Kimitsuski activated her optical Quirk and winced at the pain that rang through her head yet again. She grimaced through it and looked around as every single did exactly what she had expected them to do – go after Izuku's team to capture his ten million points. She didn't need her Quirk to anticipate that from them. She glanced over at Shoto, knowing he wanted to do the same thing.
Ahead of them, Team Tetsutetsu's Honenuki Juzo quickly use his Softening Quirk to soften the ground beneath Team Midoriya, trapping them into the ground so they could snatch the points.
However, Izuku utilised the jetpack and hover-soles, courtesy of Support Department's Hatsume Mei, escaped out of the converging teams by flying right up into the air. Kimitsuki was impressed.
Kyoka tried to use her Earphone Jacks to attack them while they were still in the air, however before they could reach them – the jacks were deflected away by Fumikage's Dark Shadow.
"No one is coming after us," Tenya observed, mentioning it mainly to Shoto rather than anyone else. "I think we should fall back and wait to defend,"
"No, we'll participate actively," Shoto replied, his eyes trained on the green-haired boy. "How else are you going to show off what you're capable of to the scouters?"
Tenya was immediately convinced and Kimitsuki sweat-dropped at how easily swayed he was.
"Now then, even though barely two minutes have passed since we've started," Present Mic announced. "It's already turned into a free-for-all! Fights over the headbands breaking out all over! Ignoring the ten million and going for third to fifth places isn't bad, either!"
As their team also slowly headed to intercept and steal the ten million points from Izuku, Kimitsuki kept her eyes on as many people as she could to see their movements, muttering the information to Tenya regarding where to go and where not to go, and to pointing out attackers to Shoto quickly.
Kimitsuki noted another Class 1-B team heading in their direction quickly and focused her eyes on their 'horse', using her coercion to send him to his knees, making the entire team go crashing down.
However, an intense sting rippled through her head and she closed her eyes momentarily, holding onto her head as she tried to massage the pain away from her forehead. She opened her eyes again.
I must get this checked out by Recovery Girl.
What if I really did damage my head and it didn't show until now?
"Now, let's take a look at each team's points..." Present Mic spoke up. "It's been seven minutes! Here are the current rankings up on the screen!" He paused for a moment. "Other than Team Midoriya, Class A isn't doing so well... Bakugo? What?"
Out of curiosity, Kimitsuki glanced over at the screen to see what was going on and was shocked to see that Katsuki's team was currently sitting on zero points. She knew that he had teamed up with Mina and she did have a particular strategy but there was no way he would go that far down.
It seemed like Katsuki was facing off against Team Monoma – and Kimitsuki noted that they had Quirks such as being able to merge into black objects, solidifying the air breathed out, ability to rotate parts of body like a drill, and the ability to copy Quirks with just one touch of a hand.
Now that's a reliant Quirk...
"We're going to make our move," Shoto said to his team, and Kimitsuki watched as they turned around to face none other than Team Midoriya. "Kuroyanagi, Iida, Kaminari,"
"Less than half the time is left now!" Present Mic announced. "The cavalry battle is about to enter the second half! In this unexpected rise of Class B, who will wear the most points in the end?!"
"I'll be taking that now," Shoto said to Izuku.
"I thought we would not have a confrontation until later in this contest," Fumikage spoke up. "He seems to think highly of you, Midoriya,"
"Only half the time is left!" Izuku responded. "Don't stop moving,"
"Iida, forward!" Shoto instructed. "Kuroyanagi, shield and anticipate," Kimitsuki nodded lightly, keeping her eyes on their opponent. "Kaminari, you –"
"I know what I have to do!" Denki interjected. "Make sure you guard well..."
There were four more teams charging toward Team Midoriya with Team Todoroki – two from Class 1-A and two from Class 1-B. Kimitsuki swallowed and focused on her shield, her body shrouding itself with the purple energy and extended the ribcage to take both Tenya and Shoto inside as well.
In its current stage, the shield could only be expanded to cover those standing right next to Kimitsuki but that also meant that it increased the pain in her body more, including her head, as she did so.
"Indiscriminate Shock 1.3 Million Volts!"
Denki's shout was collaborated with him indiscriminately releasing electricity all around him to shock everyone that was heading toward Team Midoriya with them until they were a mess. Kimitsuki waited until Denki had finished with his attack and she let go of the shield quickly.
"We've got less than six minutes remaining," Kimitsuki told Shoto. "If you use your ice right now, you can freeze them in place. Make sure you get Class B's Shishida-Kun's arms, too – his Quirk is Beast,"
"Right," Shoto replied, taking in her analysis of their enemies. "We can't back down now," He used his Ice Quirk as Kimitsuki had instructed and captured them. "Sorry, but you'll just have to bear it,"
"What did he do?" Present Mic shouted. "Todoroki took care of that crowd of teams in an instant!"
