Chapter One
Izuku stared at the stadium, taking a deep breath he squared his shoulders, today he would fight his classmates, people he'd come to care for and to trust. Yet the Sport's Festival pits them against one another each year and each year they fought one another. This would be their last Sport's Festival, their last year at UA, before they went Pro. So much had happened in the past three years, since training to be a hero, so many battles won, but they could not always save everyone. He shuddered at the thought of finding Mineta's mangled body, he'd been hacked into pieces by Toga, who had in turn been killed, but not even by his class, some other hero held that honor, Midoria didn't even remember his name. He just remembered how they had all felt when they learned that she had been killed; many had wished to kill her themselves. Mineta had been annoying, as well as a pervert, but he'd started to change towards the end and he might have been a great hero. He was one of their own; one of their class and everyone had felt his loss in different ways. Particularly since he'd been only out of the safety of the dorms in order to get more liquor for a party they were throwing. While they had been celebrating the New Year he'd been dying horribly. Midoria shook himself slightly and smiled at Shinso. His loss had also meant that Shinso had gotten into the hero program half way through second year. He had worked his ass off and was one scary SOB to fight. Even without his abilities, even when you couldn't hear him, he still knew martial arts and knew how to kick ass.
Midoria chuckled, well he wouldn't be listening to Shinso today, he'd asked Hatsume to make specialty equipment for him today and had paid her with what money he had gotten from his internship. He thought it would be worth the expense and show off both his skills and talents and her own. He knew everyone's capabilities and weaknesses, he'd studied this for months after all, yet he knew at the same time that they could have been holding back, or hiding certain things. He would have to assume that they wouldn't fight like he predicted them to.
He stared at Tetsuetsu and sighed, this would prove to be a challenge. Tetsuetsu was strong like him and resistant to most attacks, but he was weak to fire. Midoria tapped his fists together twice and flames jutted three feet out from the tips of his fingers, rings which were connected by wires to a storage tank full of fuel on Izuku's back, when he tapped his fingers the fire would blast out from the rings, the gauntlets protecting him from being burnt, as they had fire resistance. He grinned as Tetsuetsu's eyes widened and he raced forward on his antigravity boots, his own quirk activated at 30 percent. Tetsuetsu tried to dodge the flames and then tried to block them, but Midoria kept at him, the metal started melting slightly around his flames. He knew that Recovery Girl would be able to fix it again, once Tetsuetsu deactivated his quirk, he just had to have faith that he wasn't going to permanently damage Tetsutsu. He blocked punches and blows that Tetsuetsu tried to aim at him, because he was much lighter than Tetsuetsu, he finally managed to fuse Tetsuetsu's arm to his side. He then ducked and dodged the other limb, until he found an opening and managed to fuse that limb as well. Now Tetsuetsu only had his feet and his head to work with, as well as his body. Izuku set up expandable traps all around the stadium and then went on the defensive, Tetsuetsu tried to follow after him and tried to fight, but he was heavy where Izuku was light and eventually the inevitable happened, the steel trap closed over Tetsuetsu's foot and Izuku darted in quickly, brushing the steel trap and Tetsuetsu's foot with his flame rings. He then dodged away, as Tetsuetsu cursed.
"Now that isn't language befitting a hero, you don't need to be so out of sorts, Tetsuetsu. Did you honestly think I'd come unprepared to fight, in my last year at UA? If I didn't do everything I could to win, if I didn't try my hardest, what would it say about me as a hero and as a man?" Midoria said and smiled brightly, Tetsuetsu cursed again, as he struggled to land one foot in front of the other and tripped over the trap falling. Midoria capitalized again grabbing a live trap and attaching it to Tetsuetsu's other foot, before melting it in place. He then stepped back. "Do you think you can continue?" He asked and Tetsuetsu struggled to try to get up, tried to stand and realized that he wasn't getting up.
"No." He said and Izuku smiled.
