The time had flown by, and now the ones not in the first match had to go to their designated seating section. Spotting Katsuki, I built up my courage and sat next to him with a grin. "I did pretty good so far, huh, Katsuki?"

He sent me a glance, then huffed in acknowledgment. The only issue was the fact that he had drawn his brows down into an angry glare out at the field. My head tilted to the side slightly in confusion, but I sighed in defeat, thinking it was just him trying to stay in a competitive mindset. Eijiro walked in with Kaminari and Mina, sending me a smile which I returned with a light blush only for my attention to be drawn out to the arena that Cementoss had created during the break as Mic started speaking again.

"Ok listeners, are you ready?! You've been through the wringer to get here, but now it's time for the one-on-one tournament! You've only got yourself to rely on this time. Spirit, technique, strength, wisdom, and knowledge! Use 'em all and show us your best!"

My eyes lit up and I gripped my hands together tightly in excitement. I doubt I will win, but this was truly my chance to be my best. I was determined to give it my all with these matches, and I wasn't going to let the others' matches stress me out….at least I could try not to.

"FIRST MATCH! Izuku Midoriya from the Hero Course versus Hitoshi Shinso from General Studies!" The cheers from the crowd were so full of excitement at the thought of flashy battles, but now that I knew Shinso's quirk, I wondered how on earth this match would go.

"The rules are simple: Win by knocking your opponent out of the ring, immobilizing them, or getting them to say 'I give up'!" Mic shouted over the crowd. "Bring on the pain and fight dirty if you must! We've got our good ol' Recovery Girl on standby, but of course, going for the kill is a big no-no. You will be disqualified!"

Mic started the match immediately after, and I quickly noticed the dark look that Shinso had aimed at Midoriya as he spoke. After a bit, something he said finally struck a nerve with Midoriya, who had seemed to be trying his best not to respond. The green-haired teen suddenly tensed before dashing forward a few steps as he shouted, "What'd you say?!" only to freeze mid-stride.

"Midoriya! I warned you!" Ojiro's voice cried out from farther back in the seats. Of course he would have warned our classmate, considering how uncomfortable he was after he had snapped out of Shinso's quirk.

Mic's confused voice sounded next, "Hey, hey, what's wrong? This battle's just beginning, guys, show us some spirit! Mere seconds into the match, Midoriya's…frozen in place?! Could this be Shinso's quirk at work? We were barely aware this guy even existed, but now…he sure is one to keep an eye on!"

"Nearly everyone is here trying to get first place," I mumbled to myself. "You should keep an eye on all of us from the start."

I heard a light chuckle from beside me, but I couldn't drag my eyes away from the arena.

Mr. Aizawa finally spoke up then, "Like I've said before, that entrance exam is completely irrational. Given the format of the practical portion, students with quirks like Brainwashing don't really get helped out, even if it's an extraordinarily powerful quirk like Shinso's."

'He failed simply because the targets in the exam were robots,' I thought, 'Can't use brainwashing on machinery. You'd be the one to really understand that, huh dad.'

With the crowd quieting some, we could finally hear what was being said in the arena, and Shinso's words were cold. "Must be nice to have everything handed to you, Izuku Midoriya. Now…turn around, and walk out of the ring."

Without hesitation, Midoriya spun around and proceeded to slowly walk toward the edge of the ring. From the corner of my eye, I noticed Katsuki shift forward slightly, and I couldn't help but think that he was possibly, unconsciously hoping Midoriya would break through the quirk's influence.

Shinso spoke up to Midoriya's mindlessly walking form again. "You probably wouldn't think so, but…this quirk of mine is really great sometimes. You lose."

As he finished speaking, though, a massive gust of wind burst out from Midoriya, and he bent over gasping for breath and in pain as two of his fingers dangled loosely from his hand.

"What's this…?" Mic questioned as Midoriya turned his head to glare over his shoulder at Shinso, who suddenly looked nervous. "Midoriya stopped?!"

"How? You shouldn't have control. What'd you do?" Shinso called out to the green-haired teen who only clamped his hand over his mouth as he turned around to fully face his opponent. "Nothing to say for yourself? Heh, I'm jealous, though, just moving that one finger must mean you're really good. Thanks to my quirk's nature, I couldn't enter the hero course, just like Eraser said. You wouldn't get that, though, you're naturally blessed. You people…born with your awesome quirk, getting to follow all your dreams. You really irritate me." The more he spoke, the more Shinso looked to be breaking down. He looked angry, and yet all I could feel was my heart breaking for him. His quirk was amazing, many people just couldn't see that.

Midoriya suddenly charged at the purple-haired teen, but instead of a quirk-charged attack, he just started pushing Shinso backward with all his psychical might. Shinso groaned loudly, then slammed his fist into Midoriya's cheek as he shouted, "Say something already!"

