Author's Note: Hey! I just wanted to add this note at the beginning of this chapter to address a review that I got. It asked why I wrote this Izuku as asexual. It was a guest, so I couldn't exactly respond, so I'm doing this here. This person asked if it was because I can't write romance, which is partly true. If you were around my profile around April last year, you'd know that I have written romance before. I took that down on this site, however, because I didn't know how long I wanted it to run for and I ended it very poorly. It's actually still up on my AO3 account, so if you want you can still read it there. I wouldn't recommend it, because it's bad, but it's possible. This guest also asked if it was so that Izuku could purely focus on his hero career and improving. While that is a benefit, it isn't the main cause.
I wrote this Izuku as asexual because I myself am ace, and I felt that, for all this fandom's LGBTQIA+ inclusion and celebration, there weren't many fics that portrayed him as such. I think it's important to not just represent a larger category of people and call it a day, such as writing Izuku as gay, which is very common in this fandom. It's important to show people everything, not just the broad strokes. I got mixed feelings upon coming out as ace, some people thought it was a phase and some straight up (well, not straight) didn't know what it was to be ace, even though it's one of the few letters of the acronym that doesn't get relegated to the plus. So, that's why I've gone through with this. There is some experimentation with this down the line from Izuku, but it is only to confirm the fact that this facet of Izuku does not change. I hope this litter rant didn't make anyone just skip straight to the chapter, though I'd understand if it did.
Enjoy the chapter!
As soon as Midnight said the word, Izuku shot out ahead, using his six percent of One for All to gain a lead immediately. He heard Bakugp's explosions directly behind him, and he knew that the blond had to be less than five meters behind him. Izuku ran along the ground, hearing the sounds of Sero's tape being fired behind him. He knew that some people, like Sero, had the advantage in the tunnel, of which Izuku was coming up on the exit.
Suddenly, the air temperature dropped even further than it had before the Obstacle Race had begun, dropping so fast that Izuku almost tripped up because of the distraction. Hearing the sound of ice spreading across the ground behind him, Izuku crouched down, collecting power in his leg as he used the brief moment to take a look at what was happening behind him.
Todoroki was running at full speed, manifesting ice from his right leg and freezing most of the people behind him. The only people to escape the ice floor were the people that had seen him use it before, which was all of Class-1A, as well as some members of the other classes who knew what he was capable of from his status as a recommended student.
Izuku, having built up enough power in his leg, turned around and leapt toward the wall, narrowly dodging the floor of ice that spread past his point in an instant. Izuku moved the power from his right leg to his left, and barely managed to complete the movement as he landed on the wall, pushing off it and launching himself forward. He was in fourth place now, because of his brief pause and his dodge, having to catch up to Sero, Todoroki and Bakugo now, though Sero wasn't too far ahead.
Activating Float almost immediately after his launch, Izuku felt something odd in his core, which he had long since come to associate with One for All. Something was wrong, but he didn't know what. Deciding that it wasn't bad enough to affect his performance for now, Izuku pressed on, ignoring his off feeling and Floated toward Sero, who was just exiting from his final swing from the roof of the tunnel, soaring into the open air.
Izuku caught up to Sero quickly, but started to lose speed as he closed the gap. Apologizing to Sero mentally, Izuku summoned Blackwhip and aimed his hand toward Sero's back, letting his Quirk latch onto the boy's back and fasten around his shoulders. Izuku yanked himself toward Sero while reeling Blackwhip in, Float still active, and flung himself past his friend, letting him fall to the ground with a rough thudding noise.
Now in third place, Izuku set his sights on Todoroki, who was lagging behind Bakugo by a few paces. He wasn't as fast as Bakugo, who was using his explosions to propel himself, so he was Izuku's next target. Izuku, as soon as he began to lose speed, turned off Float, using the rest of his forward momentum to fall to the ground and roll as quickly as possible, retaining his position.
"Class-1A taking the lead in these early stages! What do you feed those kids, Shota?" Present Mic said.
"This isn't me. They've seen pure evil, and they've learned to not hesitate when they see an opportunity. It's like Midoriya said: They've been motivated from the attack at the USJ," Aizawa corrected.
