Chapter 13: The Tournament Part 2
Class A's Top Dogs
"Todoroki….." Izuku's heart raced in his chest, an icicle inches away from piercing his face, his body was freezing and he could see his own breathe, practically hear the beating of his chest in his ear. So this was the power of the Son of Endeavor, huh? Yeah, it scared Izuku a bit. And by a bit he meant a whole lot.
Awase's face fell, "Welp neither Tetsu or Midoriya are moving onto the finals then…. Fucking shit man, this is bull!" He thanked god that Ibarra wasn't around, since her match was next she was down in the waiting rooms, she would've slapped the hell out of Awase for that one.
No one else wanted to say it out loud but many were thinking the same thing. After all, even if Izuku could break those glaciers with 100% of his power, he'd be breaking himself, and his limbs were limited.
But All Might's successor wouldn't let that stop him, "I made a promise to win, I'm going to uphold it…" Izuku simply said, closing his notebook with a huff, "I'll overcome any opponents in front of me, I have to."
"Just don't break yourself Greenie!" Setsuna smiled and Monoma chuckled at her words.
"You know he won't be able to keep that promise, right?" Monoma asked her to which Setsuna laughed.
Izuku deflated at their words, Shinso raised a brow before noticing Izuku's broken fingers. He had yet to go to Recovery Girl. Izuku shook his head and sighed, seeing Todoroki free his opponent from the glacier he was trapped in.
It was kinda of funny, the crowd chanting, "Don't worry about it!" For the poor boy. At least Kuroiro put up a fight against Yaoyorozu. And speaking of Yaoyorozu, her match was interesting because- "Ow!" Izuku winced, finally feeling his broken fingers.
His new lilac friend turned to him, "I-I was gonna tell you, but you seemed focused .." Shinso muttered. "Do you do that often..? Break them, I mean."
Before Izuku could answer, Yanagi did. "He does more than he should, which is at all." She pouted. "It is reckless and might I recommend, not beneficial for your health at all."
Izuku blushed. "I-I know! I'm trying to get it under control, but I don't know if I can… umm anyways, I have to go see Recovery Girl again…" She was going to be so angry with him. But then again, he did deserve it, if she was still young her hair would still be gray, all because of him.
Yanagi began to float up and out of her seat, "Want one of us to go with you-"
"No, no it's ok." He cut her off with a wave of his hands, before blushing and smiling. "Recovery Girl's probably going to yell at me, and I don't want anyone to hear…." Izuku rubbed the back of his neck with his not broken hand. "So I'll deal with this on my own…"
Yanagi pouted but she understood his decision, she wouldn't want anyone to know Recovery Girl yelling and calling her an idiot or buffoon, "Very well then, make haste and come back soon, Ibarra's match is commencing in a short while."
Izuku nodded and smiled, "I will, don't worry!" There was no way he was missing her match!
Izuku sighed, stepping out of Recovery Girl's office for the second time that day. Her admonishing really did get to him, he felt bad for making her work so much, but was also reminded of how little control over All Might's quirk he really had. Despite developing Full Cowling and his Burst Style, there were some points where he couldn't solve problems with it, and he'd give in and use 100%. He was weak, he knew that, and he was angry because of that.
The Successor stalked through the halls, he hadn't heard Present Mic's voice yet so he figured he still had time before Ibarra's match. They were probably still dealing with Todorki's glacier, after all. Which was crazy. Izuku gulped, feeling clammy all of a sudden. Someone with that kind of power declared war on him?! That was crazy, he felt all sweaty and hot, his nerves really were getting to him.
Oh, or maybe it was because the Number Two Hero was standing in front of him. "E-Endeavor!"
The pro, much taller than Izuku, much wider, giant, with piercing blues eyes and facial hair of fire that burned around him, had just actually been passing through the halls, maybe looking for his son, turned to Izuku. "Boy…" He spoke in a deep voice, one that sent shivers up Izuku's spine, the look made Izuku think of what Todoroki had told him about.
How could he ever look at the Number Two Hero the same way ever again?! "Y-Yessir!" Izuku quickly yelled.
Endeavor let out a sound, reminiscent of a growl, before speaking, "Your power, it reminds me of All Might's…" Izuku was sweating, and he hoped that Endeavor thought it was because of the fire. "My son's duty is to defeat him, surpass your next opponent and give my son a challenge…"
The gruff man walked past Izuku, thinking they were done. They would've been too, but words just had to come out of Izuku's mouth. "Sir, I'm not All Might…."
"Hm?" Endeavor turned around to see Izuku's back, the hero in training sucked in a breath, cursing himself for opening his mouth. "Of course you're not All Might, boy." The man raised a brow at Izuku's words. "You're weak, still a child, nothing like the...Symbol of Peace...."
