The room was filled with an awkward silence. Izuku was sat next to me with his hands in his lap, nervousness virtually radiating from his person. The man who I presumed was All Might sat across the table from us, twiddling his thumbs as the clock on the wall ticked away the seconds. I sat back in my seat and patiently tried to wait for one of them to speak up.

"Hmm, this is awkward." All Might reached up and scratched the back of his head. "I suppose it's fitting that you're the first to find out about us, Young Sato, being Midoriya's partner and all."

"Find out about what, exactly?"

"Well, first of all..." He motioned towards himself. "... My current condition." He then leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table. "And that I've taken Young Midoriya under my wing. As my protege, I guess you can say."

I glanced over at Izuku, who was busy looking anywhere else but me. A pang of hurt shot through my chest briefly, before I turned back to All Might, my mind swirling with the information I've just been given.

"A-Alright... Why- What happened? You were big and muscley and smiling in class just a couple days ago!"

"That's a long story-"

"Alright, all you rabid sports fans! Get your popcorn ready and have your phones on hand! The Finals will be starting in just a couple of minutes!" The pro hero was cut off as cheers from the crowd in the arena made their way down the hallway, following closely behind the unmistakable voice of Present Mic flowing through the loudspeakers.

All Might gave a heavy sigh and stood up from his seat. "Unfortunately, it's a story that we don't have time for right now. Young Midoriya's match is soon, and I'm sure you'll want to be out there supporting him."

"But-!" He silenced me with a raised hand.

"After the Finals are over, we'll fill you in on everything. Until then, I would appreciate it if you kept quiet about this. We can't risk any of this getting out and falling into the wrong hands." He placed his hands on the table and leaned forward, his demeanor becoming more serious. "Can we trust you to do that for us, Young Sato?"

I glanced back and forth between the two for a few seconds, before hesitantly nodding. "Y-Yeah, sure." This was so much to take in all at once. All Might, the hero that I had looked up to all my life, was... unwell, or something... and he was asking me to keep it a secret. Added on to that was that fact I had to compete in the Finals of the Sports Festival before I got any answers at all. I could already feel the anxiety building in my chest.

"Good. I hope so." He stood up and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Now, get going you two. You don't want to keep everyone waiting." I sat still for second watching the Symbol of Peace exit the room before standing and sliding my chair back under the table. Izuku quickly stood up, the movement grabbing my attention as he came to my side.

"Hannah... I'm really sorry. I wanted to tell you, but All Might kept saying I shouldn't..."

"It's fine, Izuku. I understand." I saw the boy visibly relax out of the corner of my eye, bringing a small smile to my face. Running my hands through my hair and letting out a sigh, I mentally tried to stuff all of the information and anticipation away for later, and slipped my hand into Izuku's. "I have to say, though. I'm kind of jealous."

"What do you mean?"

"You're being mentored by the world's greatest hero, Izuku! I would give almost anything to be in your position!"

He shot a sly grin at me. "Heh, yeah. I guess a lot of people would." He reached up and swept some of my hair behind my ear, bringing a small blush to my cheeks. Another cheer from the crowd caused the boy to look back at the door, looking back at me with a smile. "You should get going. Everyone's gonna wonder where you are."

"Oh, right!" I took a step towards the door before stopping for a second and planting a kiss onto Izuku's lips, slightly startling the boy before he quickly recovered and began reciprocating. We separated and locked eyes for a few seconds, before I felt my cheeks heat up and a small smile crossed my face.

"Good luck, Izuku. Show everyone why you deserve to be here."

He nodded in reply and sent back a smile of his own. "I wasn't planning to do anything less."

VVVVV

After a few minutes of searching, I had finally found the stairs that led up into the stands. The staff had put up maps of the stadium throughout the hallways and tunnels, each one with a little 'You Are Here' mark to tell you where you were. Unfortunately, I hadn't noticed them and had almost got myself lost before I realized that they were there, probably to help poor souls like me. I climbed up the staircase to the student level, where all of the classes sat when they weren't participating, and turned into my classes section.

Only to get hit in the face with a stuffed bear.

