Chapter 4!

A double chapter update for Tiger's Hunt. The update for The First Steps Upwards is seriously kicking my ass. It's so long I swear but I think it's gonna be really great when I finally get it out there cause there will be a lot of content in it. Of course like I mentioned I'm working on multiple things and there might be more updates for this fic as when I was first starting it I did a lot of writing all over for it so I have partial parts for different chapters.

User/Reviewer yomunot: Thanks as always for the reviews! There's a little more action in this chapter but a lot of POV switching for thoughts and whatnot. Yeah Shinsou didn't have a chance at all and I'll be able to get more into Itsuka and Izumi's relationship soon enough.

To everyone who faved, followed, or reviewed thank you so much!

Enjoy, more notes at the end!

Chapter 4: Casualty

*All Might POV*

He was watching just one student.

How could he not? After all she was quirkless, quirkless like he had been but she was full of life and energy as if the fact didn't matter a single bit. The hero wasn't sure how she would do but realistically he didn't expect that she would go very far with so many impressive students competing for the single top spot. It would be disheartening for her but there were barriers and limitations that she was going to run into. Toshinori tried to divide his attention amongst the students, particularly the hero course ones, but over and over Midoriya Izumi muscled her way in.

The greenette had managed through the obstacle course within the top 5 and even was able to qualify for the third event thanks to the help of her teammates during the cavalry battle but now it was up to her singular abilities against quirked students. The greenette entered onto the arena stage and just from her introduction the stadium became uncomfortably silent as her quirkless status was awkwardly stated by the Voice Hero, the man having been swept up in the atmosphere and not re-reading her file before announcing her.

The greenette was just checking her gloves absentmindedly while murmurs picked back up through the crowds and Toshinori gripped his suit in discomfort. Young Bakugo would be her opponent and the glare he was directing at Midoriya was one that the blonde hero was familiar with and still remembered to this day. He swung his gaze over to Midoriya and nearly coughed up some blood at her own expression.

She was giving Bakugo the exact same look of absolute disgust.

-break-

*Gang Orca POV*

"She's a little tiger isn't she?" the whale man heard a voice say while coming up from behind him.

"Didn't think you'd be interested," he stated, giving a side eye to the white haired woman and then looking back to the TV.

"Wasn't until I saw that one," Miruko explained, pointing at the green haired girl who had taken up a fighting stance.

"She's in for a tough match," Gang Orca reasoned but the rabbit woman laughed from beside him and shook her head.

"Nah, she might end up killing the other kid," she suddenly revealed and the whale hero turned his attention back to her questioningly.

"How can you be so sure?" he wondered and Miruko shrugged nonchalantly.

"Just my instincts," the heroine replied and directed at the screen again, letting him know that the two students were about to get started.

"That it or did you get a read on her somehow?" the orca man pressed, curious on exactly what about Midoriya caught Miruko's attention.

The rabbit woman got thoughtful for a moment and the two watched the beginning of the match unfold silently. The explosive blonde had propelled himself at the quirkless student, his right brought back and sparking, and the greenette mirrored him as he neared her. The whale hero noted that Midoriya's swing was early but he heard Miruko chuckle, clearly catching the action as well. Their rights crossed but Midoriya who swung earlier hooked the crooks of their elbows and used her left hand to hit the back of Bakugo's palm causing his arm to bend back and his explosion to go off in his own face.

Miruko laughed openly at what the green haired girl had done, "She's a pretty obvious kid in my opinion," the rabbit hero answering his question from a moment ago, "she doesn't have someone she acknowledges as better than her," the heroine told him and Gang Orca perked an eye.

"By far people wouldn't say she's the strongest of the students," he reminded her as he watched Midoriya make use of her opening to skewer the stunned blonde with an overhand right that sent him tumbling to the ground.

"Sure, but I mean acknowledges as in respects," she explained further, "the kid clearly knows what others have over her but that leads to the next thing."

