The fifth match was already on its way.

The teachers had already announced for both girls to begin and they wasted no time. Kamala, the inhuman of class B, focusing her gaze on her opponent as she took a defensive stand. All the while Ashido, the horned-pink-skinned girl of class A started to rush towards Kamala, with a big grin and confident look on her face. One thing was for sure, this match so far was already different from the other ones so far.

"I'll be taking the lead, if it isn't too much trouble for you!" Ashido told Kamala, as she went from running to… skate on the ground?"

As she said that, Ashido closed the distance between the two of them. Before Kamala predicted, she was already in front of her and throwing jabs at Kamala. And while a frontal attack felt a little odd for Mina as far as most of her classmates were concerned, that didn't take away that she sure was pushing the class B girl quite a bit. With Mina throwing jab after jab with Kamala weaving out of each and every single one of those hits while trying to move away.

And just as those in Mina's class were starting to wonder what plan was it that she had in mind, Mina smirked as she started to change things. Instead of a jab, Mina made an arching movement with her left hand directed inwards. And instead of a fist, her hand was completely open and leaking a very notorious liquid. Kamala saw this and tried to make even more room between the two girls as Mina spreaded that liquid into the ground. As she did, Kamala's sight focused on the ground, looking at the place that had been hit, starting to let go of some steam as it started to eat at the ground. And that moment of distraction was what Mina needed, because just as Kamala realized what was happening as she lifted her sight to her opponent, she saw her throwing a right hook at Kamala.

Gritting her teeth and realizing that she could not lift her defense in time in the normal way, Kamala decided to try one of Kendo's moves. She lifted her defense a little halfway through while enlarging her entire hand to try and make up for her inability to reach in time. And as she did, she was successful in blocking said jab. And while Mina may not be as physically strong as her, she admitted that the punch packed quite some sting. Especially because Kamala was actually feeling a sting in her hand as she winced in pain a little bit.

Pushing the fist away and managing to get Mina off balance a little bit, Kamala had enough time to get away from Mina as she enlarged her other hand and tried to pin the pink girl down by slamming it down on her. Tho, thankfully for Mina, she was able to recover and acted quickly, skating away from Kamala just as she did that. As for the Inhuman girl, she returned her hands to normal size and looked at where the small sting originated and noticed a bit of a mark there. And as she looked up to her opponent, she knew it.

Mina was serious about going all out.

Mina Ashido - Quirk: Acid!

She can generate corrosive liquid from any part of her skin and is able to control the level of strength of it!

"Heeheehee! You like that? Because I'm only getting started!" she smirked, while pointing two fingers at Kamala.

"She made it so that her acid wouldn't cause too much damage to me, while at the same time making it so that it still hurt enough to make her punches hit harder" she noted, looking at the very minor wound left in her hand, which if it was already hard to spot, it became none existent the moment Kamala's own power healed it in the blink of an eye and as it did, the girl smiled "Cute trick. But this is still a warm up to me!" she proclaimed, as she started to charge at the girl as the crowd went nuts.

"And what a start for the fifth match! It is quite clear that this fight will be like none that have come before!"

"Mainly because this one is an actual fight"


"Wow, I suddenly forgot that the class B girl was actually really strong" Kyoka noted as she and the rest of the class looked at the match.

Both Kamala and Mina were exchanging attack after attack. With Mina maneuvering around the Inhuman girl with her agility, while Kamala worked around it by using her own stretching powers to keep up with her. Stretching her legs to make large leaps in and out of the other girl's reach while trying to catch her with her elongated arms. All the while the pink girl used her acid to keep her at bay. Using it against Kamala as if a circus act keeping a lion out of reach with a whip and chair. The fight so far was quite intense and with no one knowing full-well who could take the win.

"Her quirk is rather versatile. In terms of practicality, she is no doubt one of the most adaptable students in the school"

"And as far as offensive capabilities, she sure is no slouch either, ribbit" Tsu said, following what the vice president of the class stated.

"Not a quirk" they all suddenly heard.

Turning to the one to have said that, it shouldn't have been a surprise to see that it was Annie the one to have spoken. Between her actually knowing the class B girl better than them, to the fact that she was the smartest student on the grade, it was obvious that she would correct her fellow classmates if need be.

"Not a quirk? So does she get her powers from somewhere else like you?" Ojiro asked her.

Annie looked at her classmates and then to the match. She saw Kamala and Mina, still exchanging blow after blow while dodging said blows. She wondered if it would be ok for her to speak in regards to their powers. After all, she remained quiet when asked about Hitoshi. So she looked at Valerie, as if thinking that doing so would give her an answer.

Valerie looked at her and almost as if she has read her mind, as if knowing exactly what she was thinking, she decided to be the one to speak.

"W-While quirks are the most common w-way to have powers in places like Japan, they aren't the only ones in the world" Valerie said, her voice as soft as always, but still being heard by her classmates "E-Ever since the Fantastic Four got their powers, it started a boom of heroes w-with powers ranging from the scientific to the supernatural. All without them being quirks, which in the US, aren't that common" she said, as most of her classmates who were all quiet at her words.

"So… she has one of those powers" Bakugo spoke all of the sudden, taking everyone by surprise due to not expecting him to actually pay attention or care for what they were talking about "She has one of those powers that aren't quirks, doesn't she?"

Valerie nodded, before turning to the fight between the two girls "W-We all do, a-actually" she said, surprising the others a little.

Sure, they knew Annie didn't have a quirk-related power due to her connection with Spider-Man, but that was still somewhat rare to see in Japan, maybe a handful of mutants. To see someone that doesn't have powers due to quirk in the country and to find out they have three classmates like that?

"She's an Inhuman" Annie finished the explanation "And as far as her powers are. I don't even know all the limits of what she can do"


Mina tried to strike at Kamala with two direct hits to the abdomen. Two direct hits that Kamala managed to avoid by deforming her torso and pulling it backwards as if she were an old cartoon. After which, she tried to strike her with a kick that she stretched to try and push her off. However, Mina was able to move out of the way and tried to land a hit on Kamala's face. And like before, she avoided said hit by using her powers, stretching her neck and moving her whole head out of the way.

She then tried to grab a hold of her wrist, but just as she did, Mina let some acid come out of her arm and burned Kamala a little upon contact with her skin, which is the reason why she let her go and pulled back.

"Damn, she's good" Kamala admitted mentally "She may not be on the same level as Kendo, Annie or Valerie, but she's still very good on her feet. I can barely land a blow on her" she said, all while then looking at her hand, with the small burn-like mark which was already hearing "And even when I do land a hit, she does that acid thing and makes me hurt myself. Even if it isn't too much to cause too much damage, it still hurts and with how my healing works, she's going to tire me out soon enough if this keeps happening"

"You know, I gotta admit that this is really fun" Mina told the Inhuman girl "I mean, I already knew you were going to be super strong from your match on day 2, but you really are strong. If I hadn't dodge all those hits, I would have been a goner"

"Well, kinda unfair that you get that when I don't. And while I could do with not getting burn every time I touch you, I have to admit it. This is pretty entertaining" Kamala replied with a small grin.

"Crap, she doesn't seem to be that tired" Mina innerly told herself, noticing how Kamala was recovering fairly quickly from her attacks "She looks up and ready to fight, meanwhile I'm already starting to feel thirsty from all the acid I've been using in the fight alone. If I don't finish this quick, I'll lose"

Before she could recover, Kamala rushed towards Mina. She tried to pull back to avoid the Inhuman, but she retaliated by punching forward while both enlarging her first to twice its regular size and stretching it as well. Catching Mina off guard and landing, sending her backwards a few meters back and making her fall on her back. Stinging quite a bit, Mina was pulled off her discomfort by the roar of the audience as she quickly say Kamala's hand approaching her as it was slamming towards her.

She lifted her arms in a defensive position and produced some acid from them. Kamala noticed that as well and instantly flinched. She was not a fan of that acid of hers. And that moment of hesitation was all that young Ashido needed to quickly roll off where the hand was about to slam and get back on her feet.


"Uh, the fight is still going on?" Robbie asked.

"And where have you been? The match that followed yours already came and gone and you still didn't show up?" Manga asked the vice rep of class B.

"I wanted to make sure that blonde kid could be able to tell where his thumbs were before coming here. No way was I risking the chance of getting blamed if that guy got permanent brain damage" Reyes replied, with a weakened and half conscious Monoma trying to say something.

"Monoma, I am starting to grow green hairs after dealing with you. Don't make me get over there to try and knock sense into you" Kendo threatened him.

"What was that all about?"

"Monoma was being Monoma in your fight. And the fight that followed. And it made me question yours and Khan's taste in friends"

"Really? I've been questioning them myself for quite a while already" he replied, taking his seat as he watched the fight "But I mean it. The fight is still going on? I was already expecting her to be over already?" he finished as the rest of the class (minus Monoma) all looked at him weirdly.

"Mmm mm mm mm?" Tokage said… while still having her mouth covered in tape.

"I mean, I figured Kamala would have already won by now"

"Please Reyes. I already have this crazy one here to deal with. Don't add another one on my plate" Kendo said while signaling to Monoma.

"It's not like that"

"Is it because you always mentioned how that pink girl gives you dirty looks?" asked the boy with glue-like powers.

"No….but now that you mentioned it, that's not exactly a reason I'm opposed to"

"Then why do you say that?" asked Ibarra.

"It's not like I'm saying the other class is weak. It's just me knowing one obvious fact" said the LA boy as he watched his classmate, landing another hit while standing proud and mighty with confidence in the battle "That fact is, that Kamala is strong"


"Ok, she's slowing down, that's a good thing" Kamala thought, trying to smack at Mina, who still managed to dodge her attack "Would be nice if that meant I could actually land a hit on her! But apparently that's not how things work around here!"

