A Narrow Victory And Hard Fought Battles

(UA Festival Stadium)

Shoto immediately fires out a wave of ice behind him in an arc to stop the other teams from interfering before they move closer to Izuku's team. Kanji thinks to himself "Whys he not using his left side? Would provide an easier cover considering glue can be ignited?" He quickly snaps out of his thoughts and helps his team avoid Shoto's efforts. Denki fires electricity at them which Tokoyami blocks "If there was anymore light around we'd be in trouble" Kanji nods "Agreed, we need to make a move…stick to his left he's not using his fire for some reason so exploit that weakness" Uraraka and Tokoyami nod quickly move over to Shoto's left which annoys him, they continue to evade him using this for a while before Ida stops them by using his Recipro Burst which Kanji notices and quickly attempts to cover Izuku but is stopped just short by Shoto who manages to grab Izuku's headband. Tokoyami sighs "Perhaps we should try for other headbands" Izuku shakes his head "No we can get it back I know it" Kanji nods "Agreed just be prepared to think fast" Uraraka nods "Alright let's go" they rush towards Shoto's team with Izuku charging one for all in his hands. Shoto notices and decides to use flames from his left side to defend surprising Izuku's team. They continue to chase his team and Izuku uses one for all to break through Shoto's fire defence and grabs the headband around the top of his head. Kanji smiles until he reads the headband "Crap, we got the wrong one" Izuku quickly realises and they go after Shoto again as does Bakugo's however just before they can all clash the timer runs out signalling the end of the race. Izuku grits his teeth "I'm sorry guys" Kanji breathes deeply "No need to apologise in fact" he reveals another headband in his hand and Izuku gasps "How?" Kanji chuckles "Just managed to grab it with my claws thanks to Tokoyami if it weren't for dark shadow there I'd have fallen off, this headband puts us in fourth but we're still in" The team scream with joy and Kanji breathes deeply "That was close, I owe Tokoyami for that if dark shadow wasn't there we'd have also been knocked out of the games".

(Lunch Break)

Kanji breathes deeply after taking a swig of water from the canteen area, "Thanks for the save Tokoyami, I owe you one" Tokoyami sighs "Your welcome and you don't owe me a thing" Kanji laughs "I do, tell you what I save your ass from something then we're even…fair" Tokoyami sighs "Fair enough" Kanji smiles and high-fives Tokoyami with him half heartedly doing it.

(Match Up Lots)

Kanji wonders to himself who he'll be facing as he holds his lot in his hands, he is interrupted by yelling on his right and turns to see the girls of 1-A wearing cheerleader uniforms and Denki and Mineta laughing. Kanji sighs "Childhood immaturity, those two better lose it otherwise they'll only end up in trouble" the board lights up revealing the bracket and Kanji sees he's up against Ida "Perfect, I can get a bit of revenge on him for pulling that burst manoeuvre, only this time it won't catch me by surprise cause I'll be looking for it" he grins to himself before going to the waiting room to await his match.

(Waiting Room)

Kanji watches the other fights on the tv in the room while thinking about how to fight Tenya "Hm, my momentum style won't work here so instead I'll use my agility and superior reflexes and senses. Plus I'm gonna change up my stance to a bigger cat…a lion and cheetah mix style should be fine for this fight. Need to remember watch his mufflers…they glow blue he's using the burst and I need to react" he is brought out of his thoughts by Ida tapping him on the shoulder "Hey Kanji, our fights up" Kanji snaps back to reality and smiles "I know, may the best man win Ida" they shake each other's hands before heading to their entrances.

(UA Festival Arena, Stands)

Blindside smiles as he watches Midnight begin the introduction "This is gonna be an interesting fight" Kamui looks at him "What makes you say that?" Blindside grins "I get to see how my apprentice adapts to this change in environment, from what I've seen he's more accustomed to using the environment as a tool I wanna see what he does when that option isn't available".

