notes: Phew! didn't think I would make it in time, but here we are! hAd some big things happening recently, all really good, but took time for me to finish.
Now here you wonderous fans, enjoy!
Katara didn't know how long they sat in the hallway with their crying friend, both her and Midoriya not saying anything. Their silent presence alone however was helping with her pain, Yaoyorozu able to cling onto his arm for comfort while Katara's warm hand rested on her leg. Midoriya himself felt his heart racing having her literally latched onto his body, but he knew she needed something, or someone to help her. So he sat still, letting her release whatever pain she felt inside.
After a few minutes she was able to slow her breathing and stifle her tears, enough of her frustration released to finally sit up straight. "I'm sorry…" Momo wiped her face and gave a small chuckle. "I must look so ridiculous right now."
Katara shook her head, "No… to say you didn't need anyone to talk to was ridiculous. We are always there to help you whenever you need it."
"y-yeah." Midoriya swallowed and smiled as well. "And don't try and say no next time."
Momo couldn't help but laugh and stood up, smiling to the two of them. She was truly grateful to have met such good people here at this school, the first people she had ever even revealed what happened to her in the past. And to her surprise they didn't ask her more right then, respecting her to tell it on her terms. She would have to be open with both of them later… on both things she admitted to.
Katara was happy to see her better before sighing. "Well, time for me to get going…"
"Go where?" Midoriya questioned her.
Katara took a deep breath and turned towards the hall leading back to the arena. "It's time for my next match."
Momo covered her mouth in surprise at hearing that. "Oh my gosh, I'm sorry! You came down to see me when you should be focusing on yourself."
"Don't worry…" Katara waved her off and smiled. "I can handle myself. You two just get back to the seats. I'll need you to cheer me on."
"Right!" they both said in unison as she turned and made her way towards the arena, sliding her hand over her canteen.
'I'll win this next one. I promise.' she whispered inside as she turned out of sight.
After she left, Midoriya nodded to himself and went to turn. "Let's get back. We don't want to miss her fight and-
"Midoriya?"
"Huh?" he turned to see Yaoyorozu staring at the ground clenching her hands together, her eyes shifting up to him making him blush.
"What I mentioned earlier, can you… please not tell anyone?" she pleaded.
Midoriya stayed silent for a moment before he nodded and smiled. "I won't."
She couldn't help but smile in return. "Thank you."
"No worries. Now let's make sure we don't miss her match."
As they walked together back to their class, Midoriya couldn't help but begin to ponder what she meant about what she revealed. The school says she was in through recommendationsu, so what did she mean she wasn't? Whatever it was though, me made a promise not to tell it to anyone else.
Then, he suddenly thought to himself. 'Wait, why am I responsible for everyone's secrets!? All Might, Katara, and now Yaoyorozu? Am I a diary or something!?'
Kirishima and Tetsutetsu were wrenching as hard as they could in there arm wrestling match, cracking the concrete block they were battling on. The two hardened quirk users gritted their teeth as they strained against one another. After a few more moments however, the steel on Tetsutetsu's writs cracked, the pain weakening his grip just enough for Kirishima to slam down to victory.
Midnight grinned and held her hand up. "Kirishima wins the tie breaker. He will be moving on!"
As the crowd cheered out to the power struggle coming to an end, Tetsutestu clenched his sore wrist in annoyance. "Damn it… I should have eaten more iron in my diet this morning. I ran low." He glanced up and was taken aback by Kirishima's hand held out.
"Hey man, that was a good match." Kirishima calmly said in respect, the action causing his opponent to grin and offer his own shake.
"Ohhhh, so chivalrous!" Midnight moaned to herself at the manly sight.
While his classmates chirped on how well Kirishima did, Bakugo leaned back in his seat annoyed with his last match. He wanted a good fight, but instead it was just a warm up for him. He couldn't believe it… the so called top score earner in the class was taken out so easily. Sure he knew he could have beaten most of the others that easy too, but it made him sick that the school had to constantly mention these recommended students as if they were the next big thing. And yet of the three who made it to the tournament, only Todoroki was able to continue on. But what made him more annoyed was the others scolding him for how he fought.
"I gotta say man, did you have to go that hard on her?" Kaminari questioned, earning a scoff from Jiro.
"Not like he cares, really." She shot out.
"It was quite excessive the way you attacked her like that." Tokoyami glared back towards the arena.
