The next battle was staring and all Minoko could do was tap her foot on the ground nervously. She was not at all looking forward to her match. Sure, she's gotten everything ready, she has all her accessories on, she's eaten something and drank, but expectations are high and as much as she doesn't want to disappoint, she knows the outcome already. She lets out a sigh as Present Mic announces the next battle.

"Iida Tenya from the Hero Course, vs Todoroki Shouto from the Hero Course! START!"

Todoroki was quick to send an ice attack towards Iida, who avoided it easily. As Iida was approaching Todoroki's right, Todoroki crouched and touched the ground, sending the same ice attack. Iida backtracked, ending up in the middle of the two ice attacks. "He's surrounded!" Present Mic exclaimed.

Todoroki sent another attack towards Iida who, "He jumped!" Minoko exclaimed, as she followed Iida's ascent with her eyes. Next thing she knew, Iida was firing up his engines. Todoroki ducked to dodge the kick, but crashed to the ground as Iida took no time to flip around when he landed, sending another attack.

The people were gasping. "That was a huge blow!" Sero said.

"And a quick one too!" Kaminari added.

"Ah! Is he gonna drag him?" Minoko said out loud when Iida dodged another ice attack and grabbed Todoroki by his jacket, and sure enough, dragged him towards the boundary lines.Is he gonna make it?

A few more seconds and they probably would have reached the boundary line, but Iida suddenly stopped mid step. Next thing they knew, Iida was slowly being covered in ice. Todoroki got out of Iida's grip, as Midnight announced, "Iida is incapacitated! It's Todoroki's victory!"

Minoko stood up before anyone could cheer her on again. She headed out of the bleachers, not as in a rush as her match before since they still had to clean up the ice. She had her head down and silently talked to herself, trying to hype herself up.

"Yo! Kaeda! Goodluck on your match!" Kirishima greeted as he turned from the corner that led to the infirmary.

"Should you be walking already?!" Minoko asked.

"Yeah," Kirishima grinned, "Recovery Girl gave me the all go and everything," he said, flexing his quirk as if to make a point. "Besides! What kind of friend would I be if I missed your match!"

"Well don't expect much of it," she sighed. "You fought Bakugou, have any advice for me Mr. Tough Guy?"

Kirishima crossed his arms and hummed to himself with his eyes closed, thinking. He then opened them and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Give it your all!" He said.

"See, that doesn't change anything," Minoko said.

Kirishima shook his head, "It changes everything! Think if you were in an actual battle with a villain, you're not just gonna give up if you see them doing flashy dangerous moves right? A hero will do everything they can to stop the villain no matter the circumstance! Besides, in a battlefield you don't always have to win, that's why we have backups and stuff, stall if needed," he declared, "Morale is very important and your's is not being very manly right now."

Minoko couldn't help but chuckle, "Alright, I'll give it my all," she said.

Kirishima nodded approvingly, "Good. Besides, I don't think Bakugou will let you out of that ring if you don't."

"Fair point."

"Goodluck!"

Minoko separated from Kirishima and made her way to her designated entrance.

"For our last match before the long awaited finale, we have! Bakugou Katsuki from the Hero Course! And Kadea Minoko from the Hero Course!"

The only thing Minoko could think of at the moment was to do what she had always done. Be quick and confusing, but she's worried that Bakugou would have a counter for that already considering that that's all she's been doing all event.

When they were signaled to start, Minoko grabbed all her bracelets and scattered them on the floor, but before she could even disappear, Bakugou let out an explosion, blasting all of her bracelets out of the ring. "Do you really think I'm dumb enough to fall for that?!"

Shit.Minoko cursed in her head. Though there's another way she could get him in her inventory. She yelped as Bakugou made another explosion, this time towards her. She snagged her necklace off and threw it in front of her, swapping it with a large piece of debris—shielding herself from the explosion.

