"Such brutality." Flect-Turn says eloquently. "The boy is certainly vicious enough to join our cause."

Beros is to his right, standing diligently and looking over the footage with an analytical eye. "I'll give him that," she agrees. "He certainly has a flair for the dramatic."

Flect-Turn chuckles behind his hand. "Yes, indeed. So far, he has emerged as a front runner for our potential target. The green one, Izuku Midoriya is certainly not to be trifled with in his own right. I just need to see more. His previous fight was nothing more than an appetizer, I need the main course."

Leviathan growls deeply. "Is... he a... good fight? Does the master... wish to have him?"

"Not yet, Leviathan. We shall know our target at the end of the event.

Shadaloo's base is buzzing, as it typically is when their CEO is on the job. Today, he is couped up in his office with his highest ranked men, with a small glass of ice twirling lazily in his hand and his smile ever present on his face. Bison is having a tremendous day thus far if his constant fits of maniacal laughter is any indication. "Ashi!" He beckons, and the apprentice doll shows up immediately. "Another bottle of Belvedere."

"The Belver Bears, sir?"

"Yes," Bison affirms, then his pupil-less eyes scan the room. "And bring something for the guests. I'm feeling... generous today."

"Yes, sir."

Geese Howard whistles as the woman leaves, and gives Bison a look of appreciation. "Fine specimen you have there. Real top shelf liquor you have too." He relaxes in his seat and lets out a breath. "I could get used to this."

"No, you can't." Vega says immediately. "Someone who lacks beauty such as yourself could never understand the higher values of life."

"Wha...? Don't come at me with those beauty standards; you with your $30 haircut!" Geese replies and Vega looks positively scandalized.

FANG makes a noise of discontent. "I fail to see why you need him around, Lord Bison. He is strong, yes. But he is nothing when you have a mastermind like me at your side."

"I requested the services of Geese here because I feel like he'd be a great help to our cause." Bison explains with his grin widening. "You see, Geese also has an issue with our little project back in Japan."

Geese glares at FANG and Vega for a bit longer before turning back to the TV. They're showing a highlight reel of the day thus far, and as it passes over a certain attack, Geese feels his blood boil. "That boy. Black hair, red highlights. He used his technique. The Buster Wolf. He learned it from Bogard."

Vega scoffs and flips his hair. "So?"

Geese glares again. "So... I hate Bogard and everything to do with his shitty family."

"Yes," Bison interjects, "From what I understand, a bit of patricide? I always knew killing the parents worked well."

Geese scoffs. "You kill some parents and all of a sudden you 'must be stopped'. I thought I was finally rid of that stupid lineage when those bastards left to America, but they came back and taught that punk some moves. He's on my shit list because of association!"

At this point, the apprentice doll Ashi returns and pours Bison a glass out of a bottle with an odd bear shape. "I'll honor my side of the agreement." Bison says, knowing full well he has no intention of honoring this fool's agreement. "You will get your shot at him soon enough, and once you do, bring him to me. Unless a mere child is too much for you, Geese Howard?"

"Please! That boy and the world will know of the Legendary Geese Howard before they know of you!"

Bison merely laughs.

In a seedy bar, Shigaraki looks on. This NPC so far is interesting, very interesting. He might be a potential villain if they can get their hands on him. He understood that he was also a target for Bison but honestly... fuck that guy. Tomura hated him and everything he stood for, so he'd play his own game.

"After that uh... intense and riveting battle, it's time for something else hopefully less intense and hard to watch! The first round's just about half over! Next up is Tenya Iida of the Hero Course vs... covered head to toe in support gear Mei Hatsume of the Support Course!"

Izuku stares blankly at the scene in front of him. Iida? With support gear? He rubs his eyes to confirm that's in fact what he's seeing then he hears a voice next to him.

"...I am both surprised and not at all that she tricked him into doing that." Izuku's head snapped to the source of the voice to see Ryoya sitting next to him, looking bored and somewhat sleepy with bandages wrapped around his hands.

"Harushi!" Someone gasps, then everyone turns to face him. Ryoya raises a brow and tilts his head in confusion.

"Hm?"

Just like his own class, most people look at him with trepidation, which, to be fair, he can understand. Doesn't mean it doesn't sting a bit though.

