Sorry this took so long to get out! Being a caretaker for my brother has taken over my life and it just been too HOT to be creative here. I begin to die at 75F and its been between 90-105F for the past 2 months…..and then the fires...west coast US isn't having a good September.
Anyway, buckle up! We're gonna be covering seven fights in one chapter….almost seven fights; Tokoyami only gets a passing mention because I literally couldn't find anything on his fight in round two!
Enjoy~
Akami ended up running to grab a lemonade for Mina during the break between rounds. She scoured the stadium until she found a business course kid selling strawberry lemonade; its pink nearly matching her friend's skin. She also brought cotton candy and nachos for the two of them to share from the lemonade kid's friends. She escaped just as they tried to wrangle her into a long term sponsorship deal...though she did leave with a few business cards.
Business course is as ruthless as always…
She got back as Tokoyami took the stage versus Shiozaki. Mina oohed and aahed at her fluorescent drunk before taking a chuck of cotton candy to watch the show. It was easy to know who to root for but Akami had missed Shiozaki's last fight, so she was curious about what she could do.
Turns out hair vines was the answer, unsurprisingly.
"Kiri, want some?" Akami held the bundle of cotton candy back toward the boy.
"You sure, Aka-chan?" Kirishima looked skeptical but was already reaching for it
With a light laugh, Akami nodded, "go right ahead. It'll save me from overly hyper Mina."
Mina giggled, "there's no saving you now, Aoi-chan; this lemonade is super sugary~" she took a long sip to prove her point.
Akami sighed dramatically, "I'm doomed."
Mina had invited her to stay at her house the night after the festival about a week earlier and Akami was honestly more excited for that than the tournament; her first sleepover...she couldn't wait!
"What? We're sharing?" Kaminari piped up from across the bleachers, mock pouting, "why aren't you offering any to me?"
"Well…" Mina said, "you're way over there."
"What about me?" Mineta said.
"Yeah...that's not going to happen;" Akami leaned her head back to glare at Mineta, "you would have to be within 5 feet of me and that's not a safe space for you, specifically, to be."
Luckily, he took her very obvious hint and sat back down with a horrified look on his face.
With a self satisfied huff, Akami turned behind her once more, eyeing Bakugo as he glared out at the field where their classmate was winning, "I would offer you some cotton candy–"
Bakugo interrupted her, "I don't want your shitty cotton candy."
"–but," she continued as if he hadn't said anything, "I figured you are more of a spicy nacho guy." he looked dubious, so she shook the carton of cheesy goodness at him, "Come on; Mina doesn't like spicy like I do and I'm not going to be able to finish this before my match."
Bakugo grumbled but, to her surprise, he took some of the offered snacks. He didn't indicate whether he liked them or not but Akami considered that a social interaction win. She turned back to the field as Tokoyami finished it off.
As Midnight called the match, Mina leaned back to look at Kirishima.
"I guess that means it's your turn, huh Kiri?"
"Yup!" Kirishima bounced to his feet, "Wish me luck!"
Mina waved cheerfully as he turned to leave, "good luck, you two!"
Bakugo had already gotten up without a word and was almost at the door.
"Goodluck," Akami called to the two of them.
Bakugo turned his head to look at her at the top of the stairs, "I don't need your stupid luck."
Akami raised an unimpressed brow, "Fine, then I'll give Kiri your share of it."
He left with a huff while Kirishima chased after him, chattering.
"It's a wonder how those two are friends…" Akami mumbled as she settled back into her seat.
"Oh Bakugo's not so bad," Mina said next to her, finishing her drink off with a noisy slurp, "I mean, you're his friend, right? That's got to count for something!"
Akami shook her head at her friend's cheerfulness but said nothing...mostly because she wasn't sure she could disagree anymore. Things were...different between her and Bakugo and she wasn't sure what it was exactly.
Maybe it is friendship? It's very different from what Mina and I have, but…
She shelved that thought as Kirishima and Bakugo took the stage.
Their fight was short but brutal.
Bakugo bombarded Kirishima with explosions, one after another, showing no sign of weakening. Kirishima got more than a few swings in–Bakugo's cheek was bleeding profusely from one such hit from Kirishima's rock sharp knuckles–but he was mostly on the defensive, hoping to outlast his friend's quirk by hiding behind his own. In the end, Bakugo got the boy in the ribs with a blast as Kirishima's hardening drained away.
No matter what this is–friendship or not–it's not going to stop him from trying to destroy me… Akami smirked to herself, good. I wouldn't have it any other way.
She watched Kirishima be carried off before leaving with Iida for their match, high fiving Mina as she left.
Iida stopped at the point at which they would have to split up and turned to her with his hand out, "Goodluck out there, Akami."
She took his hand, firmly shaking it, "you too, Iida. No hard feelings, no matter which way this goes, alright?"
"Of course."
One thing became crystal clear after their match started: the two of them were just a bad match up.
Iida was really fast but Akami nearly had him matched in speed; she would never win a foot race against him, but dodging was easier for her than others with her Quick activated. As she weaved around his attempts to grab her, she imagined their fight looked like a very intense game of tag. He couldn't land a hit...but, then again, neither could she.
They were in a stalemate...a very fast stalemate.
She had to focus entirely on Iida to keep his pace and counter his movements but she snuck a glance out at the crowd. She could nearly physically sense their growing boredom; people liked fighting, not keep away…
Akami sighed.
There had to be an opening somewhere or the two of them were going to go back and forth until one or both collapsed from exhaustion. One of them had at least one more match after this, so that just wouldn't do. They had to end this one way or another. She could already feel herself tiring as she swung at him once more. Iida dodged under her fist, sending them to opposite sites of the ring but Iida recovered quickly, taking advantage of her slower reaction and sprinting towards her.
Well, it's now or never.
She slid to a stop sideways on one foot, only to leap back directly at Iida as he turned on his special attack: Recipro Burst. His momentum drove her leading shoulder into his abdomen, popping it out of socket for the 2nd time that day. She gritted her teeth against the pain as she knocked the air out of him. His speed met her strength with a meaty thud, her heels dug into the ground, and then all was still; neither of them could budge the other any further.
Another stalemate…but one in which she had the upper hand.
