Joint Matches: 1-A vs 1-B
Izuku sighed as he sat heavily on the couch, having just finished informing those he wanted to come to the joint sparring against 1-B of the matches. Eiko, Kaminari, Shoko, and himself. Ochako was going to be practicing sparring with Ojiro, getting a feel for more martial arts. And Momo had to observe the rest of the class, being one of the reps and all.
Bakugo didn't seem too excited about his sparring buddy being taken and challenged Iida before heading upstairs to brush his teeth. So it was safe to say he was going to be keeping himself busy.
So now, Izuku just had to wait, and go pick up Eri.
But he had time to kill. He had to wait for everyone and then he'd get Eri then head to the training grounds. And everyone was spending their time changing so he had time. Time to practice.
Izuku sighed and up straighter, bringing his legs up on the couch and crossing them, crossing his arms.
"Just breathe Midoriya." Tamada told him and he nodded.
He straightened his back and took deep breaths, his head held high allowing oxygen to easily enter his lungs and leave them as well.
He calmed himself, ignoring twitches and itches in his skin before they went away, being consumed by his peace.
Tamada didn't talk, he knew Izuku needed to concentrate his best for this.
Izuku continued with his breaths, not moving an inch, just taking in the feeling.
Just taking in the peaceful feeling.
This would be a lot harder if he wanted to use it during the sports festival so he had to do his best to master this feeling right now. That was all he could do, and then he'd have to set aside time for learning darkness as well.
There was so much to do with such little time.
He barely had over a week now, with everything that had happened with Eri. But he was happy that he was able to save the girl, but still uneasy that whoever the man was still out there. His quirk was dangerous.
He cursed when he realized he broke his concentration.
He breathed deep and focused on counting, it helped him not overthink.
"1….2….3….1….2….3…" He repeated over and over again.
He didn't feel anything, he felt really light, as if he was on clouds, but also numb. He couldn't explain it, but he didn't even feel like he was in his own body. Maybe this is what doing meth and weed was like.
He wouldn't know, and he wouldn't know who to ask, but he thought that this was what the feeling was like.
"..1….2….3…..1.." He continued, and took in one last deep breath before opening his eyes. He didn't react to anything, everything seemed so dull to him now. The red of the couches, the beiges of the walls, the brown wooden flooring, all of it as boring and blank as grey.
He stood, looking around, he didn't feel anything for any of the colors around him, they were all- nothing.
This is what peace is, little one.
He faintly heard Zandaka say. He didn't care about the words she would usually say.
But even so, this is what peace was?
It was so dull. So lifeless.
But All Might was the Symbol of Peace, right? And he was so bright. As his thoughts trailed, Izuku noticed that the power wasn't fading now, as if once he got far enough into it the power stayed, that was reassuring.
But what wasn't is that All Might's peace was colorful compared to this one.
Why was that?
Why was this peace so less lively compared to All Might's.
Because his peace isn't real, little one.
Zandaka told him again. He shook the thought away, All Might WAS the Symbol of Peace, crime rates had gone down by a lot ever since he came into the hero scene. People always felt reassured by him, he always brought them comfort.
So what was the difference between Zandaka's peace and All Might's.
Why, his questions were stacking and he still needed to ask his mentor about whoever All For One was.
He had so many thoughts and such little time. "It might have to wait until after the festival." Izuku dully murmured, his now white hair and blue eyes giving no indication of life.
He heard steps behind him, "Hey MidoriyAAAA! Woah what happened to your hair!"
He turned and saw Eiko and Kaminari, both pointing towards his head.
"My Hair?" He pulled at a bang before dragging it to see with his eyes and- It looked so bright. It wasn't dull like everything else just a bright white, almost blindingly so. "I think- I think this is my quirk." Izuku said.
"Wooooooaky buddy, but-"
"THAT'S SO MANLY!" Kaminari was cut off as Eiko spoke, smiling at how cool Izuku looked. It was weird, definitely, green fit the boy so well and seeing his hair and eyes different colors was definitely strange, but it looked so cool! "How'd you do it?!"
