"Oh what the fuck," Shiina hissed under her breath. "Seriously? I'm going against him? 'Drawing lots' my ass, Endeavor had something to do with this, didn't he?!"

"Calm down," Ken said soothingly. "So what are you going to do?"

She shrugged. "My plan hasn't changed. I'm not gonna get in Sho-chan's way, so I'm gonna lose. Duh."

"Like, you're gonna forfeit or?"

"I'm probably gonna bullshit the fight and give him a chance to kick my ass." She replied.

He nodded. "Ah. Good plan."

"I know right?"

For some odd reason, the rest of their class gathered around them to chatter about their opponents.

"I'm going against Bakugou?!" Uraraka wrapped an arm around her bare stomach. "This isn't good. This isn't good at all. I think I'm gonna be sick."

"Forget that, Kiberi's going against the strongest boy in class!" Mineta cried out. "Aren't you nervous?!"

"Sure."

"SHE'S NOT EVEN NERVOUS!" Several of them screamed.

"Relax guys, I think Kiberi-san's got this in the bag," Kirishima assured. "I mean, didn't you all see how she defeated those zero-pointers in one go?"

"Oh yeeeaaaah!"

"Maybe she does have a chance!"

Midnight announced that the recreational activities would start soon but Shiina no longer felt excited about it. She walked away from the stage and left the building to get some fresh air.

She was going to be fighting against her brother. While she already planned to lose, she still couldn't help but be nervous. He was still mad at her after all, so would he hurt her?

Of course he would, stupid, this is a fighting tournament! She mentally slapped herself across the face.

Okay, so she could cross that worry out.

But how much should she half ass it? She already decided not to use her gauntlets since she didn't feel comfortable with cutting her twin up, and she definitely wasn't going to use Mudo since that could potentially kill him. She'd have to stick to her Eiga- attacks then. But how would she lose? Would she let him knock her out? Push her out of bounds? There was also the fact that she needed to make her act convincing enough to trick everyone and Shouto (she didn't care for Endeavor though).

Damn, trying to lose is hard! She realized with wide eyes.

After a long thinking session, it was finally time for her to return to the stands.

"Hey guys! Are you ready?! You've been through hell to get here! But now it's time for the one-on-one tournament! You've only got yourself to rely on! Even if you're not a hero, this saying holds true! Spirit, technique, strength, wisdom, and knowledge! Use 'em all and show us your best!"

As Present Mic spoke, Cementoss was effortlessly cementing the stage and turning it into a fighting arena.

"Who's fighting first?" She whispered to Ken.

"Midoriya and the Class C guy who brainwashed us."

"Ah," she smiled. "Easy win for Shinsou then. All he has to do is mention All Might and Midoriya'll go yapping."

Ken snorted. He knew it was true.

"The first match!" Present Mic finally announced. "Making a weird face despite his excellent performance, it's Midoriya Izuku, from the hero course! Versus... Sorry, but this guy hasn't really done anything to stand out yet! It's Shinsou Hitoshi, from the general studies!"

"Geez," Shiina crossed her arms, a glare on her face. "Does he have to be an ass about the introductions?"

As Present Mic began to explain the rules, she could see Shinsou already speaking to Midoriya, most likely taunting him in order to get him to speak. She wondered if he was talking about All Might.

"STAAAAAAAART!" Present Mic yelled and soon after that, Midoriya was storming towards Shinsou, mouth open.

"WHAT'D YOU SAY?!" He yelled before freezing.

"Dammit, Midoriya! I warned you!" Ojiro cried out.

Shiina giggled. "So easy."

"Hey, hey, what's wrong? The battle's just beginning, show us some spirit! Mere seconds into the match, Midoriya's frozen in place?! Looking confounded, he's not even twitching! Could this be Shinsou's Quirk?! We were barely aware this guy even existed but now he sure is one to keep an eye on!"

Shinsou clearly must have ordered Midoriya to lose, because the shorter boy was slowly walking towards the boundary.

"Whoa! Midoriya's following orders like a good little boy!"

Everyone watched with bated breaths. Midoriya was just three steps away from the boundary line. Two steps now... One more...

But before he could take it, there was powerful blast that shocked the audience. When the dust cleared away, Midoriya stood frozen at his place, head turned, and with two broken fingers.

"He broke his own fingers?!" Ojiro choked. "Wow... to go that far..."

Midoriya started fighting back by trying to force Shinsou out of bounds only to get punched in the face. When they were close enough, Midoriya grabbed him by the arm and promptly flipped him over. Shinsou's feet were out of bounds.

"Shinsou is out of the ring!" Midnight announced. "Midoriya... moves on to the second round!"

Shiina bit her lip. This was Shinsou's one chance to get into the hero course... And it had failed. But then she heard what the Pro Heroes in the audience were yelling:

"That Quirk would be great against villains. I wish I had it..."

"What the hell's UA thinking? Putting him in general studies..."

"There's only so much you can do when there's such a large gap in their battle experiences. What a shame..."

She allowed a small smile to appear on her face. Maybe Shinsou still had his chance after all.

"Kiberi-san, your fight is next! I suggest you go downstairs and get ready as Todoroki-san already did!" Iida advised, chopping his hand up and down.

"Yes sir!" She exclaimed, hopping up to her feet.

"Good luck!" Her classmates said to her as she exited her stands.

The grin faded away from her face.

I hope this ends well... She thought.

— ❤ —

The tall figure sighed to himself as he waited for the stupid toilet paper commercial to be done and over with already. The Sports Festival just ended on a cliffhanger at the worst possible moment. The fight he was looking forward to the most was just announced before it switched to a commercial break.

So far in the first two events, his little brother hadn't once used his fire side. No doubt because of Endeavor. He didn't know how to feel about it. While he was glad that Shouto was rejecting that man's power, he was also rejecting a part of himself... The fire was his power now after all.

As for his little sister... He was curious about her the most. Shiina was Quirkless, all the doctors had diagnosed her as that, and that meant that she would never manifest a Quirk. Yet she was in UA.

He had the shock of his life when he saw her strolling through the streets one day donning that disgusting UA uniform. What had happened to Shujin (though he was glad that she was out of that shady-ass school)? Why was she trying to be a hero now when he knew she was never interested? When he knew that she was Quirkless?

What was she trying to do? Become the first ever Quirkless hero?

He turned out to be wrong during the first event where he heard that loudmouthed hero announce that Shiina managed to destroy all the zero-pointer robots with a single move. Much to his frustration, her Quirk was never shown and the cameras only managed to capture the aftermath of the destruction. There was no way she could have been able to do that while Quirkless. So why did she have a Quirk and what was it?

"—Charmin Ultra Soft!" The lady said before the commercial ended. Finally, it was over and finally he was back to watching the Sports Festival.

"The wait is over! Moving on... there they are!"

Two figures entered the arena from opposite ends. Shouto and Shiina. It pained him to see them fighting, especially when he knew how much Shiina hated her own twin...