All he got in response was a glare and more lost ground. Gritting his teeth, he planted his feet better, making it slightly harder for Midoriya. "Trying to push me out? Not gunna happen!" He then shifted his weight and spun out of Midoriya's grip, reversing their stance and going to push on Midoriya instead. "I'll give you that honor instead!"

I gasped when I noticed Midoriya's hands shifting around, recognizing a move that I had watched him use before. He shouted loudly as he used Shinso's momentum and weight to pull him up and over his shoulder, into the air in a small arch, then slamming him back-first into the ground…right past the line marking the edge of the ring.

"Shinso is out of the ring!" Midnight announced. "Midoriya moves to the second round!"

"He got you with that shoulder toss, right, Bakugo?" Kaminari teased from in front of Katsuki, only to get his head shoved forward with the blonde's foot as he growled "Shaddup, Dunce Face."

This banter happened to be what made me realize that I had grabbed onto Katsuki's arm tightly at some point as I worried. I pulled away with lightning speed, looking down at my betraying hands in embarrassment. "Ah…Sorry about that, Katsuki," I mumbled, face on fire.

I could barely see a pink dusting on his ears from the corner of my eye, and he only replied with a grunt, though I noticed his own hand move to grip that spot I had previously been occupying. It didn't really seem like it was purposeful, so I just shrugged it off.

As Shinso walked off to the tunnel, looking defeated and pissed, I heard a few new voices.

"You were awesome out there Shinso!"

"You had us on the edge of our seats!"

"You're the shining star of us General Studies guys!"

His face relaxed but filled with slight disbelief at the same time. Heroes in the crowd were speaking, too, but they were harder for me to hear. Apparently, they were saying good things, though, since one of his classmates shouted, "Hear that, Shinso? You're doing great dude!"

My heart filled with confidence for my third soulmate, and I rushed out of my seat then to the railing, leaning over it as I shouted down at him, "You make your quirk into what you define it as, Shinso, remember that!"

His classmates' eyes found me in the stands, but he continued to stare into the tunnel before speaking again to Midoriya, "They'll consider transfers to the Hero Course depending on the results here…remember that. Maybe I failed this time, but…I'm not giving up. I've got what it takes to make the Hero Course, and I'll become a greater hero than all of you."

Midoriya suddenly froze up again - he must have muttered a reply - and that's when Shinso turned his head slightly. "Just promise me that you won't lose in a sorry way out there." At that, he spun back around and walked out.

I turned around with a small laugh, and rushed out of our seating area, completely missing the now pissed-off look that Katsuki had as I bolted past. As I searched for Shinso, however, I ended up unintentionally hearing something I likely shouldn't have. As I rounded a corner, I thought I heard a voice, and stupidly had to investigate.

"Your duty is to surpass All Might, understand? You're different than your siblings, you are my greatest creation!"

I pressed myself against the wall by the corner, biting down on the inside of my cheek hard. That sounded like…Endeavor. Was he being serious?!

The cold, emotionless voice that sounded next was familiar yet not at the same time. "That's all you've got to say to me, right? I'll win this with mom's power only. I'm never going to use your power in battle." Todoroki sounded emotionless yet furious at the same time.

"You'll reach your limit soon enough," Endeavor growled, then suddenly heavy footsteps came my way. Staring wide-eyed up at the tank of a man, I couldn't figure out if I wanted to tell him off or if I should cower in fear. His face was set in its ever-present glare as he stopped in front of me. "You…You're the copy kid, right?"

I nodded and clenched my fists, holding eye contact with him. I just knew that that would irritate him, it always does with people like him.

"You seem to be friends with Yukime."

I nodded again only to glare hatefully at the number two hero for his next words.

"Fitting for two weak children to become friends," He growled before turning away and continuing down the hall, completely ignoring me, like I was so insignificant that he didn't even feel the need to address my attitude towards him.

"Bastard…" I grumbled under my breath, then went about my own business while trying to calm down. Finally managing to find the General Studies group, I took a deep breath before nervously clearing my throat only to have all of their eyes on me. "Um…I was…looking for Shinso." I attempted to say loud enough to be heard, which I thankfully was.

A second after I spoke, I heard his chuckle as he stood and made his way over to me with his hands in his pockets. "And why would you be looking for me, Aizawa?" The way his voice dipped slightly when he said my name had my cheeks burning.

I swallowed nervously, "Well…I guess to…to talk." My eyes drifted to the side as I attempted to gather myself, but he didn't give me a chance.

"Come on, Attack Cat." He drawled as he walked past me.

Hearing quiet laughter from his classmates, my face burned and I whipped around to lightly slap his arm as I griped at him. "Would you stop calling me that?! It's embarrassing!" Of course, he only laughed back at me.

I followed him down the hall a little way, then he lead me into the room that had been marked as the General Studies prep room, offering me a chair. "So, what were you wanting to talk to me about so badly?"

