Chapter 6: Do Your Best, Uraraka!

Ochako spent the weeks leading up to the U.A. Sports Festival the same as any other student who cared to win: nonstop training. Unlike most students, she had Sensei, who educated her with his expansive understanding of Quirks, Kurogiri, who made sure that she ate well, and Tomura, whose taunts encouraged her to push her limits. At school, she and Izuku worked on their journals together, often giving each other their ideas and analyzations.

"The final round's always a one-to-one tournament, so we have to think of how our classmates could use their Quirks in battle. Honestly, I'm just worried about having to fight Kacchan or Todoroki," Izuku stated.

Ochako replied, "Same here. I mean, their Quirks are almost too versatile. If I had to face off against you, I'd probably bait a punch and then grab and throw you away while applying Zero Gravity. Then, you'd punch or kick to get back to the ground, breaking at least two limbs overall." She smirked at him, knowing his inability to leave a battle unscathed.

Izuku put on a nervous smile, disappointed in how quickly Ochako thought of a means of incapacitating him. "Did you really think I'd be so willing to break my bones? A flick of my fingers would be enough to keep you at bay."

She started tapping her fingers on the table, mulling over her thoughts, "Well, there's something I haven't told you about my Quirk yet. It's less so the ability to make an object weightless and more so naturally pushing it upward with my mind after I touch it. Recently, I've learned to manipulate the direction of the push. However, I have to do that for every individual object I want to move." To demonstrate, she started floating the pen she was holding, and as it floated, she moved it towards Izuku, back to her, and had it hit the table faster than it would have if left to fall normally before canceling her Quirk.

For a second, Izuku stared at her with a slightly open mouth, shocked. Then he flipped over to her entry and started furiously writing."Really?! You have so many more possibilities to take if your Quirk is really telekinesis! I mean, once you touch you opponent, they're at your mercy if they have no means of propulsion in the air! Not to mention all the objects you could use as weapons! Imagine sending a wave of debris at a villain!"

Ochako put her index finger to her lip and hushed him."That idea sounds amazing, Deku, but keep it a secret, alright? I want to be able to surprise everyone at the festival."

"Sure thing, Uraraka."

"Anyway, back to Todoroki and Bakugou. Have you noticed that his ice almost always starts on the ground? I bet if you punch the ground, the shockwave would break the ice and stop it cold!"

Izuku visualized the scenario in his mind, and then he responded, "Not bad. I'll write that down. Something I've learned about Kacchan over the years is that he gets physically narrow-sighted while he's battling, but his fighting sense and reflexes are unbelievable. Unless you distract him the entire time, he'll probably catch on to any scheme you try to pull on him, even as you're doing it!" A bell rang, signifying that lunch was over.

"Oh, we'd better get going. Tomorrow, we should sit next to Iida next time. Can't keep him lonely forever!"

...

That afternoon, Ochako went over her journal in the bar, seated in front of the counter. Kurogiri walked in with a plate of three onigiri, or rice balls shaped into triangles with seaweed on the bottom to grasp, a quick snack before training began. He noticed the notebook she held. "Hm? What's that?"

Ochako looked up, and she laid the book on the counter for him to see. "It's a journal with information and strategies based around my classmates' Quirks. Deku helped me make this." She grabbed an onigiri while Kurogiri began to read the entries.

As Kurogiri read, his glowing golden eyes widened. "Incredible! I can't even begin to imagine some of these plans and counters! Midoriya must have a natural gift as a strategist. It's a shame that he's All Might's successor. We could use someone like him to coordinate our plans."

"Hey! I worked on this too! Don't count me out of it! " Ochako exclaimed before she finished the last of her onigiri.

Tomura walked into the room. "Uraraka. You're up for training." He noticed the empty plate. "Kurogiri, you fed her?! I don't wanna clean up after her when she pukes!"

"Hey, Tomura. I'll prove you wrong. Just you wait!" Ochako noticed that while Tomura wouldn't call her by her first name, he grew more lax when she used his first name. Perhaps he's finally warming up to me.

Ochako trained her body and her Quirk in an abandoned junkyard. Kurogiri used to send her to Dagobah Municipal Beach Park to train because of all the garbage accumulated there. However, ten months before the U.A. entrance exam, the mountains of trash slowly and mysteriously shrank until the entire beach was cleaned, forcing her to find another place to practice. She would train by lifting and moving junk several pieces at a time. More intensive training involved her sending large pieces of trash in several different directions at one. Ochako's limit was pushed to nearly 50,000 newtons of force, giving her an equivalent weight limit of 5 metric tons, but no matter how far she pushed herself, she couldn't float anything much heavier. The day before the festival, she asked, "Sensei, is there something wrong with me? For the past week, I can't seem to get past floating 5 tons."

