The cameras of the stadiums in U.A. were perhaps some of the most impressive forms of technology there. Closed-circuit, redundancies to prevent one being hacked leading to someone managing to hack the whole system, even defences put into place to stop anyone with a Quirk managing to use that instead of the old-fashioned way of hacking in. It was Nedzu's work at his finest, and no one in their right mind would actually try to hack in.

This didn't stop someone from being able to access the regular cameras that were focused on the stage though. The phones, the video cameras, all of them were so much more vulnerable to be accessed. And so long as he just sat back and watched the show, he could see it from so many angles. Black haired with silvery-grey eyes covered by sunglasses to hide the circuit lines in his sclera, right now he was just another one of the crowd, taking it easy while waiting for the next round.

He felt the buzz of his phone in his pocket and smirked as he flicked down a microphone attached to the glasses, the emblem of a silver skull on it. "G, what's the need to call? Nothing's happening right now!" The young man remarked.

"… I detest the day you ever found those western videos online." The more prim and respectful voice on the other end of the line remarked. "Nonetheless, this line is-"

"G, it's ME." The young man remarked. "When isn't it fine to call?"

"… you are insufferably smug Ninjutsu." The prim and proper voice of Genjutsu remarked.

"Oi oi, you know you can call me by name while I'm out and about! It's Ginju, Giiiinju." The uncostumed student of Lady Papillion remarked.

Tsugai Ginju, aka Ninjutsu. Quirk: Technopathy. This Quirk allows one to interact with technology within a certain range depending on the user's skill, accessing it remotely and even using it as eyes, ears, or to look up information. In the hands of someone with fewer morals, this makes any phone into a bomb in someone's pocket!

"… regardless, that last match… it was impressive." Genjutsu remarked.

Ginju snorted. "Impressive undersells it, man. That's one of the big contenders of his year he went up against. No wonder the old lady likes him." Ginju commented.

"You will-"

"Yeah yeah, get that rod out your ass already." The technologically capable ninja commented. "He seems like he'd be fun to fight at least – did you hear some of that trash talk?"

"For once something we can agree on – although I personally felt he didn't give as good as was given to him." Genjutsu snidely admitted. "I'd ask why we don't recruit that boy with the explosive temper… but he'd be worse at the stealth than you are."

"That's hurtful man, right here." Ginju groaned with feigned sadness, placing a hand over his heart. "Still… Andros. He's gonna be fun." At that, he simply smirked.

I groaned slowly. Ugh… my everything feels sore… what happened? Last I remember I was fighting Bakugou in the arena and…

…Oh. I slowly opened my eyes. Pink ceiling. Pink walls. And by the feeling of it, I'm lying in a hospital-style bed. I can already feel my eyes start to sting before I slowly tilt my head left and right. Izuku is standing up and stretching, flexing his fingers with a slight bit of discomfort, but they're bandaged. Todoroki is sitting on his bed and looking at both of his hands. Bakugou is awake – and here, did we draw? – and being angrily talked at by Recovery Girl, leading me to wince as memories of… what I'd pulled in the fight came back to me. As if alerted to me being awake by that, Recovery girl slowly turned towards me, and I swear I could see a dark aura billowing around her.

"You. Absolutely. Foolish. Child." Recovery Girl growled out, looking like a fierce demon that had crawled out of hell with absolute fury burning in her eyes... Before the vision faded and she was back to being just a grumpy old nurse... "I thought that young Midoriya was the one I'd be giving the biggest talking to today for pushing his opponent on and then leaping at him while he prepares an attack, but apparently you wanted to one-up him in that too!" I winced and attempted to look around for support – only to be cut off by an oversized syringe being jabbed to my right, extremely close to my head. "Listen when I'm speaking! You could have used your legs to leap over that explosion, you could have done any other method that would've avoided the attack and you wouldn't be getting this, but you decided to stand right in the path of it!"

I swallowed and timidly tried to push back. "'ny other ways would've risked blowing me out of bounds," I remarked quietly.

"And it would have been safer for you! Even if your body can take a lot of punishment like that, you aren't invincible – you fractured a couple of ribs taking the sheer force of that hit. Your little counterbalance trick might have kept you there, but you strained your body." Recovery Girl pointed out venomously.

