Perks? Are they quirks?

by Wilhes

The soul was a curious thing. Beyond the comprehension of the mortal mind, it's impact on the world was unknown. Even with the billions of quirks in the world, only a tiny fraction of them managed to touch upon the soul. An even smaller number managed to do something with it. So what are the odds that a quirk can access the energy of the soul to grant powers? Gamer elements. OC.

6. Chapter 6

"Hello students! Welcome to the first day of orientation! It is wonderful to see all of you here. My name is Nezu, and I am the principal of this school."

The sound of the principal speaking brought every student's attention towards the stage in the auditorium, which was slightly more crowded than during my entrance exams, yet nowhere near full.

"Am I a Mouse? A dog? A bear? Well, why don't you ponder on that while looking through the pamphlet in front of you?"

I had already done that while my class waited for the rest of the student body. It seems like Mr Hoshitani was more punctual than most.

Anyway, the short of it was that It was a calendar for this term. I'm pretty sure that it would have to be different for everyone involved. This would have been too much effort for most other schools. But then again, the technology in this building was nothing to scoff at.

After a minute or so of reading. Nezu once more gathered our attention by speaking… And went into an enthusiastic welcome speech which went on for half an hour as he spoke of the facilities offered by the school.

---

-1 Week Later-

"Hey Teruhashi. How are you doin?"

Looking up from my work station, I was greeted with the sight of an older girl with long turquoise hair which was put up in a ponytail. This was Hoshizora Asuka. The class representative for 1-G.

Hoshizora Asuka was a boisterous girl who went out of her way to make everyone feel comfortable. She has been focusing on me quite a bit, which is probably because I'm… not the most sociable. And I'm also the youngest in the class. Though surprisingly not the shortest. That honour went to a black haired girl named Tsukishima Elira who, although as old as most of my other classmates, was… very small.

'M'fine."

I murmured my response and went back to my work.

The device displayed in front of me was a new prototype based on the capture yo-yo that Dr Shield gave me those years ago. This model was not actually a yo-yo, but it was an attempt to make a capture weapon viable for stronger villains with the same principles as said yo-yo. It was more of a whip, really.

Right now, I am trying to find some way to improve the energy efficiency. The current power supply worked fine for short bursts, but it couldn't handle higher stress levels. I should probably go ask sensei for some adv-

I was once again interrupted as I was ripped out of my chair by a multitude of turquoise cables which snaked around my waist.

Glaring at the grinning girl who was holding me up in front of her by her "hair". I huffed in annoyance at this slight. But I was used to it by now, so I didn't resist. I could have, though.

I only moved because I let her move me. OK? And why did I let her?

'... Huh. Why did I let her?'

Her evil grin morphed into a smirk as she began marching towards the small group of my classmates who were sitting by the couches at the corner of the room as they chatted merrily. Most of them anyway, some were more silent than others.

What? You think it's easy to drag inventors away from their work? We have couches here to make sure we actually take breaks.

"We all have to take breaks now and then. Even you spoon boy." See?

My glare which had relaxed after straying away from the annoying girl snapped back at her with all of my ire.

Asuka had taken to teasing me by calling me something spoon related ever since she found out about my telekinesis. I do not bend spoons. I'm far above such petty party tricks. I could lift a small car, for god's sake.

I was cut off from my reply as I was pulled out from her grip- "Now Now Asuka! You shouldn't tease our adorable, diminutive little classmate with such petty words!"

My glare grew ever fiercer as I was carried away from the girl, who did not look quite as gleeful any more.

I was plopped down on the couch and I finally looked up towards Tanaka Kozo as he slid in beside me. All the while grinning like an idiot.

The rest of my classmates quieted down as we arrived, before a series of snorts ran through the crowd, and they continued their conversations.

'Ah-' Oh yeah, it's break time around 10. I was too immersed in my work… again.

My thoughts wandered as I spotted the girl Tsukishima Elira, who radiated an almost comical amount of anger as she stared at the brown haired loudmouth beside me.

She did not take kindly to me being "diminutive" and "little". Since, what would that mean for her? She was shorter than I was.

Though she didn't act on her obvious feelings, I looked away as her eyes flickered to me.

I tuned into the bickering that had started between Kozo and one of my more confrontation prone classmates.

"You are very mistaken, my loud classmate. I did not insult you. I merely-"

I noticed our teacher entering the room before anyone else. Having long since made a habit of constantly keeping my power sensing active. So I felt his quirk before he even entered the door.

Well, I could sense him since I got to school, really. I just didn't actively keep track of his signature, you know? He sat in his office until someone asked for help, what would be the point.

Anyway- "Listen up, students!" He spoke in a strong voice as he strode towards our group, which now consisted of everyone in my class except for one black haired boy who was still sitting at his workstation.

What was his name again? Nakamura Tenashi or something. He hadn't shown off his quirk like the rest of us had. And he was more antisocial than I was. Which was saying something.

As our teacher arrived at our corner of the room, he looked over at the lone student and hollered at him to come over.

"Nakamura Takashi! Come here"

The hyper focused boy was startled out of whatever he was working on. Which must have been something so interesting that even the class rep couldn't get his attention. Somehow, our teacher's strong voice could, though.

"In two weeks." I turned my attention back towards our teacher as he looked around at us intently.

"On the first of may. You guys will participate in the sports festival along with your peers from the other classes of UA."

"This event is something that is almost entirely unique to our UA high school. Although it may often seem like it is meant to praise your hero-class peers. It also presents a great opportunity to both test your equipment and make yourself stand out as someone with great talent and potential in the future. So I suggest that if you want to make a name for yourselves as great supporters. You should do your best in this event as it will grant many opportunities during your time with us as well as the future beyond."

My classmates looked excited, and I felt a smile stretch my face all the same.

I knew that attention was dangerous for me. But it couldn't hurt to promote my tech. Could it?

"Now all of you have another hour before lunch. After which you will have normal classes for the rest of the day."

---

-4 Days Later-

Pick one out of two perks (2 weeks). Energy enough for low (grade 3), perk)

Low Chakra Capacity Expansion plus (level max) Expand your chakra by 200 chakra units.

Dimensional awareness (Level 1) You can feel dimensions.

Well, it doesn't seem to want to give me much.

I have no Idea if 200 chakra units is a lot in comparison to my current capacity.

Picking it would let me find out. But…

The scientist in me was screaming at me to pick the other one. I have read a large range of books during my studies. And though dimensions were never a focus of anything I read, it was referenced with some frequency, which made me curious about this… The perk was also so vague that I'd almost want to pick it just to find out more.

'Whatever. Option 2 it is.'

As my senses flooded back, I immediately regretted my decision as a wave of vertigo made my stomach do a backflip.

I pushed back the bile that rose in my throat and willed myself to steady both my breathing and my body.

Parallel processing blazed to life as one side of my consciousness began analysing what was happening, and the other focused on keeping me upright and not puking my guts out.

After an unknown amount of time later, I finally solved my newest dilemma.

This newest perk allowed my consciousness to grasp onto dimensions. This would probably not have been an issue for anyone else but me. Because I was connected to another dimension.

My inventory. And the thing about that is that I know exactly what's inside my inventory… including a consciousness, it seems. In this case, my own.

You know, It's probably the strangest thing that has happened to me. I sensed my inventory with this perk, but that also required some of my awareness to pass through it. But not in the natural way I was already. No, I was a foreign presence to myself.

This isn't quite sufficient to explain how disorienting it was, but I doubt anyone could ever understand.

Forcing my feet to move towards the bathroom, I decided that training could wait for tomorrow.

---

-10 Days Later-

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! WELCOME TO THIS YEAR'S ANNUAL SPORTS FESTIVAL! TODAY, YOU WILL GET TO WITNESS OUR NEWEST STUDENTS COMPETE IN THIS HIGHLY ANTICIPATED EVENT! I HOPE THAT ALL OF YOU ARE READY FOR SOME ACTION!"

The crowd cheered loudly. And even from inside the waiting rooms, I felt a trickle of sweat running down my cheek.

The sports festival was a very popular event. UA was one of the few schools who had a permit to actually do stuff like this in all of Japan, so there were currently millions watching both digitally and in the stands of the arena.

The reason this was possible was because the arena was one of the most fortified locations in Japan, along with the school itself. Both from the inside, protecting the crowd from any stray quirk attacks, and from the outside for any possible intrusion.

A hand landed on my head and I looked up at a smiling Kurogane; the boy I met on the first day of school. I wouldn't say that we were close. But our relationship resembled something akin to friendship at least.

Anyhow. His comforting gesture was appreciated. My shaky breathing started levelling out.

This was going to go fine. I was confident in both my "quirk" and my gear.

"NOW LET ME INTRODUCE TO YOU THE FUTURE OF THE HERO INDUSTRY! AN INCREDIBLY TALENTED BATCH OF STUDENTS WHO HAVE IMPRESSED ALL OF THEIR TEACHERS THIS YEAR. CLASS ONE A!"

And that was our queue to begin making our way towards the arena. Standing up. I followed the rest of my classmates out of the waiting rooms and into the large corridors leading out onto the stadium floor.

"Class 1-B!"

We waited for a short while before-

"WELCOME TO THE SUPPORT CLASSES F, G AND H!"

The applause from the crowd was unnerving, and the explosion of noise disoriented my senses as I walked alongside my classmates.

We stood at the centre of the arena as the announcer, who I now recognized as Present Mic; one of the school's newest pro hero teachers, finished introducing all the classes.

"NOW! GIVE A WARM WELCOME TO THIS YEAR'S CHIEF UMPIRE AND REFEREE. LET ME INTRODUCE TO YOU… OUR NUMBER SEVEN HERO, BEST JEANIST!".

The man that walked onto the stage was what everyone considered the peak of fashion. A real icon in the fashion industry.

Waltzing onto the stone stage in front of us was "Best Jeanist." Dressed in… Jean clothes. With a denim jacket covering half of his face.

He was unsurprisingly entirely dressed in jeans materials.

He stopped in front of the microphone, addressing everyone here.

"Hello everyone. It's an honour to be here today, and I am certain we are in for a wonderful day. Now I would like to invite Hayashi Sakura of class 1-B onto the stage for the student pledge!"

All eyes shifted towards class 1-B as a head of vibrant pink hair emerged, stepping towards the stage amid the surrounding murmurs. Apparently, she had the highest score of the year during the heroics entrance exam.

She finally reached the microphone and I got a clear view of her for the first time.

Sakura's hair was a vibrant pink bob, which seemed to be catching the light with flickers of gold. Her bright green eyes and cheerful face highlighted a light dusting of freckles across her fair cheeks, which held a rosy hue. She looked supremely confident as she stood up centre stage.

A sudden poke on my cheek drew my attention to our class rep beside me, grinning at me with a knowing look. I cast a confused glance back, but before I could say anything, the girl on stage began to speak.

"Hello, everyone! I'm so glad to be standing here today to give this speech, but I'll keep it short because I can't wait to get started! It's only been a few weeks since I started at U.A. High, but it's already been amazing. I've met so many new friends, and most of the teach—well, all of the teachers—are nice."

The girl looked sheepish as she corrected herself mid-sentence.

"Anyway, I wanted to say I'm really looking forward to this event. My family's watched it every year since I was little, so it's almost unreal to be standing here myself. I hope everyone watching enjoys the show, and that my classmates have as much fun as I plan to!" She finished with a playful wink. "And maybe I'll get to talk to you all again— for my victory speech?"

As she wrapped up her speech, I felt that she'd made a lasting impression on everyone in the crowd.

Closing my mouth which I hadn't realised was open, I narrowed my eyes at the turquoise "haired" class rep who was laughing at me. Being drowned out by the cheering of the crowd.

Best Jeanist took control and turned our attention towards the large screens around the stadium.

