章 47: Sports Festival (9)
"AND NOW! THE THIRD MATCH OF THE DAY! FIRST OFF, THE YOUNG HEIRESS OF THE YAOYOROZU COMPANY! SHE'S SMART, BEAUTIFUL, AND INCREDIBLY SCARY WHEN SHE PUTS HER MIND TO IT, SHE'S YAOYOROZU MOMO! GIVE HER A ROUND OF APPLAUSE!"
The stadium erupted into cheers, Momo's gut feeling like the butterflies within it were frolicking around with no abandon. This was, however, something she was used to. So, putting up a smile and waving to the crowd, Momo stepped forward without losing her composure.
"And her opponent! This young lad is quite a trouble magnet! You better watch out, or you're bound to be shocked for a lifetime. He's Kaminari Denki! Give him a round of applause!"
"Dude! Not cool!" Kaminari glared at the commentary box. Midnight was quick to shush him as she strutted forward, flag in hand.
"Alright, I want a nice, clean fight. You both will fight until one of you either taps out, is unable to continue, ring out, or I deem it necessary to stop." Midnight raised the flag, both Momo's and Kaminari's eyes staying glued to the piece of cloth. "Are you both ready?"
"... Uhhh… Not really, but… ready as I'll ever be." Midnight narrowed her eyes at the blonde, causing him to squirm in place.
"Looks like we'll be having some words after the Sports Festival. Your attitude could use some work." Midnight then looked at Momo. "How about you, ready?"
"Yes, ma'am." Momo nodded resolutely, a plan already forming in her head.
"Then… Start!"
Immediately, Momo tried to create enough static-resistant cloth to cover her body. She read the rules of the tournament beforehand. She wasn't allowed to bring anything her quirk created into the arena, so she had to create it the moment the fight began.
Against Kaminari, she was sure she was going to lose if she didn't have some means of defense against his electricity.
"Indiscriminate Shock 1.3 Million Volts!" Her eyes widened. She wasn't done creating her defense.
Her nerves flared in sudden pain as she felt her entire body shut down. The last thing she saw was the concrete floor as she collapsed, with only a single word echoing through her mind repeatedly.
Failure…
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"Well, I guess that's just lady luck smiling on Kaminari." Izuku mused as he heard the frustrated groans coming from the girls right next to his seat. The boys, on the other hand, were cheering for the blond on the stage who was giving out free thumbs up with a derpy grin on his face.
Jirou was clutching at her sides trying hard not to laugh at the sight, but Izuku could tell the girl felt sorry for Yaoyorozu. She was one of the favorites to reach second place of the entire festival, after all, so it was sad to see her go out on the first round.
"Well, what do you expect? Spark plug's quirk's faster." Katsuki leaned against his chair and propped his feet up against the backrest of the occupied chair in front of him, Mineta looking at him with a fed-up expression. "If Ponytail was gonna win, she'd have to be near instant with her creations, which, news flash, isn't how it fucking works. She's good at planning, strategizing, and set-ups, but sudden encounters are not how she wanna handle her business."
"... Wow… With how violent and foul-mouthed you are, I thought you had the same IQ as Kaminari." Ashido commented off-handedly, causing Bakugo to nearly blow up.
"THE FUCK DOES THAT MEAN, PINKIE!?" Never mind, Katsuki blew up. At least he wasn't being physical.
"Nothing. Nothing." Ashido waved her hands, a cheeky grin plastered on her face. She then turned morose as they all saw Yaoyorozu being hauled by the medi-bots to the infirmary. Kaminari was given the same treatment because he was currently in derp mode. "Still, gotta feel bad for Yaomomo."
"... Want to go and cheer her up when she wakes up, kero?" Tsuyu offered and all of the girls agreed.
"Anyway, I'm off." Katsuki stood up from his seat and looked at Aoyama, the latter trembling slightly at the intense gaze. "Better prepare yourself, sparkles. I ain't going down without a fight."
Aoyama gulped as he too stood up, following Katsuki out of their class box.
"... Welp, Aoyama's screwed." Izuku stated, and surprisingly, not a single one of his classmates disagreed.
