Chapter 14: Fights and Pep Talks
Summary:
The 3rd round tournament is in full swing! Of course, communication is always key...
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Izuku was in his seat, notebook out, when the fight between Mei and Fuki began. Izuku remembered seeing flashes of Mei's plan, hijacking the fight by decking the tall boy in her various babies, then essentially turning him into a demonstration piece. He thought that his interference would stop that from happening, but Fuki did possess a fair number of her devices on his person. Once it was cleared by Midnight that this was agreed upon by both parties, the match could begin.
However, the fight went down much differently than Izuku could gather from Mei's plan. Rather than try and use the fight as a glorified infomercial, the two of them were fighting in earnest. Mei still hijacked the sound system, but instead of a long running commentary, she would only occasionally comment briefly, naming one of the devices she or her opponent were using.
Furthermore, Fuki was seemingly in on it. He was loud enough that he could be heard by a number of them without the loudspeakers. He was praising Mei's equipment more than she was.
"So Mei-chan's putting up a serious fight here," Izuku said, deciding to forgo any attempts at subtlety and dive straight into a mutterstorm. "She's actually giving Fuki-san a challenge rather than simply letting him win. Still, he's using the support gear she provided, and he seems to be reliant on it. Is his Quirk something not related to combat? Or is it something subtle that we can't detect just by watching him?" He began writing in his notebook as he talked.
"That guy and Shinso are the only Gen-Ed students to make it here," Momo mused. "And we haven't seen either of their Quirks yet. Has anyone interacted with them at any point?"
"Shinso was at testing site when I was there," Pony said. "Didn't see Quirk."
"I think that Fuki guy was at our site, Izu-kun," Ochako said from her place beside Izuku.
"He was. I vaguely remember pulling him out of the way of a robot. I could be wrong, it was a busy day," Izuku said.
The match ended when Fuki managed to snare Mei with the provided net gun, immobilizing her in midair. She still had her hover soles, so she remained floating, unable to move, until Fuki leapt up, grabbed her, and gently set her down outside the arena. He gave her a thumbs up and a big grin as he was declared the winner, then helped get her free from her own creation.
As Tenya and Ibara squared up for their match, Mei joined 1-A in the stands. She immediately glomped onto Izuku and loudly said, "You were right! He was all in on the idea of showing off my babies, but he said he wanted a fair fight to show the world he was hero material!"
Izuku smiled at her, "Glad it worked out! Do you know anything about what he's capable of without your gear?"
Mei shrugged, "Nah, he wouldn't say. He seemed relieved when I offered to give him gear, though. And he said that if he got into the Hero course, he'd make sure to be one of my clients!" Her eyes sparkled as she said that.
"Interesting," Izuku said, wishing he had a better idea of what his next opponent was capable of doing.
"Oh! I did ask him if he could shoot rockets out of his hair or anything else like that. He said no, his hair wasn't his Quirk," Mei offered.
"Well, that's something," Izuku said as the match began.
Ibara made the first move by sending several of her vines outwards, bringing others down into the ground to root herself in place. A quick use of Tenya's Recipro Burst technique let him evade the vines, but his attempts to dislodge her from the ground failed.
Ibara's vines realigned and went after Tenya once again, but once again, he was able to dodge. Steeling himself, he used his Recipro Burst once again, this time flying into the attacks instead of away. A roundhouse kick at full speed was enough to send Ibara flying out of bounds.
As Midnight announced the winner, Tenya, concern etched on his face, rushed over to Ibara to check on her. As the medic-bots took her towards Recovery Girl, he followed her.
"And who said that chivalry was dead?" Eraserhead snarked as Cementoss quickly cleared the arena.
"If it were alive, he'd have gone a little easier on her," Present Mic quipped back.
"And if he goes easier on a villain, he might die," Eraserhead countered, deadly serious. "He attempted to remove her with a minimum of violence, and escalated only when that proved ineffective. Shiozaki is no pushover, she's one of 1-A's strongest students. Treating her like she's frail simply because she's a woman is an insult."
"Speaking of powerful women, our next contestant from 1-A is their class vice representative! This high-class lady came to us on recommendation, and she can throw everything, including the kitchen sink, at her opponents! Give it up for Momo Yaoyorozu!"
