Chapter 57: Sweat Drop

Recap:

Soon, applause mixed with cheering and roars as the crowd made their agreement with the decision known.

"Congratulations, Young Shoji. I hope to see you in the future trials." A hand was placed on his shoulder.

With that, the number one turned to the dark corner, planning on talking to the crazy principal about his seating arrangements.

"ONCE AGAIN, MEZO SHOJI WINS THE ROUND AND ADVANCES FORWARD. PLEASE CHECK OUT THE LAST TWO QUARTERFINALS BATTLES, MINA ASHIDO VS KATSUKI BAKUGO AND SUIJIN SHIMIZU VS SHOTO TODOROKI!!!!"

It seems like his dreams were still alive.

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All Might inwardly cursed Nezu for the predicament he ended up in.

 Sitting up on a chair made for his size was the number one, as if on display to the public. 

Normally, that'd be fine—all eyes are on him. 

But add to the fact that he was so far up, he was looking down at Aizawa and Yamada in their booth!

 Apparently, the mouse-like principal thought it'd be a great idea to host the number one where everyone could see. 

So, using a bit of technology the hero suspected had existed since the beginning, he raised a metal chair from the mysterious opening in the ground.

The pro thought that was normal and breathed a sigh of relief when he first saw it, but that breath went away when, after he was asked to sit on it, it started ascending.

 A metal pole was attached to the bottom and lifted him into the sky. 

First past the crowd's gaze, then past the commentator's booth, before finally settling on a height so high that the man became a resting place for passing birds. 

Apparently, like Nezu said, his job was to 'sit there and look pretty, as he was so far from the stadium that even his boisterous voice would have issues reaching down there.

 So, putting on his trademark smile, he wondered when he'd be able to get down.

"COMING ONTO THE STAGE, THE FEISTY KATSUKI BAKUGO, I'M SURE YOU ALL WANT TO KNOW IF HIS WORDS IN THE BEGINNING WERE ARROGANCE OR CONFIDENCE. THE ACIDIC QUEEN, THE DANCING MAESTRO MINA ASHIDO, IS FACING HIM!!!"

"Tch," 

The ash-haired boy let his disdain at their words be known, his rough demeanor pissing off the crowd, furthering Mina's support and chants to win.

"BEAT HIM UP." 

"SHOW HIM WHO'S BOSS." 

"MAKE HIM REGRET LIVING."

Though their words were aggressive, the girl was trying to keep her face straight as she just took a peek at the stands. 

In the student section, all of the girls save for Momo and Tsu, but the person she focused on was the spray-bottled-headed boy. 

His quick 'Good Luck' boosted her confidence more than any of these people could do, and the minuscule fear of Bakugo died.

The girl was currently tuning out President Mic's generic introduction, choosing to recall one of the most important things Suijin explained to her about her quirk. 

'From our test, I can see that you can control the levels of solubility and viscosity of your acid. Basically, if you lower the solubility, you ensure that your quirk doesn't become lethal to most living beings. And by raising viscosity, you can generate extremely slimy acid that acts as a protective barrier by gluing it to surfaces.'

Besides asking him what solubility and viscosity meant, she practiced with him, finally putting a name to the process she'd been unconsciously doing for the past years. 

And with the new knowledge, she developed moves for different situations, making her quirk more 'versatile,' as Suijin said.

"DIE!" 

She was brought out of her daydream by the loud boy blasting himself in her direction with an outstretched hand. 

'Predictable.'

 Taking a note out of Suijin's book, she'd done a bit of homework herself before the festival—of course, this was during the patches in the day when her mind wasn't clouded with the boy. 

She did some light research into all of her classmates, taking note of anything she should be wary of, and on her list, she'd never forget one of the strongest in the class.

The reputable Bakugo favored his right hand and usually tried to blow you up upon first contact. 

Her eyes reflected him getting closer and closer, but instead of a scared expression, Mina appeared confident. 

'Acid Veil!' 

Maximizing both the solubility and viscosity of her acid, she put her palms together before separating them in front of her. 

The result was a blob of acid spread out in front of her, blocking Bakugo, and with him having no way to stop himself, his explosion hit her wall. 

Drops of acid flew from the wall everywhere, onto the ground, which sizzled, her skin, while hit remained the same due to her resistance to her own fluids. 

But the boy himself?

 The front of his nose burned as he tried to blast himself away from her. 

But not before she followed up with a standard move of hers, something that incorporated her interest in dancing with a combat style. 

She spun on her right heel, making her elbow into a spear and clocking the boy in the neck with it, making him gasp out the air in his lungs and get launched away from her.

He stood up with fury on his face, sporting a look that showed he wanted to kill her.

 "AND SURPRISINGLY, ASHIDO HAS TAKEN THE UPPER HAND, GETTING A HIT ON BAKUGO!!!"

 The crowd roared with excitement, showing just how unpopular the boy was with them. 

They pounded on the stadium floor Cementoss personally created, using their noise to display emotions.

A battle between the nimble Mina and the ferocious Bakugo ensued, with Mina rushing, blocking, counters, evasions, huge blasts, desperate flying, flinging herself away.

 The crowd would say that this had been the most entertaining fight yet, with both quirks being quite flashy, allowing for maximum visual entertainment.

Seeing that his current actions wouldn't result in anything, Bakugo decided to go for a different strategy. 

He took tips from one of his classmates—not that he'd admit to that spray-bottle bastard—and implemented it.

 Due to the destructive nature of both of the two's quirks, multiple pieces of rubble and holes in the ground saw manyloose,e jagged pieces ofrocks lay around them. 

Seeing the previous aggressive boy back away, Mina had a foreboding feeling but still decided not to attack out of caution. 

That proved to be wrong, as when he was at the edge of the stadium, he stood straight with both his palms showing to her and sat at his side a bit elevated off his body. 

Looking at the boy's ominous position, the entire stadium got uncharacteristically quiet, allowing for his disturbing words to follow. 

No, it wasn't what he said that was ominous; it was how he said it. 

His usual spunk wasn't seen, and the vein in his neck that seemed to always be bulging was gone. 

In a quiet voice quite unlike him, he spoke one word, 

"Die."