Rinko sighed as she ran a hand through her hair.
The fight with Chen had been tough, she didn't know how the other girl's legs could be made of such hard material and able to function like a regular pair of legs.
Deku-Sensei could probably explain it if she asked him about it, and how the girl's bark connected to it if she was curious.
But as she walked back from getting checked out by Master-Sensei with only a couple of bandages for the few grazes she got from Chen's feet.
"At least she got some padding from one of the guys from the business course... " she said to herself, cause she would have worse bruises and nicks if Chen hadn't gotten them.
Heading back to the cafeteria Rinko smiled when she saw Chen was also there.
"Hey, that was a cool kick back there, think you can teach me sometime?" Rinko asked, moving over to the girls table with a wave of one of her hands over her head.
Chen, turned away from the conversation she was having with a boy from support, closed her eyes and gave a thumbs up.
"Great, I can't wait. And who's this? This guy gave you the leg warmers?" Rinko asked jabbing a thumb towards the boy.
Chen nodded and she patted one of her legs, still covered in the white padding and wrapped like bandages, which was starting to fray somewhat after all of the work she put them through.
Rinko gave an amused huff and turned the boy, one of the ones that didn't make it to the second event so she couldn't remember his name.
"Those are some nice work, here's hoping you can make more so she and I can get some good sparring in later." she told the boy, giving both of them a quick goodbye before she rushed over to get something to eat.
She'd need to get something down sooner rather than later, best to give herself time to digest her food so she wouldn't throw up during her last fight.
She'd have a small grace period as an ad roll would give the third and fourth place fighters time to recover and then she'd go on to fight with Goldman.
And she was absolutely aiming to take first.
She'd accept second as she had come far enough for most to be considered proud of herself, but she wanted to take first as well.
A burning desire to continue with making her point and to take it far enough to take home the first-place medal as well.
Perhaps she was being a bit prideful or selfish with this, but Rinko couldn't stop imagining standing on the first-place podium with that gold medal in hand grinning up at the crowd, rubbing her victory into their faces.
Getting to do that would be so unbelievably satisfying and worth all the work they had done just for the festival wouldn't be for nothing.
Cause she wasn't sure if she wanted to intern with any of the heroes out there, if she got any offers that is.
As she took her first bite of one of the granola bars she grabbed Rinko couldn't help thinking about just how many of the heroes in the stands there were.
Sure, not all of them were being blatantly quirkist or outright hateful towards Deku-Sensei but there weren't any heroes out there clapping either, and for that many heroes to carry a negative view of the quirkless.
There had to be something wrong with the system in some way to let that many by unchecked and getting a license.
So, would there be anyone she did want to intern with out there?
Most likely there was, Hawks was in the top ten and he had already told the public that he was behind the quirkless, and then there would be the staff at U.A. so there had to be others out there that would be supportive of the quirkless.
Just probably harder to find them.
She'd probably have to ask Deku-Sensei about the heroes on his list and if she should just go with someone on the trusted mentor list that took on interns every year.
Shaking her head Rinko pushed the thoughts from her head and focused instead on finishing her 'meal', she shouldn't let herself be distracted with those kinds of thoughts until after the festival was over.
Rinko still needed to win after all.
She took a deep breath as she stood just at the edge of the tunnel waiting for Mic-Sensei to introduce her, watching as Goldman walked with one of his arms still covered in bandages from where Gromova bit him.
Rinko had to give him props for taking the bite on the chin and not letting Gromova up despite the pain.
She couldn't imagine how painful that would be.
"And our brass girl of the hour, the one whose been keeping to her word with electrifying zeal without faltering, Haku!" Mic-Sensei finally exclaimed and she proudly walked out with her head held high.
Happily, she took her place across from Goldman, more than ready to get this fight started.
"Bow to your opponent please." Deku-Sensei requested to which they both happily complied with "And do I need to repeat the rules again for you or have you heard it enough times already by now?" Deku-Sensei asked.
"Nope." she proclaimed while Goldman just nodded.
"Alright, however do take note that I will be watching more carefully since you both have taken various injuries, if I think either of you can't continue, I will stop the match. Do you both understand?" Deku-Sensei told them.
"Hai sensei!" Haku replied with a salute along with Goldman.
"Good, then let the match begin in three, two, one!" Deku-Sensei announced and Haku rushed forward at the same time.
Meeting, or rather colliding in the middle.
She threw a punch which was deflected and followed up with a punch from Goldman.
She stumbled back and quickly held her hand up to keep him from getting another punch in, with her hands busy she chose to instead give him a kick to the side.
She couldn't bring her leg up as high as Chen, but Rinko could dang well hit Goldman on his upper thigh at least, and she did!