As Present Mic introduced Momo to the crowd, it exploded in applause. Izuku could feel embarrassment and anxiety radiating off of her as she nonetheless projected an air of confidence.
"And her opponent is one of our two General Education students vying for the open seats in the Hero Course! He stood on the shoulders of Akira Fuki to get through the cavalry battle, will he go the distance on his own? Let's give a warm welcome to Hitoshi Shinso!"
There was less applause, certainly, but it was still there. Shinso just looked tired. When the two of them met, Shinso said something to Momo, likely to the effect of "Let's have a good fight, though they couldn't hear it. Momo responded, nervous energy below the composed way she spoke.
Midnight cracked her whip to begin the match.
And then, Izuku could feel nothing come from Momo. It was like the bond was producing static. Her posture even changed. Without moving, Shinso said something, and Momo instantly turned around and walked out of bounds.
The minute her loss was announced, whatever happened broke. Izuku could feel surprise, confusion, and finally, shame erupt from her as she realized what was going on.
Izuku was out of his seat before she even reached the gate.
Momo felt so stupid.
She lost, pathetically, the second her match began. She was prepared to fight, and her opponent had secured victory before she even realized it. Her first shot at showing the world her capability as a hero, gone. Who would take her on as an intern now?
As these thoughts stewed in her head, a familiar presence made itself known in her mind without looking. She opened her eyes to find them filled with tears (she hadn't even noticed that she was crying, stupid) and her attempts to clear them were interrupted when Izuku wrapped her up in a hug.
Any attempts at decorum failed as she sobbed and clung to him like he was driftwood from a shipwreck. He simply let her, feeling him comfort her, rubbing her back in calming circles. Every feeling from him was warm.
"It's not your fault," Izuku said, as her sobs petered out. Momo blinked back the tears as Izuku continued. "You didn't know what he was capable of doing, none of us did. I probably would have lost if I was facing him first."
Momo didn't trust her voice, but she didn't believe him. Of course, Izuku could feel that and said, dripping sincerity, "I probably would have. My Quirk is… involved, but there's a good chance he'd take me out if I faced him in the first round."
He was right. Shinso had given her a friendly greeting and she responded, just like any normal person would. Would any other student have won against that?
"You faced him first, and now we know what we're dealing with. Voice activated mind control. If anything, think of yourself as the hero who sacrificed herself so that her allies could use the information she gathered to bring the villain down. Your team was the only one that snagged my team's headband, through your planning and tactics. Any hero who doesn't see how great you are isn't worthy of teaching you…"
As Izuku said those words, her heart swelled with pride. Whatever else may happen, he felt that she was this strong, capable heroine already, and that wouldn't change. It was a wonderful feeling, she loved that about him.
DING!
Both of them blinked, not expecting that. There was a pause, and Izuku asked, "Could you hear what I just thought?"
"No," Momo said lightly.
"Okay. I was planning on letting you all in on the full story tonight, this just increases the priority," Izuku said. "Be careful around Occhan, we don't know how the Stage 2 Bond affects you two, or if it improved anything else."
They were interrupted by a chill in the air, and looked to a nearby screen to see that Todoroki had filled the arena with a massive glacier, and frozen Pony almost completely. All but her face was covered in ice, preventing her from firing off her horns. The match was called almost immediately.
"Okay, I know he's going through a rough time, and he's under a lot of stress, but if he does that to Tsu-chan, I'm going to break his legs," Izuku said telepathically.
Momo let out a giggle and replied, "Well, at least I'm not the only one to lose that badly?"
The two of them made their way back to the stands.
When the two returned to the stands, the proximity to the glacier had already sent Tsuyu into mild torpor, so Momo set to work creating a hot water bottle and blanket for their amphibious Bondmate. When Pony arrived, she decided to help as well, and she and Momo began to commiserate over their losses. Izuku smiled, things were going to be all right.
He paid attention to the match between Eijiro and Kamakiri. The mantis-like boy was quick and his blades were sharp, but Eijiro was determined and his skin was tough. Kamakiri kept lunging, but Eijiro endured every slash. Likewise, every time Eijiro tried to hit back, Kamakiri would parry the blow or leapt out of the way.
"Well this match is a good example of the old 'unstoppable spear, impenetrable shield' paradox, isn't it, Eraser?" Present Mic said.
"No one is truly unstoppable or impenetrable," Eraserhead commented.
