The day finally arrived.
The day of the great fight.
The martial arts sports match between Kodachi Kuno, and Akane Tendo.
The various players all had different reactions, and final preparations.
Akane, in a bit of irony considering the match was all about NOT hitting her opponent barehanded, spent the morning doing basic martial arts training, smashing some two dozen bricks, and similar acts to get the heavy nerves out of her system.
Izuku, who was going to be acting as Akane's second, was reading, and rereading the rules again and again, and looked over what specialized equipment he'd prepared(Which basically boiled down to a golden ribbon designed for Ki users, courtesy of Kasumi), and wondering if he wasn't missing something obvious about the rules.
Kasumi whistled a tune, through a pair of kind, smiling lips, as she prepared food for her sister on her big fighting day.
Nabiki was doing some behind the scenes maneuvers to set up the Furinkan betting pot for the coming match, her little sister completely oblivious to the fact that she knew all about it through her gossip circle.
The two patriarchs of the house were preparing themselves for either outcome, whether it be celebration, or cheering the youngest member of the family up after a crushing loss.
Inko once more wondered about the peculiarities and eccentricities of having found herself as a part of the supernatural Martial Arts world as an outsider that could never truly be a part of it.
One figure however, who seemed to have vanished in the night… Was Ryoga Hibiki.
I
"Well, he… Left with his stuff, so I guess he went off to try to find Saint Hebreke himself, to watch the match."
Akane looked utterly baffled at that, but Izuku wasn't too fazed.
"But… There is no way in Hell he's gonna find it. Not in time anyway."
"Nope."
Izuku agreed.
"He does this sometimes… Let his pride get the better of him, rather than let people actually guide him like he has to."
He clapped her on the shoulder.
"That's fine though… Ryoga's big contribution to this match has already been made. Now we just have to put it into practice… Even if he isn't actually there to see it."
She swallowed… But nodded.
He was right.
"It's… Yeah… You're right."
She slapped her cheeks, not super hard, but enough to wake up fully.
"It's time to go WIN."
Kasumi walked out of the kitchen, and handed Akane a much larger than usual bag.
"Here, for your lunch Akane. Good luck on the match ahead. Focus on your strengths… And you'll win."
She had such a wonderful smile her big sister had.
Kasumi then handed Izuku a smaller, lesser bag, but Akane did not miss the gentle way Izuku took them out of her hand… Though for once it did not bother her too much.
She had more important things to worry about.
The thing in question being a beautiful woman in a leotard.
She felt her heart begin to stir, the embers from their last encounter beginning to roar back to life.
Slowly… But they were coming back alive.
The surge of rage was slowly building, though more tempered than back then.
I
There was a lot of motion around Saint Hebreke, as the girls only school was frequented by quite a lot of outsiders from their most hated of rivals in Furinkan.
A lot of students had not gotten the memo about that, and as often happened when you placed boys and girls together, more than a few ended up having some deeper interactions, some which would lead to a followup meeting, or two, and 4 in total that would lead to a more lasting bond.
Most of the students from Furinkan who were there though, were those who were actually invested in seeing the big match… Meaning mostly Izuku and Akane's class, the Rythmic gymnastic team of Furinkan, and a few other students here and there from other classes.
The main stars however, was nowhere to be seen in it's halls.
I
"Is this really necessary?"
The adult woman who stood in front of the door to their assigned preparation room, snorted.
"Of course it is. Furinkan and Hebreke's official matches are always dirty and ugly affairs. You cannot be allowed any contact with the opposing student body before the match… Neither can your opponent."
Izuku, who was busy looking through the chest he'd been carrying that contained all their equipment, turned to look at her with a curious expression.
"It sounds like there's been a lot of underhandedness on both parts."
The woman snorted.
