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-(Y/N)'s POV-
The second round of the sports festival was boring. A team match, which meant that the four Orders of our class grouped up in an instant. Along with that, it was a point based cavalry battle.
The points of each team were determined by the place the members came during the first round. Five points to the one who qualified last, the person in 42nd place. Ten points for 41st place, fifteen for 40th, and so on. The only exception to that pattern was Eiji, the one in first place. First place received ten million points.
The gazes of every participant fixed on our group at those words, though we didn't really care. Bind Dominator's territory has the power to hold the planet in place if Eiji wants, so keeping all opposing teams a minimum of five metres away would be easy.
That's actually what happened as well. Those who tried approaching us during the event were shut down by an invisible barrier that stopped them in their tracks. It quickly became apparent to them that achieving our ten million, five hundred and fifty five points was less than a pipe dream, and they gave up.
We sat down and played Rock Paper Scissors until the event ended. It was difficult and slow, given that we knew what each other was thinking and planned accordingly, only for them to sense that plan and change strategies. In the end though, it was just to kill time.
"It's weird, isn't it?" Eiji asked as Present Mic yelled to signal the end of the event. "Didn't Midnight say something like, 'Those at the top will suffer more'? I don't know about you guys, but I don't feel like I'm suffering." He floated up a bit as the rest of us got up from our seats on the ground.
"She probably meant, 'those at the top without omnipotent powers granted by a god will suffer more'," I said. "It's not like anyone could get to us though. Did you let that class B guy go?"
"The one that slipped through the floor? Yeah, he's over there," Eiji pointed, looking over at one of class B's recommended students.
Grey hair and exposed teeth that made his face look like a skull, and a quirk to make the ground soft enough that he could swim through it. He assumed that Eiji's barrier was only above ground, so he tried diving and swimming under. Eiji messed with him and let him in, only to freeze him in place as soon as his head surfaced. He was glaring at us since we laughed at him while he was frozen, and then ignored him while he struggled.
"Now, let's take a look at the top four teams right away!" Mic called as the screens around the stadium switched to a scoreboard. "In first place, Team Hoshimiya!"
I saw Eiji smirk at the team name, but considering two of our group no longer had last names, there weren't many choices. That, and he managed to beat Rin in Rock Paper Scissors for the official title of team leader.
"In second place, Team Todoroki!" Mic continued. I spotted this team around a few times. Todoroki, Iida, Yaoyorozu, and Kaminari. Despite Todoroki's offensive weakness on his left side since he won't use the heat aspect of his quirk to fight with fire, they fit together well. Kaminari handled any offence in the left that they needed while Yaoyorozu insulated everyone with her creations. She also made roller blades so Iida could pull everyone around. They were less like the "horses" as stated in the rules, and more like a "chariot".
"In third place, Team Bakugo!" Bakugo, Kirishima, Sero, and Ashido. Kirishima's hardening quirk made him one of the few people that could withstand Bakugo's explosive assaults. I saw Mina and Sero working together at Bakugo's order to increase their speed in a straight line, which they used to catch up to a prideful and condescending jackass from class B.
Needless to say that Bakugo wasn't happy with his third place spot.
"And in fourth place, Team Midoriya!" Midoriya, Uraraka, Tokoyami, and a girl from the support course, Mei Hatsume. They didn't fight when they didn't need to, choosing to use Uraraka's Zero Gravity in combination with Hatsume's hover boot support gear to avoid everyone and keep the six hundred and thirty points that they started with. Though they now had eight hundred and sixty five points, so they obviously took some other points as well. Dark Shadow was both a brilliant spear and shield for their team, though I did notice Midoriya fight Todoroki with his quirk without breaking his arm. That made the green haired boy the spear in that fight.
"These four teams will advance to the final round!" Mic finished. "Now we'll take an hour break for lunch before we start the afternoon activities! Hey, Eraser Head, let's go grab food."
"I'm going to sleep."
Since we were on break, we stepped outside the stadium to the many food stands that were set up. We bought a bit of everything and set ourselves down on some grass, well out of the way of anyone checking out the stalls.
"So..." Rin started as she opened a yakisoba box. "The next round's the tournament thing, right?"
"Yeah, but I'm not joining in," Eiji told us. "As much as I find knocking people off their feet to be fun, that's just about all I have to do. If I step onto that stage, I win... unless I'm against (Y/N)."
