Tides of Change

Chapter One

Sar'ika's POV:

I stood in the walkway, waiting to make my entrance. This was going to be it; this was my moment. If I failed, then I'd be letting down myself, everyone who helped me to get here, my parents. I felt tears welling in my eyes, as their faces flashed through my mind, but blinked them away quickly.
"No, pull it together. Be strong. Eraser Head got you this chance, don't screw it up before it even begins." I thought, preparing myself for the fight ahead.
I could hear Present Mic hyping up the crowd as the awards Ceremony went on. I could hear a lot of yelling, was that a sore loser maybe?
I poked my head out and saw All Might trying to put the medal on the winner who... didn't want it? I hadn't been able to see much of the fighting beforehand, but I knew who the two finalist were, and how their quirks worked, so I was ready for either of them.
Turns out the screaming had been from the actual winner who kept going on about how he didn't want a medal he hadn't fully earned or something, until they finally muzzled him. I could feel myself holding back a giggle at this. This was who I was fighting?
"Well this will be interesting" I thought.
As the awards ceremony began to end, Mic quickly started to rehype the crowd. "That was our fantastic Sports Festival! Wonderful job to all, but before you fine listeners head out for the day, we have one last surprise in store for you!"
The crowd began murmuring among themselves, and I could see the other finalist were confused, while the angry blonde bomb just sat there stewing in anger.
"That's right folks, today we have a very special fight for you! Under special recommendations, we have a challenger coming in to take on our first-place winner, Katsuki Bakugo!"
I saw the blonde snap his head up upon hearing this, and I couldn't tell if he was mad or shocked.
"Katsuki Bakugo huh? Quirk is explosions, he uses his sweat to set them off. Well this will be a fun clash of quirks." I murmured to myself, a slight smirk crossing my face.
"That's right Ladies and Gentlemen! Making her grand debut in a special recommendations attempt to get into the Hero's Course at UA, our challenger, Sar'ika Shallon!"
Hearing my name called, I stepped out from the waiting wings, the sun hitting my face, making the blue highlights in my dark brown hair sparkle.
The crowd was silent for a moment, but all quickly began cheering. I smiled, waving shyly, my blue eyes darting around for Eraser Head. I looked up at where Mic was and saw him sitting there. We made eye contact and he simply nodded. I smirked, nodding back, I walked up to the podium of the winners.
Walking past, I congratulated each on their well fought fight until I stepped in front of Bakugo. I could almost see the steam coming off of him. I knelt down, staring into his red eyes.
"So; you're who I have to beat to get into UA huh?" I giggled softly as I continued; "Well at least it will be an interesting fight, Explosion Boy."
He screamed at me through his muzzle, which only caused me to giggle more.
"You know, you're pretty cute all tied up like that." I whispered softly.
If looks could kill, I would have died right there. I smiled a bit and walked off the platform to the other side of the arena, as the crews were fixing the arena for our fight.
All the while Mic explained how it was going to work. "Due to the nature of miss Shallon's quirk, there will be adjustments to the arena!"
I could see large tanks of water being rolled in and could tell everyone was confused. I looked around, getting a feel for my surroundings. Perfect. I could do this; I have to do this.
"Miss Shallon is fighting todays champion in an attempt to get an acceptance into UA, can she make that happen, or will she walk away in defeat? Time to find out!" Mic yelled, as the crowd began to cheer.
I could see them removing the chains around Bakugo, who immediately leapt down into the arena, scowling at me as his hands sparked violently.
"Who the hell do you think you are challenging me?!" He screamed
"I think I'm going to be the one who's going to win and get into UA!" I yelled back.
I could see he wanted to blow my head off. Good. I needed as much of a challenge as I could get, if I was going to prove myself. As I stared him down, my mind flashed back to the offer that got me here to begin with.
"You have to show them what you're capable of, if you even want a chance at getting added to my class." Aizawa said, as I laid in my hospital bed.
It was only a few weeks after the murder of my parents. About 3 months before the sports festival. Shota Aizawa was a long-time family friend, and now my god father. He had been the one to tell me of my parents' death when I woke up and had been there for me while I was recovering from the attack.
"It took a lot to convince them to give you a chance. So, you have to make it count. If you can prove yourself, win against whoever becomes champion of the sports festival, I don't think they can argue your worth in my class."
I nodded softly. That left me 3 months to fully recover and train. "I won't let you down sir!" I said, giving the best smile I could.
My mind quickly snapped back to the present as I could hear the crowd roaring in excitement.
"Sounds like it's time to get this party started!" Mic screamed. "Without further ado, BEGIN!"
Without hesitation I saw Bakugo flying towards me in a rage, ready to knock my head clean off. I waited until the last second, then rolled to the side, dodging his attack. He hit the ground, only to blast right back at me. I dodged a second time, trying to get a feel for his attack pattern before revealing my quirk.
"Stop dodging and just die already!" He screamed at me, throwing a blast directly at me.
I knew I couldn't dodge this one. I lifted my arm, reaching out towards the closest container of water, making the water inside suddenly lift up and out, to the ohs and ahs of the crowd, and I bought it over to me, forming a wall of water which absorbed his attack. I could hear the growl of anger come from his direction, as more attacks were sent my way. I used the water to absorb them and then threw the now hot water at him. He threw down a giant explosion, quickly evaporating the water.
