Chapter Text
At the sound of large cheering, Zoro decided to take a quick look and smirked at the screen displaying two familiar brats in the top three with none other than his little brother in the first place.
As he’s looking at the screen some of the heroes guarding the school approached him “Zoro-sen-“
“Just Zoro is fine.” He cut her off causing her to pout yet again.
The two other heroes with her joined them. “Nice to see you again, Zoro. Hopefully nothing suspicious came up.” Death Arms greeted
“No, it’s good nothing’s come up, but silence can be just as worrying.”
“Isn’t that the kids from that slime villain incident?” Kamui Woods said looking at the screen.
Now Zoro realizes why he can recognize these three. They were scolding Izuku back then. Now that he thinks about it, his little brother sure has been in the news far more often than normal compared to other UA students. Looks like this batch of hero students will be a handful.
With the obstacle race over and done with after the last remaining students passed through the finish line. They displayed the first 42 students that passed the finish line. Majority of the students that made it through were from the hero course with a few from different departments. One couldn’t care about it too focused on her business and one critiquing the other hero course students and sizing them up already thinking how he’ll get through the next round successfully.
Midnight went back up on the stage and looked over the students and whipped her flogger producing a noise and getting their attention “Well don, everyone! That concludes the preliminary; those that lost this time can take another try next year! The top 42 will enter the second round!”
“Without further ado, time for the second round! Be motivated, the media will be more attentive from here onwards!” When the screen showed the next round, Midnight whipped her flogger again to it “A Cavalry Battle!”
“For real?! I’m not good at this.” Kaminari said worried at how he’ll make it through this round.
“Allow me to explain. Participants are free to form a team of 2 to 4. You just need to form a horse. The rules remain the same with slight changes. You all will be assigned a score based on your rank from the obstacle race just now.”
“Like the exam, we have to grind for points.” Satou commented.
“It’s pretty simple huh.” Mina said
“Team scores will differ then.” Uraraka said looking determined
“Based on the team you pick!” Mina finished now fully understanding the rules.
Midnight whipped her flogger loudly startling the two girls “You guys explained everything. What else am I suppose to say now?!”
She went back to explaining “But that’s right. Starting from the bottom, each rank will have 5 more points than the one below. The 42nd is 5 points. The 41st is 10 points. So on and so forth. And the score assigned to the first place.” She turned to look at Midoriya watching in anticipation. “Ten Million!”
That stunned the green headed student. “Ten Million?!” Midoriya repeated and just like that he felt everyone’s piercing gaze directed at him. This whole thing just painted a large target at his back.
Now that everyone has felt the true challenge of the game, Midnight continued “The higher your rank is, the more likely you’ll become the target. A survival game where the bottom feeds on the top!”
‘Like the top heroes of Japan huh?’ Midoriya asked in his head while looking around at the crowd eyeing him.
At a break room, some heroes were lounging and also watching everything that’s going down with some of them talking about it, but Zoro can’t pay attention to any of it with the recent message sent to him pertaining the sighting of a certain villain recently. He would’ve liked to be part of the investigation but he still has responsibilities here so he’ll have to entrust this case to other heroes that are available.
He decided to take a look at the TV displaying everything and saw Izuku form an interesting group of his. Two of his classmates along with that eccentric girl from the support department.
To his surprise, he watched as Izuku throw his 10 Million worth headband to the sky with the help of his quirk blowing away the oncoming students running to him and the headband continuing to float up, had every group clamouring for it leaving Midoriya’s group alone who then proceeded to sneakily grab the headbands of those who were too distracted to notice.
Zoro shook his head and smirked at the actions of the little guy “Of course he would.” He mumbled to himself
Though in the back of his mind, he can’t help but want to follow his gut regarding the message he just received.
Meanwhile Hosu…
A hero donning the appearance of a knight was hot in pursuit of an agile villain jumping from here to there all the way to an isolated location hiding in an alley.
Ingenium ever the vigilant hero was quick to sense where the seasoned villain was hiding and pursued him right where the villain wants him to be. The villain easily overpowered the hero taking advantage of the narrow alley especially against a hero that relies on speed that would require large spaces.
And now he has the hero on the ground unable to move. “You ‘heroes’ and your act of concern all so you can feel good when people praise you for it,” the villain raised his sword up “disgusts me to no end.” He swung down.
“Higan!”
Bullets of compressed flame shot out from someone’s fingers and shot the sword out of the villain’s hands which also caught a flame bullet burning his hand.
Both hero and villain looked at the new person in the scene and saw a kid with a colourful orange hat sitting atop his head and simply wearing a button up shirt that was funnily enough not buttoned up.
“Hey now Hero Killer, I know it’s in the name but could you not do that?” Ace asked as he lifted his hat away from covering his face revealing his grin to both of them.
“K-kid get out of here! He’s dangero-AH!” Ingenium was silenced when Stain roughly kicked him.
“Tsk, you’re that new vigilante running around. What was it? Fire Fist?”
“Hiken!” a large torrent of flame immediately came after the villain as soon as he uttered his name.
Ingenium closed his eyes preparing for the burn that was inevitable since he is also in the line of fire. But to his surprise, he was safe and sound despite seeing the flames touching his skin. He looked at the kid and admired his control but his eyes widened in horror as the villain was already near him and was swinging his sword down to cut him.
But as he cut down, Stain was bewildered to discover that his attack was useless as it appeared to phase through the kid as if he’s made of fire. To make sure, he tried once again and attempted to cut his outstretched hand and like before, it went through him.
Once Ace was sure Stain was close enough, he delivered a heavy punch on the villain’s face driving him back and making his back hit the wall.
With how Stain’s quirk works, he knows that this vigilante kid is a bad match up for him. As he regrets he couldn’t do much to the hero and to this budding phony hero, he has to leave for now.
