Chapter 19: Sport's Festival Pt. 7 - Akutagawa vs. Momo

"ARE YOU READYYYY!?!?"

Momo stared at Akutagawa with determination as she lowered into a stance.

"You're gonna win you say?", Akutagawa asked curiously without any mockery.

"Yes, I've been thinking about the Battle Trials for a while now. I wasn't able to display my abilities properly so today, in front of everyone I'll beat you!", Momo clenched her fist as Akutagawa removed his hands from his pockets.

"Hmm... Well then let's put on a show for the audience yeah? Show me what you can do".

"MATCH START!!!!"

With the signal from Present Mic, Momo instantly created staff and shield, running towards Akutagawa.

After the first battle with Akutagawa, she's been observing him. His Rashomon has no time lag at all and is incredibly fast so rather than wait for him to advance and get her on the defensive, striking first would be better.

Arriving in front of him she moved her right arm, going for a shield bash. Knocking Akutagawa back she span her staff and jabbed it at him.

In the Battle Trials, she had underestimated him due to his frail appearance but she won't now. He has some combat skills but his stamina isn't that good. Immense power in a fragile container, he's the definition of a glass cannon.

Akutagawa wasn't still either and parried her staff to the side as he circled her in his lowered stance, palms outstretched and ready to block.

Throwing her shield forward she used the chance to maneuver around it and bat her staff towards his right side.

Flinching, Akutagawa leaned to the left as he fell, using his momentum to spin on his heel and perform a crescent kick, sending her shield back to her and stopping her advancement. Batting the shield out of her face she was greeted by Akutagawa's other foot.

She couldn't move back in time so she raised her barehanded right arm and took the blow. Gritting her teeth and moving her staff low, aiming for Akutagawa's only leg still planted on the floor. Slamming it behind the knees she followed up by slamming her staff down to his falling figure.

Before her staff could touch him, a Rashomon tendril extended from out of Akutagawa's jacket, pushing him back and into the air as he flipped and turned his body before landing.

During their last exchange, the crowd was still as they watched the two teenagers trade blow for blow without using their quirks. Even though it wasn't flashy they were engrossed in their fight. Soon after cheers erupted as the audience members chatted among themselves.

"Whoa, those kids are crazy"

"Well she does have a recommendation so it's the least you could expect"

"I'm still surprised that the pretty boy could fight in close combat like that, he's pretty versatile from what I've seen"

Natsuko was sitting in the stands nodding her head with a smug smile as she listened to the praise her son was getting. Iwao beside her was quiet as he held his chin before saying, "Hmm...decent. He could do better", before getting a smack on his head by Natsuko who looked at him with a scowl.

"Ryu is doing good as is and besides, you don't understand anything aside from brewing tea and martial arts. He didn't end it because he wants her to have a chance to show her abilities. My Ryu is chivalrous and charming like me. A musclehead like you wouldn't understand", she scolded as Iwao sighed, bearing his wife's abusive words.

"I'm fine with being the brains here though, musclehead fufu~", Natsuko teased before planting a kiss on his cheek to cheer him up.

In the arena, Akutagawa exhaled and wiped the sweat that was on his forehead as he adjusted a loose strap on his mask. Momo herself was catching her breath on the other side of the arena before opening her mouth.

"Very impressive moves Akutagawa, you never cease to amaze me"

"Back at you, I didn't know you were so good with the staff, I almost ended up in a bad spot just now", Akutagawa returned her praise.

"Thank you, I tried preparing as much as I could for this confrontation", Momo said before her jacket suddenly billowed out behind her as she stepped aside and revealed a canon that she was sneakily creating, it's heavy thud echoing.

"You sneaky-"

"Ha!", slamming her palm against the cannon it emitted a high-pitched noise before shooting a beam of energy straight at Akutagawa in a bright flash. As the beam approached him his mouth pulled into a smirk behind his mask as he made a move.

"Devoured Space"

The sound of glass breaking was heard as the beam smashed into a transparent red shield in front of Akutagawa, red sparks of lightning arcing across his side of the arena. Momo's side was lit in a bright blue hue, forming a sharp contrast between both sides.

The crowd covered their eyes because of the blinding lights. After the light subsided and the smoke cleared they saw Akutagawa standing in the same position, unharmed. Even though Momo knew Akutagawa's quirk was strong it was still shocking to see him without a scratch.

Before she could pull another trick on him, Akutagawa sent out Rashomon tendrils, breaking apart Momo's cannon and batting her to the side. As she slid on the floor she stumbled and fell over the boundary line.

"MOMO YAOYOROZU IS OUT OF BOUNDS, RYUNOSUKE AKUTAGAWA WINS!"

The crowd erupted into cheers again, some of them even chanting Akutagawa and Momo's names. A few heroes were seriously discussing them as well.

Making his way over to her, Akutagawa put out his hand to help her stand up. Taking his hand, Momo got up and patted her clothes to get rid of some of the dust.

"That was a good match Momo", Akutagawa said, shaking her hand he still held. Momo nodded but lowered her head after.

"Yes it was good, but you still got me out even with all the planning I put into it", Momo looked a bit downcast that Akutagawa got her out of the arena so easily, her mood lowering even more when she thought of how he could have pushed her out long before she could have approached him.

Noticing her expression, Akutagawa sighed before grabbing her shoulders and turning her towards the stands.

"She held up pretty good against an overpowered quirk user like Akutagawa"

"Yeah, she's got a good head on her shoulders. I don't think I would've been able to last that long honestly"

"Haha, that's cuz you're dumb as a rock! Ah, hey I was kidd-"

Momo listened to the heroes praising her fight before her attention was brought back to Akutagawa who patted her shoulder.

"See? It doesn't matter that you didn't win or any of those other complicated thoughts I can see going through your head. You proved yourself to all these people here, and now they all know just how amazing you are", Akutagawa removed his mask and smiled at her, giving her a thumbs up.

"Thank you Akutagawa", Momo lowered her head, struggling to keep her smile from reaching her ears as her eyes sparkled.

"Don't mention it, what kind of Class President would I be if I didn't care about my deputy. Let's go Vice President, I'm in the mood for some of Lunch Rush tasty smoothies".

Momo laughed quietly as she followed behind Akutagawa as they exited the stage through the tunnels.

////////////////////

Maerdy Note: Bro my Netflix wasn't working yesterday and I was getting so frustrated. Some of yall said u failed NNN, same tho. Since we fucked up, might as well keep it pushin. Committing one sin is the same as a thousand right? Is that how it goes? Whatevs, Non-stop nuts from now on. Anyways have a good day or night cuties, stay safe, headpats as usual pls & thx <3