Grabbing his belt with both hands, she lifted him over her head, ignoring her screaming shoulder. He tried to wiggle out of her grasp, tried to get his feet on the ground, but she wasn't having it. Turning on her heel, Akami began to walk to the edge of the arena; she got a knee to the face as she walked but she trudged on, even as blood leaked onto her shirt and broken cartilage cracked itself back into place. She stopped a bit from the edge, tossing Iida onto his ass outside the line...and then rushed forward to help him back up as Midnight announced her win.
"Well played, Akami!" Iida said as he brushed himself off.
Akami swung her arm around, trying to pop it back into place, "you too," She grunted as she finally fixed her shoulder, "Sorry about throwing you...I couldn't risk getting close to the line."
Iida nodded, "understandable."
The two of them made their way up to watch their mutual friend, Midoriya's, match against Todoroki, which was sure to be interesting; it was the fight class 1A anticipated the most, ever since Todoroki's declaration in the dressing room.
Watching the two of them climb up onto the stage to applause, Akami definitely had a favorite in this race; Midoriya was arguably her first friend at UA and, as much as she understood Todoroki's anger, she couldn't help wanting to see him taken down a peg. He had been at the top of the class since the beginning, maybe it was someone else's turn.
"The last match of the second round!" Hizashi yelled, "At this year's sports festival, both have shown top class performances! Midoriya versus Todoroki! It's like two great rivals fighting against each other!"
They weren't even rivals till today, so I don't know if that's quite accurate…
The class 1A seats were tense and quiet, despite the roar around them; nobody said anything to break the silence as they all stared down at the field. Akami hadn't seen Todoroki's first fight, just it's aftermath, so this would be interesting.
"Now start!"
As soon as Hizashi yelled for the start of the match, Todoroki shot off a blast of ice as expected, no doubt trying to encase his opponent before he could use his strength. Midoriya didn't move as it sped at him; holding out his hand, he flicked his finger and the wave shattered before it reached him, sending a rush of air and ice back at Todoroki. The crowd behind Todoroki got blasted by an arctic wind and he could barely stand against it, relying on a small outcropping of ice to keep him from flying backwards. Midoriya held his hand against his body, obviously in pain.
"WOW!" Hizashi yelled, "Midoriya stopped Todoroki's attack!"
Not wasting any time, Todoroki sent another wave at Midoriya, who once again broke the ice-and his finger-to stop it.
"Ouch…that's gotta hurt." Mina mumbled from next to Akami, who nodded.
Midoriya was always ready to go to drastic lengths to win. It was what made Midoriya so strong...but Akami wondered how long he could keep it up; not just in this fight, but out there in the world, too. Shota had been harsh that first day, but he hadn't been wrong; Midoriya had to learn to fight without incapacitating himself and this wasn't the fight that was going to be the breakthrough.
He needed every ounce of strength he had to fight this.
Akami moved to the front of her seat, watching intently, looking for any form of weakness in Todoroki's defense, anything she could use. She knew a fight with Midoriya-if he won-would just be a brawl, with both of their Quirks being physical and rather punchy, but she needed a strategy for Todoroki, just in case. Watching him send another wave at Midoriya-not even bothering to move from his spot-she could see he tried to overwhelm his opponent, never choosing to use pinpoint attacks; his Quirk was big and flashy, but ultimately dodgeable.
Not that Midoriya dodged at all; sacrificing another finger, he blew Todoroki's attack away.
He can't keep this up…
"It started?!" Kirishima ran down the stairs, no doubt just finished getting patched up from his fight with Bakugo.
"You put up a good fight, Kiri~" Mina yelled.
"Thanks, Mina!" Kirishima replied, "But I guess Akami's extra luck didn't work out. Man, Bakugo, you and Todoroki can both shoot off powerful attacks that cover a lot of ground. Like bam!"
Sero leaned to look across at them, "And you can do it with zero lag time…"
"I'm not just shooting them off," Bakugo growled, "Don't underestimate 'em."
"Huh?" Kirishima leaned in to listen while Akami turned slightly to listen to the conversation.
"If you overuse your muscles, the muscles tear, and if you keep running, you'll run out of breath," Bakugo looked down at his arm contemplatively and Akami knew what he was thinking about; he was thinking about his limits, "Quirks are physical abilities, too. They must also have some kind of limit."
"If I think about it like that, I guess that makes sense…" Kirishima mumbled as he took his seat, "Then, against the instant-killer Todoroki, Midoriya wants…."
To wait him out, Akami thought as Kirishima lapsed into silence, If he can make Todoroki run out of steam before he runs out of fingers, then he's got this in the bag.
Again neither moved as Todoroki shot ice at Midoriya and Midoriya broke his last finger on her right hand. Finally, Todoroki rushed forward, creating a ramp to race towards his opponent. Midoriya broke the ramp, using one of the fingers on his left hand that was injured in his first match, just as Todoroki leapt off to fly at him. Punching the ground, Todoroki threw another wave of ice at the dodging Midoriya, catching his leg while he couldn't maneuver in the air. Midoriya reached out for another flick...or so they thought.
Akami gasped as he clenched his fist, sacrificing his entire left hand to his attack. The resulting blast wave pushed everyone back into their seats as ice flew in all directions. Akami fought the wind to throw her arms around Mina, taking a chuck of ice in her back instead of her friend; luckily she had the forethought to activate her Quirk, so she barely felt it.
"Akami! Are you ok?" Mina asked her as she settled back down and she shrugged.
"I'm fine," Akami turned back to the fight as Midoriya yelled in pain, his broken hand limp at his side, "I just worry about the other bystanders more directly in the blast…"
And Midoriya...
Todoroki was nearly pushed out of the ring, his ice just barely stopping him. He pushed a large chunk of ice off his lap to the side as he stood up. Midoriya stood there stunned; he had used so much of his power and yet he couldn't push Todoroki far enough….
What was it going to take?
Todoroki set a blast at the heavily injured Midoriya, who didn't try to get out of the way once again. Standing his ground, Midoriya destroyed the wave with his already injured hand, to the surprise of...everyone.
"Did he just…" Kirishima said, "did he just double break his finger?"
Akami winced; that could not be fun.
"You haven't put a single scratch on me yet, you know!" Midoriya yelled, loud enough for them to hear in the stands.
"Holy shit, Midoriya…" Akami breathed out, "that's...kinda of badass…"
Mina nodded next to her.
Clenching his broken hand, Midoriya continued to yell, "Come at me with everything you've got!"
When did Midoriya get so...cool?
