Chapter 45

Eventually, Kazuki heard Yamada and Aizawa speaking about how the battle for third place was about to start. Apparently, Midoriya insisted on participating even with his arm broken. No surprises there, really, but Kazuki was surprised that it was being allowed. Ultimately though, that was a problem for the boy himself and the school.

He himself had other things in his mind.

Mainly keeping his calm, if he were honest. He'd started pacing around the place once more, a drink he'd gotten from the vending machine in his hand. He needed to keep himself active, after all, else the emotions would be the only thing in his mind. He even went as far as creating miniature Grimm just to do something.

It was inefficient and slow, but he didn't care for that at the moment. He just needed his mind occupied and the slightly different process worked well enough. He'd even taken a step further and taken the usually gigantic King Taijitu and made it into a serpent that was barely a little longer than his arm. 'Mini Taijitu? Baby Taijitu?' he wondered idly, while the white head rubbed against his cheek and the black head wrapped around his neck.

With a deep breath in, Kazuki took another sip from his drink.

He was interested in how the battle between Midoriya and Yaoyorozu would go, for sure. How could he not, with his friend participating? And the green-haired boy wasn't too bad himself either. It was going to be a good fight, if his friend had enough resources to try a few things. Otherwise, Midoriya had it in the bag, easily so, broken arm or not.

Even with all that, his mind was more focused in his own fight.

Monoma was going to be a difficult fight. He was good and Kazuki knew it, after all. The 1-B student was crafty and no slacker in physical training. The part that would give trouble was his Quirk though.

There was literally any number of Quirks he could go to the fight with and Kazuki had no way of knowing what he'd use. He knew most of 1-B's Quirks, of course, but what if Monoma took someone else's Quirk? There were people walking around the halls of the building they were in. School staff, for the most part, but if they went out of their way they could probably get to the public stands if they really wanted to.

Which Kazuki didn't, of course, but the option was there for others.

Monoma would likely have to ask for permission or something, but Kazuki didn't know how hard it would be for someone to agree to that. People would jump at the chance of helping beat him, surely. So, that was, as far as he was concerned, a decent chance of the blonde getting his hands on some unknown Quirk of equally unknown power. Not every person with a strong Quirk went into heroics, after all.

Kazuki took a deep breath in and another sip from his drink. It was becoming almost like a ritual to do that every so often, to shake off any thoughts or emotions whenever they reared their ugly head. It didn't help, but at least he wanted to give it some measure of attention instead of just trying to ignore it until he exploded. Better to know that something was wrong and push back…

He felt like he was grasping at straws, honestly. Everything he tried only worked halfway at best. Pep talks from others, pep talks from himself, all the little tricks he'd learned through the years, motivations and distractions… Nothing worked, or at least not for long. It only made everything worse, since Kazuki grew frustrated himself too, on top of the awful emotions all around.

He repeated his new ritual as he reached the room where his classmates watched the fights going on.

Yaoyorozu and Midoriya were entering the arena, getting in position to start their fight. The green-haired boy seemed to have improvised a cast with his shirt which… The thing had been set up by Recovery Girl at the infirmary, from what he'd heard. All the while complaining about stubborn children and how they should know better.

It was brave of the nervous wreck, Kazuki supposed. He wouldn't have guessed the boy would just go shirtless into a fight on National TV, but then again… Maybe he was just that determined to do well in the Sports Festival.

Kazuki could respect that.

Across from the boy, he turned to look at Yaoyorozu while taking his seat in between Todoroki and Mineta once more. He felt his friends around grow a little worried and that was, funnily enough, very reassuring. Just knowing that they cared helped, even if he could have done without the emotions. It made him feel better, if not by much.

"You think she has enough juice to put up a fight?" Mineta asked, turning his attention from Kazuki to the stage.

"I hope so," he answered, pursing his lips.

"Still, Beauty has done pretty well anyway," Hagakure pointed out, and nobody really argued against that. Why would they? Even if she lost, Yaoyorozu would have made fourth place of their year. Fourth out of forty two that had passed the first event was great, especially considering the level at which UA was.

