No one, at Yuuei or beyond, was prepared for Midoriya Izuku's stunning victory over Todoroki Shouto.
"What the hell! Who is this crazy kid?" Yamada screeches, holding his hand over the microphone as he watches the quirkless boy they'd all written off deliver another powerful punch to the son of the Number Two Hero. "You and I have both trained Todoroki, that kid is no pushover! I can't believe I'm actually seeing this!"
"His quirklessness is a disadvantage but he didn't let it stay that way; he's doing all that he can to keep Todoroki off balance." Aizawa responds thoughtfully, Midoriya's file open before him. "If he can keep this up, I believe he stands a decent chance at winning."
"That's-" Yamada mutters before going back and adding some commentary over the match with has descended into an all out brawl by this point. "I just can't believe- holy moly is Todoroki using his fire? I don't think I've ever seen him bring it out in training before, what the hell is going on down there?"
"Midoriya is making his impression," Aizawa answers back as he watches the match with immense interest. "He did make his intentions quite clear when he was up here earlier."
"Yeah, right, he's aiming for the open hero spot." Yamada shakes his head but is shocked by his friend's lack of response. "Wait, uh-uh, no way, Shouta, you can't seriously be considering taking this kid. He's quirkless for heaven's sake! He'd get smoked the second you let him meet a villain."
"Tell that to Todoroki," Aizawa responds back. "I haven't made up my mind yet but Midoriya does show potential."
"Woah!" Yamada screeches as an explosion rocks the stadium. By the time the dust clears, he's disappointed to see Midoriya is sufficiently out of bounds. "Ah well, should've seen that one coming. Kid might not be hero material but we're gonna make a killing on DVD sales this year." the blond comments casually as he waits for Todoroki to get up and claim his victory.
So when Midnight announces a few minutes later that Todoroki is unable to continue and that Midoriya would be advancing in his place; Yamada falls out of his chair. The crowds are cheering so loudly it can be heard through the thick glass of the commentator's box. As Midoriya picks up Todoroki and carries him off the stage for medical treatment, Aizawa is watching them closely. Potential indeed.
The reaction is pretty much the same down in the crowds.
"Holy shit!" Kaminari screams, his hands clawing at his face as he watches one of the strongest guys in his class get tossed around by some quirkless kid in Gen Ed. "What the hell is going on? Is everything I know a lie? How can this be happening?"
"I don't know man but I don't care, this is payback for before!" Sero yells, leaning over the railing to get a better look. "That kid is just going for it and Todoroki can't do a thing! So much for that pretty face!"
"Yo Bakugou!" Kirishima shouts to the blond brooding in the far seats. "Isn't that the kid you tried to fight in the cafeteria the first week of school? Do you know him? Can you introduce me?"
"No way, that can't be him! That kid from before looks nothing like the ninja kicking ass out there right now," Kaminari says as he tries to come to grips with this new reality.
Bakugou, for his part, doesn't answer. He just sits in his seat and glares heartedly down at the scene unfolding before him. The battle with Uraraka had gotten him fired up and he'd been looking forward to fighting Todoroki but, as usual, Deku had to mess everything up.
"Go Midoriya! You can do it!" Uraraka shouts, temporarily distracted from the sting of her own loss by the sheer exhilaration of the fight going on below.
"Uraraka!" Iida chastises. "You should be supporting your classmate, not his opponent! Where is your sense of loyalty?"
"Hey, I can't say I blame her. I got nothin' against Todoroki but this kid is getting me pumped. You're so lucky you get to take him on next, Iida. I'd love to test my mettle against him," Kirishima answers, pumping his fists in excitement. "Ouch, that's gotta hurt," he winces in sympathy as he watches Midoriya put Todoroki in a headlock and drag him by the neck.
"Well that's only if he wins," Iida says as he adjusts his glasses and watches Midoriya continue to shout something at Todoroki. "I was impressed with his performance in the cavalry battle but I wasn't sure he'd be able to perform well in the individual matches since he was quirkless. However, he's proven himself to be resourceful and resilient." Still, even Iida is shocked when Todoroki's left side bursts into brilliant flames. Todoroki had been adamant that he would never use his fire in battle. There's clearly more going on down there then they could see from the stands.
"Aw relax Iida, everyone loves a good underdog story," Uraraka says, her eyes still riveted to the battle below. "Come on! Don't let that fire scare you!" She shouts before turning back to her friends, "and besides, Midoriya is real nice! He stopped me from tripping before the entrance exam and made us all those cookies after USJ."