I fell back and quickly grabbed a hold of the railing in front of me as the bear gently fell to the ground next to me. Regaining my footing, I reached down and picked up the toy, snickers and laughter resounding from the seats in front of me. I glanced up towards them and immediately recognized Yumi and Mina desperately trying to muffle their amusement. All I could do was shake my head and make my way towards them.

"Having fun, you two?"

"Y-Yeah." Yumi took a deep breath and wiped away a tear. "Man, that was perfect."

Mina managed to stifle a new wave of laughter, holding her stomach gently. "Ohhh, the face you made was awesome, Hannah!"

"Yeah, well, I wasn't exactly expecting to be assaulted by a teddy bear when I came up the stairs." I took a seat next to Mina and held the bear in my hands. "Where'd you guys get this anyway?"

"We found one of those ball toss games out in the market. Mina ended up crushing it and as soon as she picked out the bear, she nearly tore it from the poor vendor's hands."

The pink girl stomped her foot and feigned disgust. "I did not! I just thought he was cute and I really wanted him."

I couldn't help but chuckle to myself, handing the bear to Mina who happily took it. "So, the first thing you decide to do is toss it at my face?"

"That was my idea, actually..." Yumi quickly leant forward and raised her hand from the other side of our friend. "Sorry, but it was hilarious."

"Yeah, I bet it was." I shook my head again, laying on as much friendly sarcasm as I could, sitting back in my seat as pro hero and UA teacher Cementoss started using his Quirk to create a concrete platform to fight on. "By the way, aren't you two going to be facing each other in your first match?"

"Yeah, so?" Yumi wrapped her arm around Mina and brought her into a sloppy side hug, the two girls sharing a warm smile, Yumi glancing at the pink girl. "That doesn't mean we can't hang out and have fun with each other beforehand."

I raised my hands into the air beside me, a smile quickly crossing me face as I saw the last of our class climb the stairs and take their seats. "I never said you couldn't, I was just wondering."

Any and all conversation was then quickly drowned out as Present Mic spoke up again, some feedback briefly causing everyone to groan and cover their ears. "All right, audience! We had a few minor technical difficulties, but let's cut to the good stuff and not delay these Finals any longer!

"Please, welcome our first fighters! Izuku Midoriya from the hero course and Hitoshi Shinso from general studies!" The crowd recovered quickly to respond with a deafening cheer. Mina, Yumi, and I stood and clapped to welcome the two combatants, the raven-haired girl letting off an ear-piercing whistle at the mention of Izuku's name. My eyes automatically followed the boy as he made his way to the ring, a large slab of white concrete ringed with a significantly darker shade of concrete.

Present Mic continued after the crowd settled slightly. "The rules are simple. Immobilize your opponent or force them outta the ring! You can also win by getting the other person to cry uncle!

"Bring on the injuries, 'cause we've got our very own Recovery Girl waiting on standby! So put your morals aside and don't be afraid to play dirty! But of course, no life-threatening crap, folks. It's not allowed. Real heroes use their power to throw villains in jail, not kill them."

Cementoss made his way from the side of the platform to the middle, quickly creating a seat for himself and sitting down in it. "I'll stop anyone who tries to get too rough."

"Alrighty, sports fans! Are you ready to get this show on the road?!" Present Mic paused to let the crowd voice it's favorable opinion. "Ready, contestants?"

The anticipation in the stadium noticeably began to rise as Izuku set his feet in preparation for the match to begin, while Shinso was still just casually sitting back on his heels, as if he was one hundred percent confident he would win.

It was then that I remembered Izuku and I's meeting with Itsuka earlier, how she said Shinso had taken control of her, used her. Nervous anxiety started quickly filling my chest as I realized exactly why he looked so confident; all he needed to do was get you to respond to him. If that happened, it would be over. And all I could do now was hope that Izuku remembered to not say anything.

"Begin!"

Neither boy moved for a split second, before Izuku hesitantly started making his way towards Shinso, almost as if he was unsure of what he'd do when he reached the other boy. I leant forward in my seat, eager to learn the answer, before Shinso spoke up with a small smirk.

"So, you made it to the Finals. I guess congratulations are in order." He proceeded to slowly clap his hands together, calmly watching as Izuku got closer. "I guess it's only natural that you did, with that girlfriend of yours. Easy to say that she did most of the heavy lifting. What was her name again? Heather? Helena?" I saw Yumi and Mina glance at me out of the corner of my eye, and I quickly felt like most of the rest of our class was doing the same.

