Ibara had been afraid, deathly afraid. She knew that fear could lead down a sinful path, but fighting a boy just seemed like an insurmountable challenge. Plus, he was really tall for a Japanese person, and his looks were intense. All of that had come to a head when the match started, and he suddenly flashed toward her, holding up his hands as if he was about to do something horrible. Oh, she'd just had no choice but to turn and use her ultimate attack right away, with the thorns and everything! But then she'd realised… this boy didn't have any strength enhancements. His powers allowed him to flash around. But… in terms of attack… she was stronger. And she'd HURT him.
I didn't want it to be like this!
But here he was, giving her permission. Saying it was okay. "Let's finish the fight properly." Those were his words.
Well, alright then. She could do that.
Ibara gave him an enigmatic half-smile, and plunged her vines into the ground. The crowd gasped, and the cement of the platform cracked in long tendrils that raced toward Namikaze at high speed. He flashed back and forth uncertainly, his blue eyes darting frantically across the ground. She tried to analyse his pattern.
Up far left, now!
The vine burst from the concrete, sending debris everywhere and snaking toward him. His teleporting seems tied to his leg movements, as if he's running through spacetime. If I constrict his legs…
But he was too fast. Up now, middle right. In front of him, up. Turn, tie. Up together, both from the left. The vines burst up in little explosions, making their attacks. Namikaze bobbed and weaved and dodged, avoiding them all. She was catching him off guard with every attack, but his speed was such that it didn't matter.
The crowd was going wild now. "LOOK AT THEM GO!" shouted Present Mic. "FINALLY, TWO EVENLY MATCHED STUDENTS! I've… I've been kinda bored by every match before this one, in all honesty."
"Stop letting your bias show through," Class A's teacher snapped.
Ibara tried something else. Detach. Go round! She controlled half her currently deployed vines from the front while the others went around behind him. Namikaze whirled, confused. Front, attack now! She managed to wrap one around his arm, but before she could get his legs, he struggled free. He stomped on one of the front ones with a boot, causing a brief pain that spiked all the way back to the roots of her hair. Ibara let out a small squeak of agony.
Namikaze's blue eyes looked up sharply. He'd heard, and understood. Oh no. Back! Attack now!
If she could detach most of her vines, he'd be unable to cause her pain. But you'll have less control, and you'll run out eventually, another voice told her. But she ignored it, and sent in the surprise attack anyway.
The detached vines snaked up toward Namikaze's legs. She watched as the boy's eyes widened… and then he lifted his hands, and did what he did to the cavalry bandanas. Yellow energy erupted around her vines, and for a moment Ibara's head felt strange, as if there was another person in there. It was oddly… comforting.
The detached vines flashed out of the ring, falling harmlessly off the platform.
Panicked, Ibara detached more and sent them underground, bursting them up on all sides of the boy. He brought his glowing fists close to his chest, and then threw them outward. With a strange booming noise and a burst of yellow light, her precious vines flashed away in a widened circle, as if blasted from an impact point with him at its center.
The crowd went nuts.
Deku leaned so far forward Ochaco feared he might fall from his seat. "They've covered each other's openings," he muttered.
Iida turned to Deku, inquisitive. "What do you mean?"
"I mean… Namikaze tries to attack, and Shiozaki's hair will block him. Shiozaki tries to attack with her hair, and Namikaze can exploit her pain. She attacks with detached vines and he can warp them away."
Kaminari and Kirishima had been listening in. "So…" the electric boy swallowed. "That means… what, exactly?"
"It means their only option is to exhaust one another," Tokoyami cut in, answering the question.
"One thing's for sure," said Kirishima. "The crowd is finally getting that prolonged fight they've been aching for."
Ochaco turned back to watching the fight, worry spreading across her face.
As soon asHarurealised he could teleport Shiozaki's vines when they were detached, he got more aggressive.
Two flashes forward, and a vine shield came up to block him out. More vines snaked toward him, detached. He warped them out of the way, but a third came and swiped at him, knocking him back. Another flash forward from another angle. If I can just squeeze through an opening, push her out of bounds… Shiozaki put up another shield, practically impenetrable. He flashed backward, avoiding more offensive vines, and then sideways in a circle, probing for his opening. She matched him, closing herself off.
"Doing that so much must be tiring you, sir," she called to him, completely unsarcastically.
"And you're running out of hair." For every detached attack she used on him, she had less base hair to work with. Clearly she can grow more quickly, but that must sap her energy.
Hehe. Sap. Trees. God,Haru, get a grip.
She had an excellent point about him. He WAS getting tired, and the sustained high adrenaline from both his Quirk's general hyperactive boost and the fight itself was making his heart beat too fast, making sweat pour down on his face and stinging his cuts. It must end soon. I've got to end it!
"Don't give up, Shiozaki!" a voice shouted from the stands.
"Show Class A that they don't rule the finals! They're not one ounce better than you!"
Was the crowd chanting more for the girl now? He couldn't tell. I have to remove her defenses. I have to…
I have to try and warp her hair while it's still attached to her body.
Haru swallowed. He could only imagine the pain he might cause the poor girl. He didn't want to do this. If this was truly his only option, then wouldn't it be more noble to call off the fight? Wouldn't he rather lose honourably than win dishonourably?
But then, everything I told Todoroki will have been for nothing.
Haru wiped sweat off his face with his forearm, and flashed forward again. Shiozaki put up her shield. Instead of blocking the incoming detached vines, he lifted both hands… and focused power toward the shield itself.
The crowd gasped as the core of Shiozaki's vines began to glow yellow, a light that crept its way up to the roots of her hair.
"WHOA!" shouted Mic. "Namikaze tried a new strategy! But isn't that gonna hurt?"
"Does he mean for him or for her?" someone asked from the crowd.
"Hey, I don't know about this…"
Haru clenched his fists, flexing his arms. I don't want to rip your hair out, just… MOVE!
Ibara Shiozaki wailed in pain.
His arms fell. He stopped the attack instantly, and the light faded.
Her shield fell as well. For a moment they stared at one another, dumbfounded.
Tears swam in her eyes. "You… you stopped… I…"
"NO MERCY, SHIOZAKI!"
"HE'S FROM CLASS A!"
Sniffling, Shiozaki took on a determined expression, and closed her eyes.Haruok a wary step backward, confused.
And then… all the detached vines he'd teleported out of the ring came snaking back in. A rapidly closing circle of green, converging on him.
What the hell? She can still control them with her mind after that? I… he tried to warp back and out, but two vines met him where he flashed to, and snapped tightly around his torso. Confused,Harustruggled instead of trying to get away, and paid the price. More vines wrapped his legs. More around his arms. He thought about warping away at that point, but his panic was breaking over, and he knew that if he tried he might end up leaving a limb behind.
They spun and tightened and grew dense together, and then more came directly from her hair, bursting from the concrete and grabbing him, lifting him off the ground. She'd completely wrapped him up and was now holding him. The crowd gasped asHarutried to kick his feet. His arms were tightly tied up at his sides. He couldn't flex them. He couldn't… move. He couldn't warp.
The crowd was in an uproar.