CHAPTER 12: TELL ME SWEET LITTLE LIES

The audience roared as the next two competitors for the Sports Festival's first round were called to the field. The two dark-haired beauties of 1-A stood face-to-face on opposite sides of the ring. "ALRIGHT FOLKS, IT'S TIME FOR US TO BEGIN THE SECOND MATCH OF THE PRELIMINARIES!" Present Mic shouted, as the two combatants took the stage. "FIRST, FROM HERO CLASS 1-A, THE COOL, CALM, COLLECTED, YUI KODAI!" The kuudere stared with an emotionless gaze at her opponent. "AND HER OPPONENT, ALSO FROM 1-A; THE QUEEN OF CREATION, MOMO YAOYOROZU! The ponytailed girl bowed stiffly, clearly uncomfortable about all the eyes on her.

"Good luck, Kodai" Yaoyorozu said, a slight edge of discomfort entering her voice. Her opponent only nodded. Midnight cracked her whip. "Kodai, are you ready?" The girl nodded. "Yaoyorozu, are you ready?" "I am" the ponytailed girl responded. "THEN BEGIN!"

Cue: My Hero Academia Opening 2 – Peace Sign

"You did good, Deku!" Uraraka shouted, as the greenette made his way into the student seating with Shinsou. "Here, we saved you some seats" Iida said, gesturing to a two empty spots between Uraraka and Monoma. "That was…weird" Tokage muttered, still a little confused about the chaos her fellow greenette had wrought. As he passed Bakugo on his way down, the explosive blonde flashed a thumbs-up. "Good job, Deku. Now, GO KICK HER ASS, SEVEN!" he yelled at Kodai. "LOOKS LIKE 1-A'S BAKUGO HAS A FAVORITE IN MIND!" The blonde's face contorted in annoyance. "SHUT UP, MIC!" "What he said" Aizawa agreed.

Kodai's face steeled into a look of fierce determination at Bakugo's shout. "I won't let you down…" Reaching into the pouches on her belt, a support item cleared with the Sports Festival Commission a week prior as per the guidelines, the kuudere produced a hex nut and threw it headlong at Yaoyorozu, before activating her Quirk. The nut quickly grew from a centimeter across to the size of one of Kendo's enlarged hands and crashed into the arena floor, pulverizing the concrete where the ponytailed girl had stood moments before into powder. "Now that's a mildly terrifying Quirk. Imagine getting crushed by a coin the size of a grand piano" Ingenium remarked.

"I need a diversion for this idea to work…that's it!" Yaoyorozu thought, concentrating on creating something from her stomach again. A trio of grenades popped out of her hands as Kodai's eyes narrowed. The ponytailed girl threw the first one, a bright yellow one, which landed in front of the quiet girl, forcing her to jump backwards as it exploded into heat and light – a flashbang. Kodai landed in another part of the ring, only to realize that a dark purple one was next to her foot. The grenade hissed, then spat out a cloud of dark purple gas, blinding and choking Kodai – a smoke grenade. As Kodai escaped the gas, disoriented and uncomfortable thanks to the thick smoke, she almost tripped over the last grenade, a light blue one. With a loud "BANG!", the last grenade exploded, creating a thick layer of ice, trapping her – a cryogenic grenade.

"And now, the finish!" the ponytailed girl shouted, throwing the last item she had created. The pair of bolos flew through the air and wrapped around Kodai's torso, magnetically locking into place with a clicking noise. "Kodai, can you move?" Midnight asked. The kuudere shook her head. The Rated-R Hero cracked her whip. "Yui Kodai is immobilized! Momo Yaoyorozu advances to the quarterfinals!"

"AND WITH THAT, HALF THE FIRST QUARTERFINAL HAS BEEN DECIDED: MIDORIYA VS YAOYOROZU!" Present Mic shouted, as the crowd roared for Yaoyorozu's victory. The girl in question walked over to her opponent and created a de-icing agent, which quickly thawed the other dark-haired girl out. "Sorry about that; I might have gone overboard" Yaoyorozu said sheepishly. "You did what you had to" Kodai responded, voice barely above a whisper as the victor helped her defeated foe to the locker room. The crowd cheered again at the display of sportsmanship; up in the stands, Bakugo smirked. "Well done, Yui…" he muttered.

