Hello crazy, beautiful world! Happy Why-Is-February-This-Short-Day! Or something. I dunno, just needed something to segway into here.
Oh yeah and the same night as the last update, 10,000 PAGE VIEWS, 11,000 AT THE TIME OF THIS POST, WOO! Thank you, everyone as usual! You must get tired of my constant thanks, but seriously, I get a stupid little smile and do a dance every time I see my the views, favs or follows go up or someone leaves a nice review! So from the bottom of my heart, thank you all so much!
In other news, only a month away from MHA season 5! I can't wait! Then there's the Director's Cut coming out for Borderlands 3! I would be excited...if not for one, tiny, annoying detail. If you looked at the poster, you'll know what I mean. All I'm going to say, you've got one chance gearbox, just ONE!
Reviews:
Sharkdude5: Thank you!
reven228: Thanks, I was worried about the reception of such a bombastic character as Mr Torgue, glad to see I'm hitting the right balance!
Borderlands is owned by Gearbox and 2KGames and My Hero Academia is owned by Kohei Horikoshi and Funimation. Please support the official release.
Please rate and review!
"This means someone is talking."
'This means someone is thinking to themselves.'
This means it's a flashback.
*This means it's a sound effect!*
{This means I'm speaking in a different language!}
Angel in a Gilded Cage
Angel was pretty sure that out of everyone in her class's bleachers, she was one of the only two people who had an idea of what was going on. To everyone else, Midoriya had abruptly frozen immediately after the match started.
"Deku-kun! What the heck are you doing?!" Uraraka yelled at him from her spot next to Angel.
"What is going on?! Midoriya is just standing there like a deer caught in the headlights! Could this be how Shinso made it this far without drawing attention?!" Present Mic's words floating over Angel's head as she continued to watch, completely withdrawn from the outside world amidst her tumultuous feelings.
She spotted Shinso's mouth move and promptly after, the greenette slowly turned around and started walking in the other direction!
"EHH?! Midoriya is walking away?! Is he conceding?!" Mic said!
"Come on! Snap out of it Deku-kun!"
"Midoriya-kun, stop! You're going to go out of bounds!" Her friends yelled while she just sat there silently, torn on what she should do, or even feel at this point!
All she knew was that there was nothing she or anyone else could do.
So she continued to watch in silence as Midoriya trudged forward like a zombie, drawing closer and closer to the edge of the ring.
'Midoriya...I'm sorry…' She thought as his left foot lifted over the white line.
But then the entire stadium jumped as a thunderclap and a rush of wind burst from where Midoriya was standing, stunning the audience silent! They watched in awe as the boy stumbled back from the edge and doubled over, panting heavily!
"What?!" Angel gasped, leaning forward! "How?! Wait..." She said, then squinted. Midoriya's fingers were red and swollen, just like the first day of class! He had broken his fingers again to regain control! How did he do that?!
"Hold it! Midoriya has stopped! Did he break free from whatever spell Shinso used on him?!" Mic exclaimed!
Her eyes flicked over to Shinso, who looked absolutely dumbfounded. Then he started talking again and just like before, they were too far away for Angel to read his lips to learn what he was saying.
In response, she saw Midoriya cover his mouth, now wary of Shinso's quirk. What was going to happen now?
Shinso continued talking, likely trying to anger or otherwise goad his opponent into speaking again, visibly becoming more and more distraught and frustrated as Midoriya ran closer!
The greenette tackled the taller boy, pushing him back! She flinched when Shinso slugged him across the face, but Midoriya only kept pushing! In a moment, Shinso's back was against the line!
Desperately, he roughly pushed against Midoriya's face, trying to get the other boy off of him! The greenette only latched onto the extended limb, making Angel cringe as he screamed in pain, grasping it with his broken fingers!
'No way!' Her eyes widened! She knew that hold! Midoriya had used it during his fight with Bakugo!
In one swift movement, he pivoted and threw the other boy over his shoulder and slammed him over the line!
"Shinso is out of bounds!" Midnight snapped her fan! "The winner is Midoriya Izuku!"
The crowd roared. Her class cheered. She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Whether it was a sigh of relief or frustration, she couldn't say.
'It's over anyway.' She slumped back in her seat. Nothing left to do but keep waiting for her turn in the ring.
