Deku Versus Lemillion
It had been almost a year since Mirio easily defeated all of Class 1-A. Using his quirk with expert precision, he had avoided all of there projectiles, and bypassed every melee fighter using his agility and the element of surprise. It was a day that has haunted Izuku still.
Since then he had worked, trained, and bled tirelessly for a day like this to come. Most people would think Izuku was crazy for wanting another chance to fight Mirio (his class specifically), But he knew in his heart he could never truly fulfill his life's calling if he couldn't beat this best. It also didn't help that people would constantly compare Mirio to his mentor, All Might.
It wasn't that Izuku held any grain of hatred or resentment for the young aspiring hero- he only hoped the best for him, that he too could achieve his dreams of becoming the greatest hero. But there can only be one, number one. But there was a nagging thought that he wrestled with in the back of his mind. It told him that everyone believed he stood no chance, and Izuku was determined to prove well them all wrong.
It was the annual UA Sports Festival. Everyone participated, everything from races, to ball games, and even eating competitions. Izuku had been formulating a strategy to defeat the intangible hero during the events leading up to the day of the battle. He had spoken with Uraraka and Iida about it, they seemed unsure, but nonetheless encouraged him.
This year, they were allowing the combatants to wear there preferred costumes. Which meant Izuku was wearing his signature green attire, and Mirio would be clad in his cape and shiny suit, with the huge one million emboldened across the chest. He knew for a fact that his costume had been specially designed to allow him to go intangible with it on, so he would, thankfully, not have to face the hero naked again.
The gate opened up. Izuku couldn't help the twang of nervousness he felt when he walked towards the center of the arena. The feeling was all too familiar, with the last time he fought here was against Todoroki. He remembered the battle perfectly, every snap of his finger, every blood vessel that exploded, the excruciating pain, fighting through it, only to still lose.
Across from him was the now fourth year student Mirio. He looked stoic as always, his appearance only enhanced with the way his cape flowing behind him as he strolled toward his competitor. His blue eyes locked onto Izuku's green and they shared a look of respect.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Everyone welcome our combatants!" Hizashi yelled through the microphone so everyone in the arena could hear. Applause, cheers, and approval rang among the completely filled stands. Izuku took a brief moment to look around him at all the faces, all the people who came to see this. This must've been quite the anticipated matchup.
"Standing five feet, eleven inches tall- you can't touch him! But he can touch you! It's Mirio Togata, or LEMILLION!" Hizashi dragged out the words for dramatic effect.
"Opposing him, challenging him, attempting to dethrone his reign! Standing five foot five, he's the host of the One for All quirk, apprentice to All Might, it's Izuku Midoriya or DEKU!" Hizashi roared.
"It's an honor." Izuku started.
"No, the pleasure is all mine." Mirio proclaimed.
They reached to shake hands but Mirio phased through his hand, causing Izuku to look ridiculous by just holding his hand there. This got an explosion of laughter from the people in the stands. Izuku felt heat rise to his face immediately, but Mirio clapped their hands together. His smile was all too resembling of All Might's. He realized he saw his hero in Mirio too.
"Sorry, just wanted to lighten the mood before the main event ya know?"
Izuku shrunk a little.
"Y-yeah. I see." Izuku mumbled.
There hands parted ways, and with that, so did any friendly gestures. The only thing that mattered now was who would walk away the victor. They took twenty steps back, standing fifteen feet apart from each other.
"The battle begins in…three…" Hizashi started, "two...one…"
Izuku and Mirio were silently staring at each other. They both wanted this. Badly.
"FIGHT!"
Izuku flung himself in Mirio's direction, charging up an attack, only for him to phase through the ground and reappear beside him. Before he could change course, he was thrown to the side and hit the ground hard. He regained his footing but again was beaten to the punch.
Already he was struggling to keep his lunch down. He looked around wildly, Mirio was not in sight. Which could only mean… A hand slammed his calf so hard Izuku fell to his knee, and with a cape in his face, a hard kick to the chest sent him sprawling across the ground again.
"It appears Midoriya cannot keep up with Togata's blinding speed!" Hizashi noted for everyone to hear.
I just need to land one hit! Izuku thought as he was thrown backwards. This time he was ready, and he dodged the subversion tactics that Mirio loved to use. He charged up a punch only for his fist to pass through his opponents face seamlessly. Using his momentum as leverage, Mirio grabbed Izuku's arm and slammed it down on his knee, effectively breaking his arm.
