Unbreakable

by himiko senpai

Izuku grew up thinking he was Quirkless, and gaining One For All should've been his first time acquiring a Quirk. It wasn't. With strange abilities popping up left and right, it forced him to realize that someone like him... he wasn't born with the Quirks he possessed—he was created with them. Eventual OP!Izuku, MultiQuirk!Izuku.

8. Fierce Competition

Izuku Midoriya gazed at the man beside him.

"Sensei, what's your goal?"

The faceless man "looked" at him. While he didn't have any visible features, Izuku could still feel the man's gaze upon him. It was a hard concept to explain—something about a rare perception Quirk that was better than seeing, and Izuku still didn't know the full picture.

"What do you mean, Izuku?"

Izuku thought to himself for a bit. A meal with sensei was rare, and he wanted to make the most of it. "I guess just, I don't know, why are you doing all of this?" Izuku gestured at everything around him.

"Hmmmm." His sensei hummed, stroking his chin. "It has been a while since I've divulged my plans to anyone."

"You can trust in me!" Izuku reassured him, thumping his chest with a small fist. "I promise I won't tell anyone."

The faceless man laughed heartily. "Okay, okay. Well, let's just start with how I view this world."

Izuku leaned in, enraptured by what he said.

"The world ought to be ruled by the strong," his sensei said, lifting two fingers. "There are two different ways to interpret this statement, Izuku. One way is this: if the world is ruled by the strong, then it is in a constant state of competition. People fighting to assert their dominance, fighting to indicate their superiority, fighting to show that they are strong. This is a world of constant violence and strife. Those on top dictate how those underneath them live."

He put down a finger. "This is not how I want the world to end up."

"Then how do you want the world to end up, sensei?"

His sensei's mouth morphed into a broad smile.

"Absolute control."

The two words reverberated in the room, echoing off of its blank walls.

"'The world ought to be ruled by the strong,'" he quoted himself. "I believe in this wholeheartedly. But, I also believe that I am the only one who should be strong. I, alone, stand at the top of the mountain, and everyone is equal beneath me. Do you understand?"

Izuku nodded slowly. "Yes, but how would this eliminate the competition for your spot on top of the mountain? What's the difference between the first and second methods of viewing the world?"

"Valid questions," the faceless man acquiesced. "There won't be any competition for the top spot since—well, would you do it? Fight someone you have no hope of beating?"

"I don't know," Izuku said honestly. "Depends on the circumstances."

"I suppose that is true," his sensei admitted. "The process of getting to that point has been a long and arduous one. But, with your generation serving as the prototypes, soon I will have a legion of the strongest fighters the world has ever seen, all moving according to my will. That gets us closer to my goal of being, well, for a lack of a better word, untouchable. And once that happens…"

He sighed grandly. "Silly words like hero or villain won't hold any meaning since everyone is below me equally. There will be no need for violence anymore once I have absolute authority. A world ruled by me, the only strong one… that is the goal I have spent so long reaching towards."

For a brief moment, the man before Izuku looked tired.

"Izuku, will you help me?" his sensei suddenly asked. "Will you help me on my quest?"

"Of course!" Izuku responded instantly, shooting to his feet. "I don't know how much I can help, but I'll do my best! What do you expect from me?"

"Only that you continue to try and master the Quirks that I have given you."

"Okay, that's a promise, then!" Izuku giggled happily. "I'll try my best to exceed your expectations."

"Thank you, Izuku. Truly."

---

Unbreakable

Fierce Competition

---

"So what if I kill them?"

A thick silence enveloped the room. Toshinori stared, slack-jawed, at his protege.

"I know that it's a terrible thing to say," Izuku continued, "and a part of me is terrified that I can even say such a thing. But… there's a part of me that… that wholeheartedly believes in the words that I just uttered."

He clawed at his face, hand obscuring one eye. "I don't know why there's two sides of me here, or why they're so split on the issue. I… don't know, Toshinori. Please, help me. Tell me what's right or wrong."

Toshinori's face morphed into one of steely resolve. "Young man, there is no right or wrong answer here. All I can tell you is that we, as heroes, have to take the moral high ground. We have to try to take villains back alive…"

He took one look at Izuku's distraught face and quickly amended, "… but there are times when it's simply not possible to take them alive."

Toshinori nearly breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Izuku's face visibly brighten up. What Izuku said was, for a lack of a better term, pretty fucking terrifying. Toshinori could see the influence of All For One's twisted training as clear as day here, and he wanted to steer clear of the topic as quickly as possible. But, he had a duty to make sure Izuku got the message.

"Izuku, I want to be honest with you," Toshinori quietly said. "My time as the number one hero is running out. Even now, I can barely keep up this buff form"—he flexed his muscles—"just for appearances, and I don't know how long I'll even last in a proper fight. I can maybe last for thirty minutes max, but after that, I become my true form: a Quirkless nobody."

Izuku opened his mouth to object, but Toshinori cut him off with a sharp look. "For as long as I can keep this facade up, I will, but soon enough, the world will know that the Symbol of Peace is no more."

Toshinori sighed, and with a pop! he returned to his normal, unmuscular form. Izuku had never seen Toshinori—All Might—look so frail before.

"But they need not worry," Toshinori smiled. "For there is a new Symbol of Peace sitting before me ready to replace me when the time calls for it."

For some reason, Izuku's vision was suddenly swimming with tears. As he wiped his traitorous eyes with the back of his hand, Toshinori continued, "It doesn't have to be today. It doesn't have to be tomorrow. But, when you're ready, I want you to stand proudly and declare—"

Toshinori puffed up into his buff form and roared:

"I AM HERE!"

Then he coughed up blood and quickly reverted back to his normal form. He dabbed at the corners of his mouth with a handkerchief and said, "But, Izuku, the Symbol of Peace does not kill. The Symbol of Peace is strong enough to save everyone without a single casualty for either side—that is the ideal that we must strive for. Of course it's an ideal and not the reality, but it is something we strive to achieve nonetheless. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes," Izuku said. "It's the ideal that comes with being the Symbol of Peace."

"Correct." Toshinori gravely looked at Izuku. "With our tremendous power, it is too easy to kill. To steal the words of an old American superhero, with our strength, it's like we're living in a world of cardboard. The greatest problem for you and me is not defeating the villain, but rather, it is controlling our own power to not cause any more unnecessary devastation. Such is the life a hero walks."

Izuku nodded.

"But, of course, there are times where we must go all out, when the threat is just too great. I pray that there are no more villains out there who can force your hand like that, but—" Toshinori paused, coming to a stark realization. He remained silent for four, five seconds before shaking his head. "I've gone on for too long. You seem to understand the gist of what I'm saying, so I'll end on this: the sports festival."

"What about it?" For a scary second, Izuku thought that Toshinori was going to ban his participation.

