"Midoriya wins!"

Hitoshi cheered alongside the rest of the crowd.

It was quite the unexpected outcome, the quirkless underdog somehow managed to defeat the progeny of the Number One.

But Hitoshi knew from the start who was the stronger one amongst the two, that's why he had already accepted it. Shinsou Hitoshi had already knew the outcome of this fight, the outcome of all the fights from the start. He knew who was going to win this festival from the very beginning, and had already made peace with it.

That's why no matter what he would try his damnedest to get stronger, train harder and harder, even more than those 'heroes' he had already faced. He had already planned his own punishment, anticipated the struggle, and fully accepted the outcome. The outcome that he would congratulate Midoriya with a smile for.

"Man that was intense!"

Midoriya plopped down beside Hitoshi, looking slightly worn out.

"Oh come on, it didn't look that bad. You didn't even get a scratch on you and Bipolar Endeavour looks like he's seen better days."

"Looked better from your perspective maybe, place was like a winter wonderland if the snow suddenly lit ablaze and tried to burn you at every corner."

"Out of the cooler box and into the fire, I guess." Hitoshi shrugged. "Speaking of perspective, where were you last round? You totally missed Hatsume-san basically monetising the Ingenium legacy."

Midoriya kept a thoughtful look. "It… may not be my place to say."

Hitoshi raised a brow, usually when Midoriya said something like that he probably was off helping someone. And when Midoriya usually helps someone 79.56% of the time it's probably a…

"Midoriya-san."

The boys turned around to see an elegant looking girl with her hair tied up into a ponytail.

"Yaoyorozu-san."

"…Trust me when I say I do not intend to break my promise. It would be reprehensible of me to dishonour you after you fought so valiantly." Yaoyorozu bowed to the boy before taking her leave.

"Yaoyorozu-san!"

The girl stopped in her tracks.

"Don't do it for me, there's someone far more important you should be keeping that promise for."

"…Is that so?"

She turned and gave the green haired boy a smile that could almost be described as somber.

"Then I hope that person can live up to it."

Midoriya looked up in slight concern as the sound of her footsteps gradually faded away.

"I should have known."

"Huh?"

"A girl was having some kind of crisis, so naturally Midoriya Izuku swooped in and became her knight in dollar store armour." Hitoshi quipped.

"Hey! What do you mean by dollar store armour!?"

Hitoshi raised a brow. "You're not even going to deny the first part?"

Midoriya sighed. "I'm not going to even bother, I'm pretty tired of trying to change people's opinions of me."

Did Hitoshi just hit a nerve there? "Well, if you want to go for seconds Uraraka-san probably needs some lovin too."

"What? What do you mean?"

Hitoshi sighed. "While you were… preoccupied, she was going up against Bakugou. Y'know, the guy who has a massive hate boner for you?"

It was Midoriya's time to sigh. "You don't even know the half of it."

Hitoshi caught that again. So there is some history between the two. "Right, but long story short she lost. Pretty brutally, Bakuhatsu Boy was really popping off for some reason. But then again he always looks mad for some reason or another, but not mad enough that he knocked her out of the arena and into Recovery Girl's hands."

Midoriya took a moment to process what Hitoshi said before the speakers started up again.

"ALL RIGHT HEROES AND GENTLE-FOLKS! NOW THAT WE'VE 'BROKE THE ICE' WITH THE ARENA, THE NEXT MATCH CAN GET RIGHT ON ITS WAY!"

"Welp, that's my cue to go. Don't go breaking any hearts while I'm gone."

Hitoshi said that last line so casually, but he knew what was going to happen the moment he saw his friend again.

The moment that they've been waiting for this whole tournament…


As Izuku walked his way toward Recovery Girl's clinic, he nervously wondered if Kacchan was going to be there too. Common sense would dictate that Kacchan would be hanging with his own class outside of matches, but regardless of that fact Izuku had to go.

After all if it wasn't for him, Uraraka wouldn't have been beaten so brutally. If he had actually stood up to him then maybe Kacchan would have gone easier on her. But like the coward he was Izuku decided to run away instead of facing his problems head on, even going as far as butting into someone else's problem in the process.

*Knock Knock*

"Hello? Uraraka-san? You here?"

"She's here to rest, you bafoon."

Izuku looked down to see a short elderly woman.

"Sorry, and long time no see Recovery Girl."

"Hmph, most people would consider not seeing their doctor a good thing."

Izuku chuckled and scratched his head. "I was told that I should go for regular checkups."

"You are far from regular and so is this visit."

"I… I just wanted to see if Uraraka-san was ok."

"Oh? Not the boys you've beaten into next week?"

"Eh? Umm… No, sorry…Again." Izuku at least had the decency to look guilty when he apologised.

