Author's Notes:Hi folks! The lineups were made using a number generator, so, let's hope they still manage to entertain you all. Thank you all for a thousand followers! … somehow.
This is.. a long time waiting. Honestly I have no way to tell you all how sorry I am for making you all wait this long for a tenth chapter. I hate it when stories get abandoned, so I'm sorry I did that to you guys.
Now that I know what I want to write next chapter, though, this shouldn't be a problem. I hope you all enjoy. If you don't like it, that's okay. If you do? That's great.
Midoriya walked back into the arena, which seemed to be full of activities at the moment. When he heard yelling coming from his female classmate, Momo, he immediately turned her direction, one of his eyes ready to beam Mineta into the next realm. What he found instead made his face go blood red. There, all of his female classmates were wearing rather revealing cheerleading outfits.
"Wha—" Midoriya started, before he saw Kaminari and Mineta huddled together, laughing and giggling at how they managed to trick the female population of the class. He was beside the two in an instant, both of them jumping at his sudden appearance, before consequently feeling sweat running down their bodies at the sight before them.
Midoriya looked down at them with his eyes glowing red, the energy floating away from his eyes.
"So. . ." Midoriya began, and the two fell to their knees.
"OH ALL POWERFUL DESTROYER OF THE OBSTACLE COURSE! HAVE MERCY!" They yelled out, bowing before their newfound God. Midoriya proceeded to give them a very, very stern talking to, before walking away to make sure the girls were okay. As he got over there, he saw Momo on the ground being consulted by Ochako, Shoka's expression was unreadable, Jirou seemed embarrassed, and Tsu seemed to be disappointed that she fell for the ruse. Meanwhile, Toru seemed giddy. Her face was completely red but she had the biggest smile on her face. Midoriya.. didn't know how to react to that. Or what to make of it. Her smile only increased when she saw him. She leapt up, throwing an arm higher still.
"Midoriya! Midoriya! What do you think?" She twirled excitedly, and Midoriya gave a small laugh, though his face turned a twinge of red.
"I think it looks nice on you, Hagakure," Midoriya told her with a small, genuine smile.
Hagakure's face went even more red, and she nodded enthusiastically. Unnoticed, Momo, Ochako, and Jirou all stopped talking and paid attention to the interaction. Mina giggled with glee. Shoka stared blankly at Midoriya, and Tsu stared blankly at Toru.
"AAAAAAALRIGHT EVERYBODY! WELCOME TO THE FIRST FIGHT IN THE TOURNAMENT!" Present Mic screamed, Aizawa only cringing in response.
"IT GOES LIKE THIS!" A large screen turned on, showing five layers on a pyramid, starting at 16 and working itself up until it reached one.
"EVERYONE WHO BEATS THEIR OPPONENT MOVES ON! BEATING THEM COUNTS AS TOUCHING THE AREA OUTSIDE OF THE RING!"
The crowd cheered loudly, and Present Mic's ego was fueled.
"NOW FOR OUR FIRST ROUND, WE HAVE THE TECHNOLOGICAL GENIUS! THE BEAUTY WITH BRAIN, HATSSUUUME MEII!"
The crowd cheered as Hatsume came out of the tunnel and into the ring, her bag on her back full of equipment. Midoriya, up in the stands, could only wince. He knew what was coming.
"AND ON THE OTHER SIDE, WE HAVE THE BLONDE BANDIT OF QUIRKS, THE COPYING MACHINE, NEITO MONOMAA!"
The crowd cheered louder as Monoma made his way out of the tunnel, his hands clenched and his smile as maniacal as ever. Well, slightly toned down but still.
"WE'LL START IN FIVE, FOUR, THREE, TWO, ONE-!"
Everyone but Midoriya had fallen asleep. He didn't know how, but Monoma and Hatsume had to have talked at some point, because she was able to test every. Single. Invention. She had. And he kept switching his copied quirks to match too.
Finally, she willingly stepped out of the ring. Midoriya shot up out of his seat, watching as Monoma's ego was inflated. Make no mistake, he and Monoma weren't… too bad, but letting his ego inflate was never a good thing.