He was always her friend and Akami cared about him but Midoriya was shy and quiet most of the time, only breaking out of his shell to help others. She had seen it in the battle training, fighting alongside Uraraka to win their round and at USJ, jumping in to help fight back against the villains. She watched him now look at Todoroki was a very un-Midoriya ferocity, and she narrowed her eyes.
What was he planning?
Todoroki's normal passive look darkened into a glare as he charged Midoriya...much slower than he had been. Ice flaked off him as he ran, his eyes forward, intent. He looked like he was just about to swing at Midoriya, when the other boy pounced, waiting till his foot left the ground, catching him in the stomach with a full on punch and sending him flying.
Akami fought the urge to cheer-finally Midoriya was on the offensive!-and her smile fell as she spotted the ice crawling up Midoriya's left arm.
Todoroki must have gotten him as he folded around Midoriya's punch… Even as he got beat up, Todoroki took every opportunity to strike. Both boys were on their feet but neither looked good; Midoriya had far too many self inflicted wounds and Todoroki was breathing hard, each breath chilled and visible, even in the warm sunlight of the early afternoon. He continued to throw ice at Midoriya but none of his attacks were anywhere near what he once was capable of and Midoriya leapt out of the way easily, no longer needing to rely on his Quirk.
They got up close, both attacking at half power, slowing down more and more; after each attack, Midoriya flinched and held back a scream.
Gripping her seat's arms as Mina clung to her, Akami watched her friend with wide eyes, no longer thinking of strategies. He didn't have healing like she had; there was no way he was getting out of this unscathed…
Would I have the fortitude to break myself over and over again, even knowing I would heal?
Akami knew her answer was a resounding no as she saw Midoriya do just that, pausing only to switch fingers. His hand was dark, vivid purple when he reached up to his cheek, using it to flick his thumb to continue despite his injuries. The blast sent them both flying but Midoriya rushed Todoroki to headbutt him, never giving up.
Midoriya… Akami felt her heart swell as she watched her friend fight past the point that many would have forfeited, Who are you trying to help here?
Ice crept over Todoroki as he watched Midoriya charge him, almost letting him punch him across the stage. He stumbled to his feet, swaying.
"It's your power, isn't it?!" Midoriya yelled in response to something none of them could hear.
"I picked a fight with you to show him what I can do, without using my damn old man's Quirk…No...I'll reject him completely by winning first place without it"
Akami was standing before she knew what she was doing...she still didn't know what she was going to do but she walked to the railing, trying to listen harder.
Midoriya is trying to help Him...he's destroying himself to get through to Todoroki…
Nobody breathed in the entire stadium for a moment as steam rose off of Todoroki, who was staring at Midoriya with a manic shock. Suddenly, a fire sprouted forth from his left side, burning away all of the ice that was left on the field. The air was suddenly dry and hot; the force and heat of his flames pushed everyone in the stadium back into their seats, but Akami just stood at the railing, gripping it hard against the wind and not looking away, even as Todoroki burned sunspots into her vision.
"He did it…" her dry lips said but the words were lost to the roar of the inferno that was Todoroki.
Midoriya grinned.
"Shoto!" they heard a voice over the fire. Looking to the right, they could all see Endeavor, the number 2 hero-Todoroki's father-stalk down the stairs; Akami had never met the man personally but everyone knew what he looked like. "Have you finally accepted yourself?! That's it! Good! It all starts from here for you! With my blood, you will surpass me...you will fulfill my desire!"
Hizashi quizzically said, "Endeavor suddenly shouts….encouragement? Such a doting father."
Akami was of a different frame of mind. Her hand balled into a shaking fist as her glare never left the burning man, "Is he going to shut the fuck up?" she ssaid to nobody in particular, "None of this is about him...or can he not handle not being in the spotlight? Tch….asshole."
She looked back out towards the fight to notice...that neither of the combatants had paid any attention to the hero.
Todoroki took a step forward to fall into a fighting stance, creating a wall of ice on his right as flames licked up his left arm. Midoriya fell into his one stance, powering up his broken body as well.
"Midnight!" Cementoss yelled, "If they keep going, it'll be bad!"
But the teachers were too late; the boys were already jumping at each other, reaching for each other. Todoroki's ice was stronger than ever, balanced by his fire, and Midoriya's determination pushed him further and further towards self destruction...further and further towards Todoroki. His flame grew to a bright, hot orange as he brought his hand up, Midoriya growing closer by the second. Multiple cement walls shot up between the two of them but it wasn't enough to stop them.
The resulting blast destroyed the walls, sending debris everywhere. Akami, who was so mesmerized by Todoroki's flame, forgot to hold onto the railing and was sent flying back into the seats; Kirishima would have been smushed under her if he hadn't scrambled away. She rolled off his seat to land on her knees with a wheeze and stood to try and see the results. The entire arena was obscured by dust and falling debris.
But when the dust settled, Midoriya was out of bounds and out cold.
Todoroki won.
As Hizashi called the match, Akami's wide eyes met Bakugo's to her right; he hadn't moved from his seat. He said nothing before looking back at the field with an odd expression; a calculating awe, as if he didn't quite believe what he saw. Neither did she. Seeing Midoriya being wheeled away, Akami mumbled an apology and sidled past Bakugo. She met Uraraka, Iida, and Tsu at the door.
Akami was so worried, she didn't even notice Mineta with them.
"You going to see him too, Aka-chan?" Uraraka asked as they walked, none of them wanting to waste time.
"Mhmm...that was intense; I just want to see if he's ok."
They all hurried to Recovery Girl's room, bursting into the door.
"Midoriya!"
Recovery Girl and a gaunt, blonde stranger stood over him as he lay on the hospital bed, covered in bandages. Akami thought back to her last hospital stay, watching over Shota as he lay there in pain and there was nothing she could do. Seeing people she cared about injured hurt her in a way physical attacks never could.
What good was the ability to heal if she couldn't help others with it?
"Are you okay?!" Uraraka rushed to Midoriya's side before turning to the man, "oh, nice to meet you…"
The man grinned nervously, "Yeah…"
Is he related to Midoriya somehow? Or maybe Recovery Girl?
Recovery Girl shook her head, "You're all so noisy."
"Everyone…" Midoriya's eyes finally opened to look at them, "what about the next match?"
"Fuck the next match!" Akami said, standing at the foot of his bed.
