vessel of time › todoroki shoto

Chapter 15: End

Striding, I made my way to our battle grounds. I stood waiting in front of the door that would open once the hosts have announced my name in front of thousands of other people. Arata would be opposite of me at the other entrance. I could barely think of anything else. I was fearful. "And the time warper, (Y/N)!" The door opened, streaks of light rays started to penetrate my eyes, I squinted for awhile before adjusting to the brightness. Stood in front of me were the audience, and Arata. I walked out, trying to get used to my surroundings, but I couldn't. All I wanted to do right now was to crush Arata. As much as I can. "The battle begins in 3... 2... 1!"

The beginning of our fight was a bit anticlimactic. None of us reacted, we just stood rooted to the ground.

"Who is going to strike first?" The host started narrating. I felt a bit disappointed that we couldn't wear our hero costumes for the battle tournaments especially since I had redesigned it. Sighing, I took my penknife out. Upon seeing that I had pushed the blades out, the audience gaped. "Is (Y/N) going to strike first?"

I continued watching Arata who still had his eyepatch on, he stood still, eyeing my every action. I'm going to make a deep cut and take my own sweet time dragging Arata out and beyond the lines surrounding us, once I do that, I'll win. With lightning speed, i shoved the blade deep into my wrist and dragged it down my forearm, earning many gasps from the audiences and the hosts themselves. Blood gushed out profusely, but that didn't matter to me. I shut my eyes and focussed, making sure I don't freeze time for the hosts and the audience so they can watch my every move. Even Arata seemed shocked.

I felt time yielding to me immediately, the audience gasped even more as they saw the clock stop ticking and the sudden silence. As I opened my eyes, I smirked. This is my opportunity. My wound was starting to sting, but I loved it. I sprinted towards Arata. "It seems like she had stopped the time for her opponent and is now rushing towards him!" The host exclaimed. I felt every single eye on me. I got closer and closer towards him and finally, I could do it.

However, as soon as my hands made contact with him, time started to resume. I knew because his expression suddenly changed and he started to snicker. Why did this happen?! I made sure I bled enough to use my quirk longer! I made sure I was a hundred percent focused. "Oh my, the time has continued ticking!"

Arata had tackled me down onto the ground. Recalling what I had learnt during my training with Shoto, I knew what to do. He didn't make sure my legs were trapped, in fact, I could still move them freely. Instinctively, I raised my knee up swiftly, giving him a strong hit right in his crotch. He winced and I took that chance to shove him off of me. However, he recovered quickly. I saw him dashing towards me again, raising his fist up. He was going to punch me. I dodged, instead, I felt impact hitting the side of my body, he tricked me. I clutched my side, that was a powerful kick. "I'm not going to get fooled by you now," he taunted. Groaning, I gripped my blade tighter and slit my already injured arm. I still have my dominant arm left unscathed. I closed my eyes as I moved backwards, trying to create distance between us and opened my eyes again. This time, I have decided to rewind everything.

"Whoa! Look at the clock! It's going backwards!" The host commented and immediately, everyone in the audience turned to take a glimpse at the clock, looking amazed. I rewinded back to the time where he tricked me, this time, I knew it would be a kick. I resumed time right there just as he had raised his arm, not knowing that I already knew what he was going to do. I pretended to dodge his 'punch' but as soon as I saw him raising his leg, I grabbed it, pushed it so he lost his balance and did a roundhouse kick directly to his head. He fell hard onto the ground with a loud thud, many people in the audience started clapping. Blood started to flow down his head.

"That was a nice kick, (Y/N)," I mumbled to myself. He got up again though, looking undefeated. All of a sudden, he sprinted towards me with speed that I've never seen from him before, I moved backwards quickly but his speed was unmatchable. Just as when I thought he was going to hit me, he ran past me. Confused, I turned to look at him. And at that moment, I stared at him, wide eyed as he held my penknife, showing it to me as an evil grin tugged at his lips.