Even tho Mina's movements were starting to grow slower as the fight kept on going, the girl was still capable of evading Kamala's attacks. With the Inhuman also starting to grow a bit tired herself, if only a bit due to her healing the acid attacks from her opponent. Sure, they weren't that deadly, it's not like it was melting her hand or anything. But dammit it still hurts. It felt like that time when she was 8 and accidentally burned her hand on the stove as she accidentally sat her injured hand on the lemon juice placed on the counter…

Looking back, her parents had every right to ban her from the kitchen unless she had adult supervision back then. She was stupid clumsy.

Regardless of that, it was starting to feel like she made her acid a bit stronger than earlier. She could take it, so it made sense for her to take advantage of that. It sucked but with how important the Sports Festival was and with how serious people of Japan took it, no shock Mina would try everything she could to win.

Still, she had to find a way to win herself, she couldn't let her class, her family and her friends down. That and if she lost, she would never hear the end of it from Robbie. But it was hard with how slippery Mina was to even land one clean hit. And even when she can get a hold of her, she used her acid to escape. She had to think of something fast.

And that's when she realized something. As she threw another attack that was dodged by her opponent. She saw something the moment she landes

"Wait, she's using her acid to skate around the arena. And the acid she uses actually eats at the ground a bit" she noted, realizing the many paths of eaten ground as if a snake had slithered through the ground "This may be a bit of a stretch. But maybe, I can use them to get one over Mina"

"Ok, this is getting a bit tiring now, so why do-Whoa!" Mina exclaimed, having just dodged another attempt of Kamala trying to slam her into the ground.

However, unlike the previous times, she didn't slow down one bit. In a rapid chain of attacks, Kamala was pushing forward at Mina so much that the pink girl could only have time to dodge. Skating around the arena as she sas evading attacks, after attacks, after attacks. Kamala was not letting her catch her breath for even a single second.

"Hey, what's with the sudden aggression?" Mina asked, as she ducked as Kamala threw a punch at her.

"A little bit more! Get her to slip for a single second and that'll be it!" the Inhuman told herself as she kept on throwing punches at Mina that were barely being avoided.

Back at the bleachers, the blue girl class A suddenly started to feel a little bit of deja vu as she watched the fight. Something that Annie was quick to notice in her facial expression.

"Something in your mind, Val?" Annie asked her friend.

"I think I'm starting to notice something, but I can't put my finger on what it is"

Back at the fight, the exchange between Kamala and Mina was still going almost the same. The only difference now being that the class A girl was starting to get used to Kamala's pattern of attacks. Now, having picked up the pace and skating around the arena a bit more at her own speed like before. Keeping her distance while the Inhuman kept on throwing stretchable punches at her.

"Almost there.. just a little bit more and… There!" the class B told herself.

As the Pakistani girl thought that, she threw a right jab at Mina that she was able to dodge fairly easily. Something that she believed the reason being that her opponent was beginning to tire. However, just as she was expecting another left jab to follow Kamala's barrage of attacks, something different happened that took her off the loop. Just as she was bringing her arm back to her, she noticed a movement in her hips that didn't indicate a left punch. More so she noticed the movement of a kick.

And that would be an astute observation, because that's what she was doing. Stretching her right leg at the same time as she was aiming for a low kick at Mina's legs. Something that she did not expect and as such made her act slower because of it. She still was able to dodge the attack, thankfully for her, jumping just at the right moment to avoid it. But because of that slow reaction time of hers having getting used to Kamala's previous pattern attacks, she didn't quite clear the kick and as one of her feet Made contact with Kamala's kick as she was in the air, she stumbled and almost lost her balance.

Trying to recover fast enough and without paying too much attention because of it, she didn't notice where she was about to step on. And because of that, she failed to notice that she was stopping in one of the trails left by her acid that because of the difference in depth and due to the angle of her foot as it was coming down, made her stumbled even more.

So, she lost her balance yet again and was about to fall on her back. And in that small window of opportunity, in the second that it took for Mina's brain to snap from her sudden confusion as she was processing what had happened, Kamala took her chance.

"Got you!"

As she said that, Kamala stretched her entire arm forward at the still confused and off balance Mina, who was still having her brain catching up with what was happening to notice the attack. And when she was finally about to react, she just felt the force Kamala's hand let in her as age enlarged it and then got a hold of Mina. But she didn't stop there. For even after having gotten a hold of Mina, Kamala's arm thrust still kept on going.

Making the pink girl flinch at the act as she felt the wind pass her as she was being pushed. She remained like that for a few seconds, her hair waving in front of her as she was being moved until suddenly, it stopped. She felt that the motion had concluded and all that was left was the feeling of her seemingly floating. So when she opened her eyes, she found herself, being held above the outside of the arena by Kamala's hand, who was still soundly in the arena with her arm stretched. Afterwards, she gently started to release her grip and carefully placed the pink girl down and letting her stand on the ground. Which meant…

"Damnit!" Mina said as Midnight spoke.

"Ashido-chan is out of bounds! The winner of this match is… Bendy Girl…! Mic is right, that name is not good at all"

"Tell me something I don't know" Kamala said from the sidelines.

Suddenly the crowd went wild. With everyone cheering like crazy and as the pink girl returned to the arena to congratulate her opponent.

"Khan, it's so frustrating but congratulations! You were amazing!" she said, obviously upset but still happy for her friend.

"You were great too. Definitely made winning the fight sting in more than one way" Kamala replied, her arm back to normal and showing the small marks of where the acid had hit that were still healing.

"Hehe, sorry about that. I got carried away a bit. But hey, you took it like a champ! That's gotta count, or something, right?"

"If you say so" Kamala replied, extending her hand to Mina, who took it as both smiled and shook their hands as the crowd went wild.


"I-I remember why it looked familiar" Valerie said, having finally realized what was in her mind.

"You did?" asked Annie with Urataka following in her question.

"Wait, there was something in the match familiar to you?" the brunette asked as the blue girl nodded.

"T-The way Kamala was attacking A-Ashido. It was the same as what H-Hitoshi did against Izuku" the blue girl said, confusing some of her classmates.

"Huh? What do you mean? Weren't those just punches and that was it?" asked Toru as Bakugo snorted.

"Tsk, if you can't even notice something so obvious, then no wonder you damn extra didn't make it to the final tournament"

"You're just the poster boy of manners, aren't you, Napalm Brain?"

"Could someone fill us in on what we all missed? Preferably someone not being a total jerk?" Sato asked the class, while being glared at by Bakugo.

"W-Well…" Valerie started to speak in a low tone due to her shyness "S-Shinso isn't exactly the best f-fighter of our group of friends. But even he l-learned a bit in the past week of training. T-hat first multitude of p-punches were a bit predictable. Not enough to be super easy to avoid right away, but enough that s-someone would be able to pick up quick and get used to to dodge easily"

"Mm, I think I'm starting to see your hypothesis, Vector-san…" Momo suddenly spoke, starting to piece together what the blue girl of class A was trying to tell them"

"Well, I'm still pretty lost, so can you tell us what happened as if we were little kids?" asked Kaminari.

"That assault from that General Course student, if I am correct, was meant to give Midoriya-san a false sense of safety with a pattern of attack simple enough to follow. And once Midoriya-san started to get used to it and in the small window in between him getting used to it and any possible response on his end, Shinso-san, broke abruptly from that pattern of attack to catch Midoriya-san off guard. Would that be correct, Vector-san?"asked the raven-haired girl to Valerie, who nodded to her explanation.

"I still don't follow" Uraraka said, as Annie snapped her fingers.

"Oh, I do now!" Annie said, as she decided to explain what Momo and Valerie explained in, hopefully, more mundane and easy to understand terms "Think of it as a videogame. Basically, there is always a pattern that players tend to pick up whenever we have to deal with enemies. Imagine playing a game and just when you are starting to understand and adapt to the enemy's pattern of attack, it suddenly breaks off that pattern in that transition you are making and pulls something that catches you off guard. That was basically what Hitoshi did. Get Izuku used to a pattern, only to break off it when he was starting to get used to it. That moment of confusion can be pretty messy if you think about it"

"Huh… I think I get it. And that class B girl did the same, right? Bait Ashido into a false sense of security by using an easy to follow pattern and switching it up just as she was starting to get used to it to catch her off guard" Jiro said, finally understanding that strategy.

"I must say, it is an unorthodox strategy and very specific so as to be able to work multiple times. But I guess I can see scenarios in which it could be a useful strategy" Momo said.

"Yeah, guess so. What do you think, Izu-eh?" Annie was staying, trying to communicate with her friend of green hair.

However, that attempt fell sideways when she saw that the boy was doing exactly what should have been expected of him. He was writing in his notebook. A lot. As in, he was probably already at least two pages full of super detailed explanations and notes while mumbling in a way that was reminiscent of some nut job conspiracy theorist writing on some white board.

"Despite her quirk being more focused on offensive abilities, Ashido-san seems to be able to use it to increase her mobility exponentially with it. Now that I think about it, they did mention her skating in the hero and villain exercise of the second day of class. Perhaps that's partly why Kacchan decided to have her on his team on top of countering Todoroki-kun's ice. Khan-san on the other hand apparently doesn't have a quirk. Safe for a literal handful of people, I have almost never seen anyone with powers that don't possess a quirk let alone interact with one until I met Parker-san and the others. More importantly, I have never actually gotten to understand what an inhuman or the powers that come with being one beforehand. I must ask her about the details later when I get the chance. Parker-san did mention something regarding the difference between inhumans, mutants, quirks and what both her and Vector-san have. Maybe I can also ask her about it too. Khan seems to have mainly some kind of stretching powers. I wonder what kind of limitations they could have for her. I also noticed a faint glow coming off her a few times. Would that have to do with her being an inhuman? I wonder what-?"