I sank into the seat and watched him carefully as he pulled one out for himself and sat down facing me. "Well…I wanted to clear up some things about…this."

He lifted a brow in fake confusion, his stupid smirk still present. "This?"

"You know what I mean," I took a deep breath before launching into what I had to say, "So…I think that we should do two things here: First, we should figure out what exactly our soulmate thing means to each of us. I already know what to expect from the others. Katsuki is only wanting to be around to keep the bond from backlashing on him, Eijiro is…well we're…kind of still figuring out what we want, I guess?"

Shinso leaned forward, his forearms resting on his knees. "And what are you wanting from me?"

I shifted slightly, before holding my phone out at him, "I think we should learn more about each other before deciding. Judging from when we met before…I'm wasn't sure where I wanted us to go with this, but now I know at least a starting place." I smiled at him, despite my blush, "You're not a bad guy, Shinso, and I hope to see you in the hero course soon."

His eyes never left mine, making me more and more nervous as time went on. After that nerve-wracking moment, he gently took my phone, finally looking away to type in his info. Once he was done he handed me my phone back, got up, ruffled my hair, and left without another word. I smoothed my hair back down with a huff, then smiled softly, happy with the way that went.

I came back to my class' seating area at a perfect moment. As soon as I took the first step down, an absolutely massive blast of ice came shooting up from the arena floor and out of the opening in the roof. I was so shocked, taking an involuntary step backward, eyes wide and mouth hanging open.

"Shoto Todoroki moves on to the second round!"

"Obviously!" I gasped, laughter erupting from my classmates at my comment.

Eijiro turned around, smiling brightly as he motioned for me to come over, and I happily obliged. He wasted no time in wrapping his hand around my own, fingers threading together as he grinned. "Where'd you go to?"

"Oh, I just went to talk to Shinso." I shrugged. "Cause I wanted to get to know him, too. It's gunna be interesting since we don't have him in our class, so I wanted to get his number to text him."

He nodded. "Yeah, I get it. I'm still not sure what to think of him, though. He doesn't seem bad, but…"

"During the cavalry battle, he said he had a villain's quirk," My heart clenched again as I remembered the look on his face in the moment that he told me that, "Eijiro…he just wants to prove that he's not a villain. I can only imagine how many times that crap has been brought up around him. It's almost like my situation…people call me a cheat or a cheap imitation hero. Society isn't accepting of much other than the flashy, pretty quirks. If you think about it," I paused and halfway smiled, "You're gunna be the most accepted from our group. We have one that sounds like a villain, one that has a quirk that is seen as villainous, and one that's a cheat…then there's the kind-hearted guy with a natural hero quirk that works well for defense and offense."

"Hey, you're not a cheat," He said softly, "Bakugo definitely ain't a villain – even if he does have a short fuse, and I'm sure this Shinso guy isn't a bad guy either. Let's all just do our best, and become the top four heroes! That way we can all prove everyone else wrong." He finished up with a toothy grin, making me feel much better.

.


.

"With the arena finally thawed out," Mic's voice filled the stadium yet again. "It's time for the next match!"

"Oh! It's Yukime and Kaminari next right?" I gasped as nerves filled me again for my friends. I didn't want either to lose, but I was about 90% sure I knew who was going to come out as the winner.

"Yeah," Eijiro nodded, looking kind of grim, "And it doesn't look good for Kaminari, especially if he asks her out again."

I snorted but didn't say anything as Mic announced our friends.

"Match two is Denki Kaminari versus Yukime Himura! START!"

I could vaguely hear what sounded like Kaminari offering to take Yukime out to eat after to console her, and that the match was going to be over in an instant as electricity started arching all over his body. Yukime simply smiled sweetly, creating a large section of ice in front of herself only to make a downward motion with her arms that caused the ice to instantly crush into fine powder. She then looked back up to him and could be heard saying, "Oh…it'll be over real fast, Pikachu, but I won't need consoling," before she randomly blew him a kiss, which would seem odd if the large pile of powdery snow hadn't responded to her motion, bursting forward toward Kaminari then swirling around him before solidifying. It honestly looked like a giant dollop of whipped cream with Kaminari as the cherry on top. Though, at the contact of the ice, his electricity discharged, leaving him looking derped saying "Yaayyy~~"

The crowd cheered, and Mic shouted "Gotta give the girl some credit, that was really cool!" – I could feel the deadpan look Mr. Aizawa was giving him – "Yukime Himura moves on to the second round!"

A sudden muttering sound drew my class' attention down to none other than Midoriya, who was frantically scribbling into his notebook. While I was chuckling at the boy who was two rows down, I happened to have my attention captured by his left hand that was wrapped up and over the top of the book.

Giving Eijiro's hand a light squeeze before letting go, I stood up and climbed over the seat in front of me to lean onto the back of Uraraka's seat beside the boy. "Hey, Midoriya," The poor teen just about jumped out of his skin at my 'sudden' appearance.

