24: Semi-Finals

****

A bit longer than usual. But I want to move on to the next arc. This is dragging on for too long in my opinion. Just one more chapter beforethe Sports Festival Arc finishes.

•-•-•-•-•

'Got it!'

"Good luck, Momo-chan!" exclaimed Mina as she slid through the stage.

Momo then created a smoke bomb and threw it. And when smoke began to fill the stage, she starts creating a few items.

"OH? IT SEEMS LIKE MOMO HAS TAKEN SOME INSPIRATION FROM TAKUMI'S PERFORMANCE!!!" commented Present Mic.

"Ehh!?"

One of the things she created was a semi dome-like stainless-steel shield.

She then puts on the newly created Infrared Glasses to locate her opponent.

As Momo looked around, she spots a yellow-reddish figure running while flailing their hands around.

...

"Sigh. This is cheating! Where is she..." said Mina with a pout.

While running around, she suddenly hears footsteps gradually becoming louder. She then gets into a defensive stance.

But, a crackling sound could be heard from behind her, as she gets stunned. Once she was fully paralyzed, Momo then appears and wraps her hands and feet in plastic.

After that, she ties a rope around her body and then starts dragging her out of bounds.

A few seconds pass and Mina can finally move. Not knowing what the plastic is, she tries to melt it off, but despite all of her attempts, it doesn't work.

"Huh!? Why doesn't it melt?..." muttered Mina as she tries to untie herself.

Upon hearing this, still walking, Momo smiles and responds,

"That's Polytetrafluoroethylene or PTFE, or most commonly known as Teflon™. It is one of the most acid-resistant materials. Due to its resistance, it is used in chemical and pharmaceutical labs."

"Really!? Well... Sigh... It was a good try anyway..." replied Mina with a sad smile.

After Momo pushes her out of bounds, Midnight announces,

"Mina Ashido is out of bounds! Momo Yaoyorozu wins!!!"

As the crowd was cheering, Momo untied Mina and carefully took off the plastic from her hands and feet.

...

"Congrats on moving onto the Finals, Momo-san/Yaoyorozu-san! And Mina-san, it was a good try!" cheered Class A.

"Thank you everyone." replied both the girls.

...

"ALL RIGHTO! IT'S TIME FOR THE NEXT ROUND!!! IT'S, KATSUKI BAKUGO! VERSUS, EIJIRO KIRISHIMA!!!" announced Present Mic as the spectators bellowed.

"Are both of you ready?" asked Cementoss.

"Yeah!" replied Kirishima.

"Of course!"

"Begin!"

...

"Good luck, Bakubro!" said Kirishima as he hardened his hands.

"I don't need luck, Shitty Hair". replied Bakugo with a grin, tiny explosion on his hands.

'All right. I'll go first!' decided Kirishima inwardly.

...

Kirishima dashed towards Bakugo with hardened hands. Bakugo did the same too.

The red-haired boy punched Bakugo. Although Bakugo dodged, he still got scratched on his cheek.

He countered with an explosion, tearing Kirishima's uniform and it revealed a hardened skin.

"IT WASN'T VERY EFFECTIVE!!!"

...

"That doesn't work on me!" exclaimed Kirishima as he started a barrage of punches towards Bakugo.

"ORAORAORAORARA"

Bakugo clicked his tongue and dodged them, albeit with difficulty.

"BAKUGO IS ON THE DEFENSIVE! IS HE ABLE TO TURN THIS AROUND, FOLKS?!" commented Present Mic.

...

This back-and-forth went on for a few minutes until Bakugo gave his opponent a smirk and blasted an enormous explosion towards Kirishima.

Contrary to the crowd's expectations, Kirshima winced.

"UOHHH! HAS KIRISHIMA FINALLY REACHED HIS LIMIT?!"

"Heh. Back on the damn Villain Attack. I saw that you weren't able to keep that damned hardened state of yours for very long." stated Bakugo with a massive grin.

As Kirishima regained his footing, Bakugo said,

"My turn, Shitty Hair." with a malicious smile.

After that, Bakugo gave Kirishima his own barrage of explosions.

Kirishima tried to block them but all it did was give him burns all over his forearm.

After finishing the barrage of explosions, Bakugo gave Kirishima one final explosion.

That seemed to be the final straw since Kirishima was knocked out.

"Eijiro Kirishima is knocked out! Katsuki Bakugo wins!" announced Cementoss.

As the crowd cheered for both of the students, Bakugo started walking back to the stands.

...

When he reached the stands,

"Good fight, Bakugo-san!!" everyone greeted him.

