Important note: I'll preface this by saying that this is probably much, much worse than Chapter 3.

Following on from the note that began with Chapter 8, this is a continuation of what happens with the bracket that was randomly generated.

While writing this, I realised just how much I really hate describing one versus one fights, especially with physical powers. Thinker aspects are more my thing. Writing this in one sitting probably didn't help. The writing quality and matchups are, frankly speaking, terrible, and my frustration probably shows in the writing. At this point, I'm just rushing to get this over and done with before I lose all interest. Even after attempting randomisation, it somehow devolved into the actual same fights as canon, just dreadfully more boring. Now I see why the tournament arc is where so many fics end up dying.

It's… bad. I'm going to leave this up here for a bit. I might either get motivated enough to plan and rewrite these two chapters into something that doesn't make me want to tear my hair out, continue on from here, or send this off to the graveyard. I'll see how I feel over the next few days or weeks.

Edit 17/7: Thanks everyone who left reviews and PMs regarding this chapter. I'm going to be taking a break for a week (or more) to clear my head before continuing to write on this. Hopefully it will be half-decent. Cheers!

Chapter 10: The Real World

Shinsou Hitoshi was feeling very conflicted.

He had heard the jeers of the crowd follow him since he left the stadium, of course. Some of his classmates supported him, but he didn't stay too long to note who they were. He had made it halfway back to the holding area for finalists, the shouts for his disqualification and vilification of his quirk not ceasing one bit.

Then the insects came, and Shinsou would be lying if he said he hadn't been scared shitless.

He had thought it to be some kind of attack from a disgruntled member of the audience, until he remembered that teaching assistant revealing her own quirk. Bug control, indeed. Just what kind of control did she have?

The insects flew in circles in front of him, then rearranged themselves by hovering in midair to spell out words. At the same time, he could hear Taylor Hebert attempting to mollify the crowd, temporarily bringing an end to the audience's noise.

He had no idea what was going on, but he followed. Surely things couldn't get any worse?

Through the long walk that somehow allowed him to avoid coming into contact with anyone, snaking along long paths and shortcuts toward the staff entrance of the commentator's bay, he listened as Taylor and Present Mic gave commentary to the events just minutes before. She had defended him, gave the audience time to consider just how his quirk worked. She humanised him.

It wasn't hard to figure out what she was doing. He needed to know emotions well, after all, in order to find out how best to force someone to talk. Unhinging someone's mental state was easy. Restoring it to calmness was hard.

Somehow, she was attempting it. Was she confident, delusional, naïve or something else entirely?

Finally, he found himself just outside the door. Present Mic opened it before he could even knock. The older hero came him a reassuring smile, although Shinsou could see traces of uncertainty and nerves showing on his face.

Then Taylor spoke. "But of course, who better to hear from than Shinsou Hitoshi himself?"

What?

He was so stunned that he almost missed her discreetly gesturing at a piece of paper with several lines of text written on it.

That… what?

Faking his quirk? Downplaying what he could do? Misdirecting and obscuring just how it worked? Never mind the current predicament he found himself in, how had she managed to come up with all of that? It wasn't just useful in the current situation, it would do wonders in the field if the true nature of his quirk was kept hidden. So long as people were smart enough to keep their mouth shut, he was pretty much quirkless.

How did this teaching assistant know that much? How had she even thought about all of that? How could she have known what he had experienced all his life?

"Would you like to tell us a bit about yourself and your quirk, Shinsou-san?"

How should he do this? He took a deep, calming breath in. It didn't help. "My name is Shinsou Hitoshi. My quirk…"

Once this was done, there was no turning back. He looked out into the public, facing the eyes of the vultures that had plagued him all his life. For a moment, he hesitated.

A villain's quirk. Monster. Brainwasher.

Should he lie?

The answer was obvious. Anything for the sake of his dreams. He would become a hero, even if it was based on a lie. This was it.

"My quirk works on someone emotional," he began. He read the sea of faces before him. They weren't immediately jumping to conclusions, something he never had the luxury of before. His classmates knew the truth, of course; he had disclosed it to some of them. They did not speak up.

Ideas came quickly, building upon Taylor Hebert's suggestions.

