Chapter 10: We All Have to Suffer Somehow
(Play Peace Sign Eng. Cover By Jonathan Young)
Oh, woah, ohh
Oh, woah, ohh
Oh, woah, ohh ohh
(Izuku is seen on a rooftop with a determined smirk on his face as he watches All Might fly through the air while the wind blows through his hair before the music kicks in and the title: My Hero Academia: Fox Sin)
Well, it's strange my head is rememberin'
How the airplane flying overhead
Looks so effortless, but I cannot guess
Why it lingers in my mind
Evening after this, I'm a crying mess
And to be stronger now, my only wish
So I can finally have the bravery
So I can reach on up to the sky
(The scene changes to Uraraka in a tracksuit inspired by her costume doing a stretch while Taida does sit ups on Chastiefol. Then it shows Kirishima stretching down between his legs, Bakugo doing holding squats, and Iida doing a forward lunge stretch.)
This cruel fate engraving
It's carved into the stone
Hoping it reveals itself all to me and then I will Know just where to go
This moment, this moment
I know that I can breathe
Hanging on a feeling... believe in
My only meaning!
(The scene changes to Izuku doing some stretches on a rooftop before he looks up at the sky. It then changes to Shoto doing some stretches with the shadows of the clouds covering him, which leaves him as he glances to the rest of his classmates.)
I hear a voice a' calling, telling me to risk it
Asking if I have been going the distance
Singing with a passion that I cannot deny
My eyes are swollen with the tears that I've been crying
But, to the rest of the world, ever smiling
Singing for the courage that I'm dying to show!
(The next sequence shows Izuku busting through Shoto's ice with a Delaware Smash as Shoto blocks the fragments from his face. Iida is then shown using his quirk to speed around the arena. Then a shadowy back shot of Shinso, Tokoyami using dark shadow, and Bakugo blasting around before attacking the screen. Then it switches to Hatsume, Tetsutetsu, before All Might comes flying in and landing in front of UA with Aizawa and Mic before the shot pans out of the rest of the students standing in front of the school)
With my peace sign up when I say goodbye
Write a story of a hero!
(The final sequence shows Bakugo, Iida, Uraraka, Shoto, and Izuku attacking as they lead everyone else into battle)
-Tournament Stadium-
With Team Bakugo, the Pomeranian blonde was angrily glaring at the team that stole their headbands, the leader of which having a smug look on his face.
"Hey Monoma, don't provoke him. That's something he'd do." The boy's teammate said to the very snide teen.
"You're right, that wouldn't be very heroic of me. Besides, heroes are always having to deal with dumb villains who're always out for revenge." Monoma shrugged. This caused Bakugo to get even angrier.
"Hey Bakugo, calm down." Kirishima told the angry explosive boy on his shoulders.
"Oh don't worry, Kirishima." The boy said with an evil grin. "I've never been calmer, and I know just how we're gonna beat this loser."
"Do I wanna know…?" The redhead asked warily.
"Just get moving!" Bakugo yelled before they started running, but when he tried to swipe at the headbands, Monoma dodged and tapped his shoulder before sending an explosion in the blonde's face when they turned around.
"What the-?!" The boy got out in surprise as Sero pulled him back to the group.
"He's got your quirk!" Kirishima exclaimed in surprise. Bakugo tried to attack in retaliation, but his attack was blocked by Monoma suddenly using Kirishima's power.
"Just as I figured." Bakugo growled. "He can copy quirks." However before they could retaliate with this new information, another kid from class B started shooting glue at them.
"Thanks for the assist Bondo!" Monoma told his classmate with a thumbs up.
"Don't worry, I'll burn through this with my quirk!" Mina said as she started to melt the glue.
"Hey no hard feelings, right? I mean you provoked us first. By the way, what was it you said in your speech? Oh, right." The other blonde mocked as they ran away.
Bakugo growled before he suddenly launched himself off of his group as soon as Mina freed them.
"Tsuoraba!" Monoma told his partner before the boy took a deep breath and blew, then created a large circular air wall in Bakugo's path.
"You look pretty dumb fighting with air like that!" The goat eyed boy laughed, right before the Pomeranian blonde busted through the wall and swiped several of their headbands. "What the-?!" He got out in shock.
Sero meanwhile was quick to pull Bakugo back before he fell to the ground. "I thought we said to warn us before you jumped!" He said.
"Zip it, Sero! Now come on, we got more points to grab, full speed ahead!" The team leader yelled back before they charged.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile with Izuku and Shoto's teams, the two toned boy was getting ready for some sort of big plan.
