So so so so SO SOOO SORRY for the delay! I wasn't able to get back into the swing of writing this until recently, and when I did half of March had already passed. It didn't help that most of this chapter was tricky to figure out.

Not to mention I just couldn't figure this chapter out! I must have rewritten and reordered it a hundred times before I settled with this. It didn't help that I got my COVID vaccines during this. Didn't feel that great the day after my second shot.

["We have our last four fighters, so LET'S START THE FIRST MATCH OF THE SEMI-FINALS!"]

The crowd cheered aloud as the jumbotron displayed Izuku and Ibara's faces. Both combatants walked out to the ring at the same time, staring at each other. Yet both

["First up, we have the dragon of Class 1-A who has dominated this entire Sports Festival from the beginning! It's none other than Midoriya Izuku! Verses… The stoic beautiful assassin of Class 1-B! It's Shiozaki Ibara!"]

"Assassin!?" Ibara gapped. "Where did Present Mic-sensei get that from?!"

Izuku sweat-dropped, not liking the nickname Present Mic gave her either. "So, are you ready, Ibara? No hard feelings, right?" Izuku asked her.

Ibara nodded. "No hard feelings, Izuku-san."

"FIGHT!"

Izuku took off in a sprint, zigzagging and staying on the balls of his feet, taking to the air right before the first few vines surged at him. Izuku avoided the vines with ease, quickly appearing behind Ibara.

"Huh?" Ibara wasn't able to react as Izuku quickly grabbed her by her shoulders and pushed her towards the edge of the ring.

Midnight blinked in surprise at how quickly the match ended. "Shiozaki is out of bounds, Midoriya advances to the final round!" Midnight declared, the audience cheering.

["What the heck?! You kids didn't even give me a chance to do any commentary!"]

["Just shut up and move on, Hizashi."] Aizawa grumbled.

"You okay?" Izuku asked.

"I'll be fine," Ibara replied. "Good luck in the finals."

["Okay, after that rather quick match, listeners, it's now time to start the second match of the semifinals!"]

The crowd cheered again, expecting the match between Itsuka and Todoroki, whose faces were being shown in the jumbotron, to be as exciting as the previous one. And when the two combatants walked out to the new ring, they immediately stared at each other.

["And here they are! On one side, the only remaining student from Class 1-B, who has held to the position with her iron fists! It's Kendo Itsuka! And, on the other side, the ice-cold prodigy of Class 1-A, Todoroki Shoto!"]

'I'm outmatched by Todoroki, but I'm going to make sure this fight isn't as easy as his previous ones,' Itsuka told herself. She was not going to back down any time soon, much less before the son of Endeavor, who was coldly staring at her.

"Ready…" Midnight said, looking at the two students as they got into their fighting stances. "FIGHT!"

Like in previous matches, Todoroki began by throwing a freezing attack towards Itsuka, but she managed to dodge it right on time and started to sprint towards Todoroki's right.

The half-n-half teen then froze the ground in that direction by touching her hand to the floor, trapping Itsuka between two waves of ice. She tried to capitalize on it with another freezing attack, but this time Itsuka managed to avoid it by jumping just above the crest of the wave, and while in mid-air she enlarged her fists and launched her attack.

"Double Jumbo Fists!"

Todoroki attempted to bring up an ice wall to protect herself: the attack managed to break it before it could fully form, but it still protected Todoroki. However, Itsuka then managed to follow up with another enlarged punch, one that did strike Todoroki and slammed her into the ground, causing the people to gasp.

On the ground, Todoroki tried to freeze it, but Itsuka leaped over the ice and attempted to counter, only to be blinded by an ice wave she had already launched into the air, causing her to crash to the ground.

"You are always jumping over ground attacks, so I decided to change tactics," Todoroki said as Itsuka got up, even while covered in ice. She froze the ground, and this time Itsuka was unable to jump over, leaving her stuck as Todoroki ran forward and grabbed her arm. Itsuka tried to enlarge her fists to break free, but this time the ice out-sped her Quirk activation, leaving her unable to move as her body was left encased in ice.

Midnight whipped the ground.

"Kendo Itsuka has been immobilized! Todoroki Shoto advances to the Finals!"

People cheered at the end of the combat, which had been much shorter than the previous one but still interesting, as Todoroki melted the ice covering Itsuka.

"I'm sorry," she told the shivering girl, who was immediately set upon by the medics, "but I have to prove myself."

["Kendo held her ground for much longer than anyone else, but Todoroki still managed to freeze her advances!"] Present Mic stated, not all that surprised by the fight's outcome.

"Man… Todoroki sure is intimidating! Itsuka managed to hold her own, and he still finished her without barely flinching. And now it's Midoriya's turn," Setsuna said, hoping her friend wouldn't get frostbite.

"Todoroki is the son of the Number 2 hero, clearly he trained with him. And, from what I can tell, he has only been using his right side the entire Festival. One has to wonder what he can do with the left," Momo pointed out, making most of her classmates shuddered at the thought.

"You going to be okay, Midoriya?" Hyde asked, a little worried for his friend.

"I'll be fine," Izuku replied as he stood up. "I better go get ready. Todoroki won't go down easy."

"Good luck, Izuku/Izu/Midoriya/Green/Izzy/Midori!" Liana, Momo, Kyoka, Ochako, Milia, Hagakure, Tsubasa, Setsuna, and Mina spoke simultaneously, smiling at him, causing the green-haired teen to blush a little as the rest also wished him luck.

"Best of luck to you in your final match against Todoroki-kun," Iida stated. "When I worked with him during the Cavalry Battle, I could tell he would be a formidable opponent, and what I have seen has proven it!"

"Thanks, everyone," Izuku nodded.

Suddenly, Iida started to shake to his classmates' shock.

"What the hell?!" Hyde exclaimed.

"Whoah, what's wrong?!" Ochako asked, surprised.

"It's just my phone," Iida replied as he took it out of his pocket, checking the caller ID.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, though some were also flabbergasted. "For real?" Hyde asked, wondering why a cell phone would have such a strong vibrating setting.

"Excuse me, it's a personal call," Leaving the stands, Iida found his way to a private spot and picked up the phone. "Mother? Regretfully, I lost, mother. I was weak…"

"{No, it's not about that,}" Iida could immediately tell something was wrong: his mother's voice was trembling and on the verge of crying. "{Tenya, please listen carefully… Your brother… a villain got Tensei.}"

Iida's hands began to tremble, his face paling as he stared off Ito space, his mind trying to process what he just heard.

"Fame… money… that's what all those calling themselves 'heroes' are really after…"

On a rooftop water tower of a nearby building, a figure observed the mark of dark red on the ground, the remains of the pool of blood on which the Pro Hero Ingenium had laid down, the police already tapping off the alleyway, the false hero taken away on an ambulance just minutes earlier. From where he was, his blood-red eyes could see some civilians watching with interest.

