My Hero Academia - Under Pressure - Season 2 - Chapter 11 - Chuya Taki: Origin

The horn sounded from Projection up in booth. Without hesitation, Chuya transformed her arm into water and shot a blast at Tonen.

He didn't move, or flinch, instead, Tonen exhaled sharply and a blast of air came out of him and slammed into the water. The impact dispersed the water into droplets that hovered all over before vanishing.

Unimpressed, Chuya sent whips of water at him from both arms, but once again, he remained in position and exhaled sharply to stop the water in its tracks.

The crowd clapped and cheered at the display of power from both sides, but Chuya's anger forced her to speak, "Is that all you're going to do all match? Glare at me and play defense? Say something!"

Tonen tilted his head slightly and grunted, "Fight me, soldier."

Chuya bared her teeth as a memory kicked into place, a younger female voice cried out, "Fight me, soldier!"

Years previous, a much younger Chuya was chasing an adult man around, in her hand was a kendo stick and she laughed as she swung it at the man. The man was not in danger though, and he too laughed as she chased him.

Eventually, Chuya made a lunge and lightly tapped the man on the leg. Feigning pain, the man fell to the ground and said, "No more, you are truly the superior fighter! Just let me rest in peace."

The younger Chuya laughed at the man, "Oh daddy, you're so silly, I didn't hit you that hard. Besides how could you die from a leg wound?"

"Any wound can be deadly, my daughter," her father said as he sat up, "that's why it's a soldier's job to go and make sure they stay in fighting shape no matter what, and don't risk injury when possible. We don't want to be liabilities on the battle."

"You're so smart, daddy."

"Some in my unit would debate that, but I will acknowledge that I am experienced. That experience gives me insight, clarity, and if you truly wish to follow in my footsteps my dear daughter, I will impart as much as I can to you when your time comes."

This made the young Chuya beam with happiness, "Yes! I will be the greatest soldier ever!"

Her father laughed in joy at her declaration, "That would make me the happiest father alive. But for now, just do what you can, there's plenty of time to learn before you take your entrance exam into the armed forces, and there are many you can choose from. Your world is large, Chuya, even for Quirkless like us, so see what it holds for you, and push yourself to be the best at whatever you want."

"I will, daddy!"

"Hey you two!" came another voice, and they turned to see a woman in the doorway to their home. "Playtime is done, let's have dinner!"

"Ah! Dinner, I'm starved," her father said as he scooped up his daughter in his arms. "Come my little solider, let's go!"

Her past self smiled as widely as she could as she went inside with her dad, but in the present, her smile was replaced with a furious scowl.

With another roar, she charged at Tonen, and then as she transformed her whole body into water she sent a flurry of water blasts at him. Staying in position, Tonen again used a wall of air to stop the water, but this is what Chuya wanted. Using her aquaform, She extended herself into the air and as she bent in various directions she sent more aquatic projectiles at him.

This caught him off guard and he had to focus to get all of them before getting hit. Including eventually using his dome of air to hit everything in all directions. To his surprise though, Chuya appeared behind him and kicked him hard in the back with her leg in regular form.

He fell to the ground, but got up quickly, just quickly enough to see her smirk, "Your air is powerful, I'm fine with admitting that, but when it meets my water the pressure stops, and that can create a hole for me to get through."

Tonen stood up and dusted himself off, "You're more flexible than before, that's good to know. But don't think this is over because you got the first hit. If my pressure wasn't enough before...then I'll just have to crank it up!"

With a shout of his own, Tonen sent out a massive blast of air at Chuya, she quickly changed forms and was able to do it just as the blast hit her and sent her aquatic form to pieces. It reformed and she was fine, but this time Tonen was smiling.

"Fun fact, in that team battle? Azu realized that your water form can only take so much damage before you have to revert to your human form. So all I need to do is keep hitting it until you revert and then you're done."

"You'll find that it's not that easy!"

She rushed him and again Tonen sent out a big blast of air. But this time she jumped into it and started to spin, converting her aquaform into a kind of drill. One that pierced the air and allowed her to get through the air wall despite its density. Once within range, she reverted back to her human form and went into hand to hand combat with Tonen.

