My Hero Academia: Meta - jugularmanslaughter - 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia (2024)

Chapter 1: The Musutafu Vigilante, Jackrabbit

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Chapter 2: What It Means to be a Hero

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Midoriya remained frozen outside the premises of the academy for what seemed like an hour, his mind running like a racehorse despite his absolute stillness. He had felt uncertain about what he should do next since the incident first happened.

He thought that maybe it had been some sort of twisted sign that he needed to improve if he wanted to call himself a Hero, to ensure that the death he caused wasn’t pointless, because him giving up meant he never should’ve started in the first place, which in turn would’ve meant Death Arms didn’t have to die. But maybe Bakugo was right. Maybe the only heroic thing he really could do was to just stop, so that no lives would ever be lost again because of him.

Opening up his backpack, he stared down with trepidation at the modified hoodie stuffed next to his books and binders. He gripped the bag tightly, before zipping it back up and rushing off down the streets ahead.

As Midoriya ran, unsure if he would be able to go through with what he had decided on doing, another individual was also on the move. Downtown, a villain named Sludge had just stolen a great deal of cash from a bank in the area, leaving several seriously injured in his wake.

Capable of turning into slime, he had recently made the news following a series of robberies in which he puppetted someone with a powerful quirk’s dead body. However, this last attempt had proven too much for his now decomposing skin suit, leaving him defenseless and running from a foe he stood absolutely no chance against on his own.

With Death Arms deceased, the Japan wing of the Heroes Association had brought in a temporary replacement while they found someone to permanently fill his position. Their selection for instances like these was typically from a pool of the country’s highest ranking Heroes.

In this specific case, the only one available had been the most powerful of any of them; All Might.

As the strongest man in the nation gave chase, Sludge had very little time to think of a plan of escape. He slipped and slid between the countless street goers, knowing All Might couldn’t attack him whilst he did so, while frantically searching for an opening to get away.

Luckily for the criminal, before too long he spotted a manhole, which he almost instantly squeezed himself into.

Minutes later, Midoriya found himself standing over a lake, costume in hands, trying to convince himself to just get it over with and toss it away. It was the best thing to do. For him. For everybody. Jackrabbit needed to be discarded before he caused any more unnecessary strife for the sake of his fantasies.

Just as he thought he was finally prepared to carry out the task, however, he saw something unusual in the corner of his eyes. It looked like something was emerging from the tunnel connected to the sewer system next to the water. Curious, he turned his attention to it, but before he knew it, whatever had come from out of it engulfed him.

He felt something flood his mouth, trying to force its way down his throat, while his body was lifted into the air. He couldn’t breath and it was difficult to make out his surroundings, but there was something familiar about whatever substance was currently assaulting him. It took him only a second to recognize it was Sludge, who he had recently seen on TV.

In a vain attempt to fight back, Midoriya clawed at the viscous body of his attacker, only succeeding in dirtying his hands. He heard the villain laugh at his struggling, which he for a moment believed might be the last sound he ever heard, his consciousness quickly fading from both shock and a lack of air.

Before he could fade into oblivion, however, another figure came from out of the tunnel, one who, as soon as he saw the scene unfolding before, jumped into action to put a stop to it. With a single swing of his fist and a cry of ‘Texas Smash,’ Sludge was blown away, leaving Midoriya freed, but too weary to not faint.

The boy awoke from the feeling of a constant tapping on his face, but also as he heard someone trying to suppress a rather harsh cough. Opening his eyes, he saw none other than All Might, much to his excited disbelief. The Hero explained that he had managed to rescue Midoriya just in time, apologizing for not arriving sooner and asking if he was alright. Midoriya nervously affirmed that he was before questioning what happened to Sludge, his question being answered by All Might holding up a plastic bottle filled with the unconscious slimy menace.

All Might hurriedly prepared to depart after ensuring Midoriya’s safety, who in turn sought to have a question answered, but it seemed as if he wouldn’t have the opportunity.

With a hasty goodbye, All Might used his strength to leap off high into the air, planning to drop the antagonist now in his possession off at the local police station, only to find he was carrying an additional passenger; Midoriya hanging onto his legs, begging for his idol for just a few minutes of his time.

All Might took a pit stop at the top of a building in the middle of the city, letting Midoriya off and telling him he shouldn’t have done that, and that while he wishes he had the time to talk to him, he really had to be going, lightly coughing through his words. Midoriya pleaded that he hear him out, saying he really needed his question answered, and the only one who could do so was All Might.

Midoriya brought up Jackrabbit, asking All Might if he had heard much about him, the Hero grunting in response, trying to maintain his composure.

Midoriya did not notice this, caught up in the adrenaline of speaking to the man he basically worshiped, describing Jackrabbit as a seemingly Quirkless vigilante that had been active in the community for a few months up until his involvement in the incident that resulted in Death Arms’ passing, and asked if someone like Jackrabbit, in spite of him being powerless and his most recent actions, could ever be considered a Hero.

As soon as Midoriya had finished talking, a cloud of smoke poured from out of All Might, and once it dissipated, what was left in his place was an emancipated, sickly looking skeleton of a man, much to Midoriya’s immense confusion, him going so far as to question what had happened to the real All Might.

A stream of curses and coughs exited from the weakened All Might’s mouth, who then explained to his bewildered fan that this state is as a result of a severe injury, which he showcases on his stomach, that he received after fighting an incredibly powerful opponent a few years prior, the damage preventing him from fighting for more than a few hours a day.

He told Midoriya that every person who chose to be a Hero shared the risk of the same kind of harm coming to them, and people like Jackrabbit, who from what he himself had heard was completely unqualified to be doing any sort of serious Hero work, were incapable of handling that kind of danger.

Thus, Jackrabbit could not ever be considered a Hero. He could only be counted as a fool.

Internally devastated by this response, Midoriya quickly stuttered out a thanks to his Hero for answering his question, additionally swearing on his life not to tell a soul about his condition, before taking off so that he didn’t do anything that might have given him away, namely bursting into tears, which he did almost as soon as he found himself alone.

Conversely, once Midoriya had left him, All Might shook his head, hoping that the young man was telling the truth, before glancing down to check up on Sludge, only to find him missing.

The realization that he must have fallen out during his flight with Midoriya without his notice hit him like a freight train.

Throughout the entire exchange between All Might and Midoriya, Bakugo had been walking through town after a brief stop at the local mall. He did not have any friends to accompany him, not considering any of the others in his class worth putting time and effort towards, which made him an incredibly easy target as he took the quick route to his house through an alleyway that just so happened to have a manhole.

Midoriya, conversely, was taking the long way home from where All Might had dropped him off, spending the lengthy trek not thinking up an excuse for his mother in regards to where he had been or contemplating what his next step in life was, but just feeling horrible about pretty much everything that had been going on.

His brooding was interrupted for about the third time that day by an explosion ringing out above the city skyline, clearly the sign of some kind of conflict between a Hero and a villain. And while he may have just accepted that someone like himself was simply incapable of serving as an active participant in the battle between good and evil, his natural curiosity remained insatiable, and so he found himself moving towards the source regardless.

In no time at all, Midoriya, along with a sizable crowd of other civilians, had gathered around the developing situation taking place at an intersection not too far from the shopping center. It was initially hard to discern what was happening, since the explosions had enveloped the scene in flames and smoke, but eventually it became clear that Sludge was attacking some unknown citizen, attempting to steal their body like he had tried to do to Midoriya.

Said boy’s heart sank upon spotting the villain and realizing that it was very likely his interference with All Might’s take off that had led to him accidentally dropping Sludge and letting him escape, thus resulting in what was transpiring before his very eyes. Another life, in danger because of him and his desire to be considered a Hero.

He prayed that the firefighters and police might have been able to successfully interfere, but it was clear that they were hesitant. All Might was nowhere to be seen, which Midoriya also blamed on himself as he had wasted his remaining time he could’ve used to quickly defeat Sludge again.

There was no one to save the helpless victim in front of them.

There was no one to save… Bakugo?!

All Might actually had arrived on the scene, but had been unable to do anything, merely standing in the crowd, the shame flowing through him as he heard people ask about where he was or how he had failed to stop this from happening. Because of his weakness, some poor person was going to meet the end of their life prematurely.

The man known as the Symbol of Peace felt hopelessness, then absolute astonishment as he, and no else, witnessed the boy he had talked to early quickly pull some sort of hoodie based off his own uniform over his frame.

In Midoriya’s place was the vigilante Jackrabbit, though not for long as the newly masked teen immediately darted off into danger, determined to try and rescue Bakugo.

Midoriya had barely conjured a thought between the time he saw Bakugo’s pained expression struggling to maintain control of his own body and the current moment, which was far too reminiscent of the incident with Death Arms for his liking.

Perhaps there was something he could do to expel the criminal from his classmate’s body, maybe by performing some sort of CPR? But it would be nearly impossible to pin him down. Could he focus Bakugo’s explosions more accurately onto his attacker? Given how chaotic things were and Bakugo’s habit of ignoring him, it would likely also be difficult to try and advise him. The most he could do was provide a distraction so that Bakugo might be able to figure a way out himself.

He ended up bouncing around, dodging the best he could, throwing stray rocks to try and inflict some sort of damage, but he would steadily take hits due to Sludge’s range, eventually being caught under a massive goopy appendage.

Sludge aimed Bakugo’s palm down at Jackrabbit in order to finish him off, but the blonde managed to summon the strength to redirect the explosion back towards Sludge, causing the villain to recoil and partially exit Bakugo’s mouth.

This proved to create an essential opening, as in a split second, All Might had transformed into his muscular state, rushed into the scene, and launched another Texas Smash, his signature Ultimate Move, so powerful that not only was Sludge instantly knocked unconscious, splattering across the street, but the surrounding inferno was extinguished just as quickly.

The day saved, reporters and citizens immediately swarmed All Might to celebrate and interview him, Bakugo also receiving his fair share of attention. Jackrabbit on the other hand, not desiring to hear what people had to say about him, or stay long enough to encounter the police, took off without almost anybody’s notice.

After almost a twenty minute journey, during which he had put away his costume for what he had assured himself would be the last time, Midoriya was nearing his house, now finally mulling over exactly what he would say to his mother.

She would’ve seen the news, seen him do what he had promised to do never again. She would be nothing short of hysterical, probably even make him destroy the suit in front of her for good measure.

As he made the turn onto his block, however, something suddenly obstructed his view.

But this time it wasn’t a criminal. It was All Might, who announced his presence with an exclamation that he had found him, much to Midoriya’s resolute amazement.

Nearly stumbling back onto his rear, Midoriya asked his idol what exactly he meant, to which All Might clarified that he knew that he and Jackrabbit were one in the same. The green haired youth looked deeply ashamed by this, telling All Might that he’s sorry that he wasn’t honest, he just didn’t want to come off as selfish in his questioning, but the Hero told the boy he wasn’t upset whatsoever.

In fact, he was the one that came to apologize.

All Might recalled that he told Midoriya that Jackrabbit, or rather he, couldn’t be labeled a Hero because he wasn’t qualified to handle the dangers of being one. But cynicism had blinded him. It wasn’t until he saw Midoriya in action that he was reminded of what being a Hero truly meant.

Being a Hero wasn’t about knowing with certainty that you were capable of taking on anything in your way.

It was about the fact that no matter the danger in front of you or how low your chances were at success, you would tackle the challenge if it meant helping someone else. After all, the greatest Hero he himself had ever known died in battle, but their failure in defeating a villain did not make them any less of a Hero to him, because up until their very last moments they were fighting for a life besides theirs.

Thus, All Might wanted to rescind his answer to Midoriya’s question, if someone like Jackrabbit could ever be considered a Hero, and submit another based upon the lesson he had taught him.

Because in his eyes, Jackrabbit, aka Midoriya, was already a Hero.

This statement sent Midoriya down onto his knees, bawling his eyes out in happiness. It was everything he had ever wanted to hear from the man whose word meant the absolute most to him.

But as the young man in front of him cried tears of joy, All Might had more to say.

Because while he believed Midoriya deserved to be called a Hero, he sensed that he possessed the potential to be more than that. He saw within him the makings of another Symbol of Peace, someone who could succeed and prove to be even greater than him.

This was why All Might wanted to give Midoriya something that could take him to the next level, so that he could stand as a pillar of strength and peace across not just Japan, but the entire world.

He wanted to bestow upon him his Quirk, one of the greatest superpowers to have ever existed. He wanted to make him the next holder of what he called “One for All.”

Chapter 3: The Evolution of One for the Good fo All

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Midoriya was confused as to what All Might meant at first, asking aloud how he possibly intended to give him his Quirk, seeing as such a thing was scientifically impossible.

His idol revealed that while this was normally true, One for All was unique, as it was a combination of two Quirks.

One was a stockpiling Quirk. The other was the ability to pass Quirks down. Relatively useless on their own, but incredibly powerful when put together.

All Might was the eighth person to hold the Quirk, and had been looking for a worthy successor for several years now. He believed he had finally found that person in Midoriya. He began to say that he didn't expect him to give his answer immediately, but Midoriya in fact enthusiastically agreed, saying he would be honored.

All Might grinned, and told him that they would soon begin their training.

After a profuse apology to his mother, a good night’s rest, and another, somewhat less miserable, day at school, Midoriya met up with All Might at Takoba Beach, one of the most disgustingly polluted spots in all of Musutafu. Midoriya questioned what they were doing here, as he thought training would consist of learning how to fight or going out on patrol.

All Might coughed, saying that before any of that Midoriya needed to make himself suitable for the great power of One for All, as in his current state, attempting to use it would probably blow all his limbs off.

All Might explained that for the next ten months, they would work on developing Midoriya into a masterpiece of physical fitness, someone capable of wielding his Quirk, which he would prove by clearing the beach of all its garbage by the time he is done.

Midoriya asked why All Might chose that specific timeframe, before answering his own question when he remembered that it is when a certain set of entrance examinations take place.

Tests that would allow him to attend a school that trained people to be Heroes, one of the best in the entire world, one that All Might himself attended; Yuuei High.

Midoriya said that he had dreamed of being able to go to such a school when he was a child but had quickly given up on it after thinking vigilantism was his way of heroism.

All Might assured him that, if he trained hard enough, it would soon become a reality, although he made him promise, to his reluctance, that his time as Jackrabbit was to be put to a stop. Yuuei didn’t look at vigilantism with kind eyes, meaning he should take advantage of the fact that the police didn’t put him on record the last time they had him and not risk getting in trouble with them again.

For the next ten months, Midoriya willingly went through hell, pushing his body to its absolute limits under All Might’s extremely strict training regiment. At several points he even went beyond what All Might had instructed out of the desire to do right by his idol, resulting in the number one Hero frequently having to pull him back from going so far as to accidentally hurt himself.

By the night before the day of the entrance exams, Midoriya had finished cleaning the beach, eliciting a mighty scream as he stood atop the fruits of his labor, with All Might catching him just before he could fall over in exhaustion, beaming down at him, as he had more than proved that he had reached the point where he was physically ready to receive One for All.

After some shenanigans about having to consume part of All Might’s DNA, specifically his hair, in order to receive One for All, Midoriya was bestowed the Quirk, much to his excitement, although he wouldn’t have time to test it out due to being in a rush to get to Yuuei.

Briefly returning home to retrieve his bags, Midoriya said goodbye to his mother, who wasn’t happy about him going as she didn’t yet know that he had a Quirk, but did not prevent him from going either, believing that perhaps his failing might finally make him realize the unfortunate reality that he can’t be a Hero.

After a bus ride to the nearest port, Midoriya boarded one of the hundreds of ships that people all around the globe were getting on to get to Yuuei, which was located on a floating, artificial island far out into the Pacific Ocean. It was a trip that took several hours for Midoriya, which he used to get additional resting time.

Before he knew it, his destination had been reached, with him hurriedly rushing off the ship.

As he stared up in awe at the entrance to Yuuei High, thinking about all the great Heroes that had attended it before him and how he now had the chance to be counted among them, he noticed a slightly taller figure with a familiar head of blonde spiky hair move past him; Bakugo.

At first surprised, having briefly forgotten his former friend had harbored the same dreams of getting into Yuuei as he did, he soon had to try and look intimidating when Bakugo gave him a side glare.

Unfortunately he got too caught up in this so when someone tapped his shoulder to ask him if he was alright, he jumped in surprise and almost fell back onto the ground, only to somehow be stopped mid plummet when the same someone tapped him once again.

He started floating up into the air a little bit before gravity took effect once again and he landed back on his feet, making him look around disoriented, only to see a girl, one a bit shorter than him with brown hair and rosy cheeks.

The girl cheerfully introduced herself as Ochaco Uraraka, apologizing for using her Quirk on him without permission but she didn’t want to have caused him to fall, which might’ve somehow injured him to the point where he wouldn’t perform as well on the exams, which could mean him not getting into Yuuei, which meant him and his family could end up destitute on the streets. She paused, and said sorry again for her rambling, explaining that her nerves were just a little shot.

Midoriya could only blush and slowly nod his head, trying to say something but only succeeding in slowly moving his lips. Fortunately she didn’t give him the chance to embarrass himself due to being somewhat caught up in her own world, and she bid him farewell and wished him good luck.

After recovering from the shock of a woman interacting with him, Midoriya and the rest of the potential students of Yuuei walked into the school, being guided to a massive auditorium to be presented with the outline of the entrance examinations.

The one informing them was the Hero known as Present Mic, who was one of the several teachers that they had the privilege of learning under at Yuuei High. He introduced the first part of the exams, the written segment, somewhat quickly, which was apparently tough for even those with a 4.0 GPA, saying that the second half would be explained after the fact in order to avoid any further stress.

During the two hour period allotted, Midoriya saw dozens of other teens around him walk out, unable to finish, prompting him to consider himself fortunate for all the intense studying he had done in the previous months, having climbed to the top of his grade despite his circ*mstances. The only person ahead of him was Bakugo.

He was able to complete all of the questions ahead of time, allowing him to observe his surroundings, curious as to if he can spot Uraraka to see if she did alright, only to be angrily accused by someone of cheating.

He turned to see a tall blue haired boy with glasses behind him, seemingly around his age, standing up and pointing at him, causing him to frantically explain that he had already finished and just was looking around, nothing more.

Before either of them could say anything else, Present Mic told them both to be quiet, and that he would grab both of their exams to ensure that neither of them were cheating. Midoriya nodded in haste, while the other boy gulped, but obliged, grumbling that he hadn’t gotten the chance to double check everything.

Soon the time had run out and everyone still present, whether they had actually finished the exam or simply stuck around and hoped they would do well enough on the next part, was told by Present Mic about the contents of the practical.

It would involve applicants being set into one of the several mock cities that had been constructed on the island and then pit against a variety of robots built to imitate villains that they would fight against as Heroes.

Each would be worth a certain amount of points, depending on the Quirk they possessed. Flying robots were worth 1, fire breathers were worth 2, and those with superstrength were 3. Points could be obtained either by defeating the robots, whether through destroying or incapacitating them, or by saving dummy citizens placed around the city that the robots would target. Additionally, there was a robot with an unknown quirk that one wouldn’t receive any points for by destroying it.

With the challenge ahead of them laid out, the potential students were taken to their designated areas, being divided randomly, although Midoriya actually happened to end up in the same starting point as both Uraraka and the blue haired boy from in the auditorium, both of whom he was too nervous to talk to.

However, someone else actually did end up talking to him, a purple haired boy with bags under his eyes. He introduced himself as Hitoshi Shinso, and he said he could tell Midoriya was nervous, since he was even more so.

Midoriya confirmed this, saying it was nice to meet someone who was also a little out of their element, since almost everyone else here seemed to have some confidence about themselves.

Shinso confessed he didn’t feel like he could pass because his Quirk didn’t work against non biological opponents, with Midoriya replying he didn’t even really know exactly how to use his Quirk, and he hoped he could just try and pick up rescue points.

Shinso admitted that it wasn’t a bad idea and surmised that it was probably best if he tried to do the same. Wishing Midoriya the best, he said he hoped that even if they didn’t end up in the Hero course, they might still have a shot at General Studies.

Midoriya, glad he had met someone he could relate to a bit, said the same to him, and the two parted on good terms as Present Mic announced that the practical was beginning.

Midoriya was instantly outpaced by almost everybody around him. The blue haired boy blasted past him with what seemed to be super speed, while Uraraka took to the air with whatever anti-gravity Quirk she boasted.

Dozens of robots immediately started being blown up in front of him, as he woke up to the fast paced nature of the exam, which made him wonder if he’d be able to keep up after all. He tried getting away from the hecticness to find any dummy citizens to save, only to see that most other participants weren’t even bothering to go for them.

In fact, he saw more destroyed dummies than he did saved ones, as if they weren’t even considered.

He continued searching, thinking that maybe it was just his starting group that was being so destructive, only to find more and more of the same, especially when he spotted Bakugo blasting apart robots without remorse, even if they were currently visibly holding the faux civilians.

The skies above weren’t peaceful either, as robots that had swooped down to snatch innocents were sent spiraling downwards in flames after having been struck by lasers or concussive gusts of air or even what just seemed like purple balls. And was that a tongue?

Midoriya tried his best but no matter where he looked it didn’t seem like there was a single opportunity for him to do anything. Seconds turned to minutes turned to about nearly an hour, and during all of that time he had not managed to earn a single point.

Midoriya cursed himself. All that time spent as a vigilante, all that training he did with All Might, had all of that amounted to nothing? Was this really where it ended for him? Flunking the entrance exams?

Suddenly, Present Mic was announcing a development in the practical, and not its conclusion as Midoriya had feared.

Instead, they were deploying the 0 point robot into the city. Midoriya was confused by this at first. Why would an opponent worth 0 points need to have an update made about it? It wasn’t as if anyone was going to bother taking it out on purpose, it would probably just end up being collateral.

That’s what he and everyone else thought, at least, until they actually saw the robot.

Initially smaller than any of its higher point counterparts, the robot quickly began rapidly growing in size until it stood high above even the tallest of buildings. It loomed above the cityscape like a monster in a kaiju movie. This robot was clearly supposed to imitate Quirks that increased one’s size, letting them become real life giants.

Midoriya found it sort of amusing that this was probably the villain he had the best chance at fighting solo, if only because literally everybody else was running away as they knew any attempt at defeating the machine would end in failure.

He felt very inclined to do the same, but before he could something happened that he would later come to understand would be yet another life changing decision. Trapped underneath the rubble from one of the buildings the 0 pointer had destroyed was Uraraka, shouting out for help as the robot approached her.

Now Midoriya had no idea whether Yuuei had any protocols for this, or if a teacher would come out and pull her out before she could get crushed. He didn’t know if his Quirk would activate and allow him to put even a small dent in the metallic frame of this mechanical monster. He wasn’t even sure if he’d come out of what he was about to do alive.

What did he know was that there was someone in front of him in danger, and they needed to be saved. And like with what happened almost a year ago with Bakugo, Midoriya’s natural instinct when he saw such a thing was to run forward and do everything he could to help.

Only this time, with One for All coursing through his veins in the form of red streaks of energy spreading across his figure, taking only a single step forward resulted in him rocketing into the air, reaching the head of the robot in less than a second.

Before he knew where he was, he saw the artificial eyes of his enemy, and so as if directly calling upon the power of All Might, he screamed ‘SMASH’ at the top of his lungs, and launched his fist forward.

It collided with the robot with the strength of an asteroid, blowing apart its face and sending it falling back into the wreckage it had left in its wake. Every single person, be they applicant or faculty member, at Yuuei in that moment looked at Midoriya with complete and utter disbelief, and then immediately afterwards concern as he began falling.

Unfortunately for Midoriya, his limbs, having just experienced the full might of One for All flow through them for the first time, had been completely broken, and now wiggled uselessly in the air as he, barely consciously, plummeted back to the earth he had just leapt from.

His mind flooded with fear as he believed that this was seriously the end for him, the only thing he was able to find solace in being that with his last act he had saved someone.

Luckily, that very same someone he saved would return the favor, as Uraraka slapped Midoriya on the face moments before he would’ve become a puddle of guts on the ground.

Like before at the entrance to the school, he floated, before mostly painlessly dropping down a second later after Uraraka let him go and fainted. Midoriya was only able to glance at the unconscious girl and smile before also closing his eyes.

Chapter 4: Beginnings of Academia

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As Midoriya and Uraraka laid on the pavement unconscious, the exam was declared to be over, with the few remaining regular robots running around the battlefield instantly deactivating.

No one was sure what to do, the mood not feeling especially celebratory even for those who knew they performed well. Everybody was sort of just mumbling to each other about what just happened and how they were confused about how the kid that seemed to be uselessly running around was actually packing that much power.

They were all forced to make way, however, for Recovery Girl, Yuuei’s school nurse who was past her prime but still more than capable of treating any wound. Looking at the broken body of Midoriya, she believed she had a pretty good guess as to who he was and what the power was he just used.

Sighing that this probably won’t be the last time she’ll have to treat him, Recovery Girl planted a kiss on the forehead of the knocked out teen, the effects of which quickly took action. She did the same to Uraraka, although both of them remained sleeping, their bodies requiring rest.

As the two applicants were carried away by robotic paramedics, the blue haired boy with glasses wondered why Midoriya had conserved his power up until the very end only to use it to take down an opponent he would get no points for. Perhaps he had a strategy that he ultimately had to sacrifice for Uraraka’s sake? If so, it was incredibly selfless of him. This caused him to realize that, of course, there was more to the 0 point robot than any of them initially thought.

Bakugo on the other hand only stared at the sight of Midoriya’s destruction in bewilderment, questioning what the hell had happened since he last interacted with him, if he had somehow gotten a powerful Quirk like he had always longed for, before shaking himself from his shock.

It didn’t matter what the reason was behind it, the fact remained that Quirk or not, he was still Deku, and he’d always be weak.

He had to be.

Roughly two hours later, Midoriya woke up in the infirmary, dazed but feeling much better than how he did when he was last conscious. His mind immediately flashed back to the ending of the practical and his activation of One for All against the 0 point robot, causing him to remember Uraraka.

He turned to his side to see if she might also be in the room, only to see her staring directly at him, which scared both of them.

Midoriya asked if she was alright following her being stuck, with her saying that she was fine and that she should be asking him how he is seeing how messed up he was after saving her. This led Midoriya to question how exactly the two of them were all healed up, which prompted Recovery Girl to introduce herself and explain that she fixed them up. She told them that they should have been good to go now, while also hinting at Midoriya to tell that ‘boneheaded mentor of yours’ to take better care of him.

As Midoriya and Uraraka walked out, being guided by a robot back to the ports to be taken home, they got to talking. Uraraka said she wasn't exactly sure how many points she scored, but that she wanted to give at least half of them to him as thanks for saving her.

She had heard him worrying aloud about how he hadn’t gotten any and felt as though he might have been able to get some had he not been busy taking down the 0 pointer.

Shocked and extremely grateful, Midoriya was barely able to stutter out a ‘thank you’, but told her he couldn’t accept it. She got her points through her own work, and it was ultimately his choice to save her.

She didn’t force him to do anything so she shouldn’t have felt obligated to owe him something as thanks. She was alright, and as far as he was concerned, that’s all a real Hero needed to feel accomplished.

Uraraka, although still upset that he might not get into Yuuei over this, was inspired by Midoriya, telling him that in case he didn’t get in that she was going to work hard to try and be just as good of a Hero he already was. After a few more smiles and a somewhat awkward goodbye, the two went their separate ways.

Although he had talked a somewhat big game in front of Uraraka, Midoriya was not so self assured when he was by himself. Throughout the entire trip home he was unable to relax at all due to his anxiety, and even when he walked in through his front door and collapsed on the couch he didn't fall asleep, his mind plagued that night by thoughts that he had failed.

What if All Might stopped mentoring him? What if he took back his Quirk, if he could? Would he have to go back to regular school and try to apply to something else? Would he be able to ever act as a Hero again?

To Midoriya’s strife, he would not know the answer to any of these questions for another week or so, as All Might had suddenly gone off the grid and he had no idea when his letter from Yuuei about whether he had gotten into the Hero program or not would come in.

That is until one night, about eight days after the exams took place, All Might invited him down to Takoba Beach.

Throughout his entire walk there, Midoriya was brimming with worry, wondering exactly what would happen when he had to confront his idol about his failure to accumulate even a single point during the practical. When he saw All Might standing deflated on the beach, back turned towards the sea, chills went down his spine.

By the time he was a few feet away from his Hero, he questioned All Might as to why he wanted to meet him out here, to which the champion of Japan informed him he had news about his application to Yuuei.

Midoriya grit his teeth, prepared to hear the worst, only for All Might to burst into his more impressive state, face his student, and congratulate him, as he had been accepted.

Flabbergasted, Midoriya asked how it was possible. What could he have done in the entrance exams that earned him enough points to pass? He couldn’t beat a single faux villain and any civilian he had hoped to rescue had been reduced to ash.

All Might laughed, telling him that although he’s a perceptive youngster he somehow missed out on quite an important point when it came to the one enemy who he did engage; the 0 point robot.

While there was indeed no reward for defeating it, Midoriya had actually saved someone from it through using his Quirk against it, meaning it counted for rescue points. After all, while the main targets for rescue were the dummies, the heads of Yuuei knew people tended to think it was easier just to destroy everything in sight, so they included points for saving actual people as well. And with Midoriya’s rescue of Uraraka, and her following rescue of him, it shot both of them up to being the top two in regards to rescue points.

Combining this with an incredible score on the written, and Midoriya was able to claim the number ten spot in terms of scores in total, meaning he by far made the cut to be accepted into the Hero course at Yuuei High.

As Midoriya began to cry from pure happiness, All Might added in yet another fun fact, that throughout his Hero academia, he would continue to be there alongside him as an official teacher at the school, which he had been planning on doing for quite some time, but saw as especially pertinent now that he realized that Midoriya was not immediately accustomed to One for All’s full power like he had been, likely due to just how much power had been built up within it since he inherited it.

The boy strangely described it as being like an egg in a microwave that would explode if too much heat was applied to it, and so he needed to try and figure out a way to keep it, or rather his body, stable.

All Might attempted to recruit an old teacher of his for help, only to be told that he would not provide any assistance until Midoriya lasted a whole month at Yuuei, to prove his worthiness, otherwise it would seem he made a mistake and he would not help him clean up his own mess.

As it was sometime in June when he applied and was accepted into Yuuei, which did not start up until the fall unlike his previous schools, Midoriya had another two months to try and further improve his skill with his Quirk. This proved to be difficult as All Might could not be around very much due to having to balance both being the Symbol of Peace and preparing as best he could for the upcoming academic year.

Midoriya’s experimenting didn’t get to go very far, seeing as he couldn’t try and practice at all as Jackrabbit because of him promising All Might he wouldn’t do any more vigilante work.

He only hoped that after all he had done to get to where he was, he’d be able to make it through the first month and start learning from All Might’s elusive old teacher. In the meantime, he opted to just keep training physically, hoping maybe he’d be able to wield One for All just a bit more skillfully if he continued to bulk up.

The main development during this time was with Midoriya’s mother Inko, who, despite being surprised by Midoriya suddenly developing a Quirk strong enough for him to get into his childhood dream school, was no less ecstatic than he is about him getting in.

Apologizing for not having been the most supportive when it came to his aspirations before, simply not wanting to see him keep getting hurt, she told Midoriya that she was proud of him, and that no matter how things turned out from here, she would be cheering him on the entire way.

It was with this support that by the time fall arrived, Midoriya was able to, eventually due to the lengthy tearful goodbye from his mom, sail off once again to Yuuei with his head held high, more optimistic about life than ever before. Like when he sailed back from the entrance exams, he didn’t get a single minute of sleep the entire trip, only now it was due to his unbridled excitement.

Although Midoriya had already briefly been at Yuuei before, when he stepped off the boat this time it still felt like a completely new place to him.

It was most likely the atmosphere, as while during the entrance exams everyone seemed very uptight and introverted, trying to keep themselves focused and prepared, now pretty much everybody was just as visibly thrilled as he was.

Hundreds of students from all of the different courses and years at Yuuei filled his view, each talking amongst themselves, making friends or meeting up with old ones, discussing classes or teachers, sharing their hopes and dreams for the future. It all made Midoriya even more eager, although the crowdedness did make it difficult for him to understand where he needed to go.

Thankfully, as if right on cue, Uraraka appeared behind him once again, happily greeting him and saying she was glad to see he made it into Yuuei after all. After momentarily flushing, Midoriya returned the notion, with Uraraka then asking if he had managed to get into the Hero course or only General Studies, before quickly scrambling to add that it wasn’t like the latter wouldn’t be just as impressive.

Midoriya informed her he did indeed get into the Hero course, all thanks to her actually since it was by saving her that he got rescue points, although frantically told her that he would’ve done so regardless.

The two bit their tongues for a second, trying not to keep making fools out of themselves, before Midoriya changed the subject, asking if she knew exactly where they were supposed to go.

Uraraka said she did find somebody that seemed to know pretty much everything about what to do, although it might be tricky to find him again. Suddenly, they heard someone shouting about ‘the indignity of it all’, which Uraraka said sounded like the very person she had just mentioned.

After wading through a few dozen other students, the two came across the tall boy from the entrance exams standing next to a building, holding up a much smaller teen with what looked like purple balls for hair by his hand, who was struggling to free himself as his superior in height scolded him. When Uraraka mentioned his name, ‘Iida’, the bespectacled bluenette turned to them, immediately switching from stern to all smiles.

Walking towards them with the other boy still firmly in his grasp, he introduced himself to Midoriya as Tenya Iida, and confessed that he wanted to apologize for accusing him of cheating during the written exam, as clearly he already knew so much about the tests ahead of time that such a thing would’ve been pointless.

Before Iida could begin ranting about how he admired his knowledge and foresight, Midoriya asked him what he meant, to which he answered that he must have obviously known that you would score massive points from defeating the 0 point robot in the practical if you were saving someone in the process.

Midoriya denied this, saying he had no idea and just sort of did what he did without thinking, which ended up further impressing Iida as he told him that he was even more incredible than he had thought, to have the ideals of a Hero so deeply rooted into him.

This caused him to once again look down scornfully at the boy he had seized, saying that unlike Midoriya this wretch seemed to have no dignity whatsoever. Iida had apparently caught him trying to sneak into the principal’s office for some nefarious purpose, with the smaller boy saying that he had gotten it all wrong and he wasn’t planning anything bad.

Midoriya and Uraraka were a bit nonplussed, but then the latter recalled why she had sought him out in the first place. She told Iida that Midoriya was a little lost and that they were hoping he could guide them around Yuuei and show them what they were to do on their first day.

Iida replied that he would be happy to, although that regretfully he would have to bring the purple boy with them, as he didn’t trust him to roam free on his own, much to the troublemaker’s displeasure.

The group of three plus one made their way inside, where they received a pamphlet from a man who seemed to be made of cement. They were told that this was orientation day, meaning that they would have all the time in the day to acquaint themselves with the layout of Yuuei, socialize with other students, and acquire everything they needed to prepare themselves for their classes that would begin tomorrow.

They were also each given a class schedule, with them discovering that they all belonged to Class 1A, with their teacher being Shota Aizawa. Delighted by this development, they resolved to spend the rest of their day trying to get to know each other, and hopefully other members of their class, better, deciding that their first course of action would be to find the cafeteria.

After a bit of navigating, they arrived at their destination, discovering that they clearly weren’t the only ones with an appetite as the cafeteria was absolutely packed. Still, it seemed like most people had already sat down to eat, so it wouldn’t be too long waiting for food.

Upon grabbing their trays and getting in line, they are moved along extremely quickly, being greeted by a tall, muscular boy with spiky brown hair and rather notable lips. When asked if he was the school chef, and that he was rather young if so, he answered negatively, and that he was just acting as an assistant to the actual cook, the world renowned Hero Lunch Rush, since he was such a big fan of his work.

He introduced himself as Rikido Sato of Class 1A, and that they would probably see him around in the cafeteria a lot since he loved everything involving food, especially desserts. After telling him that they’d actually be seeing him in class too since they were all also in 1A, he said that he was excited to get to know them better, before he provided them their meals and regretfully sent them on their way as they were holding everybody else up.

As they walked away, however, Iida noticed that the purple haired boy had disappeared while they were busy conversing with Sato. He spotted him trying to sneak into the kitchen and succeeded in capturing him once again, much to the boy’s frustration.

Iida questioned his prisoner as to why he kept trying to stir up trouble, to which he responded that on the first day of school, there’s always someone that does something really crazy that lands them in trouble but makes them a legend among their peers.

And today that person would be him! By the end of the day, everybody at Yuuei would know the name of Minoru Mineta!

This declaration at first received only silence, before being insulted by a female voice who flatly said that it was one of the stupidest things she had ever heard.

The four students turned to the new presence to discover a girl, shorter than Uraraka but still much taller than Mineta, with green hair who sort of resembled an amphibian in some ways. Uraraka seemed to know the girl as she excitedly exclaimed ‘Tsu!’ upon seeing her, before running over to give her a hug.

Uraraka introduced her as Tsuyu Asui to the three boys, saying that they met at the entrance exams and ended up getting along really well, to the point where they had been staying in contact with each other online.

The frog like girl told them that it was nice to meet them and that they were free to call her ‘Tsu’ as Uraraka had, since it was a nickname for friends, although added that this didn’t apply to Mineta, who yelped that he wasn’t to be insulted.

The group of now five decided to take their food to go and keep exploring Yuuei, conversing along the way and finding out that Tsu was also a part of 1A. As they walked past the halls of their new school they saw a variety of other students.

They saw a yellow haired boy unsuccessfully try and boast about his score in the Entrance Exam to a purple haired girl with lobes that resembled earphone jacks, her going so far as to laugh as he had apparently barely passed.

Not too long after that they saw a brawny boy with a head that looked like a rock trying to assure a caterpillar in the palm of his hand that the boy to his right with a bird head wouldn’t try to eat it, and that the much taller boy also to his left with a mask covering his face wouldn’t try to eat him.

And just a bit before they made their way back outside to the recreational area of Yuuei they saw a blonde boy with a giant monkey tail nervously trying to converse with an extremely energetic girl that seemed to be invisible, him being unsure of where to look while talking to her.

By the time they reached the field areas where students on Yuuei’s sports teams would practice and compete, and the strangest looking person there was just a girl with pink skin, none of them were even the slightest bit intrigued by her pigment. Instead, they were confused as to how she was skating around on nothing but grass, gliding along as gracefully as a figure skater.

Suddenly, she was interrupted by a red haired boy with a southern twang who addressed her as ‘Ashido’, telling her that she was burning the field with her acid. This caused her to laugh and say that she hadn’t realized, she was just so excited about how nice everything looked and how much fun it would be to play on it, but apologized to him, ‘Kirishima’, nonetheless.

This brief interaction made Midoriya laugh as he had never heard someone speak Japanese in a southern accent before, only for Uraraka to appear confused as Kirishima was speaking English. All of them were.

Midoriya was puzzled by this as well, asking what she was talking about, as while he could speak English okay he had been communicating in Japanese this entire time.

This prompted another girl with black hair in a ponytail, nearly as tall as Iida, to approach them and offer an explanation, although for some reason she seemed apprehensive in approaching Tsu and Mineta.

She explained that because Yuuei was an international school with students that spoke countless different languages, they hired someone with a translation Quirk to work at the school. They created a sort of communication bubble that allowed everyone within it to understand each other. To each of them, everybody else was speaking whatever language they knew best.

For example, while she, like Midoriya, also knew English, her native language was Polish, and thus it was what she heard everyone speak. Accents were not affected, though, which was why Uraraka, who was from Canada, and Iida, who was from Britain, heard each other the way they actually were speaking.

She introduced herself as Momo Yaoyorozu, saying that it was a pleasure to meet them. Iida, although a bit disappointed he wasn’t the one who got to explain it, thanked her for her help and said the same went for them, introducing each of them, with her once again seeming a bit uncomfortable about Tsu, before stopping when he got to Mineta.

Because he wasn’t there.

Iida frantically searched around for where the purple haired scamp could have run off to, only to hear him cry out that he couldn’t be stopped now.

Looking up to where he had shouted from, they saw the young boy climbing to the top of the flagpole via placing down the balls from his head that stuck to the otherwise slippery metal surface.

Iida hollered at him to get down from there, running forward and quickly trying to shimmy his way up as fast as he could, but Mineta said that he no longer had to listen to him. Once he stole the flag of Yuuei off this pole, he would achieve his goal of becoming the ultimate first day troublemaker!

Boosting himself with what looked like engines in the calves of his legs, Iida came close to catching up to Mineta, but it seemed as though the rascal would succeed. Just before he could swipe the flag off from the top, however, a stream of something resembling tape shot up and wrapped around Mineta’s body, and dragged him back down to the ground.

This tape belonged to a somewhat lanky boy with darker skin, black hair, a huge grin, and what seemed to be dispensers on his elbows. He said that if anyone was going to be the first to make a practical joke, it was going to him.

As it turned out, it wasn't going to be either Mineta or the tape boy, as Iida was unable to stop himself from accelerating to the top of the flagpole, accidentally ripping the flag off its hinges, carrying it high up into the air alongside him.

Before he could start falling back down, the black haired boy seized him with tape as well, only letting out a slightly disappointed ‘sh*t’ while doing so. Several students, including those the main group of five had already passed, ran over to the tape producing teen and the two boys he had snatched out of the air.

Midoriya asked Iida and Mineta if they were alright, with the former answering positively while the latter pounded harmlessly on his leg, lamenting that he had taken his glory away from him.

Ashido, from earlier, commented that she knew Yuuei was going to be wild but she didn’t expect anyone to do something like this on the very first day, with Kirishima responding that she didn’t have any room to talk after destroying the soccer field.

The yellow haired boy from before laughed at Iida’s misfortune, saying it didn’t seem like he had to worry about being seen as the class clown, though the violet haired girl he was chatting with quipped that she was sure he’d get there. The big boy with bugs quietly suggested that everyone be nice, while the invisible girl, at least seemingly, giggled and said she liked her attitude.

The bird headed student ominously said that he sensed a dark presence within the group of them, apparently in reference to the earphone jack girl’s dissing of her peer, while a blonde boy that seemed to be constantly radiating sparkles who no one had seen before popped out of nowhere to say that with all of them being so dysfunctional even he might have trouble standing out, prompting the tailed teen to ask who he was.

Before anybody else could talk, Iida interrupted, rising from the ground in a swift, almost robotic fashion, and proclaimed that they were all far too disorderly, threatening that if any of them happened to be in 1A he would report their behavior to their teacher.

To their surprise, everyone there said almost simultaneously that they were in 1A, which prompted elation as they realized they’ve accidentally met up with the people they would be spending the next 3 years of their life with.

As discussion picked up again with even more fervor, the masked boy grew an appendage from his arm with a mouth on it, which asked Iida if he planned on reporting his entire class.

Iida muttered that he supposed he wouldn't, as he assumed even teachers at a school as prestigious as Yuuei probably wouldn’t go so far as to punish an entire class for admittedly very slight misconduct. He did note that there were only 18 of them there, however, and that 2 must have been off somewhere else, hopefully not causing trouble themselves.

After a few hours of hanging out with his classmates and visiting a few more locations around Yuuei, with Midoriya getting quite a lot of attention for being the one to take down the gigantic 0 pointer, he began to tire, as did most of the others, a chorus of yawns quickly overtaking them the longer they talked amongst themselves.

Although Midoriya wanted to stay up longer and learn more about his classmates, their backgrounds, their Quirks, pretty much everything he could fit in his analysis notebook, he knew that it was probably better for him to get to bed at a good time for the next day, something which Iida tried to enforce not long after he first considered it.

It seemed like everyone was convinced as they had followed Iida to the dorm building for 1A, but a few of them actually snuck out after Iida retired to his room, namely the tape boy, yellow haired boy, Kirishima and Ashido, who Midoriya had come to learn were Hanta Sero, Denki Kaminari, Eijiro Kirishima and Mina Ashido respectively.

Mineta had also tried to escape but Tsu had scooped him up and flung him into his room with her tongue, demonstrating her Quirk ‘Frog’, which was rather self explanatory.

She herself headed to sleep not long after, with the invisible girl, Toru Hagakure, appearing disappointed as she wanted to try and organize a short little girl’s night, although Uraraka and the earphone girl, Kyoka Jiro, told her they were too tired, and Yaoyorozu just didn’t seem interested.

The boy with the tail, Mashirao Ojiro, comforted her by saying there’ll be plenty of other opportunities, causing her to call him sweet, which elicited a blush from him. The sparkling blonde, Yuga Aoyama, cheered that love was already in the air, with the mask wearing Mezo Shoji observing that ‘love’ must smell like cinnamon.

Sato remarked that he must be talking about the cake he’s baking in his room’s mini oven, which the rocky headed teen, Koji Koda, worries might attract the bugs from his, resulting in the two frantically scurrying over to check.

As things finally settled down, Uraraka said goodnight to Midoriya, wishing him a good sleep and saying that she was looking forward to working with him in Class 1A, a sentiment he returned after trying to hide his reddening cheeks.

As he closed the door to his room, however, he saw inscribed on a door opposite to him ‘Shoto Todoroki’, a name that sounded familiar, but in his exhaustion, he couldn’t quite remember exactly why that was.

With a hopeful smile on his face, Midoriya drifted off into sleep. He was unsure of what life at Yuuei would actually end up being like in regards to classes and assignments and teachers, all the parts of school that tended to give people anxiety.

But with the friends he’d started making, he knew at least the social aspect of it was good, and that would make everything else just a little bit easier regardless.

Chapter 5: The Trials of Eraser Head

Chapter Text

MIdoriya’s phone alarm went off at 8:00, almost half an hour before his homeroom class began. Although the first day of school on a Monday morning was usually a concept that filled people with dread, he himself could not have been more happy about its arrival.

After all the grueling work, it was finally time for his journey towards being another one of the greats to start. Like All Might before him, he would excel at Yuuei and prove himself to be one of the world’s most incredible Heroes to have ever lived.

Once he had washed up and getting dressed, he stepped out to see a few other students getting ready to depart as well, with Ashido and Kirishima, still lively despite having stayed up the night prior, energetically dragging along the half awake Sero and Kaminari, with Jiro following behind, laughing.

Most everybody else had left, it seemed, besides Mineta whose door, which was next to Midoriya’s, was still closed, leading to him knocking on it to stir the boy. Afterwards he walked away, while Mineta hit the floor with a thud, having rolled over.

Midoriya soon arrived at the door leading into Class 1A, and took a deep breath as he twisted the doorknob to open it. He couldn’t help but think of Bakugo in that moment, thinking back to when they were kids and he had been told by the blonde that someone weak like him could never be a Hero. And while he had already proved him wrong in his eyes through his vigilantism, now he’d prove him wrong in everyone else’s. That did beg the question, though. Where did Bakugo end up at Yuuei?

In his class, apparently, since as soon as he opened the door he saw Iida yelling at the explosion user for having his feet on his desk. Midoriya stood there in shock at the development in front of him, while Uraraka approached him from the side, informing him that they had been going at it for the past twenty minutes at least. When Midoriya asked if Bakugo had said anything, Uraraka replied that he hadn't really, which was probably why Iida was so mad.

Bakugo soon noticed Midoriya, however, shooting him another glare, which caused Midoriya to grimace, with Uraraka asking if there was something between them. Tsu, arriving next to them, wondered if maybe Midoriya did something to Bakugo in the past, suggesting he might have a different side to him they don’t know about. Midoriya quickly denied this, although Tsu assured him she was just teasing.

A new low, tired sounding voice abruptly cut through the room, saying that ‘this is already the most annoying class I’ve ever had’, which silenced everyone.

The 1A students turn around to see, at the doorway, a man wrapped up cozily in a sleeping bag, catching all of them off guard. Before they could ask any questions about who the man was or when he had gotten there, Mineta suddenly ran into the room, tripping over the man laying on the ground and face planting next to Midoriya.

The stranger exhaled a coarse sigh before standing up while still inside the sleeping bag, then unzipped it to reveal his appearance, a relatively tall man with shaggy black hair, a faint, scruffy beard, and some really long, weird looking scarf tied around his neck and shoulders.

If the man didn’t give off such an authoritative aura, Midoriya honestly would’ve mistaken him for a homeless person.

The man introduced himself as Shota Aizawa, their homeroom teacher, the man who above all of their other instructors would be the judge of their progress as professional Heroes in training. And from what he saw of them right now, he wasn’t particularly confident in any of their prospects.

He decided that he would give them the benefit of the doubt that they were still just adjusting, since yesterday was all laughter and smiles, so he would let them off easy just this once.

Unfortunately, he had them to himself for a while, so he’d still have to test them out, and he wasn't sure if all of them were prepared to handle what he had planned.

Aizawa led his nervous new class out to the fields that most of them had met up at the day before, which they came to learn were not only intended for recreational physical activities but for their education as well.

Midoriya internally noted that the grass that Ashido had damaged had been restored to its former condition, which suggested that there was some sort of plant oriented Hero that performed upkeep at Yuuei. Not everything was as it was before 1A started causing chaos, however, as Aizawa noted aloud that the flag was missing, much to Iida’s embarrassment.

Once they’d all gathered on one of the fields, which had a variety of different structures and equipment set up all throughout it, Aizawa explained that he didn’t have a lot of faith in the current entrance examinations for Yuuei, believing they gave priority to people with certain types of Quirks, and didn’t allow everyone to show their worth equally.

There had been several times where someone who didn’t deserve to be at Yuuei ended up getting in and causing people like him a lot of trouble, which was why he started doing his own sort of quality assurance tests at the beginning of the year.

This was what they’d be going through on their first day, a series of challenges based on common tasks they would often have to accomplish as Heroes in the real world. Their success at completing them would prove to him if they were worth keeping in his class.

If not, he’d simply expel them and save himself the trouble.

Panic ensued amongst the students at the mention of them being expelled, with some saying that it wouldn’t be fair to just get rid of them on their very first day.

Aizawa replied that he was simply preparing them for the real world of Heroes, because fair did not mean anything out there. Just when you thought things were going alright, tragedy could strike and life could be lost in the blink of an eye. You had to be prepared for anything, which was why he was throwing something like this at them on their very first day, to test not only their skill as Heroes, but their resolve.

Midoriya’s breathing got shaky as he flashed back to Death Arms, but maintained his composure, assuring himself that if the goal was to prove that you could do Hero work, he may have just been more prepared than anyone else.

This confidence didn’t last long. Nearly every single test of heroism was something he had done before, but with an additional factor that he couldn’t overcome without a Quirk, or at least not perform as well without one.

The very first thing they had to do was retrieve a cat, which almost everybody fawned over, stuck high up in a tree. Midoriya had of course done this several times over, but the speed at which he could do it was insignificant compared to nearly everybody else.

Bakugo could soar up to where the cat was with a single explosion. Uraraka floated with her ‘Zero Gravity’ Quirk, Iida was able to boost himself with his ‘Engine’ Quirk, Mineta and Tsu could climb with their ‘Pop Off’ and Frog Quirks, etc. Even when it came to shimmying upwards, Sato did it faster with his ‘Sugar Rush’ Quirk, which worked by greatly enhancing his condition upon consuming sugar.

The next was chasing a criminal, which went just as well as the first. Midoriya was able to catch up to the robot acting as a villain after a fair bit of running, but he didn’t have a way of incapacitating or destroying it without using his Quirk and hurting himself. He did briefly manage to get it into a chokehold by using the sleeves of his gym shirt, though, so he was given some credit for that.

The next three went poorly as well, from failing to jump high enough when trying to catch somebody falling, to getting someone that was drowning out of the water, to successfully talking down someone from shooting a hostage, an extremely daunting task that Midoriya would’ve thought was purposefully impossible if it wasn’t for the fact that both Yaoyorozu and, surprisingly, Ashido were able to accomplish it, while everyone else fell short.

By the time of the sixth, final challenge, Midoriya wasn’t exactly certain he was in the lead. He wasn’t constantly doing the worst, but those that had done worse than him at one thing proceeded to exceptionally well at the next, well he consistently performed near the bottom, at least by his own judgment.

After the last person, Kaminari, had failed to try and stop some poor dummy’s head from getting shot with a paintball, Aizawa revealed that for the last test of their skill, they had to go somewhere else, mumbling to himself that construction should’ve finished up by now.

He led his class down to the beach, where the cement man from the day prior, who Aizawa addressed as the Hero Cementoss, was standing next to a large building made of cement, made from his Quirk, of course titled ‘Cement.’

Aizawa walked inside of it, with 1A naturally attempting to follow him inside but were stopped by Cementoss. This confused them, but before they could question anything Aizawa exited not even a minute later.

He then told his class to wait for just a second, after which the interior of the building, visible through a few window spaces, lit on fire, much to everyone’s alarm. Aizawa explained that several dummy civilians had been placed inside the burning building in front of them. As Heroes, it was their duty to try and save at least one of them.

Silence fell over the students as a few of them either worriedly mumbled amongst themselves or stared up at the flaming construct trying to think of how they were possibly going to be able to do this. Even Bakugo didn’t seem absolutely sure he was capable.

Eventually, Mineta piped up that he wanted to opt out, saying that as much as he wanted to be at Yuuei, he wasn’t going to risk his life just to rescue a bunch of mannequins, with several others agreeing with his reasoning.

Before Aizawa could react to this, Midoriya announced that he would do it, astonishing his classmates. As he stepped up, he thought about Death Arms again, remembering the embers and smoke that surrounded him as he struggled, how his tears evaporated into steam as he watched someone die right in front of him. Although this might have only been an exercise, it was his chance to showcase his development since that day.

Recalling how All Might was able to extinguish the fire on the street caused by the confrontation between Bakugo and Sludge, he began channeling One for All in his fist, preparing to launch a Smash mighty enough to put out the flames. He thought of the microwave in the egg, and focused on trying to keep it from exploding.

He threw a punch, but the force from it never came, causing him to sputter and wonder if he had somehow forgotten how to conjure upon the strength of his Quirk.

Suddenly, he felt something wrap around his waist before he was yanked backward and turned around to face Aizawa, whose eyes were glowing red, having used his scarf to capture Midoriya.

He soon realized what was happening; his Quirk had been erased, as Aizawa was actually the underground Hero Eraser Head, originally from Japan like himself, whose Quirk Erasure let him take away his enemies’ powers for a period of time.

He told his student that he had to have been an idiot if he thought his plan was going to work. He saw him at the practical exam so he already knew he didn’t have control over his Quirk, meaning he probably would’ve unleashed just as much power against that building as he had against the robot.

He said that while his goal might have been to put out the fire, he would’ve ended up destroying the building as well, thus killing all of the people inside rather than making it safe for them to exit. Additionally, he would’ve broken his arm in the process as well, making him basically useless even if the building wasn’t turned to rubble.

He told Midoriya that he was exactly the type of person he was talking about before. Someone who did well on the practical exam because they had a strong enough Quirk to do something flashy and grand but couldn’t make use of it meaningfully when it came to actual heroics.

Midoriya’s Quirk was currently a danger to not just himself but everyone he used it around, and that when considering what he was able to do at the moment, he didn’t belong at Yuuei.

Uraraka, Iida, Mineta, Tsu and various other students seemed concerned at their teacher’s comments, while Bakugo couldn't help but grin to himself. It was exactly as he always said. Quirk or not, Deku couldn’t be of use to anyone.

Aizawa let Midoriya go and turned his attention back to the rest of the class, saying that he would find a more suitable candidate to be the first to go, and began to call out ‘Todoro-’ only to be interrupted by Midoriya stomping past him and once again standing in front of the building, which caught his attention. Firmly planting his feet, Midoriya clenched his fist as he held out his arm in front of him, concentrating One for All in his hand once again.

As he reflected upon what Aizawa told him, about what he was capable of doing right now, he realized that he didn’t have to start as big as All Might did with full on punches and kicks. He could start small and work his way up, even if that meant only being able to work with something as little as a finger!

With that, he flicked his index finger, where he had focused his power, forward, creating a potent, but not destructive, blast of air that completely extinguished the fire raging inside the building.

His classmates looked on in amazement at this feat, besides Bakugo who could only growl ‘Deku’ under his breath. Aizawa grinned, thinking to himself that there might have been more to this kid than he initially thought.

Midoriya proceeded to evacuate all of the fake civilians placed throughout the building. No one else stepped in to try and benefit from his work, the only one who even thought about it having been Mineta who was chopped on the top of his head by Iida as soon as he took a hesitant step forward.

Once he was finished, he looked to Aizawa, a somewhat unstable smile stretched across his face, his now broken finger paining him, paired with a determined glint in his eyes.

Aizawa didn’t outwardly return the look, only saying that Midoriya did a fine job, but went on to tell his students that he hadn’t actually planned for any of them to go inside the burning building.

He may have been trying to get them ready for the real world but he wasn’t going to kill them trying to do so, at least not so blatantly.

He then showed them their placements based on his personal grading of their performances throughout the various exercises, with Midoriya ranked dead last since the burning building had only been supposed to give them a scare and not be a legitimate challenge.

Even so, he told them that he had yet another surprise; none of them were actually going to be expelled. He had only told them that to get them to exert the maximum amount of effort, causing 1A to erupt into furious relief.

Aizawa told them that although they had all done better than he anticipated, it didn’t mean he considered them competent Heroes in the making at this point in time, just that they were all a little better than he thought they would be. They needed to keep striving to improve regardless of how well they might have done today, as, after all, the motto of their school is ‘Go Beyond, Plus Ultra’.

The students were then told that they would be given the rest of the day off due to their first class being so long and intense, but warned not to expect this to be a regular occurrence.

Class 1A collectively rejoiced, many of them deciding to either spend the rest of the day relaxing or celebrating their not being expelled. After dismissing them, Aizawa walked off to go take a nap, only to be confronted by All Might, who had been watching Midoriya’s performance from afar the entire time.

He asked Aizawa what kind of game he was playing. First, since when did he become so lax when it came to expelling students? He knew very well that just last year he got rid of an entire first year class that he deemed as unfit to be Heroes. Secondly, what was all that about the burning building? Clearly he must have known about Midoriya’s past in order to bring in something so specific.

Aizawa questioned why All Might himself knew so much about Midoriya’s past, causing the number one Hero to flinch. He went on to say that whatever connection Midoriya had to saving people from fires was beyond him, it was a simple coincidence that one of his exercises was so familiar to him.

He also mentioned that if the worst performing student out of the entire batch still had the potential to think of the plan he did before, then he didn’t want to risk getting rid of any of this new class so soon. Who knew, he wondered aloud, maybe he had finally found a perfect batch.

Although All Might didn’t press him any further about it, the truth is, Aizawa thought to himself, that he did do some personal research into Midoriya following his victory over the 0 point robot in the entrance exams.

The police may not have any written reports of his involvement in the incident that resulted in Death Arms dying, but that didn’t mean that information had suddenly up and disappeared, especially if a pro Hero like himself was requesting it.

He wanted to see if Midoriya had the ingenuity to overcome a situation similar to that as he was now, having put it there specifically to test him, and he was pleasantly surprised. He chuckled to himself at the thought of, like he had years before he even began teaching at Yuuei, mentoring a vigilante.

Later in the evening, most of 1A had returned to their dormitory, some hanging out in the rooms while others socialized in the lounge area within the building. Midoriya, having been healed by Recovery Girl to her annoyance, had been talking over the events of the day with a few of the others, when Uraraka suddenly asked him a question once they arrived at the subject of the burning building, one he had really been hoping wouldn’t be asked at Yuuei; what did Deku mean?

She said that she heard Bakugo say it, seemingly in reference to him, when he had extinguished the fire. She didn’t think it was an English insult, but if it was a Japanese one it was weird that it hadn’t been translated.

Midoriya explained that in Japanese, his name ‘Izuku’ could also be read as ‘Deku’, which, when they were kids, Bakugo said sounded like ‘Dekunoubu’, which pretty much meant he wasn’t good for anything. Iida and Tsu both found this incredibly mean, but Uraraka said she actually thought it sounded like something else.

Being half Japanese on her mom’s side, she was able to pick up a few things growing up, one being ‘dekiru’, which meant to be able to do something. With that comparison in mind, she thought calling him Deku was actually a very fitting compliment, not to mention a cute nickname.

Blushing profusely, Midoriya immediately adopted it as such, bewildering Iida as just a moment before it seemed to have been such a cruel taunt, while Tsu only let out an amused ‘ribbit.'

The following day, the newly dubbed Deku, although Iida insisted on continuing to call him Midoriya out of what he viewed as respect, and his friends attended their first more traditional classes at Yuuei.

Traditional was subjective, however, as what they would’ve learned in a normal highschool like English, Mathematics, and Science, they had all already learned in the advanced courses they took in middle school, and so here they focused on information and lessons that would shape them to be the best Heroes they possibly could.

Present Mic blasted their ears off about the importance of maintaining a good rapport with those that they were tasked to protect in ‘Hero Public Relations.’ Cementoss hoped to ensure the saying ‘those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it’ would not apply to his students by instilling them with knowledge in ‘History of Heroes.’ Bubble Girl, a newbie teacher, tried to illustrate to them how to build up and manage a successful agency in ‘Hero Organization,’ even while struggling to apply her lessons to her own life. A somewhat intimidating Hero known as Ectoplasm showed them new ways they could use their Quirks in their work as Heroes in the aptly named ‘Quirks in Heroics.’

Finally, the last class of the day was the one all of them looked forward to the most, that being ‘Heroes at Work,’ with the number one Hero All Might, who everyone was beyond excited to finally meet, even Deku who had already personally known him for the past year.

His arrival in their class, which elicited a heavy round of applause and cheers, as well as comments about how he was wearing his caped Silver Age costume, as opposed to his current Golden Age outfit. All Might informed 1A that their first class together would take place in one of the faux cities, specifically the one known as ‘Ground Beta,’ constructed on Yuuei, where they would engage in Hero based activities and simulations.

In order to do this properly, however, they first had to look the part, and so told them that the Hero costumes they had sent in requests for months ago had arrived for them to try out.

Chapter 6: Someone You Can’t Ignore Any Longer

Chapter Text

After almost half an hour, the pro Heroes in training of Class 1A had all suited up. All of them admired either their own gear or that of their peers, with Uraraka in particular complimenting Deku’s suit, saying that it had a cool, classic look to it.

Having started to learn to take praise without completely losing his cool, especially when it came from Uraraka, Deku explained that it was actually handmade for him by his mom, who had seen his sketches for his ideal Hero costume in his notebooks and, wanting to make up for doubting his dreams for so long, thought it would be something meaningful she could do to show her support.

He knew he could’ve asked for one objectively more well made by an actual designer, but he wanted to honor his mom’s desire to prove that she would always be in his corner. He internally noted that it meant even more to him that she had taken additional inspiration from his Jackrabbit costume, as if it was her way of telling him that she had come to be proud of that side of him as well and all the good he had managed to accomplish.

The two of them were joined by Iida, Tsu and Mineta, the latter saying that not everyone here was looking so heroic, pointing to Bakugo, whose costume he said made him look like he’d be called the ‘Terrific Terrorist’.

Deku, however, was reminded of the crude drawings he and Bakugo had made in crayon of what they would look like as Heroes back when they were still friends in their early years, noting that although the design was a lot more detailed and well thought out, the basic elements from their childhood doodles were present.

Tsu, meanwhile, asked Mineta why he was still hanging around them even though Iida wasn’t keeping him prisoner, pondering if nobody else could tolerate him, which caused the short boy to yell that it was none of her business.

They and the rest of the class proceeded to gather around All Might, who, after internally gushing over how cool he thought they looked in their costumes, went over what they would be doing: simulation battles between a team of Heroes and a team of villains.

Throughout five separate battles, there would be two sides made up of two students each, one a pair of villains, the other a pair of Heroes. The villains’ job was to defend a fake bomb planted up on the fifth final floor in the building, while the Heroes had to either seize the bomb or capture both of the villains using handcuffs under the twenty minute time limit.

He began dividing them into teams, with Deku and Uraraka being put together, as well as Iida and Bakugo, Ashido and Kirishima, Mineta and Tsu, Jiro and Kaminari, a red and white haired boy who turned out to be Shoto Todoroki and Sero, Shoji and Ojiro, Yaoyorozu and Hagakure, Aoyama and the bird headed boy, Fumikage Tokoyami, and Sato and Koda.

Most everyone reacted positively to who they were on a team with, the only ones who seemed particularly displeased had been Jiro, albeit sarcastically so in order to get on Kaminari’s nerves, Bakugo, although the only way he would’ve been happy would likely have been if he was on his own, and Yaoyorozu, who seemed rather uneasy being put together with the invisible girl.

Upon drawing teams out of a hat to face each other, he announced the first match as Deku and Uraraka as the Hero team against Iida and Bakugo as the villains, much to his protege’s shock.

All Might wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about pitting his student against who seemed to be his old childhood bully, whether it would count as a good or bad teaching moment, but knew he very well couldn’t just draw another team for each of them to face as to not look like he was playing favorites.

Plus, he thought, this could always be the chance for the two of them to reconcile! Then that would be a win for everybody.

Deku was not nearly as optimistic about this, both because he wasn’t sure whether or not he had grown strong enough to take on his former friend in a fight, and because he had generally hoped to avoid Bakugo as much as possible at Yuuei.

Bakugo actually had a very similar thought process, save for the first part.

He had gotten into what he considered the best school in the entire world, only for the biggest weakling he had ever known to end up not also being accepted into it, but being in his exact class, even sitting right behind him during lectures. And now he was being forced to fight him? Like he was worth his time and effort? Like Deku stood a chance at winning against him?

It made his blood boil, and he only hoped that his teammate with four eyes and a stick up his ass wouldn’t get in his way of finishing things as quickly as possible, so that people would know once and for all that he was superior, that Deku wasn’t capable of anything against someone like him.

Everyone was soon set up at their beginning positions in the building, Bakugo and Iida next to the frighteningly real looking fake explosive, and Deku and Uraraka standing just outside the bottom entrance. Cameras were installed in multiple spots in every room of the building in order to account for every possible angle, giving All Might and the rest of 1A, who were in the watch room, an almost complete look at the battle that was about to unfold. Each team was also given their own set of earpieces that they could use to communicate with their partner, and also All Might, if it was necessary.

As the match was about to commence, Uraraka questioned Deku as to what exactly his history with Bakugo was. Sighing, he explained that the two of them grew up together, at first being friends as kids, but when Bakugo ended up with an extremely powerful Quirk and he didn’t, being a late bloomer, he started treating him differently.

Bakugo always said that he wouldn’t ever amount to anything, never be a real Hero like he would. Deku hadn’t wanted to fight Bakugo, but maybe it was finally the time to show him how wrong he really was.

In contrast to Deku, Bakugo had not been so talkative to his teammate, ignoring Iida’s attempts to formulate some sort of defensive strategy. As soon as All Might announced that the time had started and both teams were free to begin at any time, Bakugo bluntly told Iida that he already had his own plan, and that he'd win so quickly he might as well not have been here at all. He rushed off, boosted by his explosions, leaving Iida scrambling to try and think of what to do on his own.

Deku and Uraraka quickly began making their way up the building, having already reached the second floor within the first minute. Muttering, Deku said that if his assumption was correct, Bakugo would try and wipe them out quickly on his own, leaving Iida alone with the bomb.

Thinking back to how Bakugo ignored Iida’s ranting at him for almost half an hour yesterday, Uraraka believed Deku’s logic to be sound. Continuing, Deku said this meant their best plan would be to try and capture Bakugo as fast as they could when he attacked, then go up together to take on Iida.

When Uraraka questioned how he thought Bakugo would carry out his ambush on them, Deku assured her that it would definitely be something they’d see coming, as Bakugo had never been one for subtlety.

This proved to be true when not even five seconds later the wall in front of them burst open with an explosion. When the smoke dissipated, their fiery foe was standing in plain sight, looking directly at them.

Deku quickly ordered Uraraka to prepare to dodge, as before the next moment could come to pass, Bakugo launched himself forward with a blast from his left palm, swinging his right at the, fully intent on blowing them away with a single strike. Fortunately, with Deku’s warning, both of his targets avoided him in time, although Deku didn’t escape unscathed as half of his costume’s mask was burnt off.

They were barely given any time to recover as Bakugo instantly propelled himself at them again, but this time Deku did more than just dodge. Just as Bakugo stretched out his right arm, Deku grabbed it, twisted him around and threw him against the floor on his back, briefly knocking the wind out of him.

He told Bakugo that defeating him wouldn’t be as easy as he had thought it would be, since he was a lot more than the defenseless, ineffective wimp he had always thought he was. He was the Deku who could do anything, not nothing, which included being able to take him down, a statement that made the blonde growl with an almost feral intensity.

He quickly tried to take advantage of Bakugo being downed by getting out his handcuffs, only for Bakugo to regain his composure faster than he had expected. Deku swore to himself, saying he might’ve gotten carried away with his little speech, before he got blasted away with an explosion, his suit being further destroyed in the process.

He landed on his back as Bakugo had before, but managed to get up even more swiftly than he had. He realized very quickly that subduing Bakugo wasn’t going to be fast, if he could even do it at all within the timeframe, so it would better if someone kept him occupied while another person went to face Iida, rather than sticking together to try and do one first and then the other.

He told Uraraka as such through his earpiece, and although she was concerned as to if he’d be alright fighting Bakugo by himself, he told her he was going to be fine, and that he would try to come up with a more comprehensive plan soon.

With that, Deku was left to fend off Bakugo, trying to wear him out as he dodged explosion after explosion, his costume looking worse for wear after each and every blast he narrowly avoided.