"You don't think Aizawa-sensei would consider him for our class, do you?" Asui asks. "He may be quirkless but he's incredibly skilled to take on Todoroki like that, ribbit." The question is left to hang awkwardly in the air as it's announced that Midoriya is out of bounds. Uraraka falls back into her chair with a sad sigh while Kirishima snaps his fingers.
"Well damn, I guess there's only so much you can do without a quirk, but still, what a show. I have got to ask Todoroki about that later."
"Uh," Midnight says hesitantly a minute later when it's clear that Todoroki isn't moving. "Todoroki says he is unable to continue, Midoriya wins on technicality and will be advancing to round three." Even Bakugou jumps out of his seat to look over the railing as his stupid, useless childhood friend picks up the guy he should have been fighting and carries him off the field. What the fuck, how the hell did quirkless Deku just take down someone with, not one, but two powerful quirks? Someone even Bakugou considered a threat?
Uraraka and Kirishima are howling, the redhead even tearing up at the beautiful display of sportsmanship. Kaminari is still screaming about the world order and all around them, hero and civilian alike are united in their cheers of exultation and disbelief at the game changing battle. The cheers are so loud, the people over in the second and third year events look over and wonder at what the first years could be doing to cause such a stir.
"Go Midoriya! You can do it!" Patrick shouts in English from within Recovery Girl's office, pounding his fists on the walls. Taketsu is holding onto Korudo and Shinsou's hands while the match concludes and she nearly breaks them with the force of her grip when it's announced that their friend won. They probably would have kept on screaming if Recovery Girl hadn't quieted them down for their newest resident. As soon as Midoriya walks into the room with Todoroki still on his back, he's greeted with a cacophony of congratulations that leaves him speechless.
And he's not the only speechless one. Toshinori watches the match from start to finish in complete awe. While he'd said yesterday that he would cheer the boy on, Toshinori hadn't expected Young Midoriya to actually make it beyond the preliminaries, much less defeat one of the school's most promising students. His colleagues went from dismissive to standing on their feet, cheering for the boy who had defied every odd to emerge victorious. Fierce pride burns in his chest, Young Midoriya has proven that quirkless doesn't have to mean helpless. To the boy Toshinori used to be, it means an awful lot.
A thought, one that's been floating around just out reach, comes to him. The boy would be incredible with One For All. His keen intellect, his ability to strategize and adapt to situations along with his impressive martial arts abilities. Giving him the quirk's immense power would turn him into something else altogether.
He shakes his head, no, that's impossible, he couldn't possibly. Toshinori pushes the thought away as Young Midoriya leaves the stage with Young Todoroki on his back but, still, the idea has been planted.
All around the Japan and even some parts of the world, people are hunched over cellphones, computer and TV screens, watching the event with rapt attention. Within minutes of the victory, people are uploading videos of their reactions to the stunning match. Some are shouting, some are crying, most are too stunned to properly articulate just how much a single battle has changed the way the world views the quirkless. #MidoriyaIzuku and #Quirklesshero begins trending before Midoriya and Todoroki have even gotten off stage.
Across town, Midoriya Inko has gone through her fourth box of tissues since the Festival began, screaming with delight any time her boy was on screen. She'd nearly fainted when it's announced that he would be going on to the next round. "Izuku," she wails into her tissue with pride and terror.
Rikimaru Daiki hovers over the small TV he keeps in his back office. He's grinning like mad as he watches his student, who'd come to him with no training barely a year ago, toss around one of Yuuei's finest. He pounds his hand on his desk as Midoriya lands another punch. "Just go for it kid. Go for it! Take him down!"
Former hero, Gran Torino, sits on his couch with his taiyaki as he watches the battle. "Huh," he says quietly as he thinks of another passionate quirkless kid from long ago.
"What the hell is this," Shigaraki Tomura mutters as he watches the event from Kurogiri's bar while scratching his neck. He's broken through the frayed skin on his neck and is bleeding by the time the quirkless kid picks up the hero brat from USJ and carries him off the field. His Noumu hadn't been enough to keep those annoyances down but this boy was? "Who is this kid?" He asks, turning away from the TV to address the blank screen.
"Someone who may be of interest," a deep, distorted voice responds back.
XxX
"And welcome back folks! We've had some really great fights so far in the third round," Present Mic announces. "But I know what you really want to see! Well your patience has been rewarded! The incredible boy who swooped in out of nowhere and defeated two students, including the son of the Number Two, all without a quirk! The one and only, Midoriya Izuku!"
