Ah, going first was bad… but also good. It maximized the amount of time one has between matches, with the slight drawback of having no time to strategize against the first opponent.
Well, that’s a drawback for those who didn’t plan ahead, anyway. Kendo Itsuka had used her quirk during the cavalry battle, increasing the size of her fists, large enough that Tenya estimated that their weight would each be as much as the rest of her body.
Even assuming that her ability to move and strike will increase on the arena, where she could exert better leverage than the shoulders of her classmates, she was still, in the end, a melee combatant. His advantages against her were too numerous to count, so it appeared that losing convincingly was just not happening.
Even if she did the smart move, and rushed Tenya the instant the fight started, it would be too obvious if he was ‘too slow’ to stop her from leveraging her strengths. Momo would see it as what it was: a coward’s move to stay out of the hero course.
Unacceptable. The instant Midnight announced the start of the fight, Tenya crouched low and placed his hand near the ground. The carving formula he created during the break activated. A vaguely rifle-shaped chunk of concrete separated from the arena, and Tenya leapt into the air holding it. Out of habit, he started to check the weapon’s sights before remembering that he didn’t have time to include them in the carving.
Still, there was a workaround. A quick laser formula ejected from the top of the barrel, creating a cheerful red dot on whatever he was pointing at, which turned out to be Kendo’s center of mass after a quick pivot in mid-air.
Kendo looked down at the red dot before moving her extra-large limbs into a defensive posture. “...You’re bluffing!” Kendo shouted at him. “That’s not a real gun!”
“It doesn’t have to be.” Tenya said back, letting a sound formula carry his voice. The barrel’s mass could carry about ten shots of concrete propelled by explosive formulas, so he fired one to prove he could. It bounced off of her enlarged hand, and it twitched from the impact. Right on target.
Present Mic decided to chime in on the event. “Kendo sure is in trouble, folks! Deguchiya has somehow invented a concrete gun, and is able to stay out of her reach without much problem. Eraserhead, your thoughts?”
“With her quirk, Big Fist, she has some excellent cover that can withstand the power of the concrete bullets. She may be hoping to exhaust her opponent with a solid defense, and wait until he runs out of them before making her move.” Eraserhead rumbled. “She might not be able to move her hands into position if she gives up the leverage from having her feet planted on the ground, so it’s a stalemate.”
Eraserhead really knew how to upsell the students, it was clear why he was chosen to become the color commentator, with that kind of dedication to his work. Still, Momo was probably wondering why he was taking so long, so alas. Tenya tuned up his reflex enhancement to improve his aim and rate of fire, targeted his homing formulas, and then fired off the rest of the concrete bullets in quick succession, forcing her to block high before scoring two hits on her right ankle.
Screaming in pain from the hit, Kendo huddled into her hands, interlacing her fingers to provide total cover. With his range advantage gone, Tenya closed in, ready to set an explosion formula off in the concrete gun, using the barrel to channel all the force in one direction.
Before Kendo had a chance to break her cover, a concrete wall separated her from Tenya’s line of sight. Midnight cracked her whip to draw attention: “I’m ruling this match in favor of Deguchiya Tenya!” The crowd roared, although it was difficult to discern whether the cheers or cries of anger were stronger. That was normal for a boy defeating a girl so decisively, though, so Tenya ignored it.
Tenya let his formulas fade, rubbing his face as the minor headache caused by ending the reflex enhancement surged and faded. Once he was able to reassert his usual cool mask, he walked out of the arena, not sparing a glance to the wall that still separated Tenya from Kendo.
Before he could make his way to 1-J’s section of the stands, Momo came out from behind a corner and grabbed his hand, gently leading him to 1-A’s section. “I had Lunch Rush set up some cake for Sato and I, and made sure he included some for you, too.”
“Ah, thank you Momo.” Tenya said as he followed her. It wasn’t terribly dignified, but Tenya always did have something of a sweet tooth. Even if eating didn’t increase his quirk’s replenishment by enough for it to matter, cake was still cake. By far, the biggest perk of attending UA, ignoring the primary purpose of education and connections, was the utterly amazing food. Lunch Rush’s desserts were good enough that Tenya had to remind himself that it was unseemly to act like a taste judge in a cooking manga.
As they entered the 1-A stands, a green-haired girl that Tenya didn’t recall seeing during the cavalry battle was in the middle of speaking: “-om for two Bakugos, ribbit.” Wait, there was that large boy who had two teammates on his back, hidden within the webbed skin that connected his six arms to each other. She must have been on that team.