The strikes were quick and precise, and as such, Tonen didn't have a moment to go and focus on his Quirk so that he could fight her off. This was cemented when she delivered a knee to his stomach, making him fail to catch his breath, and then with a punch to the face he was sent to the ground once again.

"This is something very special, folks!" called out Projection from the booth. "I thought for sure that Chuya Taki would try and use her water Quirk alone to try and defeat Tonen Keitomo, but instead she's using it in conjunction with her natural martial arts abilities to take the fight to him in a way that is making his Quirk hard to use! Chuya's not making it easy on him, that's for sure."

"Wouldn't expect anything less," mumbled Tonen as he got back to his feet with a groan. "I'll admit, you got me on that one soldier."

"More to come," she said with clear snark, "you should bow out now."

"Ha! If I said that to you...you'd probably kill me. I'm not backing down, definitely not to you."

"All because I didn't try and rescue you?"

"Sure...if that's how you want to classify it."

Chuya scoffed loudly, "As I told you before, that wasn't my mission to take! Just because you got yourself kidnapped I won't be responsible-"

Furious at where her words were going, Tonen exhaled sharply and another blast of air shot out. Chuya was caught unaware and was sent flying backward as a result. She rolled across the ground but was able to withstand it enough to not roll out of the ring.

She got up and glared at Tonen with renewed anger, but Tonen was meeting her look dead-on, "You see? That right there is why I'm here at UA. Because people like you and Goya make me sick."

"Don't you lump me in with him! We're nothing alike!"

"Oh really? You're both short-sighted, arrogant, insulting to your classmates, and can't be bothered to do something if it doesn't benefit you or your 'purpose'. Tell me, how are you two not the same?"

"Because I have a mission I must do, and I won't be stopped in doing it!"

Shifting to her aquaform, Chuya fired spheres of water at Tonen. He put up an air wall to stop them this time, but unbeknonwst to him, one of the spheres didn't hit the wall, but went around it and clocked him in the head as a result, stunning him briefly.

Taking the advantage, Chuya lunged one of her arms at him and tried to send out of the ring like she did with Ueno. But Tonen wasn't going down so easily. He focused once more and exhaled, sending a blade of air pressure from his head in order to cut off her aqua arm.

Now free, he fired a blast behind him to launch him back towards his foe. This time he copied Chuya's idea and sent sphere of air at her as he rocketed to her position.

Still in aqua form, Chuya warped her body and bent it in various way in order to dodge the attacks. But right as she got close, Tonen pulled a feint and instead of sending another sphere, he got her to slam right into another air wall. Then, in a twist, he actually pushed that air wall forward so that it sent her straight towards the edge of the ring.

Thinking fast, she focused her water on her legs and shot herself high into the air until she was over the wall, then she went right back towards Tonen.

The two traded blows both Quirk-powered and non for a while, the crowd hanging on to every blast, every blow, and every strike.

Chuya seemed to have the upperhand at one point, but then Tonen did a series of blasts to her aquaform that started to show damage on her human form.

As she evaluated her wounds, her eyes drifted to her hand, which started to shift between its regular form and its water one, something she was very familiar with.

Years previous, Chuya's father came home dressed in full uniform, as he entered the house he didn't see anyone. He put up his hat and looked around, "Honey? Chuya? I'm home!"

"Dear? Would you come into the living room, please?" came his wife's voice.

Uncertain of what was going on, he went into the living room and saw his wife and Chuya on a couch, but Chuya was clinging to a blanket that was wrapped around her, fear ripe on her face.

He saw this and ran up to his daughter, "Chuya, what's wrong? Did something happen while I was gone?"

Chuya didn't answer, but his wife put a hand on her shoulder in comfort, "She was taking a shower when...her Quirk emerged."

"Her Quirk?" he repeated, in shock. "But we're both Quirkless, the odds of that are..."

"Slim, but it happened. Chuya, darling? Please show your father what you can do with your hand."

Chuya looked at her mother, who gave a comforting nod, then to her father, who was still confused about the situation. She raised her hand and closed her eyes to focus. Before his very eyes, the hand shifted into water. The disbelief was ripe on his face.