"Woah," Tenya hears Midoriya say quietly to himself at the absolute thunderous applause that is coming from the crowds. He looks up with stunned wonder, like he can't possibly imagine why people would be cheering so loudly for him. Kirishima had mentioned earlier that he was jealous that Tenya got to face Midoriya, but he just feels uncomfortable.
Either way this match goes, he isn't going to come out looking good. If Tenya wins then he'll be able to go onto the finals but everyone will be too disappointed at Midoriya's loss to truly appreciate his skill. And in the unlikely event that Midoriya is able to defeat him, well, how could he dare face his brother if he let a quirkless General Education student defeat him? Well, at any rate, this fight can't be any more humiliating than his earlier match with the Support girl, Hatsume.
"And hailing from an elite hero family, we have Iida Tenya, a hero student who has done very well for himself so far in this tournament! Will Midoriya be able to overcome this engined powerhouse or will this Cinderella story end here? We'll find out! I don't know about you but I can't wait!"
"Hey, Iida," he hears Midoriya whisper with a small smile, "good luck." He looks mostly recovered from his last match but his forehead is bandaged and he looks worn out from Recovery Girl's healing.
"Please don't hold back; I'm going to be giving it my all," Midoriya continues. Tenya can't help but smile back, Midoriya really is something else. He hopes, no matter the outcome of this fight, that they can get to know each other better after this. There's a lot Tenya thinks he can learn from Midoriya.
"Good luck to you too and don't worry. I took careful notes during your fight with Todoroki and I plan on using it." Midoriya's face becomes determined as he nods. He has a new staff since his other one was destroyed during his last match. Midoriya swings it absentmindedly, clearly unhappy with the unfamiliar weapon.
"Start!" Midnight yells and Tenya wastes no time in racing off. He doesn't need to worry about quirk use from his opponent but Tenya saw what happened to Todoroki when he gave Midoriya too much time. Midoriya's staff is held out defensively but with his speed, Tenya can get past that easily.
He races around Midoriya, intending to grab him from behind and drag him out but, instead, his feet end up tripping over the staff. He staggers but quickly regains his footing. When he turns around, he notices that in the time it took Tenya to run behind him, Midoriya had angled his staff so Tenya would be unable to reach him. He'd predicted that Tenya would go for his back and planned accordingly.
"It's not going to be that easy," Midoriya smirks, settling in and holding his ground. He's obviously realized it would be insane to try to beat Tenya's engines so he's going for the opposite strategy he used on Todoroki. Around them, the crowd cheers their approval.
"Uh-uh Iida! Midoriya isn't going to make it easy for you!" Present Mic announces, unintentionally echoing Midoriya's words. Tenya purses his lips, and tries again. He zooms forward, intending to take Midoriya from the front. He's moving so fast that there's no way Midoriya can enact a counterattack. Or so he thinks until he feels cold steel smack against his face. He's pushed off course and skids to a stop a short distance away.
"Oh, that had to hurt! If Midoriya's last battle showed us anything, it's that our boy isn't afraid to fight dirty." Tenya's face stings but not as much Present Mic's comments. Midoriya shifts his stance so he's more rooted to the ground. The unzipped shirt of his gym uniform billows in the wind.
He needs to focus, his brother will be watching this later and Tenya doesn't want him to see an heir to the Iida name get tossed around like Todoroki was last match. He winces at the memory. No, he's going to have to think his way through this.
Alright, he can get in close but Midoriya is reasonably able to predict where he's going to be. He eyes the distance between the two of them, which is about 1.5 meters and the distance between Midoriya and the boundary line, he'd guess 6 maybe 7 meters.
Tenya might not be able to win a battle of wits against Midoriya but if he moves faster than his opponent can think and drags him out of bounds, then that would solve all his problems. It's too bad Midoriya's success would end here but Iida needs to make his own impression, not cater to the hopeless dreams of another. Besides, Midoriya had asked him not to go easy.
He revvs up his engine, activating his Recipro Burst as he dashes forward at intense speed. Tenya sees no need to actually hurt the boy since he's already injured so he forgoes a superpowered kick to grab Midoriya by the collar of his uniform and run him towards the boundary. He has 8 seconds left in his burst, plenty of time to win the match. Midoriya is struggling within his hold but Tenya has a good grasp on him.
