By the time Cementoss finished repairing the arena, the last traces of Todoroki's ice had disappeared, though the field still looked unnaturally clean for it. Sero's match had lasted only moments, one opening attack, one answer, and then an entire side of the stadium had vanished behind a wall of ice. The crowd had barely recovered before Present Mic was already back at the microphone.
"ALL RIGHT! THE STAGE IS READY AGAIN! LET'S KEEP THIS TOURNAMENT MOVING!"
Kaminari, in his own waiting room on the western side of the arena, looked up at the screen overhead just as the names locked into place.
KAMINARI DENKI
VS
ASHIDO MINA
"Oh," he said, to no one in particular. Somewhere on the eastern side, Mina was reading the exact same names off the exact same screen, and he didn't need to see her face to guess what her reaction looked like.
...
Ashido entered the arena bouncing on the balls of her feet. Kaminari followed more carefully from the opposite tunnel, and the two of them found each other for the first time all match right there on the field, standing several yards apart under the full weight of the crowd's noise.
"We're friends, remember? So I'll take it easy on you," Kaminari called across the gap.
"Easy?" Ashido's eyebrows shot up.
"Yeah. No hard feelings either way."
"Absolutely not. Go all out or I'm going to be furious with you."
"That kind of defeats the purpose of being nice about it."
"Being nice about it is the insult. Fight me like you mean it."
Kaminari's easy grin faded into something a little more focused. "Fine. Don't complain when I win."
"I won't have to."
Kaminari's expression hardened. "Okay. Now I have to win."
Up in the contestant section, Megumi watched the two of them settle into position, Kirishima dropping into the seat beside him. "This one's hard to call."
Megumi nodded. Kaminari had more raw range, one large discharge capable of covering most of the arena in a single burst. Ashido had better mobility, and more importantly, she knew exactly what he wanted to do with that range. They'd trained together. She knew what happened when he pushed too much electricity out at once, and by now, so did every other person in Class 1-A.
Midnight raised one arm. "Ready?"
Kaminari spread his feet, electricity already crackling across both hands. Ashido lowered her stance.
"Start!"
Kaminari inhaled. "Indiscriminate Sho-"
Ashido's arm snapped forward before he finished the word, acid flying straight at his face.
"WHOA!" Kaminari threw himself sideways, the glob splashing across the concrete right where his head had been a half second earlier. Ashido was already moving again, acid spreading thin beneath her own shoes so she could slide across it, circling before he'd even finished resetting his stance.
"You almost killed me!"
"That was the idea!"
He raised both hands again, electricity gathering between his fingers. "Indiscriminate-"
Another stream of acid forced him to cut it off and duck, the arc passing clean over his head.
"Would you quit doing that?!"
"Nope!"
Present Mic laughed through the speakers. "KAMINARI'S TRYING TO BLAST THE WHOLE FIELD, BUT ASHIDO WON'T LET HIM SET IT UP!"
Aizawa watched Ashido glide around the edge of Kaminari's range without ever fully entering it. "She's not just avoiding it. If he actually gets that discharge off clean, she doesn't have an answer for it. It covers too much ground and moves too fast for her to dodge or neutralize once it's already out." Another shot of acid sent Kaminari scrambling again. "So she can't afford to let him finish it even once. One clean release and the match is already over."
...
Kaminari gritted his teeth. Fine. If she wasn't going to let him go all out, then he wouldn't ask permission for it anymore.
He rushed her outright. Ashido blinked, genuinely startled. "Oh?"
He swung. She slipped underneath it easily, and before he could turn all the way around her palm had already caught his shoulder. He flinched on instinct, but nothing burned. She'd cut the acidity down to nothing.
"Tag."
"That's not how this works!"
She kicked low. He jumped it, throwing his hand toward her at the same time, electricity snapping between his fingers, but she'd already slid backward out of reach, smiling the whole way through it. Kaminari wasn't smiling anymore. She was faster than him, noticeably faster, and every time he tried to wind up the big discharge she attacked before he could finish it, and every time he tried to close the distance she was already somewhere else.
He needed to force her into a bad position instead of chasing one.
Kaminari deliberately started drifting back toward the boundary.
Megumi caught it immediately. "So he finally figured it out."
Kirishima glanced over. "What?"
"He's giving her somewhere obvious to attack."
Below, Ashido saw him nearing the line and her grin widened. "Got you!" She accelerated, straight toward exactly where he wanted her.
Kaminari planted his feet and raised one palm, releasing electricity in a short, controlled arc instead of the wide discharge he'd been trying to set up all match. Ashido's eyes went wide, and she twisted hard enough that the shock missed her chest by inches, but the momentum of her own acid trail carried her forward anyway. Kaminari lunged, fingers close enough to brush her arm, and Ashido dropped low at the last second, palm slamming the ground, a thick burst of acid spraying up between them.
