Chapter 15: Round 2!
Round 2!
Mirko let out a light groan, "Look, just...just make the first move. If that bird-head makes the first move it's almost guaranteed you'll lose. And use the environment to your advantage!" she scolded, "You have that whole area to move around, so use it when fighting. Stand strong, don't retreat so much, the moment your opponent has their foot in front of you they will use it to shove you to the ground. You need to be aggressive, make it so they can't even think, only then do you have a chance."
Kaine nodded in understanding, "I think I get it. I just have to attack first, and attack often. Thanks." he smiled. He nervously rubbed his arm and gulped, "Thank you again. Not just for not ratting me out, but for getting me some shoes too. It was...really nice." he smiled, "I thought that maybe you were a hardass, but you're actually a big 'ol sweetheart underneath that gruff personality, huh?"
Mirko's eyes widened slightly in surprise before she frowned and punched Kaine in the shoulder...hard. "Yeah, well, don't get used to it, jackass!" Kaine rubbed his shoulder in pain as he started walking away and Mirko stood back and folded her arms, "Cheeky brat."
Kaine walked back up to his seating area where he was greeted by Setsuna, "Hey, did I miss anything?" he asked.
Setsuna frowned and shrugged, "Well...in the tiebreaker against Kirishima, Tetsutetsu lost the arm wrestling contest. So now just you and Shiozaki remain in the tournament." Kaine clicked his tongue and snapped. Setsuna looked down at Kaine's feet and nodded, "Smart move, getting a backup pair of shoes. Who would have thought you'd need 'em, huh?" she laughed. Kaine just rubbed his head nervously and laughed before taking his seat. Next was an important match to him, Midoriya versus Todoroki. To him, the outcome of this match would determine whether or not he had a shot at winning. He needed Midoriya to win.
"And now for the start of the second round folks!" Present Mic announced, the crowd starting to get restless, "Here we have ourselves two top-class students! And this stage ain't big enough for the two of them! Get ready, it's time for Izuku Midoriya versus Shoto Todoroki!" Kaine gulped as he watched the two face each other. If he was right, and Midoriya really did have a super strong quirk, this was going to be one hell of a match.
The two were quick to start the fight as Todoroki made the first move. He pointed his hand forward and shot out a large blast of ice that moved across the ground straight towards Midoriya. However, to Kaine's surprise, Midoriya countered! The green haired teen held his hand up, his finger cocked back by his thumb before flicking and sending out a tremendous shockwave across the arena. Not only had he blasted the ice away, he actually blasted it back towards Todoroki and made some of it go into the crowd. "Holy shit! What a counter attack!" Kaine cheered with a smile. As Kaine focused, he saw Midoriya holding his right hand and saw his middle finger was purple, like it had broke. "Oh no. I don't think he knows how to hold back. He'll literally destroy his body if this keeps up."
"Wow! He totally smashed Todoroki's attack to bits before it could even land!" Present Mic said in astonishment, "Only one attack from either side, but already, that much power on display. This is gonna be one hell of a match!"
Right away, Todoroki sent the same attack, likely trying to freeze Midoriya in place like he had Sero. However, Midoriya wasn't having any of it as he flicked his index finger this time, and again sent the ice flying back towards Todoroki. "He destroyed it again!" Kaine gulped as he saw Midoriya's index finger was now purple and broken like his middle finger. I see. Kaine thought with a nod, Midoriya's power is so great that he breaks his body every time he has to exert himself. It's very possible he's been hiding this quirk his whole life because he didn't want to break himself every time he did something strenuous...or perhaps it was to protect him from being bullied for having a quirk that broke your body. Kaine frowned and shook his leg as he started thinking, Wouldn't that be worse? Quirkless people get made fun of a lot these days, they are basically treated as second class citizens half the time.
Unfortunately, Todoroki continued his assault by sending another attack like the two others he sent before. Midoriya was able to counter, but again, he broke his fingers each time he did so. Now Midoriya was out a hand and he still hadn't laid a finger on Todoroki. However, from a different point of view one could say they are on equal footing. Todoroki hasn't laid a scratch on Midoriya either, all the wounds are self inflicted. "Todoroki is closing in and not even flinching at Midoriya's power!" Kaine bit his lip as he watched Todoroki's advance. Eventually he made an ice wall to blind Midoriya before jumping over it. Midoriya was quick enough to use his other hand to flick and destroy the ice while Todoroki was on it, which caused the student to get off balance and fall down.
Todoroki was able to catch his footing in mid-air and landed in front of the green haired student, sending a barrage of ice towards Midoriya by using his foot. Midoriya clenched his teeth and sent his fist forward and destroyed all the ice, causing a slight fog to form in the area. The force was enough to knock Todoroki backward, but he saved himself with a wall of ice. Unfortunately, it didn't look like Todoroki took any damage from the attack. As the dust settled, Kaine could see Midoriya used his entire left arm for that attack and it was completely purple.
The strange thing was, the two weren't attacking each other now. There seemed to be a stand still. Both Todoroki and Midoriya were just standing, facing each other, and talking. Whatever it was seemed to have Todoroki distracted as he kept looking into the crowd at a specific area. Suddenly, ice shot out from Todoroki's foot and moved forward to attack Midoriya. "And Todoroki is continues his overwhelming offense! It looks like the ice will make for a finishing blow!"
"Where are you looking!" Kaine heard Midoriya shout out. Suddenly, Midoriya used his right hand to destroy the ice once again. Kaine gulped as he saw the fingers on Midoriya's right hand no longer purple, but instead nearly black. Once again, the two were face-to-face, talking, and Midoriya had gained a serious expression. Kaine didn't know what the green haired teen was saying, but he looked determined, passionate about his message, and extremely serious. "So get over here and fight me!" Midoriya shouted out as he clenched his broken fingers into a fist. Kaine gave a slight fist pump, regardless of the outcome he knew that Midoriya gave it his all, and that made him a hero in Kaine's eyes.
Something snapped in Todoroki and he charged forward to attack Midoriya head on. Midoriya, surprisingly, was able to catch Todoroki off guard and sent a punch to his gut. When the attack landed, Todoroki keeled over and was launched across the ground before coming to a stop. Midoriya had landed the first official blow to the icy teen, but at the expense of breaking his already broken right hand even more. "Oh! Talk about a bitter blow to a brittle body! I bet you all felt that one!" Todoroki tried his best to continue with the fight, sending ice towards Midoriya, the green haired teen resorting to using his teeth to cock his already broken fingers back to send his forceful attack forward.
Kaine couldn't believe it, despite his broken hands, Midoriya was still giving it his all, probably breaking his hands beyond repair. Once again, the two were talking. Midoriya was yelling something at Todoroki, but Kaine couldn't quite make it out what it was. Suddenly, the crowd was made silent as the left side of Todoroki's body caught fire. "What's this!?" Present Mic asked.
Wait, so he has fire and ice? Why hasn't he been using his quirk to the fullest? Kaine thought with a frown. "SHOTO!" Kaine and many others jumped in surprise at the shouting voice of Endeavor. Despite being on the first deck almost on the other side of the stadium, Kaine heard the man as if he was standing next to him. "You've finally accepted yourself? GOOD! This is your true beginning! You who holds my blood in you to surpass me, and realize my ambition as your own!" Kaine frowned at what Endeavor said, He makes it sound like Todoroki doesn't want to use the fire in his quirk.
"Folks, Mr. Endeavor with a very sudden...pep talk?" Present Mic mentioned with a confused tone. "Seems like a very doting parent."