(Arena Floor)

Ida steps out after being introduced by Midnight before Midnight smiles and thinks to herself "Damn Kanji looks so cute, I just wanna pet his little ears…if I'm in a class with him I have to it's almost irresistible" she quickly collects herself before introducing Kanji who jumps out from the entrance area right onto the stage shocking Midnight and the spectators before he stands up and grins "Let's go" he moves his legs back almost like a runners stance and puts his hands down almost to the floor shocking Ida "I've never seen him do this before but no matter I must still try" Midnight signals the start of the fight and Kanji immediately sprints at Tenya who just barley manages to avoid getting scratched by Kanji's claws. Ida goes to kick Kanji but his quickly countered by a sweeping kick, Kanji then goes to use his hand as a post to kick Ida out only for Ida to grab his shirt to pull himself back up. He quickly jumps away from Kanji and uses his Recipro Burst, Kanji breathes deeply "Here it comes" time slows down around him as he quickly uses his posted hand to jump into the air just as Ida approaches him and manages to spin over and kick the back of Tenya's head sending him out of the arena and almost colliding with the arena wall. Kanji breathes deeply and lands to roaring applause from the crowd, he stands up and smiles "That was close, if I didn't have that spinal reflex from my quirk I'd have been the one being sent out of the ring" he smiles and does a bow to the crowd before leaving the arena.

(UA Arena, Stands)

Blindside grins "Clever tactics, now that's a good hero" MT Lady and Kamui look at him in surprise "Thats who you were talking about?!" He nods "Yep" MT Lady grins "Well you certainly know how to pick attractive future heroes" they all laugh while Blindside thinks to himself "He'll be a great protege".

(Waiting Room)

Kanji grabs a file and sharpens his claws again knowing his next opponent "Those vines are gonna be a problem, while I can utilise them to my advantage she can also spilt them off or burrow them so I need to listen closely to all the vibrations and focus on the fight. Don't lose focus" he finishes with the file and throws it away before getting up and heading to the arena.

(UA Arena Stands)

Blindside thinks to himself "Now this is the final test can he win this fight or will he lose…let's find out".

(UA Arena)

Kanji jumps out again and gets into a similar stance to when he fought Ida but this time instead of lowering his hands he raises them and reveals his claws. Ibara looks at Kanji with narrowed eyes "His claws could easily slash my lovely vines, no matter he won't get a chance" the two get ready but Ibara isn't prepared as Kanji immediately sprints towards her at full speed. She quickly uses her vines but Kanji uses his claws to quickly change his direction and get behind her rather then jump forward he pounced sideways and smiles as Ibara uses her vines to cover her back thinking he's coming from there only for her to gasp as she turns to her left only to be struck in the chest by Kanji's kick which sends her into the air and out of the ring. Kanji smiles "Good quirk control but not so great in the senses" he walks off doing his usual bow and making the stadium erupt in celebration with a small chant starting. Kanji smiles softly before walking off back into the waiting area.

(Waiting Room)

He spends a bit of time with Izuku and the others before retreating to the bathroom and washes his face, he breathes deeply and grits his teeth "I won't be intimidated anymore…even if lose this fight I won't give up" he sighs and thinks back to his childhood.

(Orphanage)

Kanji sighs as he looks through a hero guide when he thinks to himself "I wanna be a hero someday, no matter what anyone says. My parents were heroes and I will be too but I'll be better then they ever were. I'll make them regret ever abandoning me"

(Back To Reality)

Kanji walks out of the bathroom after drying his face and cracks his knuckles as he walks out to face perhaps his most difficult foe yet…Shoto Todoroki.

(UA Arena)

Kanji jumps out and this time doesn't get into a crouch stance but rather simply moves his legs back and raises his claws, Shoto immediately sends ice toward him but Kanji sprints and manages to avoid it before jumping across it by using his claws to gain a grip on the ice. Shoto growls and continues trying to hit Kanji with ice but Kanji counters and manages to hit Shoto with an axe kick to his right shoulder however he is quickly knocked back by a wall of ice. He manages to stay in the ring by landing on some leftover ice before he sprints forward again and manages to manoeuvre behind Shoto using the ice that now surrounded them on all sides however just as he's about to grab Shoto's shirt a shadow zooms towards him quickly on his left, he turns to see Shoto curved his ice from his right side. The pillar of ice slams into Kanji's back and sends him crashing through the other wall of ice and into the arena wall shocking everyone. Kanji gasps at the pain of the impact "Damn, that hurt" he falls to the ground and try's to get up only to fall back down, he is quickly taken off the arena by medics and taken to Recovery Girl.

(End Of Chapter)