As Midoriya is taken away, you and all your friends decide to go after him and follow him to Recovery Girl's office.
Once you guys do make it there, the old doctor is quick to announce that due to his severe injuries, Midoriya will be undergoing surgery. It is then, that all panic ensues.
You and Uraraka are extremely worried that you hold onto each other for support while Iida is chopping the air in sheer worry, "Is he going to be okay?!" You ask and the old lady gives you a wrinkled smile, "Oh, yes... He'll be completely fine, dear."
At least the reassurance from Recovery Girl manages to calm you all down. But it still doesn't help when all of you are ushered out so that the surgery can take place.
Seeing how the next match is about to begin, and one of its competitors is Iida, you all half-heartedly make your way back to the bleachers. After wishing a good luck to Iida, you watch how he easily defeats Shiozaki-san, that you met back in the cafeteria.
And the moment the match ends, the realisation dawns upon you. It's your match now.
God, you really don't wanna fight Tokoyami...
But your anxieties are qualmed when Tokoyami approaches you himself and gives you a small smile, "Let's do our best, [Last Name]-san." You shakily nod and at that moment, Dark Shadow appears.
"[Last Name]!! No hard feelings, who ever wins, okay?! Even if we fight, you're still my favorite person!!" His words do manage to calm you down, and as encouragement, your friends all give you words of reassurance.
"Do your best, [Last Name]-chan!" Uraraka says as Mina and Hagakure nod at her side, "We'll be cheering so loudly for you, the entire stadium will know we're your friends!!"
"We will root for you, so do your best! And don't... don't panic, focus on your surroundings too, alright? I've noticed that Dark Shadow is weaker against light, so you should try to fight where there's more sunlight." You thank Momo for her tips, stuffing the info at the back of your mind because you're worried that you're gonna fail.
You can't think of a proper plan... You mind is completely blank.
"Don't get hurt like Midoriya, kero." Tsu only says that and gives you a cute smile while Iida, who has just came back, goes full-on mother hen mode on how you have done amazing up till now and he expects you to do even better now.
It totally doesn't make you worry for meeting his expectations.
But regardlessly, you thank everyone and finally make your way towards the stage.
You hear Present Mic introducing Tokoyami as a knight of darkness... and he finally starts your introduction when you walk out towards the stage, "VERSUS, SHE'LL TURN INVISIBLE AND BEAT YOUR ASS, IT'S [LAST NAME][NAME], ALSO OF THE HERO COURSE!! NOW THEN, LET'S SEE WHO IS GOING TO WIN THIS FATED BATTLE!"
You take a deep breath in order to calm your nerves and Tokoyami gives you a small smile to ease you up a bit. Blowing some air out through your pursed lips, you give him back a shaky smile as Midnight raises her whip up.
"Ready? And.... Start!!"
The moment she yells those words, Dark Shadow rushes at you, but you immediately turn yourself invisible and move to the side. With that, you realise that you need to take off your shoes to actually creep up on Tokoyami, so you quickly take them off while standing and place them down near the edge of the boundary.
Dark Shadow, who is listening to you fumble around with your shoes, rushes over to your hidden figure and you narrowly dodge the attack. You take one look at Tokoyami and you've blinded him as well.
But it's no use. He's not even fighting, Dark Shadow can see and hear things on his own. You try to use the same blinding technique on Dark Shadow but it doesn't work. Probably because he doesn't have a cornea, and it's only a mirage that shows his eyes.
Those don't seem like actual eyes though.
And so, as Tokoyami continues to stand in a one place, you are running around while trying to avoid Dark Shadow's attacks. For some reason, he can still hear you and that's a problem.
You're sure you would have gotten a bit more silent after removing your shoes but it's of no use, if only you can get closer to Tokoyami to knock him out.
Although, even if you knock him out, Dark Shadow might still keep on attacking you.
Wait... Light!
You need light to defeat him!
But where the fuck do you even get light?! You're already standing in the sun, you've tried Momo's advice to fighting in the parts of the stage where the sun is shining more, but it's not making much of a difference.
You need to think of a plan, and fast!
But... you can't think of anything!! Nothing is coming to your mind right now! You've used the two moves you were sure to work on anyone you would fight against!
It is at that moment when you're constantly dodging Dark Shadow's attacks, that you realize... just how weak you are.
You can't fight for the life of you, and your two moves are only useful against close-range villains. If it's someone who's a long range fighter like Tokoyami, you're done for. Keeping Momo's advice to watch your step, you make sure to stay in bounds but it's of no use, you can't just keep running forever!
You're starting to get tired and the exhaustion of the day is starting to sink in too.
In midst of an inner monologue of your self-pitying, you don't even realise Dark Shadow having heard your footsteps. He can hear the slight pants that you heave as you dodge his attacks, and he finally grabs onto your legs.
You stumble down and hit your chin, wincing immediately at the pain but as you turn around, you are met with Dark Shadow's bright yellow eyes. They are practically glowing as he stares at you with a smile, well, tries to stare at you but he can only see the ground underneath you.
