A massive boom rang out as Bakugo shot off the ground, grinning wildly.
In one lunge, he crossed the distance between him and the topmost target, making the entire audience gasp.
Then, blasting one target, Bakugo simultaneously began stirring himself in the direction of the other, infinitely minimizing the wastage of time.
Booms and bangs rang out as Bakugo blurred all over the mountainous terrain, exploding one target after another.
And, just as he had begun, it was already over.
"Incredible!" the lady announced, shocked herself. "He cleared it in 13 seconds! First place!!"
Watching Bakugo from above, all the boys felt a heaviness, the spirit of competitiveness taking hold of their thoughts.
Of course, Bakugo's Quirk — Explosion — was highly suitable for such extreme maneuvers.
It didn't mean they could have done the same things Bakugo was doing, though. Even if some people had almost the same Quirks, the way they used their Quirks was often dictated by their personality.
Explosion shone the best when it was used by Bakugo.
It was just that simple — as most of the hard truths.
Even Luke nodded to himself, thinking the same.
However, there was one thing even he failed to notice. Not because he wasn't paying attention, but because it was related to his previous life.
Last time, the children had arrived at the I-Island during their Summer Break.
In this life, things had already diverged a lot. Even the I-Expo, which was a Summer Event, was taking place in January.
That gave the students almost six months more to train their Quirks, pushing their limits.
If Luke had known that Bakugo had completed the same task in 15 seconds in his previous life, instead of 13, perhaps he could have felt the extent of these divergences, too.
On the stage, finishing his task, Bakugo landed on the ground.
Then, slowly walking off the stage, he looked up at the boys… and smirked.
Todoroki, Tenya, Midoriya, Luke, Shoji, and almost everyone's brows twitched at the blatant display of ego.
The first to fall to the trick, though, was Fumikage.
"Let's show them…" The Dark Shadow Fumikage carried within him said. "… our new tricks as well."
…
Far from the boys, the girls were holding a meeting of their own.
Melissa was surrounded by Tsuyu, Mina, Kyoka, Uraraka, Toru, and Momo.
And, carrying a huge redness on her face, Uraraka was gossiping about Luke, telling them what Melissa saw.
Mina let out a gasp.
Kyoka's eyes widened, her long ears twitching, gaining a red tinge.
Tsuyu felt like she dearly needed water to put her heat into it because her entire face had gone hot.
Only Toru and Momo kept quiet.
"Mmm…" Toru said, twiddling her thumbs, "… Luke is not like that."
Momo, shocked, looked at Toru. She didn't know Toru, of all, would say that. When did Toru become close enough to Luke to say something like that? Was it because of the Sports Festival? She must…
Momo held herself back from continuing with those thoughts.
She hadn't gained a red tinge before, but she did now, realizing she was needlessly being jealous.
"You should be careful before spreading such rumors," Momo said, not looking at anyone in particular. However, they all knew she was talking to Melissa. "And… as Luke's classmates, we should trust him more, rather than believing random gossip."
Uraraka, Mina, Tsuyu, and others exchanged glances, feeling a touch ashamed.
Melissa had other thoughts, though. "I am not lying," she said, standing her ground. "I saw it."
Momo matched Melissa's gaze. "And are you sure what you saw couldn't be something else?" she asked. "Are you sure that the girl and Luke were in the same bathroom? Absolutely?"
"I…" Melissa wanted to say she wasn't sure, but she also didn't want to come out as a liar to All Might's students.
Hesitating only a moment, Melissa nodded. "I am."
…
On the other side, half of the boys had already gone through the challenge by then.
Fumikage had lengthened the range of Dark Shadow by a lot, giving up on the attacking power. It did let him destroy the targets within 18 seconds.
Ojiro and Kaminari both tied at 25 seconds. Shoji and Sato tied with Eijiro, who had taken 33 seconds. Hanta lacked destructive power, taking 38 seconds to destroy the targets.
Tenya, who had become much faster using his base Quirk without overloading his mufflers, took merely 15 seconds.
However, after Mineta's turn, the real surprise came when Yuga Aoyama stepped on the stage.
Within the first 10 seconds, he had destroyed all but one target, using his Navel Laser Quirk. Then, just as Bakugo was about to scream at him in rage, Yuga held his stomach and vomited, not even completing the task as a result.
"OK…" Midoriya let out a breath. "My turn…"
Just as Midoriya went on stage, the girls walked over to the boys as well.
Melissa was about to approach Luke, after the girls decided among themselves just to confront him about it, when a blast came from the stage.
Powerful gusts of wind boomed around Midoriya as he used One For All — Full Cowl, now standing at not 10, but 12%!!!
Like a green bolt of lightning, Midoriya disappeared, zig-zagging on the terrain, barely visible.
The audience could only see and hear the muffled booms as a sign of his presence.
It was like seeing Bakugo all over again, but much more flashy. Of course, he didn't like it one bit, grinding his teeth.
On the other hand, Melissa's eyes narrowed as she realized the similarity between Midoriya and All Might's Quirks. She also learned that despite being so flashy, Midoriya was actually holding himself, trying not to injure himself.
Then, Midoriya landed back on the platform, finishing the task.
"Amazing!" The announcer said into the mic. "A new record — 12 seconds!!"
"Deku, you nerd!" Bakugo cursed, holding the railing. "That's it! I am going again!!"
But, before Bakugo could go, someone had already jumped over the railing, landing silently on the ground.
Finally, it was Luke's turn and —
— It was also the time to add a new ability to Nyx's public Bag of Quirks.
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100 Power Stones: +1 Bonus Chapter