Izuku let out his breath and nodded, turning around to meet Endeavor's gaze. "You're right, I'm not All Might, I'm nothing like him besides our similar power. And the thing is, Todoroki-kun isn't you either, I'll fight him, I'll give him a challenge, but not because you want me to. Because I want to know Todoroki and understand him and his pain."
Endeavor narrowed his eyes at the boy. 'Pain….understand….?'
Izuku's thin mouth stretched into a wide smile, "Anyways, enjoy your day!" He turned around and jogged off, he didn't want to miss Ibarra's match after all!
The Number Two Pro watched as the small green child went off, grumbling under his breath in confusion. "What a strange child.." He said to no one before turning around and walking through the halls. "How strange indeed, but…strong."
He remembered the wind the kid had kicked up in his first match, it extinguished his flames. "But, so unknown? He's not recommendation, with that kind of power you think he would be…" Endeavor shook his head, deciding to focus on something else for now.
But, he would remember the boy's name, Izuku Midoriya. Unknown to him, the Successor of All Might.
Izuku gasped for breath, barely making it back into the stands on time as the match was about to start. He rushed down the steps before taking his seat between Shinso and Yanagi. "Did I miss anything?" He asked excitedly as he bounced in his seat.
"No, they're just about to start…" Shinso told him.
"Great!" Izuku smiled, pulling out his notebook. Leaning forward, he got ready to take any and all the notes that he could on both Ibarra and her opponent's quirk. Speaking of, the girl she was facing had pink skin and pink hair, almost as fluffy as his own, and he swore he remembered her from somewhere. Maybe the USJ?
Shinso leaned back and looked at Yanagi, who he could see because Izuku was leaning forward in anticipation,and raised a brow. "Do you know where that book came from?
"I haven't the slightest clue." She said with a small smile that was directed at Izuku.
Shinso simply nodded. "Alright." Hero course kids were weird, that was for sure.
Present Mic gripped his microphone as he grinned widely, "ALRIGHT, THE MATCH BETWEEN 1-B'S RELIGIOUS EXPERT- IBARRA SHIOZAKI- AND 1-A'S PINKY- MINA ASHIDO- BEGINS IN 3- 2- 1- STARTTT!"
The pink girl bounced on the balls of her feet, grinning widely. "Alright, let's have some fun!" She yelled and ran off, seemingly skating on the ground.
Izuku narrowed his eyes and stared at the ground she was skating on, noticing..smoke….or some sort of gas "That… doesn't make sense at all…." But he also noticed the special shoes that she was wearing. "Most definitely her quirk." He noted.
He'd have to wait and see how the fight progressed though to see more.
Ibarra closed her eyes and put her hands together, and the crowd would swear up and down that a shining light rained down on her, before her hair grew and expanded.
Mina raised a brow before a giant mass of vines shot out at her, "OH MY GOD-" The vines seemed to get even bigger as soon as she said "God." Mina quickly threw out a large goop of acid from her skin right in front of her, it tore a hole threw the vines let her get out unscathed.
Izuku's eyes narrowed, "Acid… it burnt through the vines, maybe that's how she's sliding across the floor? But they're both at different levels of acidity obviously, or else she'd be sinking into the ground…."
Shinso stared at Izuku's notes, the graphite of his pencil had already been burnt through, but he was still writing notes with it. "Jesus…..these hero course kids…"
Ibarra pouted as her vines didn't get their target, so she'd have to try something else. "Perhaps instead of all at once, we could go from different angles, all angles?" She let out a slight smile and her hair grew once more before splitting and surrounding Mina.
"W-Woah! What's going on?!" The pinkette yelled.
"And then, cage the little sheep…" All the strands of veins shot towards Mina, the pink skin girl smiled as she began rapidly spinning in place, shooting acid out all around her, turning the veins to nothing.
When the veins stopped coming, she stopped and smiled at her opponent, panting slightly for breath. "That all you got? Cause I can keep going!" She grinned, wiping a bit of sweat from her forehead.
Ibarra simply smiled, "I did say from all angles…"
Before Mina could piece together what that meant, a mass of veins erupted from under her, locking around her, before flinging her out of the stadium. "AHHH- ooh!" She yelled as she fell on the grass.
"AND WITH THAT, THE RELIGIOUS QUEEN OF 1-B IS VICTORIOUS!" Present Mic yelled, signaling the crowd to cheer, Ibarra let a grin take place on her face. She bowed to the crowd before making her way out.
Up in the stand, Izuku smiled. Ibarra's quirk was very versatile but that match up seemed like one that she couldn't win. Yet, she found a way to win anyways. He looked at the big screen in the stadium, seeing the next match up.