Kaminari's eyes went wide. He jumped back on instinct.
His heel landed outside the ring.
Silence.
Kaminari looked down at his own foot. Then at Ashido. Then back down at his foot.
"No."
Midnight raised one arm. "Kaminari is out of bounds! Ashido advances!"
For a second the entire stadium just sat with it, the specific kind of disbelief that came from watching someone lose to their own reflexes instead of their opponent. Then Ashido doubled over laughing, one hand braced on her knee, barely able to get words out.
"You dodged so hard you left the ring!"
"I panicked! No, no, no, I had you!"
"You almost had me."
"That makes it worse!"
"It happens to everybody!"
"It does not happen to everybody."
Up in the contestant section, Kirishima wore the exact same flat, unimpressed expression Megumi already had.
"Idiot," Megumi said.
"Total idiot," Kirishima agreed, without even bothering to sound surprised about it.
She laughed while he dragged both hands down his face, and Megumi watched her walk off the field, filing away the shape of what had just happened. She'd never once let Kaminari fight the way he actually wanted to. Every attempt at his strongest option had forced him back onto defense instead, and the one time he'd finally gotten the angle he needed, it had come down to inches.
Close still meant losing.
The screen changed.
WINNER: ASHIDO MINA
...
The next pairing appeared almost immediately.
IIDA TENYA
HATSUME MEI
That drew everyone's attention the moment the two of them walked out. Iida had entered with gear strapped down both legs, and Midnight pointed at him immediately.
"That's generally against the rules for hero course students. Anyone planning to use equipment needed to petition beforehand."
Iida froze. "I forgot about that! Aoyama also wore a belt, so I assumed it was fine!"
"He submitted a petition."
Iida's whole face changed. He bowed deeply. "I humbly apologize! However, my heart was moved by my opponent's sportsmanship. Even though she is from the support course, she said she wanted an even match, since she'd made it this far on her own merits. She gave me this equipment herself so the fight would be fair. I couldn't ignore that kind of fighting spirit!"
Midnight clasped both hands together. "Oh, youth! I'll allow it!"
Present Mic stared. "So it's fine?"
Aizawa shrugged. "If they both agree to it, I suppose it's within regulations."
A few rows over, Midoriya stared at Hatsume like he was trying to reconcile two different people. "Is that something Hatsume would actually say?"
Hatsume just smiled brightly and said nothing to contradict any of it.
Midnight raised her hand. "Begin!"
Iida exploded forward, engines roaring. Hatsume calmly placed a headset over her ears.
"Isn't that acceleration wonderful, Iida?"
He faltered mid-stride. "A mic?"
Aizawa's brow furrowed slightly. "She's wearing speakers?"
Hatsume kept talking like the entire stadium had personally requested a product demonstration. "Don't your legs feel lighter than usual? That's only to be expected. Those leg parts are assisting the wearer's movement, and I can evade just as easily using the hydraulic attachments built into them!"
She launched sideways. Iida changed course after her.
Hatsume glanced toward the professional sections. "The support companies are watching. Oh, they're biting!" Her eyes practically sparkled. "I've got them!"
Iida accelerated. She spun away.
"Since I've got sensors facing every direction, I can handle attacks from behind just as easily!"
Iida's expression darkened. "What are you planning?"
"Iida changed course adeptly!" She pointed at the equipment strapped to his legs before he could even ask what she meant. "That's thanks to the auto-balancer I built myself! The leg parts read the wearer's brainwaves to predict movement, so there's no time lag at all. It runs on a thirty-two-axis gyro sensor, which means the wearer won't fall unless they actually want to!"
Present Mic stared. "What is this...?"
Aizawa rested his cheek against one hand. "She's very good at hard selling."
Iida finally caught up to what was actually happening. "Weren't you going to fight fairly?!"
Hatsume ignored him completely. "And look at this lightness! These electro shoes use electromagnetic induction in both soles to allow instant evasive action!"
Iida waited for her to land.
A metallic click cut him off, and a net exploded around his upper body before he could react.
"What is this?!"
Hatsume held up the launcher proudly. "A capture gun, built for use against villains. The nets load in cartridges, five shots before you need to reload. And who invented all of this?" She turned toward the cameras. "Me! Hatsume Mei! Hatsume Mei! Hatsume Mei!"
One support company representative in the stands stared at her like she'd lost the plot entirely. "What is she, a politician?"
"And now, allow me to walk you through the next item!"
The representative's face fell. "There's still more?"
...
Ten minutes later, Iida looked ready to commit a crime.
Hatsume had demonstrated everything by that point. Leg equipment. Sensors. Balancers. Shoes. Capture gear. Hydraulics. Several other inventions Megumi had stopped tracking somewhere around the halfway mark.