"It has. Constantly, year in and year out there is something with you two. The Furinkan's High Style soccer team gets boyfriends to beat up the opposition… Hebreke's Steel Boxing member screws over the Furinkan counterpart with what is clearly, but cannot be proven, as poison. The only difference is that this time the parties involved are one of the Rhythmic Gymnastic team headed by Kodachi…"
The woman shuddered.
"She has a reputation… That is to say, she is insane, but with a very clever mind… And no hesitation at all when it comes to rule exploiting. Not a good combination. Especially not for you."
To that Akane nodded furiously, remembering their first encounter with some rage.
Izuku, though, just cocked his head.
"How did all of this start? The sport as a whole doesn't have this kind of viciousness outside the ring does it?"
"It does not, no. It would never have managed to become an officially recognized sport if that was the case. But to answer your question, it all began with Hebreke, the man this university and its highschool counterpart was named after. The man was killed by some young teenage punks… From Furinkan."
Akane, who had been devoting all of her thoughts on the coming match, was immediately jolted out of it.
"Really? What the Hell happened?"
It was Izuku who answered though.
"He helped some kids escape a burning building. I knew he was killed by villains… But I wasn't aware they were so young… And from Furinkan."
The older woman dressed as a judge smiled ruefully.
"They never let that story spread around on Furinkan eh? I'm not surprised. Your teacher's would prefer it if that little bit of trivia ceased to exist. Hebreke has a different opinion, I can assure you. They have neither forgotten, nor forgiven… Which is rather ironic given it's a Catholic only school, but that's Human beings for you."
Akane nodded slowly.
"Huh… That… Kinda changes things a bit."
Izuku shook his head.
"Not for us. You HAVE to win Akane."
Before she could reply though, there was a knock on the door, and another woman in similar garb as their watcher came in after said watcher opened the door.
"Equipment and list."
She demanded summarily from Izuku, who handed it to her.
The woman quickly went over it, then nodded before quickly going over the chest.
She checked every club one after another, then the ribbons, then raised an eyebrow at the rubber balls.
She lifted one up, as if to check their weight.
"Hmmm… Overall, nothing out of the ordinary… Certainly nothing unusual, or unorthodox… Especially compared to your opposition."
Akane snorted.
"What, you caught her cheating?"
The woman gave a sigh.
"No… Her weapon was not forbidden by the rules. I don't see what sort of advantage it will bring… But it was technically not against any rules."
She shook her head, then let the ball fall back into the chest.
"Allright, I have accepted this arsenal. The match can begin. Do you want help to carry-"
There she was interrupted as Izuku hoisted the chest up and over his shoulder, where he balanced it perfectly.
"Nevermind… I'll just leave it to your stud. Now get going."
The two teenagers did indeed get going, down the hallway to destiny.
I
Izuku wondered how Akane felt as they walked down the hallway, the sounds of cheering getting ever stronger, the noise level beginning to rise with every step and the bright lights in the distance, signifying the arena room.
He felt an old rhythm beginning to take hold.
The drum in his heart that began to beat like it sometimes before a contest of skill.
This time though… He knew that it wasn't the same as every other time. This was not a fight where he got to determine… Anything really, be it the result or the conclusion.
That would be up to Akane and Kodachi.
His big role had been to get Akane to this point… Now it was up to her to actually win this thing.
…Or lose.
He buried the thought.
It would be fine.
Akane wasn't weak.
She just… Wasn't excellent in anything but raw power.
As they walked, he also tried very, very hard not to focus on the fact his rather attractive fiancee was wearing a skintight leotard with bare legs.
That wasn't too hard, thankfully.
The prospect of becoming Kuno's brother still lingered like a wraith.
I
As she came out into the light, Akane was for a moment, blown away by it all.
The fighting Arena itself was like a Boxing ring, with the upper levels of the surrounding seats immediately bringing to mind the Japanese boxing halls of old.
She saw banners with Kodachi, and the words "Number 1" on them, or other encouraging words such as "Yay Yay" over the words "Kodachi Rules" or other equally supporting signs.
It was… Overwhelming in its own right.