"But they are not heroes… just him… the only one I'll let kill me…"

His sword, which minutes before had been dripping blood from the edges, was now clean and sheathed, and a red scarf and headband reflected the moonlight on the shadowed figure.

"…is All Might!"

He licked the inside of his mouth, remembering the bitter taste of his latest victim's blood.

"You haven't even noticed this society is diseased. Warped and covered with hypocrisy and vanity. To all who are called Heroes… I will make you notice."

"Nice little speech."

He reacted immediately, quicker than the normal human could: his chipped blade aimed directly at the head of the person who managed to sneak up on him.

"Relax," the voice, a woman based on the tone, said. "I just happen to be nearby when I noticed you. The smell of fresh blood is just so intoxicating."

He glanced at the newcomer. It was a woman, with blond hair, six purple eyes in total, and four spider-like limbs protruding from her back. She didn't seem the least bit intimidated by the fact a sword was just centimeters away from her face. In fact, she seemed amused.

"I'm not the only one who reeks of blood," he spat. "You have the stench of death and decay."

"Why thank you," the woman replied with a sweet smile. That was when they heard a swirling sound coming from nearby, a purple portal appearing in the air. "Seems like we have guests," the woman smiled, gently pushing the blade away from her face. "So you're Kurogiri. I was wondering when you and your master would find me."

The purple portal quickly took on a humanoid shape. "I have been informed of you, Lailah. But I'm not here for you. Though you are free to come," the mist villain replied before turning to the only other person present. "I am here for him you, Hero Killer Stain. Given your notoriety, you can imagine why I wanted to meet you. May I have a moment of your time?"

As Izuku walked through the halls towards his designated waiting room, his mind wandered back to his conversation with Todoroki earlier.

[Almost time, partner. Still trying to figure out how to help the Todoroki girl?]

'Yeah,' Izuku nodded. 'This goes beyond just a match in the Sports Festival now. Now that I know what drives her, I can't just let it go.'

Having reached an internal consensus, Izuku decided that it would be a good idea to stretch his legs a bit and exited the waiting room…

"Ah, good. I was looking for you."

…only to find himself face-to-chest with the Number Two Hero.

"Ack! E-excuse me!" Izuku frantically back-stepped to avoid running into Endeavor, not sure how to deal with this unexpected development.

"Do not concern yourself; there was no harm done. I doubt that I am mistaken, but you are Midoriya Izuku, yes?"

"Y-yes, sir!" Endeavor's eyes passed over his form for a brief moment before narrowing slightly as he gave an almost imperceptible nod.

"I apologize if I've disturbed you during your preparations, but I wanted to speak with you about something. I trust that you can spare a moment?"

Izuku nodded dumbly, not being anywhere near foolish enough to turn down a direct request from the man standing before him.

"I assume you're aware of the relationship between your next opponent and myself."

"Y-yes. I am aware that T-Todoroki-san is y-your… child."

"I see." Endeavor did not seem at all surprised by the fact that Izuku knew. "Then you are no doubt aware of the fact that Shoko insists on using only half of her true abilities at any given time, regardless of the situation at hand."

Izuku nodded.

"I'll get to the point, then," Endeavor crossed his arms before continuing, "Midoriya, your exploits have piqued my interest. You prove to have great talent and a versatile Quirk. But, if we are talking about power… yours reminds me of All Might to an extent."

Izuku willed himself not to flinch at the statement and took a deep breath while trying to calm down. There was no way Endeavor knew about One for All and its secret: All Might had kept that very well hidden over the years, so there was no reason to panic. Even if he, like his daughter, had noticed the connection.

"Is that all you wanted to say?" Izuku asked. "My match begins soon, and I'd rather not be late."

He immediately passed by the older man, hoping to get away from him as fast as possible, but the man clearly did not think their conversation was finished.

"It is Shoko's duty to ensure she is ready to surpass All Might and replace me," he continued, stepping into Izuku's way. "Beating her in two events is no small feat. She has surely noticed the similarities between your Quirk and All Might's, so your match will no doubt give her a much-needed wake-up call. She will eventually use her flames, and I hope you can push her out of this childish tantrum she's in."

"Is that all she is to you? Just a tool to defeat All Might?" Izuku asked in annoyance.

Endeavor notably flinched before he answered. "At one point, perhaps," he bitterly said, to Izuku's surprise. "I admit, I have… done things I'm not proud of. I'm also aware that, in the end, you're not All Might. And Shoko isn't me."

Izuku stared at Endeavor in genuine surprise, not expecting Endeavor to say that.

"I better take my leave now. Your match begins in a few minutes," the Number Two Hero began to walk away, but before he could get far Izuku called out.

"Wait, before you go please answer this for me. Why does Todoroki hide her gender?"

"Oh, that," Endeavor sighed. "I'm not completely sure but I have an idea. After her… mother snapped, she developed a bit of a fear of women, apparently to the point of refusing to be seen as one," the Number 2 Hero explained. He recalled how long it took for Fuyumi to get Shoko to be comfortable in the same room as her. And even then the two sisters weren't as close as they should be.

"She's… scared of girls?" Izuku asked.

"She's not completely comfortable being around them, or being one herself, yeah. The fact she's boyish-looking to begin with makes it easier for her to hide," Endeavor confirmed. "For the most part I respect her identifying herself as male, even informing the staff of the schools she attended about it, but she needs to stop pretending soon. She can't hide who she is forever. In any case, I have taken up enough of your time. You should head to the field," he jerked his chin to indicate the hallway that led to the arena.

Izuku did not respond, giving Endeavor one final look before doing as he was bid.

[It appears that the Todoroki situation is more… complicated than initially assumed.]

Izuku nodded in agreement. Once he was out of Endeavor's sight, Izuku released a breath he didn't know he was holding in. 'That wasn't what I was expecting,' Izuku thought, wondering just what goes on in Endeavor's head.

[You can figure that out later. Do you have a plan for your match?]

Izuku hummed in thought. One for All would be ideal to deal with Todoroki's ice since it would take too long for the Boosted Gear to power up enough to do so, but that would mean he would break his bones. Then a thought crossed Izuku's mind. With only a few minutes left before the final match began, Izuku summoned his Boosted Gear, staring at it. 'Hey Ddraig… Is it possible to transfer power to certain parts of my body?'

After several minutes of waiting, the flames in the corners of the ring ignited. When the crowd saw this, they immediately began to cheer as their excitement took over. They knew exactly what time it was: it was time for the final battle of the First Year tournament.

["Thanks for waiting, listeners! This is it! The match we have all been waiting for is now set to start… the Final Event of this day of the Festival! The Big Match!"] Present Mic announced, the cheering becoming louder as Izuku, Boosted Gear already ready, and Todoroki stepped into the ring. ["On one side, the student who has won all their matches with complete domination, literally leaving the audience frozen: TODOROKI SHOTO! And, on the other side, the dragon capable of pulling off victory even after suffering so many vicious strikes. It's MIDORIYA IZUKU!"]