"Show me that you can control One For All," Toshinori said simply. "Causing the deaths of villains attacking you is one thing, but accidentally killing a classmate is another thing entirely. I will be closely monitoring you during the classes leading up to the festival and the events of the festival. If you show any slippage of control, I will promptly remove you from the events, just to be safe."

Izuku blanched at the mere thought of accidentally killing a classmate, but he couldn't even be hurt by Toshinori's implication—he didn't exactly have the best track record to go off of, so he was glad that he was actually allowed to participate. For the sake of his own sanity, he was pushing the more pressing matter at hand deep into his subconscious; he couldn't handle the two warring sides of his mind right now. He didn't want to have a breakdown in front of Toshinori.

"Understood," was all he had to say.

Toshinori breathed out a sigh of relief. "This goes without saying, but if you're able to control your power, I expect you to place first."

Izuku nodded. "Of course, Toshinori. I promise that, not only will I control my power, I will also place first in the sports festival."

"Okay, good." A light lit up in Toshinori's eyes, as if he had just remembered something important. "Izuku. Remember: we must strive for that ideal. The power of One For All—it's the power to save."

That seemed to be all he had to say on the matter, and soon after, Izuku left.

His talk with Toshinori was by no means bad, but Izuku knew he had to look elsewhere to get closure.

.:.

Himiko sat at her desk, half-seriously going through and doing her homework, when a text message alert popped up on her phone. The special ping told her who it was immediately, and she quickly opened the app.

Izuku: Himiko, I need to talk to you. It's important.

Himiko: ofc izu

Himiko: where do u wanna meet

Himiko: i come to u?

Izuku: Yeah, that would be nice.

That was all he needed to say. Throwing on a skirt and a jacket haphazardly, she all but ran out of her dorm and to Izuku's, already spying the strands of darkness that was her ride up to his dorm lying on the ground.

She got on top of them, feeling them curl securely around her waist, and tugged on them, being hoisted up into the air and carefully transported up and through his open window. As she landed, she rushed to give Izuku a glomp like she always did—until she saw his face.

"Izuku," Himiko said, immediately worried, "what's wrong?"

Izuku didn't say anything initially, so Himiko stepped closer to him. He was standing as still as a statue in the center of his room, and the only acknowledgement she got was him stiffening as she got closer.

She tentatively took his hand into hers and repeated her earlier question: "What's wrong?"

Izuku took a deep, shaky breath, and he finally spoke. "I-I had a meeting with All Might earlier today."

He seemed to be having difficulty forming his words, so Himiko waited patiently for him to continue, stroking his hand with her eyes immediately traveled to their matching black and green bracelets. They complemented each other perfectly.

"He told me… he told me—"

Izuku shut his eyes. "He told me that I killed fifteen people on the day of the U.S.J. And… and I—"

Himiko remained silent since it seemed like Izuku had more to say.

"I don't know, Himiko. There's two spots waging a war within me. Part of me feels horrified by what I've done, like how could I possibly do such a thing? But there's an even bigger part saying—"

He opened his eyes to look directly into her own.

"Saying that they got what they deserved."

Defeated, he swayed back and forth, ultimately stumbling and falling onto his bed. Himiko joined him, lying down next to him, hands still firmly clasped together.

"I think I just need someone to tell me what's right and what's wrong," he mumbled, staring up at the ceiling. "I tried to get All Might to give me an answer, but he didn't give me one."

He turned his head and looked at Himiko. His eyes looked utterly broken. "Please, Himiko. Tell me."

Himiko studied Izuku carefully. She could tell that this was a critical point for the young man; she could utterly break him here if she so chose, but of course she'd never do something like that. Instead, she was quite elated. Elated that he trusted her enough to go to her for such an important, monumental moment in his life. Him surrendering judgement of the matter to her meant that he was looking toward her for guidance. This was… pretty fucking important, no?

The fact that he trusts me this much, Himiko thought, is too much. Really, it's too much for my poor heart.

Oh, how utterly delicious it was to have Izuku's trust like this.

In her silence, Izuku screwed his eyes shut and said, "Please tell me you don't hate me now."

"Izu," she whispered, moving to kiss him once on each eye. "You realize that none of this changes how I feel about you, right? You could be the worst villain in history, and I would still love you. Do I make myself clear?"

"Himiko, I—"

"Ah, ah, ah, no talking until I've finished." Himiko placed a finger on his lips. "I love you. Nothing changes that. You can kill everyone on this planet and I would still love you. That's how unconditional my love is."

You could murder fifteen kids right before my eyes and I would still love you.

You could burn down this entire city and I would still love you.

You could spit on the graves of my ancestors and I would still love you.

You could cheat on me with that Yaoyoro-bitch and I would still love you.

You could hurt me, violate me, and I would still love you.

You could—

"Himiko, I don't think that's healthy—"

Her next words shut him up, though. "And, due to that, so what if you killed a few people?"

Izuku's words caught in his throat.

"They attacked you first, yeah?" Himiko breathed, voice soft. Her hand clenched his. "Unforgivable. That is entirely unforgivable. Why should you feel bad about defending yourself to the best of your capability?"

"I didn't, though," Izuku answered. "I… I remember hunting them down just to get my mind off of something—"

"The way I see it," Himiko said curtly, "the moment they appeared opposing you, they forfeited their lives. The right thing to do in that situation is to kill them. Sparing them is a mercy, Izuku."

Izuku remained silent, processing her words.

"Violence begets violence," Himiko sighed. "That's why this world… if we can have a world that has no need for violence, that'd be great. But for those who get in your way—"

"Stomp them into the dirt without any mercy."

Himiko's words hung in the air. Izuku stared at her with wide eyes. For a moment, she thought she might have crossed a line, but Izuku grew a small smile and alleviated her worries.

"So…" Izuku ventured forth uncertainly, "they got what they deserved?"

"Not only did they get what they deserved, but you were actually merciful to those you let live." Himiko asserted.

Izuku seemed to take her words into consideration. He visibly relaxed, as if some part of him was put to ease by her words.

"Himiko, I want to tell you something."

"Anything, Izu."

He looked her in the eye seriously. "You have to swear that you won't tell anyone, though."

"I swear." Himiko smiled brilliantly at him.

The words she heard next—

"All Might passed along his Quirk to me. I am the inheritor of One For All, and he wants me to become the next Symbol of Peace."

—shook her to her very core.

The world became white noise.

Izuku continued speaking, but his words fell on deaf ears. Himiko saw nothing, heard nothing; she was in so much shock that, had it not been for the fact that Himiko was already lying down, she would have collapsed, because… because…

He had been searching for two things: one, Izuku Midoriya, his greatest creation, and two, the Quirk that he created but lost so long ago, One For All. The Quirk that All Might was supposed to have. Himiko was supposed to keep an eye on both Izuku and All Might, see if All Might had chosen a successor already, but to think it had been right before her all this time—

All she knew was this: All For One's favorite piece of work, Izuku Midoriya, just became infinitely more valuable. He was already high priority before, but with this information, he would become their sensei's single most coveted object in the world. She…

She didn't know what to do with this information.

