ALRIGHT DUDES UPDATE TIME!
Not much to say here, so enjoy the chapter!
Inko Midoriya sat on the very edge of her seat, her eyes wide as she gaped at the TV.
She had just watched as the King of the Hill had wrapped up with… a rather shocking conclusion. And yet it wasn't her worst fear come true, it wasn't Izuku at the center of the terror, but rather another child.
Izuku had been saved. How, she had no idea, as the cameras had cut away once the teachers had rushed to the center of the field, but she knew simply on sight that it was not Nemesis crying out and thrashing with shadow-claws from the top of the hill.
Furthermore, she knew it wasn't her son because she had seen him move down the hill before all Hell had broken loose.
She had texted him but received no reply, though she did not hold this against Izuku himself but rather from the fact he probably had no real access to his phone.
Still, she had to wonder just what he would even say in reply. He had become a child who barely talked to her anymore. A child who seemed to hoard secrets. A child who came home, stayed in his room to emerge only for dinner, then vanish again.
The living room was clean and tidy as always, though the coffee table before her was covered in tissues. She had cried and cheered and cried again in a roller coaster of almost manic emotions as she had watched her son come so close, so close, to winning the obstacle course race. Then again as he had taken the hill only to have a terrible looking accident happen and all of it to go up in dust.
Well, almost in dust. They had just announced that yes, his team would be passing to the next round, and as his picture had flashed up alongside one boy she recognized as one of his friends, another crow-headed child she didn't know and a girl with bright pink hair, she had cheered in joy.
Her baby was doing it. He was living his dream and overcoming the obstacles that had been placed before him. Some, she would guilty admit, she had put there herself.
Inko turned her watery eyes and looked to the walls of her living room. Pictures of her and her half-smiling, half-worried looking child at various ages dotted the walls, causing her heart to once again swell with love for her little Izuku.
She remembered when her child was so much closer to her. Even at the height of his drug-induced apathy, he would still come to sit with her, to spend time with her. Perhaps it was because he had nothing better to do, perhaps it was because he had no friends to spend time with. Perhaps it was simply because he was too out of it to do anything else.
But even as far back as a year, he would come to watch T.V. with her, to smile his shaky, wobbly smile at the screen as heroes like All Might and Flashy Flash and Endeavor had been exalted by the newscasters.
She remembered when he would tell her he would be one, one day. He'd use his terrible, cursed power for good, that he would banish the monsters back and save the day with a smile on his face.
How long ago those days seemed now.
And she knew it was her fault. It was her fault for drugging him, for hiding the truth from him, what she knew of it anyway.
It was her fault for keeping his awful father from him all these years.
No. No, it wasn't her fault. It was the best she could have done given the circumstances. It was the best shot he'd had at leading a normal life, a good life, one in which he could grow up without becoming like him.
She did believe that. She really did. After all, it wasn't like his father had done anything to help. And who knew what her son would have become if he had stayed with her. Who knew what horrors he would have already committed in the name of Hell, of his father, of all the darkness that called his name.
Inko let out a long, shuddering sigh and closed her eyes for a moment, wiping away tears as the halftime show featuring a bunch of pop-idol girls started.
Where would she even begin? What could she tell him that would even start satisfying the questions she knew he had?
It wasn't like she was his father. It wasn't like she knew everything.
And yet…
There was sudden buzzing at her side, and she turned to glance down at her phone. Hot anger suddenly shot through her as she saw 'The Bastard: Calling' flash on the screen.
He was calling her? Now? Why?
With a deep frown already forming on her face, she slid a finger across the phone and answered with a shockingly curt, "What?"
"Inko!" His voice was like honey to her ears. Honey surrounded by stinging bees. Her irritation deepened. "I must admit I'm amazed you picked up."
"What do you want," She growled the words out, doing a rather amazing job at sounding threatening despite her very non-threatening nature.
"I just thought I would tell you personally that our son is fine, as are his less important friends."
Inko couldn't help her eyes widen in a moment of shock, and was internally glad that this was a phone call and not a facetime video. "W-what?"
"You're watching the games, yes? This is Izuku's moment to shine, after all. I'm here at the grounds, keeping an eye on things."
"I- You," Inko had suspected something was up when Hokori had arrived so quickly after she had only just found out about the USJ incident mere minutes before. Now her suspicion was all but confirmed, "You're… you're at UA?"
