Symbyosis

Chapter Eighteen: Intermission

Ochaco tore her eyes away from where she had been subconsciously watching Deku when Midnight appeared on the wall again. She had to push down a blush at the memory of how his muscles were glistening with sweat. Their Hero Arts History teacher sashayed across the top of the concrete barrier that separated them from the rest of the arena. Her form fitting hero costume seemed to draw the eyes of everyone in the stadium at once. She had started from the far right side of the wall and slowly made her way to the center with slow and steady steps.

"We are preparing the arena for the next event." Midnight struck a pose that Ochaco wasn't sure was altogether appropriate for the setting and winked at the audience. "There will be a twenty minute intermission while the preparation occurs, and then I will return to explain the rules for the event," the R-18 heroine started slapping her cat-o-nine-tails against her hand in a playful manner, "So don't be late getting back to your seats or you'll be out of luck." With another wink, she leaped down from her perch and disappeared behind the wall.

At Midnight's exit, many people started to rise from their seats and Ochaco turned away to see Deku pulling his jacket back on as he walked through the field entrance back into the access hallways. She made to follow him, wanting to talk about how things had gone in the previous event, but she was stopped by Tsuyu's approach. Ochaco watched Deku disappear into the entryway with a pang of loss before turning to her friend. "What's up Tsu?"

The expression on Tsu's face was tired and it was saying something that you could see that on her normally stoic visage. "I wanted to see how things went on your tower," her hand twitched like she wanted to bring it up to her face but it remained at its place near her hip. "I didn't have much time to listen to the commentary and it was hard to hear over all the explosions." Ochaco had found that Tsuyu was a likable girl once you got past the bluntness and her barely changing expression. They had quickly become friends, though Ochaco still found herself spending most of her time with Iida and Deku.

"It was pretty hectic," she said. Thinking back she had almost been overtaken several times, but she'd just barely been able to keep her spot once she'd made it. "I'm still not sure how I got a second tier spot and managed to keep it." Tsuyu nodded and tilted her head in a questioning manner. There was something about her long haired classmate that could put Ochaco's mind at ease in most situations. She always seemed to be able to think clearly, even in the heat of action. "I didn't really have much of a plan..." she trailed off thinking of her frantic attempts to push people away from her platform.

"I'm sure you did your best." Ochaco shook her head. She had done well, but she knew she could have done more. She was somewhat ashamed that she hadn't even tried to take the top spot once Deku had made it there. She had promised herself and all of her classmates that she was going to do her best during the sports festival, and when it had come time to make good on her promise something had stopped her from reaching up to pull Deku down from the top of the tower.

"No," she said, "I did okay, but Deku was amazing." Tsuyu's finger finally made it to her chin. She didn't say anything, but there was a clear curiosity in her gaze that Ochaco still wasn't sure how she was able to convey. "I saw him fighting off other students all over on the way up, and he had this grappling match against Kirishima when they both got to the top at the same time." Her heart had started beating faster as soon as she'd begun talking about it. "Everything about it was so intense, and I couldn't even bring myself to challenge Deku once he'd won against Kirishima."

"Wow," Tsuyu said, "I knew you two were friends, but I didn't know you thought so highly of Midoriya." Ochaco found herself fighting a blush once again at Tsuyu's comment. The other girl was scarily perceptive, and she had a way of picking up on things that people might want to keep to themselves. The thought that Tsuyu might figure out what Ochaco had been struggling with before she could figure it out herself sent a wave of anxiety through her whole body.

"It's just that he's helped me out so much since we met," she looked away from her friend's curious stare, "When I compare myself to what he's been doing since school started, I feel a little bit lacking." She looked back to see that Tsuyu's face was the same as ever, but the look in her eyes was one she hadn't seen before. "I just have to keep pushing myself to be better," Ochaco continued, "So I can keep up with the rest of the class."

"I'm sure you'll do fine," Tsuyu responded after a moment. "Do you want to go get some water?" Ochaco nodded and the two girls made their way towards the entryway. She hoped that she would get to see Deku again before the next event started. "Keeping my spot wasn't too hard, but trying to challenge Bakugo for his spot was frustrating," she started recounting her own experience of the event as they walked.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Izuku stared wide eyed across the hallway at Todoroki. His classmate had found him after the intermission had been announced and dragged him off to a secluded part of the stadium. Whatever he thought Todoroki wanted to talk to him about, this had not been what he had been expecting at all. He could feel his mouth flop open and closed again like a fish out of water a few times as he tried to get his head around the question that he had been asked. As he attempted to compose himself, Todoroki's expression became irritated.