Then Hatsume walked calmly toward the boundary line.
Iida blinked. "What are you doing?"
She stepped outside it without hesitation. "I've presented each and every one of them."
She smiled. "I have nothing left to say."
Midnight stared at her for a long moment before slowly lifting one arm. "H-Hatsume is out of bounds. Iida advances to the second round!"
Iida shook with something close to actual rage. "You tricked me!"
Hatsume nodded cheerfully. "I'm sorry. I used you."
"I hate you!"
She just waved and walked off, while the professional support representatives in the stands kept writing notes the entire way out. She'd lost the match on purpose and gotten exactly what she wanted from it anyway. Iida had just spent ten minutes unknowingly starring in her advertisement.
The tournament bracket advanced his name.
IIDA TENYA
His quarterfinal opponent was already decided.
Ashido Mina.
...
The next names appeared.
YAOYOROZU MOMO
VS
TOKOYAMI FUMIKAGE
...
Yaoyorozu stepped onto the field already thinking three moves ahead. Tokoyami stood opposite her, Dark Shadow rising behind his shoulder before Present Mic had even finished the introduction.
"Offense and defense in one body! The dark samurai, accompanied by Dark Shadow! From the hero course, Tokoyami Fumikage!"
Dark Shadow spread its arms wide. "Finally."
"Versus all-purpose Creation! Admitted through recommendations, abilities fully certified! From the hero course, Yaoyorozu Momo!"
A few rows up, Midoriya watched beside Ojiro. "What do you think of this one?"
"I think time's going to be the whole match."
"Time?"
Yaoyorozu was already thinking the same thing herself. Dark Shadow had no production delay at all, could attack the instant Midnight gave the signal. Creation didn't work that way. Simple objects came fast. Complicated ones needed thought first, composition, structure, the right material for the job. She needed to survive the opening long enough to actually think. Shield first. Then a weapon. One real opening would be enough.
Midnight raised her arm. "Start!"
Tokoyami didn't hesitate for even a second. "Go, Dark Shadow!"
"Got it!"
Dark Shadow exploded forward. Yaoyorozu threw up a shield on instinct, and the first strike crashed into it, then the second, third, fourth, her shoes sliding backward with every hit.
Dark Shadow struck again. She tried to split her attention between blocking and building. What weapon? A staff? A net? Something bright enough to actually weaken it?
Another blow landed. Her thoughts scattered completely.
Megumi watched her feet the whole time, not her hands. Tokoyami wasn't actually attacking Yaoyorozu at all. Every strike was landing on the shield itself.
Kirishima caught it a second later. "He's just pushing her."
"Yeah."
Dark Shadow kept hammering the shield, and Yaoyorozu gave up another step, then another, and then, all at once, the attacks simply stopped.
She blinked. "His attacks have stopped?"
Her mind snapped toward the opening immediately. Now. She started to turn, already reaching for whatever she could build in the space he'd just given her.
Then she saw the white line beneath her feet.
Both shoes were already outside it.
Midnight raised one arm. "Yaoyorozu, out of bounds! Tokoyami advances to the second round!"
Yaoyorozu froze completely.
The stadium erupted. Present Mic nearly shouted himself hoarse over it. "AN OVERWHELMING VICTORY! A COMPLETELY OVERWHELMING VICTORY!"
Yaoyorozu stared down at the ground beneath her. "No..." Her fingers tightened around the shield still braced in front of her. "I couldn't do anything."
Tokoyami recalled Dark Shadow and looked toward her without any real satisfaction in it. The match hadn't required anything complicated from him at all. Apply pressure. Keep her thinking defensively instead of offensively. Walk her backward one step at a time. End it whenever the line finally caught up to her.
Midoriya stared down from the stands. "Tokoyami's terrifying. He forced her out just by focusing everything on the shield she built."
Ojiro looked toward Tokoyami. "He was being careful not to actually hurt her. That's how easy it was for him." His gaze shifted to Yaoyorozu. "She's got to be furious with herself right now."
She was. That much was obvious even from a distance. She'd predicted the opening correctly. She'd prepared the right defense. She'd understood exactly what made Dark Shadow dangerous.
None of it had mattered, because she'd known what was coming and still hadn't moved fast enough once it arrived.
Above the field, the tournament board updated.
WINNER: TOKOYAMI FUMIKAGE
Yaoyorozu stared up at it while the stadium moved on around her without waiting. Officials crossed the arena. Cementoss checked the platform for damage. Present Mic was already shuffling his notes for the next match. The tournament didn't stop just because she needed another minute to understand exactly what had gone wrong.
She lowered her eyes. "I couldn't do anything."
Then she turned and walked toward the tunnel.
...
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