YO HO HOY! WE'RE BACK BABEYYYYYYY.
Damn, it's May already but it's okay, I'm totally gonna have the power to run through all these chapters and hopefully get to the end of the original arc before this year ends. That is my ambition so look out for more updates people. But for now, we've got a massive tournament to get through so turn up the music! AND LET'S READY TO PARTY!
"It's my win," Shinso grinned.
Midoriya was stuck in place and in a daze as he acted like a zombie. He was scarily silent as he awaited orders from Shinso.
"Oh come on, even with the advice I gave him," Ojiro facepalmed.
"Hey, hey hey! It's the first round, as least make it more exciting!" Mic shouted.
"Deku…"
"What's going on…"
Uraraka and Iida stood up from their seats, slightly concerned at Midoriya who was completely frozen.
"Midoriya has been paralyzed right from the start! Is this due to Shinso's quirk? He wasn't standing out at all before, but is he actually someone to watch out for?"
"Midoriya Izuku, you've been blessed haven't you?" Shinso said. "Turn around and walk out of the arena"
Midoriya nodded ever so slightly before turning around and starting to walk out of the arena. His friends started to panic as he started shouting at him to wake up and snap out of it.
"Young Midoriya…" Toshinori gripped the side of the tunnel entrance wall as he watched his student obediently walking out of the arena.
"Hitoshi Shinso…" Shinjiro thought as he stared at the purple-haired boy. "A brainwashing quirk…so that means he didn't even have a chance to prove himself in the entrance exam. So that's what he meant…"
As Midoriya was slowly walking out of the arena, his consciousness was still intact but desperately failing at getting his body to corporate with him. The world around him started to become static as his mind started to drift off.
"Dammit! Is it really going to end like this? Being hopeless…even though Ojiro had warned me about him," Midoriya recalled what Ojiro had brought him to the preparation room for. It was to warn him about Shinso's quirk and how a shock could dispel its effects.
"I…don't want it to end like this! When everyone's counting on me! I…need to…PUSH!"
Through his pale, white eyes, Midoriya saw something coming from the darkness of the tunnel. Multiple flashing lights before his vision zoomed into, breaking past the light and spotting multiple shadows of figures. Distorted figures who had yellow eyes and stared back at him, each seemingly telling him something.
His body erupted in a rainbow of colors before One For All started to charge within his body.
"What…is this?" He thought as his body was nearing the arena line.
Suddenly, his fingers started to charge before moving ever so slightly to release a small shockwave that moved throughout the arena. It released dust all around Midoriya as everyone who was near him was startled by the winds that erupted.
Midoriya woke up, panting and sweating all over as his feet had almost went out of bounds.
"Oh…look. Midoriya has stopped moving!" Mic shouted, leading the crowd to shout and cheer for the boy.
Aizawa's eyes widened. "His fingers…he exploded them to interrupt the brainwash?"
"Young Midoriya!" Toshinori started to comically cry at the sight, causing Shinjiro to sweatdrop while slowly caressing his back to calm him down.
"Of course, you wouldn't lose to something like this Midoriya," He thought.
Shinso was taken aback by his quirk being dispelled.
"Why? You shouldn't have control over your body. What did you do?!" He shouted.
Midoriya wanted to reply back but quickly cupped his mouth with his hand. He couldn't fall for it a second time after all.
"Say something," Shinso mentally cursed Ojiro for relaying his secrets over to Midoriya during the break. "You had that much power in your fingers? I'm jealous"
Midoriya started to run at him, clutching his broken fingers which had been used at maximum power to knock him out of the brainwashing.
"Because of this quirk, I had a late start. Blessed one don't understand," Shinso started getting desperate, basically shouting his frustrations out to the world. "Someone that can go wherever they wish with their ideal quirk!"
Midoriya closed his eyes as he blindlessly charged at Shinso.
"I understand! It's true I was blessed…I was blessed by the people around me!" He so desperately wanted to sympathize but he knew if he spoke, it would be all over.
Midoriya crashed into Shinso and began pushing him out of the arena, his working right arm on his shoulder and his left on the tired boy's chest.
"Say something dammit!" Shinso wheeled back his arm and punched Midoriya straight in the face.
However, the boy shrugged off the attack and continued pushing him forward.
"That's why I can't let them down!"
Shinso then punched Midoriya's broken fingers, causing blood to splatter out before turning him around and started to push him out of the arena.
"You get out!" He shouted.
"That's why…" Midoriya used his hand to grab Shinso's arm and shirt. As bad as it hurt, the boy pulled through and performed a shoulder throw-over. "...I can't lose!"
Shinso slammed him on the ground hard, the wind being knocked out of him. Midoriya let go of his grip on him and panted hard.
Midnight raised her arm.
"Shinso is out of bounds! Midoriya advances to the second round!" She announced.
The crowd immediately went wild, cheering for the boy and the fight. His friends cheered from the stands while a grumpy Bakugo narrowed his eyes.
"That was pretty great wasn't it Bakugo?" Kaminari asked.
"Shut it," Bakugo shot him a glare.
"He planned that from the start. He planned it and trapped him," Bakugo was holding in his inner rage.
"Young Midoriya!" Toshinori excitedly cheered. "Did you see that Young Shinji-"
The hero turned around to see that the boy had disappeared from the tunnel.
"Well, ladies and gentlemen, that was a pretty bland fight for the first round but let's give a round of applause to the two contestants nonetheless!" President Mic clapped.
Midoriya bowed to Shinso, thinking about what the boy had said to him earlier.
"Shinso…" He started, getting the boy's attention. "...why do you want to become a hero?"