"My word..."

"I can't be a soldier now...can I?" Chuya asked, fear and tears in her eyes.

"Why would you say that?" her father wondered.

"Quirks like mine are for Pro-Heroes, right? I won't be let into the army or special forces with such an ability. I saw someone say that on the news once..."

Her mother looked him pleading to help console their daughter. He gave a nod and then cupped the shoulders of his daughter, "Chuya, there are Pro-Heroes in the armed forces. Some of them even lead special task forces to go and take down major villains! It's an honor to be among their ranks."

"But I don't want to be in their ranks, I wanted to be with you," lamented Chuya.

"My dear daughter, your loyalty to me is something I love, but as a father, I have a purpose that goes beyond what you can see right now. Would you like to hear it?"

"Yes..."

"It is the hope of every parent that their children surpasses them in some way. With this Quirk, this could be just how you do that. To not just be a common soldier, or in the special forces like me, but to literally go beyond that, to be a Pro-Hero that people look up to and praise! You can save more lives than me, more lives than any soldier out there. Doesn't that sound like a worthy goal to achieve?"

Chuya thought about it, and though it still hurt her heart that she wouldn't be like her father, she could see what he was getting at, "You're so smart, daddy."

"Ha, ha, ha, just experienced, my dear daughter."

"Will you...help me...learn about my Quirk?"

"That would be my honor. In fact, we can go start right now if you want."

Chuya nodded a little and her father helped her out and took her outside to go and train. In her mind, Chuya flashed through the training that her father gave her.

At first, it was merely learning how to go and summon her aquabody and maintain it. It was not an easy thing to do. Her then small frame would only be able to summon it in part, or only hold onto it for a short time.

But as time went on, she started to train her body to be stronger, more endurant, and within a year she could very easily summon her aqua body at will, much to her father's delight.

"Very good, my daughter," praised her father. "Now let's focus on combat techniques. We'll start small, and work our way up."

Time flew once again, and an older Chuya did her best to work on her aquatic craft. At first she could only emit small bursts of water or the tiniest of spheres, and at times it frustrated her. But with her fathers' encouragement, she persisted.

A more teenage Chuya was doing a routine as her father watched and she couldn't quite get it to work, which made her frustrated once again, "Dang it! How is it after years of practice I'm still not good at this?"

"Quirks are tricky things," noted her father, "I've worked with Pro-Heroes a lot in my time and many of them admit that their mastery now only comes after decades of experience. I met a female fire hero who admitted that before she went to an academy she only make the weakest of flames. But once her body, mind, and power grew, she could make wildfires with minimal effort. Your Quirk is special, Chuya. I honestly haven't found a hero that has something quite like it. The more you push your bounds, the more your Quirk will grow in turn."

"You're right, father, thank you. I just want to be the best I can for you."

"Ha, ha, ha, I remember when you only called me 'daddy'."

Chuya blushed a bit at this, "I know, but, father shows more respect."

"You give me nothing but respect, Chuya, and I'm grateful. Just remember, whenever you get frustrated with what your Quirk is or isn't doing, think about the motto of my unit. The one that we tell ourselves when things get hard and we need to push forward. Say it now, so we can continue."

The young Chuya took a breath and closed her eyes to focus. In the present, the older Chuya did the same thing, collecting herself because the fight was far from over at this point.

Her eyes shot open, fiery spirit on full display, and as she formed her aqua body once more she shouted, "You will not keep me down!"

She flung her arms at the ground, and like her battle with Ueno she sent a tidal wave at Tonen. Tonen was shocked at first, but remembered what Ueno did and focused on minimally affecting it. With a shout he sent a blade right through the middle so that the wave missed him. But to his surprise, Chuya wasn't on the other side of the wave.

Both he and the audience was confused about this, but that soon turned to surprise when Chuya appeared from the wave itself and used her elongated stated to go and literally wrap up Tonen. With the topper being that her body wrapped around his face so that he couldn't breathe.

Projection was quite taken aback by this development, "Wow...didn't see that coming! Chuya has literally made it so Tonen can't exhale, which is the focal point of his Quirk! If he can't expel his air, he can't fight back!

