My Hero Academia: Aura Farming

[Asura]

You know I never understood Endeavour. Let say Shoto become Number 1 when All Might is still active. Even if nobody learn about his wounds or his diminishing power, it still means that Shot just replaced an old man, and All Might still go as a legend leaving the sit to a new generation.
And that's also the case if Shoto take his place if he's already retired.

And what does Endeavour get out of this, he never became Number 1, he will die knowing that he was inferior to All Might and his own son

Click to shrink...

Endeavour considers Shoto to be a part of him, as many patronising fathers do. Thus, if he surpasses AM, it's the same as Endeavour doing so. And he doesn't know about the injuries so that isn't a part of the logic.

Of course, it's also shitty logic, but it's internally consistent with Endeavour's inability to give up his own superiority complex.

 

[Sceonn]

Hopefully Momo ensured whatever she is bombarding Todoroki with has an exothermic reaction to his ice.

 

[Omniext]

And what does Endeavour get out of this, he never became Number 1, he will die knowing that he was inferior to All Might and his own son

Click to shrink...

By living vicariously through his child. And nobody said these things had to make sense.

If Shoto is strong, that at least means that Endeavor had a part in making something powerful- or something to that effect, I think. I didn't finish BNHA.

 

[The Synonym]

────────────────────────
[Shonen Fight]
────────────────────────

...

"She's putting up some resistance, that's for sure," Taka muttered as he observed the battle below, resting his cheek on his fist as one leg dangled by the stadium's ceiling and the other rested against his chest.

To say Todoroki was in real trouble would be a stretch. He didn't look overly worried, but the faint frown on his face made it clear this fight wasn't going the way he'd planned.

Not only had he been forced onto the defensive, hiding behind ice walls to hold off the cannon blasts coming his way, but it seemed Yaoyorozu had methodically made him use his own ice in a way that restricted his movement around the arena throughout their fight so far—thus trapping him where he was now.

Unlike in the show, where she had barely been able to hold her own against Tokoyami due to her inexperience in real fights, this was a massive step up.

'Although, looking more carefully, it's not going well for her.' Taka mused.

Yaoyorozu's Quirk used the lipids in her body to produce materials and objects. Judging by everything she'd created so far, she was probably running close to her limit.

If she hadn't hit it already.

He didn't know what would happen if she pushed her Quirk that far. Hopefully, not her becoming like that sucked-up alien.

Still, if she wanted to push herself that hard, he wasn't going to stop her.

But this was a tournament. Managing resources mattered—if she won, there'd be another fight after this one.

Which made this matchup even more unfortunate. Of all the people she could have faced first, it had to be Todoroki, the one she had to go all out if she wanted to win.

—Even if going all out here meant arriving at the next fight practically Quirkless.

And judging from her expression as she quickly reloaded the pair of cannons she'd somehow found time to build, she knew that too.

But without going all out, she had no chance.

So there was only one conclusion to arrive at.

No matter the future.

She had to go all out here, or there wouldn't be a future combat to worry about.

Which is what she did—holding nothing back against Todoroki and making sure to show everything she had to the pros watching from the stands in this one fight.

-Boom!-

-Boom!-

-Boom!-

The barrage continued for a while more. Todoroki stayed behind his wall, and Yaoyorozu kept hammering it with the cannons while skating away fast enough whenever he sent back a wave of ice in her direction, only to go back to the cannons right away so Todoroki wouldn't run away.

Eventually, though, just as expected, she hit her limit.

The ammunition ran dry, as did her Quirk's resources. Soon, the cannons fell silent.

And Todoroki seemed to have been waiting for exactly that. The moment the impacts stopped, he moved.

—Tsssssssss!—

He pressed his palm to the ice, and it began dissolving rapidly. Within seconds, the arena had cleared entirely—leaving just the two of them on opposite sides, facing each other.

Yaoyorozu looked nervous. She raised her staff and tightened her grip on it.

Todoroki looked like he was ready to end it, not an ounce of worry on his face.

There wasn't much of a standoff.

—Sssssshhhhhh!—

The instant they locked eyes, he sent a rising wave of ice surging toward her.

She moved fast on the skates, dodging by narrow margins the freezing wave and closing on Todoroki as quickly as she could.

As she got closer, she reached into a bag she was carrying, pulled out a handful of small spheres, and tossed them toward Todoroki.

He raised a wall before they could reach him.

They weren't meant to be offensive, though.

-Puff!-

—Tsssss…—

"...?!" Todoroki's face contorted into a frown.

The moment the spheres hit the ice wall, smoke burst outward and swallowed a wide stretch of the arena.

Moving quickly while her momentum was still carrying her, Yaoyorozu pulled down a small visor that had been resting on her head and brought it over her eyes as she dove into the cloud.

Even from above, where Taka was, it wasn't hard to work out what it was.

An infrared visor.

She was cutting off Todoroki's vision while keeping her own.

'Just how much prep time did Todoroki give her…?' Taka watched, a little baffled.

Cannons, gadgets, ammunition—as far as he could recall from her Quirk's specifics, all of it took time to produce.

A lot of it. Especially the cannons.

Could Todoroki have given her prep time due to overconfidence?

'Like hell.' Taka snorted. Todoroki was arrogant, but he didn't go easy on anyone.

At least he didn't think so.

The most likely explanation was that after she dodged an opening move he'd thought would be enough, Yaoyorozu had stayed hidden behind his ice long enough to build what she needed.

Then, she'd probably used the same trick for the cannons—leading him into creating a labyrinth of ice that worked against him while she used the cover to prepare.

'Well, she sure gets troublesome once you give her time and a class on how not to freeze up in a fight…' Taka smiled wryly, then squinted as Yaoyorozu disappeared into the smoke cloud.

He couldn't see anything from up here.

That wouldn't do.

Closing his eyes, he separated a small bubble of aura from himself—still connected by a thin thread—and sent it drifting down toward the arena below.