Todoroki sent a cold glare at her rival, who returned it back without an issue. The tension in the air could be cut with a knife, and everyone, even those who were watching from their homes, could feel both the tension and the goosebumps from seeing both teens glare at each other.

"It's going to start… man, this is going to be intense! So much firepower, standing in that ring," Kirishima exclaimed as sweat trailed down his face from the excitement.

"So, any ideas on who will win?" Hyde asked.

Before anyone could answer, a haughty laugh echoes from nearby. "Hahahaha!"

Everyone's eyes dart toward Monoma, who's grinning widely as a dark hue surrounded his features. "Win? Oh, it doesn't matter. Because come this time next year, my class will surely defeat yours! Hahahaha!"

"How'd you figure?" Kaminari asked.

"Simple," Monoma smirked. "We now have hours of videos of your class using your Quirks. Allowing us the chance to study them and find your weaknesses," Monoma's grin widened, looking ready to break into a maniacal laugh. "And then the world will know who it is that truly- GAHH!"

A quick jab to the ribs quickly silenced the annoying blonde.

Itsuka sighed as she sits back down, a wheezing Monoma lying at her feet in pain. "Please ignore him. I'm starting to think he was dropped as a baby."

'That's kinda harsh,' most of both 1-A and 1-B thought.

"Anyway, Kido does have a point," Tsubasa said. "Arguably Izuku and Todoroki are the strongest members of our class."

"It's going to be tough… but I know that Midoriya can do it!" Milia shouted, raising her arms and cheering on her friend-slash-crush. "It's going to depend on whether he manages to close in on Todoroki."

"It may be more than that," Liana hummed in thought. "Midoriya is analytical and has great mobility, while Todoroki has incredible power. I'd say the most important factor for this would be how long the fight lasts."

"Right," Momo nodded. "Izuku's Quirk doubles his powers every ten-seconds until he reaches his limit. If the fight goes on long enough Izuku will eventually overwhelm Todoroki."

"Yeah, but… what's Midori going to do about the ice?" Mina asked. "He can't just keep smashing it, can he?"

"No, Midoriya will eventually be overwhelmed if he stays in one spot. Todoroki's best option would be to freeze Midoriya right away," Liana said. Mina shivered upon hearing, recalling how Todoroki froze her.

"Will you idiots shut up already!" At the familiar yell, everyone looked up to see Bakugo walk into the shared bleachers.

"Well, look who finally showed up," Hyde smirked.

"I half expected him to be expelled by now," Shishida muttered.

"Hey, man," Kirishima greeted. "How'd your talk with the principal go?"

"None of your damn business," Bakugo replied, nonchalantly taking a seat next to the dyed redhead.

The two looked around themselves as the audience cheered before turning back to each other.

"So, here we are," Todoroki said.

"Yeah, and only one of us can win," Izuku said.

Todoroki's glare became colder, as she considered how Izuku had made him look like a fool in the first stages of the Sports Festival: she would not let him do the same again. She would beat Izuku, fair and square, using only her mother's power, and prove she did not need Endeavor's to win.

["Watch carefully and prepare, Tomura,"] a deep voice resounded through the loudspeakers. ["They may become obstacles to you one day… and you will eventually have to face them in battle."]

Shigaraki scratched his neck in irritation, as he saw the confident smile on Izuku's face.

"That dragon brat…"

At the Midoriya apparent, Inko was crying her eyes out, overjoyed at seeing her son about to compete in the final match.

"DO YOUR BEST, IZUKU!"

"Geez, Inko-chan, it's the seventh time you've cried your heart out," Mitsuki playfully teased her friend as she did her best to calm her down, all but force-feeding her a bottle of water. She really did not want her to dehydrate herself, something that had happened several times in the past.

Back at the stadium, at the teacher's viewing box, All Might watched the two teenagers, seeing the determination to win in their eyes.

'Do your best, young Midoriya! I know you can win.'

"Do your best, Izuku!" Rias cheered. "No matter what happens I'll be proud of you!"

"Win, senpai," Koneko quietly cheered.

"You better win Izuku!" Ravel cheered. "Otherwise I will burn you!"

"I think that might be a bit counterintuitive," Yuuto sweat-dropped.

"They sure are excited," Sona smiled, watching her best friend and servants cheer for her Pawn.

"That's because the boy we all like is fighting," Kudelia smiled. "Of course she's excited."

Sona nodded, seeing Kudelia's point. Then something she said caught her attention. "Wait, what do you mean by 'we all like'?"

Kudelia didn't answer, she just mealy gave a small smirk as she turned her attention back to Izuku and Todoroki.

"Ready…" Midnight said, as the two teenagers got into their fighting stances and she raised her whip. "FIGHT!"

The second her whip came down, Todoroki launched a huge attack straight towards Izuku, covering the distance between them with ice.

"Delaware Dragon Smash!" Izuku flicked his finger. The shockwave tore through Todoroki's offensive, cracking the ice and turning it into shards with such power that people in the stands shielded their faces.

"Just the wind is this cold?" one of them cried out.

Todoroki created a small wall of ice behind him so that he wouldn't be pushed back by Izuku's attack. He unshielded his face to see Izuku with his fingers stretched out, watching Todoroki's every move.

'Just as I expected, he was prepared to negate my first attack. I cannot let him use his power as he likes, if he lands a direct hit on me at full power, I'm done for. I must keep him away if I want to preserve my advantage,' Todoroki thought.

'That actually worked,' Izuku thought as he waited for Todoroki to make the next move. 'Boosting my bones prevented them from breaking. Still hurts like hell, though,' he winced.

["WOW! That attack took out all of Todoroki's rivals, and Midoriya stopped it like it was nothing!"]

'A good opening! He did not know how powerful young Todoroki's first attack would be, so he fired a 15% Smash just to push him back!' All Might thought, cheering on his successor.

At the bleachers, the students were still reeling at how effortlessly Izuku had destroyed Todoroki's first attack.

"It took Izu-kun no effort to repel the first attack," Ochako said in awe. "I knew his Bo- Uh, Quirk was awesome but I didn't know he could do that."

"Heads up, Midoriya! He's doing it again!" Tetsutetsu yelled as Todoroki fired off another ice attack, which Izuku dispelled by flicking his fingers again: having gauged the power behind them earlier, he only used a 10% of One for All, reducing the taxing to his body.

"Again?" Izuku asked, unimpressed.

'Damn…' Todoroki scowled annoyed as Izuku stared back at him impassively, almost as if he was letting him know he was going to have to do much better than that.

'Todoroki-san always ended his fights in an instant, so I don't have much on him, but given how he has been fighting, he's clearly playing the long-range game with me. Since I have him beat on hand to hand fighting, he'll try to keep me away to make it harder to hit him with a Smash, and as long as he keeps that ice wall I won't be able to blow him away.'

