Chapter 10!

Finally getting back on track for some updates. I also need my Itsuka x Izumi fix so of course that meant getting this fic updated. This is part of a batch update so take a look for what went up with this and thank you for your patience.

User/Reviewer Logical-Tadkins: Yep, you nailed it with your assessment of this Izumi and it certainly makes things interesting to have her navigate her way through a course that's really not for her as well as the fact that she knows that. This Izumi's perspective is always quite something for me to write in.

User/Reviewer yomunot: She is very reminiscent of Bakugo just in a somewhat different fashion for sure and of course that landed them into the either they get along or don't category with it explicitly being don't in this fic haha. Thanks as always for your reviews.

To everyone who faved, followed, or reviewed thank you so much!

Enjoy, more notes at the end!


Chapter 10: Two of a Kind

*Itsuka POV*

Itsuka arrived at school at a normal time as opposed to coming early like she had been doing.

There was no way around it, she was nervous about seeing Midoriya and the orange haired girl was both somewhat relieved and surprised when she entered class and the girl in question was the only one not yet present. All their other classmates were happily chatting with one another but Itsuka noticed that a few of them gave cursory glances towards the missing greenette's empty desk. The time continued regardless and only slightly before class did the green haired girl make her appearance.

It was obvious to say but Midoriya was in a pretty shit mood this morning. Her left leg and both arms were wrapped up and she had other scattered bandages on her neck and face as well. Her hair was down and half messy like she got fed up with it and the irritated greenette stomped her way straight to her seat and kicked her feet up onto the desk while she frowned to herself. None of the 1-B students bothered saying a word to her, knowing that it was an easy ticket to hell, so everybody went back to their own business cautiously. No one wanted to set her off even by accident but of course Itsuka would spare a glance or two every now and then. She'd clearly gotten herself into another incident but Itsuka was sure that Midoriya was still disappointed in her from their last spar. The greenette's anger was simply festering and since it had hit a certain point now then her overall mood was just now visible and lingering. Their teacher entered soon after and gave the perk of an eye for a moment before deciding to just get on with class and the school day continued from there.

Itsuka could practically hear Midoriya grinding her teeth through the entirety of their classes but the greenette seemed to keep a lid on things as best she could. The time passed eventually and come lunch was when the unspoken pact was broken and, surprisingly, Kinoko approached the time bomb of a greenette.

It was a simple interaction as everyone was heading off to lunch, but the shy brown haired girl offered Midoriya a piece of hard candy and the greenette just unraveled and ate it with a quick thanks. Kinoko didn't seem upset by the curt response, she actually breathed a sigh of relief, and that was the end of it. The others who saw that also let go of their own held breaths, reassured that Midoriya hadn't lost it, yet Itsuka instead felt a touch bitter for not being able to approach the greenette herself.

No, not yet, Itsuka had something she wanted to do first.

-break-

*Vlad King POV*

Midoriya had arrived much sooner than usual.

The greenette drove her scooter to school early to avoid the public eye and change into her uniform so she usually arrived around 45 minutes to an hour before classes but today Midoriya was a full 2 hours early. He of course noticed how worked up the girl was yesterday, how could he not when the rest of the class looked like even breathing would get them in trouble, so it didn't exactly surprise him when the greenette barged into the staff room.

"We got practice gyms I can use right?" she asked, pushy and straight to the point, while the 1-B teacher finished his tea and grabbed a slip of paper from a stack.

"Form," he told her plainly as he handed it over and the girl plucked up the pen he had been using and gave a few scribbles before returning both to the teacher.

The hero nodded to her but he also got up as she began leaving and the greenette eyed him questioningly before heading off and Sekijiro gave an amused shake of his head. Midoriya was a very restless person clearly and she had a need to physically act to help process her thoughts. The teacher and student walked down the hall in silence before the green haired girl glanced over to him in mild annoyance.

"Ya don't gotta follow me," Midoriya grumbled with a pointed look but the blood hero wasn't perturbed.

"Making sure you don't break anything," the man replied while the student gave an undignified snort at the words.

"Isn' tha point of tha equipment ta not break on me?" she asked with a hint of snippy sarcasm but it didn't bother the teacher.

"Well it's never been used by you," Sekijiro responded evenly and Midoriya gave him a disgruntled face before turning her attention back down the hall.

