"Endeavor! How are you?"

Enji cringes, slowly turning around to face his greatest tension headache. You'd think it would be his caseload or the children that gave him the most hell, but none of them had anything on the annoyance in his life that had persisted ever since he became a pro hero.

"All Might," he sighs. "...Good morning," Enji greets him, though his day was hardly good. It held much room for improvement.

The Number One Hero laughs heartily, his fisted hands settling on his hips in a classic All Might pose. A few cameras flash around them. Enji struggles not to snap at the older hero. He's too upbeat. He's too open to the press, someone's bound to try their luck with an impromptu interview if they're seen together for too long. This is a public event, but that doesn't mean Endeavor wants to be hounded by reporters all day. "You're rather subdued this fine morning! I'm surprised you made it, you've been in Hosu for the past week. Did you finish your business there?"

All Might gives him a hard pat on the back, subtly guiding him towards a narrower, less-crowded hall of the stadium.

Enji's nose crinkles up in annoyance. "What makes you say that?"

"Unless you nicked yourself shaving, well..." All Might taps his own cheek, parallel to where Red Spirit's blade had caught Endeavor's cheek last night. It was a superficial cut, so instead of putting any kind of (flammable) bandage over it, he'd left it as is. Enji bristles, letting his flame beard fan out a bit farther. "But there was only one arrest made, so what about—?"

"Tch. Read the memos then, I'm not here to spoon-feed you reports." Enji mutters, glaring at the hero. "You've yet to prove your usefulness to my agency. Don't make me regret this, All Might."

All Might nods, the grin fading from his face. He tries to set his hand on Enji's shoulder, rethinks it, and takes a respectful half-step away from the Flame Hero instead. "You made the right decision. I, for one, think this is a great opportunity to finally allow Young Yoarashi to show us his true potential." He perks up. "I'm also looking forward to watching Young Shouto and Toph! Your son has really begun to shine in our training classes, and Young Toph is quite the spitfire!"

What was All Might trying to accomplish here? Enji already knew all of that. He's not the sort of man that can be buttered up with compliments, so if there was some ulterior motive, All Might ought to be more direct about it. Otherwise this conversation is a waste of time.

With monumental effort, Enji refrains from rolling his eyes. "...Right."

"Endeavor," All Might says seriously, appearing unsatisfied with Enji's response. "Are you still concerned about Young Yoarashi? This school is currently surrounded by capable heroes, including the two of us. This is the exact setting we need to properly assess that young man's, er, new abilities, as well as keep him from harm."

"Of course it is!" Enji finally snaps, temper boiling over. "That's exactly what I think, so don't repeat what I already know!"

"Ah," All Might flashes him an uncertain smile. "Right, yes! I'm glad we're on the same page—"

"Yoarashi's situation changes things," Enji interrupts him, crossing his arms. "All he can do right now is focus on mastering his—power, so he can catch up with his peers. I want him to be able to do that without having to worry about those bastards." They all deserved a little more peace, those students. They weren't supposed to be burdened so soon with the task of facing villains on their own. If only this mess had been resolved properly, all those years ago. AV was building up to something terrible, and Enji wanted them eradicated.

"That boy's placing his trust in me, again, even though—" Even though I've failed him for so long. Enji grimaces. "I won't let his dreams stop here. These kids, all of them, have so much to offer."

He's seen Inasa grow up, and grow up well, despite the horrible things he went through. Toph's resilience is something he's respected for years. Shouto… is an amazing young man. Enji wishes he could take credit for that, but he can't. Fuyumi did most of the work.

"Todoroki-san," All Might says quietly. His eyes are lowered now, not meeting Enji's gaze. "We're more alike than you think."

Silence stretches between them.

"... What?" Enji looks at him blankly, trying and failing to understand where in this conversation All Might got the idea that he was dwelling on his own rank. They're nothing alike beyond their job titles. It's something Endeavor has wrangled with—denied, embraced, agonized over—for decades now, and it's not about to change anytime soon. He's the Flame Hero, and All Might is the goddamn Symbol of Peace. The last thing he wants to do is discuss it with the man himself. "Why are you making this about me and you, huh?" He uncrosses his arms. "Do you pity me or something?"

All Might jolts. "No, no, no, that's not what I meant at all!" He says hurriedly.

"Then what did you mean?" He demands, taking a step towards the hero. All Might shrinks back. "Speak clearly, damn it."

"I-I just meant—!" All Might cuts himself off, looking cagey. He rubs the back of his neck nervously. "Now's not the right time," he mutters, rueful. "But we haven't had a proper conversation in years, so I doubt this will happen again…"

Enji clicks his tongue impatiently. "Just spit it out," he grumbles. "I don't have all day."

The Number One hero shuffles in place like a nervous teenager, astonishingly reminiscent of Yoarashi trying to talk to him about his quirks. It's so ridiculous that Enji almost wants to laugh.

"Right," All Might says slowly, brow furrowing in thought. "I just think the two of us might be in similar positions right now. As, uh, mentors. To hero students."

Enji stares at him for a long moment. Mentors to hero students. That'd be an obvious point, seeing as All Might was a literal teacher now, but that's not what he means.

Un-fucking-believable. "Are you telling me you have a successor?" He asks, point-blank. It's a good thing they're alone.

All Might looks at his shoes like they're the most fascinating thing in the world. Like a timid schoolgirl. Endeavor already has his answer. "Well, since you ask. Yes, I consider h—Endeavor? Wait, w-where are you going? Todoroki-san!"


