Chapter 174 - 14-15

Chapter 14: Super Turbo Ultimate Fighting Fun (S.T.U.F.F Happens)

"Hmph… This batch isn't half bad. The Explosive boy seems most interesting."

"Add his name to the list of high tier candidates, then. We can make it work."

Hitoshi did his best to not groan. These people were slimy, but all Hitoshi needed was for them to say something bad enough to get them in trouble.

With the support of a real reason to investigate, they could sweep the whole group up faster than they could blink.

A man with a grimy voice seemed to take the lead on their commentary over the matches, discussing their plans on how they could "Influence" the students.

They all seemed unbothered that their actions were pretty amoral, actually. (But of course... legal.Annoyingly, oh so annoyingly, someone had been smart enough with the laws that the H.P.S.C had... a certain level of legal looseness.)

"Hm... Do you think any of them have any younger siblings? Apple doesn't fall far from the tree and all that."

Finally. Wait, no, bad Hitoshi, they want to abduct children, that's bad. 

Hitoshi heard the mumblings of voices across the room as another present person shuffled papers. He wished he could see it, but the meeting room had been explicitly set up to not have any cameras.

(Nedzu had 'graciously offered' one of the many 'incredibly secure' meeting rooms that were normally set up for the sports festival. Annoyingly, said security meant that, considering the number of tech sensing quirks amongst the security retinue of the Hero Commission's 'Progress and Development Group', they couldn't set up a visual feed. That was where Hitoshi, small, agile, and with his nifty disabling ability, came in, sporting his device so old that most modern tech would never notice it over the background of technology that filled U.A's walls.)

"H.R checked a few months back when Madam President was at the entrance exams. Kaminari Inazuma, Hiyamoya Shimo, Nomikomu Kyōkoku, Asui Samidere, Kinzoku Tetsutetsu… none of them are notably marketable, but the Kaminari could work."

"Good enough. The boy would have potential if he didn't act like an idiot. Send a team to investigate. If any of them read high on the scores, we can arrange a... pickup."

Ah. So that was how it was. Screw it, he had names and intention, that was enough to get them arrested, right?

The screen on the listening device he held whirred to life, alongside the appearance of a rat chibi. Next to it, a small speech bubble appeared.

"We have enough. Feel free to finish your involvement!"

"Boss, I'm getting a reading. It's... right above us?"

That Rat could probably read minds. Good to know, but in this case, he wasn't complaining. 

(Or he was just listening in, but that was much more boring of an idea.)

Flicking off the device, He grinned, before banging loudly on the vents surrounding him.

"Hey, assholes! Idiot says what!?"

Around the same time, the meeting room door crashed open, and for the people present, all hell broke loose.

~---SPORTS FESTIVAL: THE DUELS---~

"Time travellers? Really?"

Todoroki nodded. "It makes sense. You are all very well trained, you seem to be able to predict anything that happens, and you are all already decently tight knit. You also act in strange ways most do not understand, and your class name even begins with a T. There are dots. I've connected them."

Togaru chuckled while Midoriya floundered. "I mean, it sure is a theory, but things already would have been a whole lot different if we could just go back and fix em! If we were time travellers, why would we have not caught those Villains that attacked us yet?"

Todoroki took a step back, raising a hand to his chin in consideration. "I see. My theory needs modification, but… back to the drawing board-"

"What do you really want to talk to us about, Todoroki-kun?"

[

"Who are you? I asked to talk to Jack Mantis."

"Oh, I'm Guidance, but you can call Midoriya Izuku! I-it's nice to meet you!" 

"The commentator is a member of class T?" 

Midoriya nodded, smiling. "That's right. I'm not a frontline fighter, so I got a different opportunity!" 

Togaru nodded. "Sorry, Red-White, but if I could guess what your about to talk about, I need my emotional support Greenie. Plus, he's good at keeping secrets, so…" 

At least Todoroki seemed unbothered. "I see. Very well."

]

Todoroki sighed, clenching his fists. "How are you all so… efficient? I have years more training than you do, and by all means, my quirk is stronger… but the only reason I've won both of these rounds is because your group let me."

Midoriya nodded, seeming to take Todoroki seriously. "Rabid planning, mostly. I think I've watched the last ten sports festivals a dozen times by now… and of course, we have the numbers advantage. Even your two skills can't really compare to stacking the deck. And, well… You aren't using your full potential."

Todoroki looked away, crossing his arms. "I don't… at the end of the last round… you made me use it. Hisfire."

Midoriya looked over to Togaru with a nervous face, wordlessly screaming 'Trauma! We're out of our depth here!'

Togaru looked back to Todoroki, ignoring his friend. "His fire? You got a bone to pick with your old man?"

Todoroki nodded, face neutral. "Endeavour is a cruel man who wishes for his son to become the number one Hero in his stead. I don't want to give him the glory, So I'll win using only my mother's ice."

Midoriya, too his credit, stood his ground. "Your…mother's ice? Why don't you consider it your own?"

At that, Todoroki raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Midoriya look to Todoroki with a neutral face, beginning to ramble. "I mean, no… normal people have more than one quirk. Togaru has Razor Sharp, Hagakure is Invisible, Yaoyorozu has Creation. You don't have Hellflame and your mother's quirk, do you? You have Half-Cold Half-Hot."

(Izuku didn't seem to notice his own slip-up, but Togaru did. He cheered, lightly, in his head.)

Todoroki blinked like it was an idea he hadn't heard before. "I… I can't. Even using fire there brought out too many old memories."

Togaru took a look at the slowly shrinking boy. Namely, at his scar.

"Todoroki… your left side. It's fireproof."

He nodded, confused. Midoriya's eyes, meanwhile widened.

"Then why is there a burn scar there?"

(Midoriya tended to ramble a lot while they worked out, mostly to distract himself. He couldn't remember everything he ever said, sure, but he had remembered he had once rambled on about natural quirk immunities and how often they were overly specific. In the case of Fire quirk users… they often lost their true immunity to fire when they came in contact with immense cold.)

Todoroki winced, remaining silent.

Midoriya took a step forward, offering a hand. "Todoroki-kun… if you're in danger, we can help you. What has your father done to inspire your anger towards him?"

Todoroki didn't notice Midoriya's other hand digging into his pocket where his phone sat. Togaru did, but in a case like this it would be better to ask for forgiveness than permission.

"We can keep secrets, Todoroki-kun. I'll give you one in return, if that helps?"

Todoroki nodded, face neutral, albeit tinged with anticipation.

Midoriya sighed, returning to standing straight. "I don't have a quirk."

The boy's eyes widened. "O-oh. Does that mean…"

"That I got into the Hero course all on my own? Absolutely not. I had help from a whole lot of people. But it does mean I've suffered for my quirk, or, well, my lack of one. I still do, sometimes. I can't go to government buildings without getting looks. It's a pain to find shoes that fit. My father vanished off the face of the earth when I was six. Whatever it is you are about to tell me, I won't tell a soul unless it is in the context of helping you."

Todoroki was silent for a moment, processing. A moment later, he looked away from them, face gloomy.

"What do you two know about quirk marriages?"

Ah.

"Well, shit."

"The final round of the fest begins in an hour, folks! For now, we have some fun side games, so enjoy!" 

"You were really cool, Yousetsu-san!"

"Heh, thanks, brats."

"Hey, Sami, Suki. You wanna know a secret?"

"What is it, Sen-san?"

"Yousetsu totally peed his pants when that big explosion went off."

Sen grinned as the two tadpoles laughed at Yousetsu, who in return glared at him. "Don't fall for his lies!"

"What does this objective even mean?"

Itsuka sighed, looking to her own card. Where was she supposed to find a 'perverse person'? She couldn't even use Monoma because he was off sulking!

"Excuse me."

Itsuka turned around, coming face to face with the rather large boy behind her. Digging through her memories, she nodded. "Hello, Tentacole-san. What do you need from me?"

The boy nodded, looking around the field at the many students hunting for various objects. "We're off camera. You may call me Shouji, if you wish. I couldn't help but overhear your complaints overlooking for a 'perverse person', yes?"

Itsuka nodded. "Yes. It's a strange objective, but I've learnt not to question U.A sometimes. Why?"

Shouji reached into a backpack he had been wearing during the break, rifling through it. "Would you like to trade?"

Before almost comically pulling out a currently unconscious small boy.

(Oh, hell, wasn't that the one creepy boy from 1-A, he should thank this guy- wait, no, bad Itsuka!)

"Um… where did you get that?"

Shouji shrugged. "He was plotting some kind of gross scheme involving his classmates. I intended to bring him to Midnight-sensei… but I got side-tracked."

(Oh, thank hell, maybe he'd finally get in trouble...)"O-oh. I see."

She nervously took the boy off Shouji's hands, who nodded. "Thank you. We have both achieved our objectives."

Itsuka raised an eyebrow, firmly securing the boy in a large hand. "What was your objective, Shouji-Kun?"

"A lighter backpack."

"Oh, come on, surely that's against the rules!"

Kyouka smirked, running after Kodai, who had pocketed their shrunken ball. "There's no rules in the Thunderdome!"

"What does that even mean?!"

"It means get good!"

Deep breath in, Deep breath out.

Katsuki looked to the clock, slowly moving down towards the confirmation that the matches were about to start.