"O-oh, hey Aizawa!" he greeted bashfully, "Was I muttering again?"

I hesitated for a second, looking at Uraraka who was looking at Midoriya with a slightly disturbed look. "Uh...Well, yeah, but that's not why I came down here. I wanted to look at your soul band. I've never seen one look the way it does, plus the colors are really interesting!"

At my comment, he looked at his hand and his eyes widened. "Oh! I hadn't even looked at it!"

Uraraka gasped, "Wait, you haven't looked at it? In how long?!"

The fact that he paused to think about it said enough to make Uraraka look mind-blown, and I burst out laughing. Gently grabbing his hand – unintentionally making his face burn bright red – I gazed down at the strange bands that crossed each other like an 'X'. Where they met was white, but that faded to crimson on one side and very light blue on the other.

"So cool! I wonder what this kind of band mea- gah!" Next thing I knew I was being dragged out of my seat and away from my two friends by Katsuki who looked absolutely furious over…who knows what, honestly. "What're you doing?"

Receiving only silence as a response, I simply stumbled along behind him as he dragged me down the aisle and back up to where Eijiro was. He then grabbed me by the shoulders, moved me around in front of him, and deposited me into the chair beside the bewildered redhead before angrily flopping into the seat beside me.

Sharing a lost look with Eijiro, I decided it was likely best to just leave it be for now.

The next match was between Ida and Mei Hatsume. The match started a little strangely but quickly turned really odd as Hatsume started to advertise all of her support products – even the ones that were adorning Ida. Her sales pitch lasted a ridiculous ten minutes, but then she simply walked out of the arena in forfeit.

"Wait…oh crap, I'm next!" I jumped up and bolted out of the stands and through the halls.

"Next match is Mina Ashido versus…Hana Aizawa?" The confusion at my absence was clear.

"I'm here!" I shouted as I raced out of the tunnel and into the arena. "Sorry!" 'That's totally gunna look good for me, jeez.'

"Alright! Match start!"

"I'm not gunna let you anywhere close to me, girl, so you might wanna just give up!" Mina called out with a smirk and a look of determination.

Crouching down slightly, I gave her a smirk of my own, "Mina, you forget who my dad is. I don't need a quirk to fight, I've got plenty of hand-to-hand combat training."

Lunging forward, I raced at her. Knowing her fighting tactics, especially if what she said a second ago was true, she was going to use her quirk a lot, and it didn't take long for it to be proven that I was correct in my assumption. Each time I got close, she would throw her acid out at me, which led to me dodging a lot. She also used her quirk to move around quicker since I kept getting up close and personal with her. As I dodged her projectile acid yet again, I coincidentally found out that the liquid she was using to slide around wasn't corrosive.

"This will be helpful." I smiled, then started skating, dodging, sliding, and jumping around from path to path of hers. I was copying her speed tactic while also having her create more and more of the noncorrosive liquid that somehow canceled out any corrosive acid that landed in it.

After a little while, I finally got close enough to attack. I feigned a straightforward attack, only to dip and slide under her arm as she tried to fling her acid. Successfully sliding past her offense, I went for it, landing a swift punch to her side which caused me to start a spin. I took advantage of the unintended spin and whipped my leg around to knock her off her feet. It suddenly clicked how I could end this fight, and I again took advantage of her liquid trails on the ground. As I spun back around to face her, I grabbed onto her uniform and yanked her body in the same direction I was spinning. This move stopped my spin and sent her sliding towards the edge of the ring. Hearing her shout as she successfully slid out of bounds, I called out to her. "Sorry, Mina!"

"Hana Aizawa moves on to the next round!"

Standing carefully, I realized how…well honestly, how gross I was at that moment. I was almost completely covered in the liquid that was covering the arena. "Hey, Mina…does this stuff wash off easily?" I laughed as I carefully made my way to dry land.

My pink friend laughed also as she stood up, also pretty well covered in the liquid. "Yeah, it's easy to deal with!"

The two of us walked out through the tunnel and headed to the showers.

.


.

Mina and I chatted as we walked back to our seats after getting cleaned off. As we neared our seating area, we crossed paths with Eijiro.

"Oh! It's your turn already?" I asked, and waved to Mina who winked and kept walking to her seat.

"Yeah, Tokoyami's not really giving Yaoyorozu a chance to create anything, so their match is probably gunna be short," He smiled down at me then. "Your match was cool, you looked like you had every move planned before you made it! That's so manly!"

I laughed and fiddled with my uniform shirt in embarrassment. "Actually, I was kinda just winging it."

"Even more manly!" He exclaimed before scooping me up into a tight hug making me blush heavily at the sudden attention, that and the fact that I had to stand on my tiptoes. He then sat me down and smiled happily. "How'd I get so lucky to have you as a soulmate?" Before I could reply, or even compute what he was doing, he pressed his lips against my forehead quickly. "I should head down now, make sure you cheer for me, alright!"