"The cream of the crop! This is the girl who single-handedly destroyed the super-strong and super-expensive robots without even breaking a sweat! It's Kiberi Shiina from the hero course!"

The upper corner's of the man's face turned upwards. She was still using the surname he had given her a long time ago. Good. Though he couldn't help but wonder if she wanted to be known as a Todoroki instead. He knew how much she loved their shitty father. He always wished for that to change.

"Versus! The best of the best! The strongest of the strong! Todoroki Shouto, also of the hero course! Get ready! And START!"

He leaned forward. This was it. He'd finally see what her Quirk was.

He watched the screen intently as Shiina's face was suddenly engulfed in blue flames and a red devil's mask appeared over them. And then, she ripped it off. Blood and all.

"......What the fuck."

— ❤ —

Shiina summoned Tullia and ordered her to do the weakest Eiha she could manage. That ended up creating a sizable crater on the floor. If Shouto hadn't dodged...

What the hell, I said to make it weak! She shouted in her head.

I can't, we're too strong! Her Persona snapped back. We can't do Eiha anymore, only Eigaon.

Shouto sent a path of jagged ice towards her which Tullia simply broke through with a slash of her claws. Sharp icicles flew back his way and he had to create a wall of ice as protection.

Should I allow myself to get hit or what? She wondered helplessly.

Shouto sent more ice towards her, and she made her decision. She stepped to the side but purposely kept her left arm outwards a little more and—

"Ah..." She gasped softly as cold ice sliced through her skin like a dagger.

"Todoroki managed to land a hit on Kiberi! Will this be the end for her?!"

Shouto noticeably stiffened, staring at her bleeding wound. Tullia raised her arm and used Eigaon again. He reacted quickly, but he ran away to avoid it too slowly. The attack struck him and he went soaring into the air. She winced as he landed on his back with a loud thud.

"OOOHHHH! Kiberi countered back with a powerful attack!"

Sho-chan doesn't run that slow, she realized. What the hell is he doing?

The crowd was cheering as Shouto got back to his feet and started shooting ice at her again. Using the noise to her advantage, she shouted at him, "What the hell was that, Shouto?!"

He didn't reply and continued with the onslaught of attacks. They were all violent and sure to cause massive damage... but his aim was off. She ordered Tullia to use Eigaon again on the space behind him to push him closer to her.

"You're holding back!" She accused.

"So are you!" He accused back.

"Why are you doing this?!" She fumed in frustration. "Shouto, Endeavor would kill you if you lose now!"

"He won't do that," he said through gritted teeth. "I'm his stupid 'masterpiece'. He won't do much to me, but you? He'll punish you severely, Shiina, you know that. I can't... I don't want him to hurt you anymore."

She shook her head. "He's gonna hurt me regardless, Shouto... I've done shit so far. If you lose now... H-he'll beat you black and blue and lie to everyone that it was 'training' again...!" She had seen it happen before when they were younger. Only once though. Then again, she always ignored Shouto back then so it might have happened more than once.

From all the half-assed dodging attempts that they were doing, they didn't realize how close they were getting to the white line. Shiina saw it first, and made a large step to the side to dodge another one of his attacks. Shouto finally realized what she was doing and dashed forward, Quirk forgotten as he shoved her away from the line.

"I don't want him to hurt you, Shiina!" He grunted, trying to push her away so he could run out of bounds.

"I don't want him to hurt you either!" She cried out, trying to shove him away so she could 'trip' and land passed the white line.

"I'm used to it!" He shouted.

"Well you shouldn't be!" She roared.

"Now they're engaging in hand to hand combat?! What happened to their Quirks?!" Present Mic cried out in pure confusion.

He calls us pushing and shoving each other 'hand to hand combat'? She couldn't help but inwardly snort.

Shouto tried to make his way towards the line, but Shiina tripped him and tried to run away, only to be blocked by a path of ice.

"Dammit, Shouto, just let me lose!" She was close to yanking her hair out at this point.

"I'm going to lose!" He seethed, yanking her back.

Aizawa watched the scene with narrowed eyes. This, by far, was the weirdest fight he had ever seen. Was it just him or did they look like they were fighting to cross the boundary line?

Are all twins this devoted to one another? It's so weird. He wondered.

"Aren't you mad?" She huffed. "I lied to you for months!"

"I am mad," he said tensely. "But that doesn't mean I want you to get hurt by him. Just let me lose, Shiina."

She shook her head and summoned Tullia. "Dazzler..." She ordered, pointing at Shouto. He wasn't going to budge, so she'd just have to make him dizzy instead. Tullia raised her arms, but Shouto shot a trail of ice at the entity, making Shiina keel over with pain.

"Shit, Shiina...?!" Shouto didn't know that damaging Tullia would hurt Shiina too!

Shiina forced herself back up and raced for the line. Shouto's eyes widened and he blocked her path with more ice, but Tullia simply broke through it.

Dammit...! He cursed before making a mad dash for the line too.

Before either of them could make it, Present Mic suddenly announced, "AAAAAAANNND TIME! The fight's over! But nobody won! It's a tie!"

Shouto and Shiina froze on the spot. A... tie...? They thought simultaneously.

Midnight strode forward and cracked her whip. "In the event of a tie, we'll determine our winner through a different competition: Arm Wrestling!"

Arm wrestling, okay, Shouto would definitely win that one, Shiina thought, relieved. The twins stepped to the side as Cementoss repaired the stage and set up a tall cement table.

"Come on up you two!" Midnight waved them over. The twins shot each other a glance before trudging forward and standing at across one another. They placed their elbows on the table and gripped each other's hands.

Cementoss and Midnight stood a few feet back. "Ready? And GO!"

Instantly, Shiina tried to pull her arm back, but much to her utter annoyance, so was Shouto.

"Seriously?" She hissed. "No one's gonna buy you losing against me in arm wrestling, Shouto. Stop trying to lose!"

"You first," he grunted, digging his nails into her skin.

She bit her lip and retaliated with her longer and more sharper ones. His eye twitched in annoyance.

"You're so stubborn!" She scolded.

"So are you!" He shot back.

"Ugh!"

No wonder he was her twin. He was just as annoyingly determined to lose as she was!

Her eyes widened as frost formed over her fist. She glared vehemently at him. She couldn't let a little cold get her in her way.

"Shouto," she growled.

"Shiina," he growled back. "Just—let—me—lose."

"Fuck—no!" She grunted. "What happened to that little declaration of war you gave to Midoriya?! You'd look like an idiot in front of the whole class if you lose now!"

"I'm not going to let you get hurt for something as stupid as that!"

She angrily breathed out. Okay. This isn't working. Time for me to let out my trump card.

"I'm pregnant with Ryuji's baby."

He went slack, gazing at her with an expression full of shock and horror. She inwardly smirked and slammed her own fist against the table's surface, fighting back the urge to cheer in victory despite her loss.

"AND TODOROKI SHOUTO WIIIIIIINS!" Midnight announced and everyone burst to cheers.

