to say i was pumped for the match to start was, surprisingly, an understatement. i was practically vibrating with excitement as vlad king exclaimed that it was time for the third match, and the boys noticed, but didn't really comment. well, except for ojiro.
"wow, sasaki. i'm not used to seeing you so excited for a fight," he says, chuckling slightly as i hop from one foot to another. i just grin at him in return, though it was hidden behind my mask.
"i know, it's weird to me, too."
as we walked, we noticed todoroki was zoning out and tried to catch his attention. when he finally looked up, iida asked if he was alright, to which the boy just said that it was nothing before the conversation continued.
"todoroki's facial expressions don't change that much, so i couldn't tell. i can't believe you noticed."
"as class rep, i must watch all my classmates and offer a hand to those who are troubled!" iida exclaims proudly, raising his helmet above his head.
"you seem really cheerful. you always do, though," shoji comments, piquing all our interest as we realize he was right.
"recently, my brother's recovery has been going well."
"that's great, iida!" i say, smiling at him before grimacing once i again realize he can't see my mouth.
he places his helmet on his head, saying, "i also have the duty to uphold my brother, ingenium's honor. i'm watching everyone, but that means everyone's watching me, too. i was third place at the sports festival! i'll show everyone the strong spirit of a successor!"
with that, we waited for the match to start. and soon enough, it did.
immediately, it kicked off with us being able to witness part of the course being damaged from a bit away. and it was somewhat obvious, based off who we knew was on the opposite team, just who was damaging their surroundings.
"what's that?"
"there are intermittent sounds of metal grating. it's probably tetsutetsu," shoji states in response to ojiro, and i nod in agreement.
"definitely him."
"the sound of metal being destroyed is continuing. from the reverberations, it sounds like he's destroying their surroundings."
todoroki speaks up, saying, "the other team probably intends to have a head-on battle."
"it's a head-to-head battle, huh? then, it'll be easier to deal with them, too."
"don't underestimate them, though. just like in the other matches, if we do that, we have better chances of losing," i comment once ojiro says that, and he gives me a sheepish nod at my words as we all prepare to head towards the commotion.
"alright, let's do this, class a, team 3!"
as we traveled through the fake city, i stayed above and out of sight compared to the other three, stealthily swinging myself around while keeping an eye on the others. hearing ojiro from below as he suggested we split up now, i follow through as they do, but stick to high places as i approach the class b team.
todoroki was quick to make his first attack. but iida was also quick to fall into the trap honenuki set by managing to soften the ice, as well as his surroundings once iida tried to start his part of the plan.
maybe we should've listened more to neito's stupid fucking rants about his classmates
'really now'
shut it, bitch
thankfully, the place i was hiding in hadn't been randomly softened, like where ojiro had ended up when he tried maneuvering around. because of that, kaibara launched himself to attack the tailed teen with his rotating fists and feet.
iida was also, once again, caught.
pony and tetsutetsu also went for todoroki and shoji once honenuki had the speedy boy submerged in the softened ice, only for iida to break out soon enough.
it was here that i figured was the time to step out of my hiding spot.
about damn time. i was waiting to start the action!
i rushed over to where the other four, minus ojiro and kaibara, were fighting, knowing that was likely where honenuki would pop up from. considering he couldn't soften things that were alive, if i could trap him, like the original plan called for, he wouldn't be able to do anything with his quirk.
i was about to whip myself into the fray to help todoroki, only to flinch back and refrain from doing so when he sent forth a burst of flames to try and combat tetsutetsu. unfortunately for him, that didn't work on the kid who could turn his body into fucking steel, but then it turned out that todoroki could raise the heat of his own flames in order to burn the other boy.
but, considering the heat, i had a feeling honenuki wouldn't involve himself in the fight between these two, so i followed after where i knew pony and shoji had ran off to.
i found them as ojiro joined in, thankfully he managed to help stop the girl from throwing more horns at shoji before i could do so, only for the tentacled boy to yelp when the ground started softening once more.
i smirk, eyes landing on the honenuki as he surfaces.
"i'll take tsunotori back now," he says, not even noticing as i launch my engulfed arm at him until i'm firmly wrapped around his upper body, dragging him out of the ground to his complete shock.
"sasaki?!" he shouts, about to reach out and try to soften his bindings as i cover him fully in what's basically a cocoon of black symbiote, only to realize he can't.
"sorry, dude, but you're not going anywhere but jail," i say, smirking at him before i reach out to help my teammates out of the softened ground. shoji then reaches out to take ahold of pony so we can take her to prison, too, only for her horns to come out of the ground and come flying at the two of them with enough force for her and ojiro to go flying, straight to class b's prison.
i quickly share a look with shoji before having venom bring us over to the prison, briefly passing a zooming iida. i set down with enough force to shake the ground for a moment, flinging open the door and placing honenuki inside, closing the door with a smirk behind my mask.
