"No fair, Iida! Hiding that super secret power from us!" Uraraka fumed at me, as we headed over to our lunch break.
"It wasn't a question of fair," I pleaded with her. "I simply went beyond the perscribed usage! I really just wanted to measure up to Midoriya."
"Men," she scoffed. "Always measuring their - wait, where is Deku?"
We looked around. There was, it was true, no sign of Midoriya.
In the cafeteria, Uraraka continued to look annoyed with me. We were separated as she grabbed lunch with Asui, and I had the feeling she was really mad at me.
I walked over to where she and Asui had seated themselves.
"Uraraka - may I join you?"
She looked over at me and smiled. "Of course!" And just like that, the rift between us was over. Uraraka was really a very easy friend to get along with.
After lunch, I was separated from her and ASui again, but managed to finally track down Midoriya. It seemed he'd had it out with Todoroki, and wore a rather troubled expression on his face.
"HUH? WHAT'S THIS?" Cried Mic's voice. "WHAT HAPPENED, CLASS A?"
We turned around. The six girls of our class were all wearing cheerleader uniforms. Revealing cheerleader uniforms.
I turned away, embarrassed.
"Mineta, Kaminari!" screamed Yaoyorozu. "You tricked us, didn't you?!" She fell down and Uraraka patted her back. It seemed those two troublemakers had told the girls of our class that there would be a cheerleading element to the tournament, and tricked poor Yaoyorozu into making uniforms for all six.
"ALL RIGHT EVERYONE, COMPETE YOUR HEARTS OUT. RECREATION!" said Mic. "AND AFTER THAT THE FINAL EVENT! FROM THE 4 TEAMS, 16 INDIVIDUALS HAVE MADE IT THROUGH! IT'S A TOURNAMENT! WE'RE PITTING THEM AGAINST EACH OTHER IN ONE ON ONE COMBAT!"
"All right," said Midnight. "Now I'll determine who fights whom through this lottery. Once the matchups are decided, we'll do a fun bit of recreation, and then we'll commence. Whether or not the 16 who will be competing want to join in on the recreation activities is up to you. Since I'm sure many of you will be wanting to take a breather or preserve your strength. So starting from the team that placed 1st, let's determine the order - "
"Um, excuse me, sorry!" said Ojiro, raising his hand. "I'm sitting this one out."
"Ojiro, why?" cried everyone. "This is the place to show yourself off to the pros."
"Truth is, I don't remember anything that happened during the human cavalry battle up until the very last seconds," he admitted. "Probably due to that guy's quirk."
The guy who'd been leading his team, he meant, the boy with purple hair and gaunt eyes who had confronted myself, Midoriya, Uraraka and Bakugou outside of class
"I know it's my big chance, and I know it's stupid to throw it away," he continued. "But this is the place everyone earned by clashing at their full power. I wouldn't feel right standing among you without even understanding how I got here. I just can't do it."
"Don't worry about it!" said Hagakure. "As long as you get results at this stage, it's fine!"
"Yeah, it's not as though I put in the most stellar performance either," put in Ashido.
"You don't understand!" said Ojiro. "This is my pride we're talking about here. I can't stand the thought of it! Also, why are you girls dressed like cheerleaders?"
"I don't remember what happened either," said a boy from Class B. "I want to abstain too. No matter how strong he may actually be, for a person who didn't so anything to rise up would defeat the point of the festival!"
"How callow" said Midnight. "I'll have you know that greenhorns like you…get all my love! I hereby recognize Shoda and Ojiro pulling out!"
2 kids from Class B transferred in, and with 16, the matches were released. I had been teamed up to fight against someone named "Hatsume", a name I didn't recognize. By process of elimination, it must be either the purple haired boy or the support course girl. In a moment my suspicion was confirmed, as the Support course girl from Midoriya's team appeared as if teleported behind me.
"You're Iida, right?" she smiled at me.
"Yes, I am."
"Perfect! I've got something special for you!" She grabbed my arm and pulled me aside, as Mic announced "OK, LET'S PUT THE TOURNAMENT ON HOLD FOR A MOMENT AND ENJOY SOME RECREATION!"
"Do you know why us support course kids are allowed to bring costumes and gadgets with us?" she said, searching very quickly and energetically to me.
"No," I began, but before I could continue she cut me off. "It's because you hero course kids get so much quirk training. They think it's making things fair. But really, it'd be very unfair for me to have both my quirk and my gear and you just your quirk, wouldn't it?"
"I suppose - "
"So it'll be fair again if you wear this gear I made. How about it, Hero kid?"
I felt my heart swelling, thinking over Ojiro's words. All they'd said about fairness - and here was my opponent offering me a chance to fight fairly, evening the score! I supposed of course, that since Aoyama had worn his belt it must be all right for me to wear this, so -
"Of course, Miss Hatsume. I'll proudly wear your gear in the battle."
She smiled - so wide it was a little overwhelming.
With that, I was ready to prepare for a true, fair match.