Across Tokyo, in a poorly-lit bar, a man sits beside Shigaraki Tomura and a well-dressed bartender made of black mist. The TV is on, playing in the background, the news coverage discussing some prominent hero students from the UA Sports Festival.

But it's the guest that has Shigaraki's attention. He has dark hair and his clothes are worn and gray. Kurogiri has poured each of them a drink, but neither have taken more than a cursory sip.

"I went through a lot of trouble to find you," the man begins. "I hope you and your league are worth it."

Shigaraki's fingers skim across the wooden countertop delicately. "I should be saying that to you," he sneers. "Why don't you make yourself useful," the pale young man suggests, pointing at the television, "And tell me more about those hero students you're so obsessed with?"

The footage is of the very beginning of the first-years' tournament, as a dainty girl with glossy black hair climbs onto the podium beside Midnight.

A brilliant smile breaks out across Toph Beifong's face. One of the newscasters exclaims something complimentary about UA's newest sweetheart.

"I pledge," Toph speaks into the microphone, "To become the greatest hero."

There's a beat of silence, and then it becomes clear that she's finished her speech.

There's an uproar from the students around the girl, students clamoring for a proper speech. Toph's smile becomes a scorching, intense grin.

"Y'got a problem with that?" Toph continues, the microphone only picking up her words because she's shouting it at her classmates. "By all means. Let me prove myself!" She steps away from the podium, down into the hostile crowd.

"That brat in particular," Shigaraki comments, his nails now dragging red marks across his neck, his voice breaking down into a low rasp, "That one definitely pisses me off."

"I can see why," the dark-haired man agrees lazily, leaning back against the bar. "She's got charisma. That smile reminds me of All Might, wouldn't you agree?"

Shigaraki barks out a sharp laugh, an unpleasant grin stretching across his face. "There's a few like that. Cocky little shits…"


"Cocky little shit," The Flame Hero grumbles from two seats over.

Toshinori peers over at Todoroki, who is glaring down at the arena. It's unclear if he's scowling or smiling, but his attention is on the bright young student stepping down from the podium with a dazzling smile.

Truth be told, All Might is proud of the young lady! Beifong has such a phenomenal presence among her peers. And what a lovely smile, even when facing down a sea of competitors! But best of all, her spirit seems to rub off on the ones around her. Many students seem a bit insulted by her words, but one way or another, all of them are fired up.

Young Midoriya looks rather star-struck, though that hardly surprises Toshinori. He had at least three pages of analysis about Beifong in his newest notebook.

"This must be exciting for you, Endeavor," Toshinori can't help but say. He's aware that he's digging his own grave by sitting so near the Flame Hero, let alone talking to him again. Todoroki hadn't brought up the whole successor thing since he stormed off, and Toshinori decided it truly wasn't the time to have that talk with the Number Two Hero. He didn't plan on outright telling anyone about his injury, but his days as the Number One Hero was numbered. Before Midoriya could take up the mantle, all eyes would be on Endeavor.

Well, before he brings up such a somber topic, he ought to get to know the man a little better. "Your son and daughter are at the top of their class, and I can already tell they'll be making waves in the hero community after today!"

But it's not Endeavor that answers him; it's the white-haired young fellow that's unfortunately seated between them.

"What?" The young man sitting between him and Endeavor looks up at him with surprised gray eyes. And then bursts into laughter. Toshinori keeps grinning, though there's a tinge of confusion in his expression now.

Toshinori gives a wary laugh of his own. "Did I say something funny, young man?"

"Yeah, All Might. Sir." The boy huffs, only sounding slightly sarcastic as he addresses the hero. Toshinori doesn't take it to heart. Not everyone's a fan, after all.

"Well, what—?"

"Don't talk to my son," Endeavor speaks over All Might, his gaze suddenly burning a hole into Toshinori.

His… son?

Endeavor's son?!

Endeavor's son, but not Shouto?

He balks, peering down at the young man again. Spiky white hair, bright gray eyes. The young man doesn't look a thing like his father, except for the disgruntled expression he now wears.

Shit. Toshinori grimaces internally, but keeps smiling. Even without the family resemblance, he should have figured it out. Toshinori had simply assumed Endeavor had chosen his seat beside the young man in order to avoid sitting directly next to All Might, and that the white-haired man was another UA alum... or something...

Toshinori feels a bit silly now, but he'd been too absorbed in watching and fretting over Midoriya to think about it.

"O-Oh! How wonderful! You didn't introduce us, Todoroki-san—"

"This is Natsuo," Endeavor interrupts him tersely. "He's eighteen, and he studies at Tokyo University. Now can you stop talking?"

Natsuo rolls his eyes as soon as Endeavor isn't looking. Toshinori shakes his hand firmly, wondering just how many children Enji has. He's followed the young man's hero career for years, but he actually doesn't know much about Todoroki.

After a moment, Natsuo turns to Toshinori and explains, "It's funny because the old man is embarrassed to be caught on TV cheering for his secret bastard daughter."

"Natsuo." Endeavor snaps.

Toshinori chokes. "I-I had no idea—"

"That's because he's joking," Endeavor cuts Toshinori off again, glaring down at his elder son. "You have access to Beifong's files as her teacher, All Might," he reminds the hero sternly, which makes Toshinori sheepish. Of course. He's read Toph's file, he knows her history almost as well as Endeavor now. "Don't get the wrong idea." The Flame Hero huffs in annoyance. "If I knew you gossiped this much, Natsu, I'd have taken 'Yumi instead."

Natsuo looks completely at ease, almost smug at his father's annoyance. "Aw, my bad, I thought we were keeping it on the DL," he huffs, sipping cheerfully at his iced tea.