And so, Izuku would have kept rambling like a madman with his notes. Writing down every little detail that he could about the match between the pink girl of his class and the pakistani girl of class B. Luckily, he was stopped from spiraling down a rabbit hole by none other than class A's resident arachnid child. Who literally snapped him back into reality, by snapping her fingers in front of her. Fun fact about having super strength, enhanced speed, sticky finger powers and an IQ that would put even Albert Einstein to shame. It meant that Annie knew exactly how to make a really loud sound whenever she snapped her fingers.

It may be a laughingstock compared to something like Hulk's thunderclap, but it was still at least good enough to scare Izuku into thinking a metallic bottle was suddenly dropped in front of him in the middle of class out of nowhere.

"Ah!" he suddenly exclaimed, noticing now that all of the class were, well, most of them were currently dealing with a small ring in their ears due to being caught off guard by what Annie did, with Bakugo glaring at her because of course he would, but also looking at Izuku with a very puzzling look… while Bakugo was glaring at him as well.

He could glare at both Deku and the yankee, he is very good at multitasking.

"Oh, sorry. It's just something that I do. I guess I zoned out a bit…" he apologized while Annie looked at him.

"Boy, you really do talk a lot whenever you want to, don't you?" she told the boy, while Uraraka giggled.

"I think it was expected. The moment the match ended and he's already writing down every detail he could" the brunette told the redhead "Ever since the Sport Festival started, you've been giving more of those serious vibes now that I think about it. You really are taking things seriously"

"Oh, well…" Izuku said, looking at the arena, more specifically to Kamala and being reminded of something from not that long ago that he replied to his friends "I don't think it should be a surprise. I'm not the only one doing so"

And as he replied with that answer, another very shy kid from the class stayed with her eyes glued to the arena. A somewhat serious look plastered on her face and with a mix of emotions spinning on the inside. So, out of nowhere she decided to get up to the surprise of the rest of the class.

"Hey Valerie, are you ok?" asked Annie, while Valerie, in her more bashful and nervous self.

"Y-Yeah… I-I was just thinking that I should go to a waiting room t-to prepare" she said with a timid smile before doing as she said and heading off.


CLANG

That was the loud rang of metal having been striked with a great amount of force. With the sixth match already on its way, the fight between the vice president of class A and one of the four recommendation students, Momo Yaoyorozu, fighting against the bird-face shadow-wielding boy of class A, Fumikage Tokoysmi, was raging on. With the boy being the one in control for most of the fight, he had Dark Shadow ram into the black-haired student, who was constantly in the defense making shields to protect herself.

The match was one that was being looked forward to by a lot of people. After all, one of the kids participating was a recommendation student and after the show that Shoto gave the public with his little glacial stunt, it was safe to say that Momo was being observed through a very careful lens. As for Tokoyami, his classmates were aware of how strong he could be. His previous teammates, as well as Koda, all fully aware of just how tough he and Dark Shadow could be. No doubt that they were a powerful duo that anyone on the receiving end of their attacks would find the hard way. And because of those reasons, Momo started trying to formulate a plan of attack the moment they arrived at the arena. One that she believed would be a good one.

Too bad Tokoyami had other plans in mind.

CLANG

"Ugh!" Momo internally exclaimed, protecting herself yet again from another strike from Tokoyami "As expected, Tokoyami-san is too strong! He's not letting me have any room to operate in anything other than being on defense!"

"One last time, Dark Shadow!" Fumikage told his sentient quirk, which rushed towards the girl once more to attack.

"Ay!"

CLANG

Yet another strike, one so strong that it managed to knock the shield Momo was holding onto out of her grasp. Flying away and putting the vice president in an even more unfavorable situation that she was in already. As she was pushed back, Momo was quick to make a replacement for her lost shield. Quickly making a brand new shield, she saw Dark Shadow circling to attack once more.

CLANG

The sound rang once again, pushing Momo back yet again. As she started to recover from the shock of an attack and expecting another to come her way and yet, there was nothing. She thought that there was now a window for opportunity for her to make her move. As quickly as she could, she created a bo staff while keeping her shield up, preparing to go on the offensive when suddenly…

"Yaoyorozu-chan is out of bounds!" Midnight's voice suddenly called out, much to the shock of the recommendation student.

"What?" she asked in shock, looking at her feet and noticing far too late that said statement was indeed true.

Her right foot was just behind the line that marked the boundaries of the arena.

"No… that can't be…" was the only thing Yaoyorozu could say while in complete shock.

Back in the bleachers of her respective class, the rest of class A felt for the most part quite conflicted. While on one hand, they were happy that Tokoyami was able to advance in the tournament, they also couldn't help but to feel for their vice-president. Everything happened so quickly.

And among them, was Annie, who was looking at the match with a careful eye and so, like her friend beforehand, she also stood up and like last time, got the attention of her classmates.

"Hey Parker, what's up?" asked Jiro.

"I was just going to go and see Val before her match starts. You know, seeing that this one ended so soon. Maybe I can run into Momo and see how she is holding" the redhead answered before taking her leave.

And as for the aforementioned Val, boy was she nervous. She had plenty of reasons to be. For one it was in her nature to be terrified of social interactions. Hell, she's spent weeks with her classmates and till this day, she is still too shy to even make small talk about the weather and now she was expecting the go and show herself in front of live television and a whole stadium full of people while she got into a fistfight with a boy from her class?

How has she not fainted from just thinking that fact alone?

"... Would they find me if I shove myself in a locker?" Valerie asked herself.

Just then, she heard the sound of the waiting room's door sliding open. And when she turned to see who it was, Valerie found relief in seeing Annie. Walking in and greeting the blue girl who looked as nervous as the second born Parker would have expected her to be.

"Annie, I need you to shove me in a locker" Valerie told her best friend, who smirked a bit and chuckled at the actual serious request.

"Funny. Usually my experience involving kids and lockers tends to be doing the exact opposite of that" Annie replied, being reminded of her days fending off bullies harassing other kids, before standing next to her blue friend "How are you holding, blueberry?"

"Not great. I-I'm not sure what to do. T-There will be so many people watching me and I…! Can you switch places with me? Pretty please?"

"Wow there, hold your horses. You're nervous, it's ok. We all get nervous at times like this. It's perfectly normal. We just got to be able to deal with it"

"A-And how do I do that? I-I'm not sure I can p-push through the same way you do" Valerie asked, as Annie started thinking.

"Mm… Welp, there is always the ol' imagine people on underwear trick" she said as Valerie blushed like crazy.

"Wh-What?!"

"Then again, I also heard that some like to imagine people's head as food"

"H-How is that going to help me?! I-I can't imagine people near naked and e-expect that to make me feel less uncomfortable! I'm fighting a boy!" Valerie exclaimed, wondering how it is that someone came to the conclusion that imagining people in underwear was any good idea.

Annie on her end, was about to try and reply to her friend. But stopped herself before she could utter and word and thought about what Valerie said. And truth is, yeah she was kind of right. It didn't make that much sense.

"Ok, you got me there" Annie said as Valerie sighed.

"Maybe I should just forfeit. There's no point in continuing. I'm just going to embarrass myself" the blue girl said in a defeated tone.

Yet Annie was not done in her attempts to try to help her friend. Oh no, she was going to make her go out, give it her all and shine like a star.

"Val, earlier in the cavalry fight, you and Shinso said that you trusted me" Annie said, gaining the attention of the adopted Van Dyne, as the redhead placed her left hand on her shoulder "If that's true then trust me. Trust me in knowing that I believe in you. That you'll do great! I have no doubts about it!" she said again, as Valerie's eyes widened at her meaningful declaration with a smile.

That smile, that warm smile that assured Valerie everything was going to be ok.

"OK! Get ready dear listeners! Because next round is going to be one for the ages!"

The two girls suddenly heard the voice of their teacher. Announcing the fact that Valeries time on stage was about to start.

"Well, that's your cue" Annie said, as she started to walk towards the exit to let Valerie have one last chance at preparing "Just remember Val. I have my lunch money on you against Ejiro" she joyfully said, as Valerie drew a small smile.

"I t-thought you didn't have any lunch money" she replied, humoring Annie's joke.

"Heh, well would you look at that. Contrary to what my mom says, my Ted talks do work" Annie joked, before opening the door and preparing to leave "Go get them, Valerie" she gave her friend a final hurrah before leaving. deep breath and closing her eyes. She can

As for Valerie, she stayed in the room for an extra minute. Taking a deep breath. Do it, she told herself. And after taking that deep breath, she opened her eyes and started heading towards her next match.


HEY! HEY! Now that we've got our two combatants on top of the ring let's give them that roaring cheer that they deserve!" Present Mic exclaimed with the crowd going as wild as expected "Let's showcase our contestants! Starting with: Manliness with hardening determination! From class A! Kirishima Ejiro!"

And with that presentation, there he was in the arena. The (none natural) redhead of class A, clashing both fists with each other as a grin plastered on his face. If one were to listen carefully, they would be able to hear certain class B student complain that his introduction was exactly the kind he would have in mind had he advanced to the tournament.

"VERSUS! A fellow classmate! The teleporting blue foreign beauty from the good US of A! The princess of class A! V!"

"Princess?" all of class A thought in unison while a certain group of students felt a little deja vu.