It became evident that he actually had the advantage when it came to combat prowess and mobility, thanks to his time spent as a vigilante and all his analyzing, but he was unable to make full use of it because of Bakugo’s overwhelming raw power.

In turn, Bakugo could probably have taken out Deku with one good hit but found himself struggling in the first combat scenario he’d ever been in where he had to do more than just aim his palm. It became a flashy game of cat and mouse, the terrain of the building suffering because of it. It gradually lost its walls, which were luckily not load bearing, and the floor they were on was soon left one big desolate room.

All Might, although impressed by his successor’s display of skill, grew steadily uncertain as to if he should have allowed the battle to continue. Bakugo’s power was exceptional, and he didn’t seem to be exactly restraining himself. If anything, he seemed to be getting increasingly furious the more Deku just didn’t lose. The students around him held this worry as well, Tsu and Mineta vocalizing their opinion that things might have been getting carried away.

Kirishima said that even though he admired both of their will to keep going, claiming Deku was probably the manliest person he’d seen in years, he did think it might have been getting too extreme for what was just a simulation.

Ashido asked aloud why Deku didn’t use his Quirk, as it would probably have completely changed the tide of the fight, with Yaoyorozu answering that doing so would have broken at least a few of his bones, and unless he was confident he could end Bakugo with a single attack he knew that he’d probably end up in a worse position overall. Hagakure suddenly chimed in, saying that Deku wasn’t the only one on his team currently in trouble, as she pointed to another monitor which showed Uraraka and Iida.

Uraraka had arrived hoping that she would have been able to take on Iida by herself, only to find that Iida had, like Bakugo, gotten very much into the role of a villain, albeit more comically evil than overwhelmingly destructive. Monologuing in a nefarious tone, Iida revealed that he had removed all of the loose objects in the room that she could have potentially used her Quirk on, rendering her incapable of doing anything against him.

Uraraka relayed this information to Deku, who was currently hiding behind a few pieces of rubble to try and formulate a plan with everything happening. She said that she could try and make Iida float with her Quirk, but it would have been almost impossible to catch him.

She asked him if there might have been anyway to lure up Bakugo back to the top floor, as the wreckage he would create with his explosions could create an opportunity for her to use her Quirk effectively, but Deku said it was unlikely as while Bakugo might have been currently raging, he wouldn’t be that gullible.

This did give him an idea, however, of another less obvious way of tricking him into doing something to their advantage, and although he told her it would be tough to pull off, she replied that she trusted him.

They weren’t given much more time to talk, however, as Bakugo soon blasted away the rubble Deku had been using to cover himself, scowling that for someone claiming to be a Hero he sure was doing a lot of running. He aimed his right arm up at his opponent, who instinctively began to move to his side, only for Bakugo to use an explosion from his left to rush over to where was about to dodge and then fire his originally prepared blast, sending Deku flying into the closest wall.

Everyone watching was taken aback by this, surprised at Bakugo’s own quick thinking, with Kaminari saying he was surprised that Bakugo was able to adapt like that, having figured him for just a meathead. Ojiro noted that although Deku clearly had more experience when it came to strategic thinking, Bakugo appeared to have enough of a knack for it that he could still make maneuvers like that and catch him off guard.

Bakugo grinned as the smoke cleared and he saw Deku slumped over against the wall, his costume in tatters, with one of his sleeves missing entirely. He thought he had finally won for a moment, until Deku began, slowly, getting up, determination ever present in his gaze.

Bakugo was livid, clenching his fists so tight until he felt as though his nails were going to cut into his palms. He began insulting Deku once again, saying that he was really starting to piss him off, that he tried getting their battle over quickly so he could just get the win and move on with things.

He then, however, started shouting with more rage and passion than Deku had ever seen him exude in his life, telling his enemy that if he was so hellbent on annoying him with his desperate attempts at being a Hero, then he was just going to snuff him out for good, there and then. He explained that his gauntlets had stored up a huge amount of his combustive sweat throughout their fight, and he was going to unleash one of them in order to finish things off once and for all.

Deku’s eyes widened as All Might screamed into Bakugo’s earpiece that he had to stop or else he might get his classmate killed, but this didn't deter him. Deku began rushing towards Bakugo to the bewilderment of everyone, including his opponent, but this didn’t bother the blonde who asked if he really wanted to die that badly. Bakugo aimed his arm grenade up at Deku, finger ready to pull the pin and put down the worthless runt in front of him for good.

Before he could do so, however, Deku enacted his recently hatched plan, revealing that the sleeve Bakugo thought he had blown off was actually rolled up and hidden in his hand. He quickly wrapped it around Bakugo’s wrist just as he retrieved the pin, then yanked it forward, causing the gauntlet to aim up.

Deku shouted in his earpiece for Uraraka to hold onto something before the blast was let loose, tearing through the upper layers of the building like paper mache and leaving a massive hole.

At the top floor, Iida scrambled to not fall down, and was further caught off guard by Uraraka, who made the pillar she was holding onto float and used it as a bat to swing forward a wave of debris created by his teammate, this being her improvised special move ‘Comet Home Run’.

She then took advantage of Iida being too busy trying to avoid being pelted to float herself over to the fake explosive and latch onto it, fulfilling one of the two ways that it was possible for the Heroes to win; seizing the bomb.

All Might screamed, almost at the top of his lungs, that the Hero team had won, to the jubilation of both Uraraka, who couldn’t stop herself from spitting up just a bit as a result of using her Quirk on such a big object, and Deku, who exhaled heavily before grinning. He looked up through the hole to see Iida, always the good sport, flashing a thumbs up and nodding down at him with approval.

1A was absolutely floored by the ending of the first trial battle, in awe of Deku’s improvisational skill, as well Uraraka having proved to be a lot stronger than any of them would’ve assumed.

Several seemed extremely happy with the results, with Ashido saying she honestly would’ve been disappointed if after all Deku’s hard work he had gone down to someone like Bakugo, expressing that she didn’t think he was nice in the first place but that he had gotten downright vicious as time went on. Sero quipped that it seemed like after all that screaming his head off Bakugo must have finally lost his voice as he didn’t hear him now, but Koda yelped that he was doing something else.

Everyone’s attention returned to Bakugo, only to watch in horror as his hands crackled with energy. He took a swing at Deku, preparing to fire yet another explosion, only for the other boy to catch him in the corner of his eye at the last second, only this time, having dropped his guard once his team was declared the winner, he wasn't prepared enough to move out of the way.

Instead, his instincts took over, and he thrust his hand forward to try in a vain effort to try and stop the incoming attack. At that moment, however, he lost control and accidentally activated One for All, resulting in him generating a massive blast of pure force that collided with Bakugo, instantly sending him sprawling back, crashing through a wall and into the streets below.

Deku himself immediately fell to the ground, clutching his shoulder and screaming in pain as he felt his arm having, like at the entrance exams, been completely broken. All Might grit his teeth, enraged at what had just occurred, with his students again voicing what he was feeling, most of them crying out in concern for Deku or being vexed over Bakugo for having done something so mean spirited and cowardly.

Kirishima sadly muttered about how unmanly of a move it was, while Jiro questioned what kind of issues Bakugo had to act like that. At the battleground, Iida and Uraraka hurried down as fast as they could to try and help their friend, while Bakugo laid outside in a small crater, bruised and battered but not unconscious, grunting in pain and anger.

In the next ten minutes or so, paramedic androids arrived and whisked Deku to once again be healed, with Bakugo refusing any sort of treatment and keeping his distance from Iida and Uraraka when they had to make the trek back to the rest of their class.

Once the three arrived at the observation room, All Might told Uraraka and Iida they had done a good job in the simulation, and that he would go over their performances more in depth later. The two somewhat solemnly thanked him and went over to their classmates, with Uraraka immediately getting to whispering about the battle with Tsu, Mineta, and a few others, while Iida remained silent.

All Might moved onto Bakugo, preparing to give him quite the stern talking to, only to hesitate once he saw the look on the blonde’s face. He might have been trying to hide it to look tough, but it was clear to an experienced man like himself that the main emotion the boy was feeling was regret.

His face demeanor softening a bit, All Might stated that he knew Bakugo was a smart kid. He must have already known what he did was wrong. He wasn’t going to scold him so harshly for no purpose but to embarrass him in front of his classmates. He told his student that he expected no further incident like this one to ever happen again, and gave him a month’s detention for his actions.

However, he would allow him to sit and watch the rest of the battle trials with the rest of the class if he so wished, if only so that he may learn a thing or two. Bakugo’s expression did not change, and he did not say anything to his teacher, only slowly walking over to the back of the room, far away from his peers. A few of said other students had something they also would have liked to say to him, but they were held back by their more level headed friends.

The next four matches occurred with far less intensity, although that wasn’t to say nothing of note happened during them. The second round had to take place in a completely different building, with it featuring Mineta and Tsu as the villains going against Jiro and Kaminari as the Heroes.

Tsu wanted to be able to perform as impressively as her friends before her had, flatly warning Mineta in what he hoped was a joke that if he didn’t take it seriously and just tried to do something to get attention that he’d end up with Deku in the infirmary.

Jiro behaved just as abrasively towards her male partner, telling Kaminari that he needed to do better than he did in the Entrance Exams if they wanted to win, causing him to groan that she didn’t have to keep bringing that up. Putting up a bravado of competence, he said that he was going to show her he could be reliable after all, and maybe even earn a compliment or two in the process, which she replied was unlikely.

She ended up being right, as when Tsu and Mineta ended up going for an ambush like Bakugo did, Kaminari tried to take them out with by discharging electricity at the floor, only for the frog girl to simply jump up, Mineta in her tongue, when he did so, meaning the only person he ended up shocking was his own teammate.

Afterwards, his brain fried by overuse of his Quirk, fittingly dubbed ‘Electrification’, the only thing he was able to do is instinctively dive in front of Jiro when Mineta threw Pop Off hairballs at her, resulting in him being stuck to the ground. Jiro, damaged by the electricity, was incapacitated soon after while trying to escape up to the bomb, leading to her team’s defeat.

Kaminari apologized sincerely for their loss, with Jiro saying that she would forgive him if only because she thought him turning goofy and stupid was pretty funny, secretly appreciative of his subconscious attempt to save her.

Tsu, meanwhile, tried to tell Mineta that he might have been more capable than she thought, but he was too busy hyping himself up for winning, saying it was only a matter of time before he got the recognition he deserved.

The third battle was between the Hero team of Ashido and Kirishima, and the villain team of Tokoyami and Aoyama. The former duo were extremely excited to work together, Ashido cheerfully exclaiming that the two used to always take down any crooks they encountered when walking around New York.

Their confidence didn’t seem misplaced at first, as when Aoyama attacked them with his Naval Laser, Kirishima was able to tank it easily with his ‘Hardening’. Ashido then had no problem in skating over using her slippery ‘Acid’ and melting the belt on his costume that he needed to safely aim his Quirk’s power. Aoyama was arrested and left behind on the first floor, leading the pink and red pair to wonder if Tokoyami would prove any more daunting.

Once they reached the top, though, they found that the room was pitch black as their bird headed foe had destroyed the light in the room. Within mere seconds, the two were sent flying back down to the fourth floor, knocked out cold, with Tokoyami stepping down after them a moment later, thanking the manifestation of his Quirk, ‘Dark Shadow,’ for having gone easy on his classmates.

Up fourth were Ojiro and Shoji as villains against Yaoyorozu and Hagakure as Heroes. Ojiro didn’t really know his partner that well, and was somewhat intimidated by him because of his height and mask.

He proceeded to be called out by Shoji for this when he sprouted a tendril with a mouth from his arms, prompting him to apologize, only to be told not to worry as he was only teasing, and he tended to get that reaction at first. He said that he looked forward to showing Ojiro, and everyone else for that matter, that there was a lot more to him than just looking scary during their time working together, with Ojiro joking that what was truly unnerving about him seemed to be his conviction.

Hagakure, meanwhile, struggled to talk to Yaoyorozu, who before the round commenced was reciting her plan towards victory to herself, one that seemingly didn’t involve her partner very much.

In order to get her classmate’s attention, Hagakure seemed to turn her Quirk, appropriately known as ‘Invisibility’, off, much to the shock of everyone, especially as it turned out she was actually wearing a costume that turned invisible with her and wasn’t just walking around naked.

Yaoyorozu was especially surprised, as she had thought Hagakure’s Quirk was a ‘Mutant’ type, meaning her powers came from an abnormality she was born with, but her now visible classmate informed her that she was a ‘Transformation’ type, meaning her powers were activated under some sort of form shift, although she said she was actually a sort of weird version of this, as her base form was the one that was superpowered, and she had to concentrate to turn ‘normal’ so to speak.

Taken aback, Yaoyorozu confessed she felt sorry for her, but that she was glad that she could at least turn it off for a little while. She then began filling in Hagakure on a somewhat revised version of her strategy, one that included her, much to the other girl’s elation.

The actual confrontation ended up being somewhat straightforward, with pretty much everything matching up to how Yaoyorozu had planned.

Ojiro, with his physical ‘Tail’ Quirk, had been sent to try and exhaust Yaoyorozu’s ‘Creation’ Quirk, while Shoji remained at the top, using his ‘Dupli-Arms’ Quirk to grow appendages with ears so that he could listen to their opponents movements and feed Ojiro the information through their communicators.

Yaoyorozu held off Ojiro using shields, while Hagakure disrupted Shoji’s spying by planting devices that released an extremely harsh frequency on the wall. This instantly caused him to recoil in pain, allowing Hagakure to sneak up behind Ojiro without his partner being able to warn him, and safely arrest him.

Shoji put up a decent fight on his own against Yaoyorzu’s many items she created to take him down, but was ultimately overwhelmed. Hagakure apologized to Ojiro afterwards for having to beat him so badly, but says that it did end up bringing her and Yaoyorozu closer together, so she thanked him for that.

Finally, Koda and Sato had acted as villains against Todoroki and Sero who served as Heroes. Koda didn’t seem the most confident at first, saying that Todoroki had gotten the highest ranking in Aizawa’s practical tests, his power seeming to be leagues ahead of his own ‘Insectovoice’ Quirk, and he didn’t know the first thing about him as he wasn’t around on the first day.

He only hoped that not too many bugs would have to suffer, while Sato reassured him that Todoroki was in the Hero course, so he’s sure that he couldn’t be that bad a guy and wouldn’t go out of his way to hurt things, only for Koda to counter this by simply mentioning Bakugo.

Sato bit his lower lip before again trying to lighten his teammate up by saying that their loss wasn’t guaranteed as they could have been able to get the jump on them if they were fast enough.

As soon as they were given permission to start, however, a thick layer of ice immediately encased the entire building, freezing both Sato and Koji to the floor they stood on. Sero, who Todoroki had told to wait outside for his own safety, laughed nervously as he stared up at the now frozen building, saying he was glad he wasn’t on the other end of that.

With the battles having all wrapped up, everyone gathered around All Might in the camera room so that he could go over their performances in greater depth than just ‘good job’ or ‘you can’t win everytime’, but the students found that All Might was still getting used to being their teacher just as they were his students, as he had trouble articulating his points, being a lot more used to inspirational speeches than he was constructive criticism.

Fortunately, Yaoyorozu was able to pick up his slack with her seemingly unlimited intelligence, which he privately thanked her for. Before long, class was dismissed, although one person walked out earlier than this was explicitly announced.

About an hour after this, Deku woke up in the nurse’s office, having again had his arm fixed by Recovery Girl, who half-jokingly asked him if he planned on coming to her with a new injury every day of the year.

He began to apologize before she told him she wasn’t being serious, and that she knew this time it wasn’t of his own volition, angrily saying she wished that ‘spiky haired young man’ had stayed after his treatment so she could’ve given him a piece of her mind.

She commented, however, that she had to settle on scolding a different blonde blockhead. When Deku asked who she was referring to, she summoned in from outside the room a deflated All Might who appeared to have a bandage on his forehead, much to his apprentice’s shock.

Deku questioned if it was alright for Recovery Girl to see him like this, with All Might saying it was, as they’d known each other well ever since he was a teenager, back when he was more reckless than he currently was and got himself hurt a lot more often.

Recovery Girl corrected him by insisting that he was still just as reckless, to the point where his successor was taking after him, saying that with ‘Torino’ before him it seemed that dealing with brash men had become sort of a generational tradition for her.

When Deku asked who Torino was, All Might answered that it was his teacher, one who used to work at Yuuei and who was actually good friends with Recovery Girl, though she quipped that this was debatable.

Deku then pondered if it was the same one who he was going to train under later, prompting Recovery Girl to angrily demand to know if All Might was seriously going to let that brute be responsible for this child, with the Hero desperately trying to save face, claiming that he could explain.

Deku was soon requested to leave by Recovery Girl so that she could chew off his idol without having to hold herself back for his sake, and made his way to 1A’s dorms, with the only thing on his mind being Bakugo.

He actually wasn’t all that upset by what the other boy had done to him. He was extremely familiar with Bakugo and all his values, including a distinct disdain for anything he deemed as cowardly, which he knew included sucker punches like what he had tried to do to him.

If he did something like that himself, then, he knew something was seriously wrong, which he had already assumed based on how insanely Bakugo had lost his temper, unlike anything he had ever seen before from.

Bakugo’s anger, especially towards him, had always been restrained, as if he had always wanted to scream and shout at him like how he did today but kept stopping himself short, trying to convince himself that it wasn’t worth it.

Now, however, with Deku having more of a presence in and impact on his life more than ever, it seemed like he was becoming unable to ignore him any longer. He was being forced, much to his fury, to acknowledge that Deku was something to him. The green haired boy hoped that this could be something good for a change, but he was not so naive that he bet on this probability.

It may have been fate that as Deku was mulling over where he and Bakugo would go from that point onward, he saw a glimpse of the blonde, standing by himself down by the beach front.

Knowing that this was the best chance he had ever gotten at making a breakthrough, he did not give it any more thought than he already had and made his way down to Bakugo with hopes of trying to make things better between them.

He arrived about ten feet away from his former friend, words suddenly becoming difficult for him until his strongest feeling at that time, genuine concern for another person, took the reins, resulting in him simply asking if he was okay.

When he didn’t receive a response, Deku told Bakugo that he couldn’t just pretend he’s not there, which actually provoked him to shout back that he was damn right he couldn’t.

Not yet turning around, Bakugo said that Deku just kept showing up where he wasn’t needed, from all the way back when they were kids, to his vigilantism, to his pitiful attempt at trying to help him against the Sludge villain, to here at Yuuei.

He always tried to just pretend he didn’t see him, like he’d just go away if he avoided looking at him, and he had realized that this had gone on for too long, to the point where he was able to catch him off guard and beat him today.

And on top of that, he had to watch as the other students, whether it was Tokoyami, Yaoyorozu, or Todoroki, all garnered their wins with a combination of strength and technique that far exceeded his own at the moment.

It has made him realize that the gap between him and what he wants to be, the greatest Hero in all of existence, one that surpasses even All Might, was much farther than he initially thought.

He resolved in that moment to become stronger than all of them combined, to show them that they’d one day only be footnotes in his journey towards the top, and that included Deku. He didn’t know the challenges at Yuuei that awaited him beforehand, but now that he did, he knew he was going to conquer all of them.

He warned the other boy that if he ever stepped up to face him again, he’d better be prepared because his tricks weren’t going to work against him anymore, he’d have to use whatever Quirk he got out of nowhere, and Bakugo would teach him that he was definitively the better between them.

With that said, Bakugo turned around, some tear stains visible on his face, and walked past Deku, not before saying quickly that when they did fight again, he was going to see his attacks coming.

Deku looked on at who seemed to now be his rival, his expression one of uncertainty, but slight optimism.

Bakugo was able to, in his own way, admit his mistakes to Deku. It seemed that from now on, while Bakugo might not be any nicer towards him and in fact might be more antagonistic, he wouldn’t just dismiss him at every turn.

Furthermore, he had acknowledged for probably the first time in his entire life that he wasn’t the indisputable best, that he was surrounded by people who were in fact better than him in certain regards. Whether this would turn out to have a positive or negative effect on him remained to be seen, but Deku couldn’t help himself from being hopeful.

Chapter 7: Life at Yuuei, Full of its Quirks

Chapter Text

The first month at Yuuei went by at an excruciating pace. Each and every day there seemed to be something new to do, whether it was a super complex lesson about heroics, or a difficult assignment due far too soon after it had been introduced, or some new form of training that just didn’t seem practical whatsoever.

There was also of course inner class drama typical of any highschool. Friendships were growing, new goals were manifesting and old goals were intensifying, and a sort of academic hierarchy had started forming.

As Bakugo had mentioned on the second day, there was an obvious disparity between some students and others in terms of ability starting off, and as per an unofficial Yuuei tradition, the top three best performing students of any given Hero class became known as its ‘Big Three’.

In this case, Yaoyorozu was the most intelligent out of the entirety of 1A and displayed tactical brilliance as well, along with having a super versatile power. Tokoyami appeared practically invincible with a Quirk suitable for both long ranged offense and close ranged defense, seemingly especially unbeatable in darkness. And Todoroki was the strongest out of all of them with his expert level proficiency in regards to control over his ice Quirk to the point where many Yuuei teachers believed he could defeat them if they fought one on one.

These three themselves didn’t pay much attention to the title, with Tokoyami and Todoroki just not finding it meaningful and Yaoyorozu not wanting to appear immodest. But for nearly all of their classmates, getting to a level where they might be able to replace one of them in the trio was something they all desired beyond almost anything else.

Everyone wanted to prove themselves, which explained the events of one day of the month that happened rather early on, on the fourth day of the first week, in fact.

In the final few minutes of home period, Aizawa informed 1A that they were to select a class president and vice class president that would take on the responsibility of leading and representing the class, whether it be within Yuuei itself or in any collaborative events with other Hero schools.

These roles clearly weren’t something he himself was interested in, but the opposite was true for most of his students, who were generally eager about the opportunity and all the recognition they would bring, especially in the eyes of Hero agencies when thinking about future recruits.

Upon them asking Aizawa how they would decide, he said that it was up for them to choose, but that back when he attended Yuuei, they did it by popular vote. Thinking back to those days where a young Present Mic had been elected because enough of the class thought it would be funny and all the embarrassment he ended up bringing them in just about everything he did, he advised them that if they did end up doing it that way to take it seriously.

After some discussion amongst the class, they chose to wait until the next day, the last school day of that week, to actually vote, so they could have the rest of the day to figure out who they wanted to vote for.

For most of them, the choices were already pretty limited.

First, they could vote for themselves, hope everyone else but one person did the same, and hope that said person voted for them. Second, they could vote for one of the three students that had come off in recent days as being by far the most competent; Yaoyorozu, Tokoyami, or Todoroki. Lastly, although it was someone only a few people thought of, there was another person besides the aforementioned trio that had proven themselves to have remarkable potential as a strategist and fighter, only their execution of these skills hadn’t been quite as flawless.

Uraraka, Iida, and Tsu all intended to throw their support behind Deku for class president, while Mineta spent his time that day failing to convince people that he was the best candidate, making nonsensical promises that would make most politicians blush.

When his friends mentioned this to him in the cafeteria, however, Deku stated that he didn’t really think he was suited for the job, revealing that out of the entire class he thought Iida was best suited for the position, and had intended to vote for him.

Recalling a few memories of Iida, he said the most striking thing about him was his strong moral code, his sense of dignity and respect. Iida had a serious dedication to the standards set by Yuuei, and he thought that above anyone else he could be trusted to ensure the rest of 1A followed them.

Uraraka beamed at this, saying she couldn’t help but agree with Deku’s reasoning, while Tsu said that she supposed he did a pretty good job at keeping Mineta in check on the first day.

Iida, on the other hand, was nearly overwhelmed with happiness by his friend’s words, holding back tears and loudly thanking Deku for his kindness and belief in him, saying he wished his brother could hear him. This statement prompted questions around said sibling, with Iida revealing that he was Tensei Iida, aka Ingenium, one of the United Kingdom’s most prolific Heroes.

While Uraraka and Tsu were only slightly familiar with the name, Deku was astonished and quickly began ranting about all of the facts he knew about not just Ingenium, but the entire Iida bloodline, as apparently they’d served as Heroes for over a century.

Uraraka teased Iida if this meant he was a rich kid, and while he did confess to his family’s affluence, he assured them that wealth was not the reason he was proud to be a member of his lineage. Each and every Iida who became a Hero was an excellent one in their own right, including his father and, as he already said, his brother.

As Deku heard Iida bring up his father, however, his mood faltered, which Iida noticed, and was about to mention, but the beginning of an alarm blaring interrupted him.

In a seemingly prerecorded message, a robotic voice informed the students that Yuuei’s sensors had detected a pattern in the nearby ocean that indicated a massive tidal wave was headed for the school within the next 5 minutes, and that they had to immediately head to the shelters in order to avoid any potential harm.

Confusion, and then panic, spread like the plague across the entire cafeteria, the sound of screaming and metal trays clattering against the ground followed by a chorus of desperate footsteps.

Several students were nearly pushed over and trampled on as people tried to make their way through the halls of Yuuei, barely paying attention to anyone else but themselves. Iida, thankfully, was one of the few members of 1A that made it out of the cafeteria, and was seemingly the only person out of the entire student body to bother to look outside, as the hall next to the cafeteria had windows that one could look at the ocean from.

It was with this glimpse that Iida could judge that the ocean was completely calm, as far out as he could see, with there barely even being any clouds in the sky. Whatever the alarm that went off was, it hadn’t accurately described the current situation.

He knew had to do something with this information in order to try and calm everybody down, and luckily saw Uraraka only a little bit away from him in the sea of people. Calling out to her, he asked her to use her Quirk and make him float, which she did, unsure of his plan but willing to help him out regardless.

Once he was in the air, Iida boosted himself forward, slamming into the wall over the emergency exit in a ridiculously rigid pose, and shouted out as loud as he could his discovery, and that none of them had anything to worry about.

There were two possibilities, that this was either a malfunction or they were being tested, and either way they were all failing spectacularly with the way they were acting.

Regardless of if they were Hero students or not, they were enrolled in Yuuei High, and that came with certain expectations of character that they were failing to fulfill. He commanded that they needed to calm down, gather themselves, and start acting like they belonged where they were.

His strong but fair words were able to reach the crowd of students, especially once they themselves took a gander outside to see he was right, and after a few minutes and some assurances from the staff that it was indeed a miscommunication, everything was slowly able to return to normal.

The next day during home period, the voting was held, and Iida won in a landslide, receiving 11 in total, while Yaoyorozu got second with 5, making her vice president. Mineta actually managed to get 2, while Deku got only 1.

Virtually everyone was happy with these results, even Mineta after he at first behaved outraged and criticized Sero for not helping energize his campaign as his first backer, who noted he only agreed to vote for him if he would stop annoying him about it. Bakugo had declined to vote, although no one really paid him much mind, as the majority was still upset at him.

Iida was overjoyed to receive the position, and quickly got to work memorizing everything he could on classroom etiquette and general school rules. Well, re-memorizing, anyways.

Later that day, however, as Iida was in his room reading over the countless books he had checked out of the library, he got a knock at his door from Deku, who had a rather conflicted look on his face.

The boy told Iida that it was a little awkward to bring up, but when he talked about his family yesterday, he mentioned his dad, and Deku just wanted to tell him that he was sorry for his loss, saying he knew it was tough growing up without a father.

Iida smiled, telling his friend that he appreciated the condolences, but he had learned to live with it.

His father died a Hero, defending his country against the Hero Killer ‘Stendhal’, who although was never captured had never been active after his confrontation with the previous holder of the name Ingenium.

Besides, he still had his mother and brother with him throughout his childhood, the latter of whom he looked up to more than anyone else. And today, Deku gave him an opportunity to get even closer to being a respectable Hero like Tensei.

So, while he still thought the green haired boy would do a fine job himself in the role, he promised that he would do his best for the both of them.

The week after that one featured an event known as ‘Club Recruitment Day’, where new and old students alike were given the opportunity to discover, explore and join the clubs that had been organized by their fellow alumni over the years, whether they revolved around hobbies like art or writing or video games, sports like soccer or volleyball, interests like science or anime, etc.

While some members of 1A declined participating, others, such as Deku and his friend group, wanted to get the full Yuuei experience and decided to at least see what extracurricular activities were being offered.

Despite having wanted to check out the All Might Fan Club, Deku was dragged by Iida to the tryouts for the soccer team, as he was one of his old school’s finest European football players and wanted to share his love of the sport with his friend. They were also accompanied by Kirishima, Ashido, and eventually Mineta after he had failed to get his own fan club started.

Deku and Kirishima quickly found that their impressive physicality did not translate into athletic skill, with Iida and Ashido running circles around them both in regards to speed and finesse, with many of the veteran players being impressed by them.

Deku asked Kirishima if Ashido, who he seemed to have known for a quite a while, was always into soccer like Iida was, only to find out that it was actually her first time, she was just an incredibly skilled dancer back home and it seemed to have granted her some fantastic footwork.

Mineta on the other hand, in order to avoid running around too much, tried his luck as goalie, only to be launched out of the net by Iida when he sent a ball towards him. He sneakily planted his hairballs under his shoes in order to prevent the same thing happening twice, only to then be kicked off the field for cheating with his Quirk after a second kick to him from Iida ripped up the ground that he had attached himself to.

As Mineta sulked off grumbling that he was just going to watch the volleyball team with Kaminari, Deku and Kirishima chose to see if where he was going was better suited for them, too, albeit with their intentions being to actually play.

Hagakure had invited Uraraka to practice volleyball with her, and Tsu as well, but she had another club she was interested in. Uraraka found the sport to be, while definitely fun, a little too fast paced for her liking, finding all the running, jumping and slamming of the ball much more aggressive than she was prepared for.

She was surprised that something as cheerful and sweet as Hagakure found such enjoyment in the sport, and even more taken aback by her maintaining that attitude throughout the entire experience.

Kirishima and Deku arrived about an hour after she had started, although they didn’t get the chance to play for long, and Uraraka ended up using the former getting kicked out for accidentally breaking the ball with his sharp hair as an excuse to depart with the two of them.

The group of three then went to the cooking club, where of course Sato was showcasing his skills, in addition to Sero and Jiro who admitted to being there exclusively to get to try some good food for free.

Kirishima was upset at the lack of a barbequing section, Uraraka simply couldn’t fathom half the fancy spices, herbs and other ingredients that many of the supposedly standard recipes asked for, and Deku felt as though everyone in the room was disgusted by him after he had asked for ketchup with the eggs someone had given him.

Although Sato tried to assure them that cooking was not as strict a hobby as the rest of the club members were making it out to be, the three of them, and Jiro who got miffed after flour spilled onto her black pants, felt like the pressure was just too much and left, after getting lunch, of course.

After a few more tries, with Jiro saying she was going to go back to the dorms, Kirishima eventually found his calling at the boxing club, as despite not having a whole lot of technique the more experienced boxers were impressed by his level of stamina and grit.

Meeting up with Tsu at the water exercise club, Deku accidentally left Uraraka behind when she went to change into her swimming uniform after the frog girl teased that he was probably looking forward to seeing her in it, prompting him to get flustered and hurry off before he could realize what he had done.

He later found Mineta and Kaminari, of all people, at the baseball team tryouts, seemingly actually doing fairly well in regards to pitching and batting respectively, who explained that they had gotten kicked out from watching volleyball when the team discovered they weren’t there out of a love of the game.

By the time the day was almost over, Deku had not found a club that he saw himself fitting into unlike most of his other friends had, and had considered simply just returning to the dorms when he recalled his original plan for the day; to check out the All Might Fan Club.

Unfortunately, once he arrived, it was not the mini convention dedicated to the legendary Hero he had expected it to be. While the room did have plenty of merchandise, including exceptionally rare material that even he himself didn’t own, it wasn’t decorated the best, and there didn’t seem to be a single other soul present, despite there still being another hour to go.

Dejected, Deku turned around prepared to leave, only to see a smiling face popping out of the wall, eliciting a frightened scream from him.

The face began to emerge from the wall, revealing it to be attached to a whole person, one much taller and well built than almost anyone in 1A, except maybe Shoji. With blonde hair and eyes that reminded Deku of the old cartoons his mom used to watch with him, the older teen had a cheerful disposition, and greeted the shorter boy warmly.

He asked if he was here to join the club, to which Deku, a little bit put off by the odd entrance but not totally unnerved, said he was considering it, but wondered if he came too late as it seemed like everybody else had left.

The stranger laughed and said that there wasn’t anyone else, and that he’d been the only member for the past year that the club had been around. Deku questioned how that can be, since All Might is the greatest Hero of all time. The other boy said that most people just didn’t have the passion to talk trivia about him for hours on end, something his green haired junior couldn’t comprehend.

Deku immediately began rambling on about several facts and stories about his idol and secret mentor, from his early years in the USA, to his rise to the top as he returned to Japan, and his golden years as the indisputable Symbol of Peace.

As he was in the middle of a story about how All Might took down the ‘Butcher of Tokyo’ Toxic Chainsaw, he noticed that the golden haired boy had started to tear up a bit, prompting him to ask if he was alright.

His senior laughed and answered that he was fine, it was just that Deku reminded him a lot of somebody he knew before, and it made him reminisce when he heard him talk about All Might with such love and respect.

He had actually started the All Might Fan Club as a memorial to said friend of his, but nobody else had ever shown up to it. Additionally, it was on its last legs as he, the club’s only member, was a third year and was due to graduate.

Pausing for a moment, he apologized, saying he shouldn’t have been ranting like that to someone whose name he didn’t even know, introducing himself as Mirio Togata, student of Class 3B and President of the All Might Fan Club.

He extended his hand, which Deku shook, introducing himself as Izuku Midoriya, nickname Deku, student of Class 1A, and newest member of the All Might Fan Club.

Beaming, Togata welcomed Deku aboard, saying that he looked forward to all the memories they’ll make, and mentioned that the first would be getting some dinner as he had been standing in the class all day waiting for someone to come in and had only left to use the washroom.

By the third week, everyone had mostly adapted to living at Yuuei, having gotten somewhat used to their classes, teachers, living arrangements, extracurriculars, and the school itself.

It was for this reason that on the evening of that Wednesday, after everyone had returned to their dorms to rest or do some studying, Ashido and Hagakure gathered their classmates up to ask if they wanted to participate in what they called the ‘Room King Competition’, where they would each visit each other’s dorms and then vote for who they thought had the best interior design skills.

Pretty much everyone was on board with this, besides Bakugo, who had not been approached, and Todoroki, who said he just isn’t interested. Kirishima opted out as well, not because he didn’t want to be a part of it or had anything to hide, he just really needed to catch up on his schoolwork as he felt he was falling behind.

Jiro teased Kaminari about him perhaps needing to do the same, with him rebuking this and saying he had nothing but confidence in himself, prompting her to say that he should thus have no problem with being the first to showcase his room.

The electric boy’s room turned out to be somewhat disappointing as it was extremely cheap looking, not in a sense that he didn’t have a whole lot but that it looked like he went to a thrift store and picked up whatever he could afford, with everything clashing both colorwise and tonally.

Kaminari believed that Jiro would come to regret making fun of him as her room was right next to his, only for it to turn out to be, while definitely having a punk look to it with the blacks and purples, relatively standard, much to his dismay.

Iida’s room was fairly normal as well, besides the hundreds of books and glasses that he kept in his shelves, which amused Uraraka especially. Koda’s room had plenty of books as well on different species of bugs, with the sleeping arrangements of his insects also taking up quite a bit of space, which unsettled several of his peers.

On the other side of the first hall, Aoyama’s room proved to be so blindingly bright due to its absurd amount of sparkles that no one could bear to be in it for more than a few seconds. Ashido’s funky black and magenta room caught everyone’s eyes, with several students also observing all the New York City memorabilia, and a photo of her when she was younger alongside Kirishima and a huge Hero in a yellow hoodie.

Tsu’s room had an miniature aquarium for her pet salamander, and plenty of frog related items like a lamp, bed, and several plushies, while Hagakure’s room was almost too pink and traditionally girly, with several of the boys feeling like they were trespassing into a forbidden realm just by looking into it.

Deku’s dorm was pretty much what everyone expected, being so All Might themed that even the walls were painted red, white and blue, Ashido joking that it somehow looked more American than hers.

Mineta’s room was surprisingly simple, having several posters and figurines of both anime characters and Heroes, coincidentally mostly women, a few tabletop games, as well as a mini fridge with a lock on it, which had something in it he’d apparently been saving for a special occasion.

Ojiro’s room seemed to have been completely remodeled to resemble a traditional dojo, with several motivational posters written in Japanese, meaning most students weren’t able to decipher their meaning and had to ask their friends that could read the language to bestow upon them some ancient wisdom. They also saw that Ojiro had a gi colored blue and black, which he said was from his time spent at a martial arts school before he came to Yuuei.

Sato was the only one with his own space dedicated specifically to cooking, although it was rather small with only an oven, a counter for preparation, and a few shelves stuffed to the brim with different ingredients and recipes. He was also baking a cake like he did on their first day, only hopefully this time they’d be the ones eating and not Koda’s bugs.

Sero’s room was arguably the most high quality up to that point, being a muted brown color with several expensive looking paintings he explained were sent over by his family back home in South Africa.

The last set of rooms went back and forth in terms of impressiveness. Shoji’s room was pretty much empty besides the necessities, him explaining he grew up never having a whole lot, so materialism was a concept that sort of evaded him.

Tokoyami expressed his admiration for this perspective on life, only to be embarrassed when everyone found out that his room was completely black and extremely gothic, even having what looked like a few authentic swords that he threatened Deku and Kaminari not to lay their hands on.

Next, Uraraka’s room was nearly as plain as Shoji’s, although unlike him she seemed rather self conscious about it, despite being assured by her friends that it didn’t matter at all to them. The dorm inspections ended with a bang as 1A got a peek into how wealthy Yaoyorozu was due to her extremely luxurious bed taking up almost the entire room, to everyone’s shock.

Everyone returned to the main lounge area to vote for the winner, all the while enjoying a piece of Sato’s cake, something that ultimately netted him the victory due to how delicious it was.

A few students, specifically Mineta and Kaminari, accused this of being cheating, but they were quickly shut down, and overall people appreciated the friendly competition as a bonding activity, with Ashido lamenting that Kirishima couldn’t join in.

Little did everyone know, the reason for Kirishima not participating was not because he needed to dedicate extra time to study. Well, he did, it just wasn’t what he was doing.

Instead, he had wanted to try his luck at reaching out to Bakugo. It was something had wanted to do since the end of the second day when he witnessed the blonde’s outburst against Deku, but wasn’t entirely sure if he should have until today when Ashido and Hagakure actively avoided inviting him to the Room King Competition.

He didn’t blame them, as Bakugo had done absolutely nothing to make them think he was anything less than a hostile bully with too big of an ego, but he had realized that at this point, Bakugo was going to be completely isolated from the rest of the class, as they seemed about as interested in getting to know him better as he did them. He didn’t want to see that happen to somebody, no matter how bad of a first impression they may have made.

With a knock on the door, Kirishima waited for a second, readying a greeting, only to be cut off before he could finish saying ‘hey’ when his classmate slammed the door shut the instant he opened it. He knocked again, and then again, and then again, until Bakugo eventually opened up again and shouted at him asking him what he wanted.

Kirishima asked him to quiet down a bit, and said he just wanted to talk about something with him, much to Bakugo’s confusion, as he hadn’t recalled ever interacting with the spiky headed boy ever before.

From what he had seen of him before, though, he wasn’t all that annoying, a little too talkative, but not as bad as Deku or the yellow haired guy. So, if it meant getting him out of his hair, he stated that he supposed he could hear him out for a minute, much to Kirishima’s enthusiasm.

As soon as he entered Bakugo's room, Kirishima was asked, specifically, what it was he wanted to talk about. The redhead was somewhat caught off guard by the bluntness with which he was questioned, but reminded himself of who he was speaking to. Kirishima explained he simply wanted to discuss how Bakugo was doing at Yuuei, which didn’t seem to clear things up at all to the blonde, who told him to stop talking like an idiot before he kicked him out.

The red haired boy stumbled on his words, which caused Bakugo to suggest that he was trying to get to know him to try and find out his weaknesses or something, prompting him to roar that he could forget about because he didn’t have any. Kirishima rejected this, saying he just wanted to ask if he felt like he belonged at Yuuei, which only angered Bakugo further, accusing the other boy of trying to propose that he wasn’t strong enough.

Kirishima again said he wasn’t, he was just worried because it didn’t seem like Bakugo had made any efforts to socialize since what happened on the second day and he might have been feeling like he didn’t fit in or something. Bakugo barked that just because he wasn’t frollicking around, wasting his time playing with a bunch of extras, didn’t mean he didn’t belong at Yuuei.

Kirishima tried to insist he was misconstruing his words, but it seemed that he ran out of time to try and explain himself, as Bakugo threatened him with an explosion and booted him out the door.

He was frustrated, wondering if there was a way to get to Bakugo without words, as it seemed like an actual conversation between them at this point wasn't possible.

As the fourth week rolled around, most of Class 1A had gotten to be a place they were comfortable with in school life. Many each had a decent amount of friends, at least one class they did well in or least enjoyed, kept themselves busy or entertained in their free time, and didn’t feel all that out of place or homesick.

Hagakure had managed to organize a girl’s night, even if Yaoyorozu didn’t stay for the sleepover, Sato had continued to win over everyone’s hearts with his cooking skills, the group of Sero, Kaminari, Ashido and Kirishima had pulled off a successful prank on Aizawa that landed them in detention, etc.

The only ones who continued to avoid making friends were still Bakugo and Todoroki. But while a lot of students had good reason not to want to bother making the effort to win over the former, they were all pretty unsure of where to stand on Todoroki.

Pretty much none of them knew what to make of the multicolor haired powerhouse, and they were all a little too intimidated to try and change that. It turned out that it would take an outsider’s influence for them to get their first real glimpse at the personality of their classmate.

On a Tuesday, after they had been dismissed for lunch, the students of 1A walked out of class, and began to make their way down to the cafeteria. As they were walking and talking amongst themselves, however, they heard a loud, angry voice shout ‘Todoroki!’, which they all turned their attention to.

They watched as a boy with spiky black hair wearing a blue and white headband angrily approached an unfazed Todoroki, practically snarling at 1A student. Kaminari asked his classmates the identity of the raging newcomer, with Sero identifying him as ‘Yosetsu Awase’, a student in 1B of the Hero course, having met him during the entrance exams.

Awase yelled at Todoroki that earlier that day, a fire had broken out at the factory his father worked at in Tokyo, and while he managed to escape, he was now without a job.
The Flame Hero Endeavor, aka Enji Todoroki, ranked number two in the entire world and number one in China, had been brought into Tokyo for the specific purposes of helping prevent the number of factory burnings going on.

Awase claimed that all he did was just show up after the fact and give a speech on the news about how it was such a shame that Japan’s Heroes had allowed terrorism to get to the level it was at and tried to make it seem like All Might wasn’t as effective a protector as people thought he was.

He accused Todoroki of having a father who was nothing but a glory chasing bastard, practically jabbing him in the chest with his finger as he shouted this. Kirishima and a gray haired student, seemingly also from 1B, got in the middle of the two, and tried to defuse the situation, believing Todoroki would react negatively, to the extent where a fight could have broken out.

Much to everybody’s surprise, though, Todoroki simply began walking away, muttering that he agreed with Awase. He didn’t think his father was a true Hero whatsoever, and he couldn’t care less about anything negative people had to say about him.

Deku, though, now realizing why Todoroki’s name seemed familiar, asked him how he could say that, stating that Endeavor was one of the strongest Heroes of the modern era, that he’s saved thousands of lives and defeated countless villains, and, rather innocently, that he should talk about his father more respectfully.

This, for whatever reason, was what struck Todoroki the wrong way, as he turned his head to glare at Deku with more intensity than even Bakugo ever had, ordering him to never tell him to treat his father any differently, as he didn’t know anything about what he was really like, his words dripping with venom.

The crowd that had formed around the confrontation between Awase and Todoroki was left bewildered and speechless, including Awase himself, who wasn’t even angry anymore as much as he was befuddled. Ashido mumbled that it seemed like Todoroki’s heart was as cold as his Quirk is, adding that it was a shame since he was pretty handsome.

Sato, however, voiced his disagreement, saying that he couldn’t have been that bad of a person. Back during his and Koda’s battle trial with him, Sero reminding Sato that he was there too, Todoroki purposefully chose to end the battle as quickly and painlessly as possible, which Koda especially appreciated since it meant no bugs had to be harmed. He didn’t try to boast or anything after winning so easily either, he just looked sort of neutral about the whole affair.

Shoji agreed with Sato, suggesting that it seemed like something was troubling Todoroki, apparently in relation to his father, and that he just wasn’t ready to open up about it.

Deku internally knew that they were probably right, and that he shouldn't have bothered thinking about it, but he couldn’t help but wonder what exactly had happened between the two of them that could’ve caused Todoroki to speak about Endeavor in such a resentful manner.

Chapter 8: Villains Appear - The Volcano Thieves

Chapter Text

On the Friday on the fourth week of school at Yuuei, while Deku was walking back to his dorm with Uraraka, Iida, Tsu and Mineta, the five of them discussing their plans for the weekend, All Might ran in front of them and requested that he see ‘Young Midoriya’ immediately.

He explained, so as to not appear suspicious to his friends, that it was regarding his performance in their last class together, with Iida noting, much to Deku’s embarrassment, that his acting as a person in distress did leave something to be desired.

Once the mentor-mentee duo were alone in the former’s office, All Might took the time to apologize for the fact that they hadn’t had a lot of time to talk about his progress in recent weeks, he'd just been having a tough time acting as both a teacher and Hero, with all the traveling back and forth really taking a lot out of him.

Deku assured him he wasn’t that bothered as he had still been enjoying his time a lot at Yuuei and especially in his classes, although he felt he wasn’t necessarily improving a lot in regards to mastery over One for All. All that he had figured out was that he could channel it into specific parts of his body rather than just his limbs, which was something he did at the beginning of the month.

All Might reminded him, however, that since he’d been at Yuuei for over a month, he’d passed the requirement set by his teacher, the elusive Torino, to train him, which excited Deku greatly.

The number one Hero informed his student that he had given his old master a call earlier in the day, telling him that his successor had fulfilled his end of the bargain, and, although behaving grumpily about it, the man agreed and said that he could come over that weekend to begin.

Deku pumped his fist, cheering that he might finally be able to start using his Quirk effectively like his classmates, adding that he was confident that with both All Might and this new instructor educating him about how to use his power, he would have more control over it in no time.

This was when All Might, however, broke the news that he unfortunately wouldn’t be able to attend his pupil’s lesson, at least his first one, as he had been recruited to put a stop to what appeared to be a new villain group that had been causing major problems throughout all of Japan.

All Might explained that they appeared to be the ones responsible for the burning down of factories across the country, like the one that Deku himself was caught in and the one that destroyed the workplace of ‘Young Awase’s’ father.

Additionally, they were theorized to have been responsible for the unusual activity in the waves out at sea, the ones that had triggered the alarm back during the first week of school, as All Might revealed that they had led to the sinking of a handful of trade ships.

By doing both this and attacking Japan’s manufacturing centers, they had been harming the nation’s economy and the countless places that it exported to. The government had made it a top priority to stop this terrorist activity, bringing in several top Heroes like himself and Endeavor to deal with it before it could get out of hand. The plan was that each of them would go to one of the big factories that hadn’t yet been assaulted and stage an ambush on them when they arrived.

Deku was somewhat taken aback by all this, the fact that the ones responsible for the incident where his interference had gotten Death Arms killed had managed to continue pulling off such attacks on a rather significant scale.

He was nonetheless satisfied that it seemed they would be brought to justice, and told All Might that he didn’t have to worry about missing his first bout of training if it meant doing something so important.

All Might appreciated this, but then thought back to the meeting he had with several other Yuuei faculty members and representatives of the Heroes Association, when they told All Might that while his position as a teacher at Yuuei had not lead to a significant rise in crime in his home country, it had appeared that on an international level, criminals were less concerned about him potentially showing up to put a stop to them now that he didn’t have as much free time.

In the United States’ New York City, a Hero had gone off the radar after almost killing his partner. In Russia, there were rumblings of the mob spreading its influence even further than it already had. Throughout all of Europe, Mutant groups were becoming increasingly violent. In the United Kingdom, a Hero was murdered in a fashion that had led to it being covered up in order to prevent the public from panicking.

Although they didn’t necessarily tell him to do anything about it, he understood what they were insinuating, that they wanted him to step back from his position as a full time teacher, which he felt pressured to comply with as the Symbol of Peace.

At the same time, the development of his disciple was extremely important to him and he wanted to be there more than he currently had been, so he was left quite conflicted. He chose not to tell Deku this, not wanting to burden the young man with any unnecessary worry ahead of his training with a teacher he knew would give him quite a bit of trouble.

Deku’s plan for the weekend was on Saturday to travel on a ship to first go visit his mother in Musutafu, as he hadn’t seen her face to face since first departing for Yuuei, and while he called her constantly, it wasn’t quite the same.

After a few hours, he’d then head for Kofu, where the intimidating ‘Gran Torino’, an older Hero even he didn’t know about, lived, and spend the rest of Saturday and most of Sunday doing intensive training, until he came back to Yuuei in the evening.

His friends were a bit saddened that he would be gone as most of 1A had been planning to binge one of everyone’s favorite movies over the weekend, but were obviously supportive of his attempts to achieve a better handle on his Quirk.

Uraraka, in fact, seemed a bit bothered that Deku was the only one going out of his way to spend his time off training himself, and decided to see if there was a better way for her to spend her time as well.

It later turned out that Ojiro, Shoji and Koda would also be accompanying him back to Japan as they all came from there and also sought to see how their families were doing. Bakugo was the only Japanese student of 1A who was staying at school, no that anybody really knew what he got up to on weekends, only that it seemed like he basically vanished from in between Friday and Monday.

All Might, meanwhile, flew out that night to get to Hosu, a city district in Tokyo, which was where the factory attackers were largely anticipated to strike next. Before leaving, he gave Deku his best wishes, and advised him to buy some taiyaki as a present before he met up with Gran Torino in order to make a good first impression.

Deku spent the night steamrolling through whatever work for school he had previously planned to do over the weekend, as well as studying quite a bit ahead for the following week, as he knew that from that point on, he wouldn’t have the luxury of free time on his two days off for quite some time, at least until Gran Torino had taught him everything he could.

He had a hard time falling asleep that night, despite turning in early, as he couldn’t help but lay awake giddy at the thought of meeting someone who taught All Might himself, imagining all of the sage advice that awaited him. He wondered how far he would be able to come in just a day and a half with the elder, trying not to get too ahead of himself in imagining he’d be able to start leaping over skyscrapers like his idol, but it was hard to stop his eager imagination.

These thoughts at least kept him entertained on the ship and subsequent train ride, as did conversing with Shoji, Ojiro and Koda, who he admittedly didn’t know as well as some of his other classmates.

It became apparent that they were probably some of his calmer peers, not necessarily less eccentric, what with Shoji having a quiet intensity to him and Koda having bugs regularly crawling over him, but they weren’t ones to suddenly shout during an otherwise quiet conversation like Iida, go into giggle fits like Uraraka over the smallest of amusem*nts, or be, well, Mineta.

He appreciated the change of pace and wouldn’t have at all minded talking to them more, but his stop soon came and he had to bid them goodbye. As he stepped out of the train and into his familiar home city, he got a rush of emotion, having not realized how much one month away from the place you had grown up all your life made you miss it.

Although it would be brief, he was looking forward to having some time to relax at home with his mother, and so set off to begin his short walk to their apartment complex.

And then he heard the explosion.

It was practically identical to the one he saw over a year ago, the same day that his recklessness had ended in the death of another.

At first he couldn’t fathom it, why here, why wasn’t it where All Might was, in Hosu? That’s when he remembered; he and Death Arms had evacuated all of the workers, it was a casualty free incident besides the pro Hero.

This allowed a temporary replacement factory to be quickly constructed and allowed them form of work to return to usual. It appeared now that the terrorists had returned to finish the job.

Deku also recalled the Hero that had been assigned to permanently replace Death Arms; Kamui Woods, an up and comer whose Quirk ‘Arbor’ allowed him to generate wood from their body. As skilled a fighter as he was, his Quirk was completely unsuitable against something like this.

He, unlike Death Arms, did have sidekicks that could probably help out somewhat when this type of thing happened, but it still wasn’t assured. Ojiro, Shoji and Koda soon joined him outside, the train immediately shutting down its service due to the presence of villains in the area, asking aloud if this was an attack from the arsonist villain group.

Deku answered that he was sure that it was but unsure of how long it would take for All Might or any other Heroes to arrive on the scene. He announced that he was going to try and save the people inside the factory, and hopefully capture the culprits behind the burning as well.

Although it might bring back some bad memories, he doubted he would feel any better if he didn’t get involved, especially knowing that he actually had the power to put out the flames now with One for All.

Ojiro and Koda were shocked by this, the former asking if they were even allowed to intervene, since first year students at Hero schools were only permitted to fight villains ranked either F, E or D tier so as to not be exposed to opponents too dangerous for them.

Deku responded that in the case of these criminals, no one had been able to identify how many of them there were, what their Quirks were, what they looked like, or anything, and thus they hadn’t been officially ranked by the Heroes Association, technically allowing them to engage with them.

Ojiro still seemed unsure, as did Koda, but Shoji spoke up and said he would go with Deku and be of assistance whatever way he could. They began to run off in the direction of the blast, with the other two somewhat reluctantly following behind after a couple more seconds of deliberating.

After about twenty minutes, the four Hero students had gotten close to arriving at their destination, having changed into their outfits that they had in their backpacks as well, although Deku had to wear just his gym uniform with a few extra pieces of gear since he hadn’t gotten a replacement for the one Bakugo destroyed. They were able to see that the factory was ablaze, but that a number of the workers inside had managed to be evacuated, running past them as they approached.

Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like the rescue operation had managed to have been completed, as there were numerous unconscious Heroes, likely Kamui Woods’ sidekicks, lying around, while the wooden warrior himself was currently struggling to restrain three costumed individuals that none of the boys recognized, but judging by the position they were in, Deku knew they were villains.

The biggest of them was a burly man wearing blue, with rocky gloves, shoulder pads, and boots, a gas mask, and a wild mane of scarlet hair. The only girl wore a black outfit that would have made anyone blush had the situation not have been so serious, with flowing white hair, also bearing a mask. The shortest, although not much smaller than his female accomplice, was a bizarre looking man with an elongated face and hands resembling fan blades, who thankfully donned a much less revealing black suit and goggles.

Before they could even fully register them, the quartet watched as the trio of villains took action against Kamui Woods, who was barely maintaining his grip around them with his prison of wood in the first place.

The red haired man blasted what looked like lava out from his stone gauntlets, turning the branches that enveloped him and his comrades into ash, causing Kamui Woods to recoil, before he was then blown away by a hurricane of dust, unleashed by the odd man gyrating his fingers like a propeller and the woman producing the substance from her hands.

The large man addressed the two, seemingly his subordinates, as ‘Gust Boy’ and ‘Dusty Ash’ respectively, saying that now that the Hero was down, and the factory was still burning, they could make their exit, although suggested that they may need to kill everyone who’s seen them to ensure there wouldn’t be any witness accounts.

Gust Boy pointed out to ‘Volcano’, however, with his absurdly large index finger that they might not have been able to get away so easily, frightfully calling out that it appeared new strong looking Heroes had arrived on the scene.

Dusty Ash didn’t seem as scared, asking him what he meant as it seemed like it was just a few highschoolers, probably a couple Heroes in training trying to show off. Volcano insisted it didn’t matter to him who they were, as they would be stuffed into urns all the same once he was done with them.

He fired a stream of magma from his hand, one that the students were able to react to in time, jumping out of the way. Ojiro yelled that if these villains were able take out a highly skilled professional like Kamui Woods, they might have been just a little above what they’re permitted to fight after all, with Deku insisting that they couldn’t think about that now that they’ve gotten involved. There were still people in danger all around them, so until the official Heroes came to save the day, they’d have to stand their ground.

Planting his feet and concentrating One for All in his ring finger, Deku sent forward a gust of air toward the building, as well the villains in the process, blowing them back and also putting out a lot of the fire, but not all of it due to his limited range.

Volcano cursed at this, ordering Gust Boy and Dusty Ash to take care of them while he went back inside to restart the burning, running inside after giving the command.

The duo proceeded to repeat their tactic of blowing forward a huge stream of ash, blinding the Hero students and forcing them to try and find cover, with them managing to regroup behind a few metal crates.

Deku explained that he thought it would be best if, as dangerous as it would be, they split up, believing that someone needed to go try and stop Volcano from relighting the fire, while another person also went into the building to continue the evacuation effort. The other two would have to try and deal with Gust Boy and Dusty Ash, at least until the police or other Heroes arrived.

Ojiro voiced his apprehension, saying if they were going to fight, they needed to fight together, as diverting their efforts would likely only lead to them getting injured badly or worse.

Shoji argued in support of Deku’s plan, explaining that they likely wouldn’t be able to beat the first two in time to also prevent Volcano from causing further destruction, to the point that he might even come back and aid his minions, quashing their efforts easily.

They then looked to Koda, who had been mostly quiet throughout everything, and who seemed to be conflicted, but ultimately put on a determined face and said that he believed Deku and Shoji were right, adding that, if they were all putting their efforts into achieving a common goal, they would still be fighting together.

Ojiro, although not relieved of all his reservations, relented, and vowed to fight as hard as he could.

Eventually, Gust Boy had to take a break from using his Quirk, and as soon as he did, he and his ally were caught off guard by Shoji hurling Ojiro at them with all his strength. The blonde boy swiped his large tail at them, forcing them to duck, while Deku and Koda maneuvered around to get into the building.

Spotting this, Gust Boy attempted to attack them with another wave of wind, only to be struck in the stomach and knocked back by Ojiro, who in turn avoided being attacked with a cloud of dust.

Shoji rushed over, growing two extra arms and attempting to strike Dusty Ash, but she proved to be more agile than her male companion, flipping back and gaining some distance.

Back to back, Shoji told Ojiro that it would be best if they tried to keep the duo separated since it seemed like their Quirks worked best when used in conjunction with each other, and would be more manageable on their own.

Ojiro said it was his choice to fight who he wished, with Shoji saying that he would battle Dusty Ash, believing he lacked the speed necessary to deal with someone that could blow him away like Gust Boy, who his tailed classmate agreed to take on himself.

Dusty Ash warned them not to underestimate her, drawing a club resembling a ninjato, while Gust Boy frantically copied her, unconfidently, his hands going to the knives stored on his belt.

Several cities away, All Might reacted with terror as he and the police squad accompanied him were informed that an explosion had gone off at a factory in Musutafu as opposed to any of the cities that they had prepared for an attack in, and that the local Hero Kamui Woods was reported to have been struggling greatly against the villains behind the act of arson.

All Might didn’t even need to be asked to take off in the direction of his protege’s home, immediately leaping across the skyscrapers of Tokyo before the less strenuous but slower option of a helicopter was presented to him.

Fearful that not only might the terrorists escape to inflict damage upon the country once again, but that his students could possibly have been in danger, he ran and jumped as fast as he could in order to get there, hopefully within the hour, although it would likely exert a great amount of his energy in order to accomplish this so quickly.

Meanwhile, Deku and Koda had separated within the building, the former darting around looking for Volcano while the latter sent out co*ckroaches to look for workers still trapped within the structure of the factory.

As he dashed through the halls, looking for the bulky criminal, Deku tried to think like him and figure out where the best place would be to start a fire. As he did this, he spotted a faintly charred map of the layout of the factory on the wall, with the label ‘Machinery Room’ catching his eyes, as a place dedicated to storing heavy equipment likely contained huge amounts of fuel, namely oil.

Identifying it as being two floors below where he was currently, he saw a hole recently burned through the ground, just big enough so that someone of Volcano’s build could fit through it.

Pulling up his mask as he prepared to go where it would likely be hard to breathe, Deku jumped through the hole, determined to take on his first real villain since trying to save Bakugo from Sludge.

Landing with a bit of strain at the bottommost part of the entire site, Deku spotted Volcano piling up all the barrels of oil together so that he could then set them ablaze and take out the entirety of the factory with one gigantic flare.

Deku called out to the pyrokinetic, surprising him as he angrily questioned how he managed to get past ‘G and D’. The green haired Hero student yelled that he was here to put an end to his acts of destruction.

Volcano glared, telling Deku that he clearly didn’t understand what he was trying to do, and fired a stream of lava towards him, which the boy dodged, but not before quickly checking behind him to see if it would hit anything combustible.

As Volcano readied another magma blast, Deku deduced that his best plan of action would be to try and get close, hoping that his enemy wouldn’t be as willing to use his Quirk at a close range in case he didn’t possess heat resistance.

Using his speed, he jolted forward, again moving out of the way of Volcano’s attack, and succeeded in getting close, using all his regular strength to barge into the larger man in an attempt to knock him over.

Unfortunately Volcano wasn’t so frail, only grunting before clutching Deku by his shoulder and tossing him into the wall, expecting the impact to knock him unconscious. But the pro Hero in training wasn’t so vulnerable himself, having endured a lot worse before, and used Volcano’s doubt of him to chuck a small piece of rubble and nail the villain in the back of the head, causing him to turn around in frustration.

He was met, however, with a large wrench that Deku had retrieved from the ground, which he slammed against Volcano’s forehead, drawing blood and making him stumble back in pain.

Deku, wanting to make the most of the opening he’d made for himself and get out of where he couldn’t afford to make any mistakes, charged up One for All in his fist, and sent Volcano flying up into the next floor with what he called a ‘Detroit Smash’, at the cost of severely damaging his arm to the point of it almost breaking once more. Thankfully, his mental image of the egg had somehow actually helped him keep his bones intact.

Back outside, Shoji was on the offensive, throwing punch after punch at Dusty Ash, who was continuously being forced to dodge, never getting the chance to try and attack herself as pausing for even a second risked her getting pummeled.

Ojiro also seemed to be handling Gust Boy quite well, having no trouble skillfully avoiding his throwing knives, which weren’t being tossed with much precision as a result of his opponent’s fingers making doing so awkward.

He was eventually able to get close enough to repeatedly strike the wind manipulator, bruising him significantly to the point where he had to retreat, propelling himself up by spinning his fingers, landing on top of a few metal crates stacked on top of one another.

He started blowing down a series of bricks and wooden planks that had been placed atop the platform, which Ojiro swiftly smashed to pieces with his tail, saying that if he thought materials like that were going to hurt him he was mistaken, as he was a trained martial artist.

Gust Boy shrieked that this didn’t impress him, boasting with a bit too much pride that regardless of whatever fancy fighting style he had, his Quirk was too plain compared to his own.

Ojiro glared at this, before slamming the bottom crate of the tower his foe was standing upon with such force that they were knocked over, Gust Boy included in this collapse. He wound up laying over one of the metal crates, dazed, with Ojiro standing over him, preparing to knock him unconscious with another blow, only for Dusty Ash to scream at her ally to get his act together, saying that if he lost to a teenager then nobody was ever going to treat him seriously ever again.

Gust Boy, tears flowing from his eyes, shouted that he was never going back to being a joke, and pushed himself up, surprising Ojiro, then launched a shockingly powerful punch with his enlarged hand, which his opponent managed to block with his tail but was nonetheless pushed back by.

Dusty Ash, meanwhile, had taken a hit from Shoji while berating her teammate, but held on to consciousness, allowing her to get a clean hit on the masked boy by bashing him across the face with her club, which turned out to be laced with dust, blinding her enemy.

Gust Boy, meanwhile, by pure luck rather than it being a strategy he took time to develop, had pushed Ojiro back towards the other two fighters by mixing his knife throwing with his blowing, creating a whirlwind of weaponry that the tailed boy, as nimble as he was, had trouble dodging.

Now on the backfoot, the student Heroes were unable to prevent their adversaries from joining back up, and recommencing their signature attack. They were pushed together by a torrent of wind and dust, with Shoji extending his arms to form a shield of flesh around Ojiro, all the while knives pierced his skin, there seemingly being no way out of their predicament.

All Might sprinted across metropolis after metropolis, now about half way to Musutafu, much to his frustration as he surmised that in his prime he would’ve already long been there by now with his unparalleled speed.

As he leapt over another city block, he spotted in the corner of his eye a screen showing news footage of the fight going down at his destination, where, although the only thing visible was a storm of what looked like ash, with knives and rubble being tossed around as well, the reporter noted that a few eye witnesses claimed to have seen two teenagers, seemingly Hero students, were fighting what were believed to have been the culprits behind the explosion.

It was also believed that another two boys were inside the building alongside the third criminal, although it was obviously impossible to get any footage of this at the moment.

Within the battleground veiled by heat, Volcano had still not managed to pick himself up from Deku’s punch, him on his knees clutching the area of his chest where he had been struck, resisting the urge to just pass out and make the pain stop.

Deku, despite having not been the one punched with the force of a bullet train, was similarly trying not to let his injury get the better of him, struggling to walk up the short flight of stairs from the third floor to the second.

He managed to grip his nearly broken fist, squeezing it tightly to try and distract himself from how much it hurt, while hoping that his Smash had been enough to put down the villain, as he still needed his other arm to put out more of the fire. Unfortunately, Volcano wouldn’t be put down with just one blow, no matter how powerful said blow was.

Snarling that if the kid wanted to go hand to hand he was more than happy to do the same, Volcano began leaking magma out of his gauntlets so that it covered them and hardened into molten rock.

Deku’s eyes widened as he had to quickly leap out of the way of the fists swinging down at him, but he wasn’t as fast as before, allowing Volcano to grab his foot, then slam him into the ground with a sickening crack as the teen felt not only his arm fully break, but his back nearly do the same.

Screaming, Deku had no time to think as he wailed on relentlessly, his burlier opponent shouting that he wasn’t going to just assume like he was knocked out before, as he’d proved himself tougher than he gave him credit for. This time, he was going to keep beating him until he was a bloody pulp so he was sure he was out of his hair.

Before his face could get punched into being totally unrecognizable, however, Deku was able to launch Volcano off of him with a desperate One for All powered foot to the stomach, at the cost of breaking his leg, bringing him down to just two working limbs.

It also wasn’t as quite as strong as his punch from before, having been more of a wild movement than a readied attack, meaning Volcano wasn’t taken aback by this for nearly as long.

Still, in the time that he was trying to catch his breath, Deku somehow managed to stand back up, if it could be called that as he had to kneel on one leg, figure shaking. His green eyes stared down the villain, who he ordered to surrender now before things got worse for him. This was an obvious bluff, but Deku was aware that he was in an incredibly detrimental position right now, and needed to try and buy some time to think of a strategy.

Volcano glared back at him with a burning hatred, furiously insisting that it was him who needed to stand down, all of them, all of the so-called “Heroes”. He ranted that they were protecting a society that was destroying the very land they lived on, one that thrived off of the destruction of the Earth.

That’s why he and his team, the ‘Volcano Thieves’, were stealing back the world for mother nature by getting rid of all the ways that humans profited from hurting it, no matter who or what else they had to burn down in the process. As soon as his tirade reached its climax, however, he stopped abruptly, as he felt a sharp sting in his neck, only for him to realize that he had been bitten by an insect.

With Ojiro and Shoji, the two remain trapped in the center of a hurricane of blistering wind, the latter taking the brunt of the damage. The two frantically discussed ways to turn the tides in their favor again, with Shoji struggling to bear the pain of his several wounds and doubting he’ll be able to stay awake until Gust Boy had to take a break, as much as he was trying to.

If he did manage to hold out, he predicted that with it temporarily not being blown around, they could use the ash cloud to their advantage, since it seemed like neither of their enemies were able to see through it.

Thus, by Shoji growing extra ears so he could sense where they specifically were, Ojiro would be able to take them down with sneak attacks since they were also at a point where they couldn’t take another good hit.

Ojiro surmised that the only other option would be to just make a break for it, but he doubted both of them would be able to escape considering Shoji’s condition, who informed his friend that he was prepared for that possibility if it meant he’d able to get away, something the martial artist flatly refused.

Just then, Gust Boy’s blowing came to a stop much sooner than they had expected, as he yelped that something really sharp just stung him on the neck, asking aloud what the hell it was.

The two teens realized that this was their chance, and sprung into action, with Shoji sprouting several extra ears and ordering Ojiro to head to his southwest, which he did, before then leaping as per instruction.

In seconds, he spotted the outline of Gust Boy, readying another cycle of wind, who didn’t register Ojiro in time to stop him from smashing his tail down on his head full force. The villain was somehow able to stave off fainting from this, but was extremely dazed, bleeding from his mouth, and clumsily swung at Ojiro with a knife.

The Yuuei student wrapped his tail around the limb bearing the weapon, yanked it forward, and then elbowed Gust Boy down onto his neck, knocking him out for good. As he fell into unconsciousness, the criminal lamented that he had finally become something else than just a freak for people to laugh at, only to have been taken down in a humiliating way against some twerp with a basic Quirk.

Dusty Ash, meanwhile, appeared agitated, mentioning that it had been too long since Gust Boy activated his Quirk and something must have happened. Knowing she didn’t stand a chance by herself, she prepared to depart to maybe try and reconvene with Volcano, only to be seized by a familiar web of charred but sturdy branches.

Bewildered, she turned her head to see a partially recovered Kamui Woods, who said that she wasn’t going anywhere, as her dust began to dissipate, finally making the area visible again.