A quick intermission later, and it was time for the next match. "THE THIRD MATCH IS ABOUT TO BEGIN! NOW INTRODUCING THE COMBATANTS: FIRST, FROM CLASS 1-A, THE UNBELIEVABLY STRONG SONG OF ICE AND FIRE, SHOTO TODOROKI!" The bichromatic boy stared coldly at his nonchalant opponent. "AND HIS OPPONENT: 1-B'S HUMAN WHIRLWIND, SEN KAIBARA!" The brown-haired boy looked completely unfazed by the fact that he was competing with possibly the strongest first-year at UA, illuminated by the giant torches on each corner of the ring.

"So, who do you think is going to win?" Uraraka asked. "Oh, that's easy…Spinny Guy is no pushover, but IcyHot's on a whole different level" Bakugo snorted, before looking back to the ring. Kaibara stared at his opponent for a moment or two. "I have little chance of winning; I'll be honest…but I'm really not on board with just giving up either!" he said, cracking his neck and holding his arms in front of him. "GYRATION WAVE, TWENTY PERCENT OUTPUT - WHIRLWIND!" His right arm began to rotate, slowly at first, but quickly picking up speed until a strong breeze could be felt even near the top of the stadium.

Sen Kaibara. His Quirk: Gyrate! He can spin any part of his body like a drill!

A small ball of wind gathered in the palm of his right hand, and with a quick motion, Kaibara launched it at Todoroki. The wind buffeted the bichromatic teen, forcing him backwards; to counter this, Todoroki created a chair of ice behind him to stop his movement. "AND KAIBARA GOES ON THE OFFENSIVE!" The brown-haired boy smirked. "And while you're dealing with that…FORTY-FIVE PERCENT OUTPUT – TYPHOON!" A massive blast of howling wind blasted from his left hand, cracking the concrete and kicking up a wall of dust.

"I did it…" Kaibara murmured, as the smoke began to clear…only to see Todoroki standing unharmed, a wall of ice backing him up. "Is that the best you've got?" the bichromatic boy asked coldly. Kaibara's eyes widened. "Shit! Gotta raise the power by a lot!" he thought, holding both arms below him. "FIFTY PERCENT – HURRICANE!" A much stronger wind began to travel through the stadium as the air currents lifted him into the air, his legs also spinning to keep him aloft. Hovering a good thirty meters above the ring, where Todoroki looked up as coldly as ever, the brown-haired boy held both arms out and aimed them at Todoroki.

"Let's crank this up a lot! GYRATION WAVE, EIGHTY-FIVE PRECENT OUTPUT…DIVINE WINDSTORM!" With that, both of Kaibara's arms began to spin at unbelievable speeds. In the stands, the audience began to take cover as hats were ripped from heads and small children threatened to be carried off. A massive tornado shot from between Kaibara's arms, engulfing the entire arena floor. Midnight barely clung to her sage, and Cementoss closed his eyes. "This is crazy!" Kaminari shouted over the howling wind.

Then, the temperature dropped dramatically, and small crystals of ice began to form in the air, quickly filling Kaibara's windstorm with hail. The audience ducked and covered even harder than before, as Kaibara's eyes widened. The entire arena shook. In the commentary booth, Present Mic's glasses almost slid off his face, and Aizawa stared wide-eyed. Up at the faculty box, Inko passed out again from shock, and All Might was utterly stunned. The hero students gawked at the massive glacier that had formed feet from their faces, instantly dispelling the whirlwind, and outside, the pros guarding the stadium stared at the top of the ice formation jutting out over the edge of the top. Finally, Ingenium broke the silence. "Holy shit."

Midnight stood half frozen on the stage nearby. "Kaibara, can you move?" The boy in question, now frozen thirty meters in the air inside a glacier, shook his head. "Are you crazy? There's no way I can get out of here!" he chattered. Midnight raised her hand since she couldn't crack her whip. "Sen Kaibara has surrendered! Shoto Todoroki advances to the second round!" The crowd murmured in awe at the level of power displayed by both competitors as Todoroki melted the glacier. "I'm sorry…I was angry" the bichromatic boy said, before walking back to the locker room, staring coldly at the flaming man near the top of the stands.

"I pity whoever has to go up against that" Jiro muttered. "No kidding!" Sero agreed. "Jesus fucking Christ, IcyHot! Could you have gone any more overboard?" Bakugo growled. The 1-B students sitting on the left-hand side of the heroics division looked on. "Christ, he took out Kaibara…he's easily among our class's strongest…" murmured Ojiro.

