First Round

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***

The fight with Shinso wasn't strenuous at all, I'd even say it allowed me to relax a little...and steal a few things at the same time. When Shinso hit the wall, he broke his nose, which I repaired, while stealthily drawing some of his blood into a vial. Telepaths are a rare type of mutation, at least the telepathic quirk holders I know very few of, and it would be a good idea to take a telepath's DNA for study, which I'm going to do after the festival.

- So cool! You won without even using a quirk! - Kirishima exclaimed.

- That was an extremely fast battle. - Tokoyami said, scratching his beak.

- I told you that I would take out my first opponent with one punch...but I threw Shinsho instead of hitting him. Doesn't that count as a punch? - I put my hand to my chin thoughtfully.

- Akira, that was very rude! - Itsuka reprimanded me. - Now not only the other classes, but also the audience realise what a rude person you are.

- So what? Like I care about other people's opinions. Kendo, you don't have to go into naggy mum mode, it doesn't suit you. - I sat down on the bench with the girls and took off my jacket.

- Kendo-san is right. As the headmaster, you should be ashamed, it was disrespectful to the honoured heroes who came today to give us a chance to get the knowledge we need to develop! - Supported the redhead, Iida.

- I don't care, I respect only the Almighty, he is strong, and what is important, he helps people, not for the sake of popularity...and to rake in money by advertising shampoo with his brand. - I said, discreetly hugging Mina around the waist. - The world is ruled by power, respect, or fear. If you don't have any of those things, then you're nothing and your name is nothing.

- You sound like some kind of cliched villain right now. - Jiro said, wrapping the headphone jack around her finger.

- I'm eighty per cent pathos and twenty per cent cool. Anything I say is going to sound like a comic-book clipping. - I responded to Jiro's remark, and noticed Ojiro's gaze fixed on me. - Is something wrong, Ojiro?

- No, nothing. It's just...why didn't Shinso's quirk work on you? - He asked me, clearly being Shinso's puppet had hurt him more than I thought.

- I thought I was talking loud enough to be heard. Shinso's brainwashing quirk only fails in two ways. Not talking to him, or the other option, being born with mental powers. I have the rudiments of telepathy, but I haven't tried to develop it, and as a plus, it gives me a strong defence against attempts to take over my mind. - I explained. I've only used my mental powers once, when I accidentally established a telepathic link with the Whimsy Thief through the Sixth's brain.

- Akira, when you start explaining things...I don't understand anything at all. - Mina gave a simple-minded smile. What can I say, she's beautiful, but like Ochako, she doesn't have a great intellect...but she's got a great arse.

- Let's turn our attention from the brilliant me to the Todoroki and Sero fight.

- THE SECOND MATCH IS ABOUT TO BEGIN! HE DID WELL AT THE FESTIVAL, BUT WHY DOES HE ALWAYS HAVE THE SAME FACE?! SERO HUNT OF THE HERO DEPARTMENT! - Mick said unceremoniously.

- Oh man... - Sero tuned into the fight, for his opponent was not one of the weakest.

- AGAINST SOMEONE WHO'S CONSIDERED THE BEST OF THE BEST! TODOROKI SHOKO FROM THE SAME FACULTY!

I don't know what happened while I was fighting Shinso, but something happened. There's no other way to explain why there's an aura of irritation pouring out of Shoko.

- I don't know if I have a chance...' Sero began to warm up defiantly.

- START!

- ...but I'm certainly not going to give up! - immediately, with Mick's announcement, he attacked his classmate, tying her up with elbow tapes that flew out.

- UNBELIEVABLE! SERO PERFORMED AN INSTANT ATTACK, WITH THE INTENT TO THROW HER OUT OF THE RING! WAY TO GO SERO!

- I'm sorry... - before Sero could throw Shoko out of the ring, her face took on an angry expression, and before anyone knew what had happened, half of the stadium was taken up by a huge iceberg of ice that bound the poor guy...and Midnight, who was next to them, was frozen to half her body.

There was a sepulchral silence throughout the stadium, everyone at once, my class, the B-class, the audience, even the commentator Mick and Sotrigolova were dumbfounded by such a colossal force.

- Sero...can you move? - The half-frozen Nemuri asked, baring her teeth.

- 'I can't... Aaaaaaay...' replied Sero, whose body was frozen into the ice, leaving only his head intact.

- Don't be sad lad.

- You did a great job... - praised and cheered poor Sero by the onlookers.

- I'm sorry, I overdid it. - Shoko apologised, and with her left hand, melted all the ice.

- It's getting interesting. - I was interested, while grinning happily. - Perhaps the duel with Todoroki, will be more fun than it seems. - I glanced at Shoko, who had gone to the upper stands. She's a reserved person, so she'll be watching the rest of the fights separately from the others.

- Psycho... - Kaminari spoke softly, and stepped down from the podium, as the next fight was his.

