Chapter 15 Deku: The Telekinetic Hero by sremiehzla

The Sports Festival's Continuation

"What happened to the ring?" Hanta asked as he returned, wearing a white t-shirt and still only one shoe.

"Bakugo made a huge explosion!" Toru exclaimed excitedly. "It was all like, 'boom!', and then it went 'wah!' and we could feel the heat and the shockwave went 'woosh!' right over us!"

"Um... Right..." Hanta stared at the invisible girl for a second.

"Were they not able to get Mineta's spheres off of your shirt?" Momo asked to fill the silence.

"No, those things apparently just stay stuck for a while," he sighed and shrugged. "I'm more upset about my shoe than my shirt though."

"Well, maybe you shouldn't have been so overconfident," Izuku said. "I pretty much told you that this would happen."

"Well, I guess so," he chuckled. "Ah well, I was still able to show myself to the pros for a round."

Hanta turned and made his way back up to his seat. Izuku turned down to look at the field again, where Ibara was being taken away via stretcher and Cementoss was flattening the ring again.

"Well, now that that excitement is out of the way," Midnight announced with a sigh, "would Tsuyu Asui and Denki Kaminari please report to their preparation rooms?"

"Alright, I'm up!" Denki said with a grin as he hopped up. "Ooh, I'm pumped up!"

"Good luck, Kaminari, kero," Tsuyu croaked as she walked by.

"You too Tsuyu!" Kaminari walked out of his row of seats before heading to his prep room.

"Hey Deku," Ochako asked as she turned to Izuku, "who do you think will win?"

"Well, Kaminari is pretty much a human stun gun," Izuku sighed. "Asui can't touch him without being zapped, and if she hangs back he can use his indiscriminate shock ability. I... don't know if there's a way she can win."

"Maybe," Ochako said. "Also, call her Tsuyu."

"I... It's gonna take a while to get used to that," Izuku chuckled.

"It's been a month already Deku," Ochako noted. "Plus, she's been telling us to call her Tsuyu since day one of class."

"Yeah," he looked away and scratched his cheek. "I really have no excuse."

"I think it is perfectly understandable," Tenya offered. "It is improper to refer to others by their given names unless you are particularly close, so I believe Midoriya's preference to call her by her surname shows that he is polite by nature."

"Thanks Iida," Izuku sighed.

"I don't get what the issue is," Eijiro said from behind them. "What's the big deal about calling her Tsuyu?"

"I like Tsuyu way better than Asui anyways," Mina said with a bright smile. "It sounds super cute!"

"It does," Ochako nodded in agreement.

"Oh, and Midori," Mina said, "I think you're wrong about Tsuyu losing. Gotta believe in girl power!"

"But you lost, didn't you Mina?" Toru asked.

"Aww, but I knew I'd lose going into it," Mina lazily waved her hand.

"What exactly does that have to do with girl power?" Kyoka asked from behind.

"Ah, you know," Mina giggled.

"... No, I don't..." she sighed.

"Shouldn't Bakugo be back by now?" Momo asked as she looked around.

"It looked like he hurt his arm with that huge blast," Izuku said. "He's probably checking with Recovery Girl."

"That makes sense," the Creation user mused.

"I don't really mind if he doesn't come back for a little bit," Toru said. "His bad mood really ruins the vibe around here, y'know?"

"I know, right?" Ochako agreed with a firm nod.

"I kinda disagree with you guys," Mina said. "It's kinda exciting! You never know what'll set him off!"

"How's that a good thing?!" Ochako exclaimed.

"I mean, he's got some temper issues," Eijiro said with a thought, "but he's pretty manly, you gotta admit!"

"Doesn't he keep hitting you and Jamming-Whey on the head?" Kyoka asked.

"Yeah, but I don't mind!" Eijiro grinned.

"But Kaminari's thick skull isn't exactly as literal as yours is..." She giggled, "You know what? I actually might like Bakugo a bit because of that. It's always funny seeing Jamming-Whey get clubbed."

"Hmm... A sadist?" Mina mused.

"Huh?" Kyoka looked down at the pink girl.

