Izuku took deep breaths to steady himself. From what he'd seen in the previous round, Itsuka was a force to be reckoned with if that blue belt around her waist was any indication. Her quirk, some kind of ability to make her hands larger, wasn't inherently dangerous. He could think of dozens of ways to counter it on any given day, but in a strictly hand-to-hand combat situation where the only way to win was with direct confrontation? She may as well have had a sword.
He was taken out of his mental gymnastics when he heard Chun-Li call out to him and ask if he was ready. He took another deep breath and exhaled to steal his nerves before nodding.
Itsuka, on the other side of things, didn't feel such emotions. When she arrived, and saw she was the first one there, she went through some easy stretches to help get ride of the anxiety that had been building the night before. Today wasn't her first tournament. She'd went to one years ago when she was just six years old, one roughly the same size as this one. She won that won easily due to everyone else's childish inabilities. This one however, would be the first one she's been to since then and the first one her friends and family had come to watch. So to her, the pressure to win was like a boulder resting on her tiny, tiny shoulders.
When Chun-Li called the fight, she didn't so much as move, and neither did Midoriya. He struck her as a defensive but dangerous fighter, so in order to win, she'd need to pull out all the stops. For the first six seconds of the fight, neither approached, instead just opting to circle each other like sharks in the water. Then, on the seventh second, Izuku moved.
He dashed forward, seemingly not leading with any attack, which threw Itsuka off a bit, until he got within arm's reach, stopped on a dime and shifted his weight to the side.
'Okay, time to go. Two light jabs.' Jab, hit. Jab, blocked. 'Step back to avoid the panic strike.' Izuku shifted back, but was a bit surprised when no panic strike came. Itsuka instead seemed content with just waiting for him to throw. She made that very clear by the way she placed her weight on her back foot and her hands grew to roughly twice their size. Izuku mentally frowned. 'Light jab, medium cross. light leg sweep.' Jab, block. Cross, block. Light leg sweep, when Itsuka raised her leg to block, Izuku tensed his whole body which made the girl flinch. That bought him an opening.
Izuku's leg sweep was raised from light to medium in a heartbeat, striking with more force than the girl was expecting and nearly knocking her off her feet. Nearly.
Itsuka grit her teeth in pain but corrected her stance quicker than Izuku had expected, so she caught his initial dash with strong punch to the chest that he barely managed to bring his hands up in an 'x' shape to block.
'Wow! She hits hard! I wonder if her quirk also increases strength and not just size? Questions for later.' He thought absentmindedly as he shook on the pain in his forearms. Not wanting to let that little fail dictate the rest of the fight, Izuku retook his stance. 'Time to pick up the pace.'
"Kick his butt, 'Suka!" Setuna cheered as the fight started to ramp up in intensity. She knew very, very little about martial arts, her quirk not requiring it much, if at all. But she did know that you generally wanted to hit the opponent more than they hit you and so far, 'Suka was winning! She watched Midoriya run in with a kick that turned out to be a feint for a knee that 'Suka easily blocked before hitting him with a palm strike with those big mitts of hers.
"Keep it up, Kendo-chan!" Aunty Midnight shouted.
"Wow, she's really laying into the little listener." Mic observed with a hand on his chin. Just as the sentence ended, Izuku let up with a leaping front kick, that was once again blocked, but with quickness and agility Setsuna had only ever seen in a cat, he hit the ground and pounced to the right with two slow, but hard hitting jabs that landed on the girl's guard and made Itsuka stumble before finishing with a strong roundhouse kick that pushed the girl near the end of the ring.
'Kid's got good adaptation. Wonder if his quirk helps with it.' Shouta thought as he watched Midoriya slow down and resume his stance. 'Need to learn when you push the advantage though.'
'Shoot, I was sure those heavy attacks would be enough. But she's still here. She's really tough.' Izuku thought bitterly. His arms and side were hurting from getting hit and blocking and he was slowly running out of stamina. He needed to end this in the next exchange or he'd lose.
"You're really good, Kendo-chan!" Izuku complimented at Itsuka cautiously shifted her way back near the center of the ring.
"You're pretty good yourself, Midoriya!" Itsuka called back, her tone not matching her body language at all. But she was clearly just as worn down as Izuku, if not more.