She was bound to have gotten plenty of attention as it was.

"She has," Todoroki agreed then, and Kazuki picked up some frustration there, which was fair. The guy could have easily made Top 3, really. What the negativity sensor found interesting though, was that there was no resentment there. He'd have expected at least some of that, being the one that beat him.

"Better than me, anyway," Jiro said, and there were some nerves there. "At least Bubbly's Quirk and utility is obvious. I didn't get to do much, even in the other events."

"I'm sure there'll be people that noticed anyway," Kazuki reassured.

"Yeah, but probably no one too high ranked," the girl mumbled, drawing into herself.

"If it helps, I don't think I'll have that many even if I place first," he replied with a wry smile. He sighed then, when he sensed the girl start feeling bad. "What I'm trying to say is that there's nothing wrong with low-ranked heroes. That doesn't mean they are bad at the job, just that they don't have as good PR, or get opportunities as good as the others."

"That does help," Jiro replied and he felt his eye twitch.

"Gee, don't sound so surprised."

"Sorry, I mean it. I just… I guess I'm worried too," the girl said, more sheepishly this time as she extended her ear-jack to poke his shoulder. He didn't really hold that against her.

"Same as everyone," Mineta replied in between them, getting an agreeing hum from Kazuki.

"I guess it's shitty of me to complain when you-"

"That doesn't matter," Kazuki reassured her. "Sometimes people can be just as worried as others despite vastly different situations," he explained, taking a deep breath in. "I try to judge by how badly they feel instead of the situation," he added then. He tried to stick to that philosophy, at least, but he wasn't always successful, he felt. Nor was it a good method, but it tended to work in situations that were a little more complicated.

"You are a better person than me, then," Todoroki commented from his side, eyes firmly on the stage. All further conversation was interrupted when they heard the call of "Start!" coming from the speakers.

Midoriya jumped right in without any delay whatsoever, rushing over to Yaoyorozu in a moment's notice. Unfortunately for him, the girl seemed to have been ready for that move to be made. In response to that, the girl crouched a little while moving to the side, which looked a little odd. However, the shine of her Quirk gave away the fact that there was more going on there than met the eye.

Even being ready and reacting fast, Midoriya almost got her. His Quirk was that bullshit, really, and the guy was a lot better at combat than one would guess too. Almost wasn't good enough though, and when he reached the point where Yaoyorozu had been standing on, he… slipped.

'Are those… marbles?' Kazuki wondered, blinking. There was something on the floor and he could take a guess considering how Midoriya looked like he was trying to run/stand straight on ice. It looked so… silly. 'Silly but effective,' he thought then.

Yaoyorozu took the opening she created with both hands and went all in. She couldn't win a straight fight against Midoriya, after all, and everyone knew that, her most of all. So, she needed to take him out without a fight.

That was why the girl moved so quickly as soon as the boy started flailing around, creating a rope from one of her arms and swinging it at Midoriya. As soon as it wrapped around his leg, she swung it quickly before the boy could react. Her opponent proceeded to fall to the ground, but she'd already been making more marbles, flooding them through her free arm and under Midoriya to help him slip to the side.

'So, that's her plan. Simple, but effective, it seems,' Kazuki thought, watching as the green-haired boy continued to slip to the side more and more. 'Is that really gonna be it though?' he added, because he really doubted it. Midoriya hadn't gotten that far, through pain and a broken arm, to get taken out that easily.

Yaoyorozu likely knew it, but she either had to bet it all on that, or she had a plan for afterwards. If Kazuki had to bet, then he'd say that it was the former. The girl just didn't have enough left in her to really try to do much else. She likely was doing damage to herself to keep creating the marbles as it was. Trying to go further was likely to not even work at best and to cripple her at worst.

Which was why Kazuki knew she was more or less done when Midoriya pulled a recovery. With a snap of his finger – literally –, the boy sent himself in the opposite direction to where Yaoyorozu was trying to get him. Furthermore, he destabilized the girl completely with the sudden and strong movement. Then, the green-haired boy made a second move that completely sealed the battle. He kicked with the leg that Yaoyorozu had been using to pull him.