So this is his strategy; talking about me to try and get Izuku to talk.

But Shinso had to have guessed by now that Izuku knew about his Quirk, as Izuku continued to advance, his silence clearly starting to get to the purple-haired boy. He ran a hand through his hair quickly before taking a few steps forward, only to be met with a vicious right to the jaw as Izuku quickly covered the distance between them and went on the attack.

The blow caused Shinso to let out a cry and stagger backwards, gripping the side of his face. Izuku rushed forward and unleashed a dazzlingly quick combination of punches, each one connecting with an unprotected piece of Shinso's body despite the boy doing his best to cover up. After a few seconds of punishment, he grabbed a handful of Izuku's uniform and pushed the green-haired boy away, taking the opportunity to scramble away towards the middle of the platform.

A smile started to slowly cross my face as I watched Izuku fight. He seemed so much more confident now than he ever did in the past few weeks we spent training together. He was always so attentive and hard-working, though, I wouldn't put it past him to have been studying and practicing on his own time. If that was true, then it's no wonder he caught up to me so quickly.

My attention turned back towards the arena as Shinso, clutching his ribs, stopped a short distance from Izuku and turned on his heels. "Heh... what does that say about her taste in guys, huh? I was just trying to have... a friendly conversation and you're throwing punches at me..."

"Yeah, it's a fight, genius. That's what you do." I heard Yumi give a sarcastic quip that caused Mina to immediately break into snickers next to me as Izuku started advancing once more, this time much more confidently than before.

He closed the gap Shinso had created and quickly began peppering the boy with yet more blows, before backing away and delivering a roundhouse kick aimed at Shinso's head that the boy somehow got his arms up in front of. However, the force from the kick was enough to knock him to his knees.

"What- What would she think... if you started attacking everyone... who came close...?" Shinso shakily sat back on his feet and looked up at Izuku with a smirk, the green-haired boy stopping to take a step back and slowly run hands through his hair. Shinso's constant prodding must've been starting to effect Izuku, so much so that I could almost feel his frustration. He wanted to bite back, but one word was all Shinso needed.

"You know... probably not very much. She didn't look very intelligent... the few times I've seen her."

"Just shut up!"

Izuku leapt forward in anger, his arm beginning to glow brilliantly. However, the glow ceased to exist just as quickly as it had appeared, Izuku slowing and stumbling to a stop in front of the kneeling boy. His arms fell limply to his sides and a quick glance up to one of the video boards showed Izuku staring vacantly into the distance.

My heart sunk as the realization hit me; Izuku wasn't home anymore.

Izuku's POV

"What's going on?" I tried to take a step forward, only for my feet to stayed planted where they were. "W-Why can't I move?" Panic quickly start welling up in my chest, but no matter what I did, I couldn't even lift a finger. I tried and tried to tell my feet to move, to do anything. But nothing was working.

"Alright, Izuku. Just... calm down. Ugh, my head feels... so foggy. I can... barely think straight."

"This is much better. Now, be a good little hero and eliminate yourself." A voice penetrated through the clouds, significantly clearer and louder than everything else. Before I had a chance to do much of anything, however, my feet turned to the right and started taking me towards the edge of the ring.

"What?! Wait, no! Stop!" The feeling of having no control over my body overwhelmed my senses, and the futility of trying to resist became readily apparent. "I can't fight this, there's no way. I'm going to lose in... the first match and I... was barely able to show... what I could do. Not to mention... how disappointed Hannah's going to be." All I could do was watch as my feet carried me closer to elimination.

"I'm such an idiot."

As I felt my hope leaving me, one of the doors leading out of the arena appeared to darken as I approached the edge of the platform. Quickly, I began to see what looked like silhouettes, each with a set of glowing yellow eyes. There were eight of them, but I couldn't make any of them out, except...

"Is that All Might?"

At that moment, the clouds started to gradually clear from my mind, and for the first time, I began to feel like I actually had some sort of control. I didn't have much, but I quickly realized that I could actually move some fingers, at least a little bit.

