Souls Hero Academia (Rewrite)

The battle was a blur from there, with Tokoyami and Himi doing their best to beat one another into submission. Though, looking from his seat, Izuku noted that Himi's was the one losing ground. There just were some things that pure physical prowess wouldn't be able to overcome. He should know, he's been there in Lordran.

Plus, Himi was still bleeding, so it was only a matter of time before she collapsed of blood loss.

The two continued to dance, Himi dodging Dark Shadow's relentless assault as she did everything in her power to get close to Tokoyami. Sadly for her, after that close call earlier, Dark Shadow opted to stay close to his host, not wanting to risk another situation like earlier.

All of a sudden, Himi collapsed to a knee, her arm clutching at the gash on her midriff. At this rate, the wound was going to be threatening to her life, and even Midnight looked like she wanted to call the match off. But that would be disrespectful to Himi.

Izuku could see it. The mania behind her eyes, the manic grin etched upon her face. Despite the pain and agony, she was having fun with the fight. Midnight stopping the fight here would make her sulk later and cling to him like a needy child, so he really hoped that she didn't.

Tokoyami was smart, however. He knew that all he needed to do was run down the clock, and Dark Shadow sticking close to him to use as his shield was the best strategy he had on hand. If Tokoyami himself knew how to fight, then Himi realistically just had no chance, but he didn't, and that was something the girl was trying to exploit.

With a sudden lunge, Himi's lips nearly split her face in half, arms ready to grapple the avian head. Dark Shadow, sensing the imminent danger, tried to stop her, claws extended ready to tear her asunder.

So, imagine their shock when Himi just let it happen, her arm receiving another gash, ripping the sleeve off as more blood splattered on the ground. Evidently, both Tokoyami and Dark Shadow didn't expect that, shocking them still, but Himi continued on, shouldering the pain as she grabbed the avian head by the neck.

Lifting him up, showing a surprising amount of arm strength regardless of the pain she was suffering, she yeeted him out of the arena like a woman possessed. The avian head flew in the air like a flightless bird, his wings clipped as Dark Shadow tried to rescue him from the fall.

It wasn't enough. They were already near the edge of the arena, thanks to Himi's constant struggle and mind-boggling acrobatics, and all it took was a simple fling to finish the fight.

Tokoyami landed on the ground outside the arena, the second ring-out for the day. The crowd laid silent for a moment, before the stadium boomed as cheers erupted from the audience.

"AND WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT! BY A HAIR'S BREADTH, TOGA HIMIKO WINS BY RING OUT!" Present Mic's voice boomed across the stadium, the excitement in his voice obvious for anyone with two ears. "THAT BEING SAID, MIDNIGHT! GET THE MEDI-BOTS IN THERE PRONTO!"

"What the hell do you think I'm doing!?" Izuku could feel the worry and pain ladened within Midnight's voice. She was already right next to Himi, doing her best to staunch the bleeding. Tokoyami, for his part, helped the Midnight with stabilizing Himi's blood flow, something he gave his thanks to.

Himi wasn't in a good state, and he'd doubt that she would be able to fight in the next match, but knowing her, she'd probably be raring to go after getting patched up by Recovery Girl.

"Yo, you guys sure she'll be okay?" Kirishima looked a bit green. "That's a lot of blood."

"Trust in Recovery Girl." Ashido replied, but there was no denying how worried she was at the sight. No doubt most of the people watching the event would be worried for the girl. She was literally bleeding on the ground, albeit with a smile on her face. "Midori, you worried about your girl?"

"Nah, she'll be alright." Izuku nodded to himself, gaining weird looks from the others in his class.

"Wha- But she's bleeding! Heavily at that!" Toru exclaimed, her sleeves waving up and down like she was trying to imitate a bird.

"So?" Izuku's words caused their jaws to drop. "You think people don't bleed in fights? Sure, she might be losing a lot of blood, nothing that some rest and good food can't replenish."

"… Dude, what the fuck?" Jirou was the first to pick up her jaw and glare at Izuku. "You can't be serious?"