Izuku smiled, knowing that at least Aizawa got it. He had admired his work as Eraserhead, but he had come to respect the man, Aizawa, as well. As Izuku progressed in his training, he got the feeling that he should tell Aizawa about One for All, but All Might would tell him not to, to preserve the status quo. Izuku thought that 'keeping the status quo' as a Hero meant that they were stagnating, and stagnation was complacency, and complacency as a Hero might as well be a death sentence to helpless civilians.
As he ran along the ground, Izuku fired up One for All in his legs, moving the power between his limbs as he took long strides to compensate for his abysmal speed in comparison to his potential. He had only experienced how fast he could truly be once, in the entrance exam. He had jumped to confront the Zero Pointer, and had risen to the beast's eye level, about five stories tall, in the blink of an eye, and it had disoriented him greatly. He could barely keep up with six percent's speed increase, so Izuku had no idea how he was going to cope with his full speed when he could actually use it.
Todoroki looked back at Izuku and scowled, just now realizing that he was after him. He released another wave of ice, which Izuku leapt over with the help of Float. Izuku kept speeding along the ground, closing the gap between him and Todoroki, until the two came across the first stage, the Bot-Mitzvah. Midnight had described it as the robots from the entrance exam, but Izuku hadn't expected it to be almost entirely the Zero Pointers.
Izuku saw Bakugo making his way up to the head of one of the Zero Pointers, and Todoroki running toward the feet of one. He could also hear the people behind them catching up, so he needed to decide quickly. Izuku decided that he was going to follow Bakugo's lead, crouching down and pumping his legs full of power.
A One for All empowered leap, coupled with Float, let him rise to the level of the head of the Zero Pointer of his choice. Izuku, as he leveled out to a hover, summoned Blackwhip and shot it out toward the head of his Zero Pointer. He moved his Super Strength from his legs to his arms, yanking with all his might on the Blackwhips wrapped around the Zero Pointer's head.
Because the Zero Pointer was so much bigger and heavier than him, Izuku's yank pulled him toward the Zero Pointer, landing vertically on the Zero Pointer's face and making a dent in it the size of a large skateboard. Izuku looked around and figured out how to get ahead, as Bakugo was still battling the Zero Pointer in front of him and Todoroki was crouched down, ice swirling around him, which caught Izuku's attention.
Todoroki was down low, with ice spreading around him. Suddenly, a gigantic blast of ice, like a large blade made from his Quirk, sprouted from the ground and rose to meet the Zero Pointer in an instant. The Zero Pointer froze, the metal creaking as it shrunk slightly under the intense cold. Izuku knew it wouldn't hold, and he guessed that Todoroki knew that as well, as he quickly ducked under the Zero Pointer's legs, getting out in front as the robot was still frozen and the people behind them were still in awe.
Snapping back into his own thoughts, Izuku transferred the power still in his arms to his legs. He lengthened his Blackwhips and began to lower himself to the bottom of the Zero Pointer's flat face. Izuku crouched down, getting as small as possible, before leaping out and reeling in the Blackwhips. The combination of his leap and the shortening of his Blackwhips made him swing around over the head of the Zero Pointer at intense speeds, and he used this to fling himself forward, releasing his Blackwhips at just the right time to let his circular momentum turn into forward momentum, activating Float to let him skim across the sky over Todoroki, who was dodging and weaving his way through robots, occasionally freezing some.
Izuku Floated over almost all of the first stage, until he began to lose speed from his slingshot. He deactivated Float and began to soar toward the ground, keeping the power of One for All in his legs to reinforce his landing into a roll to make sure he didn't break his legs. As he came up from his roll, Izuku saw Todoroki pass him once again, and he began to run to catch up.
"Todoroki! Why won't you use all your powers?" Izuku asked, using Blackwhip to slam two One Pointers together, destroying them.
"I refuse to use his curse!" Todoroki snarled, freezing a Three Pointer and kicking it to shards.
Izuku didn't know what that meant, but he'd have to take it at face value for now. Todoroki must have viewed Endeavour's fire as an evil, cursed Quirk, and the fire half of his own Quirk as an extension of that evil, and not something that was a part of him. It probably had something to do with the prominent scar on the left side of Todoroki's face, but that was none of Izuku's business.