Izuku hummed, "It's a part of my quirk, I think, I was meditating and when I opened my eyes everything seemed so dull, I guess this is why." He looked over his arms, still feeling surreal about everything, noticing that his skin looked paler or duller. Eiko's and Kaminari's hair were dull just like everything else, which was strange because their hair was really bright and out there.
"What do you mean everything is dull?" Kaminari asked with a raised brow.
"Well-" Izuku heard more pattering, shoes on wood, and turned to see Shoko.
She- She was bright.
Her hair was the same as ever, perfectly split, on the right snow white, and on the other crimson scarlet. Her grey eye looked more lively than anything he'd see and her turquoise gem seemed as if it was shining.
"Sorry I'm late, I had to wash my PE uniform." She said monotonically.
Eiko smiled and walked over, "Don't worry about a thing Todobroki! We weren't waiting that long, just asking Miboriya here about his…. hair…. hey what happened?" Both Kaminari and Eiko were confused to see that the greanette's hair was green.
Izuku felt a sudden feeling, like air being knocked out of his lungs, as everything went back to normal, Eiko's and Kaminari's hair colors were bright and popping. Just like them, his skin was tan again too, ad he already assumed his hair was back to normal as well.
"I-I guess it doesn't last that long? Or perhaps it's energy based, maybe I ran out of fuel for it? Maybe it was a stimuli that knocked me out of it, or could it have been maybe a hormone? My body sensed I wasn't in danger and it took me out of that state? That could be it, but unlikely, maybe it was-"
"Izuku.." It took the boy a while to notice that Shoko was right in front of him, and because he was hunched over (due to his mumbling, she was kneading her hand through his hair. "It's time to go, are you ready?" she asked with a tilt of her head.
Izuku felt his face heat up as he nodded, "Y-Yeah, um w-we gotta go get Eri-chan first! I-If you want I can tell you guys about her!"
Eiko grinned and nodded with a "Yeah!"
Shoko had a faint smile and nodded as well, she was curious about the little girl that Izuku had come to the dorms with and that had woken most of them up in the middle of the night.
Kaminari had a smug grin on his face from seeing Izuku get so flustered just from Shoko petting his head, "Yeah, let's do that!" He said.
So during the entire walk Izuku told the three about his visit with his mom and how it led to him meeting the girl they know as Eri, including the villain, and his trip back home then to him taking Eri to Aizawa-sensei.
Speaking of Aizawa-sensei, they had just arrived at the teacher's dorm building; he knocked on the door, since none of them wanted to see what monstrosity Midnight did during her freetime, and waited outside.
A couple of seconds later the door opened, a small Eri and a giant blob of mess.
Oh that was sensei.
Hair tangled and a mess, eyes more red then they'd ever seen with massive bags under them, so dead that they almost reminded Izuku of Nomu, and the biggest frown ever on his face. "Sensei! You look terrible, did you sleep?!" Kaminari, not so subtly, yelled.
Aizawa winced and groaned at the loud noise, Kaminari and Eiko taking a step back and getting ready for an Eraserhead glare, but it didn't come.
"Kaminari, sleep- sleep is for the week…." Aizawa muttered before falling backwards.
"Should we…?"
"Yeah…" Izuku entered and dragged Aizawa onto one of the couches, the man looked like death, and definitely needed some sleep, then he booked it out of there. He didn't want to see what Midnight did during her freetime!
He shut the door behind him, eliciting a sigh and turned to see Eiko and Kaminari fussing over how cute Eri looked, but the girl looked very uncomfortable.
"Hey guys! Come on leave Eri-chan alone!" Izuku scolded, proceeding to kneel in front of the girl. "Hey Eri-chan, how was your night with Aizawa-sensei?" He asked in a softer tone.
"L-Long.." The girl stuttered out.
Izuku hummed, "Wanna tell me about it? We've got plenty of time."
"O-Ok.."
The group of, now five, made their way to the training ground that Kendo had reserved for their sparring match, the whole way Izuku was carrying Eri on his back, since the girl hadn't gotten much in terms of sleep and was walking sluggishly, but she still told him the most she could about her night with Aizawa.
