Chapter 24: Nana Shimura
"Wait….WHAT?!" The original Duple's eyes bulged as he looked over to the mysterious Splixson, jaw dropping. "Wait… Don't tell me.."
"Master…..Nana….Is that you?" The blonde question, apparently completely deaf to his successor as he walked forward on shaky legs.
"Toshinori… Toshinori what's going on?!" She asked as she looked at her arms, and down at her feet. "Why am I here? What am I?! Wait…."
Suddenly the confused woman bolted forward, leaping at the skinny man and grabbing him by the shirt, eyes full of fear. "Toshinori what happened with All for One?!"
"Nana… hey come on…" The man said, doing his best calming voice he could while placing his hands on her shoulders. "Deep breathes, in and out. Like you taught me."
"R-right… in and out…" The Splixson nodded, doing just that as she tried to calm herself down. "In….and out…. In… and out."
"Uh…Anyone want to explain what in the heck Is happening here?" Midoriya asked reminding them he was still here and drawing their attention. "Nezu?"
"I'm afraid I have no idea, Midoriya." The bear-mouse-hybrid shrugged looking between the mystery woman and All Might.
"Ok.. one question at a time!" All Might announced with a groan, standing up. "And.. before anything else, introductions. Nana, I know you never met but I told you about Nezu right?"
"The new principal at U.A? Right?" She asked cocking her head to the side as she looked down at him and the principal frowned.
"I am the principal yes but I'm hardly new, no not even slightly new."
"Yeah… He's been at it for twenty seven years now." The blonde said scratching the back of his neck and causing the woman to whirl around, to face him
"T-twenty seven years?!" She repeated incredulously as her eyes widened. "How?! I was fighting All for One just a moment ago. This can't be…."
"Nana…. You died." The man said, looking away and Midoriya felt his stomach sink. 'Crap, now I'm a necromancer?! And a cloner?! Fuck it universe why don't you just turn me into a sandwich next, makes about as much sense as everything else so far!'
Honestly for the briefest moments he worried the Omnitrix would somehow turn him into a sandwich.
"I… died?" Nana questioned, before taking a deep breathe. "Ok… don't freak out. Don't freak out, don't fre- HOW THE HELL IS THIS HAPPENING?!"
"Nana, calm down. I promise if you stop freaking out we can explain, at least with a theory. We don't have much time to though so please, let us talk." All Might explained to her and she nodded, clearly still freaked out. "Yes, it's been seven years. You lost that fight but… I won it a while after."
"Y-you did…?" The woman asked in shock, before she smiled for the first time throughout this whole debacle as she wrapped her rubbery limbs around the man. "That's my boy! I know I was right to choose you as my successor."
"Speaking of succesors…Midoriya?" The man called over and the green alien teen walked forward, rubbing his arm and waving nervously. "Nana, like you just heard is my mentor… and Midoriya here… he's my successor."
"He's…. he…. Oh…. Oh wow." The woman said, in an almost stunned silence. There was silence for a moment as she walked up to him. "Um… Hi Midoriya… nice to meet you. I'm uh… I'm Nana…"
"I heard." Midoriya said with a smile as he shook her hand, being surprised when the woman suddenly pulled him into a tight hug. "Uh… o-okay we're hugging now."
"Sorry about her, she always got emotional at the idea of having grandchildren and I guess this is the closest she has." All Might explained, while Midoriya awkwardly wrapped his own arms around her before she finally let go. "Now, there are multiple elephants to address in this room-"
"Like the fact we're not in a room." Nezu interrupted with a chuckle, getting a groan out of the blonde.
"Midoriya, my boy I'm sure you are confused about some of the things my mentor has said but we can always talk later so we'll address that then ok?" The man asked, and the green clad Splixson nodded. "Now then… Nana. You should know that Midoriya doesn't have a quirk, nor does he look like this normally."
At that, the mystery woman's eyes lit up as she turned to her successor, who along with comments from Midoriya explained his… unique situation. She had freaked out a little at the revelation aliens existed and she was currently one of them but it hadn't been as bad as before now she had time to adjust.
"Now… I have a theory on why you came back." All Might announced, drawing everyone's attention. "Midoriya's Omnitrix had a weird way of… handling one for all. It seems it's locked most of the potential away to alternative forms to keep him safe, meaning he can only reach a safety limit in human form as I understand it. However there was an error when One for All met the… Splixson DNA, is it? Well… Midoriya you already had a cloning alien right? What's different."
"Yeah…The difference is just that, well typically Reverb is better. Don't tell JJ I said that but, Splixsons split personality and feel shared pain while Reverb is a completely unified person…ality….oh! OH!"
"Yes, exactly my boy. I think, due to One for All enhancing one's natural abilities and a part of this aliens abilities splitting personalities it has tried to bolster that trait and in the process, essentially revived my mentor to do so. Presumably, if you were to it again I could only presume my master's master would come out and so on and so forth."
"That's… insane." Nana said with a frown, sitting down. "I can't believe it… just…. Holy crap."
"I'd also presume your power has split between you, so Nana can hold half of One for All and you can hold the other, my boy." Toshinori explained, rubbing his neck. Midoriya nodded, understanding that.
"Well…." Shaking her head the woman forced a shaky smile as she turned to them all. "Can I at least see what Midoriya actually looks like?"
"Oh! Of course, just give me a moment." All Might said, pulling out his phone and opening his gallery. "I still have the before and after pics I took during our training."
"I thought I asked you to delete those." Midoriya said with a frown and the skinny man laughed.
"Guess I'm sentimental." He gave as his excuse, making the transformed teen roll his eyes.
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
Everone's eyes widened at that noise as the Omnitrix symbol of Midoriya's chest began to flash. Immediately the boy turned to the woman who had a befuddled expression on her face as the boy grabbed her panicked. "Ah! Quick, we have to fuse again!"
"Huh?! How?! Why?!"
"Just focus, imagine doing it!" The boy said quickly, voice worried and the woman closed her eyes to do so, glowing yellow before she was pulled back into the boy and a green flash engulfed them.
BWOO.
Midoriya fell forward with a gasp, slowly pushing himself up and looking to Toshinori who just stood still, looking at the spot where his mentor had been. He didn't even get to say goodbye.
"I'm…I'm sorry… I just… I didn't want to risk it." The greenette said through gasps, surprisingly tired. He guessed using One for All in alien form would still be taxing, just in a much different way.
"N-no you… you made the right call Midoriya.. I don't think It would have ended well." The blonde explained, voice coming It more broken than before as he turned away.
"All Might?..."
"Sorry it's just… She always taught me to smile, no matter what. For her to be so shaken she couldn't…. I can't even begin to imagine how scared she really was."
At that, Midoriya frowned, before walking over and wrapping the man in a hug. The blonde didn't try to fight it.
"Um…not to interrupt such a heartfelt moment but… mister Midoriya… did I hear you right? You mentioned nothing off increased strength or durability when you talked about that form…"
"Uh yeah…why?" The boy asked, confused as he let go of his mentor and turned to the principal. Then it hit him. "Oh crap… I went full power there…"
"Wait, yeah you did! How weren't you injured?!" The skinny man wondered himself, suddenly pulling the boy back to examine him.
"I mean my arm hurt but…. I don't know…" Midoriya frowned, when a new voice spoke up.
"It might be because we have a rubber like body. It's maybe not a lot more durable than a human body but it's enough to maybe ward off any serious injury you might have gotten." A feminine voice explained and the remaining group turned to see JJ standing there nervously. "Hi….I got worried when I realized you'd sneaked off so I came to find you…"
"Uh…my boy?" Toshinori questioned, looking to his successor. "What do we do now?"
'Aren't you supposed to be the one who tells me what to do?'
"….We tell her the truth. JJ should know, especially if she's going to be living with me and my mom anyways." The teen said as he walked forward.
Somehow he felt like the explanations would never end… and through them all he eventually forgot to ask…
Who is All for One?