Izuku is one of the few who isn't on edge, and acts accordingly. "Congrats on the win." He says genuinely. "But did you have to break his arm?"

Ryoya shrugs. "I'll admit, I didn't really have much of a choice there. He was tougher than I thought he was going to be. But in my defense, I did ask him to concede."

Izuku just nods, "How're the hands?"

"Could be worse, really. Nothing broke, just a few fractures. Training pays off."

"Um, I don't mean to interrupt." Kirishima says slowly, "But um... training? What kind of training makes you punch steel, bro?"

"Oh, one of our sensei's drills. Had to punch a steel door until it dented." Ryoya says casually. Izuku nods in confirmation.

"Sometimes the door hits back..."

"Wh - what?" The class as a collective thinks.

"Don't worry about it," Ryoya waves off. He is not surprised at all when Rumi appears seemingly out of thin air and grabs one of his wrapped hands, but the pain makes him hiss. "Ouch, woman!"

"Serves you right!" Rumi argues with one hand on her hip. "Why did you punch steel, pretty boy!? You can shoot fire out of your hands and feet!"

"Well... uh -"

"Seriously! I've seen you do that Buster Wolf thing twice! Why didn't you just do that to knock him out of the ring!?"

"You see..."

"And you have that geyser thing!" Rumi continues to rant, while Ryoya simply hangs his head in defeat. "Three of them in fact!"

The class watches on in amusement as Rumi continues to berate him.

"Ya know, it's weird." Kaminari says.

"What is, bro?"

He gestures to Ryoya and Rumi. "So weird how he can just flip the script like that."

"You're thinking too deeply into it, bro. Haru-bro just knows when to be manly and when to be slightly less manly!" Kirishima starts to wipe his eyes. "It's inspiring!"

"It's sickening." Bakugo grumbles.

They completely miss the nightmare taking place in the ring.

"What deft maneuvering, Iida! My Auto Balancer makes those sorts of movements possible!"

That got the students' attention, and they all turned to the "fight." Rumi doesn't let go of his hand, even after the ten minute advertisement draws to an end.

Izuku shakes his head and clicks his tongue. "Iida is just way too serious." He says to himself. "It wasn't hard for her to get him to play her game. But, at least she's honest about her underhanded methods to get what she wants."

Ochako barely hears him. "Right... I'd better get to the prep room." She says absently, and Izuku immediately notices the weird look on her face. He watches her leave before sighing to himself and getting up and going after her, only to be stopped by Ryoya tapping his shoulder.

"When you get back, we'll talk about what I mentioned before." He says, and Izuku nods, taking note of how grim Ryoya's expression is. It's a bit unnerving honestly, but he doesn't let it hinder him. He stalks through UA's hall, keeping his senses pinpointed on Uraraka's ki signature the entire time. Iida is near, which is good, because maybe he'd be able to help with whatever she's going through. Although... After that nightmare of a match, it was hard to say.

He got near the room and heard them before he reached the door. "Is that you!? Why the furrowed brows!?" Oh no. She's doing the 'brow' thing. She's definitely nervous. Izuku opens the door. "Uraraka!"

"Deku!" She says with a small jump. "Wait, shouldn't you be watching the other matches?"

Izuku waves her off. "Another two matches already happened. Tokoyami won his match in a flash against Kirishima. Hardening is a cool quirk, but Dark Shadow just... picked him up and placed him out of bounds. Kaminari drew with Ashido and I'm sure it's going to be a tiebreaker. And Yoayorozu is going against Kendo after that..."

"What!? And you're not gonna watch that?" Ochako says incredulously. If she were being honest, she would want to see that fight and was strongly considering doing so, if not for her own nerves getting to her in a moment of weakness.

Izuku chuckles and rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. "I've seen them fight a whole bunch of times. I already think I know who'll win." He says. "But that's not why I'm here..." He trails off and gives Ochako a worried look.

The brunette sighs. "So, I'm up... soon..."

Iida cuts in, "I can't imagine that Bakugo will give it his explosive all against a female opponent."

Izuku shakes his head. "Iida... man, you've got to stop it with that..." Iida looks confused, but Izuku doesn't elaborate. "Anyway, Katsuki will give it everything he has against anyone in his way. Everyone here is competing with the dream of becoming number one. No one's holding back, Katsuki least of all." He reaches behind his back and pulls out a notebook. "You've been so amazing and helpful to me for a while now, I figured I'd return the favor. If you wanted a counter-strategy for Katsuki, one that uses your quirk, it's here."

