The punch that Mirio threw at Izuku sent the smaller boy sailing through the air. He managed to use a series of air blasts to stabilize himself and land on the ground with a roll. He rushed back into the fray just in time to see Mirio phasing out of the ground towards Tenya.
He upped one for all to 20% and launched into a spinning axe kick, just like he had done against Katsuki. Mirio simply phased through the move, however he could not avoid the violent shockwave that erupted from the ground.
His classmates were also sent back by his shockwave. Izuku looked back at them as they scrambled to their feet.
Frankly if they kept going then Mirio would be sure to take them all down, it was something that Izuku understood.
In purely physical ability he guessed that he was as strong as Mirio was and that Rikido was stronger than the both of them but too slow because of his large build. If quirks where to be added into the mix then even Rikido with his strength enhancement quirk would be no match for Mirio's fine control of his quirk, One for All however would be able to overcome it.
A 1v1 versus Izuku and Mirio would be the only plan that had even the slightest bit of success.
"Can-can I ask you guys a favor?" Izuku spoke to his 6 remaining classmates.
"Midoriya-kun, what's the matter?" Tenya called out.
"…Could you let me fight Togata-senpai alone?"
"What!?"
"That's crazy!"
"Don't be rash Midoriya-kun!"
"Deku!"
"There's no way you can win on your own!"
Koji was the only one to not make a comment but the look of fear on his face spoke volumes.
"I know it sounds crazy but it's the best plan I can think off to beat him," Izuku said while turning away from them. Their stares made him feel guilty for even bringing up the idea,
"Do you really think that you're stronger than all 6 of us!?" Rikido said.
"…Yes," Izuku turned to look at him, his eyes glowing with determination.
"Don't look down on us man!?"
"I'm not!"
"Then what would you call this!?"
"Objectively speaking, you and I are the only ones that can compete with Mirio physically," Izuku said as he pointed to himself and Sato. "However, if we add our quirks into the mix, you won't be able to keep up with him."
"And you think you will!?"
"Yeah,"
Sato looked stunned, though it was understandable with what Izuku was implying.
"Deku-kun," Ochaco called out. "I don't think you're looking down on us, but please don't think that we can't keep up with you," seeing the resolute look on Ochaco's face made him look away again.
"Sorry," That was the last thing he said to her before he dashed away, leaving only a gust of wind.
While Izuku had been speaking to his friends, Mirio decided to put his pants back on. Not that it would matter, as soon as he would start using his quirk they would be gone once again.
"Done talking?" Izuku nodded. "Are the other not coming?"
"I'll be fighting you alone,"
"You'll definitely lose if you do that," Mirio said with a smile.
"Maybe, but I'll do my best to beat you,"
Izuku launched himself forward, he closed the distance while staying on his guard. Mirio phased through the floor and appeared behind Izuku. Throwing a spinning back kick towards Mirio, hitting him cleanly in the head. Mirio sailed through the air but was quick to recover. He fell through the ground and shot out towards Izuku in an instant.
While at 20% Izuku could barely keep up with Mirio. Both boys used their mobility to dodge hits and so far, neither of them had been able to land a hit. Izuku with his increased speed was able to predict where Mirio would appear from, though his moves where too telegraphed to land a hit on blond. Mirio on the other hand, was confident that Izuku would be unable to land a hit on him but was unable to land any hits at his current speed.
After another round of useless exchanges, they broke apart and Izuku quickly noticed that he was the only one showing signs of fatigue.
"Well, this has been nice!" Mirio called out with his all too booming voice. "It's not often that I can find someone to compete with me. But we'll have to get back to class soon. I'll have to stop holding back."
"You where, holding yourself back, all this time?" Izuku asked incredulously, between gasps of air. The fact that he had taken down all his classmates and gone toe to toe with him while doing so, was unpleasant to say the least.
"Well of course! I wanted to show you guys the difference between us, not hurt anyone, but you don't seem like the frail type, so I'm not too worried about you." Mirio said with a smile, something that Izuku thought was a bit condescending.
"Right," Izuku stopped the flow of power in his body as he spoke, the sparks around him faded and his eyes narrowed. "It won't do to hold back in this fight," he glared at Mirio, secretly cursing the boy. "You also don't look like the frail type Togata-senpai, so I'm not too worried about you." Mirio's smile simply widened at the comment.
Izuku remembered seeing recovery girl in her office that morning. If she was on campus today, then pushing past his limits and ripping some muscles wouldn't be too bad. Images of his victory flooded his mind, beating the senpai in front of him would be his only goal.
He removed his shirt and tossed towards his teacher who easily caught it. After years of admiring and watching All Might and being around Katsuki, Izuku had developed a flair for the dramatics. While Izuku was definitely smaller in comparison to Mirio, between the both of them Izuku's physique looked more defined. The scars on his arms mirrored those on his own arms, except much smaller and more spread out.
A Shonen style battle between, two shirtless men. Well, one of them was naked but, the atmosphere was still set. A sort of fated battle between men, as some would say.
"Midoriya, what do you think you're doing?" Shota called out to him.
"I don't want my shirt to get destroyed,"
"Why would your shirt…" Shota froze, understanding his student's words. He briefly considered putting a stop to the demonstration before things could get any more out of hand but the determined look on Izuku's face made him pause.
"Aizawa-sensei, what's going?" By now the incapacitated students had started to get their bearings.
"Deku-kun said that he wanted to fight Togata-senpai alone," Ochaco said. The chorus of objections was the same as before, except louder.
