It was 12 noon in the day and the Sports Festival is still going on. Since it's been a gruling day of torture a.k.a competing, the students were allowed to get lunch to fuel up for the rest of the tournament, since the hard part is coming up, one on one duels. Not that it was gonna be something he was stupid nervous for, he came put alive in a fight with a villain that was for All Might, he was more scared there then this.
It's was just the opposite really. He was so stoked to show off his talent and show what he was really made of. After the Calvary match, when he went into the stands, he was praised by a lot of civilians and heroes alike, even heroes like Kamui Woods, who praised his determination and skill in the earlier matches and Mt. Lady, who just came just because Kamui did, though she, along with Kamui, did offer a chance for internship, though Mt. Lady did comment that he was her light, cause he turned her on or something like that. He didnt know what she meant but he did see Kamui Wood's eye twitch in irritation so that was indication that it was probably bad.
Though they weren't the only ones though. Countless heroes who were watching praised him. The ones he can name off the top of his head are heroes like Gunhead, Mr. Plastic, Gang Orca and the most interesting of all Endeavour, one of the heroes he liked the least. The way he presented the offer was annoying to him to, like he just expected him to choose his organization.
Mini-Flashback
Delsin was walking along the long corridors and was headed to the lunch hall to eat and chat with his friends but he was stopped by this large and tall figure that just entered the hall. The man was a tall, sturdily-built man with a very muscular physique. He has short crimson hair which he wears spiked up around his head, and sharp light blue eyes. His beard and mustache appear to be made of fire
His costume is comprised of a tight, navy turquoise bodysuit with lines of flames streaming across his chest, upper torso, arms and most prominently his shoulders. He had flames as a makeshift mask around his eyes, and the tall boots he wears appear to be either made of fire themselves or constantly left alight, as only their soles and laces are visible around the flames. He sports white bracers on his lower arms, styled in a cage pattern, and a blue belt with a pouch attached on either side.
'He looks like a giant flaming douchebag!' Delsin thought to himself, making John grin. Though Delsin could hate all he wanted, the man did look cool......or hot.....which ever one! The man was walking down the path that was the same as the Conduit user. He looked down and saw Rowe, who was personally minding his own business, not caring for having seen the number 2 hero. Endeavour chalked it up to the boy being so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't notice him appear in his glory which was quite wrong.
Deldin did notice him in the hallway, he just didn't acknowledge him and tried to brush past him like a regular person on the side of the street but the man places his hand on Delsin's shoulder, stopping him from continuing to his destination. Delsin turned his attention to the big flaming hero, though his did so with indifference which shocked Endeavour greatly though he didn't show it much. "Hey, you're that boy who won the past two events, Delsin, I believe?".
Even though he wished to not talk to with the man for long, his Aunt Betty raised him to respect your betters and have proper manners and even though he didn't particularly like Endeavour's style and attitude, the man is the next top hero behind All Might so that was worth praise and respect, so he responded politely. "Yes, that is me, Endeavour, sir. May I help you?". The older Todoroki smirked viciously and watched Rowe like he was a prize of some sort. "Oh nothing, Rowe-san. I just wanted to commend you for your excellent performance during the Festival! You will be a great hero one day....".
Delsin widened his eyes. He was receiving praise.....from the man he didn't like to well? It was surprising to him that the man was actually praising him without blowing a blood vessel. 'You really need to let go of this blind hatred you have towards this man. It's really not like you to be this petty' John said. 'Its not that I hate the man it's just I don't approve of his attitude towards others who admire him. Sure, he has every right to be proud of his abilities and position but there's a difference between proud and arrogant'.
