1-A Competitors Box, Sports Festival Stadium.

Friday, 7th 2149.

Tsuyu stepped back into the competitor's box with her hands dangling in front of her. The fact that the entire stadium had just spent the last two minutes watching her and Habuko hug it out on the grass had left her in a state of visible embarrassment.

"Well done, Asui, you've brought us one step closer to a U.A only finals," Tenya said, impressed. "Now we just need to defeat Yoarashi and Sekigai."

Tsuyu kind of sagged at his misguided attempt at reassurance.

"Ida, you know pride is a sin, right?" Toru said, amused. "Even if it's school pride."

"It's only a sin when there's too much of it," Tenya corrected, "It's a careful balancing act, but one I'm quite capable of managing, thank you."

"I don't know about that," Toru said, "I saw you on those cables earlier—pretty wobbly if you ask me."

"Excuse me?" Tenya said, flustered.

"Once again, we have two students of U.A, both from Hero Studies, Jurota Shishida, from 1-B, and Mezo Shoji from 1-A," Shota said, "They are both very reliable—please fight now."

Jurota began to grow, the top of his uniform tearing open as it failed to withstand his sudden increase in size. Mezo dodged to the side as the now massive boy crashed down on his previous position, hard enough to shatter the concrete. Mezo's swung forward, his three right arms all topped with duplicated fists. The mass of limbs crashed into the other boy's massive forearm—and Jurota seemed entirely surprised to find himself sliding backwards from the force.

"A transformation-type Quirk?" Momo said, surprised.

"I've seen Shoji tear through a wall with a hit like that," Tenya said, frowning. "All it managed here was to send him backwards—his strength and durability are phenomenal."

Jurota moved oddly, using his hands and feet both. Though he held a low centre of gravity, his size left him towering over even Mezo's prodigal height. Mezo slid his foot backwards, dragging himself out of the way of an overhand smash, and then leant backwards, narrowly avoiding the follow-up attack. Mezo struck him across the shoulder, but Jurota pushed through the attack, sending a wide sweeping backhand out, which caught Mezo right at the edge of his evasion—the sheer size of the limb simply making it impossible to avoid in such close proximity.

Mezo rocketed backwards from the contact, his attempt at guarding it at the last moment nowhere near enough to keep his balance. His dozens of arms snapped outwards, bleeding off some of the force by catching the air; he fell backwards, rolled once, and then managed to get his feet back under him. The leftover force carried him sliding across the stage, all the way to the edge, at least eight points of contact with the ground barely enough to stop himself in time.

"A glancing hit can do that?" Momo said, swallowing. "That would have taken me out of the match entirely."

I found myself watching Momo; the confidence I'd come to expect from her seemed strangely absent, washed away by the display of strength we'd just witnessed. I wondered if she was trying to imagine herself down there, fighting against either of them and trying to decide if she'd have enough time to create a solution with her Quirk.

"It would have defeated me as well," Tenya said, voice grave. "It's not just brute strength either; despite his great size or perhaps because of it, he's able to move with deceptive speed."

Mezo was probably the only person in our class, with the singular exception of Eijiro, who could endure a hit like that—but even then, I couldn't imagine anyone else being able to stop themselves in time. Jurota didn't seem interested in waiting for him to recover either; the massive boy bounded forward, moving to cut off Mezo's attempt at circling around and locking him down into the corner of the stage.

Mezo, realising he wasn't going to be able to move out of the way in time, planted his feet before surging forward, more and more hands growing out of his tentacles as he went. They met a moment later, Mezo shouting out at the effort as he unleashed a series of massive attacks in an attempt to slow his opponent down. Jurota gave a roar of his own, sending a massive overhand straight forward into the flurry.

Mezo's stability vanished, the concrete beneath him shattering as Jurota stepped forward into the hit—and then Jurota unleashed a second punch, this time with his left hand. Mezo lost his footing entirely and tumbled backwards off the stage, crashing into the grass and rolling to a stop halfway to the stadium wall.

"Winner; Jurota Shishida," Shota said, clearing his throat.

