Chapter Text
Taking part in the UA Sports Festival was something Izuku never thought he would experience for himself.
Watching it on TV every year with his mom was one of his fondest memories with her; how her face would light up whenever she watched Izuku’s young, innocent mind absorb all the quirks and battles. Though he was almost always captivated by the glorious array of quirks and techniques, he could still remember his mom’s bright, beautiful smile mirroring his. God, he missed her so much.
But now, he wouldn’t just be watching the festival, he would be in it. And that alone made him giddy in his seat. Though he doesn’t plan, nor does he even want to win the festival, he knows how much Shinso does, and the boy could use some assistance, if Izuku said so himself. So, he offered his support to his classmate, and although it took a bit of convincing, Shinso reluctantly agreed to team up with him.
As previously mentioned, Izuku doesn’t really care about winning it. Yeah, it would be cool, but he doesn’t particularly want a spot in the Hero Course, not that they would accept him in the first place. There was still a part of him deep down that wanted to be a hero more than anything, but his realistic side was louder, constantly telling himself that a quirkless could never be a hero, regardless of skill. He already had his personal (and fairly negative) views on the Hero Commission, and he was certain that they would never, under no circumstance, allow him to partake in hero society. Because if a quirkless person can be a hero, everyone else could too, right?
He was doing this to aid Shinso, and if he was being honest, he wasn’t completely sure as to why. He wanted to help the wannabe Hero Course student out, obviously, but another part of him just wanted to be friends with the guy. He was always grumpy and tired, and if that reminded him of Eraser Head and provided him comfort in familiarity, then so be it. The impact this underground hero had on Izuku was slowly concerning him, and he would rather bleed out in a dark alley than admit out loud that he saw Eraser as a dad, mentor, friend.
Moreover, Eraser is literally a Hero Course teacher! Knowing how sharp the Erasure hero was from first-hand experience, Izuku was certain that if the Eraser saw him up close and was his official teacher, he would be discovered immediately. That’s what he got for letting someone in his life, he supposed.
“Hey,” a familiar voice said, snapping Izuku out of his thoughts. Shit, he forgot that he and Shinso were meeting after school.
“Oh— ah, hi! Take a seat here, Shinso,” Izuku replied, scrambling to collect his notebooks that were scattered across the fresh grass of the UA campus.
As Shinso took a seat, unfazed by Izuku’s startle, he asked, “so what’s this all mighty plan of yours, Midoriya?”
“Okay, so it’s not really a plan per se? More like a list of ideas of how you can improve your chances of winning the festival,” Izuku squeaked. He probably should have planned this out more, but alas, his overthinking got in the way, yet again.
“So this is just you telling me my weak points? Think I can’t win it without your help?” Shinso scoffed, and though Izuku would normally take that action as him teasing, he sounded more genuinely annoyed than actually amused.
“No! That’s not it at all. I think you stand a solid chance against the Hero Courses, and the only reason you didn’t get in initially is because of how biased the entrance exam is!” Izuku explained, and he found himself relieved as the tension in Shinso’s frown started to disperse.
“How do you know what the entrance exam was like? I thought you said before that you only applied for General Studies?” Shinso asked skeptically instead of responding to Izuku’s praise, leaving Izuku on edge once again.
“Shinso, I’m going to tell you something, but you have to promise to not tell a soul, okay? You need to give me your word on this,” Izuku said, and damn he was not trying to come off as shady, but if Shinso’s face was any indication, he definitely did.
“I promise, Midoriya. I won’t tell anyone about whatever you did.” Shinso promised, raising his right hand in the air. Izuku let out a sigh of relief at Shinso’s assurance, and then immediately inhaled again to expose some information that he wasn’t really planning on telling anyone.
“So I may or may not have gotten my hands on the footage of the exam?” Izuku whispered, his voice cracking at the last part of the sentence. “All I wanted was to see what the test was like and some of the quirks that were there, honest! It felt like taking candy from a baby, so I couldn’t help myself.”