"Well, thank you, Endeavour....I train very hard to be this strong!" He said. "I can see that. You use your abilities at its best and it shows, Shoto could learn a few things from you....but you can only get so far with natural talent". The Bestial Mode user frowned a bit at that. "I'm sorry?" He asked. Endeavor put his hand on his shoulder, talking in arrogance. "While your skill set proceed that of most amateurs, you are still that, an amateur. You need someone to mold you in the right path, mold you into being a great hero! I, however, have that experience you need and the wish to be that someone to guide you"
Delsin frowned. "You're offering to train me, sir?" He asked, deep down already knowing his answer to said offer. The elder Todoroki shrugged his shoulders before removing his hand from his and began walking away. "That is for you to decide if you want to, Rowe-san. And I know you'll choose correctly". Once he reached the end of the hall, he turned to face the boy. "Just to give you a heads up, Rowe-san, Shoto is nothing like those students in that classroom of yours. While he is a obnoxious brat, he is skillful with his quirks. Don't expect an easy win when facing my son, for It will be your downfall"
The man left before bumping into Izuku, who had just finished his meeting with Todoroki. "Oh! You're young Midoriya! Good luck to you in the finals!" He said before leaving. Izuku widened his eyes at seeing the world's second greatest hero right in front of him but frowned once he remembered the details Todoroki told him about his past with the man. The broccoli haired boy turned to see Deldin scowl at the man. "D-D-Delsin-san?". "Cocky bastard! I'll show him...." He said under his breath and walked off, leaving a confused Izuku.
End Flashback
While the man was right that he was a amateur at this hero business, he didn't have to come to him and throw his training in his face like he was waiting for his whole life for the man to train him. 'Still though, as much as I hate to admit it, his tutelage could be beneficial to me. He is known as the number 2 hero for a reason. Maybe I should take him up on his offer' Delsin thought. 'Now you're thinking like a Hero-to-be! Putting aside your dislikes for something far greater. Sacrifice is crucial for this job description, ya know. It's good to know you're learning the basics of it' John replied.
'Yeah. Even though I'll probably accept his training and internship, doesn't mean I'll be anything like the man! It's just for marks and experience. I won't let his arrogance corrupt the way of my morals!' Delsin replied as he sat back in the empty cafeteria. At the moment. He was on a lunch break. Due to talking to Endeavour for longer than he had anticipated and then listening to Izuku talk to him about Todoroki's past with the man, which made Delsin dislike the man even more, he had missed out on lunch and was now making it up in the cafe by eating a leftover pizza slices.
It was a bit difficult to hear Todoroki's life for Delsin. In all actuality, the two had similar lives but while Delsin recieved outside abuse, Todoroki recived the opposite. Delsin was also very disturbed by his mother. He didn't care if Shoto looked like his father, that didn't mean he was his father. She had no right to pour boiling water in the boy's eye. That's just sick! 'But then again, one does tend to get paranoid when you get beaten by your own spouse' he thought, making him start to hate Endeavour a bit more.
He didn't care if he wanted to be the number one hero so bad that he'd ignore his man like responsibilities. Hell, he'll even take the part where he pushed his goals on his youngest child. Although a bit much, it was still doable but He draws the line at domestic abuse. You never put your hands on a woman or child. Ever. So for Endeavour to do that, already makes him a piece of shit and literally the worst super hero ever in his mind.
'Damn.....poor Shoto. His life was hell, far worse than even my own. In terms of suffering and enduring, Shoto's way stronger than me....I mean I know I endured a lot too but I had a lot of emotional support and love from Betty and even before that, I had my parents and brother but Shoto had no one, all thanks to his father purposefully isolating everyone from him to the moment he can do it himself. I get why he only uses his right side now!' He thought.
John glared. 'So you're debating on fighting him then?' He asked. 'Oh no, I'm still gonna kick his ass, it's just I have more pity and understanding now than I ever did before. Even if he resents his father, he should still use his power. I'm not backing down, but I'll be less harsh, that's for sure' he replied as he comped on his slice and layed back and thought more on the matches ahead.