"Lots of cats…"
"Cats?" Kaminari asked and Eri snuggled into Izuku's back to hide, she was uncomfortable…
She didn't dislike the yellow person, but he was new, she didn't know if he was kind like Izuku. He was smiling and seemed nice, but her caretakers were like that too and they were cruel. They didn't protect her like Izuku did.
They would step aside and let Overhaul do whatever he pleased. They cowered in front of the man, and then let the man reign free. And then she was torn apart, over and over and over…
No one helped…
"Eri-chan?" The voice sounded kind, but it wasn't Izuku's. She turned her head to the left and saw the girl that Izuku had called Shoko.
"uh...h-hi…" She tried her best and then snuggled into the boy's back to seem smaller.
Izuku was busy talking with Eiko and Kaminari and Shoko was quiet, so the boy didn't seem to notice. Shoko's gaze changed from straight forward to the girl on Izuku's back.
"He saved me too." She said with a small smile.
"Huh?" Eri tilted her head. She meant Izuku, right? He had saved her too, but why did she need saving, was it a villain, and how was she smiling..
Eri wanted to be able to smile like that but she couldn't..
Her face was always stuck in a frown and that made her sad. She was grateful towards Izuku because he saved her, and he always smiled at her, reassuring her that everything would be alright, but she couldn't smile back. She wanted to smile back. Izuku was an amazing hero who took down Overhaul, she wanted to be like him, and it started with smiling.
"Miss Shoko… h-how do you smile…?" She asked.
The girl squinted her brows and eyes, she looked like she was thinking really hard, before sighing. "Honestly, I'm not too sure… this is kind of new to me.." She spoke and they both deflated. "Sorry.." Shoko felt bad that she couldn't help the little gem.
Eri flushed a little at making Miss Shoko feel bad, she didn't want to do that! Miss Shoko was Izuku's friend, she didn't want her to feel bad! "Ah! I-It's ok… um… w-was there anything that made you s-smile?" She needed something, anything.
She just wanted help.
Shoko seemed to be thinking again, before sighing again, pouting too. "I-I don't really know… It just took time and a lot of spending time with friends…" Shoko smiled at the end, she had friends now, she had to remind herself. "um if you want, I could help you try to smile."
Eri's eyes seemed to sparkle at the offer, her face didn't change, just her eyes seemed- different. She slowly nodded before cuddling into Izuku's back again.
Talking with people was hard, especially if they weren't Izuku. She hadn't even been able to get a word out when she was with Aizawa. She had just caused the man trouble.
The man had passed out after Izuku came to pick her up. At least he was sleeping now, and wasn't dead like everyone else that took care of her. The caretakers always made Overhaul mad, and so he usually got rid of them…
But Aizawa wasn't dead.
So that made her happy, but she still didn't smile.
She couldn't, no matter how hard she tried.
But she would get there one day, she hoped.
"Hey Izuku!" The group of five heard the call as they entered the training gyms, the Class Rep of 1-B, Itsuka Kendo, eagerly running to meet them.
Kaminari pouted to the side, "Dang, it's not like Midoriya's the only one that's here man…" But no one paid him any mind.
Shoko was a little tense, the girl had called Izuku by his first name, it was a big deal. But she just seemed friendly, maybe there would be nothing to worry about?
And Eiko was smiling because there was this silver dude who looked really manly and he was smiling too, and his smile was just like her smile! Fang Buddies? YES!
"Hey Itsuka…"
Was Itsuka a first name? Shoko wondered, she didn't know, she needed to know.
"...So I brought Kirishima, Kaminari and Shoko. Kirishima's been fighting Kacchan too much and needs a chance, Kaminari developed a new way to use his quirk and Shoko is opening up using more of her quirk." Izuku explained before turning around, allowing Itsuka, and the other 1-B students who were approaching them, of her presence. "And I have to watch over Eri-chan here." He said with joy in his voice.
The 1-B students were definitely confused as to why Class A's rep had a kid with him but put it off for now, "So who'd you bring?" Izuku asked as he faced them again.