Should she tell him? But… Izuku made her promise that she wouldn't tell anyone, no?

What to do, what to do?

"Himiko?" Izuku asked, eyes wide.

"Uhm, sorry, I was just so… astounded to hear what you said that I didn't catch what you said," Himiko quickly covered up.

"Yeah, it can be a lot," Izuku acquiesced, not pressing her any further. "I was just saying that… I think my path is clear now."

Himiko, genuinely curious, asked, "Oh? How is that?"

"Me inheriting One For All," Izuku started, looking at her with determination, "if I am to become the next Symbol of Peace, then I have to be strong enough to win without killing anyone. That's what All Might told me. And, as you said, not killing them is a mercy. So that's… that's what I'll shoot for."

He smiled at her.

"But, if it proves too difficult or impossible, if the ones that I care about or love are threatened…"

His eyes flashed.

"Then I will not hesitate to kill."

Himiko grinned back at him, pressing a small kiss to the corner of his mouth. Stunned by her action, he smiled sheepishly.

"Thank you, Himiko," Izuku said gratefully. "This was eating away at me all day. But you've definitely helped me figure things out. I'm just so… thankful that I have you in my life, really. I couldn't imagine what it would've been like if you weren't here."

Izuku's words lit a fire in the pit of her stomach, in her chest, on her face; all of a sudden, Himiko felt hot all over and flushed at Izuku's earnest words. She tried to cover up her sudden embarrassment with a teasing, "Well, let's just say you owe me one. How does that sound?"

"I owe you a lot more than just one," Izuku said simply, causing Himiko to blush even deeper.

"I thought I told you frontal attacks like that weren't fair," Himiko whined. Then, she grew devious. "You're going to have to pay for that, mister~"

"Pay for what—"

He was silenced by Himiko's lips on his.

.:.

Toshinori stared at Izuku during Class 1-A's Quirk training, mulling over a few things to himself.

"You know, Toshinori-kun," a squeaky voice spoke up beside him, "you're also supposed to pay attention to the other students."

Toshinori looked over at Nezu and sighed. The principal didn't often leave his office, so visits like these were uncommon at best, and he just so happened to catch Toshinori slipping. "My apologies, Principal Nezu. It's just—I've been thinking."

"About what?"

"About young Izuku's Quirks—"

A sharp look from Nezu shut him up immediately. "It seems that this is a conversation best had in the privacy of my office Either that, or I'm the wrong person that you're talking to."

Toshinori nodded. "I'll go seek him out, then."

Watching as Nezu waved him off, Toshinori approached Izuku, where the boy was currently climbing a tall wall while at fifty percent as part of Quirk training. He noticed Toshinori approaching, turning and giving a wave with a wide smile. He leapt off the wall, almost floating down, landing with cat-like grace.

"Izuku," Toshinori greeted, "are you alone?"

The boy nodded. "Yaoyorozu went off with Bakugo and Uraraka to test something, so it's just me right here for now. Why?"

Toshinori leaned down to the shorter boy and whispered, "I wanted to discuss your Quirks. Specifically, One For All and Chrono Force."

Izuku nodded. "What about them?"

"Well," Toshinori started, "you've been using them together since the very beginning, right? In order to control One For All, you've been using Chrono Force in tandem with it, correct?"

"Yeah, I have," Izuku responded. "I've been 'freezing' the parts of my body that I use One For All at one hundred percent. It's the only way that I can manage its full power without destroying myself."

Toshinori hummed thoughtfully. "Izuku, can I have you run a test for me? It may involve breaking your arm, so if you're against it—"

"Breaking my arm is nothing," Izuku quickly dismissed, shooting his mentor a grin. "After all, I could reconstruct it with Chrono Force."

"That's the spirit!" Toshinori said, but then, he realized just exactly what Izuku had uttered. "Umm, that is to say, we should avoid breaking our limbs when possible. You never know when Chrono Force can give up on you."

Izuku nodded, but Toshinori doubted that he got the message.

"Okay, is this climbing wall empty?" As soon as he said that, Izuku blurred, quickly running a lap around the structure.

"Yep," he said as he reappeared by Toshinori's side a few seconds later.

"Okay, here's what I want you to do." Toshinori began to outline his plan. "Punch this wall at one hundred percent with Chrono Force activated. Then, we'll see where to go from there."

Izuku blinked. "You want me to… punch this wall?"

Toshinori nodded. "You've checked to make sure no one was on it, correct?"

"Well, yea, but—"

"And no one is near it, correct?"

"Yes."

Toshinori nodded. "Then what are you waiting for?"

Izuku shrugged. "You're right."

He stared at the wall before him. It was a roughly fifty feet tall cubic structure of solid concrete. Gathering one hundred percent of One For All within his right arm and stabilizing it with Chrono Force, he shot forth and landed a straight punch into the solid wall. A massive CRACK echoed throughout the training grounds, and a gigantic crater etched itself into the surface of the rock wall where his fist met the wall.

Toshinori whistled. "Not bad. How do you feel after that?"

"It hurts whenever I use it, but it's all mental anyways, so I can deal with it," Izuku dismissed. "Now what should I do?"

"To be safe, we should probably empty out the training grounds. Gimme a sec, just wait here." Toshinori jogged off, presumably to tell everyone to evacuate the premises.

After a while, Izuku spotted Toshinori's form jogging back towards him. He was still in muscled form, but when he reached Izuku, no longer having to keep up appearances, he returned to his skinnier form.

"Alright, I bought us five minutes max. Everyone's itching to train for the sports festival," Toshinori chuckled. "Now, I want you to punch this wall with all of your power, but I don't want you to use Chrono Force. You will most definitely break your arm if you go one hundred percent and don't use Chrono Force, so if you don't want to do it, this is the time to back out."

"No, I'll do it," Izuku said, determined. "It's just… wouldn't the results be the same?"

"I wonder about that…" Toshinori murmured. "Just give it a shot."

Izuku turned towards the climbing wall. He moved to a new section of the wall that wasn't already decimated by his previous attack and began to prepare himself. Channeling one hundred percent of One For All into his right arm but without Chrono Force this time, he reached back and propelled his fist forth, smashing into the side of the rock wall. And then—

The first thing he felt was the wind. A massive shockwave grew from the spot that his fist connected with the wall, causing the concrete to splinter like insignificant twigs. The next thing he felt was the sensation of the wall disintegrating before his fist, rippling outward as chunks broke off and scattered to the sides, blasting backwards as the raw force of the blow traveled to the back end of the wall.