Part of him wanted to brood in the waiting room, but he knew it would be best to observe his classmates.

The door slammed shut behind him with a loud thud.

Shouto stormed through the hallways of the stadium, anger flowing through his veins after hearing his father prattle on about how much of a supposed embarrassment he was.

He tried to temper his fury, but it welled within him like a furious volcano.

Those two… they weren't wrong. Seeing it as Endeavour's fire wasn't healthy, he supposed… but he couldn't deny the anger welling within him. He couldn't use that damn fire.

He walked towards the field entrance, face set.

He would never be just his father's creation.

"Hey Hey Hey, Folks! Welcome to our third and final round for the First Years section of the sports festival! We have our final sixteen!" 

Cheers soared across the stadium as excitement returned to the crowd.

"That's the excitement I like to see in full force. But now, it's time for the final round! Want to give us a rundown, Guidance?" 

(Izuku took a deep breath. Todoroki's story was… a lot, and it was certainly something he would like to do more about, but there was nothing he could do about it, especially considering the boy had essentially run off after he finished telling it.)

"This final round is set up in a single elimination tournament. Our sixteen participants will clash on the arena we can witness Cementoss building below!" 

Cementoss smiled at the cameras before continuing his work.

"Quirk use is fully allowed if it does not put you opponent at risk of any permanent damage. Your goal is to either ring out your opponent or make them in some other way unable to continue." 

"Thanks, Guidance! Now, get ready folks, because the fighting will start in a couple minutes!

ROUND ONE: SHOUTO VS CELLOPHANE

The crowd roared as Cellophane shot forward, wrapping Shouto in a line of tape, determine scowl on his face-

* SHLINK *

"Sweet #### on a #### eating ####! What the hell!?"

"Oh, my boy, who taught you such language?"

Mustard sent a glare at his companion, whose face was annoyingly smug. "How are you so calm about this?"

Mr Compress simply chuckled, but his chattering teeth said otherwise. "The boy aimed his blast upwards to avoid the crowd. That aside… such power. We will need to be careful against him."

Mustard scowled. "Why did I even agree with Shigaraki to come with you for this…"

Compress smiled, snapping a picture of the ice for later reference. "Because a man with a child looks about thirty times less suspicious than a man on his own."

"Damnit, I hate when you assholes are right…"

The older man let out an airy laugh. "Young man, let me give you a piece of advice." He leaned back in his chair, listening quietly to the chorus of 'nice try's' being let out across the field, much to the stuck boy's chagrin. "There comes a certain point in a life like this where one must learn that, even in the most volcanically hot pots, one can eventually learn to enjoy the boil!"

Mustard sighed, looking to group of fire users now working to defrost the massive spire of ice. "You say that, but it's cold as hell."

Mr. Compress sighed, taking a sip of his drink as if it was wine rather than soda. "Let me metaphor, alright?"

ROUND TWO: HATSUMEI VS CENTRIFUGAL

"Well, after that lightning fast first round, this next one is set to be a little less intense. Now… here's our competitors! On the one side, it's HatsuMei! With next to no subtlety in her name, and a confident smirk, could her tech give her the edge? On the other, putting a new spin on things, its Centrifugal! How will this match go?"

Sen walked onto the field, face neutral as standard. He got a good look at Hatsume. The girl smirked, fiddling with a device in her hands. "You're still sure this is how you want to handle this?"

The girl nodded. She had, after all, came to him beforehand to offer her idea. Sure, he had twisted it a little so as to not horribly embarrass himself, but it would still give the girl what she wanted. "Yep. You ready?"

As he nodded, Snipe began his countdown. "Alright, folks… START!"

*Tap* *Tap* "Sweet, this thing works!"

"H-hey, how did you get this frequency-" 

"HELLO, WORLD! I'VE BEEN ENCOURAGED BY MY CO-PRESENTER HERE TO KEEP IT BRIEF, BUT I'M HATSUME MEI, FUTURE CEO OF HATSUME INDUSTRIES!" 

Sen quickly leaped forward, starting the fight for real with a spinning kick. Sliding out of the way, Hatsume continued. "AS YOU CAN SEE, OR, WELL, HEAR, BY ME TAKING OVER THESE COMMS, I'M HERE TO… ADVERTISE!"

"Oh, for the love of-" 

And then, of course, Hatsume began her speech, prattling on about as many different support items as she could, as quickly as she could.

Sen began to throw out as many attacks as he could, even if a few of them were pretty obviously feigned. Hatsume needed a few more minutes, and if it made her look cool… well, she was the one who would probably be taking over the world if Nedzu and Midoriya didn't. Best to get in her good graces.

"And lastly, the lovely shoes that have been getting me to dodge all of these attacks, the HatsuShoes! These rollerblades allow you to get around WAY faster than walking or even running! And to demonstrate-"

Quickly skating over to the other side of the arena, Hatsume flicked her shoes off. "I'll Be turning them off! That's the end of my presentation! Feel free to invest in Hatsume Industries, Support stars!"

Sen let out a sigh of relief as Hatsume ran forward, trying to get the jump on him with some kind of baton. The true match had finally started.

Midoriya seemed to sigh as he finally regained control of his microphone. "I see… well, now that that advertisement is over, we can see our fighters in action!"

Present Mic seemed to wake up, smiling. "That's right! Centrifugal has demonstrated his defensive skills in the last round, but now he's going on the offensive."

"It's rather hard to hit something when it's spinning as fast as Centrifugal can." 

As the two fighters leaped back, Sen grinned slightly. "For a Support Student, you fight pretty well, Hatsume."

The girl grinned. "I can't just sit around in a lab all day! There's stuff to heave and gear to test!"

The girls grin lowered to a faint smile, as she began to sweat, however. "But… I don't think I'm cut out for long fights…So I'll end it now!"

The girl deployed the cannon that sat on her back as Sen dashed forward. "Here's my Hatsume Beam Thermonuclear Cannon! HERE WE-"

*THUNK*

Hatsume's grand mechanism was interrupted by Sen dashing forward, shoving Hatsume back, past the ring edge.

Snipe raised an arm. "The match is over. Centrifugal is the winner!"

As the crowd cheered at the result of the match, Sen helped Hatsume to her feet. "Good job, Hatsume-san. Sorry I interrupted your cannon, though."

The girl chuckled, gesturing to the 'cannon' that was now on the grass next to her. "Oh, this? This is a piece of pipe! I just figured it would make you look cool when you win!"

Sen laughed. "I probably should have seen that coming. Thanks, Hatsume."

Hatsume smiled, looking over at the scoreboard at Sen's next opponent. While the pair walked back to the stands. "Unfortunately… I think you needed it."

That, he couldn't deny. "Make sure I get a cool funeral pyre. Life was fun while it lasted."

ROUND THREE: TAILMAN VS ENGENTIVE:

Mashirao smiled lightly as Midoriya did his best to talk about the two competitors without bias as he walked onto the stage. Looking to the other side, he spotted his opponent.

Iida Tenya, or, to use his Hero name, Engentive, smiled to him, bowing. "Let us have a good match!"

Mashirao returned the bow. "Too you as well."

"How formal! It's like a sumo competition!" 

"Tailman does come from an origin of martial arts, and Engentive, as many have probably guessed, comes from a family of Heroes. Both are experienced fighters." 

["Iida Tenya. He uses the engines in his legs to speed forward. Is notably a stickler to the rules with a quick temper. If you want to win, wind him up"]

"START!"

Engentive dashed forward, aiming to make the fight quick. "Sorry, Tailman, but I need to win this!"

Mashirao braced as the boy got closer and closer. A few moments later-

*Wham*

Mashirao put a whole lot of force behind his tail swing, sending his opponent careening off course. Unfortunately, it sent him back into the arena.

Wheezing, Engentive looked up to see a totally composed Mashirao, who resumed his defensive stance.

"Wow! Tailman completely denies Engentive's approach with his bulky tail!" 

"Despite its simplistic look, the fifth limb holds a lot of mass. It's a great defensive tool." 

Engentive charged again, attempting to twist his movement to catch him by surprise, but-

*Wham*

As his opponent recovered again, Mashirao purposefully chose to smirk. He couldn't deny that perhaps his classmates were rubbing off on him a little. "Do you intend to try a third time?"

The boy in front of him twitched, before his face became set. "You are right. I won't lose so easily. So, I'll end it in a moment!"

Mashirao braced as Engentive crouched in a running posture.

"This is my finishing move…RECIPRO BURST!"

With a burst of speed, Mashirao watched his opponent dash forward, with a speed that would knock him out without a doubt…

And jumped a little to the right.

Engentive tried to slow his dash forward as fast as he could, but with a solid thud from Mashirao's tail, he was sent over the edge.

"The match is over! Tailman is the winner!"

Mashirao help the scowling Iida to his feet with a calm expression. "I'm sorry, Iida-san. I have my reasons to advance in this tournament as well. It was a bad matchup."

Iida nodded, face still hardened, but he managed to crack a small sad smile. "I see… I hope to defeat you next year, then."

"Of course. Perhaps we could spar before then? In a context outside of a simple one versus one battle my strategy would have failed."

"Right!"

ROUND FOUR: RED RIOT VS DYNAMIGHT

"Really, Nedzu? I know it was for a good cause, but did you ever considering telling anyone you were adding a child to this operation?"