Inside, Deku’s eyes widened when Volcano announced his fresh injury, before they switched focus to the newly arrived Koda, who the insect flew back over to, landing on his shoulder.

Volcano chuckled menacingly, mockingly questioning the boy if he thought a bug bite was going to do anything to him, with Koda quietly informing him that it wasn’t an ordinary sting, it was him being attacked by the ‘Vespa mandarinia’, better known by some as the ‘murder hornet’, with this one packing an especially potent venom.

As if triggered by the explanation, Volcano nearly doubled over as he felt a searing pain course through his entire body, stemming from his neck, swearing at Koda scornfully, who wasn’t yet finished.

The teen who in the brief time Deku had known him seemed incapable of rage, or even raising his voice, shouted that Volcano was completely and utterly wrong, as he ran towards the beast of a man and shoved him with a stunning amount of force.

He hadn’t performed just a push, however, but also a means of transport, which became sickeningly apparent when a swarm of co*ckroaches began spreading across Volcano’s figure, causing him to yell and try to swat them away to no avail. Koda exclaimed that while it was true that the environment needed to be saved, the means to accomplish this was not through more death and destruction.

He’d been able to talk to some of the oldest species to have ever lived on the planet since he was five years old, so he knew better than almost anyone that the real best way for wildlife to prosper was a peaceful coexistence with humans, and that meant finding balance, not breeding chaos. To send home the message, he threw an unexpected punch at the face of the extremist, with enough strength to break his gas mask, along with seemingly his nose.

WIth bugs crawling all over him, his neck feeling like it was going to split open, and his lungs now being exposed to the smoke in the room, on top of the multiple hits he had taken from Deku, Volcano was aware that he was in a very precarious position, and that if he wanted any chance at getting out of this situation he needed to act fast. He swung sluggishly at Koda, who guarded with one arm before clocking him in the face again with another punch.

Enraged, Volcano resorted to biting down on the bug enthusiast’s fist, catching him off guard and allowing the pyrokinetic to bash his own much stronger hand into Koda’s chest, knocking the wind out of him.

His combat senses inhibited, however, his next move proved to be a mistake, as he tried blasting Koda with magma, forgetting that his hand was covered in molten rock, leading to a burst of stone and lava sending Koda flying back, severely burnt by then substance, while Volcano’s arm itself was badly singed.

Deku cried out in immense concern for his classmate as he saw the attack occur, only to realize something in that moment, his mind transporting him back to the moment he saw Death Arms perish.

He, as Jackrabbit, and the pro were slowly leading a group of citizens out of the carnage, when a stream of fire shot forwards, as if deliberately aiming at them. He scurried to get in front of the innocents, fully prepared to sacrifice himself to the flames, only for Death Arms to push him behind himself and bear the heat instead, killing him as a result.

As he replayed the image of a Hero falling lifelessly to the ground through his head, his eyes locked onto Volcano, clarity reaching him before he was overwhelmed by wrath.

Screaming that it was him who did it, Deku hurled himself towards Volcano by powering his remaining leg with One for All. The villain could only try to guard with his arm, which was immediately broken on impact, causing him to shout in pain, before swatting Deku away with his relatively unscathed arm. The Yuuei student sprawled on the floor, weakly pushing himself up to look at the ecoterrorist, who was gearing up to finish him off with one last blow.

On his knees with only an arm left to defend himself, Deku had scarcely any time or resources to formulate a plan around an attack that he knew could very well be his undoing, before he laid eyes on the arm he had disabled, and the burns that covered it.

That was it. He could still be hurt by his own lava.

As Volcano swung down, Deku channeled every last bit of energy he had into a final One for All charged punch. Bellowing ‘Houston Smash!,’ he launched his fist forward to counter his opponent’s, the resulting force shattering not only the molten rock surrounding it, but also the glove, and thus completely breaking the other hand.

Volcano hollered in absolute agony as his own magma poured out onto his exposed hand, burning it down to raw tissue in seconds, while Deku, every single one of his limbs broken, fell back, finally fainting.

Volcano also collapsed, writhing in misery as, unfortunately for both him and his foe, his lava ignited a few pieces of stray cloth from their torn up uniforms, causing a fire to begin spreading and enveloping them. Volcano, despite his grief, couldn’t help but see the humor in this as he closed his eyes, supposing it was fitting that this was the way he would go out.

But it was not to be.

Barely a minute after it appeared that he and his two heroic adversaries would be slain by the inferno, a shockwave snuffed the flames out in an instant. Just in time to ensure no more harm could be done, All Might was here. Picking up the scorched but still alive Koda before quickly approaching his apprentice, the number one Hero looked down sadly at Deku’s broken body.

He felt a mix of outrage, in himself for failing to arrive beforehand and leaving his protege to suffer in his steed, and also pride, as Deku, with the help of his classmates and his signature wits, had taken down his first villain, and a rather infamous one at that.

It was then that he came to a conclusion about his own internal conflict earlier, in regards to whether being there for his successor should be his top priority or not, and knew with absolute certainty that it had to be.

Not only did the young man in front of him have so much potential, but so did the rest of the boys who fought alongside him. That whole class was brimming with so much possibility to do good and make a difference.

It was important that he was there for them, to support their growth as much as possible, and ensure that when he was long gone, a great generation of Heroes would be capable of picking up where he left off.

When Deku woke up early the next morning, he saw his mother asleep on a chair next to him, hand holding his, which was completely healed from when he had last been awake.

It took him a moment to comprehend that he was in a hospital, lying in bed, likely having again been healed by Recovery Girl to what he imagined was her worried frustration. His movement from checking his surroundings had in turn awoken his mom, who immediately threw her arms around him in a hug, bawling her eyes out that she was so glad he was safe.

In spite of his best efforts, he teared up as well, and the two shared a long embrace as he apologized for scaring her, and that he was happy to see her after all of what he had gone through.

After being made to promise to never do something like that again, and being given the go ahead by the doctors to walk around, he took the time to visit his three friends, with all of them being in good condition.

Shoji did have some cuts on his arms, and Koda possessed some minimal scarring from what lava landed on him, although Deku considered this a miracle as he had seen quite a bit land on him, having expected it to be worse. Ojiro hummed in agreement, considering Koda lucky, although seemed to be withholding something.

Nonetheless, Deku couldn’t thank them enough for going along with what was an admittedly very shaky plan, but Ojiro told him not to be too harsh on himself. After all, even if it had taken a lot of strife to accomplish, they won.

Koda had managed to evacuate all the remaining workers, and they took down the villains, who were all on track to be brought to prison, perhaps even Tartarus, the largest maximum security facility for supervillains in the world, following their interrogations.

Four Heroes in training who’d only been at Yuuei for a month, and they managed to take down some of the most notorious criminals that had currently been active in Japan.

Shoji wondered how their classmates would react to the fact, with Koda saying that he hoped they wouldn’t look at them differently. It is at that moment that All Might entered the conversation, responding to the insect fanatic that their peers would only hold more respect for them.

He expressed his belief that most of their classmates already knew that if presented with the kind of scenario they faced yesterday, that they were the type of individuals who would want to do something to help. The only thing that had changed was now they knew that not only would they try to make a difference, but they could.

That would prove to inspire them to try even harder down the line in their journey to becoming Heroes, and thus they should all have been proud of themselves for what they had accomplished.

The four students smiled at each other, Shoji growing a tendril to do so, before the number one Hero then asked to speak with Deku alone about his battle with Volcano.

All Might informed his protege that now that the villains’ identities and Quirks had been uncovered, they were currently being ranked in regards to how dangerous they were. While Gust Boy and Dusty Ash were reportedly being assigned as about high D tier, Volcano, due to his destructive capability, was apparently going to be marked as C, which would have been above what Deku and Koda, as first year Hero students, were allowed to take on.

In order to avoid any potential controversy from this, the story being presented was that Volcano attacked the two of them when they were evacuating people, and All Might had arrived to save them and defeat the villain.

He said he knew this took away from Deku’s own victory, but his protege quickly told his mentor that he didn’t mind at all. Being a Hero wasn’t about glory, it was about knowing that you did your best.

He then began rambling, rather self consciously, that he didn’t even know if it could be counted as him winning since he knocked himself out and broke all his bones and he didn’t even do it all by himself and he probably could’ve done things a lot better, before All Might stopped him with a chop to the head.

The Symbol of Peace chuckled and said that he was going to have to quit that habit when he started training with Gran Torino, which caused Deku to panic as he realized that he was late to meeting him, quickly beginning to run to go get dressed, but All Might held him in place.

He explained to his student that he called his old teacher in the aftermath, and that after a lot of convincing and arguing about how he was wasting his time, he agreed to see him the next weekend, after Deku had time to recover, the boy beaming knowing he didn’t miss out after all.

In the evening, after a few more medical tests and having dinner with his mother, it was time for the Heroes to return to Yuuei, All Might choosing to accompany the students back via the train and boat in case any of them had anything they wanted to talk about.

As they sailed across the ocean through the night, every passenger on board had fallen asleep, except for Deku and All Might, the latter noticing that the former looked somewhat melancholic despite all of the good news he had received in the day.

Asked if he’s alright, Deku attempted to play it off as just being tired, before, upon being further questioned, admitting he was thinking about what happened to Death Arms again.

He explained that as he fought Volcano, he came to realize that his lava had actually been what killed the pro Hero, while he previously believed it to just be fire. He expected this to alleviate him of the guilt he felt from that day, but it didn’t really. He still couldn’t help but think that things could’ve gone differently if he hadn’t gotten involved.

All Might was silent for a bit after Deku revealed this to him, in serious contemplation, before telling the young man that when he was just a little older than him, he watched a Hero die in front of him as well, the one that he had told him previously was who he believed was the most amazing to ever exist.

Like Death Arms seemed to do, she died so that he could keep living. Back then, he constantly wondered if things could’ve turned out better for her if he had done things differently, he spent days, weeks on end blaming himself for her death.

But eventually he realized that if all he was doing was questioning why she died and he lived, he was insulting her sacrifice. If he valued her life so much, then he had to trust that the judgment she made to preserve him over herself was the right one.

He had to keep moving forward, living as best he could, because in her final moments, that was all she wanted. He encouraged Deku to do just that, to become somebody who you would put your life on the line for.

Taking in his mentor’s advice, Deku solemnly nodded. Looking out into the star-filled sky above, he reaffirmed to himself that he would be the greatest Hero, to ensure that all the sacrifices ever made for him and all the blessings he’s ever been given would not be in vain or wasted.

Elsewhere, inside of a desolate, abandoned building was an astonishingly well kept, high class bar. A feminine figure dressed as a bartender with a body composed of dark violet mist poured a cup of soda and slid it over to a scraggly man who looked as if he hadn’t bathed since he he hit the double digits.

He took the drink and slowly sipped it, roughly coughing on the harsh fizz, as he stared up at the television displaying All Might giving an interview regarding the defeat of the Volcano Thieves with vested, perhaps even obsessive, interest.

He smiled creepily as he muttered that although All Might might have won the day… he had just given him an incredibly useful tool to use in the future, his eyes shifting to look at the photo of Volcano on the screen.

Chapter 9: Unforeseen Danger at the Unforeseen Simulation Joint

Chapter Text

Uraraka was happy for Deku when he told her and his other friends that he was making a trip to Japan on the weekend in order to receive special training for his Quirk.

She knew he had been trying really hard over the past month to keep up with everyone else when it came to Hero exercises. His diligent nature when it came to studying made it so that his overall grades didn’t fall behind whatsoever, but she knew that if only he had better control over his powers he’d be able to really excel.

And while she was excited that he was being given the chance to bring out his full amazing potential, she couldn’t help but also feel a little bothered.

Why was he the only one training himself, while the rest of them were fine to just take it easy? It wasn’t as if she hadn’t been putting a lot of effort into her academic work, obviously, but when it came to her actual superpowers she didn’t think she had really improved at all since she got to Yuuei.

She voiced these concerns to the others while Deku was getting all of his stuff ready for his weekend away, with Iida and Tsu agreeing, the former stating that although he knew he had better control over his Quirk, he couldn’t help but feel like Deku was already ahead of him when it came to heroics.

Tsu felt as though none of them had been able to do anything as mind blowing as what Deku did on the second day against Bakugo, despite being able to use their abilities so much more freely, and believed that was something they needed to change in the future with the ‘Sports Festival’, one of the biggest annual events in the world, held by Yuuei and other schools in order to showcase their students’ capabilities in a competitive environment, coming up in the middle of November.

Although Mineta insisted that they shouldn’t have had to think about this stuff on the weekend, their conversation started attracting other members of 1A who also wanted to better the use of their Quirks, until basically the whole class, besides Todoroki and the Japanese students who were also either getting prepared like Deku or doing whatever Bakugo did in his free time, were thinking of ways to solve their shared problem.

Yaoyorozu mentioned that the renovations for the ‘Unforeseen Situation Joint’, a facility meant for Hero course students to apply their Quirks to a multitude of different disaster related situations, had recently wrapped up and could be ready for use, meaning that they could utilize the simulations there as a means to strengthen their skills.

The class reached a consensus that, at the very least, it was worth trying out, and they contacted the faculty member in charge of the USJ, one Uraraka happened to be a huge fan, gushing to the point where Iida took over talking; the Space Rescue Hero Thirteen.

They requested that they have a session scheduled for Saturday, apologizing for not asking ahead of time, but she was actually extremely eager to fulfill their desire, saying that throughout all her previous years no students had ever come to her before, it’s always been part of their classes and thus planned by their teachers.

Surmising that something pretty special must be inspiring them, Thirteen agreed to take them on tomorrow, while warning that it might turn out to be more challenging than they anticipated.

The next day, those in 1A participating woke up bright and early, although after Deku, Shoji, Ojiro and Koda had departed, with a few students having to be dragged by their more well rested peers, and headed off towards the location of the USJ. As they walked the distance, donned in their Hero costumes, conversation broke out among them, based on their predictions around how the day would go.

Uraraka was probably the most jovial, even more so than usual, expounding that she had always wanted to be a rescue Hero, her Quirk seeming extremely fitting towards it, and she felt today was her time to shine, not having a whole lot of confidence in her inherent combat skills.

Tsu was similarly enthusiastic, although characteristically it was hard to tell, her flat expression as she described the anticipation she felt making some of her classmates question if she was being genuine.

Hagakure lamented Ojiro and the others not being around, knowing the tailed boy wouldn’t want to miss out on an opportunity for self improvement, with Ashido also complaining that they weren’t able to convince Todoroki to join them, specifically blaming Sero for not being able to woo him, who blurted out that it was her fault for thinking he’d do any better just cause they were partners in the simulation battles.

Kaminari teased him, saying they were actually counting on his rugged good looks, only to have a piece of tape slapped over his mouth.

Before too long, they approached their destination, with Thirteen outside waiting, happily greeting them once she spotted them. She introduced the USJ as the best way for Heroes in training to get familiar with disaster situations, which contrary to what a lot of people think were a good chunk of what Hero work was, due to natural events, Quirk related accidents, and villain attacks.

Not only would it prepare them for these types of scenarios, it would increase the technique they had with their Quirks, since at the moment, from what she had been informed of by their teachers, most of them didn’t have very refined control, and even those who did had room to improve.

Jiro questioned how some of them were going to be useful due to their Quirks seeming unfitting for saving people, specifically pointing out Kaminari’s electricity, much to the blonde’s chagrin.

Thirteen responded that while some Quirks may have seemed very straightforward, the truth was that almost every Quirk had several times the practicality than it initially appears to have.

For example, Kaminari’s electricity didn’t only have to be used for all out attacks, it could also be used to charge important electronics that would otherwise be powerless, like fridges, or ovens, or lights, in the event of a disaster. So while he might not have been able to, say, jump down to grab someone trapped deep underground like if he had the ability to fly or if he was super bouncy, he could still be helpful in his own right.

She hoped that they would all be able to explore their Quirks in depth throughout their time with her, and maybe even understand more fully what it meant to be a Hero.

The exercises turned out to be a lot more bizarre than what anyone from 1A could have expected. The simulations involved the 14 students being put into groups and split up across the multiple zones that made up the USJ, being rotated as they finish.

The first operation, which took place in the ‘Mountain Zone’, saw five students, divided into two teams, with one acting as the people in need of rescue, and the other as the rescuers.

The first ones to go were Uraraka, Jiro and Hagakure as the civilians and Sero and Kaminari as the Heroes. Sero was confident that he’d probably be the best at this activity outside of Uraraka herself, although Kaminari expressed doubt as to if his friend would be able to safely lower himself down due to the darkness, to which the black haired boy grinned and said he wasn’t.

A minute later, after some arguing, Kaminari was slowly descending down the canyon, wrapped around several times over by Sero’s tape, who surprisingly didn't have all that much trouble handling his friend’s weight. He did have to yell at the electricity user to stop his nervous fidgeting, to which the other boy shouted back that he couldn’t help it, and that he would be doing the same thing if he was in his position.

Before too long, he reached the bottom and received Hagakure, who he at first had trouble grabbing onto due to her invisible status, but eventually the two were on their way back up, Sero still managing despite two times the initial load.

As they were steadily rising, however, Kaminari made the mistake of trying to alleviate his acrophobia by distracting himself from the current situation and focusing on something else, which ended up being Hagakure due to her close vicinity.

Unfortunately, instead of just talking to her, he drifted into thinking about her Quirk, joking to himself that he wouldn’t want to have it since it’d be awkward to run around nude all the time.

This caused him to realize that Hagakure must have been naked then. That meant he was holding a naked girl. This conclusion prompted him to get flustered and accidentally drop her, making everybody panic.

Luckily, she made herself visible just in time so that Uraraka was able to catch her, with her then angrily shrieking up at Kaminari, who winced as he remembered that Hagakure actually did have an outfit that just turned invisible with her, meaning his mind went to the gutter for no reason. His embarrassment peaked when Jiro proceeded to correctly guess what exactly made him suddenly so alarmed.

In the ‘Flood Zone’, Mineta and Kirishima were tasked with saving a “drowning” Tsu, with them being unable to tell if she was displeased or amused by her role in contrast to theirs. Mineta was more obviously upset, ranting about how Thirteen made things so unnecessarily difficult, which got on Kirishima’s nerves.

The redhead told the shorter boy that it wasn’t very manly of him to do nothing but focus on his own problems when someone right in front of him was in a much worse situation, asking him if he would have done the same thing if this was real, which Mineta said wasn’t a fair question. Tsu wondered aloud if this was because he was ashamed of what his answer was, prompting the purple teen to yell that she was supposed to be drowning.

Kirishima then announced that he would show Mineta how it was done, before activating his Hardening and diving into the water, only to begin sinking.

Tsu was ironically the one to save him by lifting him back up to dry land with her tongue, causing Mineta to sarcastically ask if he wanted him to follow his lead now that he had shown him the way, only for Tsu to comment that at least he was trying.

Kirishima jumped in again, only for it to turn out that he flat out didn’t know how to swim, and since Tsu stated she wasn’t going to help him again, Mineta was forced to take action.

Placing down his balls on the water, showcasing their ability to float, he slowly tiptoed to the flailing Kirishima and started pulling him back, with the spiky haired boy noting that Mineta was actually pretty good at this.

This turned out to have been a mistake as when he gave this inch, Mineta went a mile and paused to begin praising himself, causing him to lose his balance and fall into the water.

In his panic he forgot he actually was able to swim, leading to him and Kirishima both flailing about helplessly, which Tsu, who looked under to see that the area they were in was barely waist deep, deadpanned at.

At the ‘Ruins Zone’, the remaining six students, alongside Thirteen, were in the middle of an evacuation, with Iida, Yaoyorozu and Aoyama having been buried behind a huge pile of rubble that had resulted from a building collapsing.

Ashido, Sato, and Tokoyami were all in charge of freeing them, with the former girl slowly melting her way through with acid, and the latter two lifting the debris piece by piece with their enhanced strength and Dark Shadow respectively.

While Sato and Tokoyami were relatively quiet throughout the endeavor, Ashido, always happy to speak her mind, questioned Thirteen as to why she was supervising them even though she had left all the other teams by themselves.

Thirteen explained that this exercise was based a lot around control, and this specific group all had extremely strong Quirks but needed to be extremely careful about using them, especially in rescue operations.

For example, although Ashido’s acid was probably the most efficient out of the entire class in terms of removing obstacles, she had to be considerate for the people around her, as she otherwise might accidentally hurt them.

It was very important that she learned to restrain herself so that her good intentions didn’t have the reverse effect, and the same went for everyone else. Thus, having her there for immediate feedback was all but necessary.

Ashido understood this, but had another question; why did she instruct Iida and Aoyama to constantly scream at them that they needed help?

Down below, the two boys dressed in shining armor were giving it their all in their performances, their voices reaching absurdly high pitches, while Yaoyorozu internally regretted having brought up the idea to go to the USJ in the first place.

Thirteen rather skittishly explained that it created a sense of pressure, something that Heroes constantly had to deal with during work like this, although Sato outwardly speculated that part of it was purely for her own entertainment, which Tokoyami agreed to, accusing the rescue specialist of possessing a heart with all the warmth of a black hole.

The students continued to strive to finish up the simulated scenarios, some doing better than others, but ultimately they weren’t able to complete even their first bout of tasks.

Not because their time had run out or they were doing such a bad job that they were told to stop, but because about only an hour and a half into them being at the USJ, they were all alerted to a massive hole being shattered through the glass dome that enclosed the building, after which, to their collective bewilderment, a horde of masked figures they had never seen before poured in through the opening.

The students with Thirteen looked to her for an explanation, only to find her just as in shock as she was, muttering the word ‘villains’, terrifying each and every one of them.

Their peers not with them to receive this information were in just as much fear, but with added confusion, as they could only assume the worst in regards to what was going on.

That’s not to say the situation was all that more clear to those who could question the pro Hero, as she didn’t have any answers for them in regards to who they were, what they wanted, or how they had broken through Yuuei’s security system.

All they knew was that they were out of the frying pan and into the fire, they were about to endure their first real challenge as not just Yuuei students, but as Heroes.

The villains seemed to somehow know exactly where each pocket of students were, and the sight of dozens of superpowered criminals jumping down in their respective direction was enough to shake each and every teen to their core.

Some attempted to convince the rest of their team to run away, like Mineta or Kaminari, while others remained steadfast in the face of danger, like Kirishima or Tokoyami, and another handful simply had too many thoughts running through their heads to form an idea about what to do.

Thirteen immediately told the trio of Ashido, Sato, and Tokoyami to get behind her, claiming that she would use her powerful ‘Black Hole’ Quirk to take out any and all opponents headed their way.

Pointing her exposed finger at the first wave of enemies rushing towards her, she activated her ability and immediately they all began being sucked in by the powerful vacuum.

However, one villain had thought ahead, and instead of running to attack her head on, snuck around a building and surprised her by using some sort of needle hair Quirk to crack open her helmet. This allowed another foe to release some kind of pink mist from their palms that, upon reaching Thirteen, knocked her unconscious and halted the use of her Black Hole.

Ashido and Sato cried out in concern, but while Tokoyami was similarly worried about their teacher, the primary emotion running through his mind was anger. He unleashed Dark Shadow onto his adversaries, who assaulted them with a barrage of slashes with his nebulous talons, taking down over a dozen within a few seconds, including the ones that had taken down Thirteen.

Sato furrowed his brow, asking Ashido if she thought they should join in or focus on getting Iida, Yaoyorozu and Aoyama out of the rubble, but as he was asking this she suddenly sprinted forward, letting out a war cry before she slugged a villain in the back of the head and knocking them out, then used her acid to slide around and start attacking more bad guys.

Luckily, Sato received an answer from Iida, who told him that they would find a way out on their own and that he needed to prioritize keeping himself safe, which he quickly had to do when a golden spiky villain came running at him.

He reacted quick enough to guard himself, seizing his attacker's arm with one hand and using the other to pop a sugar cube into his mouth. His muscles immediately swelled up considerably, and he then hurled his foe into a wall, before heading out to help his two peers.

Within the confines of the debris, which the rescue team had only gotten about halfway through, Iida was clearly quite frustrated in regards to his position, and called upon Aoyama to use his Naval Laser to blast their way out, only to find said sparkling blonde cowering in the corner with such intense fear that he was unreachable.

Yaoyorozu, fortunately, was able to keep a level head, and told the class president that she believed she could create a substance almost as potent as Ashido’s acid that they could melt the rest of the rubble with, although afterwards she’d likely be very low on energy.

Meanwhile, in the Flood Zone, a couple of villains with multiple arm Quirks proved to be causing the Heroes in training there more than a bit of trouble, being powerful enough to knock Kirishima back even when he used his Hardening to guard and too strong for Tsu to try and grapple with her tongue.

Additionally, Mineta, having tried running off in fear of the antagonists, was currently being chased around by someone with a Quirk that made them resemble a dinosaur, his method of defense being to just haphazardly throw Pop Off balls behind him, which had so far been unsuccessful.

Kirishima was launched back by a kick to the chest, and fell next to Tsu, asking her if she had any ideas of getting out of their situation. Her voice monotone as always, she told the redhead that the best plan she could think of would be to try and escape into the water due to her exceptional swimming speed, with her tongue allowing her to bring along both him and Mineta.

Unfortunately, she added, glancing behind her, there was already another batch of villains waiting for them in the water, that, judging by their appearances, were just as skilled in it as she was, and would probably quickly dispatch of them. In fact, the bruiser duo actually seemed to be trying to force them into the water for that very purpose.

Kirishima, getting back on his feet, insisted that they would just have to try and push their way past them, hollering that it sure would have been helpful if all three of them were together. Mineta cursed back at the taller boy, being cut off when the dinosaur man almost scratched him, prompting him to run even faster.

After a few moments of thought, however, Tsu whispered to Kirishima that Mineta might actually have done them a favor, filling him in on a risky idea she had just made up, which he agreed to, saying he didn’t have anything better up his nonexistent sleeve.

At the Mountain Zone, the five students were not together as one unit, as Kaminari and Sero were only able to retrieve Jiro by the time the villains had started attacking, with Uraraka and Hagakure still at the bottom of the chasm attempting to make their way out.

Fortunately, Sero and Jiro turned out to be capable of handling a majority of the enemies so far, the former binding them together with his tape and thus incapacitating them, while the latter took them out by plugging her earlobes into speakers on her boots that released a powerful sound based shockwave.

Kaminari was told to just try his best not to get killed, as the two of them didn’t have faith in him to not accidentally electrocute them as it seemed he had very little control over the range of his discharge.

Although he did as told for a bit, he eventually got tired of having to continuously duck and weave out of the way of so many opponents’ attacks, and eventually told Jiro that he would take care of her next target.

Just as he started charging up a blast, however, the punk rock girl exclaimed ‘not this time’ and pushed him forward with a kick into said villain, resulting in him directly shocking the foe and quickly knocking them out, much to Kaminari’s enthusiasm as he boasted that he was pretty strong after all.

He continued this attack strategy independently as Sero quipped that Jiro had better control over Kaminari’s Quirk than he did, and that they would make a pretty capable Hero team, with the sound user responding that she didn’t plan on taking care of ‘that idiot’ for the rest of their lives.

Sero again teased that Kaminari probably wouldn’t mind that, only to get jabbed in the shoulder, causing him to wince and say that he would stop, before they returned to directing all their attention to taking on the enemies.

Back in the Ruins Zone, Tokoyami was actually being given some trouble by a worm-like man who fired beams from his mouth, the intense light causing Dark Shadow to recoil. Sato was also in a tricky situation when faced with someone who seemed able to manipulate mud, his punches having no effect against walls of semifluid. Ashido wasn’t necessarily struggling but was too busy continuing to take out what seemed to be a limitless supply of crooks to assist her comrades.

Fortunately, before Tokoyami and Sato could encounter any more serious problems, the remaining rubble trapping the other three members of their class burst open, with Iida using his speed to dash behind the invertebrate villain and knock him out cold with a single kick to the back of the head.

Yaoyorozu on the other hand tossed some sort of round package containing a white substance at the mud surrounding Sato, which exploded upon colliding with the mixture and froze it entirely. This allowed Sato to break through easily, and smash his fist into the stomach of his opponent, taking them out.

He thanked the vice president of 1A for her help, asking her what exactly she had used, which she explained was liquid nitrogen, though confessed that it might have been one of the last things she was able to make, since her Quirk worked by turning the lipids in her body into matter and she used up a lot of them burning their way through much of the rubble with a weaker acid than Ashido’s.

After Iida and Tokoyami helped Ashido take out the rest of the current wave of villains, the group of six, Aoyama having come out once it was safe, was given a moment to breathe and think about what their next course of action would be.

Yaoyorozu said it would be wise to try and have one of them evacuate Thirteen so that there wasn’t any risk of her getting injured, with Sato adding that while they were at it they needed to alert the staff at Yuuei as to what was happening so they could get backup from the faculty members.

Everybody turned their attention to Iida, who instantly refused, saying that as the class president he was duty bound to ensure their safety and it would be unbecoming of him to take off and leave them to fight for their lives on their own.

Yaoyorozu, not all that sensitive to Iida’s feelings, told him that they were all at greater risk if they kept fighting by themselves and that he wouldn’t contribute anything more significant by staying, which the glasses-wearing teen began to argue against, slightly peeved.

Fortunately, Ashido interjected, and reminded Iida of their time on the soccer team, and how in order for them to properly work together it was necessary to put your faith in other people to handle themselves. So, pretty much the best thing Iida could do as a team player right now was to have confidence in them to hold their own.

After a moment of contemplation, Iida closed his eyes and nodded, before opening them back up and loudly apologizing as class president for not having more trust in the people who chose him to lead them, and that he wouldn’t let them down any longer. Used to Iida’s dramatic flair by now, they simply encouraged his decision and wished him luck as he lifted up Thirteen, promising to be back as fast as he could.

Aoyama praised Iida’s bravery and said that he had been inspired to come along and help him, only for Ashido to call him out and say that unlike Iida he actually did just intend to bail on them.

Poking him in the chest with her finger, causing him to flinch, she told him he would be staying with them and that he was actually going to be fighting this time. Using a soccer metaphor again, she said to him that benchwarmers didn’t exist on a good team, and ordered him to try just as hard as the rest of them. As Iida rushed off with as much speed as he could muster, the other five students got ready for the approaching crowd of enemies.

The Hero students at the Flood Zone got to enacting Tsu’s plan, with the frog girl launching her tongue behind the two brutes trying to corner her and Kirishima and at Mineta, who yelped as it wrapped around him and dragged him all the way back to his more courageous classmates, the dinosaur man chasing after him the whole way.

As soon as he was yanked past the two burly fiends, Tsu ordered the purple boy to start chucking his balls at them, which, despite him not knowing what’s going on, he frantically obeyed, immediately covering them in the sticky orbs from his scalp, keeping them in place.

Their reptilian foe was quick enough to react, leaping over the incoming barrage and growling as he then dove towards the trio, teeth and fangs bared. However, this seemed to be exactly what Tsu was counting on, as she, Mineta still in her grasp, and Kirishima then ducked, resulting in the dinosaur man whizzing over them and landing in the water with his other malicious companions.

This proved to only be the first step in her plan, as she then jumped high into the air, tongue now wrapped around Kirishima, and threw him down into the water as hard as she could, him hardening and curling up into a cannonball to maximize his impact.

The resulting collision generated a torrent fierce enough to resemble a whirlpool, which Kirishima was pulled out of by Tsu while the villains within the water were spun around by the current, flailing helplessly.

Then, although not part of her strategy, Mineta took care of things for good by tossing down a hailstorm of Pop Off balls, which ended up sticking all of the villains together in a mass once they were pulled into the center of the vortex, secretly impressing Tsu. As the three landed back on the ground, Kirishima cheered at their success while Mineta flopped onto his back with a bleeding scalp and Tsu emitted a satisfied ribbit.

Before they could celebrate anymore, however, they heard what sounded like co*cking, and they turned around to see someone who looked to have literal finger guns taking aim at them.

Just as he fired, Kirishima moved in front of both Mineta and Tsu, activating his Hardening, and took the shots, startling both of them.

Fortunately, it appeared that the redhead was completely unharmed by the attack, giving him the confidence to run forward through several additional rounds and knock the gunner out with a single punch to the gut.

As the villain fell, Kirishima laughed triumphantly, admitting that he didn’t know he was able to take bullets that well, only for Tsu, who had picked up one of the fallen projectiles, to inform him that he wasn't. Kirishima and a still very much out of it Mineta stared at her confused, before she explained that they were rubber, puzzling them further.

Over at the Mountain Zone, the student Heroes had started to become exhausted as their battle raged on with no end in sight. Of course, Kaminari had done the inevitable and used too much of his power on one foe, zapping his brain into idiocy and reducing him to nothing more than a meatshield for one particularly petty villain who a weary Jiro was struggling to try and find a way around without hurting her friend.

Sero on the other hand had been dealing with a team of insectoid villains that even Koda wouldn’t like, with them flying around and teasing him for his inaccuracy in hitting them, this in tandem with their constant buzzing proving infuriating.

But the cavalry would eventually arrive when all of a sudden one of the bugs was tackled from behind when they got a little too low by Uraraka, who quickly made them weightless and rendered them pretty much immobile.

The gravity manipulator apologized for taking so long as floating both her and Hagakure up proved to be a bit of a slow process, but assured Sero that she’d help him with pest control.

The aforementioned invisible girl, meanwhile, had snuck up behind Kaminari’s capturer and crudely hit him over the head with a piece of rubble, allowing the dazed blonde to then clumsily fall to the ground as revenge for dropping her before. Both her and Jiro prepared to go and help out Uraraka and Sero, only to be abruptly knocked unconscious by a masked woman with faded green hair.

The pink and orange costumed duo had succeeded in swatting down the flies by Uraraka making several rocks weightless and attaching them to Sero’s tape, which he then flung up to strike the villains, his partner releasing the stones from her control just as they made contact.

Flashing Uraraka a thumbs up, the boy with an almost permanent grin noted how well their Quirks worked together, betting that they would be able to take on how ever many villains are left, only to find their three peers, at least he assumed so with Hagakure, lying down knocked out, with one woman standing above them.

Uraraka gasped, wondering how she’d taken them both out so quickly, while Sero glared and said it must’ve been a lucky shot. Shooting forth a stream of tape, Sero binded the woman up and then slammed her into the ground, believing that such an attack would be the finishing blow, only to be caught off guard when the criminal’s fingernails, which were golden in color, shot towards the tape and tore through it.

Before Sero could repeat the same capture method, she broke through the material still wrapped around her and dashed forward with incredible agility. She delivered a precise jab to his neck, instantly knocking him out, as Uraraka made herself light to jump back and gain some distance, grimacing.

Iida hurried through the massive interior of the USJ, struggling to maintain his top speed while carrying the, although he would never say such a thing to her face, admittedly heavy figure of Thirteen in her costume, while also having to dodge and occasionally quickly combat several villains along his way to the entrance, or, in this case, the exit.

As he encountered a similarly nimble foe who was capable of burrowing underneath the ground with the drills on his feet and jumping out in front of him to try and strike, he began to grow anxious as he noticed his leg engines had started to slow down, which meant he was running out of time.

Fortunately, his burying opponent wasn’t able to interrupt his journey for any longer as Kirishima suddenly jumped in and sent the villain flying with one solid hit, Tsu and Mineta coming in not long after.

Iida rejoiced, expressing his glee that all of them seemed relatively uninjured, and while Kirishima was all too happy to return the pleasantries, Tsu interrupted to question Iida what he knew about what was happening.

The class president immediately began his explanation, accompanied by several robotic hand motions, that villains had somehow breached the compound and knocked out Thirteen, and that he was on his way to go get help from the faculty.

Tsu, much to his perplexment, proceeded to shake her head and tell Iida that while she initially thought the same she actually believed the situation was a lot different. Before she could reveal what exactly her thought process was, however, someone told the quartet to hold that thought.

The five man group in the Ruins Zone had been ambushed by a minotaur like villain that proved to be far tougher than any other foe they had taken on, being capable of withstanding multiple blasts from Aoyama’s Naval Laser to the point that the blonde had already exhausted himself and thus fainted. It had also overpowered Sato when he attempted to wrestle with the criminal, slamming the burly boy into the ground with enough force to cause a crater.

A weakened Yaoyorozu was resigned to creating a barrier to shield herself and her two fallen teammates while Ashido and Tokoyami endeavored to take the bull headed menace down.

However, Tokoyami, who had been the main attacker throughout the entire time that they had been going up against villains, had started to tire out, something they didn’t realize until he was caught off guard by being rushed and close lined, knocking the wind out of him and causing Dark Shadow to retreat back into his frame.

This left Ashido, who had been playing more of a supporting offensive role, to be solely in charge of taking down the malevolent minotaur, which Yaoyorozu knew would be extremely challenging.

The pink girl was really only able to skate around, dodging incoming blows as best she could, and fire off the stray few globs of acid at the titan, but Yaoyorozu soon started noticing a difference in her classmate’s use of her Quirk, something she seemed to be developing on the spot.

The burning trail that she would usually leave behind when she slid on her acid was starting to become less significant, and in turn, she was becoming faster, more agile, better able to avoid the villain’s punches.

It seemed as though she was taking Thirteen’s advice about the strength of her acid to heart, like she was producing a version of the substance that was less harmful and more slippery, while still using the more painful version to sear her foe.

Yaoyorozu couldn’t help but be impressed by the rapid adaptation, although still wished she had more energy as she figured the fight would’ve been long over if she was able to create something strong like a cannon.

Still, as Ashido slowly but surely whittled the beast down, to the point where it fell to its knees, smoke from its burns drifting off its frame, she wondered if she had once again underestimated one of her stranger looking peers.

Uraraka had never felt her blood pump so hard in her life.

She’d never had to fight a direct battle against another actually superpowered individual before, she’d always behaved more as a support at most in all of the faux fights they’d do in exercises in their classes at school.

Here though, no one else was there to help her. She had to jump out of the way of flying golden fingernails, dodge incoming jabs and kicks, and even take a few hits that were simply impossible to avoid every now and then, all while doing her absolute best to try and gain some sort of upper hand against the fierce villainess.

She was totally out of her element.

And yet, despite the danger she was in, and how high of a risk there was that she would lose due to her inexperience, she couldn’t help but feel some weird sense of excitement for it.

Was this what Deku felt when he fought Bakugo? The overwhelming desire to win against all odds, to throw everything you had against someone that had so much more raw power than you?

If so, she wasn’t surprised by how caught up he had gotten in it. As terrifying as it was, it was also exhilarating.

As these thoughts raced through her mind, she made a desperate lunge towards her adversary, hand stretched out surrounded in a pink glow, forcing her to hop back. It seemed as though she would faceplant, but with all this new energy rushing through her, she managed to perform a front flip, using her momentum to successfully kick the criminal in his face.

It didn’t incapacitate her like making contact with her fingertips would’ve, but it was a satisfying hit nonetheless. She fell back, while Uraraka, again exceeding what she had expected of her own physical capabilities, landed on her feet, ready to make another move.

This time, her assailant caught her off guard by sweeping her legs as she ran at her, causing her to trip, and letting the criminal then slam her hand into her chest, expelling all the air from her lungs in an instant. She fell into a fit of gasping uselessly as she twitched and writhed on the ground, nausea and fatigue setting in alongside her breathlessness.

Her head spun as she barely saw her approach, raising her hand to land the final blow, when she was suddenly stopped by someone wrapping him up. She swiftly deduced it wasn’t Sero’s tape as one, he was knocked out, and two, it seemed like some sort of fabric, which meant it could only belong to one man.

Said man became visible when he walked up to the villain and delivered a swift chop to the back of her neck, putting her to sleep. She smiled as she fell into unconsciousness.

There was nothing to worry about. Their teacher had come to save them.

It was only about half an hour later when Uraraka’s eyes fluttered open, with her immediately sitting up to take in her surroundings, unsure of exactly what had happened.

She wasn’t lost for too long, though, as she soon spotted Iida and Tsu conversing only a little bit away from her, prompting her to jump up and run towards them for a hug, despite her injuries.

Asking them if they were alright, they answered positively before asking the same to her, with her copying their response only for the pain to jolt through her once again.

As she gazed around her surroundings further, she noticed that everybody else from 1A was also there, talking amongst themselves, most appearing just as confused as to what was going on now as she was. Additionally, much to Uraraka’s relief, Thirteen was standing next to all the defeated villains, who were all tied up in handcuffs.

Before any of them could speculate too wildly, however, Aizawa spoke up, seizing all of their attention. He explained to them that today, during their time spent training at the USJ, a massive conglomerate of villains succeeded in breaching the Yuuei security system and launching an attack against them in order to wipe out the newest generation of Heroes before their education could properly begin.

He then added with a wicked smile that what he just said was a lie. The entire attack was completely staged and planned ahead of time by Thirteen, himself, and the principal.

Nearly the entire student body was dumbfounded, several shouting that he had to be kidding, how could they have done something like this? Disorientation filled the crowd, several complaints being lodged from students like Kaminari, Ashido, Sero, Hagakure and Mineta, the latter of whom Tsu noted already knew, to which he exclaimed that he still has a right to protest.

A flash of red from Aizawa’s eyes quieted all of them down, allowing their teacher control over the room once again. He informed them that this was something they decided to do after Thirteen contacted him the night prior to talk about 1A’s participation in the USJ.

When he heard about them taking this initiative by themselves, he wanted to see how far their resolve could be pushed, so after getting permission from Principal Nezu, they hired a team of actors who would pretend to launch an attack on Yuuei and force them to respond to what they believed was a legitimate villain scenario.

Thirteen chimed in that this was why she was taken down so early, saying she almost expected the kids to realize it was fake as soon as she was defeated by a bunch of low level thugs.

A surge of intense murmurs broke out amongst the teens, some of them understanding while others were still rather disgruntled. Uraraka looked over at Iida, who seemed the most conflicted, before he spoke up, asking Aizawa how they did in the exercise.

Their shaggy haired teacher wasn’t the one to answer this query, however, instead a posh British voice piped up and said that he thought they performed marvelously, for the most part anyways.

A small, white anthropomorphic mammal popped out from Aizawa’s scarf and introduced himself as someone who might have been a dog, or a bear, or a mouse, but above all else, was the principal of Yuuei; Nezu!

After a few of the students internally gushed over how cute he was, Nezu told them that he and Aizawa were watching them the entire time via security footage, and many of them far exceeded their expectations.

He noted that young Iida himself displayed a true understanding of leadership throughout the mock crisis, also praising Ashido for both helping him come to that realization and applying the lessons she learned from Thirteen outside of the original exercise, which caused the former to almost tear up and the latter to beam.

He additionally complimented Kirishima’s stalwart bravery, Tsu’s ingenuity, and Uraraka’s surprising ferocity in battle, which elicited a strange look from her classmates as none of them had been around to see her go all out, making her stammer out that she barely even knew what she was doing.

The students were then approached by some of the actors who they had thought were trying to take their lives just thirty minutes ago, who all also began applauding their skills, saying that they were some of the most capable Heroes in training they had ever been brought in to fight against.

In particular, Uraraka was approached by the woman who had bested her, the “villain” with the golden fingernail Quirk, who gently hook her hand, telling her how impressed she was by her, introducing herself as Giseitama Kane. Uraraka thanked her, before asking her why someone with as much as skill as she had never became a Hero.

The older woman laughed, saying she may have been strong, but the path of a Hero simply wasn’t for her. It required a little too much self sacrifice for her taste. Her priority was making a profit in order to support the ones who needed her. That could easily get in the way of delivering justice, or whatever exactly it was that was in the job description.

Uraraka frowned slightly, asking Kane if she thought such a thing was impossible, with her replying that perhaps it wasn’t, but she didn’t want to be the one to take the risk to find out.

The students were allowed to return to their dorms to rest, being told that they could return to do more regular exercises at the USJ any time they wished. However, the worst performing members of each group; Kaminari, Mineta and Aoyama, were told that as punishment for their lackluster conduct they would be forced to come back every Saturday for a month to bolster their skills, both in rescuing and in battle, which caused the former two to loudly whine that they should have never agreed to come along.

Aizawa, who was leading them back to their dorms, told them not to complain, however, as he said it meant they had guaranteed training ahead of the Sports Festival. They, more than anyone else, needed to be prepared for it, less they ended up doing so badly there that they would get usurped by someone in General Studies, a notion that caused the duo to nervously shudder.

This caused Hagakure to pout, at least seemingly, as she now believed Ojiro would definitely be upset he wasn’t around for today, since he’d been telling her he’s worried about how he’ll do at the Sports Festival, with Ashido teasing her that they had been talking about something so personal.

The mention of the tailed boy reminded Uraraka of Deku, causing her to smile, as she thought to herself that she hoped that the weekend would prove as beneficial to him as it had been to her, internally thanking him for inspiring her to push herself and the others. She then asked Iida, Tsu and a still somewhat irate Mineta how they thought the said green haired teen was doing.

The class president responded that he was sure he was working just as hard as they had been, and that he’s looking forward to seeing him on Monday to discuss their efforts at improvement.

The frog girl ribbited in agreement, while Mineta commented that whatever he was doing, he was probably having a much easier time than they were.

Of course, when they arrived at home that evening and turned on the television, their subsequent reaction to the news of their classmates’ encounter with actual supervillains genuinely trying to murder them was nigh hysterical.

Chapter 10: Bizarre Lessons from Gran Torino

Chapter Text

When All Might, Deku, Shoji, Ojiro and Koda returned to Yuuei late into Sunday night, breaching Monday morning, they were collectively met at the docks by a wave of emotional 1A students who couldn’t help but practically throw themselves at their peers who they had been so worried for.

The four Japanese teens were hugged from all angles by their friends, with Ojiro actually being knocked over by a surprise tackle from Hagakure, while Tokoyami tried his hardest to disguise his elation over seeing Shoji and Koda once again, to their amusem*nt.

Uraraka, Iida and Tsu managed to push through the rest of their classmates to reach Deku, who was embraced by the former while the other two smiled warmly at him, expressing their relief that everything turned out alright. Managing to not become a blushing mess and instead hugging his friend back, Deku told them that he was really glad to see them after all the insanity, and was about to question Mineta’s whereabouts when he spotted the shorter lad crawling on top of Sato and screaming at everyone to let him through.

Kirishima and Ashido then approached him, the red headed boy delivering a fist bump and ensuring him that even though the experience was rough, he had come out a stronger man because of it, while his pink companion asked if things were as scary as all the news made it out to be. Deku, recalling that he had to make it seem as though he wasn’t able to beat Volcano on his own, explained that it was really intense but he was saved by All MIght before the villains could hurt him too badly.

Tsu, however, pointed out the scars on Deku’s arms and asked him if he tried fighting or something as it looked like they were broken recently. Having not realized the marks of his injuries, Deku scrambled to answer that he had busted them up trying to lift debris off the people trapped in the building, but that it wasn’t anything too serious.

He voiced his agreement with Kirishima’s assessment, saying that regardless of how bad the situation had been, he felt a bit more confident in himself in the aftermath of it all. Iida, however, insisted that although Deku was in a good mood, he must have nonetheless been exhausted from his trip, and announced for everyone to clear the way so that he, Shoji, Ojiro and Koda could get back to their dorms to rest.

Everybody was soon back at the dorm building, with Koda and Shoji electing to immediately go to bed while Ojiro and Deku mingled with their peers for a while longer, learning about those who didn’t go to Japan’s own trials over the weekend, which, despite having been rather tame compared to theirs, they marveled at, congratulating them on doing so well. When Mineta attempted to take the compliment, Tsu pointed out that he was one of the few students who were deemed to have done poorly, leading to a mostly one sided argument breaking out between them.

As he amusedly observed their back and forth, Deku noticed Bakugo, standing away from the rest of the class, giving him a side eye stare. It wasn’t a glare like usual, but it wasn’t anything very amiable, either. It was a somewhat neutral look of acknowledgement, which turned out to be brief as the explosive blonde then turned his head and walked away, leaving his rival looking on with a contemplative expression, before returning his attention to his friends.

The next day, although they had been given the option to take some time off to recover more, the students, who had been nicknamed the ‘Volcano Four’ in reference to what the news had labeled them, chose to immediately go back to their studies.

Their teachers respected their commitment and thus didn’t give them easier work than the rest of the peers, with Mineta complaining that they weren’t exploiting their positions. The day went by mostly normal, besides conversations that focused quite a bit on the events of the weekend prior.

However, there was one oddity that occurred during lunch hour, when Deku’s friend group was interrupted by a fairly average looking blonde boy with a dark look in his eyes, who none of those at the cafeteria table recognized.

The stranger revealed himself to be from Class 1B, but before any of his 1A counterparts could ask for his name or even greet him, he started talking about their exploits over the weekend, taking on both real and faux villains, and how rumor was around Yuuei that they were quite the exceptional class. This, combined with the fact they had the offspring of Heroes like Endeavor and Ingenium in their class, made it likely they would be the crowd favourites at the Sports Festival.

They again weren’t able to thank him as it turned out that this wasn’t a compliment, and the boy proceeded to begin ranting maniacally about how he thought they were nothing but attention seekers, that they were nowhere near as great as people were making them out to be.

He, in turn, was cut off when another unknown person, this time a girl with orange hair done up in a ponytail, slapped him in the back of head with a subtle amount of force, knocking him out.

She apologized for his antics, introducing him as ‘1B’s resident idiot Neito Monoma’ and herself as Itsuka Kendo. She said that she had been intending to say hi to them sometime and regretted that this was the first encounter. She informed them that Monoma had been trying to motivate 1B, which she wasn't against, by stirring up trouble with 1A to try and create a heated rivalry, which she was, with this having been his most recent stunt at attempting to do such.

Uraraka, finding the situation funny, laughed and said they didn’t mind, but Iida was aghast, saying that as Yuuei students it was improper for such animosity to exist between them, recommending that she report his behavior to 1B’s class president, only for it to turn out that this was Kendo.

She said that she was keeping an eye on him and she would try to make sure he didn’t bother them again, but warned that when the Sports Festival came around, her class’ competitive spirit wasn’t going to be something she could manage, especially since she herself was excited to measure her skills against theirs. She then bid them farewell, dragging Monoma behind her as she left.

Later in the day as Deku’s group of friends were walking through the halls, thoughts of the upcoming event persisted in their minds. Mineta was still anxious over Aizawa’s warning that he was at risk of being demoted to General Studies if he did badly enough, and although Deku tried to reassure him that if he put in the work in ahead of time he would turn out alright, a flat stare from Tsu caused him to question if that was true.

Iida asked Deku if he was confident that his future training would be enough to prepare him for the festival, with his friend saying that while he was sure he would make a lot of progress, he was definitely going to spend a lot of his spare time at Yuuei to hone his skills even further, prompting the class president to state that he would have to join him.

Uraraka was excited about the festival, saying that she had a lot more faith in her fighting abilities after the USJ “incident”, although acknowledged she still had a lot of room to improve in the meantime. Tsu proceeded to ask what exactly happened to her when she was by herself, noting Nezu had described her as being ferocious, with Uraraka shouting that he had phrased it weird.

Deku inquired into who she had been battling during this time, with her explaining that it was someone with a Quirk that seemed to allow her to grow golden fingernails that she could fire off like bullets. She said that afterwards the two were talking for a bit, and the woman, Kane, had said something that had upset her a bit, since it reminded her of why she had wanted to become a Hero and made her think perhaps it wasn’t a good reason.

After the other four gazed at her with a bit too much intensity for her liking, she nervously admitted that her primary motivation for getting into heroics was for the money as she knew it was an extremely well paying career, shocking her friends. Upon them questioning this, saying that while it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing she just didn’t seem like the type, she elaborated, disclosing to them that her family had run a pretty unsuccessful construction company back in Canada and that she had grown up below the poverty line.

When she got her Quirk, she told her parents she wanted to join them when she grew up seeing as how her powers would be incredibly beneficial to their work, but they declined and insisted that she use her gift to do something more meaningful, telling her there was a lot more in store for her in the future.

So, having always idolized Heroes but thinking pursuing a career as one would be selfish, she decided that she would give all the money she earned from eventually becoming one to her parents, so that their lives could be easier after working so hard and sacrificing so much during their raising of her.

As was expected at this point, Iida had started tearing up, giving a thunderous applause and hollering ‘bravo!’ as if he had just witnessed an operetta, cheering on Uraraka’s nobility and selflessness, while Deku also commended her kindness and dedication to her parents, adding that he would be rooting for her even harder now.

Taken aback by the overwhelming support, she shifted somewhat timidly and asked if it was really so altruistic, with Tsu assuring her it was a decent goal, that even it was just purely to earn money for herself it still would’ve been less shallow than what Mineta’s reason for being a Hero was, which he objected to.

Mineta claimed that he was going to become the most admired, beloved Hero of all time and have fans, mainly female, constantly clamoring to get his attention all hours of the day. When then harshly questioned why she wanted to be a Hero, Tsu explained she simply wanted to be someone her little siblings could always look up to and rely on, which Mineta accused as being barely any less selfish than him.

As his friends continued discussing, or debating in the case of Tsu and Mineta, their motivations, Deku reflected upon his own desires compared to theirs. Becoming a Hero to save people… was that enough?

The rest of the week flew by, and by the time Friday evening rolled around, Deku was once again getting ready to head back out to Japan. His three boatmates from the previous weekend wouldn’t be tagging along, but assured him they didn’t intend to take it easy over the two day recess and would be training just as hard as he was, a promise many others in 1A made to him as well.

However, as he was finishing up packing his bags, he received a phone call from All Might himself, causing him to freak out, as despite being his mentor he would still always return to his excited fanboy ways whenever he saw that the greatest Hero in the world was ringing him up.

The Symbol of Peace asked Deku if he was all set to go, which he answered positively to, only to then be told that in which case they were going to be leaving right away, confusing the green haired teen as he didn’t think the ships that took people to Japan arrived until the next morning.

Upon arriving at All Might’s requested meeting place, he was astounded when he saw both his idol and a private jet waiting for him. He was only able to stammer in amazement as the Hero explained that Gran Torino called him up an hour ago to request that they come in early, and the quickest way to accomplish this was through making use of this ‘fine piece of aircraft’, which he nicknamed himself the ‘Air Might’, a title he couldn’t help but still be proud of.

Ignoring the awful pun, Deku continued to goggle at the jet, asking if it was really okay for him to go with him since he was just a student and typically the only ones who got to travel with pro Heroes were other pros or officers of the law, but All Might assured him that as his protege, he was an exception. Boarding the personal plane, Deku was in even greater awe as he took in his surroundings, having never flown before, let alone on a private jet.

All Might told him he would have plenty of time to ogle on the flight there, as they needed to take off as soon as possible, and told him to sit down. Strapping themselves in as they began to lift off the earth, All Might advised his apprentice to get some sleep as well, as knowing his old teacher, whatever he had waiting for them would require them to be wide awake and full of energy.

After the mentor-mentee duo dozed off for what turned out to only be an hour and a half flight, they began a short walk from where they landed to the apartment in Kofu which Gran Torino resided in. Deku was confused as to why they weren’t going to the elder’s Hero Office, only for All Might to explain that they actually were.

Torino, who had been a Hero for over fifty years, had mostly retired in the past decade or so and had thus downsized his agency to the point where he pretty much just worked at home by himself. Deku, not wanting to be disrespectful, decided not to question if he would be in a good enough condition to teach him.

When the two arrived at the complex, Deku, as well as All Might but he had been able to better hide it, was astonished by how run down the building was; it looked as though it had been built a century ago and not been touched since. Deku asked his predecessor if this was really the place, with All Might quickly making up the excuse that some Heroes lived in ‘charming’ neighborhoods like this in order to avoid attracting attention to themselves, although knowing his old mentor he was pretty sure he had just gone for whatever was cheapest.

Upon knocking a few times and not receiving an answer, All Might opened the door, surmising that he could have fallen asleep on the couch waiting for them, which heightened Deku’s doubt that the man was actually in a suitable state to teach him.

His assessment seemed to be proved correct when they found a very short elderly man dressed in classic looking costume, complete with a way too big cape, lying on the floor in a puddle of what looked like blood, flabbergasting Deku and eliciting a scream from him.

Only a second later, however, the old man lifted his head, beaming, saying that he was alive and that it was just ketchup. Shakily standing with the use of a crane, he revealed that he had been carrying sausages with ketchup on them but had tripped and fell.

Deku blinked in disbelief as he asked All Might if this was actually him, only to see that his mentor was scared stiff, not moving a muscle as he watched the seemingly senile man pick his sausages back up, laughing that he was pretty sure he hadn’t missed the five second rule. Upon collecting his fallen meat, he squinted his eyes at the two younger men, before questioning who they were. Deku, still gawking, began stuttering out an introduction, only for Gran Torino to interrupt him by calling him ‘Toshinori’.

More confused than ever before, Deku tried to correct him by saying that his name was ‘Izuku Midoriya’ only for the man to ask why he had dyed his hair such an ugly color, grumbling about how kids these days had no class. He then looked to All Might and questioned what was with the ‘decrepit Clint Eastwood’ type, causing the number one Hero to flinch like it was some kind of intimidating inquiry.

Torino then told Deku, still addressing him as Toshinori, to hurry up and set the table so they could eat, then grunted that he would do it after waiting barely a moment for a response. Deku nudged the still petrified frame of All Might, whispering to him that he didn’t think Gran Torino was doing very well and it might have been better if he left, saying it didn’t seem like he would have anything to teach him in the state that he was in, and that he couldn’t afford to waste any time, despite his feeling bad for him.

Just as he finished telling his idol this, however, he noticed Torino had abruptly disappeared, and before his plate even clattered onto the floor, he felt an intense gust of wind blow past him, and then heard the door slam behind him. Looking behind to see what it might have been, he saw Torino crouching on the wall, his demeanor having drastically changed into that of a fiercely confident warrior, grinning at him as if to say ‘gotcha’.

Before he could blurt out a reaction, he then felt a foot being planted firmly into his back that sent him spiraling onto the floor.

Gran Torino chuckled after landing the attack before starting to zip around the room at speeds Deku couldn’t keep track of, resulting in him taking further damage in the form of quick swipes and kicks. He attempted to call out to All Might, who remained frozen with a restrained expression of concern.

Torino yelled out to ‘Toshinori’ again, although this time Deku sensed as though it was not directed towards him, mocking him for not teaching his student to see past such blatant deception, though acknowledged that the kid at least had some conviction. Deku’s eyes darted around the unfamiliar environment, trying to spot a place for him to hide so that he could try and collect his thoughts, eventually spotting a table that he didn’t think Torino would risk breaking through to hit him.

As he picked himself up and began running forward, he heard Torino tease him as being extremely easy to read, before he appeared right in front of the table Deku was heading for and kicked it at him, which he barely ducked under. Torino then appeared in front of him, startling Deku, before delivering a kick right to his face. The teen stumbled back but managed to maintain his balance, allowing him to try throwing a punch only for Torino to again vanish, much to his frustration.

Torino taunted him, wondering if he was used to fighting people slower than him as it seemed like he was having a pretty tough time keeping up with even an old man like him. Deku realized his assumption was correct, as the people he had battled seriously against before, Bakugo and Volcano, both had movements that he was able to observe and thus counter more easily. He was always the faster one when it came to being able to react.

Here though, it was pretty much impossible for him to directly observe Torino’s fighting style, so he wasn’t going to have the luxury of spotting him prepare a move beforehand. If he was going to stand a chance, he had to start analyzing patterns and try to predict what his next plan of attack would be. This realization was of course made over about another half minute of him getting struck across almost every inch of his body at paces faster than he could think, and made fun of for it the entire time.

All Might watched as his student struggled more than he had ever seen. He hadn’t seen him engaged in such a one sided fight since he went in Quirkless against Sludge. Not that he was really being given an opportunity to use One for All, but still. He couldn’t help but get flashbacks to his time training with Torino, which was actually even more brutal due to his mentor’s younger age and more robust body. It made him want to shout out advice to Deku, seeing him go through almost exactly what he did, but there were two things that stopped him.

One, Torino would likely be quite upset and he did not want to risk incurring the wrath of the second scariest man he had ever met.

Two, as much trouble as Deku was currently having, he had faith that his apprentice would learn a great deal from the experience and, knowing him, go above and beyond their expectations as to what he could do with that knowledge.

As his assault persisted, Torino shouted that it didn’t seem like Deku had learned anything during his one month at Yuuei, though he supposes he shouldn’t have expected ‘that softie Eraser Head’ to toughen him up enough to his standards, and that he regrets having agreed to take him in after only a month. He accused Toshinori of having clearly made the wrong choice after all when it came to who would be the ninth user of One for All. He then leapt down off the ceiling towards Deku, preparing to finish off his toying with him with one final kick.

Just as he was about to reach him, however, Deku swerved around, having turned out to be right in his estimation of where he would strike from next. He clenched his fist and prepared to swing at him with a Houston Smash, only for Torino to merely smirk.

With a boost of speed he was down by Deku’s legs, allowing him to perform a sweep that knocked the Hero in training off his feet and onto the floor. As the teen laid there flat on his back, struggling to get back up, Torino pressed his foot against his face, keeping him down.

The elderly Hero commented on Deku’s analytical skills, saying that while it had taken him longer than would’ve been necessary in a fight against someone looking to kill him, he still did it faster than a lot of other people he had fought. Looking up at All Might, Torino said that this was especially the case with him, as the muscle headed bastard had always just tried to use brute strength to get around all his problems, which was how he ended up with that nasty injury.

All Might’s face was momentarily ensnared by panic, which Gran Torino noticed, prompting him to suddenly switch back to his persona of an old coot. He demanded Toshinori, this time in reference to Deku, get off his lazy kiester and go reheat supper since it had gotten cold with all his dillydallying. Slightly exasperated, but more inclined to follow along after his display of strength, Deku got off the ground, scooped up the sausages, and, still somewhat in pain, trudged over to the kitchen.

As he walked out of hearing range, Torino approached All Might, who stiffened back up slightly, and questioned him as to how much he hadn’t told the boy. The Symbol of Peace sighed, admitting that he really only knew the fact that One for All had been passed down over multiple generations. He was completely oblivious to anything about its true origins, or of the history of the previous users, or the real danger that came with being a wielder of the Quirk.

Torino berated him, saying he knew he wasn’t a good teacher but that he was practically setting the boy up for failure by being so secretive, and that while he would be so kind as to help train him, it was his responsibility to deal with the really hard stuff. All Might solemnly thanked his old master, promising that he intended to talk to him soon, he had just wanted him to be ready and more assured of his abilities. Torino insisted that there was no good in waiting to rip off the bandage, but added that he wouldn’t pressure him into it.

The next morning, not so bright but extremely early, Deku and All Might were both woken up from their sleeping arrangements on couches by subsequent kicks to the stomach. Disgruntled by not just how early the wake up is but also by the method with which it was delivered, the two nonetheless listened to Torino’s explanation of what Deku’s day of training would consist of, with the old pro assuring them that it wouldn’t be anything too crazy, which worried All Might.

Over the next several hours, Deku endured the multiple tests that Gran Torino set out for him. It started out relatively easy, although despite how well he thought he did Torino still seemed disappointed, with him having to run laps around the block with the old man on his back, then seeing the extent to what he could lift at a junkyard. Things started to pick up when he was placed in a very cramped batting cage and forced to dodge an onslaught of balls from pitching machines, got worse when he had to try and outswim a mechanical shark at the beach, and then became undeniably life threatening when he was tasked with doing parkour across a series of buildings, his only safety net being what looked to be very weak mattresses.

By the time the evening had rolled around and they returned to the apartment to have dinner, a bruised and battered Deku collapsed to the floor as soon as he walked in last through the entrance. Exhausted, he was fully prepared to fall asleep then and there on the cold, unclean surface, if it weren’t for Torino hollering at him to close the door before he let the bugs in.

Dragging himself up and doing so, he then asked if they were done for the day or if there was more in store for him, with Torino deciding that they would pick back up tomorrow, but in the meantime he could heat up the taiyaki for them to have for dinner.

Upon putting the fish shaped pastries in the microwave, Deku questioned All Might as to what the purpose of today’s training was, if it was just testing his physical prowess or if there was something he was missing. All Might confessed he wasn’t entirely sure himself but knowing Torino like he did there was definitely some ulterior motives at play. Before they could continue talking, the timer went off, and Torino retrieved the treats to distribute them onto each of their plates, with both Deku and All Might wondering if it was a very appropriate supper.

The three of them bit in, only to quickly discover that the snacks’ insides were all still completely frozen, which prompted an enraged Torino to ask how Deku wasn’t even able to cook right. It turned out that the Yuuei student had simply neglected to turn on the rotation, an option he wasn’t aware of as it wasn’t a feature on the one he had growing up.

Torino began a tangent about how the heat needed to be applied equally at all sides of the fish, and how kids really didn't know anything these days, angrily tossing away his plate, while All Might powered up into his muscular form to snap the fish in half with a single bite.

Sunday started out later than its predecessor, as it was senior shopping day so Torino went out to get groceries, which included a new box of taiyaki. Once they made their way outside in front of the apartment, Torino explained that they were going to repeat every exercise that they did the day before, only this time Deku had to use One for All during each of them.

The boy tried to explain that it would be impossible as he broke his bones every time he tried to use the Quirk, but Torino justified it by saying that it would help him understand more clearly as to where he was going wrong in utilizing it. Deku looked to All Might for reassurance, who reluctantly gave him such, trusting his teacher’s ways while still being worried for his pupil.

Everything proceeded to go wrong in a spectacular fashion. First, for running laps, he tried to see if he could perhaps propel himself forward by using One for All in one of his toes, only to end up sending himself flying into a street sign, breaking both his nose and his pinkie toe.

Next, when attempting to use it in his fingers to lift up a broken car at the junkyard, he flipped the vehicle high into the air, and it would’ve landed on him if it wasn’t for All Might grabbing him out of the way. This occurred for every subsequent exercise, all of them resulting in him failing and breaking at least one of his digits.

By the end, All Might had to give the damaged boy a piggyback to Torino’s apartment, leading to embarrassing assumptions from onlookers that they were father and son.

Upon Deku being laid on a couch in his living room, Torino asked him if he had learned anything or if he was just as clueless as he was at the beginning, to which the green haired adolescent was unable to respond positively. Groaning that he was told he was supposed to be clever, Torino then ordered All Might to heat up the taiyaki, properly this time, before the two of them gave Deku a little demonstration that might finally help jog that useless big brain of his.

While the prospect of seeing a duel between his teacher and his teacher’s teacher excited Deku, it unnerved All Might, who timidly asked if such a thing was truly necessary. Torino told him to stop being such a baby and that he would only have to go for 2 minutes, as long as it took for the microwave to finish, but that he wouldn’t be allowed to go into that ‘ridiculous looking form’ of his so he didn’t accidentally blow a hole in his wall.

The faux feud commenced, instantly picking up to a pace that Deku was barely able to follow, with Torino propelling himself even faster than he had against him utilizing his Quirk, which he had come to learn was known as ‘Jet’, which allowed him to expel air from holes on the bottom of his feet.

Although it wasn’t a super extravagant power, Torino had honed his skill with it to the point where to the average person his movements seemed instantaneous, as if he was teleporting. Even so, All Might, the experienced fighter and supposed strongest man alive he was, had no trouble keeping up with the supersonic geezer, guarding each and every punch and kick that was thrown towards him.

All Might’s movements were so instantaneous and precise, it reminded Deku of the old computer games he used to play where a character would switch from one pose to the next without any sort of transition. There was no hesitation, no clumsiness, no signs of any sort of weakness, even in this unassuming, skeleton-esque form.

He agitatedly gripped his still working fingers as the task of being able to live up to the man in front of him seemed all the more indomitable.

The way that All Might was using One for All compared to him was night and day. It was as if he had been using it from the day he was born, like he didn’t need to call upon it at all. On top of all this frustration, there was the annoying whirring sound being emitted from the microwave-!

Wait, he thought, could that have been it?

Realization struck Deku just as the timer reached zero and the machine expelled a beep, All Might and Torino finishing their spar with the former catching the latter’s foot as he went for a kick to his face. The deflated but still capable Symbol of Peace grinned, seeming more confident after the bout, and asked his master how he did, with Torino reminding him not to get co*cky, while clearly hiding his own smile, a nostalgic gleam in his eyes.

The semi-retired Hero turned to retrieve the properly cooked taiyaki, only to find Deku standing up despite his injuries, with a determined expression and a tense pose, which sparked his intrigue.

All Might worriedly asked what his protege was doing as he should have been resting, but Deku insisted that it was alright, because he had figured it out; he was the fish, not the egg!

After a demented look from both of his teachers, he elaborated that he was thinking about what Torino had said yesterday when he messed up making the taiyaki. He was concentrating all of the heat onto one area, when he should’ve been distributing it equally across the entire fish. It was exactly what he had been doing with One for All, only calling upon it at maximum strength in short bursts, when he should’ve been letting it flow through his entire body at an amount that he was able to handle. That was what All Might had always been doing, just at 100%.

Gran Torino smirked while All Might beamed at this development, as Deku remarked that he didn’t know how much he would be able to use at the moment, so he would start out as low as possible. As a fraction of the power of One for All filled every single part of his body, the usual faint red streaks that accompanied its use were replaced by green lightning jolting around his frame.

He labeled this as One for All: Full Cowling - 1%, admitting he could feel the strain even just using this, but it was practically nothing compared to what 100% had been before.

All Might enthusiastically applauded his apprentice’s evolution, internally punching himself for not having helped him come to such an obvious revelation on his own, while Torino, with a suppressed smile, quipped that it was about time, adding that future training would go by a lot easier with him in this state. Deku nodded, cheerfully mentioning that with this, he was one step closer to being able to fight as All Might did, which, although he didn’t vocalize it, actually seemed to bother Torino somewhat.