Goldman grimaced and leaped back so that he could get some breathing room from her which she left him taking a step back herself.
"Nice uppercut you got there, didn't break your hand, did you?" Rinko questioned since she heard a pop once Goldman's fist hit her.
The boy shook his head, even going as far as to wiggle his fingers before he ran forward to punch her again though she was much more prepared to defend herself from the blows, waiting for a moment to get a punch in herself.
Unfortunately, her aim wasn't the best and she got him right on the nose and a distinct crunch of bone as her fist hit him square in the face, and Goldman stumbled back both hands holding his now broken and bleeding nose.
"Woah, woah hey, you good?" Rinko stopped and moved to steady Goldman while Deku-Sensei came over to them to examine Goldman's nose.
Rinko couldn't help wincing when she saw how Goldman's nose was now much too flat and what felt like a lot of blood on his face, though it wasn't gushing like she feared it might.
Deku-Sensei made Goldman lean forward and pulled out a handkerchief that was placed against Goldman's nose.
"I am calling the match, Goldman is unable to continue with this injury. Haku is the winner." Deku-Sensei loudly announce.
Rinko bit her lip, this wasn't quite how she thought the fight would go though making sure Goldman wasn't hurt that badly was more important right now.
She and Deku-Sensei were quick to help Goldman back to the tunnels.
Half an hour later she was very relieved that she hadn't broken Goldman's nose that badly, he'd need to have it double checked by a real doctor, but he could walk around with a band-aid and some cotton keeping him from bleeding a lot.
And now it was time for them to receive their medals.
She might have been a bit happier about it if she didn't know that people had tried to overturn Deku-Sensei's ruling on her and Goldman's match.
Because apparently the same quirkist jerks also had a problem with ending the match over just a broken nose.
Bastards.
Goldman chose to forfeit just to make sure that Deku-Sensei's ruling would stay regardless of the adults decision, but if he hadn't then they would have been forced to go back out there and fight again despite his nose.
This is supposed to be a friendly competition, not some blood match.
If they want blood and gore, then they could find it somewhere else.
Still though she had to admit that she couldn't wait to get her medal and looked to her sides, Goldman to her right and Gromova to her left as second and third place respectively.
Then turned her head to look up to where the field would open and they would rise up and out into the stadium in a minute or two, they wouldn't have to wait for much longer given they had everyone here now.
She was right about that as the sound of gears kicked up and she had to recenter herself as the platforms began to rise up, something that kept her from stumbling as the pillars moved upward.
Then all three of them were blinded by the sunlight, the underground was rather dark compared to the outside, but she was able to see where they were in the middle of the stadium with the crowd clapping for them.
Rinko resisted the urge to roll her eyes and instead scanned the ground for Deku-Sensei, thankfully he was nearby and holding the three medals for them amongst the other students.
The cheers and clapping from her year mates erupting right after they came up and she relished in it far more than the 'polite' applause of the crowd or the fireworks over head.
She happily stood a little taller under their gaze beaming, waiting eagerly for Deku-Sensei to finally approach and hand out the medals.
"Now then, I think it's about time to give our champions the awards they've earned." Deku-Sensei said walking over to Gromova.
Deku-Sensei spoke quietly with the girl as he slipped the medal around her neck, she assumed it had to be Russian because the girl seemed to really take the words to heart.
Then he walked over to Goldman and let the boy place the medal on himself. He was taller than Deku-Sensei, so it was safer that way than getting him to bow his head.
"You did incredibly well today, Goldman, and I hope you are proud of how far you came today." Deku-Sensei informed him, and Goldman had a tiny smile on his face, nodding his head slightly.
Then Deku-Sensei finally turned to her, and she bowed preemptively, making him chuckle as he slipped the gold first place medal around her neck, the weight settling very comfortably on her shoulders.
"And I know you've made quite the splash today, Haku. I've never heard of anyone making any such stand on their first year before, but your words and actions today will have a major impact on a lot of people." Deku-Sensei said with sincerity that made her preen.
"Is there anything else you want to say to the people watching Haku?" Deku-Sensei asked, offering her a microphone.
Rinko mulled the thought over, finding herself tempted to give everyone another piece of her mind before shaking her head.
"No thank you Deku-Sensei, I've already said everything I wanted to those people, and I don't plan on wasting another second to entertain them." Rinko answered waving one of her hands, to which Deku-Sensei nodded.
Then he turned around and began to thank everyone for coming and for watching them on such a big day.
She didn't pay them that much attention as she chose to instead admire her medal, wondering how her dad would feel once she got home then smiled even brighter.
He's probably already making her his special gumbo to congratulate her for what she said.