"MATCH WON BY IMCOMPASITATION, THE FUTURE HERO DEKU IS DECLARED THE WINNER." Preset Mic said and the crowd went wild. "HIS UNCONVENTIONAL APPROACH TOWARDS DEFEATING HIS OPPENENT WAS PRAISE WORTHY, LETS SEE WHAT HE HAS UP HIS SLEEVE IN HIS NEXT MATCH."
Deku grinned, before bounding out of the arena. He wiped the sweat off his face and his competitors stared at him in shock. "What was that shitty Deku?"
"You never change do you Kacchan, I just used his quirk and fighting style against him, it wasn't so difficult." Midoria said and shrugged. "I also had some hero tech, it was just a matter of preparing for the weaknesses of those I knew I would be facing and playing to my strengths."
"How did you get hero tech?" Tenya demanded. "We don't have access to it yet, we're still students after all."
"Precisely, we're still students and the people from the Support program are still students, Mei was very happy to let me buy her babies." Izuku said and grinned at everyone. "Its not my fault you didn't think of that."
"This is so unfair, you are like overpowered to the extreme man, so unmanly." Kirishima said and Midoria grinned.
"Or I'm just capitalizing on a weakness I saw, you aren't my friends today, today we are fighting one another. You should have realized that you could buy tech from the support students. I've put in a lot of work to know how to use the gear I'm using safely, how is it not fair to use whatever I can possibly have at my disposal? To try my hardest to win, anyway I'm going to rest now before my next challenge starts." Izuku said. "Hearing silence." He said and there was suddenly no sound, he smiled softly, before closing his eyes and allowing himself to sleep. He knew that someone would get him in time for his next match. However the other competitors couldn't touch him while they were waiting for the next round of matches.
He woke when Uraraka shook his shoulder and smiled at her, giving her a thumbs up, before he headed out to the arena. Shinso stared at him from across the arena and he grinned. "CAN I BE GIVEN ENOUGH TIME TO STRIP MY GEAR FOR THIS FIGHT, THUMBS UP IF ITS APPROVED!" He yelled and Preset Mic gave the thumbs up and Shinso shouted at him. "You don't have the same defenses other students have Shinso, I'm not using this gear against you. I want this to be a martial competition, one on one." He said and Shinso shouted again at him, clearly furious. Izuku grinned, before setting the equipment he didn't need down by the sidelines. "I'll even give you the option of facing off against my quirk, that's how much I respect you. Thumbs up if you want to face me with my power and thumbs down if you want to face me without it." Izuku said and Shinso's eyes widened, but a moment later his thumb came up and Midoria smiled.
He ran full tilt towards Shinso his quirk activated and had to dodge a quick jab that Shinsho threw at him, that was followed up a moment later by a kick, but by that time Izuku had bounced backward with his antigravity boots. He grinned as they fought, this was so much fun and win or loose, he could honestly say he was enjoying himself. Shinso didn't look nearly as happy, the man had been yelling at him for most of the match and Izuku just kept smiling, never backing down, never letting Shinsho get the drop on him. Shinsho tired first and Izuku saw an opening and took it, cleanly throwing a punch with enough force to knock Shinsho out to his face, the boy crumpled. "Hearing on." He said and smiled as the crowd went wild, he held up his hand.
"THE WINNER BY KNOCK OUT, THE FUTURE HERO DEKU! THAT WAS A SUPURB MATCH, BOTH DEMONSTRATED SKILLS IN SEVERAL MARTIAL ARTS DISAPLINES, BUT ULTIMATELY FUTURE HERO DEKU WAS VICTORIOUS." He said and Izuku grinned, before he walked back into the waiting area.
"You know martial arts, why have you hidden this from us?" Tenya demanded.