"It's why I need to rile up my opponents beforehand. People's decisions are altered by their emotions. When people feel multiple emotions at once, their choices may be vastly different. With my quirk, they make poorer decisions, and I verbalise suggestions for them to follow. These must be something emotionally driven that they have thought of, and I cannot fully suppress their primary motivating emotion if it's sufficiently powerful."

What else could he add? Misdirect and obfuscate? "For example, if someone feels overwhelming anger, I cannot suggest for him to do something based on sadness. It's a suggestion, nothing more. When in a calm state of mind, or if overwhelmingly in a single emotive state, it's completely useless. With it, I'm going to become a hero."

It was all lies, of course. Bullshit of the highest tier. He couldn't see what Present Mic or Taylor Hebert thought of it.

Good job , she wrote.

"But of course, Shinsou Hitoshi isn't a hero yet. He is a student, and one with great potential. It is why going forward, I will be working closely with him in my capacity as a teaching assistant. The other teachers will likewise be involved in his education."

That surprised the crowd. Shinsou was no different.

What?

What just happened?

"Yeah! Shinsou! Woohoo!" He recognised those voices. His classmates supported him?

She cut off the feed to her own microphone, turning around to face him. Present Mic took over.

"And there we have it, ladies and gentlemen! Please, a round of applause for our Todoroki Shouto and Shinsou Hitoshi!"

The applause was limited, mostly coming from the enthusiastic efforts of a few. Not many actually supported him. But the jeers were lessened, at least.

"Sorry about that," Taylor said, rubbing her sole hand against her eyes. "I know it was a very spur-of-the-moment decision, but we needed to keep the crowd controlled. They'll probably be less angry knowing that you'll be trained on using your quirk. Good work describing your quirk, by the way."

That wasn't the point. Hell, he could have thanked her for that. "Did you mean what you said?"

"What, about training you?" He nodded. "I guess so. Your quirk – your real quirk – has some huge limitations, but I've worked with similar ones before. It'll be annoying trying to get people to change how they view your quirk, but it can be done if you force yourself to use it in certain ways in the public eye. Trust me, I have been forced to use only butterflies before."

Present Mic stifled a giggle, still speaking into the microphone. Shinsou didn't pay attention to his words.

"What happens now?"

"Now, you go back to the holding area. Follow my bugs. I highly doubt you'll win the next fight, but it will show the crowd that your power isn't absolute. They'll think that what happened with Todoroki was a fluke. After that, we'll see how to go about this. I don't actually have anything planned."

"Man, that was intense," Present Mic turned around, facing both him and Taylor. The crowd had settled down somewhat, and Todoroki had left with Aizawa-sensei. "Good job, kid. Sorry that all of that happened. Good luck on your next match."

Still in disbelief regarding the events of the past few minutes, Shinsou wordlessly followed the bugs as they led him back to the holding area.

"You really sure about taking him as a student?" Hizashi asked.

I nodded. "He seems decent enough, and I do have experiences with Masters. His mentality is close enough to some former villains I've worked with and mentored that I should be able to get to him. Besides, in the unlikely scenario that I've been reading him wrongly, it places me in a good position to take him out."

"I really don't think the words ' take him out' should ever be applied to a student," he cautioned.

"You get my point. I'll be keeping my eye on him, keep him out of trouble. I'll need to work on Todoroki as well once Aizawa's done. Anyway, you'd better get the tournament going again. The crowd is starting to get rowdy."

He shook his head, then spoke once more. "ALRIGHT! Now that we're all ready again, let's begin the third match! We've seen Pony Tsunotori work with her team in the first two events, but how does she fare individually? We know how hard Kirishima Eijiro's fists are, and we saw how he banded together with Ojiro Mashirao and Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu in the second event! Will fist or horn prevail? CONTESTANTS, INTO THE RING!"

While the audience cheered as they made their way in, Pony's nervousness contrasting against Kirishima's excitement, Hizashi turned to face me again. "How do you think this will go? You'll be cheering for Pony-san, I'm guessing?

I shrugged. "I won't play favourites, but I think she'll win."

"Oh?" he asked, intrigued. "You think her horns can beat Kirishima's Hardening?

I shook my head. "Not about that. If she's smart, she wins."

"What do you mean?"

"Just watch," I insisted. I hoped what I told her on Friday stuck.

"Alright then," he said, doubt creeping into his voice. "Contestants, are you ready?"

Waiting just a few more seconds, he continued. "BEGIN!"