"After Kaminari's shock stopped them, Todoroki froze them according to Kuroyanagi's observation with her Quirk," Aizawa informed quietly.
Team Todoroki made a quick turn around and snatched up a few of the headbands from the delirious teams stuck in ice. Kimitsuki held them out for Shoto to tie around his neck as they turned around to chase after Team Midoriya again, now that they had their path cleared out completely.
Seeing them back on their tail, Team Midoriya tried to fly out of the way but was unable to do so, and instead, Fumikage tried to attack them with his Dark Shadow by sending it right toward them.
"Not again," Kimitsuki mumbled to herself and raised her right arm to create a rib to protect them against the attack. Her head was throbbing by now.
"Team Midoriya has nowhere left to go!"
Present Mic's announcement made it aware to Kimitsuki that they made their way to the edge of the field and it was clear that Team Midoriya really had nowhere to go, beside facing them head-on.
"Todoroki made it so he'd have the ten million in an instant!" Present Mic shouted. "At least, that's what I thought five minutes ago! But unbelievably, Midoriya's been able to keep away in that cramped space for five minutes!"
"What's your analysis?" Shoto inquired from Kimitsuki. "Kuroyanagi,"
"The only person we really have to be concerned about is Izu-Chan," Kimitsuki answered honestly. "Tokoyami-Kun wouldn't attack us too often with Kaminari-Kun's electricity, my and Todoroki-Kun's flames – while Hatsume-San seems to only rely on support items, and Uraraka-Chan's Quirk would could help them float but there's nothing around us for her to attack us with.
"On the other hand, our position isn't quite that great either. Kaminari-Kun is going to reach his limit quite soon. Iida-Kun's legs will heat up, too. I can aid your freezing body with my flames but that will warm me up a lot, too. Also, if you use only your right side, Izu-Chan will figure out your movements and stick to your left – and if you tried to attack that location, you will end up hurting Iida-Kun,"
"Right," Shoto replied, processing what the silver-haired girl had just told him. "We've got one more minute – we should try one more time,"
"Everyone, there's less than a minute left," Tenya spoke up, finally. "You won't be able to use me after this. I'm counting on you! Hang on tight. Make sure you get it, Kuroyanagi-Kun, Todoroki-Kun. Torque Over – Reciproburst!"
If Kimitsuki hadn't had her Quirk activated, she was sure that she wouldn't have been able to understand what just happened. Tenya's move was a burst of unexpected speed but her vision allowed her to see where they were going and reached her hand up to grab onto the headbands around Izuku's head while her companions were too shocked at the speed to really react anyhow.
"Wha?!" Present Mic shouted. "What happened? So fast! So fast! Iida, if you could accelerate that fast, then show us in the prelims!"
"What was that?" Shoto asked, still stunned.
"By forcing the torque and rotations to increase, I created an explosive power," Tenya explained to them all. "With the recoil, my engine stalls after a while, though. It's a secret move I hadn't told anyone in class yet. I told you, didn't I, Midoriya-Kun? That I'd challenge you,"
"The tables are turned!" Present Mic announced. "Offense and defense right at the edge! Reining that in, Todoroki gets the ten million! And Midoriya is suddenly left with zero points!"
"Get back in there!" Izuku ordered.
"As long as they have Kaminari, we'll be at a disadvantage if we attack!" Fumikage responded. "Won't it be safer to try for other points right now?"
"No!" Izuku replied. "I don't know how the other points got split up! This is our only chance!"
"All right!" Ochaco spoke up. "We'll get it back, Deku-Kun! We definitely will!" She urged them to return to the field, running straight toward Team Todoroki.
"Uraraka-San..." Izuku breathed.
"With less than a minute left, Todoroki currently has four headbands!" Present Mic announced. "He's wrested away the second spot from Midoriya, who was running away like crazy! Kuroyanagi saved them on the right moment! Will these be the top four teams to move on to the next round?!"
But there was no time to linger on that thought because Team Midoriya were running directly toward from their left – just as she had expected Izuku would figure out. She observed his movements and figured out very well what he was going to do even if they tried to distract her eyes by sending Fumikage's Dark Shadow toward them, which she deflected with raising a ribcage.
Izuku moved closer and closer, and Kimitsuki was about to extend her shield to protect them against his punch but Shoto raised his left arm, using his Fire Quirk to attack him back, taken by surprise.
Kimitsuki knew that there was only one way to get Team Midoriya off of their backs and attempted a strategy that she had attempted many times before. She snatched one of the headbands around Shoto's neck and thrusted them toward Izuku's out-stretched hand in the distracting mayhem.