With agile moves, he successfully got out of that alleyway leaving the two behind “Hey!” Ace scratched the back of his head before turning to the hero on the ground “Are you okay sir?” he asked as he helped him sit up and lean on the wall
“Nothing serious, just can’t move.”
“That seems pretty serious if you ask me.” He says as he stands up “Welp, now that that’s settled, see ya!” Ace skipped away from that alley.
“H-hey kid wait!” as he said that, he started to hear sirens in the distance ‘Ah, no wonder he’s in a rush.’
Police and other heroes from his agency starts to rush in the alley all sighing in relief once finding out that a hero that encountered Stain was able to get out of the altercation nearly unscathed.
He owes his thanks to that new vigilante. With how young he is he hopes for him to stay safe.
Back at UA…
All students were panting after a long Cavalry battle. Midnight announced the teams that won Todoroki’s team gaining first place with the leader already isolating himself and leaving his other teammates with Momo making sure Kaminari doesn’t accidentally harm himself.
Bakugo’s team got second place which enraged him with Kirishima, Mina, and Sero watching the outburst in fascination.
Shinso’s team was a clear surprise for everyone with their sudden jump from no spotlight on them to being one of the winning teams.
Midoriya’s team were all celebrating “Sorry about that guys, it was a close call.”
“We had a strong start and it was thanks to you, there are just some things we couldn’t foresee.” Tokoyami reassured him.
“Thanks Tokoyami, your move is what saved us in the end.”
“And it’s thanks to all of you that my babies got the attention they deserved!” Mei said fixing up her devices from the damage they suffered from their heavy usage at the activity.
Uraraka who was holding her stomach slowly walked to Midoriya “How long is our break before the next round?” she muttered.
“Quite a while I think, it’s also lunchtime too.”
At the mention of food, Uraraka held her mouth closed feeling sick even more “A-ah! My bad!”
Present Mic announced the lunch break which prompted everyone to get their own food and to relax.
Before any of the 1-A students could get to the cafeteria, Kaminari sent out a text to everyone.
‘Guys! Come over to a booth called Baratie near the building entrance. Free Food! Free Food!
P.S. Pass the message to Bakugo, he’s being such a tsun he hasn’t given me his number yet!’
By the time Midoriya got there, he noticed a long line on the booth but noticed the small cluster of students to the side which he recognized as his classmates. Once Kaminari caught sight of Midoriya, he waved him closer.
“Yo Midoriya! You did well back then!” Kaminari praised as he handed him a plate of delicious looking steak.
“You too gaining first place with Todoroki. Speaking of has he been here?”
“Yep grabbed a plate and went off.” Once Kaminari was done garnishing the same dish, he grabbed it and looked beside Midoriya “I see you passed the message to Bakugo.” He said with a smirk.
“Not a fuckin tsun!”
“Mm hmm” Kaminari offered the plate which he snatched from him.
As Kaminari watches his classmates enjoy their meal he got a kick atop his head “Help us here you brat!”
“Y-yes Zeff sir…”
While Midoriya was eating, he saw Todoroki eyeing him from afar. He could tell he wants to talk so he quickly finished his meal and followed him.
Midoriya didn’t know what to expect coming in to this talk, but being met with essentially his classmate’s tragic backstory was definitely not what he expected. He has not much to say and he knows Todoroki never expected him to say anything either. Whatever they have to settle, they’ll have to do it through actions.
Once he’s sure that Todoroki was quite a distance away, he turned back “Kacchan, I don’t think you’re supposed to hear that.”
“Don’t know what you’re talking about.” He simply said before walking away prompting Izuku to let out an exasperated sigh.
By the time they got back, students that won from the cavalry battle were starting to gather in front of Midnight who appears to be preparing for the third and final round of the sports festival.
“Welcome back everyone to the last round!” at the implication of the last round, the crowd erupted to a cheer “The last round being a 1-on-1 battle!”
“Woah! I can get a chance to appear on TV every year.” Kirishima said excited
“Huh? Was it also a 1-on-1 tournament too last year?” Mina asked
Sero stepped up and explained “The format changes every year, but 1-on-1 has always been a part of the sports festival.”
When Midnight was about to proceed, Ojiro raised his hand announcing “I’d like to quit.” Which understandably surprised everyone around him.
“Ojiro, why?” Midoriya asked
“It’s a rare opportunity to showcase yourself in front of Pro Heroes!” Iida argued.
“My memory is blank towards the end of the Cavalry battle. It must be his quirk.”
He tried to recall Ojiro’s other teammates and recalled them being Aoyama, a 1-B student and that familiar purple haired student. He turned to look at him and saw him side eyeing Ojiro after his declaration.
After Ojiro expressed his concerns, another student from 1-B also did the same with the same concerns. Midnight welcomed their withdrawal and had Tetsutetsu and Ibara to take their place.
Once all of that were out of the way, it didn’t take long for them to adjust the sudden changes and displayed the matches.
Uraraka gulped at her first opponent, Bakugo only raised an eyebrow at his opponent.
Uraraka paced back and forth in the prep room waiting for Present Mic to call her to the stadium for the first match of the round. As she walks to the arena, she could also see the bright green eyes and green bushy hair of Midoriya also walking up to the arena.
They stood still waiting for the signal to start and as soon as Midnight gave the go signal, the two of them instantly made their move with Midoriya producing a powerful shockwave intended to push her off the arena but she saw this coming and used her quirk on herself and floated up evading his attack. She doesn’t even want to think how she’d end up if she got caught in his attack.
Uraraka decided to think of a plan while up in the air thinking that she might have momentary advantage while there but boy was she sorely mistaken once she saw the sudden appearance of Midoriya in front of her. She took a quick glance down and saw a crater figuring he jumped to get where he is ‘Gah, what a monster.’
