"That was fun." said Tobias as he lifted Kyoka from his shoulders and set her down on the ground.
"Whoa, you're really strong, Tobias." said Mina.
"Thanks. All that training really paid off I guess. Doesn't hurt that Kyoka is really small and light."
"I'm not small. I'm petite." said Kyoka.
"Right, petite."
"Good. Still, though I felt like I didn't do much."
"Are you kidding me? You were critical in keeping our points at the end there. Without you, we would've lost. But, what's up next will all be dependent on you. I hope to see you in the finals." he said with a smile.
"Hmm, you better make it to the finals. I'll be waiting for you there." she said, spirits regained.
"Attagirl. Come on, let's go eat. I'm starving." said Tobias as they made their way to the lunch hall.
While waiting for lunch, Tobias and Denki noticed there were cheerleaders in the cafeteria. Admiring them for a sec, they both looked at the group of 1-A girls and then at each other before thinking about the same thing.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" asked Tobias.
"I think so."
"You were thinking about how I forgot to add the cat balls to my transformation?"
"N-no."
"I thought so. Then you must be thinking about "asking" the girls to cheer for us in cheer uniforms."
"Yes! But wait, Jiro will have to do it too for it to work, are you okay with that?"
"I don't love the idea of others seeing her like that, but seeing her in a cheer uniform all embarrassed and shy is too tempting. Let's do it!"
~~
"Before we get to the final event, I've got good news for all those out of the running! This is still a sports festival, so we've prepared a recreational activity for all participants! We even shipped in cheerleaders from America to get you pumped up. Eh, wait, what's this? Class A?! Why?!" said Present Mic as he noticed all the Class A girls had made their way to the field in cheerleader uniforms.
"Tobias! Kaminari! You tricked us?!" yelled Kyoka while blushing.
"Hahaha! Yes, we did! I couldn't not take the opportunity presented to me!" said Tobias as he admired her.
Tobias and Denki had convinced the girls by telling them Aizawa-sensei told them all the girls have to be part of the cheer squad. Convinced, Momo made the uniforms for all the girls.
"Ah, I should've known. I knew that face you were making looked familiar. It's the one you make when you're being a troublemaker. You better run once we're done here." she said, angrily.
"Oh, come on. You look cute."
"S-shut up." she said, her anger subsiding greatly.
"Oh, who cares. There's still time before the main event. No sense in sitting around. Why not go with it?! Could be fun!" said Toru as she danced around.
"F-fine." said Kyoka, causing all the other girls to go with the flow as well.
"Ah, the spirit of youth. Hope everyone enjoys this little recreational competition! Once that's over, we're on to the final event. Between the 16 members of the four winning teams, we'll have a formal tournament! A series of one-on-one battles!" said Present Mic.
"A tournament, huh? I like it." said Tobias.
"It wasn't a tournament last year was it?" asked Kyoka.
"No, it's different every year but it's usually a head-to-head competition of some kind. Last year was foam sword fighting, I think." said Tobias.
"The matchups will be decided by drawing lots. Once that's settled, we'll move on to the festivities and then the tournament itself! It's up to each of you 16 finalists whether or not you participate in the fun. I expect some of you would rather take a breather and save your strength. Now, let's start with the first-place team." said Midnight-sensei.
"Um, excuse me." said Ojiro, raising his hand.
"Ojiro-kun."
"I'd like to drop out."
"What? Why?" asked Toru.
"This is your chance to get noticed by the pros!" said Eijiro.
"The cavalry battle, I have no memories of anything that happened up until the tail end. It's probably his quirk that did it." he said pointing at Shinso.
"I know this is a great opportunity. And I know how stupid it might seem to throw it away, but this final tournament is meant to be fought with your own strength. But, I'm standing here and I don't even know why. I can't take it." he said clenching his fist.
"You're thinking about it too hard! Just show what you're made of in the tournament!" said Toru, encouraging him.
"No, I'm talking about my pride here. I don't think it's right."
"I'd like to withdraw as well. This is a contest of skill and letting someone who didn't do anything advance, defeats the whole point of the sports festival." said the Class B student that was also part of Shinso's team.
"So manly!" said Tobias and Eijiro at the same time.
"We have a strange turn of events folks. What will the coordinator decide?" said Present Mic.
"How naive and green. I like it!" she said while swinging her whip.