"Come on, Midoriya! Don't let this guy show you up!" Wait, was that... Yumi? I hadn't even realized that I could barely hear the crowd, but now that I seemed to have some control over my body back, everything seemed to be almost muffled now.

"Deku! You can do this!"

"Midoriya! This a fantastic opportunity to promote yourself! Don't waste it!" Uraraka, Iida...

"No. I can't just give up. Not when everyone is cheering me on." I quickly wiggled a couple fingers on my left hand, checking to see if I could still move them. "Alright, I think I have an idea. I just need to concentrate."

Hannah's POV

I leant forward in my seat with my elbows on my knees, my right leg bouncing me up and down slightly as I watched Izuku walk towards the edge of the platform. Yumi and some of our other classmates had started cheering and shouting, but nothing seemed to be getting through to the boy. I kept hoping that he was just humoring Shinso, that this was all a joke and that he would turn around any second now. With every step he took, however, that hope drifted away.

As Izuku lifted his foot one more time to step out of bounds, a sudden and powerful blast rocked the arena where he stood, shaking the stands slightly.

"Izuku!" Dust and debris rose up and obscured my vision as I hurriedly jumped to my feet and leant against the guardrail, my eyes quickly scanning the battlefield hoping to catch a glimpse of the boy. My heart began to race as the seconds ticked by and the dust almost refused to clear, my anxiety growing the longer I couldn't see him.

Finally, after what felt like a couple of minutes at least, the dust began to settle. I could see through the cloud Shinso, covering his head with his arms, looking towards where Izuku had been with a look of severe confusion on his face. I thought that explosion had been his doing, but it didn't look like he was even expecting it to happen. Had something else happened?

Suddenly, Izuku exploded from the cloud of dust in a fury, making a beeline for the purple-haired boy. The crowd likewise came alive as Shinso had to quickly backpedal to avoid a wild swing from his opponent, then ducking to barely avoid a kick that surely would've taken his head off.

"W-What the hell?! You're not supposed to be able to fight back! What did you do?!"

Izuku ignored the question and instead answered back with a vicious right hook to Shinso's ribs. The boy immediately cried out in pain and staggered back, then tried to respond with some offense of his own, shooting a shaky punch at Izuku that was dodged and almost casually pushed away. This knocked Shinso off balance and caused him to fall into a swift knee to the gut, driving the air from his lungs. He slumped to his knees clutching his stomach, coughing and wheezing, as he looked up at Izuku.

"I've... ugh... always been at a big disadvantage... with how my Quirk works. But someone... as blessed as you... wouldn't understand that." He shakily got to one knee. "You're lucky to have... a heroic Quirk! It'll be so easy... for you to reach your goal!"

Shinso slowly got back to his feet, but Izuku never let him get his bearings. He connected with a lightning quick kick to Shinso's stomach, sending the boy back to his knees, before another kick to the jaw laid him out on his back. The smack of the attack landing resounded throughout the arena, the crowd reacting with a mix of shock and applause as Izuku stood ready and waiting for his opponent to rise. Shinso never did.

Midnight hopped down from her perch at the side of the arena and casually made her way over. She hunched down by Shinso and put a couple fingers on his neck, holding out a hand towards Izuku telling him to stay put. After a few seconds, she took her hand away and stood up.

"Shinso is KO'd. Midoriya advances to the second round!"

The crowd erupted around us as I relinquished my grip on the guardrail and slumped back into my seat, running my hands through my hair in nervous relief. Yumi and Mina quickly joined the rest of our class and the crowd in raining cheers and applause onto Izuku, who slowly lowered himself to the ground and sat down with his legs out in front of him, his arms resting on his knees. He looked around at the crowd for a few seconds before laying back on the ground and letting out a large sigh.

As he got up and headed over towards where Shinso was now sitting, Midnight having successfully woken him up, I couldn't help but think back to before the match, when Itsuka came to warn us about Shinso. She had made it sound like it was over once he got you, but Izuku managed to find a way to break free. I wanted so badly to find her and question her, but I knew she wouldn't have any answers, and neither would Izuku.

"Hannah? Hellooo, anyone home?" I was suddenly snapped back to reality by a hand waving in front of my face. Looking around quickly, I noticed Yumi and Mina looking over me with slight concern on their faces.