"Angel-chan, are you okay?" She turned to see Uraraka's worried expression. She gave her a placating smile.
"Yeah, don't worry about me! Was just a bit stressed with how close Midoriya got there." She bluffed.
It was a long ten minutes. The seconds felt like they were crawling by as she continued to converse with her friends and classmates while they waited for the next match to start. She was doing everything she could to not let her confused emotions and stress show on her face.
Eventually, their verdant haired friend arrived, his face freshly cleaned and his fingers wrapped in bandages.
"Deku-kun! Over here! We saved you a seat!" Uraraka waved him over.
"Hey thanks!" He smiled as he sidled over, setting himself down.
"Had us worried for a second there!" Iida remarked.
"Your fingers feeling alright?" Angel asked, pointing at his hand to which he bashfully waved her off.
"I'll be fine! They sting a little bit, but Recovery Girl does great work!"
"Alright!" Present Mic abruptly ended their conversation. "Thank you for your patience folks, we are almost ready for-!"
*WHAM!* He was suddenly interrupted in turn by the sound of a slamming door, making Angel and her friends jump in their seats!
"F***ING FINALLY!" An extremely loud, very familiar voice laughed! "TOOK ME FOREVER TO FIND THE BEST SEAT IN THE HOUSE!"
"Him again?!" Angel muttered incredulously.
"Hey! Torgue-san, what're you doing in here?! Yūei staff only!"
"He's even louder in person." Aizawa grumbled.
"THAT'S MR TORGUE-SAN THANK YOU VERY MUCH! AND I AM TOTALLY ALLOWED UP HERE! I HAD MY LAWYERS ADD THAT INTO THE SPONSORSHIP CONTRACT!"
"Please don't let that be true."
"HERE, TAKE A LOOK!"
The stadium heard the shuffling of papers, eventually followed up with the tired hero groaning.
"You've got...to be kidding me."
"Seriously?!" Mic sputtered. "Well, uhh, welcome aboard Mr Torgue-san! You really think you can handle live commentary?"
"TRUST ME MIC! I'VE BEEN DOING THIS FOR A LOOOONG TIME!"
"Awesome! Gotta say, your energy is contagious!"
"YOUR KIND WORDS ARE APPRECIATED!"
"Dear God, there's two of them?!"
"Sorry for the interruption ladies and gentlemen, but we are ready to go!" Mic announced as the crowd noticed the two contestants approaching the arena, pointing at them. "Here's the names. Wanna show us what you've got Mr Torgue-san?"
"WITH PLEASURE!"
Quickly shaking off her surprise with the ridiculousness being broadcasted from the announcer's box, Angel diverted her attention to the two boys now standing in the ring.
"INTRODUCING OUR SECOND MATCHUP! HE MIGHT NOT BE SUPER FLASHY, BUT HAVE YOU TRIED RIPPING TAPE OFF OF YOU?! THAT S*** HURTS! SEROOOOO HANTAAAAA!" The aforementioned boy looked around while stretching his arms, seemingly bashful at how his name was screamed with such exuberance. In contrast, Todoroki was his stoic self, as always.
Or at least, that's what Angel thought at first.
'Wait…' She squinted a little. '...doesn't he seem a bit tense?' She thought, taking note of his clenched fists and how kept his head low to the ground.
"AND HIS OPPONENT! HE'S ONE PART RED, ONE PART WHITE AND A HUNDRED PERCENT ICE COLD BADASSITUDE! PUT YOUR HANDS TOGETHER FOR TODOROKIIIII SHOTO! HOW'S THAT?!"
"Radical!"
"THANK YOU! ARE YOU READY KIDS?! FIGHT!"
The second the horn went, Sero snapped his arms forward, firing belts of tape! The sticky straps streaked towards his opponent and wrapped it around his opponent in an instant!
"LOOKS LIKE THE FIRST STRIKE GOES TO SERO! WILL HE GET AN IMMEDIATE RING OUT?!" Torque yelled as the brunette yanked his arm back, swinging his captive towards the white line! For a second, Angel really did think that that'd be it!
Then she blinked. Then there was a blast of cold and a mighty crash and the next thing she knew a wall of blue ice was inches away from her and her friend's faces!