The instant it touched the platform, it spread out silently and rapidly, expanding until it covered the whole area.

Invisible, of course.

But with it in place, Taka, whose eyes remained closed, smiled.

Now, he could feel what was happening inside there.

Yaoyorozu was circling Todoroki with her skates, moving swiftly and unpredictably, looking for the right moment to strike.

Todoroki, in turn, was standing still and listening carefully, reading the air around him, waiting for her to commit.

Which she did soon enough.

Suddenly, she broke the circle and drove straight at him, winding up her staff for a good hit.

However, despite not being able to see her, Todoroki reacted fast. Before she could get to him, a rising wave of ice shot out in her direction, forcing her to dodge in a hurry.

The skates made the dodge clumsy, and Todoroki, of course, didn't miss the chance to capitalize on that mistake.

—Sssshhhh!—

Before she could recover, another wave came.

And this time, she didn't get out of the way in time.

Taka huffed.

—And just like that, Yaoyorozu was encased in ice before she could react.

Todoroki let out a quiet sigh as the fight settled.

The smoke took a few seconds more to clear, but the moment it did, the call came.

{"Yaoyorozu can't continue—Todoroki advances to the next round!"}

"So in the end, he still makes it through." He muttered with a calm smile.

That meant their fight would be the first in the next stage.

Taka looked at Todoroki's expression. He looked a little shaken—he had probably used way too much ice in too little time, and clearly, he hadn't expected the fight to be that complicated.

In the show, it probably wouldn't have been.

'But this isn't the show, is it?' His smile turned into a smirk.

Yaoyorozu may have lost, but she'd given the guy a real fight, and performed well above what the gap in power between them would have suggested.

In the case of Mina during his combat with her, she too had done well. A lot better than he thought the show Mina could have done.

It seemed his training had not been wasted.

Following that thought, his eyes drifted toward the class section, settling on two figures in particular.

Bakugo and Midoriya.

The next fight.

He was curious to see what this clash would look like, given how different both parties were from their counterparts in the show.

And even more so because now Midoriya wouldn't need to use self-mutilation as his only victory card.

...

°

°

°

| A few minutes later... |

...

Taka was lying on his back on the stadium roof, bobbing his head faintly to a rhythm in his head.

The pause until the next fight had dragged on for a bit, so he had decided to relax for a bit until it began.

As he did, enjoying the music inside his head, his mind slowly drifted to what he did earlier to check what was happening inside the smoke, a small smirk taking over his face as he did so.

'It sure has turned out to be useful today. Good thing I was able to come up with it on time.'

His new skill: Aura Sense.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

[Aura Sense] (Active)

Description: Hidden like a shadow, far, far away, a sniper shoots to kill.

The bullet travels the distance in seconds, too fast for the eye, too silent for any eye to perceive. An undetected assassin, incapable of being predicted by anyone common.

Only, just as the bullet is about to hit, the target turns around, looking straight in the eyes of the sniper, while he tilts his head, letting the bullet pass harmlessly.

For nothing can escape his knowledge, nothing can escape his detection.

He sees it all.

▸You have learned the art of feeling through your aura.

▸By spending a certain amount of aura, you can expand it into a zone with you at the center, and feel the movement of anything that is contained within.

▸The more aura used, the bigger the zone that can be created.

▸Separating the zone from you requires more aura, as does increasing the distance between you and the zone.

▸When the zone is undone, all the aura spent comes back immediately.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

It was basically the reconnaissance skill he had been waiting for.

Aside from earlier, when he used it to check what was happening inside the smoke, he had also used it during the first game, the race, to check how close the main trio was to the finish line, so he could estimate when to do his big entrance.

It was a very useful skill.

Of course, it had some defects for now. Whether because those were its limits, or because he just hadn't perfected it yet, he didn't know for sure.

For starters, the "sense" that came from the zone of aura was only useful for movement, not noise or sight.

If he had to express it somehow, it was similar to the sense of touch, when the skin feels the wind moving—or not even the skin, the sense that comes from your hair receiving air was also similar in that sense. Basically, he was sensitive to any changes occurring within the aura zone's domain.

However, due to that restricted level of perception, things like picturing colors, sounds, voices, smells, and more within the zone just weren't possible for now.

After today passed, he would check if he could improve it or not, but for now, it was what it was.

It didn't take away the fact that it remained an incredibly useful skill both for reconnaissance and combat… Which he hadn't tried out yet, but he was excited to do so.

Smiling at the thought of perceiving his opponent's movements without even looking, he sighed and relaxed further, letting the sunrays hit his face placidly.

—Until Present Mic's voice snapped him back upright.

{"Now that the arena has been cleaned of all the leftover ice and rebuilt, it's time to give a warm welcome to our next fighters!"}

As he pushed himself up, his gaze dropped down, locking onto the two figures making their way toward the arena.

The two walked with very different kinds of presence.

Bakugo was confident—he knew exactly what he was capable of, and had no hesitation or doubt in his gaze about how the battle would go. He also looked angrier than usual, though that was difficult to gauge at baseline.

Midoriya, on the other hand, wasn't radiating confidence exactly—but he wasn't scared either. His eyes carried something more specific than bravado.

Determination.

A goal in mind.

If it had been the Midoriya from the show, he would have said something along the lines of "I don't want to lose this fight."

The one walking to the platform right now was saying "I want to win," with his eyes.

It seemed the green-head had grown a lot without him noticing.

Soon, both climbed onto the arena and took their positions at opposite ends.

{"Readyyy?!"} Present Mic began the countdown, making the entire stadium catch their breath.

As the pause stretched, Bakugo's legs coiled like springs, and his hands pointed backwards, ready to launch forward the moment the word dropped.

Midoriya's body began to pulse with energy, electric arcs flickering around him as his muscles tensed.

One more second of stillness passed.

Then—

{"START!"}

Both exploded forward, their figures blurring.