"I work for them, yes," Lucifer replied with what must have been a distracted look, "You know I thought you would be happier that Izuku is fine."
"I saw the television," Inko snapped suddenly, "I know he was fine. That hero, Cementoss, he built that big wall around the- that poor boy and Izuku wasn't-" She cut herself off suddenly as a terrible fear entered her thoughts, "Did you- did you plan that?"
"What?" The answer came in a rather insulted tone, "No. No- why- no. What possible reason would I have for causing our son to possibly lose a match? I want him to win, Inko. And furthermore, I want him to win on his own terms. It's important that he does, for his sake."
Inko didn't reply. She didn't believe him, because why would anyone ever take the devil at his word, but she wasn't entirely convinced that he was lying either. When it came to Izuku, she really had no idea how to take Lucifer's actions. He ignored him for all his life, yet the moment he started coming into his own powers he was suddenly his guardian angel, saving him from death and keeping a stalkerish eye on him.
Heh, guardian angel. That would be the day.
"Look, Lucifer, I know you didn't really call to tell me something I know already, so just get to the point," Inko grumbled down the line, deciding she wanted to end this conversation as quickly as possible.
"I wanted to know if you've put any more thought into telling Izuku the truth."
The words caused Inko to sit up as ice gripped her spine and frosted around her heart. Anxiety spiked through her brain and her eyes lined with tears.
"We always agreed it would be your responsibility to tell him and I agreed to abide by that oath," he paused for a moment, and then he did something she had never heard him do. He sighed. He sighed long and heavily and, for just a second, he sounded tired. Truly tired. Tired in a way that his kind wasn't supposed to feel. "I can't- I can't protect him like I could before, Inko. Things have changed and he can't keep stumbling around in the dark, unsure of who and what he really is. It's time he knew what blood flows in his veins, what his power is, what his inheritance is. Before it's too late."
Inko sobbed before she could stop herself. She knew this was coming, she had always known this was coming. She had even considered it this morning as she watched her son leave. And yet to hear it spoken by another, by Lucifer of all people. It… it hurt her. Inside. It tore at her heart and soul like no pain ever could.
The truth hurt. The truth had always hurt. The truth, which she had tried to hard to ignore and pretend couldn't get to her amazing, wonderful son, was finally collapsing onto him. His destiny, his fate.
His blood.
She sobbed, and Lucifer, for all his sins, waited for her to stop.
"A-After the festival," She began, her hands shaking, her body emptying of all feeling other than crushing sorrow, "A-after it's finished and he- he's home… then I'll tell him. Then he can know."
As winning students now filed out the stadium grounds, the crowd erupted into cheers. The stadium seemed to have been won over once again, perhaps by the pure crazed energy of Franchouchou, who Izuku had to admit had been pretty damn entertaining.
Fumikage had told him that their earlier stuff had a more metal sound, and Izuku had believed it. Though he still couldn't shake the feeling that there had been something a little odd about all of them, and Nemesis seemed convinced that death somehow hung around them like an invisible cloud.
Still, that was then, this was now.
Now Izuku stood beside his friends, trying to ignore the roller coaster going on in his stomach and the anxious pounding of his own heart. His tail had twitched constantly and so he had grabbed it and now toyed with the spear-tip end. He was glad he had gotten used to the sensation of having a tail because it made for something to fidget with.
Beside him Fumikage stood, looking utterly, emotionally exhausted. He clearly hadn't completely recovered from the terror with Neito and Izuku honestly wondered if he should still be competing.
On his other side stood Hitoshi, Tenya and Ochaco in that order. Hitoshi looked as cool as always, with an uncaring expression on his face. Tenya looked determined, as did Ochaco.
Izuku only wished he could have their confidence.
"We have made it to the third round, despite Dark Shadow's complete incompetence and that power-copying fool," Nemesis hissed unhelpfully through Izuku's mind, "Now all we have to do is demolish the rest of them and we will stand tall, proud and powerful."
Izuku rolled his eyes. He was just happy he got this far without anything going completely tits-up. All that remained was for him to hope against hope that their last challenges weren't too terrible, and he'd be okay.