"...On the what?" Endeavor barks, glancing at Toshinori.

He shrugs helplessly. Kids these days have such fascinating slang words.

The younger Todoroki just waves his hand dismissively. "Well, in any case, Toph and the old man are touchy about the whole 'dad' and 'daughter' thing, so it's funny that even you consider her a Todoroki."

"Natsuo..." Endeavor is pinching the bridge of his nose now. "Stop."

"I'm literally talking to the most trustworthy hero possible, I don't see a problem here," Natsuo says idly. His father doesn't answer, and the young man takes that as permission to keep talking anyway. "Since we don't talk to the press, ever, he can't correct anyone making the assumption she's his daughter," the boy continues blithely. "He'd rather let 'em come up with crazy conspiracies than compromise the family's privacy."

Toshinori is perplexed. "Young Beifong is adopted. Does that not make her your daughter?"

He says 'daughter', but it's his elder son that explains. "She is, but… If you know she's adopted, do you know about Water Hose?"

At this question, Toshinori stills. He does know about Water Hose, and how they raised Beifong for several years before their deaths. His eyes flicker up to Endeavor, who is steadily ignoring their conversation. "Ah. Water Hose…"

The young man nods sagely. "The Izumis were her family," he says meaningfully. "They were her parents. Kouta, their son, is her brother. We've known her for a long time because she'd come over for playdates with Shouto, and she was planning to go to UA at the time, so it made sense to take her in. I think Toph is great, but she's not ours. Not like that. Get it?"

He frowns at the young man, puzzled, but nods anyway to end the conversation. Surely the Todorokis are selling themselves short. He can see for himself the way Endeavor treats the girl. Young Shouto certainly cares deeply for her.

But what do I know of family? Toshinori thinks to himself admonishingly. It's like Midoriya and I.

He is now Young Midoriya's teacher, after all, and there is so much more to it than mentoring, yet there is a careful distance between them.

Is it hard for you, too? Toshinori wants to ask him. Because Todoroki clearly won't assume himself to be the girl's father. And Toshinori avoids talking about Izuku's family, even though he is so heavily involved in the young man's upbringing now. And what about Young Shouto? Is there even a difference, in the end? Does that mean that mentoring Izuku is the same as acting as his father—

Toshinori coughs (dryly, thank goodness) into his fist, stumbling over his own thoughts.

He's already tried and failed to bring this up with Todoroki. If he pushes any further on the subject today, Toshinori suspects Endeavor will get up and flee (again).

It's a shame, though.

In the past few years, Endeavor and his agency have been doing an excellent job in Tokyo, to the point where the Flame Hero's approval ratings matched his ranking—something that, in the past, had been a huge point of controversy for Endeavor. For a large portion of the firebender's career, his approval rating had him ranging from fourth to twentieth place in the Billboard charts.

Toshinori has followed the rise and fall of his fellow top heroes for years, and none have impressed him more than the young man—well, younger than him—that has held the Number Two position the longest.

Given the chance, I think Enji and I could be great friends.


"Counting down to the brutal battle royale! Three…. Two… One!"

"START!"

Izuku knows what's coming, but it still amazes him. Toph straightens up, taking a deep breath. The whole stadium seems to pause with her, all eyes on their team, waiting, listening, watching.

Ice explodes outward on their left flank, a jagged trail of white seeking to link his team to Bakugou's. Wind whips around the arena, bursting out from the northern end of the ring where Yoarashi's team is gaining momentum. Izuku swears he sees the bald guy's eyes glow for a moment. The revving of an engine alerts him to Iida, the front horse of Yaoyorozu's team, charging forth. He can see the glimmer of Yaoyorozu's quirk as she activates it, though Izuku can't tell what her plan is yet. It won't matter, though.

The ice is spreading over the arena, spilling out from Todoroki relentlessly, but precisely enough that his teammates don't slip. It's almost reached them, though just a few seconds have passed. Izuku tenses, but says nothing. Tokoyami and Uraraka seem antsy. They know the plan, this is exactly what they anticipated, yet Izuku worries. She can do this, right? He wasn't overstepping, overestimating Toph's abilities? He was asking a lot from her, but it had been her suggestion in the first place.

He wants to lean over and ask, one last time, if Toph is sure about this, but he can't. It's too late to rethink it.

Izuku can only wait. And wait.

"Hold on," is all the warning Toph gives. Then the arena erupts; violently, rapturously, disappearing beneath a spray of dust and pebbles as Izuku's team dashes forward.


The Half-n-Half dumbass isn't quick enough on the draw to get Deku. His ice shatters in an instant against the earth, an explosion of glittering shit raining down around them alongside a fuckton of dirt. They're forced to stop, tumbling off-course as the ground lifts and heaves them aside. He can't see more than three meters ahead of them, but the continued rumbling of the arena isn't promising.

"That fucking BITCH!" He howls.

Being pissed off was a familiar feeling for Katsuki Bakugou, but man, did this girl have a talent for getting under his skin. The greatest hero, huh? Not just Number One, not the next All Might, but the absolute best hero. He hates her. Right now, he might even hate her as much as he hates Deku.

The worst part is that she didn't even look smug when she threw down the gauntlet at the beginning of the festival. That dirtbag had the gall to look happy, thrilled, to make such a ridiculous claim and listen to the student clamor their disagreement. She didn't sneer down on the students around her, she was proud. Everyone felt—excited to prove her wrong. Even Katsuki.

Stupid earthbender, she isn't even in the running for the next top hero if you ask him. He's going to end her whole life for that damn speech.

