Mato placed his left elbow on the arm of the chair and then placed his head on his palm.
(Ganbare, Izuku!) He thought.
"This fight is all about psychological resistance," said Shinso. "If you have your future clear in your mind, you don't need to listen to others' thoughts. That monkey was talking big about honor, but... don't you think an opportunity like this would be wasted?"
"How dare you!" Izuku rushed forward, but suddenly, something blocked him.
(Uh? What's going on? Why did Izuku stop?) wondered Mato. (Is it due to Shinso's Quirk?)
"Now turn around and go outside the fighting stage, please," said Shinso. As if by magic, Izuku did it.
(What? Why is he walking in the wrong direction? Is he crazy? Or just under Shinso's Quirk?)
(Wait... am I really rooting for Izuku? I thought I was just pretending to, but... I'm really rooting for him. Why? I'm a villain, dammit!)
Suddenly, something snapped on the fighting stage. It seemed as if Izuku had dug into the fighting stage itself. Looking more accurately, Mato noticed Izuku had two broken fingers.
(Huh? He broke his fingers? I'm almost sure he did it to snap out of Shinso's Quirk, but the real question is... how did he break his own fingers from out of nowhere?)
Izuku turned and started to walk in the right direction, towards Shinso.
(He's fully regained control of himself... that's great.)
Izuku started to push Shinso out of the fighting stage. Shinso punched him, both on the face and on the broken fingers, but eventually, Izuku pushed Shinso outside the fighting stage.
(He did it! He won!)
"AND THE FIRST ONE TO ADVANCE TO THE SECOND ROUND IS MIDORIYA IZUKU!" Present Mic announced.
The crowd clapped their hands. Mato didn't, but he smiled.
(Now it's my turn...)
Mato got up from his chair.
"Sorry to leave you here," he said. "But I gotta fight now."
"We'll root for you, Hideki-kun!" said Itsuka.
"Yeah, we can't stand Monoma either," Setsuna added.
"Win this for us, bro," said Tetsutetsu. "We all know you're the best. Show Monoma too."
Mato nodded and turned back.
(I'll win for them.)
__________
Mato was in the hallway, waiting for his name to be shouted by Present Mic. Standing beside him, there was Monoma.
"This time, I'll win," Monoma said.
"For now, the score is 2-0 for me, though," Mato replied.
"Whoever wins this wins everything."
"Deal."
"You know that if we were to fight each other, I would win without a problem."
Mato smiled.
"Nah, I'd win."
"INTRODUCING THE SECOND MATCH OF THE FIRST ROUND!" Present Mic screamed.
Mato and Monoma walked on the fighting stage.
"ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE FIGHTING STAGE, WE HAVE NEITO MONOMA, FROM CLASS B!"
"ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE FIGHTING STAGE, WE HAVE HIDEKI SHIRAKAWA, FROM CLASS B ASWELL!"
Mato stretched his legs.
"It'll be quick, Monoma," he said. "Don't worry, I'm the strongest."
"FIGHT!"
"I'll teach you to be less arrogant!" Monoma dashed forward, aiming to touch Mato to steal his Quirk.
Instead of dodging, Mato let himself be touched by Monoma.
"What? He didn't dodge!" Setsuna exclaimed from the stands.
"He's got something in mind, that's for sure..." Tetsutetsu supposed.
"Now, I have your Quirk, Shirakawa!" Monoma tried to punch Mato with his fist wrapped in darkness, but Mato dodged.
"ATTENTION! SHIRAKAWA LET HIS OPPONENT STEAL HIS QUIRK! IS THIS SOME KIND OF TECHNIQUE?"
"Take this!" Monoma lunged forward again, but Mato blocked again with his own darkness.
Mato delivered an uppercut to Monoma's jaw. Then a jab on the left cheek. Then a jab on the right cheek. Then a kick in the guts. All this at supersonic speed.
"INCREDIBLE! SHIRAKAWA LANDS A QUADRUPLE HIT ON MONOMA'S BODY!"
Monoma stumbled backwards and clutched his stomach.
