Chapter 40
"Pretty good job there, man," Mineta commented, sitting beside Kazuki as they looked at the battlefield where Todoroki was going to face Kamakiri. It was nice of the organizers to delay things long enough for participants to reach the stands once more, truly. "Hagakure got a little scared at parts though."
"She did?" Kazuki asked with a half-smile, turning just in time to see the invisible girl smack Mineta. "I appreciate the concern."
"I wasn't scared!" the girl denied vehemently. "Tiny should learn to not tell lies!" she added, giving the short guy another hit for good measure.
"But you were-"
"I was nothing," Hagakure hissed and Kazuki could almost see the glare she was directing at Mineta.
"They are starting," Yaoyorozu told them, making him turn his attention back to the competition. Mineta could deal with his own problems, after all. Surely Hagakure wouldn't do anything too bad to the guy…
Probably, at least.
"Predictions?" Jiro asked.
"Todoroki," Kazuki answered instantly. "Nothing against Kamakiri, he's great. He'd probably have a good chance of placing high in this thing, but against Todoroki? Forget it."
"Yeah, that makes sense," Jiro replied, looking slightly amused. "Doesn't really help his odds of showing much to the crowd, does it? One would think the school would try for something a little more fair."
"Like Aizawa said at the beginning of the year, we have to prepare for unfair situations," Yaoyorozu, ever the know-it-all, pointed out, which was fair enough. "This can help us show how we'd do in a situation with the odds completely against us. Would we crumble? Would we surrender?"
"Very deep, yeah," Kazuki agreed. "I guess there are situations for anything though. It's not like you can be expected to throw your life away against impossible odds as a hero. You might need to, depending on the situation, but that doesn't excuse being fucking suicidal."
"Language," Yaoyorozu chided, making them all roll their eyes. "And yes, I agree with that too."
"Good to know," Togeike mumbled from the side and Kazuki was once more struck with that awkwardness. He really needed to pay more attention, considering how uncomfortable she must be with a group of people that were all close to each other except for her. It was all starting to blend together with the flood of emotions around. If he didn't actually pay attention, it was hard to pick up on where a specific emotion was coming from. "I might need to bow out after my fight."
"And there's nothing wrong with that," Kazuki said firmly. "Knowing your limits is good too. Throwing your life away can be heroic, but it shouldn't be the go to option, that's for sure. At least, that's what I think. Your life is as important as anyone else's, after all."
"Joining Beauty in the deep club, huh?" Mineta asked with a grin that Kazuki returned right back at him. He wasn't wrong about that, after all.
Whatever else they might have said was interrupted by Midnight calling for the start of the match. Immediately – and predictably, really – Todoroki froze half the stage. The thing that was a little less expected was Kamakiri dodging the ice by jumping and then hitting the frozen wall that rose with his blades when they got too close.
"Putting up a fight," Kazuki commented, watching his training buddy start to make his way towards Todoroki, who seemed surprised to not have finished the match with just that. "Nice," he added, because he didn't want to watch the guy lose instantly. That'd have sucked.
A second wave of ice came then, and it seemed to catch Kamakiri this time, if only slightly. The end of his pants seemed to be torn a little before he could get away from the attack. 'What are you gonna do now?' Kazuki asked in his mind as he watched the 1-B student try to recover and cover more ground.
He was never going to get close enough to Todoroki to get a hit in though. However, Kazuki was pretty sure that just trying and surviving for as long as he did was a good enough showing. He hadn't given up and he'd actually "put up a fight" in a sense. It was impressive enough on its own and it should be for any hero watching too. In his opinion, at least.
"Welp, he tried," Mineta said as one of Kamakiri's legs got completely stuck in ice. He was right, the fight was over. The 1-B student was aware of that too, because he sagged as he surrendered. In a good show of sportsmanship, Todoroki reached towards the leg and started using his fire to-
'... Nice of you, I guess,' Kazuki thought with a small smile. He could feel the struggle coming from Todoroki, but he soldiered through it. It seemed the guy wasn't going to shy away from his fire, if still refusing to use it all that much. Or maybe he was reading too much into it? Regardless, it was good… Or so he thought. He honestly didn't know what the right answer was with that situation.
Because Endeavor deserved to have his Quirk spat on, from what Kazuki knew, but then again, Todoroki deserved the freedom to use his Quirk completely. It wasn't like he was a menace if he did so, like Kazuki was. It was a greatQuirk, but the circumstances…
'Yeah, that's a mess I'll leave to Hound Dog if I can help it,'he thought, watching as the two students left the stage after their fight.
That's when he was distracted by a few other students close by standing up. Midoriya and Kaminari, the ones that would go after Togeike and Shinso. That was for later though, even if the two seemed jittery enough to get up already.
"Good luck," he told Togeike as she moved to leave. "You trained for this and you know his Quirk, so I'll be cheering for you to kick his ass."
"Language."
"And this wouldn't have anything to do with what happened with your class?" the Gen Ed girl asked him, completely ignoring Yaoyorozu. 'She's learning,' he thought, seeing the hint of a smirk on Togeike's face. 'Much better,' he added then, feeling her nerves dissipating.
"I'm sure I don't know what you are talking about," he told her, doing his best to play innocent. Not only Togeike, but the rest of the group around snorted. "Well, you guys suck too."
"You couldn't pull off innocent even if you actually were," Mineta commented with a chuckle while Hagakure joined with a giggle behind her hand. Kazuki wasn't sure what the point of that was. Nobody could see her giggle anyway.
"Go take that win, yeah? You deserve it."
"Of course I do," the girl replied, huffing at him before walking off.
Leaning back against his seat, he turned towards the stage waiting for her to get there and then for her match to start.
"Predictions?"
"She's gonna win. Unless that guy is tougher than he looks, which I doubt, she's got this," Kazuki said, a hit of a frown on his face. "She's practiced hand to hand against my Imps a bit. She should be able to kick him out of the stage or beat him up."
"He doesn't look that weak, you know?" Jiro asked, making him grimace.
"... Fine… I don't know, ok? I just don't want that guy to win. I don't like him," Kazuki muttered, glaring at the stage. "I'mgonna beat him up if she doesn't."
"There there, your friend will be fine," Jiro told him, patting his arm condescendingly. His eye twitched and not just out of annoyance, but also because there was some stirring in the emotions from the crowd.
He felt a pit form in his stomach.
Had he ruined Togeike by asking her to be on his team?
'Fuck,' he cursed internally.
Then he blinked.
Turning to the side, he saw that Todoroki had sat on the seat beside him that Togeike had left empty. Glancing around, he saw that the rest of the group were as caught off guard as he was. 'Welp, just roll with the punches, I guess,'Kazuki thought to himself. 'From helping one awkward person to another,' he added with a slight smile as he felt the uncomfortable feeling rolling off of Todoroki, not unlike Togeike had been before.
"Thanks for helping him out like that. You didn't need to," Kazuki said, leaning back and waiting for the next match.
"He's a friend of yours?"
"I mean… I guess I'd count him. We're not close, but we train together almost every day at the school's facilities," Kazukia answered with an uncertain expression before shrugging. "That must have gotten you a lot of points with the crowd, I imagine."