Midoriya dealt a not so painful blow to her stomach punching her down to the ground. Thanks to her quirk, her fall was more or less cushioned but that’s still going to bruise.
As Midoriya started to prepare for the fall, he noticed it never came and he stayed floating making him flail around “W-w-woah!”
Uraraka grinned up at him and stuck a playful tongue at him. “Got ya!” she managed to touch him and use her quirk on him when he got closer to punch her down. “Are you gonna surrender?!”
Midoriya aimed his hand to the sky “Never!” he then flicked his finger giving him a boost to get him to the ground. Before he could attempt to do anything, Uraraka tried pushing him off but was stopped when he flicked his finger again blowing both of them away from the nearing ring.
Uraraka tried to stop the strong wind blowing both of them away and sighed in relief once she did so but was startled and confused when Midnight announced Midoriya as the winner. She looked down and noticed her left foot was out of the ring.
“Ehehe good match, Uraraka.” Midoriya said.
Uraraka abruptly released her quirk from him dropping him to the ground “Ow, that’s understandable.” He groaned and got up leading Uraraka to the infirmary to get her looked over.
When Midoriya got to their seats, everyone cheered for him “Nice opening Midobro!” Kirishima said slapping him on the back.
“Ah, yeah…” he says rubbing the spot before sitting down.
“The whole thing has me on the edge of my seat, makes me excited what the other matches will be like!” Mina said bouncing on her seat waiting on the next match which Midnight announced to be,
Todoroki vs. Sero
Their faces were then displayed to the large screen “W-wow was my face also displayed there back then?”
“Yep, both you and Uraraka looked so determined too.” Jirou said
“Wah that’s kinda embarrassing.”
“Get used to it.” Bakugo said wanting to just silently watch and all this racket is bothering him.
When the two stepped out for their match, they watched as Sero stretched his arms in preparation and instantly made a move trying to capture Todoroki with his tape.
But Todoroki who was already not in the best mood used his quirk to its maximum and trapped poor Sero in a glacier. Even Midnight who was presumed to be in a safe distance has half of her caught in the massive ice overlooking the crowd and towering over the massive stadium.
“Sero…c-can you move?” she asked trying to keep the shivering of her voice to not be noticeable.
“O-o-o-of course I can’t!”
And with that Todoroki is declared the winner. When Todoroki the frozen Sero, he flinched but calmed down when he started to feel warmth starting to melt the ice encasing him.
Once he was out, the top half of the ice that was looming over the crowd was suddenly cut and diced so finely it turned into snow which rained upon the audience effectively cooling them.
Everyone was mesmerized by the clean up that they didn’t mind the wait that it would take cleaning the arena.
All Might looked behind and saw Zoro sheathing his sword. “Nice one.”
He only shrugged “Best to help, if we just leave it to the kid, it’ll likely take longer.” He said after observing how he’s always reluctant on using the other part of his quirk. He seems to also be worked up in this particular moment. Not really his business but he can’t help but also be concerned.
He side eyed his old man who was watching in displeasure clearly not content with his son’s performance. Zoro clicked his tongue “Tsk, I gotta get out of here, I might slice someone.”
“H-huh?” All Might startled but only watched the young hero walk away.
Kaminari who noticed the clean up almost over, got up from his seat and stretched “Welp, I’m up next!”
“You’re up against a 1-B student right?” Kirishima asked
“Yep!”
“Don’t forget to go whey for the audience!” Jirou teased
Kaminari stuck his tongue out at her before walking away. As he walked up the arena, he can’t help but find the girl he’s facing kinda cute and contemplated on asking her out after all this.
In their standoff, Kaminari felt a chill go up his spine. Looking back, he instantly caught sight of Sanji’s sharp gaze warning him. Kaminari broke their eye contact and gulped looking at the pretty 1-B student wracking his brain on how to win against her without hitting her, lest he suffers a flurry of fiery feet on his ass.
Being too busy thinking, he almost missed Midnight’s go signal and the instantaneous move of vines from the girl’s head coming after him. On instinct, he kicked the vines down hard enough that they got cut off and died.
He figured he could just stun her for a bit then push her out of bounds. So he tried his best to get near her, evading her vines and cutting them by kicking when he gets accidentally caught.
When he got close enough to shock her, he felt he was shocked feeling the chill on his spine again knowing a certain chef is now giving him the death glare so he instantly changed up his plan but he couldn’t think of one this fast so he ended up pulling her in his arms.
He may not have shocked her, but she is effectively stunned. Kaminari blinked and darted his eyes around cringing a little at Present Mic’s commentary about this romantic move.
Ibara who recovered from being stunned, commanded her vines to go after Kaminari. He dodged also taking Ibara with him, as she continued to do so, it appears as if they were waltzing as he kept his hold on her while dodging her attacks.
Kaminari gave her a final twirl spinning her out of bounds. “WHAT AN ELEGANT WAY OF WINNING!” Present Mic announced prompting Kaminari to blush.
His opponent did a bow “I appreciate your pacifist method of this match. May God bless you for this act.”
“Uh…oh no problem. Say do you have plans la-“ he couldn’t even finish since she already made her way out of there.
He slowly turned to look at his back and was wholly relieved to find that he’s no longer giving him the death glare.
When he got back to the seats, he was greeted by his friends laughing.
Sero slung an arm around his shoulders “Nice moves man! Maybe you can actually get a date!”
“Yeah…don’t mind.”
The familiar phrase instantly got Sero sulking. “That was really smart Kaminari, now you still have energy for your next match!” Midoriya complimented.
“I’m just glad to be alive man.” Kaminari said slumping at his seat.
