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[Pinky Shall Die]
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...
{"Alright, since we are done with the bracket, let's leave the matter of the tournament aside for a momentary interlude—"}
-Bang!-
-Bang!-
-Bang!-
Fireworks shot into the sky.
{"—AND LET'S HAVE FUN WITH THE RECREATION!"}
The crowd's roar and the fireworks bursting overhead swallowed everything else whole.
With that, Midnight turned back to the students.
"Now then, before we begin, the finalists are free to participate or not. We understand some may prefer to rest or prepare instead."
Most of the finalists began drifting away from the group immediately. Todoroki, Tokoyami, Bakugo, Midoriya—all of them peeling off without a second thought.
A few stayed behind. Mina, Kaminari, and Sero among them.
Jiro had been about to leave too, already half-turned, when she noticed Taka hadn't moved.
She elbowed him. "Oi, you're not seriously going to participate, are you? Leave some spotlight to the others."
The question rippled outward immediately. Several nearby students snapped their heads toward him, alarm flaring across their faces.
Taka glanced at her, then tilted his head slightly, as if weighing the question.
Then, he opened his mouth. "I think I'll participate..."
Multiple expressions fell at once.
"… At another time," He added.
And with that, he turned and walked away.
"Screw you!" A voice rang out from somewhere in the mass of students.
Jiro stared at his retreating back, her gaze baffled.
That was on purpose, wasn't it?
She sighed, gave an apologetic nod to the surrounding students, and turned to leave as well.
Just before she did, though, her eyes drifted back up to the bracket on the screen overhead, finding her name and settling on her matchup with Kirishima.
Given her current offensive options, it was going to be a rough fight.
But that wasn't really what she was thinking about.
'In the end, I actually made it to the finals.'
She'd even gotten to pilot a giant flaming skeleton and cause chaos across an entire field while doing it.
The day had turned out considerably more unexpected than she'd walked in expecting.
A short snort after, she turned back onto her path.
"...?"
—And noticed that Taka, who'd only been a few meters ahead seconds ago, was already completely gone.
Her face went deadpan.
"He sure has a knack for acting mysterious..."
...
°
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°
| Some time later... |
...
The recreational games moved quickly once they began—a welcome change of pace from the tension that had defined everything up until then.
Scavenger hunts, team races with oversized rubber balls, even tag. It was a pack of events that let the students be students rather than competitors for a moment, and the crowd seemed to appreciate the breather just as much as the participants.
The finalists also made use of the time in their own ways.
Some rested. Todoroki found a quiet spot in the patch of forest bordering the stadium and sat there without moving until the time came. Tokoyami, for some reason, did the same but chose a tree branch as his resting place.
Others prepared and mentalized themselves for the fights ahead. Bakugo and Midoriya, almost by some cruel design of fate, had ended up facing each other in the first round—a fact neither of them seemed to be taking lightly.
Midoriya, sitting in the class's waiting room to calm his nerves, was the more visibly nervous of the two.
But something had shifted in him over the past week and a half.
He'd trained, and he'd grown. He wasn't the same reckless, unprepared kid who'd always relied on going beyond his limits and paying for it afterward.
He could now fight.
Bakugo was extraordinary. He knew that better than anyone.
But he wasn't planning on losing here.
Aside from all them, other finalists joined the recreational games outright, unwilling to miss another chance to be seen by the pros scattered throughout the stands, and finding that competing for fun did more to settle their nerves than sitting alone would have.
Ultimately, however, everything has to come to an end. As did the recreational games, and the calm before the storm.
Minutes later, Cementoss walked away from the center of the field, patting his hands off as he went, leaving behind the freshly constructed arena where the stage had been.
{"Thank you, Cementoss!"}
The teacher lifted a thumbs-up without breaking stride.
{"Now then, everyone, ARE YOU READYYYYY?!"}
The crowd answered loudly enough to feel it.
Present Mic's laughter echoed through the speakers. {"A lot has happened at this year's competition. We've seen feats none of us could have imagined walking in here this morning, seen students go at each other with everything they had... but it all comes down to this. One last event to determine who stands at the peak."}
The tournament bracket appeared on the screen above, names lit up for the whole stadium to see.