She unwrapped her hand from his as Cementoss raised Shouto's limp arm up to deem him the victor. Midnight heartily patted him on the back while Cementoss walked over to her to congratulate her on her hard work. Shiina nodded and thanked him like a proper student before skipping over to the gates to leave.

Shouto chased after her, spun her around and grabbed her by the shoulders.

"You're really p... pregnant?" He choked, sending quick glances at her stomach as if she was already nine months along. "And it's his?"

She snickered. "No, dude, I was kidding."

He relaxed.

"It's Akira's."

He paled.

"I'm joking! I'm joking! Hahaha!"

"That was not funny, Shiina," he glared at her. "Please never joke around like that ever again..." He placed a hand over his chest. "My heart really stopped back there..."

She stifled her laughs, patting him on the shoulder as they walked down the hallway. "Sorry, but I knew it was the only way to get you to lose your guard."

"You didn't make me lose my guard, you gave me a heart attack." He said under his breath.

She shrugged. "Anything to make you win."

"You shouldn't have done that though," he said quietly, frowning. "Dad will—"

"—I'll handle whatever dad does to me," she said firmly. "As long as he leaves you alone, I'll be happy. You know... He's watching to see which one of us is the best."

"...What?"

"He's analyzing us," she muttered. "He wants to know if he should switch his attention to me and discard you. If I had won the fight, he would've thrown you out like he did to all of us. I couldn't let him do that to you, not when you're the one who wants to be the hero between us. Besides, his plan was shit anyways. If he chose me, he'd have to go public with my identity and everyone would wonder why he bothered keeping me a secret anyways."

"You are better than me though," he admitted. "Your attacks, though I could tell you were purposely missing, were still strong. If we were going all-out, you would've won easily."

She scoffed. "No way, Sho-chan, you would've wiped the floor with my ass."

He furrowed his brows, not understanding the phrase, but shook it off anyways. "I'm worried about what dad will do to you, Shiina," he said in a more hushed voice. "He's already angry with you for everything. If you had just let me lose—"

"—He'd probably make you drop out of UA as punishment, or worse," she said, causing him to wince. "UA is your dream, Shouto. Being a hero is your dream. I'm sorry to say this, but in order to become the hero you want to be, you need Endeavor backing you up and you'd lose that if I had won. I don't care what happens to me because I never wanted to be a hero anyways."

"Shiina..."

"Shouto," she returned. "Listen, you won, but I don't think you're exactly in the safe zone right now. You didn't place first in the other events like he wanted. Maybe... maybe if you used your fire—"

His eyes hardened. "—No," he said sternly. "That's not happening and you know why."

She sighed in defeat. She understood his refusal to use his left side, but if he were to do it, he'd be back in Endeavor's good graces... "Okay, fine. Let's not talk about that flaming turd right now. Are you still mad at me for... well, you know..."

He pursed his lips. "You lied to us and you've been throwing yourself into dangerous, life-threatening activities. Not only that, but you're technically a criminal now. I'm still upset over that... but as for your change of heart... I realize now that you were the one who changed yourself, not the Phantom Thieves. I was blinded by my anger and because of that, I accused your change of being forced, not willing."

"So...?"

He sighed. "So, I forgive you."

"REALLY?!" She squealed, causing him to wince from her volume.

He nodded his head.

"Oh, you're the best, Sho-chan! The greatest brother ever to forgive a shitty sister like me!" She cried out, tackling him into the most suffocating hug he had ever experienced.

"You're not... shitty... A bit reckless, but not shitty..." He struggled to say. She finally pulled back and he was allowed air again. "Just promise me to tell me whenever you're out doing... dangerous things again."

She nodded her head enthusiastically. "Oh I definitely will, Sho-chan, I promise!"

He nodded and allowed a small smile to appear in his features. "Good. Now can you tell me why Kurusu Akira is here dressed as a woman?"

— ❤ —

The fighting went on. Kaminari ended up losing to Class B's Shiozaki easily (but of course, not before he ask her out on a date) and Iida's fight against Hatsume Mei turned out to be one huge advertising scheme of hers—but he ended up winning at least. The next fight was what she was more excited for.

AMADA VS ASHIDO

"We're gonna keep right on going with the fifth match! It's the gentlemanly and charming young man with a gory Quirk, Amada Ken from the hero course! Versus! Is something going to come out of those horns? Well? From the hero course, it's Ashido Mina!"

"AMADA, GET HER!" Mineta screeched. "BEAT HER LIKE IN THOSE FIGHTING GAMES WHERE THEIR CLOTHES GET RIPPED OFF!"

He was loud enough for Ken to hear, and the taller boy sent him a disgusted look before the match started.

"Sorry about this Amada-kun, but I can't let you get in the way of my ship!" Mina shouted before using her Quirk to quickly glide her towards him.

Your ship...? He furrowed his brows before taking out his evoker to shoot himself in the head. "Kala-Nemi!"

His Persona came out just in time to protect him from Mina's acid attack. It splashed against the giant Persona's torso and Ken gripped his stomach in pain. Ouch, that burns...!

"Zionga!" He commanded. Kala-Nemi's body twisted as it launched an electrical bolt at Mina, who couldn't dodge it.

"Eeek—!" She shrieked, her cries being blocked by the massive blast that followed after she was struck. When the light and dust cleared away, her body became visible. Ken winced when he saw her stiff, steaming body splayed over the ground. She was paralyzed.

"Short and swift just like that lightning strike! The winner for this fifth match is AMADA KENNNN!" Present Mic announced and the crowd went wild.

Ken ignored all of this and jogged over to Mina's motionless body, that still had sparks of electricity that would occasionally buzz around her.

"Uh, I'm really sorry about this..." He apologized sheepishly.

She tried to give him a thumbs up, but all of her limbs were immobile.

He just gave her a really apologetic look as she was wheeled away by the medical bots on a stretcher.

"Man," Shiina grinned as he returned to the stands. "You really are merciless, huh?"

"Shut up," he shoved her arm. "I held myself back as much as I could. The chance of her getting shocked was only 10%... I didn't think she'd be so unlucky."

"You were so cool out there, Amada!" Kaminari exclaimed, leaning forward so he could rest his head on the seats in front of him. "You really gotta teach me how you made your electrical attacks so strong!"

"Um, sure..." Ken replied uneasily, and Shiina could understand why. The skills and powers were given to them, and they trained themselves to gain new skills rather than enhancing the old ones. Ken most likely couldn't teach Kaminari anything.

The remaining two fights were longer. Kirishima and Tetsutetsu's especially. Their Quirks were so similar that it was nearly impossible to beat the other. They managed to reach the one minute time limit before they both punched the other's lights out. It was another tie that led to another arm wrestling match that Kirishima finally won.

The last fight for the first round was Bakugou vs Uraraka. Shiina was damn sure that Bakugou wasn't going to go easy on her no matter what. He could be going against an infant and he'd probably use full-power on it...

