Izuku was expecting many things during the match.
Unbridled rage was not one of them.
A section of his brain had been taken over, he could feel that, but he didn't give a damn.
Right now… right now he had a skull to crush.
He took another step that was unnecessarily forceful, the stomp causing the ring to wobble slightly under the pressure.
"FOUR."
"I-Izuku?" Momo mumbled, watching her boyfriend almost split the arena in half with a single step forward. "W-what's happening? Why isn't he getting mind controlled?"
"M-maybe it's his quirk?" Ochako answered, unable to tear her eyes away from the ring.
"Jesus…" Mina shivered from behind the two. "Baka-gou have you ever seen him so pissed?"
"Lilac bitch is fucked," was the only response Katsumi gave.
"S-standing up for your friends is so manly t-though!" Eiko added, shaking in her seat slightly.
With his facial features hidden by shadows, Izuku looked terrifying .
"Remind me to never, ever diss one of Midoriya's friends, please ," Minerva muttered to Tsuyu who was staring at the arena with her mouth slightly agape.
She nodded slowly.
Toshiko blinked at the stage "...Midoriya?" She could feel his rage from there, and considering Miruko's perked ears, she could too.
"Cold, calculating anger," the rabbit hero smirked, "not the best thing for a hero, but he's not ranting or raving in a blind rage."
"Not a bad thing for a hero to have either."
"It will be bad if he kills her!" Toshiko rebuked, huffing lightly.
"Don't worry, my son wouldn't do something like that," Inko shot back.
"I- I think…"
The voice was panicking.
Whatever the Hitsuki's quirk was, it had failed spectacularly.
It was blocking and activating the same circuitry that normally would have locked off consciousness from the motor functions of any human brain and brought them under her command.
Removing their free will.
The only problem was, Izuku's brain was wired differently than any other human as a result of Total Command doing its best to patch up his dying grey matter after the USJ.
Currently, Shinsou's quirk was blocking Izuku's inhibitory system, preventing it from calming down the rage that was building in him.
Removing logic aside and letting him do what he felt like doing.
" Uh̗…̫ ̯I͍zuku?̥ "
Give me three more seconds.
"O̧h͙…̨ sh̯i̠t"
"I- I SAID STOP!" Hitsuki screamed as Izuku took another step forward, his green irises shining through the shadows cast over his face by his hair.
He looked like a monster from a nightmare.
"THREE."
She gulped and took a step back, fearing what was to come. Even the umpire was looking wary.
Midnight shook the urges of a pro-hero that were screaming inside her from the bloodlust emanating from the ring.
From Izuku.
"R-remember, you cannot murder…"
Izuku's head snapped at her, as he took another heavy step forward, then slowly turned back to Hitsuki.
"TWO…"
Something about his voice finally activated the full extent of the lilac-haired girls' fight or flight instincts.
"I SAID STOP"
She punched him.
Punched him with all the might her body could generate under the influence of the adrenaline coursing through her veins.
He didn't even react as her fist smacked against his chest.
She yelled in pain and pulled her arm back, grabbing her throbbing forearm.
His body hadn't budged.
She had punched what amounted to a brick wall.
"W-wait! STOP. No... no no no no…"
Hitsuki looked up to see his green eyes glaring down at her.
"What the fuck are yo-"
"One."
Izuku's hand surged forward, fingers knitting through her lilac locks with ease and clamping tightly around her skull.
Then.
He squeezed.
The stadium remained silent; they had been since the countdown began.
Neiro was scared out of her mind. O-oh God, I knew it.
That man from 1-A was a villain all along.
Now he's gonna tear her head off.
Mei was sweating.
The human skull could take 500 kg of force before it fractured.
Izuku could produce more than that without straining.
And he was pissed .
I know I told you to beat the shit out of her but this is overkill!
He lifted Hitsuki up by her head with ease. Slowly adding pressure as he did so.
"You claim to have such a villainous quirk, yet you depend so heavily on it." His voice was a deep growl, a far cry from his usual meeker tone. "And you stand there, judging others on your ivory pedestal. A martyr of society."
Hitsuki panted under the pressure, struggling against his hand and gripping onto his arm to alleviate the strain on her neck.