It turned out that Kamakiri ended up losing steam first. Eijiro tried to focus on enduring each hit rather than counterattacking. It was better that way, since his Hardening would be stronger if he wasn't focused on moving. In the end, Kamakiri had tired himself out, allowing Eijiro to finish it with a haymaker to the face. From the ground, Kamakiri tapped out.
As Midnight declared the match, Eijiro knelt down and gave his hand out to Kamakiri, who grinned and took it, getting to his feet and walking to see Recovery Girl.
"Next, coming to us from Shanghai by way of Class 1-B, we have the boy whose Quirk is like Crust's on a smaller scale! Between defense and offense, he's been quite versatile! Will he tilt the scales, or will he end up 'dragon' his feet? Please welcome Hiryu Rin!" Present Mic announced.
"That last pun was terrible even by your standards," Eraserhead groaned.
Present Mic ignored him, "And his opponent, from Class 1-A, we have a girl who's Quirk is out of this world. I mean it, if you're not careful, it can literally send you out of this world! She's floated her way on up, but can she reach the troposphere? Give us a cheer for Ochako Uraraka!"
Ochako inhaled. She had a plan. Sure, Izu-kun offered his own tips, but she declined. She didn't want to ride on his coattails her entire time at U.A. She had to prove she was capable in her own right.
She had a brief inkling of what this guy was capable of during their joint sparring and the Cavalry Battle. His scales were tough, but not on par with Eijiro's or Tetsutetsu's, and while he could shoot out his scales, he didn't have the same accuracy Pony did. He had some kind of support item for that, she thought? Anyway, she had an idea for what to do.
She'd never considered the need to train so heavily before, thinking of Hero work completely in terms of using her Quirk. Hanging around Izu-kun had eroded that line of thinking and the USJ completely killed it.
She didn't want to be a burden to anyone, someone who needed to be saved like she was in the entrance exam. If she hadn't been as quick or as strong at the USJ, either she or Yui would've been hurt. Learning that Thirteen, her idol, had been taken down by a villain because she focused on the rescue portion of heroics rather than combat, made her feel more ill than overusing her Quirk.
So, she trained her body as well, taking on an intense workout routine as well as trying to acclimate herself to using her Quirk on her own body. If Izu-kun could strain himself with a power capable of shattering him, she could certainly try!
So, when the match began, Uraraka tapped her bare arm with her other hand and leapt into the air. She rocketed past over a barrage of scales and quickly released her Quirk to land in front of Rin. He attempted to block her, but an open hand strike caught him up in her Quirk, allowing her to toss him out of the ring.
As she was declared the winner, she looked at Rin, who looked super frustrated at such a quick defeat. She went over and asked, "Are you injured?"
Rin sighed, "I'll be fine. Just bruised pride. I knew my chances were slim given that you threw Bakugou out of the Hero Course. Thanks for that by the way."
"He did most of the work himself," Ochako said sheepishly.
"Still, I almost envy you for getting to thrash that insufferable jerk, " Rin dusted himself off when he got to his feet. "Best of luck if you get to face our class's top contender."
Ochako's eyes widened, as she forgot that was a possibility. She made her way over to the stands.
"-raka-san? ...Uraraka-san?" came the familiar voice of Yoichi Shigaraki.
I can hear you, she said. It's still weird that I can, but I can hear you.
"Huh, the range has increased. Izuku tried texting you, but you must have missed it. Momo's bond went to Stage 2," Yoichi said.
Ochako blinked, I want to be surprised by that, but I'm really not.
"I wanted to warn you, and make sure your partition's up," Yoichi said, reminding Ochako of the times the vestiges instructed her on how it worked.
Not to mention the day they'd actually met, when she slept over at the Midoriyas, making sure her futon was within ten meters of Izuku's bed. It was awkward, but at least she could meet the vestiges in person. If you could count "meeting in some misty plain within your new boyfriend's dream psyche" as "in person".
Thank you, Ochako said, forming the wall as she had practiced. She was nervous as she got closer, before reaching the stands with a smile on her face, returning to 1-A's stands triumphantly.
As she made her way to her seat, her mind was mercifully silent, thank heavens for small favors. When she sat down, she looked towards Momo, who was looking a little nervous at her arrival. She sent her the message, I was able to block you out. Don't worry.