He wasn't missing anything as the final matches were placed differently. The matches were changed a bit due to a few people dropping out of the finals, Ojiro included, stating that it would be a wound to his pride to continue on. So Team Tetsutetsu got to continue on by default so they were stoked. The matchup were:
First Round
Izuku Midoriya vs Hitoshi Shinso (which really ticked him off btw as Delsin was looking forward to beating him first but he'll just have to live vicariously through Izuku when the broccoli boy wins)
Shoto Todoroki vs Hanta Sero
Denki Kaminari vs Ibara Shiozaki
Mei Hatsume vs Tenya Iida
Yuga Aoyama vs Mina Ashido
Fumikage Tokoyami vs Momo Yaoyorozu
Eijiro Kirishima vs TetsuTesu TetsuTetsu
Ochako Uraraka vs Katsuki Bakugo
Delsin Rowe vs Juzo Honenuki
In all actuality, it wasn't that bad a matchup to him and he couldn't wait to fight Honenuki, the Softener quirk user. He's seen his ability in the Calvary battle. He respected him and wished to fight him. But for now, he was chilling in the cafe, eating his pizza in silence. "The matches are about to start soon. I should probably hurry up and eat so I could watch Izuku fight!" Delsin said as he shoved down his slice, swallowing it in one go. "Boy! You sure can put it away, can you Delsin-kun!". Said boy turned his head to see Nejire walking in, wearing a nice blue casual dress.
Though it wasn't casual enough to stop Delsin's cheeks from turning red. "Well...I was hungry...and I had I a lot of stuff on my mind lately that I didn't have enough time to finish so...down the hatch the pizza went!" He said, making her giggle. "Well in any event, I came here to wish you luck!". Delsin's blushed brighten a bit when he heard those words. "W-Wow! Thanks Nejire! Don't you worry! I'll win this and take you on that date!" He said, making it her turn to blush.
That was what she was thinking so heavily about these past few days but she pushed past this and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Please, just be careful. I'm serious, Delsin-kun. Don't pull any dangerous stunts to win, otherwise the deal is off, I won't date you!". That what got him scared. Before he could sat anything, the two heart a high pitched shriek. "DATE?!?!". The two turned their heads to see the small but....sometimes likeable, perverse, grape haired student of Class A, Mineta.
The small teen glared daggers at Delsin, who was lost at the hateful look. "Y-You bastard! Dating Hado-San?! You freaky dog!" He yelled. Nejire blushed heavily and hit her face in his chest, while Delsin held her shoulders, making them look like an actual couple. "M-Mineta?! What're you doing here?!" Delsin said, embarrassed and angry at the little boy. Mineta cried anime tears and pointed accusingly. "Well I was on my way here to come get you as the matches are starting. Everyone was starting to wonder where you were so I tried looking for you, only to find you canoodling with Nejire Hado, you sexual maniac!"
John raised his eyebrow. 'Canoodling? This kid will be a forever virgin, no doubt about that!' He said with Delsin agreeing. Nejire blushed as that was kinda what she came down here for but she had been caught red handed by Mineta. She turned to Delsin and smiled with a faint blush. "Well....if your classmates are looking for you, I best be going and let you get to your match....well not now as your the last event of the round but...bye!" Nejire said as she took a risk and leaned in quickly and pecked Delsin's cheek, much to his surprise and Mineta's ire.
She blushed heavily and glanced back for a second before taking off, leaving the two class A students. Delsin blushed too and touched his cheek where she kissed him. 'So soft....' He thought. Mineta stormed up to him and grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the contestant stands. "Come on! The matches are starting!" He said, pulling along a shocked Delsin. After a long annoying pestering walk to the stands from Mineta about how skillful he is at pulling girls like her and if it was possible for him to teach the short grape kid his ways, the two reached the class A.
"Delsin-kun, where were you? The matches are about to start!" Momo asked. Before Delsin could answer, Mineta did for him. "He was too busy canoodling with Hado-san to remember the Sports Festival! They were even planning on going out on a date!". Delsin sighed in annoyance. He's really going to kill this kid. "WHAT?!" class A shouted but the loudest was Kaminari, who, like Mineta, was angry at Delsin's smooth game and Momo, who was a bit heartbroken that he and Nejire are that close to each other already. She was also jealous that he was 'canoodling' with Hado and not her.
'No! There's still time to change this! I can make him see that she's not for him but I am! I just have to make him notice me, which I'll do at my match, I'll win and he'll notice me!' Yaoyorozu thought hopefully. Todoroki saw her facial expressions when she eyes Rowe, however, and frowned a bit further then what he usually did. He got up and started to walk away. Delsin himself didn't notice as he was too busy engrossed into a conversation with Jiro about who would win the first match, but John noticed Shoto's face and grinned a bit.