He clapped slowly, which startled everyone else awake. Present Mic snapped back to life, shaking his head as he realized where he was.
"W-WELL, THAT WAS… LONG. ANYWAYS! BREAK TIME, UP NEXT IS SHOTO TODOROKI VERSUS TETSUTETSU TETSUTETSU!"
Class 1-A all got up and began doing various things, from stretching to walking around. Midoriya spun around, locking his eyes onto the male Todoroki, giving him a smile.
"Hey, Todoroki!" The mentioned Todoroki turned, facing Midoriya with his blue eye. The other Todoroki payed attention, curious as to what Midoriya had to say to her brother. Midoriya's smile grew slightly.
"Good luck on your round."
Shoto gave a slow nod, before walking away from the class, down to the locker rooms to get ready.
Midoriya knew that Tetsutetsu stood no chance.
Back at the dorms…
No one was around to see the white haired girl slip inside the dorm of 1-A. No one was around to stop her as she ran up the stairs, and through a door. The outside was too harsh— She needed warmth. She ignored the bright colors, just finding the blanket- The bed. She climbed up onto it, and curled into it.
The girl felt tears spring to her eyes as some wounds were opened slightly in the process. Thankfully, she had bandages on.
She lost herself in the soft warmth of the bed, and fell asleep.
Midoriya's ear twitched slightly. He shook it off, brushing it off as nothing.
"So, Deku, who do you think is going to win?" Ochako piped to his left, Iida curious for his friend's answer as well. Midoriya didn't miss a beat.
"Todoroki is winning this one."
Sero guffawed, looking at Midoriya with amusement. Kaminari, in reflex to Sero guffawing, snorted. Shinso rolled his eyes, but felt a smile tug his lips.
Midoriya didn't focus on that. He just focused on the ring. His hearing would be lost if he wasn't focusing on specific things. Such as Todoroki's heartbeat. His sister's was calm, but his own was.. racing. As if he was angry, or panicked.
Present Mic introduced the combatants. They entered the ring.
The fight was over before it even began. Half the audience was nearly frozen as Shoto managed to fir out another iceberg. Tetsutetsu's iron armor was chipped away nearly instantly.
".. Sorry, I needed to get that out." Shoto told his combatant. Tetsutetsu simply looked at him with wide eyes, and a gaping mouth.
Midoriya and Shoka remained fine while the others shivered.
Present Mic fell out of his stupor.
"W-WELL.. THAT… THIS ROUND GOES TO SHOTO TODOROKI!" The Audience cheered, half of it terrified while the other was amazed.
Then the break occurred.
Midoriya and Bakugo immediately made eye contact the moment it ended, walking away from their class towards the locker rooms.
Kirishima was rooting for Bakugo, as was Kaminari. The rest were either neutral or believed this was a one sided fight; Not that they were really wrong.
Midoriya could hear Bakugo's heartbeat. He purposely worked it up, making it so that he'd get angry and sweat more. The more sweat, the better he could be with his explosions.
Bakugo stepped onto the stairs. Midoriya was fast, but if he could catch him at the right moment… He wouldn't be weak, anymore. He would be top dog again. Showing all those extras how it's done.
Bakugo didn't feel confident.
"OOON ONE SIDE, WE HAVE THE OBSTACLE COURSE DESTROYER, GOD OF DESTRUCTION, IZUKU MIDORIYA!" The crowd cheered loudly, and Midoriya felt a comfortable warmth in his cheeks come from it.
"ON THE OTHER SIDE, WE HAVE THE BOMBASTIC, THE EXPLOSIVE BAKUGO!" The crowd cheered again as Nakugo stepped further into the ring.
"COMBATANTS, ARE YOU READDY??" Present Mic shouted into the Microphone, much to Aizawa's annoyance, who was startled out of his nap.
"BEGIN!"
Midoriya burst forward. This would be an easy enough opponent, nothing like the glacier-maker that was Shoto, or the glacier maker and firewave creator that was Shoka.
