WARNING! SPOILERS FOR THE RECENT CHAPTERS IN MY HERO ACADEMIA!
So, recently I've found out that Oboro Shirakumo and Kurogiri are the SAME PEOPLE. This kinda throws my fanfic for a loop right now because now I don't know how to explain Kurogiri's existence since this fic is now clearly more of an AU than ever!
But anyway, let's start the final parts of the Sports Festival: THE TOURNAMENTS!
Izuku and Hana both were unsure what Shoko wanted from them. Normally, she had been very aloof about her feelings save for a few quick glances in their direction during class, especially after the USJ Attack.
"So, what do you want out of us, Todo-Chan?" Hana asked with her hands behind her back curiously. Izuku was rather nervous as the heterochromatic girl's eyes peered into his own emerald ones.
"We should probably get to Lunch soon. I mean, the lines will get pretty full sooner or later."
"Midoriya, Shimura...you managed to catch me off-guard. So much so, that I was forced to use the side I refused to use..."
"Your fire?" Izuku asked as Shoko nodded, looking at her left hand before moving her attention to Hana.
"Shimura...you're All-Might's Goddaughter, right?" The girl nodded in response as Shoko clenched her left fist.
"And All-Might trained Midoriya...so in general, that gives me more incentive to try and beat you, even if the task itself may seem impossible."
"What do you mean?" Izuku asked, even though he and Hana both felt like they weren't going to like the answer.
"You know of my father, Enji Todoroki? Of course, you better remember him by his Hero Name, Endeavor. He's the #2 Hero in all of Japan, just behind All-Might."
"Yeah, he's also the Hero with the most resolved cases. He's also been pretty tight-lipped rivals with Batman from America in the past 5 years." Izuku pointed out, his Hero Nerd showing.
"My father values strength above all else. He made a name for himself pushing through every obstacle in his way with his strength and cunning...but he could never hope to reach the honor of the #1 Hero spot held by All-Might...so he came up with a plan to make up for his shortcomings."
"What do you mean?" Hana asked nervously.
"Ever heard of Quirk Marriages?"
"Y-Yeah, they were a practice of two people marrying to produce an heir with a combination of their Quirks. It's pretty frowned upon by society but...did your father really...?" Shoko grimly nodded.
"Yes, my mother's family was in crippling debt, scammed out of most of their savings by that Villain from America...Riddler, was it? Then my father swoops in like a knight in shining armor, offering to help pay off their debts with his family wealth in exchange for their oldest daughter's hand in marriage...my mother."
"But why would Endeavor want to do this?" Hana asked, biting her lip nervously.
"My father saw my mother's Quirk as the perfect complement to his own. With their Quirks combined, he hoped to produce a child who would succeed him and take the #1 Hero spot that he himself could never hope to achieve. My older siblings, Toya, Natsuo, Fuyumi...They were all failures in his eyes. Then I came along and developed my Quirk...the perfect Quirk that he wanted from his child." Shoko explained, looking at her hands in a form of disgust.
"What happened then?"
"Father trained me aggressively, almost to the point of being abusive at times. He and mother constantly argued and even got violent with each other...until finally, it all accumulated in my mother suffering a nervous breakdown...and pouring boiling hot tea in my face."
Izuku and Hana gasped in horror as Shoko placed a hand over the scar that surrounded her left eye. The half-and-half girl grit her teeth hard as she clenched her right hand, frost emitting from it violently until it accumulated into shards of ice that surrounded her knuckles.
"Then my father decided to throw my mother in Arkham Asylum...all the way in America! He may act like he cares for me but he just wants me to be his good little successor! I hate being a tool for that SCUM! That's when I made a vow...I would never use my left side...the left side that harnesses my fire!"
Shoko felt tears welling up in her eyes as her emotions began running freely...until Hana walked up and hugged her, Izuku quickly doing the same.
"Know I understand what you meant when you told me that you knew what it was like to have a bad dad..." Hana whispered as Izuku backed away, giving her a stern look.
