Warnings: none?
Izuku's thoughts are right: Hamasaki presses forward, opening with the same move she used against Rin. He sidesteps, continuously moving and heading for the boundary line. Hamasaki seems content to attack, allowing him to draw her closer and closer as he dodges.
"So you're playing the Asui to my Midoriya!" she shouts, and he laughs.
"I sure am! I don't have a long tongue for you to grab, though!"
"Yeah, that was pretty gross to watch!"
Izuku glances back as she reaches again, and he dodges this most recent strike again.
"It… wasn't that bad, honestly! Her tongue was sticky, mostly!"
He's close enough.
"Still gross! I can't imagine having the audacity-!"
She strikes forward again. Izuku grabs her arm, sidesteps, and throws. She flies past him, over the boundary line, and lands in the grass.
"HAMASAKI IS OUT OF BOUNDS! MIDORIYA WINS!"
Hamasaki gasps until she regains her breath. "Oh my god. You were the Midoriya all along."
"I sure hope so!" Izuku replies, grinning as he hops down and holds out his hand to her. She takes it, and he hauls her to her feet. "That was a good fight. You're just… very predictable."
She laughs. "Yeah, I guess I am, in a fight!"
They walk out of the arena and back up to their class together. This time, there's no encounters with any angry on-fire pro heroes, which is now, oddly enough, a plus in Izuku's book.
"HEY!" Mori is the first to greet them at the top, holding her arms open. Both step in and let her wrap her arms around them. "That was great! Good job, both of you! Class C is putting up a fight!"
"What about Wakana?" Izuku asks, stepping out of the hug to look into the arena. Wakana and Uraraka were… already walking out of it?
Akiyama winces. "It was… quick? Nakano started singing, but Uraraka was fast. She touched Nakano's arm and then just… punted her out of bounds. Hawks actually had to fly up and fetch her before Uraraka could release her quirk."
"Well," Izuku says, eyes wide. "Okay then."
"AFTER THAT LIGHTNING ROUND, WE HAVE THE LAST OF THE CLASS C STUDENTS UP: SHINSOU HITOSHI, THE MAN SO SCARY THAT HIS OPPONENT TURNED AROUND AND WALKED RIGHT OUT OF BOUNDS!"
Shinsou walks out. He looks as relaxed as he possibly can be, with his hands in his pockets and a slight slouch.
"VERSUS, OUR SHINING, QUICK ON THE TRIGGER LADY OF CLASS A, SHIOZAKI IBARA!"
Shiozaki looks completely calm as she walks out, her hands clasped in front of her. She and Shinsou stare each other down, both looking completely unaffected.
"FIGHT!"
Once again, Shinsou says something, and, once again, his opponent turns around and walks herself right out of the arena.
"Huh," Izuku says, and then shrugs. "Yanagi really must not have told Shiozaki about his quirk."
"She didn't," Wakana says, and Izuku turns to watch her walk in and sit down next to him. "Aomi texted the group chat. Said that she talked to Yanagi, who agreed not to share anything with Shiozaki, for… various reasons, one of which included spectacularly dethroning 1-A. Mashirao also messaged and told Shinsou to poke at her faith, if he really wanted to get a rise out of her for sure."
Izuku nods. "Huh. Hey, sorry I missed your fight, by the way."
"It wasn't a fight," Wakana blinks and then swipes the back of her hand across her eyes. "It was a curb-stomp. It's okay, though, I wasn't really expecting to get as far as I did."
Izuku leans over and wraps an arm around her shoulders. "I'm sure you caught some attention."
"Yeah."
"OUR FINAL MATCH OF ROUND TWO, ONCE AGAIN, TWO STUDENTS OF CLASS A! WE HAVE THE QUEEN OF PUNK HERSELF, JIROU KYOUKA, FACING THE KING OF GOTH, TOKOYAMI FUMIKAGE!"
"Jirou's screwed," Wakana says, and Izuku nods.
"She'd stand a chance if she had any support gear," he agrees.
"FIGHT!"
It's over as quickly as Tokoyami's fight against Mashirao's was, Jirou pushed out-of-bounds by Dark Shadow.
"AND JIROU IS OUT-OF-BOUNDS, SECURING TOKOYAMI'S WIN! WOW, THOSE WERE SOME LIGHTNING-FAST FIGHTS FOR ROUND TWO! WHAT WILL ROUND THREE BRING US?"