Instantly, Kirishima utilised his quirk, dashing in toward Pony. It was too late.

Pony had already generated and sent two horns flying up into the air, grabbing onto each one. She then made two more, balancing on top of them, high above Kirishima.

"HEY!" I could hear Kirishima shouting, disgruntled. "That's not fair!"

The audience were reacting similarly, pointing at Pony. Chuckles mixed with jeers. They didn't matter.

I smiled. She learned well.

"Hizashi?"

"You knew?" He sighed, before speaking for the benefit of Kirishima and the audience. "Pony-san's actions are within the rules, Kirishima-san."

"But that's –"

"Hey, Kirishima-san?" Pony began talking. He listened. "You took part in Taylor's exercise on Friday, right?"

"Yes, but how does that –"

"You know what Taylor said about my quirk?" she asked rhetorically, continuing without waiting for his response. "Don't fight a direct fight, exploit how the events work, don't fight fair, cheat if necessary, abuse the system and exploit my enemy's weaknesses. Sorry, Kirishima-san."

That sent some looks toward me. Was Pony attempting to cause me some trouble? Regardless, I was proud that she learned how to fight smart.

"That's not manly!" he shouted, jumping on the spot, trying to get as high as he could. It was nowhere near high enough, Pony was floating very high up.

"Welcome to the real world," she echoed my statements.

She sent one horn down below, prodding at Kirishima. He dodged quite skilfully, but was hit several times. Even so, it did virtually no damage.

"Hey! Cut it out!"

"Say you lose, and we can all go back."

"But –"

"I can wait up here a long time, you know." She began speaking to me in English. "Hey, Taylor! How's the weather up there?"

"What the hell have you been teaching your students?" Hizashi asked, exasperated.

"How the real world works," I said with a smile.

It took another five minutes before Kirishima saw that there was no way of getting to Pony and finally gave up. Pony flew down to the ground, looking apologetically at Kirishima.

"Sorry Kirishima-san, but I didn't have any other way to win."

He sighed, still indignant, but didn't otherwise react. With that, Pony returned to the holding area, while Kirishima moved to join his classmates at the stands.

The audience didn't react the same way they did with Todoroki and Shinsou, probably because both combatants had largely flown under the radar, not excelling in any particular aspect like Todoroki had. Sure, some of the audience obviously thought it wasn't fair, but most just shrugged and accepted the fact that bad matchups happened.

"Moving on," Hizashi said. "We've got Ojiro Mashirao up against Uraraka Ochaco, both of class 1-A! Will the aspiring martial arts hero take it with skill and technique? Or will gravity work against him in this battle? Can Uraraka continue on in the tournament for her teammates? Let us find out in this fourth match!"

The match played out entirely as I had expected. Uraraka had a potent Striker quirk, but her inexperience showed. She had moved cautiously initially, while Ojiro stood perfectly calm. Then, she lunged clumsily at Ojiro, while he simply sidestepped away and used his tail to send her flying out of the ring.

"I hate it when you're right," Hizashi groaned after pronouncing Ojiro as the victor. "We should have switched the brackets from the beginning."

"At least this way Uraraka knows to work on her technique. That form was terrible." It honestly was. I thought that I could have done a better job using what training Brian had given me in my time in the Undersiders, never mind after having continued my training in the Chicago Wards and working with Grace.

"Do you really have to be so harsh?" he winced. "She's just a student, you know."

"She's going to become a hero. All of them are. They need to learn and correct their weaknesses before they pay the price out there. Anyway, you should get a move on. The audience is getting bored."

Hizashi sighed. "At least I can spice up the next one with some commentary. Who do you favour?"

"Hard to say. Setsuna's not going to be fast enough to blitz Ibara, but Ibara can't very easily capture her either. It's either going to become a battle of attrition where the hard limits of Setsuna's quirk comes into play, or either one of them makes a mistake that causes them to lose."

"We'll see, I guess," he shrugged. "ALRIGHT! Now it's time for Tokage Setsuna up against Shiozaki Ibara! Friends and comrades from class 1-B, they've been together through blood, sweat and tears in the first two events! Now, how will they fare when facing up against each other? Will their friendship be tested? Who will advance to the next round? Tokage and Shiozaki, enter the ring!"

Setsuna stared at Ibara, standing just opposite her on the other side of the arena.

