บท 24: Chapter 21: Sport's Festival: Pt.8 - Twin Beasts Tokoyami vs. Akutagawa

After the short break after the final match of the first round, the first match of the second round was underway with Midoriya up against Todoroki. The match was proceeding as it had in the anime, soon reaching its climax. Akutagawa was in the nurse's office, having a casual conversation with Recovery Girl until he was interrupted by a massive vibration followed by the shocking sound of an explosion.

"Haaaa...no rest for the wicked", Recovery Girl sighed as she turned around and started getting the tools beside her ready for one of the two to be wheeled into the room, her bets leaning towards Midoriya.

"Haha...", Akutagawa chuckled softly as he slipped on his top to cover his bandaged torso and then his gym jacket.

His phone suddenly vibrated and as he checked it he saw a text from someone unexpected. His young aunt. He doesn't remember much about her. She's his mother's younger sister and is currently an active hero who mostly works in the criminal underbelly. She's out of the country most of the time so the times they've met can be counted on one hand.

[I was watching, you did pretty well. Good luck in the second round]

A pretty simple message but it's appreciated. Akutagawa simply replied with a thumbs up and turned his phone off.

<<<<< Other POV >>>>>

[I was watching, you did amazing!]

"Nono, that's too enthusiastic, gotta keep my image..."

[I was watching, yo| ]

[I was watching, you did pretty well. Good luck in the second round]

"Yeah, that's it, simple and short. He'll be like 'OH WOW, MY AUNT IS SO COOL AND MYSTERIOUS, HOW BLESSED I AM TO GET A MESSAGE FROM HER, THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AN-'"

[👍]

"-D....."

"Eh?"

"Eh????"

"Only a thumbs up? Surely there's gonna be more right?"

----------------------

{Ryuryu~}

(online -> offline)

----------------------

"Nooooooooo whyyyyyyyy!!!!! This wasn't supposed to go like this!!!!! Those damn novels lied to me!!!"

A woman with above shoulder-length black hair and black eyes threw her arms up into the air and whined in frustration. Her nephew was supposed to enthusiastically reply and she would just leave him on read like an ice-cold empress but he totally stole her thunder with that simple reply. What the hell even is that!

"Ugh...you bitch....you think we'll stop just cause you busted one hideout, there ain't no way-"

A man slowly rose from the ground while speaking in a British accent. His body was covered in bruises indicating a horrible beatdown. His face was morphed into fury and embarrassment but before he could finish his sentence a fist appeared out of the darkness and smashed his face, teeth, spit, and blood flying across the room and splattering against the wall.

The man fell to the ground with a crunch. The woman scratched the back of her head irritably as she stuffed her phone back in her pocket and turned to face the man, her previous silly appearance disappearing, replaced with an apathetic expression and dead eyes that cared not for life.

"Don't interrupt me while I'm talking. That's the fifth time you've done that. It seems you're in need of some punishment".

Screams resounded from behind the closed door accompanied by crunches.

<<<<<<Back to UA Sport's Festival>>>>>

"THE FOURTH MATCH OF THE QUARTER-FINALS!!! THE EXCITEMENT IS PRACTICALLY TANGIBLE!!!!"

"COMING UP THE STAGE FROM THE HERO COURSE WE'VE GOT THE STOIC FUMIKAGE TOKOYAMI WITH HIS DARK SHADOOOOOOOOW!!!!!"

Tokoyami slowly walked up the stage, his eyes steely and determined but shining with excitement.

"FACING HIM, FROM THE HERO COURSE AS WELL, IS THE CRIMSON BEAST, RYUNOSUKE AKUTAGAWA WITH HIS RASHOMOOOOOOOOOOON!!!!!"

Akutagawa pulled on the straps of his mask as he walked towards the center of the stage, the breeze whipping his hair covering his face, but the gleam in his eyes was unhidden.

"A MATCH OF MIMICS, TWO BEASTS BUT ONLY ONE CAN EMERGE THE VICTOR!!!! THIS IS MAKING MY BLOOD BOIL ALREADY!!!! WHO WILL WIN!?!?!?!"

Present Mic screamed over the mic as some of the audience cringed while closing their ears.

"I've been looking forward to this match Akutagawa. Ever since I saw you display your quirk, I just couldn't wait to compare our quirks", he said with a smirk as he crossed his arms.

"Well, I've been looking forward to this as well. This'll be a great match", Akutagawa said as he placed his hands in his jacket pockets.

"MATCH STAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAART!!!"

"DARK SHADOW..."

"RASHOMON:..."

"GO!!!!"