Seamlessly, Midoriya sent his opponent flying to the side and Kazuki could only grimace as Kayama called the match when Yaoyorozu was sent off the stage. That had been a fast match, but she'd still gotten that far and she'd put on a good show, letting everyone know of the versatility of her Quirk and her own. 'Besides, Top 4 is still great for her,' he thought to himself.

"That could have gone better for her," Jiro said, deflating where she sat along with Hagakure.

"She did great anyway," Kazuki said, taking a deep breath in. It was a shame that his fight was next. He'd have wanted some time to talk with his friend after that fight. Focusing as best he could, he could pick up some negativity where Yaoyorozu was, and that just wouldn't do. She should be proud, not feeling bad for herself. "I can trust you guys to cheer her up, right?" he asked as he went to stand up.

"Sure thing, Creepy!" Hagakure exclaimed, giving him what he imagined were two thumbs up. As usual, it was difficult to tell. "Leave her to us."

"Good luck," Mineta called, soon joined by the rest of their group and even some of their other classmates further away. They might not all be friends, but they were still a group too. If nothing else, Kazuki imagined there might be some competitiveness since he was facing a 1-B student for the final round.

So, somewhat surprised, Kazuki left the room with a smile.

As he moved through the halls though, his mind wasn't really focusing on the fight, even though he should. No, instead, he was doing his best to follow Yaoyorozu's negativity. Not that it was hard, considering she was basically coming towards him and him going towards her.

"You did great," he told her once they crossed paths. "Both of you," he added, since Midoriya was there too. The boy gave him a nervous smile. Surprisingly though, there was a fair bit of disappointment there, for whatever reason.

Evidently, he'd wanted to get further than third place.

"Thanks, Endo," the teen mumbled before walking past him. He probably realized that he was there for Yaoyorozu, but maybe Kazuki could have a talk with him later. Even if they weren't precisely friends, Midoriya was ok, so maybe he could try to help him a little.

"I know I did well," Yaoyorozu said when they were left alone. He didn't have much time, but hopefully this wouldn't take long. "I know that, ok? So you don't need to stop for me. You could be late."

"You'd be a lot more convincing if I couldn't pick up your emotions," he told her, making the girl grimace. He just smiled softly at her. "It's ok to be frustrated. Everyone's like that, just don't let it get to you, yeah? You really did great. I mean that. You should be proud."

"I am," she told him, smiling in a way that he supposed was real enough. It did seem to reach her eyes. Sometimes that kind of thing was difficult to tell for him, but Kazuki took the lessening of her negative emotions as a confirmation. "Good luck."

"Thanks," he replied with a nod. "I should be going now," he said, taking a deep breath in and running his fingers through his hair. The final fight was on him and then it'd all be over. He'd be able to go far away from the stadium and the crowd… He couldn't wait. He wanted that almost as badly as he wanted to win the fight.

"We'll be cheering for you," Yaoyorozu told him with a beaming smile that looked even better than the previous one.

He tried to focus on that, that and what his other friends had told him, their encouraging expressions. He focused on Inui and the things the man had told him. He focused on Io's words to him during their last meeting. He focused on his motivations, his goals, his dreams.

It barely worked to keep away the waves and waves of negativity.

But barely working was all that he needed. It was more than he had before and it was all that was needed to put one foot in front of the other. Soon, he'd be fighting Monoma and that'd be that. He'd be able to focus on the fight then, so he needed to hold on for that long and then be done with things.

"Ready?" he heard someone ask from his side. Turning, he saw Monoma waiting by the entrance of the arena. "Took your time, huh?"

"You could have gone in without me," Kazuki replied, getting only a snort from the teenager. Then the blonde glanced out and up. A little confused, the white-haired boy followed his eyes, but it wasn't what he saw that he needed to pick up on. A second later, he heard it.

"Monoma! Monoma! Monoma!" the crowd chanted and he felt his stomach drop.

"They aren't doing that because of me," the blonde commented bitterly. "It's actually very annoying," he added, sighing. "And I didn't want to be under that for longer than I needed to… I also guessed it wouldn't help you much if you arrived "late", even if you really weren't."

