89: Sports Festival (3)

Chapter 89: Sports Festival (3)

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[“...But for anyone curious about how much time the silver-head took in reality, that would be 6.7 seconds.”]

As she watched the Sports Festival announcement happen on the TV, Ryuko Tatsuma couldn’t help but smile softly.

“I told you, didn’t I? He is super strong.”

She said towards the dark-skinned woman in front of her, her head turned towards the TV, as she took a sip from her coffee. 

[Image Here]

Rumi Usagiyama, aka Mirko, sat in front of her in casual clothes. Ryuko was also wearing casual clothes, today being a day off for both of them.

Rumi turned her head towards her, a soft fire flickering behind her gaze. She lowered the mug from her mouth and swiped a finger around her lips.

“He is arrogant,” she said with a grin. "I like him."

Ryuko hummed. “True. He has a bit of a  different view towards society than you and me, so I suppose that’s expected.”

Ryuko has spent a lot of time with Neji talking about Hero Society and stuff since the first time they met. Now, they were decently familiar with each other's ideals.

Rumi gave her a small grin. “You seem to like him a lot, Ryuko.”

Ryuko nodded, her arms crossed in front of her. “He is a nice boy, a great future hero. So of course I like him.”

Rumi’s grin widened as her hands reached out for the dragon and one of her fingers crawled out and stroked her chin.

“I didn’t mean it that way.”

Ryuko sighed. "It's not that. You know, he is a high schooler."

Rumi withdrew her hand back. "So? You always liked strong and dominating men, uncaring of age. It's the drawback of having such a fascinating quirk."

At this, Ryuko looked embarrassed, as if she was caught red-handed, but she soon sighed and looked at the monitor. "...Well, he seems to have a girlfriend already."

Rumi looked at it too, her face expressionless. "That's sad."

"Anyway," Ryuko shook her head, "What do you think of him?"

Rumi didn't avert her gaze from the monitor, her grin long vanished.

"My previous opinion still stands true; Heroes who join teams are cowards."

Rumi knew saying this to Ryuko, a hero who does exactly that, wasn't really what a good friend should do. But she has always been direct. She considered Ryuko a friend, for exactly that reason she knew Ryuko didn't mind it.

Rumi continued. "I won't invite him to my agency. Not unless he does something… truly fascinating in the upcoming matches."

Her grin returned, and Ryuko sighed.

Ryuko said, "Well, I was planning to invite him anyway. I doubt he will reject my invitation when his cute sister is also working here."

Rumi glanced at her face once, and went back to watch the Sports Festival while drinking her coffee… before realising it was already cold. She was forced to order a new one.

—★—

"I hate you."

"You don't."

Neji patted Momo's head as she stared at him with a cute, puppy-like frown. She had to raise her head up to meet his eyes since she was a few inches shorter than him.

"You..." Going silent for a moment, Momo sighed and shook her head. 

"...Why are you so lovely sometimes?" She leaned over and buried her face into his chest. 

There she was thinking he was being useless just a minute ago, and here she was standing on the 2nd spot.

Momo didn't like his help in school, it felt as if she was sucking him off. But… she knew what he would say if she brought this up.

"It was my fault you were ganged up." As if reading her mind, Neji said with his hands caressing her hair. "You know if not for that, you would have clearly made it into top 3 yourself-"

"Stop lying." She sighed, her hand clutching on his shirt. "...I am not that strong. I know my limits."

She didn't see but Neji simply smiled on her shoulder. He had ways to make her strong. But that's for later.

"Ahem." Midnight cleared her throat, just as Momo drew back her head from his chest and looked at the teacher.

The other kids were giving them weird looks, and even some jealous ones. The boys were jealous that a piece of arrogant shit like Neji had such a beautiful girl, who was clearly his girlfriend. While a few girls, especially the ones who were into 'bad boys', gave Momo death glares.

The couple didn't mind it at all. Momo was already an exhibitionist, and Neji was just your everyday shameless motherfucker. He didn't care either.