"To think there was somebody with this much power hiding within 1-B," Momo said, voice quiet. "What a dangerous boy."

#

The number of people in 1-A's competitor's box continued to dwindle with each match, the departure of Momo and Tenya for their match leaving only four of us remaining. Shoto remained where he was beside the railing, lost in thought and unable or perhaps unwilling to break his self-imposed silence.

"You know, I really didn't expect to make it this far," Toru said, leaning back against the railing. "I guess I really lucked out when you decided to team up with me, huh?"

"That's a strange way of looking at it," I said, eyes on the stage below.

"What's strange about it?" Toru wondered.

I could feel a few grains of my sand somewhere in the stands below us, in the pockets of some U.A students who'd already been eliminated. I couldn't see them from my position, nor could I tell who they were without multiplying the sand enough to gain audio and visual feedback—something I wasn't curious enough to risk being caught over.

"You're suggesting that I made my decision randomly—selecting you and Tsuyu out of all the possible choices through chance alone," I said, "It also carries the implication that there is no valid reason why I would choose you in particular."

I saw a flash of pastel pink through the mass of bodies and then a spiky mass of darker red a few moments later—Mina and Eijiro, most likely. Which most likely meant the other grains of sand around them were other eliminated members of 1-A.

"That obviously isn't the case, considering I came to you with a prepared plan of attack, and you both fulfilled a specific role in it," I said, glancing over in the general area where her face should have been. "My goal was to win the event, and I chose you because you were the best candidate available. You weren't lucky, Toru; you were sought after."

A voice rose above the general noise of the crowd, too faint to decipher, but it sounded familiar enough that even Shoto turned to look down over the railing. Tsuyu rose up from her seat, moving to stand with us before she started to wave her hand down at the other members of our class.

"Mina," Tsuyu called down to our classmates. "Eijiro."

Toru made no attempt to look down or even turn to check, the twist of her uniform suggesting that she was still looking directly at me. I could just pick out the return calls from the others, but the words were indecipherable.

"—students from U.A, both from class 1-A, Tenya Ida, and Momo Yaoyorozu, the Class President, and Vice President respectively," Shota said, moving to start the match. "They are both stellar examples of heroes in training—you may begin."

Tenya shot forward across the stage, accelerating as he went, and Momo swept an arm out, fingers cutting through the air as her Quirk activated. A series of metal ball bearings filled the air, trailing after her hand as they scattered across the cement ahead of her. Tenya hit the brakes, stomping one of his feet down and using it to adjust his direction, he circled wide, aiming to go around the mess, but Momo turned with him, sending the second spread of tiny orbs out until she was entirely surrounded by them. Tenya slowed to a stop on the outside of the mess, stepping forward carefully and testing the soles of his shoes against the bearings—the monitor above the stadium showed his grimace.

"That was a good idea," Tsuyu said, croaking. "His main advantage is his speed, and now he can't just overwhelm her—it also gives her more time to use her Quirk."

Tenya began moving forward into the mess, sliding his feet across the cement to avoid any accidents and making a beeline for her. Momo whipped her hand forward again, only this time a large web of netting emerged, pulled through the air by a series of weights. Tenya managed to duck underneath it, hands planted on the concrete to catch himself, and then he rolled over like some kind of crab, scuttling past the second one.

Tenya got clipped by the third net, his arm getting tangled up for a moment, and then his legs flared up as he activated his Quirk. Using his hand as the singular point of contact with the ground, his legs were sent sliding across the concrete in a wide circle sending the ball bearings scattering up into the air and catching Momo by surprise as she was suddenly forced to block the cascade of projectiles. Tenya kicked up onto his feet, fell forwards into a steep lean, and then surged across the stage as his leg engines lit up.

He crossed the distance in an instant, catching Momo around the stomach with his outstretched arm and lifting her up off the ground as he went. The ball bearings worked exactly as intended as his foot came down on them, turning his precision tackle into a sliding stumble before he lost his balance entirely. He gave a cry of effort, twisting and launching Momo away from him as he crashed down onto the concrete.