Bakugo gritted his teeth as a few others criticized him for what he did, spitting onto the ground in annoyance. "This isn't a play date. What the hell do you think we are doing here? Being a hero doesn't mean you get treated different for your sex, dumbasses. A villain won't care about that, and if you can't handle that, maybe you losers should do something else. I don't hold back against anyone, got it?"
As if on cue, Yaoyorozu and Midoriya came into view above just as Bakugo turned around for a moment. He scoffed and turned forward again as some of the others bombarded her with questions.
"Yaomomo! You doing alright?" Mina yelled out in worry.
"If he really did hurt you, I'll rupture that jerks ears." Jiro growled out (but quiet enough so Bakugo didn't hear).
Momo blushed at their concern and held her hands up. "I'm okay. It's… it was more hard with the loss." she sighed and took a seat.
"Yeah but…" Tsu was about to ask more but could see the look on Momo's face and nodded. "Ribbit… okay. Glad you are fine."
While there was much more on her mind, Momo kept a smile on her face and nodded to them. She looked over to Midoriya who took the row in front of her before their eyes were taken back to the arena below as the torches lit up once more.
"NOW LET'S GET THESE NEXT BATCH OF ROUNDS GOING, Y'ALL! SHE'S BACK FOLKS, THE GIRL WHO'S QUIRK CAN FREEZE YOU ON THE SPOT! FROM THE HERO COURSE, KAIRI KATARA!"
The arena crowd screamed out once again as the waterbender made her way on stage, everyone now keeping their eye on this girl. Tenya couldn't help but smile at seeing his friend below, now hoping she could continue on where he had failed.
"You've got this, Katara. I know you do." he said to himself.
"VERSUS… THESE VINES WILL SNEAK AND CAPTURE ANYTHING IN THEIR PATH. FROM THE HERO COURSE, IBARA SHIOZAKE!"
Katara eyed the vine haired girl standing across the stage from her. From what she could remember during the team match earlier, her quirk had a large range on top of good defense, meaning she was going to be an interesting one to deal with. "The vines come from her head, is there a limit to how much she can grow?" she said to herself.
The two girls on stage stared each other down, both readying themselves as Katara opened her canteen and got in her open handed waterbender stance. Shiozake chose her calm approach and clasped her hands in front of her body as the crowd went silent.
"START!"
Shiozake acted first and sent her vines outward creating a wide fan behind her body before shooting several across the stage. Katara quickly whipped out a thin stream of water and sliced through the first batch of vines, swinging her arms back as another batch came forward. The severed pieces flopped on the floor just as a multitude of more raced towards the bender. Katara stepped back as she swiped the water whip over and over, keeping the vines just out of reach from grabbing her. The two of them continued this for a few more exchanges before they both halted, sizing each other up. Katara watched as the vines behind her foe had already regrown and were ready to strike again.
"So they grow really fast…" Katara sighed in annoyance. She watched as the vines danced around behind the other teen, her mind suddenly remembering all those months ago when she was in that swamp, when that swamp bender manipulated the water inside the vines to bend to his will. She couldn't help but find it interesting how this girl simply controlled the vines without moving her hands, the girls fists still clenched together. Katara also noticed how she had not moved from that spot, making her wonder even more.
"If she wants to fight at a longer range, then perhaps she can't control her vines while moving." Katara said to herself and covered her left hand in ice while her right was enshrouded in a water whip. "Let's get in close then."
In the class 1-A section, Kirishima ran down the steps in excitement. "Sweet, I made it in time for her match!"
"Hey man, congrats on making it through." Ojiro said with a smile.
"Yeah, he was pretty tough if you had to struggle. Ribbit." Tsu added, making Kirishima chuckle.
"Thanks. Guess I face you next Bakugo." Kirishima grinned towards the sulking blonde who simply grunted and looked back to the match below.
The waterbender charged forward as more vines shot her direction. She slashed through the thicker ones with her whip, and whatever ones she missed were cut down with her icy hand. Shiozake grunted in frustration before she turned around, putting her back towards the incoming Katara. The mass of green suddenly erupted outward and formed a tall wall in front of the class B student. Katara pulled her thick stream of water up and spun her body around, speeding up the water and slashing straight through the barrier before leaping over the lower half right towards Shiozake.