The boundary is almost there and Tenya is just about ready to gently toss the other boy out when Midoriya's weight drops away suddenly. Tenya gasps loudly as he comes to an abrupt stop and takes a second to gape at the empty uniform in his hand. Midoriya hadn't been struggling to get out of Tenya's grip, he'd been trying to get out of his shirt. The incredibly simple solution surprises him enough that he almost misses Midoriya, stripped to just his pants, come upon him.
The smaller but well toned boy's face is serious as he closes the short distance between them and delivers another strike to Tenya's face with his staff, putting Tenya back a few steps. Immediately after, Midoriya gives a powerful kick to Tenya's core. Tenya is pushed back even more by the force of the blow. He frowns and prepares to race forward again and make use of his remaining few seconds of Recipro Burst.
"Iida is out of bounds!" Midnight announces. Tenya starts violently as he looks down and sees, indeed his left foot is just over the boundary line. All he can do is stare down at the offending foot which robbed him of his victory. "Midoriya advances to the final round!"
"Unbelievable! If you would have told me this morning that a quirkless student would make it to the final two; I would have arrested you for public insanity!" Before him, Midoriya sinks to his knees like he also can't believe what's happening. "This is a momentous occasion folks! I don't think you're giving this boy his due, I want to hear you cheer for the Gen Ed student who took down not one, but two, of class 1-A's finest! They may be able to take on villains but they can't handle him!"
What was his brother going to say? Tenya thinks with shame coloring his cheeks, he'd come so far and yet he loses here because he didn't consider Midoriya a real threat. He thought he'd understood what to expect from Todoroki's battle but, in the end, he'd held himself back on account of Midoriya's condition.
"Iida," Midoriya says as he get back to his feet. "Good match, it was real close."
"Thank you, you too but it didn't seem that way." Tenya replies politely as he hands Midoriya back his shirt, still quietly reeling from the fact that he'd lost to someone without a quirk
"Actually it was," Midoriya smiles sheepishly while he puts his shirt back. "I knew you'd use Recipro Burst to try and throw me out but it all depended on me being able to get out of my shirt in time. If I'd taken a second longer, I probably would have been out of bounds."
"Alright boys, clear off, we still have the Tokoyami and Bakugou battle." Midnight announces, gently gesturing them off the stage. Iida doesn't miss the way Midoriya winces. "Good job, kid, can't wait to see how you do in the finals." She says, giving Midoriya a thumbs up.
"Thanks," Midoriya answers back, looking decidedly more somber than he had before. The walk off the stage is quiet and awkward. Despite the thunderous cheers of the crowds, Midoriya looks tense and distracted while Tenya is just mad at himself for losing a match that he shouldn't have lost. He looks down at Midoriya. He'd underestimated the boy twice today and he won't be doing that again. Maybe he can turn this loss into a positive learning experience.
"I knew you had a good sense of strategy from the cavalry battle but your martial arts are quite impressive too, what style do you train in?" Tenya asks.
"Primarily Jeet Kune Do but some Aikido too," Midoriya chirps. "I have a master I've been training with for the last year. He's amazing, I couldn't have gotten this far without him."
"Hmm, I have more experience with the more traditional martial arts and I'm afraid I don't know much about Jeet Kune Do but I would be interested learning more. Perhaps we could train together sometime," Tenya suggests.
"Really? With me?" Midorya says, eyes comically wide as he points at himself. "I-I mean, yeah, I would like that but I don't know how much I can show someone as talented as you. T-to be honest, I probably wouldn't be much help since I don't have a quirk or anything." Tenya is torn between being amused and a bit concerned when his phone buzzes in his pocket. "Ah! You're vibrating!" Midoriya exclaims.
"No worries, it's just my phone." Tenya says, pulling it out and looking at it. He frowns, it's his mother, probably calling to chastise him for his humiliating loss. "Apologies Midoriya, I need to take this. I wish you luck in the next match, I'll be watching your progress with interest."
"Thanks," Midoriya says, rubbing at his neck. "I'll see you later, I'll probably be in Recovery Girl's office with Taketsu and Todoroki if you need me." Midoriya waves as he runs off.
Tenya takes a deep breath and answers his phone. "Hey Mom," he sighs. "You probably saw I lost my match. I was too careless, I didn't give my opponent the respect he deserved and-"
"Stop that, that's not why I'm calling," His mother, normally so composed, sounds almost frantic. She takes a shaky breath. "Please just stay calm and listen to me. Tensei, it's you're brother, he had a run-in with a villain." She sounds like she's barely holding back tears and everything: the Festival, his matches and Midoriya vanishes from his mind.
