"HA! YES! GET HIM, SHIOZAKI!" Tetsutetsu swung his fist outward.
Monoma laughed. "See? He's gotten himself trapped. A warper, trapped. Ridiculous. I knew Class A wasn't up to it."
Ochaco clenched her fists, trembling with anger and frustration. Next to her, Deku was having a similar reaction.
"Ugh!" Jiro cried, her voice trembling. "Shut up, just… SHUT UP!" Monoma only laughed harder.
They all watched as Shiozaki's vines grew tighter and tighter around Namikaze. There was nothing to be done.
Haru struggled and struggled, unable to do anything.
Midnight called to him. "Namikaze, can you move? If you declare yourself immobilised completely, I will call the match."
Haru didn't want to answer her. The pressure from being squeezed so tight was causing more blood to leak from his cuts.
"Please…" Shiozaki asked him, her angelic voice reaching his ears. "I don't want to continue this, after you spared me pain so nobly. Please give up."
"…"Harufound that he couldn't even speak. His lungs were being punished now. Breathing was getting difficult. No! If they can't hear me, then they won't call the match and she'll just suffocate me and I'll die and I'll die and I'll lose and I'll never see Mina aga…
The limits you've put on your powers? They may not be as hard as you think.
Midoriya's words.
"GET HER, Haru!" Tsuyu's voice. He'd never heard her speak above normal volume before. Her croak-shout seemed to cut through all.
"YOU CAN DO IT, DUDE!" Sero.
"REMEMBER WHAT I SAID!" Midoriya.
"AREN'T YOU A MAN?" Kirishima.
"Hey kid, can't you teleport? Getting out of that should be easy!" someone from the crowd.
"Don't hold back, kid! Just because she's a girl?"
"Show her the same respect she showed you!"
"She made you bleed! It's okay to try to win!"
"Go for it, kid!"
"You can do it!"
The limits may not be as hard as you think.
You can do it.
It's okay… to try to win.
If I can't warp myself out of the vines… then I'll warp the VINES OFF ME!
"Ggh… HAAAAAAAAH!" With a roar of effort,Haruput all his remaining strength into his arm muscles, flexing them so hard that the vines partially ripped. Then the green mass he'd been wrapped up in… turned yellow.
The crowd gasped in sync, and erupted, as all of Shiozaki's vines were blasted away. The girl slid backward in shock.Harulanded light on his feet… and ran at her.
Frantically, Shiozaki sent out her hair.Haruwarped right. Another hair attack. Warp left. Closer and closer, until when she tried to put up a shield, he was already between her and it.
Haru ducked low as he arrived at Shiozaki, operating off a rush of pure instinct. He drove one elbow into her stomach and put the other open palm over her face, applying all his forward pressure into her pushing her back. Shiozaki skidded frantically, the two of them moving together towards the boundary line. In a last ditch move, she grew her hair out behind herself and created a vine-wall that they slammed into, right on the border. In that moment of recoil, she freed herself from his grasp, ducked low to avoid his swipe, and went on a sideways retreat along the boundary line.
Haru gave chase. She put up another hair shield, and he punched through it. He punched through the next one, too. As they reached the corner of the ring, she threw all her hair into one last attack, and he threw his arms out, warping all of it cleanly away, sending it flying into the stands.
Shocked, Ibara Shiozaki's eyes widened, andHaruteleported behind her, grabbed her under her arms, and lifted her up, leaving one arm where it was and putting another on her back. "You're…" he grunted with effort, all his muscles straining. "… OUT!" He flipped her and threw her over the boundary line, where she landed hard on her butt with a grimace.
The crowd fell silent, stunned.
Midnight chopped the air with her palm. "Shiozaki is out of bounds! Namikaze advances to the next round!"
In that split second,Harusuddenly winced in embarrassment. He'd just raced up to a girl, pushed her, and thrown her on her ass. The crowd was going to hate him, right?
They all erupted into applause and cheers, the loudest for any match so far.Harulooked up, in confusion, exhaustion, and elation all at once. He saw Class A waving down at him, whistling and whooping. Panning his eyes downward, he saw… Mina, standing ready in the tunnel for her match, waving at him with a massive grin on her face.
"WHAT A MAAAAAATCH!" Present Mic screamed. "That felt like a final showdown right there, folks! That just means there's even craaaazier stuff to come!"