A gasp was simultaneous from the spectators.
"Mirio has broken Izuku's arm!" Hizashi exclaimed, stating the obvious.
A jagged pain spread throughout his arm, causing him to grunt rather loudly. Before he could tend to his arm, a boot connected with his jaw, causing Izuku to temporarily collapse.
He rose slowly. It seemed Mirio had relented his assault for a little while. He stood, looking down at him like he was disappointed. But the faintest smirk was visible on his face. Izuku wiped the blood off his lip.
"You think I can't take a beating!? Why'd you stop!?" Izuku drawled.
"I know when I've already won." Mirio responded.
Something inside of Izuku Midoriya snapped. So it was true. Mirio deemed him an unworthy match. Perhaps so much so he was willing to let Izuku stir in his own blood for a little while. That look of respect Izuku had interpreted prior had been a farce.
"So that's it, huh?"
Mirio raised a brow.
"You wanted to put to rest all these claims that I could beat you in a fight? Is that it? I'm just another trial, on your way to number one! I'm nothing more than a test that you'll ace!?" Izuku cried hysterically.
"Hey, I didn't want to offend you, but if your really going to go there- we were never on the same level, Deku. We never will be. That gap between you and me- its much larger than you think." Mirio stated coldly.
"Well, come prove it then!" Izuku challenged.
Mirio laughed. He rolled his hands into fists and approached him. Izuku swung at his face, missing, and waited for the counter attack and rolled to the side, making Mirio have to chase him down. But Mirio was too close now to evade any direct hits, and Izuku charging effects were cancelled each time the cape clad hero hit his shoulders.
"Lemillion is absolutely dominating the battle!" Hizashi's voice rang, but it was distant noise compared to the sound of Izuku's pulse in his head. The world around him dulled in comparison to the juggernaut in front of him. Everytime he would raise a finger, he would get denied any movement and receive another blow to the head. Each strike echoed throughout his skull like a tolling bell.
Just one… hit… Izuku thought. But If he keeps this up, I'm going to black out!
Then, remembering his broken arm, he decided it was expendable since already injured heavily. Izuku suddenly jumped back a ways. He noticed that Mirio had stopped phasing through the ground, perhaps driven by emotion, he wanted as many direct hits as possible. This would work to Izuku's advantage. He charged up his broken arm, no matter how difficult it may have been and lunged at the intangible hero.
He knew Mirio would just phase through his punch, which is why he was making such a predictable move- for a predictable reaction. History repeated itself, and Mirio phased through his charged attack- but Izuku had counted for that this time.
When Mirio waited for Izuku to pass by, he powered up his good arm in midair, spun and swung with all the strength he had, praying it would hit...
"Oh my! I can't believe it! Midoriya has finally manage to hit Togata!" Hizashi said in clear disbelief.
Izuku watched as the intangible hero, for the first time, looked like a tangible one. The cape further accented the force of the contact, and Mirio looked astonished when he struggled to get up off the ground. He looked dazed.
Now!
The green hero launched himself again at Mirio, who desperately tried to phase through the pain, but to no avail. Izuku grabbed him by the cape, and charged up a mighty throw, ejecting Mirio into the sky. Determined to not let his opponent rest, he jumped.
The still rapidly rising Mirio was shocked to see Izuku right next to him. He managed to just barely phase through the first punch, but the second hit was a combined downward slam, broken arm and all, green electricity crackling around him as he did so. Like a rocket, Mirio was sent back to earth.
He landed harshly on his back, creating a slight crater, perhaps phasing just enough to not take the full brunt of the damage. But then there was a descending Deku he had to worry about. In the split second that the two eyes met before Izuku came down with the full force of terminal velocity and the charged punch, Mirio were those of complete and utter fear. Izuku's were those of pure determination.
When Izuku landed the final blow, a massive cloud of dust and sound erupted around the area of commotion, so no one could see what had happened for a little while. But when the dust settled, Izuku was slowly climbing out of a massive crater, Mirio being in the center of it all- unconscious.
"DEKU is the VICTOR!" Hizashi yelled.
The spectators in the stands rose and cheered.
"Deku!... Deku!... Deku!" They all chanted.
"I did it…" Izuku said, ignoring the searing pain all over his body.
"I DID IT!" He roared, raising both arms but then immediately regretting it.
