Chapter 22: One VS One Battles

"You're immune to my quirk, aren't you?" Shinso asks Araki who was texting on his phone. The latter looks at him and just shrugs, implying that he can guess about it, but he already knows that he is.

"What you said at the arena, do you mean it?" Shinso asks. In turn, Araki just said yes.

"Then the part where you said that you want to put in a recommendation, do you mean it too?" Araki then quickly stood up.

"Yep. As long as you are willing and you can pass the requirement of the schools or whatever, I'd even welcome you to the class if you get transferred to 1-A or 2-A by next year."

"Really?" Shinso can't believe what Araki was saying. However, he then suppressed himself.

"What's the catch? And why do you want to help me?" He asks him in quite a suspicious voice.

"What do you mean 'what's the catch?'? There is no catch. I just thought that you'd be pretty useful as a law enforcer. However, they're too limited to their rules and most especially, hierarchy. So, I'd like to see you as a hero. Just, don't let me down, and show me what you've got. Even the most cowardly among us knows that many people want to be on their spot, so they all work hard."

Araki said as he left his resting room that was given to them for the next round.

As they all watch in the audience seats, Midnight announces the first two participants of the round three 1vs1 battle. In there, Araki saw Ojiro looking at him, seemingly wanting to ask him a question. However, Ojiro kept it to himself as he felt embarrassed for quitting his chance on the third round."

"For the first fight of the round! Everyone! Let's welcome, Izuku Midoriya and… Hitoshi Shinso!!!"

The two contenders then face each other on the stage. At first, there was no action as Shinso seems to be talking to Izuku. The next instant, Izuku's body starts to move on its own which confused the audience. Suddenly, a strong burst of wind destroys a part of the arena and Izuku came running out of the clouds of dust.

Seeing this, a strong desire for rivalry appears in Shinso as he faced him head-on. However, he didn't have a big chance of winning even if Izuku didn't use his quirk given his more trained body.

The good part is, Shinso smiles at his defeat as he looks at the new hope he has seen to achieve his dreams of becoming a hero.

The next fight was Todoroki versus Sero. Initially, Sero was very confident. Even with the pissed atmosphere around Todoroki, he wasn't a bit intimidated.

"I came here to win!" Sero declares as the start of the battle commences. His sticky and long tape then wraps around Todoroki who was now on his way to being flung out of bounds. Then, a block of ice appears making him stop.

And although Sero tried to put up a fight, Todoroki didn't give him a chance and defeated him in an instant. This pitiful scenario made everyone pity Sero as he was outclassed in terms of offensive ability. The ice that he created in mere seconds looked like a mountain peeking out of the large stadium.

The next one comes Jirou against Ashido. As they came to the arena, Jirou felt immense pressure overwhelming her chest. In this fight, she was very much on the losing side. Not only doesn't she have any means of attack for a long-range attack, but her enemy is quite the opposite.

"START!" Midnight shouts as the battle commences. Immediately, Ashido starts sliding on her feet causing Jirou to watch her in full focus. Then, Ashido started throwing acid in her direction as she jumps to dodge away.

However, Ashido didn't stop as she go back and forth. Suddenly, she saw a smile on her opponent's face. She turns around only to see that she was nearing the border of the arena. With no choice, Jirou runs towards her enemy straight on, shocking the latter.

But all it took was a misstep as Ashido quickly shoot out a large amount of acid to the ground. Jirou luckily dodged it but unfortunately, the slimy texture of her opponent's quirk caused her defeat.

She stumbles down to the ground as Ashido runs to her and immobilizes her. Leading to her defeat. As she laments about it on the way back to the seats. She bumps into Momo.

"Momo. You're here already? There are still two more fights before yours, right?" She said as she come to her friend's side.

"My enemy is Araki. Haha. I feel like even if I hit him with a cannon, he wouldn't budge. I don't yet have a plane to defeat him." Momo said as she laughs nervously.

"If he's my enemy, I would too. I would've suggested you fight him close-quarters if you know how to fight. But that is something that he excels in." Jirou said as she sit down on the wall with her friend. Using the time they have left, Jirou starts to help Momo to come up with a plan to fight Araki.

At the stadium, Iida's demonstration- fight just ended with him winning. As Mei ran out of gadgets to show, she peacefully surrenders making Iida pissed at himself for being tricked and at Mei for tricking him.

"As for the next fight, we have seen them interact before in the last round. They bumped head-to-head as their cavalry rivaled each other. Are we going to see one of the most interesting fights in the third round of this U.A. annual school festival!? Give it up for… Denki Kaminari and Fumikage Tokoyami!"

Cheers erupt as the two Class 1-A come out of the stadium's backstage. They soon reached the arena where they look at each other eye-to-eye.

"Even if you can exploit the weakness of my quirk. The darkness that I hold won't give up that easily. Dark Shadow!" Tokoyami said as a black lump of shadow comes out of his back.

"I hope you don't use that as an excuse later on," Denki said cheekily as he looks at his enemy.