Deciding not to respond, Izuku thought of the best way to end this before an idea popped into his head. It was something he'd only ever practiced a few times and both his sensei said he'd fail many, many times before he could even use it normally. But it was his best bet. Putting his left leg behind his right, he tucked his arms in close and began making several spinning motions towards the girl.
At first, Itsuka simply stood there with her guard up, clearly confused as to what Midoriya was doing, until she saw him leap off his right foot with his left leg still extended.
'Tatsumaki!'
When Izuku's foot hit Itsuka's enlarged palms, the girl honestly buckled even with her enhanced strength. It was the hardest she'd ever been hit by someone not her grandfather/sensei and she would've been put down for the count if not for her own experience.
Thinking quickly, Itsuka clamped her hands around Izuku's ankle like a vice before using his own forward momentum against him and spinning on her heel and throwing him out of the ring. He landed on his back with a loud thud and a grunt before the whistle blew.
"And our first ring out of the day! Itsuka Kendo wins!"
Not a moment later, Izuku raised his feet and placed his palms on both sides of his head before kicking his way back to his feet. His shoulders were slumped and he was breathing a bit heavy but he had a smile on his face. "Aww, shoot. I thought I really had you on that last one." Izuku said, taking his loss in stride.
Itsuka took a bit longer to catch her breath before smiling serenely at the greenette. "You almost had me a few times there. Not gonna lie." She shrunk her hands and gave Izuku a bow. "Maybe we can spar again some time. You were the toughest match I've had in a long time."
Izuku smiled with the radiance of one hundred suns. "I'd like that, Kendo-chan! Good luck in your next match!"
Izuku's happy mood quickly shifted the second he went back to his area and saw Ryoya standing there.
"You lost." the tan boy said simply with a completely unreadable expression.
Izuku didn't know what to expect so he only nodded slowly with wide eyes. To his surprise, Ryoya held out a fist.
"Fought pretty well though. That Tatsumaki would've probably worked on anyone else. Good fight though, we can talk about what happened when we get back to the dojo on Monday." When Izuku met Ryoya's fist with his own, he expected something different. Maybe to be yelled at for failing or called out for his inability. But nothing of the sort came. Ryoya simply started to stretch for his own fight. It was then Izuku realized that losing doesn't always have to come with punishment. Ryoya then turned to Izuku with a tilted head and a genuinely confused expression. "What, not gonna wish your friend luck for the rest of the tournament?"
Izuku snorted. "As if you'll need it."
"That was one of the best fights we've had all day! Now it's time for the other match up in the semi-finals. Ojiro Mashirao vs Ryoya Harushi." Chun-Li announced, and without waiting for Izuku to say anything, Ryoya was off.
"You're doing great out there, 'Suka! You'll have to fight the winner of these two and then you get your first place." Setsuna eagerly pat her friend's shoulder when she came to watch the next fight with them.
"Hm." Yui added intelligently.
Itsuka laughed lightly before absently rubbing her stomach. That Midoriya guy hit really hard. "Yeah. I'm just trying really hard here. These guys are no joke." In truth, she didn't think much of the green haired fighter upon first seeing him. He was trained obviously, he wouldn't be here if he wasn't, but she made the honest mistake in overlooking him for his seemingly much stronger friend. The boy, Harushi, she heard, was clearly setting up to be the biggest challenge she'd ever face in her young martial arts life, and if she were to look at it objectively, she wasn't liking her chances of victory.
Setsuna, seemingly sensing the girl's train of thoughts, gently nudged her shoulders. "Hey, none of that. Where's that confident girl who used to scare off all the other bullies go?"
As Setsuna, and to a lesser extent, Yui tried to help psyche her friend up for the next fight, the three adults kept to their own conversation.
"So, what are you thinking about it so far?" Midnight asked as soon as Mic got up to get drinks for the three of them.
Aizawa's expression didn't change. "These kids aren't completely irrational."
Nemuri resisted a squeal, knowing that was the best she was gonna get in terms of Shouta admitting he was enjoying the show so far. "Who knows? Maybe you're looking at your next batch of students in the next couple years."
That made Aizawa scowl. "Don't curse me to deal with not one, but several martial artists, woman."