“Uh you good bro?” Kirishima asked poking him but was ignored. It took Iida standing up abruptly that startled Kaminari.
“I shall take my leave now everyone! Once again congratulations on your win Kaminari!” he said before departing to get ready for his match.
Now this match Midoriya is looking forward to. His teammate Mei against Iida. He got a glimpse of her ‘babies’ and never got the chance to ask about them. He’s sure that she won’t waste the opportunity to show off her ‘babies’ this match since that’s the reason she asked to join his team in the first place. To get her inventions noticed.
As for Iida, he’s very curious about his abilities especially after revealing his trump card at the end of the Cavalry battle. Now he can’t wait to see what other things he can do or the potential of another special move from him. Quirk vs Support equipment. Midoriya gripped his journal waiting in anticipation.
Imagine his surprise when Iida walked out donning multiple support items. Iida went on a tirade about how Mei asked of him to do this and that he couldn’t deny because of her determination blah blah blah yada yada yada…Midnight accepts it and proceeds to the actual match.
It sure was an interesting match, not in the way Midoriya expected. It’s interesting in the way how Mei advertises her different items each different one has its own unique function someone out there might find extremely helpful. Her walking out once she’s done with her advertisement was not much of a surprise since she got what she wanted out of the sports festival.
He does feel bad about Iida who was now sulking after realizing how he’s been used.
Mina and Aoyama’s match didn’t take long since all Mina had to do was evade Aoyama’s lasers and wait for that stomach ache and finally knock him out. Mina came out the victor.
Yaoyorozu and Tokoyami is a match up everyone is looking forward to. Two very unique quirks against one another. But ultimately, Tokoyami’s Dark Shadow was able to overpower and move much more quickly compared to Yaoyorozu thus coming out as the victor. Momo’s downtrodden mood of the result didn’t escape the watchful gazes of a few.
Kirishima and Tetsutetsu’s match is as drawn out as you would expect from people who essentially have the same quirks. Their no giving up mentality definitely didn’t help in dragging this match out. Before the crowd get extremely tired and start complaining, the two of them knocked each other out at the same time.
Midnight announced they’ll be having a tie breaker once they’ve recovered.
And just like that the last match of the first round is upon them. Bakugo was about to leave, but Ojiro stopped him “Hey you got a minute? I got something to say about your opponent.”
“I’m not so weak I need to gather intel on some extra.”
“I don’t know Kacchan, it won’t hurt to hear him out even for a bit.” Midoriya argued also curious about this Shinso guy’s abilities.
Both of them were ignored though since Bakugo left already. “You gotta admire his unwavering confidence.” Midoriya commented.
“Yeah but…”
“Mind letting me in on that intel?”
Bakugo wasn’t worried much about his opponent. Taking a quick glance over him, he could tell he doesn’t have an ounce of muscle in him strong enough to match him. He just hopes he at least put up a fight.
Once both of them are in the arena, Bakugo cracked his knuckles. The deadpan face of the guy on the other side pisses him off. So by the time the match started, he instantly jumped and prepared to attack.
“So you’re that big headed asshole from 1-A?”
A tic mark appeared on Bakugo’s forehead “I’LL KILL Y-“ and just like that, the loud and intense aura coming from him suddenly dulled as he fell in a blank state just standing there.
“Walk out for me?”
Everyone watched closely at what looked to be an abrasive young man who obviously takes no shits from anyone follows his order. When Bakugo stepped out of bounds, Shinso smirked at his first victory. He walked out of there before releasing the control lest he gets pummelled if he had what he last said before getting affected by his quirk to go by. And based on the commotion he heard behind him, it was the smart move.
The whole section of 1-A watched in awe as he easily subdued and beat Bakugo. This of course had a lot of them on edge, Midoriya now has an explanation to what his quirk is. He could only theorize based on the account Ojiro gave him but this seals the deal. And looking at the brackets, if both of them managed to win every match in their way, they’ll eventually have to face each other.
Of course before they move on to the next round of 1-on-1 matches, they have to finalize the contestants. So the tie breaker was held between Kirishima and Tetsutetsu.
You can count on these two lively students to turn even arm wrestling into the most intense and interesting match between them using their quirks to their advantage. After a few more struggles on trying to overpower one another, Kirishima was the one to come out as the victor. But despite that, the two formed an unlikely friendship glad to have found a comrade that shares the same power.
Midnight never fails to make an inappropriate comment but was dismissed altogether.
Meanwhile in the bleachers of 1-B, “NOOOO! Our only hope of taking the spotlight from 1-A!”
“Calm down, Monoma. They didn’t even declare a rivalry between us.” Kendo said ready to stop him when he gets too far.
“That should be our problem!” his outburst startling his classmates and the class next to them which is 1-A. “Are we not worthy to be their riva-“ Kendo was quick to clamp a hand over his mouth before looking over to the class next to them.
“Sorry about that.” The collective thumbs up she got from there was signal enough that they didn’t mind.
“They’re not that bad, Monoma.” Ibara spoke up being one of the few who had a direct interaction with a student in 1-A.
“You say that now but wait until we get the number of heroes who wants to recruit us in their agency!”
“Not like you can do anything to change that though.” Tsuburaba said having already accepted their loss this time.
Monoma grumbled before going back to his seat and watching.
With all the contestants decided, the second round has finally opened with a strong start. A match between two students who have shown promise and great display o power throughout the whole festival.
Todoroki vs. Midoriya
The two of them walking up to the arena commanded everyone’s attention on them. The tension between them could be felt. Though Midoriya thinks a lot of that tension comes from the heavy stare his father is sending their way. Midoriya could care less if he thinks well of him or not he doesn’t regret the small confrontation they had in that hallway.