Following a supper where All Might was responsible for feeding Deku due to his broken fingers, again deeply embarrassing the both of them to Torino’s amusem*nt, the dual wielders of One for All prepared to head out back to Yuuei. As Deku was packing up, however, Torino pulled All Might aside, and requested that he not come along on his student’s training trips anymore, greatly confusing the number one Hero as he was unsure of what the problem of him being there was.

Torino explained that All Might’s presence was influencing Deku’s learning in both positive and negative ways; he was able to grasp Full Cowling partially because he saw him fighting so fluidly, but at the same time, now that he had better control over One for All, he was planning on using it to try and become a duplicate of him, which would be to his detriment. Deku had to learn to make One for All his own, which would be a very difficult lesson to instill in him when its previous wielder, the man who he saw as the absolute peak, was right in front of him.

All Might was reluctant to comply, saying that he had wanted to participate more directly in his student’s honing of his abilities since over the past few months he hadn’t been able to be around as much. Torino responded that he still could on the weekdays at school by going along with what he learned during his time with him, but he felt it was best that the main material was left to him alone, at least until the Sports Festival.

Although it may have seemed contradictory, the best way he could help Deku grow in this case was to lessen his involvement. Ultimately, although he was dismayed, All Might saw his teacher’s logic and agreed, deciding to inform Deku later, as the boy was extremely tired by the time the two left, and passed out almost immediately when they boarded the Air Might.

As Deku rested in his seat, All MIght stayed awake, engrossed in his inner thoughts. It seemed that he would now be free on weekends for the foreseeable future, which would allow him to perform more Hero work in his off time from teaching. It was just tough, as it always was, for him to decide where to direct his efforts first.

He could spend time in Japan so that if Torino ever needed him for something with Deku he would be able to come over soon. The United States, large as it was, always had criminals active, although it wasn’t as if there weren’t plenty of other Heroes there to deal with them. Europe was worth checking out, what with the Heroes Association had told him about the Mutant groups, an issue he had regretted never getting involved in.

Suddenly, his phone began buzzing, interrupting his thoughts, and prompting him to pick it up to answer the call. It was his close friend in the international police force; Naomasa Tsukauchi, one of the very few people who knew about the secrets of One for All. Before he could greet him, however, All Might heard Tsukauchi inform him that they had to skip the pleasantries, as there was urgent news; a ship headed to Tartarus had been attacked, and his involvement was being requested immediately.

All Might’s eyes widened in surprise before his brow narrowed, and he told Tsukauchi to send him the coordinates. He was going to be there as soon as possible. A minute later, All Might had entered the location of the ship into his jet’s GPS, so that he would be able to go there as soon as he dropped Deku off at Yuuei.

He glanced at the time; 19:00. It would likely take him about three hours to get to the boat, which was currently in the South Pacific, if the jet flew at its maximum speed. Assuming he was able to quell whatever villain had laid siege to the ship before midnight, it appeared that this would turn out to be the first of his new weekend heroics.

Chapter 11: The Monster Nomu - All Might’s Challenge

Chapter Text

When a villain was deemed dangerous enough to the point where a normal mainland prison wouldn’t be able to properly hold them, they were taken to Tartarus, the largest, most impenetrable high security prison in the entire world, which was located far out into the South Pacific, a great distance away from any form of civilization.

In order for nations to transport their most treacherous criminals to Tartarus, they made use of hulking beasts of ships named ‘Reapers’, for those who boarded it had either two things happen to them; they would be rehabilitated and thus their old selves would in a sense die, or they would be imprisoned up until their death.

Japan’s Reaper was known as ‘Shinigami’, and was currently moving a relatively small load of villains, only a few hundred.

The most notable of them was Volcano, real name revealed to be Maguma Iwata, who as the mastermind behind his spree of eco-terrorism and user of an extremely powerful Quirk was the only member of his crew sent to Tartarus, something that pained him.

Gust Boy and Dusty Ash had been fiercely loyal to him and were the only people who believed his methods were just. If he had been a better leader, they wouldn’t have ever been caught.

Maybe he shouldn’t have been in charge in the first place. After all, what was most important to him was getting the job done. He couldn’t care less if he was the one calling the shots or just a meathead following orders.

This, in combination with the anger he felt towards the two brats that had somehow managed to take him down, especially the one weird looking kid who literally just had bugs, had left him in a state of sulking from the moment he had been stuffed in his cell to the current moment.

His upper body was fully restrained, not that he would’ve been able to do anything, seeing as how without his gauntlets his Quirk would just melt him, and he wasn’t really feeling like destroying another one of his hands.

He knew there wasn’t really any point in being angry, not that it made him any calmer. It was a meaningless expression. His life was basically over. The only chance he had at tasting freedom again was reformation, which just meant conforming to the very system that he’d been waging a war against.

He’d rather die right then and there than do that. At least he’d perish with his ideals. He had resigned himself to his fate. For however many more years he lived, the dark, crushing world of solitary confinement would be the only one he knew. His fury was soon overtaken by utter sorrow, as it seemed as if he had lost all hope.

But then hope would find him, in the least expected of ways.

From beyond the bars he had been locked behind, what looked to be a portal of dark purple mist began to manifest, eventually growing to a size where somebody was able to walk out from it.

Each and every prisoner’s eyes fell upon the figure that had emerged, a man who was cloaked in a rather decrepit looking black hoodie, with hair that was such an extremely light blue it seemed white, and a face hidden by a disembodied hand. His relatively scrawny build combined with this made him look anything but impressive, which was why his presence was all the more bewildering.

The man began to ramble on in an extremely coarse voice that he desired allies for his quest to tear down society, going on a superficial rant about how he was tired of Heroes deciding what was right and wrong, that their violent acts in the name of justice only bred more violence that they proceeded to deem villainous.

He barely sounded like he believed in it himself. The main thing, however, that went back time and time again, was that he wanted to kill All Might, the Symbol of Peace. It was the only thing he spoke about with any sort of passion.

By the time he rather clumsily concluded his speech, most of the criminals who had been listening weren’t exactly convinced. They felt as though they had just been approached by a rebellious teenager who had gotten really into being nonconformist after listening to a few too many counterculture music bands. Some were even stifling laughter.

Many were nonetheless intrigued by the prospect of an escape, such as Volcano, who actually hadn’t really minded the appeal, it wasn’t anything eloquent but he didn’t find it disagreeable.

One crook, however, couldn’t help but open his big mouth.

He began to ridicule the hooded man, calling him a child playing villain and saying he was probably better off staying in his cell than going with him, if his goal was to try and take on the strongest Hero in existence.

Multiple other inmates started agreeing with him, yelling at him to leave and go get himself killed without them. This caused others to shout back for them to stay quiet because they still wanted a way out, which included Volcano as he roared at the instigator, who happened to be adjacent to him, to shut his mouth before he burnt it off for him.

He himself was then told that he wasn’t going to do anything, especially since he was part of a group weak enough to get beaten by a bunch of highschoolers, which the other man had heard about from the guards.

Before Volcano could furiously bark back an insult, the disguised man walked towards the cell of his haggler, who continued to taunt the both of them relentlessly, only to be cut off when the stranger reached into his cells and wrapped his hand around his neck.

After almost twenty seconds of the most agonized screaming anybody in the room had ever heard in their lives, the prisoner crumbled into dust, to the fear fueled shock of everyone.

The hooded man then turned his attention to Volcano, who flinched under the intensity of his blood red eyes that peered out from behind pale fingers.

He was questioned as to if he was the man behind the Volcano Thieves, something he was reluctant to confirm, but swiftly confessed to once the man asked again in a more venomous tone.

Fortunately, his interrogator seemed pleased by this, using what seemed to be his Quirk to then disintegrate the bars he had been caged behind. He told him that he had seen him on the news, heard of how powerful he must have been, and thought that someone like him was exactly what he was looking for in his group.

Volcano hesitated for a moment, thinking everything over. This man, from what he could tell, sought above anything else to kill All Might. Without him, Hero society would be in shambles, and thus, people would be much less able to try and stop him from accomplishing his own goals.

This man might not have seemed to have cared all that much about the environment himself, but that didn’t matter. If he helped him towards his cause, it would allow him to carry out his own. Sounded like a fine deal to him. Without another thought, he nodded, an action which earned a grin from the hooded man.

Upon him stepping out to join his new partner, however, it activated the security alarm. Although Volcano couldn’t help but panic, the disguised man seemed only mildly disgruntled, complaining that he now only had time to free a few more volunteers before he had to go, but added, sad*stically beaming, that he felt a little hurt by what some of the other villains said to him. Thus, he figured it only appropriate to dish out a little payback.

Seemingly calling out to the portal of darkness, he requested that the ‘Nomu’ be brought out.

Hours later, and All Might was only roughly a minute away from arriving on the scene. He might have arrived sooner had Deku not awoken when he was in the midst of dropping him off and started questioning him as to what was happening and if he could come with him.

He was, for once, grateful to Aizawa for having been so ruthless, as he had binded the boy up to prevent him from investigating further and eating up any more of his time. Not that he wasn’t appreciative towards his apprentice for wanting to be helpful, but the kid really had to learn to pace himself.

He glimpsed down from the view of his jet at what was unfolding below. A ship, a small aircraft carrier which would serve as his landing spot, was following the Shinigami with some difficulty due to the lack of a predictable trajectory that came with what seemed to be a currently unmanned vessel.

Upon touching down, All Might was briefed on the situation by Tsukauchi, who had also been flown out, explaining that he was currently the only Hero they had on the scene besides those who were assigned to guard the prison ship in the first place, but any attempts at contacting them, or any of the staff, had not yet been successful.

They didn’t have any details as to how the attack occurred or who was behind it. The initial distress call before communications were lost simply described the situation as some sort of monster rampaging through the facility.

They did, however, reportedly have assistance coming in from the United States, assuming the job couldn’t be done by him alone, which All Might couldn’t help but smile at, thinking to himself that if it was who he thought it was, they would probably be upset if he did.

With an assurance that he would make it out alright, the number one Hero took off, effortlessly leaping across the gap of ocean water between the two boats and barrelling through a thick layer of metal like a knife through butter in order to break into the floating jail.

Once inside, it didn’t take All Might long to locate the ship's personnel, who had managed to gather in the control room, albeit one without power. They informed him that, based on what they had been able to observe, someone had infiltrated into the ship and let loose some sort of superpowered beast whose rioting had resulted in several prisoners being killed.

The two Heroes, At-Lass and X-Less, in charge of guarding the ship were currently engaged with the villain, although with how powerful it seemed to be they were unsure of what condition they were in. All Might assured them they didn’t have to worry now that he had gotten there, and instructed them to stay where they were until he took care of things.

Going down into the lower levels of the ship, All Might came across several inmates that were either fighting each other or fleeing from the chaos. In a matter of seconds, he knocked out all of them with several consecutive MIssouri Smashes, which involved swift chops to the neck.

One was left conscious, however, a blonde man with horns protruding from his head, who still nearly fainted at the sight of the greatest Hero standing imposingly in front of him. Upon investigating the crook, All Might learned that whoever had unleashed the monster into the prison had emerged from some sort of black portal and had taken a small number of convicts with them before departing. The Heroes were currently fighting the villain on the second floor, having managed to lure it from the first in order to avoid it causing any major damage to the bottom.

Making his way below, All Might grimaced upon seeing the corpse of a girl with skin resembling a marble statue; the Worldly Hero: At-Lass. He wasn’t afforded anytime to mourn, however, as he caught the other Hero stationed at the floating prison, X-Less, the Eye-Gun Hero, barely fending off the beast, a terrifying creature unlike anything he had ever seen.

It was a hulking black monster with an exposed brain and a beak-like mouth. Its eyes were empty and mindless looking, it salivated a gross greenish liquid, and its movements were wild and reminiscent of an animal.

The Symbol of Peace instantly burst into action just as X-Less had fired a laser in a vain attempt to halt a giant fist smashing him. He grabbed the other Hero out of the way, resulting in the beast hammering into the floor, which caused debris to fly up into the air. X-Less cried out in joy at the appearance of his savior, whereupon All Might noticed that his left eye was gone from its socket, in place of it a heavy amount of blood.

The ‘Eye Gun Hero’ explained that it had been crushed in a blow from the monster, which he had heard been called a ‘Nomu’ by several criminals, but actually considered himself lucky for even surviving, seeing as what had happened to At-Lass after she had tried to take it on directly.

Infuriated by the loss of life, All Might ensured him that their sacrifices would not be in vain. With a stern gaze, a brilliant blue light gleaming from his eyes, he looked at the rampaging villain that had now directed its attention towards him, and told it that no more bloodshed would be made as long as he stood against it.

As the two titans bounded towards each other, their fists met as All Might bellowed out an enraged ‘Texas Smash’.

Much to his shock, the One for All powered blow didn’t immediately send his opponent flying. Instead, the force seemed to ripple through Nomu’s body like a wave across water. This allowed his enemy to catch him off guard with a punch to the face, and then another one right after that.

He would’ve landed a third if All Might hadn’t caught its hand and thrown it with all his strength into a wall. As Nomu recovered, the Hero had some time to think. He had almost never faced someone capable of withstanding one of his attacks, especially one of his strongest.

It didn’t seem as though it had used some sort of invisible shield to guard. He very clearly hit it judging by the surge across its body. It was as if it had somehow absorbed the damage.

Nomu proceeded to explode from out of the crater his impact had made on the wall, roaring viciously, and charging towards All Might once again, stirring him from his thoughts. Nomu collided into him with a body tackle, forcing All Might to hold it back with his hands from completely toppling him over.

The Symbol of Peace proved his superior strength by shoving the monster off of him and then utilizing his Carolina Smash, a cross chop that proved to be sharp enough to cut into Nomu, creating a deep x-shaped cut into its chest. However, the damage proved to not be permanent, or even noticed by Nomu, as the wounds were healed through regeneration almost as soon as they were made.

This again stunned All Might, but unlike last time he was able to snap out of his stupor in order to block a punch that was aimed at his head, and another one at his shoulder.

The two grappled for a few seconds, All Might questioning just what sort of Quirk this guy had; super strength that could hurt even him, near instantaneous regeneration, some form of shock absorption, etc.

It was like it had… multiple powers.

The Hero lost his concentration at this idea, his stance weakening for a brief moment, which was all Nomu needed to turn the tides in his favor and begin pressing All Might against the ground.

Grunting in discomfort as the monster started drooling onto his face, he regained his composure in time to not be completely pinned, instead reeling his head back, and then slamming it forward with incredible intensity and a call of ‘Alaska Smash’, colliding with Nomu and pushing it back to the point where they were again on even ground.

All Might cursed under his breath. At this rate, it didn’t seem like anything he did was getting close to putting this foe down. He had gone for an attack to its brain in hopes that it might at the very least disorient the creature, but it was barely fazed for more than a second.

This thing… it wasn't human. It was some sort of killing machine. It seemed to him like the way to defeat it was subduing it long enough for it to be completely restrained. How would he ever accomplish something like that, though? He wasn’t sure how much time he had left in his muscular form, but it couldn’t have been more than an hour. Whatever he was going to do, he had to do it quickly.

As he was thinking, however, a laser sliced through both of his opponent’s hands, drawing both of their attention to X-Less. Registering its former target’s presence, Nomu began to rush in that direction, only for All Might to wrap his arms around its torso.

It looked like before he could come up with any sort of grand plan, he needed to take this thing to where it wouldn’t be a danger to anyone else. Crying ‘Oklahoma Smash’, he began spinning around with such vigor he generated a miniature hurricane, before using this momentum to hurl Nomu up through the multiple floors above, until he estimated that it had reached the open air.

After a short salute to X-Less for the assistance, he then exhibited another feat of power, jumping all the way up to the top of the ship in what didn’t even seem like a second.

There, Nomu was standing on its feet, regenerating from the wounds it had earned on its trip up, emitting a primal screech once it saw him. It raced towards him, their fists colliding once again, the resulting force tearing through the sleeve of All Might’s uniform.

It was then he noticed that the ripple created on his adversary’s figure this time was more severe, to the point where Nomu almost looked uncomfortable. Not to the extent, however, where it would stop its assault, which it proved by throwing another punch that he wasn’t able to block in time, striking him in the stomach, right where his critical injury was.

Coughing up blood, his weakness gave way for Nomu to land a flurry of additional blows, the onslaught steadily pushing him back. He started throwing back his own punches, but he was getting overwhelmed as he felt the toll of not only the damage his opponent had inflicted on him but of how much energy he had drained.

His self estimated three hour limit clearly didn’t take into account what facing an enemy like this required of him, which was becoming increasingly obvious as steam slowly started to emerge from him.

He grit his teeth and tried to swallow back the blood, not wanting to show vulnerability in front of the menace. He despised how much trouble such a ruthless monster was giving him, he should’ve been able to shrug off these hits but he had exerted so much strength with his own attacks that he was running scarily low on stamina. Nomu, in contrast, didn’t seem any worse for wear after everything he had fired off at him. He had taken literally all of it…!

Of course! He had noticed it earlier, but he hadn’t understood the implications until now. Nomu was absorbing the damage akin to a sponge, which was why it didn’t seem to be affected. But also like a sponge, there was a limit to how much it could take.

And he would be the one to reach that limit, even if he felt like he was already at his own.

His punches began to pick up speed. He wouldn’t be done in by such a simpleminded crook.

He started overtaking Nomu’s in both ferocity and velocity, regaining the ground he had lost earlier. He thought back to his school motto, the mantra that he had taken to heart since he was just a teenage rookie.

Nomu started actually recoiling from All Might’s hits, the resulting ripples tearing open its skin in some places. When things have taken a turn for the worse, and you feel as though you’ve done everything you can, you must, for your own sake and everyone else’s, do more than that.

All Might performed an uppercut, titled a ‘Michigan Smash’, that proved potent enough to send Nomu rocketing into the air, him following after it with a leap to deliver the final blow.

He wasn’t sure if he was capable of knocking out the creature, but he was pretty confident that something this mindless wasn’t much of a swimmer.

With a herculean scream of ‘Go Beyond, Plus Ultra’, the Symbol of Peace struck the flailing beast in the core of its body and sent it spiraling down into the ocean, crashing into the sea water with enough force to produce a whirlpool, the waves rocking both the Shinigami and the aircraft carrier.

His duty fulfilled, the number one Hero landed back down on the ship on his feet, only to quickly fall to his knees, panting in exhaustion.

As steam poured out of his body, he couldn’t stop himself from deflating into his skeletal state, not that he had the energy to put up much of a fight, anyways. In the midst of all his pained breaths, he let out a sigh of relief. That had probably been the closest call he’d had since he had to save Deku and Bakugo from Sludge.

Before he could unwind too much, however, he heard a voice call out to him from above, startling him and causing him to try and swell back up to his publicly known size, only to relax when he saw that it belonged to a friendly face.

It was the highest ranked Hero in the United States, number four in the world overall; Star and Stripe. She was a tall, attractive woman with a very muscular build, dressed in a costume with even more blatant American symbolism than his. She floated in the air, looking down at him with a look of disappointment.

Descending to stand on the ship alongside him, she complained that she had flown all the way out just to find that he had taken care of business already, quipping that she had started to feel like Endeavor with how he kept one-upping her.

Laughing dryly, All Might informed her that there were still people in the boat in need of evacuating, and he wasn’t in the condition to do it himself. Solemnly commenting that she could see that, she noted that he looked even worse than the last time she had seen him like this, and asked how much longer he would be able to act as a Hero for.

He assured her he was by no means out for the count yet, although internally, he knew that he couldn’t have had that much time left, maybe a year at the most, even less if he kept pushing himself like he just did.

But as long as he still had the power of One for All within him, he knew he had to keep fighting.

Star and Stripe, regaining her more jovial attitude, joked that he had better not have been, as she still needed to overcome Endeavor as number two so she could replace him as the top Hero once he had to step down.

She said she had her hopes up for that year at the Hero Expo on I-Island, the biggest Hero event across the entire world that only occurred once every five years, which, among dozens of other things, unveiled a revised ranking of the top ten Heroes across the globe.

All Might confessed that he had actually forgotten that it was this year, with Star and Stripe warning him that he had better remember to attend, as last time he almost forgot and she had to stall for him to arrive and give his speech.

After he assured his friend that he would indeed make it on time, they bid each other farewell, All Might having Tsukauchi send over his jet for him to board it and travel back to Yuuei.

He would’ve loved to help ensure all of the civilians got out safely, that X-Less was alright, and that every remaining villain was looked after, but even if he didn’t consider it an issue for people to see what he actually looked like, he was far too exhausted to be anything but a hindrance.

He would have to rely on his allies for this part of the job, something he knew he was going to have to start getting used to doing a lot more often as he continued to grow weaker.

In the following days, All Might would learn more details about the incident that had ultimately been covered up by the Heroes Association.

The number of casualties was calculated to be at 163, one of those being the death of At-Lass. The number of villains who had escaped was only 8, including Maguma Iwata aka Volcano, the criminal who his own protege had taken down.

While these were both upsetting to him, what was especially concerning was the confirmation he received from Tsukauchi that Nomu, who had been captured and genetically examined, did in fact have multiple Quirks.

Although security footage had not yet been salvaged so they didn’t have visual proof, this was all the information All Might needed to come to an extremely terrifying conclusion. This attack… was in some way connected to the man who had years ago given him his injury.

The nemesis to all users of One for All.

The legendary evil known… as All for One.

Chapter 12: Break Your Limits or be Broken By Them

Chapter Text

Since he had arrived back at Yuuei, All Might had remained under the care of Recovery Girl, who demanded that he take some time off in order to properly heal, as her Quirk’s effects couldn’t be used to their full extent on him due the state of his body.

She estimated that the time he would be able to spend as a Hero had lowered to only two hours, and could decrease further if he didn't take better care of himself. Thus, he was given a week long sick leave, the excuse to his students that he was feeling under the weather.

Most of them thought nothing of it besides being somewhat surprised that even the number one Hero could be a victim of the common cold, but Deku was incredibly worried. He had been the only one aware that All Might had gone out on a mission that night before he supposedly fell ill, but besides being told to not tell anybody about that, he knew next to nothing about what had happened that night.

Recovery Girl regretfully forbade from checking in on his mentor during those days, saying that while she knew he was worried that he wasn’t yet in the condition for visitors.

It wasn’t until Friday, when after a brutal lesson from Aizawa, who had been teaching Heroes at Work in place of All Might, that Deku received a text from his mentor that it was alright to come see him.

Deku immediately swiftly made up an excuse that he forgot he had a checkup with Recovery Girl and rushed off from the conversation he had been in with a few friends towards the infirmary.

Upon arriving and being the go ahead by Recovery Girl, he burst into the room to see All Might watching what looked to be an old superhero cartoon, causing him to get flustered and turn off the television, before greeting his apprentice with an overabundance of gusto.

Beyond relieved to see that his teacher was alright, Deku immediately began assaulting All Might with a barrage of questions, asking him what had happened on the ship, why news about it wasn’t getting out, what kind of villains had he faced that caused him so much trouble. As All Might sweatdropped, Recovery Girl noted from outside the room that this was why she held off on allowing him to visit for so long.

Telling the boy to grab a seat, All Might explained to Deku most of what had transpired, that some villain had used a teleportation Quirk to get aboard the ship in order to free several inmates and released something resembling a monster to wreak havoc.

It had proven powerful, but he had been able to stop it before it could take any more lives than it already had. However, information about the incident had been covered up by the Heroes Association who knew it could cause panic among the public. The escaped convicts would be tracked down with anyone knowing, and even he wouldn’t be involved in it due to how much attention he naturally garnered.

Deku worriedly asked if Volcano had been one of the criminals who had escaped, with All Might admitting that he was, but not to worry as he wouldn’t be on the run for long. Nonetheless, Deku lamented the fact that he wouldn’t be able to talk about it with Shoji, Ojiro, or Koda, as they had helped in taking him down and he felt they deserved to know.

He mentioned that it was getting somewhat discouraging to have to carry so many secrets, from his vigilantism as Jackrabbit, to the nature of One for All, to his relationship with All Might, to this.

Additionally he had found out that he really wasn’t very good at lying, with his excuse for flying out on Friday being that All Might happened to be Torino’s nephew and that he was going up for a visit, which his idol nearly facepalmed at, saying he could’ve just said the boat arrived early.

Deku then wondered if All Might had ever had to keep secrets like that away from people he was close to, and if so how he dealt with it, with the Symbol of Peace answering that he did. His very best friend who helped him get his start as a Hero in the U.S. was completely ignorant to One for All. He often felt guilty lying to him about the nature of his Quirk, his past, and even why he had been getting weaker.

But he knew that doing so was for the better, as the more people that knew about One for All, the more likely the chance would be of someone trying to steal it or hurting people close to the holders of it.

It was always important to remember the bigger picture, that no matter how much it may have negatively affected you, it was for the good of everyone else. As the Symbol of Peace, it was a sacrifice he had to make, and unfortunately one Deku would have to learn to make as well.

Deku, although clearly not happy, was understanding of this, solemnly nodding and promising All Might that he would keep doing his best to stay strong for everyone.

Internally, All Might justified him deciding to withhold telling Deku more about One for All for the same reason, that it would cause him nothing but unnecessary strife he told him now and maybe impede his training. He opted to wait until the Sports Festival had come and gone, once he was more confident in his abilities, so that he wouldn’t be as overwhelmed by the troublesome information.

He did choose to tell his student then, however, about Gran Torino’s request that he didn’t come along for training anymore. This obviously greatly confused and even disappointed Deku, and he asked for an explanation, with All Might replying that Torino believed his being around was limiting what he could do with One for All on his own.

This didn’t really make any sense to Deku, but he didn’t make much of an attempt to argue against it. After all, Torino’s methods were odd, but they had worked for him thus far.

Deku spent the rest of the day unsure as to if there was anything he could do to prepare for his next bout of training with Torino. It obviously proved hard to try and solve a problem when he wasn’t even sure what it exactly was. Instead, he chose to simply try and boost his physicality as much as possible, doubling the usual amount of workouts he did.

Unfortunately, this proved to be underwhelming in the face of the training that his classmates had gotten up to. They hadn’t lied when they promised that they wouldn’t fall behind. In fact, with consultation from Aizawa on what would be the optimal tactics to improve upon their key weaknesses, they were threatening to blow past him.

Iida had been running laps at his top speed around the soccer field, while Ashido was within it, skating on her acid at with greater agility as well as control, not using an excessive amount and thus potentially causing damage to her surroundings.

Uraraka was making use of extremely heavy and dense exercise balls to increase the weight of what she could comfortably make float, while Kirishima toughened up his Hardening against an onslaught of strikes from Ojiro’s Tail which also increased its strength. Tsu was over in the pool, firing her tongue at heavy objects down at the very bottom and bringing them to the surface in order to improve the strength and speed of her signature lengthy appendage.

In comparison, the 1% of One for All he could safely utilize at the moment merely allowed Deku to do his traditional exercises at a somewhat more intense pace. The only ones with him doing the same were Koda and Shoji, although the latter was still making use of his Quirk to grow multiple arms so that he could lift up to six dumbbells at once.

Mineta was also with them, but he wasn’t doing any work, instead just sitting on top of Deku while he was in the middle of doing push ups, which he didn’t mind as it was only another forty or fifty pounds of weight.

The company was nice and all, but Deku wished he had access to more of his full power. He wanted to progress faster.

No.

The image of All Might in a hospital bed, weakened further after having tussled with such a powerful enemy, flashed through his mind.

He needed to progress faster.

Koda seemed to take notice of his friend’s inner turmoil, and although he wasn’t aware of all the reasons behind it, he was able to correctly assume one of the issues on his mind. He told Deku that he thought what he had accomplished was really impressive, especially since he did it in just one weekend.

Shoji voiced his agreement, saying that he admired Deku’s work ethic and was sure he would get to a point where he was satisfied with his usage of his Quirk soon. Deku beamed at his friends’ confidence in him, thanking them and hoping that they too would get stronger, only for Mineta to complain that he didn’t see why any of them were all that concerned about improving.

They were already super strong to have been able to take down actual villains, how much better did they really need to get? It wasn’t like ‘that hottie’ Yaoyorozu or Tokoyami were training, after all.

Deku noted that they actually were, just in different places around the school, while Shoji remarked that Mineta’s outlook was very naive. Even if they were the cream of the crop, which they weren’t, that would be the Big Three, that just meant that everyone else was going to try and catch up with them, which meant they also had to keep improving so they wouldn’t get surpassed.

That competitive cycle would help them in their journey to become capable Heroes. After all, history proved that strong Heroes often came from the same class, such as All Might and Endeavor, Best Jeanist and Edgeshot, or Gang Orca and Shishido, the latter four being the number five, six, ten and eleven Heroes internationally respectively, each pair having attended Yuuei together, with there actually even being overlap with the younger duos.

Mineta questioned how he was supposed to keep up if everybody already stronger than him kept getting better, with Shoji pointing out that he wasn’t even doing anything to mitigate that, which was excused as him taking it easy since it was his 'birthday week.'

As they were discussing this, however, they noticed that Koda had become even more quiet than usual, and asked what was on his mind. The bug boy timidly admitted that since Mineta’s mention of them, he had been thinking about their confrontation about the villains.

He knew it was going to sound bad, but he couldn’t help but feel sorry for them. From what he had heard Volcano say, he seemed to genuinely care about the environment and wanted people to take better care of it.

If he had guided down a better direction in life, who knew what he would have accomplished. It was a shame that he was stuck in Tartarus now, but he supposed it was better than him running around causing havoc.

Deku stopped himself from grimacing at this in order to not make himself obvious, while Shoji fell into a look of contemplation himself. He hadn’t told anyone, but, for the past week or two, he had been wanting to do something related to the Volcano Thieves. Perhaps the weekend would be the time he finally did it.

Meanwhile, at Gym Gamma, a training facility operated by Cementoss, an unlikely pair of 1A students were training together; Tokoyami and Aoyama. The latter, who was panting heavily, was firing constant blasts of his Naval Laser at the former’s Dark Shadow, who was weaving and ducking around the beams coming its way, looking extremely uncomfortable whenever it neared the brilliant blue light.

Eventually one of Aoyama’s attacks was able to tag it, barely grazing the side of the tendril of which it was connected to Tokoyami from, but even just that made it reel back in pain, hissing that it was a cheap shot, before asking its user if it was gonna get to actually start attacking back soon, scaring its faux opponent. Tokoyami told the manifestation of his Quirk that it couldn’t, as the training was not to increase its strength but its fortitude.

As they prepared to start back up, Kaminari, Sero and Jiro entered into the building, seemingly intent on doing their own training, and were surprised by the other two’s appearance, with the latter commenting that she never would’ve figured she’d see them hanging out.

Tokoyami explained that it was true that they were polar opposites, but it was exactly for that reason that they were excellent training partners.

Sero realized why this was before the bird headed boy could elaborate further, noting that Ashido had said that Dark Shadow seemed to be easily bothered by bright light based on when they fought together at the USJ the other week, so obviously the best way to improve against that weakness was to fight against someone whose Quirk involved light like Aoyama’s.

Tokoyami nodded, saying that he needed to make sure Dark Shadow became more resilient for the Sports Festival, as it being held during the day for the most part meant he was already naturally disadvantaged.

He was most concerned about getting into a fight with someone like Bakugo due to his explosions, as he believed as they were now, he would be beaten extremely easily. There also wasn’t any telling what sort of Quirks the students in 1B had up their sleeves that could end up making them any even worse match for him.

Kaminari told he shouldn’t have had to worry about losing to someone like Bakugo, and that he would volunteer his time to help him train since his Quirk was also heavily light based, which Tokoyami appreciated greatly.

As the electric blonde rushed over to join in, Jiro voiced her opinion that it was rather stupid of Kaminari to be helping out pretty much the only person he was inherently strong against ahead of such a big competition, although Sero disagreed with her cynicism about their friend.

Sure it wasn’t tactically wise, but that wasn’t what Kaminari was concerned about. Kaminari didn’t see Tokoyami as a hurdle he needed to overcome, he just saw him as another student who needed some help. He was doing for him what he would’ve done for either of them.

Jiro paused, admitting that she guessed it was pretty cool of him, but at the same time, he was more in need of improvement than Tokoyami was. Sooner than later he was going to have to start getting better with his Quirk before it started screwing him over for real.

Sero quipped that she needed to stop talking so negatively or else he was gonna start thinking she was actually hoping for him to fail, with her joking back that it had taken him long enough.

They were then startled by the voice of Hagakure telling them that they needed to stop talking with so much sarcasm because it was getting confusing. They asked if she had been there the entire time, with her saying that she had actually just gotten there, but cheering that it seemed her stealth skills had gotten better thanks to her and Yaoyorozu’s training.

Upon being asked to clarify, she explained that Yaoyorozu had been creating highly sensitive sound detecting machines for her to sneak around and practice making less noise, and that she had actually worked her way up to ‘semi-high sensitivity’, which was apparently the level ants were at, something Sero muttered was sort of creepy.

She added that she had come down to see if Cementoss was around since she and Yaoyorozu had some questions about the upcoming paper in his class, but the other girl hadn’t wanted to come along, with Hagakure saying she believed might not have liked him for some reason despite getting such good grades in the course.

In response, Jiro mumbled that she was pretty sure why that was, but chose not go over it, instead asking if Hagakure wanted to join her in some training since she was here, as he had wanted to get better at sensing using her own Quirk, which the invisible girl happily agreed to.

As the pair went off to do such, Sero suddenly realized that this left him without a training partner, much to his disgruntlement, only to then get an idea. Not a likely one, but, hey, it wasn’t like they were on bad terms, right?

A twenty minute walk later, and Sero was knocking on the door of one of his dorm neighbors, who, after a few seconds, opened up, staring at the tape user with a blank expression.

Sero immediately regretted his decision to try and convince Todoroki to train with him, as he realized he hadn’t ever talked to the other guy for more than a few seconds at a time and had pretty much no idea how to introduce the idea to him. Fortunately, well, kind of, Todoroki didn’t ask him anything, he just continued to look at him with zero emotion.

At least he knew the guy had patience.

Sero ended up being straightforward, as he figured Todoroki was a sort of no-nonsense type of person, asking the son of Endeavor directly if he wanted to do some training with him for the Sports Festival.

Todoroki appeared somewhat caught off guard by this, before answering that he didn’t get why he was asking him as they weren’t friends, with Sero quickly remarking that it was a great opportunity for them to become such.

Todoroki flatly told him he wasn’t at Yuuei to make friends, and began to close the door, uninterested in the offer, but Sero stuck his foot in, saying that if that was the case then he could consider it more of a partnership.

Todoroki blinked, asking him what he meant, with Sero hastily explaining that they would be training partners. It’d be like a business agreement, a mutually beneficial arrangement for their improvement.

The cryokinetic questioned why he would need his help to improve, seemingly both out of arrogance and curiosity, which Sero didn’t have an immediate answer for, but as Todoroki had proved, he was more than willing to wait if he was intrigued.

Eventually he came up with the argument that Todoroki had probably been practicing by himself, and so when it came to all of his attacks he hadn’t gotten the chance to test them on a moving target.

Giving himself a thumbs up, Sero remarked that he was probably one of the most nimble people in Class 1A, so if anyone could help him get used to aiming at an opponent with a lot of options to dodge, it was him.

Todoroki didn’t respond for almost a minute, with Sero remaining quiet the entire time to not risk messing up the progress he had made, before the dual haired teen then agreed, saying that it made enough sense, and that they would be heading down to Ground Gamma immediately to begin.

As Todoroki went to go change into his uniform, Sero exhaled in a sigh of relief, before then realizing that he had probably just set himself up for an extremely strenuous bout of training, especially if he wanted to make it seem like he wasn’t all bark and no bite, and groaning.

By the end of the day, 1A was collectively spent, arriving back at their dorms around the same time and immediately sprawling on the couches, some falling asleep then and there.

They barely had the energy to talk, or none of them were looking forward to cooking either, but fortunately Sato had brought home leftovers from the cafeteria, much to everyone’s delight.

As Iida gulped down an entire liter of orange juice, which apparently was what fueled his engines, he asked Uraraka if she had managed to surpass lifting 3 tons without getting nauseous, only to find the girl looking beyond disheveled, grumbling that she was close.

Kirishima’s arms were covered in bandages, but he nonetheless cheered that he felt he was making some serious progress, while Ojiro, whose tail was in the same condition, mumbled that maybe they could switch up training methods the next day.

Kaminari fell in between where they were sitting, his brain completely fried, with Tokoyami asking how long he was going to be like that for, Kirishima saying it usually took an hour or so.

They then watched as Sero entered, his trademark grin absent and half of his body covered in ice, alongside, much to their astonishment, Todoroki. The usually aloof teen told Sero that he believed their training had been productive, so they’d do it again tomorrow, telling him to get a good night’s rest as he looked a little tired.

After Todoroki departed to his dorm, Sero was immediately swarmed with questions from his classmates, particularly Ashido, asking how he had ended up training with him, although the tape boy was not in any condition to talk, instead collapsing onto the couch and wrapping himself in a blanket next to Sato and Koda.

As he walked off, Ashido stood up and pumped her first, claiming she knew those two were friends, only to wince and sit back down, her legs aching. Jiro, massaging her ear lobes, commented that Sero’s behavior sure didn’t make it seem that way, although she still guessed out of the two stragglers of 1A he could’ve trained with, Todoroki was probably the better choice over Bakugo.

Kirishima somewhat hesitantly said maybe he wasn’t that bad once you got to know him, which Hagakure replied she really couldn’t see being the case, a sentiment most others in the classroom agreed upon, although Iida soon shouted that it was indecent to speak ill of someone when they weren’t around.

Everyone was then alerted to the sound of Deku’s ringtone, which they noted was the theme song of ‘The Animated Adventures of All Might’ show that aired a decade ago. Much to his panic, Tsu asked if it was the Symbol of Peace himself, causing him to frantically question what made her think that.

She said, flat as always, that All Might seemed to have taken a liking to Deku, with them having such similar Quirks, and that they seemed close enough to the point where the Hero had let him go on his jet.

Fortunately, before Deku could flub an excuse, Kirishima interjected, saying All Might probably just saw how much he struggled to use his powers, adding that he meant no offense, and wanted to help him out, seeing as he was his teacher after all.

Plus, like Deku told them, it was because his new teacher was All Might’s uncle. They flew out together because of convenience. Tsu mused that perhaps he was right while Deku let out a silent sigh of relief, before excusing himself as he had to take the call.

Immediately after he was out of the room, Kirishima acknowledged that it was still most definitely All Might.

The next day, Deku had to travel to Torino’s the traditional way, seeing as how Recovery Girl prevented All Might from leaving her care before at least a week had passed. When he arrived late in the morning, his elder teacher had decided to spare his nerves by not playing another practical joke upon him opening the door to his apartment.

Instead, he jumped right to attacking him, saying that since last time he hadn’t gotten the chance to see how he fought with that “Full Cowling” of his, he wasn’t going to waste any time in having him show it off.

After initially being unable to dodge a kick to the side of the head, Deku succeeded in activating One for All. He hadn’t yet tested against any of his classmates in combat training, so he was excited to see exactly how much 1% would mean in a fight.

Green energy crackling around him, the slight boost in speed and recollection of Torino’s movements in their previous spar allowed him to correctly predict where the old pro would strike.

He turned to his right, raising an arm up to guard, only for Torino to catch him off guard, as what he expected to just be a straight kick as one that swung from the side, the force of it pushing his arm away and allowing a second kick to smash into his face.

A stream of air then nearly toppled him over as Torino retreated only to start striking him repeatedly from all directions like last time. He grunted in frustration before calming himself and again using his prior analysis to pivot and block again, using both arms this time, only for Torino to aim down with his kick, knocking his defense down and again permitting him to land another blow.

Internally cursing as his mentor burst away again, Deku thought back to All Might’s demonstration with Torino, trying to pinpoint what he had been doing differently beyond One for All.

After several more seconds of being pummeled while continuing to try and guard, he landed on the move that All Might had done at the very end of their scuffle. It may have mostly been to show off, but it could’ve been just what he needed to turn things in his favor.

As Torino dove towards the middle of his back, Deku swerved around and caught the incoming kick, making him grin in satisfaction. With his other arm, he prepared to launch a punch, only for Torino to use his free foot to propel himself forward, causing the boy to stumble and lose his grasp, which allowed the semi-retired Hero to then deliver one final kick to the back of his head, sending him to the floor.

Deku panted as he picked himself up with notable strain, grumbling that it seemed like he had done even worse than last time, which Torino confirmed, to his misery.

He explained that although Deku’s keen observation and increased agility meant he was starting to keep up with his movements, at least when he was holding back, he had lost the instant he started fighting the way he did, which was like All Might, a comment that confused the teen greatly, asking what he meant.

Torino asked if All Might had made sure to tell him why he wasn’t coming along anymore, with Deku confirming that he did, if somewhat briefly, explain that he was apparently inhibiting him from utilizing One for All, which he didn’t understand seeing as how it had been their exhibition that helped him realize Full Cowling.

Torino said that this was true, and it was what he had intended, but what he didn’t realize until after was that Deku saw everything that All Might did in that match as exactly what he needed to be doing. Not just in how he was manifesting One for All, but in how he was fighting with it.

Seeing that Deku was still uncertain, Torino sighed and elaborated further. He and All Might were similar in a lot of ways, but there were plenty of key differences between them, most especially in their different styles of combat.

All Might was extremely straightforward, which he could afford to be due to his sturdy physique. He had been that way since he was a young man. It wasn’t like he didn’t have the capacity for strategic thinking, but he didn’t have to worry about intricate plans to minimize damage to himself because he was strong enough to take a lot of hits.

But from what he had seen of Deku, both on his own and from footage sent in by All Might, he was very much the opposite. He had grown up a frail boy who often couldn’t rely on his own strength and had to instead exploit the weaknesses he found in his opponents that were superior to him on a physical level. He fought through dodging, through tactics some might have called cheap tricks, through landing unexpected blows.

When he first got One for All, he was using the bursts of strength he got from it as sort of an extra move in his arsenal.

That wasn’t correct.

Now, when he had started to use One for All as intended, he was changing his fighting style to be like All Might’s.

That also wasn’t correct.

He then asked Deku that, based on this, what did he think the actual correct way of battling with One for All was?

Deku’s eyes widened as the answer that now seemed so stupidly obvious came to him. He muttered that what he should’ve been doing was using One for All to amplify his pre-existing skills.

He wasn’t All Might, not just in regards to how much power he could use, but when it came to their actual bodies. And Deku’s body didn’t benefit from copying how his idol fought, it did from how he did. But he told Torino that he wasn’t really sure if his battling techniques were really befitting of a pro, even if they worked well for him.

The graying pro responded that maybe they weren’t, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t develop them as he progressed. And while he couldn’t help him find a certain sort of martial arts that complimented him, he could help him get better at moving around, which he recalled was one of his original biggest problems with One for All.

Because his mobility actually was something he felt Deku would heavily benefit from if he could gain even a fraction of it. His student nodded enthusiastically, saying that he would be extremely grateful, and he was ready to undergo whatever training he had laid out for him.

Torino smiled a bit too eagerly, saying he was glad Deku was so excited. Because by the time the Sports Festival arrived, he would have taught him two things; to be able to move around like he did at a quarter of his top speed, and to be able to use 5% of One for All’s full power.

Deku was obviously up for the challenge, but was curious as to how he would measure his progress. As it turned out, the city of Kofu had been Torino’s home for far longer than Deku had presumed, it being where he grew up as a child before he went to Yuuei.

When he was a teen, even younger than Deku, one of the ways he practiced with his Quirk was by jumping around the entire city, building from building. At first, his attempts often ended with him receiving a few broken bones and a scolding from his parents.

But as he continued, and his stamina, speed and precision improved, he started getting to a point where he wouldn’t even take breaks during his outings. Eventually, he was able to make the entire trip in only half an hour’s length of time, and that was before he got actual Hero training.

When he was done training Deku, he should be able to do the exact same thing in almost just as much time. They would also continue his regular training, the exercises he had done during the previous weekend, at higher intensities, in order to get his body used to strenuous motions with One for All, as well as to keep building up his physique.

Deku paled slightly.

The Sports Festival was due to start on November 21st. It was currently October 15th. Counting this weekend, this meant that he had twelve days of training with Torino. That wasn’t a lot of time. Torino reminded him that of course he expected him to do additional training at Yuuei. That gave him well over a month. He was a hardworking kid, so, although it had taken himself over a year to get to the point that he had told him about, he was sure he’d be alright.

That was, if he really was as serious as he said he was about heroics.

Deku’s face shifted into one of hardened determination.

He was. He wasn’t going to back down. He would exceed Torino’s expectations for him, alongside everyone else’s. By the time the Sports Festival came around, he’d be a completely new Izuku Midoriya.

Torino grinned. Now that was the kind of resemblance to All Might he liked, that unwavering spirit.

Without any further delays, they began.

Chapter 13: A Race to the Top - The First Day of the Sports Festival, Part 1

Chapter Text

The month and a half in between the true start of his training with Gran Torino and the end of it as the Sports Festival arrived was not an easy one for Deku.

He had fallen off countless buildings, overexerted himself to the point of serious injury during exercises, repeatedly bashed his face into the wall trying to jump around like his mentor, etc. He had lost track of the amount of times he had to pay a visit to Recovery Girl on account of broken bones.

He barely had the chance to interact with his classmates due to all of his free time consisting of training with Torino in the city and All Might at Yuuei. And it wasn’t as if school work had lightened up during that period, in fact it had intensified per Aizawa’s instruction in order to keep his students on their toes.

It was probably the most stressful time of his life up to that point, even more so than the near year he spent training with All Might.

But he couldn’t complain. Although it was worse than what he imagined hell being, it had absolutely produced results.

He was in better shape than he had ever been, he finally had a semblance of real confidence in his power, and, above all else, he was ready to win the Sports Festival. He knew his friends had improved a lot as well, and that beating them wasn’t going to be easy, especially when it came to the Big Three, but he felt like he couldn’t afford to lose.

He couldn’t get the image of an injured, deflated All Might, needing a whole week to recover, out of his head. He knew that his teacher would, for the good of both him and the entire world, have to step down sooner than later. Although he wouldn’t be able to achieve it right away, the world had to know that there was someone on his way to becoming the next Symbol of Peace, one just as strong as the previous bearer of the title. And, as much pressure as it was on him and as ridiculous as it might have sounded to everyone else, that was him.

When he won, and he was up on the podium at the end of the festival, that was the message he intended to deliver.

On November 20th, a Sunday, the day before the Sports Festival was to commence, Deku was given permission to leave from Kofu to Yuuei earlier than usual. Torino’s outward reasoning was that he needed plenty of time to relax and rest so that he was in prime condition for the big day tomorrow, he couldn’t be dozing off in the middle of the first set of events. But while this was true, there was another reason.

Deku had reached the goals that he had outlined for him.

He wasn’t supposed to.

Torino hadn’t considered them feasible objectives. He expected him to reach about 3% at most, but he had actually gotten up to 5%, and seemed to be approaching 6%. His actual best time as a teen was a full hour, not half, but Deku had indeed beaten his made up record. The kid had performed far better than he had anticipated, and he already set out what he considered rather lofty goals for him.

For the first time in roughly forty years, he was going to make sure to have the television tuned to the channel that played the Sports Festival. His brittled old bones felt excitement course through them after ages of dullness.

When Deku arrived back at school that evening, he discovered that most of his peers that he had been hoping to maybe hang out with a bit ahead of the games weren’t available. Some were still training while others had turned in extremely early, not wanting to risk being even the slightest bit tired.

There were only two available; Mineta, not surprising, and Kirishima, somewhat surprising. The red head explained that he and Ojiro had wrapped up early as the latter wanted to do some personal training, and while he was still pretty wiped, he thought just hanging around in his dorm was too boring, and it had been a while since he and Deku had the chance to talk. Mineta, conversely, literally just had nothing better to do, although he assured his doubtful classmates that he had in fact improved.

The trio decided to just walk around a bit, maybe check up on the others to see how their last few hours of work were going, with them first stopping at Gym Gamma. It was always extremely popular as a training ground due to people being able to truly let loose in, seeing as how the structures within could be repaired in literal seconds. They had expected to find quite a few of the other members of 1A there, but they instead found only one, who they never would have expected; Bakugo.

They watched in shock and awe as they finally witnessed what Bakugo had spent the last two and a half months of his life during his spare time doing; vigorous training. Specifically, they were seeing the fruits of his labor, extremely impressive ones at that.

They looked on as the boy who had once seemed to be quite a one trick pony capable of only simple, straightforward attacks and some barebones manoeuvrability soared through the sky, propelling himself with explosions. Pillars of cement rose up to block his path, only for him to instantly obliterate them with precise, well timed blasts.

It wasn’t as if doing this even slowed him down, as he attacked in such a way that the resulting impact launched him upwards, whereupon he used subsequent explosions to make himself flip through the air, allowing him to take out future obstacles with even more speed and ferocity.

Eventually, one structure of cement, far larger than any of the others, rose to impede his progress. It was about the same size as the building he and Deku had fought in back during the second day of school. And upon reaching it, Bakugo blew it into rubble with a single blast, using seemingly just as little effort as any of the others.

Deku gawked at the sight of his rival’s immense improvement. A feat that had once required an entire battle’s worth of combustible sweat stored up to accomplish, he was now able to do with what seemed like just one of his regular attacks. Not just that, but his mobility had evolved to such a level that he was almost unrecognizable from their previous duel.

He wouldn’t have survived a second against this Bakugo back then.

Bakugo didn’t seem to have yet noticed their presence, instead hollering at Cementoss that they were running through it again, and to make tougher constructs this time as he had the feeling he wasn’t using his best material against him. His teacher didn’t seem willing to comply with his demands, however, saying that they had been at it for almost three whole hours at that point, and additionally, his knee wasn’t in good condition. He needed to go get it treated with Recovery Girl.

The trio of onlookers then noticed that the blonde’s right knee possessed a large gash in it, and was bleeding rather fiercely, something they hadn’t been able to notice since he had been moving so fast before.

The blonde scoffed at this, saying it didn’t hurt at all, with Cementoss commenting that it wasn’t surprising considering it had probably gotten numb. Upon refusing his request to continue once again, Bakugo grunted that he was going to train elsewhere, maybe see if Ectoplasm was still available as his clones made great target practice.

As he contemplated his next move, however, he saw Deku, Kirishima and Mineta staring at him, totally dumbfounded, something he didn’t do anything but glare at. He picked up his pace and stomped past them, only for Kirishima to grab his shoulder, stopping him.

The red head started to compliment Bakugo’s advancement, saying he had gotten so much better since he last saw him in action and that he must’ve been working really hard, only to be cut off when Bakugo slapped his hand off of him and told him not to waste his breath as he couldn’t care less about what he had to say. He stormed off without another word, leaving the spiky haired boy looking rather depressed, while Mineta performed a silent raspberry and Deku shook his head sadly.

As they later picked their walk back up, Kirishima asked Deku if Bakugo had always been like that, so distant from everybody else, since from what he understood the two of them had known each other since they were kids. Deku explained that Bakugo had never really been close to anyone before, besides sort of him when they were really young. He had never felt like anyone was worth his time because they were so much weaker than him.

Now at Yuuei, while he didn’t have the impression that he was the end-all be-all of Hero students, he was still striving to be at the top more above all else, and so he didn’t see them as anything but people to surpass, if even that. He had hoped that this would eventually become him seeing them as friendly competition, like how most of the rest of them did each other, but it seemed like his views had just got even more toxic. And he wasn’t quite sure how to change the trajectory he was on, or if he should even attempt to.

Kirishima grimaced, looking more downcast than Deku had ever seen him before. He wondered, as he had the last time he had tried to reach out to his hotheaded classmate, was there a way for him to help Bakugo?

The night wouldn’t last all that much longer for Deku and his friends. After meeting up with Uraraka, Iida and a few others, the group decided to turn in. They had a lot to catch up on, and they were all very eager to talk with each other, but they would have to wait until the Sports Festival was over.

Plus, in regards to learning how much their classmates had improved, they had plenty of time to find that out in the following days as they competed against them. Yuuei was, after all, a school that very much subscribed to the educational theory of learning by doing.

Every year, each major Hero school, which included Yuuei in addition to Shiketsu, Ketsubetsu, and Isamu, held what were known as Sports Festivals, massive exhibitions of each of their students’ talents through a variety of different competitions, all televised for the entire world to see, making them some of the most popular annual events to ever exist.

But it wasn’t just a means for the schools to show off, it was pretty much the first opportunity that future Heroes got to present themselves to the people that they would someday be protecting. Which meant it was also the best way for them to get scouted out by the several professionals that always made time to check out the festivals to see if there were any notable candidates for internships or even sidekicks once they had graduated. Thus, this wasn’t just important within the confines of academia, it was relevant to each and every one of their futures.

It was with that motivating them that Class 1A looked especially determined the next morning, as they made their way into the stadium within which the Sports Festival would be held. They saw their fellow first year Yuuei students, of which there were nearly two hundred, walk alongside them, a look of equal resolve for victory in their eyes.

Their competition was vast beyond even just their own internal rivalries. This was where they would be tasked to impress upon the world their school’s success at producing greatness, with their seniors’ turn coming after that. But despite his focus on that and his own individual goals, Deku couldn’t help but notice something among the mass of the students marching forward; a familiar messy head of purple hair.

When they stepped into the interior of the stadium, the pressure they felt amplified a hundredfold upon seeing the tens of thousands of spectators awaiting them, cheering and applauding them with unmatched enthusiasm. From citizens who had purchased tickets, to businessmen, to Heroes, to their teachers, to older students, to even a few of their parents who managed to make the time off to come see them, everybody’s eyes were upon them.

They were expecting not just to be entertained, but to be impressed. They knew then more than ever before that they were going to have to give everything they had if they wanted a shot at winning. It was time to see just how well their training paid off.

The crowd began to die down as the students gathered around the platform that the chief referee of the festival, the obviously extremely anxious Bubble Girl, was standing on. Despite her nervousness, she delivered the introduction in her usual chipper tone, going over how the Sports Festival was a tradition that had been going on for almost a century, that thousands had been in the very same position they were, and that each and every year proved to be a unique spectacle of talent and spirit.

That wasn’t to try and put more pressure than there already was, however. It was encouragement for each and everyone of them to do their best. To let loose, to show the world their true, strongest selves. So that by the time the festival had wrapped up, regardless of if they had made it far or not, they would have some level of satisfaction knowing that they gave it their all.

Without further ado, she advised them to take a deep breath, calm their nerves, and ingrain the phrase ‘Go Beyond, Plus Ultra’ into their hearts and minds. Because the Yuuei Sports Festival had officially begun.

The students were then directed towards their class’s respective locker rooms within the stadium in order to change into their gym uniforms. Hero students were not permitted to wear their costumes as it might have given them an unfair advantage over their peers in the other courses, although any students were allowed to use specific pieces of equipment if they submitted a request form that had been approved by the school. This was why someone like Aoyama was allowed to wear the belt from his costume, as it apparently helped him control his Quirk, something he had never told them before, although they couldn’t really fault the blonde as none of them were particularly close to him.

As the students finished putting on their standardized blue, white and red outfits, they loitered in the lounge room, awaiting further instructions. They had not yet been told what the first event would be, and many of them spent the last few minutes of inactivity they had left speculating as to what it might have been. But as Deku laughed at Sero shooting down Kaminari’s suggestion that it was going to involve racing horses, he was approached by someone who he hadn’t expected to interact with until far later on; Todoroki.

The room went as silent as the metaphorically and literally cold teen usually was as he stepped in front of Deku, an unreadable expression drawn on his face. Frozen under the intensity of his stare, his green haired classmate was unable to question anything before Todoroki told him that he didn’t want to waste any time telling him what he wanted to say, so he wasn’t going to bother with the usual niceties.

Todoroki believed that, based on what he had observed of him throughout the time they had known each other, he shared some sort of connection to All Might. He wasn’t yet sure what it was, how it had been formed, or especially why the number one Hero had taken such vested interest in someone who wasn’t even close to being the strongest in the class, but it didn’t matter much to him.

Whatever that relationship was, it made him the one who he wanted to defeat the most. So he was declaring to him, there and then, that he was going to come out on top over him in the Sports Festival, without a shred of a doubt.

Without another word, he turned around and began walking away, only to be stopped by Sero. The black haired boy asked Todoroki what he was doing being so overtly hostile, that there was no need to make what was supposed to be a good natured competition into something so unnecessarily glum.

The cryomancer paused, taking a few seconds to respond, before glancing back at the tape user, and responding that it was like he had told him. He wasn’t here to make friends.

But as he started leaving once again, Deku speaking up stopped him in his tracks.

Deku told him that he wasn’t sure exactly why him supposedly being close to All Might made Todoroki want to beat him so badly. He didn’t think the two of them had ever interacted to a point where he had reason to see him as a threat. And he wished he hadn’t spoken to him with such quiet indignation.

But he was glad he did talk to him just then. He wanted him to view him as a challenge. Not just him, but everyone else in 1A. They had all been doing their best to catch up with him, the student who had been recognized by the school as their class’s strongest.

And the effort they had been putting in, in tandem with the drive they all had to win, meant that they weren’t just going to stand by and let him achieve victory as easily as he might have hoped. He was going to have to give it his all if he wanted to win, just like the rest of them.

Todoroki, again, stood still for a moment, processing Deku’s words, his face unchanging, before closing his eyes, and departing without replying. The other students exchanged concerned, confused looks about what the encounter had just transpired. Just what was Todoroki’s deal?

Notably, Sero looked the most troubled, sighing that throughout all the time they had spent training together, he had hoped he might have lightened up a bit. But he was the exact same as he had been before, only now he was angry for some reason.

The mood of the room had transformed from optimistic uncertainty to something resembling dread. Although Todoroki had always been somewhat intimidating, his classmates had never been afraid of him due to his relatively reserved attitude. But with the threatening conviction he had just displayed, his presence had gone from unwelcoming to downright frightening.

Bakugo, on the other hand, who had been leaning against the wall off to the side, apart from the rest of 1A, didn’t feel a chill creeping up his spine in reaction to the bizarre and unexpected confrontation between Deku and Todoroki. No, instead, he was totally livid.

The guy who he had spent the last few months training himself up to eventually blow away in front of the entire world had just completely ignored him in favor of treating Deku like the biggest threat to his position at the top. Like he hadn’t even registered him as someone that had the potential to knock him off his pedestal.

That ignorant bastard… wasn’t going to get away with this. He had already planned on it before, but now it was personal. He was going to absolutely obliterate Todoroki, the one everyone around him seemed to see as some sort of invincible demigod. He would achieve an indisputable victory over him. And then people would know who to really look out for.

Not Momo Yaoyorozu. Not Fumikage Tokoyami. Not Shoto Todoroki. And definitely not Izuku f*cking Midoriya. No. The real prodigy of Yuuei’s newest first years. Katsuki Bakugo.

Only a few short minutes after Todoroki’s out of nowhere declaration, every student was instructed to exit outside of the stadium in order to get in position for the first event. Although it took a lot of shuffling and squeezing, the sea of students had poured out from the confines of the building.

Before any of them could wonder where they were supposed to head next as they didn’t see any sort of clue towards the event in their vicinity, they heard an intense rumbling. Panic began to spread out like a plague among the crowd of teens, the question as to if it was some sort of an earthquake or an actual tidal wave headed towards the island on their minds, only to then witness something even more shocking.

Like a geyser of earth, a massive pillar of cement began to erupt from the ground, taking the stadium into the air alongside it. The mountainous structure somewhat took the form of an hourglass, stretching out the bottom and top while thinning at its center.

Each and every person standing before the massive construct gawked, especially as they were told via a drone, with the voices from it revealing that the announcers for the Sports Festival were none other than Aizawa and Present Mic, that their first challenge was to scale the tower in front of them.

The first thirty two people to reach the top would be passed onto the next round. They had two primary means of doing so. The first was by a staircase that circled around the entire structure, and the other was by going up straight if they had the power to climb, or float, or fly, or anything of the sort.

They were free to impede each other’s progress by utilizing their Quirks or any other sort of skills they had. They needn’t worry about falling and hurting themselves, as they had recruited the Hero ranked number three in Japan and number twenty internationally; the Squeaky Clean Hero: Wash, who looked like an anthropomorphic washing machine and who several students momentarily gushed over, although they weren’t able to for long as it was then proclaimed when the race to the top would commence; “three, two, one… now!”

While those capable of vertical movement excitedly used their Quirks to begin what seemed like it would be a relatively simple journey, the other half started a maddash towards the staircase, only for many of them to have their movement halted by Todoroki generating a massage explosion of ice that froze several of them in place.

The dual haired boy proceeded to take an easy early lead, sliding up the path using his ice, although his other schoolmates didn’t remain stuck for long, namely Bakugo, who burst out from the ice, propelling himself forward after the cryokinetic. Iida and Deku, who had activated Full Cowling at 3%, were also not far behind, while others like Kirishima, Ashido and Ojiro were still breaking or melting their way through their prison of ice.

Meanwhile, Tsu and Uraraka had teamed up, the former doing the climbing while the latter made her lighter and herself weightless in order to make the trip less of a strain, however they had actually been passed by Mineta, who proved to be more agile with his Pop Off orbs than any of them could have expected and laughed that it seemed like this was challenge was made for him.

He soon arrived at the first point at which the staircase overlapped with their path upwards, and began to set a trap, throwing his balls all over the ground as he began a monologue about how this was the chance for the weak to overthrow the strong, how Todoroki would never be able to see this coming.

Ironically, not even a second later, a robotic hand reached from behind and smacked him off the edge, sending him flying past Tsu, Uraraka and the others, who looked up in terror at a robot identical to one of those they had faced in the practical entrance exam, specifically one of the ones programmed with super strength.

The presence of this android, and the dozens of others surrounding it, became known to Todoroki, Bakugo, Iida, Deku and the other contestants once they reached the area where Mineta had just been ambushed. Present Mic, on the announcer drone from before, then chimed in, saying that they couldn’t make it too easy on them, so there would be a variety of obstacles facing them on their way to the top to ensure that those who made it to the end were truly the best of the best.

Todoroki didn’t seem fazed, simply stepping on the ground and creating a wave of ice spikes that impaled multiple bots, and then running up the ice he had made, leaping over the rest of the cybernetic army, leaving his classmates to deal with them on their own.

And deal with them they did, tearing through them with explosions, kicks, punches, acid, etc. Others avoided confronting them directly, such as Yaoyorozu who vaulted over them with a pole, or a boy with brown hair from 1B who created platforms of solidified air with his breath and ran over them.

This was also what many of those who were climbing did, like Uraraka and Tsu, although some, like a boy also from the second Hero class who wore his hair in a ponytail, who weren’t quite as mobile also had to engage with the mechanical menaces, said member of 1B firing projectiles that resembled scales.

Todoroki glanced back, spotting Bakugo starting to get far too close to him for his liking, a fierce look in his eyes. The explosive blonde shouted at Todoroki that he shouldn’t have underestimated him, and that Deku was the least of his worries when he was around, only for the cryokinetic to question who he was, before freezing a sputtering Bakugo then and there with a surge of ice made from a mere footstep.

But this wasn’t the end of his troubles, as several other competitors surpassed Bakugo’s frigid prison not long after, including Iida, whose speed proved to be more impressive than Todoroki had prepared for, as only a second after he had spotted him, he was about to overtake him.

But things were never so straightforward, as before Iida could take the lead, another robot appeared in front of them; an untransformed 0 pointer. Panic ensued amongst almost everybody besides Todoroki and Yaoyorozu, who simply attempted to keep moving forward, only to be taken aback when the tiny bot sprouted to its full towering height, the creaking of its body sounding like the roars of a dragon.

Although Todoroki readied another ice-based attack, someone else took action before he could; Deku. The green haired wielder of One for All thought to himself that this would be the perfect way to measure his progress, seeing as how his last encounter with the 0-pointer was the first time he had ever used his Quirk.

Accelerating his usage up to his limit, 5%, he utilized the agility he had learned from Gran Torino to scale up the colossal robot’s body with several leaps, before arriving up at its head, and delivering a Houston Smash, which, despite not being at full strength, was still more than enough to leave a huge dent in its face and make it stagger back. As his other classmates gaped at his much improved proficiency, exclaiming their shock, Todoroki glared. It seemed his assumption was even more correct than he had thought; Deku was his biggest threat. From where the Yuuei faculty sat in the stadium, observing, All Might smiled brightly.

It turned out that this was only the first of multiple monstrous automatons, several others popping up after the initial one’s defeat, although now, their confidence boosted and their adrenaline pumping after witnessing one of their peers take out one so easily, the students of Yuuei were not so reluctant as to give it their all against them.

Sero seized Deku out of the air, who thanked him, only to rescind his gratitude when the tape user then swung him far back from being close to first place. He, alongside a newly arrived Sato, proceeded to work together to bring down another 0 pointer, the former wrapping tape around the head of the robot while the latter then yanked it down with his super strength into the ground. Tokoyami shredded one apart with Dark Shadow, while Yaoyorozu launched shots from a cannon, Todoroki made a couple of ice statues, etc.

As the titans of technology fell like dominos and the competitors continued their trek onward, Bakugo remained within the ice that Todoroki had trapped him within, not out of an inability to bust out, but because he had been seething in unparalleled rage. It was ironic that despite Todoroki not knowing him he had so accurately pressed his buttons.

Bakugo growled viciously at the complete disregard that he had been shown. That glorified air conditioner… was done for. With a scream so intense it very well could have been partially responsible for his escape, Bakugo literally exploded from out of his cage of frost, his detonations propelling him with enough speed and force that he shot through one of the 0 pointers like a human bullet.

He rushed past each and every one of those who had previously been ahead of him, even blowing some of them back as a result of the force of his blasts, but that wasn’t any of his concern. He had tunnel vision, his eyes directly on Todoroki, who had regained a solid enough lead due to the stiffer competition being preoccupied, besides apparently Bakugo, whom he noticed coming at him right before he made impact.

Unlike previously, however, he did not react in time, with the ice wall he formed being not durable enough for Bakugo not to instantly crash through it and send him flying, nearly off the cliff if he didn’t grab on at the last second. He managed to quickly pull himself up, but Bakugo was already way ahead, Iida running past him as well, though he was on his way again before anyone else could.

With those scaling the mountain of cement, they had started to come to understand they really didn’t have it any easier than those choosing to run, as despite it seeming like it would take less time, they were faced with what seemed like double the amount of obstacles.

Spikes would jut out of the surface they were climbing, boulders would begin falling down towards them, paintballs would be fired up at them from frighteningly precise machines on the ground, not to mention them constantly having to fend off their other more belligerent competitors.

Tsu and Uraraka, alongside a recovered Mineta, were currently in the lead in this regard, although there were some others close behind them including the boy with scales, a girl resembling a goat, a girl with vines for hair that used them to pull herself up, and, amazingly, Kirishima, who was using his Hardening on his hands to dig into the cement in order to climb.

Uraraka commented on her surprise at the redhead being able to do something like that, with Kirishima responding that his Quirk had some pretty unique applications when he put his mind to it.

Tsu then noted that he might have wanted to take back that unique part, nodding down to below Kirishima who looked behind him to find a similarly spiky haired boy whose body was made of steel doing the exact same maneuver as he was. Kirishima immediately glared, calling out to his doppelganger as ‘Tetsutetsu’ and to stop copying him, to which the iron man promptly refused and ordered him to do the same.

After Uraraka asked him how they knew each other, Mineta speculating that they were brothers, Kirishima revealed that Tetsutetsu was his rival in the boxing club, the two having always clashed due to how strikingly similar they were, which made it hard for either of them to stand out. Even their Quirks, Hardening and 'Steel,' another Transformation type that turned Tetsutetsu into metal, were easy to compare. Neither of them had ever been able to win over the other, powers involved or not.

Tetsutetsu yelled that it was exactly for that reason that they were going to duke it out in the Sports Festival, to settle who was the superior fighter once and for all. Obviously interested in this proposition, Kirishima roared that he wouldn’t lose, and the two began to clash, continuing to climb all while pummeling each other with their free hands when possible. As Kirishima’s skin harder than stone slammed into Tetsutetsu’s metal frame, their duel became yet another obstacle that the other students had to avoid, some falling off as a result of losing their balance while trying to dodge.

Mineta cursed as the scuffle between the two started to grow so intense that the wall of cement they were climbing began to crack and break apart, saying that at this rate if no one stopped them they were all going to fall off and lose their progress. Tsu flatly agreed with this assessment, and thanked Mineta for volunteering, before using her tongue to swat him, knocking him away from the balls he had been sticking with and down towards Kirishima and Tetsutetsu.

He smacked into the latter, and while usually due to his insignificant weight and the gray haired boy’s extremely tough body an impact from him would do virtually nothing, he caught him off guard and thus made him lose his grip, resulting in the both of them plummeting down below, screaming.

Kirishima, not knowing the purple twerp’s fall was not of his own volition, gripped his fist and closed his eyes, solemnly muttering that Mineta had proven himself to be a man after all by sacrificing himself in order to help his friend, with Uraraka and Tsu choosing not to correct him.

It seemed as if the fallen duo had been effectively eliminated from the race, and thus the others began to resume their climb with them both out of sight and mind, only for them to see a blur of purple and gray, as well as yellow, bound past them a second later.

