The Bright Hero, Cobalt

Chapter Ten

Thanks again, as usual, to my reviewers, readers, followers, and especially my editors, Penguin Lord0029 and nightwind83. Each of you are magic ninja hobos. Yes, I use that as a compliment. Yes, it sounds silly. Deal with it. Silly is my business. Special thank you to SirLightKnight and YellowBeetle123 for the reviews I saw shortly after awakening today, which got me geared up to start on chapter thirteen (today being 5/25/2020)! You two are part of the reason this chapter will be up as soon as it is! Thank you! Also, with the finishing of the touchup of this chapter for naming bs, I'm finally done with what will probably be the most tedious part of writing this fic! TAKE THAT, TEDIUM!

"Normal speech."

"Buff Might/AI speech."

'Thinking.'

"Telepathy."

'Sign language.'

A Few Minutes After Where We Left Off

Izuku sat within his prep room, mulling over what Mashirao had told him about his opponent previously.

'Don't speak with him? If only it were that easy, Ojiro-san. Your pride and your commitment to your friends is admirable, but you're wrong to see Shinso-sani as an enemy. He needs this more than any of us do, I think, bar Todoroki-san,' the verdette mused silently as he gazed at nothing, his stare simply facing the floor but not really seeing it.

'And speaking of Todoroki-san, well, that's an entire other can of worms. I don't like using my powers the way I did, but looking into the motivations of Endeavor-san was a lot easier when I just bit the bullet and poked around in his head. I'll need to talk to them both soon,' he thought as he stood up, sensing that he was going to need to be out there soon. Forming a fist with his hand, he made a vow.

"Todoroki-san, Shinso-san. I will help you both."

Out In The Stadium

Except for Shoto, Mezo, Fumikage, and Momo, the entirety of 1-A was cheering loudly, in their own various ways. Mina and Eijiro had even convinced Koji to cheer out loud, causing even Shoto to crack a bit of a smile upon hearing the normally silent boy's shouts of joy.

"Show 'em what you're made of, Midoriya!"

"Represent us well, Midoriya-kun!"

"FRIEND HIM IN THE EYEBAGS, NERD!"

Izuku chuckled at his friends' commentary as he walked out of the tunnel and into the light, a bit nervous but confident in his plan to help Hitoshi. If he was lucky, his body would retain its consciousness when his quirk took hold, and if not...Well, he hoped the rules allowed for what he and Ochako found out happened when he lost consciousness.

"All right, listeners! In this corner, from Class 1-A, he's somebody a lot of us here at U.A. have grown fond of, already! Half dark lord of the sith, half newtype! He's an adorable cinnamon bun beneath the intimidating powers, though! Give a shout for the Vice Rep with a heart of gold, Midoriya Izuku!"

The cheers had his blue aura flooding off of him, the boy directing it skyward to prevent it from coming near his opponent before the match even started. He waved awkwardly at the crowd, then turned to where his mom was sitting and sent a thumbs up her way. Her joy and pride sent his blue aura pillar up at least another kilometer on their own!

And then his aura cooled down and went back to green as he was reminded of what he needed to do, his opponent's irritation and sadness making its way into his head.

"And from Class 1-C, a natural cosplayer of my BFF Shota! His power is mysterious, and the aura he gives off is as intense as his stare! The underdog from General Studies, and another kid I want to see do well, give it up for Shinso Hitoshi! Oh, snap! No matter who wins here, I lose! Shota, is it too late to change the bracket?"

In the booth, Eraserhead rolled his eyes. "Sorry about my colleague. He's cursed with stupidity. However, he's not the only one eager to see this match," the drowsy homeroom teacher droned.

Hizashi grinned, preparing a verbal jab. "Oh really? He looks so much like you, Shota! He's not your secret love child or anything like that, is he? Fukukado-chan will be so-" the verbal jab was interrupted with a real one, Hizashi's mic getting cut off as he was knocked over.

"Fukukado-san, I see you typing. Don't you dare start bothering me. I'm working right now," Shota said, knowing for a fact that his fellow underground hero was watching the event.

The Voice Hero was back up in seconds, getting back to his commentary. "Anyway, this first match is gonna be something else, I feel it in my soul!" he exclaimed.