Tenya rolled across the arena in a furious blur before managing to slam his foot down flat on the cement and engage his Quirk—it sent him skidding to a stop on hit back about a meter away from the boundary line. Momo left a trail of sparks behind her as an iron pole erupted from the palm of her hand, but it couldn't find any purchase on the too-smooth cement, and she skittered off the edge before falling out of sight.

"Winner; Tenya Ida," Shota said.

"She made him work for it," Tsuyu admitted, "Still, she looks pretty upset."

The monitor above showed Momo on her hands and knees on the second tier of the stage, hair falling around her and brushing against the concrete, a complicated expression written across her face. I watched as she carefully pushed herself back to her feet, apparently unable to put her full weight on her left leg—injured in the fall. I watched for a moment longer before turning away from the railing and moving towards the door. Shoto was the only one who had the angle to see me leave; his eyes locked on my back as I stepped through the door.

I made it halfway down the corridor before either of the others realised I was gone; Tsuyu's voice echoed oddly through the door, the words indecipherable. I stepped onto the lift and turned back to face the door as it began to move. I could feel the sand I'd left in Ibara Shiozaki's pocket; she was already on her way to the stage and in the process of passing by another marker that could only be Tenya, returning from his own match. I stepped off the lift around the same time as Tenya reached it, and he lifted his head in surprise.

"Congratulations on your victory, Tenya," I said.

"Thank you, Higawara," Tenya said, smiling. "Good luck with your own match."

I nodded at the comment, stepping past him, eyes on the stage beyond the tunnel. Ibara was already most of the way up the stairs now. Shota's voice washed over me as I stepped out into the sunlight, addressing the crowd.

I considered what I knew of Ibara Shiozaki as I climbed the stairs. I'd seen her Quirk in action twice now. The first time had been during the Obstacle Course when she'd used it to pull herself over the pit like a great green spider, her vines easily strong enough to manipulate her entire body weight. The second time had been during the Cavalary Battle when she'd sent multiple vines out fast enough to catch Hanta's tape mid-flight. Although she may have started attacking before he'd had a chance if she'd been attempting to predict their attempt at recovering Katsuki.

Ibara's Quirk was fast, strong, worked at significant range and was capable of multiple points of simultaneous attack. It was easily one of the most versatile Quirks still present in the Festival, and she'd clearly worked hard to develop the kind of control that I'd already witnessed. I stepped up onto the stage, leaving the stairs behind and moving to stand opposite Ibara.

"This is match eight, the last match of the first round, and we'll be taking a short break afterwards to allow everyone to recover before we move onto the second round," Shota said, clearing his voice. "Our competitors are both U.A students in the Hero Study program; Ibara Shiozaki of 1-B and Hisoka Higawara of 1-A—you may begin."

Ibara, hands linked together in front of her chest, in some attempt at prayer, lifted her head and smiled—cement shattered around her as her vines tore through it, burrowing through the material that should have been far more durable than the plant fibre. I watched as cracks branched out across the surface of the stage until they had reached every corner and then surged back inwards towards me.

Vines tore their way free of the cement, hundreds of green spears crisscrossing over one another until I was locked within a cage of thorns. I fell apart, dissolving into a million grains of sand that washed away in the breeze. I restructured myself behind her, stepping out of thin air to place my hand on her shoulder.

Sand erupted from the point of contact, coiling around her shoulders, neck and head before washing downwards over her body until she was completely trapped within a series of interlocking hands. They dragged her off the edge of the arena, tearing the vines out of the cement as they went. Vines began bursting out from within the mess, but the sand simply flowed around them, restructuring its grip until a single massive hand was all that remained, pressing her flat against the grass outside of the stage.

"Winner; Hisoka Higawara," Shota said.

I stood amongst the shattered remains of the stage, looking at all of the damage Ibara had managed to create in such a short amount of time—her strategy had clearly been to reduce the area in which I could evade before penning me up inside of the cage. It was clear that Ibara hadn't seen what I was capable of during the Obstacle Course, or else she would have known that I could slip through the gaps she'd left in the cage.

