With Present Mic's enthusiastiou, the ninth match of the first round was ready to begin.

  Kyoka and Momo stood at opposite ends of the freshly repaired crete arena, staring each other down in silence.

  The two of them had plicated feelings about this match. For Kyoka, it was an unusual mixture of tension aermination. Before she'd joihe Hero Course a Kaminari, her personality had always been carefree and straightforward; she hadn't put much thought into things like petition or rivalry.

  But after Kaminari had started studying and training closely with Momo, Kyoka found herself g about things she'd hought about before.

  Things like family background, appearance, figure, and even academic performance, all areas where she felt she fell short pared to Momo. In the end, it bothered her to realize that the only thing she felt she could truly pete with Momo in was music.

  Though she still sidered Momo a friend and respected her as a cssmate, that small feeling of inferiority had settled deep in her heart.

  This isn't about family or looks rades, Kyoka thought, g her fists. In this match, I'm going to give it my all and prove that I'm better than her, at least here!

  On the opposite side, Momo was unaware of Kyoka's iurmoil, but she, too, was driven by a desire to win.

  If I've chosen to walk the path of a Hero, then I have to do it right. I have to be excellent. All the years I've spent training my Quirk and studying would be meaningless otherwise.

  Present Mic's voice rang out, eg through the stadium: "Start!"

  The sed the match began, Kyoka acted first. She stretched one of her earphone jacks, plunging it into the crete floor in front of her.

  Momo's Quirk requires time to create items, so I have to disrupt her before she build up momentum!

  Using her amplified heartbeat, she sent powerful shockwaves into the ground through her earlobe jacks.

  CRACK!

  Large fractures spread across the crete in front of Kyoka, as if an unseen force was tearing through the ground. The cracks rapidly expaoward Momo, causing the ground to buckle and heave like something massive was stirrih the surface.

  "I knew you'd go for that!"

  Kyoka's attack method was direct but predictable. Momo had anticipated this strategy, and she repared.

  Before the "earthquake" reached her, Momo leapt into the air, a faint shimmer of colorful light glowing around her hands as she activated her Quirk.

  A moment ter, a bright red pogo stick with a pattern of ales appeared in her grip.

  With practiced ease, she stepped onto the foot pedals, using the pogo stick to bounce gracefully across the unstable ground, keeping her bance even as the crete cracked and shifted beh her.

  "A… pogo stick?" Kaminari muttered, eyebrows raised in surprise. He couldn't be the only ohinking it; wasn't that just a toy they all pyed with as kids?

  "INCREDIBLE!" Present Mic shouted, his voiing with excitement.

  "As expected of the top reeudent! Momo Yaoyorozu is boung through the earthquake zone like a fire butterfly! Where did she evehis idea?!"

  Aizawa-sensei, watg closely, houghtfully. "It's impressive. The pogo stick is a surprisingly effective ter for Kyoka's attack. It gives Momo the mobility she o keep creating items."

  But in the back of his mind, Aizawa wondered if this was something Momo had thought up on the spot, or if she knew Kyoka well enough to have pnned for it.

  Either way, it was an ingenious solution.

  Ba the field, Kyoka frowned as she watched Momo boung aroutacks. The frustration was building.

  What do I do? Think, Kyoka! There has to be a way…

  While tinuing to send shockwaves through the ground, she kept her distance from Momo, rag her brain for an opening.

  Meanwhile, the colorful glow on Momo's hand faded, and an e, paet gun with a small fox pattern appeared.

  Momo smiled in satisfa as she examined her handiwork. It took loo make this while boung around, but it's ready!

  As Momo reached the peak of her jump, she took aim and fired.

  Bang!

  A burst e string shot from the gun, unfurling mid-air inte nearly two meters in diameter, heading straight for Kyoka.

  But Kyoka was no fool. She'd seen the glow around Momo's hands and had figured she'd been preparing something.

  The instant she saw the gun, she dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the as it nded harmlessly on the cracked crete.

  "ry, Kyoka, but how many of those shots you take?" Momo called, boung bad forth and reloading her gun by creating fresh "ammo" using her Quirk.

  This time, the faint glow spread to her abdomen and legs, hinting that she reparing something else as well.

  Bang!

  Another shot toward Kyoka, but this time, Kyoka was ready. She quickly ied her other earphone jato the ground, amplifying her heartbeat to shatter the from within before it could expand.

  "How did she do that?" Momo thought, startled by how Kyoka had ralized the mid-air. But she quickly regained her focus, analyzing her own mistake. Maybe I'm too close…

  But if I go too far, she'll have more time to dodge... Not good!

  Just as Momo prepared to create more ammunition, Kyoka suddenly dashed forward, closing the distaween them. She aimed her earphone jacks straight at Momo's equipment, ready to disrupt her creations directly.

  Kyoka's pn was clear: if attag the ground didn't work, she'd ght for Momo herself. She couldn't let her keep making things freely.

  Arategy was w. With her earphone jacks stantly disrupting her, Momo found it harder and harder to trate. Kyoka's attacks kept interrupting her, stopping her from creating new ammo or even keeping her pogo stick stable.

  The battle's momentum had shifted. Now it was Kyoka who was on the offensive, f Momo to defend herself.

  But, as the saying goes, no one keep up a perfect defense forever.

  After several minutes of relentless pressure, Kyoka's earlobe finally mao snag one of the pogo stick's foot pedals. With a sharp crack, the pogo stiapped beh Momo's feet, and she lost her bah a surprised yelp.

  This is my ce!

  With fierce determination, Kyoka plunged her earphone jacks into the cracked ground once more. As soon as Momo's feet hit the ground, Kyoka activated her Quirk, sending another powerful shockwave into the crete.

  "Ahh!"

  Momo staggered as the ground trembled violently, making it impossible tain her footing. Her unloaded gun slipped from her hands, cttering uselessly to the side.

  "I've got you now!"

  The tremors stopped for a brief moment, and before Momo could fully process what was happening, Kyoka rushed fiving her a firm push. Momo stumbled backward, right towards the edge of the ring.

  "Kyoka… you…" Momo murmured as she fell back, catg a glimpse of the unwaveriermination in Kyoka's eyes.

  She really wants to win this…

  "Not good!" Kaminari jumped up from his seat, armed. It wasn't the loss he was worried about, but the fact that Momo was falling backward, and her head was dangerously close to hitting the ground.

  But his panic was short-lived, as Momo's fall came to an ued stop.

  "Idiot," Kyoka muttered, gng up at Kaminari with a slight smirk. "Did you really think I'd let her get hurt?"

  It turned out Kyoka had extended her earlobe jacks to cato just before she hit the ground. Simultaneously, Css B's instructor, Vd, was standing nearby, ready to catch her if needed.

  "Out of bounds!"

  Midnight announced, crag her whip with fir as she decred the oute.

  "Kyoka Jiro advao the sed round!"

  ***

  Support me on patreon to read 40+ advanced chapters: patreon./Blownleaves.