"Che."

"All right, wish us luck, everyone." said Akira as he walked to the Waiting Rooms.

...

When Akira was walking to the stage, the temperature rose a little bit.

'Hm... Endeavor?'

"First placer. Now that Shoto has finally accepted my power, he needs more experience. And you're going to provide that." he told the student with his arms crossed.

Akira didn't say anything and just silently stared at the Pro Hero.

'Hm... He abused Todoroki when he was a kid... Neglection of a child, who later turned into a Villain... How should I react..?' contemplated Akira.

"Your quirk is very versatile and you are crafty. Shoto needs this experience, especially since he needs to surpass 'All Might'. So give it your all. For my creation." he spat out.

"I was already going to "give my all". I didn't need to hear it from an insecure man-child." replied the boy.

"What did you say?..." asked Endeavor as the temperature rose.

"I said you were an insecure man-child."

"You-"

"But as much as I want to continue this, I have a fight to attend. So, goodbye, *Number Two*" said Akira, with an emphasis on the words Number Two.

As Akira went on stage, Endeavor watched, his flaming beard blazing intensely.

...

{Akira POV}

There goes my mouth again...

Sigh.

I get that he eventually acknowledges his mistakes in the future... But, if a man kills another and feels guilty about it later, it doesn't change anything, right?

Anyway, moving on, I need to focus on this match...

"AFTER THOSE AMAZING MATCHES, IT'S FINALLY TIME FOR THE SEMI-FINALS!!!" announced Present Mic as the crowd goes wild.

"IT'S SHOTO TODOROKI, VERSUS! AKIRA TAKUMI!!!"

...

"Are both of you ready?" asks Midnight.

Both of us give her a nod.

"All right. Start!"

...

As Todoroki prepares to attack, I crouch and summon a wall.

"Grow" "Widen"

After summoning a wall, a glacier can be seen above it.

Touching another part of the stage, I say "Grow" and a thin stick of cement rises.

I separate it from the ground and enlarge it, resulting in a staff.

As I hear footsteps coming towards me, I touch the wall and say,

"Encircle" and the wall becomes a circular wall blocking any attacks from all sides. Tips of a small glacier can be seen just above the height of the wall. So,I take it a step further and say,

"Dome" After that, a roof forms and the previous wall becomes a dome that fully covers me from sight and any attacks coming towards me from above.

"OH? WHAT IS TAKUMI DOING NOW?"

...

'What is he planning... Should I use my left side..?' contemplated Todoroki.

...

Todoroki won't use his left side. I'm sure of it. Even in the last moments of his fight between Bakugo, he didn't use it.

Now, let's move onto Phase Two.

I touch the ground and say, "Locate".

After sensing where Todoroki is, still touching the ground, I say,

"Hollow" and a hole big enough for my body to fit in forms.

...

'Where is he... How long is he planning to wait it out inside of that dome..?'

When Todoroki was about to use his fire to melt a part of the dome, he decided against it.

'No... What if he has something planned for when I melt his wall... He's certainly the type of person to do something like that...'

...

As I crawl into the small hole I made, I touch my clothes and say,

"Illuminate" and it lights up.

I kept making a tunnel towards Todoroki. In doing this, he won't see me coming.

If I did what I did with Tetsutetsu, it would be risky. He would have just kept firing Ice towards any direction and then use his Fire to keep his body temperature normal, expelling the effects of overusing his Ice.

And in the instance I got close, he has his fire to attack me too...

'Locate'

He's still on the same place.

He's probably thinking I set up a trap... But I'm far away from the dome so I can't do that... yet.

...

A few minutes pass, and now I am directly under Todoroki.

I touch the "ceiling" and say,

"Hollow." A very tiny hole forms, just about the size of my eye, and I can see he didn't notice it.

He's really staring intensely at the dome...

That's hilarious...

After checking I make the hole bigger, enough for my arm to go through, by saying "Hollow."

He still doesn't notice but the moment I touch his foot, he flinches.

...I'm sure that is in no way related to his abuse...

Anyway, I immediately say, "Sleep."

As I retract my arm, I hear a thud from above me.

Phew.

Well, that was easy...

"HUH!??? TODOROKI IS SUDDENLY KNOCKED OUT!? HOW!?

"Huh!? Oh! Shoto Todoroki is knocked out, Takumi Akira wins!" announced Midnight.

...

I get out of my hole and Present Mic shouts,

"EH!!!??? TAKUMI IS A MOLE!??"

Well I'm not, but somebody sure is...

****

What did you think of the chapter?