Once more, the two students geared up for an attack, and something told Kaine this was the last attack for the match. Both had gained a very serious expression, Todoroki's fire was becoming more and more intense and Midoriya's arm was glowing one last time. If he breaks his bones whenever he uses his quirk...Midoriya may very well have permanent damage. He may never be able to use his arm again. "Isn't...Isn't this too much?" Kaine asked. His classmates looked at him and saw his concerned expression.
The students charged, Todoroki cocking his fire hand back, and Midoriya cocking his hand back for a punch. To the teachers' credit, they seemed to be trying to stop the fight. Midnight had broken her suit to try and use her quirk and Cementoss had created several stone walls in front of the students as they sent their attacks. There was an explosion of brute force and fire, dust covered the entire stadium and nobody could see what was going on, whether the fight was over or still going. Kaine waved his hand in the air and coughed as he inhaled some of the dust.
"Geez, Aizawa! What the hell is up with your class?" Present Mic asked.
"It seems that Todoroki added heat to the air which he rapidly cooled. This made the air expand and essentially created an explosion." Aizawa explained.
"So that's how he did it! Amazing! I can't even see a thing!"
The dust finally cleared and it was clear to see that Midoriya was out of bounds, his body leaning against one of the stadium walls. "Izuku Midoriya is out of bounds!" Midnight declared, "Therefore, Todoroki advances onto the third round!" The crowd cheered for the conclusion, but Kaine was left feeling a little upset. He was really hoping Midoriya would make it, but what made him more upset were the people bad mouthing Midoriya, acting as if he was an idiot for calling out Todoroki the way that he did. But Kaine knew, he understood what Midoriya was doing, it was more than just win or lose, it was about pride. Pride for him, and pride that Todoroki needs to have for himself. But more than that, Kaine believed Midoriya just wanted Todoroki to take the fight seriously. If Midoriya had won and Todoroki hadn't been using his full potential, what was even the point? That's what the people didn't understand and it frustrated him. Kaine looked down and saw Todoroki leave the arena on his own two feet, but Midoriya had to be carried off to Recover Girl.
"Due to damages, we are gonna take a little bit of time to fix the arena, so hang around folks the next match will start within the hour." Present Mic announced.
In a booth at the top of the stadium sat the young and eccentric billionaire, Tony Stark III. Next to him, of course, was the reporter lady from before the festival started. "Tony, sweety, did you see that!" the reporter exclaimed, "Those boys were amazing! All that power between the two of them, they may go far in their hero careers."
Tony let out a chuckle as he poured more champagne for the lady and himself, "Madame, I may not be a hero myself, but I respect the hell out of them. And I can tell you that as long as that green haired boy keeps breaking his bones when he fights and Endeavor's kid refuses to use his quirk to the fullest, neither of them will make it far in anything hero related." he handed the woman a drink.
Stark didn't really want to be here today, actually he wanted today to be the grand opening of his new Stark Industries building in the middle of town, but because of the festival he knew he'd get little to no coverage. Plus, since he was one of the key funders of the event it seemed appropriate that he showed up. So far, the only valuable information he gained was that the green haired teen who broke his bones he used his quirk was likely the one who destroyed his giant robot. Aside from that, he wasn't really that interested in students, he was much more interested when they make their debut as actual heroes. He still prides himself for having Stars and Stripe's rookie card signed. Stark was an incredibly avid, incredibly rich, hero fanatic and collector.
"Now, we have some time before the next match starts. Why don't we have ourselves a little fun?" Tony said with a smile as he and the reporter clinked their glasses together.
Back with the students, many of Class B, especially Tetsutetsu, were doing their best to hype up Shiozaki. Setsuna was massaging the vine haired teen's shoulders with her hands which were detached as she tried giving Shiozaki a pep talk, face-to-face. "Listen, that tall mobile engine has nothing on you. He has speed, but you have strength and range. If he wants to get to you he has to get up close and personal, but you don't want any of that, you're better than him!" she shouted out, "So when the match starts you need to grow your vines out and and slap them all around the arena so he has no chance to move!"
Shiozaki gulped, her nerves seemingly starting to get to her. Kendo sighed and pulled Setsuna away, "Look, just go out there and do your best okay?"
"Will the next challengers please make your way towards the arena! We're all ready for you now!" Present Mic called out.
Shiozaki took a deep breath and nodded before standing up and walking to the arena. "Good luck, Shiozaki!" Tetsutetsu yelled out, "We believe in you!"
"Break his leg!" Setsuna called out as she reattached her hands, "In fact, break both his legs!"
The students watched as the two fighters stood face-to-face with each other in the arena. The crowd was going wild once again as they got to see another Class A versus Class B bout. The last match Shiozaki was in lasted only a few seconds and was in her favor...Iida's match lasted what felt like hours and he still felt like he lost. So hopefully there would be a middle ground. "Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready for another amazing match between Class A and Class B!?" The crowd cheered in response to Present Mic, "I thought so! On one side, we have the flower of Class B, Ibara Shiozaki. But be careful, because this flower definitely has her thorns! And on the other side, we have the local speedster, Tenya Iida!"
Kaine took a deep breath, he had faith in Shiozaki...but they didn't get a good look at Iida, so he could fool them with some sort of special technique. "I hope you're ready fighters, BECAUSE THE SECOND ROUND STARTS NOW!" Immediately as soon as the bell rang to start the match, Shiozaki placed her hands together and started to grow the vines from the back of her head. However, before she knew it she had been moved and pushed out of bounds. Or...Iida just uses his speed to push her out at the start of the match. Kaine thought as he smacked his face, What an obvious strategy. I can't believe we didn't think of it.
"Shiozaki is out of bounds! Tenya Iida moves onto the third round!" Midnight announced.
"WOW! Talk about a quick match!" Present Mic called out, "I blinked and Iida was already gone. Guess that's what you get from a speedster." There was a collective groan from Class B as they saw Shiozaki slowly walk off the field with her head held down.
Kaine felt a hand grip his shoulder and he jumped in surprise. He turned around to see Kendo who looked at him before quickly averting her eyes, "You're uh...you're up next." Kaine gulped and nodded. His nerves were getting to him, mostly thinking about what Mirko told him. As he got up to leave Kendo gripped his wrist and nodded, "Good luck."
"Right." Kaine smirked, "Sounds like I'm having pheasant for dinner!" Kendo cocked her eyebrow in confusion, "Um...be-because he looks like a bird." Silence was his response, "Right. I'm gonna...go...now."
Mirko sat in her seat and tapped her feet quickly in anticipation. Yes, yes, YES! Finally, we had some actual action! That second fight sucked ass, but next is the kid!She beamed brightly as she took a long sip from her drink, Don't let me down now, brat. Show me what you're made of!
Kaine stepped out onto the arena stage for the second time that day. This time his nerves were dying out and all that was left was anticipation. The crowds cheers echoing through Kaine's ears as he stepped onto the stage as he and Tokoyami faced each other. "That's right folks! This may be our last Class A versus Class B bout of the day! Let's hope it's one to remember, yeah!?" Present Mic laughed, "In one corner, we have the artful dodger, potential punchout artist: Kaine Yoshida! And in the other corner, we have the dangerous duo: Fumikage Tokoyami!"
"I look forward to our bout." Tokoyami said with a bow, "You showed promise against Ashido. I hope you show the same ferocity towards me."
"Likewise." Kaine nodded. The two shook hands before backing away from each other.
