Chapter 31

The stadium was still buzzing when they called the First semifinal match.

Shoto Todoroki vs. Katsuki Bakugo.

I watched as Todoroki walked out onto the arena. He looked haggard; his eyes were dull, staring blankly ahead as if something was weighing down on him after his match with Midoriya. Bakugo, by contrast, looked like he was ready to murder someone, his teeth bared in a fierce snarl.

" Todoroki looks off; it's like he lost all his motivation. Do any of you know why?" Yaoyorozu asked in confusion, while looking at them. 

"I have no idea why he's like that," that was what I said, even though I knew the reason. It simply wasn't my right to talk about.

"It doesn't matter why," Shinso said, arms crossed, eyes also on the arena. "If he's not using all his strength, Bakugo's going to make him pay for it.”

Once the match started, Bakugo came in hard, like he always did, explosions cracking off his palms before Todoroki had even settled into a proper stance.

To defend himself, Todoroki just raised his right hand, sending a wave of ice across the arena. It was a large attack, but it lacked the sheer scale and lethal speed that he had used against Sero. There was no heart in it.

Seeing the ice coming his way, Bakugo didn't even bother dodging. He detonated a massive explosion straight into the center of the glacier, shattering the ice into a million harmless shards. 

It didn't take long after that. A few more exchanges, ice cracking under repeated blasts, Todoroki's responses getting slower each time instead of sharper, until one solid hit sent him straight across the boundary line.

"TODOROKI IS OUT OF BOUNDS!" Midnight called, waving her whip. "KATSUKI BAKUGO ADVANCES TO THE FINALS!”

The crowd cheered, but it felt hollow. Everyone could see that Todoroki hadn't fought back. Todoroki sat up slowly and didn't say anything to Bakugo as the medical staff came out to check on him.

Bakugo didn't gloat either. Just glanced toward our side of the stands for a few seconds before heading off toward the tunnel. 

‘ He got his victory, but he's furious because he didn't get a real fight.

Which means Bakugo is going to bring all that unvented rage straight into the finals against me.’

"Something's really off about him. He didn't even use his fire side.” Yaoyorozu said, frowning, concerned about Todoroki's attitude.

I still didn't elaborate, mostly because I didn't care, and it wasn't my right to speak about his family matters.

"Something always seems to be going on with that guy," Shinso said. "He just doesn't talk about it."

"Unlike some people," Ojiro added, glancing sideways at me.

"I'll have you know that I talk plenty."

"You really don't.”

It didn't take long. Midnight's voice cut through the murmuring crowd less than ten minutes later.

"Next match Arata Seiji vs Tenya Iida!"

Iida was already standing up and adjusting his glasses, his expression set somewhere between determination and barely restrained anticipation. 

"Guess that's me," I said, also standing up.

"Good luck," Yaoyorozu said.

"You'll need it," Shinso said.

Ojiro leaned back in his seat, tail flicking once. 

"Try not to make it look too easy this time. People are starting to talk."

"What do you mean by easy? And I don't need luck, but I appreciate the sentiment anyway.”

….

"Next match!" Present Mic's voice boomed through the loudspeakers. "THE SECOND MATCH OF THE SEMIFINALS! ARATA SEIJI VERSUS TENYA IIDA!”

"STADIUM, GET READY FOR A CLASH OF SPEED VERSUS TACTICS!" Present Mic’s voice blasted from every speaker. "ON ONE SIDE, CLASS 1-A'S ENGINE PRODIGY, TENYA IIDA! AND ON THE OTHER, THE UNDEFEATED MAN OF MYSTERY, ARATA SEIJI!"

Iida was already in position by the time I stepped into the ring; the engines in his calves were letting off small bursts of exhaust, like he couldn't hold still even for a moment anymore.

"I meant what I said earlier, Arata", he said, voice carrying over the crowd noise. "I don't intend to let you win this one the easy way."

"Sure, I won't be going easy on you," I said, but unlike him, I didn't look excited about the match.

Midnight raised her whip, 

"Are both fighters ready? START!"

*BOOM!*

The air detonated behind Iida as he used his Recipro Burst right from the start. Even though he knew he only had a few seconds of peak acceleration if he maintained this technique before his engine stalled out completely. He closed half the distance in less than a tenth of a second.