"Oh, nevermind," she smiled.

"All right!" Present Mic's voice filled the stadium once again. "Let's get match seven started! This girl's definitely got the composure of someone who's lived through just about everything life has to offer! Although, she's really an absolute animal! Give it up for Tsuyu Asui from 1-A!"

"Was that introduction really any better than Shiozaki's or Kacchan's?" Izuku chuckled.

"At least he didn't call her ugly," Ochako chuckled. "And he's technically not wrong."

Once Tsuyu was out, Mic continued, "The next contestant is also from 1-A! Woah, there are a lot of people from 1-A, huh? You could say that this guy has the spark of greatness in his eyes! Denki Kaminari!"

"Greatness?" Kyoka, Mina, Eijiro and Ochako asked in unison.

'Damn right I have the spark of greatness!' Denki chuckled to himself. 'Man, Present Mic! What a guy!'

Denki walked out onto the ring and made eye contact with Tsuyu, who was staring at him blankly. Actually, kinda creepy...

'Man, why was I matched with her? She's too off-putting, plus I'm not one to beat up on girls... Well it's not too bad. Since she isn't really my type, I won't feel too bad about it.'

"Are you two prepared?" Midnight asked.

"Yeah," Denki nodded.

"Kero," Tsuyu said.

The frog girl began waving her arm back and forth, which kinda weirded him out, but Denki decided she was probably just nervous.

"Begin!" Midnight announced.

"I'll finish this in an instant," Denki called as he enveloped himself with lightning. "I hope this doesn't hurt too long before you lose consciousness! 1.3 MILLION VOLTS!–"

"–INDISCRIMINATE CHARGE!" he yelled as the lightning began shooting out from him.

It was a predictable move–if a stupid one–for the blonde to make, in Tsuyu's opinion. She swiped her arm forward, and the poisonous secretion she had been building up flew out in-between her and the yellow flash. Tsuyu's secretions conducted electricity fairly well, so the charge stopped there and never reached her.

"... Whey..!" Denki exclaimed cheerfully as he put out his hands in thumbs-ups.

Tsuyu shook her head slightly as she wrapped her tongue around his waist and tossed him out onto the grass outside of the ring.

"Denki Kaminari is out of bounds! Tsuyu Asui wins!" Midnight announced.

"IT'S ALREADY OVER FOLKS!" Present Mic announced. "I repeat: it's already over!"

"Go Tsuyu!" Ochako cheered.

"YEEAH TSUYU! GIRL POWER!" Mina yelled.

"Woohoo!" Tooru cheered alongside her.

"What the hell?" Hitoshi groaned, putting a hand on his head as he sat back up.

"Shinso, you're awake?" Eijiro asked. "What got you up?"

"A lot of high-pitched cheers," he muttered as he rubbed his temples.

"That woke you up but Bakugo's huge explosion didn't?"

"... What explosion?" Hitoshi asked.

"Uh–"

"More importantly, Midoriya..." The mind controller turned to the green-haired boy who was furiously muttering again and writing hurriedly in his notebook.

"I had no idea she could secrete a liquid! I suppose I never really asked the specifics about her Quirk, but assuming all of her abilities are frog based, that opens up a lot of possibilities! There are poisonous frogs, frogs who can camouflage themselves into their environment, I'm pretty sure some kind of night vision is standard-issue, and I really don't know too much about frogs... And it's really lucky that her secretion can conduct electricity so well! There's no way Kaminari–!"

"MIDORIYA. I will hurt you," Hitoshi deadpanned.

"Eh... Oh, you're awake," Izuku noted.

"Yeah, now can you shut up?"

Izuku didn't reply that time.

"Oi, did Dunce Face lose?" Katsuki asked as he walked back to the stands.

"Oh, hey Kacchan!" Izuku was the first to greet him, but then noticed that his arm was wrapped in bandages. "Oh, how's your arm?"

"Fucking fine, nerd!" he shouted before walking back to his seat. "That vine bitch didn't do shit to me!"

"Hey, don't just call other people names like 'Vine Bitch'," Kyoka grumbled.