"Hatsume-san versus Iida-kun…"
Class B all sweat dropped as the match between the two ended. "She…turned it into a giant commercial…" Kendo sighed and grabbed her head, pulling out a couple hairs. "How did she even do that?"
"No idea, kinda cool though, she just hijacked the Sports Festival." Setsuna smiled. "I mean really, how many people could say that they'd done that?"
"Not many I suppose…." Monoma mumbled.
"Damn right, not many!" She laughed and patted his head, just making him grumble.
Shinso just shook his head, it wasn't just Hero Course students that were weird, he added Support Course to that list too.
Awase finally woke up, he had begun taking a nap because the match had become, in his own words, boring as fuck, "Guh, is it finally over?"
"Yeah…."
"Finally, damn that match was boring as fuck!" He yelled.
Izuku nodded along with his class, taking a couple of notes about Iida's quirk. "I wonder what he uses as fuel though….?" He wondered aloud.
But, besides that, it was time for the next match.
"M-Midoriya." At the call, Izuku turned to the top of the stairs, seeing Kuroiro. The boy looked... nervous, his face confronted in such a way that discomfort was apparent, obviously so. The boy stumbled down the stairs before standing in front of Izuku. "D-Do you think Bakugo would go all out on a girl?"
"Oh most definitely." He answered without missing a beat.
Apparently that wasn't the right answer, because Izuku was being shook by his shoulder. "He's gonna kill her!"
Izuku yelped before grabbing Kuroiro's hands. "K-Kuroiro-kun, who are you talking about?" Who was Bakugo going to kill?
The boy calmed down enough before opening his mouth, "Komori."
The entire class watched, all silent, as their favorite mushroom loving brunette came out into the arena. "FROM CLASS B- WE HAVE THE GIRL THAT'S EVERYTHING MUSHROOM, IT'S KINOKO KOMORI!" Present Mic yelled, doing nothing to relieve the stress that Class B was feeling.
"AND FROM THEIR SISTER CLASS- WE'VE GOT THE KING OF EXPLOSIONS HIMSELF, KATSUKI BAKUGO!" From the tunnel strutted out the King of Douchebagery himself, Katsuki Bakugo. He smiled, basking in the praise, the glory, and cracked his neck. He was going to have so much fun. It was apparent by the smug smile on his face.
Izuku didn't like the look that the blonde held, and neither did Komori as she gulped. Bakugo was, to put it simply, terrifying. She still remembered the day she first became friends with Izuku, the day of the Cafeteria Incident.
She felt so useless then, she hadn't been able to protect Izuku at all. A fist clenched and scrunched her gym pants as she held onto it. 'I….don't want that….I want to protect my friends….' Even with her thoughts, she was still scared, terrified even, to fight Bakugo. But she was already here, she couldn't turn back now-
"YOU CAN DO THIS KOMORI!" A mass of voices yelled from behind her, she turned to see all of Class B leaning on the railings.
"Give em hell, Shroomy!" Setsuna cheered.
"YOU CAN DO THIS KOMORI!" Tetsu screamed, for some reason with his quirk activated .
"Just take it slow!" Kendo said, trying to give the girl motivation and advice. "Don't get caught up in your own head!"
"Don't give up, Komori-san!" Izuku added in.
It was Kuroiro's turn and the two friends locked eyes, despite the boy's emotionless face, she could see his nervousness, his shoulders were hunched, and he looked like he was stuffing himself in a box "We- I-I believe in you!" Kuroiro yelled with all his might.
Komori didn't know what to say, but eventually she smiled and gave her friends a thumbs up. "Thanks!" She turned back to Bakugo, a little bit more courage in her heart.
Midnight let out a small smile, remembering herself forming some of the deepest bonds she still had, in highschool. She hoped that the group of Class B students would stick together for as long as her, Shouta, and Hisashi. "Alright! The seventh match of the first round between Kinoko Komori and Bakugo Katsuki will now commence!" She cracked her whip at the same time Mic yelled. "STARTT!"
"Explosive speed turbo!" Bakugo yelled as he shot off towards Komori.
The mushroom girl yelped as she quickly activated her quirk, hoping that it was humid enough around her, "Spore Field!" She yelled, mushrooms coming into being with a pop noise all over the field.
Though they weren't that big, and many of them didn't have any special properties because she made them so quickly. She only saw the scowling face of 1-A's rabbit dog before she ducked.
However, it did nothing to protect her as Bakugo flew by her, grabbed her by the back of her shirt, did a flip mid air, before finally slamming her down onto the ground. She gasped before she felt a weight pressing into her stomach, not letting her stand up. Komori presumed it was the boy's boot.