Bakugo, for his part, seemed offended at the statement, his fist crackling as he started to stand up, but Kirishima, who was next to him interrupted whatever he was going to do by pointing dramatically at Tenya. “Hey, the winner’s here! How’s it going, Deguchiya?”
Momo pointed towards where a large boy was standing in vigil in front of a table, probably Sato, and Tenya started making his way over there. “I’m fine.” He said in response to the boisterous boy’s question, before adding: “She never even touched me.” Bravado was a pretty safe bet when dealing with a group of battle maniacs, right? From the enthusiastic arm pump, it was the right thing to say.
Setting his concrete rifle to the side, Tenya started digging in. Exquisite.
The match of Tokoyami versus Iida wasn't particularly interesting, in Tenya's opinion. Dark Shadow's range and speed initially allowed Tokoyami to box in the larger boy, but Iida was powerfully built and Dark Shadow was held back by the early afternoon sun, high in the sky and sapping the quirk's strength with every second.
Eventually, Dark Shadow's strength had faded enough that Iida was able to rapidly run around the perimeter, escaping the quirk's reach and attacking its master. Tokoyami wasn't even able to turn around completely before Iida's kick propelled his body into his quirk. Dark Shadow valiantly attempted to carry Tokoyami back into the ring, but its strength failed, achieving mere seconds of floating above the ground before collapsing.
The bloodthirsty crowd loved it, though. They loved it even more when Iida helped his opponent stand up in a show of sportsmanship, distracting from the gladiatory nature of the event.
When the pair returned to the 1-A section, Tenya was on his fifth slice of cake, nodding at them in acknowledgement as he picked up his sixth.
His gluttony did not go unnoticed; the invisible girl stomped over for a confrontation: "How do you eat so much? Not even Momo eats that much and her quirk is fueled by fat!" She hissed.
Tenya frowned at the blunt description. Momo always preferred to use the word 'lipids' for a reason… he silently put his hands together and pulled them apart, running an illusion formula of a banner with the mantra of all nonsense: "it's a quirk, just smile and nod"
Momo apparently felt that her classmates rated a more thorough explanation: "His quirk is somewhat like mine and Sato's, where our stomachs have changed to accommodate the needs of our quirks." well, the digestive system as a whole, really, but no one likes a nitpicker. "Sato's quirk only changes how he handles sugar, converting it into his strength boost in the short term, but also into protein optimized to increase his muscle growth." The boy in question nodded solemnly at the description, flexing a bit for emphasis.
"On the other hand, Tenya's quirk just makes all but a fraction of the food he eats vanish entirely, so eating six slices of cake is no more of an issue than eating one is for someone else of his size." The subject was a bit more complex than that, but that was an adequate summary.
Conversation paused while the class waited for Momo to provide exposition on her own quirk, but once it was clear none was forthcoming, Midoriya looked up from his furious note taking: "and your quirk let's you rapidly gain and lose weight as you eat and create objects! That's really cool, Yaoyorozu!" Personally, Tenya thought that the enhanced skin elasticity was the more impressive adaptation for her quirk, given that there wasn't much stopping Momo from walking around like Fat Gum except for vanity… which was a vital attribute if a girl wants to be popular in the pro hero business.
Kirishima looked a little confused, but smiled anyway. "That's some manly analysis skills, but..." He squinted as he looked Momo over. "...how can you tell?"
The other unknown person from 1-A, presumably the other mystery member of Team Mineta, scoffed at the red-haired boy. "How can you not notice how Yaoyorozu's boobs and ass change size a lot? It's obvious." Tenya immediately disliked the short boy with the hair quirk.
Iida took charge, standing up and immediately scolding the small boy: "Mineta!" So that would make the girl Asui. He should have guessed. "How could you say that in such a crass manner! It's rude to point out quirk side-effects in such a matter!" Iida gestured randomly while speaking, chopping the air like he was trying to play off a desire to violently assault Mineta. Tenya understood the sentiment, he kind of wanted to smack him too, but as Tenya was not a violent maniac, it was an impulse easily ignored.
The blond boy with a black streak in his hair, who was named Kaminari, nodded seriously in agreement with the Class President. "There's a reason no one points out that Ashido's breath stings like lemon juice, or that Bakugo smells like caramel."