"Yeah, it's pretty rude," Toru agreed.

"Oh yeah? Anyone who's so sensitive that they care about that shit isn't gonna be able to handle the shit that comes with being a hero!"

"Well, he's right," Eijiro said. "Gotta have thick skin, you know? Ahaha! But, it is kinda excessive, Bakugo..."

"What's that, Shitty Hair?" Katsuki raised an eyebrow. "You wanna go?"

"Sorry, but get in line!" the hardening hero-in-training laughed. "I've gotta beat Uraraka and then Tsuyu first before I fight you!"

"Oh yeah! The next match is you and Ochako!" Mina exclaimed, before turning forward and putting her hands on Ochako's shoulders. "Girl, do me proud!"

"Ashido, c'mon," Eijiro sighed. "Are you really gonna root against me?"

"No way Kiri!" she smiled brightly at him. "I want you to do me proud too!"

"Then who are you rooting for?" Toru asked.

"Hmm... Can't say! I want em both to win!"

"That's not how it works, Ashido," Momo sighed.

"That doesn't mean I can't want it to," Mina pouted.

"Ochako Uraraka and Eijiro Kirishima!" Midnight called, getting Ochako's attention. "Please come down to the preparation rooms!"

"Alright!" she said as she jumped up. "I'm off!"

"Good luck Uraraka! You can do it!" Deku grinned with a thumbs-up.

"Ehe, yep!" she returned the thumbs-up.

"I also wish you well in your match, Uraraka!" Tenya agreed.

"Thanks guys!" Ochako smiled as she made her way to the tunnel next to the stands.

"Hey Uraraka!" Eijiro walked down next to her. "I won't be holding back just cause you're a girl, you know."

"I'd beat you bad if you do," she giggled.

When they reached the hallway where they needed to go their seperate ways, Eijiro held out his fist and said, "Good luck!"

"Yeah, you too!" she smiled and met his fist with her own.

As Ochako walked to Prep Room A, she saw and congratulated Tsuyu on her win. It wasn't a very long exchange however, since Tsuyu was bringing Denki back to the stands by using her tongue like a leash. As she resumed her walk, Ochako smiled to herself. You can do it! That's what Deku had said to her, right? It's the same as what she said about his nickname, back before they started going to U.A.

'Deku...' she sighed internally. 'Yeah! I can do this! If he's behind me, then I've got this!'

She smiled with renewed resolve, and she entered the prep room. She didn't feel that she had much to prepare, so she spent the time calming herself down and hydrating. Eventually though, Aizawa's voice droned over the intercom for her to proceed to the entrance tunnel.

"Alright!" Present Mic's voice echoed down the corridor. "We've already had some exciting matches in this first tier of the tournament, but this is the last of the set! Match number eight! The first student to come out is a girl who's definitely out of this world! The one with the powers of gravity in her side, Class 1-A's Ochako Uraraka!"

Ochako steeled herself and walked out into the stadium's center. The roar of the crowd was intimidating, but everyone else had faced it... Deku already faced it and won, so she had to do her best as well. To face it, and accomplish her dream of becoming a successful hero and supporting her parents. She needed to do well and get recommendations with good pro heroes to reach that dream as quickly as possible.

"The other contestant is the guy with thick enough skin to tough out just about anything! Also from 1-A, Eijiro Kirishima!"

"Hey Uraraka!" he waved with a smile as he walked up. "You ready?"

"You bet!" she said with her own smile as she pumped her fist. 'He's not nervous at all...' "How about you?"

"For sure!" he grinned his toothy grin.

"Are the contestants ready?" Midnight asked.

"Yup!" Eijiro confirmed as he raised his arms.

Ochako looked up and saw everyone in 1-A cheering. Mina, Kyoka, Toru (okay, she didn't really see her, perse), Tenya... and Deku.

She turned to Midnight with a smile, confirming, "I'm ready!"

"Then let match eight begin in 3... 2... 1... START!"