“And how the hell did you manage to get that information?” Shinso asked, taken back with the confession.
“That— I will not be answering at this time. Now can I interest you with the notes I created for the festival?”
“That is extremely suspicious, Midoriya. But I will choose to ignore it for the sake of hearing your ideas,” Shinso replied, surprising Izuku by how quickly he got over it.
“Okay then! So, my plan in a nutshell is to evade, analyze, and strategize. Sure, the Hero Course may have some flashy quirks, but that’s where we use it against them. They know nothing about us, and by simply evading their attacks early on, it gives them no information as to what our quirks are!” Izuku explained, his hands flying in the air subconsciously. It was a weird trait he never seemed to grow out of.
“And how do you intend to do that? They’re in the Hero Course for a reason, you can’t dodge them forever,” Shinso asked, and if Izuku hadn’t already created five different plans, he would have agreed with him.
“Well based on previous festivals, we know that there are two events that take place before the finale. The final event is always some sort of 1vs1 challenge, meaning we just need to evade the first two. It should be easy enough, all we really have to do is let them take the spotlight and get ahead, that way, the attention is off us and we can use that to our advantage. When it gets down to the 1v1s, I’ll let you determine how you want to proceed, but if you'd like, I’ll be there to help out! I’m really into quirk analysis and would be happy to help you get into the Hero Course and—”
“Midoriya,” Shinso’s monotone voice silenced Izuku’s ramble. He really needed to work on that.
“Uh— yeah?” Izuku asked hesitantly.
“You… do know what my quirk is, right?”
“Well I know it isn’t an emitter type, which is why you struggled so much at the entrance exam.” Shinso gave him a glare. “Ah, sorry!”
“You’re not wrong. My quirk is Brainwash, and it allows me to control others if they respond to my question. I know it isn’t the most heroic—”
“What? No! That’s such a cool quirk, Shinso! There are so many possibilities as to what kind of hero you could turn out to be! And it’s so powerful! Do you mind telling me more about it?” Izuku asked as he pulled out one of his notebooks, immediately flipping to an empty page to write down everything he heard.
“Really?” Shinso asked, “most people don’t even try talking to me after I tell them because they think I’m going to Brainwash them.”
“Well I don’t think that! I’d die to have a quirk as powerful as that. I know you’re going to do remarkable things as a pro. Now, wanna tell me more about it? I’d love to analyze it, if you don’t mind?” As much as Izuku didn’t want to believe the mistreatment towards people with such cool quirks, he wasn’t really surprised. People often feared irrational things, and ‘villainous quirks’ was one of them.
“Thanks, Midoriya,” Shinso faintly blushed at the praise, something Izuku suspected he didn’t get often.
——————
“So as of right now, it appears that you have five central weaknesses regarding your skills,” Izuku said after he finished completing his notes about Shinso’s capabilities.
“Gee, thanks, Midoriya,” Shinso scoffed, but not like he did before. Though a tinge of annoyance was present, he seemed more amused than anything.
“You want to improve, right?” Izuku asked.
“I do,” Shinso confirmed, nodding slightly.
“Okay, good. So I’ll go into each one and explain what the problem is and then how to solve it,” Izuku said as he flipped back to the first page he had written about Shinso.
“Sounds good,” Shinso agreed.
“So the five main areas you need improvement on are fighting techniques, physical strength, weaponry, quirk control, and battle strategy. Though I could be wrong, you don’t look very muscly, no offense. And if that’s the case, then you probably don’t know how to fight. And from there, I think it’s fair of me to assume that you don’t have any kind of weapon to at least defend yourself with. You’re basically going into this event with a quirk that’s only half developed and almost no fighting abilities. These are the top students in the country, may I remind you.”
