Chapter Text
Ayame pulled Yuuta to his feet before throwing up a force field in front of them. As the glossy purple sheet materialized Katsumi slid to a halt with Kenta tripping slightly at the sudden deceleration. Fire trailed up one of Katsumi’s arms and she growled while eyeing down Yuuta. “Just hand over your flags!”
“Wh- No?” Yuuta pushed his elbow into his partner’s arm and then signaled for her to cover her ears. The force field dropped while Ayame clapped her hands tightly over her ears. Once the field was down the fiery alpha charged.
After a breath Yuuta started whistling softly, eyes shifting to red as his quirk flipped on. He hoped none of the other students running through the area could hear him. Katsumi’s arm went out and she let out a roar of frustration. Before she could try to attack without her quirk Ayame had already created another ball for them to run in. The female alpha beat her fists against the solid purple ball, barring her teeth and snarling, leaving Kenta to try and calm her down so they could continue to participate in the round.
Yuuta’s heart was racing as he mentally started counting the seconds left. They started to job in tandum to get the ball rolling. If they could just avoid anyone grabbing their flags they’d make it into the next round easily. They ran around the edges of the area, watching as teams clashed in the center. Kenta had lost a flag but was clutching onto four he and Katsumi had taken. While waiting for time to run down Yuuta noticed the peach haired girl again. She was paired with another student from 1-B and they had also grabbed a few flags. He hoped that in the next round he’d get to see more of her quirk in action.
Before he could think too hard about her the timer ran out and the buzzer sounded. They slowed their jog to a stop and Ayame let down the bubble. “You did great.” Yuuta commented while watching the board for the rankings. She just nodded, too out of breath to form a full sentence. With five flags in their possession, they made it through to the final round. Ayame threw her hands up in celebration before falling to the ground and laughing. “I’m so worn out! I need a nap before I go through the tournament.”
“That’s for sure.” Yuuta muttered as he watched Katsumi confidently leave the stadium to get ready. She and Kenta had won the round overall due to her aggressive behavior.
In the stands, Ground Zero typed a memo to himself on his phone. Red Riot peaked at the screen and let out a surprised whistle. “So you’re gonna try to get fire girl and easer mouth for internships?”
“Tsk, yeah? Katsumi is a perfect fit for my agency. I wouldn’t mind having her as a sidekick once she graduates. She needs to learn to get along with Yamada though. Until she gets over herself she’s not going to be able to really improve.” Katsuki finished typing his memo and looked to his mate to see a knowing smirk. “What?” He asked putting his phone away. Eijiro chuckled and crossed his arms. “Sounds like you’re gonna impart some learned world wisdom on those two is all.”
In the holding rooms, the students who made it into the final round rested and prepared for their matches. The rooms are separated by class, leaving Yuuta alone in the large space. The rest of his class had been eliminated and all went to watch in the stands. He didn’t really expect any of them to want to make it this far. Most who join the business class do so because they want to. They strive to work in that line of work. Maybe he would be fine if he just stayed in this course and tried his best.
He sipped a cup of honey tea hoping to keep his throat as healthy as possible. There was no way he was getting out of the next round without having to work his quirk to its max. Losing his voice would be embarrassing. He wondered who he’d be up against first, trying to come up with strategic ways to get his opponents out of bounds. He didn’t get too deep in thought when the door slid open and the gravelly voice of Ground Zero called for his attention.
“Yamada, listen up, I want to wish you the best. Kick some ass and make those pros look at you.” The older man had a serious fire behind his eyes that only hyped Yuuta up more. “Yes sir!” He said slamming the empty cup down and standing up. With a satisfied grin Ground Zero held his fist out and Yuuta immediately remembered his UA acceptance tape. A tidal wave of disappointment flooded his chest before he realized this was a different kind of reassurance. He pressed his smaller fist in and had to aggressively will back tears. Now was not the time to cry, maybe later, but not now.
The students received their first matchups. Yuuta would be in the third pairing against someone from 1-B. Katsumi would be in the first match, and part of him wanted to go watch. The other part knew that she was going to win the same way as always, with overwhelming force. Even through the solid concrete walls, he could hear muffled cheers from the audience. He tried to drown them out and focus.
Katsumi had ended her match in a little over two minutes, utterly decimating her opponent. Several pros looked to be on the edge of their seats after watching her flashy quirk and technical skill. She confidently walked off of the field as the scorch marks were hosed away. As she entered the halls under the audience she met Kenta who was waiting for his call to walk in.
“Good job.” He said with a smile. She scoffed and rolled her eyes. Not even pausing her stride she smacked his shoulder. Maybe this was her way of saying good luck.
The second match would be Kenta against another 1-A student. Yuuta decided to find his way to where his class was sitting to watch. The view was pretty great, giving him great sightlines to see Kenta’s serious face. It was clearly just him trying to look cool and it probably worked on everyone but the one person who actually knew him. Yuuta looked at the other student. He had four muscular arms and large hands. There was no need to guess what his quirk was.
The buzzer sounded and the multi-armed boy rushed for Kenta. For a second it looked like the match would be over quickly when Kenta used his sharp canines to bite into his forearm. Blood dribbled quickly down his arm and started eerily moving towards the opponent. The blood hit the concrete and made its way under the large boy's feet, slipping him and causing him to fall face first. He had managed to catch himself with one hand, but still skinned two elbows. The small amount of visible blood was all that was needed.
The boy contorted, all four arms locking behind his back. His legs thrashed for a moment before becoming straight and still. A loud growl left his lips before his jaw and tongue locked. Kenta took a few steps forward and squatted down in front of his opponent and smiled. “Sorry dude. I know you’d be happier tossing me around but I kinda need to keep as much of my blood in me as possible right now. No hard feelings though, right?”