Before that little tirade could continue, Mic returned and the next fight began in earnest. "So, who you betting on?" He asked easily.
"Mic! Betting on children is inappropriate... One hundred yen on Harushi." Nemuri chastised before looking at the two boys sizing each other up on stage.
Aizawa let out a long-suffering sigh. "Mashirao has a tail that he knows how to use in combat and it looks strong. It would be irrational to completely disregard him."
"So is that a bet on tail boy?" Nemuri prodded further. Aizawa just glared at her.
"No, it's an observation."
When Chun-Li called the fight, Ryoya wasted no time lunging forward. Contrary to what people thought, he did watch the other fights and mentally took notes on his opponents. Mashirao seemed to rely heavily on his tail to make up for his lack of physical strength, so Ryoya devised a plan on how to deal with that. But first, he needed to see just how strong the appendage was.
He lead with a heavy roundhouse kick, just slow enough that Mashirao should be able to react. And he did. The blond shifted slightly to the side and extended his tail in front of him like a shield. Flesh met flesh and to both boy's surprise, Ojiro took the hit, albeit barely.
'Okay, tail is a bit stronger than I thought. Noted.'
'Holy hell, that kick nearly beat my tail! Does this kid have a strength quirk or something?'
Now that he's got the information he needed, Ryoya quickly mentally plot out his flowchart. 'Keep moving, stay directly in front. Move fast, don't give a chance to react.' And much like his training partner/rival before him, Ryoya moved with grace.
In an instant, Ryoya was attacking again. Another left roundhouse, this time a medium hit Ojiro's tail before Ryoya continued his spinning momentum and catching the blonde boy in the shoulder with a medium cross. And following that, a light leg sweep. And after that, leap back to avoid the tail strike and lunging in while he was open with a heavy punch to the stomach.
Even though Ojiro managed to bring his hands up in time to block, he greatly underestimated the power behind the hit and it sent him stumbling back towards the end of the ring. Without a second of hesitation, Ryoya lunged forward.
'Nata Otoshi Geri!' He mentally shouted as he brough up his leg in another roundhouse kicking motion before stopping his foot at it's apex and bringing down a strong heel. The impact was loud in the small dojo and was more than enough to force Ojiro completely out of the ring and tumbling on his backside.
"Winner by ring out, Ryoya Harushi!"
"Oh, the cute boy won!" Setsuna said happily, completely unaware to the looks she was getting.
Yui nodded in agreement while Itsuka simply stared on, a bit of uncertainty creeping up her spine. Mashirao didn't even get a hit in! And she knew how strong his tail was, they sparred before, and here this Ryoya boy was equaling it, or in some exchanges like the last one, outright over powering it with nothing but brute force. He had to have some kind of enhancement quirk, both him and Midoriya.
"Yeah, Set. The cute boy won indeed." Nemuri said, reaching over to grab one hundred yen from Hizashi. "Now he's going against Kendo-chan in the finals." The heroin looked at the orange haired girl to see her pale and visibly gulp.
"Well, I'll be." Chun-Li said with an amused voice. "You two trained the boy well." She turned to both Ryu and Ken, the former standing there in his usual Gi with his arms cross and a proud smile on his face and the latter looked seconds away from tears.
"Yeah, it helped that when I found him, Harushi-kun was already aware of the style and had the basics down." Ryu said with a tight nod. There was a story there, one that he'd tell Chun-Li after the event but not now.
"He also takes after yours truly!" Ken said, pounding his chest. "Did you see that Crescent Kick?! Or the aggression?! He makes me so proud!" Ryu gave Ken a dry look, that was ignored.
"Hm, maybe we should introduce our students after this is over. I know Kendo-chan's teacher and I know he wouldn't have a problem with it." Chun-Li offered to which Ryu took immediately.
"Oh, yes please. Not that I think it's a super pressing issue right now, but both Midoriya-kun and Harushi-kun could desperately use more friends than each other." Ryu said with more energy than Chun-Li expected. He read it in a parenting book that Ken got him that kids need to socialize with their peers more but he'd kill before he'd admit that. "Midoriya-kun has some bad anxiety and has problems talking to anyone not Harushi-kun. And Harushi-kun is..." Ryu trailed off.
