It was the first day of the Sports Festival and all of the UA classes were proceeding to the waiting rooms dressed in their PE uniforms. Sneaking through the crowd, Yaoyorozu snatched Midoriya's hand, allowing the rest of the classes to move past them and leaving the two alone in the hallway.

"What's wrong?" Izuku looked at her downcast eyes concerned.

"We've… gotten closer these past few weeks but… for now, we need to forget about that."

"I'm not sure I understand."

"If we want to win this, or at the very least make sure we're noticed, then we need to make sure that we don't hold anything back against each other. I don't think we should try to help one another, or even teaming up if the events allow it."

Izuku nodded slowly, "I understand not helping each other in solo events, but why not team up?"

"Well… it's just that I feel like I've depended on you too many times already. I just want to see what I can do with… a different team."

Izuku smiled and gave her hand a squeeze, "Okay!"

"R-Really?"

Izuku tilted his head, "Of course. It's good practice in a safe environment after all. Gates certainly don't let you test out team compositions." He tried not to chuckle when he saw her gratefulness, "I feel like I'm… better when you're with me," He said, allowing himself to be vague in order to avoid an overly cheesy line, "But that doesn't mean I get to be selfish and keep you by my side twenty-four seven."

Part of Yaoyorozu screamed at her to say, "No! I want you to do that! I want you to be that selfish!" But of course, she stuck with a simple nod of her head and said, "Then let's do our best to win!"

Though Izuku was wearing his perfectly tailored PE uniform, he felt naked without his gauntlets as he walked out into the center of the UA Sports Festival arena. The grassy fields may have looked like a place to partake in friendly sports, but everyone there knew it was nothing less than a battlefield.

"Whaddya think the first event's gonna be?" Hanta Sero whispered over to Shoji as they walked across the field, hundreds, if not thousands of eyes trained down on them.

"From what Mister Aizawa told us, the first events are always designed to eliminate bigger chunks of the student base. Two years ago it was a race with a certain number of available positions. Everyone who placed after number one-hundred was eliminated."

"You all know Class 1-A from their daring escapades with Villains at the USJ, but don't let their shining airtime blind you to their competitors! Classes B, C, and D all have some excellent talent this year! For all of you fans waiting for E, F, and G in the General Studies, well make sure you stick around till tomorrow, as those super studious students compete then!"

Izuku's eyes traced over Classes C and D. He already knew that B had some decent amounts of competition, but he sensed barely anything comparable from the other classes. "Are they here just to increase the number of participants? Shoji said that two years ago was a race with a hundred spots, which means that over a hundred people participated, were the classes more numerous then, or did the other classes just have more power than this year?"

From the outside he seemed calm and anyone who would've read his thoughts would only detect these observations, but in reality, it was just to distract him from the insane amount of people watching him.

Upon reaching the wooden stage by one of the walls of the field, the eighty or so students lined up in nice neat rows, forming a nice symmetrical pattern. Of course, the boys in the arrangement felt like breaking formation when they saw the referee for the coming events. The R-Rated Hero: Midnight. Her erotic costume was enough to enthrall the entire stadium, giving her their perfect attention as she called out, "Now that everyone is here, representing the students is Bakugo, from 1-A!"

Izuku almost instantly felt a chill run down his spine, knowing how things were about to go down.

"Bakugo?"

"Him? Of all people?"

"Can't we have Yaoyorozu or Iida do it? Hell, I'd even take Mineta saying it over him. At least then we'd get some pity laughs instead of insults."

"Pity laughs?! What's that mean lightning dolt?!"

The classes' banter faded away as Bakugo reached the microphone, feedback echoing for just a moment, "I pledge… that I'm going to win, no matter what."

Izuku simply sighed and shook his head as the boos and jeers began flying in the direction of Bakugo and 1-A. Chaos was erupting as with anything that involved Bakugo. Iida was doing his best to reprimand the explosive teen, but he only seemed to make matters worse by drawing even more declarations out of Bakugo.