Midnight had licked her lips a few times seeing them hugging each other, but now she was back to her professional tone… if that even be called that.

"Soo~ now, after 10 minutes have passed, 42 contestants have passed the finish line. They will move on to the next round. These wonderful ones are-" She pointed at the Monitor behind her. 

There, multiple names were flashing.

….

The names continued, but Neji didn't pay attention to it. He instead looked at Midnight who started to speak again.

"For the kids who couldn't pass the finish line, don't worry! You will get more chances to show off yourselves later on." She then slammed her whip on the ground. "Now, about the next event, I of course know about it, but can any of you guess~?"

She watched the expressions of the students, smiling. "Hm~ No one? Alright then!" She pointed at the Monitor behind her. "The next event is-!"

The Monitor flashed with the words, "Cavalry Battle".

"Cavalry Battle!!"

She then proceeded to explain the rules.

—★—

In the cavalry battle, one needed to form a team of either 3, 4, or 5 people.

Everyone in the team will act like a horse, except for one, who will be a rider, riding above them. The rider will wear a headband on either their neck or above.  

The game would be to snatch another rider's headband while keeping your own headband safe. It will be a game of 10 minutes, and at the last moment, the team with the highest points will be considered the winner.

But there is a catch.

Each 42 of the students have been assigned a point value based on their rankings in the last event.

The 42nd student has a point value of 5, the 41st has 10 points, the 40th has 15 points, and so on. 

"That way, the 2nd spot has 205 points." Midnight said, and then eyed Neji. "But… the 1st place participant is an exception. He is worth… 10 million points!!"

Every eye suddenly turned to Neji, greed and hunger suddenly engulfed their gaze as they glared at Neji with thirst.

Instead of cowering away, Neji's grin widened.

Seeing his stretched lips, Midnight licked her lips at him. She was fascinated by the boy. He has exceeded her expectations. She couldn't see his fight in the USJ because the Cameras were jammed by the villain with an electricity quirk, so she didn't have much to work out on his powers. But now… she was having a feast for her eyes.

Tonight would be a great night for her…

Her body shuddered, and she cleared her throat, being cautious in case she suddenly moaned out loud.

She then said, "You have 15 minutes to form your teams. Your time starts now."

Immediately, the students scattered away, everyone avoiding Neji and Momo.

—★—

"You can join another team if you want, y'know," I said towards Momo while stretching my arms. "It would be dangerous to be with me."

She pouted at me with her arms crossed. "No, that's not happening. Do you think anyone else will join you? I have to stay by your side, at the very least."

"That's sweet." I grabbed her cheeks and pinched them, causing them to grow red. "Then we just need another member."

I knew she wouldn't just leave me behind. But it's fun to tease her. Though truthfully, I would have liked to be alone.

"You go and look for a person, and I will look for someone too," I said. "If you can't find anyone, don't worry, I will manage somehow."

She sighed and nodded. This time she was trusting me because she knew convincing people to take my side was my… speciality.

As Momo left, I then started to look around for anyone to join me. It wouldn't be hard to convince anyone. My CHA stat mainly represents Charisma, not Charm. The Charm is mostly my genes, which is further boosted by the stat.

[Silver Tongue: You're a veteran in the ways of persuasion. You'd rarely lose in a game of persuasion.]

This is the Perk I got because of 100 points in CHA. So I can choose anyone I wish to be on my team, but who do I choose?

...Looking at Uraraka, I shook my head. I guess not anyone. She would be hard to convince after the small misunderstanding.

Then who?

My eyes fell on the pink-skinned girl, chattering with some others, as a smile bloomed on my face.

I walked behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder as she turned behind hurriedly. But just as her eyes met mine, her pink cheeks grew pinker and she stuttered.

"O-oh, hi, Neji. What's up?"

I smiled at her. "I was lacking teammates. So mind filling the gap? In return... I can fill yours, someday."

"..."

"Ah, I mean in case you encounter a situation similar to mine."

Mina stared at me with hot eyes filled with disbelief.

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[Self Note: Image in this chapter]