TODAY'S FRIDAY GUYS. NEW CHAPTER. WE'RE STILL FIRST PLACE SO I'LL KEEP MY PROMISE. HERE'S TODAY'S CHAPTER, WHILE THE BONUS? I'LL RELEASE IT TWO AND A HALF HOURS LATER.
ENJOY.
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Mineta's eyes slowly turned toward him, and found Yuta already looking.
"No."
Something in Mineta's expression folded in on itself. His shoulders sagged. Kaminari leaned toward Sero and whispered, "Is he… leaking? Or crying?"
"Little of both," Sero murmured.
"Shut up," Mineta croaked. "Shut up… shut up…!"
He sank down until he was practically sitting on the floor
"Why? Why is the universe like this? I finally get a miracle—this was supposed to be my comeback arc!"
Across the arena, other reactions unfolded.
Midoriya stood frozen, staring at the bracket.
MATCH 7: KATSUKI BAKUGO vs. IZUKU MIDORIYA
His hands trembled slightly.
'Kacchan…'
Here.
In front of everyone.
Uraraka noticed his expression. "Deku? You okay?"
He didn't answer immediately. "Um. Yeah. I'm fine."
A few paces away, Bakugo read the same board and let out a short, delighted scoff.
IZUKU MIDORIYA.
"Tch."
Kirishima nudged him. "Dude, you're fighting Midoriya! That's gonna be intense!"
"SHUT UP."
But Bakugo's grin widened slightly.
'Finally. Gonna crush that nerd in front of everyone. Show them he's still the same worthless Deku.'
Kirishima blinked. "…You seem weirdly excited about this."
"I SAID SHUT UP!"
Todoroki glanced at his own matchup.
MATCH 3: SHOTO TODOROKI vs. HANTA SERO
'Sero.'
'Tape quirk. ... Shouldn't be a problem.'
His eyes drifted to the other names on the board.
Bakugo. Midoriya. Akutami.
'If I keep winning…'
He exhaled frost.
'I'll face one of them eventually.'
Midnight cracked her whip, pulling everyone's attention back.
"FINALISTS! YOU HAVE TEN MINUTES TO PREPARE! HYDRATE, STRETCH, PANIC—WHATEVER YOU NEED TO DO!"
Cementoss lumbered onto the field, a massive concrete pipe trailing behind him.
Liquid cement thundered through them like a grey waterfall, rapidly forming the flat, sturdy combat stage.
Meanwhile, Mineta sat hunched on a bench, staring at nothing.
"Why…why…? Out of everyone… I get him…? Did I offend a shrine—?"
Kaminari slapped his back. "Hey, hey, hey! Don't die before the match starts."
Sero nodded encouragingly. "Look, bro, it's not impossible! If you come up with a good strategy, you might be able to make a miracle happen."
Mineta blinked quickly. "You… you think so?"
Kaminari and Sero exchanged a look.
"…Sure," they both said.
Somehow, that was enough. Mineta wiped his eyes, squared his little shoulders, and stood up.
"You're right," he said to absolutely no one, because everyone else had already turned away. "I'm still in this."
Asui's voice floated gently over. "At least it'll be quick. Ribbit."
"ASUI!!"
Asui tilted her head. "To be fair, you were going to lose to someone eventually."
Before anyone else could pour salt, Present Mic's voice hit max volume.
"THE STAGE IS READY! LET'S GET THIS SHOW ROLLING!"
The crowd roared
Yuta stepped into the tunnel with a light stretch,
On the opposite side, Mineta bit his fingers anxiously, wringing his other hand around one of his own sticky spheres.
Cementoss created a reinforced chair near the sideline and sat down.
"THANK YOU, CEMENTOSS!" Present Mic roared. "A LOT HAS HAPPENED, BUT WE'RE FINALLY HERE! ALRIGHT, EVERYONE! IT'S TIME! THE FINALS YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR!"
The crowd roared.
"FIRST MATCHUP—"
"ON THE LEFT WITH AN ASTOUNDING PERFORMANCE AND THE AURA OF AN UNDERDOG WHO HAS DEFIED THE ODDS TO BE HERE—FROM GENERAL STUDIES—YUTA AKUTAMI!!"
Yuta stepped into the light.
His entrance was accompanied by cheers.
From the General Studies section, Hana and Kimura were on their feet, shouting his name.
Back home, Eri bounced on the couch.
"GO YUTA!!"
Aiko smiled faintly, arms crossed.
"Don't lose."
Yuta walked forward, a slight smile on his face.
"AND ON THE OTHER END. WITH THE HEIGHT OF MY COFFEE TABLE AND A NARROW WIN TO SCRAPE INTO THE FINALS—MINORU MINETA!!"
Mineta stepped out. The reaction was… mixed.
A few weak cheers from his classmates.
Uraraka clapped politely. "You can do it, Mineta!"
"Stop cheering," Jiro muttered. "He's toast."
Mina grimaced. "Yeah… this is gonna be rough."
Mineta walked forward anyway.
They stepped onto the arena.
Midnight raised her whip.
"THE RULES ARE SIMPLE!"
Her voice cut through the noise.
