EYYYY LET'S GET IT, I promised and I delivered.
Welcome back lads and hope all the new fellas joining in have officially turned off their brains at this part of the story because come on, we're over 20 chapters in and you're still taking this story seriously? There's a reason I put shitpost in the story description, then again that's probably what people are trying to avoid but eh, I don't really care. I might change when the original arc eventually comes but for now, let's get on with the sports festival!
ROLL FILM!
"Jeez kid, you've really outdone yourself this time," Recovery Girl shook her head at Shinjiro.
He was currently at the infirmary after suffering from using a foreign object during the cavalry battle.
"Well, I wouldn't say it's 'that' bad," Shinjiro rubbed the back of his head.
"Still! Using an invention that forces your body to work twice the rate could be deadly to your body systems," The medic hero snapped and started to hit the boy with her cane.
"Ow! Hey! Stop!" Shinjiro cried out as he was hit by the hero's cane.
On the sidelines, his teammates deadpanned.
"He's really too reckless," Kendo facepalmed.
"Too reckless, even for my liking," Setsuna said.
"I feel like he's more stupid than reckless," Reiko added.
"Alright, that's enough bullying for one day!" Shinjiro shouted, waving his hands in the air like a crazy person.
"Of course you'd join in too…"
"Anyways, you should get some rest," Recovery Girl instructed. "You'll be fine after a recharge, there's nothing else I can do to treat your symptoms"
"Thanks Recovery Girl…" Shinjiro bowed.
"Jeez, between you and that Midoriya kid…are you guys trying to see how many times you can end up in my office?"
"Uhh, possibly?" Shinjiro gave a guilty smile.
Recovery Girl shook her head before walking out of the room.
"Mou, you're lucky it was only exhaustion," Kendo smacked Shinjiro's arm.
"Hey…it wasn't that bad…" Shinjiro rubbed his arm. "Speaking of which, why are you guys still here? Don't you have to get lunch?"
"Well, we had to carry you here. Plus, Kendo was pretty worried," Setsuna smirked while elbowing Kendo.
"Setsuna! You were showing some concern for him too!" Kendo blushed but tried a rebuttal.
"Well, of course, I would! I'm his teammate after all"
The two continued comically bickering, spewing a couple insults here and there.
"It's safe to say we were all worried," Reiko had moved beside Shinjiro and stared at him with her lifeless eyes.
"Heh, sorry bout that. I'll try not to do it again," Shinjiro lifted his hand and head patted Reiko, giving her a smile.
The ghost girl's eyes seemed to sparkle a little before Shinjiro realized what he was doing and pulled back.
"Oh…sorry. Kind of a habit," He apologized.
"Oh no, you don't need to," Reiko waved her hand. "It felt nice though…" She muttered under her breath.
"Ahem!"
At this point, the two looked forward to see Kendo with her arms crossed and a snickering Setsuna behind her.
"Oh…is someone jealous?" Shinjiro teased.
"Wh- Wha- I am not!" Kendo's stuttering reply seems to say otherwise.
"Hey, Kendo…are you what they call a tsundere?" Setsuna asked.
"N- No I'm not!" The girl yelled, at this point she was probably as red as a tomato. If this isn't a confirmation of Kendo being added as a love interest then the author is doing a shit job at doing so.
…
I regret to inform you that the author has convinced me to not say anything about this development. Also please help I'm being held at gun poi-
"Ano…" A new voice was heard at the doorway to the room. Everyone turned towards the doorway to see who it was.
"Oh Mahiru-chan, it's you!" Setsuna happily ran over to her and playfully hugged her.
"Ahah, Setsuna cut it out," Mahiru laughed as she tried pulling away from the hug.
"Mmh, don't wanna," Setsuna stuck her tongue out in response.
"Sorry about her," Kendo apologized. "But what brings you here?"
"Oh, I just wanted to remind you guys that we got lunch for everyone,"
"Ah! Right! We should get going if we want to eat!" Setsuna yelled out before grabbing Reiko and Kendo's hands and dragging them out of the room. "See you later Shinjiro!"
"W-Wait Setsuna-" Kendo didn't get to say anything before she was dragged away by the lizard girl.