"So! Despite that little hiccup, you sixteen students have made it this far!" Midnight began, a wide grin on her lips and a flash to her bright blue eyes. She struck out her whip at the small crowd, "You should all be incredibly proud of yourselves! However, now comes the final hurdle! The last challenge of the day, which will be randomly decided… NOW!"
She turned suddenly to point back at the gigantic holo-screen, which again showed a slot spinning like a gambling machine.
Izuku's thumbs pressed deeper into his tail, despite the small ache of pain that shot from it. Please don't be combat, please don't be combat, please-
"ONE ON ONE COMBAT!"
The crowd roared out in joy as the screen suddenly changed to show a formal tournament structure, showing four tiers of battle until someone was finally crowned overall champion. Some of the other students cheered, others tensed in focus or determination.
Izuku, however, felt as though someone had walked up to him and dumped an ice-cold bucket of water over his head. All the feeling simply left his body to be replaced by one gigantic, numbing sense of dread.
That was, however, until Nemesis suddenly raced through his system like wildfire. Fire-heat flashed along his scars and his heart suddenly beat more fiercely from the battle-hunger that his dark companion begged for.
"COMBAT!" It cried like a cheering warrior of ancient ages through his mind, "BLOODSHED! BATTLE! GLORY! We shall tear our opponents apart! We shall unleash fire and shadow upon them all! We shall wear the victors crown at long last! And all will know our name and bow to us!"
And yet despite its screaming through his brain, Izuku barely reacted. He was simply staring forward, lost to his own dawning horror at the fact that he was going to be thrown into combat not once, but a possible four times, with a good chance that he would be going up against at least one of the three people on the field who hated his guts.
"God hates me," The words drifted from his mouth as Midnight began announcing who would be facing who, though all attention to the announcements was utterly lost. "God hates me, He hates me. God actually hates me."
"Dude," Hitoshi suddenly elbowed him sharply, a favorite tactic of the young man, and once Izuku looked to him the purple-haired boy nodded upwards at the screen, "Check it out. You're facing Mei first."
Izuku blinked at this, then looked up taking note of the giant tournament map for the first time.
Hitoshi was right. Izuku was up first and, right next to his name, was Mei Hatsumi.
"We face the Scientist first? An easy win."
Izuku, however, was not so sure.
Though his heart skipped a beat when he saw who he would be facing should he actually beat Mei.
"Ibara…"
Her match was against Tenya and despite all the confidence he had in his friend he was sure Tenya would lose. Ibara had already shown her control of her quirk was almost absolute, and Tenya's speed could be countered.
He turned, looking past his friends and down the line where he spotted Ibara standing beside Katsuki. Both of them were looking up at the sign, then, suddenly, Katsuki spotted Izuku looking over to them.
He nudged the girl, who turned her cold green gaze towards him. She made no expression other than a look of casual disgust, as one might look at a cockroach that happened to be crossing their path, then turned back to Katsuki and whispered something to him.
Izuku turned away and gulped.
She was going to murder him. He was sure of it. She was going to find some way to murder him live on national television. She was going to-
"Excuse me."
Izuku's downward spiral suddenly halted when he turned to see Fumikage taking a step forward, his hand raised in the air. "Excuse me, Miss Midnight."
The teacher blinked at this sudden interruption before pointing her whip down at the crow-headed boy, "Yes, Mr. Tokoyami?"
"I would like to drop out."
A sudden gasp ran through the stadium, and several cam-drones hovered down to get better shots of this sudden, dramatic turn.
Several of their little group quickly began asking, "Fumikage?" And "Dude, what?" and "This is highly unlike you!"
Fumikage, however, ignored them all, "I caused harm to Neito Monoma. I should have been disqualified, and it's not right that I should go through while his team is given a loss."
"That wasn't your fault," Izuku found himself speaking before he even realized he was doing it, "You can't-"
"Izuku," The boy turned to him, his eyes flashing with something dangerous for just a moment before he sighed and relaxed, the anger vanishing with a blink, "I understand what you're saying, but I… I should not be allowed to pass when I caused him such pain. Despite how intentional or unintentional it was, I would not feel right moving further. It is," He paused for a moment, "A matter of honor."
"Honor. More like cowardice," Nemesis hissed with bared teeth, "He just wishes to avoid our eventual battle when we'll finally burn Dark Shadow alive."
