Chapter Seven:

As Izuku and Katsuki stepped out into the arena, Katsuki chattered, "Do you know what number fight this is for us? It's fight number 500! Well, that depends on if you count the arm-wrestling battles and the times when an adult interrupted us right before I was no doubt about to win. I've decided not to count any of those so that the Sports Festival can be our 500th fight."

Izuku grunted.

A giant smile on his face, Katsuki said, "It gets even better! We're currently at 250 wins by the great me to 250 wins by you! This will be our tie-breaking fight. Today we'll finally settle who is the strongest. This will be our ultimate battle as rivals."

As the hateful stares from the crowd above settled on him, Izuku flinched. The audience hissed. The sound edged the line between a sigh and a boo.

Katsuki waved a hand in front of Izuku's face. "Hey, come on, what gives? Aren't you excited, too?" A trace of petulance entered Katsuki's voice. "You'd better not be thinking about insignificant matters during our big fight."

Izuku gritted his teeth. Katsuki didn't understand. They were in entirely different genres. Katsuki was enjoying his shounen rival battle and Izuku was trapped in a horror story. Over and over again, Izuku kept seeing his mom and his childhood friend's dead, mangled bodies. He'd imagined exactly what both of them would look like if resurrected as undead horrors. His hands shook. He'd already thrown up once in the bathroom before the match. His stomach threatened to do it again.

When Izuku and Katuski faced off, the crowd went mad cheering. Shouts rang from the stands, "Go Explosion Boy! Bakugo, Bakugo, Bakugo! Win! Beat him! Destroy him!" The audience had figured out the loophole in Present Mic's rules: they couldn't boo Izuku, but they could cheer on his opponent.

Katsuki whirled around and shouted at the crowd, "Oh, shut up, all of you! Don't bother to cheer for me if you're just rooting for someone else to lose! This is a fair fight! I don't need any cheap favoritism to win!" He punctuated his declaration with an explosion.

The audience clapped and applauded in response to this declaration.

Turning back with a grin, Katsuki said, "See, I told them. If that's what was worrying you, then you can relax. It doesn't matter what those phonies think."

"Oh, great, you just made yourself look more like a hero and me more like a villain," Izuku growled. This was sort of true, but he didn't mean the blame. It was merely the start of his ruse. At least he didn't think he meant it. He'd always been an average actor, good at a poker face but not faking more complicated emotions. He needed to work himself up into the emotional state to do what must be done.

Katsuki's smile faltered. "I wasn't trying to do that. Hey, are you all right? You've been acting kinda off today. Teach, hold off the match, we need to talk—"

The shout of "Start!" echoed around the stadium.

Izuku fired off his laser while Katsuki was still speaking, determined to get an early hit in. Alas, Katsuki dodged sideways, unleashing an explosion.

The ground shook as Izuku ran sideways. Normally at this point he would look for places to bounce lasers off, but he had a single-minded focus on a more important task. Pulling his lips into a sneer, he shouted, "Who the hell needs a rival battle with you, Kacchan? I'm stronger than you, and I already proved it back in the obstacle course. You couldn't stand up to me without that gas mask."

"Trash talk, eh?" Katsuki unleashed another blast that ripped at the arena. "It won't work on me!" But he did not sound as happy or confident. Sweat dripped down his forehead onto the mask.

"You know I'm right, Kacchan. Even back when we were in kindergarten, you were always all talk and no action. You peaked in elementary school. Even then, you were afraid you couldn't live up to the expectations placed on you. You've always known that you're a fake hero."

Katsuki had turned pale and stopped moving. He whispered, "I told you about that in confidence." His voice rose. "You promised me that my fears weren't true, you shitty nerd!"

Izuku ran around, shooting another thin blue laser at Katsuki's back, just to keep him on the edge. "I only acted like a friend to you because all the teachers expected me to control you. It was seriously annoying, putting up with you. By now you must have realized that your fears were right. You can't measure up to U.A. standards. I've already surpassed you. I don't care about your so-called rivals' battle."

The anger was fake but also real. I've been going through the worst time of my life, and you've barely even noticed, Kacchan. You're too busy with your new friends and new school. The only time you asked how my mom had been doing in America, you wanted to know if she could mail you some of your favorite cookies. You've always been self-centered like that.

