─── Chapter Four. ❛ THE NEVER-ENDING SAGA OF BAKUGO'S BIG MOUTH ❜
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TRAINING WITH INASA YOARASHI, although fruitful in the ways the elevated Minami Chizue's quirk to a higher tier, did damage to the twist of her spine and the curve of her shoulders, heavy knots she spent days working out with gritted teeth and tears in her eyes. The weeks flew by in the blink of an eye, hours passing like the steady turn of the clock, gone before Chizue could even blink.
The day was upon them; U.A.'s famed Sports Festival, where aspiring heroes could participate for the thrice-in-a-lifetime opportunity to catch the eyes of power scouters and recruiters. Chizue got the feeling that they would want more from her, a girl built off her father's crumbling legacy, because a Minami was never weak, even if they hid behind their name like a translucent shield in an attempt to erase the traces of unwanted heritage.
The thick feeling of saliva sitting awkwardly in her throat felt too surreal as the growing light from the entrance tunnel began to grow nearer, and Chizue let herself be overtaken by thoughts of her mother. The woman had promised she was going to be in the stands, cheering her daughter's name as loud as possible so that the whole world knew how proud she was of her.
Minami Chizue had always walked the fragile line between regret and revenge, choosing to sacrifice her own crimson blood for the satisfaction of haunting her old man even from beyond the grave, sinking her venomous claws into his skin to remind him of the daughter he had raised, created with his own two hands and the vicious ache of that damn cane.
It was all she knew, all she could do to conceal the burst of emotions that bubbled up against her chest like white-hot pain, threatening to rot the rest of her humanity away like the dull memories of a childhood spent in empty rooms and cold corridors where people she didn't know looked down at her in pity. Minami Chizue had long learned how to put up a front, how to slap a different skin that molded the bright baby blues of her gaze into something softer, something human, so unlike her father. Chizue wanted nothing more than to be the furthest thing from that man's useless doll.
The roaring of the crowd, a sound so joyous, so full of excitement, ignited a newfound fury in Chizue's soul. If not for her own gain, the sports festival would become the source of her mother's right to brag to her coworkers.
"Welcome to the U.A. Sports Festival, where up-and-coming heroes give their all for a chance to achieve worldwide fame and celebrity!" The loud voice of Present Mic announced his introductions, amplified by his sound quirk. The entire stadium buzzed with excitement, eyes peering into the tunnel to see what new heroes would emerge out from it this time.
"This first group is no stranger to the spotlight! You know them from withstanding a villain attack!" Incessant buzzing tore through Chizue's eardrums, pounding noise enveloping her to the point where she could no longer tell whether it was just the crowd or if it was her erratic heartbeat calling out in a mixture of nerves and excitement. "They're the dazzling students lighting up your TVs with solid-gold skills! That's right!"