"two down, two to go. see you later, guys."
there was a big explosion that drew all of our attention, my eyes going wide before i begin swinging back through the city to the source. obviously, todoroki was using as much heat as possible to take down tetsutetsu, and i hoped neither of those idiots got seriously injured while it all went down.
knowing how all these losers are, they likely are fucked up because of that explosion shit
when i got there, both todoroki and tetsutetsu were both flung back due to the force that had come from the explosion. the half-hot half-cold boy was unconscious on the ground, and the steel skinned teen was on his last legs as he attempted to get up and go over to capture the other boy.
iida races in before he can do anything, though, smashing straight into tetetsutetsu and knocking him into a pillar. the boy groans, falling to his hands and knees, and i come to a stop, kneeling beside him as iida halts next to the unconscious teenager.
"you got todoroki while i take him to jail?" i ask, iida nodding at me as i engulf tetsutetsu and begin my swinging once more.
"ah, dammit! i didn't think it would end up like this!" he complains from behind me as i travel along, snickering behind my mask at his words.
"well, it did, so i guess that's how it's gonna be, huh?"
i was honestly really fortunate that todoroki took on the brunt of his force and wore him out, otherwise it'd be much easier for my friend to escape. it wouldn't have been impossible for him to try and break free from me if he tried hard enough, but he was worn out and overheated from todoroki using such a strong move on him.
i'll have to thank him for it, later.
just as i put tetsutetsu into the jail, lowering my mask so i could stick my tongue out at the boy, the horn went off to signal the end of the match.
"twenty minutes have passed! the third match is over! team a has more people in jail, so they win!"
i could hear the disappointment in his voice as he yelled the results of the match, but i didn't care as i just grinned at the three boys in triumph.
"take that, losers!"
all three of them glare at me, but it was thankfully without heat as i let them out of the prison. tetsutetsu doesn't even take long before he's laughing with me over the results, fist bumping me for doing well.
"damn, sasaki! i didn't think you would be such a beast during this match!"
"he's right," honenuki chimes in, having removed his helmet so i could see his face better as he gave me a curious look. "why weren't you in the sports festival? you would've done well if you'd been in it. maybe you could've even won."
i smile sheepishly at him, kicking at a rock and averting my eyes as i opened my mouth to say-
"it's cause she was being a little pussy"
all three of them give startled looks as venom pops up beside my head, and i roll my eyes.
"ignore him. anyways, i didn't join because i had some issues i wasn't overcoming at the time with my quirk, but since then i've been working hard on myself, just like you guys, and i've gotten to a place where i'm not in the position i was back then."
he nods in understanding, before a grin overtakes his own face and a determined glint settles in his eyes.
"maybe someday we can have a rematch, then."
returning the expression, i nod, and with that we all head back to the others.
todoroki, tetsutetsu and ojiro we're all taken to see recovery girl due to the damage they'd gotten during the fight. i was thankful, then, that i hadn't sustained any injuries, or else i wouldn't have been able to be back in time for my next match to start.
thankfully, the teachers gave us time to relax before the next fight, which made me sigh in relief. though, i had a bit of slight suspicion they did it mostly for me.
it was nice, so i wasn't gonna complain.
iida stopped me before i could talk to my class b teammates, pulling me aside to talk.
"sasaki, you were amazing in the match just now. i fear that if you hadn't incapacitated honenuki as quickly as you did, we might not have won. good job."
my face flushes in embarrassment, and i try to wave him off, only for him to cut me off.
"i mean it. i was too slow to stop honenuki, but you managed to catch him before he could get away again. without that advantage, it would have gone on longer, and things would have turned out much differently. so, thank you."
taking in his words, i sigh, and cross my arms at him. his eyes widen at the motion, but i don't give him time to overthink before i speak.
"iida, you weren't 'too slow'. don't even think that. our original plan went out the window as soon as todoroki made his first move — which isn't his fault, no matter what he thinks, i'm sure! — so it's not like any one of us can be blamed for how the match might have turned out if things had gone differently. i should've jumped in sooner instead of waiting so long, but do you see me getting all butthurt about that? no, because in the end, we still won. so, don't worry about being too slow, alright? you'll get faster anyways, i'm sure of it."
with one final smile at him, i pat his shoulder and walk off to go get ready for the next match.
hopefully, things would go well like they had this time. and despite the odds against me, i'm not gonna let things get in the way of my team winning.
—————
sorry that this was kinda shitty
but rin did pretty well for her first match, dontcha think? and the match turned out differently because she was in it, which isn't really something i've done before
she didn't really do much until it was a bit closer to the end, and it was sorta lazily done and it could've been so much better, but this is just how it turned out, i guess
hopefully the next chapter will be written better
until next time, guys!