Chapter 18: Obstacles and Fist Fights
"Regular speech,"
"Flashback speech,"
'Inner dialogue,'
'Phone Text Chat'
Izuku didn't have as much time as he would have liked to prepare for the sports festival, but that was mainly because of his stay in the hospital. On the day between the sports festival and their impromptu meeting with Giran, Izuku and Himiko had trained twice as hard as they usually did.
His muscles had never ached so terribly, even after All Might's Aim to Pass American Dream Plan. Himiko was a slave driver compared to the pro. Izuku still had bruises from the places her plastic knife had hit.
Now here he was, shaking like a leaf next to Kacchan, all of the students from the other U.A. courses glaring daggers at them. Kacchan had been extremely mad when he heard he would have to give an opening speech… along with the other top-scoring hero course candidate.
He had glared around at everyone, waiting for the offending person to step forward, but his anger reached a fever pitch when Izuku was the one to step up.
"This is some fucking bullshit," Kacchan growled, his snarling face very alarming for Izuku.
"Uh, K-Kacchan."
"Hah? The fuck you want, Deku!?"
"N-No, it's nothing," Izuku looked away and saw Himiko waving frantically from the class 1-A lineup, her arm nearly clipping the student to her right. He sheepishly waved back.
"Ah! Young love!" Midnight made a very lascivious noise, and Izuku blushed furiously. "Tell me, young man, how far have you and your girlfriend gone?"
Izuku sputtered and turned bright red. "I have no idea what you mean!"
Midnight smiled all the larger, but she gave him a break and turned to the assembled students. "This is a bit unusual, but we'll have our two hero course representatives give their speeches to start off the festival!"
Izuku looked to Kacchan, "uh, w-who goes f-first?"
"Me, of course! You damn nerd!"
Izuku knew that would be a horrible idea, but no matter what order they went in, he was sure Kacchan would piss everyone off. So he tensed very tightly when the blond boy walked up the platform steps and approached the microphone.
"I just wanna say, I'm gonna win."
All of the courses burst out into a cacophony of yelling voices and thinly veiled threats against Kacchan's life.
'I knew it.' Izuku dropped his head into his hands and suppressed the need to cry, 'he just made this ten times harder for me.'
"Whatever," Kacchan gave a thumbs down at the crowd, "just shut up and get out of my way, ya damn extras!"
And that was the final nail in the coffin; the crowd would be pissed no matter what Izuku said, and he was sure Kacchan had just painted a target on all of 1-A's backs.
'He probably wanted to do that.'
Izuku made his way to the platform. Kacchan's shoulder impacted his as they passed one another, and he smirked, "Top that, Deku!"
Izuku suppressed the instinct to shout in his face that he had no reason to want to one-up the other boy, but he knew his old childhood friend wouldn't listen. If the crowd from the side of the platform was intimidating, it was nothing compared to having everyone glare at him after Kacchan's "speech."
'I bet he did that on purpose too.'
Izuku gulped, looking out over the faces. He could see all of his classmates smiling piteously at him, having to follow Kacchan's little statement, but Himiko smiled wide, her fangs flashing in the sun. Her blushing red face and fanged smile brought a smile to Izuku's face.
"I-I am I-Izuku Midoriya, the joint h-hero course representative! A-And firstly, I want to apologize for Kacch— I mean Katsuki's rude declaration. I-I know that everyone is on edge after the a-attack at U.S.J., but the sports festival is e-exactly what everyone n-needs to unwind after such an awful event. Class 1-A, as many of you know, was the focus of the attack, and many of us were hurt very badly, including myself. So please, let's have a great time!" Izuku's speech started out very shaky, and he stuttered a lot, but his gaze became sharp and focused at the end. It seemed to sap out mostly everyone's anger and turn it into a buzzing expectancy at the festival getting underway.
Izuku made his way down the platform and jumped slightly when all of class 1-A surrounded him.
"That was super cool!" Kaminari grinned at him.
"You were shaking like a leaf at the beginning, but you were all like, 'Let's have a great time.'" Ashido jumped excitedly in place, and her face became a facsimile of Izuku's as she mimicked him.
"I'm so glad you got everyone to stop being mad at us," Uraraka sighed in relief.
"I'll say Bakugou went a little overboard," Mashirao laughed, looking back at the angry boy nervously.
"What the hell did you say? You damn useless tail bastard!" Kacchan shouted over the jostling crowd that was 1-A, his eyes screaming murder.
A familiar delicate hand slipped into Izuku's, and he looked down at Himiko, "You were really cool up there, Izu. I'm proud."
"T-Thanks, Himi-chan," Izuku smiled down at her and scratched the back of his head with his free hand.
"Aaaaaaw," Ashido squealed, holding her cheeks. "You two are so cute!"
Izuku went red, realizing he'd used Himiko's nickname in front of everyone.
Midnight's whip cracked from the stage, and she glared down at them all, the perfect image of a dominatrix, "All of you back into formation; we still have the first event left to announce."
"Yes, ma'am!" Everyone yelled, clearly none of them keen to earn a possible lashing.
She smiled in delight at their immediate compliance, "You all are so nice and obedient; I love it."
Izuku looked at the woman, very confused, but she continued.
"Each year, the events of the sports festival are selected at random! There are three stages to the sports festival. The first two are preliminaries consisting of randomly selected events, and the final is battle trials between all of the remaining contestants. So, without further ado! Let's begin!" She motioned with her whip at the screen behind her, and a series of event titles spun on screen until it finally landed on obstacle race. "There you have it, everyone; the first event is an obstacle race! Head to your class locker rooms to prepare!"
Himiko bumped Izuku's shoulder as the class made their way to the locker room, "this is gonna be fun. Huh, Izu?"
"Y-Yeah, but I think maybe we should take it a little seriously." Izuku smiled at her, "But you're really talented, so I doubt you'll have too much trouble."
Himiko put a finger on her chin and thought, "Mmm, I don't know about that. My quirk won't help me at all in an obstacle race. I don't think I'll use it during the festival if I can help it; at least, I won't take blood from anyone."
Izuku frowned, "huh? Why wouldn't you use your quirk?"
She stared at him as if he were stupid, "Izu, people aren't as understanding as you are of quirks like mine."
"I-I know, but… how can anyone see how amazing you are or how much your quirk doesn't define who you are as a person if you don't show it? I know I don't have much room to talk because I didn't grow up the way you did, but I want you to live free of any burdens. I know you see your quirk as a burden, but I want you to use your ability as much as you want without worrying about what someone will think."
Himiko stalled for a moment to think about that. She leaned lightly against the wall, twirling a strand of hair as the rest of the class went to prepare in the locker room. A few students passed the pair and gave them curious glances before Himiko glared at them, sending the students hurrying away.
"You might be right, but I don't think I'm ready just yet," Himiko whispered as the last of the students went out of sight, her hands playing with the hem of her sports jacket.
Izuku smiled down at her as he leaned against the wall next to her, "I understand."
Himiko slid over to Izuku and pulled his hand into hers so that she could drag him into the locker room. The atmosphere inside was heavy with anticipation, and everyone seemed to be on edge. Surprisingly, Todoroki broke the heavy silence when he approached Izuku and Himiko, his glare putting the shorter boy on edge.
"I just want to say that, objectively, I'm stronger than you."
