A/N: I'm Back!!!!

I won't promise updates will always be on time since my schedule is crazy coming up, but I'll do my best.

Besides that, I will have some extra early chapters on Patreon coming up soon so keep an eye out for those, and If people are interested in Extra chapters giving a more in-depth view of certain characters on certain events, 'Like how Akarai viewed Suijins fight' I'll put a pole and may end up writing some.

I've also decided to remove the 'Recaps' I did at the beginning of the chapters since I've received some complaints about how annoying they were.

If you like the book feel free to drop a review, comment, or Both!

And as always, thank you for choosing to read this Chapter of Spray Life.

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Sigh

Shoji sank, listening to the hushed whispers above as he awaited his name to be called for his turn.

‘How messed up things have gotten.’

He was in shock, as were all of them.

This was a battleground, a place where students wielded their quirks, abilities constrained by the law, freely.

Injuries were expected—slashes, punctures, gnashes—and everyone understood these risks as part of the exhilarating experience.

How he wishes to laugh now.

Part of the enjoyment was the danger—the chance to break free and truly test the limits of their abilities.

And for the viewers, it was the thrill of knowing their favored contenders had real stakes on the line.

But no one wanted this.

A battle between one of the most acclaimed students of Class 1A and the Son of Number 2—such a matchup couldn’t be ignored!

Many were perplexed at such a pairing in the quarterfinals instead of later rounds.

Regardless, the attention garnered by past battles paled in comparison to this one. More tuned in to witness the spectacle of the generation’s peak facing off.

And the battle didn't disappoint—it was a relentless exchange, hit for hit, puncture for frozen, as the two individuals gave their all, fueling the crowd's excitement.

And then it happened.

A decisive blast, the final shot.

It left people on the edge of their seats, anticipating the outcome—Who Would Win?!!!

Of course, nobody expected the outcome. Yes, there was danger, and yes, deadly abilities were in play, promising harm.

But there was also him.

The Number 1, All Might, Japan's strongest hero.

If he was here, everything would be fine.

Shoji had to suppress the twinge of disgust threatening to rise—he admired #1 as much as the next person.

But…

The moment the dust settled, they saw it—All Might standing in front of Todoroki, shielding him from the blast.

And a few seconds later, Suijin's silent scream of anguish could be seen, heard, and felt as the boy collapsed in a pool of his own blood.

Shoji couldn’t help the nastier thoughts creeping into his mind now that his pillar, who helped him combat such, was unavailable.

‘Why was he in front of Todoroki?’

The boy had two insanely powerful quirks and years of training—he would've been fine taking the shot head-on.

But Suijin had none of that; having to crawl his way up from the bottom, he was much more susceptible to injuries.

And it was evident in the fact that he was immediately rushed off to the hospital, not even bothering to go to Recovery Girl, their local school nurse.

Unhealthy thoughts about how precious Todoroki was, about how he was worth more than Suijin, than a mutant, sprang up in his mind.

And he didn’t stop them.

It made sense—Endeavor's danger compared to Enkai's could be likened to that between Heaven and Hell.

An angry endeavor would be hard for even All Might to stop, whereas Enkai, should he lose his cool (not that Shoji thought he would), could be more easily stopped.

He knew he was probably wrong.

Images of All Might's shaking hand and the fact that Todoroki was also rushed off to the nurse's office would have told him that Suijin was that powerful to injure Todoroki even though he received protection, but that was if he was level-headed.

Instead, the only thing he remembered was that shriek.

The cry only a mother can make when she believes that her kin may never wake again is the one that perfectly expresses their fear.

The second Suijin slumped into unconsciousness, she jumped down from the stadium, using strength he never knew she had to leap over the rest of the onlookers.

And right by her side was her husband, Enkai, who had stationed himself at the front of the stadium to get a closer look.

Shoji was unaware of where his own parents had been—probably too worried, like himself, to move.

It was only as she sobbed Suijin’s name, holding him close to her, that everyone snapped out of it, not due to her voice but due to the towering figure that landed in the stadium, heading towards the husband and wife.

His object lay behind them—his own son.

Still, considering the circumstances, it was right for everyone to inhale sharply as Enkai, a non-ranked hero, held a hand on his nozzle as he stared up at Endeavor, the #2, defiantly.

He was like an ant in front of a lion, but the laid-back look he usually had was gone, replaced with a seriousness that spoke of how he'd do anything to protect his family.

Everyone at that moment was on edge—nobody had expected this to occur, nor could they predict what would happen next.

With a snort, Endeavor reached into his pocket, throwing a card. The small object flew through the air, finding itself lodged in the ground right next to the ignorant Erena.

A warning.

His next words were ones that almost set Shoji himself off: “I’ll take care of the damages caused by this accident.

‘Accident, you call this an accident. My friend's life could be ruined, and this is a mere accident to you.’

If it wasn’t for the fact that Shoji knew that Enkai himself could figure this out as well, he'd have imitated Suijin and recklessly jumped into the arena.

And that wasn’t considering the card, which he later realized was a threat, a non-verbal warning to Enkai.

Weak.

He assumed that's what Endeavor meant, or maybe he was simply so powerful that he didn’t think about his actions that much, and they, as the weaker part, were overanalyzing everything.

Shoji once again, for only a handful of times in life, felt what it meant to be weak—to have to submit to the strong.

He detested it.

‘Is this what Suijin felt?’

Once Endeavor left, Erena got into the ambulance without letting go of Suijin. Everyone was thankful that one of the rescuers had a telekinesis quirk to lift the pair into the truck.

Shoji himself had barely been able to calm down when Enkai walked back into the stands, coming straight towards him.

The crowd was hushed, parting ways for the father to come through unperturbed.

Shoji had always had difficulty reading his Spray friend's emotions, yet in that moment, his father seemed like an open book.

Fury, regret, and anguish seemed to roll off the older man in waves.

Enkai put a hand to the half-listening Shoji, coming close to his ears, not that he had to, and spoke,

“Suijin’ll be fine; he’ll need some…treatment. And I know it’s hard not being with him right now, but—I think the knowledge that this whole thing was won in honor of him will appease him when he wakes up.”

The words ‘be fine’ and ‘when he wakes up’ were stressed and emphasized with such conviction that there was no room for doubt, as if Suijin's recovery was not a matter of if but of when.

And whether he intended to or not, Enkai had set Shoji on a new path, an unfamiliar one in a parallel world where certain changes occurred.

For the first time, Shoji had a clear goal: 'Sorry,'Suijin, but I will win this Sports Festival.’