"You can't help what your heart longs for," He simply replied before turning around and walking away.
Midoriya couldn't help but feel a little sad for him, but no matter what he said would comfort him. So he let him walk off, although Shinso's walk was interrupted by a bunch of people cheering him up and encouraging him. Midoriya couldn't help but smile for the boy.
But too bad that wouldn't last very long because we got other battles to get to. But first…
Shinso walked down the tunnel feeling down that he lost, but from the praises he got he isn't going to give up anytime soon. He hung his head and bawled his fists, vowing to work harder.
"Just wait, I'll become the greatest hero than any of you," He thought.
"It seems I understand now," A voice came from in front of him.
He lifted his head to see Shinjiro standing in front of him. His hands were in his pockets and he was leaned up against the wall as if he had been waiting there for a long time.
"Oh…it's you," Shinso replied.
"Yes, it's me," Shinjiro gave him a small smile.
"What do you want?"
"You remember when we first met? In the hallways where you were declaring war on my class? You told me 'we were the same'. Of course, in the spur of the moment, I didn't get what you meant, but now I do," Shinjiro got off the wall and walked right up to Shinso.
"That is?"
"Simply put, we've both been fucked over in life haven't we?"
"Of course we have. I saw it in your eyes," Shinso pointed out. "They weren't built on blessing. You had to fight to get here didn't you?"
Shinjiro chuckled. "I wish I could say that but truth is, I was just lucky. I worked so hard when I was young but unfortunately my shortcomings showed. However, I was given a chance to make a difference"
"I see…" Shinso nodded.
"But, that's enough about me. You have a brainwashing quirk after all, which I guess hasn't been easy for you huh?"
"Yea…" Shinso weakly replied, gripping his pants tightly.
"Everyone feared me, made fun of me. Said I should go and become a villain instead and forget being a hero." He sighed. "This is just what the world is like"
"I'm sorry to have made you remember such memories," Shinjiro apologized. "But you never gave up did you?"
"I…I want to prove it to everyone," Shinso looked up at Shinjiro with a burning conviction. "I want to prove I can become a hero and help people. I want to show that villain-like quirks are not to be feared and can be used to save people's lives."
"Heh, those are some strong words," Shinjiro said. "Reminds me of someone else I know."
Shinso gave him a weak smile before walking past him.
"Because of that, I shall try and make sure that 'dream' of yours…" Shinjiro turned around to face Shinso. "...no longer a dream"
Shinso didn't look back as he continued forward, leaving Shinjiro alone in the tunnel.
He smiled to himself. "Of course, there'd be others like you Midoriya. Those with your kind of strength should be given chances."
Okay, since when did you turn into a mentoring badass?
"Hm? I don't know what you're talking about. I guess Shinso's words fully resonated with me when he was fighting Midoriya. Made me want to give him a chance you know?"
Shinjiro formed a frown afterwards. "However, this world really is too cruel underneath the surface…"
Shinso continued walking as he seemed to be confused by something. Something that didn't seem to fit right with him from the conversation he just had with Shinjiro.
"Weird…my quirk didn't seem to affect him at all."
*CHUU*
Midoriya was currently in the infirmary being patched up by Recovery Girl.
"All right, everything's done," Recovery Girl said, finishing wrapping up Midoriya's fingers with a bandage.
"I couldn't smile at all during the fight with Shinso," Midoriya told Toshinori, who was also in the room.
"Well, with his cries it must have been a gut-wrenching fight for you," Toshinori rubbed the back of his neck.
"But that doesn't mean I can lose," Midoriya looked up at the hero. "Is that what it means to stand at the top?"
Recovery Girl sighed. "You poor thing."
She then turned around and smacked Toshinori in the stomach.
"Ack!"
"You pressured him again didn't you?"
"I- It was necessary," He argued. She wanted to smack him again with her cane until he pleaded with her.
"N- no wait! Please don't hit me again!" He comically shouted.
"Oh right…All Might. While I was brainwashed by Shinso, I saw an illusion," Midoriya said.
"Hm?" Toshinori rubbed his side and looked at the boy.
"It was about eight or nine people…but when I was feeling foggy, that illusion cleared out that fog. That was when my fingers started moving and well…you know the rest," Midoriya explained. "They had eyes just like you. Was that… intended by the ones who inherited One For All til now?"
"How scary, I've never heard about that before," Toshinori started to shake with a blue aura around him contrasting to Midoriya's shock.
"Eh? I thought you'd have experienced that."
"Well, I have heard of it when I was young though. It's an obvious confirmation that you've gotten a grasp of One For All," Toshinori crossed his arms and leaned back on the desk. "I think that it's something like an imprint attached to One For All. There's no interaction or mutual inference between you or them. In other words, it wasn't that illusion that broke the mind control but your emotions that caused you to break free of Young Shinso's quirk."
Midoriya stared at Toshinori for a couple of seconds.
"That's not a satisfying answer at all," He looked down and rubbed the back of his head trying to digest the explanation.
"Don't let it bring you down. Plus, don't you need to see who your next opponent is?"
Just before anything could be said-
*BOOM*
The entire area shook underneath their feet.
"Whoa! What was that?!" Midoriya shouted.
"This vibration…" Toshinori uttered.
Recovery Girl turned on the television in the room to reveal the entire stadium's side encased in ice. Midoriya's eyes widened when he realized where the ice came from.
"Todoroki-kun…" The boy muttered.
He watched as the camera zoomed in on the fight. Todoroki stood there with ice encasing his left side as he looked on with anger. Sero, meanwhile, was chilling out after nearly dying to a giant tsunami of ice.