He barely missed Bakugo. And what he got instead was an explosion straight into his ear.
Midoriya hadn't really felt pain for a bit. The USJ incident was a new one, but pain like that- Around his head, was new.
Midoriya fell to the ground. He didn't realize he was on his feet, nor did he see what he was doing. His other ear was.. better off. He heard a high pitched roaring sound.
Unknowingly, he hit Bakugo straight out of the ring, and into one of the concrete walls.
He held his ear, closing his eyes as his head erupted with pain. His hearing came back, and he realized that he was screaming. He stopped, returning to a growl instead as the ringing slowly dissipating, even though it all still sounded fuzzy.
The round was over. Bakugo and Midoriya were both taken away for the emergency room, Midoriya more so for pain, while Bakugo had injuries associated with being used to dent a concrete wall.
The break was just as short as the others. Kendo perked up over the wall.
"Do you think Midoriya is okay?"
"Midoriya?!" Kaminari scoffed, "Did you see how he hit Bakugo? I'm surprised he didn't go flying straight through the arena! Or dead!"
"In case you didn't notice," Jirou popped in, "Bakugo blasted directly into Midoriya's ear. I'm pretty sure he has enhanced hearing, even more than me. So when Bakugo did that, it probably hurt. A lot."
"Yeah," Kaminari agreed, before switching gears, "But Midoriya has healed from crazy stuff like this before, even if it was once. We don't know if Bakugo can, and we don't know how bad he was hurt!"
The Todoroki twins felt ice consume their side, and one felt flames start to lick the other. Kendo was about to object, before going back to being quiet.
"Alright, you two!" Iida chimed, "Enough is enough! Both of them are hurt, yes, and as their classmates we shouldn't argue over who's hurt more but worry about both of them the same!"
Class 1-A all stared at him, all except for Kirishima and Yaoyorozu. Those two were in the locker rooms, getting ready for the fight. Speaking of which-
"ARE YOU REAAADY?" Present Mic's voice boomed across the stadium, the crowd cheering.
"AAAALRIGHT! ON ONE SIDE, WE HAVE MOMO YAOYOROZU, HEIR OF THE YAOYOROZU FAMILY, AND CREATOR OF BADASS WEAPONS!" Aizawa sighed at the description. Present Mic was stretching it. Momo walked up the stairs, getting into a stance and looking forward with confidence.
"ON THE OTHER SIDE, WE HAVE THE SHIELD, THE UNMOVABLE OBJECT, EIJIRO KIRISHIMA!" Kirishima hopped up, smirking as he looked towards Momo.
Midoriya walked up to his class, sitting down and groaning as he did so.
"Are you alright, Deku?" Ochako asked, causing Midoriya to sigh.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just need to work on dialing down hearing when I don't need it. Let's focus on the match, now."
Funnily enough-
"BEGIN!"
Kirishima rushed forward, keeping his skin normal for now. At least, until Momo created a metal gauntlet and tried punching him with it. Her form was terribly sloppy, allowing Kirishima to dodge, and then punch her in the stomach. Yaoyorozu coughed, before she was pushed out of the ring by Kirishima, who smiled proudly at his work. Yaoyorozu's heart fell in defeat.
Midpriya's left eye opened slightly, watching as Momo walked away from the stadium, defeated. He heard her heartbeat quicken, like she was about to cry. As much as the sound alone made his head split anew, he knew that he'd better comfort her for the loss. Midoroya got up, excusing himself from the rest of the class, then leaving.
On the other side of the wall…
"I totally could have done that if I wasn't thrown against such a cheat!" Tetsutetsu yelled in despair, much to the amusement of his friends and classmates.
All except for Pony, who was focused not on anything, not even the battles, except for one thing.
Izuku Midoriya.
His powers were too close to the legend that was Superman- The hero before heroes, as they called him. While here he was nothing but a comic, they had a full on memorial dedicated to him in the states, in what used to be Metropolis before the quirk wars.
