A/N: So just in case you guys missed the announcement on the audio version of this chapter, I will now be releasing the installments of this story on Wednesdays after the video debut. This is in aid of giving you guys more time to leave up a review in time for me to get to it on the corresponding chapter instead of having to backtrack two or three chapters to cover what's happening. This still puts release at every two weeks, but I hope you'll still look forward to each new piece of the story coming your way.

Now, read, review, and enjoy the fireworks, cos we're about to get to the obligatory battle tournament that every shounen must have! But that's okay, because they do 'em well, and we wanted them anyways!

The Fight Begins

"You did well out there, Son." So said Kurai's father as he released his child's hand from his grip. "It would have been better had you been able to get in on a higher scoring, but I suppose that the fact that you advanced to the final round at all is commendable."

"Ouch, backhand much?" Kurai said while feigning offense.

He, Mina, and his family were in the box that held their seats for the events, taking the chance to catch up before the battle tournament began. As the police commissioner of Musutafu, it was only natural that the Hogo-sha family be invited to see the rising of the next generation of heroes that would help them protect the city. His mother and brother had already expressed their congratulations, as had his father, albeit with more reservation than the others.

"It is the truth," his father now told him. "You've advanced in each round, but you haven't been leading the pack, like I know you can. You do yourself a disservice if you don't give it your all."

"I've been wearing Akarui's gauntlets so I don't overtax my quirk," Kurai said with a small frown. "I've been working on a new way to use my powers, but it's not foolproof yet. I don't want to risk what I don't have to."

"I believe the old saying goes, 'nothing ventured, nothing gained', right?" Akarui mused aloud. When everyone turned to look at him, he shrugged and said, "Kurai has always tended to ere on the side of caution, and it's served him well. He has no reason to change his methods now. But at the same time, if he does not seize the power he holds as his own, his standing may grow stagnant in the eyes of his superiors."

"Does he always sound like he just ate a dictionary?" Mina asked him in aside.

"It's the early afternoon, so his quirk is at its peak right now," Kurai answered her in a low tone. "I call it the 'smartass hour'."

"Language," his mother said sternly, to which he bowed and apologized.

"As I understand it, you two will be fighting each other during the sixth match," Akarui commented as he examined Mina with a critical eye. "I determine the chances that Kurai will emerge victorious at sixty-two percent."

"Wha-?!" Kurai sputtered. "Why that low of a chance?!"

"Hey, it's better than my chances at winning, apparently," Mina laughed nervously as she scratched her head. "Though I do gotta admit that I'm curious as to how he came up with that number myself."

"Simple," Akarui asserted confidently. "Kurai has overwhelming speed and power at his disposal that can stand up to skilled career criminals, but he cannot fully control it, unlike Ashido, who has a far better handle on her powers- at least, to the extent of not putting her life at risk whenever she goes all-out. Her natural athleticism also plays into her chances of victory, because although Kurai is also physically fit, he has had to work harder to achieve his sense of balance and strength. Finally, there is the matter of Kurai's hesitation to harm his friends, especially those that he is close to, which will likely lead to uncertainty in his movements, be they intentional or not."

"Wow, go for the throat, why don't you?" Kurai asked him, irritated.

Seeing this, and noticing the clock on the wall, Mina tugged on his arm and said, "We should probably get going. The first match will be starting soon, and the students get closer seats than we do up here."

"Yeah, you're right," her boyfriend nodded as they began to back away. Bowing swiftly to his parents, he bade them farewell.

"Good luck, Kurai," his mother said before they left the room. Fixing a smile on Mina, she added, "I would wish you luck, too, but that would be wishing ill against my son."

"No worries, I gotcha," Mina grinned back. She liked Kurai's family- they got on well, and they always treated her as a good friend whenever she was around. "See ya later!"

"Hey Mina, good luck," Akarui said with a cheeky grin, prompting his father to swat him on the head, eliciting a yelp from the younger boy.

"Fight well, Son," Hogo-sha said firmly as the couple reached the door and began to walk out. "Bring honor to your future hero name."

"Yes sir."

With that, the two of them were alone in the hall, save for a few staff members in charge of seeing to the enjoyment of the elitist citizens watching the games. Mina gave Kurai an impish grin that set his face to coloring before she even said a word. "I don't like that look," he said nervously.

