Chapter 47: The Qualifiers
At that moment, with Kira and Iida in a standoff with the two from Class 1-B, Midoriya and Bakugo, who had finished earlier, both came over. Even Shoto Todoroki edged a little closer.
Juzo Honenuki ignored the gathering crowd, his eyes still fixed on Kira as he continued:
"At the very start of the race, I activated my Quirk and turned the entire tunnel into a swamp. I wanted to see who would stand out in that situation, but Todoroki ruined my plan. He turned the whole area into his personal domain, and I was caught off guard and got my leg frozen. But you... you ran past me on the wall as if you had predicted it all.
"When I broke free of the ice and reached the first obstacle, everyone was trying to show off their Quirks, using all sorts of methods to get through. But you, Kira, you were just flirting with some girl and went around the edge of the large robots..."
Suddenly, a voice cut him off from the darkness. "You said Kira was flirting with a girl. Who was it?"
Knowing she didn't have much of an advantage in the race, Momo Yaoyorozu had been very pleased to finish in the top ten. But the moment she arrived, she had overheard those words. A cold expression on her face, she emerged from the tunnel.
Juzo Honenuki froze for a second, surprised to see Momo, but he still answered her. "I don't know her name, but she was pink all over and had horns on her head."
"So it was Mina Ashido..." Momo nodded in understanding, then turned to Kira with a bright smile. "Class Rep, don't you think you should explain?"
Kira sighed. "This guy is misusing his words. I was just running alongside Ashido. Besides, what does that have to do with you?"
"Hmph!" Momo was choked speechless, unsure of what to say.
Kira turned back to Honenuki. "Please, continue. I'm curious to know what else your observations have revealed."
"Alright." He nodded, giving Momo a strange look before continuing. "I caught up to you at the second obstacle and saw you standing at the start, not moving. I thought you would fall behind for sure, but I never expected..."
He gave Momo a meaningful look and didn't finish his sentence. Momo, remembering what had happened, blushed.
"And at the final stage, it was the same. You showed no outstanding performance, just relying on your classmates to get through..." Juzo Honenuki shrugged. "I don't believe that's the true extent of your abilities, so I prepared a surprise attack. Unfortunately, you dodged it."
Honenuki's Quirk turned the ground into a swamp. He had used it to unearth the mines buried underground, and then had Ibara's vines bundle them together to wait for Kira to pass.
Normally, such a surprise attack would have been impossible to detect beforehand. But with Sheer Heart Attack's warning—"There's a strong smell of gunpowder up ahead"—Kira had remained on high alert.
Yoshikage Kira ignored Honenuki and turned his gaze to the ever-silent Ibara Shiozaki. "I only have one question. Why did you help him persecute an innocent classmate like me?"
She glanced at Momo, but said nothing.
Soon, the other students began to arrive one after another. Tokoyami, Kirishima, and Sero from 1-A, and Tetsutetsu from 1-B, seeing two of their own surrounded by a group from 1-A, immediately charged over. They pushed Iida aside and stormed into the middle of the group, shouting, "What do you want!? Are you trying to start something!? Don't think you can push us around just because there are fewer of us! If you want a fight, we're not gonna lose!"
His words instantly lit Bakugo's fuse. He was already annoyed about losing to Midoriya, and he had just spent ages listening to this skeleton-face ramble on about Kira. And now someone else wanted to start a fight?
He strode in front of Tetsutetsu with a maniacal laugh. "Can't you get your facts straight, you idiot!? It was this skeleton-face behind you who started it! You want a fight? Perfect! I've been looking for a way to blow off some steam!"
Tetsutetsu was still shouting. "Bring it on! Who's afraid of who!?"
"Hey, hey, why is this suddenly turning into a brawl...?" Kirishima squeezed his way between the two. Although he didn't know what was happening, he knew he had to stop it. He held his arms out to block them. "There must be a misunderstanding! Besides, this is being broadcast live to hundreds of thousands of people across the country! Let's not give the school a headache..."
Seeing that Ibara had simply bowed her head and begun to pray, Kira understood that he wasn't going to get an answer now. Ibara was extremely tight-lipped. Once she had decided on something, she wouldn't change her mind.
Yoshikage Kira stepped forward. As he passed Kirishima, he gave his shoulder a reassuring pat. He walked up to Tetsutetsu and said directly, "Tetsutetsu-san, you probably rushed in to protect your classmate without knowing what was happening. That's admirable. But you need to understand that some problems can't be solved with violence."
Kira gently pushed Tetsutetsu aside and looked at Juzo Honenuki. "Honenuki-san," he said calmly, "I don't know who told you to observe me, but you should know that a Quirk is just a tool. What's important is using it at the right time. Midoriya can take first place without relying on his Quirk, so why is it impossible for me to have gotten first in the entrance exam through luck?"
Yoshikage Kira held out his hand. Golden ripples of Hamon shimmered on it, like crackling lightning. He smiled warmly. "As you can see, this is my Quirk. Hamon. It's nothing special. Please don't misunderstand. However... next time... don't follow me."
Juzo suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. The person in front of him was smiling warmly, but that smile made him feel cold.
Tetsutetsu, who had been stunned by Kira's mature, almost teacher-like lecture, hadn't resisted when he was pushed aside. Now he snapped out of it, his silver face twitching as he roared, "Who are you to lecture me!? You're just the class president of 1-A!"
"Tetsutetsu, stop!"
Just as he was about to lunge forward and grab Kira by the collar, he heard Honenuki's trembling voice and instinctively stopped.
Honenuki took a deep breath and forced an ugly smile. "I'm sorry. This was my mistake. It won't happen again!"
"Honenuki, why are you apologizing!? Weren't they the ones who started it!?" Tetsutetsu asked, completely bewildered.
"You did nothing wrong," Kira said, calmly shaking his head. "But let me give you a piece of advice. In your future hero work, there are some people you shouldn't follow. You can imagine the consequences."
To the others, it might have sounded like a well-intentioned warning. But Juzo Honenuki knew what it was: a threat. Don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong...
Ten minutes later, all the remaining contestants had arrived. Those who hadn't made it had either dropped out or been disqualified.
All the classes gathered in the center of the stadium. Midnight stood on the stage and announced, "The top 42 contestants will advance to the next round! But for those of you who didn't make it, don't lose heart! The school has prepared other exciting events for you!"
The rankings appeared on the large screen: First Place, Izuku Midoriya; Second Place, Shoto Todoroki; Third Place, Katsuki Bakugo; Fourth Place, Tenya Iida; Fifth Place, Yoshikage Kira; Sixth Place, Ibara Shiozaki; Seventh Place, Juzo Honenuki... Forty-first, Mei Hatsume; Forty-second, Yuga Aoyama.
Every single student from both Hero Course Class A and Class B had placed in the top 42. It was just as Mr. Aizawa had said—this was the Hero Course's stage.
Kira was a little surprised that Aoyama had managed to snag the last qualifying spot, but a glance at him clutching his stomach made it all clear. His Navel Laser was a powerful Quirk, but it seemed using it for more than a second gave him a stomachache.
It wasn't surprising at all that Hatsume had qualified. She could have easily made the top ten, but her goal seemed to be attracting the attention of support companies, not her ranking. She had spent most of the time at the minefield tangled up with the drones, only reluctantly letting them go when she saw Aoyama staggering past.
(By the way, she had just learned from a student who had dropped out that the feed from her camera had been cut. She was not at all happy about qualifying...)
It was also worth noting that Hitoshi Shinso from the General Course had not only qualified but had surpassed most of the Hero Course students, placing 29th. But his expression was languid, as if he weren't surprised by this result at all.
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