Ochako started out by rushing at Eijiro, and he did the same. All she needed to do was get all five of her fingers on him... That was all she needed, but he knew that too. She reached out for him, but apparently he saw it coming as he repositioned his arms and grabbed her wrists. Ochako couldn't break from his grip, so she planted one foot on his chest, pulled with her arms as hard as she could, and raised her other leg to kick him in the chin.

He was able to activate his hardening at the last second, so her kick really did no damage (aside from hurting herself), but he was surprised enough that he slightly weakened his grip on her right arm. She kicked off of his chest, freeing her one arm, and landed shakily. Eijiro lifted her up by the left arm, which he still had a hold on, and began the motion to throw her out of bounds, but she was able to grab his wrist with her free hand.

When he let go, she kept her hold on him, and as she flipped and landed on her feet, he also flipped upwards. She heaved him over her shoulder towards the edge, but the redhead was able to throw his arm down and imbed his hardened hand into the cement, stopping him from going out of bounds. He pulled himself down so that he was kneeling on the ground, held only by the hand that was inside of the ring.

"Whew, man," Eijiro panted as he wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. "I lost gravity already, huh?"

"You're holding yourself to the ground!" Ochako said with wide eyes.

"Yeah, can't let a little weightlessness catch me off guard!" he chuckled. "But I really wasn't expecting that throw reversal. Pretty manly!"

"You're pretty manly yourself," Ochako said, now having recovered some breath. "But one of us has got to win!"

She ran at him, but he pushed up at her from the ground. Ochako wasn't quite quick enough, and he grabbed her shoulder as he passed and pulled from behind. It was enough to ground him, and as he kept his grip, he reeled back his other hand for a punch. But now, Ochako reached back and grabbed the punching arm before it hit her with one hand, while she gripped the arm on her shoulder with her other hand. She pushed with the momentum of his swing, and was able to wrench him away from her shoulder before swinging him over her head and slamming his back onto the ring. Then she took his weightless body and, instead of throwing it along the ground, threw it upwards outside of the ring, where she released her Quirk and let him fall out of bounds.

"Eijiro Kirishima is out of bounds! Ochako Uraraka wins!" Midnight announced.

The crowd exploded with cheers, and Ochako almost flinched at it. She was so in the zone that she had almost forgotten that they were fighting in front of so many people. She blushed and nervously waved at the crowd, then her eyes wandered up to find Deku and Tenya cheering for her. That prompted her smile to widen and she pumped her fist at them.

"Yeah Uraraka!" Izuku cheered down at her. "She did it!"

"Yeah, girl power!" Mina shouted.

"Please, do not show favoritism among fellow 1-A students!" Tenya said. "Especially you, Midoriya, as the class's vice president!"

"Ah, well, I can't really help it," Izuku chucked as he scratched his cheek. "Iida, you can't tell me that you didn't root for Uraraka."

"I'd never verbally root against a classmate, even if they're against another one," he firmly stated.

"I didn't root against him, but I'm glad Uraraka won," Izuku shrugged.

"Well, I'm kinda upset that they were paired together in the first place," Mina said. "Like I said, I wanted both of them to move forward."

"But girl power! Right?!" Toru cheered.

"Yeah!" Mina said with a wide grin.

"And that concludes the first tier of matches in this tournament!" Midnight announced before cracking her whip up towards the big screen. "Here are the four matches in the quarterfinals!"

Match 1: Momo Yaoyorozu VS Neito Monoma

Match 2: Izuku Midoriya VS Shoto Todoroki

Match 3: Minoru Mineta VS Katsuki Bakugo

Match 4: Tsuyu Asui VS Ochako Uraraka

Izuku glanced up at Shoto, who was looking straight at the field, before turning back around with a sigh.

"Shit," Denki, who was mostly recovered from his fried brain, sighed. "I know Sero said he felt sorry for Mineta before their round, but... I actually feel sorry for him now. Go easy on him?" he requested as he looked up at Katsuki.

"If that fucker wants to be in the hero course, he should get a good idea of the competition," the explosive blonde grinned with a hint of a chuckle. "He lost that test in the beginning of the year for a reason."

"Dude..." Denki chuckled.