"Makes sense," I nodded, noticing two people approaching. "Then you can stay with them and see how this goes down."
"'Them'? Who are-"
"Big brother!"
The voice made everyone turn and look at the two people who were coming to meet us, one of which was in a wheelchair, and the other had a red ribbon tied up that made her look like she had red bunny ears.
"Sena!" Eiji called as he got up to hug his sister. He stepped back, looking sorry after Iyo coughed to get his attention, looking hurt. "Oh, right. Sorry... Iyo..!" he said, trying to fake the enthusiasm. Everyone laughed at him, and Iyo failed to keep the hurt look on her face.
"It's fine, Eiji. It's good to see you all," Iyo said, leaving Sena with Eiji to grab the rest of us in a group hug. "Are you okay? I heard about the USJ attack on the news."
"The villains?" Rin asked. "They weren't exactly hardened criminals. Most of them seemed like petty thugs. Cannon fodder. They were easy to deal with."
"'Most'?" Iyo repeated. "So there were some stronger ones?"
"Three," I told her as we all sat down around the little buffet we bought at the stalls. "Well, technically two, but they had a strong puppet. A warp gate and some guy who can disintegrate things. Not a good combo for us, and they knew about Orders."
"That's...weird, but not impossible. Daisy spends all of her time either watching Orders or making them, so it doesn't really surprise me that villains learned of them," Iyo explained. "I can't think of any Orders that became villains though, so that's... something, I guess."
"That's bad isn't it?" Chiyori asked. "If there's an Order working for this 'League of Villains', we're up against someone we don't know the powers of."
"And to top it off, this event broadcasts UA's best students, their powers, how everyone else lost, and how they fight to the rest of Japan," I realised. "That'll be a big disadvantage later, not just for things in the field, but for licensing exams as well. Strengths, weaknesses, strategies... They know a lot about us, and we know nothing of them."
"Wow, really seeing the glass half empty, aren't you (Y/N)?" Eiji asked as he grabbed some food for Sena.
"Is there a half full version? It seems pretty empty to me."
"Think of it this way. We show our strength to Japan, get right on spotting flaws in our classmates' fights, and help them fix their problems. You all get stronger, and the villains lose their advantage over us!" Eiji announced.
"You said 'you all', not 'we all'," Iyo noticed. "You still think that no one can touch you with your Order? Hasn't (Y/N) knocked you to the floor enough times to make you see that you're not invincible?"
"I'm willing to go another few rounds if the message hasn't settled in yet," I suggested as I stood, making Eiji jump a few steps away.
"Haha, no," he denied. "The message sunk in fine, but even among the quirks that I saw in a hero school, there's no one that can even resist Bind Dominator, so the message I learned was 'don't pick fights with (Y/N)', not 'I can be beaten'."
"Well, no unknowns are taking part in the tournament, so you won't find anyone there who can fight you on equal footing," Rin said, mentally listing the opponents she may have to face. "I guess you're right. There's no point in you fighting."
"Wait, Big brother isn't in the final event?" Sena asked. "Why? You guys easily won the second one."
"That's the problem. Easily winning..." Eiji explained. "It'd be tedious and boring for me, since no one other that (Y/N) can lay a finger on me. So I'll join you in the crowds and cheer the others on!"
"Actually, I think the students have a separate viewing area," Iyo mentioned. "I saw an empty place over the entrance you used to enter the grounds."
"Then I'll slip away unnoticed and then join you in the crowds and cheer the others on!"
"Now that lunch is over, it's finally time to reveal the last game!" Present Mic called after the hour break was over. "But before that, there's good news for all of who who didn't make it to the finals! This is just a sports festival, so we've prepared recreational games that everyone can participate in, too! We've even brought real cheerleaders from America to liven things up!"
I looked over to where I heard a bunch of camera shutters closing, and saw something... unexpected to say the least.
"What's the matter, class A?" Mic wondered once he noticed them. "What kind of fan service is that?"
The girls from our class, bar Chiyori and Rin, were also dressed in cheerleader outfits, and seemed to have varied expressions on their faces. Jiro seemed pissed at something... probably Mineta and Kaminari, who were giving each other a thumbs up with a stupid smile on their faces, while Hagakure was rolling with it and waving at the cameras.