"A bit too much like you?" Ken said, completely ignoring Ryu's indignant glare. "He's not terribly bad like Ryu here. He wears shoes after all. But he is a bit standoffish and aloof to people he doesn't know and not the best in social situations. A shame too. Every time I've went out shopping with the kid, there's always at least three or four kids that approach him since he's a looker and he always just awkwardly stands there. It would be hilarious if it wasn't so sad."
As Chun-Li digested that bit of information, she realized that the five minute break was up and it was time to move on to the last match of the day. "We'll talk later. Meet me in the parking lot after this, I'll speak to Momo-chan's parents and Kendo-chan's teacher to see if we can organize something."
"Today's been riveting, hasn't it folks? But all good things must come to an end eventually and I present to you the final fight of the day. Itsuka Kendo vs Ryoya Harushi!"
"Break a leg out there, 'Suka!" Itsuka heard from the crowd before heading towards the stage. In truth, Setsuna and Yui's words did help to raise her confidence a bit, but all of that was dashed immediately after seeing Harushi walk to the stage. He looked no different than before, blank expression and all, except now his eyes were just a bit more focused on her.
"You've got this, Harushi-kun!" She also heard that crying green haired woman yell.
"Are both fighters ready?" Chun-Li asked. She got two nods before raising her hand and dropping it. "Fight!"
In the complete opposite of Midoriya, Itsuka notes, Harushi was far more aggressive. He closed the gap between them quickly and threw a strong punch to Itsuka's stomach that she was forced to block with her enlarged fists. It still hurt a lot, even more so than Midoriya's hit and actually pushed the girl off balance, but she grit her teeth and held firm.
Following up with his punch, Ryoya raised his right knee, clearly aiming for her midsection and when she moved one hand to block, was caught off guard by him suddenly extending his leg for a full on kick. The front kick connected with the back of her hand and still managed to completely knock the wind out of her. It was no wonder that Mashirao's tail couldn't stop it, this kid was insane! She wanted to look for an opening in Ryoya's offense but couldn't find anything since he moved so quickly and fluidly, it was like she was fighting water.
"Having trouble?" Ryoya asked simply. He didn't sound arrogant nor condescending, just curious. "A tip when dealing with rush-down fighters like me. Bait and punish. You seem to be at a lost for what to do. Trying to find an opening right?" Itsuka hesitantly nodded. "That works against people like Midoriya, not me. For people like me, you need to go with the flow of the fight, and bait out an option and punish accordingly. Midoriya does it against me and he gets some good hits in from time to time and he's been training way less than I have."
'Is he telling her how to beat him while currently fighting him?' Itsuka thought with wide eyes.
"No." Ryoya said dryly. "I'm not telling you how to beat me." Crap, she said that out loud didn't she. Way to embarrass yourself in front of the cute, strong fighter, Itsuka. "I'm telling you how to better deal with people who fight like me."
After that brief lecture, the fight resumed, but this time, Itsuka did what Ryoya recommended. Instead of looking for an opening before he attacked like her martial arts dictated, she instead moved a bit more recklessly, leaving herself open in some areas to get a reaction out of the golden eyed boy. He took the bait, her seeming to over extend on a jab, and when he closed the distance to strike with an open palm aimed at her stomach, she made her fist as big as she could, two and a half times the normal size, and swung a heavy over hand with all the strength she had in her little body.
To her shock, Ryoya simply grinned. 'Did he bait me with fake bait!?' Itsuka thought before Ryoya got low under her punch and grabbed her wrist to preform a picture perfect judo throw, sending the girl far enough that her feet exited the ring.
"Winner by ring out, and winner of the tournament, Ryoya Harushi!"
Itsuka sighed in disappointed and made an attempt to stand up before an out stretched hand appeared in his face. It was Ryoya. For the first time that day, she saw his expression change to a small smile. "Good fight, Kendo."
Itsuka looked between him and his hand before smiling herself and taking the gesture. "Good fight to you too. Man, I thought Midoriya was a tough fight. You both are monsters."
Ryoya snorted at that. "You're pretty strong in your own right. Those can surely take a hit."