"UWAAAAH!" All of them screamed as they leaned back in their seats! Their eyes trailed up!
And up! And up!
Towering over the bleachers was a massive spire of ice, so tall in fact, that it reached all the way out the top of the stadium! The crowd sat in shock at the overwhelming display of power!
Craning their heads, Angel and the others could all see the ice's owner covered in a layer of frost, shattering the now brittle tape on top of him! At the centre of the ice wall was Sero, half embedded in the frigid crystals, shivering vigorously!
"S-Sheesh! W-Was it something I s-said?!" The poor boy shivered, his voice carrying through the silent stadium.
"S-Sero-k-kun…" Midnight chattered, half frozen from the referee's stand. "...a-are you unable to m-move?"
"W-What d-d-do y-you think?!" He answered.
"S-Sero is u-unable to move! The w-winner is T-T-Todoroki Shoto!" She announced. Soon after, the crowd started awkwardly chanting "Don't mind it!", giving Sero their sympathies.
"S-SWEET MOTHER OF ALL ICEBERGS! WHAT THE F*** HAVE YOU BEEN TEACHING THESE KIDS?!" Torgue asked, getting no response as Todoroki slowly walked over to his victim and started melting him out of the ice.
Angel shivered as the spire began to turn to water and vapour, but not because of the cold.
If she manages to get to the third round and if Todoroki beats Midoriya in the second, she will be up against him too. The weight of her situation only grew heavier upon her shoulders.
But something else didn't sit right with her. Why had he let loose like that?
Out of the corner of her eye, she could spy Midoriya with a pensive, worried look on his face. She remembered that look. It was the one he gave her the day he and the others confronted her about her social anxiety.
He knew something, something about the boy with all the talent and prestige of being the son of the number two hero.
What was it?
She sighed. "I need to go on a walk before my fight. Wish me luck." She said and excused herself from the bleachers.
Angel wandered the empty hallways under the bleachers, nervously pacing as she tried to push aside the confusing thoughts and conflicting emotions rampaging through her mind. There would be time to worry about Todoroki's odd behaviour, but she needed to be focused for her upcoming fight against Hatsume.
As it turned out, she didn't need to wait too long for her fight. While she was away from the action, the new announcer's rambunctious voice easily travelled through the walls and apparently, Kaminari lost against his opponent Shiozaki almost immediately. Due to his own recklessness from the sound of it.
'Looks like I'll be fighting her in the second round, if I beat Hatsume that is.'
Recognizing her fight has almost arrived, she started making her way to the arena corridor. There was electricity in the air (not the Kaminari variety), setting her skin atingle. She turned the corner and saw the outside.
"We are ready for the next match! Contenders, make your way to the ring!"
"I'M SO F***ING EXCITED, WOO!"
With one last sharp breath Angel stepped into the light. She had gotten so used to the presence of the crowd cheering that she didn't even flinch at the noise!
"Come on Angel-chan! You've got this!"
She did, however, hear Uraraka egging her on! Glancing to the side, she could see her classmates in the bleachers and when she picked out her friends sitting near the front row, she gave them a wave before turning back to the ring in time to climb the steps.
"On the left! The girl who soared to the front of the obstacle course and carried her team to the finals! Don't get blinded by her heavenly glow or you'll miss her awesome power! The aptly named, Hodunk Angel!"
Her cheeks burned at the flattering commentary. Heavenly? Her?
"And her opponent! The single member of the support course to make it to the finals to fight for your amusement! Give it up for Hatsume Mei!"
Angel took a second to study her opponent. As expected, she was decked out in support equipment, specifically a large pair of metal boots, some holstered pistol-like devices and a large box shaped pack on her back. Angel could hear all of them humming and buzzing, but unfortunately it didn't give her clues as to what they were capable of.
The girl herself seemed completely unaffected by the crowd. She just had a smile on her face as her eyes steadily followed the bleachers, as if she was scanning for something. Maybe some of her family or friends giving their support?
'Focus!' She chided herself, setting herself on getting ready to attack as soon as the horn blew!
The energy began to course through her veins. She was ready.
"GET READY FOR SOME F***ING ACTION! GO!"
