On the stadium's giant screens, the announcent bood once more as the technical staff finished partially repairing the arena, which had been devastated by the previous match.
"The first semifinal match! Tamaki Amajiki from the Hero Course versus Himiko Toga from the General Course!"
The stadium responded imdiately with a mix of applause, murmurs, and growing anticipation. At this stage of the tournant, Himiko was no longer just "the sister of the guy from the Mud Villain incident." Her two previous matches had completely changed the general perception of her.
Her first match had been fast, awkward, and brutal for the Hero Course student who had the bad idea of trying to physically pin her down from the start. The boy possessed a Quirk that allowed him to create stones from his arms, and he had tried to dominate the fight using physical reach and brute force, constantly advancing while covering his arms in stone, attempting to land a single devastating blow.
Himiko never fought that head-on.
She used her agility to dodge the blows, managing to slip through a gap in his defense and directly attack parts of his body not covered by stone; after the first punch to the boy's face that split his lip and made him bleed, Himiko had won the fight.
When the student tried to get serious, Himiko had once again exploited his blind spot and had ingested so of the blood she'd obtained from her previous attack.
The entire stadium reacted when two identical versions of the sa student suddenly appeared inside the arena.
In her new form, Himiko landed a couple of precise blows to her opponent's face using the strength of the boy from the Hero Course, managing to stun him and montarily deactivate his Quirk. The fight ended quickly after she managed to destabilize him with a low sweep followed by an improvised ground hold.
The second fight had been completely different.
Much longer.
Much more tactical.
Her opponent was a student specializing in the manipulation of reinforced threads capable of cutting through concrete from a distance. From the start, she filled the entire arena with tension lines, seeking to restrict movent and force Himiko exactly where she wanted her to go.
It worked for several minutes.
Just as the girl from the hero course prepared to end the fight, Himiko quickly drank a drop of blood to shrink to an extrely short stature, using her change in height to dodge the threads that would have ended her participation and close the distance with her opponent, who barely noticed what had happened due to all the dust kicked up by her previous attack.
Once they were in close combat, the fight swung in Himiko's favor, and she returned to her original form to finish off her rival.
And after that, the stands stopped seeing her as a minor contender. She was the dark horse of the competition, being the only second-year general studies student to make it to the semifinals of the festival's final phase.
She had already earned her spot in the Hero Course, and the festival wasn't even over yet. Reiji couldn't help but feel imnse pride in his older sister, and best of all, she still wasn't using her own blood to win her matches.
Reiji, though it might not seem like it, was probably naturally much stronger than most of the senior students in the Hero Course, even stronger than rookie heroes, and his body was extrely agile, which combined perfectly with Himiko's fighting style.
That was precisely his trump card.
That's why the atmosphere changed the mont Tamaki Amajiki stepped into the arena.
The student advanced slowly toward the center of the stage with his shoulders slightly hunched and his gaze lowered. Even surrounded by thousands of people, he still seed uncomfortable simply by being there. But the level of destruction accumulated in his previous fights was enough for the entire stadium to understand that he was likely one of the tournant favorites.
Himiko appeared seconds later from the opposite end.
Barely smiling, yet the stadium erupted at that simple gesture. She had clearly already won over the crowd.
From the stands, Shinso shifted slightly in his seat as he watched the nas appear on the screen and listened to the background noise.
"Well, at least we already have a moral winner in this tournant."
Reiji heard him, his gaze fixed on his sister; Shinso was absolutely right.
Izuku didn't respond.
He had his notebook open on his lap and his eyes completely fixed on both participants.
The countdown began.
"Three!"
Tamaki slowly looked up.
"Two!"
Himiko bent her knees slightly.
"One!"
"FIGHT!"
Tamaki attacked imdiately.
Tamaki's left arm exploded into multiple octopus tentacles that whipped through the arena like living lashes, while Tamaki's right arm quickly covered itself with a hardened structure resembling reinforced scales. The range covered much of the stage as soon as the fight began, forcing several spectators in the front rows to instinctively step back as the impacts sent fragnts of concrete flying.
Himiko advanced directly toward them.
She didn't back down.
She didn't seek distance.
She went in.
The tentacles descended violently, destroying part of the arena as Himiko slipped through the tiniest gaps, exploiting the exact dead spots in each movent. One grazed her shoulder, and another struck just behind her, raising a cloud of dust and concrete fragnts that montarily obscured the entire line of sight in the stadium.
"Amajiki is coming out strong right from the start!" roared Present Mic from the comntary booth as the caras tracked the attacks from different angles. "But Toga isn't backing down an inch!"
Himiko used the tentacle itself as a foothold to propel herself sideways before landing practically right next to the next attack. Her body twisted just enough to avoid another descending blow that destroyed part of the floor behind her before she continued charging straight toward Tamaki.
Tamaki reacted imdiately upon seeing her continue to advance.