"What was that all about?" Aizawa asked his commentary partner in confusion.

"Look, when we got back from lunch this was in my notes. And since I couldn't find my original pitch this is as good as I can do"

As for the aforementioned princess, she was… not holding out great. Bad enough that she was forcing herself to be under the gaze of at least thousands of people in the stadium alone. But having heard that introduction of herself did not help her nerves in the slightest.

"Why do I feel like those two had something to do with that?" Valerie cried inside while thinking of a certain genius and little toaster robot.

"Hey! You class A girl!" the duo of kids suddenly heard.

Looking to where the sound was coming from, they saw that the origin of the cry was none other than Tetsutetsu of class B. Being loud enough that they could have heard him all the way from the stadium and while the entirety of his class, Robbie and a recently arrived Kamala, looked at him with a very confused look.

"You better beat up that shitty knock off, you hear me!"

"Who the hell are you calling a knock off?! You copycat bastard!" Kirishima shouted back at him, with a passionate anger and while giving him a middle finger surprisingly.

Maybe Bakugo was starting to rub on him.

"And the other class was the loud one?" Manga asked, with Tsuburaba following soon.

"And since when do we support class A?"

"Tsuburaba! I mean it!" Kendo threatened while showing the still dazed Monoma, who attempted to gloat to the other class Kamala's victory the moment he could and got reminded of how much the class president disliked that attitude.

"I don't care if she's from outer space! So long as that mirror version of myself gets beaten!" Tetsutetsu passionately responded.

"Well, we really don't care. We're already cheering for Val anyway" Robbie mentioned with Kamala nodding.

"Tho we could use without the antagonism" the Pakistani girl mentioned.

And as for another one of class B's boys, more specifically, the one with drill-like powers, he was reminded of the first time he watched that blue girl fight in school. And unlike that time, he wasn't exactly conflicted now that she was facing a student from another class instead of his own. So his stand on the matter was pretty clear.

"I guess there's no harm in cheering for her. We're all hero course students after all" Sen mentioned… while being eyed by both Setsuna and Yui knowing exactly why he was saying that.

"Mm, mm?"

"Mm"

They apparently learned how to communicate by saying 'mm' while Setsuna had her mouth shut.

As for Valerie back in the arena, that interaction did not help her already high nerves. To get that kind of attention by having someone specifically signaling her loudly made her feel that the eyes of everyone were set on top of her even more than they already were. Being close to trembling and falling down, she tried to help her nerves remembering what Annie told her. Too bad she wasn't thinking straight and her mind was going all over on what she said. What did Annie even tell her? To imagine people in their underwear? To imagine their heads as if they were food? The blue girl made the mistake of looking at the numerous crowd surrounding her and seeing no other option… she did both.

"Great! Now I feel awkward and hungry!" she innerly cried to herself.

"Hey Vector!" Kirishima suddenly called out, snapping Valerie out of her thoughts and back into reality as she turned to the boy

"Huh?"

"You have no idea how much I've been waiting for this!" the boy said excitedly much to the girl's confusion.

"You… but why?" she asked.

"Isn't it obvious?! You're one of the strongest of the entire class! Of course I want to fight you too!" Kirishima said, punching both of his fists together while activating his quirk on them "After seeing you fight that class B girl. And after the USJ where you beat almost a dozen villains by yourself and everything involving those other villains! I've been meaning to try and test my strength with you too! So come on, Vector! Let's go all out in this fight! And let our chivalry spirit go wild!"

Such a statement, Valerie didn't understand it well. She didn't believe in herself in a manner that would credit such respect by someone like that. To be considered strong, to be considered someone to be compared to. And the way Kirishima spoke of her, the way he described her… it reminded her of Annie. It reminded her of their second day of school after their fight with Kamala and Robbie.

Kirishima spoke in a similar manner to Annie. Of course he would, she was Annie, that was what Valerie thought. She was amazing, of course she would garner the admiration of one of their classmates… but her? To be in a position similar to her friend?

She momentarily looked at where their class sat. And looked at that redhead girl who was one of her source of security.

"Will V-chan be ok?" Hagakure asked.

"I hope Kirishima holds back a little bit. I mean, she's fighting a girl and with the kind of attitude Vector has-"

"He better not" Annie interrupted Ashido out of nowhere and in a kinda stern tone "If he does, Valerie is going to have an easier time beating him to a pulp. She's a lot stronger than even she realizes"

… Do it. Deal with it. Push through like she would. It would be unfair to her that believes in her so much if she were to quit. It would be unfair for Kirishima who is expecting a great fight out of her. It would be unfair for everyone that's helped her and been there for her in accomplishing her dreams… it would be unfair for her to quit now that she is here.

Maybe she can't deal with knowing there is a crowd around her watching her and maybe the tricks she was told did not help one bit. But she can tune them all out. Not to the point that she felt like it was only her and Kirishima alone, she was still shy and being alone with a boy was the last thing she needed. But she can just imagine it's just the two of them and all whom Valerie holds dear along with their class and teachers watching. It'll be like a regular school day.

"...ok" she told Valerie, trying to sound as confident as she could as the boy smirked.

"Seventh match! Start"

At command, Kirishima hardened his fist and charged at Valerie, who for the first time since he met her, didn't look like she was so nervous she was about to fall and crumble, but looked determined enough to face him head on. Something that the boy was grinning at. It meant that the fight would be a good one.

"Ok, Vector! Let's not hold anything back in this fight!" be said as he threw a right hook right at the blue girl.

Breaths were being held, some gasps of concern were made at seeing the boy be so willing to attack a girl who so far seemed like a docile flower. And of course, there were those that knew what said docile flower could do and had no ounce of worries. And their confidence in the girl was rightly placed on her. For said girl effortlessly dodged and moved out of the way. With the world seemingly in slow motion, Kirishima turned his head to his right side to where Valerie had dodged. There was a smirk on his face as she saw the expression of the ever-bashful and timid girl, now being one filled with determination and prepared for a fight.

This truly was going to be a great fight, he thought.

Getting his footing back and turning to where Valerie had moved, Kirishima started to throw jab after jab at Valerie. Each of which were all weaved by the blue girl with great expertise. Kirishima specialized himself in close quarters combat, he thought himself that he was, if not an expert, he was at the very least good enough. However, the way Valerie was evading his attacks, he couldn't help but remember how Aizawa described her after their trial combats. The number one hand to hand fighter in the class.

When Kirishima threw a left jab at the girl, Valerie dodged again, however this time she didn't just evade the attack. She sidestepped to her right as she got a hold of his arm before he could have pulled it back. She then decided to show the why Aizawa described her the way she did.

She gave Kirishima a little tug forward to make him lose his footing a bit. Afterwards, she proceeded to make an inside kick on the leg that was placed in the back by pushing Kirishima to his knee by striking at his calf. Lastly and before he could process things, Valerie moved in front of him, while still holding his arm and while adding her other hand to the grip, she proceeded to throw him like someone would make a hammer throw in the olympics.

And as she did that, Kirishima also remembered that Valerie, despite being… Valerie, was also surprisingly strong. And the reminder he had for that fact was that he was sent tumbling a great distance away from her. Managing to recover from the initial throw and using his hardened hands, Kirishima dug his nails into the floor. Coming to a stop, there was a big cheer from the crowd. Mainly due to the fact that not only was the start so far the most fast-paced and dynamic of all fights so far, but because some people really weren't expecting the kind of display that was shown so far.

"Ok, let's get serious now, Vector!" Kirishima said, lifting his head up and showing that this time it wasn't just his hands, but his entire body that had his quirk activated "We're far from being done here!"

And as he said that, he got up and ran straight towards the blue girl ready to fight. Blue girl whom, despite her nerves, got into a fighting position to face her opponent head on.


"Wow! Is that really Vector?!" asked Kaminari in shock, which was somewhat shared with a good chunk of the class.

"I knew she was good. But I didn't expect her to be that good in a fight against Kirishima! She's been practically controlling most of the fight so far!" Sato followed in the reaction.

And it was that statement, practically controlling the fight, that had one particular student of class A to be in not as great of a mood as everyone else. Momo in particular, couldn't help but to draw a parallel between her fight and that of Vector being played in front of her. While she was at the complete mercy of her own opponent, Vector was able to stand her ground. While she lost in almost an instant without so much as an issue to her opponent, Vector was fighting proudly and evenly.

So much for being a recommendation student.

"V-Vector-san sure is… she sure is quite the powerful combatant" she said, trying her best to not let any insecurity of hers to be shown.

"To be able to hold a fight with Kirishima-kun like this and without properly using her powers…" Izuku murmured, being able to witness what Valerie could truly do in a fight for the first time.

"Mm, I still say that maybe Kirishima should ease a bit in her. He-"

"Would you loser extras shut it with your excuses of why you're so weak and let me watch the fight?" Bakugo said, not in his normal explosive self, but in a manner somewhat calmed and focused on the fight.

Which clearly took by surprise.

"Well… at least he wasn't obnoxiously loud this time around" Annie noted at the surprisingly tame reaction her classmate had per his standards "And don't you worry guys. Like I said, she's a lot stronger than even she realizes it"

Afterwards, she went on to give her focus solely on the match of her best friend and fellow classmate yet again. However, while she kept on showing her upbeat and seemingly carefree self outwards, innerly she was completely serious and analytic. Yes, she said that Valerie was a lot stronger than people give her credit for. But still, that didn't stop Kirishima himself from also being strong himself. And more so, those strengths didn't stop her from seeing the weaknesses either.