"Alright kids, I hope you're ready. 'CAUSE IT'S TIME TO RUMBLE!" Present Mic yelled. The bell rang and Kaine, following Mirko's advice, was the first to charge. He must have surprised Tokoyami with his speed because the teen jumped back before using his quirk, Dark Shadow. The shadow stand shot from Tokoyami's chest and flew forward before punching Kaine across the chin, making the spider teen fall and roll along ths ground.
Kaine was quick to get up and was able to jump left to avoid getting slammed by Dark Shadow. "Hey, hey! Why you running away? War of attrition isn't gonna work against me buddy!" Kaine cocked an eyebrow in confusion, "What? Never seen a shadow talk before? Geez, talk about insensitive." Pushing the talking stand aside, Kaine now had to come up with a strategy. Attack early, attack often has already hit a snag. Suppose if I take down the body guard, the body is just a glass cannon. But that's only a theory. "Better watch out!" Dark Shadow tried to flank Kaine from the left, but Kaine reacted immediately and sent a ferocious right hook to Dark Shadow's left cheek, both surprising the stand and slamming it down onto the arena and causing a crater.
The crowd roared at the counter attack Kaine sent helping his adrenaline to spike. "WOAH! Yoshida showing us he won't back fown from Tokoyami's Dark Shadow! This is an all-new, all-different Kaine Yoshida we're seeing this round!"
After Dark Shadow was knocked to the ground, Kaine immediately bolted towards Tokoyami, hoping to land the first blow against his actual opponent. "Grit 'yer beak, Tokoyami!" Kaine shouted as he cocked his fist back. Right as he sent his punch forward he was blindsided by Dark Shadow and was sent rolling along the arena.
"OOOH! And Dark Shadow has some words to have with Yoshida after their last exchange, I guess he didn't like what the tall teen had to say to him." Present Mic laughed.
"Eeeeeh, guy's a little stronger than he looks Tokoyami. What's the plan of attack?" Dark Shadow asked.
"Keep him at a distance. Keep him distracted. We'll win by wearing him out if we have to." Tokoyami suggested.
"You're the boss!" Dark Shadow gave a salute before flying full speed towards Kaine once again. "What was that you said? Oh yeah! GRIT 'YER TEETH!" Dark Shadow sent a punch for Kaine's face, but the teen pushed the stand's fist out of the way, allowing him to counter with a gut jab. "You think gut shots will work against me?" Dark Shadow asked as he wrapped his...body(?) around Kaine's torso, locking his arms to his side. "If you want to win, you'll have to get through me. And believe me. NOTHING gets through me!" Dark Shadow began punch Kaine in the face over and over again as he had the teen tied up. Then he proceeded to slam Kaine on the ground several times before unraveling the teen and sending him flying across the arena.
Kaine rolled to a stop just before the out of bounds line and spit out some blood. That quirk doesn't mess around. It's practically indestructible, and to think it's this strong at mid-day when the sun is at its highest, and supposedly gets stronger the darker it gets. Kaine got up and immediately had to roll away to avoid getting grabbed by Dark Shadow. 'Jack of All Trades, Master of Each' would be an apt description for Tokoyami and Dark Shadow. "What's the matter, Yoshida? You seemed so confident earlier, what happened?" Dark Shadow taunted. As the stand got closer to Kaine the teen sent another massive hook that knocked Dark Shadow into the ground and created a crater. Gotta be quick!
Kaine bolted towards Tokoyami again. Gotta get an attack on him. Throw him, something to throw his plan off balance. Tokoyami tensed as Kaine got closer, the moment Kaine threw a punch, Tokoyami dodged it. Oh...he's a little evasive. I thought he'd be a push over. Kaine threw another punch and missed again, however, this time he reached out and gripped the collar to Tokoyami's tracksuit and got ready to throw the bird teen. However, as Kaine was lifting the teen up, he was again blind sided by Dark Shadow. "You know," Dark Shadow started as it wrapped its body around Kaine, "You're a bit of a pain. And we've decided to finish this sooner rather than later!" Dark Shadow used its body to throw Kaine, but this time he was in the air, well outside the out of bounds section.
"It was a hard fought battle, but looks like that's the match folks!" Present Mic announced.
"LIKE HELL IT IS!" Kaine shouted. The teen twisted his body in the air to correct himself before aiming his right hand into the air towards a side panel on the upper decks of the stadium. Time seemed to slow for the teen as he took a deep breath, blinked once, and squeezed down his middle and ring fingers, firing out a webline and attaching it the side panel. Time sped up again as Kaine saved himself from flying into the crowd and instead began swinging around the stadium.
"WAIT, WHAT'S THIS!? IS THIS EVEN LEGAL?" Present Mic asked.
Midnight tapped her chin and smiled, "Young Yoshida hasn't technically touched out of bounds, so it's A-OK in my eyes!" she declared. The crowd cheered at Kaine's miraculous save, no group more loud than 1-B who seemed to be heard throughout the whole stadium.
"FUCK YEAH!" Mirko shouted out as she fist pumped while Kaine swung past her section, "That's what I'm talking about kid, show this brat what you're really made of!"
In Tony Stark's booth, the playboy billionaire was extremely close to...for lack of a better term, 'scoring.' The reporter lady had her arms wrapped tightly around Tony's shoulders, her blouse undone about four or five buttons so that the color of her bra and what type of bra it is was clearly visable. She was going in for a kiss when she suddenly felt a hand on her face that pushed her down, "Oh, Tony. You're moving so fast." she smiled as she fluttered her eyes.
"Shut up, I'm watching this." Tony said as he stood up and looked out the booth window to the teen that was swinging around the stadium with webs coming from is wrist.
The woman scoffed, "Excuse me? You invited me up here and now you're telling me that you're watching? I thought you said you didn't care?"
"I say a lot of things." Tony retorted, "I said I liked the sound of your voice, I said I liked your hair, I even said I liked the name of you're cat. Well I don't. I don't care, I was just trying to get in your pants so I could get through this boring ass festival half-sober." he cracked his neck and fixed his tie before continuing, "But now I've found something somewhat interesting. So I have no need for you anymore. So..." Tony dug in his pocket before pulling out a money clip and grabbing twenty bills. He then rolled them up and put a rubber band around them before tossing it to the reporter. "There's two grand, American Dollars, not Yen. So don't forget to convert it. Now...fuck off." he emphasized by flicking his wrist forward, towards the door.
The woman scoffed again, "You can't be serious. Who the hell do you think you are?"
"Multi-billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. Sexiest Man of the Year, two years in a row. And eight doctorates in different courses of engineering, all earned in record time by the time I turned twenty-four. Oh! Also, I'm one of, if not THE, smartest man on our planet Earth." he smiled.
"You, are an asshole." the reporter growled, "My readers will hear about this!"
"Oh, about how you're the reporter that ALMOST slept with Tony Stark III, but it was him that turned you down? Yeah. I'm sure that will go over well. Believe me sweetheart, I've seen it happen before. It doesn't go over well. You'll be shunned by you're co-workers. And not for the reasons you're thinking, either. They'll shun you for NOT sleeping with me because I'm known for sleeping with every reporter that does a one-on-one with me." he shrugged, "But if you're gonna run it, go ahead. I won't deny anything. It is all the truth afterall."
With nothing else to say, the reporter simply growled and stuck out her snake-like tongue, before stomping out of the booth and slamming the door behind her. "That was awfully rude of you." On the bar of the booth, Tony's phone buzzed before a hologram of a woman popped up on top of it. She had a tomboyish haircut and wore a modest dress suit, "I see you are just as brutal to foreign women out of the States as you are to foreign women in the States. Was that bit about her becoming shunned from her peers even necessary, Mr. Stark."