"Neito Monoma..." Momo mused. "That blond one... I didn't get a chance to see his Quirk in action, and he didn't use it in his match against Hatsume..."

"I never saw him use it either," Izuku said. "I wonder what it is... Did anyone here see him use it?"

"He took my headband from behind, so he didn't even have to use it," Toru sighed.

"Be ready for anything, Yaoyorozu!" Tenya advised. "It's something that all heroes should be!"

"Momo Yaoyorozu and Neito Monoma!" Midnight called. "Please go to the preparation rooms!"

"Well, I'm off!" Momo said with a smile. "Wish me luck!"

"You don't need luck!" Toru said.

"You've got girl power!" Mina finished for her.

"... Right..." Momo chuckled slightly as she left.

"... Think we're pushing this thing too far?" Mina asked.

"No way!" Toru exclaimed.

"Yeah," Kyoka said at the same time.

"Probably, Kero," Tsuyu agreed with Kyoka.

"But girls!" Toru gasped at them. "We gotta stick together!"

"And then that slam was really manly!" Eijiro exclaimed as they walked towards the stands.

"Kirishima, you already said that," Ochako replied.

"Well, what about that throw at the end? Now that was manly!"

"... That's the third time you said that one."

"Well, what about how you made me weightless in the middle of my throw?" he asked.

"Um... You haven't said anything about that one," Ochako said, trying to remember what had already been said.

"Well that was super manly!"

"Thanks," she laughed as she scratched the back of her head. "You're really enthusiastic, Kirishima."

"Uraraka, congratulations!" Tenya said as soon as they exited the corridor, before quickly adding, "Kirishima, my condolences for your loss!"

"What loss? It's not like anyone died!" the macho man laughed.

"True! I am glad you are not taking this loss poorly!"

"I mean, it's more than most other people got to show," he shrugged.

"I suppose you're correct," Tenya said.

While that exchange was going on, Ochako moved back to her seat, where she received "good job"s from Deku, Mina, and Toru.

"So Yaomomo's up against that blond guy?" she asked.

"Yeah," Deku nodded. "We don't know what his Quirk is though."

Ochako confirmed her understanding with a nod, but in her mind she thought, 'If Deku doesn't already know that guy's Quirk, then he'll probably take notes on it... He doesn't have his notebook out right now, so he'll have to take it out from wherever he's keeping it. This is my opportunity to see where!'

"The first contestant for match one of the quarterfinals is 1-A's Momo Yaoyorozu!" Present Mic announced.

"No witty introduction?" Aizawa asked as Momo walked out.

"I already introduced these guys, mummy man! I charge extra for seconds!" Mic laughed. "Anyways, the other competitor is Neito Monoma of 1-B!"

Ochako's eyes stayed firmly on Deku as she waited for him to grab his notebook, not being distracted by the announcers' banter or the students that walked out onto the ring.

"What is it, Uraraka?" Deku asked, turning to see her staring at him.

"Ah sorry, it's nothin'!" she said quickly, looking back down at the field with a definite blush. When she glanced back at him though, he was already holding the notebook out with his pen.

"Hm..." Neito eyed Momo with a grin. "You can create things, isn't that right, 1-A president?"

"And what can you do?" Momo responded.

"Tsk tsk tsk... That's need to know only, sweetie."

Midnight raised her whip. "Alright, the match shall begin in 3... 2... 1... START!" She brought it down with a crack.

Momo began in the same way she had with Tetsutetsu; jumping back to allow herself the time to make her tools. But Neito was faster than his fellow 1-B student, having a lighter frame, and was able to get to Momo and grab her wrist.

"Great!" he exclaimed as he jumped back.

Momo was clearly confused as to why the blonde had run and grabbed her just to retreat again, but shook it off and finished creating a staff and shield for herself.

"Alright, uh, how do you work this thing?" Neito asked as he swung his arms back and forth. "Just like... Gimme a stick! No?"

"... What are you doing?" Momo asked.

"How the hell does your Quirk work?!" he shouted.

"Why would you need to know that?"

"No reason!" he said indignantly.

