ちょうしょはたんしょ

chousho wa tansho

Over-reliance on our strengths leads to careless mistakes.

I stood in the tunnel leading out to the arena waiting, shifting around and fidgeting with my sleeves awkwardly. Outside, I could hear Present Mic announcing the start of the next match. Exhaling heavily, I took control of my shaking hands, forcing myself to calm down. I reviewed the plan Izuku and I had created in my mind, steeling my nerves. My stomach fluttered nervously, I couldn't wait to get this fight over with.

"AND NOW, IT'S TIME FOR THE FOURTH MATCH!" Present Mic howled, and I stepped into the light. The stadium erupted into cheers as I exited the tunnel, walking up the stairs to the stage.

The battle area looked much larger now that I was on level with it, looking down the rectangular concrete square at Shiozaki. Flames billowed from both sides of the stares, and I could feel the heat brushing against my face. I met Shiozaki's calm gaze with a firm stare of my own. I wouldn't lose here, because I had to prove that I could win. That I could be a hero.

Present Mic began his commentary. "IT'S THE EARTHY GUARDIAN FROM THE HEROICS DEPARTMENT, IBARA SHIOZAKI!" Shiozaki smiled at me, looking oddly pleased by her name. "VERSUS! THE LIGHTNING FAST MIDGET WHO'S BEEN CONTENDING FOR THE TOP FROM THE START, ICHIGO KUROSAKI!" I wrinkled my nose in displeasure. Present Mic had called me a midget! Why did everyone feel the need to comment on my height?!

Shiozaki stared me down. "Kurosaki, I trust this will be a fair match?"

"As f-fair as a f-fight c-can get," I agreed, smiling slightly. "I w-won't g-go down easy." I slid my feet into a running position., leaning forwards.

Shiozaki nodded. "Neither will I," she declared steadily, vines swaying.

"STAAART!" Present Mic screamed.

I shot forward immediately, determined to cover as much ground as I could before Shiozaki's vines could get in the way. Shiozaki was excellent at long range offense and defense, but the closer you got to her, the more she was restricted by the length of her own vines. I stuck low to the ground, and when the concrete cracked below my feet, I pushed off with my toes, doing a quick aerial cartwheel to dodge her first attempt at binding me. I closed the distance in further, speeding up as adrenaline started to pump through my veins.

Present Mic continued to run his mouth. "KUROSAKI JUST DODGED A BULLET! SHE'S REALLY PICKING UP SPEED! HOW LONG CAN SHE HOLD OUT BEFORE SHIOZAKI CATCHES HER THOUGH?!"

I grit my teeth, and when the cement split again, I threw myself sideways, skidding to a stop and darting in again. I was ten feet away from Shiozaki, who was turning with wide eyes as I drew in closer. Five feet. Three feet.

I was too slow to react this time, as vines rose from the ground and wrapped around my ankles. Hanging me upside down, they shot into the air, dangling me from their grip. I narrowed my eyes as the vines grew, covering my sneakers entirely and slowly climbing up my legs.

Shiozaki looked up at me readily. "I will not lose so easily," she informed me. "I will not waste the opportunity I have been given."

I grinned at her toothily. "N-neither will I!" I closed my eyes, lighting the flame in my gut… and then blew on it as hard as I could. Normally, I tried to control the fire of my quirk, make it last longer. Now, I ramped it up as high as I could. I vanished in a gust of steam, the vines burning away around my ankles as I dropped to the ground, landing in a roll and popping up behind a stunned Shiozaki. She was searching for me in the odd smokescreen I had created, coughing as the air grew hotter and thicker from the boiling vapor. My skin already stung. "S-sorry," I whispered in her ear, grabbing my own sleeve and ripping. I took the torn cloth and strung in around her throat, twisting it and dragging her towards the edge of the arena, which was closer than ever.

Shiozaki gagged from my hold, hands instinctively reaching up to claw at my grip. Every scratch she made healed instantly, as I forced her out of the cloud of steam I'd created and tugged her towards the boundary. I could hear the almost universal gasp that passed around the arena as we exited the smokescreen. I tried to imagine what we looked like. Me, less than half of Shiozaki's size and engulfed in a growing pillar of steam, overwhelming my opponent by gagging her with my torn sleeve and slowly pulling her towards the boundary of the battle area.

