This Time

Chapter 13

It was Hara's turn next. All Might debated waiting with her in the tunnel like he did with Midoriya, before deciding against it and heading back to the teacher's box and retaking his seat next to Thirteen. The under-cover vigilante was slated to face off against her classmate, Kaminari, and even without Hara's extra knowledge and experience, this pairing definitely was not in the poor boy's favor.

Kaminari strutted on to the stage regardless, apparently unperturbed. The boy had confidence at least, he'd give him that.

"Thanks for waiting folks!" Present Mic's voice rang through the stadium. "Up next from class 1A we have the fire-wielding phenomenon, Hara Mei from the hero course! Verses the boy with the electric personality also from class 1A, Kaminari Denki!" The crowd cheered. "Keep those eyes peeled! I want to see a super flashy battle this time!"

"Can do," Hara called out, grinning like she hadn't a care in the world, and the crowd loved it.

"You know, Hara, why don't we go out after this?" Kaminari asked smoothly, and Hara quirked an eyebrow in amusement. "I'd be happy to treat you to a bite, and comfort you after your loss - 'cause this is all going to be over in two seconds, honey!" Hara laughed out right as they both dropped into a ready stance at Present Mic's call to begin. All Might snorted through his nose at the boy's words; the kid needed to work on his timing a bit.

"Indiscriminate shock - one point three million volts!" Kaminari yelled as electricity whipped around his body, giving the entire arena a crackle to the air. He let loose the electric storm, and as it rushed towards Hara, she smiled. The girl crouched, planted on her right foot with her left extended outward and both arms stretched towards the oncoming wave with finger splayed. As the bolts reached her fingers, the electricity seemed to wind around her body, and collected around her fingers and on her outstretched leg. Then suddenly, she was on fire.

Purple plasma flames roared to life, causing an almost explosion-like heatwave to rush through the stands, and the audience screamed in both shock and delight. Hara stood straight, awash in fire like a goddess, and laughed at the dumb look on her opponent's face. "You wouldn't know what to do with me if you got me, honey," she mocked before leisurely approaching the boy. Arrogantly, he'd used too much of his quirk in his first blast, and stared at her helplessly. "Don't worry," she smirked, "This will be over in two seconds," and slammed her fist into his gut. Flames surged along with the momentum of the punch and in the blink of an eye the aspiring hero was thrown out of bounds - slightly singed and likely winded, but otherwise unharmed.

"And just like that it's over!" Present Mic announced and the crowd went wild.

Hara bowed with a flourish of her hands, flames still raging and smiling just as bright. From the stands All Might could hear other heroes praising her, and talking about how a quirk like hers would be an asset to their agencies. He felt an unexpected surge of possessiveness and clenched his fists in his lap. If she joins anyone's agency it'll be mine, he thought suddenly, and was surprised by his own thought's aggressiveness. Jealousy wasn't a trait he normally thought he possessed.

The stage was cleared, and the next fights commenced with varying degrees of excitement. Uraraka and Bakugo's match in particular was an interesting one to watch, and All Might was impressed with the young girl's tenacity.

As the second bracket of fights began, Toshinori was once more on the edge of his seat in anticipation - it was Midoriya verses Todoroki.

Right off the bat, the green-haired boy was breaking fingers, and the force of his power colliding with Todoroki's ice was sending continual shockwaves through the stadium. Internally Toshinori was screaming at his successor, trying to understand for the life of him why he was goading the heterochromatic teen into using his left side. While both students were powerful, All Might wasn't sure his mentee would be able to win should he succeed in getting his opponent to use his full power. Midoriya's injuries were quite severe at this point as well, and the hero was concerned about lasting damage - even if he did win, it was possible that Chiyo wouldn't be able to heal everything before his next fight. He wanted to be mad - and perhaps he was a little frustrated - but mostly he was proud of the boy's determination and drive. However, he was simultaneously also very concerned for his well-being.