"No hard feelings, Ibara-chan?"

She shook her head. "I bear no ill-feelings toward you, regardless of the outcome of the match. It is sinful to hold a grudge."

Then, she smirked. "Of course, I'm going to win."

Right, Setsuna decided. She had to go all out for this. Ibara was going down.

She took the moment to study her opponent. How would Ibara fight? Thus far, all their training had been done with Taylor's exercises, not having been used in a proper one-to-one battle. Ibara probably wouldn't deploy her Shaker field the same way she normally did.

Should she rush her from the start? That seemed to be a decent course of action.

Ibara was staring at her with equal intensity, probably thinking up a strategy of her own. They knew each other's quirks inside-out, having been exposed to them in class. This was going to be interesting.

"BEGIN!"

With that, Setsuna separated her arms and legs, sending her torso and head up into the sky. It wouldn't do good to make too many segments yet; she would lose if she was forced to regenerate them in the event that they remained separated for too long.

Ibara's hair grew rapidly, trailing across the entire floor of the arena. She wouldn't have safe ground to land if she needed to regenerate. This had to be decided soon. She sent her detached limbs flying at Ibara, but she had somehow formed a shield comprised entirely of hair in a sphere around herself, preventing her limbs from reaching her.

Setsuna hurriedly recalled her limbs away from Ibara's body. She knew just how easily it was for objects like her limbs to be captured within those vines.

" What a stunning first assault! Shiozaki withstands Tokage's opening barrage!"

Think. What would Taylor do?

She couldn't make use of Pony's strategy, since she would eventually be forced to regenerate her limbs even if she could send her detached parts flying. How else could she exploit Ibara's weaknesses?

Ibara was already shifting her vines around, sending them into the air. Setsuna flew higher, cutting and reforming her body around vines as they reached and grabbed hold of her.

" Tokage skilfully avoids becoming entrapped by Shiozaki's quirk by using her own quirk! What else will we see next?"

Damn it, she was running out of time. Another few minutes, and she would probably be forced to land and reattach her legs. At that point, victory would be hard.

No choice, then. A full assault. Might as well make it dramatic.

She flew up high, recollecting her limbs toward herself, splitting herself into more segments. Ten parts of equal size flew in midair.

" Tokage has chosen to fly up high into the sky! Does she have a plan? Will Shiozaki be able to defend against the upcoming assault?"

Funny that Present Mic thought she had a plan. She was just as lost as Monoma probably had been when he faced the Nezu-bot.

Ibara reorganised her vines, contracting them in toward herself, wary of Setsuna's change of actions.

She thought Setsuna had a plan as well? Could she abuse that?

She allowed gravity to take hold of her, sending her parts plummeting to the ground.

" Tokage plummets toward the ground! What is she thinking?"

Ibara's vines were growing toward her falling body parts. She only had one chance at this. In mid-air, she arrested their momentum, sending them off to the side as Ibara misjudged the rate of her descent. Then, she sent the parts toward Ibara, staggering their timings and angles of approach.

She was currently working at ten segments out of a maximum of fifty. She split those ten as the vines came, attempting to rapidly split and merge between the vines. Taylor had called it akin to a Breaker state when she had demonstrated that during one of her exercises. It wasn't enough; even with her maximum of fifty segments, there were a lot of vines coming at her. Most pieces of her were captured. Some managed to reach Ibara, but far too few to cause any effect. An arm managed to nudge her and force some movement, but by then the vines were sending captured segments out of the ring.

It was over. She lost.

He had lost ?

One moment, he was staring at his opponent. Shinsou Hitoshi, someone he'd never heard of before. It didn't matter, Bakugou and Midoriya were the ones he had to beat.

The next instant, he found himself out of bounds. Present Mic declared Shinsou the victor.

How? Why?

He didn't know how long he stood there, staring at Shinsou's back as he entered the tunnel. He heard the jeers directed at his opponent, but none of it really registered. Jeers? Shinsou won . So, why?

Words came from Taylor Hebert over on the commentator's panel, but it meant nothing to him. Quirks? Misinformation? Shinsou's quirk? Suggestion?

Numbly, he followed as someone led him away. Aizawa-sensei? When did he arrive?

"Come on, Todoroki-kun. Breathe. That's good," he said calmingly, softly. Like mother used to do, before –

No. Not that. Never that again.

