Chapter 46: Elements Opposition

Recap:

The duo then quickly sped off, hoping to clutch onto the opportunity to secure their advancement to the next round.

Suijin thought to himself while pulling his hand off of Monoma's mouth, lest his skin get bitten off.

"YOU—"

"Behind. According to them, we can find a whole slew of enemies. Defeating them should be no difficulty for your expertise, and where many people are, many eyes will be exposed to your amazing Class 1B abilities."

If you can't change the winds, adjust your sails.

Taking this saying into account, Suijin opted to play to Monoma's ego and his hyperfixation by putting down Class 1A and putting Class 1B on a pedestal.

Suijin didn't want to give him any more time to think, lest he think of a counter. He started moving cautiously, scanning the area while keeping his head on a swivel.

Suijin, while moving his thoughts back to the past few weeks, thought back to the moments that taught him to do this, to who drilled these techniques into his head, and couldn't help but think to himself,

'I'll use your teachings to pass this round and the next. I'll keep going until I win the whole thing. So please keep watching, Dad!'

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Suijin and Monoma were running through the pipe-filled obstacle course, ducking and weaving through the carnage caused by a huge fight.

Suijin spotted an ice glacier in the distance spiraling up, and the dead plants on the ground gave him an idea of what had happened.

'Todoroki had a flag. Knowing him, he was probably alone and attacked anyone who had one, then took it for himself. The vines should be from her… Shiozaki. I don't know her personally, but if her strength is like this, then she's probably the same,' Suijin mused.

Suijin remembered her ice-cold face, coupled with her strength, and people like her usually followed a straightforward mentality—facing problems as they came.

'People like that don't usually consider the troublesome nature of certain scenarios, usually choosing the first viable option available,' Suijin thought, letting out a sigh of relief that he wasn't like that.

'The most likely scenario is that she saw him with a flag and, disregarding anything else, chose to attack. With both of them having mass area effect quirks, it's no wonder the place ended up in this state,' he realized.

His eyes lit up with an idea.

'There should also be other people assessing the area, meaning picking one off subtly with a flag and then retreating should be easy.'

Suijin never intended to fight head-on.

Despite his bold words in the locker room a few hours ago, he was banking on his intelligence and strength to carry him to victory. His intelligence told him that fighting Todoroki head-on was a bad idea.

'My water gets neutralized by his ice unless I add enough speed to it, and even when I factor in the increase in space, my only shot would be a one-time, one-hit snipe before quickly getting the flag and running away. An impossible task.'

He looked behind him, noticing that although he wasn't going too fast, it was a speed most would find difficult to keep up with.

So he was mildly surprised when he saw Monoma keeping up with only glistening sweat and slightly hurried breathing, indicating that he was getting fatigued.

'If he suddenly gives me a hard time or resists retreating...' A dark glint flashed in his eyes.

'Leave him!'

If Monoma wanted to fight Todoroki instead of considering the future and being smart, he was free to do what he wanted. But there was no way Suijin would abide by such stupid ideals when the path to victory was within his sights.

A rumble interrupted his thoughts. Suijin stopped, put his hands on the ground, and detected that the rumbling was slightly to the left.

He looked up, spotting a pipe a few meters in the air that should provide an overview of the area.

"Get on me," he told Monoma.

Monoma wanted to protest, but the seriousness in Suijin's eyes made him mutter something before hopping onto Suijin's back.

"Tch, who are you ordering around?"

Suijin rolled his eyes, taking a few steps to adjust to the new weight. Then he did a 360° look around before facing the ground while twisting his nozzle to its widest setting.

Whoosh

The force of the wide stream of water sent the two boys into the air at a height that promised a few broken bones, at least if they landed without protection.

"Opps."

The added weight, which he wasn't used to, and his attempt to conserve water due to his inability to refill from the last round caused Suijin's calculations to be a bit off. What should have normally put them above the pipe so they could land on it instead put them just below it.

"WAHHH."

Acting as fast as his mind could operate, Suijin used his muscles to push Monoma close enough for him to wrap his arms around the pipe.

  Then, knowing that his upper body strength probably wasn't that high, Suijin swung himself, using his improved flexibility to flip himself to where he was level with the pipe.

While upside down, Suijin stuck out a hand, using the handlebar to grapple. As his body returned to normal, he stuck out his other hand, now hanging from the pipe.

He ignored the whimpering of his fellow heroic department student and instead used the gains from his strength training to pull himself up before wrapping his legs around the pipes army-style.

Suijin shimmied his way to the top before lending a hand to Monoma and pulling him to the top.

During the silence, he observed, and all he could think was, "Wow." Bodies—that's what mostly clouded his vision.

About 10 yards out, he saw a cleared-out circle in which two parties stood. Suijin didn't need to guess who they were; instead, his gaze turned outward.

He saw bodies lying and bleeding out on the ice in the perimeter, all collectively out of the count for the festival.

The scene provided another perspective on just how powerful Todoroki and Shiozaki truly were.

"Could I do this?"

He didn't finish the thought, as he already had the answer.

No.

Suijin turned around, signaling to Monoma, who had adopted an army pose by wrapping his legs around the pipe, to follow behind.

Together, they shimmied their way toward the pair opposite each other. As Suijin got closer, he started noticing minute details.

They both stood on their respective domains—Shiozaki on a vine coiled beneath her feet, and Todoroki on an icy block leaking arctic air. They faced each other, tense and ready to spring into action.

But then the tension disappeared, as if they weren't just heavily fighting. Shiozaki turned around and used her vines to walk away, sending one of them to grab an empty flag from one of the unconscious contestants.

'There goes my plan for sniping.'

Still, Suijin was inwardly grateful not to have to put himself through that ordeal. He scanned around, looking for anything noteworthy.

Besides the purple stock of hai—PURPLE!!!

He looked to his right, and behind a rubble of rocks was the famous Hitoshi Shinso, who seemed to be waiting for an opportunity to strike before losing interest in it.

As Hitoshi turned aroudn Suijin locked eyes with the boy for a second, and within that second, he started freaking out.

'Hypnosis: If you respond to his words, he can put your mind under his control.'

His metaphorical mind started turning gears, and after taking a look and seeing a glint in Shinso's eyes, his head started blaring alarms.

'Monoma!'

"We have to go, NOW!"