"Ready... BEGIN!"
The word wasn't even out of Midnight's mouth before the explosive girl blasted herself towards her opponent. Near instantly, "DIE!" Katsumi descended on Saiki with a yelled battlecry. An explosive palm strike aimed for his face sailed over his head as he dipped into a low stance. He knew what her plan would likely be. Again and again they had done this dance. He was durable. Enough so that she probably couldn't win this bout with a knockout. So instead she had to force him out of bounds. By taking a low stance he lowered the odds of that, allowing him to brace himself against the kinetic force of her blasts.
Katsumi wasn't so inexperienced that she could be put off-balance by just that though. Her other hand swung upward aiming for the chin he lowered for her. The blast sent him swaying back for only a moment, grabbing her arm and tossing her over his shoulder. By rushing him she came right at him near the edge of the ring. All it would take would be one moment of inattention or surprise–
"NOT A CHANCE!" Katsumi shouted, aiming her hands for the edge of the ring to blast her backwards, slamming her into her opponent's back.
Saiki grabbed her. It was the only thing he could think to do in this fight. Katsumi was more ferocious than he had ever seen her. He could feel her drive to win in every movement. He had to hold on. As insurance. If she wanted him out of the ring she had to force him to let go first!
As the two students rolled across the ring Saiki's free arm swung out to punch her across the jaw. It was no love tap. She was giving it her all so he would do the same! Her head snapped to the side with the force of the blow, dazing her for the follow-up knee strike to her abdomen! She couldn't win by knockout but he sure as hell could! Their roll ended with him on top of her, ready for one last hit! Just take her blasts and punch her out–!
The quick retaliation he was expecting didn't come. Instead, Katsumi's hands came together, one forming a circle in front of an open palm. She grinned a slightly bloody grin up at him. "AP Shot!"
Bang!
She made him reckless by her early fierceness. He had been wide open, expecting to land a finishing blow. So as the concentrated explosive force lanced out, it struck him dead centre of his chest. The force sent him flying, his gym uniform jacket scorched and blown open by the blast, his skin blackened. No longer on top of her.
Which gave her opportunity to roll forward onto her knees and fire again.
Bang! And again. Bang!
His body jerked with each impact, his eyes rolling back as he tumbled through the air, sailing towards the edge of the ring...
Thud! He landed on his side, skidding across the arena floor.
"OH and a devastating upset from Bakugo! What a move to hold onto until this late in the game!"
"No doubt this was a countermeasure she developed specifically for opponents with enhanced durability like Saisei and Kirishima. Saisei is almost too proud of his ability to take whatever opponents can throw at him. At times like this it can get him into trouble." Aizawa paused in his commentary for a moment, observing the downed boy to watch for signs of consciousness.
The audience were quiet. The medical robots were alerted immediately and rush to the edge of the ring. Midnight held up her microphone. "Saisei, if you're still conscious, give a sign."
Slowly, he levered himself up on his arms, every movement an agony. His lungs seized leaving him wracked with coughs, a spray of red coming out of his mouth with each one. "I'm good."
"Be honest Saisei, can you continue?"
"I said I'm good, didn't I–? OH shit!" he exclaimed as he heard the footfalls coming his way, desperately rolling away from Katsumi as she rushed him again! Too close to the edge again, he retreated back towards the centre with an awkward gait. He was fine. As long as she didn't–
"AP SHOT!"
Dammit! He did his best to dodge but it was like trying to dodge a bullet. He could read her intention, her aim, and he was fast enough that such things would matter, but still wasn't enough to avoid his limbs getting singed and feel the impacts. He couldn't keep his distance and get his bearings, not if she could use that move with impunity. He had to get close.
… Her hands, he noted. She needed both hands to use the technique. One to make the explosion, the other to focus it. Running a serpentine pattern to avoid the repeated blasts aimed his way, he dashed towards her.
He realised he did not think this plan through when he got close enough dodging became a problem. As a last ditch effort he raised his arms in front of him to catch the blow, hoping it would be enough.
Bang!
"GHHH!" He grunted harshly as the blast slammed into his right forearm, feeling something crack. Not yet! Not yet! He wasn't done yet! Bracing through the pain, he dropped onto her, making sure to snag her left arm with his as he dragged them both down. He had to win! They were so close to the edge! Rolling them over he used the momentum to throw her–
Only to watch her once again stop her momentum with explosive blasts and launch herself back at him! He saw her grin, mocking him. He tried this before and it didn't work then either. The pain must have been messing with his decision making. He grit his teeth. She couldn't come at him with the AP Shot from that, she had to get back in the ring first. That meant...
Her right hand came up. Just what he was hoping for, taking the blast to his face as he grabbed that arm, caught her by the midsection, turned a full rotation and slung her low this time, sending her skidding over the edge! Thinking quickly she fired another blast to get herself some height–
"Katsumi Bakugo is out of bounds! The winner Saiki Saisei will move on to the semi-finals!"
