Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Kirisame essentially has no fixed partner in Libra, not only because she is young and usually used as a skirmisher, but also because her abilities are diverse and mixed, with unstable effects. Teammates don't know what she can or cannot do, making it hard to coordinate with others. In Midoriya's notebook, the analysis of Kirisame's abilities is: aside from lacking long-range attack and defensive skills, she shows astonishing adaptability and potential in close combat, surprise attacks, and solo operations.

Kirisame watched her name get added to the "needs real-time updates" list by her companion, feeling very conflicted.

Incidentally, Kirisame also found Bakugo's name on that list.

Also, All Might has a separate list in Midoriya's notebook, with only him on it.

It turned out that "astonishing adaptability" was probably due to Midoriya's friend filter.

The opening robot melee wasn't a map Kirisame liked. The consumption of Aizen's acceleration ability is not uniform but similar to a machine, with the instant consumption at activation being several times that during stable operation. Therefore, conditions like "must avoid accidentally harming classmates in a crowd," "various abilities swirling together," and "needing to accelerate, brake, and turn abruptly" aren't ideal for Kirisame's ability to shine.

The competition prohibits malicious harm to classmates. Unlike other students whose abilities can be adjusted in intensity, once Kirisame's swing aimed at a robot hits a classmate, it’s almost a one-shot kill, except for those with enhanced defensive Quirks like Kirishima's Quirk. Before the match, Mr. Aizawa specifically drilled her on controlling her force, so Kirisame stated she absolutely couldn't bear the consequences of hitting an ally.

To avoid this and fight more comfortably, she has to dash out early and stay away from the crowd.

But obviously, classmates who had fought with Kirisame knew her habits. At the start, the two-tone handsome boy from the desk behind her, who had issued a challenge, kept Kirisame from taking the wall route. While freezing the ground, he also thoughtfully froze the walls. Although anyone who had seen him use this move would likely anticipate it, dodging still took some time. Kirisame had barely jumped up when Bakugo blasted her in the face with an explosion, forcing her back to the ground, losing the chance to escape the crowd early.

Bakugo, high above, was fixated on Shoto Todoroki who was in first place, yet still remembered to trip her up. Targeted by both of them at once, Kirisame hesitated and fell a step behind, leaving her to weave through the crowd and robots.

With high stamina consumption already, Kirisame decided to minimize direct engagement with robots. Amid the chaotic melee, she overtook Iida, who was originally beside her, and managed to catch up to the leaders purely through speed and agility.

Bakugo's flying figure grew closer. Todoroki, running ahead, stomped the ground hard, and a wall of ice rose behind him, very thin to conserve ice, but large and tall enough to hinder Bakugo behind him. Bakugo, who was accelerating in a straight line, clicked his tongue and abruptly gained altitude. Seeing Kirisame and Tokoyami catching up out of the corner of his eye, he abandoned the idea of immediately blasting the Half-and-Half kid ahead and turned and fired a well-aimed blast.

The bright flames startled Dark Shadow, and then the shattered ice fragments were blown toward Kirisame and Tokoyami with the blast's shockwave.

After being set up by those two at the start, she had finally escaped the crowd, only to be hit by small ice chunks from the explosion. Kirisame was starting to get annoyed. She raised her hand and threw two swords. Oshigiri Hasebe feinted in front of Tokoyami, then shot straight at Bakugo in the sky, slashing right in front of him, forcing him to blast forward to stop abruptly. Kikkō Sadamune targeted Todoroki ahead, a net-like red light extending out and snapping at his heels. The memory of the black smoke incident was still fresh, and the boy, seeing this from the corner of his eye, was so startled that he violently twisted his straight path into an S-shape.

Kirisame, who had given chase, rolled on the ground to pull Kikkō Sadamune out of the earth, dodged a slap from Dark Shadow, and felt a bit better.

... Misery loves company. Let's make each other miserable.

"......!!"

The back-and-forth sabotage among this leading group was so spectacular that even the commentator, Present Mic, was stunned.

"Hey, Teacher Aizawa, what did you do to your class?! They weren't this devious in class a couple of days ago!"

Teacher Aizawa didn't reply, looking embarrassed.

All Might felt as though he was getting to know Class 1-A's little rascals all over again. He had thought Midoriya, who meticulously notes classmates' Quirks and considers how to counter them, was rare enough. Now it turns out that Midoriya, who was honestly just hitting robots with a metal plate, was the innocent one...

Not to mention Mineta, who had slyly dropped his sticky spheres under classmates' feet, and even Uraraka had just lifted an unprepared general studies classmate off the ground for two seconds...

By the time the second stage ended, Kirisame had already caught up to Todoroki.

Without other students getting in the way, the seemingly terrifying high-wire act was no trouble at all for Kirisame. Unlike Todoroki, who moved cautiously despite appearing at ease, Kirisame, boosted by Little Tengu's balance boost, was truly having a blast. Running, jumping, crawling, swinging, and dangling, her grace rivaled only by Mei Hatsume from the Support Course, who was armed to the teeth. Watching from behind, Iida gnashed his teeth in frustration as he tried to keep up.