Izuku blinked, 'what?'
"Y-Yeah, I suppose you're right; I-I mean, I don't even have a proper handle on my quirk yet, and—"
"That being said, I'm going to beat you." Todoroki's serious expression took Izuku aback. Had he pissed the boy off some time and not realized it? The boy turned his back on him without waiting for an answer and started to walk away, "That's all I wanted to say."
"H-Hold on, Todoroki!" The scarred boy stopped and looked at Izuku over his shoulder, "I-I don't know why you're saying something like you're stronger than me. I thought it was plain to see, so there's no need to state the obvious."
"Hey, Midoriya, there's no need to be that way, man!" Kirishima stood from his chair, trying to ease the tension.
"No! This is exactly what we need. This is about making our entrance into the world of heroes, and at least for now, we are all competing against each other. But that being said, Todoroki, I'm going to give it my all, and I'll beat you!"
The gray eye Izuku could see from over the boy's shoulder studied him closely, but after a second, he turned away without another word.
If the atmosphere of the locker room was tense before, it was no comparison to the feeling in the room after Todoroki's and Izuku's declarations. Although, Himiko didn't seem to notice as she clung happily to his arm.
"Uh, Himiko? Aren't you a little too relaxed?"
She smiled at him, "Nah! A dumb obstacle race is no problem compared to a knife fight or taking out a bunch of gangsters."
Iida spewed a mouthful of water from the bottle he had been drinking from, "K-knife fights? Gangsters? Toga-san! We knew Mr. Aizawa said you were transferred with some rehabilitation program in mind, but what sort of past do you have?!"
Himiko flinched, clearly not realizing just how loud she had been, "Ah, I kind of… well that is I—"
"Ah, she uh kind of ditched out of her school when she was still attending, and All Might and everyone at U.A. were willing to take her in. As for the gangster and knife fight stuff. Himiko was in trouble when I met her again, and the police helped." Izuku stumbled through the hasty and poorly crafted half-truth, feeling terrible he was basically lying to one of his new friends. But it was for Himiko's sake, so he would do anything.
"I see," Iida took in the information for a moment before coming to a logical conclusion, "so she left her studies behind and became a vigilante. Is that correct?"
"Y-Yeah, it was something like that," Himiko didn't meet the boy's eyes, but before the interaction could go on any longer, the intercom buzzed.
"Alright! Is everyone ready to rock?!" Present Mic called out over the loudspeakers, "It's time for our first-years to show us some of their moves!"
"You're too loud," the ragged voice of their homeroom teacher complained.
The intercom clicked off, and Izuku frowned up at it, "Was that our call to go to the starting area?"
"I suppose so," Iida said, smiling at the pair. "Good luck to both of you."
"O-Oh, you too!"
Their class walked back down the corridor toward the race's starting line. It seemed odd that the majority of the classes had been jammed into a tight corridor, and not all had been put on equal footing at the start. But it made a certain kind of sense. Heroes don't always have favorable conditions when they participate in operations, so in a way, this small detail seemed to reflect that.
"Do you want to work together," Izuku looked down at Himiko, who grinned back, "I know I said we're all competing against each other, but I can't imagine competing against you."
"Of course, Izu! I'm your partner, so there's no reason not to stick together!"
He smiled at her and crouched down, "Just like at the beach."
Himiko's feral grin spread over her face as she got his meaning.
"Alright, everybody, put your best foot forward and get to running!" Present Mic called out, his voice booming and rattling everyone's teeth.
All the students looked around, confused at the impromptu shout, except the students of class 1-A, who leapt into action. Todoroki froze everyone's feet to the ground and shot forward above them on a path of ice that carried him through the trapped and annoyed students.
Izuku and Kacchan were the next to act. Kacchan shot forward, right on Todoroki's heels, as explosions propelled him forward. Izuku was right next to him, One for All crackling as eight percent allowed him to keep pace with the two, even with Himiko on his back. Tsuyu, Aoyama, Uraraka, Sero, and Mashirao all soared over the crowd of trapped, jostling people. Kirishima, Mina, Iida, Sato, and Shoji all immediately shattered the ice that had crept up their feet, allowing them to navigate through the still-trapped students.
"The fuck?! This is a goddamn race, Deku! Not a fucking date for you two assholes!" Kacchan screamed in impotent rage at the pair, his neck muscles bulging under the strain.
Izuku looked at Kacchan apologetically but caught sight of Himiko's middle finger raised up toward the explosive boy, a feral grin on her face.
"Please don't antagonize him more than necessary." Izuku pleaded with his girlfriend, but she just laughed in response.
"But it's fun! Look at his face. He's absolutely pissed, and he's even madder that we're passing his ass!"
Himiko waved at the blonde boy as they pulled ahead, and suddenly, a wave of falling steel rained down on them. Todoroki had frozen a robot Izuku recognized as a zero-pointer from the entrance exam and left it just brittle enough that it was coming down on the few students that his ice hadn't stopped.
"Up the leg and onto the shoulder," Himiko commanded.
Izuku complied without thinking, his foot planting into the crumbling leg of the robot, letting him spring up onto the metal monstrosity's shoulder. With their path clear now, Izuku used the height advantage to shoot over the remaining zero-pointers so that they could catch up with Todoroki again.
"A flawless show of agility from Izuku Midoriya from class 1-A!" Present Mic called over the stadium speakers, his voice making Izuku's bones vibrate, "he cleared those robots and Shoto Todoroki's traps in an instant! All while carrying a girl on his back! What a lady's man."
Todoroki glared at them, clearly surprised Izuku could keep up, even with an extra person on his back.
"You need to take this more seriously, Midoriya. Carrying that girl on your back is a pointless waste of energy." Todoroki's ice shot toward them, but just as it passed halfway between them, Himiko let fly a knife that impacted Todoroki's leg, throwing him off balance and sending him tumbling.
"Uh oh! Himiko Toga, a new addition to class 1-A, takes out Shoto Todoroki! Looks like she's showing she can support her man just fine!" Present Mic continued, "I hope their teamwork can help them through the next obstacle, The Fall!"
"H-Himiko! You can't throw knives at the other students!"
Izuku was about to stop and help the boy, but Himiko karate chopped his head, "of course, I didn't," she held up one of the knives, and he was relieved to see it was one of their plastic training ones.
"Oh, thank god." Izuku continued forward, his momentum never stopping as he leapt between the platforms of the pitfall obstacle; its gorge-like trenches were so deep and wide that they made him sweat as he focused on each landing. "Sorry, I doubted you."
"Nah, it's fine! I do have real knives on me, and I was thinking about stabbing him for saying us helping each other was pointless. Although, it's way funnier he had to eat his words when I helped you immediately," Himiko laughed, twirling a plastic knife in her hands as Izuku leapt from platform to platform.
"Whoa! The dynamic duo clear The Fall in record time, and now they're at the next obstacle! The Minefield!" Present Mic went into an explanation of the low, intense concussive blasts the mines would release, relieving Izuku's worries at them both being blown to smithereens.
They had cleared the pitfall rather easily, but another excited shout from Present Mic drew their attention, "What's this!? It looks like class 1-A's Shoto Todoroki and Katsuki Bakugou are no longer fighting one another but focusing on overtaking the pair in first and second place!"