"Replacing those two will be members of Team Kendo, who took sixth." said Midnight-sensei.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
"If it's going to be like that, shouldn't it be them instead? I mean, we were immobilized practically the whole time. But they were giving it their all to keep what they had until the very end. Team Tetsutetsu, I mean." said Kendo.
"Y-you guys!" cried Tetsutetsu.
"So be it. Tetsutetsu and Shiozaki bring us back up to 16 competitors! And here are the matchups!" said Midnight-sensei as the matchups appeared on the screen.
Ida versus Midoriya, Tetsutetsu versus Tokoyami, Bakugo versus Shinso, Tobias versus Sero, Denki versus Shiozaki, Todoroki versus Uraraka, Hatsume versus Kyoka, and Eijiro versus Momo.
"Interesting." said Tobias after reading the matches.
"Tobias-kun, don't go easy on me because I'm going to try my hardest." said Sero with a determined look.
"Call me Tobias, and okay. I won't go easy on you." said Tobias
"Looks like you're going to fight Bakugo in the second round." said Kyoka after Sero left.
"Eh, you don't think Sero will beat me?"
"Please. But, I'm going up against the support class girl, eh? Seems interesting."
"I believe in you. Even though you're going to fight Todoroki, I hope we see each other in the finals."
"Tch, you better believe it. If you don't make it to the finals and I do, I won't watch that movie you said."
"Deal."
"Are you going to participate in the fun?"
"Of course I am. Don't have much prep left to do anyways. I'm always prepared."
"Figures. I'm going to go shake off my nerves with the girls."
"Okay. By the way, I really like you in that outfit." he whispered to her.
"Shut up. Don't think I've forgotten about payback either." she said blushing and smiling.
"I'll take any payback you dish out as payment for seeing you like that."
"Have fun." she said turning around and joining up with the other Class A girls, but not before being stopped by Hatsume.
"Now let's set aside the tournament for the time being and get on with the thrill-a-minute festivities!" said Present Mic.
~~
After having participated in various activities for fun, Tobias was as zen as Buddha, not that he wasn't before.
"Have fun?" asked Kyoka.
"Of course. All that fun zenned me out, but now just seeing the stage is getting my blood pumping."
"You know, I've never seen you with a bigger smile than when you're about to either use a new card or fight someone. Even when you see me you don't smile like that. It makes me a little jealous you know." she said, clearly not serious.
"Eh, really? I've never noticed it before, but I promise to smile harder for you from now on. By the way, what are you wearing?"
"Hmm, oh. Hatsume asked if I wanted to use some of her support items so it would be a fair fight, so I said yes."
"That's nice."
"I know. Now, shh, Present Mic is about to talk."
"Thanks, Cementoss! Hey, guys! Are you ready?! You've been through hell to get here! But now it's time for the one-on-one tournament! You've only got yourself to rely on! Even if you're not a hero, this saying holds true! You know it! Spirit, technique, strength, wisdom, and knowledge! Use 'em all and show us your best!"
CHEER CHEER
"The first match! Making a weird face despite his excellent performance, it's Izuku Midoriya, from the hero course! Versus, a fellow classmate and a speed demon, it's Tenya Ida! The rules are simple! Win by knocking your opponent out of the ring, immobilizing them, or getting them to say "I give up"! Bring the pain! We've got our good old Recovery Girl on standby! And fight dirty if you must! "Ethics" have no meaning here!
Well, of course, going for the kill is a no-no! You'll be disqualified! Because a true hero's fists fly only when in pursuit of villains! Now let's get this thing started! Ready! Start!"
"Sorry Midoriya, but I want to win. So, I won't be going easy on you."
"Good. I expect nothing less."
Having talked enough, Ida roared his engines before speeding right at Midoriya, who braced himself for anything. Ida, having got close enough, got low and used his quirk to speed up a kick aimed right at Midoriya's legs.
Midoriya seeing this jumped over the kick but had to hastily block the next one coming from the same direction. Ida had used the momentum from the missed kick to continue into the next, hitting Midoriya.
Because of the jump dodge, the kick from Ida had enough force to make Midoriya go flying, but he was able to get his bearing quick enough to right himself in the air and land on his feet, which barely touched the edge of the ring.
"Come on. You're going to have to try better than that Midoriya." said Ida as he rushed him once more.