"Since there was a lot of damage to the stage," Iida explained, "they're taking a break to repair it."
"...that too."
"That match was scary, Midoriya…what pro's gonna want that?" Mineta finally made his presence known to Akami but she ignored him...but not his question. She fell into thought as Tsu shut the boy up.
What Pro was going to want Midoriya? Internships were a learning opportunity, yes, but more than that, you become a representative of a hero agency, however briefly. Midoriya was a wonderful hero and an even better friend, but Akami could see his tendency to break himself into pieces being a barrier that most agencies weren't going to want to touch. She would never voice these thoughts to Midoriya-he had self esteem issues as it is-but she worried about him.
"Be quiet now!" Recovery Girl began to shuffle them towards the door, "I know you're worried, but I've got to do surgery now."
"SURGERY?!"
Akami joined her classmates in yelling before they were all kicked out. They all stood there before turning as a group down the hall.
"He didn't look so good, did he?" Uraraka asked quietly.
No one had the heart to answer, not for fear of breaking hers, but their own; their friend was about to go through some kind of surgery and all they could do was wait.
"He'll be ok…" Tsuyu finally said after a long silence, "Midoriya is tenacious."
"Yeah…" Akami said before scoffing halfheartedly, "did you see how he provoked Todoroki? Didn't know he had it in him…"
Iida regarded her, concerned, "do you know what that was about?"
Akami shrugged-it was Todoroki's story to tell after all-and said, "Midoriya wouldn't have done it if it wasn't important. You know how he is; someone else being in trouble always supersedes his own health."
They seemed to take that as enough of an explanation and their group walked in silence, in their own thoughts, back to the class. Mineta didn't even make a gross comment, which told Akami exactly how scared he was and she was glad for the reprieve as she thought about the next few match ups.
Bakugo was next against Tokoyami, then it was her versus Todoroki; she had yet to come up with a solid plan but she had a few ideas. Then it was the long awaited final.
Even though they got back long before they finished rebuilding the stage, Bakugo was already gone. Mina filled her in on that chatter the class could hear about Midoriya's fight-the consensus seemed to be that it was fucking wild.
Tokoyami's match versus Bakugo was lopsided. Dark Shadow was already weak in the full sunlight of the arena, but with the light of Bakugo's Quirk, he cowered. Bakugo ended it quickly, holding Tokoyami down after a brief fight and lighting up his hand with small but bright sparkles to keep his opponent's Quirk at bay.
They looked like sparkles he had shown Akami way back in that playground and, for a moment, she wondered if they would have become friends if he hadn't been a dick that day; would she have gone back to see the boy who saved her? Would they have grown up without animosity between them? Where would they be now? She shook the thought out of her head before getting up to stretch and leave for her next match.
"You got this, Aoi-chan~"
"Thanks, Mina…" she said, making her way into the stadium, trying to get her weird thoughts out of her mind.
Turns out she wouldn't get the chance. Bakugo was making his way back to their seats with a bandage on his cheek. Akami stopped in the hallway, unsure if she should say anything, but he walked right past her, not even looking at her.
I guess that settles that… she thought with a sigh. She was about to leave when she heard his voice behind her.
"Don't fucking lose, Blueberry."
"Awww, now I wanna," came the smartass comment before she could stop it. Akami turned to look at Bakugo to see what his reaction was but he had his back to her as he gazed up the stairs to their class's room, "Is that your fucked up way of saying good luck?"
He scoffed, looking at her out of the corner of his eye, "You'd better win so I can beat that smug attitude out of you."
She scoffed right back at him,"Talk about the pot calling the kettle black; you've been insufferable since the term started."
He whirled to face her, brows furrowed and angry, and he stalked towards her, bending over to get in her face, "You wanna go right now?!"
"I would...but," Akami smiled mockingly sweetly, "I already have a date; I shouldn't keep Todoroki waiting~"
Akami didn't know why she phrased it like that but the colors Bakugo's face turned were entertaining to say the least; for a moment it looked like he was going to punch her or explode–or something aling those lines–but he almost stumbled back from her, as if her words had physically pushed him away. His eyes were wide and he looked at her as if he had never seen her before and Akami couldn't stand being under their gaze any longer, as if it would burn her. She turned to leave him at the foot of the stair.
"Keep out of trouble, Baku-chan," she said as she walked away, "we can finish this conversation later, in the final." She left him standing there and made her way to the field.
Stepping up onto the stage, a thought crossed her mind: Maybe I'm overconfident...
Standing opposite Todoroki, Akami took a deep settling breath. No matter what arrogance she projected at Bakugo, this wasn't going to be easy nor was it a guaranteed win; Todoroki was top in the class for a reason and she had seen his overwhelming ice power in his fight against Sero and his fire against Midoriya...healing from burns either of those temperatures would give her would suck.
He was evaluating her as well. She knew he had some idea of what she could do but most of his context was from her being out of control; there was no way he could know how much of that she could do when in control. Going over what she had done that day, she knew he saw her speed against Iida but other than that, she hadn't truly shown off yet.
This would be the place to do so.
"Ready?" Midnight called to the two of them, waiting for their nods before yelling, "fight!"
Todoroki immediately shot a column of ice at her, as she had expected. Dodging to the side, she took off running at the boy. Midoriya had the right idea, Todoroki's strength was his Quirk; get in close before he can get an ice wall up, and he was done for...if he didn't use his fire. She doubted he would too much. Midoriya had gotten through to him somehow-gotten him to use it despite his hatred of his father-but trauma doesn't go away in an hour; she knew from experience.
Ice rose from beneath her, sending her into the sky quickly. She rode the wall up before jumping, sliding down the ramp it created. With a grin, she continued her path; Todoriki had just gotten her going faster. Spinning around another ice spike as she got right up on him, Akami quickly bent over backwards to avoid a spout of fire, eyes wide. Her momentum kept her moving forward as the fire abated and, turning on her heel, she sent her foot up into his chin, causing him to fly back a few feet before more ice caught him.
Fuck that was close!
She could smell her burnt hair and swore; she would have to cut her hair even shorter now! But she had avoided a face full of fire, so she would take it.
But it wasn't over.
Todoroki took the time she was reevaluating her strategy to attack again. Akami stumbled back to avoid the fire he threw at her...noticing too late that he wasn't truly aiming at her; her leg went cold as the ice she hadn't realised was there creeped up it.
