A/N: God, what am I doing with my life, I could've gone to sleep by now hhhhh...

The first one-on-one battle is here! :D I spent a lot of time on the drawing for this chapter, as it's more polished and akin to a fake screenshot, so I suggest you check it out. Links in my bio!

Art-

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Hitomi's silver eyes scanned the bracket, finding her name in the second half of the preliminary rounds.

Ashido v. Kanetsukabe.

"Hey, Hitomi-chan, no hard feelings no matter who wins, right?"

Hitomi looked to her left to find Mina standing next to her.

"Oh…of course not!" she exclaimed, a timid smile on her face.

Hitomi stood by Yaoyorozu, her arms crossed in stubbornness as she watched the other girls cheer during the recreational activities.

Oh boy, Toku and Nari are definitely gonna make fun of me for this when I get home…

"How are you holding up, Kanetsukabe-san?"

"Hm? Oh… definitely full of anxiety. How about you? Well, you'll probably do great at your match, since it's you…"

Yaoyorozu was shaking her pom poms lightly, still slightly embarrassed over falling for Mineta's prank. "Thank you for your compliments. I just hope I can manage against Tokoyami-san's quirk, since I'm not completely sure how it works yet…"

Hitomi watched the other girls cheer, trying to think of something that could comfort her vice rep. "Well, I suppose in this case it's best to expect the unexpected, so you can kind of prepare yourself? Sorry, I'm not the best at dishing out battle advice…"

Yaoyorozu smiled. "No, it's quite helpful, actually. Thank you. I appreciate it. If we both make it to the next round, no ill will between us, right…?"

"Of course not. You already beat me at the battle training, and I wasn't mad at you then. Why would I be now?"

"Well, scouts will be watching…"

Hitomi wore a sheepish look. "To be honest Yaoyorozu, I didn't think I'd make it this far in the first place. The fact that I made it to the last round at all is kind of enough for me. I'm already exhausted at the thought of me being broadcasted to all of Japan…"

Yaoyorozu let out a small laugh. "I bet you've been very entertaining to watch so far, especially with your performance during the obstacle course…"

Hitomi was in Waiting Room #2, back in her gym clothes and pacing around the room.

Deep breaths…

Hitomi tried to calm her beating heart before she squatted to the ground, cradling her face in her hands. "Oh, what am I thinking?! I can't do this…"

"Next contestants, please proceed to the field entrance. Repeat…"

"Wha-?! Now?"

Well, that last match did take pretty long…

She sighed, getting up and leaving the room.

As she approached the sunlight of the stadium, she put a hand on the elastic band holding her hair.

It's okay. I have Nari's lucky charm with me…

The crowd cheered as Hitomi and Mina approached the stage, Present Mic announcing their arrival.

"For this next matchup, we've got two girls from Class A! They've both made impressive performances so far!

Is something gonna come out of those horns of hers? From the hero course, it's Mina Ashido!

Versus…

The one who completely bypassed the obstacles in the obstacle course! From the hero course, Hitomi Kanetsukabe!"

Hitomi soaked in the warm air as the fire pillars by the stage ignited, Mina's voice sounding across the stage.

"Don't hold back, okay, Hitomi-chan?"

Hitomi smiled back at her, tightening her hair tie.

"I wouldn't dream of it."

"START!"

Hitomi charged, forming force fields along her arms and launching them at Mina.

It's bad to stay near the edge of the ring against someone like Ashido.

The pink girl narrowly dodged Hitomi's assault, using her acid to maneuver around the stage.

She skated around more of Hitomi's force fields, twisting her body around to avoid getting hit.

She drew near the silver-eyed girl, acid secreting from her palms.

"Let's see how well your barriers hold up against my acid!"

Mina threw the dissolving substance at Hitomi just as the blue-haired girl put up a wall. The acid seemed to have no effect, slowly disappearing as steam rose from the liquid.

"Wha-?! It's evaporating?!"

Hitomi pushed the wall forward in an attempt to push Mina out, the horned girl sliding out of the way just in time.

The two stared at each other from opposite ends of the ring, at a standstill.

"My Quirk superheats the air," Hitomi said, her voice echoing across the ring, "and makes plasma for my force fields. So any liquid that touches it evaporates on contact."

"Eh?! Wouldn't that burn you?!"

Hitomi shook her head as the two circled each other. "Not exactly. There's a solidification factor to my quirk that can contain the heat to my force fields, so I can choose whether heat radiates from it or not."

The pink-haired girl's eyes narrowed as they continued to circle each other.

"Then, in that case…"

Now! Mina thought.

She suddenly dashed forward, using her acid and nearing Hitomi much faster than she had before.

Before Hitomi could react, Mina was already right in front of her.

"Sorry for this, Hitomi-chan!"

The pink girl swung her fist, punching Hitomi square in the jaw.

Time seemed to slow down as the bluenette started to fall backwards, the girl noticing the white lines of the ring.

Her eyes widened in realization.

She was waiting for me to get close to the boundary line!

Hitomi continued to fall, her body starting to fall out of bounds.

No…

I won't lose!

A blue glow emanated from her face, and within less than a second, Hitomi created a force field directly behind her back to stop her fall. At the same time, she created a large wall next to Mina as she was following through on her punch.

The wall suddenly pushed Mina, the pink girl getting thrown past the boundary line and off the stage to the grass below.

Midnight raised her left arm, aimed at Hitomi's side of the arena.

"Ashido is out of bounds! Kanetsukabe advances to the next round!"

A/N: Hitomi's quirk is finally properly(kind of) explained! I never really found a good chance to explain how Hitomi's quirk worked, so I kinda just threw it in there. Hopefully it makes sense.

Also, have y'all noticed Hitomi's started dropping some of the honorifics she uses with her classmates? She's gettin' more comfy with them :3c