With a wince, she opened her eyes, everything was a little blurry but she could see one thing very, very clearly. His maniacal smile, it looked crazy, it was terrifying. And his eyes, the crimson bore into her. He looked so...happy, and that terrified her. She was scared, but she needed to stand up for herself here, and take Bakugo out of the tournament. For her friend, Midoriya!
"Got anything to say, shortie?!" He yelled.
She simply smiled, "Shroom!"
"Huh? The fuck does that-*POP*" He didn't finish his sentence as a mushroom popped onto his face. Pop, pop, pop, over and over. Double, to triple, to a dozen. Mushrooms began to cover Bakugo's body and he stumbled back, ripping them off in anger. "THE HELL?!"
Komori propped herself up on her forearms, smiling a bit. Maybe she actually did have a chance to win this. She stood up on shaky legs. "I…have to beat you, for Midoriya!"
That was the wrong thing to say, because Bakugo stopped trying to tear off the mushrooms and just glared at her, even as his vision started to get a little blocked from the mushrooms.
"…god…..Damned…..DEKU!" Two arms were thrusted forward and more pops were heard, but it wasn't coming from Komori's mushrooms this time. Small sparks of light and heat came from Bakugo's hand before they expanded into something greater
BOOM!
A giant explosion came straight from his hands and he grimaced at the pain in his forearms and shoulders. The smoke cleared, and embedded in the wall of the stadium, was Komori.
Bakugo huffed, before breaking out into a smile. "HAHA! I WIN!" He yelled, feeling so….fulfilled. And Deku was nex…..ne….. "The…. hell…?" Bakugo muttered before he face planted, falling into slumber due to the gas wafting around the stadium, courtesy of Midnight.
They were all silent, no one knew exactly what to say. They didn't think that Bakugo would go so far, to do something quite so rough with someone that was so small and looked so frail.
"KOMORI!" They all heard the yell, from two voices, but they all were still fixated on what their classmate had done.
None of them saw the green haired boy jumped down to help his friend, or the group of students run across above them to head down to the tunnels. They were solely focused on what Bakugo did.
He gulped before speaking, "I….didn't think Bakugo would go so far…ya know?" Kaminari muttered, kinda numb, a little dull. Not as cheerful as usual.
"Y-Yeah….it was really scary!" Toru shook her arms wildly around, really the only person that seemed to have energy right now, but they all knew that she did it because she couldn't be seen.
Iida pushed up his glasses and they shined a bit, "I must admit, I'm unpleasantly surprised by this as well…." It was…horrifying to say the least.
Ochako shook with a little fear as she stared at the girl, seeming a doppelgänger of herself, in the stadium. Her savior from the entrance exam was helping pull her out of the rubble, picking her up like a bride, which would've been cute had she not been passed out, before running off, presumably taking her to the infirmary. "W-Why would Bakugo do that?!" She suddenly yelled,
"Because he's insane and an asshole? I mean you saw what he did the first week in the cafeteria, right?" Jiro asked with a scoff.
Kirishima winced, obviously he wanted to think that Bakugo was a cool guy but after everything that happened, he was starting to doubt that. Heavily. Just.. after everything, the incident in the cafeteria, the guy's overall just rudeness (even though Kirishima thought it was manly, everyone else didn't) and then what just happened.
It was cool not to hold back against an opponent, even if they were a girl, but…there was no holding back and then going too far. Bakugo did the latter.
"I'm going to go down and make sure that she's alright, I'll be back." Momo stated, using her elegant voice that made everyone else just feel dumber by hearing it. She left the seating area, and left many of her classmates to think.
And so far no one had voiced their thoughts.
They were all just quiet, mulling over things in their head.
"Bakugo's an asshole…." Ojiro muttered, a fist clenched. No one could do anything but nod along. "He's so prideful, but he has no honor…"
"I hate to agree, but I think Ojiro's right…" Mina sighed. She, like Kirishima, thought there was a little bit of good in him. But, there didn't seem to be any.
"G-Guys, come on! Just…give 'em a chance! It's not manly to not give the guy a chance!" Kirishima, against his better judgement, decided to intervene.
Iida just pushed up his glasses, and turned to see where Midoriya had jumped from the stands to the field, "I will get you to accept my apology Midoriya, even after all I did. After letting Bakugo torment you, and chastising you for it…"
"Hey Iida, did you say something man?"
"Ah- no Sato-kun, just thinking is all…"
Izuku gasped for air, closing the door to the infirmary and collapsing against the wall. "God…oh….my god….." He gripped his head, he felt sweaty, nervous, anxious, he should've done something to help her fight him. Give her a strategy or something, anything.