Izuku looked over his shoulder to see the two boys hot on their heels, murder in Kacchan's eyes and frosty determination coloring Todoroki's.
He upped the pace of his approach to the minefield. Izuku could feel Himiko's arms pulling at his shoulders frantically, "Izu! The mines! You can't dodge them all; they get denser the farther in you get!"
Izuku grinned madly back at her, a crazy idea forming in his head, "We aren't going to dodge them!"
"W-What!"
Izuku slammed his foot forcefully down on the first mine he approached, leaning forward to put the force of the blast on his body alone and tensing his muscles to protect his body from the shock of the impact. They shot forward, Izuku's chest throbbing a bit, but compared to Himiko's kicks and blunted knife stabs, this pain was nothing.
In a single step, he had used the force of the concussive blast to propel them forward. They had cleared a quarter of the field in an instant, and Izuku slammed his foot down into another mine.
"You bastard copycat!" Kacchan called after him.
Present Mic boomed over the loudspeakers in abject bewilderment, "I can't believe it! Izuku Midoriya is using the mines as springboards to boost his speed! He's propelling himself forward with explosions like his classmate Katsuki Bakugou! What the heck have you been teaching these kids, Eraserhead!"
For the first time since the race had started, Mr. Aizawa, who was supposed to be announcing alongside Present Mic, spoke, "This isn't the result of any teaching on my part; this is the cumulation of experiences through battles that they've been forced to endure. But Midoriya and Toga have by far the most practical battle experience of anyone here, so it's no surprise they're ahead of the pack."
Himiko laughed in Izuku's ear, "You hear that, Izu?! We're experienced! Who're the problem children now?!"
Izuku panted with focus. He tensed his every muscle after each explosion, the force of locking his muscles each time making his movements stiffer and stiffer. His shoes were in ruins, and his feet felt like they would fall off at any moment, but he felt so excited. The minefield was almost gone now, and there was only a distance of maybe thirty yards between them and the race's finish line. He could hear Kacchan screaming, letting off explosions, and the crackle of Todoroki's ice as the two started to gain on him.
"I think it's still us," Izuku laughed with her, his feet aching and his heart pounding wildly.
"You bet we are!" Himiko whooped as one last explosion carried them free of the minefield.
"I'm gonna murder the both of you when I catch you!" Kacchan's explosions intensified, his screams of anger colored by obvious pain as he pushed his quirk harder for more speed.
Izuku was torn. On the one hand, he wanted to win the obstacle race with Himiko, but on the other hand, he couldn't let Kacchan blow his arms off just because he was mad.
"Himiko."
"What's up, Izu? We gonna rub it in his face a little more?" Himiko smiled at him from over his shoulder but frowned when he didn't answer, "What's the matter?"
"I know how Kacchan is. If I win this, he'll just get worse and worse; he'll even hurt himself just so I don't win," Izuku looked back at his childhood friend, and sure enough, he could see the skin on the palm of the boy's hand cracking and bleeding.
"So what? From all the stuff you've told me about that jerk, he's treated you like garbage, worse than garbage! Not even half a year ago, he beat you, called you names, and told you to kill yourself! He's a monster, and he doesn't deserve your concern."
Izuku stopped and crouched down to let Himiko off his back, "I know, but… I can't just ignore someone when they're clearly hurting themselves. You go ahead and finish the race; I'll handle Kacchan."
Himiko sighed and smiled up at Izuku as he stood to face Kacchan, "I know you can't; that's exactly why I love you so much. Just don't let him step all over you, or I'll have to gouge his eyes out."
Izuku laughed nervously but went ramrod straight when she kissed him. It was one thing to kiss in private, but to have his girlfriend kiss him in front of a stadium packed to the brim with civilians and pro heroes.
"What's this? Aww, It looks like the dynamic duo in the lead of this race are stalled at the finish line, locking lips. Ya gotta love to see a hero couple!" Present Mic called over the loudspeakers, making Izuku's face burn all the brighter.
"Love ya, Izu!" Himiko called back to him as she ran for the finish line's corridor. Todoroki ran past Izuku, but Kacchan stopped.
"You're dead, nerd!"
"You really need to take an anger management course or go to a therapist," Izuku ducked as one of Kacchan's fists sailed over his head.
"First place in the sports festival's obstacle race goes to class 1-A's newest addition, Himiko Toga! And closely behind her is Shoto Todoroki!" Present Mic's voice boomed.
"God damn it, Deku! You fuck up everything! First, you get into U.A. when you should've just stayed a fucking quirkless nobody, then you rub your stupid god damn quirk you've been hiding from me in my face, and then you have the fucking nerve to get the same score as me on the fucking entrance exam!"
"Is that what you think I did? Kacchan, contrary to your belief, my life does not revolve around you! You've known I've always wanted to be a hero. I didn't hide my quirk from you, and I can't help we got the same score on the exam!"
Kacchan stomped forward, grabbed a fistful of Izuku's sport jacket, and roared in his face, "I don't give a damn about the shit you're spewing Deku! All you ever do is fuck with me and rub it in my goddamn face."
Izuku cringed at the volume, "Do you just not hear anything I ever say, or do you just ignore it?"
Kacchan swung at Izuku again, but this time, when Izuku ducked the blow, he punched the other boy on reflex; blood stained Kacchan's lip, "Oh my god! Kacchan, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to—"
An explosion to his face blinded Izuku, and another fist to the face sent him stumbling backward in shock.
"You did it now, Deku. I only planned on beating your ass like I usually do, but now I'm gonna fuckin put you in a hospital!"
'Fuck this!' Izuku tackled his childhood friend and planted a fist in his ribs.
"I think Himiko was right; you're only going to understand anything if I beat it into you!"
"Fucking finally!" Kacchan slammed his head into Izuku's, making him stumble back. Kacchan stood, his snarling grin reminding Izuku of the way he used to look when he beat Izuku up.
Izuku let One for All spread through him as he jumped back at his childhood friend turned bully, his foot connecting with his face. But he was immediately enveloped in another explosion that scorched his chest and allowed Kacchan to land his own blow to Izuku's ribs.
His chest stung; the blow made it difficult to draw breath without wincing, but Izuku continued his assault, spinning to draw momentum into a sideways kick. It was caught, however, and Kacchan used his own momentum to slam Izuku into the ground.
What followed was a series of punches, kicks, and cheap shots that could barely be called a fight as the pair fell to the ground. A fist to the face, a kick to the ribs, an elbow to the jaw, and another kick to the head all marked the single most brutal and uncoordinated fight Izuku had ever been in, followed only by his terrible fight with Nomu at U.S.J. If what had happened at U.S.J. could even be called a fight.
Now Izuku's back, side, chest, and everywhere else ached, but he fought on, putting the boy in an arm bar. His leg muscles tensed, and Izuku used the restraining hold for leverage to punch Kacchan in the stomach.
Air whooshed from the boy's lungs, and they both gasped for air as students started to pass them for the finish line.
"F-Finish t-this later?" Izuku gasped and winced. Present Mic announced each person who crossed the finish line while also narrating the pair's fight.
Kacchan scowled up at the clear sky overhead but sighed irritably, "Fine."
They both stood to their feet and limped forward as fast as they could. While their fight had gone on for no less than a minute, they had barely both finished in twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth, respectively. Kacchan scowled, holding his ribs in pain while Izuku did the same.