"... What is your Quirk?" Momo tilted her head.

"Nevermind!" he announced. "I'm not helping someone from 1-A, and I don't need your help either. If I can't use your Quirk, I'll just knock you out myself!"

He screamed and ran at her, but she smacked him in the face once with her staff, putting him off-balance, and he tripped and fell out of bounds behind her.

"Neito Monoma is out of bounds! Momo Yaoyorozu wins!"

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Present Mic yelled. "MONOMA JUST FLAILED HIS ARMS AND GOT KNOCKED OUT!"

"Um, Monoma," Momo extended a hand to help him up. "Good match?"

"Get away!" he slapped her hand away. "You think you're better than me? HUH?! I'm as good as anyone from 1-A, even better!" he laughed almost hysterically.

"What is your Quirk?" she asked again.

"I don't need your help," he said as he walked away.

"So he can copy other Quirks?" Izuku repeated what Itsuka Kendo had told him, his head raised up above the partition between their classes.

"Yes, that's what I said," she nodded. "But why wasn't he able to copy her creation, I wonder?"

"Yaoyorozu said that she needs to know an object's make-up in order to create it," Izuku explained. "And they're made from the lipids in her body, so even if Monoma knew what an object was made of, he probably wouldn't be able to make it unless he loaded up on junk food."

"Ah, I see," Itsuka hit her first into her palm. "So it was just a bad match-up for him, huh?"

"Yeah, guess so, Izuku nodded. He waved and said, "Anyways, thanks for the info!" before dropping back down and walking past Shinso to return to his seat.

"What'd they say?" Ochako asked when he sat down.

"He has the ability to copy other people's Quirks," Izuku said. "It just didn't work because of how Yoayorozu needs knowledge of an object before creating it."

"Copying Quirks?" she asked. "How's that work?"

"Apparently, he just needs to touch someone and he'll have their power for five minutes."

"That's cool and all, but that fight was so lame," Mina sighed disappointedly.

"But Momo won, right?" Toru said.

"I guess so," Mina pouted as she crossed her arms.

"Ashido, if you wanna see a cool match, then the next one is probably gonna be one of the coolest of the day!"

"Next is..." Mina's eyes widened as she gasped in realization. "MIDORI! GIVE TODOROKI A GOOD HIT FOR ME!"

"Uh, right," he chuckled uncomfortably. "I am up next, I guess."

"Listen Deku," Ochako said as she put a hand on his shoulder. "You got this! Alright?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "I can do it."

"Yuh-huh!" she smiled. "You've got this totally in the bag!"

"That's an overstatement," he laughed. "But, I can do this."

"Yeah!" she continued encouraging him.

"Midori," Mina said as she grabbed his shoulder and leaned down next to him. "You gotta beat him, alright?"

"I'm, uh, gonna do my best..." he smiled awkwardly as he leaned away.

"H-Hey, Mina–" Ochako started before being cut off.

"Izuku Midoriya and Shoto Todoroki, please report to the preparation rooms!" Midnight announced.

"I guess I should go," Izuku said as he stood up.

"Good luck Deku!"

"You get him Midori!"

"Yeah, thanks!" he smiled at Ochako and Mina before walking down to the hallway.

"So Ochako," Mina whispered. "What were you gonna say before Midnight called for them?"

"Hm?" Ochako tilted her head.

"You know, when I put my hands on Midori and leaned in real close to him," she grinned.

"A-Ah, nothing," Ochako looked away.

"Eh? Are you sure you weren't gonna tell me to back off of your Deku?" Mina rested her hands on Ochako's shoulders. That prompted the Zero Gravity user to look back at her, exposing the pink blush on her face. Seeing the skin tone, Mina exclaimed "OH MY GOSH! WE'RE TWINSIES!"

"S-Shut uuup!" Ochako whined as she clapped her hands on her cheeks and turned away again.

"Hm? Are you okay, Uraraka?" Tenya asked from beside her after noticing her red face. "Do you have a fever or something?"

"I'm fine," she sighed as she slumped forward.

