MHA Universe, Earth, Japan, Musutafu.
*Cheer~~~~~~~~~~!*
As soon as Hizashi announced the end of the Capture the Flag/Fortress Defense Event, the crowd cheered wildly. Meanwhile, the students participating in the event, minus Tatsuo's team, all wore expressions that were filled with frustration.
"Seriously?" Mineta Minoru, having rushed to join the melee after realizing that his flag had been stolen, asked with a downcast expression while standing among his teammates.
"Hmph!" How could they steal from members of the same class?" Toru asked, the posture of her floating uniform making it clear that she was pouting while crossing her arms in front of her chest.
"Damn Class 1-A!" Neito shouted angrily after waking up, only to hear that the event was over.
"Even worse." Sen said while shaking his head. "From what I heard from Kosei, they stole our flag, too."
"Damn it~~~~~~~~~!" Neito shouted while pounding his fists into the ground.
"Alright, it's time to announce the teams who passed the Team Event." Nemuri said, her voice cutting through the din with its usual sensual vibe. "Please look to the screen to see just who will be participating in the final event of the First-Year's Sports Festival."
With that, Nemuri, who was standing on the stage, pointed up at the big screen with her whip. And just as she did, portraits of the students who would be moving on to the next round appeared on the screen.
"First, we have team Soramoto." Nemuri said as portraits of Tatsuo, Akatsuki, Sakura, and Mei appeared on the screen. After that, portraits of Izuku, Ochaco, Fumikage, and Ibara appeared as she continued. "Next, the members of Team Midoriya."
With each set of portraits that appeared on the screen, the cheers in the crowd fluctuated. Some students receiving more cheers based on their popularity.
"The third team to pass is Team Todoroki." Nemuri continued, her voice cutting through the cheering as Shoto's, Momo's, Tenya's, and Denki's portraits showed up on screen. She then continued after portraits of Katsuki, Eijiro, Mina, and Hanta appeared. "And lastly, we have Team Bakugo. These sixteen students will move on to the final event. And that event will be…"
As her words trailed off, Nemuri once again raised her whip and pointed at the screen. When she did, all sixteen portraits vanished. In their place, the name of the final event showed itself one character at a time.
"A tournament!" Nemuri said as the final character appeared on screen. "A one-on-one, single-elimination tournament, to be exact. And the rules will be simple. To advance, make your opponent either surrender, unable to continue fighting, or step out of bounds. However, killing is a big no-no. So, too, is intentional serious injury. Do I make myself clear?"
*Snap!*
Nemuri punctuated her words by slapping her whip against the stage.
*Cheer~~~~~~~~~~!*
However, no one in the crowd was intimidated by Nemuri's actions. In fact, a chant of, "Mommy, Sorry… Mommy, sorry… Mommy, Sorry…" could be heard continuously from certain parts of the stadium.
Meanwhile, after not seeing their portraits among those who would be advancing through the tournament, many of the remaining students wore expressions filled with disappointment while hanging their heads in regret. A for those who passed, they all had resolve and determination burning in their eyes.
"But don't worry, boys and girls who did not pass." Nemuri said with a smile as she looked out at all the disappointed students. "There will be a break before the tournament begins. And during that break, everyone will have time to eat lunch. On top of that, there will be a number of consolation games available for those who wish to show off what they can do. So, you'll all have a chance to show the country what you're capable of."
Though it did not give them a chance to stand on the main stage, an opportunity was an opportunity. So, most of the students perked up, even if only a little, at Nemuri's announcement.
"Now, we'll draw lots to determine how the tournament bracket will be set up." Nemuri said without losing her ssmile. "So, allow me to invite the sixteen finalists up to the stage."
Following Nemuri's instructions, the sixteen finalists all made their way up to the stage where there was a box holding sixteen numbered balls waiting for them. Then, in an orderly fashion, they all stepped up to the box and pulled out one of the numbered balls for the Festival Committee to record it and add it to the tournament bracket that was now showing on the screen.
By the time everyone chose a ball, the bracket looked like this.
{Tournament First Round
1 - Hanta Sero
Vs.
2 - Matou Sakura
3 - Soramoto Tatsuo
Vs.
4 - Todoroki Shoto
5 - Kirishima Eijiro
Vs.
6 - Tokoyami Fumikage
7 - Ida Tenya
Vs.
8 - Midoriya Izuku
9 - Ashido Mina
Vs.
10 - Hanekura Shizuka
11 - Kaminari Denki
Vs.
12 - Uraraka Ochaco
13 - Yaoyorozu Momo
Vs.
14 - Hatsume Mei
15 - Shiozaki Ibara
Vs.
