Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia or Fate/Stay Night

...

To say there was unease for those scheduled to fight was an understatement. Not so mostly because of the people they themselves were scheduled to fight, but rather that they would have to go on after the top two engaged one another in what they felt would be a spectacle like nothing else. For many, they felt as if this would be something on the level of watching a couple of the top twenty professional heroes go at it and this was the only time they would get the chance to witness such an event.

Ojiro sat in the waiting room, fully knowing that his bout would be the first to follow and considering that the winner between him and Aoyama was set to fight against the winner of Shirou and Rin, the chances were almost impossible. It was sad that he was partially hoping for the two of them to do so much damage to one another that it would be possible for him to potentially put up a decent contest against the winner. Provided he got past Aoyama and his naval laser in the first place. In theory he just needed to outlast him until he reached his limit, dodge everything that his classmate threw at him but sadly that wouldn't exactly provide a standout performance, and considering what he had discussed with Shirou beforehand, he needed to stand out.

Ojiro had been toying with the idea to pull out, to withdraw from the competition due to him not exactly recalling how it was he made it this far. He didn't know why he had asked Shirou for advice in the situation but had considered the possibility that if anyone could give him some answers, it would be him. Turns out he had quite a bit to say on the matter. Shirou told him that even if he didn't remember doing it, he had still played his part in the contest and as such had reached the objective. Shirou told him that there was a possibility at times where, if he were to be part of a joint venture, he would be unaware of what everyone else was doing and that his own goal would only serve to help the group as a whole. In the present and now though, even if he didn't feel like he deserved to stand on this stage, Shirou had told him that his teammates in the previous event had helped him get here. As such, he had just as much right as anyone else in the back to be where he was now.

While it left an awkward taste in his mouth, Ojiro couldn't fault Shirou's reasoning. It was why he was still where he was. He would go into the bout with Aoyama with everything he had at his disposal, ignoring the safe way to victory in exchange for the chance to show off what it was that he could do. For if not now, when would he get another chance to stand in a similar position.

...

Bakugo ground his teeth together as he ignored the events being played on the tv. Here he was, in the top sixteen of the school but it wasn't enough. He wanted to be ranked higher! To be seen as the elite that he was.

Unfortunately, fighting against raccoon eyes and her acid would not give him the true chance to truly show the world what he was capable of. To do that, he would have to go against him later on, which judging by the bracket, meant he would fight him in the semi finals. Win or lose, that was where he would get the greatest chance to prove himself.

Then the final would likely be against the half and half bastard. The hot and cold teenager would be competing with the vice president of their class, the girl who made stuff from her body. She was the same as him in that she had gotten through via recommendations.

Not that it mattered. Half and half would crush her before she could make anything worthwhile. He only wished that he had a higher chance of confronting the hot and cold shithead himself.

Still though, he would make a statement. He hadn't been training for nothing after all.

...

Midoriya returned to his seat, after having competed in the events that were held to give those competing time to devise strategies. On his lap, he had his notebook and pencil already prepped and ready for action.

He knew that the first bout itself would be something amazing to witness but he had to get some sort of intel for future use. All Might had requested of him to prove himself and he had failed to do that. It wouldn't be the only chance he had to show that he was here however. Both second and third year students were currently competing as well and he would get the chance to do just that a year from now.

For now, he had to use his knowledge and information gathering skills to his advantage.

Shirou vs Rin was just the first match he was going to monitor. He had no intention of missing out on a single moment.

Would Ashido find someway to be able to compete against Kaa-chan?

Could Ojiro find a way to close the distance in his battle against Aoyama?

Would Iida underestimate his opponent just because he was in the general studies department?

Those questions didn't even cover half of the bouts in the first round and then there would be match after match after that. He needed to know what everyone was capable of, and just see how great the distance between him and the top of his peers truly was. Despite having one of the greatest quirks in the world, he sincerely doubted that in singles action against anyone down there he would come out victorious.

He still needed to learn how to properly control One for All. At this stage, throwing himself against Shirou time and time again had helped him learn that he didn't even have a base fighting style to work with. All Might rescued people with a single punch, but said punch still had to land.

Midoriya's thoughts were shattered as Present Mic's voice rang out, announcing that the first bout was going to commence. Here, Midoriya was going to learn and study something which many would never even consider.

Did Shirou have a weakness known by his long term friend, and if so, would she use it to walk away victorious?

...

