Enji Todoroki's mood matches his flames, despite what public opinion might be. When his flames burn strong and bright, he is as he typically is. Not at peace, per se, a man like him has all but razed the word "peaceful" from his vocabulary. But content. When his flames lash out and heat to extreme levels, he is angry; bitter and upset at his own shortcomings or failures.
But now as he makes his way to Shouto's medical room, his flames are largely quelled, brought down to a low simmer. He keeps his jaw set and eyes narrow, as if to remind people of his authority behind the fire, but it drops when he arrives to Recovery Girl's office.
He doesn't bother to knock when he enters, and all conversation halts the moment he steps in. Shouto isn't alone. That boy, Harushi, is also there, mirroring his son's position in cot, wrapped in fewer layers of bandages than Shouto is, but equally as tired looking. The others, people whom he knows to be Shouto's classmates including those two girls he can recall from the entrance exam, one with rabbit ears he doesn't recognize, one with that power, whom he knows by name, and the green-haired other half of the anomalies.
"Endeavor." Shouto says strangely. His tone isn't cold, but it isn't warm either.
A few of them mumble out something of acknowledgement to him that he doesn't respond to. Instead his eyes are set on his son.
"Shouto." He responds neutrally. "Are you well enough to leave?"
"Endeavor-san." Harushi acknowledges.
Enji makes the mistake of making eye contact. It lasts an uncomfortable amount of time, but the two just stare at each other, seemingly having a silent conversation with just the intensity of their gazes.
"Ryo-kun!" Momo whisper-shouts, gently tapping on his forearm to get his attention. Ryoya's eyes eventually do move to hers and she's taken aback by the life in them. The power and another emotion she can't place. With great effort, she peels away. "I deeply apologize for my friend's rudeness, Endeavor-san!" She says hastily.
Enji doesn't stop glowering however. "Right." Is his only response before the tension gets thick.
It reaches a boiling point when Ryoya starts to stare again, but thankfully, Recovery Girl comes into the room, thwacking the hero's shin with her cane. "Really, Enji?" She says while shaking her head. "Antagonizing children again? And what did I say about those flames in here!?" She pokes his leg and the flames die out immediately. "Honestly, you kids and your flashy quirks. I assume you're here for your son. Well, he's not ready yet. Someone here needs to be reminded that this is not a war!" She turns her glare to Ryoya, who just so happens to find the floor tiles fascinating.
Endeavor just nods. "I will speak with him later." Then he turns to Ryoya. "Remember my offer, boy." With that, he leaves, not bothering to wait for a response.
"Offer?" Shouto chimes with a raised brow. "My father made you an offer?" Everyone turns to Ryoya, who sighs and runs a bandaged hand through his hair.
"Don't worry about it."
Usagiyama huffs and crosses her arms while Yaomomo sighs deeply in disappointment. Izuku gives his friend a hard look while Ryoya is confused by the responses.
"What?"
"Nothing."
Ryoya knows it's not nothing, but he doesn't push it. Mostly because of the strange feel to the ki around him. It's negative, but not overtly so, like a lingering feeling of frustration. It makes him uncomfortable. Thankfully, Izuku seems to pick up on it and speaks.
"How long do you think it'll be before the ring's fixed?"
"Probably not long," Setsuna chimes. "It wasn't as bad as it was when Uraraka here destroyed Bakugo." Uraraka sputtered and blushed in embarrassment. "Just really a lot of burned areas. Speaking of…" She turns and detaches her hand and points an accusatory finger at the tanned boy, tapping the tip of his nose. "How are you on power? I know I'm not the best of us at the whole 'ki' thing, but even I can sense you're running low."
Ryoya looks down at his hands. "I should be well enough to go after some gummies and a nice nap."
"That's it?" Rumi asks suspiciously. "You dropped to your knees out there."
"I'm fine," Ryoya says. "Honest. The worst of it were just the small cuts and minor burns."
"He's correct." Recovery Girl begrudgingly admits. "His wounds were superficial at best, I only wished he extended that same kindness to his opponent." The elder says, leveling a glare at him.
Ryoya, sweating nervously, awkwardly clears his throat. "I - Well, you see, Shouto needed some help so I -"
"So you figured it was okay to crack some ribs, break his nose, give him second degree burns on his right side and beat him into near unconsciousness?"