"Counterbalance?" Bakugou asked. "Oi, what's-"

"It was easier to see on the playback," Todoroki commented, ignoring Bakugou's outrage at being interrupted. "Nebulous used the pipes that form and point downward when he transforms to push back against your blast."

Izuku nodded. "I suppose it meant that while his body was injured… he could have torn those cords of his otherwise." Izuku added.

Recovery Girl let out a sigh. "A minor blessing given what else he put his body through." She countered. "To put it simply, any tiredness you're feeling right now is because I've healed you – not all the way, but you should only need a few days taking it easy to fully recover. Midoriya is the same… and I'm not approving either of you for future rounds. Light. Activity. Only."

I blinked at the comment. "Uh… I get that for Izuku-kun but… I passed out before I could finish mine" I noted, ignoring how said demonic aura seemed to reappear at that. "Didn't I lose?"

Recovery Girl snorted. "You kids, so insistent on if you won or lost being important." She bemoaned, grabbing the syringe and using it as a walking stick once more. "For your information, the two of you drew – Bakugou got hit by your punch and couldn't fight on. If he and Todoroki wish, they can continue with this foolish tournament… despite my desire otherwise." With an offended huff, she walked back over to her work desk.

I blinked and looked over at Bakugou at that. "I… am going to admit, I didn't think I'd push you that hard," I admitted.

"And I didn't think I'd have to pull a Deku on you to get your head out of your ass." Bakugou shot back… before he looked at me. "You didn't hold back after that."

Wha-oh. Ooooh. "Ah… about that…" I said nervously, rubbing the back of my neck idly.

"Save it." Bakugou scoffed. "You said what you said. Don't try to take it back now. Besides… you're at least right about my middle school fucking up." He shot a look towards Izuku… but Izuku didn't flinch, he just had a sad expression on his face. Bakugou let out another scoffing sound. "… the old lady said my injuries weren't as bad as yours."

"Barely." Recovery Girl interrupted. "Frankly if I had my way, you'd all be resting for the rest of the day. And if you-" She thrust the oversized syringe in Bakugou's direction, turning around slightly in the process. "Push yourself hard enough that you injure yourself again, you'll be healing those injuries at home over Golden Week. I already gave your mother a call to make sure that was fine."

"Damned old hag…" Bakugou grumbled, clearly restraining himself to not piss off Recovery Girl. "Fine. I can go without that move."

Recovery Girl moved her chair slightly to give Todoroki a look. "And what about you Todoroki? You're fine to continue." She questioned.

Todoroki… looked down at his hands, and then back up, from Bakugou to me, to Izuku. "I… didn't win. Midoriya knocked me out of the arena fair and square. It doesn't matter if he was knocked out too-."

"Like hell it doesn't!" Bakugou roared out, roughly forcing himself off the bed and to his feet, stomping over to Todoroki. Both Izuku and I scrambled at our beds to try to interrupt… but Recovery Girl simply held up a hand at us. Bakugou grabbed Todoroki by the collar and pulled him close. "So, what if the two of you came out with a draw? That's what happened with me and Gas Suit! The only thing is, Gas Suit can't fight anymore because he pushed himself too hard, and Deku did the same thing! If a hero can still fight, they haven't lost yet!"

Todoroki looked down at that. "Midoriya deserves to go through more than me. He was giving it his all from the start." Todoroki responded.

"Half-and-half bastard…" Bakugou growled out.

"Ah, but you had a reason Todoroki!" I insisted. "Midoriya pushed himself because he could, he managed to convince you to go all out."

Izuku nodded. "If you'd gone like that from the start… I don't think we'd both be here at the moment." Izuku confessed. "Y-you should go on; you deserve that much."

Bakugou let out another scoffing sound. Given his lack of shouting at Izuku right now, I take that as an absolute win. "Point is, half-and-half, we're still able to go on! Are you going to tell me you're going to just stay here because you don't feel right? That's not what a hero DOES. A hero does everything they can to win." At that, he let go of Todoroki's shirt… and walked out of the office.

Todoroki stared down at his hands a bit more… before looking up at me. "Did I-"

"You won in the story. Barely." I interrupted. "But don't decide it based on that. Midoriya-kun thinks you should go on, I personally think that if you can fight without straining yourself, you should, and Bakugou made his point."

