As Izuku took his place amongst the rest of the students, he couldn't help but notice a rather unusual sight.
"Why… Why are you girls wearing cheerleader outfits?"
"Because Kaminari and Mineta are the worst!" Momo replied, looking sideways at the two guys in question and staring daggers at them.
The two boys seemed rather pleased with themselves if those smug smiles were any indication.
"They told the rest of the girls that Aizawa wanted all the girls of 1-A to act as cheerleaders for the recreational games."
Mina explained. For whatever reason, she was the only one of the girls in their class not dressed in an Orange cheerleader outfit.
"And you guys seriously fucking bought that?!" Venom asked in an incredulous tone.
"Holy shit, how gullible can you be to think Aizawa would want that, and even more insane, that he would send Mineta to go fetch you guys?"
"No need to rub it in with salt." Jirou said bitterly.
If anyone wanted to say more, they didn't get the chance, as Midnight decided to get the ball rolling on explaining the final set of tournament rules.
Namely, they would partake in a 16 man elimination tournament, where they would fight one on one matches until only the winner of the tournament remained.
"The matchups will be decided by drawing lots."
The R-Rated Hero held up a box with a hole on top."
"Once that is decided, we'll move on to the festivities, and after that the tournament itself."
"It's up to each of you 16 to decide whether you wanna partake in the fun yourself. If you'd rather save your energy for the clashes ahead, that's fine too."
Yeah, that was definitely what Izuku was going to do. He had no plans of wrecking his nerves on games watched by hundreds of thousands of people, just before he was going to fight.
"Now, let's begin with the first-place team-"
"Um… Excuse me?"
Midnight was about to step down from the podium to get everyone to pull their number out when Ojiro, one of the students from Izuku's class Izuku had never really talked to, interrupted her, his hand raised in the air like he was in class asking a question.
Everyone turned to look at him, which he did not seem to be all that happy about, given he suddenly seemed way more nervous. But he swallowed, and judging by his expression, he'd steeled himself to say whatever it was he wanted to say.
"I'd… Like to drop out."
Izuku just stared at him in shock. So did the entire rest of the class.
As could be expected, it was Kirishima who put the shocked surprise into words.
"Why?! This is your great chance to be noticed by the pros!!! Why would you throw that away?!"
Ojiro didn't seem perturbed by the reaction, though he did look incredibly uncomfortable.
"The Cavalry battle… I have absolutely no memories of it at all, before the tail end of it."
He glanced over at one of the other students not in their class.
"I'm guessing my team leader has something to do with it."
Izuku glanced over at the guy, and with a start, he realized he recognized him. He was the guy who had been so brazen outside their classroom some time back. He was also one of the students who had been talking with Mei at her presentation.
Messy purple hair, and bags under his eyes. He wasn't hard to recognize.
Ojiro continued.
"I… I know this is an amazing opportunity… And I get how stupid it must seem for me to throw it away. But… This final part…"
He glanced over at Izuku, standing with Uraraka and Mina before he continued.
"Everyone else here got here because of their own skill, strength, and effort, while I… I can't even remember how the hell I got here. I just… I can't accept that."
The invisible Hagakure tried to cheer him up.
"C'mon man, you're thinking about this way too hard! Just go out there and show everyone what you're made of!"
Ojiro however, didn't budge as he shook his head. He was almost crying Izuku realized with a start!
Of course, he was. He was humiliating himself for everyone to see because his pride wouldn't allow anything else.
He wanted to say something, to try and help Ojiro out. But what? Tell him to just accept his placement? Or support his decision? Both would be adding to his humiliation, just in different ways.
Before he could decide though, Ojiro was suddenly joined by one of his teammates from the previous round, a rather rotund, short student from 1-B, who Izuku didn't know, who also declared he wished to drop out, for the exact same reasons.
The reaction as it became clear the two of them really were about to drop out was mixed. Some were confused, other sympathetic, Aoyama declared he would win for Ojiro's sake, while Kirishima declared the two of them to be real men.
-Well, if they want to throw away their future prospects for the sake of their pride, then so be it. That means less competitors for us right?-
That assumption turned out to be inaccurate.
After scolding them for being both naive and green, Midnight turned around and declared she liked their style anyway, and after a bit of talk, and internal politics of 1-B, the two who dropped out was replaced by two 1-B students.
One was the loud boy made of metal and the other a girl with long, green thorny(Though more nubs than prickly and sharp) plant vines for hair.
After all that was finally settled, it was time to draw lots.
Izuku ended up getting the first match, against Shinsou, the leader of the team Ojiro had been on.
As he stared up on the hologram display showing the tournament brackets, his first match wasn't what was on his mind, however.
It was his second and far more importantly, his third match.
The match between him and Mei was his third. Provided he could beat his first two opponents. Shinsou, and far, far more terrifyingly, Todoroki Shoto. OK, so there was a slight possibility, that he might face against Todoroki's first-round match Sero instead, but that… Wasn't gonna happen.
Venom had once described Sero as "A poor man's version of us, in every single way imaginable.". Izuku would never have put it like that, but… Sero wasn't gonna win that round. It just wasn't gonna happen.
He looked at Mei's opponents.
Her first match would be against Iida, and then either Kaminari or Ibara, the plant haired girl.
He had a lot more faith in Iida's chances than Sero's, but… Somehow, he knew, instinctually, that Mei was going to beat both her opponents.
She would be there, to face him in round 3, provided he made it that far.
And after her…
His eyes went right to check out the other half of the tournament.
He glanced over the names and came to a very simple conclusion.
The final contestant of that half of the tournament would be either Mina or Uraraka.
The two of them would subsequently face each other in the semi-final round, at the same point, he would face Mei.
He was so engrossed thinking about the upcoming rounds, that he didn't notice his first opponent, Shinsou, coming up behind him to say hi.
"Izuku Midoriya. That's you yeah?"
Izuku snapped around, realized who he was talking to, and was about to reply with a simple Yes, only for something Fluffy to cover his mouth.
"Don't answer him Midoriya!"
That something Fluffy turned out to be the tip of Ojiro's tail.
Shinsou just gave it a disdained look, then sighed and with a half-smile, he turned and walked off.
"That guy… When he talks, don't answer him."
"...Why?"
"Cause I'm pretty sure he's got a mind control quirk."
Izuku just stared at him, as Ojiro removed his quirk.
"Mind… Control?"
Oh, that was bad, really, really bad.
"... Yeah. Though maybe my loss would be your gain in this case."
He hesitated for a moment, before continuing.
"My memories cuts off the moment I talked to him. That's probably the trick here."
Izuku suddenly relaxed a bit.
"So there's a mechanism to it then. It's not just instant mind control?"
That… Was actually somewhat common with Mind control quirks from all Izuku had seen about them. You usually had to do it through a mechanism of some kind. What that was though, could vary wildly.
"... Still, if I do slip up, it's all over…"
-Provided it affects both of us anyway.-
Ojiro, not being able to hear what was said inside Izuku's mind, continued on like Venom hadn't said anything.
"Not necessarily. Even with how strong it was, it doesn't seem like an all mighty ability. Remember how I said I didn't remember anything until the very end? I'm… Pretty sure that at the end, I bumped up against Tetsutetsu's formation. And that's when I suddenly came to my senses."
"So it can be broken by someone just bumping into you? Man, what a sub-rate mind control."
"Maybe, but I don't really know how strong that bumping was. I came to my senses afterwards. Like, maybe it was just barely touching, or maybe we slammed into them, I don't know. Either way, in a one on one match, you guys will be alone, you won't have any outside help."
" Still… Thanks for telling me Ojiro."
...
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