To Taka, they were still followable. But even so, his eyebrows pulled into a slight frown as they closed in on each other.

"Huh?"

Just as they were about to clash, with Bakugo winding up an explosion in his palm—Midoriya pushed a beat faster than the blonde had accounted for.

Ducking under the swing, he grabbed the extended arm and, before Bakugo could react—

-Bam!-

Threw him clean over his shoulder.

Bakugo's back hit the platform hard, the air knocked clean out of him, eyes going wide.

But before he could even process that, a fist was already coming straight at his face.

"Urgh!"

—BOOOM!—

He released an uncontrolled explosion from one hand, hurling himself sideways in a rough, chaotic roll across the platform.

—BAM!—

The next second, Midoriya's fist cracked the concrete exactly where his head had been a moment before, throwing up a small burst of dust.

"You're not getting away!"

He, however, didn't stop there—he chased immediately, shooting after the rolling blonde.

Since Bakugo was still tumbling without control, Midoriya closed the gap fast with his grand speed, winding up another punch.

"Don't—"

—BOOM!—

Mid-roll, Bakugo's palms slammed into the platform and detonated, kicking him into the air.

—BOOM!—

—BOOM!—

—BOOM!—

From there, a chain of explosions ricocheted him across the air, gradually wrestling back control of his own movement.

And once he had it—

"—look down on me!"

He shot himself back at Midoriya, palm blazing.

Like before, Midoriya rushed to meet him, moving to grab the arm again.

—BOOM!—

But to his shock, this time, Bakugo aimed the explosion at the approaching ground instead of at him, and the resulting force kicked him up and overhead before Midoriya could close the gap.

He missed the arm completely. Bakugo was already past him—at his back.

And with such a wide target at his disposal, he aimed his palm and…

—BOOM!—

Released an explosion on Midoriya's back point-blank.

"Aaaargh!"

Midoriya was sent flying, rolling hard across the platform for several meters.

After enough rolls, he dug his fingers into the concrete and slowed himself down while recovering his control.

As he did, however, Bakugo was already after him. His scowl made Midoriya panic and dash away once again, this time on his feet instead of rolling.

While the two did their thing, trading roles and chasing each other across the arena, Taka watched with a slightly narrowed look.

"That's strange… how did Bakugo fall for that throw? Didn't he already—oh."

He slapped his forehead.

"Right, that didn't happen this time. Those two weren't pitted against each other at the combat exercise."

Which meant this was Bakugo's first real taste of Midoriya's complete knowledge of how he fought.

'Which also means this is the first time they've actually clashed in a proper fight.'

He pressed his chin into his hand, brow creasing further.

'I might have forgotten about the importance of that fight in their relationship… it led to Midoriya letting Bakugo in on more than he should have regarding One For All, didn't it? Without that happening, their relationship is probably sitting right where it was when they left middle school.'

No wonder Bakugo was looking angrier than usual.

He was fighting the person he'd thought had been hiding a Quirk from him his entire childhood, fooling him into thinking he was weaker for whatever reason.

'Whoops.'

While Taka turned that over, the fight below continued at the same intensity it had started. Only now, Bakugo had stopped chasing and went for the aerial assault option, while Midoriya was left trying to keep up with his opponent's attacks.

The blonde was bouncing between points in the air, using explosions as launch pads, trying to make Midoriya lose track of him.

Whenever he managed it—even for a moment—Bakugo dove like a predator, driving an explosion into him.

Whenever it happened, Midoriya could only bring his arms up to absorb some of the damage before Bakugo had already launched himself back into the air.

Needless to say, he was in trouble. Midoriya was fast, but he couldn't redirect mid-air the way Bakugo could. So if he tried to intercept him during a maneuver and missed, he'd be wide open in the air.

He needed to bring him down.

'Guess I've got no choice.' Midoriya thought, brows furrowing wryly.

He had to use his ultimate move.

His face tightened as he fought to track Bakugo's chaotic path, eyes narrowing into slits.

When he finally had him locked for long enough—

—BAM!—

He kicked off the ground and launched himself straight at the blonde.

Bakugo caught it immediately and detonated an explosion to evade. By his read, Midoriya would miss by just enough.

That's what he'd thought—until he saw Midoriya shift his posture. Pulling back not a fist.

But a kick.

"What?!"

—BAM!!!—

"Urgh—!

Before he could adjust, the kick landed cleanly into his side, hurling him downward with force that dragged the air out of him.

The hit hurt badly, but pushing through it, Bakugo swung a hand as he fell.

—BOOM!—

An explosion from his palm broke his fall and spun him enough that he was able to land on his feet, though barely.

As he steadied himself, he couldn't help clutching his side, the pain twisting his expression.

"Damn it…!"

He snapped his head back up.

On the other side of the arena, Midoriya had landed with a backflip and was catching his breath—burns and injuries across him, but otherwise composed.

At the sight, Bakugo's teeth came together.

"Why you…!"

He pushed himself upright—shaky, but he got there.

Once he was on his feet, he fixed his glare on Midoriya. A rough, unsteady laugh slipped out.

"Must have been funny, eh, Deku?"

Midoriya flinched at that, his guard dropping slightly.

"All these years making me think you were Quirkless—only for it to turn out you had one all along, and a powerful one at that… must have been quite the laugh."

"Kacchan…"

"And now here you are, blocking my way, sporting that irritating face…"

—BOOOOM!—

"YOU MUST LOVE MAKING ME LOOK LIKE AN IDIOT!"

The moment Midoriya's guard slipped, Bakugo launched himself forward.

Midoriya reacted a beat late. With no way of blocking, countering, or evading efficiently, he found himself forced to dodge the incoming explosion by throwing himself sideways in a desperate lunge.

—BOOOOM!—

Luckily, he got out of the way by a hair.

Unluckily, Bakugo was already on him before he could get upright.

Using his speed, Midoriya doubled down on not fighting back and sprang back, putting distance between them.

