Standard Disclaimer: I own nothing in regards to My Hero Academia. All properties therein are those of their creators. I am only a writer working on my skills with worlds and characters that I love.
Note: Yes, I put Todoroki down like a chump here. What was my reasoning? Yes he is powerful, but he's not god tier, and without Izuku to push him he's got a lot of limitations holding him back. Also, Tenya gets shafted way too much in the official story. Also, let's be honest, Ochako should have won that fight in the anime.
Chapter Seven - The Festival Ends
Izuku and Mei snuggled deeper into their chair as the cement platform below finished rumbling into place and Midnight once more took the stage with her microphone.
"Alright, people! We've reached the third and final round of the Sport's Festival and you know what that means, one on one battles!" She waited dutifully for the cheers to dull down before continuing. "Our finalists will duke it out based on a predetermined fight roster and the last one standing will be our official champion!" Once more the cheers returned and Izuku started to wonder if the R-Rated hero ever got tired of them all. Probably not based on her level of preening.
The first matchup was the purplette that had caught Izuku's eye from the first round. He was paired off against the tape manipulating teen, Hanta Sero, but it ended in seconds as the two exchanged some brief conversation and the dark haired combatant simply walked off the field into disqualification.
"Oh I get it!" Mei, always quick on the uptake, commented as Shinso left the field and his replacements were called. "He has mind control powers."
"Yes, but it seems he needs someone to answer a question or talk to him for them to activate. I wonder how long it will be before anyone notices?"
The next round was between Shoto Todoroki and Tenya Lida.
"Does Lida have a chance?" Mei wondered. Todoroki's powers were notorious by now after all.
Izuku answered at once. "Anyone can beat anyone else, quirk or not, with enough planning and preparation. Ironically enough, Tenya actually does have a very good chance here. If he can move fast enough to stay ahead of Todoroki's attacks then he can wear him out. I've noticed that Shoto seems to build up ice over his body the more he uses his quirk, clearly to a detrimental effect. He could solve that by using his heat powers but he's not once resorted to them yet. Why? Does he have a set amount of time per day they can be used? Perhaps it's a psychological issue? Maybe-" He was cut off by Mei's lips claiming his own.
"You were rambling again, babe. Now give it to me straight."
"Oh I'll 'give it to you' anytime you want. But basically Tenya has two choices here. Activate his full speed in an instant and knock Todoroki out before he can react enough to fight back, or wear him out as I said. Anything else and Shoto will destroy him."
The gunshot sounded and Tenya must have had the same idea as his calf engines shot smoke like a furnace halfway to the crowd behind him and his body blurred with sudden acceleration across the stage. An instant later Todoroki's body was sent flipping head over tails before smacking face first into the stone beneath. He didn't get up and if the pool of blood flowing from his nose was anything to go by he wouldn't be doing so for some time to come.
Looking down on the scene, Izuku thought Lida seemed just as surprised by this turn of events as the audience, but he nevertheless waved with dignity and jogged back to help carry his classmate to the infirmary. No doubt his calves needed time to recover from such exertions.
Mei shook her head, "Still didn't see that coming. Good for him." A sudden knowing look entered her eyes and she stated, "You told him to do that didn't you?"
"I beg your pardon?"
"That move isn't something a student would think up. No, he'd want a sense of fairplay, not a cheap one shot. A one shot that you just so happened to mention was the best way to win…" She trailed off and the smug grin on her man's face was all the confirmation she needed. "When did you give him the idea?"
"During the break. You went to the bathroom and I sent a message to his phone anonymously about a couple of viable strategies."
"Why?"
"Because his big brother is a true hero, Mei. One of the few currently operating. If he has even half of that heroism inside him then I want to see it go far. After today's performance, even if he loses his next matchup, he'll definitely be getting a lot of internship offers. Now let's see who's next."
There were several more bouts afterward that caught the duo's attention in interesting ways, but nothing too outgoing as far as impressions went. That was until Momo Yaoyorozu came out to face Fumikage Tokoyami. The moment the contestants entered the arena floor Mei took note of the hungry look on her man's face.
It didn't take too long to figure out why. She knew him almost as well as she knew herself after all. "Well, well, well," she ran her fingers up his neck, "it seems Momo has caught your eye."
"Oh, yes." Izuku didn't know if it was their recent intimacy, but he felt no qualms discussing this now. "She's beautiful, smart, and her quirk is perfection incarnate. Imagine, being able to create anything from your own body? The uses for such a skill are infinite. Then there's her natural regal bearing that comes from having been raised by such high society parents. Is it weird that I want to see that posh and poised look on her face as I push her down over my desk and-" his face cleared and he covered his eyes, "Now where did that come from?"