But it was hardly the only thing that struck her, as the sight of a packed house also brought with it something else.
Massive amounts of sound.
People talking, muttering, chatting, whooping, whistling at her appearance, and more.
It was…
"Dear God in heaven… That's the girl they had fill in for them? Seriously?
Akane almost stopped from the audible shocked sounds from above and behind her.
She kept going though… Even as the next line made her cheeks blush like a tomato.
"What a graceless Hippo! Look at that gigantic rear! Now there's someone who could have used a few less cakes in her life!"
Akane almost stopped to throw their chest at the schoolgirls… But Izuku's hand on her shoulder and more importantly, his words, stopped her.
"They're just trying to get you riled up. If you attack one of them, you lose by default. Focus on the ring. On your foe."
That was probably true… Almost certainly the case… But DAMN did it succeed in getting her absolutely pissed!
She WASN'T overweight… She just had a big butt. Was that so damn wrong?
And so, as she got up on the arena past the boxing ring's bands, and she rose to her full height, she snarled at the sight on the other opposite end of the ring, where a familiar figure awaited her.
Kodachi Kuno, in all her smug, confident glory.
In one hand, she was holding an iron rod, and in the other was twirling a black ball of some kind on the tip of her finger in a rapidly spinning circle.
She completely ignored the ball, as Kodachi was deliberately holding it out sideways, away from her, as she looked at Akane with an evil look on her wretched face!
"So you came after all, Akane… Are you ready to hand over Izuku-Sama to me!? He needs a PROPER wife… Not one who invites riff raff and scoundrels into his home."
Akane felt a vein on her forehead pulsate, as she took a club and ribbon from Izuku's offering hand from the sidelines.
"Just for the record… That's Nabiki… Or rather was… You fucking out of date Bitch."
"Oh? Well, and here I thought you seem rather chummy with this scoundrel."
Kodachi stopped spinning the ball… Which as it wound down was revealed to not be a ball at all… But a rather spherical, black baby pig who's eyes swam, and around its neck was a familiar bandanna.
Akane felt a massive spike of worry!
"W-let him GO! NOW!"
"I think not. He is my registered weapon you see. But by all means… When this match starts, feel free to try to take him from me."
Akane was about to let forth a roar of anger in response, but it was actually Izuku who let forth a cry first!
"Wait! It is clearly against the rule to use animals! It very, very clearly states in rule 374, that any creature not of Human origin or created by a Quirk is… Is…"
"Oh ho ho ho! You know the rules so well Izuku-Sama! As I would expect… However as you no doubt have figured out by now, it very clearly says any creature not of Human origin… Or created by a Quirk. Ryoga Hibiki here… Is neither. And he weighs less than 10 Kilos."
"She's right."
The judge who had come to check out their equipment(Now having seated herself between two other judges on a small podium beside the ring), called out.
"We have seen for ourselves that the wretched, perverted bastard Ryoga is cursed with the same affliction as Izuku Midoriya… Just with a pig form, rather than a female body..."
There she was sorta cut off as the people of Furinkan standing at the sides began commenting.
"Really? Ryoga becomes a pig when splashed with cold water?"
"Damn, that explains his anger issues… But why is he so angry at Izuku? Shouldn't he blame the guy who did it to him?"
"Wow… He's so cute!"
Akane for her part felt both massive anger, annoyance, and a sense of sick curiosity regarding the judge's comment.
"Why do you call him a pervert?"
"This uncouth brute was involved in quite the incident early this morning regarding the girls locker room, and was caught naked and in the act… The school frankly should have called the police, but decided it was much more fitting for this to be his punishment."
Yeah… No way that could have been biased at all.
Izuku had a different reaction.
"Wait… He got lost and wandered into a girls locker?"
"Don't be an idiot! He was obviously framed!"
The thought of one her friends being taken away and manipulated by Kodachi to hurt HER, both infuriated, and sickened her!