The only thing that consolidates the fact that he caught you is that he can feel your body squirming in annoyance.
You don't want to lose...
You know you aren't the strongest but you don't want to lose without even getting a place in the top three.
You want your father to be proud of you... just like he's proud of your older siblings.
"Give up, [Last Name]! I don't want to hurt you or throw you out of the bounds!" Dark Shadow pleads, but you keep your eyes (shining with disappointment in yourself) fixed on the shadowy being.
Suddenly, the sunlight hits your eyes and you squint your eyes slightly, "Please give up!"
"IT SEEMS LIKE TOKOYAMI'S QUIRK, DARK SHADOW HAS CAUGHT [LAST NAME]!! I WONDER IF SHE CAN GET HERSELF OUT OF THIS SITUATION!!"
Ugh... The sunlight is so annoying, it's practically blinding you!
Wait...
You can feel your mind working a mile a minute. And it finally hits you; a plan.
As Dark Shadow is holding you down, you raise one of your hands and slam your palm against the floor. In an instant, the entire stage has changed color from a dirty beige to a bright, shimmery silver.
The sunlight reflects off of the shimmery surface and you're pretty sure the entire stadium is blinded by the ungodly amount of light that is shining back from the surface of the stage. Even Present Mic notes it, "OH MY GOD!! I'VE GONE BLIND!! IT SEEMS LIKE [LAST NAME] HAS TURNED THE ENTIRE STAGE INTO A TANNING REFLECTOR!! EVERYONE, MAKE SURE YOU'VE GOT YOUR SUNSCREEN!"
But that's not all that's happened. With such an intensity of light, you notice that Dark Shadow has moved away from on top of you. He has retracted back into Tokoyami and the poor bird boy doesn't even know why his shadow is whimpering.
He hears Present Mic's words and it finally hits him.
The table, in this fight, has been turned.
And you take this opportunity to use Tokoyami's and Dark Shadow's confused and helpless forms to your advantage.
Now that Dark Shadow can no longer fight as it's too much light for him, you sneak up on Tokoyami. Unlike his quirk, Tokoyami doesn't have bat-like hearing, so you can easily run towards Tokoyami without alerting him.
He still hasn't noticed you, even though you're right behind him.
Raising your fist, you angle it towards his temple.
Thwack!
You hit the bird head with a small portion of your strength, not wanting to kill him, and he staggers as he is suddenly disoriented by the punch. Using his disoriented and blinded state, you bend down and wrap your arms around Tokoyami's waist.
The shiny floor still has everyone blinded and you can hear Present Mic talking to Aizawa, "ERASER! WHY DON'T YOU USE YOUR GOGGLES TO SEE WHAT'S GOING ON!!"
"You idiot, those are goggles, not sunglasses. It won't help with anything."
But you simply begin to push Tokoyami in a barricading style, so he can't get away. He's slowly beginning to regain himself from his dazed state, but he still isn't combobulated enough to know what you're doing.
There it is!! The boundary!!
Now, with what's left of your strength, you use it to throw your bird friend out of the bounds. The moment he stumbles out the boundary, you immediately slam your palm on the ground once more and return its previous color.
The entire stadium is silent as they see Tokoyami on the ground, as he blinks his eyes and mutters a, "What?"
Midnight sputters in confusion but is quick to regain herself and immediately raises her hand.
"Tokoyami is out of bounds! [Last Name] wins!!"
"What... just happened? I was... hit?" Tokoyami mutters and you smile apologetically at Dark Shadow, who remembers everything, and is now sulking, "No fair, [Last Name]!! You were just about to lose!!"
"All is fair in love and war, Dark Shadow." The shadow immediately widens his eyes at your words and turns to Tokoyami to whisper something that you can't hear.
"You hear that, Fumikage? She's in love with you!" Tokoyami, who is still confused as to what just happened, snaps his head in your direction and blushes heavily, "W-What?!"
The entire crowd has now erupted in cheers and true to their promise, you can practically hear Mina and Hagakure's loud screams of happiness, "SHE'S SO FUCKING AMAZING!! SHE DEFEATED ONE OF THE STRONGEST STUDENTS IN OUR CLASS!! OH MY GOD!! [LAST NAME]-CHAN, PLEASE GIVE ME YOUR HAND IN MARRIAGE!!"
You blush up a storm at what Mina yells at the end, but you bite your lip and decide to help Tokoyami up first. He thanks you (yet still doesn't meet your gaze because of what Dark Shadow said) and you both walk away.
Well, at least if you lose the next one, you'll be in third place!
Third place!! With this shit quirk!! You can't believe that!
If someone told your 4-year old self that you would get in UA with this quirk and even secure the third position in the annual Sports Festival with it, you would have cried to your mother that you were being mocked.
But now... You can't even believe it.
Out of hundreds of students, you made it this far...
And you can't help the sweet smile that escapes your lips from the sheer happiness you're feeling.
You have finally accomplished something that your siblings had never done...
And for once, you're not hiding in their shadows...