15

"Where the hell is that boy?!" an irate Recovery Girl growled beside a festering Inko as they scoured the halls of the stadium. "When I get my hands on him… the sheer recklessness of that little hellion!"

Inko, while very upset with what she had seen during the cavalry battle and their inability to find her son afterward, wasn't particularly angry like the medic walking beside her. She was much more concerned about what might've resulted from the fusion of his flames, and she just wanted to check on her son to make sure he was okay before the final round. It was taking a while to find him, however, and he most likely didn't have his phone on him.

"Ugh, this is hopeless, and I have to get back to the office in preparation for the final round," Recovery Girl huffed in frustration. "If you do see him, please send him to me immediately so that I can look him over before he steps out on the field again and maybe whack him one good time with my cane."

"Sure thing," Inko sighed, and the two parted ways. Inko checked her phone and saw that the break for lunch would be over in around 15 minutes, so she proceeded forward to continue her search. That was interrupted when she walked by a set of stairs where Endeavor was exiting from.

The two locked eyes, and a tense silence fell amongst the hallway. Inko's emerald gaze hardened to a stone cold glare, and Endeavor's own turquoise eyes narrowed. There wasn't any hatred or malice in his stare, rather apprehension of the highest order. Inko's glare carried more than enough hatred for the both of them, though.

Not a word was uttered between them; the smoldering rage within the woman was written clearly on her face and in her posture, but the large man held firm and would not bend an inch. This was the scene All Might stumbled on when he came to investigate the sudden chill that crawled up his spine, and he wished that he hadn't. The vitriol from Inko wasn't even directed at him, and he still felt entirely unsettled just being in the vicinity. He couldn't imagine how the Flame Hero must have been fairing.

"Verdant," Endeavor calmly acknowledged, carefully keeping his voice even.

"Endeavor," she returned, not even trying to mask the venom in her tone.

"Your son is doing well thus far," he evenly remarked.

"So is Rei's," she spat, and the flinch she received from the comment only vindicated her.

Another silence followed, this one even more tense than the previous one. All Might had absolutely no idea what to do or if he should even say anything. He didn't know if either of them even knew he was there since they hadn't acknowledged his presence, and he didn't really know if he wanted them to, either. He tried making conversation with the No. 2 Hero to catch up after a decade, but he was quickly and curtly rebuffed before being informed that the man's son was created to surpass him.

That was a strange and mildly alarming bit of information on its own, but the standoff before him was on another level. He didn't know what the history was between the two, and he wouldn't be ashamed to admit that he was not at all comfortable asking either of them. He would make a note to broach the subject to Young Midoriya later on if he remembered.

The silence dragged on for another few minutes, and All Might felt like he could physically cut through the tension with a Detroit Smash and still not make much headway. Then, as if on cue, the two walked past each other without another word, and All Might could breathe again.

Coincidentally, Izuku turned a corner at that moment and strolled down the hall in the opposite direction of his mother, and he couldn't get a word out before she was on him.

"Oh, honey! What happened to you during the cavalry battle?! Your nose was bleeding and you could barely keep yourself upright!" the worried mother fretted over her son after glomping him.

"I'm fine, mom," Izuku replied while half-heartedly fighting out of his mother's hold. "I tried something out during the battle in a no-win situation to mitigate the loss. Apparently, I can fuse the effects of my yellow and white flames to supercharge my cognition even further. I won't be doing it again, though."

"You'd better not!" she scolded, hugging him even tighter. "Your nose was bleeding like crazy, and who knows what kind of brain hemorrhaging you could've instigated if you kept it up for any longer. We're going to Recovery Girl right this minute to make sure you didn't do any permanent damage."

Izuku sighed in resignation, knowing he wouldn't be able to escape his fate. "Alright, mom."

She nodded, and she sent him the warmest smile she could. "You were fantastic out there, my little baby."

"Please stop, not in public!" Izuku protested while blushing a bright red, still not really trying all that hard to deny his mother's doting. "Hey, All Might."

All Might and Inko jumped in surprise; All Might forgot that he was still standing there, and Inko hadn't even realized that he was there. She cursed herself for getting sloppy, but she blamed it on Endeavor that time.

"Young Midoriya, your mother is right! You were excellent out there!" All Might spoke up when he finally regained himself, and he walked alongside them to the nurse's office.

Unbeknownst to All Might, the vestiges were locked in a heated debate within One For All.

"We can't let Eighth pass the quirk onto the boy! It'll kill him!" Yoichi argued from his seat.

"Well we have to find some way to get in contact with him!" Nana argued just as fervently. "We can't speak to Toshi, and Izuku's the only one who could connect us with the outside world! He's our only hope as a medium!"

"She's not wrong," Daigoro spoke up, "even if her real reason is that she just wants to see her grandson again."

"Shove it, baldy!"

"We have to get the information about singularity to Eighth somehow," Hikage agreed. "If he passes it on to anyone with a quirk, it'll kill them much faster than it killed me. Maybe even instantaneously."

"I don't see why we should incur the attention of the Shinigami just so Seventh can speak to her relative again," supplied the Third cantankerously. "It's petty and meaningless at best."

"Don't be bitter that I'm the only one here that chose to procreate!" Nana defended. "Stop making the fact that I'm the only one with any living relatives the issue."

"Unfortunately, I'm not entirely certain that's the case," Yoichi responded with a frown. He didn't need to expand any further on that, as each of the others feared the implication.

"Then it makes finding a new wielder that much more imperative," En finally spoke his piece. "We can't do anything to influence Eighth, but maybe we can send the boy a subtle signal when he's in the vicinity?"

"Oh, and are we banking on him having some Ghostbusters tech laying around to pick up a signal or something?" the Second retorted, and he only received quizzical stares in return. "What? Are you telling me that Ghostbusters is already lost to time?"

"It's worth a shot," Hikage assented with a shrug. "Now that he's cognizant of our existence, he might be more sensitive to attempts at communication."

Most of the other vestiges shrugged in acceptance. It wasn't a perfect theory, but it was all they had.

"How do we go about that?" En asked the group.

"We can try screaming at him," Daigoro suggested. Then, he stood up and cleared his throat. "HEY, BROCCOLI!" he shouted out into the void.

"What the hell? Broccoli?" Nana asked incredulously.

"It was the first thing that came to mind!" Daigoro defended.

"Wait, it might've done something," Yoichi hushed the group as he was peering through All Might's eyes. "The boy flinched when you screamed. It might not have been related at all, but it's better than nothing. Let's all try together."

5 of the vestiges sprung up from their chairs while the remaining 2 begrudgingly stood as well, and they readied themselves for the attempt.