"I'm really glad we weren't with the others during lunch..." Chiyori muttered, blushing from embarrassment and trying to make herself smaller at the thought of being roped into the perverts' scheme. "I don't think I could be seen in those clothes."
"All right, everyone! Let's have fun competing in the recreational games!" Present Mic called to focus attention again. "When that's over, the sixteen from the four teams that made it to the final round will duke it out tournament style, one-on-one!"
"Now, let's draw lots to determine the bracket," Midnight spoke from atop the stage. "Once the bracket is determined, we'll have the recreational games and then start! The sixteen finalists can choose whether or not they want to participate in the recreation. I'm sure some of you want to rest or save your strength. Now, from the first place team-"
"Actually, Midnight," Eiji called out before she could continue. "I want out of this tournament." There were a number of gasps and mutters about this, mainly from the people in our class who knew the strength of his Order. "It's just... how do I put this? Any tournament that takes place within a certain area will result in my win because of the nature of what I can do. It'll take a second to set up in the first round, but then I'll have total control of any and all battles that happen in the arena. The thing is, that's not a fight anymore. And it's certainly not giving a chance to the others."
The number of mutters increased, but they seemed a bit angrier than before. Quite frankly, explaining why he wants to withdraw without outright telling everyone that he works within a territory is hard, but he managed that rather well. People who look past the "no one will have a chance against me" claim will notice, but that's about it.
Midnight looked confused when Eiji said that, given that she didn't know how Bind Dominator worked, but Aizawa stepped in.
"Midnight, let him out," he said through the speakers. "Hoshimiya's right, as much as people won't like to admit it. If he chooses not to participate to give others a fairer fight, let him."
"All right then!" Midnight nodded. "Hoshimiya! I accept your withdrawal! But in that case, we'll have to move someone up from the fifth place cavalry battle team... how about the leader then? Hitoshi Shinso?"
"Yeah, I'll join if he's dropping out," came from the purple haired kid that dropped by our classroom to 'declare war'.
"Okay then, Shinso has moved up to make sixteen!" Midnight confirmed. She then went on to pick the lots, and the brackets were decided. "This is the bracket based on the results of the drawing!"
Midoriya vs Shinso
Todoroki vs Sero
Kaminari vs Kurenai
Iida vs Hatsume
Ashido vs Chiyori
Tokoyami vs Yaoyorozu
(Y/N) vs Kirishima
Bakugo vs Uraraka
"That's annoying," I muttered. "I wanted to fight one of you two, but with the way things are lay out, I might not get the chance."
"Not looking forward to fighting Bakugo?" Rin asked while Chiyori started thinking of strategies.
"Not really," I admitted. "His explosions are instantaneous and powerful. They aren't something I can undo. I might be able to affect me being attacked or knocked backwards, but that'll be more painful than productive. How're you faring?"
I glanced over her fights. Kaminari would be an easy fight. I don't know much about Hatsume, but Iida's speed would be a bad match. Chiyori was in a similar situation. Ashido's acid could be problematic, and also she seems adept at using it as a mobility booster to fight in close quarters. Then there's Dark shadow, whose speed and power makes him a difficult opponent. Or Yaoyorozu, who can make any weapon to fight with if you leave her alone for too long.
"First round's fine, but the second... I don't know."
"All right! Let's leave the tournament aside for a momentary interlude!" Mic called out. Fireworks were set off and blew up over the stadium. "Let's have fun with the recreation!"
While the recreational games were going on, those of us in the tournament were off doing our own things. Midoriya was talking to Ojiro... something to do with the green haired boy's opponent. Iida was chugging down drinks to stay hydrated. Tokoyami was up a tree somewhere. Bakugo was just staring at a wall when I saw him last. I noticed that Uraraka and Yaororozu were still going along with the cheerleading thing that they were tricked into by Kaminari and Mineta, and others were who knows where.
Rin, Chiyori, and I were in a room together, helping each other plan our respective fights. Though, to be honest, I wasn't thinking of Kirishima. I was trying to plan against Bakugo, who would surely win his fight, no offence to Uraraka. That, and I was helping Chiyori calm down. She can throw a punch as well as Rin and I, but since her Order relies on other people, she has next to no confidence in herself when fighting alone. It was the best I could do to reassure her that she'd be fine without us, but that didn't help much. I promised that I'd be next to her though, which seemed to calm her down a bit.