"Oi, Toshinori! Why is your class always going over the top?" Recovery Girl scolded.
"It's not just me who's teaching them you know!" Toshinori countered.
"He's…angry isn't he?" Midoriya thought.
"S- S- Sero is immobile! T- T- Todoroki w- wins!" Midnight yelled despite freezing after being partially covered in ice.
He stood up from his seat and turned to the other two. "I should get going now"
"Ah, then good luck in your next fight Young Midoriya," Toshinori gave him a thumbs up.
Midoriya smiled back as he opened the door and left.
~{ Match 3: Denki Kaminari V.S. Eijiro Kirishima}~
Midoriya managed to make it over to his class before the next round could start.
"Ah, Deku!" Uraraka waved him over.
"Midoriya! Are you okay?" Iida asked while doing his robotic hand movements again.
"Y- Yea. I'm fine, I wasn't that badly hurt," Midoriya lifted his hand to show his injuries.
"Now that the ice is finally cleared, it's time to start the next match!" Mic announced. "How will they fare up against each other? Place your bets now!"
"Just get on with it already," Aizawa groaned.
"Both are in the hero course and in the same class. They've got tons in common aside from their hair color…" Mic started.
"On the left, we've got Electro if he decided he wanted to be a hero and not blue! It's Denki Kaminari!"
"I don't know whether that's a good thing or not," Kaminari sweatdropped.
"Aaaand on the right, we've got someone so hard you can't believe it until you see it! It'sssssss Eijiro Kirishima!"
"Just start the fight…" Aizawa was so done at this point.
Kaminari rubbed his nose and grinned. "I hope I can put on a shocking performance against you Kirishima"
Kirishima activated his quirk in response. "I hate when you do those puns"
"A- Ah…" Kaminari's eyes shrunk before he started charging up. "Uh, Indiscriminate Shock…"
Kirishima held up his arms to block.
"1.3 Million Volts!" He brought his hands down and released electricity all over the area.
Kirishima stood there and tanked the electricity like it was nothing for him.
"NNGH!" Oh, wait, never mind he's still feeling the shock.
"Kaminari's letting loose already?" Jiro said.
"I wonder if Kirishima can handle that," Iida wondered.
The electricity slowly died down after a while, with Kaminari finally frying his brain once again.
"Yey~" He had a dumb expression on his face and lifted up his two thumbs, signalling that he was indeed, not fine.
Everyone then focused their attention onto Kirishima who was steaming from the electricity. His muscles tensed up as he was trying to hold in the pain.
Kirishima grinned as he gathered the strength to rush forward.
"Sorry Kaminari, but you'll be feeling this one in the morning!" He shouted before performing an uppercut to the brain-fried man. The uppercut to his chin instantly knocked Kaminari out.
He landed right outside of the area and had swirls in his eyes.
"Yeeeey~" He sounded just like a pokemon who had just been knocked out.
Midnight cracked her whip.
"Kaminari is knocked out! Kirishima wins!"
"Tch, of course, he wouldn't lose to someone like that," Bakugo scoffed.
Midoriya turned his head to the boy, clearly shocked about what he had just heard.
He quickly got over his shock and chuckled to himself. "Seems Kacchan managed to make a friend"
And that was the end of the third round, let's start quick-firing these rounds since the folks at home want some action.
~{ Match 4: Tenya Iida V.S. Mei Hatsume}~
"Poor Iida…" Everyone simultaneously thought.
As expected of the inventor, Hatsume had been rambling and presenting her inventions to the support companies that had come to watch over the festival.
"Whoo! And that's all of them!" Hatsume announced, having finished showing off all her inventions.
"Well…that just happened," Midoriya thought with a deadpanned expression.
He looked over to the VIP seats and saw some people with suits frantically writing notes.
"At least she has their attention," He tried to think positively.
"*Yawn* What did I miss?" A voice came from his left.
"Ah, Shinjiro-san!" Midoriya waved. "Where have you been?"
"Hm? Oh…doing things," Shinjiro replied and sat down in his seat.
"What things?" Uraraka asked.
"Uh…" He scratched his cheek. "Training obviously"
"Training? At a time like this?" Jiro asked.
"I had time to kill after all, I needed to get my body warmed up again," Shinjiro turned his body around to face his other classmates in the back row.
"Hatsume is *Yaaawnnnn* out of bounds. Tenya Iida wins," Midnight sleepily announced.
"YOU TRICKED MEEEEEE!" Iida shouted.
Hatsume turned her head away and slowly walked down the arena steps, shadows appearing on her face. "Sorry, I used you"
"I HATE YOUUUUUU!" Iida shouted again but this time performed his signature robot hand chopping.
"Can I take a break yet?" Midnight looked up at the announcer box.
"As much as we want to, not yet!" Mic announced. "We're just halfway through the fights after all. Bring in the next fighters!"
She sighed. "I'm not being paid enough for this"
"Huh, glad to see my time spent on something else was not wasted," Shinjiro said.
"By the way, don't you have a match coming up soon?" Yaoyorozu asked.
"Yea, but it's in like two matches I can chill for a bit. Isn't your match after this?"
"Yes, but I'd like to compose myself before going," The vice representative replied.
"Then we're just two peas in a chill pod," Shinjiro said.
~{Match 5: Mina Ashido V.S. Yuga Aoyama}~
"This is not chilling," Shinjiro deadpanned as he watched the fight.
"Nnh!" Aoyama thrusted his pelvis forward, shooting a laser out of his belt.
"I hate this…"
"You should be running out of gas by now!" Ashido grinned as she dodged another laser.