Not that she was in any position to need another reason to be angry at Kodachi!
"Oh, yeah that… That seems-"
"Regardless!"
The judge cut in.
"He has been accepted as one of Kodachi's weapons, and that is that. There are no rules against transformed teenage boy's… And under 10 Kilos he fits the weight limit. Now with that out of the way… Let's begin!"
A third person climbed into the ring…through the ropes as if she was a ghost. She was another young lady wearing a black and white vertically striped shirt, and a whistle around her neck, with a black mane pulled back in a ponytail.
"NOW THEN, LET US BEGIN!"
The woman roared in a loud, booming voice that did not match her looks at all.
"IN ONE CORNER, WE HAVE THE HEBREKE STUDENT KODACHO KUNO, THE BLACK ROSE! THE NINJA OF HEBREKE MIDDLE SCHOOL!"
She turned away from Kodachi and motioned towards Akane.
"AND IN THE OTHER CORNER WE HAVE AKane TENDO! DAUGHTER OF SOUN TENDO, AND YOUNGER SISTER OF NABIKI, THE ICE WITCH OF TENDO HALL, AND KASUMI, THE DEMON GOD OF YUEI! SHE IS…"
She frowned.
"Um… Do you have some motif or something? An animal? Heraldry?"
"No. I-"
"ALRIGHT THEN, IN THE OPPOSITE CORNER WE HAVE… AKANE TENDO THE… WHALE OF FURINKEN MIDDLE SCHOOL! MIGHTY AND POWERFUL!"
Akane once more felt an amazing, throbbing vein of anger in her forehead at the comparison.
"THE RULES OF THE MATCH ARE CLEAR CUT! NO TIME LIMIT! NO BAREHANDED BLOWS! THE MATCH ENDS WHEN ONE GIRL IS UNCONCIOUS, HITS THE FLOOR OUTSIDE OF THE RING, AND THE WINNER OF THE MATCH AS CONFIRMED BY AKANE'S OWN TEACHER BEFORE OUR PANEL OF UNBIASED JUDGES, WILL WIN NOT ONLY THE SCHOOLS CHAMPIONSHIP IN THE SPORT, BUT ALSO GET IZUKU MIDORIYA'S HAND IN MARRIAGE! NOW BEFORE THE MATCH STARTS, ONLY NEED TO GET THE DEFENSIVE BARRIER BETWEEN THE RING AND THE SPECTATORS!"
Said barrier was raised by an older gentleman, who created a see through forcefield that also had the benefit of lighting the arena up even more.
"NOW THEN… THE MATCH BEGINS ON THE END OF THE COUNTDOWN!"
Both Akane and Kodachi stiffened.
The whale clutched her suddenly ki infused weapons in a deathgrip as she snarled.
The Ninja flipped Ryoga's body around so she now held him by the back hem of his headband, not too dissimilar to how Izuku had done at that night weeks ago.
"3."
"2."
"1."
"BEGIN!"
Akane thrust the club at Kodachi's face with enough force that it would pulverize through bedrock with little difficulty.
She then immediately brought her attack to an awkward and forcibly halted stop, as Kodachi simply brought up Ryoga in front of her face with immense, yet casual speed.
For a brief, brief moment, Akane felt like time stood still, as the club was 2 centimeters from Ryoga's face.
She was rewarded for that moment of hesitation and mercy, by Kodachi bashing her across the face with the metal rod, and sending her staggering backwards.
"As I thought… You-"
"IT WOULD APPEAR THAT FOR WHATEVER REASON Akane TENDO IS UNWILLING TO HARM THE PIG RYOGA!"
"...Yes. that."
Kodachi then followed it up by doing her own thrust at Akane's face, to which she dodged, but not quick enough to prevent a small cut across the side of her cheek.
It didn't bleed profusely, but it was there as Akane swung her own club sideways low, with enough force to shatter steel, but Kodachi had backed away and was now on the opposite side of the ring.
