"Hey, there you are! Been looking all over for ya!" A masculine spoke from behind Midoriya and his eyes widened, whipping around to see his mentor waving at him. "You've been amazing, if a little bit insane so far."
"'A little bit?'" Midoriya questioned with a quirked brow causing the skinny man to scratch the back of his head.
"Ok, you've been really insane at somepoints, but its not that much for your usual brand of reckless abandon." The man admitted and Midoriya groaned. 'That hurts more, coming from him of all people.'
"Nervous?"
The greenette shook his head as he turned to look at the fight he'd be heading into in a moment. "It's just….I've been kind of backed into using Far Reach pretty exclusively by this whole tournament and now i'm about to face someone I don't even know…I know I have One for All but I can tell i'm not ready to try to use it yet. I'm still too weak…"
'Not to mention he's an opponent that can mind control me. Doesn't help there's also the weird guy running about with some magic knife.'
"Hmm….I suppose I understand. If I had to guess, i'd say you can probably only use about three percent or so of One for All's power." The blonde estimated, placing his finger to his chin in thought.
"Wait, only three percent?! Wow.." The greenette let out a sad sigh. "I'm worse than I thought."
"Oh it's not as bad as you think, my boy!" The blond laughed, giving him a thumbs up. "I was accounting for your own strength enhancements. If we were talking purely based off my One for All. it would be more like nine to ten percent! Quite impressive all things considered!"
"O-oh!"
"Hahaha." The pro's voice got deeper as steam flew off him and his body started to get bulkier. "Well my boy, you know whenever I am worried or concerned about a fight, I smile to reassure everyone including myself that it will be alright! Do you have a coping mechanism like that, young Midoriya?"
The teen took a moment to think, recalling the fights he had been in so far.
"Bird brain! Catch!"
"Not my fault I didn't go to any buisness courses!"
"Well this is a short circuit race for you."
He laughed nervously scratching the back of his head. "I tend to crack jokes a lot to distract myself from the situation i'm in. They're not that great overall though."
"As good a mechanism as any, though Aizawa might disagree! Use it to your advantage!" All Might encouraged with a thumbs up, before pushing Midoriya out into the open. "Don't forget, you're already amazing in your own right! Now try to win!"
The greenette didn't get a chance to point out the advice didn't really work against Shinso.
The marked teen had his fists closed tight as he half walked, half marched onto the arena provided by cemntoss. It was a simple empty stone field, no unfair advantages to be had for most people who would fight upon it.
Present Mic continued to commentate from above, introducing the two competing students.
"FROM THE GENERAL STUIDIES COURSE, MAN DOES HE LOOK LIKE HE NEED SLEEP OR WHAT? IT'S 1-H'S HITOSHI SHINSO!"
The crowd cheered fairly loud, as the two finally made it to the top of the steps and faced each other, moving towards the centre. Midoriya grimaced as he felt the other boy's anger and sadness when they came to a halt.
He recongized these particular emotions far to well. 'So that's why….'
"If any of us do well in the sports festival they could transfer us to the hero course…"
'I get it…'
"AND FROM THE HERO COURSE, HE'S BEEN MAKING HEADLINE AFTER HEADLINE, IT'S THAT NUTJOB FROM 1-A, IZUKU MIDORIYA!"
'Nutjob? Guess that's going to be my reputation now….Why do I have a feeling it'll come back to bite me later?'
"You know, to be the best and reach the top, you can't care about what others think." Shinsou started talking before the match even begin, and the greenette started to chant a mantra in his head to avoid screwing up. 'Don't reply, don't reply, don't reply-' "You of all people I would of thought would understand that, considering the stuff you've done so far to win, despite what it could do to your chances of scoring internships later…"
"BEGIN!" Midnight commanded, waving around her whip. Midoriya began to march forward, intending to start a physical fight. 'I can maybe make Todoroki uncertain about what power i'll be using, try to stop him strategizing ahead-"
"That stupid monkey was going on about his pride earlier." 'Don't replydon'treydon'treply' "But really he's just an moron!"
'don't –
"DON'T YOU TALK ABOUT OJIRO THAT WA-" Midoriya rushed forth, shouting in anger before suddenly, the world disappeared in a haze.
'CRAP!'
Shinso grinned.
"That's it. I win."
His arms went limp, his mouth hung open and his head was filled with fuzz and static.
"Now, turn around and leave the ring like a good little hero."
'NO!'
Despite his internal complaints, his body began to twist around and he heard the footsteps carrying him as he saw the edge 9f the arena get closer, an easy and quick disquafication.
'I CAN'T!'
"Beat this guy, for me!"
"I WON'T!'
His footsteps got closer and ckoser to the edge. The crowd seemed to be shouting but none of what they said could make it into the hazy reality he was stuxk in. Ahead he saw his mentor seeming to be freaking out and shooing him back.
It was just a few more steps.
"your amazing in your own right, now try to win!"
Just one more step.
His mark lit up in a brilliant bright glow, he felt his body heat up as the raging fire of One for All suddenly clashed witb the unforgiving blizzard of his unbidden magic.
'I…..I SAID NOOO!'
His foot fell back, just barely saving him frombthe edge as the world exploded into colour. The haze seemed to dissipate somewhat yet remain as ahead of him eight colourful shadows stood watching, cheering him on almost.