Izuku, however, could absolutely understand Fumikage's stance. In a way, he wondered if it was right that he too stood down. Maybe it would be better for all if he did. That way he could avoid anything happening with Nemesis taking control, or being turned into chopped liver by Ibara or Katsuki.
And yet that choice was taken from him before he could even formulate his thoughts.
"And don't you dare think of doing the same," Fumikage suddenly snapped at Izuku, locking him with his crimson gaze. "What happened was never your fault, only mine. You've earned your place here, don't throw it away out of fear."
"… well, at least he has that right," Nemesis hissed quietly, causing Izuku to blink in shock. Nemesis was agreeing with something Fumikage said? This day really was full of surprises.
"Are you sure on this, Mr. Tokoyami?" Midnight called out suddenly, her eyes stern and focused and, for a moment, the mask of 'S&M Queen' slipped. Here was a teacher, a hero, and a very serious one at that.
Fumikage nodded, though Izuku could see something warring within him. No doubt it was Dark Shadow, furious that their master had chosen this route. "I am, Miss Midnight."
She grinned suddenly and seemed to shiver with some unspoken delight, "Oooh, I do love the honorable types! It fills me with a vigor that's just so… invigorating!"
Izuku rolled his eyes, well, that lasted long.
"Well then, if this is your choice then so be it! I'll replace you with someone from Neito Monoma's team! Computer!" She turned and pointed her whip to the screen, "Pick a random name from Monoma's team please!"
Izuku watched as Fumikage's name was quietly deleted then suddenly replaced.
"Itsuka Kendo! Congratulations!" Midnight smiled widely and winked to one of the cameras, "I'm glad it's a girl, we ladies need more representation in the hero world!" She then turned back to Fumikage and nodded to him, "Mr. Tokoyami, would you please leave the field."
The crow headed boy turned and looked back to his friends. And yet there was no sorrow in his eyes, only a strange sort of smile that played across his beak. He bowed to them and stood again, even as Izuku wished he could grab him and tell him not to leave and that he deserved to be there just as much as the rest of them.
"Fight well, my friends, you all worked hard to be here," His eyes landed on Izuku and he quietly added, "Show them we have honor, show them we're not taken by the shadow just yet."
Izuku stood for a moment longer, suddenly feeling a little better about being there, and then nodded, "Right."
Izuku looked around nervously. His anxiety was spiking, and fire was flickering along his scars. Goddamnit he wished people would stop cheering so loudly, it was really off-putting. Why couldn't they all just go home and watch it on TV? Oh, wait, now he was thinking about how many people were watching via TV.
Great. Super. More nerves, just what he needed.
The arena hadn't taken long to design, especially as Cementoss had simply used his quirk to quickly and smoothly create it in the middle of the stadium floor. It was typical of any martial arts style flooring, though it was rather wide-spaced for plenty of movement.
The rules had been spelled out quickly and simply. Either tap out, get knocked out, or become out of bounds to lose. The winner would go to the next round, though no serious injuries, chokeholds, or 'killing blows' were allowed.
Which Nemesis had, of course, called unfair and unsportsmanlike.
Izuku had almost been a total and complete wreck of nerves until Cementoss had made for himself a seat on one side of the arena, announcing he would stop any fight that got out of control.
Plus, there was a rather oddly placed reminder to 'all the students' that all the teaching staff where in attendance if anything else should go wrong.
Midnight had suspiciously looked right at Izuku as she had spoken, which of course made Izuku feel like he was two inches tall.
"Hey! Devil-boy!" Izuku snapped out of his anxious thoughts and looked across to see Mei Hatsumi looking as ever like some kind of clockwork insect, waving a hand at him. "Earth to devil-boy! We're about to fight, how about you actually be here when we do, huh?"
"We're going to tear her apart," Nemesis threatened with a cruel grin, "No matter what science she wields. Nothing can defeat shadow and fire."
She grinned, though not at him, and instead turned her gaze to the surrounding stadium. "Make it a good show, will you? I've got potential sponsors to impress!"
Izuku honestly didn't know what kind of strategy he planned to use on the girl. She had mentioned her quirk was microscope eyes, back when they had recruited her and were discussing how they would take the flag, and it didn't seem like it would be all too useful in a one-on-one fight.
