Chapter 60: Chapter 60: UA Sports Festival (IV)
A/N: This chapter is just going to follow the exact thing from cannon, from speech, interactions between characters, students fighting and match ups. Since I decided that Shido was a teacher, this pretty much limited him to sitting at the sidelines while I focused on the students more.
Of course, because Izuku was trained, so obviously there are going to be some differences
Well, enjoy!
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"ALRIGHT EVERYONE!!! COMPETE YOUR HEARTS OUT, RECREATION! AND AFTER THAT, IT'S THE FINAL EVENT!"
After lunch break was over and everyone was seated back down, Present Mic started his commentary again.
"FROM FOUR TEAMS, SIXTEEN INDIVIDUALS HAVE MADE IT THROUGH! IT'S A TOURNAMENT!! WE'RE PITTING AGAINST EACH OTHER IN ONE-ON-ONE COMBAT!!"
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"A tournament, eh? Finally, I'm gonna have the opportunity to appear on the stage I see on the TV every year!" Eijiro said as he clenched his fist.
"There was a tournament last year too?" Mina asked.
Hearing her question, Hanta, who was beside her, answered,"Some details end up changing, but each year always ends with a one-on-one tournament."
While the students were conversing amongst themselves, Midnight continued her explanation,"Now we're going to do a drawing to determine the pairings. So, contestants, we're going to continue with recreational events before beginning the tournament."
Turning to face the sixteen people who were going to participate in the tournament, she said,"The sixteen participants from the tournament can choose to abstain from the recreational events if those choose. There's no problem is you'd like to rest and save your energy. So we begin with the team that got first place..."
But before she could continue on, Mashirao interrupted,"Please, excuse me! I...I don't want to participate."
As soon as he declared, commotion broke out within the student body.
"Ojiro! Why!?"
"You're not gonna have many opportunities like this one to show off your abilities in front of the professional heroes!!"
"My participation in the cavalry battle...I was in the top ranks in the last few seconds...I can't agree with that. Probably because of the quirk of that one guy."
Hearing his reason for quitting, Izuku immediately turned towards the student with messy, indigo-coloured hair and very dark eye bags underneath his eyes.
As if sensing someone was observing him, Hitoshi immediately turned to face Izuku as well, and after maintaining eye contact for less than one second, he immediately turned his head back.
"I know this is a rare opportunity...and to walk away would be stupid."
"Ojiro..."
"However! Everyone here gave their best to get so far...I'll never be able to do the same."
"You don't need to think that! There's no problem if you give your best until the end!" Toru cheered for Mashirao.
"No, it's not like that! It's a question of dignity...I don't want it to be that way..."
Mashirao placed his hands over eyes and started rubbing them. Though it wasn't very visible, his body was trembling as well.
When no one said anything for a few seconds, a student from class 1-B stepped forwards and declared,"I don't agree either...I want to resign too! It doesn't matter the situation...to let someone win without doing anything...that doesn't go against the spirit of the sports festival?!"
"Those kids...they're no good!" In the commentator area, Present Mic and Shota were discussing.
"It seems like there's a weird revolt...but the final decision still lies with Midnight..." Shota said in his usual monotonous voice.
"What innocent words." Midnight grabbed her whip and frowned a little.
"I...LIKED THEM!!! I accept Shouda and Ojiro's resignation!"
Unexpectedly, Midnight whipped her whip, creating a loud cracking sound and accepted their resignation.
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"She accepted them on pure whim..." Shido was speechless. Not only at Midnight's whim, but also at the student's declaration of resignation.
Though he wasn't a student, and would probably never be, and didn't know how big of a benefit participating in the tournament would bring for the students, he knew that it was big enough to at least secure a bright future if they ever caught the attention of a popular hero.
However, that could only be done by showcasing their abilities in front of the crowd.
What was dignity compared to your future?
Can it be eaten? Can it put food on the table for you?
Why have the so-called 'dignity' if all it does is impede your future?
