Izuku sat next to Shinso, Tsu and Iida, the three sitting in a circle around him to make sure he didn't leave. He had been calmed down by Recovery Girl, who had left shortly after due to being called into her temporary infirmary to treat a person that had scraped up their leg badly enough for her to excuse herself immediately and rush to the infirmary. He had been okay with it, but that didn't change the fact that he was still exhausted and nervous about his fight with Todoroki.
Speaking of Todoroki, he and Sero were standing at opposite ends of the ring on the ground, and Todoroki looked seriously pissed off. He looked like he had when describing the horrible things had done to Izuku during their lunch break. It made Izuku want to get up and scream at him that everything would be okay, but he knew that he shouldn't. He doubted he even could, with his fatigue having eaten up so much of his stamina.
"I don't think we need to debate who's winning this one," Kaminari said.
"I'd still bet ten thousand yen that Sero wins," Kirishima said.
"What? Why? He's clearly out of his depth with Todoroki," Jiro asked.
"I guess I like underdog stories," Kirishima chuckled.
"That's not an underdog story. That's cruel," Kaminari said, looking concerned for multiple parties in this situation.
If Izuku was being honest, he knew that Todoroki was going to beat Sero. He liked Sero, he had even talked him through how to manipulate his Blackwhips better, but he was almost exclusively a mid-range fighter, whereas Todoroki could operate in most situations without much change to his overall fighting style. His Quirk was objectively superior as well, Sero's Tape being good for grappling and capture, Todoroki's Half-Cold-Half-Hot being an overwhelming assault of ice that could counter just about anything.
"The second round of the first bracket, Hanta Sero versus Shoto Todoroki will begin … now!" Midnight yelled, cracking her whip to signal the start of the match.
Sero stretched out his arms, seemingly getting ready to attack.
"Man, I don't think I can win against you," Sero complained.
Todoroki said nothing back, simply letting Sero warm up in peace.
"Too bad. I don't really feel like losing, either!" Sero said.
After a moment, Sero threw his arms forward, ready to attack.
Tape flew from his dispensers, and Sero fired off his Quirk at Todoroki, who let the tape wrap around him, pinning his arms against his sides and seemingly capturing him fairly tightly. Sero yanked Todoroki off the ground slightly, causing him to be dragged closer to the edge of the ring, his feet skidding across the ground as he moved closer and closer to the edge.
Izuku saw the look in Todoroki's eyes before Sero; pure rage. Todoroki let out a breath, and the frost that flowed from his mouth was what did it for Sero. He quickly tried to cut off his tape from his body, but Todoroki grabbed onto the strand with his right hand, sending a wave of ice up the tape and toward Sero, all happening in a split second.
"Sorry about this," Todoroki said, more freezing breath pouring from his mouth.
A gigantic glacier formed from Sero, the ice that had been crawling up his tape and expanding rapidly to cover him, as well as almost half the stadium, in solid ice. The edge of the glacier rose up just a few meters from the stands, and Izuku had to lean back to avoid getting grazed by one of the sharper edges. The crowd watched in fascination as the ice cleared the stadium's roof, no small feat.
Todoroki was clearly upset, but something had to have made him overdo the fight in such a way that it was more trouble than it was worth. Izuku remembered that Endeavour had arrived earlier in the day, during the break for lunch. Maybe the two had run into each other and, their relationship being what it was, it hadn't gone well. Izuku was worried about Todoroki, because he had seen the boy's expression before he had created the massive glacier that had dwarfed the stadium.
"Sero, can you move?" Midnight asked.
"Are you kidding me? Of course not," Sero said, Izuku seeing from the screen to his left that Sero's entire body except for his head was encased in the glacier.
"Sero has been eliminated. Todoroki moves on to the second bracket," Midnight announced, knowing it was going to end up this way.
As Todoroki began to melt the glacier, Izuku's phone started ringing. He fumbled around in his pocket for a moment, the pain in his hand making it hard to maneuver properly. He brought it out and saw that it was from Ochako, and almost jumped out of his seat. He heard a few snickers around him, so he got up and began to walk toward the hall, but saw Jiro whisper something to Kaminari, who giggled in response.
"Could you please not listen in on my conversations, Jiro?" Izuku asked, dipping into the hall.
"My Quirk's passive, dude. I can't exactly make myself hear less!" Jiro shouted, knowing he was already gone.
"Hello," Izuku answered the phone.
