The Bloodstained Hero (MHA/Bloodborne)
- Thread starter ThatOnePsycho
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Chapter 18
ThatOnePsycho
Tilting his Vanes and Ennobling His Spires
Ejiro walked through the small tunnel leading to the arena with nausea curling in his gut. The obvious thing to blame was the stress, the tension. This was it, his first Sports Festival at UA. And he had made it to the third round, where he would be able to show off to the world what his manly spirit could do…
But part of it was, obviously, the death of his classmate last round. Sure, Midoriya hadn't said he died, but when that much of your body had become mushrooms and you could barely talk without sounding like your throat was going to cave in… you were probably dead. And Ejiro, unlike Midoriya, didn't have the ability to pop up from dying like it was a nap.
It would be fine, the Principal had taken over for Midnight. They wouldn't let a repeat of the last fight happen… and they wouldn't let a repeat of his kill at the USJ happen.
And just like that, they were at the heart of the matter as he stepped into the arena, looking up towards where Mina and Midoriya and the rest of their class sat. Most of them, all of them except Midoriya, as far as he knew, hadn't… hadn't killed anyone at the USJ.
Like Ejiro had.
Ejiro closed his shaking hands, as he noticed Midoriya had covered his body with his rapidly becoming signature green coat. Considering the cameras on him as Present Mic (with a guest appearance from Recovery Girl) announced his clean bill of health, it probably would become iconic to him. Like Crimson Riot and his mask.
For a minute, Ejiro could have sworn Midoriya's eyes met his across the hundred feet separating them. The camera drones didn't look to be annoying him as he quietly nodded, pulling his coat tighter around his left side as one daring drone came in to try and get a shot of his arm. Midoriya's vision broke from him as he gave the drone a strange look.
Just for a second, Ejiro knew that if he could have gotten away with it, Midoriya would have destroyed the drone then and there. Then his head snapped to the other contestant. The one Ejiro would be fighting to get to-
-fight Midoriya.
With a feeling like his stomach was falling out from under him, Ejiro realized why Midoriya had been staring at him. Was staring at the girl, Shiozaki.
He was sizing them up. Like a wolf.
A true hero didn't give up in the face of fear. They kept moving forward.
"Ora!" Ejiro yelled, punching his fists together.
"Are you both ready?" The Principal asked, looking between the two. Ejiro nodded, and so did Shiozaki, "Then begin!"
Ejiro charged forwards.
---
Part of Izuku really wanted to go skeet shooting with a particularly annoying drone as he watched Kirishima and Shiozaki come out into the arena. It was distracting and-
Izuku pulled on the left side of his outfit to hide the telltale drawing of a throwing knife as the drone obviously maneuvered to get a clean shot of him, only to immediately hit a sort of invisible wall around the students. Not a literal one, but the minute it hit a certain distance, a red light flashed on. One, two, thr-
The drone suddenly stopped and flew away. A small cubby opened in the walls around the top of the arena and it nestled in, before snapping shut. Izuku cracked an amused smile, before focusing back on the fight about to start below them and returning the knife to the hidden pocket. If that wasn't a message that UA was serious about reporters not harassing the students, nothing was.
UA seemed to have tightened security since the break in. Good, that never would have happened in Yharnam.
...And there he went acting like things would be the same here as there. Yharnam was a lot of things, disease ridden, non-functional, and xenophobic to a fault. People would (and had) brandish blunderbusses, flintlock pistols and rifles and even the occasional Hunter's relic through windows to make it clear you weren't wanted so much as near their house. And it wasn't a bluff, as Izuku had learned too many times.
Even if he survived the bullets, Izuku would be fairly certain he'd either be suffering from lead or mercury poisoning, or rattling as he walked from those rounds if he hadn't lost his original body to being mauled by a beast…
Should he be having an existential crisis about tha-?
"Deku," a voice snapped him back to reality, Kacchan's red eyes glaring at him.
"Hmm?" Izuku turned, watching the cameras out of the corner of his eye. They were focused on the match going on behind them, so Izuku finally released the knife entirely and let the green coat hang across his shoulders again. Kacchan's eyes jumped to the scarred arm, before his mouth pushed into a thin line.
"What the fuck happened to you?" Kacchan finally said.
"What do you-?"
"Don't give me that shit," Kacchan snarled, eyes blazing as he stepped forwards. Izuku set his jaw as the taller boy stepped up to him. His sight got sharper, and he felt the air brushing against his skin.
"You're not… you changed. Why?"
"I told you-"
"If you give me that bullshit of "I had to grow up" I swear I'll fuckin' ki-"
"Death doesn't frighten me, Kacchan," Izuku said, causing the blond to stop. Around them, the Little Ones swayed, offering weapons. They wanted to help, but didn't realize there wouldn't be a fight here. Not if they didn't both want to be disqualified.
"Hey-" one of their classmates, the blond said, "Don'-"
"Stay the fuck out of this," Bakugo growled, "I want-!"
"I don't see," Izuku said, voice growing icy as he met Bakugo's eyes. The wind picked up for a second and his heart hammered in his chest, his hand gripping the spot where Chiseki's pommel should have been, "Why you're entitled to an answer."
Bakugo stopped, staring at Izuku as he pushed back and headed toward Hagakure and Jirou, "Dek-"
"I don't have to explain what happened to me to anyone," Izuku said. Not that they would understand. The horror of the Night, the Thrill of the Hunt.
The beautiful dance of two Hunters facing off in a darkened Clocktower, candlelight and their burning blood lighting up the room. Of fighting Great Ones.
---
Ibara watched the redhead charge forward, just for a moment, before sending a set of dancing vines at him. His skin became sharp and angular as he crossed his arms in front of him. The vines wrapped around him, but he just planted his feet and tore through them, slowly and laboriously.
She closed her eyes, sighing. He couldn't do this easily, could he? "Please just surrender."
"No," the boy called, pushing further and finally snapping through the vines. He stumbled forwards a few steps before continuing his charge. Ibara closed her eyes and breathed in, clapping her hands together in prayer. Her hair began to dance, before splitting into more vines and launching towards him, "Wa-aahh!?"
Father…
"Crucifixion," Ibara said, opening her eyes to the Kirishima hoisted into the air by her vines which had wrapped around each other and ultimately him to form a thick trunk with two branches of his arms.
She had formed, in short, a crucifix.
"Call the match," she said to the principal, "Please."
"Ejiro," He said, looking up at the redhead, "You can't continue, can you?"
"I- I-" Kirishima strained against the vines for a second longer, before dropping his head, 'No, I can't, sir."
"Very well," Nezu nodded, "Young Ibara will be moving onto the next round!"
Ibara turned away as she let Kirishima down. She breathed in, heading towards the way out…
When a windburst of ice seemed to dump on her. Glancing up, she watched Midoriya glare at the blond haired boy, not even offering her a glance. Mist had begun to cling to him like a shroud, and Ibara fought the urge to begin praying under her breath. Something… had made Midoriya unhappy.
And she had to fight him next.
There was no way that was a good thing.
---
Shoto stepped out into the arena, doing his best to drown out the roar of the crowd as he stared across the gap at the grinning member of 1-B. At least, he thought the other boy was grinning. It was difficult to tell when he was missing his lips. But his cheeks were pressed against the bones and…
Whatever, it didn't matter. He had to win this, because…
Well, Midoriya breaking through his ice wall last round hadn't exactly left the best impression, if he was honest. Locking himself behind the wall with Midoriya also probably hadn't given the best impression of his tactics either. It had made sense in the heat of the moment, how else was he supposed to know what was happening in there? It would have been all too easy for Midoriya and Bakugo to ally together to get out.
Though given the thick tension, he hesitated to call it "killing intent" at this point, but only just barely, hanging over 1-A seating since the brief conversation during the last match, maybe he should have let them. They might have had that conversation in the ice and knocked each other out. Or, more realistically given what he had seen so far, Midoriya would have beaten Bakugo into unconciousness.
Or would he have? That was the problem, Todoroki couldn't identify much, if anything, about Midoriya. They had been classmates for nearly a month and the other boy was just as enigmatic as he had been on the first day… if not more so.
Ok, that was an understatement. Definitely more so. After the start of the USJ… after his match…
Something was wrong with Midoriya, and Shoto was aware enough of his life to know that when he felt the need to say that, it was a bad bar. Because he had problems in his life, that was sure as hell true, but he got the distinct feeling that nothing Todoroki Enji had done came close to what had unsettled Midoriya Izuku.
"Ready?" Nezu said, and at the nods, he swung one palm down, "Go!"
Shoto stomped his left foot down, sending a torrent of ice towards the other boy.
---
Juzo's grin was probably scaring a kid watching the Sports Festival right now, and he felt kinda bad about that. But he really couldn't help himself, Todoroki had just done exactly what he expected. And that made this easier.
As the wall of ice approached him, the pale haired teen activated Softening and charged forwards. Breathing in, he plunged into the cold, semi-solid and began to swim through it.
It burned, his Quirk didn't change the fact that it was friggin' ice pressing against his skin, but that didn't matter. All he had to do was get to Todoroki and lay into him, and he'd win. And he was gonna win this, he had to.
He wouldn't forgive himself if he lost, after 1-A tore up the charts in the first and second events. He had to get far enough in to pay Midoriya back for traumatizing Komori.
---
Shoto's eyes widened slightly as the wave of ice, a super move he was going to have to name some day, turned gelatinous. Immediately, his brain ran through ideas before it landed on the most basic.
He created another layer of ice over the first. Honenuki's eyes widened within it, apparently realizing what Shoto was trying to do.
He still needed to breathe in there. So if Shoto just kept him on ice for long enough, he'd have to submit or pass out. Either way, Shoto could then release the ice and get him out of there.