Everyone’s eyes darted upward, falling upon a new figure, a pretty young girl with long golden hair and red glasses, bouncing in place on some sort of technologically advanced pogostick, with Mineta and Tetsutetsu being held in mechanical arms extending from some sort of backpack she wore.

Mineta weakly thanked the ‘pretty lady,’ although asked her why she went out of her way to help her competition, even though they didn’t know each other, to which she replied that such behavior is simply characteristic of a Hero, even if she was in the Support course.

Meanwhile, with those farther behind in the race up the tower, those without Quirks that assisted them very little when it came to this activity were struggling to keep up, simply relying on their athleticism. This of course put the Hero course students at an advantage, but just barely, as seen with Kaminari and Jiro who were running alongside a few 1B students, slightly ahead of a horde of teens from General Studies.

The electric blonde complained that at this rate he wasn’t going to get the chance to show off at all, as he didn’t see how his Electrification would help him at all, with Jiro reminding him of what Thirteen had told them, that they just had to think of unconventional ways to use their Quirks.

After a moment of contemplation, she told him to watch, with her then jamming one of her earlobes into the ground and releasing a huge burst of sound, which caused a huge pile of rubble to fall down and block the path of several people below them. She explained that while they might not have been able to get any further ahead than they already were, they could at least make sure nobody else got past them.

Kaminari grinned, exclaiming that she was right, and turned around, his hands crackling with lightning and preparing to unleash a powerful blast, Jiro yelling at him to try and aim it properly this time.

Before he could discharge, however, a taller boy with a messy head of purple hair approached him, questioning him if he really thought that was going to work. With a vindictive smirk, Kaminari began to yell that as a matter of fact he did, only to pause in the middle of his sentence and go completely still, his eyes blank.

As Jiro asked him what the problem was, the disheveled looking boy walked away, muttering something no one seemed able to hear. A second later, a turbulent burst of electricity emerged from Kaminari, zapping almost everybody in the vicinity into unconsciousness, save for the purple haired teen, who continued on as if nothing had happened.

Deku had managed to find his footing not long after he landed following Sero’s throwing of him, something he was almost tempted to hold a grudge against him for. He had gone down to only 2% as going to his maximum had tired him out just a bit, which meant he had yet to catch up to him, however, or Iida, or Todoroki, or Tokoyami, or any of those close to the first place position the last time he had almost taken it for himself.

He was a little over the halfway point, and the closest people to him at the moment were Shoji, Ojiro, and Koda, funnily enough, as well as a few 1B students he didn’t know. Knowing their level of skill, he was sure he wasn’t so far behind that if he stayed at his current placement he wouldn’t qualify for the next round.

But Deku wasn’t one for complacency. He came to the Sports Festival to excel, to achieve victory over all the other competitors so he could stand atop the winners’ pedestal and declare “I am here”, and the first step to that was winning this race. There had to be something that could help him get back to where that seemed possible.

Then he saw it. A drone. One of many that had been recording him and the other students’ the entire time in order to broadcast them to the audience. One that wasn’t out of reach if he really tried.

His eyes narrowed as he focused on his target, boosting up to 3% as jumped on to the cement wall, then bounced off it after kicking his usage up to 4%, which gave him just enough momentum to reach the drone that had been floating a short distance away from where him and the other contestants had been running.

The other members of the Volcano Four stared up in astonishment as Deku grappled the drone, which began flying around wildly as Present Mic, through its announcing counterpart, arrived to yell at him to get off, only to falter when he was informed by Aizawa that such a thing actually wasn’t against the rules.

Ojiro sweated as he remarked that while Deku might have improved when it came to his maneuverability, he was still just creatively reckless as ever. In the audience, All Might clutched his chest in alarm, the sentiment being one that rang very true with him.

Deku yelped as he attempted to gain proper control over the drone, which was currently zipping around like a chicken whose head had been chopped off. While what he was doing wasn’t prohibited, it clearly wasn’t intended, as the drone almost seemed to be trying to knock him off, something he knew he couldn’t afford as if he fell now, he’d be back down at the very bottom.

After a lot of shifting and a few way too close calls, he managed to start steering it to go sort of where he wanted it to, although it caused him much strain due to him having to go all the way up to 5% once again. Before too long, he was starting to actually go upwards, towards where he saw quite a lot of commotion going on.

Shards of ice threatened to pierce the bodies of several students if it weren’t for the ever reliable Iida shattering them with the force generated from a powerful kick.

He grunted as he noticed his engine was starting to falter a bit. He wasn’t sure how much longer he would be able to keep going, especially with him having to keep ensuring the conflict between Bakugo and Todoroki didn’t get to the point where they started injuring others. It’s what Midoriya would have done after all, he thought.

The two had been going at it for the past several minutes, attacking each other with explosions and ice respectively, each struggling to gain the upper edge as they seemed to have absolutely no regard for anyone else around them.

And this destruction would only worsen when they approached what Present Mic stated was the landmine zone, grimly warning the kids to be careful lest they get blown to smithereens, although Aizawa added that they weren’t very strong and didn’t have the potential to kill.

While Bakugo simply blasted himself over the bombs with his explosions, Todoroki generated a layer of ice under his feet as he ran, unintentionally creating a path that others began using to avoid the detonations. The stray burst of flames still erupted beneath them during their scuffle, but they paid it barely any mind.

Todoroki was still dead set on first place, while Bakugo was focused on drilling the lesson that he wasn’t to be forgotten into the top of the class’s mind. As Iida speedily tiptoed his way through the field of explosives, dodging and weaving around ones set off by his less careful peers, he noticed that the mines extended onto the walls as well, meaning those climbing could be blasted off as well, which he saw happen to a boy with white hair and completely black skin.

But as he ran forward, desperately trying to catch up to the two leads while not getting himself blown into the sky, he noticed something, a shadow in the air he couldn’t quite make out under the light of the sun. As he stared more closely at it, however, he realized what it was; Deku, bear hugging a drone, spiraling down with a panicked screech towards Bakugo and Todoroki.

By the time he had processed it and just as he had begun shouting in astonishment, his friend crashed, resulting in a violent explosion that engulfed all three boys and blew him and several others back. When the light began to fade and the smoke cleared, Iida and everyone else watched stunned as Todoroki and Bakugo struggled to get back up off the ground without accidentally setting off a mine while Deku, having been propelled forward by the blast, was now in first place, rushing forward with Full Cowling, at not just 5%, but 6%, his pure adrenaline overtaking the pain it caused him.

Deku panted as he hurried ahead at full speed, barely comprehending his surroundings. He seemed to have made it past the area laced with bombs. He hadn’t been trying to crash right into Bakugo and Todoroki, his plan had been to lower himself down ahead of them and then jump off, but he had lost control, although it seemed to be to his benefit.

The rotating path began to close in on the Sports Festival stadium, the finish line being the entrance that the stairway headed into. It was a straightforward journey from there, all he had to do was maintain his lead, and with a lightning fast glance, he saw that Bakugo and Todoroki, while having recovered, were still quite some distance behind him. This was it! He was going to win!

And then he slammed into a wall.

His nose almost immediately breaking on impact, he rubbed it with care as he stared up at one last final barrier; an absurdly thick layer of cement in between him and the inside of the Sports Festival stadium. He gawked as Present Mic on the announcer drone explained that this was the product of Cementoss’s strongest move; Aggregation, which created a structure so extremely dense that in previous years, during similar competitions, it had often taken over an hour for students to break through it.

Deku panicked. In a game of stamina, he wouldn’t be able to beat Bakugo or Todoroki. He might have had an insane tolerance to pain at this point, but he couldn’t keep up Full Cowling for that long, nor did he think it was powerful enough to do all that much damage to this kind of structure. He needed something stronger, but… it would break him in the process.

He grit his teeth, looking behind him once again to see that Bakugo, Todoroki, Iida, and many others were beginning to hone in on him. He needed to act fast, as while he doubted they would be able to break through instantly, he would still lose his advantage. It didn’t look like there was any way out of it, he just hoped what he was about to do would both be enough and not screw him over too much in the future.

He built up 100% of One for All into his middle and ring fingers on his left hand, before hollering, having come up with a name for this flicking technique since he last used it against the Volcano Thieves, “Delaware Smash!”, the resulting gust of wind being so intensely powerful that it instantly shredded apart the entire cement blockade, stupefying every spectator, and blowing back several of his classmates.

As the cascade of wind faded, Deku clenched his hand containing a brand new broken fingers, brushing aside the intense pain and charging forward once again, bounding through the halls towards the stadium. Bakugo and Todoroki were hot on his trail, simultaneously firing off attacks to try and incapacitate Deku, but only ended up destroying each other’s.

They were so close they were practically shoving into each other, cursing and grunting while trying their best to be the first to make it to the end. Screams of desperation echoed out as someone finally stepped past the finish line.

The winner of the first event of the Sports Festival… was Izuku Midoriya!

Chapter 14: An All Out Brawl - The First Day of the Sports Festival, Part 2

Chapter Text

The crowd erupted into cheers at a deafening volume as the first student emerged into the stadium following the race, with several others following him not long after.

At home, the mother of the winner, Inko Midoriya, burst out into tears in happiness over her son’s victory, in awe of just how much progress he had made over the past year.

Deku panted in exhaustion as he slowly surveyed his surroundings. Countless people were letting loose all their passion and excitement, directed towards him and his victory. All the attention and enthusiasm was intoxicatingly terrifying, completely and utterly thrilling.

Before he could become too overwhelmed by the jubilant shouting and clapping, however, he locked eyes with his mentor, who gave him a nod of approval, pride evident in his gaze.

In the face of all the distant positivity, this action, this affirmation from someone he knew, cared for, and admired, served to ground Deku, bringing him back to what was truly important in that moment. He had done right by All Might. That was what mattered.

With tears threatening to spill, he raised and clenched his hand into a fist in front of him, which All Might mirrored, briefly inflating into his muscular form only to immediately shrink back down when the other faculty members looked at him in order to avoid seeming like he was playing favorites.

Todoroki was quiet and unemotive as he arrived in the stadium following Deku, hiding his frustration. He had clearly underestimated the green haired boy. He was far more competent than he had expected. And that one with the explosion Quirk had also caused him quite a lot of trouble. He was going to have to start being more careful, otherwise he could be caught off guard again, and the point he was working so hard to prove… it would have been for nothing.

On the other hand, Bakugo was fuming. This was almost as embarrassing as his loss against Deku in the simulation battle. At least this time he had used the damned Quirk of his. But he had lost to Todoroki this time, too, after swearing to himself that he was going to teach him a lesson. The only bright side was that he at least had the rest of the festival to really hammer in the message.

Following Deku, Todoroki and Bakugo came Iida in fourth place, Tokoyami in fifth, and Yaoyorozu in sixth.

In seventh was the 1B girl with vines, followed by Tsu in eigth, Uraraka in ninth, the blonde girl with glasses in tenth, then Kirishima, Tetsutetsu and Mineta in eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth respectively.

Fourteenth went to Ashido, fifteenth to a dark green haired girl from 1B, sixteenth to the boy with scales from 1B, seventeenth to Sero, and eighteenth to the brown haired boy from 1B that could breath solidified air.

Nineteenth was Ojiro, twentieth was Sato, twenty first was Kendo, twenty second was a large boy from 1B with a bestial appearance, and the mantis like boy from 1B took twenty third place.

Twenty fourth was Shoji, twenty fifth was the goat-like girl, twenty sixth went to a tan haired boy from 1B who resembled a skeleton, twenty seventh to Koda, twenty eighth to the boy who was completely black, also from 1B, and twenty ninth to Monoma. Thirtieth was Awase, thirty first was a boy from 1B with a speech bubble for a head, and, lastly, thirty second was the purple haired boy.

Jiro, Kaminari, and a few other students from 1B showed up not long after, but it was too late for them to qualify. The electric blonde groaned in irritation at his elimination from the competition, being comforted by Kirishima and Sero who assured him it was just bad luck the first event was something so illsuited towards his Quirk, although he told them there was more to it, saying the guy with the messy mane in last place was somehow responsible for him and Jiro not making it. That said, he couldn’t exactly prove how this was.

Hagakure and Aoyama showed up even later than that, only a bit ahead of some students from General Studies, feeling a bit humiliated about the fact, although they were excused by their peers just as Kaminari was. They only hoped that Yuuei’s higher ups would be just as kind.

Once they had arrived, Uraraka, Tsu and Mineta rushed over to Deku to congratulate him, both for his win and for how much he had improved, saying whatever crazy training he had gotten up to really paid off, that he was practically unrecognizable when it came to his movements.

Deku at first bashfully brushed off their praise, only for Iida to step in and say that he shouldn’t be modest. After all, since he won, downplaying his own achievements would be demeaning their own as well.

The freckled boy apologized frantically, saying it wasn’t what he meant and that they had all done amazingly, he just couldn’t help but feel dissatisfied that in the end, he only managed to come out on top by breaking himself again, even if it was comparatively minor, looking down at his used fingers.

Mineta cursed that he didn’t come up with the idea to latch onto a drone, saying that it wasn’t fair that Deku had both brains and brawns on his side now. Uraraka wondered if there would be any benefit to having won, like maybe getting to skip the next event or something, although Deku claimed he wouldn’t accept something like that if it were the case.

He wanted to win fair and square, without any sort of advantage being given to him over anyone else. Saying such a thing as casually as he did served to make his friends smile.

No matter how much stronger he had gotten, he was still Deku.

The students were soon informed that there would be an hour intermission in between the first and second events, so they were free to take a short break in order to rest and rehydrate themselves.

Iida sighed in relief, saying that it was a good thing as his Quirk was starting to run out of steam and he needed to fill up on orange juice, while Mineta was going to use the opportunity to wash the dried blood off his head from overuse of his hairballs.

The other remaining contestants all had their own reasons to take a breather, besides the blonde girl who had placed tenth, who seemed to be completely energized, making Deku wonder just exactly what sort of Quirk she had that the challenge had taken so little out of her.

As Deku and his classmates walked through the hallways towards the locker rooms, he noticed All Might running in their direction, prompting him to smile and wave, only for the Symbol of Peace to run right past him, and instead heading over to the blonde girl, and, astonishingly, scooping her up for a hug.

Deku and the others gawked in surprise as All Might joyfully cried ‘Melissa!’, with the girl laughing and referring to him as ‘Uncle Might’, shocking them even further. This was All Might’s niece? He had a family?

As he gleefully swung her around, commenting on how much she had grown since he last saw her, Deku and a few others approached them, not really knowing what to say or ask but still wanting to know more.

Upon noticing the kids of 1A awkwardly staring up at him and the girl he was swinging around, he coughed, nearly reverting back to his weakened form, before placing her down and clearing his throat.

He introduced her as Melissa Shield, the daughter of an old friend of his who had enrolled in Yuuei’s Support course, one of the three other courses at Yuuei other than the Hero course. It focused on manufacturing items that assist Heroes in their duties, while the Management course focused on the business aspect of heroism and General Studies offered the closest thing to a normal high school experience.

Hearing the name ‘Shield’, Deku’s eyes lit up, as this along with her being the daughter of a friend of All Might’s meant that her father must have been David Shield, the Hero’s old sidekick from his time in the United States and the designer of all of his costumes, from his debut to modern day.

Melissa happily confirmed this, saying that her father was her inspiration and the reason she came to Yuuei, because she wanted to be able to help out Heroes just like he had. She might not have been able to become one herself, but she could still support them however she could and thus save people in her own way.

Although everyone applauded her goal as being noble, Deku was somewhat confused, as he wondered why she wouldn’t have enrolled in the Hero course in that case, especially since she did so well in the race up the tower of cement.

This caused Melissa to somewhat bashfully reveal she did not possess a Quirk, and thus wouldn’t qualify for the Hero program.

The only reason she did so well in the first event was thanks to all her support items, namely her pogo stick and what she called ‘Gauntlets’, braces she wraps around her limbs that allow her to exert a lot of energy without them getting sore from being overworked.

Deku, although feeling bad that she was in pretty much the same scenario he had been in, was nonetheless glad she was able to find her own way to be a Hero, just as he had with his vigilantism.

There was a pretty obvious difference, but… he tried to push that thought aside.

Meanwhile, Class 1B was rather disappointed by the results of the first event. They had done much worse than their counterparts in 1A had. In regards to rankings they were generally much lower, and the highest one of them got was seventh, while the remainder of the top ten all went to students from 1A.

Additionally, only fourteen of them had made it through to participate in the second event, as opposed to 1A’s sixteen, while the other two spots went to someone from Support and another random person none of them knew, meaning they were perhaps from General Studies.

This was pretty embarrassing, although rather than being disheartened, they were actually reinvigorated by this, thanks to some of the more boisterous members of the class boosting morale.

At first, it was Kendo saying that although they might not have started off amazingly, they still had plenty of chances to make up for it, and shouldn’t be dismayed because they weren’t out for the count just yet.

Her speech was hijacked by Tetsutetsu who agreed and insisted that they had to be manly and show unwavering spirit, although he soon started just ranting about Kirishima and how he would’ve beaten him if it weren’t for the ‘tiny grape kid’.

Monoma then took over for him, and while he was more coherent, he went in a different direction than Kendo did; all the attention right now was on 1A, which meant if they crushed them this round, they’d get even more focus than if they had done just as well as them in the race. While 1A may have had higher numbers, they were more unified by a common goal, which was to absolutely decimate their rivals.

As her class cheered at Monoma’s goading, Kendo sighed. She didn’t mind being competitive but her blonde peer really seemed to be taking it to another level. At least the others were in a better mood.

Soon, the break had concluded. Bubble Girl explained that the next event would be the last one of the day as it would likely last the next few hours until the evening. It would take place inside the stadium, and they would have more of an opportunity to show their cooperation skills.

Because the second challenge of this year’s Sports Festival… was the ‘Dodgeball Brawl’, a competition where the students were to be set inside a battlefield with dodgeballs placed all around the entire arena.

Each student would be adorned with target sensors that, when struck, would turn red. When all targets on somebody’s body were hit, they would be eliminated. The last sixteen students left in the competition would move on, thus cutting the number of participants in half.

Students would be assigned a certain amount of targets depending on their position in the first event. They could then form teams with which they would share their sensors, so long as they kept at least one of their targets, while also sharing at least one. Additionally, there could not be more than four people on a team. Those who placed anywhere from thirty second to seventeenth would be given eight targets each. From sixteenth to seventh, four targets. From sixth to second, two, and finally, the person who placed first would have only one target.

Deku paused. Hold on, if he had to keep one target, and had to share at least one of his targets, but he only had one, then…

Oh.

Everyone else seemed to grow to a colossal size around him, making him feel incredibly isolated, as it clicked for him that in this challenge, he would be all by himself. Meanwhile, those who placed lower in the race had the chance to rise above those who had won against them because of how many targets they would have. Monoma smirked almost sinisterly. This was perfect for him and the rest of 1B.

People quickly got to talking and making teams, leaving Deku an anxious mess as it seemed all his efforts towards getting first in the race had backfired and just made him an easy target. A few of his friends offered their condolences and wished him luck, at least, so that might have meant they wouldn’t go out of their way to attack him in the upcoming challenge, but that was about the only thing he had going for him.

His only ally in this fight was going to be his mind. He supposed he had better get to conversing with it for the rest of the time he had until the dodgeball match began in order to start forming strategies, as he observed over ten different teams be formed around him.

Once everyone had sorted themselves into groups about twenty minutes later, they were sent to separate parts of the stadium. Upon doing so, their environment began to shift like it had before thanks to Cementoss’s manipulate of the cement they stood on, the area soon becoming something resembling a paintball arena, with barriers and walls and other structures to take cover inside of or behind, with dodgeballs spread across every corner of it. After a few seconds to familiarize themselves with their nearest surroundings, Bubble Girl declared that the ‘Dodgeball Brawl’ had begun.

Some people immediately split up from their group, while others chose to stick together as a cohesive unit. Deku had obviously started off alone, and so didn’t have the luxury of deciding between these options. Instead, he decided to try and lay low for the time being, crouching behind the nearest barricade of cement and peeking over to see what was transpiring around him.

The sole target stuck to his chest… he couldn’t afford getting hit even once, so he needed to play it extremely carefully. He would wait until the coast was clear to move forward and see if he couldn’t try and retrieve a dodgeball or two in order to take action himself. This didn’t seem to be something that would happen anytime soon, though. The entire stadium had erupted into chaos the moment the new match began.

Kirishima, Ashido and Sero had teamed up, dividing their sixteen targets mostly equally between them, with the former having four while the latter two had six. They had decided not to split up just yet, having planned for Sero to grab as many balls as possible and distribute them to each member so they could then go off on their own to start eliminating their opponents.

They had managed to find up to six before they ran across their first enemy team of none other than Tetsutetsu and his beast-like classmate, who he addressed as ‘Shishida’, each of them having seven targets on their bodies.

Growling at Kirishima, Tetsutetsu seemed to forget exactly what the point of the current competition was and ran towards his rival, his body turning to steel. 1A’s resident redhead was about to do the same, but Ashido held him back while Sero slung a stream of tape towards the titanium teen, wrapping him up while keeping his targets exposed.

Before a barrage of dodgeballs could be unleashed upon Tetsutetsu, however, Shishida rescued his teammate, seemingly transforming into an even more beastly form, his Quirk being 'Beast,' which increased his speed, allowing him to swiftly grab him and rush away, but not before three of his targets were struck, bringing him down to almost half as his initial amount.

The trio of friends started to give chase, only for another pair of 1B students to block them: the boy with a speech bubble for a head, who seemed to be known as ‘f*ckidashi’, and the skeletal boy, his partner calling him ‘Honenuki’.

Meanwhile, Iida, Ojiro, Koda and Tokoyami had all joined forces, with each of them having five targets, and had split into two groups. 1A’s class president and the tailed martial artist had elected to go together, the former carrying the latter on his back as they raced through the stadium, gathering balls, whether by picking them up or catching them as they were thrown at them.

They would soon encounter more serious problems when a purple ball landed beneath Iida’s foot, preventing him from moving, with them soon spotting the culprit, Mineta, who only had two targets on him, one of them having already been hit, yelling at Iida that he would have his long awaited revenge for the first day of school, which said teen shouted was an extremely pointless grudge to hold for over two months.

This exposed them to several other competitors that came upon the clearing they were in, with Ojiro having to defend himself and Iida while his speedster teammate slowly burnt away the ball gluing him to the ground with the flames from his exhaust, while the boy who had thrown said orb had to run away before he could do any damage to avoid getting hit himself, much to his chagrin.

He wouldn’t get very far, however, as Sato, coming from out of nowhere, roughly tackled him to the ground, pinning him. Such uncharacteristic aggressiveness prompted Mineta to question Sato what the hell the deal was, only to freeze when he saw the brawny boy who usually wore a suitably sweet smile had a blank, empty expression, scaring him.

But what was more frightening was the stranger with similarly colored hair to his own that walked over to them afterwards, an unsettling grin stretched across his face and a ball in his hand.

Bakugo had teamed up with a few others, not because he needed their help but because he wanted their targets, basically forcing Mineta and some leftover insect from 1B, who called himself ‘Kamakiri’ although the blonde hadn’t really paid attention, into joining him so that he could take all but four of their collective targets for himself, meaning he had a total of ten.

So far, he hadn’t been hit a single time, although this was threatening to change as he was being attacked by two extras from 1B, some co*cky blonde bastard named Monoma and a basic looking brown haired guy named ‘Tsuburaba’. Usually he wouldn’t have any trouble against insignificant sideshows like these two, but they had done something that caught him off guard.

Monoma fired off an explosion from his palm that Bakugo had to leap back in order to dodge, only to slam directly into a wall of air that Tsuburaba had generated with his breath using his Quirk 'Solid Air.' Shrugging off the pain, he attempted to jump forward back at Monoma, ready to deliver a counter, only to bash his face into another wall, as Tsuburaba had trapped him in a prison of solidifed oxygen, much to his frustration.

Monoma laughed as he patted Tsuburaba on the back, telling him that now all they had to do was wait for him to run out of breath, then they’d be able to take him out without trouble. Bakugo growled, yelling that all he had to do was bust out and then he’d obliterate both of them.

The barrier he was trapped within was soundproof, but Monoma seemed capable of reading his lips, taunting him that if that his plan, then all they had to do was reinforce the walls, which he did by replicating the exact technique Tsuburaba had with his own breath, stunning 1A’s short tempered loner.

Closing his eyes and smiling smugly, Monoma explained that his Quirk, ‘Copy’, allowed him to replicate any given person’s Quirk, so long as it was an Emitter or Transformation type and not a Mutant type, if he made contact with them. With such a versatile power at his disposal combined with his genius, a simple minded brute like himself stood no chance against him!

It was at the end of his monologue, however, when Tsuburaba, as he had been trying to, pointed out that Bakugo had created a hole in the ground using his explosions and thus escaped. Before Monoma could frantically question where he had gone, Bakugo blasted out of the floor behind him and aimed at them a powerful explosion.

Tsuburaba attempted to protect him and his classmate with an air structure, but it was so hastily made that Bakugo was able to easily tear through it with a detonation, blowing both of them back into the exterior of the prison they had held him in previously. Monoma looked up in shock as a sad*stically smiling Bakugo loomed over him and his teammate, dodgeballs at the ready as he muttered that he was pretty sick of people thinking they could write him off.

Deku winced as he watched the fighting rage on, Present Mic announcing as people went down one by one, with three people having already out, the first of them being Mineta, much to his disappointment. After having managed to get past the race of the cement tower only to immediately be eliminated in the very next event… that had to have stung. He hoped his other friends were having better luck.

But he would soon turn to worrying about himself as two protjectiles resembling horns pinned him against the wall he had been using to hide behind, stabbing the undersleeves of his gym uniform’s shirt. He glanced back to see the ones who had ambushed him, students from 1B, one the boy with a black body and the other the girl who resembled a goat, who referred to each other as ‘Kuroiro’ and ‘Tsunotori’ respectively.

Deku flinched, as he was completely unaware of this duo’s Quirks and thus didn’t know the best way to either defeat or escape from them, nevermind the fact that he was currently stuck. He would gain some insight into the capabilities of Tsunotori, as she seemed to lift him in the air with the horns she had seized him with, and then turn him around to face the two of them so that they could throw a ball at him.

Deku panicked for a moment as the ball came hurtling towards him, before snapping back to reality. He couldn’t go out so easily, not after he had come so far. But he couldn’t quite dodge the ball due to his current predicament, so instead… he’d have to send it back!

Powering up to 5%, he swung himself forward, utilizing the horns holding him to perform a flip so that he could use the momentum combined with his increased strength to kick the ball right back towards the sender, it being headed right for one of Kuroiro’s targets.

But before it could make contact, Kuroiro jumped up and seemed to merge into the ball, much to Deku’s astonishment, before he then emerged out the other end of it, flying towards Deku and preparing to strike him directly with another ball he was holding.

Deku’s eyes widened in surprise, bewildered by his opponent’s Quirk, but managed to react at the last second, pulling down and ripping himself free of the horns, causing Kuroiro to go over him as he fell back to the ground, landing on his feet and quickly trying to formulate a new strategy.

So Tsunotori’s power seemed to be able to launch and manipulate her horns, while Kuroiro appeared to have the ability to merge into objects… or was there more to it? After all, he hadn’t gone into the ground, or into Tsunotori’s horns, both options that would make tagging him a lot easier than hopping inside a ball.

Was there a certain condition that the object he went into had to meet? It couldn’t have been mass due to how small the dodgeball was, so maybe it was its shape, or its appearance?

Kuroiro landed on the top of the cement structure, behind Deku, while Tsunotori started charging towards him on all fours like the animal she resembled, balls inserted onto her horns so that she could launch them at the green haired boy at higher speeds. He grimaced, with two foes coming at him from both sides, he really couldn’t afford to make a single mistake in whatever his next manuever was.

His eyes darted towards the ball he had kicked before, a plan flashing through his mind. He wasn’t absolutely assured it would work, it depended heavily on his theory about Kuroiro’s Quirk, but it was the only thing he could think of that didn’t require him to use a larger output of One for All and risk crippling himself.

In the stand off between himself and the two 1B students, Tsunotori drew first, launching another set of horns forward like a pair of rockets, balls attached, which he leapt over before they could strike him. However, his avoidance of them only meant that they would be delivered to Kuroiro, who retrieved both of them and began running towards Deku, while All Might’s aofremnetioned apprentice seized Tsunotori’s regrown horns, much to her confusion. He apologized to her sincerely before then tossing her with all his strength at Kuroiro, forcing him to sidestep as she yelped.

Glaring at Deku, Kuroiro callously muttered to him that he couldn’t manhandle his classmate like that, and rushed toward the 1A teen, who for some reason had turned around. Just as Kuroiro was about to reach him, Deku swerved back to face him and threw his ball forward, with the black skinned teen smirking as he prepared to merge into the projectile once again.

Only for the ball to smack him in the face, which, due to it both catching it off guard and the force with which Deku had thrown it, sent him sprawling onto the ground in a heap next to Tsunotori.

Before he could comprehend what had happened, Kuroiro and his partner were nailed in their remaining targets by balls, meaning their elimination from the Sports Festival, causing them to whine in exasperation, the former wondering what Deku could have done that led to their defeat at his hands.

Fortunately, the curly haired boy would answer this question, honest and upfront person he was, explaining that he had guessed that Kuroiro’s Quirk worked based off the color of objects, and that he could only merge into ones that were darker in shade, seeing as how the ball he had thrown at him was a very dark navy blue, as opposed to Tsunotori’s horns, which were almost ivory, or the light gray cement, explaining why his skin color was literally pitch black.

This was why he threw his ally at him, so that he could have enough time to cover his ball in the dust from the cement they had kicked up, meaning that when he threw it at Kuroiro again, he would be unable to enter it because of its lighter color.

Kuroiro almost had to cackle at Deku’s extraordinary deduction skills, responding that he was correct, that was exactly how his Quirk ‘Black’ functioned. He had been soundly defeated, his only regret being that this meant Tsunotori being disqualified as well, as he had promised ‘Komori’ that he’d take care of her following her own elimination, although the horned girl assured him that he had done his best.

The two picked themselves up and began to walk off, Deku looking at them with some regret, but was given no time for contemplation or rest as he had to jump out of the way of a wave of balls headed his way.

This happened to be from Tetsutetsu, now without Shishida as he had been taken out a bit after they had gotten away from Kirishima and the others, who barked at Deku to get back here, as he had to take out a student from 1A to get back at them for eliminating his teammate.

Before he could give chase, however, he had to duck to dodge what looked like several body parts, which proceeded to crash directly into a wall of cement. Exclaiming ‘Tokage’, he ran over to see the dismembered pieces recombining into one person, the dark green haired girl from 1B, who had all of her targets struck, meaning she was out, much to his fury, him questioning who could have taken her down, as she was one of the strongest in the class, right behind their own Big Three.

It turned out that those responsible weren’t doing too well for themselves, as Tokage’s teammates were even more formidable than she had been. Tsu and Melissa bounced high in their air to avoid a torrent of vines ensnaring them, while their third partner, Uraraka, rolled to the side to dodge a massive punch from Kendo using her 'Big Fist' Quirk. The anti-gravity girl reached back in an attempt to touch Kendo and make her weightless, but the 1B’s class president simply shrunk her hand back to normal size, then enlarged her other and sent Uraraka flying with a punch.

Tsu and Melissa cried out in concern for the brunette as they landed back on the ground, the frog girl leaping over to her while the blonde jumped toward their other opponent, called ‘Shiozaki’ by Kendo’, who shot several more vines at her using her Quirk, of course titled 'Vine,' only for Melissa to destroy them with a ball-like weapon that seemed to be made out of the same material as her gauntlets, which released a blue explosion of energy that tore through the extended hair.

Melissa tossed another one at the chlorokinetic, only for Kendo to intervene and slap the bomb away, exploding elsewhere. The glasses wearing girl panicked as she was then pelted with several dodgeballs, knocking her off her pogostick, although fortunately Tsu pulled her out of the air with her tongue down next to her and Uraraka, with them quickly starting to run as vines were launched towards them, weaving behind walls of cement.

Melissa apologized to the two of the Hero course students, saying she felt as though she was dragging them down on account of not being trained for combat scenarios, as her tech could only get her so far. Uraraka and Tsu disagreed, however, saying if she was really so incompetent she wouldn’t have made it as far as she had, that she had proved to them she was capable, and that these opponents would’ve been tough regardless of who they had on their side.

Melissa thanked them, rubbing tears from her eyes, but admitted that she didn’t think she would last much longer. She had lost her pogo stick, her Gauntlets were starting to approach their limit, and she only had one more target that hadn’t been hit. However, she did have a few more of an item she believed they’d find useful, the explosives she had used against Shiozaki before.

They were what she called ‘Smash Bombs’, and the energy they released was all kinetic. They stored it up over time through movement, and upon reaching their limit, they would burst, having the potential to deal major damage. If they could find a way to land a hit on Kendo and Shiozaki with them, they would be out for the count for sure.

The issue was, however, that she only had two left, and one of them wasn’t yet close to being full, with them not having a whole lot of time to change that due to their enemies catching up to them.

Fortunately, after a few seconds of thinking, Uraraka came up with an idea, based around a part of Tsu’s Quirk that very few people knew about. Being a frog, she could secrete a sticky, slimy mucus, which meant they could attach the bombs to Kendo and Shiozaki so that they would explode on them after they themselves built up enough energy through their movement.

Tsu complimented Uraraka, saying that it was a good idea, but also noted that it would be difficult to place them onto their foes without them noticing, and that they’d need some sort of distraction. Much to their surprise, Melissa volunteered, a notion they initially refused, but she reasoned that they had already given her the opportunity to fight alongside them, and that her gadgets had already been shown off plenty to potential investors, meaning she was content with losing now, so she might as well have gotten eliminated in a way that helped them.

Kendo and Shiozaki were headed towards the cement structure that they believed the trio of 1A girls had been hiding behind, only to be caught off guard when Melissa suddenly darted out around it and started running directly at them, screaming her lungs out as she swung randomly.

Shiozaki immediately bound her up, hanging her by her legs and allowing Kendo to strike her in her last target with a ball. As they wondered what she could have been possibly thinking, however, they noticed a shadow being cast over them, alerting them to the fact that Melissa had just been bait.

Before they could look up to see what was happening, Tsu swung down Uraraka as fast as possible at Kendo, her tackling into her with the force of a moving car, sending the both of them to the ground. Shiozaki attempted to help her teammate by reaching out with her vines, only to be similarly nailed in the back with a kick from Tsu, which caused her to drop Melissa.

As they were on the ground, Uraraka reached out towards Kendo’s back, who swerved around and slapped the round-faced girl away with an enlarged hand just as she felt her touch her hair. Uraraka skidded along the cement floor, managing not to fall over as her orange haired opponent came swinging at her again, forcing her to keep dodging, which she experienced great difficulty in doing.

Kendo was clearly much more familiar with actual hand to hand combat than she was, and this combined with the strength and scale of her strikes meant that Uraraka had basically no choice but to be on the defensive, at several points being unable to avoid an attack and having to take it, many of which nearly knocked the wind out of her.

Fortunately, all this movement meant that Kendo was building up the kinetic energy within the Smash Bomb, and if she could just hold on a little longer, she would win. But fate wasn’t interested in sticking to the plan she had set out for herself, believing it to be too simplistic, and decided to present a more challenging route, with Kendo switching up from just punches to springing forward using her enlarged palm and kicking Uraraka in the stomach, before pinning her down, grabbing her wrists with a single one of her hands to prevent her from using her Quirk.

Uraraka grunted as Kendo began to strike her remaining targets using a dodgeball in her spare hand. She had three left, so she didn’t have much time to try and get out of the Kendo’s hold, but how exactly would she get about doing that? She wasn’t nearly as physically strong as Kendo, who on top of that clearly had a lot more experience as a fighter. This thought gave her an idea, as maybe what she needed to do was something a traditional fighter wouldn’t expect.

In a desperate feat of flexibility, Uraraka wrapped her legs around Kendo’s waist, and pulled her closer, much to the redhead’s bewilderment as this would only intensify the pressure she had on her. However, Uraraka then blew a raspberry directly into Kendo’s face, causing her to recoil in disgust, loosening her grip just enough for the brunette to slip one of her hands from out of it and then slam it into her foe’s torso, her fingertips glowing pink.

Kendo cursed as she started floating up into the air, with a punch to the cheek from Uraraka causing her to lose her hold on her completely and be sent flying. But this wasn’t the end, as with her mind finally taken off fighting Uraraka, she was able to notice something on her back; the Smash Bomb, which had been stuck onto her ponytail back when she was still on the ground following being tackled.

Before she could reach back to try and take it off, it exploded, having gained the necessary kinetic energy from its holder being floated up high, the resulting blast sending her spiralling back down and crashing into the cement, with Uraraka releasing her from the effects of her Quirk soon after. With Kendo unconscious, her adversary from 1A was able to finally eliminate her by tapping the dodgeball she had used against her on her last few targets.

Tsu, on the other hand, had been engaged in a struggle with Shiozaki, the two of them currently having their respective appendages, the former’s tongue and the latter’s vines, wrapped tightly around each other, neither having the advantage in strength necessary to turn the tides in their favour.

Tsu eventually decided that enough was enough and to simply hurl her fully charged Smash Bomb at Shiozaki, unravelling her tongue in order to prevent it from being damaged by the upcoming blast. The plant haired girl gasped upon seeing the explosive heading towards her, but was unable to retract her vines back in time to shield herself and so instead braced for impact, crossing her arms in front of her and closing her eyes.

But instead of bursting upon hitting her, the Smash Bomb was detonated early upon being struck by several scale bullets, its eruption causing both Tsu and Shiozaki to be blown back. Tsu ribbited nervously as she noticed the new party, the ponytailed boy from 1B, who might have very well been there to assist Shiozaki in fighting against her, with the lighter green haired girl expressing her relief that he, ‘Rin’, showed up when he did, saying that ‘the lord had truly rewarded her for her faith today’.

Much to her and Tsu’s shock, however, Rin simply began firing at the both of them with his scales.

While the girl with the amphibian Quirk hopped behind a cement barrier to avoid being struck, Shiozaki had to guard herself with her vines in a move she called ‘Faith’s Shield’, as she yelled at her classmate, questioning what he was doing as 1B was supposed to be working together to take on 1A. She stopped when she noticed that Rin’s eyes were completely blank, a feature which frightened her, before she glared.

Of course, Rin would never do something like that. He was a trustworthy man dedicated to the principles of teamwork, being one of the only members of her class she didn’t consider to be sinful in some way. Something had taken over him, and she needed to put a stop to it immediately.

Thus, with her internally apologizing to both her friend and the lord, she used her vines to power through his projectile scales and take hold of him, before then decisively slamming him into the ground, knocking him out cold. Her eyes narrowed as she wondered what possibly could have happened to him.

Once Shiozaki had regretfully eliminated Rin, Present Mic announced that a total of twelve people had been taken out, meaning only four more students had to be defeated before the second event was over. He quickly updated this number to three, however, when he revealed that Koji Koda had been defeated.

Said bug boy had been knocked unconscious, laid against a cement wall, with several slain insects around him. Ironically, the one who had done him in was the mantis-like boy, Kamakiri, who was currently fending off Koda’s teammate, Tokoyami, clashing the blades protruding from his forearms, made from his Quirk 'Razor Sharp,' against the talons of his opponent’s Dark Shadow.

The bird-headed boy growled as Kamakiri boasted that he had taken down one of the infamous Volcano Four, and was currently holding off one of 1A’s Big Three, even though he himself wasn’t at the top of his own class. This signalled to him that Monoma had been correct in his assumption that the supposedly superior Hero course class was just a collection of attention seekers who weren’t nearly as powerful as they had been built up as.

Tokoyami roared at him to be quiet as Dark Shadow grew more ferocious due to him briefly losing control over his temper, this resulting in a slash from it breaking through Tamakiri’s blades and knocking him back, much to the insectoid teen’s surprise.

Tokoyami told his opponent to stand down, as he wasn’t going to take it easy on him any longer, and he was better off just forfeiting before he got hurt. Kamakiri snarled, saying that he wasn’t intimidated, and that everyone in 1A seemed to think they were so much better than him and the others in 1B just because some of them had taken on a few villains.

He ranted that one of them in particular had forced him into joining his team for this challenge and made him fork over most of his targets, and that next time he saw him he was going to make him pay for humiliating him like that. Tokoyami grumbled that he believed he knew who would’ve done such a thing, but asserted that one bad egg did not spoil an entire batch, although he suspected he’d have to teach that lesson to him with force judging by his brash attitude.

Before he could go about doing so, however, Tokoyami began to sink into the ground, much to his astonishment. He glanced over to see Honenuki with his fingers on the cement floor, utilizing what Kamakiri exclaimed was his Quirk ‘Softening’ to turn what was once a solid surface to stand on into quicksand.

Tokoyami attempted to send over Dark Shadow to take down the skeletal faced boy, only to then be nearly incapacitated by an iron plated punch to the back of the head from Tetsutetsu, who had arrived around the same time at Honenuki but for once had managed to keep his presence hidden.

Before the three boys from 1B could start chucking dodgeballs at the dazed Tokoyami, however, Kamakiri was picked up from behind and then tossed into the quicksand, forcing Honenuki to deactivate his Quirk so that his classmate wouldn’t get stuck as well, only to then be socked in the back of the head by the same person who had attacked his peer.

Tetsutetsu and a weakened Tokoyami looked over to see that a bruised and battered Shoji had arrived. The masked giant of 1A locked eyes with the silver haired brawler, who roared that he wasn’t about to let anymore of his classmates get taken down, and leapt over at Shoji, who struggled to hold back a powerful punch.

Tokoyami’s eyes widened as he realized his friend’s true state. Not only had he taken a very notable amount of damage, but almost all of his targets were struck, seven out of eight. He grimaced as he recalled his and Koda’s attempt to team up with Shoji far earlier on, only for their classmate to resolutely refuse joining them, claiming that he had to win on his own, much to their surprise.

Shoji had never been one to be so standoffish. Quiet, sure, but if anything he had always poked fun at Tokoyami for his brooding nature. And look at what had happened to him when he decided to be aloof for once. He glowered. Just what was on his friend’s mind that made him act so uncharacteristically?

He quickly had to quit his contemplating and get back to the matter at hand when Kamakiri recommenced their duel, while Shoji struggled to battle not one but two of 1B’s powerhouses, who like Tokoyami noticed that the taller teen was down to his very last sensor, and were determined to finish him off.

They were aware that many of their classmates had been eliminated, with only themselves and a few others left compared to roughly a dozen people from 1A, meaning barely any of them had gotten taken out during the second event, in juxtaposition to what Monoma had set out for them to accomplish. This meant the sooner they took out Shoji, the more likely at least another couple of their classmates could pass.

Unfortunately, this potential number grew even slimmer when they heard Present Mic announce that ‘Manga f*ckidashi’ had been eliminated, much to their frustration, especially Honenuki as the two had been partners, but had split up when the speech bubble boy claimed he’d be able to hold off the trio of Ashido, Kirishima and Sero singlehandedly. Clearly he’d been able to do so for a while, but not to the point of outlasting and defeating them, and so they had eventually overwhelmed him.

Weirdly enough, though, it was then revealed after this that ‘Mina Ashido’ had also been eliminated. What had happened there, they wondered? Did they not realize she had all of her targets struck until they had overcome f*ckidashi? Or had someone intervened afterward? Regardless, this meant that only one more student had to be disqualified, and they were hellbent on said student being Shoji.

Eventually, Shoji made a dangerous mistake, not moving his foot in time and thus falling into a small pit of softened earth created by Honenuki, putting him on the defensive even more than before, with him surrounding himself in duplicated arms to prevent either of his adversaries from striking his target, although with Tetsutetsu hammering down on him with fists of metal, he knew he wouldn’t be able to keep this up for long. The same went for Tokoyami, who, still dazed from Tetsutetsu’s previous blow to him, wasn’t able to keep up with Kamakiri like he had before, with Dark Shadow being slowly but surely driven back by slashes and stabs that caught it off guard.

Once again, however, a new arrival to the scene resulted in a massive change to the dynamic of the fight, with a single footstep generating a massive wave of ice that engulfed every combatant, freezing them in place and putting a halt to their skirmishes.

Todoroki, neither target on his body having been hit, walked into view, with Yaoyorozu by his side, him telling her to take out whoever she wanted so that they could get this over with, her eyes subconsciously moving towards Shoji. As she began to walk over, though, dodgeball in hand, three additional presences made themselves known, using their collective might to smash through the ice Todoroki had made, with a kick, a punch, and a tail swing.

Tokoyami held back a relieved smile as his remaining teammates, Iida and Ojiro, accompanied by Deku, stood in front of Yaoyorozu, armed with their own dodgeballs, while those who had been freed resumed their fights at a slightly slower pace due to still being extremely cold.

Todoroki’s expression remained unchanging as he shot forward several spikes of ice at the trio of boys, who narrowly avoided them by jumping. Iida and Ojiro then targetted Yaoyorozu, the former using his Engine to spin around at high speeds and then toss the latter at the sole female member of 1A’s Big Three, who blocked with a shield.

Deku went for Todoroki, telling him to remember what he said, that his classmates weren’t just going to stand by and let him casually waltz into first place. Activating 5%, the green haired boy darted over to Todoroki, whose ice was too slow to catch his rival like he had hoped, with Deku hopping over and then delivering a punch that his cryokinetic opponent was barely able to protect himself against with a small wall of ice.

Before he could launch another attack, Deku was behind him, landing a hit on him with not one of his fists or his feet, but a ball, striking him in the back and turning the target located there a bright red, much to his irritation. But their solo fight wouldn’t continue much longer, because Bakugo abruptly propelled himself in the middle of the two boys, firing off explosions at the both of them that blew them apart from each other, with him yelling that they weren’t leaving him out.

Kamakiri growled upon spotting the explosive blonde as he engaged in a clash of claws with Tokoyami, thinking to himself that he was going to rip that brat to shreds, only to then be advised by a familiarly high and mighty sounding voice that he needed to let go of his temptations of vengeance.

He glanced to his side to see Shiozaki having arrived, looking worse for wear with her hair appearing to have been cut and singed, being much shorter than usual. She was currently being pushed back by the duo of Uraraka and Tsu, unable to go on the offensive against her two more agile opponents.

Sero swung in with his tape carrying a beaten up Kirishima not long after, commenting that he was glad he hadn’t been involved in the conflict unfolding in front of him, which looked like it was out of a comic book, instead just having to deal with someone who literally was out of a comic book.

Meanwhile, Yaoyorozu seized Ojiro’s tail that had been whipped towards her using a large vice grip, holding him in place, and began to clamp down, eliciting a pained shout from the blonde boy, only for Iida to step in and knock the item out of her grasp. She then had to guard against a combination of kicks from the navy haired boy, before forcing him to withdraw upon her generating a spear, not wanting to be wounded by it on top of everything else that he had gone through that day.

Todoroki frowned as Bakugo burst through the ice he had attempted to encase him and Deku in with a powerful explosion, the green haired boy jumping out of the same hole a second after. Subsequent detonations tore through glacial barriers sent their user’s way by Todoroki as he began sliding back by creating ice under his feet, trying to add on to the increasingly small gap between himself and his two foes.

Eventually, one wave, intentionally smaller than the others, shot back up just as Bakugo flew over it, successfully engulfing his lower body, much to his frustration, his anger skyrocketing when Deku managed to dodge the same attack, but not without unknowingly hurting himself.

In that moment of panic upon seeing Bakugo having been ensnared, he accidentally shot up past his limit of 5% of One for All, reaching not just 6%, but 8%.

This amplified strength resulted in him vanishing in a blur from Todoroki’s sight, him having moved faster than what he had been prepared to keep track of. He was barely able to catch a glimpse of Deku appearing at his left side, looking just as stunned as he was for a second, only to then refocus, and throw a punch at Todoroki with his boosted power.

The son of Endeavor, out of instinct rather than intention, shot his own arm forward, accidentally igniting it in flames, much to Deku’s complete and utter bewilderment. Nonetheless, the two of them charged forward, inches away from colliding with each other, green bioelectricity brushing up against burning red fire, when suddenly…

Present Mic called out that the last person had been eliminated. The ‘Dodgeball Brawl’ had come to an end.

Deku face planted next to Todoroki, who swiftly extinguished the localized inferno on his arm upon realizing its presence, looking extremely unnerved.

They both looked over to see Shoji, having been on the receiving end of far too many attacks, lying on the ground in a heap, panting in exhaustion, every single one of his targets glowing. Tetsutetsu cried out in elation, having been the one to beat him, nearly crushing the dodgeball in his hand out of pure excitement. Many members of 1A observed this with disappointed expressions, Tokoyami closing his eyes and lamenting his friend’s defeat.

The cement arena surrounding them began to merge back into the ground, the entire stadium becoming visible to them once again, as Bubble Girl congratulated the sixteen victors of the second event, which she listed for the audience’s convenience as Izuku Midoriya, Shoto Todoroki, Katsuki Bakugo, Tenya Iida, Fumikage Tokoyami, Momo Yaoyorozu, Ibara Shiozaki, Tsuyu Asui, Ochaco Uraraka, Eijiro Kirishima, Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu, Hanta Sero, Mashirao Ojiro, Togaru Kamakiri, Juzo Honenuki, and Hitoshi Shinso.

She additionally praised those who had been eliminated, saying that they had done extremely well and come very far, and to give themselves a pat on the back for their accomplishments, a sentiment many of them appreciated but found difficult to wholely accept, with Ashido and Mineta seemingly especially unhappy about their losses.

As everyone gathered around the cyan skinned teacher, she announced that the final event of the Sports Festival that the remaining contestants would participate in was a fan favourite competition, one they had been holding more and more often due to just how popular it was. Many students immediately realized where she was going, having been avid watchers of previous years, and felt either excitement or dread fill their guts, recalling just how intense it often got.

To the sound of thunderous applause, Bubble Girl revealed the last challenge was a one on one ‘Battle Tournament’.

Chapter 15: Exhilarating First Round - The Sports Festival Tournament, Part 1

Chapter Text

The night following the first day of the Sports Festival was surprisingly eventful, even though it was intended to be used to rest up for the next day, which was shaping up to be even more intense than the last.

As several students’ parents had travelled to the island Yuuei was located on, taking temporary residence in newly constructed hotels made specifically for those who had come to spectate the games, a lot of the evening involved people spending time with their families who many of them had not gotten the chance to see in several months.

Unfortunately, Deku, Uraraka, Iida and Mineta were not among those whose parents could come to visit, either because they couldn’t afford to miss work or they were too busy. They were able to meet Tsu’s mother, father, and two little siblings she had mentioned, however, with the latter two taking a liking to teasing Mineta just as much as their older sister, much to his disgruntlement.

Additionally, they found out that Tokoyami’s avian appearance was in fact genetic, his mother resembling a crow as well, but actually having white feathers unlike her son. The same didn’t go for Ashido, with both of her parents being dark skinned as opposed to pink, which was apparently a byproduct of her Quirk making her body naturally resilient to the acid it produced.

Koda’s mom was just as much of a sweetheart as he was, Kaminari’s mom was a surprisingly intelligent woman who was apparently a university professor, despite sharing his horrible sense of humor, and Sero’s grandfather had dozens of embarrassing stories about the tape user from when he was a child that gave his friends plenty of ammunition against him.

Yaoyorozu’s parents had also come, not just to watch their daughter but also to keep an eye out for potential investment opportunities, as they were extremely affluent businesspeople, being among one of the richest families in Europe.

This was relayed to them by Hagakure, as Yaoyorozu herself had gone to converse with her parents privately, them apparently not being very interested in meeting her classmates.

There were rumors that Endeavor had also come to the island, but none of them had seen him, nor his son, Todoroki, for that matter, who had disappeared after the first day’s events officially concluded, with Deku’s attempts at talking to him afterwards being completely ignored.

This only fueled the green haired teen’s curiosity about what exactly had happened at the end of their confrontation during the Dodgeball Brawl. His left arm had produced flames… he had never seen him display that ability before. He must have inherited it from his father, with his ice powers coming from his mother, perhaps.

But why hadn’t he ever used his pyrokinesis? Why was he so shaken up afterwards? He wasn’t at all sure.

It wasn’t the only thing on his mind that night, however, because All Might had pulled him aside after a phone call with his mother to discuss his performance with One for All at the Sports Festival.

The two sat in the Symbol of Peace’s office, cups of tea on the table between them, as All Might formally offered his apprentice his congratulations for doing so well in the Sports Festival.

He had believed in him wholeheartedly and yet he still surpassed his expectations yet again with how he applied all that he had learned and improved upon over the past month, as even if he did end up busting two of his fingers, it was immeasurably better than how he had done previously.

Plus, it seemed as if his enhanced condition meant that his 100% was even more powerful than it had been before, as his fear of obliterating the cement structure was something he doubted he could’ve previously accomplished with only two fingers as opposed to an entire punch.

Deku thanked his mentor, but noted that he actually hurt himself more than once during the first day, as when he briefly fought against Todoroki in the Dodgeball Brawl, he had accidentally gone up from 5% to roughly 8%, which caused his body a great amount of strain, him still feeling pretty sore even after so many hours had passed.

All Might seemed intrigued by this, asking him what had caused him to ramp up to a higher percentage, with Deku explaining that, reflecting on it, it seemed to be him losing control due to the intensity of the conflict, as he hadn’t really ever fought using Full Cowling besides spars with Gran Torino.

Despite sounding somewhat disappointed in himself regarding this, All Might actually seemed pleased, much to his student’s surprise, as he posed his hypothesis that because Deku had instinctively gone up to 8% in a moment of less restraint, it could mean that this was the next level he was going to be capable of handling with more training, seeing as how even if it did hurt his body, it didn’t cause him to break anything.

Deku, taking a few moments to process this as he looked down at himself, smiled, asking him if really that it could be the case, clearly overjoyed at the prospect of being able to safely use more of One for All’s power so soon, with All Might telling him that he had faith, although not to try and push it during the rest of the Sports Festival, that they had plenty of time to reach that stage after the fact.

He needed to stay in the best shape he could if he wanted to win, which was why he recommended that he go to Recovery Girl’s office once they were done talking, so that he’d be all healed for the tournament.

Deku, however, actually refused, astonishing All Might as he asked what reason he could possibly have for doing so. Somewhat nervous about defying his idol while still believing his decision was just, Deku explained that the injuries he had received were a result of the choices he made during the festival, actions he took in order to further himself in a competition, as opposed to before when they were usually performed out of a necessity, either for his survival or his betterment as a wielder of One for All.

To just heal them, he felt, would be a discredit to the people who were eliminated on account of his success. He knew it was the safer and smarter option to just go see Recovery Girl, but he truly felt like doing so would be against the spirit of the game. He was giving it his all just like everybody else, and he would have to deal with the consequences of doing so, at least until the event was over.

Although taken aback, All Might couldn’t help but admire his student’s genuineness. It was honestly pretty stupid of him, logically speaking, but that level of grit and passion in wanting to compete fair and square with everyone else, to prove to not just others but to himself that he was worthy of being where he was, wasn’t something he could will himself to argue against.

He chuckled before slapping his hand on the boy’s shoulder, telling him that while he was probably going to regret it, he wasn’t going to force him to have Recovery Girl heal it if he was really so passionate about remaining injured until the end of the Sports Festival, so long as he at least got his broken fingers properly wrapped up, which he enthusiastically agreed to.

Elsewhere, outside of 1A’s dorm building, where many within were still socializing with friends and family, Shoji stood by himself. Although his eyes stared forward, they didn’t seem to be focused on anything in particular. Whatever he was preoccupied with, it wasn’t something outwardly visible.

This internal fixation was why it took more than a few tries for him to be awoken to reality by Tokoyami, who had arrived beside his taller companion, concern subtly etched upon his face.

The bird-headed boy asked Shoji how he was doing, with him attempting to claim that he was doing alright, although his friend didn’t seem convinced, responding that while his mask did well to cover his appearance, it didn’t do much in terms of hiding how he was truly feeling.

Tokoyami questioned Shoji as to why he refused to team up with anyone during the Dodgeball Brawl. He made it incredibly far at the cost of receiving by far the most damage out of anyone in the entire first day of the festival, all by himself at that, demonstrating his immense skill and that he would’ve surely passed had he allowed others to help him.

What was the reason he rejected them? Did he simply think he could do it alone? Did he have some strategy that just hadn’t panned out? Did he not trust them to be of help?

This last inquiry stirred Shoji from his quietude, with him insisting that this wasn’t the case. Him, Koda, and several others, he trusted them immensely. They were some of the first friends he had ever had. And he knew they were incredibly strong, as well, having seen their capabilities before, whether during training exercises, or fighting alongside them against real villains. If he could count on anyone to have his back, it was them.

Tokoyami asked if this was the case, then what had made him act like the opposite was true during the second event, to which Shoji finally began to explain.

Back during his encounter with the Volcano Thieves, one of the villains that he and Ojiro fought against was a man by the name of Gust Boy. He hadn’t given him much thought as they battled, but by the end, there were a few things that he had said that had troubled him.

As the criminal laid beaten on the ground, done in by the students’ teamwork, Shoji incidentally heard him through the use of his Dupli-Arms’ ears, muttering to himself that all the work he had done to make himself more than just a joke to people had been undone, that he’d never be seen as anything but another freak.

This greatly perturbed Shoji. He had his suspicions as to what this could’ve meant, but he needed to for sure, to get an idea of what exactly Gust Boy had gone through that led him down such a path.

So, during the time in between their confrontation and the present day, Shoji took a trip down to the jail in which the eco-terrorist was incarcerated, hoping to converse with him, and his unconventional request for visitation with the man he put behind bars was granted, thanks to his status as a Hero in training.

The discussion between the two was stilted at first, Gust Boy remaining pensive and quiet under Shoji’s first few attempts at being cordial, only to launch into a tirade once the masked boy finally arrived at the subject he had come there to learn more about; why the air manipulator had joined the Volcano Thieves.

He went on and on about how for his entire life, he had been pushed around, insulted, and denied countless opportunities because he was a Mutant type, that his non-standard anatomy caused society to reject him thousands of times over, from his family, to his friends, to school, to work, etc.

The first person to give him a chance was Volcano, and together they were going to bring about the downfall of the civilization that had discriminated against him for so long. He was going to finally be something other than a freakshow people laughed at for even trying to fit in.

That was until Shoji and those other brats ruined it.

And for what reason? Had he himself, as a Mutant, never faced the same prejudice that he had? Was he one of those privileged few that lived in an area where people at least pretended like they didn’t take issue with his appearance? Was he clueless as to the struggles and strife that heteromorphs had undergone since the inception of Quirks? Was he really that ingorant of a little kid that hadn’t yet realized the cruelness of the real world, especially towards people like themselves?

Before he could continue, Shoji cut him off, his eyes brimming with intensity, asserting that he was very much aware of exactly what people like them had gone through. He and his family had long been victims of ostracization, hate and violence because of their appearances, having moved several times in attempts to escape that persecution. It was part of what inspired him to become a Hero.

He wanted to be another one of the greats, to prove those people wrong, and make the world a better, more accepting place.

Gust Boy didn’t respond for a moment, a stunned look on his face, leading Shoji to assume that his words had hit home, only to be disappointed when the villain eventually scoffed, looking half dismissive and half melancholic.

Gust Boy remarked that plenty of other heteromorphs had gone the distance, shattering the barrier so to speak, but most of them were not outspoken at all when it came to the issues facing their people. And most of them were in societies that were already rather progressive when it came to them, like North America or western Europe.

In places like Asia, or eastern Europe, on the other hand? Mutants struggled to break that glass ceiling, and those who had were basically glorified mascots with nothing of substance to say, like Big Red Dot of Singapore.

If he wanted to be the one to finally make a difference, he was going to have to go above and beyond. Make a huge splash, prove that he was someone to keep an eye out for. Otherwise he’d likely just fade into obscurity, and end up as disdainful as him.

Gust Boy was retrieved by the guards shortly after his rant, having been believed to be acting in a hostile manner, while Shoji was escorted out of the facility, deep in contemplation from the moment he stood up from his chair to when he fell asleep later that night back in his dorm at Yuuei.

He hated that he couldn’t dispute what Gust Boy had espoused to him. He had long known the road towards his ultimate objective would be tough and full of hardships, but this conversation made it very obvious that it would also be far more complicated than he had assumed it would be.

Fortunately, an opportunity to ‘make a huge splash’, as his former adversary put it, was due to present itself soon; the Sports Festival. This led Shoji to resolve to win the competition, to prove himself the most capable out of all of his peers. He would announce to the world his desire for those frightened by people like him to finally be accepting, to work towards a brighter future for all people, regardless of how they had been physically affected by the evolution of mankind.

He believed that to ensure his message was all the more potent, he needed to win the tournament by himself, without assistance, something that ultimately led to his downfall, having not been strong enough to prevail independently like Midoriya.

Tokoyami, however, rejected the notion that power had anything to do with why Shoji failed in his mission to singlehandedly win the Sports Festival. He knew Shoji to be one of the most impressive members of 1A when it came to strength, intelligence, combat skill, etc. He was surely a contender to be one of the Big Three should he continue improving, but those factors aren’t what contributed to his loss.

The type of competition responsible for his elimination was simply one that, without the proper mobility or a well rounded team, was difficult to succeed in, and with his Quirk not enhancing his speed and his decision to go at it solo, there was a very low chance that he would pass, and yet he still nearly did.

To Tokoyami, what Shoji was doing was extremely important. He hadn’t disclosed it, but he too suffered from discrimination because of his appearance, as he was heteromorphic despite having an Emitter type Quirk.

He grew up in a rather conservative area of Germany, and faced bigotry not only because of his avian-like appearance, but because he lost control of his powers when they first manifested, and wreaked havoc on his hometown for several hours straight until a Hero with a light-based Quirk was able to stop him.

He too wanted to be a Hero to prove those around him wrong, that someone who people accused of being a spawn of the devil who could only bring about destruction could be one of the world’s greatest protectors.

But unlike Shoji, he knew that if he wanted to make that dream of his come true, he needn’t be afraid of asking for help along the way. He wished Shoji would’ve asked him or someone else to join up with him during either competition, as he believed they would’ve made a formidable team, which his masked friend apologizes for, admitting that his ego might’ve gotten ahead of him, and that it wouldn’t happen again.

Forgiving Shoji, Tokoyami told him something else, that it would be his honor to carry on Shoji’s will, and promised that when he won, he would deliver the message to the world that he desired to. Smiling beneath his mask, Shoji wholeheartedly thanked the shorter boy, saying there was no one else he would rather do so, to which Tokoyami replied stating that it was simply what friends were for.

The beginning of the second day of the Sports Festival was reminiscent of the first, the crowd packed to the brim with enthusiastic audience members, the volume of their cheers being somehow even louder than before.

Although the number of active participants in the games had decreased, the level of excitement regarding those remaining had skyrocketed, under the assumption that what had yet to come would be all the more exhilarating.

As the sixteen students left to compete stood on the green fields within the stadium, basking in the energy of the crowd, Bubble Girl introduced the rules of the Battle Tournament, which were fairly simple; through use of one’s physical abilities, or any other item that had been permitted, each contestant would attempt to eliminate their opponent by either knocking them unconscious, rendering them immobile, making them surrender, or pushing them out of bounds.

After that had been conveyed, the blue skinned heroine began the process of drawing names to decide who would be going up against who in the first round, which would consist of eight battles that would be revealed as they transpired.

The crowd, and combatants, would not have to hold their breath for long as it was announced that the series of fights would commence with Izuku Midoriya from Class 1A against Juzo Honenuki from Class 1B, both of the Department of Heroes.

The green haired boy looked surprised that he had been the very first person called, while Honenuki received cheers of encouragement from his peers that were seated in the section dedicated to those who attended Yuuei, as well as Tetsutetsu, who was standing next to him, although he himself remained quiet.

The students were then told to leave the field in order for it to be transformed into a battlefield, being free to then either travel to their seats, wait in the lounge rooms, or loiter in the corridors that lead into the stadium if their own battle was next, which was what Deku did, although not before being wished good luck by several of his friends.

As he awaited further instructions from the announcers, however, he was approached by one other person; All Might. The Symbol of Peace asked his protege how he was feeling ahead of his first round, if he was at all nervous or uncertain of himself, to which Deku answered that he was, but he was trying not to let it get the better of him.

After being asked if he had any sort of understanding of ‘Young Honenuki’s’ abilities, the junior One for All user explained that from what he had observed, his foe had the power to turn solids into a more liquid-like state upon physical contact, with what seemed to be quite a long range effect.

It was a tricky Quirk to go up against, but he had spent the previous night coming up with strategies for every single one of his potential matchups, and so had some form of a plan going in, with All Might sweatdropping and chuckling that he should have expected Deku to have such foresight.

He informed him, however, that whatever strategy he may have constructed would have to be flexible, as, having instructed 1B before, he knew Honenuki to be one of the most talented students in the entire Hero program, being one of the Big Three in his class. He wouldn’t give anything away, both for the sake of fairness and wanting it to be a learning experience, but he advised Deku to be careful.

After Bubble Girl’s projected voice announced that the contestants could now step back in, and a pat on the back from his elder, Deku began to walk towards the freshly formed tournament arena, a rectangular, substantially sized flat cement stage, its corners decorated with banners bearing Yuuei’s logo, with Bubble Girl positioned off to the side on a raised platform to act as referee. Opposite to him, Honenuki approached the grounds as well, staring forward with a somewhat unsettling blank expression.

As each of them finally set foot on what would soon explode into a theater of superpowered combat, Present Mic, over the loudspeakers, took the liberty of introducing them as ‘the kid who just won’t quit, especially when it comes to getting in over his head’ and ‘the prodigy whose Quirk contradicts his hardened resolve’, the former summary of his character earning an exasperated sigh from Deku.

All Might’s apprentice clenched his fists, charging his body with the strength of the generations before him, deciding that it was probably necessary to go 5% from the start in order to try and ensure a quick victory, as the longer the fight went on, the greater control Honenuki would have over his environment. Said bony-faced teen maintained his empty eyed stare as he started to lower his hands to the ground, not wanting to waste any time either.

As Present Mic cried out for the battle to begin, both young men swfitly got to enacting their game plans.

Deku leapt forward, closing the gap between him and his adversary with just a few steps, reaching Honenuki in a matter of seconds, arm drawn back in preparation for a lunging punch. Before he could make contact, however, his target vanished, sinking through the floor as if he had just dived into water, resulting in Deku clumsily having to stop himself from flying out of the ring, digging his toes into the ground and nearly tripping over.

The freckled brawler took a second to analyze his surroundings, as Present Mic hollered about how it seemed Honenuki had already obtained the upperhand with a surprising method of dodging.

Before Deku could make any other moves, he felt a hand latch onto his ankle, causing him to yelp before he was dragged under into the softened cement. Closing his eyes and mouth, he cursed internally for having not seen such a thing coming, having not had the chance to get any surplus air.

Meanwhile, his tan haired opponent was much better off, his eyes being more resistant to any damage that exposure to the substance surrounding him could cause, allowing him to get an idea as to where Deku was, which was currently below him, a few meters beneath the arena.

Having successfully incapacitated his fellow competitor, Honenuki resurfaced to wait out how long it would take for his opponent to run out of breath, which to his estimate would be approximately a minute, after which he would immediately retrieve him.

He knew it wasn’t the most interesting thing for people to watch, definitely not a very thrilling way to start off the tournament, but at least people would get an idea of how efficient he could be when it came to dealing with threats.

Up in the stands, many in 1A, especially those close to Deku, seemed incredibly concerned, both regarding the prospect of their friend’s loss and his general safety, Uraraka wondering aloud if he was going to be alright trapped in cement for that long, even if it was softened.

Kirishima labelled the tactic as ‘cowardly and super unmanly’, saying it was obvious Honenuki was afraid of facing Deku head on, although Yaoyorozu countered that not everyone had the benefit of possessing straightforward Quirks like himself. Honenuki might have been playing it safe, but she couldn’t say it wasn’t incredibly smart of him.

Over with 1B, Monoma seemed particularly proud, boasting to his peers that 1A had grown overconfident after they had supposedly dominated the first two events, and now it was time for them to finally have their time in the spotlight, although Kendo pointed out that there wasn’t anything ‘supposed’ about how well they had done, that they had beaten them fair and square. The rest of the class was relatively split when it came to these two attitudes, although they were nonetheless optimistic about Honenuki’s prospects.

By around the halfpoint of the time limit that Honenuki had given, Deku was struggling to try and swim up through the pool of cement, going from almost expert form to desperate flailing as his desire for air intensified by the second, although this was obscured to everyone else.

He grit his teeth in frustration at the fact that for all of his efforts, he was only plunging deeper and deeper into the liquefied cement. He tried to calm himself, knowing that if he just continued to fume and flap around he’d just get exhausted. There had to be some way out of this, surely Honenuki’s plan wasn’t invincible.

He couldn’t very well look around for any ideas, he had to rely on feeling, although this wasn’t much better seeing as how everything felt the same. It only served to draw his attention to the pain in his fingers that were still broken from the day prior.

He was almost starting to regret having decided against healing them, if every battle going forward was going to be as difficult as this one. That was, provided he managed to win.

Wait… his fingers… maybe that was his way out of this.

It was going to cost him at least another finger, but he didn’t really see any other method of escaping his current situation. And he couldn’t risk not going all out either, as in case he failed he would’ve just busted himself up for no reason and made himself look like a fool in front of the entire world.