The last and final thing he felt, of course, was the sharp pain. This pain was not mental—it was real, and it hurt like hell. He looked down at his ruined hand, wrist completely shattered. Cursing softly to himself, Izuku quickly visualized reconstructing his broken hand. As he felt the bones mending and muscles reforming, Izuku nearly fell to his knees; the pain while reconstructing was somehow magnified by what seemed like tenfold.

But soon, after a few agonising minutes, it was over—Izuku let out a slow, labored sigh of relief. He noticed Toshinori watching him, worried, and shakily flashed him a thumbs up.

"Are you sure you're all good?"

"Yes," Izuku said, straightening up. "Reconstructing body parts… it makes you experience it again, but worse. But I'm alright now."

Toshinori looked like he wanted to say something else, but he just ended up shaking his head. "Well, anyways… just look. Do you see why I had this place emptied?"

Izuku finally gazed upon the climbing wall. While he was focusing on reconstructing his arm, he'd been in too much pain to pay attention to the… sheer destruction that he had caused. The climbing wall, or the remains of it, were scattered before him, the once tall structure now just a pile of rubble. For as far as his eye could see, debris from the wreckage laid scattered on the ground.

"It seems that there is a tradeoff being made here," Toshinori observed. "By using Chrono Force, you are protecting yourself, but you are also limiting One For All's potential output. My theory is this: One For All activates by strengthening the muscles with the stockpiled power, but Chrono Force essentially freezes the muscles to prevent them from being injured, no?"

Izuku nodded, seeing what Toshinori was getting at. "Basically, Chrono Force limits One For All's power output, and so, one hundred percent with Chrono Force activated is less powerful than one hundred percent without Chrono Force."

"That's what I think is going on here." Toshinori said.

Izuku looked up at Toshinori, back to the utterly devastated climbing wall, and finally returned his gaze to his teacher. "I can feel a definite difference in power between the two. But… is this how you always feel, Toshinori?"

"What do you mean?"

"Being able to do this," Izuku gestured at the wreckage, "at will, on demand, as many times as necessary."

Toshinori remained silent for a moment, looking out at the ruined wall with Izuku. "As I said before, Izuku, world of cardboard."

Izuku nodded, eyes obscured by a curtain of hair. "So… this is the true might of One For All?"

"No," Toshinori said. "The power is continuously stockpiling. It will be far beyond this even just a year from now. I just wanted you to understand the differences in your power output, so you can see which one will be best to use in the sports festival. Obviously, against your classmates… pure one hundred percent is too much. Even a limited one hundred percent may be too much."

The two stood in silence for a moment.

"Toshinori," Izuku spoke up suddenly, eyes blazing, "I swear that I will master this power."

"I did not doubt that for a moment."

.:.

"How fucking annoying could you extras get?" Katsuki raged, cursing at the crowd gathered outside of their classroom.

It was the Wednesday before the sports festival, and he was raring to go get some extra workouts in with his Quirk. However, these utter nobodies were blocking his damn way!

"They're just scouting the competition," Eijiro commented blandly. "Ignore them."

"I don't blame them for wanting to scout us," Ochaco said. "They're mostly the general course students, right? I heard if they do really well in the sports festival they can join the heroics course."

"Is that true, Iida?" Mina asked, overhearing the conversation.

Tenya nodded. "It has happened before in the past. Although it doesn't look like there are just general course students here." His gaze fell upon a blonde man that he knew had a grudge against 1-A: Neito Monoma. Oh, God.

"They don't seem that tough to me," Neito loudly declared, earning his fair share of disgruntled glares from Class 1-A.

Katsuki reeled at the perceived insult. "You shitter, we'll see if you can say the same—"

"Yeah, yeah," Neito dismissed. "By the way, where's that so-called monster you guys got? The one that they call Midoriya?"

At the word Midoriya, the surroundings erupted.

"Izuku Midoriya? Isn't it true that he destroyed the climbing wall the other day?"

"Yeah, I saw that. The thing was wrecked, man. Apparently he did that with one punch."

"Really? I heard it was the flick of a finger."

"Oh man, I really don't want to go up against him."

Neito's comment got a reaction from Class 1-A. Immediately, some felt outraged that he would dare call Izuku a monster, but a few of them agreed with him in their hearts. They'd seen what he could do.

Before Katsuki could blow up in Neito's face, a surprising voice joined the fray.

"Monoma." Momo Yaoyorozu walked up to him and stood directly in front of him. Even though her voice wasn't that loud, her frigid tone instantly caused their surroundings to quiet. Momo had that certain aura about her; the young woman, at that moment, exuded authority. "I will not tolerate such nonsense, doubly so when it is spoken about my classmate. So, may I kindly suggest that you either stop speaking or simply leave?"

A stunned silence formed in the aftermath of her words. Even Neito looked caught off guard.

"Both would be preferable, actually," Momo said, smiling. The smile did not reach her eyes.

"A-And who are you to demand that of me?" Neito grinned to cover up for his previous slip. "What happens if I don't do either?"

"I won't do anything," Momo reassured him, still smiling mirthlessly. "Bakugo, on the other hand…"

They both turned to look at a barely restrained Katsuki, who had periodic, small blasts erupting from his open palms. He was being held back by Denki and Eijiro, both looking like they were straining themselves with the effort.

"H-Hah, if you think that a simple brute is enough to—"

"What's going on here?"

Neito instantly whipped around to find himself face-to-face with Izuku Midoriya. The onlookers had parted before the green-haired boy, silently shuffling to give him space.

Neito wanted to spout his usual vitriol, but something within him instinctively cowed at Izuku's presence.

A bit unnerved by Neito's and, by extension, the surrounding silence, Izuku slipped through between Neito and the door to find Momo looking ice-cold and Katsuki being restrained by two of his friends.

He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. Everyone seemed tense, and he had a bit of an inkling why—he wasn't an idiot, he knew Neito was probably harassing 1-A—but this silence was truly disconcerting. "Why is everyone so silent?"

Like a popping balloon, the sudden words from Katsuki made him jump in surprise. "This bastard called you a monster, Deku, and I was trying"—at this, he glared at the two people holding him back—"to make him eat his words."

"Oh."

He turned to look at Neito, who didn't say anything.

"Did you say something like that?" Izuku asked, tone neutral.

"I did," Neito said quickly, "but I meant it as a compliment, you see? A-As in, like, you're monstrously strong."

"Alright," Izuku dismissed, despite Katsuki's spluttering protests. "I don't particularly mind either way. But if you guys are disturbing my classmates, can I ask you all to quickly leave?"

Neito instantly took the offer and left. He saw Katsuki shut his mouth and grind his teeth together. The situation had been… defused? At least that's what it looked liked. As he walked back to his seat and the crowd outside dispersed, Tenya walked up to him and asked, "Where were you, Midoriya?"