“The match is starting, shut up!” Bakugou shouted, punching the other blond in the arm. No one commented on the immediate violence, so it was probably normal.
...going into the hero course was not an option.
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The match between Ashido, the pink-skinned girl that Kaminari mentioned, and Uraraka started as many do: with both waiting for the other to act first. Each combatant kept their distance, hesitating to get closer.
Present Mic took the opportunity to provide exposition about the matchup: “Now this one could go either way. Uraraka’s quirk is Zero Gravity, and she showed it off in the Cavalry battle. Now, what could that dancing pink girl do that competes with one of the fundamental forces?”
Ashido’s fists were beginning to shake with effort, despite her not apparently doing anything at all. Present Mic continued: “Well, what her quirk lacks in exotic oomph, she can make up with raw power! Ashido Mina, Quirk: ACID!” On cue, a Ashido released a massive wave of acid at Uraraka, hopefully toned down enough to not be dangerous.
Unfortunately, while the attack was showy… she did not pick an appropriate target. Uraraka managed to leap clear of the wave, putting her fingers together as gravity reasserted itself and allowed her to fall into a kick… which missed as Ashido leapt out of the way with a twirl. Undaunted, Uraraka rolled forward into a tackle, and the two girls grappled in the arena.
It was pretty quickly apparent that neither girl had any real idea what to do in this situation, as while Uraraka tried to use her quirk to remove her leverage, Ashido used her own quirk to cause any grip Uraraka could get to slip, preventing the contact and causing some minor smoke as the acid ate away at the concrete and their gym uniforms.
Sensing his confusion, Momo explained: “Mina can control what her acid burns… to a limited extent. Chemically it’s just citric acid with some extra proteins and sugars mixed in, thus the appearance, but her quirk changes its properties without changing the molecular makeup.” Fascinating. “It’s a blacklist system though, she can only do a limited amount of protected materials, and it only reduces the intensity, not removes it.” Tenya surmised that Ashido usually focuses on making her quirk less corrosive to people, to lower the quirk’s lethality. It did explain why she was able to damage the arena so much without melting Uraraka into soup, though.
Eventually, the fight ended when Uraraka got Ashido into a complicated hold, choking out her opponent with her thighs. Midnight called the match at that point, and the girls took a moment to gather up the remains of their gym uniforms and shoes before leaving.
Mineta exhaled a shuddering breath. “That was the best fight ever.” He declared. “If only they lost their bras…”
The boy with the massive tail swung the limb with a twist of his hips, knocking the perverted dwarf onto the ground. “That fight was painful to watch, from a technical standpoint. Either of them could have ended it in half the time if they had any practice at all in grappling.”
The boy with the tape dispensers for elbows laughed. “Well Ojiro, they made up for it with enthusiasm.” He nodded sagely. “Or vicious stubbornness, same thing. Mina’s pretty strong in the gym, though, I’m surprised Uraraka could overpower her like that.”
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Midoriya nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, I’ve been going to the gym with her, and she’s actually pretty strong, even without removing the gravity of the equipment.” After a moment, he frowned and added: “I’m starting to max out the weights they have though, so I’ll have to go to Gym Upsilon instead pretty soon.” From the student handbook, that was the one for strength-enhancing quirks, so Midoriya’s musculature wasn’t just for show, then. That was good to know.
Sero looked back towards where Uraraka and Ashido would return. “Oh wait, they’re going to miss the next fight, they’ll need to get those scrapes and burns healed by Recovery girl…”
“Next two fights.” Corrected the invisible girl. “Todoroki’s next.” Everyone else took a moment to process that, before murmuring a general agreement with the assessment.
Tenya finished the last slice of cake he was going to eat for now. Placing the plate on the stack with its eleven siblings, Tenya decided to defend the student from 1-B. “Tokage can separate her body parts and fly.” He observed. “Even if he tries to freeze her legs to the floor, she won’t be out of it.”
“You haven’t seen Todoroki let loose.” Kaminari said. “He froze a five story building in one go during class.” He swallowed thickly before looking down at the concrete circle. “That arena? It’s nothing.”
With that pronouncement, Midnight cracked her whip to signal the battle’s beginning, and the opposite side of the arena was no longer visible, as the massive glacier that Todoroki produced obscured it from view. Midnight, half-frozen herself as collateral damage, awarded Todoroki his victory, followed by the boy using his left hand to melt the ice around Tokage’s body parts.