"Oh, there you are," a gruff voice caught Izuku's attention while he was headed for the entrance tunnel.

"Endeavor?!" he exclaimed as he turned to face the large man. "Uh, why are you looking for me?"

"Your Quirk is... an interesting one," he said. "My Shoto... He has a duty to become a hero even greater than All Might."

"Oh yeah, you're Todoroki's father," Izuku said, narrowing his eyes.

"I am," he nodded. "I think you may have a good chance at pushing him to the edge of his abilities. You, then that Bakugo boy... So I want you to put up as good of a fight as you can, so that he sees the need to use all of the tools at his disposal. Sorry if I'm a bit blunt, but that was all I had to say."

"Wait," Izuku said as Endeavor turned to leave. "Your son has no 'duty' to surpass anyone. And for the record, even if he does surpass All Might, he won't be the number one hero. I will."

Izuku turned to leave before Endeavor could respond, and walked to the entrance tunnel. Then, it was only a couple of minutes before he was called out.

"The first student out onto the ring is 1-A's Izuku Midoriya!" Present Mic announced.

Izuku walked out, the crowd's roar swelling as he did so. He glanced up at the stands where all of his friends were cheering.

'Mom's watching this from home, huh,' he realized. 'I'll try to make her proud... and maybe try not to worry her too much.'

"The next one to come out onto the ring is Shoto Todoroki!"

Shoto walked out with his eyes down at the ground and his hands in his pockets. When he did look up, his face looked bored and uncaring. He stopped and stared Izuku down.

"Todoroki, I won't hand this match to you just because you have a sob story," Izuku said firmly, though his phrasing seemed to catch the heterochromatic teen off-guard. "We all have aspirations, and I have an obligation to follow mine through."

"You never had a choice whether you'd win or lose," Todoroki said. "Sorry about your 'aspirations'."

"Are you ready?" Midnight asked.

"Yes," Izuku said as Shoto wordlessly nodded.

"Alright then. Match two of tier two starts in 3... 2... 1... START!"

Shoto, big surprise, opened by shooting a huge wave of ice out at Izuku. The telekinetic hero-in-training was prepared, using his Quirk on himself to fly up and over the wave before it could grow to full size.

He landed on the downward slope and started sliding towards Shoto. Along the way, he kicked back and forth to knock off multiple jagged protrusions of ice, ending up with 8 decent shards that were falling with him by the time he was halfway down. He used his Telekinesis to launch six of them at Shoto, who brought up a shell of ice in front of him to block them (although they still had enough force to stab into and crack the shield).

Shoto pushed his right foot past the shell of ice and sent another wave up at Izuku, who was still sliding down his previous one and had two shards of ice in his arsenal. Instead of having to use his Quirk on himself for a second time, Izuku was able to shift the momentum from his slide as he planted his feet and jumped out over the new ice wave. Not only did he have enough momentum to clear the wave, but he was heading straight for Shoto.

When Izuku came down, he slammed his leg onto the ice shell, which had already been weakened by the ice shards he had launched, causing it to break in two. Shoto's eyes widened in surprise and Izuku fired one of his two remaining shards down at Shoto's left side. Shoto couldn't use ice with his left side, so he dove to the right and was able to escape with only a hole in his sleeve and a scrape on his arm. He shot a stream of ice at Izuku as soon as he righted himself, and the green teen wasn't able to avoid it as it encased him.

'Shit, my whole body is cold!' Izuku thought, before covering himself with the glow of his Quirk and breaking out.

He picked up the shattered remains of his short-lived ice prison with his Quirk and brought them up into the air around Shoto. He fired them all down at him, but the heterochromatic teen made a sphere of ice around himself as a shield. The shield stopped the attacks, but was also broken from the force itself.

Izuku and Shoto stared at each other, panting, as they both waited for the other to make a move. Shoto's right side was covered in patches of ice, he had a cut on his left, and he was visibly shivering. Izuku showed no visible damage and was holding his side where he felt the sharp pain of overusing his Quirk on himself. The air felt still and dense, and was cold because of the all of the ice.

