"Er… What's going on with Iida? I just got here…"
Kaminari asked, pointing at Iida, who was being tossed from one side of the arena to the other, while Mei Hatsume remained in the center, enthusiastically presenting her "babies."
"In short, he got tricked by that girl and now he's the poster boy for her creations," Toru replied.
Most of Class 1A was gathered in the stands, except for Bakugo, who had probably gone to the bathroom or something.
Kaminari then sat down, quickly answering a few questions from his classmates about how he was doing.
"I just needed to rest a bit."
"But damn, Iida is really going through it over there…" he continued, following Iida's erratic trajectory across the arena with his eyes as he floated around on some kind of glider.
"Heh, you can't say much. If Kaneki hadn't knocked you out, you would've turned into an amoeba in front of all of Japan!"
Jiro teased, laughing and mimicking the thumb movements Kaminari usually makes when he's out of it.
"What was I supposed to do?? Trying to use all my electricity at once was my best shot!"
"Kaneki would've just beaten me up badly, at least this way I showed my quirk!"
'Urgh… I wouldn't have done that…' I complained internally as I listened to the conversation.
"I guess that makes sense, but be careful who you use your quirk on, Kaminari. You could end up seriously hurting someone"
Momo warned, having seen his quirk's power firsthand during the USJ, where he took down several villains at once.
"I know, relax. I only used it because I knew Kaneki wouldn't feel the shock," he waved his hands, reassuring Momo.
Himiko tilted her head, slightly confused by Kaminari's words.
"Wouldn't feel the shock? What do you mean?" she asked.
"Huh? Since he doesn't feel pain, he shouldn't feel the electric shock either, right?"
"..."
"Right?"
Himiko's expression turned complicated as she slowly turned to look at me.
I knew she had seen Kaminari's electricity burning my Kagune, since she looked worried when I arrived.
"I feel pain…"
I said without taking my eyes off the "fight," trying to get some inspiration for a new outfit from Hatsume's gadgets.
"..."
I could feel my classmates' gazes on me.
"…Like any normal person."
After a few seconds of silence, I turned to them and finished the sentence, realizing it had sounded a bit strange and self-deprecating.
That didn't seem to ease the mood, and actually made some expressions worse, specifically Tsuyu, Midoriya, Kirishima, and even Todoroki were staring at me with wide eyes.
'Why are they looking at me like that?'
'Ah, the USJ…' Those four had seen firsthand how I was completely broken, even cutting off my own arm.
The others must've heard about it, but it's different when you see it with your own eyes.
'Hope I didn't traumatize any of them.' I felt Himiko tighten her grip on my hand, seeking comfort, and I squeezed back.
"B-but Kaneki-kun, a-at the USJ… your arm… your leg…" Midoriya struggled to get the words out.
"I felt all of that, but I learned not to react."
'Hm… Maybe I said too much…'
I felt Himiko's grip tighten even more. She was anxious.
But luckily for us, an announcement came:
"Er… Victory for Tenya Iida!" Midnight shouted, a bit confused as Mei Hatsume forfeited the match, looking satisfied.
Iida looked just as confused as Midnight and the rest of the audience, but a win is a win, I guess.
─── ◆ ───
Midoriya's match against Todoroki was quite intense, with Todoroki sending mountains of ice at Midoriya, who shattered them with his quirk at the cost of his fingers, which were turning a terrible color after just a few uses.
They stopped occasionally to talk, but it was impossible to hear, and I can't read lips.
Whatever Midoriya said, though, was enough to make Todoroki use his flames, for the first time I'd seen him do it.
After that, Todoroki won.
─── ◆ ───
"Ken Kaneki vs Eijiro Kirishima!"
And then my second match arrived. I stretched a bit and released my Koukaku, forming a sort of gauntlet/shield over my entire right arm.
On the other side of the arena, Kirishima took a deep breath and hardened his body with his quirk, smiling as he looked at me.
"Ready?" We both nodded at the same time.
"Then… BEGIN!"
We both ran toward each other, and as we got close, we pulled our arms back and punched each other's fists.
Kirishima was sent flying backward, while I slid a little, but much less than my opponent.
Kirishima quickly regained his balance, leaning forward, still smiling excitedly.
"Damn, that was manly as hell!!" He slammed his fist against his chest and ran at me again.
"Let's go, Kaneki!!!" he roared.
We started exchanging blows. Kirishima's punches were heavy, he lacked a bit of mobility, but made up for it with weight and durability.
Without realizing it, I got a bit too excited about the durability of Kirishima's armor, using more strength than usual during the exchange and slowly pushing him toward the edge of the arena.
Kirishima kept striking my Koukaku, unable to get around me to hit other areas.
He seemed to realize he was being pushed, judging by his growing desperation.
Out of that desperation, he tried a risky move: an uppercut, attempting to break through my guard from below and hit my chin.
I took a step back, letting the punch pass through the air, then took advantage of his open guard and delivered a precise punch to the side of his body.
The blow shattered his armor, making him double over and stagger in pain.
I raised my right hand, clenching my fist and aiming a punch straight at Kirishima's face.
He looked at me, already exhausted, his quirk deactivated from fatigue, with no strength left to defend himself.
Then I came back to my senses, greatly reducing the speed and power of the strike, turning it into a normal light punch that sent him flying to the edge of the arena, but not out of bounds.
"Victory for Ken Kaneki!"
I stared at my fist for a few moments, then dismissed my Koukaku and helped Kirishima to his feet.
Despite the bruises, he was able to move.
He accepted the help and excitedly commented on the fight as I accompanied him to the infirmary.
─── ◆ ───
[A/N]: Damn, the new Webnovel layout on the website (for PC) looks really ugly, especially the library, at least to me.
Maybe there's something wrong with my browser...
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