The rest of the week had been dedicated to getting Midoriya used to One for All in human form after school. JJ had begun to join their training sessions while Nezu started to show up to them less as they trained.
When the alien girl had heard about the power she had been completely supportive, promising to help in whatever way she could to get Midoriya to improve.
It was rare the boy got a break from the training either as All Might wanted him prepared for the sports festival which only gave them a week and a half, and seeing as Midoriya only had 3% of the power to work with.
His first test, the day after the Nana debacle had been to punch a tree at full power. It ended up splitting and almost toppling on him. After that they had tested his running speed and jumping height.
Overall, three percent was nothing compared to All Might's one hundred percent as expected but it was still quite the step up from being quirkless, as he barely but definitely reached at the very least what an absolute peak physical human could.
His punches could likely at least match up to Kirishima's hardened ones and he could ran maybe about a quarter as fast as Iida could. His agility also seemed to gain something of an increase, as well allowing him to leap up into the branches of tree's with a little effort.
Still, overall Midoriya had a feeling he'd be relying on his aliens over the power for a while to come. It was nice to finally have the option to fight back though, which had actually given him an idea.
He hadn't told even All Might about it, only talking with Nezu to confirm it would be ok and JJ to get the necessary items for it before sending a request to the support department. He had a feeling it wouldn't be finished until after the sports festival but that was ok.
One thing Midoriya had wanted to try again, but the blonde had vetoed was using Duple again. The man simply needed more time before he could go through that again.
Somewhere in the back of the greenette's mind he thought it would only make it harder but he had respected the man's wishes and eventually, the day of the festival had arrived.
Class 1-A had arrived early and gotten changed at the school before being ushered to the waiting rooms inside the stadium as people crowded in to get seats.
That's where they all sat waiting now to be called, just trying to psyche themselves up. Midoriya had just been in the middle of talking with Yaomomo about how they were feeling about the day to come when Todoroki of all people walked up to the boy.
"Midoriya…"
"Huh… Oh hey Todoroki, what's up?" The boy asked confused as he turned to him, and his confusion only grew as the heterochromatic teen glared at him.
"Objectively speaking, you may be the weakest member of our class. Yet also the strongest. What is for sure is that you're versatile, and have something of an advantage over everyone here. You might already be expecting some people to target you but I want you to know, I will beat you."
Confusion turned to anger.
"W-woah, hey now Todoroki." Kirishima came in, trying to keep the situation from escalating, clearly nervous. "We're all classmates, no need to go declaring war…"
"No… he's right." Midoriya said simply, standing up. "I do have an unfair advantage, even I'll concede that much. Why it means you have to single me out, I don't know but..."
The boy looked up with a glare of his own, fire in his eyes. "If you single me out without regard, then the only thing I can promise you is I won't play fair. If you try to pick on me alone, I will deliver everything I have to you."
Silence overtook the room as an unsuspected air of unease hit the room. As well as a slight fear, as they all know Midoriya wasn't kidding.
"Just so you know… I'm only warning you to be fair."
Then, they got the clear to leave out onto the field, the heterochromatic teen not bothering to look back.
Midoriya could tell. Todoroki didn't regret his declaration in the slightest.
Chapter 25: The Sports Festival Begins
"HEYO SPORTS FANS! TODAY WE HERE AT U.A. ARE BRINGING YOU THE GREATEST SPORTS FESTIVAL PERFORMACES SO FAR GUARENTEED!" Present Mic announced from the commentator stands, people cheering as he did so. "I GOT JUST ONE QUESTION FOR YA! ARE YOU READDYYYYY?!"
The stands erupted into even louder hollers as they tried to convey their enthusiasm. Midoriya could only gulp, hearing them even from the hall they were in. A hand on his shoulder drew his attention and turned to see Mina giving him a smile. He smiled back, thankful for the quiet support before they walked onto the field.
"FIRST UP, THE STUDENTS I AM SURE A LOT OF YOU HAVE COME FOR, IT'S 1-A FROM THE HERO COURSE!"
The cheers got louder once again and Midoriya realized something. The crowd was MUCH bigger than it looked on TV. He took a deep breath, looking down to the Omnitrix for comfort. If he didn't know better, he would of though the beeps it gave off at that moment were supposed to make him feel better.
Actually scratch that, it was the Omnitrix, he would NEVER know better.
"NEXT UP, ALSO FROM THE HERO COURSE, CLASS 1-B!" Present Mic announced as the other hero class walked in from the opposite side of the stadium.
"AND OTHER CLASSES AS WELL, LIKE 1-C."
Somewhere in the back of the greenette's mind, he couldn't help but berate his teacher mentally for giving 1-A a bigger introduction than anyone else. Mainly because it put even more pressure on the greenette.
After a couple of minutes, the stadium was filled up with all the first years, standing in front of a podium in the middle of the stadium where one of their teachers, Midnight stood.
"Now it's time for this year's introductory speech!" The sultry teacher announced, waving around a short whip. Midoriya deadpanned with a blush as he saw her hero outfit. 'Is that outfit even allowed to be shown on TV?' "As the first place student of the entrance exam, our student pledge shall be delivered by 1-A's Katsuki Bakugou!"
Everyone looked among themselves surprised at that. Bakugou of all people was going to give a speech? Midoriya already had his hands on his watch ready to turn into an alien just to contain the potential outburst that could cause.
Everyone held their breath as the blonde stepped onto the podium and up to Midnight's microphone.
"I just want to say…. I'm going to win." Was all he said before pausing, eliciting boo's from all of the crowd of students and spectators. Everyone thought he was done, before he suddenly leaned in again. "And like an actually good hero, I'll crush any villains."
With that, he walked off, still being booed. He clearly didn't care. To ninety nine percent of the people present, it seemed like Bakugou had just used the moment to show off to any pro's watching.
However Midoriya knew it was something different. Because for some reason…. He had looked straight at the greenette when he said it.
"Well that was certainly….. it was something!" Midnight said, completely dumbstruck by how the boy had gone about it, before shaking her head and smirking. "Oh well, no one is really here for the pledge anyway. You all want to see the events, the first of which shall be…."
She paused as a graphic popped up, scrolling through dozens of potential events before finally stopping on one.
"AN OBSTACLE COURSE!"
Once again, the crowd cheered as the students all turned to a door at one side of the stadium, brought to their attention by flashing lights at the top.
"Get ready students! You'll do one full lap around to the other side of the stadium from the track set up outside! Do you have the nerves to make it past the first event?! Let us find out! The rules are simple, in this event you can do as your heart desires, so long as you stay at least near the boundaries of the race course."
"Three!"
Izuku breathed in, pulling up the Omnitrix, turning to Blink as he always did. Then a thought occurred to him.
He looked at how small the room they actually had to get past was.
"Two!"
He looked up, and at the very front of the pack there stood Todoroki. He definitely was looking back at him before the greenette looked up.
"I want you to know, I will beat you."
He recalled hero training and how fast Todoroki's ice could spread.
"One!"
He changed selections, and didn't press in. 'Nice try, Todoroki.'
"GO!"
With that, the door swung open and all the students ran forth, blasting through the halls. All but one. Midoriya hanged back, waiting for it.
"EH?! WHATS THIS? MIDORIYA FROM 1-A HAS YET TO START MOVING?! HAS HE FROZEN UP?!"
"You want to talk about freezing up?" Midoriya asked, grinning when he saw the tell tale frost coat the entire hallway, freezing a majority of the students within. "Ask them! Or better yet…"
He pressed in the watch and the stadium all say a green flash engulf him, before looking back to see a man-sized bipedal moth wrapped in a cloak beginning to move forward. "Ask chiller! Let's see how much of an obstacle course this really is!"
With that, the alien teen took into the air, flying right towards the wall. He turned transparent just before the collision, disappearing from everyone's view until a few moments later, where he suddenly came back to view on the other side.