"As I said, this was the final match of this round." Shota continued, "Competitors, feel free to take a bathroom break, but make sure you are back in your assigned box within fifteen minutes."

I left the stage, using the only remaining staircase available—and for the first time since the Sports Festival had started, I realised the crowd was cheering for me.

#

"—mean, she had a good plan overall," Toru said, standing beside Tenya. "She just kind of got overwhelmed at the end—maybe she should have created one of those cannons from the Obstacle Course and blasted you."

I stepped through the doorway of the competitor's box, moving down to where the others were. Tenya, Toru and Tsuyu stood by the railing overlooking the crowd, while Shoto sat in the front row of seats, elbows planted on his knees.

"I'm certainly glad that she didn't," Tenya said, a bit alarmed at the idea. "I'm afraid I'm nowhere near as durable as one of the zero-point robots."

"Sero's tape would have worked well to slow her down," Tsuyu said, croaking. "I wonder if she knows how to create something like that."

Shoto looked up as I stepped down into the front row, taking the seat directly beside him without comment. Cementoss had already managed to fix all of the damage to the stage, and it looked just as pristine as it had at the beginning of the tournament. The stands had some obvious patches of missing people now, but they were already beginning to fill back up as the audience slowly trickled back in, returning to their seats after the break. Tsuyu glanced back over her shoulder for a moment and then did a double take as she realised I'd returned.

"Hisoka," Tsuyu said, startled. "Congratulations on beating Shiozaki."

"Thank you," I said, nodding. "I should have attempted to learn more about her before the match; she was actually far stronger than I had anticipated."

"I'm not sure what's worse, the fact that she tore the entire stage apart without taking a single step or that you beat her in under ten seconds," Toru said, turning until her back was against the railing. "I'm starting to think there's no one left in this tournament that I can actually beat under these conditions—except Sekigai, probably."

Considering that was her next opponent, it wouldn't be long before we actually found out.

"A hero must triumph under any and all conditions," Tenya said, chopping his hand down to accentuate his point. "You must push forward, regardless of the strength of the opposition."

"In the course of saving someone's life? Yes. In a voluntary tournament where there are boys out here conjuring up hurricanes and dropping icebergs on people's heads? Not so much." Toru said, bouncing the back of her shoe against the bottom of the railing. "Midoriya might be able to survive a fall after being hurled up into the air, but I've got nothing to break my fall with—I'm in for one more round, and then I'm calling it quits."

Tenya looked dismayed at her words, but before he could say anything, the monitor above the arena turned back on, and Present Mic's voice rang out.

"Welcome back to the U.A Sports Festival, the break is finally over, and we're ready to jump back into the final event for the day—the first-year one-on-one elimination tournament," Present Mic said, cheering. "We've had some intense, quick and outright insane matches so far, but it's only going to get more crazy from here on out because we're moving straight on to the second round—are you all ready?"

Evidently, they were ready, at least from what I could hear of the crowd.

"We've got four matches in this round; Match one; Inasa Yoarashi vs Shoto Todoroki. Match two; Kashiko Sekigai vs Toru Hagakure. Match three; Tsuyu Asui vs Jurota Shishida. Match four; Tenya Ida vs Hisoka Higawara." Present Mic said, listing them all off. "Alright, match one is about to start, so let's hand things back over to our commentators and kick things off."

"Shoto," I said, "Fight well."

"Right," Shoto murmured.

I watched as he vanished through the door and out of sight—the sharp intensity he'd held throughout most of the day had worn away over the course of the last hour, leaving him in a state that seemed almost empty.

"Just listen to the audience," Tsuyu said, croaking.

"The son of Endeavour vs the crowd favourite?" Toru said, turning around to lean her invisible arms against the railing. "This is about as big as it gets—makes me wonder about the other years. Do you think they had a match like this?"

"I've been hearing multiple names throughout the break; A boy called Tamaki Amajiki seems to have made a good impression, although he apparently lost the final match against a boy who was completely naked for some reason," I said, "A girl called Mawata Fuwa won the second-year tournament as well, defeating a boy from Shiketsu who could manipulate hair."

