The Analytical Hero: Ace

Chapter 9

I could feel the pulse in my ears. Every beat of my heart felt like the pressure of an ocean crashing against my skull. Somehow I managed to move my feet effortlessly regardless, dodging carefully and planting them to ensure a powerful punch.

My opponent tonight is small, still bigger than I am, but small and fast. They have proven to be fast and perceptive enough to catch the couple of mistakes I've made with my footwork and capitalize on them. Getting in two powerful punches, one to my right cheek and one to my stomach.

I can't feel the pain of the bruises forming, but I could feel the pressure of the blows, causing me to stagger each time. Luckily despite my clumsy recoveries I delivered returning blows to even the standing. Despite the pain I should be feeling physically, all I can experience is an overwhelming numbness.

The day had started off normally, no different to any other day. I made it to school early after riding the bus with Kacchan and we parted ways at the entrance as we always do in the mornings to arrive at our respective classrooms.

I spoke to Shinsou briefly before the bell rang as he also tends to arrive earlier than most. Classes drew by rather slowly, but nothing was out of the ordinary.

I'm snapped out of my thoughts as my opponent lands another hit to my already bruising cheek. I shook my head violently in an attempt to clear my head, only succeeding to strengthen the throbbing in my ears even further.

Thoughts of having to cover those bruises flooded my mind, causing me to roll my eyes in annoyance. Luckily for me I already have some concealer and other products for these exact moments. Despite this I still felt anger begin to bubble past the numbness at the audacity my opponent had to leave such a visible mark during our fight.

It wasn't until lunch that anything was noticeably different, the lunchroom was emptier than normal and the table that I normally sat at with my friends was completely vacant. I frowned at the sight, but was quickly greeted by none other than Monoma.

"Class 1-A is on a field trip today, they left a bit before lunch." Monoma eyed the empty table with distaste. I simply nodded as Shinsou made his way over to us.

"They're on a field trip, wanna go sit by the tree outside? The table feels a little too empty." Shinsou just nodded a silent affirmative and started to walk towards the exit.

"Forgetting about little old me already? Those 1-A brats must be rubbing off on you." I rolled my eyes at the childish rivalry, but just motioned for him to follow. He scoffed, but didn't argue as we all silently made our way to sit under a tree in front of UA.

I know I'm going to regret letting my emotions get the best of me during a fight again, but right now I need to release some of the stress building within me. My next punch is harder than before and is swiftly followed with a powerful kick to their side. My opponent is forced to retreat slightly to recover from the attack.

I can hear the vague sounds of the announcer and the crowd cheering, but it all just registers as static in my ears. All I can hear are the waves crashing behind my temples. I continue with practiced movements to shake away the blanket of static enveloping me to reorient myself.

I back away from my opponent to encourage them to approach next as I am best at redirections and defensive attacks. If I play to my strengths I can end this fight faster as the way it is going now seems to be a battle of endurance. My plan begins to enact as I hear footsteps approach me rapidly.

Footsteps... Lunch started a little awkward as I introduced Monoma and Shinsou properly. Their personalities seemed to clash though they have quite a few similarities, they just express them differently.