“Well when you put it like that—”
“I’m not saying you have no potential to win this because you do, but if you wanna excel, a little knowledge about fighting will get you a long way. As for my other points, these revolved around your quirk. Your quirk is insanely powerful, but from what you’ve explained, your lack of practice using it has limited how you can utilize it. On top of that, you mentioned that your ‘strategy’ was to just attempt to tick people off into responding. Which is good, but it isn’t foolproof, which is why with some better strategizing, you can use that to its greatest potential! Does that all make sense?” If Izuku was being honest, he was nervous that he went a bit overboard with Shinso. Yeah, he asked for a light analysis, but people from his middle school always used to call him a freak for his hobbies. The last thing he would want is for Shinso to feel the same way.
“I— I never really thought about all of this that way before and yet, you did it so easily…” Shinso said, a glint of amazement flickering in his bagged eyes. “But…How do I even start to make changes? I don’t know anyone who could—”
“I wouldn’t have said all of this if I didn’t have a plan, Shinso,” Izuku said, a grin Shinso couldn’t help but be intimidated by plastered on the boy’s face.
——————
There was approximately one week until the Sports Festival, and even though it wouldn’t be near enough time for Shinso to surpass a beginner level, it was a start that Izuku would have to work with.
He put his newly found friend on a milder version of his workout routine, and sparred with him twice a day to teach him basic fighting techniques. He wasn’t planning on showing him anything too complicated he learned from Eraser Head or his patrols, but he needed at least a few moves in his utility! Shinso, obviously, questioned where his vast knowledge on the topic of physical health and fighting came from, but a vague shrug of the shoulders and a half-truth explanation of “having extracurriculars” was enough to make Shinso drop the topic for the time being.
Izuku also determined that it would be way too early to entertain the idea of weapons to Shinso’s artillery, so fighting hand to hand was all he was able to prepare. Izuku would argue that Shinso was a natural at combat, and would have no trouble learning whatever techniques Izuku taught him. But for both of their sakes, he held back certain tactics and moves so that Shinso could learn it while studying in the Hero Course.
As for strategy, Izuku was working full time in that department, and he couldn’t help but revel in it. He always enjoyed creating strategies in the haven of his home while the festival was on TV, but it was a whole different experience when said strategies would actually be used. He opted to leave Shinso out of this part of his plan, but only for the sole reason that the guy had so much on his plate already. Izuku was fine with explaining the strategy as the festival proceeded, and he knew Shinso would have no trouble understanding what he wanted to do.
As each day breezed by for Izuku (and trudged on for Shinso), the former slowly felt his excitement rise. Maybe it was because he didn’t have any thrilling experiences in the vigilante scene for a while, or just the fact that his and Shinso’s work were bound to pay off, but regardless, he was ready.
Finally, after a week of preparations, the UA Sports Festival had finally arrived.
——————
“What’s gotten you all excited, kid?” Eraser asked Karma one night after their patrol. When his patrol became theirs, Karma wasn’t sure. “You’ve been bouncing around way more than you typically do— you’re not taking drugs, are you?”
Karma scoffed, “no, Raser, I’m not taking any drugs. I fight crime, not partake in it.”
“Well that’s debatable,” the hero replied, a smirk forming on his stoic face.
“Yeah, yeah, the police consider me a vigilante, I’ve heard the story. But if you want to know, I’ve been excited about the Sports Festival that's coming up,” Karma explained to the hero.
“You usually watch them?” Eraser asked curiously.
“Yeah, ever since I was a kid. I love analyzing quirks and battles, so it’s no surprise that I’d love the Sports Fest,” Karma responded, a fond smile forming on his face.
“You know, if you applied to UA, you could participate in the festival. You have the skills for it,” Eraser Head suggested, and wow he could be slick when he wanted to.
“Is this your attempt at making me stop my patrols?” Karma asked, grinning at the hero’s blatant attempt at convincing him to stop his hobby. “I’m sure you’d miss me too much anyway.”
“We could patrol whenever you wanted if you got a license,” Eraser reasoned.
“We do that anyway, Raser,” the vigilante countered.
“But you can’t do that forever.”
