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…
'Phew… That was closer than I'd have liked…' Suzaku thought as he eyed Midoriya's unconscious figure in the grass.
His eyes then swept through the arena, if it could still be called that.
After Midoriya's last desperate attack, there wasn't much of the arena left, just a few huge chunks of concrete that lay scattered everywhere, with one of them being the floor he was standing on. The rest had all been sent flying away or turned to dust product of Midoriya's punch.
"...Seriously…" Suzaku sweatdropped at the sheer destruction caused by one simple punch.
At this rate, if Midoriya followed the classic Shonen protagonist path, it wouldn't be long before he gained full control of that insane power.
After pondering about it for a few seconds, Suzaku calculated it would most likely take him about three years to reach his peak—just in time for graduation.
It made sense: the anime's title, "My Hero School"—or something along those lines—alluded to UA, and the hero course was supposed to last three years.
Probably, Midoriya would face a few arcs of minor issues while still at school, learn to control his quirk during the first year, and then—bam—a time skip to the world-ending battles.
'Yeah, I can totally picture that happening,' Suzaku mused, nodding to himself for a second, only for his eyes to gain a nervous glance the next second. 'Though, I stopped watching after season one, so who knows how the story actually developed after that...'
Glancing at Midoriya again, Suzaku massaged his chin anxiously. 'Let's hope the author didn't rush things like some other shows… The later the world-ending stuff starts, the better for me...'
As Suzaku was dreading the future, suddenly, he felt something wet on his cheek.
Thinking it was sweat, Suzaku wiped it away, only to find blood on his thumb.
"...?"
Frowning, he traced the source to a small sting on his temple.
'Huh… Guess some debris hit me during Midoriya's attack.' Suzaku thought, looking at the blood on his fingers with a raised eyebrow.
The wound wasn't serious… At least not to his standards. He used to get way worse injuries when training with the old man.
He recalled how it might've happened. When Midoriya unleashed his cataclysmic punch, Suzaku had sprinted straight toward him, leaping with all his strength to escape the shockwave.
While he'd managed to grab Midoriya mid-air, the debris flying around had clearly reached his head at some point.
'Adrenaline really numbs everything,' Suzaku thought, wincing as he poked at the wound. It wasn't deep, just a scratch, but still annoying.
By now, the school staff had whisked Midoriya away to Recovery Girl. With a sigh of relief, Suzaku turned to leave the arena, letting the next contenders take their place.
On his way out, he pulled out his phone to check the tournament brackets. He already had a good idea of who his next opponent would be, but it didn't hurt to confirm.
As he passed the waiting room, however, he froze.
'Well, speak of the devil…'
Standing there was none other than Todoroki.
The situation mirrored his earlier encounter with Midoriya, except this time, Suzaku wasn't gonna challenge him like they were destined rivals as Midoriya had done with him.
So, in the end, he gave Todoroki a silent glance, one the red-and-white-haired teen reciprocated with his own.
"..."
"..."
Their gazes spoke volumes. Todoroki's was challenging, practically daring Suzaku to beat him in the next round. Suzaku's? More awkward curiosity than anything else.
Amidst the endless silence, he debated saying something but decided against it. Taunting Todoroki after watching his earlier fight didn't feel like the right thing to do, not when the guy had actually proven how much of a threat compared to everyone else he was.
And besides, now they were one match from fighting each other… If there was anything Suzaku had to say, he could say it at the arena.
After all, actions spoke louder than words—or in this case, punches did.
So after snorting a little at how awkward their silent standoff was being, Suzaku shook his head and began walking away. Todoroki stayed silent as he passed by his side.
Though, in the end, Suzaku couldn't suppress his inner sass.
"Try not to lose to that girl in your class," he quipped, smirking. "Unlike everyone else until now—save for Midoriya—beating you up might be worth some effort."
"You—" Todoroki started, but Suzaku was already too far away to hear the comeback. Not one to shout, Todoroki simply snorted and took a seat, waiting for his match to be called.
With that weird meeting done, Suzaku climbed back into the stands, plopping down in his seat with a heavy sigh. His classmates smirked at how drained he looked, though Suzaku ignored them, too busy recovering from the chaotic match.
"That was amazing, Suzaku!" Tetsutetsu exclaimed as Suzaku relaxed cozily in his seat.
"Like I always am," Suzaku replied casually, hands in his pockets. "But me aside, which part did you mean, though?"
"The whole fight! I didn't even know Class 1-A had such guys! Destroying an arena with one punch—that's insane!"