They entered a room. Aizawa led him to a chair.

When had he even began sitting?

"Take all the time you need, Todoroki-kun. It will all be alright."

He didn't know what to feel, didn't know what to think. All he knew was the humiliation of defeat, the loss of failing in this tournament, and the anger beginning to build up in his chest.

For a long while, Aizawa didn't talk. Shouto sat there, motionless, his mind churning as he began to analyse everything that happened before, during and after the match.

Shinsou used his quirk on him. Suggestion, he said it was. Did that mean that part of him wanted to give up?

Taylor Hebert had said that she wouldn't have done any different from Shinsou. Shinsou said that he would do anything to win. He wanted to become a hero.

It wasn't fair for Shouto to blame his opponent for how he had ended the match. Yet, why was it so difficult to accept it? Why was he feeling so angry? So sad?

"Todoroki-kun?" Aizawa asked, a hint of caution in his voice.

Startled, Todoroki turned to face him. He was looking at him with concern, his eyes reflecting the bright yellow of –

His flames.

No. Endeavour's flames.

Hurriedly, he shut it off, smothering the embers of that half of his power. How long had it been since he lost control and accidentally brought it out? Years? Since mum –

No, not that again. Damn it, why did he keep thinking back to that day?

"It's okay to feel how you're feeling, you know," Aizawa said slowly. "Take the time to process it. I know how the match ended can feel unfair. I know –"

"Not it," he found himself saying. He sniffed once, twice. His nose was running?

"Not unfair," he clarified. "Shinsou wanted to win. L- Like me."

Tears? He brushed them aside.

"Not about Shinsou. This is about you, then? You wanted to win the tournament?"

He nodded slowly. This was meant to be his chance of proving to Endeavour that he could make it on his own using only the half of his quirk that didn't come from him. He failed.

He didn't know why he was being so open. He was confused; lost, scared. Nothing made sense. He was meant to fight Midoriya or Bakugou, not fall behind to someone he'd never met before. He wasn't meant to lose control of his flames, ever .

"This… my quirk…"

He didn't know how to phrase it. Aizawa didn't know a thing about his history. How could he tell him about any of it?

"It's about Endeavour, isn't it?"

Shouto jerked, looking to face Aizawa. When had his vision turned blurry?

More importantly, how did Aizawa know ? "You know?" he said softly, barely louder than a whisper.

"I had suspicions," Aizawa said. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry. I don't know everything about your circumstances, but I can guess that your use of your half of your quirk stems from issues between the two of you. None of this is your fault."

How much could he trust Aizawa? Could he tell him everything?

Then Aizawa's phone rang. He ignored it.

Then it rang again, accompanied by insects flying in circles in front of his face.

"I'm sorry, Todoroki-kun. Just a second," he sighed, answering the phone.

It was a welcome pause. Todoroki needed time to think . Trust Aizawa, or hide the truth? What did Shinsou's quirk mean? Did part of him want to lose just so Endeavour wouldn't win? Was that how he really thought?

Aizawa shook his head. "Sorry, Todoroki-kun. That was Taylor-san. We're moving rooms."

"Why?"

"It's…" he hesitated for a bit, considering his words. "It's Endeavour. Taylor-san is tracking his movements. I don't think you want to meet him just yet, right?"

He shook his head. He didn't want to face that man now. He would berate him for not using his fire, blame him for his loss. He would enforce more training.

And he would be completely right. Fire travelled faster than ice. Shinsou had almost been hit. He lost because of his choice.

He was nothing without Endeavour. He couldn't be anything without Endeavour.

Aizawa took hold of his hand, guiding him. His feet moved on autopilot.

It was a decent attempt, but in the end Setsuna couldn't work her way through Ibara's Shaker field. Those vines were potent at capturing and deceptively strong. I was worried that their friendship could have been strained by that fight, but the way that Ibara helped Setsuna up after she'd regathered her scattered segments eased those fears. They continued chatting as they exited the ring.

Of course, I was again focused on other matters. Trying to avoid the disaster that would be Endeavour coming across Todoroki in his current state took priority over the match. It was frustrating, because Endeavour was persistent. It took a very complex set of movements before he finally gave up and Aizawa could continue his chat with Todoroki.