"Are you alright, Han? Thought you'd be off to go see Midoriya by now."

"What? What do you mean?"

Yumi gave me an incredulous look. "You really didn't notice? Midoriya and Shinso both left the arena, they're on their way to Recovery Girl's office. Present Mic and Aizawa even said something about it."

Looking out towards the arena, I quickly saw that she was right. I had been so wrapped up in my own thoughts, I'd completely zoned out. I couldn't help but mentally smack myself as I turned back to face the two girls, a light blush adorning my cheeks. "Oh, wow, I didn't even realize. I was too busy spacing out, heh. Sorry."

"No worries, Han. Get going, he'll be waiting for ya."

VVVVV

Once I made it back to Recovery Girl's office, I sat outside on one of the benches and waited for the door to open, which would mean visitors were allowed inside. I couldn't help but feel at least a little anxious, despite knowing that Izuku wasn't even hurt... or, hurt that badly, anyway. It didn't look like he was hurt from where I was sitting, I figured it couldn't have been that bad. Thinking like that didn't help me feel any better, though.

My thinking was interrupted by the door to the office sliding open, startling me slightly as Shinso lazily walked out of the room. There was a small bandage on his jaw, and he was clearly favoring his ribs, probably still a little tender from the beating they took from Izuku. He grunted in discomfort before turning to his right, passing me as he gingerly made his way down the hall towards the arena.

He stopped a few feet away, however, and halfway turned around to look back at me. I felt him look me up and down as I glared back at him out of the corner of my eyes, silently daring him to talk to me. The silence stretched on for another few seconds before he turned back around and continued walking, disappearing around the corner soon after.

I leaned back against the wall and released a breath I had no idea I had been holding. I just felt so tense around Shinso, now that I knew how his Quirk worked. It felt like he was just going to take control of you and use you to do his bidding and all that. I mean, I'm sure he could control who he brainwashed and when, but it didn't help me feel any better about interacting with him.

"Hannah?" I felt someone poke my cheek, causing me to almost jump out of my skin. Quickly turning to see who it had been, a small blush crossed my cheeks as I laid my eyes on Izuku, very clearly amused with the reaction he'd gotten from me.

"Izuku!" I jumped to my feet and threw my arms around the boy, not even thinking that he may be in a cast or something. However, those worries were erased when I felt a pair of arms wrap around me in reply, holding me to his chest as if protecting me from something. "Are you alright?"

"Oh, yeah. I'm fine." He held up his left hand, letting me see that two of his fingers were bandaged. "I had to break my fingers to break Shinso's control. Nothing Recovery Girl couldn't fix, though."

I quickly looked at him, confused. "Wait... how do you remember what happened? Itsuka said that she couldn't remember anything from when Shinso was controlling her."

"Honestly..." He paused and rubbed the neck of his neck. "I don't even really know what happened. It was... some kind of vision, I think. I couldn't think straight before it happened, but when it did, everything was clear and I could move my fingers, at least a little bit.

"I was hoping to talk to All Might about it, but I don't know where he is." He looked over my shoulder down towards the other end of the hall, probably hoping to see the aforementioned hero.

I tried to ignore the fact that there was yet another question that didn't have an answer. "Was he not in the teachers' seats?"

"He was when I looked up there in the arena. I texted him on my way here, but he should've been here by now. I hope nothing's happened" He looked up at the clock on the wall and sighed, reaching up to scratch his head. "In any case, we should start heading back. The next match will be starting soon."

"Really?" I looked up at the clock to affirm his statement for myself, my eyes widening slightly once I saw the time. "Wow, I didn't realize time went by so fast." I looked back at him and took hold of his hands. "Why don't we go scout out the competition, huh?"

I saw his eyes light up and a smile crossed his face. "Yeah, definitely! There's so many Quirks that I've been wanting to see in action!"

I couldn't help but chuckle as we started down the hall, hand in hand. "Only you, Izuku."

VVVVV

Unbeknownst to us, however, just a couple seconds after we turned the corner, a frazzled looking All Might came to a stop at Recovery Girls' door. His shoulders heaved and his side ached as he tried to regain his breath, the nurse herself turning in her chair to look at the pro hero.