Itsuka gave an adorable pout. "Yeah, my quirk 'Big Fist' makes my hands pretty strong. But your quirk gives you all kinds of enhanced strength right?"
"What quirk?" Ryoya asked with the gall to look innocent and confused. Itsuka just stared at him for a second.
"Y-you have an enhancement quirk right? That's how you can do what you do." Itsuka asked slowly, thinking for a second the boy was joking. Ryoya just gave a one-shoulder shrug.
"Nope." He said simply before turning to walk away.
"H-hey, wait a second! What's your quirk?" She said after him.
Sometime after the awards ceremony and everyone started to leave, a small group of children and adults gathered in the parking lot. Izuku looked at his mother before she nodded and he joined them.
Chun-Li spoke to Aizawa, Ryu and Nemuri while Ken and Hizashi got into an increasingly loud and energetic debate about who can kick who's ass between a gorilla and a lion.
Izuku easily slid into place next to Ryoya. "Hey, everyone."
Yui was seemingly the only person to hear him. "Hm," She grunted. "Another greenie." She said quietly, gesturing to Izuku's hair.
Izuku was taken aback by this. "G-greenie?"
"Yeah," the girl nodded with the enthusiasm of chalk, she gestured to her friend, who was frankly invading Ryoya's personal space and hanging off of his side like a sloth. "You and Setsuna both have green hair."
Yui blank expression and robotic cadence almost reminded him of Ryoya, in a weird way. Which would've been funny if she didn't stare at him with that piercing gaze.
He turned to the boy in question to see that he was somehow completely stationary while the girl, identified as Setsuna continued to touch him. He managed to keep his face straight, but the reddening of his ears were enough to tell Izuku that his façade was slipping.
"Whoa now, down girl." Nemuri said while grabbing Setsuna by the back of her shirt to literally pry her off the tan child. "What did we talk about personal space?"
Setsuna pouted and crossed her arms.
"Sorry about her. She's just a bit... friendly." Itsuka apologized and Ryoya just half-heartedly shrugged.
"It's...fine?" Even he sounded unsure about it, but when he saw Setsuna beam at him, he gave his own light smirk and a nod. Off to the side, he noticed that the Yaoyorozu girl nervously looking at him. He might've not been the best in social situations, but he could tell from her slightly puffy eyes and frazzled hair that she was crying. He looked over to Kendo, who apparently noticed the same thing and nodded before both approached. Momo paused upon seeing this, but Chun-Li gave her an encouraging nod.
"Hello. Kendo-san, Harushi-san." Momo said politely with a slight bow.
"Hello, Yoayorozu." Ryoya said with a small, stiff wave.
Itsuka looked between the two and inwardly sighed. Before she could say anything, Midoriya came in and tapped Ryoya's shoulder.
"Hey you two, sorry about him. He's not the... best socially." Izuku explained, earning a glare from the boy, but not a denial. "So, what're your guy's quirks?" Pulling a notebook from seemingly no where.
And that day, friendships were formed that would last a life time.
The following Monday, Izuku woke up feeling better than ever. He turned over to see his phone going off and after responding to the group chat that he, Setsuna and Itsuka made with Momo and Yui. Ryoya just didn't have a phone, much to Setsuna's disappointment, but he promised to get one soon. (read, Izuku told Ken about it and after a brief fight with Ryu over not buying the boy a device, he promised to get him one today).
School was a blur. After Ryoya's little... conversation with Bakugo, the boy didn't so much as breath a word to him. Sure, every so often Izuku would feel his glaring holes in the side of his head, but that's all he did.
After messaging the group that he would send their regards to Ryoya, Izuku put his phone in his bag and changed into his Gi. Ryu-sensei told him to eat a lot today and to be ready for the next part of training.
It would've been an exciting day if not for seeing Ryoya laying on the ground, fully spread eagle, panting as if he was about to die. "The ground is safe, the ground can't hurt you." He said softly. That gave Izuku a pause. Especially after noticing how the legs of his Gi were burnt around the feet and his hands were black with soot.
"H-harushi-san?!" Izuku said in a panic.
"Don't worry about him, kid." Ken said with a smile from the side. His Gi was also burnt in some areas but he looked largely unharmed. "He was just a bit eager to start today's training."
