Chapter 27: Conflict on Both Sides
Present Mic yells out excitedly, "Shoji has been moved out of bounds! Therefore, Tokoyami will move onto the next round. Now, let's move onto those quarterfinals, shall we?!"
I raise my eyebrows, "Already? Guess I better get down there, then."
I stand up to head down, but Ojiro stops me, "Shiro. I need to tell you something. Don't-"
"Don't reply to him. I know."
His eyes widen but he quickly recovers and he scratches the back of his head embarrassedly, "Ah, hehe, of course. I should've expected it from you, Shiro."
Bakugo kisses his teeth in annoyance at this, but at the same time I can tell that is acknowledging me in his own way.
Leaving the box, I head down towards the waiting room, where I relax and play with some Bungee Gum, 'Shinso, huh? His quirk sure is powerful, but it's a one-trick pony. But if he can figure out a way to counter that, like changing the sound of his voice, that could be interesting.'
I lean back in my chair as I think of the possibilities when I hear a knock on the door, "Shiro. You're up."
"Okay, I'll be right out."
Standing up, I flex my fingers and stretch for a bit before exiting the room. Walking down the hallway, I take a deep breath and put a smirk on my face before walking out into the arena.
The crowd cheers wildly as Present Mic begins the introduction, "Thank you for waiting everybody!!! The first match of the second round is gonna be a big one. Absolute dominance with every round. From the hero course, it's Shiro Hirota!!! And his opponent, who won his round within seconds! Shinso Hitoshi! Oy, Aizawa, he gives off the same vibes as you doesn't he?"
Aizawa simply mutters, "Shut up."
Shinso smirks as he looks at me, "Yo. How's it been, Hirota? Are you gonna sing and dance for me this time?"
I simply smile at him, an amused expression on his face.
He looks visibly annoyed, and changes tactics, "Must be nice. Having a versatile quirk like that. I'm jealous you know. With my quirk, I've always been behind from the start."
'Man, this guy is annoying. I could care less about your back story.'
"Ready? START!!!"
I start by throwing several balls of Bungee Gum towards Shinso, who rolls to the side and dodges.
Shinso starts getting desperate as I advance, "SOMEONE LIKE YOU WHO'S BEEN BLESSED CAN'T UNDERSTAND!!!"
My smile quickly fades, 'Blessed?'
"SOMEONE BORN WITH THE IDEAL QUIRK!!!"
'Ideal quirk?!'
"SOMEONE WHO CAN REACH YOUR GOALS!!!"
For the second time today, I snapped. All the annoyance that had slowly been building up inside of me burst out.
"BLESSED!?!?! GOALS!?!?! LISTEN HERE YOU LITTLE-"
I suddenly freeze up and a few feet in front of Shinso who has a successful smirk on his face, "Whew, I have to admit I was scared for a second. I don't know what it was, but I definitely pushed a button."
'KURO!!!'
A confident and amused voice rings out in my brain, 'My, my. I leave you alone for one hour and this is what happens. I told you, you're weak.'
Shinso steps up to me and looks me in the eyes, "Turn around and step out of the arena."
I slowly turn around and start taking steps towards the edge. I quickly abandon control and enter the mind palace, but my body continues moving as if it were on autopilot, "Shit! Kuro, do something!!!"
My split personality looks at me with a bemused expression, "Man, this might suck if you end it all here. Just like this."
Falling to the floor, I punch the ground out of frustration, "STOP FUCKING AROUND KURO!!! JUST TAKE CONTROL!!!"
Kuro shakes his head, "Gimme something. I won't do this for free."
Outside, my body is halfway there and Present Mic is yelling, "DAMN!!! Could this be the end of Shiro's win streak!? Will it all end here?!
"FINE, YOU CAN TAKE OVER MY BODY WHENEVER YOU WANT OR SOMETHING!!! JUST GET OUT THERE!!!"
He looks at me and starts laughing, "Take over the body whenever I want? I can do that normally! You gotta give me more
I grit my teeth and mutter a phrase, "I-I'll owe you one."
A satisfied smile appears on his face, "I'm sorry. I didn't hear you properly."
I slam my fist into the ground, "I'll owe you a favor!"
"Anything?"
"Yes… anything. Just please… win the damn round."
An excited smile appears on his face, "You got it."
*General POV*
Suddenly, Shiro stops just a toe away from the line and Present Mic yells out excitedly, "AHHH!!! SHIRO HAS STOPPED!!! WHAT WILL HAPPEN NOW!?!?!?"
Up in the box, Momo gasps, "Now? Why is he here? Did he… why?"
Back on the floor, Shinso yells out, "Oy! Why did you stop!"
Kuro rolls his neck and cracks his knuckles, shifts his body, and tilts his head to look at Shinso, an arrogant smirk on his face. Shinso takes a slight step back after seeing this and keeps on yelling.
"HEY! Answer me!"
Kuro just ignores him and slowly starts walking towards his opponent. Not a fast or rushed walk, just a casual one, as if he was strolling through a garden.
Shinso keeps on walking back, trying to keep the space in between Shiro and himself while he thinks to himself, 'WHY?! Why is he able to move? How did he break free of my quirk!?'
Shinso's eyes widened as he reached the edge of the arena and Kuro had stopped directly in front of Shinso who looked back at him with panicked eyes, his opponent mocking him by doing nothing.
"DAMN IT ALL!!!"
Shinso clenches his fist and swings wildly to hit Kuro, but Kuro easily takes a step back and watches the arm pass by, and says the words, "Too slow."
Shinso's eyes light up and hope, but that hope is quickly extinguished when Kuro pushes Shinso out of the ring.
Midnight calls it out, "Shinso has been pushed out of bounds. Shiro advances to the semifinals."
However, unlike the previous rounds, no one cheered or applauded. The arena was dead silent.
AN: Trust me, I'm going somewhere with this, I think…
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