"When you put it like that, Doctor-san, it almost sounds bad."
"It is bad!"
Rumi barely suppressed a snicker at the scene while Momo, seeing that Ryoya was trying and failing to talk himself out of it, giggles behind her hand before excusing herself.
"I should get going. My fight is soon."
Ochako, who's mostly been silent up until now, perks up. "Wait, really? I thought there were two fights before us."
But Momo doesn't answer, simply smiling in a way that doesn't reach her eyes before nodding and leaving without another word.
"Geez, what's up with High Class?"
"Oh, that's just Yaomomo for you. Always ahead of the curve! She's probably getting herself pumped up for this fight!" Setsuna explains.
Ryoya doesn't believe that at all because he knows Momo but doesn't push it. He focuses on her ki as she gets further away.
Todoroki, meanwhile, accepts it for what it is, thinking back to his father minutes prior. He was different, somehow, in a way that the untrained eye would never be able to detect. He'd never once in the past seen his father have any level of reverence to anyone, but just now, he walked in and seemingly held his tongue. It was strange on a level Shouto didn't quite understand.
The group doesn't remain together long after that. And just as they say their goodbyes, Izuku turns back to his bedridden friend.
"Are you going to be okay to fight in the next round?" He asked teasingly. "You used a lot of power there."
Ryoya rolls his eyes. "I'll be okay to fight even if I'm missing an arm, a leg and an eye. Some fatigue is nothing."
Izuku knows this and nods. "I just want to be clear there's no excuses before we fight."
"You seem confident."
"Am I not supposed to be against you?"
Ryoya smirks. "Cheeky head of lettuce, aren't you?"
"So, what have we learned?" M. Bison says after taking a sip of his drink.
"Kid's much stronger than he was when I encountered him at the mall," Vega says, flipping his hair over his shoulder.
"Hmm, he's an interesting specimen, indeed. He'll make a fine vessel indeed. Or does the master simply wish to drain the ki out of him?" FANG questions.
"Vessel. This body is old, FANG. I'm not lacking strength, but a new, fresh coat of paint would do me well. I'm more interested in the girl, Yaoyorozu. Her ability is something I want to get my hands on."
"Is Shadaloo just a ploy for you to kidnap children, Bison?" Geese questions. "Because that seems like all you want to do these days."
"Spare me the stupid questions, Howard. I only think for the future, and I know I have a good eye for youths whose power can be useful in the right hands." The dictator responds casually. "U.A's truly a foolish establishment. All they've done is make it easy for me to plan my next move." A pause and a sip. "Have we located Akaguro yet?"
"Just now. He's in Hosu."
"Perfect. Get me coordinates within the vicinity of twenty meters."
The faceless grunt does exactly that, and once Bison sees the numbers on paper, he opens a portal. The distance is great and it'll cost way more energy than what he normally expends, but it's worth it if he can achieve his goals.
Like a thief in the night, Bison appears through a mass of purple flame on the floor in one of the many dark alleyways in the city of Hosu. No less than ten meters away, he senses two men in a neighboring alley, one with a significantly higher ki than the other.
"Stop! Hero Killer Stain, I have you cornered!" Tensei, the pro hero Ingenium shouts under his mask.
Stain barely regards him, instead looking beyond his metallic visage to something greater, more sinister. "Fame… Money. No matter where you look, they've got the nerve to go by the name 'hero'." His gaze shifts back to Tensei. "Not one of you damn bastards is a hero. Only he is. The only one allowed to kill me is All Might."
"Oh? Bold words there. Want to bet on that? Care to test that theory?." Bison says jovially, with the grace of a man talking about the weather. Both men freeze at his sudden floating appearance. "Yes, yes. Be very afraid." He chuckles to himself. "But don't worry. I'm not here to kill either of you… maybe. I'm just here for a little chat."
"Sir, you might want to take a look at this."
Flect-Turn looks away from the TV, already disinterested in the combat between some child with a bird's head and a blond, and at one of his assistants. They held up a screen with several messages.
"Hmm," Flect-Turn ponders. "That is moderately annoying. Seems like Gill and the Secret Society declined partnership."
"And what of the men the Secret Society killed?"
"Messengers, ultimately. Insignificant in the grand scheme of it all. However, such a slight won't go ignored. Beros, lead a squadron to Hollywood and have them take out a few big names in retaliation. Aim for Dr. Woo and Necro."
