There was little Ochako could do to stop her from tapping her foot against the concrete of the stadium floor, her fingers pressing against each other. Her tears made it hard to see the current match of Iida vs Asui. She lost to Mineta of all people. That was unfair, she was clearly winning! All she had to do was slip out of her uniform, even if she had to show off the safety shorts and tank top she wore underneath. She had him! She tagged him! He was floating in the air!
The water she took a small sip from tasted bitter in her mouth. Everyone was out there, doing their best to win, going beyond their limits, and she lost to freaking Mineta. How was she going to get any internship offers now? Ochako cursed herself internally, she needed to do better, even if her parents said that she should take her time.
"Uraraka, are you ok?" Midoriya said from his seat beside her. Wiping her tears with the sleeve of her gym uniform, Ochako nodded slowly.
"Yeah, I'm ok." Ochako replied. Just being a disappointment, losing to who was arguably the weakest person in Class 1A due to a bad call from the judge. She was winning! Not that anyone seemed to care, the rest of the class was busy fawning over Bakugo, Mineta and Schnee, who were advancing to the next round. They would do the same to any of their classmates who made it past this round.
Asui hopped out of the way of Iida's kick, and tried using her tongue to trip the taller boy, but Iida was faster and managed to get away.
"A-Are you sure?" Deku asked, his face turning a light shade of red. He looked away, his cute green eyes focused on Iida's and Asui's fight.
"I'm not sure, but I'll get over it!" Ochako said, doing her best to sound enthusiastic. She even raised her right and squeezed her muscle with her left.
"I think you should have been the winner." Midoriya turned his head to look at her again. "The judges and referee aren't perfect, but if the fight had gone on for just a bit longer, I'm sure you would have definitely won."
"Do you really think so?" Ochako blushed softly. No one else bothered telling her that, only saying that she'll have better luck next time. But what if there wasn't a next time? Or what if Ochako fell behind the others? Would she still be able to get a good internship? Would she be able to be a hero?
Would she be able to keep her promise, and make enough money for her parents to live a comfortable life?
"Yes! Once you tagged him you basically won the fight! Even though he managed to get one of your legs stuck to the ground, Mineta was actually in greater danger thanks to your quirk-" Deku started ranting, which eventually led to him mumbling rapidly under his breath. Ochako grinned and turned her attention back to the fight.
At least someone besides her parents believed in her.
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The match between Iida and Tsuyu was over by the time Weiss returned to her seat. The taller boy narrowly managed to get the win, despite Tsuyu's superior maneuverability. The fight could have honestly gone either way, from what Weiss had seen on the smaller screens on her way back to her seat anyways.
Her friends cheered when they caught sight of her, as they cheered for their other classmates when they won their matches. Kaminari seemed to have arrived before her, though he looked a bit lightheaded.
"I didn't hurt him too much." Weiss said with a smirk as she took her seat next to Kyouka, scooting past Yaoyorozu who was now healed. Kyouka's grimace was the only answer she needed.
"Excellent job Miss Weiss!" Yaoyorozu said with a large smile. Weiss smiled back. The dark haired girl had been hanging around with her for a while, and she didn't seem to be after Weiss' influence and the like, she already had enough money as is. Could Weiss count her as one of her friends? Sure she wasn't as close to her as say Kyouka or Mina, but Yaoyorozu had been nothing but polite even with Weiss being rather cold towards her.
Weiss needed to be nicer, Ruby would be disappointed in her with the way she had been acting, but old habits die hard.
"Thank you Momo." Weiss said. Using Momo's name would be a good start, for now. That was a sign of friendship or closeness in Japanese culture, right? Momo smile grew even larger as they turned their attention back to the center of the stadium.
She could focus on being a better person once the festival was over.
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"NOW IT'S TIME FOR SHIOZAKI IBARA VS OJIRO MASHIRAO!"
Himiko yawned loudly, showing off her pearly white teeth for anyone who just so happened to be looking at her. Smacking her lips, she turned her catlike eyes towards Dad, who was busy flirting with some lady who had green hair and an orange bandana. Her laughter was pretty annoying, but she was pretty, not pretty like Himiko was, but pretty enough. More people were starting to come out to buy their last minute snacks before the finals started.
The fights were pretty boring, though the most exciting one was when the blond guy blew up that one girl, leaving her bruised and bloodied. Mmm, Himiko licked her lips, only for her to pause. Damn it, she was doing it again wasn't she. Hopping off her stool without much fanfare, Himiko headed towards the back of their makeshift coffee stand.
Reaching under a table covered by a tarp, she pulled out a small cooler that had her name scribbled on it. Grabbing one of the blood red popsicles that Roman had made by infusing drops of his blood and a lot of cherry syrup, Himiko stuck it in her mouth after removing the plastic wrapper.
Mmm, much better.
She walked back out after hiding the cooler once more.
"SHIOZAKI IBARA WINS!" Present Mic screamed from the small screen they had attached to their stand. She could hear the cheering from the stadium, sounding as if she was actually sitting in there.
And Roman was still flirting with that lady, the two of them still telling each other bad puns. Sighing as she held the popsicle in her mouth, Himiko made her way to their coffee machine, serving herself a cup of Roman's secret recipe. She made sure the top wasn't on the right way.
Feeling a smirk form on her face, she practically skipped over, and with a trained precision, tripped, sending the coffee flying through the air, splashing Dad and the wannabe comedian.
"IT BURNS!"
"HIMIKO!"
Another successful mission.
A/N
One thing I learned over the years since I've started writing is that I'm not going to be able to please everyone. I'm far from the best writer, and this is far from the best written story, but my goal is to write something that will be entertaining, which I hope Schnee: Hero or Huntress remains.
An example being the tournament arc, some wanted to see canon fights, others wanted something different which I provided. I'm not going to be following all stations of canon, and occasionally I change it like Todoroki losing.
I hope today's chapter was enjoyable even not that much happened!
Any predictions on how the tournament will go from here on?
Till next time on Schnee: Hero or Huntress!