I gathered with URaraka less than an hour later to watch the first match.
"HEY GUYS ARE YOU READY? WE'VE GOT A BUNCH IN STORE FOR YOU! IT'S HERE THAT YOU WILL BRAWL!" came Mic's commentary. We all gathered in the bleachers. The first match was between the guy with the purple hair - and MIdoriya.
"WHAT'S WITH THAT FACE? YOU DID WELL UP TO NOW DIDN'T YOU? HERO COURSE IZUKU MIDORWYA! YOU HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING NOTABLE YET! GENERAL EDUCATION, HITOSHI SHINSOU! THE RULES ARE SIMPLE! THE SCUFFLE IS WON BY RINGING YOUR OPPONENT OUT, RENDERING THEM UNABLE TO MOVE, OR GETTING THEM TO SAY I GIVE! FEEL FREE TO WOUND! WE HAVE RECOVERY GIRL WAITING IN TEH WINGS! I HOPE YOU'VE LEFT YOUR SENSE OF MORALS AT THE DOOR! THOUGH YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO ENDANGER EACH OTHER'S LIVES! NOW LET'S START!"
AS soon as he started, Midoriya said something to the brain wipe guy and then just stopped moving.
"AS SOON AS HTE MATCH OPENED MIDORWYA CAME TO A STOP!?HE ISN'T MOVING AN INCH! HE'S JUST STANDING THERE GAPING LIKE A MORON! COULD IT BE SHINSOU'S QUIRK AT PLAY?"
"Deku?" cried Uraraka as we both watched in horror.
"EVEN THOUGH HE HASN'T MADE ANY IMPRESSION AT ALL UP UNTIL NOW, COULD IT BE THAT HE'S SCARY?"
"That's why I've been saying that the Entrance Exam is illogical," commented Mr. Aizawa. "Looking at their data - I pulled their files - Shinso failed the Practical skills exam, but since he applied for the General Department, he probably expected as much. So, despite the fact that his quirk is a force to be reckoned with, he couldn't earn any points due to its particular rules."
AS we all watched, Shinso seemed to be saying something to Midoriya. Midoriya promptly turned around and started walking towards the edge of the ring.
"AH, MIDORIYA! HOW MEEK!" called mic. And there he went, walking slowly, inexorably, towards the out of bounds edge of the ring, and towards failure.
Then, just as he was about to step out of the ring - a giant wave of wind came blasting out of his hand, and he stopped!
"WHAT THE - MIDORIYA, HE CAME TO A HALT!?"
Shinzo looked freaked out, but from the looks of things, Midoriya wasn't about to answer him again. From the looks of things, he had to reply to something Shinso said in order to be taken under control. Then he was running straight at Shins again, and started pushing him out of the ring. Shinzo punched him in the face, but MIdoriya didn't stop. Shinsou punched him in the broken fingers and started trying to shove him the other way. But then Midoriya grabbed him by the arm and judo-tossed him over his head.
"SHINSOU'S OUT OF BOUNDS!" Announced Midnight. "MIDORWYA, YOU ADVANCE TO ROUND 2!"
Deku and Shinso took their bows to each other as the crowd cheered.
"BIT OF A NO FRILLS BATTLE TO START THE TOURNAMENT OFF! BUT CLAP YOUR HANDS AND GIVE THESE TWO A ROUND OF APPLAUSE! YOU FOUGHT WELL, BOYS!"
Whatever conversation Midoriya and Shinsou were sharing, it was over quickly. Next up would be Todoroki vs Sero.
Midoriya returned to the stands and joined us.
"We kept a seat for you!" I told him, pointing it out.
"You must be tired!" Uraraka added as he rejoined us.
"SORRY TO KEEP YOU WAITING, FOLKS! NEXT UP ITS TEHSE TWO! HE'S TURNED IN AN EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE TO MAKE IT THIS FAR, AND YET WHAT'S WITH THAT PLAIN FACE? DOES IT COME OFF? HANTA SERO FO THE HERO COURSE! VS! THE ONE WHO STANDS AT HTE TOP OF THE TOP! ALMOST TOO STRONG FOR HIS OWN GOOD! FROM THE SAME HERO COURSE, SHOTO TODOROKI!"
As soon as the start bell rang Sero threw tape at Todoroki, prepared to fling him out of bounds.
"A LIGHTNING QUICK SURPRISE ASSAULT AIMING FOR A RING-OUT! ALMOST WITHOUT A DOUBT THE BEST CHOICE HE COULD HAVE MADE! GIVE IT YOUR ALL, SERO!"
In a second, an iceberg towering over the top of the stadium wall consumed the entire ring.
"SERO, CAN YOU MOVE?" asked Midnight. He must've answered no, because how could he say anything else?
"Don't mind, nice try!" cheered those in the stands as Todoroki advanced on.
I stood up as the cheers of "nice try" surrounded me, attempting to push down the nerves.
It was time to face my worthy new support course opponent.