Tony snapped his finger, "Is your programming off again?" he asked, now speaking in English, "I told you, Natalie. Call me Tony. Mr. Stark was my father, and his father before him." he sighed, "Besides, I needed her to get out of here. Because I've found someone who I didn't think I'd meet for another two or three decades." his smile grew wider as he continued watching Kaine swing around the stadium and attacking Tokoyami with web-based attacks, "I've found the Spider-Man."
Elsewhere...
While trying to wrap her head around how she could find the vigilante that is responsible for putting her job on the line, The Assassin turned on the television, hoping she'd see a news story about the vigilante, perhaps pinpoint the areas she frequents. What she saw made her spit out her drink.
On the television was the UA Sports Festival, that seems normal enough, it was going to be televised all day. But on the screen was a teen who was shooting ropes from his wrist and swinging around the stadium. "Oh my god, he's a student." Assassin mumbled in realization. Looking at the bottom of the screen it showed the names and faces connected to the two combatants. Looking at the one that was actually human shaped, she saw the name of her target: "Kaine Yoshida." Assassin mumbled with a smirk, "Shoulda stayed under the rubble, kid."
Back with Kaine, he fired a webline back onto the arena and zipped his way to Tokoyami, moving at a speed both the 1-A teen and Dark Shadow hadn't anticipated. When Kaine landed he had immediately landed a straight kick to Tokoyami's gut. The bird-headed teen tried to evade and gain distance, but Kaine wasn't having any of it. "Where do you think you're going?" Kaine shot out a webline and connected it to Tokoyami's chest. He yanked the teen forward and went for a drop kick, but his attack was blocked by Dark Shadow, HOWEVER, his attack was strong enough to send both of his opponents flying backward.
"Damn, this guy really means business all of a sudden. I mean, when did he even get these?" Dark Shadow asked, emphasizing his point by holding up the web strand stuck to Tokoyami's chest. "What's the plan now? He's taking an offensive stand now."
"Defense." Tokoyami suggested, "We can still wear him out, catch him off guard."
"Right!" Dark Shadow cheered.
Kaine looked to the two and laughed, "What's the matter bird brain? I thought you guys were supposed to be predators to spiders!" Kaine jumped up and down a few times before rolling his shoulders, "Okay, if you won't come to me, I'll just have to come to you!" Kaine fired a webline and began swinging around the stadium again, looking for a place to flank Tokoyami easily. However, wherever Kaine moved too, Dark Shadow would move so that he could block the spider teen. Guess I'll have to just go in head on.
Kaine fired a webline to the arena and zipped his way back down. "Oh no you don't!" Dark Shadow shouted out as he moved to defend Tokoyami. Kaine smirked and spun in the air a few times before coming down on Dark Shadow with an axe kick. Dark Shadow held its arms up to block the attack, but the force of Kaine's attack made Dark Shadow fall back. Kaine shot another webline and zipped right in front of Tokoyami. The bird headed teen's eyes widened in surprise at how quickly Kaine was in front of him. He tried to evade, but still suffered a gut punch. "TOKOYAMI!" Dark Shadow shouted out. The stand flew and wrapped itself around Kaine, trying to choke him out. "I've got you now spider! Guess you're right, I am a predator against you!"
Kaine let out a chuckle as he gripped Dark Shadow's 'body'. "You called yourself a predator. That's so dumb." Kaine pulled and stretched Dark Shadow before slipping out from the stand's grasp, "Flock off, bird brain!" Kaine yelled out as he slapped down Dark Shadow onto the ground.
Tokoyami gasped and jumped backward to avoid Kaine and Kaine did the same. Kaine, once again, jumped in the air snd began to swing around the stadium. "Wow! This kid is really something!" Present Mic announced, "Standing toe-to-toe with Dark Shadow is no easy feat. I'm surprised he wasn't placed in 1-A!"
Aizawa smirked, "This is what I wanted to see. I wanted him to give my students a hard time. This was the potential I saw during his entrance exam." he complimented, "Yoshida has a quirk the likes the world hasn't seen in action for nearly a half century, so to see it make a return in front of our very eyes is like meeting a hero from the early generations."
"Hey yeah!" Present Mic yelled out, "I thought this dude had a familiar looking vibe. He's got that vintage golden age style about him. Maybe he's a flash clone that broke out of a secret government facility! You see it here folks, this dude moves like a Spider-Man!" The large screen in the stadium switched from showing the faces of the contestants to showing the opening to an old Spider-Man animated series. It showed Spider-Man swinging through a city and then the screen split in half showing the cartoon on one side and video of Kaine swinging through the stadium, the two images practically identical in movement. "Is it still copying if the hero hasn't been around for decades?" Present Mic joked.
I need to distract Dark Shadow. Somehow I have to stop him. As long as Dark Shadow is up and moving I won't be able to stop Tokoyami. Kaine blinked a few times before he stopped swinging and instead hung upside down from his webline. "Hey, Dark Shadow!" Kaine called, getting the stand's attention, "Whatchu doing playing defense?! You become a pussy or something?" he laughed.
From across the stadium the Class B students cheered on their classmate, except for Kendo who just face palmed, "Kaine...please be appropriate."
"What you say?" Dark Shadow asked, "You're the one hiding up there, why don't you come down here and fight us like a man!"
"Fight you like a man?" Kaine echoed, "This is the air! You're a bird! This should be you're terrain. You come here and fight me!" he smirked, "That is...unless of course you are chicken."
"What was that!?" Dark Shadow growled.
"Dark Shadow, calm down." Tokoyami warned.
"Yeah, a CHICKEN!" Kaine shouted back. He then tucked his hands to his sides and began flapping his elbows, "BAWK, BAWK, BAWK!" he taunted. "Yeah, nothing but a big ol' CHICKEN!"
Dark Shadow growled, "I'll show you chicken! I'm gonna turn you into mashed potatoes!" it shouted as it charged towards Kaine.
"Mashed potatoes?" Kaine asked with a chuckle. Just before Dark Shadow crashed into Kaine, the spider teen dropped from his web strand and made Dark Shadow crash into the wall of the upper decks. While in freefall, Kaine shot several web balls at Dark Shadow and stuck him to the wall.
"Hey!" Dark Shadow shouted as it tried to break free, "I'm stuck! I can't get out!"
"WOO-HOO!" Kaine cheered. He flipped in the air and landed on the 'body' of Dark Shadow and began to grind down, straight to Tokoyami. "Hey Tokoyami! Special delivery!" Kaine jumped just before the end of the grind, spun and kicked Tokoyami in the beak. The 1-A student staggered back slightly, but still kept on his feet. Kaine continued with his assault, sending several punches before kneeing Tokoyami in the gut. However, Kaine wasn't done, as he shot two weblines behind Tokoyami and slid himself between the 1-A student's legs. When Kaine appeared behind Tokoyami, he wrapped his arms around his opponent's waist, he bent back and performed a German suplex. Then, he flipped his legs around, stood up and did the suplex again, and again, and again. Kaine finally let go of Tokoyami, performed a few back handsprings before landing in a crouch, pointing his hands forward and webbing Tokoyami to the ground.
Tokoyami struggled in the webbing for a little bit, but ultimately gave up. Midnight nodded, "Tokoyami is unable to move! Therefore, Kaine Yoshida is the winner and will be moving on to the semi-finals!"