“I sure as hell can try.”
——————
Though he probably needed the sleep, Izuku still went on his patrol the night of the Sports Festival. Crime waits for no one, after all, and a school event wasn’t enough to stop him from going out.
What he wasn’t expecting, however, was an entertaining game of cat and mouse.
Eraser Head wasn’t there that night, unfortunately for the vigilante, so he did his daily patrol around the city by himself. Most of the night went by rather smoothly; he stopped a few criminals from petty crimes they were about to commit, and of course wrote all about their quirks as he waited for the cops to show up to the scene.
Something else he had found fun besides his vigilante hobby was writing about the quirks of criminals he took down. Not only was it great practice and exciting to learn about, but it also gave him a broader view as to why others would resort to crime to get by.
The guy he stopped today had some sort of slime quirk, which was pretty gross, if he said so himself. The guy was probably a B-level criminal to catch, and that was only because of how easily he slipped out of Karma’s grip. Though unfortunately for the criminal, he couldn’t escape the grasp of the ruthless vigilante forever.
As Karma sat quietly against the wall, waiting for the telltale sound of police sirens, he finished completing his notes.
“Y’know, criminal, you could have become a cool hero,” Karma mumbled, but all he got in response was a grunt.
“So I finally get to see you in person, Karma,” an unfamiliar voice echoed in the dark alleyways where Karma was hiding.
Karma was up instantly, his gaze immediately locking on the shadowy figure that was approaching him. As much as he would rather not admit it, whoever this was caught him off guard. Though it was probably due to his attention on his notebook, he still kicked himself for the blunder of getting caught.
“And who are you, exactly?” Karma asked, putting up his nonchalant façade to conceal his rapidly beating heart and sweaty palms.
“A pro hero, and I’m here to take you down and put a stop to your criminal activities,” the voice growled as it slowly came closer towards Karma. On instinct, the vigilante took a few steps backwards. Finally, the figure came out of the shadows and into the light of the pale moon that hung above them. The figure was more on the slender side, but still had a strong build. His hair was long and dark, similar to Eraser Head’s, but far past his waist (not the smartest idea). His costume was a pure black skin suit that was accompanied by a small utility pack. When Karma saw the signature spade located on the costume, he recognized who it was immediately.
“Ah, Blackjack, right? Your quirk allows you to compound shadows and use them as weapons. It’s very powerful, I’m quite a fan of your fights,” Karma commented, amused to see the apathetic façade of the hero break at the recognition of his name.
“You’ve heard of me?” Blackjack asked, clearly confused. He obviously had nobody recognize him before. Karma wasn’t surprised, he only became a pro a few years ago and was still building a name for himself in the underground community. He’s no Eraser Head, that’s for sure.
“I know everyone in the underground community, don’t take it to heart,” Karma replied, leaning up against the wall. He tried to act relaxed in front of the hero to convince him to let his guard down, but of course, he was still prepared for a fight. “If you’re really in the underground, you should know that my case belongs to Eraser Head and no one else. So get lost now before you get in any trouble.”
“I don’t agree with the way Eraser Head is handling your situation. He’s clearly gone soft, and I won’t hesitate to bring you in,” the hero stated, and man did he have a lot of balls.
“Tsk, tsk, hero, I thought you would know better than to interfere with other’s hero work. That’s close to rule number one,” Karma reprimanded the hero as he continued to stand proudly.
“Well, this has been fun, Blackjack, but I gotta dip now, can’t get caught by someone other than Raser, it would feel too much like a betrayal,” the vigilante shrugged, starting to walk away from the hero.
As he expected, the hero bolted after him, but Karma was faster, and he jumped onto the fire escape above him. He climbed it with ease, and loved the way his chest burned with anticipation. When he made his way to the roof, he was surprised to see that the hero was close behind, but he couldn’t really expect anything less from a pro, right?