"... Ah." Evidently, it seemed that he hadn't even thought about that. It made Kazuki laugh, honestly. Here he was, hyperfocusing on crowd reaction and his classmates seemed to be mostly just vibing. He envied them that, honestly.
"That you did it without even knowing makes it even better," he pointed out, still chuckling.
"We are not gonna ask how this happened?" Mineta asked, eyes wide as he looked between the two. "Is my best-bro role getting usurped? Because I can't fight Todoroki, man. Don't do this to me!" he exclaimed dramatically.
The aforementioned ice and fire user tilted his head, confused.
As for Kazuki, he just sighed, even if he was also grinning.
"Your role is fine, man, don't you worry," he reassured, unable to stop a chuckle from escaping his lips. Especially at Mineta's exaggerated sigh in relief. "Don't listen to him, okay?" he added, patting Todoroki on the back. "We are dramatic idiots like that at times."
"I'll… keep it in mind?" Todoroki replied, unsure.
"You get used to it," Jiro supplied, clearly very done with their antics, even if she continued sticking around.
"Gotta say, it's nice not to be outnumbered by the girls anymore," Kazuki commented, looking towards the stage. They were already setting everything up for the next battle, it seemed. "They are starting," he said, and everyone turned towards the battlefield before they could say anything.
Shinso wasn't looking so good, and he certainly wasn't feeling it either. There was annoyance and frustration rolling off of him like there was no tomorrow. 'What's up with people in this school and their emotions?' Kazuki thought while grimacing. First Bakugo then Midoriya then All Might and now this guy…
"Begin!" Midnight called and Togeike rushed at Shinso. He was talking to her, and Kazuki could pick up the fact that he was getting to her. The emotions coming from the girl were starting to spike… but she didn't answer. She didn't fall for it, the smart cookie that she was.
Maybe it wasn't very heroic of Kazuki, but fuck that guy. He had just rubbed him the wrong way in all sorts of forms. For one, belittling the effort that all his teammates had put into being in the Hero Course. For another complaining about his lot in life, like he'd had it rough compared to others. Kazuki wasn't one to try and start a misery competition, but he wanted to know what that guy had gone through that compared to him.
"Come on," he muttered through his teeth as the two Gen Ed students started fighting each other hand to hand, Quirkless style. To his eternal annoyance, Shinso was standing his ground, but the fact that he was struggling against Togeike, who was no powerhouse in that department, was very telling.
'Not to sound like Shinso, but fuck do I wish there was some water there for Togeike to use,' he thought, very aware that it was at least slightly hypocritical of him.
Then he paused.
Bringing his hands to his face, he massaged his eyelids and sighed. 'Fuck, the crowd's getting to me,' he thought, feeling the emotions washing over him from all directions. 'Too many people, I knew it,' he added, his hand starting to tremble. 'Come on, get a grip.'
"Creepy?" Hagakure asked, making more than one turn away from the match and towards him.
"I just… I'll take a minute off after this fight is over," he said, taking a deep breath in as he tried to calm himself down. He needed to focus, filter the emotions. "There's too many fucking people here," he hissed. "And they have no reason to be as negative as they are."
Except they did, and that reason was him.
For once, Yaoyorozu didn't comment on his language, which he appreciated.
'Don't feel, just think,' he told himself as he witnessed Togeike's match against Shinso. He analyzed it as objectively as he could, pushing all emotions aside. It was easier at the moment than trying to separate what was others from what was him, at least. Not precisely what he'd call healthy, but he needed to get a grip on his emotions before he started spiraling.
Shinso was fighting well, now that he wasn't letting emotional bias get in the way. He was pushing Togeike and it was all the girl could do not to be subdued or pushed off the stage. It seemed that the mind controlling Gen Ed student wasn't as much of a slacker as Kazuki had thought. Still not enough, but whatever.
Someone else would kick his ass if Togeike didn't. And if not, then he would, because he knew the guy's stupid gimmick already. 'Let's see what whining you'll- For fuck's sake,' he interrupted himself, dragging a hand over his face as he held back a groan.
He almost shouted something when he saw Togeike opening her mouth. She was the one that told him how Shinso's power worked. He knew she was growing desperate and all, but still-
Except, she didn't answer anything. Instead, he saw something shoot out of her mouth. 'Saliva needles?... Gross, but smart,' he thought, his lips pulling up into a smile. That was sure to get her some creativity points, right? He wondered how strong those were though, because while Shinso pulled back, he didn't really look like he'd been hit hard.
'Probably a new addition? Or maybe shooting them from her own mouth makes it hard or something,' Kazuki thought, pursing his lips. He'd have to help her train that. And hand to hand combat. Damn it all if he didn't want to see Togeike succeed, knowing how she'd worked to place well in this tournament. 'And especially because I might have lowered her chances,' added in his mind, grimacing.
It wasn't like he could participate in the Cavalry Battle without a team though…
'Come on,' he thought, watching as Togeike started pushing back now. He was fairly sure that she'd been trying to save that as an ace up her sleeve, but it wasn't to be. As it was, it was a weak trump card anyway, and it wouldn't have done her any favors if she got knocked out of the competition without showing it.
He groaned then, when Shinso managed to pin her down to the stage and Midnight called the match shortly after.
"She did fairly well, all things considered," Yaoyorozu commented, but despite the tone and her expression, she didn't seem to be feeling all that bad. That was fair though, Kazuki supposed. Togeike was more his friend than she was anyone else in his group. "She just wasn't strong enough in this setting."
"She did great in the Cavalry Battle with you though and she put up a fight. That has to count for something, right? Because if it doesn't, we are kind of screwed," Hagakure pointed out, ending it with a nervous laugh.
"I mean, it probably does… for us. The two of them kind of depend on doing really well to get the spot in our class. They are basically competing for that," Kazuki said, smiling bitterly as he realized that Togeike's chances of reaching the Hero Course were pretty much shot.
"They are unlikely to kick out someone that's already in the Hero Course, even if they do worse than the Gen Ed," Todoroki pointed out. "With that said, even if this Shinso goes further than her, it doesn't mean he's better than her, and the school knows that. They'll do an analysis of their whole performance in the Sports Festival, I'm sure," he explained when everyone turned towards him.
Kazuki tilted his head, not because he was considering those words – even though he was –, but considering the twinge of nerves that were coming from Todoroki then and there. 'Is he feeling awkward about the group too? Maybe about socializing in general?' he wondered. As he sat there, he couldn't recall any instance in which he actually saw the guy interact with someone when it wasn't absolutely necessary.
"That's actually reassuring, man. Thanks," he replied then, smiling slightly when he felt the nerves go away a bit. Then he took a deep breath in. "I'll go see if I can catch Togeike and a breath, because this whole thing?" he said, gesturing towards the stadium. "It's getting a little overwhelming."
"Sure thing, Endo. Do you need one of us to come?" Yaoyorozu offered and he smiled as he felt their worries and other emotions start to show.
"No, it's fine," he waved her off. "I just need a moment to gather my thoughts."
They weren't very reassured, but it was what he could do at the moment. Kazuki was barely keeping it together, after all, so he'd rather rush out before he caused a mess. Looking down, he saw his shadow darker than normal. It wasn't particularly concerning, but it was a sign all the same.
He couldn't let it get further than that.