She flicked her hand and immediately fired off a bolt straight at Hatsume to test the water! A second before impact, the girl shot to the side, reeled in by a grappling hook on the side of her pack!
"Nice try Hodunk-san!" Angel blinked at Hatsume's amplified voice, quickly spotting a microphone looped in front of her mouth from her goggles! "But I was prepared with my handy dandy Position Correction Grapple System!" She boasted as the hook detached!
'What is she doing?!' She wondered as she fired off three more shots in rapid succession, one on either side and the middle to intercept her opponent if she tried to dodge again!
"Of course, when evasion is not an option, you could always use my Instant Deploy Safety Barrier! Tested to withstand most gun calibers!" Hatsume continued, tossing out a metal box which swiftly expanded and grew into a full sized shield, which Angel's shots harmlessly pinged off of!
"And once you have your villain off guard, you can easily incapacitate them…" The inventor jumped out from behind the barrier!
*PAKSHOOM!* Flying from her pack over her shoulder came a bola made of metal cables, swiftly twirling around Angel's ankles and her chest, binding her limbs together! With a yank, her legs were pulled out from under her, making her roughly land on her backside and yelp!
"...with the Quick Perp Wrangle Wire!"
Angel pushed herself up to look at her opponent incredulously. "Are you just using our fight to promote your gadgets?!"
Hatsume covered her mic. "Exactly! Right now, hundreds of support companies are watching us! This fight is just what I need to get into a cool company after Yūei, like Atlas or Anshin! I was thinking of letting you win if you worked with me, but then I thought "Hey! Wouldn't it look great if my babies beat the girl who almost got first in the race?" So no hard feelings, but I'm going to win once I'm done! Just sit tight and you won't get hurt, probably!" She explained and hit a button on her belt!
Her boots hummed and suddenly lifted their wearer off the ground like a hovercraft while some jets flared on the sides of her pack!
"Now watch closely ladies and gentlemen!" Hatsume's voice boomed once more! "As I demonstrate the Hero Hover Soles and the All-Purpose Emergency Heroism Pack!"
*VROOM!*
With a roar, she took off like a space shuttle! The wire connecting her and Angel pulled taut! Next thing Angel knew, she was painfully dragged along the ground until she was yanked into the air! There she dangled upside down from her feet, swinging underneath Hatsume like a prized fish as the girl continued to pose and bask in the attention the world was giving her!
"Ufufufu! Remember! Hatsume Mei, the name of innovation!" She laughed!
"WHAT THE F***?! I PAID TO WATCH TEENS FIGHT! NOT SIT THROUGH THIS MARKETING CRAP!"
"Hey, don't blame us!"
"Yeah, this is all Hatsume." The announcers talked amongst themselves while Angel struggled against her bonds, trying to wriggle out of the cables! Inside, she was fuming!
She didn't come this far to be made the fool, used as a marketing ploy and losing after!
She ignored the buzzing feeling of her blood rushing to her head as she tried to come up with a plan, considering her options.
With her arms and torso bound, she wasn't able to fire her energy bolts at Hatsume. There was a slight chance she could try to melt through the cables with the heat from her wings, but that would likely take a while and the hot metal would probably burn her something awful!
Wait. The cable was made of metal!
She craned her head, her eyes following the length of cable to where it was attached to Hatsume's jetpack!
She felt a light bulb flash in her head!
Angel turned her arm over and clenched the wire in her fist as her powers answered her call!
"Show's over Hatsume!" She ground out through gritted teeth! "Executing phase shift!"
Her markings pulsed and a wave of white sparks coursed up the cord and into Hatsume's jetpack!
*VREEEN!* The device's jet's belched blue flames and Angel's heart leapt into her throat as she and Hatsume shot into the sky!
"AAAAH!" She screamed, her hair whipping around in the wind with her eyes burning from the jetpack's exhaust!
"AAACK! BABY?! WHAT'S GOTTEN INTO YOU?!" Hatsume similarly screeched, waving her arms as they continued to climb, rising out of the top of the stadium, the entire campus and the surrounding forest stretched out under them! They were going too high! They needed to get back down before the pack ran out of fuel!
