Stronger Together

Twenty-four: Just Like Him

   "Welcome back, everyone!" Midnight greets from the arena stage again. "As you know, we have like to keep things rolling for students who have been eliminated. As such we will now proceed with our Recreational Round. After that, it's the final event! From four teams, 16 individuals have made it through. It's a tournament! These kids will be pitted again each other in one-on-one combat!" Next to me, Eijirou fist pumps in excitement.

   "A tournament, eh? I'm gonna have the opportunity to appear on the stage that I see on T.V. every year!" He says. I elbow him in the arm gently with a smile.

   "It's so surreal, right?!" I ask. He nods in agreement.

   "Now we're going to do a drawing to determine the pairings. So, contestants, we're going to continue with recreational events before beginning the tournament. The sixteen participants from the tournament can choose to abstain from the recreational events if they so choose. There's no problem if you'd like to rest and save your energy," Midnight explains. "So, we begin with the team that got first place."

   "Excuse me!" Ojiro raises his hand. "I...I don't want to participate," He speaks up with a sad tone.

   "What?!" "Why?!" Our class seems surprised at his sudden notion.

   "My participation in the cavalry battle... I was in the top ranks in the last few seconds... I can't agree at all with that. Probably because of that one guy's quirk," He explains in a low tone. 'What is he talking about?' "I know this is a rare opportunity and to walk away would be stupid. However! Everyone here gave their best to get so far. I'll... never be able to do the same... It's just a question of dignity!" 'He really seems worked up about this...'

   "I don't agree either. I wanna resign too!" A kid from class B says. I guess they were on the same team.

   "What innocent words..." Midnight mumbles. Suddenly she cracked her whip and smiles real big. "I liked them!" She shouts. "I accept Shouda and Ojiro's resignation! Will two student's from fifth place's Team Kendou please step forward!" Then the leader of their team stepped forward saying that team Tetsutetsu worked much harder than their team did, so they deserved to go instead of them. After talking it out, it was decided that Tetsutetsu and Shiozaki would take their places in the one on one battles.

   "Now let's show the pairings!" Midnight announces pushing a button to reveal to set up. I look over the list quickly before moving my gaze to find my opponent.

   "Looks like I'm against Aoyama," I say with an evil gleam in my eye. "This'll be fun." I crack all my knuckles and glare at my classmate, who seems to nearly be trembling in fear. "Hehehe..."

   "Ah, man! I'm up against that Tetsutetsu guy!" Eijirou says scuffing the ground with his foot.

   "Don't worry, you've got this!" I say attempting to cheer him up. He looks down at me and smiles back. "I don't really wanna participate in the recreational events. Wanna walk around and just watch with me?"

   "Yeah. Where do you wanna go?" He asked.

   "We can just go up to the stands and watch from there," I say grabbing his hand. He nods as we both start walking up to the stands. When we make it up to the stands, Eijirou stops.

   "Do you want me to buy you a drink?" He asks pointing over his shoulder with his thumb.

   "Sure. That'd be nice." I smile.

   "Alright, be right back." He says before turning around and jogging toward a drink machine. I turn back and watch a bit through the window.

   "Hey, you're that snake chick, right?" Someone asks. With a raised eyebrow, I turn around to see who was talking to me. He was pale, had light grey hair, and had weird things around his eyes. He had his arms crossed and he was wearing the gym uniform for UA. 'He must be that one guy from Class B.'

   "I am," I say simply. He grins at my words.

   "Well, my friends were right then. You are pretty hot." He said with a chuckle.

   "Excuse me?" I ask confused.

   "I'm Tetsutetsu from heroics class B." He says pointing to himself. "If you don't know what my quirk is, I can turn my entire body into metal!" He boasts. 'Uh-huh...hence his name, I'm assuming...' "You are?"

   "Hanzo," I answer.

   "Is that your full name?"

   "No, my full name is Taya Hanzo, but only my friends call me that," I say fighting back a smirk. 'I can only imagine this guy's trying to flirt with me. I'd better stall him until Eijirou gets back.'

   "Oh.. well, do you want to watch some of the recreational events with me?" Tetsutetsu asked. I hum in "thought" as I see a small bit of red behind him.

   "Oh, I'm only waiting here for someone," I say with a smile. I notice Eijirou raise an eyebrow at the guy in front of me, but he doesn't say a word.

   "Oh, you are..?" I nod. "Well, maybe you could cheer for me when I go out to fight. I know it'd help me do better!" He says hopefully. With a giggle, I walk around Tetsutetsu and wrap my arms around Eijirou, who is holding two cans.

   "I would, but I already have someone I'm cheering for," I say with a smile. Tetsutetsu seems to completely deflate and he shoots a weak glare to Eijirou. "Excuse me, but we have to go. Bye~" I dismiss us and lead Eijirou to another area for us to watch.

   "Was that the Tetsutetsu guy I have to fight?" Eijirou asks as we take some seats. He hands me my drink and drapes his hand over my shoulders.

   "Thank you~ Yes, it was. But he did tell me what his quirk was, so I got a teeny bit of info on him." I explain, not mentioning that he was trying to flirt.

   "Was he flirting with you?" He asks. 'Well, there goes avoiding it...'

   "Yeah, but I just brushed it aside. It's fine," I say scooting closer to him to try and make him feel better. "He said his quirk had something to do with turning his whole body into iron. It's kinda like yours, so be careful, alright?" I take a sip of my drink and Eijirou rubs my arm a bit.

   "Alright. I'll be sure to win for you."