I'd spied on them both, of course. At least they were making decent headway now, although I needed to talk to Todoroki at some point. Possibly Endeavour as well, if I dug up enough information about him.

With Aizawa handling the matter of Todoroki, I paid attention to the tournament once more. During the time that the two talked and then relocated, several matches had passed in rapid succession.

Following Setsuna and Ibara's battle, the next two fights were decided within a matter of seconds. Funnily enough, Mina's acid caused an actual chemical reaction upon coming into contact with Tetsutetsu's steel, eating its way into just the surface of his body with the hiss of evolved hydrogen gas. Present Mic had called for an early stop to that battle, declaring Mina the victor while hurriedly sending Tetsutetsu off to Recovery Girl, an ugly erosion present on his skin. Mina had repeatedly apologised while the medical staff came and dragged him away, but Tetsutetsu remained stoic and informed her that it was 'but a scratch'.

Similarly, Yaoyorozu hadn't adapted to Tokoyami's continued assault, either ignorant of his quirk's weakness or just failing to come up with a plan in time. She'd elected to fend off his assault with generated shields rather than disabling his quirk, and was forced out of bounds within a couple of attacks by Dark Shadow.

After those two matches, the fight between Kendou and Bakugou took only a marginally longer amount of time. Itsuka was a good fighter, no doubt, but even she couldn't fend off the sheer number and force of explosions from an irate Bakugou, who had been looking to blow off some steam while watching how terribly the other fights of the first round had gone. She tried valiantly, but was knocked out of bounds by explosions, lacking any decent method of either avoiding or withstanding them.

I hadn't even made my phone call when the first round of tournament matches drew to a close.

All in all, compared to how the first two events had gone? The tournament was dreadfully boring in comparison. At least the students would learn how unfair some fights could be.

"Now, for the first match of the quarter-finals! We have Iida Tenya up against Shinsou Hitoshi! Will Iida's speed and power prevail over Shinsou's craftiness? Or will we see another upset in this tournament? Students, please enter the arena!"

Shinsou knew that he had zero shot of winning. Hell, Taylor had outright informed him of such.

Still, as he made his way into the ring, he noticed how there wasn't quite as much jeering as before. As he entered, he heard the sounds of his classmates cheering for him. As for his opponent…

He was covering his ears?

"SORRY SHINSOU-SAN!" Iida was shouting. "BUT I MUST USE YOUR QUIRK AGAINST YOU! NOW THAT I KNOW HOW IT WORKS, I CANNOT LISTEN TO YOUR SUGGESTIONS!"

Shinsou looked up at the commentator's desk. Present Mic looked equally bewildered, while Taylor Hebert's expression was unreadable.

At least Iida seemed to believe the false portrayal of how his quirk operated. As Taylor said, this fight was more to show just how vulnerable it was.

"Uh… Begin! Can Iida even hear me?" Present Mic declared, looking at Shinsou's opponent.

He didn't react at all.

He could simply continue standing there while waiting for Iida to actually do something, but this farce had gone on long enough. Shinsou knew that there was no hope of progressing past the first round of the tournament, anyway.

He took a step forward.

Instantly, Iida shot forward, landing a kick just as Shinsou processed the fact that he had begun moving.

"SHINSOU HITOSHI IS OUT OF BOUNDS! IIDA TENYA IS THE WINNER!"

Well, there was that. He shrugged, making his way out of the ring.

"Shinsou-san! I apologise for my methods, but I saw no other way of achieving victory! I hope you understand!" Iida was hurriedly stammering by his side, repeatedly bobbing his head.

…This was a Hero Course student?

"Iida-san, right? It's alright. I get it," Shinsou said, still walking out.

"No, it's not alright! It was a despicable means of achieving victory, and –"

"Just drop it," Shinsou sighed. "You won. My quirk doesn't work well once you know its function."

Despite that, Iida didn't let up at all. Shinsou was wondering if he had made a mistake not throwing his match against Todoroki.

Pony's match against Ojiro went entirely as expected. She blatantly abused the event's rules, forcing Ojiro to call the match as she'd done with Kirishima. Needless to say, the audience reacted in much the same way.

Ibara's fight against Mina was another battle of quirks. While Mina's acid managed to chew through Ibara's vines, there was a lot of plant substance to work through. In the end, Ibara simply swarmed her, Mina's constructed sphere of acid being unable to completely withstand the sheer amount of matter that had been directed toward her. She was captured and flung out of the ring within a minute of the fight starting.