The girl dropped awkwardly out of the air onto the grass outside the ring, staring at Midnight in confusion. Looking up at the monitors showing a replay she saw the last moment of the match where she slid bodily across the boundary line. She grimaced but looks defiantly at her opponent, expecting some condescending crap about her losing again–
Saiki was an utter mess. His clothes ruined, his body scorched and bruised. He didn't say anything, he didn't even look capable of forming any words. Instead he just toppled backwards, conscious, but ragged.
"What! An! UPSET! Saiki Saisei snatches victory from the jaws of defeat! What kind of fortitude does it take to keep on kicking after that kind of punishment?!"
"Even if his pride in his ability to take a beating can bring him low, it's his frankly terrifying tenacity that lets him overcome anyway. It makes him a frustrating student."
Katsumi felt like she was experiencing deja vu as she watched the one who defeated her get carted off by the medical robots while she, the defeated, walked away under her own power. She couldn't help herself, laughing and shaking her head in disbelief.
"And what grace in defeat! Katsumi Bakugo leaving the arena with a smile on her face!"
"SHUT IT, PRESENT MIC!"
-(-)-
"Guhhhh..." Saiki groaned as he woke up in a place he didn't recognise, feeling like hot garbage.
"Recovery Girl, he's waking up!" It sounded like Momo's voice.
"Yes, dearie, I know. I'm the one who woke him up." And that was clearly the creaky old woman voice of Recovery Girl. Squinting to clear the blurriness of his vision, he looked around to see both women hovering over him. Or beside him in Recovery Girl's case. Old lady was short. His eyes widened! If he was in the recovery room then did that mean–?! "Calm down, dearie," the old woman insisted as she shoved him back into bed before he could rise in panic. "The tournament is still on. They added fifteen minute breaks between matches since they're getting pretty hairy. Your match is in ten, though I don't think you should continue in your condition."
"My condition?" he echoed. Sure, he felt like crap but he could still fight.
"Multiple hairline fractures in the sternum and radius." Seeing his blank look she clarifies, "Ribcage and right forearm. Those concentrated explosions stressed your bones to they point they are littered with cracks and if I know anything about how tough your bones are, and I do, the damage that might have passed through to your organs could be cause for concern. I've done my best, and your quirk's healing factor might help, but my professional recommendation is to err on the side of caution."
"But I feel fine," he countered, straining his back to test for pain and finding it entirely tolerable.
Recovery Girl nodded. "Which is why it's only a recommendation and not me just pulling you out of the festival."
"You put on an incredible display, Saiki," Momo praised him with a gentle smile, "There would be no shame in bowing out now."
His head dipped as he considers it. No shame. He didn't care about shame. Shame was something he had unfairly heaped on him for things he couldn't change, or even for working to improve himself. Even if he got scorn heaped on him for 'chickening out' he would just tell those people to get fucked.
"... I'll keep going."
No, it wasn't fear of shame that demanded he keep going. He wanted to stand strong, defiant, like Izuku did. He wanted to be a winner with all that that entailed. And maybe strangely of all, he didn't want to have beaten Katsumi, taken her chance to advance and then spit on that by giving up. What a strange turn. Only a month ago he wouldn't have cared in the slightest.
Though even then he still would have fought on. He beat into himself an attitude to never give up, to never say die. He wasn't sure he was even capable of saying 'enough' anymore.
Recovery Girls let out a sigh filled with tired frustration, muttering something about kids thinking they're immortal. "If that's your choice then I won't stop you. But at the very least you should try to take it easy to let yourself recover."
"Thanks," he nodded in her direction as she doddered away. "Wait," he started, looking to Momo, "If there's ten minutes to my next match and fifteen minute intervals–"
"Midoriya won her match," Momo answered, knowing where his thoughts had gone. "It was somewhat close. The key factor in the end was Midoriya's obscene tolerance for pain, shrugging off Ashido's acid, as well as her damaging the ring to deny Ashido a flat platform to use her acid for mobility."
He hummed with interest. Sounded like a fun match. He wished he could have seen it. He'd have to remember to catch the rebroadcast tonight. "I appreciate you coming down here to check on me."
"I was... Worried, when I saw you at the end of your match..." She bit her lower lip in such a cute way he wanted to bite the other one. "You looked terrible. To think Bakugo would go that far!"
"I looked that bad?" he asked, disappointed. "Damn. Wish I could've avoided that. But Katsumi had the right of it. If she didn't go as hard as she did she would've had no chance. Gods, that was a good fight! Best I've had in... Maybe ever."
"Katsumi?" the class representative echoed. "I wasn't aware you two were so close."
… Oops. "We've sparred a couple of times. First time was after the battle training. She was frustrated and wanted to blow off some steam, maybe use me as a punching bag. It didn't really go great for her so I guess she sees me as someone to overcome now."
"Well, that's good to hear that my classmates are getting along!" Momo replied, sounding just a little too chipper about it.