Katsuki let the laser hit him. He didn't even try to dodge. His back hit the cement ground. Stagging up in a cloud of dust, he growled, "Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiithead!"

Heart hammering, Izuku shouted, "You're not fighting my full power, and you still can't win! If you beat me while wearing that gas mask, it will be fake!" Then he laughed. It was a dismissive snicker, deliberately designed to be the thing Katsuki hated the most in the world: someone looking down on him.

"Fine, then!" Katsuki ripped off his mask and hurled it out of the ring. "I don't need any cheats to pulverize you!"

A very tiny sigh of relief escaped Izuku's lips. With this, it was over. He'd won.

Izuku had plenty of plans for fighting his childhood friend, but knocking Katsuki out with his gas was the only surefire way to win. Well, he'd need to adjust his cocktail to be sans carbon monoxide (which was flammable) and more chloroform, but despite the laser's name that wasn't hard to do. Aizawa's threat to carry Izuku out of the Sports Festival in a hospital stretcher if he used his gas again no longer mattered, because this was the final match.

From the beginning, Izuku had known what he needed to say in order to make Katsuki snap. They knew each other too well, as two people who had been together since preschool. Katsuki had told Izuku all about his insecurities, and Izuku had never imagined using them against his childhood friend. But with the stakes so high, Izuku couldn't justify not using every last weapon.

Was that a tear on Kacchan's face? Impossible. It must be a large drop of sweat. Kacchan never cried. It nearly made the fake sneer fall of Izuku's face. But he had to hold on just a little bit longer. He had to end this.

In the half a second that Izuku hesitated, Katsuki was already moving.

Izuku activated his gaseous laser. Reddish light filled the air.

Izuku had expected that Katsuki would try to retreat away from the gas, then attack with explosions from a distance. It was the only logical strategy, although it wouldn't work. Izuku had tested the fast-acting nature of his concentrated gas to be sure of that.

Instead, Katsuki ran forward. Izuku fired a blue laser too, but he'd been caught-off guard and missed. Katsuki grabbed Izuku's belt. "If I don't get support equipment neither do you!"

Babble flowed from Izuku's lips: "WaitnostopIcan'tcontrolthegaswithoutmybeltit'stoodangerousI'msorrypleaseKacchan."

"Shut up! I win!" Katsuki screamed as he exploded the belt.

The pain hit Izuku first, even before he become aware of the heavy gas filling the air. It had no odor. This was pure carbon monoxide. He couldn't feel the lower part of his body except for a nebulous intense heat. Oh no, this couldn't be happening. In every round, he'd so carefully calculated his cocktail of gas, but this amount could be fatal! Izuku himself was partly immune, but if he'd lost control, he might kill Katsuki!

In the space of one second, Izuku tried and failed to control the gas. A tear fell down his face. The heavily concentrated carbon monoxide struck Katsuki's sparks and exploded.

"Get away from me, Kacchan!" Izuku begged as the blazing light consumed his vision.

Then Izuku knew nothing except the screaming agony as his flesh sizzled.

Cementoss threw up a massive shield around the arena, but he couldn't get it in-between the two boys. They were pressed too tightly together. The first explosion rocked the ring. A horrific stench of burning humans filled the air. As gas kept on rising, Cementoss gasped as it turned into a tower of flame.

At the top of his lungs, Cementoss howled, "I can't block the explosion! They might die! ERASERHEAD I NEED YOU! HELP!"

Breaking the glass of the booth, Aizawa leapt out. His scarf fastened around a pole as he swung down, already activating his quirk.

For a heart-stopping moment, Aizawa feared he was too late, but the gas and the sparks died down. He landed on the ground next to the two boys. Katsuki lay face-up, his eyes glassy and the front of his body horrifically burned. Izuku had fallen on his side. The burns crawled down his arms and up his neck. Smoke rose off his midsection. The burns weren't just from the explosion. Without the belt, Izuku's own laser was burning into his skin. Heart sick, Aizawa activated Erasure again.