Katsuki snarls as his team reorients themselves, hands crackling just above Shitty Hair's shitty hair. IcyHot throws more ice at their feet, reconnecting the unstable ground as best he can.

"Hey, watch the 'do," the redhead says lightly, tilting his hair away. Katsuki doesn't even deign to answer him.

The dust in the air is thick, but far off on his left side it's moving too quickly to be natural. The Airhead, of course. And that other scrub from 1-B, the purple one. Maybe he'll have time to deal with those lovesick dumbasses later, after he crushes Toph Beifong like the doll-faced little girl she is.

If it were just Deku, this would be a lot more straightforward. The freckled shit didn't have any useful combat power on his own, he should've been forced onto defense for the Cavalry Battle. Katsuki wasn't one to underestimate that little cockroach anymore, not after his crazy stunt in the mock battle, but this shit would've been in the bag for Katsuki's team if Deku was calling the shots. But Roundface pranced right over to him, happy as a clam at high tide

Then the Earth Bitch saw her chance and commandeered the ten million point team for herself.

He's not an idiot, unlike most of his peers. Beifong could hold up against a lot of quirks, but she wasn't infallible. Gravity Girl and Birdface probably had powers she'd want to learn more about before being forced to fight them. And then there's Deku, with his endless ideas about her quirk and absolutely shit to show for his own abilities. Of course she was going to play him like a cheap kazoo.

Morons. They might be Team Midoriya, but all eyes are on Beifong. He imagines the wicked smirk she's wearing, and will do whatever it takes to wipe it off her damn face. Fucking show-off.

Katsuki raises a hand and ignites the air in front of them, clearing their vision a bit. It'll give away their position to the others, but Earth Girl already knows where they are. And Katsuki knows that little dirtbag isn't content to play hide-and-seek for Deku. They won't actively seek out points, but they won't run from this fight.

"Holy shit!" Kirishima gasps, finally able to see what's in front of them.

"What is she doing?" Todoroki hisses, sounding oddly annoyed.

"Aaaand there we have it!" Present Mic hollers, faint but distinct over the arena as it continues to quake. "Midoriya's team makes their first counter! A GROUNDBREAKING FEAT, RIGHT BENEATH OUR FEET! BEIFONG IS CREATING A MIND-BOGGLING LABYRINTH!"

"...If every comment from you is an earthbending pun, I'm leaving..."

Katsuki smacks the top of Kirishima's head. "Oi, Mr. Unwavering Horse. Let's fucking go."

"R-Right!" He tenses, activating his quirk and shifting into something like a shitty four-year-old's pencil drawing of himself, all jagged lines and knife-like angles.

Katsuki turns his attention to his other teammates. "IcyHot," he growls impatiently.

"Got it," the two-toned student nods, adjusting his stance. Fucker chose to be on Katsuki's left side, so he had to angle his ice usage carefully to avoid catching Shitty Hair or Tape Face in his quirk. Ice Fuck better not make Katsuki regret letting him join. He wants to see some goddamn fire, it's the only reason he allowed that bastard on his team. That and his stupid fucking points from the race.

Todoroki steps on the earth and the four of them lurch into the air, propelled by a smooth tower of ice, towards the upper walls of the maze. The barriers were thick and sturdy enough to hold their weight, as long as the Bitch didn't mess with them any further. But upon reaching the highest point of the arena, Katsuki swears.

It's not a maze, it's more like the fucking apocalypse.

The arena is a mess, still shaking and falling apart from strong aftershocks. Cement blocks break through the landscape, dividing up the playing field and scattering the teams. What few clear routes are left through the shaky earth are blatant traps—from his vantage point, Katsuki can see how the pathways force teams to clash unless they have the mobility to escape the earthen walls like his own group. It's like a child's playground, a huge puddle of mud sculpting and reforming on a whim.

"Hey, uh," Sero interrupts in a low tone, as if they might be overheard. "Did one of you pick a fight with Toph?"

"Hah?!" Katsuki snaps his eyes towards Tape Face, bewildered. "Fuck you! I didn't do shit!"

"Are you kidding?" Todoroki demands quietly. He leans over to catch Sero's eye, his gaze piercing "Think before you speak, Tape Man. She's not blindly attacking here."

"No pun intended?" Kirishima murmurs under his breath. IcyHot oozes with disdain.

"First of all, it's Sero," Tape Face corrects him. "And I'm just saying! This is kinda overkill, even for Beifong. Maybe it's personal?"

"She's not throwing a tantrum," Todoroki mutters. "Look at these structures, she's completely in control."

"You did say you didn't know what she was doing," Kirishima points out quietly.

Todoroki pauses. "I don't get why she likes Midoriya. And I don't know why she's putting so much effort into this, she has nothing to prove—" he cuts himself off abruptly, sighing. "Forget it. Let's just beat Midoriya's team already."

Katsuki rolls his eyes so hard he fears they might just fall out of their sockets. "Enough talking, then!" He shouts at the dour student.

Sero hums thoughtfully. "Can we beat 'em? Maybe I picked the wrong team—kidding, kidding!"

"Shut the fuck up already!" Katsuki whacks the top of his head. "Get us to that pillar!" He orders.

"Alright, alright!" Sero whines, throwing out a line of tape to help them across the valley.

Present Mic and Eraserhead continue to comment. "LOOKS LIKE TEAMS SHINSOU AND BAKUGOU ARE ABLE TO WORK AROUND THE DUST, BUT OTHER GROUPS ARE IN TROUBLE!"

"They might want to tone it down, though. If Midnight can't see what's happening, she could always disqualify them." A pause. "That's a warning."