Yet he knew her real strength lay in her gadgets and devices. She was practically armed to the teeth, while all he had was his cursed, uncontrollable power and whatever CQC he had memorized.
He fixed his jaw as he took his place, feeling flame and dark power flow through his scars. He strangled it as much as he could, wishing to only use a tiny amount, if any, of his flame in the fight.
All he needed to do was get close, avoiding her weaponry, then he could simply grab her and throw her out the ring. Quick, clean, simple.
"We should rush her," Nemesis whispered, tempting and snake-like through his brain, "Rush her and impale her on our claws."
Or maybe just rush her? Rushing her sounded like the best option. No impaling, just rushing.
Midnight stood to one side with her whip raised. She glanced to Cementoss, who nodded, then loudly announced, "After three! One. Two. Three. GO!"
For an eternal second, Izuku felt his power flood into his legs, warping and changing them as unlight took his skin and claws pushed their way from his toes. But it was only a second, and by the next second, he was already rushing towards her, trailing blue flame as he covered half the distance within the blink of an eye.
And he missed.
Because the moment he did so, Mei, who was standing still one moment, was suddenly just… not there.
He stumbled to a halt, blinking in shock as he turned back to wonder where she was, fear and anxiety almost taking his heart as he knew she had to be attacking, she had to be-
"AH-HA!" Her voice filled the stadium, and it took Izuku another second to realize she had somehow managed to hack herself into the speaker system, "As you can see, not even the fastest of students can catch me with my patented MAK backpack system!"
He looked up, his body still shaking slightly from the rush of power to see… Mei. Mei raised far above the tournament floor suspended by four spider-like metal limbs, making her look even more like an insect.
The limbs moved in perfect unison as she turned, looking down on Izuku as she continued, "Inspired of course by the famous Membrane Lab's PAK, but mine is a vast improvement with a five percent coolant capability and seven percent more deadly laser output!" She glanced over at a deeply frowning Midnight, "A feature disabled for this match, of course!"
Izuku sighed softly and raised an eyebrow as Nemesis, with a tone that was oddly reflective of his own feelings, hissed, "This is going to be a very long match."
About nine minutes later and Izuku had yet to actually hit Mei Hatsumi once. She, on the other hand, had captured him three times, disabled him four times, and at one point almost launched him out the ring before 'rescuing' him again. All with the help of her MAK backpack system, which Izuku had decided was the true evil of this earth and had to be destroyed at all costs.
"… and that just about concludes this presentation," Mei finally announced after Izuku skidded to another halt, panting and drenched in sweat. Not that he was injured at all, hell he wasn't even hurt, he was just utterly exhausted from being Mei's unwitting test subject.
That and holding back Nemesis's insane anger was a battle all in of itself. His demonic power had become more and more frustrated as time had gone on. What was worse was that his power wasn't having the same effect it usually had on other electronics, despite Izuku using it three times in the match. Once at the very beginning, again to escape a net Mei had trapped him in, and again when he had seen a single opening to blast her out of the ring. The fire had missed, as she had dodged, but it had been a close call.
Yet not once did her devices show any sign of malfunctioning. He might have suspected something was amiss if most of his focus wasn't on holding back Nemesis, the rage of his monster was like boiling water right under his scars.
"We're going to kill her. We're going to kill her. We're going to shove that stupid backpack down her throat until she chokes on her own damned creation!"
Usually Izuku would immediately argue back, but in all honesty, he was pretty frustrated with Mei himself.
They had only thirty seconds left in the match and she had spent the entire time using him to advertise her inventions. He didn't enjoy being used as a prop for other people's advantage, just as he hated being looked upon like some kind of china doll stuffed with C4.
He had already decided next time she came at him, he was going to stand his ground and blast her with-
"Remember that's Mei Hatsumi, Class 1-H of the Support Course! Check me out online on all good social media sites by searching up InventorGoddess, and like and subscribe to my livestream every Friday, seven-till-nine!" She turned and winked at Izuku, "Thanks for the help, devil-boy, and good luck on the rest of the tournament!" Mei announced with a grin as she turned and began marching… right off the side of the arena.
Izuku blinked, the entire stadium blinked, Midnight blinked.
And then, finally, the teacher seemed to remember she was supposed to be refereeing and stumbled back into motion, "I- erm- Mei Hatsumi is out of bounds! Izuku Midoriya wins the match!"