"I guess I'm heading back downstairs now," Izuku says. He'd just gotten upstairs but. Oh well.
"Hey, good luck against Uraraka!" Wakana says, snagging his wrist as he stands. "She has a five-point quirk, like yours. I know you know that, but you can't let her use it on you because she will throw you into the sun."
"I know." Izuku smiles. "Is she faster than I am, though?"
Wakana smiles, too. "I doubt it. Go get her." She lets go of his wrist, and he waves as he leaves the stands.
Fifteen minutes later, Izuku's waiting to walk into the arena once more.
"WELCOME TO THE SEMI-FINALS! FOR THE FIRST MATCH, WE HAVE CLASS C'S MR. MYSTERIOUS HIMSELF, MIDORIYA IZUKU, VERSUS CLASS A'S ONE-SHOT WONDER, URARAKA OCHAKO!"
Well, Izuku hopes that his quirk is really worth the hype Mic's giving it. He steps out, the roar of the General Studies department behind him. Across the court, Uraraka walks out, her face set into a determined look.
"FIGHT!"
This time, Izuku makes the first move, turning and running as he unzips the top of his gym uniform. Uraraka is coming for him, and in record time, he removes the top. He knows there's a brief flash of red light as his quirk activates on the shirt, but there's no way that anyone can guess what it actually does from that, just that it's a five-point quirk. He's wearing a black tank-top underneath (which has the colors of the trans flag across the chest, like those rainbow-stripe sweaters), so it's not like he's completely stripping in front of a crowd of thousands.
He's faster than Uraraka, dodging her and darting away from her as she comes after him, holding his gym shirt in one hand. Mic is going crazy up there, really focusing on just what he could be doing with his gym shirt.
Good. That's good. You go, Mic, you funky little cockatoo.
Unfortunately, it looks like the same strategy isn't going to work twice. The closer Izuku gets to the boundary lines, the more Uraraka backs off.
So, Izuku charges her. She reaches up with her right hand, her left hand coming back to protect her abdomen- smart. Izuku feints, like he's going in for an uppercut with his right hand (and transferring his gym shirt to his left), however. He takes his shirt in both hands and lifts it, moving to the left as he catches Uraraka's outstretched hand in the fabric. He twists that hand behind her and knocks her knees out from under her, taking her to the ground.
She lands on her chest as Izuku presses his left knee into her back. He has her fairly well pinned, but he doesn't think that counts in the rules of the tournament as she struggles underneath him. Besides, her left hand is still free, and Izuku reaches over with his left hand to grab that wrist while his right hand tightens its grip on the shirt keeping her right hand neutralized.
A brief flash of inspiration hits him, and he manhandles her left arm back towards her face. She struggles, but he has the leverage, and the superior strength.
(He needs all five fingers for that grip, but luckily Uraraka has her wristbands on, so he doesn't activate his quirk on her.)
She does, however, activate her quirk on herself. Izuku hasn't quite gotten her hand to position, but she's figured out what he's doing and curled that hand into a fist.
He just has to press her thumb down. There's a pink glow, and she looks immediately nauseous as he stands and, in one quick motion, drops his shirt and flings her out of the ring. She releases her quirk as she goes, but it's too late, and she rolls on the grass and pukes.
"URARAKA IS OUT OF BOUNDS! MIDORIYA WINS! AND WHAT A PLOY!"
He reaches down and picks up his gym shirt, putting it back on but leaving it unzipped as he walks over to Uraraka and holds his hand out.
"Hey," he says. "Good fight!"
She looks up, an absolutely sickened expression on her face. "…Yeah. You too."
"I'm sorry about making you use your quirk on yourself; I didn't think it would have this violent of a reaction!" he says, holding his hand out. She stares at it for a moment and then takes it, letting him pull her to her feet.
"That's okay," she says. "It was a good strategy. When you were taking your gym shirt off—there was this red light. Was that your quirk? I definitely had all five fingers on it when you caught me in it, and I didn't feel it go weightless."
Izuku chuckles and winds some of his hair around a finger. "Yeah," he replies. "It was."
Uraraka nods. "Good luck against Tokoyami," she says. "You're going to need it."
