Izuku kept walking up and down the waiting room he and Himiko were sharing for the duration of the event. It wasn't the changing room – that one was a few doors down, since they couldn't have boys and girls change in the same one – but rather a sort of waiting room with a table, a vending machine, and a tv screen.

"Tokoyami pushes Hiryu Rin out of bounds!" Present Mic declared. Really, Dark Shadow was super versatile. The moment Shoji called for Tokoyami to join him, he basically got numerical advantage, and Tokoyami's Quirk was also strong. It had managed to slither past Kendo's extended hands, that were trying to cover the classmate she had called to join her on the ring, and had quickly dragged him by the leg outside the Arena. Not by much – Hiryu had done his best to grab onto the ledge – but he had ended up touching the ground and ending the match.

"It's Masuchan's turn next." He mumbled, "I wonder how he will do."

"Same." Himiko nodded, "But I think he will be fine."

Izuku nodded. Yeah, Masuchan could do it. He didn't know what Iida and that Mei girl might be planning, but he trusted his best friend.

Sitting down, he watched as the Arena was repaired from the slight damage it had received – unlike with Kacchan and Todoroki's matches, it was mostly intact, only broken by a few of Kendo's fists and Dark Shadow's claw marks on the ground.

"You are super nervous Izuku." Himiko suddenly said, and Izuku straightened.

"A-Ah, sorry… Uhm, it's just, I made it this far, and I'm starting to get really nervous. I-I have to prove I can be the next Number One and all that…"

"Why?" She frowned, suddenly looking almost worried, "I mean, isn't this already an impressive result?"

"It is! We are doing great! But… I have to do more. I owe it to everyone that helped me get here and…"

He stopped as Himiko walked in front of him and put her hand on his shoulder, staring right in his eyes. "Izuku, look at me. You are doing great, but you don't owe anything to anyone. You are you. Do your best, and if anyone complains… Well, they can put their opinion up their asses."

"I… Thank you, but…"

"No buts. I hate when people are forced by others to be something else. You- We are free to do whatever we want." She said, her hands gripping his shoulders, "You are already great Izuku, no matter what."

Izuku gulped, noticing how close she was now, her face inches from his. His heart was racing, faster and faster. Her red eyes were shining, and her smile was beautiful despite the fangs. His brain was running in parallel lines as part of it processed her very inspiring words, and the other half was a cacophony of 'She is beautiful oh god I'm so close do something what do I do help I'm crushing so much help code red her eyes are red oh gosh do her lips taste like blood help help help'

"Kiss her!"

"Don't!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Shut up you four, it's the kid's choice!"

"I don't want to see…"

"I think I will puke…"

Izuku's heart started to race, as he stared in her eyes and she stared back, suddenly blushing. Did she realize what he was thinking? Was he so obvious? 'Oh god oh god oh god-'

And then someone kicked the door in. "Are you here abs licker?!" A voice shouted, making both of them jump away from one another, panting raggedly at the mixture of surprise, nervousness, and sheer fear. Fear, because Miruko walked in. "Ah, there you are!"

"M-Miruko?!" He shouted, a bit too high-pitched.

"In flesh and bones!" She grinned.

"Wh-What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to…" She paused, "I wasn't cockblocking or anything, right?" She said, her tone sounding just slightly insencere. Izuku wondered why, before he realized what she had just said, wondering if answering 'YES!' would be too much, before glancing at Himiko and feeling his face burst into flames.

"N-No! Everything was normal!" Izuku shouted instead, still a bit too high-pitched.

"Y-Yeah, nothing off here!" Himiko added.

Miruko grinned, but nodded, "Good, then I can throw my offer now!"

"Your… offer?"

"I want you to come do your internship at my place." She said with a grin.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"… Is this punishment for the reveal?" He finally asked.

"Ah!" She grinned, "I don't really care about that! It's embarrassing for you, but I know I'm a hot piece of bunny meat." She winked. "Also I just took revenge by waiting for a moment that sounded lovey-dovey before kicking down the door."

"What?"

"Nothing important. What matters is that I want you to work for me this week. You are gonna learn how to kick some butts from the strongest bunny girl."

"That likes to wear bunny suits." Himiko said, before covering her mouth.

That seemed to make Miruko slightly ticked. "Yes. Thank you for reminding me that piece of trivia now is public."