In the ring, Midnight looked between the two combatants, with Cementoss off to the side for a bit more oomph in case things got out of hand. "I want a clean fight out of you two! The rules are simple. If you touch the ground outside the ring, you lose. If you surrender, you lose. If you get knocked out or immobilized, you lose. If you try to kill or maim your opponent, you lose, you get restrained, and you probably get expelled. You kiddos got that?" she asked. After a nod from both students, she grinned. "Outside of that, Anything goes. Midoriya Izuku, you ready?"

The green-eyed powerhouse nodded, locking eyes with his opponent.

"Shinso Hitoshi, you ready?"

The mind-warper grinned and nodded, also focusing exclusively on his opponent.

Midnight grinned and gave a thumbs up, signalling Present Mic.

"READYYYYY? CLASH!"

Izuku began glowing, his green aura beginning to move towards his opponent, before the purple-haired boy spoke. "Your classmate's a real dunce, isn't he? Throwing away his spot in the final event like he did. What a complete moron!" the dominator of others' actions jeered, attempting to get a rise out of his opponent before his aura could touch him.

Izuku frowned a bit, and responded, "Please don't ta-"

His eyes went blank, and his green aura flew back into him, disappearing for now. Hitoshi frowned. "Wow. I'm actually kinda disappointed. I thought I'd have to work harder for that. Oh well. What's done is done. Now turn around and walk out of the ring, like a good little hero," the boy commanded, Izuku's body turning around to do just that, currently not under his control.

In the stands, Izuku's classmates, outside of a select few, were flipping out. "Damnit, Midoriya-san! I told you how to avoid his quirk! You knew he was baiting you!" Mashirao shouted, the martial artist furious with the current turn of events.

'I don't understand! Why would he throw the match like this? It's not like him to just give up like that!' the animal whisperer signed to his seatmates, Mina translating in real time as Eijiro copied the movements himself.

"WOULD YOU DUMB FUCKS SHUT UP?! LOOK AT ROUND FACE!" Katsuki erupted, prompting them to do just that. Upon doing so, they realized something.

"Wait, she's not upset at all. Heck, she's even grinning," Kyoka stated, a confused expression on her face.

"He's not out yet, then, is he?" Shoto asked softly, spooking one or two of his classmates.

Ochako nodded, her grin exploding as she jumped up and shouted, "Do it, Midoriya-kun! Show them why you're gonna be the next number one hero!"

Hitoshi rolled his eyes down in the arena, having noticed the shift in mood amongst the 1-A students going back to positivity. "Are they stupid? I have him under my control. In a few seconds, he'll get to the edge of the ring, and it'll be over," he said, confident in his victory.

"I'm going to need you to apologize to Ojiro-san later, Shinso-san. It wouldn't do for the two of you to be at each other's throats every day," a familiar voice said in the hypnotizer's head. Hitoshi's eyes widened when a wall of green appeared in front of his foe, which then pushed into the greenette in question, knocking him out of his mind control. Izuku turned around, and Hitoshi was startled by what he saw.

The boy was smiling, but he was also crying, his eyes red with tears.

"It was hard, wasn't it? I looked into your heart, to find out more about who you are. Your pain is so bad. It hurts, even now when I'm not feeling for it. Being born with a trait that society decided made you less than others. It might surprise you, but I know that pain, too," the freckled boy said as he floated over to his fellow U.A. student.

Hitoshi stumbled back a bit, then snarled at his foe. "What would somebody like you know about it? You were born with a magnificent, beautiful, heroic quirk! What would you know about being told you'd never be a hero, that your power could only be used for villainy?! HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY UNDERSTAND WHAT I WENT THROUGH TO GET HERE?!" he erupted, rushing at the fool before him.

With a blow filled with rage and hurt, Hitoshi's fist found its way to Izuku's cheek, the boy stumbling back a little, despite never descending. However, Izuku let out a blow of his own. One less visible than Hitoshi's.

"Deku!"

"Useless Deku!"

"Quirkless loser!"

"Defenseless Izuku!"