Desperately, Angel sent more power up the line in an effort to guide the pack back down to Earth, hopefully in a gentle, slowed manner! No luck however, as it wasn't a direct connection so she couldn't control it seamlessly, only able to send small bursts of energy along the line like a telegram!
'DOWN!' She commanded, a ring of sparks crawling up the wire! A few seconds later the nozzles swiveled and they dived back down, aimed right at some of the bleachers! She could see the eyes of the audience widening in alarm as they started running from their seats!
'RIGHT!' *ZAP!* The pack banked away at the last second, even closer for Angel who was still tethered behind it! She felt her hair just graze someone's skull as she swung overhead!
"SOOORRRY!" She yelled out as she and Hatsume soared back towards the arena! Now they just needed to land!
'DOWN...ISH!'
*ZAP!* Another pulse and more sparks climbed the wire and entered the pack! She braced herself for the oncoming descent, but much to her horror, it instead started to spark and smoke! Most concerning of all, it's voice was like a high pitched whine, screaming uncontrollably!
'Oh no! I overloaded it!' She grasped, right before the pack abruptly began to buck and swerve randomly, whipping the two girls around like a dog shaking a chew toy! Her head throbbed from the crazed movement, while Hatsume seemed even worse for wear, gurgling and foaming at the mouth from the erratic ride!
In that moment, noticing how close they were to the arena floor, Angel decided to do what she probably should have from the beginning!
'RELEASE!' *ZAP!*
Thankfully some deity had mercy on her and the pack obeyed! Through some kind of safety mechanism, the line snapped off from inside and she was finally let go! Falling a couple feet, she roughly landed in a roll, tumbling end over end until she finally came to a stop, back in the ring by some miracle!
Body aching and stomach roiling, she groaned and managed to look up in time to see Hatsume finally release the strap clamps on her shoulders, letting her invention go and falling down to the ground in a similar fashion!
Not a moment too soon as the pack turned skyward again before finally-!
*KABLAM!* It exploded into a fireball, bits and pieces of metal raining down over their heads!
"I WAS TOTALLY WRONG!" Torgue declared happily! "THAT HATSUME IS AN EXPLOSIVE VISIONARY!"
"I…don't think any of that was part of the sales pitch."
"IT WAS STILL AWESOME!"
"Hatsume is out of bounds!" Angel jolted and turned her head in time to see Midnight point at her with her fan! "The winner is Hodunk Angel!"
'Wait. I won?!' She blinked and looked back in the direction Hatsume had crashed! Sure enough, the girl was on her hands and knees on the grass off the raised platform! The crowd was cheering despite a sizable portion nearly getting clobbered in the wild flight! She could see her friends giving her a standing ovation from the bleachers!
'I won! I won!' She smiled and turned her head to the referee.
"Excuse me, Midnight-sensei? Can you help me out of these?" She asked, gesturing to the cable and bolas still wrapped around her.
"Of course!" Midnight smiled as she walked over. "I'll get you out of this in no time, I've had a lot of practice with tying things up!"
"O...kayyy?" Angel said, feeling a bit uneasy as the cables were deftly untangled and unwound. Finally free, she stood up with some difficulty due to her body aching in places she never knew existed. She straightened her back, grunting at the sudden cracks and pops coming from her spine.
She took another glance at Hatsume and paused. The girl hadn't moved yet from her position on the ground, still hanging her head so Angel couldn't see her face.
She should despise the inventor after what she had done, trying to trick and use her for a marketing scheme, but now, looking down at the girl lamenting her failure, she was only filled with pity. In a way, Hatsume was trying to do the same as her, prove herself to the world, in this case, show everyone the products of her hard work and study. But in the end, she had been humiliated on national television, her inventions foiled and destroyed.
Angel couldn't bring herself to hate her, even with the scrapes and bruises she had suffered. She had unintentionally sabotaged all of Hatsume's work, making them look unreliable and dangerous. The least she could do was attempt to apologize.
She stepped off of the stage and walked over.
"Hey…Hatsume-san?" She said remorsefully. "I'm sorry for ruining your demonstration and breaking your...babies."
"Sorry?" The girl muttered softly, shaking her head. "Don't you dare apologize. In fact..."
Her head snapped up, revealing her usual bright and happy smile! "Thank you sooooo much!" The girl sprang to her feet and grabbed Angel's hand, vigorously shaking it, leaving her completely dumbstruck!