"Hey, Izuku. I've been watching the Festival! You're doing really well so far!" Ochako said, sounding very enthusiastic.
"Yeah. I'm not sure how long that streak is gonna last," Izuku said, letting his exhaustion bleed into his voice.
"Are … you okay?" Ochako asked, hesitantly stuttering.
"No. Something is going on with me, and I think my Quirk is siphoning energy from my body to power itself. That, combined with me having to go all out all the time to keep up with Todoroki and Bakugo has drained me of my stamina. I'm barely standing. I'm trying to stay awake, but I don't think I can for much longer, let alone fight Todoroki, who … well, you saw it, didn't you?" Izuku explained.
"Izuku, you sound like you want to give up," Ochako asked, a worried tone to her voice.
"I do want to. I'm not going to, though. I can't. Not after so many people have put their faith in me for this one day. I have to get through it. That's what being Plus Ultra means," Izuku said, his voice breaking.
"I know you can do this, Izuku. I believe in you," Ochako said, sounding like she had the sweetest smile in the world on her face.
Izuku thought back to Shinso telling him that he may just have to figure out his feelings for Ochako, like he had told Yaoyorozu she may have to do for Kendo. He looked around, trying to see if anyone was watching him or listening, knowing that Jiro was probably tuning in out of spite, and whispered.
"Ochako, there's something I have to tell you, but it can wait until after the Festival. I'll … see you then," Izuku whispered.
"Alright. I'll probably see you on the winner's pedestal before you see me," Ochako laughed.
"Right. See you," Izuku said.
"See you," Ochako replied, and hung up.
Izuku leaned against the wall, feeling utterly wiped out. He didn't know if he could keep going like this, but he knew that he had to. He pushed himself off the wall, barely supporting his own weight, and shuffled back into his seat, where he noticed that Jiro and Shoji were looking at him strangely. He groaned knowing they'd heard what he said, but had been somewhat affected, so he guessed that they weren't going to do it again.
When Sero got back, dripping in water, Todoroki didn't accompany him. He had melted the massive glacier he had made, so he should've been told to go right back to the class's segment of seats. That meant that he was wandering around, probably looking for his father to say something to him about what he guessed was the reason he was angry in the first place, their first meeting that day.
"Hey," he said, groaning as he sat down next to Kaminari, still dripping wet.
"Didn't Todoroki offer to dry you off?" Kaminari whined scooting over until he was pushed back by Jiro.
"Nah. He said he was sorry, that he was angry and needed a place to vent. Then he left," Sero said, looking like a traumatized child who just had their worldview rocked.
"The next match will be Ibara Shiozaki versus Denki Kaminari! Please make your way to waiting rooms," Midnight announced.
"Alright, that's me," Kaminari said, almost leaping off his seat.
Kaminari went to walk away, but his hand was caught by Jiro.
"Don't lose," she said, looking him in the eye seriously.
"Yeah. Don't worry," Kaminari said, not expecting sincerity.
He left, going to wait for his match to begin, and Izuku looked around. He saw so many people in the stands, all having a good time, but they didn't know how stressful it was for the participants of the Festival. They were out there, cheering and laughing at the winners and losers, but the people, the children who were fighting for their chance to be seen, were giving it their all and then some. It was quickly literally draining Izuku. They didn't see that side of the Festival, the scary part.
Izuku spotted Yaoyorozu, and remembered that she had been talking with Kendo earlier, both before the Cavalry Battle and in line with her at lunch. He strained to get up, getting curious looks from Shinso and Tsu, but slowly walked over to her and sat down beside her, whispering so that nobody but Jiro and Shoji could hear. He knew it was useless, but he was still going to try.
"How did talking to Kendo go?" Izuku asked.
"Ah, yes. Kendo," Yaoyorozu said, a blush covering her cheeks.
"Did it not work out?" Izuku asked.
"No! She was great, and a lovely conversation partner. Kendo has so many interesting thoughts and ideas about so many different topics, sometimes I get lost in her energy and passion for everything she talks about. She also calmed down on the aggressive flirting after a few minutes and we talked earnestly for most of our lunch break," Yaoyorozu explained.
"And …?" Izuku trailed off.
"And … it was very fun. More fun than I've had in a long time. When she smiles, it's like she's lighting up the world! Her laugh is like the sweetest music I've ever heard! Kendo's incredible!" Yaoyorozu quietly gushed.
"Well, then, I think you have your answer," Izuku chuckled
"I don't think so," Yaoyorozu said, suddenly downcast.