'Interesting! Seems Rowe is caught in a little love square! I kinda almost want to tell him he has the attention of not one but two attractive women but.....he'll figure it out in all good time. But it looks like that Todoroki boy seems to have another motive into taking down Delsin.....' He thought to himself.
Meanwhile, Mina shushed everyone in the stands. "Everyone! Shush, Midoriya-san is entering! The match is starting!". Delsin widened his eyes and saw the green haired boy walk to the cemented arena with the Shinso right after them. "Fresh from the stands and the first one in one match of the day, a weird but surprisingly tough in his own right, Izuku Midoriya from Class A!". The crowd including his class cheered loud for the broccoli boy as he stood there. "And in the other corner, we have a kid from the General Studies, he's the mysterious, Hitoshi Shinso from Class C!".
The audience cheered for him as well but when it does down, the match started. It started off with pointless taunting from Shinso's part, trying yo egg on Izuku who kept his mouth shut but when Shinso started badmouthing this friends like Delsin, Ochako, Tanya, Momo, and Mashirao and even Katsuki, Izuku didn't take this well and retorted, unknowingly falling into Shinso's trap as Izuku stopped yelling back at him and stood still, almost as if he were being ordered to.
He then started to move to the end of the arena, about to disqualify himself but he pulled through in the end by snapping his fingers, snapping out of his trance and beat Shinso with sheer force. By time went on, the matches were quick and and impressive. Sero and Todoroki's match was nothing but quick. Shoto just made Sero into a popsicle with his ice, putting Sero out of commission, effectively winning his match. Shoto shot a glance up to Delsin though, letting them know what's to come which he wasn't terrified at all.
Next match was Kaminari and the green vine haired girl from Class B, Ibara Shiozaki. As the match started, Kaminari started boasting at how the match would be over in a second but Shiozaki said the same thing when she won the match by tying him up in her hair. He tried to send his electric current at her at once but she cut off the vines in time. Delsin sighed once they announced her the victor. 'Didn't I teach him to not let go his electricity all at once?' He thought to himself. Next match was Mei Hatsume and Tenya Iida. The match started off interesting before everyone started to realize the girl was using the event to showcase her inventions and using Iida as the dummy that falls for it.
It was actually funny for a while to see Iida so enraged by this but it all came to an end when Hatsume decided to quit and give the match to Iida. She only wanted to advertise her inventions, she had no intentions to compete for winner in the festival. Mina and Aoyama's match was next and the victor of that match wasn't surprising since Mina was more athletic than the dazzling boy and managed to win by a nasty uppercut if Delsin has anything to say about it.
He just hoped Aoyama's pride was still intact. The following match was Tokoyami and Yaoyorozu. Before the match began however, the rich girl took a glance at the stands to see Delsin watching her and have her a thumbs up, supporting her. She smiled a bit and blushed, gaining more determination to win but it was all for naught as Tokoyami's Dark Shadow was too strong for her and pushed her out the ring, winning the match instantly. Delsin could see the hurt look on her face, seeing she was disappointed at how the match turned out. He felt bad, truly bad and wanted to go down and comfort her and tell her it was alright. He got up and ran to the first floor of the stadium, merting her waking in. "Momo, are you okay?" He asked.
The girl looked up from the ground and wiped her eyes, not willing to let him see her tears. "Y-Yeah! Im fine....Tokoyami-san was tougher than I realized" she fake lsughed. Delsin sighed. "Momo, it's okay. Don't be too upset about it. No one possibly knew that Fumikage was that strong" he said tryingbto cheer her up. Yaoyorozu sighed as she smirked a bit. "Liar...." Was all she said before giggling bit. He laughed a bit too, realizing she caught his bluff. "Alright well...maybe we did know how strong he was but still, don't let this loss discourage you. You're still smart and strong! You just let your guard down is all!" He said.