"You're not looking so hot, Todoroki," Izuku said with a grin.

"You aren't doing so good yourself," Shoto replied.

"But at least that's not my own choice," Izuku shot back. "You could easily warm up by using your fire, right?"

"We already had this talk, Midoriya," Shoto said firmly. "You know my reasons."

"Yeah, I do," Izuku said. "And I thought about it, and... It's a pretty shitty reason."

"What did you just say?" There was an edge to Shoto's words as he asked.

"I'm tired, Todoroki, because you're good enough to tire me out. But you aren't hurt just because I'm good enough to hurt you. You're hurt because you're choosing to handicap yourself. I'm putting everything I have into winning this tournament, and you're half-assing it like nobody's business!"

"I'm using all of my mother's power," Shoto growled. "That's all I can give this fight!"

"No it's not!" Izuku was yelling now. "What the hell are you even saying?! Your mother's power? Your father's power? It's not theirs! What the hell is Endeavor gonna do, come and say he needs it back?! It's your power, you moron!"

"You don't understand!" Shoto insisted. "What these powers mean, what they represent... It'll never go away!"

"I DO UNDERSTAND!" Izuku yelled, causing Shoto to flinch. "... For the last 10 years of my life before coming to U.A., I handicapped myself. I stopped myself from using my power out of spite, and I let my whole world be controlled by one asshole. I understand what it's like, but... While it's true that the past can't change, it's also true that you can never get rid of your Quirk. And the only way to ever improve is to accept that. My past hasn't changed, but I decided to put all of my effort into everything in my life. Even where I was holding back before. I'll make something good out of it, even if it used to be something bad." Izuku glanced up at the stands and saw his friends. He made eye contact with Katsuki, who was scowling deeply as he watched.

"Midoriya," Shoto called, bringing his attention back to their fight. Steam was rising off of Shoto as well as the melting ice all around them, and flames sparked to life on the boy's left side. "You could've won, but you just had to be honorable about it..." He looked up at Izuku with a wild grin as the flames rose.

"Who says I won't win anyway?" Izuku chuckled as he got into a stance to start running.

"Midoriya... I'll give you everything I've got!"

"Do it!"

Izuku could hear Endeavor off to the side encouraging Shoto, but given the expression on his opponent's face, it wasn't interfering in their fight. It was just Izuku, Shoto, and the line around the ring.

And then they ran at each other. More accurately, Izuku ran at Shoto while the Half-Hot Half-Cold user became a flaming missile.

'Not ideal,' Izuku thought as they were about to collide, 'but I got this!'

As Shoto let rip a blast of fire at him, Izuku used his Quirk on himself to dodge to the left (Shoto's right), and as he passed, he rolled his hip as far up as he could before using his Telekinesis to fire his leg at Shoto's midsection. He felt a crunch, which was unfortunately probably one or two of Shoto's ribs, before something he didn't expect happened. The air where Shoto had fired his blast, which had previously been cold and dense, rapidly rose in temperature, which caused it to expand at such a pace that it became an explosion. The shockwave blew both Izuku and Shoto towards the edge of the ring, but Izuku used his Quirk to halt himself barely at the edge, while Shoto landed somewhat limply on the grass.

"HOOLLY SH–" Present Mic was cut off.

"This is being aired nationally, Mic," Aizawa reminded him.

The crowd erupted with cheers, and Izuku suddenly realized that he was, in fact, not in a flaming whirlwind of destruction. Though the smell of something burning still filled his nose. He looked up at Ochako and Tenya, who seemed more concerned than happy, although he couldn't think why.

"What the hell is with you kids?!" Midnight shouted as she got up after being knocked over by the shockwave.

"Sorry," Izuku chucked before letting out a pained grunt and collapsing onto one knee, clutching his side.

"Oh and kid, your hair is on fire," she giggled.

"Wha–?!" Izuku swatted at his head to get rid of the flames. So that's what was burning.

Midnight reclaimed her position on the referee's pedestal, before clearing her throat and announcing, "ANYWAYS, Shoto Todoroki is out of bounds! Izuku Midoriya wins!"