"Sir?" Beros questions, "Is that wise? Star and Stripe is not a woman to be taken lightly."
"Hmm, with her unknown quirk, it could be a major issue, but she was last spotted near Washington. Unless she can teleport, she's useless in an attack on the Western front."
Beros still had her concerns, but swallowed them down. Then she nods with distant eyes. "As you wish, sir."
"And Beros." Flect-Turn calls out. "Do make it messy."
"Will the next two combatants make their way to the stage!?"
Momo takes deep breaths. Time passed quickly, almost too quickly, for her to properly prepare herself for this fight. If nothing else, she'd already made it this far, which is something to be proud of. Or at least, that's what her friends say. She knows her parents wouldn't agree. They expect nothing but the best from her ever since she "allowed herself to be influenced into being a hero".
Now, as she makes her way to the mainstage, Momo puts on the mask of false confidence she adorned at the start of the year, walking through the tunnel with practiced grace and elegance.
"Whoa, there she is! The daughter of the Yaoyorozu's!" She sometimes curses the fact that ki has boosted her senses high enough to hear such comments.
"She's been alright this whole time. Not great though."
"Didn't she beat that girl with the big hands?"
"Psh, didn't you see her quirk? Yaoyorozu was supposed to win that."
That alone almost breaks Momo's facade.
"Now! For a fight between two of the future's top heroines! Both girls who laugh at the mention of physics! Momo Yaoyorozu of the Hero Course!"
She, somehow, maintains her controlled self even as she stares across from Uraraka.
"Versus! My personal favorite student in all of U.A -"
"Mic, at least TRY to act unbiased."
But Mic continues on as if he hadn't spoken. "Ochako Uraraka also of the Hero Course!"
Ochako smiles politely and rubs the back of her head. "Oh geez. Talk about pressure, huh?" She says jokingly. Momo spares a small smirk, but it's fake.
'You have no idea.'
Despite the shared thought, both girls nod when Midnight asks if they're ready.
"START!"
Momo, like before, starts with a smokescreen. Uraraka is a weird opponent both in skillset and quirk, so the raven-haired beauty struggles to think of a combination of items that would be useful here. Her staff is an option, so deeply ingrained in her mind that she makes it before the smoke even spreads. It won't be enough, but it's good enough to keep Uraraka at bay.
As expected, the second the staff is finished, Uraraka's ki signature bursts forward with speed that rivals that of her close friends. She's had experience fighting people that quick, so she doesn't panic immediately, but she does panic when Ochako breaks through the veil with wide, intense eyes.
"Sorry, Yaomomo! I can't lose here!" She says quickly before reaching forward with both hands.
'Neither can I!' Momo doesn't say. 'Not while they watch!' With reflexes built over years of training, Momo dodges to the right while channeling her ki in her staff to prod Ochako's exposed stomach. The brunette grunts as space is made between them but only redoubles her efforts, raising One For All to 6%.
This time, she gets closer to contact, so close that two fingers graze Momo's arm before she sparks up. It's brief and bright, but the sudden combustion is enough to force Ochako backwards, temporarily blinded. Without missing a beat, Momo leaps forward, staff primed in both hands and swings horizontally.
Ochako feels the wind knocked out of her breath as the staff hits her stomach and pushes her back way further than she expected it would've. So far, in fact, that had she not called upon Heavy Point, she would've slid cleanly out of bounds.
"Oh, no! Yaoyorozu lands the first big hit!"
"Damn it, Mic!"
Ochako rubs her stomach in pain while Momo attempts to continue her assault. She jumps this time, channeling her ki in her staff so much that the gray energy bleeds in a contrail as she brings down a two handed swing downward. Ochako reacts quickly, raising One For All to 8% with Heavy Point, her comfortable limit and makes an 'x' overhead to protect herself.
The impact is enough that Ochako can feel her heels driven deeper in the floor, leaving shattered concrete around her ankles. Her arms burn. Yaomomo hits so hard that it almost snaps her out of Heavy Point, but through it all, she grins.
"I win."
Before Momo can process what she means, Ochako pushes her arms out and quickly grabs the staff with all five fingers. Momo's eyes widen at the tell-tale signs of Ochako's strange quirk, the pink glow, instantly travels along the staff and removes her gravity. She starts to float.