{"SERIOUS COMBAT! A situation that, even outside of being a hero, you'll face many times in life! Heart, skill, body, wisdom, and knowledge—all of it matters. Who among these students has all of it? We're about to find out!!!"}
From opposite ends of the field, two figures stepped out and began making their way toward the arena at the center.
{"Ladies and gentlemen, the finals you've been waiting for are about to begin—and what a way to open! Match number one—"}
The screen shifted to show the two approaching figures, names alongside their faces.
One of them zoomed in—a wide grin and a peace sign aimed straight at the camera.
{"Ready to give this fight an sour flavor and probably dissolve the beautiful arena Cementoss just spent several minutes putting together—from the hero course, MINA ASHIDOOO!!!"}
On the field, the pink-haired girl smiled and waved at the crowd as she walked. Her usual cheerful energy was there, but it was sitting a little lower than normal.
{"—VERSUS!"}
The screen shifted again. A familiar, impassive face looked back at the camera with steady calm in the picture.
{"The student who, just as he declared, has been making history today in ways no one before him has—and who I'm sure many of you are very curious to see what else he has in store—TAKAHASHI FUKUMOTO!!!"}
The person in question didn't acknowledge the attention at all, gaze fixed straight ahead as he walked slowly toward the arena—his hair lifting faintly in a breeze that, once again, wasn't supposed to be there.
While Present Mic ran through the rules, the two climbed into the arena and took their positions at opposite ends.
"Taka…" Mina said, a pitiful edge to her voice.
Taka's eyebrow arched faintly at being called out like that.
She looked at him with full puppy eyes. "Let me show off a little before you kick my ass, please?"
"No."
"Ugh!"
Seeing her face twist like at that, he smiled a little.
"The first two games were probably enough to show how strong I actually am."
"...?" Mina raised an eyebrow, not sure where he was going with that.
"But letting everyone assume I only got this far because of my Quirk doesn't sit right with me… I should show what I can do without leaning on it too, don't you think?"
"You don't mean…" Her eyes went wide.
Taka shifted his stance slightly, settling into something closer to a straightforward fighting position.
"So whether you get to show off or not is up to you. It depends on how much you can make me work for it."
"Thank you, Taka, thank you!" Mina bounced back immediately, her mood lifting.
He let out a huff, as if mildly put out by her reaction. "I'm still your class representative. I'm not letting any of you go unnoticed unless that's your own doing—but you all made it here for a reason, didn't you?"
She grinned at him.
"I'll make sure to put on a proper show, then!"
{"Ready?!"}
Taka grinned back.
"If you can."
{"... Start!"}
The moment the word dropped, Mina kicked off.
She went into her acid-skating immediately, moving fast around Taka's position, keeping herself in constant motion as she sized him up.
"If you won't use your Quirk—that means I've got the range advantage!"
She brought her hands together mid-movement, locking her aim on him.
"Piercing Acid!"
A thin, pressurized spray of acid shot from her palms and was on him in an instant.
Taka ducked under it and jumped clear without apparent urgency.
But Mina hadn't expected it to land on the first try. She kept her momentum, circling, and redirected the spray to chase after him.
Yet not a shred of concern crossed his face.
The spray closed in again.
He, of course, ducked under it again, the acid missing by centimeters.
She adjusted her aim, but by then, he was already moving before she'd finished the adjustment.
Then he started advancing toward her.
Which should have made things easier. A target running straight at a stream of acid ought to be simple enough to hit.
"...?!"
But soon she discovered it wasn't. Or at least, not that target.
Ducking, twisting mid-air, rolling, jumping—he moved through the spray like he already knew where it would be aimed before she'd decided. No matter how she redirected, he was already out of the way, and still closing in.
By the time she registered how close he'd gotten, there was barely a meter between them.
She was mid-movement, riding the slick her acid had left on the floor, still trying to line up a shot, so there was no clean way to set up a dodge against whatever Taka threw.
