Class 1-C Chapter 1

## A Fierce Battle Royale! Uta Finds His Soul Song!

"Is battle training gonna be hard today?"

"Hey, are you having trouble with your costume? Mine's too tight."

"Watch the hair, pleb!"

"Everyone looks so cool... and here I am, with a freaking Grim Reaper scythe..."

"Ago, shut up, your scythe is hype."

"Hey! I said WATCH THE HAIR!"

All of Class 1-C was psyched. They had battle training today, and everyone was feeling quite confident in their abilities.

Everyone, that is, except for Yorioki Uta.

The class of twenty-one had been split into groups of three for battles, and Uta had been paired with Hataraki and Genkaku, the two students in the class best suited to avoid his Quirk and to mess up his battle style. His Quirk, Inspiration, would give him a boost in some aspect of his physicality or a new ability depending on what song he listened to. However, the mountainous tradeoff of the power left him completely deaf outside of deliberate tones and music, forcing him to rely on his sight to battle. This posed a problem when battling against Hataraki, who could move faster than Uta could track, and Genkaku, whose illusions would impair the Music Hero immensely. Needless to say, he wasn't feeling too great about the match.

Suddenly, a group of students from Class A arrived: Izuku Midoriya, Ochaco Uraraka, Jaxon Sachizado, Mina Ashido, Hanta Sero, Denki Kaminari, and Momo Yaoyorozu. Midoriya raised his hand in greeting. "Hey, guys! Your matches are coming up, right?"

"Yo! Midoriya!" exclaimed Sakiva Chada, striding forward and holding out his fist for a bump. "Just in time! You're about to witness history. Hataraki's gonna win her eighth match in a row today!" The Boxer Hero should realistically have held a grudge against Midoriya for how soundly the latter had thrashed him in the Sports Festival, but apparently this wasn't the case.

"Nah, I wouldn't say that." Class rep Ari Anso stepped in to defend Genkaku. "Her glasses aren't gonna do anything to protect her from K.G.'s mind games, and there's no way she can deceive him in battle. He's just too good at strategy."

Anso and Chada began to argue fiercely, drawing other students into the mix as well. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Uta noted from reading their lips, his name was never mentioned once.

Suddenly, Mr. Shugisha appeared, standing tall over the students. "The match between Genkaku, Hataraki, and Uta will begin in short. Please go to building to prepare."

Uta sighed and got up off of the ground, switching the song on his phone to "Through the Fire and Flames". He needed his speed up for this match. Passing the members of Class A, he noticed Uraraka and Yaoyorozu watching him intently. Blushing, he waved slightly before stepping past them.

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"He looks so sad!" exclaimed Uraraka once Uta had passed. "Like he knows he's going to lose. It's so depressing!"

"Yes, I got the same impression. Although, you have to admit the other two students are capable fighters, and we still don't know all of what Uta can do," replied Yaoyorozu, folding her arms over her chest. "You can't count him out just yet."

"Still, though, I really wish I could do something to help..." Uraraka tilted her head and sighed. "I hate seeing people look so defeated."

"Not much we can do but wait and try to encourage him afterwards," came the answer. But it didn't quite satisfy Uraraka.

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Once the three students had gotten situated in the building, Mr. Shugisha's voice rang over an internal loudspeaker. "You all knowing the rules. Goal is to tape opponents. Last person standing, not been captured, wins. Good luck."

Hataraki bounded forward through the halls, the energy reading in her glasses showing that her right arm's kinetic charge was at 51 percent. *Good,* she thought. *I'll need to save energy to fight Uta.* However, after about fifteen seconds, no illusions had hit her. *Strange. Is Genkaku not here?*

In fact, he was not.

Uta was hiding in a dark room, hyperventilating. *I'm gonna die,* he thought miserably. *Either Hataraki's gonna bludgeon me to death with her springs, or Genkaku's gonna give me a heart attack.*

**Yes...**

Uta blinked. *Huh?* he thought. *A voice? But... I'm deaf! How am I hearing it?!*

**Do not fight it. You will lose eventually. The only way to survive is to run. Run as fast as you can. You cannot win, but you can live.**

*Living sounds mighty nice right now. But this is still really weird.*

**Choose flight over fight.** **Let your fear propel you...**

In that moment, Uta realized exactly what was happening. His resolve steeled, and he stepped forward. "You're wrong!" he yelled out loud. "I won't let you demoralize me, Genkaku! If I'm going to win... I have to push the offensive!" And with that, he pulled out his phone and set it to Shuffle. 'Inferno' came on in his headphones. He could feel heat beginning to build up in his throat, and standing in the hallway outside the room he'd been hiding in, he exhaled a breath he didn't even know he was holding

A massive ball of flame shot from Uta's mouth, flying down the hallway before dissipating in a puff of black smoke. Uta could faintly see a flaming jester's hat recede into the distance, and he followed the fire with his capture tape out. Taking careful aim, he reared back and hurled the roll at Genkaku, keeping the end of the tape in his hand. The roll, aided by the Aboriginal-esque throw, turned around in midair, wrapping around the clown hero's midsection. Genkaku let out a loud grunt as he hit the ground, and his illusion wore off, revealing him kneeling on the ground, having discarded the flaming hat. Genkaku glared up at Uta as the latter finished the capture. "I'll win next time, Uta," the clown growled.

*We'll see,* Uta signed.

Next, Hataraki. The genius girl was no doubt preparing for a surprise attack, so Uta needed to be on his guard. Hataraki's springs could cause some real problems if she charged up her kinetic energy to its maximum.