Momo hummed as she saw the display, completely unsurprised but studying the boy intently. “...Wish me luck.” She eventually said, turning and leaving to attend her own match.
Her classmates each contributed their own encouragements, and Tenya made sure to throw in his own. “Do your best.”
------------------------
Yanagi presented a bit of a conundrum to Tenya and Momo’s planning session, as she didn’t obviously use her quirk in a way they could observe during the Cavalry battle. Momo thought it had something to do with spirits, possibly possession or astral projection, just from her name, Reiko. Tenya thought that divining quirks by their name was stupid, but parents frequently named their children according to familial quirk trends, so it was accurate more often than not. It was mostly superstition.
As such, Momo opened the battle modestly, creating a shield and baton to engage in melee, as Yanagi’s willowy limbs and awkward stance indicated that she was not a close combat type.
Yanagi did have some combat training, as she weaved out of the way of Momo’s strikes, and her quirk was revealed in short order as she telekinetically stole Momo’s baton when she shifted her grip, floating away and using a sharp gesture to throw off Momo’s balance. However, she did not leave the ground, so whatever weight limit she had, Momo with that shield was beyond it.
Momo created a second shield to deflect the baton strike Yanagi was sending, and the white-haired girl sent the baton towards the arena repeatedly, putting cracks into the concrete. With the baton ruined, Yanagi threw it out of the arena only to reveal the nature of her plan as the damaged tiles floated upward into a swarm of projectiles.
However, Momo didn’t just do nothing while Yanagi executed her plan; she pulled out a long staff with weighted ends, gripping it firmly and using spear techniques to attack the girl as she slowly accelerated the many pieces of the arena to attack Momo.
Momo formed armor around herself, tearing the gym uniform off entirely as she continued to attack, striking solid hits that brought down her opponent while looking like a Yoroi Musha cosplayer. The chunks of concrete didn’t appear to bother Momo much through the armor, and Midnight called the fight after Momo swung hard at the downed Yanagi, stopping her strike short before impact.
After Yanagi stopped her quirk’s assault (and the fact that she had to actively stop it made Midoriya’s note-taking triple in speed), Momo removed the armor in a few quick motions to reveal… another gym uniform, an excellent bit of showmanship after the dramatic tearing of her previous outfit.
Kaminari left for his own match, passing by Uraraka and Ashido as they arrived into the 1-A section of the stands. “Hey, what’d we miss?” Ashido asked after high-fiving Kaminari.
Bakugo interrupted the generic greetings by answering the question instead of spending time on pleasantries. “Icyhot and Ponytail destroyed the extras. It’s time for Dreadlocks and Discount Pikachu to fight.” Bakugo gave a savage smirk as Hatsume entered the arena to Present Mic’s announcement. “Dreadlocks is dead.”
Tenya wasn’t sure he agreed, but Tokoyami spoke up first in their mutual teammate’s defense: “You underestimate the madness that lurks underneath that bright exterior. She burns with brilliance, approaching her fires is to court death.”
Momo hummed in agreement. “Hatsume is definitely someone you can’t underestimate. However, electrical attacks should be relatively effective, her inventions still seem mostly electronic.”
Tenya remained silent, merely nodding in agreement with both of them.
------------------------
Hatsume seemed to be trying to do something strange, as she spent the time during the announcements to discuss something with Midnight, and eventually the referee called Kaminari into the discussion.
Tenya was tempted to eavesdrop, but decided against doing it in front of Momo. After a moment, Kaminari emphatically refused whatever the proposal was, and after a brief attempt to change his mind, Midnight dismissed them to go back to their spots in the arena.
Hatsume’s voice erupted from the speakers, as she postured towards the crowd, ignoring her opponent. “Welcome to Hastume Industries product demonstration! I’m sure all of you will love my babies as much as I do at the end, Support Companies, pay close attention!”
Midnight finally cracked her whip to start the match, and Kaminari, not happy with being ignored, rushed forward. Hatsume’s backpack responded, shoving an extendable pole towards the ground and shoving Hatsume out of the way of the attack.
Present Mic started the commentary: “Kaminari doesn’t waste any time, but Hatsume evades with some kind of-”
The official commentary became silenced as Hatsume once more took over the speakers. “My Hydraulic Attachment Bars automatically respond to attacks, maneuvering away from danger while the hero can focus on important matters, like civilians or looking good!” Kaminari clutched the attachment bar, electricity crackling but not extending to Hastume for some reason. “It also functions as an electrical ground!” The instant Kaminari released the bar, it shot back into the rig.