"Answer me," he said quietly, "What is your relationship with All Might?" He asked again with a bit of angered force behind it. Stunned, Izuku shook his head to hasten the recovery of his reason.

"What are you talking about Todoroki?" He said, finally getting his tongue to obey him. "I'm just one of All Might's student's, same as you." Todoroki's brow furrowed deeper than before. Izuku could see in his mismatched eyes that it was not the answer he wanted. It was an odd experience watching his normally stoic classmate become angry in real time, and Izuku would not have imagined he would be the reason for it.

"Don't lie to me," Todoroki's voice was still quiet, but the edge had intensified. "I saw you and All Might last week. You left the same area within minutes of each other, and I've seen him looking at you with this expression that says the two of you know something the rest of the class doesn't." Izuku could practically hear the gritting of teeth and the tension in the other boy's body was a little concerning. "Whatever is going on between you two, it won't make a difference here. I am going to win the sports festival."

Now Izuku was even more confused. It was troubling that Todoroki had seen him and All Might leaving their training session together, but he had no idea what any of that had to do with the sports festival. "Todoroki," the intense look on the other boy's face made him hesitate for a moment, "All Might has been giving me supplementary lessons in heroics." It was a rehearsed line that he and All Might had come up with just in case someone found out about their training together. Neither of them had thought it would be used so soon. "I asked him about it because I felt like I was falling behind."

"Still lying," if his first answer had irritated his classmate, this one had incensed him. His brow furrowed even deeper and he jabbed a finger at him as if to emphasize the statement. "I'm not stupid. I know full well you get high marks in all of our classes. You wouldn't have any need for supplementary lessons." Izuku balked at Todoroki's reaction. "Fine," he said, "If you don't want to tell me, fine. But even if the Number One Hero is playing favorites, I'll still win this festival." As he spoke Izuku could see in his eyes an intense hatred, like nothing he'd ever seen before. "I'll show both Endeavor and All Might how powerful I am, and I'll do it without using that man's power."

"Todoroki," Izuku was a little afraid. "What are you talking about? What does any of this have to do with Endeavor?" Now there was a hint of surprise and perhaps regret in his classmate's eyes, but in the end the anger seemed to win out. Izuku thought he heard the grinding of teeth again, and as he watched Todoroki's face shifted from anger and irritation to an expression of resolve tinged with that anger that was bubbling in him.

"It doesn't matter." He turned from where he had been standing against the opposite wall and took a step back towards the arena. "The only thing that matters is that I win the sports festival and show him that I don't need his power to do it." Todoroki started walking, and Izuku could almost feel the emotions radiating from his retreating form. "I won't go easy on you or Bakugo, so be prepared." Izuku watched his classmate round the corner with equal amounts shock and concern brewing in his mind.

That certainly was a strange encounter. Kish emerged from the back of his mind and Izuku certainly agreed with his mentor's statement. It is concerning that he suspects something between you and Yagi, but I find his emotional reaction to the idea to be more concerning. Izuku didn't respond, as he had begun connecting dots. He began walking back towards the arena himself, but his feet were doing so on autopilot. He knew he was muttering again, but there was something important hiding away in his brain that would help him make sense of the encounter he just went through.

It was on this automated walk that he nearly bumped into someone, and he immediately stepped back and apologized. "I'm so sorry!" he gave a short bow to punctuate his apology and looked back up to see who he had nearly slammed into. To his utter shock, he found himself standing face to face with the Number Two Hero – Endeavor. The man's large form towered over Izuku and he felt himself shrinking back in spite of himself. He could faintly feel the heat of the flames covering Endeavor's costume even from a few steps away.

"As you should be, whelp." The look in his eyes was intense, and Izuku felt something click in his head at the sight of it. "You are a student of UA," the top pro spoke again, "Act like one. Or has the standard here dropped so much since my time?" Izuku found himself at a loss for words, which seemed to irritate the man further. He made a frustrated noise through his nose and frowned deeper. "I have no more time for you," he said, "I have important people to speak to."

