Thank You

"A celebrity since his middle school days, with a face only a mother could love. It's Katsuki Bakugo of the Hero Course!" Walking out with a scowl, Bakugo then heads into the ring, the crowds roaring.

"Versus. My personal pick! Ochaco Uraraka, also of the Hero Course!" She held a serious and determined look on her face, also heading into the ring as I looked at the battle in front of me, awaiting to unfold.

"Do your best Ochaco, Katsuki..."

The sound of the starting horn rang through the loudness of the arena, almost instantly dd Uraraka go low and charge towards Bakugo, leaving no time to hesitate.

Everyone in the class sat at the edge of their seats, myself just looking on with a calm demeanor as Bakugo sends an explosive right hook towards Uraraka, large clouds of smoke blocking most of my vision from the battle.

"Whoa, harsh!!-" A few Pro Heroes from the crowd exclaimed, their faces twisted in discomfort and obvious bias as more yell out. "-Going all out against a girl..." 

Watching as the smoke from the explosion does not diminish, Bakugo turns his back on it, trying to sense where his opponent is as a sudden movement comes from the smoke screen. 

Hurriedly slamming his hand down onto the movement, what I spot is just a jacket, the owner of it nowhere near him until said person appears behind him, hands stretched out to touch him.

"She threw her jacket and sent it floating, all on the fly!" Present Mic commented, a ghost of a small grin appearing on my lips as I see how she had planned out the strategy to trick Bakugo.

'It's an effective strategy to use on an easy predictable opponent, but Bakugo isn't just some easy one-track guy...' Almost instantly, my thoughts were proven correct as the ash blonde throws another explosion behind him, his instincts fast as he spots Uraraka at his back.

And the same routine continues on, Uraraka relentlessly charging into battle while Bakugo sends her back with an explosion much larger than the last. The crowds start to simmer down, their whispers filled with discomfort upon the spectacle of the battle, as my class tries to look away.

"She keeps charging relentlessly, but this..." Present Mic is left without words to describe the horror of the battle, the chatter of the crowds clear to my ears as I eye twitches with annoyance.

"Hey, shouldn't you stop this match? This is getting painful..." One of the Pro Heroes by the front says, another one of Bakugo's explosions going off not long after as a particular Hero rises from his seat, yelling his discomfort -and total bias towards the strength of females- as the rest join him.

"Hey!! That's not the way someone who wants to be a Hero acts! If you're so much stronger than her, just throw her out of the ring and finish it!" Hearing his sudden protest of accusation, I get up from my seat, scanning the crowd of Heroes before spotting the man, my eyes hardening in a glare towards his head as he continues to boo.

"Hey! You there! Are you even a Hero?!" I yelled, not caring for the eyes of my classmates or the sudden attention onto me as I glare at him.

"Why not stop being so bias about genders and actually use that brain for once, huh?! Aren't Heroes supposed to have a much more open-minded brain? What's all that about having an equal world?! You're supposed to watch out for every angle at where your opponent may attack you from, so why don't you follow that example and look in front of you!" I exclaimed, drawing more attention from the nearby benches of spectators the Hero visibly flinches from my gaze.

"H-Hey, Ku-Kurayami... Calm down a little, yeah...?" Sero and Kaminari try to pull me back to my seat, but with my own strength, I push off their hands and stand tall in a defiant stance, facing the so called 'Hero'.

"It seems Kurayami is trying to defend female rights! But in this battle, I honestly agree with him...- Ack! An elbow...!" Present Mic was pushed away from the microphone in front of him, Aizawa taking it as he speaks into the thing.

"Is the one who said he's toying with her a Pro? How many years of active duty?" Aizawa questioned, ignoring the yelp of his partner in the booth as he looks out the window, glancing down at me briefly before looking back towards the Pro Hero.

"If that's what your taking away from this, then you can leave, no point in watching. Go home and start looking for Job-Hunting Sites." This silences the whole arena, everyone being shocked about his sudden statement as I continue to glare at the man.

"She's come this far and he knows her strengths. His caution shows that he recognises her as a worthy opponent. It's exactly because he wants to win so badly, that there's no room for carelessness or holding back." With that, Aizawa sits back into his seat without another word, myself scoffing once more before looking down at the battlefield, seeing the dark expression on Bakugo's face.

Uraraka then stands by her position, not charging forward which confuses Bakugo as she has the tips of her fingers touch, making Bakugo look up in shock, seeing the pieces of rubble falling down on him.

"It's a meteor storm!" The rocks then fell down to Earth, falling fast towards Bakugo who stood in the middle of it all, his left hand raising up as he lights up the biggest explosion of the battle.

"The winner was already determined from the start, but I wouldn't say that Ochaco didn't work her hardest to tilt the scale just slightly." Smiling sympathetically, I watch the the full-scale attack was exploded into nothing, small pebbles falling around the battle arena.

The force of the explosion was great, sending gusts of wind throughout the whole place as my hair was sent back, blown wildly as I remained in my position, looking at the two below.

Watching the two, Uraraka tries to move forward once more, until she started to sway and fall to the ground, her expression pained with defeat as she tried to crawl and get back up. Midnight then walks over to her, watching her futile attempts before officially ending the battle.