Shirou paid little attention to the applause give to him and Rin as the two of them stepped atop the platform that they would compete in. He could guess the list of rules that were going to be announced, this wasn't exactly his first time competing in some form of tournament after all, though thankfully this time it wouldn't end in too much bloodshed. As he and Rin finished only a dozen metres apart from each other, Shirou spoke up. "You know we could really piss them off by simply standing here and waiting out the fifteen minutes doing absolutely nothing."

"True, but I'd rather not be known as the woman who threw away the tournament," said Rin with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Oh, you think you're going to win?" said Shirou in a condescending tone. In the background, they could hear Midnight commence the match but neither of them paid too much attention to it.

"Please, we both know that the chances of me winning are minimal," said Rin. "If I go all out, catch you by surprise I might be able to give myself an opening but I rather not show these people what I'm actually capable of."

"So what, you're just going to forfeit," said Shirou, coming to the conclusion.

"Eventually, but you're going to have to make me," said Rin, placing a single hand on her hip.

"Make you huh," repeated Shirou before closing his eyes, anticipating what it was that Rin truly was trying to accomplish right now. Shirou knew that Rin always had a plan in place, even if he wasn't really sure what said plan was or how she intended to enact it. She wanted him to do something here in front of all these people, and whether or not it was in this round or the next few towards the title he wasn't certain.

He knew that Rin had been controlling things for a while now, as soon as she had discovered what this world was capable of she had been using it to her advantage. Shirou was observant, frighteningly so. He had deciding that interfering with whatever it was that Rin was working towards would only turn on him in the long run. It was just part of the game that she played.

The main problem with her game though was that she was still playing by the same set of rules that had governed them for over half a century. Rules that had harsh penalties attached to them. She seemed to forget that they weren't being watched over meticulously by Clock Tower, that their skills and abilities could be used in the open and even if they weren't a quirk they just had to say it was. It was the wonders of being in a world where nearly everybody was born with a remarkable power at their disposal.

Rin though still didn't see it that way. She was planning and plotting something involving him since before they had gotten caught all those months prior. Even in the police station, he could have thought of a number of ways that Rin could have gotten them out of that cell that didn't involve destroying one of the surrounding walls. Yet that had been the option that she had told him to do. It was all part of the game she was playing with him and the world around them as her pieces.

If she wanted to play games though, he could play just as fairly, or unfairly in this case. It was time to throw in something that she couldn't possibly have planned on.

He could hear the crowd in the background starting to get riled up, the lack of action for the first couple minutes of the match clearly grating on their nerves. Even Present Mic on the commentary was demanding some sort of action to take place. He pushed all of that out of his mind, focusing solely on his breathing as he lifted up his right hand so that his palm was facing Rin.

"I Am The Bone Of My Sword."

While those in the audience may not have been able to hear what had been said, they could certainly feel it as a wave of something indescribable washed over them. For Shirou's peers in Class 1-A, they could immediately feel a change in the atmosphere which informed them that they were about to see something spectacular.

Rin meanwhile couldn't help the shocked look that crossed her face. She had expected Shirou to do something outlandish but this...THIS! Bringing out one noble phantasm in front of this crowd would have likely been more than enough but to try and do this! She hoped that it was all some elaborate bluff, a part of the game they were playing and he had played the biggest piece he could find to try and get her to forfeit.

It was a bluff, it had to be.

"Steel Is My Body and Fire Is My Blood."

Another pulse of magical energy surged throughout the arena and Rin couldn't help but feel like she had misjudged the level of stupidity that Shirou had at his disposal. To go and use his trump card in a televised match where everyone across the country could watch, just what was he thinking.

"I Have Created Over a Thousand Blades."

Rin unleashed a Gandr shot, the bright red bullet surging forward only to collide against a blade that forged in the path of her trajectory before it pierced into the stone below. It was then that a daunting thought crossed her path.

Shirou was serious.

"I forfeit!" she yelled out, doing her best to attract the attention of Midnight who was standing at the edge of the stage. The professional hero however didn't seem to acknowledge Rin the first time, forcing the magus to call out a second time and managing to get her attention this time.

"Winner by forfeit, Shirou!" shouted Midnight. With the announcement made, Shirou allowed his powers to subside and the pressure around the stadium lifted. It was then that those in the audience seemed to notice what the surges had caused. For the civilians, many of them had remained seated more so out of confusion than anything else. The urgent feeling to flee had welled up within their bodies but the curiosity as to what would happen before them had kept them rooted to their seats.