From the other side of the TV screen, he sighed and told her, "I was afraid this day would come, Ochako."

"What?"

"There's a reason why I take Quirks from people—mainly pro heroes, villains, or other people who use their Quirk for their occupation—that had the opportunity to hone them. It's because when I give someone a Quirk, that person can only develop it to the point the original owner had developed it before it was taken away from them. When I took Zero Gravity from the original user, his limit was 5 tons as well."

Ochako was shocked, but she was far more fearful. "D-does this mean that I'm stuck at 5 tons?"

Sensei shook his head. "Not necessarily. However, it'll take more work to develop the Quirk than it would if you were born with it, which is why I prefer to take several of the same kind of Quirk. Anyway, you're a strong and smart girl, Ochako. I trust that you'll know how to utilize those 5 tons, and I have faith in you."

...

The festival began with the opening word from Class 1-A's Katsuki Bakugou, who reassured everyone that he would win. Of course, such a declaration, no matter how true it may seem, infuriated the people who put mind, body, and soul towards their own victory.

The first event was an obstacle course, where students would run one lap until they arrived back at the stadium. Along the way, they had to deal with each other, robots from the entrance exam, a giant pit, and a field of landmines. Ochako's Quirk let her dodge Shouto's opening sneak attack of ice that froze people behind him to the ground, and she used the robots as roadblocks after running past them. However, her training wouldn't be enough for her to float herself across the expansive and seemingly bottomless chasm without getting sick midway through, so she slowly walked on the tightropes, costing her valuable time as a result. By the time she got to the minefield, Izuku was already busy digging with a large flat piece of metal from a fallen robot. She ran past him, not bothering to ask, but when a massive explosion erupted from behind, she saw Izuku sail across the sky, and she realized that he used the mines as a means of propulsion. Not wanting to fall behind, she leapt onto the outer edge of a mine and activated her Quirk. The mine itself didn't offer nearly as much force that she wanted, as it was designed to look flashy yet do little damage, but her Quirk's push allowed her to land two meters from the end of the field. Despite her physical training to build up her stamina and Kurogiri's dishes made to give her energy, she was still behind many people due to the time she took at the canyon, and she came in 16th place as a result.

The second event was a human cavalry battle, where teams of two to four people assembled to make a "horse" would compete to obtain the most points by the end. To do so, they had to snatch the headbands of the leaders, which had the total number of points of their team listed. Izuku came in first, and he was given a point total of 10 million, whereas Shouta, who came in second, had 205 points, and every person below was given 5 points less than the person before them. Was it fair? Not in the slightest. In fact, it was designed to simulate how hard being number one at anything could be if there were others wishing to do the same.

Despite the overwhelming temptation everyone else felt in stealing the 10 million, Izuku was still able to make a team thanks to Ochako, as the two knew each other's Quirks well, Mei Hatsume, who impressed them with her inventions, and Fumikage, who lacked a team and offered defense with Black Shadow. Their goal was to protect their headband at all costs. However, after a lengthy amount of dodging, Shouto's team managed to steal the 10 million points for themselves thanks to Tenya overclocking his leg engines with a "Recipro Burst", but Fumikage stole their 615-point headband from them before time was up, letting them advance to the final event, the fighting tournament.

Much to her dismay, Ochako and the other girls were tricked into wearing cheerleader outfits, but she cheered regardless. Much to her horror, she found out that her first match was against Katsuki, who had all the might and mobility of a missile. During the matches, Izuku furiously scribbled notes into his notebook, while Ochako simply wished to watch the matches and write down observations at home, as the whole event was being streamed on both TV and the Internet.

While in the middle of Tenya's fight against Mei, although the fight ended up being more of a publicity stunt for the latter to show off her 'babies,' a nickname for her inventions, Ochako left to contemplate her upcoming fight. She headed into one of the preparation rooms, where she sat down and considered a strategy for facing Katsuki. After a few minutes, her train of thought was halted by the incessant ring of her phone. She checked it, and Tomura's alternate name, Tenko, was on the screen, so she answered immediately.

Tomura picked up and asked, "There you are, Uraraka. How are you?"

"Well, I was in the middle of watching the fight, but I wanted to take a break and clear my thoughts. What do you want?"

"First, I'm telling you to never wear that garbage you call a cheerleader outfit again. Second, I just thought about telling you something Sensei learned about Bakugou from some of his childhood friends, seeing as you're matched up against him."

" I'm listening," she said, but a moment later, she continued. "Just so you know, we were tricked into wearing those outfits."