All I could do was nod and offer him a small smile as he waved and kept on down the hall.

"You turn so fucking red over every little thing," I jumped, turning to see Katsuki leaning against the wall just outside the doorway leading to our seats.

"I told you this is all new to me, Katsuki. Besides, it's a totally normal reaction to things that make people flustered," I huffed, my blush remaining on my cheeks.

"Whatever," He stepped away from the wall, making his way over to me with a look on his face that I couldn't really understand, "So, why do you keep avoiding me? You've even been talking to fucking Deku and that mind control guy instead."

"Wait, what?" Now I was really confused, "One, his name is Shinso, and he's our soulmate. I know you're smart enough to have figured that out. Two, I'm able to talk to whoever I want, you don't decide that. Three, I tried to be around you earlier, and you barely acknowledged I was there!"

"Tch" Katsuki looked off to the side frustrated and stuffed his hands in his pockets. He was quiet for a while, then finally spoke up. "I was mad alright," He grumbled, glaring at the wall.

Again with the confusion, "Mad? At me?"

"Yes…no…ugh" He groaned agitated, "I don't know! I just get fucking pissed off, ok! This shit's fucking irritating!"

I sighed, reaching up to turn his face back toward me with both hands, vaguely noticing his light blush. "I can't help unless I know what's going on, and I wanna help."

He just stared at me before shaking his head and stepping back. "Forget it. Come on, you're probably missing Shitty Hair's stupid fight," He turned around and walked back towards the doorway, pausing as he reached it, "You'd better sit by me, Copy Cat, or I'll drag you like last time," Saying that, he then stomped out of sight.

"Man, you're troublesome, Katsu…" I mumbled as I followed. I did take the seat by him like he wanted, but my eyes were focused on the two in the arena. "Woah, wait, they're both…uh…solid?"

"They've been evenly matched since the start," Midoriya informed me, turning around in his seat only to spin back around from the glare being sent his way by Katsuki.

"Oh honestly, can you behave less like a child, and let me speak with my friend?" I snapped at him quietly, earning my own glare. I was about to say something else when I noticed that his arm had shifted slightly since I sat down, and was now resting against my own very lightly. 'He's being so weird.'

Shaking my head, I turned my attention back to Eijiro as he and Tetsutetsu – I felt awful for that poor guy to have his name – were in a stalemate. Solid punch after solid punch, they only seemed to wear each other down. Next thing we all knew, the two shielded boys each landed a hard punch, taking the other down. Their match was declared a draw.

Katsuki huffed, standing from his seat as he did so, and I sent a small smile his way, "You'll be great, but still…good luck!"

He smirked then flicked my nose, before leaving while I rubbed the side of my slightly sore nose.

A minute or two later, Katsuki and Uraraka walked out to the ring, both looking determined but Uraraka also looked nervous.

"The last match of the first round: Katsuki Bakugo versus Ochaco Uraraka!"

The two started the match almost immediately by Uraraka taking influence from me. She charged straight at Katsuki, but with him, that was a terrible move. He sent a blast directly at her at almost point-blank range, and I could hear the crowd starting to complain.

My hands clenched and I wished I had someone here to keep me out of trouble. As I thought this, a pair of legs shot out from nowhere beside me, and I jumped as Yukime launched herself over the back of the seat only to flop down into it. "Hey, how ya doin'?" she chirped happily, "Been waiting for grumpy gills to leave you alone for a while now, so I don't start any arguments from my lovely ability to be a smartass."

I laughed loudly and shoved at her, "Oh honestly! I think you two would be great friends. You could insult people together!"

Now she was the one laughing, but she did like my idea. As we went back to watching the match, she noticed my frustration with the crowd really fast and reassured me that it didn't matter what they thought about Katsuki.

At that moment, Katsuki went in for an attack only to be met with Uraraka's uniform shirt as she appeared behind him attempting a sneak attack in the smoke from the explosions. "Oh no…that is not gunna work," I mumbled right before Katsuki noticed her presence and sent an explosion backward at her, pushing her back again.

"Uraraka wastes no time! She's charging in again!" Mic cheered for his personal favorite, while I shook my head.

"That's not gunna work, Uraraka…" I mumbled, only for Yukime to nudge me and point up. Looking at where she pointed, I was shocked.

"She keeps charging in relentlessly, but…this is…" Mic's voice drooped with concern. More and more people in the crowd were complaining now, including some of our classmates.

Suddenly, some random guy stands up from the crowd and starts shouting about Katsuki not behaving like a hero, and saying how he should just finish the match by throwing Uraraka out of the ring if he could overpower her so easily. "Stop toying with the poor girl!" At that last statement, the crowd actually started booing, and I almost lost it. Yukime had to hold me down and hold my mouth shut with her other hand.

