Chapter 50: We go Plus Ultra?!

Recap:

Opening up his text messages, she saw how their last conversation over text was over a week ago.

She mentally clutched her heart while soothing herself, 'It's fine; this'll change soon enough.'

And instead of her fingers going to the buttons to spell out her drama, she started with a W.

Me [-When we meet, I have something to tell you.]

Sending the press, she heaved a huge sigh and placed her phone down.

'Who said Opposites don't Attract?' she sarcastically thought.]

____________________________________________________________________________

[SPECTATORS, PLEASE RETURN TO YOUR SEATS. I REPEAT—LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE BREAK BETWEEN THE SECOND AND THIRD ROUND WILL BE ENDING SHORTLY.]

Inside the halls of UA, one-sided bickering could be heard between two parties.

The high-pitched tone and lack of retorts could lead one to assume it was one of the institution's students conversing with another similarly aged peer.

But peeking around the corner, a black-haired woman with almond-shaped eyes rounded the corner with her husband in tow.

Though the couple were both well above 40, the spectacle of her walking forward while putting almost all of her body weight on his arms and turning his way was reminiscent of their youth.

But her nagging his ear off about worries of being late and the man's tired expression showed the years of maturity that their relationship had undergone, thus excluding physical appearance, they may appear to be elderly at that moment.

The couple walked down the desolate hall with the echoing of their feet as the only noise to their ears for the few moments of tranquility it took for Erena to catch her breath.

"Look at the halls; Suijin is probably already fighting his first opponent. What if he loses? No, Erena, he can't lose; my boy's strong. I've just got to wish he wins with no difficulty, but then I'll be wishing the fight ended early, making me miss precious video time."

The woman was torn between supporting her son in a speedy endeavor through the tournament and hoping he took his time so she could capture even a glimpse of it.

Thus, she circled back to the issue of her not being able to witness him, a feat she caused by requesting her jacket since it was suddenly cold inside the facility. Feeling guilty if her husband went alone, she accompanied him.

Enkai looked at the smaller woman in his arms and noticed her jacket falling off the side of her shoulder. 

Abiding by his naturally developed instinct as a husband, he slyly pushed it back onto her shoulder, using her confusion at her shoulder being touched, which caused her to look the other way to plant a little spray on the side of her cheek.

Her quick pout as she realized what he did caused a burst of laughter that enveloped the hall and eventually affected her, causing them both to break out into smiles.

The two forgot about Erena's worries for a moment, allowing them to walk into three sections just in time to witness the 16 selected students stand up on stage for the third round.

[LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WELCOME TO THE FINAL ROUND OF THE UA SPORTS FESTIVAL. PLEASE DIRECT YOUR ATTENTION TO THE BOARD.]

The board in question, which previously displayed the previous two rounds, once again lit up like a roulette wheel.

And with the commentary from President Mic occasionally chipping in with a "WHAT WILL IT BE" or a "CAN ANYONE GUESS?" Everyone's expectations were tense.

Those at home sat on the edge of their seats, with many parents hoping that the next event suited their child's quirk the most, though the more confident parents thought,

"Any test will be one he'll come first in."

The wheel slowed down until it landed on one standard yet exciting option all the same.

[IT'S…A…TOURNAMENT BRACKET!!!!!!!!!!!]

Cheers erupted in front of the crowd as UA seemed to know exactly what events to use to get the most out of the audience.

Many on the stage were breathing a sigh of relief, others snorting or grunting assertively, while a select few cursed under their breath at their terrible luck.

Next, the big screen atop it flashed with 8 square slots on the bottom of a pyramid, where each number of slots got divided by 2 the higher you went.

To the left of the pyramid were the 16 names of the contestants that stood atop the stage, and after another mix-up of names, the screen flashed to a blank black screen.

[HERE'S OUR CONTESTANTS. IN THE FIRST MATCHUP, WE HAVE... MEZOU SHOJI! VSSSSSSSS, TENYA IDA!]

A select portion of the crowd erupted, though interestingly enough, this wasn't the parent section.

Instead, a portion of the visitor section where fans had popups of both Tenya and Tensei Ida, Tenya's brother and famous pro hero Ingenium, waved around their accessories dramatically.

"PUMBLE HIM, TENYA!"

"KYAAA, WE GET TO SEE TENSEI'S BROTHER IN LIVE-ACTION!"

"DON'T TARNISH TENSEI'S NAME."

[Ok…seems like we have a fan club in the building, BUT NO MATTER AS THE NEXT MATCHES ARE UNDERWAY–]

After he proceeded to name all the starting matches from left to right on the pyramid in order, meaning whoever had the match next to you in sets of two would be where your victor would emerge,

After Shoji's and Ida's, the following went:

[Momo Yaoyorozu vs. Ochaco Uraraka]

[Hanta Sero vs. Hitoshi Shinso]

[Ibara Shiozaki vs. Enjirou Kirishima]

[Katsuki Bakugo vs. Denki Kaminari]

[Itsuka Kendo vs. Mina Ashido]

[Shoto Todoroki vs. Izuku Midoriya]

And lastly, he called [TetsuTetsu TetsuTetsu vs. Suijin Shimizu].