The vine haired girl had moved back several paces and released a thick mass of her hair shooting forward, but Katara was agile enough to spin her body underneath the attack and thrust her hand up cutting through the majority of it. Seeing her chance, Katara shot her whip out into several balls of water at her opponents feet and encased them in ice. Smirking to the look on Shiozake's shocked face, Katara brought her left hand behind ready to send her out of bounds with blast of her water.
Only for her hand to be ensnared from behind.
"What?" Katara turned in confusion to see several strands of vines entangling her wrist, gasping to the trailing plant coming from the long bundle she cut off just before. "She can control them after they are cut off?"
In just a few seconds, dozens more of the green strands crawled up and encased Katara's legs. She began to panic as the vines grew thicker as they crawled up her body, trying to pull her left arm free as several more reached up and slithered up her limb. Gritting her teeth, she went to pull the rest of the water out of her canteen, but before she could her eyes went wide as a single thick vine ripped her water supply off of her waist. "No!"
Shiozake carried the water skin towards her before looking back to her captive. "It would be safer to keep this away from you, just in case." she quietly said before throwing it far out of the ring. "Either way… this match is over."
"UH OH! IT SEEMS KATARA HAS BEEN ENSNARED IN THE WEB OF GREEN! IS THIS THE END OF HER RUN?!" Mic screamed out over the intercom, and even Aizawa leaning over curiously seeing this turn of events.
The class A students watched in worry as the vines tightened around Katara, Iida standing up and gritted his teeth. "No, this can't be it for her."
"Ah crap, come on. Do something, Katara!" Mina yelled out hoping something would happen.
Even Todoroki leaned forward slightly, his eyes narrowing as he saw no way out for Katara. His knuckles clenched in disappointment when he realized his match with her was not going to happen now.
Katara grunted as the vines began lifting her off the ground, the snaking plants reaching for her free arm. She opened her hand and glared, knowing there was only one thing she could do. "I'm not done yet!"
Arching her knuckles, she pulled her hand back towards herself, followed by the water being ripped from the vines coming towards her.
"What?!" Shiozake gasped in shock as those vines shriveled and broke apart. She attempted to shoot out more vines to stop Katara, but the waterbender sliced through the ones holding her left arm giving her now free hand to bend the water from the new incoming vines. "What is happening?"
Midoriya and the others couldn't contain their own shock from the strange new power they just witnessed. "What was that? She made water out of the vines?" he asked out.
"No…" Momo stared in amazement to what just happened, "She pulled the water out of the vines. I didn't know she could do that."
"Now's my chance!" Katara slashed downward and cut through the vines holding her legs, dropping down back to the ground with her new water in tow. Shiozake stepped back in disbelief as she watched part of her quirk break apart from this girls power, the once green plants now withered and brown.
"What did you just do?" Shiozake glared at the blue eyed girl. "Your quirk is water control. What did you do to my vines?"
Katara crossed her arms out in front of her body and formed two columns of water behind her. "Your vines are filled with water, and I can control any form of water."
The dual streams spiraled forward their target, Shiozake attempting to block them with her quirk once again. The water ripped through the first batch of vines before being stifled by the next wave, the whips breaking apart and soaking the rest of the barrier. In a quick flash, the water suddenly froze over the vines and cracking them before the broke apart. "What?!" Shiozake gasped as she watched Katara leap through the shattered vines and shove her to the ground, slamming her knee into the vine girls stomach and pinning her to the stage. Before Shiozake could even move, her eyes shot open in horror as an ice spike was floating mid air just inches above her forehead. Her trembling gaze looked down to Katara's stern face, the water bender giving her a nod. She didn't even have to ask why Katara did that. She could tell it was a sign to end this match, bacause she knew it was over.
Shiozake swallowed the lump in her throat along with her pride and shut her eyes. "I… I surrender."
Midnight's whip swung through the air after hearing those words. "Shiozake submits. Katara wins!"
The crowd screamed out once again in excitement to the match before them. It seemed that every time Katara was on stage, the crowd only got louder. Especially those in her class. Tenya stood up and applauded seeing her succeed.
"Great job Katara, you have won again!" he shouted in support.
"Woohoo! I told you she had this!" Mina cheered out happily.
"Damn, does she have anything that doesn't surprise us?" Kaminari chuckled and leaned back in his seat. "I'm kinda glad I didn't have to face her."
"Yeah, you already got your butt whipped once." Jiro snickered making him glare towards her.