"FUCK YEEEEES!" Kain shouted out in English as the crowd began cheering around him. Kaine turned to 1-B section and pointed to them before smiling and sticking his tongue out. "WOOOO!" Kaine was about to rush back to his class, but before he did so he ran back to Tokoyami and shook his hand while he was stuck to the ground, "Good fight man. You're quirk is awesome as hell."
"Yes. And you are a noble fighter yourself. Well done." Tokoyami groaned, "Any chance you can help me out of here?"
Kaine rubbed the back of his head and chuckled nervously, "Oh, I'd love too. But it's kinda tough, so you're gonna have to wait about an hour, sorry BYE!" with that, Kaine quickly rushed back to his group.
Kaine, his adrenaline still pumping from the fight, marched back to his student section met by roaring cheers from his classmates. He gave his high fives and was even lifted up by Tetsutetsu. Now there was only one match left. Kaine would either be facing Kirishima or Bakugou.
Despite that, Kaine already knew who he was facing. Kirishima was strong and on par with Tetsutetsu. But he didn't have the same raw drive that Bakugou had, that Kaine knew he had since they were in elementary school together. After the match was over Kaine looked down and saw Bakugou the victor. The blonde haired teen looked up at Kaine and frowned before pointing at the spider teen like he was calling him out. Kaine, in response, still feeling the pageantry, blew a kiss to Bakugou before sticking his tongue out and flipping him off.
Oh yeah. I'm having a good time. Kaine thought with a smirk.
Chapter 16
Kaine v. Bakugou
"Ladies and gentlemen, lads and gals of all ages!"Present Mic started off, "ARE YOU READY FOR THE SEMI-FINALS!?" The crowd roared in excitement as the large screen in the stadium showed the pictures of the four remaining contestants. Shoto Todoroki, Tenya Iida, Kaine Yoshida, and Katsuki Bakugou. "These four contestants have shown that they are the best of the best. They may not have started at the very top, BUT THEY WERE ALL CLOSE! Better yet, only two were on the same team. That means the other contestants definitely proved themselves for helping carry their teams as far as they did. And now we're here!" Present Mic laughed. "Let's get ourselves a quick recap for those who somehow missed it! First off: Coming from an amazing second round is Shoto Todoroki! This student here is one of two in 1-A that got in on recommendation, and boy did he prove it! He had an outstanding back and forth with Izuku Midoriya, but eventually came to his senses and decided to use the other half of his quirk! Guess he was even stronger than he let on, eh folks?"Next up is Tenya Iida! This scary speedster used his quick thinking and his quirk to nab himself a top-ten spot in the Obstacle Course! Afterwards, he found himself being a key component in helping Team Todoroki snag the largest point headband and securing the number one position for him and his teammates. However, he had a little bad luck in the first round of the tournament being used as a personal model for Hatsume to show off her inventions to investors, he was able to bring it around and have a quick and decisive victory in the second round against Shizozaki! Now it's him and his former teammate when the first round of the semi-finals begin."Next is, who I think has become, a new crowd favorite: Kaine Yoshida!" the crowd cheered, "Yoshida showed promise in the Obstacle Course by getting fourth after starting in last place. He then got kinda boring and played it safe with his team in the second round, which proved to beneficial and allowed his group to snag third place! After that he had that intense first-round against 1-A's Mina Ashido, playing a little defensive but winning out with a solid counter attack! Then he wow'd us all with his second match against Tokoyami by showing us what he's made of with his quirk!"And finally: Katsuki Bakugou. A constant force in every part of the competition. Coming in third place in the obstacle course, having the drive to push his teammates forward in the calvary battle to snag second place, and finally: having the ferocious attitude we've seen in both rounds to take down his opponents!"
Present Mic took a few moments to let the crowd cheer before continuing, "For now, we're gonna clean up the stadium and give the contestants a half hour break to prepare! See you soon folks!"
"KAINE, YOU WERE AMAZING!" Tetsutetsu yelled out, still hyped up that at least one of the 1-B students made it so far in the tournament, "You were totally all over the place! I knew you were good, but you've totally improved tenfold. I guess all that training paid off, huh?" he laughed as he put Kaine in a headlock, "How did you get so good in such a short time. It's like you gained months worth of experience in two weeks!"
Kaine pulled Tetsutetsu's arm out from around his neck and chuckled, "Truth be told…if I tell you, you guys can't tell anyone." The students blinked in surprise before leaning in to hear what Kaine had to say. He clicked his tongue before leaning in, "I kinda used my quirk outside of school. Like, swinging around town or practicing my aim on dummies."
"Kaine." Kendo groaned, "You're gonna get in trouble. What if people thought you were using your quirk against actual people. You could be EXPELLED!"
"Hell yeah!" Setsuna cheered, "Balls of steel. Guess you and Tetsutetsu are kin." She chuckled.
"It's good to see how far you've come." Ibara complimented with a smile.
Awase fist pumped, "Yeah, Yoshida, you totally kicked ass out there! That Bakugou guy isn't gonna know what hit him! You've got range, agility and strength. His smug ass is practically done for!"
"I can hear you, asshole!" the group turned to the barrier to see Bakugou peaking over the side with an extremely angry look on his face, "Don't think because you made it this far I'll lie down and let you trample over me like the other two! You're still nothing more than a side character here, you understand that? And if you think I'll take slander from your loser friends here you've got yourself another thing coming!" Bakugou emphasized his anger by holding his hands to the side and making small explosions come out, all the while the likes of Kirishima, Kaminari and Sero tried to pull him back.
"Be careful, Bakugou." Kaine smiled, "You are gonna have to conserve your anger for you're councilor. Wouldn't want them to not get a taste on what's been bothering you, huh? Better yet, wait until after you lose, that way you have something to talk about."
"WHAT DID YOU SAY YOU LITTLE SHIT!" Bakugou shouted out as he broke from Kirishima's grasp, "I'll kill you, I swear it!"
"Hey, no swearing here, there are children nearby!" Kaine tried saying with a straight face but let a chuckle slip. "No fighting here, Bakugou." Kaine said with a serious tone, "We'll see each other soon enough."
Bakugou stopped and thought about what Kaine had said before nodding and giving a sinister looking smile. "Yeah. We'll see each other REAL soon."
Kaine, deciding to relax before his match, sat in the 1-B locker room. He wasn't really paying attention to the first match going on, but he still had the tv on so he could hear the winner. Kaine took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair, the light sound of Present Mic's voice filling the locker room being the only thing he could hear. "Amazing! Just like that, Todoroki wins by freezing Iida's legs!"Present Mic announced. Kaine looked up to the screen and saw Iida frozen in place as Todoroki had frozen the small exhaust pipes on his calves.
So, Todoroki is on to the finals. Kaine nodded, I'm not that surprised. He's good. Really good. He definitely earned his way there. Kaine gulped, "Next up is the next exciting semi-final! Kaine Yoshida versus Katsuki Bakugou!"Present Mic announced.
Kaine stood up from his seat and smiled. "It's showtime." He then made his way out the door where he walked through the tunnel and out to the arena.
Once again, the crowd's roar filled Kaine's eardrums as he stepped onto the stage in front of Bakugou. Unlike his last two opponents, Kaine could practically taste the anger coming from the explosive teen. The dude was like a running tap of purified rage! "Here we are folks! The last round of the semi-finals!" Present Mic announced as the crowd continued to go wild, especially Class B…and some of Class A who didn't like Bakugou that much. "In the first corner, we have The Spider of UA: KAINE YOSHIDA!"Kaine let a smirk purse across his face as the crowd cheered for him, "And in the other corner, the brutal demolition man himself: Katsuki Bakugou!" Bakugou's stare intensed as the crowd cheered, he seemed he just wanted to get the fight done and over with. "Hope you two are ready, because this is the time to go all out! PLUS ULTRA!"