"Fair enough," she huffed and the hero hummed in acknowledgement.

"You didn't get into another fight already did you?" the teacher had to ask, knowing of her recent run in with Toga Himiko, and the girl just scowled sourly.

"Kinda," the greenette admitted much to his worry, "not like tha last time but it's a bit hard ta explain," she further elaborated, somewhat easing the man's mind, as he checked the time.

"We have 2 hours," Sekijiro pointed out in reminder and his student gave him an irritated glance before groaning.

"Kendo's a dummy," she grumbled vaguely and as if that explained anything.

"Need more than that Midoriya," the blood hero prompted with a sigh and the girl put her hands behind her head as they walked.

"Helpin' people out doesn't mean ya have to go out on a limb," she began while the man tried to parse through her meaning, "helpin' em help themselves is plenty fine."

"I assume you mean in general rather than a heroic physical sense," he clarified, making sense of her words for her, and the green haired girl grunted in what sounded like agreement.

"Makes a lot of sense don't it?" she brought up and Sekijiro thought for a brief moment.

"Maybe," he nodded, "at least if you communicate it," he informed while looking over the green haired student who frowned.

"I ain't great at it."

"Well there's part of the issue then," he noted simply, "communication requires both parties Midoriya," he lectured and the greenette quietly waited for him to finish. "One side can't do the work that needs to be done by the other," he finished which caused a pensive look to draw onto the girl's face.

"Ha!" she suddenly barked out with a sharp laugh. "What's with that?" she asked in loud amusement before her expression turned calm and a hint of a grin tugged at her lips. "Not like I don't know it," she said in a somewhat lowered voice, "I'm just bein' selfish."

Interacting with Midoriya was either quite easy or frustratingly difficult. It came with her personality and her outlook on many things at times felt overly simple even if they weren't that straightforward. That said, she was a lot more understanding than she came off to be but whether or not she acted on that fact was a different matter entirely.

"Hey Sensei?" the girl called suddenly.

"Hmm?"

"Ya make fer a fun chat," she grinned and Sekijiro returned the gesture.

"Glad to help."

-break-

*Recovery Girl POV*

"You know I already have one fool I'm forced to take care of," the old heroine grumbled at her patient.

Chiyo still had her mind on her last encounter with the greenette so she hadn't expected Kendo to come to her with busted hands that appeared to be from training. The orange haired girl looked down silently at her wrapped hands and the old woman just sighed at the silent display.

"Is it that important to you?" she had to ask, knowing how stubborn young people could be, and the orange haired student nodded solemnly.

"Yeah," Kendo replied quietly and Chiyo shook her head.

This girl, whether she knew it or not, was actually pretty similar to that green haired punk that always gave her a headache. Kendo was far more subdued than said greenette but she had a flame inside of her that was just waiting to be reignited into a raging inferno. Competitive with a hint stubbornness that would give way to a fiery personality was how this girl was at her core but instead her mind kept her in check as opposed to how Midoriya was practically all emotion.

They were two of a kind.

-break-

*Izumi POV*

Izumi didn't think she'd be chatting with Kendo so soon and she certainly wasn't expecting for her classmate to show up outside her apartment.

The orange haired girl was tense, but not in a bad way, and Izumi waited to hear her out as she looked down towards her.

"Just one more time," Kendo urged with a glare, "fight me just one last time," she demanded and the green haired girl narrowed her gaze.

"Hell's this about?" she had to ask but her friend didn't shy from her eyes.

"I won't be satisfied if I never have the chance again," the orange haired girl claimed while returning the gaze and Izumi tapped a finger.

"Fine," she agreed, knowing she was eager for this, and Kendo nodded.

It was a short but wordless walk over to the usual place and the pair geared up quickly and Izumi waited for the starting signal.

The greenette prepared herself to get hit, it was inevitable with how she fought, but the signal came and Kendo rushed her before snapping a right straight directly into her face. The sensation felt different than before, it sure hurt a hell of a lot more, and Izumi threw a wild hook that the orange haired girl wore on her guard despite it blowing her back to center ring. Izumi understood it from the first punch, it was different from their last two scuffles where Kendo was trying to let her fight out her frustrations. The orange haired girl was actually here trying to knock Izumi out this time around.