The two took another bout of silence while they watched the greenette nearly avoid or push through Bakugo's explosions, her expressions not of someone being pressured or hurt, and Bakugo who was in the same situation instead had a troubled look on his face. Midoriya crushed her left fist into the blonde's guts, his face contorting in pain, but Bakugo threw both his hands in front of him and used his quirk to create some space between them.

The rabbit woman beside him hummed, their conversation continuing, "Even if she did have someone she acknowledged she still wouldn't be able to accept that someone was stronger than her," Miruko realized and the whale man was surprised how much she was able to theorize about the greenette, "it means she has the drive to continue getting better." The rabbit heroine's expression got a bit more serious as she focused in, "In that sense she has almost limitless potential since she's chasing clouds."

"Gonna surprise everyone and take her?" Gang Orca had to ask considering how invested the white haired woman seemed to be in the greenette.

"Not this time around," Miruko shook her head, a sigh perhaps unconsciously leaving her lips, "plus, she's not in the hero course right now," she reminded but the whale hero caught her words.

"So next time then?" he suggested and she hummed again.

"Maybe, it'll be fun for sure," Miruko grinned happily, clearly interested and excited about the idea.

"Not as a sidekick though," he cleared up to which she again shook her head in the negative.

"Nope," she affirmed, "I just wanna see," the white haired woman stated vaguely.

The whale hero again was left curious, "What exactly?"

"Give her a little care and a bit of a push," Miruko looked forward thoughtfully, imagining some kind of future, "and then let her loose."

"You want to try taming her?" he asked in disbelief but Miruko burst out in laughter before regaining herself.

"Tame that?" the rabbit woman asked incredulously and pointed back at a wildly furious Midoriya, "I'd only get hurt."

-break-

*Izumi POV*

He didn't like her and she didn't like him either.

The blonde hated her for a number of reasons and Izumi knew that her being quirkless was part of it but he was really starting to piss her off with all that glaring. Apparently he didn't get enough of her punches and after he used his explosions to make some space between them Izumi spit out a little bit of blood and pointed a glove at him.

"How bout ya use those stupid little firecrackers ya call a quirk ta go play at a summer festival? I get more fun watchin' sparklers than yer shitty explosions," she growled and the blonde bristled at her words and sparked his hands.

"I'll kill you, you damn quirkless fuck," he yelled out and dove back in despite not having shaken off his previous damage.

"Hotheaded bastard," Izumi whispered under her breath, "I can't even say tha two of us are completely different."

Izumi moved through his barrage and put another right squarely into his face, knocking him back again and she followed up with a left straight that put him on his back but he tumbled over to his feet.

"I'll show you the fucking difference between us!" Bakugo howled in anger from his crouched position and he used his quirk to get completely out of Izumi's range.

"Tha difference between us is I'll be tha one winnin'," the greenette sneered back, "hate me all ya want."

Bakugo was planning some kind of big attack and Izumi grinned to herself eagerly. Good, that was the kind of shit that she had wanted. He was coming right at her with his best attack right? Well then, she'd give him something to think about. Her opponent had set himself airborne and Izumi was ready to see what kind of exchange he was going to give her but he apparently had some last words for her.

"Damn, waste of space!" the blonde yelled and Izumi froze in place, clenching her fists so hard she thought she'd cut her palms through the gloves.

She was going to take his fucking head off.

-break-

*Eraserhead POV*

Shouta could only watch the fight unfold.

While his student had backed up to prepare his attack the greenette was just spinning her right arm in small circles as she waited. She was far from calm, Midoriya was just moving her body because she'd explode if she didn't, and the look on her face was far more murderous than any look Bakugo, or even some villains, could make.