"I'm sorry…"

"Eh, I'll live." She shrugged, "Though, if you see that blonde bastard, do tell him to keep out of sight. I will not be responsible for the punishment he will get if we cross paths."

-x-

Monoma shivered, a sense of dread building.

Somehow, this was 1-A's fault- "What the hell is that?"

-x-

"N-Noted."

"So yeah, I want you to come train with me. You had the guts to kick me and the strength to make me feel the attack. I respect someone that has that kind of pluck." She smiled, turning around, "So yeah, just wanted to tell you. You are bound to get a bunch of different internship offers, but if you get mine – I'm still watching the tournament, so if you fuck it up I might take it back, unlikely as it is – make sure to say yes. Bye!"

And with that, the Cockblocking Rabbit Hero walked out.

Izuku stared at the door. "Did- Did Miruko just invite me for an internship?"

"Well yes."

"No, that's a big deal! Miruko is a Hero with no Agency and no sidekicks! She never took anyone in before! And it's because I kicked her?!"

"I mean, it was a good kick…" Himiko said, considering what he said, "Will you go?"

"Yeah, I think… I think it would be a good idea. I mean, she is a Top Ten Hero…"

"Oh, ye-yeah, you should definitely try." Himiko nodded, though she looked... worried? "Yeah, Uhm, I think it's a good opportunity."

Izuku nodded, turning to the tv screen to hide his embarrassment from what had just happened. "Yeah, I think I should- what the hell is that?"

-x-

"What the hell is that?!" Masutaro asked, pointing at the teen standing on the field.

"Behold!" Mei shouted, pointing to Iida, who was awkwardly standing on the field, "My greatest baby!"

Iida covered his face in embarrassment as everyone stared at him, a few snickers heard over the arena at the 'Baby' monicker.

He was covered head to toe in Support Gear. His helmet was similar to his normal one, but instead of the usual eye holes it featured a singular glass-like visor that shined ominously. The armor was also similar, but it was bulkier, and it featured to large pipes on his shoulders and what looked like jet wings on his back, though they were connected by a series of small, cylindrical objects. His legs, armored as well, had Iida's natural pipes surrounded by some sort of small tube that coiled around each of them. His arms featured two arm-gears, ending in what looked like blades, though clearly blunted for the occasion.

"Behold, the Metal Iida!"

"Did you name him after Metal Soni- No wait, that's not the issue!" Masutaro turned to Midnight, "This is unfair! The Hero Course isn't supposed to use Support Gear!"

"Objection!" Mei shouted back, "While that's true, the Support Course is allowed to use any gear we make ourselves."

"Hold it!" Masutaro shouted back, pointing again at Iida, "That can't be stuff you made!"

Mei grinned and pointed at the screen, behind a Midnight fawning about the spirit of youth, and pressed a button from a controller that seemed to have just sprouted in her hands, "Ah! I expected you to say it. Take that!"

The screen changed, moving from showing the field to what looked like a workshop. "T-Testing, testing, is this working?" A trembling voice asked. "U-Uhm, this is Hana Shindo. I-I'm recording this to prove Mei has only started working on Mister Iida's armor a-after the end of the second round, and to show the public her inventions. Oh, uhm, I'm a first year of the Business Course, by the way! Sorry for not saying that earlier." Hana, white hair and white eyes, moved into frame, moving the camera amateurishly and waving, all while sweating and glancing left and right, "D-Do I have to do this?"

"Yes!" Mei declared, pointing at the screen, "Now do your thing, business girl! I need to make someone sign a contract! Thank you!" And she stormed out.

"A-Alright." She cleared her throat, "S-So, first of all, here are some recordings Mei made herself…"

The scene shifted, "Hey!" Mei's voice shouted. The filming was done with some sort of body cam, judging by the fact it seemed to be about at head height as she walked toward Iida, "Do you want to team up? I could really use your help!"

"Of course!" Iida said with a bow, "I will gladly team up with you, given you asked me first!"

"Excellent!"

The scene changed. "Alright, so I'm going to rework this old project, change this one, re-adapt this one, modify this one… this one was already finished, we add this one, change this one, cobble together those two…"

"Are you sure this is allowed?" Iida asked.

"Of course! This is all gear I made after all!"

The screen changed again. Now Mei was dismantling a car, using parts of it in her gear. "This is all the material I needed!" She declared.

"Where did you get that car?"

"I borrowed it!"