Izuku stood there, utterly dumbfounded. She had… she had just quit the match. Which meant he had won. It was the most worthless victory in the history of worthless victories, but… he had won.
"I- I-" He had no idea how to feel about it, and he turned to look to Midnight, who gave him a look of exasperation, shrugged, and shook her head. The message was clear, just take the win, kid.
No, no he couldn't just take the win. He hadn't earned it. He hadn't bled and sweat and fought for it with every ounce of his being. Hell, he had barely even used his damned power! It felt cheap and wrong and the small amount of pride he had within his heart felt insulted.
Nemesis certainly felt insulted, and its sudden spike of hot oil-fire demanded he get answers.
He quickly ran after Mei, even as the stadium gave him a mixed sort of clap and a cheer for his victory. She was already in the awning to the stadium grounds when he caught her.
"What the hell was that?!" He snapped as he caught up to her, causing her to turn and look at him with wide eyes.
"What the hell was what, devil-boy?"
"You used me!"
She gave him a confused look, "… yesss? And?"
"You- I- Why did you do that? You threw away your chance to win the tournament!"
"And humiliated us in the process!"
It suddenly seemed to dawn on Mei just what Izuku was getting at and a wide grin stretched across her mouth. She turned fully to him, shaking her head just a little, "I never cared about winning the tournament, devil-boy, after all, what would I get out of it? No, no," Suddenly her arm was around Izuku's shoulder, pulling him close. Uncomfortably close. Then, before Izuku could even process she was practically pressing her whole body to his side and she pointed up to the stands, "Do you see, up there?"
Izuku tried to edge away from her feeling his cheeks, and his scars, light up. "I- no?"
"Up there is Dib Membrane, head of Membrane Labs, and his Chief Support Scientist Zim," She grinned wickedly, "They're only here for a month and only to find a single intern for their Japan branch. See, you're fighting to get hero agencies to notice you, but all I care about is getting the support companies to notice me. And I can do that in just one match."
Suddenly her hand slapped to his chest and fire spiked along scars. Once again, her wide, wild eyes, the color of spring daffodils, set on him, "I'm not sorry for chasing my dreams, devil-boy! I gave you a win, you gave me the opportunity of a lifetime!"
Izuku couldn't handle it any longer. He pushed her back and stumbled away, trying to get some breathing room to cool down his scars. Not that Mei even took offense to this of course. She again simply laughed wickedly, though not cruelly.
He could tell there was no malice in her attitude, just… a complete lack of thought for other people's feelings. It was clear that in her mind they had both won, so what was the problem?
"I dunno, just… you could have asked," Izuku grumbled as he folded his arms, feeling his inner monster curling through his blood, growling for some revenge but otherwise starting to calm down.
"If I had, you wouldn't have tried so hard!" Mei chuckled as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
He sighed, deciding that there was no way he was going to mend his wounded pride, or somehow convince Mei that what she did was wrong. Clearly, she was some kind of cheerful sociopath who wouldn't listen no matter what he said. At the end of the day, Mei wasn't worth being mad over, and besides, in her weird, blunt way she was right. He had his win, an easy win at that, all considered.
However, as she turned to leave, there was one other thing bugging the back of his brain.
"Hey, erm, can I just ask," He spoke with a slightly nervous tone as if he was almost afraid to find the answer.
Mei stopped and turned back giving a, "Hm?" in response.
"When I use my power, erm, it tends to not play well with electronics. I guess it's a side effect," Izuku spoke in a low tone, even though there was no one listening in, "But your gadgets seemed fine, I mean," He became slightly guarded as he braved the subject, "You wouldn't happen to do anything… special to your equipment, would you?"
Mei paused at this, then cocked her head, "All my equipment is special to me, devil-boy, though I do tend to use Membrane Lab patterned circuitry for the interiors. They're a little obtuse to work with, but I think they're super cool!" She grinned suddenly and clicked her fingers as a thought struck her, "There's a rumor that Dib Membrane is super into the paranormal and apparently works protective wards into all their equipment! Maybe that's why your quirk didn't mess with them! HA!"
As Izuku processed the answer, she suddenly slapped him on the arm and added, "In that case, you should come to me for all your support item needs! Mine will be the only ones that work unless you want to pay for American imports!"