Himiko met Izuku with a look of worry that made the boy smile, "so you just ended up fighting him, huh?"
"Y-Yeah," Izuku looked to the side, ashamed, "it kinda turned out like that."
Himiko turned his bruised face to her and smiled, "Hey, if you weren't going to do it, I was."
Izuku smiled back at her but winced when his cheek throbbed at the flexing of his facial muscles.
Himiko's blush intensified, and she leaned forward, purring in his ear, "I'm definitely going to cut him for hurting you, but I gotta say, I'm a little turned on by how beat up you are now. I think maybe when we get a little break, we should find somewhere quiet and—"
"Well, ladies and germs, I gotta say this was one of the more interesting first events of the U.A. Sports Festival I've ever seen! An explosive start, a sudden upset, love, and an old-fashioned scrap fight, but all good things must come to an end!" Present Mic's voice helped cool the simmering heat in Izuku's face at his girlfriend's unfinished suggestion, but his embarrassment quickly turned to fear at hearing Midnight's explanation of the next event as the wheel spun to announce a cavalry battle.
"The second event is a cavalry battle! Each team may consist of at least two contestants: one rider and one horse, but you are allowed a maximum of four! Each student is given a point value and a team's value depending on where their members finished in preliminaries. The forty-second place finish is worth five points, with five points added to the point value with each cascading place. The first-place finisher, however, is worth ten million!"
Izuku could feel himself shrink as all eyes fell on him and Himiko, the stares of each person making him feel as if he were back in Aldera Junior High again. He hadn't felt so small in a very long time; it made him shiver, but Himiko took his hand and gave him her fanged grin.
"We got this, Izu! Same as always!"
'How did I ever live without her?'
Midnight continued her breakdown of the rules, "You kids gotta remember, hero work is about having all eyes on you, and no one has more eyes on them than the one at the top! That being said, individual point values are added together to reach each team's total. These point values are displayed via headbands. The goal of the game is to steal headbands in order to raise the team's score. Contestants are not allowed to make each other fall on purpose. Even if a team loses their headband or falls down, they can compete until the thirty-minute time limit is up. We will now allow the contestants a ten-minute window to establish teams; remember, this is all about strategy, so make sure you make the best choice possible!"
"So, who should we get Izu? Or are we just runnin with you and me again?" Himiko bounced in excitement as she smiled up at him.
He had no idea how she could be so excited when so many people were gunning for them.
"Well, we need maneuverability, but we have that with me. If you stay focused the entire time, I think with your situational awareness, our headband will be hard for anyone to take. But in terms of firepower, we're lacking a bit, so maybe we could get someone who could compensate. I would say Todoroki, but I have a feeling he wouldn't help us. Kacchan is out for… obvious reasons." The boy in question was glaring daggers at the pair as he assembled his own team, "I think he's going to try extra hard to get our headbands anyway, so we'll have to keep an eye on his team."
Himiko bounced on the tips of her toes and held her hand up as if she were trying to ask a teacher a question. "What about the round-cheek girl? She can make stuff weightless. I could have her use it on my knives so I could throw them super fast!"
Izuku pondered, gripping his chin with his thumb and index finger. "That could work, but who should we fill the last spot with?"
Himiko stood next to Izuku and comically mimicked his thinking pose. Suddenly, Izuku caught a flash of someone he hadn't seen in a while and went over to talk to him. It was pure luck that the boy had the quirk to run the ultimate offense and defense.
Chapter 19: Two Izuku's are better than One
"Regular speech,"
"Flashback speech,"
'Inner dialogue,'
'Phone Text Chat'
"Are you sure this is a good idea, Midoriya?" Uraraka looked up at one of the two greenettes on her shoulder, clearly unsure which one was Izuku and which was Toga. Himiko had taken blood from him so that she had all of his new bruises, and to make the plan work, they had gotten new gym uniforms. It was mainly to replace the ones Izuku had ruined and make distinguishing them even harder.
"O-Of course I'm sure," both Izuku's smiled down at her worriedly.
The response didn't seem to reassure her, and she seemed even more confused by how perfectly in sync the two were.
Izuku himself could hardly believe he wasn't just looking in a mirror when gazing at Himiko, and if he didn't recognize the sharp gleam behind her eye, he was sure he wouldn't be able to tell them apart either. It also helped he was the real Izuku, so he didn't have to second guess himself.
"I still don't know why I'm here," Hitoshi Shinso was the left horse, carrying one of the Izuku's.
"Because you're my friend!" The Izuku's chorused, catching the purple-haired boy off guard by the sincerity and the perfect mimicry.
"That's creepy." Shinso looked at one of the Izuku's, "Can she read your mind or something when she copies you?"
"No, I just know Izu really well," the Izuku on Uraraka's shoulder giggled in a very un-Izukulike manner.
"Besides Shinso, I think you'll be a perfect foil for this team! Himiko will be the rider, I'll be the brute force, Uraraka will primarily handle movement, and you'll be the failsafe." Izuku beamed down at the boy, who seemed very confused.
"But, you're both on top like a rider. "Why did you bother having her turn into you?"
Uraraka nodded, "I was wondering about that too."
Izuku and Himiko had gone off into one of the halls leading to the bathrooms, and while Midnight had come to see where they were going, Himiko had diverted her. She had said she and Izuku were going to get some alone time before the cavalry battle got underway.
Midnight had just smiled lecherously and approved of the pair's voraciousness.
Obviously, they were using the opportunity to have Himiko turn into Izuku where no one would notice and so that no one would really know which one was the real Izuku. Both Izukus had Himiko's plastic knives, just so it would be all the harder for people to tell the pair apart.
Izuku smiled deviously, "Midnight said there can only be one rider, and the rider is the one with the headbands. She didn't say anything about having someone on the same level as the rider. Throw in Himiko's shapeshifting quirk, and no one will know if the Izuku with the headbands is the real one or not."
Shinso seemed to think about that for a second, "that isn't a half-bad idea, but it'll really only work against your own classmates who know your ability enough to be wary. But putting that aside, why did you pick me? You don't really know me, and as far as I know, you don't even know my quirk."
The Izuku on Shinso's shoulder looked away sheepishly, "well… I may or may not have asked around about you when I got into the U.A. to see if you did, too. The general course students had a few things to say about you."
Shinso grimaced, his purple eyes darkening, "I'll bet they did."
"Yeah, sorry about that, but I'm really glad you decided to help us!" Izuku smiled down at the boy.
"Yeah, well, it was either this or my idea, and I would've just pissed off a lot of people doing what I had planned," Shinso looked off to the side, eyeing a few students oddly.
"What did you plan on doing?" Uraraka shifted uncomfortably as Himiko leaned down to poke her cheek curiously. Seeing himself do something so out of character was odd, but Uraraka didn't complain.
"I was going to make a few people work for me and then ditch them once we made it into the finals."
Izuku thought about that. It wasn't exactly a bad plan, and it would most likely have worked very well since no one but the general studies students would know about Shinso's ability.
It seemed Izuku's curiosity about a boy he had only met once had paid off.
But he would be lying if he said his only interest in the boy was just because of the quirk he had. Shinso seemed like the type of person who didn't care much for his quirk because of how he had been treated just for having it, and Izuku could sympathize with that. While he didn't have a quirk, Izuku had been treated horribly most of his life just for not having one. Himiko and All Might had extended their hands to him, so maybe Izuku could help Shinso, too, somehow.