Itsuka, leaning forward, joined the conversation. "Yeah, but it looked like that boy's Quirk damaged his own body. So it's not like it's flawless."
"Eh? I didn't notice," Tetsutetsu said, scratching his head. "Still, that guy's Quirk packs a real punch! And you still managed to win, Suzaku!"
"It was lightwork," Suzaku shrugged.
As he said this, Itsuka tilted her head, noticing a faint red mark on his forehead, standing out even against his crimson hair.
"You're hurt?" she asked, leaning closer for a better look.
"It's nothing," Suzaku said with a dismissive wave. "Just some stray pebble. Don't worry."
Unconvinced, and after hesitating for a second, Itsuka brushed his hair aside to inspect the wound. It was still bleeding, though shallow.
After a small huff of disapproval at Suzaku's indifference, she rummaged through her pockets and pulled out a small pack of tissues.
"Press this on it," she said, gently placing a tissue over the wound. Suzaku reluctantly held it in place, glancing at her with a mix of awkwardness and gratitude.
"You worry too much," he said, before cracking a small smile. "But thanks either way."
Itsuka smiled back and turned her attention to the arena as Present Mic's voice boomed over the speakers.
["Thanks for your patience, dear audience! The arena has been reconstructed, and the tournament will now resume!"]
The giant stadium screen flickered to display the next contenders: Shoto Todoroki vs. Momo Yaoyorozu.
["For the last match before the semifinals we have…"]
Suzaku leaned back, letting his mind wander as the match's presentations began. He checked the brackets again. The next and first fight of the semi-finals was… Eijiro Kirishima vs. Katsuki Bakugo.
It seemed the tanky guy who stole his hair color would be fighting Mr. Bombastic.
Suzaku rubbed his chin thoughtfully. The explosive brat would likely win. While Kirishima's endurance was impressive, it didn't mean much against the laws of physics—or whatever weird rules governed this world. Even if Kirishima tanked Bakugo's explosions, the recoil would still send him flying. A single misstep and Kirishima would be out of bounds.
Even though a scenario where Kirishima won wasn't impossible, Suzaku couldn't picture it happening… At least not judging from the way the spiky redhead had performed in the fight against Tokoyami.
After coming to that conclusion, his thoughts shifted to his own path ahead.
First, he'd face Todoroki, and if his hunch was right, Bakugo would be his final opponent. Only after beating both of them could he claim first place and go home satisfied.
It seemed like he had quite a challenging path ahead.
As the match below progressed, Suzaku glanced at the arena. Yaoyorozu was struggling to keep up. Todoroki's relentless ice overwhelmed her before she could create anything helpful enough to get rid of the ice.
'Yep, as expected.'
Seeing his predictions coming true, Suzaku sighed and leaned his head on his fist, letting his thoughts drift elsewhere.
For a moment, he considered issuing a celebration today if he won this festival. After all, when winning a country-wide—or even world-wide—known event, usually you'd deserve a good celebration.
However, he remembered the appointment he had tomorrow and frowned slightly.
This wasn't exactly a time to be celebrating stuff.
'Do I even own anything black? Maybe I should go shopping after this.'
A nudge snapped him out of his thoughts.
"Suzaku, you're not covering your wound," Itsuka said, arms crossed.
Glancing down, Suzaku realized the tissue had slipped from his forehead to his knee. He snorted faintly and put it back in place without a word, though a corner of his mouth twitched in amusement.
Just then, Present Mic's voice boomed again.
["Momo Yaoyorozu is unable to fight anymore! The winner is Shoto Todoroki!"]
Suzaku looked at the arena just in time to see Yaoyorozu trapped in ice. She held a frozen flamethrower in one hand, with a cannon encased in ice nearby.
"What did I miss?" Suzaku muttered, sweatdropping as his mouth twitched in bafflement.
It seemed he had underestimated the girl's danger levels… But hey, would you blame him? He had only seen her pull out an insulating mantle, and that was pretty much it.
Who would've thought she could also bust out a flamethrower and a cannon?
As the staff carried Momo off the field once Todoroki finished melting all the ice surrounding her, Suzaku squinted at the frosty wasteland that was now the arena. Ice spires stretched across the battlefield—not as massive as the ones Todoroki used against Iida, but still daunting.
'This is certainly gonna be a pain,' Suzaku thought, eyes narrowing at the thought of having to deal with that much firepower—or icepower, in this case.