The greenette let her body take over but her classmate was real slippery despite not retreating. Izumi wild punches either barely missed or battered Kendo's guard and although her instincts were good the greenette still ate a few more of those hammering punches from her friend. The other girl may have been a headhunter who leaned towards straight punches but she was pretty damn good at making sure they landed. She'd either counter one of Izumi's punches or wait for the end of one of them and the greenette grinned as their fists flew and drew blood.

They dual exchanged right straights but Izumi had more power and came out on top as Kendo was forced back and the orange haired girl took audible breaths as she studied her. Izumi tightened her fists and kept her focus as well. Her consciousness had blinked on and off during the brief exchange and the greenette had actually blocked a few of the punches instinctively too.

Kendo was firing her up.

Izumi knew that she had the other girl right. Kendo was competitive and somewhere deep down she couldn't accept losing to her but the orange haired girl had covered it up with her attempts at being heroic and helping her. The greenette didn't want that in a fight though, so she was going to pry that part out of her and see just what kind of beast was sleeping there.

Izumi had a feeling that for as different as they were, they were also equally the same.

-break-

*Itsuka POV*

This wasn't about Midoriya, not anymore.

Everything that Itsuka was doing here right now was for herself. She could sense it, that feeling that she had forgotten finally coming back to her, and the spark in her chest flared so much that she thought her heart would burst into flames. This was a fight, and right now she only cared about winning.

Anything fancy was thrown out the wind for hitting and being hit but Itsuka rained punches down on the wild girl who only came back for more with her own killing bites. Almost every single punch that Itsuka had thrown had hit Midoriya but the greenette showed no signs of stopping and instead came out on top in every exchange.

Was she so weak?

Itsuka had trained her own body through a lot of her life and she'd even been able to catch the eye of and be praised by a top hero like Ryukyu but her fists weren't enough to make Midoriya back down. The orange haired girl must have landed three times the amount of hits that Midoriya did but she was still the one losing. Another right straight counter met its mark and the feedback in her fist had been absolutely perfect.

How was that, Itsuka questioned in her mind but her head was flung down as Midoriya's overhand right followed despite the greenette's head having been thrown back. Straining ever fiber of her being to continue fighting, Itsuka remained standing and kept her willpower strong. If she had went into this with anything less than all her resolve then she deserved to be KO-ed but this time she was going to be leaving the fight as the winner.

Screw logic, you couldn't use it to deal with Midoriya.

-break-

*Izumi POV*

Even if Izumi didn't always use her head she could tell that they were coming up on the end.

Both she and Kendo knew it was a stupid idea to keep trading punches since the greenette was physically much stronger but Kendo still did it when she reasoned that the opportunity could help her win. That didn't mean that Kendo was backing off though, she wasn't darting around the ring with some hit and run stuff but instead settled into Izumi's best range and fought her right there. This was fun, this was the stuff that Izumi craved, so what was the point in acting like she wasn't enjoying herself?

Heroism? If she felt like it.

That wasn't all there was to her life and she wasn't gonna pretend like she did things for people out of anything but her own selfishness and way of living. That was why when she and Kendo were like this the orange haired girl should only be thinking of her own desires. Kendo just had to keep her eyes on Izumi and she'd get her out of that little cage that the orange haired girl had stuck herself in. Because more than anything else, Izumi found something fun.

Izumi drew up her right arm, exposing herself with the wide swing, and she clenched her fist as she threw her hardest chopping right possible. The punch obliterated Kendo's guard, managing to hit the girl's face too, and her entire body was blown back towards the ropes. The orange haired girl tipped forward and the greenette's left smash landed and ripped Kendo off her feet and into the ropes which kept her up. The orange haired girl's knees gave way but she managed to keep from falling by balling up.

"Doesn't hurt...at all!" Kendo ground out, her eyes still glaring at the greenette and Izumi growled at the words.

That was arguably one of her best combinations and the orange haired girl still took it standing and trying to fight back. Kendo would make her look third rate at this point so Izumi needed to throw even greater punches to finish the orange haired girl off. The greenette trembled in excitement at Kendo's display of guts and she charged forward, her right cocked back and ready to be thrown, but the orange haired girl forced herself off the ropes with her own punch matching up. Kendo bit back, a heavy right straight being fired right into the greenette's face and Izumi's legs wobbled beneath her as she stumbled back from the right on right counter.