"Damn it, don't run away, Dek—"

"I won't!"

In the brief window while Bakugo was switching from attack back to pursuit, hands shifting from aiming at the green-head to pointing behind him for propulsion, Midoriya reversed his momentum—kicking off and shooting back at him.

Bakugo barely had time to react before a kick came swinging at him.

—BAM!—

"Kgh—!"

He blocked with his forearms in a hurry, managing to cushion some of the force.

"...!"

But it was not enough. The recoil launched him off the platform and left him just a meter above the grass outside the platform.

The moment he landed, it'd be his instant loss.

With the line of his defeat right there, below him, Bakugo's eyes sharpened, and everything slowed for a moment.

'What am I doing?'

He'd trained, mentalized, and planned, all to come here today to show that guy what he was made of.

To prove that his beliefs had never been wrong, and that he should in fact be up there…

The top.

—And yet…

'I'm about to lose, in the first round, against Deku of all people…?'

The least impressive guy he had ever met, the guy who'd always looked up at him worriedly, even though he was supposed to be so much inferior… was about to beat him?

What was he doing?

—BOOM!—

An explosion cut his momentum and kept him from touching the ground.

Then—

—BOOOOM!—

A bigger one launched him upward, fast.

Midoriya watched him rocket skyward, blinking, then slowly took a few steps back, preparing for whatever was coming next.

Bakugo, on the other hand, kept climbing. His momentum seemingly unstoppable…

Until he was level with the top of the stadium.

From up there, he took it all in for one breath—the whole arena spread below him, the crowd observing his every movement, Midoriya observing him with concern—and prepared for his last move.

As he swept his eyes across the stadium, though, something caught them for a moment.

Far away, sitting on the edge of the roof, was Taka.

His red eyes were glaring directly at him.

'So that's where he went…'

Seeing him there, something clicked back into focus.

His goal.

The person he had come here to surpass.

As that dawned, a grin took over Bakugo's face.

His gaze dropped back down, locking on Midoriya.

"I'LL WIN!"

And with that statement, he dove.

—BOOM!—

—BOOM!—

—BOOM!—

—BOOM!—

—BOOM!—

Explosions fired off around him as he fell, gradually making his body spin at crazy speeds, and building a vortex that pulled the surrounding oxygen inward.

For one last shot.

Midoriya, on the other side, dug in the moment he saw the blonde plummeting.

His legs bent low, muscles coiling like metal springs, loading an enormous amount of force.

Until, at last—

He released.

—BAM!—

His figure launched upward like a rocket, aimed straight at the descending vortex.

Two forces, bearing down on each other. Again.

Energy surged into Midoriya's arm, far more than before—his sleeve peeling apart, the skin beneath pulsing with violent light.

"Texas—!"

Bakugo's grin widened from within the vortex. His palms burned bright, the small pops feeding into each other faster and faster as he closed in.

"Howitzer—!"

Down below, Midnight and Cementoss exchanged a look and moved.

"We have to stop them!"

Cementoss rushed to the platform and drove his hands into it, forcing the concrete to surge upward and put itself between the two students.

But—

"I won't make it!" Cementoss called out.

"At that height, my Quirk can't reach them either!" Midnight added.

Neither of them could.

With nothing in the way, both students completed their arc.

And clashed.

"—SMAAAAASH!"

"—IMPAAAACT!"

—BOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!—

The next instant, an explosion of enormous scale tore through the air—then amplified, as the shockwave of pure compressed wind that followed surged out from the center and rolled across the entire stadium.

The crowd couldn't help but cover their ears. The rumble was enough to deafen any noise coming from them.

But, contrastingly, a few seconds later... came the silence.

From the crowd, from Present Mic, from the arena, and from the settling explosion.

Until, slowly, two figures cut through the lingering smoke cloud in the sky and came into view—both falling in parallel, both toward the bounds.

Cementoss moved immediately to catch them with the concrete.

But just before he reached them—

—BOOM!—

Bakugo let off one small explosion midair, redirecting his fall back toward the platform, out of Cementoss' reach.

Midoriya didn't do anything, so he was caught and carried back to the platform without much trouble.

Bakugo landed harder. Cementoss could only react so quickly, throwing up a concrete ramp to redirect the momentum at the last second.

It was enough to keep him from hitting the ground at full force, but not enough to make it clean. He rolled across the platform in a heap and eventually came to a stop.

And then, slowly, clearly at the limit of what he had left—he pushed himself into fours, clearly not capable of more after that clash.

But that was enough.

Because Midoriya couldn't even do that.

A brief, stunned silence settled over the arena for a moment as the realization dawned on both the crowd and Bakugo.

Then, the announcement came.

{"Midoriya is unconscious—Bakugo advances to the next round!"}

Thus, at last, finalizing the fight.

The crowd erupted in cheers right away, hyped to the limit after such a gruelling and high-level fight.

"..."

From up on the roof, Taka watched the result with a wry huff, sweatdropping.

"Typical shonen rivalry… fighting until they nearly kill each other. I almost jumped in to make sure they didn't."

He let out a sigh, then smiled faintly.

"… Fortunately, it looks like they have some sense."

…

────────────────────────

-To Be Continued...-

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(A/N: In the end, I couldn't stop myself from writing a chapter for Izuku and Bakugo's fight.

As to why I thought Bakugo would be the winner, despite Midoriya's massive improvement in repertoire, t he reason is that the greenhead hasn't had much progress in his percentage of One For All. A Bakugo that went through the training camp and ultimate move training was able to fight on even terms with a 8% Izuku. This one, although still massively behind in terms of time, had a much greater goal to aim at than in the show, that being Taka, who overwhelms him completely, and he knows it. So I judged that Bakugo must have trained like crazy to fight against something like that, and that despite Midoriya's progress, it still isn't enough to serve him the victory.

Tell me what you think, though.)