It was all or nothing.

Bending his legs, he placed his left hand parallel to his feet, focusing 100% of his Quirk’s power into his index finger. He had some sense of where Honenuki was through feeling the vibrations of his feet, and since he didn’t really have time to achieve full accuracy, that was going to have to be good enough.

Opening his mouth in order to let out a roar to invigorate himself, Deku flicked his energized finger, generating a gale so powerful that it not only succeeded in propelling him out of his predicament, but also effortlessly caused the entire softened area of the stage to tremor like a bowl of gelatin, with the parts that were still solid breaking apart.

This then resulted in Honenuki stumbling forwards, now being positioned in just the right place for his opponent to burst out of the trap he had made like a rocket and bash into his stomach with a headbutt, instantly knocking him out, and undoing the effects of his Quirk, as Deku bellowed out the name of this improvised move; “Boston Smash!”

It was a one hit K.O. in a battle that had consisted of an attempted punch, a dodge, and then about forty seconds of one person just standing around before something else happened, but that final, and only, hit made the entire experience worth it, proven by the crowd erupting into absolute chaos once it occurred.

1A was especially excited, nearly every single member of the class having a smile on their face, even the stoic Tokoyami, although this of course wasn’t the case with Todoroki and Bakugo. 1B was understandably less ecstatic, although while some were only disappointed, others were completely devastated, namely Monoma.

The tournament grounds looked as though they had been struck by an earthquake. Deku fell to the ground in a heap next to his defeated peer, wincing as he gripped his finger, which as he expected was broken and bruised, although the pain quickly subsided with the realization that he had ultimately managed to come out on top.

As he took a moment to relax, taking some well deserved deep breaths, he noticed one person in particular cheering him on from the audience, and that was his only fellow member of the All Might Fan Club; Mirio Togata. As they locked eyes, a grin overcame him, and he flashed his older friend a thumbs up.

Afterwards, once Deku decided to go and try to find Togata in order to talk with him, seeing as how it had been a few weeks since they were last able to talk due to both of them being busy preparing for the Sports Festival.

Fortunately for him, the blonde had the exact same idea, and the two ended up running into each other in a hallway, although the older Yuuei student was accompanied by another boy his age, a dark blue haired teen with pointy ears, almost reminiscent of an elf’s, who he introduced as his boyfriend, Tamaki Amajiki, from 3A.

Deku thought he looked somewhat familiar, but declined to bring it up, and instead simply attempted to greet him with his usual kindness, only to receive a cool, vacant stare in response. This caused him to flinch and ask if he had done something impolite, with Togata answering that his partner was simply a bit shy around new people, and that he was barely able to convince him to come to the festival.

The two went on to discuss Deku’s performance in the festival up to that point, with Togata saying he had found it mostly impressive, especially during the race, remarking that him holding onto the drone for dear life was one of the funniest things he’d ever seen, but that his fight against Honenuki, while not an entirely awful display, was something he felt the need to critique, something Deku was more than open to, as he himself wasn’t incredibly satisfied as to how it went.

Togata explained that while he could tell Deku was a strategic thinker, it seemed that when he went into a fight, he was only thinking about what he could do to defeat his opponent, which while important, was only half of the complete picture.

If he wanted to improve his skills in battle, it was just as important to consider how his opponent would want to take him down as well. He couldn’t underestimate other peoples’ ability to strategize, with Deku stating that he didn’t, before realizing what his issue actually was.

For so long, people had never had to worry about him being any trouble to them. He was an objective underdog, and he had used that to his advantage. But now, with all of his training and the incredible strength of his Quirk, people had started seeing him as someone worth coming up with legitimate plans for.

It was sort of ironic, that one of his original major strengths had grown less effective as he had improved. At the same time, it was actually very encouraging to him to know that he had grown to a point where people had to be wary when facing him.

Deku thanked his third year colleague for his advice, with Togata saying that it was no problem, just a little something he had learned from his former mentor, and suggested that the green haired lad put it to good use in his next match. Deku assured Togata that he fully intended to, seeing as the pairing that had followed him against Honenuki was his friend Mashirao Ojiro versus the elusive Hitoshi Shinso.

Although he didn’t know much about Shinso, he knew Ojiro was 1A’s most skilled martial artist by far, and was convinced that his opponent in the second round would certainly be the aforementioned monkey tailed warrior. Speaking of which, Deku noted, their battle had just started a minute ago, so if they hurried up to their seats, they may have been able to catch some of it.

Just as he finished saying this, however, it was announced through the speakers that lined the ceiling of the hallway that, to his astonishment, the winner of said clash was not who he had predicted. In fact, according to Present Mic, Shinso had come on top without having taken a single hit.

Bewildered by how this could have possibly been, Deku rushed off to the stands in order to get a look at the outcome for himself, accidentally activating a portion of his Quirk in the process.

Arriving at the area where the rest of his class sat, Deku’s eyes fell upon the sight that had everyone in the stadium stupefied; Ojiro, lying unconscious in the center of the stage, his forehead bloodied, while Shinso walked casually backtowards the corridor that he had once emerged from, completely unscathed, a self satisfied smirk stretched across his face. The worried mumbling of his fellow students faded into being incomprehensible as Deku tried to wrap his mind around what could have possibly happened.

A few minutes later, after Ojiro had been retrieved and taken to the nurse and the third match had begun, Deku had been filled in by Uraraka, Iida and the others as to what exactly what gone down, although all it did was confuse him even more as it didn’t seem to make any more sense than beforehand.

Apparently Ojiro had moved swiftly, like Deku had, and was about to seemingly deliver a devastating strike from his tail, only to suddenly freeze and then bash his head into the ground, instantly knocking himself out.

It obviously had something to do with Shinso’s Quirk, but none of them had been able to put together exactly what it was or how it worked. This was very troubling to Deku, not only because his friend had been eliminated in such a crude, disgraceful manner that would no doubt greatly upset him once he woke up, but because it meant he was due to go up against someone that could seemingly make him take himself out through some unknown means. How was he supposed to plan against that?

Although Deku was fully prepared to spend the rest of the day wracking his brain for ideas, Uraraka encouraged him to try and take his mind off things by watching the match that was currently taking place between Kirishima and Tetsutetsu, although, having been paying attention to it herself, she couldn’t say it was the most captivating fight.

Unlike the previous two scuffles that had been remarkably short and featured next to no action, this one had been going on for quite some time, if not somewhat dragging on. Both spiky haired brutes were pretty much equally matched, trading hardened blow for hardened blow, steel like skin clashing against stone like skin.

It probably wasn’t the most engaging thing to distract Deku from worrying. Even Present Mic was getting a little bored, after all, with Aizawa telling him not to bother if he had nothing important to say.

That was what she thought, at least, before returning her focus to her friend to see that he was absolutely engrossed, scribbling down notes regarding the fight in a journal and mumbling to himself, prompting her to stifle a laugh.

She asked Deku what he was writing down, with him explaining, while continuing to fill up page after page, that he was adding details regarding both of their differing fighting styles to the sections he had dedicated to them.

Intrigued, Uraraka asked what he meant, as to her it looked like they were essentially doing the same thing, with Deku telling her that there was a lot more going on in the eyes of those familiar with boxing, which he was to a limited degree.

From what he could tell, both of them were indeed the same class of boxer, that being a brawler. They may not have possessed a lot of mobility, but their punches packed an incredible amount of power. Each of them were throwing out in one hit what another person might have thrown out in ten, and that wasn’t accounting for their Quirks.

However, there were some notable distinctions, such as Tetsutetsu going for grappling moves because of his steel body making him heavier, or Kirishima succeeding in pulling off a few counter punches since he wasn't as aggressive as his opponent.

But the most significant difference was in what might not have seemed like it, the fact that Kirishima was using the southpaw stance, the traditional method of boxing for left-handed fighters.

Kirishima was right-handed, but it seemed as if he had been experimenting with this alternative technique, and had gotten to be quite good with it, while Tetsutetsu wasn’t familiar with it, which was allowing his redheaded rival to land some surprise hits that would likely prove critical when it came to who would outlast who.

And like clockwork, just as the skirmish hit the ten minute mark, Kirishima’s rough as rock fist slammed into the iron cheek of Tetsutetsu, the resulting impact cracking open the plating that covered his skin, and sending him spiraling onto the ground. The crowd held their breath as Tetsutetsu struggled to push himself back onto his feet, before he relented to his exhaustion and collapsed into unconsciousness.

Deku could hear Monoma groaning from 1B’s stand over the defeat of another one of his classmates to their supposed archenemies, although it was soon overpowered by a chorus of cheers from the rest of the audience, which he presumed was a mixture of celebrating Kirishima’s victory, as well as relief that the duel had finally come to an end.

Tetsutetsu wasn’t down for long, awakening only a dozen seconds or so after his loss had been announced. He was obviously dismayed by the outcome, punching the earth in frustration, grumbling about how he should’ve eaten a more iron rich breakfast, only to have his mini-tantrum cut short when Kirishima extended his hand out to him, smiling down at him, and declaring that it had been a good fight.

Tetsutetsu couldn’t help but grin back. Although prideful, he was not a sore loser. Grasping Kirishima, he allowed himself to be pulled up by his former adversary, with them nodding at each other once they were both once again on equal footing.

It seemed that, having finally let loose against each other in what had been a truly manly battle, they had managed to overcome their anger with one another, and now held nothing but respect for their fellow fighter.

Deku beamed at the display of chivalry. That sort of sportsmanship, of admiration for and decency towards your fellow competitor, that was what the entire festival was about. That was the sort of attitude and spirit that Heroes were looking for.

As Kirishima and Tetsutetsu walked off stage, supporting each other the entire way, Deku caught Uraraka peering over at his journal, squinting her eyes, momentarily becoming flustered upon him asking what she was doing.

The brunette went on to explain that with him having written down so much about just the most recent battle alone, she was curious to see what else he had. Deku’s eyes lit up at the opportunity to ramble, with him quickly going off about he had been recording just about everything he could regarding the Sports Festival, and that this current journal was already his third, having filled up his second last night.

Uraraka listened for about a minute, mouth increasingly agape, before Deku asked her if there was anything she wanted to know about specifically, with her stuttering out that she was just curious as to what kind of stuff he wrote down.

Deku thought for a moment, before listing off practically every possible facet of heroics, from personality and costumes to at least a dozen things about Quirks, like potential applications and strengths and weaknesses. He had pages dedicated to pretty much everybody he knew, with people he was especially close to like her and Iida actually having entire books about them.

Uraraka’s face flushed for a second, slightly embarrassed at the thought of someone having enough information about her to take up that much paper, although this feeling quickly subsided as she listened to her friend continue to prattle on, and she couldn’t help but smile.

She would’ve considered it weird if it were anyone else, but with Deku, she knew his intentions were nothing but pure. It was simply his fascination, an appreciation for all the people around him that he considered amazing, including herself. It was more flattering than anything else.

Plus, while she was only getting about every third word that was coming out of his mouth, she enjoyed hearing him talk.

That came to a halt, however, when the next matchup was announced by Present Mic; Shoto Todoroki against Hanta Sero. Most of 1A wasn’t even creative in trying to avoid the icy stare of their coldhearted classmate as he rose from his seat and walked by them, not that he was paying any attention to them in the first place, many of them looking down and staying quiet.

Only two of his peers dared to gaze upon him, and even then there was only one pair of eyes he acknowledged; those of bright green that carried more than enough resolve to rival his own, while those of burning red indignation went completely ignored.

Their interaction lasted but a moment, before Todoroki disappeared into the walls of the stadium, with Sero following him not long after, smiling nervously and saluting to his fellow students, with a few of them laughing and saluting back, not very confident in his prospects but rooting for him nonetheless.

Scarce a thought that didn’t revolve around getting this entire festival over and done with passed through the heterochromatic powerhouse of 1A as he marched through the hallway towards the staircase leading to the tournament grounds, with Sero trailing a few feet behind him, contemplating trying to strike up a chat.

He wouldn’t end up having to make the decision, however, because just as he and Todoroki made the next turn, they encountered something that rendered all potential conversations meaningless and dull.

Standing in front of them was the burning, towering figure of Todoroki’s father, the renowned Endeavor, his piercing blue eyes landing on his son like a predator’s on its prey.

Sero gawked at the sight of the number two Hero, not knowing what action to take in a scenario such as this, while Todoroki offered only a harsh glare, as if hoping that by staring with enough concentrated fury that the man would simply vanish.

Unfortunately, the incensed looking pro had no intention of going anywhere, leading to a familial standoff that Sero had no desire to be around for, resulting in him hurriedly, and very awkwardly, shimmying past the burly Hero, glancing back with a look of slight concern as he left them to their affairs.

After at least a minute of uncomfortable silence, Todoroki too attempted to just brush past his father, but the pyrokinetic patriarch had no intentions of letting his offspring disregard him so easily, and so moved to stand in front of the teen once again.

With a voice of restrained fury, Endeavor, addressing the boy as ‘Shoto’, questioned what exactly he thought he was doing by avoiding the use of his fire, if he was attempting to deceive his classmates, or if he was perhaps still on that ridiculous rebellious streak of his.

When Todoroki answered with only silence, Endeavor made an almost growling like noise, and told him to stop being such a brat, that he didn’t train him since the day he was born just for him to waste half of everything he taught him.

His duty was to surpass All Might, and he wouldn’t do that without using his flames. Todoroki responded in an astonishingly sharp tone that he would never use that side of him, that he’d only ever use the power his mother gave him.

The silver medalist superhero seemed ready to raise his voice again, only to pause for a second, and then scoff dismissively of the ideal, telling his son that he could certainly try, and likely fair well enough against the average foe here or there, but when things really get tough, like they would as a pro, he’d be forced into using the second part of his gift.

After all, that ‘embarassing All Might copycat’ had done so. Todoroki promptly stomped past the man, ignoring the almost smug face he was wearing, a look of pure rage spread across his own.

He was wrong, he thought. He had to be.

There had been a bit of an awkward wait for Todoroki on Sero’s end, enough so that when his opponent did approach him as he stood before the division in the halls that the competitors would take to each end of the arena, he asked if everything was alright. Todoroki didn’t so much as look at Sero as he walked into the left entrance, leaving the taller boy slightly concerned. Sighing, he then headed down the right pathway.

Upon them entering the ring, Sero offered Todoroki a friendly wave as Present Mic introduced them as ‘the taping jokester who proves that wisecrackers don’t need to be wise’ and ‘the number one student son of the number two Hero,’ with Aizawa muttering that he shouldn’t be talking about rankings given his drop in popularity last year.

The two-toned teenager stared forward at nothing in particular, as if he barely even registered his former training partner as a person and merely an obstacle to be overcome, if that. Stretching, Sero spoke aloud, admitting he didn’t really think he stood much of a chance at winning. If anybody knew how strong Todoroki was, it was him.

But as their match was declared to have begun, he nervously grinned and sprung into action, proclaiming that he didn’t really feel like losing either.

Before anyone knew it, Sero had wrapped up his adversary in tape and was swinging him through the air, aiming for the outside of the platform. He added that he knew from training with Todoroki that he needed to be in contact with something in order to fire off ice attacks, so really their exercises paid off for him more.

Some grew surprised as it seemed the class clown might actually have caught the star student off guard. Uraraka pumped up a fist, and looked over at Deku expecting for him to be as cheerful, only to see him furrowing his brow, an expression mimicked by Iida, Yaoyorozu, Tokoyami, and Shoji.

Without her even having to ask, Deku muttered that Sero’s tactic was smart, and certainly would’ve been enough if he was facing someone with worse Quirk control. Iida continued, stating that his opponent wasn’t anything so ordinary, and that Todoroki wasn’t just a threat because of his raw power, but his incredible technique, as well.

As if on command, the first year titan tapped his fingers against his binds, sending a sheet of ice traveling all the way down from him to the source of the tape, that being Sero’s elbow.

But, this action being driven by not just a defensive attitude but an offensive one due to his underlying frustration, Todoroki went above and beyond in this effort, resulting in him generating a massive, bright blue glacier that froze Sero completely, rendering him completely helpless.

The spiky mass of ice took up over half the arena, reaching up to just before the seats in an either impressive or, scarily, coincidental display of control. Todoroki shifted and broke free from his own prison, dropping to the ground.

Iida coughed, adding that, of course, Todoroki had no shortage of raw power, either, as the rest of 1A, and the crowd as a whole, looked in in absolute shock, many wondering how they could possibly hope to compare to such monstrous strength. Even Tokoyami and Bakugo didn’t seem unshaken.

But Deku, after initially being startled like the rest, soon found a different emotion overcome him as he watched a now very solem, almost regretful-looking Todoroki approach the immobilized, and likely unconscious, Sero, and begin the slow process of melting away the ice, something which could only be accomplished with the use of his pyrokinesis.

It was clear that even at this small of a scale, using this power was an extremely unpleasant experience. So why had Todoroki unleashed such an unnecessary amount of force? Had he really been so caught off guard that he reacted without the proper restraint? Or… had something happened before the match? Was it related to what happened between them yesterday?

He had plenty of questions, adding to the pile he had accumulated based off Shinso, who he felt he had met before but couldn’t place recall exactly when, where or how, and likely wouldn’t have been able to focus on the next match.

But after the ice was cleared, and a knocked out Sero was on his way to the nurse, with Ashido leaving to check in on him, and it was announced that it would be between Ibara Shiozaki and Tenya Iida, the tournament had his full attention once again.

Standing up straight, Iida gave his classmates a confident nod, who responded with cheers of support and encouragement. Kaminari told the class president to show them what 1A was made of, and maybe get the girl’s number for him while he was at it, while Mineta warned him if he lost he was going to attempt a coup.

When Deku and Uraraka specifically wished him well, saying that they were rooting for him, Iida stopped, and looked his green haired friend in the eyes: he was going to see him in the final round.

With that said, Iida walked off, as Shiozaki left as well after Monoma spent a good twenty seconds ordering her not to lose until Kendo dragged him back to his seat. Uraraka appeared worried, wondering if Iida had suddenly ‘caught a case of the Todorokis,’ with Ashido joking that ‘at least it wasn’t a case of the Bakugos,’ causing the blonde, who was sitting as far away from his classmates as possible, to shoot her a glare.

Tsu, however, said Iida didn’t mean it in any sort of hostile sense. He simply wanted Deku to know that just because they were friends, that didn’t mean they weren’t rivals. Iida was as much of a threat to him in the competition as Todoroki, Bakugo, Shinso, or anybody else.

Mineta declared that he would have done the same thing had he not been cheated out of his place in the final competition, while Uraraka mumbled that she honestly hadn’t really thought about if she would have to fight a friend, even though chances were that she would have to eventually.

Deku clarified that he had understood what Iida meant, but didn’t think it had been necessary. After all, Iida was one of his best friends. If there was anyone he would want to fight against in the finals, it would’ve been him.

Tsu promptly teased that he was making the rest of them sound like chopped liver, causing him to explain in a flustered haste that he didn’t mean to be so dismissive, only for him to settle down once he saw his aforementioned peer step out into the battlefield, with Shiozaki opposing him, as Mic began his announcements.

Iida took a deep breath as he stretched his long legs, his glasses gleaming in the sun and thus disguising the intense grit focused in his eyes. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t just a little frustrated at the moment.

Not at Midoriya, of course. At himself. He was basically the leader of the class barring the faculty, was renowned as its fastest member, and was the heir to one of the most well known pro Hero families in Europe.

And yet he, with his speed boosting Quirk, only placed fourth in the racing portion of the competition. He proceeded to do nothing remarkable in the second part, and was now feeling incredible pressure to measure up to the feats of skill and strength displayed by those who came before.

He knew people were expecting a lot out of him. Not just with the other students at Yuuei or his family back home, but analysts and spectators from all around the world. People watching to see just what potential he really had as a Hero in the making.

Influential figures in the greater world of heroics who had pretty much complete control over his future in the industry. He couldn’t afford to not perform excellently, to shine in every battle he partook in. To be as good as his brother.

The instant Mic exclaimed ‘match… begin!,’ Iida fired up his engines and blasted forward. Shiozaki threw up a barrier of vines in front of her, but it would prove useless when a class president shaped hole was punctured in.

The dark blue haired boy appeared behind her and reached a hand towards her in order to grab her so he could run her out of he ring, only for her to react in time, redirecting her plants to smack him away, resulting in him being sent flipping back. He only just managed to stop himself from skidding out of bounds when he eventually landed, making the audience gasp and his own heart to skip a beat.

Swallowing his nerves, he blasted off once again, but this time she seemed more capable of reacting to his speed. He cursed as she nearly managed to catch him by his ankle, with his engine flames thankfully singing them before they could reach.

This continued over and over again as he zoomed back and forth, with her becoming an increasingly impenetrable wall, one he wasn’t sure he could outlast in terms of stamina. Damn it, he thought, did this mean he had to break it out now? It would mean his victory, certainly, but to use it so early?

It was supposed to be his ace in the hole for later on. Now it seemed like it was only way of getting past his very first battle. Not that he wasn’t facing a difficult opponent. She was one of 1B’s Big Three. But Midoriya had taken down another member with a literal flick of the finger. So there was another way beyond relying on brute strength.

He recalled a conversation he had with Ashido after her team had swept his during a practice soccer game where the both of them had acted as captains, leading to him approaching her to discuss what her strategy had been, since had barely been able to comprehend it when it was being put into action.

She explained that while Iida was actually the better athlete, with much more power and speed, his strategy was a little basic and heavily reliant on mimicking those carried out by soccer legends of old, which unfortunately made him very predictable after getting to know his playstyle.

She couldn’t give him too many of her secrets, but she would tell him to think outside the box more, to make use of the entire field instead of sticking to finite, presupposed areas of importance.

She also suggested that they could train together one on one sometime so they could flesh out their game plans more, but he insisted that he wouldn’t taken advantage of her kindness and also that he would capable of improving himself on his own, so she could expect a better challenge from him going forward.

He went on to continue losing to her over and over again, but each time he did better. He gradually started to innovate. He adapted. He became more flexible. And last time they had played, Ashido told him she wouldn’t be surprised if he won next time, although in all fairness she did tell that at the end of all their matches.

He needed to transfer that mentality over to this match. He needed to think outside the box. Or, at least, at the very edges of the box, since actually going out of them would mean a loss.

Activating his Quirk, Iida rocketed forth, and though he managed to leap over the first wave of vines, the second set was on him by the time he landed close to Shiozaki. He managed to propel himself away in time, with his opponent choosing not to pursue him, favouring a defensive approach.

Her plan had always been and would continue to be guarding herself and only attacking when he got close, knowing he would eventually exhaust himself and be easy to capture and either incapacitate or move out of the ring. But this tactic would soon start to face problems when Iida… stopped approaching her. Instead, he kept running in circles, or, rather, squares, keeping to the perimeter of their battleground, much to her confusion.

Iida raised his speed as high as he could without pushing himself beyond his limits, to the point where he was barely a blur in the eyes of most, achieving a speed none of his classmates had seen him pull off before. His training had clearly paid off as well, even if his improvement wasn’t as drastic as Deku or Bakugo’s. But what was the point of his current actions? It seemed like a huge waste of energy.

Then, Iida suddenly came to a stop, and a few keen-eyed individuals noticed that in his hand was one of Shiozaki’s vines. Before she could figure out what he was doing with it, Iida pulled harshly, and she found herself tightly wrapped up in her own vine.

She struggled and attempted to remove the restraints, but Iida was ultimately too fast for her to react accordingly, and with a boosted spin, he promptly swung her out. As she landed rather softly on her feet, she looked back in astonishment, with Iida delivering a deep bow as the match was declared to have ended in his triumph.

Monoma all but frothed at the mouth, and the rest of his class seeming disappointed as well seeing as how this meant both members of their Big Three had been eliminated and now only Kamakiri was left in the competition as a whole, with him promising that he’d win for them.

Their rival class, meanwhile was mostly ecstatic, with Mineta actually applauding quite furiously, to his friends’ surprise. Deku confessed he didn’t think the shorter boy would have been so happy for Iida, leading him to explain that any battle won via bondage was a fantastic one in his book, causing Tsu to slap him out of his seat and Kaminari to lower his hand as he had raised it for a high five.

As Iida and Shiozaki exited the stage, the next two contestants were called down: Fumikage Tokoyami and Momo Yaoyorozu. The crowd was clearly thrilled at the prospect of the two second most impressive freshmen at Yuuei high going up against one another, and a handful of competitors were grateful that one of these huge threats would be eliminated as a result.

But as for who people were rooting for? Well, in regards to their fellow students, Tokoyami was clearly favoured, receiving a plethora of good lucks as he walked from out of the bleachers, while Yaoyorozu got nothing aside from one cheer from Hagakure. Not that she was offended by this, of course.

She was aware she didn’t have the reputation of being a very friendly person, so while she was well-respected for her skills, most didn’t actually like her all that much. As far as she was concerned, that didn’t really matter. As long as people knew she was one of the best. That was how it was for her parents, anyways.

In the nursing room, Ojiro rubbed his head as he stirred from his sleep, sitting up, and being greeted by Kirishima and Tetsutetsu. The tailed boy asked what happened, with his red haired friend informing him that, unfortunately, he had lost, and in a pretty confusing manner. Ojiro asked him what he meant, saying he was having trouble remembering anything.

Kirishima explained that he had been running towards Shinso and seemed ready to attack him, but then came to a complete stop and slammed his head on the ground. Ojiro groaned, lamenting his humiliating defeat, and wracking his brain to try and figure out what had happened that made him do such a thing, knowing it had something to do with Shinso’s Quirk.

The bed over from him, Honenuki had been awake for some time, and was waiting to be given the okay to leave seeing as how he had managed to get by with only a few cracked ribs that had long been healed.

Sero was still completely out, with Ashido waiting next to him and keeping an eye on his body temperature, which was slowly but surely returning to normal. She lamented that despite the competition being fun on paper, it was pretty crappy having to keep seeing her friends get hurt, especially in cases where the amount of harm inflicted upon them was totally unnecessary.

She wondered aloud what had motivated Todoroki to do such a thing to Sero, having genuinely thought that out of anybody, the black haired boy had come the closest to achieving some sort of friendship with the son of Endeavor. If he was willing to do all that to him, who knew what he would be like against someone he had no connection to whatsoever, looking over at Kirishima as she said this to herself.

She perked up upon being told that ‘she should have more faith in her friend’s abilities, like she told him back at the USJ,’ and turned to see Iida walking into the room. Smiling at her fellow soccer club member’s presence, she congratulated him on his victory against Shiozaki, as did the others, and said she wished she could’ve seen it.

Iida excused her, noting that it their classmates’ health was important and he had come down for the same reason, to check in on how everyone was doing, seeing as he himself hadn’t really gotten injured in his fight. The same went for Shiozaki, who arrived only a few seconds over and had gone over to talk with Honenuki.

Kirishima chimed in, reminding Ashido that she’d be able to watch Iida compete in the next round, and it’d probably be even more exciting, seeing as how he’d be going against one of 1A’s Big Three instead of 1B’s, causing Tetsutetsu to irritatedly punch him in the shoulder.

Ojiro expressed uncertainty over which of the two would come out on top, saying he was rooting for Tokoyami. Ashido and Kirishima both agreed with that latter sentiment, and expressed their confidence in Tokoyami’s power, but the former added she knew Yaoyorozu was extremely intelligent and had likely formulated a plan to deal with Dark Shadow.

Iida stated that he was sure that whoever won, he wasn’t going to have an easy time against them, looking down at his legs as he said so. Ashido tapped him on the shoulder, getting his attention, and told Iida that regardless of who he was fighting, she believed in him, saying that unlike Kirishima he had some sense of self preservation, causing the spiky haired boy to laugh.

Before anything else could be said by the group, however, they would be told as to who would be the opponent of their class president much sooner than they had expected.

Yaoyorozu hadn’t even bothered paying attention to what was likely an at least partially objectionable introduction from Present Mic, instead getting herself ready to produce the items necessary to take down Tokoyami as efficiently as possible, which would be a fairly easy task given her knowledge of his most glaring weakness.

It was honestly a little surprising he was considered part of the Big Three to her, seeing as to how obvious it was to gain the upperhand against him. In the middle of this thought process, the announcement to start was made, catching her off guard and forcing her to make a shield to block a swift attack from Dark Shadow instead of what she had been planning to.

Knocked back from the force of the impact, she grunted and began forming something else in her other hand, only to have to redirect her attention to her left when Tokoyami aimed for her side next.

This bout of blocking went on for several turns until Yaoyorozu noticed she was steadily being pushed back towards the edge. Realizing she was being overwhelmed, she decided to take a risk and so, instead of blocking the next attack that was coming from above, tossed the shield upward, making Dark Shadow move out of the way, and created a small device in her hands: a flashlight.

Specifically, one modelled after the strongest flashlight in the entire world, capable of producing over 300,000 lumens. While she wasn’t counting on it being the finisher, it would definitely be enough to weaken Dark Shadow and allow her to go on the offensive.

Turning the flashlight on, a bright beam of light shot upward, being so brilliant it was still notably visible in daylight. Dark Shadow screeched and curled into itself, as if trying to defend itselff from the concentrated luminosity, prompting Yaoyorozu to smirk and begin creating the next part of her plan in her palm.

But, after a few seconds, the bird-like being unfurled and roared in defiance, fighting back against the pain of the light. The ponytailed girl’s eyes widened as she hadn’t expected it to be able to recover so quickly.

Astonished, her brain froze at the failure of her strategy, and thus when Dark Shadow rushed at her once again, smacking the flashlight away, she didn’t just do nothing, she did something incredibly stupid: she stumbled backwards, and unceremoniously fell outside the ring.

The crowd fell silent. People murmured, exchanged glances, and eventually began to slowly, hesitantly clap, pretending that the match had been substantial enough to satisfy them.

1A were especially taken aback, having expected a lot more from Yaoyorozu, but she seemed to be have been completely and utterly beaten, putting up perhaps the worst display in the entire tournament thus far, barring Ojiro. It even took Bubble Girl a second to declare the fight to have been won.

But the one most flabbergasted by the loss was Yaoyorozu herself, who was standing in abject terror, her position unchanging. Her mind raced and her heart felt like it was beating out of her chest, as she felt the pressure of the entire weight on top of her, and even worse than that, the absolute disappointment her parents must have been feeling in her.

For her to have lost in such a way, against… well, against someone like Tokoyami, she… tried to keep herself looking composed as she quietly took her leave, not even acknowledging the bow her opponent gave her.

Back up in the stands, Jiro was holding back a smirk, secretly extremely happy about how the match had gone down, but tried not to show this in front of Hagakure, who, despite being invisible, was very obviously upset.

Shoji, although pleased, was a tad underwhelmed, muttering that Tokoyami’s defeat of Yaoyorozu wasn’t nearly as impressive as he had hoped it to be. Now he wondered if perhaps there was a greater gap between the second strongest and the third than he had thought.

Suddenly, a voice that the class hadn’t expected to hear from in the realm of conversation blurted out that they must’ve been slower than Yaoyorozu was if they still thought she was even in the top five, let alone still worthy of being part of the Big Three. Upon them looking over, Bakugo had stood up, and jabbed his thumb up toward himself, boasting that he had already long surpassed her, and he was far more deserving of that role.

Before any of his peers could refute that statement, Kamakiri from 1B shouted over that he was glad, since it meant he still had a chance to kick one of their Big Three’s asses in the very first round.

Bakugo co*cked an eyebrow in the direction of the mantis-like student, asking him what gave an extra like him the right to even think of speaking to him. Kamakiri growled that he wasn’t just about to let the injustice he committed against him slide, prompting the blonde to question what he was even talking about.

The green skinned teen gawked, asking him if he actually didn’t remember who he was, with the target of his fury responding by dryly inquiring why he should. Before Kamakiri could go absolutely rabid, Present Mic announced that the next match would in fact be between them.

The fanged youth grinned maniacally, telling Bakugo that he was going to learn just who exactly he was very soon, and looked back over to his class, swearing to them that he’d wipe the floor with ‘this chump and then the rest of these 1A wimps.’

Bakugo simply scoffed, saying he needed to work on his insult game, either that or stay quiet when he got stomped on like the weak insect he was. The two aggressive competitors walked off, glaring intensely at each other, with Kaminari admitting he was both super scared and also kind of excited to see where that would go.

As they left, however, Uraraka had realised something. if Bakugo and Kamakiri were facing each other, than that meant the last two contestants, and thus the only ones left to be officially paired against each other… were her and Tsu.

She swallowed thickly before shooting a glance over to the aforementioned amphibian girl, who was staring a head unflinchingly, having obviously come to the same conclusion. Deku and Mineta shared a frown, both a little uncomfortable over the tension and unsure if it would be a good idea for them to speak up or not, when Uraraka suddenly stood up and proclaimed that she was going to get some water.

Those who had been in the nurse’s office were now heading back to the stands, save for Sero who was, although now back to his regular body temperature and recovering just fine, still unconscious and likely would be for the next few hours.

Kirishima and Tetsutetsu were debating over who would come out on top between Bakugo and Kamakiri, with Ashido being a little confused as to why her redheaded friend was so adamant about defending 1A’s least popular student.

Meanwhile, Iida and Ojiro discussed the previous match, in disbelief that it had ended in just thirty seconds, with the latter admitting that in a prolonged fight, he would’ve bet on Yaoyorozu.

Iida mused that Tokoyami must’ve improved greatly over the course of his training, wondering as to just what the power gap between them was now, seeing as how he wasn’t entirely confident in his chances on if he had fought Tokoyami prior to his training. Ashido encouraged him not to stress too much over it, saying overthinking was going to throw off his game when they actually went head to head.

Just as she said this, their group crossed paths with Uraraka, the hallway she had been in now overlapping with theirs. The brunette looked rather frantic, not seeming exactly thrilled to see her friends despite their warm greetings.

Barely offering them a cursory wave and what was some kind of grunt of acknowledgement, she continued walking at an even faster pace, leading Ashido to call out to her, to no avail. She looked back at the others, asking them what could have gotten her so freaked out.

Iida, having been keeping track of the remaining students to be matched up against each other, had known the second he saw Uraraka what had been troubling her, as he predicted it would, but before he could explain, Honenuki spoke up. He said that he was pretty sure that she was upset over who her opponent was going to be, saying that while he didn’t know their class that well, it was still obvious from an outsider’s perspective that she and “that green haired girl” were close.

Cluing in, Ashido immediately went to run after Uraraka, only for Kirishima to hold her back, asking her what she was even going to say. The girl paused for a few seconds, before sighing and confessing that she didn’t know, saying her usual motivational skills weren’t coming to her at the moment.

Iida expressed his belief that Uraraka would be alright and just needed some time to think it over, hoping that she’d be able to seeing as how the battle before hers had just been announced to begin.

This spurred Kirishima and Tetsutetsu to start running so that they could see the fight, which of course their natural competitiveness evolved into them racing, charging ahead shoulder to shoulder with each other, until, upon turning the corner, they ran into yet another one of their classmates, only this time, it wasn’t exactly someone they were on friendly terms with. In fact, Ashido had quite a few wise words for them.

Todoroki nearly flinched when his pink skinned peer stepped up to him, aggressively pointing at him and asking him what gave him the right to ‘be so overkill with Sero,’ saying that he wasn’t just a punching bag to take his frustration out on.

This actually caused Todoroki frown in an almost guilty manner, with him beginning to say something, only for Iida, who believed the situation was in need of an immediate diffusing, to interrupt.

Darting between the two shorter students, he told Ashido not to be so confrontational, clearly trying to uphold a sense of decency and respect among his class, before turning to Todoroki and, taking yet another page out of Midoriya’s book, attempting to be empathetic by telling him that he understood why he was getting so stressed.

He said he too came from a renowned Hero family and knew that the expectations could be unnerving, but that if he was feeling overburdened there were far better ways of dealing with it, like going to one of the guidance counselors, like the head, Hound Dog.

To Iida’s surprise, however, Todoroki’s expression soured, and he brushed past him and Ashido, muttering that they could never possibly understand, and that he had better keep his thoughts to himself in the future unless he wanted to ‘end up the same as that tape dispenser.’ The group looked on in shock as their brooding classmate walked off, with Ashido angrily calling out that he wasn’t going to get away with saying that.

She turned to Kirishima and encouraged him to kick Todoroki’s ass in the next match, with the spiky haired boy noting her massive change in attitude, to which she replied that if the dual elemental wielder was going to try and pull the same crap he did before, he had to make him realize he wasn’t some random nobody that he could knock out without any issue, to make him remember what Deku had said, that he would have to give it his all if he really wanted to win.

Back in the center of the stadium, Bakugo blasted himself backwards with a small explosion, narrowly avoiding being sliced by Kamakiri, who had blades protruding from his forearms.

Besides helping him dodge, it also generated a cloud of smoke that blinded the last bastion of 1B long enough for the blonde to propel himself up into the air, and then come crashing down on Kamakiri in a surprise attack, assaulting him with a more powerful burst.

As it would turn out, however, the mantis-like boy had managed to block the brunt of the attack with his claws at the cost of them breaking off, although they would quickly be replaced.

His following emergence, revealing himself mostly unscathed, actually startled his opponent, who had landed behind him, resulting in him being successfully caught off guard, and knocked to the ground with a mostly harmless but still strong slash, blade pointed at his chest.

Kamakiri ordered him to surrender, lest he dirty his weapons with his blood, prompting his foe to shout back at him to stop being plagiarizing playwrights. He launched himself forward with an explosion while on his back, causing him to slide under Kamakiri, who was then attacked from behind with detonation that nearly sent him flying out of bounds, had he not managed to stab another pair of blades, sprouted from his feet, into the ground.

He then yelled at Bakugo that attacking somebody when their back was turned was one of the least honorable things a warrior could possibly do, and accused him of not having the heart of a hero.

In response, Class 1A’s resident rebel stated simply that a hero’s job was just to win, not win fairly, and that maybe he’d take him more seriously if he saw him as a genuine threat instead of some annoyance to take care of before he got to a real competitor, adding that it seemed like that was going to take a few rounds.

Kamakiri roared, demanding him to stop dismissing him, and that he was going to make the big shots in 1A realize they couldn’t just ignore them anymore, that their class was just as capable as theirs.

He swung at Bakugo wildly, actually managing to continuously graze him as the temperamental teen dodged and weaved to the best of his ability, until he had built up enough sweat.

Yelling out ‘Stun Grenade,’ Bakugo cupped his palms together and fired, expelling a burst that, although not a very powerful, was extremely bright, making Kamakiri recoil and reach for his eyes in pain.

He heard his adversary snort, and ask how if their classes really were equals, than how come every member of 1B's Big Three had been knocked out by ‘Deku’s group of losers,’ revealing to him that the best of them, Honenuki, had lost to the guy who placed last on a test of merit that 1A had taken at the beginning of the year, just a little over two months ago.

Kamakiri sputtered, trying to think of a good comeback, but resorted to just flailing in a desperate attempt to strike Bakugo and get him to shut up. The hotheaded pyrokinetic then proceeded to smirk, grab Kamakiri by the collar, and launch the both of them up high with the rest of the ammunition he had stocked up. Screaming ‘X-Piledriver,’ he then flipped the helpless Kamakiri upside down, and hurled him back down to the earth with all his strength.

The insectoid youth slammed into the ground thankfully not on his head but on his back, still of course breaking a few bones in the process of this brutal fall. Bakugo landed on his feet beside his defeated opponent, trying to hide his rather shaky breathing and somewhat disoriented standing, since the battle had taken more out of him than he was willing to convey, especially since in Kamakiri’s frenzy, he had scraped the injury he had received on his knee from a few days ago during his training.

This had caused the bleeding to start up again, but this was covered up by the darker colors of his gym uniform. The match was declared over in his favour, causing the crowd to cheer, although it was more in general excitement rather than in happiness over the result, seeing as how neither of the contestants’ personalities had really quite won them over.

Having arrived a minute or so into the fight, Ashido told Kirishima that he hadn’t been exaggerating how much Bakugo had improved, having really only thought he had only gotten this far because the prior competitions were suited to his Quirk.

She recognized him as having potentially already surpassed the both of them, and who knows who else. Kirishima laughed and told her not to get too ahead of herself, saying they’d have to see later in the festival.

Kaminari teased him by saying that was a big if, seeing as how he was facing Todoroki next. Propping himself by stepping onto the yellow haired boy’s shoulder, Mineta encouraged Kirishima to annihilate that ‘poster boy for the Hero bourgeosie’ and ‘throw the entire class structure into upheaval,’ only for Iida to pluck him off and shake him, telling him now wasn’t the time to be calling for anarchy.

Admittedly curious to see what Monoma’s reaction would be this time, Deku glanced over at 1B, only to see the aforementioned blonde looking deeply contemplative, his chin resting in folded hands.

The other students were talking amongst each other, clearly disappointed at Kamakiri’s loss, but not devastated. He did hear one or two comments about how they wished it had been somebody else besides the biggest asshole out of the first years, but he couldn’t exactly refute that.

He might not have put it in those same words, but he understood where they were coming from. After all, regardless of who won the next fight, one of his close friends would be dueling said asshole, and he wasn’t quite sure as to how great their odds were.

Uraraka stood over the water fountain, in the same position she had been in for almost ten straight minutes, having never actually leaned down to get a drink. She knew she should’ve, considering how dry her lips currently were from having had her mouth consistently agape, but it was hard to will her body to do anything at the moment.

Thinking about movement made her think about how she would soon have to go down onto the stage and battle one of her closest friends. And not just in a training exercise or anything like she’d done every now and then, but in a competition where her doing well meant that she might have done significant damage to said friend’s career as a hero. She could handle the simple act of actually engaging in combat with Tsu, but jeopardizing her career? She couldn’t handle that on her conscience.

In the midst of her mental struggle, a semi-familiar voice broke the silence by asking if the fountain was broken. She turned her head to see Melissa, grinning bashfully, who added that if it actually was she could probably fix it.

Uraraka smiled back a little, apologizing and stepping aside, but the glasses-wearing girl said she didn’t actually need a drink, that she had just been walking by when she saw her, and was wondering if everything was alright.

The brunette sighed, brushing her dilemma aside as just her being stupid and it wasn’t worth troubling anybody with. Melissa frowned, replying that if Uraraka wasn’t comfortable with sharing, that she wouldn’t pry any further, but that she didn’t think what was causing her to be upset could be anything so meaningless and was willing to listen to her.

Uraraka pursed her lips, mulling it over for a moment, before then turning fully to Melissa and letting the truth flow forward. She let basically everything out, all of her worries about what facing Tsu would mean for their futures as heroes and how it might potentially affect their friendship, but also about how she knew she needed to participate because just giving up would hurt her own career, whether that be making pros think she didn’t have any potential, or the general public thinking she was unreliable, or even Yuuei itself deeming her not a suitable candidate for the Hero program any longer, leading to her being replaced.

Melissa frowned, agreeing that she was in a tough predicament, with Uraraka adding that she didn’t want to make it seem like she was downplaying Tsu. After all, she was agile, and strong, and unpredictable: she most certainly wouldn’t be able to take her down easily. At the same time, she had belief in her own strength, believing that her training had paid off for her to have come this far. She didn’t want it all to go to waste now.

So maybe, she began, slowly steeling herself, maybe if both of them went out, and did their absolute best, and did all that they possibly could to come out on top, then they’d both be able to impress the world watching them, no matter who ended up winning, and in that sense, neither of them would really lose, either.

She looked up at Melissa, her confidence having returned to her, and thanked her, with the American sheepishly saying she hadn’t done all that much, since it seemed like Uraraka had basically solved her own problem.

The shorter girl assured her that she had done plenty just by being there and stopping her from getting lost in her own little world. She invited Melissa to go up into where Class 1A was to watch her battle, making the taller teen ask if that was appropriate considering she wasn’t a Hero student. Uraraka, however, placing a hand on her shoulder, insisted that she belonged there.

A few minutes later and the match had been officially declared, with most of 1A watching in anticipation as they waited for both of the contestants to step out. Some who knew Uraraka less were doubtful she would emerge from her side of the stadium, while those truly familiar with the gravity manipulator were not one bit surprised when she did, with a somewhat shaky but overall determined expression plastered across her usually cheerful face.

Tsu stood across from her, her face stoic as always, but the croak she let out was creakier than it typically was. Uraraka asked her green haired friend if she was nervous, to which Tsu replied that as long as she wasn’t, then neither was she.

When the announcement was made for them to start, Tsu immediately shot her tongue forward, with Uraraka instinctively jumping to her side in order to dodge, narrowly avoiding the appendage which was aiming for her ankle.

Upon the tongue then darting over to reach her new position, Uraraka sidestepped again, and this song and dance continued as she slowly but surely made her way forward, having to move increasingly quick, especially due to her also needing to keep an eye out for when the tongue was coming back to Tsu, since she could snatch her then, too. Just as she was closing in on her, however, Tsu hopped up into the air, over onto the other side of the arena, and immediately started the process over.

Uraraka grunted, clearly frustrated, but knew that her only option was to keep going. And so she did the same as before, moving over to Tsu as fast as she could, with the audience then presuming that this meant the match would be an endurance contest, one that they deemed the amphibian-like girl was likely to win given the lack of energy being spent on her behalf.

But just when they expected the conflict to grow repetive, Uraraka caught Tsu’s tongue just as it wizzed by her, and activated her Quirk on her fingertips. The effects of anti-gravity quickly enveloped Tsu and caused her to start floating up, making Uraraka smirk, only for her to be caught off guard. The tongue wrapped around her wrist and pulled her up so that both of them were up in the air together.

Tsu spun Uraraka around like a yoyo, before stopping her, the sudden loss of motion already almost making her lose her lunch, and landing a powerful kick on her stomach, sending her crashing down.

The crowd gasped, believing this would be the finishing blow for sure, only for her Uraraka to recover quicker than anyone could have expected and then grab hold of Tsu’s tongue, which was still around her, and yank down, pressing her fingertips together and thus releasing her Quirk as she did so.

The semi-aquatic teen was slammed onto her side, causing her to ribbit harshly in pain and retract her tongue, which had been scraped badly by the rubble when she hit the ground.

Up in the stands, Hagakure cringed, voicing her shock at and distaste for the violence between the two girls, having thought with how close the two were they wouldn’t be so harsh with each other, with Kaminari agreeing, saying he didn’t expect two cute girls to be getting so brutal.

Jiro elbowed him, telling him their gender had nothing to do with it and it was that kind of attitude that meant if he had been fighting them he probably would’ve been beaten easily, a statement he protested. Melissa, emerging from the entrance, interjected, remarking that it was them being close that encouraged them to go all out against each other.

A few students seemed surprised at her appearance, but Deku expressed his agreement. They knew what the other person could take, and that giving them anything less than their all wouldn’t be enough.

Uraraka ran towards Tsu, preparing to finish her off by grabbing her and throwing her out, only for her adversary to perform a leg sweep, knocking her onto her feet. She went for a second kick, but Uraraka rolled out of the way in time and then hastily stood up, just to in time to block yet another strike from Tsu.

She did so just barely, however, and the impact still knocked her back a few feet, making her stumble a bit. As she dodged and tried to find openings in more and more attacks, she realized something that she hadn’t before about Tsu, which seemed rather obvious in retrospect.

That being the fact that the build of her legs didn’t only mean she could jump high, but also that she could quick with what seemed more like the proportional strength of a horse than a frog.

Her own Quirk didn’t provide her body with such innate strengths. She believed from some prior experimenting that her she might’ve been more resistant to the effects of zero gravity herself, but she wasn’t totally sure.

At the very least, she had nothing that really helped her in a combat scenario. And it wasn’t as if she possessed any sort of martial arts ability, which was something she now wished she had asked Ojiro for help with. An idea for later, she supposed.

But what could she do right now? Was there anything she could do? Her eyes went to the few pieces of rubble that had been created during their bout.

Letting out a short scream to amp herself, Uraraka took a risk and rushed Tsu unexpectedly, making the longer haired girl to jump back a bit, allowing her foe to hurriedly grab the light amount of debris and then begin chucking it at her wildly. Some of the audience might have critcized the move as desperate, but others saw it as resourceful, since in the world of pros sometimes such desperate moves were necessary.

Her opponent managed to mostly dodge the pelting, only being slightly struck by some of the tinier chunks, making Uraraka’s tactics seemed all the more unimpressive, but then, just as Tsu seemed ready to go back on the offensive, the brunette tapped her fingers together, and a rock that had been floating above the frog girl came flying down and smacked her on the top of the head.

Dazed, Tsu ended up nearly tripping over herself as she stepped forward, not reacting in time to stop Uraraka from reaching forward and slapping her with a glowing hand, causing her to start floating upwards.

Tsu shot her tongue down in an attempt to bring hher foe up with her once again, but due to its injured state it moved slower, and thus Uraraka was able to catch it. She then tapped the bottom of one of her shoes, and began to spin around on the heel of the foot that wore it, swinging Tsu around at an increasingly rapid pace.

Upon attaining blur status, she yelled and let go, flinging her friend out of bounds, with Tsu colliding into the stands once Uraraka released her Quirk for the final time in the span of their battle, knocking the girl out.

Suppressing the urge to vomit, Uraraka panted and tried to force herself to stand up straight as the crowd cheered at a srangely moderate volume at her victory, with her ultimately failing because of what she was fairly sure was a partially broken foot from her having been kicked down by Tsu earlier, which she had somehow managed to deal with up until now.

Up in the stands, her class clapped for her, having not been rooting for either girl over the other, but still happy to see her win after such a hard-fought endeavor. As Deku applauded his friend’s accomplishment, however, he noticed Bakugo in the corner of his eye, looking down at Uraraka with an unreadable expression.

The blonde then met his gaze, and scowled, before returning to staring coldly at who would be his opposition in the next round. Deku furrowed his brow, wondering what exactly that look had meant.

Before he could put too much thought into it, everyone’s attention was redirected towards Bubble Girl as she explained that the next round would begin after an hour and a half intermission, and be the last one to take place that day, with the semifinals, finals, and ending ceremony being held the next. It would begin with Izuku Midoriya fighting Hitoshi Shinso, two of the biggest underdogs in the entire competition.

Just as Deku was delivered the news he had already long known, a hand met his shoulder, and he turned to see Ojiro, who asked him if they could talk for a few minutes: he had some information he thought he would find useful.

Chapter 16: Duels In Depth - The Sports Festival Tournament, Part 2

Chapter Text

Kaminari and Mineta huddled together, devising what might have been the greatest strategy known to any other hormonal teenaged boy, one that would result in not just the girls of 1A, but 1B as well, wearing cheerleader outfits. All they needed to do was convince one or two of the girls that it had been an order from the faculty in order to show school spirit, the clothes being made per courtesy of Yaoyorozu.

The only problem was… who? The girls of 1A knew them a little too well, they would’ve known for sure they were fibbing to get fanservice. But the girls of 1B didn’t know them whatsoever and also likely wouldn’t have trusted them. They needed somebody in the middle of that spectrum…

Melissa was standing in line at the cafeteria, waiting behind a few students from the Management course, when the purple and yellow haired boys approached her, their forced innocent expressions hiding their ulterior motives. Noticing them, she beamed, asking how they were doing, to which they replied they were doing fine, and asked her the same.

She immediately began gushing about how much fun she was having watching the tournament, expressing great respect for everybody in the Hero program and telling them she was having a super fun time hanging out with them all. As she went on and on, Kaminari kept trying to sneak in hints towards their plan, while Mineta was slowly coming to a realization.

This girl was practically the female version of Deku. Was this just typical of people with weird connections to All Might? Regardless, this comparison caused him to start having second thoughts about getting her to do their dirty work. He wasn’t quite sure why, but the idea of doing so made him feel… guilty?

He snapped out of his thinking when Melissa called upon his name, with her asking if she got it right, prompting him to nod swiftly. She then began rambling about how she thought his Quirk was really interesting and had all sorts of thoughts about different applications for it, including potential Support items she could create to help him, inviting him to come discuss them with her sometime.

Mineta all but gawked, astonished at the praise being bestowed upon him. He had never gotten compliments from who was basically a total stranger before, especially not about his lame Quirk… besides Deku, but even then, it had been around the same time he learned about everyone else’s, so he hadn’t really stood out. And now she was coming up with ideas for him specifically on how to improve? And asking him if he wanted to spent time with her? She was actually paying attention to him? Had Uraraka said something good about him to her? He knew it couldn’t have been Tsu. What was going on here?

Kaminari then managed to cut in, asking Melissa that if she was offering her help, if there wasn’t one other favour they could ask her for. She asked what it was, evidently fully prepared to offer her services, and the electric blonde began to reply, only for Mineta to climb up on his shoulder and slap his hand over his mouth.

The short boy then requested that she ‘please’ save them seats over at the cafeteria table with the others, at which Melissa smiled and told them she would do, before walking off. Once she was out of hearing distance, Kaminari let out a small shock, zapping Mineta off of him.

Wiping his mouth free of whatever germs his friend had on his hand, he asked him what his deal was, since she totally would’ve went for it. Mineta coolly looked away, muttering that there were some things you just didn’t corrupt, causing Kaminari to wear a flabbergasted expression.

Over at the table that Mineta had been referring to, Deku, Iida, Kirishima, Ashido, Ojiro and Jiro were all sitting together, mainly discussing the former three’s upcoming matches. Jiro asked Iida what exactly his strategy was, saying she hoped she wasn’t relying on trying to exploit Tokoyami’s weakness to light with the flames from his Engine, since that ‘yellow idiot’ had helped him build up quite a tolerance, as they all saw in the fight between him and Yaoyorozu.

The class president revealed that he had another strategy in mind, saying he had something saved up for in case of an opponent such as Tokoyami. This led the purple haired girl to wonder if he had some sort of powerful support item they didn’t know about, but Ashido surmised that it was related to his Quirk, given the large quantities of orange juice he was currently drinking.

Iida’s usually straight face gave away to the slightest of blushes, making Ashido cheer that she must’ve been right. She then asked Deku if he and Ojiro had talked strategy for Shinso, with the freckled boy saying that they had, and although he’d keep it to himself for now, he believed he had figured out what Shinso’s Quirk was, and, more importantly, how to counter it.

Kirishima slapped him on the shoulder happily, telling him he was glad since if they both won, they’d be up against each other in the semifinals, and that was a fight he’d be looking forward to. He then added that this meant if Iida also ended up beating Tokoyami, then three out of the four top competitors were at this table alone.

He pumped his fist and encouraged the two other boys to make it so, with Iida and Deku agreeing, although they couldn’t help but think about who the potential fourth member of that group would be. After all, it was between Bakugo, and-

Just then, Uraraka sat down, telling them not to leave her out, since thanks to Recovery Girl she was ready to throw down again in the next round, noting that it would be even easier since this time she wasn’t going up against a friend, just Bakugo. The others greeted her and congratulated on her win, saying both her and Tsu did really well, with them then asking about how said frog girl was doing.

Uraraka explained that while they were both mostly all healed up, Tsu’s tongue needed to be checked over a little more extensively due to the strain it suffered. She also revealed she had seen something strange when she was in the nurse’s office, since she was still conscious when she was brought in: Todoroki was there, seemingly visiting Sero.

Ashido perked up in surprise, asking Uraraka if she was sure he was there for Sero and not just to check up on an injury or something. The brunette said that although he left as soon as he noticed them enter the room, she saw for a brief second him standing over the black haired boy’s bed. Also, she asked, what injury?

This gave the pink skinned girl pause, just as Melissa arrived, asking if they were talking about Todoroki, bringing up that she had actually met him before, years ago, when Endeavor’s family used to come with him to the Hero Expo on I-Island, an event her dad was always heavily involved in.

Back then, he was a very reserved, shy young boy who hid behind his mother constantly, never even interacting with his own siblings. She supposed he had remained quiet, but she wondered if he still held onto any of the softness he once had. Perhaps overly curious, Jiro questioned as to if Todoroki had his scar at that point, with Melissa answering negatively, having actually assumed it had been from an injury from some sort of fight with a villain.

Chopping through the air, Iida demanded that the conversation around the scar cease, declaring it inappropriate to discuss a classmate’s personal issues without their knowledge or consent. The table fell awkwardly quiet, everyone knowing Iida was right, but even he couldn’t deny his interest in the subject matter.

The family of Endeavor had long been something that people desired to know more details around, seeing as how out of the top ten ranked pro Heroes, only he and number eight, Godzillo, had known children and spouses. They had scarcely appeared in public throughout the years, especially his wife, and there even existed debate around the number of offspring he actually even had.

Was there family drama behind the scenes that could have been affecting their peer in ways they just possibly couldn’t know? Or were they just looking into things too much? Deku knew none of it was his business, but if it continued to result in his other classmates receiving the Sero treatment, he felt like confrontation over it was inevitable.

Mineta and Kaminari then showed up to bring back some levity, the former slowly making his way over to sit in between Melissa and Kirishima, while the latter squatted down beside Uraraka, doing an impression of a news reporter and asking her how it felt to be the newest member of Class 1A’s Big Three, seeing as how she’d replaced Yaoyorozu via being the only girl to make it past the first round.

Blinking, Uraraka laughed and played along, saying it felt great, only to then whisper to Kaminari asking if he was being serious since she was pretty sure that wasn’t how that worked. The blonde co*cked his head, inquiring as to why not, with Jiro, questioning him as to if he thought the only reason Yaoyorozu had been included in the Big Three was because there needed to be a girl for some sort of quota as opposed to her actually being that strong.

Kaminari went quiet, while Jiro sighed and rolled her eyes, calling him a moron. She went on to admit that although she might not have really liked Yaoyorozu all that much, her skill was the real deal. The nature of her defeat had been shocking to everyone, and she wondered what the affluent girl must have been going through after suffering such an embarrassing loss.

The room’s atmosphere was tense. Overwhelmingly so.

Ju and Nijou Yaoyorozu sat across from their standing daughter, who had come to the area, which they had requested be made specifically for them to view the festival separately from other guests, without even needing to be asked. A lot of the family’s relationship was nonverbal, feelings able to be understood without verbally expressing them.

She had known they would want to see her. And, even though not a single word had been spoken since she came in, she knew practically exactly what they were thinking. The looks on their faces were enough. Her father’s piercing blue eyes always broke through any false composure she tried to convey during times like these, which was why she had not even bothered trying to hide her cowering.

Eventually, someone actually said something. Nijou Yaoyorozu assured her daughter that they had already gotten into contact with several Heroes who owed them favours in order to ensure that she would still be able to intern with a high ranking pro, and not some B-lister desperate enough to send requests for anyone.

The teenager quietly uttered her thanks, to which Ju told her not to get her hopes up too high, since circ*mstances meant they had to resort to dealing with some of the unsightlies, albeit at least ones with very few deformities. Although, he added, she might not have had an issue with that, as she seemed used to acting as an inferior to those people.

A few more seconds of silence went by, before the ponytailed girl bowed, turned, and walked away, trying to keep her face dry.

Shinso hadn’t bothered to linger in the cafeteria like most other students, instead choosing to sit and wait in his class’s locker room. For one, he had nobody to interact with: he hadn’t bothered ever making friends in 1J or any of the other General Studies classes. At most he had some acquaintances he wasn’t exactly eager to make small talk with.

Secondly, he was admittedly antsy to get into the next battle in the tournament. His opponent… it was important for him to win against him, at least. After that, well, if he was lucky, nobody would share ideas around how his Quirk worked, which he had assumed they already had, and then maybe the rest of the Sports Festival would go as well for him as it had so far.

Chances were, though, that this was his last chance. He couldn’t afford to mess it all up now.

Which was why he was extremely annoyed that the random buffoon with big lips from, if he remembered correctly, 1A, who he had brainwashed back during the most extreme dodgeball game he’d been in since middle school, was standing outside, distracting him and just waiting to be properly acknowledged. He’d been there for roughly the past ten minutes, not saying or doing anything, but obviously waiting for him. He was the only one there, after all.

Eventually the purple haired boy just couldn’t be bothered to keep ignoring him. He stepped outside the door and stared Sato straight in the eyes, asking him what he wanted.

The larger teen grinned, before holding out something: a plate of rice and curry. Shinso co*cked an eyebrow, questioning as to if he was trying to poison him or something so that he’d mess up in the fight against his classmate. Sato assured him this wasn’t the case, prompting the tired teenager to then ponder if it was in revenge for using his Quirk on him, or what he made him to do ‘the short one.’ The sugar consumer swore that absolutely no poison was involved, and that he had just wanted to make sure he had something to eat ahead of the match. After all, he was the only competitor who hadn’t stopped by the cafeteria.

Shinso asked what made it his business as to if he ate or not, with Sato explaining he never liked seeing people go hungry, especially when it was totally avoidable. Besides, wasn’t it the job of Heroes to make sure people weren’t in unnecessary danger? Fighting on an empty stomach definitely fit that description, he thought.

Shinso rolled his eyes, telling him that selfless attitude of his was pretty annoying, causing Sato to chuckle, before adding that he was going to get used to it, if he was really serious about getting into the Hero program. This made the General Studies student’s eyes widen slightly, with Sato saying he couldn’t see any other reason for him to have made it as far as he did. That was why, right? Shinso squinted a little up at his peer, before taking the plate of lunch from him, and walking past him, with Sato only smiling in response.

By the time the break had run its course, the sun was just starting to set. The crowd was brimming with increased excitement, hopeful that any metaphorical fat had been skimmed off the top of the roster, and that the rest of the tournament was sure to be full of excitement. Not that the previous round had been uninteresting, but there were some… duds.

That pressure to live up to, to surpass those expectations, weighed heavily on the minds of the remaining eight, especially on those who were the first to be called down for their fight. Wild messes of green and purple hair respectively made their way to the battlefield, their same coloured eyes staring across from one another.

Deku performed some stretches as Present Mic improvised an introduction, having been busy standing in line at a food booth, while Shinso glared intensely, mulling over what had been said to him. That meathead… what had he even been trying to do? Get in his head to throw him off his game? Maybe he had even been put up to it by his opponent. It wasn’t like he was above tricks like that. Well, this time was going to be different. This time he’d be the one to end up humiliated.

In the midst of the declaration for the fight to start, Shinso began to taunt Deku, mocking him for thinking he had a chance at beating him and asking why he hadn’t already dropped out. All Might’s successor frowned, but didn’t stoop to trashtalking back, and instead charged up to 5% as he remembered what he and Ojiro had discussed.

The blonde recalled what little had happened during their battle before his humiliating knockout: he had gotten into a combat stance and awaited for his opponent to get into one as well, only for him to stand there unmoving. Shinso told him not to waste his time with any of the formal crap, since it was a competition for Heroes, not some strip mall karate class tournament. He asked if there was really any point to learning martial arts when he could still just be overwhelmed by a powerful enough Quirk, saying it just seemed like a desperate attempt for weaklings to think they were strong.

With a furious expression, 1A’s most skilled fighter charged forward, preparing a tail strike, and yelling back that he understood nothing. The next thing he knew, he was in a weird sort of trance, and then he was unconscious.

From this, him and Deku were able to narrow it down just a little: Shinso’s Quirk was in some way related to the mind, and it seemed to be triggered by some sort of vocal exchange. They hypothesized that it could be from eye contact like Aizawa’s Erasure, but then why hadn’t he used it the very second the match started?

This then raised questions as to what Shinso needed to say in order to activate his Quirk’s effects. Was it simply talking? Likely not, since, again, in that case he could’ve ended the match even sooner than he did. Perhaps then it was a specific word or string of words? Once more, same explanation. So then, perhaps it stemmed not just from his actions, but somebody else’s reaction? Was that why he had said such disrespectful things? Did it require his foe to get angry or upset?

Given what little data they had to go off of, Deku went with this route of thinking, deeming it the best one to build a strategy around. He just had to stay in control of his emotions and not let anything Shinso say affect him. As he flew forwards, he recalled Ojiro telling him to win for him, to prove to him that their infamy as part of the Volcano Four wasn’t just because of a fluke victory.

He saw Shinso grit his teeth as he silently approached him, readying a punch. The purple haired boy was clearly a little panicked, as if his first plan had already failed, which made Deku feel just a little pity for him, but he brushed past this and began to launch his attack, hoping it wouldn’t hurt his adversary too much and just be enough to end their scuffle.

Just he threw his arm forward, Shinso managed to frantically ask him if he remembered him or not, causing Deku to sputter out a confused ‘Huh?,’ completely caught off guard.

And then he froze, just like Ojiro had before him.

Said monkey tailed combatant cursed, standing up and clenching his fists in frustration, trying to figure out where his friend had gone wrong. Shinso chuckled a little nervously as a gust of wind, produced by his opponent’s now halted punch, blew across his face.

He breathed a sigh of relief, saying he knew that would get him. He liked to pretend he was some lovable underdog who had a lot to prove, but he knew the truth. He was as blessed as they came, gifted with an extraordinary Quirk, one that made the path to him becoming a Hero far easier than it was for others. He feigned incompetence in order to throw other people off. That’s what he had done to him, after all, back at the practical exam.

Trapped within his mind, Deku was dumbstruck. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t recognized Shinso earlier… they hadn’t spoken for long, but he had still felt a kinship with the purple haired boy. He must’ve seen him use One for All on the 0 pointer in what had probably been seen as a feat not accomplishable by someone who had stated they didn’t know how to control their Quirk. Shinso must have thought of him as a fraud, someone performing the academic equivalent of hustling on someone who already didn’t have the best chance at being enrolled, seeing now that his mind distorting powers would likely be totally ineffective on inorganic targets.

Was that why he had been so cold and almost sinister? Was he holding a grudge against him specifically? Or was there more to his attitude than he could currently grasp?

Shinso then shrugged, saying maybe Deku really wasn’t so bad when considering the grander scope of the Hero course, which he had observed was home to much more grandiose, prideful assholes, but he had personally pissed him off, and he hoped that when they promoted him into the Hero program, he would be supplanting him.

He laughed, saying he was probably surprised he wanted to become one, imagining he probably seemed pretty villainous to him right now. He didn’t hold it against him. That was what everybody else had thought his whole life.

Shame flooded Deku’s brain. Shinso was right. He had sandbagged him. Made him feel as if they really did have the same situation. Deku had grown up looked down upon, seen as having no real potential whatsoever. But Shinso… he had grown up feared, hadn’t he? People had seen him as an inherent threat, as someone whose potential was something to try and repress under the assumption that it would lead him in a troublesome direction.

And while Deku had been given a chance to prove he was more than nothing, Shinso had never had the opportunity to show people that he was the opposite of what they had already assumed. And he still wasn’t really able to. He was basically being forced into the antagonist role regardless of what he did, just because of the nature of his Quirk.

He wanted to say something, desperately, to try and apologize, or reassure him that he didn’t see him as anything so malicious. He didn’t know whether this was to comfort Shinso, or comfort himself. But he couldn’t. It was strange, he knew he had likely only been under the effects of his opponent’s Quirk for a few seconds or so, but it felt like minutes… his sense of time was completely warped, being stuck in whatever mental realm he was in. It was actually kind of fascinating, he could detect his surroundings, but there was a sort of blanket of darkness over everything that muffled his senses. He was then snapped out of his studying of the ethereal environment when he was able to just barely hear Shinso mutter ‘walk all the way back out of the ring.’

Suddenly, Deku realized just what exactly Shinso’s Quirk was. Brainwashing. Through communication, he could cast people into a state of mind vulnerable enough to follow his command. What the limits were to what he could make people do was unclear, but it obviously included the ability to make them commit harm to themselves, as seen with Ojiro.

So why hadn’t he done the same to him? Was it just to differentiate? Or… had it been to humiliate him? To have the entire world see him slowly but surely make his way out of the arena, looking as if he had suddenly and awkwardly forfeited the match. He didn’t want to assume the worst in Shinso like that, but he didn’t think it was unreasonable to claim that he held a grudge against him.

As he found himself slowly spinning on his heel in a stiff, almost robotic manner, Deku felt himself face further disorientation, like he was both moving faster than he ever had even with the maximum power of One for All, and slower than he ever could have thought possible. As he tried to hold onto his sense of self and reality in the midst of such confusion, however, he noticed something.

It was hard to fully make out, but… up where he believed All Might was sitting, there was… some sort of glowing, yellow light. It was shaped almost like a person, but it was incorporeal, almost ghostly. It… sort of resembled his mentor, but… before he could try and distinguish more features from it, other beings of light, all different colors, emerged.

Pink, purple, orange, green, red, blue, and finally a blindingly bright white that enveloped his entire vision.

And then Deku tripped, falling flat on his face, smacking it harshly against the pavement floor of the stage.

The crowd gasped in surprise, believing it had meant he had been taken out in the same manner as Ojiro, but Shinso was visibly confused, since that wasn’t what his command was. Things got worse for him when Deku slowly began to stand up, breathing a little intensely from what he had just experienced. What was that? Was it related to Shinso’s Quirk, or was it someone else’s, or… was it his? Eight different figures… that lined up with the number of previous wielders of One for All. And it would explain the one that looked vaguely like All Might…

He snapped out of his hypothesizing when Shinso yelled what had happened, how he resisted the effects of his Quirk. Readjusting to the normal world, Deku smiled shakily and gestured to his feet, with Shinso thus looking down, and scowling at what he saw: his shoe laces were tied together.

From what Ojiro had told him, Deku likened Shinso’s abilities to hypnotism. In which case, all he needed to do was snap himself out of its effects, which would likely be through some sort of physical trauma. And the best way to achieve that would to make himself hit his head, albeit not as harshly as Ojiro had when he was ordered to.