"You didn't seem to care when you started cheering. Anyway, you know how Bakugou used to bully Midoriya for years because he was Quirkless? Well, I heard from some of his old buddies that he'd destroy Midoriya's stuff, beat him up when the brat rubbed him the wrong way, and get this, he even told Midoriya to go kill himself so he could get a Quirk in the next life! If you ask me, that guy's real villain material!"

Ochako's eyes widened as memories of when she didn't have a Quirk surfaced back to her consciousness, and she remembered how harsh the other children were.

"Look out! It's that Quirkless kid, Uraraka. Don't let her touch you, or you'd catch her Quirklessness." Kids would scramble out of her way, making sure to keep out of arm's reach. It was easy for children to get the idea that Quirkless people were dangerous, just as easy as children thinking that people of the opposite sex had cooties, yet Quirklessness took priority. Regardless of intention, Ochako felt ashamed of being different.

Because they thought she was dangerous, some saw fit to play pranks on her. Sometimes, her stuff was hidden or thrown away, and other times, usually by more vicious people, she'd come back to seeing notes left for her, often saying "You don't belong here," or "You're a waste of space." When she turned to the teachers for help, they did nothing to stop the bullying. After all, the consensus on the matter was to ignore it, hoping that the bullying would eventually die out if they didn't bring attention to it. Her obtaining the Zero Gravity Quirk was the only reason it stopped for her. Her bullies simply moved onto her Quirkless friends, and they would still tease her about her Quirkless parents.

Ochako, startled by the extent of Katsuki's persecution of Izuku, thought, If I had never met Tomura on that fateful day, who knows how I would turn out after so many years of harassment? Would I have followed what Bakugou said? Would I have ended up like her?! She furrowed her brow and slammed her left hand on the table. Had she not pressed down fiercely, the table would have floated to the ceiling. I can't believe him! He thinks that he'll be the number one hero after something like that?! He thinks he'll beat us so easily?! Grrr, that's it. I'll-

Tomura spoke up, "Hello? Earth to Uraraka? You still alive?"

Realizing the unintentional use of her Quirk, she placed her phone on her lap and quickly negated Zero Gravity, letting the table land in front of her. Taking a deep breath, she slowly brought her phone back up to her ear, and she declared, malice laced in her words, "I'll crush him. Ya can bet on that, Tomura." In her anger, she let her accent, mocked and hidden long before she found out that she was Quirkless, slip. However, Tomura was too caught up in her words to notice.

Elated by her answer, he replied, "That's the spirit, Uraraka! Don't let Sensei or me down."

The call ended just in time for Tenya and Izuku to enter the room. They were about to call out to her, but they noticed that she was fuming. Ochako was the first to break the silence.

"Deku, how far has Bakugou gone?"

Izuku stared at her, confused. "Eh? Uraraka, what are you talking abou-"

She stood up, looking Izuku in the eye. "A friend just called me, and he told that Bakugou told you to kill yourself a year ago!"

"What?! He knew?" Izuku stepped back, shocked that she found out.

Tenya tried to calm Ochako down, giving wild hand gestures as he spoke. "Uraraka! Bakugou's behavior certainly has much room for improvement, but there's no need to get so angry right before your match! Even if we report this to the teachers, it's been a year since, as you said. There's not much they could do to punish him for something he said before he was under their jurisdiction, save sending him to anger management classes or therapy. In fact, should we send a report to them based on a claim that your, and I apologize for insinuating that he is untrustworthy, friend made, we'll seem suspicious at best, even if we have Midoriya to testify for us. If anything, we'll be accused of trying to ruin Bakugou's reputation!"

"A-anyway, Uraraka," Izuku muttered, not wanting to get on her bad side, "Kacchan curbed his vicious nature towards me ever since I helped save him from the slime villain, which happened that very same day. In fact, he started to treat me like any other person, which is a step up, I suppose. Oh, right! I came to help you make some final strategies." He lifted his right hand to show the charred notebook he held. He nervously thought, I hope she doesn't realize that Kacchan burnt this book.

Ochako's face softened, turning into a grin, and she spoke to them. "Thanks for keeping me in check, Iida. And thank you for wanting to help me, Deku. I know I can count on you two."

The boy blushed from the compliment. "W-well, I can say the same for you, Uraraka."

Iida smirked and replied, "As can I."

"However, I plan to do this myself." Izuku gasped at her declaration. "Deku, if I get past Bakugou, promise me that you'll beat Todoroki in the second round. After all, we've spent countless hours training and thinking of ways to beat them. If we keep fighting and giving it everything we got, maybe we'll face each other in the finals." She extended her open hand, and she asked, "Go beyond?"

Izuku smirked with a gleam of determination in his eyes, shook her hand and finished the famous motto, "Plus Ultra!"