She was thrown into the lion's den…and they just watched…
"I should've stepped in…" He did before, at Aldera, it was the reason for some of his beatings sometimes. It wasn't bad, he had gotten used to it. So why didn't he? "I should've done something…"
He clenched a fist, Komori was so small, she looked so scared when she walked in, seeing her get launched into the wall of the stadium. It was horrible. Izuku frowned. "What do I do….?"
"Wish to speak of your problems?"
He didn't jump at her voice this time, he simply looked up and saw Reiko floating right in front of his face. Doing her little head tilt she did whenever she was curious. Izuku smiled a bit. "Yes please…"
Yanagi floated down before sitting next to him, wrapping an arm around him and burying his head on her shoulder. "It wasn't your fault, you had nothing to do with it at all. There's nothing you could've done, even Ms. Kayama didn't do anything, and her job is to intervene." She said, her voice soothing Izuku just a little bit.
Izuku nodded, that…that did make sense…but..
"And no buts, if a pro hero couldn't have done anything to prevent the travesties that occurred, then what could you have?" Izuku pouted, she was right, he knew she was right.
"I…couldn't have done anything…" He admitted, to which Reiko simply nodded. They sat there, in quiet, for a bit, before Reiko cleared her throat. "Well, I must be off now, as my match was to follow Komori's, they gave us some time due to the circumstances but it's best not to make the people wait anymore."
She floated up, the pink glow illuminating the area, and turned to Izuku. "If you need a shoulder, then just ask, Midoriya."
A minuscule smile broke out onto his face. "Thanks…Reiko…."
She perked up, before stiffly nodding, "You are welcome, now cheer me on."
"I will!" He said with a faint smile, the small grin made Reiko's confidence soar, combined with the fact that he used her first name, though probably by accident.
The two contestants of the final match of the first round made their way to the arena, Kaminari of Class 1-A feeling light as can be, cheerful and a little excited, why you ask? Because he was getting to fight a girl! "Maybe I can ask for her number after I beat her? Take her on a date maybe to say sorry for beating her in the festival? Yeah, that's so on!"
Yanagi was having different thoughts, solely focused on Izuku and how he would be doing. The boy had seemed better, but still distant, not completely there, she hoped that there was a way she could help him.
And she still couldn't ignore the light feeling in her chest when he said her name.
"NOW, THE MATCH BETWEEN DENKI KAMINARI OF CLASS 1-A AND REIKO YANAGI OF CLASS 1-B WILL NOW-"
CRACK
"COMMENCE!" Midnight yelled, the sound of her whip ringing throughout the stadium as both contestants still simply stood on either side of the arena.
The blonde did some arm stretches with a smile on his face, trying to think of something smooth to say before words clicked in his head "I hate to waste a pretty girl's time, so… this'll be over in a second!" He smiled, before thrusting his arms up, the crackling of electricity behind heard all around.
"Indiscriminate Shock: 1.3 Million Vo-WO-WOAH!" He stumbled on his words as he felt himself get pushed by an invisible force, his control slipping, before electricity ran all around him.
Stupefying himself, he couldn't protest to Yanagi simply pushing him out of the ring even further.
The ghost enthusiast hummed, "It truly was a good match, you didn't waste my time at all…"
Tetsu smiled, watching one of his new buddies win and get to the next round of the festival was awesome, all of their hard work was paying off! His smile stuck onto his face until he looked at the scoreboard.
His tin head brain had totally forgot how a bracket system worked, so the person he'd be fighting next would be.
"Midoriya….."
Chapter 14: The Tournament: Part 3
Hello, yes, it's been a MINUTE, and i'd like to apologize, school kicked my butt, and I promise you guys itreid to write I just never had any motivation between everything else I was doing, but I'm getting this chapter out now, I'm sorry it took so long, Semi-finals and finals will be the next chapter. Thank you all for reading.
Part 3: Friend Versus Friend
Izuku sighed, letting his head fall back onto the cold wall of the hallway, going by the cheers he had heard, Reiko had won. "R-Reiko…when did I start calling her that? Is it alright for me to do that? Did I accidentally say it earlier? Does she think I'm weird?! But- NO- calm….down…."
He placed a hand on his chest and felt his racing heart, he willed it to beat at a slower rate, taking deep and calming breaths before sighing. "It doesn't really matter…..just stop calling her that, easy!"
It wouldn't be easy, but he didn't know that.
The successor bounced up onto his feet and stretched his arms, in truth he did feel a whole lot better compared to earlier. Just sort of drained now, a little tired, exhausted maybe. But they still had the festival to finish, and his next match would be up soon, right….?