"Oh, I brought Tetsutetsu, Yanagi, Shiozaki." The redhead said as she motioned towards her three classmates.
Tetsutetsu and Yanagi, Izuku was familiar with them. Tetsutetsu was often in the common room when Izuku would visit and had the same attitude as Monoma, albeit more tamed. And Yanagi was someone who the greanette now considered a good friend after she helped him.
Shiozaki was a mystery though and she did not look happy to be here either.
"I'm only here because you robbed me of the Holy Father Kendo!" The girl muttered, a frown on her face.
Kendo had a strained smile on, "Well let's get to it!" Tetsutetsu and Eiko had cheered in unison as if it was planned, but they'd never met before.
Kaminari giggled, "They share a singular brain cell…" He muttered with a smile.
"Ok, so what matchups do you think would be best Izuku?" Itsuka asked.
The boy asked for her classmate's quirks.
Tetsutetsu could turn his body into steel, "Very similar to Kirishima's, perhaps put them together, it'll be a long match but they can both test their upper limits of their hardened skin." Shiozaki had vine hair that she could grow and use to trap opponents, "I'd say use against Kaminari, he needs to learn to dodge with his new speed and she can practice on fast opponents with her heavy vines, speed quirks aren't rare…"
Now all that was left was him, Shoko, Itsuka and Yanagi. Itsuka's quirk allowed her to grow the size of her hands, Yanagi had a telekinesis quirk, he had to do a lot of thinking about this one.
"Shoko and Yanagi, Shoko doesn't have experience with her fire, incase she can't control it Yanagi can use her telekinesis to protect herself, Shoko would burn you and we don't want that to happen so close to the Sports Festival." Izuku muttered.
"So if the Sports Festival wasn't soon, it'd be fine?" Itsuka asked.
"HUH! N-No! I didn't mean it like that! It wouldn't be good at any time, but it'd be especially bad now! Y-Yeah that's what I meant-" The sound of giggling cut him off. Not just Itsuka, but Eiko and Kaminari as well, along with Tetsutetsu. Izuku's smile sagged a bit, "Haha, very funny.. I'm not gonna go easy on you now." He said, trying to be as serious as possible.
Eiko paled a bit. "H-Hey! Mibroiya, you're just kidding, right? You're not being serious, right?"
Izuku turned to her, "I don't know, am I?" He asked with a grin.
Eiko couldn't tell, she'd never seen Izuku act like this before. "Kendo-chan, I am so sorry." She offered an apology. "B-But Rep versus Rep is pretty cool, don't you think!"
The 1-B students didn't get why he was so dangerous, but Itsuka did. He killed an All Might killer. But surely he was kidding, right? Izuku was too kind, he was just messing with her!
Yeah!
yea….
Hopefully.
The group walked off to the side, Izuku still holding Eri, now in his arms though, as they observed the first match. Kaminari versus Shiozaki.
"Alright! The match will end when either opponent concedes or is unable to battle!" Itsuka yelled as the two contestants stared each other down. "Understood?"
"Yes."
"Yup a mundo!"
"BEGIN!"
"Alright! Quintessence Cloak!" Kaminari cheered, happy he got to use the name of the new ability he had. Golden electricity spark over his limbs and chest, his cheery smile energized by his glowing pupils, glowing with power and joy. And then he zoomed.
Shiozaki entered a praying motion, her hair digging into the ground behind her before rising back in front of her and chasing Kaminari like a police car in a car chase.
The electrified boy dodged with jumps so fast it looked as if he was teleporting, which wasn't good for him because he was getting nauseous.
He jumped back as he dodged over a strike from the holy girl's vine. Holding his stomach with his other hand to his mouth.
"H-Hey! Can we umm -oh god- can we take a time out OH SHIT!" Kaminari exclaimed as Shiozaki's vines grew in size, her face which was neutral before now in the faintest of frowns.
"You will NOT say the Lord's name in vain!" She yelled.
Kaminari held his stomach as he tried his best to dodge, zipping around like a hummingbird. "I don't think Kaminari's doing so hot." Eiko said worriedly at the side.