 

[Dahaka1e]

It always drove me crazy that Bakugo and other characters without speed- or strength-enhancing Quirks could somehow fight someone using 5% of All Might's power. It's just so ridiculous. "Hey, I've got one-twentieth the power of a guy who can break the sound barrier repeatedly and change the city's weather with a single punch!" "Cool—we're just a bunch of teenagers; some of us just lived active lifestyles, but we'll keep up with you anyway." "But, but, but..." "Power scaling, baby."

 

[rlrl15435]

It always drove me crazy that Bakugo and other characters without speed- or strength-enhancing Quirks could somehow fight someone using 5% of All Might's power. It's just so ridiculous. "Hey, I've got one-twentieth the power of a guy who can break the sound barrier repeatedly and change the city's weather with a single punch!" "Cool—we're just a bunch of teenagers; some of us just lived active lifestyles, but we'll keep up with you anyway." "But, but, but..." "Power scaling, baby."

Click to shrink...

I think the percentage system is canonically an exponential curve? So 10% isn't double 5%, but four times or something?

But they do keep up with his 100% so idk.

 

[cryodilicdalek1992]

It always drove me crazy that Bakugo and other characters without speed- or strength-enhancing Quirks could somehow fight someone using 5% of All Might's power. It's just so ridiculous. "Hey, I've got one-twentieth the power of a guy who can break the sound barrier repeatedly and change the city's weather with a single punch!" "Cool—we're just a bunch of teenagers; some of us just lived active lifestyles, but we'll keep up with you anyway." "But, but, but..." "Power scaling, baby."

Click to shrink...

Its a shonen world, willpower overcomes barriers, including physical.

 

[Despacitoleo]

Its a shonen world, willpower overcomes barriers, including physical.

Click to shrink...

taka has to aura farm on them so hard he break the rules of shonene bs and overides it with his rule of cool and style on them

 

[Yohnos]

While they were having their duel, I'm sure some people in the stadium still noticed Taka on the roof looking mysterious

 

[K5P26]

Tbf Bakugo is a savant with his quirk, he was always good at his shit, while Deku is someone who needs time and momentum to reach his peak, Bakugo was always just exploding his way to the top.

 

[Hi-Cierra]

Just found and read through this, really loving it!

Had to post cause the dancing combat keeps reminding me of Dead as Disco (fighting to the beat game in early access: https://youtu.be/cZ5XH0wvl08?is=sRPVf7eR7nPzxLsd)

 

[Moon-llama]

I wonder , would taka be using the lessons of master picollo from the aura farming tournemant and use the pullup technique for hus match?

 

[MrSplashy]

Finally caught up with the latest chapter but goddangit the cliffhanger man

Bro is following the ways of Aura Master Piccolo. He's just missing the dramatic cape and the wind.


EDIT: Also, truly a power couple. Jiro and Takahashi.

 

[Wretcheddskyz]

Genuinely great fight, my boy deku still gets me hype shame he didn't win but I think you're explanation makes sense, we see full cowl at percentages and deku just isn't there yet, while Angry Pomeranian probably can't stand be second to anyone

 

[The Synonym]

────────────────────────
[End of the First Stage]
────────────────────────

...

-Sigh...-

Taka let out a sigh as he watched both combatants being carried off on stretchers to get treated by Recovery Girl.

"It feels a bit regretful." He smiled wryly.

He had trained Midoriya to be a notch above his version from the show. The guy had actually learned to kick, already knew how to manage his output, and had mastered channeling One For All throughout his entire body rather than just one limb.

But in the end, he still hadn't managed to surpass Bakugo, going out in the very first round of the tournament.

"At least he aura farmed a lot in that last clash, despite losing," Taka muttered.

Losing might not have been the ideal result for the greenhead, but that final clash had left the crowd restless and in awe regardless.

Especially the pros. He couldn't hear them from this high up, but he could get a rough guess of what they were saying just by watching their expressions.

"The students this year are incredibly promising!"

"We are witnessing the birth of monsters of the hero world."

"They'll be at the top for sure when they go pro. I should try my luck and rope them into my agency right away!"

"That Takahashi kid was incredibly strong—and handsome too."

Taka nodded along, agreeing very much with the voices he had just made up.

While he carried on with his antics, Cementoss got to work below, fixing up the arena once more.

A few minutes later it was done, and with it, the next fight got underway.

{"The last fight was pretty bonkers, right everyone?! Let's see if our next participants will let us calm our hearts down—or if this is going to be just as thrilling, and we might need someone standing by in case of a heart attack!"}

Soon, the next two fighters stepped into the light.

Tokoyami and Sero.

Taka leaned forward, watching the incoming fight with a flicker of interest.

They weren't the main characters, sure, but he'd helped both of them improve a bit before the festival.

He was curious how a fight between the two would play out.

'Although there's a side with a pretty clear advantage here.'

Sero's control over his tape—using it to swing and move around—had improved a lot. But there was a problem.

There was nothing to hang off of. The platform was a wide open space.

That left him with only one real option.

Using his tape offensively.

Taka smiled, curious to see how things would go.

Soon, both reached their positions, facing each other with focused looks.

"I won't go easy on you, y'hear me, Tokoyami?!" Sero called out, smirking.

"An unearned victory would be a greater shame than losing," Tokoyami answered, pulling both hands from his pockets.

"Nicely said."

{"Readyyy—?!"}

Both contestants set themselves.

{"GO!"}

In that instant, both jumped into action.

Sero shot a tape at speed, aiming to latch onto Tokoyami and bind him.

But the shadow was faster.

"Where do you think you're going?!" Dark Shadow's distorted voice rang out as he sprang from Tokoyami and struck the tape down.

Sero clicked his tongue and retracted.

But before he could try anything else, Dark Shadow was already charging toward him, closing the distance in seconds.

"Crap!"

He had to lunge desperately out of the way as the shadow came crashing down where he'd been standing.

In the gap while he landed and Dark Shadow floated back up to give chase, Sero shot a tape toward Tokoyami, who had stayed back.