Mahiru watched them run down the tunnel and was about to follow them until she felt a presence staring at her. She turned to see Shinjiro frozen in place staring at her, she in turn stared at him, feeling an odd sense of familiarity.
"Have I…" She started. "...seen you before?"
Shinjiro blinked. "Possibly, the world's pretty small y'know"
She then walked off to join her friends, leaving Shinjiro alone in the room.
"Damn it…" He cursed. "You couldn't even strike a simple conversation with her huh?"
He looked at his hand in a dramatic way. "I guess, this curse will just follow me around as long as I'm here… "
He leaned his head back in his pillow and stared at the ceiling. He thought about all the possibilities and scenarios that were probably thought of by the crazy scientist calling himself Kazuya. Shinjiro knew he was dancing in the palm of his hand, like the micro-drones he had controlled, slowly spinning until it ran out of juice.
"Kazuya…what do you have in store for me…" He said out loud as he slowly drifted to sleep.
~{On the other side of the stadium}~
Meanwhile, Midoriya was dealing with his own set of problems by being face to face by the one and only Shoto Todoroki. The boy was staring him down as his cold aura boosted Midoriya's fright.
"U- Um… w- what is it that you wanted to talk about?" Midoriya stuttered, just even talking to him scared the crap out of the poor boy.
Todoroki continued to stay silent as if he was thinking about something.
"Y- You know…the cafeteria is going to be packed a- and I need to visit Shinjiro in the infirmary-"
"I was overwhelmed," Todoroki stated. "So much that I broke my own promise"
"Huh?" Midoriya uttered.
"Iida, Kaminari, Yaoyorozu…none of them noticed. I was the only one that was overpowered," He continued. His eyes narrowed as he lifted his head up and stared at Midoriya. "Only I, who has seen the full power of All Might, finally understands what it feels like"
"That means…what exactly?" Midoriya asked.
"It means I felt something similar coming from you"
Midoriya's eyes widened as he started to fear the worst.
"Midoriya…you…"
The boy started to shiver, planning a way to talk himself out of the conversation.
"Are you All Might's secret love child?"
Suddenly all the tension left as Midoriya stood there with eyes wide open. He deadpanned as his brain started to self-destruct over what he had just heard.
"You're being favored by All Might aren't you?" Todoroki's voice rang in his head.
"THAT'S WHAT HE WAS THINKING THIS ENTIRE TIME?!" Midoriya screamed in his head.
"So, is it true?" Todoroki snapped Midoriya out of his thoughts.
"N- No that's not true at all!" Midoriya comically shouted as he frantically tried to explain himself. "Although if I really was then I'd be saying the same thing but…"
He stopped himself as it seemed he had remembered something.
"But?"
"But…I don't even know myself. I never knew my father growing up and it's always just me and my mom but I know for a fact that All Might is not my father," Midoriya explained.
Todoroki stared at him for a minute before speaking up again. "Either way, you have a connection with the number one hero. Just like me with my father"
"Endeavour…right?"
Todoroki nodded. "With my old man fighting with All Might for the number one hero spot, I have an even bigger reason to beat you"
"..." Midoriya stayed silent, taking in whatever Todoroki had to say.
"My old man has made a name for himself by being an unstoppable force with a strong sense of desire to stand on top. However, because of All Might that dream never came to fruition. Since my dad couldn't surpass All Might on his own, he came up with another strategy"
"You…" Midoriya said out loud. "But why? Why are you telling me this?"
"Correct, have you ever heard of quirk marriage before?"
Midoriya visibly tensed up at the word.
"Ever since the second and third generation of heroes arrived, it has become a problem. Choosing a mate and forcing them to marry in order to pass down their quirk to their children to make them stronger. He has money and power so that's how he won over my mom's family and got a hold of her quirk."
"E- Endeavour really…" Midoriya felt his hands clench, rage started to pour in.
"By raising me to surpass All Might and fulfilling his desire…how horrible," Todoroki's body started to shake. "That's why I won't become the tool he wants me to become."
The world started to darken around them as they were engrossed in their serious discussion.
"In my memories…my mother was always crying. My mother poured boiling water on me…saying 'your left side is unsightly'," He lifted his left hand to the scar on his face.