XxX
"Four broken ribs, a small jaw fracture, a badly broken nose, muscle strain in the left shoulder, a moderate concussion and bruises and cuts just about everywhere." Recovery Girl lists off Todoroki's injuries to Izuku's mounting horror. "That's not even mentioning the quirk exhaustion he was suffering from. You sure did a number on him son but don't fret; I've got him on the road to healing." She pats his hand lightly, "it's good that he didn't try to continue. His father was here earlier and caused quite a stir over the boy's loss. I had to call security to get him out of here."
Izuku looks down at Todoroki who's asleep in the bed. The bruises stand out on his face, now almost halfway healed thanks to Recovery Girl, but he looks relaxed as he quietly breathes. "He'll be just fine," she reassures him again. "And I don't think you need to worry about him being upset either. He spent a bit of time chatting to your friends before he fell asleep."
"Oh? You guys talked?" Izuku asks, turning to look at back at Taketsu, Korudo, Patrick and Shinsou. The four of them exchange amused smiles. Oh that isn't good.
"Don't give us that look," Taketsu says coyly, looking almost normal again. "He was mostly curious about you, about how you came to be so..." she pauses, as if searching for the word.
"Crazy?" Korudo supplies helpfully.
"Fierce?" Patrick shrugs.
"Absolutely insane?" Shinsou grins dryly.
"However you are," Taketsu finishes, giving the others a disapproving look. "He was really impressed, he even made sure you had a replacement staff for your fight before getting treated." Izuku nods, turning his gaze back to Todoroki's sleeping face, at the injuries he'd caused with his own two hands.
His master had told him that he'd know when to stop but that moment hadn't come. Izuku had been too full of things to really know the extent of what he was doing. Half of the fight was a blur of color and emotion and he can't really pinpoint when he landed half of Todoroki's injuries.
Izuku sits down with a huff, still a bit worn out from his own healing. The cut to his head took a while to stop bleeding and he'd been warned it would probably scar. He's definitely got a few more scars on his hands from his punches plus his right arm ached fiercely from where it had been coated with ice. Like Todoroki, he'd broken three ribs which were killing him after being dragged around by Iida and he'd gotten some minor burns from the explosion at the end. All in all, considering who he'd been up against, he should be happy it wasn't worse.
He clenches his fist. He'd been able to overpower Shinsou, railroad Todoroki and trick Iida but that might not be possible in the final round... But he shouldn't jump to conclusions, Tokoyami could still win. Izuku doesn't know much about him, he'd caught glimpses of the birdheaded boy in the preliminaries and his quirk seems pretty strong. There's still a chance he could-
"No!" Taketsu curses, slamming her fist on the bed. He looks up at the screen that is livestreaming the current match. Tokoyami is being held forcefully down to the ground; Kacchan is straddling him with a hand full of explosions held threateningly over Tokoyami's face. Izuku doesn't blame the other boy in the least for surrendering.
"What a fight, ladies and gentleman and the third round has concluded giving us our final two and I can tell you they are about as different as you can get! So don't change the channel, folks at home, because up next is our last battle in the first years tournament with Bakugou Katsuki and Mid-" Taketsu mutes the tv and turns to him with a concerned expression.
"I guess it was too much to hope he'd get his due," she says awkwardly.
"The guy's a maniac but he's an incredible fighter," Korudo says, leaning over his knees. "I watched his other matches and he just overwhelms his opponents. He's not only got an incredible quirk but his strategy is also top-notch."
"Yeah, I know," Izuku mutters, thinking of a thousand encounters he's had with his old friend. He's well aware of how strong Kacchan is. Despite how far he's come in the past year or so, Izuku can't help but feel intimidated.
"You going to be okay?" Shinsou asks quietly, glancing up at Izuku through his lashes. He's still upset over his own loss, Izuku can tell, but the fact that Shinsou is still trying to be supportive dampened some of Izuku's worries. Because Kacchan will be expecting Izuku to cry and cower. But he isn't that person anymore, he's someone so much better and stronger and it's because of all these wonderful people supporting him.
"Yeah, I have some time left before the final match. I'm going to go focus on my own for a bit, if that's okay. I just," Izuku breathes, "you guys know that Kacchan and I go way back. This, well, this isn't just about the tournament, not anymore," he says in an awkward jumble.
"Hey man, you do what you need to do. We'll be here watching the Better Version of Korudo sleep if you need us." Patrick says, reaching over to give his arm a friendly slap.
"Seriously?" Korudo asks incredulously. "You can't get off my back for a day? Not a single day?" Taketsu snickers into her hand while Patrick grins and shrugs innocently.