"Alright," Yoichi began, "3, 2, 1,"

"HEY BROCCOLI/IZUKU/KID/FUCKHEAD!"

The trio stepped into the medical ward, and Izuku had the wherewithal to dodge the swing from Recovery Girl's cane.

"What have I told you about overdoing it?!" the Youthful Heroine chastised.

"I…" he began to defend himself until he slumped. "Yeah, I don't really have an excuse for this one."

He received a whack to the shin for his troubles.

"You're damn right, you don't!" she huffed. "Now, sit so I can run a diagnostic on you. I know you at least mended whatever damage you might've done to yourself, but better safe than sorry."

"Yes, ma'am," he complied. While she was running the diagnostic, something caught the teenage boy's attention.

"What the…" Izuku muttered in confusion. He swore he just heard (or maybe felt?) something or someone calling out to him. He couldn't really place it until it happened again, and he could follow the sensation to All Might's general direction.

"Young Midoriya, is everything alright?" All Might asked. Inko looked a bit concerned as well; she didn't want to think he had done that much damage to his brain to where he was hallucinating.

Izuku stared at All Might for a few more moments, and then it clicked. "Oh, yeah, everything's fine. I think your quirk is trying to communicate with me, though."

That gained the attention of the 3 adults, and even Recovery Girl was interested. Outside of Izuku's stunt before the cavalry battle, she had only heard about what the blue flame could do when it awakened and hadn't seen it for herself. Izuku allowed a small, colorful flame to bloom in his palm, and he concentrated until it became the familiar sapphire. Gesturing for All Might to step a bit closer, he slowly jutted his hand toward him until he could feel a connection.

When he felt the gentle caress of his grandmother's hand again, he relaxed. When another, distinctly male hand latched onto his wrist, he almost panicked.

"Wait, stay calm!" he heard a man call out to him from All Might's direction, but he only saw the large man standing there. That was until a shadowy, almost translucent figure began to manifest out of him. Izuku looked around, and the other occupants were only staring at him, so they likely couldn't see what he was seeing.

"I'm the first wielder of One For All," the man that he could make out had white hair and possibly green eyes stated. "The other vestiges and I have an urgent message that we ask you to deliver to Eighth."

"Eighth?" Izuku questioned, much to the confusion of the adults present.

"All Might," the phantom clarified. "He cannot pass on One For All to anyone with a quirk; multiple quirks inhabiting a single person will shorten their lifespan, and One For All is much too powerful for anyone with another quirk to survive it. The next wielder must be quirkless like he was."

That was a lot for Izuku to take in, and he dumbly nodded. "Got it."

The white-haired apparition stepped back, and the familiar sight of his grandmother return to him. She didn't say anything, only reaching over and embracing him. Even with her nonphysical form, he still felt the entirety of the love poured into that one hug. Then, without a word, she pulled away, and his quirk shut off.

"Izuku, is everything okay?"

Izuku did not immediately reply, instead basking in the residual warmth from his grandmothers hug and parsing the information that was given to him. When he finally looked up, he turned to Recovery Girl.

"Did you find anything of note?" he asked her.

"Nothing worrisome," she answered. "You're lucky this time, it seems you did a pretty good job at preventing your brain from sustaining any damage. I don't want to have to tell you a third time not to mess around with that. Just, please, keep the experimentation to training and not in the heat of battle."

"I will, I promise that it won't happen again," Izuku responded with a nod.

"I don't believe you, but I'll take your word for it," Recovery Girl sighed.

Izuku then turned to All Might and his mother once more. "Well, One For All has news."

"Finally, the tournament!" Kirishima said with a wide grin. "I get the chance to show what I'm made of."

"Wait, so is the third round always a tournament?" Mina asked.

"Yeah, the last round is always a one on one competition," Sero answered. "They just change what that competition is every year. Last year, it was foam sword fights."

'Foam sword fights? That's… something,' Ochako thought to herself with a laugh. 'Izuku still isn't here, though. I didn't see him for the whole lunch period, so I hope he doesn't miss anything important.'

She cut her thoughts off when she heard the slight crunching of gravel a little bit behind her, and she turned her head to see Izuku approaching her.

"Oh, wow, you heard me coming," Izuku commented with a smile. "Training with my mom served you well, I see."

"Mhm," Ochako accepted the praise with a smile of her own. "I finally get what you meant about listening for everything, although I don't think I have your level of paranoia just yet. Where were you, by the way?"

"Eh, that's probably genetic," he waved it off. "And I was with Recovery Girl. She wanted to look me over to make sure I didn't permanently damage myself during the cavalry battle."

Ochako nodded at the explanation, having more faith than she probably should that her friend would be able to shrug off a concerning amount of damage in a short period of time. She'd check back up on him later, though, just in case.

"Come closer and draw lots to see who you'll be up against, then enjoy the pleasure of the recreational games before we start," Midnight announced to the gathered competitors. "The 16 finalists have the option to participate in those games or sit out to prepare for battle. I'll start with the first place team-"

"Um, excuse me," Ojiro raised his hand with an expression that was adjacent to shame. "I'm sorry for interrupting, but I'd like to withdraw."

There were a few gasps, and the gathered competitors all began murmuring in confusion. Someone was willfully withdrawing from a rare chance to get scouted.

"It wouldn't be right for me to continue on," Ojiro said. "I barely remember anything from the cavalry battle until the very end of it. I think it was that guy's quirk. I know this is a great opportunity, and I wish I could take advantage of it, but my conscience won't let me take something I didn't really earn. It wouldn't be fair to everyone who worked hard to get here."

"Nirengeki Shoda from class 1-B," another boy spoke up as he approached Midnight. "I think I should withdraw for the exact same reason. This isn't how I wanted to get here. It would go against the values of the festival to advance without earning my spot."

A few from 1-B and even Shinso himself looked toward the final member of his team, the tall boy with the mantis head, Togaru Kamakiri. Shinso was initially going to snag Aoyama with his quirk just because he was in the vicinity, but he decided against it and chose the seemingly more powerful Kamakiri to round out his squad. There was the chance that a confrontation with Team Midoriya would be tougher than anticipated, so he went with the stronger option.

The slight twitch in his eye from the phantom sting of sand at the reminder soured his mood a bit.

Kamakiri was silent for a moment and looked rather pensive while he evaluated his options. It was true that he didn't want to advance that way, either. It was a blow to his pride to be used as a mindless puppet while the guy who did it frolicked about without a care.

Still, though…

"Nah, I'll stick around," Kamakiri finally spoke up. "I'll just beat that purple kid's ass in the tournament. That'll make me feel better."