So, seeing someone like this- There was no doubt that he was inspired by or related to the legendary man of steel. Pony squealed at the thought, causing several of her classmates to look at her confused, except for Shiozaki. They all looked away pretty quickly
"Are you fangirling over that demon, Pony?" She questioned, her gaze towards the aforementioned girl. Pony huffed, and crossed her arms in irritation.
"He'a not a demon, Shio, he's just really strong!" She argued, to which Shiozaki scoffed in response.
"Anyone on a warpath like he is certainly can't be human, Pony."
Pony froze, and then slowly turned to look at Shiozaki. She didn't say anything, but simply turn her attention back towards the arena. Shiozaki had no idea how close she may be.
It wasn't hard. After the heartbeat came the crying, and the crying made a audio-themed trail. So, here Midpriya was, sitting besides Momo against the wall.
"What's wrong, Momo?" The girl jumped slightly, before falling back into tears.
"I— I couldn't beat him. He took me out so easily- I could barely use my quirk.." Momo let out in between sniffs. Midoriya gave a small nod.
"I know… but why does it matter, Momo?"
"Because, Midoriya! Everyone- Everyone knows that the higher placed you are, the more heroes will pay attention to you. The more that pay attention to you, the better the internships."
It had become clear to them, especially after asking several people, that the sports festival was more than just for the school. It also had to deal with their careers as a whole.
Midoriya softly shook his head, and bumped his arm into Momo's.
"And you're telling me no one would want to intern someone who can create anything?" Momo nodded but stopped mid-way through. Midoriya smiled.
"Exactly. You'll be fine, Momo. I know you will."
Momo felt small tears well up again, seeing as she was stuck in an emotional state.
Midoriya started getting up to give her personal space but she grabbed onto him, pulling him back down. After which, she gave him a hug.
"Thank you, Midoriya."
"Mhm, it's— It's what heroes do." Midoriya's face flashed red for a moment as he realized he was hugging someone of the opposite sex, before he realized.. He didn't care. He was here, for her. And if she wanted to give a hug or get a hug, so be it.
Kendo and Shinso's fight began in the meantime.
Shinso looked at Kendo for a solid second, before snickering, and closing his eyes. Kendo squinted in confusion.
"What's so funny?"
"Oh," Shinso said, acting as if nothing was out of the ordinary, "Just wondering if you or one of the other girls will win Midoriya or not.
The reaction was immediate from the martial artist, her face becoming like that of a tomato as she shouted in response.
"I—" And then she stopped, and her eyes went blank. Shinso's smile disappeared. He pointed towards her arena entrance.
"Walk off the arena's edge."
The audience gasped as they witnessed what happened. Itsuka Kendo turned around, and did exactly what she was told to do, only snapping out of it as she fell. Shinso heard the crowd call his quirk villainous. He sighed, he was ex—
"All of you need to shut up."
Shinso's eyes widened dramatically, along with the rest of Class 1A and 1B, or those who were outside of course.
"You're calling his quirk villainous?" Aizawa questioned, to which no one answered.
"The quirk isn't what makes a villain, people. It's what the person who has it does."
And just like that, Aizawa's mic cut out again, staying quiet once again. The crowd was also quiet. Shinso couldn't have asked for anything more than what he got. He looked up to Aizawa and gave him a thumbs up, before walking off.
Kendo continued looking on for a moment before snapping out of it, walking out of the arena while her face continued mimicking a tomato.
Midoriya himself, having overheard after he and Yaoyorozu returned, was red faced himself. His classmates looked on in confusion, to which Midoriya just waved it off, saying it was nothing. Ochako waved to Midoriya as the next break happened, running off to get ready for her bout against Shiozaki.
Annd I'm so sorry for the wait. The battles are short and to the point, mostly, because I was trying to complete this while experiencing.. hella problems. Which would also explain if it's rushed at all, even if it hasn't been updated in MONTHS.
I knew that if I didn't get it out now, I would have been even later with it.
I hope you all enjoy, and hope you don't have to wait that long for the next chapter.