Nedzu chuckled nervously as Recovery girl continued prod him. "Apologies, Chiyo-san. Unfortunately, I couldn't be sure how likely they were to escape, and even now, Shinsou-kun is an excellent stealth operative and stunning tool."

"He's FIFTEEN!"

"I'm alive, aren't I?"

Hitoshi's remark was met with another nervous chuckle from Nedzu as Recovery girl sighed. "You really are making a second Shouta… Nonetheless, you did a good job, Shinsou-kun. Next time Nedzu tries to wrangle you into a job, you tell me, alright?"

Hitoshi nodded, nervously scratching his neck. The greatest signs of his own injuries were two tissues stuffed into his nose to stop the bleeding there and a twisted ankle. Elsewise, he had made it out relatively unscathed.

In perfect honesty, it perhaps could even not have gone better.

[

"HUH?!" "WHO'S THERE? "EH?"

Hitoshi smirked as he felt the tug that coincided with his quirk taking effect. He had thankfully grabbed almost all of the bureaucrats and most of the guards, barring the leader and a few cronies, who remained quiet in shock. He popped open the vent, which fell to the ground with an echoing thud. 

He jumped down, wincing when he definitely twisted his ankle. That definitely lowered the coolness factor of the landing. 

Meanwhile, the Hero that had crashed into the room, Vlad King, with Nedzu on his shoulder, glared. "You are all under arrest for plotting the removal and exploitation of children. We can either go quietly or loudly. Hands up!" 

The ringleader, a stick thin man with a white toupee, raised his hands placatingly. "Now, sir, I assure you, nothing illegal is being done here…"

"Except for the fact that your legal shenanigans are still considered largely unethical, meaning they can be tried in court as an act of cruelty. Tell me, sir, do you think you will be able to find a sympathetic jury that will allow your group to see the light of day?" 

Hitoshi, for his part, did not laugh at the snivelling man. "Wow. You really are pathetic." 

"Why, you brat…"

]

As Recovery Girl began to walk away, Nedzu smiled. "That aside, Shinsou-kun, I must thank you for your help! You will be an excellent Hero one day, Slackjaw."

Hitoshi returned the smile. "Thanks, Sensei. I'd like to think this counts as a passing grade for whatever secret system you folks use for surveying sports festival performance?"

Nedzu chuckled at that. "Oh, my, I do think it does! Now, before you go join your friends in the crowd, one last thing…"

Nedzu pulled a small card out of his pocket, passing it to Hitoshi. "While I cannot legally or morally pay you, considering you are a minor without a Hero licence, I can give you this."

The card was plain white, made out of thick plastic, and featured a small the chibi-Nedzu Hitoshi had begun to recognise.

It simply read "NEDZU I.O.U."

With dawning anticipation, Hitoshi grinned, chuckling lightly.

"Feel free to hold on to that, but do spend it sometime this year, alright? I'm not fond of holding on to favours! Of course, this is only for entertainment purposes, considering it is my duty to provide you with any content for education, and…"

Hitoshi pocketed the card. "Yeah, yeah, I don't need the legal jargon, sensei."

He looked up to the TV on the side of the stadium, seeing that Dynamight had finished blowing up Red Riot enough to claim the win.

He quickly stretched before quickly walking off. "Bye, Nedzu-sensei! Have fun dealing with Aizawa-sensei!"

"Have a good day, Shinsou-kun…oh dear."

Nedzu turned around to the rather angry face of Aizawa-Sensei staring down at him, seemingly skipping out on commentating the currently ongoing match. "Care to explain why I only find out what Shinsou's project was after the fact?"

Nedzu smiled. "Oh, it's not like I didn't have you do the same, Shouta-kun."

At that, Aizawa scowled. "Damnit. I hate that your right. I'll still have to address it, though."

As Hitoshi looked back, he got to be one of a very small list of people ever to see true fear in the principal's eyes, as Aizawa-sensei began to threaten the mammalian Hero's tea supply.

ROUND FIVE: CREATI VS JACK MANTIS

Silence permeated through the stadium like a fog. Sure, as to be expected, mumbles were abound, but they are practically a quiet hum as the two competitors stared each other down.

Present Mic broke the quiet with a dull whisper. "Um…what exactly is going on here?"

"They are waiting for each other to make the first move. Their in some ways similar quirks mean each other's actions will decide the flow of combat for themselves." 

Momo knew this. She was also grateful for the time to process a proper plan. She was fairly confident this wasn't a fight she can win, but… with a moment to process, was that really so bad? She still made it to the final round, after all.

Suddenly, her opponent shifted, smirking, before laughing loudly. "This is getting us nowhere, huh, Creati? How about we make this battle more interesting?"

Momo nodded, doing her best to maintain a neutral face. "Very well. What is your proposal?"

A moment later, the boy shifted again, putting an arm forward. A moment later, he laughed again.

"Here's the manifestation of my very nature as a blade!"

A moment later, a loud crunch could be heard, followed by a snapping noise as the crowd winced at the sight of a burst of bone and drops of blood erupted from the boy's arm.

Jack Mantis winced, before pulling with his other arm, raising his hand to behold the fruits of his labour.

Over the speakers, Momo heard a faint muttering. "That's new…"

Momo's eyes bulged upon witnessing something akin to a fully forged sword built of bone.

It was a finely crafted rapier, sharp, with a detailed, spiralling hilt. Momo marvelled at the design.

"Pretty cool, huh? I've been making this thing under my skin all morning. Theoretically, I could get my body to spit out anything, but blades come way easier. Making something that isn't just a sharp point is a lot harder! I figured you would be the best person to use it on. Considering Tailman is on the other side of the bracket, you're the only person who could rival me in terms of the skill with blades!"

Momo gasped lightly, before grinning herself. She didn't get to practice swordplay all that often, but she couldn't deny it was a hobby she loved. "Very well. I shall fight you to the best of my ability!"

Thus, she smiled and began quickly creating.

Momo started quickly by throwing a small roll bandage to her opponent, who caught it, using it to bind the gash in his arm from which the sword had been pulled from, before making a blade for herself.

While she preferred slightly larger blades in terms of sword combat, she figured it would be best to match her new rival. A moment later, she had her standard rapier.

"Wow! Creati has made a rapier for herself to match the bone weapon created by Jack Mantis! It looks like we're about to have a trial by blades!" 

Once the crowd seemed to notice what had happened, roars of excitement soared from amongst the stadium. Momo saw her opponent smirk. "Looks like we've attracted plenty of attention. Shall we make this a good one?"

Momo nodded, determined. She spotted a few Heroic faces amongst the crowd nodding in approval, alongside Midnight, the Hero who had recommended her, who seemed to be laughing.

"Of course. Good luck to you!"

A moment later, Jack Mantis shouted out some kind of battle cry and dashed forward. Momo, of course, did the same.

"Huh. I really didn't think Bug Boy had it in him to look cool."

Yousetsu snapped his eyes away from the intense match in front of him to look at the new arrival. "Shinsou! You're back! How did your thing go?"

The purple haired boy smirked, plopping down on a seat next to his. "Eh. Don't worry about it. Problem's dealt with."

Jirou, from her spot in the chair behind Yousetsu's, groaned. "And that's not ominous at all."

Shinsou nodded, looking over to the match, but only really paying half attention. "So, Shouji. A little birdy tells me you caught that horrible representative of purple haired people everywhere in the act?"

The multi armed boy flashed a thumbs up. "Correct. According to Midnight-Sensei, he was annoyingly hard to catch in the act. He'll be on some kind of course. From Midnight's face... it'll be intense. I think she owes me a favour now, though."

Shinsou smirked. "We're building those up, huh?"

"What does that mean?"

"Don't worry about it."

*Swish*

Togaru felt a rush of satisfaction as he knocked his opponents own weapon away. While he had always preferred the more visceral nature of wild combat, he could certainly appreciate the more sophisticated nature of a swordfight.

(Hey, bloodlust was fun, sometimes, and he enjoyed going wild on occasion, sure, but he also didn't want to murder people! Shock horror concept!)

Holding his own blade over the now knocked over Creati, he smiled sharply as the girl sighed, seemingly accepting her loss. The girl stood up, patting her own unform before bowing. "You fought well, Jack Mantis-San. Perhaps we could practice again some time?"

Togaru nodded. "Of course! Maybe next time we fight I'll be able to make TWO swords!"

Creati laughed before turning to Snipe. "I concede!"

"By concession, the match is over! Jack Mantis is the winner!"

With that announcement, the crowd roared. Yaoyorozu sighed a second time. "It's a shame. I had hoped to make it a little further…"

Togaru smirked. "As if you won't be beating all our asses by this time next year, lady. Besides, I'm pretty sure you there'll be plenty of Heroes that'll want you for that display, plus the second round!"

His opponent breathed out before smiling as they both walked to make the trip back to the stands. "Right. It was a pleasure fighting you, Kamakiri-san."

"Right back at you!"

ROUND SIX: URAVITY VS FROPPY

"Like with Red Riot and Dynamight, we've got another battle of teammates here! It's two sleeper hits that will take you by surprise this time, with our space bound lady, Uravity, having a fight versus the one who favours the river, Froppy!"