A loud swear word echoes through the labyrinth, aimed at Aizawa, and then the dust disperses a little more. Kirishima snorts at the reaction, but Katsuki snarls.

She can control the dust cloud too.

Kirishima kicks Sero in the knee lightly. "That wasn't manly to say at all, man. Toph is super careful with her quirk." He sounds a bit uncertain, though.

As he speaks, a line of disturbed earth cuts through the center of the arena, entrapping Invisible Girl and her teammates. Sero curses.

"We need to find them quickly," IcyHot urges, pushing them towards the left, where the attack (and the shout) seemed to originate. It's hard to tell with the way sound echoes through the arena, on top of the shouts and mixed noises of battles going on around them. "If we're lucky, we can catch them before Toph has time to recover."

"Then you better fight like you mean it so I can kill her," Katsuki decides, tapping the two-toned student's shoulder. "Make a fucking path."

"Can you stop saying you'll kill people?" Shitty Hair mutters, exasperated. "It took me like a week to realize you weren't serious."

"I am serious!" Katsuki barks back mutinously. He is perfectly serious. He's just not being literal. Duh.

"Where should we go?" IcyHot asks, wordlessly forming a ramp that slides them over the tallest barrier. "We can't see much from here… "

Katsuki curses loudly and blasts the air in front of them again, clearing it further. "Like this, shithead!" He elbows Todoroki in the head. "Are you gonna make me do all the work, Snowflake?"

Gray and turquoise eyes land on Katsuki. He's a ridiculously stoic kid, but for once, it looks like he might be ticked off. Todoroki raises his left hand reluctantly.

"Bakugou. It's only cute when Toph calls me that," he deadpans, activating his left side. Tape Face splutters with laughter before Shitty Hair shushes him.

(For the record, though, that nickname is actually a Hitoshi Shinsou original. Toph has yet to call him 'Snowflake'. But she certainly could, and Shouto wouldn't mind at all.)

Katsuki's eye twitches. Why did I let you on my team again? His vision begins to go red. Both from anger, and from the wimpy blast of fire Todoroki punches out into the air to disperse more of the dust.

Todoroki's fire-side sucks ass. Katsuki roars. "You useless ice cube, that's not enough—!"

"Guys!" Kirishima barks, "We've got company!"

A boulder hurdles towards them wildly, and all thoughts of Todoroki's fire farts are put on the back-burner. Kirishima braces against the attack—their team skids back from the momentum at first, rattling them all, before he and IcyHot rally and blast apart the projectile with (slightly less wimpy) fire and a detonation from Katsuki's right palm.

They reset, Katsuki balancing on their arms with a grunt. That attack felt off. He's never gone one-on-one with the earthbender before, but this felt more like…

"Ooh hoo, we almost gotcha, huh?!" A high voice cackles from beyond their field of view.

His team pauses at the voice, perplexed.

"W-Was that Uraraka-san?" Sero chokes out. "I'm getting flashbacks to her scary game face."

The dust settles enough for them to see Deku's team properly. Rocks hover at their feet, enough rubble that even Katsuki knows better than to take his eyes off the potential weapons. Any one of the horses could utilize those rocks against them. Their useless rider sits atop, looking stupid and frazzled as always, muttering incomprehensibly at the earthbender.

"DEKU!" He screams. Deku's attention snaps away from his teammate and up to him.

"Hey now, don't forget about the rest of us!" Beifong calls out. Her feet shift against the earth, and before they can blink there's three pillars of rock pummeling them from Sero's side.

They can't turn in time for Kirishima to take the brunt of the hit, so it's Katsuki that reacts, blasting through the rock before it trips up Tape Face and compromises their mobility.

That's more like it, he thinks in satisfaction. Her ground attack is different from the projectiles. Way more deliberate than Roundface. Both of them were dangerous, but Beifong knew how to fight.

Without really thinking about it, Katsuki's face splits into a vicious, heartfelt grin. That earthbender has been a threat since day one, and he's finally been given the chance to knock her down. As much as Beifong is in her element here, so is Katsuki.

I'll show you who's the greatest hero.


"What the hell," Hitoshi exclaims, holding onto his teammates for dear life as a jungle gym from hell destroys the arena around them. "What the actual fuck?!"

"I know, I know!" Inasa hollers back gleefully, lifting all four of them from rock to rock, smashing through the thinner spires that try to block their path. He's not sure how Yoarashi is managing so well, he's usually graceless without his hero costume.

Then again, Yoarashi never used ice before today, so who knows what other elements he has up his sleeve?

.

.

.

Wait a minute. Hitoshi's thoughts stall.

"She's amazing!" Inasa continues blithely.

Just how much truth is there to the whole Avatar thing?! Hitoshi wonders, mildly terrified. He hadn't had time to think about it before now, it'd been stressful enough trying to convince his classmates to team up. He glances at the bald giant in front of him. I can't ask him now. But how long has he been hiding this for?

"She's INSANE," Honenuki screams, absolutely frazzled by the eruption of cement and rubble around them. "This is all from the cute blind girl in 1-A?!"

"The cutest one, Toph Beifong!" Inasa confirms, buoyant as air and equally transparent.

"This is why we're not going after her," Hitoshi reminds his classmates, pushing away all his disorderly thoughts as they balance on one of the higher points of the arena. He should just feel grateful he had classmates willing to join him at all. Never mind the Avatar stuff. "Beifong is with Midoriya, they're going to attract the most attention and we don't need that."

He's glad he came to that decision early on, because it now occurs to Hitoshi that he's never really seen Toph use her earthbending to the fullest. And now reality is slapping him in the face, Toph is ridiculously strong.