Seeing that Izuku didn't respond, the punk rocker threw him a disgusted glare.

"Don't you fucking care about her?" Jirou stood up, eyes glaring down at Izuku's confused expression.

"Of course I do." Izuku tilted his head. "But again, she's just bleeding. Not like she lost an arm or a leg. Also, Ashido said it best, trust in Recovery Girl."

Jirou didn't respond back, opting to turn around and go back to her seat. Disgust roiled off of her like a waterfall, and Izuku didn't know why.

She was just bleeding. What was the problem? Everybody bled when fighting, hell, didn't girls bleed once a month? So what was the problem with it?

"The problem, Izuku, is that you think bleeding like that is normal." Katsuki suddenly leaned in close to him, his voice nary a whisper. "This is just a fucking competition, not a fight to the death."

Izuku pursed his lips. Was this a culture thing?

Shaking his head, he watched as Himi was dragged away by the medi-bots, a grin still etched upon unconscious face. Furrowing his brows, he thought back to what Jirou had said.

Was he downplaying the injuries she endured? Maybe he was, but really, this was the best place to spill some blood in the name of learning so that it doesn't happen in the field.

Jirou would learn, and so would his other classmates, that bleeding in a controlled area instead of the field would be much preferable. Higher chances to stay alive, as every professional hero knows.

Leaning his head against his palm, he waited for the next contestants to head to the ring, Iida himself standing up at attention and walking towards the exit. Ah right, it was his turn to fight, and the one he was fighting against was from their sister class, the Kirishima look-a-like.

Now that was a thought. Never in his life would he see two identical people, both in looks and in quirks, without even having a smidge of blood relation… Actually, maybe they did have that, but it was so long ago that they barely held any resemblance.

Still funny to think that they had the same temperament, same looks, and the same quirks.

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Tenya was nervous. Truth be told, even with his brother training him over the years, he has never been in a competitive one on one before. Much less the fact that hundreds of thousands were going to watch him and scrutinize his every move.

Gulping down a thick glob of saliva, his legs pushed him forward, his hands clenched as sweat dripped down his forehead. He could hear the roaring crowd just beyond the light filtering through the exit.

Taking in a lungful of air, he straightened his posture and slapped his face. Eyes resolute, Tenya strutted forward like a man on a mission, his confidence levels soaring through the roof.

As he stepped into the light, Tenya had to close his eyes just because of how bright it was. Raising his hand to block out the sun, he felt the scorching heat as the sand beneath his boot stuck to his soles.

Walking up to the raised platform, Tenya came face to face with his opponent. After much observation, he couldn't help but think to his redhead classmate. Kirishima looked completely alike with his silver twin, save for the eyelashes that went all around his eyes.

Present Mic's voice continued to boom all across the stadium, but the beating of his heart drowned it out, Tenya's eyes hidden underneath his glinting glasses. Letting out a low breath, Tenya bowed towards his classmate lookalike.

"A pleasure to be fighting you today." Raising his head, he looked at the teen resolutely, arms at his side waiting for the start of the match.

"… Riiiight…" Kirishima's lookalike looked at him incredulously. "Anyway, teach, you gonna start us or what?"

He flashed a toothy grin, smashing his fists together as his skin turned a silver hue.

"Who am I to deny your hot-bloodedness?" Midnight smirked as she raised the flag high. Getting into position, Tenya's engines roared to life, the mesh of biological and mechanical mass creating a cacophony of thunder as it exhumed smoke.

His opponent's grin grew even larger, his back hunching as he raised his arms, ready to receive his attack.

The flag flew down and Tenya wasted no time, zooming across the ground and raising his leg. Bringing it down with the full force of a wrathful god, Tenya's engines burst to life as it propelled his attack even faster.

His opponent, however, wasn't fazed. Crossing his arms, Kirishima's lookalike blocked his attack, the sound of metal smacking against flesh metal entering their ears. His vision went white for a moment, deeply regretting his choice of actions, but he had to bear through the pain. Behind his spectacles, Tenya managed to see the toothy grin his opponent had.