Quite a few people were listening to their conversation, and Izuku sighed. "Talking with Aizawa. Apparently, I have to give a speech to open up the sports festival."

Katsuki, having shaken free of Denki and Eijiro, grumpily said, "You don't sound the most excited. And, Deku… you should've let me slug him."

"What, and have you banned from participating in the sports festival?" Izuku countered, looking at the fiery boy. "Didn't we make a promise, Kacchan?"

The nickname caused a fair share of giggles to erupt from their classmates. Katsuki's face instantly turned red, and Izuku gave him an apologetic glance. "Sorry, Bakugo, it slips out."

"No, no," Mina giggled, finding great humor in this situation, "it's so cute. Kacchan, can I call you that, too?"

"Don't fucking push your luck, Pinky."

"Wait, I'm curious," Eijiro spoke up. "What was this promise that you made?"

Izuku remained silent, handing control of the conversation's flow over to Katsuki. The blonde glowered at Eijiro, but answered his question regardless. "A fight."

"Dude… that's kinda really manly."

"Boys," Mina groaned.

.:.

"Midoriya."

Izuku looked up from his breakfast and the sheet of paper that he had spent the last few days studying. It was the day of the sports festival, but he didn't expect anyone else to be up this early. But, evidently, some people also wanted to get up early to prepare for the day ahead of them.

"Good morning, Todoroki," Izuku greeted, giving the heterochromatic boy a nod.

He looked down at the piece of paper in Izuku's hand. "What is that?"

"The speech that I have to give," Izuku answered. He sighed. After spending all of Thursday and Friday agonizing over it, he felt as if he could recite it forwards and backwards by now. It was far out of his comfort zone, but he wanted to leave an impact with his speech.

Shoto nodded, staring down at his feet for a moment. Then, he raised his gaze and looked right into Izuku's eyes. "Midoriya. I have something to tell you."

"Go ahead, Todoroki," Izuku said kindly. "I'm listening."

"When I end up fighting you in the tournament," Shoto started, "I will use everything that I have, including this." He held up his left hand, and fire erupted from his palm. "This fire that I inherited from my shitty father."

It was the first time Izuku had ever heard Shoto speak with so much venom in his tone, and it was also the first time he had heard the mild-mannered boy curse.

"He will be watching, and seeing me use fire will no doubt delight him," Shoto grumbled. "It's unfortunate, but I always told myself that I shouldn't hesitate to use it if it's necessary. And, against you, it is necessary."

Izuku blinked, unsure how to respond. This was the second declaration of war that he had received regarding the sports festival. "Um… thanks?"

"There's no need for that," Shoto said, letting loose a rare smile. "I just wanted to convey my own feelings regarding the matter and give you a warning. I'm sure you understand what it's like to hold back out of fear of hurting someone. Against you, I will not be holding back. That's the bare minimum that I have to do to avoid being instantly wiped out by you. So, please…"

Shoto looked truly apologetic. "Don't hate me if I end up hurting you."

"I won't, Todoroki," Izuku reassured him, "but don't be afraid to go all out. I can handle it, I promise."

Shoto chuckled, another rarity from him, but he looked unsure, as if he didn't truly believe in his words. "We'll see about that." With a quick bow and a wave, Shoto left the dining room.

As Shoto left, Izuku bit back a sigh. He felt slightly guilty. He encouraged both Katsuki and Shoto to go all out, but he…

"If you're asking for a fight where I hold nothing back, then that's what you'll get."

He'd said that to Katsuki, and he truly meant it at the time. But, after that eye opening training session with Toshinori where he decimated a concrete wall that was fifty cubic feet in size, he knew that if he went all out with One For All, he'd be putting the lives of his friends in serious danger.

He remembered the feeling of the solid rock disintegrating underneath his knuckles. What if that had been a human face that he had punched? That would make the aftermath of the U.S.J. look like an E rated video game in comparison. All the time, he'd been limiting himself by using Chrono Force with One For All. He didn't even know if his Chono Force-limited one hundred percent was safe to use, either.

But, regardless of what he had said prior to Katsuki, Izuku knew what he had to do.

"Sorry guys," Izuku whispered, "for the sake of your safety, I'm going to have to hold back."

.:.

In a bar somewhere, Tomura sat with a bag of popcorn in his hand. He gestured towards Kurogiri and the dark-haired man next to him.

"Come, come," Tomura said, "it's about to start!"

The dark-haired man took a seat, sighing deeply. His piercings glinted in the faint light given off by the monitors. "Remind me again why we're watching this?"

"To watch our senpai and his performance in the sports festival!" Tomura said almost gleefully.

At this, the man groaned. "It's kind of odd to call a boy younger than us senpai."

"Well, he technically is," Kurogiri noted.

A pause.

"You're not wrong."

Tomura shushed them, "It's about to start! I wonder who will be giving the opening speech…"

The man stood up. "Look, I really have no interest in his performance. If he's even half as strong as sensei says he is, he'll probably wipe the floor with the competition. So, if you don't mind, I'll be heading out—"

"Actually, I hear Endeavor's youngest son will be participating," Tomura casually threw out.

"… I'm watching this," the man said, sitting back down.

Under his breath, he murmured, "Shoto, huh…"

.:.

Before Izuku knew what was happening, the first year classes were all gathered inside a stadium on U.A.'s campus.

The stadium was overloaded, each and every seat filled with someone. The clamour of the audience was only outmatched by Present Mic's bombastic voice as he introduced the sports festival and all the classes that were participating.

Aside from hero courses 1-A and 1-B, students from general courses 1-C, 1-D, and 1-E, support courses 1-F, 1-G, 1-H, and even the business courses 1-I, 1-J, and 1-K were all here. As he heard Present Mic announce the general courses, Izuku instantly tuned in. If Class 1-C was here, then that meant Himiko was as well.

When Present Mic went on to introduce the referee, Midnight, Izuku found himself searching the crowd of people gathered in their tracksuits for Himiko. Soon, he spotted her, standing a bit away from what was probably her class. And she—she was already staring at him.

He waved at her, earning a smile. Himiko blew a kiss at him, and Izuku turned red, still not exactly comfortable with the public display of affection. Still, nevertheless, he pointed at his wrist, showing off the bracelet that they had gotten together for one of Himiko's birthdays. To his delight, she repeated the same gesture, pointing at her own wrist which wore the matching pair.

"Quiet, everyone!" Midnight demanded in an authoritative tone, causing the surrounding din to instantly silence. He spotted a few of his classmates, namely Denki and Minoru, staring at Midnight with flushed faces and greedy eyes, although he couldn't exactly blame them. Midnight's hero costume… left very little to the imagination.

"Representing the students," Midnight said, "is Izuku Midoriya from Class 1-A!"

