Myself, Uraraka, Asui and Mineta ran straight to Recovery Girl to check in on Midoriya. When we arrived, his entire upper body half had been wrapped up in bandages.
"MIDORIYA!" "DEKU!"
"ah, hey guys…the next match…what…"
There was an older guy with long wild blond hair, skinny and emaciated, standing by Midoriya's bed. We didn't know him at the time - but in truth, he was someone we already knew.
I answered Midoriya's earlier question. "The arena was mostly destroyed, so there's a break while it's being repaired."
"We came cuz we were worried," added Uraraka.
"That was scary as hell midoriya," said Mineta. "NO pros gonna wanna hire you."
"Can't say I like you rubbing salt in the wound style," said Asui, slapping him with her tongue.
"Pipe down! It's fun to worry but he's about to have surgery!" said Recovery Girl.
"SURGERY!?" we cried as she pushed us outta the room.
We headed back to the ring as they whole thing resumed.
My match against Ibara Shiozaki was scheduled to go next, so I had no choice but to hurry into the ring to the sounds of massive audience cheers.
But I made sure this one was over in an instant. No underestimating her as Kaminari had done. No second guessing her like I had done while fighting Hatsume. instead, I threw her out of bounds as soon as the starting whistle blew.
And just like that, I was into the final round. I had officially surpassed Midoriya…but even if that was the case, I still felt as though what he had done in his match with Todoroki was more impressive than what I'd done.
And I'd be fighting Todoroki next. A Todoroki who, thanks to Midoriya, was now using his fire side.
I found Midoriya, still wearing quite a few bandages, watching Bakugou's match with Kirishima.
"Midoriya! I'm glad to see your surgery was a success!"
"Right, thanks," said Midoriya, shyly. "But how'd you win against Shiozaki's thorns, anyway?"
"Well, I knew my mobility wouldn't count for much, so I threw her from the ring with my reciproburst as soon as the match began. Anyways, you can view the matches you missed on video later. So - now I'm in the final four." I turned to look at him. "You match against Todoroki was quite informative for me. "
"Right," he said, looking sad. "Do you know if your brother, Ingenium has been watching you this whole time Iida?"
"I called him earlier. But he was busy with work. I'm actually glad, though. Even after coming this far, I still can't say I'm number one yet."
We were distracted by the match between Bakugou and Kirishima heating up.
"IT CONNECTED?" Cried Mic as Bakugou finally succeeded in landing a hit on him. Then kept on blasting like crazy, until Kirishima had finally passed out.
"AND BAKUGOU ADVANCES TO THE THIRD ROUND THROUGH A DOWNRIGHT NASTY CARPET BOMBING! WITH THIS THE TOP 4 HAVE ASSEMBLED!" called Mic.
"I'm up," I said, taking a deep breath.
I was finally here, in the second to last round of the festival, facing off with the son of the number two hero. If there was ever a time to go all out, this was it.
"IT'S A BTTLE BETWEEN TWO WHO BOTH HAIL FROM ELITE HERO FAMILIES! IIDA TENYA VS SHOTO TODOROKI! START!"
I won't be able to counter his ice like Midoriya did. So right from the start -
I avoided his ice attack and with a standing long jump made it int the air above him, the glacier missing me my inches.
No way to counter his ice or fire, so in that case…
With a reciproburst, I kicked his head. Pushed him down. I have ten seconds until my engines stall. Before then…
I grabbed his shirt collar after another kick and ran - ran all out towards the edge. I can still make it! At this rate I can toss him from the -
KCSH
my exhaust pipe's blocked?! my engined stalled…ice in my fender -
"When did you - "
"When you kicked me," he sneered back. He had moved from my grasp and frozen me from head to toe. "With all the ranged attacks I've been throwing out, you forgot I could do more precise moves, didn't you?"
"GGAAAAHAHHH!" I screamed in frustration, pulling against the ice. "I thought I was ready for it, but that reciproburst…I couldn't dodge it. Nicely done," said Todoroki.
Over the PA my sentence came down.
"IIDA IS UNABLE TO MOVE! AND WITHOUT EVEN USING HIS FLAMES, TODOROKI ADVANCES TO THE FINAL ROUND!"
Brother…I'm sorry.
I rejoined Midoriya and Uraraka in the stands after Bakugou won his match with Tokoyami, determining the final match between him and Todoroki.
"So it's those two," Midoriya muttered. "How's this gonna go?"
"Observe and learn now, and we'll get them back later," I promised them. They nodded. My cell phone buzzed and my two friends gasped together. I looked at the screen.
Mother?
Is she calling about my loss? I answered after leaving the stands in a hallway. "Hello. I lost, mother. I'm sorry if I've disappointed you -"
"No! This isn't about that. Oh, TEnya. Stay calm and listen to me. It's Tensei. Your brother. A villain got him!"