Mina against Ojiro was a bad match-up for the tail-having teenager. With her agility and Quirk, she just kept her distance while launching long-range acid attacks.
Her training over the past month has increased the amount of acid and the rate at which she can release it. However, she still couldn't accurately control the potency of her acids.
To know, her acid is powerful enough to melt even steel. This made her wary of using a more potent concentration of it against other humans- especially a classmate.
Thus, in the past few minutes, she limited herself to using only Zero-Friction Acid.
Ojiro was able to dodge her initial barrage of attacks relatively easily. However, doing so also came at the cost of being delayed, which made it easier for Mina to keep away from him.
And as time passed, the arena got covered with more and more of her acid. This made it harder for him to evade. Soon, his right leg was grazed, then his left leg, his arms, torso, tail- until his whole body was covered.
He maintained balance with the help of his tail. But, that was just his final stubbornness.
Because he was unable to move, Mina was able to take her time and made a potent acid that could only corrode the skin at most.
She fired it at his feet, which he tried- and failed- to dodge. And due to removing his shoes earlier for better grip on the floor, the acid attack came in direct contact with his feet.
Ojiro grunted. The skin on his feet turned red as the acid did its work. It made even just standing painful, not to mention how it lowered his mobility again.
Finally, with Mina threatening to release another attack, Ojiro sighed and surrendered.
…
The next fight wasn't as intense as this one.
Hatsume against Yanagi was a nightmare for the overenthusiatic Support Course student.
Reiko Yanagi's Quirk is Poltergeist, an ability which allows her to control nearby objects telekinetically. Against her pink-haired opponent who mostly uses gadgets, she only needed to control those items and then hurl them back.
Mei wasn't trained to fight like the Hero Course students. When she saw her babies being rendered ineffective, she decisively surrendered.
Meanwhile, the battle between Shinso Hitoshi and Nirengeki Shoda was more thrilling.
Shoda, a short and chubby student of Hero Course Class 1B, seemed to have been warned by Setsuna and his other classmate regarding Shinso's Quirk.
Right from the start, he did his best not to respond to any of Shinso's questions and insults.
He chased the lanky boy around the arena, sending him rolling with bruises everywhere.
However, this made him inevitably relaxed and during the heat of the moment, subconsciously replied to one of Shinso's taunts.
Thus, under the confused gazes of everyone in the audience, Shodai, who had been dominating Shinso, just suddenly stopped attacking.
He blankly stood there, and then mechanically walked out of the arena.
Amidst a sparse cheers from the confused audience, Shinso Hitoshi from the General Course was declared the winner.
…
"Hey, congrats on the win. That was a great fight."
In one of the hallways leading to the arena, Hiro greeted the winner of the recently ended battle.
"…thank you."
Shinso said, his tone somewhat complicated.
Hiro didn't pay it any mind. He knew Shinso had some prejudice against the Hero Course students, so he just smiled and continued walking forward, passing the lanky teenager and heading towards the arena.
"Hey, Ryugamine."
"Hmm?"
Hiro paused. He turned his head inquiringly, and saw Shinso looking back with a serious gaze.
"…you should have already guessed what my Quirk is, right?"
"Yeah, some kind of mind control ability. Why'd you ask?"
"What do you think about it?"
Shinso tried to keep his tone as calm as possible. However, his gaze became noticeably more intense and his fist had clenched.
Hiro didn't know why this question seemed so important for Shinso. However, he saw no harm in answering it.
"It's very powerful. If you could have used it on the opponents during the entrance exam, I'm sure you'd have scored enough to at least enter the top three. Though after your showing just now, you'd definitely be able to transfer to the Hero course if you want."
Silence hung in the air after he answered. Shinso didn't immediately reply. He stood there, eyes narrowed in contemplation as he gazed at Hiro's clear and sincere smile.
After a few seconds, the corner of his lips slightly curved- as if he saw what he wanted to see.
"I see. Thank you for answering. Good luck in your match. I hope we'll meet next round."