His opponent, that liana-haired girl from Tetsutetsu's team, her name is Ibara Shiozaki, she's also a B-class. Ibara's quirk 'Thorns' is actually her hair-vines, she can manipulate and snip them freely, her vines easily regenerate in the presence of water and light, which is what plants need. By nature, she is a very kind and bright girl. When Mick was announcing the 'start of the massacre', she interrupted him and stated that she didn't want to hurt anyone, only protect the innocent people...a kind of saintly maiden.

- Do you want to go to the café after the festival? I'll buy you a drink if you win. - Ridiculously enough, asked out a girl, Denky.

- What? - That's all she said when he tried to hit on her.

I'll tell you right off the bat, it's a hasty fight. His lightning bolts hit him hard, but not so hard that you can protect yourself from them with a barrier like I did. Ibara lengthened her vines, creating a dense wall that absorbed all the electrical charge...and at the same time directed the vines underground, so that they came out right under the feet of Denki, who again short-circuited his brains, making it easy to tie him upside down. In principle, it was the expected result from a man who uses the same trick, 'to hit harder, and see if it works'.

- I take it back, Kaminari has fallen again in my eyes...even sexy cheerleaders can't smooth the way. - I muttered, to which all my classmates were embarrassed.

- Uh-oh, how come he lost in less than a second. You're supposed to be better than us! Ha ha ha! - Neito looked out from the side partition of the bleachers and laughed.

- Another one. - I looked back at Aoyama. - Neito Monoma, your class made it to the next round just because the girls in your class aren't weirdos, unlike you.

- Heh, don't get too cocky Mizuro. You may be strong, but there are finalists from our class too, and we're not going to lose to you. - You're just saying what a jerk he really is.

- However, you yourself have not progressed beyond the cavalry, Monomaus. Listening to the words of a loser is like trying to listen to the wind, pointless. - I struck a blow to make him back off.

And he did lag behind, returning to his class, throwing a last irritated glance in my direction.

- Where do these weirdos come from? - I asked myself.

The rest of the guys were just silently stunned by Nateau's behaviour...he could use a lesson in good behaviour.

- If I was in B-grade, I'd probably give him a good slap. - said Kendo.

- No argument there. - Momo agreed.

The next fight was Iida versus Hatsume, and it lasted longer than the previous ones. Before the fight, Hatsume offered to equalise their chances in the fight, gave him a couple of her gadgets, and the naive bespectacled man immediately put them on. With the consent of both participants, Midnight allowed him to use the devices, even though he hadn't applied to use the gadgets, unlike Hatsume or Aoyama.

For a full ten minutes, Hatsume broadcast about her beautiful babies, through the inbuilt microphone in her helmet, while Iida tried to attack her, but couldn't. Hatsume's gadgets that he wore were remotely controlled by her, so he couldn't even touch her.What can I say, it wasn't even a fight, but more of a commercial break, between matches. Iida was acting as a live mannequin for Mei to demonstrate her gadgets on.

- Phew, my work is done. - Hatsume walked outside the arena.

- Uh...Hatsume, out of bounds. Iida is advancing to the next round. - said a bit confused by Mei's behaviour, Midnight.

- You tricked me! - shouted a panting Iida.

-...I'm sorry. And thanks for letting me use you. - Hatsume turned away, not at all ashamed of what she had done.

- I don't need that kind of apology!

The fourth fight is Mina versus Aoyama.

- Come on, Mina, don't let me down. I believe in you. - I wished her luck, and gave her a hug for support...and slipped my hand into her knickers.

- I n-not gonna lose. - she replied with a stammer, and went down to the arena with Aoyama.

- HE WEARS A BELT, BUT ALL HIS STRENGTH IS IN HIS NAVEL! YUGA AOYAMA, FROM THE HERO DEPARTMENT!

- Bonjour. - Aoyama introduced himself.

- AGAINST IT! ARE THOSE HORNS DOING SOMETHING? DOING SOMETHING?! MEET MINA ASHIDO, FROM THE SAME DEPARTMENT!

- Nya-ha-ha, I'm lucky to have an opponent. - Mina rejoiced, pointing her fingers at Aoyama.

- I'll return those words. - Yuga said in response, standing up in a ridiculous pose.

- FIFTH MATCH, START!

The match began with Aoyama's laser attacks, which Mina had no trouble dodging. For the festival, she wore special shoes with slits in the soles, so she can create acid with her feet, and literally glide the acid all over the arena. Mina can create acid with any degree of viscosity and solubility, but as a disadvantage, her natural resistance to acid, a little sagging, from frequent use of quirk, but in this fight, such a disadvantage is not significant. The downside to Aoyama's quirk is significant, as he punctured his weakness on the first day of class at the quirk test. He can use his laser for no longer than a second, if the laser is held longer, Aoyama will experience severe pain in his stomach, which is exactly what happened when he opened himself up to Ashido's attack.