They were at a standoff in the middle of some roof, and before the hero could take a step closer, Karma called, “you’ve broken two rules in the hero code, and it’s only been three minutes since we’ve met. He was trying to bait the guy, a strategy inspired from Shinso, and it worked flawlessly .
The hero stopped, face screwing up with confusion. “What are you talking about? I’ve done no such thing!”
“Rule 32 and 54, actually. Rule 32: do not persue or use your quirk on innocent civilians—”
“You’re not innocent, Karma. You’re a—”
“And Rule 54: never leave a criminal unattended. If you had noticed anything from our interaction earlier, you would have realized that I was waiting for the cops to pick up the guy I caught. Seems like I’m more heroic than you,” Karma shrugged, and he almost smiled at the pure disbelief displayed on the hero’s face.
“I think my motives for that decision are evident,” Blackjack replied, his arm pointing towards Karma.
“Oh, well, I actually forgot one more rule you broke,” Karma smirked.
“And what’s that?”
“Rule 13: never use your quirk for personal benefit, under no circumstance. This case isn’t yours to take, so by using your quirk in an attempt to capture me, you’re breaking yet another rule.” Though Karma hated to humiliate a hero he had an interest in, he would much rather convince the guy into letting him go than flee and risk getting caught. All he needed was an opening, and he’d be able to escape and hide his presence.
“I’ll face those consequences when it comes to it, my pure focus is to stop your involvement with underground heroics,” Blackjack said.
“Suit yourself,” Karma called just as he bolted away, hopping to the next rooftop in an effort to escape.
Just by basic knowledge, Karma knew that regardless of him being a pro, Blackjack was inferior to the vigilante in terms of stamina. All Karma needed was to stay out of his grasp and attacks until he was able to properly escape. He continued to run as he felt the presence of the hero linger closely behind him. The wind blew harshly against his face, and it was a miracle that the clips he used to keep his hood on hadn’t fallen off yet. Although it was spring, the night air was still quite chilly, and Karma was immensely grateful for it as it kept him somewhat cool.
The chase lasted well over 15 minutes, with each minute that passed making Karma’s heart beat faster. He wanted to escape, obviously, but he hadn’t felt a rush like this in a while.
Finally, he saw the opening he was long awaiting, and went to jump off the roof of a three-story building. But unfortunately for the young vigilante, a swarm of black connected right with his face, causing him to fly backwards and onto the roof. The hero made his way over nonchalantly, as he was confident that the vigilante wouldn’t make another attempt to move. Though he would typically be wrong, this hit hurt like hell to Karma, and getting up right away didn’t seem like a viable option.
“What the hell, man! My face literally just healed the other day, and you ruined it again,” Karma complained as he held a hand to his definitely bruised face.
“Surrender now, villain! I’m taking you in,” Blackjack said as he started to approach Karma.
“Actually, I’m technically not a villain,” Karma blurted, taking the hero aback. “A villain uses their quirk for malicious purposes, and I haven’t used my quirk at all, so technically I haven’t broken any rules,” Karma explained as he mentally creates a last-minute plan. If he could distract him for just a second…
“That’s… that’s not possible— how can a high-priority vigilante like you not use a quirk?” the hero asked, and of course, he was one of those.
“A bit quirkest, don’t you think?” Karma scoffed as started to stand.
But before either could take another step, the sense of a familiar pair of eyes fell on Karma. And not a second later, another adult landed on the roof with a thump, startling Blackjack.
“What’s going on here?” the person, Eraser Head, asked, voice monotone with a hint of annoyance.
“E-Eraser Head?” Blackjack turned around to face the Erasure hero, and Karma couldn’t help the smirk he made at the fear in his tone.
“Why is this child crouching next to you and cupping his cheek?” Eraser asked, the irritation growing significantly as he saw the vigilante on the ground and likely injured by the hero.
“Not a child!”
“Well I came across the vigilante, Karma, on my patrol tonight, and saw it as my duty to take him in to the authorities,” Blackjack explained. The confidence (which was clearly faked) was entertaining to Karma.