At that Izuku simply nodded, his brain still trying to get around the fact that some weirdo American's obsession with the occult had actually paid off in Mei's favor, and she'd had absolutely no idea.
"I like you, devil-boy! Hit me up sometime, we'll talk shop!" She turned and began marching back down the corridor, "Toodles for now!"
As she vanished into the gloom of the stadium, he turned and looked back out to the grounds where they were preparing for the next round and flashing commercials on the big screen. His body was cast in the shadow of the awning and his gaze unfocused as his thoughts drifted.
His first match was won, now came the real test. A match which really would push him to his limits.
The match which was inevitably against Ibara.
As Izuku had coldly predicted, the next match was something of a wash for Ibara. It had been, even more crushingly, against Tenya.
He, along with the rest of his friends and classmates, had watched the match from a set of private seats lined with raised walls to block out any spectators who may have tried to distract the students. The seats were actually really good, and Izuku had been given a nice, close view of the entire stadium floor.
Still, it didn't make what he saw any less painful.
At first, Izuku had been at least a little hopeful. Tenya had speed, and possibly the ability to avoid Ibara's vines before they could connect. However, as Tenya had sped towards her at the beginning of the match, Ibara had simply surrounded herself in a cocoon of vines. Then, once Tenya had been stopped, unable to break through the barrier, the cocoon had suddenly exploded into a spinning whirlwind which had grabbed him by surprise and thrown him out the ring.
It was… pretty depressing to watch. Tenya clearly deserved to go further, and was very obviously upset at his loss, though he had managed to hold it together with dignified repose. Even so, it only made Izuku's stomach feel like it was being gripped and wrung like a wet rag.
And it hadn't helped when Present Mic had loudly asked the crowd, "Is there anyone who can stop this powerhouse of holy might?"
The next matches moved along just as swiftly. Itsuka and Tsuyu had quite the memorable match, though the girl from Class 1-B won when she had landed a rather painful-looking shot to Tsuyu's side with a fist almost the size of her whole body and had knocked the frog-girl just out the ring. Still, they had bowed respectfully and even hugged, and the crowd given them both a rousing round of applause.
Next came Kyoka and Denki, which was over almost as soon as it began. Denki, of course, went in for his full one million volts shock, however, he had utterly underestimated the actual reach of his quirk and Kyoka had darted backward the moment the bell rang. She was still hit, but not nearly enough to knock her out. Meanwhile, Denki had been reduced to a dumbfounded mess and had been simply been walked out the arena by a still twitching Kyoka.
Shoto and Eijiro were next and, again, it was a wash, though this time in favor of Shoto. While Eijiro had been able to repeatedly punch through Shoto's walls of ice, he had been unable to move forward fast enough to actually close the gap between himself and Shoto.
Eventually, Eijiro's feet had frozen to the floor and he'd had to surrender. Shoto, however, had made no cheer of his victory or even given a small prayer of thanks as Ibara had done. He had simply turned and left the ring the moment the ice had melted, his face as placid and emotionless as always.
Izuku had to wonder just what he was thinking and had gone to ask Hitoshi if he had any ideas, only for the boy to already be gone from their line along the bench. Hitoshi had been oddly quiet while they had watched the matches, and despite Izuku's own attempts to engage him in talk, only ever replied in monosyllabic notes or simple nods.
Izuku didn't press him too much, despite a burning desire to do so. He couldn't go bringing out his worries in front of everyone, and they really hadn't had a chance to talk privately since it began.
Still, he was worried for his friend.
Hitoshi's match had been up against a teenager from class 1-B called Nirengeki Shoda, who had been on Ibara's winning team. Izuku remembered him in particular as he seemed to have been rather apprehensive the entire time, and as he had stood out in the ring, the chubby young man seemed to have a constant look of unease on his face.
It didn't matter though, about three seconds in the boy, who had started out trying to cautiously circle around Hitoshi, suddenly came to a halt. Then he turned and walked right out of the ring. Izuku almost rolled his eyes as he noted the all too familiar unfocused, glazed look on his face.
Someone hadn't been paying attention in the second match, otherwise, he would have known to keep his mouth shut. Or maybe Hitoshi had just found the right words to make him answer, his friend was rather good at doing that after all.