"T- Todoroki…" Midoriya simply muttered, he couldn't say anything. He didn't know what to say so he just kept quiet and listened to Todoroki's rant.
Todoroki pulled his hand down and stared right at Midoriya, both of their eyes focused on one another.
"This is my reason for picking a fight with you. To show that old man that I can beat you without it, no…"
His eyes seemed to flash blue and red respectively.
"By becoming number one without it, I will reject him completely!"
"To have such a horrible past…" Midoriya thought as they stood in complete silence.
"I don't care if you can't tell me your connection to All Might. No matter what you are to him I will beat you with just my right side," Todoroki stated before turning to the exit and started walking away.
"He's been through a lot…you could even say he's the main character." Midoriya thought. "But…to reject his full power. It's…it's going to affect him eventually!"
"Todoroki!" Midoriya called out suddenly. It was strange, even to him but Midoriya started talking and he wouldn't stop.
Todoroki stopped in his tracks as he listened to Midoriya speak.
"I- I've always been helped by others. Sometimes a little too much…" Midoriya recalled everyone who had helped him along his journey. "Even now, I was helped by my team to win the cavalry battle."
Todoroki shifted his head to the side, exposing his one eye staring back at Midoriya. Still having a stoic expression, he listened.
"Compared to you, my motives might be trivial. But I want to be as strong as All Might and in order to do that…" Midoriya brought up his hand and clenched it into a fist. "I'm not going to lose so that I can pay back everyone who has helped me"
The wind started to blow through the area, causing leaves to fly and their hair started to flow along with the breeze.
"I'm going to give it my all…" Midoriya held his fist out in front of him. "So you better too. Otherwise, you'll never be a true hero"
Todoroki knew Midoriya was serious about what he was saying. After all, it was written all over his face.
The cold boy just turned back around and walked off. Midoriya lowered his arm and watched as Todoroki went out of sight, leaving him alone.
"I should hurry and get to the cafeteria and visit Shinjiro-san," Midoriya mentally slapped himself after being frozen in place for who knows how long.
He took a deep breath and recomposed himself. Walking towards the cafeteria, he failed to notice a certain blonde boy listening in on the conversation.
"I didn't take THAT long did I?" Midoriya thought in shock as he made it over to the cafeteria and saw it packed to the fullest of full.
"Oh no, what should I do? I need to bring some food over to Shinjiro too!" Midoriya thought in despair.
That was until…
"Midoriya my boy!" A robotic voice called out to him.
"Huh? Lunch Rush?!" Midoriya lifted his head to see the cooking hero run right at him.
"How you doing?" The hero said after skidding to a stop in front of the boy.
"I'm…alright?"
"Great! Now, I heard Shinjiro-kun is in the infirmary so here take this," Lunch Rush gave Midoriya a bento box. "Could you give this to him for me? I would go there myself but I'm stuck working in the kitchen. Don't worry, I saved some food for you when you get back"
"Th- Thank you…" Midoriya didn't really know what to say as he was pretty surprised by the hero's sudden appearance and gesture.
"You got it! See ya around kid!" Lunch Rush gave him a thumbs up before rushing back to work.
"When did Shinjiro and Lunch Rush become friends?" Midoriya wondered before making his way over to the infirmary.
The walk over there was a pretty uneventful one, after all, Midoriya was alone in the hallways. Everyone was busy eating lunch at the cafeteria; it was like a ghost town in the other parts of the stadium.
When he finally got to the room Shinjiro was staying in, Midoriya slid the door open to be greeted with a certain hero.
"Oh Young Midoriya!" Toshinori waved.
"A- All Might? What are you doing here?" Midoriya said in shock.
"Now, now. No need to act so surprised. I came here to visit Young Shinjiro after hearing he was here," Toshinori explained.
"You guys didn't really have to come here," Shinjiro said. "I'm not that hurt"
"You were diagnosed with overexertion, it's time you rest"
"I'm fine really," Shinjiro tried to wave him off. He proceeded to sit up from his bed and held his arms out. "See?"
"You really should rest, Shinjiro-san. Look, I brought lunch for you from Lunch Rush," Midoriya held up a neatly boxed lunch.