"Valerie is definitely the faster and more skilled out of the two. In theory she should be able to have very good odds of winning. But with her personality and her powers being none offensive directly, that puts her in a disadvantage against Ejiro in a fight. His quirk is more battle focused and he himself is more battle eager too" the young Parker mentally noted as she saw the fight between the two unfold "Looking at the factors, it would be an uphill fight for either of the two… come on Val. Show them what you are made of. I know you have it in you"


One punch after another.

Kirishima kept on throwing punch after punch, each being avoided by Valerie. Weaving each time Kirishima attempted another blow at her, she caught one of the punches thrown at her and judo-threw him away from her. However, unlike last time, Kirishima was able to recover quickly. Managing to land on his feet, he rushed towards the blue girl the moment he touched the ground.

Attempting a lariat at her, Valerie managed to duck under the boy. Rolling behind the boy, who was later on a victim of Valerie doing a swipe kick that managed to knock him to the ground flat on his face. Had it been a regular person, no doubt that would have hurt. There may have been the chance of a bleeding nose with the way his face hit the ground along with a minor pain in the head. Unfortunately for Valerie, it didn't exactly phase Kirishima. Not surprising having a quirk that gave the user a certain level of invulnerability.

Which was why there was no surprise when he instantly got up as if nothing had happened and resumed his attack on Valerie. This time, with him jumping towards her and pulling his right fist backwards.

"Ok, Vector! Here I come!" he shouted mid air, while Valerie watched him with concern.

Knowing that he was planning to strike her, Valerie jumped backwards, moving away just as Kirishima came down. Crashing into where she once stood and having punched the ground with such strength, that he ended up lifting up a curtain of dirt and debris that forced Valerie to shield her eyes. After a few seconds, the girl stared at the unintentional smoke-screen that Kirishima had created, attempting to try and prepare for his next move. Which ended up being for him to run towards her. Moving faster than he did before much to the surprise of the blue girl.

"Got you know!" declared the boy, who threw a direct punch towards the girl without any second thought.

Valerie didn't have enough time to move out of the way like she had been doing prior. So instead, she crossed her arms in an X form in front of her to try and take the hit. And as the impact landed, Valerie couldn't help but to wince at the attack.

Feeling her arms being hit with a great amount of force, her muscles shouting in pain as her bones felt like a pair of tigs being put under almost the amount of pressure needed to finally snap. It's safe to say that it hurt. It hurt a lot.

"RHAAAA!" exclaimed the boy, who added in more force to the hit.

Valerie was barely able to stand on the initial attack. Being pushed back a bit, but able to stand her ground. However, with Kirishima now putting his back into it, she couldn't hold steady anymore. Instead, she was pushed backwards. Having been knocked into the air as she was suddenly air-borne and about to fall on her back. However, thinking quickly and pushing against the pain her arms were on, she managed to turn and thrust her arms into the ground and where she was going to fall.

Suddenly as she did that, a portal appeared there and Valerie avoided the harsh fall by crossing said portal. Something that had Kirishima on red alert.

"She can appear from anywhere now" he noted, as he started to turn around in acceptance of his opponent.

And from anywhere she appeared indeed. Valerie teleported behind Kirishima. But not in a way that many would expect. For she teleported mid-air and fell directly towards the boy. Kirishima didn't notice her until he saw a shadow appear out of nowhere. And just as he turned to try and face her, she dropped-kick him in the face.

Using his face as if it were a platform, Valerie jumped back, landing on her feet while knocking Kirishima back to the ground yet again. The roar of the crowd was so loud that for a moment Valerie confused the vibrations of Kirishima hitting the ground with them. And the force with which the boy fell to the ground was far stronger than the first time the other times the girl had knocked him down. Falling flat on his face didn't even so much as leave a single scratch on him, yet the kick that the blue girl had given him sure hurt him. He was sure that had it not been for his quirk, he would either have been knocked out cold if not have at the very least a bloody nose.

Getting up, Kirishima rushed in to attempt another hit on Valerie. Throwing a direct jab at her, the blue girl was able to deflect the punch upwards before grabbing his arm. In an instant, she got in close and threw her own punch at the boy's chest out of sheer reflex. Something which she regretted almost immediately. For despite the hit landing square on his chest and pushing him backwards with a decent amount of force and actually causing Kirishima some pain, she hurt herself even more doing that. Wincing at the punch and pulling it back as she got some distance between her and the boy.

Kirishima on the other hand, was also pushed back a bit. Grunting at the punch that Valerie had landed on him and bringing his right hand to his chest due to the initial discomfort. The girl really was stronger than even he gave credit. Which only made him grin in excitement.

As for Valerie, she held her right hand with her left and close to her chest. It still hurt from her previous action and she winced as she touched it. She lowered her gaze to it, looking at the very notorious bruises in her fist that were caused when she made contact with Kirishima. She was very thankful that, even if unintentionally and doing the bare minimum, Kirishima's clothes offered some sort of protection to her hand when she punched him. With his hardening quirk making his skin as tough as a rock and with how many angular, rough and sharp angles his skin had whenever he activated, she was sure that if not for his clothes, she would have hurt herself even more. Maybe she would have been staring at a bleeding hand with some skin being torn off her knuckles had that been the case.

"Wow… you really are super strong, Vector!" the boy said with a very notorious joy in his voice, making Valerie turn to him "I knew this fight was going to be great! Come on! I'm still not close to being done and I know that you can still keep going!"

Once more, he went on to close the gap of distance between the two of them. Getting in front of Valerie and throwing a jab at her face which she barely was able to dodge. The hit was so close to landing, that Valerie could feel something in her cheek. It felt somewhat liquid and a feeling of a pinch in there. The girl gritted her teeth at the small pain on her cheek and tried to get the boy away from her.

So while still in motion, she performed a spinning back kick on the boy. Hitting him on the abdomen and it being strong enough to not only hurt him, but to push him back a great distance. He was able to keep his balance and avoid falling back again, but he sure was quick to take his hand to his right side. That kick did hurt and knocked a bit of air out of him. But still, not enough to slow him down as much as Valerie would like to.

As for Valerie, her breathing was a bit heavy. She took her hand to her right cheek to whip what she thought was sweat on her bruise, only for her cheek to sting even more on contact. Wincing again at the sting, she pulled her hand from her cheek and looked at her hand to see something.

She was bleeding.

There was a small cut on her cheek which surprised her for a moment. She wondered when that happened until she recalled how she was barely able to dodge Kirishima's last attack. She saw Kirishima's knuckles and noticed a small bit of red in them. His quirk not only hardened his skin, but it also gave his skin a sort of rough rocky and somewhat angular texture. That would explain why what would normally be at most a simple graze ended up as a small cut.

Valerie gritted her teeth. Having Kirishima charging at her, she was able to get out of the way of some of the attacks that were thrown at her. As Kirishima swung a left hook at her, she attempted to try and subdue him. Getting behind the boy, grabbing his arm and bringing it behind his back as she attempted to knock him into the ground. Enfasis on attempted, because despite her efforts, Kirishima was able to remain on his feet. Valerie was physically strong, no doubt of that. She was stronger than most girls her age. But unfortunately for her, it seemed that Kirishima was a whole lot stronger than her. Almost as if attempting to push a boulder, the two teens struggled as one did all he could to remain on his feet while the other attempted to bring him down.

Kirishima was able to push back against Valerie, but couldn't free himself from her hold quite yet. He was stronger, but the way she was holding him made it a challenge to just brute force his way out. That was until he, due to still being pushed down by Valerie, noticed the position of both their feet. One of his feet was exactly behind one of hers. And pulling a play from the blue girl's own book, he pulled it forward and knocked the footing that Valerie had. Making her fall on her back with a loud THUD.

Just as she opened her eyes as she started to recover, she saw Kirishima pulling one of his fists back. Her eyes widened, expecting that pull back to be preparations for a strike at her. So thinking quickly, she got a hold from his shirt, pulled him towards her and then flipped him away from her as she rolled back on her feet.

Kirishima, of course, landed on his back. And like expected and against Valerie's wishful thinking, he got up almost immediately. Still looking like he could keep going for a very long time and with no visible damage done to him. It didn't even seem like all those swings from before even tired him out in the slightest.

Valerie, on the other hand, had no such luxury. She was starting to get tired. Her breathing being of one that just did an entire workout with no breaks. And that's without taking into account all the hurt that was done on her so far. Her forearms were still in pain from blocking Kirishima's attacks. As if both had been hit by a sledge hammer, she felt a little scared that they would have broken for a moment. Her hand still had her knuckles injured a bit. Even if not to the degree of her forearms, it still hurt a bit.

"I… I'm not sure how long I can last… Kirishima has already done a toll on me and I haven't made a dent on him…" Valerie was thinking to herself "If things keep going like this… I'm going to lose… I've barely scratched him, I can't subdue him, what can I do…?"

As her mind started to overwork itself like a machine tripling its pace. As she tried to rush and force an idea to pop out to help her. A sudden memory from not that long ago popped into her mind.


"Dinner should be ready in exactly 45 minutes. Is there anything that you are in need at the moment, miss Valerie? Miss Nadia?" the Avengers butler asked the blue girl.

They were at the mansion's main study hall. With the young genius currently working on some project of heirs while looking and pinning notes on a board. Meanwhile Valerie had just finished her homework. Nothing too hard for her, thank god. Just some english homework that while somewhat time-consuming as far as length goes, it was… pleasing to do.

It brought her peace of mind. It made her feel good. An odd thing for most for sure, but to her it was actually quite relaxing to do. And something that made her feel better with herself.

"No, Jarvis..I'm fine, thanks for asking" the blue girl replied.

"Yeah, I'm good too" Nadia spoke as well, with the butler nodding.