"Yep, press F to pay respect." Mineta nodded sagely, and those who knew the reference clasped their hands together or just plain saluted. Those who didn't were left staring confused at their classmates doing some kind of gesture, but the underlying meaning was there.
"How about we bet how long before Bakugo wins?" Sato came up with an idea and almost all of them joined in on the bandwagon. "Winner gets to ask a favor from the losers."
"Ten seconds." Mineta was quick to voice his prediction, and some of the others who were about to do the same – most notably the girls – halted at the proclamation. It didn't stop them from betting, however.
"Five seconds, kero." Tsuyu raised her hand, followed by some others who also gave their predictions. Sato wrote them down on the notebook he had brought with him that doubled as a recipe book for sweets.
Izuku didn't join in their fun. He just wanted to see the fight up close without having something looming over his head.
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Katsuki breathed in deeply, the light coming from the end of the tunnel nearly blinding him. Who the fuck designed this stadium? Oh right, it was the goddamned rat. The rat that ran the entire academy.
Grumbling to himself, he stepped into the limelight, eyes squinting for a bit as he adjusted to the sun beaming down on him. On the stage, Midnight stood, waiting like the cheshire cat in that old American fairy tale, Alice in… whatever the fuck Land.
Funny how it survived the Quirk Dark Ages when most of the media during that era was lost to time.
Stepping onto the platform, he glared at sparkles, the teen's knees shaking ever so slightly. He did put up an impressive facade of looking like he didn't give a fuck, being his usual flamboyant self.
"AND NOW, FOR OUR FOURTH MATCH OF THE DAY! ON ONE SIDE, WE HAVE THE EVER-AGGRESSIVE, PERMANENTLY SCOWLING, AND DEMOLITIONS EXPERT OF CLASS 1-A, GIVE IT UP FOR BAKUGO KATSUKI!"
Katsuki was pretty sure Aizawa was giving Present Mic hell right about now for that introduction.
"O-ON THE OTHER SIDE! HE'S SPARKLY! HE'S GLITTERY! HE'S ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS WHY I WEAR SUNGLASSES INSIDE BUILDINGS, AOYAMA YUGA! TAKE THE STAGE!"
"You two boys ready to get rough and dirty?" Midnight sensually roamed her hands over her body, hands still gripping on the flag that was to signal their fight.
"... How the fuck are you a teacher at a high school again?" Katsuki groaned while Midnight sent her whip flying at him, the lash striking the ground next to him.
"Language, or I just might have to discipline you… privately." Katsuki groaned even more. How the fuck was this hag teaching high school students without being labeled a sex offender? One of the many mysteries of modern society. "And if you must know, I have a teacher's license."
"... No shit." A whip striked near him again, but Katsuki remained unphased. "Anyway, can we just get this over with?"
"Hmph, have it your way, but you really must learn how to speak without swearing." Midnight raised the flag high. "I want a clean fight. You will only stop once either of you taps out, is unable to continue, ring out, or I deem it necessary to stop, am I clear?"
"Crystal." Katsuki boredly waved her off while Midnight looked over sparkles, who also nodded is head. "Then, begin!"
In an instant, Katsuki propelled himself towards sparkles, the teen briefly panicking before he used his quirk. Blasting his way to the side, Katsuki narrowly avoided the laser beam that could've dealt some damage, his momentum still not stopping.
Sparkles only had a single second of use before he had to stop, and that was enough time for Katsuki to land a devastating hit.
"DIEEEEEE!!!!" Katsuki roared and brought both of his hands together, sparkles looking like he was about to lose his lunch. To his credit, he managed to move slightly to the side, mitigating the incoming blast. It still sent him flying, but it wasn't enough to get him out of the ring.
That said, it didn't look like sparkles was getting up anytime soon, the rear of his pants emitting a foul smell that alerted both Midnight and Katsuki as to what had happened.
"I… I give up…" Aoyama admitted defeat, and the entire stadium roared. "Ohh… Madame Midnight… Call the bots… please…"
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"Sheesh, poor Aoyama." Ashido grimaced as she watched the blond being dragged away by the bots, while also preserving what little dignity he had left by draping a white cloth over him. "His quirk drawback may not be as disastrous as some I know, but shitting himself on live television?"