"UP NEXT IS A CLASH OF CLASS 1-B! FIRST, THE LIPLESS WONDER, JUZO HONENUKI!" The ash-haired boy facepalmed ay this description. "Seriously, Mic-sensei?" he groaned. "AND HIS OPPONENT, THE ARBOREAL ASSASSIN OF 1-B, IBARA SHIOZAKI!" The vine-haired girl's eyes snapped open and she raised her hand. "Excuse me!" she shouted. "UMMMM…YES?" "I have not come to bring harm or the end of a life to my opponents today. I have only come to show my peace in tranquility!" Shiozaki said, as Honenuki barely kept a straight face. "RIGHT…OKAY, I'M…SORRY?" Mic said. Ingenium snickered, before Aizawa added his two cents. "Congratulations Mic, you just got schooled hard."

Midnight cracked her whip. "Okay, so with that…interesting exchange out of the way, Honenuki, are you ready?" she asked, stifling a giggle. "I am" the ash-haired boy responded, cracking his knuckles. "Shiozaki, are you ready?" The vine-haired girl silently nodded. "Then BEGIN!"

"So, Deku, who do you think will win this?" Uraraka asked. Bakugo chuckled. "From what I've seen based on how you guys did in the cavalry battle, Eren Jaeger there is pretty strong…but Shiozaki is taking this easy" the ash blonde said. "Eh? You're so sure?" Ashido asked. "Yeah, she's on a whole other level…she might actually give IcyHot a run for his money in the next round."

Sure enough, a loud crash echoed through the ring, and when the dust cleared Honenuki was hanging by his legs well out of bounds, his body wrapped in vines. Shiozaki, meanwhile, stood in silent prayer atop a mountain of plant matter, several exceptionally large ones coming from the concrete that Honenuki had softened in a futile effort to avoid Shiozaki's attacks. Midnight stared up at the lipless boy. "Honenuki, can you move?" The ash-haired boy solemnly shook his head. "Juzo Honenuki has been immobilized! Ibara Shiozaki moves to the quarterfinals!"

As a graphic of Todoroki and Shiozaki was displayed next to the one for Midoriya vs Yaoyorozu, several 1-B members gawked at what they'd just witnessed. "I knew Ibara was powerful…but holy crap, she beat one of our two recommendation students in a flash!" Hagakure said. "Agreed. Shiozaki is an unparalleled competitor in our class" Shishida murmured. Midoriya, meanwhile, simply stared. "If I beat Momo, I'll have to deal with either her or Todoroki…and neither one sounds very fun…"

One ten-minute break later, and it was time for the next match to start. "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IT'S TIME FOR THE FIFTH MATCH OF ROUND ONE!" Present Mic shouted, as the crowd cheered. Uraraka stood on one side of the ring facing her orange-haired adversary. "INTRODUCING FIRST: FROM HERO COURSE 1-A, THE ADORABLE MISTRESS OF GRAVITY, OCHAKO URARAKA!" On the opposite side of the ring, Kendo stood serenely as she stared at her opponent this round. "HER OPPONENT: THE DE FACTO LEADER OF CLASS 1-B, ITSUKA KENDO!". "May the best woman win" the duo said in unison, eyes narrowing at each other.

"Uraraka, are you ready?" Midnight asked. "Yep!" "Kendo, are you ready?" "Yes, I am." The hero cracked her whip. "BEGIN!"

Uraraka immediately charged forward, expecting Kendo to make her hands bigger to attack with…only for the orangette to duck under her lunge and strike her in the gut with a knee strike. As the brunette stumbled back from the blow, her opponent shook her head. "Uraraka, that was naïve of you" Kendo said, shaking her head in disappointment, before continuing. "I know how your Quirk works, and that this is a bad matchup for me. My hands would be bigger, easier targets for you if I used my Quirk…which is why I'll beat you without using my powers!"

