Looking out at the stadium of people, Izuku couldn't help but feel nervous. Getting past the first two rounds hadn't been easy, but he had managed. It still amazes him at how Tokoyami had helped them reach the finals. He really should have known that Todoroki wouldn't be as stupid as to leave the ten million on top.
Shaking his head, he tried getting his mind back on the situation at hand. Right now, all of the eighteen students who made it to the finals are gathered in front of the stage while Present Mike is saying something about recreational activities. He doesn't really care about that, he just wants to know what the finals are going to be all about.
"Come closer and draw lots to see who you're up against." Midnight says once Present Mike is done. "Then enjoy the pleasure of the recreational games before we start." She then went on to explain what we could do afterwards. Izuku personally doesn't plan on joining the games. If he wants to do his best, he'll need to save his energy and come up with a plan.
They are about to go up when Ojiro(Izuku finally remembers his name) raises his hand. "Um, excuse me." The tailed hero looks very nervous and Izuku can see the sweat on his face. "Sorry, but I'm withdrawing."
Everyone gasps at that and Izuku almost says something, but holds his tongue at the last second. Iida speaks in his place. "But this is a rare chance for you to get scouted."
"It just wouldn't be right," what does he mean by that? "I barely remember anything from the Calvert battle until the very end of it."
This makes Izuku pause. What does he mean by that? Was he hit by someone's quirk? But then how did he pass?
It's just not adding up.
"I...think it was that guy's quirk." He gestures toward a purple haired dude. Something about this student strikes Izuku as familiar, but he just can't put his finger on it. Then it comes to him. Declaration of war guy! The one that came up to them two weeks ago and threatened them. This was that guy. Izuku is kind of surprised that he made it this far. Don't judge a book by its cover, he supposes.
"I know this is a great opportunity," Ojiro says, "I wish I could take advantage of it, but my conscious won't let me."
Izuku can't believe what he's hearing. How can anyone turn down an opportunity like this? "Just-think about this-"
"I have, okay?!" He sounds angry. "Everyone gave it their all in round two, but I was just someone's puppet. No way. I don't want to advance if I don't even know how I got here. It wouldn't be fair."
Izuku suddenly realizes where Ojiro is coming from. Of course, he wants to win just as much as anyone else here. But unlike Izuku, who's just been focused on winning, he also wants to win fairly. He won't take the easy road even if it's just been handed to him.
For some reason, that sounds weird to him, but looking around he can tell from the other's reactions that it's not weird. In fact, they look almost proud, in a strange sort of way. It's not that weird of a concept, he realizes. Growing up around criminals who have always exploited those kinds of things, Izuku has never really thought that there was another way. He's always had to come up with own ideals and morals growing up, as he didn't want to be anything like his kidnappers, but there are just some things that got imprinted onto him despite that. Frustration grows in his stomach, but he quickly pushes it down.
Thinking back to his own reason for wanting to win, he feels kind of guilty now. Izuku has been so focused on getting his quirk back, he's failed to see all those who have helped him get this far. Without Tokoyami, or Uraraka or Mei, he wouldn't even be here.
That's the importance of being a hero, he thinks. A real hero doesn't focus on what they want and what they'll gain from it, but they always focus on others. A real hero never gives in to their own selfish desires.
He can't believe he forgot that. Sure he's been surrounded by villains practically his whole life, but he's always wanted to help others, no matter the cost. Growing up the way he has is no excuse for forgetting what his mother taught him all that time ago.
With newfound confidence, Izuku tunes back into the real world and finds that the conversation is practically over. Class 1-A is surrounding Ojiro, saying words of encouragement.
He smiles at all of them and then turns and leaves. Another student follows him and Izuku can only guess it's for the same reason.
Turning around, he sees Midnight looking around the crowd of students. "Now let's see, we'll have to move up two students from the 5th place Calvary team so we have enough contestants."
A ginger haired girl, apparently from said 5th place team, shakes her head. "Hm, we were frozen most of the time. Honestly, we barely did anything in the Calvert battle." She looks at one of the girls behind her. "Isn't that right?" She turns her head to look at the other two. "Girls?" They all nod and she looks back at Midnight. "You should choose from a team who kept on fighting the whole time."
"Team Testutestu." Izuku glances around and sees a group behind them that looks surprised. Their leader is a white haired guy with weird spiky stuff around his eyes. He leans forward. "Kendo!" He yells.
The now named Kendo looks at him calmly. "I'm not doing this as a favor. It's just fair."
The white haired guy looks stunned, and Izuku can't really blame him. It honestly surprises him how much the other students care about fairness and each other. Is he the only one who's never realized this? Is he that out of the loop?
"Seriously you guys," he gets all tense before exploding, "THANK YOUUUUU!"
The group turn to each other and start talking. Izuku can't hear them, but one of them says something to the white haired guy and a girl who has vines instead of hair. The white haired guy bursts into tears and the two step back from the other two. The guy asks them something and the others just smile at them.