"Dignity is only for the strong, the weak has no other choice but to grasp every opportunity to climb the ranks in society." Shido muttered so softly that no one heard him.
'The only place I haven't searched...is in North and South America, Australia and the sea...when am I going to complete my search...?' Shido sighed at this thought before turning his attention back to the commotion below.
While Shido was deep in his thoughts, Eri looked at him.
'Shido looks so sad...'
She couldn't help but think that upon seeing melancholy on Shido's face all of a sudden.
'Sigh, I hope he finds them soon...'
"Eri, I'm going to help Cementoss. You can stay here till the end of the tournament before I come back and pick you up, or are you going to help Grandma Chiyo?"
"I'm staying here! DOn't worry about me and just do you best! Good luck, Shido!"
'No, I don't need luck...I'm not even participating...' Shido thought internally but didn't say anything to the girl and just nodded.
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In the meantime, Midnight decided that Team Tetsutetsu will replace Shouda and Ojiro's place and thus, the pairings were finalised.
Midoriya versus Shinso
Todoroki versus Sero
Shouzaki versus Kaminari
Iida versus Hatsume
Ashido versus Aoyama
Tokoyami versus Yaoyorozu
Tetsutetsu versus Kirishima
Uraraka versus Bakugo
"For now, let's put the tournament aside and first...let's enjoy the recreational events!"
For the next thirty minutes, all sorts of different events took place and the ones who didn't manage to enter the tournament took part in it.
After the thirty minutes, Cementoss and Shido worked together to create a grand stage for the tournament in less than a minute. Cementoss transported all the cement to the middle of the stage while Shido transformed them into a double-layered stage. At the four corners, four pillars of flames blazed on, giving off a very intimidating aura.
"Thank you, Cementoss and Phantom! HEY GUYS ARE YOU READY!? AFTER SO MANY EVENTS...FINALLY THE ONE VS. ONE BATTLES, THOSE WHICH WE ALL REALLY WANTED TO SEE! THE ONLY PERSON THAT YOU CAN COUNT ON IS YOURSELF! HOWEVER, EVEN WITHOUT BEING A HERO, YOU FACE SITUATIONS LIKE THESE IN YOUR EVERYDAY LIFE, RIGHT?!"
"WILL, ABILITY, RESISTANCE AND JUSTICE...THIS IS THE MOMENT TO PUT ALL THESE IN PLAY AND ACHIEVE A GLORIOUS VICTORY!!!"
"FIRST FIGHT!! HIS GRADES ARE TOP-NOTCH! HIS ABILITY IS TOP-NOTCH! BUT WHAT THE HELL IS THAT EXPRESSION? FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF HEROES, MIDORIYA IZUKU!"
As Izuku came out of the tunnel into the spotlight, Present Mic took the liberty to introduce him to the audience.
"AGAINST...WE'RE SORRY BUT, HE'S ONLY A NORMAL STUDENT WITHOUT ANYTHING SPECIAL. FROM THE COMMON DEPARTMENT, SHINSO HITOSHI!!"
As both participants were arriving in front of the stage, the audience were cheering loudly for both of them in anticipation for a good fight, though most of the cheers were directed to Izuku.
When both of them reached the centre of the stage and stared at each other, Present Mic continued,"THE RULES ARE SIMPLE! IF YOUR OPPONENT LEAVES THE RING, CAN'T MORE ANYMORE OR SAYS 'I GIVE UP', THEN THE VICTORY IS YOURS.
DON'T WORRY ABOUT OVERDOING YOURSELF!! RECOVERY GIRL IS WAITING PREPARED AT THE EDGE OF THE STADIUM! SO, LEAVE YOUR MORALES TO THE SIDE AND GIVE IT YOUR ALL!!