Tonen's mind was racing as Chuya's bind on him grew, "Have to get out of this! But how...? I can...feel myself...fading..."

Struggling to no avail, Tonen fell to his knees and Chuya tightened her watery grip even more so that he couldn't get out.

Tonen continued to try and think his way out of it, but nothing was coming to mind, "It's funny...I choked out my first opponent, and now that's...happening to me...there's nothing worse..."

"There's nothing worse..." came a voice from his mind.

Tonen flashed back to just before the tag team round when Ryu of The Twins wasn't feeling well due to being affected by pollen.

"I hate these fits, there's nothing worse," he said at the time.

"Not true, brother," corrected Ryo. "Remember when you were swimming and got water up your nose on accident?"

"Oh yeah...that sucked...that sneezing was painful..."

Tonen's eyes went wide as realized his last option. If he couldn't voluntarily exhale, he'd involuntarily do the deed.

"This is going to suck," he thought.

Steeling himself, he paused and then inhaled through his nose as much water as he felt he could. Chuya noticed this and looked at him in shock and disgust.

Before she could saying anything though, Tonen's eyes began to well up and his head fidgeted mightily. Eventually letting loose a sound no one expected to see during that fight.

"ACHOO!" he shouted as a burst of air flew from his nose and mouth, launching Chuya's aqua form off of him as a result.

Tonen coughed as he choked on the water that was still within in, "Yeah...that sucked."

"Folks...he just sneezed her off..." said Projection with the replay, "I've officially seen everything."

Across the field, Chuya went and recollected her body, and she gazed at her human form with disgust before aiming that same disgust at Tonen.

"Did you...seriously...just inhale me...?!" she asked in a rage.

Tonen struggled to his feet as he continued to struggle to clean his sinuses out, "Hey! Don't...*cough*...don't get mad at me because you went BDSM on my body to try and win. Very kinky, soldier."

The crowd heard this callout and started to snicker, especially their classmates at 1-B. Chuya blushed mightily before stomping towards him in her regular form and grabbing him by the collar.

"How dare you embarrass me like that! I did a tactical maneuver to subdue you, that's all!"

"Right, and now you're in front of me with no defense, so...KAH!"

With his shout, a burst of air slammed into Chuya's body and sent her right out of the ring. But before she touched, she converted to her aquaform and had her plume of water touch the ground before her. She looked at it stunned, as she wasn't sure what was about to happen.

Tonen noticed this too and looked up to the booth, "Hey Projection! Her aqua body is touching the ground, does that count as a ringout?"

"One sec," noted Projection as she fumbled around looking for a book. She got it and strummed through until she found the section in question. "Let's see...nope! She's still in as that's an extension of her body and not her actual physical form. Her physical feet have to touch the physical ground. The match will continue!"

The crowd cheered at this, and Chuya quickly pushed herself to the arena ground so that she wouldn't be in danger anymore.

Terror gripped her as she almost lost because of a moment of embarrassment and dropping her guard. But that soon turned into rage towards Tonen, and it burned hotter than any anger she felt before.

"I am a soldier," she said softly, but then got louder, "and you almost beat me because of a childish trick! You think I'll let that stand?"

"I don't care what you 'let stand', soldier. You dropped your guard, you paid the price. Now either fight me or shut up!"

"You dare...try and soil me...soil my family name...my father's name..."

"Enough! I barely know you, I don't know your family, or your father! But if they're the ones' who turned you into this? Then they're as foolish as you are, because nothing they taught you or asked of you could rationalize what you are and what you have done."

Chuya's eyes' bulged in fury, "You dare insult him...you dare insult what he went through...?"

In her mind, Chuya flashed through several memories. Many of them of her father leaving for a mission, and then Chuya being there and happily greeting him when he got home. But then one memory stood out as she was waiting for his return...but he didn't arrive.

The phone rang and her mother got it, and a gasp of horror from her got Chuya's attention. She knew something was wrong.

