Chapter 42: The Pitfall
"Tsuyu-chan, are you going to cross?" Mina asked as she saw Tsuyu hopping over. "If you fall, you'll be eliminated!"
"It's fine. I have excellent balance." Tsuyu Asui nodded to Mina, glanced at Yoshikage Kira, and then leaped high into the air, landing precisely on a steel cable.
She landed securely on all fours and began to move quickly, soon reaching the first stone pillar.
"So fast!" Mina couldn't help but exclaim.
"HAHAHA!" A boisterous laugh erupted from behind them. "HAHAHA! FINALLY, MY TIME TO SHINE! I'M GOING TO AMAZE EVERYONE WITH MY SUPPORT GEAR! IF I SUCCEED HERE, THEN UENO-SENPAI WILL HAVE TO ACCEPT ME!"
A pink-haired girl decked out in cyberpunk-style gear spread her arms wide and laughed. "SUPPORT COMPANIES OF THE NATION, LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT MY BABIES!"
"No way! Are you from the Support Course!?" Mina Ashido pointed at her indignantly. "You're using support gear!? But we're not even allowed to wear our hero costumes!"
"That's right! And you'd better remember my name! I am the rising star of the invention world, MEI HATSUME!" A grappling hook shot out from a device on her waist, latching tightly onto a stone pillar. Like something out of Attack on Titan, it reeled her in, sending her flying across the chasm.
"That's so unfair!" Mina grumbled, watching Mei Hatsume's retreating back. She then started to cross herself. "Kira, you'd better catch up! I'm going ahead!"
This stage was straightforward: maintain your balance and cross the area carefully and quickly. If your Quirk wasn't suited for it, there were no shortcuts.
Tenya Iida took a huge risk, spreading his arms and using his Engine Quirk to accelerate. While he was fast, he couldn't afford any external interference while trying to maintain his balance. And of course, just then, the grappling hook from Mei Hatsume, who was behind him, snagged the cable under his feet, causing it to shake violently.
Iida lost his footing and plunged downwards. Luckily, he was quick-witted and managed to grab onto the cable, preventing himself from being eliminated. However, the engines on his calves were still spewing white smoke, pushing him forward. Iida watched in horror as his body shot along the cable straight towards the stone pillar up ahead.
"ENGINES, SHUT DOWN!" Iida finally managed to kill the power at the last second, but his momentum still carried him headfirst into the pillar.
He climbed up from below, looking at his scraped, red palms, then at the laughing, distant figure of Mei Hatsume. Tears streamed down his face. "I'm such an idiot. Truly. I never should have used my Quirk here..."
Leaving the lamenting Iida to his fate for now, let's turn our attention back to Yoshikage Kira.
"Class Rep? Why are you still standing here?" Momo's voice came from behind him. "Do you need my help? I'd be happy to."
Kira turned his head and saw Momo running toward him, panting. The zipper on her gym uniform was pulled down, revealing a black sports bra. Her chest seemed to have... shrunk, sitting modestly within the fabric.
"Did you just create a large object?" Kira immediately picked up on the key detail.
Momo needed to use her body's lipids to create things. The larger the object, the more lipids she consumed. This would also burn her calories and drain her stamina. While it wasn't a huge amount normally, in a long-distance race like this, it was a critical disadvantage.
"Ah, I made a cannon earlier to attack the large robots," Momo said, seeing no reason to hide it. She smiled. "You're very observant, Class Rep."
Kira frowned. "You didn't need to destroy the robots, did you? You just had to get past them. With your Quirk, you should have had a more suitable solution."
Momo paused for a moment, then gave a wry smile. "I felt that if I didn't deal with them, the students from the General and Management courses would have had a very hard time getting through."
She did it for the other students? Kira was surprised. This is the Sports Festival, not a platform for being a goody-two-shoes, is it?
"Is there a reason?"
Momo smiled shyly. "No reason, really. I just felt that if they were all eliminated in the first round, then all of Eri-chan's hard work in planning this event would have been meaningless."
Eri-chan? Erina Nakiri?
Ever since that meeting, Momo and Erina had become fast friends who could talk about anything. Kira had long since realized that Momo had probably told the Secretary about his little "bodyguard" act, but he didn't really care. Since she hadn't called him out on it, he had just continued to play dumb. I mean, when someone sets you up for a performance, you can't just ignore your cue, right?
Erina Nakiri had an almost obsessive drive to make the different departments at the school equal—to stop the Hero Course from looking down on the General Course, and to stop the General Course from being hostile toward the Hero Course. While it was a difficult goal to achieve, her every action reflected it, and those who knew her respected her for it.
No one had told Kira any of this; it was just a conclusion he had drawn from his own observations. Erina was constantly influencing those around her. Even Momo, who had only known her for a short time, had changed. For now, she was helping others because of her feelings for Erina, but he could imagine that one day, she would help others simply because it was her own desire.
"Class Rep? What's wrong? Did I do something wrong?" Seeing Kira just staring at her chest without saying a word, she shyly covered herself with her hands and asked anxiously.
"No. You did the right thing," Kira said, reluctantly tearing his gaze away from her hands. He glanced back at the students who were now beginning to cross the first cable. He smiled at Momo. "Do you like extreme sports?"
"...Eh?"
"LISTENERS! PRESENTED BEFORE YOU NOW IS THE SECOND OBSTACLE, THE PITFALL!" Present Mic roared with excitement. "AS YOU CAN SEE, THE FIRST WAVE OF COMPETITORS HAS ALREADY CLEARED THIS AREA AND IS HEADING FOR THE FINAL STAGE! BUT THE ONES BEHIND THEM ARE IN A TOTAL MESS, FAR FROM ESCAPING! THE SCHOOL HASN'T ANNOUNCED HOW MANY STUDENTS WILL ADVANCE, SO YOU'D BETTER MOVE FORWARD WITH FEAR IN YOUR HEARTS!"
"LEADING THE PACK ARE TODOROKI AND BAKUGO! AS EXPECTED OF CLASS 1-A, WHO HAVE FOUGHT REAL VILLAINS! WILL FIRST PLACE BE DECIDED BETWEEN THESE TWO!? IT WOULD BE DISAPPOINTING WITHOUT A FEW SURPRISES! ARE THE OTHER CLASSES JUST GOING TO STAND BY AND WATCH THEM TAKE THE CROWN!?"
While Mic was passionately reporting on the frontline action, Shota Aizawa was watching Kira, who had been standing at the start of the second obstacle for a long time without moving. "What is that kid waiting for? If he doesn't make a move soon, he'll really have no chance."
Aizawa had always had a strange sense of trust in Yoshikage Kira. He had read the files of every student in Class 1-A and could easily guess the thoughts and desires of students like Midoriya, Bakugo, and Todoroki. But Kira... he felt he had never been able to see through that boy.
He had a mediocre enhancement-type Quirk but was always able to do the unexpected at critical moments. He was usually lazy outside of his studies but was surprisingly responsible. He looked young but possessed an incredibly deep way of thinking... While Aizawa couldn't figure him out, he was certain of one thing: Yoshikage Kira was not the type to hand over victory to someone else.
When he looked up again, his expression sharpened, and his eyes narrowed. "That kid... he's really nothing but trouble."
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