"Can you do anything, Yaoyorozu?"
Momo desperately tries to. But she's panicking and her mind is too muddied to focus on creating anything. So she concedes.
"Momo Yaoyorozu is unable to continue. Uraraka wins!"
"Aww, Yaomomo lost." Mina says with a pout and crossed arms. "I thought she would've had that."
"Same," Jiro added. "She started off really good, but Uraraka's quirk is just too much."
They watch as Uraraka returns the girl's gravity and she safely touches the ground. From here, all seems to be well; there are smiles, hugs and the crowd goes wild when Momo bows to Ochako before she vanishes into the tunnel. But something was off. Something that only a select few noticed.
When Rumi finds Momo in the tunnels, it is how she expected. The girl's quiet sobs may as well have been loud cries given the nature of Rumi's quirk, so it's not hard to pinpoint the location.
Momo's sitting on the floor, knees in her chest and shaking against the wall. She doesn't even notice when the Rabbit quirk user walks up to her.
"Hey," Rumi starts awkwardly. Momo's eyes snap up. "I… uh, figured you might need some help?"
"Usagiyama!" Momo jumps in shock, hastily wiping her face. She didn't think anyone would find her here! She believed someone would come looking for her eventually but… not so soon. Not while she was like this.
"Mind if I sit down for a minute?" Momo notes how strange Usagiyama's tone is. Like she isn't sure what she's supposed to do. She knew the girl to be a lot of things, but comforting didn't seem to fit.
"Well, I -"
"I think you did pretty damn good today!"
The raven-haired girl is taken aback by the sudden outburst, so much so that her tears stop flowing.
Rumi swore under her breath, realizing how weird that must've been. So she tried again.
"I didn't mean to, - I mean I - you know what, fuck it. I'm clearly not good at this whole 'talking' thing." Rumi says, frustrated with herself. She's met with confused silence. "How Pretty Boy does it is beyond me. But what I want to say is that you did pretty damn good today."
"But I -"
Rumi pushes her hand onto Momo's mouth, unintentionally squishing the girl's face. "Nope! No buts! You kicked ass out there. Sure, you lost to Anti-Grav, but even that Baka-go lost there. Ain't no shame in losing to her. Here, I know how you feel. Really I do. I was pissed I didn't get into the tournament at all. But cryin' about it wasn't gonna solve anything."
"So what did you do?"
"Go complain to Pretty Boy about it." Rumi says without shame. "And you know what he said to me? The same shit I'll say to you. 'None of this matters. You failed, so what? Try again, fail again. Fail better next time.' I'll admit, it took me a bit to understand what he meant, but I know it applies here in some way."
"I… think I know what that means."
"Good, you're already a way quicker learner than me." Momo snorts at that. "Hey look, you're doing better already."
"Heh, yeah…" Then Momo goes quiet and wipes the dried tears from her face and sniffles one last time. Then she looks at her, really looking at her. "Thank you."
"Don't mention it." Rumi says. "Now get up and go back to the stands before the rest of those bleeding hearts come down here looking for you." She stands up first and offers Momo a hand, one which she takes easily. "Geez, you really are heavier than you look."
Momo's cheeks go red. "It's because of my quirk."
"Yeah, yeah. I know. I'm just kidding."
With that, Momo leaves but not before thanking Usagiyama again. When the girl disappears around the corner, another voice speaks out and makes Rumi jump.
"I didn't think you were listening to me, honestly." Comes a low, smooth drawl.
Rumi doesn't need to turn around to know who it is. "Shouldn't you be in bed?"
Ryoya shrugs when she finally looks at him. He still has bandages on his arms and a small one under his eye and his new windbreaker is on his shoulders rather than on him. "A friend of mine was in need. But it looks like my worries were for nothing."
"Your worries?" Rumi asked suspiciously. "You knew she would get like this?"
Ryoya doesn't respond immediately but he does walk up to her and she's reminded of just how much taller he is than her, if she can indeed ever forget. "Thanks."
"For what?"
"...being her friend." Ryoya says with a small smile. "Mo-chan has…" He pauses, unsure of how to continue. "She has some issues with making friends. So I'm glad you're different."
"You're not making sense, dude. She has a lot of friends, right? How am I different?"
He sighs. "When you look at her, what do you see?"