"Well, you're with us for now, so I hope we can work well together," Izuku beamed down at the boy, obviously catching him off guard if the stunned look on his face was anything to go by.
"Y-Yeah."
A loud buzzer sounded throughout the stadium, drawing everyone's attention. Present Mic boomed over the loudspeaker, "Oh! Looks like time's up, everyone! I hope you're happy with your groups because we're about to get this show on the road!"
Midnight stepped forward, her hips swaying, and smirked at the assembled students, "Ready? Begin!"
Immediately, every single group made a B-line for their team. At the forefront of the charge was Kacchan, his eyes alight with murder and the bruises from their fight shining a splotchy purple.
Startlingly, he stared directly at the real Izuku; it seemed like he could somehow tell them apart. Of course, leave it to Kacchan to be able to pick the original from a copycat.
Todoroki was right behind Kacchan, staying a bit back to watch the inevitable shitshow that would ensue.
"Uraraka, make these lighter," both Izuku's leaned down, offering handfuls of knives to the girl.
"You got it!"
It wasn't much, but the slight weight of the plastic knives was suddenly gone, and the two Izukus got started.
Izuku clumsily aimed the knives at Kacchan's team, not particularly aiming for one of them. His first throw went wide and slammed into a student's forehead from class B. The second throw went right on target, but Kirishima had seen the first throw and hardened his body. The knife thumped harmlessly against his chest.
Himiko's throws were precise, almost surgical. Her first knife went right for Kacchan's face, but it was blown away with a controlled explosion. The second knife went unnoticed as it impacted Ashido's shin, making the girl stumble. That sent Kacchan's team to the back of the charging herd.
Izuku marveled at his girlfriend's precision; her second knife had been thrown seconds after the first and had flown directly beneath it to obscure its trajectory.
"You're amazing, you know that," Izuku grinned at the copy of himself.
Himiko smiled; her wide, blushing grin looked unnatural on Izuku's face, and the foreign expression seemed to unsettle Shinso and Uraraka.
"Thanks, Izu!"
Izuku threw his next pair of knives, aiming one for Kaminari, who was the least likely to react in time on Todoroki's team, and the other at Todoroki himself. The first knife hit Kaminari right in the hand, making him wince in pain, but he didn't let go of Todoroki or throw the team off balance. The second knife was immediately frozen in midair and fell to the ground in a block of ice.
Todoroki glared.
"He's really pissed at you," Shinso unhelpfully observed.
"I know. Himiko lets up the pace!"
One for All crackled in Izuku's muscles, and he dialed the power down to about two percent. The knives were flying extremely fast without his quirk, and he didn't want to inadvertently hurt someone with too much force.
Himiko adopted a determined look that she often said Izuku had, but it looked to him like a nervous scowl.
A few teams from class B and the general education courses surrounded them, they all grinned triumphantly at the surrounded team. Those grins went away quickly when Himiko let loose a barrage of knives so quick and so precise that none of the teams knew what hit them when many riders were sent reeling with growing welts on their foreheads.
The only teams with unharmed riders were from Class B and Kacchan and Todoroki's teams. Even then, they had barely avoided the knives Himiko had thrown.
Izuku had thrown his own knives as quickly as he could, but even with two percent of One for All, Himiko was still faster. His knives had all pretty much gone wide, missing many of the teams around them. But a few had hit unsuspecting teams that were on the outskirts of the main skirmish, knocking a few unsuspecting kids silly as they impacted in random spots.
Izuku was even sure he had hit some poor boy between the legs on accident.
His teammates stared at him.
"What!? I'm not as good at this as Himiko."
"We can tell," Shinso winced, looking at the boy who had been hit in the groin with sympathy.
"Stay focused," Himiko angled sharp eyes on Todoroki. His team was approaching with even more determination, and quickly following up behind was Kacchan's.
"We won't be able to throw them off as easily as the other teams," Izuku watched Todoroki, noticing a thin layer of frost that clung to his right side, "but I think I've got a weakness of Todoroki's to exploit. Even if it's not very nice."
Himiko grinned, "when did I ever teach you to be nice in a fight?"
Todoroki's team was on them before any of the other remaining teams, and he opened up by immediately trying to freeze Shinso and Uraraka to the ground. But Himiko was ahead of him, and her knives had shattered the ice encroaching on the pair.
"I guess you're the girl then," Todoroki looked at Himiko and then glared at Izuku. He lunged forward, ice creeping up his hand. He clearly intended to freeze the real Izuku, so they would have no heavy hitter to stop him.
But Izuku had seen this coming; he upped the power of One for All. Eight percent rushed in, making his muscles ache, tendons grow taut to the point he felt they would snap at any moment, and his head throb in exertion.
Todoroki wasn't ready for the sudden surge in power; he was caught off guard when Izuku slapped his right hand away, and Himiko lunged forward in a blur to grab his headband. However, Iida pulled their entire team back in that instant, and Himiko's hand wrapped around nothing but air.
"Poop! I almost had him, too." Himiko pouted at her empty hand.
"It's fine. They'll be wary now, but we don't need their headband. This is a war of attrition, and I think we've got a good chance of sticking it out." Izuku watched Todoroki's team carefully and noticed that they weren't backing off.
"Hey, Izu, that asshole is staying out of the fight. It looks like he's going for other teams until we tire ourselves out."
Izuku looked over to see Himiko was right; Kacchan was skirting the skirmish between their team and Todoroki's. Clearly, he would wait until the victor was riding high and then swoop in to crush them all at once.
"Well, we don't have time for that now; here comes Todoroki again," Izuku turned back to the scarred boy and saw his team move in their direction again, "Hey, Shinso."
The boy looked up at Izuku, "Yeah?"
"How long do you have after someone answers one of your questions before you can brainwash them? Like, can you delay it a few minutes?"
Shinso thought about it, "I've never really thought about it. I guess I could delay it by maybe five minutes, but I won't be able to brainwash anyone else while I'm waiting to use it on that one person."
"Alright, then, what I want you to do is use your quirk on Iida, the guy who pulled them back a second ago. He's their movement, and I doubt he's shown us everything he has."
"Works for me." Shinso turned to look at Todoroki's team and shouted at Iida, "Hey, four-eyes! Are those glasses real? Cause I bet you're just wearing fake ones to look smarter!"
Iida fumed, "How dare you! Of course, they are real! Why would I wear fake glasses?!"
"Well, there you go, I've got him T'ed up for brainwashing. I hope it'll come in handy."
Todoroki's team was back on them in a few moments, and they were just as aggressive as they had been the first time. Todoroki's hand was never far from Izuku or Himiko, and a few strikes managed to freeze over Izuku's shoulder. But no matter how hard Todoroki fought, he couldn't land a single strike on Himiko, and when he had overextended just once, Himiko had made a vicious strike to his side with her rubber knife.
Throughout it all, Todoroki never even once used his left side's flames or heat. It was pissing Izuku off.
A few teams tried to circle around their team, but Todoroki didn't seem to want any interruptions, so he had frozen a half dome of ice behind Izuku and his team. He had managed to cut off all of his competition and sealed off any escape for his target in one fell swoop.