"Very well then. I'll be setting up things for dinner when the time arrives" he said as he prepared to walk off.

However, he stopped for a moment to look back at the blue girl. While she has made wondrous progress in climbing out of her personal shell, she still remained the timid shy girl he met not that long ago. He knew that the girl would need a bit more of a push to open up to anything that was bothering her. Bless miss Anna-May, Jarvis thought to himself. For ever since meeting she was the one person to help in pushing the girl forward and to open up more. Perhaps to a degree she has never been with anyone. Whether it be him, Nadia, even Janet and the rest of the Avengers. And looking at her expression, he decided to pry again if he could do something to help her.

"Miss Valerie, is there something troubling you today?" he asked, taking the girl aback.

"W-Why do you ask?" she questioned back.

"Call it old age. Perhaps it is the experience of having raised Master Anthony Stark, who too tried to hide discomforts when growing up. Maybe even the fact that I've served the Avengers for oh so long. But it seems that I've garnered quite the gift to know when someone is being troubled by something" Jarvis told her.

Valerie was a bit surprised by that kind of answer. It made sense to be honest. And… it was somewhat right. Changing her gaze from the butler to looking down and with a thoughtful expression on her face, she practically admitted indirectly that yes, something was troubling her a bit. And Nadia, for all her quirkiness, was also somewhat that had an empathic gift. She too noticed the same that Jarvis did on her adopted sister.

"Does it have to do with the whole Sport Festival thing?" Nadia asked, surprising momentarily the blue girl that wasn't expecting her to be the one to speak.

"Um… well… is it really that obvious?"

"We're a few days from it. It'll be logical for it to be on your mind right now. And if something is bothering you, then it's likely that it would have to do with it" Nadia replied.

"I… I guess a little…" Valerie replied, confirming the statement of her adopted sister "School is still something too new to me. I am liking it so far and am trying my best to fit in but… everything is so novel to me and now I'll have to be competing with everyone I've met so far? It feels…"

"Relax, you'll do fine. You're overthinking things. And that's coming from me"

"Easier said than done. I am still figuring out things, my powers aren't that powerful or even special and even then… I still don't have a grasp on how to even handle them well…"

"Would you calm down? You're exaggerating. And I'm sure you would be able to beat up anyone in the school if you actually tried to be acting so nervous"

"D-Do you think I could beat Annie, Robbie or Kamala if I were to be put against them?"

"Oh I uh… well I uh…" Nadia stumbled in speaking as instead, she just went back to her work as she whistled.

Valerie sighed, knowing the kind of answer that reaction gave her. As for Jarvis, she just had an idea come by to try and enlight the blue girl.

"Miss Valerie, would you mind coming with me for a moment?" he asked the girl.

"D-Do you need help with preparing dinner, Jarvis?"

"Let's forget dinner for the moment, miss Valerie. I think there is something that could be helpful to you in the future"

With that somewhat cryptic declaration, Valerie decided to follow the butler. If he said he had something in mind that could help her in the future, then that must be because he had something that would help her. He would never lie about something like that to her. The two walked to the living room as Valerie was told to take a seat for a moment. As she did, Jarvis went to fetch something quick. Once he returned, he did so with a small wooden box in his hands.

"Mis Valerie, I understand all of your concerts. You feel out of your league, as the youth these days would say. Isn't that right?" Jarvis asked the girl.

"I… I guess? I don't really measure to most of the others if I'm honest. I feel like… a fish out of water. Like I shouldn't be sharing the same space with a lot of them… they're all just that good and more impressive than me" the blue girl said, sharing her insecurities with Jarvis the same way she once did with Annie in their very first sleepover.

"I see, so that is how you feel. You know miss Valerie, I believe you already know this, but those sentiments had been directed to Captain Rogers once upon a time" the butler mentioned, gaining the full attention of the blue girl with that declaration "Many even within the hero community questioned if someone like him had any right to stand alongside the Avengers, let alone to lead them into battle"

"But, t-that's ridiculous!" the blue girl, stuterly said in confusion.

"Is it? After all, he isn't exactly the strongest. He isn't academically gifted to be a super genius. And sure, he may be a war hero, but he also may be seen as a relic from a bygone era. He is called the Man Out of Time for a reason. And yet, he has held the position of leader of the Avengers for longer and more often than any other member ever has. Even more so than miss Van Dyne"

"But, he's Captain America"

"And Iron Man is Iron Man. Thor is Thor. I can go on if I want to, but you understand, right miss Valerie? So then, why is it that Captain Rogers is the one being held so highly even with geniuses, kings and gods standing by his side while being a simple human?"

"Well, he uh…" Valerie tried to say but struggled with thinking of a proper answer.

It was Captain America. That by itself was kinda the explanation itself. But when asked to elaborate on what that meant she wondered, how exactly?

"Sure, he has quite the charisma. He has a strong attitude and a way with words and so on. But that can only get someone far enough before crumbling down one way or another. So why is it then, that he can command such presence and power alongside mightier power than his own?" Jarvis asked the question once more to the blue girl "Because he has the merits to prove that he is a qualified leader. And continuously garners more merit of this"

He opened the wooden box and showed that it was actually a chess and checkers board, with the inside holding the pieces for both games. He set the board on the coffee table in between him and the girl. Setting the chess pieces to the side while placing the checkers pieces on the board. With the white pieces to his side while setting the black pieces on Valerie's side.

"And to do that, he must be able to show the qualities to be a leader. To stand next to those mightier than him. He analyzes. He stops for a second and takes advantage of how long a second can be and uses it to the fullest. He acknowledges strengths and weaknesses, manages them in the most favorable way and how they interact. He sees every possibility and stops and slows down when necessary to really process and think things through and so much more. He sees the risk of things and if need be, takes those risks. And uses them to his own advantages" he said as he finished setting the game "This set was given to me by my father. He taught me to play when I was younger and it was this set that I used to teach master Anthony to play when he was a child. It is quite the mental exercise and one that I believe could set you on the path of bettering yourself in the future, miss Valerie"

"I-Isn't checkers a little simple? I-I'm not sure-"

"Believe me, miss Valerie, even something as simple and straightforward as checkers has its own strategy and complexity. After you see it, then we can move on with something a bit more complex" the butler said as he took a seat in front of the girl "You get to have the first move, miss Valerie"

The young girl didn't quite understand what the older man was trying to teach her. The game was very straight forward, so she didn't exactly see any real point in doing something so simple. But… he was Jarvis. He would never do something that wouldn't be for the benefit of her own person. So if he said this can help her, for as unrealistic as it was to ehr, she believed him.

So, she made the first move. C6 to B5.


Back in the present, Valerie was catching her breath. The memory having come and gone as she started to try and realize what the butler tried to teach her.

She took a second to slow things down. She realized how long a second truly was. She slowed herself down to look at the variables in front of her. Acknowledging strength and weaknesses and how they interact and how they could be used in her benefit. She saw things and realized how simple they were. And in a way she could get a win.

"Ok, let's keep going!" Kirishima exclaimed as he charged at her.

He threw in a couple of jabs that Valerie had to dodge, before increasing the distance between the two yet again. Rolling to the side as she got back on her feet while a couple of meters away from the boy to keep on thinking.

"Kirishima is stronger than me. He is more aligned to be a fighter than I am. He is more willing to fight than I am" she thought to herself. Analyzing the strengths in her opponent while acknowledging her own weaknesses as she dodged a few other hooks at her from him "He has better endurance than me. And his defense is among the strongest in the entire class, if not the whole grade"

She weaved out of the way of some attacks thrown at her person. Avoiding as many attacks as she could.

"I am not strong enough to beat him in a fight. I can't incapacitate him and out of everyone in class, he is amongst the ones that would never give up in a confrontation. I am not as tough as him and can't last as long as him in a fight. He is more driven to keep fighting than me and I won't be able to take more than a few hits before being rendered unable to fight. All while I'm unable to do any lasting damage to him" she kept on thinking, avoiding an uppercut by the skin of her teeth as she gritted them to keep calm and analyze things more "As I am right now, I am not strong enough to beat him in an actual fight. And in theory, I am expected to lose"

Valerie ducked from a lariat again. Rolling away as she got back on her feet, while raising a fighting position as Kirishima turned back to face her.

"But I don't need to beat him in a fight to win" she thought as an idea came to her.

And so, she looked at the risk and was willing to use it to her advantage, as a plan of action came to mind.

This time, it was her that rushed to the boy. To the surprise of everyone in the arena, she charged at the boy. Getting up close to him, she deflected a strike at her downwards with one hand and with the other one, she delivered an open-palmed strike at his jaw. The strike was direct and while it did cause the girl some pain, it wasn't as bad as the punch she delivered before. Plus, it was able to push the boy back, making him stubble backwards and actually desiorenting him a bit.

She followed by closing the distance again, this time, striking him with a front kick that hurt him even more and knocked him to the ground. The boy was quick to get up, grinning even more out of the excitement of the fight and seeing the shy and timid girl in a fighting stance, ready to keep on fighting.

"Yeah, I knew you had more in you!" he exclaimed, as he charged at her.

"Hold on a bit longer" the girl said as she continued the fight.

He threw a right hook, left hook and a jab that the girl was able to dodge. She ducked as he attempted another jab. While still crouching, moving to his side and delivering an elbow strike at where his liver would be. It hurt her, for sure it felt like elbowing a rough boulder, but even with his hardening, Kirishima felt that and actually grunted in some pain.

"Hold on a bit longer" she repeated to herself.