To dare treat his own flesh and blood as a tool to accomplish his selfish goals. And Todoroki here in front of him unfortunately suffered and grew up into a cold person full of spite.
“Todoroki, I know you have your reason to not lose. But I do have reasons of my own to not lose too. And I definitely won’t lose.”
“That’s good. If I want to prove anything to my old man,” he started side eyeing Endeavor who was watching it was then that Midnight signalled the start of the match “I want you to give it your all!” with that he did the same move he used against Sero. A giant glacier at the start of the fight.
Midoriya just took it. Todoroki watched as cracks started to form on the ice, and when it was blown away, Midoriya emerged “My all?”
Todoroki didn’t spare a moment and sent another wave of glacier at Midoriya “My all?!” he asked as he punched away the punch.
Todoroki attempted it again “My ALL?!” Midoriya once again punched it away.
Todoroki did the attack again “MY ALL?!” but again Midoriya punched it away. Having had enough, he quickly jumped forward and got in front of Todoroki which happened in a flash in his eyes “You’re the last person to lecture me when it comes to giving it my all” he whispered to him before delivering a punch far stronger than the ones before.
Todoroki was able to block it with his arms but the force kept pushing him back despite creating walls of ice behind him. He was able to create a wall strong enough to hold the force just when he was near the ring.
He took a glance at where his father is but wasn’t able to see his face since Midoriya blacked the view when he suddenly appeared in front of him “Where do you think you’re looking?” he asked delivering another punch but not as strong as the last.
“I’m your opponent here, so pay attention here.”
Todoroki froze the floor near him so to keep Midoriya away. “Clearly you haven’t been paying attention from the start.” Midoriya said who stomped on the ice making it useless “You would’ve known this was ineffective if you took even a quick glance on the others.
“Everyone here is giving it their all Todoroki. Whether it’s to win first place, gain recognition, or even just showcasing themselves and their abilities. You think you can stay being the strongest staying stagnant like that?”
“You want me to use all I’ve got? Then come at me with everything you have! Like you did back at the Cavalry battle! Use your quirk to its full potential!”
Todoroki who was speechless throughout his whole talk finally spoke up “It’s not my quirk!” He touched the left side of his face “H-he’s not…”
“It’s your quirk Todoroki!”
“You don’t know anything!” he tried attacking again with ice to push him away.
Midoriya like before punched the flurry of ice “I don’t! I just know one thing: Your quirk is yours!”
“But I…” he looked down on his left hand where he produced a small amount of fire to warm him up
“Todoroki, whose hands do those flames came from?”
“Mine.”
“You’re controlling it now aren’t you?”
Todoroki only nodded “You can control bigger flames you know.”
“I can’t, my father…”
“You not wanting to use your fire is just another part of you he controls yes? Take control back Todoroki, it’s rightfully yours.”
Midoriya saw that Todoroki spaced out for a bit, he figured he’s going through some kind of epiphany right now so he’ll just wait, hopefully it’s not too long that they’ll call off the match.
Good thing too that Todoroki stood up straight after that “Yo, you ready?”
As a yes, Todoroki’s right side lit aflame “You’re mad, making your opponent use his full power.”
“I’ll regret it when I regret it. Besides, isn’t it much more satisfying to see the face of that bastard when he finds out you’re better at fire than him?”
Todoroki chuckled “That is a great motivator.” He went into stance “I’m giving it my all you better too.”
Midoriya readied his fists “Ready when you are.”
“SHOTO-Ah!“ Endeavor was about to shout but was interrupted when something bumped his head
“Yo Endeavor! Why don’t we have a drink I just bought this one pretty pricey too, you like that shit right?” Zoro invited as he slung an arm around the hero leading him away from watching.
“Let go I’m busy!”
“Hah? You clearly weren’t doing anything.” He looked back and saw Midoriya giving him a nod he returned it and continued to lead the hero away.
A torrent of flame blocked the view of Zoro and Endeavor walking away “Where are you looking?” Todoroki asked back prompting Midoriya to smirk.
“Nowhere I guess.” And with that both of them jumped at each other revving up for their strongest attacks.
The teachers sensed that what they’re about to do is going to be large scale and might affect them. So they did their best to stop it with Cementoss forming a large wall between them and Midnight ripping the cloth on her arm just in case.
But still the combination of extreme hot and extreme cold caused an explosion on the arena that combined with Midoriya’s punch alongside a familiar shout of “SMASH” brought the explosion to an even larger scale and blowing it to one side of the arena.
After the big commotion, everyone looked in anticipation who won waiting for the smoke to clear out. When it did, everyone saw Todoroki knocked out in a bed of ice while Midoriya who was still standing but is now cradling a black and bruised arm. He fell on his butt and took a breath “Phew, he’s a monster.”
Once everyone realized who won, they cheered clapping and Present Mic proudly announcing the victor of a well fought battle. Midoriya Izuku.
Now lying down at the infirmary next to Todoroki who was still out, he’s just chilling and resting to gain his energy back after getting the kiss from recovery girl and a lecture after. Zoro came in with a knock.
Throwing an energy bar at him, he took a seat next to him “I feel like I’ve been here too many times visiting you.”
Izuku let out a nervous laugh before shoving the bar in his mouth. Zoro looked at Todoroki next to him “You sure you didn’t rough him up too much?”
“I guess…he needed a reality check?” he said to him smiling.
Zoro smirked and ruffled his hair “Don’t take up too much of my influence, mom would go after me.”
“Not my problem.” Midoriya teased
“I’m off now, please don’t break any more bones.”
“Can’t promise anything.”
Zoro only groaned before leaving. And a few minutes after his departure, few of his friends came in to visit “Yo Midobro, you did amazing!”
“Think you could go up to watch?” Mina asked
“Yeah, as long as I’m seated I’m good.”