"You did well," he said as he reached the hall where Togeike was walking away. She had no reason to stay in the balcony with them if she didn't want to be. Maybe it was a slight favoritism, but other courses were in a separate area from the Hero ones. Kazuki imagined the reasoning was that they needed more experience and a better view of the fights and such so they might learn a thing or two.
He wasn't too sure and he didn't feel like analyzing that kind of thing at the moment.
"I still lost," Togeike answered bitterly, with an expression to match.
"But you gave him a few good kicks and spit all over him," he commented, drawing a sheepish look from the girl as she turned bright red in embarrassment. "I mean, you should see some of my classmates. There's this girl that'll get sick when using her Quirk too much and this one dude fries his own brain cells for a while when he goes overboard. Spit needles aren't the worst thing ever."
"They didn't do that on national TV though," the Gen Ed student pointed out, even though she did feel a little better from what he could pick up.
"Yet," he replied with a grin. "And even then, I thought it should add you points. Creativity in the face of adversity and all that, right?"
"I sure hope so," Togeike answered with a sigh, her shoulders dropping. Then she got a good look at him. "Are you ok?"
"I'm… dealing with a lot of emotions right now," he admitted, moving to the side of the hall. "I don't want to make this about me though and I'd rather just think about something else."
"Doesn't sound healthy," she pointed out, to which he chuckled.
"It's probably not, but I'd rather not talk about it. It's not going to go away anytime soon," he said, feeling himself getting drained just trying to keep himself together.
"It'll be fine," she told him. "People are idiots, but not allpeople are idiots."
"You sure?"
"I mean, I'm fine with it, aren't I?" she asked, to which he turned to give her a weak smile that he was sure didn't reach his eyes. "It'll be fine," she repeated, placing a hand on his arm. "And if it's not, you can stick it to them that you are still good, whether they like it or not."
"That sounds better… more plausible too," he replied with a chuckle.
"Now, go, will you? You need to observe the competition," she told him, turning him around and pushing him.
"You aren't coming?"
"Nah, I'll stick with my Gen Ed friends now, if you don't mind," Togeike said, giving him a smile. "Also… thanks, for all the help with training and choosing me for your team. It was nice, being at the top for a bit."
"You deserved it. Worked on it as much as the rest of the team," Kazuki told her firmly. "If it were up to me, I'd give you the spot."
"Doesn't have anything to do with you not liking Shinso, right?"
"I'm sure I don't know what you are talking about."
Togeike snorted, shook her head and then just turned to leave.
"Kick his ass if you fight him, yeah?"
"That was a given."
[}-o-{]
When he came back, it seemed like the fight between Midoriya and Kaminari was underway…
In a sense, at least, because it looked like a bit of a silly game of tag, with Kaminari trying to get Midoriya and getting nowhere.
"They just started," Mineta supplied as Kazuki took his seat once more. "Midoriya seems to be thinking it over."
"For good reason," he replied. After all, Midoriya might have learned not to break everything when using his Quirk, but he couldn't quite do what he did best – read, punching – against Kaminari. That'd just leave him open to the other boy's Quirk, if he didn't immediately knock the guy out, which would take more control than he probably had.
"Yeah," Mineta agreed, before turning to look at him. "You doing ok?"
"Yeah, I think so. I might need to take a moment here and there though," he answered, taking a deep breath in. "Today sucks on so many levels."
"It'll get better, probably."
"Very reassuring, man."
"No prob- Woah!" Mineta exclaimed, interrupting himself as Midoriya took action. Unexpectedly, he didn't go for Kaminari, which was really the smart move. It was still surprising to see him suddenly punch the ground and then start chucking the concrete pieces at Kaminari though. 'Surprising but smart,' Kazuki thought, watching as the roles were reversed and it was the blonde's time to struggle against Midoriya.
"Keeping his distance and attacking anyway. Resourceful," Todoroki commented.
"Kaminari will have to try and get the fight he needs up close or he'll get taken out by those pieces of debris," Yaoyorozu continued then, as they all watched and tried to analyze the fight.
"Do you think he's good enough to avoid them while-? Ouch," Hagakure started before interrupting herself. Ouch indeed. Kaminari had gotten a piece of concrete right where no man wanted to be hit with one of those… or anything, really.
"Didn't know Midoriya had that in him," Jiro commented, leaning forward. "Gotta hand it to the nervous guy, that was brutal."
"I don't like how impressed you sound, Rocky. I really don't," Mineta mumbled while Kazuki and Todoroki leaned away from the girl.
"We offer Tiny as sacrifice."
"Wh-"
"What he said," Todoroki agreed quickly.
"You fuc-"
"Oh hey, Midoriya is winning!" Hagakure exclaimed, apparently having been disconnected from the conversation there. It was for the better, Kazuki decided. He didn't want to know where that ended.
Thus, resolutely, Mineta, Todoroki and him turned towards the battlefield.
Sure enough, after that… absolutely crushing hit from before, Kaminari was getting slowly but surely pushed off of the platform by Midoriya with more pieces of concrete. The green-haired boy was one on a mission, evidently, because he just wouldn't stop. Whenever he ran out of debris to throw, he'd just make more by punching the stage.
It took a minute, but eventually Midoriya won.
"Unfortunate for Kaminari," Yaoyorozu commented. "Never got quite close enough to at least use his all out. And if he did, he hesitated."
"He did a good job with the team. I'm sure he was able to get people to notice him, at least," Todoroki pointed out, that awkwardness still there, but he was trying and things were going pretty well. Or so Kazuki thought, at least.
"Speaking of teammates," Jiro said, and they all dutifully ignored the way Mineta flinched a little. "Yours is up next, Endo."
"Against Yanagi, wonder how both of them will do," Kazuki thought out loud, leaning back on his seat. Seemed like the tournament would take a while, but that was just how it was. At least he didn't have to be in front of everyone for the duration. Being able to take a break from the public was nice…
Even if the fucking negativity was still awful.
Chapter 41
Monoma's match was being set up, and in the meantime Midoriya had come back to the viewing section.
Nobody seemed very eager to let him live down the "damage" he might have done to the Kaminari bloodline, however. Poor bastard had a very good reason to be awkward at that moment, and Kazuki didn't let it get to him much. He had bigger shit to worry about and at least he knew this wasn't too bad. Besides, all the teasing seemed to make Midoriya relax, weirdly enough.
Soon, Kaminari came back from the infirmary with news that yes, he'd be able to have kids in the future. Whether that was a good thing or not, however, was up for debate, Jiro pointed out. Throughout the whole thing, Kazuki mostly leaned back and watched.
It was nice to witness those interactions. They grounded him there, in that moment, instead of letting him dwell on the everything else he was picking up. It was spreading, he was sure. The emotions were getting worse.
It wasn't easy to ignore, but it sure made him grateful that he couldn't actually hear the crowd.
"They are starting," Mineta told him, elbowing him lightly. Turning to him, Kazuki gave his friend a nod before looking towards the battlefield. "You ok?"
"Yeah…" he replied with a smile that belied how he was really feeling. "Peachy," he mumbled, his shoulders dropping a little. He knew he was fooling no one at all, but he refused to give in anyway. He needed to get used to this, or he'd be a terrible hero out there when he had to deal with more crowds. Hell, he was likely to have to go on internships and such real soon so…
"Begin!" Midnight called and Kazuki focused on the fight. He needed to be analytical, not emotional, else he'd slowly drive himself crazy through the whole event. Nobody wanted what could follow if he did, after all, least of all Kazuki himself.