But Yoarashi hadn't been using his quirk to the fullest either. Maybe they could go after Midoriya's team?

In the obstacle course, Hitoshi had seen water flowing up and out of the deep ravine that students had to cross on thin wires. He didn't think about it any further until he saw the iceberg at the end of the race that Yoarashi had constructed. Even now, he was using some form of earthbending to break down pillars.

But… no. Yoarashi might have three quirks and counting, but he couldn't fight like Toph. She'd been good enough to beat up adults before she hit double-digits. Now wasn't the time to face off with the earthbender.

"Why not, Zombie Boy?!" Tetsutetsu barks. "You a chicken? I wanna fight that! Show 'em what 1-B's made of!"

Tetsutetsu bares his teeth at another pillar of rock as it bursts through the ground. Hitoshi doesn't have to say anything to know that the rest of his team disagrees with the idea of fighting the human equivalent of a natural disaster.

"She's overdoing it," Tetsutestu declares. "I say we snatch that headband while they're vulnerable!"

Hitoshi casts the steel-quirk user a considering look. It's an unusually astute observation from the bonehead. He only picked Tetsu for his team for his durability. That and the fact that he was willing to let Hitoshi be the rider and lead their fight. (Nice to know his work ethic in their training battles was paying off here. Getting sent to the nurse's office with the rest of his class for dust and mushroom inhalation was worth it after all, if it meant his classmates began to see him as a strategist.)

"There's already enough commotion over the ten million headband," Hitoshi dismisses him curtly. "Why not scalp some points from our dear classmates while they're busy?"

"They already know your quirk, 'Toshi" Tetsu argues, though he dutifully carries Shinsou down a steep slope and into the caverns of the arena. "At least go for 1-A teams!"

"We don't know all the quirks in 1-A," Honenuki says calmly, seemingly finished with his little fanboy moment over Toph (But is he? Hitoshi has known her for years, and he's still not over Toph). "Our own class, on the other hand—well, Beifong has given us this handy-dandy cloud cover… They won't see Shinsou coming if we can stay hidden." Honenuki, he knows, is raring to go mess with their lizard classmate in particular.

Inasa bristles, realizing where this is headed. Hitoshi grins. "Whaddya think, Yoarashi?"

"I got this!" The airbender declares eagerly. His teammates can't help but remember those are the same words he used right before suffocating his class with mushroom spores. "I'm serious, leave it to me!"

"Don't kill us," Hitoshi deadpans, patting his bald head lightly. "I'll make it an order if I have to."

If he'd made that joke in the beginning of the semester, Inasa would have hated it. Now, though, the airbender just gives a hearty laugh. "Just hold on, boys! We're gonna fly!"


As the stadium erupts into cheers and screams, Enji Todoroki is painfully silent. Despite the dust they have a decent vantage point from the UA alum stands, and he can see the utter domination of Midoriya's team as the arena explodes into a cavernous monstrosity of a labyrinth. Natsuo curses colorfully to himself, leaning forward in anticipation. He begins to chatter next to Enji about his shock over Beifong's power, echoing the many conversations happening around him. Enji just narrows his eyes at the display.

"My goodness!" All Might exclaims, seeing Toph's earthbending in full force. Luckily, one look from Enji has him shutting up for a while after that.

Natsuo continues to ramble, and Enji tunes him out to search for Shouto and Inasa in the chaos. Both teams are faring decently, as Present Mic narrates the violent battles occurring within the thick earthen walls of Beifong's maze.

While he's not worried about any of them, he's not thrilled either. All three of them declined to create their own teams and serve as the rider. Obviously Beifong wouldn't be a rider, but he doesn't see the logic behind Shouto or Inasa joining less powerful students. The explosion boy was an okay choice, in terms of sheer strength, but Enji would've expected Shouto to avoid someone like that. Bakugou was volatile and uncooperative, like the Rabbit Hero, Miruko (and Endeavor himself).

Maybe he's mocking me, Enji supposes. If that's the case I'm actually relieved.

Yoarashi joining Shinsou is an even greater surprise. Enji had expected Beifong and Shinsou to team up for the cavalry battle. It was already clear by the way the kids talked at home that Shouto, Toph, and Inasa would be strictly rivals throughout the entire tournament, their competitive nature winning out. On the other hand, Shinsou couldn't get far in the tournament without making good use of the people and quirks around him, so it would've made sense for him to use his friendship with Beifong to his advantage. But instead, the 1-B students stuck together.

Then there's Toph. Sidling up to the first-place winner and blatantly slapping a huge target on her back. It was arrogant enough of her to provoke her classmates with that opening speech, but then she picked the team with ten million points too.

Not to mention the fucking earth maze. Why not erect a fifty-foot statue of yourself while you're at it? He wonders irritably. Running herself raggedly before the third event was hardly the right way to showcase her strength.

Enji doesn't understand these kids.

There's no way Beifong can sustain the maze for the entire battle. There's no way Yoarashi and Shinsou became best friends over the course of a month of school together. And there's no way Shouto is—Enji leaps to his feet with a shout.

"SHOUTOOO! YES!" He screams in triumph as his son punches flames at a dark shadow bird creature, advancing on Midoriya's team. This is—this is great. His form is sloppy, but it's beautiful. Powerful. He must be practicing on his own. "YES! YES, SHOUTO! YOU'RE FINALLY ACCEPTING WHO YOU ARE!"

"Dad!" Natsuo snaps, gathering up napkins. "You made me spill my drink. Stop yelling, you sound like a maniac."