16 - Bakugo Katsuki}
{A/N: I found a site that lets you roll dice with different numbers of sides for the lottery draw. So, the entire tournament bracket was completely randomized.}
"Hmm… Well, at least we know seven more people who aren't gonna take second place." Tatsuo said while stroking his chin like an old sage. He then let his gaze slide past Mina, Akatsuki, Denki, Ochaco, Momo, Mei, Ibara, and Katsuki before continuing. "So, which one of you is coming in second?"
*Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*
While Katsuki's palms immediately began to produce explosions upon hearing Tatsuo's mockery, the other seven people on that side of the bracket looked at Tatsuo with different expressions ranging from an eye roll from Akatsuki all the way to a blank stare from Ibara.
But they were not the only ones who reacted to Tatsuo's taunt, as most of the people on his side of the bracket looked at him with challenging eyes, as well.
And then there was Nemuri, who smiled widely while licking her lips seductively when she looked at Tatsuo.
"Oh, you're fun." Nemuri said, her voice twice as sweet as sugar and far more addictive. "You're going to be a real heartbreaker when you grow up. Mmm~! I'm certainly looking forward to that day."
Naturally, before speaking Nemuri disabled her microphone. She already gets enough flak from the media because of her Hero persona. Lord knows she did not need them to start anything about her trying to seduce her students on top of all that.
That immediately set off alarm bells in Sakura's head. Quickly, she stepped closer to Tatsuo and hugged his left arm between her breasts while shooting a glare that promised nothing less than dismemberment if Nemuri tried anything with Tatsuo.
"Whoa! Easy there, girl." Nemuri said in a playful tone as she took a step back and raised her hands disarmingly. "I just said I wanted to see what kind of heartbreaker he would be in the future. There's no need to get so defensive. Besides, that's not the kinda of expression a Hero should be wearing, is it?"
"Calm down, Sakura." Tatsuo said while stroking Sakura's hair with his free hand. "She's only teasing. Besides, she'd probably be more interested in my cousin than me."
"Oh, are you talking about Static?" Nemuri asked while licking her lips once again. "Mmm! Yes, he's a bit closer to my taste than a student. However, I'm not going anywhere near him."
Reaching that point, Nemuri waved her hand dismissively.
"The rabbit he's keeping can be quite territorial." Nemuri continued before any of the gossipier students could ask any questions. "And I'd rather not have to deal with that."
After saying that, Nemuri turned around to head back stage. As she did, her hips swayed hypnotically.
"Anyway, you kid should go get something to eat." Nemuri said while waving over her shoulder. "The break before the tournament starts will be over before you know it."
And with those last words, Nemuri left the stage, leaving the sixteen participating students behind.
And as soon as Nemuri was gone, all the gazes turned towards Tatsuo. Most of which were burning with competitive determination.
"Midnight-Sensei was right." Tatsuo said while rubbing his stomach. "I'm kinda hungry and I'm all outta lollipops."
"Lollipops?" Izuku asked in a confused tone.
"Yeah, I usually give out ass whooopin's and lollipops." Tatsuo explained, explaining with a nod. "But I ran outta lollipops at the end of the last event. So, I don't have any for myself. But that's not gonna be good for my opponents either. Because that means that all I'll have to give out are ass whooopin's… So, sorry in advance."
That only stoked the competition even further. However, Tatsuo turned around and left the stage as if he didn't notice. Naturally, sakura followed right behind him. Akatsuki, after shrugging her shoulders, followed the other two members of the [Dimensional Chat], as well.
On a side note, Tatsuo did actually slip lollipops into he pockets of everyone he fought during the Capture the Flag/Fortress Defense Event, pulling them from his [Inventory] while fighting. However, because he never thought he, himself would ever eat that many, he did run out partway through the event.
"I'm gonna kill that pretty boy bastard.!" Katsuki shouted before stomping away from the rest of the group.
However, before he took more than a few steps, he turned to glare at Izuku and Shoto.
"I wanted to kick both of your asses, too." Katsuki said, or more like snarled. "But since you're probably gonna lose to the pretty boy, I'll have to wait until next time. As for the rest of you extras, I'm not interested."
With that, Katsuki turned around once again and left the stage.
"Is he always like that?" Ibara, one of the two people on the stage who was not in Class 1-A, asked curiously.
"Yes." X 10
"Kacchan can be a bit intense." Izuku said in an apologetic tone. "So, please don't' take it to heart, Shiozaki-San."
"I won't." Ibara replied. "But I wasn't talking about Bakugo-Kun. We've been able to hear him yelling and calling everyone extras since the first day of school. I was actually talking about Soramoto-Kun. He never came off as so arrogant before."