It was, like everyone expected, brutal. Uraraka tried running at him but was blown away explosion after explosion. She was continuously getting beaten down, but she was determined. Most of the Pros however, didn't notice that and started booing Bakugou for taking it too far on a 'little girl'. They were promptly scolded by Aizawa and silenced.

After the smoke and dust cleared off, Uraraka's true plan became more clearer. She was using the broken pieces of cement as her ammunition.

Shiina leaned forward as the debris dropped from the sky. Was that really enough to beat Bakugou?

BOOOM!

A loud explosion similar to the ones she heard from Shido's Palace collapse sounded in the air followed by the intense heat fanning her face. She squinted through the sudden brightness, then widened her eyes when it all cleared out. Bakugou was still standing, completely untouched.

"Her weight capacity..." Midoriya gasped as Uraraka started to sway on the spot. She passed out a second later.

"Uraraka..." Midnight trailed off. "Is unable to continue. Bakugou moves on to the second round!"

Shiina leaned back against her chair and let out a soft puff of air. The next fight was Shouto and Midoriya.

Her cerulean eyes searched the stands to find Endeavor, which wasn't that hard since he was literally on fire (why, oh why, couldn't he just burn in those flames of his?). He wore an expression of utmost displeasure if you could call it that. His arms were crossed and his flames must have been hotter than ever since all the seats around him were empty.

She bit her lip worriedly. She was in deep shit with him, which she didn't mind that much, but Shouto was also on thin ice. If he didn't use his fire side to satisfy Endeavor then they'd both get hell.

"It's Shouto and Midoriya, now. You okay?" Ken murmured, noticing her troubled expression.

"Endeavor's not happy with either of us, which wasn't the plan," she muttered. "He was just supposed to be pissed with me... The only way to get Shouto back in his good graces is if he uses his left side but I doubt that'll happen..."

"Hey," he said gently, taking her hand in his, completely unaware that Hagakure was watching (but not listening) the whole thing with hawk eyes. "You're gonna stress yourself out with all this worrying. Are you scared that your dad might... hurt you guys?"

"I don't want him hurting Shouto anymore," she mumbled.

"Shouto can handle himself. I think you should worry more about you now." He replied. "I mean, you lost on the first round of the final event. That's bound to piss him off, especially since you told him you'd purposely lose."

"What's the worst he gonna do? Set me on fire?" The second the words left her mouth, she instantly regretted it. Yes. He could set her on fire. He had done it before with Touya...* He wouldn't hesitate to do it with her.

"Hopefully it doesn't come to that," he gulped, releasing her hand as the next fight began.

"Both of these competitors have won top marks in this festival so far! But there's only room for one of these greats in the ring! It's Midoriya versus Todoroki! STAAAART!"

Shouto reacted quickly, sending a large blockade of ice at Midoriya's way. She didn't see how he did it, but Midoriya somehow managed to hastily break through it.

"WHOAAA! He smashed through!"

Shouto blasted a larger attack on him, only for Midoriya to counter once again.

"And he smashed it again!"

"Ah, he's blasting them away by flicking his fingers," Ken realized, watching Midoriya intently. "He's running out of fingers left though."

Shiina shuddered. "You're making it sound as if they're gonna fall out or something..."

"I'm surprised it hasn't happened yet," he said seriously.

"Todoroki, undaunted by Midoriya's power, moves in to close the gap!"

Shouto sent another blockade of ice his way and swiftly jumped over it while Midoriya was distracted. Midoriya just barely managed to dodge as Shouto landed a few feet in front of him, freezing the ground and catching Midoriya's foot.

FWOOOOM!

"Whoa!" Shiina shielded her face from the cold air that whipped at her. "That's a lot stronger than usual, what did he use?!"

"His arm...!" Ken gasped.

"Oh shit," she grimaced. "Both of his hands are destroyed."

While she sympathized with the amount of pain Midoriya must be in, she was still glad. So far, her brother had the upper hand in the fight. He'd win this for sure...

But the relief faded away when she saw Endeavor's face.

He's still pissed, even when Sho-chan's winning. He wants him to use his fire...

Shouto stomped his right foot on the ground and large and sharp pieces of ice rose from the ground, heading straight for a hunched over Midoriya.

"Todoroki continues his relentless assault! Could this next ice attack win it all?"

Midoriya raised his broken hand and flicked his fingers, crashing through the attack.

"Everyone's... giving it their all." Midoriya heaved. "To win... To achieve their goals... To make it to the top! And you're gonna win this with half you power?! I still... haven't put a scratch on you! GIMME EVERYTHING YOU GOT! COME AT ME!"

"That kid's really determined," Shiina muttered under her breath, having heard the last part of his sentence since he had screamed it at the top of his lungs.

Both lunged at one another, but this time, Midoriya finally made a hit. Quirk activated, his fist sunk deep into Shouto's gut and sent him flying backwards.

"Shouto!" Shiina sucked in a breath. He managed to stop himself from tumbling out of bounds and quickly got back up to his feet, wrapping an arm around his stomach.

Shouto tried another ice attack, but Midoriya was able to dodge to the side.

"His ice is slower now... I can tell the cold's catching up to him too." Shiina fretted. "He needs to use his left side. Not for Endeavor, but for himself at least. He needs to keep himself warm!"

"It'll be fine," Ken assured. "Look at Midoriya. At this rate, he'll pass out and the fight will be over in your brother's favor."

"He looks distracted," she noted, barely listening to him. "What are they even talking about?! Shouto needs to focus!"

Midoriya blew Shouto back once more with another powerful blast. At this point, Shouto's right side was too chilly for him to handle now, and he struggled to get back up to his feet.

Midoriya, battered and broken, straightened up and screamed, "IT'S YOUR POWER!"

What...? What did he just say? Shiina's mind went numb. Is he talking about—

Flames erupted from Shouto's side of the arena and Shiina blinked repeatedly to recover from the shock. After years of rejecting his left side... he finally used it. What exactly did Midoriya even do?

'It's your power', he said. Was he trying to help him this entire time? She wondered. Even though he could lose this... he wanted to help?

The flames lessened and her brother's figure became clearer.

He was grinning, which was a rare expression of his.

She couldn't hold it in anymore. With a loud cheer, she jumped to her feet and practically threw herself at the banister. "YEEEES!" She whooped. "KICK HIS FUCKING ASS, SHOUTO!"

"SHOUTOOOOOO!" Another voice yelled. Endeavor thundered down the steps of the stand. "So you've finally accepted it! Yes! Excellent! It all starts now for you! With my blood pumping through your veins, you will surpass me... You will fulfill my ambitions!"

"A sudden pep talk from Endeavor-san, huh? What a doting parent." Present Mic commented.

Shiina refused to be irritated by this, but she couldn't help it. As usual, everyone mistook his selfish words as fatherly affection. How could they be so stupid and blind?

"FUCK OFF, ENDEAVOR, YOU'RE RUINING THE MOMENT!" She screamed.

Behind her, her classmates panicked.