Her eyes caught a glimpse of his.
They were swimming with rage.
"Such garbage," he spat, her continued kicks to his chest not even affecting his tone. "You are here to be a hero yet all you do is spite others for having 'better' quirks. Doing nothing to better yourself ."
He added more pressure to his grip and Hitsuki started to feel faint from the increasing pain caused by the pressure against her brain.
"Just cause you've had it rough doesn't mean the rest of us are having it any easier."
He pulled her closer to his face. Staring right into her eyes, as if he could see straight into her soul.
"No one got here without sacrifice and hard work. Get. Over. Yourself."
He added more pressure and Hitsuki finally succumbed to unconsciousness, going limp in his hands as the pain became unbearable.
He let her crumple down on the ring floor.
The stadium let out a collective sigh of relief.
" S-Shinsou Hitsuki is unconscious… M-Midoriya Izuku wins. "
He shook his head slightly as her quirks affect got cut off, releasing the blocked-off portion of his brain. It starting to attempt to get a handle on his exposed rage.
He proceeded to stomp out of the ring slowly, grumbling under his breath.
Mt. Lady was petrified at the scene; Kamui Woods and Death Arms were in identical states as they all stared at the hologram relaying the feed from the ring.
"How… how the fuck did he even do that?" Mt. Lady finally asked.
"Enough pressure on the skull will knock anyone out… I've done it before..." Death Arms mumbled in a haze.
"Huh… the more you know," Kamui muttered back.
Momo felt… weird.
She told herself that she should feel relieved , or happy that Izuku had 'defended her honor'.
But she didn't.
Instead, she felt hollow. Hollow that she couldn't be the one to beat the opponent that dispatched her with ease.
Someone that Izuku put the fear of God in by just walking at her.
He took her down, even with her quirk, even with just taking the attacks…
Yet she took me down with such ease…
Her lips tugged downwards as she realized exactly what she was feeling.
She felt inadequate.
The hollowness she felt only deepened at her revelation.
The world faded out around her as she gazed down.
Maybe I am just inadequate…
She started going through the vivid memories of her classmates beating the villains at the USJ, Izuku's brush with death, and Ochako's combat prowess.
Looking through all of that, it was painfully obvious.
I really am just inadequate…
Then, her brain touched another memory, one that still took her breath away
"If you got here, you deserve to be here- don't let your own doubt say otherwise." The inferno grew larger in him, and she could finally breathe again as he looked away, his grip tightening around the counter
"If you listen to that voice, you'll only go around in circles."
Her spirit set her self pity and doubt aflame; using them as kindling to nurture the rapidly growing inferno of determination.
The first thing you said to me... Yet it took this long for me to listen to it...
She looked back at the ring with a fire burning behind her grey eyes.
It's never too late to catch up, though, is it?
Izuku stomped his way through the depths of the stadium, trying to calm himself down before he lost control over his anger again and went back to squeeze some more sense into Hitsuki.
Considering who he came across, maybe it would have been better if he did.
"You."
The grating voice of the number 2 hero echoed through the hallway.
Izuku groaned, turning to look at her with agitation evident on his face. "What."
"You are to marry my daughter." She casually ordered him as if she was talking to a barista about her coffee.
Izuku's agitation turned to fury, revving the activity of his recently overworked limbic system as he repeated himself. " What? "
"She was engineered to surpass All Might. My perfect creation... But with your genes…" She was staring at him like she was appraising him "Your daughter would make All Might but a mere footnote in Hero history."
Her eyes were almost manic at the prospect. "Can you even imagine? The perfect hero!"
He tilted his head down and took a step forward, intending to intimidate the raving hero.
Neither reacted fully as their chests pushed against each other. Emerald eyes glaring into turquoise ones unflinchingly.
"What do you think your daughter is? Just a pawn to further your desires?" His voice was cold enough to remind Endeavor of the ice of her daughter and wife.
"But, you are right. Most heroes of our time will become footnotes in history books." He took a step to the side and stomped past the pro, not looking back as he walked away. "But I'm sure you won't even be mentioned ."