Even angrier, Kaminari growled at the girl, approaching more cautiously but insistently. Hatsume brought out a small cannon, launching a net at Kaminari. Prepared for something like that, Kaminari sidestepped it, but his arm got caught by the edge.
As the net’s anchor points suddenly ignited thrusters and wrapped around Kaminari’s arm, Hatsume continued her sales pitch: “The net gun’s magnetic mini-rockets wrap around and tightly bind whatever it snags, no matter it’s size or shape. The carbon-fiber construction is the strongest lightweight material on the market, and it resists a broad spectrum of quirks, including electrical!”
Kaminari’s temper finally snapped, as he started yelling at the support student loudly enough for her microphone to pick it up: “Do you think I’m a joke? Do you think I’m too stupid to take seriously!?” He aimed the snagged arm at Hatsume, and erupted in an electrical aura. The aura flexed, unwrapping and launching the net so quickly it was as if he turned back time.
Hastume’s support equipment wasn’t nothing, of course, so her rig engaged, but the net snagged on the bar as it retracted, wrapping around the backpack. Kaminari, dead serious, pointed his finger like a gun at the support student and flexed his quirk once more, launching a bolt of electricity at the girl. The hydraulic piston still pushed Hastume out of the way, but the lightning curved and hit the support student directly anyway.
Present Mic whooped and cheered in lieu of actually describing the event, so Eraserhead contributed his analysis instead. “While not all electrical quirks can be bent to manipulate magnetic forces, when you’re using electromagnets, most of them can turn them around on you. Kaminari’s quirk in particular can ignore normal electrical routing to an extent, so he was able to use those electromagnets that were charged with his quirk as a lightning rod, overcoming the mobility advantage and doing severe damage to her equipment.”
“While I’m sure the little inventor hoped to give her opponent some support equipment ideas, somehow I don’t think this was what she had in mind, right Eraserhead?” Present Mic chipped in.
“Indeed. But as Power Loader could tell you, Hatsume’s a tough one. Kaminari’s improvisation was impressive, but this fight isn’t over yet.” Eraserhead replied, which caused Present Mic to call for a Plus Ultra from the crowd.
The fight paused while the announcers were talking, Hatsume disengaging straps and shrugging off the nonfunctional parts of her kit, including the microphone. Once she assumed something that could charitably be called a ready stance, Kaminari ceased glaring at his opponent and attacked once more.
The fight was brutal, with Hatsume resisting several shocks of increasing intensity as she brought out one gadget after another, only to have Kaminari disable them with his existent fighting skill. Eventually, she ran out of gadgets and disengaged, shouting at Midnight while walking away.
With a whip crack, Midnight announced the result: “Hatsume Mei has surrendered! Kaminari Denki is the winner!”
The 1-A stand, previously laughing at their classmate’s plight, had gotten quiet at around the time Kaminari launched the net, and after the cheers died down, Jiro was the first to speak: “Holy shit.” There were a few dumb nods. “He actually looked cool there.”
“Oh? What did I miss?” Momo asked as she entered the 1-A section, snacking on a ramen bowl filled with fried rice.
Jiro gestured vaguely at the arena. “He did amazing! He managed to win a fight without frying his brain, where did this come from?”
“Really?” Momo asked, just as surprised as Jiro was. “I’m proud of him, he’s really putting his best foot forward.” Momo smiled with an edge of mischief. “Did you happen to give him some encouragement, Kyoka?”
As Jiro sputtered denials, Iida vigorously gestured as he stepped into the conversation. “As Class President, it’s inspiring to see my classmates perform at their best!”
Midoriya’s notebook was looking to be concerningly full as he wrote even more notes. “How powerful of an electromagnet would be needed for him to use it that way? Precision was one of Electrification’s weak points, and those magnets only looked to be the size of a thumb at most; he could have half a dozen in a wrist-mounted device. His quirk would interfere with a magnetic launcher… pneumatic?” He mumbled at a rapid pace as he wrote down his ideas.
Tenya stared at the strange behavior. “Midoriya’s a hero course student, right? Not a support student that wandered into the stand?” Momo giggled at his joke.
“He’s just like that.” Momo said simply. “He’ll be a terror once he manages to use his quirk properly.” She pointed to the cover, labeled ‘Hero Analysis Special Edition: Sports Festival Year One’ “He’s got well over a dozen others, all very detailed. You should ask to see your section later, I’m sure there’ll be something you never even considered scribbled in there.”
