Author's Note Quick heads up I will be away next week and most likely won't be able to post
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Shinso blinked as he stumbled forward through the vacant space where Kenji had just stood. Catching himself Shinso looked down at his empty hands, 'W-what?! W-where did he go?!'
A shadow fell over Shinso and he spun around to find Kenji looming over him with a wide grin stretched across his face. His normally dark eyes were glowing with a faint purple light and his long black hair stood up on end, "Damn that was a close call."
"H-how?!" Shinso stammered as he stared at Kenji who looked both completely unbothered and quite amused.
Kenji reached up and tapped his temple sending sparks of purple static flying through the air, "It wasn't easy I'll tell you that much, but god damn if it wasn't worth it."
The moment Kenji responded Shinso activated his quirk targeting Kenji's mind only to encounter a chaotic whirlwind of thoughts and calculations. Shinso let out a muffled grunt of pain and his hands shot up to grab his head as he stumbled back.
"Yeah sorry that won't work anymore," Kenji informed scratching his head as if he wasn't the one responsible for Shinso's pain, "So...do you just wanna go ahead and surrender or...?"
Shinso growled as he recovered though there was still a lingering pain from whatever Kenji had done to resist his quirk, "A hero never surrenders! If you want to win you'll have to fight me!"
Kenji looked surprised for a moment before his smile returned, "Actually that works out just fine for me! Better to figure things out here than later in the tournament."
'Figure what out?' Shinso asked himself, but the moment the thought crossed his mind Kenji suddenly disappeared. All Shinso could process was the sharp zap and hum of electricity before Kenji appeared standing at the opposite edge of the arena. A trail of purple static lingered in the air connecting his current position from where he had previously stood and there was a faint scorch mark on the ground.
"WOAH WHAT'S THIS? KENJI ATOMA HAS SEEMINGLY TELEPORTED MOMENTS AFTER BREAKING OUT OF HIS TRANCE!! JUST WHAT EXACTLY IS GOING ON?!"
'I nearly sent myself off the fucking edge that's what's going on!' I answered in my head as I shook out my legs which had nearly spelled my doom, 'I need to calibrate my new sense of speed.'
With my flux-enhanced nervous system, not only did my perception of time slow down, but my reactions had become nearly instantaneous allowing my body to keep up with my insane cognitive speed. But I could still feel I was only scratching the surface of what my new design was capable of and my blood boiled thinking about the possibilities.
Returning my focus to the present I stared at Shinso who hadn't moved to pursue me, "Sorry about that, I only meant to move a few feet away. I'm still getting used to all of this."
For a moment Shinso didn't reply and instead raised his hands into a fighting stance, "I won't lose!"
"You sure you want to do this?" I asked only for Shinso to stay rooted in his stance as his hands curled into fists.
"Alright then," I answered his silent declaration with a shrug, and with a single thought I sent my brain into overdrive. My eyes flashed as the electricity flushed through my entire body and the world around me slowed to a crawl.
By the time Shinso blinked I was standing in front of him less than an inch away. But this time he didn't flinch instead he lashed out the moment I appeared punching with all the speed and force he could muster. But from my point of view, Shinso was moving through molasses, and as I watched his fist crawl at a snail's pace through the air a sense of boredom almost made me end the fight there.
But then an idea struck me, 'What if I got rid of the time dilation effect...but kept my reaction speed up.'
It took me a moment to figure out how, but by the time Shinso's fist was an inch away from my face I put the final piece in place. With the flip of a switch time sped back up and Shinso's fist rocketed forward, close enough that there should have been no way for me to avoid the right hook.
But then without any conscious thought on my part, my foot lashed out not so much as kicking Shinso in the chest but pushing him away just enough for his punch to come up short.
Stumbling back the look of surprise on Shinso's face was almost priceless, and I fought the urge to laugh with giddy excitement at my success. Meeting his gaze I raised my own hands settling into the stance Aizawa had taught me, "Come on then, you said you weren't going down without a fight! Don't stop now!"
Shinso snarled baring his teeth and threw himself at me. He opened with a jab and my body instantly moved to roll under the punch popping up inside his guard. But I didn't press the advantage instead letting Shinso peddle back as he threw out a few probing punches that I avoided as well.
All the while as my body moved on autopilot thanks to the millions of connections formed within my spinal cord, my brain was watching and analyzing Shinso. So the moment he shifted his weight to his back foot to support a side kick I took note and my leg lifted off the ground to check the blow.
As the fight dragged on my movements only became more and more fluid and before I realized it I wasn't reacting to Shinso's attacks but predicting them. With unwavering accuracy, I blocked and deflected his punches and sidestepped his kicks all without throwing a single attack myself.
I didn't know how long the fight dragged on as I settled into a flow state, but I absently noted that the window between Shinso's punches grew wider and wider until I raised my elbow to block a kick to the head that never came.
My hands dropped and my stance relaxed as I looked down at Shinso who was panting for breath sweat dripping down his forehead hunched over from the strain of remaining upright, "J-just...get it over with."
I looked over his shoulder at the arena's edge less than a foot away, "This was a close match, you almost had me in the beginning."
Shinso scoffed, "Don't fucking patronize me...asshole."
I cracked a grin and scratched the back of my head, "Yeah I guess I owe you that much."
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"AND WITH THAT KENJI ATOMA MOVES ON TO THE NEXT ROUND, SO FAR HE SEEMS TO BE THE PEOPLE'S FAVORITE. BUT HOW WILL HE STACK UP TO HIS PEERS!"
"Is this your work?" All Might asked watching the highlight reel of Kenji's match standing behind Nezu who sat in his overseer's chair practically vibrating with excitement.
"What do you possibly mean old friend?" Nezu asked with a mischievous smile.
All Might crossed his arms, "I heard that after the USJ Incident, you tutored Atoma for nearly a week before he returned home."
"You make it sound like the boy was a prisoner, he was the one who decided not to return home," Nezu replied as he picked up his cup of tea and took a sip, "But to answer your question, no the impressive feet Kenji pull off in his match was the result of his own efforts."
"I still don't understand how he managed such a thing with his quirk." All Might questioned, "From what I saw he didn't even employ his flux."
Nezu fell silent for a moment contemplating, "That I can not answer with any certainty, with Kenji's quirk there are potentially infante possibilities to explain his sudden increase in speed and reaction time."
"Damn, I'd never thought I'd see the day, that a student stumped you, Principal." A boisterous voice echoed through the door before it was thrown open and a dark-skinned figure strode through with a broad grin across their face.
Nezu sighed, "Usagiyama I thought I told you last time, that it's rude to show up unannounced."
"And I thought I told you last time to use my hero name! You damn rodent."
All Might glanced over his shoulder with a smile as he stared down at the tan-skinned woman with stark white hair that matched the two rabbit years standing straight up above her head, "Mirko, what a pleasant surprise! I can't remember the last time you watched a Sports Festival."
"That's because I never have muscle brains," Mirko shot back with a cocky grin though All Might didn't seem offended.
"Oh, what's different this time around?" Nezu asked though he already knew the answer.
Mirko snorted and crossed her arms, "What you think I'm not gonna check out the brat who broke my record?"