Bakugo's explosions grew louder in the distance, and Izuku knew he would eventually catch up. Izuku's blood was pumping so hard that he could feel it under his scars, and it was an oddly exhilarating feeling. It was like he was an action movie star, and he was running to save the world, which may very well be the reality he would face soon. Izuku brought his thoughts back to the race, and increased his One for All percentage, which had slipped slightly in his distraction.
As Izuku and Todoroki reached the end of the first stage, Bakugo caught up. The three ran alongside each other, Todoroki only slightly lagging behind, and Bakugo only slightly flying ahead. The three were on fairly even grounds speed wise, Izuku being impressed at Todoroki's ability to keep up without a Quirk that aided his speed. If anything, Todoroki's Quirk hindered his mobility, because of his body's vulnerability to cold, just like any other person.
As the three came upon the second stage, Bakugo immediately flew ahead, not being inconvenienced by the obstacle at all. With the ability to fly, two out of three of the stages were kind of useless, and Izuku grinned, knowing that he could figure out a way to get around the mines. First, though, he needed to deal with The Fall.
"See ya later, nerds!" Bakugo yelled, cackling as he flew ahead.
Izuku leapt forward with One for All, keeping his arms and legs in to minimize his air resistance. Neglecting Float, Izuku's forward momentum stalled, and he fell into the gaps between the islands, sinking into the darkness. After a moment of building speed as he fell, Izuku looked back up and fired off Blackwhip toward one of the islands, latching onto the lip of the platform and swinging forward harshly, yanking his arm forward and almost dislocating his shoulder.
Ignoring the sharp pain in his shoulder, Izuku swung through the darkness, and eventually came up and out of the pit, getting a strong reaction from the people that had watched him fall in, mainly Todoroki and Sero. The two watched as he extravagantly flipped in the air and landed on one of the platforms, Blackwhip sinking back into his arm.
"Whoa! Midoriya returns from the abyss! What a twist!" Present Mic screamed.
"You didn't think he was dead, did you?" Aizawa asked, his eye-roll evident in his dry tone.
"Holy crap, Midoriya. That was awesome!" Sero said, leaping into the stage with enthusiasm after Izuku's display of mobility.
Izuku was crouched down on the platform he had landed on, and he wasn't moving at all, mostly because he couldn't. Something was wrong, the same feeling he had before returning as a burning feeling in his chest, One for All seeming to want to burn through him. Izuku couldn't move a muscle, and One for All was increasing in power in his legs, trying to escape the strict limit of his waist.
It was like One for All was trying to climb up him, but Izuku was pushing it down as best he could. OFA was stubborn though, and it was difficult to control. It was like it wanted to be used at one hundred percent, but Izuku wasn't going to let it. He got as small as possible, hoping his power would obey and follow his lead, but the burning feeling just kept spreading and intensifying.
"Whoa! Midoriya collapses in on himself! What's going on?" Present Mic yelled.
"He looks to be in pain," Aizawa noted.
"Hey, Midoriya. Are you alright? What's happening?" Sero asked, as Todoroki used this chance to pass both of them.
"It burns! I can't … keep it in. You should just go … before you get hurt," Izuku groaned, feeling like his bones were creaking against one another.
"No, dude. You need help and I'm gonna help you. What can I do?" Sero asked.
Izuku yelled out in pain, pushing down the power in his legs enough to be usable to him. It may have been a bit over his limit, but nothing strong enough to shatter his legs like he had during the entrance exam.
He jumped up, using Float to keep his speed for as long as possible. Izuku felt like he was going to explode, and due to the unknown nature of one of the Quirks inside One for All, that could very well have been a possibility. As Izuku soared into the air, he felt the power in him crescendo, One for All spreading to every part of him and becoming a searing, burning heat instead of a comfortable warmth.
"What the hell is happening with Midoriya?! He's glowing like some sort of angel!" Present Mic screamed.
Looking at his body, Izuku saw that he was surrounded by an aura of bright green lightning, something he had never seen before. Maybe this was the second's Quirk? The lightning was growing around him, becoming bigger and more intense as it flickered around his skin, and something about it felt right. He didn't know what, but it was a natural feeling, but it was short lived. The lightning quickly exploded away from him as One for All's power was drained from his body.