“Cool! It’s Iida against Denki next! You guys sure messed up the arena.”
That statement got them looking at the passed out Todoroki. “Is he gonna be okay?” Kirishima asked
“Yeah, just resting from the drain of Recovery Girl’s kiss.”
“Recover well, Todoroki.” Mina said before leading Midoriya and Kirishima out of there.
When they got seated in the bleachers, the teachers just got done with the clean up. “You got us on the edge of our seat man.” Sero said
“Truly a battle of the greats.” Tokoyami said
“You doing okay?” Uraraka asked her hand hovering on his used to be injured hand.
Midoriya held out his now perfectly good arm “Yep no need for worries.”
Later, the next match started up that being Iida and Kaminari who were now walking up to the arena.
“Hey Iida I promise not to advertise anything.” Kaminari teased
“Best not to waltz me away here too while you’re at it.”
“Understandable response good day.”
When Midnight gave them the go, both of them attacked at the same time with a right kick causing their feet to be blocked. Iida quickly catching on Kaminari’s plan, jumped back just in time before he could let out a shock. Kaminari tried again but found Iida too fast for him.
Iida then started to run around Kaminari and would blow occasional kicks on Kaminari once he’s sure he won’t be shocked. After getting in a few kicks, Kaminari noticed that Iida is in range.
So taking the chance, “Indiscriminate shock: 1.3 Million Volts!”
Just what Iida was hoping for. He ran the farthest way from Kaminari and was able to avoid the far reach of his electricity. So when he was done, he was successfully short circuited. He’s now wandering around with a blank look and giving a thumbs up to say that he’s fine.
Iida thinks he heard someone snort from the audience but ignored it before leading Kaminari out of bounds. Midnight declared him as the winner.
Iida had to escort Kaminari who was slowly recovering back to the bleachers. “Nice match you guys!” Midoriya said
“Kaminari proved to be a great sparring partner, I’ll have to make sure to ask him whenever I need a training partner.
Mina and Tokoyami’s match went my quick too. Mina did a great job avoiding Dark Shadow’s attacks but ultimately Tokoyami and Dark Shadow’s cooperation proved to be the triumphant side here being able to knock Mina out of the ring.
“They’re gonna call me soon, so I’ll go on ahead.” Kirishima said leaving with a pep to his step.
Midoriya turned to Ojiro “Have you talked to him?”
“Huh, why?”
“He’s against that guy.” Midoriya answered pointing on the bracket displayed on the big screen.
Ojiro paled before jumping up and running after Kirishima “Wait up Kirishima I gotta tell you something!”
But Kirishima was surprisingly fast since he didn’t get catch up to him. And now he’s in the arena with Shinso who was struggling to glare at this smiley guy who doesn’t look like he contains an ounce of malice in him.
But when the match started and he was met with a solid punch in the gut, he regretted ever thinking this nice looking guy is a harmless sunshine child he’s seen his match with that steel guy.
While he was distracted, he got another punch on his arm “You hit hard, don’t you?”
“Thanks!”
And instantly Kirishima donned a blank face now under his control. Shinso fell on his butt panting while clutching his stomach “Could you uh…go out of bounds.” He asked his hand in a shooing motion. And just like Bakugo, he walked out on his command.
He was thoroughly confused when Shinso released his control of him. He looked at Shinso who only waved at him before walking out clutching his stomach.
And that concludes the second round. The few selected in the semi-finals through tough battles looked on in pride as their names were displayed. Shinso silently celebrated that he a general studies student was able to get all the way to the semi-finals alongside students of the class 1-A. If this doesn’t get him in the hero course, then he’ll have to go for first place.
Looking at the semi-final qualifiers, he finds all of them terrifying opponents. His next match is against Tokoyami. That Dark Shadow of his would be his greatest hurdle since he’s not sure if he could control it.
And if he does make it to the finals, both Midoriya and Iida are also difficult foes. But he’ll cross that bridge when he gets there. Right now, he has to pay attention on both Iida and Midoriya because whoever wins he might no he will have to face.
Now Iida and Midoriya are stood face to face in the arena. “Is your brother watching?” Iida asked going into stance.
“Yeah he is, how about yours?” Midoriya asked back also getting into stance.
“He’s busy right now so I’ll make sure to tell him a worthy story when recounting what happened.”
Midnight signalled the start of the match but Iida and Midoriya waited for the other to attack first. They both decided to just take the first hit. Midoriya was able to block the kick with his forearm and used his free arm to deliver a punch towards Iida pushing him away from him.
Iida decided to use the same move he used with Kaminari and started to run around Midoriya. He’s seen this move from Iida so he already has a counter to it. Midoriya clenched his fist reeling it back and in one breath punched down messing up the smooth terrain of the arena.
Cementoss can’t help but just sigh on the sidelines knowing he’s the one responsible for the clean up…again. He just hopes it won’t be as wrecked as it did last time. Midnight can’t help but giggle at his reaction.
Now not having a smooth surface to run on, Iida struggled to run around making it easier for Midoriya to catch up to him getting a few hits in slowing him down further.
Iida unfortunately tripped and got stuck on rubble, it didn’t help that Midoriya made more rubble to cover his legs when he flicked his finger. Running over to him, Midoriya pinned Iida down prompting him to surrender.
Midoriya celebrated, while a student in the audience took a deep breath preparing himself for the next match and now knowing who will be his opponent when he wins this round.
Midoriya being a sweetheart helped Iida out of the rubble and checked him over for injuries which miraculously were none save a few scratches. When Iida asked Midoriya asked to go back to the bleachers, he insisted to stay in the on call room and just watch the match there since the finals would be next and he has to go back here anyway.