Tenya reminded them of Ochako's upcoming match. "While watching you two motivate each other to win is inspiring, remember that I am one of your opponents, and I refuse to lose so easily. Anyway, we spent far too much time in here. Uraraka, your match is going to start any second now!"

Ochako gasped, having forgotten about the passage of time. "That's right! I gotta go. See you later!" she shouted as she raced down the hallway.

"I know you're in a hurry, but please don't run in the halls!" Tenya barked from the doorway.

"Calm down, Iida. She's just pumped. That's all." Still, Izuku thought, who was her friend that knew about our time in middle school?

A few minutes later, Ochako found herself standing face-to-face with Katsuki. He observed her for any signs of fear or hesitation, and he glared when he found none. He spoke up. "You're the floating fuck, right, round-face? Y'know, if you don't want to get your ass kicked, feel free to leave now. I won't give you a chance later."

She growled, "The name's Uraraka. Remember it, 'cause you're the one who'll be defeated!"

Katsuki cupped a hand to his ear and leaned towards her. "What was that? Sounded like a bitch ready to get explodokilled. Let's go!"

When the match began, Ochako immediately rushed towards Katsuki with her hands outstretched to the side, her stride resembling that of a certain hand-obsessed villain she knew. He countered with an explosion from his right hand, close enough for both of them to smell the nitroglycerin, and she was surrounded by the resulting cloud of dust and smoke. Unbeknownst to Katsuki and the audience, she took off her jacket and floated it in his direction while she also floated the debris from the explosion skyward. He took her jacket as bait, and she closed in on him to try and touch him so her Quirk could take effect. However, he was quick to react. He kept pushing her back with explosions, unknowingly adding pieces of the arena to her arsenal.

A pro hero interrupted, "How can you call this a fair match? That boy's just toying with her and getting her hopes up. I demand that the judges put an end to this at once!"

Present Mic weakly responded, "W-well, uh…"

Shouta intervened, "If all you see is a girl getting slowly beaten, then I'd advise looking for a change in career, because surely you don't understand the situation very well and are assuming a great portion, dangerous for a pro hero to do. Uraraka has a great understanding of her limits due to having a weight limit on her Quirk. She knows how much she can take and she planned accordingly. Bakugou is driven to win. So much so that he would not let his guard down for even a second if it would make him lose." Ochako mentally thanked him for defending her. However, this wasted time pushed Ochako towards her force limit.

She then deemed the moment right to assault Katsuki with a concrete hail, but there was one problem. So far, he seems to be favoring his right hand, which means that he's built up explosive sweat in his left. If I want this plan to work, I've got to bait him into releasing that power early! She got into the starting position of a sprinter, her knees and feet bent as though she were on starting blocks, her back almost parallel to the ground, and both hands on the ground. Ochako spoke, "Bakugou, thank you for never dropping your guard." Katsuki scowled at her, ready to intercept another mad dash towards him with another explosion, but before she could take off, a large chunk of the arena under him suddenly tore from the rest and rocketed skyward, bringing him with it!

Katsuki fell to his knees at the sudden force. Gritting his teeth, he roared, "So this is your shitty trump card, huh, Uraraka? Well, your half-assed attempt won't work on me!" With that last word, he completely demolished the escalation platform he knelt on with a colossal explosion from his left hand, leaving him spreading his arms and legs out to slow his descent. "How'd you like tha-"

Ochako got up from her crouching position, having never intended to run towards Katsuki, who fell prey to her ploy. Taking a sharp breath, she roared, "I. WIIIIIIIN!"

"Huh? The hell you talking abou- Ngh?!" He was interrupted as a piece of concrete dug into his back, just under his left shoulder. He turned his body around just in time to see stones rain down upon him, focused on his center of mass. He moved his arms to start fending them off with explosions, but when he turned around, more pieces of the arena were ripped out by Ochako's Quirk and collided with his back. Ochako sent all of her weapons towards Katsuki from all directions, leaving him unable to fight back effectively. He was rapidly struck in every places, with some sizable pieces striking his head. Some sharper pieces scratched or cut his body.

Katsuki landed in the crater that Ochako made when she ripped the ground from under his feet. When Midnight went over to examine him, she saw that he had passed out. His U.A. sportswear was torn, bruises covered the exposed skin, and he was minorly bleeding in some places. The lack of any serious damage likely resulted from his impressive athletic physique, which produced years of built-up muscle that had the strength and durability required to handle the recoil of his explosions, and with the assistance of Recovery Girl, he would have no lasting damage. She announced, "Katsuki Bakugou is unconscious and therefore unable to battle. Ochako Uraraka moves on to the next round!"

