"Hey, Izuku-san. I managed to make it in time for your fight."
"Midoriya, my boy! We came to wish you luck!" the teen in question looked to find his teachers wearing warm smiles. Scratching the back of his head, Izuku bowed to them.
"I'm glad you could make it." his voice was shaking slightly, showing the worry that was in his stomach. With a couple reassuring pats, his butterflies were starting to settle down. A thought entered the student's mind.
"Anima-sensei, Posso parlare con te dopo il torneo?" the werewolf straightened slightly. Whenever Izuku talked to him in Italian, it was a sensitive topic that he wished wasn't overheard.
"Certamente, mio allievo," he answered. Toshinori had no clue what the two just said, but by the look in his student's eye, he was trying to help.
'It doesn't matter. If I'm needed, they'll bring me in the loop' the haggard hero reasoned. Izuku was called to the stage, and Toshinori left with a few small words of advice.
"Remember, when you feel uneasy, that's when you have to smile!" he transformed at the last phrase with his signature smile.
"FIRST FIGHT!" President Mic announced. "WITH SOME OF THE TOP GRADES IN THE HERO DEPARTMENT, IZUKU MIDORIYA!" the crowd cheered on as the bushy-haired teen walked onto the stage.
"AGAINST… SORRY, BUT WE DON'T HAVE MUCH TO GO OFF. FROM THE GENERAL DEPARTMENT, SHINSOU HITOSHI!" Both contestants were rather mad that the general department student had such a lackluster introduction. The rules were laid out, and Hitoshi tried to lay his trap.
"Seriously, 'I give up'? This tournament is a test to see our determination. If I had a strong desire for my future, then fears don't matter; still, that monkey keeps talking about dignity. Don't you think he's the biggest idiot you've ever seen?" the bell had rung then, and Izuku simply shook his head. Hitoshi cursed as the martial artist closed in. The brainwashing quirk user was pinned to the ground in mere moments.
"WHAT'S THIS?! MIDORIYA HAD PINNED HIS OPPONENT IN SECONDS! WHAT KIND OF FIGHTING IS THAT?!" Eraserhead decided to explain to his annoying companion and the crowd.
"It was Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, a martial art designed for efficient holds. Shinsou's quirk, Brainwash, can control anyone who responds to him. With non destructive powers like that, he couldn't get into the heroes program. It's why I hate the current setup." at the words of the calmer announcer, many heroes started talking about the uses of such a quirk.
"Although such powers go against my moral code, no power is useless," Izuku told his opponent as he released his hold. Hitoshi hid his watery eyes from being praised with his words as he walked off stage.
"Even if it's not now, I'm going to qualify for the heroes course, and show you all up as a fantastic fucking hero!" he declared.
"I look forward to it." Izuku encouraged.
Shouto and Sero were up next, and even at a distance, Izuku could feel the scarred teen's emotions.
"Not good," Anima said. The werewolf knew that the teen was about to snap, and he did so with his quirk. Half of the stadium was encased in ice with one move.
A-a little much, doncha think?" the tape quirk user meekly asked. Upon Shouto releasing his opponent, Izuku turned to his teacher.
"ha bisogno di aiuto…" Anima figured that his student's concerns were for someone else, but his words rang true. Flying off the handle like that would only get himself and others killed unless he controlled himself.
"farò quello che posso." the werewolf reassured his student.
Anima watched as Izuku went to help Ochaco for her match as he stayed to watch the two brick-like students. From what he could tell, almost everything was identical between them. When the fight started, they ran at one another. Although no one else could see it, Anima's experience told him their differences. Eijiro was the sturdier of the two as he could take the force of his opponent's heavy strikes. Tetsutetsu made up for the fact with stronger punches, as his metal-clad skin gave him more mass to strike with. It was the fight between a monolith and a battering ram, but there was one difference; Eijiro had a couple weeks of skill. It didn't mean much, but it gave him an edge as he turned his body with the impacts to bleed the momentum from his opponent's punches. The two hit the floor at the same time, making it a hard call for Midnight to make. Slowly though, Eijiro was getting up. Calling the hardening quirk user the winner by knockout made the crowd go ballistic. Even over the excitement, Anima overheard the students.
"You hit like a goddamn truck, man. The only thing I could do was bleed it like I was taught." The redhead told his downed opponent.
"Taught? You learned how to soften the blow with your quirk?" the platinum blond asked.