[I should also remind you that the boost you gave to your bones will only last so long. You probably have only ten minutes max before the boost wears off, likely less after those two Smashes.]

Izuku nodded. 'Yeah… Until then, my best bet is to keep the pressure on him until I overwhelm him… and force him to use his left side!' Izuku already knew what he had to do. Now, it was just a matter of whether Todoroki would listen or not.

"You're…" he tried to say, but Todoroki sent out another ice attack, which he just blew through with a Delaware Dragon Smash. "We can do this all day, Todoroki! Keep 'em coming!"

"Man, they can shoot off powerful attacks that cover a lot of ground, like BAM!" Kirishima shouted.

"And they can do it with no time lag!" Sero added.

"They are not just shooting off," Bakugo replied.

"Huh?"

"You overuse your muscles, the fibers tear. You keep running, you'll run out of breath. There's a limit to how much power I can produce, too. That's why I designed my costume so I could fire blasts more powerful than what my body allows. Those two have power, but they must also have some kind of limit," the explosive boy stated, having noticed how Todoroki was being forced back with every blast of energy.

"Bakugo's right," Liana nodded… before blinking. "That felt weird to say."

"The hell does that mean!?" Bakugo exploded.

"At the rate things are going, Todoroki will be forced to use their left side to stay warm," Liana noted. "I doubt Todoroki is completely immune to cold. Eventually, they'll get frostbite and hypothermic if they overuse their Quirk."

"That makes sense," Itsuka nodded.

"So, if I'm following right, then against instant-killer Todoroki, Midoriya wants…" Kirishima trailed off.

"…An endurance match, huh?" Todoroki unknowingly finished the thought, as he looked behind him and noticed he was getting close to the edge of the ring. All those blasts had forced him back, and now he had to find a way to regain the lost ground.

"Oh, I got it!" Kaminari shouted, bumping his fist onto his palm. "Midoriya is trying to outlast Todoroki, and when he's gassed out, Midoriya can just go in for the win!"

"Yeah, but Half-n-half isn't dumb enough to not notice, like you," Bakugo smirked.

"Hey!"

"Half-n-half has noticed where they are, and they know that if they don't move now, the match will be over," Bakugo stated with confidence.

Todoroki sucked her teeth in. "Fine, then, I'll end this quickly!" She shouted, sending another ice attack, this time faster than the previous ones. Izuku quickly smashed through the attack with another flicker, but Todoroki used that as a distraction to sidestep to her left and closed in on Izuku.

["Todoroki not only doesn't recoil from Midoriya's power, but he gets closer!"]

"Is Todoroki-chan trying to trap Midoriya-chan in the ice? Ribbit?" Tsuyu wondered as Todoroki made an ice path and slid up.

"If Midoriya doesn't find a way to get out, he'll be in big trouble," Tsubasa worriedly said.

"Not good, not good at all!" Setsuna yelled.

Izuku shot another Delaware Dragon Smash at the ice path, but Todoroki jumped up before he could get hit, and, as he came down, he aimed an ice-covered punch towards Izuku's head. However, Izuku saw the attack coming easily dodged.

Spreading his wings, Izuku took to the air and grabbed hold of Todoroki, making sure to only grabbed her left side, before he tossed the dual-tone teen through the air. Todoroki flew for several meters before creating a path of ice, sliding back down to the ring.

["Todoroki managed to avoid a ring out by creating an ice slide! Looks like fun!"]

"Are you trying to keep me away, now?" Todoroki asked. He was breathing out frost, which he knew was not a good sign, but at least he had yet to suffer any injuries yet.

"He broke through every ice attack like a badass. He could just go for the finisher if he wanted," Awase pointed out.

"Unless Midoriya-san is thinking something," Hiryu said. "He could have beaten him with that smash, but Todoroki-san is a smart opponent. He's the son of the Number Two Hero, after all."

"Oh, yeah, forgot about that," Tetsutetsu said.

"And he came through on recommendations as well," Itsuka replied.

"But Midoriya-san will win, I am sure," Yui noted.

"I have to agree with Yui," Setsuna interjected.

As the two kept attacking, the power behind Todoroki's attacks grew, and Izuku was forced to use more powerful attacks to deal with the ice.

'It's not just her Quirk. Her judgment, application skills, mobility… she's strong,' Izuku thought, impressed, and the crowd clearly agreed.

"He's already better than the average Pro…"

"It's what you can get from the son of the Number Two Hero!"

Said hero, however, was not as impressed. 'You're only crippling yourself, Shoko. Keep holding back and underestimating him, and it will come and bite you in the ass! If you want any chance to win then use your left side!'

"You're keeping me at a distance, yet you have yet to land a direct hit on me. You can't break through my ice defense!" Todoroki shouted, trying to egg on Izuku so he would make a mistake that she could capitalize on.

Izuku was about to reply, but then stopped as he saw Todoroki… shivering?

'What…' he thought before he noticed the frost forming on Todoroki's right arm. 'I think she's at her limit, there is only so much ice she can use before her temperature begins to lower. If she doesn't start using her left side, she'll probably begin to suffer from hypothermia!'

"By the way, thanks, Midoriya. That guy's face is clouded over, thanks to you," Todoroki added, nodding towards his father.

Izuku just gritted his teeth, revering what Todoroki had said to him earlier, "I refuse to be a tool for that scumbag. … I'll take the number one Hero's golden boy, and prove to my shitty old man that I can be the best. Without relying on his god-damned power."

However, Todoroki knew she was getting close to her limit: if she did not finish the fight soon, she would run out of power. "Let's finish this!"

["Todoroki keeps attacking with overwhelming power! Here comes the finishing ice attack!"]

In the second that passed between Todoroki throwing his ice attack, this one larger than all the previous ones, and it reaching Izuku, everyone knew that the latter was in trouble: if he did not find a way to counter it, he would lose.

But then, Izuku glared at where Todoroki was, a green orb of energy appearing in the palm of his Boosted Gear before sparks covered the arm, causing the orb to grow to the size of a beach ball.

'One for All, 20%,' "San Fransisco Dragon Shot!" The empowered Dragon Shot flew from his hands towards the ice, vaporizing it the moment it made contact. Todoroki only had a moment to react at how his most powerful attack had been denied in one shot before the explosive wave sent him stumbling backwards, barely avoiding defeat by creating another ice wall.

"No… way…" Liana whispered with a shocked face.

"I have never seen anything like this," Itsuka said.

"Amazing," Yuuto said, amazed. "Did his Sacred Gear evolve or something?"

Rias kept quiet, amazed and a little terrified at what One for All and the Boosted Gear together could accomplish.

The reactions among their classmates and the public, both present in the stadium or watching on their televisions, were similar. Destroying an ice wave so hard as to turn it into vapor was nothing short of impressive.