With minimal reaction time, the raven-headed teen tried to block it—but all that did was let it latch onto his arm.

Sero yanked himself toward Tokoyami immediately, slipping past another blow from Dark Shadow in the process.

The moment he got close enough, he drove a kick into Tokoyami's side.

-Bam!-

The hit landed—not on his side, but on Tokoyami's guard, which absorbed some of it.

Sero blinked in disbelief.

But before he could think of anything else, a fist came swinging down at him.

He jumped back quickly to dodge.

Still holding the tape though, the distance he could put between them was limited.

And someone else moved to fill that gap.

"Stay still!"

Dark Shadow's voice fell on him as Sero caught the movement coming down from above.

He had to let go of Tokoyami and throw himself clear.

—Bam!—

He got out of the way.

But someone else came down on him right after.

-Thud!-

"Uck—?!"

A kick landed cleanly into his stomach before he could react.

Tokoyami's.

Sero rolled across the platform from the blow.

And even then he wasn't given a moment to breathe, as Dark Shadow was already on him again.

In desperation, he shot a tape toward the edge of the platform, catching the curb by a thread.

It was enough to drag him just clear of the blow coming down.

Sadly, Dark Shadow wasn't the only one chasing him.

As he was getting back to his feet, he found Tokoyami already rushing at him, winding up a punch.

Sero blocked in a hurry, cushioning it a little.

Then Dark Shadow followed up with one of his own.

He had to jump back. Tokoyami's punches were one thing—Dark Shadow's weren't something he could just tank through.

But as he stepped away, Tokoyami gave chase, winding up another attack.

He barely dodged it and still had to keep retreating as Dark Shadow followed right behind.

"Oh, come on—ganging up on someone is playing dirty!" Sero exclaimed, looking genuinely pressed.

"Someone asked me once what I am without Dark Shadow." Tokoyami said as he wound up a kick. "Which made me realize how much I'd been relying on it."

The kick landed. Sero blocked somehow, but the recoil still pushed him back.

He prepared to jump away from Dark Shadow's follow-up.

But it never came.

Instead, when he refocused on Tokoyami, the boy was standing still, Dark Shadow quiet at his side.

"Which is why—right now—you've gotten a taste of what my real power is."

With that, he gave Sero his back and began walking away.

"Wha—?" Sero's expression twisted at the strange move.

He was about to fire a tape at him—

{"Sero is out of bounds—Tokoyami advances to the next round!"}

But reality was quicker.

"Ah?!"

Sero's eyes dropped to his feet. His heels were touching past the line.

Both hands flew to his face and he threw his head back.

"I thought I still had room, NOOOO!"

While he wailed at his own mistake, Taka watched the conclusion with a smile.

It seemed the raven-headed teenager had been practicing his hand-to-hand—as Taka had advised him, since he'd always had a tendency to let Dark Shadow do all the heavy lifting.

Which wasn't necessarily bad, given the gap in raw stats between the Quirk and its user. But that meant the numerical advantage of having two fighters on one side was being wasted.

Here, that advantage had been used to its fullest. Sero had been given no time to breathe, while Tokoyami and Dark Shadow rotated the pressure between them and kept a steady level of energy.

'Not sure whether Dark Shadow can get tired, but at least it applies to Tokoyami.' Taka mused.

There was another reason he'd advised Tokoyami to work on his close combat, though.

But it seemed he'd held that card back for now. Probably saving it for his next fight.

That was his call to make, so Taka shrugged it off.

After that, the arena had survived this one fight in decent shape, so Cementoss didn't need to step up.

Which meant, of course, the next fight wasn't far behind.

Soon, two new figures stepped onto the field.

Taka's eyes narrowed and he leaned forward without realizing.

It was Kirishima and Jiro's turn.

Climbing the stairs to the platform, Jiro swallowed quietly as she sized up the eager-looking Kirishima across from her.

This was a genuinely bad matchup for her.

Her opponent just had to be the one person who could shrug off most of what she had in her arsenal right now.

Her luck couldn't be worse.

"… Still, I have a chance," she said, her nervous smile curling up a little.

{"Readyyy—?!"}

Kirishima bumped both fists together, grinning.

"Yessir!"

Jiro sweatdropped, her earlobes lifting semi-threateningly.

"So-so."

{"GO!"}

The instant his voice dropped, Kirishima's body hardened and he charged toward her.

Jiro wasn't significantly faster, and Kirishima closed the distance quickly.

He was almost on top of her—looking to tackle and drive her straight out of bounds—when he got too close.

"I don't think so!"

"Wha—?!"

Jiro's earlobes aimed straight at his eyes.

He was forced to raise his guard to cover them, cutting off his own vision—which Jiro immediately used to slip past his tackle and get away.

"That's dirty…!" Kirishima muttered as he caught on quickly and spun to give chase.

Jiro glanced back, clicking her tongue when she saw him following closely.

'I won't win in a drawn-out fight. I have to try now.'

She pushed her eyes ahead, noting the bounds not far off, and sped up.

Kirishima followed close behind—but he noticed the approaching line too, and his eyes narrowed briefly.

As they got close, Jiro kicked off to the left to force him past her without being able to stop.

Kirishima had seen something like that coming, and he, of course, wasn't a bull, so he adjusted his direction almost immediately.

But what he hadn't accounted for was a feint.

The moment he kicked off to match her, she kicked off again—going the other way, and breaking his ankles… figuratively speaking.

He tried to follow, a beat behind, but as he changed directions an prepared to chase again, Jiro had already circled around him.

As he turned to face her, he found her already crouched low, earlobes shooting to the ground.

The next second—

—BZZZZZZ!—

The platform before her erupted. A tremor tore through the arena, and Kirishima was caught right in the middle of it.

'Damnit, I forgot she could do that!'

He grit his teeth and dug in, doing everything he could not to be thrown over the line.

And he managed it. Some earth movement wasn't enough to bring him down.