What they hadn't seen was him going straight through the Arena. He chuckles to himself in his breathy voice, noticing most of the front pack now was his class mates and 1-B students, Todoroki and Bakugou leading the charge. "If Todoroki wants to declare war then I guess I'll fight fire with fire…. Weird analogy actually considering we can both also control fire and NOT THE TIME!"
He shouted that last part as he dodged barely out the way of a zero pointer robot trying to slam him down. He had already made it to fifth place by simply skipping over head so far but now he was having to actually fight.
Well, he was for all of three seconds. He retreated a few steps and couldn't help smiling to himself when he saw Yaoyorouzu making her own path. "Cool moves but I think everyone can agree, mine are much cooler."
As he said that, the zero pointer before him tried to smack him out the air. He turned incorporeal just before it hit and left a nice little trail of ice going through it's arm before he popped out the other side. Now overbalanced the monstrosity of a machine fell on it's side and Midoriya weaved around the other robots as he made his way.
From his higher vantage point, he could also see both the upcoming obstacles, which would be ridiculously easy for him. A giant pit and a mine field. He could just keep going now and by the time anyone had gotten past the pit, seeing as Todoroki was only half way, Midoriya would probably win and be able to get a drink before the next event.
"WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT SPORTS FANS? IT SEEMS MIDORIYA WAS WAY AHEAD OF US WHEN WE WERE DESIGNING THIS COURSE! Actually…. Speaking of this particular participant, he's U.A's one and only quirkless student!"
Laughing as he soared, Chiller felt like this would be too easy. Not to mention hearing the shocked shouts of the crowd from here was amusing.
"I am not pulling your leg, sports fans! My co-commentator, the boy's own teacher can attest to that much." Present mic and Midoriya was surprised to here his teachers bored voice beside the man.
"Yeah. Due to his… unique position I decided to draft up some sheets to keep everyone able to actually tell who he is, seeing as the events are also meant as scouting opportunities. In short, using a device known as the Omni-matrix or Omnitrix, he can turn into one of various transformations, dubbed aliens. If you looked away at the wrong time it would be easy to lose him, due to his ability to completely change forms and powers at any time."
If it wasn't for the fact he was literally physically incapable of it in his current form, Midoriya would totally be blushing right now. He felt kinda guilty for the other competitors.
"The one currently in use. Dubbed Chiller, because he has to have childish names for them apparently-" 'HEY! My names are good…. Mostly…. Ok maybe Pyroform could use some work…' "-This form has moth like physique, allowing him flight. Along with this, as we saw already he also has Ice manipulation powers and the ability to phase through solid matter."
"HA! TWO ICE USERS IN YOUR CLASS? GUESS THEY WEREN'T KIDDING WHEN THEY SAID YOU WERE COLD-HEARTED AIZAWA!"
"Excuse me?!"
'Alright, that's enough getting distracted, Todoroki's at the mine field now so gotta-'
"Wait wait no- AHH!"
His heart suddenly jumped to his throat. He recognized that voice!
Turning, he saw Yaomomo hurtling through the air, a zero pointer another student was fighting smacking her forward in the race. Normally probably a painful but effective way to gain ground.
Except she was hurtling straight towards the second obstacle, the pit while to stunned to save herself.
"OH CRAP, UH DON'T WORRY SPORTS FANS, WE HAVE A SPECIAL SYSTEM RIGGED UP AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIT FOR THEIR SAFETY, NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT!"
Yeah, nothing to worry about normally but clearly the pro didn't see what Midoriya did. For whatever reason the girl had created a sword to use, and it was currently falling right towards her.
All thoughts of winning the race gone in an instant he dived for the girl, however it quickly became apparent he didn't have the speed to catch up and he couldn't come up with any reliable plan with his ice powers in time. 'No! I refuse!'
Without another thought, he went through with the sixth stupidest plan of his life, he changed back to his human form. As he began plummeting, he did try to call on One for All but it did nothing to help. 'Crap! That sword is getting to close!'
"OH SPORTS FANS, LOOKS LIKE ITS COME DOWN TO TODOROKI OR BAKUGOU, ANY MINUTE NOW! MIDORIYA IS NOWHERE TO BE SEEN."
Beep.
Midoriya looked down, and saw the Omnitrix had already flashed back green. 'Life in danger, check. Ok Omnitrix! I need you to work with me here, don't have the time for careful selection! Please please please!'
He slammed in the dial and after a flash, Cannon Shot appeared from the light, rolling in ball, sixth sense guiding him. 'YES! THANK YOU OMNITRIX! AND THANK YOU ROLLER!'
Soon, he was close enough and unfurled, the sword was right on the verge of colliding with the girl. Quickly he smacked it away and reached out. "GRAB ON YAOMOMO!"
"Midoriya?!" She asked surprise, before quickly reaching out. It was kind of like tight hug in a way as he curled up around her and deliberately started smashing into the pillars around him.
He was probably making life very difficult for the people climbing on top but he didn't have time to think about that as he finally built up enough momentum and launched them both out of the pit to the other side, landing directly in the middle of the mine fields.
"OH MY! LOOK AT THAT SPORTS FANS, ITS MIDORIYA AGAIN BLAZING A PATH IN A BRAND NEW FORM! AND IF THE SCREENS SHOWING REPLAYS AREN'T DECIEVING ME HE'S ALSO CARRYING MOMO YAOYOROZU WITH HIM! WHAT UNEXPECTED TEAMWORK!"
Explosion after explosion went off as Cannon Shot rolled over the field, not being affected by a single one. As his sixth sense perceived Bakugou and Todoroki in front of him… "DON'T STOP ME NOW GUYS! I'M ON A ROLL!I"
"THAT PUN WAS AS SHIT AS YOU DEKU!" Bakugou called back as both he and Todoroki had no choice but to jump out the way. However this also meant that they jumped right onto land mines. Both seemed to realized their mistake about the same time. "yoU FUCKER DEKU!"
"I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! AFTER DISAPPEARING SUDDENLY MIDORIY HAS COME BACK AND NOW HE'S CLEARED THE FIELD, THERE'S LIKELY NO STOPPING THAT ALIEN!"
"Cannon Shot, I believe he named him. One of the three I've got the fewest notes on. He only got this one recently, due to an… adventure shall we say. There's not much to this one, however I can't deny he's effective. His outer body is coated with a near indestructible shell, and he can curl up into a ball to roll around without getting motion sick, making him the ultimate cannon ball."
With that, the alien flew out into the stadium, unfurling as the stadium roared with cheers. Midoriya tapped the symbol on his chest quickly and turned back to normal as he looked to Yaoyorouzu in front of him, who looked at him dazed. 'Crap I probably just…' "I'm sorry, I just didn't want to lose and I had no time to think. I didn't mean to take your opportunity away from you, i-"
Before he could continue, he felt two slender arms wrap around him, and he blushed as he realized Momo was hugging him tight.
On tv.
Where both their parents could definitely see it right now.
"It's fine Midoriya. You saved me…. I'm not mad…. Thank you…" The girl said, holding him tight. Nervously, he wrapped his own arms around her.
"HEY ERASERHEAD, THOSE TWO DATING OR SOMETHING?"
The blushed heavily as they let each other go.
"Students personal lives are not something to talk about on television mic." Aizawa berated, and the two were thankful for their scruffy homeroom teacher. For all of two minutes, as they forgot he loves to mess with them all. "Give it a few months."
"WELL EITHER WAY, MOMO YAOYOROZU AND IZUKU MIDORIYA HAVE TIED IN FIRST PLACE!"
With that, Midoriya relaxed, collapsing into the ground behind him. His blush didn't die away and for some reason he found himself entertaining the idea the commentators brought up about the two.
it was silly. Like that would ever happen, like he would ever be that lucky. Still, it was a nice thought to make him smile. Then he realized what that meant.
'Ah… shit.'
Chapter 26: Round two - Cavalry Battle
"Magister? Are you seeing what I'm seeing?"
"Yes. Yes I am."