With the two replacements seemingly picked, Midnight continues on with her speech. "And so Testutestu and Shiozaki advance to the finals."
After everyone draws lots, Midnight points to a screen. She explains who each of their opponents are going to be, and Izuku takes a look at who his opponent is.
"Shinso. I wonder who that is." He mutters to himself. As far as he knows, Shinso isn't in their class or the other hero class(he read over who was in the hero course), so he must be in one of the classes. Still, he must be good to make it this far.
Izuku also notices something, they're the first battle. His nerves instantly attack him and his hands start shaking slightly. He thought that he might get a little break to watch the other fights and come up with a strategy, but it seems like he won't even get that.
As if mocking him, he also notices that even if he wins against this mystery opponent, he'll be going against Todoroki. Even if he had his quirk, that battle would be nearly impossible.
Calming himself down doesn't seem to be helping, and his nervousness just sinks deeper into his bones. His panic doesn't seem to be going away on its own, and he can barely drag himself out of his head. With all of this going on, he doesn't notice the figure come up behind him.
"This is you, right? Izuku Midoriya?"
Izuku jumps, completely thrown out of his thoughts, and spins around. The purple haired student from earlier is standing there, just looking at him with a bored expression. Izuku opens his mouth to respond, but then hesitates, suddenly remembering a crucial detail. Not a second later, something blonde comes out of nowhere and covers his mouth. It takes a moment for him to recognize it as Ojiro's tail.
"Not so fast." Ojiro says behind him.
The purple haired student, Izuku can guess it's Shinso, smirks. Without saying another words, he turns and walks away.
Ojiro's tail uncovers his mouth and Izuku looks at him. "Ojiro-" he begins, but stops when he sees his face. Ojiro looks angry like he's never seen before. And that's saying something.
His tail sways behind him as Ojiro says, "you can't say a word to him."
Interesting.
"What do you mean?" Izuku asks. As always, Izuku's mind instantly goes to gathering more information.
Ojiro shakes his head. "I'll tell to you more in private. I will be able to explain best when we're alone."
Izuku nods in understanding. That makes sense. Present Mike announces the beginning of the events and they walk towards the exit to find some Hager's more quiet.
Finding an empty waiting room, they have a long talk.
Walking onto the field, Izuku can practically feel his knees knocking together as he walks toward the stage. His earlier nervousness was nothing compared to the anxiety he is feeling. The talk with Ojiro has done nothing to help his nerves, the depth of just how wrong this can go has just made him even more worried. Though, at least he now knows of a way to defeat Shinso. Just don't talk.
That should be easy. Izuku is a quiet person anyways, and though he does have his moments of muttering, this should be easy...right?
Present Mike's voice booms across the stadium. "Woah," he laughs, "he looks kind of scared in that picture doesn't he?" Izuku tries not to blush. "It's Izuku Midoriya from the hero course."
"Verses," Izuku listens closely, "Hitoshi Shinso from General Studies, who really hasn't done anything to stand out yet." Izuku almost laughs at that.
"The rules are simple," he continues, "immobilize your opponent or force them out of the ring!" Present Mike sounds way too into this. "You can also win by getting the other person to cry uncle."
By this point, Izuku is standing face to face with Shinso. His nerves which had been slowly calming down during the walk suddenly comes back with a vengeance. He tries not to show it, but the thousands of people staring him down, plus his own stresses, is causing him to tremble like a newborn baby.
"Bring on the injuries because we've got our very own Recovery Girl on standby. So put your morals aside and don't Elbe afraid to play dirty." Are they really telling us that? "But of course, no life threatening crap folks, that's not allowed. Real heroes throw villains in jail, not kill them."
Cementoss suddenly speaks. "I'll stop anyone who gets too rough."
Taking a deep breath in, Izuku tries calming his nerves one last time. Releasing it, he can feel his tense muscles relax just a little bit.
"So you can just give up, huh?"
Startled, Izuku looks up to see Shinso completely calm. He doesn't look worried in the slightest.
"In a way, this is a test to see how strong your spirit is. If you know what you want your future to hold for you, you can't worry about what other people think." Present Mike is counting down to the start of the battle, but Izuku mostly ignores it.
"That monkey was going on about his pride earlier." Something about the way he says that bugs him. "But I just think he's and idiot for throwing away his chance like that."
Suddenly, his nervousness melts away, and something heavier takes its place. Izuku instantly recognizes it as anger. It takes control of his actions, burning away at his insides, and he's running forward without even realizing it.
Running forward, being fueled by nothing but anger, Izuku thinks about Ojiro. It takes courage to do what he did. To throw away your chance at shining in the spotlight to do the right thing, that takes strength. Strength that Izuku has never had. And for that, Izuku admires him. Maybe that's why he's so angry right now.
Running forward, before he can stop himself, before he can think, he yells, "What do you know?! Don't talk abo-!" He suddenly gets cut off and he feels his entire body go numb. His body stops and when he tries to move, he finds himself unable to.
His momentary confusion is instantly forgotten as realizes what he just did.
Oh no.