Tsuyu stretched as she started down her opponent on the other side of the arena. Said Uravity was doing the same, psyching herself up for the match. "Sheesh, why did we have to go after the match with the cool sword fight?"

Tsuyu smiled in return, considering how best to combat her opponent. Unfortunately, they were both melee fighters, which left her in an unfortunate position, especially in an arena without walls.

Before she could think of a winning strategy though, the gunshot indicating the start of the match started, and Uravity surged forward with surprising speed.

"And the second match has begun with a start! Eraser, give us a run down!" 

"Both Froppy and Uravity are some of this year's best melee fighters. Unfortunately, neither can approach the other without risking danger, so this in some way will be a war of attrition." 

Aizawa-Sensei wasn't wrong, considering Tsuyu was quick to jump away, croaking in anticipation. "Sorry, Uravity-Chan. I won't let you win so easily."

Her opponent nodded, and instead of moving again, crouched down. "I wouldn't like it any other way!"

Uravity crouched down, quickly placing her two hands on the concrete below her.

they landed on a fragmented piece from the two fights ago, wherein Dynamight had torn the concrete to pieces. While Cementoss' repairs were good, there were still signs of damage, which Uravity took advantage of by heaving a piece of rock above her head.

"Uravity has AQUIRED AMMUNITION!"

The girl quickly began throwing as many pieces of concrete as she could at Tsuyu, forcing her to leap out of the way.

"You'll have to tire out eventually!"

The girl wasn't wrong, but she had made a crucial mistake. Tsuyu knew that if she waited for the perfect moment-

There!

Right after sidestepping another projectile, Tsuyu leaped forward, sending her tongue towards Uravity, quickly wrapping it around her opponents stomach, her hands busy with holding a piece of stone.

"EH!?"

"Froppy has gotten an in on Uravity! How will she act on it?"

While Uravity flailed for a moment, Tsuyu quickly got through the gap, landing a solid kick on the girl's chest, taking the wind out of her before she could remove Tsuyu's gravity.

A moment later, she quickly grabbed a hold of one of the girl's hands, pressing it against a leg, causing the girl to become weightless.

All it took after that was a simple throw, and Uravity was out of the arena.

"The match is over! Froppy is the winner!"

Regaining her composure as the crowd cheered and the commentators prattled on, Uraraka, floating above the ground, pouted. "Aw man…I almost got it!"

Tsuyu gently lowered the girl to the ground, smiling gently, "Sorry, Uraraka-chan. You fought excellently. And you should be proud for making it to the third round at all."

The girl sighed, shaking her head as she put her hands together, lightly falling to the ground. "I suppose you're right... I'll just need to get stronger!"

Tsuyu continued to smile as the pair walked off the stage. "Have you thought about martial arts?"

ROUND SEVEN: MARIA VS CHARGEBOLT

"The match is… over? Uhm… MARIA IS THE WINNER!"

"Huh… that match was only a little longer than the first one. Note to self… do not mess with scary plant girl."

"Mic, that's been pretty obvious from the start. I'm glad Midnight's teaching that electric kid…" 

"Plants have been known as great sound dampeners for many years, being used in many traditional walls for housing, alongside animals using them as methods of masking their footsteps in areas such as jungles due to sheer density of foliage… maybe with enough vines she could block out Voice?" 

"You're NOT helping, Guidance!"

ROUND EIGHT: PHANTOMIME VS ALIEN QUEEN

"It's our last round before the quarterfinals, and it's set to be an intense one! Bringing a spooky air… it's the ALIEN QUEEN! With her stinging slinging skills, can she beat the puppeteering fingers of the T classes' very own Phantomime?" 

Reiko stood tall, doing her best to not falter at the crowds surrounding her. Looking ahead, she spotted her opponent stretching, seemingly unperturbed. The girl smiled at Reiko, flashing a thumbs up. "Let's have a good match, alright, Phantomime-san?! And, uhm… sorry about that thing that happened last week! I didn't think it would end that way…"

Ah. Reiko recognised the girl now as one of the very enthusiastic members of the crowd that had accosted them. The apology seemed genuine, however. "It would be impolite of me to hold it against you. Let us embrace fair combat."

Her opponent smiled, clearly relieved to be forgiven, before moving into a combat ready stance.

"START!"

Immediately, Reiko moved in to be further from the borders, wary of Alien Queen's speed. Said girl dashed forward, using her acid to slide across the arena at a rapid pace.

"I saw you a little during the race, you know! You can't grab things unless you can grab a proper 'hold' of them, right? So, I've just got to outspeed you!"

She was, annoyingly, not wrong. Reiko was forced to leap out of the way of a powerful kick, grunting from the movement. Her opponent responded by sending out a glob of weak acid, forcing her further back.

"Neither Phantomime nor Alien Queen can use their quirks to their fullest potential in this match, meaning it's a competition of skill…" 

Continuing the game of cat and mouse, Reiko winced. Guidance was correct that she couldn't brute force it, and her dodging was getting harder with all the acid on the field… that was it!

She continued to run, thankful for her training, slowly leading her opponent in the direction she needed.

"You can't run forever, Phantomime-San!"

Reiko smirked, having caught the girl right where she needed to. She quickly snapped around, activating her quirk.

"I don't need to!"

Immediately, a dozen globs of acid, left behind by Alien Queen in the chase, shot up, flying towards Reiko's opponent.

Forced to dodge the globs, Alien Queen jumped back-

"The match is over! Phantomime is the winner!"

Only to look down and find herself across the line.

Alien Queen immediately blushed before groaning. "AW MAN!"

While she was disappointed for a moment, the girl perked up a moment later, bowing to the crowd before running up to Reiko, smiling. "You were super cool, Phantomime-san! What gave you the idea? Can I get your number? I like your haircut! Aw man, Kiri's gonna laugh at me… oh, I've got to get back to the stands! Bye, Phantomime-san!"

With that, Alien Queen sped off, not even giving Reiko a moment to answer any of her questions…

"Huh."

Reiko eventually simply had to shrug, making her way back to the stands. Adrenaline did things to naturally excitable people, she supposed. She would have to seek her out though. She would be an excellent sparring partner.

The only problem was that she had no idea what her name was.

"And that's the end of the first round! We've had an intense batch of matches, and things are bound to get EVEN MORE CRAZY!" 

"Our winner is pretty up in the air… but why don't we take a look at our board?" 

"Right on, Guidance! Here's that stats!" 

ROUND NINE: SHOUTO VS CENTRIFUGAL

ROUND TEN: TAILMAN VS DYNAMIGHT

ROUND ELEVEN: JACK MANTIS VS FROPPY

ROUND TWELVE: MARIA VS PHANTOMIME

"Now, we have a bit of a gap while our competitors prepare and the stage is repaired, but stay tuned, folks! The next few rounds are gonna be EPIC!" 

"Epic? Really? That's the adjective you used?" 

"Aw, come on, Eraserhead, Don't ruin my vibe!"

Chapter 15: What's in a name other than everything that matters?

MATCH NINE: SHOUTO VS CENTRIFUGAL

The stadium was filled with a tense quiet as the two competitors walked onto the stage. Many were braced for impact, fearful that the match would be a repeat of the first one.

Sen, on the other hand, took a deep breath. Quarter finals was good enough, in perfect honesty. He was repping the weird quirk trio, he had probably gotten a few Twilight Heroes to notice him (Because like hell was he gonna work under a spotlight Hero, gross), and most importantly, the little kids thought he was cool. Which meant…

"Are both participants ready to begin the match?"

While his opponent simply nodded, Sen finally dropped his neutral face in favour of a smirk. "Sure thing, Snipe! Let's do this!"

He had nothing to lose.

"Very well…"

*BANG*

"START!"

*SHLINK*

~---SPORTS FESTIVAL: SLI / CE---~

Shouto took a breath. Now significantly calmer, his ice attack had been much smaller than the last one. His opponent was almost completely frozen, with just their head emerging from the frost, turned downward.

Over the loudspeakers, Present Mic's shouted in enthusiasm. "Just like last time, Shouto ends it with a powerful attack! Could this be- Wait, what?"

*CRACK*

Shouto raised an eyebrow. What was happening?

"Heh. You think I'd go down as easily as the tape guy?"

Shouto felt his eyes widen as Centrifugal looked up, staring at him straight in the eyes with an almost maniacal smile.

*CRACK*

Suddenly, his opponent burst out in something akin to maniacal laughter. "Unlike your classmate, our class doesn't go down so EASY!"

*CRASH*

Shouto's ice burst open in a violent explosion of shards, forcing him to cover his eyes.

When he looked up again, he found himself face to face with his opponent, who's whole body was spinning like a cyclone, the arms and his legs of his clothing long since torn off. The boy continued laughing, raising his arms. "You're stronger than me, sure, but that doesn't mean I'll give up! I'll push through any obstacle if it means moving forward!"

The student sent a glare in his direction. "I'll shine in both light and shadow... I'm here to stay!"

Centrifugal jumped forward, smirk not leaving his face, and Shouto did his level best to not step back in what was essentially abject terror. "Let's see if you'll crack under pressure like that ice of yours!"