"Ki-Ki-Kiberi-san, you're talking to the Number Two Hero!"

"Yeah, and he's a piece of SHIT!" She barked.

Bakugou harrumphed. "You tell 'em, Milk Jugs." He encouraged.

"Shiina..." Ken dragged her away from the banister, but their was a wide, amused grin on his face. "You're way too fired up."

"Midoriya's gonna get fucking wrecked now," she grinned madly as she was forced to her seat. "I mean, I'm glad he helped Sho-chan, but the dude's probably gonna regret it now. Hahahaha...!"

"Sometimes you scare me..." Uraraka said meekly, leaning away from her.

"SHHH, SHH! Everyone shut up and pay attention to the fight!" She snapped impatiently. Ken just gave them all a look that said, 'I'm sorry for her behavior, she's just excited'.

Midoriya and Shouto were powering up now. Midoriya's body was crackling intensely with green energy and Shouto was burning and cooling up at the same time. He stomped down, ice forming beneath his feet and zooming at Midoriya's way.

Everything was a blur after that. She could see Midoriya's green hair blur into almost nothing as he dodged the ice and readied his next attack. Shouto thrust his flaming arm out just as Midoriya was about to punch.

The last thing Shiina saw before everything turned white were the pillars of cement that rose up in-between the two attacks. The collision was so powerful that nearly everyone on the stands were blasted back. As she gripped the edges of her seat, she pitied her friends at the front row and hoped that Akira's wig didn't get snatched.

The blast ended, but smoke and dust still covered the arena.

"What the—?! What's with your class?!" Present Mic whined.

"All that chilled air was heated in an instant, making it expand." Aizawa droned.

"What a blast though! And what heat! I can't see a thing! Has the match been decided?"

The smoke finally cleared away. She saw Midoriya pressed against the wall before he fell over, unconscious. Shiina turned her attention to the arena and sighed in relief. Her brother was still in bounds thanks to the wall of ice he created just in time to catch him.

"Midoriya is out of bounds," Midnight said, still trying to catch her breath. "Todoroki... moves on to the third round!"

The audience went crazy.

"Was he just provoking Todoroki without a plan to back it up?"

"Did he even want to win? Or was he trying to lose?"

"Either way, that was still some impressive power..."

"He's got moxie for sure."

"He put on a good show up through the cavalry battle anyway."

All the comments made Shiina's eye twitch in annoyance. She didn't know why, but she suddenly felt defensive over Midoriya's actions. He did help her brother overcome a huge obstacle after all...

I think I need to have another talk with him.

— ❤ —

When Midoriya was done with his surgery and was given the all-clear, he had a short talk with All Might in his true form before finally exiting the infirmary.

He wasn't expecting to see Kiberi Shiina waiting for him outside the door, one of her gauntlets out and ready.

He froze, fear radiating off of him in waves. He stepped back, eyeing the sharp blades of her claws warily.

Oh god, did she finally come to kill me?! Why?! Was it because I fought Todoroki-kun?! I wasn't in charge of the matchups, surely she knows that?! What do I do, what do I do?!

Unbeknownst to him, she only had her claws out so she cut off the shorter dead ends of her hair.

"Oh good, you're here," she said, her gauntlets disappearing with a whoosh of blue.

"Eh?" He said, blinking at her.

"Come on, follow me. I don't want anyone to hear." She said ominously, beckoning him to follow her deeper into the hallway, far away from where everyone else was.

He gulped audibly and timidly began to follow her. What was she planning on doing? Was she going to hurt him? He didn't know that much about her Quirk yet—and it was obvious to him that she was holding back in the match against Shouto—and he wasn't exactly in the greatest condition to fight either: bandaged up with an arm wrapped in a sling. He had just gotten back from surgery and he was sure Recovery Girl would kill him if he came back again so soon...

That is, if I ever come back... He thought fearfully.

She finally stopped walking when they reached a cold, dimly lit hallway. Why were the light bulbs dying out in this section anyways? He couldn't wonder much since she spoke up again.

"Okay, this is fine for it."

"It?" He asked.

"To talk, I mean." She corrected.

Is that another word for murder? He wondered.

"Thank you." She said.

...What?

"Huh?" He said dumbly.

"In your fight against Shouto, you said 'it's your power'. You were trying to get him to use his left side right? I don't know how, but something tells me you know about his family more than the average person should... Which means you also know that he's been rejecting his left side for a decade now. You... you wanted to help him, didn't you?"

"I..." He trailed off, at a loss of words. He was still a bit surprised that she didn't come here to kill him. He mentally shook off those thoughts and nodded his head firmly. "Todoroki-kun told me about... some things, along with the reason why he's so adamant to using his right side only. I realized that by only accepting his left and rejecting his right, he was also rejecting a huge part of him. I wanted him to realize that too, that he was his own person, and his power is his power. That he's not Endeavor. He's... Todoroki Shouto and no one else."

She let out a breathless chuckle, though it was void of any humor, but it also lacked in malevolence. "God, I was wrong about you..."

"What do you mean?" He asked.

She continued on. "You're... a genuinely good guy. You botched your chances in the Sports Festival to help my brother get over his emotional problems. No regular guy would do that since everyone's so damn greedy these days... Or maybe I'm wrong. I don't know. I'm so confused now. I've been proven wrong this entire day. Bakugou turned out not to be a heartless asshole and you turned out not to be some sort of naive, hero-worshiping brat—"

"—Y-you thought of me that way?!"

She ignored him. "Anyways, I decided to give your view a chance. You know, the whole speech you gave me about 'Not all heroes are terrible'? I'm open to it now."

His eyes slowly widened. "You... are?"

She nodded her head, grimacing as if it pained her to do it. "Yeah. You've proven to me that some heroes—or in your case, heroes-to-be—aren't greedy, selfish pricks. You were right all along. It was dumb of me to throw heroes in the same category as my dad. I mean, just because he's an asshole can't mean everyone else is, right? You were right when you said that he fucked up my view of them... I don't have any inspirations... But I guess I can look up to you."

His jaw slackened. He would've pointed to himself if his arms weren't in so much pain. "M-M-M-M-ME?!"

"Yep. Trust me, I'm surprised too." She snickered at his dumbstruck face. "But who else would I look up to? Think about it, in a way, you saved Shouto. You're my hero and his too."

His freckled face turned into an adorable shade of scarlet. She thinks I'm a hero?! That I'm her hero?! Is this really the same Kiberi-san as before?!

"T-t-thank you, Kiberi-san—"

"—Just call me Shiina."

FIRST NAME BASIS ALREADY?! He internally screamed.

"R-r-r-r-right, Sh... Shiina..." He squeaked out her name, before swallowing thickly. "I'm really glad that you look up to me. But... I'm more happy that you decided to give this a chance. Initially, you were forced here, right? You've been struggling to adapt... I'm glad that I'm helping you overcome this. And... And if you need someone to talk to... if you need help, y-you can always come to me. Because I want to help you!"