'This Isn't my magic….this…is this One for All?!'
In amongst the colourful display, his hand ached as a surge of magic seemed to blast through his vision, overwhelming the colours and banishing most of the shadows, the haze almost gone.
One shadow remained, running closer and closer to him, colour and form coming together until…
"Come on Izuku! You can't be stopped now!" It was a woman, with long black hair wearing some kind of hero outfit with a cape and bright yellow gloves. She gave him a kind smile as she leaned forward, pushing the greenette backwards and gave him control of his limbs once more. "Go make Toshinori proud.'
With that, a burst of magic shot Far Reach forth and it smashed against the ground, truly waking the teen up from the unbelievable experience. He shook his head violently and turned around, shinsou looking on with a look of surprise mirroring his own. 'Did I just have an acid trip or something?!'
"WHA- HE BROKE FREE! MIDORIYA REALLY IS SOMETHING ELSE, SPORTS FANS!"
The crowd cheered and whooped at his miraculous escape.
"The hell? How'd you get out?!" Shinsou demanded, stomping forward with a look of anger. Midoriya snapped his unmarked hand over his mouth, to avoid answering. 'I have no clue, but I have to use the opportunity it's given me. I can't let this match continue-'
"Tch! You know, you're pretty damn lucky, being born with powers like you have!" Shinsou ground out, switching tatics to try to get the boy to talk. "You can be a hero without anyone stopping you or calling you a villain!"
Naozumi passed by the greenette's mind eye as he threw his left hand forward, Far Reach bursting forth and wrapping around the purple haired teens torso. 'Sorry about this Shinsou, I wish I could help you….I really do.'
He used his strength to pull the other boy around, who tried to free himself but was unable to escape the firm grip of the tentecale. So he continued to rant in an attempt to control the boy. "You have a flashy power so people let you in, but try to force people like me to stay away!-'
Midnight's voice cut him off.
"HITOSHI SHINSOU IS OUT OF BOUNDS! MIDORIYA PROGRESSES TO THE NEXT ROUND!"
The crowd cheered as the brain washing teen scowled, looking down in shame before beginning to walk off. Midoriya looked down at his own marked hand, recalling his childhood and how he'd felt when the abbey had accused him on the news.
"Shinsou! Wait!"
The teen stopped, turning to look back at the greenette with a mix of confusion and barely hidden frustration.
"I….I do know how it feels….I wasn't…..i haven't had my powers for a long tine, not until this year." The purple haired teen quirked an eyebrow and Midoriya scratched his head. "I was a late bloomer, but I ended uo being harrased over it so much that….well i'm sure you understand."
The greenette then looked up with a soft smile. "I also know how it feels to be labbelled a villain. You probably didn't see considering what you said but i've been getting harrased by a few people over it recently."
He walked up to shinsou, who had his hands in his pockets, and laid his marked hand on the boy's shoulder. "What im trying to say is, I get it, and I think you do have what it takes to become a hero."
That did manage to cause the slightly taller teen to widen his eyes in surprise.
"So long as you don't give up, and keep pushing for the top, you can do it. Never stop because anyone tells you to." With that the the greenette turned to head back to his waiting room. Behind him he heard sone other general studies students shouting down words in encouragement to the boy. As he descended the steps on the other side, Midoriya smiled as he whispered to himself. "I'm sure i'll see you in class one day."
'There goes that plan to throw off Todoroki….oh well, probably wasn't going to work anyway.'
His smile and feeling of victory was short lived however, as he stepped back into the waiting hall. He felt a presence in front of him and looked up, expecting to see his mentor.
Instead it was the creep from before, standing and smiling right at him. His own face quickly turned to a scowl, as his hand ached once more. 'That's it! I can only take so much stuff in one day!'
"Hey. Izuku Midoriya right?" The man asked, acting completely innocent as he rubbed his hand together. Midoriya just frowned.
"You're not supposed to be here." He said it slowly, punctuating each word. The creep's smile dropped and he sighed, sagging his shoulders.
"Man, that's no fun." The man said, crossing his arms. "Come on! Humour me!"
"Sir, I-"
"That Far Reach thing, it's awesome. Hell i'd almost call it magical." The man laughed upon saying that and Midoriya clenched his fist. 'Dammit outsider, why can't we deal with him now? What is he?!'
"I said you're not supposed to be in here." Midoriya repeated, unconsciously starting to pour magic into his hand. The creep snarked.
"Oh come on, no need to repeat your-"
"Is there a problem here?" A new deep voice asked and the man paled as Midoriya sighed in relief, seeing All Might towering behind the mystery stranger. "I believe my student already requested you leave, sir."
"Uh..right…" With that, he ran off, while All Mightv stepped forward, inspecting his successor.
"Are you all right my boy? Fans can always be a little on the insane side…" The hero asmed as he deflated to his regular form and Midoriya nodded with a sigh.
"I'm fine All Might, just caught off guard." The greenette brushed off his concern, though felt guilty as he did so. 'That definitely wasn't a fan though.'
"Nice job on that fight my boy! Had me on the edge of my seat. So he was a brain washer? Must of took some serious power of will to break through that!" The blonde laughed as they walked. Midoriya shook his head.
"Actually…no. I….we need to talk about something thar happened." Midoriya said as he headed for the nurses office.
"Kid? What's the matter?"
"It's about your power…."