"Aw, c'mon," she giggled. "It's true that the first match is gonna start in a few minutes, but we don't have to watch it with everyone else, do we?" She waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"I would prefer that we did," he said, his voice going up a couple of octaves while his cheeks heated up a little more, and his mind began to wander involuntarily. Adding a bit more steel to his quavering voice, he added, "We could end up fighting whoever wins these matches, and I'd like the chance to study them in person so I can plan ahead."

Hearing the subtle change in his voice, Mina realized that she needed to back off on the subject. "Okay, sorry," she said, her own cheeks tinted with a lilac color. "We've just been working hard this morning, I thought that maybe you'd like some alone time for us to unwind a little."

"Tempting as that is, I'm not comfortable putting us in any… compromising positions," he said awkwardly as they began walking down the hall, towards the staircase that would take them to the lower levels. "I have certain boundaries, Mina. I'd ask that you respect them, please." His voice was kinder now, though it still did not brook any arguments.

Seeing the determined look in his eyes, the girl knew that this was one area that they would need to approach when he was comfortable, not before. She thought it was probably due to his stricter upbringing- her parents had only ever told her to be careful whenever she decided that she wanted to have any kind of physical relationship with a guy, but other than that, they apparently felt that she was capable of making her own choices.

She wasn't exactly wanting to go all the way with Kurai- they hadn't even had a first kiss yet- but she was definitely interested in heating things up a little. But if he's not cool with that, I'm not gonna push it, she decided. It's not worth making him mad.

"Can I still hold your hand?" she asked him innocently, and she was happy to see a little smile appear on his face as he gripped her hand gently.

They returned to see that a concrete fighting stage had been set up by Cementoss, with him and Midnight acting as the referees for the upcoming fights. It was their job to stop any fights that were too violent or posing a permanent risk to the health of their students. The battles would be decided by either a knockout, one student going out of bounds, or a surrender.

To avoid attracting any suspicion from Iida about the nature of their relationship, Kurai sat between his best friend and Midoriya, while Mina sat beside Uraraka, who was on Midoriya's left. At least we're able to have a conversation this way without arousing any suspicion, Kurai thought as he leaned forward on his elbows, prepared to pay rapt attention to the incoming fights.

The first match was between their classmate, Kirishima, and another student with a steely hardening-type quirk, Tetsutetsu from class 1-B. In fact, their quirks were so similar, that the fight dragged on to the point where both of them knocked each other out simultaneously with a pair of vicious uppercuts. The crowd had enjoyed the fierce display that the two students put on, but they were ultimately confused about how the winner would be decided.

Eventually, Midnight had the two unconscious boys removed from the field, and announced that once they had recovered, they would have a simplified rematch in the form of an arm-wrestling contest. In the meantime, she called for the second match, which would pit Midoriya against Shoji.

While the two students left their seats allotted to their class, Kurai went to walk with the green-haired boy for part of the way onto the field. "Nervous?" he asked his friend.

"A little," Midoriya nodded with an uneasy smile. "This is gonna be the first time that I use Full Cowling against a person other than you in combat."

"Not true," Kurai said with a cocked head at Midoriya. "You used it against Bakugo, and those villains."

"W-Well, I meant that it'll be the first time where I'm not in constant danger of breaking my bones," the other boy said quickly. "I guess I'm just nervous that if I don't maintain proper control, I'll end up hurting myself, or worse, somebody else."

"You'll do great," Kurai laughed easily, clapping his classmate on the shoulder. "I better see you in the arena for the final round, got it? I wanna see who wins in a fight without holding back, you know?"

"Yeah…" Midoriya said with a smile of his own. "I do know."

The freckled boy stepped out into the sunlight amid a thunderous applause, a determined set to his shoulders as he held his head high. Walking up the steps, he thought, I can do this. All Might is counting on me, believes in me. And with all the training that Hikari has put me through, I've got control of One For All at five percent. I may not be able to handle All Might's power at its full capacity yet, but this'll be a good way to tell how well I can fight against unexpected opponents.

For he knew that Shoji, his classmate and opponent, would be tricky to deal with. As the muscular student walked up to the other end of the arena, Midoriya felt a sudden wave of apprehension wash over him. The six-armed young man was immensely strong, and due to his ability to change his hands into other sensory body parts, he didn't really have any blind spots. The only apparent weakness that Izuku could determine was that the other boy had no long-range capabilities.

I don't either, at least not at five percent of my power, he thought as he took a fighting stance, Midnight calling them both to the ready. If I hit him from long range, I'd have to break my fingers, maybe even my hand- I'll avoid that if at all possible.

