"Dad!" Itsuka called running up the stairs. There was only so much time she could spend with Izuku alone before her heart got the better of her. Having a crush sucked. She didn't know what to say, what to do, how to act, or what to talk about it. Sure, when she actually started talking to Izuku it was easy as it ever was, but the silences between them grated at her nerves. She was never one to just stand around and do nothing anyways. She needed to do something.
And that something was train. The Villain attack yesterday had told her that much. And she'd tell him the truth. How she really felt about him if she won the in the sports festival. Or if he won. That way it was less an excuse to not do it. Because it wasn't an excuse she just needed to focus on becoming a good hero first then she could- She should her head and slapped her cheeks.
She continued into their home to see her father glaring at the T.V. both hands balled into fists at his sides and a scowl on his face.
"Late last night the villain known as Sharkolpyse, escaped from prison, it is still unknown if this is related to the attack on U.A.-" The reporter spoke.
"Dad!" She shouted again.
He jumped a bit, his fists, or rather his entire, body relaxed, and he smiled at her, but there was something off about it. Like he wasn't all there. "Oh, Itsuka, is Izuku here?"
"Yea," she pointed down the stairs. "He's downstairs getting into his training uniform. Are you okay? Did you know that villain?"
"Oh," He turned toward the T.V. once more. "Yes, he's one of the villains that your mother and I took out." He paused brushing his beard as he turned back to look at her. "But, that is enough living in the past for one week, let's go train you and Izuku for your futures."
His smile turned dark, barely hidden by his hand. "And try not to hate me after today's training."
"Yea, sure," she rolled her eyes, heading back downstairs. "You need to lay off the old Kung-fu movies dad."
"Why? They're good."
XXXX
"Focus," Kendo-sensei's voice drifted throughout the darkness, drawing him deeper into the lull of the exercise. It was unlike anything he had ever attempted or anything he had ever done. But it was so simple. It was to move as slow as possible but move all the same. "Keep your breath even. Find that source, find your power, your inner strength."
He breathed, keeping his eyes closed, shifting his foot from the warm stop he had made on the dojo floor to a crisp area that was still tempered by the early morning chills of May. His arm still burned from the injury he received yesterday - the self-inflicted one - But once more he was trying to use One for All. A breath, a pause.
There.
He felt it. For just a second. Before it rolled away as though simply angered that it had been woken up for something unimportant.
He followed it, chasing it deeper and finding it and grabbing onto it with both hands. That familiar jolt ran through his body pushing at his every nerve and trying to force him to move. It was a call to action like his body wanted to move all on its own. But that wasn't about this. This was different.
He needed to stay still.
"Good, you have it don't you?" Kendo-sensei half muttered guiding his arm into the correct with a gentle hand. "Where do you have it?"
"My stomach."
"That's good. That's very good. Now, try to move it. Gather it in your hands. Send it from fingertip to fingertip, hand to hand. No middle ground. Like you're juggling."
He tried that. But the energy, One for All, didn't work like that. It was either there or it wasn't there was no moving it. But he could control where it was. His arm was easiest, his hand a bit harder, and his fingers were difficult.
"It, it, doesn't work like that. It's kind of like a light switch." He said softly opening up his eyes to stare at his hand. He could still see it in his hand right where he left it on. But then it faded almost instantly. "I can turn it on in each room, but I can't have it follow me."
His eyes found Itsuka, her face was laced with sweet, orange hair tied in a ponytail, while she was dressed in her usual black work out clothes. She met his gaze before turning away nuzzling on her water bottle her face red, probably from her earlier training with her own quirk.
"Hmm, well," Kendo-sensei shrugged holding his arms up. "We'll just have to try and once you have more control over your quirk. So keep practicing and I'm sure you'll think of something." Kendo-sensei ran a hand through his hair, pushing his head down and smiled at Itsuka. "The sports festival is soon if I remember correctly."
"It's in two weeks," Itsuka stood up, "Vlad-sensei said that we should be giving it our all in try to train. It's our best chance to get noticed by pros."
"Oh, is that what it's for now a days?" Kendo-sensei popped his shoulder and rolled his neck. "Regardless, it's the most watched event in Japan, and while I'm certain that your sensei's at U.A. will have their own. Training or instructions for you." He popped his neck again, performed a few more stretches his smile growing all the wider. "But seeing as how classes have been canceled thanks to some hooligans that duty falls to me. At least for today."
"And what are you going to teach us?" He asked all but bouncing on his feet as Itsuka stood next to him, one arm clutching her elbow. Was, was she avoiding him? She kept looking away whenever he looked at her. "Itsuka-"
She turned to look at him, holding his gaze so firmly that he almost had to look away. When she had that fire in her eyes and that smile on her face, that was when she was the prettiest. "Izuku. For the Sports festival, I want to meet you in the final round."
"I uhh, sure!" He nodded.
She held out her arm, fist clenched and above her head. "And then, don't expect me to go easy on you. I'm going to beat you for sure."
Oh. He crossed arms with her and nodded. "I'm not going to lose either."