"Oh, how fortunate for you, Uraraka!" Iida says with a swift chop.

"Thanks, Deku... but you know I'm not gonna accept that." Ochako replies with a soft smile.

Izuku grins at her and puts the book away. "Of course not. I was just being nice."

Iida looks between the two with a raised brow.

"You're amazing, Deku. You've been amazing. You do amazing things all the time." Ochako shifts uncomfortably in her seat and presses the tips of her index fingers together. "During the Cavalry Battle, I thought the easiest strategy would be to team up with friends. But when I think about it, it was actually me putting my faith in you." It takes monumental effort on her part not to look at Deku's big, innocent green eyes. "That's why Iida said 'I challenge you' and why Harushi wasn't going to team up with you and all that. It left me feeling a little bit embarrassed about myself."

Izuku frowns. Ochako has that same look on her face she did on the beach...

"That's why I can't accept that." She gets up and walks away, her hair hooding her eyes. "Everyone here is fighting for their future. Doesn't that make us all rivals? So..." She turns around just before the door with a determined smile and thumbs up. "I'll see you in the finals, Deku!"

Izuku smiles at her and nods. "Yeah, I'll see you there too."

As luck would have it, Izuku and Iida return to their seats just as Yaoyorozu versus Kendo begins.

"A fight for the ages folks! Two class reps duke it out! The goddess of creation, Momo Yaoyorozu of the Hero Course!"

Momo is walking with deep, steady breaths. She and Kendo are friends, and rivals in their own right. This is a fight she's been looking forward to, and she's as ready as she could possibly be.

"Versus! The strongest of class B with fists of fury! Itsuka Kendo of the Hero Course!"

Itsuka is clearly more relaxed in this situation. Having been participating in tournaments since she was a young lass, she'd grown somewhat used to having attention on her. Even as Japan watched, Itsuka remained cool and collected. Internally though, she dreaded this match-up in particular.

"START!"

Both students of the legendary Chun-Li assumed different stances. Momo's entire appearance looked nothing like the girl herself usually is, nor the girl Itsuka knows her to be. Her jacket is unzipped, revealing a black, skin-tight crop top, cut low enough that she has some room for constructs, yet high enough to protect her modesty. Her form was wild and loose, her left leg slightly ahead of her right, her left hand drawn inwards to protect her body and chin while her right extended its way up and forward, ready for her quirk. It's an odd mixture of styles that Itsuka had come to expect. Harushi's relentless brutality tends to stick. Itsuka's stance is the opposite. She is a near flawless recreation of her sensei, down to the wide stance, and her right hand tucked under her left elbow as her hand gestures outward like a viper.

Momo makes the first move. Against someone like Itsuka who's strength and skill she acknowledges, she leads with her best foot forward. The glow of creation erupts from her forearms and abdomen, and from it, a thick white plume of smoke flows, obscuring her from view. Itsuka has seen this strategy before and has fought against it many times, so she reacts accordingly. "I hate when you do this, Yaomomo!" Itsuka shouts, but there is no real bite in her words. Her fists enlarge and she spreads her palm. There are several gasps from some students, teachers and heroes as thick, black inky ki drips from Itsuka's hand before she slaps the air.

The gust of wind that her hand creates is enough that even Midnight's hair blows, and the smoke is cleared, but it seemed a few seconds was all Momo needed. When she comes into view, she already has armed herself with an imposing metal staff and red sparring gloves that shone in the midday sun. Itsuka swore under her breath as Momo gracefully and intricately twirls her staff in her hands, lacing it between her fingers before clamping down and giving it a single forceful swing that hits nothing, but kicks up a respectable amount of dust. Then Momo charges ahead keeping her head low and eyes on Itsuka's hands, which move to protect her. Three meters away, Momo angles her pole down and uses her momentum to vault over head, before bringing down an ax kick that Itsuka raises her large fists to block.