And that was assuming the ice burns didn't make him submit before that point. The ice was still cold, and being surrounded by it on all sides had to be just as hellish as…
The echo of hot water burned across his left eye. Even with the best treatment money could buy (nothing less for Endeavor's masterpiece), his sight had never fully recovered. His skin was still marred with what his father had done to his mother. What he had driven her to-
"Todoroki!" Shoto snapped to attention, eyes jumping to Nezu. Dark eyes ran up the heterochromatic boy's body, and then the principal spoke softly, like to a spooked animal, "Please don't get distracted. We already had one injury today because someone wasn't focused, we don't want another.
"Yeah!" Shoto's head snapped up, watching Honenuki slide down the glacier, which had suddenly re-hardened. He slammed his fist into Shoto's gut as he landed, causing him to curl around the fist, "I want you focused on me when I win."
"Why should I?" Shoto gasped out, before lunging forwards along the fist and grabbed Honenuki by the shirt and jabbing them across the face, "When you were just gonna hand me the yourself on a silver pla- oof!"
Honenuki kicked Shoto off of him and towards the edge of the arena. The heterochromatic boy created a wall of ice to stop himself, breathing out a puff of chilled air. His temperature was getting low. He had to win this, now.
Creating a wave of ice to run on as Honenuki tried to soften the ground below him, Shoto dove off it, grabbed the other boy and drove another jab across his face. Slamming them both into the ground, Shoto froze Honenuki and slammed his chilled right arm against Honenuki's neck, "Surrender."
"I-" the ice softened, and Honenuki's arms exploded out of it, going for Shoto' head. So Shoto did the other thing that he could when so chilled and in such a position. He slammed his elbow into Honenuki's neck, "-ahk!"
"Surrender," Shoto repeated, frost crawling up his arm and Honenuki's neck, "Now!"
"I… I surrender," Honenuki said, and Shoto threw himself off of the other boy, panting puffs of cold air and feeling his muscles fight his movements.
"Todoroki Shoto is the winner!" Nezu said, while Shoto began to slowly move towards the glacier, "Todoroki, go relax. We have several fire heroes on hand that can melt this for us."
---
Kyoka looked up at 1-A's seats as she stepped out into the strangely muted arena, and frowned as she realized Midoriya was in the far back, head tilted down and his worn tophat pulled over his eyes. She bit back her offense.
So he thought her and Toru's match was going to be boring enough for him to nap through? They'd just have to fight hard enough to make him regret that when he woke up.
"Ready?" She asked Toru, who was bouncing in place.
"Yep!"
"Well," Nezu said, waving a hand down, "then feel free to begin!"
Before Kyoka could respond, Toru had stripped off her shirt and pants, letting them fall to the ground, and kicked her shoes off at Kyoka. She dodged left, watching them sail by and out of the ring.
"I've got to thank Izuku for putting on his hat when I asked," Toru said.
---
If Toru was honest, it was still embarrassing to be naked in front of thousands of people, more if she included the ones at home. But she needed to give the best showing here, against Kyoka, and the same was true for Kyoka. Because Toru wasn't stupid, and after the last match it was pretty clear they weren't getting another chance. Neither of them had enough firepower or a Quirk that naturally countered the amount of ice Todoroki could throw out.
Kyoka's jaw had dropped, and her head swiveled to look at Izuku. His hat had been adjusted so it was now covering his entire face, his green hair not even remotely covered, "He's not asl-?"
Before Kyoka could finish, Toru ran across the arena as fast as she could and slammed a fist into the other girl's jaw so hard she span in a full circle, staggering back with jumping eyes, "Sorry, Kyoka, but… I've got to win here!"
Kyoka's feet finally found purchase and she reached up to touch her jaw. Breathing in, she raised her fists into a boxer's stance, her ear jacks writhing like a snake, "Alright then, let's go."
"Thanks," Toru said, tightening her hands, "We're only gonna get one shot, you know that, right?"
"That Todoroki is a monster," Kyoka agreed, "but like you said, we're only gonna get one shot. So don't expect me to hold- oof!"
Toru had lunged forward, driving a single fist into Kyoka's gut below her guard. An earphone jack lashed down and around the arm before Kyoka headbutted Toru. The invisible girl staggered back, pulling on the jack as hard as she could to force Kyoka to let her go.
"Good luck, Hagakure," Kyoka said, settling back into the basic pose.
"Same, Jiro," Toru said.
And then the fight began in earnest.
---
Kyoka closed her eyes as To- Hagakure ran at her. They wouldn't help, so she might as well just use the sense that would, right?
It wasn't as easy as she expected. It took her nearly ten hits, ten aching spots across her body, before she finally managed to catch Hagakure's punch with her forearm before it managed to hit her side. Then she did the easier part.
It was surprising just how loud the human body was when you had super hearing. Bones creaking, stomach rumbling, heart beating. And so, despite not being able to see Hagakure even if she opened her eyes, Kyoka landed a perfect punch to the invisible girl's gut. She gasped and staggered away from Kyoka, who took a confident step forward.
And when Hagakure tried to dodge around her, Kyoka swung an arm out to clothesline her. It was only when the whistle of displaced air warned her a moment later that she had time to regret it before Hagakure's fist found her side in a spike of pain that forced her eyes open. Kyoka growled and lashed out with her jacks, wrapping them around Hagakure's legs and driving the tips in. A weak heart pulse staggered the girl with a gasp of pain, letting Kyoka rip her feet out from under her and begin a spin to throw her from the arena.
Even if she had been looking, she obviously wouldn't have seen the hands wrap around her jacks until it was too late, pulling her back and onto Hagakure. A hand wrapped around her neck in a rough chokehold.
Kyoka drove an elbow into Hagakure's side and slammed her head back to smack Hagakure in the chin and send her head back into the cement of the arena. Grabbing the weakened arm, she ripped it off her before scrambling away from Hagakure, panting. She hadn't trained for martial arts like this.
Still, given Hagakure's gasping, neither had she. They were both almost out of steam. They needed to work on endurance when this was all done with, even with the race earlier in the day, this was… wasn't very good. Or maybe it was?
She didn't really know where a base human's ability to keep going on these sorts of things were. Izuku and Ojiro could have done it for longer, no doubt, but they were both seasoned fighters.
Kyoka rushed forward, towards Hagakure's panting. Dodging under a whistle of air, she got close enough that she could feel Hagakure's breath on the top of her head… and then a knee smashed into her side and sent her staggering right into Hagakure. They both smashed into the ground and Kyoka slammed her jacks into the cement to anchor herself before she threw the first punch.
It hit Hagakure's wrist, and a whistling swing gave Kyoka the chance to block a punch aimed for her own side. Punching down again, she managed to hit Hagakure flush across the cheek.
Like she hadn't even-
Hands wrapped around her jacks, pulling her down face first into Hagakure's forehead. Cartilage shattered and blood began to pour down Kyoka's face. Jerking up with both of Hagakure's hands still on her jacks, she released them from their moorings and drove them into Hagakure's wrists with a loud squelch.
Another heartbeat, and several loud, to Kyoka at least, cracks were accompanied by an equally earsplitting shriek of pain from Hagakure as her now broken arms let go of the jacks on instinct, "I'm sorry."
"For-" the words were said between whimpers and sobs while Hagakure fought to curl up with Kyoka on top of her, "for taking the- the chance?"
"For hurting my friend," she said.
"We're not friends here," Hagakure said, before raising her voice as loud as she could, "P-principle N-Nezu? My arms are b- broken, I- I've got- gotta forfeit. Jiro is the winner."
"Very well," the Principal said, "I wanted to make sure you didn't have anything kick related before I called the match. Jiro, could you please help Hagakur-"
"To Recovery Girl?" Kyoka asked, helping Toru stand, carefully avoiding her wrists as she did so, "Yeah, obviously. C'mon, Toru, let's get you patched up… and maybe myself too, I think I might be peeing blood otherwise. Did you have to hit me in the side so many times?"
"Did you have to break my arms?" Toru asked back through a combination of sniffles and laughter.
"Hey," Kyoka shot back, "You're the one who started pulling my jacks! Those are sensitive, you know!"
But part of it was, obviously, the death of his classmate last round. Sure, Midoriya hadn't said he died, but when that much of your body had become mushrooms and you could barely talk without sounding like your throat was going to cave in… you were probably dead. And Ejiro, unlike Midoriya, didn't have the ability to pop up from dying like it was a nap.
It would be fine, the Principal had taken over for Midnight. They wouldn't let a repeat of the last fight happen… and they wouldn't let a repeat of his kill at the USJ happen.
And just like that, they were at the heart of the matter as he stepped into the arena, looking up towards where Mina and Midoriya and the rest of their class sat. Most of them, all of them except Midoriya, as far as he knew, hadn't… hadn't killed anyone at the USJ.
Like Ejiro had.
Ejiro closed his shaking hands, as he noticed Midoriya had covered his body with his rapidly becoming signature green coat. Considering the cameras on him as Present Mic (with a guest appearance from Recovery Girl) announced his clean bill of health, it probably would become iconic to him. Like Crimson Riot and his mask.
For a minute, Ejiro could have sworn Midoriya's eyes met his across the hundred feet separating them. The camera drones didn't look to be annoying him as he quietly nodded, pulling his coat tighter around his left side as one daring drone came in to try and get a shot of his arm. Midoriya's vision broke from him as he gave the drone a strange look.
Just for a second, Ejiro knew that if he could have gotten away with it, Midoriya would have destroyed the drone then and there. Then his head snapped to the other contestant. The one Ejiro would be fighting to get to-
-fight Midoriya.
With a feeling like his stomach was falling out from under him, Ejiro realized why Midoriya had been staring at him. Was staring at the girl, Shiozaki.
He was sizing them up. Like a wolf.
A true hero didn't give up in the face of fear. They kept moving forward.
"Ora!" Ejiro yelled, punching his fists together.
"Are you both ready?" The Principal asked, looking between the two. Ejiro nodded, and so did Shiozaki, "Then begin!"
Ejiro charged forwards.