"You all better pick up the pace! There's only two minutes left in the cavalry battle!" Present Mic called over the loudspeaker, and his shout urged desperate teams to fight all the harder.
"Kaminari, Yaoyorozu, Iida! Now!"
Todoroki's shout startled Izuku, and when he saw what was happening, he was too late. Kaminari had grabbed Shinso by the wrist and started electrocuting the boy. The current ran up Shinso and electrocuted their whole team.
Izuku's muscles contracted, and no matter how much he struggled, eight percent just wasn't enough to break free from the paralysis. Heck, it was all he could do to not bite off his own tongue.
Despite Kaminari still being in contact with his teammates, none seemed to be electrocuted.
"H-How?!" Izuku managed to grit out through his quivering jaw.
"You weren't the only team who went and got new uniforms." Todoroki didn't seem happy in the least bit that their plan had worked; in fact, he looked as impassive as ever. "We had Yaoyorozu make us some identical uniforms, but they're a little bit more special than the standard issue."
Yaoyorozu grinned proudly and thumbed the hem of her collar. "Rubber insulation is coating the entire inside of these uniforms."
Izuku grit his teeth, kicking himself for not thinking of something so simple. But it was hard to anticipate an opponent's moves when one of them could create nearly anything. Todoroki closed in, his eyes never straying from Izuku's as he reached for the headbands on Himiko.
But again, something happened that no one was expecting. Himiko punched Todoroki right in the face, sending the boy reeling in pain.
"Only Izu gets to touch me," Himiko chastised, and Izuku's face slowly sloughed off, revealing her fanged grin beneath.
"Dude, that's creepy," Kaminari cringed at the feral expression.
"Get back," Izuku yelled as his mobility started to return, "we need to buy more time!"
Their team started to retreat, but it wasn't nearly as fast as he would've liked. It looked like they would be dealing with the effects of Kaminari's electrocution for a few more minutes.
"Shinso, did you lose your hold on Iida?"
"N-No, it should last the rest of the cavalry battle," a vain was throbbing on the boy's temple, and it seemed like the effort of keeping his ability on standby was taking a great effort.
"There's one minute remaining!" Present Mic's voice called over the loudspeakers again.
Izuku sighed in relief. If they could just keep Todoroki away a bit longer, they would be ready for the next event.
"Knock, knock, ya damn nerd!" A booming explosion completely shattered the half dome that Todoroki had made behind them.
Izuku didn't know who to watch out for. Watching Kacchan was his instinctual reaction, but underestimating Todoroki and the others had already almost cost them the cavalry battle.
"Recipro Burst!" Iida yelled, the engines on his calves roaring to life, and his entire team sped forward with his momentum.
"Turn left!" Shinso commanded.
Todoroki's eyes nearly bugged out of his head when, instead of using the confusion to ambush Izuku's team, they were now on a steady and quick course away from their targets.
"Deku! You're dead!" Kacchan was right on him in an instant; his fist had impacted Izuku's face before he could react, and his other hand had blinded their team with a smokescreen.
'Damnit! I knew I should've been watching Kacchan.'
One for All sprang to life, and Izuku was about to counter, but Kacchan was already retreating, a headband gripped tightly in his fist as he used his explosions to fly back to his team.
"Damnit, Uraraka! Throw me at him!" Izuku wasn't about to let his own indecisiveness lose them this battle.
"Ooooh! Look at the time, kiddos! This Cavalry Battle is…. Over!"
Izuku hung his head and held back tears, "I'm sorry, you guys. I got way too cocky."
"Huh? What're you talking about, Izu? We still have the million points." Himiko leaned down into his line of sight, and in her hand was the million-point headband.
"W-What! How did you— I mean, when did you—"
"Oh, that's easy. Sweaty hands over there," Himiko hooked her thumb over her shoulder in Kacchan's direction, "might have quick hands, but mine are quicker."
Himiko grinned playfully at Izuku and he just fell to his knees devolving into a harder stream of tears.
In the distance, Kacchan screamed in impotent rage when he realized he had the wrong headband.
Chapter 20: Just a Friendly Declaration of War
Izuku was riding high on their success, even if he had almost cost them the match. That quickly changed when he was taken aside by Todoroki, of all people.
It had taken a lot of convincing for Himiko not to follow because, in her words, "I should go just in case I need to stab him."
Izuku had to put the whole 'stabbing people' thing of Himiko's on the back burner for now because Todoroki was looking very pissed.
"Uh, don't you think we should go somewhere else? This is the student and faculty entrance; won't it be busy soon?" Izuku tried in vain to get an answer from the boy, but all he got in return was that icy stare.
'This cold indifference is way different than Kacchan.'
"I was almost overwhelmed," Todoroki said out of nowhere. "When you and that girl were fighting me, for an instant, I could feel myself about to use my left side."
His eyes, which had been cool and calm a second ago, were now alight with anger.
Izuku was confused, "W-Why are you telling me this?"
"Earlier, when I was fighting you both, I felt that power of yours, and it made me think. Your power, it's a lot like All Might's, isn't it?"
'Shiiiiiiiiiiiiit!'
Izuku was panicking. Had Todoroki figured it out? What would happen? Would All Might be disappointed in Izuku?
"W-W-What d-do y-y-you mean?" Izuku stammered out. He could feel buckets of sweat running down his face.
"Be honest with me," Todoroki glared a hole into Izuku's face, and the pressure building around them was palpable, "are you All Might's secret love child or something?"
Izuku blinked, turned that over in his head, opened his mouth, closed it, and then blinked again.
"Huh?"
"Well, are you?" Todoroki's face never changed; his mouth didn't twitch even slightly into a smile, so Izuku knew this couldn't be a joke.
"N-No! It's nothing like that! I mean, All Might is a really busy hero, and he's constantly saving people! So he wouldn't really have the time to have relationships like that, and he even said in an interview once that he avoided relationships to focus—"
"I get it, stop rambling," Todoroki was still glaring, "but that's interesting. You said, 'It's nothing like that,' which means there is something going on with you and the number one hero. I wonder what that is."
"Todoroki I—"
"Either way, I don't really care what your relationship with All Might is. You have some connection with him, and that's all that matters. My shitty old man has this delusion that I'm going to be his 'greatest masterpiece' to finally beat All Might, but I don't care about that. I'm gonna show Endeavor that I'll be a great hero without using his power."
"I don't get it; why are you telling me all of this, Todoroki?" Izuku was confused, and none of what the other teen said made sense to him.
"Do you know what quirk marriages are?" He didn't wait for Izuku to answer, "Back when quirks started appearing, wealthier families started marrying off members to other families. It was to make stronger, more specialized quirks. Over time, the practice was frowned upon and died out, but that didn't stop my old man from buying my mom from her family so he could make a perfect balance between his quirk and hers. He had three other kids before he got what he wanted: me. Living with him was hell for my mom, and I don't think I have a single memory of her where she wasn't crying. I remember she called my left side unbearable just before she poured boiling water on my face."
Izuku's blood ran cold at that, and he could see a sliver of pain crossing Todoroki's face as he clenched his hand over his right eye.
"The reason I picked a fight with you wasn't for any special reason; your quirk just seemed a lot like All Might's. So I'm going to use you to prove to my old man that I don't need his power to be the best," Todoroki turned to leave, "you better make it to the finals so we can have our fight, and I can prove to that bastard how much better than him I really am. Fight however hard you like; in the end, I'll be sure to crush you with just my right side. That's a promise."