"Get ready to protect us, Yaoyarozu." He told the girl as she started to create two things at once. "And Kaminari-."
"Oh I know what I gotta do!" The yellow haired boy grinned.
Izuku looked at them with narrowed eyes, wondering what they were up to. He knew they were up to something, the only real question was 'what'?
"Tokoyami, when I say so, get Dark Shadow to block our front." He whispered to the front horse of his team. "I got a feeling that Kaminari is about to pull something." He added.
"Right." The bird boy nodded.
Suddenly, several other teams were seen heading their way. It was at that moment Kaminari acted.
"Indiscriminate shock!" He exclaimed as his quirk activated, shocking everyone around him (literally) while Shoto pulled a special cover over himself, Momo and Tenya that the former had made while Dark Shadow shielded his team from the volts. As soon as the attack subsided, however, Shoto suddenly froze everyone and stole some headbands when it was done.
"Figured as much, good work Tokoyami, Dark Shadow. You really got us out of a jam there." The Fox Sin said as they evaded the ice.
"Thank you, Midoriya." The teen replied. However, when Izuku attempted to activate the jetpack, it malfunctioned.
"Son of a-!" The boy snapped as they then tried to back peddle away from team Todoroki, when he suddenly had an idea. "Snatch!" He called as he made his quirk pull the headbands around Todoroki's neck towards him.
"What?!" The two toned teen exclaimed in shock as his points literally flew away from him, leaving his team with only the 675 point headband around his head. "Blast it all! How could I forget he can do that?!" He cursed.
This continued for several minutes until there was only three minutes left. "Todoroki." Iida said to his team leader.
"What is it, Iida?" The boy responded.
"I have an idea for how we can get our points back, but it'll leave me useless for a while." The speedster told the boy.
'A plan? What, does he have some sort of trump card?' Izuku thought as he heard what was said.
"I have something that will increase my speed drastically. Unfortunately, it will leave my engines stalled afterwards." The bespectacled boy explained. "When I activate it, make sure you get our points back. If you can snag the ten million headband, then do it." He continued.
"That's going to be a problem. I don't see the ten million headband on him." Momo chimed in. "I know he still has it, since he's in first place. He must have used some other headbands to cover it up. I can't tell if it's on his head or around his neck." She added.
"We'll have to chance it." Shoto said firmly. "Iida, when you're ready, go for it." He ordered.
Izuku grinned as he flexed his hand. "Here they come!" He said as he licked his teeth.
In an instant, flames burst from the speed teen's engines before he carried his team forward faster than the camera could track. As they sped by Izuku's team, Shoto snagged the headbands around the immortal's neck. When they stopped just behind them, Momo and Denki had a look on their faces that said they were processing what just happened.
"Whoa! What a blur! And it looks like team Midoriya has lost some points to team Todoroki!" Present Mic exclaimed as he watched what had happened.
However…
"Nice try, Iida." Izuku smirked as he removed a headband that was covering the ten million headband and put it around his neck. He then tapped the headband on his forehead. "But you missed!" He laughed.
"Blast!" Tenya cursed quietly.
"He actually covered it?!" The electric boy exclaimed in disbelief. "Is that even allowed?!"
"Judges say yes!" Midnight replied with a grin at Izuku's planning.
"We underestimated him…" Momo got out with wide eyes.
"You guys were too hasty, there. This is one situation where it pays to be greedy." The green haired boy stated with a fox-like grin, which his teammates shared. Up in the booths, All Might grinned at his successor's display.
'I gotta admit, he's pretty spot on. This is one of those rare cases where greed can actually do some good.' The man admitted mentally as he watched the show.
"Alright guys, now we can either go for our other points, or wait until time runs out. What do you think we should do?" The boy asked his team.
"I say we wait until time runs out. We got plenty of points already." Ochako chirped.
"Agreed. But that doesn't mean we should let our guard down." Tokoyami nodded.
"Good point. However, just to be safe…" Izuku said as he looked over at Shoto. "Let's put them on the defensive this time." He said before he and his team charged at Shoto and his team.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile with team Bakugo, they were still chasing after Monoma and his team. "Alright guys! Get ready, cuz we're going in for the attack!" Bakugo yelled at his team. "Sero, now!" He ordered.
"Right!" The tape roll boy exclaimed with a nod as he shot some tape past Monoma, who laughed.
"You missed!" He jeered cockily.
"Mina!" The pomeranian blonde exclaimed.
"You got it!" The pink skinned girl grinned as she made an acid slick for the group.