Just as Endeavor was about to leave someone called out. "Young Midoriya!" Izuku whirled around to see All Might in his muscled hero form striding down the hallway toward the both of them. "So glad I found you! The intermission will end in five minutes, so you need to get back..." All Might trailed off as he seemed to contemplate the sight in front of him. "Endeavor," he said with bit of surprise in his tone, "It's been a long time. What business could you have with young Midoriya?" Endeavor's irritation seemed to heighten at the sight of the Number One Hero.

"The boy nearly ran into me. I was about to leave, since he kindly apologized for his ineptitude." The statement and the tone in his voice brought Izuku back from his shock and replaced it with indignation. If they had almost run into each other, it meant that Endeavor hadn't been watching his own path. They were both to blame, and Izuku wasn't impressed with the self importance of the man in front of him. "I'll be on my way if you don't mind," he continued, "I still have half a mind to pull Shouto from this school and continue his education myself as I had intended." He made a derisive snort before speaking again, "Your principal seems to think he can convince me otherwise and I'll be kind enough to give him a chance to explain why he thinks he can do better."

"Come now Endeavor," All Might seemingly took no offense to Endeavor's tone or his remarks, "You know full well that UA will do right by young Shoto, and I'm sure Nezu will be able to show you that." All Might's jovial demeanor turned a little before he continued. "Just remember that though young Shouto may be a Todoroki," Izuku thought he saw the corners of All Might's smile drop momentarily before it was back to full force, "He will grow into a wonderful hero of his own making."

Once All Might spoke those words, the atmosphere turned from mildly uncomfortable to borderline unbearable. Izuku had to force himself to breath properly as the animosity on Endeavor's face intensified several times over in the span of a few seconds. For a few excruciating moments the three of them stood there, Izuku frozen between two titans of the hero industry as one tried to murder the other with his mere gaze. Then Endeavor spoke again, "I'm leaving."

He said nothing more and brushed past All Might as he made his way towards the seating area on the west side of the stadium. The remaining two watched him go and Izuku had to take several deep breaths to calm his hammering heart. "I thought I was gonna die..." the thought escaped his mouth before he could prevent it, but All Might merely shook his head.

"Come young Midoriya," he said, "Time is running short, and if you're not back in the arena on time you'll be disqualified." Izuku straightened up at that and nodded at his teacher.

"Right!" He gave All Might a wave as he ran towards the arena entrance, knowing he'd have only a few minutes to make it.

After the last fifteen minutes, he had a better idea of what was going on with Todoroki. There was some kind of conflict going on between Shouto and his father, and finding out that Izuku and All Might were training outside of class had only exacerbated the issue. He wasn't sure what this would mean going forward, but he needed to make sure he kept his guard up around his classmate for the time being. As he emerged from the entryway of the arena, Izuku refocused his mind on the task at hand.

0O0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Iida Tenya adjusted his glasses as he finally saw Midoriya enter the arena at a sprint, just in time for Midnight to reappear upon the wall. He planted his hands firmly on his hips and turned to watch his teacher make her way to the center of the portion of wall facing the contestants. During the King of the Hill event, he had not done as well as he had hoped. Todoroki had made the climb to the top of the tower much faster than he'd anticipated, and Tenya had found himself stymied by members of class 1-B much to his frustration. Despite the training he had done, both of his friends had done better than him in the event. He didn't begrudge them for their success, but he knew that he needed to step up his game to compete.

While Midoriya had reached the top of his tower and Uraraka had managed a second tier spot, Tenya had barely qualified by holding onto a third tier platform. To his chagrin, even Mineta had beaten him in the event and it did not sit well with him. He did not hate the small boy, but he had thought he would do better than his smaller classmate based on their abilities. Clearly he had been underestimating the people around him. "I must do better if I am to live up to my family's legacy," he thought as Midnight came to a stop and motioned for everyone's attention.

"Welcome back everyone!" She flourished her flogger and swung her hips out in what he thought was quite the inappropriate manner. "The preparations for the next event are nearly complete, so let me explain the rules." She gestured with her flogger at the students remaining in the cordoned off area, "The remaining contestants will be playing a game of Capture the Flag in teams of four." She motioned with her hand behind her as she spoke, "As our audience can see the arena has been turned into a labyrinth of stone for our students to traverse. Each of the eleven teams will have a home base to protect, where a flag with their combined points will be at the start of the event."