Back in the stands, Midoriya watched in horror. "Oh no…Ochako's Quirk would normally put her at a significant advantage, but if Kendo is fighting her Quirkless in hand to hand, she's at a massive disadvantage…" Monoma grimaced. "This isn't looking good for Ochako. She's tough, but she relies too heavily on her Quirk…"

In the ring, Kendo was handily keeping the upper hand against Uraraka, despite the gravity girl's best efforts. Her strikes were too quick and efficient for Uraraka to even hope to get a good hold on Kendo. "THIS LOOKED LIKE IT WAS GOING TO BE A FAIR FIGHT, BUT IT'S TURNING OUT TO BE A PRETTY ONE-SIDED BEATDOWN!" Mic shouted. "That's not it at all. Uraraka is at a natural disadvantage here due to her lack of physical training in favor of Quirk training…something that many students and pros alike could improve on" Aizawa responded, his words giving Midoriya callbacks to how easily he thrashed the villains at the USJ in hand to hand after disabling their Quirks.

And then, just when it looked like Uraraka's fate was sealed, Kendo slipped up.

As the orange-haired girl came in for a hard elbow strike, hoping to end the battle, Uraraka ducked under her swing and clasped one hand on her wrist. Kendo found herself suddenly weightless, with the momentum of her last attack carrying her forward towards the edge of the ring. "Oh no you don't!" she yelled, expanding her hands until they were larger than her own body, before bringing them together in a massive clap.

The blast of wind released by her weightless thunderclap buffeted the crowd and bowled Uraraka over like she was the weightless one, but the tactic backfired spectacularly of 1-B's big sister. The propulsion generated flung her all the way across the ring in reverse, over the white line and out over the green. Before she could correct her course and get back to the ring, Uraraka seized the chance and touched her fingers together. "Release!" Kendo fell to the ground, landing on her feet but out of bounds.

Midnight cracked her whip. "Itsuka Kendo is out of bounds! Ochako Uraraka advances to the quarterfinals!" As the crowd cheered for Uraraka's victory, many pros also commented on Kendo's strength and skill in combat. One masked, muscular pro with mint-green hair immediately decided to make offers to both of them after that performance. "AND LIKE THAT, URARAKA PULLS OFF A SURPRISE WIN! WHAT AN EXCITING TURN OF EVENTS, FOLKS!"

Aizawa nodded in approval. "They both did very well. Kendo held the upper hand through much of the battle with her strength and experience, but Uraraka's natural instincts allowed her to take advantage of an opening and turn the tables." "I'd say they're both very promising talents" Ingenium noted, the round-faced girl starting to cry tears of joy at the Turbo Hero's words.

Uraraka was mobbed as she returned to the stands, people in both heroics classes congratulating her on her victory over as skilled a combatant as Kendo. Speaking of, the orange-haired girl had congratulated Uraraka for her victory, sheepishly admitting that she started getting too into the battle and got sloppy. The round-faced brunette took her seat next to Midoriya, eagerly waiting to see who her opponent would be in the next round.

"IT'S TIME FOR ANOTHER PULSE-POUNDING BATTLE, FOLKS!" the Voice Hero shouted. "FIRST, FROM SUPPORT CLASS 1-H, IT'S THE ECCENTRIC MEI HATSUME!" The pinkette smirked as Iida walked out to face her, wearing multiple interesting gadgets. Midnight coughed, before pointing at Iida. "You there! You did not file the paperwork for a support item! What are you doing?" The tall boy bowed. "I'm terribly sorry, Miss Midnight, but Hatsume asked me beforehand if I could wear some of her inventions as well during our match. I want to honor her wishes!" he said.

"Well, this is interesting" Ingenium said. "What it is…is a waste of time" Aizawa groaned. "WELL? IS IT GOING TO BE ALLOWED?" Mic shouted. Midnight grinned in a strange sort of ecstasy. "Such sportsmanship! It turns me on! I'll allow it!" The entire arena sweatdropped. "Did she really just say that it turns her on?" "Iida, are you ready?" The bluenette boy adjusted his glasses. "I am." "Hatsume, are you ready?" "Yep!" The risqué pro cracked her whip. "Then, let this match begin!"

One fifteen-minute long glorified commercial break later, Hatsume stepped out of bounds, leaving Iida the winner, much to the audience's confusion. "What the hell was that?!" Bakugo roared in disbelief. Shinsou facepalmed. "Good grief, Tenya…" In the announcer's box, the elder Iida son was laughing his ass off. "Jesus Christ Tenya, you got utterly played!" he giggled, as Aizawa rolled his eyes. "SO…I GUESS WE SHOULD GET ON TO THE NEXT MATCH THEN?" Mic said as a graphic for Uraraka vs Iida was displayed on a screen next to the other two semifinal matches.