Her right arm violently transford into a gigantic biological structure resembling a reinforced clam shell, which descended, seeking to crush her completely against the ground. The impact shook part of the arena and sent up another explosion of dust that covered almost the entire center stage.
But Himiko vanished again just before it hit.
The transformation instantly reduced her body size for just a few seconds, making her much smaller and lighter as she slipped under the structure by re centiters before imdiately regaining her original appearance and repositioning herself behind Tamaki.
"What was that?! She just shrank her size using a partial transformation and undid it mid-motion!" Present Mic shouted as the screens replayed the maneuver in slow motion. "Can this festival's dark horse outdo one of the best in the Hero Course?!"
Himiko took advantage of the blind spot created by the dust cloud and pulled a vial from her belt with her left hand, then launched a direct strike aid at Tamaki's side. The student reacted quickly, raising a hardened chicken wing that appeared to partially cover his left arm, but the impact still managed to knock him back half a step.
When he looked back at Himiko's position, she had already vanished again, much to Tamaki's surprise. The tentacles continued to move around him, trying to spot her again through the dust kicked up by the previous impacts, but before he could find her, a clean punch struck him directly in the jaw.
The blow didn't send him flying.
But it did make him completely lose his balance.
Tamaki felt the pressure course through his face and part of his neck before stumbling back several clumsy steps across the shattered sand. He ended up falling sideways and rolling a couple of ters before stabilizing himself again using one of the tentacles as support.
"In a stunning turn of events, the dark horse of this festival has transford into the famous student sensation, Reiji Toga!" Present Mic roared as the caras imdiately reacted to the change. "And he's just landed a completely clean hit on Tamaki Amajiki!"
The giant screens instantly split the image between the arena and the upper stands.
Himiko using Reiji's body down below.
And the real Reiji sitting next to Shinso and Izuku up above.
Whispers rose almost imdiately around him.
'Shit…'
Reiji adjusted his hood, trying to cover part of his face, though it was already too late. The caras remained focused on him for several more seconds before returning fully to the fight.
Below, Tamaki had already gotten back up.
This ti, he didn't attack impulsively.
The tentacles spread out around his body once more as several mutations began to reorganize simultaneously. Hardened scales partially covered his forearms and shoulders while new curved spines appeared on one of his sides.
The pattern changed.
The attacks were no longer wide-ranging and began to close in much more tightly on Himiko.
Three tentacles descended from different angles, seeking to trap her at the sa ti.
Himiko turned just enough to avoid the first one before sliding under the second. The third grazed her side, forcing her to thrust herself backward so as not to lose her balance completely.
"Amajiki is starting to pick up the pace of the fight!" Present Mic shouted as the caras tracked their movents from above. "He's not leaving Toga such easy openings anymore!"
This ti, Tamaki moved forward.
His right arm twisted violently, transforming into a massive crab claw that slamd straight into the ground.
The impact destroyed another section of the arena.
Concrete fragnts flew off to the sides as Himiko barely managed to escape out of range before the claw closed completely.
Reiji's greater physical resilience allowed her to better withstand sudden changes in direction and brace herself more steadily against attacks that would likely have knocked her down completely before. Her movents remained fast, erratic, and hard to read, only now she could maintain that pace for longer and with much greater precision.
Tamaki launched the tentacles again.
Himiko intercepted one using both arms before using the montum to close in directly to close range. The blow still dragged her several centiters across the floor, but she managed to stay steady long enough to land a side kick against Tamaki's ribs.
The impact forced him to take two steps back.
It wasn't enough to knock him down.
But it was enough to break his stance again.
The stadium reacted imdiately.
"SHE HIT HIM AGAIN!"
"KEEP GOING!"
"HOW IS SHE GETTING BETWEEN ALL THOSE ATTACKS?!"
Tamaki attacked again without stopping; his main course had been octopus, and for that very reason, he created tentacles once more.
Himiko managed to slip between two tentacles by re centiters before a giant chicken wing appeared to strike her.
CRACK.
Himiko used both arms to break the impact. The blow still sent her flying violently several ters across the shattered arena floor.
She rolled among fragnts of concrete before regaining her balance on her knees as blood slowly trickled from wounds caused by the impact.
The caras imdiately zood in on the exchange.
Tamaki was breathing heavier.
So was Himiko.
But both kept advancing.
"This fight has gotten way more physical than expected!" Present Mic shouted as the screens replayed several previous exchanges. "And Toga is still fighting completely at close range against soone who specializes in dominating space!"
From the upper stands, Izuku scribbled rapidly in his notebook without taking his eyes off the fight.
"...She's using your body to complent exactly what she needs..." he murmured as he watched another of Himiko's moves among the tentacles. "Your physical condition allows her to take much greater risks at close range..."
Shinso continued to watch the destroyed stage without taking his eyes off the arena.
