?!" Kanji gasped, and momentarily let his guard down, allowing Toshinori to grab him, and with a roar, threw him out of the ring.
The bleached blonde was upside down, looking back at Toshinori in confusion "What… how did you do that?"
Toshinori grinned a bit "Well, I thought that the best way to counter a tremor was with one of equal strength, so I struck the ground at the same time as you did with as much strength as I could."
"Huh...so that's what happened. Well...it sure worked," he admitted, right as the announcer called the match. He WAS out of the ring.
"Well… looks like I'm going to be fighting Toshi." Murasaki mused with an awkward laugh. With that they continued to watch the fights through the day. Nemuri was up a couple matches later, up against a student named Hanamura Yosuke who had a wind quirk. Suffice to say that went about as well as you'd expect so Nemuri was out of the tournament much to her annoyance. Right after that was in a twist, Hizashi and Shouta against each other. It seemed those two really were inseparable...in a rather annoying way this time. Suffice to say the two wanted this over as fast as possible, and while Murasaki had expected to see Shouta win, but in a twist, Hizashi got the first draw and used his voice to kick up a cloud of dust...which ended up in Shouta's eyes (everyone who knew his condition winced when that happened). As such, it wasn't hard for Hizashi to use his quirk to push his friend out of the ring. After that, there was only one fight left to the first round. Todoroki Enji of their own class, against Hayabusa Ryu, from the general studies department, whose quirk apparently let him become invisible for a short amount of time if some of his classmates were to be believed… though that didn't do much against a torrent of flames.
"I see flame brain's strategy is still exactly the same as always," Hizashi said flatly.
"How has he not charred someone yet?" Murasaki sighed.
"Let's just be glad it hasn't gotten that bad," Toshinori sighed.
"I wonder if a sonic screech can put out his fire?" Shouta muttered as he looked at his friend, who hummed in thought at that.
"Well, we might as well take some time to rest and prepare," Hizashi said anyway. "We've still got a few more matches to go through.
"So...just to be sure, win or lose, no hard feelings?" Murasaki checked as she was currently facing against Toshinori.
"Of course not," Toshinori nodded, before the announcer began speaking.
"And for the first match of the second round, we have Yaoyorozu Murasaki against Yagi Toshinori! Both fought well in the first round, and now we will see who of them can move on to the semi-finals!" the announcer said, earning a resounding cheer from the audience.
"Show me what you got!" Murasaki said when the starting signal was given, and she immediately formed a portal, going through it, appearing in front of Toshinori and kicking him, to which he blocked, but she quickly made another one and appeared behind him, and attacked him from his blindspot. She kept up the pressure for a little while longer, knowing that Toshinori's biggest weakness was that his Quirk dealt mainly with short range, so if she could stop him from getting a clear hit, she could wear him down.
Toshinori grinned as he tried to block most of her hits, having some difficulty with how she was pooping in and out around him. But if he was being honest, he also found this incredibly fun, as he went for a wide swing to try and clear her away.
Murasaki managed to dodge the first time, going through another portal, but Toshinori wasn't done as he used the momentum to maintain his swing, and catch her when she came out of another portal, knocking her away, and for a moment, it looked like he was about to throw her out...until she managed to make a portal at the last moment, depositing her back in the ring.
"Good one. Almost had me there," she chuckled.
"Should have known it would take more than that to beat you," he chuckled slightly, before getting into another ready stance. "Now come on, we've still got a match," he said before he surged forward, aiming to land a strong straight punch at her...if a portal didn't suddenly appear as he threw the punch, his arm going through it, and exiting next to his shoulder, causing him to end up punching himself, the force launching him aside, very narrowly sending him off the ring.
"Ok… first off, ow!" He said with a wince as he rubbed his shoulder "Second, you're gonna make this difficult for me, aren't you?"
"Would it be me if I didn't?" Murasaki asked 'innocently'.
"That's what I'm afraid of," Toshinori groaned. It was official, if he didn't think of something quick, he'd lose. Still...he couldn't attack head on. Really...it was basically impossible for him to hit her head on like this. Still...if only he could hit her with something she wouldn't expect. Something she couldn't just send through her portals. Thinking hard, he thought about previous fights he'd had and what he'd done with his powers so far...and came upon an idea. A crazy idea, and one that could very well cost him the tournament if he messed up one way or another, but as it was, this was literally the ONLY way he could possibly win.