"Wait, but-! What?! You're, you're not mad?!" She sputtered!
"Pff! Why the heck would I be mad?!" Hatsume chortled, putting her hands on her hips. "You think this is the first time one of my babies blew up?! Failure is the mother of invention! When things fail, it just means there's room for improvement and you helped expose a major oversight on my part! I never considered the possibility of an organic to technological interface quirk! I should have seen it from the beginning, I can't believe I'm so stupid!" She cheerfully admonished herself as she pulled out a pen and started jotting down notes on her forearm.
"So…we're cool?" Angel asked tentatively.
"Absolutely! Now, I've got to get to the lab and get to work! Stop by sometime if you want some work done on your costume! See ya!" Hatsume gave her a thumbs up and spun on her heel, activating her Hover Soles!
"You better watch out Asi-senpai, I'm coming for you!" She cheered as she flew through the corridor and out of the arena!
Angel watched her go, gaping in disbelief for what felt like the tenth time that day. 'Nothing could have prepared me for how insane this school is.'
"One down, three to go." Angel muttered as she closed the door to the infirmary behind her. After the insanity that was her match against Hatsume, Midnight insisted that she got herself checked out by Recovery Girl, worried that she might have gotten whiplash from her wild ride.
Fortunately, aside from some chafing from the cables and getting dragged along the ground, she had a clean bill of health.
"Good job taking care of yourself dearie." The kind, old woman praised after giving her a couple of hard candies for the road. "I'd appreciate it if your sense of self preservation could rub off on that friend of yours."
'You and me both ma'am.' Angel agreed, knowing she was referring to Midoriya.
She popped one of the candies in her mouth as she reached the bleachers.
"Mmm. Cherry." She hummed while she walked down the steps back to her seat with her friends, minus Iida.
'Right, he's up next isn't he?'
"Hey, Hodunk-san!" Ashido waved at her. "Nice work beating that support course girl! Heck of a show! Neeerown!" The pink girl made an engine sound while waving her hand around like it was a plane.
Angel snorted and shook her head fondly. "Well at least someone enjoyed that mess." She said as she reached her row and gently pushed past her classmates until she reached her friends.
"Hey A-Angel-chan! You did great out there!" Midoriya complimented her. She smiled that he only stuttered once saying her name.
"Thanks. I'd like to say that I was in control of the situation, but… I'd be lying!" She shrugged bashfully, earning a laugh from him, as well as a small titter from Uraraka.
Angel paused, noticing how subdued her normally joyful was acting, her smile not quite reaching her rosy cheeks.
"Everything alright Uraraka-chan?"
"O-Oh! Yeah, don't worry! I'm cool!" She waved her off.
Angel didn't believe it. She had plenty of experience with hiding her worries that she knew something was bothering the girl. She also knew enough that pushing it further, at least right here wouldn't solve anything.
'Later then.' She promised herself, sitting down between them.
"So it's Iida's turn right?" She pointed to the empty seat.
"Yeah, you just missed him. What was his opponent's name again? That blonde girl from 1-B?" Midoriya asked.
"Baha, I think it was."
"Oh! I remember!"He snapped his fingers! "I think her name is Tina or something! I think her quirk has something to do with making things explode!"
"What? Really?! Another explosion quirk?" She said, taking a discreet glance at Bakugo seated a few rows behind them. "Do you think Iida's going to be okay?"
"NOW LET'S GET THIS SHOW ON THE ROAD!" They all flinched at the sound of Torgue's voice, the crowd swelling again!
"Guess we'll see." Uraraka muttered as their friend and his mysterious foe entered the arena.
"ON THE LEFT, A SHARP LOOKING GUY WHO NEVER SKIPS LEG DAY! LIKE SERIOUSLY, THOSE CALVES HAVE A HEART OF THEIR OWN! IIDA TENYAAAAA!
HIS OPPONENT! I KNOW I'M NOT SUPPOSED TO PICK FAVORITES, BUT GODDAMN SHE'S MAKES AWESOME EXPLOSIONS! BAHAAAAA TINAAAAA!"