OF COURSE, TO PUT THE LIFE OF AN OPPONENT AT RISK FOR ANY REASON IS NOT PERMITTED. IF YOU DO THAT YOU WILL BE DISQUALIFIED IMMEDIATELY. HEROES SHOULD ONLY ATTACK WITHOUT MERCY WHEN ATTACKING VILLAINS!"
At the two sides of the stage, Cementoss and Shido were present as the referees of the tournament. On one side, Cementoss had made a chair out of cement and sat on it while on the other side, Shido also had a throne to sit down.
People wondered where the golden throne came from. Especially with it's weird design, there was what seemed to be a hilt of a sword at the back of the throne. But the match was about to start, so they turned their attention back to the duo instead.
"READY! BEGIN!!"
As soon as Present Mic gave the signal to start, Izuku immediately shouted,"What did you say?!"
However, as soon as those words came out of his mouth, he completely stopped moving.
'Mind control? Brainwash? Interesting quirk...' At the side, Shido observed the 'battle' closely. Izuku was All Might's successor, so if he couldn't even do a simple thing like break out of the brainwash, then a lot of people would be disappointed since it would show that he had weak mental strength.
'But he won't lose. His will had been tampered for a long time, and his determination wasn't that weak.'
If there was one thing Shido liked about Izuku, it would be his strong resolve to be a hero purely for others. Not for fame or money, but the purest intent to become someone who people can rely on in times of need.
'Let's see how fast you break out of the brainwash and what means you will use to do so.'
The reason why Shido could immediately identify that it was brainwash or mind control was due to the fact that he has a similar 'quirk', and there were similarities between the two mind control quirks, which was both based on 'sound'.
As soon as Shinso spoke, he could feel that there were hints of brainwashing present. Of course, to the general public and even pro heroes, they wouldn't be able to identify it immediately. Shido was just special.
Back to the match, Izuku was 'commanded' to walk off the stage. Shido could see Izuku struggling to break the brainwash, but he was unable to do so.
One step. Two steps. Three steps. As Izuku took step after step, he was slowly edging closer to the sidelines. However, just five steps away from disqualifying himself, Shido suddenly saw something within Izuku's eyes.
'His quirk?! Was that One for All!?'
It was as if there was a shadow which consisted of eight different people, all combined into one with eight different pairs of eyes.
While Shido was distracted with the 'shadows', Izuku suddenly broke two of his fingers.
'One for All: 100%.'
Using the entirety of what One for All could offer, he directed all the power to his right index and middle finger.
Although both of his fingers broke, this resulted in Izuku feeling immense pain, the same level of pain he hadn't felt since his training a few months ago. And this pain allowed Izuku to shake off the brainwashing.
Not wasting a single moment, after he got out of the brainwashing, he immediately ran towards Shinso.
'Full cowl: 15%'
Though it was only fifteen percent, it was more than enough to reach the other side of the arena in three seconds.
Shido could hear Shinso complaining about his own quirk but Izuku didn't reply to him.
'Seems like he figured out the trick.' Shido thought with a smile. He didn't really care about his complaints. Anyone could do so. Shido knew he wasn't wrong, but at the same time, there was nothing he could do. He had the ability to change someone's quirk, but even if he did that, the power differences will always be present and there would be even more destruction in the world.
[A/N: Yes, he can change someone's quirk using Ain Soph or Ain, both of which are reality manipulation angels.]
When he saw Izuku not replying to anyone of his taunts and complaints, he started sprouting even more complaints, and when Izuku finally reached him, he wanted to grab Izuku and pull him outside the ring.
However, due to Izuku's fine martial arts which he had learnt from Sebastian (the trainer), he avoided the grab cleanly and without a moment of hesitation, he punched him in the stomach.
Shinso was actually tougher than he looked, and barely managed to remain on the stage though he was on his knees.
Izuku had been taught not to dither, so he immediately grabbed his shirt from the back and tossed him out of the stage before Shinso could regain himself.
The moment Shinso's body touched the ground outside the stage, Midnight announced,"Shinso's out! Midoriya! You advance to round 2!!"
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