The boy's surrounding classmates fell to the ground in a mixture of amusement and incredulity at his very Kamakiri-esque response.

"Never change, dude," the short, speech bubble head of Manga Fukidashi remarked with a chuckle.

"This sort of talk is incredibly naive, my boys! It turns me on! Shoda, Ojiro, you're withdrawn!" she announced, doing her very best to not fidget at the glare she could feel on her from Inko with the other pros.

After a brief bit of deliberation in which Team Kendo declined the invitation and passed it off to Team Tetsutetsu, it was decided that Shiozaki and Tetsutetsu would be the ones to fill the two open spots in the finals. The newly minted 16 finalists drew lots, and the results were displayed on the screen.

Match 1: Hitoshi Shinso vs. Katsuki Bakugo

Match 2: Togaru Kamakiri vs. Mina Ashido

Match 3: Yui Kodai vs. Momo Yaoyorozu

Match 4: Ibara Shiozaki vs. Denki Kaminari

Match 5: Tenya Iida vs. Mei Hatsume

Match 6: Shoto Todoroki vs. Hanta Sero

Match 7: Eijiro Kirishima vs. Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu

Match 8: Ochako Uraraka vs. Izuku Midoriya

Shinso was a little sour at the fact that he and Midoriya were on opposite sides of the bracket, so he wouldn't possibly face him unless they both made it to the finals.

"Well, guess I'll just have to make it to the Finals, then. Yeah, that's it. I'll make it all the way to the end and put him in his place on the grandest stage," Shinso hyped himself up, not even paying attention to who his opponent was. It wouldn't matter, ultimately. He'd snag them with his quirk and force them to leave the ring. Easy-peasy.

Bakugo, on the other hand, was more nettled that both Izuku and Icy-Hot were on the other side of the bracket, so he'd only possibly get to face one of them. However, he looked over to where Shinso was walking away from the screen and hyping himself up to face their class rep in the final round of the bracket. That pissed Bakugo off quite a bit.

Todoroki looked at his spot in the bracket, and then he looked over towards the end of the bracket. 'We're in the same half of the bracket. Good.'

Izuku and Ochako stared at their placements on the bracket. They'd be fighting each other in the last match of the first round, and neither really knew just how to feel about that.

"Well…" Ochako drawled as she tore her eyes from the screen and looked over at her best friend. "I guess this means we're rivals, now."

Izuku snorted, and only at the mildly offended face of his friend did he speak. "Weren't we already rivals the minute you asked my mom for training, fellow graduate of the Midoriya Hellspawn Academy?"

Ochako couldn't fight the laugh that came out of her. "Really? That's the name you're going with?"

"It sounded better in my head, okay," Izuku flushed with a pout.

"Sure, sure. I'd hardly say I've graduated, anyway. I'm sure there's still plenty of things she can teach me, not that I'd tell you what she did teach me."

"Not even for more mochi?"

"Nope."

Izuku sighed in good-natured defeat. "Well, guess I'll just have to see for myself, then. May the best hero win."

"May the best hero win," Ochako returned.

The side games had concluded. The ring was created. It was time for the tournament.

Bakugo stood alone in the hallway leading from 1-A's waiting room with a stone cold glare etched into his face. This was the first stop in his path to becoming the No. 1 Hero. He had almost squandered it all before the journey could even really begin, but he would rectify it all in the tournament. He would win and prove he was the best through his hard work and unwavering tenacity.

"Bakugo," a somewhat familiar voice called from behind him. He turned his head to see his classmate with the tail approaching him.

"I figured I'd just warn you about your opponent's quirk," he began. "I don't know exactly what it is, but I'm pretty certain he could control you like a puppet if you respond to something he says. Just be careful out there."

Bakugo said nothing as he stared at the tailed boy, and then he gave a slight nod and turned back around to enter the arena at Present Mic's call.

"Alright sports fans, let's cut to the good stuff and not delay this finals any longer! Give it up for our first fighters! With explosive palms and a temper to match, it's Katsuki Bakugo from the Hero Course!"

"KICK HIS SKINNY, LITTLE ASS, KATSUKI!" Mitsuki shouted next to Masaru on their couch. "NO MERCY!"

"And from General Studies, he hasn't really done much up to this point, Hitoshi Shinso!"

Up in the student section of the stands, Class 1-A was talking amongst each other rather animatedly about the coming battle.

"So, do you think that Shinso guy stands a chance?" Sero asked to no one in particular.

"Nah, Bakugo's got this in the bag," Kaminari responded. "I do kinda wish it was Midoriya taking him on instead, though. I'd pay to see our class rep wipe the floor with him after that day a few weeks ago."

"You mean when Midoriya called him skinny-fat?" Sato added mirthfully, which elicited a laugh from most of the class in attendance.

Izuku, meanwhile, was watching them enter the ring closely. He didn't know exactly what the kid's quirk was, but he assumed it involved some sort of mental paralysis, if what Ojiro said was true. Maybe it was touch-activated? Ojiro didn't mention anything about being touched, though, only that Shinso said something to him and everything went black. Voice-activated, maybe? That would make sense, and his quirk was dangerous if that was the case. If a verbal response was all Shinso needed, then it would be a more difficult match than his classmates were giving it credit for. Bakugo was never very hard to rile up in his experience.

"Ready?! BEGIN!"

"So, Katsuki Bakugo, huh? I've heard about you," Shinso began with a bored expression. "You're the famed delinquent of 1-A that went overboard in a training exercise."

Bakugo's stony glare tightened a little bit, and Shinso slyly smirked. "I'm frankly surprised that they even let you compete; I thought that even UA had standards against creating villains, but I suppose I shouldn't be. You must have a really powerful quirk if they're willing to bend over backwards for you. Let me guess, you grew up in an indoctrination zone and never had to face any consequences for your actions, huh?"

Bakugo's eye twitched, but he made no response beyond that. Shinso continued nonetheless. "Getting a good look at you now, I'm not really all that impressed. I guess even terrorists sometimes make mistakes, right?"

Bakugo closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Shinso felt great about the situation, as it looked to him that it wouldn't be much longer before the blonde flew off the handle and found himself ensnared in his quirk. Bakugo, however, remained silent, and he opened his eyes to give Shinso a rather bored glare.

Then, he tilted his head and pointed to the side of his chin, then he pointed at Shinso, and then he finally held up 1 finger. Shinso was confused at first, so Bakugo motioned a punch at his exposed chin and pointed at Shinso again. Now, the message was clear to him and everyone watching: Bakugo was giving him a free shot.

If Shinso didn't already feel insulted by the silence of the hero student, that certainly did it.