The public kept on cheering for the two fighters. The battle became more intense than anyone had thought it would be. Almost all of class A being on the edge of their seats, with the girls specifically for the most part being in a trance of awe and at times wanting to turn away. The boys having their eyes widened for the most part at seeing the flower of the class holding her own against the literal rock of the class. Izuku stared in awe at the fight between classmates and Annie kept on having a focused expression while deep down, holding her breath as she clamped her hands together tightly beneath her seat.

Class B themselves were all going crazy with the fight as well. With Kamala and Robbie being the most vocal, cheering for the blue girl, with even Tetsutetsu chanting both of the fighters' names. Kendo kept a close look at the blue girl, being enchanted by her skills as a fighter while inwardly, Kaibara prayed that the girl would be victorious. From the General Course, Shinso cheered as loudly as he could to his friend. Completely out of his character compared to how his classmates tend to see him act. From both the Business and Support Courses, even both Kin and Hatsume cheered on the girl as she kept on fighting.

"Hold on a bit longer" she repeated herself.

Dodging a tackle directed at her, she quickly made another open-palm strike at his left cheek. Hurting herself a bit, sure, but also pushing the boy back and disorienting him again. This time, the boy recovered a bit faster and in a flash, threw in a right hook aimed at her head. The move was so fast and powerful that Valerie was barely able to raise her left arm to block the blow while using her right arm to support it. As expected, the attack was powerful, the girl gritted her teeth as it connected. Closing one eye and wincing in pain as she felt her forearm being on the verge of breaking according to how much it hurt.

"Hold on a bit longer!" she cried out, being pushed to the side with the force of the strike.

She tried to hold her ground but was unable. So instead of fighting it, she allowed herself to fall only to use the momentum to get back on her feet. The pain was great, but she was willing to push through. On the VIP seats, the multiple people of importance to the events were all surprised at the resilience of such a delicate-looking girl against such a tough-looking boy. The young Nadia cheered loud and excitedly at her adoptive sister, alongside everyone that the girl held dear. Even Bill the robot, who she sneaked on with them, was showing on screen the name of Valerie while chanting her victory. And Jarvis, watched with pride at the child he was looking after, taking the first steps to truly get out of her cocoon and blossom into her better self.

The boy once more jumped towards the girl, attempting another strike at her. This time however, the girl reacted quickly and landed her own counter-attack first. Delivering a powerful spinning hook kick to his face, which caused him the most damage so far in the fight. Feeling his head spinning, he couldn't react quickly before the girl kept on the momentum and delivered a second spinning kick at his jaw. Sending him flying upwards and backwards away from her. And as he landed and tried to get up, he took his left hand to his head, clearly still being disoriented from the attack against him. And as he did, as he took longer to get back, the girl only had one thing on her mind.

"Now!"

With his vision somewhat blurry from those last hits on his head, Kirishima was glad that his quirk was the one he was born with. He felt he was smacked through a house. Almost anyone outside of him would have already fallen to the girl's attacks from the start. She really was good. No, not good. She was great. Who would have thought that the most timid, shy and delicate student of all UA, turned out to be such a great fighter.

He got up, his head still spinning from those two powerful kicks to his head and looked at the blue girl. He was amazed that the girl that fainted on day two of classes after a fight and that always tried to be nice to everyone would do a number on him. With his vision still somewhat wanky, he focused only on the figure of the blue girl. Tuning down everything but her in his eyes. And as he did, he failed to notice a subtle action that the girl did behind her.

The two were now on their feet. Each looking at the other with a determined and defying look in their eyes. Fighting stance ready and prepared to keep on fighting, the two rushed at each other. Running at one another, with the cheers of the crowd growing more and more and with breaths being held as they expected another collision between the two children. And while Keeping on the fight against tValerie was everything in the mind of Kirishima, the adopted Van Dyne had something else in her mind.

To win.

"Here and now! Let's test which of the two of us is the manliest, Vector!" Kirishima shouted as he pulled back his right fist and tried to deliver a cross punch on the blue girl.

But to his surprise, the blue girl didn't attempt to dodge his attack. No, instead, she did the opposite. She rushed in, increasing her speed and before he knew it, she was almost directly in front of him. Grabbing his right arm with both hands and allowing for his own momentum to keep on going, Valerie lifted him over her head and doing a technique that looked far too familiar to her class, she began the process to toss Kirishima into the ground.

"OOOAAAH!" she exclaimed as she tossed the boy towards the ground.

Or at least, Kirishima expected to be tossed into the ground. By the angle of which he was being tossed at. And with the amount of force he was being hurled with, he was expecting to be tossed farther away than prior times that the blue girl did something similar to him in their fight. It wasn't until Valerie's hands had completely released Kirishima from their grips that he saw what the girl was planning.

She made a portal in the ground behind her. And he was being tossed directly into it.

"Haaaa!"

And with that final roar, so out of place being done by the shy girl that Kirishima had come to know since school started, he was hurled right into the portal. There really was nothing he could do. He didn't have the mobility to try and escape. He had no means to change his trajectory. So right before passing through the portal, the only thing he saw was the sight of Valerie, not with that bashful and insecure expression on her face as always. But with the look of a true and chivalry hero in the making.

"GAHA!" the boy complained, passing through the portal completely and landing on his back into the ground.

However, this time, the ground wasn't as hard as before. It felt softer. As if it absorbed the impact of his fall just slightly compared to prior times he fell. And as he opened his eyes, he realized why. He had been teleported a handful of meters right outside of the ring and into the ground surrounding the platform.

He lost.

"Kirishima-kun is out of bounds! The winner of the seventh match is, V-chan!"

With that declaration and as Kirishima got up, looking at the portal above him disappearing little by little, the entire stadium cheered. Back on the platform, Valerie was trying to catch her breath. Gasping for air and huffing as she was allowing herself some time to relax. She felt hurt, the pain on her forearms being one that hurt a lot. Her legs were a bit sore. Even if she didn't hurt herself kicking at Kirishima as much as she did punching him, the effort did make her muscles ache quite a lot. But through all the effort and pai. Through sweat and even blood, she stood victorious. She won. And the image of that checkers game played in her head.

She had lost that day. Completely crushed without any chance of having beat the old Edwin Jarvis. She thought it would have been a simple game, but like he said, even something as simple as straightforward as checkers had its own level of strategy and complexity. She went int not thinking too much of the game, only to experience firsthand what he meant. She didn't have any strategy, she apparently started poorly, with Edwin taking advantage of controlling the middle of the board and of playing Valerie like a puppet on strings. Setting her up, not letting her make any good moves. And even when it seemed like she had a shot,s he found out quickly that the butler was simply baiting her into traps. Being willing to take risks and sacrifices and using them in his favor. She had lost horribly that day.

And today, it seemed that she started to understand what her guardian was trying to teach her.

She allowed herself to analyze and realize how long a second truly was. She acknowledged strengths and weaknesses and managed them as favorably as she could as she took notice of how these factors interacted. She slowed down when necessary and most of all, she saw the risks and was willing to take them, as she used them to her advantage.

She knew that Kirishima was stronger than her and a more willing fighter by a large margin. But with that weakness, she was able to use it in her favor. By baiting him into focusing solely on just the fight and making him ignore the entirety of how they were allowed to win. She knew she wasn't exactly the fighter type in the eyes of many and she was willing to use that to, even if unconsciously, use the element of surprise by having her opponent not expect her to be as much of a fighter as she turned out to be. She used her opponent's more straightforward mentality to have him ignore something as subtle as her little portal as she baited him into just focusing on her. And was willing to run the risk of being in close proximity of getting hurt if it meant having that advantage. She… she was able to show her mettle and have the merit to prove she deserved to stand with the others…

Just like Captain America, right?

"Way to go Valerie!" Annie shouted out of the top of her lungs, praising her friend louder than anyone in class, who all looked mostly in shock.

"V-chan… beat Kirishima?! Wow, I didn't think she would have it in her" Toru admitted, with the shock of the supposedly most delicate girl in class to have beaten one of the roughest and toughest guys in class.

"Yeah, she is a lot stronger than we gave credit" Ojiro admitted as he turned to the second-born Parker, still shouting Valerie's name in praise "You were right, Parker. She really was everything you said she would be"

"Of course I was right! I never doubted it for a second!" she cheerfully declared as Izuku and even Bakugo looked carefully at the blue girls still on stage.

"Hey, Midoriya" Sero called the green haired boy out "That move that she did on Kirishima. Wasn't it the same kind of move you used on Bakugo on our Battle Trials?"

And the truth is, he was right. He knew it looked familiar and even Bakugo was not blind to notice the similarities in the action that the girl took. If they were to ask her she maybe wouldn't be able to answer, mostly due to her nature, but deep down… she had a great respect for Midoriya. She looked up to a lot of her friends a great deal. She saw Annie as the one source of security and a boost for her confidence and despite her shyness, she has always been vocal about that fact of her life. And while she wasn't as close to Izuku as she was with Annie, she respected him as well. Mostly out of a sense of kinship. If Annie was her example to follow in gaining more self confidence, then Izuku, for as little as she knew him, was proof that said growth was possible in someone like her. And it seems that said level of respect was planted in an indirect manner that even she didn't realize.

"Harmless as a flower, isn't she?" Kamala asked Robbie on their own end.

"Well, you know that saying about flowers and thorns. Seems like our good friend Valerie is a lot rougher than we first thought" Robbie replied as he suddenly noticed Tetsutetsu… crying? "Ok, now what's gotten into you?"

"It's just… it's just… Gha, that was such a great and manly fight! Agh! Why did I have to got myself kicked out of the tournament before it could begin!" Tetsutetsu declared with his 'manly' tears running down his face "Class A girl! Cheap Knock off! You two are way too chivalrous, it's inspiring!"