Text flew by before landing on the first event.

Event 1: The Environment Sprint

The stadium's screen displayed the event name in bold letters, followed by a digital layout of the upcoming course. "THERE YOU HAVE IT! THE FIRST EVEN WILL BE THE ENVIRONMENT SPRINT!"

Best Jeanist continued where Present Mic, his voice calm but carrying easily across the stadium. "For this event, students will face a course filled with varied environments. Each section has its own unique challenge designed to test both physical and Quirk-based abilities. You may encounter shifting platforms, narrow beams, dense fog zones, and fields made to counteract quirk usage scattered throughout the course."

Icons popped up on the screen, giving a rough idea of what was ahead.

"Competitors will start at the same point," he went on, an image of the starting line appearing. "From there, it's up to each of you to navigate, improvise, and adapt to each new obstacle. Use your quirks to their fullest and keep your wits about you to make it to the finish line ahead of your peers."

The cheering of the crowd built up again as students exchanged glances, some of them already looking fired up.

Present Mic's voice boomed through the speakers, "WE HAVE SOME SERIOUS TALENT HERE TODAY, FOLKS! LET'S SEE WHICH OF OUR STUDENTS WILL BE THE FIRST TO BLOW THROUGH THIS COURSE AND MAKE IT TO THE OTHER SIDE!"

---

A deep breath left my lungs as I squinted at the course in front of me.

We were standing some kilometres out from the stadium, and we would make our way there.

If I had to guess, then the first part of the event was a simple sprint to test endurance and speed. It wouldn't do if you couldn't manage to make it through a run, especially hero course students. And everyone knew that more difficult things would come later.

"PARTICIPANTS! PLEASE READY YOURSELF FOR THE START OF THIS RACE!"

I did just that. Taking stock of the gear I had chosen to take with me. The first of which was a set of hover boots along with their gauntlet counterparts, all of which had been fitted with the same neural link tech that I had been working on recently.

Tapping a device behind my ear, I activated the green visor. It scanned the area, mapping the positions of everyone nearby. One of my older projects-built to optimise movement using environmental data. This one was very complex. Sure, Melissa helped, but I did most of the work!

Patting my pockets, I confirmed the presence of another few gadgets, and then…

"READY OR NOT, THE RACE STARTS IN… THREE! TWO! ONE—GO!"

Chaos erupted.

Some sprinted at full speed, their quirks propelling them forward in bursts of power. Others held back, pacing themselves for the long haul.

Some people had a quirk which assisted in movement, which was immediately evident as a number of people blasted past the crowds of students.

A golden comet shot forward at the front of the pack as a beam of sparkling yellow sent it forward.

Behind the comet came a few of other quirk users. One boy with short brown hair who used large gusts of wind to blast himself forward. One who, similarly to the other one, used wind, but in a smaller continuous stream.

And how did I see this? Well, since I was here to show off my tech, I currently had my hover boots activated as I kicked off-air and basically skated over the rushing crowd. I could already fly, but who cares? Hover boots.

Panicked shouts erupted behind me. Glancing back, I spotted a ripple in the crowd—a wave of students tumbling outward as though struck by an invisible force.

My visor quickly pinpointed the source: a tall boy with shaggy black hair surging ahead, his quirk sent objects and people flying around him.

Noted. But not my problem.

Meanwhile, my visor had scanned everyone running as well as the course in front before bringing up a map with little dots indicating the students on the track.

I grinned as I knew that the stadium was probably seeing said map right now since I had given them temporary access to a server where the collected data was located.

Free advertisement for my things!

It wasn't long before I was in front of anybody running normally, yet I could see some of the more movement oriented students, most probably from the hero course. Steadily leaving the rest behind.

Time to test another gadget in combination with this one.

I launched my neural-linked whip at a tree, yanked it tight, and let its momentum slingshot me forward.

Because my hover boots allowed me to not be affected by friction, any amount of forward momentum was directly channelled into my speed.

As the wind began buffeting me, I absently parted the air in front of me with telekinesis. I had to figure out a solution to that for others.

The rush of wind against my visor muted the distant cheers of the crowd. As I neared the next challenge, I zipped past several students, their heavy breaths and pounding footsteps fading behind me. Exhaustion slowed them—but I had tech and momentum on my side.

It didn't really matter as I quickly took in the situation. Jumping higher to let my visor scan the area from a better vantage point. I saw that a couple of massive robots were standing on the stone monument with a couple of tunnels drilled into it which probably led to the other side.

So on one hand I could just walk over the large robots. Or I could show off a little.

My visor had picked up the heat signatures of the students In the tunnels by now, and I decided to follow the path least travelled, the rightmost one.

At a mental order, one boot after the other changed settings and I began sliding downwards like on a slippery hill.

Near the monument, I used my gauntlets to align myself smoothly with the dark tunnel.

I admit that I felt really cool when I slid smoothly into the tunnel, seamlessly activating a torch on my visor.

'Okay, I'm showing off. But isn't that the point?'

As I glided down the passageway, I had no issues as I used a combination of my boots and gauntlets to make a smooth turn whenever I needed it.

Whoosh*

My photographic recollection perk subconsciously activated as I flew past one of the hero class students, who looked incredulous as I passed him, even as he boosted himself with a gust of wind.

Pulling away from the now very frustrated boy, I saw the next part of the course.

A large stone wall stood in front of us and there were no openings to go through this time.

You could either choose to go around it; which would take time due to its width.

or you could go through it with force, which I naturally don't do, instead choosing the third option of going over it. The wall was low enough that climbing it with all the protrusions would likely be faster than running around.

I jumped repeatedly to gain height to scale the wall.

It was almost like an "infinite" double jump.

Landing lightly beyond the wall, my visor immediately highlighted the next challenge: a massive structure ahead, drones swirling above like mechanical sentinels.

Even though I bet I could have got through with the help of my enhanced perception perk, I decided to humour it.

Touching down onto the ground, I ran in. The floor separated, and I was forced to pick a side as well as keep my balance to not fall down. Falling down was obviously not lethal since the drop was so low.

As I turned the first corner, I came to understand that this was a maze.

Only to almost trip when something locked onto my gear and dragged me to the right enough to unbalance me.

I immediately rectified this by leaning on a non-existent wall with my gauntlet. Not stopping.

I ran for quite a while through the maze while using my gauntlets for stability. Until I almost tripped again as I ran straight onto a slippery sheet of ice, which had me sliding straight towards the edge of the path as my arms whirled about.

Luckily I could hover as I was sent over the edge but not downwards, so I quickly made my way onto the path again.

This time I used telekinesis to force my feet to act as if I had perfect grip. Which would have probably looked odd from someone who didn't know my "quirk".

It wasn't long after when I made it out of the maze.

Next up was another substantial run. Which went by quickly as I used the same tactic as earlier.

I almost didn't notice as the air started becoming thicker as I glided by. But sure enough, as I looked forwards, I saw that I was approaching a dense fog.

I didn't stop as I came upon it, but I did slow down considerably, which I was glad about when I almost rammed into the trunk of a tree. I managed to come to a stop as I stuck my arms out with palms forwards and activated the gauntlets.

Deciding to drop to solid ground, I started running once more. This time I managed to smoothly evade any and all trees. It seemed like I was running through a forest with as many trees as there were.

I ran for a hot minute before finally noticing that the fog was beginning to thin out.

I should probably mention that I only ran as fast as was normal for someone my age, or maybe a little older. I had learned to pace myself through the years to not draw attention. I could probably disguise my much faster than average top speed with my telekinesis, but even then, 135 kilometres per hour was a stretch.

Wonder if I looked cool as I sprinted out from the mist? Probably not, but I'm sure my gauntlets and boots were awesome to look at.

Speaking of looking awesome, I was approaching the stadium now. And it was just a straight-up sprint to it.

So I took to the air again and slung myself forward with my whip.

I angled myself so that as I slid through and out the other side of the tunnel, I came to a stop in the middle of the arena.

"WOOOHOOO! TERUHASHI KAITO FROM 1-G, THE FIRST STUDENT FROM A NON HERO CLASS, COMES IN THIRD WITH AN AWESOME FINISH! I WONDER IF HE WOULD MAKE ME A SET OF THOSE THINGS. THEY MAY JUST BE THE COOLEST THINGS I'VE SEEN IN A WHILE!"

The thunderous greeting of the crowd almost knocked me onto my back.

I felt my face burn and I rubbed my shoulder, which felt a bit sore from all the sharp turns I had subjected it to.

My power sense picked up on her quirk before I felt it. But a smack to my back had me look back to a taller girl.

It was the grinning Hayashi Sakura whose hair was dishevelled. Makes sense. I had guessed that the glowing meteor from the start had been her. She could fly, so she probably came first.

"Nice one! That finish looked great."

It took me a moment to register the words which came out of the grinning pink haired girl's mouth.

"Thanks."

She somehow managed to show even more teeth after my boring reply.

Then she patted my head. Why do people do that?

I followed her towards the other person who had finished. A black haired boy who I recognized as the "second" guy with a wind quirk.

He sent me a smirk as we approached.

"It looked pretty dope, nice."

I gave him a smile which was weaker than I had intended it.

Hayashi and I reached him before our attention turned towards the tunnel as Present Mic announced the arrival of a student from class 1-A, one Arakawa Sora, who was a decently tall guy with a lean build and short brown hair.

He flung himself onto the ground and panted like he had run a marathon. Which he basically had, with the addition of using his quirk.

Now that I thought about it, the other wind guy didn't look fresh himself. Neither did Sakura for that matter.

I didn't feel exhausted in the least, though. I barely used any of my perks, so the only thing that was "exhausted" were the batteries in my gear. My vitality carried me through the parts where I had run by myself.

Tanaka soon made his way to us as he dragged himself up. The three others exchanged occasional comments as we watched the video of the other students on the jumbotrons.

After a while, some more people started trickling in, and their name was announced once they did.

I was confused as a girl, one of the front-runners I had passed later on, burst into the stadium on the 14th. She had a movement based quirk.

She came over to us and slumped over in shame as she explained that she'd got stuck in the maze. Apparently she couldn't turn when using her quirk, and that only in short bursts.

She probably had the highest max speed here… I don't really know if that was true when I went all out, but she was fast.

"AND IN THE 40TH PLACE, WE HAVE OUR SECOND SUPPORT STUDENT TODAY! FROM CLASS 1-G ONCE AGAIN! GIVE IT UP FOR TANAKA KOZO!"

And in he came. He sprinted like any normal person, albeit a tall and athletic one. He just didn't look as winded as he should have for the distance.

He looked around before locking onto me and promptly rushing to stand beside me.

"Hey little guy! Nice to see you made it!"

He patted my head as well. What is this, why do this?

My face turned hot as I saw that one of the jumbotrons was currently showing him, and thus me as well.

I swatted his hand away, and desperately tried to avoid looking at the sources of my embarrassment.

A while later, President Mic made the last announcement of its kind as a… blue girl stumbled through the tunnel, shortly followed by others.

"FINISHING IN 48TH, WE HAVE Awata Kaoruko FROM CLASS B! AND WITH THAT WE HAVE OUR LIST OF PARTICIPANTS FOR THE NEXT ROUND! NOW, IF YOU WOULD DIRECT YOUR GAZES UP TOWARDS THE SCOREBOARD! HERE ARE THE RESULTS!"

Hayashi Sakura

Yamamoto Shun

Teruhashi Kaito

Arakawa Sora

Hoshino Tatsuya

…

48. Awata Kaoruko

"WELL, THOSE ARE THE STUDENTS TO BE PARTICIPATING IN THE NEXT EVENT! BUT FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE NOT ON THIS BOARD, WORRY NOT! FOR YOU WILL HAVE ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO SHOW OFF IN THE EXTRA EVENT WE WILL BE HOSTING BEFORE THE FINAL EVENT KICKS OFF! NOW WE WILL HAVE A 30-MINUTE INTERMISSION WHILE WE WAIT FOR THE REST OF THE PARTICIPANTS TO ARRIVE AND TO TAKE CARE OF ANY STRAGGLERS! SEE YOU THEN!"