Momo gave a sigh of relief. "I'm glad. Although, I expect that I'll need to learn that technique myself."
We'll teach you, Ochako thought with a smile. And once this is over, Izu-kun will let everyone in on what's happening.
The fight between Mina and Tsuyu was rather short. Mina used her acid to slide around the battlefield, but Tsuyu hopped over her, evading any of the acid she hurled as a projectile as well. Soon enough, she'd grabbed Mina by the waist with her tongue and quickly, but gently, placed her out of bounds. Mina gave a brief pout at the defeat, but ultimately strode off the battlefield, content that she'd given it her all.
As they prepared for the quarter-finals, Izuku was walking in the hallway to his waiting room. As he did, he felt Danger Sense lightly ping. He'd been getting better at identifying what each feeling would represent. Apparently, being within One for All for over a century had allowed it to pick up a variety of threats.
Someone with a lot of power, both physically and socially, Izuku examined the feeling. Antagonistic, but not willing to attack. If I made them angry, they'd probably use social influence rather than violence, but if provoked into using violence, it would be extremely dangerous.
"Impressive," Hikage said. "You're practically a sommelier of danger. I'm quite proud."
"That's not necessarily a good thing, Shinomori," Daigoro said.
"But it's good, because it's a necessary thing," Hikage countered.
"Eeeeh. You're not wrong," Daigoro acquiesced.
"So you're the one who's been making waves this year," came a voice that Izuku recognized, that any Hero nerd would know.
"Endeavor," Izuku turned to meet the man, clad in his blue costume, beard lit with flames.
Once upon a time, Izuku looked up to Endeavor. His birth father had a fire-breathing Quirk, and he'd always dreamed of becoming a Hero with a Quirk like that. Of course, as he grew older, Endeavor's cavalier behavior towards bystanders and villains dissuaded him. Izuku fell in love with heroism by watching All Might save people from a catastrophic fire. Endeavor was more likely to put them in danger by starting one.
And of course, now Izuku had found out Endeavor had been hurting his own son for the sole purpose of surpassing a rival, one who didn't even care about the rivalry. He was beyond disillusioned and was more akin to full on enraged.
"I've heard of your performance at the USJ incident," Endeavor said, looking at Izuku appraisingly. "That you took down a villain that was giving All Might trouble…"
Izuku said, "To be fair, sir, the situation wasn't quite so black and white. All Might, Eraserhead, and Hound Dog were each engaged with one of four bio-engineered creatures that the League of Villains referred to as Nomu. The fourth one, with wings, was harrying all three of them. While I can't necessarily judge how strong each of those were, the winged Nomu was probably the weakest or second weakest of the lot, it was merely thanks to the numbers that it 'gave All Might trouble.' Technically speaking, the other two also gave him trouble because he was trying to concentrate on one that the Leader claimed was specifically designed to kill him, while he was concerned that the other two were too much for Hound Dog and Eraserhead to take care of on their own, which was a valid concern because Eraserhead's opponent managed to greatly injure him. I only fought the winged Nomu because the leader was about to lethally attack one of my classmates. I attacked him to stop him, and the Nomu intercepted my blow. I was only able to beat it because it lacked defensive abilities that other Nomu possessed, like Shock Absorption and Regeneration Quirks, and because its wings had a weakness in the form of a fragile patagium. Furthermore, when I dispatched that Nomu, he sent the one that injured Eraserhead after me, a fight I would have certainly lost. I was saved when Tsu- Asui-san pulled me out of the line of fire, Yaoyorozu-san fired a wired crossbow bolt into its brain, and Kaminari-kun used that wire to electrocute it. In my opinion, they deserve more credit than I do."
Endeavor blinked, having endured an Izuku Midoriya mumble-storm for the first time. And, to Izuku's great shock, for the first time in his life, someone fully responded to it. "I see. The lack of a reliable video feed meant that even the official reports were missing key details. Still, while it's clear that there was a difference in power between the four Nomu, the fact that All Might could not instantly dispatch the creature does put it far above the common thugs that were sent en masse to harm you students, and that you were able to confront it solo while your classmates had to coordinate and use a lethal attack to destroy the other one does speak volumes about your strength."
"What," Nana said disbelievingly.
"Holy shit," Daigoro agreed.
"What the absolute fuck?!" Two shouted.