"Yeah.. he's not used to how fast he is and he's using it in bursts as well, perhaps he needs something to stabilize him? Some medicine would definitely help as well, just like for Ochako-" Izuku felt a tug on his pant leg and turned to see Eri. "What's wrong Eri-chan?"
"Uh um.. w-why are they fighting?" The little girl asked, glancing at the two heroes in training. "W-Wont' they hurt each other?"
Izuku kneeled so he was on the same level as Eri. "Well Eri-chan, they're training, they're not trying to hurt each other."
Eri tilted her head, "Training?"
Izuku nodded, "They're practicing, so they can get stronger." Izuku explained.
But Eri was more confused now, "Why do they have to get stronger though?" She asked.
Izuku hummed for a second before smiling, "Well, what if they ever find someone like you? They'll have to fight someone like the scary man, and they need to be strong to fight them." Izuku said.
"S-So, it's about helping people?" Eri asked and Izuku nodded. Eri's eyes glowed with wonder and excitement, that was really cool. She wanted to do that. She wanted to help people like Izuku. Could she?
Overhaul had only ever called her a curse.
She didn't know if she could help people if she was a curse.
"I-Izuku, could I-I help people t-too?" She slowly asked.
Izuku was still smiling wide, in fact it seemed like it even growed when she said that. "Of course, it's gonna take a lot of hard work though." Izuku said. "Do you want to try?"
"Uh, y-yes please.."
"Then I think you can do it!" Izuku cheered.
Eri's eyes sparkled at the words, she felt her cheeks twitch but they didn't lift up. "Thank you!" She said in sincerity. "Um… c-can we keep on watching?"
"Of course." Izuku smiled and they both continued watching the match.
Kaminari tripped on a rock and came face first with a blob of vines that was swung like a wrecking mace. He skidded across the ground before going ragdoll on the floor.
"Kaminari!" Eiko ran to see if he was ok, Izuku and Shoko walking behind her. "You alright buddy?"
"Yeah, I'm- oh jeez- I'm A-okay!" He grunted as he sat up, holding his stomach. "Just not feeling too well, might have to go to the bathroom."
"Well, let me help you out, we'll be back in a bit, Midoriya." Eiko helped Kaminari up, slinging his arm around her shoulder and walking out of the gym to one of the bathroom's nearby.
"Shiozaki go easier next time!" Itsuka chastised her holy classmate.
"He said the lord's name in vain, he should've been expecting an outcome such as this with behavior as unruly as that." The vine haired girl said in return.
"I-Is he going to be ok?" Eri asked as they watched the two stumble away
Izuku nodded, "They'll be ok, we can always go to Recovery Girl if we need to." Izuku said in response. He hoped his friend would be ok, he just seemed like he had an upset stomach and his landing was rough. After going to the bathroom, heading to Recovery Girl for injuries and stomach issues was probably the best thing he could do.
Eri tilted her head, she was unfamiliar with whoever Recovery Girl was, "W-Who's that..?"
Izuku grinned brightly as he told Eri about the Youthful Heroine, and her quirk that allowed her to heal people through a kiss but at the cost of their own stamina.
Eri asked what stamina was and what a quirk was. She only knew of her curse.
"Stamina is just how much energy we have to do something, if we're tired we're low on stamina, Quirks are just superpowers, like my elements and your rewind, it's pretty simple."
"My r-rewind? Y-You mean my c-curse?" She asked and Izuku's smile seemed to falter. She made him mad, she didn't want to make him mad, she didn't mean to. What did she say? What line did she cross?
A warm hand found its way onto her head, "It's not a curse Eri, don't let anyone say that, it's a gift."
Shoko was watching the scene with wonder, and Izuku's words struck a chord. Endeavor's- no HER power, it wasn't a curse either, it was a gift.
Just like Eri's
"And no one can take it from you, it's what makes you special." Izuku said beninely.
Eri had tears in her eyes from the words and sniffled, "B-But, all I do is h-hurt people."
A hand wiped her tears away, "That's not true, I've known you for a while and I'm not hurt." Izuku said with a wide grin.