Kodachi eyed the cut with a frown.
"That was enough to hurt you? Truly? You who possess such raw power?"
Akane responded by charging, once more bringing out the club for a stab.
And once more, Akane was blocked by Ryoga, but unlike last time, she instead let go of the club midair, and her hand went up to grab Ryoga's headband on the opposite side of Kodachi's grip.
The club went sailing through the air, as Akane RIPPED the headband in twain, and then grabbed the now freed Ryoga… To which Kodachi brained her once more with the metal rod.
Her grip around Ryoga did not waver though, as she flipped and rolled across the floor and snapped up to meet Kodachi.
"AND THE PIG IS NOW OUT OF KODACHI'S GRASP! BUT AKANE HAS NOW TAKEN TWO MASSIVE BLOWS TO THE HEAD! CAN SHE KEEP THIS GOING FOR MUCH LONGER!?"
Akane cracked her neck as she rose, Ryoga clutched tightly to her chest as she glared at Kodachi with two suddenly orange eyes… Then she raised her ribbon.
The downwards blow, made a massive sonic boom as it cleaved through the ropes and the arena in one, single blow.
Not a clean cut. It cleaved with force, as if a huge butcher's knife had fallen on it from above.
Kodachi, now standing on one of the poles, completely unharmed, smiled.
"Yes, a fearsome opponent indeed! You are-"
"AND WHAT POWER! IF KODACHI HAD TAKEN THAT BLOW, EVEN WITH HER LUDICROUS DURABILITY THAT HAS TO HAVE LEFT MORE THAN AN OUCH!"
Kodachi's smug look turned irritated.
"Ribbon!"
Her second, a truly old, yet spry woman threw her a ribbon, and suddenly a long, pink ribbon spiraled through the air.
Akane immediately knew what was about to follow, and so jumped out of the way as the ropes behind her turned to tatters as Kodachi unleashed the maelstrom.
Two blows hit true though, one on Akane's arm, and the other on Ryoga himself who let out a squeal of pain.
She grit her teeth and snapped back unto her feet to face her foe.
Kodachi grinned as she turned, to which Akane's rage just got hotter.
Couldn't this BITCH take this as deadly seriously as Akane was?
As Kodachi readied another large scale attack, Akane suddenly spotted an opportunity back behind Kodachi.
She brought up her whip and once more brought it downwards.
Kodachi dodged with ease.
"How predictable Akane Tendo…"
Then she was thrown onto the floor as Akane wrenched it back… And the ropes that had been severed by Kodachi's own maelstrom attack, were now attached to Akane's ribbon, held to it, and empowered quite substantially by Ki!
Akane immediately began her own, brutal barrage… But her's was simply whip strikes… Less flashy than Kodachi's multi pronged attack, but with her power, and the ribbon having turned into a many tailed whip, it was effective enough.
Enough that as Kodachi began dodging, and kept dodging for half a minute brutal, massive flurries, she took her first true, serious hit in the match, as one of the tails smashed her across the face, and with little difficulty broke her nose.
She was sent slamming into one of the poles, where she was obviously brutually shaken, having become dizzy as she leaned up against it.
It would have been a great opportunity to charge, and finish her off…
Unfortunately for Akane, for a moment, her concentration broke, and the ropes all fell off.
She'd used up a large amount of Ki on that display.
After looking back at it later, Akane would recognize she could still have taken out Kodachi then and there with a simple, downward blow with her still intact ribbon, but in the moment, her panicked mind instead focused on the issue of how to fix her greater whip, and so she instead brought it down again on the ropes from the first great whip blow she'd dealt, which were still attached to the pole.
She had no issue cleaving them, and then before they even fell, wrenched it sideways and up and attached all the severed ropes to the ribbon.
This did however give Kodachi the briefest moment to recover, and with blinding speed she was back behind Akane… And far more importantly besides her second.