Everything faded away, black mist consuming him. He was in the vestiges' world, and he was supposedly awake in reality. This had never happened before, only being unconscious while talking to his predecessors. Nobody was there, though, and it was eerily quiet. If Izuku listened closely, he could hear a faint version of Present Mic's commentary, and it brought him some comfort to know that things hadn't stopped in this realm, only taken a detour.
Izuku looked around, still seeing nothing. It was getting a bit unnerving to be alone in this world for so long, because he normally associated the vestige world with unity and his family, not barrenness and emptiness, like he was feeling now.
He felt something in the 'air' shift, and the smoke around him turned and undulated into something strange looking, almost like a man. It was a twisted, deformed man, but it was a man. He had no face above his mouth, his entire head being wrapped in scar tissue, the only remnant of facial features being a wicked smirk, and Izuku recognized the man.
It was All for One.
Izuku suddenly awoke in his body and released Float, dropping to the ground and activating it again just before he hit the ground to slow his fall. He landed on the ground next to Sero, who had been watching him with baited breath.
Izuku's bones felt like they were going to fall apart, and he had trouble not passing out right then. He slowly climbed off the ground in silent agony, until he met Sero's worried expression with a pained smile.
"Don't worry. I'm fine," Izuku said, a tear falling from his eye.
"You're not fine," Sero said.
"I wasn't, but I am now," Izuku said, flexing his arms and hands.
"Alright, man. If you're alright," Sero said.
Sero ran off, using the same strategy that Izuku had earlier, of falling underneath the platforms and using his Quirk to wing up once he had gathered enough momentum. He took a few deep breaths, trying to come down from the pain, and tried One for All. Strangely, he couldn't make OFA's strength flow into his body.
Izuku wondered if something had gone wrong, and why he had seen a vision of All for One in the vestige realm, but that was something to worry about later. He needed to catch up to Todoroki and Bakugo, whose explosions could still be seen ahead of everyone. He guessed that he was in about fifteenth place, and immediately took off toward his rivals, needing to move as fast as he could even without his Super Strength.
As he ran to the edge of the platform, Izuku leapt across the edge, using Float to carry him across the pit below him. As he landed on the platform in front of him, he was passed by Mei Hatsume, who waved at him with a cheeky grin while she zoomed past on her hover-boots. Izuku grinned, knowing she had been working hard to develop her gadgets for the Festival. He saw her leaping between platforms using her hover-boots, and got an idea.
Izuku summoned Blackwhip and, after finding he still could, shot them forward at an angle, curling them over the lip of the next platform. He kept the length of the Blackwhips the same, but stepped back, stretching the Blackwhips to their most elongated state possible. Izuku activated Float, and jumped off the ground slightly, being carried by the coiling of the Blackwhips over the ground and across the gap, slingshotting himself similar to the way he had navigated around the Zero Pointer.
"With renewed passion, Midoriya is back in the game!" Present Mic said, far too invested for an objective commentator.
He flew across the ground, not slowing down. Izuku didn't know when he was going to lose speed, so made the most of it. Due to also being close to the ground, Izuku knew that he didn't need to deactivate Float any time soon, so he let his momentum carry him across the rest of the stage.
As he began to lose speed as he hovered over the ground, Izuku released Float and rolled on the ground, coming up immediately and breaking out into a sprint. He passed a few people with his slingshot move, but he still estimated about ten people in front of him. Izuku approached Tsu, who was hopping along the ground as fast as she could.
"Hey, Tsu," Izuku said, smiling softly as he did his best to keep his breath even as he spoke.
"Hello, Midoriya," Tsu said, her voice fading in and out as she rose and fell with the rhythm of her hopping.
"Good job on staying so high up all this time. Your leaping power has progressed nicely," Izuku said.
"Thank you. Your speed has improved, too," Tsu said.
"Yeah," Izuku muttered, looking away from her.
"Whoa! Todoroki and Bakugo reach the final stage of the Obstacle Race one after the other!" Present Mic yelled.
"Damn it!" Izuku grunted, picking up speed as his rage fueled him.
Izuku ran faster than he ever had before, though it obviously couldn't compare with One for All. He sprinted all the way across the plain ground before the minefield, outpacing even Tsu. He didn't know how he was doing this, probably a form of hysterical strength, but he decided that the more he thought about things at the moment, the less he'd be able to do.