"You guys are the best, you know that?" Izuku says with a fond smile. "You know, I almost took the hero exam. I've wondered so many times if I made the right decision and, well, now I know I did. I wouldn't trade you guys or the time we've had for anything."
"Dude," Patrick says with a watery smile. "Don't talk like that, you sound like you're walking to your funeral." He stands up and envelops Izuku in a hug. "But we care for you too. No matter where you go, you've got us." Izuku returns the hug.
"Thanks," Izuku says as he pulls back. "You know, you all are my first real friends since Kacchan, I have to say it's an improvement."
"Don't compare me to that creep," Taketsu says with an eyeroll and glares at him when he laughs. "I'm serious Midoriya, go out there and kick his ass. Lord knows he deserves it and you deserve some payback too. Now go on, get, no need to hang around the sick bay when you've got a match to prepare for."
Izuku shakes his head as he makes his way to the designated waiting room he'd been assigned earlier. He needs to be alone for a few minutes to gather this thoughts and prepare for the upcoming battle. It takes longer to find than he'd thought, mostly because he keeps getting sidetracked by people congratulating him and wishing him well in the finals. The attention is dizzying and by the time he reaches the waiting room, he's overwhelmed.
He just needs a minute to- He's just settled down at the table when the door to the waiting room is kicked open. Izuku jumps out of his chair and into a fighting stance when he catches sight of Kacchan in the doorway. Izuku freezes up as Kacchan glares at him.
"What the fuck are you doing here, Deku? This is my waiting room-" Kacchan rechecks the number outside the door and sneers. "Okay so I got the wrong fucking room, big deal, but I wanted to talk to you anyway, you piece of shit."
"I-I," Izuku begins before he stops and steadies himself. "I don't have anything to say to you Kacchan. Let's just try and put our past troubles behind us and have a good match." Kacchan's glare deepens as he stalks into the room and slams his fist in the table, smoke and fire exploding from his fist. Izuku resists the natural urge to flinch.
"You've become a cocky little shit, haven't you?" Kacchan sneers. "Ever since that day last year with the sludge monster. It pisses me off, this was supposed to be my chance to prove myself better than all the fucking extras in my class. And instead I get to fight a quirkless idiot. Fucking worthless, what good will beating your sorry ass do me?"
"I uh I won all three rounds ju-just like you did, Ka-Kacchan," Izuku says. He's trying to keep the stammer out of his voice but old habits die hard and Kacchan always brings out the parts that Izuku hates most about himself. "I've earned my place here, a-and I'm going to give it my all during our f-fight."
"What the fuck do you think you can do to me, you idiot!" Kacchan yells, getting real close. "I was supposed to fight that half n' half bastard and finally show that dipshit that I was stronger than him!" This time Izuku does flinch when Kacchan leans in until he's right in his face.
"I told you to stay out of my goddamn way, Deku. It's not my fault you can't see sense so I'm going to beat your stupid ass and when they see what a wimp you really are, no one is going to give a shit about you. You'll go back to your pathetic little Gen Ed class and fucking die there for all I care," Kacchan says in a frighteningly calm voice. He gives the table an angry kick before he stomps out of the room and swings the door shut with a loud bang.
Izuku is left standing there, trembling slightly at the storm that had just raged through and blew away his confidence. It's hard work to keep back the tears that are threatening to spill over. Why did Kacchan always bring him down? He's different now so why did the other boy still frighten and anger him so much? Still sniffling, he wipes his eyes with his arm, unintentionally upsetting Recovery Girl's bandages.
That's right, he'd been strong enough for Todoroki, not to mention Iida and Shinsou. Hell, he'd even been able to beat Kacchan during the two preliminary events. Izuku frowns and looks up at the closed door with renewed determination. They aren't in middle school anymore. He had people who actually cared for him, people who told him that he is more than his supposed weaknesses.
No matter what his old bully says, Izuku knows he's earned his spot in the finals and he's going to give this fight everything he has. Kacchan didn't expect much from him but that's his problem, not Izuku's. He has no idea what Izuku had up his sleeve and Kacchan's victory isn't as assured as he believes.
Hey everyone, first off, thank you SO much for the incredible response to the last chapter. This chapter isn't nearly as exciting but I hope you enjoy it anyway. I will admit, the opening segment of this chapter is one of my favorites, I love the energy and finally have people acknowledge Izuku's skills. Good job for all who guessed that Bakugou and Midoriya would be the final two. Who knows how that fight will go. Well I do, you need to wait another week.