---
Part of Izuku really wanted to go skeet shooting with a particularly annoying drone as he watched Kirishima and Shiozaki come out into the arena. It was distracting and-
Izuku pulled on the left side of his outfit to hide the telltale drawing of a throwing knife as the drone obviously maneuvered to get a clean shot of him, only to immediately hit a sort of invisible wall around the students. Not a literal one, but the minute it hit a certain distance, a red light flashed on. One, two, thr-
The drone suddenly stopped and flew away. A small cubby opened in the walls around the top of the arena and it nestled in, before snapping shut. Izuku cracked an amused smile, before focusing back on the fight about to start below them and returning the knife to the hidden pocket. If that wasn't a message that UA was serious about reporters not harassing the students, nothing was.
UA seemed to have tightened security since the break in. Good, that never would have happened in Yharnam.
...And there he went acting like things would be the same here as there. Yharnam was a lot of things, disease ridden, non-functional, and xenophobic to a fault. People would (and had) brandish blunderbusses, flintlock pistols and rifles and even the occasional Hunter's relic through windows to make it clear you weren't wanted so much as near their house. And it wasn't a bluff, as Izuku had learned too many times.
Even if he survived the bullets, Izuku would be fairly certain he'd either be suffering from lead or mercury poisoning, or rattling as he walked from those rounds if he hadn't lost his original body to being mauled by a beast…
Should he be having an existential crisis about tha-?
"Deku," a voice snapped him back to reality, Kacchan's red eyes glaring at him.
"Hmm?" Izuku turned, watching the cameras out of the corner of his eye. They were focused on the match going on behind them, so Izuku finally released the knife entirely and let the green coat hang across his shoulders again. Kacchan's eyes jumped to the scarred arm, before his mouth pushed into a thin line.
"What the fuck happened to you?" Kacchan finally said.
"What do you-?"
"Don't give me that shit," Kacchan snarled, eyes blazing as he stepped forwards. Izuku set his jaw as the taller boy stepped up to him. His sight got sharper, and he felt the air brushing against his skin.
"You're not… you changed. Why?"
"I told you-"
"If you give me that bullshit of "I had to grow up" I swear I'll fuckin' ki-"
"Death doesn't frighten me, Kacchan," Izuku said, causing the blond to stop. Around them, the Little Ones swayed, offering weapons. They wanted to help, but didn't realize there wouldn't be a fight here. Not if they didn't both want to be disqualified.
"Hey-" one of their classmates, the blond said, "Don'-"
"Stay the fuck out of this," Bakugo growled, "I want-!"
"I don't see," Izuku said, voice growing icy as he met Bakugo's eyes. The wind picked up for a second and his heart hammered in his chest, his hand gripping the spot where Chiseki's pommel should have been, "Why you're entitled to an answer."
Bakugo stopped, staring at Izuku as he pushed back and headed toward Hagakure and Jirou, "Dek-"
"I don't have to explain what happened to me to anyone," Izuku said. Not that they would understand. The horror of the Night, the Thrill of the Hunt.
The beautiful dance of two Hunters facing off in a darkened Clocktower, candlelight and their burning blood lighting up the room. Of fighting Great Ones.
---
Ibara watched the redhead charge forward, just for a moment, before sending a set of dancing vines at him. His skin became sharp and angular as he crossed his arms in front of him. The vines wrapped around him, but he just planted his feet and tore through them, slowly and laboriously.
She closed her eyes, sighing. He couldn't do this easily, could he? "Please just surrender."
"No," the boy called, pushing further and finally snapping through the vines. He stumbled forwards a few steps before continuing his charge. Ibara closed her eyes and breathed in, clapping her hands together in prayer. Her hair began to dance, before splitting into more vines and launching towards him, "Wa-aahh!?"
Father…
"Crucifixion," Ibara said, opening her eyes to the Kirishima hoisted into the air by her vines which had wrapped around each other and ultimately him to form a thick trunk with two branches of his arms.
She had formed, in short, a crucifix.
"Call the match," she said to the principal, "Please."
"Ejiro," He said, looking up at the redhead, "You can't continue, can you?"
"I- I-" Kirishima strained against the vines for a second longer, before dropping his head, 'No, I can't, sir."
"Very well," Nezu nodded, "Young Ibara will be moving onto the next round!"
Ibara turned away as she let Kirishima down. She breathed in, heading towards the way out…
When a windburst of ice seemed to dump on her. Glancing up, she watched Midoriya glare at the blond haired boy, not even offering her a glance. Mist had begun to cling to him like a shroud, and Ibara fought the urge to begin praying under her breath. Something… had made Midoriya unhappy.
And she had to fight him next.
There was no way that was a good thing.
---
Shoto stepped out into the arena, doing his best to drown out the roar of the crowd as he stared across the gap at the grinning member of 1-B. At least, he thought the other boy was grinning. It was difficult to tell when he was missing his lips. But his cheeks were pressed against the bones and…
Whatever, it didn't matter. He had to win this, because…
Well, Midoriya breaking through his ice wall last round hadn't exactly left the best impression, if he was honest. Locking himself behind the wall with Midoriya also probably hadn't given the best impression of his tactics either. It had made sense in the heat of the moment, how else was he supposed to know what was happening in there? It would have been all too easy for Midoriya and Bakugo to ally together to get out.
Though given the thick tension, he hesitated to call it "killing intent" at this point, but only just barely, hanging over 1-A seating since the brief conversation during the last match, maybe he should have let them. They might have had that conversation in the ice and knocked each other out. Or, more realistically given what he had seen so far, Midoriya would have beaten Bakugo into unconciousness.
Or would he have? That was the problem, Todoroki couldn't identify much, if anything, about Midoriya. They had been classmates for nearly a month and the other boy was just as enigmatic as he had been on the first day… if not more so.
Ok, that was an understatement. Definitely more so. After the start of the USJ… after his match…
Something was wrong with Midoriya, and Shoto was aware enough of his life to know that when he felt the need to say that, it was a bad bar. Because he had problems in his life, that was sure as hell true, but he got the distinct feeling that nothing Todoroki Enji had done came close to what had unsettled Midoriya Izuku.
"Ready?" Nezu said, and at the nods, he swung one palm down, "Go!"
Shoto stomped his left foot down, sending a torrent of ice towards the other boy.
---
Juzo's grin was probably scaring a kid watching the Sports Festival right now, and he felt kinda bad about that. But he really couldn't help himself, Todoroki had just done exactly what he expected. And that made this easier.
As the wall of ice approached him, the pale haired teen activated Softening and charged forwards. Breathing in, he plunged into the cold, semi-solid and began to swim through it.
It burned, his Quirk didn't change the fact that it was friggin' ice pressing against his skin, but that didn't matter. All he had to do was get to Todoroki and lay into him, and he'd win. And he was gonna win this, he had to.
He wouldn't forgive himself if he lost, after 1-A tore up the charts in the first and second events. He had to get far enough in to pay Midoriya back for traumatizing Komori.
---
Shoto's eyes widened slightly as the wave of ice, a super move he was going to have to name some day, turned gelatinous. Immediately, his brain ran through ideas before it landed on the most basic.
He created another layer of ice over the first. Honenuki's eyes widened within it, apparently realizing what Shoto was trying to do.
He still needed to breathe in there. So if Shoto just kept him on ice for long enough, he'd have to submit or pass out. Either way, Shoto could then release the ice and get him out of there.
And that was assuming the ice burns didn't make him submit before that point. The ice was still cold, and being surrounded by it on all sides had to be just as hellish as…
The echo of hot water burned across his left eye. Even with the best treatment money could buy (nothing less for Endeavor's masterpiece), his sight had never fully recovered. His skin was still marred with what his father had done to his mother. What he had driven her to-
"Todoroki!" Shoto snapped to attention, eyes jumping to Nezu. Dark eyes ran up the heterochromatic boy's body, and then the principal spoke softly, like to a spooked animal, "Please don't get distracted. We already had one injury today because someone wasn't focused, we don't want another.
"Yeah!" Shoto's head snapped up, watching Honenuki slide down the glacier, which had suddenly re-hardened. He slammed his fist into Shoto's gut as he landed, causing him to curl around the fist, "I want you focused on me when I win."
"Why should I?" Shoto gasped out, before lunging forwards along the fist and grabbed Honenuki by the shirt and jabbing them across the face, "When you were just gonna hand me the yourself on a silver pla- oof!"
Honenuki kicked Shoto off of him and towards the edge of the arena. The heterochromatic boy created a wall of ice to stop himself, breathing out a puff of chilled air. His temperature was getting low. He had to win this, now.
Creating a wave of ice to run on as Honenuki tried to soften the ground below him, Shoto dove off it, grabbed the other boy and drove another jab across his face. Slamming them both into the ground, Shoto froze Honenuki and slammed his chilled right arm against Honenuki's neck, "Surrender."
"I-" the ice softened, and Honenuki's arms exploded out of it, going for Shoto' head. So Shoto did the other thing that he could when so chilled and in such a position. He slammed his elbow into Honenuki's neck, "-ahk!"
"Surrender," Shoto repeated, frost crawling up his arm and Honenuki's neck, "Now!"
"I… I surrender," Honenuki said, and Shoto threw himself off of the other boy, panting puffs of cold air and feeling his muscles fight his movements.
"Todoroki Shoto is the winner!" Nezu said, while Shoto began to slowly move towards the glacier, "Todoroki, go relax. We have several fire heroes on hand that can melt this for us."
---
Kyoka looked up at 1-A's seats as she stepped out into the strangely muted arena, and frowned as she realized Midoriya was in the far back, head tilted down and his worn tophat pulled over his eyes. She bit back her offense.
So he thought her and Toru's match was going to be boring enough for him to nap through? They'd just have to fight hard enough to make him regret that when he woke up.
"Ready?" She asked Toru, who was bouncing in place.
"Yep!"
"Well," Nezu said, waving a hand down, "then feel free to begin!"
Before Kyoka could respond, Toru had stripped off her shirt and pants, letting them fall to the ground, and kicked her shoes off at Kyoka. She dodged left, watching them sail by and out of the ring.
"I've got to thank Izuku for putting on his hat when I asked," Toru said.
