"It's the semifinals already...." Denki said from the back, extremely excited for the matches.
"I know right! This is going to be sooooo exciting!" Mina nodded eagerly.
Everyone was waiting for these matches, as they would determine the top two people of the entire grade.
Meanwhile, the four contestants were waiting in the special room designated to them. Inside, there was a couch, a long table, four chairs, a vending machine with cheap drinks, a basket filled with some healthy snacks, and some shelves filled with literary chapter books. The atmosphere was very tense.
"So uhm....." Nagisa began, not liking the silence. They had been given a ten minute break, while the workers prepared the stage and some students were showing off their skills with the recreational activities. So far, it seemed that Tokoyami and Rio had been winning the most, which was somewhat expected.
"Ehhh? Disqualified from feeling human? What an interesting idea." Karma said in a cheery voice, and Nagisa muttered a "thank god for him". Honestly, that dude just knew how to make things feel normal again.
"What are you reading?" Nagisa asked.
"No Longer Human by Dazai Osamu. Truly a work of art." The redhead said with a smirk.
"Oh, that book." Itona looked up from fidgeting with his quirk.
"Didn't the Japanese Literary Association purge most of the copies after an incident involving the words of it being cursed or something?" Nagisa asked, and Todoroki nodded his head.
"I'm surprised there's one on the shelves of some random room." Itona said, then snapped his strings. The second he did so, a man came in, and told them that their matches were starting.
"Good luck!" Cheers from their classmates and their friends, followed by the audience themselves flooded their ears as they stepped out.
The four gave short, but meaningful glances to each other. They would win, no matter what. On the nosebleeds were Pro Heroes Kamui Woods and Ectoplasm who had been called to keep watch during the festival.
(A/n: Nosebleeds do not mean the runny stuff that comes from your nose here. It means the seats highest and usually farthest away from the center stage.)
"Hey, Kamui, what do you think about the students this year?" Ectoplasm asked.
"They're impressive. But it's funny, how they were defeated by the transfers just like that. They're not inferior, but the transfers are much more experienced in these kinds of things, as from what I've seen." Kamui answered, not bothering to look at him.
"A shame that Present Mic and Midnight had to announce the first match between Karma Akabane and Shoto Todoroki. Their difference in their skill levels....." Ectoplasm trailed off as Midnight ordered the two to take their places.
Karma and Todoroki looked at each other, one with a smile and the other with a determined face. Todoroki landed a hit right after the buzzer sounded, but if he did it any earlier, he would've been disqualified. A cold substance made its way to Karma's arm, forcing a bit of blood.
"Dammit, you're good." Karma winced.
Todoroki didn't respond. Instead, he focused on eliminating the boy in front of him, using everything he had at his disposal. Ice shattering the ground, falling from the sky, and fire to top it off. Karma barely managed to dodge them, not to mention how careful and calculating Todoroki was with his strikes.
"I can't get close to him...." The assassin thought carefully. Todoroki's strength were like his weaknesses. Due to the nature of his quirk, he focused on close combat.
'Wait a second.....Todoroki's quirk allows him to create ice, but theoretically, if he uses his fire to melt it, does it become water? That happened during the mini battles we had, and I can use that. Water conducts electricity!'
Karma knew the chances of Todoroki using his fire were much lower than the chances of him using ice. Bur luckily for him, taunting was right up his sleeve.
"You look like you haven't used your fire against me yet! What, are you scared to use it, or are you bad at using it?"
Todoroki didn't respond.
"Or is it something to do with your father?"
The eyes of the peppermint boy flared up. The very mention of his father made him want to throw up, and as expected, out of spite, he used his left side. Though it was brief, it ran through the ice, and as expected, the liquid flowed. out.
"Water......." Karma's lips twisted into a devilish smile. "Is a great conductor for electricity."
He pulled off a chip with a wire from the special gloves Ritsu had given them. Sparks of electricity could be seem forming on the edge of the wires. He ran forward to close the distance, while Todoroki tried to lengthen it. When he deemed it was close enough, he threw the chip right in front of Todoroki.
"AND LOOK AT THAT! HE'S USING THE WATER AND THE WIRE! BUT DOES HE THINK IT'LL GET THROUGH?"
'Of course not, but it'll definitely damage him or shock him, and during that moment of hesitation and shock, I can go in for an attack.' Karma smirked. His predictions were rarely wrong.
The electricity singed Todoroki's pants, distracting him from a blow behind. Karma gave him a punch straight in the head, and kicked him in the gut. When Todoroki doubled over, Karma was about to kick him again, but he suddenly jumped back.
"Dang, you really got me." Todoroki whispered under his breath in a defeated tone, but his ice said something else.
It trailed quickly to Karma's feet, and though he managed to get a leg free, Todoroki gave him a good kick and froze him.
"Alright, I lose," said the redhead, jokingly putting up his hands.
Todoroki narrowed his eyes at the smirking boy, but shook his head. He knew Karma had something else up his sleeve, something that could probably beat him if he used it. Nonetheless, he accepted his victory.
"Guess can't really beat the son of the second greatest Pro Hero in Japan, huh." Kayano giggled.
Nagisa and Itona didn't hear her though. Both were too focused on their own thoughts on how to beat each other. Their skills were considered equal in Class 3-E, and they were pretty much the cream of the crop.
As Karma and Todoroki got off stage, they seemed to be discussing something. Nobody bothered to pry though.
"Nagisa, Itona, you two are up next. Good luck!" Class 3-E cheered loudly from the stand, with Korosensei using Ritsu to amplify their noise.
"AND NOW, THE BATTLE TO DETERMINE THE FINAL CONTESTANT, ITONA HORIBE, VERSUS, NAGISA SHIOTA!" Present practically screamed his lungs out at the mic, and Aizawa just sighed beside him.
Midnight signaled the two to start. The fight was intense, with neither side giving up ground. Unlike the one between Karma and Todoroki, these two were practically on the same level, with neither gaining the upper hand. Nagisa was using his scales and senses to dodge and defend while attacking with his knife, and Itona was using his strings to do the same.
"Wow, when you really look at it from here, those two are on a completely different level." Kataoka commented.
"Yeah, no wonder they were chosen." Okano agreed.
The speed was quicker then anyone could keep their eyes on. Nagisa's moves were swift, with a slash of a knife and the impact of a calculated blow. Itona was careful, maintaining a good distance while slicing through the scales.
KABBAAMMM
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Yes, I left you on a cliffhanger :D
Anyways, here's the new cover down below! For anyone wondering, I do design my own cover using images on the internet.
Hope it looks nice!