A yell from above made her do a backroll over the debris as Bakugou came down with his hand popping with explosions. She could feel a slight burn on her ankle, a bit different from Ashido's acid, but burning nonetheless. She managed to get a good distance from the boy, and was able to look at him clearly. She went to tap herself with her right hand when Bakugou exploded the ground in front of him creating a cloud of smoke.

Minoko clicked her tongue, she could switch with Bakugou by starting in her pocket dimension to inverse the perspective of her quirk before swapping herself with Bakugou then swapping Bakugou with an accessory to throw him out. Mid thoughts, another barrage of explosions were sent towards her, which she dodged and took cover from, but not good enough that she came out unscathed.

Sure she could have enacted that plan with the other competitors, but she can't really show anything off if she goes with that plan all the time, and yet the one time that she actually wants to do it, her opponent actually knows what he's doing. Her quirk is sight based, and with Bakugou causing all these clouds, she can't exactly do her plan.

Minoko switched an earring with the jar of rocks she used back in the obstacle course portion, as she would need these remaining rocks considering her accessories are dwindling. She held it with her right hand carefully, and with her left grabbed a handful, which she threw at random directions through the cloud, swapping them with pipes. She hears them strike the ground. She repeated this and sure enough, Bakugou was forced to blow an explosion sending him upwards. He had a scowl on his face as he appeared above the cloud.

Minoko did her best to tap herself into her pocket dimension while she still had visuals of the boy, but Bakugou was quick to send an explosion her way, effectively blocking her view and making her scamper to safety. Before she could compose herself, Bakugou was already back in the cloud.

Next thing she knew, her back was burning as a loud noise erupted from behind her. She yelped as she surged forward, trying to regain her footing. She looked behind, but found nothing, and instead fell for the same attack. She stumbled to the floor. She kept her head down for a moment, breathing deeply. She's not sure if it will work now, but the smoke was thick and dark enough. Every smoke cloud was touching each other so, in theory, it should work. Minoko stretched her right hand forward, opening her eyes.

"WHAT'S THIS??" Present Mic yelled.

Minoko's field of vision was clear. She could see Bakugou on his way towards her, about to send in another explosion. A little closer and she could tap Bakugou, but the boy's reflexes were fast, and he was able to redirect the explosion meant for her to propel him backwards. Minoko, however, anticipated this.

She quickly tapped herself, eyes making contact with Bakugou's before she was transported into her pocket dimension. She was able to breathe a bit, but at the same time she should do this quickly. If Bakugou somehow gets away from her field of vision, she may or may not be stuck here considering he's the only thing she remembers looking at. Minoko switched herself with Bakugou, only to hear Present Mic yell, "Is he stepping out—wait!"

Before Minoko could process what was going on, she found her foot out of bounds. "Kaeda is out of bounds! It is Bakugou's victory! Kaeda, if you please," Midnight said.

Minoko removed her other earring and switched it with Bakugou who stumbled as he landed back on the stage. Bakugou glared at her before letting out his signature 'tch' before walking off. The two of them got off the stage as Present Mic was announcing the competitors for the finale. "How did you do that?" Minoko asked. She was sure Bakugou knew the basics of her quirk, but to be able to time her switching with him and stepping out of bounds is absurd considering she hasn't really shared to him the time delay of her quirk.

"Are you stupid? You count obviously," he said, scowling at her before stomping away.

Minoko eyed him as he walked away with his hands in his pocket, slouching. "Doesn't really explain anything, but sure."

When she was about to make her turn to the infirmary to get her burns treated, she spotted someone. "Midoriya," she called, waving to the boy. She hasn't seen him since his surgery, "I'm glad to see you walking around."

Midoriya laughed a bit, bringing a hand behind his head, "Yeah, it feels good to be walking around. I saw your match by the way," he said.

Minoko sighed, "Embarrassing, I know," she said.

"No, it wasn't embarrassing," Midoriya insisted.