"AND AKANE HAS KODACHI ON THE LITERAL ROPES! CAN THE ROSE NINJA TRIUMPH, OR WILL THE WHALE GO HOME WITH THE TROPHY AFTER ALL!?
Kodachi didn't even seem to notice her spectral announcer and referee, instead her own eyes began to glow for a moment, purple, but far lesser than Akane's blazing orange stars.
"A BLOW OF A THOUSAND HANDS!"
Akane didn't quite see what the hell happened then… She saw that as she brought her own whip down Kodachi again, her second threw her several clubs.
Then Kodachi was a flurry, meeting Akane's massive, multi pronged attack with a barrage of what seemed like ten thousand club stabs!
As Akane kept up the assault, trying to replicate the previous attack, Kodachi kept up her own, blazing flurry of stabs as it seemed as if she was a machine gun, meeting every single whip with a club of her own!
It wasn't before Akane brought down her whip again, and back up that she realized that Kodachi hadn't just countered the blows, she had destroyed her many tails as well, until only the base ribbon remained!
She jumped sideways to almost the end of the ring, as Kodachi almost nailed her with that ridiculous flurry of attacks!
As Kodachi turned, 18 clubs clattered to the floor as she now held only two in her hands.
She had used all of those at once for a counter, stabbing them then letting go and using another club to counter her massive barrage, before grabbing the next in a massive, rhythmic display of speed so not one fell to the floor.
It was an insane technique that by any metric would have required a stupid amount of skill and ability.
Despite herself, and her blazing anger, Akane couldn't help feeling just a bit impressed… Even if her anger far outshone it.
"Impressive… But that took a LOT out of you."
And it had, as Kodachi was now breathing heavily, clearly sweating bullets as her blood mixed with sweat.
"Maybe so… But you are far worse of-"
"AND BOTH OF OUR COMBATANTS ARE DEAD TIRED! BOTH HAVE TAKEN REAL, POWER BLOWS! BUT WHICH WILL HAVE MORE STRENGTH TO FINISH THE FIGHT! WHO WILL EMERGE VICTORIOUS FROM HER STUPOR TO CLAIM THE FINAL PRIZE!?"
Kodachi didn't deign to answer, as she kicked up the iron rod she had dropped when Akane brained her across the face, and sent it flying at Akane with a kick.
Akane dodged, then brought her ribbon down on Kodachi's head as the girl charged her and…
The girl brought both her clubs together and slammed them, head against head on the cloth of Akane's Ribbon.
The Tendo girl was so surprised, that she didn't manage to react in time as Kodachi used the now surprise hold to wrench Akane in a twisting throw overhead and SLAMMED her into the Mat where she brought down both clubs in Akane's head.
She twisted out of the way… But not fast enough.
Her nose collided with the club as her head went out of the way of the weapon, and just like Kodachi, it broke it with little trouble, creating a fountain of red, gooey blood streaming down Akane's lower face!
She swore as she got back on her feet, sans the ribbon, and Ryoga still clutched against her in a death grip.
The rage inside of her began to roar, the furnace suddenly unleashed by the massive, brutal pain.
"A n-"
"A NOSE FOR A NOSE! HOW OLD TE-"
"STOP INTERRUPTING ME CURSE YOU!"
For a brief, brief moment Kodachi was distracted by screaming at the referee… Which was all Akane needed.
She vaulted over to Izuku, then threw Ryoga into him.
"Weapon, now!"
She didn't really care what weapon right now.
The pouring blood from her nose, which was now pooling down into the chest opening of her Gymnastic leotard, just made her madder by the second!
As did the pain in her head.
Adrenaline was now truly pumping through her body, and finally rage was beginning to swell for real! As it had when the day this insanity had begun!
I
Izuku threw Akane a club and a Ball, as he let Ryoga fall to the floor to… He didn't really care.
ALL of his focus was on Akane.
His fiancee snatched the club, and KICKED the ball with such force that it ripped one of the steel beams in half!