Midoriya seeing the same move again, knew it was unlikely for Ida to try the same move twice in a row, so he was ready for anything. As Ida got closer and was about to reach him, he decided to rush Ida, catching him by surprise.
Skirting around the dodge Ida was about to engage again before he saw that Midoriya had his finger cocked and he realized where he was standing.
BOOM
"Out! Oh, it seems that the final rush by Midoriya was a trick to switch places with Ida before using the overwhelming force created by his quirk to knock him out of bounds! An impressive showing by the two Class A students! But Midoriya moves on to the next round! A round of applause for both of our contestants everybody!" said Present Mic.
"Interesting. If Ida wasn't so hasty, the match might be closer. But Midoriya would have won in the end anyways." said Tobias.
"Well, with that quirk of his, I don't doubt it. But Ida might have had a better chance of winning if he stalled out the fight. After all, Midoriya not being able to control his quirk is a fatal flaw."
"True, but Ida would never do that. He has too much honor."
~~
"The wait is over! Moving on to the second round! There they are the last-minute entrant of Class B Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu of the Hero Course versus the silent and stoic Fumikage Tokoyami of Class A of the Hero Course! An interesting match ahead of us, I'm sure! Ready! Start!"
"Now let me show you that Class B is better than Class A!" said Tetsutetsu, to which Tokoyami said nothing but ready his Dark Shadow.
Tetsutetsu seeing this got a little angry and activated his quirk, turning his body into steel.
"Hey, similar to Eijiro's." said Tobias.
"But steel. Wonder who's more durable." said Kyoka.
"Almost seems like a shame we won't get to see the both of them duke it out until one loses."
Back in the fight, Tetsutetsu, now covered in steel, was rushing Tokoyami to engage in close combat. Unfortunately for him, Tokoyami was dodging all his attacks while biding his time to counterattack.
As Tokoyami was dodging, he lost his footing and Tetsutetsu took the opportunity to go for a haymaker. But, it seems Tokoyami was only trying to bait him in to create an opening.
Seeing him left wide open, Tokoyami used his Dark Shadow to create a giant claw that swiped Tetsutetsu with enough force to push him out of bounds.
"Yet another out of bounds! Class A's Tokoyami is the winner of the second round! One powerful and well-timed swipe was all that was needed to knock Tetsutetsu out of bounds, and make Tokyami move forward to the next round! Let's give a round of applause for both of them!"
"Sigh, another out-of-bounds win. I want to see a knockout."
"Doubtful we'll see one today. Even though it's a fight, it's not the same when all you need to win is knock someone out of bounds."
"That's true. Hopefully, we see some more impressive fights in the second matches."
~~
The other fights after that went as one might expect. Bakugo versus Shinso started off with Shinso successfully mind-controlling Bakugo, who managed to snap out of it using his rage before blowing Shinso out of the ring. Still, Shinso was able to make people notice his quirk and he was happy in the end.
Tobias versus Sero also started off well for Sero with him managing to tape up Tobias' arms to stop him from using his cards and therefore his quirk. But, neither Sero nor anyone else knew that Tobias had already managed to create permanent stat increases and had been slowly but surely increasing them over the last two weeks. Unfortunately, he couldn't increase it too fast because it caused intense pain, insane stamina cost, and exhaustion. But, thanks to the increase he did have for himself he was able to get a hold of Sero's tape and pull it hard enough to throw him out of bounds.
Denki versus Shiozaki ended with Shiozaki swiftly defeating Denki due to her proficiency with her quirk. Todoroki versus Uraraka was the fastest match by far because as soon as the fight started, Todoroki froze almost half the stadium, incapacitating Uraraka. Tobias seeing this had a big smile on his face.
Harume versus Kyoka was the funniest of the matches because the gear that she let Kyoka borrow was all part of her plan to market her products to those watching. She controlled the gear and didn't allow Kyoka to do anything until the match time was about to run out, where she promptly left the ring and lost. After the match, she apologized to Kyoka who was a little peeved off but forgave her in the end, while she got mad at Tobias who was laughing throughout the entirety of the match.
Eijiro versus Momo ended with Momo's victory because she was able to stay away from Eijiro and slowly wither him down.
"The first round is now over! After a few exciting, and one funny, match..."
"Hey!"
"...the first round is now over! We'll move on to the second after a quick break!" said Present Mic.