He took some distance from her, making his friend blink in confusion as he reared his arm back "Texas… Smash!" he shouted and punched forward with all his might, and to the surprise of many, it was like the air moved from the force of his punch, before colliding with Murasaki.
"What the-?!" she managed to gasp, having been ready to open a portal as he got close...only he never got close and she was hit with an almost gale force wind, sending her flying off the field and into a heap on the ground. "I want off the roller coaster," she slurred dizzily from her sudden flight.
"And in a surprising move, the winner of this fight is Yagi Toshinori!" the announcer cheered, which was followed by the rest of the crowd.
A few minutes later had the two back in the spectators' stand, Murasaki having shaken off her dizziness. "Okay, I THOUGHT I was ready for anything you could throw at me, but seems I was wrong," she chuckled. "Good one."
"You forced me to think outside the box. I knew if I tried fighting like normal you'd just keep making me punch myself," Toshinori chuckled. "Besides, I doubt it'll work again a second time now that you know about it."
"Point is you actually thought up a way on the fly. I'd say it's a safe bet next time you'll think of something new and the next time and next too," she said with a grin.
Toshinori couldn't help but grin at her vote of confidence, before they then focused on the next matches. The immediate match of interest was Hizashi against the 1-B student who beat Nemuri, Hanamura Yosuke. At first he'd tried using his wind to counter Hizashi's Quirk, but the loud noise soon won over the wind, and once he had him where he wanted, Hizashi blasted him with loud noises till he conceded for his eardrums' sake, thus Hizashi was now in the Semi-Finals too. As for the fight of the one who would be his opponent...well...once again Enji had dominated the fight by overwhelming force.
"Okay...now I'm a bit worried for Hizashi," Nemuri gulped seeing as the flame user WAS their friend's next opponent.
"Yeah… fighting him is gonna hurt." Hizashi admitted "Still gonna make him work if he wants a win though."
"Good, you'll want to get down there then." Came Ann's voice as she hoisted herself over the little wall "Our classmate who was going to fight Yagi decided to forfeit, so their probably just about to announce it."
"I'm… not THAT scary… am I?" Toshinori asked with a confused blink.
"Nah, its just our classmate's quirk is turning into rock. Your punches can break the stage. Simple math really," Ann said with a light chuckle.
"...good point," they all agreed at the mental image of rocks getting obliterated.
"Well, I guess it's time to try and give flame brain a run for his money," Hizashi shrugged.
"Good luck out there." Murasaki said with a thumbs up.
"You're going to need it." Shouta added dryly.
"Well everyone, I'm sorry to say that Mayonaka Teddie has decided to forfeit his next match, on the grounds of knowing he would lose against his opponent. As such, we'll move onto the next match, once again between two members of class 1-A, Yamada Hizashi and Todoroki Enji!" The announcer shouted, doing his job still.
"Don't think you're gonna win so easily this time," Hizashi said, but Enji just met him with one of his usual glares. "Jeez, you're about as fun as normal," Hizashi snorted.
The fight began and Enji started with a burst of fire. Acting quickly, Hizashi rolled out of the way, and when another shot was fired, he quickly used his quirk to make a sound blast to counter the fire, cancelling it out. Trying to capitalize on the opening, Hizashi fired another blast of sound, hoping to push him out of the field, but Enji was faster, moving quick and firing his flames at various angles, forcing Hizashi to play on the defensive. This soon turned into a seesaw battle as neither combatant was letting the other get close while they kept trying to overwhelm each other. The fight stretch on, easily becoming the longest fight in the tournament so far when it hit a good 10 over minutes, but eventually the match was decided, when Hizashi's voice gave out from constant use.
He tried to do one last blast, but seeing as his voice wouldn't come out, he had nothing to defend himself when a blast of fire hit, sending him off the field.
Enji grunted as he was declared the winner, looking down at his arm, red from overuse of his flame, as usual. He'd have to find a way to take care of that problem.