The bell rang out and the two moved. Unlike the other two fighters, Bakugou didn't charge right away, instead he opted for ranged attacks forcing Kaine to jump back and dodge. Kaine didn't like that. Ranged attacks were hard to deal with, because they were fast and usually ended up hitting him. On the positive side, at least these attacks are just concentrated blasts of fire and not small projectiles that pierce skin. Kaine thought, But then again, I'm not fire proof either. And the heat will probably exhaust me quicker. He groaned as he jumped back and avoided blast after blast, Yeah, bad either way.
Kaine immediately tried to get around Bakugou by jumping up in the air and swinging around the arena like he was doing against Tokoyami. "Get the hell back here, loser!" Bakugou shouted out, "FIGHT ME LIKE A MAN, COWARD!" Bakugou continued his assault by firing his explosions at the area where Kaine's webs attached to the wall. The webs snapped from the fire and forced Kaine into freefall. "DIE, ASSHOLE!" Bakugou focused the sweat into his palms before pointing his arms forward.
But, instead of firing forward, Bakugou felt something sticky glob to his hands before yanking them up. His explosion shot towards the sky instead of where Kaine was falling. Kaine then fired a webline at the ground in front of Bakugou and zipped to him, spinning and kicking the explosive teen across the face before landing. "Are you insane! You'll end up hurting someone if you use that attack towards the stands!"
Kaine went for a right hook to follow up with his kick, but Bakugou held up his left forearm and blocked it. Kaine then felt a...very foreign and very painful feeling in the back of his head. It was almost like he had a jackhammer slam into his skull. The pain was so bad that it made Kaine's eyes twitch and he lost focus on the fight. Before he realized it, Bakugou's palm was on his chest and the blonde teen let off an explosion that sent Kaine flying across the area. "OH! And Bakugou gives Yoshida a massive counter. He's gonna need a cold shower after that attack."
Kaine grunted in pain as he got to his knees, What the hell was that? He thought, It was like my head was gonna explode! As Kaine stood up he felt a stinging pain in his chest. He looked down and saw the bright red mark that was his singed and burned skin, Damn. That doesn't look good. "What are you standing around for!?" Kaine's eyes widened and he jumped out of the way as Bakugou blew up the concrete of the arena where he was standing, "This is a fight you hear me!? So take this seriously! Fight me like a man!"
"Fight you like a man?" Kaine scoffed, "Let me know if you see one around here then, I sure as hell don't see any men in front of me." Kaine chuckled, his taunt making Bakugou growl more. As Bakugou held his hand out to blast Kaine, he was suddenly blinded as Kaine webbed his face and pulled forward. The sudden switch in momentum, and lack of sight, forced Bakugou to fire at the ground. The force of the explosion sent Bakugou flying forward and flipping in the air, before being caught by Kaine. The spider teen, not letting this moment go to waste immediately slammed the blonde to the ground.
"OH! And Yoshida answers with a counter of his own!"Present Mic yelled out as the crowd cheered at the battle. Present Mic had to take a deep breath from the excitement that had already happened so early in the fight. "So tell us Mummy Man," Present Mic began, "What do you think here? Who has the advantage? Your student or the student you believe to be on par with over half your class."
Aizawa groaned in thought, "Both have intense drive. But their drive are on two completely different extremes. Bakugou's drive comes from his intense nature of wanting others to know of his prowess. Yoshida, however, is on a different spectrum. His drive seems to be more personal." he hummed, "But if you are asking me who will win this match…I think right now it will depend on who can outsmart the other."
Kaine, once again, felt the weird pain in the back of his head again. Looking up he saw Bakugou ready to blast at him from a prone position and he quickly rolled away to avoid becoming barbecue. "Son of a bitch! Let a guy breathe, will ya?" Kaine groaned. Bakugou rolled to his feet too and the two faced each other once again. "Alright, you've got range, I do too!" Kaine held his hands out and began shooting a barrage of web balls at Bakugou. Some of them made contact with the explosive teen, making it difficult for him to move his arms, however he was able to counter a large majority of the web attacks by blasting them as they came toward him.
"Quit fucking with me!" Bakugou growled, "I'm not gonna get stuck in that stupid capture attack of yours. I'll keep blowing all your webs away!" Bakugou sent another explosion at Kaine and the spider teen shot a web to his right and yanked himself to his right so he could avoid getting hit. "Stay still so I can burn you like the spider you are!"
"Stay still?" Kaine asked, "You're crazy! Tell you what," Kaine shot another webline at Bakugou's face and pulled him closer, "I'll meet you half way!" As Bakugou was yanked forward, Kaine sent a right hook across the explosive teen's face which made him lose his balance, Kaine then sent a left uppercut to Bakugou's gut. Bakugou tried retaliating by swinging his arm horizontally, sending a number of explosions, but Kaine ducked the attacks by doing the splits. "Tell you what Bakugou, I'll fight you like a girl!" Kaine smirked as he sent a straight jab forward right to Bakugou's groin.
The entire crowd let out a groan as they saw on the big screen the attack Kaine landed, Bakugou let out a groan of his own as he collapsed to the ground, slowly taking in air as the pain made it hard to breath. Kaine jumped to his feet and webbed Bakugou to the ground, laughing as he did so. "Four times!" Kaine yelled out with a laugh, "Four times that's worked!" Kaine's celebration was short-lived, however, as he heard an explosion and Bakugou was back on his feet, melted and singed web strands hanging from his chest.
"So…you think…you can beat me…with a cheap shot like that?" Bakugou asked, his breath still a little staggard.
"Well…I did." Kaine sighed, "Now, not so much." Bakugou smirked before using his hands to launch himself forward at rapid speeds, he then used his right hand to make his body spin in mid air before sending a kick to Kaine. Kaine was able to block the kick, however, he wasn't able to block the blast that Bakugou sent as a follow up. The blast sent Kaine rolling across the arena before he stopped and hit his head against a piece of concrete that had broken off from the arena. "Ow, damn." Kaine groaned.
"DIIIIIIE!" Bakugou yelled out as he pointed his hands forward. Kaine's head began throbbing in pain once more, so much so it made him collapse to a knee. Bakugou sent out a massive blast, one that was probably only surpassed by the one he used to defend himself against Ochako's barrage of rubble in round one.
Class B gasped as all they saw was Kaine get engulfed from the explosion. They couldn't even see him, only dust. "Wow! Talk about a powerful explosion!" Present Mic commented, "Still no sight of Yoshida. Who knows what happened at this point folks, this could be it." Down with Class B, the students held their breath, hoping their classmate was okay. "Hold on, the dust is clearing, I think I see him…" The dust cleared away and the stadium could see Kaine on one knew, his tank too singed, and his arms a little burned…but he was protected, as he had formed a shield with his webbing. "WOW! I don't believe it, folks! Yoshida has turned his offensive quirk into a defensive one!"
Bakugou let out a slight chuckle, "So, you defended yourself. You definitely know how to make things interesting." Bakugou watched as Kaine dropped the web shield from his hands, holding his head in pain. Kaine's tank top was singed and barely hanging by a thread. Seeing no point in keeping it, Kaine went ahead and ripped off the cloth and showed his toned body. A couple scars here and there from his vigilante exploits, but because of the burns he received from Bakugou he could play it off as getting them during the match.