After a couple more breaths, All Might straightened up and looked at Recovery Girl. "Was Young Midoriya here...? I got caught up by a friend." A small, unamused glance towards the other end of the hall told Recovery Girl all she needed to know. She shook her head in response.

"You just missed him. He left just a minute ago with Mrs. Sato."

He cursed silently under his breath. "I hope what he wanted to talk about wasn't too important."

"He never said anything to me or his girlfriend, so I can't help that much."

"That's fine, Chiyo." He took a step back and sighed, turning to walk back down the hall. "I'd better start heading back. Otherwise, the media will find a way to spin me being gone into another story."

VVVVV

It took us a couple of minutes to navigate our way back to the stands, but we managed to climb the stairs up to the student seats just as Present Mic's voice began blaring over the speakers to announce the next fight.

"Enough standing around! Now welcome to the ring, our next players!" Pillars of fire roses from the corners of the platform, seemingly brought up by the cheers of the crowd. "He's got skills! But at the expense of some really creepy-looking elbows. From the hero course, it's Hanta Sero!" Another cheer followed, quickly interrupted by the pro hero.

"Versus, an early frontrunner in the competition who's way too strong for his own good! Someone who rightfully got into the hero course based on recommendations! He's the son of the #2 pro hero, Endeavor! It's Shoto Todoroki!"

I let out a small sigh as Izuku and I took our seats, our classmates joining the crowd in welcoming the two to the arena. "Todoroki versus Sero... I can't help but feel like this'll be one sided."

"I dunno. I wouldn't be surprised if Sero has a couple tricks up his sleeve. He might be able to pull off an upset if he's quick."

"Even if he can, I think Todoroki's too good with his ice. It'll probably be over quickly."

"Good god, Han. You're starting to sound like Midoriya." Yumi leaned forward to look at us past Mina, the pink girl appearing to have gone and gotten herself something to drink while I was gone. She raised the mouth of the bottle to her lips as Izuku stopped and chuckled nervously, reaching up and rubbing the back of his neck.

"Uhh... is that a good or bad thing?"

"No, it's a good thing!" She leaned back in her seat and crossed her legs. "It goes to show how close you two have gotten."

"I think it's pretty cute!"

Ochako suddenly appeared in between Yumi and Mina, startling both girls. The pink girl sputtered and brought a closed fist to her mouth, tears quickly appearing in the corners of her eyes. A couple painful-sounding coughs racked her body as Yumi quickly came to her aid, putting a hand on her back and gently patting as we looked on in concern.

Once the coughs subsided, Mina took a couple breaths and wiped away the tears in her eyes, then turned to look at Ochako, giggling.

"Uraraka, that was poorly timed, but I loved it..." We all let go of a collective gasp, the mood physically lightening as Yumi shook her head and wrapped an arm around Mina's shoulders, bringing her into a bit of a half-hug.

"You're a dork..."

"And now, for the second match of the finals! Ready?" We turned our attention towards the arena, Present Mic pausing to let the anticipation build amongst the crowd.

"Begin!"

It was then that another chill ran through the air, similar to the one's I felt during the cavalry battle, causing goosebumps to appear on my arms. Todoroki raised his right foot and brought it back down to earth, a large wave of ice shooting from under his shoe. It immediately encased Sero and removed him from view. It grew to the level of our seats in seconds and continued upwards, blocking off our view of the arena completely. Eventually, the sounds of ice grinding and scraping against itself stopped, and the stadium was filled with stunned silence.

"Sero has been immobilized! Todoroki advances to the second round!" Midnight's voice cut through the silence, almost like a hot knife through butter. After a couple more seconds of silence, the first tentative claps came from somewhere in the stadium, slowly growing to include most of the crowd.

Izuku and I sat in silence, both of us trying to process what we just witnessed. The match hadn't even really started before it was already over. It seemed so effortless, Todoroki didn't even really have to move.

I let out a sigh before looking towards the boy next to me. "Izuku..."

"I know..." He gave a sigh and ran his hands through his hair. "I'll be facing Todoroki in the second round..." We sat quiet for a couple more seconds before I reached over and grabbed his hand, causing him to look at me.

"Izuku." I looked at him and flashed a smile. "Just do your best. You don't need to win, just show everyone what you can do."