"Not with my quirk, but with skill. Anima-sensei teaches martial arts to freshmen after school. Why, you wanna join?"
"Ya know, I just might." the two grinned at each other as the staff carried them to Recovery Girl. The aforementioned teacher smiled at the prospect of a new student.
'I was thinking of giving Muay Thai training like Kirishima, but with punches like that, Karate Kempo may work better for Tetsutetsu' the werewolf thought to himself.
Jesse and Inko turned to the screen as soon as the announcement from President Mic had told them the Ochaco and Katsuki were up next. The match started and Ochaco bolted for Katsuki. She kept him on his toes and focused on her while Jesse saw the rubble floating up in the corners of the screen. She dropped a good dozen rocks on the explosive teen when he was under them, only for him to blast the rubble into dust.
"It's not over," the she-wolf called. True enough, the gravity girl had slid under the explosion and tapped Katsuki's forearm. The explosive teen almost blasted himself off stage, but amazingly, he corrected himself. Blasting around with small explosions, the teen managed to get close enough to grab his opponent.
"I'm impressed," Jesse admitted. "Adjusting to zero-G in a split second is hard, especially if you haven't dealt with the sensation. He's doing it by instinct as well." In the next move, Katsuki kicked Ochaco in the side, and she went down. By the complexion of her skin, it seemed more from overusing her quirk than anything, but the gut blow didn't help.
"I do hope she's okay…" Inko muttered. Jesse put her hand on her friend's shoulder. It wasn't the injuries that she was worried about, but the girl's self-esteem.
Izuku put his best foot forward as he got prepared for his next match. As much as he wanted to help Ochaco, he needed to focus. He turned a corner to find that Endeavor was walking down the same hall.
"I must applaud you for your strength and skill, but Shouto has a duty to surpass All Might; you'll prove to be an excellent testbed. Your fancy martial arts won't help against him, but give him a good fight." Upon hearing his condescending words, Izuku remembered what Shouto told him his father did and lost his composure.
"Martial arts were made to defeat stronger opponents, so it will help. As for comparing me to All Might; I'm not him, And Todoroki isn't you." this was the first time his anger had seeped into his chi before, but the undercurrent of wrath was palatable to the #2 "hero" as his aura filled the hall. Endeavor paused for a second, surprised at the feeling a 'mere child' gave but decided to keep walking. As the two left each other, the "hero" came across the werewolf in a wool suit.
"My disciple is a serious hero fan; the hell did you do to make him hate you?" Anima already had a clue by the small bits he collected, and he didn't care much for the government worker.
"I don't know, but you must not have done a good job teaching him if he has that attitude." Endeavor tried for a low blow, but it didn't work.
"That's honestly the first time I've seen him angry at anyone, and he's had plenty of reasons to be. I'm proud of him though." it was evident in his voice and on his face that the Anima wasn't lying, and that pissed the flame "hero" off even more.
"Proud of what, that he talks back to his elders?"
"That he stands true to his beliefs." Endeavor was taken aback at the man's flippancy. "Even when he's outmatched, I've never seen him back down when those ideals are on the line. Say what you will, but at least we trust each other." Anima walked away as he hid his smirk from the "hero". 'Izuku's right; if that is the upbringing he had, he really needs that help.'
"Still hate how I've got to 'examine' the fights, Archibald." Shigaraki groused from his seat. He'd rather be playing video games than this.
"I-I-Informa-information is is k-key to win-winning a strategy ga-game. If, if it help-helps you fo-focus, think of kill-killing All-All Might-t as a, as a game with h-high rewards!" The mage encouraged. Though the man-child whined some more, he saw the reasoning behind it. Something told Archibald that Fiara was in the game due to one of the students, and he intended to find out who.
"START!" at the signal, Shouto sent out a glacier of ice, but Izuku got into a stance and Kicked the oncoming crystal with his quirk and chi. The impact of the two forces had caused a shockwave that even Midnight felt. The dual quirk user tried it again and got the same result. Izuku closed in fast, but an iceberg forced him to sidestep. He felt the drop in temperature and had to utilize his chi to bring his core body up to higher levels to compensate.
'That's it!' the martial artist figured it out. When he saw his opponent shivering, he confirmed his theory.
"Thanks for holding out this long, the fucker's pissed." the scarred teen turned his head towards his father. The green haired teen launched himself at his opponent.
"Where the hell are you looking!?" Shouto had to create a pillar of ice to block the quirk enhanced kick.