"B-But Overhaul impaled you!" She yelled with a sniffle. The 1-B students looked alarmed, they just heard that one of their peers got impaled after all.
Shoko knew he was ok, but was still worried, he kept on running into danger. There would be a point when maybe he wasn't so lucky.
"Yeah, maybe he did, but look-." Izuku lifted his PE uniform short over where he had been struck. "-There's no wound, everything's ok, I promise." He dropped his shirt afterwards. "And even if something was wrong, you can use your quirk to heal Eri."
"H-Heal?"
"Mhm!"
"Excuse me." Yanagi intruded the conversation and Eri hid behind Izuku as she approached. But the girl was kind of bummed out too, she wanted to ask Izuku what he meant about her being able to heal, "May we start the next match now? I found a rather interesting story online and would like to return to it as soon as possible."
Eri looked between the pale girl and Izuku with worry, just to see the boy smiling.
"Sure thing Yanagi-chan, sorry for taking up so much time."
"Do not fret." She turned to Shoko. "So we shall be opponents, I wish you best of luck." She said with a bow.
"You as well." Shoko said monotonely.
They each lined up on opposite sides of the gym, Shoko standing still doing breathing exercises, while Yanagi raised her hands, some of the rubble that was around from previous days and Kaminari and Shiozaki's skirmish glowing as a result.
"Alright! The match will end when either opponent concedes or is unable to battle!" Itsuka yelled again. "You both got it?"
"Yes!" They both said in unison.
Izuku was exploring with excitement for this match, getting a hero notebook from…
somewhere
And preparing to write notes on Yanagi's quirk as well as Shoko's fire, perhaps he could help the two like he did Kaminari.
"Alright! BEGIN!"
Shoko instantly made an icewall as a piece of concrete was hurled her way. The miniature glacier cracked and broke but the girl was already skating her way towards her opponent.
"You can do this."
She dodges under a flying debris.
"You just have to believe in yourself, just how Izuku believes in you."
She smacked her foot down, walling off the surrounding area so Yanagi couldn't run away.
"It's a gift, not a curse."
Making more ice walls, she dodged to the side, hiding behind them as Yanagi started using Shoko's ice as fuel.
"It's not a raging inferno like Endeavor's." She cursed when icicles started raining down on her, she skated away, moving towards Yanagi, and doing her best to dodge.
"It's a kind flame, just like Izuku's!"
She told herself as she got close, she bit back her fear as she raised her left arm. "It's not like Endeavor's, it's kind and warm just like Izuku's!" She repeated. Her turquoise eyes glowed with determination as a flower of flame birthed from her left arm.
Yanagi grabbed the giant walls of ice surrounding her and placed them in front of the fire to protect her.
Shoko's fire was constant and was crashing into the wall of ice, slowly but surely eating away at it.
'I need something to grab, there isn't any concrete left however. I have the ice that Shoko has produced for me but it is useless in this situation.' Yanagi thought as the ice was being melted. She sighed, "I'm done for.."
Shoko melted through the ice and got ready to make a big attack only to see the ghostly looking girl raising a hand to the sky, "I concede, I cannot continue this fight." Yanagi said. "You are very strong Todoroki-san, I can see why you were chosen as one of the few recommendation students." Yanagi added.
Shoko was surprised, but she was also pleased. She couldn't control her fire so she didn't want to accidentally hurt Yanagi, and the girl's compliments were also nice. "Thank you Yanagi-san, you were very strong as well, if the arena was different I'm sure it would've been a closer match." She said with a bow. "You were an amazing opponent."
The two students returned to their side.
"Aw come on! It's 1:1 now! Come on Yanagi we gotta beat those 1-A powers!" Tetsutetsu yelled next to Itsuka as Yanagi returned.
"My apologies, Todoroki-san was too strong." She said and Tetsutetsu grunted.
"Calm down Tetsu, now mind doing the pre battle announcement for me?" She asked as she stepped up to fight Izuku.
"Eri-chan, can you stay with Shoko for me?" Izuku asked.
Eri glanced at Shoko as the girl returned to the side of the gym. "Y-Yes, I can stay with Miss Shoko." Eri said quietly as Shoko stood by her side.