Even after the blue skinned and blue haired girl stumbled through the tunnel, the screens continued to display the remaining participants, which would still allow them to gain some recognition as their skills were demonstrated.

Kurogane soon stumbled in looking dead on his feet and I walked up to him.

---

"WELCOME BACK TO THE UA SPORTS FESTIVAL! WITH THE FIRST EVENT FINISHED, THE TOP 48 STUDENTS' HAVE GATHERED TO TAKE PART IN THE SECOND EVENT. OVER TO BEST JEANIST!"
"Well, thank you for the present mic. Now if you would please look upon the screens once more we will roll the wheel to pick the next event."

The screen lit up with a spinning reel with event names listed on between lines.

Battle Royale - Cavalry Battle - King of the Hill - Maze Escape - Tower Defence - Capture the Flag

It spun before stopping on- PROTECT AND EXTRACT.

"All right. The second event will be this"

A cartoonish image appeared on the screen. A team of 4 nondescript participants stood in a circle around a dummy.

"In this task, you will participate in 4 rounds where you will each be split randomly into teams of four, and you will be tasked with getting your dummy safely from one end-" The image shifted to show a top-down view of the arena. A red arrow streaked across it. "To the other end."

"But this wouldn't be a challenge without obstacles in the form of the other teams. As the name suggests you are to not only protect your dummy, but also extract it. If you manage to protect the dummy and get it across the field unscathed you will gain 2 points. If your dummy takes damage but still makes it you get 1 point. If you manage to extract and get another team's dummy to your goal you will gain an additional 2 points, 1 if it is damaged. Doing neither will net you zero points for the round. But fret not, for you will get 4 separate chances with four separate teams. In the end, the top 16 scorers will move onto the infamous tournament event." The screens continued along with him and made it easier to follow along.

"Now, I would like to ask for a few minutes while we get the dummies out onto the field."

---

A couple of minutes later saw 12 dummies deposited onto the field along the edge, all of them painted with their own individual colouration.

"Participants. Look to the screens for your name and go to the dummy assigned to you. The event will start in 5 minutes while you discuss strategy with your current teammates"

Team Red - Takashi Minori, Takahara Mei, Miyazawa Daisuke, Takeuchi Emi

Team Blue - Awata Kaoruko, Kondo Hiroki, Nagase Kenji, Sasaki Riku

Team Green -Okamoto Rika, Nagao Okino, Ishida Rei, Fujimoto Eri

Team Yellow - Watanabe Hiroshi, Arata Momoka, Endo Makoto, Ito Ren

Team Orange - Yoshida Ayaka, Sugimoto Hina, Saito Yuki, Yamamoto Shun

Team Black - Kurosaki Haruto, Abe Ami, Arai Natsuki, Hoshino Tatsuya

Team Pink - Hayashi Sakura, Matsumoto Keisuke, Tanaka Kozo, Inoue Hana

Team Purple - Okada Michiru, Hiyashi Fumika, Taniguchi Asami, Nakamoto Hiro

Team White -Yamada Naoko, Teruhashi Kaito, Igarashi Akira, Kimura Yuuto

Team Lime - Nakata Tomoya, Kobayashi Mio, Ueno Chiharu, Fujita Sayuri

Team Cyan - Nakamura Yuto, Mori Keiko, Arakawa Sora, Oda Riko

Team Gray - Nagao Hideo, Sato Rina, Honda Daiko, Yamazaki Kenta

I picked my teammates out as I saw who was walking towards the white dummy.

One was a tall girl who had short dark blue hair a few shades darker than mine. Her quirk was motion cancellation or something to that extent.

Another was a boy, average height and a moderately athletic build, with hair with a very dark green shade. If he was, as I expected, on my team. Then he was probably Kimura Yuuto. Quirk was something along the lines of Self Mass increase or some such.

Lastly, As I came upon my dummy, I saw my last teammate. She was a tall girl with broad shoulders. Her long light brown hair cascaded down her athletic form to just above her hips.

Her murky green eyes honed in on me as I approached. A lopsided grin split her face as she regarded me.

"Well, I'll be damned, I got the pipsqueak." I already don't like this woman.

"Well Tha's alright, I'm Naoko, Yamada Naoko of class 1-B"

I took her offered hand, which felt strangely rough. "It's nice to meet you, Ms Yamada, I am Terihashi Kaito."

Her grin drooped a bit as her other hand came up to massage her neck in a nervous gesture. Now that I looked closely, her skin, fair as it was, looked strange.

Grooves ran along it like veins, and I understood it a moment later as I observed her quirk- Bark something. Bark… coating? Or bark armour.

She seemed to notice my gaze. Visibly forcing herself to stop massaging of her neck, but not commenting as I forced myself to look into her eyes.

"Hey you two." I heard a sort of hoarse feminine voice from behind me, turning to see my other two teammates. Kimura Yuuto and Igarashi Akira.

It was the blue haired girl Igarashi Akira.

She walked up to us, Kimura just behind her.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Akira."

"Yuuta."

"Naoko"

The introductions seemed to be going well. "Kaito".

So I'm not going to even try to take charge here. I'm letting the others start.

They did. "... Alright. Let's start with quirks, then?" Yamada spoke up after a moment.

I walked up beside her to lean against the wall as she began explaining. "My quirk, Barkmail, lets me create bark from my body which I can shape to a certain degree. Both as a means of defence and offence." As she said, bark sprouted from her forearm and she held it up, the small grooves on her arm seemed to morph outwards while turning brown. It shifted from its initial shape into a wooden vambrace. "I am also pretty good at jiu-jitsu." She let her arm fall to her side, her other coming over to tap the bark on it in a visible display of nervousness.

It seemed I was next as they turned to me.

"I'm a support student, so I have these." I gestured to my boots and gauntlets. My visor was turned off for the moment, and although I had one more piece of gear besides, I decided to use it later. "My quirk is telekinesis… I can move things." That seemed to be enough for them, everyone knew of telekinesis. It was one of the most notorious powers in the world. Also, one of the most rare, and even then they were often weak.

They turned once again, me along with them, towards Ms. Igarashi. Who straightened her back at our looks.

"Yes, well, my quirk is called 'Freeze-Frame'. I can freeze objects in motion for a period of time. It works on people too but to a lesser extent. To complement my quirk, I am proficient in various different martial arts." Igirashi stopped speaking and bent down to pick up a small pebble from the ground, which she tossed upwards. As the rock reached its apex, it moved no more.

I blinked, stepping closer to peer at it. It was completely still in midair. Nothing happened for a few seconds before a shuffle from Igirashi prompted the pebble to fall. We all turned to the last member of our team at that.

Kimura sighed as our eyes landed on him, and gave us an utterly underwhelming "explanation" as he hopped. "Heavy metal." He landed on the ground, which erupted in dust as a seemingly very heavy object bored into it. He stepped out of the small crater he had formed and looked us each in the eye.

"..." He didn't continue. I understood, but I don't know if my teammates did. His quirk was something along the lines of being able to increase his own weight.

Sigh* The blue haired girl gave a sigh as she spoke up, eyes trailing to our white dummy and then to our opposition. "We need a strategy."

---

"AND WE ARE BACK ONCE AGAIN AFTER A BRIEF 5-MINUTE STRATEGY SESSION! READY OR NOT, WE WILL START AFTER A COUNTDOWN OF 10!"

My eyes honed in on the white zone on the opposite side of the arena. The doll only had to get in there.

"9!"

"8!"

"7!"

"6!"

"5!"

"4!"

"3!"

"2!"

"1! GOGOGO!"

Things happened all at once. An explosion of golden light enveloped a quarter of the arena to our left, while I caught an explosion of wind blasting the team beside our position towards us in a disorganized tumble. I felt a weight being slung over my back. I clasped my arms around it as I looked back to see Yamada give me a two fingered salute before rushing off towards our two other teammates.

Nodding to myself. I took a hop towards the wall behind us. Activating one of my hover boots before kicking the wall with the aid of some telekinesis, which sent me flying back and up towards the centre of the arena. My other boot activated, and I levelled myself out with my telekinesis. Taking care to steady the dummy.

I pushed up a little more so that I hovered a few meters above even the lowest stadium bleachers.

I slid undisturbed through the air, even as chaos unfolded below me. A large variety of quirks being set off all at once as battles commenced between individuals and teams. I saw that a few teams had already lost their dummies to some particularly vicious opponents. One of which I saw blasting towards me now in a comet of golden light.

It lunged at me. A wildly grinning pink haired Sakura Hayashi reached out to my dummy, moving at such a fast speed that no normal person would be able to do anything about it, let alone react. But a normal human I was not.

I sprawled out in the air with some effort, avoiding the charging girl, whose face snapped down to me at such speed that she was unable to stop until she had reached a fair few meters away from me. The smirk on my face was surely obnoxious as I straightened and continued unhindered on my path towards the other end of the arena.

The girl seemed to take a moment to steady herself before facing me once more. Her gleeful face now replaced by lightly furrowed brows on a thoughtful expression.

She snapped out of whatever revelry she found herself in and rushed at me once more. Light bursting around her form as she sped towards me.

I nudged one of my teammates down in the arena with a small bit of telekinesis.

Sakura was once again almost within reach of me and I prepared to dodge- But Sakura came to a sudden stop barely an arm's reach away. She stayed there as I continued, as if frozen in time. Her eyes darted around in panic as she was stripped of all motion.

She grew frantic, hey quirk being turned into turbo mode as blasts of intense light burst out of her in rapid succession. Yet she stayed still.

Growing even more frantic, she seemed to give it all she had. A beam of light which blinded everyone in the stadium shot out underneath her, yet she stayed. And then she wasn't still any more. The beam of light which she put her everything into suddenly was able to exert all of its held back momentum on her.

The girl vanished.

For a split second, my brain struggled to comprehend it. But my unique… disposition allowed me to see what happened. Sakura had been sent hurtling through the air like a missile launched at breakneck speed before acting like one as her light once more burst to life around her as she approached the peak of her accent.

I slid down to the white zone to finish with my dummy.

Looking back towards the girl in the sky, I imagined what it must be like.

For someone who was so used to moving so terribly fast, going from doing that to not being able to move a muscle must be a horrible experience. I've been getting used to everything in my body being frozen since I was 4. But Sakura? This was not a pleasant experience for her, I bet.

She seemed to loom over the stadium for a moment before zooming down with yet another golden ray.

Sigh* I breathed out and turned to put my unscathed dummy on the ground. 'That's 2 points.'

---

-Hayashi Sakura POV-

'What the fuck!'

The kid had somehow managed to dodge her. And then when she doubled back, she froze. Her entire being felt like it was being held in place.

She tried to use her starlight to make herself move, with no success.

'What is happening!?'

For someone who was able to move at such high speeds as her, being unable to move was wholly foreign.

Her eyes darted around frantically. Her quirk responded to her quickly growing terror with blasts of brilliant light which harmlessly passed through everything in its path or was dissipated. All the light did was blind the people around her.

'I NEED TO MOVE!'

She directed her quirk towards her front with all the strength she had.

'MOVE!'

And move she did, but nary a heartbeat later.

"FWOOSH!"

She felt her skin flap as she tumbled upwards like a rag dolled character in a video game.

She felt herself slowing down as she neared the apex, almost vomiting as her uncontrolled motion came to a gradual halt.

Her eyes flickered downwards now as she slowed, heart leaping into her throat as she saw the small world underneath her. "HOLY SHIT!"