"...you kicked me with fire..." Ryoya droned tiredly, not moving a centimeter on the floor.
"That's right!" Ken said with a smile. Then, without warning, his hands and feet ignited in bright orange flames before stopping. "I figured it would be best to give you a hands on approach to how ki feels and operates!"
Ryoya still didn't move while Izuku stood there amazed. "...why? Why did you kick me with fire...?"
Ken turned his sight to Izuku and the boy felt himself stiffen. Ken's smile turned predatory. "Before we start with you Midoriya, I need to show you the basics."
Oh, no. Whenever Ken-sensei said anything about "the basics" it usually involved someone, usually Izuku being kicked around for twenty minutes while being lectured. When his whole body tensed, Ken laughed and pull a paper out of his Gi. "This is just an ordinary paper, but this will tell you everything you need to know about starting ki."
"But before that," Ryu cut in smoothly, coming into the room while giving Ken a glare and holding a first aid kit. "We need to talk about what ki is and what it does. Look at me, and then look at Ken." Ryu started slowly, this time seeing Midoriya pull his notebook out. "Would you say we're both pretty big guys?"
Izuku nodded furiously. He'd never seen anyone with more muscle mass than either of the two, except for maybe All Might and Endeavor.
"Yeah, well. We don't lift weights." Ryu revealed, stunning Izuku enough that he almost dropped his pencil.
"Y-you don't? B-but how?"
"Ki." Ryu responded. "You remember what I told your mother about ki on your first day?" Izuku nodded before flipping the pages in his book to find the exact wording. "Well, there's a bit more to it. Ki strengthens the body in its entirety. Not saying you'll ever be as bulky as us one day, but you'll definitely notice the changes. You'll get much stronger, faster, grow a bit taller, think a bit faster, put on more dense muscles, all in drastically less time than any other non-ki user would."
All of this sounded incredible. But at the same time, too good to be true. "Ryu-sensei. If Ki's this versatile, why don't more people use it?"
"Quirks and ki tend to conflict one another." Ryu answered. "While there's some that would work fine with it, like that Kendo girl, there are others that it simply would cause too many issues."
Never before had Izuku ever felt he'd been fortunate to be born quirkless. Never until just now.
"Now, Shotokan is naturally a style that builds the body for ki use. You've even been unconsciously using it for the past month. You never found it weird how you can take hits from me and Ken that should, by all means, put down a nine year old? Or how you can hit hard enough to compete with people's quirks?"
Now that he mentioned it, Izuku did notice that he was moving a bit faster than before, thinking a bit more clearly and overall felt better than he'd ever felt in his life.
"Now that that's out of the way, Ken, give him the paper and let's see his ki type."
Izuku cocked his head to the side. "Ki type?"
"Yeah, ki is different per person. Everyone has a natural affinity towards something, but no one is good at everything. This paper is special in that it'll allow you to find your unique ki affinity." For an example, Ryu took out a second piece of paper and held it between two fingers. Then he closed his eyes and Izuku watched as an black, inky substance built up around his hand before the paper started to glow a bright blue before crumpling up. "That was two affinities in one, Light and Electricity, You can have more than two types, but not more than three. Harushi-kun already did his, so you can ask him his affinity when he gets back up."
"...he kicked me with fire..." Ryoya groaned once more.
"...right. Anyway, Midoriya, meditate for a bit and we'll see where you are."
And so Izuku did, and after two and a half hours, he finally felt the pull of ki. He reveled in the sudden surge of power and basked in it's warmth. When he opened his eyes, he noticed the same black, inky energy forming around his own hand and when he touched the paper, it glowed a bright green and crumpled. Much like Ryu's had done before him.
He was Light and Electricity.
He could definitely be a hero with this.
A/N: Longest chapter so far, but we've finally reached the fun part. After this, there's one more chapter before we finally start with canon! Izuku lost but learned from his mistakes, Ryoya wins the tournament, Setsuna is a bit too touchy and Momo finally has friends. Any opinions on who Ryoya's love interest is gonna be? :
RSmallz: Thanks for the review!
solbandgus: Yeah, after seeing the general response, he won't be getting OFA, and neither will Ryoya. But I do have plans for it.
NinjaFang1331: Thank you!