"I spent the entire time, hiding from Bakugou and failing to lure him out, only to still lose when I was sure my plan would work," Minoko said. "I don't even know how he did it! He shouldn't have been able to time that perfectly."

"To be fair, it would've worked if it wasn't Kacchan you were against," Midoriya said. "Based on the way he pushed himself backwards rather than attacking you, he had planned this as a failsafe. Knowing him,he probably would have wanted to push you out on his own terms, but I think he thought he could do it before you could disperse the clouds of smoke. Once he realized that he couldn't, he pushed himself back towards the boundary line, ready for when you would exchange with him," Midoriya explained, "On the timing bit, he has probably been watching and observing your moves, and likely counting how long it takes you to exchange stuff ever since you got into the brackets," he said. "Observing your enemy is very important as it can give you advantages like being able to plan and strategize, as well as…"

At this point, Midoriya had started muttering, to the point that Minoko could barely hear him talking. "So when he says he counted, he means that literally?" she said.

"Huh? Yeah, most likely," Midoriya said. "He probably took into account that you probably thought that he didn't know that he knew."

Minoko sighed, "Freaky reverse psychology, got it." She looked up at him, "Are you going back to the infirmary too?"

"Oh, no, I was heading for the bathroom," he said. "Oh wait!Youshould be going to the infirmary, you wouldn't want the burns to scar," Midoriya ushered her forward.

She laughed, waving goodbye and going to get her wounds treated. Which was done quickly with a few kisses and bandages and she was all good. She arrived at the bleachers while Cementos was fixing the crater-filled stage.

"Minoko! Are you alright?" Hagakure greeted her from the entrance.

"Yeah, just a few burns, nothing Recovery Girl can't fix," Minoko assured.

"You did great out there," Kirishima called from his seat with two thumbs up of approval.

"A bit anticlimactic end—" Mineta was then earphone jacked by Jirou.

Minoko silently thanked the girl and went over to her seat next to Kaminari. She stretched her body a bit. "Well, at least that's over with," she said, convincing herself to just forget about it.

"Yeah, and hey, in any case, you still got 3rd," Sero said.

"Yeah! That's really good," Ashido said, "You get to stand on a podium and yes girl power!"

"Oh yeah, shouldn't I be tied with Iida at this point?" Minoko wondered.

"That would be correct," Yaoyorozu said from her seat behind them. "Taking into account the scores and rules, yes you two should be tied at 3rd."

"Nice, where is he anyway?" Minoko asked.

"He got a phone call so he had to step out for a bit," Kirishima said, "It's been a while though."

"Must be an important phone call," Kaminari said.

Their conversation was interrupted with present Mic's yelling. "This is the last battle of the UA Sports Festival! This match will decide who stands at the top of the first years!"

"In other words, it's the final battle! Todoroki Shouto from the Hero Course, vs Bakugou Katsuki from the Hero Course!"

The battle started with Todoroki's barrage of ice, with Bakugou exploding every single one that came his way, except it didn't seem enough as he was soon engulfed in ice.

"Well it looks like you aren't the only one who gets to be ice food," Minoko nudged Sero who nudged back in a harsher manner.

The only difference between Bakugou and Sero would be the fact that Bakugou exploded out of the ice's confines. "Did he dig himself out using his explosions?" Sero exclaimed.

"He's crazy," Kaminari added.

Bakugou charged at Todoroki who was prepared to attack again, when Bakugou changed course using the momentum from an explosion to shift him to the right. He catches Todoroki off guard and manages to take a hold of him and throw him towards the boundary lines. However, Todoroki was quick to react and summoned ice in front of him to stop from going out, and change his direction.

Minoko watched the two in awe.They're by far the two strongest in class, in both raw strength, power of quirk, and actual performance. This is as finale as it gets.

In the midst of their scuffle, Todoroki was able to grab Bakugou's arm with his left hand. Minoko could feel the anticipation of the whole stadium as they waited for flames to erupt from Todoroki's hand. Except, that didn't happen. Todoroki weakly threw Bakugou to the side, making the blond erupt in anger.

