Brave Heart ((TENYA IIDA X OC))

Chapter 19

I dragged my feet as I followed the stagehand through the hallways toward the entrance to the arena, hands clutched and eyes downcast. It felt as if with every step I took closer to the shining light at the end of the tunnel that the anger swelling inside my chest grew. I scolded myself for being so mad, for I had no real reason to be. Everything that has happened today was entirely my fault, I deserved it — but that fact alone wasn't enough to persuade my anger to die down.

This feeling added to Dream Walker's taunts and pleads for control didn't help my situation much either, and by the time I had made it to the entrance of the arena doorway, I had blood pooling in my nails from how hard I was clutching my fists. I could hear Present Mic's creative intro, and taking a deep breath, slowly walked out for the crowd to see me as my name echoed throughout the stadium.

People cheered and spouted false praise on me, and it just made me feel worse.

If they knew what was really going on inside my head, they would rightfully call me a monster — and I wouldn't blame them.

"Facing off with Class A's famous snowflake is another Class A student, and one known for his explosive personality," Present Mic boomed over the loudspeaker as I rooted myself on the left end of the stage. "Bakugou Katsuki!"

At his name, the blond came trudging up the stone steps to face off with me, hands shoved deep within his pockets and a scowl playing across his face. The reality of having to fight him had only just then sunken in, and I suddenly felt my stomach drop to the ground beneath me.

I recalled Midoriya saying that Bakugou would be an easy foe to defeat with the help of my Frost quirk's ability to control the weather, but I didn't know how well I'd be able to concentrate with not only Dream Walker squawking in my ear, but also having to focus on avoiding Bakugou's explosions. If this was a normal circumstance, using Frost entirely would be an easy task, but with the bubble of rage that could pop any moment and how hazy everything seemed, I didn't know how well I'd be able to finish this fight.

I didn't know if I'd be able to win.

The seconds separating this fight to start felt as if they were crawling on forever, and as I stood there, my eyes traveled up to class 1-A's bleachers. I picked off the bandaged face of my sister with Karafuru sitting right next to her, both of which wielding expressions of encouragement as they both simultaneously nodded at me. I let out a brief exhale, and in doing so turned to the portion of the bleachers where the Pro Heroes sat, and in turn locked gazes with Aunt Hiroe. Her smile lifted my heavy heart somewhat, and when the ends of her lips perked up, she rose a fist halfway in the air as she too nodded encouragingly.

They aided my troubled mind barely, and I forced myself to look back to my opponent as time suddenly sped back up again. The cheer of the crowd was deafening, and the look Bakugou held was almost suffocating. He was still scowling, but there was a look in his eye that I couldn't quite place. Maybe it was discomfort, or a glint of relief at the fact that he was now finally able to 'blow me up' like he said he would when we informally met on our first day at U.A. Either way, I wasn't going to enjoy this fight, not when it was against someone I had grown to care about, nor with how my underlying situation was deciding to play out.

"Is everybody ready?!" Present Mic blared excitedly, prompting me to hold my breath. "I shouldn't bother asking! Let's get this show on the road, start!"

Bakugou and I shared a brief glance with each other before the two of us decided to charge forward. His palms were held straight and glowed with the ember of his dwelling explosions, and I ran blindly, without a solid strategy on how I was going to get through this.

I went with dodging his fist attempt by using ice to glide behind him. He was quick to pivot and meet my frost bitten hand with his own, warm one, and he didn't hesitate to let his explosion go off against my palm. I hissed in pain and doubled back a bit to put distance between us before shaking it off and bolting straight for him again.