Kazuki stared at him then, for a long moment, wondering if that was actually the order of things.

"Thank you," he said regardless.

"Don't mention it," Monoma waved off with a smirk. "Wouldn't want to kick your ass because you were distracted. Do you need a moment?"

"... Nah, I can beat you without that," Kazuki replied with a half-smile. "Shall we?"

"Sure, let's do this," Monoma agreed with a nod.

As they walked towards the stage, Kazuki was keenly aware of the crowd, the chants and the emotions. However, having Monoma walk beside him, back straight and confidence written all over his face, helped. It was grounding, in a way.

Soon after, they were both standing in front of each other, on the stage, and the fight was about to start. Kazuki couldn't wait. Every second felt like it was an eternity as the negativity buried him and ate at him. His grimm roared inside him to be let out and his mind screamed at him to get away from where he was.

He couldn't though, not yet.

"Both of you ready?" Kayama asked and he gave a stiff nod while Monoma gave a much more relaxed one.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Present Mic shouted through the speakers. "I hope you are ready! The last fight is upon us and we have the two finalists right there! Kazuki Endo, Neito Monoma! You've heard everything about them already!" 'I bet they heard everything about me at least.' "You know them!" 'I bet they know me.' "So, without further ado, let's get to it, everyone! The final fight! Ready!" Kazuki's shadow darkened and Monoma smirked across from him.

"Sure hope you are ready," the blonde called just loud enough for Kazuki to hear him.

"Set!" Yamada continued, unperturbed.

"B-Movie," Monoma said, making Kazuki's eyes widen.

"Start!"

The blonde exploded forward immediately and literally. It took Kazuki barely a split second to hurriedly bring up a Boarbatusk shield in front of him before it was blown up almost as soon as it appeared. He put up another one too while his shadow extended away too and he started generating more Grimm.

'He got Bakugo's Quirk? The fuck?!' Kazuki wondered frantically as he scrambled to cover himself from the explosions of his opponent's hands. 'How?!' he asked himself, properly shocked by this revelation.

Ultimately, it didn't matter. He needed to create Grimm so that he could change the situation and he needed to keep himself away from the explosions so that he wouldn't be taken out. That was all, Kazuki needed to worry about, so that's what he did. A Nevermore and a Beowolf started forming to the sides while he continued making Grimm Guards to protect himself. He needed to dissolve them to stop most of the collateral damage of the explosions, but Kazuki had gotten good at that from his training with the original user of the explosive Quirk.

Before he could finish his first duo, however, something odd happened. He'd just blocked an explosion from Monoma when another one hit him. And it hit him from behind. Kazuki was sent face first to what remained of his Grimm Guard and then dropped to the ground. He immediately started getting up and looking around frantically. 'How the fuck-?'

Kazuki brought up another Grimm Guard to block Monoma's next explosion. Except a second one came from behind him again and this time it was slightly to the side so that it'd actually send him flying a bit. His concentration was also broken enough that his Beowolf crumbled before it could even completely form. His Nevermore was ready though, but if Kazuki couldn't figure out what was going on, he'd be blasted out of the stage.

'Bakugo has to use his hands so- Of course,' he thought with a grimace. 'Tokage's Quirk,' he realized, biting the inside of his cheek. Raising another Grimm Guard, he blocked the explosion before bringing up another at his back. 'Got it,' he thought to himself, blocking the second one too.

"Figured it out, huh?" Monoma commented, unconcerned. That unnerved Kazuki almost as much as the Quirk combo the 1-B student had managed to get his hands on. 'What else could he have?' he wondered. "I'm only getting started, Endo!" he exclaimed, blowing up his Nevermore before it could even do anything.

And he believed that.

Now he knew what was going on though. So, he started making two Beowolves to continue the fight. Maybe Monoma had Bakugo's Quirk, but that didn't mean he had his mastery over it. Kazuki rather doubted he could use it to move up in the air like his classmate and that meant that he didn't need Nevermores as much.

