Unlike your previous two matches, where there was a bit of banter and/or hesitation, that wasn't the case here. You and Shouto immediately leapt into action, knowing full well that even a second of hesitation would lead to defeat in your guys' case.
Much like the past two battles Shouto led, a wall of ice was sent forward towards you. You had opted to jump high, focusing your ko on your legs for your descent as your legs hit the ice below. Instead of sliding like most people expected, you shattered right through, shards of ice flying every which way.
You needed to get close! As long as Shouto had enough distance to put ice towards you, you were at a disadvantage, and both of you knew it as he sent wave after wave of ice. You had to be quick in channeling your nen, switching ko between legs and arms as you barreled through the ice. Distantly, you heard Present Mic shouting, but you were hyper-focused on your goal of reaching Shouto.
Realizing that just plain walls of ice weren't doing it, spikes were sent your way, forcing you to jump up in the air as the ice followed you. While you could break out if you got caught, you weren't sure you wanted to deal with the cold that would inevitably follow being trapped in ice. Besides, you couldn't allow Shouto that opening, not now. Flipping in the air, you slammed your foot down on the spikes. While cold had seeped through your clothes, the ice gave in, allowing you access to Shouto as you came back to the ground.
You were in close range now, and you could not give him the opportunity to knock you back! Sliding on the concrete and causing the back of your pants to rip slightly, you aimed a harsh kick to Shouto's left shin, causing him to kneel on the injured leg. Almost underneath him when you stopped, you grabbed his arm and flipped him over you - unfortunately, it was towards the center of the arena, but the way you were positioned made it your only choice.
Infuriatingly enough, Shouto managed to land on his feet, twisting out of your grip. Realizing your head was at his feet and not wanting to risk him kicking you in the face (Would he do that? You weren't sure.), you swung your legs back in a backwards somersault, headbutting his right knee in the process. The collision was harsh, and while it had hit Shouto hard, your poor head was swimming for a moment, the arena spinning around you.
"Gghh... You must drink a lotta milk or somethin..."
Even though you were only daze for a few seconds, it was all you needed as Shouto hoisted you up and started to drag you to the edge of the arena. Seriously?! Was he patronizing you or some shit?!
Feet dragging behind you, you found purchase, trying to twist your arm out of his grip before doing the only thing that was on your mind.
You decked him right in the face.
It wasn't with your dominant hand, but you landed a nasty blow just above his eye on his brow bone, right where his scar was.
Damn, that's kind of fucked up . . . Do scars bruise?
The force of your punch had finally gotten him to let go as he stumbled back, sending a harsh wave of ice towards you that swept you off your feet. You were still in the arena, but being on the ice was not good. It was too hard and you were slipping around!
Okay, time to activate it! I got one good hit in, but I need to finish this.
As you activated your ren, your body glowed a soft yellow, your hair floating up. Not that it mattered, only you could see the yellow glow unless there was another nen user nearby using gyo on their eyes. The ice underneath your feet melted away quickly, allowing you to be back on even land.
"Things look like they're getting serious once again! The fight is picking up!"
The two of you moved at the same time. Just as you darted forward at a faster speed, Shouto had sent a stronger ice brigade towards you. You barreled through as if it was nothing, but as ice shattered around you and clouded your vision for a moment, you missed Shouto's immediate follow-up attack.
Unable to fully dodge as an ice spike shot out towards you, you felt your right sleeve tear, the ice cutting into your skin. You whistled, grinning as your skin immediately stitched itself back together. Shouto's eyes fell on the vanishing injury, eyes widening slightly.
"Damn... That was pretty sharp for just a friendly battle, dude." He didn't respond to your taunt as you spun twice towards him before kicking your leg out to hit him clear in the stomach. Despite the speed, Shouto had picked up on your intent and swiftly ducked under your leg before pulling it down.
Unfortunately, that put you in an unfortunate position. With the way your leg was pulled away from you, your other leg went the opposite way, forcing you to do the splits. Thank god for your flexibility and the fact you were able to do this before; you did not want to imagine how painful that would be otherwise.
From above, everybody let out a pained "oooh!" as Present Mic gave his ever-so-helpful commentary. "A full on splits... And yet Freecss remains unfazed!"
Shouto's mismatched eyes had widened again as he saw you go into the splits, but that gaze narrowed quickly as you put both hands on the ground and swung your back leg around to sweep under Shouto's feet, your legs now together again. You tried to stand up, but your opponent's hand wrapped tightly around your ankle, pulling you down again. In an attempt to twist out of his group, you fell at an awkward angle, diving headfirst into concrete.
Immediately, black started to dot your vision, and you knew your head was bleeding. Thankfully, you were still in hatsu mode - you had about two and a half minutes left - and your head healed.
Still, just because you could heal didn't mean that that didn't fucking hurt.