*SHLINK*

Shouto quickly sent out a burst of ice. And another. And another. And another…

Centrifugal continued to shatter ice with his quirk, enthusiasm seemingly not draining, but eventually his opponent was covered in a massive, uneven pile of ice, with once again, just his head sticking out.

The boy laughed once more before lowering his head, sighing. "Aw, man. How does Jack Mantis keep that up for as long as he does…"

A few seconds later, Snipe broke out of his stupor, looking to the to match participants. "Centrifugal, are you able to continue?"

"Heh, nope, sensei..."

"Uuh… right. Centrifugal is unable to continue, so the match is over! Shouto is the winner!"

As Shouto walked over to free his opponent from the ice, the boy smiled. "How's that for a weak quirk, assholes…"

He turned to face Shouto, teeth chattering. "Good luck with your next two matches. Tailman and Jack Mantis won't go down as easily as me."

Shouto simply remained quiet, but as he continued warming himself up as he melted away the ice, he internally accessed that statement.

Centrifugal on his own, someone he had considered a non-threat, had almost forced him to use his fire, and if he had been even a little faster...

If the others were worse…

Perhaps his victory wasn't as assured as Endeavour claimed it to be.

"Due to the rather… dramatic previous match, it'll be a few minutes before we can start the next one. Take the moment to breathe, folks, and to our competitors, get ready!"

Mashirao sat in his waiting room, breathing calmly as he prepared himself for another round of combat.

While he hated to disrespect the Iida boy, The previous match hadn't been overly tiring, considering its short length.

This next match, on the other hand, was something Mashirao knew would be a challenge. Both physically and perhaps mentally.

Of course, it came back to the question that had been bouncing back and forth in his head since he had beaten his previous opponent.

Could he maintain this battle as one of honour?

He thought back to what he knew of his opponent.

[

Mashirao did his best not to yawn as Midoriya continued to instruct them on the skills and abilities of their opponents. While he couldn't deny the knowledge would be vital, there were a lot of students in U.A. Thankfully, he was nearing the end of his list.

"The last member of 1-A of note is… Bakugou Katsuki."

Yanagi nodded. "He is the one with the explosive quirk, no? I remember him from the exam. He would be quite the foe to go up against directly…"

Midoriya nodded, looking back at the small screen he was using. "Bakugou sweats a substance similar to nitro-glycerine from his hands, which he can… detonate. To great effect."

Shouji, ever observant, looked to Midoriya. "You talk about his abilities as if you have seen them first hand."

Midoriya looked down, face nervous, hand rubbing against his shoulder. "Yeah… he used to go to the same school as me."

Mashirao read between the lines, as did the rest of them. "Then how did he get into U.A? Surely-"

"There was no evidence against him."

Mashirao politely took the hint to shut up. Midoriya winced again, looking apologetic. "Bakugou was Aldera's golden goose. He was practically guaranteed to become a major Hero, which meant they could claim credit for 'rearing his Heroic spirit'. So, well, if he spent plenty of time 'putting a Deku in his place', well, the world couldn't know about that, could they?"

"Aldera middle was shut down when you left, no, Boss? Surely Nedzu would have just denied his entrance if you asked?"

Midoriya shrugged, completely calm despite the topic they were discussing.

"Could you imagine how a boy given everything like that would react if it was all torn away from him at once?"

"Hngh…"

Midoriya nodded, sighing. "I denied Nedzu-sensei's offer to ignore his entry. He's supposedly going through some kind of therapy, but I think what he needs…is a kick in the pants. And I hate to say it, but… no matter how much I miss the boy who was once my childhood friend…I kind of want to see him get it. Live vicariously through you all, you know?"

Everyone smiled, then. They could do that.

]

Bakugou Katsuki was the tormentor of someone who was now one of his best friends… which meant it was personal. There was no such thing as an eye for an eye, sure, but…

Mashirao shook his head. He really was overcomplicating this. There was a simple answer:

he would defend his friend's Honour.

(His mother had always told him that Honour was perhaps the most important thing in the world, but also that it was a wild concept, shifting and churning in the core of each person's inner self, different and ever changing. Mashirao, right now, felt like a wild ocean, but those currents were beginning to settle.)

MATCH TEN: TAILMAN VS DYNAMIGHT:

"Now, after that rather chilly round, it's time for the opposite! On the one side of this match, we have Dynamight, whose red-hot energy is bound to make the match chaotic, while on the other side, we have the tempered steel of Tailman! While his power may seem simple, he's proven that he's not to be messed with!"

"Despite seeming one-sided, this match is anyone's game."

(Thanks, sensei.)

"Oh, and just so you folks know, our third commentator is away for this match! For now, you'll just have to deal with your pal Present Mic and his buddy Eraserhead!"

Conflict of interest, most likely. Mashirao hoped Midoriya was watching, anyhow.

"You're insufferable."

"Yes I am!"

Mashirao stood quietly as the announcers prattled on, looking at his opponent. Dynamight returned the favour, scowling but dead quiet.

He took a deep breath. It was time to get to work.

(Mashirao was a fighter that fought with honour to preserve the glory of martial arts, but… he had learnt that Heroism was a different beast, in that fiery battlefield he faced. Thus, Tailman would be one who fought with honour, yes, but he also fought to win. To save, and preserve the honour of life as a whole)

He put on his best smirk, his mind going to how Awase and Kamakiri slipped up their enemies with their veneers of sheer confidence. "So… the great Dynamight not going to say a word? I thought you were always one to smack talk, even if you couldn't back it up."

His opponent's eye twitched, and he flexed his hands. "Why you…"

A moment later-

*BANG*

"Start!"

With crackling explosion's, Dynamight burst forward, shouting all the while. "IS THAT WHAT YOU THINK OF ME, HUH?"

Mashirao remained still, playing the ultimate game of chicken, before Dynamight slid into position, moving his hands forward for an explosion.

*CRACKOOM*

Mashirao leapt forward, arcing over the explosion in a grand arc.

"REPLICATION – GYRATE!"

Spinning himself in the air, he landed a solid tail hit against his opponent's side as they turned to face him, forcing Dynamight back as he landed on his feet.

"With a confident smirk, Tailman has completely dodged Dynamight's attack, even landing a hit of his own! Hey… wasn't that move familiar?"

Mashirao smirked again as Dynamight stood up, shaking off the impact. "Good. I would be disappointed if you went down in one hit, but I wouldn't be surprised."

Dynamight glared. "What the hell's that supposed to mean, you extra?"

Mashirao remained quiet and simply continued to look down on the boy in front of him. It seemed to have the correct effect, considering the boy got back up, running forward to go again.

Mashirao simply leaped back again, before slamming his tail down, kicking up dust, which quickly mixed with the already present smoke to ensure the cameras did not register his mouth movements.

(From Dynamight's perspective, it certainly made Mashirao look more intimidating, eyes almost glowing in a field of dust.)

"What school do we go to? Right, U.A high school. If memory serves, it's a school for Heroes, right?"

*WHAM*

The game of cat and mouse continued like that, with Mashirao dodging explosion after explosion. On occasion, blasts grazed him, but he simply winced and continued to dodge. Eventually, Mashirao landed another tail attack, forcing Dynamight to the ground again.

Before Dynamight could get up again, another smack from his opponent's tail sent him back to the ground, Mashirao glaring through the dust and smoke.

"Well, I'll be honest. I don't quite see anyone but a Villain in front of me. Tell me, would a Hero inflict cruelty on another, just because of their quirk? Would you deny them their happiness? Or perhaps… because of their lack of one?"

(Alright, perhaps Mashirao was projecting here. Being the annoying dude who always fought back despite his weak quirk was never fun. But, well, that was neither here nor there.)

Dynamight flinched, eyes wide, before snarling in rage. "No!"

*CRACKOOM*

The explosive boy sent out a series of explosive punches, screaming in rage, completely obscuring everyone's vision. Present Mic was saying… something, over the speakers, but neither competitor heard it.

Eventually, the smoke began to dissipate, and Dynamight stopped his attacks.

Dynamight stood up, heaving. "I won't lose… not before I prove to Deku that I can… stand on his level."

"His name is Midoriya Izuku, you fool."

Dynamight's head snapped over to the place where he heard the voice, the rest of his body screaming in pain from overtaxing itself for two fights in a row.

Mashirao stood, but he could admit he wasn't doing all that great. The explosion had burnt a solid half of his body, but it wouldn't be lethal, since he had been a decent enough distance away, allowing him to dodge the brunt of the attack.

"After that killer attack, Tailman is STILL STANDING! What bravado!"

As the crowd roared, he swiped his tail around. Said tail had taken the brunt of the explosive impact, protecting his face. It stung, but it stood strong. Looking at the boy in front of him, gaping, his glare became a faint smile. "My tail may look simple, but I'm still a fifth-generation quirk user like you, you know? Now... that idea you had? Of 'proving yourself', or whatever?"

Mashirao walked over to the boy, crouching down.

"You don't deserve it."

A light thud was all it took to push Bakugou Katsuki, now staring into nothing, off the edge or the field.

"The match is over! Tailman is the winner!"

Mashirao smiled as the crowd burst out in cheers. He immediately turned to face his class, who were all smiling and cheering for him.

(Perhaps he had sullied his honour, somewhat, acting the way he did on this day… but if it meant keeping his new group safe, he didn't feel all that bad about it)

Said smiling faces were pretty much the last thing he saw before he fell to the ground with a rather unsatisfying thud.