The wind pressure alone blew back my hair before he had even touched me.

I stepped aside on instinct, and barely managed to avoid him before he was already reversing direction.

"Damn, you nearly got me," I said.

He wants to end this before I can react.

Unfortunately for him, I don't need to be faster than him.’ I thought while watching Iida fully turn toward me.

"I told you, I trained for this specifically."

He came at me again, even faster this time. On his second pass, he read my angle before I finished moving out of the way, throwing a kick at me. I barely got time to block his attack, which sent me skidding back on the arena floor. My arms were throbbing from the force of the impact.

"Seems like you can no longer keep up, so what is it going to be?" Iida said, already preparing himself for another charge. 

‘ This is getting too close for comfort; if I keep going on like this, I am going to lose. I have to stop trying to outrun him.’

I decided not to hold back anymore.

With a single thought, I willed the Black Ghost into existence. It materialized instantly into a wide and muscular form, before positioning itself like a wall in front of me, waiting for Iida's next charge.

Iida came in a third time, Engine screaming, ready to deliver a kick aimed directly at where I was standing.

Unfortunately for him, he never reached me. Since he couldn't see the black ghost,  he hit it at maximum speed.

The impact sounded like a car slamming into a solid steel pillar. The force of the impact sent him stumbling sideways before he crashed hard onto the ground a few feet away, nearly knocking himself unconscious. To everyone else, it looked as though Iida had hit an invisible wall mid-sprint.

He slowly got up, breathing hard and staring at the space where he'd just collided with something.

"...so you finally decided to use your quirk."

He didn't wait for an answer. Before charging at me again, this time he tried circling me instead and attacking me from the side.

He still wasn't lucky, as he hit the same invisible wall a second time, harder; he barely caught himself on one knee, his breathing ragged now.

"It's like fighting a ghost..." he gritted out, trying to push himself fully up, refusing to stay down despite the second collision.

"It *is* a ghost," I said. "And unfortunately for you, I've just caught you, which means you've lost."

"What...What are you talking about?" Iida gasped, confused by my words. 

"You wanted me to use my quirk; here it is", I said softly, walking towards him. 

He blinked, confusion flickering across his face for half a second, and then he realized his legs weren't responding. They were held in place.

“So that's how it is, I give up.”

"Winner: Arata Seiji!" Midnight announced my victory.

The crowd's reaction came late, the way it always seemed to whenever the fight ended on something they couldn't quite process yet. Iida stood frozen in place a moment longer, staring down at his own legs, before the hold released and he finally sat down on the arena.

Once he was released, Iida didn't get up right away, his chest heaving as he adjusted his glasses with shaky hands.

I walked over to see if he was alright.

‘ He hit the black ghost at full speed twice after all. Most people don't recover that fast from something that disorienting, but he didn't hesitate to do it twice. He was even ready to continue.’

"You alright?" I asked, holding out a hand.

He looked at it for a second before he took it and let me pull him up.

"I'll be alright," he said. "Though I imagine my pride will take longer to recover than my legs did."

"At least you succeeded in making me use my quirk."

"A distinction I'm sure will comfort me later." He straightened his sport uniform, in an oddly formal way for someone who'd just been flattened twice. 

"I won't pretend I'm not disappointed," Iida said. "I trained specifically for speed, and even though I knew it wouldn't be enough to beat you, I was still hoping to push you further."

"It was closer than you think. I wasn't planning on using it that early."

That seemed to land somewhere he hadn't expected. He blinked, adjusting his glasses again, more out of habit this time than nerves.

"You're saying I pushed you into escalating."

"I'm saying you were close to beating me. And if you could see my quirk, I’m sure the match would have ended differently."

‘ Which is true, and worth telling him, even if it doesn't change the scoreboard.’

He considered that for a moment, something easing in his shoulders that hadn't been there a second ago.

"Then I suppose I'll take that as a partial victory," he said, extending a hand for a handshake.

I shook it anyway.

"I want a rematch, eventually," he said. It wasn't really a question.

"Sure, whenever you're ready."

He nodded in satisfaction, like that settled something important, and turned to head toward the medical staff waiting at the tunnel entrance, spine straight despite the two full-speed collisions.

Seeing him, I shook my head before I also turned back and walked toward the stands.