"FORCE YOUR OPPONENT OUT OF BOUNDS! IMMOBILIZE THEM! OR MAKE THEM SURRENDER!"
"ALRIGHT! BRING ON THE BATTLES AND INJURIES! AND WORRY NOT FOR YOUR SAFETY—WE HAVE RECOVERY GIRL ON STANDBY!" Present Mic added.
Cementoss sat forward slightly.
"I'll stop the match if things go too far."
Midnight grinned.
"READY!!"
Yuta and Mineta locked eyes.
'This is it,' Mineta thought. 'This is my chance.'
'Hmph. No one here believes I can win this. That means he'll probably underestimate me. That'll be my chance.'
"SET!!"
'—then I'll prove to everyone in class. Everyone in the country…'
His hands reached for the balls on his head.
'…that I'm actually cool.'
"START!!"
The moment Present Mic shouted—
Mineta yanked two sticky balls free, one in each hand, arm cocked back to throw—
WHOOSH.
The figure in the distance blurred.
Mineta's eyes widened.
'Wait—'
It was too late. All Mineta saw was a shoe enlarging in his vision.
BANG.
The kick slammed straight into his stomach
Mineta's breath exploded out of his lungs.
His body lifted off the ground.
And flew. Like a soccer ball launched by a professional. He sailed backwards over the boundary line, and slammed into the far wall with a sickening THUD.
Then slid to the ground motionless.
"..."
The stadium held its breath.
Even Present Mic was speechless for a solid three seconds.
"…Uh."
In the stands, Shoji crossed his arms "Just like we said."
Kaminari nodded weakly. "Yeah. He stood no chance."
"Can't blame him for trying though," Sero muttered. "But man… that was brutal."
Bakugo snorted. "Pathetic."
Present Mic's voice finally caught up.
"AND—! THAT'S—!! …THAT'S THE MATCH!!"
Medical bots hurried over as Mineta groaned faintly, getting placed onto a stretcher.
Cameras zoomed in. Fans erupted.
At the center, Yuta let out a soft breath. That subtle, annoying feeling—the one telling him something about the situation was "wrong"—finally faded.
The universe had finally achieved balance. All jokes aside though, he wasn't about to let Mineta's quirk create some ridiculous upset.
This was fiction. And the number one rule of fictional battles:
Never underestimate a named character.
Present Mic regained his momentum.
"WHAT AN EXPLOSIVE START TO THE FINALS!! YUTA AKUTAMI ADVANCES TO ROUND TWO WITH A DECISIVE—AND I MEAN DECISIVE—VICTORY!!"
Mineta was wheeled off, mumbling weakly, "I… I almost had him…"
Yuta watched as Miners was carried away, then turned to look at the next line of Matchups.
MATCH 1: YUTA AKUTAMI vs. MINORU MINETA
MATCH 2: DENKI KAMINARI vs. IBARA SHIOZAKI
MATCH 3: SHOTO TODOROKI vs. HANTA SERO
MATCH 4: TENYA IIDA vs. MEI HATSUME
MATCH 5: FUMIKAGE TOKOYAMI vs. MINA ASHIDO
MATCH 6: MOMO YAOYOROZU vs. RIKIDO SATO
MATCH 7: KATSUKI BAKUGO vs. IZUKU MIDORIYA
MATCH 8: EJIRO KIRISHIMA vs. OCHACO URARAKA
'It seems a lot has changed compared to Canon.'
Mineta's appearance in the finals wasn't the only change. The next three matches remained untouched, albeit in a different order. However, from matches 6-8, the difference was clear. Especially Midoriya Vs Bakugo.
From the looks of it, Midoriya and Todoroki wouldn't have the chance to enact their fated match unless Bakugo capsized in the gutter. Which was honestly a possibility. After all, Midoriya was the protagonist.
'Kaminari Vs Chiozaki.' he looked at match two and turned back towards the tunnel.
The winner of this match was obvious.
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[HOSU CITY — ROOFTOP, SECTOR 8-A]
He crouched at the building's edge, listening to the comm chatter in his ear.
Below, Mirage lay unconscious against the ventilation unit.
'That was closer than I'd like.'
She'd been mid-leap when he struck—nerve cluster, side of the neck. She dropped like a puppet with cut strings.
He'd seen the technique in a medical textbook during his hospital stay and memorized the diagram. The Sharingan had done the rest.
'First time using it on a person. ...Worked better than expected.'
He shifted her weight against the unit, made sure she wouldn't roll if she moved.
'Ten minutes, maybe fifteen. Plenty of time.'
The comm crackled.
"—Sector 9-B clear. Moving to 9-C."
"Copy. Ingenium, status?"
He froze.
"Sector 6-D. No contact yet. Expanding sweep to 6-E."
'There.'
He listened to Ingenium's voice—the rhythm, the breathing pattern—and pressed the comm.
His voice came out as Mirage's.
"Mirage here. Sector 7-C is clear. Moving to 7-D. No signs of target."
"Copy, Mirage. Stay alert. Target is highly dangerous."
"Understood."
He released the button.
'That should buy time.'
One last glance at Mirage, then he pocketed the comm and moved.
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