"Bastard…" Todoroki mumbled as he struggled to stand up. He may have not been hit directly by the Dragon Shot, but the explosion's area of effect was still enough to hurt him, and after hitting his back so many times on the ice it was starting to hurt him as well. "Such power… why are you going so far!"

"You're shivering, Todoroki," Izuku calmly yet angrily said. Todoroki tried not to react at Izuku noticing his weakness, but it was hard, considering how his energy was getting sapped by the cold.

"It's easy to forget that Quirks are physical abilities. Meaning that there's a limit to how much cold your body can take, isn't there? Something you could solve by using the heat from your left side. Everyone here has been fighting with everything they've got, to win and get closer to their dream… to become Number One… and you are here, using just half your power, just to spite your father!" Izuku yelled, clearly furious, as his Boosted Gear was covered in green lightning. "You think you can win with half your strength? Look at me, Todoroki. You haven't managed to put a single scratch on me yet! So, come at me with all you got!"

Todoroki simply scowled. "What are you planning, Midoriya? Everything I've got? Did my damn old man bribe you or something! Now I'm angry!" Todoroki shouted, running straight at Izuku. Or trying to, at least: comparing that with the beginning of the fight, Izuku noticed something.

'He's getting slower! All that frost on his body is also limiting his ability!'

"Oh, you're angry?" Izuku asked, charging up One for All at 5% and punching Todoroki straight in the gut, hard enough that the dual-colored teen spat saliva, and the attack was followed by an uppercut that sent Todoroki flying in the air.

As she landed, Todoroki tried to regain his bearings: those two punches were the hardest she had felt in her life, and she was sure that uppercut nearly cracked her jaw.

'What is Midoriya made of?' She thought, somewhat out of it.

["A SOLID HIT!"] Present Mic shouted: after several minutes of combat, it was the first direct hit one of them had landed on the other. ["That's the kind of action I like to see!"]

"Guess what? I'm angrier!" Izuku yelled.

"Why…?" She struggled to ask: that punch to the gut had hurt. Instead of talking, he decided to send some ice towards Izuku, but he simply took to the air to avoid them.

"Your ice isn't coming as fast as before, right?" The devil dragon asked. Todoroki tried to reach Izuku and ice him at point-blank range, but Izuku just fired another Dragon Shot, sending her back.

"Should I stop it, Midnight? That Midoriya's probably thinking, 'Recovery Girl will just heal him anyway,' and he's being reckless with Todoroki. He's pushing Todoroki around all over the ring when he could've been finished the match. It's clear who the stronger between the two is. They may not be able to get healed in one go. Even if he just ends up knocking out Todoroki by accident, it could lead to very serious injuries…" Cementoss said to Midnight through an earpiece.

"You know why I'm angry?" Izuku asked. "Look at yourself! I'm beating you all over the stage and still, you refuse to go all out! You're getting weaker with each attack! You're just hurting yourself at this point! Use your left side, so we can start fighting for real!"

Todoroki struggled to get back up. It was getting harder to move and breathe, the cold becoming too much for her to deal with. "W-why are you g-going so far?"

"Because I want to live up to everyone's expectations."

Todoroki raised her eyebrows. "Huh?"

"I want to be able to smile at them," Izuku continued. "Respond to them. Be a great Hero. That's what I want to be!"

"Shoko…"

Todoroki froze as her mother's voice echoed through her mind. "You're…"

"That's why I'm angry." Izuku punched Todoroki in the chest, sending her rolling on the ground. "Everyone's giving it their all! There's no way I can know all of your circumstances or your resolve. You may think that you're rejecting your father's powers, but you're still letting him influence you! Everything that you've done up to this point still revolves around him, because you're letting him rule over your life! Making you half-ass it instead of giving it your all when you can do so much more!"

Todoroki's eyes widened as she stood back up again. At that moment, memories of her past started playing in her head. When she was five, her father forced her into training. He held nothing back. Beating him until he was on the ground, coughing and gagging on his own saliva. On his knees, Todoroki would be struggling to stand up as Endeavor ordered to. Her mother was the only one that would try and stop him, only to be slapped across the face.

The ice on his right arm and leg started to expand. "Shut up! You don't know what you're talking about!"

She was five, watching Toya, Fuyumi, and Natsuo playing outside. But before she could try to join them, her father grabbed him by the arm and dragged her away.

"Don't look at that, Shoko. They are from a different world than you."

…

"Mom, I'm going crazy… I can't take anymore. Every day, the kids become more like him… and Shoko… her left side reminds me of her father… I can't raise her anymore… I feel like I shouldn't…"

"M…Mom?"

The next thing she knew, her mother had grabbed the pot of boiling water…

…

"Where's Mom?"

"She injured my masterpiece. I had to put her in a mental hospital for her own good."

"This is all your fault, you know, you're the one that made Mom like that…"

Todoroki shook his head to clear it, trying to get the memories out of her head. But her resolve was wavering. "No… I refuse… to use my left side," she said, trying to stand back up.

Izuku gritted his teeth, losing his patience. "Dammit, Todoroki! Don't you get it?! It's not his Quirk! It's yours! Stop fighting who you are already!"

Todoroki's eyes widened and gasped as a very fond and happy memory played in her head.

She was sitting on the couch with her mother, watching a live talk show with All Might as the guest.

"Yes, that's right! Children inherit Quirks from their parents. But the really important thing is not that connection, but recognizing your own flesh and blood. Recognizing yourself. That's what I mean when I say: 'I am here!'"

A young Todoroki Shoko was gazing at the television with awe and wonder at the number one hero while her mother, Rei, was sitting next to her. Shoko had been crying to her, telling her how she didn't want to be like her father. It had been luck that Rei managed to pull up the channel for her daughter.

"But you want to be a hero, don't you?" Rei asked sweetly as she hugged Shoko. "It's okay for you to be one. You don't have to be a prisoner of your blood. It's okay for you to become one who you want to be."

Shoko looked into her mother's eyes to see pure love for her child, accepting all of him despite who his father was.

Todoroki didn't realize how much she had forgotten her words. As it all came back to him, steam and smoke were starting to rise from her body.

"You are not a prisoner of your lineage. It's okay to use your power to become who you want to be."

Suddenly, flames surged out of Todoroki's left side, enveloping her body in a pillar of fire, lighting the stage even further. The audience could feel the heat the flames were giving off, making them sweat.

["What the hell is this!?"] Present Mic shouted in surprise.

Izuku, surprised at first, couldn't help but grin at the sight of this.

"He's actually using his fire?" Ochako asked.

"He is," Momo replied, smiling. "Izuku-kun knew Todoroki-san would not become the hero he wants to be without it… so he finally convinced him to use his left side."

"That was the manliest thing I've ever seen!" Kirishima exclaimed, comically crying.

"Midori will still win this, though," Mina said.