Just as Mic started to agree with the crowd, there was a commotion in the booth before Aizawa's voice boomed over the stadium, "Who just said he was toying with her? Are you a pro, and if so, how long have you been active? If this is what you're taking away from this fight, then leave. Go home and start looking for another job."

Yukime burst out laughing, and I felt pride at the fact that he was defending his students so strongly.

"She's come this far, and he knows her strength. His caution shows that he recognizes that strength, and respects it. It's exactly because he wants to win so badly, that there's no room for carelessness or holding back. Maybe Bakugo didn't notice because he's so close, but the pros in the stands…specifically the ones that were booing, they should be ashamed for not noticing…"

"She's made her own meteor shower." I marveled at her ingenuity. She had used his attacks, and her constant movement to build up a large 'cloud' of rocks in the sky, only to press her fingers together and shout "I'm gunna win!"

Mic's voice sounded again in astonishment "It's a meteor storm!"

I should have felt nervous about the large amount of giant rocks falling toward my soulmate…but said soulmate is Katsuki Bakugo, this wouldn't be enough to take him down. I could only gaze at the absolutely massive explosion he sent off into the barrage of rocks, effectively destroying them all.

"What an explosion! Uraraka's secret plan just went up in smoke!"

The two went to charge at each other again, but Katsuki slowed to a stop as Uraraka stumbled to the ground. Midnight rushed into the arena to check on the state of the poor girl as Midoriya mumbled something about weight capacities.

"Uraraka is unable to continue. Katsuki Bakugo moves on to the second round!"

As Katsuki joined our class again, the others immediately started taking shots at him.

"Oh~… rough match, huh, villain face?" Sero quipped with a smile.

Tsu leaned forward, "Awkward matchups aside, you still do great at playing the bad guy, Bakugo."

Katsuki was fuming, "Shut the hell up, all of you!"

"No, really, nice job blowing up that frail little girl~," Kaminari chuckled, "Not like me, I held back against Himura."

Yukime rolled her eyes and stared at him blankly, "I could have beat you in my sleep, discount Pikachu."

I sputtered before covering my mouth as Kaminari exclaimed, "Aw, come on, Himura! Give me a little bit of a break," before pouting.

"Besides," I decided to speak up now because I was absolutely tired of the shit-talking, "There's nothing frail about Uraraka. If you think she's frail because she has to touch something to fight or because she's female, then I guess I'm frail, too."

The others were quiet then, and Katsuki trudged over to sit in the empty spot to my left, his arm again resting just barely against my own.

"The only way to finish the battle between Kirishima and Tetsutetsu is~…" Cementoss formed a table-like block of cement into the arena from his seat nearby as Mic announced the continuation of the two teens' match. "A good old-fashioned Arm Wrestling match!"

Yukime smirked before nudging me, "Wanna make a bet? I got 20 bucks on Kirishima winning."

I gave her a look asking, "Why would I bet against him?" before laughing.

"Hmm…good point. Kaminari! Wanna make a bet?" Yukime grinned down at the blonde who shook his head quickly.

"I know better than to bet against you!" He complained. "It's like you can predict the future or something!"

A loud cracking noise was heard over their banter, drawing my attention out to the two teens. Tetsutetsu was solid metal while Eijiro had solidified only his arms, but their combined exertion on the cement block was causing it to start crumbling. Before it could come apart, though, Eijiro's arm shifted Tetsutetsu's back just barely then it quickly slammed down, smashing the side of the block.

"After their earlier draw, Kirishima has won!"

Seeing Eijiro offer his opponent his hand to help him up, I giggled quietly, muttering to myself "So manly of him." My eyes darted over to Katsuki as I heard him let out a small snort at my comment, and I smiled cheekily.

"We now have our full lineup for the second round! With that said, though…Let's get right to it!"

"This should be good," Yukime mumbled while leaning her arms forward onto her knees. That's when I finally noticed her soul band.

"Yukime…your band…it's only half of one?" I whispered while leaning closer to her.

I saw her tense, her eyes cutting down to her hand, then over to me. "Not now…" she mumbled before she looked back out at her brother's match.

Present Mic's voice broke the tension, "These two have had top scores so far in the tournament, but there's only room for one of these greats in the ring! Izuku Midoriya versus Shoto Todoroki! Start!"

As soon as the match had started, Todoroki had shot large ice spikes out along the ground at Midoriya who used one finger to destroy the entire trail as well as knock Todoroki backward. The dual-haired teen had created a section of ice to keep him inside of the ring, though, and pressed on.

Another ice spike attack, another smash.

This time, I noticed the mist puffs drifting from Todoroki's mouth and my eyes widened. "He freezes over, too." Yukime nodded as her hands gripped each other tightly.

A third attack, only to be blasted away by wind force alone. I was so invested in the match that I jumped when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned to see Eijiro grinning sheepishly at my reaction. It seemed I wasn't the only one to notice him rejoining us either as some of our classmates congratulated him. His grin grew into a confident smile.