"What? Why?" Izuku asked.
"I'm … not sure that Kendo feels the way I do. The only times we've really talked are during the one meeting for the Class Representatives, when you make it happen, or today. She never comes to me. That's what is making me think that she simply likes to tease, and isn't actually interested in me that way," Yaoyorozu said, looking away, embarrassed.
"I'm sure that she likes you. You just have to show that you're willing to like her back. Make some advances, the same way she's doing. That'll show Kendo that you're serious about her," Izuku said, hoping this was all good advice. He really had no experience in this, and he had been avoiding his own feelings, but he felt compelled to help people out where he could, and this was a situation where, though out of his depth, he could help.
"Thank you, Midoriya. You're a good friend," Yaoyorozu said.
"You're welcome, Yaoyo-" Izuku tried to say, cut off by a yawn.
"I've been meaning to say, Midoriya, but if my surname is too long, you can use my given name if you want. Momo is much easier to say than Yaoyorozu," she chuckled.
"Wha-? No, I couldn't. We don't really know each other very well, and I don't think I'd be comfortable with that. I barely call Ochako by her name. I mean, uh, what did I just say? Nothing, you're the one who's nervous. I'm going now. Bye! Good luck with your match," Izuku said, suddenly feeling a surge of nervous energy, which was possibly even worse than having no energy.
He walked down the stairs, almost falling down them, and sat in his previous seat next to Shinso and Tsu. They were engrossed in a conversation about the different types of jelly, and which flavor was superior. He thought it was a pointless argument to kill time, but Shinso and Tsu argued their respective points like it was going to save their lives if they won.
"No, all I'm saying is that raspberry flavoring is the best flavor. It's an objective fact," Shinso said, gesturing wildly with his hands.
"It isn't really an objective fact when it's your favorite, is it?" Tsu asked.
"Whatever. What's your favorite, I'm sure it's not as good as raspberry," Shinso said with a cocky smirk.
"Lime," Tsu said, and Shinso froze.
"Shit," he said, his cocky smile fading into an embarrassed expression.
"Alright, I'll give you lime; it's really good. Nothing compares to those two, though," Shinso said, waiting for Tsu to object. She didn't.
"HA! I'm counting this as a win," Shinso said, leaning back in his seat.
"Midoriya, you're looking very … tired," Tsu said, searching for the right word to say for a moment.
"I know," Izuku said, writing in his notebook about how Todoroki had won, easily.
"Hey, Midoriya. What do you write in those notebooks?" Jiro asked, causing everyone to look in Izuku's direction.
Izuku jumped, not expecting the question. Nobody had ever been interested in knowing what was in the notebooks except for his mother and Bakugo, but the latter had destroyed it moments after. He snapped it shut as a reflex, but opened it again once he saw that nobody was trying anything. Taking a few deep breaths, Izuku relaxed, knowing that nobody was going to hurt him. He reasoned that his nervous and tired state was leaving him more on edge than usual. Or maybe he was always like this, and made a conscious effort to be normal. Ignoring that thought, Izuku turned back to the class.
"Uh, just some general Hero analyses. I put any thoughts on any interesting Quirks I see in my day to day, and how I could counter or improve them," Izuku said, writing in it some more.
"Like who? Are we in there?" Ashido asked.
"Uh, yeah. I have notes on every Quirk in our class. As well as all our teachers and any Pro Heroes that I've met," Izuku said.
"How many Heroes have you met, though? It could only have been like three or four," Sero asked.
"Well, this is the thirteenth one, so knowing that an entry takes up about five pages, and these are one hundred an fifty page notebooks, I'd guess that I probably have about three hundred and sixty entries in the others, and I'm about halfway through this one," Izuku did the math quickly.
"THIRTEENTH?" the class shouted.
"Yeah. I like taking notes. It's like a comfort for me," Izuku said, scribbling in a crude diagram of how Todoroki's ice had crawled up Sero's tape.
"Y'know, I never noticed before, but that one kinda looks wrecked, doesn't it?" Hagakure asked.
"Oh, yeah. It looks like it's been set on fire or something," Kirishima agreed.
Izuku flicked his eyes to Bakugo subconsciously, but Shinso caught it. He followed the brief line of sight, and realized he had been looking at the only person he had known before UA that had a fire Quirk. Shinso knew that Bakugo had bullied Izuku pretty harshly when he was Quirkless, but destroying something that was clearly so beloved by him was downright evil.