He knew the finals would be next, and he already knew who his opponent was, but even he wasn't prideful enough to not make good use of the short break to go cool down his body.
He made his way back to the locker rooms, opening his own up and grabbing an icepack he kept in a small cooler, held it against his skin to let it cool down. Still, he was confident he could win. He'd made it this far with his power, and he would show everyone his skill by winning this tournament.
"And we're back with the final bout of the Sports Festival everybody! So let's get right down to it! For our final match, we have Yagi Toshinori VS Todoroki Enji!" the announcer practically shouted.
"May the best man win," Toshinori said with a friendly grin. Enji merely nodded slowly, though under his breath he muttered "I intend to."
At the signal the two young men charged forward, Enji immediately going on the offensive and firing blasts of fire at Toshinori, but Toshinori quickly countered by punching the ground, causing several rocks to come up, and block the flames. Following up, he punched the rocks, causing them to break apart, and forcing Enji to go on the defensive as he had to block the incoming rocks, though a few broke through his flames and hit him, pushing him back.
Growling, he renewed his assault, catching Toshinori in a blast, pushing him back, but with a grunt, he threw his fist forward, creating a shockwave that dispersed the flames, much to Enji's shock. He'd known the force behind Toshinori's punches was strong, but to disperse the flames even when he was actively feeding them...this...shouldn't have been possible.
His momentary shock was capitalized by Toshinori to land a kick, sending Enji skidding back, but he managed to stop himself by using his fire like a rocket booster, before soon flying forward, intending on landing a flame infused punch, one that Toshinori met head on with one of his own, the force blowing them both back.
The force was stronger than both likely expected, as a gust of wind travelled through the whole stadium, buffeting everyone in the warm wind. The crowd went silent at the clash, and as it was...it wasn't stopping anytime soon as the two men had begun duking it out like crazy in the arena, exchanging punches and kicks, meeting each other blow for blow. Eventually though, they broke off, Enji glaring at Toshinori who was panting a little. "This has gone on long enough. Time to end it," he glared, his flames burning brighter.
"I couldn't agree more." Toshinori said with a grin, rearing his arm back "100%..." he started muttering, his arm bulking ever so slightly as the veins underneath almost seemed to glow for a second.
When Enji threw his strongest flame, not caring if his opponent would be burned from it, he felt a sense of accomplishment, there was no way he could-
"TEXAS… SMASH!" and the flames were all cleared away as a practical TANK of wind slammed into Enji, sending him flying out of the ring and crashing into a wall.
Enji's eyes were wide open in shock at what had just happened. "Not...yet…" he managed to groan, pulling himself out of the wall...but soon fell the ground unconscious, his fading mind struggling to accept that for all his power, his training, his skill...he'd just lost. Completely.
"And in a shocking final move, Yagi Toshinori has come out the winner!" the announcer cheered, which set off the rest of the crowd to cheer for Toshi as well.
"He won! He won!" Hizashi was cheering from the spectator stands, while Murasaki and Nemuri were right there with him, while Shouta had a rare grin on him, all of them happy to see their friend win.
A short while later, the award ceremonies were being held, as the crowd was cheering for the victors of the tournament.
Toshi was feeling quite proud of himself as he stood on the highest podium, a gold medal around his neck, and a bright grin on his face. On one side, Hizashi was grinning even if he was just sharing third place, along with another blonde haired boy with a blue eyes, who seemed to have the 'pretty boy' style down pat, one Mayonaka Teddie from Class 1-B, the two of them with bronze medals around their necks.
On the second place podium though, Enji stood, a silver medal around his neck, and giving Toshinori a scalding glare, and if looks could kill, Toshi would have died 10 times already. This was something that in the excitement, went unnoticed by most...save a few.
"...he's gonna be a problem in the future, isn't he?" Murasaki asked rhetorically.
"I'd say definitely yes," Shouta frowned.
And that wraps up the Sports Festival everybody.
Now, one thing to adress, since we started this, some of All Might's past was shown off in the manga, so, to try and work some of it in, we'll avoid delving TOO much into the past, but we'll also use some of what is known from those mini chapters.
Anyway, see you all next time for the hero names, and more!