This was his chance, he couldn't just let it slip through his fingers.
Yanagi started off strong, it seemed, because she immediately waved her arms. Following the motion, Monoma started floating away to the side of the stage. Clearly, the girl wanted to take him out of the field as quickly as possible, which was probably smart. One never knew which trick Monoma might bring into something like this.
After all, he could copy any Quirk he wanted in preparation for the entire thing. He could actually copy several Quirks in advance, and that was terrifying enough. Almost as bad as having to face a group, Kazuki supposed, since he had a bunch of separate, unrelated powers to help him in a number of situations. And his timer, whatever it might be, was too long to really just wait it out in a setting like this.
Unfortunately for Yanagi, she wasn't going to get a win that easily.
Mid-air, Monoma's skin turned a slightly shiny, metallic gray. 'Tetsutetsu's Quirk, huh?' Kazuki recognized easily enough. 'Fairly sure that makes him too heavy. Yanagi can't hold him up anymore,' he realized as the boy started falling down.
Monoma had been pretty close though, because he landed barely a few long steps away from the edge. Even after he touched the floor, he cracked the ground and skidded back a bit before stopping. It was epic, for sure, but Kazuki soon noticed something. 'That's really not good for you, Monoma, but it's great for Yanagi,' he thought.
Immediately, the girl decided to prove him right, taking a hold of the pieces of debris created by the rough landing and starting to shower them on Monoma. Amusingly enough, it was very reminiscent of Midoriya's approach. Hell, she even targeted certain more vulnerable zones too, probably on purpose though, instead of accidentally. To the side, he heard Uraraka teasing the green-haired boy about that, but he focused on the fight instead.
These two were competition, after all.
'Is that the only trick you brought into this?' Kazuki thought looking as Monoma continued powering through the rocks being thrown at him. Not that the blonde seemed to need much else, since Yanagi wasn't getting through those defenses. However, it felt a little… lacking, he supposed.
Then again, the other boy could save tricks for later this way, he supposed.
He was almost guaranteed to pass to the next round as it was, really, so Kazuki imagined it made sense to not show all his cards. He knew many 1-B students himself, but Shinso, Hatsume and many in 1-A didn't. That was a card that Monoma had in his favor. And one that lost a lot of its strength against Kazuki, which was great. If the blonde could take out competition before falling to him, then that'd be great.
'Plans hardly ever go swimmingly though,' he reminded himself. Monoma could still pull a fast one on him. Either by making some kind of weird combination he hadn't seen or using one of the few Quirks he didn't know from that class or something else. 'Don't get overconfident,' he thought.
He wouldn't fail.
He couldn't fail.
Breaking him out of his thoughts, he saw Yanagi use a bunch of rocks together to push Monoma away from his straight path towards her. That was smart, since a single one wouldn't be enough, but getting them all together gave them the strength needed to mess up her opponent's charge. 'Now what, Monoma?' Kazuki wondered, looking as the blonde now covered in iron was slowly pushed to the side.
The counter that his Calvary teammate had for that was the same Quirk he'd "stolen" during the aforementioned event. The one that allowed him to make air barriers. Using that, he was able to disturb the pieces of debris that Yanagi was using against him, allowing him to continue running at her. Whether it had been a good call to try and save that card, Kazuki didn't know, but it was changing the tide of the battle once more.
And it was a decisive change too, because Yanagi wasn't able to come up with a good enough counter to that before Monoma reached her.
That was match for the blonde.
"Endo," a voice broke him out of his focus then, making him turn towards a concerned Mineta. Everyone around was feeling like that, he realized then. "Are you ok?"
"No, I'm not… But focusing on the fight helped," he told them, leaning back on his seat as both Monoma and Yanagi left the stage. Kazuki was suddenly able to pick up on Yamada's and Aizawa's commentary. Off to the side, he saw Tokoyami and Iida move out of the room, since theirs was the next fight. "I really need this event to be over. It's getting worse," he muttered, gulping down as the emotions washed over him.
'I'm not crazy, right?' he wondered to himself. 'Those emotions are really there and they are because of me, right?' Or was he just sabotaging himself by assuming as much? Surely not, right?
"How about we take a break, yeah?" Hagakure told him, walking behind him and placing her hands on his shoulders. "You know Iida and Tokoyami, right? There's no need to watch that fight and I'm not in the event so we can go and take a minute off. What do you think?"
"I…" he started, about to tell her that no, he needed to watch. Even if he knew Tokoyami and Iida, he had never trained with them, or observed them for long enough. He needed as good an idea as he could get… But then he took in his friends' concern and he closed his eyes. "Yeah… Yeah, that sounds good," he said in the end.
"Great, let's go," the invisible girl exclaimed taking his hand and pulling him up before dragging him through the halls. Eventually, they stopped in front of a vending machine. "My treat," Hagakure told him, pulling out a wallet before buying a drink for each of them.
"I'll pay you back later," he mumbled, taking the offered can and holding it with both his hands.
"Don't worry about it," the girl waved off and he could hearthe smile on her voice. She was worried, but there was little else and he had no problem picturing her being as upbeat as she usually was. "So, you wanna talk about something?"
"Didn't think about that before dragging me away?" Kazuki asked, his lips tugging up into a smile.
"Well, excuse me if I panicked a little. You looked really out of it," she argued, and this time he could hear a pout on her face accompanying the very slight annoyance she projected.
"Yeah, I guess that's fair," he replied, his voice barely above a whisper as he opened the can in his hands. He didn't bring it to his lips though, simply staring at it.
"Have I told you how much you've helped me?" she said then, making him blink. That question had come out so out of nowhere that it managed to break him from his thoughts and feelings for a moment. "We hadn't even become students yet and you were helping me, remember the entrance exam?" she asked, and the picture of him carrying her back to a safe point flashed in his mind. "And I was kind of nervous about, you know, not knowing people here, but I had a friend right off the bat with you. And then, after the USJ… You helped a lot, so, thanks, Endo, for being my friend."
"I could say the same," he told her with a slight smile. "I thought I'd be alone through my stay here, especially once everyone found out who I was. Maybe that was very pessimistic of me, but… That's how it felt. I thought for sure I'd have everyone against me."
"Well, that's not how it went," Hagakure reassured him, poking his chest with her finger. "And I'm sure it's not how it's going with everyone out there. Maybe there's a lot of people that don't like you, but I'm sure there's some that will give you a chance, like we did."
"I guess you are right," he replied weakly, bringing his drink to his lips and taking a sip. Intellectually, he knew that she had to be right. There was no way the entire crowd hated his guts. However, there were so many bad emotions coming from around, that it felt like they might as well. Was it wrong of him to want more people to give him a chance?
"You said you expected everyone to be against you at school," Hagakure commented then, bringing his attention back to her. "You decided to go there anyway, to try and be a hero. You decided to be a hero even if everyone was against you. How is this any different?"
To that, he didn't have an answer.
What was the difference?
The difference was that now he had to actually face that situation. The difference was that now he had to actually deal with that negativity. The difference was that believing he could do it wasn't the same as actually being able to do it.