"What's this? Is Bakugo giving Shinso a free shot?! Is that wise?!"

"We'll see."

Shinso grit his teeth and quickly made his way toward the ash blonde. "Of course, you damn hero students always thinking you're better! Don't cry when this backfires on you!"

Shinso ran towards Bakugo and threw a hard punch to the spot Bakugo indicated on his chin. That was a mistake, as Shinso immediately recoiled and clutched his hand, truly feeling as if he cracked something. Bakugo gently rubbed the spot that was punched before giving the boy an unimpressed quirk of his eyebrow, and then he threw a right hook of his own that slammed into Shinso's jaw, sending him to the ground in a heap. The boy was hollering in pain and clutching his jaw tightly, and Bakugo only stared down at him with the same stony glare he entered with.

Shinso sent him a murderous glare before leaping back to his feet to attack Bakugo again. He threw another punch, but Bakugo easily deflected it and threw a hard punch to the boy's stomach. Shinso would not be deterred, though, and he threw another punch that was again deflected, followed by an elbow to the other side of his jaw and sweeping kick that put him on his ass.

Shinso was positively fuming at that point, and the same, almost apathetic glare Bakugo kept on him made him see red. With a furious yell, he charged at Bakugo again.

And he was put back down to the concrete again.

And again.

And again.

Soon enough, one could accurately describe the match as Bakugo beating the dogshit out of Shinso with lethargic ease. Every punch Shinso threw was either dodged or deflected, leaving him open for a vicious attack that floored him without fail. Every kick was blocked, leaving him open to a vicious attack that floored him without fail. Every taunt or scathing insult was ignored, usually in tandem with a vicious attack that floored him without fail.

The worst part for Shinso? There was not a single explosion the entire time. Bakugo was handing him his ass on a silver platter in front of the world without using his quirk whatsoever.

The crowd didn't really know how to feel about the display. They wanted to see action, and they were technically getting that, but what they were watching wasn't exactly a fight. It was closer to a methodical massacre.

"And Bakugo is absolutely dominating this fight! A bit maliciously, I might add!"

"There's nothing malicious about it. Shinso's quirk is sort of like mine in that it doesn't give him any physical enhancements. However, it's powerful in a way that could theoretically end fights before they even began. But, that also comes with the caveat that he has to physically be able to do that, even more so when he comes across an opponent that isn't falling for his tricks. If he wants to be in the hero course as much as he says, he has to be able to defend himself in a straight fight. Otherwise, he'd just be a liability on the field. Bakugo is merely evening the playing field for him by not using his quirk and letting him prove if he can do that in the first place."

"That's… a harsh assessment, even for you. But not an inaccurate one!"

The explanation from Eraserhead eased the crowd somewhat, but it was hard to get excited for a one-sided slaughter. The relatively low volume of the crowd made it that much easier for Shinso to hear Aizawa's brutal assessment of him and the fight, and it made every hit and fall he took hurt that much more. It truly dawned on him in that moment that the fight was his 2nd entrance exam, and he was bombing it a 2nd time.

Well, bombing may not have been the right word, as no explosion followed the stiff punch to his nose that sent him to the ring. His everything ached, his pride was steamrolled, and, as he looked up into the mildly cloudy sky, he could practically see his chances of getting into the hero course and becoming a pro hero turn to dust right before his eyes. He couldn't even blame the sand for the tears in his eyes that he struggled mightily to keep from escaping.

"Are you done, yet?" Bakugo finally spoke, his glare unwavering for even a millisecond. "Or, are you still gonna cling to that dumbass idea that you can be a hero without doing any work? Because if this is your best, then Izuku would have murdered you in seconds, and he wouldn't have been nearly as nice about it as I was."

"I… I concede," came the broken voice of the teen on the ground.

"Shinso has conceded! Bakugo moves in to the next round!" Midnight announced.

"AND THERE YOU HAVE IT, FOLKS! KATSUKI BAKUGO IS THE WINNER BY TAP-OUT!"

The crowd gave a polite applause and some cheers, but many were clearly disappointed at the one-sidedness of the match. Shinso, meanwhile, continued to lay on the ground.

"If you're done with your damn pity party, you can get to building that spaceship now or whatever the hell it was that he said," Bakugo annoyedly said to the downtrodden boy as he stood over him.

When he extended a hand to help him up, Shinso stared up at it for a moment. Bakugo was beginning to lose his patience, but Shinso slowly reached to take the offered hand. When he did, Bakugo clamped down onto his hand and yanked the boy up to his feet with just the single arm. Then, he curtly turned around, stuffed his hands into his pockets, and stalked away from the ring.

"WHAT A SHOW OF SPORTSMANSHIP! I guess even Bakugo has a heart buried deep inside, eh Eraser?"

"Let's move on, already."

Shinso slowly made his way to the back, as well, and those infamous words played themselves back to him:

"The problem here is that you're declaring yourself to be among the stars when you've never taken the time to build the spaceship to get yourself there. Build that spaceship first, then meet me on the moon, alright?"

'Meet you on the moon, huh?'

He caught sight of Izuku on his way out with the rest of 1-A, and Izuku was staring back at him. Shinso narrowed his eyes and nodded.

'Yeah, I'll build that spaceship, and then I'll fly even farther than you could ever dream of. Count on that, Midoriya.'

Up in the stands, Izuku was confused about the look Shinso gave him. It wasn't explicitly malicious, but it wasn't particularly friendly, either. If he had to compare, it was similar to the looks that Endeavor gave All Might the few times they were on screen toge-

"Oh, goddamnit."

"ENOUGH STANDING AROUND! Now welcome to the ring our next players! He doesn't have a nose, but he can still smell weakness! Let's hear it for the hero course's Togaru Kamakiri!"

"That was pretty damn corny, Present Mic," Kamakiri muttered.

"Versus! What are those horns even for? Will we find out? It's the hero course's Mina Ashido!"

"Heh, this first match will be a piece of cake," she said confidently.

With the rest of 1-A, Izuku watched the two square off before Present Mic started the match, and the two lunged for each other.

"You have a friend in 1-B, right?" Ochako asked him. "Do you know what Kamakiri can do?"

"No, I don't really know any of their quirks beyond 1 or 2 of them," he shook his head. "This guy is a mystery to me, too."

Said mystery was solved when Kamakiri extended a pair of blades from his arms and took a few swipes at Mina, and she only dodged by the skin of her teeth each time with impressive flexibility before she went on the defensive and skated away from him with her acid.

"Oh wow, blades," Izuku remarked. "I wonder how sharp they are. Could he produce them from anywhere on his body or just his arms? Are they-"

"You really are a quirk nerd," Ochako commented with a giggle.

