By the time the girls had all filed a complaint to Aizawa over Mineta and Kaminari, it was finally time for the third event to begin. Midnight made another dramatic entrance as she declared.
"The third and final event of the Sports Festival is... A one-on-one Battle Tournament!!" Yup, just like you had expected.
Almost all the last events of each pervious years' Sports Festivals were the same; battle tournaments.
But before she could show the drawing that determined the pairing of the contestants, a hand rose up amongst you all.
It was Ojiro.
He had a disturbed look on his face as he peered at the heroine, "Um, excuse me? I would like to withdraw from this contest." He then proceeded to say that his participation in the Cavalry Battle was done by being manipulated and insinuated that it was because of Shinsou's Quirk.
He also added that he understands that the tournament event is a rare opportunity and that walking away would be foolish, but while everyone was giving their best on their own, he wasn't doing his best due to being manipulated.
You saw Mina and Hagakure trying to convince him, but he was a man of dignity. But it seems like he wasn't the only one, because another student from class 1-B also said the same thing and proceeded to withdraw as well.
Now, you are totally okay with that. But why did Midnight have to say that she's being turned on by their youthfulness?! Like, ma'am? What the fuck? That's a child-no... Two children!
Whatever that was... You were just glad that they all moved on and then proceeded to compensate for the two students by allowing two students from the runner-up team to participate. But the said team, which was actually Team Kendo, gave up the opportunity to Team Tetsutetsu.
Aww, Kendo really is a sweetheart!
With that, they finally drew the lots. Your eyes casted upon the first battle, Midoriya vs Shinsou.
You best believe that you prayed fervently to God, for your greenette friend to beat that Tinky Winky looking bastard. God, you wanna punch his face so bad! He's got a really punchable face too!!
But then you continued to sift through the battles and finally saw your face.
You were up against Aoyama, the sparkly guy.
Once everyone saw who they were up against, Midnight finally began on the rules, "Alright! The rules include the two participating students to fight in a large circle! Your goal should be either to knock your opponent out or push them out of the boundary. No lethal moves, and no endangering your opponent! That's all!"
A small recreational activity break was taken before the first match and you were on your seat's edge as you decided to at least wish Midoriya some good luck (totally not intending to tell him to beat Shinsou's ass).
You saw Midoriya in the hallway and quickly jogged up to him, "Midoriya-san! Good luck for your match!" Making sure to pat his shoulder, you give him a kind smile that he reciprocated.
"Thanks, [Last Name]-san, I'll definitely do my best! Although... I'm not so sure I'll do any good..." You frowned as soon as you heard his words. Midoriya's lack of confidence in his own abilities always saddened you. Your lips pulled into a frown and in the rush of the moment, you pulled Midoriya's hands in your own.
"Midoriya-san... I don't know why you continue to downplay your own achievements but please stop it. You've done absolutely phenomenal ever since the festival started, and all of it without even using your quirk! I have no doubt that you'll do absolutely great! It doesn't matter if you win or lose, because all that matters is that you made this far, without even relying on your self-destructive quirk!" His emerald green eyes shined at your words.
That's right... He made it this far! He, the same Midoriya who couldn't even dream of getting into UA, got so far into the Sports Festival. His nervous smile slowly turned confident and he looked back at you with determination.
"You're right, [Last Name]-san... I've made it this far... Now, I need to prove to everyone that I deserve to be here! So, I have to win!" You grinned at his resolve and gave him a firm pat on the back.
"Now, that's more like it!" He chuckled at your enthusiasm and nodded happily, "Thank you, I'll be leaving now! I'll do my best, especially for you, [Last Name]-san..." He murmured that last line to himself, making you hum as you failed to catch it. But before you could even process what he had said, he turned a bright cherry red color and sputtered violently.
"N-N-N-Nothing!! It's nothing!! Alright, thank you, bye!!" He immediately rushed away, leaving you in surprise as to what just happened. Regardless of that, you made your way towards the bleachers specifically reserved for all UA students that were participating.
You took a seat next to Uraraka, who gave you a cute smile and you both proceeded to watch the first match of the last event.
"FOR OUR FIRST MATCH, WE HAVE A STUDENT FROM THE FAMOUS CLASS 1-A!! IT'S MIDORIYA IZUKU!!" Present Mic declared as Midoriya made his entrance. Many people cheered as he began climbing up the stairs of the battle arena while Present Mic moved to Shinsou's introduction.
"IN THE OTHER PLACE, WE HAVE-sorry... He hasn't really done much yet... IT'S SHINSOU HITOSHI FROM THE GENERAL STUDIES DEPARTMENT!" Wow, forget insulting him, Present Mic just dragged his ass in front of everyone!
"NOW THEN, LET THE FIRST MATCH OF THE FINAL TOURNAMENT BEGIN!!" Midnight was the one who would start the match with her whip.
While you were confident in Midoriya and his ability to make appropriate plans, you couldn't help but feel worried. From what you've seen, Shinsou has a brainwashing quirk, and if what Ojiro had been telling you guys is right, then all it'll take is for Midoriya to reply to Shinsou to lose this match.