Momo looked at him and smiled slightly before hugging him tightly. "Thank you, Delsin-kun. You always know what to say...." She said. He hugged her back. She held on to him like a lifeline, and just sniffed him and brought him close to her. 'He's so warm! Please God, don't let this end' she thought as she sniffed him. He smelled like pine trees and the summer outdoors, which she loved a lot. Delsin let go of her, finding the hug to be enough but she still held on a bit. "Um....Momo?" He said confused. The girl opened her eyes to see a confused yet blushing Delsin. She let go instantly and blushed up a storm. "M-M-My apologies! I was too into the moment!" She said as she got up and ran to the stands.
Delsin stayed out for awhile, kinda confused on what was going on with Momo but decided to figure it out later before heading to the rest also. He realized that while he was comforting her, he had missed Kirishima's match but he was quickly told by Izuku and Mina that it was a tie and they'd have to fight again after his match. Right now though, the next match was Uraraka and Bakugo which was pretty one sided. Bakugo showed no mercy into beating her, though she did hold out longer than most were expecting. She tried to get the drop on him by using the debris that Bakugo broke up with his quirk and make them fall down to disturb his concentration and push him out the ring but Bakugo was still to strong and surprisingly smart to fall for such tricks.
He grabbed her and threw her out the ring, leading to his victory. The crowd was a bit disappointed in his match as he was so rough on Uraraka and even boo'd him. Delsin sighed in annoyance at it. 'This is complete bullshit. It was either that he pull punches and get criticized for holding back against a female or he goes all out, not underestimating her and still get scolded for going so hard on her. This whole match was made to get Katsuki even more hated than he already is' He thought. Kirishima started poking him. "Dude! Your match! It's time!".
Delsin widened his eyes, remembering he was after Bakugo and Uraraka. "Oh shit! You're right! Wish me luck!" He said as he quickly made his way to the waiting room to plot how to win. On his way, he bumped into Todoroki. "You better win, Rowe-san. I still have to defeat you..." Was all he said as he made his day to the stands, coming from only god knows where. Delsin clutched his fists and entered the room in confidence. "Don't count me out just yet, Shoto!"
After a ten minutes wait, Delsin was called to the arena where he and Honenuki was called. "Alright, last fight in the first round, we have the all mighty, the infamous, Delsin Rowe of Class A!" The crowd roared in applause and cheers but if Delsin were to focus his hearing a bit, he would hear his bluennete soon- to-be date cheering the loudest. How were vocal cords sp strong to bypass every one in the stadium? No one knows but it was well appreciated in his heart.
"And in the other corner, the weird looking boy, Juzo Honenuki from Class B!" Present Mic yelled, gaining the boy some applause as well. The two faced each other and stared in each other's eyes. Honenuki looked a bit nervous, seeing what Delsin could do during the Obstacle race and Calvary Battle but he still stood tall. "They say you're the top of your class. It'll be even more humiliating for you when I beat you here and now!" He said
Delsin got in his stance and smiled. "Well you're more than welcome to try....many others have". Midnight whipped her whiplash and started the match. Honenuki, immediately went to stomp his foot on the ground, making the floor start to soften it, making it more like cement. Delsin saw this and jumped up high to avoid it. He starts to hover a bit, watching him. "Now I remember you, I knew you're name was familiar. You're one of the few students to get in through recommendations!". Jozu laughed. "That's right! Now come here and lose already!" He said. Honenuki started to slide on the cement, towards Delsin who already understood his power and already knew how to beat him.
Delsin used his gravitational move to make Jozu float up to him, letting him get the easy knockout. It wasn't even a challenge. Though he'd understand how everyone else would have trouble beating him, him especially but he was lucky that he had a move that allowes him to fight Honenuki without being on the ground. If he Didn't have his gravitation technique, he would be having a harder time right now
But lucky for him, he had it so it was easy enough. Not much thought went into it. As Present Mic announced the winner, Delsin picked up Jozu and put him on a medical bed that just came up to get him. Delsin then looked up to Todoroki, who glared down at him. 'Our fight is getting closer. I hope you're ready for what's to come Rowe/Shoto!'.
And.......done!
Sorry this chapter was a bit late. I was tied up with so much things lately!
Please comment and vote your thoughts on this chapter! Thx!😁😁😁😁😁