Lashing out blindly as Shouto stood back up, you held your head for a moment, muttering obscenities under your breath the whole time.
Stumbling to a stand, the world around you spun, Shouto doubling for a moment before your vision became focused again.
"And Freecss is still able to fight! Whew, and I thought Todoroki had won that time for sure!"
Thanks for the vote of confidence, Present Mic.
Finally, Shouto spoke up, eyes lingering on your forehead for a second before meeting your defiant gaze. "You should just quit. If you get anymore injuries, you're going to pass out."
Why you . . . !
Furious, you clenched your fists. "As if! You haven't even fought me at your 100% yet, how am I supposed to fight at mine?! You declared war against me, too . . . and yet you patronize me and refuse to use your left side!"
Stepping forward, you continued to shout. "I can't . . . I can't accept a win if I beat you when you're going easy, and I'm certainly not going to give up. If I have to, I'll beat your ass around this godforsaken arena until you do give your all!"
For a moment, he was silent, the crowd going silent as well to listen for Shouto's response.
"An absolute win, huh . . ? In that case, I'll end this now."
Not the words you were expecting, but the end result was what you wanted as flames erupted from his left side, effectively thawing out the frost that had begun to creep onto Shouto's skin. Excitement coursing through your veins, you burst forward again.
Adding fire to the fight made things much more difficult. Burns were more painful to you than the cuts and blows you had received before, and while your skin was constantly repairing itself, it didn't stop you from trying to avoid his flames altogether.
A bold move that caused half of the audience to yell in horror, you went straight into the fire, gritting your teeth as you made it to Shouto and landed another punch, his cheek swelling up instantly.
Your body is regenerating too much and using too much of your aura... You should really stop before something bad happens!
The voice in your head spoke up again, completely throwing you off guard and dropping your hatsu on instinct. Shouto, not realizing that you were completely out of it and unable to react properly, had mimicked your earlier punch, aiming straight for your face - unfortunately, he had decided to embellish on that punch and put his flames in the mix.
You didn't see it coming, and you certainly didn't have time to block it.
Your vision went black, your last conscious thought wondering what the hell your back had just crashed into as you passed out.
When you had regained consciousness, you had immediately recognized you were in the infirmary. While your limbs felt sore and heavier than lead, you were able to sluggishly move them. Your chest was completely exposed, gauze wrapped around your entire torso and shoulders, and for a moment you were confused as to how you wound up in here.
"Miss Freecss, you're awake."
Hearing the frail voice, you looked over to see the little old lady known as Recovery Girl walking towards you, her face stern.
"How long have I been out? What - What happened?" Your voice was hoarse and scratchy, causing you to wince when you heard the noise that left your throat. You sounded like you were dying, or like you lived in the desert or something. God, you weren't out for long, right?!
"Not even an hour." Her gaze was concerned, worry and confusion etched into her features. "Dearie... Why didn't you block? That hit could have very well killed you, no matter what world you're from - and yes, Principal Nezu told me about your predicament."
Why didn't you . . . It was still a bit hazy, but nonetheless you were able to recollect your fight with Shouto, a bandaged hand touching your face instantly. It didn't feel scarred or burned or whatever...
Noticing your panicked gaze, Recovery Girl sighed. "I was able to heal the burns, they shouldn't scar. The rest, however . . ."
Looking down at what skin was exposed, you pursed your lips. Bruises and scrapes littered your skin. You were honestly just a little bit scared to see what lied under the bandages if even these didn't heal.
". . . I don't understand what happened."
Your comment didn't help clarify anything for Recovery Girl as she checked your head. "Your fight with Todoroki, dearie."
"No, no," you protested, voice cracking. "Last minute... Right before I got punched, my hatsu - er, special ability - died out. It should have lasted another minute, and I don't - I don't understand why it didn't hold up. On top of that... I was sleeping. I should have recovered myself . . ."
Recovery Girl gave you a frown in response. "I couldn't tell you . . . I don't know anything about your abilities, unfortunately."
Now that you were focusing more on it, you felt... strange. You weren't sure how to explain it, and decided your best course of action would be to manually heal yourself with your nen. Closing your eyes, you tried to focus, urging your nen to get to work and...
Nothing.
It was there, a faint glimmer, but definitely unattainable and out of reach. It was as if a thick glass barrier separated you from your nen, rendering it unusable for the time being.
You went back to the last words you heard before you passed out, the strange voice in your head. It had warned you to drop your hatsu . . . Was this what it meant? You weren't sure, and you weren't going to bring that up to Recovery Girl. She'd just think that you're crazy!
Sensing your panic, Recovery Girl rested a hand on your knee so light you could barely feel it. Concern was visible on her visage, your [e/c] eyes widened out of fear. If you couldn't use your nen... It would come back. Right? Right? You were nothing without your ability, it almost felt like somebody had cut your arm off. Hell, you'd rather your arm be cut off than lose your nen! Sure, your fighting capabilities were honed in and whatnot, but you relied on nen for all of your healing needs. To be cut off from it...