"Hey guys, are you ready?!" our loud commentator asked, receiving cheers from the audience. During the recreational activities, Cementoss had been making an arena for the tournament, which was now complete. "A lot's happened, but it's now come to this! A serious battle! You can only depend on yourself! Even if you're not a hero, you'll face a lot of situations like that! You get it, right?"
I smirked a bit about how wrong that was, if you happened to be close with Chiyori. After all, that was like the unspoken promise of those linked by her. We don't have to do anything alone anymore.
"Heart, skill, body, wisdom, and knowledge! Use all of that to rush up!" he continued. "Audience! The finals that you've all been waiting fire are finally starting! Match number one... Even though he's done well, what's with that face? From the hero course, it's Izuku Midoriya! Versus... Sorry, he hasn't done anything to stand out yet! From general studies, it's Hitoshi Shinso!
"That is... not how you're meant to introduce someone, is it?" Eiji wondered as we looked down at the fighters from our class's observation area,
"I don't think so, no," I confirmed as Mic announced the rules.
"He's right though. Shinso hasn't done anything flashy yet," Chiyori said. "I think the three of us are going to get similar introductions."
"Probably," Rin agreed. "But Eiji, aren't you supposed to be 'slipping away unnoticed' right now?"
"Oh, right," he realised, turning to face our class. "Bye!" He smiled and waved as he ran off.
"Wow... such a master of stealth," Rin muttered, shaking her head as we turned our attention to the two boys who were facing each other in the arena.
By the end of the fight between Midoriya and Shinso, only one thing of excitement happened. Turns out that Shinso has a type of mind control quirk, and was ordering Midoriya to walk out of bounds when the green haired boy managed to break free. I honestly don't know how. From what I heard Ojiro say, Shinso's quirk's effect breaks when the victim comes into contact with another person. And yet, Midoriya charged All Might's quirk into his fingers and broke them, causing a gust of wind as he freed himself from the mind control.
The rest of the fight was boring. Two people fighting without any powers. Shinso kept trying to put Midoriya back under his control, but when that didn't work, he threw wild punches in hopes of winning. Midoriya just flipped Shinso over his shoulder as the final move, landing the purple haired boy out of bounds.
"Shinso is out of bounds! Midoriya advances to round two!" Midnight announced, getting Midoriya a round of applause.
"Mind control... he's a bit like us, isn't he?" Chiyori asked. "We wouldn't have gotten through the entrance exam with our Orders, but we got in another way instead."
"Yeah," I agreed. "His power isn't good for fighting robots, who have no minds to control. But he was left to the general studies... it's a waste."
"I hope what he said is true, and the staff consider his transfer into the hero course at some point," Rin said. "It'd be nice to have him on our side on a fight."
"Next up is... these guys!" Mic called. "He's good! He's good, but what's with that plainness he just can't get rid of? From the hero course, it's Hanta Sero! Versus... Taking third, then second in the prelims! You're way too strong, kid! He wasn't recommended for admission for nothing! Also from the hero course, it's Shoto Todoroki!"
"Does something feel off about Todoroki to you?" Rin asked over the link, as she had left to get ready for her fight.
"A little, yeah," Eiji commented from the other side of the stadium, where he was sat with Iyo and Sena. "I saw Endeavour in the halls... you think it could have something to do with that? Todoroki's his son, right?"
That thought was left in the air as the round started. As soon as Present Mic called for the start of the fight, Sero wrapped Todoroki in his tape and swung him towards the edge of the arena. It's a good plan, but Todoroki didn't just sit there and let it happen.
A rush of ice was spreading along the ground, making its way from Todoroki to Sero, before something incredible happened. The entire stadium shook as Todoroki's attack made contact and spread upwards, forming a glacier that froze everything and came dangerously close to the audience.
"Sero, can you move?" Midnight asked, though she was half frozen as well, so she already knew the answer.
"O-Of course not..." Sero replied. "Ow..."
"Sero is immobilised! Todoroki advances to the second round!"
What happened next was meant as a reassuring gesture, but it was kind of insulting. Starting from one person, the audience started shouting "Don't worry about it!" to Sero, who was still trapped in ice at the front of the glacier. Eiji joined in as well, though he was laughing a bit as he did.