"AGITO!!!!"

Two roars echoed out as a dark purplish beast with yellow eyes rushed out to confront a dark crimson beast with red eyes. The two clashed in the middle as they bit and punched. While Dark Shadow got torn repeatedly, the same happened with Rashomon. It can tear through most things but it's still a beast materialized from cloth. And its cloth is that of a gym uniform.

Tokoyami suddenly recalled Dark Shadow as he jumped and evaded Rashomon, the ground exploding as it crashed, sending dust into the air. Before Akutagawa could send more attacks into the dust Tokoyami flew up into the air atop Dark Shadow, its mouth was pulled into a frown as it grumbled.

"Hmph".

Tapping his boot on the ground, Akutagawa was boosted into the air by Rashomon, supporting him as he confronted Tokoyami again.

Meeting in the air they rushed at each other and traded punches and palm strikes. Tokoyami sent a fist towards Akutagawa's face while Dark Shadow below him swatted at the supports below his feet. Blocking and redirecting the fist with his palm, Akutagawa sprouted a Rashomon from his jacket, sending it to occupy Dark shadow.

Bringing his palm up, it smacked into Tokoyami's beak with a sharp crack, sending his head up. Taking this opportunity, Akutagawa sent a flurry of palm strikes into his body repeatedly, muffled noises heard as each hit him.

"8 palms!"

"32 palms!"

"Huuut! Right here!"

Leaping up from his supports, Akutagawa turned in the air and brought his leg down in an ax kick. Before his foot landed, Dark Shadow came rushing to Tokoyami's aid and blocked the kick. But by blocking the kick Tokoyami lost his foothold and went falling down to the stage followed by Dark Shadow.

Acting quickly it caught him before he crashed into the floor. Akutagawa fell to the ground and lightened the impact with Rashomon.

Tokoyami slowly got up, his body aching but slowly recovering with the help of Dark Shadow. He clutched his chest as he glared at Akutagawa.

Surprised inwardly at his recovery speed, Akutagawa ignored it and attacked again.

"Rashomon: Sawarabi!"

Black spikes with an eerie red glow protruded from the floor of the stage and paused for a moment before speeding upwards at Tokoyami. Taking advantage of that slight pause, Tokoyami used his unfinished move, applying Dark Shadow to his lower half and speeding across the stage avoiding the spikes.

With another burst of speed, he made his way in front of Akutagawa and clenched his fist, sending it straight into his stomach.

"Urgh!!!", spitting out saliva, Akutagawa keeled over but was struck with another upward fist to his chin followed by a straight just beneath his injured rib area.

Akutagawa fell sideways while taking in a sharp breath. His heart was beating wildly as a gigantic claw slowly grew even larger as it made its way to his face. Using his momentum, he placed his hands on the ground and cartwheeled, his right foot coming up and digging into Tokoyami's face.

Gritting his teeth through the slight throb in his chest, Akutagawa used Rashomon to boost the strength of his arms while still upside down, sending him upwards while continuing a barrage of kicks at Tokoyami.

The crowd watched in awe as each kick made Tokoyami rise higher and higher from the ground till, with a final grunt, Akutagawa flipped in the air and brought his elbow down on Tokoyami's stomach.

"Argh!!"

A crack was heard as Tokoyami crashed into the ground. Before Akutagawa could cheer Dark Shadow's fist crashed into the side of his face. He only managed to diminish the impact by turning his head with the punch but it still sent him down out the air and skidding along the floor. He stopped right before the boundary line.

Hopping up from the ground, he wiped his mouth from the saliva that escaped his mouth, strapping his loose mask back and prepared to advance towards Tokoyami before Midnight jumped before him and raised her hand, signaling for him to stop.

Midnight kneeled down next to Tokoyami and checked his condition. He was groaning while trying to open his eyes. It seems his head had knocked pretty badly into the ground from the crash.

"Tokoyami is unable to continue. The winner is Ryunosuke Akutagawa!"

"WHOOOOOOOOOO!"

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Midoriya walked with All Might in the hallway from the Nurses Office. Midoriya groaned as he walked with half his body bandaged up.

They continued walking until Midoriya spoke up, "All Might, you came to UA to look for a new successor... During this festival, everyone has been giving it their all with unwavering determination. They're fighting so hard for their futures and have such powerful quirks but I-"

"You think you're not worthy of wielding One For All compared to everyone here?"

"Yes. They're all so strong. If you gave it to one of them, they'd be even greater heroes. Kacchan, Todoroki, Akutagawa... I'm just a quirkless"

All Might stroked his sharp chin as he hummed, his sunken blue eyes looking at Midoriya before opening his mouth to speak.