She stared at him in shock, before her expression slowly relaxed in a smile. "Ahaha..." She giggled softly. "Yeah... I definitely picked the right person for inspiration. Okay, Izu-kun. I'll go to you, that's a promise."

IZU-KUN?! He tried not to faint. There was still something he wanted to know! It had been bugging him for so long... but now was the time to do it.

"Can I ask you something?" He asked hesitantly. "It's... a personal question."

She sighed. She knew this was coming. "My cup size is—"

"—NO NO NO NO NO NO NO, THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!" He screeched, backing up so far that he hit the wall.

"Oh." She blinked. "Then what did you want to ask me?"

It took him a while to speak since he was still trying to fight off the mad blush that was crawling over his face yet again. "It's about you and Todoroki-kun..." He began. "I... I've had my suspicions for a long time now... Shiina... Are you and Todoroki siblings?"

"Yeah, we are," she answered as if she was discussing the weather. "I didn't think we were being so obvious, but I'm glad someone sees the family resemblance in us. Shinsou thought I was related to Kirishima." She still couldn't help but snort at the memory.

"You weren't being obvious," he assured. "I just... observed more closely than the others. And then I put the pieces together."

"Dude, that's kinda creepy." She pointed out.

"Oh wait no, not like that! I didn't mean it in a stalkerish way!" He panicked. "I was just—er, well—"

She rose a hand to stop him. "It's fine. I get it. You got sharp eyes and even sharper mind. I like that in a guy."

Eh?

"Anyways, your stalkerish tendencies aside, are you in any pain?" She suddenly asked.

"Huh, oh, well..." He glanced at his arms.

"Let's take you to Kenny, he'll deal with that." She said as she began steering him away.

"Huh? N-no, you don't have to! Amada-kun still needs to use his Quirk for his next match—"

"—He'll be fine, now shush."

"Y-yes, ma'am..."

— ❤ —

Shiina had completely missed out on Iida's fight against Shiozaki, but that was fine since she managed to get Midoriya healed up and made it in time for Ken's fight. He was going against Tokoyami now, which was good since Dark Shadow was weak against light.

And she was right. Like with Mina, he only needed to use one move for it all to be over. When Dark Shadow got near enough, he summoned Kala-Nemi to perform Hama on the beast. It was a Light attack that had a 25% chance of killing a foe and luckily, Ken aimed the Hama just far away enough to hurt, but not kill.

The next fight was Kirishima versus Bakugou. Despite Kirishima's Quirk doing it's best to protect him from Bakugou's explosions, it wasn't good for drawn-out fights. With one last devastating blast, Kirishima was knocked unconscious once again.

"Bakugou's low-down carpet bombing blasts him into the third round! And with that, we've got our final four!"

Pictures of Ken, Bakugou, Todoroki, and Iida appeared on the screen.

The third round started with Iida and Shouto. As fast as Iida was, Shiina knew her brother was the better fighter.

And she was right. Just as it looked like Iida was going to win by dragging Shouto out of bounds, Shouto discreetly blocked his exhaust pipes with ice before freezing Iida on the spot.

"Iida is unable to continue! Todoroki moves on without using his fire powers!"

"Next up is Bakugou and Amada-kun," Hagakure gushed. "Oh, I hope Amada-kun wins~" Luckily for her, Ken had left to get ready for his upcoming match and wasn't around to hear her fangirl over him.

"Me too," Shiina agreed, making Hagakure squeal with joy.

"You know, if Amada-kun wins this, he'll be going against Todoroki," Mina pointed out. "Who would you rather win between those two?"

"Yeah, who would you rather win your heart?" Hagakure asked, leaning in closely.

Shiina blinked and turned to face her. "Huh?" Did she hear that right?

"I-I mean, who would you rather win the sports festival?" She hastily corrected with a nervous laugh.

"Sho-chan," she answered automatically.

Mina whooped.

Bakugou rolled his eyes. "Of fucking course she'd want her 'precious Sho-chan' to win."

"Someone sounds jealous." Sero snorted.

"I'M NOT FUCKING—"

"—Hey, Bakugou-chan, shouldn't you go down and get ready?" Tsuyu suggested.

"Don't tell me what to do!" He snapped, angrily getting up to his feet and stomping away.

"Yeah, I really hope Amada wins." Kaminari said once he was gone.

Shiina was confident though, that Ken would win this. She had never seen him fight Shadows before, but she had seen him during class training. Like her, he had to hold back too to keep from killing anyone since their Personas' attacks were designed to kill Shadows—not fight other humans. She could tell he held back a lot of power. He was much stronger than her. Maybe even stronger than Akira and Akechi.

Maybe, was the keyword. She'd have to see it.

After a short break time, the last fight of the third round started. Ken and Bakugou emerged from their tunnels and stepped on to the arena as Present Mic began their introductions.

"This is the last battle for the third round, ladies and gentleman! Which of these two young men would be the one to face off with Todoroki Shouto in the next fight? Will it be Amada Ken, the heartthrob from Class A who defeated his opponents with a single move or is it Bakugou Katsuki, the boy with a face that only a mother could love?!"

"Pffft! Well, it's obvious who Present Mic's rooting for." Kaminari snickered.

"He's not wrong though," Momo hesitantly admitted. "Bakugou-kun's face at the moment is, er, quite..."

"Ugly to look at?" Sero chimed.

"Terrifying?" Kaminari supplied.

"Oh, oh, how about just plain hideous?" Mina added.

"G-guys, Kacchan might hear you!" Midoriya stammered, glancing down at the stage as if the blonde could hear them from down there.

"We'll find out at the end of this battle! For now—STAAAAAAART!"

BOOOOOOM!

"Whoa!" Kirishima leaned away from the blast. His skin tingled from the heat that even he could feel from where he sat.

"He started off with a deadly explosion already...?!" Uraraka gaped.

"Kacchan's being smart," Midoriya muttered, nodding to himself. "Because he knows that Amada-kun's a strong opponent. So he can't risk using any weak attacks."

Down below, the smoke and flames only took several seconds to drift away. Once most of it cleared off, they saw Amada holding his evoker, his Persona already standing behind him. There were burnt holes on his shirt and some patches of skin on his face, arms, and chest were badly burned. It shocked everyone to the core, but then his wounds started healing.

"Wow," Ken chuckled. "You're quick to act, huh? If I didn't get Kala-Nemi on time, I would've been burnt to a crisp."

I wonder how good his healing is, Bakugou thought before he prepared himself for another attack. "'Nuff talk, just fucking fight me."

"Zionga!" Ken ordered, but Bakugou had already lunged away. Instead of targeting Ken, he went for Kala-Nemi instead.

"Damaging this thing would damage you right?!" He grinned madly. "This hunk of metal's just like the bots from the entrance exam!" Kala-Nemi pulled his fist back just as Bakugou opened his palms. Their attacks collided against one another and Ken had to press himself against his Persona's leg to keep balanced.

Bakugou landed back down on the ground and tried to squint through the smoke. Is it down?