-x-

"Is that our car?" Tomura asked, slowly turning to the others. The others in turn turned awkwardly toward Oxy-Man, the designated driver, who coughed in his fist while looking in any direction but the group.

"Uhm… The girl asked if she could borrow it for the next event…"

"And you gave her the keys?!"

"I thought it was for the Noonday Event!"

"Oh yes, of course, they will absolutely ask for a car in a treasure hunt for fifteen years old kids!" Tomura snarled.

"My my, do not worry mister Togaraki! I'm sure UA will repay the cost of the car, and I can take you home after this if the girl fails to rebuild your vehicle!" Crust said with a smile and a thumb up.

'Oh god no…'

-x-

"-And that should be proof enough that miss Mei made all the gear." Hana said when, after five whole minutes, the video returned to her, reading from a series of small papers, "Now ask miss Midnight to start the fight so you can continue with the presentation-" She yelped, looking up from the papers, "I mean, now miss Midnight, could you start the match?"

Midnight pondered a moment, the video also paused in turn. "Well, they did build the gear, and the Support Department is allowed to provide it to others, otherwise she would have been disqualified for helping Kirishima in the second round."

"I'm not sure that counted as helping." Mustard protested weekly, before sighing. He looked at the stage, then turned to Hagakure, "Who goes?"

"Let me!" Hagakure replied, "I will test him first."

Mustard frowned. "Alright, but Tag or Team if you can't deal with it."

"Of course."

She smiled and jumped on the ring, just as Hana's recording started talking again.

-x-

Stain dodged a fist faster than any he had fought before, propelled by the pipes in his opponent's arms. Dragging Ingenium away from the rest of his Team had been easy, given the man tended to work as the scouting unit of his group. He had also picked Enigma's patrol area, knowing the giant sidekick would have a hard time pursuing him in the alleyways and would have to call for back-up, meaning Ingenium would rush there first.

"So, 'Hero', do you feel the reckoning coming?" He asked, slashing with his ruined katana. The blade opened a large gash in his opponent's armor, but didn't manage to draw blood as Ingenium pulled back slightly, trying to regain momentum. He was clearly talking on the radio.

Unfortunately, Stain wasn't listening in, since he was listening to something else.

"… And as you can see, the armor improvements allow the runner to keep up his speed despite the heightened weight. This is achieved through the use of a collector that uses the heat produced by the leg and the steam generated from the cooling water to generate and collect steam, which is then pumped out. The estimated timeframe of work for this prototype is about five minutes, but with further research, a more effective result will likely be achieved."

"I can't believe this is still going…" Present Mic muttered.

"Ectoplasm and Power Loader are high fiving." Eraserhead noted, "I think Ectoplasm is particularly happy, this is the most exposure the Business Course has gotten in years."

"Should we go back to talk about the fight?" Present Mic asked.

"-And as we can see, the cooling system allows Iida to run for longer times, As for sharp turns, the wings' jets-"

"I think they are doing just fine."

Stain dodged a punch and threw a knife, that found purchase in one of the armor's joints. Before he could retrieve it from his opponent's elbow, however, the man moved away, gaining some distance. Stain frowned. He was being a bit sloppy. Was that because of the commentary. Maybe he should have turned it off for the fight.

"… Oh, and now Hagakure calls for Tag, meaning it's now Masutaro Sako's turn to jump on the ring."

… But then again, he could handle a fake Hero easily- and then he got clocked in the face.

"Did you just punch me?!" He shouted.

"Are you- You just stabbed me!" Ingenium said, pointing at his arm.

"... Oh right I did that, I spaced out there for a moment."

"... What?"

"Nothing. Prepare to die, Fake Hero." Stain replied, preparing his sword. 'Come on Stain. Professional. You are a Serial Killer.'

"And Hagakure calls for Tag."

'Fuck.'

-x-

Masutaro sighed. Hagakure took the right decision when she called off the fight. She had tried to go invisible, but she had only barely managed to dodge any of Iida's attacks, mostly because he was still adapting to that frankly extremely cool armor, and she had to stop trying to go invisible, so it was up to him now.

He shrugged, putting on his gas mask.

Since he had only one move, there weren't many options.

He launched his gas forward, a spiral of toxicity that surrounded the field immediately…

And then he heard engines speeding up, and felt the movements of his opponent in the fog, not sluggish in the slightest.

"Of course, gases are dangerous. To prevent any risk, we installed a gas mask to replace the previous piece. While it's not as high quality as others, it will prevent any gas use."