"BEGIN!" Present Mic shouted at them, snapping Midoriya out of his reverie.

Shoji wasted no time, charging straight at his classmate while bringing his right arms back for a mighty blow that Midoriya knew would clobber him if it landed. Gotta get inside his reach! Green lighting dancing along his body, he shot forward at high speed, to his opponent's surprise, and punched him square in the gut, shouting, "Texas smash!"

It was a telling blow. Shoji, not having expected Midoriya's new speed, didn't even have time to brace himself for the impact, and wound up stumbling backwards, eyes wide and gasping for breath. However, he was far from going down.

Shoji was a small mountain made of muscle, so he wasn't knocked back very far, and he quickly righted himself to see Midoriya smiling at him from where he had landed the punch.

Inwardly, Izuku was ecstatic at his new abilities. Yes! He silently crowed. I really can fight! Emboldened, he began to advance on Shoji with quick darting movements, springing from side to side, forward, then back, never giving his opponent a chance to relax, because he never knew which feint would turn out to be the real attack.

Or so Midoriya would have thought. Putting on an extra burst of speed- nothing that would injure him- he dashed at Shoji from the left, intent on striking him in the head to go for a quick knockout.

Instead, his classmate's middle left arm shot out and wrapped its fingers around his neck, much to his surprise. The other two arms waved in front of Midoriya's face, one sporting an eye, the other, an ear. "I saw you slow down a bit when you were getting ready for your attack, and I heard your feet hit the ground a little harder than they had been," Shoji informed the green-haired boy as he peered at him from above his face mask. "You gonna surrender, or do I have to throw you out of bounds?"

"No way!" Midoriya grunted. Raising his arms above his head, he slammed them down on Shoji's elbows, bending the joints painfully and forcing him to release his grip. Hitting the ground for only a split second, the freckled boy body-checked his opponent, forcing him back a few steps, this time careful to escape the reach of his arms as soon as the blow had landed. His shoulder ached, but no more than if he had used it against someone normally in a fight.

"Gotta say, Midoriya…" Shoji panted, winded from the two blows to his stomach. "I either expected you to have sent me flying with a broken arm, or to have captured you by now. You improved in ways I never imagined."

"Your quirk always surprises me, too," Midoriya grinned back. "I didn't realize that you could analyze a person that fast, even with additional sensory input."

"Well, intel-gathering is what I specialize in, not combat," the bigger student admitted. "But I don't work out for fun, either."

"I'll say," his opponent agreed, rubbing his neck where the massive hand had grabbed him. "So, what now? Do we keep fighting, or will you surrender, Shoji?"

"I'd hardly be pro hero material if I gave up that easy," the six-armed boy answered as he readied himself for another fight. "Let's go, Midoriya!"

"All right, you asked for it!"

The battle between Midoriya and Shoji went on for nearly ten minutes, and by the end of it, both boys were covered in bruises from head to toe. However, Midoriya finally managed to get the upper hand by using Shoji's massive weight against him. He grabbed the giant student by two of his left hands and used them as leverage to upend him, slamming Shoji out of bounds, though by the looks of things, Midoriya only just managed to handle the crushing weight the way that he did.

When the green-haired boy was declared the winner, the two classmates shook hands and walked off the arena, presumably to go see Recovery Girl. Kurai sat back with a sigh of relief once they did, leaning back in his seat as he felt the tension of the last few minutes drain away.

"That was close," he muttered.

"But Midoriya certainly showed a good fight," Iida commented. "I'm impressed that he's improved so much in so little time." Turning to his best friend, he added, "You must be a good teacher, Kurai."

Laughing at that, Kurai said, "I hardly needed to teach him anything. Midoriya has plenty of talent, and his knowledge about heroes in general doesn't hurt his advancement with his quirk. I think that even without my help, he would have figured out a way to use his powers without hurting himself."

"Yeah, but he probably would've done it slower," Uraraka pointed out. "You're pretty incredible too, Hikari."

"Thanks for saying so," he replied, a trifle embarrassed.

After Midoriya and Shoji returned, the next battles flew by. Sero fought against Todoroki in the third battle, but it was no contest. In an overwhelming display of raw power, Todoroki froze Sero in seconds- along with half of the stadium- forcing the tape-armed boy to surrender.