'You made him use his left side. Even though you want to win, you still did your best to save young Todoroki?' All Might thought. He had seen through Izuku's plan, but now he knew that Todoroki had closed the gap in power between them. Now, he just hoped Izuku had some sort of backup plan because it seemed to have turned on him.

Up in the stands, Endeavor watched with glee as his daughter began to use her left side. "Only a diamond can polish a diamond," he said. "Looks like you were right, Natsume-sensei." Shoko had finally found her diamond.

"What's so funny?" Todoroki asked as she felt her body temperature rising, having noticed Izuku's smile. Already, all the ice on her right side had melted, and she was regaining the feeling in her extremities. "You do realize what you have done, right? You want to win, but still, you helped your enemy. Which one of us is screwing around now?"

"No, Todoroki, there's nothing funny. I'm smiling because I am happy. Happy I could help you find the best version of yourself, and now you can become the best Hero you can be!"

Todoroki smiled, slightly surprised, and shook her head.

"You're crazy, Midoriya… but in a good way. This is still an official match, though, and I don't plan on losing, so don't blame me for what happens next. You had plenty of chances to win, so you've brought this upon yourself."

[BOOST!]

Izuku grinned. "I'm ready, Todoroki! Come at me with all you got!"

"I aim to win and become the Number One!"

"I wouldn't have it any other way!"

In the commentators' box, Aizawa smirked. 'The real battle starts now.'

Izuku was panting now… but he was still smiling. "Let's finish this, Todoroki!"

"It will be my pleasure!"

While Todoroki gathered all of his remaining strength into one attack, Izuku readied another One for All powered Dragon Shot.

All while Cementoss began to use his Quirk. "Midnight, we have to intervene! If they keep going it'll be bad-"

Midnight ripped off her right sleeve, purple smoke beginning to form out of it. "Their bodies won't hold up!"

Todoroki fired everything she had left in her body.

"Thank you…" she whispered with a smile.

"San Fransisco Dragon Shot!" Izuku fired the Dragon Shot.

Cementoss and Midnight tried to negate the two ultimate moves from clashing… but it just wasn't enough. The purple sleeping mist did not even make it to the two teenage heroes-in-training, and the concrete barriers separating them were destroyed – and then the resulting clash between attacks caused a large explosion that could be heard all over the city, as a mushroom cloud rose above the stadium – a shock to all that had just witnessed the event.

A cold, strong wind started to gush all over the stadium: everyone did their best to shield themselves from the wind, but it was so strong that everyone who was on their feet was knocked down by the force.

"Holy crap balls!" Mineta flails about in the air, the gale having freed him from Sero's tape.

"This is crazy!" A terrified Kaminari shouted.

Momo tries to shield herself and Kyoka from the thrashing wind. "What's happening down there?!"

"Izuku!" Rias cried out.

It felt like hours before the winds finally calmed down. The whole stadium was completely silent, stunned at the power being used. Endeavor was grinning after seeing his daughter finally using her left side, the proof of which being the smoke cloud floating above the ring, waiting to be cleared.

"Just because someone is powerful doesn't mean they'll be a good hero," Cementoss rumbled as he stood back up. "But seriously… these two are impressive."

In the booth, Present Mic had fallen backwards on his seat, his feet in the air, even though the booth was protected against the explosion. ["What the heck just happened? What is up with your class, Shouta?"]

["The air around the ring had been thoroughly cooled down, and then rapidly expand when heated up,"] Aizawa calmly replied.

Present Mic quickly got back up. ["Wait, that's what caused the explosion? How hot did that fire get? Ugh, I can't see a thing. Who won?"] Present Mic complained, a thought shared with many of the spectators.

"I can't see anything," Ravel said, trying to look through the smoke.

'Please, Izuku, tell me you won!' Rias thought.

Fortunately, it did not take too long for the smoke to finally clear up, and in the sepulchral silence that pervaded the stadium, the result was shown.

Izuku was on one knee, right at the edge of the ring, his head down, the upper half of his PE uniform torn up due to the explosion, breathing heavily as he looked around.

Meanwhile, barely conscious, Todoroki was out of bounds, laying on her back on an ice bridge that was created that stretched all that way from the ring's edge to the wall of the stadium. It then curved up in a wave-like end that stopped her body when it was sent flying back.

It took a moment for everybody to process what the hell just happened, and finally, Midnight raised her whip.

"Todoroki Shoto is out of bounds! Midoriya Izuku wins!"

For a few more seconds, the entire stadium remained dead quiet, until their minds finally registered Midnight's words.

Then, pandemonium started.

["MIDORIYA FROM CLASS 1-A WINS FIRST PLACE IN THE SPORTS FESTIVAL!"] Present Mic yelled out as fireworks were shot up and rainbow confetti fell down throughout the entire stadium.

Izuku blinked. "I won?" He muttered.

"IZUKU!" Inko cried, tears of joy flooding the apartment as a drenched Mitsuki hugged her.

"He won!" Ochako linked arms with Mina and did a little dance. "He won! He did it!"

"That was so awesome… I've never seen anything like it!" Mina chirped as she jumped up and down in excitement.

"That was very awesome, Midoriya-kun!" Milia yelled, applauding her crush.

"Yeah! Way to go, Midoriya!" Setsuna grinned.

"He did it," Ibara said in relief.

"That's what I was talking about!" Tetsutetsu said, flexing his muscles.

Monoma was the only one not applauding at Izuku's victory. Partly because he's still bitter it wasn't someone in his class who made it to the finals. But mostly because, as he looked at Todoroki on the monitor, he noticed something. "Hold on, is Todoroki wearing a sports bra?"

Both Class 1-B and 1-A looked at Monoma for a moment before they looked back to the monitor.

Groaning, Todoroki tried to get up, sliding off the ice bridge to do so when she noticed Izuku walking up to her. "I lost, huh?" She muttered.

"Yeah," Izuku nodded before smiling softly. But his smile quickly dissipated, soon replaced by a blush. Most of Todoroki's PE uniform was burned away, revealing a slightly burned sports bra that exposed part of her breast.

"Something wrong?" Todoroki asked.

"Uh, y-your b-b-b-b…"

Raising an eyebrow, Todoroki looked down and saw her damaged clothes. "It's okay. Don't worry about it."

"Huh?" Izuku's mind drew blank for a second.

"As you said, it… might be time for me to stop fighting who I am."

"Looks like Todoroki-chan's secret is out now, huh?" Tsuyu bluntly said.

"Wait a minute! Todoroki's A GIRL?! HOW?!" Kaminari and Mineta both exclaimed.

"You two pervs honestly just realized that?" Kyoka asked.

"Wait, you knew?!" Kaminari asked her.

"Well, I did," Ochako said, raising a hand.

"Wait, we were supposed to believe that Todoroki was male?" Tokoyami asked.

"It was supposed to be a secret? I thought we were all just being polite by not making a big thing about it," Kirishima said.