"Regardless of anything else, you are being compared to All Might, even now," Endeavor said. "My Shouto has a duty to become the next Number One Hero. You had better make it to the finals, so that he can defeat you."
Izuku breathed in. There were so many things he wanted to say, and he was still a bundle of nerves, but he managed to stay relatively calm. "Endeavor, I'm actually a big hero fan. If you would be so kind, would you allow me to ask you two questions?" Izuku said, trying to sound appreciative.
The Flame Hero looked at the boy imperiously, "I suppose I can do that. Go on, then."
Izuku met the man's eyes, "My first question is, do you know who All Might's father is?"
There was a dead silence.
"I'm sorry, that was a trick question. All Might is an orphan, he doesn't even know his own parents," Izuku said, "So, please let me amend that. There are two pro Heroes who trained him, who made him the Hero he is today. Nimbus and Gran Torino. I'm aware of them, but it's a pretty obscure piece of trivia. Do you know anything about them?"
Stonefaced, Endeavor said, "No, I do not."
"Interesting. Second, this is a commonly known piece of Hero trivia, that you solve more cases than All Might does, put away more villains than he does," Izuku said, seeing Endeavor's face perk up at the appeal to his ego. "Now, the Hero Public Safety Commission has guarded their methods of determining the Hero Rankings quite viciously, but if it were judged solely on combat prowess, you would easily be Number One. It doesn't matter if he's physically stronger than you or not, you've beaten him in every way that strength matters.
"So, why are you so focused on surpassing All Might with strength? If someone could become the Number One Hero through strength alone, wouldn't you have already reached that goal?" Izuku asked. It was amazing that he managed to maintain such calm when his heart was beating at hummingbird speeds.
Endeavor scowled, and it was clear that he wasn't going to answer.
Izuku bowed, "Thank you for indulging me." He then walked away, waiting until he was in his waiting room to start hyperventilating.
"Okay, Nine, I've gotta admit, that took balls," Two said.
"Oh, finally admitting you're an uncle now?" Yoichi asked.
"Let's not go that far," Two growled.
"On one side, we have Class 1-A's powerhouse, the boy with the brains and the brawn to dominate the field! Please welcome Izuku Midoriya! On the other, one of Gen Ed's hero hopefuls, a man with a voice almost as loud as mine and a hairdo that's even wilder than mine! Give it up for Akira Fuki!" Present Mic gave the introductions, and the crowd exploded as the boys took to the stage.
"I've been looking forward to this for a long time, man!" Fuki said from across the arena.
Izuku gave a grim nod.
"Ah, yeah, no need to worry about that! My Quirk ain't like my buddy Hitoshi's!" Fuki grinned. "But yeah, I'm glad to face you here and now! I'm getting pumped up just thinking about it!"
"I think we have another Kirishima or Tetsutetsu," Nana chuckled.
Let's see if he's as tough as they are, Izuku thought. And so, the fight began. Izuku waited on Fuki, trying to see what he was going to do in response.
It turned out that Fuki was going for a straightforward boxing match. He swung his fists at Izuku, who dodged expertly, Full Cowl sparking in response. Izuku kept pushing him back, carefully, waiting to see what his Quirk would do.
But Fuki seemingly never used it.
At last, Izuku chose to end it. He caught one of Fuki's punches and used it as leverage to pick the much taller boy up and hurled him out of the ring. As the match was declared as his win, Izuku walked over to him.
"You okay?" Izuku asked.
"Never better!" Fuki grinned. "I knew I couldn't beat you, but I had to give it my all, man! Thanks for letting me show my stuff."
"I was being cautious," Izuku said. "I have no idea what your Quirk can do, so I was playing it safe."
Fuki's grin faded slightly, "I can understand that. I'll tell you all about it, if you'll watch the next match with me!"
Izuku couldn't resist the lure of learning about a new Quirk, "Sure thing!"
As they walked off, Fuki began to talk, "I wanted to speak to you before, but I couldn't find the right opportunity! I wanted to thank you for helping me back at the entrance exam!"
"Right! Sorry, it was a busy day for me. I don't remember absolutely everything," Izuku said sheepishly.