"Todoroki...I can only guess how hard it is...being in your father's shadow and constantly being seen as his personal weapon...but you shouldn't hold yourself back because of that! All our friends are giving their best to be Heroes...and you think you're going to get by on HALF your power? I can't allow that...if we face each other in the final event...be sure to give it your all."
Shoko listened to Izuku's words and sighed as she took one last glance at her hands, the hands created by her mother and father. She then saw Izuku and Hana walking off to the cafeteria to get lunch, giving her one last look of gentleness as she sighed and walked after them, not noticing Katsumi and Toga were listening in.
"Guess I'm not the only one, huh?" Toga said softly as Katsumi stroked her head.
"Yeah, no doubt about it."
A flush was heard as Yuma walked out, giving Toga a thankful expression.
"Merci for taking my place during the Cavalry Battle, Himiko~!" The Half-French Girl thanked as Toga smiled, having used her Quirk to disguise herself as Yuma and join Hitoshi's team since Yuma had overexerted her Quirk during the Obstacle Race.
After everyone had lunch, they headed back to the field to listen to Nemuri make the final announcements.
"Alright, everyone! The final event is our die-honored tradition! A FIGHTING TOURNAMENT! But first, we have special minigames for those who didn't make it in order to compensate and let them show their stuff!"
"YEAH! WE EVEN GOT CHEERLEADERS FROM AMERICA TO HYPE UP THE GAMES!" Hizashi called out from the announcer's desk.
Minori giggled as she led the other girls outside, all dressed in Cheerleader Uniforms created by Momo. She and Deli had come up with the plan to have all the girls in their class dress up to cheer on the others. Momo, Kyoka, Ibara, Kinoko, Melissa, Habuko, and Ochako were not entierly comfortable while the other girls just rolled with it. When they stepped outside, everyone looked at them in surprise.
"WHAT'S THIS? THE HERO COURSE LADIES ARE GOING FANSERVICE ON US?!" Hizashi cried in amazement.
"I knew this was a bad idea! I don't know HOW you talked me into this, Minori-Chan!" Momo groaned as she hung her head down while Kinoko was shyly trying to hide her face with her pom-poms. Deli gave Kyoka a look-over and nodded her head, much to the musician's annoyance and embarrassment. Toga, Tooru, Mina, Camie, Eiko, and Pony were getting into the swing of things while Katsumi just had an unamused expression.
"I swear you little grape fairy, I'll blow you up if you try to do this shit again." This, of course, caused Minori to squeak in terror at the blonde girl's threat.
Mei noticed Melissa in her cheerleading uniform and took off her goggles, staring at her fellow Blonde Support Scientist as her cheeks flushed pink and a trickle of blood dripped out of her nose. Jurota and Iida both blushed and politely looked away while Tsubaraba, Sen, Kuroiro, and Sero were staring with dazed expressions and their own bloody noses.
As for poor sweet innocent Izuku, he had all but fainted at seeing all his lady friends dressed up in such revealing uniforms, steam pouring out of his eyes, nose, and ears. Meanwhile, Inasa just gave a bright smile and a thumbs-up.
"You girls are hot-blooded to be able to dress up in those uniforms! LET YOUR SPIRITS BE HEARD!" The Aerokinetic cheered loudly while Shoko just looked to the side to see her father, the Flame Hero Endeavor, looking at her with a bemused expression. Giving him a glare in response, she turned away in order to avoid making eye contact.
After the minigames were done, it was time for the Sports Festival Final Tournament to begin! Nemuri stepped up to the podium as Cementoss was busy making a large arena from concrete poured into a large square hole.
"Alright, as said before, the six highest-ranking teams from the Cavalry Battle will participate in bracket-style tournament battles! Lots will be drawn to show who is against who but first, the teams who passed!