"CAN WE GET CONTESTANTS MIDORIYA AND TETSUTETSU UP AND ONTO THE STAGE PLEASE? TO START THE SECOND ROUND OF THE SPORTS FESTIVAL! YEAH!"
Well, going by that screaming, yes he did. Very very soon.
"Well, I better get going then." He turned down the hall and started walking, slow steps, he didn't really want to leave. After all, his heart was still fretting over Komori. "Please, be okay…."
He would just have to wait and see on that one, and he hated that.
"You lost control."
He silently fumed, he couldn't do anything. He had just woken up in this room, one of the waiting rooms for the festival, after his match. And now he had to put up with his overly strong hobo looking ass hero who had been in here since he woke up.
Aizawa raised a brow at Bakugo's silence. "Do you have nothing to say about your actions?" He had just been asking the same question over and over, and Bakugo had yet to respond.
Bakugo grit his teeth.
"You're a student, but you're still a person, you're allowed to speak your mind, Bakugo." Aizawa narrowed his eyes.
He boy grit his teeth before finally letting all of his built up anger explode like a dam, "FINE! IT'S A FUCKING TOURNAMENT, WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO! PUNCH HER WITH PILLOWS, NO! MY QUIRK IS FUCKING EXPLOSION! IT EXPLODES THINGS DUMBASS!"
The blonde glared at Aizawa and the pro was not impressed. "Bakugo, when you're a pro hero you have a lot more to worry about then just taking down the "bad guys"." He said as he pulled up a chair and sat down, across from Bakugo.
The man let out a long sigh, "You have to worry about the press, because as annoying as they are, they have a say in how people see you. You do something like what you did to that girl out on the streets with a license? They'll crucify you. And that could lead to your license being revoked."
Bakugo's eyes widened and he growled before sighing, "That's such horseshit…."
"But it's reality Bakugo." Aizawa cut in, "And there's nothing you can do to change it, so get a better attitude before your actions come back to bite you." The tired pro stood up and let out another long sigh, pushing his chair in and walking to the door, "Just think about what I said Bakugo….."
Bakugo growled before sighing, "Such horseshit…"
Izuku let out a breath, the echo of his footsteps ringing throughout the empty hall before he heard the explosion of cheers as he exited into the sunlight. "WE'VE GOT THE CINNAMON ROLL FROM 1-B, IT'S IZUKU MIDORIYA!" The cheers grew louder and Izuku had to fight back a blush.
"AND FROM THE OTHER SIDE WE GOT THE METAL MAN WHOSE GUTS IS UNRIVALED, IT'S TETSU TIMES FOUR!"
Tetsu sighed at Present Mic's commentary as he stared at Izuku from across the \area. "Letting you know now Bro, I'm not gonna hold back!"
Being truthful, he wasn't sure if that was a good thing. Tetsu knew that his friend was in pain, but this fight was something he had been looking forward to for such a long time. Midoriya was strong, and the only thing he ever wanted to do was fight him, and see who would come out on top. In a real one versus one matchup.
Izuku let out a breath, gulped, and allowed a shaky smile to make its way into his face. "Thank you Tetsu-kun! I wouldn't have it any other way!"
Midnight smiled as she raised a hand. "The Match between 1-B's Izuku Midoriya-" The boy crouched and let One For All activate, the lightning dancing across his body, "And 1-B's Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu-" Said student instantly activated his quirk, grinned, and crossed his arms. "WILL NOW BEGIN!"
"STARTTTTT!"
With Mic's yell Izuku shot forward and threw a bunch at Tetsu, the boy blocking with his crossed arms. Izuku grimaced, Tetsu hadn't even skidded back an inch.
"I know how to fight you now Midoriya! You've got speed, I don't, so I've just gotta be so good at defense that your offense does nothing!" Tetsu yelled.
Izuku laid a foot on the group and jumped back. Out of Tetsu's reach before he could do anything.
'Even so, I don't have much iron left after my match with Kirishima….' Tetsu knew that he couldn't do this forever.
All Might's successor grinned, "You've gotten way better Tetsu-kun! I don't think I could dent you at all if I fought like I usually do!" The metal man grinned in satisfaction. "So….I guess I have to change how I fight, and go plus ultra! Right here, right now!"
Tetsu's grin grew ten times, "Come on! Show me your manliness Midoriya!"
Izuku clenched his muscles, feeling One For All's output double from five to ten and then even a little more. 'This…..this is my limit.' He grinned, more lightning birthing over his form. 'One For All: Full Cowling 12%!'
His bones were creaking, and his muscles felt like they were being stabbed, but like an incredibly strong soreness, not pain. He could handle this. "Come on! Tetsu-kun!" Izuku yelled as he leaped.
"Alright!" His metal friend responded.