"It's fine. It was just the cover that was damaged. It's actually got a bit of water damage, too. Thanks, Kacchan," Izuku mumbled, the old nickname slipping out in his exhaustion.
The class's attention snapped to Bakugo, who simply looked like he had been caught stealing from the cookie jar. He looked around, not having been paying attention to the conversation thus far. He quickly got annoyed at the attention, and huffed while looking away at the ring on the ground.
"What?" Bakugo asked.
"Did you … blow up Midoriya's notebook?" Iida asked.
Realizing that was what this was about, Bakugo's eyes widened. He looked at Izuku, who was quietly dying from embarrassment, though it was self-inflicted this time. Izuku hadn't meant to let that slip, but he was tired and nervous, so he had accidentally revealed that Bakugo was the one to damage his notebook. It wasn't a big deal, it really had been just the cover. Sure, the water damage was more impactful, he had tried for weeks to get the smell of burnt seaweed off the book, but it was all fine. Izuku had forgiven Bakugo.
"Yes," Bakugo said.
"Why?" Tsu asked.
"Because I hated him," Bakugo said, still looking away.
"Why?" Hagakure asked, looking more confused at the idea of someone hating Izuku than the idea of Bakugo hating something in general.
"Because I hated myself," Bakugo said, stunning even Izuku. He had never heard this side of Bakugo before.
"Bakugo," Izuku breathed.
Bakugo, instead of staying to answer their questions, left.
Izuku had never heard Bakugo admit something as personal as that, even when they were friends. He remembered that Hound Dog had probably given him some things to think about, being the country's top guidance counsellor. He had probably been putting a lot of effort into Bakugo, the reason he had been forced to attend their sessions being such an extreme show of aggression and rage. Izuku still had nightmares of the way Ochako's body was, limp and bloody, after the explosion that day. He could tell that the image of what he had done that day had stuck with Bakugo as well, because he hadn't used explosions anywhere near that size on anyone else since.
As Kaminari and Shiozaki, a girl with green, rough looking hair lined up at opposite sides of the ring, Midnight called the match. Izuku wrote some notes on what he thought Shiozaki's Quirk was. Maybe some sort of summoning power from her hair, which looked to be moving, despite the lack of wind. It was probably malleable by her will.
"Ibara Shiozaki versus Denki Kaminari, begin!" Midnight called.
"Hey. You're pretty cute, do you wanna go out some time?" Kaminari asked, smiling genuinely.
"Oh! I'm flattered, but I'm not interested in dating," Shiozaki said, smiling softly and blushing.
"Eh, can't blame a brother for trying," Kaminari said, holding his arms in such a way that it looked like he was going to hurl electricity at Shiozaki.
Izuku was confused. During the first week of their training for the Festival, Izuku had made a suggestion to Kaminari about the way he used his Quirk. He had asked Kaminari about how his Quirk worked, and when told that he could coat himself in electricity no problem, but that firing off that electricity was a problem, since he had no control over where it went, blasting it in all directions at the same time like an explosion of lightning, Izuku had suggested that he cover his hands in electricity and fight hand-to-hand, removing the issue of firing it off and the frying of his brain, two serious problems surrounding his Quirk.
Kaminari had been excited to train that ability, and had gotten to work on it right away. Izuku had watched Kaminari as he had struggled to contain his electricity in his hands, but had eventually gotten the hang of it with the help of Izuku explaining the method he used to channel his own Quirk into his body. Imagine that each of his body parts has a switch. Flip the switch to turn on his Quirk on that specific area, and off to turn it off. That had helped some, and he had gotten used to it much faster than he had ever anticipated.
As the match continued, Kaminari rushed Shiozaki. He ran toward her, hands sparking with electricity. He ran with such speed that Izuku was impressed. Kaminari could easily outpace Izuku at three percent of One for All, which was an impressive feat to him. So many people in this tournament could contend with him, and that scared him.
Shiozaki put up a barrier of her own hair, confirming Izuku's theory that she can mold her own hair into shapes. Kaminari ducked left, passing the barrier easily. Izuku could see that Shiozaki's hair had shortened considerably, so she probably had a finite amount that she could use before she had to wait for it to regrow, which probably was far less than a regular person's hair growth. If she had to wait months and months for it to grow back to full length, that would be a nightmare for Hero work.
Kaminari quickly jumped up to his full height, the two being about the same height, though Kaminari was slightly taller. He put his hands on Shiozaki's shoulders, letting the electricity flow through his hands and into Shiozaki's body. Her eyes widened, realizing what was happening far too late to stop anything.