They went to the hospital, and lying in a hospital bed was her father, heavily bandaged and unconscious. Chuya shed tears at her father's plight, and stayed by his side for days on end so that she could be there when he awoke.

During one particular day, she had gone to get food for him just in case when voices caught her ear.

"I'm glad to see you awake, sir," said a voice.

"For how long...remains to be seen," Chuya's father replied. "How is the unit?"

"Not good sir...not good."

"I knew it. That special commander was a fool. I warned him of the dangers, but all he could see was the glory. I knew it was likely a trap, and it was. A Quirk villain was there and...well...you see the results."

"It's a miracle you're alive, sir."

"Some miracle. I live and many of my men died, all because of him. A man I was supposed to trust."

A pause caught Chuya's ears, it was an unnatural silence, and though she couldn't see the other soldier, she could tell that he was hesitating about something.

"What is it?" asked her father.

"Sir...the reason I'm here is to make...an offer," answered the soldier, uncertainty in his voice.

"If it's about retirement, I'm sure I'll heal. Don't worry about me."

"Never, sir. But...it's not that kind of retirement offer."

"Speak plainly, that's how I taught you."

"Sir...they're blaming you for what happened."

"What?! That's a lie! I warned against it many times, I risked my life to save my men during that mission."

"We know, sir. But the special commander...has deep connections, even within the Pro-Hero community. He's calling in favors to make it clear that the public record doesn't blame him...and instead blames you."

Her father groaned in anger and frustration, not unlike Chuya during her training sessions, "Corruption, it never ends, does it?"

"No sir," said the soldier with a shake of the head. "The men tried to speak out against it...but they were quickly dealt with. They can't risk speaking out again."

"Blast it all...what are my options?"

"You can retire with honor, your pension, and the public record will state that a rare 'lapse in judgment' led to the disaster that happened, and that you retired in order to ensure you didn't make that mistake again."

"And if I refuse?"

"If you try and go public they will literally bury you. This commander...he's got connections all the way up to Mythical apparently. If the #1 hero speaks out? Who would believe you?"

Her father went silent. He looked outside his window and saw the sun starting to set. The soldier looked upon him with great sympathy, "Sir, they did promise that this wouldn't affect your family in any way. That means your daughter can still go to a Pro-Hero school."

"A small mercy, I suppose. Very well, tell them I will accept, but I will dictate my own speech upon my retirement."

"Yes sir, and...I'm sorry."

"You're dismissed."

The soldier bowed and left in a hurry. He didn't even notice Chuya as she stood there in horror at what had just happened.

"Chuya, come on in," called out her father, "I know you're there."

Chuya hesitantly peaked her head around the door and saw that her father was indeed looking at her, as she came in her face morphed into a state none had seen at UA, one of vulnerability.

"Father..." she said, her voice weak, "how could they...how could they do that to you?"

"I have always told you about the brighter parts of the armed forces, my daughter. But one thing I shielded from you was that there is darkness within it. I fought it many times in my career, and overcame most of it. But it was always bound to catch up to me...and now you see what happens when it arrives."

"Father, you can't...you can't let them do this to you...not after all you've given them! Done for them!"

"You heard that soldier, they'll try and bury me in order to keep the truth from getting out. And as I told you once, my goal as a father is to help you surpass me. I can't do that if you're hindered by my tainted name."

"But it's not tainted!" shouted Chuya, fire returning, "They're taking away your honor to help a fool! That's not justice!"

"No, it's not, but for now at least, it's what must be done. And I'd do it a hundred times over if it meant helping ensure your future, my daughter."

"I promise, father, I'll do all I can to make you proud and get our honor back!"

"Your words mean a great deal, my daughter," her father said with a small smile, "but learn from what happened to me as well. I would hate to see you meet the same fate because you put your trust in the wrong person."

"That'll never happen, I'll make sure of it."

Time passed, and Chuya put her promise to work. Her memories flashed from one to another, each one showing her resolve in regards to her training her body and Quirk to be the best. But just as important was her expression as she did it all. It was a look of fury, of anger, and drive.

After one session she turned to see her father watching, and he gave her a nod of approval, which motivated her further. She would get her family's honor back...no matter the cost.