"The difference is that now I actually have to do it," he admitted, hunching over the can in his hands and feeling like just squeezing it with all his strength. He didn't, but it was so very tempting as the bitterness rose inside him. "The difference is that I'm not as strong as I thought."
"You aren't weak, Endo," Hagakure told him, placing her hands on his shoulders. "Someone weak wouldn't have stood up in the middle of chaos and forced order during the panic with the press incident. Someone weak wouldn't have helped others in the middle of the USJ. Someone weak wouldn't have taken the time out of one of the most important moments of his life to carry a girl to safety."
"... Then why do I feel so weak right now?" he asked, not even looking up at her. Although, he supposed it didn't matter. Not like he could have seen her anyway.
"Because you are having a difficult time right now. You'd know I'm not always cheery," Hagakure answered softly. "And you helped me when I was down, so I'll help you when you are," she added, kindly but also firmly. "Now, are you done moping? Because you have asses to kick so that everyone knows you are great."
He snorted then, a smile forming on his face, even if it was a weak one.
"I think I can manage," he replied, but he didn't move from where he was. "You won't leave me, right? When the news start speaking about me and all that… You will stick around, right?"
"Of course," she answered without hesitation.
Taking a deep breath in, he looked up trying his best to find where Hagakure's eyes would be.
"Thank you, Hagakure."
"That's what friends are for, right?" she asked, making him smile wider.
"Right." He nodded, his shadow extending as he concentrated and made a beowolf puppy. "As a thanks," he said as an explanation as Hagakure picked it up and started cooing. "I'll make it as much as you want. I think you earned them."
"Him, Creepy, he's a him."
"Whatever you say, Bubbly," he replied with a shake of his head and a fond smile.
Taking a deep breath in, he started walking back to the room where the rest of the class was. Hagakure was right. There were asses to kick. He'd decided that he was going to be a hero and no angry crowd would get in his way. If they didn't like it, then too bad. It was happening anyway.
With his head a little clearer, Hagakure's words and his own resolution weren't the only things that came to mind, however.
"You can show everyone that we are more than just the rejects. The trash that they think we are. You can show Japan that being in juvie doesn't mean you are destined to be a villain. You can show people like you and me that it's possible to get somewhere in life without having to fall back into old habits. You can be a symbol, Endo."
Io was right. He wasn't doing this only for himself. He was doing this to prove a point. Several points, in fact. He was doing this for himself, to prove that he could be a hero. He was doing this for all the people like him, who needed someone that would come to save them. He was doing this for all the people like him, who needed to know there was a chance for them in the world.
'I can do this,' he thought, pursing his lips as he pushed through the negativity that continued flooding him. Looking to the side, where Hagakure walked with the beowolf puppy in her arms, and then inside the room, where the rest of his friends waited… He nodded to himself, and it was nowhere as resolute as he wanted the motion to be. 'I can do this…'
"What did we… miss?" he asked, only to pause and blink at the sight on the stage.
"Yeah, that teammate of yours is… something," Mineta commented dryly as they watched Hatsume… do a promotional show for her equipment? She seemed to be telling everyone in the audience what each of her devices did while demonstrating in her "fight" against Kendo from 1-B.
As Mineta said, it was something alright.
"Er, Tokoyami beat Iida," Yaoyorozu said, looking she was trying not to pay too much attention to the "match" that was going on. Kazuki could feel the 1-B class president's annoyance, but it wasn't quite as bad as he thought it probably should have been. "Even though he pulled a new move on him, Iida just couldn't get through Dark Shadow."
"Was pretty epic though, almost looked like he'd kick that Quirk thing's ass," Mineta pointed out.
"Everything fine?" Jiro asked, and Kazuki nodded.
"Yeah, Bubbly here set me straight for now. Can't promise I won't spiral again in a bit," he answered with a weak smile. He might have gotten his confidence back, but it didn't mean he was feeling great. 'God, how I wish I could turn my Quirk off,' he grumbled internally. "How about you though, Beauty," he asked, turning his attention to Yaoyorozu. "Ready for your fight?"
"As ready as I'll ever be," the girl answered with a firm nod. Kazuki almost felt bad for Uraraka, but she wasn't a friend like Yaoyorozu, so it was what it was. Nothing against her, but Kazuki hoped she'd lose.
"She looks ready to kick ass, doesn't she?" Jiro asked, making Yaoyorozu's resolute look melt into an embarrassed one.
"You did that on purpose, didn't you?"
"I'm sure I have no idea what you are talking about," Jiro replied with a smirk on her face.
"I hate you."
"No, you don't," everyone else save for Todoroki told her. The poor guy looked a little confused, but he didn't seem to feel bad or left out, really. Kazuki didn't want to wait until that happened though, so, in the spirit of avoiding that, he changed the topic.
"Her gadgets are pretty good," he commented, turning his attention back to the stage where Hatsume continued her showcase while Kendo was… there. "It's a little questionable to do this though, or is it just me?" he asked with a bemused expression.
"Definitely not just you, man," Mineta agreed.
"It goes against the spirit of the event, even if the point is for us to show ourselves to the world. A support course student might have a different goal, but this is still not how it should be done," Todoroki offered as a response, expression mostly flat, if a little thoughtful. "That's what I think, at least."
"Glad to know it's not me being weird."
"You are weird though," Hagakure pointed out and he just turned to stare roughly at where her eyes should be.
"She's not wrong," Mineta agreed with a sage nod.
Ultimately, Kazuki just sighed and decided to focus on the fight going on in the battlefield. There was still stuff to learn about both participants, even if the match wasn't the best. On top of that, he could take a moment to think about something other than the tournament by thinking of what kind of support equipment he could get.
After all, he was basically a Quirkless guy himself, as far as his body was concerned. Support equipment couldn't really get in the way of his grimm creation and he wished some gadget would get in the way of his sensing. As of that moment, his hero costume was basically just clothes and some first aid and generic tools on his belt. 'I can do better than that,' he thought.
Then again, he did have that one idea about-
"That's definitely against the spirit of things," Mineta pointed out and everyone nodded with him, looking at the stage in bafflement. Hatsume had just gave up after she was done explaining and showing off her gadgets. She'd just raised her hand and declared that she gave up.
Kendo was about as pleased as Kazuki knew the crowd to be with that move. Between that and being in his team, he really hoped Hatsume hadn't shot herself on the foot. She seemed like the kind of person not to realize that would happen.
"Well, your turn, Beauty. Good luck," Kazuki said, watching Yaoyorozu stand up, still a little… confused by Hatsume's display. She shook that off quickly down, making her way out of the room and towards the stage. Uraraka left right afterwards too, looking very determined too.
No offense to her, but Kazuki thought the expression looked a little out of place on her though.
"Thoughts?"
"Beauty wins," Hagakure answered instantly, making him chuckle. "How can you even ask, Creepy? I'll tell her."
"Snitch," he replied jokingly, drawing a dramatic gasp from the girl. "Uraraka doesn't have much to work with in a flat, empty field," he added, tilting his head. "If Yaoyorozu doesn't mess up majorly, she should win this… That's what I think."
