The next match was between Akatani and Todoroki. Akatani was going to lose badly, he was dead, so dead. Izuku was waiting in close anticipation for it to start.

The match started, and Todoroki sent a wave of ice. Izuku was about to note the one-sided victory when something unexpected happened.

The ice was destroyed in an instant. Akatani was untouched.

What the hell? How did this happen?

"What the heck? How did this happen? Akatani destroyed the ice before it reached him!" Present Mic said in the speaker. "Aizawa, do you have an explanation?"

"It's his support items. They were all specifically chosen to counteract his opponents. This time he used a heat bomb. A device used specifically to melt ice. They're used when hero fights leave ice in populated areas, specifically highways or neighborhoods. It seems Akatani found a new use for them." It was Aizawa, using his usual dull voice.

That explained it, and if Akatani could counteract Todoroki's strongest attack, there's no telling who would win.

The fight was still going, Todoroki sent ice, and Akatani used his heat bombs.

Akatani was gradually moving closer to his opponent while he focused on making ice. He got to him and sent a kick to his left side. It was clumsily blocked.

At that exact moment, Akatani set off a heat bomb at Todoroki's left, it kept him from making more ice. He punched him in the face, it staggered him, he did it again, and again, repeatedly.

Todoroki stepped away, he seemed fatigued, breathing heavily. Izuku prayed he would win. He reeled back an arm and went to punch Akatani. It was caught, and Akatani flipped him over himself, slamming him into the ground. He didn't get up. Akatani won the fight.

Izuku wanted to scream. He could feel his fingers nearly break as he crushed his fist. He took a deep breath. He had to keep his nerves in check, he's meant to be the nice, quirkless, reporter. Not the genius, quirkless killer. He got up and left the seating area. He went to the nearest bathroom and splashed water on his face. He took several deep breaths, waiting for his heart to settle.

The door opened, and the guy in blue walked in. He walked into a stall. Damnit, why was his luck so awful? Seeing that guy made him so much angrier than before. After a few minutes, the guy came out again. He started washing his hands.

"Why did you try to stop the fight? Uraraka is much stronger than she seems. She got into the toughest hero school in the country," said Izuku.

The blue guy sighed. "Yeah, I got a little hot-headed out there. What I saw out there reminded me a lot of my childhood, I was bullied a lot. I just wanted to be the hero for once." This guy was growing on him slightly. He didn't hate him as much.

"Story of my life, right? If only more people could be heroes." He found it easy to talk to him. "I couldn't if I tried."

"Oh, are you quirkless?" He nodded. "Yeah, me too, but a man likes to dream. You can see my terrible costume. It's great that Akatani kid is becoming a hero, there will only be more quirkless heroes now." This was terrible, he was such an okay person. He could see them becoming friends if only he had a quirk. "Uh, why are you looking at me like that?"

"No reason." He started walking towards the quirkless man, he took his gloves off and rolled up his sleeves. "I just need to vent a little."

Izuku Midoriya was washing the blood from his hands. He stabbed the man with his pen repeatedly, forced him into a stall, and drowned him in the toilet. None of the blood made it out of the stall, he propped it up so it looked like the guy's corpse was using the toilet. It won't work forever, but the festival could finish without anybody noticing.

He put his gloves back on, unrolled his sleeves, and walked out like nothing happened. He briefly looked around and saw a stark lack of security cameras. It's like they were begging for someone to get killed. It helped him immensely. He made it back to his seat.

"What happened, you missed multiple matches." Kirishima was asking questions, he had to think quickly.

"It took a while to find the bathroom."

"But it's right there." He was right, it was twenty steps away from the exit.

"I guess I missed it. I went left." Kirishima laughed at that. Why do people keep laughing at what he says? He couldn't understand it.

The match in progress was Kaachan and, this has got to be a joke, Akatani. Was he away for that long? How did he beat, Izuku tried to remember who he went against, but he gave up. It didn't matter, they all had quirks and he shouldn't have been able to win.

"And here it is, the final fight! Who will win, the first-ever quirkless hero student, or the guy who can make explosions?" Present Mic couldn't come up with a clever line to introduce Kaachan. Izuku rolled his eyes, he could say a hundred things about him off the top of his head. "Let's get this started!"

They ran towards each other. Kaachan started with a right hook, and Akatani redirected it and sent a right hook. Kaachan responded by exploding his left hand. It was a feint that went very well.

Akatani was blown back. He flipped and landed on his feet, dropping to one knee. He bounced up for another attack. It went on for a few minutes with similar outcomes for each exchange.

"Hey, what's going on? Why isn't Akatani pulling out a trick? Aizawa, explain."

"It's obvious," Aizawa said. "He couldn't find an easy way to counteract Bakugo's explosions. But if you look closely, you see his clothing is modified to be more heat resistant. He's also attacking incessantly, he has a very high stamina. If he could withstand the explosions long enough, Bakugo could wear himself out."

The fight went on, Akatani attacked, and Kaachan tried to blow him up, but he either got out of the way or tanked it without much damage. Ten minutes passed without any change.

They were both stumbling, breathing heavily, and barely standing. Izuku was on the edge of his seat, if Kaachan didn't win, he'd kill someone. They went after each other, Akatani with a right hook, Kaachan doing the same, but with an explosion. They both connected.

Akatani hit the floor, unconscious, Kaachan Won! "And there we have it! The final fight has ended in a tie!" What? Izuku looked over and his heart sank. Kaachan was on the floor, he wasn't moving.

Izuku was torn. Kaachan didn't lose, but he also didn't win, neither did Akatani. He was stuck between anger and disappointment. He didn't know what to think. He did know he was screwed, he wasn't allowed to write about Kaachan and he'd rather die than write about Akatani. He had no story, he'd have to pay for the ticket out of pocket. With his seat, it would cost more than a hundred thousand yen. He needed the most scandalous, eye-catching story in years to make up for it.

He looked through his notes, something had to come out to him. Then he saw it. Endeavor trying to bribe a student, or potential abuse in the family, he had to make sure. He pocketed the notepad and waited.

The ending ceremony was the usual rigamarole, with a podium, medals, and All Might hugging the winners. When he saw that, Izuku almost ran down there and killed Akatani on the spot. It would've been so worth it.

Both Akatani and Kaachan were on the top podium, they were tied for first place. Kaachan was calm, he accepted defeat. This made Izuku uncomfortable, he should be trying to kill that loser! Akatani was smiling, he was so smug, he should just kill himself, and make Izuku's job infinitely easier. He hated this.

The ceremony ended and everyone started leaving. The winners were swarmed with reporters while everyone else was left alone. There was one who was alone because they snuck away, Todoroki, he didn't care about attention. This made sense because he didn't answer any questions during their interview. Izuku saw where he went and followed.