"I see…" Kaine said with a tired tone to his voice. He looked up at Bakugou with a furrowed brow and his teeth gritted. "I thought we were here to show our potential as heroes. But THAT…that was just you trying to actually kill me." he spat, "If I hadn't defended myself, I probably could have died. And that pisses me off." Kaine clenched his fist, shaking slightly before pointing it at Bakugou, "Maybe I should face you with that same ferocity?"
Bakugou could only smirk at the threat, "Go ahead and try. Doesn't mean you'll succeed." The explosive teen once again launched himself through the air, using his quirk like a propulsion system, constantly firing controlled bursts so he could fly his way towards Kaine. Kaine shot a webline forward and zipped towards Bakugou so the two could meet halfway. Bakugou was ready and tried sending an explosion towards Kaine, but the spider teen was quick to use his webs to give himself more height. Bakugou snarled and tried to turn and face Kaine, but he was too slow as Kaine had shot two weblines down to the ground and launched himself downward, hitting Bakugou with both his feet and stomping him into the ground, forming a small crater.
Kaine then quickly back flipped away from the explosive teen as he tried blasting Kaine away from the ground. "Not a bad attack, I'll give you that." Bakugou said as he spit out some blood, "But I promise you, THAT'S THE LAST ATTACK YOU'LL LAND ON ME!" Bakugou then began sending a barrage of controlled blasts at Kaine. They weren't big, bit they moved quickly and Kaine had to move fast or risk taking more damage than he already had.
Once more, Kaine felt that pain in his head, he couldn't fathom it. It was like some invisible force was trying to yank his body in a different direction. Kaine dodged another blast and turned his head to his right where he saw the debris of the arena he had hit his head on earlier. Wait a minute…I may have an idea. Kaine thought with a nod. Bakugou sent another blast and Kaine dodged, but this time, when he jumped away, he fired a web ball at Bakugou's face and blinded him. While he was distracted, Kaine then fired a webline at the debris and spun around a few times before hurling it at Bakugou like he was doing a hammer throw. The debris collided with Bakugou and broke on impact, causing the teen to stagger. Kaine went to follow up his attack zipping to Bakugou and delivering a Superman punch, but halfway through his zip his head began to throb again. What the hell is going on!? Kaine was so distracted by the pain he didn't even notice Bakugou had unblinded himself. When Kaine was at point blank range, Bakugou fired off a balst at his chest that knocked him to the ground.
"You're not gonna win with stupid gimmicks!" Bakugou shouted as he kicked Kaine in the stomach while he tried to get to his feet, "You can slow me down as much as you want, but at the end of the day, I'M BETTER THAN YOU! I've been better than you! I always have! You're just some gloomy loser who will never amount to anything! You didn't deserve to get into the hero program, you didn't even want to get in, you were just going to live your life as the loser you've been since elementary school!" he yelled out as he continued kicking, "You accepted your place then, so accept your place NOW!"
Accept my place? Kaine thought with gritted teeth. "Accept my place!?" he asked with a groan. His groan seeped into a light chuckle, this time he caught Bakugou's foot before it hit him and pushed it back, "I have accepted my place! I belong here just like anybody else! I proved that! And I'm not that same kid anymore, I've grown up, which is more than I can say about you!"
Bakugou gritted his teeth and charged forward, "YOU'RE NOTHING AND YOU NEVER WILL BE! NOTHING BUT AN EXTRA!"
Kaine furrowed his brow as Bakugou got closer, "AND YOU'RE STILL A SPOILED BRAT WHO GOT HIS ASS SAVED BY MIDORIYA FROM THAT SLUDGE VILLAIN!" Kaine taunted. This seemed to enrage Bakugou even more as he got ready for his blast. However, before Bakugou could attack Kaine, he felt his arm get redirected and something latch onto the center of his chest, "He's up in the stands Bakugou, he won't save you this time!" Kaine picked Bakugou up by his chest and flipped the teen over his shoulder and onto the ground below, landing with a hard thump.
Everything seemed to be dead silent, Kaine wasn't sure what was going on. He felt…a wet feeling on his right hand. He looked down and saw droplets of blood dripping from his right middle finger. Blood? Am I bleeding? he thought. "Ugh…" Kaine looked up and saw Bakugou, saw his chest and the five small incisions that were there as blood dripped out. Oh…it's HIS blood. Kaine thought in realization. He slowly looked down and saw five small...stingers coming from his fingers, Bakugou's blood covering his hand.
Kaine didn't know what was going on. What is this? He didn't know, he had never seen this before! He started hyperventilating, his body was shaking and his head began hurting again only more intense than before. Suddenly, Kaine's head started throbbing, it felt like all the noise in the world was gone and he could only hear an intense ringing sound. He closed his eyes and gripped his head in pain as he collapsed to his knees, "Make it stop! MAKE IT STOP!" he cried in pain. Even though his eyes were closed and ringing clouded his hearing, it was like he could make out a distinct picture of Bakugou going to attack him.
Bakugou huffed and huffed, feeling his chest. He looked at the blood on his hand left from his wound. "You son of a bitch." he growled, "Who do you think you are, huh? Toying with me like that!? Holding out some part of your quirk! You're just looking down on me, aren't you, you bastard!" Bakugou began to concentrate all his sweat into his palms. He was tired and in pain, but he had enough for one more shot. "If you come to fight, you fight with everything you rat bastard! NOW DIE!" Bakugou pointed his hands forward and let out an explosion possibly even more massive than the one he had used against Ochako.
"I don't think so." Cementoss said as he slammed his hand against the ground and created several large concrete walls to defend Kaine from the blast. The cement walls protected Kaine, but they were decimated to nothing but rubble. Once more, smoke filled the arena. Nobody could see what was happening, but everyone seemed to hold their breath. As the dust cleared, everyone could see Kaine lying still on the surface, while Bakugou stayed standing, breathing heavily.
Midnight stood and waited for nearly a minute before raising her hand in the air, "Kaine Yoshida is unconscious. Therefore, Katsuki Bakugou is moving on to the finals!" The crowd cheered at the announcement while Bakugou stood with a prideful smirk on his face. However, for the likes of Class B, they were full of nothing but disappointment.
"SON OF A BITCH!" Mirko shouted, "He fucking had him, what the hell happened!?"
"Ah, damn." Tony said with a snap, "Thought the kid was gonna go all the way too."
"His combat prowess is…shaky at best." Natalie said, "But, given your strange enthusiasm I assume you want me to keep an eye on his progress?"
"Oh, Natalie. You know me too well." Tony chuckled as he took a drink from his scotch, "Welp, that's all I care for. Time to blow this stand. NATALIE! Set up a press meeting for the grand opening of STARK Industries new company headquarters. I think I'm staying in Musutafu for a while."
Kaine lied in the hospital bed in Recovery Girl's medical room. He had regained consciousness shortly after his fight. The whole time he lied in the bed he thought about the events that transpired. What was that pain? It just seemed to pop up randomly. And what was with his hand? Those spikes that came out at his finger tips? "Yo." Kaine practically jumped out of the bed at the sound of Mirko entering his room.
"M-M-Miss Mirko." Kaine said with a gulp.
Mirko rolled her eyes and she walked over to the teen and sat in the chair next to his bed, "Not bad, kid. You really showed them what you were made of." she complimented…before slamming her fist against the desk next to the bed, "But not good enough! I mean, what the hell happened out there? You totally had him! He telegraphed that last attack for, like, a year and you froze up! What the fu-" Mirko stopped when she looked at Kaine again and saw the twinkling of liquid that was starting to come out his eyes. "H-Hey…are you alright?"