You prayed to God that Midoriya knows how to restrain himself or else he was in big trouble. From up here, there was only so much to listen to as Shinsou opened his mouth and began speaking. At first, Midoriya didn't reply and you guys were hopeful he would have figured it out, but a few seconds later...
He ended up speaking...
And like clockwork, Midoriya's eyes became dull as he began to walk in the opposite direction, towards the boundary lines. His actions only made your worry further.
"God damnit, Midoriya-san!! Snap out of it!!" Your words fell on deaf ears as he continued to slowly inch towards the boundary.
Oh no... He's at the very edge of the boundary. By now, Uraraka and Iida had also began worrying and telling at him to snap out of it, but it was of no avail.
Even Shinsou had a wild smirk on his face, until...
A sudden cloud of smoke erupted on the arena and the sheer pressure of the force shocked the purple head, "What?" He muttered to himself as you all looked down after the dust cleared.
Midoriya stopped walking.
Just when he was close to the boundary, he stopped. The entire crowd erupted in cheers and as did your friends, "Thank goodness!" Uraraka yelled and Iida was chopping his hand excitedly beside her.
Even you couldn't stop your excitement from spilling, "Hell yeah!! He did it!!" You yelled in happiness as Iida excitedly nodded.
After that, Izuku had finally realised that talking was the trigger for Shinsou to activate his quirk, so the greenette absolutely refused to talk.
"Hey, say something." The eye bagged boy teased as he tried to get Midoriya to talk, "You can produce that much power just by moving your fingers? I'm jealous."
Seriously? He's still jealous, even though he has the perfect quirk for a hero?!
"My entire life, I've been hated for my quirk. I was known as a villain. Someone like you who's been born with such power, can never understand what I went through!!" His yells were getting louder and more desperate as Midoriya ran towards him and began to push Shinsou out of the bounds.
But what did he mean, known as a villain? He got bullied, even with such an amazing quirk?
"That's why!! I can't lose, damn it!!" As Midoriya continued to push Shinsou towards the boundary, you and all your friends were at the edge of your seats. You couldn't help but feel worried because at this point, if was a battle of strength.
While your worrying, Shinsou managed to flip his way around and began to be the one pushing Midoriya out of bounds, scaring all of you, "Damn it...!"
You saw Shinsou punch Midoriya's broken fingers and the poor boy almost cried out in pain, but he never gave up. As soon as Shinsou tried to grab onto him, Midoriya took this as a chance to grab his arm and flip him over his shoulder.
The entire stadium was shocked.
Even you guys were shocked.
Then suddenly, Midnight raised her hand and finally spoke up, "Shinsou is out of bounds! Midoriya wins!"
In the blink of an eye, the entire stadium erupted in cheers once more. You hugged Uraraka in glee and she happily returned the hug, making you both get out of your seats and jump happily while hugging each other, "He did it! He did it!!"
"Midoriya-san!! You did it!! You're amazing!!" You yelled and he managed to hear it. If he hadn't realised his win yet, your yelling and cheering surely made him realise it.
The fact that he won, registered in his brain and the fact that you yelled out so loudly, just for him, despite hating having attention to yourself, it was enough to make the greenette's face burn with glee.
"I won... I really won, just like I promised myself... For everyone who has believed in me... All Might, and for you, [Last Name]-san..." Midoriya muttered to himself as he looked up at the bleachers to find you jumping around in glee while hugging Uraraka.
He didn't know why, but his heart swelled at that moment, seeing you be so happy for him.
————
After the first match, the second match of Todoroki vs Sero was to commence after a small interval. So you made your way to the backstage, to search for a certain someone.
After a little while of looking around, you finally came across who you were searching for. Peering down at the [Favorite Drink] in your hands, you walked up to the person and threw the drink at them. It hit bullseye and smacked the person on the head.
He sneered and hissed as he looked down at the fallen drink, and then at you. But all you had on your face was a smirk as you seated yourself on the floor next to him.
"What, here to mock me at how I shamefully lost against one of your weakest classmates?" Shinsou spoke as he tried to throw your drink back at you, only to be met with an extremely annoyed look from you.
"God, you really love whining at every moment you get, don't you? Don't you ever get tired from whining so much?" You sneered as you cracked open your own drink and took a sip.
His face was red from the sheer anger he was feeling and he promised himself to use his quirk to send you away, with the next sentence you answer him with.
"Then why? Is this mockery? Is it really that funny to you Hero Course kids?!"
You finally stopped with the annoyed look on your face and your expressions contoured into a straight look, "Not really." He seemed a bit taken aback by your answer, "What do you mean, not really?"
"I mean, it's not funny nor is it mockery. I'm just here to ask a few questions, without you trying to bite my head off everytime I open my mouth."
"Tch... So now, it's all on me? Our argument was solely based on my actions?"