"I getcha. We all were stunned when you pulled that stunt with the zero-pointer! But you pulled my fat outta the fryer when this one robot was about to get me from behind! And that made me realize that, hey, I'm coming here to be a hero, I should be trying to help people, not just smack robots around! I didn't get many Villain Points, but thanks to that, I got a whole buncha Rescue Points! Still didn't make the cutoff, but I got close! And that was enough that I decided, might as well try to get in from General Studies rather than just give up!" Fuki said energetically.
Izuku couldn't help but smile, tearing up a little, "I'm really glad I could help you out, Fuki-kun!"
"Call me Akira, man! You earned it, since you didn't just save me, you saved my dream! With your strength and attitude, I'm sure you're gonna be the ultimate hero!" Akira said, offering his hand to shake.
Izuku took it, "You might as well call me Izuku, then."
Akira shook his hand gleefully, "Awesome! Glad to officially meetcha, buddy!" They approached one of the many screens showcasing the fights, one of which was showing Tenya and Shinso. "Lotsa people in Gen Ed wanted to be Heroes, but not everyone was truly dedicated to it! Hitoshi, though, he wants it more than anything! Even more than me! So, we've been training since we first showed up in 1-C!"
The screen showed that Shinso was addressing Tenya, who didn't respond to the boy. When the fight began, Tenya rushed forward to meet his opponent with a high speed kick, but Shinso managed to leap to the side, duck under Tenya's leg, and kick him in the back. It sent Tenya sprawling, but he managed to stop before reaching the arena's edge.
"No way," Izuku blinked. "His Quirk lets him do that?!"
"Nope! Mine does!" Akira replied. "My Quirk is called 'Pep Talk'! If I compliment someone, I can give 'em a boost to their strength, speed, and stamina! Depending on how much juice I put into it, I can potentially double their power for up to twelve hours! And during the cavalry battle, I put everything I had in the tank to make sure Hitoshi could go the distance!"
Shinso kept dodging Tenya's maneuvers, taking a few hits, and dishing out his own when he could.
Izuku's jaw dropped, "That's such an amazing Quirk! Does the type of compliment you give effect it at all? Could you focus on increasing power while decreasing time? Is there a length of time that you need to speak to get it all out? Does it need to be sincere?" His notebook was out, and he was scribbling furiously.
"Whoa there, man! I got every third word of that, maybe!" Akira said, still grinning. "But I did catch that last bit, and it does need to be sincere. And it has to use your own abilities as a base! So Hitoshi and I trained like madmen so he could use it to its full effect!"
"So, were you fighting me at twice your own physical prowess?" Izuku asked.
Akira's smile was strained as he said, "Nah. Can't buff myself with my own Quirk. That was all I could do on my own. It's why I'm glad that the Support girl gave me those items. If they decide to move me, I'm gonna need to rely on them. And, hey, I'm the perfect guy to hype someone else up!" His smile returned to full force at that last sentence.
As the fight continued, Shinso said something, and Tenya furiously yelled back, only for his face to turn blank. At Shinso's command, he walked out of the arena.
"Oof! Musta touched a nerve!" Akira said.
"Iida-kun…" Izuku said sadly.
"Sorry about your buddy," Akira patted Izuku on the shoulder. "Though, we are trying our damndest just to reach the starting line you guys have already blazed past. We can't really afford to be nice right now…"
Izuku paused, and then said, "You know, the main reason my class survived the USJ was that we all worked together. The first day of school, Eraserhead-sensei put us in a competition, saying that last place would be expelled, but after we made it past that, we've been helping each other grow stronger.
"From what I've seen so far, 1-B doesn't have that. They're all just trying to one up each other, and it hasn't gone well for them so far. The closest thing I've seen is Monoma, and he's kind of a jerk…" Izuku looked at Akira, "I hope you two get in. And if you do, they really need you to be nice."
Akira started to tear up, "That's so freaking manly, buddy!"
Izuku blinked, then looked at his hair, "Wait… you aren't a fan of Crimson Riot, are you?"
Akira beamed, "Absolutely! He's one of my two idols! I styled my hair partly after him, partly after my grandpa! My mom's dad was Gentaro Kisaragi!"
"The Rocket Hero, Cosmic?!" Izuku asked excitedly. "The man who was said to have befriended a thousand heroes over his career?"
"You know about him?! Holy crap!" Akira said.
"We can talk about that later, right now, you need to meet two of my classmates," Izuku said, dragging Akira off.