It was no secret that Tenya was a staunch advocate for order and regulation. Rules after all, were the foundation upon which society was built and maintained. It was one of the core tenets of his family, guiding generations of heroes on the straight and narrow path to success and peace for all.
That being said, he was definitely not a fan of this "Mr Torgue" individual. First he interrupted the festival by blowing up a hot air balloon, an act that could have been mistaken for an attack by the League of Villains or some other anarchist, then he hijacked the tournament's commentary, making nonsensical comments and other unprofessional drivel!
He could have picked anyone of Tenya's heroic qualities to bring attention to, his shining code of honor, his unwavering desire for justice or even the care he put into his attire(he spent hours everyday polishing each of his pairs of glasses to a shine).
But no, he just pointed out the size of his legs. So undignified! He was so tempted to march up to the announcer's booth and escort the man (politely of course), off the premises! But if his teacher's, in their endless experience and wisdom decided to keep him on board, he would respect their judgement.
Now, he needed to focus. His esteemed friends and family were watching him right now and he was going to make them proud, his brother Tensei, most of all.
He lowered himself into a sprinting stance, getting ready to take the first strike against his opponent the instant the horn blew.
He took a moment to study her, only to be met with the sight of the girl doing some lax leg stretches in her bare feet, humming jovially to herself. She didn't seem like much of a threat on the surface, but Tenya knew not to underestimate someone's capabilities just because they looked incompetent or disarming. He made that mistake when he shamefully berated his good friend Midoriya on the day of the exam, thinking he was a hooligan taking the prestigious trial into Yūei for thrill, only to be proven wrong.
'First, I'll disorientate her with a glancing dash. Then when she's off balance, I can push her out of the-'
"Hey!" He jumped, his strategizing interrupted by the girl trying to get his attention.
"Yes?" He raised one of his impeccably trimmed brows.
"Can you answer a question for me?" She asked as she continued her stretches, flexing her arms over her head while lowering herself into an impressive split.
"I don't see why not." He stated, deciding to humor her. Maybe she wanted to form a respectful rivalry, hero student to hero student.
"That Bakugo stud, he's in your class right?"
"Yes. Why? Do you wish to air a grievance for his behaviour? As the class representative, it is my duty to keep my colleague's cordial."
"Wellllll…" She trilled. "...I was wondering…is he...single?"
He frowned. This wasn't the time or place for such triviality. But she asked nicely.
"The relationship dynamics of my fellow students is of no concern or responsibility to me. That being said, I do not believe he has a romantic partner, let alone an interest for one."
The girl's face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Sweeeeet! Thanks Crazy Calves! Just for that, Imma make this fast!"
Tenya's eyes narrowed. Shame. Looked like she wasn't going to be civil after all.
'Oh well. May as well get this over with.'
"READY?!" The mustachioed galoot yelled and Tenya tensed! "FIGHT!"
*VROOM!* His engines roared and he was off like a shot, closing the distance between him and Baha within seconds! He was confused however, when the girl didn't do a thing beside nonchalantly stand in place.
He curled his arm, readying for his upcoming shoulder check!
Then there was a flash of pink. Quickly glancing down, Tenya saw his foot on a glowing line painted on the ground. Where had that come from?!
*BOOM!* The ground erupted from underneath him, the force combining with his momentum to throw him head over heels over his opponent!
"Tinaaaaa…" The girl pivoted on one foot and chambered her raised leg! "...Donkey Kick!" She slammed her foot into his stomach in midair, knocking the breath from his lungs!
Another flash, this time spread across his jersey, originating from her foot!
*BOOM!* Tenya's abdomen rippled from the blast and he screamed from a sudden burning as he was sent flying through the air until he slammed into the ground!
He groaned in pain, pushing himself onto his hands and looked down at himself. His jersey was smoking, blackened with a burn mark in the shape of the girl's footprint! Thankfully it didn't seem like he had only taken superficial damage! He could still-!
"Iida is out of bounds!" He froze and looked up. He was on the grass outside of the ring. "The winner is Baha Tina!"
The girl threw her hands up and gave the crowd a double rock and roll salute! "WOOOOO! HELL YEAH!" She cheered, hopping!
An icy cold sensation ran through Tenya's body as he realized what just happened.
"Damn it!" He spat!
He hung his head, clenching his fists and punched the dirt.