Drones came along with a stretcher, bringing Uraraka to the infirmary as Bakugo walks the other way, Present Mic announcing the end of the first round as the break started.

Sighing, I slump in my seat, already tired out from just the battles as I heard footsteps approaching our class booth, looking over to see Bakugo.

"No, really. Nice job blowing that frail little girl." Kaminari spoke, earning a 'Shut the hell up!' from Bakugo as he sat at the seat next to me, huffing while crossing his arms.

"Not like me, I held back against mine." I turned to Kaminari, an unconvinced eyebrow raised as I glanced at him.

"'Held back'? Denki, you shot a full discharge at me. How's that holding back?" I stated, making him blush in embarrassment as he looked away, Sero chuckling at him.

"Hey, Bakugo. Great job out there." I smiled, turning my attention towards the ash blonde as he glances at me, huffs and turns away.

"Shut up, don't you have a battle to prepare for?" He grumbled, myself giggling as I looked at the arena in front of me, a distant look in my eyes.

"You're still a Tsundere, Katsuki." I said absentmindedly, turning back towards him as he looks at me, his mouth slightly open.

"Why are you hiding?" He suddenly asked, causing me to blink as my smile remained, looking at him as I spoke.

"I'm not planning to." 

-x- TICK -x- 

"Both of these competitors have won top marks in this festival so far! But there's only room for one of these greats in the ring! It's Midoriya versus Todoroki!" Almost instantly as the match starts, Todoroki sends a wall of ice hurdling towards Midoriya, who uses his finger and deflects the attack.

This continues on most of the battle, Todoroki sending large ice attacks as Midoriya breaks his fingers in trying to destroy the incoming walls.

Chatter from Kirishima's return starts next to me, saying how he was going up against Bakugo next while the latter responds with a 'I'll kill you' bluntly, making Kirishima say something that caught my attention. 

"But man, you and Todoroki. You can fire as many of those crazy-strong attacks as you want." Bakugo then glanced at the redhead, his mouth opening as he said something. "As many as we want? Don't be an idiot."

"Strain your muscles, and you'll tear them. Run too much, and you'll be out of breath. Quirks are still physical abilities, even this guy's gotta have some sort of limit." Lifting up his left arm, he stares at it, myself looking at him silently while he was deep in thought.

"Everyone's giving it their all. To win, to achieve their goals, to make it to the top! And you're gonna win with half of your power?! I still haven't put a scratch on you! Even Kurayami's trying her best, she doesn't have a powerful Quirk like you! But she's made it this far with her strengths!" Hearing Midoriya's yell, I look down at them, seeing how bruised and battered both his arms were, and Todoroki who had his right side covered in frost, his arm visibly shivering.

"He's slowed down! Maybe because of the frost covering his body. That's different than my power's limit... Kinda like magic points in a video game... The scale of the attack against soy-sauce face was probably the most he could muster..." Hearing low muttering from my side, I turn towards Bakugo who was too concentrated to even notice my gaze.

"You're acting like Izuku, Katsu-kun. You're muttering." I mentioned, him stopping as he snapped his head towards my direction, a pink tint on his cheeks as he clicked his tongue.

"Shut the hell up, and stop calling me that!" He yelled, making me giggle as I look back at the battle below.

The battle below, was becoming more and more dangerous, myself looking closely at Todoroki as I watch his attacks get slower and slower, his eyes desperate until Midoriya shouted something.

"Your power... Is your own!" At that moment, I caught a glimpse of Todoroki's face, my heart breaking at his expression as I stare down at him with concern.

His eyes were wide, wavering with tears glossing over them, his mouth was closed but was shaking as though whimpering. Suddenly, flames engulfed his left side, licking up to the sky as the heat gradually came closer to our booth.

"Shoto! So you've finally accepted it, yes excellent! It all starts now for you, with my blood pumping through your veins, you will surpass me! You will fulfill my ambitions!" Hearing the sudden shout, I look over to see Endeavour with an evil-looking grin, his eyes crazed and wide as his flames grew larger.

"Shoto!" I yelled, trying to catch the attention of the said male below as he turned his head to me slightly, making eye contact.

"Give it all you've got! I'm gonna see you soon in the finals! You promised me that you'd win!" I shouted, cupping my hands around my mouth to project my voice to him, pulling a wide grin afterwards as I look at him.

His eyes stared at me for quite a while, his flames still simmering by his left as we just stared at each other. That is, until he broke into a small chuckle, the slightest curve on his lips making me feel proud. 

Nodding his head, he lifted his left hand up, showing a thumbs-up towards me then lowering it, returning to his fight, his aura filled with a newfound determination as the two of them began to charge at one another.

As the two ran at full speed, even with all the loud cheers and yells, it seemed as though everything was muted and dulled out, the words that came from Todoroki's mouth seeming to be clear as day as he muttered them.

"Thank you, Shiro."

《THE CLOCK STRIKES TEN》 

======To Be Continued======
Man, we're already at Chapter Eighteen! But I'll be returning to the normal updating schedule soon!

And are you guys interested in a Dabi Fanfiction? I've got one in mind and I think I might write it out.

-Kuno HikaYashi
9th July 2018 (Unedited)