Soon, he came across Sero at the threshold of the minefield. He slid to a stop, the dirt under him shifting with his feet. Izuku and Sero shared a look that said 'oh, boy' and tried working out ways their Quirks could benefit them in this stage.
"Glad to see you're feeling better," Sero said.
"Thanks," Izuku said.
"I don't think Tape or Blackwhip are gonna be of much use here," Sero noted, seeing the lack of sturdy points to swing from.
"More than you'd think," Izuku said, stepping forward.
"What are you doing?" Sero asked, stepping back in terror.
Izuku judged that he could fit about five to seven under his Blackwhip Shield at any time, giving him seven times the explosive power and much more control over how it launches him. Izuku knew that the minefield was about one kilometer long, due to the Obstacle Race being split up between three different stages and there being some distance for the runners to recover before and after every stage.
Doing the math, that meant that, if one mine could launch a person about five meters into the air, the mines he could fit under his Blackwhip Shield could potentially launch him up to thirty meters at a time, meaning he'd have to repeat the triggering of the mines under his Shield about twenty eight times to get to the end. He could do that. He just had to maintain fine and absolute control over his Blackwhips at all times to avoid getting blasted off the track and having to start again.
Izuku summoned Blackwhip, shaping into the dome he had come to familiarize himself with. He had gained some more control over the shape of Blackwhip during his training, but still wasn't ready to try making anything other than a shield. If he wanted to, Izuku could probably make a sword in the future, but that was a long way away, and Izuku knew it. He'd just have to keep working at it, like everything in his life.
"Uh, what are you-?" Sero asked, before getting cut off by the loudest explosion he had ever heard.
Having jumped onto the most amount of mines possible while surfing on the inside of his Blackwhip Shield, Izuku was sent upward by the intense explosion, more powerful than it had any right to be for a school event. The large pink dust cloud enveloped him, and Iuzku lost sight of where he was going. He knew he was still on the right path, since he hadn't felt his movements shift, but it was still frightening to not be able to see where he was going.
"WHAT?! WHO THE HELL MADE THAT MASSIVE BLAST?" Present Mic asked.
"I think it was Midoriya," Aizawa said, flatly.
"HOW?" Mic asked again.
"If I knew, I'd tell you," Aizawa groaned.
Izuku emerged from the pink dust cloud, his teeth bared as he rode his Blackwhip Shield on the blast like a surfboard. He flew into the sky, without the help of Float, and stalled just above the pink cloud. Spotting Todoroki and Bakugo about halfway through the field, Izuku took a deep breath and let himself fall back down, heading toward the mines at full speed.
Landing on the second set of mines, Izuku landed on his feet wrong, and one of his ankles bent at an odd angle, shooting pain up Izuku's leg. The mines still went off, and he was still launched, but no was nursing a probably sprained ankle. He rode the explosion with a much more unstable trajectory, and flew through the air as he twisted and turned from the unbalanced launch.
"WHOA! He's using the obstacles to his advantage!" Present Mic screamed.
"Yes. He's cleverly using multiple mines at a time to send him flying into the air, ahead of other participants," Aizawa said.
"THAT'S CRAZY!" Mic yelled.
"You need to be professional," Aizawa groaned.
"I NEED TO BE PROFESSIONAL!" Mic screamed.
Izuku flew into the sky, trying to level out with the help of Float. He eventually stabilized and began to hover down toward the ground, making sure to get a proper launch out of the mines this time around. He landed on the mines, widening his Blackwhip Shield to about three meters in width, encompassing about five more mines for a total of about twelve.
The blast was significantly more powerful than before, with the added mines ending him about twice as far. He soared past another participant, Iida by the looks of it. He knew the boy was fast, but to keep up with Bakugo and Todoroki almost the whole time was impressive. He soared over Iida, the other boy looking up at him in shock, tripping up as a result of not watching where he was going and getting blasted off the path.
Izuku ripped through the air, speeding toward Todoroki and Bakugo as they finally spotted him in the air. The two turned around and glared at him, taking a break from their heated bickering to see Izuku speeding toward them at full speed. He neared the ground, but kept himself Floating along the ground as his speed diminished.
"Deku, you bastard!" Bakugo screamed.