The question catches Rumi off guard, so she says the first thing that comes to mind. "She's cute and cool, but in a badass way. Just like Anti-Grav. She's polite and stuff, like one of those Disney princesses."
"That's it?"
"There's more?"
"See? That's what I mean. Everyone always sees her for her body, or her money or her quirk. She's pretty self-conscious about it all, you know?"
"So what if she's got a great body?" Rumi says without thinking only for her eyes to go wide. "I mean -"
Ryoya snorts. "I know what you mean. It's just… it's hard for people to not be shallow, ya know? So yeah. Thanks for being her friend for no other reason than wanting to be a friend." He says lightly before reaching over and patting her head, right between the ears.
Rumi wants to protest, but his hand feels like a crown of warmth on her head. It's so comforting that it takes every bit of willpower Rumi's ever had to not melt right there. "You're such a softie, I swear." She says, but there's no bite in her words.
"Only for a few. Thank you again, Rumi." Ryoya concedes. Then he stops patting her head.
"Don't mention it… WAIT! You said my name!"
"That I did."
Rumi ducks her chin into her chest in an attempt to hide her grin. Her tail wiggles. "Say it again."
"... see you later, Bunny-san."
"Jackass!"
"The entirety of Japan has been waiting for this moment, ladies and gentlemen!" When Mic got the memo from the Principal to really sell this fight, he hit the ground running. He had no idea what Nezu was planning, he never did, but he was never one to look a gift horse in the mouth. "It's time for the clash we've all been wanting to see! These two have stolen the show in every event! Raised the bar higher and higher! With nothing with grit, determination and skill! For the 80,000 people in attendance, and the millions watching at home, let's get ready for a clash of the titans!"
Aizawa himself even felt the sheer electricity in the air. Mic's words even got him a bit excited, though he'd kill a man before he admitted that out loud.
"The green man of magnets himself! The student who's been at the top of the world all day! Give it up for Izuku Midoriya of the Hero Course! And his opponent, the student who brings the fire and flames! The destructive St. Elmo's fire himself! Ryoya Harushi of General Education!"
The crowd goes wild, so much so that it feels like the building is shaking.
"It's finally time, Izuku." Ryoya says plainly. Then he smirks. "Are you ready?"
"Born ready."
"Midnight-sensei, before we start, can I make a request?"
"What's that, Harushi?"
He walks up to her and gives her a piece of paper. She reads it and then looks between the two. "Are you sure about this?"
"Yes, we are."
"Alright! This fight will be a bit different today folks! Both fighters have requested to use their dojo's ruleset for this!"
"What does that mean!?"
"No out of bounds! Anything goes! The fight continues until the other is unable to continue or condeeds!"
"That's irrational, Midnight."
"Well deal with it because he's my favorite student!" Midnight says with a smug smile. "Are you both ready!?"
Izuku and Ryoya stare each other down, both assuming the Shotokan stance. They were a perfect mirror; standing slightly sideways, legs perfectly spread apart, one fist low to protect the midsection and the other high, to guard the chin. Like always, they both bounced lightly in place on the balls of their feet ready to move at a moment's notice.
"START!"
A/N: Hey everyone, not dead. I know it may seem like I've slowed down on updates, and that's only kinda true. I have started a second fic on AO3 called MIGHT+ U. It's a partial comedy about Izuku being a quirkless detective, training under Sir Nighteye. So if you're interested, give it a look. And next chapter is it, finally. Izuku vs Ryoya. It's gonna be really fun.
I can be found in Jade's Discord: / pkmgFzUkBu
Monster King: Thanks!
NinjaFang1331: Thank you.
Ryuujin96: Thank you. And yeah, the final fights will be crazy. I'm glad you enjoyed Ryo vs Shouto, that's a fight I've been building up since they got to UA. I'm glad it hit good.
Solbandgus: Had to get that one canon point in there. Also yeah, I imagine a max speed kick from Iida's metal legs would break quite a few bones.
Acosta Perez Jose Ramiro: Yep. When the Discord started talking about, we all came to realize that Ryo's at the disadvantage here. He is more skilled, but Shouto being able to spam ice was going to be an issue, hence why he almost lost there. And yeah, about time Katsuki got hit with the character development bat. Now let's see if it makes him better or worse.
Chronolocked: That would be memes, wouldn't it?