Momo sat back and sighed in relief that Katara made it and glanced over to Midoriya. "I was a little worried for a moment that-
"Pulling water from plants extracting the moisture inside of the vines so insane along with ice and the air every form of water is hers to control such a strange but versatile quirk along with healing with it she has so many different options in battle and-
Momo stared in a mix of shock and confusion as Midoriya rambled onto himself as he analyzed Katara's abilities, his seemingly bloodshot eyes locked onto nothing as he spaced out in thought. The others around him also shifted their awkward gazes away from the rambling teen, letting him do whatever mumbling he had to do.
Sitting up from the ground, Shiozake looked down in disappointment to her performance. She had hoped to be the one from their class to prove they were strong, ant yet she couldn't do anything herself.
"Hey."
"Huh?" Shiozake turned to the voice next to her and saw Katara standing there with her hand stretched out and a smile on her face.
"That was a great match. You almost had me there." Katara said.
Shiozake was surprised, but couldn't help but smile back, taking the hand and pulling herself up. "Thank you. That was quite shocking what you did, but you were amazing."
"NOW THAT WAS WHAT YOU CALL A SWITCH UP! THAT WAS A SPECTACULAR MOVE BY KATARA THERE! NOW SHE HAS SECURED A SPOT IN THE SEMI FINALS!" Mic shouted out in excitement to the match, nudging his co commentater with a grin. "EVEN ERASUREHEAD IS STUNNED SILENT BY THE FANTASTIC MATCH WE WITNESSED, RIGHT?!"
Aizawa was stunned by the sight he witnessed before, especially to the fact he assumed her power was with water and it's many forms. She never mentioned anything about being able to extract water from things like plants. His mind began questioning what he knew and what he didn't. And… he began to grow curious to what else she had not revealed her bending could do.
'She didn't say she could pull water from plants. If she can rip the water from something like that…' He grunted internally. For some reason, he began imagining other things filled with water… living things. His fist clenched, hoping his imagination wasn't linked to the truth.
Sitting alone in the dark, the sulking form of Tomura Shigaraki sat in front of the cracked computer monitor. His eyes sat glued onto the screen as he glared at the sports festival being played. He slowly brought his still healing arm up to reach at his neck in annoyance to the sight before him.
"These little brats… acting like nothing is wrong today." he grunted out and scratched harder. "Playing in the sun like you own everything… it makes me sick."
He glared through his ragged hair at the video of Katara walking off stage after her victory, clicking the screenshot icon as she seemingly looked towards the camera. His gaze shifted to the dirty photo printer nearby as her image came out, grabbing the picture and sneering at her happy face. "You little brat… if you didn't get involved, both Erasurehead and All Might would be dead now."
He grit his teeth and set the image onto the stack of other pictures he had already printed of the other students in the class. "Soon, I will tear down this pathetic hero society. Everything that they worship will perish."
Katara walked down the steps back towards her class, but before she could even sit down she was swarmed by the others.
"Okay you were bad ass before, but that was so cool right there!" mina cheered and bumped the waterbender in the shoulder. "You have one surprise after another!"
"How in the world did you do that? That was freakin' awesome!" Kirishima grinned and gave a thumbs up. "Too bad we didn't have plants in our practice match, we would have dominated!"
"Wow, now I'm really sure you would beat me again." Tsu croaked out.
Katara smiled to all the compliments before she noticed Iida walking up towards her with a smile on his face. "That was truly amazing, Katara. It seems you never cease to surprise me."
She smiled and nodded back to him. "Thank you. I just got lucky I could use her quirk to my advantage."
"I believe you are being too modest. You used your head there and succeeded. I am happy you won."
Katara couldn't help but feel happy the positive Iida she knew was back now, patting his shoulder as he stood there. "Maybe it was your lessons paying off."
He raised an eyebrow at her comment. "I think you didn't need my help for that match. Beisides, you have quite the match ahead of you now."
The smile on Katara's face faded as Iida walked by her up the stairs. She was focused on her previous match that she completely forgot about the bracket order after that. Her eyes drifted up to the large screen and saw her name go on to the next set of rounds. Due to Midoriya's injuries, the next fight was already called and his opponent was moved on to the next round as well. Her gaze then shifted towards the bottom of her class section, the eyes of Todoroki looking back to her as well. The two stared for what felt like minutes, neither breaking contact as their minds recalled the few but strong interactions they had over the last month. After all this time, it was finally time.