"Dude, he'll be lucky if he isn't made fun of by the kids who saw that." Kirishima winced, a bead of sweat rolling down his cheek.
"Aw shit." Mineta shivered, the thought already haunting him. "You think Aoyama's skin is thick enough?"
"If he can survive being looked at like a weirdo, then he could survive some kids." Jirou shrugged, but nevertheless pitied the blond all the same.
Izuku hummed, eyes observing the happenings from the comfort of his seat. If he wasn't wrong, the next match was to be between Kirishima and another from class 1-B, the vine-haired girl. That was going to be a fun match. No doubt, Kirishima was going to lose hard if he didn't ditch his incredibly straightforward fighting style, but to each his own. He fails here, he learns a very useful lesson. On the miniscule chance he won, it meant Kirishima was skillful enough to win against a huge disadvantage.
"So, how long was the fight?" Izuku asked and the rest of his classmates stiffened.
"Uhh… Lemme see… Nine… Seconds…" Ashido's words trailed off as Mineta began to cackle like a madman. "You better not make us do anything fucked up."
"Relax, I ain't too much of a shit like you think I am." Mineta scoffed. "I may be a perv, but even I have my limits. No, I just want you all to dress in cheerleader costumes and cheer for our classmates. Yaoyorozu already made some earlier before she realized I was tricking her."
"... Bruh." Jirou looked at Mineta, disgusted by the purple grape.
"Oh, shut it. You wanted to bet, and you lost. Now pay up." Mineta grinned as he moved to the corner of their box, extracting a bag full of cheerleader uniforms, the semi-skimpy ones that were common amongst professional cheerleaders. "It's simple, before the fight starts, cheer for our classmates. That's it."
"... Fuck. Fine." Ashido groaned as the rest of the girls stood up since all of them did bet on the result of the match. "You're lucky we ain't cowards. Come on girls, let's go change."
"Oh right, Kirishima, isn't it your turn next?" Sato said, causing the artificial redhead to stand up from his seat.
"Yep. Can't wait to fight against… Uh… Who was I fighting again?"
"Shiozaki Ibara from class 1-B, kero." Tsuyu helpfully supplied, making Kirishima snap his fingers, a smile making its way to his face.
"Thanks, Asui! Man, can't believe I actually forgot my opponent." Rubbing the back of his head, Kirishima sheepishly made his way to the exit. "Anyway, wish me luck."
"Good luck, don't end up like Aoyama." Mineta grinned, the redhead sputtering at the tease coming from the pink-skinned girl. "We wouldn't want to call you Red Diaper, now would we?"
"Dude! Why you throwing shade at my possible hero name!" Kirishima was red faced as he left the area, his classmates busting up a gut as he ran away. Even Izuku was laughing, the joke just too perfect for the current scenario.
"So, bets?" Mineta's grin vanished once he saw that most of them didn't want to make bets. "Suit yourselves."
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Eijiro wasn't smart. Well, he was smart enough to get into U.A. High School, but that's besides the point. Compared to his other classmates, he was stupid… Eh, maybe not so much considering there was Kaminari and Ashido vying for the place of class dunce.
Shaking his head, he clutched at his arms, his breath coming in deep and steady.
"Calm yourself Eiji… You can do this…" Psyching himself up, he forced a grin up on his face as he marched towards the glaring light at the end of the tunnel. Each step felt heavier and heavier as he continued forth, his grin slipping the moment he stepped out of the tunnel. The reason?
One look at his class' booth was the answer. He nearly stood like a statue the moment he stepped foot on the soil of the stadium, his grin freezing in place as his eyes twitched ever so slightly.
What the hell were they doing?
"Go go Kirishima! Hard as rock and tough as nails!" His face lit up in abject shame as his classmates cheered him on. Dressed in cheerleader outfits no less!
"WELL WELL WELL, LOOKS LIKE I HAVE NO NEED TO INTRODUCE ONE OF OUR CONTESTANTS! HIS CLASSMATES ARE DOING MY WORK FOR ME." Present Mic didn't help, the blonde teacher probably having one hell of a time. Maybe even Aizawa was silently laughing to himself up in their box. "AND HIS OPPONENT, SILENT AS THE NIGHT AND AS SERENE AS THE FOREST, THE ASSASSIN FROM CLASS 1-B, SHIOZAKI IBARA!"
