As usual, Satoshi was going to fight without using superpowers. Knighthawk made sure to remind him about it before he gave the signal to start the match.
Unperturbed by the cheering crowd, Lydia and Satoshi stared at each other without budging. They were trying to sense the littlest of movements in order to gain the upper hand.
As someone who admired Satoshi ever since they were young, Lydia knew just how powerful Satoshi was even without his superpower. And now that he had awakened, he had grown to become more confident.
One wrong move and she knew that she'd lost against Satoshi.
Then again, she didn't really care about winning or losing. She only wanted to have a match with Satoshi since it'd been a long time since they actually fought.
While she felt a bit disappointed that Satoshi won't be fighting at full power, she still wanted to go through with the match nonetheless.
Satoshi twitched to the left side, and Lydia immediately jumped towards her left, shooting water toward Satoshi to lightly obstruct his vision.
Without missing a beat, Lydia rolled on the ground and pressed her hand on the ground, she was going to detect water from the deepest parts of the ground and control it.
"No you won't," Satoshi gritted his teeth as he threw himself at Lydia.
At first, Lydia thought that her first attack worked since Satoshi went to the side. However, she underestimated Satoshi's agility and speed. Before her attack even hit, Satoshi had already dodged and he charged at Lydia.
Satoshi's movements were smooth, and there was no movement wasted when he threw himself at Lydia.
Honestly, if Satoshi didn't know what Lydia was about to do, then he'd have lost right then and there. However, he had seen the technique of Lydia one too many times, and that's why he had formulated a counter for it.
If Lydia was successful, she'd be able to fill the entire stage with water. And since she could actually become one with water, she'd be invincible once the attack hit. Of course, this technique was weak against electric-type superpowers, but right now Satoshi was as powerless as a newborn fawn.
Before Lydia could do anything, Satoshi was already on top of her, holding both her hands on top of her head with his right hand. He held Lydia by the shoulders using his left hand, and his entire body was on top of her, with his legs pinning her legs to the ground.
"Eh?!" Lydia let out as her pupils dilated. She had a full-on view of Satoshi on top of her, breathing heavily while he pinned her down.
Struggling, Lydia couldn't get out of Satoshi's grasp, and it didn't take long before she became embarrassed. It was a provocative position, after all, and there were a lot of people watching.
A soft 'ooh' was heard from the audience as they tried not to think too much about the situation. The Midoriyama Duo who were watching in the front row instinctively covered
Aira's eyes so she wouldn't see what was going on.
Aira tried to push their hands away but they held their ground. She was curious as to why Satoshi's parents didn't want her to see their match.
"Yarashii~" Kuroe teased, and she said it just loud enough for Satoshi to hear it in the background.
Shiroi, who was also on the sidelines, was a tad bit jealous, and her face reddened with rage.
Then there was the rest of the guys who started cheering for Satoshi even louder.
At this point, Satoshi realized what he was doing, but he didn't want to let go of Lydia since he would most certainly lose.
In the beginning, he didn't have any chance. But now that she was immobile, he had a chance at winning. There was no way he'd let go of that chance.
"Uhm~" Lydia's face reddened as she bashfully turned her head away. This wasn't what she was expecting but it certainly made her heart skip a beat.
"Give up, or else we'd remain like this for a long time." Satoshi forced out of his mouth. He was getting embarrassed as well, but he had to make sure that Lydia would forfeit the match first before he let go.
"All right, all right," Lydia pursed her lips. This wasn't the ending she expected, but what could she do? It's not like she could attack Satoshi after all that.
Besides, she was powerless right now, and there was no way she could overpower Satoshi.
Well, there was the option of shooting him water point-blank, but Satoshi was sturdy enough to tank a couple of hits.
And also, Lydia realized that she couldn't really hurt Satoshi.
She let out an exhale.
"I forfeit," She muttered to herself.
There was no cheer coming from the audience. After all, they expected a full-blown fight but what they got was two teenagers flirting with each other on stage. They had no idea how to react to that one.
But at the end of the day, Satoshi won his second match by overpowering his opponent with brute strength. That feat alone was commendable, and the audience started cheering despite the lack of action.
"Winner! Satoshi!" Knighthawk said.
As soon as it was announced, Satoshi let go of Lydia and he extended his hand to help him up. Blushing, Lydia obliged and she held Satoshi's hand.
This moment made her loss worth it. It also reminded her of her admiration for Satoshi. A smile plastered on her face as the two of them walked out of the stage. Amidst the cheering and the screams of the audience, Lydia cherished their moment together. It's as if they were the only ones on the stage that day.
Since that was the last match, the audience assumed that the matches were over. However, Knighthawk walked into the middle of the stage to announce something.
"Now that the first round of matches is over... let's proceed to the second round!!!" He screamed at the top of his lungs. "If you're not satisfied with your seating arrangement, then you can challenge someone else... as long as you haven't fought that person in the first round!"
Once again, the audience went wild at the announcement, and everyone started cheering a tad bit louder.