"Is that seriously all you got from what I said?! Talk about selective hearing... Also, yes it is! You're the one who went batshit crazy after finding out I was in class 1-A! I actually looked up to you and tried to talk like a civilized person because you saved me!" He only scoffed but didn't say anything in return.
"Why are you here then? Since I'm the start of all our arguments, why bother talking with such a guy?"
"Because..." You didn't want to admit that the real reason you reached out was because you had a feeling you knew how he felt. You're not trying to act like an empath or something, but you knew that you always felt inferior due to your sister and your quirk.
Something about letting someone suffer in that same agony didn't sit right with you.
"Because I wanted to ask you a few things... Like, why didn't you have a backup plan?" He raised his eyebrows at your question, "What?" Seeing his confusion, you sputtered to explain.
"Like... Why didn't you have backup hero schools?! UA isn't the only hero school, and... I heard Shiketsu is much more fairer in their exams..." He sighed when he heard your words. In a way, he knew you were right.
"Because... It was either UA, or nothing..." That was a dumb reason... But it somewhat made sense too.
"...Then why didn't you try to switch off the robots at the entrance exam, or try to use your quirk to save others and get rescue points?" He looked down at the still-sealed drink in his hands that you had thrown at him.
"I don't know... I was just so confused and taken aback by the exam and its unfairness... It was built for people with destructive quirks..."
"So you were blinded by your own inferiority?" He whipped his head in your direction, surprised by your blunt words, "Why would you-" He was shocked at how you could say something so blunt and... cruel.
"Isn't that how you've been ever since that day at the cafeteria? Forgive me for making assumptions, but you're so blinded by your inferiority that you refuse to think straight... In your fight, when you noticed that Midoriya-san had broken out of your control, you could have rushed over to him and pushed him... He was at the edge anyways, he wouldn't have balanced himself and would have gotten himself out of bounds..."
Now that he thought about it... you were right. Why didn't he think of that? Why did he just stand like an idiot and talk, hoping for Midoriya to fall for his trick again?
"I... don't know..." That was the reply you had expected... Because that was the same reply you would have given yourself if you hadn't been inspired by Midoriya... If that day, you hadn't met him, you would have still been stuck over your career choices... and you wouldn't have known what to do.
"Makes sense..." You muttered and took another sip, only to direct your gaze at Shinsou. You could feel your eyes twitching in annoyance.
"Hey, you plan on taking that drink to your grave?! Why aren't you drinking with me?" He seemed annoyed at how you broke the sentimental atmosphere you both had created.
"Why do you care?! You're the one who gave it to me, I can do whatever I want with it! I'm not obligated to drink with you!"
"Yeah, well it's awkward if I'm the only one drinking the [Favorite Drink] when you're the one who came back from a battle!"
"God, you're so annoying..." He scoffed while popping open the drink and taking a sip of his own, "If it's poisoned, I'm gonna make sure to make a scene before I go down."
"Calm down, no need to get back on your asshole-ish track. I don't have the means to poison you, no matter how tempting it may be." He mockingly laughed while taking another sip and then scrunching his face, "The fuck even is this crap? Why did you even buy this, it tastes like shit-"
"If you don't like it, give it back. I won't have you slandering my [Favorite Drink], you loser ass bitch." His eyes popped out when you called him a loser and it took everything in him not to strangle you right then and there.
"Whatever... By the way, what's your quirk? I bet you've got a story to tell, with how you managed to get into the hero course by blasting through the robots."
You simply changed the color of the [Favorite Drink] in your hand from its original color to a completely different one and showed it to him, "Color Control. You got any idea how I can blast through robots with this shit quirk?"
His eyes widened.
Even he had no idea how to use a quirk this... passive. How did you even manage to get in the Hero Course with a quirk like this?
"I bet you're thinking how I, of all people, managed to get in the Hero Course with my shitty quirk, right?" While he didn't agree, his coughing and face turning was enough of a give-away.
"I turned the robots invisible to find their switch-off buttons. Then I turned myself invisible to hide from the robots and switched them off. In the end, I also saved Tsu-chan, so that got me enough rescue points." You narrated and he couldn't help but feel... regretful.
Why didn't he ever think like you did? Why didn't he try to help people? Why did he just stand at the Battle City like an idiot?
"All my life, I was never told that I could be a hero with my quirk. Whenever I told someone about it, they'd wonder if I was gonna be a painter or something." You leaned back against the wall and wondered if the noise that was coming from outside was from the second match beginning.
"But Midoriya-san told me that it was an amazing quirk, and finally... my eyes opened and I began to think outside of my inferiority complex..." Finally looking at him, you gave him a gentle smile.
"Shinsou-san, you should also stop thinking about things that you can't do, and focus on what you can..."
"Because trust me, it'll help you. Just like it helped me."
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Let me know if I made it too... optimistic. Because [Name] is not a very optimistic person, but having her apologize would be very out of her character that I've established. She's got an inferiority complex, but she's prideful enough to not apologise even if she's in the wrong (kinda like me), so to have her reach out to someone in this way makes a bit sense to me. But still, lemme know what you think.