On Iida’s walk back, his phone rang and the caller ID is none other than his big brother! He fumbled his phone a bit in surprise but enthusiastically accepted the call “Nii-san!”
“Tenya! How’s the Sports Festival for you? Enjoying yourself?”
“Yes! Everyone…” Iida paused when Bakugo came to his mind “well, most of the students have displayed admirable sportsmanship! Though I regret to tell you I lost in the semi-finals.”
“You made it to the semis? I knew you were amazing.”
Iida smiled at that “Well, is that all that you called for?”
“Oh well uh, no.”
The change in tone of his brother worried him “Look I want you to stay calm with what I’m about to say.” That didn’t help ease his worry.
“I’m in the hospital. Though I’m completely fin-”
“What?! What happened?! Are you all right?! I’m on my way!”
“N-no Tenya I’m fine you don-“ Iida couldn’t even hear what he was saying since he now was rushing to get permission to leave.
Tensei looked at his now beeping phone. "Trouble with the little brother?" an old woman asked dressed quite chic for her age.
"No it's fine just worried is all."
"Water?" a small reindeer asked
"Ah thank you." he said reaching for the glass in its hoof before they hid behind the woman's legs.
"Don't mind him."
"Is he your apprentice?"
"Of sorts."
"I see."
While all of this is going down, Shinso is currently struggling against Tokoyami who wasn’t responding to him. With how much he’s used his quirk so far, someone is bound to find out.
“This guy’s gonna be a piece of cake.” Tokoyami’s quirk said.
“Shh.”
“You guys sure are edgy huh?” unfortunately that wasn’t able to get anything from them.
He barely dodged another attack Dark Shadow delivered “Damn it. You sure are a great side kick, huh?”
“Who you calling a sidekick?!” Dark Shadow fell under Shinso’s control which surprised him.
“Dark Sha-“
“PULL HIM OUT!” Shinso hurriedly commanded
Like his other matches, they led themselves to their loss by being commanded to go out of bounds. Tokoyami slapped Dark Shadow awake too late. “It was a great match, you did well.”
“Uh…yeah.”
“You got a fearsome quirk.”
What Tokoyami meant to be praise, ended up being taken the wrong way as Shinso flinched at the statement.
Shinso walked away with his head hung low. Shinso shook his head, he already resolved himself into not caring what others would think of him as long as he gets to be a hero.
He looked at the screen and saw the finalists: Midoriya Izuku vs. Shinso Hitoshi
That Midoriya guy may have been nice to him before, but he won’t let that get in the way of his dreams. Going back to the prep room, he sat down and waited for the match that would change his life.
On the other side, while Midroiya waits for the next match, Bakugo slammed the door open making Midoriya jump “A knock would’ve been appreciated.” He said holding his chest to calm his startled heart.
“If you don’t kick that asshole’s ass, I will kick yours.”
“Someone isn’t salty about his loss no sir none to see here.” Midoriya mocked making Bakugo pick him up by his collar. “Hey, if you want to get back at him do it yourself.”
“Hmph.” Bakugo abruptly dropped Midoriya “You’re right what was I thinking asking you.”
“Being a sore lose-AH!” Bakugo kicked him down before he could even stand back up.
“Welcome back listeners!!!” everyone cheered when they heard Present Mic “It’s been a long journey, with a lot of highs and lows! But here we are the long awaited finals!”
“The student with a strong start and continued to serve amazing plays! Midoriya Izuku!!!”
“Versus the underdog, the student who took everyone by surprise! Shinso Hitoshi!”
Midoriya stood there and looked at Shinso who also did the same.
“Let the finals begin!” Present Mic announced.
“You sure blew through everyone at this sports festival, are you gonna do the same here?”
As Shinso expected, he stayed silent “Are you gonna destroy the arena again with that quirk of yours?”
That got Cementoss flinching.
“Your quirk is pretty great huh? You probably got it all figured out since you were a kid. People probably supported you to become a hero.” Shinso confided with sadness in his voice he can’t help but feel envious of his situation.
And when Midoriya started to walk towards him, he started to freak out “H-hey as someone who has a straight path to becoming a hero, what do you think? Can I be a hero too?”
That got Midoriya to pause on his walk. That question, god when was the last time he asked that question. When he looked into Shinso’s eyes, he could only think ‘Was that the face I made when I asked the same question to my family?’ hope buried under sorrow and anger.
Midoriya was indeed lucky. Not in the terms of the quirk lottery, he’s probably the most unfortunate in that category. But he had something better, someone that believed in him. And Shinso right here in front of him clearly have a quirk that has plenty of potential but there was one thing he didn’t have.
“I believe that you’re gonna be an amazing hero.” he said, his quirk taking control of him be damned. He still has two years to try to get to the top. Right now he’d gladly spend this opportunity to support who he thinks as someone with a bright future.
Shinso looked on in shock as he looked at Midoriya’s blank face. While he’s surprised that he’s crazy enough to answer him knowing what will happen, what surprised him the most is the words he said. He said it with so much sincerity in his eyes before it was washed away by his quirk.
“A-are you crazy? Why?”
‘Why, you could’ve easily taken first place right here right now. Why answer such a useless question when you could’ve won?!’
Though in him, he’s happy to hear something he’s always wanted to hear. Someone believes in him.
“Thank you for believing in me. But let me be selfish and walk out for me.”
Shinso felt bad returning his kind gesture with something like this, but he’ll have to be selfish for now. He can express his gratitude after. He’ll do anything just let him have this. Winning this is his one way ticket to the hero course he can’t let this slip by.
Like always everyone watched in anticipation as the controlled student slowly walked out. But before Midoriya could black tendrils suddenly shot out from his hands. The force was strong enough to wake Midoriya out of his trance.