They were facing each other next.
Washing his hands after the bathroom, Tenya dried his hands before suddenly staring at himself frowning. It had been quite sometime since his match, and Katara had just won her second, and yet he had heard nothing. His brother had not tried calling him yet.
"I know you didn't want to call earlier while we competed to let us focus…" He said to himself, "… But I would have thought he would call to see how I was feeling, or to congratulate Katara now."
He pulled his phone out and dialed his brothers number, but after ringing several times his eyebrow raised when the call went to voicemail. "He's not even answering? Is he not able to hear it with the crowd?"
Sighing, he put the phone back into his pocket and walked out of the bathroom back towards his class. "Perhaps he is just a little distracted with the festival… he'll call later when he can."
"LET'S GET THIS NEXT MATCH UNDERWAY PEOPLE! WE HAVE THE SHADOW QUIRK USER STEPPING BACK UP TO THE PLATE. FROM THE HERO COURSE, FUMIKAGE TOKOYAMI! VERUS… SHE'S THE LAST ONE OF HER CLASS STILL IN, BUT SHE IS A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH! FROM THE HERO COURSE, ITSUKA KENDO!"
The two students faced each other on the large stage as the crowd screamed out ready to watch. Katara and the others sat contemplating what was going to happen next, Mina however being the loudest one there.
"Come on, Birdbrain! Kick her big handed butt off the stage!" She yelled out to her classmate below.
"You seem energetic about this one." Katara chuckled out.
"Hey, she knocked me out, so it's time for him to get her back for me." Mina grinned and pumped her fist. "Come on, you got this!"
Tokoyami sat silent as he stared to the red head standing across from him. His eyes focused on her popping her knuckles and frowned. "In terms of power, she in fact may be more than dark shadow at the moment. I'll have to keep her at bay with longer range attacks." he said to himself.
"START!"
"Go, dark shadow!" Tokoyami ordered his quirk forward, the shadow form rushing forward across the stage. Kendo readied herself and expanded her hands out before bracing her stance, throwing her large palms forward and slamming into dark shadows claws. Tokoyami grunted in annoyance at her strength, ordering his quirk to continue attacking. Kendo yelled out and shot her hands forward again, her hands and dark shadows claws slamming and intertwining into one another. The two pushed forward for several seconds before dark shadow lifted in the air and picked her off the ground before throwing her towards the edge.
Kendo bounced into the ground of the ring, slamming her hands into the ground slowing her down and stopping her from exiting the stage. She crawled back up to her feet and smirked. "Not bad, but I'm not going out that easy." She lifted her large right hand and charged forward again. Dark shadow rushed forward again and swung its dark clawed hands towards her incoming punch, but before they connected, her hand shrunk back to normal causing dark shadow to miss. As the dark quirk passed by, her hands expanded out again and slammed into the quirks stomach and sent it flying back.
"Now I got you!" Kendo yelled out as she leaped and brought her hands towards Tokoyami, the bird teen rolling out of the way just as she crashed into the ground where he stood cracking the concrete floor. Before he could stand straight, her hands swung out and slammed into his body launching him up and out of the ring. His worried eyes looked to the ground below him and back to the stage.
"Dark shadow, now!" he yelled out, the quirk slamming its claws into the staged just inside the line and locking in place like it did with Uraraka's match, but this time he retracted himself even faster, tucking his legs in to keep them from grazing the stage edge as he rolled back onto the arena floor.
"What?" Kendo glared out and looked to the teacher on the side. "He was out of bounds!"
"True, but he never touched the floor yet, therefore he is still safe." Midnight answered back.
Grunting to herself, Kendo looked back to her opponent once again. "Fine, then lets do this again!" the class B student expanded both her hands again and ran forward once more.
Tokoyami sneered as she came towards him, but then his eyes caught something to the side he could use. "Dark shadow, you see that?" he asked.
"Of course, I see what you can." the shadow bird snickered.
"Good, then lets do it." Tokoyami braced his body and launched his quirk forward again aiming to the left. Dark shadow swiped its claws towards Kendo's legs who leaped over the quirk and ran passed it. She saw her chance and threw a massive punch at her opponent barely missing as he backed towards the edge once again. She saw this and smirked, throwing her large hands again to knock or force him out. Before he did step out, she suddenly noticed the form of dark shadow retracting into his stomach, making her mind click as she spun around and gasped as the dark figure rushed her, it's claws clutching a chunk of the stage she broke earlier.