“Has he helped you out before?” Tenya asked, curious. He was usually the one she brainstormed with…
“He wrote up a comprehensive list of useful supplies for various rescue scenarios, and there were a few I hadn’t considered before, yes.” Momo said, vaguely waving off the weak assistance. “My quirk’s always had something of a trade-off between complexity, mass, and utility, so it’s difficult for someone else to give functional advice.” She poked Tenya’s chest. “Your quirk, in particular, can’t handle improvisation as well as most, so he’d be a good person to get some ideas from, even if he won’t be much help on implementation.”
As usual, Momo made excellent points. "With your endorsement, I'm sure he'll be a rising star." Tenya made a mental note to pass the green-haired boy a business card at the next opportunity. "I'll be sure to consult him in the event of the transfer. Nedzu encourages the management department to foster cooperation between all students of the school, after all."
"He does?" Kirishima asked, curious. "I never got that vibe from him."
"The beast plays his games with the lives and futures of hero and villain alike, laughing at their dark suffering." Added Tokoyami.
What? Mr. Principal was one of the best heroes, showing a better path forward to all mankind. "Nonsense." Tenya said to the slander. "In his first lesson to the management students, he said that an average solo hero needed five support and management staff to be able to put in twenty hours a week doing real hero work. A great manager could instead let a team of five put in twice that much time in. No one can do everything alone, not even All Might."
"Wow, the principal said that? That's manly as hell." Kirishima said, in awe of Mr. Principal's wisdom. "Are all the management classes like that?"
Tenya adjusted his glasses. "The ones Nedzu teaches are. He spends his class telling stories about real events and discussing what lessons could be learned from them." Mixed in with actual lectures and assigning sections of books he wrote to supplement the essays he assigns. "It's very Socratic." Tenya noticed the number two hero standing around three sections over. Pointing, he gave an example. "Just last week, he told us about how Endeavor founded an agency from a hero office he picked up on the cheap due to the Yakuza killing the previous occupant, bringing with him four other heroics students from his year, two support students, and three management students. Within two years the Yakuza were gone from his territory, he had made it into the top fifty, and he parlayed that into greater visibility to reach the top ten within two more years." The lesson’s subject was about location and how those management students were able to bring attention to Endeavor, the man who broke the Goda family. The best way for a hero to reach the top was to have a strategy, leaving their mark on Japan within the first few years. “It’s an inspiring example that I’d follow in a heartbeat.” While the statistics for the hero industry as a whole were pretty dismal when it came to recent graduates, the figures specifically for UA graduates was a different story. Getting in on the ground floor of an agency formed by one of them wasn’t completely without risk, but the chance of outright failure was miniscule. A more likely fate was to have some money problems and end up being bought out by a top agency, and that’s not such a bad fate for the management staff. Middle-management positions in top fifty agencies were well-compensated with good benefits, and that would be Tenya’s probable fate in the case of a buyout.
But planning for failure was a fool’s gambit, so it was Tenya’s duty to stack the deck ever further in favor of Momo’s agency, and to do that, picking a mixture of the most bloodthirsty hero course students for effectiveness and the most photogenic and personable ones to supplement Momo’s kindness, charm, and beauty. Midoriya seemed to be rather high on the former, if someone so suited to the support course is in the hero track instead. With Hatsume on support gear, although it wasn’t entirely clear yet if she could listen to client needs rather than insisting she knew best, that’s a good bare-bones start for the agency.
Yes, getting into the third event in the Sports Festival will be a tremendous boon to his management career, if the hero course students could see him as ‘one of them’ despite not being in the same course. That would position Tenya as the most trusted manager among their peers, so he’d get first pick among the talented but less ambitious members of the course. It’s all coming together… Tenya just needs to figure out how to avoid winning, as the plan of ‘try to win and lose anyway’ doesn’t seem to be working… Todoroki’s overwhelming power seems like a good choice… he had something resembling a plan to deal with him, but it was an iffy plan as is, and relied on Momo’s incomplete understanding of why he rarely used his fire except to clean up his ice. Convincingly losing against him should be easy.