Looking over his shoulder, Aizawa shouted, "Get Recovery Girl over here right now! I think they both knocked each other out. It's a tie."

"No," Izuku croaked. One green eye snapped open. The other was too bruised and covered with dirt. His fingers scrabbled against the cement, his nails cracking. To his horror, Aizawa realized the severely injured boy was trying to stand up.

Aizawa ran over. "Stop! The match is over!" In all his years of teaching, he'd never seen a student who wanted to win the Sports Festival this damn badly.

Izuku hissed like a feral animal and shot a laser at Aizawa. It was so unexpected, Aizawa didn't activate his quirk in time. He dodged sideways, a lock of his hair singed.

With an inhuman moan, Izuku stood up. Blood dripped down his torso. No intact skin was visible under his scraps of uniform, only a red angry mess. Sparks danced in his hair. His arms hung slack like a zombie's. He slurred, "It's not over…I'm still standing…please, I haven't lost…"

Aizawa grabbed the boy and caught him. "You win! You can stop, Midoriya. You've won." He held the child close as the crowd above booed and cursed out the winner of the Sports Festival.

Izuku's entire world was a white-hot mess of pain. He couldn't feel his arms or legs. The ends of his nerves returned nothing but screaming. He was not sure if he was standing up or lying down, so he kept fighting to move, to get up. All for One would not accept a tie. Izuku had to stand up. Something constricting wrapped around him. Tying him down? Or holding him up? Yes, these were arms holding him up. For a moment he believed his mother was holding him, but the arms were too big and muscular.

Distantly, someone told him that he'd won.

Izuku sobbed. It was all over. He'd saved everyone. Finally, he let himself fall into those arms. "I won, All for…" as Izuku's mind faded away, he had just enough wit not to finish saying All for One's name. "All for you, Mom…"

The awards ceremony for U.A.'s Sports Festival was a miserable affair. The first and second place winners were both too injured to attend. Tenya had run to the hospital to see his older brother. Only Fumikage stood on the third place podium to receive his medal. The crowd had almost entirely been thrown out for booing. The handful of people who remained and Fumikage's family managed a small cheer as All Might put a medal around his neck. All Might quickly and distractedly hugged Fumikage, then shot off into the sky. During the festival, he'd been consulting with his lawyer team about identifying all the parties involved with accusing Izuku Midoriya of poisoning the audience and suing for slander. He'd arrived too late to see the end of the final match, then immediately left after the awards ceremony to continue ordering his lawyers.

Very few reporters even bothered to stick around for the awards ceremony. They were too busy standing outside the hospital entrance. The Sports Festival that had started with a bang ended with a whimper.

Sitting in a darkened room—because darkness did not affect him—All for One used his quirk to process information directly from both the TV screens in front of him. He enhanced the speed and used another quirk to remove the explosion sounds, so that he could overhear the words between Izuku Midoriya and Katsuki Bakugo. After the clip played of Cementoss screaming in terror of his students dying, the news shifted to two reporters discussing if Izuku Midoriya should have been disqualified for nearly killing his opponent.

All for One shook his head and switched off the television. He murmured, "Clearly the other boy had the most responsibility for causing the explosion. But people always blame the villain…as you've just personally experienced, Izuku Midoriya."

Pressing a button, All for One called Kurogiri. "You can pull back surveillance on the Bakugo residence. We won't be kidnapping anyone today."

All for One had been fully aware of the high probability that if Izuku Midoriya lost at the Sports Festival, then the boy would tell the heroes everything. He'd already had his pawns ready to kidnap the Bakugo boy's parents and use them to lure Bakugo to his death. Even in the plan had failed, All for One was confident he could have at least ensured the parents would die. By which he meant both the Bakugo parents and Inko Midoriya.

All for One might have asked his spy to betray his childhood friend just to see what he'd do, but he probably would have killed the mother no matter what choice the boy made. Because if Izuku Midoriya hadn't even been able to win against those hero brats pathetically underutilizing their quirks, then he wouldn't have been worth the effort of turning into a villain.