When Todoroki started thawing Sero out of the ice, I took it upon myself to advance to process. I got from my seat and walked forwards, towards the section if the glacier that was centimetres away from Midoriya's face.
"Eh? (Y/N)? What are you..?" Midoriya asked once he spotted me placing my left hand on the ice and closing my eyes.
Theoretically, this should work. It's all one object, so it should be possible even if the vast majority of it is outside my range.
I spoke the word "Order", and the mark on my hand glowed in it's various, various colours. You could see the light through the ice, before all of the ice vanished in an instant, leaving an undamaged arena.
The only people that could see me, that knew I was the one who countered the vast power that created that glacier, were my classmates... and Eiji, who I could hear laughing without the link from across the stadium.
"Eh..? The remnants of Todoroki's overwhelming win! The massive glacier that he created... has vanished in an instant!!" Mic called out as everyone who couldn't see me looked around, confused and alarmed.
I smiled a bit as I made my way back to my seat, ignoring the questions of my classmates.
"Well, since the ice is somehow cleared up, let's get on with the next match!"
-Rin's POV-
I stepped up onto the arena as Present Mic began the introductions.
"One of the quartet that practically sat out of the cavalry battle and watched the chaos unfold! From the hero course, it's Rin Kurenai!" Mic announced.
"Eh, could be worse," I muttered as I saw Kaminari step up on stage.
"Versus... Sparky Killing Boy! From the hero course, it's Denki Kaminari!"
Yeah... mine could definitely be worse... like his.
"Now, we'll have a flashy battle this time!" Mic continued. "Ready... Start!"
"I've only seen you fight once, but you heal people, don't you?" Kaminari asked. "I overheard your friend saying that both you and him won't always be around to fix Midoriya when he gets hurt."
"Oh, my bad..." (Y/N) apologised. "I don't remember seeing him nearby when I said that."
I made a mental note to punch him later before focusing on the fight. I dashed forwards, watching as Kaminari smirked and held his arms above his head as electricity sparked around him.
"Well sorry, I won't give you time to even start healing!" Kaminari shouted. "Indiscriminate shock, 1.3 million volts!" He brought his arms down to the ground, and all of that electricity burst wildly towards me, hitting me with no issue. It hurt a lot as parts of my skin burned from the attack, but that stopped when my vision went dark.
I don't know how much time had gone by before I was conscious again, but it can't have been more than a second. Kaminari was still shooting off electricity and I was still falling to the ground. A bright, purple light coated my vision, but I saw through parts of it as I stopped myself from falling, now feeling more invigorated than before. One of the advantages of my self healing.
This time, I didn't bother running towards my opponent. I walked, still sheathed in the pink flames that were constantly healing the damage Kaminari's electricity was causing. I saw the stupid face that Jiro always laughs at when I got close enough, and I let him gently to the edge of the arena, still letting Rebirth Fire heal me of any odd sparks that he released on the way there. When I pushed him over the boundary, Midnight called the match.
"Kurenai advances to the second round!" she shouted as the last of my flames died away, their purpose now completed.
"That hurt quite a bit, but was easy enough once Rebirth Fire kicked in..." I said to no one in particular. Only three people could hear me anyway. "Though it didn't hurt as much as I expected. The shock still knocked me out for a second though."
"You didn't feel much pain because we took some of it for you," (Y/N) told me. "I didn't know we could do that, but we got sharp pains all across our bodies."
"I'm sorry..." Chiyori apologised. "I felt the change this morning, but I didn't know what it was."
"Chiyori, it's fine!" I quickly told her as I made my way back to them. "It just means you guys helped, and it's good that we know what that does now!"
I didn't get a response, but it seemed like we were all just shocked at the sudden shift in her ability, and she felt bad about the fact that everyone feels pain through her Order.
I made it back to the others while the next fight was going on. Iida, with some kind of support gear on, vs Hatsume from the support course.
"What's with Iida's harness?" I asked once I sat down.
"Some kind of gear Hatsume made," (Y/N) said. "I think it's basically a stabiliser to help him stay on his feet as he turns as well as boost his acceleration."
"It's like she mad him into a running advertisement for her gear..." Chiyori muttered as she listened to Hatsume give details about both the gear she gave Iida and the gear she's using to avoid him.