Contrasting the previous fights, Aoyama and Sato’s battle was simple and short. The larger boy just used his quirk to burn the cake he ate immediately before the match, bulled through Aoyama’s Navel Laser, picked up the svelte boy, and threw him outside the arena. Aoyama’s agility and maneuvering bought him some time, but a well-timed stomp from Sato quaked the arena, which tripped the blond up enough that Sato was able to lay hands on him before his quirk ran out.
After finishing his notes, Midoriya dashed down to the competitor’s locker room, and Tenya found himself a little bored as Present Mic announced a break for commercials and repairing the ring from Sato’s stomp. Glancing at his cement ‘rifle’, he considered it. He could just make another… but Iida would probably not give him the chance. Tanya picked it up, frowning as he saw the crudeness of the details. He could already hear his mother telling him that sitting around was not a good use of his time. …He based the dimensions off of his models, maybe if he… Tenya calculated the multi-blade formula he used for whittling, one of the few hobbies Father approved of him indulging in during the boring parts of hunting trips. Tapping them against each other needlessly, he started cutting through the concrete, adding sights to the top, making the grip more ergonomic, and filling in the details once he was done with those.
When Tenya blew away the dust, it drew the attention of one of the students that was about his height, the one with six arms. The nubs that replaced fists on the extra ones stretched out, becoming eyestalks that examined Tenya’s project. “Is that… the JSDF-M21?” He asked, his masked face barely moving. At Tenya’s affirming grunt, he followed up with: “What configuration are you planning on using? It’s too short for many options, but a Tengu pattern seems appropriate for that size.”
Hm. He’s right. Tenya wasn’t the biggest fan of shotguns, as he couldn’t use his quirk well with shot, but he’s not using bullets in this as he’s run out of spare stone, so that’s no longer a concern. “I was going to make it a bullpup Mondragon, but your idea is better.” He liked marksman rifles better, but again, without bullets it’s just an aesthetic choice without any merit. “It wouldn’t have had a scope anyway. Iron sights are the only choice with this thing.” Not like Tenya’s even going to use those, the targeting laser is all he’ll need due to effectively firing overloaded blanks. After he put in the last details, his fingers moving with the precision and speed of a 3-D printer, he dismissed the formula and held out his hand to the fellow military otaku. “Deguchiya Tenya.”
“Shouji Mezo.” He replied, taking Tenya’s hand and shaking it. After taking one of the business cards Tenya offered him, he continued: “I’m pretty good at carving myself; I’ve sold a few pieces back in Fukuoka for extra money. I’ve never done military models, though. Never had a good enough reference, where did you learn how to do that? Plastic models?”
Tenya shrugged. “My father is an enthusiast.” Tenya wasn’t entirely sure how Father got authorization to maintain an emergency equipment cache and shooting range in the basement, particularly when he wasn’t even home for months on end, but it existed.
“It’s time for the final match of the first round!” Present Mic announced. “Shiozaki Ibara from 1-B shall be pitted against the mysterious Midoriya Izuku! He’s managed to make it all the way here without using his quirk even once, but if he thinks he can beat 1-B’s pious powerhouse that way, he’s got another thing coming!”
Eraserhead groaned. “Mic, I blame you for what’s about to happen.” Tenya was impressed by how much they were hyping up Midoriya’s quirk. Will it live up to the reputation? It couldn’t possibly top the show Todoroki put on with that massive glacier, could he?
“Ah, it occurs to me, Momo.” Tenya said. “We didn’t really go over strategies for Midoriya. You mentioned he would probably try to win without using his quirk?” At Momo’s nod, he continued. “What, exactly, is Midoriya’s quirk?”
The match began. Shiozaki used the vines that composed her hair to burrow into the arena, rooting herself to the ground and bringing a few back out to create a barrier against any attack Midoriya would bring to bear. Midoriya went into the center of the arena, positioning his hand to flick something right at the center of the multi-ton concrete block the matches were held on.
Instead of flicking some kind of projectile, he waited until he flicked the stage directly. Immediately, the entire stadium felt a quake, as a crater formed where there once was an arena. Not done yet, Midoriya pivoted towards his opponent in mid-air, flicking a second finger to create a massive gust of wind, launching himself towards one of the remaining chunks of concrete while Shiozaki, bereft of her anchors, instead was blown right into Cementoss’s lifeguard stand.
Momo, bless her heart, answered Tenya’s question. “Ah, it’s called ‘Superpower’. It’s a strength-enhancing quirk.”
Tenya thought, a minute ago, that someone who he had no chance of beating would be good news. He knows better, now. How did it come to this?