In the same motion, Momo stomps her other foot on the back of Itsuka's hands, spring boarding away from the girl's attempt to grab her leg. As she lands, she is forced to duck under Itsuka's sideways chop and retaliates with two quick prods of her staff to the girl's exposed ribs. Itsuka grunts and swears, then makes a fist in her off hand then strikes the floor. It cracks and creates an audible boom that pushes Momo backwards enough to give the redhead some breathing room. Seeing her mistake play out in real time, Itsuka quickly acts out a solution. Momo pauses for a second and the glow of creation appears on her forearm, but Itsuka is ready.

She claps.

Mina has had an up and down day thus far. She wasn't exactly happy about how she'd done today, but she knows she can't really complain. After her loss to Kaminari in the stupid tie-breaker (seriously, who decided on ARM WRESTLING?), she was a bit down in the dumps. That was until she happened upon seeing her favorite not-couple simply… existing near each other. Harushi at some point got some popcorn, which Usagiyama shamelessly eats.

His deadpan expression alone is worth every second.

There's a mischievous glint in her eye as she looks at the tanned rabbit girl. She seems awfully content to be in his general area since the first, admittedly hard to watch fight. Mina has an idea. "So... Haru." She says innocently. Ryoya is now standing up near the railing, watching the fight closer than before with Rumi is to his left, also watching the fight with her mouth slightly agape. Ryoya turns to the pink girl, who's smiling sweetly up at him with her hands behind her back and chest forward. "Did you really train Yaomomo?" She says in a sing-song voice.

Ryoya raises a brow at her actions and opens his mouth to speak before being forcefully yanked backwards by Rumi (he'd kill a man before he admitted he squeaked in surprise), who takes his place.

"What's it to you, Bubblegum?" Rumi says suspiciously.

Mina takes a step back and waves her hand defensively. "Hey, hey, Rumi. I'm just askin'." She says a little too sweetly for Rumi's liking. Rumi eyes her some more. "I just wanted to know if Haru has some time to help train me is all."

Rumi scowls, and Ryo answers over her shoulder (head? damn it he was almost a full head taller than her) "Yeah, I trained Mo-chan." He confirms before turning back to the fight. "I trained with Red-chan a lot too, but... she was a bit more focused on beating me." He says with a small frown. It's a shame, he thinks. He does like Itsuka and wouldn't mind being better friends with her, but it felt like she often viewed him more as an obstacle to be surpassed than a friend trying to help her along.

"Anyway," he says after a beat. "I don't mind training you, Pink-san."

Izuku cuts in. "Uh... that's not a good idea, Ashido-san."

Mina, who smiled at the acceptance, turns to Izuku with a tilted head. "Why not Midori? Look at Yaomomo! She's super strong!"

"Well, yes but - "

"Oh, you'd probably die honestly." A voice says... above them? They look up to see a single pair of disembodied lips and a single floating eye. People gasp.

"That'd ruin the surprise, Lizard-chan." Ryoya says dryly. Mina's eyes widened.

"You're so cruel, Ryo-kun!" Setsuna laughs heartily as the rest of her body comes over, along with Yui. To everyone's (but Izuku's) surprise, she throws herself at Ryoya, who does the bare minimum to catch her. No one notices a white rabbit ear twitching nor the sound of grinding teeth.

"Hello, Kodai-san." Izuku says with a wave that Yui returns.

"What do you mean I'll die, Tokage?" Mina says nervously.

"Oh, I've seen these two train. It's otherworldly what these two pieces of meat get up to." Setsuna says, ignoring Ryoya's subtle attempts to put her down.

"We're right here."

"I know."

Ryoya clears his throat. "While you guys get to know each other, Izuku." He pauses and gives his friend a stern look. "Let's talk."

"Don't you bros want to stay and watch the fight?" Kirishima asks.

"We already know who'll win."

With that, and a lot of prying, Setsuna detaches herself from his person and he and Izuku walk away.

"So," Setsuna says slyly, completely ignoring the fight. "Which one of you managed to hook the Shotos?"

Todoroki perks up with a raised brow.

"The Shotos?" Sero asks.

"That's what they call themselves really. Those two and their sensei's. Short for 'Shotokan', their style." After a quick explanation, Setsuna waves them off. "But that's just semantics, which one of you lucky girls managed it? Was it you, Usagiyama? I saw you getting all territorial." The smile on Setsuna's face would haunt Rumi for days to come.

The rabbit in question raises a brow. "I don't know what you're talking about Lizard."

"Oh, good. Then I still have a chance."

Rumi's ear twitched and Setsuna laughed.