But what came next was.

As the worst of it passed and he lifted his head to find Jiro, she was already right in front of him.

"Huh?"

"Oryaaaaa!"

—Tatatatatatata!—

Jiro let out a war cry and her earlobes launched into a rapid-fire barrage at Kirishima's hardened body, striking again and again at speed like a Gatling gun.

He was forced to raise both arms as shields. Even then, they were actually stinging.

Just how strong were those?!

"I've been striking concrete for a whole week—DON'T UNDERESTIMATE MEEE!"

Enflamed by the memory of her pain, her attack speed climbed.

Kirishima had no room to move.

Gradually, the pressure mounted, and while his toughness held, his resistance to knockback began grinding down.

Before he'd even noticed how close to the line he'd gotten, the barrage stopped

"...?"

He looked up confused for an instant—

Then saw Jiro following it with a dropkick.

-BAM!-

The blow hit him cleanly on the chest, and unprepared.

That was enough to send the red-haired teenager one full step back.

And thus—

{"Kirishima is out of bounds—Jiro advances to the next round!"}

Kirishima's guard dropped. His head came up and he looked around in confusion before his gaze fell to his feet.

"... EH?! I LOST?!"

He fell to his knees, a pained look taking over his face. "You can't be serious, I was just getting fired up!"

"Heh."

Jiro's short laugh rang out, snapping Kirishima's eyes to her.

There she stood, unbothered, with a smirk.

"You're still too green, Kirishima."

And with that, she turned and walked off—hiding the wheezing from the effort of that last barrage as she went.

That sequence had taken everything she had to pull off.

Who could have thought something that simple would leave her so winded?

From the ceiling, Taka stared at her retreating form with a face full of disbelief.

"Oryaaa?" He muttered, smiling wryly.

Whatever. If she'd had fun doing that war cry, who was he to question it.

Setting that aside, he ran the strategy back over in his head and nodded.

Kirishima had the edge on her in nearly every stat. Which made combat with him a big no-no.

The earthquake move he'd helped her develop was the only real advantage she'd had. And while its raw attack power wasn't dramatic—seeing as it had mainly destabilized Kirishima rather than actually hurt him—that was precisely why it worked so well.

It wrecked the platform, shook his footing, and bought her the gap she needed to launch the earlobe barrage and shove him out of bounds, which was likely the only real path to victory available to her.

And Kirishima hadn't thought that far. Not that he blamed him, she had only shown that technique back when both were controlling the skeleton, and there was a lot of chaos back then.

The secrecy had paid off now.

'The problem is—now everyone knows she can do that.'

He smiled wryly at the thought, then shifted his gaze to the bracket displayed on the stadium screen.

'But her next opponent is either Kaminari or Uraraka. Neither one has the same kind of stat gap Kirishima had with her.'

He shrugged.

It seemed she still had plenty of chances.

Down below, Cementoss got to work on the mess Jiro had made of the platform.

Minutes passed, and soon the fight between Kaminari and Uraraka got underway.

Taka smiled and settled back comfortably. "Let's see just how much better these guys have gotten."

...

°

°

°

| Somewhere else, at that same moment... |

...

"W—what is someone like you doing here?" Tensei Iida asked, his eyes struggling to lift toward the figure standing in front of him.

Two red eyes settled on the fallen Tensei.

"What else? I came to lend a hand." A deep voice came down, unhurried.

"T-that's what you call a hand?"

What lay before Tensei's eyes was an unbelievable sight.

The Hero Killer—already responsible for the deaths of many capable heroes and the crippling of many others—now lay flat on the ground, completely unable to move, with his head pinned under another person's foot.

A vigilante's foot. One Tensei had heard of a long while back, and whose music he personally enjoyed.

Rockinesis was, for some reason, here.

And he had intervened at exactly the right moment.

Tensei had engaged the Hero Killer upon catching sight of him, but the man had proven far more dangerous than he'd assessed. His combat abilities were vast, and his Quirk—still unknown—had left Tensei completely immobile at the worst possible moment, nearly ending him.

If Rockinesis hadn't dropped in and pinned the Hero Killer before he could deliver the finishing blow, this might well have been the end of the hero Ingenium.

"You're…"

Stain's weak voice came from beneath the foot; his eyes were bloodshot as he stared up at the sole covering his field of vision.

"You're the performer—that clout-seeking fool… why are you here? Why are you interfering with my duty?"

Rockinesis glanced down at him.

"Same reason anyone would. You're crazy."

"You don't understand the responsibility I carry. If you did—"

"I don't need a monologue."

-Wham!-

With that, Rockinesis brought his foot down hard on Stain's head.

The hit was brutal—probably cracking something—and with it, the Hero Killer went unconscious.

Rockinesis gave a small nod, then turned back to Tensei.

"Next time, don't take on a murderer with that kind of track record alone, will you?"

"… I'll keep that in mind." Tensei sweatdropped.

Was he really being lectured by a vigilante?

This was not a good day.

While he sat with that, Rockinesis turned and began heading out of the alleyway.

"You're just going to leave me here?" Tensei called after him.

Rockinesis simply lifted one hand and flicked a finger.

Tensei was lifted off the ground immediately and carried along as the vigilante walked, all the way until they reached the street.

As they stepped out, however, several figures were already converging.

"Rockinesis!"

"Team leader, what did he do to you?!"

"You bastard, I knew that camera-friendly act was just an act!"

"Don't worry, Ingenium—we'll get you out!"

The moment they arrived, they began circling the vigilante, readying for a fight.

But before any of them could move—

"All of you, stop!" Tensei's voice cut through. "It was the Hero Killer who left me like this. He's still in that alleyway, unconscious—go apprehend him before he comes around!"

"B-but Ingenium—are we supposed to just ignore this guy?"

"No. As heroes, it's our duty to apprehend vigilantes, regardless of their intentions."

The group tensed, bracing for a fight.

