Chapter 29: Sports Festival (3)

" Are you ready, ladies and gentlemen?! For the second round of the sports festival! Standing in the arena are the fearsome students named Ricolo and Uraraka! Their hearts are racing for me to announce the beginning of the second match!" 

An ear ringing roar erupted from the crowd, as Ricolo and Uraraka faced each other, even though the fight hadn't started. Sweat was already dripping down Uraraka's face, her breathing was hasty, and her composure was clearly shattered. But the question was, why? The answer to that question was quite simple, mere minutes before the start of the match Uraraka and Deku spent around 15 minutes planning a way to beat Ricolo.

The only problem was...They couldn't think of one, Deku could only give her a few pieces of advice. One of the pieces, Deku was able to give Uraraka was for her to limit Ricolo's opportunities to repeat actions that directly affected her body, which is easier said than done.

Uraraka inhaled deeply trying to calm her nerves, the feeling of Ricolo's sharp gaze was engulfing her body, making chills creep down her spine, to Uraraka it felt like an apex predator was waiting to strike. 

"We're on the same page, aren't we?" Ricolo said, slowly stretching his arms.

Confusion filled Uraraka's face as she responded, "What do you mean?"

"Our plans. You're planning to prevent me from using my quirk, just like everyone else does. It never works, I can always use my quirk, but that's your strategy, right? " Ricolo explained. 

" I-Its is. I'm going to be completely honest with you, Deku and I spent countless minutes brainstorming ways for me to defeat you but, we couldn't come up with a single one. " Ricolo scoffed at Uraraka's honesty, as Present Mic yelled out, signaling the start of the match...

Pov: Uraraka

" Start! "

W-Well, here we go. Deku said Ricolo would be wary of my quirk, and from what he just said, looks like we both are going to try our hardest to not get hit. I tightly ball up my fists and slowly start approaching Ricolo, who remains motionless, staring at me. Not letting me out of his line of sight. 

With each step, I inch closer and closer until I'm mere inches away from him. I quickly raise my guard planting my fists on each side of my jaw. During our first fight, he used several different types of feints to throw me off. I was so focused on his fists, that I didn't get the opportunity to use my quirk. Looking back on it, I completely fell into his palm following the plan he constructed immediately. 

Deku told me, he would do something similar, but he would most likely change it. Meaning, that his first strike will be an actual attack...No he would feint it, or- Damn It, I can't get lost in thoughts now. He's about to engage. Ricolo's right shoulder blurs, as he flicks a jab forward, I stare at his knuckles approaching my face.

But I don't react, as my eyes hone into his fists before it suddenly stops. Just like I thought he would feint it. I exhale slightly, as a grin creeps onto Ricolo's face, as he slowly raises his right leg throwing a sloppy kick that anyone could block. But instead of blocking, I dash back, creating distance away from Ricolo. 

I slide to a stop as Ricolo plants down his foot and stares at me slightly perplexed. There's no point in blocking that slow kick, I don't how many times, he can repeat an action, and with each repeat, the attack grows stronger. This means even that weak kick could be dangerous. I watch as Ricolo keeps walking towards me until he speaks while stretching his right shoulder, moving it, in a circular motion. 

" You're overly cautious, so let me give you a tip. I can repeat any action, that I directly cause. So, let me ask you a question. What's the time limit for it? Can I repeat any action even if it happened years ago, or does it get cut off eventually? " Is he implying that he can repeat the attacks he hit me with during the battle trail? No, he would have done it. So, is he trying to get in my head? I can't think about it, or he will be getting in my head. 

Without further thoughts, I dash forward zigzagging toward him, I plant my lead leg forward, as I reach my palm forward trying to touch his chest but suddenly he stomps onto the ground shooting a fragment of the stage up. My palm slammed into this fragment as his right hand oddly spun in a circular motion and a right hand hurled towards me.

Quickly, I rolled narrowly dodging under the punch, I positioned myself onto my knees until a kick flickered towards me slamming my guard, sending me sliding across the ground. I scrape to a stop on my back and stare into the pretty blue sky before my brain clicks, and my eyes widen. 

That's it. That odd circular motion and that sudden kick. That circular motion was from him stretching his shoulder earlier and that kick was the sloppy one he threw at the beginning of the match. He's been setting up attacks since the beginning, that's what he meant, when he said he could always use his quirk. 

And he said that time limit thing before to confuse me, his time limit isn't unlimited just like I thought. I slowly push off the ground, and look into the sky, seeing a piece of stage fragment floating in the air. Ricolo hasn't noticed this yet, but when my palm slammed into the fragment I sent it floating into the sky. 

It was a desperate gamble, but maybe, it could give me the chance to strike and knock Ricolo off the stage. Ricolo walks towards me, until abruptly he looks down at the floor noticing an odd shadow being cast on the stage. Damn it, he saw it. It's now or never. Quickly, I unactivated my quirk letting the fragment free fall from the sky. 

In an instant, I propel myself forward, the wind rushing through my hair, as I slam my shoes into the ground coming to a screeching stop, swiping my palm towards Ricolo, who is looking up in the sky. Suddenly, his feet blur and he pivots, sticking his leg under mine, completely tripping me, making me stumble before crashing face-first into the ground. 