Her aim was a bit off, but it still showed that the girl was DONE.
It had many names that had come over her now.
The most famous name was Berserk, after the ancient Norse warriors of old… But it was hardly a thing exclusive to them.
On the contrary, it was something every single culture that had engaged in warfare had had to deal with at some point.
When warriors lost control.
Some of the ugliest things in Human history was attributed to just that.
Countless sacks, destruction of cities, towns, villages and, and lesser, brutal events so on, had happened because soldiers and warriors hadn't kept themselves disciplined and let out the beast that lived in the darkness of all of mankind that could come out when blood began to flow.
As Akane launched a flurry of attacks, where every blow she let forth had a sonic boom, Izuku recalled something Kadumi had once said.
Akane has never seen real fights.
That much was true.
This was her first, real fight.
That was often the way of it. Those who let battle rage consume them did so in their first battle, generally not their hundred.
I
Akane was done.
She was done with Kodachi.
Utterly, completely done.
The Kuno Girl was on the move, and brought up those 20 clubs of hers in a defensive storm.
She had the speed, and she understood Akane's rage enough to successfully meet her superpowered attacks… But she did not have the Ki to match Akane's blows with the clubs.
Her own clubs SMASHED to pieces as she used them to divert and parry Akane's blows off course.
One of the youngest Tendo girls blow hit the floor and it cratered that section of the as Ryoga had once done in Furinkan's courtyard.
Akane wanted Kodachi OUT of her life!
Attacking her in the middle of the night!
Trying to snatch away Izuku!
And now utterly humiliating Ryoga and putting him in danger like this!
The sharp, throbbing pain in her nose had been the final straw, but it was just the last of many, many straws.
This was her chance to FINALLY get even, and as she pursued Kodachi, it was the thought that she was FINALLY going to pay her back for EVERYTHING that really kept the flames going!
Finally though, Kodachi was out of her stupid Clubs.
She managed to grab her ribbon, but before she could use it, Akane forced her back with a swing.
Then to the left, and then, slowly, but surely, she edged her towards the open corner where her ki infused ball had ripped the corner from its foundations.
"Nowhere… to run!"
Kodachi's glowing purple eyes met her orange.
Kodachi snapped her whip backwards.
Akane rushed forward to slam her club into her.
The rope came back and-
The severed corner slammed into Akane's head, bringing her to her knees!
Before she managed to do anything else though, Kodachi had brought down the steel pillar on her head again, once, twice, more times, before on the 5 blow, the pillar just shattered.
Pain.
Her entire world was pain.
Her thoughts swam as she once more forced herself to her knees… But Kodachi was nowhere near, instead being on the opposite end of the ring.
Akane cracked her neck again.
Then she vaguely spotted Ryoga over beside the arena.
What a cute little pig…
In her swimming thoughts, she recalled him, and how much he'd helped her out… Her training. Her…
An idea came to her then.
An idea of madness and brilliance.
She noticed her ribbon not too far away on the floor, then picked it up.
Perfect.
She raised her hand to attack…
Then snapped around and slammed it down through the floor to the outside of the ring.
Then… She channeled her Ki.
Through the whip… And down into the floor.
Both floors. The one under her feet to keep it intact from the weight sbe was now the center of.
With a ROAR of pain and anger, she WRENCHED the actual stone floor up.
Or tried to. What she got wasn't quite the full floor, but it would do.
A massive "boulder" made up of the floor's concrete, that had to weigh somewhere around 30 tons flew through the air, and Akane brought it down on Kodachi!
The girl dodged… But two pieces of the boulder hit her as it EXPLODED into a thousand smaller chunks as it crashed through the floor of the Arena then into the greater floor beneath, making the entire ring fall apart.
Akane barely managed to jump away in time onto one of two still remaining beams at the outside of the ring.
Kodachi did the same, though in her case, she now sported a broken arm, and an incredibly hunched over posture cradling her lung.