---
If Toru was honest, it was still embarrassing to be naked in front of thousands of people, more if she included the ones at home. But she needed to give the best showing here, against Kyoka, and the same was true for Kyoka. Because Toru wasn't stupid, and after the last match it was pretty clear they weren't getting another chance. Neither of them had enough firepower or a Quirk that naturally countered the amount of ice Todoroki could throw out.
Kyoka's jaw had dropped, and her head swiveled to look at Izuku. His hat had been adjusted so it was now covering his entire face, his green hair not even remotely covered, "He's not asl-?"
Before Kyoka could finish, Toru ran across the arena as fast as she could and slammed a fist into the other girl's jaw so hard she span in a full circle, staggering back with jumping eyes, "Sorry, Kyoka, but… I've got to win here!"
Kyoka's feet finally found purchase and she reached up to touch her jaw. Breathing in, she raised her fists into a boxer's stance, her ear jacks writhing like a snake, "Alright then, let's go."
"Thanks," Toru said, tightening her hands, "We're only gonna get one shot, you know that, right?"
"That Todoroki is a monster," Kyoka agreed, "but like you said, we're only gonna get one shot. So don't expect me to hold- oof!"
Toru had lunged forward, driving a single fist into Kyoka's gut below her guard. An earphone jack lashed down and around the arm before Kyoka headbutted Toru. The invisible girl staggered back, pulling on the jack as hard as she could to force Kyoka to let her go.
"Good luck, Hagakure," Kyoka said, settling back into the basic pose.
"Same, Jiro," Toru said.
And then the fight began in earnest.
---
Kyoka closed her eyes as To- Hagakure ran at her. They wouldn't help, so she might as well just use the sense that would, right?
It wasn't as easy as she expected. It took her nearly ten hits, ten aching spots across her body, before she finally managed to catch Hagakure's punch with her forearm before it managed to hit her side. Then she did the easier part.
It was surprising just how loud the human body was when you had super hearing. Bones creaking, stomach rumbling, heart beating. And so, despite not being able to see Hagakure even if she opened her eyes, Kyoka landed a perfect punch to the invisible girl's gut. She gasped and staggered away from Kyoka, who took a confident step forward.
And when Hagakure tried to dodge around her, Kyoka swung an arm out to clothesline her. It was only when the whistle of displaced air warned her a moment later that she had time to regret it before Hagakure's fist found her side in a spike of pain that forced her eyes open. Kyoka growled and lashed out with her jacks, wrapping them around Hagakure's legs and driving the tips in. A weak heart pulse staggered the girl with a gasp of pain, letting Kyoka rip her feet out from under her and begin a spin to throw her from the arena.
Even if she had been looking, she obviously wouldn't have seen the hands wrap around her jacks until it was too late, pulling her back and onto Hagakure. A hand wrapped around her neck in a rough chokehold.
Kyoka drove an elbow into Hagakure's side and slammed her head back to smack Hagakure in the chin and send her head back into the cement of the arena. Grabbing the weakened arm, she ripped it off her before scrambling away from Hagakure, panting. She hadn't trained for martial arts like this.
Still, given Hagakure's gasping, neither had she. They were both almost out of steam. They needed to work on endurance when this was all done with, even with the race earlier in the day, this was… wasn't very good. Or maybe it was?
She didn't really know where a base human's ability to keep going on these sorts of things were. Izuku and Ojiro could have done it for longer, no doubt, but they were both seasoned fighters.
Kyoka rushed forward, towards Hagakure's panting. Dodging under a whistle of air, she got close enough that she could feel Hagakure's breath on the top of her head… and then a knee smashed into her side and sent her staggering right into Hagakure. They both smashed into the ground and Kyoka slammed her jacks into the cement to anchor herself before she threw the first punch.
It hit Hagakure's wrist, and a whistling swing gave Kyoka the chance to block a punch aimed for her own side. Punching down again, she managed to hit Hagakure flush across the cheek.
Like she hadn't even-
Hands wrapped around her jacks, pulling her down face first into Hagakure's forehead. Cartilage shattered and blood began to pour down Kyoka's face. Jerking up with both of Hagakure's hands still on her jacks, she released them from their moorings and drove them into Hagakure's wrists with a loud squelch.
Another heartbeat, and several loud, to Kyoka at least, cracks were accompanied by an equally earsplitting shriek of pain from Hagakure as her now broken arms let go of the jacks on instinct, "I'm sorry."
"For-" the words were said between whimpers and sobs while Hagakure fought to curl up with Kyoka on top of her, "for taking the- the chance?"
"For hurting my friend," she said.
"We're not friends here," Hagakure said, before raising her voice as loud as she could, "P-principle N-Nezu? My arms are b- broken, I- I've got- gotta forfeit. Jiro is the winner."
"Very well," the Principal said, "I wanted to make sure you didn't have anything kick related before I called the match. Jiro, could you please help Hagakur-"
"To Recovery Girl?" Kyoka asked, helping Toru stand, carefully avoiding her wrists as she did so, "Yeah, obviously. C'mon, Toru, let's get you patched up… and maybe myself too, I think I might be peeing blood otherwise. Did you have to hit me in the side so many times?"
"Did you have to break my arms?" Toru asked back through a combination of sniffles and laughter.
"Hey," Kyoka shot back, "You're the one who started pulling my jacks! Those are sensitive, you know!"
- Location
- Canada
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Jesus christ, this sports festival is gonna go down as something else huh?
ThatOnePsycho
Tilting his Vanes and Ennobling His Spires
I mean, this is far more normal "Plus Ultra" than "fucker dying in the middle of a match".
ThatOnePsycho
Tilting his Vanes and Ennobling His Spires
That plotpoint isn't forgotten, by the by. Tenya won't be getting any unfortunate phonecall in this timeline because Stain is backpacking towards Mustafu.
You are bound and determined to see them all in therapy aren't you?
ThatOnePsycho
Tilting his Vanes and Ennobling His Spires
Quick bit of notes. Next chapter will probably take a couple of weeks to get out. Not only do I serious-fucking-ly need to stop screwing over Red Owl fans by saying I'll update it and then not, I promised Master of Heroes fans they'd be getting Interludes and a chapter.
Otherwise, I posted chapter one of And All The Sinners Saints, the Swain!Izuku fic I mentioned a while back a couple days ago, which I'm sure, between the Scáthach Interlude to Master, The Gehrman one here, that and the new chapter to this gave the illusion I was going full maniac (for the record, the only things I hadn't already written and been sitting on for a while were the Scáthach Interlude, which I wrote to celebrate successfully rolling her, and this chapter.)
Otherwise, I posted chapter one of And All The Sinners Saints, the Swain!Izuku fic I mentioned a while back a couple days ago, which I'm sure, between the Scáthach Interlude to Master, The Gehrman one here, that and the new chapter to this gave the illusion I was going full maniac (for the record, the only things I hadn't already written and been sitting on for a while were the Scáthach Interlude, which I wrote to celebrate successfully rolling her, and this chapter.)
- Location
- Arizona
- Pronouns
- Him/His
I think they need to see a Great One for that.
Then I expect to see everyone, even the villains, lining up for therapy. Crime shall drop to zero while everyone starts growing eyes on the inside.
Yarnham gives lie to then lack of crime from insight.
- Location
- Arizona
- Pronouns
- Him/His
...What? I feel like some words/terms that are needed for that sentence to make sense are missing.
The assertion that gaining insight "growing eyes on the inside" will lead to a lessening of crime is false given the evidence of general insanity and lawlessness in Yarnham.
Chapter 19
ThatOnePsycho
Tilting his Vanes and Ennobling His Spires
Momo walked into the arena with her shirt unzipped, looking up at Midoriya. He had pushed the worn tophat he was wearing up, staring down at her. Great, he was gonna be judging her combat through this, wasn't he?
Breathing in, she stopped in the arena across from the pink haired girl from the Support Course, who was wearing a pair of large boots and a holster for the gun she had used in the last round. Momo's hair bristled as she stared at it, while Hatsume hummed and tilted her head, "You sure you don't want them? Last chance."
"No," Momo said, breathing in, "I'm fine without them."
"Kill my plans," Hatsume grumbled, making Momo all the more sure she had made the right decision.
"Ready?" Nezu asked, and both girls nodded, "begin!"
With a draw like lightning, Hatsume cleared leather, a capsule launching from the gun and exploded into a net at subsonic speeds. At the same time, Momo's hands swept down, a copy of a familiar odachi forming and hitting the net. The carbon fiber wrapped around Chiseki, pulling the blade from Momo's hands. Momo grabbed the zipper of her gym uniform and unzipped it to expose her sports bra.
Shrugging off the blue shirt, Momo tossed it at Hatsume as the pink haired girl loaded another capsule. A loud hum came across the stadium and Hatsume shot into the air.
"Nice try, but my repulsor boots let me fly into the air like I've got a jumping Quirk!" Hatsume boasted loudly, her eyes drifting towards… where… the… support companies were…
So Hatsume wanted to use her as a mannequin for showing off? They'd see about that!
Three weeks of training with Izuku brought Momo to pulling a spear from her gut, a shield exploding from her arm. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Izuku shift.
---
Shields were rare among Hunters. The mobs of Yharnam used rudimentary ones often, but actual Hunters rarely saw the point. A Beast was fast enough you weren't likely to get your guard up, and strong enough to rip it apart if you somehow did. It was far more worth your time to sharpen your senses and reflexes to a razor's edge and avoid being disemboweled that way.
So when Momo pulled out a shield, Izuku immediately began to silently run simulations of how to win against it in a corner of his mind. His eyes began to take in the fight in a void, replacing Hatsume with himself and drowning out the noise as he got serious.
Spear stab over the top of the shield as he came down, would have punctured a lung. Twist to the side, use the momentum to thrust Chiseki around the edge and into her throat.
Deflecting the net with a bash of her shield, Quicken within her guard as she's exposed and plunge the blade into her heart.
