To Overthrow The Stars

Chapter Nine

Warning: mentions of gore/blood (overuse of OC's quirk), slight cursing, flirtatious teasing (not actually flirting though), mentions of Endeavor's schemes.

1491 words.

Another chapter written on my phone, so that means another art piece of mine, yay! Sorry there hasn't been music in a while... as soon as I set up my computer I'll post a part on this story with enough music to make up for each chapter I didn't do! How many is it, five now? I'll have to double check later.

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"I'm sorry we'll have to be rivals for the moment, Tokoyami-san." I admit, looking at my friend from across the room. Technically we're supposed to be planning our strategy in different rooms, but he and I know each other well enough to where that wouldn't help much unless he has a move like Iida's Ricepro Burst, "I hate hurting my friends, although sparring is basically a necessity in training, hence why I spar with people I don't know or care for." I sigh, "I'm rambling again, I'm so sorry."

"It's quite alright, we all have our moments, especially Midoriya-san." He rubs his beak awkwardly, "Just don't hold back, I would like to win fairly."

"Cocky now, are we?" I chuckle, "Careful or I might just pull the rug out from under you without you noticing." I tease, glaring accusingly at the bird boy, "Don't think you can beat me just because I'm a girl~"

"Quite the opposite," Tokoyami replies, scratching the feathers near his jawline sheepishly, "I believe you can beat me, which is why I must do my best not to let you." A smile makes the sides of his beak perk up slightly, which is an uncommon sight from him in the time I've spent observing his demeanor and how it aligns with his personality.

"You're such a flatterer, Tokoyami-kun." I snicker at the taste of 'kun' on my tongue and turn away from the boy I just made flustered, "Anyways, I'll be going now, see you from the podium, Tokoyami-san."

"I believe I will be the one looking down on you from the podium." He responds, no doubt stifling a chuckle like he always does. I laugh in return and stick my tongue out at him playfully over my shoulder before walking out and closing the door behind me. I walk all the way across the arena and down to the first level towards the field, getting stopped by a man I know as Toshinori half way down.

"Excuse me, Hinako? May I talk to you for a moment?" He asks politely, hands folded in front of himself as a suit drapes over his frail body. I nod, "Good. I would like to say that some of my colleagues have taken a liking to your quirk, especially one by the name of Endeavor. You may have heard of him, yes?" I nod again, "Well, as you may know he and his son, Shoto Todoroki are not on the best terms, but young Todoroki was also born of a quirk marriage..." Toshinori stops speaking for a moment, looking unsure of himself, "I just want you to know that he might not be the best choice to train under right off the bat." He looks through the tunnel that leads to the field I'm about to enter, "Anyways, I've already taken your time enough, go out there and be Plus Ultra!"

"Thank you for the warning, Toshinori-sensei, and I'll try to be 'Plus Ultra' although I'm not quite there yet." I smile politely and walk around the frail man, entering as Present Mic announces my name and class for the second time today.

I face Tokoyami as we step onto the stage we will be battling on, waiting for the signal to start. Dark Shadow is looming in front of Tokoyami, having come out from his torso, and he looks at me with beady, yellow, shadow eyes, "FIGHT!!"

Dark Shadow goes for a sweeping attack towards my abdomen, not wanting to get too close to my chest or thighs, I assume, and I barely dodge him with a jump to the right. He doesn't give me time to think, though and goes for another attack which I also barely dodge. Great start, Chikako. I sigh, rubbing my hands together after I tuck and roll to avoid Dark Shadow's claws, not wanting cement debris and dirt to block my flow of energy.

"IT SEEMS LIKE MS. HINAKO IS GOING FOR THE SAME TACTIC AS BEFORE!! IS THIS A GOOD MOVE OR BAD MOVE ON HER PART???" Present Mic comments, to which I glare at him between shadow claw attacks. Sure I don't have an original idea at the moment but-

That's when an idea pops into my head.

I slap my palms to the ground and use a tiny bit of the karma I've stored up over the past twelve years- four unaccounted for because my quirk hadn't developed yet- to dig my hands into the ground and grab hold of solid concrete bricks that I compressed just now. Then I stick my feet under those bricks in one fell swoop and watch as Dark Shadow comes for me again. That's when we go hand to hand, almost like an arm wrestle but with our fingers intertwined, and we push on each other for the upper hand.

With my feet stuck in the ground I can't go anywhere, so I drive my quirk to its limit, wanting my eyes to glow brighter than the sun itself so I can stun Dark Shadow long enough to go for his host. I don't make much noise aside from a few grunts as my body visibly weakens from quirk overuse, then let the energy out through my eyes, blinding Dark Shadow for just long enough that I can dislodge my feet from the concrete bricks and run over to Tokoyami, jumping on him, getting just enough leverage to pull him out of bounds.

As my quirk disappears from my body into a dormant state, I can feel my eyes begin to leak blood. It's only small droplets compared to what I've experienced through training with Kurogiri, but the spectators go silent enough to make me think I'm in a graveyard as I help Tokoyami to his feet, "Are you alright, Tokoyami-san?"

"I'm fine, but are you alright Hinako-san? Your eyes..." He looks at me with concern as I help him up.

"Happens when I overuse my quirk, nothing major." I wave him off, "Let's get ourselves to Recovery Girl, yeah?"

"Indeed, I believe that would be the best course of action." He agrees, helping stabilize me as I nearly topple over on our way down the stairs towards the archway he came through, "So you believe bleeding from your eye sockets is 'nothing major'?"

"Yeah, I guess."

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"Glad to see you healed up well, even after just getting the surgery." I smile kindly at Midoriya as Tokoyami and I make our way back to the stands, a bit of blood still crusted underneath my bottom eyelashes, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm doing alright!" He says happily, wincing as his arm bends the wrong way, "What happened? I saw your eyes start to bleed, as I'm sure everyone else in the audience did, what is that all about?"

I look at him curiously, waiting for the hero notebook to fly out of nowhere and for him to start writing in it as I speak, "That's just from quirk overuse, probably mixed with the energy I poured from my eyes in order to blind Dark Shadow." He nods along, attention fully focused on documenting me, "I would tell you my quirk, but you'll have to wait a bit longer because a certain angry blonde I'll be battling soon is sitting within earshot.  Sorry Midoriya-san." I bow and take a seat behind him, "Maybe you can figure it out before I can tell you because Bakugo-san is going to be a tough opponent to beat, I'll be pulling out all of the stops."

"Yeah, Kacchan is definitely strong." Midoriya starts to mumble, one finger tapping his chin as he does so.

I lean back in my seat just to see that I have to go back to the standby room. I groan and get up, "See you all on the flip side." I wave to the boys I was sitting with and walk off, Bakugo not far in front of me on the way, "Hey, Bakugo-san." I call, watching as the blonde stalks down the hallway, "Not to stroke your ego or anything but I know I can't beat you without endangering my health, so just make it quick, okay?"

"Huh?" He grumbles, turning around to face me mid step, "The hell do you think you're doing looking down on yourself? You beat Bird Brain and Raccoon Eyes no problem, don't you dare fight me without using your full power." He glares at me down his nose, twelve centimeters being our height difference, although he seems much larger than that when he's trying to intimidate his opponent, "The nurse lady can always heal up whatever problem you have, she's done it plenty for the damn nerd Deku, what's the problem with you getting injured, eh, Glowstick?"

I sigh, looking down at my boots, "Just forget it, it's a quirk-based issue so it's not like you'd care anyways." I roll my eyes, walking past him towards the tunnel I'll be entering in a few moments, "Don't hold back either, Bakugo-san."

"Tch, as if I would." He mumbles.