"HOLY SHIT! WHAT AMAZING STRENGTH! TRULY AKANE TENDO IS A WHALE! HER SMALL HEIGHT HIDES THAT SHE TRULY IS A BEAST OF POWER… MUCH LIKE A SPERM WHALE! SHE IS A JAPANESE PORPYRIOUS!"
Quite a lot of "What?" and other confused sounds came from the audience, but as Akane suddenly found herself woozy beyond belief, and Kodachi cradled her side, the referee had no issue explaining, having figured out neither would be making any immediate move.
"PORPYRIOUS WAS A SPERM WHALE THAT WREAKED HAVOC ACROSS THE ROMAN EMPIRE! AND SHE WAS BOTH SMALLER THAN AVERAGE AND FEMALE TO BOOT! HENCE THE COMPARISON TO AKANE TENDO! IN FACT I WOULD DARE SAY IT WOULD MAKE A GOOD HERO NAME FOR HER!"
"Screw… Screw that…"
"Oh I don't know… That sounds pretty good on you… Oh… Ho… Ho… Unnnghhh…"
Akane, despite her feeling the shock of her concussion, on top of her massive ki drain, raised herself up, and brought the precariously standing Kodachi down with a swing!
Only after having made the swing did she realize that the actual ribbon section had been ripped apart by the weight of the boulder as she went empty of Ki.
Shit.
That left…
Left…
She raised the other hand, where in a death grip, she still held her trusty club.
She… Wouldn't hit Kodachi with that.
She knew that well enough, and as she stood there her brain… Sorta calmed down enough to consider what the hell she would do now.
Opposite her, Kodachi seemed to consider the same, as she grit her teeth, and forced herself to stand tall with tears in her eyes.
"I… WILL defeat you… Akane Tendo… Izuku-Sama… WILL be mine!"
"He's… Mine…"
Kodachi's eyes narrowed as they met hers… Then went over to the side.
Akane vaguely recognized that Izuku was standing there with a chest.
She was looking at him.
Then she crouched…
Instincts shot up through Akane's groggy mind.
Danger.
She leapt!
It was graceful and beautiful, and perfectly executed despite the no doubt horrible, utter pain.
She WOULD hit Akane.
Akane brought up the Club to stab as Kodachi brought her ribbon down… Towards the side.
Another flare of anger shot through her, as Kodachi wrenched her ribbon back and…
Ryoga.
Ryoga suddenly held in place underneath Kodachi's feet.
She once again halted completely on instinct, as the force of her thrusting blow was completely stopped… Which meant that as he smashed into it, it was completely non stationary, without the momentum and power she had intended to use to smash kodachi.
Kodachi, though, still had her momentum… And as she hit Ryoga from behind with both her feet, she almost toppled the girl completely over just by momentum alone!
Before Akane could readjust though…
Kodachi, using superhuman speed and strength, twisted her body and more importantly her legs around at massive speed, and with Ryoga between her feet, she SMASHED Akane straight in the head with the cursed boy in an overhead blow!
The force behind it was more than enough to topple her over from her precarious position, as she slammed down… And crashed into the floor.
For a moment, as the world once more swam before her eyes and her thoughts were heavy and hard to make sense of, there was silence.
Then…
"AKANE TENDO HAS HIT THE GROUND! KODACHI KUNO WINS THE FIGHT! DESPITE AN AMAZING SHOWCASE OF POWER FROM AKANE TENDO, THE ROSE STANDS TRIUMPHANT! SHE WINS THE CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHY FOR SAINT HEBREKE, AND WITH IT, IZUKU MIDORIYA'S HAND IN MARRIAGE!
"Noooo…"
She felt tears begin to well in her eyes.
"Please no…"
The reality, as Ryoga and Izuku both tried to cheer her up, stood tall on the beam, broken arm, broken nose, and broken ribs, yet clear and proud regardless.
The Rose had vaulted over the Whale.