"Mmh~" Aoyama was quickly running out of gas after continuously shooting laser from his belt.
He let off one final laser that Ashido easily ducked under and used her acid quirk to skate closer to Aoyama.
"M- My stomach…" The french boy groaned.
"Now!" Ashido formed a ball of acid in her hand and threw it at his belt. The moment the acid touched the belt, it started melting.
"Oh no! My precious belt!"
Then his pants fell, revealing his shiny underwear.
"My precious pants too!" He reached down and pulled his pants up, hoping to hide his shame.
Ashido slid run up to him and prepared a punch. "With this…"
Without a second to react, Aoyama was promptly punched by the pink girl.
"It's over!"
"AAhhhnn~" Aoyama moaned like five times as he fell but we don't talk about that.
Either way-
"Aoyama is unconscious! Ashido advances to the next round!" Midnight yelled.
"Finally…" Shinjiro facepalmed.
"Ashido has a really versatile quirk…" Midoriya muttered as he wrote notes down in his notebook.
"Are you really taking notes at a time like this?!" Shinjiro comically shouted.
"W- Well, if we're a class then we need to know each other's quirks to be able to perform well in teams," Midoriya said.
"I- you know what just forget I said anything," Shinjiro most likely wanted to bleach his ears and eyes after that fight.
"It seems my match is up next, I should get going, " Yaoyorozu got up from her seat and walked off.
"Good luck!" A couple of her classmates said.
Shinjiro turned his head back towards Midoriya and Uraraka who were sitting next to each other but seemed to be in their own little world. He noticed while Midoriiya was busy writing in his notebook, Uraraka seemed a bit off.
"Guess it's time," He thought as he stood up from his seat.
"Welp, I guess I should get ready for my match after this bout so see you laters," He waved before walking off.
Midoriya looked up from his notebook and waved back. "Good luck Shinjiro-san!"
It wasn't before long that the boy noticed Uraraka emitting a purple aura of some sorts.
"U- Uraraka-san?" He nervously called her name.
"Yes Deku?" She turned to him.
"AH! Wh- What's wrong? Your brow is all wrinkled!"
Her eyes were wide open with her brow completely furrowed as she formed an odd smile.
"My brow?" She asked as her smile faded and looked completely nervous now.
"Y- Yea…you're really nervous aren't you?"
"Ehe, m- maybe…" Uraraka looked down and rubbed her arm.
Midoriya could tell she was shaking in fear. So he instinctively grabbed her free hand causing the girl to blush.
"I know you can do it, you've encouraged and helped me so many times so that's why," He brought up his notebook. "It's my turn to encourage and help you too"
"D- Deku…" She marvelled at him for a couple of seconds before reality seemed to hit her. "Thanks…but no thanks"
She used her other hand to grab his notebook and slowly pulled it down.
"You're always improving. During the cavalry battle, I thought that it would be better teaming up with a friend but now that I think about it, I think I may have just been trying to rely on you"
"I understand…" Midoriya smiled. "I tend to rely a lot on Shinjiro-san too. It was only before the cavalry battle when he said to me 'you really can't just keep coming to me every single time you have a problem'. That was when I realised…I have to stand on my own one day and as scary as it may be, it'll be worth it in the end"
"Deku…" Uraraka's eyes seemed to sparkle as she formed a serious expression. "I'll do my best!"
Midoriya smiled, showing off his beautiful teeth in the process.
"But um…could you…let go now?" Uraraka said, embarrassed.
"Ah…" Midoriya looked down at his hand which was intertwined with Uraraka's. He quickly pulled away. "AH! I'M SORRY!"
"D- Don't worry about it!" Uraraka laughed.
"Alright ladies and gentleman! Introducing your next fighters!" Mic shouted. Wait that much time passed already? Man we're going through these battles fast.
"Offense and defence in one, the dark samurai with Dark Shadow! It's Fumikage Tokoyami from the hero course!"
Midoriya looked down to see the two fighters already standing in front of one another.
"Versus, the versatile Creation. With a recommended admission, her ability is guaranteed! It's Momo Yaoyorozu!"
The girl immediately started to analyze Tokoyami's quirk and his abilities. Although, she was looking unsure of herself as her thoughts started to cloud her mind.
"Aaaaaand start!"
"Go Dark Shadow!" Tokoyami commanded.
"Roger!" The sentient quirk shot out from the bird's body and ran straight at Yaoyorozu.
Having no time to think, she quickly created a shield to block the attack. However, Dark Shadow's brutal force shot her back a couple feet but that forced Dark Shadow to be reflected off the shield and go up.
"I need a weapon. I need a-" Yaoyorozu's thoughts were cut off when Dark Shadow launched another attack that sent her another couple of feet backward.
"I can't collect my thoughts!"
It circled back and knocked into her shield once more, knocking it away permanently. The girl quickly formed another shield on her arm before getting knocked back one final time.
Upon stopping, she got her shield ready but noticed that another attack was not coming. She quickly formed a metal rod in her hands before-
"Yaoyorozu is out of bounds!" Midnight shouted with a crack of her whip.
"Huh?" The girl uttered before looking down and seeing that her foot was out of the arena.
"Tokoyami advances to the next round!"
"Oiiii, Shinjiro-kun did you see my skills?" Dark Shadow waved up to where the class was sitted. Unfortunately, the quirk didn't see him. "Eh?"
"Dark Shadow come back," Tokoyami instructed.
"Ok…" The quirk retracted back into his body before bowing to Yaoyorozu. He promptly turned around and left the stage.
"I…couldn't do anything…" Yaoyorozu dropped her objects and dejectedly walked off as well.