"Huh, that guy really went and did it," Shinjiro reached out and grabbed the lunch box and placed it on his bed table.
"Since when did you two get along?" Toshinori asked in Midoriya's stead.
"Oh, simple," Shinjiro said as he unwrapped the lunch box and started taking a bite out of his meal. "I challenged him to a lunch duel"
"What?!" The both of them simultaneously said.
"You ch- challenged Lunch Rush?!" Midoriya shouted. "Why would you do that?"
"Why not?" Shinjiro countered.
"Still, to challenge one of the best chefs in the country," Toshinori put a hand to his head. "I don't know if you're stupid or overly confident"
"Mmh?" Shinjiro proceeded to swallow his food. "Oh no, after the duel I asked him to train me"
"You're training under Lunch Rush as well?!" Midoriya yelled as his eyes comically bulged.
"Yup…after I lost I learned that I need to broaden my view of the culinary world. I hope to make, as Gordon Ramsay would say it, 'some good fucking food'," Shinjiro explained. No I will not tell you how he lost, we want that suspense.
"Honestly, if it's you Shinjiro-san, I'm not surprised," Midoriya sweatdropped.
"Young Midoriya, may I ask if you have eaten yet?" Toshinori asked.
"Huh?" Midoriya's slight confusion came with a very obvious growl from a certain somewhere.
*GROWL*
"Oh…I- I haven't," The boy rubbed the back of head in embarrassment.
Toshinori sighed. "Go on then, you won't have much time to eat if you stay here"
"H- Hai! I'm off!" Midoriya waved to the two and left the room.
"Jeez that boy isn't that aware sometimes huh?" Toshinori let out a laugh.
"It's odd to see someone that dense," Shinjiro let out a sigh.
"Haha! You're not wrong"
"But, anyways…why'd you come and see me?" Shinjiro asked.
"Hm? I just wanted to check up on you-"
"The real reason Toshinori-san. No way you'd drop everything just to visit me," Shinjiro said sternly.
"You snuffed me out huh?" Toshinori sighed in defeat. "Well, it's about your situation. I guess you could say there have been…new developments"
"New developments?" Shinjiro tilted his head to the side.
"Yes, I'm guessing you know that Nezu ordered another set of DNA tests to be taken right?"
"He did? No wait…" Shinjiro thought.
"He diiiiiiid…." Shinjiro dragged out since he remembered that one night where he was in the hospital from getting shot by a magic arrow.
"He must have ordered another set of tests on me while I was out. The cheeky bugger!"
"Well, we got something," Toshinori said, causing Shinjiro to jump from his bed and stand face to face with the number one hero himself.
"What is it?" Shinjiro started shaking Toshinori back and forth.
"Gah! You…could…s- stop…" Toshinori said as he was shaken to his very core.
"Oh…right. Sorry," Shinjiro let go of the skinny man who had mini versions of All Might floating around his head.
Toshinori quickly shook his head to dispel his dizziness before continuing on.
"W- Well," He coughed. "The DNA test results came back positive"
"Positive for what?"
"Positive for your real parents"
"R- Real? Toshinori-san what's the meaning of this?" Shinjiro asked in confusion.
"I'm not sure myself but there's a reason that we believe that the Toujou family is not your real family," Toshinori's blue eyes flashed.
"Not my real family?" Shinjiro trailed off, thinking hard on anything Kazuya had said about this situation. "B- But it's just now right? When Nezu first did the tests on me, my DNA had been altered to not match anyone from the Toujou family"
"Correct, but they did a cross check on the database. Turns out, they got a hit."
A chill was sent down Shinjiro's spine. He wasn't really a Toujou? What kind of sick and twisted mind games are being played here?
"I- I-" Shinjiro was too stunned to speak, trying to take in the fact that even his previous life was a lie.
"The DNA matched some punk known as Haru Wakabayashi. Unfortunately, he passed so we've hit a dead end there and there's no information about him or his relatives. I guess he was off the grid for a long time"
"Haru…Wakabayashi…" Shinjiro repeated. "A- Are you sure?"
"I'm sorry Young Shinjiro," Toshinori said remorsefully. He put a hand on Shinjiro's shoulder and smiled. "However, this shouldn't get you down. Your family might not be your real family but those memories are"
Shinjiro nodded. "You're right…but I wonder…"
"Hm?"
