Ezaki Kitazawa smiled slightly. "You wouldn't forget that quickly, would you?"
"Ah!"
The referee quickly explained, "N-No, of course not!"
After a short pause, she continued.
"Are you ready?"
"Yeah!"
"Alright, start!"
With the referee's shout, Ezaki Kitazawa jumped, vanishing at a speed too fast for them to see.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
In an instant, explosions erupted from different corners of the hill as the training robots were destroyed. By the time they snapped back to reality, Ezaki Kitazawa was already standing at the top of the hill.
"Boom!"
He landed a final punch, completely destroying the last robot.
*Beep!*
With that sound, Ezaki Kitazawa returned to the female referee.
"Alright, challenge complete."
He spoke softly.
Only now did the female referee snap out of her daze.
"The time for the last two robots was 4 seconds... Incredible! After so many hours, the top record has finally been broken! And the one who broke it... is the very person who set the record in the first place!"
"A strength-based Quirk? That's insane... I couldn't even see what happened."
Melissa mumbled to herself.
"Quirk?"
Hearing Melissa's murmur, Yaoyorozu Momo glanced at her and explained, "Melissa, that wasn't Ezaki's Quirk."
"Yeah, that's right. Ezaki's Quirk is actually really terrifying."
Jiro Kyoka added from the side.
"Terrifying?"
Melissa looked at them in confusion. She was already shocked by what she saw, assuming that Ezaki had used his Quirk. But after hearing Yaoyorozu and the others, she realized that he hadn't used his Quirk at all.
If he was already this strong without using his Quirk, then with it, he must be even more powerful.
"Yeah, in our class, there's a saying: If you're teamed up with Ezaki during training, you're guaranteed to win!"
Kirishima Eijiro said proudly. Even though he wasn't the one being praised, as Ezaki Kitazawa's classmate, he still felt a sense of pride.
"During the sports festival, he was actually the first person in U.A.'s history to have his moves banned!"
Jiro Kyoka laughed as she spoke.
"Yeah, and not just one move—two of his techniques were banned in a row, and both were incredibly strong."
Yaoyorozu Momo added.
"And then what?"
Melissa suddenly became even more interested, blinking as she asked.
"And then? He still won the championship, of course."
"This... this is way too strong! Now I really want to watch the match!"
Melissa said excitedly.
Time passed quickly. After Ezaki Kitazawa broke the record again, Melissa took the first-year U.A. students on a tour of some of the famous places on I-Island. Before they knew it, evening had arrived, and Ezaki Kitazawa and the others were invited to a banquet.
Dressed in a suit, Ezaki Kitazawa felt a little uncomfortable. Moving around was slightly restricted, but there was no way around it—he couldn't exactly wear his combat gear or casual clothes to a formal event. That would be way too embarrassing.
*Ring!*
At that moment, Ezaki Kitazawa's phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Ezaki! The banquet is about to start. Why aren't you here yet?"
Iida Tenya reminded him.
"I just took a shower and relaxed for a bit. I'm heading over now. By the way, will there be food at the banquet? I've been walking around all day, and I'm starving."
"Uh… I'm not sure, but I think so?"
Iida sounded uncertain.
"Alright!"
Ezaki Kitazawa hung up.
Of course, his next stop was to grab something to eat. After wandering around for most of the day, all he had were a few ice creams.
As for the banquet? He didn't really care about attending. After all, he wouldn't understand anything those scientists were talking about, and having to sit there clapping every now and then sounded like a pain.
He grabbed a few pieces of bread from a nearby shop and ate as he walked. Of course, that wasn't enough to fill him up, just enough to keep him going.
When Ezaki Kitazawa arrived at the venue, as expected, not everyone was there yet.
"Did I get here too early?"
Ezaki Kitazawa murmured.
"Early? We've been waiting for you forever! And Bakugo—ugh, we called him a hundred times, and he still won't pick up!"
Iida Tenya said loudly.
Ezaki Kitazawa glanced around. Everyone had changed into formal attire.
Honestly, he had never noticed before, but the girls in his class were actually pretty good-looking.
*Click!*
At that moment, Melissa came running toward them.
"Why aren't you all at the main venue yet? The banquet is about to start!"
Just then, a broadcast echoed throughout I-Island.
"This is an emergency security announcement. Our surveillance system has detected explosive devices in the expo area. Effective immediately, I-Island is entering its highest security alert. All residents and visitors must return to their accommodations. Anyone still outside after ten minutes will be arrested."
As soon as the announcement ended, the doors of the room they were in locked shut.
"What… what's going on?"
"Highest security alert? Is this for real?"
"Something must have happened… I have a bad feeling about this."
"Same here."
Melissa frowned.
"Everyone, don't panic. I'm sure it's nothing serious. Maybe the system just glitched a little."
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