Izu-Chan will think he got it on his own.
"With just eleven seconds left, there's an angry retrieval here, too!" Present Mic announced excitedly as he finished talking about Team Bakugo's fight against Team Monoma.
"Which headband did they get?" Denki questioned quickly.
"There's nothing to be worried about," Kimitsuki answered as Shoto was still in shock. "I deliberately handed him our lowest point headband. He believes that he took the ten million points on his own,"
"Todoroki-Kun, get a hold of yourself!" Tenya said. "That was close!" Kimitsuki looked at Shoto and tilted her head in curiosity when she saw he was staring incessantly at his left arm.
"Oh no!" Present Mic exclaimed. "Team Midoriya didn't retrieve the ten million points! Time's just about up! Start the countdown!"
"Tokoyami-Kun!" Izuku said, and Fumikage immediately sent his Dark Shadow toward them once more, hoping to retrieve another headband.
"Kaminari-Kun!" Kimitsuki said as she quickly created another shield around them, covering herself, a lost Shoto and a clueless Tenya inside the ribcage. "Do it!"
"Damn Deku!" Katsuki growled as he arrived at the location as well, ready to take every single one of them down – as one could tell from his expression, at least.
"Iida-Kun, don't move, I'll protect us," Kimitsuki said as she raised her hand to cover Denki in her defence as well, knowing that she will have to use her own flames. "I'll deal with them,"
Both Team Midoriya and Team Bakugo were heading directly for them, with Katsuki flying through the air with his explosion ready to blast in their faces and Izuku's hand outstretched for –
"Time's up!"
Present Mic's sudden announcement brought all three teams to a sudden stop as the crowd cheered deafening. Kimitsuki winced when Katsuki just fell out of the air and smack dap onto the ground.
"That's the end of the second round, the cavalry battle!" Present Mic exclaimed.
Shoto jumped off of his three teammates. Kimitsuki finally switched her Quirk off and let out a deep breath, feeling her entire body aching from what she had went through. She wanted to get her eye-drops as soon as possible and get her head checked out by Recovery Girl before she messed it more.
"Now, let's take a look at the top four teams right away!" Present Mic shouted. "In first place, Team Todoroki, with excellent performance by good old Kuroyanagi, of course!"
"You need to be more impartial," Aizawa interjected.
"Somehow, we managed to get the first position," Kimitsuki breathed. "Although, I felt like we were very cornered by the end of it. I'm very grateful to my teammates," She bowed her head.
"You really did do great, Kuroyanagi-Kun," Tenya complimented, glancing toward Shoto was continuously looking at his left arm, distracted. "I caused everyone trouble,"
"Oh, no, it's nothing like that, Iida-Kun," Kimitsuki assured him quickly. "We all worked hard,"
"When did that happen?" Shoto asked, finally turning to look at Kimitsuki. "What did you do?"
"When Izu-Chan and Todoroki-Kun were distracted," Kimitsuki said slowly. "That's when I grabbed the seventy-point headband from your neck and handed it over to Izu-Chan through the smoke,"
"In second place, Team Bakugo!"
"Ah, we were so close!" Mina said, and Kimitsuki looked away from her team to look at the older female and her teammates Eijirou and Hanta gathered around Katsuki, who was still on the ground.
"Well, second place isn't bad," Hanta pointed out, trying to appease them. "All's well that ends well," Kimitsuki doubted that it would satisfy Katsuki –
"Do you really think that's how he feels?" Eijirou said as he pointed at Katsuki, who was yelling out in frustration as he sat down on the ground, and Kimitsuki sweat-dropped at his tantrum.
"Looks like more and more people are realising Ka-Chan's true personality," Kimitsuki mumbled to herself, her eyes meeting with Katsuki's but he looked away with a huff.
That's brilliant, Ka-Chan.
"In third place," Present Mic said, continuing onward. "Team Tetsute – Huh?! What? It's Team Shinso?! When did you come from behind?!"
Kimitsuki turned to look at Hitoshi in shock, who had been in a team with Mashirao, Yuga and Class 1-B's Shoda Nirengeki. She hadn't seen them at all during the round and she hadn't even thought of seeing his Quirk with her eyes. The last she had known of him was when he had approached her.
Hitoshi seemed to notice her attention on him and smirked when their purple eyes met each other. But he didn't hold her gaze for long as he glanced over at his teammates over his shoulder.
"Thanks for your hard work," Hitoshi said rather smugly before walking off, and Kimitsuki stared at the confused and delirious expression and behaviour of his teammates.
What did he do to those boys?
Now that I recall, he did something like that earlier, too, right?
"In fourth place, Team Midoriya!" Present Mic went on with announcements. "These four teams and the individuals with the highest total scores so far will advance to the final round!"