"Don't get their hopes up like that," Aizawa chided.
"Well done!" A pro hero shouted.
"Both of you, excellent! Exemplary!"
"Your powers and skills combined already make you some of the best I've seen!"
"Anyone would be happy to take them as sidekicks, don't you think?"
"Heck, I want both of them right now!"
Haru blinked, unable to believe it. The pros… wanted him? And her! The whole crowd was cheering for BOTH of them!
Ibara was still sitting on the ground, rubbing her head and grimacing. "Owww…"
Haru smiled apologetically. "I'm really sorry about that." He offered her a hand. "It was an amazing fight, you know. Look how happy and impressed we made everyone."
Ibara looked up at him, and then around at the crowd, processing it. "I… see. Even if I lost, this is a desirable result." Then she saw his outstretched hand, blushed, and took it. "The apology is unnecessary, although my scalp and my… ahem, rear are in some pain. I do thank you for avoiding my chest when you came up and pushed me."
Haru felt heat rush to his face. His eyes had nearly gone down to her chest just then, as she'd mentioned it. Bad. "Uhh, well, you know. I was just kind of running on instinct at that point."
"I should be the one apologising, truly." Ibara suddenly lifted her hand up to his cheek and traced the cuts she'd made.Harunearly recoiled in surprise; not even Mina had ever done something so intimate. "I was the aggressor. I wounded you first. That was unseemly."
"It's… no problem, really." He gently took her hand off his cheek with his own.
"You two!" Midnight snapped. "Stop flirting and get out of the arena! We have another match to get ready for!" Behind her, Cementoss was repairing the platform where Ibara's vines had broken up through it.
The two students blushed. Midnight had shouted loud enough to where everyone had heard.
Some people from the crowd whistled. "WHAT! Young love?!" Present Mic cried. "Is this a twist?!"
"I am incredibly upset," Aizawa grumbled.
"Dammit!" Kaminari swore from the stands. "I mean, I told him to ask her out, but still, dammit!"
Awkwardly,Haruparted ways with the 1B girl, as they had separate tunnels to exit from. Coincidentally, the oneHaruleft through was the one Mina was about to enter from.
He started as he saw her pink face materialise in the darkness. It was only the two of them in this tunnel, and the noises of the crowd suddenly seemed distant, echo-like.
Mina smirked. "Quite the display you put on out there."
"Uhhh…"Harustuttered. "Listen, Mina, what just happened out there wasn't what you think, errrr…"
Mina tilted her head, all innocence. "What are you talking about?"
"Umm, me… and Shiozaki, uhh… we were just acknowledging respect for each other, as opponents. And apologising for the wounds we caused. That's it!"
"Hmm." Mina nodded. "Just one question,Haru. Why do you feel the need to justify yourself to me?"
Haru froze. Fuck. "Umm…"
Mina grinned, leaned forward, and kissed his cheek. He felt her soft lips brush against one of his cuts. "I'm no Recovery Girl, but perhaps that'll make you feel better?" she whispered in his ear. When she leaned back and away, her yellow-and-black eyes were glowing. "Well, gotta go kick Aoyama's ass. See you in our quarterfinal." With a final wink, She strutted out of the tunnel and into the daylight.
Haru stood there dumbly for another thirty seconds before realising he was about to collapse in exhaustion, and went to see Recovery Girl.
Back up in the stands, a full-on fight had been about to break out between Classes A and B, until Itsuka Kendo had returned from the concession stand and calmed everything down. She'd personally apologised to Class A, saying that if she'd been there at the time she would have put a stop to Monoma and Tetsutetsu immediately. The latter had slumped down to the waiting room to prepare for his match, along with Kirishima. Monoma was currently seething in his seat. Class A was joyous.
"Could you believe it?" Izuku asked Uraraka excitedly. "Namikaze actually warped all the vines off of him, like… huh?" He turned. His brunette friend was no longer sitting there. "Hey, Iida. We should go find Uraraka."
"Hmm? Oh, okay." The two of them stood up. As Izuku walked past Kacchan, he gave the boy a brief glance. Uraraka has to fight him. That's probably why she's left; she's feeling the nerves.
Mina wiped the floor with Aoyama in their match.