"Got ya now!" dark shadow hissed and threw the concrete at her. Kendo swiped her hand back and shattered the chunk of stone, readying her other hand to collide with the incoming quirk. But before she could she suddenly felt Tokoyami's arms grip her waist and picked her off the ground.
"Wha- Hey!" She yelled out in shock as she felt him grab and throw her towards the edge. Her feet hit the stage interior just before she was out, struggling to keep her balance inside before she looked back helplessly as dark shadow collided into her back and pushed her forward, her feet forced to step outside of the line.
"Kendo is out of bounds. Tokoyami advances!" Midnight yelled to the audience, earning another round of cheers from the crowd.
Tokoyami retracted his quirk and bowed to his opponent before turning back and walking off stage. Kendo sat for a few seconds in disappointment before huffing out and brushing her shirt off. "Well, I tried at least." She sighed and waved to the crowd, feeling a bit better when they cheered louder for her. "Guess I don't get to face against that Katara now." she chuckled to herself and walked off.
"Woohoo! Tokoyami is really cool!" Toru yelled happily, her floating outfit hopping up and down.
Katara couldn't help but smile out and look over to Mina. "It seems he is going to the semi finals too."
mina chuckled and leaned back in her seat. "Wow, I was in the entrance exams with two genuine badasses. How lucky am I?"
That made Katara almost burst out laughing. "Well I am so happy with your luck."
While the others continued chatting what they thought of the match, Tenya couldn't help but pull his phone out and send his brother a text. "Perhaps he would answer this now." he whispered to himself.
On the streets in Hosu, Tensei sprinted down the road in his hero suit. His eyes darted back and forth along the sides into the many deep alleyways trying to find the reason he was missing this important day for his brother. To find the one responsible for his long nights of searching, and the one responsible for the killings recently. He clicked the mic in his helmet on as he rounded one of the streets and rushed forward again. "Is this the area he was spotted?" Tensei yelled into his Mic.\
"Yes sir, it was this morning, but no other cameras have seen him leave. He has to be nearby still." the voice answered inside his ear.
Tensei felt the phone inside his suit vibrate once more, but he couldn't answer now. If it was his agency, they would have contacted him through his suit. He had a feeling who it could have been, but he had to keep his focus. Anything else than what he was doing would have to wait for now.
"Sorry Tenya, but I will make it up to you later. I promise." he said to himself as he ran through the street. When he passed a large alleyway to his left however, his eyes caught sight of a figure disappearing behind the corner. "Wait…"
He skidded to a stop and burst back towards the space between the buildings, launching himself up into the air and kicking off the building face to propel him down the path. He landed on the ground and spun around, feeling his heart rate spike when his prediction was correct. His eyes narrowed as his teeth clenched in anger, standing up and raising his fists. "I finally found you… hero killer."
The figure hidden in the shadows turned to face the hero Ingenium, his many blade handles glistening in the faint light. The torn cloths over his head and arms swung from the slight breeze coming through the alley, allowing the dark red eyes to seemingly shine through the darkness.
"So... what do we have here? Another pretender running around in a costume?" The blade wielder sneered out.
"I am Ingenium, and I have been searching for you." Tensei clenching his knuckles and readying himself. "You will pay for those you have hurt!"
"Ingenium… I have heard of you." the hero killer flicked his long tongue across his cheek and grinned. "It would be nice to add such a popular fake to my list."
Tensei glared and expelled smoke out of his arm exhaust pipes. "I will be the one to take you down today. You will not hurt anyone else."
"Is that so?" The masked man reached down and clenched his hands onto the pair of knives on his waist. "I wasn't planning on hunting until tonight, but I am not one against changing plans."
"Whatever you are planning now, it is over!" Tensei ignited his quirk and burst forward, bringing a glare to the hero killers face.
"You are just like everyone else… pretending to be something you aren't chasing glory…" he slipped the blades out of their sheaths and exhaled. "Allow me to give you a proper sendoff then..."
"Die!"
Another explosion rocked the sports festival stage as Bakugo backed up, glaring in annoyance through the smoke cloud from his quirk. After a few moments, the smoke cleared revealing a hardened Kirishima.
"It looks like your quirk is useless against me!" Kirishima laughed and ran forward throwing a punch, his sharp edged skin cutting into Bakugo's cheek. Even as the explosions hit his body, Kirishima grinned and kept forward. "Sorry Bakugo, but it's time to teach you a lesson for how you treated a girl earlier."