'What to do?' Suzaku pondered, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
So far, he'd considered several ways to counter Todoroki's ice attacks, but most of them carried some level of risk.
If only there was a way to extend his attack range, thus minimizing the time he'd be exposed to those relentless waves of frost, or even to leap over the incoming ice walls.
"...!" His eyes lit up as an idea struck him.
'That's right—the new extensible staff Arata made for me!'
With it, he could reduce the distance to Todoroki while staying safer and even use it as a pole vault to clear any particularly high ice formations. His legs alone could already launch him 7–8 meters into the air, but conserving energy would be crucial for the fight, considering he would be fighting a guy who could create glaciers with a wave of his hands.
Still, Suzaku frowned, his hand drifting back to his chin. 'Vlad-sensei said it was fine to use in the festival… but now that we're in the tournament finals, I'd better double-check.'
Decision made, he rose from his seat.
"Hmm? Where are you going, Suzaku?" Tetsutetsu asked, cocking an eyebrow. "Your match isn't for a while."
"I'm getting my new staff."
"New staff?" Itsuka echoed, narrowing her eyes. "How'd you get one so fast? Doesn't new equipment take months to request and process?"
"It's a gift from a friend."
"Oh!" A lightbulb lit in Itsuka's mind. "Your support department friend?"
"The one and only," Suzaku confirmed with a nod. "He made me a new one, and if I'm up against Mr. Do-you-want-to-build-a-snowman, now's the perfect time to use it."
"What's with that nickname?" Itsuka smiled wryly, only for her expression to then turn pensive.
Given Suzaku's Quirk wasn't offensively inclined, it wouldn't be surprising if the school allowed him to use the staff. After all, he had already gotten one that was part of his hero gear.
That said, considering the way Suzaku had demolished his opponents using nothing but his hands and raw combat skills, she wasn't entirely sure they would allow it for this tournament—they might just consider it to be overkill.
"Well, I'll be off," Suzaku said as he turned to leave.
"Wait!" Itsuka called after him. "Stop by the infirmary first and patch up that wound!"
"Alright, alright, Miss Nagging," Suzaku teased with a grin, waving her off as he walked away.
She huffed in mock irritation but couldn't help smiling as he disappeared into the crowd.
…
°
°
°
|A few minutes later…|
…
After a quick stop at the stadium's infirmary, where the school staff applied a patch to his forehead, Suzaku went to find Vlad King.
It didn't take long; he simply approached the observation deck where the teachers were gathered, and after asking some teachers to call him, Vlad King stepped out to meet him, listening to Suzaku's request with a furrowed brow.
"Hmm," Vlad said, crossing his arms. "I don't see an issue, but it's not my call. You'll have to ask Midnight—she's the referee in this tournament."
Suzaku nodded, though he wasn't thrilled about the timing. Midnight was busy officiating the matches, so there wouldn't be a chance to ask her until right before his fight.
"Tell you what," Vlad added after some thought. "Grab your staff now. When it's your turn, check with her. If she says no, you can leave it in the waiting room and fetch it yourself once the match is done, or have someone fetch it for you later if, uh…" He cleared his throat. "…if things don't go your way."
Suzaku smiled annoyed. Even his teacher doubted him it seemed.
In the end, though, Suzaku agreed to his teacher's idea and then waved him off with an unworried face as he left.
After all, losing wasn't on his agenda—whether against the Puberty-version Ice King or Explosion Maniac Kid.
With the plan set, Suzaku pulled out his phone and navigated the stadium's map, heading toward one of the support classes' waiting rooms. That was where Arata said he'd be waiting to give him the staff after he'd called him.
However, as he was walking through one of the stadium's hallways, about to reach his destination, a deep voice called out from behind him.
"Ah, there you are."
Suzaku paused, his brow furrowing slightly as he turned to face the speaker.
"...?"
The moment he saw who was standing there, Suzaku's eyebrows rose in surprise.
Standing behind him, was none other than Endeavor—Mr. Eternal-Second-Place.
…
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-To be Continued…-
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(A/N: The tournament enters its semifinals! Now, only three combats remain. Will Suzaku manage to overcome the humongous ice wall that Todoroki represents, or will he succumb to the limits of his not-so-human body in front of the overwhelming Quirk difference?
Also, it seems a talk with the Number Two Hero is in order. What will he tell him, and most importantly, will Suzaku be able to ward off his mouth in front of someone so important (No.)
Discover it in the next episode of Sussy Baka in MHA!)
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