"That's true. It's easy to forget in a competition like this, but, ultimately, we're here to be scouted by Pro Heroes. Even if you don't win, you can still sell yourself just by showing off what you can do with your Quirk."

I nodded my head in agreement as the massive ice wall in front of us slowly started melting away, Todoroki using his left side to help speed up the process. "Of course, that doesn't mean you shouldn't try to win."

"Definitely." He squeezed my hand and smiled back at me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and pulling me closer as the ice was finally cleared away. Todoroki quietly made his way towards the exit, Sero having been unfrozen before anything else, and disappeared into the tunnel. I thought to myself briefly that he seemed almost... distracted... as he left, but I put it to the back of my mind and laid my head on Izuku's shoulder as Present Mic started hyping everyone up for the next match.

VVVVV

I tried to relax as my match with Momo got closer, but ultimately, it was futile. I was about to appear on TV, in the UA Sports Festival that I, myself, had watched ever since I could remember. My mom, along with Izuku's mom, were at home watching on TV, probably recording the entire event to keep as a family heirloom or something. Izuku seemed to notice my growing anxiety, and had started calmly running his hand through my hair as the matches went on.

Yumi and Mina's match didn't give me much time to think, either. It seemed ironic that they had been matched up against each other, they seemed so close that I almost didn't think they would fight when the match began.

That changed quickly, though. Yumi went on the offensive early and never looked back, peppering Mina with a flurry of kicks. What offense Mina was actually able to get in was blocked, dodged or countered. The constant onslaught eventually pushed Mina to the edge of the arena, before Yumi feigned another kick that caused Mina to flinch and accidentally step out of bounds.

Despite the anti-climatic finish, the crowd seemed to enjoy the display of Yumi's fighting prowess, clapping and cheering as the two girls embraced and walked out of the arena together, Mina limping ever so slightly as Yumi helped her into the tunnel. They were probably in Recovery Girl's office by now, but that was honestly the least of my worries.

Now, I was pacing back and forth in front of the door Class 1-A's waiting room, having left the stands as Yumi and Mina were leaving the arena. Izuku didn't follow me, not wanting to be a distraction, but it was only now that I noticed how much his presence had helped keep me calm. Pacing back and forth was about all I could do to make sure I could think clearly.

"Now, let's not let this hot streak cool! Time to move on to the sixth match!" My nerves shot through the roof once I heard Present Mic's voice ring along down the tunnel. I let out a long, slow sigh before I turned around and started towards the arena, the cheers from the crowd slowly growing louder and only adding to my anxiety.

"She may look sweet and nice, but beware... she took out one of our giant robots with just one punch! From the hero course, Hannah Sato!"

I took as deep a breath as I could muster and stepped out into the arena. The noise of the crowd hit me like a freight train, and as I made my way across the grass towards the stairs leading up to the platform, I couldn't help but look around me. There had to have been hundreds of thousands of people here, and it seemed that every one of them was cheering. Thousands of flashes were going off amongst them, and I even heard a couple of fans near the tunnel entrance shouting my name.

I realized that this was a completely different atmosphere than the obstacle course or the cavalry battle. Every pair of eyes were on the Finals. Every pair of eyes were watching now. Every pair of eyes would be on Momo and I, for however long our match lasts. I took another breath and quickly looked up towards my classes' section of stands, and managed to spot a speck of green where Izuku was supposed to be sitting. He seemed to be watching intently, an idea that put a smile on my face as I hurriedly climbed the stairs.

"Versus, the great creator! She was admitted because of recommendations and I think we can all see why. Also from Class 1-A, Momo Yaoyorozu!"

Another round of cheers resounded around the arena as my classmate made her way out of the tunnel on the other side of the arena. Quiet confidence emanated from her as she climbed the stairs... and it was only then that I realized that I had no strategy. I had been too busy worrying about actually being in the Finals to even start thinking of one. And knowing Momo, she would definitely have a plan of how to deal with me.

I couldn't let Momo use her Quirk. I knew that for sure. Best way to do that was to end the match as quickly as possible. Setting my feet, I felt the familiar tickling of electricity flowing through the muscles of my legs and along my skin as I sat waiting for Present Mic to signal for the start of the match.

"Sixth match... begin!"