Snippets of a life not his own flashed in front of the eyes of Hitoshi Shinso, as he stared at the hand he'd just punched the boy before him with. "What the fuck? You're...You're not quirkless, though…" he said dumbly.

Izuku shook his head, and startled Hitoshi even further when he spoke out loud to him. "If you'd asked me a year ago, I'd have either said I was quirkless, or I'd have tried to run away from the subject. I'm a late bloomer, you see. I've only had this power for around eleven months now, so while they were mistaken in their labelling, I bore the stigma of quirklessness. Being written off before I could even really try hurt a lot. It did for you, and it did for me," the freckled empath said sadly to the teen in front of him, then smiled a bit brighter and continued, "But it's all right now. Do you know why?"

Hitoshi frowned, though there was less spite behind it than before. "What, because you're here? Trying to emulate All Might, huh?" he retorted, a little upset at his opponent potentially getting a big head.

The short superhero cracked a grin and laughed a little, before he stopped himself. "No, Shinso-san! It's all right now because you're here!" he exclaimed, startling the amethyst-haired mind-wiper before him. With a smile, Izuku explained, "I had nothing to do with the hard work you put in to get to this point, and that hard work is going to pay off! I can literally hear the staff making plans to put you in the heroics course at this very second! I don't know if you'll be in my class or 1-B, but if you get put in my class, then welcome to 1-A in advance! We have fun here."

Hitoshi could only blink at hearing this. His stupor was interrupted by an explosion ascending from the 1-A seats. "FUCK YEEEEAAAH! ONE OF US! ONE OF US!" Katsuki Bakugou erupted.

Like that, all of the extroverts in 1-A joined him. "ONE OF US! ONE OF US! ONE OF US!"

"DAMNIT, SHOTA! YOU TOLD ME HE MIGHT MAKE ME CRY, AND I THOUGHT I WAS READY! I WAS WRONG! SO WRONG! WAAAAAHHH!" Present Mic wailed from the commentator's booth, his mic not being the source of his voice.

Shota decked his friend and spoke into his mic in the few seconds of peace he was given. "Start beating the crap out of each other before he ruptures my eardrums. I only have two, and this is a match, not a counseling session. Show us what you can do, both of you problem children," the underground pro commanded, his gaze meeting Hitoshi's for a moment.

Izuku smirked at his fellow hero in training. "Well, how about we give them what they want? I'll come at you a bit harder now, so be ready," he warned, then floated back to where he started before, the green aura shifting to blue in seconds as it swirled around him.

Hitoshi, having seen what the boy clad in cobalt aura before him could do when he was in a good mood, got ready to do the only thing he really could against this.

Dodge.

Izuku came flying at him like a missle, speeding beyond the boundaries of the ring, and ascending into the sky as he prepared to come at him again. And come at him he did. Hitoshi managed to dodge several times, having trained for heroics for a long time, before his opponent started picking up speed, passing by him more swiftly, and more closely.

Sadly, while he was able to dodge a lot of the attacks, one hit eventually. Hitoshi flew from the ring so suddenly he wasn't even aware he'd been hit until he was over the grass and gasping for breath. Instead of crashing into the ground, though, he was deposited gently onto the grass below, his former opponent landing back in the arena with a grin on his face and a thumbs up aimed at him.

"Shinso Hitoshi is out of bounds! Midoriya Izuku wins!" Nemuri announced with a wide smile.

The glowing blue boy floated over to Hitoshi and helped him up, then held out a fist for him. The insomniac gave a grin that was eerily similar to Eraserhead's, and connected the fist bump. Izuku floated himself and his new friend over to the 1-A seats, nobody stopping him. One apology to Mashirao and Yuga later, and the controller of minds started being woven into the tapestry of 1-A, whether he was part of the class officially or not.

Hanta, having stuck around for the end of the match, gave a sheepish grin. Shoto had made his way to the prep room he was assigned to as soon as Izuku started glowing blue, knowing the match would be over soon after, but Hanta couldn't get enough of watching his new friend fly around like a really happy rocket.

"Hey, guys, I know I'm probably not going to win, but wish me luck, okay?" the lanky boy said with a bit of uncertainty.