"How come this didn't show up in the first series of tests. Why did it only pop out now? Unless…" He thought back to his encounter with Kazuya one more time, hoping to get some kind of answer.
"There are still more out there… Documenting your progress…" These words filled his mind before he suddenly turned to Toshinori.
"Hey…could there be a chance where I was injected with that Wakabayashi's DNA?"
"There's a chance you were injected with some kind of DNA during your capture but…it's hard to know since we have nothing to base it on," Toshinori put a hand on his chin.
Shinjiro nodded in defeat. "I understand, so we still have nothing to go off on. Everything in me has already been altered so we can't fully trust the tests."
"I'm truly sorry, Young Shinjiro"
"Oh no…it's not your fault. You're just trying to help me after all," Shinjiro tried to smile.
"Alrighty, listen up! We'll be continuing the festival in 15 minutes! Be there or be square!" President Mic announced.
Shinjiro sighed. "I guess, that's all the time we have"
"Yea…" Toshinori sighed. "You should go back out there. I don't want this conversation to bring down your mood for the festival"
"Heh, maybe I should. I'm perfectly fine after all," Shinjiro said, grabbing his gym attire from the bed head.
"I'll need to look into this myself but for now…let's just try and enjoy the festivities okay?" God, you sound like such a weirdo talking to yourself.
"Well then, I'll leave you to it," Toshinori said before making his way out of the room. "See you later Young Shinjiro"
Shinjiro smiled as he waved goodbye. He watched Toshinori move out of sight before sinking back into his deep thoughts. He quickly realized what he was doing before slapping his face with both of his hands.
"Toshinori's right. There's no point mulling it over again," He looked at the gym clothes he was holding in his hand before sighing.
"Lunch break is over and now we'll announce the final event!" President Mic shouted, resulting in the stadium cheering.
"But before that, we've got some good news for those that didn't qualify. This is a sports festival, so of course we have recreational activities planned for everyone to participate in!"
The classes slowly filtered out into the stadium awaiting the results and the final trial.
"We even brought in cheerleaders from America to liven things up!- What?"
President Mic was cut off when he and Aizawa saw something.
Well, it turns out that the girls in the class were wearing cheerleader costumes, fully decked out with U.A printed on and pom-poms to flesh out the experience. Almost everyone blushed and cheered like mad, especially the men for obvious reasons.
"What are they doing?" Aizawa sweatdropped.
"What's wrong Class 1-A? What kind of fan service is this?" President Mic asked curiously.
Kaminari and Mineta secretly fist bumped each other with a pink and totally not weird aura.
"Mineta, Kaminari, you tricked us!" Yaoyorozu shouted at the duo while the other girls had a deadpan face.
A quick flashback showed how the duo tricked the girls into wearing those cheerleader uniforms. Too bad I won't tell you how they did. All you need to know is that they were tricked, fooled, and possibly bamboozled.
"And I used Creation to make these too…" Yaoyorozu sulked with Uraraka patting her back.
"What the hell did I walk into…" Shinjiro said after coming out of the tunnel.
"Oh, Shinjiro-san!" Hagakure waved using her pom poms.
"Do I need to leave again?" He deadpanned.
Jiro sighed and threw her pom poms to the floor. "This is so stupid"
"Aww, don't be like that. We're wearing these anyway so might as well have fun!" Hagakure excitedly threw her arms up.
"Huh?!" Jiro shouted, blushing at her statement.
"Toru-chan really likes these things," Tsu added.
"Isn't that right Shinjiro-san?" Hagakure turned towards the boy who was trying to sneak away sneakily.
"!" Shinjiro froze and robotically turned towards the girls. "Do I really have to answer that?"
"Of course you do!"
Shinjiro sighed. "Fine…I mean, I don't think people would mind if pretty girls were to cheerlead. It's just as President Mic said, 'fan service'"
"P- Pretty?" Jiro stuttered.
"Ooh~" Hagakure cooed.
"You're pretty blunt aren't you Shinjiro-chan?" Tsu asked.
"Eh, count as part of my perso-"
"Shinjiroooo!" A voice rang from behind him.