Next up, Asui fought Kaminari, but again, it was a short fight. Kaminari attempted to electrocute his classmate with an indiscriminate blast of lightning, but the frog-girl leaped above the range of his attack, rendering him into a babbling idiot due to overusing his quirk. From there, it was easy for her to use her tongue to capture him and send him out of bounds- not too violently, either. Apparently she didn't want anyone to view her finishing move as harsh.

The fifth match took longer, but only because it was so bizarre. With Kurai cheering him on as he left, Iida took to the stage against Hatsume, but the gear he was wearing… had not been on him when he left the seats.

"What is all that?" Kurai asked of no one in particular as he took in the sight of his best friend decked out in some new support items that included- but were not limited to- bracers on his legs, and a jetpack of some kind on his back.

"Those look like Hatsume's gadgets," Midoriya noted as he peered over the edge of his notebook. In every match that he had not participated in, he had been taking notes nonstop. "But why is Iida wearing them…?" He appeared thoughtful, then a look of dismay came over him as he muttered, "Don't tell me…"

From there on, the fight essentially became one giant advertisement for inventions that Hatsume had created, with Iida being an unwitting/unwilling participant. It lasted for about fifteen minutes, and Kurai found himself laughing at his friend's helplessness as he was subjected to item after item for the sake of Hatsume's performance. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he was certain that Akarui would be taking note of her devices, his hyper-intelligent brain analyzing and determining possible improvements for his own inventions. However, most of him was too busy being amused by Iida's naivety.

In the end, Hatsume walked off the stage, apparently done with her advertising to any potential support item companies that might want to recruit her in the future. Iida was indignant at her attitude towards the festival, and her using him as a walking ad, but in the end, he had technically won, so he would be advancing to fight whoever won the next match.

As Midnight called the match 'over', Kurai and Mina exchanged a look, then stood up and left the seats to go to their respective starting points. They only stopped just outside the entrance to their class' seating area to exchange a hug, then went their separate ways.

No holding back, Kurai vowed to himself as he walked down the stairs to the first floor, where the arena would be waiting for him. We need to do this. We need to prove that our relationship won't affect our performance as heroes in the future.

"AND NOW, ANOTHER COUPLE A STUDENTS FROM HERO COURSE'S 1-A, IT'S KURAI HIKARI VERSUS MINA ASHIDO!"

Kurai emerged into the sunlight with Present Mic's announcement booming in his ears, and the roar of the crowd competing with his volume. He paused and blinked a few times to re-adjust his eyes to the bright light before resuming his measured pace onto the concrete arena.

Up above, Present Mic continued his exhortations, saying, "SHE'LL MELT YOUR DEFENSE, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WITH THAT SICK ACID QUIRK SHE'S GOT GOIN' ON, BUT HIKARI'S NO SLOUCH! HE BROKE EVERY RECORD IN THE ENTRANCE EXAM TO GET INTO U.A., AND HE'S KEPT HIS TEACHERS AND REAL-LIFE VILLAINS ON THEIR TOES! RIGHT, ERASERHEAD?!"

"They both have good potential, but it's yet to be seen whether or not they can properly channel their talents at their peak efficiency," the more modulated voice of Shota Aizawa replied. "Ashido has a good quirk, but she's too carefree in her use of it. Hikari, on the other hand, has powers that put the average pro to shame, and he has decent control over it. The problem he faces is that when he gets too worked up, it's lights out for him."

"HARSH, BUT THEY'RE YOUR STUDENTS!" Present Mic replied. "I GUESS YOU'D KNOW!"

"Yeesh, did they have to lay it out so plainly like that?" Kurai asked as he and Mina came within speaking distance.

"Eh, ignore 'em," she grinned confidently as she stretched her arms. "They don't know what kinda training we've been up to, so they don't have a real clue about how we're gonna handle this fight!"

"I think Mister Aizawa might have some idea," Kurai answered as he settled into a Shorin-Ryu fighting stance. "Regardless, I guess it's time to see which one of us is the better fighter."

"Ha!" Mina laughed at him. "Like I keep tellin' ya- I'm gonna melt your butt!"

"Why are so fixated on that?!"

"BEGIN!" Present Mic's announcement set aside whatever response Mina might have come up with, and the battle began.

The girl started things up by sliding across the stage in a zig-zag pattern, using the acid coming out of her feet to speed along the ground while Kurai took note of her movements, judging her speed, her dexterity, and factoring in what he knew of her reaction times before he readied his countermeasures.