Ah, well. The time had come. Izuku had looked over his speech so many times in the past few days that he had dreams of the words, but even then, he was slightly nervous. Okay, scratch that—he was so nervous that he thought that he might faint.

This is training, he told himself. All Might had to do live press conferences in front of the whole world. If I'm to become the next Symbol of Peace, then…

He looked up. His classmates all nodded and smiled at him. Momo, in particular, gave him a smile and patted him on the back. "You've got this, Midoriya."

"Thanks," he said, quickly advancing onto the stage without another word. On the way up, he glanced at Himiko, who had an absolutely murderous expression on her face, but when she noticed him looking, the look slipped off of her face and was replaced by a genuine smile. She gave him a thumbs up, mouthing something that he couldn't see at his distance.

It felt like the whole stadium was holding its breath as Izuku made his way onto the stage. Aside from some whispers here and there, there wasn't any noise as he took hold of the mic. To the left of him, Midnight gave him a thumbs up, but there was something guarded in her gaze. Ignoring that sliver of information, Izuku began his speech in earnest.

"Thank you for introducing me, Midnight-sensei," Izuku graciously said. He kept his tone even and his pace slow, but measured. "As she said, I am Izuku Midoriya, and I was chosen to represent the first year students. It is a great honor to have been chosen for this position."

He paused to look out at the crowd. Izuku zeroed in on Himiko, who was staring at him with a big smile on her face. His heart warmed. "At first, when I was asked to open up the sports festival with a speech, I had no idea what to do or say. After thinking about it for a long time, I still had no idea what to say, so I tried to Google a template speech."

To his great relief, that earned some laughter from the crowd. If that joke had flopped, Izuku might have just jumped out of there with a hundred percent, consequences be damned.

"The typical sports festival speech contains two parts: a pledge and a request. The request is typically for students to give their all and try their best, but I know that that's going to happen regardless. So, instead, I have a request for everyone watching."

Izuku took a deep breath. "Pay attention to everyone, not just the people vying for first place. Even if they don't have a flashy Quirk, even if their Quirk is considered to be 'plain'"—here, he threw up some air quotations with his hands—"please, watch them. Acknowledge their fight. It's the only reward we ask for our efforts."

His words stunned quite a few people, especially the students in the general courses. Judging from their shocked reactions, they were not expecting Izuku Midoriya to say those words.

"The next part, the pledge, was much easier to write—for me at least," Izuku said, smiling. "I'm sure that we will all pledge to do our best, so I wanted to share my personal pledge."

He paused, letting anticipation build up for his next words. "In the past few days, I've had two of my friends make a "declaration of war", so to speak, against me. So, I thought that this would be the perfect stage to make my response, my own declaration of war, my own personal pledge. For the sake of my mentor, who believes in me…"

Izuku leveled a stare at Katsuki and Shoto. His next words were spoken with a staggering amount of confidence not usually seen from the boy.

"The obstacle course race, the cavalry battle, the tournament… I will win all of them. I will place first in this sports festival without fail."

A stunned silence was all he got in response.

.:.

Toshinori's jaw dropped along with every other teachers' in their specialty booth.

He expected something like this from perhaps Katsuki, but from Izuku…? The most shocking thing, apart from the usually timid boy actually saying those words in the first place, was the absolute certainty in his voice. If he could tell, he was sure that everyone in the stadium could see it as well. There was no doubt in Izuku's mind that he was going to be placing first.

Could it be? He knew that he told Izuku that he wanted him to declare I AM HERE, but he wasn't expecting it this soon! Though, he supposed, if Izuku's goal was to leave an impression, he certainly did so. First, with his unorthodox request to pay attention to everyone, and then, with his bombshell declaration… he definitely had everyone's attention, now.

He watched as the crowd erupted, all for their various reasons. Surely some of them were cheering for him and his bravado, but an equal amount must have been booing him. All he could say for certain was that Izuku Midoriya made a very big splash in his first public appearance.

But why was he driving himself into a corner like this? Was he the type who performed better under pressure?

All Toshinori could do was watch and hope that Izuku's words rang true.

.:.

As the opening ceremony concluded and all the classes began to shuffle off to the starting point of the obstacle course, Izuku took a quick detour.

He lagged behind everyone else—it wasn't hard, since they were all avoiding him anyways—and when he thought no one was looking, he ducked into a nearby supply closet. As soon as the door clicked shut behind him, he collapsed onto his knees and took a few shaky breaths.

Now you've gone and done it, his inner voice chastised him. They all must hate you now.

The only person to talk to him after he returned from the stage was Katsuki. True to his nature, he had said, "You know what? If they asked me to give a speech, I would've done the same thing."

The rest of his classmates had avoided his gaze, looking at the ground. He didn't know for what reason, though. He had said it as a genuine response to Katsuki and Shoto, and it was his personal pledge. Also, he wanted to make a statement at the sports festival, to show the world that he was there.

Two knocks on the supply closet's door jolted him out of his thoughts. Not waiting for a response, the door opened to reveal Momo Yaoyorozu.

Momo took one look at him and sighed. "I thought I saw you walk in here. Come on, let's go—the event is starting soon," she said gently, stretching out a hand.

Izuku looked at her outstretched fingers. "I think I royally screwed up. I shouldn't have written my speech like that, I shouldn't have said something so provocative, I shouldn't have—"

"The speech? I thought it was perfectly good," Momo said, tilting her head. "First, you ask people to pay attention to those they wouldn't have normally, and then, you give your personal pledge. Nothing wrong with either of those things."

Under her kind and earnest gaze, Izuku wilted. "I feel like I came across as an arrogant asshole."

Momo nodded, biting her lip. "Well, maybe. However, it seemed more like you were stating a simple fact. I think that that's what unnerved everyone the most, Midoriya—the absolute certainty in your voice. But I liked it. It really gets the competitive juices pumping."

Izuku buried his face in his hands, too mortified to look at anything.

After mustering up some courage, Momo gripped his hands with her own and pried them off of his face, forcing him to look at her. "Look, Midoriya. The words have already been spoken. Nothing you do now can change that. Are you just going to sit here and be a no-show to the event, or are you going to show up and prove that your words were justified?"

Izuku blinked rapidly a few times, steeling his resolve. Momo was right—moping about would do nothing to change the situation. The words had already been spoken, and there was nothing he could do now to take them only option that remained was prove his words to be true or become a laughing stock. He had driven himself into a corner for that specific reason.

"The higher the expectations," Izuku said suddenly, "the better I perform." It had been that way during the entrance exam. Toshinori had expected him to place first, and place first he did. He tried to set the bar high again today.

"Well, everyone's expectations of you are sky-high after that speech," Momo said simply. "Are you going to prove your words true, or—"

Izuku squeezed Momo's hands. Momo, instantly realising that she was still holding his hands in hers, turned beet red. But Izuku either didn't notice or didn't care.