The rapid rate at which the tournament was progressing was throwing the audience off guard. My bugs could sense them fidgeting about, a clear sign of their boredom. The next fight managed to alleviate that somewhat, with the clash of Tokoyami and Bakugou at least being visually and auditorily appealing. Ultimately, the lights from Bakugou's explosion were sufficient to cripple Dark Shadow's potency, forcing Tokoyami into a surrender.

"And with that, we advance to the semi-finals! Iida Tenya faces up against Pony Tsunotori! Who will win in this matchup?" Present Mic tried, but he too was clearly becoming disinterested, losing his enthusiasm for the commentary.

This time, at least some expectations were subverted, with Pony not idly waiting out for her opponent's surrender. It didn't make the fight any more enjoyable, though. Iida simply rushed at his target, significantly faster than Pony's previous opponents had been, and sent her flying out of the ring within seconds.

"Pony Tsunotori is out of bounds. Iida Tenya is the winner," Present Mic declared. Then he turned to face me. "God, this is so boring."

"Most fights are," I pointed out. "A balanced fight is a myth. In a one-on-one battle, one party almost always has an overwhelming advantage. It's the whole point of teams."

" I know that. But look at the audience," he swept a hand across the crowd. "They're completely disengaged with the tournament."

"This way, at least the students will know their limits. They're training to become heroes, not glorified pit fighters."

"Ugh. Sometimes, I don't know whether to agree with you or not. Anyway, time for the next round," he said. "Now for the next semi-final match! Shiozaki Ibara and Bakugou Katsuki, please enter the ring!"

Bakugou was beyond pissed.

After those first two events where he'd lost against the half-and-half bastard, he had been forced to settle for this ?

One by one, the fights ended within seconds to minutes. Where was his fated match against Todoroki? How was he going to prove himself as the undisputed number one in the school?

He stepped into the ring. He'd watched Vine-Hair's previous fights against the creepy lizard girl and the pink alien. She was powerful, but there was no way she could withstand his explosions. Her weaknesses were so obvious to anyone watching.

Her vines were slow. Sure, they could catch a regular person easily, but anyone who could enhance their speed using their quirks would easily cut the distance between them.

Present Mic began the match. Bakugou hands were already in position by his back, igniting the sweat that he'd collected from the sheer irritation that this tournament had caused him.

Vine-girl's hair tried to block his path, but he adjusted. Another explosion below him, sending him airborne, and then another to get to her back. All the while, his forward momentum hadn't ceased, sending him directly next to her.

The fourth explosion was launched at point-blank range, sending her flying out of the ring.

Bakugou hadn't even waited for Present Mic to call the match before he walked back to his side of the ring, waiting for the final match to begin. Maybe, just maybe , this fight would actually prove interesting.

"SHIOZAKI IBARA IS OUT OF BOUNDS! KATSUKI BAKUGOU IS THE VICTOR!"

Utterly unsatisfactory. Where was the challenge?

"Come on and hurry up, you shitty four-eyes!" he shouted.

"Umm… are you alright to continue, Bakugou-san?" Present Mic actually had the audacity to ask. Bakugou fixed him a glare.

He seemed to get the message, because he hurriedly announced the start of the next match. "AND FOR THE FINALS OF OUR TOURNAMENT! We have Iida Tenya up against Bakugou Katsuki! We've seen just how fast Iida can be in his previous matches, but this match demonstrates Bakugou's own speed and manoeuvrability! Will explosions triumph over engines? Or will Iida take it all? Which of these students from class 1-A will be crowned the victor? Iida Tenya, please enter the ring!"

Bakugou seethed as he watched Iida make his way toward the stadium. Finally. An actual challenge.

Wait. Something wasn't right.

Four-eyes was slouching. Four-eyes never slouched.

Bakugou studied him closer. He was distracted, fidgeting. Fear? Nerves?

" BEGIN!"

Bakugou rushed forward, propelling himself forward with an explosion. Four-eyes…

He didn't react.

What?

He stopped his assault, fighting the urge to let loose another explosion at point blank range.

"Oi, Four-Eyes! Pay attention!"