"Thanks! Hey, next I'm up against you, Bakugo," His reply was simply a twitch and "I'll kill you" to which Eijiro laughed, saying, "I'd like to see you try! But…man you, Himura, and Todoroki, you guys can fire off as many of those crazy-strong attacks as you want…"

"As many as we want?" Katsuki huffed, still glaring at the arena, "Don't be an idiot. Strain your muscles, and you'll tear them. Quirks are still physical abilities. Everyone has a limit, even you, rocks for brains."

Eijiro hummed, ignoring the snark. "Yeah, I guess you're right…so, it looks like Midoriya is trying to see what the match out to wear Todoroki's limit is, huh?"

Yukime's hands tightened more, staying silent.

Another ice attack, another smash, but this time Todoroki rushed forward after, using the ice to lift him slightly higher than Midoriya. Midoriya managed to break the ice under the dual-haired teen, but not before he went for another attack, slamming his fist down. Again, Midoriya barely dodged, only to have Todoroki shoot ice spikes like before from where he had landed, catching the green-haired teen off guard slightly. His foot got caught up in the ice, but with Todoroki rushing in with another attack, Midoriya was forced to use a full-blast attack to free himself and send Todoroki flying back. The other teen stopped himself from sailing through the air again with another ice wall.

I noticed the mist clouds becoming slightly larger, and small frosted sections along his arm. Knowing he was pushing himself from my experience with Yukime's quirk as well as seeing her push herself so far…I wondered how far would her twin go? I heard murmurs of astonishment at Todoroki's strength from the crowd, many of them mentioning his father, and again I saw Yukime's grip tighten, her knuckles turning white.

Suddenly, Todoroki's gaze drifted to the crowd near us, and I saw his mouth moving as he spoke to Midoriya. "I kinda wish we could hear what they were saying," I mumbled to myself.

As suddenly as Todoroki's eyes were on the crowd, they were now back on Midoriya with a glare filled with a ridiculous amount of determination. He went to shoot another large blast of ice only for Midoriya to shout loud enough for all to hear, "Who says I'm done?!" before the ice was demolished again.

"But how?!" I gasped, "Both hands are so broken already."

"Look at Shoto," Yukime breathed, eyes glued to the arena.

Looking at him, I saw that ice had now started building up on his face, and he was shaking slightly. Was his ice getting weaker as well? It did seem to break easier, but I could be wrong.

Midoriya's voice gained our attention again, "Everyone's giving it their all to win…to achieve their goals…to make it to the top! And you're trying to win with half your power?! I still…haven't even put a scratch on you, and I'm giving as much as I can." Somehow, he clenched his fist despite how broken it was and shouted at his opponent. "Gimme everything you've got! Come at me!"

At his statement, Yukime twitched.

Like a switch flipped, the two launched at each other, only this time Midoriya's arm lit up with red vein-like things as he pulled it back and finally landed a hit. This was the first time I had seen him actually make contact with someone else's body when using an attack, and it sent a flash of phantom pain surging through my own arm, which I instinctively pulled closer to my body like I was cradling it.

"What a hit! Things are really heating up!" Mic called out above the roar of the crowd.

"He's totally messing up his arms, though," Eijiro said from behind me.

"Shoto is slowing down, too," Yukime added, "And his attacks are weaker. Midoriya has a plan…but it's not going to go over well for either of them."

I hadn't been able to tear my eyes away from the fight, though, and noticed Midoriya put his thumb into his mouth as Todoroki sent another attack his way. "Oh my God…" The boy sent another blast through the ice by using his cheek to pull back his thumb for the attack! This was getting to be too much!

"I wanna be…a cool hero!" Midoriya shouted again in reply to something Todoroki had said, and I noticed Yukime twitch again as her hands gripped impossibly tighter together. "That's why I'm giving it everything! For everyone!" what he said next I couldn't hear, but then he went back to shouting, "That's why I have to win! I have to surpass you!" as he slammed Todoroki yet again, sending him flying.

Yukime now steadily had ice crawling up from her hands, her legs bouncing with anxiety, and I turned to ask if she was alright only for her to stop moving entirely at Midoriya's next words, which had my own head whirling around to gape down at the two.

"YOUR POWER IS YOUR OWN!"

The thin ice around my friend's hands crackled as her hands moved to cover her mouth as tears flowed freely. I couldn't even begin to grasp what was going on, but whatever had resonated with the twins from what Midoriya had said was apparently something strong. The air suddenly became stifling as a massive burst of fire, almost as large as the iceberg from earlier, filled the stadium.

A loud booming voice sounded from the direction that Todoroki had glared in earlier. "SHOTO! So you've finally accepted it! It all starts now! With my blood, you will easily surpass me…You will fulfill my ambitions!"

Yukime snapped.