"Ha! Take a look at that, 1-A!" came the haughty voice of Monoma from the 1-B box next to them. "Our very own Kamakiri is wiping the floor with Ashido. He even has her desperately trying to maintain distance because she can't possibly take him up close. This must stick in your egomaniacal craws-"

A giant fist plowed down onto his head, knocking him out and shutting him up for the moment.

"Sorry 'bout him," Kendo sheepishly apologized.

He wasn't totally wrong, though. Mina did indeed have to keep her distance to avoid Kamakiri's rush of blades. He was really fast, too, and he did well to keep up the pressure and not give her any time to mount a real counterattack. Her dance background paid dividends in the end, though, as she could maneuver around his attacks and slide just out of range.

Kamakiri was becoming even more confident as the battle progressed like that. As such, he inevitably slipped up when he allowed a second too long between swings, which Mina capitalized on by splashing acid at him and forcing him to jump away. Afterward, every advance by Kamakiri was rebuffed by another splash of acid from the pink girl, and Kamakiri's blades could only do so much to shield him, so he was kept at a distance.

The crowd, now having something to cheer for, was very much into it. Izuku was also interested, taking note that Kamakiri was faster and likely stronger, but he couldn't attack from mid or long range. Mina, on the other hand, could keep him at bay and slide around him while peppering him with attacks, effectively controlling the tempo of the fight so long as she maintained her distance. They were effectively stalemated as things stood, and Izuku surmised that the winner would be determined either by who took the initiative to go in for a close range assault and accept some damage along the way, or by Mina eventually wearing Kamakiri down in a battle of attrition.

Kamakiri had more incentive to go for the first option, and he couldn't wait forever. He seemed to know this, too, as he charged for her when she was nearest to the edge of the ring. Shielding himself from the shower of acid by sprouting a plethora of flat blades to take the brunt of the attack, he rushed her and elbowed her in the gut as hard as he could, using the brief moment of respite that she was stunned to grab her arm and attempt to sling her over his shoulder and out of bounds.

He wasn't anticipating just how quickly she'd recover, though, and before he could get to the apex of his swing, she locked him into an arm bar and brought him down with her over the line.

"Both fighters have landed out of bounds! We have a draw!" Midnight announced. The crowd was on their feet for a good fight as well as a bit perturbed that there wasn't a decisive winner, but Midnight continued before they could become too antsy. "In the event of a draw, we allow the board to decide a tiebreaker event!"

Everyone looked to the board that had been deciding their fates the entire day, and the anticipation in the arena was palpable. What possible spectacle could await the two combatants? Would it be anywhere close to the frenetic craziness they witnessed in the first two rounds?

"Rock-paper-scissors!" Midnight announced.

So, no.

Kamakiri was rather nettled that his fight would ultimately come down to a game of rock-paper-scissors, but he refused to back down. Mina, meanwhile, was down for whatever. This had already been the most fun she had all day, and forcing her opponent to a tiebreaker already looked good for her scouting report.

The two engaged in the most intense bout of rock-paper-scissors that anyone could claim to have ever witnessed, tying another 4 more times before Kamakiri came out the victor on the 5th go-around. The crowd was absolutely roaring.

"The audience is really hyped for this, ribbit," Tsu observed in her seat behind Izuku.

"Not everyday you get to see a best-of-5 game of rock-paper-scissors, I suppose," Izuku tried to rationalize. "A bit anticlimactic after that fight, though. I hope this is the only time that this is necessary."

"You just jinxed it," Ochako said to him with a smirk.

"You're probably right."

"You two are awfully close for having to fight each other later," Tsu dryly observed with a hint of mirth betraying her blank expression.

"I've already accepted my victory," Izuku just as dryly responded with a sly smile that grew even more when Ochako lightly hit him on the shoulder.

"Dickhead," she responded with a smile of her own. Unseen by the three, Toru was observing the scene with a keen eye before rubbing her invisible hands together. She was gonna ship the hell out of them.

"I wouldn't be surprised if my mom bribed Principal Nezu to somehow rig it to have us fight each other," Izuku joked.

"That assumes that us making it to the finals was a given," Ochako entertained the thought.

"Well, of course, it was a given for me," Izuku continued the bit. "I'm practically the protagonist."

"Okay, remind me to smack that developing ego out of you," she laughed.

"Hey, Midoriya?" Jiro approached him. "You mentioned your mom earlier. Is she really Verdant?"

Izuku was surprised at both the question and that she even knew about his mom. "Yeah. You know about her?"

"My mom always talks about her," her eyes practically lit up. "Apparently, on my parents first date, they got held at gunpoint by a mugger in an alley. Verdant just happened to be patrolling nearby, and my parents say that she snatched the gun out of his hand with her quirk and then pistol-whipped him until he cried. Honestly, I might not even exist if she wasn't in the area that night."

"That… definitely sounds like something she'd do," Izuku remarked. 'Though, that is a little rough, even for her. I wonder what pissed her off that day? Maybe Endeavor.'

The class fell into talking about Izuku's mom and the show they remembered her putting on at the USJ. Bakugo, meanwhile, had made his way to the 1-A box in time to hear Jiro's story, and he couldn't say that he was all that surprised given what he had learned earlier about what she did to her husband.

"LOOK ALIVE SPORTS FANS, THE THIRD MATCH IS UNDER WAY!"

Both 1-A and 1-B carefully watched the ring as Yui and Yaoyorozu stood across from each other.

"She's the mute mercenary and queen of the sand! From the hero course, Yui Kodai!"

Yui stared blankly at the taller girl across from her, and she shoved a hand into her pocket.

"Versus! The mistress of creation! She was admitted through recommendation so you know her skills are certified! The hero course's Momo Yaoyorozu!"

Yaoyorozu somewhat nervously met her opponent's unflinching stoicism, but she had a plan. At Present Mic' signal, she quickly created a pair of goggles and a shield to protect from any sand coming her way, be it large or regular-sized. She started to create a staff in her free hand to go on the offensive, but the ground beneath her practically vanished, and she fell to the dirt of the arena. Looking ahead, Yui was kneeling with her free hand planted on the newly shrunken ring that barely extended past her.

The crowd, Midnight, Cementoss, Present Mic, and 1-A were all flabbergasted. None were more flabbergasted than Yaoyorozu, herself, who could only stare at Yui in stupefaction. Did… did she just lose?

"Kodai just shrunk the entire ring! Is that technically a ring-out for Yaoyorozu?!"