When Ochako heard this, she leapt with joy. "I-I did it! I beat-bea-bleeeeh..." The nausea caught up, striking her as suddenly as a tidal wave, and she vomited in front of the audience. Meanwhile, robots came to wheel Katsuki to Recovery Girl, and Ochako followed, wanting to have her singed skin replaced.

With great joy, Present Mic announced, "With a sudden meteor shower, Ochako Uraraka moves onto the next round!" He turned to Shouta Aizawa, who was sitting next to him with bandages on his face and casts on his arms. "I knew she'd win. Now pay up!"

"First of all, we never made a bet. Second, even if we did, my arms are in no condition to pay you. Still, she never demonstrated that technique in class. She must've kept it a secret just for this occasion."

Izuku stared with widened eyes, and he whispered, "Kacchan lost? I can't believe it! Throughout our lives, he always came out on top, but for someone to beat him in one-to-one combat?! Uraraka used her Quirk amazingly! She told me that she had to direct the force she placed on every object individually, but for her to aim all of them towards Kacchan, she must have trained this technique for months!" Meanwhile, as Izuku wrote in his journal and mumbled over the implications of Ochako's offensive ability, students from the financial branch of U.A. cried tears as if they bet their life savings on Katsuki, whom they assumed to come out on top. Others mocked them for not choosing Shouto, a safe investment due to his lineage with the second best hero, Endeavor, although the former would prefer that to not be true.

When Izuku visited Ochako in Recovery Girl's temporary nurse's office, she was practically beaming.

"Hey, Deku! Did you see me fight?"

"Yeah. Still hard to believe you actually beat Kacchan." He glanced at Katsuki's unconscious body, which was already rapidly recovering thanks to Recovery Girl. "Did you really have to use that many rocks?"

"Better safe than sorry. He had it coming to him, anyhow. No one can bully someone like that and expect to get away with it so easily. " She glared at the subject of their conversation.

"Is there any reason his bullying gets you that angry?"

Ochako grimaced, looking at her feet before and taking a deep breath before staring him in the eye. "Remember how I was bullied until I got my Quirk? Well, my bullies moved on to the my Quirkless friends, even during middle school. We helped each other tough it out, but one person," she felt pain simply remembering the event, let alone the girl's name, "lost the will to live because of them. One night three years ago, we got a message from her parents saying that she killed herself, and her suicide note read that she felt miserable because she didn't have a Quirk, and that she'd do anything to get one, even if it meant moving onto her next life." Ochako began to cry, thinking Why didn't I help her more? Why didn't I stop them before it was too late? She froze, having realized a solution she never considered. Why didn't I take her to Sensei?! Was I selfish in wanting to keep the person who gave me my Quirk a secret? Was I so scared of her reaction that I never considered it? Ochako fell to her knees, feeling absolutely useless. "I didn't save her!"

Izuku helped her up and reassuringly told her, "It's okay, Uraraka."

"No, it's not! She's dead!"

"W-well, you're here now. Look at me. Before we met, 'Deku' was always a taunt, always used to make fun of me. Now, it's a nickname a dear friend of mine uses, and I plan to use it as my hero name." He looked back to Katsuki, who was completely healed and snoring. "Besides, I'm sure she's happy that you managed to beat bully like the one you faced on your own."

Ochako wiped her tears away, and smiled. "Thanks, Deku. I really needed to hear that."

An unknown voice spoke from behind Katsuki. "Touching. It seems as though some of Class 1-A actually has a heart." Neito, who had walked past them during their conversation and hid behind the curtain next to Katsuki, showed his head.

Recovery Girl whacked him with her cane, "Who told you that you could just waltz in as you please?"

Izuku spoke up next. "Excuse me, but what are you doing here?"

"Me? Oh, I just want the rub the fact that he lost right to his face when he wakes up."

Recovery Girl announced, still slightly annoyed that Neito eavesdropped on a personal conversation, "He'll be asleep for several minutes. You sure you can wait until then?"

"Time may be money, but the look on his face will be priceless!" With that, Izuku and Ochako left, the former headed to the arena, and the latter headed to Class 1-A's seating area to watch.

Before he knew it, Izuku was about to fight Shouto. This is it, Izuku thought, if I can't get past him now, I may never beat him!

When the battle began, Shouto sent wave after wave of ice towards Izuku, forcing the latter to take a defensive strategy and use the flick of his fingers, enhanced by One for All, to blow away the Shouto closed the gap, Izuku widened it with a left punch, crippling his hand in the process. Although Shouto and Izuku lunged forward and the latter hit the former with his right fist, crippling his other hand, Shouto still refused to use his left side. How can I be expected to win against him if he's not giving it his all?! Despite the pragmatic and logical side of him shouting to keep quiet and attack, Izuku screamed at Shouta. "Your left side is part of you, Todoroki! It's your Quirk to use! Don't let anyone tell you otherwise!"