Recovery Girl sighed. "Whatever, you're just in time anyway. The poor girl just woke up, she was pretty exhausted after I healed her but she should be all right by now. Thankfully my quirk still works on most people."

"Right… By the way, is there anything you've found out?"

Recovery Girl hobbled over to her desktop and typed something Izuku couldn't make out. "As you can see, the tests still came out negative. Nothing out of the ordinary from that special right hand of yours, just 100% quirk free DNA. The only test that can prove it even exists is ironically using a quirk on it."

"…I see. Thanks for your help anyway Sensei." Izuku respectfully bowed.

The old doctor gave him a look. "Just because the tests came out negative, it's not the end of the world you know?"

"AND ANOTHER QUICK VICORY FOR SHINSOU!" The speakers interrupted their conversation.

Seems like Shinsou's match was already over.

"…I guess it isn't."

Izuku turned and walked toward the rest area, where he saw Uraraka talking to the redhead he beat in round one.

"Uraraka-san!"

The girl in question turned to him in surprise. "Midoriya-san?"

"Yo!" Izuku waved.

The redhead took a look at the two and nodded in certain understanding.

"Hey Uraraka, I'm going to head back to the Class. There's something I wanna talk to Sero and Mina-chan about."

"O-Oh! Go ahead then, I'll be there in a bit."

With the two left alone, Izuku took a seat on one of the empty beds.

"Are you alright Uraraka-san? Sorry I didn't catch the match, but Shinsou-san said you took quite the hit."

Uraraka looked away from Izuku in shame. "Then at least you'd missed me getting beaten into a round faced pulp."

"Hey, it's not your fault you lost ok? Kacchan is just a little… intense."

"Kacchan? That's what you called Bakugou earlier right?"

"Y-Yeah, I've known him for quite a while. That's how I know he was probably more mad at me winning than at you personally."

Uraraka scoffed. "I could care less what that egotistical explosive thinks, I'm just-just… Arghhh…" She pulled her hair in frustration.

Izuku placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Trust me I know the feeling, I've known it since I was 4. But sometimes winning the fight isn't important, it's how you handle the loss."

The round faced girl sighed. "You're probably right, it's just… y'know? Disheartening."

Izuku felt a sense of déjà vu. "Just try to keep your head up, the losses won't last forever, they just logically can't. One day once you graduate you'd probably just… move on from it I guess."

"…But once I graduate we'll both be heroes. Out in the field, in the face of the media, he'd probably be top 10, and I'll just be a straggler as always."

Izuku chuckled. "That's if the media can get past that attitude of his, if I was a reporter I'd definitely interview you instead. Who would choose a dog that bites over a cute girl like you anyway?"

"I-I-Is t-that s-so!?" Uraraka blushed.

Izuku nodded. "But to be honest it's a shame, if he was just a little nicer he'd be Number One material. Not the All Might type of course, but nonetheless. He's got the quirk, the talent, and the ambition to do it."

"…Well, I guess I have none of those." Uraraka mumbled.

"W-Wait, I didn't mean that you-"

"I know what you meant Midoriya-san, but that's just it isn't it? I don't see myself as the Number One hero, nor did I set that kind of goal for myself, so why am I so hung up on it? In the end I'm just putting unnecessary stress on myself that's pushing me away from my real goal."

"Phew…" Izuku was just glad that she didn't go down a negative spiral like Yaoyorozu did. "Say, what is your goal anyway?"

Uraraka stiffened uncomfortably. "I… It's money…"

"Say what?"

Uraraka's face turned more crimson by the second. "I want to be a Pro Hero working for a good agency that earns a decent amount of money. Then I can pay for my parent's retirement and let them live life without worrying about bills and that sort of thing again… Doesn't sound very heroic does it?"

"…No it doesn't."

Uraraka clenched her fists in self-loathing.

"After all they've done for you, you want to help your parents retire comfortably. You want them to live happily without any financial anxiety or worry. That's not heroic in the slightest."

Uraraka was on the verge of tears.

"So what?"

"Huh?" Uraraka looked up at Izuku in shock.

"So what if it isn't heroic, so what if caring for your parents makes it feel like less of a selfless reason? Uraraka-san, no matter what kind of hero you turn out to be, no matter what the media or anyone else says. You are a good person, a good child, a daughter that anyone would be proud to have. Even if Kacchan does become the Number One hero, he wouldn't be half as good of a person you are."

"I-I I-uh… Thank you Midoriya-san." Uraraka let out a few drops of happiness.

But deep down Izuku knew, he wasn't a good person either.

"NEXT UP! WE HAVE THE GREEN UNDERDOG MIDORIYA IZUKU! VERSUS! THE MYSTERIOUS SHINOSU HITOSHI! CAN THE COMPETITORS PLEASE START TO MAKE THEIR WAY TO THEIR RESPECTIVE STARTING AREAS!"

"Looks like you're up."

"…Looks like I am."