I watch as Ricolo easily dodges the falling fragment, sidestepping it, before he looks down at me and speaks. " You really need to practice more in hand-to-hand, even if you're a support hero. Look around, the crowd is silent, they're feeling sorry for you. Is that not embarrassing? They aren't even enjoying watching it. "

I-Is he trying to piss me off? Ricolo isn't someone who would speak cockily for no reason. Is he trying to make me emotional, so I'll lose faster? Ignoring his comment, I look down at the ground and slowly push off it until suddenly, a force slams into my right arm, making me collapse back into the floor. Damn it, that's the force from that kick earlier, but if he can repeat actions like this, why doesn't he just repeat the action of that kick, and make me slide off the stage.

" Why aren't you repeating the action of that kick? To make me fly out the stage? " I ask him,

" Because I rather not damage myself for no reason. " 

Damage himself? Is that the drawback of his quirk? Gingerly, I stand back up, only using my knees, and face Ricolo again. I take several gasps of air, before sliding my feet apart and getting into a stance. Mina targeted his right shoulder, I don't know why or did I asked her. But I'm out of ideas, I'm going to have to steal hers. 

My eyes shift to his right shoulder, he lets out a scoff and quickly switches stances, Ricolo mainly fights in a southpaw position, but during his fight with Mina, he went to an orthodox stance. I'm guessing to protect that shoulder of his. He stands still as I lean forward and slowly walk towards him.

I stare through my guard and glare into his eyes, before I lean to my right and throw a haymaker towards his jaw. My fist flies through the air, barely missing his face, as he leans back and throws a check hook, the hook whips through the air like a viper, but quickly I duck making the hook graze the top of my head. 

My legs are bent as I stare at Ricolo's chest before I throw a punch at his abdomen but before it can land, he pivots making my punch miss completely, I stumble forward and spin back around, he smirks and throws a slow uppercut that I easily slip, he's setting up an uppercut, I need to watch for that. 

I once again throw a hook, that he easily blocks, swaying his body with the punch, before throwing a lightning-fast high kick that I narrowly duck, I stumble back breathing heavily gaining distance away from Ricolo. As I gasp for air, I begin hearing the noise of slight cheering stemming from the quiet crowd. I-I guess, this is the first time, Ricolo and I exchanged blows and I didn't lose almost immediately.

My heart begins to race, as the sound of cheers grows louder, adrenaline courses through my veins and I lunge back in, throwing a barrage of punches at Ricolo, who easily sways or blocks them, but oddly he isn't countering, I'm sure there are openings in my movements, probably so many that its obnoxious for such a skilled fight like himself to see. But I guess his win requirements are different than mine, he only needs to land a single powerful attack and it's game over. 

But the question for me is. What is the strike going to be? I throw a cross at Ricolo, he easily leans to his left slipping it, that's when my eyes widen and I preemptively lean back, just in time to dodge a fast uppercut that snapped into action. A shocked look appeared on Ricolo's face, as I twisted my body throwing a hook directly at his right shoulder. 

He quickly drops his hand to protect his shoulder, and that's when I lean upward targeting Ricolo's face. The punch barely soared past Ricolo's guard, who raised it trying to block the attack. The punch slammed into his temple making his head rock back, a grin appeared on my face until a sharp punch collided with my nose.

Blood spews out my nose, the force of this punch repeats over and over, as my vision gets blurry and I walk backwards with unsteady steps. G-Great, he can now repeat this action anytime he wants, I watch as a smirk creeps onto his face, and he dashes towards me, throwing a hook towards my body, off pure instinct, I raise my knee blocking his attack. 

With the knee, I used to block his hook, I threw a kick that he easily caught, I let out a grunt, as he threw a leg kick at my other leg still on the ground, but before it could reach, with all of my might, I leaped into the air throwing a leg kick at his head. He once again catches this kick, but before he can throw me to the ground, I lock my legs around his shoulders and arms. And lean backward, trying to flip him over me...But, it doesn't happen. Instead, he just stumbles forward glaring down at me.

I watch as his arms slip out from my thighs and he throws a powerful punch, that I barely slipped, the punch slams into the floor cracking it, as my back slams into the ground, and he lays on top of me, using his weight to pin me down. 

" Not bad. " I hear him mumble this, as he throws another punch, that I can only block, a sharp pain ripples through my wrists. This is bad, he's in complete control. Knowing this, I quickly unlock my legs and roll dodging another punch. His punch slams into the floor sending fragments of the stage flying towards me. 

I catch these fragments and fastly toss them at Ricolo who scoffs at them, before easily dodging the shards. The quiet crowd is now cheering loudly, and several thoughts begin to run through my head. 

I-I can win this. He's getting surprised by my attacks now, his eyes are telling me this. They are dilated in surprise and small a droplet of blood is leaking out of his lips. In this next exchange, the winner of this will be decided. Once again, I spread apart my feet, and enter into a stance. But oddly, Ricolo isn't looking at me. Instead, he's looking into the crowd, he abruptly shakes his head and points to the crowd, using his thumb. 

" Look at our classmates. " 

Following his thumb, I look to my right and see Deku, Iida, Momo, and even Mina staring at me with shocked looks. Quickly, I glance back at Ricolo as he speaks again. 

" You've done well. The once-dead crowd is filled with life. And our classmates are surprised you've done this well in close combat. Truthfully, I haven't been trying my hardest but still. It's a good accomplishment." 

Why is he talking? Like I've lost? 

" It's been fun Uraraka. But this is over with. "

As soon as he said, all of the attacks he landed on me repeated simultaneously, causing intense pain to tear through my veins, as my legs buckled and I collapsed on my back barely conscious. D-Deku was right, I should have tried harder to limit his actions. My vision slowly begins to fade away as the buzzing crowd goes completely silent and Present Mic screams out.

" T-The winner of this match...Is Ricolo! "...