So she committed to a counter instead—using her momentum to duck under whatever attack he was about to throw and drive a punch back at him.
"Ei—argh!"
Sadly, all that accomplished was getting her arm caught.
The next instant, the world flipped as he sent her into a full-body throw.
"Waaargh!"
—Thud!—
She ended up rolling across the arena floor, eating a few meters of it before she could get her bearings.
She tried digging her fingers in to brake herself using acid on the concrete—then thought better of it and kept moving instead.
—Bam!—
The right call, as it turned out. Taka closed in and brought a stomp down exactly where she'd been a moment earlier.
-Crack!-
The impact left a clear mark on the arena floor.
Mina's eyes bulged as she caught sight of it.
"Oi—I thought not using your Quirk included the superhuman strength!"
"It does."
"Then why are you so strong?!"
"Effort."
Gritting her teeth, she broke off and tried to rebuild some distance.
To buy herself room, she swept her hand back in his direction and released a volley of acid bullets.
"Acid Sho—how are you dodging that?!"
He was running straight into them, which should have made it nearly impossible to react in time—but he moved through the volley anyway, slipping between projectiles like they were in slow motion for him, and kept coming.
She clicked her tongue.
"Alright, class rep. I was saving this. But you're forcing my hand—this is a move I kept hidden from you!"
He didn't slow down.
She slammed her hands together, then pulled them apart into fists and flung them outward toward him, as if hurling something.
"Acid Super Nova!"
A spread of small acid droplets sailed at him—slower than the acid shots, and clearly fewer in number.
But Taka's advance cut off abruptly. His eyes sharpened, and he threw himself sideways out of their path.
—BAM!—
—BAM!—
—BAM!—
The next second, each droplet detonated mid-air throwing out a spray of acid across the area, letting out a hissing sound as the acid hit the ground.
Despite the strange attack, however, he didn't comment on it. He just hit the ground mid-roll after his dodging lunge, pushed back to his feet, and rushed at her again.
"Not even fazed, huh?!"
She clicked her tongue again and swung her hand out, releasing another volley of acid bullets.
As she did, her face tightened slightly.
Her acid resistance was wearing thin. She had used too much in too little time.
It wouldn't be long before her acid began affecting her too.
So, while Taka dodged the volley and kept closing in, she made a decision.
"Alright!"
If she had to slow down on using her acid, then she'd go for the physical approach!
She roared and drove herself forward instead, acid leaving the soles of her feet and using it to skate toward Taka rapidly.
Soon, the two were upon each other.
Once there. she threw everything she had at close range—punches, kicks, weaving around him with her acid-slicked footing to keep her speed up and be hard to catch.
"I've been working on this too—think you can keep up with me at this speed, class rep?!"
-Thud!-
"Gyaaaah!"
A foot came out before she could realize. She tripped over it mid-circuit and her own momentum sent her rolling away again.
She scrambled back to her feet fast, spinning around to not let him get out of her sight.
Though strangely, when her gaze snapped up, she came across the strange sight of him still standing where she'd left him. He hadn't even bothered chasing after her, despite her mistake
She frowned. Why hadn't he—
Then she saw the crimson aura bleeding off him and understood.
"Y-you said you wouldn't use your Quirk!"
Taka raised one hand, fingers curling upward slowly.
The arena on his side began to break apart.
Giant slabs of debris tore free from the floor and rose into the air, circling him in a slow orbit.
Then his fist closed.
-Crack!-
Each slab shattered at once, splitting into hundreds of smaller chunks—all of which kept orbiting.
Then, Taka spoke.
"I lied."
He pointed his hand at her—and the barrage launched.
Her eyes went wide.
"You cheater…"
She raised both hands and pointed them ahead, jaw set.
"Fine—I'm using an unfinished move, then!"
Acid poured from both palms—more than she'd released at once before, and different in texture. Thicker and more cohesive.
With a sweep of both hands, she shaped it into a wall, holding it in place.
"Acid Veil!"
The barrage hit it a moment later.
—TATATATATATATA!—
The wall shook under the volley, causing Mina's expression to wince.