With that, he walked off, Endeavor staring at his back as a cruel grin grew across her face. She felt a shiver run down her spine as the phantom sensation of contact on her chest lingered.
Oh, he is perfect . And if Shoko proves not to be woman enough for him…
I'll just have to break him for myself.
"Goo͜d ͖wo͓rk͙ ̠ba̻ckͅ ̝th̳er̗e…͖"
What, with the poor excuse of a parent, or the person too spiteful for her own dream? He huffed internally as he continued his casual stroll to calm his mind.
"B̦o͔t̞h̬ ̢ṟe̝al̫ly, ̰Į ͜wa̧s̟ sca͈red̳ ̡y͚ou ̪we̩re̻ g̪onna a̠c̖t̞ua̗l͕ly͜ mu͉r͇de͉r t̪ha̻t purple͓ h̳a̙i͈re͟d ̡on̻e." He could feel the voice 'shrug' inside his head.
It was fascinating how simply talking to her increased his 'perception' of her, making her almost animated with her gestures even as he had no mental image to attach the gesture to.
Thought you knew everything I did? You should know I wouldn't do that.
"We̺l̬l… yḛa̟h,̼ ̯I ̺w͇a͍s̳ ̘ju̟s͚t k̼i̺n̢d̲a ̦s͙ca̝r̢e̞d ͍wh̦en͉ I ͜fe̫l̘t͇ ̮y̫our̦ ̢in̟hibi̝t͕i̬o͉ns ͅg̼e̺t t̪ur̬ne̪d̦ ̩o͜ff͕."
Oh, so that was the part that got turned off then…
He continued his walk, turning the opposite way from the place where 1-A was sitting..
"Ḩey̹,̗ ̱a͍reͅn̡'t̳ w̖e ͇g̬o̞ing͜ ͕t̤he̱ ̼w̞r͚o̱nͅg̯ ͚w̤ay̨?"
I wanna walk a bit to calm myself down first…
"Oh͇, ͖ri̪ght͕.̗ G̝o̪o̠d͎ ͙c͈al̹l…̞"
He continued his walk in physical and mental silence down the halls, watching the off-white paint as his feet carried him forward, his previously overacting limbic system finally calming down.
Hey- uh, what should I call you? He questioned in the moment of solitude; it was weird talking to someone in his head yet not having a name to call them by.
He felt her thinking for a bit, "N͉a̺n̞a̢…̮" she mumbled then nodded, "Yo̖u̲ ̰can cal̫l̦ ͈m͕e̟ Nana͈,̧ ̞I f̤e͚e͚l li̫k̮e t͎h̞at̞ ̼was͈ my͎ ͔n͔ame̱- ͅo͎u̪r n̜a̳me?"
He chuckled a bit. Well, you seem to be one 'being' right now, so no need to confuse yourself over that…
"I'͔m̧ ̡st̞u͇ck i͕ns̥ide̠ t͇he̻ ̫ḩe̟a͖d̰ ̖of͚ ͉a̙ṉ 1̯8̝-̧year̬-o͉ld, ͖wh̥y ̣ṣh̟oul̝ḍņ'̗t̜ ̞I b̰e͙ ̻c̟on̫f̯usͅed̗ ̗c̞o̼nstan̙tly?"
Touche.
"Green?"
Izuku stopped in his tracks as the voice broke the silence he had found himself in. He turned to the source. "Kyoka?"
"So you feeling alright?" he mumbled as the two of them made their way back to the 1-A seats, deciding that yeah, he was calm enough now.
"A little bit of tinnitus never hurt anyone," she joked back hollowly.
Izuku's pointed stare urged her to continue.
"Relax, you big softie, there's no permanent damage or anything. If I didn't know any better, I would've guessed Baka-gou was holding back." She shrugged a bit, something in her voice setting Izuku off.
"That was a bad matchup…" he hummed softly.
"I don't need pity, Izuku…" she huffed, looking away with a slight blush and a pout.
"Who said anything about pitying you?" he asked with a quirked eyebrow, looking at the back of her head.
"The 'bad match-up' part. What is that if not pity?" she huffed back, crossing her arms.