Roaring at his adversaries, Izuku began to stall, slowing down and landing on the ground between mines, which he thanked his lucky stars for. He took off, keeping pace with Todoroki and Bakugo, which made Present Mic lose his mind.
"MIDORIYA CATCHES UP WITH THE LEADERS! WHAT A TWIST!" Present Mic yelled.
The three leaders fought for first place throwing punches and their Quirks around to get the others to slow down, even if just a little. Todoroki had begun to freeze the ground under him to speed himself up, Bakugo's explosions intensified, and Izuku began to fire off Blackwhip as a straight line, trying to hit Todoroki or Bakugo into the mines.
Izuku, Todoroki and Bakugo approached the end of the minefield, and Izuku saw his chance. He slowed down, letting the other two boys get out ahead for a moment before enacting his plan. Bakugo and turned around, noticing Izuku's absence, so he was the first one to get a Blackwhip to the chest, latching around his shoulders in an instant. Todoroki was next, getting on in the back for not turning around in time.
"What the fuck, Deku?" Bakugo asked, ready to blast Izuku away.
"Sorry, guys, but I need to win," Izuku said, activating Float and lifting off the ground.
Izuku yanked hard on his Blackwhips, reeling them in as he did. He flew forward and shot out between the two, using them to perform his slingshot move that he had slowly been reinventing and refining throughout the Obstacle Race. He flew forward while also throwing his two rivals back, hearing the mines explode as they uncontrollably stumbled onto them.
He hovered over the ground, flying in a straight line toward the finish line, which was at the entrance to the field that they had started at. He knew that the entire event was a circular race around the stadium, but he hadn't expected it to be so long. Then again, it was nearly a four kilometer ring around the entire building, so he supposed he should've expected a bit of time to go into the first event of UA's Sports Festival.
"GET BACK HERE, DEKU!" Bakugo roared from behind him.
Izuku kept using Blackwhip to latch onto the ground and yank him even further along, keeping himself going despite the dropoff in his speed since he had travelled so far using purely his momentum from slingshotting from Todoroki and Bakugo. He could hear Bakugo behind him, now, catching up, and Izuku was sure that if he didn't think of something quickly he would lose.
Seeing that he was coming up on the entrance to the inside of the stadium, Izuku aimed his hands toward either side of the tunnel, knowing he was slowing down by the second. He fired off Blackwhip and they latched onto the cement in the walls. He used the same technique he had been using to hurl himself forward, which he was thinking calling the 'Dark Slingshot', to fling himself into the dark tunnel.
Izuku, as soon as he felt solid ground, ran forward at top speed, exiting the tunnel as soon as possible to a blinding light and a deafening applause. He looked around, Midnight grinning at him and the audience clapping wildly. Izuku looked back to see Bakugo sprinting toward him from inside the tunnel, which means that he had entered the field first, which meant …
"THE WINNER OF THE FIRST EVENT OF THE FIRST YEARS' STAGE OF THE SPORTS FESTIVAL IS IZUKU MIDORIYA!" Present Mic exclaimed.
Grinning because of his victory, Izuku looked around at the crowd, giving them a bright smile while replicating All Might's victory pose as he had done after his opening speech. The crowd went into a frenzy at the pose, and roared their enjoyment of the race even louder, even wilder than before. Izuku drank it all in, knowing that he had taken the first step to his final declaration, that he was the Symbol of Hope they were going to need.
Bakugo grabbed Izuku by the shoulder and spun him around, glaring at him intensely. The two stood there, staring at each other, as the audience quieted down in shock. Bakugo was about to talk, when he seemingly snapped out of some sort of state and saw what he was doing.
"I …" he said, looking over himself quizzically.
Being out of sorts after his small relapse into rage, as it seemed, Bakugo walked away, his brow furrowed as he thought about what he had done. Izuku knew that Bakugo was getting better at controlling himself, and he hadn't expected it to be a smooth curve, but he was impressed with Bakugo's new ability to recognize when he had gone too far.
Izuku then turned to Todoroki, who had just entered the field. The two gave each other a look that Izuku took to mean 'we'll talk later'. He was fine with that, as he also had some things he had to say to Todoroki, mainly about the fact that he was only using half his power and expected to beat his entire year level in battle.
Turning back to Midnight, Izuku waited for the other participants to arrive at the field so that they could begin their next challenge.