Chapter 53: Decisive Maneuvers

Recap:

Meanwhile, Iida, out of bounds, lay on his back while thinking about how he managed to react to his Turbo Charge.

"His quirk, he can use his ears, extra eyes, smell, everything. His senses are boosted and aren't bound by normal human limitations, making him react to my speed. He was also expecting such, as that was all I emphasized."

A profound wellspring of sadness, regret, and an overwhelming sense of despair surged through Iida as he lay sprawled on the unforgiving arena floor, his hopes of victory cruelly shattered.

"AND MEZOU SHOJI IS THE WINNER!"

Back up in the stands, Fumitake made his way to the duo as he explained the round he never got to.

"The forgotten round, it was Suijin Shimizu vs. TetsuTetsu TetsuTetsu. Another lackluster round. The metal head charged at the spray-bottled boy but was dodged easily."

"This kept happening before he went to the edge of the ring before charging once again, this time faster like a bull. Shimizu, using this incompetence, jumped to the sky again before using a jet of water to push the boy, who could barely stabilize himself, out of bounds."

"Oh," was all he could reply as the upset of the last two rounds and the fact that all of his betting money was gone made him speechless.

"Now, pay attention to the following matches as they'll be some of the best in UA history. I can feel it."

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"UP ON THE STAGE, IT'S IBARA SHIOZAKI, THE DEADLY FLOWER OF CLASS 1B! VSSSSSSS, THE MOST SURPRISING CONTESTANT IN THE QUARTER FINALS, THE MAESTRO OF THE GENERAL COURSE WHO'S MADE IT THIS FAR. IT'S HIIIITOOOOSHIIII SHINSOOOOOO!"

Soldering up the stairs with his not-so-trademarked tired face was the General Course's star, his unkempt purple hair giving him away too easily.

'Though not for long,' he thought to himself.

He wasn't kidding when he challenged those Class 1A's earlier.

He would prove himself in this festival, gain the recognition he deserved but didn't get due to the entrance exam's nature, and join their class.

If he had to kick one of them out to do so, then so be it.

He'd already beaten one of their members, so the others shouldn't be too far ahead of him in terms of strength.

'Her, though,' he grimaced.

Shinso was internally thankful for having gotten the chance to display himself in the previous round, as he really didn't think he'd make it out of this one.

He was a bit arrogant, as others told him, but even he knew his limits.

Blabbering idiots were his favorite opponents, whereas stupidly powerful, silent types were his worst.

And thanks to research before the festival, the Princess of Vines was a thorn in his side.

He wished that was a joke.

Not only was she the exact opposite of who he wanted to face, but he was virtually powerless in front of her quirk.

'Guess I'll go with that plan.'

"ANNNNDDDD, START!"

The nanosecond his ears heard the pro's words, he put on his best sincere face and said, 

"Ibara, you don't mind me calling you that, right? How would you like to talk first?"

"IN AN UNEXPECTED TURN OF EVENTS, SHINSO, THE BROODY BOY INITIATED A CONVERSATION!"

As he put his hands up in a peace-like position, Shiozaki stopped, if only for a brief moment, but she never let her guard down and looked at him blankly.

Really not the talkative type, eh? What about conversing about our Lord and Savior?"

Blink

Her interest certainly peaked, as Shinso presumed, but her silence was a testament to his previous findings.

Sigh

He threw his hands up above his head, shaking his cranium, before putting them in his pocket and turning around.

"WHAT! IS HE GIVING UP JUST LIKE THAT?

President Mic's commentary sparked some of the crowd's reactions, and many disdainful glares and words were sent to the boy.

"DISGRACEFUL!"

"Is this a student of UA ?Giving up so easily?"

"How unmanly."

"This kid wants to be a hero with that mentality."

The last person who spoke was a Hero!

But thankfully, there were two commentators, and this time the normally quiet one had something to say.

"Knowing his limits and resigning himself early, showing his ability to know when to advance and retreat, that paired with his previous showings in the round of 16 would make him quite the commodity to some."

And an unexpected appearance of the No. 5 Hero, Edgeshot, in the stands of the crowd nodded, agreeing with the assessment.

With his side being fairly quiet, many of his fans, both male and female passed out from his looks, caused his voice to clearly reach the entirety of the stadium.

"Indeed, I personally would like such a person on my own stealth missions. Maybe I'll extend an invitation to the kid after this."

Thus, the crowd's opinion did a 180, going from criticizing him to praising his intelligence.

The boy himself smirked, expecting this reaction, and was happy that his plan worked.

If he couldn't get past Shiozaki's nature, then he would work with it!

Make sure she can't do anything to gain the limelight, making it shine on him.

Capitalize on that by having a bout of banter with her before resigning himself.

And if the strict teacher of Class 1A caught on, then it was a guarantee not to drop his image but even boost it!

Of course, the No. 5 pitching in himself was an unexpected but nicely added change in his plans.

With this, the UA staff would undoubtedly review him with more consideration, and if that goes well, then his plan to transfer to the hero course has an even higher chance of succeeding.

Still having to play his part, he closed his eyes, not wanting their gleam to be perceived, and lazily walked into the tunnel, disappearing from the crowd's sight.

Just like that, it was over. Though the match ended so abruptly, the crowd was far from bored, wanting to see more brilliance from the UA candidates.

"W-WE'LL ALRIGHTY THEN, SINCE THAT WAS CONCLUDED SO QUICKLY, LET'S WELCOME OUR NEXT CONTESTANTS, MEZOU SHOJI, THE SON OF A PRO, VS OCHACO URARAKA, THE DEFEATER OF YAOYOROZU."

'Come on Ochaco.'

Shoji stood on the stage with his arms crossed, awaiting her appearance as if an overseer to their battle.

The girl suppressed her nerves, not allowing herself to get psyched out.

"WHO WILL WIN? CAN THE LITTLE MISSY CAUSE ANOTHER UPSET? LET'S GET GOING, SO WITHOUT FURTHER ADO…START!"

This match was different from the previous ones since, unlike them, neither of the two immediately attacked.

Ochaco's actions were expected, similar to how she started out her bout with Momo.

But the hulking boy staying on the defensive spoke to Ochaco's strength.

So with an unfound cautiousness, he sized her up, taking small steps to the side, appearing at leaisure yet tense.

The girl had her nerves rattled as this didn't follow her original game plan at all.

She knew her strengths and weaknesses, and attacking first was never on her list of strong points.

Still forced by her loudly beating heart, she acted.

She ran towards the boy with her determination evident on her face as his steps grew closer.

When she breached his danger zone, the agile boy performed superhuman feats, effortlessly jumping above her and missing her outstretched hand.

But in his way in the air was a jacket, one completely outstretched, that blocked his sight of the ground and, subsequently, her.

"WHAT A SHOWCASING FROM URARAKA, USING HER QUIRK TO MAKE THE JACKET FLOAT, BLOCKING SHOJI'S SIGHT! THE TIMING SHE HAD TO HAVE ON THIS HAD TO BE CALCULATED TO THE EXACT SECOND!"

As he was preoccupied with that, he felt a tap on his boots, and an unfamiliar sense of weightlessness, releasing all the mass he had to deal with, washed over his body.

Recognizing this as her quirk, Zero-Gravity's effect, he acted with his predisposed backup plan.

A rock.