"Oh, you're back," was a blanket statement from Akarai as he looked at the duo settling into their seats before he turned back to look at his son, sizing up his opponent.

'An Ida, eh? This won't be an easy one for Shoji.'

Akarai heaved a few chuckles at the thought. It was good for that boy to encounter struggles for once.

"That girl, is she sizing up Suijin?"

The pair of eight eyes traveled to the pink-skinned girl, whose head timidly seemed to swerve to and from the spray-headed boy.

Her only saving grace that anyone in the stadium couldn't say for certain was her pink skin blending in with the red blush.

"HA-Ha-Ha, isn't that quite normal? I remember Enkai had quite the number of suitors back in his da–Ow!"

A quick pound to the chest from Aiya caused Akrai's tangent about how 'busy' his colleague was in his high school days to end.

Another unfortunate thing for Akrai was that his intended effect of causing Erena to go into a jealousy fit seemed impossible.

Scoffing, Erena said, "Oh sure—there's a reason that despite his countless suitors, he remained a twig in the bushes when I got with him instead of a daunting branch."

If Enkai had a mouth, it'd be twitching like crazy by now, and this was one of the moments he thanked his facial features for being difficult to read.

Enkai was currently banking on her not paying much attention, thus causing her to be unable to interpret his current expression.

But what kind of superwife—self-proclaimed—would she be if she missed her husband's expression?

Her tone turned to a sweet one as she spoke slowly.

"Oh~ Honey, it's ok that you didn't have Yggdrasil yet. It's only expected when your only options back then were people who wanted to test the temperature at which your 'head' melted or whether that nozzle could rub against more than the ligaments inside."

The uncomfortableness from Erena permeated through to both Akrai and Aiya along with Enkai himself, who were both sending Akrai hateful glares as he got Erena started!

"I'll just keep an eye on that hussy and see what she wants with my Suijin!"

Meanwhile, Suijin himself was wide-eyed at his matchup. He had one of the worst runs to the title possible!

With him having to beat one of Class 1B's strongest, then moving on to one of the 4 Kings!

Then there was a date with someone who was either Bakugo or the one to defeat him before he faced off in the final with the strongest in a side that contained Tenya, Shoji, Ibara, Momo, and more!

'F*ck.'

Mina, though standing next to him, had completely different emotions as she was overjoyed. She wouldn't have to wait forever to meet Suijin; she only had to defeat Kendo and likely Bakugo.

'Sorry, Kaminari, but it's the most probable choice.'

So one hard match since Kendo couldn't have had a worse opponent, and she'd be through.

Her determination spread throughout her being as Mina saw her desired future within her grasp.

'I'll take hold of my fate!'

Todoroki's thoughts were as silent and cold as ice.

And Bakugo's were as loud as fire, with him snorting at the matchup, clearly only putting the latter rounds in his eyes.

The students, like the spectators, were fired up and ready to claim the title of champion of the UA sports festival.

Though one long thought rang in Shoji's mind, 'Place in the upcoming sports festival... no, rather, we've got to win that.'

'If the past years are to go by, then it's possible for the finals to be some kind of team tournament, like two years ago when it was a group of three defending the crown final. And did you think of how we were going to beat up those monsters in our year?'

'We go PLUS ULTRA!'

Those words echoed loudly in Shoji's mind, and he couldn't help but reminisce about the time he had spent with Suijin only a few weeks ago.

As he looked at the tournament bracket, the memories of their spirited discussions came rushing back.

They had strolled through their neighborhood, just the two of them, with their dreams and ambitions illuminating their path.

Shoji and Suijin had shared their goals, their aspirations, and their unwavering determination.

The bond they had formed during those conversations was unbreakable, a testament to their shared journey.

As Shoji considered the challenges ahead in the tournament, he couldn't help but feel a deep attachment to the past.

Those late-night talks under the starry sky across the window sill, their shared laughter, and the belief that they could achieve anything together had fueled their spirits.

Now, with the tournament before him, he couldn't help but think back to those moments and the promise they had made to each other.

The determination in his heart was as strong as ever, and he knew that he had to carry the torch of their shared dreams and go PLUS ULTRA, just as he hoped Suijin would as well.

Excitement boils through his blood as thoughts of the final ring through his mind.

'Wait for me, Suijin.'

—-

Shoji vs Ida–Momo vs Ochaco l Bakugo vs Kaminari–Mina vs Kendo

Shinso vs Sero–Ibara vs Kirishima. l Todoroki vs Midoriya–Suijin vs TetsuTetsu

[Winner of left v Winner of right]

[A/N: Who do you think will win? And who would you say had the run of death]