"Anyway, taking bets on the fight? Anyone?" The green-haired girl said while waving her floating hand around.

"Aren't they both your friends?"

"Yeah, but like… I don't get to see them fight that much!"

It's like a bomb is detonated in the arena with the way the shockwave bursts through the air. Momo gasps as the wind hits her like a strong shove to the chest, and her concentration is broken just long enough that the glow ceases and Itsuka has the opportunity to launch her counter attack.

Momo winces when she blocks Itsuka's fist. The staff holds up better than she hopes, thanks in part to her reading up on shock resistant materials prior to this match; the carbon holds firm. But her arms don't and before long, she loses out under Itsuka's punch and takes a direct hit to the midsection. Her ki would normally absorb most of the damage, but Itsuka's ki is just as finely tuned, so she takes the full brunt of the damage. It hurts like hell, but she's been hit harder before, and recovers quickly. As she slides back, Momo uses the hilt of her staff to help regain her composure and when she does, she swings her staff at an angle to keep Itsuka at bay. Metal meets the back of a large left hand, while the right fist follows with malicious intent.

Light gray ki follows Momo's fist as she foolishly attempts to meet Itsuka's with her gauntlet. She loses the interaction, of course, and the metal is dented around her hand while she flies back like a rag-doll.

"And Kendo dominates this fight! Landing two blows in quick succession!"

"It seems like her plan is to rush Yaoyorozu down to limit her creation time. Yaoyorozu has consistently shown herself to be one of the better hand-to-hand specialists in class, so it's interesting to see how she reacts while being on the back-foot."

Momo hits the ground with a thud, and doesn't move. Midnight starts her ten count, and Itsuka listens, but her eyes narrow on Momo. She knows that an attack like that wouldn't - shouldn't be enough to defeat her rival, so she plays cautiously. When Midnight reaches the count of seven, Momo starts to stir and Itsuka's eyes widen.

The raven-haired girl stands up before Midnight says 'nine' and quickly throws something at her. A single small, white crystal that glistens in the light. Itsuka eyes it curiously before intending to swat it away, but the moment it made contact with her hand...

BOOM!

"Shit!" Itsuka yells, cradling her hand.

"What was that?" Midnight inquires.

Momo carefully holds several more rocks in her hand. "Fulminate of mercury." She says simply. "Ryo-kun and I saw it on an old show once and he helped me to make and test them."

'THEY HURT A LOT!' She hears Ryoya yell from somewhere in the crowd. Neither woman in the arena acknowledges him.

"Well, so long as it's not technically chemical warfare, I'll allow it!" Midnight says with a crack of her whip and a smile.

Momo smirks and throws another crystal, which Itsuka wisely chooses to dodge and the crystal hits the ground like a firecracker. Then the fight continues.

Itsuka is about to lose and she can feel it. Yaomomo might not be using the most... visually appealing strategy if the situation of the crowd starting to boo is any indication, but hot damn if it wasn't effective. She was getting nowhere fast, and if she wanted to make headway, she'd have to pull out her strongest technique.

To buy herself some time, Itsuka uses her large hands to punch the ground, which in turn raises up a chunk of stadium waist height. She ducts and starts to take deep breaths.

Momo, across the stadium, pauses. She's thankful that Itsuka momentarily stopped her advance since creating so many materials drained her energy way more than she'd admit. She was tired, and the sweat on her brow was an indicator of that. So, instead of advancing, she waits there and catches her breath. It's only when she feels Itsuka's ki shift in a weird way that she panics.

Something bursts forth from the makeshift barricade, and like a sniper, Momo throws a mercury crystal, only to gasp when she sees that it's nothing but a jacket. Itsuka herself rolls from the side.

"Kikoken!"

A blue ki blast fires across the stadium quicker than Momo can blink and she takes the full attack directly to the sternum. With the wind thoroughly knocked out of her, Itsuka prepares for her next attack. Her fists get even bigger, as large as she can make them, and she holds her palms forward, side by side. The ki around her hands change in size. "Sorry about this, Yaomomo!" She says just before a mass of blue light appears in front of her hands, way bigger than before. "Big Fist: Kikoken!"

The blast is easily twice as large as before, and Momo's eyes widen nearly to match it. Having nowhere to go, Momo spins her staff around in her hand and a ki trail follows it until she's almost completely obscured by a palette of gray. Then she swings her staff like a bat, meeting the large attack head on.