Every ti Himiko found an opening, another mutation appeared, imdiately blocking her next move.
And yet Himiko kept finding small openings.
A punch to the abdon.
A low kick to the thigh.
A quick blow to the shoulder just before she had to retreat again due to another tentacle.
She couldn't dominate the fight; it was Tamaki who was truly dominating it. Although she managed to consistently close in on her opponent, she wasn't avoiding all the damage.
But she also wasn't letting Tamaki finish her off quickly.
The wounds began to pile up on her more and more.
Blows to her arms and legs.
Bruises.
Superficial cuts.
Blood slowly trickling down from various parts of her body.
Exhaustion was already beginning to show, even in her breathing.
Yet she kept pushing forward.
The crowd was completely engrossed.
Every ti Himiko managed to break through another offensive, the stands reacted imdiately.
Every ti Tamaki managed to completely block her, the entire stadium held its breath, waiting for the next exchange.
"GO TOGA!"
"KEEP GOING!"
"DO IT FOR THE GENERAL COURSE!"
Nejire was practically on her feet, shouting from one of the side entrances every ti Himiko got back up.
Tamaki's breathing grew heavier and heavier as multiple mutations continued to cover different parts of her body simultaneously.
Then Himiko reached for her belt again. Most of the vials had already been shattered by previous impacts. Only one vial remained, tucked away in a better-protected compartnt to avoid further damage.
She quickly drank the last vial of Reiji's blood to sustain the transformation while breathing heavily. She had just used her last token to reach the final; once there, she would have no way to use her Quirk whenever she wanted.
Himiko's body was burning; her blood was constantly splattering the ground, but a rush of adrenaline coursed through her as she kept her eyes fixed on Tamaki, who was also exhausted and whose mutation options were dwindling.
'It would be incredible to have that absurd regeneration too...' Her gaze drifted slightly toward Reiji, wondering how he never had any trouble in grueling battles like the one both fighters were engaged in.
Because even using Reiji's body, she could still feel the pain building up everywhere.
Her arms were trembling.
Her legs felt heavy.
Every breath burned.
Reiji watched the fight and felt a strange sensation as he looked at the giant screen split between the two combatants.
His eyes opened for just a mont from the stands.
Because no one understood better than he did how his own body reacted.
One of the cuts on Himiko's forearm began to close by just a few milliters as the flow of blood slowed.
'Is she...?' Reiji could hardly believe what he was seeing. Himiko had transford into him her entire life, but she had never shown any ability to manipulate blood, much less her body's natural regeneration. Yet, in front of millions of eyes, he was the only one to notice how she was slowly regenerating.
'Is it because of contact with my blood...? Or because of the dire situation?' Reiji didn't know the answer, but he would certainly try to find out later and determine whether his eyes were deceiving him or not.
Below, Tamaki changed tactics again.
The octopus tentacles began moving around her much faster as a massive crab claw completely covered her left arm and several spines resembling hedgehog quills grew on her right.
Himiko was breathing heavily.
Blood was running down one of her arms, and she had several visible wounds on her legs and sides, yet she pressed forward once more.
Again.
The stadium reacted imdiately.
"GO TOGA!"
"ONE MORE!"
Tamaki launched the tentacles simultaneously, seeking to completely block her path. Himiko managed to dodge the first two attacks by inches before propelling herself forward, attempting to close in for another close-range strike.
And then the claw ca down; as she tried to dodge it, her injured leg gave out upon hitting the ground.
CRACK.
The impact echoed throughout the arena.
Himiko was violently hurled against one of the side walls as fragnts of concrete exploded around her. The transformation vanished imdiately after the blow.
The stadium fell silent for just a mont.
Himiko fell to her knees.
She tried to get up.
Once.
Her legs gave out again.
She tried again, leaning against the shattered floor as her breathing trembled, completely ragged.
Tamaki was breathing heavily on the other side of the arena as the mutations slowly began to recede.
The referee watched for a few more seconds before finally raising his hand.
"CONTESTANT HIMIKO TOGA HAS LEFT THE ARENA! WINNER: TAMAKI AMAJIKI!"
The stadium imdiately erupted in applause and cheers.
"AND SHE'S STILL TRYING TO GET UP?!" Present Mic shouted as the caras zood back in on Himiko trying to stand. "HOW MUCH RESILIENCE DOES THIS GIRL HAVE?!"
dical staff began rushing into the arena.
But Himiko managed to get to her feet before they arrived.
Unsteady.
Injured.
Breathing heavily.
But standing.
And that caused much of the stadium to rise to its feet once more in applause.
Tamaki watched her for a few seconds from the other end of the arena before bowing her head slightly in a sign of respect.
From the upper stands, Reiji continued to stare intently at Himiko's wounds.
The cuts were no longer bleeding as heavily as before.
And so areas… seed to have closed up just a little.
***
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