Data was strong, information as complete as complete could be. Nothing to forget about like the capture tape, just a single spear maiden fighting to prove she was the best. Odds were fifty fifty he'd be fighting her or Kacchan in the finals, though part of that was him not knowing what Tokage could do. Kaminari and Kendo were possible, but odds were low in his mind.
When they fought, Izuku would be ready to defeat her. Even restricted to non-lethal, he would win the day. There was no other option, his lady was waiting for him to return with the first place medal. And on his honour as the Last Knight of Cainhurst, return with it he would.
---
Kyoka watched Midoriya rest his hands on his sword hilt, the sheathed blade resting on the ground as his eyes both bored into the fight below and seemed to stare into infinity. The fight wasn't as frantic as hers and Toru's had bee-
"How are you?" Izuku suddenly asked, not taking his eyes off where YaoMomo had just cleared space between her and Hatsume, punching with the edge of the shield and forcing the pink haired girl to repulse away as fast as she could, "That was a nasty fight you both had."
"You couldn't see us," Kyoka pointed out.
"I could hear it," Izuku returned, tapping his hands on his sword, "She's not taking this seriously."
"Who?"
"Hatsume," Izuku said, "She's using this as an opportunity to show off equipment, not to win. Not surprising, I suppose, she's a Support student, not a Hero… but it's still disappointing… it's over."
"What?" Kyoka watched Yaomomo land a strike from the butt of her spear. Her shield crashing home into Hatsume's side and sending her flying out of the arena as her repulsor boots added to the momentum.
"How," Toru breathed, "your Quirk lets you see the future too?"
"No," Izuku's eyes broke from the fight, "practice. I lost to Kendo because I didn't take things seriously and wasn't sure what she could do, that won't happen again.
Just friggin' hand him the gold already then. Kyoka had seen what Izuku did when he took things seriously at the USJ, she didn't think anyone could stop him if he was taking it seriously, "Hey?"
"Hmm?"
"Why are you taking this so seriously?" Kyoka asked, "You don't seem like the hyper competitive type."
"I made a promise to win this," Midoriya said, letting go of his sword and letting it sink into his omnipresent mist, "I need to go find Yaoyorozu. We need to talk tactics for the next big match she has."
"Think this one will go quickly?"
"Probably," Izuku said, passing them, "One way or the other. See you later, Kyoka."
"See ya later, Izuku," Kyoka said.
Then Izuku stopped, "You two never answered my question, how are you?"
"Oh!" Toru said, jumping in place, "much better! Recovery Girl healed everything just fine!"
"Good to hear," Izuku smiled, an honest thing as some of the missing luster appeared in his eyes, "I wouldn't want either of you permanently hurting each other!"
"Nah," Toru said, yawning, "it's just a bit tiring, Izuku."
---
Denki stepped into the arena across from Kendo, watching her stretch as she went. Then he glanced up at where the rest of 1-A was, breathing in.
Kendo had beaten Midoriya, even if he insisted (and honestly, probably had been) he had been holding back. Could he really beat her…?
do your very best. That way, whoever has won when the dust settles can say they won against everyone trying their best.
Right. He could do that at least… Even if he lost, he could lose in a way that made himself and Kendo look good.
"Ready?" Nezu asked, before swinging his hand down, "Go!"
Kendo immediately rushed towards him, hands growing. Denki grabbed the crackling inside his chest and swung his arms to the ground, doing the one thing he knew he could do better than her.
He brought the thunder.
"Indiscriminate Shock: 1.3 Million Volts!" Denki yelled, electricity exploding out of his body and lighting up the arena. Kendo spasmed, falling to the ground and dancing across it as electricity lit up her nerves.
"The winner of that incredibly short bout," rat-man said, "is Denki Kaminari!"
Whey?
"That was a bad matchup for Kendo," home teach said, "it doesn't matter how much martial arts training in the world if your opponent has a omnidirectional taser you can't stop."
Whey.
"Yeah, but… well, what's wrong with Kaminari?"
Whey? Denki lifted his thumbs to say nothing was wrong.
"Kaminari has a limit on how much electricity he can release before he fries his own brain temporarily," Home Teach said, "he crossed it. This was a win by technically. If Kendo had any way to block that attack, Kaminari would be defenseless and out of the arena right now."
Whey…
---
Katsuki cracked his joints, stepping into the arena to thunderous applause. Yeah, sure some of it was for Four Eyes, but most of it was definitely for him.
"Here we go!" Present Mic called over the roar of the crowd, "in one corner, we have the Blond Bomber, Bakugo Katsuki! His Quirk, if you're just tuning in or haven't put it together yet, allows him to sweat an explosive compound from his hands! Don't ask me how he detonates it, I couldn't tell you!
The crowd roared, as if the stupid joke was funny.
"You might remember him from when he fought against a villain made of sludge long enough to be rescued by All Might and Backdraft!"
Oh, fuck you.
"And in the other, do I really need to introduce him? The second son of the Iida family, inheritor of their Engine Quirk, it's Iida Tenya!"
"Ready to lose?" Katsuki gritted out, throat hurting slightly even as he stared down Four Eyes. He didn't rise to the taunt.
"Ready?" Nezu said, before waving his hand without really checking, "go!"
Both Katsuki and Four Eyes launched forwards, explosions coming from one's hands while the other's engines roared. Katsuki threw one hand up, micro explosions going off, as he caught the axe kick from Four Eyes and began to burn through the pants leg. Or would have, if his hand hadn't begun to ache from the sheer horsepower that slammed into it.
Fuck, this hadn't been his best idea.
Building up sweat, Katsuki blasted Iida back, sending him flipping. Keeping up the offensive, Katsuki closed into range of Four Eyes…
And early immediately regretted it as Iida launched a lightning fast kick into his side, throwing him across the field. Katsuki landed, and found himself on the defensive, deflecting kicks as best he could as Iida repeatedly launched them as quickly as he could.
"That's what you get when you go up against the son and brother of a Pro!" Present Mic yelled over the roar of the crowd. Katsuki caught a kick on the side of his arm, gritting his teeth as he did. He could feel the bones getting closer to breaking. Iida's kicks, he was forced to admit, were no joke.
And if he didn't do something fast, he was screwed. His collarbone ached as Iida slammed a kick into it from above. He wasn't gonna lose here. He had to get to Deku in the finals and get some answers out of him.
"Point Blank Stun Grenade," Katsuki growled, detonating a blast that was all flash and no strength. His vision went white, a ringing in his ears.
Reaching out, he grabbed Iida by the shoulders and began to blast consecutively and quickly. No time to build up sweat, just burn him out of the are-
"You should have used this time to clear some space between us," Iida advised. Then another kick slammed into Katsuki's side, and he felt something crack, "because all you did was show me where you were."
"Fuck," Katsuki breathed out around the broken rib, firing off enough explosions to give himself some space, "you! They're gonna have to carry me out on a stretcher if you wanna win."
---
Tenya lowered himself, the part of his brain unique to the Iida family, the one that controlled his engines stalled. Just for a second. He had wanted to hold this for as long as possible. His ace in the hole.
No. He wanted to win this tournament. He wanted to come back to Tensei, smile at him and say confidently "I am the first Iida to win the UA Sports Festival".
And failing that, he wanted to claim to be the first one to place in the top three.
"Recipro," the torque and RPM started up as Bakugo angled his hands towards Tenya. Naught to overdrive in less then a second. Kicking forwards with white and blue flames trailing from his Engines, Tenya was within Bakugo's guard faster than he could blink. His knee slammed home, sending Bakugo flying backwards with several cracks, "BURST!"
Normally, Tenya would have pleaded for sanity to win the day. Bakugo couldn't keep up with him during Recipro Burst. But that was the thing. This was during Recipro Burst. Ten seconds of speed, ten seconds to win victory.
Tenya launched kick after kick at Bakugo, as quickly as he could within those ten seconds. Bones cracked with each kick, occasionally Bakugo would throw up an attempt at a guard. Tenya bulldozed through it like chaff paper. Finally at the end of the ten seconds, with his engines stalled, Tenya found himself facing the broken, but unbowed, frame of Bakugo.
"I didn't…" Bakugo took a step forwards, only to nearly crumple. He raised his hand, the one still usable, "I didn't hear a bell, you-"
"Bakugo," Nezu called quietly, "It's over."
"I can still fight!"
"And while that might win the day in a battle," Nezu said, "this isn't a battle. We already had one person fight beyond the point of reason and sanity today. I won't let you risk your permanent health for a victory. You'll have two more attempts at UA. You're done."
Bakugo's hand crackled. And finally he dropped it and looked at Iida, "Watch out for Deku… something isn't right in his head any… more…
Tenya rushed forwards as Bakugo's legs finally gave out, helping him to the ground.
"I don't need… don't… fuck it. Today isn't the day for this."
---
So, I'm gonna end this here, because frankly 1) Setsuna really can't lose her next match and 2)... if I'm honest, I know this ending is gonna be so controversial anything I do after it will be white noise. I'm pretty sure a lot of people expected Bakugo and Izuku to be facing each other in the finals. But with the fact that Iida can keep up with Stain, and that Recipro Burst had been kept under wraps to this point… yeah, I do legitimately think Iida would win a fight during the Sports Festival. He nearly won against Shoto after all.
Breathing in, she stopped in the arena across from the pink haired girl from the Support Course, who was wearing a pair of large boots and a holster for the gun she had used in the last round. Momo's hair bristled as she stared at it, while Hatsume hummed and tilted her head, "You sure you don't want them? Last chance."
"No," Momo said, breathing in, "I'm fine without them."
"Kill my plans," Hatsume grumbled, making Momo all the more sure she had made the right decision.
"Ready?" Nezu asked, and both girls nodded, "begin!"
With a draw like lightning, Hatsume cleared leather, a capsule launching from the gun and exploded into a net at subsonic speeds. At the same time, Momo's hands swept down, a copy of a familiar odachi forming and hitting the net. The carbon fiber wrapped around Chiseki, pulling the blade from Momo's hands. Momo grabbed the zipper of her gym uniform and unzipped it to expose her sports bra.