As we reached the edge, Shiozaki choked in desperation, making a final attempt at resistance. Her hair stabbed towards my gut, trying to force to let go and dodge. I didn't. I stepped forward, throwing Shiozaki over the boundary, and let the vines run me through. She landed outside the painted line roughly, spinning around to land on her back, viney hair still raised towards me.

I coughed, feeling an odd pressure in my stomach where the vines had gutted me. I smiled as Shiozaki weakly, from where she lay sprawled on the ground, staring at me in horror. "M-mind recalling th-those s-so I can heal?" I asked, trying to use my usual cheek and failing. I had maybe twenty seconds left of using my quirk before I crashed.

"SHIOZAKI IS OUT OF THE RING! KUROSAKI WINS!" Present Mic announced, ignoring the deathly silent audience, who were terrified that I was going to die on television. I was sure more than a few people were looking away, not knowing what my quirk was. I felt the urge to giggle build in my throat.

Shiozaki pulled her vines back automatically, opening her mouth to apologize. I held up a hand, as the hole in my abdomen sealed instantaneously. "I-It's fine," I said. "N-no harm d-done." I looked down to see how the injury had healed, and was pleased by the smooth, unscarred skin. I grinned at Shiozaki, waving over my shoulder as I hurried back towards the tunnels. I wasn't going to crash in the middle of the stadium. "G-good match!" I called, vanishing into the tunnel.

As soon I was hidden in the shadows of the tunnel, I sat down and propped myself against the wall. Ripping my other sleeve off, I gagged myself with it. I had used my quirk for approximately two minutes, meaning the crash would only last twenty seconds. Biting down, I switched off my quirk. Tears rose in my eyes as my stomach felt like it was being ripped to shreds and cauterized all at once. I screamed into the gag involuntarily, starting to shake from the unbearable agony.

Then it was over, and I was laying sprawled on the cool stone floor of the tunnel. Spitting the saliva coated fabric from my mouth, I pushed myself back up into a sitting position, ignoring the small puddle of water where my head had been laying. Trembling with exertion, I stood up slowly, and assessed the damage.

My face flushed. My pants had been burned away, the ashen fabric barely reaching my thighs. The stab wound in my stomach had been healed, but it had ripped the front of my jumpsuit regardless, and my sleeves had both been torn off, revealing all of my arms and most of my shoulders. My tank-top had become a crop-top after I was run through. My face heated up even more as I realized that everyone had seen me like this. I reached up and covered my cheeks, letting out unintelligible squeaks of panic.

"Icchan!" I glanced up to see Ochako running towards me, grinning widely. "Here," she called, tossing a pile of cloth at me. I glanced down to see a new uniform.

I smiled at Ochako thankfully, eyes watering from embarrassment. "Th-thank you, Ocha-chan!" I said, quickly changing in the darkness of the tunnel. I switched pants and my jacket in less than eight seconds. "I c-can't b-belive I looked l-like that on t-television," I sighed pitifully, staring at the floor, and pulled on my braids anxiously. I was sure my cheeks were glowing red from the force of my blush.

"Don't worry about it," Ochako told me confidently. "You looked like a real badass, you should've seen everyone's expressions in the viewing box. You're always so kind, but you were like," she made several punches and kicks in the air. "Wham! Bam! I then you stabbed yourself and won!" She turned to me, eyes sparkling with excitement as she made odd gestures in the air around her. "And you were gushing steam and it looked so cool!" She smacked me on the shoulder, and I hid my wince at the abuse to my sore body. "So don't worry about it!"

I grinned shyly, letting go of my punishing grip on my hair. "A-alright," I agreed, following Ochako out of the tunnel. "Y-you know, I m-made a p-plan w-with Izukun b-before th-the match," I told her seriously. Ochako paused, suddenly looking more nervous than I was. "I-if you h-have an idea f-for y-your match against Bakago, h-he and I w-would be m-more than willing t-to h-help perfect it."