"I mean, I'm not arguing and I'm on her side too," Mineta started, frowning in thought. "But Uraraka's not dumb and she didn't look defeated going there. I'd imagine she has a plan or two…"
"So, Yaoyorozu has more chances, but Uraraka has someanyway?" Todoroki asked, looking like he was considering that for a moment. "Yeah, I can see that."
"They are having a bonding moment, Rocky," Kazuki heard Hagakure mumble to the side, failing spectacularly at stealth. It was very obviously not her intention to keep that conversation a secret. "Isn't it moving?"
"Don't look now," Jiro followed along, placing a hand to cover her mouth as if that did anything with how loud she was talking. Meanwhile, Todoroki, Mineta and Kazuki himself just stared at the two. "But I think you might have ruined it."
"And I think we might need new friends," Mineta deadpanned, drawing twin gasps from the girls. "I blame you for this, Creepy."
"Wait, what? I did nothing!"
"I don't know," Todoroki joined Mineta then with a thoughtful hum. "He makes a compelling argument."
"He made no argument at all!" Kazuki protested. "These weirdos aren't my fault."
"Excuse me?!"
"Guys, come on!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air. Then he sighed as his friends started laughing. "You guys suck," he grumbled, leaning back against this seat and staring at the stage, even if things were still being set up.
Eventually though, Yaoyorozu and Uraraka stood on the field, face to face, and it was time for the show to go on. The group fell silent then, waiting to see how one of their own would do. Idly, Kazuki wondered if they'd been like this when he'd been about to fight himself.
"Begin!" Midnight called and both girls rushed into action. Uraraka dashed to the side, using her Quirk on herself. Yaoyorozu, for her part, started creating something from her arm. Something that made the ones in them all flinch except for Todoroki, who didn't know any better.
"Ouch, Uraraka's not going to have a good time," Kazuki muttered, drawing agreement from everyone else as they watched Yaoyorozu create a rope from her arm. When her opponent looked like she was going in for an attack, she just swung the cord at her, making Uraraka jump.
And that's when she screwed up because there were only two things she could do in the air. She could stay there and be an easy target or she could release her Quirk's power and drop down. There was a moment's hesitation then before Uraraka chose the latter option.
Not that it was much better than the alternative, really.
Yaoyorozu gave a second swing of her rope weapon, now finished and with a small weight the size of a fist at the end. Her opponent dodged again but now she was getting speed with the newly created weapon. 'And once she gets going, there's nothing but pain afterwards,' he thought wryly. He'd know, his Nevermore had been what caused the creation of this and everyone in their group knew what it was like to be at the end of that rope.
Especially when it wrapped around you and you got hit with the steel ball at the end.
Uraraka got a taste of that after dodging some swings herself. After all, the more Yaoyorozu twirled the thing around, the more speed it got. The girl had gotten hit herself while getting used to the thing, but after some practice? They'd had to make some rules because everyone was tired of that bullshit thing.
Her opponent didn't have any such protection, however, and Uraraka was swiftly swung by the rope and smacked against the outside of the stage.
"Well, I guess I expected too much," Mineta commented.
"Unlucky her," Hagakure added.
"Better Uraraka than me," Jiro said, drawing agreeing hums from all of them, even Todoroki. The ice and fire user clearly had learned what was what right then and there. "Your turn again, by the way, both of you."
"Yeah," Kazuki said softly, running his fingers through his hair. "Yes, it is," he added, turning to share a look with Todoroki.
It was time for their fight.
Chapter 42
After his group wished him good luck, Kazuki found himself on the way to the stage once more, this time accompanied by his opponent and – maybe – new friend. To his group's credit, they had also wished Todoroki good luck and they'd meant it. They were cool like that, after all.
They'd also crossed paths with Yaoyorozu and they had exchanged quick congratulations and good luck, one for her and one for them. To be perfectly honest, Kazuki hadn't spared much attention to other things since Yaoyorozu's fight had ended.
After all, he was fighting Todoroki now.
He might have held the boy off during the Cavalry Battle, but that had been in completely different situations. He hadn't focused on him all that much, admittedly, having to cover the other teams, but Todoroki had had to be on guard too. He'd also seemingly spared enough focus to get some other headbands too. On top of that, it was more difficult to be placed in a one on one battle on top of an empty stage than it was to be in a field with a lot more people.
They'd be able to go a lot more seriously now and that worried Kazuki. Just with his ice, Todoroki could be a nightmare. If he decided to use his fire too, then that'd be… problematic. 'Almost regret encouraging him to use his fire,'he thought to himself wryly. Then again, he hadn't exactly told him to use his fire all the time. He'd just said that the people he'd save deserved his all. So… Maybe he wouldn't use it for this fight, since it was just for show?
He could hope, even if it sounded shitty of him.
After all, Todoroki was probably one of the biggest blocks against his goal to win the Festival. There were a few other concerning ones, like Yaoyorozu, Midoriya and Monoma, but Todoroki was likely at the top of the list, at least in Kazuki's opinion. 'And of course I don't even get this fight for the finals,' he thought bitterly.
At least, if he lost in the finals, it would look better than right then and there, even if it was against the same opponent. People didn't remember those that fell early in tournaments like that, even if they lost against the winner. It was stupid, but it was what it was. It wasn't like Kazuki himself went about it differently, so he wasn't one to talk.
Didn't make him feel any better though.
"Endo," Todoroki said when they were close to exiting the building towards the open area where the stage was. "I want to go all out for this," the other boy told him and he almost groaned. "I'll use my ice and my fire… And I want you to come at me with all you've got."
"... I can't do that," Kazuki replied, seemingly catching Todoroki off guard. "Going all out means a lot for me, and I won't do that in this tournament. If it were up to me, I'd never do it," he said, holding back a frown. He didn't blame Todoroki for what he'd said, but he was about the last person who should be told something like that. "Excuse me if I don't want to cause another Rampage," he added as lightly as he could, which wasn't much but with some luck it'd get the message across.
"..." Todoroki didn't say anything then as they continue walking a little bit. "That was insensitive of me. I'm sorry," he apologized with a bow of his head. "I'd still like to do it, if it's all the same to you, going all out."
"And I'll do my best," Kazuki replied with a grin. "I might not be able to go all out, but you can bet I'll do anything I can so long as it's remotely reasonable," he said resolutely. "I have a lot to prove here, Todoroki. Maybe it's arrogant of me to think so, and no offense to you and the others, but I have more to prove than anyone else here."
"I'm only a little offended," Todoroki said flatly but Kazuki knew that to be a lie. 'He'll fit in perfectly,' he thought to himself with a chuckle. "May the best win."
"I'll try not to beat you too badly."
To that, the boy snorted and Kazuki was actually a little taken aback. He was pretty sure that was a first. He was happy for Todoroki though. With the things he'd said and the ones he inferred from those… Todoroki deserved some laughter in his life.
"He'll be watching," Todoroki commented, drawing an interested look from Kazuki. They were already walking towards the stage. Soon, they'd have to separate and go towards one end of it each. "My father," he explained simply.
"... Well, call me the bad guy here… But I'll kick your ass regardless," Kazuki replied flatly. He did wonder though, if he should be worried about that. Even if he said that, it'd be really shitty if he won just because Todoroki was distracted or something like that.
"That's reassuring," the other boy said, which was unexpected, if Kazuki was honest. "I'm counting on you to try."
