"Umm, Hatsume-san?"

"Hmm?"

"The match is over."

"Yeah and?"

"So why are you still putting your support stuff all over me?"

Midoriya Izuku and Hatsume Mei were currently in one of the waiting rooms, waiting for the afternoon break and the side games to end.

While Izuku planned on taking the time to relax after all the exhausting events, Hatsume with her seemingly endless supply of energy had other plans. Unfortunately for Izuku those plans revolved around him, more specifically…

"Because I'm trying to figure this thing out, duh!"

"Please don't call my right hand a thing as if it's one of your support gadgets or some kind of toy."

"Oh, ok! I'm trying to figure you out!"

"Don't call me a toy either!"

"But it's so fun! Your power is nothing like I've seen before! Just imagine the possibilities! All the equipment we could develop, after making quirks irrelevant! It's like the anti-quirk!"

"Yeah, I don't really do support equipment. I mean I tried brass knuckles once, but it just shielded the quirks from being negated. Tried combat gloves and they tore apart after I tried blocking an attack, and boy they are way more expensive than they look. That was basically a weeks worth of groceries."

"Then we'll just have to support everything else! Oh! I just got so many ideas! How do you feel about a fusion cannon?"

Izuku winced. "Uhh… that they're incredibly dangerous?"

"Umm, sorry to interrupt you guys." Uraraka was standing by the door next to Shinsou. "But the next event is about to begin."

"Right! C'mon let's go!" Izuku immediately retracted his hand from Hatsume, and ran up to meet them.

"Now, it's time for the final event! If you've watched any previous festival, you'd already know what's coming! That's right, it's tournament time!"

Izuku and the gang walked over just in time to hear Midnight announce the details of the next event.

Midnight whipped toward the newly erected arena, courtesy of Cementoss. "In this here ring, you will be facing off each other one on one! Contestants win by knocking their opponents out, ringing them out of bounds, or simply by… Forcing them to submit." Midnight licked her lips.

"Matches will be decided by random lots, so who you'll be facing is all up to luck!" Midnight announced as the stadium screen lit up once more, flashing and dinging as the lots were drawn.

"Why did she have to mention luck…" Izuku grumbled.

"And our first match is… Midoriya Izuku!" Midnight gave her student a cheeky grin. "Versus! Kirishima Ejiro!"

"Hell yeah! I'm the first one up! Time to kick some ass!" Well at least one of them was excited.

"Anything you can tell me about him, Uraraka-san?" Izuku looked at his former teammate with pleading eyes.

"Well… He's got one of the strongest defensive quirks I've seen, he usually trains with Bakugou so his quirk can least stand up to explosions. And he's ranked 2nd in the entrance exam if I remembered that correctly."

"He's ranked 2!? And he can stand up to Kacchan!?" Izuku felt like he already lost.

"Kacchan?" Shinsou raised a brow.

"Well, I don't think Bakugou is capable of holding back, even against his friends. So yeah, I guess? I mean, they're always hanging around each other but I wouldn't call them friends, but still."

Izuku drooped his head down. "Such Misfortune…"

Even if it wasn't something one could call friendship, Izuku knew that it would take a lot to impress Kacchan enough to train alongside him. And Izuku could never stand a chance against Kacchan, not in a million years and certainly not now. What's worse was that even if Izuku won, what laid on the other side of his next bracket looked even more daunting and dangerous than the last.

On the other side was the match up of Todoroki Shoto and Yaoyorozu Momo, two of UA's recommended students and two that Izuku did not even want to think of fighting. He'd already seen what they were capable of in the previous rounds, and Todoroki was the son of the number one hero Endeavour! Maybe he'd actually be better off getting knocked out here, instead of having to deal with whatever mess that was.

However, Uraraka on the other hand might have somehow got an even worse draw than Izuku did…

"Bakugou huh…" Uraraka stiffly read.

Now Izuku felt like he had the easier side of the bracket, all things considered.

"NOW! WILL THE FIRST CONTESTANTS PLEASE START MAKING THEIR WAY TO THEIR STARTING POSITIONS! THE FIRST MATCH WILL BEGIN SHORTLY!" Present Mic announced, as Izuku nervously made his way back into the tunnel.