"OH MY GOD! What are the teachers doing these days!?"

"I assure you that me and Vlad haven't taught them this..."

Momo struggled dearly and with every passing second, she lost more and more ground. Whether she or her staff would give out first, she didn't know, but she did know that didn't want to lose. Not while everyone was watching and she worked so hard to get here. So she redoubled her efforts, pushing as much ki into her staff as possible until the weapon itself physically changed from shining and metallic to a darker, more matte finish. With one more battle-cry, Momo swings with every ounce of strength she possesses.

The ki blast eventually does change course, and is returned to sender. Itsuka, having been too tired to do anything, stands there with her head held high, closes her eyes and waits for the attack to hit her.

BANG!

...

...

"...huh?" she cracks an eye open to see a cement wall before her. Her head snaps to the side to see Cementos smiling.

"The fight is over, young lady." He says sagely. "There was no reason to let that attack hit you."

"Winner, Momo Yaoyorozu!"

As Yaomomo and Kendo are escorted from the field, Ochako stands in the tunnel taking deep breaths and stretching. Deku's words are echoing in her head and the smile on his face and the confidence he has in her fills her with determination. Her opponent, Katsuki Bakugo, will be no joke and she knows that. There's a small part of her, the disgusting insecurity, that makes her think that it would've been smarter to take Deku's help, but she shakes those feelings away.

She wants to win. She will win. And she will do it on her own.

With her eyes set in a determined scowl, she waits for the cue…

"Now! After such a thrilling match, it's time for another one that's for sure to be a slobberknocker!"

"I refuse to believe you just said that, Mic."

"A celebrity since his middle school days, with a face only a mother could love… It's Katsuki Bakugo of the Hero Course!"

Bakugo takes the stage with a weird expression that's an odd mixture of a scowl, sneer and grimace. Had it not been for her nerves, Ochako likely would've laughed at him.

"And since Midnight did it earlier, MY blatant favorite for today. The bubbly gravity mistress herself, Ochako Uraraka, also of the Hero Course!"

"You." Bakugo says slowly. "You're the floaty one right, Round Face? Deku's friend."

Ochako flinches, both at being called 'round face' and also being reduced to just 'Deku's friend'.

"If you're gonna back down, do it now. Quitting later won't cut it."

Ochako says nothing. One For All flares around her and she gets into her fighting stance, wide and full of openings. Bakugo's eyes narrow and Ochako inwardly smiles. Good, he was taking her seriously.

"You said earlier you thought of a counter-strategy for her against Bakugo." Iida says, "What was it?"

Izuku laughs. "Truth be told, I didn't think of much of anything she wouldn't already know. Katsuki's strong. He has virtually no weaknesses in close-range combat. His quirk greatly benefits places where he can be mobile though, like here. He can maneuver mid-air but if she can increase his gravity, she'll gain the advantage." Then he sighs. "But there's no way Katsuki doesn't know that. He'll try to keep his distance but…"

"START!"

Ochako and Bakugo both dash to the middle of the ring, clash and then continue sliding beyond.

"...he definitely feels threatened enough by her to challenge her head-on."

A/N: Well, another Sports Fes chapter in the books. We're nearing the end. Not too many important fights left tbh.

If you want to find me or just hang out in a good MHA server with tons of good authors, you can find me in Jade's Discord / pkmgFzUkBu

I have my own channel and role so you can remain up-to-date on story progress and ideas.

Monster King: Thanks!

NinjaFang1331: Thanks!

Acosta Perez Jose Ramiro: Yeah, having a temper issue is a bad thing, and you should keep an eye out for a "Nagant for Ki-users"

Ryuujin96: Thanks! I liked Izuku as a whole last chapter. He's trying to help people, which you can understand. Ryoya's fall into the Satsui is something that has been gradual and I too hope people can save him. Tetsu just... didn't know when to give up and who knows what would have happened if Midnight didn't stop the fight. Ryoya's character arc and Izuku's in relation to that will be fun to explore.

Marbled Gold: Thanks, it was a fun fight to write.

Solbandgus: Yeah, Ryo vs Shouto will be pretty unpleasant on both sides. And also yeah, don't expect Izuku's Kyosui to be mastered for a long time.