"Hm?" He shifted his head slightly to the left to see Setsuna running at him. She leaped at him only for the boy to easily sidestep her, causing her to fall flat on the ground.
"Can I help you?" He asked.
"Hey! How can you do that to someone like me?" Setsuna jumped up, seemingly unfazed from face planting into the ground.
"What? You running at me full force and then face planting in the ground?"
"Exactly! You should've let me back hug you," She pointed at him.
"Well, I didn't know you were going to back hug me. I thought you were going to tackle the shit outta me. After all, you were running pretty fast," He deadpanned.
"Y- Yeah, I was pretty excited to see you up and running so fast. You were barely in the infirmary after all," She rubbed the back of her head.
"Heh, don't underestimate me so easily," Shinjiro smirked.
"I thought we told you to rest," Another voice said. He perked up and turned his head to see an angry Kendo walking at him.
"Oh…Kendo…hey," He nervously waved.
"When did you get so friendly with Class B Shinjiro-chan?" Tsu spoke up.
"Wha- you don't know? I partnered with them during the cavalry battle," Shinjiro said, clearly confused.
"Oh…I guess that's what happens when you're stuck in Shoji-kun for too long kero," Tsu croaked.
"Tsu! Phrasing!" Jiro comically shouted at her.
"Anyways," Kendo coughed, getting Shinjiro's attention. "Why are you up so fast? Shouldn't you be resting more?"
"Ah…Recovery Girl said I could leave," Shinjiro lied.
"Hmmm," Somehow, she was not convinced.
She stared at him and moved closer to his face as if she was trying to uncover his lie. Visibly uncomfortable, Shinjiro leaned back.
"Hey, can you not? I get you want to show off your beauty but you don't have to do it so close," Even in situations like these, he knows how to tease people.
"W- Wha-" She jumped back, blushing like mad.
"Oho! You really know how to get someone riled up," Setsuna cheekily grinned.
"Alrighty, sorry for the wait! We still had to wait for all the students to gather up before making the announcement," President Mic announced, effectively cutting off the conversation.
"Let's have fun taking part in the recreational events! And once that's over, sixteen players from the four teams will compete in the final stage: tournament style!"
The screen showed a tournament bracket and the tree leading to a shiny, golden cup.
"It'll be a classic one-on-one duel so let's get the popcorn and wait for some fatalities!"
The crowd went wild, wanting to see some amazing fights.
"A one-on-one tournament huh?" Kirishima's eyes sparkled with joy. "I finally get to stand on the stage that I've seen on TV every year"
Midnight stepped up on stage holding a box.
"Now, we'll be drawing lots to determine the pairs. Once the pairings are determined, the battles will start after the recreation events. The finalists can choose whether they want to take part in the recreational events, as some might want to save their strength."
The R rated hero then started to step off the stage and hand the box to the finalists to pick their pairs until-
"Umm…excuse me," Ojiro raised his hand.
Midnight and the others turned towards him.
He looked unsure of what he wanted to say. But garnering the courage, he said it anyway, "I want to withdraw"
"EEEHHH?!" Everyone cried out.
"Ojiro? Why?" Midoriya was the first to ask.
"The pros are going to be watching," Iida added.
"I barely have any memory of the cavalry battle until the end," Ojiro explained as he lowered his hand. "I know it was someone's quirk"
"Someone's quirk…" Shinjiro thought as he glanced at Shinso, who was looking unimpressed.
"I know it's a foolish thing to do and throw my chance away but…this is where everyone is giving it their all. I can't just stand there without knowing what's going on and without doing anything…"
"D-Don't say stuff like that. You could give it your all in the finals," Hagakure suggested.
"It's not about that…I'm talking about my pride here…" Ojiro whimpered, shoving a hand into his face.
Another student walked up to Midnight in turn.
"I'm Shoda Nirengeki from Class B. I want to withdraw for the same reason. Despite our abilities, if someone, who didn't do anything, is advanced, doesn't that defeat the whole purpose of the sports festival?" Shoda explained.
"Wh- What's with them?" Kirishima tried his best to stop tears from falling. "They're so manly!"
"Well, this is a weird turn of events…" Mic said, rather surprised.