"An overwhelming victory for Tokoyami!" Mic announced. "Could Dark Shadow be the most powerful quirk yet?"
"Aww, Shinjiro-kun didn't get to see me fight," Dark Shadow sulked.
"His match is up next so it's understandable that he wasn't available," Tokoyami crossed his arms as he walked down the tunnel.
"Of course I watched the match. You guys need more screen time after all," Shinjiro's voice echoed throughout the tunnel as he walked into view.
"Eyyyy, Shinjiro-kun I'd knew you'd watch us," Dark Shadow gave him a thumbs up.
"I had to watch it from in here though so I couldn't really get a good viewpoint but still, a win's a win," He lifted his hand up for Dark Shadow to high-five him.
"Still, I can't help but feel bad for Yaoyorozu. She couldn't do anything after all," Tokoyami said.
"Don't feel too bad. You did what you could to win. Everyone loses after all, the most important part is what you do to cope with that loss," Shinjiro said, putting his hands in his pocket.
"Hm, I see," Tokoyami nodded.
"Alright folks it's time for the seventh round! Fighters, to your places!" Mic's voice echoed throughout the stadium.
"Welp, I guess that's me," Shinjiro began to walk towards the light.
"Good luck Shinjiro," Tokoyami closed his eyes as he walked away.
Shinjiro just nodded in response as he edge walked out of the tunnel.
He stepped into the light and immediately got a cheerful response from the audience around him.
"So noisy…"
Similarly, Kendo had stepped out from her side and was greeted by a loud Monoma.
"KICK HIS ASS KENDO!" He shouted louder than any of his other classmates.
"Can you chill for a sec dude?" Setsuna sweatdropped.
"On one side, we've got Class B's big sister with even bigger hands. It's Itsuka Kendo from the hero course!"
"A part of me hates these introductions," Shinjiro facepalmed.
"Aaaand on the other…a pretty normal dude who has somehow managed to score well despite nobody paying attention to him! It's Shinjiro from the hero course!"
"What on earth was that description!" The audience mentally shouted.
"Shinjiro-kunnnn!" Someone shouted from the top of the stands.
Shinjiro looked up to where the shouting was coming from and saw Lunch Rush holding a banner with his name on it. His eye twitched at the sight.
"Do you like it?!" The culinary hero shouted. "Nezu specifically made it for this very occasion!"
"Of course he did!" Shinjiro turned black and white.
"Of course…Nezu…" Aizawa mumbled.
"It seems Shinjiro has fans already!" Mic joked. "Anyways!"
"Man, one day I'm going to smack his ass," A small cross-vein started to form on his forehead.
"Shinjiro!" Kendo's voice reached his ears. "Make sure you don't hold back!"
She lifted both her hands up and bawled into fists, getting into a boxer's stance.
Shinjiro smirked.
"I was about to say the same to you!" He hunched and put his hands in front of him as if he was ready for anything.
"Without further delay let's start the seventh match!" Mic announced.
The crowd cheered, essentially signaling the start of the fight.
Right off the bat, Kendo raised her fist upwards, enlarging it and slamming it into the ground. It caused a shockwave to run throughout the arena making Shinjiro lose his footing for a little while. Seeing an opening, Kendo launched forward and went in for a one-hit KO, however…
"Sorry but, it's gonna take a bit more effort to knock me out," Shinjiro dashed behind her and smiled before pushing her forward.
She lost her balance and almost stepped out of the arena. Luckily this fight isn't going to end so fast.
"You know I won't lose to a push!" She shouted, swinging back around for an enlarged backhand slap causing Shinjiro to quickly jump back to avoid it.
"Heh, of course you wouldn't," The boy scoffed. "I don't expect you to lose this easily!"
He ran straight to her and delivered a dropkick at her but she raised a hand to block. The dropkick landed straight on her hand, which she used to push him away. The momentum was too strong as Shinjiro was sent flying.
"Oof!" He landed on the ground in an undesirable fashion as he rolled and rolled. He stopped quite close to the edge of the arena and grunted in pain. But this was no time to be in pain as he still had a fight to win.
He quickly recovered by readjusting his body and pushing off the ground, doing a quick kick-up. Unfortunately, he had no time to rest as a giant palm came slamming down on top of him, causing him to jump and roll out of the way. But then another hand came his away, leading him to perform a back handspring to dodge the incoming body part.
"Looks like we're getting a lot of action this time round!" Mic shouted. "Both fighters don't have long-ranged quirks so we're getting a lot of close, hand-to-hand combat here!"
Shinjiro was dangerously close to the edge. He had to make a move now or else he'd be thrown out.
He used his speed to close the distance between him and Kendo and forced her to jump out of the way by performing a jumping snap kick. After forcing her to move to the side, he spun round and chucked a fist at her causing her to catch it and pull him towards her.
"Hyah!" In one swift move, Kendo tossed Shinjiro over her shoulder and he landed straight on his back as the air was knocked out of him.
But he wasn't finished, recovering from throw he performed a backwards kick up and used his kick as a ram to kick Kendo away from him. She was slightly knocked back and skidded to a halt, holding her chest in pain.
"You're pretty good at this," He panted, kneeling on his knee as he body wobbled.
"I'd say the same to you as well," Kendo smirked as she clutched her chest.
"Woah, who knew Shinjiro could be that flexible?"
"He's pretty strong!"
Midoriya heard a couple of his classmates whispering but kept his focus on the fight.
"Aside from enhanced speed and strength, but he knows how to perform acrobatic moves? Not only that, but he's holding his own against possibly one of the strongest in Class B. Shinjiro-san is so cool!" He started muttering to himself as he furiously wrote in his notebook.
