Chapter 39 - Torneo IV

<Brief summary of the last fights ...>

"HOW ARE YOU DEAR VIEWERS, TODAY ON HEROTV WE WILL GIVE YOU A BRIEF SUMMARY ABOUT THE LAST TWO BOUTS THAT TOOK PLACE IN THE MUCH ACCLAIMED UA SPORTS FESTIVAL!!!" The Presenter exclaimed with open arms, behind him could be seen a large screen with the letters 'HTV'.

The Presenter was dressed in an elegant black suit, he had purple hair and green skin giving him an exotic touch.

On the other side of the presenter was another man looking at the camera with calculating eyes, he was a little thinner than the presenter but quite handsome. His skin was crimson red with black hair and a pair of horns on his head, he almost looked like an Oni.

"As you can see on the screen, the fighter for this round is Tenya Iida, a young aspiring hero who hails from the Iida Family, the prominent family of Professional Heroes, the most prominent representative being the currently Hero Ingenium" Explained the Presenter as he pointed to the large screen that changed to a basic profile of Iida Tenya and some image of Ingenium.

"Interestingly, he fought with young Mei Hatsume, a young woman who also comes from a family important to Japan! None other than the famous Hatsume Family!" Explained the Oni as the screen changed again to show a large skyscraper with a large pink and white lens logo. "This family is renowned for their technological breakthroughs throughout Japan being owners of the main distributor of technological products used by Heroes today! As well as one of the pioneers in the creation of specialized suits for heroes!"

"The bout concluded with Mei Hatsume's defeat, who admitted defeat after..... 20 minutes promoting his products! The nerve!" The Presenter exclaimed as he laughed at the situation, instead of a combat tournament for recognition that would bring fame throughout Japan and part of the world... it was more like a Teleshop advertisement.

"Indeed, such chutzpah never seen in the previous Festivals, really impressive" Said the Oni shaking his head at such chutzpah on the part of the female participant.

"Moving on to the next battle we have a..... Sero, an ordinary young man with a Quirk that allows him to shoot ribbons from his elbows, similar to America's famous former Arachnid Hero" Said the Presenter as he compared him to one of America's most iconic Heroes.

"And he will be facing off against.... The son of Japan's current runner-up! ENDEVOR!" The Oni exclaimed as the latest promotional video for Endevor and his company, who interestingly enough was sponsoring the show, was shown in the background.

"As expected from the son of Japan's Second Best Hero, the duel only lasted a few seconds ending with Sero buried in a gigantic block of ice, almost as big as the stadium itself" The screen showed an image of Todoroki's terrifying power generating something like a huge iceberg in the middle of the stadium.

"A terrifying participant, isn't he?"

"Indeed, and the darling of the nets."

"Now we only have two bouts left before we move on to the second block where things could start to get interesting" Announced the Announcer.

The screen in the middle of the TV announcers changed to a column chart with the names of the actual winners of the first round, the chart was a live vote on which of the contenders could win the Tournament. If you looked closely in the top left corner, you could see that the creator of this was none other than the official UA account itself.

From highest to lowest was: Todoroki, Kyoka, Lena, Momo and Tenya.

In the comments part, UA had posted a comment from UA itself that read, "Participants will be added and removed as the Tournament progresses."

"It seems UA never sleeps" commented the Presenter jokingly to the audience.

"It was to be expected from the best hero academy in all of Japan, they even do Marketing with their own participants and students" Hummed the Oni thoughtfully as he opined on the topic.

"Interesting strategy to say the least. Well, that would be the news about the UA Sport Festival, for more news stay tuned to.... HEROTV!"

***

<Toru vs Uraraka>

'Woah! So many people!...' Toru thought excitedly though she was also a bit nervous, though that quickly disappeared when she remembered she was invisible... a bit of a downer.

Dispelling the unnecessary thoughts, Toru looked at her opponent who was slowly climbing up the platform and.... She felt a little annoyed at having to fight one of her friends. Well, almost everyone in her Class was friends with her, but it was annoying all the same

'I'm not going to hold back just because I like you!' Toru thought as she did a few small jumps and threw a few punches in the air. 'That trainer Momo hired was very helpful!'

(A/N: I didn't find a good time to explain this, but basically Kyoka and Toru know hand-to-hand combat, nothing incredibly advanced or complex but they know how to throw a good punch).

"Hey Ochako... let's get it all understood!" Toru exclaimed as she took a low fighting stance with her palms open, not that Uraraka would notice that. "I'm going to be really annoyed if you hold back!"

"Um!" nodded Uraraka as her eyes burned with determination. 'I have to win, no, I'll win no matter what it takes... for mom and dad.'