"Naked, huh?" Toru wondered. "Seems like I've got some competition."

"Tamaki Amajiki—I've heard that name at U.A before," Tenya said, touching his glasses for a moment. "I believe he's one of the third years in the Hero Studies course."

"We don't really have much interaction with the upper years," Tsuyu said, croaking. "It would be nice to meet them."

"They'll be graduating at the end of the year and becoming heroes. Once we finally graduate, they'll already be established," Toru said, humming. "Maybe we should try and build some connections with them now while we have the chance—what do you think, Class Pres?"

"I think that's a fantastic idea, Hagakure," Tenya said, chopping a hand down onto his palm. "I'll make sure to ask Aizawa about that during our next homeroom class."

"That sounds more like a question for Midnight," Tsuyu offered. "Her lessons are more closely related to building connections, and they're the only ones we've had that let us interact with other classes."

"A good point, Asui," Tenya declared. "I'll make sure to ask all of our teachers."

"Our competitors have arrived on the stage," Shota said, clearing his throat. "On the side of U.A, we have Shoto Todoroki, from class 1-A, in the Hero Studies course—Nyoko?"

"Thank you. Please welcome Inasa Yoarashi back to the stage; he is a first-year from Shiketsu, currently undertaking the Hero Studies course." Nyoko said, voice faint. "As you have all no doubt seen, he is in possession of a vast amount of potential. If both of our competitors would please ready themselves, I will start the match—please begin."

A thin layer of ice washed outwards across the stage in an instant, covering the entire thing in less than a second, and catching Inasa's feet before he could leap into the air. A column of ice spikes followed, erupting up out of the ground in a line that bisected the stage. Inasa's wind defence erupted around him, destroying the ice that was climbing up his legs before it could creep above his shoes.

The line of ice reached his previous position and then struck upwards, rising after him, but it was too slow to catch him as he ascended. Inasa held his hands above his head for a moment before slicing them downwards, and a massive spiral of visible wind distorted the air on its way towards Shoto. A jagged spire of ice burst out of the ground in front of Shoto, stretching up to meet it, shattering on contact but managing to dispel most of the wind force in the process.

Inasa held his hands up in front of him, a furious spiral of wind spinning into existence on the palm of his hand. Three tendrils of wind lanced away from it, tearing across the stage in different directions, and sending the shattered ice up into the air, carried along by the strength of it.

Shoto raised a cage of ice around himself a moment before the three streams of air pressure hit. Instead of crashing into it, the three cords of wind spun into a circle, rushing around the base of the ice at a furious speed, and within moments a massive column of air rose up around it, tearing away at the outside of the cage.

The ice regenerated, growing larger even as the wind stripped away the outer layer. Like the first time Inasa had stood in the arena, the wind began to pull at the audience, drawing in loose items as it built up a hurricane of force, this time located directly around Shoto's position.

"Geez," Toru said, the hem of her tracksuit top flapping against her invisible stomach. "These guys don't know how to hold back at all."

I studied Inasa as he floated above the stage, eyes on his clothing and the defensive field of wind he'd coated himself with. There were visible pathways to it, the wind rotating over his shoulder, down his chest, around his leg, before working its way back up the other side again. A single long loop of continuous air, strong enough to withstand and destroy Shoto's ice on contact.

The barrier of wind carried significant destructive force to it, yet his clothing remained undamaged, his skin uncut, and his breathing unhindered. The answer was obvious enough; there was a gap between his body and the defensive field. He hadn't used it during the Cavalary Battle because Kashiko had been riding on his shoulders at the time. It was likely the reason for him to keep his hair cut so close to his scalp, because anything beyond an inch or two would be caught in the field and torn apart.

"Todoroki's ice barrier is getting smaller," Tsuyu said as the wind tried to steal her words. "Is he getting overpowered? Why doesn't he attack with something larger?"

"He can't," Tenya said, one hand holding his glasses in place. "The attack he brought against Tokoyami used up far too much of his stamina, and there wasn't enough time for him to completely recover from the expenditure."