Ochako exhaled heavily. "I have some ideas, but…" she bit her lip and clenched her fists. "I don't want to rely on you guys to win. If I'm gonna win, then it'll be with my own strength!" She declared firmly. Her voice echoed in the tunnel, and then Ochako grew sheepish. "Well, that's what I want to do anyways."

"Th-that's okay," I told her, smiling gently. "I w-wanted to d-drop out entirely, r-remember?"

Ochako burst out laughing. "Right!" She agreed, clearly reminiscing about this morning's stress. It almost felt like it had been years since then, rather than hours. I grinned as Ochako's laughter petered off. She grabbed my wrist, and began tugging me towards the stairs. " Well, let's go!" She cheered, taking off in a run. Despite my exhaustion, I managed to keep up with her.

Reentering the Class A box, I spotted Tenya and Izuku saving our seats. After running all the way back up the arena, I was so tired I felt ready to fall over and die. Ochako had no such reservations, and she dragged me to the front at breakneck speed.

"Hey Izukun! Tenya! I've retrieved Icchan!" Ochako called, yanking me over and pushing me down into a seat between herself and Izuku. I didn't have it in me to resist, limply falling back and allowing myself to be shoved into the cushioned chair.

Izuku leaned forwards into my field of vision, looking concerned. "Uh, Ichigo? Are you alright? You look… tired."

"Mmn…" I tried to speak, talking took too much effort. My head fell back over the edge of the chair, and my eyes closed.

"A-are you sure she's fine?!" Izuku panicked, and I could imagine him looking around frantically, sweating and wide eyed.

Ochako laughed, but it sounded far off. "She'll be fine, she's just tired. I'm sure that match took a lot out of her," she said, and I felt a gentle pat on my shoulder.

"Kurosaki was the man!" I heard Kirishima's voice from behind me. He sounded ridiculously excited. "She totally wiped the floor with that vine girl! She was on her so fast, it was ridiculous!" I smiled weakly without opening my eyes. Kirishima was still calling me male, which I didn't understand, but it was apparently complimentary, so I'd take what I could get.

It was then that Mineta spoke. "And did you see her clothes? It was awesome…" I could practically hear him salivating, and shivered in disgust.

I half opened my eyes, glaring at the small boy sitting above. "Mineta, sh-shut up, no one asked w-what y-you thought," I said scathingly.

I heard a laugh from off to the left. "Geez, Kurosaki, you're mean," Kaminari added appreciatively.

"Everyone be silent!" Tenya thundered. "The next match is beginning!"All eyes returned to the arena, and with all of my strength, I pushed off the chair and flopped forward, dangling my arms over the railing in front of me.

On the jumbotron, I could see Tokoyami and Momo climbing onto the stage. Tokoyami looked serious and confident. Momo appeared oddly unsure of herself, rubbing her arm insecurely. I gulped, feeling the exhaustion drain out of me. "M-Momo…?" I said under my breath, stunned.

Izuku glanced over at me, eyes narrowed in concentration. "The biggest determiner in this match is time," he said.

"Mm," I agreed, frowning doubtfully. "Th-this is a really b-bad m-match up f-for Momo." I sighed, not wanting to watch. Momo was almost guaranteed to lose this match.

"TIME FOR THE NEXT BATTLE!" Present Mic screamed. "FROM THE HEROICS DEPARTMENT, SHE'S ONE OF THE ONLY STUDENTS TO GET IN ON RECOMMENDATIONS THIS YEAR, MOMO YAOYOROZU! VERSUS THE DARK KNIGHT AND HIS SHADOW, FUMIKAGE TOKOYAMI!" The crowd cheered as Momo and Tokoyami got into their positions.

I looked to Izuku, who had his notebook open in his lap, and was shaking his head. I sighed, and turned my gaze back to the stage. This match was already over, and we both knew it. Tokoyami specialized in quick and precise long-range attacks. Momo was a good all around fighter, but she was slow, and less mobile. In a small area where speed was prioritized… Momo had little to no chance of winning.