In the present, Chuya shook in rage as she recalled why she was there. She was there to show the world what she could do so that she could bring honor to her family once more, and her opponent was making light of it all. In her mind, he was just another person trying to take from her father, and she wouldn't let that happen.

As she rose up, her body went into its aqua form once again. But this time, Tonen noted something different, there were tendrils coming out of the body that made her look even more menacing, and her eyes were transfixed on him with a rage he hadn't seen before from her.

"I made a promise to my father, to restore what he lost," she said, anger pouring out of her. "I will not fail him, and I will not fail him...because of you!"

She roared and the aquatic tendrils shot towards Tonen. He put up his air wall in defense but the tendrils merely moved around it so that they could get to him. Tonen was forced to fire off quick bursts to slice up the tendrils, but unlike before, they didn't evaporate upon being sliced. They just regrew and attacked again.

Despite her fixed position, Chuya was guiding her new ability towards Tonen and made sure he didn't have room to breathe.

Thinking fast, he used his dome attack to push the tendrils back and then sent multiple bursts at Chuya's body. The first one hit, but then she raised her own shield to block the next ones. Doing so made her lose sight of him though, and thus he was able to get in close and do some more burst attacks.

She recovered and sent the tendrils at him once again.

Back and forth they went, attacking, defending, dodging, whatever they could to try and win. Something had to give, and soon enough, it did.

After hitting Chuya with a big blast, Tonen noticed that her arms reverted to human form. This gave him an idea.

He sent a blast at her, and she defended it. But to her surprise, he rushed in and lunged at her head. She caught his hands though and they pushed against one another in a test of strength. Tonen shuffled around in order to get a better angle, but Chuya wasn't relenting.

"I was trained to be a soldier," Chuya said as she pushed against him, "my strength easily matches yours."

"Maybe," admitted Tonen, but then a smile grew on his lips, "but a true soldier knows to mind their surroundings...and what your arms are made of."

Quick as a flash, he shifted his position so that he could spin around, but still held onto Chuya's arms so that they were suddenly crossed. Then with some effort he knelt down and tossed Chuya over his head and onto the ground outside the arena. Her whole body touched the ground, including her feet, and thus, the match was over.

The horn sounded and Projection was nearly beside herself, "Did you see that!? Tonen used Chuya's exposed arms to get a good enough grip to through her out of the ring! Tonen Keitomo advances to the semifinals!"

The crowd cheered, and Tonen breathed a very heavy sigh of relief that the match was done. He didn't want to admit it to her, but Chuya nearly pushed him to his limit. A few more minutes and he wouldn't have had anything left to through at her.

As he calmed his breathing, a sound caught his ears, it was something being hit. He looked up to see Chuya pounding the ground with her fists.

"No, no, NO!" she screamed as she pummeled the ground. "How could I go out like that? Such a simple move throwing me out! That's not how it was supposed to go!"

He watched her for a bit and then went and sat on the edge of the arena, "What is your mission, soldier?"

She looked up and saw him gazing at her with curiosity and confusion, "What?"

"You said you had a mission, and that you wouldn't let me stop you from doing it. You told me that one time in the dorm that you had a purpose that was 'beyond this place'. I'm asking what is it that is making you act like this?"

"...my father...was a soldier, a proud one, a loyal one. HIs reward? He got betrayed, he was forced to retire with a stain on his name, on MY family name. I'm the only one who can get that honor back!"

"So that's why you treat us like dirt? Keep us at a distance? Because you think we'll betray you?"

"The man who betrayed my father was a decorated commander with ties to the government and Pro-Heroes. If he can betray someone like my father, why in the world would I trust you or the others?"

Tonen shook his head in sadness, he finally knew why she was the way she was, and yet it didn't make him happy, it made him weep on the inside for her.

"Trust is earned, soldier, you know that," he said with a sincere look. "But the other side of it is that you need to give us a chance to earn your trust! You've never done that. You've only let us work with you when you were forced to! Also, you don't think we don't know about living up to expectations? Trying to bring honor to our families? Eri got into UA on a Pro-Hero recommendation, you don't think she feels pressure? Ebirima and Oshibu have siblings who are Pro-Heroes right now, you don't think they want to go and do as good as them? My uncle is the Top 100 rankings and my mom is his sidekick, you don't think I want to do well to honor them all? To help MY family name?"