Midoriya somehow saw this coming while he was in his trance and gripped his wrist and forced it on the ground. The act alarmed every teacher in the vicinity seeing this as a sign of a rampaging quirk “I surrender! I surrender!”
Shinso in a rush quickly though of a plan “What’s going on?!” he shouted at Midoriya who slowly turned to look at him his eyes lighting up recognizing his plan.
“I don’t know!”
Midoriya’s eyes went blank and to match his now dull state, the black tendrils that were rampaging retracted back into his hand calming everything down. Shinso ran towards him and put a hand on his back to support him and released him from his control.
Thankfully he didn’t have to catch him since he was very much conscious “A-are you okay?”
Midoriya gave him a shy smile “Well, I may have to go through another self-discovery.”
Over the speakers, Present Mic cleared his throat “W-well uh…This year’s first place winner of the First Year Sports Festival, Shinso Hitoshi!”
Shinso’s arms went limp and his jaw dropped. As confetti started to pour out and the crowd started cheering, a few tears escaped his eyes which he quickly wiped away.
Midoriya put a consoling hand on his shoulder.
Cleaning up the arena went by faster this time since Midoriya didn’t get the chance to destroy it. They were quick to gather the students back down and prepared the podium with three levels and on there stood Tokoyami on the third place, Midoriya on second place, and in the highest one in first place is none other than Shinso Hitoshi!
As Midoriya looked on in the audience he took notice of his bog brother looking at him menacingly. He pointed at himself, Midoriya, and the sky referring to All Might waiting there for his entrance. He could tell he wanted to talk, well it’s fascinating how people just ignored his quirk going out of control earlier. But he’ll think about that later right now he’s here to celebrate.
He looked up to the first placer “What’s the nervous face for, it’s what you wanted right?”
Shinso looked around the crowd “I’m not used to a lot of eyes on me.”
“Bear with it for now. You’ll have plenty of time to yourself after this.” He reassured him which helped a little bit.
Midnight walked up to the microphone and faced the media who was making sure to capture every moment “All of the first-year events for this year’s U.A. sports festival have been completed! And now we will begin the award ceremony!”
“In addition to Tokoyami, Iida is also placed third but had to leave early for family reasons. Thank you for understanding.” She says posing for the media.
“Was that fanservice?!” Tokoyami asked surprised at his teacher.
Midoriya looked at the third place podium in worry recalling the text Iida sent him saying a villain got to his brother. He hopes everything is okay.
“Now we will award the medals! The presentation of the medals will, of course by this man…”
All Might appeared from the top of the stadium his silhouette bringing excitement to the crowd. “It’s All Might!” someone stated
And on cue All Might jumped off “I have brought the medals-“
“Our very own hero All Might!” Midnight announced motioning in his direction as he landed near her.
“-here!”
“Sorry, I talked over you” she whispered to him
“The first years sure have it huh, having All Might watching over them.” A person in the crowd said.
Midnight brought out the three medals to All Might “Now then, All Might, please present the medals starting with third place.”
All Might walked up to Tokoyami “Young Tokoyami, congratulations. You sure are strong.”
“You are too kind.” He thanked
All Might all of a sudden went for a hug patting him on the back “In order to fight well against different types, you must not rely only on your quirk. If you train your own strength more, then you’ll have more options when you fight.” He advised.
Looking at his medal he simply said “Yes, sir.” Fully intending on taking his advice.
“Young Midoriya, congratulations.” He said putting the medal on him before hugging him “I’m proud of you my boy, you exceeded my expectations.” He said patting him on the back “We’re gonna have a talk later with your brother.”
“I understand.” He said trying to play off the conversation so as to not clue in the media.
Once that was done, All Might made his way to Shinso “Young Shinso.”
At the All Might saying his name, he went stiff and got into attention earning a chuckle from All Might “Congratulations young man.” He said putting the medal on him.
Like the others, he also got a hug making him even more stiff “Relax young man, be proud.” He said patting his back “You show great promise young man, plenty of potential in you. Knowing UA’s practice, I hope you consider their offer. It would be an honor to teach a student such as yourself.”
“I-it would be an honor to be taught by you!”
“Ha Ha! I look forward to it then!”
After the presenting of medals, All Might faced the other first years “Well, they were the winners this time! But listen here! Anyone here could have ended up in these podiums. It’s just as you saw, competing! Improving each other and climbing even further! The next generation of heroes is definitely sprouting! So, I just have one more thing to say! Everyone please say it with me!”
“PLUS ULTRA!” everyone said out loud
“Thank you for your hard work!” with All Might the only differing voice.
Sen Kaibara from 1-B fished his camera out “1-A go gather on the podium!” he said walking in front of it.
“Oh hell yeah!” Kaminari said making himself comfortable on the first place podium “Yo! Kaminari, if you’re gonna be our classmate feel free to ask me who’s who!”
“Oh come on I call dibs on introducing him to everyone.” Midoriya said
“No need to be shy around us we’ll welcome you with open arms!” Kirishima said dragging Bakugo.
“Kaibara what are you doing?!” Monoma asked
“Shush, smile!” 1-A posed in front of the podium along with the winners. After snapping a few shots, he stood up.
“Hey how about you guys? Come on up here!” Mina said pulling Kendo with her with Ibara following. After the boys manhandled Monoma into joining,
Kaibara set his camera on a timer and joined in at first it was a normal photo with every student posing. But then the others pulled the winners down from their podium and put them up front and was told to hold out their medal. Tokoyami awkwardly held his out with Dark Shadow. Midoriya slung an arm around Shinso and held his medal out.
Shinso looked around him and can’t help but smile at the friendly atmosphere. The camera snapped at his genuine smile with a hand behind his head and his other holding his medal.
It was a nice welcome for Shinso in his opinion.