Many people had been hearing Bakugo, or others in the crowd, making rude comments about Midoriya's quirklessness and the only response the greenette had for them was understandably anger. However, after his blonde student's latest word, Midoriya appeared to have snapped and a worrying feeling wormed its way into the erasing hero's stomach. Bakugo was undoubtedly trying to end the match with his best attack which was dangerous in its own right but Shouta was more concerned about Midoriya. Although, not what would happen to her but instead what she was going to do in response. For as far away as she was from him, the erasing man could feel her rage just from looking at her and Midoriya took up her fight stance while clenching her right so hard that it was shaking.

Bakugo had launched himself at the greenette, the blonde using his explosions to spin and propel himself forward and Midoriya's eyes narrowed dangerously as she readied for a right punch. The unsettling sensation that Shouta was experiencing only grew as the two drew closer and he leapt to his feet unexpectedly when he realized what the conclusion of the exchange would be. Someone had to stop her, there was no way that Bakugo wasn't going to be seriously injured from this. Midoriya's punch wasn't going to miss and Shouta just stared wide eyed into the field. His quirk that had caused others to panic so much was useless here.

Because there was no quirk to erase.

Midoriya started her swing and when it felt like all options were off the table, a wall was drawn between them.

-break-

*Midnight POV*

Nemuri still was trying to process everything.

The heroine was just staring at the scene of the collision where Bakugo was knocked completely unconscious. Nemuri looked at the cement barrier and noted that Midoriya's punch had gone straight through and still hit the blonde hero student regardless and the woman shuddered at the thought of if that wall hadn't been there. However, the greenette in question had hopped off the stage just after her win and had run straight over to Cementoss.

"Tha fuck was that?!" Midoriya raged at the hero while holding him by his collar, her head bleeding and burns littering her left side.

The off guard hero had his hands up placatingly, "things were getting far too dangerous for us to not stop-"

"Stoppin' tha match? More like screwin' me over!" the greenette shouted as she pushed him back into his cement seat, "How tha fuck am I supposed ta take it when I'm tha one that got tha short end?!"

Nemuri could at least understand the girl's outrage. Once they all realized how dangerous the situation was Cementoss used his quirk to create a wall between the two but it had ended up only being in front of Midoriya's strike. From the greenette's point of view she had been the one who was one-sidedly held back when both students should have been stopped. In fact, she might have dodged the explosion if she hadn't been trapped the way she had been.

"I'm supposed ta just roll over an take it?!" Midoriya questioned furiously, her outburst still not soothed, "I'm fucked over cause I was gonna punch some kid who had a quirk is that it?!" she demanded and neither of the hero's could answer since they knew what the people in the stands had been saying about Midoriya.

The greenette glared at the hero in front of her, waiting for any kind of answer, and then over to Nemuri who just shook her head minutely for the student. The heroine didn't like the way she could tell that Midoriya's spirit sank but it was quickly replaced with another wave of burning anger as she stepped away and went for the hallway exit.

"Tha fuck did I expect?" Midoriya muttered to herself as she left.

Nemuri couldn't even announce the girl as the winner before she was gone.

-break-

*Recovery Girl POV*

Three, two, one.

"Hey granny!" Midoriya announced loudly as she burst into the room, the old woman expecting her, "fix this up would ya?" she asked, more like demanded, and the youthful heroine decided to match her current attitude instead of the one she had in the field.

"Broke it didn't you?" Chiyo inquired, waving the girl over so she could see the damage first, "you're making my job difficult in all regards."

"Ya think I liked punchin' through cement that came outta nowhere?" Midoriya huffed, not pleased at all with what had happened.

"I'm saying that you were going overboard," the old heroine tried drilling the lesson into the student's head but a cheeky grin answered her instead.

"Should I use my words first?" the greenette joked and Chiyo raised her cane.

"Should I give you another injury to complain about?" she asked back seriously and the greenette waved her uninjured hand.

"This is me an they're gonna have ta deal with it same way I do," Midoriya stated like it was a simple thing, "Plus, I was about ta get exploded so tha hell did people want me ta do, stand around an admire it?" she griped and the old woman sighed.