Bakugou was yelling something, but the crowd was too noisy to make out what he was actually saying, all Minoko could make out was 'undeniable first place'. Not even moments later, the crowd gasps as flames emerge from Todoroki's left. Despite not seeing his face, Minoko could tell that Bakugou was elated.

With a loud yell, Bakugou created a series of explosions in a spinning motion. "Howzer Impact!" She hears him yell before she has to raise her arms up to cover herself from the huge blast. Minoko slowly brings her arms down as Present Mic's voice enters her ears.

"It seems like Todoroki did not use the flame attack he had used with Midoriya! What is the outcome of this battle?!"

Oh boy,Minoko thought as she eyed the clearing smoke.

Todoroki was out of bounds.

She watched as Bakugou ran towards Todoroki, with a yell and hand raised. Next thing everyone knew, pinkish fumes were spread on the stage below, knocking Bakugou out.

"Todoroki is out of bounds, therefore, it is Bakugou's victory!"

And the crowd erupted in cheers.

"Are you sure that's necessary?" Minoko asked, as Bakugou was chained up in his sleep.

"Think of it as a precaution," one of the helper bots said.

"We should take our spots," Todoroki muttered beside her.

"Yeah…congrats by the way," Minoko said, walking to the third place podium.

Todoroki nodded, heading over to his spot, "You too," he said simply.

The silence was broken by the rattling of chains, and muffled yells. Minoko watched as the blond boy struggled and glared at Todoroki.If looks could kill, Todoroki would be dead by now,she thought.Well, as long as it's not me he's glaring at.

Moments later, Minoko felt the ground shift a little and the ceiling opened up, allowing the ground beneath them to rise. "Here are our winners for this year's UA Sports Festival!" Midnight announced, "Third place is a tie between Kaeda and Iida, but he had to leave due to a family emergency, thank you for understanding."

Minoko stood awkwardly as the media snapped pictures, but she couldn't help the looming feeling in her chest.Emergencies are not known for being good,her thoughts were interrupted by a haughty laugh.

"I am here!" All Might landed in front of the podiums. Midnight handed him the medals, to which All Might accepted and walked towards her first. "Congratulations, Young Kaeda, you showed a promising performance the whole event."

Minoko lowered her head for All Might to be able to put the medal on her. "I wouldn't say that," she muttered to herself. She feels strong muscles wrap around her frame.

"Having a non conventional quirk as a hero is no easy feat," he started. "You will face challenges greater and greater as you move forward, but remember, a hero's might shall not waver despite the challenges and instead should channel the difficulties as a fuel to strive for a better you."

All Might moves on to Todoroki, leaving Minoko to ponder his words. She knew it wouldn't be easy. Exactly why she didn't want to try in the first place. Yet here she stood, staring at the bronze medal in her hands. Who would have thought she would make it this far. Surely not herself. But if she can do this much now, imagine how much more she could do in the future.

Minoko let a small smile graze her lips as she clenched her hands around her medal.

Notes:

A little A/N, for the readers who read about her two-minute time delay when in her pocket dimension, I have decided to remove that bit as I figured it is too hard to keep track of, and it seems a bit too op lol, nerf Minoko. This change doesn't really affect much of the past chapters as thereisstill a delay but only a couple of seconds.

TRIVIA

Minoko cannot use her quirk on transparent things, as she cannot see them. Things she cannot use her quirk on include anything that is unclear such as things that look blurry hence needing to wear contacts to ensure her vision is good enough that her quirk would respond. Smoke clouds are also quite tricky as she has to ensure that the clouds are touching each other to remove every bit, but with some areas having a thinner covering, her quirk won't recognize it as connected. She has to have the smoke cloud be really thick all over to ensure that she gets rid of everything. This includes other things like fog and actual clouds.