A few winks of an eye later, and it was time for the second to last match of the first round. "AND WE'RE BACK, FOLKS! TIME FOR A BATTLE THAT SHOULD HOPEFULLY BE A BIT MORE EXCITING THAN THE LAST ONE!" The crowd cheered as the two combatants stared each other down. "FIRST UP, FROM 1-A, THE DARK WIZARD HIMSELF, FUMIKAGE TOKOYAMI!" The bird-headed teen's arms were crossed as he stood confidently. "AND HIS OPPONENT, THE ROCK-HARD BRAWLER OF 1-A, EIJIRO KIRISHIMA!" The spiky redhead cracked his knuckles. "This is going to be pretty manly…" he trailed off.

"Any idea who will win?" someone from 1-B asked. "This one could go either way. Tokoyami has better ranged abilities, but Kirishima is unrivaled in close combat. It all depends on if Dark Shadow is strong enough in daylight to overpower Kirishima's Hardening, or if Kirishima can outlast Dark Shadow and reach Tokoyami…" Midoriya murmured.

*Cue My Hero Academia OST: Iron Battle*

Kirishima decided his best option would be to start off swinging; letting off a loud war cry as he charged Tokoyami. "It's over, Tokoyami!" Kirishima roared, as a strike from Dark Shadow bounced harmlessly off of his Hardened body. The spiky redhead seemed intent on beating Tokoyami as quickly as he could. "I'll take you down now, so that I can face Baku-bro or Bro-noma in the next round!" Bringing his right arm back, Kirishima increased its' hardness to the max and swung with all his strength. "RED BREAKER!"

A blast of wind shot through the stadium with a loud crack, the noise rattling the bones of the audience members. The ring's floor cracked and crumbled from the indirect force of the blow, and a massive cloud of dust enveloped the arena floor. "WHAT'S GOING ON? I CAN'T SEE ANYTHING!" Mic announced, as the dust began to clear. Shinsou smirked lightly. "I think Kirishima is about to lose."

The dust cleared to reveal that Kirishima's outstretched fist had made contact with a shadowy barrier wrapped tightly around Tokoyami, drawing its' strength from the darkness of his unbuttoned P.E shirt. "He's using it again…" Iida said. "Using what again?" Uraraka asked, an intrigued expression on her face. "Back at the USJ, he used this move to enhance his fighting abilities; I suspect he traumatized at least half the criminals who attacked us. It won't be as strong given that it's a sunny day instead of a gloomy artificial rainstorm…but I think Kirishima has just lost…"

"BLACK ANKH!" Tokoyami shouted as the darkness wrapped around him more and more, until it had formed a suit of dark armor with two bright yellow eyes shining just above Tokoyami's own. Kirishima grinned. "Now that's manly! Bring it on, Tokoyami!" Putting his arms up in a guard, the spiky redhead prepared to bear the brunt of the next attack. Meanwhile, Tokoyami raised his left arm, coated in darkness, and as the stadium's occupants looked on in amazement, the arm seemed to grow until it was dramatically larger than Tokoyami's own body. "GLOOM FIST!"

The giant arm swung and made contact with Kirishima's Hardened defense, and a massive plume of dust shot up well above the top of the stadium, while the impact reverberated all the way to the arena's foundations with the force of a Magnitude 6 earthquake. "What an impressive display of power…" Ingenium murmured. As the dust cleared, it revealed that Tokoyami was standing in the ring, while Kirishima had been launched out of the ring and embedded in the very wall of the arena by the impact. Midnight cracked her whip. "Eijiro Kirishima is out of bounds! Fumikage Tokoyami advances to the quarterfinals!" The spiky redhead grinned as he began to slip into unconsciousness. "So…manly…"

"Next is…" Midoriya began, before seeing the next match, his eyes widening. In the faculty box, Eri gripped her All Might plushie. "Uncle Katsuki is fighting Uncle Neito…" she murmured in worry. On the field, the two blondes stood facing each other on opposite sides of the ring.

"LET'S GET THE LAST MATCH OF THE PRELIMINARIES UNDERWAY!"

TO BE CONTINUED…

IN THE NEXT CHAPTER OF LUCK OF THE DRAW…

Bakugo vs Monoma! Which blonde will emerge triumphant? What is Neito's motivation? Stay tuned for more!

NOTES:

Man, this one took a while to write. The next chapter should be one of my best to date, so stay tuned, and as ever, thanks for reading!