"Oh please, you saw that attack from miles away, the most it was going to do was heat up your back," she called out and Midoriya had a smug look on her face but relented from any more smart comments.

"Maybe, but I admit that despite bein' a bastard that he's a tough bastard so course I'd aim ta nail him," the greenette told the old heroine who was fixing her up.

"You sure you weren't just too angry to think?" Chiyo intercepted out of nowhere and the greenette threw a side eye to avoid the heroine's eyes.

"He called me a waste of space," Midoriya stated quietly and brought a testing look back to the heroine, "ya askin' me ta brush that off?"

Chiyo knew that the greenette was having probably one of the worst days she'd had in a while. People all over the country now knew her face and the fact that she was quirkless and even if Midoriya had planned ahead for that, she was still an angry kid who had a stadium's worth of people making upsetting remarks about her. Asking her to not be affected by that was just unreasonable.

"Don't ask this old woman silly questions," Chiyo spoke firmly, "just do me a favor and at least finish it quickly this time," the heroine tried and Midoriya gave a bit of a tired look.

"I'll try granny."

-break-

*Itsuka POV*

Itsuka stared down into the field as she remembered Midoriya's words.

"They're flinging their quirks around tellin' me ta stay away. No way someone with a broken spirit can ever take me down."

The look on Todoroki's face said it all and in the end, it was turning out just how Midoriya said it would. The greenette had clawed her way to the finals and to her it must have seemed like everyone was made of glass, and after seeing the greenette in action for a while now, Itsuka just found so many of the students...

Disappointing.

In terms of pure physical capability outside of quirk use then Midoriya was clearly the best of the 1st years and as annoying as it must have been for the greenette her quirkless status also helped her a little. The other students didn't think much of her and they paid, were paying, for it. After the match with Bakugo they should have known that Midoriya wasn't someone to take lightly but they continued focusing on her lack of quirk.

Todoroki's initial attack had been good but Midoriya still got around it and since he didn't use his left side the greenette took advantage of that and pressed him. The white and red haired boy was getting slaughtered down there and when Midoriya pushed him nearly to the edge he made his last mistake. Not wanting to being knocked out of bounds, Todoroki made an ice wall behind himself but it turned into the greenette's perfect situation.

One where her opponent could no longer run from her.

Todoroki's head was continually battered from both sides as Midoriya's punches landed and smashed him against his own ice. He managed to get his arms between the greenette's punches and his head but Itsuka knew just how painful it was to take those hits. He was pummeled over his guard but the 1-A student managed to use his ice one last time and trapped Midoriya's left arm as it was coming around for a hook but the raging greenette simply took her right and threw an overhand that went right around Todoroki's guard.

His head shot out from behind his arms and the right side of it smashed against the ice he just created and Midoriya came around with another crushing right. Perhaps it was in a last ditch effort or maybe his body was reacting instinctively to the danger but the dual quirk user's left side lit up in flames. The crowd was surprised but Itsuka knew that it didn't mean anything because Midoriya's heavy right came regardless and the boy crumpled in front of her.

Itsuka could see Midoriya coming off her fighting high and the greenette used her free hand to break the ice that was trapping her left arm before trudging away. It was clear to the orange haired girl that Midoriya didn't feel the need to gloat in this situation. The greenette pulled her hair out of her ponytail and exited the field without waiting for any other announcement and Itsuka got up to go find her. Midoriya just won the Sport's Festival and didn't have a single word on it.

Talk about a bad day.

-break-

*Nezu POV*

Normally, Nezu would have waited for such a meeting but the topic demanded quick action.

It was slightly after the Sport's Festival ended but he'd gathered the staff to have a short but undoubtedly controversial meeting. He could tell by the looks on many of their faces that they knew what this was about and were not looking forward to this discussion.

"Much like the incident at the USJ, the school, and a few specific teachers, have garnered...some criticism," the principal began, gauging the reactions once again.