"Alright." Izuku turned around, preparing for the fight.
"Um-!" Eri started and Izuku turned back. He tilted his head as she caught her tongue, "G-Good luck!" She said and Izuku smiled back to her.
"Thanks!" Izuku turned back and made his way to his own side of the gym, facing off against the Rep of 1-B.
"Good luck Izuku!"
"You too Itsuka!"
They both said and Itsuka began doing some stretches and Izuku focused.
"Breathe deep Midoriya, find your inner peace, let all distractions fall to the wayside. But don't forget who you are…"
"Gotcha Tamada…" Izuku whispered. He closed his eyes, hearing the faint yelling of Tetsutetsu calling for the match to begin, Izuku nodded but didn't do much else.
"1….2….3….1….2….3.." He counted his breaths as he faintly heard rapid footsteps approaching.
"We believe in you Midoriya."
"You're getting a little cocky closing your eyes like that Izuku!" She yelled as she got close into his personal space, a fist pulled back ready to strike, the fist enlarging. "I'm not going to hold back!" The cheered and threw her fist forward-
Only to hit air.
She looked down, Izuku had ducked, fast- too fast- she didn't even see it. Just the blur of him moving.
He looked different too, his hair was white and when he gazed up to her she saw emotionless blue eyes.
This- This wasn't Izuku, it wasn't the Izuku she knew.
"I won't hold back either, I'll show you how grateful I am by giving this my all." He declared in a serious but emotionless voice as he striked Itsuka in the stomach, making her skid back.
Itsuka stood but jumped away when Izuku was upon her again, the ground beneath her a crater now. "Fast…." She muttered.
Meanwhile Izuku was looking over his limbs, he was fast, really fast. He couldn't see where he was going, he needed to counteract that later but now was just a test drive of his new power! "Itsuka-" He breathed deep and let out a sigh, opening his eyes to allow her to peer into his sapphires. "-Come on!"
He said with seriousness as he jumped towards her, minding his speed and purposefully making himself slow.
"Alright!" Itsuka yelled and she enlarged her fist, blocking a jump Izuku sent her way.
He wasn't using One For All, it took too much concentration and he knew he couldn't do it on top of his new element.
Even so, Itsuka grunted at the amount of force in the punch, his new speed adding to his normal strength making it a hard punch.
Izuku crashed a foot down, a pillar of rock jutting out of the ground, Itsuka dodging it by rolling to the side and then jumping back when Izuku sent another punch her way.
This wasn't the same Izuku, this was the Izuku that fought. Was this how he was doing USJ? When he was fighting for his life? He wasn't showing any emotion, he wasn't wasting any movement, he had her on the back foot.
She dodged another punch and sent her own back, but it was caught in the air, something held it back. She glanced and saw that the wind itself was holding her arm still. She grunted as she enlarged her arm, Izuku backing up and releasing the limb from it's prison.
Itsuka looked at him, "I didn't know you could do that.."
"Neither did I." He said, a ghost of a smile on his lips.
They both jumped forward, entering an exchange of blows, Izuku expertely dodging all of them and grazing Itsuka while landing a few blows, while the redhead's blows didn't land.
Even if he had slowed down, he was still too fast.
Izuku crouched down and swiped her legs out from under her, the girl falling on her back. When she tried to get up and lifted up her head she felt her hair billow in the wind, staring at Izuku, he had a scythe made of wind in his hands.
"Surrender?"
"Y-Yeah, I'll do that."
Izuku nodded as the scythe dispersed and offered her a hand, Itsuka graciously took it and stood with the now white haired boy's help.
They both heard pattering before being assaulted by Eiko.
"T-THAT WAS SO MANLY! SHE GOT ALL UP IN YOUR SPACE AND YOU DODGED REALLY COOL THEN PUSHED HER BACK AND THE REST WAS AWESOME!"
"When did you get back?" Izuku asked.
"Oh ! Right before the match started, and don't worry about Kaminari, he's with Recovery Girl!" She said and Izuku nodded. "So white hair again! It's so weird but so coo-"
"Excuse me Kirishima, could you move over for a second." The redhead turned around to Shoko's voice and nodded.