"Oh, that." Momo said in an understanding tone. "To answer your question, no, he's not always like that."
"Yeah, Tatsu-Kun is usually super chill." Mina said while nodding in agreement.
"He's usually super manly, too." Eijiro added.
"Then why?" Ibara asked, a spark of real curiosity in his tone.
"If I had to wager a guess, he wishes to have us unearth all our potential." Fumikage said.
"In layman's terms, he's trying to rile us up so that we fight harder." Denki said while rolling his eyes. He then tried to sidle up to Ibara as he continued. "But if you want, we, and by we, I mean just the two of us, can try to come up with a plan to beat him. There's a chance that one of us could meet him in the finals, after all."
"No thanks." Ibara said while glancing at Denki from the corner of her eye before taking a step away. "It's more important for me to worry about defeating Bakugo-Kun than looking too far ahead."
"Oh, well, I could give you some tips on Bakugo, too." Denki said while trying to close the distance again.
"*Sigh* I was trying to be polite, Kaminari-Kun." Ibara said while raising her hands in front of her chest in a gesture of prayer. "But with the Divines as my witness, you are not my type, and I have no interest in getting to know you."
Hearing that, Denki froze completely. At the same time, everyone watching, with the exception of Ibara, thought they saw him turn to sstone before a breeze blew by, and he disintegrated into dust that blew away with the breeze.
"That was brutal." Mina said with a wide smile on her face.
"This wouldn't have happened if he had just taken the hint." Ochaco said while shaking her head.
"Soramoto-Kun tried to give him advice before." Momo said. "It looks like he did not take that advice to heart."
With that, the girls left. Though, it seemed as though Mei left ahead of them, more than likely to pester Tatsuo and Sakura about making Support Equipment with their [Quirks'] abilities. As for the boys, they did not know how to react exactly. So, they just decided to leave Denki there. They needed to get lunch, too, after all.
Meanwhile, Tatsuo, Akatsuki, and Sakura found a picnic table to sit at. Then, Tatsuo [Blinked] into their classroom to get the lunch boxes he prepared for today before [Blinking] back so they could eat.
*Zap!*
Shortly after the trio began to eat, Alfonzo descended from above standing atop hi metal disc before he sat down next to Akatsuki.
"Yo." Alfonzo said as he reached towards Tatsuo's lunch. "Good job earlier, you three. Make sure to knock 'em dead in the tournament."
*Smack!*
"I made a lunch for you before we left." Tatsuo said after slapping away Alfonzo's hand without even looking up from his food. "Eat your own."
"But eating food meant for someone else's stomach always tastes better." Alfonzo replied while rubbing his hand.
"Whatever." Tatsuo shot back while rolling his eyes.
"Anyway…" Akatsuki said, rolling her eyes even harder than Tatsuo. "Why does it sound like you're not gonna be here to watch the tournament?"
"Because I'm not." Alfonzo replied.
"Headed to Hosu, huh?" Tatsuo asked nonchalantly.
"Yeah." Alfonzo replied with a nod. "As long as I can find Ida's brother, I can defeat Stain. And if I do that, we'll only have one more [Objective] to complete before we need to vote on a new [Chat] member."
"Oh, I almost forgot about that voting thing." Tatsuo said. "It's the first time we'll have to do that. Well, we should all think about who we wanna add to the [Chat] before that time comes."
"Oh… Right, I forgot about that, too." Akatsuki said.
"I'll vote for whoever Tatsuo-Kun thinks is best." Sakura said in a lovestruck tone.
"I seriously doubt that." Tatsuo muttered under his breath.
"Anyway, I'm outta here.' Alfonzo said after failing to grab any food from Tatsuo. "I'll see you later."
*Zap!*
Then, Alfonzo unfolded his metal disc, hopped onto it, and shot off towards Tokyo. And a moment after Alfonzo left…
"Why did you guys leave so fast?" Mei, running towards the picnic table, shouted while waving her hands frantically. "We still need to talk about making babies, remember?"
*Smack!* x 3
Mei's shout made everyone in the picnic area turn to look at Tatsuo, Akatsuki, Sakura, and Mei with strange expressions. Meanwhile, Tatsuo, Akatsuki, and Sakura could not help face-palming simultaneously.
Yet, despite the chaos that followed Mei wherever she went thanks to her complete lack of social grace, time passed quickly and the consolation games ran their course, leaving the tournament as the only event left for the day. And based on the energy in the stadium, it was clear that everyone, whether they be students, civilians, or Heroes, was looking forward to it.