"Thank you, Yaoyorozu. I needed that. I was just—the booing really got to me, I don't know. Sometimes it feels like there's two different me's warring for control of my brain, and I guess the meeker side won out just then."

"It's fine. More people were applauding, in my opinion. Now, let's go."

Reluctantly—not reluctantly, she told herself—Momo dragged Izuku to his feet and let go of his hands.

The question she had for him still lingered in the back of her throat, but she shoved it down. Right now, he needed a friend, not someone to interrogate him.

.:.

The first event was an obstacle course race around the stadium. This year's obstacle course was especially tricky, with robots, canyons, and nonlethal minefields littered throughout.

The faculty had spent an immense amount of time designing the obstacle course. It needed to be difficult, but not impossible. Tricky, but not unsolvable. Countless hours were poured into placing each individual trap, the placements of the robots, and the size of the canyons. Some U.A. staff members went without sleep in the final days just making sure that a detail was not out of place.

Now, imagine how they felt when Izuku Midoriya went ahead and gave all of their hard work a figurative middle finger.

As soon as the race started, before anyone even had the chance to react, Izuku exploded off of the starting line, sending a shockwave that actually caused a few nearby people to stumble. As soon as he approached the first layer of obstacles, the giant robots from the entrance exam, he just sped through them without even slowing down. Their movements were too slow to ever dream of catching him. The cameras struggled to even pick him up and follow him.

When Izuku approached the canyons, he simply leapt over them or, if they were too wide, shot strands of some black substance to latch onto the sides and propel himself over. Either way, the canyons did absolutely nothing to halt his progress. The U.A. faculty that worked meticulously on these canyons might have shed a tear or two at the ease in which he had cleared that obstacle.

But the final obstacle, the minefields… instead of slowing down and carefully treading around the mines, the madman just sprinted full speed through it. By the time the mines detonated, he was already ahead of it, so if anything, the mines' explosions were actually propelling him forward.

To simplify the events that had occured, Izuku ended up first place in the obstacle course race. And it wasn't even close. The second and third placers, Katsuki and Shoto, who had pseudo-flown by generating blasts with his palms and surfed a giant wave of ice respectively, had come in a few good minutes after Izuku had finished.

The U.A. Sports Festival was broadcasted to the world. There were people doubting Izuku's ability at the start of the sports festival, even people who laughed at his declaration. But now, after witnessing his performance in the first event, everybody knew. Some people could just feel it in their bones.

They knew that they were witnessing the start of something truly special, something truly extraordinary.

.:.

The next event was the cavalry battle, which unfortunately required a team of people.

Izuku had counted on making quite a few enemies in his class, but he had narrowed down a group of people he knew he could rely on: Tenya, Himiko, and Momo. He spotted Tenya and Momo, but he couldn't find Himiko at all in the group of people that had advanced to the next round.

"The next event will be…" Midnight announced, mainly for the audience, "A CAVALRY BATTLE WITH THE TOP FORTY-TWO!"

She began to explain the rules. "The participants can form teams of two to four people as they wish. It's basically the same as a regular cavalry battle, but the one difference is this."

Midnight brandished her whip and the screen behind her crackled to life. On it, the names of all the students that passed to this next round were displayed along with a point value next to it. Izuku searched for Himiko's name, but he didn't find it anywhere, which meant she must have been eliminated from the sports festival. Well, there went a large portion of his plan.

And, strangely enough, next to his name, where the value of points should have been, there was only a blank spot.

"Based on the student's performance in the first event, each person has been assigned a different point value," Midnight said. "Therefore, each team will be worth different points depending on who's on their team. Starting from five points for the one who came in forty-second place, all the way to…"

The blank spot next to Izuku's name switched into a number. But… that must have been a typo, right? After all, it said that Izuku had ten million points. The gap in points between second and first place was in the millions.

"Ten million points for first place!" Midnight declared, proving to Izuku that no, it was not a mistake.

He glanced around him. Everyone was staring at him like he was a wounded doe surrounded by wolves, and they all likely had the same thought: if they could take down Izuku's team, they would automatically be in first place. But, on the flipside, all Izuku had to do to maintain first place was hold onto the ten million points.

"That's right," Midnight said sadistically. "It's survival of the fittest, with a chance for those at the bottom to overthrow the top!"

Izuku could still feel the stares of the other forty-one people. He pointedly stared at Midnight and ignored them.

"Those at the top will suffer more," she continued. "You'll hear this many times as you attend U.A. This is what "Plus Ultra" means! Izuku Midoriya, who placed first in the obstacle course race, is worth ten million points!"

There really was no need to repeat that. Izuku already felt like he was withering away under the heat of all the stares.

But, then again, a small bit of him… welcomed the challenge.

Some strange part of him relished in the thought of potentially coming out on top with such a dominating lead.

He pushed the strange clashing aspects of his personality down deep within him and focused on Midnight's next words.

"Now," Midnight said, "I will explain the rules of the cavalry battle. First, is the time limit: fifteen minutes. Each team is worth the total of its members' points, and the riders will wear a headband with that number on their forehead. The riders of a group, however, must be the highest ranked member. So hypothetically, if we had a team of Midoriya, Bakugo, and Todoroki, Midoriya would have to be the rider."

He glanced over at Katsuki, who was staring at him like he was a piece of grilled prime steak. Yeah, that team up is not happening.

Midnight resumed talking. "Teams will try to grab each other's headbands until time runs out, while they try to keep as many points as they can. Stolen headbands must be worn from the neck up. If we see any of you cheating, your team is automatically disqualified from the sports festival and I will personally punish you, you got that?"

From the looks on a few guys' faces, Izuku could tell that that was their optimal outcome.

"The most important thing to remember is this," she paused. "Please get those filthy looks off of your faces. Anyways, even if your headband gets stolen or if your team falls, you're not out. During the game, it'll be a cruel fight where you can use all of your Quirks."

"But," Midnight held up a finger, "attacks that are trying to make people fall on purpose will earn you a red card! You'll be removed immediately."

"Shit," Izuku heard Katsuki say.

"Now, you have fifteen minutes to build your team. Start!" Midnight swung her arm down and blew her whistle.

Immediately, Izuku went towards Tenya, who was standing stiffly a few feet to the right of him. "Iida, want to team up?"

Tenya turned to look at Izuku with an almost pained expression on his face. "I'm sorry, Midoriya, but I must decline."

Izuku felt like his heart just sank to his stomach.

"It is nothing personal," Tenya said, "but I do not wish to ride on your coattails. If I am to place highly and do well in the sports festival, I wish for it to be by my own merits. While you are undeniably my friend, I also see you as a rival, Midoriya."

"Understood," Izuku nodded. Well, now he had to reevaluate his whole plan.