"That's the spark I want to see!" Kendo-sensei bounced in place, her whole body looking incredibly limber. "But now that you have the desire to win, let's see how you deal with suffering defeat." He dropped down into a fighting stance, both hands extending in front of him, a single leg supporting all of his body weight while the other was coiled up like a snake. "Over and over again, today's lesson is getting your ass kicked."
"Wait, you want us to fight you?" Itsuka blanched, her early bravado was all but gone. "What about your knees?"
"Oh please," Kendo-sensei waved his hand and rolled his cold blue eyes. His usual warm smile was replaced by a menacing one. "You two won't be enough to make my knees hurt any more than a set of stairs. Now come at me, Itsuka, you can use your quirk freely, Izuku,"
"Not inside, got it."
"Right then." Kendo-sensei raised his knee so it was level with his chest. "On a count of three, prepared to get your ass kicked. Oh, and Itsuka, this does not count as child abuse!"
"As long as you don't call it elderly abuse old man." Itsuka taunted dropping down into her own fighting stance. "Come on Izuku, let's show my dad what we can do."
"Right!"
"Three."
"Two."
"One."
Itsuka ran forward, her hands growing to their maximum size in a hurry. He joined her, careful not to use One for All against his sensei. Adrenaline pumping through him. His first fight with a pro hero, even one that was retired, how could he not be excited.
Kotetsu fell backward onto his hands, his feet pointed at each of them. Two loaded guns. He barely had enough time to dodge out of the way before a foot shot passed him, the rush of air, was enough to rustle his hair and force him to blink.
"To slow!" He heard from up ahead. He opened his eyes and saw Kendo-sensei's beaming face for a half second, his arms extended down below him as he shot passed at knee height. Sensei grabbed ahold of his knee and Itsuka's and pulled them up.
The next thing he knew he was on his stomach looking at where Kendo-sensei was.
"Get back up, the ass kicking has only just begun. If you want to make it far as a hero, you must learn to use your quirk beyond its maximum potential." He turned to see Kendo-sensei standing where he and Itsuka had been moments ago. "To overcome your own limitations and make your weaknesses your strengths, that is what we must strive for."
"Is it just me or does your dad look extra happy?" He looked towards Itsuka as he pushed himself up off the ground.
"I think he's just happy he gets to spout more bullshit."
XXXX
The day of the sports festival was on par of a national holiday, largely because of the number of people that requested the day off, many businesses simply close down for the day. It was for that reason that she was able to get the day off so easily. It was going to be a nice relaxing day of watching Izuku do his best at the sports festival while she had at least twenty heart attacks.
"Okay, chips, do they like chips? I don't know if they like chips. He does like tea, and he is certainly polite." Inko paced the living room of her own modest home. All things considered, it was hardly the place that should be having any form of guests over. But somehow that's what happened. "Ohh, I'm not the entertainer I used to be. I don't even know why I agreed."
Still, the table was set and her nerves were a complete mess. Well, they were always a mess. Oh, if only her husband was here then maybe she'd be less of a mess.
"Up next we have the first year events!" The T.V. boomed. "But as you can see security around the area has been heightened after the incident two weeks ago." The camera zoomed in on a few police forces and heroes that had been set up around the event. There certainly were a lot of them. At least her Izuku would be safe and sound.
A knock came from her door, just a single tap followed by the ring of her door-bell.
"Ahh, one moment!" She called hopping over to open the door. It was too late now. It had been far too long since she had actually seen the woman. But, they were still friend right? Sure their children were only kind of friends, but it still seemed fitting. "Come on in Mitsuki, Masaru."
"Thanks for the invite Inko!" Mitsuki barged in plopping her shoes off with ease. "I can't wait to watch our sons beat the snot out of each other! It should be great! Still surprised that your little Izuku managed to get in Katsuki's been steamed over that for months."
"Yes!" She squeaked, standing to the side as the couple entered her home. "It came as a surprise to both of us."
"I bought a vegetable tray." Masaru said softly, nodding in her direction as he took his time taking off his shoes. "Are we the only ones coming?"
"Oh, no there's one more coming over-"
"That would be me if I'm not mistaken." a leg stepped over the railing to her apartment. One of his legs was stretched all the way to the ground before retracting up rather quickly, and Izuku's Kendo-sensei appeared. His hair was tied back into a ponytail and was largely black with ever more streaks of grey darting across it. "Kotetsu Kendo pleased to meet your acquaintance. Or is it make your acquaintance?"
"Kotetsu Kendo?" Masaru's eyes went wide as he continued into the building. "I've heard of that name before, you wouldn't happen to be a pro would you?"
"I'm retired now, but yes I went by Hurricane Striker back then." Kotetsu hummed, easily taking off his straw slippers. He nodded at her and bowed slightly. "Thank you for the invitation Inko, I wasn't aware I was expected to bring food."
"Oh, no you weren't." She scrambled backward gesturing to the table where she had set up snacks. "And please, don't worry about it, it's because of you that Izuku managed to get into U.A in the first place so we can both-"
"You speak nonsense Inko," He waved her off, his smile growing wide enough so that only a sliver of his blue eyes would be seen. "I assure you even without my help, Izuku would have made it into U.A. with his own determination. Now, please, let's watch our children do their best."