Seeing that Todoroki was still looking at his hands, Izuku sighed "Todoroki-kun… you should go on. I passed out, just like Andros. And if you don't do it now… you might regret it later." Izuku insisted.

Todoroki blinked at that… and then nodded, slowly walking over to the door. "Both of you… thanks." Todoroki said, before leaving. He has the first match of the next round, doesn't he? Damn.

"Despite what I'd like… the two of you are clear to leave too." Recovery Girl noted. "As stupid as your decision to face an explosion head-on was Nebulos, it was still outdone by Midoriya's. This stupid, reckless event…"I winced, and with a groan, forced myself out of the bed, my body still protesting even as Izuku pulls himself to his feet. The two of us looked at each other and nodded, making it out the door of the office before Recovery Girl could go into a full-on rant. Even so, I couldn't help but let out a sigh.

"How do you think the others are taking it?" I asked… only to double-take as Izuku pulled his phone out. Now, this might seem really weird, but here's the thing – Class 1-A already had a chatroom going. I never really remembered it from the story, but once I saw it could tag people's locations, I realized what it was for – it was the same app that Izuku had used before fighting Stain.

"Kaminari-kun has already made a picture about us." Izuku remarked the word 'meme' has fallen out of use in the years apparently. Kaminari embodied the word though, being an absolute meme lord and quickly derailing what Iida had been convinced would be a homework and study chatroom. "But not much else. I suppose when everyone's in the stands…"

I nodded… and grinned as we passed by a certain change room. I held up one finger – no bandages for me thankfully, although given what Recovery Girl said I won't be shocked if I have bruises – and dashed inside, taking the two things I hadn't brought with me into the fight… my phone and the figuart. "You'd think with the lockers I'd have stored my good luck figuart in here earlier," I remarked.

Izuku smiled a little at that. Unlike me, his arms and legs had bandages on them, although it was clear he hadn't damaged his body too badly as most of the bandages were focused on one arm. "I still don't know why you brought it with," Izuku admitted with a laugh.

"Good luck, I just said!" I protested… before sighing. "So… how are you feeling? About… the fight."

Izuku looked down and flexed the fist of the less bandaged arm with a slight wince. "I'm… sore. Full Cowling… I don't think I have a full grip on it yet. I think I kept pushing a little harder than I intended to." Izuku noted.

I nodded at that. "Makes sense… usually, you wouldn't have figured this technique out yet." I said. "But… you pulled it off well. I can see a lot of changes coming up in the next few weeks."

"I thought you said your knowledge was-"

"I didn't mean it literally!"

"Yo!" Kirishima called out as the two of us walked back into the stands. "Good fighting you two!"

"They just announced how you guys can't continue due to injuries." Tsuyu elaborated. "You don't look that hurt though Nebulos-kun."

I groaned. "Just because I don't have any bandages doesn't mean I'm not hurting Tsu," I remarked with a slight slump. "Never going to face an explosion head-on like that again."

"Why not?" I turned my head at that… of course, Tetsutetsu, Neito, and Kendo have poked their heads over the side of the barrier. "That was really manly! The way you saw the blast coming, knew you couldn't dodge in time and just strapped yourself in and TOOK it!" Tetsutetsu noted, grinning like a loon.

"Can't disagree with that thought, and the cross counter turning into a fainting feint!" Kirishima exclaimed. It wasn't as much wordplay in Japanese, but I couldn't resist.

Kendo sighed. "The fact that he fainted should say it all. Really, I think Midoriya's fight with Todoroki showed more strategy, even when holding back." Kendo countered.

"Hate to say it, but she's got a point." Sato agreed. "Andros and Bakugou's fight was more Bakugou having the upper hand by accident, then being surprised by what Andros was using, then a big finish. Not exactly much strategy."

"I dunno…" Mineta, of all people, remarked. "There were clearly attempts at it, but Bakugou was too fast to do anything but react. Midoriya had time to plan against Todoroki." At that, we all turned our heads to gawk at him. "What? I can focus on fights without the girls in them!"

At that, the talking devolved into several more contained separate discussions – Iida and Mina were missing, I noticed. Already off to the changing rooms? Makes sense, any fight that Iida is in is going to be fast.