Katsuki roared, leaping out of his seat and slapping him. "GROW A PAIR AND GET DOWN THERE! YOU'RE REPRESENTING THE BAKUSQUAD, SERO! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, SHOW THESE EXTRAS WHAT THAT FUCKING MEANS!" the raging explosion screamed.

Rubbing a hand against his sore cheek, Hanta grinned. "Wow, for an asshole, you're really good at motivating people, huh?" the tape-slinger remarked. With a roar and an explosion, Katsuki expressed his enthusiasm. "All right, all right, I'll get down there!"

Rolling up a sleeve to the elbow, Hanta made his way to the edge of their row, gave a jaunty salute, and backflipped straight off, firing off his tape to grab the wall as he rappelled down to the ground below. Detaching himself from the wall, the black-haired boy made his way to the arena. Less than a minute passed before Shoto joined him.

"Now for our second match of the day! In one corner, from Class 1-A, a wielder of one helluva versatile quirk! Any range is grappling range with this kid! Make some noise for Sero Hanta!"

The crowd cheered wildly, though 1-A's odd cheer squad cheered far louder. Nearly all their class was part of it, but it could still be argued that Katsuki made up fifty percent of it, from sheer enthusiasm and explosive fury alone.

"FIGHT HIM! BEAT HIM! GIVE HIM A HUG!" the walking, talking hand grenade roared, sounding ominous at the end despite the subject matter.

"And in the other corner, also hailing from 1-A! He's hot! He's cold! His frigid attitude hides a raging inferno of determination beneath! Give it up for the son of ice and fire, Todoroki Shoto!"

The heterochromatic boy only stared blankly at his foe, not reacting at all to the cheers coming from his classmates or the crowd.

The modern arts history teacher looked between her students. "Same rules apply as before. Sero Hanta, are you ready?"

"More than I probably should be!"

"Todoroki Shoto, are you ready?"

"Yes."

Upon seeing the thumbs up, the Voice Hero did his thing. "READYYY? CLASH!"

With a smirk, Hanta lifted an arm and slung his tape out, wrapping it around his classmate in less than a second. "I'm probably not gonna win this, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN I WON'T MAKE YOU WORK FOR IT!" the grinning boy roared, then pulled, intending to send the hot and cold quirk user out of bounds.

"Sorry, but I don't have time for games like you," the frigid boy replied softly. In seconds, an incredible amount of ice had formed, halting Shoto's near ring out, and completely immobilizing his opponent, who only had his head poking out. The crowd gaped in awe at the glacier that was suddenly towering over them.

Shivering, Midnight asked, "S-Sero-san, can you m-move? P-please be honest."

Through chattering teeth, Hanta responded. "Hell n-no! I g-give up!" he exclaimed.

"S-Sero Hanta surrenders! T-Todoroki Shoto w-wins! Somebody get me a hot ch-chocolate, and s-send Sero-san to the inf-firmary!" the heroic beauty announced.

Before Shoto could move to get Hanta out, Izuku's green aura made its way to his trapped classmate, surrounding him and expanding a bit. With a bit of creative use of his green shields, Izuku broke the ice enough to free the tape user, and carried him over to their group, where he and Katsuki each gave him a shoulder, carrying him to the infirmary.

Hanta sighed, a frown on his face. "Sorry I couldn't represent the Bakusquad well, Bakugou-san," he said, disheartened at his quick defeat.

"Shut up, dumbass."

Hanta's frown deepened, feeling like he actually upset his friend.

With a bit of a sigh, Izuku spoke up. "Kacchan, he doesn't speak Kacchanese yet. You need to elaborate," he said with a reassuring smile to the boy they were carrying.

"Fine then, nerd. You did fucking great, Sero. Your loss was pretty much guaranteed from the start, but you didn't back down. You looked defeat in its pretty face and heterochromatic eyes, and you tried to So Long Gay Bowser it. We're going over tactics later, though. Bring first aid bullshit, because it never hurts to have extra healing crap," Katsuki said with a terrifying grin as he continued looking forward.

Hanta chuckled. "His pretty face? Didn't know you were gay, bro," he said, his grin returning with a vengeance.