"He sure did a complete turnaround on his opinion of this fight, didn't he?" Manga told the rest of the class as Sen looked at the victorious girl and smiled.

"Well, she deserves it.. I mean I… I mean both do, I guess. Yeah That's what meant. Those two ended up being a bit cool at the end… some more than others, but cool nonetheless" he said, stuttering a little halfway through his sentence as a certain girl with a taped mouth just giggled.

Back in the arena, Valerie still stood up, catching her breath and with both her arms hanging as if they were old rags. They still hurt a lot from those attacks that she had to block. And good thing she was able to block them because she didn't want to imagine how bad things would have turned out if she didn't. But… what mattered at the end was that… she won. She was able to make her stand. And… she was happy about that. She felt pride in what she did. And she hoped that all those dear to her were able to bear witness to what she accomplished. And the roar of the crowd cheering for her, was proof of what she was able to do.

"Let's hear it once more folks for our victorious gal! Give another round of applause to Class A's very own warrior princess everyone!" Present Mic declared through the speakers as the crowd started to chant 'V' and 'Warrior Princess' over and over again, something that, now that things had calmed down, were able to get to the blue girl very clearly.

"... Warrior… P-P-P-P-Princess…?" Valerie repeated to herself the new nickname given to her… trembling and with a massive blush on her face as that oh so iconic shy expression of hers revealed itself once more.

As if being returned to factory mode, that more focused persona of hers instantly crumbled and banished. Being blown to the winds as her more usual self returned. Looking around and hearing so many praises while knowing that so many people had her as the center of attention ended up terrifying the girl. Trembling and looking like a scary cat or a crying child that got lost in the mall. Valerie was trembling and trying to process what happened while a bright blush was smeared across her face.

"Uwaaaa.! S-So many people watching! F-F-F-Focusing so much on me, scary! I-I-I h-have to-"

"Vector!" she suddenly heard. Looking to where the voice came from, she saw the boy that was once her opponent.

Standing back on the platform they were fighting on, he looked super serious. His expression being hidden by shadows, he looked absolutely intimidating to the girl. And while a lot of things intimidated her and scared her without that much effort, this occasion was extremely more stressful for her. She just beated him in front of national TV, their friends and family, their classmates and all of the entire school alongside a stadium full of people! He's mad, of course he would be mad! Who wouldn't be mad after that?!

"Vector, you…"

"Um… K-Kirishima… I-I-I uh…" the blue girl attempted to say stutters and while being scared.

"Vector you…" he said, still sounding serious and scarring the girl… until he lifted his gaze to meet hers and showed a joyful expression and a pair of eyes full of shine and excitement… that still scared the girl.

Again, it didn't take a lot to scare Valerie.

"You were amazing! Completely letting your chivalrous and manly spirit go wild!" he excitedly declared, while confusing the girl, who didn't expect that reaction.

"...Uh?"

"I've decided! Vector, you were incredible! A great fighter and a completely strong opponent! So I want to make you one of my rivals!"

"Y-Y-Y-You're what?"

"Yeah! You know, the way you fought that class B girl on the Battle Trials was inspiring! It felt like a battle between great rivals pushing each other to better themselves! So I want to be part of it too! And I want you to be one of my rivals to push myself to continue moving forward! Plus Ultra Style!"

"I-I-I-I d-d-d-don't really-"

"So I declare you a rival of mine! And I want to assure you that I won't be losing next time, understood Vector?!" Kirishima interrupted, getting in close to the girl, his face being so close to hers that the girl started to have steam coming out of her face as it started to heat.

"S-S-So close!" Valerie cried to herself as out of nowhere, Kirishima took her hand which just made the poor girl have a complete meltdown as she started to shine brightly with the colossal blush that had taken over her face "AAAAAH!"

"Come on, Vector! Just because only one of us lost doesn't mean we can't be chivalrous about it. Let's show that manly spirit of ours!" he said, as he raised both his and Valerie's hands tall as the crowd praised such great sportsmanship between fellow classmates… or at least halfway through.

The other half was on her way of melting into a puddle.

"S-S-S-So many people watching! P-P-Princess I… Kirishima, holding hands I wawababwabawwaea!" poor Valerie rambled to herself, her head going in circles as she attempted to compute and failing as her head started to spin and her face shined so brightly and heated her so much she could serve as light source for light boxes and could have dinner be heated on her face.

Something that went completely over the head of the dense Kirishima.

It didn't go unnoticed for a huge deal of class A tho. Whom mostly chuckled and felt sympathy for the poor shy princess of their class. Kamala and Robbie had a similar expression, chuckling even at the reaction of their friend, with even Shinso sighing with a smile. Good ol' Valerie.

"You can get the fight in her, but you can't take the Valerie out, can you?" Annie murmured as she saw her best friend in the whole class wobble in place as Kirishima remained oblivious to her reaction "Way to go, Val. I knew you could pull it off" the redhead assured as she clapped and cheered for the borderline collapsing blue girl.

And even Bakugo, was not blind to what happened in the match. That shy little extra seems to be leagues more competent than he first thought.

And with the kind of start the tournament was having and with just one match remaining, things were still far from over.


My Hero Academia: Legacy Bits! - Last Minute Alterations!

The HLPR unit 2483, otherwise known as Bill, was at the moment looking for the cabin where Aizawa and Present Mic were doing their commentary of the Sports Festival. The little machine was in search of the place while everyone was on their lunch break so as to not have to deal with any sort of interference. There was something he really wanted to see done and the less meatbags in the way the better.

After a few minutes of searching, the little robot was able to find the room and simply turning the handle, was able to open the door to enter. One would have expected that they would have at least placed a simple lock on the room, but what the heck. It's not like Bill was complaining. Eh, it was probably them not expecting anyone to suddenly go out of their way to get into the commentary box for the first years and ruin the festival. And Bill himself was also not about to risk the festival, no, no, no. He was 'improving' one aspect of it.

"Very well then! Let's start with the operation and be done before the meatbags get back from replenishing themselves!" the robot said as he floated upwards into the table in front of Aizawa's and Mic's chairs.

In said table, there were a very handful of papers. No problem, they weren't that much and someone as sophisticated and advanced as Bill shouldn't take too long to fulfill his self-imposed mission for improvement.

"Very well, let's commence operation and search for the desirable document…!" Bill told himself that as he did the sophisticated task of… just picking up papers, looking them for a bit and discarding them when he sees it's not what he was looking for.

One would have thought that Bill would have a more efficient manner to accomplish what he set himself to do, but whatever.

"No, no, no. This isn't it. This one isn't either. No, no, no… Mm… This picture keeps proving my statement. The purple meatbag would be most benefited with a change of face. Or complete replacement for another meatbag, whatever works best" Bill said, having taken Hitoshi's file that Aizawa had pulled for the tournament as the little robot believed to have found what he wanted "Aha! Here it is! Ok then, let's see what we have here… mm.. something something, shy girl, something something harmless flower, this is terrible! These notes don't even mention anything about Lady Valerie's many talents and gifts for the world! How are these meatbags to present the glory that is Lady Valerie with such poor enlistment of her greatest qualities?! It is a good thing that I was able to reach this room just in time before any catastrophe could occur!"

And yes, for it seems that Bill's idea of 'improving' the Sports Festival was simply to just make sure that Valerie was praised good enough. Which, to the little robot, the notes that the teacher had to prepare an introduction was clearly not up to his standards.

"Now that I am here, I'll be able to save the reputation of this education organization by sharing the glory that is Lady Valerie with the world! Initiating operation: Vector Glory!" Bill said, as he pulled in some sheets of paper, a pen and then started writing like there was no tomorrow. In the end, he ended up writing over 8 pages of just how great Valerie was and so many titles for her to be introduced as "Perfect! Although I still fail to process the need to hide her name, operation Vector Glory is almost at an end! Now then, to rid the universe of this lesser work!" Bill said, picking Mic's original notes and shredding them all to pieces.

He then picked all of the shredded paper and went on to exit the room, leaving it as close as he could as when he first entered it with the exception of his own 'improvements' behind. As he hovered across the hallways, he dumped all the paper into a bin to dispose of the old notes. A recycling bin no less, before leaving for the VIP area where he came from.

Once there, he encountered the meatbag friend and brother of the meatbag Robbie, the Parker-Watson mother and her infant, master Jarvis and Scientist Ultra Supremer Nadia Pym and instantly returned to her side.

"Greetings, Scientist Ultra Supreme! I have returned from my mission!"

"About time. Where did you go? You still didn't tell me what you were planning on doing, you know? You better not have let anyone catch you or I'll be in trouble" Nadia told the little robot, whispering to the small machine to not have Jarvis or Mrs. Parker-Watson hear her.

"No need to be in concern, Scientist Ultra Supreme! There's been nothing but great improvements done today!" the little robot exclaimed as he hovered next to Nadia.

Some time afterwards, Valerie's match against Kirishima was announced and after hearing Valerie's introduction, it didn't take Nadia's genius level intellect to realize what improvements Bill was speaking off.

Especially when he started to complain about how much of his work was ignored.

Well, at least he didn't forgot to refer Lady Valerie as Princess.


Ok, so, I know that I haven't posted in a long time. And while I would like to share a bit of why this took so long to come out, I'm going to save any comment of mine for later. I just want this chapter to be up already. Maybe later down the line either I'll be updating this chapter with more author notes or save any commentary of mine for a following chapter. Hopefully the following chapters won't be taking an eternity to come up.

Well, for the time being, enjoy and sorry for the delay. Take care and have a great time.