The column of spinning air was self-sustaining now; the lack of visible strain could attest to that. Inasa's smile hadn't changed at all, and if he was burning stamina to keep it in place, it was at a far slower rate than what Shoto was using to defend against it—twin lines of ice raced forward away from the cage, interlocking with one another in a triangular formation, and creating a tunnel by which Shoto could escape the hurricane.

The cage lost cohesion within seconds, and the hurricane began to tear away sections of the newly formed tunnel. Inasa moved for the first time, circling the stage and vanishing into the hurricane—a wave of air passed through the entirety of the ice tunnel, shattering it as it went, and then Shoto crashed into the far wall of the arena, ejected by the force.

"Winner; Inasa Yoarashi," Nyoko said.

The hurricane wind began to slow, and the dozens of ice chunks that were still caught in the wind began crashing down on the stage, shattering on impact with the cemetery as Inasa touched down in the centre.

"That's why I'm giving up after this round, Ida," Toru said, stepping away from the railing and heading for the door. "That guy is a monster—wish me luck."

#

"—Kashiko Sekigai placed first on the written portion of our entrance exam, but rather than sit at the top alone, she's taken to running a study group that encourages members of every class to join," Sanda said, blowing her nose. "She wants nothing more than to help her classmates reach the potential they're all capable of—"

"I can't believe that Todoroki lost," Tenya said for the third time in as many minutes. "At the rate at which things are progressing, U.A will be eliminated."

"Maybe they will start calling it the Shiketsu Sports Festival," Tsuyu suggested, "We'll have to give them the stadium, as well, I suppose."

"U.A is an institution that stands above all others; we can't just start handing over large swathes of the school to our rival academies," Tenya said, alarmed. "I will never allow such a thing."

"—at the end of the first week, Kashiko noticed that one of her classmates was having some difficulty with—" Sanda said, sniffling. "Oh, I'm so sorry, of course—please go ahead."

"U.A, Hero Studies, Toru Hagakure," Shota managed, "Fight."

Like the first time, Toru dropped her uniform onto the stage, vanishing entirely from view. Kashiko raised her arm, a bright blue array of information appearing directly above it. The monitor above the stadium zoomed in on it, but she started moving before it could get a good view of what exactly it was revealing.

"If I recall correctly, Sekigai's Quirk shows her the location of everyone around her," Tenya said, frowning. "Such an unfortunate matchup—although that too is part of being a hero, I suppose."

Just knowing her general location wasn't enough, not when both fighters were entirely reliant on unaugmented melee attacks. Kashiko couldn't afford to keep looking at her chart, not when there was an invisible opponent directly in front of her. She had no way of discerning if an incoming attack was aimed high, low, or at which part of her body they would be directed—It did give her the opportunity to try and get within grappling range, a place where Toru might not be as competent.

"Is Sekigai chasing her or running away?" Tsuyu wondered. "It's hard to—no, she's under attack; that was an evasion."

Sekigai was indeed under attack, and her defence wasn't holding up well to the invisible attacks. Her guard stayed high, prioritising guarding her head over the rest of her body—which was the exact same strategy Hitoshi had used. Unlike the previous match, there didn't seem to be any groin attacks going on, but it was clear that Sekigai was getting progressively more damaged.

It seemed to let up for a moment, and Sekigai attempted to check her Quirk—at which point her leg folded beneath her. Sekigai crashed down on the cement, barely catching herself with her hands. She fell the rest of the way down a moment later, an unseen force pressing down on her hard enough that the back of her uniform bunched up under the force. One of her arms was yanked up behind her back and pinned there. It left her trying and failing to turn over until the arm was pulled further up her back—the monitor caught her mouth moving, but the words were inaudible.

"Winner; Toru Hagakure," Shota said.

"A fantastic—" Tenya started.

"Ida," Midnight said from just outside of the competitor's box. "Your family is attempting to get in contact with you; I'm afraid I'll need you to come with me."

"My family?" Tenya said, a bit surprised. "Very well."

#