Shrugging off the blue shirt, Momo tossed it at Hatsume as the pink haired girl loaded another capsule. A loud hum came across the stadium and Hatsume shot into the air.
"Nice try, but my repulsor boots let me fly into the air like I've got a jumping Quirk!" Hatsume boasted loudly, her eyes drifting towards… where… the… support companies were…
So Hatsume wanted to use her as a mannequin for showing off? They'd see about that!
Three weeks of training with Izuku brought Momo to pulling a spear from her gut, a shield exploding from her arm. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Izuku shift.
---
Shields were rare among Hunters. The mobs of Yharnam used rudimentary ones often, but actual Hunters rarely saw the point. A Beast was fast enough you weren't likely to get your guard up, and strong enough to rip it apart if you somehow did. It was far more worth your time to sharpen your senses and reflexes to a razor's edge and avoid being disemboweled that way.
So when Momo pulled out a shield, Izuku immediately began to silently run simulations of how to win against it in a corner of his mind. His eyes began to take in the fight in a void, replacing Hatsume with himself and drowning out the noise as he got serious.
Spear stab over the top of the shield as he came down, would have punctured a lung. Twist to the side, use the momentum to thrust Chiseki around the edge and into her throat.
Deflecting the net with a bash of her shield, Quicken within her guard as she's exposed and plunge the blade into her heart.
Data was strong, information as complete as complete could be. Nothing to forget about like the capture tape, just a single spear maiden fighting to prove she was the best. Odds were fifty fifty he'd be fighting her or Kacchan in the finals, though part of that was him not knowing what Tokage could do. Kaminari and Kendo were possible, but odds were low in his mind.
When they fought, Izuku would be ready to defeat her. Even restricted to non-lethal, he would win the day. There was no other option, his lady was waiting for him to return with the first place medal. And on his honour as the Last Knight of Cainhurst, return with it he would.
---
Kyoka watched Midoriya rest his hands on his sword hilt, the sheathed blade resting on the ground as his eyes both bored into the fight below and seemed to stare into infinity. The fight wasn't as frantic as hers and Toru's had bee-
"How are you?" Izuku suddenly asked, not taking his eyes off where YaoMomo had just cleared space between her and Hatsume, punching with the edge of the shield and forcing the pink haired girl to repulse away as fast as she could, "That was a nasty fight you both had."
"You couldn't see us," Kyoka pointed out.
"I could hear it," Izuku returned, tapping his hands on his sword, "She's not taking this seriously."
"Who?"
"Hatsume," Izuku said, "She's using this as an opportunity to show off equipment, not to win. Not surprising, I suppose, she's a Support student, not a Hero… but it's still disappointing… it's over."
"What?" Kyoka watched Yaomomo land a strike from the butt of her spear. Her shield crashing home into Hatsume's side and sending her flying out of the arena as her repulsor boots added to the momentum.
"How," Toru breathed, "your Quirk lets you see the future too?"
"No," Izuku's eyes broke from the fight, "practice. I lost to Kendo because I didn't take things seriously and wasn't sure what she could do, that won't happen again.
Just friggin' hand him the gold already then. Kyoka had seen what Izuku did when he took things seriously at the USJ, she didn't think anyone could stop him if he was taking it seriously, "Hey?"
"Hmm?"
"Why are you taking this so seriously?" Kyoka asked, "You don't seem like the hyper competitive type."
"I made a promise to win this," Midoriya said, letting go of his sword and letting it sink into his omnipresent mist, "I need to go find Yaoyorozu. We need to talk tactics for the next big match she has."
"Think this one will go quickly?"
"Probably," Izuku said, passing them, "One way or the other. See you later, Kyoka."
"See ya later, Izuku," Kyoka said.
Then Izuku stopped, "You two never answered my question, how are you?"
"Oh!" Toru said, jumping in place, "much better! Recovery Girl healed everything just fine!"
"Good to hear," Izuku smiled, an honest thing as some of the missing luster appeared in his eyes, "I wouldn't want either of you permanently hurting each other!"
"Nah," Toru said, yawning, "it's just a bit tiring, Izuku."
---
Denki stepped into the arena across from Kendo, watching her stretch as she went. Then he glanced up at where the rest of 1-A was, breathing in.
Kendo had beaten Midoriya, even if he insisted (and honestly, probably had been) he had been holding back. Could he really beat her…?
do your very best. That way, whoever has won when the dust settles can say they won against everyone trying their best.
Right. He could do that at least… Even if he lost, he could lose in a way that made himself and Kendo look good.
"Ready?" Nezu asked, before swinging his hand down, "Go!"
Kendo immediately rushed towards him, hands growing. Denki grabbed the crackling inside his chest and swung his arms to the ground, doing the one thing he knew he could do better than her.
He brought the thunder.
"Indiscriminate Shock: 1.3 Million Volts!" Denki yelled, electricity exploding out of his body and lighting up the arena. Kendo spasmed, falling to the ground and dancing across it as electricity lit up her nerves.
"The winner of that incredibly short bout," rat-man said, "is Denki Kaminari!"
Whey?
"That was a bad matchup for Kendo," home teach said, "it doesn't matter how much martial arts training in the world if your opponent has a omnidirectional taser you can't stop."
Whey.
"Yeah, but… well, what's wrong with Kaminari?"
Whey? Denki lifted his thumbs to say nothing was wrong.
"Kaminari has a limit on how much electricity he can release before he fries his own brain temporarily," Home Teach said, "he crossed it. This was a win by technically. If Kendo had any way to block that attack, Kaminari would be defenseless and out of the arena right now."
Whey…
---
Katsuki cracked his joints, stepping into the arena to thunderous applause. Yeah, sure some of it was for Four Eyes, but most of it was definitely for him.
"Here we go!" Present Mic called over the roar of the crowd, "in one corner, we have the Blond Bomber, Bakugo Katsuki! His Quirk, if you're just tuning in or haven't put it together yet, allows him to sweat an explosive compound from his hands! Don't ask me how he detonates it, I couldn't tell you!
The crowd roared, as if the stupid joke was funny.
"You might remember him from when he fought against a villain made of sludge long enough to be rescued by All Might and Backdraft!"
Oh, fuck you.
"And in the other, do I really need to introduce him? The second son of the Iida family, inheritor of their Engine Quirk, it's Iida Tenya!"
"Ready to lose?" Katsuki gritted out, throat hurting slightly even as he stared down Four Eyes. He didn't rise to the taunt.
"Ready?" Nezu said, before waving his hand without really checking, "go!"
Both Katsuki and Four Eyes launched forwards, explosions coming from one's hands while the other's engines roared. Katsuki threw one hand up, micro explosions going off, as he caught the axe kick from Four Eyes and began to burn through the pants leg. Or would have, if his hand hadn't begun to ache from the sheer horsepower that slammed into it.
Fuck, this hadn't been his best idea.
Building up sweat, Katsuki blasted Iida back, sending him flipping. Keeping up the offensive, Katsuki closed into range of Four Eyes…
And early immediately regretted it as Iida launched a lightning fast kick into his side, throwing him across the field. Katsuki landed, and found himself on the defensive, deflecting kicks as best he could as Iida repeatedly launched them as quickly as he could.
"That's what you get when you go up against the son and brother of a Pro!" Present Mic yelled over the roar of the crowd. Katsuki caught a kick on the side of his arm, gritting his teeth as he did. He could feel the bones getting closer to breaking. Iida's kicks, he was forced to admit, were no joke.
And if he didn't do something fast, he was screwed. His collarbone ached as Iida slammed a kick into it from above. He wasn't gonna lose here. He had to get to Deku in the finals and get some answers out of him.
"Point Blank Stun Grenade," Katsuki growled, detonating a blast that was all flash and no strength. His vision went white, a ringing in his ears.
Reaching out, he grabbed Iida by the shoulders and began to blast consecutively and quickly. No time to build up sweat, just burn him out of the are-
"You should have used this time to clear some space between us," Iida advised. Then another kick slammed into Katsuki's side, and he felt something crack, "because all you did was show me where you were."
"Fuck," Katsuki breathed out around the broken rib, firing off enough explosions to give himself some space, "you! They're gonna have to carry me out on a stretcher if you wanna win."
---
Tenya lowered himself, the part of his brain unique to the Iida family, the one that controlled his engines stalled. Just for a second. He had wanted to hold this for as long as possible. His ace in the hole.
No. He wanted to win this tournament. He wanted to come back to Tensei, smile at him and say confidently "I am the first Iida to win the UA Sports Festival".
And failing that, he wanted to claim to be the first one to place in the top three.
"Recipro," the torque and RPM started up as Bakugo angled his hands towards Tenya. Naught to overdrive in less then a second. Kicking forwards with white and blue flames trailing from his Engines, Tenya was within Bakugo's guard faster than he could blink. His knee slammed home, sending Bakugo flying backwards with several cracks, "BURST!"
Normally, Tenya would have pleaded for sanity to win the day. Bakugo couldn't keep up with him during Recipro Burst. But that was the thing. This was during Recipro Burst. Ten seconds of speed, ten seconds to win victory.
Tenya launched kick after kick at Bakugo, as quickly as he could within those ten seconds. Bones cracked with each kick, occasionally Bakugo would throw up an attempt at a guard. Tenya bulldozed through it like chaff paper. Finally at the end of the ten seconds, with his engines stalled, Tenya found himself facing the broken, but unbowed, frame of Bakugo.
"I didn't…" Bakugo took a step forwards, only to nearly crumple. He raised his hand, the one still usable, "I didn't hear a bell, you-"
"Bakugo," Nezu called quietly, "It's over."
"I can still fight!"
"And while that might win the day in a battle," Nezu said, "this isn't a battle. We already had one person fight beyond the point of reason and sanity today. I won't let you risk your permanent health for a victory. You'll have two more attempts at UA. You're done."