Therefore, he needed to make himself trip. He had tied his shoes together while stretching using some amateur sleight of hand, made easier to pull off thanks to the distance between them at the start. Then, he had leapt forward at him with long, careful steps so as to not make himself fall over prematurely.

Understanding now what had occurred, despite Deku not saying anything, Shinso looked at his adversary with a dumbfounded expression, asking him how he had figured out how to counter his Quirk so quickly. He… he was supposed to be the one getting played, not the other way around! He wouldn’t be made a fool of like this, not like some cheap run of the mill comic book villain.

Deku looked at Shinso sympathetically, and shook his head, trying to convey to him that he didn’t feel that way. Shinso growled, telling the green haired boy to spare him his pity, that it wasn’t any better than the looks he usually got. He wasn’t a villain, but he wasn’t a victim either. He was still his opponent and he’d damned if he was going to lose here and now after-

A fist was promptly planted in Shinso’s sternum, briefly forcing the air out of his lungs and causing him to slump over into Deku’s arms, who, still slightly dazed, had shot forward with 8%. The 1A student grunted a little at the temporary strain, but nonetheless held Shinso, who slipped into unconsciousness, thinking to himself that perhaps, in his belief that he had been underestimated by the Hero course, he too had underestimated them.

As the fight was declared over, and Deku the victor, he looked down at Shinso with an uncertain expression. He had won the battle, but he still felt in a way like he had lost.

Shinso had wanted to be a Hero just like him. And yet all his life, people… hadn’t believed in him. They were the same in that aspect. But unlike the scrawnier lad, Deku had been given an opportunity like no other. To make his dreams a reality. But… with Melissa, and now Shinso, here were people, surely as deserving as him to have that chance, who just… didn’t.

He thought of Uraraka, and Iida, and Tsu, and his other friends, and their motivations for becoming Heroes, and he couldn’t help but feel insecurity from bubbling up inside of him once again. Did he deserve this? Any of this? When his dream was so simple? Saving people… wasn’t that what all Heroes did?

What made him so special? What made him… worthy?

Thanks to his lack of injuries from the fight, besides a slightly bruised forehead, Deku was able to return to the stands, while Shinso was taken to Recovery Girl just in case the punch that had done him in had been more powerful than his foe had intended. He didn’t plan for it to be a full blown Smash, but he also didn’t plan to use 8% again, so it was safer to double check.

He looked down at the hand he had used for the attack, the same one that had three broken fingers with. He was starting to wonder if maybe he needed to go back on his declaration to not have his injuries looked at, at least the ones he got from the tournament, but he knew if he went to see her she wasn’t going to indulge in his idealism and would just heal him completely.

Usually he’d be too stubborn to consider giving up halfway like that, but there was a chance he’d be going up against someone in the next round that he really didn’t want to be handicapped against.

As he sat down next to Uraraka and the others, who congratulated him on his win, Deku tried to maintain a positive demeanor, but internally he wasn’t so stable. There were a lot of things he felt he needed to focus on all at once. Whatever it was he saw while under Shinso’s Quirk, he felt he needed to go see All Might to ask him about it, but at the same time, he thought it important to observe the match that was about to begin.

Kirishima and Todoroki stepped out into view, the former pounding his fist into his open palm to showcase his readiness, while the latter stared ahead without much regard for the redhead, just like before with Sero, albeit slightly less coldly. Deku reached for his notebook, preparing to start his analysis.

Not that he was sure there would be a lot to analyze. As much as he respected Kirishima, he knew he could be very quickly overwhelmed here if he didn’t have a plan. He was strong enough to break through his ice unlike Sero, but that didn’t mean a whole lot if he was completely frozen in place.

Kirishima grinned, barring his sharp teeth, and told Todoroki he didn’t hold him freezing Sero against him. It would be dishonourable as a man to go out without your opponent giving their all against you, although Ashido obviously saw it differently. Either way, Sero was strong enough to endure it, and he was as well, so he didn’t want him to take it easy just in case he felt guilty about last time.

The heterochromatic boy blinked, and then steeled his gaze, informing his rival that he hadn’t nearly given it his all yet, even in regards to his right side. Instead of unnerving Kirishima, however, it only enthused him, saying he was looking forward to the challenge.

When the announcement came for them to begin, Todoroki, as to be expected, sent a large wave of ice Kirishima’s way, although it was fun-sized compared to what he had unleashed onto Sero. This allowed to the more muscular teen to easily tear through with a hardened punch, with Deku observing that he had only sharpened his arm, so as to keep the rest of his body more mobile. It was sort of like how he had used One for All prior to discovering Full Cowling, but it was actually sustainable if not a genuinely clever strategy, seeing as how although it made him slightly more vulnerable, he seemed pretty naturally resilient regardless.

As if testing him, Todoroki generated another ice attack just slightly bigger, only for Kirishima to break through this one as well, and then another, and another, until he shouted at his opponent to stop taking it easy and hit him with his big guns, before running forward.

The son of Endeavor scoffed, not seeming to totally adore his adversary’s eagerness, but not to the point of ignoring his wishes, seeing as how he did then fire off a pillar of ice that, while not as large, was definitely as dense as the wall he had made before against Sero.

Kirishima gave a wild grin as the structure rapidly approached him, and jumped towards it, colliding with the column, which then smashed into the wall on the other side of the arena. Many immediately assumed that was the end for the brighteyed boxer, including his classmates, with Uraraka and Ashido both making audible sounds of disappointment.

Todoroki too believed that this had been enough to put Kirishima down, leading him to lower his guard, which would soon prove to be a mistake when only a few seconds later, Kirishima burst out in front of him and socked him right in the face, sending him sprawling back until he stopped himself with a small barrier of ice.

Practically everybody lost their minds at the sight of Todoroki taking actual damage for the first time since the race, where even then Bakugo’s explosions hadn’t really seemed to have hurt him as much as they did his constructs. Said blonde raised an eyebrow at the feat, having known Kirishima was one of the more decent members of his class, but not that he was capable of powering through that kind of move or land a blow on the current number one student.

Todoroki raised his hand to his mouth, rubbing the blood that was now running from his nose. He grit his teeth in frustration. His father… had he been right after all? Was he already reaching his limits with his ice?

He then felt a hand grab his arm and pull him up, putting him at eye level with Kirishima, who ordered him to get his head in the game and then punched him again.

The spiky haired youth told Todoroki he was supposed to be the one landing hit after hit on him, not the other way around. After all, wasn’t he the second best Hero’s son? He was born with power equivalent to pros, and yet here he was getting slapped around by some random guy from the hicks. Another punch struck Todoroki in his chest. His Quirk used to be absolutely nothing special. He had to train it up from zilch for it to be anything like it was now, and even then he knew it came off as basic and limited. So what the hell was going on here? Shouldn’t have this been over and done with already? He clenched his hands together and hammered them down on Todoroki’s head, bringing him to his knees.

The cryokinetic panted as he saw blood drip down onto the cement floor in front of him. This guy… had he really started out so weak? Maybe it wasn’t so surprising. After all, he had. Too weak… to protect his mother. He thought he was strong now, but like Kirishima had pointed out, he was getting beaten around by someone who he had never even acknowledged before. Was it time to…? …

No.

No, he didn’t want to use his father’s power… he couldn’t. He needed to win with just his ice. It was time to get serious.

Before Kirishima could swing his fist at him again, Todoroki slammed his hand onto the ground, and a giant tower of ice was created that lifted its creator up into the air. This resulted in the American punching the glacial build, cracking it all the way through and leading to it falling on top of him, with Todoroki hopping off before it collapsed. Although Kirishima emerged rather quickly, mostly unscathed, he wasn’t able to react in time to Todoroki’s next icy onslaught, which ensnared him from the waist down. He chipped his way out after a few blows, but unfortunately by this time Todoroki was sending out a barrage of smaller waves.

Some may have been regretting their choice to encourage their opponent instead of finishing him off at this point, but Kirishima continued to wear a smile. If he was going to win this, he wanted to win it right. And that meant coming out on top of anything Todoroki sent his way.

With a scream, he dashed forward, hardening his upper body, sacrificing some speed due to the extra weight and poorer mobility in his arms in order to effortlessly smash his way through the frosty projectiles. This allowed Todoroki, however, to prepare a more complex attack, with him encircling Kirishima with a shield of ice. He pounded his way out of this after a couple of seconds, only for him to then be slammed right in the stomach with a frighteningly accurate spike of ice that tore through his shirt and heavily bruised his stomach.

Kirishima landed on his back, not taking the time to gauge the severity of his injury and instead hopping back onto his feet. His reflexes proved to be critical seeing as how Todoroki had tried to follow up on his first direct hit with a sequel. Concentrating as he knew precision would be key, Kirishima punched forward with all his might directly in the center of the incoming spear of ice, which, after a second, proved strong enough to shatter the structure completely, even causing shards to fly back at and slice up Todoroki.

As the Big Three member recoiled in pain, Kirishima ran forward, and although his foe managed to send forward a huge chunk of ice, it was shaped in such a way where the redhead used it as a platform to jump on and leap off of. His gray and blue eyes following him, Todoroki grunted in surprise, not having expected Kirishima to be capable of such manueverability, and stomped firmly. This created a thick layer of ice to protect him as the Transformation type activated his Quirk across his entire body, and then dove downwards at Todoroki, his arms crossed in front of his face, dubbing this his ‘Red Crash.’

This divebomb attack immediately obliterated the hastily made defense of Todoroki, resulting in Kirishima, of course, crashing into him, kicking up a huge heterogenous cloud of mist and dust. This shielded the two for almost ten seconds, leading to whispers among the crowd around what could’ve happened, if Kirishima might’ve actually managed to win against all odds. Class 1A, especially Deku, Ashido, and Bakugo, all watched intently, trying to see through the smokescreen.

Then, all of a sudden, a scream of agony broke out, raising the audience’s concern, and for a second, embers could be seen trailing away from the fog, only to be extinguished by a glacier that erupted outward, blasting a now both burnt and frozen Kirishima back all the way outside of the ring.

Ashido practically shrieked in worry, with Uraraka and Iida having to hold her back from starting to climb over the seats toward her best friend. His other friends were nearly just as worried, with Mineta and Kaminari exchanging distressed glances, and Hagakure placing a hand on Ojiro’s shoulder.

Deku grit his teeth, realizing that Todoroki had once again used his flames, likely also on instinct like when they dueled in the Dodgeball Brawl segment. It had likely done pretty serious damage to Kirishima considering he was obviously struggling to keep up his Hardening near the end, and if his fire was anything comparable to Endeavor’s, then it was capable of reaching devastating temperatures.

First Sero, now Kirishima… this was getting ridiculous. He had told him back in the locker room the day before that he would need to give it his all to beat them, but that meant treating them as equals, not brutalizing them out of anger. He needed to say something. Now that he knew they were destined to face one another, he wanted their match to be free of that aggression. Fighting in such a volatile state… it wouldn’t be in either of their interests.

Deku disguised leaving the stands as a means to walk alongside Iida to his match, although as soon as they reached the hallways, said taller teen told him he didn’t need to keep up the act, saying he was free to go talk to Todoroki. The bespectacled boy explained that he had tried to do the same thing before and failed, but that if anyone could successfully get through to him, it was Deku.

The two friends wished each other luck, before heading in opposite directions, with Tokoyami trailing not far behind Iida, having observed the conversation. There was quite a lot more drama than he had expected in the Sports Festival. Though, considering it was a highschool, perhaps he shouldn’t have been so surprised. He couldn’t afford to get wrapped up in others’ troubles, however.

After all, he had already sworn he would carry out Shoji’s will, which was to him far more worth his time than anything the personal lives of his classmates had to offer. He would leave all of that to the more socially active of his peers.

Todoroki had just come out of Recovery Girl’s office following his treatment, having been scolded rather heavily for how much he had injured Kirishima, when he saw Deku walking up to him, struggling to look stern and serious despite his lack of certainty about how to deal with the conversation he wanted to start.

The two boys kept walking until they were standing in front of each other, staring one another down, a contest Todoroki was winning quite comfortably. Eventually, All Might’s successor said with forced bluntness that he wanted to talk to him about how he was using his Quirk.

Todoroki grimaced, telling him it wasn’t any of his concern how he used his powers, only for the boy to interrupt and tell him it was after what he had done to his friends. He didn’t know what was going on with him, but it was affecting how he fought in and how he treated his opponents, whether he lashed out in frustration like against Sero or lost control due to desperation like against Kirishima. Whatever was on his mind, he needed to stop letting it interfere with the competition, before he did anything worse than he already had.

Meanwhile, Endeavor was feeling rather good about himself. It was finally happening. His Shoto was reaching the precipice of what he could do with his ice alone. Not that he didn’t still eclipse the majority of his classmates in strength with just that half, but a select few had close the gap enough to force him into using the power he had inherited from him.

Now he would start to accept that if he was truly serious about becoming number one, as he had raised him to be. He was one step closer to fulfilling his purpose. He would begin to truly surpass… the man who was standing above at the top of the stairs, beaming down at him with that trademark smile of his. Endeavor scowled as All Might extended to him a friendly invitation to have some tea and chat.

Todoroki was quiet for a while after Deku finished, leading to the latter swallowing anxiously, before he then spoke up again, asking if he had ever heard of Quirk Marriages.

The shorter boy blinked, a little bemused by the sudden question, before then nodding, saying that it was a sort of antiquated practice where two people would marry specifically for the purpose of producing an offspring with a strong Quirk. Todoroki nodded, although corrected him on one detail: it wasn’t as out of style as he may have thought.

After all, his entire family had been a result of one.

Deku gawked, astonished at the revelation… Endeavor, one of the greatest Heroes in the world… he had indulged in such a thing? But why?

Endeavor told the number one Hero to take his invitation elsewhere, saying he believed plenty of his fanboys who would faint over the suggestion of sharing a meal with him were present at the event, like the Shield Hero Crust. This caused All Might to laugh, amused by his peer’s eternally gruff nature, but insisted that they at least talk for a moment. He said he was very impressed with his son’s performance in the Sports Festival, as well as at Yuuei in general, saying it was very encouraging to see such bright potential in today’s youth.

Endeavor merely scowled, asking him where he was going with all this praise of his progeny, with All Might explaining that since ‘Young Todoroki’s’ strength had likely been cultivated by him, he was curious to see if he had any advice about how to guide the next generation, admitting that despite his role as a teacher he still had a lot of trouble figuring out what exactly to do. The Flame Hero rolled his eyes and began walking past the blonde, dismissing the request and telling All Might that whatever academic issues he had didn’t whatsoever matter to him.

But before he could step beyond him, the higher ranked pro gripped his shoulder strongly, holding him in place.

In a more serious tone, All Might, now addressing Endeavor as ‘Todoroki,’ stated that it was obvious to anybody who so much as looked at the kid that his son had been through a lot, and questioned him what exactly he had put the boy through. His red haired rival didn’t respond for almost a third of a minute, looking almost solemn, but eventually swatted All Might’s hand away.

Then, addressing the man as ‘Yagi,’ he declared that it didn’t matter what few errors had been made along the way, because, regardless, his offspring was on track to become a more incredible Hero than either of them. With these remarks, he marched off, leaving his fellow alumnus staring after him, frowning.

Todoroki explained that it wasn’t exactly a secret that his father held a deep grudge against the Symbol of Peace ever since they were teenagers attending Yuuei together, where they would have a rather infamous battle in their final year’s Sports Festival. He had long desired to surpass All Might and take his place as the number one Hero.

It wasn’t even as if the power gap between them was all that massive, but the sheer popularity, charisma, and inspirational nature of All Might was something Endeavor couldn’t ever measure up to. This was why, a little over twenty years ago, he decided that if he couldn’t defeat All Might himself, then he would create someone who could.

Endeavor’s greatest weakness was the fact that usage of his Quirk, 'Hellflame,' for prolonged periods of time would raise his body temperature to dangerous levels, and although his body was naturally resistant to heat, it also could burn him if used under intense strain.

So to perfect his Quirk, he would need a means of cooling himself off. Thus, he needed an ice user whose Quirk had the opposite pros and cons. Using his wealth and influence, he paid to marry a woman from a once powerful family known as the Himura clan, who were renowned cryokinetics, and together they produced several children.

Each of his siblings were considered failures for not having the perfect balance that Endeavor dreamed of… until finally, he was born, possessing exactly the Quirk that his father had envisioned.

But the marriage had taken an intense toll on his mother’s mental state. She watched one by one as each of her children were rejected by their father for simply being born ‘the wrong way,’ and then eventually, saw her ‘perfect child’ be slowly transformed the man she had grown to despise into another version of him.

She hated her husband so much… that one night, she poured boiling water on the left side of Shoto’s face, for it reminded her too much of his father.

Deku’s mouth went agape in shock and terror as his eyes focused in on Todoroki’s scar, realizing its true nature. He had absolutely no idea what to say, having never imagined such horrors could exist in the Todoroki household behind closed doors. The number two Hero, someone he had admired for so long… held such a dark secret.

He recalled what he had said to Todoroki during their first real interaction, when Awase had confronted him, and felt guilt strike him at his very core. He had unknowingly been incredibly insensitive… it was no wonder why he resented his father. Why he chose not to use the power he inherited from him.

Todoroki continued, saying now he knew why he had selected him as his primary target in the Sports Festival. Endeavor had wanted him to surpass All Might using his fire. But he had no intention of ever using his flames in battle, not on purpose. He would become number one with just his right side alone.

And the first step to doing that was in beating him. He had recognized before that Deku had a level of raw power close to that of the aforementioned pro, and when considering their unique relationship, it was fairly easy to figure out what exactly the nature of their bond was. Deku bit his lip, having wondered if they had really made it so obvious. Was the secret of One for All really that simple to discern?

Todoroki loomed over him, squinting down. Midoriya, he was… All Might’s illegitimate love child, right?

Deku blinked rapidly. Wait, what?

The green haired boy frantically waved his hands around in denial, saying that he was totally wrong, that they weren’t connected in that way whatsoever. Todoroki paused, before humming in acknowledgement of his mistake. He then said that even if they weren’t related by blood, what Deku had just said confirmed there was some kind of deeper meaning, and that was good enough for him.

He restated his commitment to victory over him, swearing to prove to his father that he wouldn’t be a tool for his goals, and then walked off, leaving Deku, who had come in order to try and put his mind at ease, now once again even more bewildered.

Iida yelled as he threw forward an engine powered kick which crashed into Dark Shadow’s head, an impact with enough force to slam the bird shaped being down into the ground with a cry of pain. Blasting over to Tokoyami with blinding speed, Iida went for another kick on his defenesless opponent, but despite moving at his fastest, Dark Shadow was still able to return to its owner in time to shield him from the attack, and then hurl the bespectacled teenager back.

The dark haired boy skidded back on his feet, grunting in frustration. He had been at this for several minutes now, and yet hadn’t made any real progress. Well, that wasn’t true: he was definitely draining his own stamina, he just wasn’t doing anything to his opponent.

The avian member of the Big Three waited for a few seconds to see if Iida would act, before deciding to go on the offensive and sending over Dark Shadow once again for a barrage of slashes. The class president panted for a second, catching his breath, and then darted forward, sliding under Dark Shadow and then striking it with a boosted knee, sending it recoiling back.

Iida rushed Tokoyami, attempting a few kicks, but again his Quirk proved to be too quick at recovering for him and deflected the assault. Iida tried to jump back, but before he could do so, Dark Shadow grabbed him by the leg and threw him down, creating a small crater.

Uraraka squeezed her fists as she watched the battle, wondering when Iida was going to pull out that trick of his he had mentioned. Knowing his perfectionist nature, he was likely waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike, but against someone as skilled and without any currently exploitable weaknesses as Tokoyami, she doubted such an obvious chance would appear.

Her nerves were a little shot over watching the match, and calming them wasn’t an easy process due to the fact that Deku had been seeming a little strange earlier before he left with Iida, something he still hadn’t returned from, and that regardless of who won the current fight, she was next up against Bakugo, someone who had previously demonstrated to have improved beyond what she could have imagined.

She would’ve talked to Ashido, but she could tell she was worried over Kirishima, having only stayed to watch Iida, and that left her with Melissa, who she had already burdened with her problems before, and Mineta, who she admittedly just didn’t trust with talking to about that kind of stuff.

Back in the arena, Iida managed to fire up his engines in time in order to avoid Tokoyami trying to take advantage of his vulnerable position on the ground. Steadying himself, he hardened his gaze and grit his teeth, pumping himself up, before bursting forth once again, but this time with a different plan, one heavily inspired by his fight against Shiozaki.

He managed to weave around Dark Shadow, and although the creature did in fact make its way back Tokoyami before Iida could do anything, this was what the taller youth had counted on. He wrapped his arms around the beast’s thin, tendril like body, and then zoomed off, carrying his foe with him to the edge of the stadium, obviously with the intent of throwing him out.

But just as Iida closed in on the cut off point, preparing to heave his opponent over his shoulder, Dark Shadow used the fact it was tethered to Tokoyami to its advantage and pulled him in close. This allowed the brooding boy to for once showcase some close ranged combat and land a harsh jab into Iida’s neck, causing him to gag and weaken his grip just enough for Dark Shadow to escape.

As it then went in for a headbutt in order to knock the student leader of 1A out of bounds, however, Iida realized he had no other choice than to go for his trump card right then, and inhaled sharply, before activating his Quirk’s hidden feature: Recipro Burst.

The usual orange flames emitted by his engines burned a bright blue as he propelled himself all the way over to the other side of the stadium in the blink of an eye. Tokoyami whirled his head around to try and track his enemy’s movements, only to just barely catch him rocketing back over to his side and, for the first time in the fight, successfully kick him several feet away before he managed to get Dark Shadow to stop him. Just as he did, however, he found Iida next to him again, bashing him across the stomach with yet another kick, this one sending him sliding into the center of the ring.

Iida then darted back and forth all around Tokoyami, nicking him with the stray hit every now and then as he kicked up a massive wave of dust that Dark Shadow struggled to navigate through in order to catch its target. Once the cloud became simply too thick for his foe to see out of, Iida aimed for where he believed was his back and went for as rapid of a spin kick as he could manage, twisting around like a human tornado.

This was it. This was his moment. He’d prove himself to indisputably be a powerhouse on par with the Big Three, show the entire world he as capable of a Hero was every other member of his family who came before him. Then he’d face Midoriya in the finals, like he had told him. And finally, when he won, he’d deliver a speech as great as the one that his brother had when he won the Sports Festival in his second year at Yuuei.

But as he was about to slam his leg into Tokoyami with enough strength to surely sending him hurtling away, the consequences to his sudden power up caught up with him. Recipro Burst basically supercharged his engines, burning fuel at an accelerated rate in order to achieve unparalleled speed, but if it went on for even just ten seconds, he would overheat and thus his engines would stall to prevent further damage. And unfortunately, the ten second mark seemed to be his limit.

The sudden deactivation caused Iida’s momentum to turn against him, leading to him losing his balance and literally spiralling out of control, careening into Tokoyami and sending both of them to the ground in a rather embarrassing fashion.

The crowd gasped in surprise as Iida cursed under his breath, struggling to get up due to the extreme soreness in his legs, and failing to restart his Quirk. Tokoyami, on the other hand, although groaning in pain, was able to push himself back onto his feet, his eyes still wide in alarm as he immediately realized that Iida had come just inches away from ending the match then and there. He couldn’t allow things to continue any further.

Acting quickly, he sent Dark Shadow forth to wrap around the self-incapacitated Iida, and then fling him out a tad unceremoniously. Landing on his side and grunting, the speedster dug his fingers into the dirt in frustration as he tried to drag himself into a more respectable position, but he was simply exhausted. He couldn’t have been any more annoyed. He had given it his all, and come so close… only for everything to fall apart at the last second. It looked like he and Midoriya’s fight, and his declaration, would have to wait for another day.

Meanwhile, Bakugo had already gotten up and left, while Uraraka remained seated, waiting for the announcement to be made. She saw the disappointment across some of her friends’ faces, mainly Ashido and Mineta as they had obviously been rooting for Iida, and although she too was saddened by the loss, she was distracted from her usual sympathy by her growing worry over what she was about to head out into.

Luckily, Melissa pulled through, again, and leaned over to give Uraraka a few words of encouragement, telling her to give it her best. This lead to her other classmates doing the same, seemingly just remembering that she was indeed next, filling her with just a slight bit more confidence. She smiled back at them and gave them a thumbs up, just as her name was announced.

Deku wore a blank if slightly grim expression as he made his way back to the seats, now also feeling guilty over having missed one of his closest friend’s fights. This entire Sports Festival had grown to be a lot more complicated of an experience than he would’ve expected. Physically challenging, he expected, but for it to drain him emotionally and mentally as it had… he was just glad they were about to be done with things for the day. All that was left was…

He suddenly noticed Bakugo heading his way, or, rather, he was heading to the battleground. He couldn’t help but remember everything his former childhood friend had said to him, all the way back on the second day of class. How he had been so angry with him that he had tried to attack him after the match was over. Then, even after expressing regret over this, he had expressed that he nonetheless still saw Deku in an exclusively negative light.

And after over two months of training… was it time for him to finally get his revenge for his loss? Was he on Bakugo’s radar, like he was Todoroki’s and Shino’s? It wasn’t impossible. Albeit, there was no guarantee that they’d face each other. Deku still had to fight Todoroki, and Bakugo hadn’t made it to the semifinals yet. First, he had to beat Uraraka.

That’s when it hit him. His eyes moved to meet Bakugo, who gave him a passing glare as he walked past him. And then they fell on Uraraka, who was just exiting the stands, and who gave him a smile upon seeing him. Was… was Bakugo going to use their fight… as a means to get back at him? Would he take out his frustration on Uraraka like Todoroki had on his opponents?

As the brunette approached him, opening her mouth to say something, he spoke first, telling her to be careful. She sputtered, a little surprised, before assuring him that he didn’t have to worry about her, only for him to double down and tell her that she needed to go in with a strategy or else she could end up getting really hurt.

Uraraka frowned, asking him if he really thought she stood so little of a chance, prompting him to try and correct himself, saying he just didn’t think Bakugo was going to be pulling any punches since he knew how close they were. This didn’t seem to make things any better, with her questioning if he really thought Bakugo just saw her as a means to get to him. Deku dodged the inquiry, instead trying to start listing off his ideas for how she could beat him, only for her to cut him off, raising her voice in a way he hadn’t ever heard before.

Looking genuinely upset with him, Uraraka said she didn’t need to hear them, and that she had already formulated her own. She told him she wasn’t as helpless as he seemed to think she was, and that maybe she had made a mistake not challenging him directly like Iida if he thought she wasn’t similarly committed to and capable of winning the competition. Deku stammered out that she was misunderstanding him, but it was too late. She marched past him, an angry, determined look on her face, as he felt the pit in his stomach grow deeper and deeper.

A few minutes later, and Bakugo and Uraraka made their way out into the coliseum. Present Mic made it rather obvious as to who he was rooting for in the competition by how he introduced the former as the rough-and-tumble rebel with a heart that couldn’t be gold if Midas touched it, and the latter as the heroine-in-the-making so endearing you couldn’t help but cheer for her even if it was against the job description.

Aizawa dryly told him to stop being so unprofessional, although he also had some personal interest in the match. This wasn’t the first time the two had been drawn against each other, except last time they didn’t get to interact much since they each focused on each other’s partners.

Additionally, Uraraka didn’t have a whole lot of experience in one-on-one fights against people with Bakugo’s kind of offensive power, so seeing how she faired here would tell him a lot about one of the students who he had gained more vested interest in following her performance in the USJ training exercises.

Uraraka tried to keep herself from shaking as she stood across from Bakugo. She had stood her ground against Deku and talked quite a big game in the process, but she really wasn’t so self-assured. She didn’t think Bakugo saw her as someone to target specifically in order to get at his rival, at least she hoped he didn’t, but she did agree he wasn’t going to go easy on her.

While Bakugo may have talked down to people, he never held back against them. Even Kamakiri, who he had repeatedly stated was beneath him. She just hoped she could last even half as long as said 1B student had. Maybe then she could pull off the plan she had come up with.

The proclamation for the duel to commence was made, and both combatants immediately started forward. Bakugo blasted himself towards Uraraka, and had his hand raised towards her, clearly ready to blast her away in an instant, but said girl rolled under him, resulting in him instead firing off a detonation into the ground.

She jumped back towards him, her fingers glowing pink, only for him to release another burst to propel himself away. Although she missed, she ran after him as soon as she regained her footing, her speed quicker than he had anticipated, but this ultimately made her an easy target for him when he fired off an almost point-blank explosion.

The resulting smokescreen hid the extent of the damage the blast had inflicted upon Uraraka, leading many to assume that this first hit had been all it took to do her in, but Bakugo wasn’t so sure, and when he saw a silhouette start to emerge, he attacked again.

As it turned out, however, the only thing he had struck was a now extremely tattered blue, white, and red jacket, the top half of Uraraka’s gym uniform. She must’ve took it off and thrown it as a diversion. He turned to his right just in time to see her coming at him, causing him to flinch before sending her flying back with an eruption from his palms, just in time.

Uraraka rolled across the ground, her now exposed arms now scraped and bleeding, but she ignored the pain and got back up before the fire from her foe’s most recent assault had dissipated. That had hurt a hell of a lot, she couldn’t deny, but she could handle it. Which was good, because she was going to have to handle a lot more of them.

She rushed him again, leading to the same result, only for her to get back up and repeat herself once more. This stubborn, seemingly pointless pattern of action went on for the next full minute or so, a display brutal enough for some in the crowd to start actually booing.

Accusations of sadism were espoused from more truly disgusted members of the audience, as a certain pair of Heroes in particular started explicitly shaming Yuuei for allowing such an unfair, cruel fight to take place, labelling it as disrespectful towards the young lady. Present Mic muttered that he was also a little uncomfortable seeing such a sweet girl get so roughed up, only for Aizawa to elbow him roughly, telling him he was really getting on his nerves picking favourites like that.

The black haired teacher, addressing said protesting pros, suggested that if anyone actually had an issue with what was going on, then they must’ve had their eyes closed throughout the rest of the festival. The current match wasn’t any more violent than the ones before it. The only difference was that this was between a boy and a girl, and unlike the previous two examples, it wasn’t going by in such a clean fashion. To try and say it needed to be called off for that reason, that was far more disrespectful to Uraraka than letting it continue.

Panting, Uraraka smiled a little despite now being quite beat-up. Her teacher… he believed in her. And… in a way, Bakugo, he believed in her too. By not treating her like a fragile girl, like she felt everyone else currently was, he was giving her more respect than she think he had ever seen him give most people. She almost felt like thanking him. Especially because, in addition to boosting her spirits… him giving it his all had meant the stage on which they battled was receiving just as much abuse as she was. And that was what she was counting on.

Sucking in as much air as she could to prepare herself for the intense nausea the following move would evoke, Uraraka pressed her fingertips together. Bakugo raised an eyebrow, remembering that this was what she did to deactivate her Quirk, but… what had she used it on?

As this question passed his mind, however, he noticed shadows starting to appear all across the stadium, including directly over him, leading to him looking up and promptly staring at the sky in astonishment. The audience followed his gaze and gasped in awe as they saw a makeshift meteor storm raining down from hundreds of feet up into the air, made up of the chunks of cement Bakugo had blown apart from the arena.

Uraraka managed to stave off the stomach-related side effects of her Quirk long enough to make a mad dash for Bakugo as the shower of stones flew down back to the earth. As some of the heavier pieces started to land first, with her and Bakugo both dodging out of the way, she thought back to how the smoke from the explosions had made it easy to gradually build up ammo, and in such large amounts thanks to the potency of said attacks. Now, there was simply too much debris coming down for Bakugo to safely avoid without making himself vulnerable to being made weightless and hurled out of the ring.

Bakugo watched as the bulk of the boulders were now closing in on the center of the stadium, while also paying attention to how close Uraraka was getting to him, which wasn’t something he currently could prevent due to being preoccupied with dodging. That girl had put him into a tougher bind than he thought she could. This kind of strategizing… she really did hang around that damn nerd too much.

Barring his teeth, he suddenly stopped moving and planted his feet firmly on the ground. He gripped his wrist, almost steadying himself, and then aimed his right palm up in the direction of the incoming rocks. Then, just as Uraraka threw herself at him, both arms stretched out as far as possible, he fired off the absolute biggest explosion anyone had ever seen him produce, obliterating the entirety of the rubble in a literal flash.

The force of the detonation sent Uraraka hurtling back and slamming down onto the floor, while Bakugo squeezed his now almost broken hand, having exerted far too much energy in that last attack for him to properly handle. He had essentially been forced to pull a Deku, a comparison he thankfully hadn’t yet thought of.

But as he sighed and tried to shake off the aching across his body, he realized that he didn’t just feel lighter because of his relief at destroying the threat. No… damn it… she had gotten him. The spectators once again gawked as the girl had once again shattered their expectations, with said brunette just barely standing up, preparing to walk over and grab her foe so as to toss him out.

But things wouldn’t be so simple, because as Bakugo began to float upwards, seemingly helpless as Uraraka closed in, he astonished once again by forcibly grounding himself by firing upwards. The resulting impact shoved a shocked Uraraka back a few yards, allowing the now scuffed but closer to the earth Bakugo to change directions and send himself flying towards her barely being able to leap to the side, her movements far more haggard. As a result, the pyrokinetic nearly sent himself out of bounds, course-correcting at the last second to once again propel himself towards his foe, tackling her before she could dodge in time.

The collision caused the both of them to start soaring towards the edge at an extreme pace, leading to Uraraka struggling to tap her fingers together to release them from the effects, not sure what would happen if the fight ended in a draw and not really wanting to find out.

The second she did, however, Bakugo used the remaining momentum to flip over in front of Uraraka, stomp his feet onto the ground as hard as possible, and then grab her by her wrist and swing her forward through the air and onto the cement with enough intensity to send some of the rubble around her flying up again.

Bakugo found his knees threatening to buckle as he stood a little higher, trying to hide how fast his chest was rising and falling under his shirt. The crowd was a combination of concerned muttering, lingering whining, and some genuinely invested gasps and cheers. Then, it came alive with renewed vigor as, by some miracle on her part, Uraraka began to rise, despite how confident her enemy had been in that last blow being decisive.

A look of disbelief found its way onto Bakugo's face, before he started to grin. This ‘Uraraka’ chick, she was a lot stronger than he had initially given her credit for, huh? He was honestly happy about it. It made his victory seem more impressive to everybody watching. His climb to the top was supposed seem like a legitimate achievement, not just him taking down a slew of slop until he beat whoever had been worn down by actual challenges. He began charging towards her, readying another explosion.

The brunette glared as she forced herself to stand through sheer will, watching Bakugo approach.

She wasn’t done. She could still do this. He wasn’t in the best condition, either. If she could hold out a little further, she could do it. She’d win, and impress all the pros watching her, and she’d go to a good internship, and she’d graduate, and she’d start her own successful agency, and she’d finally be able to give her parents everything they deserved. She could do it all. She just had to… to stop her vision from… getting all blurry…

Her eyes rolled back into her head as her body gave out. Having been in the midst of taking a step forward when she finally went unconscious, she swayed for a second before collapsing in a heap. Bakugo stopped, his eyes widened. So that had been it, after all. She had kept going until she literally couldn’t anymore.

His demeanor returned to its usual sternness as he calmed down from the heat of battle, while the crowd quieted down, also not having expected things to come to such an abrupt end. Present Mic announced Bakugo had indeed won, confirming the somewhat anticlimactic finish, leading to a somewhat reluctant round of clapping, intermingled with the occasional jeering.

The crimson eyed victor scoffed, not all too concerned with the public’s feedback, and began striding off as medical drones arrived to collect Uraraka, only to be himself inspected by one of the robots, causing him to curse at the machine to leave him alone. It persisted, seemingly trying to examine his knee by lifting up his pant leg, but Bakugo eventually kicked it away with enough force to get it to buzz off, allowing him to leave on his own terms. But during that brief interaction, one which only further soured spectators’ opinion of him for being so unnecessarily aggressive, Deku was able to spot something.

That wound from the night before the festival… it was actively bleeding. It actually looked worse than it had previously. Bakugo hadn’t gotten it healed. He hadn’t been to Recovery Girl at all throughout the entirety of the competition. The same as him. They… both had a lot to prove.

He realized then that he had been entirely off base before with his assumption that his old bully would use the fight as a means to get revenge on him. Of course that wasn’t Bakugo’s plan. He had viewed the match as any other. He hadn’t treated her any differently because of their friendship. Just like he shouldn’t have treated her any differently because of their friendship. And just like how the audience shouldn’t have treated her any differently because she was a girl.

He had messed up again. His paranoia had gotten the better of him, and he had deeply offended one of his best friends as a result. Not to mention him missing what turned out to be his other best friend’s losing match. As Ashido and a few of his other peers informed him they were heading down to the infirmary immediately, inviting him to come along, he slowly nodded, getting up to follow them. Giving support now… not just to Uraraka, but to Iida as well, it was the least he could do.

Up over in the seats for the third year Hero course students, Togata sighed in an over exaggeratedly disappointed fashion, saying he had totally been rooting for the gravity girl, having liked her attitude. Amajiki, sitting beside his partner, mumbled that he just had a huge softspot for underdogs, with Togata teasing back that he was just upset the two contestants he’d been gunning for had gotten out, too.

The elf eared teen noted that although Bakugo wasn’t personally his favourite, he had a sort of captivating ferocity, comparing him to a rampaging bull or boar, one he believed that, if focused, could allow him to pull off a win. Togata hummed, joking that he seemed more to him like an angry little pomeranian, before admitting that while he did see a lot of potential in him, he had his own rather obvious favourite horse in the race.

The blonde then asked ‘Hado’ what they thought, prompting a shorter girl with long blue hair to move her hand to her chin, thinking it over for a bit. She then said Todoroki was probably the person remaining she had the most interest in, wanting to see more of that fire he had occasionally shown off, but stated that the two students she really had liked were already eliminated, an opinion she expressed while eyeing Uraraka as she was carried off.

Chapter 17: Born With Everything - The Sports Festival Tournament, Part 3

Chapter Text

All Might sat with his hands folded in front of his face, looking deeply contemplative. Deku was right across from him, also sitting down, seeming rather nervous about what his mentor would have to say, whenever he got around to saying it, that is. He had just went over what he saw while being under Shinso’s control, hoping that whatever the explanation behind the odd event, it wasn’t anything to panic over.

However, after over half a minute of silence, the number one Hero proceeded to say he didn’t know.

Deku blanked, before asking his teacher if he was serious, with All Might then elaborating that he wasn’t sure, but he did have some theories. He had seen a similar vision once shortly after he had received his own Quirk, albeit it had been in his dreams, with his own predecessor actually having been even more ethereal than Deku had described him being, since she was both alive and not present. When he asked her what it might have meant, she suggested it was simply part of him ‘becoming part of One for All.’

Deku pondered if it was a sign of progress for him as well, or if it had been premature since he had only seen it under the effects of a Quirk. All Might told him his guess was as good as his, but encouraged him to try and look it at from as positive of an angle as possible. After all, he needed to stay in a healthy mindset, seeing as how he had made it so far into the tournament, and now tomorrow were the final two rounds. His goal was within reach. Overcoming ‘young Todoroki’ wouldn’t be easy, but he was capable of it. His fights today had proved he wasn’t invincible.

The mention of his classmate, however, caused Deku to grow somber, prompting All Might to ask him if he had something else on his mind. Deku admitted that Todoroki had told him something earlier in that day and it had sort of messed with his head, but it wasn’t something he could get into because of how private it was, as well as how scandalous it had the potential to be if it got out. All Might quickly surmised it had something to do with his father, a suspicion practically confirmed by his pupil’s reaction.

The blonde man expressed that he had long held concerns over the stability of the Todoroki family, never trying to dig into it so as to not stir up any further tension between him and the second highest ranked pro. It was now fairly obvious to him that whatever had been going on outside of the public eye, it wasn’t pleasant.

But it wasn’t for Deku to get himself involved in. He had every right to feel bad for his peer, he wouldn’t discourage that, but his focus was on winning, wasn’t it? Deku nodded, trying to convince himself of his idol’s words. But… something still didn’t sit right.

About an hour later, Deku found himself wandering outside the Sports Festival stadium. Cementoss had done a fairly good job at repairing any damage done throughout the events, but there was one spot he had missed that only someone with his keen eye was able to notice.

During Todoroki and Sero’s match, the former’s ice attack had reached all the way up to the top of the building, grazing part of the upper walls. As such, a small chunk was currently missing. That kind of power… with that lack of emotional stability… stemming from such horrible origins. He wasn’t sure what emotion dominated his being more: fear, or sorrow. Embarassment and regret were also fairly strong contenders, considering his lingering problems with Uraraka. Although he had visited her, Iida and the others after the fights had finished for the first day, he hadn’t stuck around long enough to talk to her.

In fact, he had walked out just as soon as she actually woke up, coincidentally the same time Recovery Girl started inquiring about his injuries. Since then, he had sort of been avoiding his classmates, pushing off the awkwardness for as long as he could, ideally until the end of the Sports Festival. He just… didn’t think he could handle any more on his plate more than there already was. Especially since this serving was something he had accidentally cooked himself. But although the aforementioned brunette wouldn’t approach him, one of his peers had managed to tracked him down in order to talk to him, something he noticed when he heard footsteps coming up behind him, leading to him turning around to see Sero.

The green haired youth breathed a small sigh of relief, with the taller teen then correctly guessing he was glad it wasn’t Uraraka. He said he had mostly kept out of that conversation, which amplified Deku’s worries as it confirmed there had in fact been a discussion around what he had done.

Sero then disclosed that some of the other students had been trying to find him for an hour or so until Iida reprimanded them for snooping around when there were guests, saying it gave off a horrible impression of their class, a somewhat flimsy argument but one that people were ultimately too tired to fight against. He himself been about to retire to bed when he caught Deku walking away from All Might’s office, something he wouldn’t tease about for the time being, and decided to follow him.

Deku questioned why, perhaps a little too bluntly. It wasn’t that he didn’t like Sero, he was probably the funniest person he knew, at least deliberately, and he was an incredibly skilled fellow Hero-in-training, but they weren’t really all that close. Sero smirked, exhaling through his nose a bit, before staring off in the same direction Deku had been before he arrived. Up at the stadium’s dent. He had noticed, too.

The boy with an almost perpetual grin said that if he had heard correctly, that he was up against Todoroki tomorrow. Deku nodded, to which Sero inquired into how he felt about it. Receiving no response, verbal or physical, Sero clicked his tongue. He then stated how, knowing Deku and his inquisitive habits even a little bit, he had probably ended up learning something about his relationship to his father.

Upon a surprised glance from Deku, Sero smile wrinkled, with him revealing that he had seen the two interact briefly when he and Todoroki were heading down to the stadium, and from those few seconds alone he had figured out there was something pretty wrong between them that was probably part of why Todoroki didn’t like using his pyrokinesis. Surprised by Sero’s deductive skills, Deku asked him what he thought of the whole situation, that was in regards to the competition.

Sero closed his eyes, then rubbed his chin, saying the realistic answer was that he should ignore whatever things Todoroki was going through and just try to win no matter what, because that’s been his objective since the beginning. But, he chuckled, Deku wasn’t a realist. He slapped his freckled acquaintance lightly on the shoulder, telling him that it might’ve been stupidly idealistic, but he really wanted to do something to help Todoroki, and maybe it was selfish to say, but he thought Deku felt the same way.

The shorter student stared off into space, his eyes particularly focused on one incredibly bright, shining star, before drifting off to look at one to that one’s side, a little beyond it and so harder to make out, but perhaps still it shone just as hard.

The day after arrived before some were ready. After he had come back with Sero, he had managed to get to his room before Kirishima or Ashido could pounce on him. He didn’t even make eye contact with Uraraka. Then he just woke up too early for anybody to catch him leaving to go get ready at the stadium. Not that he had a lot to do to prepare, at least when it came to equipment. The only thing he had requested to wear were his sneakers, and that was mainly just for comfort.

It might’ve been helpful to have some sort of support item now, though, considering he had three broken fingers on one hand, limiting him down to only seven Delaware Smashes, or only two depending on if he wanted to try a major Houston or Detroit Smash. He hadn’t really developed any leg specific moves since All Might lacked any to replicate, but he didn’t really want to rely on them for attacking since they were his means of mobility, outside of the not-so-reliable Boston Smash.

His best strategy was to try and close the gap between them as quickly as possible so he could get a hit up close where it would really hurt, but Todoroki’s defense was just as potent as his offense. He’d need to be exceptionally clever and sneaky, but he didn’t have a whole lot of means to do such.

Put simply, he’d have to be incredibly lucky to pull off a win. And that was assuming he’d actually be able to focus on trying to with everything else he was still thinking about. His talks with All Might and Sero hadn’t really cleared his head at all, just made him even more indecisive. Damn it, he thought, he needed to make up his mind already.

By noon, his match had been called, and as he made his way from the locker room towards the arena, his body feeling heavier with every step he took, he suddenly noticed someone’s shadow sliding toward him from up the hall. His confusion around whose could be so massive was quickly resolved and replaced by astonishment when he saw Endeavor stomping up to him.

He recalled his first memories of the Flame Hero. Like All Might’s iconic debut in Japan where he saved over a hundred citizens from a mass fire that had broken out before putting the entire thing out with a single clap, with videos of the feat being something he watched countless times as a child, Endeavor’s pro Hero journey too started with a bang.

The Sea Serpents were a notorious criminal organization in China headed by the villain Shinryu who had held the country’s waters hostage for almost an entire month in a massive standoff with the military. Barely out of highschool, Endeavor came in and defeated the entire group in a matter of twenty four hours. Only five years later, he had become the number two Hero. The only problem was that this one year after his old Yuuei rival had achieved said position, so that by the time he had gotten it… All Might was where he wanted to be. And he stayed there from then on.

Deku had once admired Endeavor for his dedication, and for his strength. To be able to compete with All Might for so long at such a consistent level was truly incredible. But the person in front of him was no longer the great Hero he had once known him to be. He was an incredibly flawed, scarily ambitious man. Beneath All Might’s legendary image had been someone wounded by time. Beneath Endeavor’s, he… wasn’t quite sure.

When the two were finally in front of each other, Endeavor looming over Deku like a fiery mountain, he told the youth, in as straightforward a fashion as his son had before, that was power was incredibly similar to All Might’s, and that to face an opponent like him would be an excellent learning experience, regardless of the outcome. He encouraged, or perhaps ordered, Deku to provide his offspring with a good challenge and push him to his limit.

Without any further words, Endeavor turned and began to walk away, only for Deku to speak up with more boldness than he had even intended for. He proclaimed that he wasn’t All Might. The elder Todoroki almost scoffed when he began to reply that of course he wasn’t, only for Deku to cut him off by adding in that his son wasn’t him either.

The pro stiffened at this remark and turned to face the green haired boy, only to see him walking down another hall, prompting him to watch him with a low growl.

Izuku Midoriya and Shoto Todoroki arrived on the battlefield within a few seconds of each other. Neither boy gave anything away from their facial expressions, the latter because of his stoicness and the former because nobody could discern exactly what emotion his incredibly strained face was trying to suppress.

Their peers watched from above with pensive expressions, with Bakugo in particular observing with a harsh glare, prepared to scrutinize every single detail of the battle that was about to ensue. Either Todoroki rightfully swamped the floor with that loser, or he would have to watch as the world made a fight between him and Deku seem like some sort of clash of titans.

Deku took a slight gamble and charged up to 6% of One for All, not pushing it to 8% at the very state in case he needed to save it for a crucial moment. Meanwhile, frost had been drifting from Todoroki’s right side since he had arrived. So both of them wanted a quick end… he would have to make sure to look out for big attacks from the start, which meant he couldn’t prioritize combat right yet, he’d have to work on tiring him out.

As the gears started to turn in his head, Deku thought that maybe he’d be able to steel himself after all, but when he locked eyes with Todoroki, and swore for a second he saw Endeavor when he met his blue eye… he was stunned long enough so that when the fight started, he didn’t react in time to the incoming glacier.

Deku grunted as he leapt out of the way, avoiding most of the ice that then crashed into the wall, but it barely caught his leg by the ankle, trapping him and prompting Todoroki to generate another wave towards him. The green haired teen yelled and released a Delaware Smash that tore through the ice as if it were paper mache, busting his pinky finger in the process, leaving him down to just his thumb on his left hand.

He then swiftly dashed off as the lingering shockwaves from his attack caused Todoroki to stumble back, giving him the opportunity to reach next to him, ready to try for a punch, but another footstep, and thus another wall of ice, caused him to have to abandon that plan and zoom off again.

The super strength user skidded to a stop before jumping over a few creeping spikes. Clearly Todoroki’s reaction time and ability to apply pressure had greatly improved from just his fight with Kirishima alone. He was a quick learner. A natural genius. A prodigy. Everything teachers had said about Bakugo as a child but to the most absurd degree.

And yet all Deku felt was bad for him. It was almost ironic. He likely would’ve found a tad more humor in it if he didn’t have to keep dodging the cryokinetic assault, something becoming increasingly difficult even at what had previously been an adequate speed.

Gritting his teeth, Deku went up to 7% and proceeded to punch through the next sheet of ice headed his way, knowing that while this level of power wasn’t enough to shatter the constructs completely, and potentially damage his adversary in the process, it did give him a means to wear Todoroki down without causing further crippling himself. He just needed to keep moving.

Surge after surge of ice headed his way as he ran, jumped, and dove out of the way every single time, recovering from even the most awkward of positions with almost no time to think about his movements. Eventually, throughout the bloodpumping dance, he figured out a pattern to Todoroki’s attacks in regards to intensity: his weakest would come the moment before he took a deep breath, almost as if keeping the onslaught up was starting to tire him. Which meant striking at this time was his best chance at making progress.

As Todoroki sent forth a somewhat humble torrent of ice, his chest heaved a little more than usual, prompting Deku to take action. He unleashed another finger flick to not just annihilate the incoming attack before it could even fully form, but blow Todoroki back a few feet. He then used him obviously being caught off guard to charge, appearing in front of him in a flash, reaching out towards him, only for Todoroki to reach out as well, causing Deku to hop back, resulting in just one of his fingers being frozen from the brief contact.

The top student of 1A was relieved at having managed to do this, seeing as how it had deprived his opponent of at least a few options of attacking him, only to be bewildered when Deku proceeded to use his Delaware Smash with that exact same finger, breaking it even worse than the others as a result.

The wind gust from this dangerous maneuver sent Todoroki hurtling back, until he stopped his flight with a barrier of ice. He panted as he watched his rival barely even wince at the blowback from his attack, as if he had already built up a tolerance to that kind of intense pain. He slid forward on a stream of ice, sending more and more attacks at Deku, but he continued to simply break them with as much vigor as before despite his broken digits in both hands, even as blood sept through his clenched fingers down onto the cement floor.

Partially fueled from legitimate discomfort at seeing the brutality of what Deku was willing to put himself through but also genuine incredulty, Todoroki questioned why he was destroying his body like this, forcing himself to keep going even though he was going to be overwhelmed sooner or later, when nobody would’ve been surprised if he had simply been defeated as quickly as Sero had been since he had up until this point been among the bottom of their class. What just the hell was his deal?

As Deku planted his feet to rebalance himself, taking stock of his currently quite wounded condition, he stared at Todoroki with renewed conviction and told him to remember what he had said to him just as the contest was about to start: everybody had to give it their all if they wanted a shot at winning.

And that included him too.

Deku shakily raised his left hand in front of him as he reprimanded Todoroki for seriously thinking he could overcome him with half of his full power. He might’ve been able to steamroll over him and the rest of the class at the beginning of the year, but they weren’t the same people they had been at that point. Had he been so preoccupied with his own business that he hadn’t realized they were all chasing after him at the pace they were? They had seen their own weaknesses and accepted them so that they could improve upon them, while he had seen the strength he had the potential to access and rejected it. Now look where it had gotten him.

Clenching his fist, Deku warned him that he had started to notice those ‘cons’ of his ice Quirk he had briefly gone over. It was hard to say for sure from a distance, but now that he was closer, he could see the ice travelling across his body. Overuse of his right side… it was causing him to freeze up.

Bakugo too had been able to figure out this aspect of Todoroki’s powers from spectating his fights. Back during his fight against Kirishima, he had watched as the frost slowly spread across the son of Endeavor’s frame over the course of the scuffle, only to immediately vanish after he utilized his fire for even a second. He was able to notice this incredibly minor detail thanks to him not being as concerned for the redhead’s wellbeing as the other students, resulting in him being aware of it even before the more openly analytical Deku.

It was the same as how making huge explosions could severely injure his wrists. Quirks weren’t just magic that they could summon without any consequence to themselves. They were physical attributes, and abuse of them could be incredibly tolling on the body. Unlike most people, however, Todoroki had an extremely effective means to counter the side effects his had. And yet he wasn’t using it. He didn’t think he’d be able to find someone who pissed him off as much as Deku, but this guy was coming pretty close.

Todoroki tried to stop himself from trembling from the extreme cold as Deku continued on, declaring that although he seemed like the one on the backfoot, it was in truth the Big Three member who was at the most risk. After all, while Todoroki was shivering, half coated in a blanket of ice, Deku hadn’t taken any damage from him yet. That wasn’t going to change until he stopped screwing around and gave him absolutely everything he had. The taller boy came to a stop as he and Deku took a few second long break from their showdown, both gathering themselves as they readied themselves to jump back in at the same intensity as before.

Screwing around… that wasn’t what Todoroki was doing at all. He was taking this seriously. More seriously than any of them. Defying his father, rejecting the role that had been handpicked for him before he was born, that was what mattered.

And Deku… he was trying to get him to slide back into that position. Back under his old man’s thumb. By giving him ‘absolutely everything,’ that included his flames, of course. Had Endeavor gotten to him? Bribed with an internship, or money, or some sort of other offer to try and convince him to use his left side and give in to his father’s desires? The thought made his blood boil.

Enraged, Todoroki began running towards Deku, forgetting his traditional fighting style in favour of more close quarter tactics. He thrust his hand forward, intent on slamming it onto his foe and condemning him to the coldest prison imaginable, but Deku skipped back out of the way, before weaving and then striking Todoroki up across the face with a 7% Detroit Smash, making him nearly slip backwards. He stopped himself from falling with a wedge of ice, only for Deku to follow up his first successful punch with another, a Houston Smash that Todoroki was unable to block in time.

He skidded back, winded and coughing as his fellow competitor felt his body start to throb in pain over having been holding a higher percentage for an extended period of time. Todoroki had started to slow down, both in body movements and attack speed, as a result of what was going to soon become hypothermia, but he couldn’t afford to take it easy now because of that. He needed to stay on him. To keep up the pressure.

Todoroki stumbled, trying to keep his senses from faltering as he eyed Deku with almost the same hatred he usually reserved for his father. Now it had become the expression for those who tried to challenge his commitment to his principles. No matter what, he wouldn’t use that side of his Quirk.

He stomped aggressively, casting forth seveal sturdy spears of ice. Deku was able to sprint out of the way of most, but one did manage to sneak upon him, forcing him to once again make use of a Delaware Smash. The resulting gale sent Todoroki sailing through the air as Deku ran after him, grabbing him by his shirt and running towards the edge with him. Todoroki roared in frustration and managed to wrestle free of Deku’s grip before they could go too far, followed by him letting loose and generating an absolutely massive burst of ice that succeeded in seizing his competitor.

The boy was completely frozen in place, only part of his left hand and his face being exposed, while the rest of his body was stuck in ice. Todoroki huffed and puffed as he took a step back, looking at this now incapacitated foe. It… it was over. Or at least he thought it was. He thought there was absolutely no rational way Deku could escape.

But Deku’s strategies were beyond any sort of rationale. He concentrated One for All in his thumb, managed to stretch it up to tuck in past his cheek through his mouth, and then flicked it forward in what he wasn’t even sure could be called a proper Smash, instantly devastating the glacial mass around him.

Todoroki had barely been able to shield himself, with said barrier being immediately broken through. Leaning against a small hump of ice, he pushed himself up onto two feet as he awaited for the mist from the explosion to clear, expecting Deku to be lying in the center of the destruction.

But when the fog eventually did clear, his opponent was standing even straighter than he, as if he wasn’t down almost two hands, bruised all over, and bleeding from not just his arms but his mouth now as well. This was getting ridiculous, Todoroki thought, this couldn’t keep going on. He was somehow even more durable than Kirishima had been, and that was the entire point of his Quirk.

Off to the side, Cementoss suggested that perhaps it was necessary to end the match, seeing as how Deku had thrown away all sense of self-preservation, likely thinking that if it was necessary Recovery Girl could simply heal him of all of his injuries, but he was going way too far and could do permanent damage. Bubble Girl seemed reluctant, however, not wanting to call it off just yet, knowing how much of an upset it would be and that perhaps there was some method to Deku’s madness they just hadn’t recognized yet.

He tried to produce another ice attack, but he was far too tired to create one faster than Deku was able to act, asking him if he hadn’t understood him before and telling him he’d give him a reminder, before performing a Boston Smash that caused him to headbutt Todoroki right in the chest, breaking yet another finger but also fully knocking the wind out of his enemy.

They both landed on the ground in a heap, taking almost twenty seconds each to get back up. Todoroki’s head pounded as he heard Deku continue to scream, insisting that it was now or never that he stopped holding back, because he was still in shape to fight, despite being in absolutely no shape to fight.

Todoroki wasn’t exactly able to judge if this was actually the case, however, seeing as how he had witnessed Deku pull through pretty much any injury if it meant continuing the battle. Regardless of if he actually had the advantage in the physical fight, however, he was absolutely winning the war of the minds, with Todoroki struggling to formulate a sentence at this point due to how much he was seething over his failure. He could only holler at Deku to shut up as he desperately tried to form more ice.

The brooding boy tried scratching at the frost climbing up his forearm as he stood across from his equally as worn adversary, muttering that he didn’t understand why he had to do this, that even after telling him exactly what he had been through, he just couldn’t comprehend what winning in this way meant.

He managed to generate a wave of ice, but it was so sluggish that Deku was able to dodge it with barely any effort and then punch him in the face, though not nearly as strongly as before. Was he losing his strength, or… had it purposefully not been at full power?

Deku countered that while he could never truly grasp what Todoroki was feeling, for the two had lived completely differently lives up till arriving at Yuuei, he did know what he needed to do right now, and that was prove himself. It wasn’t enough just to go against expectations… he had to break past them. But the way to accomplishing that, to winning the Sports Festival… no, not just that, but to becoming the number one Hero surpassing All Might himself… that just wasn’t possible without using his full power! He was deluding himself otherwise!

Todoroki tried to argue, although it would’ve just been ordering Deku to shut up again, but his opponent clocked him again before he could as he was himself told to just listen.

All of a sudden, Todoroki recalled a time when his father had been training him as a child. He had received a punch to the stomach far too hard for him to handle, considering he was both exhausted and five years old. He fell to the ground, heaving, as Endeavor told him to stand up that instant, because a punch like that was nothing compared to what All Might could dish out.

He recalled his mother running in, having witnessed her son being struck so cruelly, and begging her husband to ease up as he was so young, only for him to roughly shove her back and shout to never interfere as her job was to ‘look after the inferiors.’ This mention of his brothers and sister made him then flash back to another memory, one of him trying to run over to them when they were in the middle of a soccer game in the frontyard, only for Endeavor to grab him by his wrist and drag him back, telling him he wasn’t to associate with them, and that they were ‘born in completely different worlds.’ They weren’t anything like him.

This phrase triggered a third recollection, this one the most painful moment of all. He had heard his mother on the phone with her own parents, telling them she just couldn’t take it anymore, imploring them to move back in with ‘at least Natsuo and Fuyumi,’ since they ‘were still uncorrupted.’ She explained that Shoto had slowly been transforming into something she had never wished to see: his father, and that every time she looked at him, the resemblance grew strong as he left half seemed increasingly dominant.

When he approached her from behind, asking her if she was okay… she took a boiling kettle of water she had put on for tea to calm herself… and splashed it across the side of his face that she had so despised.

After that… his mother was gone. Asking his father about what happened to her… he callously explained he had sent her to a mental hopsital. So that she could no longer hurt him, his masterpiece. Todoroki seethed with rage, his young mind twisting and curling in onto itself in frustration as he stared up at his uncaring father.

The boy declared that it had been all the man’s fault, that he was the reason his mom had become like that and done such a thing. And he hated him for it. It was then that all of the fear Todoroki had towards Endeavor was replaced by total and utter contempt. At least… that’s what he had thought.

He was snapped back to reality when he hit the pavement on his side, groaning in some of the worst pain he had felt in years as he somehow brought himself up to his knees. Deku was just a few feet away from him, holding up his hands, prepared to keep going as long as necessary.

He waited for the other student’s next move, but it never came, as instead, the once seemingly undefeatable Todoroki looked up at him with absolute desperation in his eyes, as he mumbled too quiet for the audience to hear that if forfeiting his rule to only use his ice was what was necessary to become number one… he didn’t know if he could do it. He didn’t know if he could really willingly use the power of his father… the man he had been trying to fight back against this whole time. If he used it now… he felt like he would lose even if he won.

Without missing a beat, however, Deku shouted back that he was completely wrong. His power… it was his to do whatever he wanted with. Whether that was following in his father’s footsteps, or doing his own thing entirely, it was his decision to make.

It was his Quirk. Not Endeavor’s.

Todoroki recoiled, going completely silent. That… wasn’t the first time someone had said something in that same vein to him. Up until just then, he had forgotten, but he recalled that the same day his father had gone too hard on him during training and then hit his mother as well, he had received comfort from her right afterwards. They were hugging, wrapped up in a blanket in the living room, as he wailed uncontrollably, telling his mom that he never wanted to grow up to be like his father, not some power-hungry bully who hurt people who didn’t deserve it.

She consoled him in the sweet tone that she would eventually lose as her mental health declined, assuring him that he didn’t have to become anything like his father, and that the power he had been blessed with… it was his choice to do whatever he wanted with it. If he wanted to be a Hero, he could be any sort of Hero he wanted. Not Endeavor.

And the Hero he wanted to be…

There had been some controversy recently when it was announced that the son of Shinryu, leader of the Sea Serpents, would be running for public office in China. Questions were raised over if he could be trusted, with rumors being made up about him being involved in his father’s organization in the past, despite having only been a child when it was crushed by Endeavor.

Said Flame Hero was adamantly against the villain’s son’s election, claiming that he had bad blood. But when All Might had been asked the same question… he responded that while it wasn’t his business to comment on politics… what he did know was that people weren’t their parents. If somebody’s parents were good, they could still be bad. If somebody’s parents were bad, they could still be good. Whatever they wanted to be, their parents couldn’t dictate that.

The brief interview where he had given that answer… it was the last thing him and his mother ever watched together. She was too damaged after that. But he remembered the joy he felt hearing that… because more than anything else… it was a Hero like All Might he wanted to be like.

Steam started to rise from Todoroki’s figure as the ice along him slowly started to recede, followed by smoke as he felt himself grow warmer, and then full blown, magnificent flames as he fully stood up, all signs of wear from his Quirk having literally melted away, as he declared that he was going to be the greatest Hero there ever was, and do so on his own terms.

The overwhelming heat emitting from him cause many onlookers to shield themselves, despite obviously wanting to bear witness. Those in 1A were especially astonished as their perception of the battle had in a matter of seconds been transformed from Deku seriously putting in the work to seemingly bring Todoroki down from his pedestal… to Deku having been trying to help Todoroki by helping him bring down whatever self-imposed walls were holding him back. Kirishima and Sero grinned at each other over the development, while Bakugo continued to watch intently, not giving away any clear emotion.

All Might, meanwhile, could only look on, totally floored, as he thought back to his previous encounter with Endeavor, and then what he had said to Deku. For him not to get involved. To focus on winning. Damn it… that kid needed to get better at folllowing directions, he thought to himself with a smile.

Ice sprouted healthily from his right while an inferno drifted off of his left. Blown back by the heated winds, Deku looked on, absolutely amazed by just how powerful Todoroki was when he let go of his restraints. His ‘Half-Frost Half-Flame,’ fully revealed after all this time… it was a level of power he was nowhere near. He wasn’t sure anybody in the entire class was. Maybe even the entire school.

Todoroki interrupted his admiration, with him telling him he was a special type of insane. He had sacrificed all that he had during their fight… to help him? Assisting your opponent… now who between them was screwing around? Despite Todoroki’s taunting, he was genuinely smiling, almost maniacally with how gleeful he was, an expression Deku couldn’t help but return as he declared he wasn’t about to go down just yet.

Up from the stands, Endeavor called out his son’s name with more energy than a thousand suns. He slowly marched down from where he had been watching, his own flames growing brighter and brighter as he monologued that now that he had finally accepted his fire, he could take the next step towards becoming everything he longed for him to be. As he continued his zealous tirade, Present Mic dismissed his dramatic rhetoric as simply ‘enthusiastic parenting from a doting father,’ all the while the child of said man was ignoring his presence, entirely focused entirely on the battle in front of him.

Deku pushed aside the agony coursing through his body and shot up to 8% as Todoroki told him it was his fault for what happened next. The curly haired boy, still smiling earnestly, only encouraged him to give him his all, as his foe unleashed a sheet of ice that covered the entire battleground. It then began curling in towards Deku in the form of spikes, only for him to activate 100% of his Quirk in specifically his toes in order to launch himself at Todoroki.

Having imagined he wouldn’t just sit there and take this, however, his red and white haired rival began to move his left arm forward, releasing from it as much fire as he possibly could towards the incoming target, who he internally thanked. By having cooled the air with his ice, and now by heating it so rapidly, it would expand in such a sudden and powerful manner… so as to create a massive, devastating blast that Deku was flying straight towards, with said youth then throwing forward a 100% Houston Smash. Now that he was fighting to win… he wasn’t going to hold anything back either.

Finally deciding that neither boys were acting sane whatsoever and could kill each other at this rate if they didn’t intervene, Bubble Girl ordered Cementoss to put up walls between the attacks as fast as he could, just as she began creating bubbles from her palms over towards Deku and Todoroki. Her Quirk, ‘Bubble,’ allowed her to create bubbles containing any aroma, and the ones she just released were based on a powerful knockout gas that would elicit the same response as the actual drug upon reaching their olfactory nerves.

Unfortunately, the teachers were unprepared for just how powerful the resulting clash would be, as both sides easily wiped out the incoming bubbles, and just as effortlessly blew past the cement constructs created seconds before the collision. Upon the full power Smash and concentrated heatwave meeting in the middle of the ring, the impact was felt by every single person in the stadium in a tremendous fashion, with those unfortunate enough to be out of their seats being sent flying back from the enormous gust of wind. Additionally, an outpour of smoke polluted the entire arena for almost a full minute until it started to naturally fade away, with everyone slowly being able to peer through… and discover the absolutely shocking results.

The grounds on which the match had been fought were absolutely ruined, a pool of scorched, frozen, or even just plain disintegrated debris.

On one side of the ring… Todoroki had built up a wall of ice behind him at the last possible second, seeing as how he was now barely standing just inches away from having been blown out of bounds.

Deku, on the other hand… was slumped up against the wall opposite to his foe, a dazed but happy look on his unconscious face. Nobody said anything for a solid few seconds, and then Present Mic thunderously announced that Shoto Todoroki had won. The crowd became louder than it ever had up to that point as the aforementioned teen panted, looking around himself with uncertainty and wonder, not just because of the outcome, but because of what he had just done. It had felt… amazing, and yet… part of him still felt guilty.

The rest of 1A was surprisingly not so disappointed by the identity of the winner, despite most of them having been rooted for Deku. Even Mineta wasn’t throwing a fit over how Todoroki’s reign was doomed to last forever. He’d save that for later. Rather, most of them were melancholic.

Whatever had happened… it seemed to have been something good. If that meant their preferred competitor lost… maybe it had been worth it? Iida grunted to himself in quiet deliberation as his eyes remained fixated on the entire stage, while Uraraka honed in on Deku, frowning softly.

Over at the third years’ stands, Amajiki looked over to Togata, expecting him to be at least a little upset over his younger friend’s loss, only to see him clapping and beaming proudly. When the navy haired boy asked his partner what exactly he was so happy about, the blonde responded that although he may have lost… he saw him win in one regard. Before that final crazy explosion, Todoroki had smiled. And having been paying close attention to everything his favourite junior had done during the fight… he believed that had been his main priority.

Muting himself, Present Mic exhaled deeply, leaning back into his chair and confessing to Aizawa that he had legitimately thought that clash was going to completely destroy everything, with the homeroom teacher stating that it very well could have if the epicenter of it hadn’t been partially contained thanks to Cementoss’ intervention.

The blonde somewhat anxiously told him not to drop that so casually, asking him how he managed to keep those kids under control, with the shaggy looking man explaining that besides his Quirk, he had thought he had a decent understanding of what exactly their abilities were, what their current limits were. What to expect of them, and thus how to handle them. But, he admitted with what almost sounded like fondness, a lot of them had been proving him wrong lately, something that made his fellow educator suggest he needed to change his lesson plan sooner than later in that case.

Back in Kofu, Gran Torino yelled at the television, insulting Deku for throwing away his chance at winning against Todoroki and possibly even taking home the gold. However, he then smirked, admitting that he was still glad to see his teachings have been used the way they were, calling it ‘the more interesting outcome,’ before laughing about how that ‘Toshinori’ had somehow managed to find a student even more reckless than himself.