"Oh you have to be kidding me…"

He dodged Iida again. He was going blind, or so he assumed, so maybe…

He moved his leg forward, and when Iida rushed toward him…

He jumped above the leg.

"The visor can use heat sensors, to allow the wearer a safer travel at high speed in conditions of low visibility-"

"Oh come on!"

He really wished he had his gun right now, but only necessary support items like Aoyama's belt or his gas mask were allowed, unless they were built by the Support Course.

He sighed. That was it, wasn't it? His Quirk really was useless…

'You know, Masuchan, you have a really cool Quirk. All you need to do is to make your opponent breathe it once! And I mean, you are learning from mister Stendhal right? If you can incorporate your Quirk in his combat training, I'm sure you can easily take away someone's protections, like gas masks.'

"…Dammit Izukun, you really would want me to do my best, uh?"

He darted forward, knowing where Iida was and which direction he was moving toward. Of course, Iida could see him as well, so he knew he was coming.

Masutaro still surprised him by extending his arm toward his face, his hand grappling with the helmet.

He sucked at hand-to-hand combat, but that was compared to Himiko 'I can stab you with a knife after apparently disappearing' and Izuku 'I punch robots'. He wasn't terrible at it. And either way, this was less hand-to-hand and more trying to unstuck something.

"Come on, come off!" He shouted.

Iida started to run, and Masutaro knew it was a matter of seconds before they hit the ropes and he was flung past them, so he did something desperate, planting his feet in the ground. He could feel his shoes rip and tear as they dragged on the ground, but he could also see Iida slow down just a bit.

He put his all into his arms. Stain's lessons on how to fight a faster opponent were clear: stop him. And mister Yagi's training had made him at least a bit stronger.

He desperately flailed his legs until he managed to trap one of them behind Iida's leg. The speedster tripped, and Masutaro used his arm strength to yank the helmet away.

Iida gasped.

Big mistake.

They both rolled on the ground, and then they were out of the smoke, landing next to each other.

"It seems we have one unconscious challenger and one out of bounds!" Midnight shouted, Let's see the slowed down video."

The Hana video cut off, turning instead into a slowed down version of their landing. Masutaro, Mei and Hagakure stared with wide eyes.

Iida snored.

The two rotated in the hair, the result of Iida hitting the ropes and flying past them. Then they descended, until…

Iida's leg touched the ground first. Turns out, being taller has disadvantages.

"Masutaro Sako moves to the next round!"

-x-

"Yes!" Stain shouted.

"What?" Ingenium looked up, eyes wide. A drop of blood was all Stain needed to take him out, and now here he was, at his mercy. The Hero grimaced. He had failed spectacularly, and his sidekicks were still too far, though probably converging on his location.

"Nothing. Any last words, Fake Hero?" Stain asked.

Ingenium looked up at him, and then sighed. "The legacy of Ingenium and the Iida family won't end." He declared.

"Let's see if that's true." Stain said, bringing down his sword.

"And Sako helps Iida wake up. Very sportsman-like of him."

Stain's sword stopped, inches from Iida Tensei's back.

Iida Tensei.

Iida.

… Why was that a big deal? Sure, maybe he had a brother in the Festival. But that didn't matter. I mean, they probably weren't even classmates…

"You are probably happy seeing your students from the A class like this, uh?" Mic asked the other commentator.

Alright, maybe they were classmates, but they sure as hell weren't friends, right?

"I am. This year the class is very tightly bound, at least for people that have known each other for a few weeks. I'm sure most of them are developing good friendships." The man shivered, "Or worse."

"Do you mean better?"

"I know what I said."

Fuck.

Stain looked down, unsure.

Why was he unsure?

'What are you waiting for, kill him! Purge the world of the stain of false Heroes!' A new voice said. He turned to his shoulder, where a small, raging mini-Stain was snarling at him. Oh well, that was a surprise-

'I agree.' He turned to his right shoulder, where a mini-Stendhal was now sitting. Oh look, two surprises.

"Uh, shouldn't you be disagreeing with him?" Stain asked.

'Why would I?'

"I mean, aren't you my conscience?" He asked. "Either that or I've been hit with a weird Quirk."

Stendhal sighed, 'Yes Chizome, I am your conscience.'

"Oh, I get it, so even my good conscience agrees with me. Guess this is another proof of me being right."