He gasped theatrically. "Momo, are you the jealous type?" he teased.
"Not at all!" she denied maybe a little too quickly. "And why would I need to be jealous?"
"Well that's good. We'll be training and studying together for three years, after all," he smiled as he got out of the bed to loom slightly over her, wrapping an arm around her waist, "But don't worry, I'll always have time for you," he finished with a kiss on the cheek before walking away. He had a match to get ready for after all.
Momo was left in the infirmary with a blush as her hand rubbed her cheek.
Recovery Girl rolled her eyes, once again muttering about teenagers and their hormones.
-(-)-
"Ladies and gentlemen welcome back to the UA Sports Festival First Year Semi-Finals! Only one of these hero hopefuls will have what it takes to move on to the final round to face off against the shockwave powerhouse Izuku Midoriya! The other will be left to battle it out for third place with Mina Ashido!"
"Our first competitor is a true dark horse of this tournament! He's the birdman ready to soar above the competition, casting his Dark Shadow over all! It's Fumikage Tokoyami!"
"Where does he get these introductions?" Tokoyami muttered, arms folded as he waited for the match to begin.
"And his opponent! Fresh from his explosive match in the quarter finals! He's already proven to everyone watching he's the true Comeback Kid! It's Saiki Saisei!"
Saiki frowned up at the commentator's box. Didn't that mean he was supposed to get the shit kicked out of him for the first half of the match? Talk about a vote of confidence.
"Are both competitors ready?" Midnight asked.
"I am," Tokoyami acknowledged, arms dropping to his sides as his legs spread for a stable stance.
Saiki lowered himself just a little, leaning forward. "Yeah."
"Ready... BEGIN!"
"Dark Shadow!" Tokoyami called immediately, the mass of darkness emerging from his abdomen and charging towards the already sprinting Saiki.
Saiki's plan for this round wasn't complicated or elegant. He didn't have fancy techniques to rely on or even a flashy quirk. Just the strong body he built. He knew how this match might go. He learned in the cavalry battle that Dark Shadow could somewhat match his strength, and its immaterial quality let it move faster and less predictably than any other opponent. Thus, Saiki came to a simple conclusion. This match would be like fighting alone against a severely lopsided tag team. Dark Shadow was a powerhouse but Tokoyami was more or less ordinary. Definitely not built for strength by looking at him.
So the only clear solution. Get Dark Shadow to fuck off for long enough that he could get at Tokoyami and toss him out of the ring.
As he sprinted at his opponent he found exactly how difficult that would be. Dark Shadow struck out of Tokoyami like a whip, arms extending to block his path. Dodging low didn't matter in the slightest, the stream of darkness shifted unnaturally to continue impeding his progress before it slammed the claw-like arms forward. Saiki's own arms came up to block, the claws digging into his arms to no effect as he pushed back against the shadow's monstrous strength. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Tokoyami carefully moving further away, keeping Dark Shadow as directly in the path between them as possible.
"Grr!" he growled as he breaks the grip of the shadow arms and shoves them aside, slamming a one-two punch into the shadow's beak. "Do you even fucking feel! This! Huh?!" he demanded, each word punctuated by another shot to the bird's face.
Dammit. Recovery Girl was right. He could feel his stamina flagging even this early from having to fight so hard. "Well if you're not gonna let me pass then I'll have to take the bird to the... Other bird!" Whatever, clever one liners were hard and it had been a long day for him! He grabbed the shadow's head and one of its clawed arms and held them tight as he dragged the shadow along with him back to its master.
"Dark Shadow!" Tokoyami called out, a message passing along unheard by those in attendance.
"On it!" it called back, its arm shrinking down into its side to get free before extending again and wrapping both around the blue-haired boy. The match became a battle of brute force, Dark Shadow and Saiki in a pseudo sumo match.
"Come! On!" Saiki growled in exertion with every hard fought step back toward Tokoyami who had backed himself into a corner of the arena. If he tried to escape in either direction he would just make Saiki's job easier. "That's your home! Don't you want to go home! Get! IN! YOUR! HOME!" he ended in a yell as he body checked Tokoyami out of the ring with Dark Shadow still in his arms.
"Tokoyami is out of bounds! Moving on to the finals is Saiki Saisei!"
"Gh, that's frustrating," Tokoyami lamented as he stood, Dark Shadow retreating back into his body.
Saiki was left panting for breath. "It's... Been a long day. Neither of us are at our best." Looking up at the sun in the sky he couldn't help but think and say aloud, "Still, I don't think I'd want to do this again in the dark."
"Hm," the bird man let out a light chuckle as they vacated the arena.
Only one more round. To think Izuku had said to meet in the finals and they actually would. Him utterly exhausted and her down a whole hand. If he were being honest with himself, Saiki would still put money on him to win. But Izuku did have a tendency to surprise him.
One thing wouldn't be a surprise though. If he intended to win, she was going to make him work for it.