"You're shivering, Todoroki. Even quirks have a limit, and you can only endure so much cold. If you used your left side, it wouldn't be a problem for you. Everyone's giving it their all to be the top, and you say that you'd win with only half your strength? You haven't even dealt me an injury. Come at me with everything you've got!"
"The hell are you doing? Did my old man pay you off?" he couldn't see why Izuku would go to such lengths to help him, mid-fight no less, but here he was doing just that. He dodged another kick and sent ice at his opponent.
"Hell no, even from one meeting, I can see why you despise him. I'm not just gonna sit back and watch you go for the top while you half-ass it to disavow someone else. It's a goddamn joke!" Shouto took a set of kicks to his side and stumbled back.
"I'm not using my old man's-" he was cut off.
"It's your power, not his or anyone else's!" the scream echoed for only a moment, then the scorching heat came.
"Even if you wanna win… going out of your way to help your enemy… who's the joke now." Shouto berated his opponent, but the child-like smile wouldn't stay off his face.
"Ahahaha! That's my crazy student!" Anima found himself laughing once more at Izuku's actions, but it was evident that he was insurmountably proud of his pupil. Toshinori wasn't with him, but he found a group of small time heroes.
"That Todoroki kid?" a woman with compound eyes asked.
"Naw, Izuku is my disciple." his answer had another hero in a ninja outfit question him.
"He provoked his enemy into going all out; how are you proud of that?" the shock wave from the rapidly expanding air washed over them as Anima's eyes widened.
"His opponent has some problems, I don't know what they are, but they caused him to promise to only use one of his quirks. Izuku's decided to help him out of that, even in the middle of the fight. Even the true heroes like All Might sometimes forget that your enemy is a person, just like them. He's still looking to win, but he's put Todoroki's well being over winning." The heroes around him were shocked. Now that they knew why the teen was goading his opponent they, pro heroes, couldn't help but look up to the kid.
Izuku was rocketing around the arena while trying to land a clean hit on the dual-quirk user. The initial blast almost knocked him out of the ring with pure wind force alone. his shirt had burnt off from a stream of fire that, thanks to reinforcement, didn't hurt his skin. He managed to get close a few times, but with the wind up from a kick taking too long, he only got grazing hits. Shouto froze one of Izuku's leg up to mid calf.
"Finally," Izuku swore in his mind at the scarred teen's tone. He shattered the ice, but with more being made, his escape routes were limited towards his opponent, or out of the ring. He decided for an all or nothing gambit and took a low stance. With the surrounding environment covered in ice, Shouto recreated the initial blast his flames caused. The red lines of One For All tinted gold at his right arm as he collected his chi there. 'Chi responds to your will. If you can't think of yourself beating your opponent, then it won't be as strong. Even if you can't see yourself beating your opponent, think of who could.' The words of his first teacher ran through his head as he took a stance that wasn't his. His legs were less bent but his feet were farther apart. Instead of keeping his hands open, he clenched them in a fist. This wasn't Izuku's standard form; it was Anima's.
The golden glow in his arm flowed down his arm until it found itself at the apex of the punch, just as the shockwave crashed into said punch. The explosion was massive as unstoppable force met an immovable object. Dust flew in the air as the judges were left speechless. When it cleared, The winner was still undecided. Izuku had passed out from chi overuse, but Shouto had skid out of bounds.
"WHAT WAS THAT?! MIDORIYA IS UNCONSCIOUS, BUT TODOROKI'S BEEN THROWN OUT OF BOUNDS! THE HELL ARE YOUR STUDENTS MADE OF, AIZAWA?!" President Mic shouted.
"Just flesh and blood." the erasing hero smirked to himself at the same line that he had been the target of. He saw the stance that the student took, and he could almost see Izuku's mentor in the shadow of the teen. The medical teams came in and started to cart the two boys away. Everyone only had one question on their minds; if it was a real fight, who would have won?
The match hasn't been decided, even though it ended. If you want to have either win diverging from canon slightly, write a sound reason why in the comments! I know I may get some flak for Hitoshi's match, but Izuku has more self-control (and he'd understand Mashirao's point of view), so he wouldn't take the bait. also, the foreign words he spoke being for a private conversation was something that I came up with as a pseudo-secret code. Izuku has been with people who know multiple languages, so he can speak many (Japanese, Italian, Spanish, English, and conversational in Chinese) Next chapter wraps this arc up, so until next time!