"You're being honest with your desires and discovering some of your kinks, babe." Mei smirked. "You know, we could try to make that happen. Get her to like you, add her to the relationship. At the very least being at her side would introduce you to Japan's high society faster than your business deal with her parents would. I've already made it clear that I don't mind sharing you."
Izuku thought about it for a moment but had to admit to himself that a great deal of him was in love with the idea. "How would we even go about it?"
A loud *Clang* was heard below, and the pair looked down to see Momo being steadily pushed back by the form of Dark Shadow. The attacks came again, and again, too swiftly for the unfortunate girl to react or summon anything new to aid her efforts. All too soon her feet were shoved the final distance needed to cross the boundary line and it was over. She'd not been injured, but she'd not managed to impress anyone either. The brunette ran from the field with tears in her eyes.
Mei hummed lightly at the sight. "I'd say that's your opening. Go to her, comfort her, and offer her a place, as you did for me, where she can be the best version of herself. Everything else can go from there."
"You really think she'd leave UA?"
"I think she's in a vulnerable place right now, Izuku. Capitalize on that."
"Oh I love it when you get devious." He breathed into her ear and delighted in the shiver this action elicited before shifting up. She dutifully rose from his lap and let him walk to the door.
"Hurry back."
Stadium Hall
Momo Yaoyorozu sat against the wall, her arms clasped desperately around her legs and her head resting on her knees. After the embarrassing disaster that had been her 'bout' she'd not even had the strength to get to the locker room before collapsing to the floor as tears flowed down her face like a river. She was pathetic, a failure, a waste of a good quirk. She had been taught at the best schools in the country, received the finest tutors money could buy, and been assured by everyone she met that she had a fine career in hero work to look forward to as a result of all of her efforts.
What a joke. What a grand lie. She was sure they were all pissing themselves laughing now over the jumble of dysfunction she'd shown out on the field today. A shield, a miserable kite shield, had been the only thing she'd had time to summon before Dark Shadow had attacked and her mind had gone blank, freezing her body in place. When push came to shove, she hadn't been able to function under the pressure of kind of future hero did that make her? How could she save lives when she couldn't even save herself?
She was pulled out of her misery by a soothing voice beside her asking, "I'm sorry to see you in so much pain, Ms. Yaoyorozu. May I sit?" Looking up, Momo beheld a sight that shocked her. Izuku Midoriya (she'd have to be an idiot not to recognize her parent's biggest new contract) stood looking down on her with compassion written clear across his face. Compassion, not pity as she'd feared. "I-It's a free country." She managed to get out through her sobs.
Having received his answer, the young man eased himself down beside her and offered the distraught girl a handkerchief. "Here, take this."
"I-I couldn't-"
"I have more. Please, I hate seeing a face as beautiful as yours covered in tears. Dry your eyes."
The UA student took the offered cloth and dutifully did as requested, blowing her nose into it at the end, and finally began to feel a bit more human as a result.
"There you go, sometimes all we need is a good cry to get ourselves level once more. Trust me, I know." Izuku smiled warmly at her, and in spite of her circumstances, Momo smiled right back. "Are you okay, Ms. Yaoyorozu? After that loss I was worried about you."
"You can call me Momo, everyone does." The girl said before looking away. "Of course you saw that too. You, my parents, the other students, the country…. How can I ever look any of them in the eye after that? I'm such a disappointment." She tried to bury her face in her knees again but was stopped by a firm hand taking hold of her chin and raising her eyes to meet those of her guest.
"Hey, don't do that. Don't think one loss makes you worthless. I've been down a similar road and it only leads to tragedy. You've got a great quirk, a great personality, and a great future ahead of you." He scooted over and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, smirking internally at the way she unconsciously leaned in closer to his side for comfort. Mei was on to something here.
"No I don't." She sniffled, willing herself not to start crying again in front of the teenager that had starred in more than a few of her recent dreams. "Today just showed me that I don't have what it takes to be a hero. How can I if this is what happens? This was supposed to be a showing to potential hero agencies that might want to hire us or offer internships. Do you really think any of them would offer me anything after seeing me get 'shoved' out of the ring without offering a serious fight?"
"I would."
That stopped her cold. "What? Seriously?"
"Of course. Momo, being able to fight on a dime isn't the most important skill for a hero, nor is it the end all be all of a career. "You're beautiful, intelligent, and I can already tell you that the potential uses for your quirk are limitless. I would be honored to sponsor you for an internship at my company, or help facilitate one for a hero agency instead."