Surprised shouts sounded around us out as a blast of light frost shot across us when Yukime jumped from her seat and to the railing – that now had ice rapidly spreading from it – looking almost feral, "SHUT UP, OLD MAN!"

The people around our section looked at her with fear, and from her expression, I could understand why. She looked even more terrifying than Katsuki had while battling Midoriya in our fight training.

"Erm…well…a sudden…pep talk? This is strange," Mic mumbled into his microphone.

"Both of you!" Yukime's attention was now back on the two in the arena, both of who were definitely listening even though their determined gazes were on each other. "Give it your all! PLUS ULTRA!"

As if her words were a trigger, they shot towards each other at the same time, major power emanating from them both. Cementoss and Midnight moved to stop the fight, but there was simply no way at this point. Midoriya's arm surged with glowing veins again at the same time that Todoroki sent a full-force blast of fire directly at him, and despite the five thick cement walls that had formed between the two, their attacks met each other.

A huge explosion shot through the stadium, a warm blast of air rocketing through the crowd from the shockwave of the collision.

Mic's voice suddenly sounded, "What the-?! Seriously, what is with your class?"

Mr. Aizawa answered with a sigh, sounding bored yet again, "All that cold air was quickly heated, making it expand rapidly."

"What a blast, though…and I can't see anything," The blonde commented. "Has the match ended?"

A moment later, the air cleared enough to see Midoriya's heavily battered form slump against the wall, and Todoroki standing still in the arena with half of his shirt burnt off and steam rolling from his other side.

"I-Izuku Midoriya is out of the ring…Shoto Todoroki moves on to the next round!" Midnight announced looking shaken.

At her announcement, Yukime ran out of our seating area, leaving ice chunks each time her feet connected with the floor.

"Dang…that was crazy," Eijiro was as shocked as most everyone else about the match and our classmate's reaction. We all seemed to agree with him, but everyone seemed to be rendered speechless.

Uraraka looked at me suddenly, and I understood what she was trying to say without saying it. Knowing I was about to piss Katsuki off, I quickly stood and mumbled my apologies before I rushed to Uraraka, Ida, and Tsu. We all raced from the seats and through the halls to go check on Midoriya.

Finally finding the room, Uraraka and Ida burst through the door shouting Midoriya's name, and some skeletal-looking man jumped violently, spewing blood as he did.

I stepped out from between my two friends and made eye contact with the man that felt strangely familiar. "Are you alright?" I asked, genuinely concerned for the man whose gentle, bright-blue eyes stared back at me. He simply waved me off, wiping at his mouth as Midoriya spoke to the others. I wasn't buying it for a second. "It's not normal to spit blood, though. We're already at the nurse's station, so it's only logical to get checked, too, if you need it." He only stared back with a tiny smile itching at the corner of his mouth.

Midoriya's pained voice brought my attention to him then, "I'm sorry…maybe if I had just shut up…but I had to say what I did to Todoroki. I couldn't mind my own business…because, at that point, I just couldn't take it anymore. It was so frustrating."

"I'm glad you did." We all jumped, wheeling around to see a panting Yukime leaning on the doorframe. Recovery girl managed to push the other three out of the room after Yukime moved, but left me as I drifted to my friend to worry over her. She then looked up at the stranger with confusion, "What are you doing here, Mr. Yagi?"

He looked panicked as his eyes flickered around the room, "I…uh…you know me! I tend to worry a lot! And with you kids being All Might's first class of students, I felt like I should check in on this boy and your brother - where ever he might be - then let the big guy know how everyone was," He said, laughing nervously. My eyes narrowed slightly, and my mind tried to figure out why his voice sounded familiar.

Midoriya seemed slightly tenser, but it was hard to tell because he also looked to be in extreme pain, "How…how do you know…?"

"Mr. Yagi took me in…" Yukime answered, sending a glance to me before sighing, "I had run away from home – though I'm sure I would've been kicked out if I hadn't run, anyway – but I was homeless for two years. He works for All Might's agency and had been the one to call for help when I was being attacked one night. He decided to take me into his house so I could try to make a change in how I was…I've only known him for a little while, but he's already been more like a dad than the old man has," The girl moved to Midoriya's bedside, and that's when I noticed how emotional Yukime looked. "This might be a bad time…but…you don't know why your band is different do you."

The boy's eyes widened just barely, and he looked as confused as possible. The girl held up her own hand that sported half of a black and green band. "You probably didn't notice cause most guys don't pay any attention to the bands, but…the other half is on Shoto."

My eyes went ridiculously wide as I realized what she was saying, "That's why his has two bands crossed over…You're twins, which means you were originally one that split in two before developing much…You're both his soulmate!"

The room went silent as Midoriya and the adults gaped. Yukime shrugged sheepishly with tears in her eyes as she took in Midoriya's injuries with severe concern. "Surprise…" she said weakly.

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Note: I keep feeling like I've missed a section break, so if you see a spot where one needs to be, let me know, please! Thank you!