It was finally time.

The moment they were dreading for the whole tournament.

Of course ideally Izuku had hoped they would face of in the finals, that way at least they could each take out as many hero students as possible. But beggars couldn't be choosers, and when they were aiming for the hero course, they had to take any chance they could get. With the limited spots in the hero course only one of them could be transferred.

After this match only one of them would remain.

After this match no matter the outcome, there would always be a divide between him and his best friend.

They could be happy for whoever won.

They could accept that they weren't going to be heroes.

But that feeling of 'what if' would linger on in their hearts no matter what.

For both winner and loser.

It was like trying to be happy for your friend who just got into the top university in the country, when you've failed after years of studies.

Izuku clenched his right fist.

This would be the hardest fight of his entire life.

Objectively Izuku had the advantage. He was physically stronger, he had more street fighting experience, and his right hand could negate Shinsou's brainwashing quirk.

If you were a betting man, Izuku would've been your best bet for this match.

After the stakes had been pitted against him over and over, time after time, misfortune following misfortune, Izuku would finally achieve his dream.

He would finally become a hero.

He could finally become a hero that even All Might would be proud of.

But… hadn't Shinsou experienced the same?

Hadn't everyone in his life told him that he would never become a hero? Even worse they called his quirk villainous, they told him that he was born to be an advocate of evil

Hadn't Shinsou trained hard to enter the hero course, while Izuku was off picking fights and getting into trouble like a delinquent?

All Shinsou wanted was to be a hero to prove the world wrong. That your quirk didn't define whether you'd be a hero or a villain. That if even someone with a 'villainous' quirk could become a hero, anything would be possible.

All Izuku wanted to do was to fulfil his childish dream to be like All Might, just like every other kid at the playground. All Izuku would prove was that he never grew up, that he still was just that pitiful 4 year old that couldn't even protect someone against bullies.

Besides, what would Izuku have to show from winning this match? That quirkless people can do anything if they tried? Izuku never really tried in any of the matches, if not for the strange, unexplainable power in his right hand he would have been dead last like he'd always been. And worse if other quirkless children started to look up to him, they would only get themselves killed! They couldn't negate quirks like he did! Izuku would have all their blood on his hands.

The only reason Izuku was here, was because his opponents were too used to relying on their quirks. If he had gone against someone like Kacchan he would have been done in seconds.

This was all the doing of the power in his right hand, not Midoriya Izuku's. Weak, quirkless Izuku would have been wiped out in seconds at the very first stage.

Meanwhile Shinsou had taken out all of his opponents without even lifting a finger, that's how much better he was than Izuku.

Kirishima, Todoroki, and now Shinsou, these all were just cases of bad match ups.

Just like the entrance exam that denied the both of them, that made both of them despair.

But now the one who would bring Shinsou despair was Izuku.

Just for the childish dream of a pitiful 4 year old.

A childish boy who wanted to become a hero for a chance to emulate a man who he would never come close to measuring up to. Even the current Number One Hero was leagues behind All Might, so what chance did this misfortunate quirkless boy have? Would he even be good enough to be a sidekick? Even if he could negate any quirk, he couldn't stop a runaway train or save someone from a burning building. With his misfortune he might even make everything worse. Meanwhile Shinsou would do so much more, save so many more than Izuku ever would with his quirk. And Izuku was willing to destroy all of that, kill all those innocent lives just for his childish dream.

He was the worst kind of trash that walked this Earth.

Uraraka wanted to be a hero for her parents, to give them a better life. All Izuku wanted was to feel good about himself for once, to be more than just a Deku.

Yaoyorozu struggled so hard and yet still failed against an opponent that Izuku wasn't supposed to beat. Not without the strange power in his right hand that wasn't supposed to exist.

He knew so many girls that have been through so much, suffered so much while he was still complaining about not being something he simply wasn't. He could barely even function as a proper college student, how dare he even compare himself to the likes of them? Even Eri had-

Oh.

How could he have forgotten.

Eri.

The girl he saved.

The girl he protected.

The girl that Izuku promised he'd feed and care for.

What would happen to her?

The Hero Course definitely had longer hours than General Studies, it was like comparing a Military Bootcamp to College.

If he got in the Hero Course who's to say he would have enough time for her?

Would he neglect her just to chase his childish dream?

Would he bring her back to that same life she had with Overhaul just to become a hero who would save no one, who didn't deserve to be even called one?

He really had the gall to make her suffer just for that.

He really would have made Eri, Shinsou, all those people suffer just for that.

He truly was absolute scum.

How could garbage like him ever become the shining Symbol of Peace? He would shatter that very symbol with his own hand.

So Midoriya Izuku made a decision.

"ALL RIGHT EVERYONE ARE YOU READY FOR THE NEXT MATCH!?"

He needed to wake up from this childish illusion of his.