"That would be amazing!"
"Yes, but I have to wonder if being a hero is seriously what you still want?"
"What?" Momo was more than a little confused by what she was hearing.
"You've had a great many experiences during your time at UA, and I'm curious if they've altered your view of the future and your place in it. You went to UA to get the best in hero education and received months of instruction. Then you suffered a villain attack in one of the safest places on campus, went through the Sports Festival challenges, and eventually fought one of your classmates one on one." What he didn't say was that he had been watching her and all the others through a hack he'd facilitated in the school's cameras through it all. "I'm curious, after all of that, after getting a slight taste of what being a hero could mean, is it still something you want? Do you want to devote your life to it completely, or would you want to try and do something different?"
"I-I want to help people!" She sighed, "But I won't deny that I've been feeling out of place here. All of the other students have these big and flashy quirks that can do so much. They have clear and important reasons for wanting to be heroes too, and I'm just… there."
"Alright, then let me ask you this, is being a hero the only way to help others? You could be a doctor, a policewoman, or even a hero support executive…."
That caught her attention. "What?"
"You know who I am, you know what I do, and I can say right now that I could use someone of your intellect, someone with a versatile quirk, and someone that is incredibly organized to help me run my business. Last quarter alone our analysts proved that the tech we've distributed to both heroes and local police departments have cut civilian casualties down by sixty percent, and we're only going to raise that number. What we do is important and I would very much like you to be a part of it."
Momo had never seen someone so impassioned when speaking about their business before. All of the executives she'd met in her life were all so analytical and distant when discussing the particulars of their enterprises, but not Izuku. No, his eyes practically shone with the passion behind what he was building. It honestly took her breath away… almost as much as the feeling of his arm around her, offering support. When had that happened?
"I-"
"You don't need to answer right now. Take the night, hell, take the weekend, and think about where you really want your future to go." He handed her a card, "This is my personal cell phone number. When you've made a decision give me a call and let me know."
Momo could hardly breathe, this was just so… amazing. She'd been so lost and alone after her fight but now, here in this moment, it was like Izuku had come in like a knight in shining armor to offer her both salvation and a path forward.
"I-I'll do that, but if I took the position, what would it be? W-Would I be working with you?"
"Oh incredibly closely. I've been needing a personal assistant/advisor for a while now. You would be beside me at every stage of running my company, and every step taken to save and enrich the lives of others."
"W-Wow." Momo thought that sounded amazing. And what was more, she could start helping people right away instead of going through years of schooling.
After a while she started to think maybe she should get up, go wash her face, and get back to the stands with the others, but Izuku was so warm, so kind, and he hadn't said anything about needing to be anywhere else, as if here in this moment she was all that mattered to him. It made her heart soar. So instead she asked, "W-Would you stay with me for a while? I'm not ready to face the others yet."
"I'll stay with you as long as you want me to."
Forty Minutes Later
"So, how did it go?" Mei smirked knowingly at her man as he reclaimed his seat before sitting back in his lap.
"You were right. She was in the perfect place to be manipulated. Momo didn't give me a definitive answer, but I could see it in her eyes, she'll call with her acceptance before the end of the day tomorrow at the latest. Just think Mei, UA is about to lose another of its most promising students, and it doesn't even know it yet."
"Oh you're so hot when you fuck with the system!" Mei squeed before latching her lips onto his for a solid two minutes before coming up for air.
"What did I miss?"
"Oh, a few more fights, nothing crazy. We're down to the final four though."
"Really? Who are they?"
She hesitated for a moment. "Tenya Lida, Ochako Uraraka, Eijiro Kirishima, and… Katsuki Bakugo." In supreme contrast to her expected reaction, her boyfriend smiled. "You aren't upset that the blonde asshole made it this far?"
"Hardly. This is the perfect matchup, Mei. The other students are the ones who all have the best odds of wrecking his shit. Give me a sec." He stared off into the distance and activated his optics. Several moments later he smirked and exited their functions to stare back down at the field as Cementoss continued repairing it for the final bouts.
"What did you just do?"
"Oh… I just sent the other three competitors' phones a series of plans that will allow them to perfectly shut Bakugo down. No matter what, if they listen to at least one of them, that explosive dick won't even reach the podium."
"Do they really have such good odds?"
"Mei, Bakugo's biggest advantage is that his quirk is big and flashy, and because of that everyone has been convinced that he's a power unto himself. Nothing could be further from the truth. Because the truth is that the smaller a quirk is, the more versatile it must be to compete with the bigger ones, and thus the more useful they become. The other competitors are used to facing adversity with their powers and learning to overcome it, whereas Bakugo has never had to struggle once in his life. If they can make him bleed, he'll topple like a house of cards. Should be interesting to see which one gets to do him in."