All for One fully expected the clever child to continue to fight him every step of the way. Izuku Midoriya would probably keep on sabotaging All for One's plans. But if he could be broken into a villain, then he'd make a marvelous one. The speech the Midoriya boy had given to break his classmate in the finals had been the best villain speech All for One had heard in several decades. The kid reminded All for One a little of himself as a teenager. He'd already added Izuku to his list of backup successors.

All for One would keep his promise and not kill anyone now that Izuku had won the Sports Festival, because right now Izuku's hatred was better directed at the masses attacking him unfairly. Izuku was a smart boy. He'd realize that All for One was partly to blame for his predicament. But even if All for One had lit the match, he hadn't created the society that would so easily turn on a child for having the wrong quirk. The more Izuku saw about the unfairness of the world, the more he would come to hate heroes.

Whistling, All for One texted his favorite restaurant to arrange a dinner celebrating the Sports Festival victory. After all, the Midoriya boy had just lost his best friend and was hated by all of Japan. He had no one else to celebrate with.

In a different room in the same building, Inko Midoriya had fainted. Tomura hovered over her, uncertain what to do and nervous to touch her, before eventually leaving to bring Kurogiri to help.

Izuku woke up to a kiss on his forehead and tingling all over his body. Recovery Girl loomed over him, scowling. "I had to heal you twice," she said accusingly.

"Kacchan?" Izuku whispered.

"I only had to heal him once. You took the worst damage. The burns will leave a scar on your chest." She poked his bandages, making him wince. "If Eraserhead hadn't gotten down there in time, you might not have survived. I'm not a god! I can't regenerate limbs and I certainly can't regenerate your entire damn torso."

"I'm sorry." Tears flowed from Izuku's eyes. He was relieved, in pain, and so very tired.

Recovery Girl hadn't seemed to have expected that reaction. She took a step backward and cleared her throat. "I didn't find any permanent poison damage. That's not the reason you've been throwing up."

"I keep telling people, it's not like that," Izuku moaned. His spying anxiety was completely unrelated and he'd only figured out how to produce gas very recently.

"However, your quirk could be dangerous to your body if you continue using it recklessly. Are you listening to me?"

"Uh-huh," Izuku said. He was listening, but he didn't think it mattered since All for One would continue to use him relentlessly.

"During the final match, did you use control and start producing concentrated carbon monoxide?"

Izuku nodded.

"I should hope so!" Recovery Girl snorted. "You'd have to be mad to deliberately create flammable gas right next to an explosion. This is why you need to train your abilities before using them in combat. Why didn't you tell your teachers that you could shift to a gas laser?"

"I didn't realize until recently."

"We could have gotten you better support equipment to allow you to control it more." Recovery Girl harumphed. "I know you students think that the Sports Festival is so very important, but it's just a competition. Your life won't be over if you lose!"

Rocking back and forth, Izuku laughed hysterically until Recovery Girl started to look concerned. She pointed at his stomach. "Laughing gas?"

Izuku got ahold of himself. "I think I'm in shock. I need to lie down."

Recovery Girl nodded and left.

Only then did Izuku notice the flowers on the bedside table, a bouquet of blue Gentians, Nasturtiums, pale Orange Mocks, and palm leaves. The card was addressed from his "uncle." In other words, All for One. Izuku's semi-hysterical humor faded away. There was also a box on the table. Izuku opened it slowly, afraid it would be someone's severed head. Instead, there was a grey suit in his size. The card on top invited him to an expensive rooftop restaurant for a celebration in two days.

All Izuku wanted was to fall back into his bed and sleep for a year. But once again, he'd been commanded to dance for the puppet master.

OMAKE TIME!

Izuku: Nooooo! I must remain standing!

Aizawa: It's okay, kid, you've already won the Sports Festival.

Izuku: I know! I'm not leaving until I get my All Might hug! I was promised an All Might hug with my medal and death itself will not stop me from collecting.

Author's Note: In flower language, the bouquet that All for One gave Izuku means victory and deceit, a jab at his role as a spy.

Also, I'm currently publishing a collaboration with Space_Cryptid on Archive of Our Own called "Perennial Bloom." I have numerous collaborations over there that I can't publish on fanfiction dot net because this site doesn't allow more than one author. My handle on Archive of Our Own is katydid.