𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐍 𝐎𝐍 𝐌𝐄 | 𝙗.𝙠𝙖𝙩𝙨𝙪𝙠𝙞

𝙎𝙋𝙊𝙍𝙏𝙎 𝙁𝙀𝙎𝙏𝙄𝙑𝘼𝙇 𝙋𝙏.𝟮

With the final rounds coming up, there was a short lunch break between to give students a chance to rest and recharge for their matches. Everyone was practically buzzing with anticipation, and Kou was no exception.

She'd been doing well so far, if she did say so herself. Out of everyone in her class, she was number one, and only second to 1-A. Itsuka and Tetsu had congratulated her, saying she was making their class proud. Monoma had of course made a snide remark about Kou riding on the backs of those '1-A freaks', but Kendo quickly put him back into place with a firm slap to the back of the head.

Now Kou was seated at her classes table, silently eating her lunch and counting the minutes down on the clock. They'd been given their brackets earlier; she was the fifth fight against someone named Ashido. She didn't know who that was nor cared; she'd beat them either way.

"Man, why did I have to get stuck fighting that wannabe me?" Tetsu groaned, smacking his head on the table, "I'm going to look so ordinary compared to him!"

Kou couldn't help but laugh a bit. Finding someone with basically the exact same quirk as you was definitely a humbling experience- not something you needed during a sports festival. "Just beat him. Who cares if you have the same quirk? Doesn't mean you can't be stronger." she said, mouth full of one of the three different meals she had in front of her.

This was definitely the one thing Kou loved most about the school. The food: her first day here she'd almost cried when she learned a free, unlimited buffet of food would be provided everyday. And of course she took advantage of it everyday; she didn't get luxuries like this at home. She didn't care if she looked like a depraved dog, the food was just too good to pass up on.

"That's definitely something you'd say, Kou." Kendo laughed, smacking her on the back, "Not everyone can be as confident as you, you know?"

Not like Kou really had a choice. Doubting yourself only made her quirk weaker, and she couldn't afford to lose her standing right now. "I'm winning this stupid shit, and I'm getting first place. I'm showing that arrogant bastard Bakugou he's not as strong as he thinks."

"That again?" Kendo groaned, "You've been mentioning him since that day! If I didn't know you better I'd say you had a crush on him~"

Kou almost choked on her food, quickly downing her glass of water before looking at the redhead incredulously, "Are you stupid or something? Why the hell would I like him?"

She barely remembered what he looked like, only committing his words to memory as motivation to rise to the top. Actually, Kou had never even had a crush in her life. She'd been too focused on her goals and becoming stronger she didn't have time for stupid crap like love.

"Just make our class proud, Shinobu!" Tetsu said, fist clenching in determination and a smile on his face, "I'm sure you'll go far!"

"Hell yeah!" Kou joined, standing up and bumping him on the fist. She was pumped up, and with this meal and a quick nap between fights, she'd be unstoppable.

__

Kou hadn't bothered watching the other fights, choosing instead to take a nap while her classmates surrounded her. Before she knew it, she was being woken up by Kendo and dragged along to a waiting room for her fight with Ashido.

Looking at herself in one of the mirrors in the room, she could see how tired she looked. Kou barely slept as it was, but training for this tournament had been brutal. She'd maybe gotten 3 hours of sleep the night before, a mixture of anxiety and excitement keeping her awake. Her hair was a mess, and she quickly took it out of its tie to comb through it before hastily putting it in a bun.