"Why are you so sure Tokoyami's going to win?" Izuku asks, the corner of his mouth tilting up. She turns and smiles at him, something hungry in her eyes.
"We figured out his quirk," she replies. "He's lost the element of surprise, and Tokoyami just has the superior strength there."
Izuku nods. "Yeah. Mashirao couldn't do anything against Tokoyami, so there's definitely not much Shinsou can do."
"Mashirao," Uraraka murmurs. "The two of you are friends?"
"Yeah," Izuku replies. "I've known him since I was eight, when I joined his moms' dojo."
"Oh, wow," Uraraka says. They pause, having reached the junction where they ways would part. "Well. Good luck against Tokoyami! I wonder if I'll be seeing you in my class soon!"
Izuku grins. "You can count on it," he promises. They wave to each other, and Izuku turns to walk to his waiting room.
There's a much shorter wait between the semifinals and the finals. It's only five minutes, enough time to give both competitors a break, and then they're being called back to the arena. This is it, Izuku thinks. They're all going to see what he can do.
"CAN I GET A YEEEAAAAHHHH?"
The entire stadium screams back in response.
"HERE IT IS, AT LONG LAST, THE MOMENT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR: THE FINAL FIGHT OF THIS YEAR'S FIRST YEAR SPORTS FESTIVAL! IN ONE CORNER, WE HAVE CLASS C'S WUNDERKIND, THE DARK HORSE, THE UNEXPECTED, MIDORIYAAAAAAA IZUKU!"
Oh.
Oh god.
Those cheers are for him.
"AND IN THE OTHER CORNER, THE KNIGHT IN DARKENED ARMOR, CLASS A'S DARK KING, THE RAVEN-HEADED HIMSELF, TOKOYAMIIIIII FUMIKAGE!"
Both boys walk out and face each other. Tokoyami, in spite of his quiet demeanor, has a large presence. Something about his personality, the way he carries himself, the seriousness he approaches everything with… it's almost mythical, in a way.
Izuku hopes he has some presence of his own that can match.
"ARE YOU READY FOR THE BEGINNING OF THE END?"
The crowd roars again.
"No hard feelings?" Izuku asks, because as unfamiliar as they still are with each other, Tokoyami is someone he considers a friend.
"No hard feelings," Tokoyami inclines his head, a small motion made large by his beak.
"FIGHT!"
Tokoyami's opening move is, once again, Dark Shadow. The beast comes out, bearing down towards Izuku, and Izuku.
Just.
Stands.
There.
Everything seems to narrow down into that one moment, Dark Shadow's narrow, golden eyes meeting his.
Just before Dark Shadow crashes into him, Izuku snaps his left arm up and all five fingers make contact.
A crackle of red energy, and Dark Shadow vanishes.
"Holy shit!"
Tokoyami's eyes widen. He doesn't say anything, but he looks… stricken.
Ah, that's right. Izuku just negated a sentient quirk. Ouch?
"AND THAT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN AND THOSE OF US WHO KNOW BETTER, IS MIDORIYA IZUKU'S QUIRK AT WORK!"
Izuku runs forward. Tokoyami snaps out of whatever funk he was in, just in time to put his arms up, but Izuku drops low, wraps his arms around Tokoyami's waist, and picks the smaller student up in a fireman's carry.
Tokoyami hits Izuku's back a couple times, and then he bites his ear. His beak is sharp and hard, and Izuku yelps, dropping Tokoyami, who goes in for a punch to the solar plexus. Izuku's right hand drops, reflexively, blocking the hit with his forearm. Tokoyami bites him, again, his beak closing down in Izuku's forearm.
There's a snap, and Izuku cries out as Tokoyami releases his arm, eyes wide and startled again. Izuku doesn't wait, his left leg snapping up and catching the side of Tokoyami's ribcage. He follows it up by dropping low and striking out with his right hand, hitting Tokoyami in the gut, and then a snap kick from his left leg right in the crotch has Tokoyami on the ground, and all Izuku has to do is drag him (kicking and screaming) to the boundary line, let him get up, and then shove him over it.
"TOKOYAMI IS OUT OF BOUNDS! MIDORIYA IZUKU OF CLASS C WINS!"
Izuku snaps the fingers of his right hand. There's a quick flash of red, at his fingers and over Tokoyami, and then the other boy is gasping with relief as he summons Dark Shadow and pets the quirk's head. Izuku gets the strong feeling that Dark Shadow is eyeing him as he approaches.