The 'fight' wasn't actually a fight. Hatsume kept giving demonstrations of her creations as she went, before she stepped out of bounds ten minutes layer, clearly pleased with herself.
"H-Hatsume is out of bounds," Midnight stammered. "Iida advances to the next round!"
"You tricked me...!" I heard Iida shout, which is saying something, considering the distance and the cheering audience.
-Chiyori's POV-
I left Rin before Iida and Hatsume's fight ended, and I asked (Y/N) to come with me to waiting rooms. He promised to be next to me throughout this fight, and while he meant by Visiting the Artificial Convergence, I wanted him to be here himself, without using any powers. At least for as long as was allowed.
"Still nervous?" he asked as we waited for Hatsume's demonstration to be over.
I nodded, tracing my finger on the table like I was drawing. If I had used a pen instead of my finger, I'm pretty sure I'd have drawn the mark that starts on my left palm and makes its way along my forearm.
"You'll be fine. It's hand to hand combat, which we've all trained for," (Y/N) reminded me.
"Hand to hand against someone who can produce acid from their body..." I muttered.
"Acid that can be avoided," he said, placing his hand over the one tracing things on the table and making my face go red in the process. "It's no different than the time you and Rin took on the guy who tore bricks out of the walls and threw them at you. You didn't get hit then, so I'm sure you'll be brilliant now."
I nodded, not really being able to remember that fight clearly. It was just a guy with a strength enhancement that tried picking on a woman in a back alley. I can't remember how the fight ended exactly, but I think Rin distracted him while I hit him with a stun gun.
(Y/N) and I heard the announcement for the end of the fight, and we got up to walk to the entrance of the stadium.
"Can... uh, can I hold your hand until I have to go out there?" I asked before we left the waiting room, not looking him in the eye. He didn't say anything, so I was worried that he didn't want to, but I sensed him step beside me and felt him grab my hand before he opened the door and led me out. I was certainly blushing bright red now, so I refused to look at (Y/N), not wanting him to see.
I stepped onto the grass of the stadium as Present Mic started the introductions, and (Y/N) was still holding my hand. He must have switched to holding it while Visiting, but I didn't care. Just having him there... I felt more confident about stepping onto the concrete arena.
"We're going to keep righ on going with the fifth match!" Mic called. "Another of the easy going quartet, who helped her friend over the finish of the obstacle course! From the hero course, it's Chiyori! Versus... Is something going to come out of those horns? Well? From the hero course, it's Mina Ashido!"
Ashido giggled a bit when she saw me. "Hehe, you're blushing, Chiyori. Oh, and is that (Y/N) I see in the hallway? I see you two..."
I probably blushed harder when she said that, but I tried to focus on the coming fight.
"Ready..." Present Mic called out, but I wasn't listening to him. I was listening to the one who was by my side, like he promised he would be.
"Ready..." (Y/N) echoed, tightening his grip on my hand.
"Start!!" Present Mic shouted.
"Now go and be brilliant..." where the final words I heard, before the one who said them let go of my hand and I started running.
"Fast..." I heard Ashido say as I approached her. She flung some of her acid in an arc in my direction, but i was able to duck under it quickly and get her into my range.
I swung with my right arm, causing her to jump backwards to dodge. Ashido said I was fast, but after she landed, she skated around me on a layer of acid. When she did that, I had a hard time keeping track of her.
And then I lost her. I spent a second looking around to find her again before I felt an impact on my back, making me fall forwards onto my hands and knees. I got a bad feeling about where I was, so I rolled left, barely dodging another hit.
I kept my eyes locked on Ashido's as I pushed myself back to my feet, not letting her leave my sight again. I noticed her acid on the ground around me from when she moved around, and made a note to avoid it. It wouldn't be a strong acid, since Ashido was skating on it and her shoes seemed fine, but slipping on it wouldn't be good.
I ran towards her again, a bit slower this time due to my caution, and dodged another blob of acid that she threw at me. I noticed Ashido jump back again, thinking that I was going in for another punch, but she was surprised when I just kept running at her.
I took another step, which let me catch up to her even more, and then I tackled her, knocking her to the ground. Ashido hit her head as she fell, making her a bit dazed, but that didn't stop her trying to fight. I felt a burning sensation on my back, likely acid that she was using to try and get me off her.