"… However." Tensei's eyes drifted upward, settling on the silent figure beside him. "… You're not the real Rockinesis, are you?"

"…"

Rockinesis didn't answer. Instead, he raised one hand and swept it sideways. Tensei was sent gliding toward the heroes, who caught him.

Then the vigilante spoke.

"No."

Everyone flinched, swallowing nervously at what that implied.

A mere clone had been enough to deal with the Hero Killer, the same one that had left Ingenium in this state.

Not only that, but judging from his speckless appearance, he probably hadn't even struggled much, if at all.

A clone was capable of that much… then how strong was the real one?

The weight of that realization settled over all of them at once.

-Step, step, step-

As Rockinesis began walking forward, they stepped aside without thinking, clearing the way on instinct.

It was a few seconds after that they realized what they were doing.

—Yet, even then, no one moved to apprehend him. Instead they simply watched powerless as the infamous vigilante walked past them, unbothered.

Just as he was passing through, however, he stopped.

"Well, look who is here..."

In the blink of an eye, his head snapped toward a distant building—locking onto a smoky figure standing there.

It didn't last. The moment the figure realized it had been spotted, a portal opened and it stepped through, disappearing without a trace.

Rockinesis stood still for a moment.

"Hmph."

Then he snorted in amusement.

And vanished.

...

°

°

°

| Back to Taka, minutes later... |

...

"What a sad sight," Taka muttered, watching Iida's fight play out exactly as it had in the show—with him becoming Hatsume's guinea pig to demonstrate her inventions to the crowd.

He sighed and lay back down to stare at the sky instead. That pitiful sight didn't need his eyes on it.

As he did, it occurred to him that this was going to be the last fight of the first stage.

So his mind drifted back over all of them in turn, wanting to check on how things were going overall compared to the the show.

His and Mina's fight, where the pink head was able to show very good skills for someone on her first year.

Todoroki and Yaoyorozu's fight, where Yaoyorozu was at least able to show what she could do instead of just panicking, and against Todoroki of all people.

Bakugo and Midoriya's fight, where the two fought against one another on equal terms, even if in the end the green head still lost.

Tokoyami and Sero's, where Tokoyami was able to show off his new fighting style, while Sero didn't have much of the spotlight.

Kirishima and Jiro's, where Jiro was on the clear disadvantage, yet still outsmarted Kirishima enough that she was able to win against him.

And then the last three.

Uraraka and Kaminari's—where Uraraka had used her Quirk on herself to leap high enough to clear Kaminari's omnidirectional blast, then kicked him out of bounds the moment he entered dumb mode.

Ojiro and Shinso's—where Shinso had spent the whole fight desperately trying to get a word out of Ojiro, and received nothing but tail whacks on the face until he was out of bounds.

And lastly, this ongoing massacre of Iida's dignity.

Checking it over all, there were a few things that would have been better. Like the losers currently not having been able to showcase properly what they could do. Kaminar, Kirishima, and Sero in this case.

He supposed Shinso also entered into that category, but the guy wasn't his classmate, so he wasn't included in his improvement-assessment.

All in all, it had been quite a first stage. Better than in the show? He wasn't so sure.

But that's because it was an overall calm stage in terms of craziness.

In the next one, the heavy weights would be fighting one another, so the fight scales would be off the charts.

His own fights specially, of course.

Snorting, Taka shook his head with a wry look.

-Bzzz-

Just then, a small vibration from his phone pulled him out of his thoughts.

He pulled it out and checked.

[Phone for very real people: Just prevented a tragedy. What did you do in the meantime, original? I bet nothing.]

[Phone for very real people: By the way, Smoky was watching me the whole time. He probably went to report to Eyebags that we took down his potential comrade before they could even make contact.]

Taka let out a loud snort, his mouth curling into a smirk.

"Watching us, huh?"

It was ironic.

"If only they knew I already have an eye on them."

Since his realization regarding Eri, he'd become keenly aware that he couldn't afford to let Shigaraki move around unsupervised just because it might be worth more aura.

So, drawing on his knowledge from the show and the later alliance with Gentle and La Brava, plus her hacking skills, he'd tracked down their current hideout and sent aura clones everyday there to keep watch.

Right now, they were like animals in a hyper-realistic zoo. They thought they were moving freely, when in reality, they were under close watch and could be put down the moment they tried anything that escaped the expected of them.

He wasn't certain how he'd fare against All For One directly. But even a clone would make short work of Shigaraki.

Especially now that he could make one as strong as he'd been back when he fought the Nomu.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

[STATUS PAGE]

▸ Strength: (181 Base) 1500

▸ Defense: (362 Base) 3000

▸ Aura Projection: 37,000

─────────────

Total Aura: 83,125 → 41,613 (50%)

1st Clone's aura: 12,273 (15%)

2nd Clone's aura: 5000 (6%)

3rd Clone's aura: 5000 (6%)

4th Clone's aura: 5000 (6%)

…

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

The gains just kept climbing.

There were still two or three fights ahead, each as impactful as the ones before. Which meant there was more aura still coming his way before the day was out.

—And even after that, since people could also just rewatch.

"This day gets better and better."

With that thought, he pushed himself back upright.

Glancing down at the platform, he saw that—just as he'd assumed—Hatsume had given up the moment she'd finished her showcase, and Iida won by default. Even if his defeated look told a very different story.

Smiling, Taka got to his feet and dusted off his hands.

It was time for the second stage.

And the first fight?

The match against Todoroki.

"This is going to be good."

…

────────────────────────

-To Be Continued...-

────────────────────────

(A/N: Like I said, I went a bit overboard with going over the fights. At least I noticed it at the end, and opted to outright skip the last few so we could move on to the next stage of the fight, with Taka's and Todoroki's showdown being inminent.

I struggled a lot on how to skip them naturally, but then I recalled what a clone of Taka was supposed to be doing right now, so I just decided for a POV change.

What did you think, was it natural?)