All Might gives a hearty laugh as Enji sits back down.


One moment, they're fighting Deku's wimpy team, trying to regain their balance as that shadow monster sweeps at them from Todoroki's side—IcyHot defends with a proper blast of fire, the largest he's seen so far. The shadow squeals with fright, which seems to startle Todoroki, funnily enough. Katsuki roars, bellowing threats at the teams around them, preparing to leap off his teammates' arms again to attack Deku—

And in the next moment, Katsuki feels the cloth fall away from his forehead.

He lurches, barely stopping himself from toppling to the ground. His heart thumps loudly in his ears. Shit. What just happened?

Deku lets out a loud whoop, and orders his team to retreat.

"Class 1-A is just too simple-minded," an unfamiliar voice comments. A blonde student with pale blue eyes. He doesn't recognize this scrub, but it's obviously some extra from 1-B.

"He got us!" Sero yells, steering them around.

Deku might have the ten million points, but not all teams were targeting them. Beifong must've noticed this guy hanging back. I thought their attack angles seemed off, Deku was distracting me with the shadow creature attacks.

"What'd you say, bastard?" Katsuki inhales air, exhales pure rage. "Give it back, I'll kill you!"

"You're famous, aren't you?" The bastard continues to goad him. "As the victim from the sludge incident?"

The sludge. Suffocating, screaming—yeah, he fucking remembers that shit.

The oily voice continues. "You should tell me about it sometime. About how it feels to be attacked by a villain once a year." The student smiles placidly.

Fury flashes over him like a tidal wave, quick and all-consuming. Sero is shouting something at him in warning, telling him to calm down. The 1-B team is still close, within striking distance.

"Kirishima… change of plans."

Katsuki looks down in surprise, because that was his line, not Todoroki's. Don't tell me you're offended on my behalf. That just doesn't make sense, you half-and-half bastard! Yet his face is pinched with annoyance, mismatched eyes narrowed and alert.

Katsuki doesn't have time to wonder about it, so he settles for being irritated with everyone.

"Todoroki, you too?!" Kirishima yelps. "Calm down, we were going to fight Midoriya—!"

"We'll just deal with Monoma quickly, then," Todoroki interrupts, glancing at Katsuki meaningfully. "Bakugou. He copies quirks if he touches you," he says quietly. "And his teammate, Shoda. I don't know how it works, but he creates secondary impacts."

He knows their quirks?

Katsuki's eyes widen. Then he grins viciously. Todoroki knows about as many of his classmates' names as Katsuki does (He had to ask Tape Face to introduce himself before joining the team), so it's hilarious that he's managed to retain any info at all on 1-B students, but Katsuki's not complaining.

(The truth is that Shouto spends a lot of time with Inasa, and he's a good friend that listens properly even though he doesn't care much about the trillion things that Inasa talks about. On the other hand, beyond those he sees as rivals, Shouto rarely gives his classmates a second thought.)

"Looks like you're good for something after all." Katsuki growls lowly, getting into position to jump again. "Make another ramp, Ice Cube. Let's rain hellfire down on them."

The half-and-half boy rolls his eyes. "Okay, Sweaty Hands."

Sweaty Hands? God, he hates this kid. Him and the earth girl and Deku. "After I win I'm going to kill you, Todoroki."

"Let's just get this over with," Todoroki grunts. "You're heavy."


There are only three minutes left in the Cavalry Battle. Shouto's team has a few headbands. Inasa and Hitoshi look like they have several. Toph's team has two, but the numbers are flipped over, so he has no idea how many points they have. They're trying to pin down Yaoyorozu's team, though, so it's possible they lost the ten million headband in the turmoil.

That boy hasn't used his quirk even once today. It had been amusing in the first round, but now he was commanding a team of powerful classmates against eleven other teams. And that little green brat wasn't using his quirk.

He's weak, Enji concludes easily. So why do I get them feeling that Shouto's competing with him? Why did Toph pick a teammate she'd have to babysit?

"What happened with Midoriya near the end?" Shouto asks Toph, brow furrowed with frustration. "I don't get why Cementoss screened you two off with All Might."

"I used my quirk on Midoriya…" Toph's face is lowered, shadowed by her long bangs. "He was going to attack the villains with that janky quirk of his. He's not fast enough…"

"I just think the two of us might be in similar positions right now."

Enji looks over the seats towards the large blonde man. Natsuo has gone off to buy food because 'You're stressing me out here, old man', so there's just an empty seat between them. "All Might," he says slowly, eyes narrowed. The hero looks up from where his eyes are glued to Midoriya's team, politely confused. "Are you—?"

He's cut off by a roar of delight from the stadium. Midoriya's team makes a dramatic lunge for Yaoyorozu's headbands, trapping her in place and fending off electricity simultaneously while Midoriya leaps forward recklessly, near-weightless, to attack.

"A phone call is here! A phone call is here!"

Enji doesn't look, but he sees All Might startle at the horrendous ringtone and begin to pat down his clothes for his mobile phone.

A loud horn blares overhead, signaling the end of the match. Midnight begins to tally up the final scores, talking over Present Mic and the roaring crowd in a confusing clamor of voices.

All Might laughs nervously, pulling out a clunky-looking smartphone. "Please excuse me, I ought to see what's—" He catches sight of the lit-up screen and immediately goes pale. "Oh, shit," All Might yelps in surprise, and before Enji can blink, he's out of his seat and ducking out into the hallway.

"IN FIRST PLACE, I DON'T KNOW HOW THEY DID IT, TEAAAAM MIDORIYAAAAA!"