"Uh, thanks?"
Hiro raised an eyebrow. He didn't remember doing anything that left Shinso with such a good impression of him. In fact, he was certain this was the first time they formally met each other.
"And now, the 1st year student representative who consistently maintained a leading position during the previous two events. Let's welcome, Hiro Ryugamine!"
Hiro shelved those questions for later as his name got called by Present Mic. He walked out of the hallway, and waved at the frenzied crowd.
His opponent, Shiozaki Ibara, was already standing in the arena with her hands clasped together in front of her chest. He nodded at the girl with vines for hair, and received a solemn nod back.
"Oho! Both contestants look ready and raring to go! Will Ryugamine continue his dominating performance? Or would Ibara stage an upset and defeat the tournament favorite!?"
Present Mic enthusiastically shouted, causing the crowd to cheer. Among them, Hiro saw the kids from the orphanage waving a huge banner with his name and a crude drawing of his face.
Hiro smiled and waved back at them, which made the children cheer louder.
"Ryugamine! Ibara! Are the two of you ready?"
Midnight asked, drawing away Hiro's attention. He and Ibara nodded to her in affirmation.
After receiving a positive response from both, she cracked her whip, and the battle began.
As soon as it started, Ibara's hair spread all around her- her face deadly serious.
Though she refused to listen to Monoma regarding information about Hiro, she still learned that this white haired teenager before her had singlehandedly eliminated her classmate's entire team of four. That alone was enough for her to face this battle with all that she had.
Her hair formed a square barrier around herself- preventing Hiro from blitzing her with his superior speed. She only left a tiny gap at eye level to allow her vision outside.
She looked around, expecting Hiro to have approached closer in the meantime. However, her brows furrowed when she saw no hint of his figure.
"Nice defense. But it's a pity you weren't quite quick enough."
Ibara shivered. The warm and gentle voice behind sent shivers down her spine.
Her hair instinctively lashed at the direction where the sound came from. However, she failed to make contact with anything.
Suddenly, her vision blurred. Then, she found herself at the edge of the arena, lying in Hiro's arms.
"You're strong. However, for today, I was the stronger one."
His voice once again reached her ears. She glanced up, and found him looking at her with a gentle smile. The sun's rays peeked from the clouds at that exact moment, and illuminated his face.
Ibara felt time had suddenly stopped. The cheers and shouting around her vanished. Everything had gone silent, except for the rapid thumping of her heart.
She didn't even realize when Hiro placed her outside the arena. And when she did, she was horrified to realize that her first feeling wasn't disappointment that she lost- instead, she was disappointed because she left his embrace.
Normally, she was very averse to physical contact with the opposite gender. Especially the intimate hug that they just had, if anyone else did that to her, she would definitely have struggled free.
But that didn't happen with Hiro. Instead, she was even thinking of wanting to prolong their contact.
Ibara clasped her palms together. What a grievous sin! She must instantly repent and pray to the Lord for forgiveness!
"Hey, you alright? You've been stuck standing there since earlier."
That all too familiar voice once again reached her ears. Ibara felt her throat turn hoarse and her body hot. She jumped away, her hair floating all over in a defensive manner as she warily eyed the one who did this to her.
"D-devilspawn! Stay away from me! Oh Father, who art in heaven, please forgive me for I have sinned…"
Hiro stood at the edge of the arena, dumbfounded. Amidst the overwhelming cheers from the crowd, he watched the vine-haired girl scurry away.
A/N: This battle took me constant rewrites. I initially wanted Hiro to show off more, but his personality and OPness just made that very difficult. Especially towards someone like Ibara, he's not the type to assert his dominance over her. In the end, it became this scene of him rizzing her instead.
It looks like placing Todoroki/Midoriya as his possible last opponent was the correct decision. Especially the former, he's the only guy whom Hiro won't mind breaking a bit, especially as a slight revenge for what happened earlier.
You can access advanced chapters on patreon.com/Ked2002