"Wait, that's not what we were doing?" Mina asked.

"Apparently not," Aoyama said.

"So we weren't supposed to think that Todoroki was a girl? That is what this is, right?" Tsubasa asked.

"The fact she only entered the changing room when we all exited was a big hint," said Shoji.

Mineta began to cry tears of blood. "A babe was right in front of me the whole time… and I couldn't tell! WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME!?"

"A lot," Liana deadpanned.

Endeavor was ecstatic. Sure, Shoko didn't win like he had hoped, but that didn't matter. She had finally used her flames. It was unrefined, but it was a good start.

"Hold on, Endeavor's kid is a girl?" Someone in the audience near him said.

"Why have her dressed up as a boy?"

Endeavor began to worry. He had not considered how everyone would react to Shoko revealing her true gender.

"Maybe she's transgender or something like that?"

"I mean, there are Quirks that can change someone's gender and age."

"She probably just liked being a boy."

"…I could… work with that," the Number Two Hero muttered.

A quick visit to Recovery Girl yielded the expected diagnosis, quickly healed by the Youthful Hero and her assistant, and a new uniform to replace the one she had just lost, and Todoroki was making his way back to his classmates when he found someone she should have honestly expected.

"'You're in my way.' Aren't you going to say that?" Endeavor asked, a fatherly smile on his smile. "I hope you've learned the lesson about this. You need to control your left side… you're just letting it all out, and it's dangerous. Midoriya opened the door for you, and now you've abandoned your childish tantrum, but you'll need to train even harder to master the power. You can take today off, but as soon as you recover, I will personally train you on how to master your left side, and after you graduate you can come work in my agency. I will lead you down the path of the mighty!"

"I haven't abandoned anything," Todoroki replied dully, causing Endeavor to blink. "After all that happened, it's not something that can be so easily reversed. Back then, during the fight… just for one moment… I forgot about you."

Todoroki continued on her way. "Whether that's good or bad, whether it's the right thing to do. I don't know. Maybe I don't need you."

Endeavor, the man in All Might's shadow, can only watch in silence as Todoroki walked away, away from him and his goals. And yet, a small part of him felt proud for her doing so.

"You stupid boy! I 'oughta smack some sense into you!" Recovery Girl swung her cane around like it's a sword.

The fully recovered Izuku covers his head and reels back in terror. "Wah! I'm sorry!"

"I don't know what trick you used to keep your bones from breaking, but they still had fractures in them," Rosalba huffed, slightly less angry than Recovery Girl. "You're lucky the match ended when it did, otherwise you would've broken your hands eventually."

[She has a point. The transferred power was close to ending.]

'Ddraig, please don't take their side.' Izuku winced as Recovery Girl's cane manage to hit him in the head. "Ow!"

Before Izuku could complain, a swift knock at the door caught their attention. Using her tail, Rosalba opened it to reveal All Might in his skinny form. "Oh, hello sir," she greeted. "May we help you with something?"

"I simply wish to speak with Recovery Girl," All Might replied.

Recovery Girl nodded, wishing to speak with the Number One hero as well. "Kouris, why don't you stop for today. With the Festival almost over for the day, we won't have any more patients."

"Are you sure, ma'am?"

"Yes," Recovery Girl nodded. "Besides, the second-years Sports Festival is tomorrow. We'll need all the energy we can get. So have fun while you still can."

"Uh, okay," Rosalba slithered out, leaving the three alone.

Once she was gone, All Might turned to Izuku. "You did well, Young Midoriya. You won, and not only that, you did it with style! You still have a long road ahead of you, but, damn, it was a fantastic start!" Toshinori exclaimed, messing with Izuku's hair before.

"Thank you, All Might," Izuku said, smiling. "I still have a long way to go, though."

"That's putting iii lightly," Recovery Girl said, looking over the x-rays she had taken of Izuku's arms. "You may be getting a better hold on One for All, but you still fractured your arms. If you're not careful, you might break them to the point I can't heal them."

"R-Right," Izuku gulped. "I already figure out how to limit One for All to a certain percentage."

"And let me guess, Yagi wasn't the one who taught you that, right?" Izuku nodded. "Of course… If it weren't for Nezu I would have done everything in my power to keep that dolt away from the classroom. He has no idea how to teach!"

"I'm right here." All Might mumbled. "And I'm the only one that knows enough about One for All to train him anyway."

Recovery Girl glared at the pro hero. "What happened to Gran Torino?"

The blond's face visibly blanched at that name.

Izuku sat up. "Who's Gran Torino?"

All Might hesitated to answer. "He… He taught at this school back when I was a student, but only for one year. In fact, the man was my homeroom teacher. He was a sworn friend of my predecessor, and he trained me to use One for All."

Izuku's sunshine smile beamed out. "Then let's get him to help!"

All Might was shaking at the idea, grimacing. "I… I don't think that's a good idea, young Midoriya."

Recovery Girl had already pulled out her phone. "If you don't call him, I will. I won't let Midoriya suffer just because you're too much of a coward to face him."

All Might swiftly swipe the phone away from Recovery Girl as he began to actually shake in pure, unadulterated fear. "P-Please give me time to think this over. Y-Young Midoriya is doing an excellent job mastering One for All on his own. Just the thought of contacting him for help…" He started slapping his own leg, his knees beginning to wobble underneath him. "Damnit legs, stop shacking!"

Izuku's eyes widened in shock. 'All Might is seriously freaking out!'

[Hehe… Now I want to meet this 'Gran Torino', just to see what he did to make All Might act like this.]

"Fine," Recovery Girl huffed. "I'll give you a couple of days. If you don't make up your mind by then, I'm calling Gran Torino to be an assistant teacher for the year."

All Might looked ready to faint at Recovery Girl's declaration.

"Anyway, the award ceremony is about to begin, so you two better get going."

After a short time for a break, the award ceremony was about to begin. Every first-year student was standing on the stadium floor, waiting for their classmates to arrive to applaud them for winning. "The first-year students have completed all of the events for the UA Sports Festival. Now it's time to relax and enjoy the award ceremony," Midnight announced as victory music started playing on the speakers and fireworks shot into the air.

Smoke erupted from the ground as three podiums rose from below the ground. The third-place podium was shared by Ibara and Kendo Itsuka. The second-place podium was taken up by Shoto Todoroki, who was giving one rare smile of his own as he waited for the ceremony to happen. And, finally, on the first-place podium, was Izuku, the winner, who still couldn't believe he was standing on it.

"Now, let's break out the hardware!" Midnight said. "Of course, there's only one person worthy of distributing the awards."

"Hahahahaha!"

"Huh? Is that All Might?"

At the top of the stadium, in his Hero costume was no less than the Symbol of Peace, All Might!

"-Our very own Number One Hero, All Might!"

"I have brought the medals here!" All Might announced, landing beside Midnight, who looked at the man awkwardly.