'... Something like that. Sure.'

Chizome grinned. Ah, there was his conscience agreeing with him, clearly proving he was right. He twisted the katana in his hand, preparing to strike. He paused, "Oh god I'm, talking to my conscience directly. Am I going insane?"

"Going?!" Ingenium asked from the ground.

"Shut up, my mental health has nothing to do with you!"

"I feel very involved right now! You could say your mental health is a matter of life and death to me!"

Stain snarled, preparing the decisive blow again.

"And here Iida and Masutaro shake hands properly, now that he has recovered. It seems Iida is complimenting Masutaro on something." Present Mic continued.

"I would assume his skill. I'm happy to say the training Sako did even before joining UA shows he is decently skilled in physical combat. He does show more promise with his Support Gear though. A pity he couldn't use it here. That is not very rational."

Stain groaned. Dammit, and now the Fake Heroes were complimenting his training and showing comradery between his student and the brother of the guy he was trying to murder. Talk about a turn-off.

'Kill him!' Mini-Stain shouted.

'Yeah, kill him.' Mini-Stendhal added, 'You don't have to like it, but it's our mission.'

"I know, dammit!"

"What do you know?"

"It's none of your business!"

Ingenium paused, then smiled, "Yeah, I suppose the mind of a deranged serial killer is too much of an Enigma."

"Eni-" A giant fist slammed into Stain's back.

He turned around and slashed in mid-air, preventing the follow up grasp from connecting as the suddenly gigantic sidekick that had managed to sneak up on him tried to grab him. He saw with the tail of his eye another one of Ingenium's sidekicks, the one called Onemu Shinya, rush in to try and kick him in the face. Stain rolled back into another alley, moving out of the way of the kick, and quickly started to run away.

'Well, now you really fucked up…' Mini-Stendhal commented, still sitting on his shoulder.

"Tell me something useful or shut the fuck up!"

'Izuku and Himiko's fight will be in some twenty to thirty minutes, you can turn off that radio for a bit to listen in on the Heroes' radio chatter.'

"… You are lucky that's a good suggestion."

'Also you can make time to kill another False Hero!' Mini-Stain commented.

"Shouldn't you guys vanish now that I have moved past the situation that called you here in the first place?"

'I have no idea man, is not like we are real, we are a byproduct of your mind.' Mini-Stendhal said.

'You know, maybe we would vanish if you killed another Fake Hero.' Mini-Stain added.

"Can you stop talking about killing Fake Heroes for a minute?!" Stain shouted, ignoring the irony of the statement entirely.

Then again, self-critique had never been high on his list of skills.

-x-

Rikiya Yotsubashi looked with an interested expression at the field, as Hatsume Mei left it.

"Say, Miyashita, didn't we consider organizing internships for Support Departments around Japan in our company?" He asked his assistant, who quickly nodded.

"That we did sir, but the idea was scrapped because we aren't quite ready yet and the board is planting its heels to not invest too much too fast. They want us to take our time organizing the Support Gear production at a pace that won't cause problems to our current production line."

"Uhm… Understandable," He said, "but I think I will try to push a bit more for it. Maybe dear Hatsume Mei might be a good addition to my... company."

He smiled.

"Sir why did you say 'company' in such an ominous way?"

"No reasons Miyashita. No reasons at all..."

He smiled again.

"Sir, you did it again-"

"Miyashita shut up."

"At once sir."

-x-

"Are you sure you are ok working with me?" Kinoko Komori asked. The short girl with brown hair and an almost mischievous smile had walked up to Jiro and just asked her to team up out of the blue, but to be fair, with Pony ultimately opting to join Asui, Jiro didn't have teammate, so she had agreed. A pity for Aoyama, who had asked minutes later. Then again, early bird gets the worm and all that.

"It's no problem." Jiro replied, "I should really be asking if you are ok going first. I wanted to, but…"

"No, I insisted, that's fine." Komori replied, happily stepping forward, "Thank you, really. You know, I want to be an Idol Hero, I need to place myself in the spotlight as much as possible. I should be happy about that. I wonder if I could sing something..."

"Oh, you can sing? That's really cool." Jiro said. Then she paused and her head whipped around toward the mushroom girl, "Wait, you can do music AND Heroism?!"

"Uh, yeah. I mean, it's pretty difficult, but some people manage. I'm going to show the world you can both make people happy with your music and dance, all while saving someone's life."