"How did he…"
"I'm not sure but we have had those odd reports recently. Maybe they weren't as bogus as we thought."
"What should we do?"
On a screen, in front of the two men conversing was Izuku Midoriya, relaxing against a stadium wall with some raven haired girl they cared nothing about.
"If he has the Omnitrix… we need to train him. Sports festivals are meant for hero internships. I need you to go put in the paper work for a special request."
"Yes sir. So you want him to…?"
"To become a plumber? Yes, for all our sakes I do."
"Are you ok, Midoriya? You've been red faced for a while now. You aren't sick are you?" Momo pondered, placing a hand on her friends shoulder as the two watched participant after participant run in, having nothing better to do while they waited. The boy smiled nervously, waving away her concern.
"No, just…" 'Being betrayed by my brain with how close you are right now!' "…Not great with crowds is all."
"Ah. Well if it helps, you've got me here for any support you need." The rich teen said, patting his shoulder. Externally, the boy smiled. Internally he screamed.
"Thanks Momo, it helps." 'It also makes this worse.' Shaking his head, he began to stand up as more and more people poured through. "So what do you think is up next?"
"Well, there's only one way to find out." Momo said as she followed his lead, and the two began making their way to the center podium where Midnight was setting up again. "Whatever it is, let's do our best!"
"Right!"
It was a cavalry battle. A team event.
That wasn't so bad. Momo and Midoriya had shared looks of excitement at that, thankful they wouldn't be fighting everyone all at once for once.
Then the scoring system was announced. Based on each students placements in the obstacle course, the first forty or so had been assigned headbands with a value starting at five and gradually increasing from there.
The first place value….
"One million Points!" Midnight announced excitedly, and all eyes swiveled to the two who had secured that value. The Omnitrix bearer began to sweat while the creation girl gulped. "Of course, as Izuku Midoriya and Momo Yaoyorouzu tied, they both have this value. Unfortunately someone forgot to account for the possibility that people might tie so the headband will be shared between them. Now, you have until we can move this podium off-field to form teams. Begin!"
With that, students instantly dispersed, most of them immediately moving away from the two first place students. Groaning, the greenette turned to his taller friend apologetically.
"Sorry I got you stuck with me." He said, scratching the back of his neck while trying to think how he could use their situation to their advantage. He was briefly pulled out of his thoughts when the raven-haired teen ended flashing him the brightest smile he'd seen in his life (And he watched All Might toothpaste commercials!)
"It's fine, Midoriya. I likely would have choose to work with you anyways. We can't get caught up in what might be though. What's our plan?" She asked, looking around before her eyes widened. "Oh, hi Iida!"
"Yaoyorouzu, Midoriya." The blue haired teen said curtly, grabbing the smaller boy's attention. Iida stood tall, glasses hiding his eyes with the light. He looked almost intimidating.
"Oh, Iida! Are you joining us?!" Midoriya asked, excited. "I might have the perfect plan if-"
"No." The class president cut the boy off and Midoriya flinched back surprised at the abrupt refusal. Re-adjusting his spectacles the engine teen met the greenette's eyes. "I'm afraid I cannot bring myself to join your team. You see, we are just as much rivals as anyone else Midoriya, and though you may be my friend, I have to play for myself today. Make no mistake I am not trying to make you my enemy Midoriya, however we are rivals, today and throughout the rest of our careers most likely. I just wanted to make sure you understood I had no malicious intent before I joined Todoroki."
With that, the boy walked off leaving the two first place students absolutely befuddled, nearly missing the red head and brunette approaching next, the brunette whispering to herself. "Man, Iida was really intense there…"
"Hey you two! Nice going on the obstacle course.." Kirishima said and the Omnitrix bearer turned to see the red head along with Uraraka, determined gazes upon their faces. "Got room for two more?"
"Hm? I thought you would have tried to work with Bakugou Kirshima?" Yaomomo questioned, cocking her head to the side in confusion. "Would he have not been a good match with you this event?"
"I mean…. Quirk wise yeah but he kept muttering stuff under his breathe about Midobro. I don't think I could of got through the whole event without snapping at him at some point." The hardening teen shrugged, making Midoriya blush lightly at the sentiment behind his actions.
"Uh.. yeah! Yes we do." Midoriya nodded quickly, happy for all the help eh could get. Then, as he looked between his group, a plan started to form.
Creation, Zero Gravity, Hardening, and the ability to move the first place headband between two players. He lifted the Omnitrix quick, flying through selections. He could work with this!
"Yaomomo, what's the strongest material you can make?"
"Well, I've been trying to practice making stuff stronger than steel, though at the moment I'm only able to improve upon the steel I already make. I could try to push myself If need be though!"
"Alright! Then, Uraraka you NEED to be a back horse-" Quickly, he began his instructions, as they all listened intently. Determined smiles shared between the friends. They got this!
Soon enough they got into formation, Uraraka taking her spot as the back left horse and Midoriya as the back right horse. Momo sat atop them, and Kirishima took up the front.
"Ready?!" Midnight called out to the teams, ready to start the event.
"Remember Uraraka, Kirishima. You're our close range defense, mainly you just need to keep an eye out for any enemies." Midoriya reminded, setting his fingers on his watch. "Yaomomo, you protect that headband on your head at all costs. Don't hesitate, if you see incoming create a shield immediately."
"Right! The girl nodded, and they gritted their teeth just waiting for the event to begin. "What about you?! You didn't explain your part in this."
"BEGIN!"
He pressed in the watch immediately and after a brief flash, Crystalize stood tall, grinning wildly. Ice immediately moved across the field, undoubtedly a gift from Todoroki. "I'm our long range support and defense!"
Before the ice could get close to them, a sudden almost shockwave of crystals erupted out the ground, flying around and shattering the ice. Other teams ran at them and Midoriya took a breathe.
"We just need to stay out the way of incoming grabs so…." Suddenly the ground beneath the stadium tore apart beneath them and the team was raised into the air by a podium of crystals. "I'll keep making them, we just need to move! Trust me?!"
"With my life, man!" Kirishima called back excited, running forward and leaping off onto another platform as the previous one fell away. A loud bang got their attention and they turned to see Bakugou blasting after them. "Incoming!"
"DEKU!" The blonde screamed, flying right towards them.
"Stay." Midoriya ordered calmly and his team listened. Bakugou shot closer and closer, then Midoriya grinned. "Now."
As the blonde tried to blast towards them a sudden wall of crystal shot up and Midoriya pretended not to enjoy how satisfying hearing his once tormentor crash into the wall was.
"Ha! Nice going Deku!" Uraraka called excitedly. Momo nodded, shield already in hand just in case. "What next?"
"We just keep moving! Next time he gets to close, I want you to try to float him Uraraka. It won't do much but slowing him down at all will be really useful. Kirishima, ready?!"
"Ready!"
They leapt once more.
"DAMN! WOULD YOU LOOK AT THOSE MOVES SPORTS FANS! ARE THEY EVEN LEGAL MANOEUVRES?!"
"I'LL ALLOW IT!" Midnight called out, causing Midoriya to grin. They would rely on that plan for a while.
"ALRIGHT THEN! YO ERASERHEAD, WHAT'S THIS ONES DEAL ANYHOW?!"
"Crystalize. Arguably one of, if not the most versatile of his forms. He has a solid crystal body, harder than diamond that allows him to take far more abuse than others. Along with that, he can create and fully manipulate the same types of crystals his body is made of, allowing limited shape shifting and creating constructs of crystal as we're seeing here."
"MAN! WHAT A MOVESET! NOT TO- OH HEY WHAT'S THIS?! LOOKS LIKE TEAM MIDORIYA'S PLAN HASN'T QUITE WORKED OUT!"
Midoriya grimaced as he sliced away at incoming tape and tried to dodge purple sticky balls flying at them. He couldn't fire out shards in a place like this, in this situation. He'd likely end up stabbing a spectator.
He also couldn't just create a shield and have them sit there, blocking themselves off completely would likely be deemed an illegal manoeuvre and leaving gaps would keep them blind to Bakugou.