"I talked over you… my bad," Midnight apologized as she clasped her hands in embarrassment.

"Man, this year's first years are so lucky," one of the spectators commented.

"Yeah, they've got the Number One Hero watching them!"

"So that's All Might?" Xenovia asked.

"Yes, that's him," Rias said.

"You sound like you don't know him," Saji commented.

"That's because I don't. I'm only remotely familiar with him," Xenovia replied. "I don't even know who most of the top heroes of Italy are."

"You better make sure Izuku doesn't find out about that," Yuuto chuckled at the thought of a mortified Izuku giving Xenovia a crash course on Pro Heroes.

"Now then, All Might, please present the medals, starting with third place," Midnight said, holding the box so he could grab the medals. Picking up one of the bronze medals, he placed it around Kendo's neck.

"Young Kendo, congratulations! You have shown everyone that the other classes also have great students that they ought to pay attention to!"

"Thank you, All Might!" Itsuka said as she accepted his medal.

The Symbol of Peace grabbed the second bronze medal. "Congratulations Young Shiozaki! Your performance throughout the festival was nothing short of sensational!" He beamed, the vine-haired girl lowering her head to let him place the bronze medal around her neck. "However, relying on just your quirk alone isn't enough to overcome a bad situation. Focus on your innate strength young lady, and the sky is your limit." The Symbol of Peace declared to the mics present on the stage.

"Thank you very kindly, All Might sir. I'll take that advice to heart," she said with a bow, looking at her medal.

The Pro Hero smiled and picked the silver medal, placing it around Todoroki's neck.

"Young Todoroki, congratulations. You showed great skill out there today. And I'm glad to see you opening up to both sides of your Quirk, as well as… other things. Well done."

Todoroki's gaze fell, not in dejection, but in thought. She then looks up towards the winner, the one who earned his right to be up there. "He opened my eyes. I want to be the kind of hero you are, but my path isn't as clear as I thought it was. I have a lot to think about," her gaze finally meets the pro hero's. "And I still need to settle things with someone, very soon."

All Might nods in understanding. "I've never seen this sort of look in your eyes before," he gently embraces the young woman in congratulations. "I won't ask for details, but trust yourself. I'm sure you'll work things out."

"Right."

All Might then moved onto the final award, the golden medal.

"Now, then, Young Midoriya! Congratulations on winning this tournament! Though don't let it go to your head! One must always push themselves to improve, otherwise, others can easily catch up!" All Might exclaimed as he placed the medal around Izuku's neck.

"Thank you, All Might!" Izuku replied, trying not to buts into tears at this moment, less he potentially flood the stadium.

All Might gave him a big, strong hug.

"Keep up with your training and studies, and always keep your ideals with you."

"I promise, All Might," Izuku whispered back. All Might let him go and turned to face the rest of the first-year students.

"Well, they were the winners this time, but listen here! Any of you could have ended up on these podiums. It's just as you saw. Competing! Improving each other! And climbing even further! The next generation of Heroes is definitely sprouting! So, I have just one more thing to say! Everyone, please say it with me! Ready?"

"PLUS ULTRA!"

"-Thank you for your hard work!" The audience and All Might yelled at the same time.

Absolute silence for a moment, before everyone turned to a now self-conscious All Might.

"WHAT!? THAT WAS THE PERFECT TIME TO SAY 'PLUS ULTRA', ALL MIGHT!" Everyone in the crowd yelled as they booed the Hero.

"Well, yeah, I guess, but everyone did such a good job!"

As the crowd began to leave, within the tunnels that ran through the stadium, a cloaked figure walked through, intent on leaving discreetly.

"Stop right there!" Someone called.

The figure stopped as someone approached from behind.

"So you finally found me, Black Knight," the figure responded, not bothering to turn around.

'That voice… she's a young woman,' Black Night's eyes narrowed beneath his helmet. "So you know who I am," he said. "But I don't know who you are. All I know is that you informed the police about the attack on the USJ, stepped in to save Iida, and point Hyde towards the battle with Kokabiel. So tell me, who are you? What's your goal? And why do you have the stench of that monstrosity?"

"You already know of me."

"Do I?" Black Knight questioned.

Slowly, the figure turned around. Once Black Knight saw her face, however, he gasped in shock.

"What?! But how!? You're…"

"Good work," Aizawa yawned as the sun slowly set on the horizon. "There will be no school tomorrow or the day after."

Each one of them was back into their school uniforms, waiting to be dismissed. Each one of them was tired, some more than others. All of them were excited for what was to happen after, though.

Aizawa himself was eager for some rest, but he trudged forward. "I'm sure the pro heroes who watched the Sports Festival will want to recruit you, but we'll consolidate everything and announce it when you get back. So rest well and look forward to that."

They all nodded as Aizawa dismissed them… well, almost all. Izuku looked over to Iida's seat, currently empty, and he sighed.

'I hope he's hope he's all right ' he thought as he picked up his backpack.

Soon, he was walking with the rest of the ORC, though Rias was quick to smother Izuku in her boobs upon seeing him. "I'm so proud of you, Izu!" The redhead devil smiled, her Pawn making incoherent noises in her bosom.

"B-Buchou, t-that's enough!" Ochako stammered.

"H-He's been through a lot today! P-Please give him some air!" Ibara demanded.

After several minutes, Rias finally released Izuku, who had trouble standing for a few seconds. "Is he going to be okay?" Xenovia asked.

"He'll be fine," Rias reassured.

As everyone talked about the festival as they made their way home, Izuku's phone suddenly pinged, catching his attention.

"By the way, where's Iida-kun? I didn't see him with the rest of your class during the award ceremony," Yuuto asked.

"Oh, he left earlier," Momo answered. "He got a call from his mother. Some sort of family emergency came up and he had to leave."

"I wondered what that emergency was?" Kyoka asked.

"I don't know. I'm really worried," Ochako said with her voice mirroring her concern.

"Wha!?" Izuku suddenly exclaimed.

"Izuku?" Rias, along with everyone else, turned dot look at the green-haired devil, who was staring at his phone in disbelief. "What's wrong?"

Izuku didn't say anything. Instead, he turned his phone around, showing its screen for everyone to see. It currently showed a breaking news update, the title of which shocked them.

Ingenium In Critical Condition After Villain Attack!

AN: FINALLY! We are finished with the Sports Festival! This chapter, this arc, was such a pain! I'm so glad I finally finished. Ten points to anyone who can guess what's next.

Anyway, some people have been asking me if I know about what's happening in the manga. Yes, I do keep up with the manga, and I will say that I'm still not entirely sure how I'll handle all of that. I've also seen the teaser for the third MHA movie. Getting Spider-Man: Far From Home vibes from it.

Anyway, next time will be the scene plenty of you have been asking for, along with the appearance elf someone… special.

Until then, stay safe ad stay healthy. Go beyond, PLUS ULTRA!