Uraraka got up from her seat, shadows covering her eyes. Midoriya noticed and looked up at her as she was walking away to prepare for her match.
"Good luck Uraraka-san," He thought.
"Jeez, Shinjiro's really giving Kendo the run around," Setsuna commented as she watched Shinjiro constantly ducking and rolling around Kendo's punches.
"As expected of our number one horse," Reiko said.
"Why do you remember him like that?" Setsuna deadpanned.
"Ha!" Kendo grunted as she went in to grab Shinjiro but failed as he jumped high enough to soar over her head and land behind her.
"So, had enough yet?" He asked turning around to face the girl. They both were sweating a lot as pools started to stain their clothes.
"What a match! They've been going on for a long time with neither of them giving up!"
"Yea, what he said," Shinjiro pointed at the announcer box. "Wanna give up?"
"Never!" Kendo launched her fist forward.
"Oh boy," Shinjiro's eyes widened as the giant fist narrowed closer.
Time seemed to slow as Shinjiro went for a risky maneuver. He propelled himself forwards and grabbed onto the fist before flipping himself over to plant his feet on the fist. Once he stabilized himself, he pushed himself off the fist to leap over Kendo's body, hoping to get behind her and push her out of the arena.
Unfortunately for him, the same trick wouldn't work twice. Hence, why another hand shot out and grabbed him as he was falling midair.
"Urgh!" The sudden stop in momentum made him grunt. He looked down to see the predicament he was in before…
"Shit, not again…" He said, oddly reminiscing about how he lost the last time being constricted.
"You *pant* really *pant* are hard to catch you know that?" Kendo panted, sweat dripping down her forehead. She enlarged her other arm to fully cover him, making sure he really doesn't escape.
"*Pant* Huh… I guess I am," Shinjiro remarked.
"Kendo has Shinjiro in her clutches! Will he be able to escape?!"
"Sorry, Shinjiro! This won't take long," Kendo said as she ran towards the edge of the arena, intending to drop Shinjiro out of bounds.
"And I'm sorry for what I'm about to do next," Shinjiro replied earning a confused look from the girl.
It wasn't until he started grunting in pain that she realized. Steam started to come out of his back, the device nicely strapped onto his back working wonders.
"Shinjiro! I thought you said you'd never use that anymore!" Kendo quickened her pace towards the exit, not wanting Shinjiro to push himself.
"Y- Yea well…" Shinjiro uncomfortably grunted. "I lied"
He then started to force himself to try and pry out of Kendo's enlarged hands. She could feel her hands starting to move and the pressure being applied to them. Shinjiro was straining his body to pry himself free from the surprisingly strong hands.
"Where is this level of strength coming from?!" Mic shouted excitedly.
"Could it be the steam that's coming out of his back?" Aizawa watched rather curiously.
Kendo was starting to struggle, fighting back against the sheer strength Shinjiro was exerting.
"NNgh!" Shinjiro grunted as Kendo's hands started to separate more and more.
"St- Stay still will you?" Kendo grunted. She neared the edge of the arena, forcing Shinjiro to push even harder.
"N- No. C- Can. Do!" With one last push, Shinjiro prised open her hands before she could snap them shut. He jumped and flipped over her, landing behind her, catching her off guard. And with one final thrust of his hands, he pushed her. She turned around, stumbling and eventually falling out of the arena, landing on her butt.
"Kendo is out of bounds! Shinjiro advances to the next round!" Midnight announced with a crack of her whip.
That's pretty underwhelming but hey, it seems the crowd loves it.
Shinjiro panted hard before collapsing to one knee. The device on his back disconnected and dropped to the ground with a hiss. Suddenly, he felt two giant hands go underneath him and lift him off the ground.
"You're getting a hell of a scolding later," Kendo lifted him up with a pout on her face.
"Ahah…yea," Shinjiro sweatdropped.
Kendo then began dragging him away from the arena and into the tunnel, presumably to do what mother figures do.
"Another magnificent round!" Mic shouted. "But it's time to get to the final round of the sweet 16!"
And now a timeskip brought to you by Mansca-
~{Match 8: Katsuki Bakugo V.S. Ochako Uraraka}~
-ped. Wha- Oh we're getting straight into the next battle already.
I was going to say, Kendo proceeded to lecture Shinjiro off screen like the reliable big sister she is but looks like we're getting another fight now.
"Here it is ladies and gentleman! The eighth and final round!"
Uraraka and Bakugo stepped up to their places, their expressions about the same as you'd think. Bakugo with his… I don't even know what kind of face he's making, his teeth is all showing and his eyes are all scrunched up. Uraraka was nervous but tried her best to put on a serious face.
"He's been famous since middle school, it's Katsuki Bakugou from the hero course!"
Uraraka bawled his fists and took a deep breath before facing the scary explosion man.
"Versus, the one I'm rooting for, Ochako Uraraka from the hero course!"
"Do your best, Uraraka-san!" Midoriya silently cheered for her.
"Let the final fight begin!"
With the cheer of the audience and Mic's shouting, the battle started.
Uraraka dashed forward in an attempt to close the distance between her and Bakugo. All she got for it though, was an explosion in her face.
Bakugo had swiped his hand and unleashed a small explosion that knocked her back. Smoke residue started to accumulate and fill the arena.
Uraraka rushed at him again only to be hit back with another explosion. Smoke covered enough of his vision for Uraraka to run at him and force him to cause another explosion using her jacket.
Suddenly, she was behind him ready to attack. However, Bakugo's eyes shined red as he quickly turned around and blasted her once again. She got up and ran at him again only to be blasted back again…and again…and…again.