"Yo, Midoriya?! Any idea how to deal with this?" Kirishima pondered and the alien teen gritted his teeth. "Cause we can't keep this up."
"Uraraka what was your weight limit again?" The boy asked quickly, and when he got the number from the girl, he turned to the stadium. "Staying out of the fight is proving even harder than expected. I forgot Mineta existed! Ok, Uraraka touch the ground quick!"
"Right!"
The brunette did as she was asked and the crystal alien slammed his foot into the ground, cracks forming around the group. Then suddenly the platform lifted and the teen did his best to use his powers and control it's trajectory.
"We're going to land in front of Todoroki! Momo, defend our blindside!" He commanded and the girl nodded, neither realising what he called her. The platform disappeared from under them and they fell, bracing for impact.
"One minute left."
"QUICK TODOROKI!" Came Tokoyami's voice, and the team looked up to see Iida flinching as Ice shot down his legs onto the ground and shot forth. Kaminari was at the back of their group and Todoroki had taken spot as the rider. 'Must be relying on Iida's engine flames for it to be safe to do that, really risky move.'
"I don't think that little shockwave will work this time!" Kirishima called back worried as actual ice bergs started moving towards them. Midoriya was quiet, putting his foot into the ground and focusing.
"DEKU!" Bakugou's pissed off shouts came and a quick glance showed the blonde flying towards them again.
"Midoriya…" Yaomomo began worried. The ice was upon them, Bakugou was close and other teams were incoming. They didn't have time.
Midoriya's eyes opened and in an instant the group were surrounded boy a dome of crystal. It thundered and echoes inside as the ice collided, and Explosions tried to tear it apart. Then Midoriya added a finishing touch of spikes on the outside, before opening an entrance behind them, letting them book it.
However right as they got to the entrance, Todoroki's team suddenly started rocketing towards them. Iida carrying them at a speed the boy could barely comprehend.
There was no way to dodge! Without another thought, Midoriya reached up and grabbed Momo's arm, quickly trying to encase her entire body in crystal. "YOU'LL BE OK!"
"RIGHT!" She shouted nervous, as Todoroki reached out for them.
"No you don't!" The heterochromatic teen shouted, annoyed as he reached his left arm out. In his adrenaline, the arm caught fire, surprising him and Midoriya. He was too late though, smashing his hand against crystal and falling from his group, who stumbled as well.
"TIMES UP!" Midnight's voice called through, and Midoriya's group turned to see Todoroki getting up slowly, inspecting his arm as he did so. Midoriya could of sworn he looked… sad? Why was he sad?
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Shaking his head, the alien quickly got rid of his crystal constructs around the arena, bringing them back into the day light. Momo gasped for breathe, and the alien quickly helped her down.
Beside them, Bakugou face planted into the ground. Kirishima snickered as he commented. "Guess he was still standing up there."
Bwoo.
After the flash, Midoriya held onto his friends shoulders and the girl looked up at him. She still had the headband on.
"We.. won?"
"Yeah, we won." He nodded, only to be caught in a tight hug, which he quickly returned. After a moment, Kirishima and Uraraka joined them as they laughed.
"Oh… and Midoriya?" Yaomomo asked, causing him to look up. Her grin grew but she seemed a little scarier all of a sudden. "If you ever do that without asking again I will do the same to you when you least expect it."
Judging by her tone, she was completely serious. Laughing nervously, the boy scratched his neck.
"Well-"
"Midoriya." A new voice got their attention, and they turned to see Todoroki looking at them. "I need to talk to you. In private."
"Uh… I don't kno-" Kirishima's voice was skeptical, as if he didn't trust the fire and Ice teen's intentions but the Omnitrix bearer placed his hand on his friends shoulder.
"It's fine Kirishima." He assured quickly, before turning to the heterochromatic teen. "Ok, Todoroki. Let's talk."
Chapter 27: One vs One fights begin
"I'm just going to get to the point. You are clearly much closer to All Might than the rest of our class." Todoroki said, leaning against the wall of one of the hallways while they waited for scores to be tallied in the field. Midoriya gulped, gritting his teeth as the heterochromatic teen continued. "If you're somehow related to the number one pro…. Well that's exactly why I chose you specifically. You made me break a promise I've held for a long time, just for a moment during the cavalry battle."
"A.. promise?" Midoriya questioned and the stoic teen before him nodded.
"A promise to never use my left side in battle. Have you ever heard of quirk marriages? Where two people are forced together only for their quirks and nothing more?" The boy asked and the Omnitrix bearer nodded, looking down as he did. The very concept made him sick. "My parents were part of one. My father, endeavor is a bastard."
"Huh?"
"When I was a child… Since I could remember he's been training me to be the next pro, to surpass All Might. He wants me to be the next him, to conquer everyone no matter who gets hurt. Everyday was at best a fight I could barely hold out in, at worst nothing but constant beatings."
Midoriya felt his blood run cold at that. Somewhere in the back of his mind, the idea of 'introducing' Endeavour to Goliath began to sound pretty enjoyable. "That's….. horrible."
"You get used to it." The heterochromatic teen shrugged, and Midoriya hated how easily he seemed to just disregard it, as the boy reached up for his burned eye. "You see this? This is a constant reminder every day of why I can't ever be like him. My mother…. She began to suffer worse, mentally as time went on. She couldn't even look me in the face… eventually, just because I reminded her to much of my father, she ended up pouring a boiling kettle atop of me."
Midoriya felt sick.
"I don't even know what she actually thought she would accomplish by doing so, just that she wanted so badly not to have to see my father she attacked me." Todoroki explained, finally standing up again and beginning to walk away. "I plan to make it clear to the bastard once and for all today I will be a hero without using his damn fire quirk. I will reject him today, and if your related to All Might… then your my next step towards doing that."
Todoroki had reached the end of the tunnel, walking out towards the stadium again. Midoriya had nothing to say, at least not right away as he stared at his watch, just processing all he was told.
Todoroki had almost left when he finally thought of something, turning on the spot and calling out to him. The boy stopped, turning back with a curious yet bored look.
"Todoroki…. I won't pretend I've been through as much as you, or that I can really understand your situation fully. I can understand and appreciated your motivation though. I can't just stop because of it though… You remember what I told you all about the USJ? About JJ and Roller?"
"What about them?"
"Roller…. Gave his life to save us. To save me. I can't ever not put my all into everything from now on, to do the absolute best I am able to do. I owe him that at the very least and… JJ… she's watching from somewhere. I know it… she's seeing all of this and she's lost… everything." Midoriya said, looking down as he balled his fists tight. "Her home, her family, her friends… She seems so happy sometimes but If I catch her at the wrong moment, I can't stand the sadness I see in her eyes. So for her… I have to be as strong as I can be, to make sure she knows at least someone is there, who won't disappear on her. That's why… I still will be coming at you with everything I have. The third stage of the festival is always one on one fights of some kind so… I'll see you there!"
Silence followed after that, as the ice teen took in what the greenette had said. Then he sighed, simply walking off, Midoriya soon following behind.
"ALRIGHT SPORTS FANS! WE ARE IN THE THIRD STAGE OF THE TOURNAMENT SO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS! IT'S THE ONE V ONE FIGHTS!" Present Mic announced excitedly, prompting cheers from the crowd louder than there had been throughout the entire day. "GO ON MIDNIGHT AND TAKE IT AWAY WITH THE EXPLAINATION!"
"Thank you Mic!" The sultry woman said into her mic as the students crowded around her once more, watching a holographic screen flick to life behind her. "This year we have decided to go for a very straight forward no holds barred fight! No implements, no other challenges, all they have to do is either knock out their opponent, make them unable to move OR throw them out the ring! As straightforward as can be. I have here with me a pile of numbers for all our competitors so why don't you all come on up and see who you will be fighting?!"