"Fuck…"
Akami brought her fist down on the ice before it could get past her knee but another burst of fire kept her from completely getting free. Ice clung to her calf as she dodged away. Grabbing a chunk of ice she had broken off at some point, she threw it at him, forcing him to dodge backwards and put up an ice shield, giving her time to dart forward. A wall rose up before her again, but this time she went through; ice cracked away from her fist like glass, before shattering back towards Todoroki and he crossed his arms in front of himself, closing his eyes against the shards.
There!
He was so close to the edge...it wouldn't take much to push him out. With him using his fire–however sparsely–his ice wasn't slowing down, so she would have to be quick. With a yell, Akami pushed off the ground with her non iced leg, moving at speeds few in the crowd could follow.
Just a little further…
Air left her lungs as she was stopped short from grabbing his neck; she coughed up some blood as a gasp washed through the crowd and a cold sensation filled her chest. Todoroki looked at her with wide eyes. There was a hint of fear in them; of her or of losing...she didn't know.
Maybe he was afraid of what he just did.
Akami looked down at the jagged piece of ice embedded in her chest with idle interest; a good foot of ice–five inches at its thickest part–stuck itself directly through her chest and out her back. Todoroki had summoned a spike in front of himself just as she leapt; her own momentum wedged it past her sternum. The entire stadium quieted to a dull roar, despite going wild around her; people really liked bloodshed…but there was far too much of it. Akami could feel it; too much damage, too much frustration, too close to her heart… It picked away at her newly won control. This fight was important, but not important enough that she was willing to risk it with so many people in attendance.
Someone yelled her name from the stands but she couldn't tell who over the booming of her pulse in her ears.
Midnight moved in to call the match as the ice melted away in a burst of heat and Akami stumbled to her knees.
"No," Akami held up a hand at their teacher to stop her from saying anything, her voice raspy and wet, "I'm fine. I can end this on my own."
Stepping up and taking a step back, Akami raised both hands as her chest knit itself back together painfully.
"I forfeit."
Her voice was surprisingly even for someone who just got skewered by an icicle, it's remains pooling at her feet as it mingled with her blood.
The crowd was at a loss about what just happened. It quieted down to a rush of mumbles as Akami and Todoroki stared at each other, each sizing the other up. She wanted him to know why she was giving up. She needed him–if not anyone else watching–to understand. She wasn't giving in.
She was winning her own battle.
He nodded, apparently getting her meaning; that she could continue but at the risk of hurting someone. He had been there when she lost control in USJ, he knew what she could do. The two of them stepped forward to shake hands as the medics swarmed, just to be waved off by Midnight; she knew Akami didn't need them.
"Good fight," Akami was sure her smile was probably marred a bit by the blood dribbling down her chin but Todoroki didn't seem to notice as he nodded.
"You too."
"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!"
They both turn to see Bakugo nearly falling out of the stands as he yelled, leaning over the railing as if he was about to come down to yell at her. Mina was at the railing next to him, hands covering her mouth. Class 1A was going wild–class 1B was peeking over the wall to watch the show–but they could only hear one voice clearly.
"...he is really loud," Todoroki said after a moment.
Akami huffed a small laugh, "He always is…"
"You almost sound fond."
Akami didn't know what to say to that...so she didn't. Instead she lightly socked him in the shoulder; he looked confused as she grinned.
"That was devious, using my momentum against me."
"I just copied your strategy from your fight with Iida," Todoroki shrugged, "It was that or risk getting pushed out."
"I had you on the ropes, huh?" Akami said with a mischievous smirk.
He didn't say anything to that.
Honestly this was the most she had ever talked to the boy; whenever there was group projects, they never found each other in the same group, he wasn't exactly the chattiest of people to begin with. And he hadn't made the friendliest impression earlier. Akami decide in that moment that she would make an effort to connect more; he seemed alright...once Midoriya beat some sense into him. It seemed like most of his aggression came from hatred for his father…Akami could relate to that
"YOU FUCKING GAVE UP, BLUEBERRY?!"
Speaking of aggression.
She sighed, "beat him in the final for me, okay? That way he can't say he's better than me; that'd get annoying fast…"
Todoroki made a sound that could have been amusement but it was lost in the cacophony of the crowd, "you're ok with me being better than you?"
"You're not as annoying."
"Heh… "
Midnight finally walked up to them, gesturing off the stage, saying to Akami, "you should go to the infirmary."
"You know she can't do anything..."
It was true. Despite being in pain from the drawbacks of her quirk, she was not injured, so Recovery Girl's quirk couldn't do anything to help; it just made both parties involved tired.
Their teacher shook her head, muttering something about reckless teens, before saying "then take some pain meds for the aches later."
"Will do~"
"THAT CAN'T BE FUCKING IT!"
Neither of them looked at Bakugo this time as they walked off the stage side by side.
"I'm sorry about what I said in the waiting room…" Akami said awkwardly as they entered the tunnel to leave the arena and the world quieted, "I'm sure you have plenty of friends."
"I don't, actually."
That pulled Akami up short. Todoroki walked a few more steps before turning to look at her. Her brows were drawn together in concern as she took in his near emotionless face.
"None?"
Todoroki shrugged, "Being my father's son doesn't leave a lot of opportunities to meet people, let alone people my age."
Akami could understand that; she had had friends growing up, but they were all older and friends with Shota first. But it had been over a month since school started; had no one made the effort to get to know him...or did he actively avoid them? She thought back to what she overheard during the break; she wouldn't tell him that she had heard but maybe she could take the first step to help him like Mina had helped her...whether he knew it or not.
"Well…" she held out her hand with a grin, "consider today an opportunity."
He just looked at her hand.
"What do you say? Friends?"
He continued to look at her hand with a questioning look, "do you make friends with everyone who stabs you in the chest?"
Akami raised a brow, hand still out. Her voice was dry when she replied, "You were at USJ, so you know for a fact that isn't the case but I'll make an exception for you."
After a moment more, he finally took her hand, giving it a shake, "I'm honored."
Akami giggled at his formality, "Now that that's settled, you should get to Recovery Girl; I know I pack a mean punch…" she winked, "well a kick, I guess."
"Heh…"
That was as much a laugh as she was going to get from him but she would take it.
"Do you need to go, too?"
"Nope!" Akami shrugged, "part of my Quirk is healing...though it's not pretty." She gestured to her chest that was covered in blood but Todoroki pointedly didn't look at her chest. She stifled a laugh; it's not like anything was showing, but she appreciated his gentleman-ness.