"I love this liveliness!" Midnight cried, "But instead of words, let's throw that hate and indignity into the first event!" Her whipped cracked as she pointed it at the board behind her that began spinning a wheel of possibilities, "The first event is… battle royale! All students will participate in a no holds barred fight against one another! If you are knocked unconscious or thrown out of the bounds Cementoss is currently creating, then you are out!" The Hero was already in the process of sending waves of liquid-like cement to create a perfectly circular diameter of concrete, leaving the grassy field uncovered so that they may fall on soft terrain. "Cementoss will also be responsible for collecting any downed students so that you don't have to worry about avoiding the bodies!"

"Could she please word that differently?" A couple dozen students thought simultaneously.

"Now, take your place on the platform and get ready to fight like your life depends on it, as there are only forty spots!"

The area was more like the entire circumference of the arena, with small gaps on the ends to get thrown off of. It was enough to house the eighty students without any of them being even remotely near each other. Izuku was stationed closer to the center of the diameter, so he wasn't at a huge risk of being thrown out right off the bat.

"Ready!" Midnight called out, "Fight!"

The declaration was sudden, but apparently not unexpected. It took only a few moments before Izuku's Sense Stat went off and he leaned backwards, just narrowly avoiding Iida, whose kick passed straight over him.

"Igris!"

The Knight wasted no time coming to his Liege's aid and he snatched Iida's leg by the calf, flinging him towards the edge of the circle. It wasn't enough to eliminate him however, as it seemed that Igris had sensed Izuku's intent to hold back. After all, Igris probably could've killed a majority of the people currently fighting without even breaking a sweat.

Righting himself, Izuku attempted to take stock of the situation, but it seemed like 1-B was not ready to give him that.

"1-A has a Summoner huh?" A blonde boy with a demented smile asked as he rushed Izuku alongside Tetsutetsu, a boy with blades coming out of his arms, and another boy with an almost werewolf-like appearance, "Well it doesn't matter how strong that Summon is, it can't hold all of us back before we knock you out!"

Igris drew his Shadow blade and rushed Kamakiri, the one with the blades. Meanwhile, the other three were left to Izuku himself. The blonde, Monoma, slapped the back of his beastly friend, Jurota and his body became just as hairy and monstrous.

"COME HERE YOU EXTRA!" A shout sounded as an explosion eclipsed Monoma. It was, obviously, Bakugo. And as he faced off with Monoma, he looked back to Izuku, "You better make it to the finals, Deku! I want to show the world who's really the strongest between us!"

Izuku basically ignored him, as Jurota and Tetsutetsu, whose skin was now a gleaming silver, were bearing down on him. Each reared back their fist, ready to hit Izuku from both sides. He could have thrown them off balance with Dominator's Touch, or even used his Stealth to vanish, but instead, he chose to simply meet their attacks head-on. His hands were held out, open-palmed and ready to catch their punches. Of course, even at Izuku's strength, these attacks would be pretty heavy, so he activated his new Skill, something he had acquired specifically from the Nomu at the USJ.

[Skill: Shock Absorption has activated. All physical attacks will be reduced by 99% for five seconds. Cost: 500 Mana. Can only be used every 60 seconds.]

It was an overpowered Skill by most definitions of the word, but with its time limit, Mana cost, and cooldown, it was a very particular tool.

This was Izuku's first time trying it out, and he was not even slightly disappointed. As the heavy attacks from his two opponents crashed into his palms, he felt virtually nothing. "Smokey, keep the beast busy."

Jurota's eyes widened for just a moment before being smacked aside by a massive paw, leaving Tetsutetsu as the only threat. By that point, the buff Skill had worn off, so before he could throw another metallic punch, Izuku's hand clenched around his fist and using Dominator's Touch as leverage, he heaved Tetsutetsu into the air, intending to throw him out of boundaries in much the same way Igris had done to Iida. Unfortunately, he had not expected his classmate to have such intense weight behind him and while he went soaring a decent distance for what was essentially a metal man, he crashed down many many meters short of the goal.

Another five or so students had apparently gotten the same idea as 1-B and decided to take out the stronger students as a team, but unlike 1-B, they didn't even stand a chance. "These must be the ones from C and D. They seem too slow." Deciding that it wasn't worth the exhaustive effort, Izuku sighed and raised a clawed hand, "Come Forth."