BOOM!

"Argh!" He cried out, falling to his knees as lightning struck him from above. His muscles tensed as lines of electricity ran through his body, rendering him paralyzed. Fuck, I can't move!

"Nice job, Kala-Nemi," he heard Ken—or as he liked to call him, 'Pretty Boy', say. He saw his figure approaching through the smoke and Bakugou struggled even harder to move.

Small sparks crackled at his hands and his eyes widened. He could still use his Quirk... Maybe if he could blast himself away... Wait for an attack, then dodge it... However, he was never the type to wait.

"Hama," Ken murmured and a bright white explosion appeared at Bakugou's right.

He missed on purpose?! The blonde thought angrily before the attack hit him. He felt a burning pain rack through his body as he was thrown into the air. If he didn't do anything now, he'd most likely land out of the boundary—!

With a pained grunt, Bakugou forced his left arm to shoot out from the side to blast him back in the arena.

I can move! He thought with relish, landing roughly on his feet. He didn't spare a single second to blast his way over to where Ken stood and aimed a round kick at the side of his head. Unfortunately for him, Ken ducked down just in time and summoned Kala-Nemi again, who swatted Bakugou to the side like an annoying fly.

"Ngh!" He grunted, tumbling painfully on the floor. He got back up again and blasted forward.

"ARGH!" He was suddenly forced back by a light attack that didn't even hit him directly.

He missed again?! This bastard's doing it on purpose! He's underestimating me! He forced himself back to his feet, feeling dizzy from when he harshly hit the back of his head. "DAMMIT, STOP FUCKING MISSING!"

He thrust his palm out and used the strongest explosion he could muster. He was sure he got him now... But then his hopes died out Ken cried out, "Hamaon!" and there was a bright white light that demolished the grounds and was powerful enough to force his own attack back.

Bakugou placed both of his hands in front of him and countered back with more fire power, but he could feel his previous attack singe his clothes and skin. He clenched his eyes shut as heat attacked his face, but luckily, he didn't feel too scorched.

When the smoke and fire blew away, Bakugou froze at the scene before him. There was a gaping huge crater at the center of the arena, separating him from Ken.

"A-A-AMADA KEN JUST COMPLETELY RUINED CEMENTOSS' HARD WORK! The poor guy! But what a powerful kid!" Present Mic screeched.

The fuck...?! Bakugou thought wildly as he blasted himself into the air to get to the other side of the arena. The hell kinda power has Pretty Boy been hiding?! Fuck him for holding it back against me!

He aimed one last large blast behind it and zoomed down at Ken's place, arm ready. He was fast enough to miss Kala-Nemi's swing and quickly shoved his opened hand at Ken's face, the heat growing before—

BOOM!

A wild grin stretched across his face. I got him!

He landed on his feet but a second later he was kicked under the chin, his teeth biting painfully against his own tongue.

Ken stepped forward, his skin blistering and his clothes smoldering. But the disgusting red burns on his flesh were healing rapidly before his eyes and Bakugou could feel whatever was left of his patience snap.

"DAMMIT!" He screamed, delivering blast after blast. He had completely underestimated the guy! He thought he was some useless pretty boy with a stupid Quirk, but he was just as much of a threat as Half and Half!

His hands began to seize and after what felt like a hundred attacks, Bakugou stopped, panting, and waited for the smoke to clear out.

"You must be really angry now, Bakugou-san." Ken pointed out, looking amused.

"FUCKING DIE ALREADY!" He blew up, blasting fire at his direction. Ken merely stepped to the side and dodged it.

"ENOUGH!" Midnight suddenly hollered. "The fight is over! Amada has one foot out of bounds, Bakugou is the winner! Looks like our final match is set! It's Todoroki versus Bakugou!"

"Huh?" Both boys said, before looking downwards.

"Ah." Ken said, looking down at his right foot which was passed the boundary line. His cheeks reddened slightly and he looked back up at Bakugou's stunned face. "This is embarrassing..." He chuckled sheepishly.

"Are you FUCKING kidding me?!" Bakugou screeched.

Ken shyly scratched the back of his neck. "I'm sorry."

"NO! FUCK YOU! Get your foot back in the boundary and fight me!" The blonde demanded.

Ken blinked at him in pure bewilderment. "Huh...?"

"Dammit, fight me, you stupid Pretty Boy!" He screeched to the heavens. "You half-assed this fight, so now you gotta fight me all-out!"

Ken stepped back warily as Bakugou was engulfed in a demonic aura. "Er... I have no idea what you're talking about..."

Steam was literally coming out from his ears. "NO, WE'RE GONNA FUCKING FINISH THIS NOW!"

"Uh, no thanks! Congrats on your win, Bakugou-san!" Ken quickly ducked out of there. He met with Shiina in the hallway, and mentally groaned at the impish grin she wore.

"Wow," she said with thick layers of sarcasm. "That was amazing, Kenny. I should've gone to you for help on how to lose a fight."

He would've swatted her arm but he was a gentleman and gentlemen never hit girls. He settled with giving her a half-hearted glare instead. "I forgot about the boundary line, okay...?" He grumbled under his breath. "Ugh, I feel like an idiot. Come on, I wanna get outta here before Bakugou-san tries to kill me."

"If it makes you feel any better, everyone knew you would win." She commented as they made their way back to the stands. "But you know, you could've easily whooped his ass if you had your spear with you. Why didn't you summon your weapon?"

He shrugged. "Kids were watching. I didn't want to make it gory."

"Awww, you're so considerate!" She gushed.

He blushed, then cleared his throat. "Anyways, I guess this means I have to fight Iida for third place."

Just as he said his name, Iida appeared at the end of the hallway with a troubled expression on his face. He was just about to turn the corner when Ken called out to him.

"Hey Iida," he gave him a friendly wave. "Looks like we'll be competing against one another for third place."

"Actually..." Iida pursed his lips. "I have to leave the Sports Festival. Family matters. So it looks likes you will be claiming the third place spot, Amada-kun."

Shiina and Ken blinked.

Iida gave them a tense smile. "Enjoy the rest of the festival, you two." And with that, he was gone.

"I wonder what happened..." Shiina muttered worriedly. Family matters? That sounded bad. She hoped his family was okay.

— ❤ —

It was finally the last fight of the day and Shiina was confident her brother would win. No offense to Bakugou of course, but Todoroki's Quirk plus the hellish training he went through made him a more formidable opponent.

"At last, we've arrived! The best of the best among UA's first years will be decided! It's the final match... Todoroki versus Bakugou! NOW START!"

Shouto slapped his right hand on the ground and created a masses of ice that surrounded Bakugou at all sides. The shing! noise the ice made was blocked by the constant explosions Bakugou created to beat the ice away.

"The gauntlet's been thrown down! Looks like Todoroki wants to avoid close combat with Bakugou! Do we already have our winner so soon?!"

THUNK! THUNK! THUNK!

BOOM!

Bakugou managed to break through the numerous walls.