"You ok?" Neito, the only one of 1-B still on the walls, asked.

I let out a sigh… and smiled. "For now. But… I think I'll need to get over that mental block. I've made progress… but it's not all done." I answered.

Neito nodded. "You know if you need help training it…" He pointed out.

I just smiled and nodded. Course I knew.

Shoto was of two minds. On one hand, he still wanted to show off the control he had with his ice, or maybe – if needed – use his fire. But… at the same time Recovery Girl had been quite strict. He wasn't meant to push himself.

"START!"

Which meant he had to end this quickly! Shoto swung his right arm up, and a cascade of ice rocketed forward, freezing everything in its path. While it wasn't the massive wall of ice he could push out at the worst, he wasn't going to hold too much back either, focusing the ice to first surround Iida, stopping him from getting a path to escape, while also freezing the ground underneath him to destabilize his footing. And in the next few seconds, the entire area would freeze into a massive iceberg.

"Sorry. I can't push myself too hard, so I had to end this quickly." Shoto remarked… before his eyes widened as he saw a darker blue glow briefly shine within the ice, another wall of ice forming up in front of him as the iceberg exploded!

"-BURST!" Iida cried out as his exhausts fired him out of the block of ice, the pure kinetic force flinging massive chunks of ice at Todoroki's barricade. Iida had clearly remembered that Shoto's ice could cover great areas and prepared his engines before being frozen! "I won't be stopped that easily Todoroki-kun… but as much as I'd like to continue…" At that, Iida's engines sputtered out a black smoke… they were clearly out of commission from him using Recprio Burst. "My engines have stalled out. I will not disrespect this match when my opponent clearly has me outmatched! I… surrender."

Midnight nodded. "Knowing when you can't win is important too." Midnight commented. "Iida Tenya has forfeited the match! Todoroki Shoto advances to the finals!"

Shoto had to appreciate spirit like that, to show that he COULD break out of the technique. If Iida had more time to master, it and stop his engines from stalling out after they were used… Shoto walked forward… and held out a hand. "I didn't think you could use your move like that. If you could use it a second time… I might have lost instead." Shoto admitted over the applause. He didn't have much to offset immense speed. He'd need to work on that.

Anything Iida would have said in return was drowned out by the clapping coming from the audience, especially from the pro heroes.

"Now that's an interesting result." Mt Lady commented, watching from outside the arena. "Kamui, you've worked with Ingenium before, right? How do you think the mini stacks up?"

"You should be paying attention to security, not the match." Kamui Woods chided. "But… yes, I'd expect the same of Ingenium. Knowing when he was beaten though… that boy will make a fine hero someday."

"And given you know that much, whoooo's been slacking?" Mt Lady asked with a smirk. Before recoiling back at the glower Kamui Woods gave her.

Of all things that Katsuki had expected to happen between matches, this hadn't ranked massively high on the list. Oh sure, Aizawa-sensei could have his moments, but usually, he was a lazy layabout who seemed more interested in sleeping than teaching. So, the fact he'd used the first break he could between matches to actually talk to Katsuki was a bit of a shock.

"Alright, we don't have much time, so listen closely," Aizawa remarked, his voice stern and his gaze intense. Katsuki started to speak, but the gaze turning red was enough for even the loudmouthed teenager to pause. "For once you've got the brains to keep your mouth shut. Good. I'm going to put this bluntly – we had no idea about your past record of bullying until now. Midoriya never mentioned it. Your middle school made no mention of it. And now it's been told to us and everyone watching the Sports Festival."

"Because of Gas-" Katsuki started

"I'm not done." Eraserhead interrupted. "I can't speak for the faculty, but had I known you had that past, you'd have found it far harder to pass my exam. A hero is based on character, not just strength. As it is, you won't get away with any of that here. The first moment I catch wind you're bullying someone…"

Katsuki didn't speak, but not out of fear. More out of careful judgement. Clearly, this had hit a sore spot with his sensei.

Aizawa sighed… and the glow faded. "Also, you're being booked in with sessions with Hound Dog, the guidance counsellor. I'd suggest you take them." Aizawa remarked. "… you have the potential to be a good hero Bakugou. Don't waste it."