- Oh no, m-my stomach. - Aoyama shook from the sharp pain in his tummy.

- That's it! - She threw acid at him, hitting him right in the waistband.

- M-my waistband! - Aoyama said, and the acid damaged not only his waistband...but also his trousers. - And his trousers! -He grabbed at the object, trying to pull them back on.

- I'll do you with my signature uppercut! - Mina slid in close and hit Aoyama in the jaw, sending him to sleep.

- Aoyama is out, Ashido advances to the next round. - Midnight exclaimed as Aoyama was carried away on a stretcher by ambulance robots. It turned out that the academy had enough money for useful robots as well...and Aoyama hadn't put his trousers back on, so he'd be shining his pants all the way to the infirmary.

- That was awkward. - She looked at the carcass being carried away on the stretcher.

The fifth round was a fight between Momo and Tokoyi. The fight itself, again, did not last long. I watched Yaoyorozu's tactics, she relies on well thought out tactics for her actions. Unfortunately, in real combat, any tactic, even the best tactics, can be shattered by overwhelming force. As it happened, Yaoyorozu needs at least a minimal amount of time to create an item, to clear her head, so to speak, or to pick the exact composition, properties of the item. Tokoyami immediately, after the match was announced, attacked her, dark shadow, not giving her time to think, the only thing Momo had time to do was to cover herself with the shield she had created.

Under the barrage of blows, the dark shadow, Momo had no opportunity to attack or create any object, only to defend, and with each blow Tokoyami, she was thrown backwards. Fumikage wasn't trying to hurt her, but to throw her out of the game, which he did, the last blow threw Momo out of the arena, and she didn't even notice it, creating a pole in her left hand and going to attack.

- Yaoyorozu is out. Tokoyami moves on. - Midnight announced. Momo looked around absent-mindedly, only now realising that she had lost.

- UNBELIEVABLE, TOKOYAMI'S DARK SHADOW LEAVES NO CHANCE FOR VICTORY!

- How could it be...I was completely helpless. - Momo was upset, and lowered her head and went back to the A-class bench.

- Don't be so upset Yaoyorozu, everyone loses sometime. You did a great job. - I tried to cheer the poor girl up...well, that's just the kind of person I am. I don't care about weak guys, but if I see a beautiful, sad girl...I can't say anything bad about her. Unless, of course, she's a villain, or at the very least, a rotten person.

- You haven't lost yet. - Tsuyu remarked, which made Momo even more upset and seemed like she was about to cry. - Kwa, I'm sorry Momo-chan. - She hugged Yaoyoroza, trying to comfort her.

- Don't be sad, it's just one loss, we didn't get any further than the cavalry. - Kyouka also supported her friend.

- That's right. - Hagakure shook her hands.

- Psst, Akira. - Mina quietly attracted me.

- What?' I replied quietly.

- Didn't you notice? Ochako has just left to prepare for her fight. Now would be a good time to make a preemptive strike. - She hinted at something that only she and I know.

- Roger, roger that. - I jumped up from my seat and followed.

Uraraka was now, quietly alone tuning up for the fight, in the waiting room. Opening the door, I immediately saw the round-faced one sitting in front of a table, and pondering over something.

- Uraraka, you're doing well...' I interrupted, as I saw her face, and to put it mildly...she looked like a maniac from a thriller. - You're in the mood to win, aren't you?

- Oh, I'm sorry! I'm just nervous! It must have rubbed off on my face! - she ranted, clutching her head.

- I know it's not going to be an easy fight with an explosive woman.

- Yeah...I'm not gonna lie, I'm not comfortable with the thought of fighting Bakugou. - Uraraka shrank back, clutching her shoulders. - I didn't tell you this before, but I chose the hero profession for the money.

- Money?

- My family owns a construction company, but we're not doing so well right now, and I wanted to help my family in some way. With my quirk, I could help my father who works at the construction site day in and day out, that's why I went to study at Yuei. I want to earn as much money as I can and provide for my parents for the rest of my life so that they never need anything. - Uraraka said firmly. - You said that you don't like heroes who only want fame and money....

- I did. - I confirmed it. - But I don't think it's wrong to want to provide for your family, Ochako. - I sat down across from Ochako and smiled at her. - And don't be afraid, I believe in you, and even if you can't win, I know you'll do your best.

- Thank you for supporting me. - Ochako lowered her gaze to the floor, embarrassed.

- I'm ready to support you always. - I hugged her, trying my best to hold her fragile soft body against me.

- ...Can I ask you to close your eyes for a minute? - Ochako asked me.

- Of course. - I complied, and a second later, I felt the touch of soft lips on my cheek,

- I'll meet you in the final match! - Ochako squeaked, embarrassed, and left, judging by the slam of the front door.

- You could have kissed me on the lips. - I opened my eyes, and scratching the back of my head, wandered back to the bench.