“He also broke three Hero Codes while attempting it, 13, 32, and 54,” Karma called after he finished, smiling when the hero tensed.
“Listen, Blackjack, right?” Eraser Head said, “you have great potential to get bigger in the underground community, but if you go after any of my cases again, so help me, I will crush that opportunity. Do you understand?” Eraser explained, the vaguest glint of protectiveness in his tone made Karma feel giddy. He and Eraser had really bonded throughout the months, and maybe there was a possibility that the hero saw him as a son mentee.
“Uh— yes, Eraser Head.” And without another word, he was off.
“I could have gotten out of that, y’know?” Karma commented after Blackjack was out of earshot.
“What's the injury like?” Eraser asked, opting to ignore the vigilante’s teasing statement.
“Just a bruise, hopefully. It hurt more than I thought it would. His attacks are powerful, I’ll give him that,” Karma replied nonchalantly as he rubbed the injured area.
“Can I see it?” Eraser requested hesitantly.
Karma wasn’t sure how to feel about what Eraser asked. His initial reaction was to be shocked by the suggestion. Eraser had never asked him to reveal part of his face before, but he had asked to see injuries prior to this one. Though as much as Karma didn’t want to show him, too scared to reveal information, he felt like he kinda owed the man for saving his ass from Blackjack. He and Eraser had become closer since they started patrolling together, and he couldn’t help but put trust in the hero.
After a minute of contemplation, Karma compromised, “fine, but I’m only showing you the injury and the goggles stay on.”
“Okay,” Eraser responded, and if he was surprised that the vigilante agreed, he didn’t display it.
The Erasure hero made his way towards the vigilante, who went back to sitting on the ground. He crouched down, so they were face to face, and he pulled out a flashlight from his utility belt.
“You carry that everywhere?” Karma asked, amused.
“They’re more useful than you’d think,” Eraser replied as he turned it on.
Hesitantly, Karma pulled down the left side of his red bandanna, revealing his display of freckles and a large, dark bruise located on his cheekbone. The hero took a minute to examine it, turning the vigilantes head side to side to get a full look, along with touching it lightly to see his reaction. Karma sat in silence as Eraser scrutinized the injury, not really knowing what to say. After a couple of silent minutes, the hero pulled away again, allowing the vigilante to put his bandana back in place.
“Fortunately, I don’t think it’s fractured, but it’s going to leave a terrible bruise, so make sure you put ice on it,” Eraser explained as he returned the flashlight to his utility belt.
“Thanks, Raser,” Karma smiled.
“Anytime, kid.”
——————
The next day found Izuku with a blaring headache and an unpleasant ache on his cheekbone. Just his luck to get an injury the night before the Sports Festival. Luckily, a couple of painkillers mixed with a cup of coffee would distract him from the pain his entire head was experiencing.
When he made it to the mirror, he noticed that the bruise had intensified overnight, regardless of the fact that he put ice on it previously. “Damn heroes,” he mumbled to himself as he walked into the shower.
The look on Shinso’s face when he arrived at school an hour later made him doubt his makeup abilities. Did he not cover it well enough?
“Why is your cheek puffy, Midoriya?” Shinso asked, worried about his friend.
“Oh, I’m fine. Just a bad fall when I took the garbage out yesterday, that’s all,” Izuku lied as he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.
“Wow, you’re a dumbass, but you’ll be okay for the Sports Fest, right?” Shinso asked, calmer than before, seeming to accept the lame excuse Izuku provided.
“Yeah, I’ll be okay!” Izuku smiled in response.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the crowd, may I introduce the First Year students of this year’s Sports Festival!” Midnight’s voice filled the UA speakers as she announced the contestants.
“You ready, Shinso?” Izuku asked as he looked at his friend.
“Of course I am. Bring your best, Midoriya. I look forward to beating you in the finale,” Shinso smirked.
“And now, the General Studies class, 1-C!! ”