And then all the way over in Musutafu, Inko Midoriya breathed shakily, her hand held by her close friend and mother of Katsuki Bakugo, Mitsuki. She watched her now defeated son be taken by medical robots, off to be cared for and hopefully restored to full health, and though she worried immensely for his condition… she nonetheless felt overwhelming pride in him. Her little boy… he had come so far, and even though he had lost… she got the sense that he had really helped someone despite that. Perhaps even saved them.

Chapter 18: A Hollow Victory? - The Sports Festival Tournament, Finale

Chapter Text

Bakugo marched with his confidence even higher than usual as he headed down towards his semi-final match against Tokoyami. If the size of the man matched the size of his ego, each step he took would’ve been able to crush the entire stadium. He wasn’t even thinking about his upcoming fight with his avian peer, having already considered it a win set in stone.

Instead, his mind was on Todoroki, specifically his battle against Deku and what it meant for their coming bout. He had admittedly grown a little worried that his fight against the son of Endeavor wouldn’t be all he wanted it to be, since he had watched his once incredibly impressive ice attacks became predictable and easily destroyable.

But then that damn nerd… had somehow managed to convince him to use that fire power he had. It hadn’t been easy to hear them throughout it, but Bakugo was a perceptive person. He could pick up on the context clues. And Endeavor’s little speech before Present Mic’s interruption was one hell of a clue.

So the perpetual silver medalist was a crappy father? Color Bakugo surprised. He had never had much respect for the Flame Hero anyways. It sucked for Todoroki, but what did he really care? Whatever problems he had with using his left side were gone now, and that meant to overcome him now… would prove his strength indisputably.

Tokoyami kept a stoic expression as he walked down the halls, having not said a word to Bakugo or even so much as shared a look with him. He didn’t exactly feel favoured by fortune at the moment despite his intent to behave boldly.

Bakugo’s Explosion was already going to be troublesome for Dark Shadow, since although he had built up somewhat of a resistance to light, it could still be worn down with intense repeated doses, something his blonde classmate was totally capable of. And now Todoroki had seemingly definitively added pyrokinesis to his arsenal. He just had to hope he would be able to overwhelm them quickly enough. A prolonged battle wasn’t something he was sure he could win, especially on such a bright day.

When the two were eventually faced against each other from across the field, Bakugo got into his regular fighting position, his palms crackling as he got himself ready to throw forward some of the strongest blasts he could manage. Usually he wouldn’t have needed to prep himself, but the intense strain in his right hand from the previous round hadn’t fully disappeared and he didn’t want to be caught off guard by the pain in the middle of the match. He may have known this match was his to win, but that didn’t mean he could take it easy. After all, even with his advantage, Tokoyami was still the second strongest of the Big Three. Well, soon to be third, but he’d wait till the ceremony to make it official.

When the announcement came for them to begin, neither combatant wasted any time in attempting to catch their opponent off guard. Tokoyami sent Dark Shadow at Bakugo from above, trying to limit any potential aerial mobility, only for Bakugo to unleash a massive explosion at the ground, sending chunks of pavement up into the air and a huge cloud of dust across the arena.

Tokoyami grunted and recalled Dark Shadow to his side immediately, with it already having started to recoil due to both the flash and having been nailed by a few rocks. Before the sedimentary smokescreen could dissipate and allow him to see where his enemy would be coming from, Bakugo flew out right in front of him, prompting Tokoyami to shield himself.

Taking advantage of his adversary’s instinct to block, however, Bakugo then propelled himself up over Tokoyami and then nailed him in the back with a detonation, sending him flying forward. He managed to prevent himself from going too far through Dark Shadow pulling him down to the ground, only to have to defend against from Bakugo, only this time after he tried the same misdirection tactic, the creature managed to grab his leg.

The temperamental teen scowled and tried to free himself by attacking with another explosion, but it began to swing him around, preventing him from landing a clean blow. As he was hurled through the air like a ragdoll, Bakugo struggled to maintain his composure, trying to figure out a way out of his current predicament. He had been practicing spinning around at similarly high speeds, but the forcefulness of how Tokoyami was manhandling him was still enough to bypass what he had thought to have become an immunity and instill in him quite strong nausea.

After successfully disorienting the rebel, Dark Shadow tossed him up into the air and then performed a harsh spiking move than sent him careening into the ground. The blonde boy swallowed the bile rising up in his throat as he forced himself back up, despite the fact that Tokoyami had snatched him by his right leg, and had caused it to start bleeding once again, this time it bad enough to spill from out of his pants down past his boots, ones borrowed from his Hero costume, creating a small crimson pool beneath him. Noticing this but assuming it had been because of his own actions, Tokoyami told Bakugo to yield seeing as how he had been injured so significantly, declaring it to be unsafe for him to continue.

Bakugo snarled, telling him that one, he wasn’t nearly so fragile that he would be damaged like that from such a weak attack, and two, even if he had been, that wasn’t any cause for him give up. Deku had broken countless bones in his fight against Todoroki and kept going despite that. Did he seriously think he wasn’t capable of doing the same as that loser? Tokoyami scoffed, saying he was certainly able to behave just as irrationally, before telling him that he wasn’t responsible for what happened to him from that point forward.

The heteromorph sent Dark Shadow forward again, with Bakugo racing to attack first, resulting in them colliding with a series of talon slashes and miniature explosions from the latter’s left hand, a clash that proved to be fairly even for a couple of seconds before the latter was struck across the chest with a claw, throwing him off his balance and allowing himself to be hit several more times. He escaped from being thrashed upon any longer by using sweat he had been building up on his right hand for a larger blast to release a Stun Grenade, which sent Dark Shadow screeching all the way back to its host.

This gave Bakugo a brief moment of respite, but instead of using it to try and catch his breath or assess his wounds, he used it to began dashing at Tokoyami with a manic grin. Believing the louder boy had simply lost all sense in the heat of battle, the feathered youth ordered Dark Shadow to meet him head on and simply tackle him out of the rings since he had proven superior in close quarters, only for Bakugo to dodge the beast’s attempt at grabbing him again and then, astonishingly, mount it by its neck.

Tokoyami was unsure of what to make of the maneuver, but ignored the strange decision and tried turning whatever strategy it was a part of against Bakugo by bashing Dark Shadow down onto the ground over and over again, right side up so that the other teenager would take the brunt of each impact.

But despite how many times he sent him crashing down into the earth, Bakugo just wouldn’t let go. He actually began attacking back, assaulting Dark Shadow with countless detonations right on top of his head, and though Tokoyami tried to hold out and win the stamina contest, eventually his Quirk just couldn’t take it anymore, retracting and allowing Bakugo to close the gap between them.

With his means of defense far too worn down, Tokoyami was forced to try and guard himself from whatever Bakugo had planned with just his arms crossed in front of him. His foe proceeded to jump and dive at him with a scream, thrusting his palm forward directly at the spot where Dark Shadow emerged from Tokoyami’s midsection.

The ensuing burst sent Tokoyami slamming down onto his back, with Bakugo on top of him, pinning him down, holding one hand on his head and the other on his stomach. Dark Shadow had completely returned into him. Grumbling in pain and simply unable to continue, Tokoyami regretfully surrendered, with Bakugo saying he was a little disappointed he didn’t try to fight back any further, but added that he was at least glad it meant he didn’t have to waste any more time with him.

His pride partially wounded, Tokoyami bitterly told him ‘good luck against Todoroki,’ with Bakugo responding by telling him to keep it for himself for the future. He obviously needed it more. As Bubble Girl called the match, the defeated boy locked eyes with Shoji up in the audience. The mask may have made it somewhat hard to tell what his friend was thinking to most people, but Tokoyami recognized the intention of his stare immediately. It was gratitude, for having done as well as he did, even if he didn’t succeed.

And so the finale of the Sports Festival would be Shoto Todoroki against Katsuki Bakugo. The first, the son of the number two Hero who people had long been interested in the potential career of, a sort of child celebrity who the world expected wonders from. The second, a nobody to the general public who had only even ever been known in the local news as a victim to a villain attack, and yet despite this had made himself known as a fierce competitor and absolutely one of the strongest first years, potentially on the same tier as Todoroki.

Needless to say, people were incredibly invested in how the match would turn out. It was shaping up to be one of the biggest fights in years.

Todoroki sat in the locker room by himself, quiet and lost in his own thoughts. He had been relieved from the nurse’s office rather quickly, having been far less injured than Deku had been after their battle. Said boy was likely going to miss the rest of the tournament because of his condition, him still having been unconscious when he took off. He had a lot he wanted to say to Deku… things he wished he could get off his chest ahead of the final fight. Maybe then he’d actually feel like going out to compete. But as he was currently, the prospect of fighting anybody, not just Bakugo… it simply didn’t feel right.

Hearing the sound of the door slam open behind him, he perked up in attention and swerved around… only to see exactly who he had just been thinking about. Bakugo blinked in confusion as he held his foot in the air, having casually kicked in the entrance with no clue that someone had already been inside. He then cursed as he realized he must’ve picked the wrong locker room, grumbling that the halls should’ve been labelled more clearly. Noticing Todoroki staring at him, Bakugo barked, asking him what the hell he was looking at him with such a strange face for.

This prompted the current strongest of the class to ask his challenger if it was true that he and ‘Midoriya’ had known each other since they were kids, even once being friends. Bakugo squinted and raised an eyebrow, questioning where exactly had heard that. Todoroki said nothing, instead staring at his classmate unblinkingly for about twenty seconds until Bakugo rolled his eyes and asked him why it was his business, subtly confirming the fact. The less abrasive teen didn’t answer, opting to ask another question: he had always been like that? So willing to… reach out, even when it hadn’t been asked of him?

Bakugo flinched, the inquiry actually seeming to unnerve him. Recollection flashed through his eyes. He gripped his fists and grit his teeth, before growling that regardless of how capable Deku might have fooled people into thinking he was now, inside he was the exact same as he had always been. He always snooped around… got involved where he didn’t need to. Tried to help people who didn’t even need it, just so he could feel better about himself. He was absolutely pathetic.

Bakugo then jabbed a finger at Todoroki, telling him to get the damned nerd off his mind and prepare himself for what he was going up against next. He wanted him at his best, not distracted by whatever bullsh*t Deku had spewed during their match. He waited for some sort of reaction from his fellow finalist, but Todoroki’s face continued to just not change. Grunting in annoyance, he turned around and swung the door shut behind him as he stomped off. Todoroki barely acknowledged the exit, simply glancing down at his left hand.

Class 1A watched as the two last remaining competitors stepped up into the arena, not exactly sure what to think about the duel.

Most weren’t really rooting for Todoroki. He had intentionally isolated himself from most of the class, his few interactions with them had made them perceive him as somewhat hostile and selfish, and he had taken out his frustrations against Sero and Kirishima. It didn’t help that he wasn’t exactly the underdog. He had up until the festival been seen as leagues ahead of everyone else, and although it appeared some students had actually managed to come close to reaching him, his recently revealed flames widened the gap once again.

But his fight against Deku… it had changed something in him, and not just his willingness to use his fire. It was subtle, but he was just a little different than he had been before, about how he carried himself. In a good way. Like there was just a little less weight on his shoulders. So most weren’t rooting against him, either.

In respect to Bakugo… while he hadn’t started from the bottom in the same vein as Deku, having been more around the middle of the ladder at the beginning of the year, he had certainly improved a great deal. Regardless of what happened next, he was guaranteed to replace someone in their group’s Big Three, with it being fairly obvious as to who specifically. Such amazing progress, achieved by tireless hardwork, it should have been admirable, and it likely would’ve been if it were literally anybody else.

But this was Bakugo, the guy who on the second ever day of school earned himself a reputation as a cruel, overconfident, petty jackass who may have had plenty of academic potential, but had zero social promise. And while he hadn’t done anything as bad since then, he also hadn’t done anything to make people think he had changed whatsoever. He had some respectable traits, but they were like rainbow sprinkles on a steaming pile of hot garbage.

So the battle of charisma was a draw. The more appealing candidates had been eliminated and what was left were a pair of superpowered ‘bad boys.’ As for who was considered more likely to win, however? That was fairly definitive.

Bakugo knew that even with his impressive displays, the majority of those watching were convinced that Todoroki would still come out on top. He couldn’t really blame them for thinking so. But he was devilishly eager to show them all that they had been wrong. As he stood across from the last hurdle on his way to the peak of the mountain, he fought to ignore all the damage he had accumulated up to that point.

He had wrapped some cloth around his knee, just so it would stop bleeding and cause people to assume they had done more damage against him than they actually had. Still, he was still visibly covered in scrapes from his fights against Tokoyami, and his right wrist had started to swell up a bit, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t deal with. They were marks of victory, after all. Proof of his hard work.

Now in the short term, it did seem like it made no sense strategically. He was putting himself at a disadvantage and it was probably why he had any kind of trouble against Tokoyami, who he had a natural counter to.

But it was the long term he was interested in. How impressive would it be for him to have gone through the entire festival without having even a single one of his injuries healed? What dedication! What ruthless commitment to victory! What once in a generation level strength and skill! It wasn’t just about winning, after all. It was about excelling.

Time slowed down as Present Mic began ordering them to start. Todoroki raised a foot slightly off the ground and slowly placed it down in front of him. Bakugo started to throw his left hand forward, sparks already flying. Their eyes met. And then what was perhaps one of Todoroki’s largest waves of ice yet, second only to the one he had used against Sero, emerged from the sole of his shoe, heading towards his foe at a rate faster than most could perceive. But by the time it arrived at Bakugo, he had already made a blast strong enough to tear through the entire thing, sending chunks flying all across the stadium. Before Todoroki could make another, Bakugo launched himself across the stage.

The blonde brought down a fiery hand on Todoroki, forcing him to shield with a wall of ice, but then came another detonation, and another, and another, each prompting a barrrier to be made ands then immediately destroyed. He was making the valedictorian-in-the-making waste as much stamina as possible on defense alone. That way he’d have no choice but to bring out the big guns.

Todoroki grunted, knowing if this kept up for much longer he would indeed start feeling the side effects of his Quirk, and so took a risk by instead creating a thin but sturdy ice spike that punted Bakugo through the air, at the cost of him taking a good portion of one of his explosions.

Bakugo recovered quickly, but before he could rush down to restart his assault, he was engulfed entirely by yet another massive ice construct. Todoroki huffed, his breath cold as he stared up at the glacier that he had just trapped Bakugo in, wondering if he had really managed to end things so soon… only to then witness as cracks slowly began appearing, with smoke erupting from out of the tears.

Not wanting to be a sitting duck, Todoroki began sliding on ice all around the arena as Bakugo burst out, immediately setting his sights on his opponent once again and chasing after him. As the blonde pursued him with an absolutely crazed expression, Todoroki attempted to stop his advance with a barrage of ice spikes, but Bakugo, having recognized the pattern of his attacks from his previous battle against Deku, successfully dodged three spikes and then shot forward, hurtling through the fourth, when he saw the other boy begin inhaling to take a breath.

Todoroki almost choked on air in surprise as Bakugo was suddenly right in front of him once again, his hand grabbing onto the collar of his uniform. He then launched both of them into the air, before throwing Todoroki down in a bit of a hasty version of his finishing move against Kamakiri, his ‘X-Piledriver.’

Todoroki smashed into the ground in a crater, but unlike the Class 1B student before him, the technique wasn’t enough to finish him off, not that Bakugo had assumed it would. He blasted himself down at Todoroki, only for the son of Endeavor to propel himself up with a massive pillar of ice, hand outstretched to slam into Bakugo and freeze him up close.

Bakugo managed to dodge, but as he did so, Todoroki tapped his foot on the surface of his self-made platform, creating a spear of ice too fast for his foe to react to. Striking Bakugo in the chest and tearing through his uniform and undershirt, he went soaring, almost out of bounds until he redirected his descent to the arena floor with an explosion.

Just barely landing on his feet, he struggled to stay up as he clenched his fists. He didn’t know how obvious it had just been to those watching… but he very nearly didn’t stop himself. He had come scarily close to blacking out from the impact of Todoroki’s attack. His injuries… damn it, they were finally catching up with him. He needed to force his foe into using his left side faster than he already had been.

As Todoroki came down at him, riding on a slope of ice, his palm reaching out to try and do the same again… he had an idea to inflict some serious damage that might just be the thing to push that bastard to unleashing it. Even if it would absolutely hurt himself just as much.

The timing of it needed to be perfect. He couldn’t go for it to early or else Todoroki might anticipate what he was going for and make moves to avoid it, but if he messed up and waited too long, he would lose then and there. Luckily, while Bakugo might have had a record for bad behaviour, being punctual wasn’t something he ever had to be reprimanded for.

So just as Todoroki’s hand was about to land on his chest and envelop him in cold, Bakugo raised his right hand and smashed it into his, which resulted in a massive explosion of both fire and ice that sent both teenagers flying backwards.

Bakugo staggered like a zombie and laughed like a madman as he dragged himself up. His right hand, already in quite an awful condition, was now in absolutely no state for… well, anything. His wrist had been fully broken, there were massive cuts along it from shards of ice, and it was half-frozen, approaching near hypothermia-inducing temperatures.

But it had been worth it, for Todoroki’s right hand had also been incapacitated, bruised to the point of nearly reaching the same deep purple that Deku’s skin did when he used his power excessively, with some skin having been burned away as well. He could still use his right foot to create ice, but he was extremely close to reaching his limit on that side, which was why he had been trying to get up close to finish Bakugo.

The crowd gasped as they witnessed the extent of the damage done to both combatants, as Bakugo screamed at Todoroki, asking him if he was ready to finally go all out now that he had went ahead and taken out his right hand, or if he was going to keep wasting his time being a glorified refrigerator.

This statement stirred further alarm from the audience: had Bakugo really done that on purpose? Just to force his adversary to use his fire side? He was willing to inflict that much damage on both of them… just so he could get a proper challenge? They had thought Deku had gone more than a little overboard, but… this behaviour was borderline deranged.

Todoroki glanced down at his left hand, unharmed from the fight so far. He had gone in expecting that this might happen. That he might need to use his flames again. For Bakugo to have come so far, he had to have been at least as strong as Deku or Kirishima, and he likely surpassed them considering how he had performed against Tokoyami. If he was going to win against him… his ice wouldn’t be enough, would it?

He tried to remember what he had felt when he fought Deku. The intensity… the excitement… the freedom. He closed his eyes, struggling to ignore the pit in his stomach that formed as he then opened them. The left half his body began emitting red hot inferno, not as potent as it had been against Deku, but the sight of fire alone was enough to satisfy Bakugo.

Said blonde grinned, cackling that it was about time, before adding that now that he was finally done playing around, he wasn’t going to waste any time in blowing him to smithereens. His strongest attack against his! Todoroki watched as Bakugo yelled and shot himself into the air with his left hand with an explosion, before then began to release several more blasts at an extremely rapid pace until he was spinning around in a tornado of fire and smoke. Kirishima and Mineta recalled the similarities to what they had seen him to back during his training the night before the Sports Festival, but it was at an even more extreme speed.

This move… it was the culmination of all the work he had put in over the past months. A true Ultimate Move.

Bakugo began redirecting his detonations so that he began flying towards Todoroki, who was willing himself to pour his all into as powerful of a fire attack as he could manage. He didn’t have a lot of battle experience using his flames, so he couldn’t wield them as skillfully as his ice, but they were equivalent when it came to pure strength. His genes from his mother came as equally as they did from his father after all.

Yes, that was right. He could use his fire… just as Endeavor did… Todoroki saw through Bakugo, instead looking all the way up to where his father was… watching him. Awaiting him to use the power that he saw as his to win the Sports Festival and show All Might that he had discovered an ingenious way to finally overcome him. The memories came flooding back even more excruciatingly than they had during his fight with Deku. He… he wasn’t ready after all. He needed more time.

His flames extinguished all of a sudden. Gasps exited almost every soul in the stadium. But Bakugo hadn’t noticed, too caught up in the literal heat of the moment. He spun towards Todoroki in a volatile spiral, screaming at the top of his lungs the name of his attack.

“Howitzer… IMPACT!”

The oxygen and momentum fueled explosion fired off with as much intensity as a small nuclear weapon. The entire arena was obliterated. Ice wasn’t even sent flying as it had been turned not just into water but vapor from the attack, wheras cement was either turned to ash or blown to rubble. Smoke and steam blinded everyone present watching.

Present Mic exclaimed in astonishment over the destructive attack while even Aizawa’s eyes widened. So Bakugo had been saving that up for the entire tournament… he had gotten even better than he had thought. His interest in just how much the blonde had improved was mitigated, however, by his and everybody else’s fixation on what just that much devastation meant for the match. Had that been the decisive move?

As the battlefield slowly but surely became visible again, it became immediately clear as to just what had happened. Todoroki, having not used either his ice or fire in the face of Bakugo’s attack, had left himself completely and utterly vulnerable… and had thus been blasted out of bounds, lying outside on the ground in a knocked out heap, his clothes mostly in tatters.

Bakugo, on the other hand, was now in the middle of the ring with a look of disbelief on his face. What… what had just… happened? Todoroki, he… he was about to use his flames, but… then he… he hadn’t. Why hadn’t he used them? Why the hell hadn’t he used them? Why did he use them on f*cking Deku but not him?

He… he couldn’t win like this. He didn’t know when he began to shout his thoughts out loud, but by the time he registered his own voice he was already running over to the unconscious body of Todoroki, pumped up by whatever remnants of adrenaline were left coursing through him.

The entire world faded around him as he grabbed Todoroki and began shaking him furiously, ordering for him to get back up. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go! He was supposed to unleash his all against him, and only then he’d come out on top and take his place as the strongest! It wasn’t supposed to be a half-assed victory!

He hollered until his voice grew ragged and Cementoss and Bubble Girl ran to separate him from Todoroki lest he continue to make a scene… but just as they reached him, he gave out, and collapsed beside the defeated teen from exhaustion.

Everything went silent for a few seconds, before Present Mic, trying to turn back up the positive energy, announced as cheerfully as he could that the tournament had their winner! Katsuki Bakugo of Class 1A had won! He was Yuuei’s first year champion! People did their best to cheer, and whoop, and clap, to sound as excited as they could about the outcome. They truly didn’t want to seem disappointed… but… they couldn’t fully hide how disturbed they were by the ending.

Todoroki lost in such an underwhelming way, and that was itself was a bit of a bother, but… Bakugo had proved himself in the aftermath of that result to be horrifically unstable. This… was the future of Heroes? Similarly, his classmates were drenched in a feeling of uncertainty, grief, and even some pity as they looked upon the end of the finale, while also exchanging glances and frowns.

This year’s Sports Festival… maybe it was because they had the insider’s perspective this time around, but it certainly didn’t turn out as fun as it had always looked on television.

About an hour went by as Recovery Girl looked after both Bakugo and Todoroki’s injuries from their fight, complaining the entire time about the former boy’s destructive nature and actions. It seemed as if the number of reckless men only grew with every passing generation. It almost made her miss when it was just Sorahiko.

Todoroki fortunately didn’t take long to heal since his wounds were so recent. He had done the smart thing of coming to her after each round, besides his one against Sero where he took literally no damage. But Bakugo was a mess, especially that right hand of his. It was almost as bad as Deku’s left had been. Both of them would come out with permanent scars, albeit the green haired boy had it much worse. Hopefully they would serve as reminders to not act so carelessly. But that was wishful thinking.

When Bakugo awoke, Todoroki had already left to go prepare for the closing ceremonies, while Deku was still unconscious over on another hospital bed. He glared in his direction with frustration and confusion. What had he done that got Todoroki to use his fire against him, but not during their own battle? He was the one who made it to the final round, the one who gave Todoroki his greatest challenge for the title of champion… so why had he gotten the leftovers? Where the hell was the full course? Why did he still feel like he was in second place?

These questions drilled at very inch of his brain as he felt his temper rise again, only for him to brought back to reality by a familiar, gruff voice. He glanced over in the direction of Aizawa, by the door, asking him if he was going to need to restrain him or if he’d be able to express an ounce of maturity and not throw another tantrum.

Bakugo scowled, but didn’t respond. His teacher sighed and told him to get up and come with him, since he was keeping everybody waiting. The usually more bombastic youth stared down for a few seconds, before pushing himself out of the bed onto his feet, wobbling a little. Recovery Girl’s Quirk may have healed him, but in doing so it also meant his energy hadn’t been fully replenished. Fortunately, Aizawa didn’t really seem to care about his little stumble, instead just waving him along.

As the two made their way through the hall, Aizawa asked Bakugo if he had been satisfied with the progress he made with his training over the past two months. The teen sputtered, having not expected the question, and took a considerable amount of time mulling the inquiry over, before eventually answering that however strong he had gotten, he still wasn’t done. He wouldn’t stop until he surpassed All Might and took his place as the number one Hero.

Aizawa made a small noise of acknowledgement, before then asking him if there wasn’t somebody else he wanted to surpass even more? Bakugo stopped walking for a second. Did… did he mean…? Gritting his teeth, the blonde muttered that anybody else he overcame along the way to the top was just a stepping stone and nothing more. Even Todoroki.

Aizawa turned to look back at Bakugo, his expression stoic. They stared at each other for a few seconds, before the educator exhaled through his nose and went back to walking, with his student following shortly after.

Ambivalent applause was heard as the three highest ranked students of the Sports Festival stood on podiums beside each other. Closest to the ground was Tokoyami, arms crossed and eyes closed. Next was Todoroki, looking just as deep in thought as he had before the final match. And at the very top, in the center, was Bakugo, doing his best to combat the urge to make Todoroki fight him again then and there so he could have the victory he deserved. Helping him not do something so stupid was that Aizawa was standing next to the Cementoss and Bubble Girl down in the middle of the stadium, his eyes glowing a more subtle red than usual when Erasure was in effect, likely not wanting the crowd to notice.

As Bubble Girl explained that third place had been given to Tokoyami over Midoriya due to the fact that the former lost to the eventual winner while the latter fell to the runner-up, Class 1A reflected on how they would’ve been much happier if the top four placements had been swapped entirely.

Well, most of them didn’t want Bakugo even as high as fourth, but they would’ve taken that over first. Some, though, were more than anything upset that they weren’t down there themselves, specifically Iida and even moreso Yaoyorozu, who was still despondent over what she saw as a humiliating placement.

Fortunately, everyone’s spirits would be lifted when the blue skinned heroine then announced that to present the medals to the winners would be none other than the number one pro Hero! Gasps and cheers broke out as the Symbol of Peace came flying down from the sky, having jumped over the stadium walls in order to make his way inside, landing with his hands on his hips and his chest puffed out. Unfortunately, his own self-introduction was intermingled with the one Bubble Girl had been giving for him, causing the fledgling teacher to get incredibly embarrassed and apologetic, with All Might trying to quickly assure that it had been alright.

Taking the medals, he approached Tokoyami first, bestowing upon him the bronze one. He told the avian youngster that he performed remarkably, as was to be expected of someone of his strength, but encouraged him to not get complacement, advising him that it might be wise to try and branch out and figure out how he could fight alongside Dark Shadow, instead of relying on it as much as he currently did. Tokoyami nodded, accepting the constructive criticism in humble fashion, but he couldn’t help but eye the microphone on his teacher’s chest.

All MIght went next to Todoroki, giving him the silver medal. He told him that whatever reasons he had for deciding not to use the left half of his Quirk were, they were his to keep to himself and he wouldn’t probe him for information. His old rival’s son quietly thanked him, before disclosing that his battle with his protege had opened his eyes to new possibilities, but he wasn’t exactly sure what that meant for him yet, and he would need time to figure that out.

One thing he did know, however, was why All Might had taken interest in Midoriya, even when he hadn’t been all that strong. He was a truly interesting peer, one he now had a lot more respect for. The pro smiled, before advising Todoroki that he could learn a lot more from his other peers, and perhaps they could help him just as much as Midoriya had on his journey forward. Todoroki made no indication of agreement or dissent with this suggestion, only stating that before anything else, there ws someone he needed to talk to.

Finally, he arrived at Bakugo, but when he opened his mouth to speak, the shorter blonde gave him a look that was almost… pleading. A tad caught off guard All Might coughed for a moment, rethinking the mini-speech he had been planning to give. He could tell it really wouldn’t have been appreciated by who he’d be giving it to. Perhaps he could talk to him more in depth another time… but for now, he simply congratulated the boy on his win, and tried to place the gold medal around his neck.

But just as he raised it above Bakugo’s spiky mess of hair, the teen reached up to grab the reward, gripping it tightly, maybe vindictively, in his hand. He wouldn’t be crowned like that. Treated like a king when he hadn’t earned his spot on the throne. All Might blinked, a little surprised, before nodding and then turning to face the onlookers again.

He announced that although the festival might not have turned out exactly how everyone expected it to, it was with surprises where opportunity lied! The students of the first year boasted a level of skill and power that hadn’t been seen so early on with Hero candidates for quite some time. They still had a lot of room to grow in regards to becoming pros, but they displayed great promise nonetheless, and each and every one of them was worth keeping an eye on going forward.

This helped restore people’s confidence. It was like All Might had said: they were still near the start of their time at Yuuei. They had at least three years left until they’d be approved to become full fledged Heroes. Even those with the roughest of edges could be smoothed out by then, right? In his final statements, the number one Hero went on to express that if there was anything that should be learned from the events of the last few days, it was to live life by the students’ example! That was, to-

Always do your best, exclaimed All Might!

Go Beyond, Plus Ultra, exclaimed literally everybody else!

…

The next minute or so saw the crowd admonishing at All Might having completely wasted the perfect time to use Yuuei’s school motto, with him trying to defend the decision as being in acknowledgement of how hard everybody had tried.

Another couple hours after the first year Sports Festival had come to an end, with the second year’s due to start the day after, Deku stirred in a somewhat rigid mattress. He blinked his eyes open slowly, then quickly as he took stock up his surroundings. Recovery Girl’s office. According to the clock on the wall, it was… the evening, long after his match. So, that had probably meant he had lost.

The last thing he had remembered… was closing in on Todoroki, seeing him smile for the first time since he had ever met him, and so brightly as well. Even in the midst of such an intense final showdown, he had seen that as by far the most important detail. Whatever came after had admittedly probably not been very pleasant for him, but fortunately whatever resulted from their impact had vanished from his mind. Maybe he’d been knocked out the very instant they made contact?

Before he could spend too much time musing over the exact events of his loss, he noticed the door opening… and in came All MIght, in his deflated form, wearing casual clothing, with both parties being somewhat startled to each other. Well, awake, that was, in regards to Deku. The freckled boy checked to see if he had lost as he had assumed, with his master confirming the outcome, while also updating him on the rest of the Sports Festival results.

Hearing Bakugo’s victory over Todoroki because the latter ultimately couldn’t bring himself to use his pyrokinesis, Deku frowned. So after all of that… it hadn’t been enough after all. He had given up at what could’ve been a real shot at winning the entire tournament, and yet even with that sacrifice he failed. He… he had failed.

Tears started to build up in the corners of his eyes and then slide down his cheeks, prompting his predecessor to question what was wrong. A little choked up, Deku confessed that he felt like everything he had done had been for nothing. He had taken the spotlight from people who could’ve used it better, only to then blow his chance at actually making something of that opportunity, all to try and help someone… and then it didn’t even work. That wasn’t to mention how he’d said such awful things to Uraraka.

The Sports Festival… as pathetic as it sounded, it made him question his resolve. Could a person who just wanted to be a Hero to save people really keep competing with people with such complex motivations?

All Might stuttered, completely bewildered by this sudden outpouring of regret and doubt. His apprentice had looked determined throughout his fight with Todoroki… had he actually been hurting this much on the inside? He tried to tell Young Midoriya that as much as he didn’t want to downplay his passion, he might have been putting too much importance on winning the Sports Festival, but Deku told him it was about more than just winning a competition.

It was about standing up in front of the entire world to tell them that he was going to be the next All Might! Said Hero gawked, with Deku continuing that he knew All Might’s time was running out of time, that he wouldn’t be able to stay the Symbol of Peace for as long as he wanted to. That’s why he wanted people to know that there was someone coming to succeed him and keep the world safe!

The older man went completely silent, astonished at the further revelation of his disciple’s feelings. How could he have been so ignorant to the immense pressure he had accidentally been placing upon the boy? And before he even told him… damn it, he needed to say something.

Taking more than a few seconds to collect himself and think of a good response, All Might told Deku first and foremost that he hadn’t wasted anything in the tournament. He might not have been able to instantly fix all of Todoroki’s issues, but he set him down the right path. He was on his way to finding out the answers to his problems. He saved him from what could’ve been a very isolated and miserable future. Deku looked up at the use of the word ‘saved,’ asking if what he did really could’ve been counted as that.

All Might went on to explain that Deku had done what he always did: saw someone in danger, and jumped to help them no matter what. His dream of being able to save people with a smile on his face was one that could that be achieved in a variety of ways. It could be in physically rescuing someone from, say, a crazy slime monster villain, but it could be emotionally rescuing them, too. All Might should have never told him to focus only on victory in his battle with Todoroki. He should have told him to do what he thought was the right thing to do. After all, that busy brain of his was supposed to be filled with all sorts of good ideas, wasn’t it?

Deku gave a slight smile. All Might told him he had a lot of time to keep training and learning until he was ready to take his place. He didn’t have to rush to tell the world anything so explicitly yet. In the mean time, he could continue to show them through his actions like he did today.

He patted Deku on the shoulder and told him that he had done well, and it was time for him to go back to the dorms, since Recovery Girl was getting ready to go home for the evening to get some rest ahead of tomorrow’s events. Seeing the boy still had a few reservations, he told him that whatever was going on between him and his friends, he knew he was also smart enough to figure out how to mend things.

A minute later and Deku was out of bed and fully dressed. A few bandages remained on his body, but he mostly looked back in good condition. All Might and Recovery Girl sent him off, watching him as he made his way out of the stadium to begin the trek back to his classmates.

The elderly woman asked All Might if he had informed the boy of the fact that his ‘cute little brunette friend’ had been the very first to visit him after his fight and waited for him to wake up until the ceremonies occurred and the students were instructed to leave. He shook his head, remarking that there were some things at that age that adults just aren’t supposed to get involved with.

She then questioned when they were going to tell him about what they saw in his X-ray, with the man pausing for several seconds, not having an answer prepared. All Might eventually sighed, explaining that they first needed to figure out what exactly it meant. Combined with what else he still needed to say to him… he was starting to accumulate quite a list.

Bakugo was making his way down towards the beach front, gold medal still gripped tightly in his hands, when he noticed somebody already standing in front of the soft waves of the sea. If he remembered correctly, he was Monoma from 1B. Before he could decide whether or not he should just leave, the more polished looking blonde called out to him, having seen him behind him in the reflection of the water. He told him he didn’t have to leave as he had already spent enough time here thinking things over, so he’d let him have his turn.

As he turned around and started walking past his 1A counterpart, however, he told him that he had made a mistake in trying to assert his class’s dominance over theirs, when in fact, they truly were weaker. And so at the Sports Festival, they had decisively lost to them. But he was okay with that. If they somehow won by pure luck, that wouldn’t have been very meaningful. After all, where was the glory in winning when you shouldn’t have? Bakugo made a low growling sound, while Monoma continued that now that he had accepted that they were currently at the bottom, he would stop at absolutely nothing to change that.

So, from secret strongest in 1B to supposed strongest in 1A, Monoma departed by saying that Bakugo may have won the battle, but they would win the war.

Bakugo looked back over his shoulder, squinting at his so-called new rival with some befuddlement. That guy… he was strange. As Monoma disappeared, he went on to stare out at sea aimlessly. It was right, what his peer had said. He was the ‘supposed’ strongest. It was assumed, but not assured. His chance to prove it for certain… had went up in flames. Who knew when another opportunity like that would appear? He doubted Todoroki would just willingly agree to fight him for no reason, and trying to force him to fight was just a surefire way to get expelled.

So stuck in a shaky position at the top he was for the foreseeable future. Not only that, but as much as he didn’t care if people thought he came off as rude, he knew he hadn’t exactly given audiences the best impression of himself with how he had acted at the end of his battle against Todoroki. Who knew how that was going to affect his internship offers. His future as a Hero should’ve been more secure than ever, but he felt now more than ever like it was in jeopardy.

He looked down at the gold medal. The sign of his false accomplishment. An object that served only to mock him for not winning the way he had wanted to. A physical representation of his failure. He looked out into the ocean, grit his teeth, and then threw the award as far as he could, boosting it with an explosion so that it went soaring all the way out beyond the horizon, never to be seen again.

Then, as if he wasn’t already busy sifting through such complicated emotions, somebody called out to him and elicited further frustration. Deku. His old childhood friend hesitantly remarked that he had figured he would react badly to what happened between him and Todoroki. He remarked that he couldn’t say he was exactly satisfied with the results either. The Sports Festival… had really turned out to be sort of a mess, hadn’t it? It definitely screwed him up, too.

He actually needed to apologize to Bakugo: he had assumed some pretty bad things about him during the lead up to his fight with Uraraka. He had… thought he would use the match as a means to get revenge for their confrontation back at the start of the year. He saw now that it had been a mistake. Bakugo had a lot more to worry about than something petty like that. If he really wanted to pick a fight with him… he would’ve done it directly, right?

Bakugo didn’t respond. Deku hadn’t thought that he would. He went on to tell the blonde that even though there was obviously a disparity between them, judging at least by their Sports Festival placements, he felt like they were actually in pretty similar situations at the moment. Both of them… had come out of the entire experience feeling a bit more unsure, when they had expected to have more confidence, right? It was the first time he had felt so close to him in a long time. He smiled a little wistfully as looked up at his back.

It wasn’t a fun position to be in, was it, ‘Kacchan?’

The newest member of the Big Three almost flinched at the utterance of the nickname. It was one he hadn’t heard for at least a decade. It was representative of a time that had long since passed. He felt indignation rise up in him, his instinct to yell back at Deku to shut up and not call him that, but he lacked the current spark. He just glared and kept looking vaguely ahead. Nothing else was said for about a minute or so.

Deku nodded. That was how it was, then. He started to take his leave, only for Bakugo to suddenly then utter his name, catching his attention. The explosion user asked if the plan that Uraraka had used against him in their battle… was something she had taken from him?

Deku paused, before informing Bakugo that he didn’t have any sort of involvement with the strategy. It had been an Uraraka original. She was… a lot more capable than people gave her credit for. Bakugo made a low hum of acknowledgement. Another period of silence then ensued. This time, when Deku went to leave, nothing was said. And so he left.

The freckled teen eventually made his way back to the dormitory, where he was immediately swamped by a good portion of his class: Kirishima and Ashido, of course, as well as Mineta, Kaminari, and Hagakure, with Iida demanding that they be more orderly while others, namely Tsu and Ojiro, behaved a bit more respectfully in regards to his sense of space.

After some the initial chaos, he managed to get across his apologies for having avoided them earlier that day and the night before, he just had a lot on his mind and it made him act weird. Ashido stated that he was certainly correct, as he had said some pretty dumb crap to Uraraka, which prompted Iida to interrupt and say that it wasn’t for them to discuss.

Deku admitted, however, that she was right. He had been really stupid. That’s why he was going to talk to her as soon as he figured out where she was, which turned out to simply be her room, a surprisingly daunting location to the teenaged boy.Two knocks on the anti-gravity girl’s door, and it clicked open. And then they were face to face. Deku swallowed, and then asked if he would be able to come in, which Uraraka agreed to.

As the entrance closed shut behind him, Deku expressed that he hoped he wasn’t interrupting her, since Ashido had told him she was waiting on a phone call from her parents, to which she replied that it was alright since she hadn’t heard anything from them yet. Before he could say anything else, she told him that she was glad to see him back up and walking around like normal, since at first Recovery Girl wasn’t sure how long it would be until he woke up.

Surprised, Deku asked her if that meant she had been down to see him when he was in the nurse’s office, with her answering that of course she had. She had ran down the second she saw him outside the ring. He was her friend. That didn’t mean she had forgiven him. But when one of your best friends had just gone through something like what he had, it didn’t matter if she was currently angry at him. She needed to make sure he was okay. After all, he owed her an apology, she said while smiling.

Deku grinned weakly back, before sighing, and then bowing his head. He was sincerely, resolutely sorry for what he had said to her. He had been an idiot for doubting her. He explained that he had been feeling a lot of doubt, and he ended up projecting his anxiety on to her and Bakugo.

She… was the first person he had ever been so close to, and so during the lead up to the fight, he saw her as a friend being endangered because of him. But she wasn’t just his friend. She was a Hero, too, and a strong one at that. He knew that, and he wouldn’t ever forget it again. From now on, he would see her as her whole self no matter what, rather than just individual parts depending on the situation.

Waiting a moment to make sure he had said everything he wanted to, Uraraka then took a step forward, before wrapping her arms around Deku and giving him a hug, thanking him. He beamed as he embraced her back, asking if that meant they were good, with her agreeing that they were. He mumbled that he was glad… since he had a whole bunch of other things that he had wanted to discuss with her.

Abruptly breaking away from the hug, he began rambling on and on about her battle against Bakugo and how impressed he had been with her ingenuity, remarking that she must’ve managed to surpass her previous weight limit and how it opened her up to a whole new slew of tactics. As he went on, Uraraka couldn’t help but laugh watching him. Yeah, things were back to normal.

After another minute or so, however, Uraraka’s phone began to ring. Her parents. Deku quickly excused himself, saying they would talk later, with Uraraka agreeing as he left. She answered the call with her usual cheerfulness, greeting her mother and father, who were currently on their lunch break from work, but soon, after the initial questions about how each of them were doing… they got down to what actually prompted the call, and this was when her heartful facade began breaking down.

She told them she was really sorry that he hadn’t been able to go further in the tournament, that she really had wanted to win. They responded by telling her that she had performed wonderfully, she proved she was even more amazing than they had already believed.

Uraraka thanked them but tearfully expressed that she wasn’t sure if that was something everyone else had recognized. She really wanted people to know she was worth having around at agencies for internships or as a sidekick, with them again trying to reassure by reminding her she had plenty of time to get to that point, so where was the rush?

Now no longer able to stop herself from crying, she reminded them that she really wanted to hurry up and start being able to support them financially, like she had promised them as a child. Her father specificially told her that he didn’t have to worry about that.

She’d get there in time, they knew she would. The pride they felt from seeing her do so well as she followed her dreams, that was already plenty. And with that always caring attitude of hers, they knew they would only keep feeling that pride as she become an even more incredible Hero in the future.

Outside her door, Deku frowned somewhat as he walked away from her door, having lingered for a little longer than he should’ve. Hearing her cry… it was horrible. He had been able to make up with her, and that both brought them happiness, but in the end, despite how close they were, there were some things he just wasn’t able to reach out to her about.

Meanwhile, Bakugo had moved away from the beach and towards another part of the Yuuei campus. Specifically, somewhere he really shouldn’t have been giving the time of day. Ground Beta. He’d returned there for training exercises, but the specific building he was in…the mostly destroyed building, which he felt had only been kept in the state it was in as a reminder to him, he hadn’t been in there since the day he fought Deku. The day he resolved to surpass all his classmates. The Sports Festival was supposed to be his way of demonstrating that he had achieved that. What a disaster that had ended up being.

He stared up at the hole that he had long since blew through the building with what had at the time been his strongest explosion. He had long since surpassed even that level of power… and yet… this weakness… it was worse than how he had felt after his encounter with Sludge… it was almost as bad as…

Then, as had become an annoying habit for him that day, he was called out from his brooding. He turned to meet him. Kirishima grinned upon making eye contact with the blonde, their red eyes matching in intensity, despite contrasting emotions. The Hardening user asked the recently crowned first year champion how he was holding up after everything, prompting the less than proud winner to yell that he wasn’t going to stand there and have a pity party thrown for him by the guy who didn’t even break out of the top eight.

Kirishima laughed, telling him he had him there, which was alright since he hadn’t actually come there to do anything of that sort. He had learned his lesson from last time they talked one on one that talking through his feelings wouldn’t do him any good. He didn’t want sympathy. So he was bringing him something else.

A challenge.

Bakugo grunted in confusion, asking him what the hell he meant. Kirishima restated himself, telling Bakugo he intended to challenge him. For the title of the strongest. This caused the loner teen to open his mouth to argue back, only for the redhead to cut him off by saying he didn’t mean just in regards to power. Bakugo… was the strongest by will. He had the most intense drive to become number one there. He’d achieve it no matter the cost. And that ambition, that dedication, that was something Kirishima sought to surpass.

The pyrokinetic paused, processing the declaration, before scoffing dismissively, replying that he denied Kirishima’s challenge. He wasn’t interested in fighting weaklings. This elicited a shout of anger from his classmate, who told Bakugo that he was going to prove him dead wrong. The new top student of 1A glared scorufully at the similarly spiky haired boy. Did that mean he was going to attack him, and force him to fight back? Kirishima smiled and shook his head. No, of course not. He wasn’t going to have to do anything that drastic. Because Bakugo wanted to attack him. Wasn’t that right?

Yuuei’s mightiest freshman basically snarled, gripping his fists, before pouncing forward, his hands now open wide and crackling with explosions, as he screamed at Kirishima to shut up and leave him alone. As he released an almost point black blast on his fellow youth, generating a temporary field of smoke and flames.

A second later, from out of fiery clouds emerged a stony fist that slammed into Bakugo’s face and sent him stumbling a good few feet backwards. Kirishima had activated his Quirk just as the detonation had been fired off on him. He dashed after his foe, swinging a flurry of rocky punches, all of which Bakugo now was able to avoid, his movements swift and decisive.

Then, as Kirishima’s boxing barrage began to slow, the Japanese rebel reached his hand past his and threw forth a burst right in the Ameircan Hero-in-training’s face, only for him to not even flinch at the attack and instead grab Bakugo’s arm, pull him forward, and then land a knee directly in his gut.

This blow raised Bakugo off his feet and into the air, with Kirishima following up on it by sending him crashing into the floor with yet another blow, this time to his chest. The Emitter type coughed, blooding dribbling down his mouth as he remarked that Kirishima was seriously starting to piss him off.

The sturdier teen laughed in an almost overtly obnoxious fashion, hollering back that he thought they were long past that stage. The two jumped at each other, roaring, and clashed repeatedly, trading ‘crash’ for ‘boom,’ ‘pow’ for ‘bang,’ over and over as neither party refused to back down, both of them quickly becoming bloodied, bruised, and burnt.

They weren’t really making an effort to try and avoid each other’s attacks, instead almost daring each other to go ahead and hit as hard as they could. Their battle’s brutality didn’t stop at just their own bodies, however, as soon their fight lead to the total demolishment of the entire building around them, or at least what remained of it. At some point, the noises of frustration that arose from them occasionally had transformed, slowly and then all at once, into haggard laughter.

No holding back. They gave each other absolutely everything. Because that’s what they both deserved.

This was what he had been waiting for. This is what determined his strength. And this would be what drove him to keep getting better than even that.

Yaoyorozu, Tokoyami, Todoroki…

Monoma, Uraraka, Kirishima…

All Might…

…

His fight for dominance wasn’t over just because he had wrestled to the top. In fact, that meant it was only just starting.

Chapter 19: When All is Said and Done - Aftermath of the Sports Festival

Chapter Text

None of Class 1A had expected the next morning to be as chaotic as it was. They were supposed to be getting a bit of a reprieve from all the turmoil, right?

But instead of even just one day of peace, they awoke to hearing that Bakugo and Kirishjma had never returned to the dorms. Fortunately the reasons behind their absence didn’t seem to be anything sinister. Just bewildering. They had been found unconscious in the midst of Ground Beta, having destroyed a few buildings during what seemed to have been a random and inexplicable battle.

This resulted in both being given two week’s worth of detention, and the rest of their peers hounding Kirishima for an explanation as soon as he came back later in the day. The sharp toothed teen didn’t have a lot to say, justifying his actions as him having wanted to take on the winner of the Sports Festival, being disappointed that they hadn’t gotten to fight during the tournament.

This prompted Iida to warn him that if he wished to do the same with him or Midoriya, they wouldn’t have any part in doing so if it was not academically appropriate, although Kirishima assured him he wouldn’t try anything, and that he had learned his lesson from the experience.

He feigned bashfulness and embarrassment over the incident, pretending as if he had made a mistake. But those who knew him better, namely Ashido, were aware that something had happened he was neglecting to divulge. The encounter between those two… had been more significant than he was leading on.

Their focus quickly switched from whatever drama had went on at night to what was going to be happening for the rest of the day. As reward for their struggle through such a high intensity competition, they would be allowed to rest for a bit and were free to watch the Sports Festivals of the second and third years, something Aizawa highly encouraged them to do.

He also ordered every single student who had lost before the tournament section of the festival to write him an eight page essay on why they deserved to stay in the Hero program, due by that Friday, eliciting groans of anguish from the relevant teens, which would then be silenced with just a look from their teacher. Some of them wondered, though, were they really at risk of being replaced for their less than stellar performances?

So Class 1A made their way to the grounds of the Sports Festival once again, although this time exclusively as guests. They saw a good chunk of their 1B peers already there as well, alongside the primary instructor for their class, the Blood Hero Vlad King, as well as Melissa, who quickly joined them like before. They expected to be able to just go up to the stands and get comfortable, but instead… they had to face the press.

It really should’ve been expected. They had just participated in one of the biggest annual events across the entire globe. But somehow most of them were totally underprepared. Some were able to respond quite fine to whatever inquiries people had, no matter how rude or personal they may have been.

Ashido was amiable as always, with most people seeming to like her enough from asking her just a few questions so as to not point out her being eliminated before the final event. Sero was similarly charismatic, but fell apart somewhat when people started bringing up his ‘embarrassing loss.’ Iida and Yaoyorozu too faced criticism for their performances, even more so due to their prestigious backgrounds, but seemed to handle it fairly well, despite how much it internally bothered them.

Quieter students like Ojiro and Tsu mostly managed to avoid getting flustered, but then were was people like Kirishima, who in a surprising fit of anxiety had started talking in far too strong of a southern accent for anybody to understand him, Uraraka, who couldn’t stop laughing to try and hide her nervousness, and Deku, who found himself completely frozen at first, and then mumbling at way too fast a speed and quiet a volume once someone asked him about how it seemed like his moves took inspiration from All Might’s. That indecipherable trio, however, would soon see the pressure taken off of them and reapplied to another three students: the victors.

Todoroki was nowhere to be seen, and Bakugo was about as approachable as always, not even bothering to acknowledge the reporters, who unfortunately had to relent instead of pursuing them, since they were, after all, students, and there were more than a few teachers around who wouldn’t tolerate harassment. But then there was Tokoyami. The avian youth, upon having a microphone put in front of him… he took it, much to everyone who knew him’s surprise. Tokoyami had something to say…?

Shoji, and Koda, looked forward in pride as their friend, a little shaky at first but then as resolutely as he always spoke, completely ignored the question he had actually been asked around if he thought he could’ve won if things had occured at night, and instead sated he wanted to use the platform he had received thanks to his success in order to say a few words about an issue very important to him: the world’s treatment of Heteromorphs.

Immediately, the journalist tried to take back their microphone, seemingly not wanting to have such an intense subject discussed, but Tokoyami’s grip was firm.

He explained that it wasn’t something easy to acknowledge, but all across the globe, there were people like him, born looking ‘strange’ as a result of uncontrollable mutations, that experienced discrimination and violence, and he was tired of seeing Heroes who had the ability to speak out and do something about it ignore the issue entirely.

But unlike those before him, he was going to take a proper stand. And he had friends who were going to do the same. As he began gesturing for Shoji to come over and speak, however, the reporter finally managed to steal their microphone back, and quickly departed. Many others who had just seconds ago been interested in interviewing the boy also left, resulting in him sighing. He wasn’t expecting an amazing reception, but… that cold, hm?

Shoji placed a hand on his shoulder and produced an appendage with a large grinning mouth on it. He thanked Tokoyami, with his shorter classmate responding not to yet. They still had a lot of work to do. Yaoyorozu, a distance away from the pair, regarded them with a contemptlative expression, before walking away.

Little did Tokoyami know, however, that single speech had already made waves. All the way out in Argentina, a handsome man was perched upon a skyscraper, watching the footage of the festival on his phone. He hadn’t been paying much attention to it, but that third placer in the first years… he thought he was really interesting. And not just because he thought it was cool to see someone with bird-like features do so well. As he took off into the sky with a single flap of his wide, magnificent red wings, he hummed to himself, deciding that he was going to have to keep an eye out on that one. If he didn’t… people with much worse intentions would.

Shortly after Tokoyami’s announcement, most of the rest of 1A reconvened with him. Most were supportive, especially those with Mutant type Quirks, or who otherwise had heteromorphic traits like Ashido. Some, however, were a little confused. Kaminari voiced his cluelessness: he had no idea that such bigotry was still around, he had always thought it was something of the past, especially since he had a lot of friends growing up with unusual physicalities, but they weren’t treated any different. Jiro remarked that it was different in every area: maybe his friends really were fortunate enough to grow up without facing that kind of prejudice, or maybe it was in more subtle ways he didn’t notice.

Likewise, Mineta wondered how he had never experienced that sort of thing as a kid, with Tsu noting that he had plenty of other traits for people to focus on instead. The purple haired teen gave her a glare, before Shoji approached him, telling him that just because he hadn’t gone through it, didn’t mean he too couldn’t take a stand.

Mineta stammered for a few seconds as he felt several eyes on him, and not just because Shoji was looking at him, before groaning exasperatedly and saying everything was way too serious all of a sudden and he would leave that to the guys who were good at it like him and Tokoyami. He already had to worry about finding a good internship since he hadn’t managed to make much of a name for himself in the festival, only to then spot something that made him say he had a good idea as to which one he would go for first.

Following his gaze, a few of the other male students proceeded to ogle at the passing figure of one of the many Heroes present at the event to do more personal scouting work. She was a new heroine on the scene who had attracted a lot of media attention for… certain reasons, the Big Personality Hero: Mt. Lady.

As Mineta and Kaminari rushed over to get her autograph, Sero laughed and whipped out his phone to take a picture, saying that his cousin was obsessed with her and would be totally jealous, before grinning and saying that he’d be especially jealous if he get a selfie, prompting him to jog after his more lecherous friends.

Others took more of an interest in who was accompanying her: another star rookie, albeit one some of them actually recognized: Kamui Woods! Shoji, Ojiro and Koda all went over to converse with him, as Deku explained that he was the Hero they had fought alongside with against the Volcano Thieves. Tsu noted that Mineta might’ve had the right idea, albeit not the best execution, to go around and check out internship opportunities, since there were so many Heroes around and they had some free time.

And so Class 1A largely split up in search of possible mentors, each having to consider things like how realisitic their chances were of getting accepted, how their time at any given agency would result in improvements, and also if they could even properly communicate since they might not have been able to speak the local language.

Some stayed together, namely Deku, Uraraka, Iida, Kirishima, and Ashido. The former two were too indecisive over who they wanted to seek out, while the latter three were the exact opposite. The American duo revealed that they were aware of who they wanted to intern under from before they even got into Yuuei: a New York Hero they had known for several years. As for Iida, he explained that it was his clan’s tradition for the current eldest to take care of any and all training relating to the younger members of the family, which meant he would be learning under-!

His notoriously good looking big brother, Tensei Iida, said pro Hero disclosed.

Yes, his notoriously good looking big brother, Tensei Iida, said pro Hero’s younger brother repeated.

The group of five all swerved around to see a man strikingly similar in appearance to their Class President, albeit obviously older and lacking glasses. His armor was even nearly identical to Iida’s, there being a few tweaks to accommodate the fact that his Quirk manifested on his arms instead of his legs.

Uraraka, Kirishima and Ashido remembered him from Iida’s countless mentionings, while Deku knew him not just as his friend’s brother, but as the incredible Turbo Hero: Ingenium! As the freckled boy began to geek out and ask for an autograph, Ashido, slightly smitten, remarked that handsome was an understatement, with Kirishima raising an eyebrow since he, again, was almost an exact clone of Iida.

The tall boy beamed up at his older sibling, who apologized to his brother for not being able to come in person, saying he was currently really busy with an investigation and could only find time to visit today, and even that would only be for a few hours. Iida assured his brother it was fine, however, saying that a Hero’s place was on the streets, saving people, and as long as he knew he had been watching him, that was enough. Ingenium smiled, confirming that he had, and had some notes he would share within him when they were in a more private setting, not wanting to embarrass him in front fo his friends. Which he was additionally hoping he would be introduced to.

Iida turned back to his classmates, introducing them by name, one by one, to his brother. All of them greeted the British pro enthusiastically, although Deku was still a bit preoccupied fanboying and Ashido was horribly flirtatious. Ingenium expressed his gratitude for them having looked out for his little brother, adding that, from what he saw of them in the festival, they were all truly spectacular Heroes in the making.

Suddenly getting what he felt was a worthwhile idea, Iida asked if it would be possible for any of them to accompany him in interning under Ingenium, but he was informed that, unfortunately, his agency was extremely busy at the moment and he didn’t feel like he’d be able to properly train more than one student.

Even then, he wasn’t sure how much time he’d be able to devote to mentoring Iida, with him suggesting that perhaps it would be best to wait until the spring. After all, students at Yuuei could do up two rounds of internships annually: a mandatory one at the beginning of winter, and an optional one just a little before the end of the school year.

But Iida resolutely refused! He needed to learn from him first and foremost! It was the only way he’d become as great of as Hero as him and as everyone else who had held the title of Ingenium. His brother sighed, before smiling and saying that’s about what he expected him to say. He agreed that he’d honor the tradition and take him on come December. He supposed it would make Christmas shopping easier. Still, he encouraged him to try and branch out in the future. It was always good to hear from different perspectives.

While Iida refuted this point by saying it had always worked for their family and there wasn’t any reason to do any differently, Deku mulled over the suggestion, in regards to himself. Gran Torino likely wouldn’t take internships considering he was basically retired, but even if he had been, he didn’t think he would want to be under him, or any other person that All MIght could have contacted him with. Not because he didn’t think he could learn a lot from them, but… branching away from All Might, that was what Gran Torino had advised him to do, right? Try to develop his own style… whatever that might end up looking like.

It was a little after, with he, Uraraka, and Kirishima having separated from the Iida and Ashido, that he decided to ask his spiky haired classmate who exactly he was planning on interning for, wondering if perhaps it would be someone of interest to him. Kirishima grinned and said that Ashido might have talked a little too preemptively: they hadn’t actually guaranteed their spot in the agency yet, because they had to prove themselves to somebody at Yuuei first. When Deku followed up by asking about the identity of that individual, Kirishima opened his mouth to say, only to gasp and exclaim that there he was over there.

Looking in the aforementioned direction, Deku was dumbfounded to discover that the person he was referring to was Amajiki. Not only that, but… a bunch of children were currently jumping around him, cheering, or demanding, for him to use his Quirk and do something cool. This was when he made the connection that he should’ve before. That’s what he knew him from… obviously, he had been in the last second year Sports Festival!

Out of all three years, their Sports Festival traditionally had the lowest view count, but for people like him, who were truly dedicated to everything Hero related, made sure to tune in for all of them. Amajiki had actually done incredibly well, coming in third place, and had taken down the most opponents in the final competition, which had been an extensive battle against simulated villains. First and second him, however, had accumulated more points through taking down opponents with higher levels of strength. He did have an extremely memorable Quirk, however, one that he had thought looked cool on television, but… well, it still looked cool, but it was also a little freaky.

With begrudging acceptance to the kids’ pleas, Amajiki raised his hand into the air, and from each of his fingers produced a long red tentacle resembling that of an octopus. He swung them slowly around, with each youngster either eliciting a shriek of disgust as they ran away in fear, or a squeal of excitement as they ran forward to grab at the newgrown appendages.

Kirishima cried out happily, noting that this must’ve meant there was takoyaki nearby! After all, Amajiki’s Quirk was ‘Manifest,’ which allowed him to take on attributes of anything that he has consumed. Takoyaki gave him tentacles, whereas something like fried chicken could allow him to grow wings or talons.

Uraraka shook her head disapprovingly, saying it gave her the heebie-jeebies, while Deku thought back to seeing how strong those tentacles were capable of being. He was able to use them to lift up and crush entire robots with seemingly very little effort, and here he was letting children play around with them like they were totally harmless. He supposed that was the duality of a Hero. With such a versatile power, it was really no surprise that Amajiki had performed as well as he had.

As for those above him, second place had been someone with some sort of Quirk that literally allowed him to melt and control metal, which most had assumed would net him the win, but instead, first place had gone to… a girl who also happened to be next to be only a few feet away from Amajiki, with kids also requesting her to use her abilities.

Tall, blue haired, and almost objectively adorable was Nejire Hado of Class 1A, one of the most famous Hero students in the entire world. With her sweet, airheaded personality and cute appearance, she had an undeniable charm that captured the hearts of almost everyone who saw her, and her near mastery over her immensely powerful Quirk made many believe she could easily become a top pro on the international scale in record time.

With an eager nod, she began to emit a yellow energy from arms and legs, energy that proceeded to spiral around and off her limbs. She slowly floated into the air, propelled by the force of her expulsions, a sight that caught many people’s attention. They then broke out into cheers and applause as Hado started flying around in a graceful fashion, leaving spinning trails of gold.

Uraraka was especially captivated, wondering aloud if she’d ever be able to fly around like that. Upon her utterance, however, Hado’s eyes fell upon her, much to her surprise, with this being amplified once the third year flew down right in front of her, getting close enough to where their faces were only inches apart.

The senior smiled widely before saying that her name was Uraraka, something the brunette was going to confirm, but Hado then took interest in her hands, grabbing them and inspecting them, commenting on the pads on her fingers and asking her if she could touch them to see what they felt like.

The anti-gravity girl again tried to answer, but Hado just kept asking new questions and cutting her off. Deku turned to comment to Kirishima on how she didn’t seem to have much respect for personal space, only to instead just watch in bemused silence as his friend was similarly now hounding Amajiki, albeit the elf-like teen seemed a little more used to the energy his classmate exuded than he had expected.

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder and a voice he was all too glad to hear remarking that sometimes it seemed like there was nobody normal around here. He looked back at the always smiling Togata, who gave him his most sincere congratulations for performing so well in the festival.

Deku beamed at the compliment, saying that he was extremely appreciative of the advice he had given him, expressing that it helped him a lot against Shinso and even Todoroki, although his priorities for the latter battle wound up shifting away from victory. The blonde voiced his approval for his actions against the aforementioned son of Endeavor nonetheless, however, and assured his younger peer that by the time next year rolled around, he’d clear the competition no problem.

This caused Deku to think back to the year before’s competition once again, realizing that, despite the fact that Togata should’ve been there… he had no recollection of his participation. Upon bringing up this detail, the 3B student responded by saying that he simply hadn’t been involved.

Deku raised an eyebrow, asking why this was: had he been sick during the time of the event? Togata shook his head, explaining that his mentor had deemed the competition ‘unnecessary,’ with him believing that the only year he needed to worry about was his final one. Thus, he had instead spent that week doing nothing but intensive training. Deku blanked, a little flabbergasted that Togata had learned from such a strict person considering his carefree attitude, before asking if it was really a good idea to rely exclusively on performing well in this last Sports Festival.

The older boy stroked his chin in faux contemplation, repeating the question, before flashing his junior a grin and proclaiming that when one was as strong as he was, there was no risk whatsoever! He wasn’t just going to do well, he was going to win the entire thing flawlessly!

Deku gawked, a little taken aback by Togata’s confidence, seeing it as downright co*cky. He asked how he could be so sure, especially since he would be up against people like Amajiki and Hado. Togata smirked again, before suddenly disappearing from view, leaving only on his school uniform behind and making his fellow All Might Fan Club member gawk in shock.

The green haired youth would then hear shouting from up above, prompting him to look up and see Togata high up in the air, wearing a white bodysuit. Deku stuttered out a question, asking him if he possessed some sort of teleportation Quirk, with this hypothesis immediately being denied.

Togata called out to Amajiki and Hado to help him show off a little, with both fellow young adults nodding and breaking away from Kirishima and Uraraka. The latter sent multiple tentacles soaring up at his boyfriend, who proceeded to completely phase through one and then land on another, running down on it, before flipping off to avoid a massive energy attack from his female colleague. Everybody within the vicinity of the demonstration watched in awe as Togata dove all the way to the ground, only to fly through it like a ghost, before popping up in between Amajiki and Hado, wrapping his arms around them and pulling them into sidehugs.

Deku was speechless after the display, having been barely able to keep track of Togata’s movements. His speed… not only did it far surpass what he was currency capable of, but he doubted even Iida was that fast. As Kirishima and Uraraka stepped beside him, he asked if Togata was perhaps a member of the Big Three of his own class.

Hado answered for him, saying that he technically indeed was, but that he belonged to a more important trio. Amajiki continued, explaining that while there were several ‘Big Threes,’ the three absolute strongest students in the entire school were given a different title exclusive to them. Togata concluded, revealing that it was the three of them that currently held it: they were Yuuei’s Trinity!

Meanwhile, Present Mic slammed the door behind him as he ran into the Sports Festival stadium’s resting room for faculty, where Aizawa was present alongside Principal Nezu, Bubble Girl, Cementoss, Ectoplasm, and a few other teachers. The usually much more excitable blonde groaned in exasperation, saying that it was both his favourite and least favourite time of the year, since although he loved all the energy, he absolutely despised the press and how invasive they could get, with this being the worst he had ever seen them.

He went on about how what they were most obsessed with this time was a supposed emerging scandal about how Yuuei was letting talent slip through their fingers because of the faults in their entrance program, since somebody with an objectively powerful Quirk like Shinso had ended up in General Studies instead of the Hero program. Several others immediately claimed to have encountered the same thing. People kept asking over and over why that kid hadn’t made it into the Hero course, seeing as how he had managed to come out ahead of thirty three out of the forty kids who had.

Aizawa, however, instead of joining in on his fellow staff’s complaining, cut through the conversation with the monotone utterance of a question: why not give him a chance? The room went quiet for a few seconds, before Ectoplasm asked if this meant he was planning on demoting one of his current students, or perhaps expelling them. Aizawa, not confirming or denying anything, simply said that he thought it was worth looking into.

Nezu then spoke up, telling Aizawa that if he really did think Shinso showed promise, then he permitted him to conduct any kind of evaluation of him he wanted, trusting his judgement and decision-making. The Hero known as Eraser Head nodded, while Mic asked if in that case could he also handle any further reporters that came their way.

Far away from Yuuei, inside a bar only open to those who knew of its existence, Volcano sat in civilian clothes next to a few other casually dressed criminals, watching the television, which was currently playing highlights from the Sports Festival. One of the thugs announced his apologies to Iwata for having made fun of him for losing to ‘the spectacular bone breaker,’ saying that the kid was absolutely insane. That lack of self preservation combined with his destructive potential… he would be a totally frightening villain, that was for sure.

Another crook countered by saying he himself would be way more afraid of that Todoroki brat, claiming he must have been some sort genetically engineered superbaby, there was no other way he could have had as perfect of a Quirk as he did. Endeavor definitely had the money to do such a thing, after all.

Volcano, however, disagreed with both, arguing that the real menace among them was Bakugo. He wasn’t the strongest, despite his victory, but he was the one most committed to winning. To come out on top in a battle… he could tell just by watching him that the kid cared about that more than literally anything else. It wasn’t just that hypothetically he could be a horrifying villain, he already seemed like one the way he was.

Suddenly, a new voice creeped into the conversation, one that still sent shivers down his companions’ side. The man with a hand over his face stepped into the room while scratching his neck, and brought up that while it was interesting to talk about recruiting from the side of good… they already had the next member of their team figured out, remember?

He told Volcano and ‘Dozaemon,’ a bald man with blue eyes and a skeletal appearance, that they would be the ones accompanying him for back up, with the two immediately agreeing. Within the next little while, once they had managed to track their target down precisely, they’d be heading to the United Kingdom.

Elsewhere, in the city of Harbin, China, Todoroki shuffled through the bustling, frigid streets of the metropolis. It had been sometime since he was in his home country, having not bothered to return to visit since the start of the year. His elder sister, Fuyumi, who took care of their family’s estate despite no one ever really being around, had been incredibly happy to see him, and had tried to talk to him about school and the Sports Festival, beginning to say how proud she was, but… he had sort of brushed her off, even though he hadn’t meant to.

He asked her the address of the hospital their mother was staying at. She had been astonished. Rightfully so. He wanted to see her? After a decade of nothing? How could she not be confused? She had taken almost a minute to respond, but she eventually answered him, providing him with the desired information. He couldn’t tell what emotions exactly she was feeling, but he decided that he might stay another day, even after he had finished what he came to do. It wasn’t as if he had anything he needed to get back to Yuuei for, anyways.

Before long, he had arrived in front of the building that was his destination. The Xuehua District Psychiatric Hospital. He slowly made his way inside, greeting the receptionist at the front, who had confirmed his meeting the day prior when he called after the ending of the Sports Festival. He made his way through the halls, over to the room that he had been told the number of. As he got closer and closer, the memories started to flash before his eyes rapidly once again, causing his pace to stagger slightly. Could… he really do this? Talk to her… after all this time?

He…

No. No, he needed to do this. If he wanted to become the person he wanted to be… then doing this was necessary.

He stepped up to the door, steadied his trembling body as much as he could, and then reached forward. With one last pointless swallow, he twisted the knob, opened the door, and…

And there she was. She was sitting in a chair, looking out the window. She had a nice view of a park next to the hospital. People… families, together. He managed to will himself to speak, or at least make a sound.

She looked straight at him, her soft eyes meeting his inherited gray and foreign blue. She… looked so much older. He must have, too.

He breathed in… and then walked forward.