"Um… excuse me!?" A voice called out, garnering everyone's attention. To the greenette's surprise it was Ojiro who had called out, tail drooping as he held up his hand. "I want to withdraw."
"What?!" Hagakure exclaimed, jumping back in surprise.
"Dude, what are you doing?! This is a huge opportunity you're throwing away." Kirishima pointed out, frowning.
"It just…. It wouldn't be right. I can't remember… anything from the second round. It was like I wasn't even in control… I can't go forward like this in good conscious." The boy explained, tightening his fists. "You guys can't change my mind on this, my pride won't let me go through."
"Um… Nirengeki Shoda, From class 1-B ." Another voice said, belonging to a somewhat short and rotund student with blue hair. "I'd like to withdraw for the same reason…"
Muttering erupted amongst the students and spectators as Midnight debated what to do about this unexpected development. After a moment she grinned, adjusting her mask. "Alright then! We'll need a replacement for you both. This is an incredibly naïve decision my boys, it's hot!"
Midoriya decided he didn't even want to know what someone like Midnight was into as he deadpanned, everyone else somewhat surprised by her comment. After a couple of moments, two 1-B students called TetsuTetsu and Shiozaki were picked.
The people who passed the second round and the substitutes all lined up, Midoriya taking a spot near the back as they moved forward. Realizing he'd completely missed hearing the score to talk with Todoroki who looked to see who was part of the group.
Bakugou, Kirishima, Yaomomo, Todoroki, Uraraka, Iida, Tokoyami, Ashido, Aoyoma, Sero, Kaminari and the two students that had been picked. There was also a girl with almost tentacle like pink hair, kitted out in odd gear and a boy with tired eyes and messy blue hair.
Midoriya picked up his number and ended up with the number eight on his slip, which he showed to Midnight. Once he got the thumbs up from her, when she wrote it down he walked off, one of the final few to have their number picked and looked up to the projection showing who was fighting who.
Izuku Midoriya vs. Hitoshi Shinsou
Shoto Todoroki vs. Hanta Sero
Denki Kaminari vs. Ibara Shiozaki
Mei Hatsume vs. Tenya Iida
Yuga Aoyama vs. Mina Ashido
Fumikage Tokoyami vs. Momo Yaoyorozu
Eijiro Kirishima vs. Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu
Ochaco Uraraka vs. Katsuki Bakugo
Midoriya frowned for three different reasons as he read that. The first was simply Uraraka's bad luck, the second was the fact that pretty much all his close friends from class were in the final round.
As a friend he was happy for them, but also sad because it meant he definitely would end up fighting at least one of them. They all knew it was nothing personal but it didn't mean he had to like it.
Finally….
"Who's…."
"Izuku Midoriya, right? From class 1-A?" A voice asked and Midoriya turned to see the blue haired boy behind him, hands in his pockets.
"Uh, ye-MMMPGHH!" Midoriya was suddenly cut off as a ball of fur forced it's way into the boy's mouth, cutting him off. Behind him, he heard Ojiro.
"You can't talk to him." The blonde said, and who Midoriya presumed was Shinsou grinned.
"Just want to say, I think I dislike you the most of your entire class." The tired eyed teen shrugged, before walking off. 'What the…'
"Ojiro, what the heck?!" Midoriya asked when the boy's tail finally got out his mouth, turning to face the taller teen while massaging his throat.
"Sorry about that but… We need to talk about that guy. I think he… I think has a sort of brainwashing quirk." The boy explained, making Midoriya's eyes go wide. 'But aren't those…' "I know it's not exactly common but… Come on, let's talk somewhere we won't be overheard."
"Uh… yeah.. ok."
It took twenty minutes for them to get around to finalizing the stage for the third round, in which time everyone tried to calm their nerves or come up with plans. In Midoriya's case he'd spend the first fifteen minutes just talking possibilities with Ojiro about Shinsou's quirk and in the end, he had only one solid conclusion to work with.
'DO. NOT. TALK!' He repeated in his head like a mantra. He knew he had a habit of running his mouth when he got into his fight, just to focus on anything other than the impending threat of injury and or death but that would not do him any favors this time.
At the moment he stood in the dimly lit hallway out into the stadium, watching as Midnight and Cementoss set up the last free bits of equipment they needed to start.
"Hey, there you are!" A voice called and Midoriya looked back, seeing All Might walking towards him in his skinny form. "Not had a chance to talk to you yet. You've been doing amazing so far. Nervous about what's coming next?"
"Kind of? I'm facing someone I've never seen in combat before, or even know anything about." Midoriya said, scratching the back of his head. "Normally I know something I can use to pinpoint a good alien but in this case all I can really use is don't pick goliath so I can actually stay on the ring."
"Hm, well I suppose that would be kind of frustrating." The blonde nodded, placing a hand to his chin. "My advice would probably just be to see if you can't figure out any information before you transform by using one for all. Still I don't know how effective that would actually be."
"Thanks…. Actually, that does give me an idea of my own." Midoriya said, pulling up the watch and going through the selections, stopping on his splixson form. "If his quirk works the way I think it does…."
"Oh, by the way kid, your girlfriend told me tell you she and everyone else wishes you good luck." The lanky man said, laughing when the greenette went beet red.
"YAOYOROUZU ISN'T MY GIRLFRIEND!" He shouted, turning away and only getting more laughter from the man.
"And yet you know exactly who I was talking about." All Might teased. For a brief moment, Midoriya wondered if any of his aliens could punt someone into the sun.
"ALRIGHT SPORTS FANS! IT'S TIME FOR OUR FIRST MATCH!" Present Mic announced, and a hand landed on the greenette's shoulders.
"Seriously, young Midoriya. Good luck, I know you'll do great." The man said, giving him a thumbs up and a light shove forward. Midoriya nodded as he hurried out onto the stage as people cheered.
"FROM THE GENERAL STUDIES DEPARTMENT, THIS KID HAS COME OUT OF NOWHERE, IT'S HITOSHI SHINSOU!" Present Mic introduced the blue haired teen.
'Ok, don't hesitate, don't respond. Just go alien straight away and go at it!'
"AND FROM THE HERO COURSES CLASS 1-A, HE'S SLIMY, FREAKY, FAST AND STRONG! HE'S EVERY SHAPE AND SIZE! HE'S IZUKU MIDORIYA!"
The two teens eyes met, and Midoriya lifted his arm in preparation. Shinsou cracked his neck.
"I'll step in if things get out of hand!" Cementoss reassured the two from his seat.
"BEGIN!" Midnight commanded and Midoriya immediately pressed in the watch. He disappeared in a bright green flash, before it dissipated and Duple took his place.
"Hm, cool trick. At least you worked hard to get this far." Shinsou said, with a shrug before he glared at the alien. "Still, even you got lucky, getting a thing like that that could let you in while people like me are thrown to the sidelines. Maybe you of all people can at least understand how gifted you are to possess powers like yours."
Midoriya didn't say anything as he began running at the teen, grinning. Maybe this would be easier than he thought!
"But that idiot in your class definitely doesn't! A hero can't care what others think of them if they want to succeed, yet that monkey doesn't seem to understand that! Do they need teach you basic lessons like that in the hero course?!"
Midoriya's grin immediately fell away as he stopped, taking that in. He started to glare himself as he gritted his teeth, balling his fists. 'Come on, Izuku! Don't react! He's just trying to get a rise-"
"Didn't I see another one like you right now by the way?!" The blue haired teen asked. 'He saw… JJ?!' "What exactly are you even going to do? She seemed pretty pathetic when I saw her."
The second the words left his opponents mouth, Midoriya felt a switch turn in his mind as his blood began to boil.
"DON'T YOU EVER TALK ABOUT HER THAT WAY-"
The world went hazy.
"There, It's over. I win."
Chapter 28: Shinsou vs Duple
"There, it's over, I win."
Duple's arms dropped to his side, as mouth dropped open and he stood straight. The world went hazy and there was almost a sound similar to singing somewhere, encouraging him to listen, listen, listen.