Bakugo gritted his teeth to the comment as he backed up. "The hell you crying about? If she wants to be a hero then she's gotta suck it up."
"Yeah, but a real man still wouldn't treat a woman like that!" Kirishima roared out and ran forward attempting to body slam his opponent, only for Bakugo to launch himself back several spaces and out of range.
"Yeah, come on! Kick his ass Kirishima!" Tetsutetsu cheered out from the class B section, making the others look up to him in confusion.
'Weren't you all about beating class A earlier?" Juzo questioned his friend.
"Hey, he is my eternal rival, but I respect that dude!" Tetsutetsu grinned and went back to yelling for his favorite of the match.
The class A students also sat surprised as they watched Kirishima ran forward towards the exploding teen. "Wow, Bakugo is the one being backed up. Didn't see this coming." Kaminari grinned as the red head took another barrage of blasts like nothing.
"Kirishima is really strong. It's no wonder he caused so much trouble for us in the mock battles." Tokoyami responded.
Midoriya sat wide eyed as he was seeing something he did not ever expect to see. "I can't believe it. Kachaan… is on the defensive." he said out loud as he watched his childhood friend unload blast after blast as he backed up.
Like him, Yaoyorozu stared down in disbelief as well, but she had a small sense of satisfaction in her gut. She wanted Bakugo to lose after what she felt in her match with him, whether it was the right thing to feel or not. She clenched her fist and watched as he seemed to struggle while Kirishima kept coming forward. "It looks like Bakugo has met someone he can't hurt for once." she sneered out.
While the others watched thinking it was going one way, however, Katara was seeing something different. As the fight was dragging on, she wasn't certain but it seemed as if Bakugo's blasts were getting bigger. She had a strange feeling in her stomach as the two went at it again, and as if fate was calling, the next blast left a bad burn on Kirishima's arms.
Bakugo bared his teeth and grinned at the sight. "It seems your quirk tires you out holding it for so many hits. Mine however gets stronger the more I sweat. You picked the wrong guy to have an endurance match with!"
Kirishima's eyes widened a Bakugo came in again, unleashing another rapid barrage of attacks that enshrouded him in smoke and fire. The stage became a mass of shattered stone and debris as the hardened quirk user stumbled backwards, his chest heaving up and down from exhaustion. "Shit… I can't keep this up…" he wheezed out between breaths.
"Now for the finishing blow!" Bakugo blasted forward again as his hand glowed a bright white. "DIE!"
A final blinding flash enveloped the stage before the loud explosion rocked the arena. A few moments later an unhardened Kirishima fell through the smoke and onto the ground. After not moving for several moments, Midnight ran onto the stage to check his condition and found he had been knocked unconscious, the damage and exhaustion passed his limit.
Standing back up, the R-rated hero raised her hand to the crowd. "Kirishima is out of commission. Bakugo advances to the next round!"
"God damn it, you suck Kirishima!" Tetsutetsu yelled out in frustration, his classmates shaking their heads at his sudden change of demeanor.
Momo shivered slightly as she gripped her arm again, being reminded how badly she was beaten just earlier. She didn't say anything before looking back to the ground in shame. Midoriya saw her disappointed eyes but didn't know what to say, instead looking back down to the person he still wanted to consider a childhood friend, but one he seemed to resent more every day.
"Holy shit… he is a monster." Ojiro sweated as he watched Kirishima carted off the field. "Even Kirishima couldn't handle his attacks."
"Yeah, he's pretty crazy." Mina admitted and glanced over to Tokoyami grinning, "You got this though, Toki!"
Tokoyami grunted to the nickname again before he looked to Bakugo, his next opponent. "This will be a difficult one for me."
"WOW FOLKS, TALK ABOUT AN EXPLOSIVE FINALE TO THE SECOND SET OF MATCHES! AND NOW, HERE WE ARE! THESE ARE YOUR SEMI FINALISTS!" Mic turned towards the large screen above as it changed to the four pictures of the finalists of the competition; Katara, Todoroki, Tokoyami and Bakugo. The four powerhouses of the school festival.