Her quirk blared to light, and she came to a stop in midair, hovering not entirely unlike the blue haired boy she'd tried to take a dummy from.

What happened? Why had…? Ah. Someone's quirk had obviously done that. And nobody but a teammate of his would have the motivation to do such.

Who were they again? Team white had 4 members, like all the rest. Kaito, the 3rd place finisher of task 1. A black haired boy she recalled being from class 1-A and… "Igarashi!"

Igarashi Akira and her both went to 1-B. They hadn't interacted overly much, and this was the first time she had come to experience her classmate's quirk.

"Going after her now would seem petty...but I'm gonna kick her ass next round."

She pivoted into a diving position and blasted light out the soles of her feet, which launched her into a controlled skydive towards the stadium.

---

-Kaito POV-

'Alright. What now?'

Getting the dummy through unscathed was obviously the most pertinent action. Now I could go either the route of stealing a dummy or making sure others don't.

I'm not being attacked right now, so I have some time to observe the situation.

Team red seems to be finishing a short brawl with team blue. Team red has a flaming barrier in the middle with someone within it. The others are protecting it from team blue, who attacked them but were simply outmatched.

Then, suddenly, there's a yellow dummy flying over the heads of team blue.

'Welp. Don't mind if I do.'

I pull the dummy towards me. I weave it out of the way of an inky black vine that swipes at it from the direction it came flying from. The black appendage originated from a pale black haired girl.

Then I make the dummy fly upwards as a white substance zips by it in a line. I don't have time to see where it came from before a body comes flying towards it with streams of wind swirl around their arms in tornadoes.

I abruptly change the dummies' momentum as one Yamamoto Shun whooshes past.

This is followed by a flurry of movement in the sky as I manoeuvre the dummy in unnatural ways, and It's by my side in only a few moments. The yellow fabric is scratched and dirty from presumably hitting the ground. 'But that's another point.'

I look out towards the battlefield once more. Quickly spotting my teammates who were going on the attack towards the team with the purple dummy. And I began making my way to them.

I slid up beside Igarashi, after having evaded everyone who didn't seem interested in me, without a dummy nor any aggressive intentions.

The blue haired girl with the frame freeze quirk snapped her attention to me from the skirmish with the purple team, which she was acting as support in.

A nod in my direction and she turned to the fight once more. One of the purple team's members in her focus

My eyes met the green eyes of a short and petite black haired girl. And as they did, I felt my body seize up. Not like it does when I use my quirk. But more like my muscles were locking up in paralysis. My power sense told me it was something like a paralysis gaze.

Jokes on her, though. I don't need to move.

I exerted force on the back of her knees, and even as her eyes widened, and her arms flailed outwards. She just couldn't straighten her knees out. She fell on the ground like an upside down cockroach, and I honed in on the purple dummy behind her. I grasped It with my telekinesis, only to grab at nothing but air.

There was nothing there, yet I could clearly see the dummy.

I would have been entirely lost if I had been entirely dependent on my sight. I could sense the dummy a few paces besides it.

I muttered as I honed in on the one responsible. It was a girl with long straight pastel red hair, who I could see standing behind one of her male teammates. He was of an average build with light gray, almost silver hair. But in reality, she was beside the real dummy.

Her quirk was something illusion related. That much my power sense could tell. Something like Mirage or the like.

I tapped the real one in the back, And spun around to face it. Losing concentration and shattering the illusion of her team that she had been projecting.

I saw her freeze in place, and the next instant I saw my male teammate seemingly barge through his opposition. A brown haired boy who bent around him like he had no bones in his body.

I grabbed him and held him in place as he returned to a natural position. He struggled but could do nothing but watch helplessly as Kimura utilised his spontaneously increasing weight to knock down his teammates and take the dummy.

My teammates retreated from the battle, and we left a frustrated team purple behind. I saw an illusion go up around them, displacing their team as we ran away.

Now we just had to make it back to our zone. I looked up at the time on the screen. 01:23 time remaining.

Most everyone else seemed busy with their own skirmishes, so we moved ahead with the expectation of opposition.

Our caution rewarded us with yet another 2 points, as we managed to bring the dummy over with minimal trouble. The combo of Igarashi's freezing people and a heavy smack from Kimura warded those who sought our dummy off.

We just managed to make it in time to get a total of 6 points.

"DINGDINGDING! AND IT IS OVER, FIRST ROUND HAS COME TO AN END! LAY DOWN YOUR WEAPONS AND HAVE A LOOK AT THIS SCORE BOARD!"

Pink: 5

White: 4

Red: 2

Blue: 2

Orange: 2

Cyan 2

Lime: 1

Gray 0

Black: 0

Yellow: 0

Purple: 0

Green: 0

Apparently, not all the dummies made it in time.

"COMING IN AT FIRST WE HAVE THE WHITE AND PINK TEAMS WHO EACH MANAGED TO GET 3 DUMMIES TO SAFETY! EACH OF THEM ENDING UP AT 5 POINTS. PUTTING THEM WELL AHEAD OF THE OTHER TEAMS! NOW WE WILL HAVE A 10-MINUTE BREAK BEFORE YOU GET SORTED INTO NEW TEAMS! "

Loud as always. The team split up. But honestly. There was a good chance that each of us would end up in the final event.

'I certainly will.'

---

"AAAND WE ARE BACK ONCE AGAIN LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! WELCOME TO THE SECOND ROUND! NOW IF YOU WOULD PLEASE DIRECT YOUR ATTENTION TO THE NEW TEAMS SELECTIONS. THEY ARE AS FOLLOWS."

Team Red - Nakamura Yuto, Matsumoto Keisuke, Kimura Yuuto, Sugimoto Hina

Team Blue - Okada Michiru, Sasaki Riku, Takeuchi Emi, Nagao Hideo

Team Green - Awata Kaoruko, Abe Ami, Fujimoto Eri, Oda Riko

Team Yellow - Kurosaki Haruto, Teruhashi Kaito, Tanaka Kozo, Okamoto Rika

Team Orange - Takahara Mei, Igarashi Akira, Oda Riko, Mori Keiko

Team Black - Yoshida Ayaka, Watanabe Hiroshi, Taniguchi Asami, Honda Daiko

Team Pink - Takashi Minori, Nagase Kenji, Nakamoto Hiro, Yamada Naoko

Team Purple - Kondo Hiroki, Arata Momoka, Hiyashi Fumika, Ueno Chiharu

Team White - Hayashi Sakura, Sato Rina, Yamamoto Shun, Nagao Okino

Team Lime - Nagase Kenji, Oda Riko, Fujita Sayuri, Endo Makoto

Team Cyan - Saito Yuki, Arai Natsuki, Nagao Hideo, Hoshino Tatsuya

Team Gray - Nakata Tomoya, Inoue Hana, Ishida Rei, Oda Riko

"Hahaha! Little guy! We are on the same team! Spectacular!"

Son of a bitch.

---

"AND WE ARE BACK ONCE MORE WITH ANOTHER ROUND! THE PARTICIPANTS HAVE ONCE MORE BEEN SPLIT UP INTO TEAMS. IF YOU MISSED IT, THEY WILL BE UP ON THE SCREEN FOR YOU NOW!" Does present Mic ever tire? Our profiles were cycled on the screen by teams. The people on my team were Kozo, the big annoying one from my class. Kurosaki Haruto, from class 1-a, and Okamoto Rika, also from class A.

We had talked during the break and had come up with a plan. Which amounted to us splitting up into two teams. Okamoto and I would focus on getting our dummy to the other side first, while Kozo and Kurosaki would go on the offensive.

"BEGIN!"

Okamoto grabbed my hand immediately and used her quirk upwards. The next instant we were up in the air, a few meters above our previous position.

I caught a taller brown haired girl, partially with my telekinesis and the rest physically, as my hover gear activated. Their batteries were beginning to run low, I noticed.

As I stabilized us, Rika got her bearings before once more launching us, courtesy of her quirk; Dash. This time with more manageable velocity towards the goal zone.

With record time we made it to our zone and scored the first 2 points of the round.
I let go of Okamoto, who was visibly shaken at the high speed flight. "Fuck me." She at least sounded it. And now she looked ashamedly at me while covering her mouth. I tried to give her a comforting smile.

I looked around at the once more chaotic field and managed to spot my teammates… Who were making their way to us right now with a dummy in hand.

The combination of Kurosaki's darkness based quirk and Kozo's earth shaping quirk made for a good combo, as the earth could make a lot of darkness in the form of shadow, which made both Haruto and the dummy untouchable. Courtesy of his quirk Shadow Cloak.
Speaking of quirk. Kozo was a funny case for a support student in this festival. His quirk was one well suited for both support and combat. He could shape a not insignificant amount of stone and both increase and decrease its density. Apparently, he could make normal stone as dense as steel. Which means that he could possibly make equipment for cheap, but with no less quality.

Might as well wait for them to come, though.

They arrived shortly without much trouble. Nobody was keen on attacking somebody who didn't directly have a dummy, so Kozo was safe. While anybody who did try to take it from Haruto only went through him and the dummy like a ghost.

We all regrouped and thought about whom to try to take a dummy from, but in the end we didn't manage to pick a feasible target before the time was out.

---

"ROUND THREE BEGIN!"

Having Sakura on my team made things excessively easy.

We decided that I would take on the role I had during the first round, while my other 2 teammates would support Sakura in any way they could as she went on the offensive.

Not much to say about it, really. I got the puppet through quickly. Sakura got 2 other teams puppets, and we managed to keep team red from reaching through with theirs.

Uneventful really.

"THE WINNERS OF THIS ROUND ARE TEAM BLUE. CONSISTING BOTH OF OUR LEADERS, HAYASHI SAKURA AND TERUHASHI KAITO!"

I watched as my likeness appeared up on the big screens once again. It was an image of my team and I lined up for the last round.

"WITH THAT WE HAVE FINALLY COME TO THE END OF THE 2ND EVENT! NOW, IF YOU LOOK UP ON THE BOARD, WE WILL FIRST DISPLAY YOUR POINTS NEXT TO YOUR NAMES!"

The screen did show that.
"AND THE FOLLOWING ARE THE TOP 16 THAT WILL BE MOVING ONTO THE NEXT ROUND!"

Hayashi Sakura

Teruhashi Kaito

Okamoto Rika

Miyazawa Daisuke

Igarashi Akira

Kobayashi Mio

Oda Riko

Tanaka Kozo

Nagase Kenji

Matsumoto Keisuke

Hiyashi Fumika

Nakamura Yuto

Arakawa Sora

Awata Kaoruko

Kurosaki Haruto

Arata Momoka

"THAT'S IT FOLKS! THESE ARE THE PARTICIPANTS FOR THE NEXT ROUND. NOW WE WILL RANDOMLY GENERATE THE BRACKETS FOR THE LAST STAGE!"

My eyes never left the board, but now I was especially interested.

Hayashi Sakura vs Kurosaki Haruto

Hiyashi Fumika vs Tanaka Kozo

Teruhashi Kaito vs Awata Kaoruko

Nagasake Kenji vs Nakamura Yuto

Kobayashi Mio vs Oda Riko

Matsumoto Keisuke vs Arata Momoka

Okamoto Rika vs Miyazawa Daisuke

Arakawa Sora vs Igarashi Akira

Awata Kaoruko… The blue skinned girl. I turned to look at where I sensed the bubble quirk from, and met the gaze of a pair of yellow eyes. Her face was scrunched up in conflict.

I turned away a moment later as Present Mic announced that a few side games would be held. These were optional, so I decided to just watch along with the half of my class which had decided to not participate.

---

"Good going kid."

"Thanks, Energraft sir."

*BOOOM*

One of Kozo's rock walls was knocked down.