"You can sing and dancfe?"

"Yup. I'm pretty good actually." She winked happily, "I don't have the absolute best voice, but it's enough to not make me sound weird."

Jiro paused. Uh, that was giving her an idea. "Say, have you considered teaming up with someone else?" The girl asked. "You know, I think I could bring something to the table…"

Komori blinked. "What can you do?"

"Oh, not much…" Jiro replied, smiling, and leaned in to explain her idea. Komori's smile grew ecstatic.

"Jiro?"

"Yes, Komori?"

"I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

-x-

"Alright, and now, a unique pair, Class 1-A and Class 1-B joining forces in this team. From Class 1-A, Kyoka Jiro. From Class 1-B, Kinoko Komori!" A wail echoed through the arena, the desperate cry of what sounded like a murdered puppy. It came from the 1-B stands for some reason.

The two walked up to the stage, Kinoko smiling a waving, bowing to the crowd. She looked around. 'Hope you are watching sis, wherever you are out there.' She thought.

"And against them, From Class 1-A, Tsuyu Asui and Pony Tsunotori!"

"Alright, let's put up a good show!" Kinoko said, stepping on the ring, while Jiro walked up to Midnight and leaned closer to ask her something.

"Let's go!" Pony replied with a grin in English. Kinoko saw Midnight smile and nod.

"Begin!" Midnight shouted once the two were ready.

Kinoko moved forward.

And then Jiro was handed the microphone and started to sing.

"What waits for you? What's breaking through? Nothing for good…"

Kinoko smiled at the song they had agreed on and moved forward. As she did, she wan't just running, she was dancing, or at least moving in a way that followed the rhythm of the music. She was gonna be an Idol Hero. Moving at a rhythm was natural. Putting up a bit of a spectacle where the situation allowed it even more.

She pirouetted around Pony's kick, and then touched her forearm, leaving behind a mushroom as she bowed to dodge a horn, as Jiro kept singing, dictating her rhythm but never forcing her into it.

The following two minutes were everything Kinoko wanted, an exhibition of dance and skill. Pony was strong of course. She hit her a few times, either guessing correctly the rhythm of her movements as the song continued, Jiro's voice resounding all over the field and surely hitting several people right in the heart, but for Kinoko, what she wanted was this fight.

She danced, weaved, and meanwhile her mushrooms grew, covering the field. And whenever Pony stepped on one – poor little one – that meant the ground grew moister, and Kinoko could grow more fungis. She kept taking time, until the right moment arrived.

Until, she had to admit, Jiro hit the last piece of the song.

"Believe that time is always forever, And I'll always be here, Believe it til the end…"

Kinoko moved forward, dodging an incoming kick and then swiping with her rather short leg at the other one, leaning right as the song peaked again. She smiled confidently, and then unleashed her Quirk at full power.

A veritable forest of mushrooms sprouted everywhere… including, crucially, all over Pony, sapping her energy and making her cough, as one of her more angry little ones, the fungus Schyzophillum commune.

"I won't go away and I won't say ever, It doesn't have to be friend, You can keep it til the end…"

She followed up with a grin. Pony opened her mouth to say something – most likely 'Tag' but all she managed to do was cough and cough.

"Can you continue Pony?" Midnight asked, Kinoko grinning.

The girl tried to say yes, or 'Tag', or 'Team'… but she couldn't, coughing again and again, until she gasped and had to lower her head in defeat.

"Uh… Did you just make her mute?"

"No, no." Kinoko defended, "She will be fine."

"… Your Quirk is terrifying, miss Komori. I don't know how you are this joyous."

"… Natural talent?"

Midnight grinned, "Very well, Pony Tsunotori is out for the count – and hopefully will be fine in a few hours…"

"She will."

"Of course. Well, until then, Kyoka Jiro and Kinoko Komori move to the next round!"

Kinoko turned toward Jiro, grinning, and Jiro gave her a victory sign back.

They had done it. 'Hope you were watching sis...' She thought again.

-x-

"Cooperating with 1-A, disgusting…" Monoma growled.

"I mean, you seem to like it." Awase replied, pointing down to his leg, that was still moving up and down following the rhythm of the song.

Monoma paled, then turned toward his tallest classmate, "Kamakiri?" He asked the Heteromporphic classmate.

"Yes?"

"Cut off my leg. It's betraying me." He said in a ominously serious tone, before Kendo wacked him on the head.