Tenya's form wide open, his opponent capitalized on his error by grabbing his leg by the engines. His face scrunched up as he felt his exhaust pipes squeeze and tighten underneath his grip.

Not wanting to feel the pain even more, Tenya twisted his body mid-air and delivered a sucker kick to his opponent's head, hoping that he was too busy trying to make pancakes with his right calf.

Flesh met metal once again, but this time, his opponent was unprepared for the attack. It still hurt like his mother giving him sandals for lunch and his father a belt for dinner, but it was worth it to see his opponent stumble, his grip against his leg lessening.

Yanking his leg back, Tenya circled around his opponent who was still trying to figure out what was left or right and positioned himself behind him. If he couldn't win against him in an all-out brawl, then there was one thing left to do.

It left a sour taste in his mouth to do something so cowardly, but he wanted to advance in the event. And so, sucking his inner turmoil, Tenya rushed towards his opponent and leaped through the air, both of his feet ready to push him out of the ring.

At the same time, his opponent shook himself out of his dazed state and noticed the incoming missile. Not that it mattered, it was too late to stop him now.

He tried to dodge, but his metal frame proved a detriment to the current situation. With no choice but to block, his opponent once again crossed his arms, but this time, he wasn't able to regain his balance.

Tenya's dropkick was as devastating as it was comedic. His opponent, not having been able to steady himself, was sent hurtling through the air, his mouth opened wide in abject shock from the sheer force that impacted against him.

His scream was drowned out by the cheers ringing from above, and while Tenya knew the fight could be over then and there, he refused to let his guard down. Quickly scrambling back to his feet, Tenya observed his opponent, eyes sharp and steady underneath his spectacles, only to blink when he saw him lying on the soft ground.

Emphasis on soft, because the ring was clearly made out of concrete.

"Iida Tenya wins by ring out!" Midnight declared and raised the flag in his favor. The stadium boomed as cheers rained down upon him like a torrential downpour. Even with his well-earned victory, his gut twisted and churned, the thought of having won through cowardly means a stain in his mind.

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"Well, that was anti-climactic." Izuku monotoned as he watched Iida and Tetsutetsu walk out of the arena and into the hallways underneath. Both were relatively unscathed, meaning that Iida would still be raring to go in the next round. "Good decision by him, though. Can't win all the time with brute force."

"Preach, brotha!" Mineta cheered, garnering stares from everybody in the booth, ranging from mild disgust to indifference and confusion. "What? You all see my quirk?"

A bit of thinking later and most of them agreed why Mineta said those words. That didn't stop the girls from giving him a wide berth and eyes that could cause a grown man to shiver.

Turning away from the purple midget, Izuku looked at his pink-skinned classmate, said girl standing up from her seat and stretching.

"Alright guys, wish me luck!" Ashido grinned cheekily, only for another of his classmates to stand up as well.

"Don't worry, I won't go too hard on ya, much." Sero grinned back, eliciting a chuckle from his pink-skinned classmate.

"Go hard on me? Dude, you're gonna get rolled." Ashido strutted towards him while flashing a predatory grin, Sero matching it with his own.

"Uh, guys? Shouldn't you be going down there?" Uraraka said from the background, the two blinking for a hot second before they both stuffed themselves through the front door. For some reason, they also made it a race to see who got to the ring first.

"So… That just happened." Sato mused, and the rest of his classmates burst into light giggles. Izuku didn't, and instead laid his eyes on the arena. He was getting bored. Here he thought there would be flashy fights and gripping cinema. Instead, all he got were one-sided fights that lasted only a few minutes at best. The only fight he was excited during the entirety of its run were Himi's and Tokoyami's.

Hopefully, the next fight would be exciting, and if not, hopefully the second round where quite possibly the powerhouses are making their claims.

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A/N: Just got back from a trip, and I'm tired. Sorry for the delay (even if it is just a few minutes late.)

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