*RUMBLE*

Why were they allowed to use quirks for this again?

---

-Kurosaki Haruto POV-

Haruto was unlucky as hell. There was no other way to put it, really.

He had an amazing quirk in shadow cloak. It made him untouchable… In darkness.

He had been doing pretty well for himself in this festival, especially considering that they were now in the middle of the day, with the sun high in the sky. Which made his supply of shadow… limited to say the least.

It was a miracle that he got a teammate like Tanaka Kozo in the second event. The other boy's quirk allowed him to spontaneously create a large amount of shadows, which complimented his own extremely well.

That, as well as his other teammates getting points, was what had allowed him to barely pass onto this last round.

But what do you know? His first opponent of the last event? Fucking Hayashi Sakura. Miss star herself. She was basically a walking fucking sun. And wasn't that just great? As if he didn't already have to deal with the one in the sky. But now here she was.

He walked bitterly onto the field at the announcement of Best Jeanist, who was actually doing something this round.

He'd mostly been preventing injury when things got out of hand without saying much of anything, not interfering more than necessary. He would be more hands on now during this last event.

Stepping onto the platform to a thunderous applause. He stopped and watched as his pink haired opponent strode up opposite of him.

She smirked at him, and he could only avert his eyes with a huff.

"Welcome to the first match of the much awaited 1v1 tournament! The rules are simple. This will be a 1 on 1 bout where the winner will go onto the next round. To gain victory, you will need to either push your opponent out from the stage, or incapacitate them such that they cannot continue. You will not go overboard, and you will not go out of your way to inflict injury. Is that understood?"

Haruto nodded reluctantly as Japan's number seven hero finished his spiel.

"Then without further ado. The match will commence in- 10! 9! 8! 7! 6! 5! 4! 3! 2! 1!"

Haruto readied himself to rush towards the little shade that existed on one side of the arena. "GO!"

Only to change his tune instantly as a flash bang went off in Sakura's general direction. All of his possible actions disappear with the shadows.

'Yea no. Fuck this.'

He did a 90-degree turn and jumped off the side of the platform.

Looking back to his previous position. He saw the girl looking at him in bewilderment. Her previous grin seemingly nowhere to be seen. She had been confident in her victory, but how could she expect that?

Well, there was no reason to subject himself to unnecessary punishment against an enemy who negated his quirk completely.

He turned around, and strode out of the field and into the tunnel where he came from. The shadow that awaited him was a comfort that he embraced with relief as he sunk into it. Making his way to the stands to watch the other matches. Hopefully they were more interesting than his.

Man, was he unlucky.

---

-Kaito POV-

Well. I don't blame him. Her quirk directly counters his. And you should know when to retreat. Good choice honestly. Next up was Kozo though. Which he made very clear as soon as he stepped onto the field.

Arms waving towards every direction like one of those flailing inflatable figures.

On the opposite side of the arena came a reserved girl with pastel red hair; She was the illusion maker from earlier. She was average in height I'd say, pretty well-built too. Most hero students were to be honest.

They walked onto the platform, and came to a stop facing one another. They really contrasted one another to be honest.

He was loud and brash. She was quiet and conserved.

She made illusionary landscapes and he really changed it.

How this went really depended on how Kozo went about things.

Hiyashi's quirk had potential. Power sense told me that it was basically giving false sensations to the target. I.e. illusions. Both visually and auditory, apparently. Which gave her a huge advantage against most people. Not me though.

If she could just evade his notice. One good hit could mean her victory. It could also not. Depends on how the loudmouth handles it.

---

-Hiyashi Fumika POV-

He was certainly enthusiastic.

Fumika watched the boy across from her wave frantically at the crowd as they cheered.

He turned around as Best Jeanist started the countdown and dropped into a crouch.

She watched in mild fascination as the material from the stage slithered up along his skin in a thin layer. Settling over some parts of his body. Then he settled into a position where he was sort of reaching towards the ground but was still poised to be able to move.

"GO!"

She immediately activated her quirk. Sending an image of her standing still and staring at him as she jogged to the side.

Tanaka didn't move his eyes away from the still image of her. His eyes scanned her, and Fumika made sure to make the image breathe.

After seconds of nothing as she snuck around in a decently large arc. Tanaka finally did something.

He straightened up with a sigh. You just gonna stand there, emo?"

She could only blink in astonishment at that. Her mirror image is doing the same.

"I mean. I get that emos have a hard time being in public."

He made a gesture to the crowd. Which she saw from almost right behind him.

"But if you're gonna be a hero, you can't freeze up like this just because there's a crowd ar-" She had enough. She wound up and sent the strongest punch she could muster into the back of his head. And she had a strong right hook.

A thud resounded, and the rambling guy was dropped like a sack of potatoes. Or a bag of rocks, as it sounded like rock landed on a stone floor. He did use his quirk for something in the beginning, didn't he?

She shook her now aching hand. That guy had a hard head.

"Hiyashi Fumika is the winner by knockout!"

Strips of jeans zipped in and lifted Tanaka up and flew him over to one of the tunnels, where a pair of paramedics carrying a stretcher received him and ran off.

Well, that was anticlimactic.

She could tell that the crowd though similarly. The first 2 matches must have been disappointing. First, Kurosaki forfeits immediately. And then they see her just walk around him and punch him as he starts lecturing her… About emos not being suited for hero work?

She was not an emo. She just didn't wear her emotions on her sleeve. Like-look where that got him. In a heap on the floor, that's where.

Walking out of the arena allowed her to breathe easier as all the attention turned away from her.

---

-Awata Kaoruko POV-

This was the big moment. But-

"Making their way onto the stage now we have our next competitors! Awata Kaoruko from class 1-B! Facing off against the youngest contestant this year. Teruhashi Kaito from class 1-G!"

Yea. That. He was, what- 11? 12?

Beating up a kid 3 or 4 years her junior wouldn't look good on her. But getting beat up by him sounded even worse.

She supposed that the best option would be to take him seriously. He has earned that right by making his way here. She saw some of the things he did.

The kid was obviously some sort of tech genius with those awesome boots of his. And they said his quirk was telekinesis, right? She didn't know how strong it was, but she would keep an eye out for it regardless.

She was knocked out of her musings as she came face to face with him in the arena.

He was so small when she looked at him now.

But judging by his face, he didn't seem at all concerned. Kid really didn't think much of her, did he?

"The contestants are in their positions. The rules are the same as before. Starting in 10! 9! 8!-"

The boy crossed his arm with a neutral expression. All of a sudden, she didn't have as many reservations about kicking the arrogant kid's ass.

"3! 2! 1! Begin!"

Without wasting a moment. Kaoruko rushed in. She had been observing everyone, including this kid. And she noticed that he never went on the offensive. He probably hadn't had much fighting.

He still hadn't moved as she approached him.

Focusing, small bubbles formed at the tips of her fingers. She swung at him, and watched as his eyes tracked them. His brows furrowed as she came up short.

Her swing motion hadn't reached him, but she was now close enough. *POP*

The bubbles burst open right in front of him.

She observed him in glee as a frown came to his face. Then he smoothed out his expression, and hers promptly fell. He barely reacted at all. That was one of the worst smells she could use in her bubbles.

Teruhashi didn't stand idly now. He ran at her with a small furrow in her brows, clearly intending to make things physical. Was the kid dumb?

Kaoruko was happy to meet him in the middle and replicated his movements. Moving in towards him and swinging with her superior reach.

He ducked to the left, and she gave him no room to breathe as she flung a kick towards his side.

He stepped back and put his arms up in a guard as the kick connected with a thud.

She could see a small cracks in his expression as he gave a small wince.

The boy stepped back and she pursued. She struck out with a palm strike which was redirected. Then a second with the same result and then a third and then a fourth, just as he was about to duck away from the fourth strike she used her Quirk again.

A massive bubble erupted from her palm.

Teruhashi finally designed to use his Quirk as the bubble expanded towards him. At a rapid pace.

With a thought, her bubble was pushed back at her and exploded upon contact, drenching her with a normal water bubble. She had expected this after all.

A grin split her face as the boy's eyes widened. A large bubble connected with him from her other recently redirected palm.

He was drenched in an instant, — the bubble had reached the size of herself— by a coat of soap.

But that wasn't what had her grinning. Because as the boy breathed in the odour she had inserted into the bubble, he flinched away as if struck. Which Awata capitalised gleefully on. Smelling salts for the win!

A second bubble formed in her palm, which exploded towards his face with a taste of rotten eggs. With the addition of getting some soap in his eyes.

The boy was still reeling as she kicked his stomach.

Her kick connected with the soap drenched shirt and sent him stumbling back. She chased and went in for a haymaker. She was quite confident. He was caught off guard, staggered and unbalanced.

But yet still she saw his bloodshot eyes—from the soap— snap open painfully with a glare.

A pressure enveloped her, and she had no time to think before she was flung to the side with vicious force.

Her breath was knocked out of her lungs as her back collided with the hard ground, and had no time to collect herself as she scraped against the floor in a tumble.

When she finally came to a stop, she was in pain. But as she sat up with effort, she could see that she was close to the edge of the arena.

Looking back to the boy, she only now registered how far she had been flung. He was a good distance away, and his glare had softened into an annoyed scowl.

With a pained groan, she rose to her feet. Only to be pushed with force. Which she was more prepared for this time. But she still stumbled off balance.

She tried to desperately steady herself as she found she was approaching the edge. But he was relentless—as the force slacked in one direction. Only to go full force from another where she wasn't braced.

As she was pushed around. Awata couldn't help but feel powerless. Sure, she knew that her Quirk didn't afford her much of a fighting chance against someone who could just overpower her from a distance. But still, she hadn't imagined she would feel so useless.

The beginning of the fight had gone so well. Her foot lost its grip as she stepped onto the air. Falling backwards off the ledge.

She landed on her back on the hard ground beneath the arena. Just staring up with disbelief at the ledge. She lost. This was confirmed as Jeanist announced Teruhashi victory.

She felt tears pricking at the edges of her eyes as the crowd erupted in applause that shook the stadium. "I lost."

Battered and bruised. She laid there and felt just so alone as the crowd cheered for her downfall. Tendrils of denim wrapped around her, and she was lifted in the air towards one of the tunnels.

And she could only numbly turn her head to look as she saw the blue haired boy walk a ways behind her and Jeanist. He completely ignored the applause and present mic as he commented on the match.

She looked up again and just stared as the ceiling crawled by.

She had wanted so badly to show what she could do. Just to be completely destroyed.

No hero would take her for an internship now.

---

-Kaito POV-

I walked behind the proctor and my former opponent and thought back to the match.

I performed like shit to be honest— having severely underestimated her and then been battered on for a while.

Also, I had not expected her to be able to pull out smells that were that strong. Maybe they were smelling salts or something?

It was humiliating either way. And I was a little irate. But as I calmed down, I couldn't help but feel shame for how I acted. I can't let my emotions make me irrational. I didn't consider her well-being much at all as I flung her around.

The fight could have ended in a moment if I hadn't been so childish. Just pick her up and put her down outside the arena.

It would have been that easy. But now I was stuck drenched in soap, my eyes burning as I forced them to keep open. And my head numb from the extreme smell.

We soon arrived in the infirmary where I saw old lady recovery girl.

She ambled over to the bed that Awata was placed on. Best Jeanist gave her a nod before walking away. Presumably to host the next match.

I went over and sat on the bed beside them when prompted.

The youthful heroine fretted over Awata for a while, and I watched the TV in the corner as the next match started. It was between Nagasake Kenji and Nakamura Yuto.

Nagasake was a tall, muscular guy with black hair styled in a mullet with the usual sports festival attire. He wore a confident grin as he pranced onto the field. I reached out to the arena and sensed him. Kinetic sense, huh? Nice.