Izuku's opponent stopped his assault, caught in a revelation. I-it's my Quirk? The left side of his body burst into flames, and he looked to Izuku, grinning ear to ear. Yeah, that's right. What I do is for me. My old man's got no say in that! "Prepare yourself, Midoriya!"

Before he could unleash his final attack, Endeavor spoke up, "SHOOUUUTOOO! I'm glad that you finally given up your childish rebellion and learned to accept the power that I gave you. Now, defeat him and become the winner for me, my son." It was apparent that he didn't pay attention to Izuku's words at all. Izuku didn't care as he was busy realigning his fingers with his mouth.

On one disfigured hand, Izuku was proud that Shouto overcame his hate of his left side. On the other mutilated hand, he was about to lose because he encouraged his opponent to unleash his full potential. I didn't think this out, but I gotta find a way to end this. Wait! The ground!

Midnight and Cementos tried to stop them, but they were too late. As Shouto unleashed a wave of ice and fire at Izuku, the latter balled his left hand into a fist, and aimed it downward, punching the arena in the process. Cementos's raised concrete pillars flew up and crumbled in response, halting the ice in its tracks, while dust choked out the fire and left Izuku hidden from Shouta. Using the dust as an opening, Izuku leapt with both his legs, shattering them. He thought, I don't care what happens to my bones at this point. If I don't give it my all when my opponent does so… He rocketed out of the dust cloud, which Shouto anticipated and prepared to intercept with both fire and ice. I'll never get close to reaching the top!

"SMAAAAASH!" Izuku's right hand made contact with Shouto, and the force from Shouto's combination attack halted Izuku's momentum while sending Shouto hurtling back, breaking through the barrier of ice he made to stay in the arena. Shouta was still conscious, but he was now outside of the ring. I-I did it! My right arm isn't broken this time! Using the one limb that wasn't broken, although it sustained burns, he gave a thumbs up to signify that he was still able to move.

Midnight declared, "Shouto Todoroki has left the arena. Izuku Midoriya wins!" The same students who mocked the people who believed that Katsuki would win were now the ones crying now that their chosen person lost.

As Shouto walked back into the hallway, Endeavor blocked his path, and the second best superhero glared at his son in disappointment. "I thought I bred a winner, a person who would become the number one superhero and best All Might in my stead. Now, I just see a complete waste of time, just like your mother and your siblings. Look at you. Not only did you need your enemy to convince you to use the power I gave you, but even with both ice and fire at your disposal, you still lost. Pathetic."

Shouto walked past him and replied, "I guess I learned how to lose from you." He started sprinting down the halls before his father could react.

"Wh- Shouto! Get back here this instant!" When the sound of footsteps became inaudible, Endeavor thought to himself, Where did I go wrong with that boy?

Izuku was hauled off to Recovery Girl's temporary nurse's office to heal. Katsuki woke up several minutes after, finding Izuku lying on the bed next to him, mostly healed but still being treated by Recovery Girl.

Katsuki squinted and asked, "Oi, Deku. The hell you doing here? Did Half n' Half beat the shit out of you?"

With a smile, Izuku replied, "No, actually. I defeated him by sending him out of the arena, but I broke my limbs again." He showed his right hand, which had scars from where Shouto's flames made contact.

Katsuki sat up immediately, alarmed by the news. "A piece of shit like you beat him?! Damn, I was looking forward to beating him in the finals, but you'll have to do. I haven't forgotten the mock battles, Deku!" His berserk smile intimidated Izuku.

To the surprise of only Katsuki, Neito Monoma, who never left the room, pulled the curtain behind Katsuki away. With a smug smile on his face, he stated, "About that. You lost first round, Bakugou, and to Uraraka of all people."

"Are you implying something about her?!" Izuku got defensive over his friend while Katsuki took a moment to comprehend Neito's statement.

"You gotta be shitting me! I lost?! To what's her round face?!"

"Uraraka!"

"I'm not lying. Midoriya here can attest to that. Now, remind me. What did you say at the beginning of the festival? That you'd win? Whatever happened to that promise?" Neito was now grinning as wide as he possibly could.

If looks killed, Neito would have been paste splattered everywhere. Scratch that, there would be nothing left of anybody after the blast. Still, Katsuki found a way of remaining calm by uttering, "I'd tell you to eat shit, but cannibalism is looked down upon. And you, Deku! You told her to get blown up again and again, haven't you?!"

The injured youth responded, "No. I asked her if I could help, but she wanted to beat you by herself for personal reasons. However, I might've given her the idea to send the debris at you."