MATCH ELEVEN: JACK MANTIS VS FROPPY

"Alright, folks! I've got some good news! Our friend Tailman was pretty beat up, but our favourite doctor Recovery Girl has given up us the news: he'll be fine, but he's completely conked out. This means he's secured his spot in third place, with Shouto advancing to the finals!"

Togaru winced at that statement as he walked onto the stage. A part of him desperately wanted to check on his buddy, but he also knew that his friend was probably fast asleep.

He at least seemed satisfied at the end on the battle, which Togaru was grateful for. Hopefully it would bring Greenie a bit of peace of mind.

Midoriya seemed to have reappeared, but Togaru could tell his voice was strained. "Our two competitors are two members of the same class, and we have both seen how fast they can go, so who will win is a mystery…"

On the other side of the stadium, Tsu walked up, face stern. She smiled at him, however. "I would like to go check on Tailman, Kero. Shall we make this quick?"

Togaru smirked. "You bet!"

"START!"

"Ow."

"Dearie, you just got hit by the equivalent of a stick of dynamite about four times. I believe 'ow' is a bit of an understatement. Now, I know you want to see your classmates, but my quirk isn't done preventing any long-term damage. Sleep. Will you?"

"Did I… protect them?"

Chiyo kept her face neutral, as always. "…Yes, you did, Ojiro-kun. But my quirk is making you a little woozy right now, so please, just sleep."

"Hell yeah… Tooru's gonna be… so proud of me…"

As the Boy crashed against his pillow again, Chiyo sighed. The boy would have a nasty scar along his chest, but His tail was remarkably good at healing, and he had guarded his head quite effectively. Nonetheless…

Hero students, really. They never knew when to quit.

(They would be damn good at their jobs, but Chiyo never really felt good about that, honestly.)

"Mic, you look like you're watching a tennis game there."

"It's kind of hard NOT to, Eraserhead! It's a cacophony of movement!"

"The word 'cacophony' indicates the presence of discord in the battle below, but that's not right. Each move from each competitor is perfectly calculated.'

Togaru smirked, dodging another kick from Tsu, leading with his own kick. "A Greenie compliment! Whoop!"

Tsu sighed, dodging herself. "You've been working hard. But so have I!"

Suddenly, Tsu dived in for another powerful kick, and Togaru knew he had gotten her.

He braced for the impact, sure, but having the girl's kick against his stomach still made him wince. Thankfully for him, however, he managed to keep his composure, grabbing a hold of Tsu's leg. He quickly summoned blades out of his chest, hooking them around the foot as well.

Then, he charged forward.

"Jack Mantis has Froppy stuck in place!"

While Tsu scrambled, trying to free herself, Togaru smirked.

"I learnt this one from a you know who! REPLICATION – WELD!"

A few seconds of sprinting later, and Togaru was out of the field, but not before Tsu had crossed the line first.

"The match is over! Jack Mantis is the winner!"

Making his way onto the grass while the crowd cheered, Togaru released his opponent, leading her to fall to the ground with a small thud. As Togaru retracted the hooks back into his body, leaving a rather large cut right through his gym uniform, Tsu sighed, picking herself off the ground. "Kero… I almost got you."

Togaru was quick to nod, rubbing his chest. "You certainly did. If I didn't go for my winning move when I did, you would have won the war of attrition."

Tsu smiled at him. "Thanks, Jack Mantis. Do you think our friend will be happy you copied his move?"

"Hey, if Tailman can do it, so can I!"

"This is going to be a thing, isn't it, Kero?"

"Oh, absolutely, if only to keep Greenie occupied for like, a month's worth of note writing. Wanna go with me to grab a New P.E outfit before I have to go get ready for the next match?"

Tsu nodded and began walking. "Sure thing. Oh, and don't hold onto that confidence for long. That move won't work on me twice."

Togaru nodded nervously. "Duly noted, Prez."

MATCH TWELVE: PHANTOMIME VS MARIA:

"It's time for the last match of the quarter finals and our third last match over all! Our competitors are the wonderful Maria, whose vines ended her first match in an instant, facing off against the ever-mysterious Phantomime! Can she overpower Nature's wrath?"

"No, probably not."

Reiko chuckled lightly as her opponent raised an eyebrow. "You wish to concede the match?"

She shook her head. "Of course not. Even if my loss is as guaranteed as the passage of time… I'll put on a show while it happens. I have… people I would wish to impress."

Maria nodded, she herself smiling gently. "I see. Let us have a grand performance, then. My intentions for Heroics may be pure, but I will not back down on this day!"

Reiko did her best not to sigh. She would complain about religious people being overly verbose, but that would also make her, well, a hypocrite, so she simply moved into her optimal position.

"START!"

*THRUM*

A blast of cold air erupted from her as she grabbed a hold of her quirk. She would be knocked out either way, but it would at least let her look cool…

Maria responded by sending out a massive field of vines, built up from the hot day. The vines stormed towards her like a tidal wave, but-

She grabbed a hold of the vines, locking them in place, causing her opponent to flinch.

The vines, in their totally, took her quirk to the limit, even with her highest degree of focus.

"Phantomime has locked Maria's vines in place! How will she respond?"

Reiko looked up for a moment, spotting her opponent struggle, before sighing. "I see it appears I will have to resort to alternate means of victory."

The girl began to run forward, face serious. Reiko attempted to pull her back through holding on to her vines, but with the amount of mass she was holding onto, it became difficult to manipulate in ways other than keeping it from being moved.

The girl kept running forward, before finally grabbing a hold of her, pushing her off the edge.

"The match is over! Maria is the winner!"

Reiko huffed as she turned off her quirk, briefly tumbling over before being caught by her opponent.

"My apologies. I brought myself to my limit in my attempt."

The girl, Shiozaki, if memory served, smiled. "It is of no concern. Very few manage to overpower my vines to the point at which their use is impractical. Now, let's get you to Recovery Girl, no? You look rather beleaguered."

Shiozaki picked her up in a fireman's carry, calmly making her way off the stage.

Reiko nodded, doing her level best to hide any embarrassment at being carried. Considering her other option was passing out on the floor, she supposed she couldn't complain. "Very well."

Hopefully she performed well enough in the match that it cancelled out and Aizawa-sensei would still think she was cool.

Hizashi smirked, leaning back after making sure the camera was off and their microphones were muted.

"Your kids are really going overboard this year, huh, Shouta? Seems to me that they might just want to impress you!"

"They're trying to score good internships, Hizashi."

"That's denial, baby! Next up is anger!"

"Oh, #### off."

"There it is! Next up on the list is bargaining, you gonna fork me a thousand yen?"

Shouta promptly placed his head on the table, groaning. 

"Aw, come on, Shouta. Just admit that you like these kids. It's not that hard!"

Hizashi was going to win this bet with Nemuri or die trying.

MATCH THIRTEEN: JACK MANTIS VS MARIA

"And Jack Mantis deflects the attack with a sharp slash! What is he, a lawn mower?"

Izuku smiled as his friend fought in his (hopefully) second last battle. His group had done a whole lot better than he had expected, and getting two of them onto the podium filled him with joy. He was optimistic it would fulfil the secondary condition of getting the standard Hero course students off their high horses, but seeing their efforts pay was undeniably satisfying.

Through one of his many screens, he saw Kamakiri begin to go on the offensive, slashing through many of the vines sent his way. They had been lucky in the sense that Jack Mantis was one of the very limited list of students that could counter the deadly Maria; It took a lot more exertion for Awase to use Weld on organic life, and none of the other offensive quirks, bar perhaps Tsu catching the girl by surprise, could hope to outpace the speed and power packed into Vine.

He quickly enabled his microphone, doing his best to add some extra commentary. "Maria is unable to control vines when they detach from the whole. Jack Mantis is using that fact to his advantage!"

(Way to state the obvious, Izuku.)

Above all else, however, he was incredibly grateful that Bakugou was denied his victory.

Deep down, that shard of Midoriya Izuku that knew Bakugou had the potential to be a great Hero remained, but in truth, he couldn't deny that he was feeling… bitter. That he could have prospered, and now was prospering, if not for Bakugou deciding that just because he had no quirk, he had no potential. His only hope would be that the boy would take the lesson that he was not as strong as he thought he was to heart.

Bakugou Katsuki couldn't really every be Kacchan again, but Izuku was optimistic that maybe Guidance and Dynamight could be two Heroes that got along well enough. But for now… he would look after hisclass.

"And Jack Mantis pushes Maria out of the arena!"

Oh, but that was aside the point! Shiozaki had such a unique quirk! How did the vines react to pesticides? What was their approximate genetic density? Were they edible?

There were so many different notes to write, and so little time!

"Alright, fine! You children can come in if you'd stop pestering me! Just be gentle with the boy!"

"Finally!"

Tooru cheered as Recovery Girl walked off, grumbling quietly about 'teenagers', straight in the direction of the food stands.

(The lady wasn't selling that intimidating image all that much, though, considering she let them in faster than any of them expected)

She quickly took the opportunity to sneak through into the doctor's office, her classmates on her (Again, metaphorical, for her at least) tail.

"Mashirao!"