"We'll just have to let our moderator, Midnight, decide," Aizawa said in his usual monotone voice.
Everyone turned to Midnight, who was in thought but kept her cool.
"Youthful talk like that…"
She smiled as she cracked her whip.
"...is something I like!"
She pointed her whip at the two. "Shoda, Ojiro, I accept your withdrawal!"
"She chose by preference…" Everyone collectively thought.
"Anyway, if we have two drop outs then we need two people from the fifth place team to take their spots," Midnight said.
"Then it's decided," Shinjiro spoke out loud, getting everyone's attention. "Due to her superior leadership skills, I nominate Itsuka Kendo to be one of the two."
"Sh- Shinjiro?!" Kendo exclaimed.
"I agree!" Monoma shot out from the crowd. "Despite her teaming up with someone from Class A, I cannot disagree with his nomination"
He then turned to the other two. "Isn't that right?"
They both nodded in response.
"Then, can we add Shinjiro to the mix?" Setsuna suggested.
"Wha- Why me?!" Shinjiro yelled in shock.
"No please! Not me! Anyone but me! I don't want to fight!" He shouted in his mind.
"You contributed the most out of the three of us after all," Setsuna shot him a smile.
"I didn't do anything though…"
"You made sure we came fifth place with your fast thinking and overall strength. So it's pretty obvious you have to join," Kendo added.
"Dammit! Kendo why must you betray me like this- Oh wait, I betrayed her first…"
"Plus, you hurt yourself for us," Reiko added more fuel to the flame.
"Okay, wait that's stretching it a little-"
"Plus, since you've recovered so fast, it wouldn't make sense if you backed out now," Setsuna gave him a winking nudge.
With a crack of her whip, Midnight announced. "Then it's settled, Kendo and Shinjiro from Team Kendo will be rounding up our 16 finalists!"
She then directed everyone's attention towards the screen as the tournament bracket randomized the finalists.
"It's time to randomize the pairings, this is what the results are!"
The bracket started to fill up with names and the pairings were listed:
1) Izuku Midoriya V.S Hitoshi Shinso
2) Shoto Todoroki V.S Hanta Sero
3) Denki Kaminari V.S Eijiro Kirishima
4) Tenya Iida V.S Mei Hatsume
5) Yuga Aoyama V.S Mina Ashido
6) Fumikage Tokoyami V.S Momo Yaoyorozu
7) Shinjiro V.S Itsuka Kendo
8) Katsuki Bakugo V.S Ochako Uraraka
Shinjiro and Kendo stared blankly at the screen before robotically turning to each other.
"What kind of stupid luck is this?" Shinjiro deadpanned.
"U- Umm, good luck?" Kendo said, clearly flustered.
"Oho? You guys got each other in the first round," Setsuna had a teasing smirk on her face. "Seems like it's destiny"
Shinjiro sighed. "Seems like it is…"
He turned towards Kendo. "Hey, don't go easy on me just cause we're friends okay?"
Kendo showed him her serious face, "Of course not, I'll be giving it my all"
"Heh, me too"
Bakugo stared at the screen and saw his name and the person he was facing.
"Huh? Uraraka?" He said as if he had no idea who that was.
"EEP!" Uraraka shivered nervously.
Midoriya stared at the bracket as he saw his opponent and the battle next to his.
"If me and Todoroki win our battles then…"
"Oh? So I'm facing you next. I'm looking forward to it," Shinso said.
Midoriya was about to reply to him until a tail wrapped around his mouth.
"Midoriya, don't answer him," Ojiro said, giving Shinso a serious look.
Shinso smirked before walking off. After he was far enough away, Ojiro lowered his tail and stared at a confused Midoriya.
"Wh-"
"Follow me," The tail boy said as he led Midoriya to someplace secure.
"All right! Let's leave the tournament aside and get down to the recreational activities!" President Mic shouted, kickstarting a very long festival of events.
The crowd cheered as fireworks went off and exploded mid-air.
Everyone went off and did their best in the recreational activities, some went to relax and destress before their fights, some…stared at walls.
"You going to join us Shinjiro?" Kendo asked the boy who watched everyone go and do their completely separate things.
"Nah, you guys go and enjoy the festival. I'll be seeing you later for the fight," He smiled.