Enji scoffs. Beifong drops the green-haired boy to the ground unceremoniously, breathing hard and glaring for a moment before her expression smoothes over once more. Looks like winning the Cavalry Battle wasn't enough to satisfy her, unsurprisingly.

Second place goes to Shouto's team. They spent the latter half of the fight rounding up points from weaker teams after they were ambushed, but he was excited to see Shouto using larger and larger blasts of fire. Perhaps that was why he picked Bakugou as a teammate, the two of them seemed to goad each other on. Is that healthy, though?

Third place goes to Shinsou and Yoarashi's team. Enji suspects that those boys were too wary of Toph to go after her team, but if they'd dared to get closer to her portion of the arena, they might have been able to surprise everyone and come out on top. Still, he'd seen Yoarashi use bits of earthbending throughout the battle. It was a subtle thing, but anyone that knew to look for it would notice.

"LAST BUT NOT LEAST, WE HAVE TEAAAM YAOYOROOOZUUUU!" Present Mic howls, and the stadium cheers with him, feeding off his energy.

Yaoyorozu, the other recommended student in 1-A. Too timid. She had a great plan using a speedster to take the headband from Midoriya's team, but when they pressed her in order to regain it, she crumbled. Besides the Iida boy, her other two teammates were unimpressive.

"Endeavor?" All Might has returned to the stands, his cellphone looking comically small in his hands. But his expression is odd. Not serious, but not relaxed either. "Don't be alarmed. Principal Nedzu would like you to come with me."

Enji tenses, regardless. "Is this about—?"

"No, no, it's not about Yoarashi or the case, it's—It's about Ms. Beifong."


Izuku yelps as he falls off his teammates' shoulders, landing on his backside. "Ow…"

"Deku!" Uraraka gives him a worried look before glancing at Beifong. "Man, what was the point of all that planning?"

The earthbender isn't facing them, but Izuku can see the rise and fall of her shoulders as she catches her breath. There's a slight tremble to her arms. She mutters something darkly and brings a hand up to rub at her jaw.

Tokoyami offers Izuku a hand, and he takes his eyes off Beifong to climb to his feet.

Despite how well the Cavalry Battle went for them, Izuku can't help but feel they've lost in some way. All of them worked hard, and it took the combined efforts of all the students to hold onto the ten million headband for the allotted time... but Toph's earth maze hadn't been a part of their strategy. Izuku had suggested obstacles, barriers, and traps, but not the monstrous playground Toph had pulled out of the floor.

She'd held back after the initial bout of bending, though it must have seemed patronizing to Uraraka and Tokoyami, because even at the end of the match, she'd had the strength to lay quicksand-like traps for Yaoyorozu's team. But throughout the fifteen minute fight he'd been able to feel her shaking with fatigue. He's not sure the other two students had noticed it, because she wasn't carrying them. He'd tried to bring it up while they fought, asking if she was getting exhausted, but Toph hadn't even acknowledged the question. She hadn't really disobeyed Izuku—she'd simply gone over the top with every move.

So Izuku isn't upset with Toph, he's just confused. He'd known his team would dominate the fight with Beifong; what he'd underestimated was how much Toph wanted to dominate the fight too.

"Hey!" Uraraka's cheeks puff out in annoyance. "Toph, are you listening?"

"Uraraka," Izuku says quietly, rubbing his neck. "We kept our headband, s-so it's not really—"

"She went totally off the rails," Uraraka rounds on him, eyes hard. She throws a hand out towards the arena, which still looks like a funhouse mirror version of Gamma Gym with its enormous pillars and curling walls of earth everywhere. "And all we could do was go along for the ride! Was that all just to show off?"

"No, of course not," Izuku finds himself coming to Beifong's defense automatically. Cementoss is slowly but surely breaking down Toph's maze behind them, making the arena tremble and groan in protest. "Don't think so poorly of Beifong, I-I'm sure there's a better reason…"

"Of course I was showing off," Toph says at last, her voice smooth and firm. "I'm not apologizing for that." She wipes her mouth with the back of her hand and finally turns to face them, giving a vague, tight-lipped smile. It looked nothing like the grin she had when she was up on the podium, talking on national television.

Izuku can only watch, speechless, as Toph brushes past the gravity girl towards the exit.

Uraraka flushes with shock and indignation. "Toph, you—" she starts, but Tokoyami places a calming hand on her shoulder and shakes his head.

But as Toph passes Izuku, he sees it. Or, no, he's not sure what he sees, but her jaw is clenched too tightly, and her head tilts down and away to keep her expression out of sight. And he's struck with such an intense feeling of being wrong-footed by this, a sense that Toph is completely off her game right now despite how wholeheartedly she's just proven herself to be the strongest.

And Izuku makes a snap decision. He gives some hurried goodbyes to Tokoyami and Uraraka, and takes off after Beifong.

It's probably nothing. He's probably being overbearing, and Toph is going to tear into him like Kacchan does whenever Izuku checks in with him. But he ought to ask if she's okay, right?

Especially since it looked like she was spitting up blood.


A/N: Finally, some action! And some unreliable narration while I'm at it. I'm sad to say I couldn't give you guys Toph's POV at all in this chapter, but certain POVs would give away too much

ATTENTION: I also forgot something kind of important for this fic... At this point in the story's timeline, Mineta isn't in 1-A anymore. I meant to include it earlier in the fic, but it feels very out of place given how serious the plot is right now. So, I decided it would be part of a series of unrelated short stories that comes up after I'm done with the Imbalance / Sports Festival arc.

Let me know what you think! I live for reviews.