The room they found themselves in was fairly drab. A few small cots lined the walls, and other than a wood veneer on the desk, it was clear that, like most buildings in the stadium that were never seen by the public, the nurse's office was perfectly plain, designed with function over form. Thankfully, however, it had enough space to fit Eleven students, although Shouji had to cram himself into the back.

That didn't matter much, of course, considering Tooru immediately turned to look at the boy lying on the bed.

Mashirao smiled calmly, adjusting himself on his pillows in order to sit up. "Hello, everyone. I'd say it's good to see you, but it hasn't really been all that long, huh? Recovery Girl's quirk is miraculous."

Mashirao certainly looked a lot better now than he had when he was brought off the field. He sported a series of winding bandages across his chest, as well as a sling to support his arm. His tail was wrapped around his chest, as was standard for when Mashirao slept, and while there was the occasional bruise on it, it was already rapidly healing.

(Midori would later describe Mashirao's tail as a 'super-muscle'. The body went all out on healing it first, which made sense when you considered it on the same scale as all the other quirks in its same generation.)

Shinsou smirked. "We really need to stop meeting like this, Ojiro."

That made him laugh, at least. "I suppose so. Maybe by the third time my arm will have built up some resistance."

Tooru chittered, throwing herself onto the edge of the bed as the others slowly filled in around her. "That's not important right now! You were super cool, Mashirao!"

Kamakiri, who had placed himself by the door, chuckled. "Damn right. You should have heard the crowds after your match. You really put a lot of the crowd into a flat spin."

Mashirao smiled at that. "I suppose I did probably upset a lot of people who were betting on the results of the festival, though. Aren't you supposed to be resting for the finals?"

Kamakiri shook his head, smirking. "Nah. I'm already boned either way, so I've got more important things to do!"

Sen pointed a finger at him, half glaring. "Hey! I set up everything needed for you to look cool! Are you gonna slack off on me like that?"

"Of course not! Just because I'll probably lose doesn't mean I'll abandon the plan right at the end!"

Tsu smiled from her own spot, sitting herself down in one of the available chairs. "Speaking of the plan, Kero… I think we can pretty confidently call it a success."

"Hell yeah!" "Nice." "We all fought valiantly until the end."

Awase looked to Midoriya, who had elsewise remained silent. "Speaking of successes… Midoriya! How'd you nab the commentating gig?"

Midoriya blushed as attention turned to him. "Oh… Yamada-sensei was getting kind of desperate to not just have Aizawa-sensei as a co-commentator… so Nedzu offered up me!"

Shinsou snorted. "Aizawa-sensei barely counts as a co-commentator. A co-brooder at most."

As the class laughed at that, Tooru saw Mashirao close his eyes with a faint smile in the way Tooru knew was him formulating a sentence.

Once they had all quieted down, Mashirao cleared his throat lightly. Immediately, the class turned to face him, and he smiled again.

"I'd Like to say… you can consider that match my declaration of loyalty."

 While the class remained quiet, most turned to Midoriya, who's eyes were wide. "Ojiro…"

Mashirao nervously scratched his neck. "I suppose I should probably elaborate a little… I mean to say, I haven't known most of you for all that long, but after the attack… I'm happy to be working with you all."

Tooru flashed a thumbs up at her friend, doing her best to encourage him to continue.

"You can consider my victory over Bakugou my statement that I will work to keep you all safe to the best of my abilities. And… I hope you would consider the same for me."

Midoriya blushed beet red, but he smiled, faint tears dotting his eyes. "I don't think that I've ever felt this safe in my life… even after a Villain attack! So… thanks, Ojiro."

The class was silent for a little while, there, but it wasn't the kind of silence Tooru disliked.

It was nice, simply being…

Until someone had to start snickering.

"Damnit, Yousetsu, you're ruining the moment!"

Awase smirked, as usual, but it was subdued. "Sorry, sorry, but… that's a pretty verbose way of just saying 'ride or die'. Huh, Tailman?"

While Mashirao blushed, Awase continued. "But, well… I like the sound of it. Call it a pact, or something. We'll protect our own until we can be Heroes."

Mashirao sighed, but he still kept smiling. "Yeah… that. Thanks, Awase."

Awase flashed a thumbs up. "You can call me Yousetsu, man. We're all bros now!"

Jirou smiled, standing next to Shouji in the back of the crowd. "If we're all throwing things out… I'm glad to finally be working with a group of people that I can trust. You folks can call me Kyouka if you want."

"You are all already calling me Tsu, Kero." "I would be happy to have you all call me Reiko, if you wish." "Mmh!"

As a chorus of confirmations spread throughout the room, Tooru turned to face Midoriya with an unseen smile. The boy seemed nervous at the friendliness, but in the end, he smiled.

(Tooru didn't know it, but he certainly responded better than even he expected, considering the very embodiment of 'every friend I make will eventually hurt me' was quite literally beat up by one of said new friends.)

"Alright! You all can call me I-Izuku then!"

"Hmmmm... nah. I'm just gonna keep calling you Boss."

"Shins-Hitoshi!"

FINAL MATCH: SHOUTO VS JACK MANTIS

"It's been a long day, folks, but it's finally time… for… the… FINAL… ROOOOUUUUUNNNNDDDDD!"

The crowd's enthusiasm seemed to reach its peak as the two participants walked onto the stage.

"Our first competitor has been shooting forward since round one, leaving his opponents frozen in his wake. Can he keep it up until the end? Representing the A-Class, it's SHOUTO!"

Todoroki walked onto the stage, face neutral. Out in the stands, Endeavour sat, glaring. Todoroki refused to meet his eyes.

"Meanwhile, his opponent is perhaps the tournaments dark horse! The final member and representative of the T-class, he's here to duel, it's JACK MANTIS!"

The crowd was perhaps a smidge more subdued, but that wasn't all that bothersome to Togaru. Sure, some people probably weren't cheering because he looked, well, like Togaru, and others weren't cheering because of his nature as a Hero who wasn't aiming for the spotlight.

Fortunately, he had his own personal squad of cheerleaders. Eleven of them, to be exact.

"KICK HIS ASS, JACK MANTIS!" "YOU CAN DO IT!" "REP THE T'S!"

Over the speakers, Izuku (Hell yeah! He could call his buddy that now!) could be heard. "While this match may seem one sided, both participants have many, Achem, hidden blades. This match could end either way."

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Greenie.

Snipe looked to the two participants, nodding. "I want a clean match, you two. Are you ready?"

Shouto nodded. "Yes, sensei."

Togaru did the same, already preparing to begin.

Instead of looking to his opponent, he reached inwards.

Togaru never had much reference for how it felt to use a quirk like Razor Sharp. Ma's own quirk, Irontooth, never turned off, and Dad, well, he wasn't exactly around.

After deliberating over it for most of his life, the best descriptor for Razor Sharp was a river. Not a fancy smancy Fantasy River with blue waters and swimming koi, though.

Razor Sharp flowed through him like rapids made of sludge and sewage, begging to be released in a mad burst of bone and sinew.

Togaru took a deep breath, letting himself do what he always did when activated his quirk.

"START!"

Filter that sludge into something more refined. Turn that slurry into drinking water. Turn the fury into Bravery.

Turn Bone into blade.

Protect through force.

Opening his eyes, he found a massive burst of ice storming in his direction.

Togaru released the breath.

"Hey, Ma?"

"What is it, Bug?"

"Do you think I could maybe be like, a Hero or something?"

"Sure, if you try hard enough. Why are you asking me? It's your life, you know?"

"I know… I just thought that maybe…"

"You want to turn Razor Sharp into something good?"

"Yeah. Not like everyone says."

"Well, I for one think you've got pretty good odds."

"Do you think I could really do it? Be someone everyone thinks is cool?"

"I promise you that, Togaru. Remember, it's never the gun's fault when someone fires it. All you need to do is take those blades of yours…"

"And use them to make solutions instead of problems."

*SLASH*

"AND THE MATCH ISN'T OVER JUST YET!"

Togaru smirked as the dust and ice-cold vapour dissipated from the arena, revealing the scene in its (not to brag, but well, definitely to brag) awe inspiring glory.

"You know, ice is pretty looking, and you can certainly throw out a lot of it… but there's not much I can't cut through!"

On each side of him, large chunks of ice lined the floor. Togaru himself looked no worse for wear, bar being rather cold.

His arms were lined with as many blades as he could manifest, all pointing to an apex just beyond his hands.

He took another deep breath, calling upon his quirk once more. On his face, many more smaller blades emerged, forming interlocking lines in the shape of a helmet, accentuated by the two sharpest knives that never left his face, his mandibles. It made him look rather intimidating, but it also, conveniently enough, made it so that no one on watching would be able to read his mouth movements.

Then, with an unseen grin, Togaru charged into the fray.

Shouto, as he predicted, responded with more ice, but with the lessened travel distance, Togaru was able to cut through the much less sophisticated structures. Of course, keeping this many knives up meant he wouldn't be able to fight for long. Which meant that, win or lose, he would have to end this quickly.

"You really are an asshole, you know that, Shouto?"

The boy raised an eyebrow, stepping back.

"All of us are out here, giving it our all to show the world it's future defenders. Us 1-T students won't even be getting any real fame out of it, but here we are, trucking on, just to get all of you idiots off your asses, to get you to understand the world won't back down for you, and yet here you are, crying about daddy dearest and only using half of that quirk of yours!"