At this point, she's just asking to get killed. Girl stop running at the explosions you're going to die.
"I can't watch this…" Jiro covered her eyes.
"Does Bakugo have a kink in that direction?" Mineta wondered only for Tsu's tongue to slap him across the face.
"Bakugo-chan is going pretty hard on her," She commented.
Eventually, the crowd started to get riled up.
"How can you say you want to be a hero like that! If there's such a difference in abilities then just send her out of bounds already!" One person shouted.
"No…that's not true," Midoriya thought, shadows covered his eyes as he understood it all.
He heard a loud sigh next to him. "I guess you got it too Midoriya"
"Shinjiro-san…" Midoriya looked up at him before averting his eyes away from him and focusing them on the fight. "He's acknowledging her as his opponent. Even one wrong move could-"
"-send him flying. Of course," Shinjiro finished.
"You two seem to know him well," Iida commented.
"Our relationship is…complicated," Shinjiro crossed his arms.
"Thank you Bakugo…" Uraraka said, getting the boy's attention.
"Hm?"
"I will win!" She pressed her fingertips together. When she did, rocks started to fall out of the sky, shocking everyone who's seeing this spectacle.
"I'll show everyone I can win! I'll win and become like Deku!"
"Sh- She's doing such a risky strategy?!" Midoriya shouted.
"Of course, she takes after you," Shinjiro looked over to the boy.
He looked back over to see Uraraka running to Bakugo hoping to land a hit on him. He knew in his mind what was going to happen and it seemed Midoriya's eyes told the same story.
Bakugo had lifted his arms up and let off a giant explosion that immediately destroyed all the falling rocks and blew Uraraka back.
The crowd went silent and soon…
"Uraraka is out of commission! Bakugo advances to the next round!" Midnight announced.
Midoriya got up from his seat and navigated his way through the seats and ran towards Recovery Girl's office.
"I guess I'll be seeing you sooner than later…Kacchan," Shinjiro narrowed his eyes as Bakugo stepped off the stage and walked off.
Midoriya ran over to the infirmary and swung the door open.
"I- Is Uraraka-san here?" He panted as he eyes scanned the infirmary for the girl.
"She just left," Recovery Girl replied.
"That fast?!"
"You better get going," She said to him. "She's in the room down the hall"
Midoriya bowed before running over to the room and slid the door open.
"Oh…Deku," Uraraka turned her head towards him. "Looks like I lost"
"Eh?" Midoriya thought she'd be sadder than her rubbing the back of her head, acting all enthusiastic.
"H- How your injury?" Midoriya walked over to her.
"It's all good thanks to Recovery. Man her quirk does wonders!" She happily said.
"Th- That's great and all but…are you okay?" He asked worryingly.
"I'm okay! I just need to work harder next time," She gave him a thumbs up in response.
However, something in his heart just didn't sit right.
"All right folks, now that the competition has been cut in half, let's cut it up even more with the next rounds!"
"Ah-"
"I guess you're up," Uraraka looked at him and held her fist up giving him a warm smile. "I'll be watching and cheering for you"
Midoriya silently nodded and smiled back before making his way out of the room. After he was gone, Uraraka picked up her phone and rang her dad.
Unbeknownst to her, Midoriya was leaning up against the door, still not feeling right leaving her like this. He was about to leave until he heard her talking.
"Sorry for not picking up earlier dad…"
"No, I'm sorry for calling for when you were busy. Mom and I watched you on T.V. you were amazing!" He could hear a faint voice coming through her phone. These walls are surprisingly thin.
"It wasn't close…and I wasn't amazing…I rushed too much at the end and didn't have a plan after that," Uraraka sighed as her hand drooped to her side.
"I see," Her dad responded. "But this doesn't mean that's the end of the road for you right? There's still next year"
Her voice started to break. "But the scouts can't see everything with just one match…they won't think I'm good at all…"
Midoriya balled his fists at hearing how she was treating herself.
"Why are you in such a hurry?"
"Because…I- I want to help you guys already…" She whimpered, tears started to roll down her cheeks as she was barely keeping it in.
"Ochako, you don't have to rush at all. Because I know that a girl with a big heart like you can be a hero. After all…you're already our hero"
Uraraka started bawling her eyes out after that.
Midoriya looked down and smiled to himself.
"I guess…maybe I didn't have to do anything."
He steeled himself and walked away from the room to his match against Todoroki.
Unfortunately, Midoriya couldn't make it out of the tunnel before being stopped by a flaming man on fire.
"E- Endeavor!" He shouted in fear.
The tall, muscular man noticed him and looked straight at him.
"Oh, there you are," He said.
"M- Me?" Midoriya pointed to himself. "Wh- Why are you looking for me?"
"I've seen your success. That's a wonderful quirk you have. A strong blast just from a flick of a finger, it's a power that could rival All Might's," The hero pointed at him, his fiery eyes burning an image into the back of Midoriya's brain.
"Wh- What you trying to imply?" The poor boy squeaked. He had to get out of that situation. "A- Actually…please don't… I- I should get going now. My match is soon…"
He walked past Endeavor, the hero unmoving, as he tried to get to the end of the tunnel.
"My Shoto has a duty to surpass All Might," His voice spread throughout the hallway.
Midoriya stopped, his eyes nervously unable to look back.
"His match against you, will prove to be a useful training ground. Make sure…you don't put on an ungraceful match," The flaming hero stated.
Todoroki's words rang in Midoriya's head. How he wants to prove to his father that he would without his flames.