As Aizawa left, silence engulfed the room, even as Katsuki gritted his teeth. So much he wanted to say about that, to yell that it was bullshit, to insist he didn't need a counsellor. But as much as he wanted to bellow that… nothing Aizawa-sensei had said was entirely wrong. Nothing about that damned Deku being shown his place-

"I want to win and surpass you, you idiot!"

The sound of crashing. Holes through every floor. A purple, mangled arm.

Damnit! Everything would've been so much simpler if Deku had been… DEKU. When did he get this strong? Was he always this strong? And everything was turning against him when people found out what he did, Gas Suit attacking with so much rage. Was he always wrong? No, no he wasn't! Damnit! This was so annoying!

Bakugou, with a growl, stomped out of the room… with nothing resolved in his mind and an urge to let off some steam.

"START-"

An immense sound of an explosion going off rips through the air, the shockwave slamming into the stands. I watched and my jaw dropped as the smoke cleared… with Mina on the grass.

"… wow, you really must've struck a nerve," Toru remarked idly.

You think? I know I called him out, but this went beyond that! What did I do to piss Bakugou off that much?!

"DAMNIT KATSUKI! At least let your classmate show off a bit, just because you're pissy about not having an actual victory before doesn't mean you need to ruin it!" Mitsuki raged.

Masaru sighed… he just knew this wouldn't be the end of it. "Sweetie, please, you're scaring the staff…"

"And Katsuki's being a petulant brat! I'll be angry if I want to!"

Mina groaned as she slumped into her seat, an icepack resting on her head from where the explosive force of Bakugou's blast had managed to force it to smack into the ground. "Maaaan, what's got Bakugou all pissy?" She grumbled.

"If I was gonna guess, he might still be annoyed about not actually beating Nebulos-kun," Kirishima remarked.

I just shook my head at that. "I'd assume just aggressive fighting from him then but using air pressure like that… isn't super Bakugou in style. He usually gets up close and personal – Uraraka excepted." I pointed out. "Really, it was bad luck that you couldn't just quickly melt footholds in the ground."

For a moment there's silence…. And then Mina puffed out her cheeks. "Dangit…" That one word was confession enough that she hadn't really had time to consider it.

"Maybe you should hold onto that figure of Andros' as a consolation toy," Jiro remarked with a little smirk… and I blushed beet red at that, fully aware at the sly looks that the majority of the rest of the class were giving me… and the way that Mina was looking back and forth at the faces… before giggling. Oh no. Ooooh no.

"Wait, are they saying that was your way of flirting with me Andros?" She asked, and I swear I could see a heart with the kanji for 'Romance' in it. "That's so nerdy. But cute! It's very… you."

"It also explains a LOT in hindsight." Hagakure commented. "I don't care if you saw how things turned out in one-way Andros, you're a bit…"

"Thick. Socially and romantically thick the same way that Kaminari is after using maximum voltage." Jiro deadpanned.

"Oi! Why am I always the comparison!" Kaminari called out.

I just groaned and buried my face into my hands at that remark, even as people started to laugh at that outcry. The worst part is Jiro is ENTIRELY correct on that remark.

Mina giggled again. "Hey, don't be so embarrassed. Just cause it's dorky doesn't mean I don't like it." Mina insisted.

"Wait, so his weakness is… he doesn't know how to talk romantically?" Kaminari questioned.

Tsuyu shook her head. "You don't really know how to talk romantically either Kaminari." She pointed out.

"SECONDED!" Tokage yelled from over the barricade. "You come off a bit too strong!"

Kaminari turned and looked at me, and I gave him a flat look in return. "You've got a date with her, haven't you?" I asked.

"I hadn't realized she has Jiro's sense of humour." Kaminari half-muttered.

I sighed at that, turned back and- PINK! "Sooo, I'm thinking we could hang out sometime during Golden Week? Maybe see if there's anything mooore to this?" Mina suggested. Oh god, she's the romantic of the group. How did I not know that?

"U-uh… sure?" I half asked. Fortunately, the resulting giggles were cut off by the screen lighting back up, and the crowd cheering.

"START!" Present Mic, instead of Midnight, declared.

For a moment there was silence, as Bakugou and Todoroki's eyes met. As a single thought went through their heads.

'I need to end this fast.'