-x-

"Why is she crying now, sir?" Kuraudo asked.

"Something about Mika's daughter being such a beautiful girl that deserves to become one of the best heroes." Hisashi replied, smiling despite, "She is such a softie when it comes to her friends."

Kuraudo nodded, while dropping another bucket of tears down the drain. Miss Midoriya was definitely something else. He had to wonder if his ancestor that was said to have guarded a girl many called a gorilla was as busy as he was guarding her descendant and his family.

He sighed in relief as the following match started. At least this would be a pause between this and the Young Boss' fight.

-x-

"You can do it Shiozaki!" Honenuki shouted from the corner of the ring.

"G-Go for it, Shinso!" Hana shouted too, trying her best to encourage her teammate.

Ibara nodded. "I'm afraid you shall be defeated today, mister Shinso." She said, "I pray the Lord to give you another chance next year."

Shinso grinned, "Say, the Lord you are referring to, is that God?" He asked, "The Christian one."

She nodded, and Shinso smiled.

"Can you tell me a bit more about it afterward?" He asked innocently. "I'm actually curious."

Ibara's smile appeared on her face, a shining sun as she heard the request. "Of course-" She froze, suddenly completely blocked, and Shinso smiled.

"Gotcha. Walk out of the ring please."

Ibara turned around and, under the wide eyes of the entire Arena, including a slack-jawed Honenuki, just stepped out of the boundaries.

"Uh… Shinso wins?" Midnight's eyes drifted from Shiozaki, standing still, back to Shinso, and back to her, "What was that?"

"Shinso's Quirk is Brainwashing." Aizawa explained, reading his document, "I won't give any details, but he can control people. A very useful Quirk that probably fell through the cracks because our entrance exam isn't geared toward more subtle, less destructive Quirks."

"Don't you literally have an invisible girl in your class?"

"… That wasn't my point."

"I get it Aizawa, I'm just saying, you don't get more subtle than that…"

"I know." Aizawa sighed, "Either way, that's what happened. He did a good job."

"Oh! So that's what happened earlier!" Hana shouted, "Th-That's actually pretty cool. I-I mean, a bit scary, but it was still v-very smart!" She added when Shinso looked at her.

He blinked, even as Midnight declared him victorious and he could step away from the ring. "You… Aren't angry?"

"Sh-Should I be? Is there like, some weird side effect?"

"No! No, no, is just, most people aren't happy of being controlled."

Hana frowned, "Uhm… I-I guess I kinda… I don't know, I just don't feel scared by… by Brainwashing. I know people can force you to do something even if they c-can't control your mind. Compared to that… Your Quirk is really gentle."

Shinso looked at her.

Uh. That was… nice, if a bit worrying. "Are you… forced to do something?"

"Uh? N-No, of course not! I-I mean, sometimes my… my classmates will make me clean the classroom alone or stuff like that, but it's nothing terrible, right?"

Shinso frowned, "Tell me more about it."

(XX)

See, I told you nothing bad ever happens to Ingenium.
It's pretty fun to make Stain somewhat more human. He is still a Serial Killer, it just happened that this time around his victim had a connection to someone he cares about and that made him hesitate a bit too long. Will Stain manage to escape justice? Will this fic skip the Hosu Arc entirely because I'm tired of canon compliance as much as Sero is?
Probably. Well, more or less.
You'll see, I suppose.

I think I just made Miruko the biggest villain in this fic. Forget a serial killer, several yakuzas and All for One. She interrupted romance progress willingly.

As for the Tag Team Tournament... I could have finished the first round today, but I know 'jumpy' chapters can be a bit harder to follow and I think this is about as much as we can do for this one. Also, for the flow of the story, Shinso's match was the ideal cutting point. You will see why next week.

So, bunch of fights, some long, some short, some Shinso making an enemy for life, some Masutaro lucking out because Iida is taller.
Honestly the Idol Hero and the Singing Hero are such a good team-up. Yes, Jiro in canon would be a bit more scared of singing in public maybe, but eh, she has just found out that maybe she can put her hobby in her dream job, I think the idea would make her less shy.
And I want to clarify this, the loss of Metal Iida was pure luck, if he landed first he would have lost. It was a desperate gamble, though admittedly it was made against an otherwise invincible opponent. Such is the power of Mei's science. Shigaraki's car was still sacrificed to a good cause.