[UP FOR ADOPTION] Nozomu (A My Hero Academia fanfic)

Chapter 18: U.A Sports Festival- 1st Round

“After such an exhilarating Cavalry Battle, We will now reveal the winners: In first place we have… TEAM SHINSO!!!”

Thunderous applause erupted from throughout the stands at this reveal. Yet another win for the student that was quickly becoming a fan-favourite among the audience; Shinso had won two events, and with one more left, this could be the first student to ever win 1st placement in all three rounds! The thought itself sparked intrigue and support for this rising star. The initial excitement kindled by the son of Endeavour being in this competition had long been forgotten.

This result was met by a far more polarised reaction from a certain member of Class 1-A: Bakugo was not happy. “I had the damn bastard in my grasp, what the hell happened!” He exclaimed, triggering similar levels of confusion (though nowhere near as vengeful) in the students of other teams. How exactly did Shinso avoid the torrent of fury that was Bakugo’s final gambit? Why was he unable to successfully steal their headband despite being mere inches from each other?

Midnight quelled them temporarily before simply stating "To explain our decision, here’s a slowed down snippet from the last 3 seconds of the Cavalry Battle:"

The gigantic screen on each end of the stadium immediately flickered to life, showing Bakugo aggressively reaching for Shinso’s 10 million-point headband, touching it even. But then something utmost peculiar happened; his eyes glazed over for only a moment, his facial features noticeably calming followed by his hand faltering. It looked like he’d been affected by some external force.

‘A Quirk perhaps?’ most of the crowd wondered. But what kind of quirk did that? Did anyone even have such a power? These and many other questions filled the minds of the observants, however they were just as quickly answered upon glancing to the left of the screen. Something was different now. Indeed, for Shino’s eyes glowed a vivid lavender, not a major change, but distinct nonetheless. It was he who slowed Bakugo’s approach, albeit slightly, that won his team the match.

“Only revealing your quirk when necessary to maximise its effect, it takes some genius and a lot of patience to pull that off.” Eraserhead complimented. This took a few of his own students by surprise; if there was one thing he never did as a teacher nor commentator, it was giving praise to someone.

This, coupled with his earlier broadcast of what he believed to be a sign of supposed ‘weakness,’ enraged Bakugo even further. Unfortunately for the blonde Pomeranian, if he were to do anything now, it could risk his disqualification and cause the inevitable public humiliation that followed. He would deal with ‘him’ later. He’s got a tournament to win.

"With that misunderstanding out the way, the Team that scored second place is Team Todoroki! Next is Team Bakugo in third place and lastly it's Team Tetsutetsu in fourth place!" Present Mic declared, pausing for the imminent cheers from the crowd. "Now we move on to the part you've all been waiting for: The Battle Tournament!!! Who will come out on top in this all out fight between students? Stay tuned to find out!!!"

Another break commenced, far shorter than the one in between the first two events, for this merely gave time for those participating to get ready and for those who didn’t to vent their likely frustrations. Shinso himself was in one of the many prep rooms that were located beneath the stands, already forming a secure battle-plan that was adaptable no matter who his opponent could be. Yet one person troubled him slightly. 

No, not the son of Endeavour everyone else appeared to be fretting over, rather it was a brunette girl that frequently glanced at him throughout the time when the results for the Cavalry battle was announced. And unlike those of her teammates, her gaze was that of curiosity and… Recognition? Where could she have recognised him? He hadn't even met the girl before yet here she was seeming to know who he was. Maybe she knew Zomu-Sensei and Shinso’s fighting style reminded her of him? Even if that were true, how could she know Zomu-Sensei? Not many knew of his alter ego, heck, Shinso only knew a few days prior.

'Who is she?'

His trail of thought was once again interrupted, this time by a tannoy calling him and an 'Ochaco Uraraka' to the stadium for the first battle. Interesting, seems fate wanted him to find out sooner than he imagined.

"A rising star who's placed first in the past two events! From General Studies it's Hitoshi Shinso!" Present Mic announced with anticipation.

"Versus- A girl with a floaty attitude with just as floaty a quirk! From the Hero Course it's Ochaco Uraraka!" 

"BEGIN!"

On cue, both opponents rushed at each other. Immediately Uraraka was met by a flurry of attacks from Shinso, nearly surprised by their ferocity. Reacting to this, she hastily blocked with her arms, nullifying their impact, but still pushing her slightly toward the boundary. He then proceeded to flip and swerve out of her way when she attempted to counterattack. Shinso didn’t even know her quirk, but he did know well enough to keep his distance unless on the offensive. This continuous strategy appeared to be working out for him, slowly wearing her down yet not yielding in his assault.

Uraraka was desperate; she couldn't last much longer against his barrage, anymore time just meant less time she had left to fight back before collapsing. Yet, she noticed how familiar his movements were. He had to know Izuku, he must do. No-one had this level of precision in their attacks without not using as much as their quirk to help them. She was confused as to why he hadn't used his quirk to win, it was as if he wanted a fair fight rather than to win for the sake of winning.

"You know Izuku, don't you?" She muttered. This only confirmed Shinso's suspicions, but who is she? "Yeah, what about it?!" He responded, slightly out of breath himself from his previous attacks. "And you know what he is?" She questioned. Now this girl was getting on his nerves. How did she find out?

"What are you implying-" "You know exactly what I'm implying," she cut him off. Taking advantage of him losing focus, she attempts to tackle him, only for Shinso to intercept her, grabbing her by the wrists, swinging her before throwing her toward the boundary. A triumphant thud echoes the stadium as she slams into the concrete floor.

"Tell him… I'm sorry..." she tiredly spoke before drifting into unconsciousness.

"Shinso advances to the second round!" Midnight, the umpire for the tournament, announced to the crowd, invoking cheers and applause from them.

'Sorry? For what?' Shinso pondered. He noted to question Zomu-Sensei about it later.

Returning to the prep room, he went back to brainstorming for the next round, occasionally glancing to the display to his left as so to keep tabs on the following matches.

Unsurprisingly, Todoroki won his match and to be honest, Shinso felt sorry for whoever poor soul went against him. It didn't even last a minute due to the guy being encased in ice! Typical of the son of Endeavour.

The next match was somehow just as brutal, with one of the degenerates from earlier being promptly wrapped in the opponent's vine quirk after wasting his all-out attack. "I couldn't have done it better myself," Shinso commented.

The proceeding ones were mildly forgettable to the purple haired student. One was essentially a ten minute long commercial ending in a forfeit from the advertiser whom he recognized as Hatsume. Secondly, a fight between an acid quirk user and this student who could fire lasers from his chest. Could have been interesting, until you realise the laser blasts caused extreme stomach ache.

Then there was another where Yaoyorozu (At least, he thinks that was her name) used her creation quirk to create torches, disabling the creature of darkness known as Dark Shadow, and taking out Tokoyami in the process. This was followed by a mirror match of quirks inevitably ending in a draw (settled by an arm wrestling contest of all things). Finally there was Bakugou against this 'Shoda' fellow which only proved Bakugou's skill and lust for total destruction, obviously winning.

Before he knew it, his second battle had come around. And who was Shinso going to face? Why, it is Shoto Todoroki.