By the time she reached the minefield, Kirisame was in first place, with Bakugo Katsuki flying like a cannonball behind her.

These mines were simple pressure-sensitive devices. With a light enough landing, one could step straight over them. But she could only have two swords out at once. If she had to maintain reduced weight and speed simultaneously while in a minefield, she would have no other means of attack. Kirisame thought for a second about the likelihood of her pursuers not sabotaging her, decided it was nearly zero, and, being unsuited for prolonged combat, found herself in a tough spot holding the already scorching Aizen.

But the roaring and freezing sounds behind gave her no time. After weighing it, she couldn't force herself to trust He Wan's endurance amid such internal and external problems. Drawing a breath, the girl's eyes lit up with the sword patterns of the great sword Lion King and the short sword Imagin.

Todoroki was shocked to see his seatmate in front of him running through the minefield as if on a rubber track, with such rough movements yet never triggering a single mine. He began to doubt whether Present Mic was lying.

Then the screams from behind of someone being blown into the air snapped him back to reality. Seeing the two ahead tripping each other and about to pull away, he began to freeze the ground under his feet.

Kirisame's weight reduction technique was different from Uraraka's. Uraraka directly nullifies gravity and handles her movements skillfully afterward. But for Kirisame, reducing her weight to nearly nothing was a first.

And she found it extremely difficult to control.

To achieve enough upward acceleration with a force small enough not to trigger the mines required very delicate control. Fortunately, she only needed to worry about speeding up without falling or setting off explosions.

... The mines were very sensitive. Bakugo, who had tried lowering altitude and been blown by the shockwave of an exploding mine, gave up setting obstacles for Kirisame and focused solely on racing. Todorokin, determined not to let the advantage go if the others behind couldn't catch up, quickly joined the chase.

Since there were still strong contestants behind, Todoroki didn't freeze large areas but only made a foothold for himself. Thanks to his training after the combat practice, he could now perform such fine control.

The ice shoe prints left by the boy were not a straight line but a scattered pattern of jumps and turns. Without seeing his footfall order, it was extremely challenging for anyone behind to follow. Coupled with the jostling between those trying to cut corners, chaos erupted in the rear.

Midoriya stood there with his metal plate, facing a serious choice.

Should he follow step by step on the path cleared by those ahead?

He wiped his sweat fiercely.

No!!

I want to win!!

Realizing Midoriya was flying over was too late. Riding the blast wave, he shot straight toward Kirisame, arriving directly above her in a flash.

Now four were competing for first place simultaneously. Present Mic was screaming himself hoarse.

But in this heated competition, Kirisame felt great.

"If you don't know what to do, first look at more people!"

All Might's words from the rooftop echoed—

"I want to be like Ingenium, a hero who leads people!"

"I want to earn a lot of money, let my parents enjoy life!"

"I want to tell the world that Izuku Midoriya has burst onto the scene!"

"I'm gonna become number one here!"

Roars, tremendous roars, carrying the vivid and tenacious convictions of many, pursued her through smoke and gale, echoing in Kirisame's mind.

She didn't know how to describe this feeling.

Leo rarely saw Zapp show such a complicated expression. The young man instinctively reached for a cigarette, remembered the no-smoking rule in the venue, clicked his tongue, and lowered his hand:

"Growing up..."

The boss, watching the girl run from on high, broke into a slight smile.

Midoriya, who had briefly taken the lead from an explosion blast, slammed his plate into the ground just as he was about to land.

That swing made the audience's eyes practically pop out.

"..."

I misjudged you, Midoriya! Turns out you're the sneakiest one of all!

The blast from the mine explosion blew Kirisame's eyes shut, but at that moment, she didn't care.

"It's just a little ways left—you've got this!"

The white-haired, golden-eyed tachi (sword) Tsukumogami smiled and reached out to take his lord's hand.

Completely ignoring the pain that had swept through her body since she drew Tsuru Maru, not caring if she fell halfway, the little girl's expression at this moment was no different from the other three.

...I will win.

Amid Mr. Mike's excited shouts, the black-haired girl leaped into the air, chasing Midoriya and flying into the finish tunnel!

...And then she got second place.

...Because she fell when there was still one-third of the distance left.

...In the end, she rolled across the finish line.

Feeling depressed, Kirisame sliced off Mineta—who was stuck to Yaoyorozu's back—with a single sword strike, and when the older girl shot her a grateful look, Kirisame was so upset she could barely hold back tears.

Her downcast mood persisted until the rules for the cavalry battle were announced.

A purple-haired boy with dark circles under his eyes and delicate features walked over, raising an eyebrow and grinning at the dejected little girl:

"You're Aizawa from Class A, right?"

"...Mm-hmm."