Despite it, the wall kept standing.
—At least, for the few seconds.
Soon, under the constant pressure, it began deforming—bowing inward under the relentless pressure, and the surface rippling as chunk after chunk hammered into it.
"Ack!"
—SPLASH!—
In the end, it finally gave out, collapsing and scattering in all directions.
She jumped back before the debris could reach her.
But as she took her distance, she realized nothing came after her.
The rain of debris had also stopped, judging from the cease of all the noise it had been making.
She blinked confusedly, then looked ahead.
"Hah...?!"
Only for her mouth to hang wide open once she saw what was happening.
Taka was pulling every piece of launched debris back—along with whatever else was loose on the arena floor—and fusing it together overhead into a single enormous mass of compacted concrete.
It hung above her, blocking the light.
"You got to be kidding!" She stared up, eyebrow twitching at the absurdity of it.
Without word, Taka pointed his hand at her.
And then—the mass began its descent. Slow at first, then picking up weight as gravity added to the telekinetic push.
It was a literal meteor crashing upon her.
Panic crossed her face. Then her teeth came together and she steadied herself.
No clean dodge from this, that was for sure.
So the only way out was through.
-Paf!-
Arriving at that resolution, she brought both hands together in a clap and aimed them upward.
This time, there was no holding back anymore… Unless she wanted to be squashed like a pancake.
This time, she was going all out!
"Piercing Acid!"
With that battle cry, a pressurized beam of acid fired from amidst her joined palms and drilled into the underside of the mass.
—PZZZZZZZ!!!—
The acid ate into the appraoching concrete with a sustained hiss, slowing the descent, and gradually boring through it layer by layer.
The pain in her hands climbed with every second she held the beam going, her acid resistance nearly spent.
But despite it, she pushed it aside and kept the output steady.
The mass kept crumbling. Chunks breaking away, dissolving, the whole thing fragmenting under the sustained pressure.
—Rumble!—
Finally, it gave. The remaining pieces scattered and fell wide of her.
Right away, she snapped her aim forward—toward where Taka should have been behind it.
But he wasn't there.
"That's good enough."
The voice came from directly behind her, followed by the feeling of her collar being grabbed.
"Eh?"
And before she knew it, the world spun. The sky swapped places with the field, and then the grass came up fast.
She was hurled clean out of the arena.
—Thud!—
A second later, she hit the grass unceremoniously, rolled for a bit, and ended up lying there, face planted on the ground.
And, as expected…
"Mina Ashido is out of bounds—Takahashi advances to the next round!" Midnight's voice rang out right after that, declaring her loss.
The crowd erupted along with it.
Once the announcement was given, Mina rolled onto her back and looked up at Taka, who was standing at the edge of the arena looking down at her.
"Class rep… I trusted you."
He huffed. "You shouldn't trust an enemy in the first place."
Then, he turned and walked away.
"Ugh…" She pushed herself upright, her expression twisted in betrayal. "And here I thought he was the honorable type…!"
But then, she paused, her expression shifting to surprise.
Pressing her palms against the grass to get up, she'd expected the sharp sting that came with burning through her acid resistance to flare.
And it was there indeed—but much fainter than it should have been, considering just how much acid she released at that last part of the fight.
Once sitting, she stared at her palms, head tilted.
"That's weird."
While she turned that over, Taka had already left the arena and was heading back down the tunnel toward the finalists' waiting room.
Soon, he stepped inside.
—And found Todoroki already there.
"...!"
The emo boy flinched as he appeared. A reflex he quickly controlled, as he shifted it to a frown soon after.
Taka gave him a brief glance, then looked away and kept walking past him.
"Good luck."
Two words, left behind as he pushed through the door on the far end and disappeared.
Todoroki stood there after he was gone, staring at the door.
His expression hardened.
"Luck… I won't need it."
...
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-To Be Continued...-
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(A/N: Final chapter of today. How was the fight? Yes, Taka lied a bit, but it's all for the greater good… Or his classmate's good, actually.
He forced her to show everything she had, even if she may feel unhappy he ended up using his aura in the end.)