Yuuta was impressed. He crossed his arms and took in the cheers from the audience.
“What a creepy quirk.”
A voice nearby tugged on his ear. “I hate blood quirks. They’re like something out of a horror movie.” Two of his classmates talked to each other, it wasn’t an uncommon opinion they shared, but it hurt to hear. Even if it wasn’t him they were talking about. He admired Kenta’s ability greatly. The stigma against blood quirks probably would never go away, but with Vlad King and Kenta being great heroes maybe someday that would change.
“You’re up next right?” A girl asked Yuuta while pointing at the large display showing his face and the face of the girl with peach colored hair that managed to get through the forcefield in the last event. Her student picture showed her face clearly. She looked more familiar than she should for someone he hardly got a good look at. Her bright pink eyes and soft expression reminded him of someone.
“Shouldn’t you like, be heading down there?” His classmate said startling him and sparking a small panicked yelp as he started running back to the underground halls to get to the entry point.
The sun felt good against his face while he walked onto the field. He tried not to look up at the announcer's booth. Even though he wouldn’t be able to clearly see his parents he wanted the brief reassurance. He could almost feel how anxious his papa was, or maybe that was his own anxiety swirling around his stomach.
The girl across the arena from him bounced lightly in place, readying herself for when the match starts. ‘She broke through the forcefield without it popping or affecting her. Maybe she can warp through things? Won’t really help her here… but that also means my quirk is useless too.’
The buzzer rang out and neither of them moved. Both taking a second to see who would take that first step. Yuuta took and deep breath and whistled, his eyes flashing red while his legs pushed him forward and into the center of the area. He stopped whistling and sighed as his opponent had yet to move. He debated running directly into her when the girl started to run at him instead. Her entire body phased completely through him and left him with a cold and unsettling feeling. He turned around to face her and she stuck her tongue out as her fist made contact with his face.
Aiuchi Shizu! Class 1-B! Quirk, Phantom! Her whole body can become impermeable and move through solid objects! Even people!
Yuuta could feel the cartilage of his nose bending with her fist. The pain spreading through his face wasn’t one he was familiar with and the thought occurred to him that she may have just broken his nose. She pulled back and grabbed the front of his gym shirt. She looked to be readying herself to throw him when he firmly planted himself and grabbed her arm, catching her off guard and tossing her sideways and away from him.
Blood dripped from his nose while she steadied herself after being so haphazardly tossed. “Stronger than you look!” She remarked in a bubbly voice. “You too.” Yuuta huffed and wiped his face, trying not to look at the red smear on his hand. His voice sounded off like he was stuffed up. His nose was definitely damaged if not totally broken.
“We’re a bad match huh?” She continues to bounce as she talks, inching closer to him with each tiny hop.
Kenta gripped onto the railing while he watched from the stands. Sweat building up with each moment. He didn’t take his eyes off Yuuta, who was trying to dodge oncoming hits as well as avoid her going through him again. “Come on Yuu…” Katsumi crosses her arms and huffed. “I hate to say it, but he’s going to beat her.”
“Hah?” Kenta turned his head towards the irritated voice. She rolled her eyes and gestured toward Yuuta. “He’s got stamina. If he can keep jumping around like that she’ll start getting tired.”
Yuuta watched for any sign of exhaustion on Aiuchi’s face. She had worked up quite a sweat and had started to breathe harder with each failed hit. He needed to have conviction if he was going to end up winning. No matter how tired his legs felt and how numb his nose had become as long as he could stay standing he would find his chance.
Aiuchi jumped forward, clearly attempting to phase through him again. Yuuta flexed his throat and whistled. The poor girl didn’t even notice her quirk had failed to activate. Before she could correct her trajectory Yuuta grabbed her arms and pivoted, throwing her cleanly out of bounds. The buzzer sounded immediately and the crowd cheered. “Yamada Yuuta will advance!” His papa’s voice rang out over the speakers.
It didn’t feel real.
On wobbly legs, he turned to look at the pro hero section. Several heroes were writing things down while Ground Zero sat with a large almost scary grin, his hands firmly on his knees making it look like he was resisting the urge to stand up and cheer.
Yuuta was lead out and into a room to be healed. His nose was checked and despite some mild swelling, any damage had been fixed by the quirks. He was left to wait, able to hear some of the next matches going on above him. He closed his eyes and let the adrenaline subside, or he tried to.
Kenta kicked in the door and cheering. The white haired teen threw the memory of his friend being hurt aside and tackled him, knocking both of them to the ground “You did it! Dude, you looked so cool out there! The pros were watching you and everything!” Kenta landed on top of Yuuta and hugged him tightly. “Seriously dude, even if you didn’t make it past the next round I bet you’ll have some of those pros asking you to their agency. If they don’t move you to the hero class I swear-“
The excited rambling was interrupted by a warm kiss. Once it ended Kenta was left with his mouth open and face red. Yuuta wiggled out from under him and started nervously stretching. “I’m sorry I just really… uh… wanted to do that.” The apology hardly had time to breathe when a hard knock came at the door. “Yamada! The second round is starting! You’re in the first match up!”
Kenta hopped to his feet and gave the other boy a firm grip on the shoulder. “You got this. Go out there and really show them what you got.” The two walked out of the room and the 2nd year who had called Yuuta out looked surprised. “Oh! Sekijiro, you’re up as well! Good luck”
The two tensed up while the student walked away. They’d be fighting each other in this round. This was going to be different from the many times they’d sparred together.