"Yeah, sure."
With Eiko out of the way, Izuku could see Eri and Shoko, the older girl pushing the younger one forward. "Go on, tell him what you told me." Shoko said with a smile.
Eri looked up from the ground, her ruby eyes shining with joy. "Um! Y-You're hair looks nice!" She said and Izuku had to stifle a giggle.
The hair faded with the action and the girl seemed to sag a bit in response. Izuku noticed as he grabbed at his bangs, seeing they were green. "S-Sorry Eri-chan, I can't keep it up for long, but I'm glad you like it. Also, your hair looks very nice too, I'm sure Momo would love to style it for you." Eri nodded and some joy returned to her eyes.
"O-Ok!"
"ALRIGHT MY TURN!" The little girl flinched at the yell as Tetsutetsu ran over to them! "Let's do this!"
Izuku kneeled in front of Eri and picked her up, "No need to be scared Eri-chan, it's just some noise, now wanna watch?"
Eri nodded and they lined up against the wall of the gym as Eiko and Tetsutetsu stared each other down.
Itsuka resumed her role as the, basically, referee of the match, holding her hand high, "Alright! The match will end when either opponent concedes or is unable to battle! Do you both understand?!"
"YUP!"
"TOTALLY!"
"Ok! Begin!" Her hand shot down and the two activated their quirks, Eiko's skin hardening and Tetsutetsu's skin became shiny like silver.
"If even I can't make this 3:1, I'll at least make it a tie!" Tetsutetsu yelled as he approached the other, fist raised high.
"Don't think I'm just going to give you this win! I'm going to give it my all too!" Eiko yelled as she ran, her own right raised as well.
They ran closer, they're war cries getting louder and louder until they finally made contact.
10 minutes later.. the match ended in a draw.
Turns out their quirks were very similar in terms of limits and they both passed out around the same time, meaning there was no winner.
"That was anticlimactic." Yanagi muttered as she used her quirk to pick up Tetsutetsu.
"Indeed it was." Shiozaki sighed as Itsuka returned her bible. She held it close afterwards.
"Are you going to need help with her?" Itsuka asked as they walked towards the unconscious Eiko. Izuku shook his head though.
"Don't worry, I got her, the worst that can happen is Kacchan getting mad at me."
"Kacchan? You mean Bakugo-san, right Izuku?" Shoko asked from the side, holding Eri's hand as they walked.
"Yup!"
Shoko nodded, "Yes, I can see why. There bond seems much closer than just friends, or that's what Ashido has told me anyway."
"Well, I feel like Mina-chan says that about a lot of people." Izuku said as he picked up Eiko. "Anyways, thanks for this Itsuka, it was really helpful and fun too. I got to test out some new power too, so that was great." Izuku said with a gracious smile.
Itsuka smiled herself. "It's no problem, really, but you helped me too. Maybe Tetsutetsu will be less crazy about 1-A like Monoma now and Ibara needs to start training more, and I'm going to talk to her about getting out of hand when someone says something about god, and tell Kaminari I'm sorry."
Izuku saluted with his free hand, "Will do!"
Itsuka giggled, "Alright, now get out of here, and good luck in the Sports Festival, you're gonna need it."
"Yeah yeah… come on Shoko, Eri-chan, let's go!" Izuku said and the group of three, four if you count the unconscious Eiko, made their way back towards the dorms, there was still plenty of time to enjoy the rest of today.
'Today- Today was a good day.'
END
OK CHAPTER 19, DONE
Honestly, I had tons of fun doing this one, it did take a while though so I'm sorry about that.
Anyways, I was wondering if anyone had a problem with me essentially turning Kaminari into a speedster, it won't be anywhere near like DC with the Flash but it was a random thought that I had while writing this.
Anyhow, other fics are coming along alright, none have reached five chapters because I'm so lazy and can't find time to write, but for now I think they're pretty good with what I've written. Of course nothing gets released until 10 chapters have been made so yeah.
I don't think there's any other news, so as always.
Jay out!