Yuta blinked again, not fully understanding where this was coming from.
'Is he... putting his hopes for getting into the Hero Course on me?'
"May I ask where you going with this?"
Shinso's expression change.
"It's simple. You win this, and maybe the faculty starts paying attention to the rest of us. Not just the Hero Course golden children."
Yuta tilted his head.
'Ah. That's what this is.'
Shinso hadn't made it to the finals. He'd been knocked out earlier in the bracket of the Cavalry Battle. A round lower than his original Canon counterpart.
But he'd made it to the final forty-two in the Obstacle Race. As one of the only three not from the hero course to achieve it, that alone proved he had potential.
Just not the flashy, combat-ready kind U.A. seemed to prioritize.
'He's betting on me because if I win, it proves General Studies students aren't just filler. And if I prove that… maybe they'll take a second look at people like him.'
Yuta exhaled slowly.
"So basically, you want me to win so you don't look bad by association."
Shinso's lips twitched—almost a smirk. "Something like that." Yuta gave him a deep look.
"Alright. Fair enough."
Well, it's not like he could say anything else.
He walked past Shinso, heading deeper into the tunnel.
"Akutami."
Yuta glanced back.
"Don't lose to the 'elite pick.' As much as I hate to have to rely on someone else, If you're going to carry the banner for General Studies, don't drop it now."
Yuta smirked slightly. "I don't plan on it."
He turned the corner and disappeared into the waiting room corridor.
Shinso stayed where he was for a moment, staring at the empty hallway.
Then he pushed off the wall and walked back toward the stands.
'Good luck, Akutami.'
__
In Waiting Room B, Todoroki sat in silence, staring at the floor.
'Akutami Yuta.'
His brain buzzed with countermeasures and contingency plans.
'He's fast.'
This was the only statement Todoroki could give at the moment. From the Obstacle course to Cavalry battles and one on one matches, his opponent had shown nothing but pure speed quirk wise.
'Like Iida, but faster and more agile.'
For a moment, Todoroki was glad that Iida had been his last opponent.
The memory of his Recipro's sudden burst of speed left him unsettled, even now. If it had been a faster opponent, perhaps he would have truly lost.
The memory of Shiozaki's loss appeared fresh in his mind.
'He's faster than anyone I've faced so far. However, he never actually used that burst speed much. During the race he only used it to get ahead of the robots and ran the rest of the way with normal speed. Even if that's chalked up to not wanting to take first place, it wasn't constant in the cavalry battle.'
Todoroki frowned.
'Regardless, I'll lose if he can close the distance.'
He exhaled.
'I'll just have to be defensive, and leave no blind spots to exploit.'
His battle plan was simple.
End it quickly. Overwhelm him with ice before he could move. If he dodges the first, then do it again.
The speaker crackled.
"SHOTO TODOROKI, PLEASE REPORT TO THE ARENA. YOUR MATCH WILL BEGIN SHORTLY."
Todoroki walked toward the door, expression cold and focused.
'Let's finish this.'
___
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! HEROES AND CITIZENS! WE HAVE REACHED THE FINAL FOUR! IT'S THE MATCH THAT HAS THE INTERNET DIVIDED! THE GENERAL STUDIES ANOMALY VERSUS THE MASTER OF ICE!"
Present Mic's voice exploded through the PA system.
"FROM THE GENERAL STUDIES DEPARTMENT—THE MAN WHO DISAPPEARS IN FRONT OF YOUR EYES—YUUUTAAA AKUTAMIII!"
Yuta stepped into the arena. The cheering was massive, almost like the underdogs in the audience were screaming for a disruption of the status quo.
"AND FROM THE HERO COURSE—THE MAN WHO NEEDS NO INTRODUCTION—THE SON OF THE FLAME HERO, ALL ROUND GENIUS—SHOOOTOOO TOODOROKIII!"
Todoroki entered the ring, eyes burning with cold intensity.
Midnight raised her whip high, her own excitement palpable.
"Contestants… ready?"
Yuta lowered his center of gravity. His heart rate slowed as chakra began to circulate through his legs, reinforcing the muscles for an explosive burst. Todoroki pulled back his right foot, frost-covering the concrete.
"BEGIN!"
Todoroki didn't hesitate. He slammed his palm and a massive iceberg erupted from the floor, moving at a speed that dwarfed anything he'd used against Iida.
Be it Midnight, Cementoss, or the audience, everyone's expressions changed.
'It's the move he used against Sero.'
The avalanche of crystalline blue appeared before Yuta in an instant, and engulfed the land where he stood.