"Every advantage is important Tenya, I started learning them after All Might retired from active hero work, and I joined a dojo and started training in several disciplines. I've managed to get two black belts and a brown belt, but forgive me if I don't state what I studied." Izuku said and smiled. "As to why I've hidden this from you, well when we're being attacked, we're fighting for our lives and you don't notice how I'm managing to win against my opponents. Why I didn't tell you that I had decided to study martial arts? For the same reason you don't inform me of what you do, in order to better yourselves. Soon we will be Pro Heroes and that is always a competitive field. I thought that if I could find out what you were doing, to try to improve yourselves, you could too if you wished to exert the effort." Izuku said and shrugged. "I won't share what I found out about any of you, but suffice it to say that most of your secrets I was able to uncover through a bit of work and I have prepared accordingly." Izuku said and sighed. "Hearing off." He said and the specially designed tech left him in silence, he closed his eyes leaning back against the locker and falling asleep again.
When he woke it was to Vlad King's face and he backpedaled slightly. "Hearing On." He said.
"THIS IS YOUR THREE MINUTE WARNING, I REPEAT YOUR THREE MINUTE WARNING, DEKU REPORT TO THE STADIUM." Preset Mic said and Izuku glared at everyone in the room.
"Really? You seriously didn't wake me? I can't believe you didn't wake me." Izuku said, he felt hurt. He stood up and smiled at Vlad King. "Thank you for waking me."
"I suspected that you somehow were sleeping through the announcements, its happened before and it will happen again. It is not something befitting a hero, sooner or later you will need to rest and depend upon your partner. It does not inspire confidence in you, the opposite in fact." Vlad King said and Izuku had to stop listening to him, in order to go to the stadium. He glared at Uraraka, before activating the antigravity boots, he rose into the air. With Uraraka it was a matter of dodging her and finding a way to bind her with capture scarves. That way if she managed to touch him, they would both be floating in the air, instead of just Izuku. Izuku smiled, before he unwound a capture scarf from under his hero suit, having to unzip it slightly, before he managed to get it off. He smiled at Uraraka, but it was a smile that did not reach his eyes.
"ARE YOU READY HERO DEKU?"
"SORRY I KEPT YOU LATE, I TRUSTED MY CLASSMATES MORE THAN I SHOULD HAVE." Izuku shouted back. "I AM SO READY FOR THIS." He added and he saw Uraraka gulp, he smiled. He activated the pressure plates on his palms, blasting Uraraka back before she had a chance to do anything, a moment later he had her bound tightly in his capture scarf and smiled. "Sorry but apparently I can't trust anyone to wake me and I need to be well rested for my next fight." He said and glared at her.
"HERO DEKU WON THE MATCH, BY INCOMPASCITATION!" Preset Mic roared, Izuku smiled and raised his hand in the air, smiling as the crowd went wild. He didn't give Uraraka a chance to use her quirk, she'd nearly hadn't given him a chance to fight, so why should he do any different.
He moved back into the waiting room and glared at everyone inside of it, before he slammed his locker open and got out his music player. He took out his hearing tech, put in his headphones and listened to several hero interviews, with his eyes closed.
He was glad that the others didn't try to talk to him, because he was very angry with them. He would have gladly helped any hero that had needed it, regardless of the circumstances. Yet they hadn't they would have allowed him to be disqualified, so they would have a better chance of winning. He'd never felt so furious at any of his classmates, even Kacchan as he was now.
"THE HERO INGENIUM WINS, BY KNOCK OUT." Preset Mic said and Izuku sighed, this was going to be annoying and it was the skill he was least experienced in. Tenya had been practicing going fast for as long as he'd had his quirk, where as Izuku had felt like he'd gotten a handle at using his rocket boosters a month ago. He really had hoped that he wouldn't have to face off against Tenya. "THERE WILL BE A TWENTY MINUTE BREAK BETWEEN THIS FIGHT AND THE NEXT ONE, REPEAT A TWENTY MINUTE BREAK."
Deku sighed, well that wouldn't help much at all, he decided to do a series of stretches. Whenever someone started to speak, he glared at them and the entire room was filled with silence. He continued to work through the stretches, as Tenya came in and stared at him.
"May we both do our best and have no hard feelings when one is victorious." Tenya held out his hand and Deku slapped it away.