"I'm not sure if he can beat Togata-kun, but he was able to put up a good a fight so far," Nejire was the one to break through the cacophony of first years.
"If Togata-senpai is meant to be the future number 1 hero then even Midoriya won't be able to win," Shoto said grimly. All the other student agreed at the affirmation, the 11 that Mirio had incapacitated being the most vocal.
"Well, he might have a chance," Shota said.
"Why's that sensei, is that boy special or something?" Nejire said.
"In a sense, if Togata is the one that's currently on track to become the number one hero because of his skills, then Midoriya is the closest person behind in terms of potential," Shota said, the comment, made everyone look towards him. After all it was rare for the teacher to say anything that sounded like praise.
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because, he's been All Might's favorite from day 1, and we've all seen how fast he's improved, going from the breaking his bones on the first day to being able to spar with U.A.'s number one student. You've only been here for 6 months yet his growth is abnormally fast."
As the students interrogated Shota, Izuku stared down Mirio.
"Full Cowling 30%!," he made roared sure to call out the name of his move, to make sure that Mirio clearly understood the situation he was in. The air became electric, and the sparks that erupted from Izuku's body where twice as bright as before.
"Oh, looks like you're starting to get serious,"
Izuku cut through the air, ignoring the way that his muscles threatened to rip under his abuse. At 30% the world seemed to stall slightly, as if his body had an extra half a second to respond. He faked a right hook and at the last moment he twisted his body into the air and landed a devastating body shot on the unguarded Mirio.
The blond flew through the air and landed on the ground with a hard noise. Izuku charged through the dust to finish him, finding only an empty crater. He swung his arms to disperse the huge cloud around him. Mirio used that exact moment to appear behind and land an axe kick on his head. Thanks to the extra half a second however, Izuku caught the kick with ease.
Mirio phased out of his grip and threw a kick that Izuku was unable to avoid. The green haired boy let out of grunt as he was thrown off balance. He recovered quickly and charged Mirio once again.
The two off them fell in another rhythm, though this time they both traded blow after blow. Both Izuku and Mirio where locked in a battle of attrition.
"Oh, he's doing pretty good, don't you think so Amajiki-kun?" Nejire asked.
"I guess, but Mirio still has the upper hand,"
"Aren't they about even right now though?" Kirishima asked the question that most of the first years where thinking.
"Maybe for now but there's no way that Midoriya-san will be able to keep up this pace,"
After getting hit with a particularly hard kick to head, Mirio decided to pull away from the exchange. Izuku shut off his quirk soon after, his entire body felt sore and bruised, both from the damage caused by Mirio and him pushing full cowling to 30%.
"Well look at you, you're doing pretty well for a first year," Mirio sounded slightly out of breath, Izuku smiled.
"You're not so bad yourself senpai," After having gone toe to toe with the best students in U.A. he was filled with adrenaline. That alone offset all the pain he was feeling. From the burn in his lungs, to the light taste of blood in his mouth, the pain was dulled enough for excitement to overtake his mind.
Mirio dropped down into a running stance while Izuku squared up and prepared to let one for all flow through him.
Shota interrupted them before they had the change to reengage.
"As much as I love to see two students, beating on each other like training dummies, I'm going to have to call a stop to this. We're almost out of time and I'd rather not be responsible for anyone of you being late,"
Mirio and Izuku where the most vocal about their disappointment in ending their power struggle, though everyone seemed to share the sentiment.
"Come on Eraser, just give me a minute to wrap this up and you can have Mr. House Arrest back,"
"Aizawa-sensei please, I promise that I'll be finished with him in a minute,"
Izuku and Mirio spoke at the same time and upon hearing the other's statement rushed at each other with fervor.
"You think that you'll be able to beat me and in a minute no less! Man, I might have hit you a bit too hard then!" the blond roared, as he dashed in and out of the ground, building more and more speed with each use of his quirk.
"Says the one who just got kicked in the head!" Izuku let one for all flow through him at 30%.
Mirio let out a boisterous laugh in response, "Well, let's see which one of us is losing it!" Mirio disappeared into the ground and reappeared through one of the gym walls. He ejected himself at a high speed and bounced around the large gym like a pinball. Seeing the erratic movements Izuku quickly understood that Mirio was in the midst of using one his super moves. 'He's phasing through the walls and using them to propel himself at high speeds… just like Gran Torino taught me!' Izuku's thoughts raced while Mirio's velocity increased. 'Bouncing around in such a large space is definitely not how he'd usually use his supper move. It's most likely meant for smaller space where he can change his direction quicker, that's probably why he's been building speed for so long.'
Mirio rocketed out of wall and straight towards Izuku, who quickly formulated a plan as he held his breath. He timed his jump perfectly to avoid the devastating attack. Mirio seemed unbothered by him dogging and redirected his momentum towards the sky.
A move that would be the end of this fight.
"Phantom Menace!"
"St. Louis Smash Air Force!"
While Mirio repelled himself out of walls at a high speed, Izuku charged 45% of one for all into his leg and threw a roundhouse kick that sent out a large blast of compressed air. Mirio, who had shot himself into the sky after Izuku, activated his permeation to not be affected by the strong gust. Thus, leaving himself blind and still airborne.
Izuku used the momentum of his first kick reposition himself above Mirio and ended the fight with an axe kick to head.
"Manchester Smash!"
Mirio hit the ground with a large reverb, dispersing clouds of smoke. Izuku hit the ground in a similar and ungraceful way.
It was over, Izuku had won and all he had to do was strain all his muscles and fracture his legs.