"That's all I wanted to say. I'm sorry for taking up your time," Endeavor started to walk away.
"I'm…not All Might," Midoriya's body tensed up as he said those words.
Endeavor stopped in his tracks and turned back.
"That's obvious-"
"That's obvious right?" Midoriya turned his head slightly to look at the hero. "Todoroki isn't you either."
With that, Midoriya walked away, determined to save Todoroki from his pain.
Iida sat in his seat, eagerly waiting for the next battle to begin.
"Are you always this excited?" Shinjiro eyed him suspiciously.
"No, it's because Midoriya's battle with Todoroki is up next. I am thrilled to see what happens," Iida did his chopping motions again.
Shinjiro sighed. "Of course you are."
"What about you? Aren't you going up against Bakugo later?" He asked.
"Hm? Honestly, I never thought of it," Shinjiro crossed his arms and folded his legs.
"Not having a strategy before fighting Bakugo? That's-"
"That's because he knows there will be strategy," Shinjiro interrupted him. "Despite who he is, he's a smart guy. Just that he needs to turn his temper down…"
"Hey guys," Uraraka walked up to them.
"Oh! Urara-" Iida turned his head to see her with puffy eyes. "AH! Are you okay?!"
"I have to watch this," She said.
"Why are your eyes puffy? You should go to Recovery Girl!" He said out of concern.
"I- I already did. This is just…different," She wiped her eyes before sitting back in her seat.
"I see…" Shinjiro narrowed his eyes. Before he could do anything, however, a hand grabbed onto his shoulder.
"!" He stood up after seeing a dislocated hand grasping his shoulder tightly. After a brief moment of shock, he sighed. "Dammit, Setsuna"
"Hehehe~" The lizard girl cheekily laughed. "Someone's surprisingly built~"
"How many times do we have to do this," He pulled off her hand and returned it to her.
"As many times as Kendo asks to check on you"
"Even when I'm not in her class, she loves to worry," Shinjiro shook his head.
"Of course, that's who is she after all," She put her hands on her hips.
"You think she has any siblings?" He asked.
"Hmmm," Setsuna put a hand to her chin. "I…don't think she's mentioned any. That means she likes-"
Shinjiro put up his hand to stop her. "I know. You don't need to tell me. The signs were obvious as it is"
"Ooh~" She cooed. "Then why don't you go after her?"
"I-" Shinjiro stopped himself. "I can't…"
"Why not? She too out of league for you?" She asked, puzzled.
"It's…complicated," He rubbed the back of his head.
"Oh…I'm sorry,"
"N- No, it's okay. It's nothing I can't handle," Shinjiro shook his head.
"Oh, alright then. Wanna come watch the match with us instead?" She over it pretty fast.
"Maybe next match, I gotta back up my boy don't you think?" Shinjiro looked over to the empty tunnel Midoriya was going to walk through.
"Alrighty, you know where to find us," She gave him a wink and ran off to her class.
Shinjiro watched her go before sitting back in his seat and sighing to himself.
"She's pretty nice isn't she," Iida said, having heard their conversation.
"She's a handful," Shinjiro sighed once again.
"Thanks for waiting everyone! It's time to kick off the first match of the second round!" Mic shouted getting an immediate response from the crowd.
The two combatants walked out from their respective sides.
"During his first match, he literally froze the entire crowd with his victory. It's Shoto Todoroki!"
The camera then shifted over to Midoriya.
"He barely made it through the first round. I wonder how he'll fight this time? It's Izuku Midoriya!"
"You came," Todoroki said.
"Yea," Midoriya could only reply.
The screen with the two zoomed out to reveal a man in a dark room. He was watching the sports festival with great interest.
"Watch carefully Tomura Shigaraki," A voice spoke to the villain. "They might become your enemies one day"
"Enemies? That's ridiculous…" Shigaraki said, scratching his neck like he usually did.
"Izukuuuuuuuuuu!" Midoriya mom sat bawling her eyes out in front of the tv.
Around her was a bunch of used up tissues that flooded the room.
Toshinori looked down at the two, his eyes glued as the fight was about to start.
"I heard those two jumped in to save you," Thirteen said.
"Yea," He nodded. "It's just a feeling but…it seems like those two have a lot in common"
Shinjiro stared intensely at Midoriya, who was showing a pretty serious expression on his face.
"Good luck Midoriya…you'll need it. In whatever you're trying to do," He could tell Midoriya wanted to do something but he couldn't pinpoint what. "I bet he's trying to help Todoroki, as expected of Midoriya himself."
"Midoriya! Good luck!"
"I believe in you both!"
Shinjiro looked to his right to see Uraraka and Iida cheering him on.
"Heh, looks like you're not so lonely anymore…" He muttered.
Down in the arena, Midoriya and Todoroki stared intensely at one another. Their staredown drowned out the cheering from the audience.
The cold expression on Todoroki's face showed that he would beat his opponent at all costs.
However, Midoriya… hid a facade underneath his serious expression. Winning was the priority but if he was going to fight a losing battle, then helping would be the main objective.
"I won't lose Todoroki-san. But I won't stand by and watch you fall!" Midoriya thought as he got into a fighting stance, ready to flick his finger.
"Let the battle start!"
In an instant, ice and air flew across the arena.
Aaaaaaand another cliffhanger for the boys. Can't have one entire chapter dedicated to all these fights.
However, I will let you on a little secret. If you don't know already, Shinjiro and Kacchan are gonna fight it out soon. I guess you know what will happen when you have the two with a complicated background even more so than Midoriya because of the whole, y'know memory wipe kinda thing soooooo hope you guys look forward to that and I'll see y'all very soon,