"Well, I'll be watching the final," Akami punched Todoroki in the shoulder again, "kick his ass."
From there they parted ways; him to the medical room to get checked out before his next fight and her back to their class's box seats...though she stopped by the locker room to get a new shirt and jacket and clean up a bit. The ice had cut her sports bra mostly in half, rendering it useless, so she threw that away with a sigh. She didn't have much to support anyway, so she should be fine if she kept her jacket on.
She took her dose of meds as the aches settled in.
Maybe it was best that I bowed out, she thought as she gripped her chest, a deep pang taking her breath away, this hurts like a bitch.
She waited for the pain to subside before walking slowly up to their seats. She stepped into the room to a cacophonous greeting from Class 1A. Mina ambushed her, dragging her to their seats.
"Akami! You scared me! I was sure I had lost my bff today! There was so much blood! Are you ok?!"
Luckily, Akami was able to wave away the rest of the class before they joined her worry fest but Kirishima joined in from his seat behind them.
"You ok, Aka-chan?"
Akami took Mina's wrists to stop her from inspecting her, "guys, I'm fine. All healed up and everything. It's part of my Quirk."
"Oh…" Mina said, settling down, "well that's good. You gave me a heart attack."
"Yeah, she and Bakugo seemed ready to jump down there when you got skewered!"
Akami looked at Kirishima with wide confusion, Bakugo was ready to what? I guess that explained why he was at the railing.
Shaking him out of her head, Akami hugged Mina, "I'm sorry, Pinki, I should have told you before now…"
"No no, it's fine; you're fine, so I'm fine."
Mina did not look fine; her cheeks were pale and her smile was weak. Akami felt horrible for making her friend worry. She was a reckless fighter; she knew, with her quirk, that she could afford to be but not everyone knew what she knew. It probably looked like Todoroki had nearly killed her. She knew her Quirk was scary, but she didn't think her ability to survive would be part of that…
"Would you like me to get you another lemonade?" She asked, hoping to cheer Mima up, "My treat."
"I thought you were afraid of Hyper Mina," Mina sounded like she was holding back a sob.
Akami wiped away one tear that leaked from Mina's eye, "I think I can handle her for one night. I just want to make my friend happy."
"Awww you're so sweet, Aoi-chan!" Mina hugged her tightly, "I think you've got enough sugar to last me a lifetime~"
"Pfffft…" Akami burst into laughter in her arms, "that's a horrible pick-up line…."
"You're my best friend, right?" Mina let her go and winked, "One of my lines must have worked!"
"Must have…" Akami rolled her eyes, "you want me to get that lemonade for you?"
"No no, I'll go get it." Mina stood up, "I need to stretch anyway; I sat for two entire rounds! Anyway, your treat, right?"
"Of course." Akami was happy to see her feeling better, "Get anything you want."
"You're going to regret saying that~"
"We're sharing!" Akami yelled at her retreating friend's back, "hurry, you don't have long before the final!"
She was back before the final started but just barely and carrying all kinds of food. Scooting over one seat, she set the haul on the chair between them, so all three of them could reach while they watched their classmates beat the shit out of each other in a few minutes. A few of the other's wandered over to join their feast but luckily, Mineta had an ounce of self preservation that day and stayed in his seat. Eventually it was the normal lunch squad-minus Bakugo and plus Jiro-chatting and waiting for the fight to start.
"Who do you think is going to win?" said Jiro.
"Bakugo obviously," Kirishima said automatically.
"I don't know, Todoroki has overpowered a lot of people today…" Kaminari mused, "I mean, he even beat Aka here!"
"While I thank you for the vote of confidence, Kaminari," Akami said, eyes on the stage as the boys stepped up, "I messed up and was reckless; I paid for it. Bakugo won't let that happen. He's too smart for that."
The group was silent for a long moment.
"Did…" Kaminari asked, concerned, "did you just compliment Bakugo?"
"I…" did she? "I mean, he's not an idiot, even he can figure out what to do."
Nobody looked convinced.
Akami wasn't even sure what she was convincing them of but she was saved by the bell as it were; the final match was about to start. They all turn to the field, her slip up forgotten for the moment. Flames sprung to life at the corners of the ring as Todoroki and Bakugo faced each other and Akami rolled her eye at the dramatics of it all.
"It's finally the last battle of the UA high school sports festival! The top of the first year will be decided with this one match! The final, so to speak! From the hero course, Todoroki Shoto! Versus! Also from the hero course, Bakugo Katsuki! Now start!"
Akami winced as Hizashi's voice cracked loudly but kept her eyes on the field as Todoroki slammed his hand on the ground, sending a wave of ice at Bakugo; no doubt trying to overwhelm him before he could get going. Quick as lightning, Bakugo fended off arm after arm of ice with quick explosions but the wall proved too much and he was engulfed.
"Todoroki gets a blow right away!" came Hizashi's voice again, "is he trying to avoid close combat with Bakugo? Has the winner been decided already?!"
Funny how all of Todoroki's opponents have been better at close quarters, where he is-relatively-weaker, Akami mused. She bit back a hope that this wasn't the end; she may have been rooting for Todoroki but she would hate to think that this was all Bakugo had to offer. Her thoughts were interrupted by a thunderous booming that shook the arena.
"What's that sound?" asked Mineta.
"It's Bakugo's doing," answered Tsu.
Akami smirked; of course this wasn't the end.
The wall of ice burst forth in a bout of explosive fire, lighting up the field and causing sunspots in the eyes of the observers. Todoroki jumped back as Bakugo shot himself out at him. Reaching up to block his opponent, Todoroki was shocked to find him not there; the crowd gasped as Bakugo propelled himself sideways, using small explosions as path correctors in midair and grabbing Todoroki by the forehead to throw him across the arena.
Seems Bakugo learned from Midoriya and I; the most direct path isn't the best.
Another wave of ice caught Todoroki, slinging him around the edge of the stage as he surfed his Quirk, circling in on Bakugo, who didn't wait for him; the explosive boy lept to meet him, aiming for his face...directly.
Or maybe he didn't learn at all… Akami thought as she watched Todoroki grab Bakugo's arm, knocking his explosion to the side.
He grabbed him with his left arm.