"I'll allow it! Yui Kodai advances to the next round!" Midnight announced, and the crowd erupted once again at the spectacle they just witnessed.

Yui silently stood and removed her hand from her pocket, pulling the pocket inside out to reveal that there was no sand to be thrown. It was a bluff, and Yaoyorozu fell for it hook, line, and sinker. Yui returned the ring to its original size before quietly leaving the scene and an almost distraught Yaoyorozu.

"Ha! That's two matches in a row that 1-B has proved its superiority to 1-A! What a shameful performance from the supposed top dogs-"

Monoma was again struck by Kendo's giant fist, shutting him up once more.

"Sorry about him… again," Kendo apologized once more. Her apology, as well as Monoma's ravings, went unheard by 1-A, as they were slack-jawed and trying to make sense of what the hell had just happened.

"Did you know she could do that?" Ochako whispered to Izuku.

"I hadn't considered that specific possibility, but yeah, I guess I knew she could do something of the sort," Izuku answered without taking his eyes off of the ring. 'That certainly makes her a dangerous opponent going forward…'

"Now that the ring has been returned to normal size, it's time to welcome new competitors! Even beautiful flowers have thorns; it's the assassin from class 1-B, Ibara Shiozaki of the hero course! Versus! He's the most electrifying man in the hero course, Denki Kaminari!"

"Your puns truly make my existence unbearable."

"Who do you think will win this one?" Ochako asked.

"Certainly not Kaminari if he shorts himself out in one go," Izuku answered.

"Oh come on, have a little faith-"

"He's immobilized! That's all, folks! It was over in an instant!"

"See?"

"The winner is Shiozaki! She advances on!" Midnight announced.

"Oh, what's this I see? A 3RD victory for 1-B over 1-A in such rapid succession?" Monoma began before two massive hands clutched the wall on either side of his head. He got the message loud and clear, and he clamped his mouth shut.

Izuku's attention was focused elsewhere, however. Shiozaki's vines were under close scrutiny from the boy, especially the way she both ensnared Kaminari so easily and used them as a wall to block his attack. The wall somewhat reminded him of the way his orange fire coated his cavalry team and protected them from his lightning, but the restraining vines really had his attention. He had his cape that could do something similar on a much smaller scale, but he found that he didn't really utilize the cape all that often; it was nice to have, but it felt like an unnecessary accessory for the little practical usage he got out of it, much less than their homeroom teacher used his capture scarf. He wondered if he could utilize his flames in such a manner? At this point, he wouldn't rule out any possibilities as to what his quirk was capable of, and maybe he had a color hidden away in there-

Wait, another color! He had accounted for red, orange, green, yellow, blue, white, pink, and possibly black. When he used his base flames, he did see purple in the mix with the rest. What was purple capable of, he wondered?

"Um, Izuku?"

He snapped out of his train of thought and looked toward Ochako, only to notice that she and the rest of the class were looking at him strangely. In the background, he could hear the indignant shouts of Iida running around the arena in Mei's gear while she gave detailed explanations about her babies to the support companies both in attendance and watching across the nation.

"Oh… I mumbled all that out loud, didn't I?"

The choruses of "yeah," "yep," and "fuckin' nerd" made him sink into his seat.

"Anyway," Ochako changed the subject, "Iida is up against the crazy inventor girl, and she apparently offered him support equipment to wear to make it a fair match since she had her own."

"…And he fell for that?" Izuku deadpanned.

"Yeah," she sighed. "Two more matches, we should head off to get ready for ours."

Izuku would not admit to having completely forgotten about his own match, and no one could prove it if he had. The two left the stands and parted ways in the hallway, leaving Izuku to quietly meander towards whatever designated waiting room he was set to be in for his match.

"…time to stop this childish rebellion of yours. You have a duty to surpass that imbecile, All Might."

Izuku stopped in his tracks and listened to the conversation happening around the corner. He recognized that voice, and the only person he could possibly be talking to was…

Shit.

"Do you understand what I'm saying? You're different from your siblings. You're my greatest masterpiece."

The footsteps Izuku was hearing ceased, and the silence that followed was tense.

"You bastard…" he heard Todoroki growl, and his heart began to sink. "I am not your masterpiece, I am not your pet project, and I am not your damn tool. I am Shoto, and it's high time that Shoto starts doing what Shoto wants to do."

Izuku's heart rose once more, and a smile made its way to his face. Odd manner of referring to himself in the third person aside, Todoroki seemed to have taken what he said to heart. Endeavor could suck it.

"If, by that, you mean to continue using only your right side, it may work for you in this tournament, but you'll soon find the limits of that power. You'll see reason eventually," Endeavor scoffed.

"I am not you," Todoroki spat. "I am Shoto, and I will win this tournament on my own terms. If that means using more than my right side, so be it, but I won't be doing it for anyone but myself. I will not exist for anyone but myself. I will be a hero and do so how I see fit because that's what Shoto wants, and Shoto doesn't answer to anyone but himself."

Izuku had to physically restrain himself from loudly cheering him on. Todoroki (Shoto? He didn't know which one the other boy would prefer being called at this point) had definitely internalized what he had said, and he was throwing it in the face of his father and declaring his own path. Now, the real test would be to see if it actually stuck.

He waited a few moments for any noise or footsteps, and he attempted to slick past the hallway intersection unnoticed. "Attempted" was the operative word, since he made eye contact with Endeavor halfway through the journey. The two silently stared at each other, one a deer in headlights and the other a passive curiosity.

"You're powerful, boy," the Flame Hero began, somewhat startling Izuku. "You've got a powerful quirk, and you know how to wield it. I have no doubts that you'll end up facing my son in the tournament. Give him a good match, and don't disgrace him or yourself by holding back."

The hulking man then turned and walked away, leaving Izuku alone to process what the man had just said to him.

'…Why did it sound like he was scouting me for a fucking internship?'

"WE'RE MOVING RIGHT ALONG TO THE 6TH MATCH! He's got skills, but at the expense of some really creepy looking elbows! From the hero course, it's Hanta Sero!"

"That was uncalled for…" Sero muttered.

"Versus! An early frontrunner in the competition who's way too powerful for his own good! Someone who rightfully got into the hero course based on recommendations! It's Shoto Todoroki!"

In the waiting area, Izuku sat next to Kirishima and watched the upcoming bout on a TV.

"Man, I'm so pumped!" the red-haired teen shouted with a fist pump. "I can't wait to get out there and show what I can do! What about you, MidoriBro? You think you can beat Uraraka?"

"You want an honest answer?"

"Hell yeah!"

"I have no idea."

Kirishima wasn't expecting that. "Huh? Really?"