"Get ready to brace yourself, Kirishima!" The red eyed teen told his friend.
"Way ahead of ya man, go for it!" The manly teen grinned as they blasted towards Monoma and his team as they tried to block them with an air wall, but it wasn't enough, because Bakugo busted through it as if it were cheap glass in one blow and took the last headband.
"Look at that display! Team Monoma from class 1-B couldn't keep their points from Bakugo! He's an unstoppable force!" The blond sound hero exclaimed as he watched the spectacle, the audience cheering.
"They certainly had good planning, but they never accounted for one factor. That factor was Bakugo's nearly endless tenacity." Aizawa commented.
"Ready to go for the ten million points, Bakugo?" Kirishima smirked.
"Like you even have to ask! Let's move, people!" The blonde grinned as they charged forward.
(Elsewhere)
Back with Izuku, he and his team were in the process of trying to keep Shoto and his teammates on the defensive. There was only about a minute left when Izuku got an idea as they charged forward.
'One for All, 5%!' The boy thought as he readied his hand to slice the air, and as he did, Shoto moved to block him with his left hand, which was ablaze with fire. Izuku swiped to the side and swatted the two toned boy's arm away, causing him to gape in shock.
'My left side! What am I doing?!' He mentally shouted as he made the flames subside.
"And now you're mine!" The Fox Sin yelled as he swiped a random headband and made his team jump back. This of course occurred just as Bakugo and his team were arriving.
"Where are those points?!" He exclaimed before he spotted the ten million headband on his green haired rival. "Gimme those points, Deku!" He bellowed as he used his explosions to fly at him. Right as he was halfway there, though…
"TIME'S UP!" Present Mic yelled, causing Bakugo to comically fall to the ground, which made Izuku laugh.
"We win, and with fifty points to spare." Izuku grinned as he clutched the headband he had snagged.
(Elsewhere)
At the house of Inko Midoriya, the woman was overcome with emotion at the sight of her little baby boy winning not one, but two rounds of the Sports Festival.
"WAAAAAAAH! THAT'S MY BABY!" She wailed joyfully as she cried a fountain of tears.
(Elsewhere)
Back with Izuku, he was nearly knocked over when Ochako flung herself around his neck and hugged him out of joy for their victory.
"We did it Deku, we did it!" She laughed happily.
"Yeah we did! Never doubt someone of my ability!" The immortal exclaimed as he held his childhood sweetheart close.
Meanwhile with Shoto, Iida was beating himself up over them getting third place. "I'm sorry, I was absolutely useless back there." He said dejectedly.
"It's not your fault, Iida. None of us expected Midoriya to pull a trick like that." Momo said comfortingly.
Shoto meanwhile was glaring down at his left hand. 'As soon as I was overwhelmed I broke my own promise. Damn it, at this rate I'll be just like him!' He thought as he glared at the stands.
Meanwhile, Kirishima was chatting with Mina.
"Man, that was one hell of a match." The redhead commented.
"It really was, but let's be real: Midoriya winning was gonna happen, no matter what." The alien looking girl commented.
"Yeah, I can't really deny that. His quirk was built for something like this." Bakugo admitted knowingly.
"Hey, but at least we're moving on." Sero shrugged.
(Later)
Everyone was getting lunch after the matches were called and they were all trying to relax, by off to the side in an empty hall, Shoto had pulled Izuku to the side and was staring at him intensely with a cold gaze.
"Ya wanted to have a word with me?" The immortal asked with a raised eyebrow as he leaned against the wall.
There was a sharp and tense silence between the two for a solid minute. "Listen, I'm not gonna miss my chance to have lunch just so you can stare at me all day, so either you say something, or I'm leaving." The immortal said as he started to get more and more annoyed.
"... You managed to beat me again." He said finally.
"He speaks!" The immortal exclaimed in faux delight. "Yeah, I did. First in the obstacle race, and now the cavalry battle. What's your point?" He asked.
"I was overwhelmed this time, and it made me break a promise I made to myself a long time ago." The two toned boy stated, looking at his left hand again.
"Yeah what's up with that? You act like your left side is some sort of evil virus or something." The power thief asked. Shoto chose to ignore that statement.
"The others didn't notice it, but I was able to feel your true power." The boy stated. "It's just like Asui said, your power is similar to All Might's." This caused the Fox Sin to tense. "Midoriya, tell me." Shoto said before looking him in the eye. "Are you actually All Might's secret love child or something?" He asked. This caused Izuku's jaw to drop as he stared at the two toned boy with wide eyes.