Class 1A held its breath as it waited to see how Bakugo would deal with their classmate's fire but a voice cut across the noise."
"Use it, Shoto!"
It was Endeavor, watching from the sidelines with a manic grin. Akami glared at him before looking back to the fight to see Todoroki throw Bakugo as far as he could, using his momentum to fling him. Bakugo slid to a three point landing before standing to growl something at his opponent.
"With the way he grabbed Todoroki's left side on purpose and timed his explosions…" Shota's quiet voice came over the loudspeakers, "he's been doing his research. That kid' abilities shine every time he fights. Todoroki moves well, too, but his attacks are too simple; ever since the match with Midoriya, he's lost his touch."
I don't know if turning me into a shish kebab counts as "losing his touch," Papa… but she did see his point; Todoroki has lost his refined abilities with his ice and his fire was wild and uncontrollable.
No doubt he never practices with it…and now seems unwilling to use it...
"Todoroki!" Midoriya burst out, "Don't lose! Do your best!"
Bakugo looked at the class 1A seats with an arrogant grin before launching himself at Todoroki, who hadn't moved since he threw the violent boy away. It seemed like his father had gotten to him again.
Akami scowled and stood to yell with Midoriya, cupping her hands around her mouth, "Todoroki! Beat his ass down a peg!"
If I'm going to root for him, might as well do it right!
Todoroki's right side erupted into flame as he raised his head to face his fast approaching opponent. Bakugo, whilst flying through the air, used his explosions to start spinning; faster and faster he went, till he was a blur, and Todoroki raised his left hand towards him...only for his flames to peeter out as his gaze fell to the floor.
He looked defeated.
"Oh no…"
Only Mina, her closest neighbor could hear Akami's whisper as they watched as Bakugo detonated the entire field. They were all thrown back into their seats and those standing staggered against the shockwave. Akami grasped the handrail, learning from her experience, and watched as the fires and dust dissipated, leaving Todoroki unconscious amongst his own ice.
Akami barely listened as Hizashi called the match and Bakugo stood up, making his way to his opponent quickly. Before the teachers could stop him, he grabbed the front of Todoroki's uniform.
"Stop screwing around!" they could hear him yell, "To get first place like this?!"
The emotion in Bakugo's voice was tangible and Akami could barely breathe. There was so much anger in it, more than she had ever heard, even at her most annoying. But it wasn't just anger; No, there was something else–something bordering on sorrow–as if he was the one who had lost. He couldn't say another word as a pink mist enveloped the stage and he collapsed alongside Todoroki due to Midnight's Quirk.
"Todoroki is out of bounds," Midnight yelled, raising an arm, "which means, Bakugo wins!"
"And now, all of the events have been completed!" Akami could barely hear Hizashi over the crowd, "the winner of this year's first-year UA sports festival is...from class 1A, Bakugo Katsuki!"
Against the wild crowd, class 1A was almost subdued; sure there was excited chatter and conversation about the fight, but there was an air of awed melencolia settling over them. Several of the class stood at the railing, watching the medics swarm the field to tend to their fallen classmates, rushing Todoroki to Recovery Girl.
Akami knew that Bakugo would be ok at the slower pace at which he was being carried off-Midnight's Quirk didn't hurt its victims-but seeing him like this didn't sit well with her. She fought the urge to run back to the nurse's office; as much as she wanted to, Bakugo would hate to see her at his side when he woke up, she was certain. She wasn't even sure where this urge came from and she definitely wouldn't be able to answer his or anybody's else's questions about her behavior. She wasn't even sure what she would say to him! But he had been the first face she had seen when she woke up in the hospital and–though this is hardly the same situation–it felt right for her to be there. However, she made her feet stay still, no matter how her mind raced.
What had allowed Todoroki to use his fire against her and not his final opponent? Had it been that he was tired or was it the reminder that his father existed? Or some third option she couldn't see? Had he known the effect it would have on the other boy? What of Bakugo? Had it been the anger or the angst that pushed Bakugo to risk the wrath of the teachers? Or had he been so blinded by both that it hadn't occurred to him that he shouldn't go after the unconscious Todoroki?
Despite the endless questions her brain conjured, Akami had no answers.
She remained rooted to her spot till the call for the medalists to take the field once more came. Akami walked alongside Tokoyami down to the undercroft of the stadium, where the podiums would be raised onto the field to reveal the winners to the chorus of pomp and fanfare.
Akami always thought it was overdramatic.
Speaking of overdramatic...first thing she saw when they entered the room was Bakugo chained to a tall slab of concrete, a metal muzzle similar to the one Hound Dog wore. A confused laugh sputtered past her lips as she watched him wriggle. His glare turned towards Akami as she made her way past him to Todoroki but his yells were muffled.
"Nice fight, Todoroki!" She held out a fist.
Todoroki looked at her hand for a moment before bumping her knuckles with his own, "I lost..."
"Eh...you'll get him next time. Or better yet, I will," she said with a wink.
"I definitely would be an interesting fight between you two."
"Our fight had pizzazz. So I think we did ok! So," Akami nodded to Bakugo, "what's up with our illustrious victor?"
Todoroki shrugged, "he was too angry after he woke up, so they figured they would present his medal this way."
Akami frowned and shook her head, leaving Todoroki after a few more pleasantries to go talk to the boy in question. Bakugo continued to try to escape but stilled as she got closer, brow raising in question...which looked pretty funny with the muzzle; Akami barely held back a snicker.
"Must you always be so stubborn?"
Silence was her answer as she looked up at the chained boy.
Akami took a deep breath, "that was a good fight. Don't complain," she cut across his answering yell, hands on her hips, "it may have not gone how you wanted but you fought well, didn't let yourself be reckless, and you won. It was...well I couldn't look away–I mean, we, the class, couldn't...even if your quirk is entirely too bright."
Bakugo's anger simmered into confusion and Akami sighed, eyes darting away.
"You know, I wish they would remove this stupid muzzle, so that we could have some witty banter–where I have the upper hand–rather than you just sitting there listening to me compliment you."
Bakugo rolled his eyes and she knew him well enough to know what he meant: he didn't need her compliments.
"Well, you're going to get them," she answered as if he had said anything, "you won and got one up on me. Congratulations."
The look in his eyes made her want to laugh and shake her head: he didn't consider this a victory. As it was, a smile worked its way onto her lips, "so you're going to continue to be stubborn?"