"No hard feelings, how am I not supposed to feel angry at you Tenya? What you did what you all did, was so fucked up!" He said and everyone stared at him, not remembering a time when Izuku swore. "It was shitty, unmanly and unworthy of the heroes you wish to be. I would have never have done to any of you, even those not in my class, what you did to me!" He glared at everyone. "So no Tenya, I'm sorry but I can't not have hard feelings about this, I can't not help but not doubt you, when you let me down when I was most vulnerable. Now either you leave me alone, or we fight, because I'm trying to keep a handle on my temper, but if you try to engage me right now, I will not respond well." He said and everyone stared at him, as he went back to stretching.
"THE FINAL MATCH WILL BEGIN IN TEN MINUTES, REPEAT THE FINAL MATCH WILL BEGIN IN TEN MINUTES." Preset Mic announced and Izuku continued to work through his stretches, warming and limbering up his body, as well as slowly adding power to his quirk. He was actually glowing with a green light, by the time Preset Mic called the five-minute warning.
"Can you handle that much power Izuku?" Uraraka asked and Deku glared at her.
"I think I should know my own limits." Izuku stated. "I've grown a lot since starting at UA, not that it's any of your business how I decide to use my quirk. I don't demand to know if your lifting too heavy of a bolder, do I? Please don't pretend to care about my well being, when none of you helped me when I needed it."
"Izuku..." Uraraka said and her eyes filled with tears.
"Hey Shitty Deku, how dare you hurt Uraraka?" Bakugo demanded and Izuku glared at him.
"I expected you to pull something like this, but I didn't expect it from the rest of you." Izuku said. "I feel that I have the right to say whatever I dam well please Bakugo. Not only did she not wake me, she questioned my abilities."
"FIVE MINUTE WARNING, THE FINAL BATTLE WILL START IN FIVE MINUTES, HERO DEKU, HERO INGENIUM, PLEASE REPORTS TO THE STADIUM." Preset Mic announced and Deku stood in the stadium across from Tenya. He tried calming himself, he needed to not feel this rage, to get through the battle ahead, and he would need a clear head. He used the calming techniques Aizawa had taught them, to help them calm themselves in stressful situations. He used the anti gravity feature on his boots.
"HEROES DEKU AND INGENIUM ARE YOU READY?" Preset Mic demanded.
"Yes I'm ready."
"I am ready as well."
"MATCH START!" Preset Mic said and instantly Izuku fired up the rocket launchers in his shoes, tackling an unprepared Tenya and both boys fell to the ground. Izuku disengaged his rockets and sat on top of Tenya's legs, trying to knock him out quickly. Tenya screamed, Izuku thought he was screaming in anger as Tenya fought back, his engines firing up, but their power wasn't any match against Izuku who's entire lower body was infused with strength. He then tried rolling, but Izuku wasn't having any of that, he took the punches that Tenya then threw and threw his own in return, until he finally managed to knock Tenya out and stood putting his hand up in the air. The crowd roared in approval.
"THE WINNER BY KNOCK OUT IS HERO DEKU, THE REWARDS CEREMONY WILL TAKE PLACE IN FORTY MINUTES." Izuku smiled pleased by his accomplishment, until he saw Tenya's face and body, he hadn't realized how much damage he was doing, or how much damage Tenya had been doing to him. His entire body felt sore and he hauled Tenya up over one shoulder taking him to Recovery Girl, who stared at him.
"A brawl Izuku, that's not like you."
"I tried to suppress my anger at my classmates, but I wasn't successful." Izuku said and set Tenya down on a cot, while he waited on another one.
"I trust you will learn from this, not to be so reactionary?" Recovery Girl said and Izuku sighed pulling at his hair.
"Its just that I was so angry, the plan was always to rush him, but I originally hadn't meant to hurt him this badly, it took a while to land a blow that would knock him out. I struggled to think straight, because being punched in the face doesn't help you stay calm, when you are already angry."
"Anyone would be angry at how the others didn't wake you, but you don't hold grudges and you aren't vengeful not like this." Recovery Girl said.
