hotmtlnovel Chapter 76: NO. 76 - Second Thoughts
Chapter 76: NO. 76 - Second Thoughts
chapter 76: no. 76 - second thoughts
with the second game of the sports festival done and over with, all of the students were given a quick lunch break before the final game for the festival began.
"hey, shimizu-kun." hikari looked at me with confused eyes as she held a cup of tea. "something's different about you today."
"really? like what?" i said as i paused from eating my lunch.
that's right. with no curse energy, i'm no longer radiating negative energy.
from beside me, himiko blinked in realization as she quickly realized that hikari was right, while shizuko tilted her head in confusion at what we were talking about.
"well... normally, whenever i'm around you, i get this really bad feeling that makes my skin crawl," hikari said with an awkward smile. "but today, i'm not getting that. maybe you were cursed, or something, and it finally got lifted." she dryly chuckled as she rubbed the back of her head, realizing that maybe she shouldn't have said anything.
"curses? things like that aren't possible." shizuko said with complete certainty as she scrutinized hikari. "i thought such archaic notions like cursing others was left behind a century ago, but it seems that way of thinking still remains within those of lower intellectual thinking."
"...huh?" hikari muttered in confusion.
ignoring the two girls, himiko leaned in and nodded to herself. "why do you feel different?"
"it's... a bit complicated," i said with a sigh. "i'll explain when we get home."
"ah, okay then." she then took another bite of her food and turned to stare at several students who were all looking over at our table with confusion, envy, and anger. "everyone is looking at you."
nodding, i chewed on some rice and eyed everyone who was openly looking at me. i then gave them all a cheeky grin and the middle finger, causing several students to grit their teeth in annoyance.
[5 x 27 = +135 sp]
"it seems that they can get over the fact that someone quirkless got into the finals, and they didn't," i said loudly, with my grin still in place. "how pathetic."
"admit it!" one of the jealous students, a tall boy with red, metallic skin, yelled as he stood up and walked over to stand in front of our lunch table. he had an angry and frustrated expression on his face. "you must have cheated in some way! it's not possible that someone quirkless like you made it so far! well? answer me!"
"yeah! he's right! you must have cheated!"
"fucking... i knew it was fishy, but he made it so far! you fraud!"
"drop out of the competition right now and give your spot to someone who deserves it!"
quickly, dozens of more students joined the now large group in front of me. their loud yells and complaints filled the room as those who didn't care or weren't as invested watched on with interest or worry.
beside me, himiko bristled, but before she could act, i placed a comforting hand on her knee from under the table. off beside us, both hikari and shizuko grew nervous as the crowd in front of us only grew more heated.
"give my spot to someone who deserves it?" i repeated as i stood to my feet, my black eyes staring unflinchingly at all those in front of me. "it always amazes me how funny you weaklings can be."
[5 x 34 = +170 sp]
"what?!"
"weaklings!?"
"quirkless bastard!"
with ease, i leaped over the lunch table and landed in front of the gathered group of students. some stepped back at the sight of how easily i made the jump. off to the side, i noticed a figure wearing all black with grey wraps around his neck. his lazy, beady eyes were staring at me and the agitated students carefully.
damn. so much for slapping all these kids senseless.
before i could rethink my child abuse plans, the student with the red metallic skin grabbed me by the front of my gym uniform and pulled me up into the air. off behind me, himiko jumped to her feet with her chopsticks in her hand in a reverse grip.
looking at the hand holding me up in the air, i felt a surge of anger and annoyance at the audacity of the student in front of me.
"you have 5 seconds," i muttered coldly without a hint of fear in my voice. "take your hand off me."
the student's metallic skin somehow grew goosebumps as a cold sweat took over his body due to new oppressing energy weighing over him.
i may not have my ce currently, but after years of facing the worst this country had to offer, i was naturally capable of producing waves of killing intent onto any target of my choice. unfortunately for the once boastful student, he was now on the receiving end of my ire.
quickly, he released me and stood back. all the other students who didn't fall onto the effects of my killing intent all looked at him with confusion.
"hey, pay attention!" my opponent said with annoyance. he had brushed back brown and blue eyes. over his hands were blue waves of energy, most likely due to his quirk. "it's bad enough that you, of all people, ended up as my opponent. now, i won't be able to show off my quirk to the scouts, so the least you can do is stay in the match long enough as my punching bag."
"...who are you?"
[+8 sp]
"weren't you paying attention!? i'm otani yoshinori!" yoshinori growled in anger and rushed me. "fuck it! i don't want to waste any more time with you!"
dashing forward, yoshinori growled as he leaped across the floating platforms. reaching my position, he swung his foam sword at my head and met nothing. he blinked in confusion as i walked past him without a care in the world.
spinning in place, he sloppily thrust his sword toward my back. with minimal movement, i parried his sword away and jumped back a few platforms. ignoring his incredulous expression, i looked around the flying platforms and watched as random sections began to fall.
this is like a spleef battle.
"what does your quirk do, exactly? other than making your hands glow." i asked yoshinori with a bored look, causing him to blush in anger.
[+8 sp]
"s-shut up!"
"ah. i hit the nail on the coffin."
exploding forward with pathetic speed, yoshinori began to swipe his foam sword all around me in an effort to strike me. as he did, he tried to discreetly lead me toward a large opening in the platform behind me.
"stop moving!" he growled as i effortlessly avoided each of his sword swipes.
"okay."
[+10 sp]
like a statue, i stopped moving abruptly with my body tilted away from my opponent. not expecting this, yoshinori wasn't able to stop his rush and ended up tripping on my outstretched foot. with a cry, he fell forward in the large opening he tried to lead me toward.
leaning over, i saw him lying face down on the foam pit.
"well, that's that."
"winner! shimizu souta!!" thirteen announced, causing the audience to cheer. their roars of approval and clapping hands filled my ears.
clap, clap, clap, clap, clap!
instead of feeling a sense of elation or pride from the audience's praise, i only felt apathy and boredom. this match wasn't even worth watching. my opponent was nothing more than a child with glow-in-the-dark hands.
after facing many powerful enemies and even several heroes in combat, i found having to fight a bunch of kids to be a waste of time.
this sports festival was a waste of time.
ua was a waste of time.
fighting heroes in one night gains me more points than a week of attending ua... so if the entire reason for my attending ua was to gain sp, then wouldn't it make more sense to focus on fighting actual heroes to earn even more points?
"um, shimizu-kun? are you alright?" thirteen asked in worry as she patted my shoulder, snapping me back into the present. even the cheers had mellowed out.
blinking, i nodded and began to walk off the tournament arena. my expression pensive.
"yeah... i'm fine."
-
an:
hello, everyone; with this chapter, i've run out of my stockpiled chapters for this story. meaning that from here on out, updates will be more sporadic. especially considering that i'm in a funk writing this. rest assured, i will finish this story. eventually.
to go along with this small bit of bad news, i'd like to announce the release of my new story to you all. it's called rise of heroes: a minecraft tale. it's a new brainchild of mine combining stories such as minecraft, game of thrones, and the legend of zelda all into one grand medieval adventure story. the inspiration for the story mainly stemmed from watching a slightly different minecraft trailer by neytirix. so, if you've seen that video, then you'll have an idea of what you'll be in for with my new story.
other than that, i'll see you all next time!