"START!"

Neither girl made any move they just stared at each other for a few tense seconds.

Neither participant spoke or made any moves, they were analyzing the other for an opening that would give them an advantage.

Making an extremely slight movement, Toru's finger pointed to Uraraka's thigh. Suddenly a small flash of light appeared in Uraraka's vision, she instinctively moved to the right while closing her eyes thinking it was a flash to stun her.

Her surprise came when a piercing pain erupted in her leg causing her to stumble from the pain.

'Since when can her Quirk hurt?!' Uraraka thought as she gritted her teeth in pain.

Toru realizing that her surprise attack was a failure raised both hands and spread all her fingers apart, which began to glow with a white light.

Uraraka seeing this knew that Toru would not move from her spot and bombard her with hundreds of light beams, and seeing how fast they were she knew she had no chance of dodging them all.

'But if I get close she will most likely destroy me with melee' Uraraka thought in frustration remembering Izuku and Lena's words.

***

<A few minutes ago...>

"This is weird... I'm pretty sure Kyoka didn't know how to melee, she almost always keeps her distance and catches the enemy by surprise with her Jacks and breaking the ground, so it's possible that..." Explained Midoriya in his usual Nerd mode, but much much much more Nerd than usual.

"Ugh, for the love of Jesus Christ, Zeus, Thor and Mother Earth, shut up Midoriya!" Interrupted Lena with a death glare at Midoriya, this made the One For All heir wince "You're just taking our attention away from the fight with your bullshit talk, we don't need two announcers! And to answer your question, me, Momo, Toru and Kyo have been training in close combat..."

***

<Present... >

While Uraraka didn't like Lena's way of shushing Izuku, she had to admit that he was being a bit annoying... and cute.

"Sorry Uraraka if this hurts too much...it's nothing personal" Toru exclaimed snapping Uraraka out of her thoughts, the invisible girl held up her hands and extended all her fingers towards Uraraka.

'Shit I got carried away with my memories!' Uraraka thought, she quickly touched her shoes to lighten up, and quickly ducked to the side of where Toru was aiming to dodge the light bullets.

Without wasting any time she quickly got to her feet and made a suicidal run towards Toru.

ALL OR NOTHING!

Uraraka was less than 2 meters away from Toru, and the latter only sighed before charging her left hand with a large amount of light before shooting it all over Uraraka's face.

Uraraka's vision was filled with white from one moment to the next, but she kept running forward.

Suddenly she felt an impact on her back that sent her tumbling forward....

She felt the grass touch her body and realized immediately.

"I lost...?" Uraraka muttered as she slowly regained her vision.

"HAGAKURE TORU WIIIIIINNNNNN!!!" PresidentMic announced confirming Uraraka's fears.

"N-No..." Uraraka said as her eyes watered and her breath hitched. Suddenly she felt a comforting hug from her opponent.

"Are you okay Ochako, I'm sorry I went a little overboard sorry...". Toru said with concern, she didn't want to hurt her friend too much during her fight....

"I-It's okay Toru it's okay" Uraraka replied while holding back tears and putting on her best smile, she quickly said goodbye to Toru with the excuse of not keeping the audience waiting....

***

After Uraraka's defeat, it was the turn of his nervous friend, Midoriya, who was able to defeat Shoji at the cost of severely damaging 3 of his fingers. He underestimated how resilient the giant could be.

Now that the first block was over, the bouts for the second block of the Tournament were randomized again.

After some deliberation on the part of UA, a consensus was reached that the person left out of the bouts would automatically go to the third block.

Oxton Lena vs Yaoyorozu Momo

Jiro Kyoka vs Hagakure Toru

Todoroki Shoto vs Midoriya Izuku

Tenya Iida (Goes to penultimate round)

***

<UA Alpha Stadium Girls' Bathroom>

RING~ RING~ RING~ RING~ RING~

"Hey dad... I-"

"Hi sweetie, how have you been, you were amazing at the festival!"

"Dad... I... I... I'm sorry I couldn't win..."

"Swe-"

"Really, I'm so sorry.... I'm... I'm..."

"Sweetie, don't cry yes..., it doesn't matter if you won or not, the important thing is that you put on a show we're proud of."

"But... the money..."

"That's the least of it honey, have fun and enjoy yourself, you're at UA! The dream of many aspiring Heroes, that alone makes me feel like the best daddy in the world. Don't let these old men affect your future!"

A silent cry sounds in the girls bathroom, a feeling of helplessness and guilt takes over one of the girls of class 1A as tears fall from her face distorted by sadness... but that will only make her more firm and determined in the future, heroes may fall, but the important thing is to get back up and move forward.

...

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