Shouto's face immediately snapped to one of anger, sending out another burst of ice. "You dare-"

Togaru slashed through the ice again, pointing a bladed finger at Shouto. "Yeah, I do dare, you idiot! Picture this. I'm a Villain. I can cut through your ice. In that time, I KILL people! And what do you do? You sit on a way of beating me just because of some dumb oath! They'll die because you do nothing."

Shouto took a step back, bewildered by his enthusiasm. Good.

"There's a million ways to rebel against your father. Use that quirk of yours to become, like, a chef or something! But did you pick those? Nope! You're still striving to be a Hero! Which means I can bet with a whole lot of confidence that, like the rest of us, somewhere in the core that defines you, a desire to save lives burns bright! Are you going to let that spark die out?"

Shouto stepped forward, pensive. Small sparks lined the side of his face that had so far gone unused. He needed one last push.

"No…"

"SAY IT LOUDER, SHOUTO!"

"NO!"

Shouto quickly summoned a massive wall of ice, blocking out the crowd behind them. Over the speakers, the commentators were going on about something, but it came across like a dull whisper.

Togaru stood tall as his opponent shouted back. "The only person winning by you limiting yourself is Endeavour! Fire or no Fire, he still gets the Hero son he wants! So own Half Cold Half Hot for yourself, be the Hero YOU want to be! IT'S YOUR POWER, IDIOT!"

 And a moment later…

There was a towering pillar of flame.

"SHOUTO!"

Ah, there we go. Shouto turned to find his father shouting in pride.

"OI! This isn't about him!"

Shouto quickly turned to face Togaru, seemingly smiling gently, but he still seemed to be conflicted inside. "Thank you, Jack Mantis."

"It's what I do! Besides, I was mostly just parroting what I think Greenie would say in this situation! Now let's get back to it!"

With that, Togaru charged forward into the fray again, discarding his helmet for a sharp smile, feeling keratin flow through his body that he pushed into his arms.

Of course, however, it was a forgone conclusion. Quirk exhaustion was getting to him, and his opponent was, well, on fire.

Pushing forward himself, his opponent exploded in a burst of fire, and the rapid change of temperature sent Togaru flying towards the edge of the arena.

As the smoke cleared, Snipe, hiding behind a blockade that Cementoss seemed to set up for this exact purpose, slowly emerged, the stadium eerily quiet.

All eyes turned to Togaru, who had blades stabbing into the ground, slowing his burst out of the arena…

But his legs were just about over the edge.

"Jack Mantis is out of the arena! The winner of this round…"

"And thus, this sports festival…"

"IS…"

"SHOUTO!"

Cheers of excitement burst out of the quiet like a massive explosion as the first-year sports festival came to an end.

Togaru rose, muscles searing, into a standing position. He turned to face his classmates with a smile.

They all returned the smile, with some simply flashing various symbols of happiness while others cheered in jubilation.

He turned, bowing to the crowd and his opponent, smile not leaving his face. He had not achieved victory…

But he felt like he had won.

"And then Kamakiri was like, leaping forward with GIANT KNIFE HANDS! It was so cool! I wonder what he said to get Todoroki all, well, fired up, though…"

"I don't think it's any of our business, Kero. Now, Shh. Snipe is talking."

Snipe walked onto the stage with his standard flair while the crowd cheered.

"All of the first-year events are finished! While the next two days are bound to be exciting for our second and third years, this day has been filled with plenty of mania! Let's get a cheer for our students here, no!?"

As the crowd roared again, Snipe spun a revolver in his hand, pointing it into the air, before shooting it in time with blast of smoke erupting from the ground in front of the first-year students. "Now, to end it off… it's time to applaud our medallists!"

Rising from the ground, three podiums rose. On the lowest, Mashirao stood, smiling brightly, although he was using a provided walking cane for support. Next to him, Shiozaki smiled, an embodiment of grace as usual, offering a shoulder to support her beleaguered former opponent.

On his own podium, Togaru stood proud, a large smile on his face despite the bandages lining his arms. He looked over to Todoroki, standing about as still as a statue. To no one who knew the man's surprise, Endeavour had left the moment his son had won, returning to his agency. For that, the boy was clearly grateful, at least.

"Now, folks, it's time to give out the medals. Giving them out is… of course…"

"HAH HAH!"

"ALL MIGHT!"

All Might landed by the podiums, a genuine and warm smile on his face. "I AM HERE, to applaud all of your great efforts!"

All Might laughed, taking the medals from Snipe before walking up to the winners.

"Young Tailman. You have fought with vigour and shown your courage. It is a shame your injuries forced you to concede early. I look forward to seeing you grow into a great Hero. Young Maria, you have truly dedicated yourself to your cause, and you showed great potential. You too will be an excellent Hero!"

The two third place medallists took their medals, smiling. Mashirao clenched a fist, determined to strive for even greater heights with his allies.

Moving up, All Might arrived to Togaru. "Jack Mantis. You fought with a furious energy unrivalled by… almost… anyone in this competition. You have channelled this determination into a bright future. I am sure you will be an inspiration to many, even hidden under the veil of Twilight Heroics."

Togaru grinned, doing his best not to blush under the praise.

Lastly, All Might turned to Todoroki. "Winning the sports festival is no easy feat, young Shouto. I look forward to seeing you as a Hero equal to, and perhaps stronger, than your father."

Todoroki shook his head as he took the medal, a small smile on his previously blank face. "I won't be a Hero like my father. I'll be a better one."

All Might laughed again, turning to the crowd of students. "As for the rest of you… you all were EXCELLENT! Any one of you could end up on this podium, and I look forward to seeing this tournament again next year! Now, say it with me…"

"PLUS, ULTRA!"

While the crowd roared in sync with the number one Hero, only the students, who had seen his awkwardness in action, noticed the subtle fist pump motion from the man, celebrating successfully performing his speech without fumbling it at all.

Snipe walked up to the podium, mic in hand. "Now, do any of you have any last words to say?"

While Todoroki, Shiozaki and Mashirao shook their head, Togaru smiled, gladly taking the microphone from the teacher.

"Hey, people in this stadium and everywhere else! Since no one else on the podium wants to talk, I'll do it for em!"

The classroom was filled with quiet chatter as the students of class 1-T discussed their sports festival performance. The sun was beginning to set, but the cheer was not.

"You really could make bone constructs and you didn't tell me? It means there's so much about your quirk we don't know yet!"

"Alright, alright! I just figured it would be a cool surprise, ok? Consider it payback for meeting All Might before the rest of us!"

"A-ah. Right…"

Shouta smiled at the banter as he cleared his throat from behind his podium.

"You probably watched this tournament, and thought 'hey, U.A is being really weird by hiding the student identities, and those secretive class T students too!' Isn't that strange? Well, I'll tell you. Change is coming."

"You all did… very well today. Heroes from across the country have their eyes on you, now. Thus arrives your next challenge: Your internships. As Twilight students, your options will be limited, but I can tell you now that all of you will get offers. Some of you will receive offers from Twilight Heroes, others Spotlight, so consider your options carefully. For now, though, you have the next two days off to recuperate. Use them well."

"Yes, Sensei!"

"Time keeps moving forward, and so must the world's Heroes. People have a pretty bad habit of seeing Heroes as gods amongst men, and while there's nothing wrong with giving credit to those who've earned it… there's always a limit."

"With that being said… you're free to go."

"Woo! Time to party!"

Shouta smiled as all of his students pulled out bags with changes of clothes and various personal items. They were prepared to go celebrate, at least.

"While I don't per say disagree with the sentiment, Tooru-chan, Kero, where would we go? I don't think any of us can accommodate twelve of us."

Shouta frowned slightly as his class quickly went quiet, all thinking.

"I have a potential solution to our problem, if you wish?"

"What is it, Reiko?"

Yanagi shrugged. "We could… stay here? Our classroom is plenty secure, spacious, and it would be easy to find an extra television. And… there are plenty of extra blankets in the dormitory where I stay."

"That's a great idea, Reiko!" "A school slumber party!" "I'll just have to message Ma…"

Shouta would have laughed, considering how he did, in fact, do something similar, holing himself in Nedzu's office after his third sports festival, but then he had a realisation as all eyes turned to him.

He would have to chaperone.

"Preferably, you won't see us all too often, unless you're a criminal being brought in or a civilian being rescued, but you can know you're safe. We're not exactly… marketable. some of us have 'ugly quirks'. None of us can shoot lasers or make fire. All in all, most people would simply just write about half of us off. But I'd like to think that won't stop us."

Of course, they immediately pulled out their begging faces, to various effects. Awase and Kaibara docked points off the total, Asui and Shouji's blank faces were somehow rather convincing, and Midoriya, to no one's surprise, looked panicked at the idea of asking for anything.

He sighed.

"Fine. Just get permission from your parents. The Rat will fold for his favourites. I'll go find more blankets."

"Yeah, Sensei!"

(He would run drills with them in the morning as payback, but he wouldn't tell them that yet. Let them have their fun.)

"And while we won't be screaming it from the rooftops, you'll see us in news reports, Page titles, and After-action reports… You can call us the Knights of Twilight, and we're gonna be Heroes!"