Iida had been waiting for a while.

  Five minutes. Not even long in the grand scheme, but something about Robinn being late set his nerves alight. He paced, stretched, adjusted his gloves, then stretched again. His engines idled with a soft sputter, trying to stay warm. It wasn’t just impatience. Something about it bothered him. Robinn wasn’t usually the type to stall.

  The waiting area was quiet save for the distant hum of the crowd above. From here, the arena sounded like a storm with no lightning, restless, churning energy pressing in from the edges. And finally...

  "And now for our next match!" Present Mic's voice boomed through the corridor, sparking adrenaline through Iida’s spine. He jerked to attention. "it’s the fastest man in class 1-A versus the relentless grappler, Tenya Iida Vs. Robinn Reibach!"

  That was his cue.

  He jogged up the stairs. The sunlight hit him as he emerged into the open stadium, but his attention immediately locked on Robinn, already waiting across the arena.

  She was smiling. Calm. As if she hadn’t just made him wait.

  He stood straighter, arms rigid at his sides as they approached the center. The crowd hushed, the tension coiling tight.

  Her eyes met his, black and unreadable.

  Once they were face-to-face, he delivered his reprimand like a proper class rep. "Reibach, it's a very bad habit to show up late," he said, tone clipped. "This better be a one-time thing."

  She glanced down, then back up. "Sorry, I had some... technical difficulties. But I’m here now, so let’s fight, right?" Her grin widened.

  He brushed it off. Midnight signaled the start. Present Mic’s voice echoed again: "Are you ready?! begin!!"

  The smile vanished instantly.

  It startled Iida more than it should have. Robinn dropped into a stance, not charging in recklessly like she had against Ibara, but rooted, balanced, perfectly still and Watching.

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  Her eyes didn’t blink. They tracked him. Dissected him. Iida started backing up, muscles tense. Something about her stillness was more unnerving than any attack. Those eyes, flat, dark, he’d never noticed how utterly black they were. He shivered.

  Seconds passed. Neither moved.

  "Huh?! is this a repeat of Shinso Vs. Midoriya?! they’re just staring each other down!" Present Mic cracked, trying to stir the restless audience.

  Iida raised his voice, frustration creeping in. "Robinn, why aren’t you attacking? This is unlike you!"

  No response.

  Enough.

  He set his jaw and focused, engines sputtering to life with a whine. The roar kicked up, blue flickers escaping the vents, and then Robinn began to shift.

  Stone. She turned to stone.

  Iida dropped low into a sprinter's stance, fingers grazing the floor like a coiled spring. Not full power yet, he told himself. Just third gear. Enough to gauge.

  He launched.

  In a flash of motion, he closed the gap. Robinn had finished her transformation just in time, her whole body becomingo ultra polished stone. She braced, likely expecting a kick. But that was the obvious move.

  He ducked low and slammed into her with a full-body tackle.

  It was like hitting a wall. His momentum shattered. His arms locked around her midsection but she didn’t budge an inch. Immovable.

  Then she moved.

  Her knee drove into his stomach like a cannon. A sharp explosion of pain tore through his abdomen. He stumbled back, gasping, just barely swaying out of reach of her follow-up, a brutal uppercut that whiffed past his chin but knocked his glasses clean off.

  "Wooahh! Robinn just swung for the fences!" Present Mic howled as the lenses clattered across the floor.

  No time to recover. He couldn’t let her get momentum.

  "RECIPRO... BURST!!"

  Blue fire blasted from his calves as he surged forward again, no hesitation. His speed was blinding now, even for Robinn. She hadn’t reset her stance. He crashed into her with a crack of impact, this time moving her, dragging her across the arena.

  They skidded, slid, accelerated. The wind tore at his face. The crowd’s cheers turned into one long roar.

  The edge was coming. Just a few more meters. She wasn’t stopping him.

  Why isn’t she stopping me?

  And then he noticed.

  Her body was... light.

  His eyes flicked up.

  She was smiling.

  And then... gone. Her torso vanished like smoke, his arms phasing through thin air. His balance broke instantly as he tumbled through her disconnected, metal-planted legs.

  She baited me...

  He flew out of the ring, momentum unchecked, his body twisting in the air before crashing hard into the cement.

  A second of silence.

  "Iida is out of bounds!" Midnight called. "Reibach moves on to the third round!"

  "That match went from zero to one hundred real quick!" Present Mic hollered over the cheering crowd. "Speed may be his game, but that time, it worked against him!"

  Iida groaned, rolling onto his back. His vision swam, and for a moment all he could hear was cheers of the crowd.

  The sky above was painfully blue.

  He squinted as a shadow passed across him... Robinn.

  She’d turned to face him again. Still smiling. Like none of it mattered.

  Then she walked off. Not cocky or triumphant. Just... done.

  Iida let his head fall back to the floor.

  "Tensei... I failed..."