"Just telling you what we saw, pitting someone with super hearing against someone that can create loud explosions isn't quite the best match-up is it?" he explained.
"I-I guess?" She lowered her arms back down. "I just think I could have done better, I just gave up after the first att-"
The sudden sensation of his hand petting her head silenced her. "You did your best within your circumstances, Kyoka"
She made a soft sound, that was between a purr and an eep at the sudden contact and compliment.
Izuku pulled his hand back immediately. "S-sorry, did I overstep?"
"W-warn me before you do something like that!" she hissed softly. Oh God, why did I make that sound?!
"S-sorry…"
"I-it's fine… you can do it again i-if you want..." Her face reddened a few seconds later as she realized exactly what she had said.
"Alright…" He placed his hand back and slowly rubbed her head again, causing another soft mewl to escape her lips.
W-why did I tell him it was ok… she asked herself internally as she continued her futile attempts to hide just how much she was enjoying the contact.
" AND BAKUGO MANAGES TO WEAR DOWN KIRISHIMA, WINNING THE BATTLE! " Mic announced just as Izuku and Kyoka made it to the stands.
"Huh, missed the whole battle, then?" he mumbled as Shoko got up to leave for her own fight, passing by him with a slight glace that just felt heavier after the revelation she dumped on him recently. Not to mention her 'mother's' incessant orders at him.
"Oh, hey Izuku, quick question, what the fuck was that last battle?" Mina asked him as soon as he stepped close enough for the rest of his class to notice his presence.
"I… got kinda carried away when she said those things about Momo…" he mumbled weakly, rubbing the back of his head. "Plus her quirk apparently doesn't work on me properly, who could've guessed?"
"'Total Command' cancels out 'Brainwashing,'" Momo mumbled, "Should've guessed that would be the case honestly."
I am guessing it was because of my rewired brain rather than that, but guess that's a good excuse…
He blinked.
The class had grown quieter. Staring at him.
"Did I say that aloud?"
Ochako nodded slowly.
"I-Izuku… what do you mean, 'rewired brain'?" Momo stuttered out.
"I- hm…" He took the final steps to his seat and let himself crash onto it. "Remember the USJ?"
"Don't say that like any of us could forget that hell…" Doi muttered, shivering slightly.
"Remember how I, uh, 'died' for a little while?" he whispered grimly.
"N-no you couldn't have…" Tomoyo gasped.
He chuckled sadly. "Turns out, not being able to breathe for longer than six minutes isn't healthy for human brains." He knocked on his own skull. "This guy took a beating when that happened, but thankfully Total Command was there to keep it from becoming fatal."
"W-what does that mean?" Ochako asked from his side, barely keeping herself from hugging him fully. She hadn't known just how close they had come to his death.
"My quirk used the surviving neurons to jury-rig a working human brain out of the half or so that survived, causing most of the wiring to change- it's fine now though, you don't need to worry about it!" He shot a smile back at his classmates. "The lost grey matter is back and all, it's all good…" He shut his mouth as he saw the looks he was getting.
"Half your brain died ?!" Hana exclaimed.
"Why didn't you tell us this was happening?" Mina mumbled, eyes shadowed by her hair.
"I-I didn't want to worry you guys?" He blinked and his shoulders slumped "I- it's not like I didn't trust you or anything… it's just... " He twiddled his thumbs. "I was already healing by the time I found out about it and after that, I didn't see the point of telling you guys about it and making all of you worry about me…"
"I wanna punch you in the face for that-" Ochako paused for the sound of ice crackling to end as Shoko one-shot yet another opponent. "But I guess that was just you being you. Doesn't mean I have to like it. Please tell us next time?"
He chuckled weakly at that.
"Wha-" The class turned to see Katsumi standing in the doorway of the corridor leading out into the stadium.
She took shaky steps towards Izuku, managing to make her way to him. "You- you died?"
"I- I didn't Kacchan!" Izuku defended, raising his hands up. "I just…"
She gripped onto his shoulders. "D-don't. We both know what brain death means, idiot," she huffed.
She looked into his eyes. "Why didn't you tell us?"