"Each team will need to plan a strategy to capture the flags of the other team, while protecting their own," Midnight was gesturing almost wildly during her explanation and Iida found himself looking more at the ground than at her. "Loosing a flag does not immediately disqualify a team, but they will need to work harder to retrieve their flag or capture other flags to build a high enough point value to qualify. The teams with the four highest point values at the end of the thirty minute time limit will be the victors and move on to the next round."

Tenya was already thinking about who would be on his team, and while his mind flitted to both Midoriya and Uraraka, he shook his head and frowned. While teaming up with his friends was appealing, he knew he would need to push himself to shine in the next event. He couldn't afford to let his guard down, even if it meant going against his closest classmates in the process. He unconsciously gripped his jacket with his fists as he thought about how to approach the upcoming challenges.

"During this event," Midnight continued, "The restrictions on excessive force are unchanged, as well as underhanded behavior. In addition, no contestant will be permitted to rise more than six meters above the arena by any means including the use of quirks." Tenya wondered if they were looking to curb abuse of quirks like Uraraka's Zero Gravity, and Bakugo's Explosion. "The contestants will be given fifteen minutes to form a team and strategize before the event begins. That time begins now!" At her word, a timer appeared on the scoreboard behind her and the students began to move around.

Looking down from the timer, Tenya found Midoriya and Uraraka already headed in his direction. As they stepped up to him he kept his face neutral. "Hey Iida!" Uraraka was saying, "Lets team up!" She thrust one of her fists in the air with a wide smile on her face. She stayed that way for a moment, before Tenya's silence made her deflate a bit. "Is something wrong?"

"It's not that anything is wrong Uraraka," he said, "But while the two of you performed admirably in the first event, I barely scraped by." He made a fist with one of his hands, and brought it level with his chest. "I'm afraid I can't rely on you to pull me along," he could feel the frustration seep into his expression as he spoke but pushed on regardless. "If I am to perform my best I have to push myself beyond my comfort zone," he said, "And after seeing the highlights of Midoriya's battle I find myself wanting to test my abilities against that determination." He looked up to see a chagrined look on Uraraka's face, but Midoriya's expression was filled with understanding.

As Tenya watched, a steely smile spread across his friend's face. "I would have like to team up with you," Midoriya said, "But if that's what you want I'll give you the best I have, just like I gave Kirishima." The gleam in his classmate's eyes sparked a fire in his own chest, and he could feel an equally determined smile stretch across his own. Tenya adjusted his glasses before he spoke again.

"I'd expect nothing less from you Midoriya," he said, "Don't expect any less from me out there." Tenya couldn't help the grin that spread across his face as his friend stared back at him.

The two nodded at each other, and Tenya turned from his friends and made his way toward a gathering of other students. He had to give nothing less than Plus Ultra after talking to them, and he intended to live up to the promise he'd just made. Should they meet on the field of battle he would hold nothing back against his friends.

A/N: This chapter is a little break from the action to set up the coming conflicts. I hope Todoroki isn't too out of character here, but I wanted to build up some tension leading into the next event. I also thought that seing Izuku getting special attention from the teachers would wind him up a little and make things more interesting. Ochaco and Tsuyu seem like a good pair to play off each other, and I'll probably have them interacting frequently as the story progresses. Something about two of my favorite MHA ladies hanging out and being good friends appeals to me. Iida deciding to push himself after not doing well in the first event seems like good chracter development even if I'm basically lifting it from cannon. Not too sure if I can write Iida well, but I guess we'll see how I did.

Real life has been kicking my ass lately, and writing has been difficult this last week or two. I'm still dedicated to staying ahead for this story, so don't fear the upoload schedule being affected. I just need to get my head straight and get the work done. I enjoy writing partly because it's a challenge, so I don't plan on stopping any time soon. I've been toying with writing a prequel series to flesh out Akuto, even if I only do it for myself. Not sure if you guys even care about him enough to want to see that yet, but maybe in the future.

Anyway, what did you think of the chapter? Looking forward to more sports festival? I know I am.

~AQ