He was a few paces away when Izuku took a few steps out of the student/faculty entrance and shouted after him, "Todoroki!"
The scarred boy turned to face him.
"I don't have some huge important reason for why I want to be a hero like you. I was just a weak, depressed loser, and at my very lowest, I gave up. My life was all but over in my eyes, but Himiko saved me. It's because I was helped that I can say this now. I'm going to beat you, and when I do, I want to help you too!"
Todoroki didn't say anything; he just studied Izuku for a second and then left.
Thirty Minutes Later
"All right, everybody! I hope you got your snacks and all the bathroom breaks you needed cause it's finally time to announce the matchups of the bracketed tournament!" Present Mic called out, and his shout seemed to energize the crowd as their voices thundered around the stadium.
"Alright, will the remaining sixteen contestants step forward to draw a number from the raffle?" Midnight brandished the box in her hands as if it were the most important relic in existence.
The matchups seemed just as random as the method used to select them, which made sense exactly because of that. But what shocked Izuku the most was his own matchup.
1st Match
Izuku Midoriya VS Hitoshi Shinso
2nd Match
Hanta Sero VS Shoto Todoroki
3rd Match
Denki Kaminari VS Itsuka Kendo
4th Match
Tenya Iida VS Himiko Toga
5th Match
Mina Ashido VS Kinoko Komori
6th Match
Reiko Yanagi VS Momo Yaoyorozu
7th Match
Eijiro Kirishima VS Setsuna Tokage
8th Match
Ochako Uraraka VS Katsuki Bakugo
It sucked that Izuku had to fight one of his newest friends so soon, and it was made all the worse, knowing it would be the very first match.
It also didn't help that Himiko would have to fight another one of Izuku's friends. He only hoped she would go easy on Iida. Otherwise, the boy would be laid up in the hospital for a while.
Just in case, Izuku pressed his palms together and prayed for Iida, "I'm so sorry for what's going to happen."
The last match worried him, too. Kacchan could be a little much… okay, he could be a lot. But that didn't mean the boy would wail on a girl, did it?
"Hey, Midoriya," Shinso approached Izuku, his face grim and determined, "let's give it our all, yeah?"
"Right," Izuku smiled at the other boy.
"Let's get this party started, everyone! Let's have our first two contestants make their way to the arena, and everyone else, please go up to your designated seats." Present Mic instructed the participants.
Every other student had left the arena, and Izuku was reminded yet again just how many people were watching him. The seats in the stand were packed to the brim; people even stood on walkways to watch.
'This is so scary!'
Izuku shook under the hundreds of eyes staring at him. His stomach felt weird, and he wasn't entirely sure that he wouldn't throw up.
"Our first contestants are a couple of oddballs, if I do say so myself! In one corner, we have Hitoshi Shinso, a student from the general education course, and I'm sure it hasn't escaped anyone's notice that he and his opponent were teammates during the cavalry battle. We may not know much about him, but I'm sure that'll be an interesting fight."
Present Mic took a deep breath in, and Izuku braced himself for whatever low opinion the pro hero had of him, "In the other corner, we've got another odd duck! Izuku Midoriya is a member of class 1-A in the hero course. You may remember him as the guy who was carrying his girlfriend during the obstacle race, and he was also the guy who got into a fistfight right when they were about to finish that very same race! He hasn't gotten to show us all he's capable of yet, but I'm sure he's more than itching to impress! Give 'em both a hand, folks!"
Shinso stood across from Izuku, and while Present Mic finished explaining the battle's rules, he said, "I gotta say, it must be nice."
"Huh?" Izuku frowned.
"Having a power like yours lets you take risks no normal person would. Like helping some poor weak idiot during the entrance exam, asking around about him, and using his quirk to win in one of the Sports Festival events," Shinso's smile was condescending and cruel. "I'm just saying it must be nice having everything go right for you. But for people like me, seeing someone like you who was so blessed using such underhanded tactics to win is just insulting."
A vein throbbed on Izuku's head. What bullshit was Shinso spewing? Blessed? Underhanded tactics? What the fuck?
Izuku had never once seen himself as blessed. His life had been one long disappointment after another, and only recently was that all turning around.
"Let the match BEGIIIIIIIIIN!"
"You're wrong! I never—"
Izuku's body went rigid, his vision tunneled, and he couldn't move even a fraction.
'Shit! I was so worked up I forgot about his quirk.'
"Sorry to do this to you, Midoriya, but I'm here to win. So turn around and walk right out of the arena."
The words rang in Izuku's ears, sending electrical signals to his brain as if they were his orders. He could feel his body turning to leave the arena the same way he had entered.
'No! I need to break free, but my body won't listen at all! Is all of the work we put in just going to go to waste all because I'm such an emotional Idiot?!'
Izuku was trodding, slowly but surely, toward the edge of the ring. His head was filled with static and fuzz. He tried with all his might to turn around, plant his feet, anything, but all he did was march steadily toward his defeat.
"Is this the one All Might chose, really? He's just some wide-eyed punk with no common sense!" The voice was far away; in the distance, Izuku could swear he saw six pitch-black figures standing in one of the entry tunnels. The spookiest thing was that one of them looked a lot like All Might.
Trust an All Might fanboy for life to be able to spot his hero.
"I think we should trust All Might's judgment; after all, he was the closest out of any of us to defeat my brother. And besides," the figure that was talking stretched his hand out toward Izuku, and even though he was across the arena, it still felt like his hand had ruffled Izuku's hair, "we all need a little help now and then, don't we?"
One for All shot down Izuku's arm, slammed into his index and middle fingers, and flexed with such force that a blast of wind impacted the ground so hard it was felt in the stands above.
Izuku's index and middle fingers were broken; he was panting so hard he was sure his lungs would burst, and Shinso stared in utter astonishment.
'What was that?! Who were those people? Was that All Might? And what did that one mean by All Might almost stopping his brother?!'
Izuku's hand throbbed; he hadn't needed to break any of his bones in so long that he almost forgot how badly it hurt during the entrance exam.
"What's this?!" Present Mic boomed, "It looks like Izuku Midoriya somehow managed to break himself out of Hitoshi Shinso's brainwashing!"
"Hey, Midoriya. What the hell was that?" Shinso was wide-eyed and shocked.
Izuku couldn't blame him; he was sorry he couldn't answer the boy's questions. He didn't know what that had been, and there was the little matter of Shinso brainwashing him if he did say anything.
No, Izuku wouldn't waste this opportunity he'd been given. Even if he had two broken fingers, Izuku was going to win this match.
One for All filled Izuku with power but restrained it to about two percent. Shinso was a regular boy, aside from his brainwashing quirky after all, and Izuku wasn't the type of person to rub someone's disadvantage in their face. Besides, Shinso hadn't been mocking or taunting when he had ordered Izuku to exit the ring so that Izuku would get this over with as fast as possible.
He bent his legs, angled himself toward Shinso, and sprang forward. His legs carried him so fast to Shinso that the other boy barely had time to yell, "Wh—" Izuku grabbed hold of his collar, shot over his shoulder, and used his momentum to swing Shinso out of the ring onto his back in the grass.
"Izuku Midoriya wins!" Present Mic called over the now roaring crowd.