"Good luck, Todoroki," Kazuki told him as they started walking away from each other. After all, there was more to do here than fight. Both of them had things going here that went beyond the simple tournament. It wasn't about winning, even if both would prefer it. They needed to do a lot more than reach further through the Festival.
"Same to you, Endo," his opponent replied, and that was that.
It was time for their fight to get going. The walk around the stage and going up the stairs from his end felt like it was a lot longer than it probably was. The seconds dragged by and Kazuki almost wanted to just run that short distance so it'd be over sooner.
"Both are ready?" Midnight asked and that was the first time Kazuki paid attention to anything else, really. Yamada continued his commentary with Aizawa, but he honestly couldn't bring himself to care. He had enough on his plate as it was, keeping his nerves under control and keeping the crowd's emotions from affecting him.
He remembered what Io had told him.
He remembered what Hagakure had told him.
He remembered what Inui had told him.
"Start!" Kayama called with a sharp wave of her fan.
Immediately, Todoroki's right side froze over as did the ground by that side. That was expected though. What wasn't expected was his left side bursting into flames, even when he'd told Kazuki he'd be using that part of his Quirk too.
He wasn't surprised though.
No, Kazuki was too angry to be surprised. He was too full of hate to be anything other than furious. Not because of Todoroki, or the crowd, or his situation. None of that was really in his mind because all he could think of was the hate and the fact that he couldn't let out any of the anger coursing through him at that moment.
Instead, he channeled it, straight into his shadow as an Alpha Beowolf materialized behind it. The monster rose, black fur, bone white spikes, bright red lines on its mask and glowing eyes. Not only did Todoroki deserve Kazuki's best but he also required it. There would be no holding back, no saved cards and no hesitation.
Todoroki was, understandably, done with his "preparations" before Kazuki was, if they could even be called that. He didn't have to use time to set up his Quirk, after all, and no matter how fast Kazuki might have gotten in his summoning, it still took time. All this meant that there was a wave of ice coming his way before his Alpha Beowolf was halfway done.
He was ready for that though, growling as he stomped on the ground and brought his hands up. The movement and motions weren't necessary, but they did offer his scattered mind something to grasp on. It was a mnemonic device, Inui told him. Something to associate with something else, so that he didn't have to think nearly as hard.
Just because he trained in the U.A. facilities a lot didn't mean that was all the training he did, after all. He needed some aces up his sleeve, and that was one of them. After all, his whole group knew how he struggled with his upgraded versions. He'd had to prepare something to cover his own back during that period.
And so he'd worked the gestures out in his scarce free time while in the privacy of his apartment.
In this case, making it easier for his hatred-filled mind to summon a Boarbatusk Grimm Guard in front of him to block the ice for a bit. That second or two was all his Alpha Beowolf needed to be done appearing in the world. The creature wasted no time at all jumping over Kazuki and his improvised – and now frozen – barrier to go towards Todoroki.
Obviously, when the monster appeared in his vision, the other boy blasted it immediately with his fire. Kazuki guessed that he was a great person to use that part of his Quirk against, since it didn't really matter if Todoroki burned his Grimm. Unfortunately for him, the Alpha Beowolf wasn't as similar to its normal counterpart as one would think.
One such difference was that it was much more resilient.
So much so, that the thing took the fire wave directed its way and didn't so much as twitch as it continued on its way towards Todoroki. Sure, there was some smoke coming out of its fur and the visible bone structures on its body were a little stained, but otherwise? The Alpha Beowolf was perfectly fine, keeping to its charge like nothing had happened.
As it did, Kazuki took the moment of distraction it brought to let his shadow extend into shaping three new beowolves, this time normal ones. He didn't know if he could manage three Alphas now and he didn't want to test that at that very moment. At most, he'd risk having two, but that was in case he saw himself struggling and maybe not even then.
Winning wasn't worth truly risking a Rampage, after all.
He needed to remember that.
Todoroki responded to the undeterred Alpha Beowolf by switching to his ice side. That proved to work much better, stopping the Grimm in place… A second too late, because the newly created Beowolves were already moving towards him.
'You need to do better, Todoroki,' Kazuki thought as he saw the other boy use his flames to burn his normal Beowolves. It didn't matter. Those that weren't completely wiped out he'd repair. Those who were, he'd recreate. And on top of that-
The sound of ice cracking sent a tinge of fear through his opponent that Kazuki could easily pick up on, because he was looking for it.
The Alpha Beowolf might have been frozen, but it was certainly not out. More cracks appeared on the ice around it before one of the paws broke out. A few hits later and the Grimm had freed itself from its cold cage. 'It's called an Alpha for a reason,' he thought with a determined grin.
Even with the battle in his favor, he didn't stop. Both sides of Todoroki's were occupied at that very moment. His fire kept at bay the normal Beowolves while his ice went back to freezing the Alpha. Now, four grimm wasn't a huge struggle for Kazuki anymore. It was manageable, really. However, four grimm with one of them being the Alpha Beowolf was different.
'Just a bit, that's all,' he told himself as his shadow extended to create a Nevermore this time. He needed something to break the balance that the battle had struck. He could probably wait for the other boy to tire himself out, but he couldn't risk giving Todoroki more time. Chances were non-zero that he'd come up with something to tilt things in his favor and Kazuki wasn't about to wait for that to happen.
As if to prove his point, Todoroki switched things up, turning his ice arm towards Kazuki. Just as the Nevermore behind him took flight, he brought up another Boarbatusk barrier in front of him. However, this time the other boy was pushing more than before, the frozen trail of the Quirk going over the grimm piece that he'd slapped between himself and Todoroki.
'Ok, that's more troublesome,' he thought, moving to the side, careful not to get anywhere close to one of the stage limits. Fortunately for him, the Nevermore from just now was already raining its feathers on his opponent, interrupting the ice attack. On top of that, Todoroki could only take his eyes off of the Alpha Beowolf for so long too.
Kazuki himself had to keep an eye out, just in case. Todoroki might be occupied, but he was far from dumb. The ice and fire user would come up with some other trick, he was sure, and the boy was certainly not going down anytime soon, even with the full might of the Alpha, the three Beowolves and the Nevermore. 'Stubborn bastard,'Kazuki grumbled to himself even with a grin on his face.
Maybe being on the stage wasn't so bad. He had something to focus on and something to channel the negativity towards. It was better than being on the stands, with nothing but emotions constantly bombarding him and the less than effective spectating to be done to keep his mind occupied. Now though, in a battle? There was a lot more pressure making him focus, it honed his senses and gave him an aim for the emotions that only grew stronger when he was on display.
Kazuki just had to make sure to be the one in control instead of the negativity.
'Easier said than done,' he thought, but that was fine. He had things under control, even with five grimm, one of them being the Alpha. He was on top of things. He was the one that dictated how things went.
He could even make more grimm if he-
'No,' he hissed in his own mind and maybe even out loud. His grimm momentarily hesitated, all but the Alpha who charged with even more abandon towards Todoroki. That slip was enough to give his opponent breathing room. 'Fuck,' he cursed as, in the blink of an eye, the whole stage was covered in steam.