Bakugo's hand crackled. And finally he dropped it and looked at Iida, "Watch out for Deku… something isn't right in his head any… more…
Tenya rushed forwards as Bakugo's legs finally gave out, helping him to the ground.
"I don't need… don't… fuck it. Today isn't the day for this."
---
So, I'm gonna end this here, because frankly 1) Setsuna really can't lose her next match and 2)... if I'm honest, I know this ending is gonna be so controversial anything I do after it will be white noise. I'm pretty sure a lot of people expected Bakugo and Izuku to be facing each other in the finals. But with the fact that Iida can keep up with Stain, and that Recipro Burst had been kept under wraps to this point… yeah, I do legitimately think Iida would win a fight during the Sports Festival. He nearly won against Shoto after all.
- Location
- Canada
Nope. End of Chapter 16
Izuku vs Komori. He effectively "died." but since Midnight didn't call it before he threw Komori from the ring, it was his victory.
Chapter 20
ThatOnePsycho
Tilting his Vanes and Ennobling His Spires
I'm dealing with "butter across too much bread syndrome, so the chapter will be shorter for a bit.
---
Ibara stepped into the arena across from Midoriya, trying to hide the tension coiling in her gut. She was one of the last two members of 1-B still in the tournament. She had to win here… and she had to gain retribution for him scaring Komori, scaring them all like that. The rest of her class expected her to.
The green haired boy shrugged off his green long coat to gasps, cheers and even a few squeals. Thin, corded muscles on a skinny frame rippled with each step. Like a bodybuilder before a photoshoot. Before the jacket hit the ground, mist rose up around it and made it disappear. Midoriya held out a hand, his flesh and blood one, to Ibara. After a moment's hesitation, she took it and shook it.
"Ready?" Nezu asked, and both students nodded, "Go!"
"Via Dolorosa," Ibara said, her hair reaching out in thick ropes of vines towards Midoriya. He swept down, kneeling as he gripped something within the smoke as the vines converged on his location.
"Sweet Blood," he said, drawing a sword from his mist and along his encircling hand. Nezu jerked.
"Midoriya!"
"Sing…" the noise that came from Midoriya's mouth was disturbingly, intimately wrong... and then the bloodstained blade ignited into red flames as Via Dolorosa converged on all sides. Just before he vanished, golden eyes met hers… and a wave like someone had plunged ice down her soul crashed into her. The next second, she lost control of the vines closest to him as they burned away, Midoriya standing as if he hadn't moved except for the newly sheathed blade, "Living Force: One Mind."
Ibara felt her heartbeat quicken as Midoriya began to walk towards her, launching a torrent of vines at him. Midoriya began to launch into a series of strikes, cutting them to pieces as flames burned them away.
"Stay away," she said, taking a step back as the roiling intent washed over her, "Stay away!"
---
Inko locked up the moment Izuku drew his sword up through his own cupped hand, only loosening when Aizawa gave a tired sigh, "That kid is determined to make us look bad. Everyone, don't worry, Midoriya blood is affected by his Quirk, allowing him to-"
Deep crimson flames exploded along the blade as Izuku lunged up, kicking the sheath into the air and catching it in his free hand.
"-Yeah," Aizawa said, dryly, "That."
"Still, that's not healthy, is it?"
"Healthy? No," Vlad King said, sliding back into his seat next to Present Mic's other side, "but I can't say it's surprising either. Sorry, I decided to check that Komori and Kamikiri were fine before coming back."
"It's fine," Mic said, waving his hand, "What do you mean, it's not surprising?"
"...A lot of kids with blood Quirks resort to stuff like this before we get proper support gear," Vlad said, rubbing the inside of his wrist, "if we want to use our Quirks, we need to draw our own blood."
"Good poi-" Mic started, before jerking his head back towards the match, "wait, what happened there? Can we get a slow mo?"
The screen flickered to show the fight Izuku was in, vines approaching him on all sides in slow motion. Then, as they covered him completely, and Inko found herself praying that he would just go down and stop giving her ulcers, a static and flame covered something lashed out and began to carve through the blades.
"I guess something about Midoriya's power doesn't play well with cameras," Vlad said.
Vine after vine began to fall away as Izuku slashed through them in slow motion. Finally, the camera zoomed in on his face, a look of pure focus on it as he slid the blade into its sheath with a resounding click. And the vines went up like napalm, burning away as they hit the ground. Izuku stood up, walking towards Shiozaki and drawing the sword from its sheath in a flaming slash as another torrent of vines reached him.
---
More eyes flickered open inside Izuku's head as he began to make his way towards Shiozaki. Sliding his sheath onto his waist, Izuku quietly took a two handed stance with Chiseki. Time slowed to his enhanced senses as he breathed in, before beginning to flow from attack to attack. An uppercut that split one vine in two, a step to the left to dodge the follow up before he severed the vines that made up the attack.
It was something nobody who hadn't lived through the hell of Yharnam, or something similar, could understand. A dance as much as a fight. One that caused his very blood to burn, and for Izuku to give a grin that was all teeth.
It was like fighting Ebrietas again. Except this time, the tendrils were all coming from one location instead of randomly summoned portals across the chamber.
Vines wrapped around the hilt of Chiseki, trying to rip it from Izuku's grip. The Last Knight flexed his arms, tearing the blade from the plant matter and burning it away. Eyes watched a whip of vines fly towards him from above, and Izuku wordlessly brought the mixture of odachi and longsword up to catch it. He watched the blade sink into the vines and the supernatural fire burn away the attack before returning to a neutral stance and rushing forwards.
All while his main eyes didn't break from Shiozaki, who looked like someone had walked across her grave. Izuku dodged another vine in a twirl, close enough to Shiozaki to feel her breath on his hair as he went low. Sheathing Chiseki with a click, Izuku pulled the sheath from his hip and drove the pommel of the blade into her gut with enough force to lift her up and throw her back. He followed her, sheathed blade swinging out and forcing her to backpedal.
"I said…'' she snarled, and a torrent of vines came for him. Izuku leapt back to give himself enough space to draw the blade without accidentally cutting Shiozaki, "stay away from me!"
Izuku redoubled his efforts to clear the vines as they came again, twirling and spinning to dodge them when that wasn't possible.
Here was the Paleblood Sky, the Cosmos bled dry.
Unlike the last time Izuku used it, he gouged an X of flames into the world in less than a second, sending it to detonate and burn away the wall of vines that had formed between them.
Hear as the Funeral Bell rings, for this was the end of all things.
Izuku rushed into the hole with Quickening, watching Shiozaki's eyes widen, he slammed Isshin into her chest and pushed her five extra steps. Right out of the arena and onto her bottom.
"The winner is Midoriya Izuku!" Izuku dropped Chiseki the minute his victory was called, holding out a hand for Shiozaki to take. She reached up, hesitating at first, and took it, and Izuku helped her to her feat.
"Good fight," Izuku said, smiling at her. Living Force finally flickered out and died within his chest, the flames still going on behind him guttering and dying, leaving nothing behind but blacked vines.
---
"Midoriya does seem to like to give a bit of sportsmanship after the matches," Kyoka listened to Vlad King say.
"He just doesn't hold back when they're opponents," Aizawa said, before turning as she knocked, "Jiro, you're not supposed to be here."
"I need to borrow the mic for a second," she said, seriously. Aizawa's eyes widened, before looking her over once.
"Little listener," Mic said, "we can't-"
"Go ahead," Aizawa-Sensei said, standing up and gesturing towards his microphone.
"Shouta?"
"I'm almost sure I know what she's gonna say," Aizawa stepped to the side, "it won't do any harm. And if I'm wrong, I'll take responsibility."
Kyoka walked up to the mic, breathing in before saying, "Hey… this is Jiro Kyoka… and I'm throwing in the towel here."
"What?" Mic said, "You sure, Little Listener?"
"Yeah," Kyoka said, "I'm not even beginning to be ready to fight Todoroki. And sometimes, the best thing a Hero can do is acknowledge that and step back from a fight, isn't it?"
"Hmm… And can I ask why you say that?" Vlad King said, "some would say it's our responsibility to try no matter what."
"All we'd be doing is getting in the way and becoming someone who has to be rescued too," Kyoka defended, "would you take an assignment you knew you wouldn't be-"
"Good answer," Vlad cut her off. What, "I wanted to see what you said, I didn't disagree with you. Yes, when a Hero is given the ability to know the Quirk of those they're fighting, it's for the best to pick matchups you can be sure you'll be of assistance in. There will be people who regard you doing so as cowardice, but as you said, if there's no chance you can help then you just become a liability."
---
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♦ Topic: Topic: UA Sports Festival Megathread
In: Boards ► Recent Events ► Kanto
Snikersnack (Original Poster) (Moderator)
Posted On Apr 14th 20XX:
Yearly thread time. Remember to keep things civil, we don't want a repeat of the bans from last year.
(Showing page 349 of 350)
►Edgeshot (Pro Hero)
Replied On Apr 14th 20XX:
She does have a point. And given how the first fight of the first round ended, I can't exactly fault her for being leary to enter the ring for no reason.
►Jack Flash
Replied On Apr 14th 20XX:
Still, what if she decides to jump out of the way... wait.. didn't she say Todoroki was a "monster" last round?
What if he was... you know?
Frost Blade►
Replied On Apr 14th 20XX:
What? One of the members who killed people?
►Jack Flash
Replied On Apr 14th 20XX:
I mean, it makes sense. They were there, they probably know who did the killings. And all...
►Edgeshot (Pro Hero)
Replied On Apr 14th 20XX:
You're accusing Endeavor's son of being a killer. I hope you realize that.
End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 348, 349, 350
---
Kamihara Shinya sat in the part of the stands designated for Pro Heroes, leaning forwards in his chair. What had happened in the arena just then… it hadn't been killing intent, but… close. Like someone had set Midoriya's determination to win literally on fire.
Pulling out his phone, the ninja hero glanced at this open conversation. Round one had made him wary of fulfilling the request of his old mentor, but with round two… yes, it was probably for the best if he did it.