Katsuki snorted in amusement. "First off, I'm Bi. Second, I don't have to be sexually attracted to a person to find their face pretty. Just ask the nerd. He's straight, but he still thinks some of the dudes in our class have good-looking faces," he said with a chuckle.

Izuku face palmed with his free hand. "He didn't exactly explain it that well, but he's right. You can still think somebody you're not sexually attracted to looks good. Like he said, I'm straight, but dang, some of you look guys look really damn handsome. Seriously, have you seen Iida-kun's face when he gets serious? That is one badass-looking face," the curly-haired boy elaborated.

The ash-blond nodded in agreement, and Hanta was left for a few moments to contemplate this new information as they trudged to the infirmary. Before they could get there, though…

Izuku groaned. "Fuck it all. I'll leave some green aura to help carry him the rest of the way. I've gotta go deal with something," he complained loudly, before doing as he said and leaving them with the green aura, the odd particles continuing to carry half of Hanta's weight.

"Where do you think he's going?" Hanta asked, a look of concern on his face.

Katsuki grit his teeth. He felt that frustration before from his friend. "Somebody needs help, and he's going to help them. Before you ask, no, it's not dangerous. If it was, he'd have told us to get some pros," he answered tersely, before wondering to himself, 'You would get help in a situation like that, right? Stupid fucking nerd. Now I've got a fucking bleeding heart, too.'

Further away, Izuku smiled fondly as his oldest friend's thoughts and feelings were conveyed accidentally. 'I'm glad you're my friend, Kacchan,' he thought to himself as he floated through the halls as quickly as his green aura would allow him.

In Another Part Of The Building

The Flame Hero, Endeavor, was irritated. He had been in a bad mood for a very, very long time now. As he moved through the halls with purpose, he didn't even bother responding to a student trying to get his attention, walking straight past the punk. That changed when a wall of green blocked his path.

"Endeavor-san, it's incredibly rude to ignore a kid trying to get your attention. I understand that you're in a hurry, but please be more aware of your surroundings," the twig of a boy said, suddenly sounding like he was simultaneously terrified and furious.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out, Endeavor turned around to speak to the whelp impeding him. "Midoriya Izuku. What do you want, brat?" he growled lowly.

The boy trembled, obviously intimidated, but he refused to back down, maintaining eye contact even as he was on the verge of tears. "What I want, is for you to explain yourself," he answered, his voice almost as shaky as he was.

The number two hero frowned, shame crossing his face for only an instant before his features schooled themselves. "So, my troublesome son told you, did he? I don't need to explain my methods to a pebble in the road like you. Buzz off," he said, waving the boy off like he was swatting a fly with the back of his hand.

"I wasn't asking you to explain yourself to me. I'm not the family you're trying so desperately to put back together, after all," the kid said, startling him with the revelation.

Endeavor's glare turned steely. "You've got some balls using your quirk on me like that, kid. You know I could have you locked up for that, right?" he challenged.

For some reason, the kid stopped trembling. That was weird. Shouldn't the threat of jail have him be trembling more? "It's a good thing two of our bigger goals align then, I guess. You want Shoto to use his fire and do right by your family, and I want the same. It hurts, seeing why you did what you did. The desperation you felt when you put the pieces together and found out that Japan had only a few decades to find another Symbol of Peace. Society is way too reliant on All Might right now, you're right. However…" at this, he started trembling again. "The ends don't justify the means, Endeavor-san! If you were so afraid of our society's relative peace being shattered so easily, you should have talked to All Might about it! If you had, you'd have known that he's worried about that too...You could have worked things out! Hell, you should still let him know about your concerns! More importantly, though, for the love of God, explain to your wife and kids that you didn't want it to be like this…"

With a bit of a frown, Enji walked up to this young man before him and placed his hand on his head. "You're a good kid. You've clearly got a good head on your shoulders, and you care more than you have to. I'm glad Shoto has a friend like you. Thanks for the advice," he said simply, then walked back the way he came.

As the number two hero walked, he looked at the hand he'd touched that Izuku kid with. 'I haven't patted a kid's head like that since Touya…' he thought to himself sadly as he sought an out of the way enough area to be alone.

'Can't have the public see the number two hero break down in tears, after all.'