The students didn't even know what hit them as the army of darkness washed over them, carrying the five to the edge of the arena and unceremoniously throwing them out. "Alright," Izuku said, grinning, "Let's get to the main event."

Ryukyu's eyes narrowed as she watched Izuku Midoriya bat aside enemy after enemy with ease, he'd gotten stronger, not to mention his Shadow Summons, "So he was Reawakened. Was Tsukauchi wrong? Or just covering for him?"

"Hey, Kyu," Dabi growled out from behind her, causing her to jump and spin around. "Lots of talent this year, huh?"

She scowled at him for a moment before noticing the woman beside him. She appeared to be in her early twenties and her hair was pure white, with a few specks of crimson throughout, "Oh excuse me," She bowed to the woman, introducing herself. She may have been a total rage monster whenever facing Dabi, but she was not averse to composing herself for others.

The woman chuckled, "There's no need to apologize, knowing Touya, he's probably done something to annoy you. Oh! I'm Fuyumi Todoroki by the way!"

"It's nice to meet you."

"Aw come on sis, why do you have to follow me around like some sort of supervisor? I just wanted to have some fun."

"I followed you because I knew you'd try to bug someone."

Dabi rolled his eyes sarcastically, "This isn't just someone, this is Kyu," He declared, as if that cleared up everything.

"I told you to stop calling me that!" Ryukyu nearly shouted, a slight blush forming on her face.

"Wait… Kyu?" Fuyumi asked, "Are you… Ryukyu?! Oh my god! I didn't even realize! Touya always calls you by your Hero name, so I had no idea of your full name!"

"I-It's quite alright… he didn't refer to me as Kyu for the whole time we were dating did he?"

"It was almost exclusively that. Does it have any meaning? Or is it just a shortening of your Hero name?"

Ryukyu nodded furiously, "It is definitely just a shorter version-"

Dabi cut her off, "Oh, it has a meaning alright."

"Dabi I swear to god I will eviscerate you right here and now."

Fuyumi took a step back as her brother laughed, she could feel the real bloodlust between them, "What the hell Touya? You told me you guys broke up under good circumstances."

"Ryukyu here is a noisy one."

"Dabi…"

"I call her Kyu because the only noise she could make in bed was," Dabi's voice went up a note as he went, "Kyu."

Ryukyu wanted to feel indescribable rage. She wanted to tear him limb from limb, but the only thing she could do was look down, her face completely red with shame as she remembered their few nights of passion.

In fact, she was so distraught that she didn't even notice Fuyumi smacking her brother over and over on the shoulder as she berated him. Of course, she could only do it for so long before her hands began to hurt, as the S-Rank was closer to a brick wall than a human.

"Kyu…" Dabi began, shrugging off his sister, "Today I'm just here for Shoto. I don't want to ruin his big day on Tv by killing that pest."

Ryukyu recovered for just a moment as Izuku was brought up, "So you're going to leave him alone?"

"Pfft," He scoffed, "As if. He's obviously been Reawakened, which only reinforces my belief that he is responsible for Natsuo's death."

Fuyumi now tugged somewhat childishly on Dabi's sleeve, "Touya, we talked about this."

"I don't care if the kid killed him in self-defense, he was our brother."

Fuyumi stomped her foot, "Obviously I know that! But he didn't try to become a Hero like you, or like what Shoto is doing! He took after dad! I don't need to tell you why that's a bad thing!"

"He might not need to know, but I'd like to hear this Fuyumi," Endeavor growled as he emerged from a nearby stairwell, his body flaring with fire.

Gently, Dabi moved Fuyumi behind him, "Don't act coy Enji, you know what we mean."

Endeavor growled, "It looks like the time you spent in America was wasted. You still have no respect for your elders."

"I could never respect someone like you."

"If you held more respect for me, you might not have received those burns."

Dabi's face contorted into a visage that resembled his father's expression to a horrible degree, "I'm proud of these burns, they're a reminder. I did what you refused to do, even as Number Two." He scoffed, "Of course, you don't even deserve that position, much less Number One."