'Am I… WHAT?!' He mentally shouted before he walked up to the fire-ice user and clocked him on the head.
"Ow!" He exclaimed as he held the part that had been hit.
"Can you be any more crazy?! HELL NO! I am not his love child!" The immortal exclaimed indignantly. "What I happen to be is his protege, dumbass." He snapped.
Shoto seemed to be ticked off from getting swatted, but nonetheless took the answer. "Well if that's the case, then I have even more reason to beat you." He stated.
"Oh yeah? And what's that?" The successor of All Might asked.
"My father is the number two hero Endeavor, you must have heard of him." The boy stated, getting a nod. "He's ambitious, and aims for the top, but could never replace All Might, so the Symbol of Peace is living proof of his failure." He added. "Midoriya, have you ever heard of quirk marriages?"
"Yeah. They were a thing when… Wait a damn minute…" Izuku started to say before realization dawned on him. "Are you telling me that…?!" He trailed off with wide eyes.
The ice and fire user nodded. "My old man bought my mother's family off to get a hold of her ice quirk, and put her and my siblings through hell to try and get one of us to surpass All Might. In every memory of her, I only see my mother crying. I remember one day she called my left side unbearable, before she poured boiling water on my face!" He added shakily. Izuku stared at him with wide eyes.
'Damn… He's been through his own personal hell…' He thought. However… "And why does this concern me?" He asked.
"I'm going to beat you to show to my dad that I reject his power by winning without using it, simple as that. To prove that I'm not like him." Shoto states.
"Well news flash Todoroki, but I think it's a little late for that. You're already starting to turn out like him." The immortal stated bluntly.
"What?" The boy asked, taken aback by the blunt statement.
"Endeavor is projecting his problems on to All Might and you and your family by proxy, and what you're doing right now is projecting your problems onto me. Your dad's obsessed with beating All Might and you're obsessed with rejecting your dad. You're already becoming like him. If you really wanna show that you're not like your evidently shitty father, then stop projecting your personal problems onto me." The immortal told him.
"That's easy for you to say! You have no idea what kind of hell we've been through because of him!" The two toned boy snapped.
"Of course not. I'm not you after all." The thief retorted. "No matter what we are or where we come from, we all have to suffer in one way or another." He continued. "I suffered when I had to live a life without one of my best friends and the guilt I had because of it. Like I said, we all have to suffer somehow, it's how we know we're human." Izuku said. "You want to reject your dad? Fine, just don't expect me to cater to your complex." He said as he walked away.
Shoto watched Izuku as he left before he looked down, his hands clenched into fists.
'Is he right? Am I unwittingly turning out like him?' He thought.
Unknown to the two teens, Bakugo had eavesdropped on the whole conversation and sighed silently at his childhood friend's words. After a moment, he went elsewhere.
(Later)
It was time for the final round to begin and everyone was gathering around to hear about it, but as they did, they were soon all surprised to see every girl in class 1-A to be walking out in Cheerleading outfits.
"Whoa! Looks like the girls of Class 1-A have gone full-on fanservice!" Present Mic exclaimed in surprise. Denki, meanwhile, had a proud grin on his face as he and Taida smirked at each other as their little plan was coming into fruition.
"Man, this was the best idea ever!" King chuckled. He loved pulling pranks on his sister that made her uncomfortable. And as a bonus he got to see Tsu in a cheer outfit, win win.
"Wha- you tricked us?! You two are gonna pay for this!" Momo exclaimed angrily. Izuku, meanwhile, was checking out Ochako's current look and was liking what he was seeing.
"I'm liking this look on you, Ochako." The boy grinned as he snuck up on her and said his words with a purr as everyone gathered around the stage.
"D-Deku…" The gravity girl whispered with a blush. The girls all giggled at the fact that their friend was getting this flustered around her childhood friend.
"Alright everyone, it's time for the third and final game to begin!" Midnight called to them. "For the final round we will be having a battle royal tournament consisting of the four remaining teams from the cavalry battle!"
"Wait, so are the final rounds always a battle tournament?" Mina asked.
"They change it up every year. Last year it was a foam sword match." Sero explained.
"We'll all be drawing lots to decide on who fights first." Midnight explained before Ojiro suddenly raised his hand.
"I'd like to withdraw." He said, shocking everyone around him.
"Ojiro, what the hell are you doing?" The immortal asked him.
"Being in the final round doesn't feel right if I can't remember how I got here to begin with." The tailed boy stated before looking at Shinso. "I think it was because of that guy's quirk."