I leant back, sitting myself up, before punching Ashido in her stomach. She flinched and tried curling up, and I made use of that time.
I grabbed her arm and started dragging her towards the out of bounds area, which she didn't do much to stop at first. When she started trying to stop herself though, she placed the palm of her and against my arm, making more acid to make me let go. I didn't let go.
Strangely, it didn't really hurt. I could feel it stinging me, but it was only a stinging sensation.
"Ashido is out of bounds! Chiyori advances to the second round!" Midnight shouted after another ten seconds or so of me dragging the horned girl around.
I felt myself smiling as I heard the audience cheering. I won. I won! I turned around, seeing (Y/N) still at the side of the arena, where he said he would be. He was cheering louder than anyone else. I could even hear him over Rin, who was deafening me over the link.
I ran back to the hallway, where (Y/N) was actually standing, and jumped at him. He caught me, but we ended up falling to to ground a few seconds later. We still laughed though.
"See? I told you," he said as we got to our feet. "You were brilliant."
"Yep, you did!" I exclaimed excitedly. "Now it's your turn to be brilliant!"
He just smiled, and we decided to stay here, at the waiting rooms. (Y/N)'s fight was soon, after all.
-(Y/N)'s POV-
"Order," I said after we made it to the waiting rooms again. With that word, the various red patched of skin on Chiyori that occurred from Ashido's acid attacks vanished, and the pain that I took off of Chiyori's hands was gone.
I wasn't going to interfere at all, at first, but then stuff happened. When Ashido became dazed, the acid that she produced was far too strong. It was burning away Chiyori's flesh faster than what I think Ashido intended, and if left alone, it would have been dangerous.
So I took Chiyori's pain, leaving her to continue as she wished. This meant that she didn't know how much damage was being done to her body, and she wouldn't be scared about it.
But anyway... the next fight.
Tokoyami vs Yaoyorozu... the only honest fight that I had trouble deciding who would win. It depends on how fast Dark Shadow is, and how fast Yaoyorozu can make a weapon.
And Yaoyorozu lost. She made a shield fast enough, but Dark shadow kept attacking, giving her no chance to defend. In the end, the wielder of the creation quirk was pushed backwards before she could form a weapon, making her lose the match.
"Yaoyorozu is out of bounds!" Midnight called, to the female combatant's confusion. She then looked down, noticing that her right foot was over the line. "Tokoyami advances to the second round!"
"An overwhelming victory! A completely overwhelming victory!" Present Mic called. "Tokoyami's Dark Shadow! Could it be the greatest quirk ever?"
"I wonder if I should just absently note most of what Mic says as 'announcer's nonsense'?" I wondered aloud. "It was a good matchup for Tokoyami, but I don't think he'll win this."
"Well, I've got to fight him next," Chiyori said. "I've already lost though. Too much power, too much speed, not enough exploitable weaknesses."
"Well, Dark Shadow is a shadow. They don't really have many weaknesses at all," I reminded her. "Well, I'm up next, so I'm going to get going."
"Can I come with you?"
"Sure... if you want."
"Okay, let's move on!" Mic called as I stepped on the grass, approaching my battlefield against the strongest defensive quirk in class. "Next up! The final participant of the quartet, and the one who removed that glacier from the second fight! You can thank Eraser Head for figuring it out! From the hero course, it's (Y/N)! Versus... Manly and passionate hardening! From the hero course, it's Eijiro Kirishima!"
I stood opposite Kirishima in the arena, staring him down as he did the same to me.
Hardening... making his skin as hard as rock. Offence is no good. I'd just break my hand. Defence is no good. He'd break through any block I'd put up. My only chance of winning is to to put him out of bounds.
"Hey, I overheard you planning your fights earlier..." Kirishima started, "and I noticed that you skipped over this fight entirely. Why's that?"
"Because I saw Bakugo as a bigger problem," I told him honestly. "I mean no offence, but between his explosions and your hardening, and more afraid of getting blown up."
"Yeah, I can understand that... but still, it's insulting to be ignored like that!" Kirishima activated his quirk, and I started scanning for weaknesses... I started looking for ways for me to win.
"Let's get this seventh round started!" Mic called, and both Kirishima and I ran at each other.