Now Nakamura Yuto I recognised. He was tall with shaggy black hair. His Quirk repelled things. He swaggered onto the stage, wholly confident.

I turned away from the screen just as "Recovery Girl" finished with my blue former opponent.

She turned and headed my way.

"Please clean yourself, dear."

I only now realised how wet I was. Focusing briefly. A stream of soap flowed off my body and formed into a floating ball. Now entirely dry, I directed the liquid into a nearby sink. Was putting copious amounts of soap down the drain okay? Probably not.

"Good. Now then. How are you feeling, dearie?"

"I'm fine. My eyes are just burning a little." Getting soap in my eyes felt like shit.

"Hmm, yes, that should not be an issue. C'mere and I'll fix you right up." I knew it was coming, but still— seeing her lips and the surrounding cheeks stretch towards me like half a meter was kinda surreal. Anyway, they extended up and gave my cheek a peck. And I felt as a tiny bit of my chakra was directed to some areas of my face. I closed my eyes as the quirk reached them. And within a moment I felt wholly fine again.

"That should do it, sweetie. My qui5 minuterk uses your energy to speed up the recovery, but yours wasn't very severe, so it shouldn't be too bad. Just rest up. And be assured that you don't have to go onto the next match if you aren't feeling up to it."

"Yes ma'am." She reached up and patted my cheek before hobbling off. "Good boy. Now take care."

As she walked away with her syringe, walking stick in hand. So chakra substituted my "energy" in this case. I didn't feel particularly physically tired.

The fight had already started up on the screen, but as I saw how the match was going, I decided that there wasn't much point.
Nakamura was very much not the sort of opponent that Nagasake could compete against. The kinetic sense quirk allowed him to sense any and all attacks which had kinetic energy. But it didn't afford him much in the way of combat power. Now, with his quirk in mind, I can't imagine how Nakamura's quirk, which was basically just kinetic energy pushing things away, would look to him. Same with mine, honestly.

Both of our quirks pushed things from thin air, basically, so it must be pretty surreal.

Kinetic sense was obviously useful, but it wasn't helping him in this case. Because Nakamura was just walking towards him slowly. Forcing him to back away like there was a wall pressing into him. Even when he tried to run around it, it was a futile effort. Because, with just a slight turn, Nakamura had him again. And the guy looked very bored for it.

Nagasake would eventually run out of space. At which point he would lose.

Awate let out a huff from her bed, and I turned to see her glaring at the ceiling with a bothered expression.

'… Do I say something?' Eh.

"I never really stood a chance, did I?" The girl actually spoke up. She had apparently noticed my attention. She stared at me with tired yellow eyes. Recovery girl's healing must have taken a lot out of her. I felt even more guilty now. And I also don't know if I should respond to that statement. Did she expect me to?

"Of course not. You have an amazing quirk. And besides that, you also have those gadgets of yours. I don't know what I was expecting. My quirk isn't good enough to take on people with emitter quirks."

Now I felt like I needed to say something. "I could make you some gear?" Wow. I'm great at this.

She stared at me for a moment before smiling, a little amused. "Very comforting." Her eyes turned to my feet, where one of said gadgets were. "I don't suppose you could make me a pair of those?" Some enthusiasm had returned to her.

I opened my mouth to reply, only to close them. I don't really know. But I'm pretty sure we're allowed to make gear for the hero students which would compliment their quirks. This was different, though— in that a pair of hover boots were both pretty expensive, and also not really needed for her effectiveness.

I opted for a shrug. "Maybe, I would have to ask our teacher." She slumped a little at that.

'Nonono.'

"But I'll tell you if I can or not. And I'm sure there's something else I could do to help otherwise." She blinked up at me before trying valiantly to give me a thankful grin. "Thanks kid." And there it was again— was being a kid my most defining trait?

We sat silently for a moment before I remembered an embarrassing detail. "Ah, which class were you again?"

"... Class 1-A." I nodded in understanding. Getting some experience with someone else's gear wouldn't be so bad.

---

-Kobayashi Mio POV-

'This will be no problem. The issues come after her.'

She stepped onto the platform as hers and her opponent's names were announced throughout the stadium, and started walking towards the girl who was aiming to meet her in the middle.

"Let the match begin!"She would be fine.

Meeting Oda Riko in the middle, Mio could tell that through the look in her eyes that she was completely focused. But despite that, she was grinning like crazy, relishing in the attention.

"The rules will be the same as previous rounds." Best Jeanist once again spoke through his microphone.

"Are the participants ready?" Upon our nods, He started the countdown.

"Let the match begin!"

Without delay, she backpedalled and conjured up a plan in her mind. "AGH!".

Alright, some adjustment is needed. The first few moments had been fine.

"Ugh." *step step step* 'Yup.'

Backing away as her opponent rushed at her, Mio swerved out of the way as the punchy girl sent strike after strike at her. 'There.' Without warning. Mio abruptly turned and ran full speed away from the girl, who immediately gave chase. She allowed her to catch up to her but pivoted abruptly and tumbled under the other girl's arm. A punch of her own burning itself in her stomach. Not with as much force as she would want, but enough to send her stumbling.

Swiftly retreating, she thought about her next moves.

"BOOM. AAAAH!" No, that wouldn't work

"Argh!" No. "Argh!" Nope, "Argh!" Nada.

This girl was very dangerous, apparently.

How about- *Step* "Thump… Thump Thump. Boom" Almost.

'A slight adjustment.' *Step* "Thump…*Step* "Thump, Thump" *Step Step Step* "Thump- AAGH get back here you slippery bitch!"

That would work.

As the other girl recovered and came at her again, Mio flung herself at the girl, who was expecting the same strategy again. *Thump* A punch connected with the other girl's face. Then, With a step to the side, she evaded her counter. And then with a nice one two she took a few steps to the side and then a sent a kick which connected to the girl who had angrily lunged again.

One of her knees slumped and. "Boom" Nope. "Thump Thump UUGH" Yes.

Instead of going for the head or something. Mio went for Oda's left leg. The kick connected. And the girl who had wanted to trick her with feigned weakness flailed desperately. Only to groan in pain as she was kneed in the face. "UUUGH!" "BOOM" Okay.

Would that? *Horrified screaming* Ooh no. "BOOM!" Not that either.

Stepping back deftly, she managed to avoid any damage as the other fighter punched the arena floor, making a loud crack erupt from the ground as some cracks formed. She felt the force of that punch. How about "Thump" *step* *step* "Thud" *choking sounds.* "And the winner is!"

There it is.

Rushing forward and once again kicking at the same leg. The other girl let out a groan and hunched in towards her leg.

Already on her side as she was, Oda could not do much as Mio fell on her knee first. Her breath disappearing.

A moment later she was in a hold which both managed to choke her and restrict the movement of her knuckles.

Not long after. Mio felt her opponent go slack. She won.

"And the winner is- Kobayashi Mio!"

---

Kobayashi Mio, huh? Hearing the future is one of the most interesting quirks I have both seen and heard of. I don't think she would be a problem. She can't possibly be able to hear the future constantly. So I could just take her out as she is thinking. She would be an amazing support in battles, though.

I had got out of the infirmary some time during the match and was currently in the waiting room, watching the matches attentively.

The next battle was between the curly redheaded girl Arata Momoka and the rough and muscular boy with black hair named Matsumoto Keisuke. His quirk was tremor, and hers was rubber body. Basically. He could create tremors in solid things of a high enough density. While, she was made of rubber, which made her basically immune to physical force.

She won handily. He couldn't do much since she was, again, immune to physical damage. She punched him silly. Grinning happily as she did so, all the while absorbing all of his hits like they were nothing.

After that was the match between Okamoto Rika and Miyazawa Daisuke. Daisuke had dust devil as a quirk. He controlled dust and dirt. And Okamoto had her dash.

It wasn't much of a contest. After putting some dirt in her eye. He effectively made her quirk null. She tried at first. But soon gave up. Rushing about at the speeds she could, without her vision, was not a smart thing to do. She really needed goggles of some sort. Lest she be defeated by dashing eye first into a bug or something.

So the blonde haired and green-eyed Matsumoto won. He seemed pretty apathetic about the whole thing as he walked off.

Last but certainly not least of the first matches were. These two were once again a guy against a girl. A lot of these this time around.

Anyway. It was my former teammate Igarashi Akira, the one with the quirk who stops motion in a target. Against one of the wind guys. The one with short but strong gusts.

There were only two ways that match could end. And fortunately for the girl. She managed to do exactly that.

Just as the match started. The girl froze her opponent. A few moments later, he was once again able to move. Only to once again be frozen.

Yes. She could apparently freeze someone repeatedly. Though, it clearly came at a great cost in stamina to keep someone still for a longer period of time. She was panting as she came upon him. But he could do nothing but try to use his quirk uselessly into the ground.

He was unfrozen, but was met with a powerful roundhouse to the temple, which dropped him immediately. Her quirk was pretty unfair.

The winner was Igarashi. And the next matches were as follows.

Hayashi Sakura vs Nakamura Yuto

Teruhashi Kaito vs Hiyashi Fumika

Kobayashi Mio vs Arata Momoka

Miyazawa Daisuke vs Igarashi Akira

I was up against illusion girl. No issues there.

"THERE THEY ARE! WE WILL HAVE A 15-MINUTE BREAK BEFORE STARTING THE QUARTER FINALS! SEE YOU THEN!"

---

-Hayashi Sakura POV-

She stood in the arena again. This time, she was fighting another boy from 1-A.

He was a grumpy looking fellow. A scowl seemed permanently stuck on his face as he glared at me.

"WELCOME TO THE QUARTER FINALS, EVERYONE! PLEASE TURN YOUR ATTENTION TOWARDS THE ARENA AS OUR PARTICIPANTS TAKE TO THE STAGE! OVER TO BEST JEANIST!"

"Thank you. Now! This match will be between Hayashi Sakura and Nakamura Yuto. The rules are the same as last time. I expect them to be followed. Are you ready."

Sakura grinned and gave a thumbs up before smirking towards her opponent, who had nodded stoically.

"Then this match will begin in 10… 9… 8…..1… Go!"

With a burst of light, she was off. All her opponent could do was turn to watch as she flew above him. With a bit of adjustment. She shot down towards him. Only to seemingly hit an invisible wall. And then be flung back and up with force.

She evened out soon enough, the front of her body throbbing from having been hit by some sort of force. "Well, let's try something else then-"

Shooting down, she levelled out just above where she was flung back last time. Aiming her hand towards him. She charged for a moment, and flung a large beam of light at him, designed only to blind.

Quick as a flash, she flew around to where his blind spot would be

This time there was nothing to stop her as she managed to get much closer to him.

"Predictable." She was launched back with even more force than before. Flying straight out from the platform. But she managed to steady herself before she smacked into the wall.

'Too close' She was already feeling sore. She always smacked into things during training, so her durability is amazing, but this wasn't just an immovable object. It was actively something pushing back. So the relative speed was greater.

'Does he know if I'm there, or was he guessing?'

Shooting back towards him— She was pushed when she was meters away. But wasn't sent back far. Immediately retaliating with a blast of light to the face. Speeding around him again, This time diagonally back.

As she shot forwards with a winded up punch. She felt nothing stop her this time. But then she was abruptly going slower. Apparently slow enough that he could turn around with a half extended punch. And then she was not slowing down any more. Barrelling into his clenched knuckles.

She felt her face distort around the fist. Pain erupting around the impact area and heard a crack as her nose was flattened against her face. A moan of pain left her.

Then her entire weight barrelled into him. His by now fully extended arm bending back and back and back until a *SNAP*. He let out a shout of pain. And Sakura came back to her senses a second later. The boy glared angrily from underneath her— 'Oh shitt-'

WHAM* Incredible force slammed up into her like a freight train.