He went back to trying to escape and then she did laugh as she went to stand next to Tokoyami, the other person who won third place.
"I never did get to say congratulations, Akami."
"Oh, thank you, Tokoyami. You too!"
It didn't take long for the time of the ceremony to arrive. They could hear cheering in the stadium above and the ground rose up beneath them as the ceiling opened, raising them up into the view of the world. Other than Bakugo, they all stood there without a word, though Akami was hyper aware of how wild her hair must be. Cameras flashed all around them and she forced herself to ignore them.
"He's like a man-eating fiend…" Tokoyami said beside her, looking at Bakugo and Akami snorted.
Midnight struck a pose, "the presenter of the awards will, of course, be by the man himself!"
They could all heard All Might's laughter through out the whole stadium and the crowd went wild.
"It's almost as if they are more excited to see him than the award ceremony," Akami whispered to Tokoyami, who shrugged, but she didn't blame the man; being this dramatic was just who he was. He wouldn't be All Might if he didn't make an entrance.
Before long, he had jumped down in front of them and began the ceremony.
"Young Tokoyami, congratulations. You sure are strong," All Might began.
"You are too kind."
"However," All Might enveloped Akami's classmate in a tight hug and spoke too quietly for her to hear.
"Yes sir," Tokoyami said once the man stepped away, looking at his medal.
Time to face the music...
All Might slipped the bronze medal around her neck, "Young Yukiko–"
"Please call me Akami, sir."
Her teacher smiled, despite her rudeness in cutting him off, "of course. Young Akami, congratulations. You saw your limit and knew when enough was enough. That shows an understanding of your body and your strength. You have grown a lot in your time here."
Akami smiled.
"But–"
Her smile fell and All Might wrapped his arms around her too, although he had to hunch over to do so. Akami did the same, taking a moment to acknowledge that All Might gave the best hugs before he continued.
"There will be a time where you will need to push past your limits. Work hard to know where they are, how to avoid reaching them, and how to continue when you must."
He pulled back and Akami smiled once more, knowing he was right. She looked out over the crowd of students, picking out her classmates easily; Mina was literally jumping and waving to get her attention. Akami gave a small wave and a big grin back.
"Young Todoroki, congratulations." Akami couldn't see her classmate past Bakugo nor hear his quiet conversation with their teacher but she assumed he was getting the same hug treatment.
Then came the interesting one.
"Now then, young Bakugo!"
"Oh boy…"
Bakugo had been relatively quiet during their awarding but Akami watched, highly amused, as his escape efforts were reinvigorated as All Might stepped up to his level, taking the muzzle off.
Finally…
"Good job doing what you said you would during the player pledge!"
"All Might…" Bakugo's voice was rough from yelling.
"Here it comes…" Akami whispered, fighting the urge to cover her ears.
"First place like this….." Bakugo's voice quickly goes from rough and quiet to ear piercing, "is not worth anything! Even if the world recognizes it, if I don't recognize it myself, then it's trash!"
Akami rolled her eyes as All Might nodded.
"Right, in this world where people are constantly being compared publicly, there are not many who can keep aiming for the top of an unchanging scale. So...take this medal, okay? think of it as a wound, so you won't forget!"
"I said I don't want it!"
"Now now…" All Might began to try to put it on him but instead slingshot it into the air as Bakugo struggles. Akami took a few quick steps forward towards the edge of her podium to reach out and catch it.
"I said I don't want it, Blueberry! Throw it away!"
"No, I don't think I will. I'll hold onto this for you. It's yours as soon as you get your head out of your ass," Akami placed the gold medal in here pocket as All Might nodded approving and she smirked, "Then I'll win it fair and square next year!"
"Not fucking likely!"
The rest of the day was a blur. Akami, Mina, and the girls wandered around the festival for a bit longer together before heading home. Akami passed a jittery Mina over to her parents with an apology for getting her hyper and a promise that she would be over soon to keep her entertained till it wore off. At her house, Shota met her there, lounging on the couch already, covered in cats. He got up, sending fat and fluffy felines rolling away to continue their naps, when she walked through the door.
"Hey Papa," Akami said tiredly, "I'm just here to get my things for my sleep over with Mina. I'll be going soo–"
She was cut off by a one armed hug and–though she knew she should be reminding him of his doctor's orders to not move his arms–she leaned into it.
"You did good, kid."
"I nearly lost control, I could feel it."
Shota stepped back to look at her, "keeping control when there is the option of not is the harder job and you did it."
"Hmmm...I suppose," Akami leaned down to pick up a fluffy orange cat who was winding around her ankles so that she could take a step without tripping, "someday I want it to not even be a possibility."
"Someday, it will be."
Akami deposited the cat onto the couch, where he curled up once more to sleep, and made her way to her room, gathering all her things she needed. "You'll be okay on your own for a couple days?" She said once she packed everything and was getting ready to leave.
"I don't need to be babysat, you know?"
"Don't force me to call Hizashi to check on you."
"Traitor."
She giggled, kissing him on top his head as he sat on the cat claimed couch, "see you Monday, Papa."
Ok so, the time for Akami to choose her Hero Name is coming up soon and I've got a few in mind but I was wondering if any of y'all have ideas~ Dm me if you do and I'll credit you if I like it more than the few I've got rattling around in my noggin!
I completely forgot to mention their cats till now...a moral failing on my part! They've got 4 of them! Akami convinced Aizawa to get one when she was a kid and well...the rest is history. Still coming up with names (I have ideas) but just know this: they are lazy kitties.
Also, a sidenote: don't try to reset a dislocation on your own unless you know what you are doing. Serious shit can happen; I won't go into detail cause it's gross but there are consequences if you don't do it right. I know how because of my disability but it's not just something you can do easily and it hurts just as bad as the original injury.
Emocean: Bakugo liiiikes someone~ lol I meant more "they think she can't fight," even Class 1A was getting in on it in the anime, saying something like "this is a disturbing match up"...while Uraraka is trying to wreck Bakugo's shit the entire time! It doesn't sit well with me, the viewer, and it doesn't sit well with Akami.
Theeejuniper: I'm sorry that you weren't feeling well! I hope you've been better while I was gone!
M: Aren't they? I'm having trouble not having them be too cute too quick...
Callmeveroo: thank you!
Bluu6293: well i love them both to bits, so I'm glad it translates through!
Guest: hopefully i don't make you wait as long for the next update….