"I trusted them and they let me down, I don't know about vengeful, but it did anger me. I just did what I had to do and I think my anger stopped me from completing my goal as fast as I could have."
"His upper thighs are shattered Izuku, did you even notice how the metal was dented in on his hero costume?" Recovery Girl demanded and Izuku realized he hadn't, once again he'd hadn't considered his own strength and the amount of force between them. He had thought that he would be able to hold Tenya and he had been, but the other boy had been fighting back against his hold and using his quirk, driving his skin and bones against Izuku, who most probably weighed a lot more than he usually did. He couldn't believe that he had been so stupid and made such a miscalculation. "He'll be fine, it will just recover several days, if not several weeks of healing. There's a reason why we hold the sports festival when we do." She said and sighed. "I can't fix this in a single healing, next time you need to be more careful in accounting for how much force you need to exert upon someone." She said and Izuku nodded, staring at Tenya's legs, for Tenya to keep fighting, despite breaking bones was admirable, but Izuku had done the same before and would do so again. Still he hadn't intended to hurt Tenya this badly, Tenya was his friend and up until today Izuku had felt he could trust Tenya with everything.
"Will you help me remove his hero suit?" Recovery Girl asked and Izuku nodded, he helped her strip Tenya, adverting his eyes when the boy was fully undressed. Recovery Girl then had Izuku help dress him in a standard UA uniform. She then gave him a shot of pain reliever. "For now all I can do is give him something for the pain, after I'm done helping him to recover, he'll be laid up for the rest of the day." She said and Izuku nodded. "Will you help him get back to the dorms?" Again Izuku nodded. A moment later Recovery Girl's palms were on his face. "Do you still have some water, I don't want to give him too many drugs if it can be avoided."
Izuku blasted Tenya with his palms, the boy waking instantly and screaming in pain. "I'm so sorry Tenya I didn't know I was hurting you, I miscalculated. Recovery Girl can't heal you until after the rewards ceremony, I swear that it wasn't my intention to harm you."
"I know you wouldn't harm me like this on purpose." Tenya said. "Do you have a wheelchair, can you give me anything stronger?" He added.
"Its up to you, anything stronger than that dose and you won't be thinking quite straight for the interview."
"Please give me a stronger dose, I know how to handle myself while on pain meds, my family made sure of it." He said and Recovery Girl nodded, giving Tenya another dose, Tenya's eyes dulled slightly and Izuku lifted him into a wheelchair. Tenya cried out in pain as he was settled in the wheelchair.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
"Its alright, I am sorry as well, I didn't truly consider how my actions would effect you, too preoccupied in my own worries. As for my injuries, I didn't consider how driving my thighs against you with my engines were impacting them. I will heal in time and I will recover back to full strength. It was a miscalculation and an error on my part"
"What I did in comparison, makes it seem a lot less important now. I'm still angry, but I'm also angry at myself, I should have practiced more and understood the risks, I don't think I'll be using rocket launchers again." He said.
"It was very impressive, you have such pretty eyes Izuku. It was not the rocket launchers that were to blame for my injuries, I wasn't hurt when I fell, it was afterward that I sustained injury." Tenya said and smiled up at him, a small of drool escaping the corner of his mouth. Izuku wiped at it.
"Thank you." Izuku said.
"I'm glad they are warm again, it scared me when your eyes turned cold." Tenya said and reached up caressing Izuku's hair. "Your hair is so soft."
"How are you going to conduct an interview like this?" Izuku asked Tenya and Tenya seemed to shake himself slightly.
"By getting a handle on my thoughts and repeatedly repeating the question and my answer to it in my head." Tenya replied and Izuku nodded.
"If you are certain you can handle it."
"I am conscious, aren't I, I assure you that I can handle it." Tenya said and Izuku nodded.
"Alright then." He said and grabbed Tenya's wheelchair by the handles pushing him out towards the podium. The crowd became silent as Midoria picked him up and gently placed him on the second place marker.