Stars burst forth in front of her vision as she was sent hurtling into the sky— Mind clouded in pain, her entire front was a bruise.

As she balanced herself in midair, she took a moment to assess her opponent now with more information.

'Okay, so invisible attacks. They are fucking bullshit.'

'The force he can use is greater when I'm closer.'

Down below, her opponent was standing again. One of his arms hanging limply by his side as he glared up at her.

She noticed that he was breathing heavier. 'It obviously takes energy to do.' Or maybe that was from the pain of his injured arm? Either was positive.

'He can't just time his hits, either. He has to aim them' Because otherwise she wouldn't have been able to get through at all.'

At that note, she let herself feel the protests of her own body. She felt-

Terrible. Terrible, but alive and kicking. Despite her exhaustion, broken nose and her battered body, she grinned in exhilaration. She hadn't believed she would get a fight like this. Especially this early on.

She'd received tutoring since she was little. Having a mother who became rich from being a hero made training to be the same easy.

Getting into a hero school and becoming a top hero was basically guaranteed. But she still needed people to push her. And this guy made an obstacle to overcome.

Snapping out of her reminiscing, she remembered that there was an eager crowd waiting for her to fight. She had time to plan if she needed it, but-

With a smirk on her face. Sakura shot down once more. Deliberately slower than she usually would. And just as she was a few meters away from him, she was pushed backwards once more. Not as much this time.

Touching down just about where she had been flung away last time made him stiffen. And she could see something new in his eyes.

The smirk never left her face. A step forward once again had her pushed back. Not much.

She took barely a few steps back, nothing more.

Now she was full on grinning. With a mischievous glance, she pointed her palm at him and blasted him with a ray of starlight. And took a step into his range.

He blasted her just as soon as he heard her, and she caught herself without much effort.

He opened his eyes and glared at her. Then he truly moved for the first time in their battle. And despite it all, Sakura wasn't prepared for it. She grew complaisant.

He rushed at her. No faster than a normal person. But she was still within his range almost immediately.

Whoosh. And she was flying towards the walls again. Pain throbbing once more. Straightening again— she flew towards him and made sure to keep just outside his area as he ran after her. She shot a light bolt at him, but he closed his eyes until she wasn't any more.

She just allowed him to chase her around from the air. Making sure to not be too far out, sometimes getting in just a little. And sometimes she was pushed back as he pushed out.

Eventually, he tired of the game they were playing. And he was panting heavily at this point. He had used his quirk for a solid-Wait, how long?

Looking up at the digital clock on one of the billboards told her that the match had been ongoing for 15 minutes. He had been using it a lot, basically. And it showed.

Sakura didn't feel that great herself. But as Nakamura stopped his futile pursuit. She knew she would be able to end it soon.

She didn't make the same mistake of touching down on the ground again. But she did adopt a similar strategy. She would outlast him, that she knew. But she also felt that wasn't very satisfying.

Once more, blasting light at him and forcing his eyes shut. She shot forward towards him— Well, to his side. And touched down before shooting off straight up. She heard a growl from him.

The wind audibly shifted where she had been. Then—just as he opened his eyes, he was forced to shut them again as she directed two thin beams at them. And flew towards and past him once more. The wind blowing past him in her wake. And then she circled around and repeated the previous process. Eyes-fly past from a different angle. Eyes-Fly past, but immediately do a 180 and kick him before flying off again. All in irregular pattern.

Every so often, he managed to clip her as she was flying away, but after every turn she did it faster, and so. His exhaustion started to build up. And as he continued to futilely struggle. His arm in pain, His eye permanently closed, and looking almost dead on his feet. Nakamura gave in to the inevitable.

"I give up."

Sakura stopped just as she was about to hit him again— Finally.

She looked to the side as best Jeanist came onto the stage.

"The winner is Hayashi Sakura!"

She did it. Just like she knew she would. Now it was only a matter of beating two more people. No sweat.

She followed her sullen opponent towards the medical wing. 'A bit of rest would be nice.' Then she winced. 'And some healing too.' It hurt like hell.

---

Sakura walked into the medical bay on the heels of her Nakamura. As she did, she spotted the blue ones from one of the previous matches. The kid and the bubble girl.

Recovery girl came up to them and prompted them to get on the medical beds.

She began with Nakamura, her lips extending and then receding as a green glow healed him. He went out like a light immediately after. Then Recovery girl turned to her. And she slumped into the bed in exhaustion, but still in relief as the pain faded. She didn't fall asleep— No, not like that loser. But she was still tired.

Turning to the other occupants of the room, she saw the girl laying there and staring at the ceiling, while the kid was sitting against the back of his own with a tablet in hand. Not surprising. His boots and gauntlets laid beside the bed haphazardly. He was lazily watching the TV. Sparsely sparing them a glance as they entered the room. And as he met her eyes now. His expression was confused. She saw a light dusting of pink on his cheeks.

'Oh ho.' She grinned. That's funny.

She had no time to even think of teasing him or anything, as Present Mic announced that the next match would be starting.

Teruhashi bolted out of his bed. Practically throwing his gear on and then running out the door with a quick apology to recovery girl, who just shook her head in exasperation.

---

-Kaito POV-

"THE PARTICIPANTS ARE MAKING THEIR WAY ONTO THE FIELD NOW! AAAND THERE HE COMES, OUR YOUNGEST PARTICIPANT WITH HOVER TECH AND ALL— TERUHASHI KAITO! "

"AND ON THE OTHER END WE HAVE THE GIRL WHO TOOK OUT HER UNSUSPECTING OPPONENT IN ONE BLOW! HIYASHI FUMIKA!"

Making my way onto the platform. I resolved to not mess around like I did in my previous bout.

I met the gaze of the older girl as we stopped a ways away from one another.

Her eyes were a lilac purple which looked very exotic framed by her pastel red hair. She had pale skin and a blank expression. I could almost understand why Kozo called her "Emo" earlier, minus the colourful pallet.

"The participant have taken the stage. The round will begin just as soon as both contestants are ready. The rules are the same as all the earlier rounds. The winner is decided by the loser either being unable to continue or stepping out of the ring. Do not aim to cripple or kill. Are the participants ready? Then on 10…9…7…..2…1 Begin!"

Nothing happened immediately as he made the announcement. There were no noticeable tells to being under her illusion. Unluckily for her, my visor was unaffected. She probably had no idea what it did. But I had already issued a mental command through my mental link —her real form was surrounded by a glowing outline in my vision.

I rushed towards the "girl", who only followed me with her gaze. Just as I was a couple of yards away, I abruptly activated one of my hover boots. In between my stride, my foot connected with a "wall" and I pushed off with force.

This abrupt change in direction allowed me to both avoid the punch from the outline, but also allowed me to grab hold of her it's knee. As I passed in front of her, I yanked at her by the knee. Her knee buckled sideways in my grip.

It was a credit to her that nothing severe happened. With both leverage and a decent bit of power, this sort of move where I used her imbalance and lack of opposition could cause quite a bit of damage to her joints and muscle as well as a lot of pain— Well there was obviously still pain as she dropped.

One of her hands slammed into the floor and I took the opportunity given.

With a deft movement, I brought out my whip. Flicking it, I managed to wrap it around the hand that wasn't stabilizing her on the ground. And yanked it hard as she pushed up and tried to pry it with her other hand.

She stumbled forward, visibly startled by the force I dragged her with. The illusion shattered, and the outline was filled in while I could finally hear her pained gasps. Visual and auditory illusions are impressive.

I ordered the whip to unwrap, and it promptly flew to her legs and latched onto her strong one. I dragged at it with the whip while using some upwards force from telekinesis to make it lift and in turn force her unbalanced self to try to put weight on her recently abused leg.

She grunted in pain, as it shook under the strain. It was about time to pull out one of my last gadgets.

As earlier proved. I have worked with some repulsor tech. There are of course multiple kinds of repuslors. Repulsors are any device used to deflect or repel an object. Mine Repels objects, but only as much so much as to allow me to basically create artificial surfaces. But I've also made this.

I picked up a square shaped disk from my pocket. It was the same metallic colour as my boots, with the same blue light coming from the centre of it that "characterised" my gear.

A press to the glass in the centre prompted a flash, and I flicked it towards her, and it activated midair. A blue energy visibly burst outwards like a grenade in every direction and connected with the struggling girl, who could do nothing to dodge. And unbalanced as she was, she could do nothing to resist as she was flung off of her feet. A yelp leaving her as she flew back towards the edge of the arena.

No more playing around. Even though she would have slowed down before reaching the edge, I gave her flight some assistance by giving it some more momentum from telekinesis. Just enough so that she was out of the arena and on the floor outside of it before she could even touch the ground.

I'm honestly a bit shocked by my own brutality in this. But I wanted to show off my support devices effectively, I'm pretty sure I've done that at least.

Best Jeanist announced me as victorious to cheers from the crowd and went to pick up my opponent.

She waved him off, her expression carefully blank. Yet I could still see the pain and sadness behind those eyes. She barely looked at me before turning to walk towards recovery girl's office.

I took a deep breath before walking after her slowly. I should apologise for hurting her, I didn't do so with Kaoruko— which I should have. I absently called my Repulsor grenade to me—not a creative name, I know— and pocketed both "it" and my whip. The outline around Hiyashi vanished from my visor.

Following the limping girl through the tunnel and later into recovery girl's medical wing, I received a stern look from recovery girl.

Hiyashi was healed up with a kiss and was sent on her way, not limping this time. I took the opportunity as the redheaded girl walked out.

"I'm sorry."

She turned to me and tilted her head in what I could only surmise was confusion even through her stoicism. "Why are you apologising?"

"For hurting you."

"It is fine. I knew what I was getting myself into. Also, I am also fine now, so forget it."

I nodded in silent understanding, and she replicated it and walked away. Should I have said more?

"Well, that was awkward." I turned to see Hayashi Sakura grinning wryly at me— I really need to pay attention to power sense. Can't allow people to sneak up on me. I nodded hesitantly.

"It was a good match you had. Your gear is impressive"

"Thank you" I bowed in thanks.

"Oh? Polite are we?" She giggled, her mood seemed fantastic. She seemed really blood lusted in battles, but outside of it she appeared really approachable.

"Want to Watch the next match with me?" That offer I wasn't expecting. No reason to reject. "Sure".

---

Sakura led me to the participant's seats up in the stand in time for the next match. We sat down in her own class's section; Class-B that is. She greeted her class cheerfully as the match started, and I received a pat on the back from one of the guys who I sat beside.

The match commenced, but sadly this was another one of those matches where one had a large advantage over another.

Even though Kobayashi, Mio had a very impressive quirk that allowed her to know of futures based on her decisions. She was still limited to only her fists to deal with her foes. And against foes with superior defence, she struggled at her baseline human levels. It just so happens that her opponent had one of these "Superior defences".

Arata Momoka had the quirk "rubber body". This granted her the greatest defence of any other that had participated in this entire tournament. Except maybe Nakamura Yuto with his repelling quirk.

But to cut to the chase. Arata ate any and all the hits that Kobayashi sent her way, but even as the girl stalled for time to hopefully "hear her victory", she just couldn't find a way to overcome the short red haired girl who hit her with just as much force but with much greeted effect.

In the end, Arata won and moved onto the next round. A battered and bruised Kobayashi left towards the medical wing, while her opponent bounced up to the stands as the third semi finalist.

Next up after a brief intermission was:

Miyazawa Daisuke vs Igarashi Akira

Miyazawa had a quirk that let him control dust and dirt. Meanwhile, Akira's allowed her to freeze someone in place.

The match started and with no time to spare, Miyazawa was frozen, and the already panting girl ran towards him. She wanted to employ the same strategy from earlier, But as the girl stumbled, already tired from her already extensive use of her quirk. Miyazawa was allowed to move once more. Backpedalling away from the girl.