With a bright yellow glow, Shiozaki was electrocuted by Kaminari's hands, sending a million volts, his most common output, into her body. She tensed up, twitching slightly as the electrocution continued. After a moment, Kaminari removed his hands, letting Shiozaki fall to the ground, unconscious. Izuku watched as Shiozaki's clothes smoked slightly, and he was curious about what it felt like to get shocked, writing all the information in his notebook.
"Shiozaki has been eliminated. Kaminari advances to the second bracket," Midnight cheered.
Kaminari grinned brightly, waving to the audience, cheering for his victory. Izuku thought that he saw a few tears escape from his eyes, but he quickly wiped them away and walked out of the ring, making his way back to the seating segment of Class-1A.
When Kaminari got back, he arrived to cheers from his classmates. He was grinning proudly, and Jiro immediately scoffed when he sat down next to her, positively glowing with happiness. She poked him with one of her earphone jacks, getting him out of his good mood.
"What? You couldn't let me have one win?" Kaminari whined.
"I just wanted to knock that stupid grin off your face. Heroes don't brag about their victories," Jiro said.
"Nah, I don't think that's it. I think that you like seeing me down," Kaminari said, looking at the ground.
"Oh, shit. Kaminari, do you think that I don't like you?" Jiro asked quietly.
"Kinda. You always laugh at me whenever I overdo it with my Quirk, or get an answer wrong on a test," Kaminari said, managing to pull his eyes away from the ground and lock eyes with Jiro.
"Hey, no. That's not how it is. I laughed at you because I thought you were fine with that. If you don't let me know that it bothers you, how will I know?" Jiro asked, her earphone jacks twitching in what Izuku could only describe as disgust at herself.
"I thought that I could just … take it? I don't know. It's kinda stupid. Like me, I guess," Kaminari mumbled, though everyone was so quiet in fear of interrupting the moment that they all heard him.
"Hey, you're not stupid, man. Remember what you said in the changing rooms on our first day of Foundational Heroics? 'You're smart in a different way'," Kirishima said.
"Yeah. You're emotionally intelligent, dude. Don't fret about it," Sero said, pitching in from behind Kaminari.
"I agree. I feel like the way you talked about love that day really sunk in, too. You helped me figure out a core part of myself, and that takes some smarts, no matter where you focus it," Izuku chipped in, remembering what Kirishima and Sero were talking about.
"I … helped? What did I help you with?" Kaminari asked, sitting a bit straighter.
All the eyes in their segment turned on Izuku. He almost wanted to flinch, but looked to see both Shinso, Hagakure and Yaoyorozu nodding at him. He decided that it was as good a time as any to come out to the class, though he wished he would have revealed this with Ochako present. He supposed that he could tell her separately, as he had done with Yaoyorozu and Shinso.
"When you asked me if I liked girls, and I said no, and then asked me if I liked boys, and I said no to that, too, I didn't know that there was a name for that, or that it was possible to feel that way. You helped me realize that I'm asexual, and I'll always be grateful for that. You're a smart person, Kaminari, you just like helping people more than you like studying math," Izuku said, smiling brightly despite his fatigue.
The people around him were stunned, for a multitude of reasons. Kaminari was touched by the message of Izuku's words, whereas everyone was taken aback by the sheer positivity that he was channeling into his failing body. He still looked abnormally pale, and his voice was hoarse, but he had resonated with all of them, even Bakugo, who had just been about to re-enter the seating segment but had stayed back when he heard Izuku's confession.
"Thanks, Midoriya," Kaminari said, smiling brightly.
"Thank you," Izuku said.
Suddenly, Midnight started speaking about the next match. It was Hatsume versus Kendo, and Izuku had to give this round to Kendo. He knew that Hatsume had some impressive inventions in that pack of hers, but Kendo's raw strength rivaled his own at five percent of One for All. He watched as Midnight approached the podium on her stage.
"The fourth round, Mei Hatsume versus Itsuka Kendo, will now begin!" Midnight announced.
Without warning, the speakers around the stadium began to fizzle, and soon they went out entirely. Hatsume pressed a button on the small headset she had on, and a microphone extended out of it that warped around her head and settled in front of her mouth. The speakers came back on with a whine of feedback, until it stabilized with Hatsume's voice being projected out of them.