1st Place-Team Uraraka: Ochako, Izuku, Hana, and Inasa
2nd Place-Team Todoroki: Shoko, Momo, Iida, and Camie
3rd Place-Team Bakugou: Katsumi, Eiko, Mina, and Deli
4th Place-Team Shield: Melissa, Mei, Sero, and Fumikage
5th Place-Team Shinsho: Hitoshi, Shouda, Toga (who had been masquerading as Yuma), and Monoma
6th Place-Team Tetsutetsu: Tetsutetsu, Ibara, Juuzo, and Awase
"This stinks! But I hope you guys do good in the tournament, kero." Tsuyu said to Izuku and Ochako with a pout as Habuko patted her shoulder comfortingly. Tetsutetsu was crying manly tears at just barely managing to make it with his team while Ibara prayed in thanks for managing to get so far.
"And now, let's draw lots and see who gets to face who in the first round!" Nemuri announced as the 24 teens walked up to a large bowl and drew the lots before showing them to Nemuri, who counted them up and then set up the holographic chart, displaying a tournament bracket for who would be facing who.
Izuku Midoriya vs Monoma Neito
Katsumi Bakugou vs Momo Yaoyorozu
Shoko Todoroki vs Sero Hanta
Hana Shimura vs Hitoshi Shinsho
Inasa Yoarashi vs Juuzo Honenuki
Melissa Shield vs Mei Hatsume
Eiko Kirishima vs Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu
Ibara Shiozaki vs Deli Kaminari
Tenya Iida vs Fumikage Tokoyami
Mina Ashido vs Shouda Nirengeki
Yosetsu Awase vs Ochako Uraraka
Toga Himiko vs Camie Utsushimi
Izuku looked at Monoma, who had a smirk that told that he was anticipating this more than anything else. The greenette couldn't help but feel slightly uncomfortable by the look in the blonde's silver eyes.
"Alright, our first match-up will be my cute future brother-in-law, Izuku Midoriya against General Ed's Underdog, Monoma Neito!" Nemuri declared as Izuku took a deep breath and gave a look to his friends to wish him luck as they all nodded. He then stepped up to the arena as Monoma approached from the other side.
"Alright, for these fights, me and Nemuri will be overseeing things and making sure nothing goes too far. We don't want any potential fatal accidents." Cementoss stated as he formed a referee chair from the concrete to sit on while Nemuri sat on a pedestal near him to oversee the going ons of the fights.
"Let the very first match of the tournament...BEGIN!"
In a dark bar, Tomura Shigaraki was watching while sitting on one of the stools. He scratched his neck at the sight of Izuku, humming to himself as Kurogiri polished some glasses next to him.
"Midoriya...How interesting..."
"So...shall I leave you in tears, Midoriya?" Monoma boasted arrogantly as Izuku kept his gaze steeled on his opponent. After an intense staredown, the greenette lunged at the blonde, who grinned as he seemed to stand in place before stepping to the side and before Izuku could react, tapped him on the back of the neck.
"Huh?
Monoma grinned as he looked at his hands before placing them on the ground, altering the concrete to form pillars to shoot out at Izuku, who jumped out of the way by making a pillar of his own underneath him and jumping over Monoma, slowing his descent with wind surrounding his arms and legs.
"Did you just copy my Quirk?"
"Like it? That's my Quirk for you! For the next five minutes, I'll be dominating this battle!" With those words, the blonde ignited his hands with fire, shooting jets of flames at Izuku, who formed a shield of water that doused the flames, creating a smokescreen of steam. Monoma grinned and waved his hands, making the steam part in time to show Izuku charging at him with rock covering his fist.
"My Quirk also allows me to get a basic understanding of how the Quirk I'm copying works! I figured on my own that with enough focus, you can control sub-elements as well!"
Izuku threw a stone-coated punch but Monoma blocked by condensing the air in front of him to stop the fist in place before kneeing Izuku in the stomach. The freckled lad coughed up spit as he fell to his knees before Monoma grabbed him by the face and threw him aside.
"Now what did you say as your little opening pledge? That anyone can be a Hero if they try? All my life, I've been told I couldn't be a Hero because I'm like a parasite...well, I'll become a Hero...and spit in the faces of those who judged me!"
Izuku sprung to his feet just in time to avoid a current of air Monoma conjured to try and push him out of bounds. The greenette ran on steps of solid air before diving down with his hand coated in fire. Monoma grit his teeth and crossed his arms, covering them in stone in order to absorb as much of the blow as he could, falling to one knee in the process.