"Im... impossible!" he said weakly. "I'm supposed to be the best, not you!"
"Told ya I'm the strongest," Mato teased.
Monoma, enraged, lunged forward again and punched Mato in the face.
(Why didn't he dodge? Is he kidding me?) thought Monoma.
"The fact is," said Mato, grabbing Monoma's fist. "That I let you steal my Quirk to humble you even more."
Mato infused as much darkness as he could in his fist and punched Monoma in the jaw.
"Your Quirk has a time limit, right?" Mato asked. "Plus, I'm holding back because I don't want to reveal all my secret techniques or waste energy."
Monoma looked at Mato with hatred and resentment.
"I... fucking hate you..." he whispered weakly while clutching his guts. "PEOPLE LIKE YOU ARE LUCKY! THEY HAVE EVERYTHING THEY WANT! WHAT DOES SOMEONE LIKE YOU KNOW ABOUT HARD WORK!?"
Mato narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists.
"Take back what you said," he said. "You don't know anything about me."
Mato stepped forward. "You only know my name, my age, my Quirk, and my friends. You have no idea of what's behind all of this."
Mato grabbed Monoma's collar and lifted him in the air.
"I'm not saying you didn't have a bad past, but please, don't talk about the past of someone you don't even know."
Mato threw Monoma out of the fighting stage.
"Because you have no idea of what's behind this Quirk. You have no idea how hard I had to work to avoid it controlling me. That's why you didn't manage to use it properly: because I'm the only one who can use a dark-based Quirk and don't turn depressed."
"Because at least you had parents to rely on. You weren't raised in the streets alone. Your Quirk doesn't need to be controlled via hard work. Mine does. That's why I'm the best."
"AND THE SECOND TO ADVANCE TO THE SECOND ROUND IS... HIDEKI SHIRAKAWA!"
The crowd clapped their hands.
"Shirakawa..." Monoma said, getting up. "I... I had no idea. Please, forgive me."
Mato helped Monoma to his feet. "I forgive you."
The two boys smiled at each other and shook hands.
"Yay! Shirakawa defeated Monoma!" Itsuka celebrated.
"You're his #1 fan, Kendo!" Setsuna laughed. "Confess: you have a crush on Shirakawa, don't you?"
Itsuka blushed.
"What? N-no! I-I don't..."
But then, she turned back on the fighting stage, where Mato was standing.
"Okay, I admit," she said. "I like him."
"Ha! I knew it!" exclaimed Tetsutetsu.
"Don't worry, we'll keep the secret," said Setsuna.
Mato walked outside the fighting stage.
(Itsuka, Setsuna, Tets... told ya I'd win.)
__________
Kamino District, Yokohama
"Yay! Mato-kun won!" Toga celebrated, jumping in the air and clapping her hands.
"He's doing a good job for now," said Shigaraki.
"He's gonna win, I'm sure of it," Dabi stated.
(Mato... why do I feel that you're really getting attached to your friends? You weren't supposed to...)
__________
Mato was walking upstairs, scratching the back of his head.
(I'm against Izuku in the next round...)
Suddenly, from behind, he heard a voice.
"Good job, Shirakawa!"
Mato turned and saw Oro.
"Oh, hey, Oro-san," he said.
"I saw you won with ease against your opponent!" Oro clapped Mato on the shoulder.
"Well, I did," said Mato.
"Whaddya say you come to my agency?"
"Uh? What do you mean?"
"Oh, right, they didn't tell you yet."
Oro placed a hand on Mato's shoulder.
"When the time comes, think about it, okay?"
Mato nodded.
"Now come back to your friends. They're waiting for you."
Oro and Mato parted ways, and Mato went upstairs and reached his friends.
"Hideki-kun!" Itsuka hugged him. "You won! You won!"
"Good job, mate," Tetsutetsu clapped his hands.
"You showed Monoma who's the best!" said Setsuna. "Now sit, you must be tired."
Mato sat back on the same chair as before and took a look at the screen:
"Third Match: Shoto Todoroki Vs. Hanta Sero."
Chapter 14 - End