He cocked his fist back for an obvious punch, and I did the same. However, when he punched forwards, I pulled back, stopping myself from moving almost entirely. With that move, Kirishima overextended himself, unconsciously attempting to stretch his arm forwards to make it connect. I used this action, grabbing his arm and flipping him over my shoulder in a very similar way to what Midoriya did to Shinso in the first fight.
Kirishima landed on his back, and I used that to grab his leg and drag him around like what Chiyori did to Ashido.
"Hey, hey! Stop that!" Kirishima yelled, trying to plant his arm in the ground.
"Yeah... no." I dragged Kirishima in a circle and starting to spin him around. It wasn't enough to get him far off of the ground, but it was enough to distract and disorientate him when I let go.
As he was was getting himself up, I noticed that most of the area under his P.E. uniform wasn't hardened, so I targeted that with a kick armed just under his ribs. Kirishima gasped as he rolled away, holding the area I just kicked as he sprung to his feet.
"I guess I let my guard down while thinking my defence was up..." Kirishima muttered. "Then let's see how you handle this!"
Suddenly, the vast majority of his skin hardened like a medieval suit of armour, making his body jagged like a rock. When I saw him get ready to run, I knew what he was doing. I glanced around, seeing that I was pretty far from the edge, so dodging and letting him self destruct wasn't going to work.
I ran at Kirishima as he ran at me, the two of us meeting in the middle. I ended up tackling his waist to avoid hurting myself, but I was being pushed back quickly.
"Taking me head on, even though you have no way to fight directly! Such a manly way to go out!" Kirishima praised as he kept pushing me backwards towards the boundary line.
Once we were getting close, I muttered "Manly, huh? Hold that thought."
See, Kirishima had used his quirk to defend himself like a thin set of full body medieval armour would. But he can't cover his whole body, or he'd be unable to move. So parts must be left alone in order for him to rush me like he did. Like the the armpits, behind the elbows and knees... and the groin.
And one of those had a target painted on it. Sorry Kirishima.
"Kirishima is out of bounds!" Midnight announced. "(Y/N) advances to the second round!"
I looked down at my classmate, who was lying on the floor, holding his crotch.
"Tha- That was a low blow..." he got out as I helped him to his feet.
"I think Mic said something about throwing morals and ethics out for these fights when he was going over the rules," I mentioned, making the boy groan.
"Anyway, it was a good fight. Not manly, but still good!" Kirishima said as we walked off the arena.
"Thanks. You fought well too."
The next fight was something many people were nervous about. Uraraka vs Bakugo.
"The eighth and last match of the first round!" Present Mic announced. "He was the kind of famous kid in middle school! This isn't the face of a regular person! From the hero course, it's Katsuki Bakugo! Versus... She's the one I'm rooting for! From the hero course, it's Ochako Uraraka!"
"Thoughts on this fight?" Eiji asked, looking down at the arena from his spot in the crowd.
"Uraraka loses..." I said bluntly. "Against that power, I think the only way to win would be a power to match him. Balugo uses his quirk for mobility as well as offence, so even if Uraraka can get a small and temporary advantage by making Bakugo float, he can just direct himself in the air and fight like that."
"Can you not think of any way that Uraraka wins this?" Chiyori asked.
I just shook my head.
At the end of the fight, Uraraka had my respect, Bakugo's respect, and the respect of just about everybody in this stadium.
She lost, of course. People were hoping, but I don't think anyone actually expect her to win after Bakugo literally blew apart her plan.
Uraraka stayed close to the ground as she ran, making Bakugo damage the floor to target his opponent. She used those damaged pieces and made them float, keeping them away from Bakugo's notice by rushing him and making him think she was going to try to make him weightless.
But with every hit she took, she got more and more injured, yet she didn't fall until the end. She stayed on her feet, biding time to collect more debris far above Bakugo's head.
However, when she decided that she had gathered enough and made the debris fall like a meteor shower, Bakugo simply held his hands to the sky and blew every last rock to smithereens. And with that, Uraraka fell.
But even after that, she stayed awake, trying to crawl her way towards Bakugo before she fell unconscious.
"That was... rather impressive to watch," I admitted.
"You say that like it doesn't mean anything to you, but you're smiling," Rin pointed out.
"Of course I'm smiling," I told her. "She is going to be remarkable hero."
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Is this the kind of writing style that you meant, MarauderBoi?