It was only now that you realized that Recovery Girl had asked you a question, and you could feel tears well up in your eyes at the thought of being powerless. "I... My nen... It's there, but I can't access it at all."
You felt insanely cold, and you barely noticed as the door opened, a streak of green heading straight towards you in a familiarly panicked mood, although for different reasons.
"[Y/n]!"
Hearing Izuku's voice was a harsh slap back into reality, and you met his green eyes in shock. Immediately he had started to fuss over you, and it helped calm you down, even if it wasn't Izuku's intention. Your nen... You knew that using your ability would drain it. It's possible that you just needed to recharge from overexerting yourself. You'd be okay. You'd be okay.
Forcing a chuckle, you slowly pat his head. "I'm... okay, Izu. Please don't worry."
He wasn't convinced, his eyes lingering on your...
"Hey! My eyes are up here!"
Immediately the teen flushed, shaking his head and hands frantically. "N-n-no! That's n-not what I meant! I just... It's...!" Seeing him flustered was definitely worth it as you giggled, alerting him that you weren't actually mad. Calming down, Izuku shook his head. "When Todoroki hit you... It was bad. You got burned really bad, and we were all worried, but they wouldn't let us down to see you," he explained, gesturing towards the bandages. "What... happened?"
That was not something you wanted to talk about right now. "I just... pushed myself too hard. I can't really use my nen right now, so in this world's terms, I guess I'm quirkless? Not like people will notice right away, though."
There was a faint thump from outside of the infirmary, but neither of you paid it any attention as you explained to Izuku. He seemed confused, but you didn't fault him for it. You had a strong understanding of nen and even you didn't completely understand it. Maybe later you could do more research about this?
Reassuring your friend that he didn't have to worry about it, he just nodded unsurely. "It will come back?" Even you didn't know, but you nodded in response anyways, and he let out a sigh of relief. How much he cared, it really touched you. "Anyways... The awards ceremony is going to be soon..."
"Wait, is it already over?! Who won?!"
Izuku was quick to fill you in on Katsuki and Shouto's fight, explaining that Shouto already left the infirmary before you woke up. Damn, you really slept through it all... Judging by Izuku's description, you could only imagine how Katsuki was feeling right now. If Shouto really didn't use his left side on him and Katsuki won by a technicality, the blond was probably feeling extremely pissed off right now.
On cue, the infirmary door opened again, revealing Midnight who appraised you with a more serious look in her eyes. The way she spoke was lighthearted, but you could tell she also was a bit hesitant. Just what did you look like...?
Recovery Girl stepped forward. "She should stay here and rest..."
Midnight sighed, blue eyes flitting to you once before staring down at the elderly woman. "I know, but they want all students present for the ceremony. We can wheel her out if we have to."
"I do not need a wheelchair."
And in a moment of brilliance, you flung yourself out of bed, your legs immediately buckling underneath you as you crashed to the floor, giving nobody time to catch your dumb ass.
"FUCK."
Groaning in pain as Izuku began to freak out, you just lied there limply. Okay. Maybe you did need a wheelchair. You were a fucking mess, and there was no way you could walk and stand for more than even a couple of seconds. It took both Midnight and Izuku's help to even get you into a wheelchair, with Recovery Girl admonishing your actions all the while.
Taking the reigns, Izuku had started to wheel you out, with Recovery Girl stopping him to talk to you before you left the infirmary.
"[Y/n], dear," she started, voice low, "I don't understand what happened, but that was really dangerous out there... If your ability is going to fail out on you like that, you shouldn't rely on it, or you may not survive next time."
Her words were serious, and you nodded hesitantly. You had never had this happen before. Ever. How would you explain that, though? That you faltered because a disembodied voice distracted you and caused you to completely let down your guard?
". . . I got it. Thank you."
With that said, Izuku wheeled you out. He politely didn't say anything about what Recovery Girl had told you even though you knew he had heard her, and for that you were grateful. It wasn't something you wanted to talk about right now. You were no longer in the mood for the sport's festival. You just wanted to get this over with, go home, sleep, and then maybe do some research to figure out what the hell you had done to make your body hate you like this. God, and that display was on national television... You could already imagine Hisoka's teasing and eerie smile at your attempt to fight. You just couldn't catch a break, could you?
With no more conversation as you were briskly wheeled to the podiums, you braced yourself, your thoughts still lingering on your hatsu and your battle against Shouto. Something here wasn't right - for some reason, you were having auditory hallucinations. But why?
Hello? Anybody in there?
You felt stupid for projecting your thoughts out to something you couldn't see, even more so when it didn't response back.
Great. Maybe I really am going crazy.