Kaminari chortled. "So he blocked the ice with an explosion and started digging his way through like mole? How weird!"

Grinning like a maniac, Bakugou launched himself over Shouto's head and grabbed him by the hair and uniform.

Shiina gasped loudly and jumped to her feet, scaring her class witless. "NOT THE HAIR, YOU HEARTLESS DEMON!" She had to be dragged back to her seat by Ken before she could jump over the railing and beat the crap out of Bakugou.

Poor Shouto was thrown like a ragdoll towards the boundary line but erected a wall behind him just in time.

"He avoids a ring-out with a wall of ice! How thrilling!"

"He's not using his fire...!" Shiina bit her lip worryingly as the two fought on with ice and explosions.

"What the fuck's up with my opponents always holding back against me...?!" Bakugou rasped. "First Pretty Boy and now you, Canadian Flag? You'll regret making a fool of me! I'll fucking kill you! I'm taking the first to end all firsts! There's no point in winning against some half-assed bitch! No point if I can't do better than Deku! So if you're not trying to win, get the hell outta my face! Why're you even here, you bastard?!"

Through his explosions, he propelled himself into the air in a circular motion to create what resembled a fiery tornado. To Shiina, he looked like some sort of humanoid missile. And was probably just as deadly.

Shouto stood there, motionless until Midoriya stood up and roared, "YOU CAN DO IT, TODOROKI-KUN!"

Shouto's expression hardened and flames erupted from his left side. He lifted his hand... and the flames diminished.

"HOWITZER IMPACT!" Bakugou shouted as he collided with the ground, releasing a powerful explosion that blinded everyone in the stadium.

Everyone waited with bated breath as the smoke slowly cleared out. Shiina's breath hitched when she saw the state of her brother. He was knocked unconscious on the broken pieces of his ice wall. And he was out of bounds.

Bakugou forced himself up. "You put out your flames... Hey..." He croaked. "Hey!" He dashed forward and grabbed Shouto by the front of his shirt, fist pulled back. "Stop screwing around! To get first place like this! Like this?!"

His voice cracked as he screamed. Midnight cautiously approached him from behind and ripped a part of her sleeve and released a purplish mist from her skin, knocking him out immediately.

"Todoroki is out of bounds! So... Bakugou is the winner! And that concludes our contest! The first year winner of UA's Sports Festival is... Bakugou Katsuki of Class A!"

— ❤ —

"This is beautiful." Shiina said with a pleasant smile.

"Eh?! K-Kiberi-san, they have Kacchan tied up in chains!" Midoriya stammered.

"It's Shiina, remember? And yes, I know. That's exactly why I think this is beautiful." She said, pleased as ever as she snapped a picture of the scene.

The top three were standing on their podiums. Ken stood at third place, looking a bit awkward as everyone cheered and squealed his name. Shouto stood stoically at second place. And then there was Bakugou at first place. He was restrained and muzzled in what Shiina first mistook as BDSM gear (but Momo, flustered, explained what it really was).

Midnight strode forward as fireworks shot up in the air. "Now let's move on to the awards ceremony! In third place, we have both Amada and Iida, but... Iida was forced to leave early due to a family emergency. We hope you all understand."

"What a shame, after how pumped he was." Tsuyu commented.

"Now for the medals! Presenting them this year is... you know who!—"

"I am—"

"—He's everyone's hero, ALL MIGHT—!"

"—Here with the medals!"

All Might landed at the center of the arena and gave Midnight a betrayed look.

"I talked over you! Sorry!" She squeaked.

All Might told her that all was well before striding over to Ken. He gently placed the medal around his neck. "Congratulations Young Amada! You're a strong one... Though you really should pay more attention to your surroundings... Heh heh..."

Ken's cheeks flushed with embarrassment as he recalled his loss. He nodded shortly. "Yes, sir."

He moved on to Todoroki neck. "Young Todoroki... Congratulations." He placed the medal around his neck. They had a whispered conversation, but whatever they were talking about must have been heartwarming since All Might embraced him.

Shiina smirked at the scene, snapping a picture of that too. Finally, she thought. Sho-chan's first ever fatherly hug.

"And finally, Bakugou! Well, um, this is too much... You lived up to your promise. Wonderful!" He then removed the muzzle.

"This'll be good." Kaminari muttered just as Bakugou's expression contorted to one that could match Satan's.

"All Might..." He snarled. "This win... it doesn't mean shit! It doesn't matter what anyone says! If I don't recognize it, then that medal's just garbage!"

"What a face..." All Might gulped. "In a world that's constantly graded on a curve... So accept this as a wound! So you don't forget! I told you I don't need that shit!"

All Might struggled to put the medal around Bakugou, but settled with just hanging it on his mouth.

"Well! These are your winners! But hold on everyone! Everyone here today has the potential to be standing up here! As you all witnessed! Competition! Encouragement! Pushing each other to climb higher and higher! The sprouts of today will grow into the heroes of tomorrow! In that spirit, let's have one final cheer! Everyone say it with me! One, two, and—"

"—PLUS ULTRA!—"

"—THANKS FOR THE HARD WORK!"

The Sports Festival ended with a blast of fireworks. Everyone was ready to return home except for the Todoroki twins, who knew their performance today would result in punishment from Endeavor. Shouto, who had the misfortune of running into their father first, quickly sought after his sister with alarm.

"Shiina," he breathed out, catching her outside the building talking to Ken and Akihiko.

"What's wrong, Sho-chan?" She asked.

"Our old man... He's not happy." He stated. "We both pissed him off, you especially. It might not be safe for you to come back home..."

Akihiko and Ken exchanged looks from behind her.

"What... are you saying...?" She said carefully.

He grimaced. "I hate this, but... Is there a possibility you could stay somewhere else tonight? Endeavor's... not happy with you. He's looking for you right now actually and—"

"—She can stay with us." Akihiko said right away, causing Ken to give him a look full of shock.

Shouto looked pained as he actually had to consider this. "...Really?"

"Yeah, we don't mind." Ken nodded.

"And I'm sure Koromaru won't mind either." Akihiko added.

Shiina brightened up at the mention of the lovable doggy. "I'm fine with it, nii-chan!"

Shouto looked like he had just sucked a lemon. Let his sister come home with him and suffer in the hands of Endeavor or leave her alone with two males he barely trusted?

"...Alright." He said with great agony.

"Yay!" She cheered. "It'll be like a sleepover! And even better: With Koro-chan!"

"Right." Shouto said tightly, giving the two male Persona Users a dark look that they easily translated: Touch her and die.

— author's note —

I love how I kept writing 'the man' this 'the man' that as if you guys wouldn't ever realize it was Dabi.

* I have my own headcanon about Touya's backstory, so I'm implementing it here. I don't know when Touya's true backstory would be revealed in the manga and I didn't want to keep waiting so I decided to think of it all up for the sake of the story (Dabi's actually going to be a REALLY important character in the future, so I absolutely HAD to make his backstory).