Immediately, he let his Nevermore dissipate and pulled the Beowolf pack back to him while the Alpha looked for Todoroki in the middle of the mist. 'Smart, but not that smart. My grimm have improved senses… they'll find you,'he thought confidently. Even with that, however, he started creating another grimm that might be useful in that situation.
A King Taijitu.
If he couldn't see where Todoroki was while his grimm looked for him, then he'd be sure to cover himself as much as possible. The Beowolves did the job well enough, but the gigantic double-headed serpent would do it better by coiling around him like a wall. It wouldn't even trap him, since he could just dissipate it if Todoroki tried to freeze it. He knew he couldn't take it out fast enough for him to be unable to get out.
Just in case though, he left a Beowolf with him inside.
'Come on, where are you?' he wondered, frowning. 'Does the mist hide his scent too? That'd suck,' he thought to himself, pursing his lips. Taking a moment to consider that, he let two of the normal Beowolves join the Alpha in its search. 'The King Taijitu and this one Beowolf should be enough to cover for me while the others-'
Then he paused as the Alpha barked something to the other two. Kazuki hadn't done that though. 'What?' Even weirder still, the normal Beowolves seemed to twitch and adjust their movement a little. 'What is-? Oh shit!'
Whatever was going on there, he'd have to think about later, because it was at that moment that Todoroki revealed himself. Ice spread over the floor from Kazuki's side, rising in spikes that formed a wall all the way until they touched the King Taijitu that surrounded him. But it didn't stop there, quickly shooting over it too. 'Too fast,' he thought, moving to the side and having his Beowolf swipe at him with its paw to push him over the King Taijitu's body and to a safer area.
The Alpha was already charging at Todoroki's newly revealed position with the other two Beowolves, but Kazuki had other things to worry about. Mainly dissolving the creatures now encased in very thick ice. 'That was stronger than normal, which means Todoroki's dealing with the backlash of that,' he thought to himself. Still, he couldn't and wouldn't let his guard down.
Thus, he moved, running on the stage, keeping away from Todoroki's general position while his grimm attacked. From his shadow, he created another King Taijitu. Carefully, he positioned the serpentine creature's head as high as possible, peeking over the mist zone that Todoroki seemed to be creating to keep himself hidden. He needed to have at least somewhat of an idea of how the stage was positioned. Last thing he wanted was to fall off the side of it by accident.
That'd be a terrible way to lose.
Fortunately, he just had to move a little more to be safe from that fate. Todoroki on the other hand, was being remarkably troublesome for his beowolves to find in the mist. That was starting to get annoying really fast, actually. 'And I can't have that,' Kazuki thought with a frown.
Coming up with a new plan, he let the pack of Beowolves dissolve too, including the Alpha. From there, he started creating a new group of grimm. 'Go big or go home,' he decided wryly as he started summoning more King Taijitu.
If Todoroki was going to hide in the mist forever, he'd just make something big enough that it could get a hit in without even looking. Or several somethings that could try that, in this case. 'If I can't see you, then I'll just hit everywhere and be done with it,' Kazuki thought as the second King Taijitu finished appearing and started sweeping over the stage trying to find Todoroki. He immediately started making another one too, because he wasn't going to take any chances.
'I can't see you, but you can't see me either, can you?' he thought, keeping his guard up. Todoroki had to find him just like Kazuki did, and that meant it was a race… A race that he was going to win, especially with the changed situation.
Evidently, his opponent realized, mostly because the third King Taijitu he created found him with a swipe of its white side. No sooner had it been created, the thing had moved and found Todoroki. Evidently, he'd been trying his best to avoid the other one and gotten caught in turn. A little ironic, some would say.
Kazuki didn't much care for that at the moment though. The serpent started getting frozen, but the other two were already on the move. Immediately afterwards, flames exploded in that general direction. They did so in such a violent way that the mist was blown away. Not that it mattered much. At that point, it might as well have been in Kazuki's favor, really.
Todoroki was evidently getting desperate, not only because of his actions but Kazuki could feel the nervousness creeping inside him. 'Come on,' he thought, starting to create a Nevermore just in case the three giant serpent grimm weren't enough. Which they very well could not be, if the way they were getting burned by Todoroki was any indication. 'Come on,' he repeated in his mind as he directed his negativity towards the serpents to repair the damage, trying and failing to match the rate at which the flames destroyed them.
He couldn't, but he put up enough of a fight that he was optimistic. Maybe he could keep that up until the backlash started getting to Todoroki? Surely the fire side had about the same problem as the ice one, right? 'Come on, come on,' he wished, making his Nevermore take flight over the pseudo-sphere made of flames, waiting for an opening.
At the same time, he made himself a Beowolf, just in case. It'd make a meatshield if Todoroki managed to get a hit sent his way. Otherwise, it'd make a good reserver player.
Ultimately, neither the Beowolf nor the Nevermore were necessary. The flames stopped eventually and when they did Kazuki was quick to have one of his King Taijitu swipe at Todoroki, sending him flying out of the stage. The boy didn't look so good, admittedly, which worried him a fair bit. The most he was getting from him was some… not burns, but close, from what he could pick up, besides the smack he'd just gotten, that is. That was reassuring, at least.
"And Kazuki Endo gets another victory! He's unstoppable, people!" Present Mic announced through the speakers. It made Kazuki smile… for all of a second before he became more aware of the emotions he was getting from all around. There was a lot more negativity than before. Maybe it was because he'd been able to ignore it through the fight, for the most part, but he felt like it spiked, like it was worse than before he got out and on the stage.
Aizawa was saying something about how the fight had gone. Kazuki was pretty sure it was complimentary to his performance, but he didn't hear him. Instead, he could almost feel the glares in the crowd. 'I did well. I did great even! Why… Why?' he wondered, his hands shaking and he felt the pull of his grim, the pull of the anger, the pull of the disgust-
He took a deep breath in and let the grimm vanish before they could tempt him further.
'I won… I did a good job…' he thought bitterly as he felt the negativity wash over him. 'Am I getting anywhere?' he wondered, closing his eyes dejectedly.
After a moment, his shoulders dropped and he turned to look at Todoroki. Walking up to him, he offered him a hand to stand up. As he did, he felt the emotions spike further. 'What do you want from me?' he asked in his mind, aware that he wouldn't get an answer even if he did voice that.
"Good fight," Todoroki told him and he only half-listened.
"Good fight," Kazuki forced himself to say back, but the result was a mechanical answer that seemed to confuse the other boy. "It was smart, the mist trick," he added, his voice still coming off about as brittle as his expression.
"Are you ok?"
"No. No, I'm not," he answered, turning and walking towards the exit. "So, I'll just get out of here, if it's all the same to you," he added, trying his best to not speed up on his way to the building. He wanted to shout, and cry, and release grimm… But it would get him nothing. None of those things would.
He refused to let them see him break.
"Think about it, yeah? When you start thinking that everyone hates your guts for what you did… Think about the mini-yous and the mini-mes that will be watching you. Think of the people that were in juvie and got out. Think of the people that were in prison and got out. All of them will be watching… And I think they'll cheer for you, Endo."
Maybe the crowd hated him, but there'd be people cheering for him, Kazuki knew and reminded himself. His friends were on his side. His teachers were on his side. The people like him were on his side.
Fuck the crowd.
If they refused to give him a chance, then he'd win to spitethem.
He could do that… He could…
… Right?