With a sudden shout, he spammed Mina with an energy barrage from his hands, yellow bolts of pure energy that caused small explosions wherever they struck. She was nearly taken by surprise, but she utilized her natural flexibility to dodge and weave around the blasts so that they all missed her, even as she continued to get closer and closer to her target.

Kurai wasn't the only one throwing things, either. Mina began to toss globs of acid at him, forcing him to either counter with his own powers, or to dodge the attacks entirely, which forced him to stop his assault, even if for less than a second. Still, it was enough for her to continue her advance on him, her confidence growing by the second.

That is, until she got in close, whereupon he stopped hurling bolts at her and smiled challengingly, which set off alarm bells in her head. Too late, she realized that he was now close enough to touch, which was very much to her disadvantage. Initially, she had thought to build up enough velocity to slam into him, and knock him off-balance, but his continuous attacks had killed a lot of her momentum.

Kurai reached out with great speed and grabbed her arm, which he then used to pull her closer to him, their faces nearly touching. "Uh…" she stammered, for once the one who wasn't sure of what was about to happen.

"Don't get too comfortable," he told her, a cocky grin still plastered on his face. Then- using his quirk to power his limbs- he twisted her around in his grip before leaping up and body-slamming her into the ground, knocking the wind out of her and scraping her left arm and cheek.

"Ow!" she yelped before jerking her head back to smash her skull into his face, and feeling a fierce satisfaction when he yelped and released her, scrambling backwards as he muttered something that was muffled by his hands.

She got to her feet unsteadily, turning around to see him clutching at his mouth, where blood was seeping out. Giving her an annoyed look, he said, "Split my lip and bit my tongue."

"Don't worry, I'll kiss it better after we're done here," she teased him.

"…I don't have a comeback for that," he admitted. Cupping his hands by his side, he added, "But I do have this." Yellow light pooled between his hands, causing Mina's eyes to widen as she took an involuntary step back in fright.

"Hang on, isn't that the attack you used against that bird-brained freak from the villain attack?!" she gulped. "I know we said no holding back, but come on!"

"Don't worry, restrained as I am, this won't kill anybody," he assured her as the ball of light began to grow in size. "It'll still hurt though, so if you wanted to surrender now, I won't hold it against you." The ball between his hands was the size of an apple now.

"N-No way!" she declared as she began to skate back at him, acid dripping from her fingers as she readied a solution that would cause temporary blindness if it hit him, but do no permanent damage. "That attack takes time to charge, doesn't it? So all I gotta do is beat you before it's ready!"

"It's ready," he answered calmly, the orb now the size of a large orange.

"Oh, crap!" she yelped as his arms began to move toward her.

"Kamehameha!" The yellow laser flew at her- then passed overhead as she slid underneath it with almost inhuman flexibility, even as she slid toward her boyfriend, a devilish smile on her lips.

"Gotcha!" she declared as she gathered her legs up under her while looking into her classmate's eyes and seeing surprise registered there. "I knew you couldn't resist using that move, so I planned for it!" Springing up with all of her momentum and body weight behind the blow, she clocked him in the chin with an uppercut that lifted his feet off the ground and nearly rendered him insensate.

Nearly.

As he found himself toppling backwards, Kurai transformed the fall into a reverse tumble that landed him a few feet away from Mina, who now realized that her gambit hadn't paid off the way that she thought it would. "Uh oh," she said as he aimed his palms at her.

"I agree," he nodded as he aimed carefully for her legs, striking each one with a bolt that cut her feet out from under her, sending her falling face-first into the concrete.

She cursed and started to get up, but a foot on her back told her that wasn't an option. "Please surrender," she heard Kurai say kindly. "I don't want to hurt you any more than I have to. Regardless of how we feel about one another, I never seek to make my enemies suffer if I can help it."

Mina sagged under the weight of his foot and leg, groaning. Part of her wanted to keep up the fight, but she was smart enough to know that her position was untenable. Even if she could get Kurai off of her back, he probably had an Energon burst ready to go that would strike her in the head to knock her out. There was no point in antagonizing him anymore.

"I surrender," she called out loud enough for the judges to hear.

"Ashido gives up!" Midnight declared, setting the crowd to cheering. "Hikari wins and will advance to the quarter-finals!"

As the teacher spoke, Kurai moved his foot and helped his girlfriend up, much to her appreciation. "Man, you hit hard, you know that?" she told him as she forced her bruised legs to work as well as they could. Unfortunately, they wouldn't take her full weight.