He raised his hand, much more slowly than he could have, releasing the tiniest of explosions. His opponent took the impact, barely moving to dodge, flying back a short distance to land unsteadily on his feet.

"Stop being distracted and FIGHT ME!"

"Bakugou-san, I –"

Something was very wrong. He wasn't being his usual annoying self, thinking himself superior to Bakugou. Hell, everything was wrong.

Bakugou didn't bother using an explosion. He just punched Iida in the chest. He took the hit.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?" Bakugou was enraged.

"Nothing, Bakugou-san," he said. His tone and posture conveyed the exact opposite.

He was going to get a good fight, whether his opponent wanted it or not. He stepped back, making a show of gathering sweat in his hands.

"Listen, you shitty class-rep. You better fight me for real."

" Iida-san! Is something the matter?" Present Mic questioned over the microphone, voice booming over the system.

"Nothing," he denied, facing Bakugou once more. Some fight had returned, but his mind was still clearly out of the fight.

Enough of this farce. Bakugou brought his hands forward, generating the largest explosion of the day. Four-eyes had to avoid it.

The engines on his legs came to life, sending himself gliding off to the side, but it was clumsy and slow. Chunks of the arena ground were ripped out from the sheer force of the explosion. Iida was caught at its very edge, tumbling out of the ring, despite almost definitely being capable of making it out in time.

This was it? THIS was the fight he'd been waiting for?

Bakugou screamed in frustration. To hell with the rules. Just about everyone had ignored them or blatantly made a mockery of the rules during this entire tournament. He moved toward Iida, preparing another explosion.

" Iida Tenya is out of bounds! Bakugou Katsuki is the victor! Contestant Bakugou, stop advancing!"

He didn't care. He charged up for yet another burst.

Then there was a strange scent. His movements felt slow.

Whaaat…

He was barely able to turn, stumbling over his own feet, as he saw Midnight rush to check on Iida.

Damn it all…

"That was a disaster," Hizashi said, running a palm over his face.

I agreed wholeheartedly. While the first two events had showcased the students' versatility and abilities in rescue work, this tournament hadn't done anything to improve the school image in the public eye.

Sure, we had salvaged the issue with Shinsou and Todoroki, but now we needed to deal with the repercussions of that internally. The students might have learned about just how unfair some matchups were in actual cape-fights, but it didn't serve to increase the public's confidence in the school. And now, with the fiasco of whatever it was going on with Iida and Bakugou, it was clear that people were questioning about just what kind of students we were teaching.

Iida's body language had changed completely since a few minutes ago when he left the holding area, apparently to answer a phone call according to some of the staff manning the area. I saw just how defeated he had become, how his movements had slowed and how he didn't seem to be completely aware of his surroundings.

I had felt it through my bugs numerous times. It was what happened when people simply shut-down during high-stake battles; Endbringer attacks, Scion's rampage, the Nine and more. In the aftermath of his defeat, Nemuri checked up on Iida and some words were exchanged before Iida rushed out of the stadium.

What the hell had happened?

The victor unconscious from Nemuri's quirk, the runner-up gone from the stadium. Third and fourth place earned by complete flukes. It was an unmitigated disaster.

"UA's reputation is going to take a huge hit. Your teaching exercise had better be able to impress the public, Taylor-san. Nezu is going to have our heads otherwise," Hizashi said bitterly, defeated.

"Yeah," I sighed. "We'd better get to that soon. I'll make my way there. Are the other teachers ready?"

"They will be. Get yourself set up, and I'll explain to your students how it will work."

With that, I began making my way to where the exercise would be held. This tournament only reminded me how different this world and mine were.

In my world, one-on-one fights were extremely uncommon outside of certain contexts. I remembered the statistics of just how long capes who went solo tended to last. Perhaps I should use this tournament as an example to highlight that fact.

I tried to give it a bit of realism by randomisation, but well… yeah. You probably noticed the extremely meta comments between Taylor and Present Mic depicting what you were very likely thinking of.

If anyone made it this far, congratulations. You're either a masochist, or just have way too much time on your hands.

As mentioned earlier, I might delete or switch up these two last chapters. I'll give it a week and see how I feel about all this with fresh eyes. Sorry for all the draggy notes in each chapter, and for wasting your time in the build-up to this mockery of both fandoms. Probably doesn't help that I'm not in the right headspace for writing either.

Edit 17/7: See edit at the top.