"That was a good one," she admitted, her vision going spotty, while tipping forward and mumbling as she struggled to stay up by stomping a foot down.

They both must have known they were torn up but Izumi was gonna win this. She fought and she won. That was how Izumi did things and that wasn't about to change now. The greenette stalked over unsteadily, knowing that neither of them were in range yet, and she watched as the orange haired girl tried to muster the strength to fight back. Kendo had shown her a real good time but eventually things came to a close and Izumi's right dropped into her most familiar punch.

Her fangs flashed and that was the end.

-break-

*Itsuka POV*

Itsuka blinked awake and stared at the ceiling for a moment before jolting up in realization.

She'd lost hadn't she.

"Dammit!" Itsuka yelled out in frustration as she pounded a fist against the canvas, not caring that her head was killing her, and the orange haired girl ground her teeth.

She wanted to win, Itsuka had really wanted to win, and it frustrated her that she hadn't.

"We're even now," Midoriya called out tiredly, sitting down a little ways off from her and leaning against the ropes, but Itsuka scowled a little.

"0-3 isn't what I'd count as even," the orange haired girl complained but it got a half amused yet half annoyed from the greenette.

"Can it," Midoriya chuckled, "ya know what I mean."

"Yeah," Itsuka nodded with a little grin and laugh of her own, "I do."

"I'm beat but I'll take ya home," her friend offered and Itsuka leaned back and closed her eyes.

"Thanks," she replied with a pleased sigh. "Hey Midoriya?" Itsuka called over and she heard the girl grunt.

What's up?"

"That was fun."

"I thought so too."

-break-

*Izumi POV*

The greenette whistled as she walked herself home after dropping Kendo off.

The orange haired girl seemed more open in her opinion and Izumi was also glad to have made up with her. There was still some stuff she wanted to chat about with Kendo next time but that could wait for now. It was fine to just leave off on a good note anyway.

The greenette was still hurting from all those hits she took but she smiled to herself with a laugh. She hadn't had this much fun in a while and it might have been crazy to say but all her aches and pains were proof of it. Just a good brawl between the two of them. However, Izumi also knew that the fight hadn't been about her. It was about Kendo, and that was fine, but that meant the greenette wasn't any closer to her own answers.

The thing Izumi was searching for still wasn't quite in sight.

-break-

*Vlad King POV*

Sekijiro entered the nurse's office to about what he expected.

Both girls had looked like they had beaten the other to hell and they each sat on their knees with signs around their necks that said 'reflecting' while Recovery Girl lectured them angrily.

"Did you two make up?" he asked, trying to keep a gruff voice and expression but a grin poked on his lips as he saw the greenette light up.

"Yup!" Midoriya beamed with a big smile as she hooked an arm around Kendo's head and pulled her close.

"It's a weird way to make up," the orange haired girl sighed but she had a soft smile, "sorry for the trouble."

"Yer just sour cause ya lost," Midoriya commented offhandedly with a smirk and Kendo nearly growled at her.

"I landed 3 times the hits that you did!" the orange haired girl shot back and Midoriya sent a look over at her.

"I wasn' tha one that was unconscious in tha ropes," the greenette snickered which made the class rep narrow her eyes.

"You wanna fight again?!" Kendo raised her voice while yanking on the greenette's collar, their heads butting while they glared at one another.

"Bring it!" Midoriya grinned excitedly, rising to the provocation, as she grabbed the orange hair girl by the collar as well.

"You two are supposed to be reflecting!" Recovery Girl yelled at them, shutting them both down and the two students apologized to the heroine.

It seemed that his green haired student had managed to pull out a more hot blooded side from Kendo but he didn't see it as a bad thing. The orange haired girl should take the time to focus on and drive herself rather than be worried solely about the class as a whole. On the other side of things, Midoriya had someone who she was completely comfortable with and would also keep an eye out for her. They may have had a strange way of getting to this point but he was certain that things would be better for them going forward.

Though he did wish it included less injuries.


Notes and Stuff

Maybe I dialed up Itsuka's canon competitiveness just a bit to fit better here.

Even though the two of them are getting back on the same page there's still other things for them to sort through and of course Izumi also has her own things she's looking for and needs to find elsewhere. Also, I need to write more Vlad King cause I just think he's real cool.

This was a batch update so give everything else a check too.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed and look forward to more updates from me!