"You were the one who insisted that we not hold back," Kurai told her, though he did appear contrite that he had caused her pain. As they spoke, they began to walk off the field together, both of them needing to visit Recovery Girl again.

"Yeah, but now I'm regretting it a little," she admitted with a pained laugh as they made their way off the stadium grounds. "Totally thought I had you after that Kamehameha, but I guess you had a contingency plan even for that. Congrats on your win, though."

"You did almost get me," he chuckled back. "And I didn't plan my last moves, those were just… reactions, I guess. I'm not like Midoriya, I don't plan everything ten moves in advance."

"Uh-uh, you don't get to point out shortcomings after you've won," she grinned at him. "You beat me, so now you have to make me feel better about it."

"Oh, sorry," he apologized sincerely. "What can I do to make it up to you?"

"Kiss," she giggled as they rounded a corner.

"Bwuh?!" he gaped.

"You heard me," she told him, her grin widening in spite of her own cheeks flushing lilac. "Isn't it supposed to be like that, you know, guy kisses girl after winning his big fight?"

"I… I…" His brain was incapable of forming cohesive responses at the moment.

Recalling their earlier conversation, Mina realized that she might have pushed things too far again. Casting her eyes down, she meekly said, "Sorry, guess I got kinda caught up in the moment there. I know you have your boundaries, so I won't make you do anything that you're not comfortable with, okay?"

She was about to add more when she felt a pair of lips press hesitantly against her cheek, causing her to stop in place, along with Kurai, who withdrew from the contact as though he'd been burned. Locking eyes with him, she touched her cheek and said, "Did you just…?"

"Yes?" he answered hesitantly. "I… You're an affectionate person, I get that. I'm reserved, and I guess I've been keeping you at an arm's length, which is probably hard for you. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's not fair that I keep making all the rules, so I figured that would be a good way to show it, and-"

Mina silenced him with a tight hug, burying her face in the crook of his shoulder as she said, "That was nice. Thanks, Kurai."

"Y-You're welcome," he stammered, his arms going back to encircle her body.

Anything else that they might have said was interrupted when they heard someone cough- loudly. Stiffening with surprise, the couple slowly turned their heads to see a familiar figure not ten feet away, glaring at them from behind a pair of glasses.

"You two have some explaining to do," Iida said sternly.

Deku: Uh oh.

Kurai: I'm just surprised he didn't catch on sooner- it's not exactly like Mina is subtle.

Mataras: Let's be real, Iida's tunnel vision is almost as bad as Izuku's when it comes to heroics.

Deku: Wha-?!

Kurai: So, what happens next? Iida and I punch it out?

Mataras: Well, yes. Your match is in the next bracket, though I suppose it's only a question of how personal it's going to be for the two of you.

Kurai: Yeah, that tracks.

Deku: Well, they've been friends for years, right? Maybe Iida will be nice about it if they just come clean?

Kurai: Maybe... But I doubt Mataras here is gonna give us any answers before the next chapter goes live, right?

Mataras: Watch out- he's learning!

Kurai: I will take advantage of your broken foot, don't think I won't.

Mataras: Remember kids, don't try to use One For All at 100% without any training!

Deku: Next time- The Fight Rages!

Kurai: Go Beyond!

Mataras: Plus Ultra!

Next time on Your Hero Academia...

The next match to be settled was Kirishima against Midoriya. It took a little longer to set up, with the stadium having been so badly damaged, and with Kirishima needing a little time to recover from his consecutive matches, but before too much time had passed, Midoriya found himself standing a few-dozen yards away from his next opponent.

"Yo, Midoriya," Kirishima said with a friendly grin. "Think Bakugo might kill me if I beat you before he gets the chance?"

"Maybe," Izuku laughed nervously. "But I wouldn't count me out just yet."

"Never, man," his opponent chuckled. "I know you're strong, and you've gotten wicked fast since the USJ incident, but I'm betting that your punches are gonna shred your skin once they hit my quirk." As he spoke, he flexed and hardened his arms to the rock-like consistency that his powers allowed.

Crap, he's right, Midoriya thought as he took up a fighting stance that Kurai had shown him. Maybe if I can send him flying with a shot at one hundred percent? No, that's too reckless- the kind of thing that Mister Aizawa warned me not to do.

"BEGIN!" Present Mic bellowed.