"STAARRT!" Present Mic yelled, and the fires on the sides of the arena went out immediately.

Momo held her arm out, and with a glimmer of light formed a small iron shield on her arm. It was just in time, because in that moment, Tokoyami's shadow slammed into her, bumping her backwards a few steps. Tokoyami had yet to move, looking deeply concentrated as his shadow wheeled back for another hit. Momo reached back, trying to form another object - I assumed something to attack with - but Tokoyami didn't give her a chance to concentrate, repeating bumping into her until she moved back, back, and over the boundary line.

Present Mic was howling through the air in moments. "TOKOYAMI WINS!" The crowd broke out into cheers again, clapping for Tokoyami's quick and decisive victory. My eyes were fixed on Momo's devastated face, as she turned back towards her tunnel and exited the arena, head and shoulders slumped in defeat.

"P-poor Momo," I whispered, fully realizing what had occured. "H-he didn't w-want t-to hurt her…"

Izuku nodded, mouth set in a grim line. "Tokoyami had complete control of that match from the start. He targeted the shield to avoid hurting her," he shook his head again. "That has to feel awful for Yaoyorozu."

Ochako glanced towards us, eyes wide. "He didn't want to hurt her?" She repeated in surprise.

"Y-yeah, th-that's why he t-targeted her shield," I elaborated, feeling deeply disappointed for Momo. It was almost insulting, that Tokoyami had taken the time to allow her to protect herself. Being treated with kids gloves was never fun.

"Oh," Ochako said, turning back towards the arena. She stared at the battle area for a long moment, then set her shoulders. I could see the determination in her expression. She didn't want to end up like Momo, treated with "respect" and easily beaten. I wasn't sure if I should encourage her resolve, or fear for my friend's safety.

In the end, I said nothing, returning my eyes to the arena as the next pair walked on stage. I recognized both boys' distinctive hair styles from a mile away, and glanced over my shoulder, surprised I had missed them leaving. Maybe I hadn't gotten past my exhaustion.

"AND NOW, IT'S THE MANLY MAN WITH SKIN AS HARD AS STONE, EIJIROU KIRISHIMA! VERSUS THE GUY WHO'S QUIRK IS A REAL SHOCKER," Present Mic emphasized the last word, and I wrinkled my nose at the bad pun. "DENKI KAMINARI!" Kirishima cracked his knuckles on screen, and I could see Kaminari's wide grin projected on big screens. "START!" Present Mic howled.

Kaminari spread his arms, smiling smugly. I could see his lips move, something along the lines of "this ending quick", before the battle area vanished in a bright flash of electricity. I could only assume he was trying to knock Kirishima out fast.

I smacked my forehead. "Th-that d-dummy, he's already l-lost," I mumbled.

Tenya nodded in agreement. "Indeed. I believe that he is attempting to showcase his abilities before he loses," he sai in Kaminari's defense.

"I don't know," Izuku disagreed doubtfully. "From what I have recorded, strategy is not Kaminari's strong point. He may not have realized…" his voice petered off, flipping through the pages of his notebook frantically.

Ochako looked between us curiously. "What do you mean?" She questioned.

"S-stone is an a-awful c-conductor," I finished, pointing back towards the arena. Kaminari was panting as his shock finally gave out. He smirked towards Kirishima, expecting to see a downed body. He was instead met with a fist to the jaw, as Kirishima's rock hard fist slammed into his face. Kaminari caught air, eyes wide, before crumpling to the concrete ground, out like a light.

Kirishima held his arms up, grinning triumphantly. "KIRISHIMA GET'S HIM WITH A RIGHT HOOK, AND KAMINARI IS DOWN FOR THE COUNT!" Present Mic commentated. "KIRISHIMA WINS THE MATCH!"

I smiled and clapped with audience. Kirishima was friendly, and I was happy to see him succeed. Recovery Girl climbed on the stage, healing Kaminari's rapidly bruising jaw, although the blonde didn't wake up. After the arena was finally cleaned up, I glanced over my shoulder.

Ochako's seat was empty, and the smile slowly slid off my face.