"Why you…" Endeavor's arms began to glow, lighting up with a powerful blaze.

Dabi mirrored him, his burned and scarred arms bursting into blue flames. "I'd run Fuyumi."

"What?!"

Endeavor appeared in Dabi's face, faster than Fuyumi could even register her brother's threat. Their father obviously had no care for his daughter's safety as he was clearly willing to unleash a fiery blast with her just a few feet away.

"ENOUGH!"

Endeavor and Dabi were shoved back by impacts to their chest and were shocked to see sharp appendages at their throats.

Ryukyu had intervened just in time, pushing them apart and threatening them with her claws and her trident-tipped tail that she manifested.

Dabi smiled as her tail wiggled at his throat, the tip centimeters away from piercing his skin, "I'd forgotten how cute your tail was, Kyu."

This time, Ryukyu was able to ignore his remarks with her typical calm and collected personality, "Endeavor, as a fellow member of the Top Ten, I won't report this, I know you do try to do good. But make no mistake, if you threaten your son, or put your daughter in harm's way ever again, I will not hesitate to bring you down."

Endeavor scowled, but hmph'd and turned his back to the group, "I did what I did so that Shoto could be the best Hero in the world, that's what respect gets you, boy."

"No friends? No family? No life outside of your sick desire?" Dabi spit back.

Endeavor simply squared his shoulders and stormed back from the way he came, only sparing a detestable glance at the battlefield when he noticed Shoto was only using his ice powers.

Once he was finally gone, Ryukyu relaxed, her tail disappearing back under her dress and merging back into her body.

"Aw…" Dabi deadpanned, "You do care."

Ryukyu sighed, "I always cared. You were the one to break it off after all." She turned around and rested a hand on his shoulder, "If you really want to fix what you broke, then give up this weird persona you've adopted. The old Touya would never hunt down a kid like this." It was the first sincere thing she'd said to him since he had left her, likely because this was the first time she'd seen the old Dabi in ages. She couldn't stand to talk to him as he was, but when he had put himself between Endeavor and Fuyumi, pulling all the attention to himself, it felt like she was looking into the past, a time when he was more Heroic than she could ever be. "Now, forget about this whole thing and just go cheer your brother on." Ryukyu wasn't sure if she had gotten through to him as she strutted away, but his lack of sass seemed to be a good enough indication. It wasn't perfect. In fact, it had nearly ended up pretty terrible, but it was a start and that was enough to put a smile on the dragon girl's face.

"Fifty students remain!" Midnight shouted, signifying to Izuku that he just needed to survive the "deaths" of ten more students.

Igris had already tossed out Kamikiri, but Smokey was having a surprising amount of trouble with Jurota. Meanwhile, Hyo was simply doing his best to make sure Izuku was protected from any of Todoroki's wide scale ice attacks.

Originally, Izuku had perceived Todoroki as a near unbeatable threat, and that was true, at least, on his own it was, but the heterochromatic boy appeared to only be using his right side. Hyo could easily circumvent these attacks with his own cryokinesis, but Izuku feared for the moment Todoroki decided to let his fire powers out. By that point, his only defense would be to use Tank, a Shadow he wanted to keep secret for as long as possible considering its origins.

Izuku wasn't sure how much recovery time was given between events, so instead of going all out to disqualify as many participants as possible, he retained his strength by letting his Shadows take over. Standing the middle of the field, his honor guard encircled him in a near-impenetrable formation. Only someone like Bakugo or Shoto using his fire powers would likely be able to reach him. Occasionally, Igris would have to cut away some sort of vines that burrowed under the field to reach Izuku, but all things considered, it served as a great opportunity to observe everyone.

He knew a good deal about his class, but seeing the way they fought against larger groups was paramount to his own strategies. Especially that of Bakugo and Shoto.

Izuku was pretty stubborn when it came to doing things his way, but he knew that as he was, he couldn't take on his S-Rank classmates alone. It was time to cast aside any delusions that he could. Now… they would no longer fight Izuku Midoriya, they would fight the Shadow Monarch.