"I can't let her touch me with an open palm, which is much easier said than done, especially since my long-range offense needs work- what the fuck?"

Izuku's eyes were bulging out of his skull and glued to the screen. Kirishima wasn't in a much better state. There was a massive iceberg jutting out of the arena that wasn't there a second prior.

"I get being upset, but learn some fucking restraint," Izuku muttered to himself.

"I hope Sero's okay," Kirishima added with a hint of worry.

"He should be fine… provided he's thawed out quickly," Izuku replied.

"WELCOME BACK TO THE FINALS, EVERYONE! Sorry for the long wait! The insane amount of ice from the last match has been cleared, so it's time to welcome new combatants! The 7th matchup includes two completely redundant quirks! One of them is a passionate, manly fighter made of steel! With a name so nice, they gave it to him 4 times, it's the hero course's Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu!"

"Versus! A passionate, manly fighter made of rock! His name is decidedly less goofy, it's the hero course's Eijiro Kirishima!"

When the fight began, the two teens rushed each other and threw everything they had as well as the kitchen sink at each other. Izuku watched the first few exchanges, and he could quickly tell that the fight was going to drag on, so he decided to stretch and get himself into the right mindset for his fight. Ochako was not going to be an easy opponent, especially since he doesn't know exactly what sort of tricks his mom could've potentially given her to have an edge over him. He wasn't under any illusions that she hadn't; this was just as much a test for himself as it was for Ochako, he just knew it. He'd have to play it carefully, but he'd be ready.

"Wow, that hurt me, and all I'm doing is watching these guys! Is it over?! Both hardheads have been KO'd, but who is the winner?!"

After assessing the condition of both teens, Midnight declared the match a draw, and the 2nd tiebreaker of the day would be held once the two boys were conscious again.

'Guess I did jinx it,' Izuku mused.

"While we wait for Tetsutetsu and Kirishima to recover, we'll move on to our final battle of the first round!"

When the pictures of Izuku and Ochako flashed on screen, the crowd roared once again. Everyone seemed to have their eyes on this particular battle as the two combatants made their way to the ring, the smiles they had with the rest of their class now nowhere in sight.

The bulk of Class 1-A was curious to see if the two friends would go all-out against each other, as well as what all-out would look like for Izuku.

Todoroki and Bakugo observed with keen eyes to avoid missing a single detail about Izuku's fighting style. Both boys would be prepared for their rematches.

A few in Class 1-B wanted to see for themselves what all the fuss was about, as did the civilians and some pros in the audience that recognized him from the interview that circulated. Yui and Tokage were really interested in seeing what Izuku looked like in actual combat. Shinso begrudgingly anticipated the fight if for no other reason to see if what Bakugo had said was true.

Inko abandoned whatever jovial atmosphere she had prior to the match and watched the upcoming battle like a hawk. It slightly unsettled All Might beside her, but he was paying close attention, as well. He couldn't outwardly cheer for Nana's grandson, but he was rooting for him, and he could practically feel One For All buzzing within, so he knew that she was, too.

Many of the seedier parts of society were also paying attention. Two pairs of red eyes focused on their respective screens, a pair of turquoise eyes scowled derisively, a pair of golden, slitted watched a screen in almost orgasmic interest, and even the scar tissue where eyes once existed was focused on him.

"THE 8TH AND FINAL BATTLE OF OUR FIRST CROP OF MATCHES! He already has his own origin story and his sights set on nothing short of victory! From the hero course, Izuku Midoriya!"

"Versus! The zero-gravity zenith! Can this underdog prevail?! Also from Class 1-A, Ochako Uraraka!"

Ochako and Izuku stared each other down, both entering into a fighting stance.

"LET THE 8TH MATCH BEGIN!"

Ochako darted toward Izuku with frightening speed, and Izuku quickly ignited yellow and dodged to the side to avoid her advance, kicking up a chunk of concrete in the process. However, she pivoted on a dime and advanced toward him again with palms ready to strike after smacking the debris along the way. Izuku sent a burst of green flame to his legs to leap up and over her, landing a good distance away from her for the moment.

'So, she knows I'm limited to one direction, and she can quickly change direction to counter that. There are no walls to bounce off of, so reliably outrunning her is out of the question. I don't know how long she can keep up a chase, and it's not worth it to find out.'

Ochako reentered her stance, and Izuku did as well. The message was clear that he wouldn't be allowed to bounce around the ring and avoid her, so, he wouldn't. Ochako charged him again, and he met her charge this time.

'Deflect the wrists, go for body shots, keep her hands in sight at all times, be ready to move on a hair-trigger.'

The two finally clashed with Izuku immediately blocking an attack by pinning her wrist. Ochako swiped at him with her free hand, but he ducked and pivoted from the clash and spun around the swipe, batting her arm away and driving a rough elbow into her ribs before sweeping her legs and sending her to the ground. He was afforded no rest, though, as she immediately forced him to jump by rolling into a kick of her own to sweep him off of his feet. Izuku quickly backpedaled to reset and reassess.

She was good. Getting through an entire fight without letting her touch him a single time was going to be tough, and crippling her to just be done with it wasn't an option he was going to consider. He really needed to work on his long range attacks after the festival, but he at least wasn't completely bereft of options in that regard.

Ochako returned to her feet and darted for him a third time, sliding her hand across some of the lose debris along the way. He filed that away for later while he met her charge again, ducking and dodging every attempt she made to touch or grab him and peppering her midsection with jabs and quick elbow strikes. It kept up for a surprisingly lengthy stretch, and Izuku started to grow wary when Ochako's swipes became wild and much less accurate. After one such swipe was deflected, Izuku swept her legs once again to send her flat on her back, and he brought his heel down to slam into her stomach, but she quickly rolled out of harms way and touched her fingertips.

It was at that moment that Izuku knew he had been led into a trap, as the loose debris that he had kicked up earlier and disturbed in his efforts to keep away from Ochako was sent back down to Earth right where he was standing. He leaped to the side to avoid the small shower, but Ochako was right on top of him in a split-second poised to negate his gravity. It was only a reactionary flare of his red flames that saved him and made her jump backward to escape the sudden heat.

"THIS MATCH IS HEATING UP, FOLKS!"

"End me."

In the audience, 1-A was surprised at the way the match was going. Many were admittedly expecting a curb stomp.

"Wow, she's really keeping up with him," Jiro remarked.

"I don't think he's going full throttle yet, ribbit," Tsu replied. "But, I also don't think she's giving him many opportunities to use his strengths to his advantage."

"It may be that he doesn't want to seriously burn her, as well," Iida spoke up. "Exercising discretion to keep the both of them safe could ultimately lead to his downfall, however."