"Monoma...I'm sorry you had to go through all that...dealing with prejudice and being judged for your Quirk...a few people have told me that MY Quirk could be destructive and dangerous. But I didn't let their words stop me! I had people who believed in me! Kaachan, my mom, my siblings, and now...ALL-MIGHT! I can't let any of them down!"
Monoma was surprised by Izuku's words. For a while, the blonde had thought his opponent was just some people-pleaser, but to hear him be so understanding of his own plights moved his heart a bit. However, despite that, he would not falter now as he knew he only had a few minutes left of power.
"Izuku Midoriya...what a guy!" The crazed blonde laughed as he coated his fists in stone and then set them alit with flames, turning them into magma as Izuku jumped back and formed a condensed ball of stone from the concrete around him. He then fired the ball forward as Monoma jumped forward, rearing a magma gauntlet back as he punched the ball...and everything exploded.
"Should we interfere?" Cementoss asked Nemuri worriedly as she stared intently at the dust cloud...before smiling as she saw Izuku and Monoma in an armlock and pushing with everything they had.
"You might know everything I'm going to do...but that's not going to help you since I know everything YOU'RE going to do! STRANGE, ISN'T IT?!" Izuku growled, adrenaline coursing through him as he and Monoma put all their remaining power and then blasted each other out of the arena...except Izuku stopped himself right before he could go out of bounds by forming a cushion of air to push him back.
"MONOMA NEITO IS OUT OF BOUNDS! IZUKU MIDORIYA ADVANCES TO THE NEXT ROUND!" Nemuri cheered as she raised her whip high and the crowd erupted into cheers of ecstasy. Inko burst into tears as she hugged the nearest person in the VIP booth...which just so happened to be a flustered Toshinori.
"We both know about All-Might's secret, right, Rumi?" Keigo asked while drinking a soda and giving a thumbs-up to his brother for his victory. Rumi nodded while Shinji, Yuu, Desutegoro, and Ryuko also knew since Keigo and Rumi told them.
"So...does this mean All-Might might be our future dad? Because that would be AWESOME!" Gushed Yuu as Shinji gently settled her down before Inko could hear her, but the woman was just too happy to hear them as Toshinori groaned.
"Young Keigo, Young Rumi, Young Ryuko...I trusted you three with my secret since you were part of the Top 10 and because you are family to Young Midoriya...but I trust you will keep this a secret from your mother at least until the time is right." The skinny blonde thought.
Next will be the rest of the Preliminaries as well as a star appearance from a certain flaming asshole.
POINTERS (Figured I'd call them this instead of Recaps)
-Toshinori entrusted his secret to Hawks, Miruko, and Ryuukyuu sometime after the Quirk Apprehension Test because he trusted them since they are Izuku's siblings here. They then told Kamui Woods, Mt. Lady, and Death Arms the secret as well and they all agreed not to let the public know.
-More InkoMight Ship Teasing, I suck.
-I hate Monoma, but I do appreciate the sympathetic backstory, so I kept it in. He'll still probably end up on the Villains Team but he holds newfound respect for Izuku now.
-Yes, I did add a Sonic Reference in Izuku and Monoma's battle.
-Toga was impersonating Yuma during the Cavalry Battle as part of Hitoshi's team because Yuma had a bathroom emergency due to her Quirk and asked Toga to take her place.
BIO
Fumikage Tokoyami
'The Ambassador of the Dark'
Quirk: Dark Shadow
Quirk Type: Emitter
Quirk Description: One of the rare Sentient Quirk types, Dark Shadow is a living being of shadow who lives inside Fumikage and works in symbiotic harmony with him. Dark Shadow can take many shapes and is excellent for long-range combat.
Quirk Drawbacks: Fumikage himself is physically weak and Dark Shadow's strength depends on the light. If it is bright, he is easier to handle but in darker areas, he grows more feral and out of control, making it harder for him and Fumikage to work together in harmony.