Present Mic began loudly commentating, giving the two some introductions, maybe something about how the match was going to go, or maybe he was just telling the audience how utterly screwed Izuku was. But it was all white noise to Izuku's ears, the sound of his pounding heart overpowering everything else his eardrums could pick up. This felt very different from the other events, back then Izuku at least had Shinsou and the rest at his side. Now it felt less like doing a project with friends, and more like going into an exam hall he would be completely unprepared for no matter how hard he studied.

Izuku clenched his fist in anticipation as he walked up on the newly made stage. His opponent was a hero student with a powerful quirk, one that even Kacchan respected. Izuku couldn't even be seen as an acquaintance after trying for years to reclaim his once best friend. So how strong did one have to be for the almighty Bakugou Katsuki to respect them?

"START!"

"YOSHAAAA!" The redhead hardened his skin and charged straight forward.

'A direct attack!?'

While Kirishima's quirk was defensive in nature, a single hit from those arms hardened like armour and Izuku would be finished. Someone like Kacchan could probably tank an attack given how much recoil he had to deal with on a daily basis, but Izuku was just a normal quirkless boy whose body definitely wasn't strong enough to withstand a blow like that. And while Izuku's right hand could temporarily negate that armour like skin of his, blocking his opponent would certainly leave him open to be knocked down by a swift counterattack.

"RED GAUNTLET!"

'Shit!' Izuku broke his train of thought.

Thanks to Kirishima over-dramatically winding up and announcing his attack, Izuku managed to dodge at the last moment.

'Ah to hell with it!'

Sidestepping his opponent Izuku quickly swung his right hand, preparing for the worst to come.

*SMASH*

"GYAH!" The boy flew towards the ground and held onto his face in pain.

Surprisingly the one who was knocked down was Kirishima, not Izuku.

"OW! OW! OW! OW! Dude! What the hell is your hand made of!?"

"Eh?"

"WHAT'S THIS!? IT SEEMS LIKE THE STURDY CRIMSON COMET WAS SENT FLYING BY OUR GREEN UNDERDOG!? WHAT'S GOING ON ERASER!?"

"No idea."

Izuku was just as confused as they were. How on earth did his weak untrained fist do so much damage to a hero student with months of training? Especially one that was specifically trained to take heavy hits.

Still, Kirishima got back up to his feet.

"Alright! For real this time! I'm coming in full throttle!" The redhead reactivated his quirk over his body and charged.

Izuku simply clenched his right fist in response.

"RED-" *SMASH*

"GBAH!?"

*SMASH*

Izuku continuously pounded into his opponent, like a pro boxer dishing out combos with one hand tied behind his back. And Kirishima kept taking his hits, not making any attempt to move out of the way or counterattack.

'Could it be?'

"RED- KYAH!" Kirishima was interrupted by a right uppercut to the face.

"So that's why… your quirk is too strong. Your quirk is perfect for defence, so perfect that you've grown too used to tanking attacks and overcoming your enemies with brute force. There's no way someone like you would have needed to learn how to dodge!"

It was obvious if you thought about it. Why would someone train with crutches if they could walk perfectly fine? Why would someone need to learn braille if they could analyse the strokes and curves of words with their eyes? The same was with Kirishima, why would someone who could tank any attack need to learn how to dodge? For him losing the defence of his quirk was akin to amputating a runner's legs, or blinding an avid reader.

But Izuku who was the weakest of the weak, had lived his whole life with his disability and adapted to it accordingly. If he was attacked he would dodge, if he had to take an attack he would counter with another of his own to defend himself. He had probably developed much higher pain tolerance over the years than Kirishima did as well, although the force of his punches were definitely not on the level of dynamite.

*SMASH*

Kirishima was sent flying once again, his body showing little resistance as it slammed hard into the ground. It was as if he shed the powerful shell of an armadillo to reveal the sensitive skin behind it.

1…2…3…4… The seconds went by and Kirishima still laid limp on the floor.

7…8…9…10. Midnight waved her flag down hard. "Kirishima is knocked out and unable to continue!"

'Wait hold on…'

"Midoriya Izuku is the winner!"

'That's it!?'