Chuay tried to speak, but turned away as she couldn't think of an answer.

"You can only get so far on your own, and I think you know that. We worked our butts off together before the Sports Festival because we ALL wanted to do well and bring our to our class, our school, our family and ourselves. And we each learned something from each other along the way. Give us a chance, and we'll help you. Heck, one of us might be able to help you with your father's situation too, you never know!"

This got her attention. She didn't expect Tonen to offer to help her family. She couldn't help but wonder, could she really trust them?

As if to answer that, Tonen hopped to the ground and then got on one knee before extending a hand, "Chuya...please...don't push us away anymore. Let us help you, and then maybe you can help us when the time comes."

She looked at him, and his hand. At first, her pride told her to not accept, but something else rang forth, a memory of her father telling her not to trust the wrong person. But if there was a wrong person, she knew there must be a right one, and Tonen and the others might just be that.

After a bit of hesitation, she grabbed his hand, and he helped her up, "Welcome back, soldier. Now come on, there are some apologies you need to go and give out."

"I think...that's a good start," she said with a bow of her head.

"Cool, we'll go out this entrance since we're closer."

They walked towards the entrance, and when they did, Projection took the opportunity to continue things on, "Well, now that that's over, let's get on with the next match! This is another one that promises to be interesting. Introducing first, the master psychic, Goya Ramasu!"

From the entrance they were heading towards walked out Goya, who looked smugly at them both before walking past them without a second thought.

"And the class rep of 1-B, Kuroda Fuji!"

Kuroda walked out with confidence on her face. She knew from Hana's fight that she had to get creative and be fast in order to stand a chance. She had a plan, it was time to execute.

They went onto the battlefield and glared at one another, and Projection knew what to do, "I sense something big happening next! Let the match begin!"

The horn sounded and Kuroda immediately reached for the ground, but just inches from it, her hand stopped, and her eyes went wide.

She was caught.

"There's an old saying," mocked Goya, hand outstretched and psychic aura glowing around him. "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice...shame on me. Your dear No.2 got the drop on me in the last match, did you really think I'd fall for that again?"

Kuroda couldn't speak because of the field she was trapped in.

"Didn't think so. Now...how to punish you for insulting my intelligence. Oh, I know..."

With a flick of the wrist he slammed Kuroda into the ground, and then lazily lifted her back up.

"What's that? You want some more? Well, surely I can't deny the will of my representative..."

Enjoying every moment, Goya went and slammed Kuroda into the ground over and over again. The crowd gasped at his brutality, and many in the stands were very much put off by the display.

In the entrance area, Tonen turned to watch the match, but was now frozen in place by Goya and his tactics. He went to go to Kuroda's aid but Chuya stopped him, "If you interfere, you'll be punished! They'll likely throw you out, which is what Goya wants!"

He tried to reply but he knew she was right. All he could do was just watch as Kuroda got brutalized.

"Oh the fun we have..." gloated Goya. "And now, for the grand finale! I'm going to-"

"Goya Ramasu!" came a voice. He turned to see that it was Projection in the booth. She was not happy at the situation and was shooting daggers at him with her eyes. "You do one more attack on her and you'll be kicked out of the Sports Festival. You could've won at anytime. End this...now, or else."

Goya's expression soured as he didn't get to have his fun. But he put on his mocking smile and bowed to her and the crowd, "As you wish."

With a lazy motion of the hand, he moved Kuroda out of the ring and lightly onto the ground, ending the match. Projection watched on from the booth, not happy at all.

"Goya Ramasu advances."

"Naturally."

As he turned to leave, Goya noticed Chuya and Tonen running over to Kuroda to check on her. She was badly bruised by the slams onto the arena floor. She faded in and out of consciousness as Tonen tried to check on her.

"Not...my best...fight...huh?" she said before passing out.

Tonen glared at Goya, who gleefully pointed at him with a finger before stating, "You're next."

*credits*