Ground Grimm should be enough for that fight.

The seconds seemed to trickle by as Kazuki blocked explosion after explosion. He needed an opening. Especially when Monoma just blew up his forming Grimm. He didn't have any options. He needed something to give him an in so that he could get a hit in and his foot in the door.

'Come on, there has to be a way here,' Kazuki thought, narrowing his eyes as he shielded himself. Monoma wasn't going to let him form a Grimm. So, he needed to find a way. Not just to make one though, because then it'd suffer the same fate as his Nevermore. No, he needed two, at minimum.

How was he going to do that though?

'Come on, come on,' he urged in his mind, as if that would change the situation so that he'd get what he wanted. However, nothing was going to do the work for him. So, when an explosion got a little too close for comfort through his defenses, he decided to switch things up. 'Ok, fuck it.'

So, when a new set of attacks came for him, he took his chance. He hadn't been pushed that far. He could take an explosion. Monoma couldn't take a loss nearly as well… Or so he wanted to believe. That was what he was betting things on for the moment. If his new plan didn't work… Well, he'd cross that bridge when he got to it.

As it was, he blocked the first explosion, then the second, but what changed now was that the former's Grimm Guard was a lot weaker than before. It meant that the explosion blew it away instantly, getting to Kazuki and sending him forward. Groaning and grimacing, he lunged with his arm.

This time, he didn't make a Boarbatusk side to protect himself from an explosion when he used Grimm Guard. Instead, he extended his arm to the side and created a Beowolf arm. It was small, it was relatively weak and, most importantly, it was quick. This meant that Monoma wasn't nearly as prepared for the attack as he should be, getting smacked to the side instantly.

Kazuki didn't let up though. His shadow extended to the sides, starting the creation of two Imps, his quickest overall Grimm. On top of that, he continued his attack with Grimm Guard, making a Beowolf arm come out of the ground by Monoma and smacking him again. Maybe it didn't count as Grimm Guard if it was used far away from Kazuki, but he didn't have the time to think of a new name then and there.

He needed to keep it up.

He couldn't give Monoma a second to breathe and scheme. If he did, he was sure he'd be set on the back foot once more. He couldn't have that. Kazuki needed to win. So, he kept going, creating more grimm limbs to hit at his opponent and keep him entertained. The blonde barely could blow up some of them before-

The floating limb appeared out of nowhere, from his side, causing an explosion that sent Kazuki to the ground. 'No, nonono,' he thought, following his Imp's senses to know where everything was. The hand, Monoma, the Grimm and the Grimm Guards he was using to attack. He made more of the latters and continued his assault while standing up.

"I'm not done!" Monoma called. "You think that's all I have, Endo?! You are wrong!"

But it didn't look that way, and Kazuki didn't believe him anymore.

"Doesn't look like it, Mon-" he started, before pausing. He hadn't meant to though. Nothing had happened to catch his attention or surprise so... 'What?'

And then Kazuki took a step to the side… without even meaning to. His body was moving and it was doing so on its own. He struggled with that fact for a long second before he realized what was going on, a pit forming in his stomach as he took a second step.

'Shinso.'

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How's it going?

Welp, third and fourth place are decided. I'm quite happy to see Midoriya place well in this tournament even if he could have gotten further. That's the randomness of the match ups, I guess. Sometimes you get lucky like Monoma and have a relatively tame series of battles… And sometimes you are on the hell branch like Midoriya, Todoroki and Kazuki himself.

Speaking of Monoma and Kazuki, here we are, at the last battle of this Sports Festival… Wow, man, this feels like it took forever. But I'm fairly happy with how it turned out even then. I've also been looking forward to this fight ever since things started pointing in this direction. And yet, Monoma still managed to surprise me anyway.

So, anyway, rambling aside, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

As always, if you can't wait until next week for next chapter, or if you just feel like supporting my writing, there's up to three new chapters in my Pa tre on:

P a treon . com (slash) AdrianKing

Discord Link: discord .gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: Did you see any of those Quirks that Monoma brought into the fight coming? And who do you think will win the final battle?

See you.