"You're being stupid, seriously are you really gonna throw an opportunity like this away because of something stupid like that?" King stated.
"This is my pride I'm talking about here!" He exclaimed.
"Stupidity is more like it." The Grizzly Sin stated, rolling his eyes. Right at that moment though, a boy from class B also wanted to withdraw from the same reasons.
Midnight seemed to look at them discerningly. "This kind of talk is incredibly naive, my boys, and that turns me on! Ojiro, Shoda, you're withdrawn!"
'Did she just say that turns her on?' Everyone thought in disbelief. This of course led to two members of Team Tetsutetsu being moved up and the brackets revealed. Izuku was facing off against Shinso, Sero against Shoto, Tetsutetsu against Kirishima, Kaminari against Shiozaki, Aoyama against Mina, Mei against Iida, Tokoyami against Momo and Uraraka… against Bakugo.
"No hard feelings, Uraraka." The pomeranian blonde told the girl. The pink cheeked girl meanwhile looked like she was about to have a heart attack.
"Looks like I'm up against you. Izuku Midoriya, right?" Shinso asked the Sin of Greed. "Feeling excited?" He asked. Izuku just grinned right back at him.
"Ye-" He started to say before Ojiro covered his mouth with his tail.
"Midoriya, don't say anything to him!" He warned as the tired looking teen grinned as he walked off.
(Later)
It was time for the first match to begin and All Might was with Izuku in the hall as he was about to go onto the stadium.
"So, you ready?" The man asked.
"Yeah. I'm pretty sure I can at least try to use One for All a little, but I'm just not sure right now." The boy nodded with a sigh. "Honestly a lot of stuff went wrong with a bunch of my plans so far. I'm not sure if it's just me not being careful enough or if I'm just lucky that things didn't go completely sideways, to tell you the truth."
Before he could say anything else, he was suddenly bopped on the head by All Might.
"Shut up about that, dammit!" He growled slightly. "There's no such thing as luck! If there was, then you wouldn't be here right now!" He added.
Izuku looked at him before shaking his head vigorously. "Right, sorry." He told his mentor.
"Good. Now, if you ever feel nervous about a fight…" The man said before going buff. "Just deal with it by smiling!" He added.
"Right." The immortal chuckled before he headed out to the arena Cementos had built.
"Coming out first is, man he looks intimidating in that picture, Izuku Midoriya The Undead from the Hero course!" Present Mic exclaimed as he muttered to himself about Izuku's rather intimidating picture on the stadium monitor.
Izuku smirked as he stepped out onto the stadium as Shinso walked up and unzipped his jacket before discarding it, letting his well built muscles be shown.
"Alright boys the rules are simple, you can go all out to try and force your opponent out, incapacitate them, or make them cry uncle! But no life threatening crap, got it?" Mic explained.
Izuku scoffed nonchalantly as he cracked his knuckles and neck as he stretched, his chiseled body flexing with every movement. This caused many female audience members that were single to blush slightly at how fit he was. Uraraka, meanwhile, drank in the sight.
'Oh, what I'd do to eat off those abs…' She thought as she licked her lips slightly. Hey, she's a teenage girl with hormones. Give her a break.
"So you can just give up, huh?" Shinso stated, getting the immortal's attention. "In a way, this is a test to see how strong your spirit is." He concluded. "That monkey was going on about his pride earlier, but I think he's an idiot for throwing away his chance like that." The boy continued. "If you know what you want your future to hold, you can't worry about what others think. So honestly? Dumbasses like him don't deserve to be heroes." He finished callously.
Izuku let out a growl as he began stalking toward the fool that dared to insult his friend.
"You have no ri-" He started to say before his body suddenly locked up.
"And that's it, I win." Shinso smirked.
This caused everyone to look at him in shock. "Hey hey! What's this? It's the first round and for some reason, Midoriya has suddenly been frozen solid!" Mic called.
'What the hell is happening?! Why can't I move?!' Izuku thought as he tried to move his body of his will, but couldn't.
This did not look good.
Dragon Emperor0: Shoto totally got called out this chapter, didn't he?
ThermalsniperN7: Yep, and Izuku being greedy was a good thing for the cavalry battle. Seriously, he even managed to keep the ten million headband safe. Never underestimate the Fox Sin of Greed.
Dragon Emperor0: Yeah. And just so you know guys, if you think Izuku chopping off his own arm in the last chapter was cold, wait until you see him go ham in the second round against Todoroki.
ThermalsniperN7: Yeah. That's gonna be nuts. NUTS, I tell you! *Ahem* Anyway, see you guys next chapter.