Neito shrugged Katsuki's insult off, and continued on. "Anyway, if you want to see Uraraka, she just finished fighting Kirishima. That guy was able to defeat Tetsutetsu, but hardening his body was useless once he was sent flying."

Recovery Girl stopped using her Quirk on Izuku's arms and said, "This is as far as I'll go. Any longer, and you'll go into a coma, and who knows how long it'll take for you to wake up?"

Izuku cried out, "B-but my arms aren't fully healed yet!"

"And they won't be for a while. Point is, you have to learn to control your Quirk, because you can forget coming to me if this keeps happening."

All Might entered the office, but before he made himself known, he thought back to what Shouta told him.

"Do I really have to get Midoriya? Can't some other student get him onstage?"

"Remind me, whose schedule was found copied and distributed among the villains we fought at USJ?"

"You didn't have to go there, Aizawa."

"Well, he's your disciple. Keep him under control until he learns to control his powers. Being in a wheelchair wouldn't stop him from breaking his bones."

Ending his memory, All Might inhaled before exclaiming, "Midoriya, my boy! Would you please meet me outside?" He reverted into his weakened form and continued speaking once they exited the office. "How are your arms?"

Izuku became distraught. "Well, Recovery Girl said that this is the limit my body can be healed before I would fall into a coma. I don't think I'll be able to compete in the next fight in time."

Torinoshi Yagi sighed. "I-I'm sorry to hear that. Midoriya, my boy, I've failed you as your teacher."

"Wh-no you haven't!"

Torinoshi slapped his forehead. "Just look at you! Your arms are in slings because you didn't stop fighting! You may have won the battle, but you're in no condition to keep competing." He sighed again, this time more deeply. "We've got to find a way of preventing you from breaking your body every time you attack. If you could just fine tune your power output to your body's very limit, then you could fight for a far longer period of time." He continued with a more disappointed tone, although that disappointment was directed towards himself. "Go. I'm sure you still want to watch your friends battle their hearts out. I'll tell them that you can't fight anymore."

Izuku made it to his seat just in time for the match between Fumikage and Ochako to begin. Several seats away, Eijiro was trying to cheer up Katsuki.

"C'mon, Bakugou! You still got that flashy and powerful Quirk of yours. Why don't we spar after the tournament? I bet I could take your explosions like they're nothing!" Eijiro flashed a toothy grin to display his confidence.

Katsuki looked towards him and shrugged with a small smile on his face. "Is that a challenge? Fine. I'll take you down!"

On the battlefield, Ochako ran towards Fumikage, who unleashed Black Shadow to intercept her. The dark bird swiped at her, but she dodged. As it swung at her for the third time, she touched it. Black Shadow was unaffected, but Fumikage, physically bound to it, started to float off the ground. She thought, I learnt this when I pet him after the cavalry battle! He tried to have Black Shadow anchor him down, but Ochako already had her hand on the ground, floating up the areas Black Shadow anchored itself to. It chucked the bits of concrete at her, but she dodged and sent more bits of the arena at Fumikage. Black Shadow became distracted in defending him, and soon, the latter was too far for the former to grab anything inside the arena, and when Ochako released them, they landed outside the arena.

Midnight proclaimed, "Fumikage has left the arena! He is eliminated, and Ochako Uraraka moves on to the finals!"

She and Fumikage returned to Class 1-A's seating section, where their classmates were eagerly waiting for their arrival.

Denki was the first to speak. "Yo! Amazing work out there, you two!"

Albeit still slightly sad over his loss, Eijiro said, "Yeah. You did your best to fight back, Tokoyami."

Izuku called out from his seat. "Uraraka! You did well!"

She saw his casts and ran towards him. "Deku? What happened to your arms?!"

"Well, I went to Recovery Girl so they could heal, but I supposed I got too injured in that fight." He was disheartened to say, "I can't move onto the next match because they're still broken, so you're facing Iida in the finals."

"WHAT?! You mean to say that, despite battling your heart out, and winning, you can't move on?!"

"Uraraka, calm down." Tenya, was sitting next to Izuku, spoke up. "All of us have pushed ourselves to our limits so we could have even the smallest glimpse of victory. We all have the people we want to prove ourselves to, such as me towards my brother, Ingenium." He stood up and looked her in the eyes while pointing towards the arena. "Earlier, I said that we were rivals, and that I wouldn't lose without putting up a fight. Now, let's get down there and start the final match."

As the two did some last-minute stretches, Midnight announced, "Due to the injuries Izuku Midoriya sustained in his last battle, he will not be able to fight. Instead, we will have our final round right now with Ochako Uraraka and Tenya Iida! Begin!"