Ice engulfed the left side of the arena and rose to new heights.
In an instant, a structure fifty feet tall nearly soaring over the open ceiling obscured everyone's view of the sky. Class 1D's viewing area had a literal glacier pressed in front of their faces.
"Holy Shit!" Kimura exclaimed at the top of his lungs.
Hana beside him, felt her legs go weak. "You can say that again."
The last time, the ice wave had been focused on class 1A's viewing area. Now it was their turn.
"Hold on. Where's Yuta?"
Meanwhile, Todoroki leapt backwards the moment he unleashed his ice storm.
The ground beneath him froze as he slid further away upon landing.
CRACK!
Jagged Ice spears rose in a circular pattern around him with a wave of his hands.
The ice behind him grew higher than the ones in front.
'Let's see him get past this.'
This was Todoroki's countermeasures.
'Now show yourself.' His eyes darted across the arena the moment he finished. Barely three seconds had elapsed.
The audience now barely began to react.
"This? Again?"
"Where's the kid? Did he get submerged?"
Class 1A and the rest of the audience were looking for the same thing.
"Did Todoroki get him?"
"It seems so. I don't see him anywhere."
The murmurs of the crowd were automatically ignored. Todoroki's vigilance didn't lessen one bit.
Present Mic's eyes were locked onto the iceberg.
"TODOROKI ALREADY GETS A BLOW IN RIGHT AWAY. IT SEEMS HE'S TRYING TO AVOID CLOSE COMBAT WITH YUTA WITH ONE DECISIVE MOVE. DID IT WORK! COULD THE MATCH BE OVER ALREADY!"
"No It isn't." Aizawa who hadn't said a word for so long, replied blandly.
"Todoroki's Ice is different from last time. It's aimed. There's also the barriers around him. The kid's being careful of a counterattack. The match isn't over."
"HUH? THEN WHERE'S AKUTAMI? I DON'T SEE HIM DOWN THERE!"
"Look up."
"Huh?"
CRACK!
A corner of the glacier was smashed into. Everyone turned their heads, only to see a slender chunk of ice shoot out from the ice mass. .. straight towards Todoroki.
'What the ...'
The projectile slammed into a quickly erected Ice shield. Todoroki's eyebrows narrowed. 'I knew it.'
The sudden change startled the audience.
"THERE!"
No one knew who screamed it first.
But everyone followed almost in unison. Heads tilted back and necks cranes.
Rows of spectators leaned forward at the same time without realising it. Eyes focusing in a smashed area previously covered by ice.
Midnight's eyes widened first.
"…oh."
A soft ripple shot through the stadium.
Up near the very peak of Todoroki's glacier—almost above the arena lights, where frost still billowed off the jagged crown—someone stood upside down.
"No way. Is he—?!"
"Holy Shit. The kid actually dodged that?"
"Forget the dodge. How's he standing like that?!"
Yuta crouched against the ice—feet planted flat on the vertical surface as if gravity had forgotten about him.
'Well, that didn't work.'
His gaze was fixed on Todoroki who was surrounded with ice shields.
'Is he really that cautious?'
Meanwhile,
Class 1A stared in disbelief.
"Oh my Quirk! Is he standing upside down?"
Iida cleaned his glasses and put them back on. "He is."
"But ... Isn't his quirk speed related?"
"I don't know. Isn't it?"
"Come to think of it. I don't ever remember anyone confirming it is .."
Midoriya scribbled so fast the pen tip nearly tore the page.
"He's using some kind of adhesion ability—no, it doesn't seem to have any relation to his speed shown—could he be manipulating force distribution at the point of contact. That's— that's insane—!"
Present Mic nearly choked on his words.
"AKUTAMI—IS—ON—THE—CEILING—OF—THE—ICE—?! HOW DID HE—WHEN DID HE—?!" Eraserhead frowned. 'Is that support gear?'
Yuta and Todoroki locked eyes.
'How is he? .. suction? Support gear?' Todoroki's mind raced. 'No. It doesn't matter. He's exposed. Now's my ..'
His thoughts had barely finished when Yuta flooded his palm with chakra ... And struck the ice by his side.
BANG!
The glacier crown fractured like glass.
Chunks the size of fists and plates broke away. Before gravity could claim them, thin glowing strokes flared across the shards—angular markings that lit up in clean white.
Kanji.
'Finally, projectiles!'
『迅』
『烈』
『破』
He swept his arm. The air cracked.
Ice bullets rained downward, arcing toward Todoroki like a cluster bombardment.
___
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