The first contestants next seemed to immediately turn towards each other, all other senses being blocked out from them, even the words the other classmates were saying to her almost seeming to vanish. For the last month the two had continuously felt the tension building between them, and now it was finally coming to a head. They both got up from their seats and walked up the steps to the hall behind, neither saying a word to each other before they went their separate ways to their waiting rooms.
Katara continued on alone to where she had to go, a place to calm her nerves as she made her way towards her waiting room. She didn't even wait for the announcers to tell her when the next match would start, for it didn't matter to her. All that did was she had to go up against the one person who she didn't want to. Not because she was afraid of him, but to the fact of who his father was.
She stopped and walked over to the nearby water fountain, taking several large gulps before she stood up again. She took a few breaths and continued walking. As she approached her door, however, a tall figure rounded the hallway she was next to, her heart jumping up into her throat as she nearly bumped into the very man she was just thinking of.
"En-Endeavor…" She gasped out to the burning man looking down at her.
"So look at you, here," Endeavor sneered out to her, "It seems fate always has us running into each other."
She glared at him and looked away from him. "You looking for your son?" She asked him.
"Actually, I came to talk you, girl." he said, bringing a confused look to the young waterbenders face. "I must say I am quite surprised. For you to make it this far in the festival is more than I expected from you."
Katara rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Yet you seemed shocked I was stronger than those heroes all those months ago." She shot back at him causing him to snicker.
"Please, those 'heroes' you beat would have lost to half of the students in your class. Just because some received licenses doesn't mean they are strong."
Katara raised her brow to what she couldn't tell was a compliment or an insult. "So is that all you wanted to say to me? If so I'm going now."
"I just wanted you to know that my Shoto will be the one to win this festival today. He's my prized creation that will stand atop today and surpass me." Endeavor grinned down at her, those words sending a sharp pain through her chest.
"Your creation? You talk as if he is a tool you use." she growled at him.
Endeavor's grin faltered to her reaction. He expected her to be mad about saying she would lose, but instead it seemed she was more upset about his son. "Huh? What are you worked up for? You look as if you-
"He is your son… he's more than a prop for power." Katara's fist clenched looking up to him. "Is that all you care about?"
"What the hell do you even know about anything?" endeavor's fire sparked up slightly as he stomped forward. "I created him to be the perfect blend of two powers. Once he learns to use both together, there will be no other hero that compares to him."
"Then why does he only use his one side then?" Endeavor grimaced to the question she shot at him. She knew why, but she wanted to hear this mans supposed explanation.
"He thinks doing this is a way of getting under my skin. Sooner or later though, he will learn that he can't always win with just his ice." endeavor then grinned and crossed his arms. "I doubt he will need more than just his ice to beat someone like you, however."
Katara glared up at him before walking passed the hero. "I have a match to get ready for. So if you will excuse me I-
"If he did learn to listen to me, I know he would never lose to anyone again…" Endeavor snickered to himself as he saw her stop, "He will finally become what I made him for."
The glare Katara cast at the floor would have scared even the sternest of warriors from the words she heard. This man was so blinded by his own ambition, it was all he saw or cared about. He treated his own son like he was an invention, attempting to conform into his perfect creation to display to the world. But that is what was disgusting to her, clenching her fists as the pro walked away.
"He isn't a creation."
Endeavor stopped walking and turned back curiously to her statement. "What?"
"He isn't some creation that you can just shape to your liking." Katara turned back and stared down the flame hero. "He is his own person, who can choose his own path." The two stared at each other for several moments before the waterbender turned her back to him and continued down the hall, leaving endeavor glaring her way.
"Your creation…" Katara scoffed under her breath in disgust. She couldn't believe it. She knew from meeting him he was bad, and from what he was told by Shoto it confirmed it. And now, she really understood his hatred. Everything was making sense to her now; His cold demeanor, lack of emotions, and his determination. It wasn't aimed at her because he didn't like her. It was all because of what his father wanted.
And he was a prisoner to the hatred.
He was so bent on showing his father he didn't want to be like him, Shoto had shut himself off from everything. Even to half of his power. He refused to use it in spite of who it came from, even though it would help him in so many ways. She knew how fire could be used for good by someone close to her, and that living under the control of a father they would never be happy.
He was a prisoner, and he needed to be freed.
Notes: Some big things happening. the festival... and Ingenium. and special note... we will see that fight go down to. but now...
At long last... its finally come to this. the battle everyone has been asking for. the battle being set up since the quirk test. next chapter... Katara vs Todoroki,
Till next time!