Ochako's starting stance had her hands centimeters from the ground, and she had enough time before to touch her clothes and shoes. Once the match began, Iida immediately revved up his engines into Recipro Burst mode, not wanting to give her the oppurtunity to manipulate the arena. Tenya lunged at her and grabbed her by her jacket, but as he tried to throw her, she used her Quirk to apply a downward force that effectively added 50 kg to her clothes, stopping him from succeeding. He let go and ran off before she could touch him.

Present Mic declared, "It looks like Uraraka refuses to budge! Now, it's only a matter of what will give out first. Will it be Uraraka's will to keep fighting, or will it be Iida's Engine Quirk?"

Ochako saw Tenya ready to rush her again. He sprinted directly towards her, and due to her added weight, she couldn't dodge in time. This time, knowing that he couldn't throw her out, Tenya swiftly kneed her in the stomach, only for her hands to grab his right calf, which he left exposed in order to use his Quirk.

Although slightly dazed from the blow, she was able to whisper, "Gotcha."

Tenya's eyes widened as he felt his right hand rapidly get heavier and heavier until his right arm fell to the ground, taking his body with it. I-I can't move my arm! It's as if it got several times heavier! Is Uraraka focusing her Quirk on it? She'll immobilize me. I have to end this!

Ochako barely moved from being hit, as she hadn't negated her Quirk on her clothes. Thus, with the last of his Recipro Burst, Tenya's left foot rocketed into Ochako's chin, sending her reeling backward. She hit her head on the concrete floor and was knocked out from the resulting concussion. Tenya, who felt bad for hitting her so hard, felt his right hand lighten, and he was able to stand up again.

"Ochako Uraraka is unconscious. The winner of this match, and the first-year winner of the U.A. Sports Festival is Tenya Iida of Class 1-A!"

With only a few minutes spent waiting, mostly so Ochako could wake up, the awards ceremony was set up. Izuku and Fumikage stood on the 3rd-place pedestal, the latter waving for Izuku due to his broken arms. Ochako occupied the 2nd-place pedestal, her bright smile hiding her disappointment in her loss. Tenya stood firm on the 1st-place pedestal, waving with a wide smile in the hope that his older brother was watching him. From the edge of the stadium's upper rim, All Might descended to deliver medals to the top contestants.

He worked his way from 3rd place to 1st place. "I congratulate you, Tokoyami. Your strength helped you get so far. However, I would recommend you to develop your ability to act to disadvantageous situations. Strength means nothing if you don't know how to use it."

With a small sigh betraying his large physique, All Might spoke, "Midoriya. You have immense power, a strategic mindset, and a desire to help others get stronger. However, you were unable to advance because you overworked your body and broke it repeatedly." Izuku looked down, ashamed of his recklessness. "I just hope you'll learn to hone your Quirk before irreversible damage is done."

"Uraraka, I don't mean this as an insult, but you were the one who surprised us the most today. As you demonstrated, your Quirk has great potential. Don't worry about your loss, everybody makes mistakes, including me! Hahaha!" He patted her on the back, although she felt conflicted that the person whose attempted assassination she had a hand in was now congratulating her.

Finally, All Might faced Tenya, and as he placed the golden medal around Tenya's neck, he announced, "You have a large pair of shoes to fill, but after seeing your diligence and determination today, I know that those shoes will fit you well." He turned around to face the audience. "No matter how far you got today, everyone has the chance to be standing here! You younglings may be pieces of ore right now, but together, you'll eventually be refined to form the pillars that hold up society! Motivate each other to push your limits and go beyond! Now, join me in one final cheer! One, two, and-"

The crowd roared, "PLUS-"

"THANKS FOR THE HARD WORK!"

"UL- huh?!"

"Sorry, sorry. I just wanted to congratulate the students for how hard the worked…"

As Class 1-A exited, Tenya took a moment to turn on his phone, which he had shut off during the tournament out of respect for the other students, so he could call his older brother. However, his eyes came across an urgent message addressed to him. "Wh- what is the meaning of this?!"

As he looked up directions to a specific hospital, Izuku asked him, "What's wrong, Iida?"

Tenya turned to him with a grave expression and answered, "My brother's critically injured."

"What?! What happened to him?"

"It seems that he came across the hero-killer, Stain."

A/N: Hello, fellows! With this update, the chapters here are nowup to date with the story over at AO3. Also, it'll take one or two weeks to finish the next chapter, though, as I have a lot to do in the upcoming days, so please be patient!

Fun fact: I originally had Tenya and Ochako's fight start with Ochako raising walls around the arena, effectively closing it off, but once I actually did the research and found out that concrete is 2,400 kg per cubic meter, I decided to revamp it so it makes more sense in line with her weight limit. The ending of the fight was the same, though.