Immediately a torrent of cold and ice billowed out from Todoroki, a wave washing out and only getting bigger. It was so big that most heroes, let alone students, would struggle to get over it without being caught inside it.

Bakugou was not most people. With less than subtle sounds of more powerful explosions going off he flung himself straight up into the air, shooting straight up and over the peak of the would-be iceberg even as it formed beneath him, racing to try and catch up with him. "Half-and-half bastard!" Bakugou yelled out as he swung both of his arms behind him, another pair of powerful blasts sending him racing forward. Both boys knew with that move that this wasn't going to be some long-drawn-out fight. And that both were likely to get an earful from Recovery Girl later about this.

Shoto gritted his teeth as he focused on the words of encouragement he'd been getting today, of his classmate's support, feeling the chill of ice and frost starting to crawl up him… and the memory of that declaration pushing his flames to ignite. He'd already broken that vow, and he wouldn't gain anything from giving anything less than his all. He could feel his hair whipping in the air from the sheer air pressure the clash of hot and cold was giving off. Everyone could see this match. Midoriya, his father… but also his siblings, and his mother! His fire flared anew at the thought of his mother seeing the match and smiling as she had in that all too distant memory, as he brought his left arm forwards

Katsuki was no stranger to earfuls from old hags, and even if it meant a little bit of time off, he could tell that Half-and-half bastard had something up his sleeve. Probably some super move taken from his old man. Tch. First Round Face ends up actually forcing him to use one of his bigger explosions, then Gas Suit ends up fighting him to a goddamn standstill while trying to make them play psychologist with each other. Raccoon Eyes was just a bad matchup, and if she had acted faster, he might not be considering this… but he was. He fired off blast after blast, starting to rotate in the air once more…

My eyes widened even as Kirishima cried out "GET DOWN!" while he hardened his body. I dove down and grabbed onto the nearby seat, as did many others before a deafening roar of sound thundered out and rattled the entire world around us. The sheer shockwave of both blasts hitting one another seemed to hit us a millisecond after, and it was only that Mineta had actually forced his purple grapes stuck to his feet that he stayed in place this time – apparently after mine and Bakugou's match he had chosen "Not to take chances".

I groaned as I shook my head, swearing I could hear a ringing in my ea- ah, no, it's not. The speaker system's blown out from the blast – I doubt they ever expected three blasts in one day – four counting the Uraraka vs Bakugou one. I pulled myself up, looking around and seeing Setsuna's hands float by. Not questioning it. I looked down at the arena… and sighed. The heatwave Todoroki had just let out had melted the entirety of the iceberg he put up, but that's about all I could tell, the field was blanketed in sm-

Even as I think the words a cement wall rises out of the ground, forming the shape of a hand. Cementos swiped his hand down and the cement copy did the same, a tremendous force of wind knocking away the smoke. I could barely hear him say something about "Enough overdramatics" even as the whining stopped – someone had disconnected the speaker system it seemed.

Still, with the smoke now dispersed, we could see that both boys hadn't come out of the duel unaffected. Bakugou laid on the ground, but with a groan forced himself up to one knee, Todoroki stood just at the… no… wait!

Clearly, I hadn't been the only one to spot it as a much faster to react Midnight rushed out and towards the stage, looking closer… and then turned to the announcer's booth, indicating towards Todoroki, and then crossing her arms.

"Apologies Ladies and Gentlemen! That last blast knocked out the speakers, but I make mine SUPER sturdy!" Present Mic called out. "And it's clear from the signal the judge on the ground has just given me that – by just being over the line, Todoroki Shoto is out! The winner is Katsuki Bakugou!"

And yet with the crowd roaring in a cheer… Bakugou didn't look all that pleased. Winning by a technicality… not really your style huh?

… huh, there's something odd. "Hey, where's Iida?" I asked, looking around. The tall glasses-wearing class president was absent. "I thought he'd admonish the two for… I dunno, 'wanton destruction of school property' or something." I remarked.

"Oh, Iida-kun had to take a phone call and then… didn't come back." Uraraka said. "Musta been important."

… important huh? But what wou-

Phone Call. Tournament. Iida. Tensei.

I could feel my face pale, and I could see the rest of the class look at me. I swallowed slowly. "… I forgot something. Something… really important." I croaked out with a hoarse voice.