"I- I just told you!" He was having trouble arguing with the look of betrayal in her eyes. " I- I didn't want to…"
"Glasses, how long is there between matches?" she shot at Tomoyo, who responded reflexively that it would be 10 minutes before the semi-finals began.
Hearing that, Katsumi grabbed Izuku by the shirt and pulled him off to the depths of the stadium.
"Shouldn't we stop them?" Doi asked as the two disappeared.
"You saw how distraught she was back in USJ… I think she needs to talk with him." Momo answered back, recalling how broken she had been.
"WHY?!" she yelled, punching his chest weakly. "Why didn't you tell me!?" She was on the brink of sobbing.
Izuku caught her fists. "Y-you told me your worst nightmare was me dying… what did you want me to do, go 'oh yeah, by the way, half of my brain died back there'?"
That shut her up as both of them tried to find the words to continue.
"Of course not, idiot- just…" Their faces were drifting closer together. "You don't need to shoulder all the weight…"
"I know... " he huffed.
She could feel his breath against her lips.
Mei's words echoed in her mind. 'Jesus Christ, just fucking kiss him once and see what he does'
Her hand surged forward and pulled his head down, closing the gap between them. Her lips found their place upon his in a fiery burst of passion that came and went like one of her explosions.
Swift and short lived, but oh so satisfying.
She pulled back immediately, face flushing fully. "S-sorry, I shouldn't ha-"
Izuku twisted both of them around, slamming his arm against the wall and cornering her, face close enough for her to feel him breathing. "What are you sorry about?"
Leave it to Izuku to make her feel weak in the knees.
As if sensing it, his other hand found its way to her waist stabilizing her as she drifted closer again.
Their lips made a brief contact again, Katsumi's hands roaming his back and neck till they ended up combing through his hair, nails scratching against his scalp and eliciting the softest of groans from the man. Then she pulled back, tugging at his lower lip as she did so.
He chased the contact, returning her kiss as his free hand shifted from her waist to under her thigh, pulling her up and letting his body pin her against the wall. Her leg wrapping around him instinctually, acting on her desire to be as close to him as possible.
He pulled back slightly to catch his breath, both panting against each other, their breaths tickling each other's skin.
"For not… doing that sooner…" she huffed, her arms around his neck loosely.
"Maybe I should've taken the first step instead?" he chuckled softly.
Someone cleared their throat behind them, causing both to panic and Izuku to almost drop Katsumi.
It was Ochako.
"So uh…" She looked pensive. "C-can I get my good luck kiss too?" Or perhaps she was just trying to keep her laughter contained.
Izuku paused, Katsumi looked like she was lagging again, mind tripping at the whiplash from the best kiss she had ever had, to the sudden interruption.
Izuku shook his head, taking a few steps towards her. "S-sorry I did that without asking you three..."
Ochako grabbed onto the sides of his face and pulled him down to eye level. "Oh, don't worry. Mei told us that was gonna happen eventually… not that she," Ochako gestured at Katsumi, "was any good at hiding her affection." She smiled slightly at how red Katsumi was getting behind him.
"Now if you don't mind me~" She pulled him closer and captured his lips with hers, moaning lightly as she pushed her tongue in to get a taste of him, causing him to groan back in return. His hands came to rest on her sides as she slowly stepped forwards, his hunched back slamming into the wall next to Katsumi as she could only stare on at a repeat performance of what she had done not 2 minutes ago, a deep blush slowly filling her cheeks.
Ochako slowly lifted herself up as she began to gasp and moan into the kiss, the sounds making Izuku flush and shiver as she all but formed her body against him, soft and warm skin pressed flat against his, separated only by the sports uniforms they all wore. Eventually, she pulled back, breath coming in short pants, both of them feeling lightheaded from the passionate kiss and the lack of oxygen, some saliva still connecting their mouths. "Haa~" she breathed out, giggling slightly with a glazed look in her eye. Izuku, in the meantime, was putting his quirk in to overdrive to keep from reacting as much as he was tempted too. There was a tournament still going on for fucks sake.
"ITS TIME FOR THE SEMI-FINALS, DEAR LISTENERS, URARAKA OCHAKO VERSUS, BAKUGOU KATSUMI!"
All three took a sharp inhale of air.
"Shit."