The medical crew came by and loaded Mirio onto a stretcher. He hoped that they could patch up there differences soon. Maybe he was reading to into it. They were both extremely competitive, it could've just been meaningless banter.
Soon, Izuku was escorted out of the arena to receive a routine checkup by Recovery Girl. She was surprised, to say the least. Having just one broken arm, bruises all over his body, and some cuts- it seemed like he might've finally been mastering One for All. He had used his quirk several times throughout that last stretch of the fight and his hands didn't even change color, well, they were just a little more red than usual.
While he was gathering his bearings a couple of his classmates flooded into the room, those classmates being Uraraka, Iida, Tsuyu, and Todoroki. They all huddled around him and voiced their approval. Iida looked perplexed.
"You didn't use the strategy you were talking with us about!" He yelled, clearly annoyed.
Izuku gave him a guilty grin.
"I underestimated his speed, that's all."
"You developed a strategy?" Todoroki wondered aloud.
"Yeah. The plan was for me to use my charged attacks on the center of the arena to break up the ground enough so Mirio would have nowhere to phase through. While he would search for a spot to rise up and attack me, I would be hopping around the perimeter."
"How the hell does that even work?"
"Well, you see, Mirio cannot hear, breathe, or see while totally intangible. So if he could not pinpoint my location he would have to give up on his quirk eventually, and that's when I would strike."
"But that's not what happened ribbit." Tsuyu stated.
"Yeah… I was really lucky out there…"
"You got into a verbal confrontation as well…" Uraraka added, hoping to squeeze some more information out of him.
"Right. I just- I'm not quite sure how to explain it. I guess I was a little offended that he was taking it easy on me for a while there."
"He wasn't giving you his all." Todoroki answered, a strained expression on his face.
Izuku nodded.
"So, you're number one at UA now." Tsuyu noted.
"Well, no…" Izuku instantly recalled that Mirio WAS the number one ranked student at UA. But by beating him, did that mean he took his place at the top?
"Huh, I guess I didn't think about it like that." He said sincerely.
As if it were scripted, Mirio entered the room, and everyone grew quiet. His gaze settled on Midoriya's. One arm was in a sling, just like Izuku's. His head was wrapped up tightly in gauze, and the left side of his face was a nauseating shade of purple. His eye on the bad side was nearly closed shut due to the swelling. He was using crutches to keep him upright.
"Can we talk alone?" He asked.
"You shouldn't be standing up!" Ochako said worriedly.
"You're right! I should not be up- yet here I am standing in front of you all disobeying the doctor's orders!"
"Um…" Tsuyu started before Mirio cut in again.
"Can Midoriya and I speak in private?" He repeated.
"It's ok guys. You can leave." Izuku assured his friends.
After a couple seconds of hesitation they all exited the room in a group. Mirio scooted closer to Izuku, until they were an arms distance apart from each other. He held out his good hand to shake.
Izuku looked at his hand briefly, but realized this was for real. He shook Mirio's hand without his hand phasing through his. Mirio coughed, but regained his composure immediately.
"I didn't mean to- to assume so much of you." Izuku apologized.
"No, no, I was being an arrogant fool. I let my ego get to my head and cloud my judgement. I underestimated your power… greatly."
"I could say the same thing about you." Izuku laughed nervously.
Mirio looked placid faced, but his swollen face eventually shifted into a giant goofy grin.
"That was awesome. The way you predicted my permeation quirk… I gotta say, you exposed some weaknesses in me I didn't even know I had!" He said giddily. "That was some way you turned the fight! I mean, throwing me into the sky so I had no way to hide? Brilliant!"
"That wasn't my initial plan, but yeah that seemed to work out pretty well!"
"Thank you Midoriya. Thank you for showing me the error of my ways!" Mirio said, clearly delighted.
"Oh, no problem!" Izuku responded, slightly confused.
Before he left Izuku to his lonesome, he turned and said one last thing:
"I'm looking forward to our next matchup! I'm gonna train everyday from now on just to beat you!"
With that deathnote in the air, Izuku let out a huge breath that he hadn't realized he'd been storing. He decided he wanted to rest in the infirmary for a little while longer. That battle had exhausted him and he was sore all over.
It may have been crazy, but Izuku too, was looking forward to another duel with Mirio. They would only be stronger. Izuku hoped by then he would have totally mastered One for All. He felt a large smile stretch across his own face. That was going to be a day to remember...