He had no reason to stay close to her. But it also seemed like he had no reason to be afraid either as I saw a layer of dirt already sweeping towards the girl who was oblivious to it. Her quirk didn't affect one's ability to activate a quirk. So someone like Miyazawa who had an ability like telekinesis— for only dust and dirt— Was the biggest problem that Igarashi could deal with.

She attempted to rush at him again. Not using her quirk this time as to preserve her energy. But then a shadow fell upon her from behind. A wave of dirt rising up behind her and aiming to crash down on her.

Her quirk acted on instinct and froze the wave. Her breath becoming even heavier, if that was possible. But it was pointless as more dirt rose from beneath her. He hadn't sent all of his material into the wave. So, as she was surrounded and restrained.

Igarashi couldn't even move as much as her head, and Best Jeanist declared Miyazawa the victor.

"THE LAST PARTICIPANT TO MOVE ONTO THE SEMI FINALS IS THE DIRT BENDER-MIYAZAWA DAISUKE! WITH THIS WE HAVE ALL OF OUR SEMI FINALISTS! HERE THEY ARE!"

Our names along with our pictures were displayed on the screens. They had my student photo of me in my school uniform. Beside the picture was some information on me. My name, my quirk and my course.

Our images began spinning on the big screen. Finally, they settled in our next matches.

Teruhashi Kaito vs Miyazawa Daisuke

Hayashi Sakura vs Arata Momoka

So me against the dust guy.

Beside the image of the brown haired boy was his own profile.

His quirk was Dust Devil. It didn't say more than that, but I could tell with power sense what it did. It allowed him to manipulate dust and dirt.

That could be dangerous, depending on how much he could manipulate at once.

---

I was down in the arena for the... tenth time today?

Across from me stood my second-to-last opponent—if all went well. Miyazawa was pretty tall, but otherwise looked average. Brown hair. Brown eyes. Calm expression.

"WELCOME TO THE SEMI-FINALS! THIS EPIC MATCH WILL BE BETWEEN OUR CHILD GENIUS, TERUHASHI KAITO, AND THE DEVIL OF DUST HIMSELF, MIYAZAWA DAISUKE!"

"This match will follow the same rules as all the others. We will begin when both participants are ready."

At a nod from both of us, the countdown began. The crowd joined in.

"Three... two... one... BEGIN!"

I didn't wait. The ground stirred beneath Miyazawa, but I acted fast—activating my Quirk and lifting him into the air before he could react.

He yelped and thrashed. I glanced at the ground, hopeful.

Nope.

He regained control quickly, and dirt surged up around him. I'd hoped he could only manipulate what he was connected to through the ground. That would've made this a lot easier.

A tendril of dirt whipped upward, snagging him from my grip. I tried to hold on, but it wasn't worth the risk. He was struggling hard, and with that much dust swirling, using too much force could seriously hurt him.

A wave of dust and dirt rushed at me from all sides. I launched upward without hesitation.

I can't let him catch me. I don't know if I can overpower him.

A large tendril chased after me, thinning as it stretched. I looped around it and sent a probe to shear a piece away. The severed chunk fell easily into my telekinetic grasp.

So... he can only control dirt that's connected to the ground or to himself? That was something.

If I could use my inventory, I could have solved this easily.

I lifted the base of the dirt tendril, disconnecting it. It collapsed, and I rocketed downward.

Smaller tendrils swiped at me on the way. I weaved past them, eyes locked on Miyazawa's determined expression.

A wave of dust nearly flattened me. I swerved, yanked the dirt around him, and hurled him back—then chased after.

Dust swirled up to catch him, and I was so focused on ripping it away that I didn't give enough attention to my left flank.

Something latched on.

Then—

WHAM!

Pain exploded through me as I was slammed into the ground. I gritted my teeth and forced a blast outward. The dirt around me erupted in all directions, breaking Miyazawa's hold.

I shot toward him, one hand reaching into my pocket. That hit had been serious. I couldn't take many more.

I pulled out one of my last two repulsor grenades. Activated it midair and launched it at him, guiding it telekinetically through the chaos.

Miyazawa's eyes narrowed. A mountain of dirt surged up to defend him.

BOOM!

The grenade detonated. Dust exploded everywhere, and only the stadium's protective barriers saved the audience from the fallout.

I soared higher, narrowly dodging a tendril from behind. I had to end this soon. The dirt was flowing back, and more dust swept in from the tunnels and the massive hole in the stadium roof.

If he gained control of all that... it was over.

I didn't wait.

I shot forward, weaving through the raining debris. He was still forming a shield, and I slammed into him with a punch to the gut. He gasped, his control faltering.

I pressed forward.

Another punch—this time toward his face. He recovered just in time, raising a wall of dirt.

My fist smashed through it, cracking into his nose. The sound was sickening.

He roared, furious.

And then—

Darkness fell over the stadium.

I looked up. My blood ran cold.

A massive cloud of dust and dirt poured into the arena, tendrils anchoring it like living things. More and more flooded in.

"I need to end this!"

I dove toward him, trying to drive him out of the arena.

Didn't work. The dust beneath him lifted him up, anchoring him in place.

What the hell do I do!?

Knocking him out might be my only shot. But how? Cut off oxygen? No—I could kill him. I wasn't a doctor to know what to do.

I had to try something else.

I pulled out my whip, flicked it at him, and latched onto him through the dust.

Then I pulled.

Hard.

I soared upward, dragging him through the mass.

I broke through the stadium roof, carving a hole into the sky.

But the dust followed. The roof locked him down, tendrils anchoring his body. I couldn't pull him free.

Then they turned on me.

Massive tentacles lashed at me. I let go.

What the hell has this match turned into!?

I dodged upward, higher and higher.

He was getting stronger. And I was running out of options.

Both grenades used. Whip gone. My hover units wouldn't help much.

I could see he was tiring.

But so was I.

Why was I so limited?

With everything I had, I could kill. But I couldn't. I wouldn't.

I wanted to be someone people could look up to. A hero.

That meant not killing.

If this was my limit, I needed more.

Dust surged up again, forming a cocoon around me.

I blasted it to bits.

Another formed.

I can't keep running.

It's all or nothing.

I dove.

Straight through the dust and debris, choking on it. My lungs burned. My windpipe was on fire.

Still, I pushed.

I zeroed in on him with Power Sense. Every beat brought me closer.

Then something grabbed me from behind.

I shoved it off.

Pain split my skull. My head throbbed.

I will not give up!

I couldn't see anymore. Just dust. Pressure. Pain.

I focused only on his signature.

I will not lose!

Exhaustion slammed into me like a freight train.

I can't!

The weight grew unbearable.

I will not...

The crowd below was panicking. Best Jeanist raced toward us. But he wouldn't be fast enough.

I'm going to die.

The realization hit me like a punch from All Might.

I thought I'd be more than this.

A hero.

Someone strong enough to protect-

Strong enough to protect my family.

Then—

Something snapped.

A fiery red sensation erupted in my chest. My heartbeat thundered in my ears.

Something expanded.

The pressure vanished.

Time slowed. Everything but my heartbeat faded away.

I broke through the darkness.

Miyazawa Daisuke barely had time to widen his eyes.

My gauntleted fist smashed into his face.

Everything stopped.

The ocean of dust collapsed as its master fell, unconscious. His bruised face twisted in shock.

He plummeted, caught midair by Best Jeanist's denim strips.

And I...

I just floated.

Breathing.

Alive.

The stadium stared.

My heartbeat slowed.

I survived.

"Holy shit... the kid won..."

---

I never thought I'd hear Present Mic whisper.

I woke up to a splitting headache. Groggily opening my eyes, I found myself staring up at a white-tiled ceiling.

'Am I in a hospital?'

I blinked slowly, the ache behind my eyes dull and heavy, as muffled voices floated in from nearby.

"He should wake up at any moment. Don't worry, dear."

Turning toward the sound, I spotted the small figure of Recovery Girl, leaning on her cane while speaking with the blue-haired woman I knew better than anyone else.

"Mom?"

Her head snapped to me, and before I could even process the movement, my vision was filled with a curtain of soft blue as she rushed forward and pulled me into a hug.

It was tight. Fierce. Her grip shook slightly as she held me.

"Oh, my baby..."

I hugged her back, silent.

---

The U.A. Sports Festival was over.

After my match, the stadium had to undergo repairs just to make it liveable again. Once that was done, Hayashi and Arata had their fight. Hayashi took the win by throwing Arata out of the ring. Not much else she could have done.

But since I'd been unconscious, the finals were cancelled altogether.

The festival ended with a whimper instead of a bang.

I'd been out cold for twenty straight hours—apparently the result of Adaptation's burnout. Which meant it was already well into the next day by the time I finally woke up.

They'd moved me to the school's medical wing instead of the stadium one.

After some fussing from the old nurse—once Mom finally let go of me—I was released.

Now, sitting in the passenger seat as we drove home, I quietly explored my newly boosted perk.

If my estimates were right, I could lift two tons now.

Two. That meant I could lift a normal SUV without problem.

But the thrill was dulled by something else. A small, gnawing worry in the back of my mind.

'What kind of attention is this going to bring?'

Even with just my tech and telekinesis—my "Quirk"—I'd already stood out too much.

People were definitely going to start asking questions now.

Especially considering...

I pulled my phone from my bag and opened social media. A scroll of hero names flashed past my screen—All Might... Endeavor... Ryukyu...

And then—

There it was.

My match with Miyazawa was going viral. Replays. Commentary. Fan edits. The whole deal.

There was no avoiding the spotlight now. Making it that far in the tournament would've been enough to draw attention on its own. But a fight like that?

My modelling career might feel the shockwave. People would know me now, after all.

I sighed and rubbed my eyes, slouching into my seat. But then I felt a soft pat on my cheek.

I looked up.

Mom was smiling at me—gentle, warm, comforting.

Like she knew.

It would be fine.

And if it wasn't...

No. It would be fine.

It had to be.

---

A/N - 19k-ish words and wow that was fucking dramatic.

Hello? Anyone there?... No? Figured.

Anyway— It's been a year. How about that? So much for consistency. Though I've never excelled at that.

I am lazy and easily distracted, and I am sorry. I have no excuse.

But anyway, the chapter— I experimented some in here with different perspectives. I'm wondering if I managed it, or if I should stick to only Kaito's POV. The story will always be mostly Kaito no matter what, but I would still like some opinions. And only he will be in first perspective either way.

I like criticism. I want to know what I'm doing wrong, so that I can better my writing. Complaints about how ofter I update may likewise be valid, but I am also fully aware of it already so there is no point in mentioning it.

Also can someone come up with "cosmetic" perks. I've never cared much about appearance but maybe some of you can come up with some.

Reviews:

Ooguru Ryuuya: Yes, but no. He could easily shrug it off if he wanted. Which he did after screaming his lungs out. Just because he can. It doesn't mean he will just ignore pain. Look at it this way. If he was just existing and some guy walks up and casts the"Cruciatus curse" from Harry Potter at him. He'll feel the pain before forcing it away and strangling the fucker. Basically. He can push through and ignore pain. But doing so is not always a good thing

Cwajdakacper: There are a lot of things to keep track of, which is on me. Sorry for any confusion. The perks that disappeared are growth perks which have integrated into his body. They can't become stronger, so they no longer have any relevance.

The real reason is that It bloats the word count and makes the spaces between the story more intrusive.

Again. Sorry for this long delay, and I hope somebody is still interested.

I won't make any promises that I'm not sure I can keep, but hopefully I will never take this long between updates again.

If you find any misspelling of inconsistancy please point it out. It seems like I miss a ton every time I upload.

Have a good one!