Izuku impacted Tetsu with his legs, kicking, before being repelled into the air. He landed on the ground, and then jumped again, the processing repeating, Izuku going over and over, slowly but surely wearing Tetsu down.
He landed on his feet and skidded to a halt, panting, and wiping a bit of sweat from his face, "Tetsu-kun, you look tired!"
His friend did indeed look tired, panting, much harder than Izuku was, visible rising of his shoulders and chest. "No way bro, I can keep on going!" But that was a lie, he knew that he was going to run out of energy soon, his quirk would stop working, and he'd have nothing to fight against Izuku with.
An idea popped into Izuku's head, one that allowed both of them to give their all, one final push, and if Izuku was being honest with himself, it made him excited. His grin stretched as words came out of his mouth "How about one more push, Tetsu, put all you got into one attack and I'll match it."
Tetsu didn't need to say a response, his own grin widening as well, telling Izuku all he needed to know.
He pushed One For All to fifteen percent and charged in one bound. For once, Tetsu didn't cross his arms to defend but instead pulled back to punch. "COME ON!"
Izuku met with his own and released with all of his might, a metal fist slammed into his face, but soon receded, a sign of his opponent losing the last of his energy, before Izuku's own fist impacted Tetsu's face, sending him flying back. "SMASH!"
A small gust of air came from the impact, right before Tetsu hit the ground, staying there as still as a stone in a vast field, and not getting back up, just like the crowd right before they erupted into a chorus of cheers. The green haired child gasped for air as the lightning that adorned his skin died out, though despite how tired he was he still smiled as Present Mic yelled.
"THE WINNER IS IZUKU MIDORIYA!"
Izuku took a large gulp of water, his adam's apple bobbing as the water ran down his throat before he stopped and handed it back to his new friend. "Thanks a bunch, Shinso-kun, I really needed that!" He let out a smile.
The lilac haired boy nodded in satisfaction, "You're welcome…." Said Shinso with a small smile.
The water helped Izuku relax, and he was going to need it because he was going to take a lot of notes on the next match, glad that he had been able to visit Recovery Girl rather quickly this time and that the damage wasn't as bad either. But the next fight was 1-A versus 1-A, recommendation students against one of their own, Momo Yaoyorozu and Shoto Todoroki.
Izuku gulped as the two came onto the stage, each showing emotionless faces. Though if he could see closer, he would notice the nervousness on Yaoyorozu's face. The heir gulped as she stood across from Todoroki, her hands felt clammy, and her mind clouded.
'Oh, what to do, what to do, I don't know what I can do, maybe…ah yes! A flamethrower!' With a small smile, she nodded to herself, as she developed a plan. Of course, this wouldn't work with anything too big, but she was sure that he wouldn't. He could only do things like that a certain amount of times after all. And he'd already done it multiple times today.
Still though, the idea of a flamethrower reminded her of Bakugo's explosions, and her mind went back to the small girl she had gone to see earlier.
Momo walked through the halls, seeing the Class Representative for 1-B slide down the door to the infirmary and put his head in his hands. It was clear he was terrified, and that made her believe Bakugo had done even more damage than originally thought.
She gulped, the boy seemed to be entering a state of increased panic, she wanted to go comfort him, but then one of his friends arrived.
As much as that did to ease her worries, the damage done to Komori made her think back to the USJ, and what Thirteen said, their quirks really were dangerous. They could cause so much damage, they were deadly.
And now, she had to face probably the most deadly one of their entire class.
With a raise of her head, Midnight yelled. "Ready!" Turning to both combatants before nodding to herself. "BEGIN!"
Todoroki let out a cold sigh, frost coming out of his mouth as he rolled a shoulder. Momo smiled widely, knowing that he wouldn't push his quirk too much.
But frankly, Todoroki didn't care, he only wanted to fight Midoriya and prove that he was stronger, so he pushed his quirk until he felt himself shivering and created a giant glacier.
Yaoyorozu's eyes widened quickly, she wasn't expecting him to go all out, she just felt herself pulling the trigger of her weapon, but it wasn't enough and she was consumed by the ice.
Izuku gulped, seeing the giant result of Todoroki's power, the boy walking out of the stadium as his victory was called, though it didn't appear that he cared all too much. He frowned, knowing what he needed to do. "Todoroki…. I promise. I'll save you."
Only a few minutes passed until the next combatants came down to the arena, their own Ibarra against 1-A's Iida. Izuku pulled out his hero notebook, Reiko and Shinsou shot him a raised brow, both wondering where he got it from, but they both decided not to ask. Instead Reiko asked, who do you believe will win Midoriya?"
