Presently,
Toru Hagakure ran as if her life depended upon it.
All she had to do was put those Pointers on the other students' hero costumes.
However, when she heard what Yo Shindo from Ketsubutsu Academy was talking with the others, she couldn't help but… act, taking out Tatami Nakagame.
The good thing was that Tatami had only two marks remaining.
So, taking advantage of the darkness, Hagakure had instantly attacked as she had been hiding just next to her.
The bad… worse thing was that she had barely started gluing those Pointers given to her by Momo.
If Yo and others attacked, which they would, and their attacks accidentally fell upon her, then the entire plan would end even before beginning.
Panting hard, Hagakure slid down a boulder, into a ditch, where she had hidden her bag that had all the Pointers.
There, she remained, holding her breath.
Shouts of anger and confusion rang in the background.
An insanely large tremor rocked the earth, chunks of stone raining down around her.
Hagakure clutched the bag tighter, almost squeezing herself into a ball instinctively.
At any moment, the entire boulder could collapse upon her.
At any moment, Momo — might expect her to have done what she was supposed to do.
No.
She couldn't remain here.
Her friends were counting on her.
Hagakure's eyes snapped open, and she let out a breath.
The earth was still shaking. The angry shouts were entering her ears. But, reining in her fear, she crawled out of the ditch with clear, still eyes.
Yes.
She had been worrying over nothing, Toru realized.
She was invisible. The surroundings were already as dark as a new moon's night, the lights from the opposite side barely making their way here. Not to mention, all the students were making so much light that it was causing a blinding effect around themselves.
Who could spy her here?
Who could tell where she was and what she was doing?
This… this entire part of the stadium… was her field… her stage.
Danger? Luke had said, mimicking a firing sound while playing the video game. That's my middle name!
Mine, too, Toru smiled, walking out in the open and standing straight. Mine, too!
…
Twenty minutes later,
Tenya fell, smoke curling out of his mufflers.
He looked over his shoulder at them.
Before the Battle Royale, he had purposely broken them to regrow a new pair of mufflers, which would have let him surpass the limits of his Recipro Burst. However, near the end, while trying to save Midoriya, he had ruptured them again.
Now, the new set of mufflers, barely half a finger long, was not strong enough to let him use even his original strength.
This was something he had known before coming for the Provisional Hero License Exam.
But, if he had known that he would be forced to this state…
"Are you okay?!" Mina shouted, standing in front of him, creating a wall of acid.
"How long can you two even last?!" Seiji Shishikura from Shiketsu High School shouted from afar. "You two are no match for my Quirk! How did people like you even become students of the Hero Course at UA?"
Two blobs of meat landed on the wall of acid and melted with a sizzling sound.
Seiji screamed.
Then, he laughed.
Mina panted harder, her skin gaining irritating patches.
Tenya couldn't see it, but he knew damn well that she had already pushed her Quirk to the extreme, mostly to save him.
That made him feel angry at himself even more.
Seiji from Shiketsu had the Meatball Quirk. He could separate pieces of flesh from his own body, expand them, and control them telekinetically with great accuracy and precision. One touch, and those pieces of flesh could wrap around a target, kneading the entire person into a meatball.
Tenya knew all that because Seiji had bragged about it himself.
Still, despite sounding gross, Meatball was turning out to be more than a match for them.
Lying on the ground, Tenya looked at the meatballs that represented Tokoyami and Mineta, along with a dozen others who had fallen to Seiji's Quirk.
Then, he saw the guy creating more huge, finger-like pieces of flesh that levitated around him.
The sick bastard was trying to force Mina into a corner at the cost of losing his flesh.
And, looking at Mina's wobbly footing, he was succeeding, it seemed.
Only a few dozen positions were left for the next stage.
If she didn't leave now, then…
"Go," Tenya said, getting up. "I will…"
"Hey, you two…"
Tenya's and Mina's heads snapped to their left.
But, instead of darkness, they saw nothing.
They did recognize the voice, though.
"Haga…" Tenya was about to say something when Mina hushed him.
Yes.
If Toru were here, then it would be better not to let Seiji notice her.
Seiji fired the flesh again, and Mina countered it with acid shots, finally falling to the ground by the end of it.
And, as expected, Seiji began ranting again, giving Toru enough time to relay the message.
"Stop," she said as loudly as she could without drawing further attention.
Stop? Tenya narrowed his eyes. Stop what?
"Stop fighting him!" Toru said, making both Tenya and Mina's eyes widen. "Let him turn you two into meatballs!"
"Wha…" Tenya hissed. "What do you mean?"
Silence.
Toru was already gone.
Tenya looked at Mina, who was already looking back at him, Seiji preparing the final balls of flesh in the dim background.
Could this be a trap?
Could this be someone like Shinso from 2-B?
Tenya knew that Mina was thinking the same, but…
There was something — in their hearts — that told them it had been Toru.
If it indeed had been her, then, no matter how silly it sounded, they needed to trust her.
Seiji fired the flesh in an arc to catch the two of them off guard.
That turned out to be a waste, as they didn't even try to dodge and let the attack land on them, the flesh instantly kneading them into a pair of meatballs.
And, before Seiji could even frown at the lack of struggle…
… a massive laser beam lit the entire dark side of the stadium up, shooting straight through the domed roof!