The answer came swiftly as Midnight took the stage once more. "Ladies and Gentlemen, we've reached the final stretch. Put your hands together for Tenya Lida and Eijiro Kirishima!"
Raucous applause thundered through the stadium and the two figures came out onto the platform. Lida waving politely and Kirishima blowing kisses and mock saluting. The closer he looked, Izuku realized that it wasn't stagecraft or working the crowd at all for the redhead, no, Kirishima was just genuinely happy to be there. The crowd was completely second to the fight about to happen. The tycoon's regard for the other teen was growing by the second.
"This should be interesting." The greenette mused. "Lida is faster than Kirishima, and should be able to dodge all of his physical attacks, but that being said, Kirishima can make himself too dense to feel the blows from our resident speedster."
"Is there anything Lida could do?" Mei asked. She had actually very much appreciated the spectacled boy's performance in the festival so far.
"He would need momentum behind his blows, and a lot of it. I suppose he could build that up by running circles on the platform for a while but I doubt Kirishima will give him that much of an opportunity. What is more, without a structured framework on his arms the recoil of such a blow would shatter his limbs. That outfit he's wearing now isn't made for something like that. It's why his big brother Ingenium wears armor plating. The arm greaves are reinforced titanium fitted into the gloves to support the impact zone."
"So what are we looking at for this bout, Izuku?"
"I'd say a battle of attrition. I don't know how long our redheaded friend can keep up his rock hard skin as such details have not been recorded, but I can't imagine it's indefinite. Lida needs to stay out of range and keep moving, cause if the other guy gets one hit in with those stone fists he'll go out like a light. That being said, Lida can't run forever either. Should be interesting to see who begins to flag first."
It happened just as he said, the moment the gunshot started the round the speedster began to circle the field at a rapid pace (either not worried about, or not realizing, the possibility of permanent damage) to build momentum, but quickly stopped that tactic when his opponent rushed to meet him on his current route. Changing trajectory ruined his flow and lost whatever speed he'd gained, so the spectacled teen resorted to rapid bursts to stay out of the other guy's range whenever he ran to close the distance with him. It became a drawn out game of cat and mouse, but eventually, after showing amazing cardiovascular ability for all involved, both sides began to visibly tire.
Tenya's calf engines started sputtering, and the stone exterior of Kirishima's skin began to retract and regrow as his control began to slip. Finally, it disappeared completely, and all that remained was the redhead in a ready martial arts stance.
'This is it' Izuku thought, leaning forward. 'If I'm right and he does have a latent ability it will show itself here at the end.'
Lida seemed to sense the finality of the moment too, as his engines revved one last time and he shot forward in a serpentine movement meant to confuse his foe as to his final point of attack. However, just before the moment impact would have come, Izuku's high powered optics took note of a sheen of rippling light crawling over the redhead's exposed neck, face, and hands before his body expanded out with a thicker layer of stone than had yet been seen that day and his stance changed to put him lower to the ground. A moment later Lida impacted the immovable object and his body ricocheted off to the side and flopped over and over on the ground before sliding completely off the platform and onto the grass below.
As Kirishima was declared the winner, Izuku took in what he'd just seen. 'So' he thought, 'it's an energy multiplier. One use and his strength returned in force, his stone skin came back more powerful than before, and his body withstood an impact of that level of speed without budging an inch.' He watched the once more human-skinned redhead stumble exhaustedly into the hall at the other end of the field to await his next call, and mentally added, 'Seems to come with a cost to his energy levels though. Interesting. I wonder if that could be circumvented with repeated exposure training?'
Next up was Uraraka and Bakugo. "This will be over in less than five minutes." he predicted, earning a raised eyebrow from his girlfriend.
"Oh really? Care to make a wager on it?"
"Sure, what would you like to bet?"
"Loser has to give the winner a 'deep' tissue massage."
"Oh you are so on. I wonder if she'll use the strategy I sent her?"
"You mean the one you sent anonymously like a creeper?"
"Hey! Good ideas are good regardless of where they come from!"
As they watched, the starting gun sounded and the combatants raced forth to face each other. As the greenette had expected, Bakugo started off with a wild range of explosions meant to disorient Uraraka and pepper the ground, reducing her mobility. However, this seemed to follow her own desire perfectly as instead of attacking him directly, or trying to levitate him with a touch, she danced around the field, drawing forth his attacks and letting the dust hide where she would go next, further angering her foe and causing him to create more and more destruction as he tried to hit her by default even if he couldn't detect her.