Izuku looked around, stunned. Was that it? Did he win? It was that easy?
"Damnit." Izuku looked over at Shinso. The younger boy was flat on his back in the grass, his arm draped over his eyes.
Izuku knew that position all too well. It was the universal pose that said, "I just got my ass kicked, and I feel like shit."
"Shinso, I—"
"Damn, what a shame." A hero spectating into the crowd crossed his arms.
"I know, right? Why is a kid like that in general education? With a quirk like that, he could wrangle villains so easily!" Another hero nodded at his own praise of Shinso.
"Flashy quirks are great and all, but there's something to be said about utility as well."
Shinso's arm came down, and he stared up at the heroes who were now shouting praise at his efforts. Izuku could see tears starting to form in the boy's eyes, so he turned away and made his way to the participant's spectating area.
All the while, Izuku had a small smile on his face.
Five minutes later
Okay, now the small smile Izuku had for Shinso was gone, and in its place was a half-terrified/half-angry look of disbelief. Endeavor, Todoroki's father, was glaring down at Izuku, and the man was scary as hell.
Izuku had gotten a little taller since All Might and Himiko had started training him, but two or three inches was nothing compared to the mountain that was Endeavor. The flames flickering across his body and face didn't exactly make him look very friendly, and Izuku could see where Todoroki got his scowl from.
However, Todoroki's glare was more glacial, whereas Endeavors was a red-hot glare of barely concealed rage. Yeah, not very friendly-looking at all.
"C-C-Can I h-h-help you, S-S-Sir?" Izuku squeaked out, his body shivering under the heated glare. No pun intended.
"You, your name is… Midoriya. Right?" If Endeavor had any issues staring murderously at high schoolers, then Izuku couldn't tell.
"Y-Yes, Sir!" Izuku's back went ramrod straight, and his palms started to sweat.
"Well, Midoriya, I want to make a deal with you. When you get to your fight with Shoto, I want you to give it your all; of course, you'll still lose, but your power is similar to All Might's. Defeating you will be an important milestone in Shoto's development, right now he's under some illusion that he doesn't need to use his left side, but I want to divest him of that notion." Endeavor's simmering stare unsettled Izuku. This whole monologue sounded suspiciously like he wanted Izuku to hurt Todoroki so he would be forced to use his fire, "right now my masterpiece is all but wasting away as he refuses to reach his full potential. Still, I have a feeling that facing someone like you will show him the error of his childish ideas. Try your hardest to push my son before you inevitably lose. That's all I have to say."
Endeavor turned to leave; the giant literal flaming douche had surreptitiously managed to do something that not many people managed to do; he'd pissed Izuku off.
"Hey!" Izuku barked after the number two hero getting the man's attention, "I don't know what kind of life you've led up to this point, and honestly, I don't care, but you need to realize one thing. Shoto isn't you. He's his own person, and no matter what you say or ask of me, I'm going to give it my all against him. Not because you asked me to, but because he's strong, and fighting him with anything but my best would be an insult to him. So you can take your talk about disillusioning him and shove it."
Endeavor stared down at Izuku in bewilderment; he clearly never would have expected someone like Izuku to say such a thing to him. Honestly, Izuku was just as surprised at himself. When had he grown so crass?
Izuku hurried away from Endeavor and the no-doubt nuclear stare that was drilling through the back of his head.
'Stupid, stupid, stupid!' Izuku thought furiously to himself as he approached the participant's viewing box.
"Izu!" Himiko stood to her feet and waved him over, her fanged grin wide as ever and her cheeks red with delight.
"Did I miss anything?" Izuku smiled, sitting next to her.
Himiko put a thoughtful finger on her lips and seemed to think for a second, "I mean, that blonde asshole you got into a fistfight with was yelling, but other than that, not really. That kid with the split hairdo went down to the arena with the kid with weird elbows."
Izuku grimaced, "How do you not know our classmate's names?"
"I only remember the names of people I find cute, and so far, there are only three people I remember: Ochako, Tsuyu, and my Izu."
Izuku's cheeks felt hot. You'd think being around the girl so much would desensitize him to her blatant flirting, but somehow it made it worse.
"H-How do you think Sero will do against Todoroki?" Izuku asked, trying to draw attention away from his furious blush.
Himiko grinned at him, clearly having seen through his halfhearted diversion, but she humored him anyway, "he won't last even a few seconds. Look at Todo-whatever; he's clearly on edge about something, so he'll probably be volatile. Getting into a fight, even a tournament one will probably set him off."
Even from the stands, Izuku could see Todoroki's hateful glare. But he didn't seem to be glaring at Sero; it was like he was staring at someone who wasn't there, and Izuku had a good idea who that was.
"Well, ladies and gentlemen, it's time to meet our next contestants! He's got skills, but at the expense of some really creepy-looking elbows from the hero course; it's Hanta Sero!"
Izuku looked up at the announcer's booth with a bewildered expression. "Should he really be talking about students like that?"
"His opponent is someone who I'm sure you all remember as a front runner for the obstacle race! He's a guy who's too strong for his own good and rightfully received recommendations to join the hero course; it's Shoto Todoroki!"
The crowd roared loudly when Todoroki's name was called out. Clearly, he would be a crowd favorite. Izuku couldn't really blame them; he was looking forward to this fight, too.
"And with that! Leeeeeeeet's—"
Sero was stretching his arms out over his head, the smile on his face never leaving, "Man, I don't feel like I'll win this fight—"
"BEGIN!"
"But I don't feel like losing either!" Sero was moving in an instant, tape wrapped around Todoroki's arms, and they were made immobile as the tape quickly wrapped around his torso. Izuku couldn't see his face, but Todoroki, for a second or two, didn't seem to be making any effort to fight back as he was swung to one side of the arena. Clearly, Sero was trying to end the fight as quickly as possible.
And then, all of a sudden, Izuku's vision was obscured, the entire arena was shaking, and a blast of intense cold had him shivering. An iceberg as tall as the arena was right in Izuku's face, and through the confused shouting of the crowd, he could hear Midnight.
"Tell the truth, Sero, can you move at all?"
"A-A-Are you kidding? Obviously not! M-My body is freezing!"
Himiko laughed next to Izuku, "What'd I say? Not even a few seconds!"
"H-How can you possibly laugh at a time like this! I've gotta fight him!" Izuku shouted, both panicking internally and externally.
'How am I supposed to fight someone like him without big moves that would break limbs? He'd freeze me before I could even get close.'
"Aww, you'll do fine, Izu! Just give it your all, and I know you can do it!"
Izuku wanted to shake his head furiously and argue that he could not do it, but of course, that smile she gave him made him steel his resolve.
It wasn't like there was any special reason he had to win against Todoroki. Honestly, there was no reason he needed to try to win the sports festival aside from making Himiko, Eri, his mom, and All Might proud. But really, they had all expressed their pride in him in one way or another, so really, Izuku was just trying to come up with a justification for why he wanted to beat Todoroki, even though he already knew why.
"You better make it to the finals so we can have our fight, and I can prove to that bastard how much better than him I really am. Fight however hard you like; in the end, I'll be sure to crush you with just my right side. That's a promise."
Izuku grit his teeth, remembering Todoroki's face as he had said those words, 'I'll show you just how wrong your way of thinking is, Todoroki.'