The green haired both jerked up, furrowing his brows, "It depends on who makes the first move honestly." Their class tuned into the conversation, they all enjoyed seeing the depths of Izuku's mind. "Iida has speed, Ibarra has defense, they both have a good offense, but Ibarra's vines are heavy." Izuku also pondered the move Iida had used earlier, "And then there's that move Iida used in the cavalry battle, if he uses that then….."
"STARTTTT!" Mic's yell cut Izuku off as the match started.
"RECIPROOOOO BURST!" They all heard the yell as blue flames came out of Iida's engines instantly, Ibarra's vines already shooting towards him, however in an instant he was gone, behind her, and then she was out of the ring.
Izuku frowned, both because of how down Ibarra would be, but also because of Iida's next opponent. "Bakugo…" That was only if… Izuku turned to his right to see that Reiko had disappeared. He quickly shot out of his chair and ran to the entrance hall.
"What's up with him….?" Tsuburaba asked.
Awase smirked, "He's gonna go wish his girlfriend good luck."
"SO I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO SEES IT?!" Setsuna yelled with a smile.
Izuku ran through the halls and eventually caught up to Reiko. "Reiko!" THe ghost looking girl turned around and quirked her head, placing a finger on her lips. As if asking him "Yes? What is it?" He gulped, it looked.. Cute…. But now wasn't the time. "I- I just… I wanted to say… good luck. You can do it. I believe in you."
Reiko paused before smiling a bit, "Thank you Midoriya…" She turned around and made her way to the arena. Under her breath she whispered. " I will win….so you don't have to face him…"
The two opponents entered the crowd to a chorus of cheers, Izuku watching from the tunnel, anxiety eating at him and he wasn't even the one fighting. "THE MATCH BETWEEN 1-B'S RESIDENT GHOST GIRL REIKO YANAGI AND CLASS 1-A'S HOTHEAD KATSUKI BAKUGO WILL NOW, BEGIN!"
Bakugo instantly raised his arms behind him and exploded, "GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!" He thought about what Aizawa had told him and frankly, it had made a bit of sense, but yet, still….. He had so much anger to work out of his system right now. Reiko quickly flew away to gain distance but Bakugo was much faster than her, she could just evade, using rubble from the previous matches to try to hit him.
It had worked the first few times, but then he learned, and he dodged and exploded any rock shards coming his way. Reiko had to admit, he was good at fighting, frighteningly so.
THe process repeated over and over, her not getting any hits in, while Bakugo was getting some and they hurt. A lot. But…. "Just keep on giving me ammunition…." She muttered.
Izuku looked on with worry, this was too similar to Komori's match for his liking, but… he believed in Reiko.
Kendo didn't like what was going on, she too was frightened of 1-A's villain in disguise, "Come on Yanagi…." She said as she gripped the rail, almost breaking it.
The ever tired looking girl began to sweat, Bakugo's hits had been getting closer and closer, she felt her arms burning, her eyes stung, and her ears were ringing, and yet she saw and heard him. His manic smile, his vicious grin, his yells from hell. "I….will…beat you..!"
"SAY THAT AGAIN YOU EXTRA!" He put both of his hands together and let out a massive explosion, Reiko getting caught right in the middle.
"REIKO!" Izuku yelled, gritting his teeth.
The smoke covered her body, no one knowing what had happened, and suddenly all the rubble around the arena began to glow a bright pink. Izuku's eyes widened and he smiled, "Improvised Move: Stone Storm!" She yelled with a bit more theatrics then she would usually do as all the pieces of rock shot for Bakugo.
The blond grinned and set both hands out, one on either side, he felt his forearms twitch in pain but there was no way he was going to lose in the quarter finals! "GET OUT OF HERE!"
Izuku's hair ruffled, his emerald eyes staring at gold explosions, all encompassing the arena. He didn't hear anything else, the winner, Present Mic, anything, the next thing he knew he was running through the halls, a soot and burned Reiko in his arms. "Recovery Girl… Recovery Girl!" He yelled helplessly.
Why? Why did this always happen to his friends?!
He slammed the door open, panting helplessly, "Recovery Girl!"
The old lady twitched, annoyed by his presence once again, she turned, and saw that for once he wasn't injured. "Well you saved my robots the time, but still you shouldn't tire yourself out before your next match." She chastised as her medical bots took Reiko to an empty bed.
Izuku collapsed into a chair, looking at the motionless Reiko. "She-She'll be ok, right…?" He asked without even looking at the nurse.
"Yes, she should be alright, at least after my healing, but she will need to rest for a few hours." Izuku sighed in relief but that was immediately replaced with something else. Something he wasn't used to. Something he hadn't felt since Middle School, the day he got his quirk.
Anger…..