"Oh, dear lord. To compare me to an assassin is quite the jump. Please refrain from doing so in the future." Said girl collapsed her hands in prayer as light beamed down from above… How that happened, he didn't know. Was it a part of her quirk?
"ER, SORRY. ANYWAY, MIDNIGHT, THE STAGE IS YOURS."
"Alright, you two cutiepies." Midnight strutted forward and raised her hand with the flag, as she did the previous matches. "I want a nice, clean fight. It will only end when one of you taps out, is unable to continue, by ring out, or if I deem it necessary. Is that clear?"
"Yes, ma'am." Both Eijiro and Shiozaki nodded, and Midnight gave both of them a smirk.
"Then, begin!" The moment the flag was swiped down, Eijiro immediately hardened his body and charged the girl. He was confident with his hardness, and thorny plants were in the end, just plants. No way could it pierce… through… oh fuck…
The vines were piercing through the concrete… Motherfucking concrete…!
Realizing his mistake, Eijiro tried to dodge to the side, managing to do so but getting nicked for his troubles. The thorny vines glanced by his hardened skin, but it managed to chip off some of it as it passed through.
His heart thumped, eyes widening at the feeling of desperation overwhelming him. Just one attack was enough to send his confidence to the gutters. Up until this point, nobody was able to pierce through his defenses when it came to pure, physical strength. He knew Midobro was strong enough to fold him like a lawn chair if he was so inclined, but he opted for grappling. The same could be said for Sato, the other powerhouse in the class when it came to physical strength.
So, to see something as feeble looking like a thorny vine managing to cut a chunk of his hardened skin off was sobering. He overestimated himself and underestimated the enemy.
Teeth chattering, Eijiro quickly got up and removed his hardening. Using his quirk made him slow, and against Shiozaki's swift vines, that was just defeat just waiting to happen.
Sucking in a breath, he ran forward, noticeably faster than he was when using his quirk. His eyes noticed cracking concrete coming from his left side and anticipated a vince bursting from underneath. Gritting his teeth, he let his body do the work as a vine came out not too long after.
He weaved out of the way, his feet still not stopping his rush. Shiozaki was content to stay still, it looked like. A fatal mistake during a fight. Midobro made sure to hammer that into him during their spars.
More vines came from underneath the concrete, and using his reflexes honed by Midobro's torture sessions, he bobbed and weaved through the mess of plants, each vine looking as if they were moving in slow motion.
As he got close, he noticed more and more vines trying to catch him, some of them even coming from above, making his rush more of a struggle. Sweat dripped down his cheek, breath getting labored as his energy dwindled. He couldn't continue for long. Just one mistake was all it took for him to lose. He just needed to get close.
He was an inflexible teen. His quirk making it near impossible to be gymnast-level of flexibility like Ashido had, but Midobro's torture sessions were enough to instill in him some form of flexibility. So when he felt something grab wrap against his foot, he reacted immediately, hardening his hand and forming a vague-knife shape with his fingers and slashed against the offending appendage, all the while twisting like an acrobat.
The vine was cut in twain and Eijiro immediately rebounded by using his free hand to launch himself further forward.
Red eyes met dark green, and he knew he had his chance. Letting lose a roar, Eijiro charged, hands forward to grab the girl and knock her out with a choke, only for a mass of vines to slam against him during his last stand.
"Apologies, but it seems I may have underestimated you." Shiozaki's voice was laced with awe, and quite possibly, a bit of guilt. "So, do forgive me for holding back…"
"... Ack… Goddamnit…" Eijiro wheezed as he felt the weight of a fuckton of plants crush him to the concrete floor, the weight suddenly increasing after his last word left his mouth.
"Please do not say the lord's name in vain." Eijiro didn't manage to catch the next of her words, nor Midnight's as he felt his consciousness leave his body.
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A/N: Goddamn typhoon, and also, goddamn electricity provider. Why the fuck do you cost an arm and a leg, and your service is fucking shit. Getting blackouts 11 times in one day is a new record. Also, the typhoon is long past, WHY THE FUCK ARE WE STILL GETTING BLACKOUTS!?
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