He saw those in question shifting uncomfortably, some more than others, but undoubtedly the feeling was shared among those it was directed to.

"Even if most of the world's population has quirks, that isn't to say that many of them do not have ones that were deemed worthless or unsightly and faced a somewhat similar discrimination as young Midoriya," he continued on as he placed his paws on the desk before him, "Midoriya's win, despite it being for her own reasons, has sparked a very large but unavoidable conversation that I'm sure we are all familiar with."

Nezu saw that they all understood what he was talking about and sighed as he moved onto his next point.

"I understand that you are all human and are prone to mistakes but you are also pro heroes and educators," he reminded them sternly, "to have grown so flustered that you panicked from a student competing in the only way she possibly could was a very disappointing error."

The principal knew that the situation wasn't so simple but the way it had been handled was poor to say the least and it had only served to exacerbate the larger issues.

"She'll move up to the hero course, 1-B," Nezu informed, some staff members looking concerned or prepared to try and reason with him. "Don't speak," he told them with a raise of a paw, "I've already decided this and discussed personally with Vlad who was all too ready to bring her into his class," he explained, the Blood Hero nodding his head in acknowledgement as others looked at him.

The principal of U.A didn't have anymore to say to the staff but he decided to leave them with a few more words.

"I expect that we'll all leave this meeting on the same page," he asked on the surface but they all understood the meaning behind his last statement.

There was no room for argument.

-break-

*All Might POV*

Toshinori had stumbled upon an almost fight.

A pair of students who were trying to start something with Midoriya scurried away fearfully from the girl as she punched right beside one of their faces, clearly in no mood for such things.

"Are you alright young Midoriya?" the blonde checked quietly, his identity hidden by his civilian form, and the greenette drew her eyes over to him.

"Nothin to it, I handled it didn' I?" the green haired student growled with her gaze aimed at the floor, "shoulda saved that pity fer someone who wanted it," she directed at the blonde while she crossed her arms impatiently.

"You shouldn't respond to situations like that in such a way," Toshinori advised, trying to be reassuring, "you'll get in trouble," he told the greenette.

"Then tell me how I shoulda solved that," Midoriya bit back sarcastically and Toshinori used a hand to pat her shoulder to try and make her less tense.

"You can get help or someone will come along to-" he assured but the whole mood surrounding the greenette changed as her expression grew cold.

Midoriya smacked his hand away.

"Don't ya dare say those fuckin' words ta me," Midoriya snarled, anger and disgust lining her face as she glared up at the man.

Toshinori balked at her reaction, "Young Mi-" he started but was cut off again.

"That shit pisses me off an people who think like that make me even angrier," she told him grimly and her fingers dug into her arms.

Toshinori was at a loss for words by the burning anger that was rolling off the girl and he could almost hear her jaw clenching.

"A hero will help? Why do people need ta be patient for some paid worker ta tell others right from wrong?" she demanded, taking a step forward and the hero unconsciously retreated a step, "I didn't sit on my ass an wait fer someone ta clean up my own life an I never will."

Toshinori couldn't remember the last time he'd seen such fury but the greenette's body shook all over because it couldn't contain all of it. Midoriya burned her eyes into his and the suffocating aura around her wouldn't allow him to speak so the greenette left him with one last thing to think about.

"I was my own damn hero."

Notes and Stuff

I skipped around a lot of the Sport's Festival because while I did want some action it was more revolving around the thoughts of others on Izumi and in turn how Izumi was going to respond to stuff. Hope it was still enjoyable to read though.

I have some content already for the next two or three chapters of this fic so it may continue getting some solo updates in the short term as I'm both really enjoying doing this and its fresh on my mind. I really enjoyed writing the Miruko part as well as the ending talk between Izumi and All Might. I've got a few new stories being worked on but I'm doing well with the writing overall.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed and look forward to more updates from me!