"Oh oka-"
"Come on Kendo! There's games to be played," Setsuna grabbed her hand and began pulling her towards their class.
"S- See you later!"
Shinjiro waved back before turning his head to the tunnels and walking to the preparation room.
'Kendo~" Setsuna had a teasing smile on her face. "You like him don't you~"
"S- Setsuna!" Kendo blushed.
"Ahaha! I get why though," The lizard girl laughed.
~{One hour later}~
Cementoss controlled the last of the cement to form the arena before wiping the sweat off his cinder blocky head.
"Okay! It's pretty much done!" He looked up and signaled.
"Thank you very much Cementoss!"
President Mic then pointed to the audience.
"Hey guys, are you ready?"
The crowd cheered even louder than before.
"There were a lot of battles before, but now it's come down to this! The final battle! You can only rely on yourself with heart, technique, body, wisdom, and knowledge!"
Midoriya stood inside the tunnel with the arena just outside as he tried calming himself down with deep breaths.
"Yo!" He turned around to see Toshinori and Shinjiro behind him.
"A- All Might?"
"Hey, no love for your best friend over here? I'm sad," Shinjiro crossed his arms together.
"Oh…a- and you too Shinjiro-san"
"Sorry to come and see you just before your first battle, but we thought we'd wish you good luck," Toshinori said, giving him a thumbs up.
"I wanted to wish you good luck earlier but you had left already and I couldn't find you in the preparation room so here I am," Shinjiro explained.
"How are you feeling young Midoriya?" Toshinori asked.
"W- Well…" Midoriya looked down. "I'm still insecure, after all with One For All, my body is still…"
He bawled his fists, "I really was carried by my teammates and friends…otherwise I wouldn't-"
Suddenly two hands slapped Midoriya' head and chin at the same time.
"AGK!" He stumbled backward. "What was that for?!"
"Shouldn't this be the time where you say 'I'm still going to do my best!' Prince Nonsense?" Toshinori lectured.
Shinjiro sighed and held his head in hands. "This is who we have to put up with"
"Don't say it like it's a bad thing!" Midoriya comically shouted.
"Do you see this man acting all vulnerable like that?" Shinjiro pointed to Toshinori. "Of course not cause-"
"- When you're scared or worried-" With a poof, Toshinori transformed into All Might. "-that's when you face it with a smile!"
All Might gave Midoriya a thumbs up.
"You came this far so be proud no matter what!" All Might struck a hero pose.
"Go get em kid," Shinjiro lightly punched Midoriya's shoulder.
Midoriya stared back at the two with a determined face. "Hai!"
He then turned around and walked out feeling more determined than ever.
"Alllllrighty! The highly anticipated final event is about to begin! Let's introduce the players first!"
Both contestants walked out onto the arena as President Mic introduced them.
"He's had good results so what's with that face? It's Izuku Midoriya from the hero course!"
Midoriya walked out trying to have a serious face but eventually feel flat and had a weird face as he walked onto the arena stage.
"Next is…sorry, but he hasn't had any notable results but it's Hitoshi Shinso from the general course!"
Shinso walked out with his classic stoic face.
"The rules are simple, just knock your opponent out of bounds or paralyze them. It's also your win if you make the opponent say 'I give up'. Bring it all on, the action, the suspense, and the injuries! After all Recovery Girl is on stand by so you guys can go wild!"
"But no life-threatening injuries," Aizawa added.
"Right, that too!"
The audience sweatdropped at the hero's lack of sense.
"I'll be here too just in case things get out of control," Cementoss created a throne made of cement and sat on it.
Midoriya took a deep breath before Shinso spoke.
"'I give up' huh? This fight tests the strength of the mind. If you have a future you're set on, you won't need to worry about appearances," Shinso said with dark shadows looming over his face.
"Ready!"
"That monkey was talking about his pride and what not…"
"Start!"
"...but don't you think it's stupid of him to give up his chance?"
Midoriya gritted his teeth and bawled his hands into fists. He started slowly walking before starting to run at Shinso.
"What are you saying!-"
A heartbeat pumped as silence befell the arena. Midoriya stood in place as Shinso grinned longingly.
"It's my win"