"I'm sorry." Kaine sniffed, his voice cracking, "I'm sorry. I don't know what happened. One minute I had control of everything…and the next I couldn't move anything. Everything hurt, my head felt like it was going to explode." he dug his face into his hands and let out a cry, "I failed. I tried so hard, and I only proved him right. I'm a failure."
Mirko looked at Kaine and frowned, "What the fuck are you talking about?" she scolded, "You clawed your way here from the bottom of society's barrel, made it into the greatest known Hero program in the world and just got third place in the biggest tournament of the year!" she huffed, "That blonde asshat can think what he wants, but you made it, you proved to everyone that you belong here. And I can guarantee you're gonna get some offers."
Kaine sniffed and gulped, "You think so?"
"Hell yeah! They'd be fools not too!" Mirko chuckled before cupping her chin, "In fact, here's a little word of advice for you. Tomorrow you will all get a list of heroes that saw enough potential to want and have you as an intern. So, when you get that paper and look at the list of heroes, YOU PICK ME, GOT IT!?" she yelled as she grabbed Kaine by the jaw, "And if you don't, just remember I'm the one doing you a favor by not telling the school about you're curriculars. Do I make myself clear?"
"Crystal." Kaine replied, his voice partiall muffled.
"Good." Mirko smirked, "Better get yourself up and out there. They'll be doing the ceremony soon." With that, Mirko left the room.
Kaine cocked an eyebrow in confusion as the hero left, "Wait, how'd she know I came from the lower end of society? Is it that obvious? Also, HOLD ON…She just offered me an internship." Kaine seemed to forget everything he was fretting over earlier, now all he could feel was his heart beating faster from the excitement he was having. "I better get out there and accept the award." Kaine flipped the blanket off his body, looking down at the now healed burn wounds…and also his lack of shirt, "Ah…gonna have to deal with that later." he shrugged.
"Ladies and gentlemen!"Present Mic announced, "It's been one hell of a ride, but unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. It's time for award ceremony, baby!"
Kaine stepped onto the podium they had set out and he looked to his right to see Todoroki on the second place podium and- "HUUUURAAAAAGH!" Bakugou ok the first place podium, chained to a large log and put in several chains and locks. Geez, talk about overkill. Kaine thought.
"Let's move on, shall we?" Midnight announced with a smile, "Hmm…Third place could have gone to Iida too, but he said he had to leave for familial reasons." Geez, hope everything is alright. Kaine gulped. Midnight cleared her throat before continuing, "Time to confer the medals!" she declared, "And the one who'll present the medals this year, naturally, is none other than…" there was a pause for effect before the stadium heard and saw a shadow coming down towards the students.
"It is I!" the figure announced as he landed in front of the three medal earners. It was ALL MIGHT! "And I am here with-"
"IT'S ALL MIGHT!" Midnight finished. Realizing she cut off the Number One hero, she clasped her hands together and apologized.
All Might cleared his throat into his fist before walking up to the podium to begin the medal ceremony. "Congratulations young, Yoshida. You definitely are as tough as they come. You're improvement just from the first lesson of hero training I witnessed is remarkable. However, you are too hesitant at times and that is what has set you back." All Might continued looking at Kaine with that big smile he always had plastered on his face, "But I have to say, taking inspiration from those golden age heroes, why, it reminds me a little of myself at your age. Keep it up, young man." All Might finished by giving Kaine a thumbs up.
"Wow…thank you, sir." Kaine replied a nod. All the teen could do now was look at the medal he was given. It may have not been first, but at least he made it up onto the podium. Yeah…maybe things weren't so bad after all…Well…except the part where he didn't know what those headaches were about or how those stingers came out of his fingers. But aside from that, he was starting to feel pretty good. Looking to his right again, Kaine saw All Might place the medal in Bakugou's mouth and the spider teen had to stop himself from laughing.
"And there you have it!" All Might said proudly as he stood with his fists on his hips, "This year it's these three. However, remember to take heed, folks. It could have been any one of these students in the arena today. But it's just as you saw! They competed and boosted each other. Everyone climbing higher and advancing further! Yes, the next generation will surely sprout from the seeds planted this day." All Might said as he pointed a finger in the air, "Everybody say it with me now!" everyone took in a deep breath to yell in unison with All Might, the phrase that culminates the school, "GREAT WORK!" Unfortunately it seems All Might had a different phrase in mind.
"WHAT!? That was totally the time to yell 'Plus Ultra,' All Might!" the students complained in unison.
After everything was said and done, Kaine stepped down from the podium, shirtless and all, and walked over to his classmates, only a small smile on his face. "Don't feel down, Kaine." Shoda said, trying to cheer up his classmate, "It's like they say…um…third place…isn't bad?" he said, questioning more if it sounded right than if it actually would cheer up Kaine.
Kaine went to say how he was getting over it, but Awase cut him off: "HELL YEAH!" he shouted, "Third place isn't bad!"
"Third place isn't bad." Shiozaki echoed.
"I guess…third place isn't bad." Monoma said before nodding and giving a smirk, "Yeah, how many of those 1-A punks can say they even made it close! Third place isn't bad!"
"Third place isn't bad." Setsuna said slowly as if she was starting a chant, "Third place isn't bad. Third place isn't bad." she continued.
"Guys…no." Kaine pleaded as he started to back away when he saw his classmates get closer.
"Third place isn't bad." Tsuburaba started to chant.
"Third place isn't bad." Kendo added with a smile.
"Third place isn't bad!" 1-B started chanting as they walked towards Kaine and started picking him up, "THIRD PLACE ISN'T BAD! THIRD PLACE ISN'T BAD! THIRD PLACE ISN'T BAD!" the class chanted as they lifted Kaine and began to carry him out of the stadium.
"Guys! Let me go!" Kaine yelled out, "Seriously, this isn't funny! Kendo! Tell them to put me down! This is weird!" Kendo only laughed and waved as the class took Kaine away, "KENDO! I'M SERIOUS!"
Finally the end of the day came. Kaine didn't have much else to do but go home. Bummer about the shirt though. Well, maybe not that bummed. Kaine thought, After mulling it over. Third place really isn't bad. Also now I can go home and just sleep until morning comes. He sighed as he put his backpack on, his jacket replacing his shirt. "Kaine!" Kaine blinked a few times before he turned to see Kendo, "Hold on for a second." she said, slightly out of breath. "Um…" she looked at Kaine before turning her face with a slight blush, "G-Good job."
"Oh…THANKS!" Kaine replied with a smile, "You know, I was kinda bummed out at first, but I think that chanting and cheering from the class really got to me. Those guys are super persuasive."
Kendo cleared her throat and shuffled in place, "Right, well…I just wanted to congratulate you. Um…I know you only wanted me to do something if you won but…Dammit, you won to us! You made it to the semi-finals, way farther than any of us got."
Kaine cocked an eyebrow in confusion, "Kendo, what the hell are you talking-" before he could finish he saw Kendo move her face forward before he felt something soft on his lips. His eyes widened and Kaine stood in shock as Kendo pulled herself away, her whole body practically turned into a light pink color.
"Okay anyways, I'll see you at school!" Kendo said quickly before she turned and ran off, leaving Kaine to ponder what happened.
After nearly a minute, Kaine snapped out of his stupor, "What the fuck just happened?" he asked in English. Unbeknownst to him, not to far away, Setsuna watched the events unfold and she let out a loud and hearty laugh.