"Hello, everyone. My name is Mei Hatsume, and today, you're getting a sneak peek at my babies! So, let's get started. If you could try to attack me, that'd be nice," Hatsume started, looking around the audience.
"What the hell is this crap? I'm not playing your games, missy!" Kendo said, standing with a hand on her hip.
"What? I gotta show all the big tech companies my babies! How can I do that if I don't have a test subject?" Hatsume whined.
"I don't care. I know your type; you're just gonna give up and go out of bounds when you're satisfied, giving me an unearned win. Screw that. If I'm gonna win, I wanna do it against an enemy that actually wants to fight," Kendo said, turning to leave the ring.
"Wait! Come at me seriously, and I'll prove to you that my babies can secure a win against even a Hero Course kid," Hatsume said in a panicky voice.
Kendo stopped, still facing away from Hatsume. She rolled her shoulders, warming up, then dashed toward Hatsume. Kendo crossed the distance between her and Hatsume in a flash, almost appearing before her in the blink of an eye.
Izuku noted that, despite giving Hatsume the ability to see extremely long distances away from her, and miniscule details in things, it didn't give her better processing speeds. It just let her see better, not be able to react faster to the things she saw. Quirks had all kinds of niches they fit into, so Izuku wasn't surprised.
Hatsume pulled out the net-gun she had been toying with at the lunch table earlier, and aimed it at Kendo, who immediately enlarged her fist and grabbed Hatsume's hand. Kendo then yanked her fist back, pulling Hatsume with it. Hatsume flew through the air, tumbling around with no control over her body.
As she neared the edge of the ring, Hatsume pressed a button on her belt, and her hover-soles activated, generating enough lift to propel her away from the edge and toward the safe zone. She landed on the ground, her hover-soles keeping her a few inches off the ground. She fumbled with her gear, trying to find a counter to Kendo's strength.
"Ha! You're alright! Come on, let's fight!" Kendo roared.
Hatsume pulled another gadget out of her pack. It was a collection of tiny spheres, and Hatsume clenched her fist around them, a crack sounding out around the arena. Kendo charged Hatsume, increasing the size of her fists to around three times their normal size. Hatsume threw down the collection of balls, which hit the ground and exploded, sending a plume of smoke larger than should have been possible from a ball that small.
With all of the smoke pellets combined, the plume of smoke created was large enough that it obscured Hatsume completely. Kendo smiled, dashing toward the smoke and swiped at it, her raw strength powerful enough to push the smoke around, dispelling the cover. Kendo was about to laugh, but Hatsume had disappeared, nowhere to be seen by Kendo.
"Sneaky!" Kendo said, glancing upward, spotting Hatsume hovering above her.
Hatsume dodged around an uppercut, but fell to the ground without her hover-soles pointed downward. Kendo stood over her, and glanced down at her hover-soles. Hatsume knew what the other girl was going to do, so quickly tucked her feet in to avoid Kendo grabbing and breaking her hover-soles. That didn't work, however, as Hatsume herself hadn't moved.
Kendo ripped the hover-sole off Hatsume's foot, tearing the piece of equipment to shreds. She had the decency to look like she felt bad for Hatsume when the other girl teared up at the death of her baby, though Izuku thought it was more confusion than actual sympathy. Izuku knew how much love and effort Hatsume put into every little thing she built, but Kendo didn't, so she couldn't fully grasp what destroying the hover-sole had done to Hatsume.
In response to her hover-sole being destroyed, Hatsume tried to hit and kick Kendo, but she was firmly contained in Kendo's enlarged fist. The large hands had wrapped around her to eliminate her based on the mobility requirement. If you could no longer move, you were eliminated, so Kendo had gone that route.
"Hatsume, can you move?" Midnight asked.
"No!" Hatsume said, still squirming.
Midnight cracked her whip, signalling the end of the match. Kendo released Hatsume, returning her hand to the regular size. Hatsume fell to the ground, looking at her hover-soles, heartbroken. She stood back up, bowing to Kendo as she had done to Hatsume. The two then walked away from each, Hatsume hastily collecting the scraps of her gear as she left the ring.
"Itsuka Kendo moves onto the second bracket!" Midnight shouted, bringing the third match of the first bracket to an end.
Izuku saw the way that Hatsume had looked at her broken baby, and at Kendo, the destroyer. He knew that she was upset by the small expressions of fear and anger that had crossed her face in the few moments before the breaking of her hover-soles and her defeat. Izuku decided to help Hatsume any way he could, and promised to make time for her after the Festival was done.