I'll take him in.
---
---
Ibara stepped into the arena across from Midoriya, trying to hide the tension coiling in her gut. She was one of the last two members of 1-B still in the tournament. She had to win here… and she had to gain retribution for him scaring Komori, scaring them all like that. The rest of her class expected her to.
The green haired boy shrugged off his green long coat to gasps, cheers and even a few squeals. Thin, corded muscles on a skinny frame rippled with each step. Like a bodybuilder before a photoshoot. Before the jacket hit the ground, mist rose up around it and made it disappear. Midoriya held out a hand, his flesh and blood one, to Ibara. After a moment's hesitation, she took it and shook it.
"Ready?" Nezu asked, and both students nodded, "Go!"
"Via Dolorosa," Ibara said, her hair reaching out in thick ropes of vines towards Midoriya. He swept down, kneeling as he gripped something within the smoke as the vines converged on his location.
"Sweet Blood," he said, drawing a sword from his mist and along his encircling hand. Nezu jerked.
"Midoriya!"
"Sing…" the noise that came from Midoriya's mouth was disturbingly, intimately wrong... and then the bloodstained blade ignited into red flames as Via Dolorosa converged on all sides. Just before he vanished, golden eyes met hers… and a wave like someone had plunged ice down her soul crashed into her. The next second, she lost control of the vines closest to him as they burned away, Midoriya standing as if he hadn't moved except for the newly sheathed blade, "Living Force: One Mind."
Ibara felt her heartbeat quicken as Midoriya began to walk towards her, launching a torrent of vines at him. Midoriya began to launch into a series of strikes, cutting them to pieces as flames burned them away.
"Stay away," she said, taking a step back as the roiling intent washed over her, "Stay away!"
---
Inko locked up the moment Izuku drew his sword up through his own cupped hand, only loosening when Aizawa gave a tired sigh, "That kid is determined to make us look bad. Everyone, don't worry, Midoriya blood is affected by his Quirk, allowing him to-"
Deep crimson flames exploded along the blade as Izuku lunged up, kicking the sheath into the air and catching it in his free hand.
"-Yeah," Aizawa said, dryly, "That."
"Still, that's not healthy, is it?"
"Healthy? No," Vlad King said, sliding back into his seat next to Present Mic's other side, "but I can't say it's surprising either. Sorry, I decided to check that Komori and Kamikiri were fine before coming back."
"It's fine," Mic said, waving his hand, "What do you mean, it's not surprising?"
"...A lot of kids with blood Quirks resort to stuff like this before we get proper support gear," Vlad said, rubbing the inside of his wrist, "if we want to use our Quirks, we need to draw our own blood."
"Good poi-" Mic started, before jerking his head back towards the match, "wait, what happened there? Can we get a slow mo?"
The screen flickered to show the fight Izuku was in, vines approaching him on all sides in slow motion. Then, as they covered him completely, and Inko found herself praying that he would just go down and stop giving her ulcers, a static and flame covered something lashed out and began to carve through the blades.
"I guess something about Midoriya's power doesn't play well with cameras," Vlad said.
Vine after vine began to fall away as Izuku slashed through them in slow motion. Finally, the camera zoomed in on his face, a look of pure focus on it as he slid the blade into its sheath with a resounding click. And the vines went up like napalm, burning away as they hit the ground. Izuku stood up, walking towards Shiozaki and drawing the sword from its sheath in a flaming slash as another torrent of vines reached him.
---
More eyes flickered open inside Izuku's head as he began to make his way towards Shiozaki. Sliding his sheath onto his waist, Izuku quietly took a two handed stance with Chiseki. Time slowed to his enhanced senses as he breathed in, before beginning to flow from attack to attack. An uppercut that split one vine in two, a step to the left to dodge the follow up before he severed the vines that made up the attack.
It was something nobody who hadn't lived through the hell of Yharnam, or something similar, could understand. A dance as much as a fight. One that caused his very blood to burn, and for Izuku to give a grin that was all teeth.
It was like fighting Ebrietas again. Except this time, the tendrils were all coming from one location instead of randomly summoned portals across the chamber.
Vines wrapped around the hilt of Chiseki, trying to rip it from Izuku's grip. The Last Knight flexed his arms, tearing the blade from the plant matter and burning it away. Eyes watched a whip of vines fly towards him from above, and Izuku wordlessly brought the mixture of odachi and longsword up to catch it. He watched the blade sink into the vines and the supernatural fire burn away the attack before returning to a neutral stance and rushing forwards.
All while his main eyes didn't break from Shiozaki, who looked like someone had walked across her grave. Izuku dodged another vine in a twirl, close enough to Shiozaki to feel her breath on his hair as he went low. Sheathing Chiseki with a click, Izuku pulled the sheath from his hip and drove the pommel of the blade into her gut with enough force to lift her up and throw her back. He followed her, sheathed blade swinging out and forcing her to backpedal.
"I said…'' she snarled, and a torrent of vines came for him. Izuku leapt back to give himself enough space to draw the blade without accidentally cutting Shiozaki, "stay away from me!"
Izuku redoubled his efforts to clear the vines as they came again, twirling and spinning to dodge them when that wasn't possible.
Here was the Paleblood Sky, the Cosmos bled dry.
Unlike the last time Izuku used it, he gouged an X of flames into the world in less than a second, sending it to detonate and burn away the wall of vines that had formed between them.
Hear as the Funeral Bell rings, for this was the end of all things.
Izuku rushed into the hole with Quickening, watching Shiozaki's eyes widen, he slammed Isshin into her chest and pushed her five extra steps. Right out of the arena and onto her bottom.
"The winner is Midoriya Izuku!" Izuku dropped Chiseki the minute his victory was called, holding out a hand for Shiozaki to take. She reached up, hesitating at first, and took it, and Izuku helped her to her feat.
"Good fight," Izuku said, smiling at her. Living Force finally flickered out and died within his chest, the flames still going on behind him guttering and dying, leaving nothing behind but blacked vines.
---
"Midoriya does seem to like to give a bit of sportsmanship after the matches," Kyoka listened to Vlad King say.
"He just doesn't hold back when they're opponents," Aizawa said, before turning as she knocked, "Jiro, you're not supposed to be here."
"I need to borrow the mic for a second," she said, seriously. Aizawa's eyes widened, before looking her over once.
"Little listener," Mic said, "we can't-"
"Go ahead," Aizawa-Sensei said, standing up and gesturing towards his microphone.
"Shouta?"
"I'm almost sure I know what she's gonna say," Aizawa stepped to the side, "it won't do any harm. And if I'm wrong, I'll take responsibility."
Kyoka walked up to the mic, breathing in before saying, "Hey… this is Jiro Kyoka… and I'm throwing in the towel here."
"What?" Mic said, "You sure, Little Listener?"
"Yeah," Kyoka said, "I'm not even beginning to be ready to fight Todoroki. And sometimes, the best thing a Hero can do is acknowledge that and step back from a fight, isn't it?"
"Hmm… And can I ask why you say that?" Vlad King said, "some would say it's our responsibility to try no matter what."
"All we'd be doing is getting in the way and becoming someone who has to be rescued too," Kyoka defended, "would you take an assignment you knew you wouldn't be-"
"Good answer," Vlad cut her off. What, "I wanted to see what you said, I didn't disagree with you. Yes, when a Hero is given the ability to know the Quirk of those they're fighting, it's for the best to pick matchups you can be sure you'll be of assistance in. There will be people who regard you doing so as cowardice, but as you said, if there's no chance you can help then you just become a liability."
---
■
Welcome to the Hero Watch message boards.
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You are viewing:
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■
♦ Topic: Topic: UA Sports Festival Megathread
In: Boards ► Recent Events ► Kanto
Snikersnack (Original Poster) (Moderator)
Posted On Apr 14th 20XX:
Yearly thread time. Remember to keep things civil, we don't want a repeat of the bans from last year.
►Edgeshot (Pro Hero)
Replied On Apr 14th 20XX:
She does have a point. And given how the first fight of the first round ended, I can't exactly fault her for being leary to enter the ring for no reason.
►Jack Flash
Replied On Apr 14th 20XX:
Still, what if she decides to jump out of the way... wait.. didn't she say Todoroki was a "monster" last round?
What if he was... you know?
Frost Blade►
Replied On Apr 14th 20XX:
What? One of the members who killed people?
►Jack Flash
Replied On Apr 14th 20XX:
I mean, it makes sense. They were there, they probably know who did the killings. And all...
►Edgeshot (Pro Hero)
Replied On Apr 14th 20XX:
You're accusing Endeavor's son of being a killer. I hope you realize that.
■
---
Kamihara Shinya sat in the part of the stands designated for Pro Heroes, leaning forwards in his chair. What had happened in the arena just then… it hadn't been killing intent, but… close. Like someone had set Midoriya's determination to win literally on fire.
Pulling out his phone, the ninja hero glanced at this open conversation. Round one had made him wary of fulfilling the request of his old mentor, but with round two… yes, it was probably for the best if he did it.
I'll take him in.
---
Edgeshot is going to possibly mentor Midoriya? This is some great world building.
ThatOnePsycho
Tilting his Vanes and Ennobling His Spires
UA thinks he can incapacitate Izuku if the need arises, it fits Izuku's minor Sekiro motif, it made sense to me.
- Location
- That place where I live?
What exactly does that mean for Izuku's internship offers though, is UA only going to give him edgeshot's or are they only going to let him choose edgeshot?
ThatOnePsycho
Tilting his Vanes and Ennobling His Spires
A little of both.
Izuku has, ATM, made it so very few people want him. Round one was Nightmare Fuel, while round 2 has shown him willingly bloodletting for a power up. He makes canon Izuku look good.
Even Edgeshot, as he himself admits, wasn't sure about taking Izuku in after round 1.
ThatOnePsycho
Tilting his Vanes and Ennobling His Spires
Gang Orca was UA's second pick, since his sonic attack could incapacitate Izuku without knocking him out (they think).