In theory, watching the event with guests should calm her nerves. "Yes, I'm eager to see how Itsuka and Izuku do."
"They're both going to lose to my Katsuki!" Mitsuki shouted from the table a chip covered in dip halfway into her mouth. "Good dip by the way!"
Between the obstacle course, the cavalry battle, and Katsuki's brief speech that had the whole world angry at him, she could barely keep her heart from racing.
Then came the real panic. The tournament.
XXXX
"The Seventh Match! The Big Sis of class 1-b Itsuka Kendo, vs the hardest head in class 1-A Eijiro Kirishima."
Was that really the name they were going with? Big Sis? Just because she was the class president, and they all listened to her, and she cared about them, did not mean she was their big sis. Okay. Maybe it did. But that was beside the point.
She breathed stepping out onto the stadium field, her gaze focused up to where her class was sitting. She really owed them a lot. Despite how much she protested, Tetsutetsu and Yui had insisted that she be the one to participate in the tournament. They choose to put their hopes on her. To have her and Ibara to carry the banner of class 1-b.
And then there were her own selfish desires for wanting to win. If she won, she'd tell Izuku how she felt. That simple and that meant smashing her way through each opponent.
With so much on the line, she couldn't afford to lose.
"Don't expect me to go easy on you just because you're a girl." Eijiro smiled holding up his arms as they turned into hardened spikes.
"Really? People still say that?" She lowered into her combat stance, both fists normal sized. He had a quirk like Tetsutetsu where he made himself really tough to damage. But, it didn't look like his speed was hindered during the Calvary battle. It should be easy with the ring out rule. "How lame can you get?"
"Right, sorry, guess that wasn't very manly." He laughed, shark-like teeth grinning at her as his red hair became even spikier. "Let's have a good match okay?"
"Right." She offered him a single bow and remembered all of her father's training, it was good enough to help her get into the entrance exam, good enough to have her place in a tournament. Now it was time to see if it was good enough against other heroes.
"Start!"
He charged her, his body hard and spikey with a feral grin, his footfalls sounded like two bricks grinding against each other. Like most heroes, his style of fighting was 'punch and hope it hits. He was stronger than her, but she had experience on her side. She guided his strike inwards, across is how chest, and slipped in behind him, grabbing onto the hand and forcing him into a grab.
"Ha!" He screamed like he was the winner while struggling against her grip. "Is that all you got? There's no way you'll be able to hurt me, might as well just surrender."
"You talk too much," She enlarged her hands around him.
"Hey, wait, what's with your hands?" He squirmed in her grip.
"It's my quirk, they grow." She lifted him off the ground, still holding him nice and tight. "And your quirk just makes you harder not heavier, so I can easily do this."
She spun once and tossed him out of the ring.
Well, that was easy.
"What an anti-climatic ending! On to the next round!"
XXXX
"Ha! You're girls clever Kotetsu!" Mitsuki slapped her knees, eyes still glued to the T.V. "She knew exactly how to beat that redheaded kid and didn't hold back."
Kotetsu nodded. "Thanks for your kind words, I must admit I'm looking forward to the next match as well." Mostly to see who exactly his daughter would be facing off against. From what he had seen thus far, Katsuki might just be the most ferocious fighter of the whole lot.
"Still, it's a shame we haven't seen Izuku use his quirk just yet," Masura spoke, leaning back on the couch that he was sharing with his wife. "But his next opponent is that Ice kid so he'll have to use it, right Inko?"
Izuku's mother perked up, a cup of tea inches from her mouth. "Oh, I'm just proud of how far he's already made it."
"What are you talking about Inko!" Mitsuki flexed one of her arms and placed a leg on the table, glaring at the other woman. "Our kids are going to meet in the final round! Why else would they end up on opposite sides?"
"You forget Mitsuki, your Katsuki still has to go through my Itsuka, but before that, he still has his first match to worry about." Kotetsu smiled taking a sip of his tea. Things were certainly interesting.
In a matter of minutes, the die was cast and Katsuki would be his daughters next opponent. Now it was time to see what his daughter could do against someone with an overwhelming quirk like Katsuki's.
After, he watched young Izuku battle against the boy with ice powers.
AN: Hey look, I did a fight I didn't hate. And next chapter I get to write Itsuka vs Katsuki. However, the changes I make to the love story of Itsuka and Izuku are the focus of this story. Not once have I ever claimed that this was an AU. Not a full one at any rate. I'm mostly following canon to give a sense of the passage of time. So please, please stop asking/telling me that this isn't AU enough. It wasn't supposed to be. Thanks for reading, Hope you enjoyed. Please follow me on twitter, and support me on Ko - fi / yojimbra if you want to. Love you all.
So, I'm going to be straight up with you. This is not a true AU. But I'm not going to be rewriting every scene from canon. I'm going to be skipping most of them unless I can put a good enough spin on it to further Izuku's and Itsuka's relationship. The changes I make to canon will be small, and in the wide story of BNHA won't change the end result.