"Hey," he says. His left arm is tucked up against his side as he holds his right arm out. "That was a good fight."
Tokoyami looks up and scrutinizes Izuku for a few long moments. "…Thank you. Your quirk. It's similar to Mr. Aizawa's." Still petting Dark Shadow with one hand, he reaches up and lets Izuku take his hand with the other. Izuku is very careful to very obviously leave his pinky finger up.
"Yeah. We're related," Izuku replies, shrugging. Tokoyami's quiet for a few moments. The crowd is going nuts in the background, and then the other boy nods.
"You do look somewhat similar," he says. "I… do apologize for biting you. And breaking your arm."
"Hey, that's okay!" Izuku grins, shrugging. "No hard feelings, right? Besides, I can just go see Recovery Girl! I'm sure she's happy that this was the most major injury." One broken arm is literally nothing compared to some of the injuries Izuku's seen come out of Sports Festivals in the past.
"Well, yes, but…" Tokoyami shudders. "Biting. I don't know what came over me."
Izuku drops his voice, as much as it'll go without sounding bad. "The dark hand of the feral gods passed over you."
"Hm. Indeed," Tokoyami says.
He's amused. Izuku knows he is.
His arm is freshly treated by Recovery Girl, and as a result, his energy is completely wiped out as he walks out to the field with Uraraka, Tokoyami, and Shinsou. There's a podium, freshly created by Cementoss, sitting in the middle of what had just been the court they were fighting in.
Midnight motions for the four of them to stop, just to the side of it. The crowd hushes without Present Mic's prompting, everyone looking down at those four teenagers.
"ALRIGHT ALRIGHT ALRIGHT! LET'S GET THIS AWARDS CEREMONY STARTED! FIRST OFF, I'D LIKE TO CONGRATULATE EVERY COMPETITOR FOR THEIR AMAZING EFFORTS AND THE AWESOME SHOW THEY PUT ON TODAY! I'D ALSO LIKE TO CONGRATULATE THEM FOR HAVING THE FEWEST INJURIES OF ANY SPORTS FESTIVAL IN THE LAST DECADE! I WOULD CONGRATULATE YOU FOR NO BROKEN BONES, BUT SOMEONE HAD TO BITE MIDORIYA'S ARM, TOKOYAMI."
"Stop tormenting them and get on with it."
"AH, FINE, IF YOU INSIST, ERASER! FIRST OFF, WE HAVE, IN FOURTH PLACE, SHINSOU HITOSHI OF CLASS C!"
There's no medal for fourth place, but Midnight gestures Shinsou to his spot on the podium, which is, helpfully, labeled with a big 4.
At the announcement, the General Studies section loses their minds, all cheering for him as he steps up. He ducks his head, and Izuku can catch sight of the slight blush coloring his cheeks.
"IN THIRD PLACE, URARAKA OCHAKO OF CLASS A!"
This time, there is a medal. Uraraka steps to her spot on the podium and bows her head for Midnight to slip the medal over her head. She straightens up to the roar of the crowd, grinning up at the spectators and squaring her shoulders.
"IN SECOND PLACE, TOKOYAMI FUMIKAGE OF CLASS A!"
Tokoyami climbs onto his podium spot and Midnight slides his medal on. He bows to the audience, and then straightens.
"AND IN FIRST PLACE, SECURING HIS SPOT IN THE HERO COURSE, MIDORIYA IZUKU OF CLASS C!"
Ah, well. Now he's crying. He's stunned, and it takes Midnight's prompting for him to step up to his spot as she places the medal around his neck.
"I'm proud of you, kiddo," she says, and now he's crying harder. The crowd is cheering, he can see his friends up there, cheering for him, and he knows Yonaga made a point to attend, and Aizawa and Yamada are definitely watching, well, they've been commentating all day…
Izuku's really crying hard.
Uraraka pulls him aside as they're heading to the changing rooms.
"Why didn't you use your quirk against me, the way you did Tokoyami?" she asks. There's something behind her gaze, something that makes Izuku pause and put some extra thought in his reply.