"So that's your quirk!" He yelled, blasting towards me, closing the gap between us. I grabbed water from behind him, pulling it towards me, and right into his back, knocking him off balance and onto the ground. I wasn't about to lose.
I reached out, grabbing more water, making them into the shapes of hardened spheres and throwing them repeatedly at them.
"Shallon's quirk is Water Control and Creation! She can control any source of water near her, and give it form!" Mic called out as we fought. "Water Versus Fire, the ultimate fight!"
I smirked, throwing more spheres of water, until I saw a fiery blast get flung at me, and I quickly moved a larger sphere of water to deflect it away
"I am not losing to some asshole like you!" Was all I heard before the arena exploded around me.
The ground shook and began tearing up, as he threw down massive explosions around me. When the smoke finally cleared, I saw his intended target, the water containers. He blasted them over, spilling the water all over the arena.
"Can't use your quirk if you've got no water." He smirked, fire in his eyes.
I just smiled as he blasted forward, before grabbing the muddy water from the ground, using it to put a wall between us again. He snarled, throwing a blast to break through it, but I quickly closed the dirt mixed water around him to capture him. I had done it!
But my victory was short lived. I could hear muffled explosions from inside his cage, and the water began to almost boil, evaporating and letting him escape.
"You're dead this time!" He yelled, charging right for me.
I knew this was my last chance to either knock him out of the ring or capture him again. I took the chance I thought would best win. I reached out towards him, and without him even realizing, used his power against him.
Before I was able too though, he sent a massive explosion out at me. Right as he launched it, I managed to take control of a bit of sweat off his hands, lifting it up in front of him, letting it ignite and it blasted in his face, throwing him backwards.
I felt time slow for a moment as the blast hurdled towards me. I knew I couldn't dodge it, and if I tried to block it with water, it could end up boiling the water and backfiring on me.
So I did the only thing I could. I accepted the hit.
I felt myself get thrown backwards violently upon impact of the explosion, until I felt my back hit the far wall behind me, before I slid down falling on my stomach. I weakly pushed myself to my feet, my ears ringing from the impact. I looked around for him and saw him on the far side seething in anger as he stormed towards me.
"Well I'll be. Listeners, we have ourselves a TIE!" Mic called out to the crowds, as the dust from that last explosion finally settled down.
I stood there amongst the rubble of the wall, feeling my heart drop as I heard this. No; I couldn't have lost. I could see Bakugo walking faster, anger on his face as he stormed towards me, I could see the fury in his eyes. But then I saw his face suddenly change from anger to shock.
What I didn't know at the time was I had taken some serious burning to my arms and face from his attack, my clothes were torn and ripped, my legs shaking under me. I had taken his full force attack without fear. I don't think he expected that.
"No... it can't... be a tie..." I said softly, stumbling forward.
I saw him just staring at me, then saw him lift his hand out towards me, as my knees buckled under me, and I felt myself falling face first into the dirt. Everything became a blur after that, my mind screaming in agony. I messed everything up. I hadn't won. What was I going to do now?
I could hear voices coming towards me, Mic hyping the crowd, and oddly I could hear the screaming of Bakugo. Not odd that I could hear him screaming more, what he was saying
"Let me go assholes! Let me go over there!"
I heard people starting to talk to me, asking my name and what the date was, but everything went dark before I could respond.
When I woke up next, I was in the infirmary. Recovery Girl smiled softly at me.
"Hello dear, glad to see you are awake now. How are you feeling?"
"O-okay I guess..."
"You put up quite a fight out there. You should be proud. I was able to heal the burns you suffered, and you should only have minor injuries now that will heal in a few days." She assured me.
I nodded, sighing softly. I just didn't know what to do now that I had lost. She finally sent me on my way, and I slowly gathered my stuff and left the stadium, head hung low.
"Shallon, wait."
I turned and saw the mummy that was currently Aizawa walking towards me. I stopped quickly, turning around to face him as he walked up to me.
"I know you're feeling upset about not winning. But you did good today, and your parents would be proud. I just wanted to make sure you knew that."
I nodded a little, tears starting to sting my eyes. I was still upset about coming in at a tie.
Aizawa cleared his throat before continuing. "Now just because you did good today, doesn't mean you can slack off in class."
I stopped and looked up at him in shock. I could barely believe the words I heard. "W-what?!"
"I expect you in class on time on Monday morning. I've already sent your uniform over to your house. Don't lose or ruin it before then understand?"
I felt my heart beating in excitement and I bowed deeply. "Oh my... thank you Eraser Head, I won't let you down, thank you!"
"I know you won't. Just know you're a very special exception. That makes 21 students in my class now. There may be times you have to be alone or be an extra on a team. And you're going to be watched by the rest of the faculty. You impressed them, that's the only reason you're getting this chance. Now, get home and rest. I expect you in top form by Monday."
With that, he turned and left. I beamed the entire walk home. I actually did it. Somehow by some saving grace I had done it.
I was officially a part of the UA's Hero Course.