"Turn around and walk out the ring for me."
Yeah, that was a good idea.
NO!
He began walking. He didn't want to do this. He was happy to obey.
STOP!
"EH?! WHAT ON EARTH IS HAPPENING?! WHATEVER THIS ALIEN IS, IT DOESN'T SEEM TO BE IMMUNE TO WHATEVER SHINSOU CAN DO!"
"The judges weren't rational with the entrance exam. They favoured flashy and destructive quirks. Shinsou's quirk is brainwashing, he can make anyone do what he says so long as they answer a question he asks. Still, the exam had robots, not people. Seeing as he also applied for general studies, he obviously knew he wouldn't be accepted. I can only presume his plan is to succeed here and make it into the hero course that way."
He was getting closer to the edge. Was the singing getting louder? Was it a reward.
I DON'T WANT THIS! SAVE ME!
"SO THEN, SEEING AS IT MIGHT BE THE LAST WE SEE, WHAT WAS THAT ALIEN ERASERHEAD?!"
"Duple, apparently. Another of the three I mentioned earlier. Midoriya possesses two forms capable of cloning. The other shares a unified personality, making a very coherent team. This one has multiple personalities. Undoubtedly Midoriya had planned to use that to advantage so that the brainwashing would be ineffective but he ended up messing up. He would be able to take down shinsou alone but he'd have to overcome shinsou's brainwashing to do that. Either way, this fight is about to be over."
'Ojiro, I'm sorry! I can't, JJ, Mom….I….'
His foot was over the edge. It was about to step down. His fist twitched. His body began to heat up. Red glowing lines started to form.
Midoriya had almost left the room, when Ojiro got his attention again before he could leave. "Hey Midoriya?"
"Hm? What is it?" He asked, raising a brow as the blonde walked over to him, before holding out a fist.
"I know this may sound kind of selfish but I'll say it anyways. Beat this guy, for me and you!" Midoriya stared a moment at the boy's fist as he grinned, before giving one of his own and fist bumping the taller teen.
"I promise!"
'I… can't…. lose!'
Any second now, his foot was about to hit the edge, then his body suddenly lurched as something shot out of him. The world lost its haze and he pulled his foot back, almost falling. He turned, and to his surprise he saw a certain black and yellow Splixson.
"Back off, buster!" She called at the teen in front of her, running forward without regard. 'Did… Did I just summon Shimura by accident?!'
"What the?! How did you do that!?" Shinsou asked, eyebrows raised. Nana went to open her mouth as she ran at him but Midoriya quickly dived atop her, placing a hand over her mouth.
"Don't answer him!" He said quickly, pulling her up. He looked at her confused features with a slightly determined gaze. "Ok, first off sorry, I didn't mean to bring you back like this. Secondly, can you help me just get him out the ring?"
The girl nodded, and the two began running at the teen before them. The blue haired boy's eyes widened and he rushed forward, trying to shove them both. Unfortunately for him, the two splixson were agile and still had a lot of One for All going through them.
"Dammit! I can't lose! You got to run away from it all! The constant belittlement, being told you can never be a hero!" Shinsou shouted as the two kept pushing, Midoriya doing his best not to drop from his shouts or let anger get the better of him again. "You got luckier than the rest of us! Do you even remember what is was like?!"
Midoriya almost ended up answering that, but before his mouth could even open Shimura pulled him back.
"HITOSHI SHINSOU IS OUT OF BOUNDS! MIDORIYA WINS!" Midnight announced, and the transformed teen looked down to see he'd managed to push the brainwasher out of bounds.
"I… still remember." Midoriya said, looking up at the blue haired teen. His tired eyes closed and he gritted his teeth, but Midoriya kept talking. "Your right, I have been luckier, maybe than I had any right to be but… that doesn't mean you can't still be a hero. You got this far right? I know that look in your eyes, I used to see it in myself and I still see it in myself everyday."
Beside him, he could practically feel Nana's beaming face.
"It's the drive to never give up so…. I'll see you in the hero course someday, I'm sure." The boy said, turning to walk away once he saw a soft smile on the general educations students face. He decided to leave him be as his friends called down to him, but not before one last thing. "Oh, and Shinsou?"
"Yes?"
"Be very glad I was this alien when you insulted JJ." He said, smiling but his tone was deadly. The boy seemed to get the picture.
"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!" All Might shouted as he looked between the two Splixsons, the green one rubbing the back of his neck nervously while the black one just explored. "She was in a complete panic last time!!"
"I'm sorry, All Might!" The boy apologized, looking away. "I wasn't thinking, I literally barely could."
"Honestly, Toshi, give the kid a break." Shimura called from the back of the room as she hopped up on one of the beds to be eye level with him. "I'm fine, aren't I? Not his fault One for All kicked in to save him."
"Still…" The blonde sighed, rubbing his face while Recovery Girl silently wished she had any context for how a dead woman had come back to life in a different form. She was a good healer but not thatgood. "Is this even allowed? It was supposed to be a one on one!"
"Well it is part of the boy's power, so regardless of whether he summoned a complete clone or another person he would be fine." Recovery Girl pointed out, jotting down a few notes.
"I… I am sorry I brought you back like that." Midoriya said bashfully, looking up at the past holder. "You should have had a proper planned returned, an actual-"
"Kiddo, it's fine." Shimura cut off with a laugh as she hopped over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Best part of being alive was using powers and helping others anyways, I prefer coming back like this. How much longer do we have?"
"Not much, just a minute." Midoriya answered, hopping off his stool. "And I should really make sure I find out who I'll be up against next, though I think I already know."
"Oh, well then I guess it's about time we fused back up." Shimura said, sounding almost sad as she turned to her old student. "Well Toshinori, It was great seeing you again! Don't go to hard on the kid for something that wasn't his fault, I hope you'll bring me out again soon!"
"Uh, yeah. Goodbye master!"
With that, the woman turned back as she began to glow, reaching out and fusing back into Izuku, before the boy turned back normal. He looked up to the blonde, still feeling guilty.
"Really All Might, I'm sorry I put you through that. I…"
"Ah, forget it. I'm sorry I yelled, you were just doing what you had to, to win. Just, please try not to accidentally resurrect anyone else in your next fight." All Might said, pinching the bridge of his nose. Midoriya grinned a little.
"No promises."
After that, the boy had hurried up to the stands, finding his classmates all sitting, staring down at the next fight about to start.
"So… how badly do you think this will end for Sero?" Ashido asked, leaning over the safety rail, while Koda nervously kept his hands near her waist in case he needed to catch her.
"I want to believe in him, but dudes got no chance." Kaminari gave his own two cents, as Midoriya took a seat between Momo and Uraraka.
"You did great, Deku." The brunette said with a grin, while the creation girl just set a hand on his shoulders to encourage him. "What do you think? Todoroki vs Sero?"
The greenette sighed as he looked down. "Sero has a really great quirk, when applied right. It can do all sorts of cool stuff but…"
Midnight called for them to start and their tape creating class mate got a hold of the heterochromatic teen he was facing. Then Todoroki used his quirk.
"Ice beats tape."
As he said that, most everyone else almost fell over as a gigantic ice berg formed, going over the edge of the ring.
"Holy. Shit." Mineta said quietly, getting immediately reprimanded by Iida for his language.
Midoriya sighed as he looked down to the field, as Todoroki was announced the winner, Sero trapped inside the ice.
As the heterochromatic thawed out his opponent, the Omnitrix bearer frowned. 'I know I could just use Pyroform but…. He looks so sad….'
He leaned back in his chair, groaning. It could never be as simple as just winning a quick fight, could it?
Midoriya had ended up tuning out a majority of the rest of the fights, only really focusing for his closer friends matches. He didn't want to ignore the others but he needed to come up with a way to fight Todoroki and he'd ended up making a decision.
He needed to get him to use his left side, to see it was ok to use his fire. To get him to give it his all.