Izuku began to cry loudly when he realised that Fumikage had caught a headband from Shoto, too, the one on his head. Kimitsuki turned her back to them, pretending like she had absolutely nothing to do with anything. She wondered what the next round would turn out to be now. Tournament?
"Now, we'll take an hour's break for lunch before we start the afternoon festivities!" Present Mic announced to both the audience and the students. "See ya! Hey, Eraser Head, let's go grab food,"
"I'm going to sleep," Aizawa muttered in response.
Kimitsuki wanted to leave the arena and head to Recovery Girl but her pathway was intercepted by none other than Shoto, who told her and Izuku to follow him. The two childhood friends shared an uncertain look amongst themselves but followed the male out to a deserted stadium corridor.
"So..." Izuku spoke up first uncertainly as they stood across from Shoto. "What did you want to talk about? If we don't hurry, the cafeteria will probably be really crowded..."
"I was overpowered," Shoto responded. "So, much so that I broke my pledge... Iida, Kaminari, Tokoyami, Uraraka... None of them felt it. At that last instant, I was the only one who was overpowered. None of them felt it. At that last instant, I was the only one who was overpowered. Only me, who had experienced All Might's full power up close,"
"Todoroki-Kun," Kimitsuki said. "What are you trying to say?"
"What... does... that mean...?" Izuku asked, sharing another look with Kimitsuki.
"It means I felt something similar coming from you," Shoto replied. "Midoriya, are you... All Might's secret love child or something?"
Kimitsuki and Izuku both stared at him with their jaws dropped, wondering if he was trying to make a joke but Shoto remained serious, not taking his eyes off of them as they processed his stupidity.
"Well?" Shoto demanded. "Are you?"
"Th-That's not it!" Izuku stammered out. "I mean, even if I was, I would say I wasn't, so I don't think you'd believe me, but anyway, that's not how it is... In the first place, let me ask you something... Why do you think that about me...?"
"Since you said, 'that's not how it is'," Shoto said. "That means there's a connection between you three that you can't talk about, right?"
"I'm not sure what you mean, Todoroki-Kun," Kimitsuki spoke up. "It is true that Izu-Chan and I were briefly trained by All Might, and that Izu-Chan has an accumulation Quirk like All Might's... but there's nothing going on between us beyond that. Izu-Chan isn't related to All Might, and I'm not his protégé. Despite All Might praising and training me, and Shigaraki accusing me of being one, I am not,"
For a moment, Shoto stared at the two of them in silence, and then opened his mouth again.
"Endeavor's my old man," Shoto told them. "I'm sure you know that he's been stuck as the number two hero for forever. If you have something from the number one hero, then I... have even more reason to beat you two. My old man has a strong desire to rise in the world. As a hero, he won a name for himself with crushing force. Because of that, the living legend, All Might, is a great eyesore to him. Since he couldn't surpass All Might, he moved onto his next plan,"
"What are you talking about, Todoroki-Kun?" Izuku asked uncertainly, wishing he could grab onto Kimitsuki's hand for assurance – but they weren't kids anymore. "What are you trying to tell us?"
"You've heard of Quirk marriages, right?" Shoto said. "That thing that became a problem for the second and third generation after superpowers appeared. Choosing a spouse based only on strengthening your own Quirk and passing it onto your children, forcing people into marriage.
"The old-fashioned way of thinking brought about by a lack of ethics. He is a man with both accomplishments and money. He won over my mother's relatives and got a hold of my mother's Quirk. He is trying to fulfil his own desire by raising me to be a hero to surpass All Might,"
"Quirk... marriage...?" Kimitsuki asked, shocked as she processed what had happened.
"It's so annoying... I won't become the tool of scum like that," Shoto told them. "In my memories, my mother is always crying. 'Your left side is unsightly,' my mother said as she poured boiling water on me. Basically, I picked a fight with you two one by one to show him what I can do, without using my damn old man's Quirk. No... I'll reject him completely by winning first place without using it,"
Ignoring Kimitsuki and Izuku's shock, Shoto turned around to leave the corridor.
"I don't care if you can't tell me how you're connected to All Might," Shoto replied. "No matter what you are to All Might, I will rise above you with just my right side. Sorry for wasting your time,"
"I...!" Izuku spoke up. "I have always been supported by others. That was the case earlier, too. I am here because of the people who have supported me. Saving people with a fearless smile, the greatest hero – All Might. I want to be like him. In order to do that, I have to be strong enough to become number one. My motivation might seem trivial compared to yours, but I can't lose, either. I have to live up to the hopes of those who supported me. That declaration of war you gave earlier – I'll return that. I will beat you, too!"
Kimitsuki just stared at the two boys.
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