"You saying Uraraka will throw herself into danger just to land a hit on him?" Kaminari questioned.

"I'm counting on it," Iida nodded.

"And Uraraka's not giving an inch! She's still launching herself at Midoriya to finally land that one hit she needs even though Midoriya is practically melting the ring with every step! Talk about tenacity!"

"It's a little overboard."

"Like that, then," Tsu dryly remarked.

In the ring, Izuku was trying even harder to keep away from her strikes to avoid both losing his gravity and seriously burning her, but the ridiculous heat emanating from his crimson fire was not deterring her whatsoever. It mildly alarmed him, but they'd have time to go over self-preservation another day.

Izuku intercepted an attempt by her to grab him by snatching both of her wrists and holding them apart. She ignored the burning and threw her forehead into his nose, breaking it and forcing him to kick her in the chest and let her go. She rolled through the fall into a backflip and unzipped her jacket while Izuku readjusted his nose.

Unfortunately, that single moment would be his downfall. He looked up just in time to smacked in the face with a PE jacket, and when he tore it away from his face, Ochako was no longer in front of him. His instinct screamed at him to defend, and the crimson fire reverted to kaleidoscopic before he swung his right arm out with a colorful and concussive blast of fire, sending Ochako tumbling painfully away from him.

It was too late, though. He was floating.

"URARAKA'S BALLSY MOVE PAID OFF! Midoriya is currently without gravity and at her mercy!"

The crowd was on their feet and cheering up a storm. Several pros in attendance were very pleased with what they were watching. One in particular, a woman with light green hair and an orange bandanna, considered the scene carefully.

"Look at those kids go," one pro near her complimented. "They're not being as flashy as some of the others, but they definitely know what they're doing down there."

"Right? That Midoriya kid can move like lightning and his combat sense is top notch already."

"He looks like he's in trouble, though. The Uraraka girl tagged him with that distraction, and she's been doing her best to keep up with him the whole time."

The conversations around her continued like that, and she started thinking about the interview the boy did outside of his school. Being a beacon for those forgotten by society spoke to her in a way since she loved making people laugh and brightening anyone and everyone's day. She could possibly help him cultivate a friendly, approachable exterior to that end. Maybe she couldn't poach him for Ketsubutsu, but she'd definitely send in an offer for an internship.

Back in the ring, Izuku was understandably upset with himself at his predicament. He was a millisecond too slow to halt her attack, and she finally got him. That wasn't the worst part, however…

"I did it! It took a month, but I finally got you!" she cheered as she slowly made it back to her feet.

That, that was the worst part. Their game where she valiantly tried to sneak up on him and negate his gravity without his notice had finally concluded, and he lost. The match was salvageable, but the loss in their game would sting for quite a while.

Speaking of the match, he was slowly floating towards the edge of the ring. That would not do, so he flared his kaleidoscopic fire once more and propelled himself higher into the air and away from the edge very similarly to what he did at the entrance exam.

"WAIT, HAS THE MYSTERIOUS RAINBOW COMET FROM THE ENTRANCE EXAM RETURNED?! AND IT WAS MIDORIYA THE WHOLE TIME?!"

"Mysterious? You knew it was him. You've known since it happened."

"AND HE'S MADE HIS GRAND RETURN FOR THE SPORTS FESTIVAL! No 0-pointers to take out this time, though!"

Ochako was both kicking herself for forgetting that he could do that as well as slightly transfixed with how fucking cool the flying rainbow looked in her opinion. She could no longer return his gravity outside of the ring anymore, so she had to be prepared for whatever attack he mounted in this state.

She didn't have to wait long, as Izuku circled the ring a few times before shooting to the ground she occupied in a nosedive, slamming down with a fist that created spiderweb-like fissures in the concrete and just barely missing her as she dodged. He refused to let her get away, and before she knew it, his flames had become a bright yellow for the second time in the match, and he blitzed her with a hard tackle before throwing her out of bounds. It wasn't like she could negate his gravity a 2nd time, so he didn't have much to fear by getting in close anymore.

Ochako landed a good ways over the line and skidded across the ground, meanwhile Izuku was left floating past her carried by his inertia.

"Uraraka is out of bounds! Midoriya advances to the next round!" Midnight announced, and the crowd exploded.

With the other UA staff, Inko gave a round of applause with a beaming grin from her double dose of pride. Not only had Ochako actually pushed Izuku and nearly gotten the better of him, but she forced him to get creative with his offense and not rely on a select few colors like he had been getting into the habit of. Not every opponent that made him work for it would just brute force it like the Nomu; cunning opponents required equal helpings of craft in return.

Shinso, meanwhile, was feeling a mixture of relief and indigestion. He was under no illusions that he would've lasted very long against either of them, but it only hardened his resolve to catch up to and surpass Midoriya by any means.

Ochako laid on the ground and sighed in disappointment. She was so close, much closer than she really ought to have been, but it ultimately wasn't enough. When she saw her best friend floating overhead, she stood up to cancel her quirk and catch him, and, as expected, he fell onto her and brought her down to the ground with him. Unlike the last time, Izuku was conscious, so she wasn't stuck on the ground until medic bots could lift him off of her.

When he did stand up, he offered her a hand to help her to her feet. She looked at it for a second with a minutia of dejection before she shook it off and forced a smile onto her face. Accepting the hand and climbing to her feet, she congratulated Izuku on his win, but he didn't say anything. He only blankly stared at her, but his eyes were assessing every detail of her façade. It clearly wasn't fooling him.

She almost yelped when he grabbed her wrist and held up her arm, presenting her to the crowd that began to applaud and cheer for the both of them, but many focused their praise onto her when they realized what the boy was doing. Izuku stepped aside and let the cheers rain down on her, Midnight and Cementoss choosing to let them have their moment rather than hurry them along. They had to circle back to Kirishima and Tetsutetsu anyway, so they weren't in any rush.

Ochako stood in the arena and could barely process the cheers and praise she was receiving from the crowd. She found the eyes of her classmates, and they were all on their feet to give her a standing ovation. She saw the unmistakable costumes of pro heroes applauding her as well. It was impossible for her to keep the tears from welling up, but she did her best to not let the dam break.

Then, Izuku finally spoke.

"Soak it in. Win or lose, you damn sure earned this."

With that, he walked away to let her bask in the moment: her moment. Her moment where she proved she belonged and could stand alongside him as more than a hindrance.

The dam was absolutely demolished.

She truly had the best friend anyone could ask for.

Longest chapter thus far, and I'm still not great at writing action scenes, but fuck it, we ball. We're on this journey together, now.