The only problem now, however, was that no matter what Hitoshi would be up against people who knew his quirk. Even more concerning, was that it made his next match against Shoto. Someone who could probably take him with ease.
And yet, when Hitoshi sat back down with his friends, he didn't seem worried. Instead, he had returned to his focused expression of deep thought and one-note replies.
The next match could hardly be called a match. It had been Katsuki against Momo, and from the moment Midnight had shouted 'Go!' it was pretty much over. Katsuki had simply blasted Momo out of the ring before she could even react. She had, in some quick defense, managed to make a rounded shield to save herself from being fried, but within the space of seven seconds, she had been thrown out of bounds.
To a chorus of boos Katsuki had stormed off the field, ignoring everyone and shoving his hands into his pockets. Izuku couldn't help but feel sad for Momo, and somehow, even sadder for Katsuki.
Next along was Ochaco versus a class 1-B boy called Sen Kaibara, the other winning member of Ibara's team and the one Izuku distinctly remembered sitting down in boredom halfway through their King of the Hill match.
They had all given Ochaco their own boosts of confidence, with Izuku reminding her of Sen's quirk, which he had seen once when he had tried to assist Katsuki only to have Katsuki yell at him. Apparently, he could turn his hands into drills, which was information Ochaco had carefully considered when creating her plan.
She had not told the others what this plan was, however, insisting she could do it on her own and that if she relied on the others too much she wouldn't grow as a fighter.
Either way, once she was out on the field, she put on an amazing fight. Sen was as quick as the drills in his hands, and he came at Ochaco like a lightning bolt, tearing up parts of the concrete as he attempted to use his quirk to throw her to the ground, or at least out the ring, all the while avoiding Ochaco's own touch, knowing full well what it could do.
At one point he almost succeeded, and Izuku had held his breath as Ochaco had gone flying towards the line. And yet, at the last second, she had landed herself, dodged Sen's strike, and tapped him on the arm, sending him floating up into the air. With no ability to propel himself, he had floated higher and higher until he had been declared unable to continue.
Thankfully Cementoss had created a set of stairs for the defeated boy to walk down and, as he had bowed and shaken hands with an exhausted and bruised looking Ochaco, Izuku was sure he could see a blush across Sen's cheeks.
There was a quick announcement that there would be a short interval before the next round of matches begun, and Izuku felt something heavy and painful settle within his stomach.
He would be next up, and he would be against Ibara.
"Well, we should get ready then," Fumikage announced with a nod and stood up, his eyes looking to Izuku, "Are you coming?"
"Wha-?" Izuku blinked in shock, "What do you-"
"We're going to help you form a plan, dude."
"Do you think we're going to let you face Ibara without some advice?" Tenya added as he looked to Izuku with a raised eyebrow, also rising to his feet, "As someone interested in helping you succeed, I highly recommend-"
"Alright," Izuku held up his hands as he got out of his seat. His scars flickered with candle flame as he moved, her nervousness being somewhat abated by the offers of help from his friends. He had his pride, sure, but he also had his common sense, and if they were offering to help him brainstorm a plan, he wouldn't refuse. "Alright, you guys can help me plan."
He took a moment to breathe and steady his heart and his twisting stomach, as he turned to begin leading his little group away from the seats and towards the empty back corridors.
He wanted to win, he needed to win, if only to prove to people that all his victories weren't just close-scrapes and flukes. He could beat Ibara, he just needed a plan.
And he was glad he had his friends there to help him.
So the future Inko-Izuku confrontation is set! And Lucy is keeping an eye on his boy.
Most importantly, however, as I'm sure you'll all agree, is the fact that MEI HAS A PAK. With 7 percent more deadly laser output! Who could have seen this amazing turn of events coming and-
Oh, oh wait, you wanna know about Ibara vs Izuku.
Well, I can tell you that next chapter is OVER NINE THOUSAAAAAND words long. It's a BEAST, and it's a rival for my favourite fight so far, even with Nemesis vs All Might on the books. Yeah, next update is gonna be big, and it's gonna be bloody, and it's gonna have Ibara backstory. The Wrath of God vs The Spawn of Lucifer, who will win? Fire or vine, shadow or light, SMOL TROUBLED BEAN OR ANGRY BIBLE THUMPER?
Thank you all for reading, and I'll see ya'll next time my dudes!