Unfortunately, this killed his original plan A, B and C in the water. As he watched Mina skate around Aoyoma, he placed a finger to his chin. 'Pyroform and Chiller are completely immune to fire, hell Pyroform gets stronger with it so… no way Todoroki will use his fire against them. Crystalize would basically be us going at each other the exact same way, chances are I'd win but…. He wouldn't use fire on a material that he can't melt through.'
Mina uppercutted Aoyoma, securing a victory as he fell backwards out the arena.
"AOYOMA IS OUT OF BOUNDS, ASHIDO WINS!"
'Cannon Shot, even if I could use a technicality to bounce off the stadium walls, that would be super risky. No way I can try that. Maybe…. No that's stupid, I'd probably shatter the ice instead of bouncing off.'
"NEXT UP! HE'LL GIVE YOU ALL QUITE THE SHOCK, IT'S 1-A'S DENKI KAMINARI! VERSUS, THE 1-B ASSASSIN IBARA SHIOZAKI!"
'Rath and Braniac would be…. Really bad ideas. Even if Rath could maybe fight, he would so not be the right transformation for this kind of thing. Braniac might as well just be giving up.'
The 1-B student paused the match a moment to berate present mic for her introduction, insisting she was nothing like a cold-hearted killer. After the commentator apologized, the battle commenced.
'Goliath can't fit on the stage and Colossus would be able to ignore the fire to easily. It's weird to even be trying to delibaretely putting myself at a disadvantage….'
Kaminari started to spark as he tried to end the fight quickly, blasting the entire arena with electricity, only to be intercepted by Shiozaki's vine like hair which she used like a shield.
'Blink would probably struggle on the ice, and I don't want to just end the fight as soon as it starts. Dammit…. I really am losing a lot of options here.'
After his attack, the electricity producing teen had ended up stumbling dumbfounded, being picked up by vines and thrown out, making him the loser.
"KAMINARI IS OUT OF BOUNDS! SHIOZAKI ADVANCES TO THE NEXT ROUND!"
'Aside from the fact I just used him, Duple would be a terrible idea here as well. I'd just be making it easier for Todoroki if anything, I have no idea how clones are counted when they're shoved out.'
"NEXT UP! SHE'S 1-A'S MISTRESS OF CREATION, MOMO YAOYOROUZU! VERSUS, ALSO FROM 1-A, THE EMBODIMENT OF DARKNESS, FUMIKAGE TOKOYAMI!"
'That leaves two. Reverb and Goop.'
The two stared each other down on the stadium, ready to fight. Midnight told them to start, and Dark Shadow shot out as Momo panicked, creating a shield to hold it off.
'Goop could melt through I guess and…. I have no idea how he reacts to fire, he would probably be good for forcing it out though. But…. No, I can't, I…. dammit. That leaves one then…'
"MOMO YAOYOROUZU IS OUT OF BOUNDS! TOKOYAMI WINS!"
All his thoughts suddenly disappeared into nothing as he processed that, actually taking in the field. Momo's foot has slipped out the ring by the smallest amount, forced back by the shadow creature.
Tokoyami didn't look back to see his opponents face as he left, but Midoriya could. The shock, the crushing feeling of defeat. Even after he'd began to win so much, Omnitrix pulling him through, he could recognize it instantly.
Then the girl, despite her best attempts to stay composed had started sprinting near the end to get out of the crowds sight, and Midoriya had leapt to his feet before he could be stopped.
"Midoriya?" Someone questioned, not getting an answer as he hurried through the door and pelted himself down the stairs. He ran towards the area he'd seen her disappear off to and looked around.
For a moment, he thought he had missed her, and then he heard a sob. He began to move towards it quietly, as it continued, breaking his heart. He walked up to one of the waiting rooms, pushing the door open gently and finding Momo with her head in her arms, body shuddering.
"Yaomomo?" He asked quietly, frowning as he walked in. the girl looked up surprised, before flinching when she saw the greenette. Gently he knelt down beside her, placing a hand on her shoulders. "You ok?"
"I…. no…. why…. I'm not but…. Why…" The girl choked on her words, unable to form any sentences as she kept changing her mind about what to say. Swallowing she looked at him while wiping her eyes. "W-why does this h-hurt so much? I t-thought I was… b-better than this. I couldn't even… last more than a few seconds. I've lost… before but… It was so fast. I t-thought I was good at m-making decisions but….i g-guess I'm n-not as smart as I thought…"
Midoriya frowned at that, not sure what to say as he rubbed her shoulders gently. He wouldn't just leave her alone though, so he had to think of something. Then he had an idea, as he pulled up the Omnitrix and scrolled through. 'I really hope this doesn't backfire…'
"I-it's o-ok if you w-want to go watch the fights. I-I'm not so pathetic as t-to be unable to c-cry alone at least." Momo waved away, not looking at him. He gritted his teeth as he pressed in his watch. At the flash, she looked back and her teary eyes went wide.
"Let me tell you something, Momo Yaoyorouzu, class vice president and smartest girl Rath knows! YOU ARE THE SMARTEST GIRL RATH KNOWS!" Rath said pointing at the girl, shaking his other fist. The creation girl just stared dumfounded "YOU ARE ALSO THE LEAST PATHETIC GIRL RATH KNOWS, AND RATH KNOWS NO PATHETIC GIRLS IN THE FIRST PLACE! RATH DOES NOT APPRECIATE THESE LIES ABOUT YOURSELF!"
"Midoriya…"
"YOU ARE ALSO THE BEST STRATEGIST RATH KNOWS, HAVE ONE OF THE BEST QUIRKS RATH KNOWS, ONE OF THE GREATEST FRIENDS RATH KNOWS! YOU ARE THE PRETTIEST RATH KNOWS AND ANYONE WOULD BE LUCKY TO KNOW YOU LIKE RATH KNOWS YOU AND RATH IS STARTING TO THINK RATH SHOULD SHUT UP BEFORE RATH ADMITS SOMETHING RATH WILL REGRET!"
Silence rung out after that as the bipedal tiger scratched the back of his head, and the creation girl looked away with a small smile, that slowly started to grow. "he…heheh…hehehehehe."
Then she burst out into full blown, genuine laughter, rocking back and forth as she did, unable to contain it. She held her stomach as she did, and to Midoriya it was the most beautiful sound he'd ever heard. Rath however wasn't done.
"ARE YOU LAUGHING AT RATHS COMPLIMENTS?! RATH DOES NOT APPRECIATE BEING BELITTLED LIKE THIS! BUT RATH WILL PUT UP WITH IT, FOR YAOYOROZU'S SAKE!"
She continued laughing, actually hitting her fist off the table at one point and wiping her eyes, finally starting to calm down as she looked up with a real smile. There was a silence between them as their eyes met before she rushed forward, wrapping him in a surprisingly tight hug. "T-thank you….thank….oh wow your soft…"
"SOFT?! RATH IS NOT SOFT! RATH IS, HOWEVER, THE BEST EARTH ON THE PLANET HUG!" The bipedal tiger continued, wrapping his own arms around the girl while she quietly put in the input to turn him back to normal. As he did, having to look up at her now instead of down she smiles happily at him. "Better?"
"Better. I really don't deserve to be friends with you?"
"If we're talking deserving, I'm sure you've got it the wrong way around! The fact I even got to meet you is amazing in of itself." Midoriya laughed, letting go. Then the girls grin turned teasing.
"So… what were you gonna regret admitting if Rath kept talking?" She asked, raisng a brow. Gulping the greenette swilred on his feet, grabbing her wrist to pull her along.
"OhheyIhearKirishima'smatchstartinglet'sgowatchrightawayi'msurehecandowithallthesupportevenifhedoesn'tneedit,he'ddothesameforus!" The boy blurted out as fast as possible, not looking the girl in the eyes as they began to walk off so she couldn't see his face go red.
Behind him, the girl felt a million times lighter. And not just because the boy had made her feel better, but for another reason related to him as well.
'Maybe…. I do have a shot after all…'