"It's… not that I was so confident that I could beat you without it," he says. "I actually came really close to just… opening with it, especially after hearing about how you flung Wakana out of the ring like that! But I really, really wanted to keep the element of surprise for if I had to fight Tokoyami, since he has such a strong quirk. You were a really strong opponent, too. You caught what I was doing with the boundaries and made me come after you. I think…" he pauses and glances at her. "I think I just beat you in experience and strength. I've been learning how to fight for seven years now, and you have good instincts and reflexes, but I can kinda tell you're untrained!" He reaches up and starts twirling his hair again. "Sorry if that was too much, or I'm overstepping, or anything!"
"No, I…" Uraraka smiles. "I get it! Thanks for explaining. I know I have a long way to go, but I have a direction to go in! I'll definitely beat you next time, and I'm sure there'll be a lot of next times, since you're getting into the hero course!"
"Yeah!" Izuku punches the air, and then starts crying again. "Yeah, I am."
"Hey," Uraraka puts her hand on his shoulder. He can feel four of her fingertips. "I'm sure you'll do great!"
"No, no, I know, I know, these are, these are happy tears," he replies, swiping the back of his hand across his eyes and shaking his head. "I've been… I've wanted this for so long that it's… it feels kind of unreal!"
"Well, hey, you've made it!" Uraraka's so… upbeat. "And I'm glad you're here! You'll probably end up in 1-A, since we have the open seat!"
"Yeah," Izuku chuckles. "Mashirao told me how the grape boy got expelled. Good riddance."
"He was a nuisance," Uraraka spits, and then shakes her head. "Anyways, let's go! We can talk later, when you definitely join Class A!"
Izuku grins. He can't wait.
He's delayed from changing again as Aizawa pulls him aside. Uraraka waves at Izuku and winks at him, and he waves back, a blush creeping up his neck as he stands back with Aizawa.
"I'm sure you can already guess which class you're going into," Aizawa says, and Izuku nods. "Nedzu just emailed me. If all the paperwork goes through smoothly tonight, you can join class A the day after the Sports Festival. That's the likely outcome, but it's not 100%. Just get to school early that day and swing by the teachers' office."
"Yes, sir," Izuku says.
"Now, since you're joining my class, there's a few ground rules that need to go into place. You can't give me as much cheek as you're used to. I realize that's partially moot, given how you scolded me in front of half the class a couple weeks ago, but please don't inspire any of your classmates into following your example."
"I can't make any promises," Izuku replies, laughing as Aizawa makes a half-hearted kick at his shin. "But I'll for sure keep in mind that U.A. is a different environment than our training, definitely!"
"Second: what are your thoughts on Shinsou?"
"Wait what?"
"Shinsou," Aizawa repeats, fixing Izuku with the deadest stare he's seen in a while. "I know you're friends with him. What do you think of him?"
"He's very dedicated," is Izuku's first reply before he pauses to think. "He started off fairly aloof, saying he wasn't here to make friends, but, well…"
"I know your tendencies."
"So I invited him to come train with the hero hopefuls group at Mrs. Ojiro and Ms. Isozaki's dojo. It's only been a… about a week and a half, but he's already improved a lot!" Izuku pauses, hand automatically rising to his hair as he thinks. "There's… some history, with him, and his quirk, and I'm sure he got bullied for it, so that's… a thing."
Aizawa's quiet, waiting for Izuku to finish.
"I think he really has what it takes," he finally says. "He really wants it, and he's willing to put in the work."
Aizawa nods. "Alright. Head home. I'll see you for homeroom tomorrow."
"Yeah!" Izuku feels like he could fly away. "See you!"
He takes off running towards the changing rooms. He hasn't checked his phone since lunch, he's been so focused on the tournament. Hopefully there'll be no more delays between him and a shower and his phone.
That is, it seems, a pipe dream, as he hears heavy footsteps approaching.
"DEKUUUUU!"
Ah, yes, of course he'd have to deal with him sooner or later.
mmmm we're about to get into some more serious territory now.
thank you for reading, and thank you to everyone who's reviewed, faved, and followed! i appreciate each and every one of you
i hope everyone's doing well with everything going on :)
i'm currently struggling to write chapter 19. it's got some uhhhh some angst and h/c and normally that's like super my jam? but i just wanna get to the fun stuff! but i gotta get through the terrible, emotional, heart-wrenching scenes first!
(x-posted on ao3, username: orkestrations)