"Well if it makes you feel any better I was quirkless too", he raised a thumb and pointed at himself with a grin on his thin face.

Midoriya's eyes widened in surprise and disbelief. All Might, the number one hero, was quirkless too?

"Yeah, that's right. While it wasn't as much as your generation, it was still a minority back then. Even though my master had a quirk, they took me in and taught me nonetheless. I saw myself in you when we first met but you've really surpassed my expectations. I feel that by guiding and being with you along your journey, I can still learn a lot more, so stop doubting yourself"

"Tha-thank you... All Might...", Midoriya wiped his tears, his tears already smearing his face.

"You've got a hero's disposition, everyone can see that, especially with your actions today. You helped your opponent gain clarity even at the cost of losing. Todoroki has some personal problems, so he wasn't really much of a candidate, Bakugou has an explosive temperament and well, Akutagawa has his own issues. You're kinda similar".

"Similar? Similar how?"

"Oh! Uh...slip of the tongue. I can't really tell you since it was requested to keep it private. Anyway, you should get going. You may not be participating but you should still cheer on your classmates right?"

"Right!"

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"GOOOOOOOOOO KIRISHIMA! HEADLOCK HEADLOCK!", Mina cheered as she jumped up from her seat and pumped her fist, knocking Akutagawa's drink and causing him to cough up his drink as it spilled out his nose.

"Urgh...Mina...", he groaned as he held his nose and closed his eyes. Jiro passed him a tissue from beside him while suppressing a laugh.

"You take pleasure in my suffering?"

"No, not really but you look pretty funny with those tears coming out your eyes, *pft*. The cold and edgy Akutagawa, the 'Crimson Beast' looks so vulnerable *pft*". Jiro covered her mouth and held her stomach as a burst of giggles left her.

Akutagawa rolled his eyes and wiped his face and neck. Picking up his drink he put the straw back in his mouth and started sipping quietly while watching the match. His peace didn't last long as Mina's elbow came flying and knocked his drink again, spilling it out.

A vein popped on Akutagawa's forehead as he glared at Mina. Feeling a cold glare on her, Mina finally turned and noticed Akutagawa and his spilled drink.

"Aha...my bad Ryu, I just got a little excited", Mina scratched the back of her head with a nervous laugh.

"Mina....", Akutagawa continued glaring. Seeing as his anger didn't diminish Mina quickly came up with a plan.

"I know, I'll go get you another, my treat, okay? So don't be mad. Be back in a sec", and she bolted off before Akutagawa could get a word out. Sighing, he shook his head and turned his head to pick up his spilled cup, only to see it sitting on top of Jiro's head, whose eyes were shadowed, her mouth twitching.

Grimacing, Akutagawa pulled out a clean handkerchief from his back pocket.

"Uh...tissue?"

Nodding in reply, Akutagawa took the cup off her head and wiped down her drenched face and then neck, not paying attention to Jiro's now slightly red face. Soon after he was done and looked at his now sodden handkerchief. Where was he supposed to put this drenched thing?

"Uh...hey. W-why don't I wash it out for you or something?"

"Wash it out for me?"

"Yeah...Yeah!"

"But why?"

"Uh, in...thanks?"

"Well sure then. I don't have anywhere to put this anyways, don't really wanna walk around with wet cloth in my back pocket. Thanks, Jiro", he thanked her and placed it in her hand. Before she could reply Mina came sprinting back with a fresh drink in her hand.

"Haa...haaa....Hey....I got your drink...phew", she panted as she wiped her forehead.

"Thanks Mina, you were pretty fast. Before you ask, you didn't miss much".

"Awesome! GET IN CLOSE KIRISHIMA! YOU KNOW THE WAY! HEADLOOOOOOOCK", Mina cheered as she pumped her arms. Taking caution this time, Akutagawa shifted away from Mina slightly, closer to Jiro.

"Let's not have another spill", he chuckled.

"Yeah..."

///////////////////////////////////////////

Maerdy Note: OHAIYO! cuties. Tis I, maerdy-chan. Anyways, idk if yall could tell but i put a lot of naruto shit in this chapter lmfao. Idk why but its probably noticeable. Uzumaki barrage, Lions barrage, etc. Anyways, was talkin with my ex and she was like havin some problems with her manz cuz he was talkin to his ex and im sitting here like "but ur talking to me too????". Idk, h0es man. Jk, shes a nice-ish person. Anyways have a great day or night yall, stay safe out there and ye. Headpats would be appreciated. Love you <3