As for the heroes, that was another story entirely.

A good number of the professional heroes had found themselves tensed, some even standing up from their seats. A few had been prepared to stop whatever unspeakable force it was that Shirou was prepared to unleash while the majority were ready to protect the citizens and help evacuate where necessary. These people had encountered villains as part of their profession, but none of them had ever felt as threatened as they had just then.

Having been as close to the source of the power as she had been, Midnight had found herself shivering where she had stood, almost oblivious to the world around her. She had been so focused on what was happening before her that she had barely been able to hear Rin's cry of forfeit, one which she announced out of desperation in order to get Shirou to stop. His quirk was to craft weapons, ones that he had seen before if the reports from Aizawa were correct. That begged a simple question.

What was he trying to craft?

...

To say that Midoriya was shocked would be an understatement. He didn't even know how he still had some sentiment of a grip on his writing utensil. Beside him, Ochako was still, almost deathly so. Both of them had watched with bated breath only to have been confronted by that...whatever that was.

Now that he had something resembling an actual thought process cross through his mind, Midoriya had to try and come up with a single answer to the conundrum he now faced.

Why?

He recalled how when they had been pushing Shirou to train them he had specifically made mention that he would not hold back. For all intents and purposes, considering none could last even ten seconds against him, they thought it to be true. Yet he had been holding back...that! Was it his secret move? A special weapon that could only be used once? Since he had struggled to move from this distance, would he have been able to do anything if he had been closer? Could he have even be able to keep conscious in front of such raw strength?

Midoriya found himself looking down at his hand and how it had yet to start shaking. He held one of the most powerful quirks in existence, gifted to him by All Might himself. Yet never before had he seen the number one hero exert that kind of pressure before. Not to say that he wasn't capable of it, were All Might to unleash all of his power it would be astronomical in force and Midoriya was thankful that there wasn't an opponent around that could push him to that limit.

With that in mind though, could he exert that kind of power? All Might had stated that at the moment he could achieve five percent of his power and that was still enough to break bones if he had a lapse in concentration or simply used it improperly. A little over a year ago, it had practically been impossible for him to become a hero and he was merely chasing a dream. The All Might had appeared in his life and now he actually had a chance of accomplishing said dream.

Right there, in the arena, that was the goal line. Not to beat Shirou, that still seemed like an impossible task and only more so after that display. No, what he needed to achieve was the level of commitment the heroes in the stands had been able to accomplish despite the waves of power flowing over them. The true heroes had been ready to help those around them, while he had sat frozen in his seat for what very well could have been an eternity, waiting for the pressure to end.

If anything, that was as good a stepping stone as any on making his way towards becoming a hero.

...

Ojiro felt like smashing his head against the wall. He really did. The tailed student knew that he would have to follow Shirou, the man whom he had yet to land a single hit on. He had expected to be able to put on a performance against Aoyoma that would be able to showcase what he was capable of. He had expected Shirou and Rin to put on some sort of physical display that would showcase their brilliance and technical prowess, but how could he follow that?

Shirou had won, by simply exerting his power. Not a single attack had been thrown by him. He had made his friend forfeit without even moving from his starting position. What it was he was trying to do, Rin knew what it was and had chosen to forfeit rather than face whatever it was that he was attempting.

Now he had to go out and try and entertain the crowd. He knew what they would only be paying him the barest attention however, likely using their time to whisper to one another, discuss what they had just witnessed or more importantly, felt. Only those who were looking for a specific intern and saw some sort of potential in him and his quirk would be watching wholeheartedly.

If that was all that would be properly paying attention, then that was the group of people he would direct this fight towards. Every hero was different after all. Some had visually stunning quirks while others had simple quirks which barely made them different from everyday civilians. At the end of the day however, whether their quirk was flashy or not, they were still heroes, those who put their lives on the line to save others.

Ojiro knew that his tail was an extension of himself, an extra limb that he could use to fight with if necessary. Was it something stunning that would draw attention away from other heroes and on to himself? No. That didn't mean that he couldn't do just as good a job, if not better than other heroes in the field!

With newfound determination filling his being, Ojiro's eyes sharpened as he looked down the corridor leading to the arena where he would face off against his classmate. Before he had been looking forward to simply showing off his abilities. Now he had a true reason to win and show that a more mundane quirk could win against something fancier. Aoyama's naval laser was indeed something fancy, and he was going to show everyone that it could be bested by a tail.

...

Hope you enjoyed