It all came to a head however when a final, much larger explosion, pushed the dust away completely, revealing the field to all… as well as the massive floating clump of debris and rock overhead and a smirking Ochako Uraraka on the opposite side of the platform, well away from the point of impact which Bakugo stood directly under.
The blonde only had one second to look shocked before the bubbly brunette lowered her hands and the rockstorm fell, burying him alive.
All was silent for several moments before midnight hopped onto the platform and did a ten count. When no movement came from the debris she declared Ochako the winner and together with Cementoss the R-Rated hero dug the unconscious explosion user out and carted him off to the infirmary.
Looking at his watch Izuku gleefully reported, Four minutes and thirty seconds. I think I'll cash in my winnings when we get back to the office."
Far from looking put out, Mei kissed his neck and said, "I'll be sure to make you very 'happy' and relaxed."
The final round of the competition took another thirty minutes to start. Most likely because both of the finalists were clearly exhausted from the large use of their quirks and the judges wanted to give them time to recover. But when Ochako Uraraka and Eijiro Kirishima walked out onto a brand new platform the applause was absolutely monstrous.
"What do you think will happen this time, babe?" Mei wanted to know.
"You know, I'm honestly not sure."
"Really?" The pinkette was amazed by this admission.
"Yeah, I honestly have never considered a matchup like this and I'm genuinely curious how it will play out. Uraraka is not as proficient in hand to hand combat as Eijiro, but on the whole her quirk is a hell of a lot more versatile. I wonder how this will play out?"
As they watched the gun sounded, but the fighters didn't move right away, instead they bowed to each other, then the crowd, and finally started to warily circle each other.
Mei noted, "Well they are respectful at least, and cool headed enough to get the lay of the land and a feel for each other before going into an all out fight. Gotta say, if anyone deserved to get this far it was these two."
"Yeah, but whatever happened to Shinso?"
Mei blinked, "Oh yeah, that happened while you were still seeing to Momo. He fought Bakugo, but the big chihuahua couldn't even be bothered to speak to him. He just charged right at him and blew him completely off the platform as well as the performance floor. I think he landed somewhere in the third row of spectators with what looked like a broken arm and dislocated shoulder."
"Hm…" Izuku mused. "I think I'll drop by to see him and leave my card. It will be telling in the next few days to see if he's given a seat in the hero course or not after such an impressive showing. Should they deny him, I foresee a similar chance with him that I took with Momo."
Below them, the fighters finally closed the distance between each other, and a rather fascinating use of quirks and combat began taking place. Eijiro was swinging his arms and legs, trying like hell to knock the girl out, but she was ducking under and around each blow with an enviable show of dexterity…. Or at least that's what Izuku thought it was until he looked further down and saw how often her feet were slipping on the smooth stone. 'Guess she's just clumsy, but she owns it enough to use that to her advantage and dodge the blows in unorthodox ways.'
What was more interesting was that she was touching Kirishima's body over and over again between dodges but he wasn't rising into the air. Why not? By everything he knew about the girl's quirk he should be… aw, now that was just genius.
Seeing his girlfriend's clear conclusion he said, "Focus in on Kirishima's neck and hands." She did so, and he smiled at the sight of her pupillary dilation. He had grown to think of it as quite cute. The boy saw the moment she realized what was happening as she gasped and hopped in place while clapping, an action that made him verrrryyyyy happy considering she was still on his lap.
"He's increasing his weight!"
"Yes he is." Indeed, the redhead was covered in rocky skin already, but if one looked at his neck, hands, or the slowly tightening framework of his clothing, they'd see the truth. Every time Ochako touched him to lighten the force of gravity on his body he added more rocky weight to his frame to keep holding him to the ground. "Now he just needs one good shot and-" *Pow* "there it is."
Uraraka's luck had finally faltered and she'd tripped right into one of the redhead's uppercuts. The force of the blow combined with his hardened skin meant she was out cold before her body even hit the ground. True to form the champion didn't even wait to be declared the winner before he had picked up his opponent and begun carrying her over to the already approaching medic, Recovery Girl. It seemed she'd decided not to wait for her patients to come to her for once.
"Well, that's it." Izuku slowly rose and Mei got up with him. "Time to go."
"Really?"
"Yes. We know the winner now, we've seen all the events, and I still need to get my card to Shinso. Plus I really don't want to deal with the crowd trying to leave once the Festival is over officially."
"I understand. Plus it means we can head right back to the office and I can give you your massage."
"My thoughts exactly, Mei."
Next Time
-New additions to the team.
-All For One has a request.