As Tenya walked away from him, Izuku desperately sought out his last remaining option. Momo was in the middle of talking to Shoto and Denki, but she noticed him approaching and greeted him with a, "Hey, Midoriya."

"Hello, Yaoyorozu." She was his last chance. "I was wondering if you'd like to team up for the cavalry battle. U-Uh, that is, if you're not already teaming up with Todoroki."

"Don't worry about it," Shoto said. "She was in the middle of turning us down when you showed up. Come on, Kaminari, let's go find some other people."

As they left, Momo turned and grinned at him. "I'm glad you asked me. I was just about to ask you the same thing."

Izuku released a deep breath that he didn't know that he was holding. "Thank you, Yaoyorozu. I feel like you always help me out whenever I need it, time after time again. I think by now I've come to realize that I can always rely on you."

Momo blushed at his words and quickly looked away. "Well. You know what they say: a kind, reliable person—"

"—is the foundation of a great hero," Izuku finished, chuckling. "Jeez, do you have all of Learning With All Might memorized?"

She was about to stick out her tongue before she realized how childish an action that was—not that she hadn't done it before, but there were just too many people around. Maybe if they were in private. "Probably just as much as you do."

"True, true," Izuku acquiesced. "But now, we've got to find—"

"Are you Izuku Midoriya?"

The sudden voice caused both of them to jump, turning to look at the sudden intruder to their conversation. As Izuku turned, he quickly realized that there was a girl all up in his personal space. Letting out a quick yelp, he took two steps backwards, only to be matched by two steps of her own.

"Yes… and you are?"

"Mei Hatsume," she easily answered, face barely inches from his own. "And I have a proposal to make."

Momo put a hand on Mei's shoulder and pushed her back, an unreadable expression on her face. Izuku let out a sigh of relief and mouthed thank you to Momo, who just nodded in response.

Now that he had some distance, he could properly look at who he was talking to. Mei was petite, even shorter than he was, and that was with the fancy gadgets she wore on her feet. She was pretty in that rough tomboy style, and her messy pink hair was hidden by a complicated-looking pair of goggles. Her irises, most peculiarly, had a cross on them, a fact that reminded him of Himiko's own pupils.

"Go ahead," Izuku said evenly, not trying to indicate how off-put he was by her. Even with Himiko, he wasn't that comfortable with having his personal space invaded suddenly.

"IHmmmm…" she hummed, scanning him from top to bottom. "As I thought, you really do stand out! Team up with me, Izuku!"

"Ah, I appreciate it, Hatsume—"

"Call me Mei, by the way."

Izuku was struck by how similar this conversation was to the one he had with Nejire a few weeks ago. "Sure… Mei."

Izuku didn't notice the sudden complicated expression that appeared on Momo's face, though.

"Anyways, I'm no powerhouse when it comes to my Quirk, but what I do have confidence in are these." Mei tapped the plethora of gadgets that she carried with her. "I'm from the support course, and, in my professional opinion, I'm the best there is. So, what do ya say?"

"We'd be glad to have you," Izuku said honestly. "Three people are better than two. I was worried that it'd just end up with Yaoyorozu having to carry me alone, so this is our best option."

Momo nodded. Though her eyebrow twitched, she said, "Yes, we'd be happy to team up with you."

"Oh, thank goodness, I had no idea what I'd do if you guys said no." Then, Mei smirked. "Just kidding. I would've pestered you until you gave in. I can be very persuasive."

Right when Izuku was about to respond, Mei continued talking. "I've been looking forward to showing off my babies in the sports festival since the day it was announced. And, I thought to myself, what would be the best way to show them off? Then, I heard rumors of a boy who had broken the record for most points on the entrance exam, rumors about how he saved an entire class at the U.S.J. Not only was he the student council representative from his class, but he was also going to give the opening speech at the sports festival! But, I had to make sure that he was the real deal. So, I'm gonna be honest here, I stalked you, Izuku, in my free time. I watched you train, and I saw what happened to that rock wall. You were legit, the real deal. You were something special, and everyone's eyes would be on you at the sports festival. Therefore, the best way for me to show off my babies, to have them visible at the sports festival, would be to team up with you. So, you can say that our meeting here was fate. Isn't that so romantic, Izuku? Think about—"

Momo coughed, and Izuku stared at Mei, astounded. She had said all of that in pretty much one breath. "Well," Momo said, "what gadgets do you have?"

"I have tons of super cute babies—just name it, and I've probably got it!" Mei confidently stated.

Izuku brainstormed for a quick moment. "Say, Mei, what do your shoes do?"

With a grin, she activated them and floated in the air.

Izuku's jaw dropped. "Do you have them, but for hands?"

"Yessir," Mei grinned, adding, "I also have it in the form of a backpack similar to the Buster Hero, Air Jet! Want me to retrieve them?"

"Air Jet's jetpack?" For a moment, Izuku's eyes lit up with stars, but he quickly shook himself out of it. "Yes, both would be great. I'm thinking that having some control in the air would benefit us, especially since we only have two people carrying me instead of three. Do you also have deployable cover?"

"Like the type Land Lord uses?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"Got it covered. How many do you want me to get?"

"Three would probably be enough."

Mei nodded, and she quickly ran off to grab the stuff that Izuku requested, leaving Momo and Izuku alone.

"Should we try to find a fourth?" Momo asked.

Izuku shook his head. "We won't need one. We just need to protect my headband, not steal anyone else's, correct?"

The taller girl nodded.

"Well, I think I've got a plan for the perfect defense," Izuku told her. Then, lowering his voice, he said, "I think I might be able to 'fly' and stall out the time. But it kinda depends on how good the equipment Mei brings us are."

As a natural silence developed between them, Momo opened her mouth to make a request but shut it instantly. It would be so easy to ask him to call her by her first name, but she couldn't do it. The idea… for some reason it was just too mortifying to her. Would he think that she was weird for making such a request? Would it seem unnatural, forced?

Mei returned in a few minutes with a cart full of items. "Okay, here are the floating babies for your hands, here's my jetpack baby, and these discs are my cover babies. Is this it?"

Izuku shrugged on the jetpack, glancing at Mei. "How do I activate it?"

She pointed at what looked like a ragged chew toy tied to the end of a cord. "You bite this."

Izuku and Momo both blanched.

"It's fine, I'm the only one who tests it anyways," Mei commented offhandedly. "Sure, you'll be swapping spit with me on a technicality, but it shouldn't be a problem."

That's exactly the problem! Izuku thought.

Mei evidently didn't see it as one. "Time is running out, so just give it a shot to see if it works."

Gulping, Izuku put the chew toy in his mouth. Hopefully, she had washed this beforehand. He bit down, hard, and he felt himself get propelled a solid ten or so feet in the air. The sudden noise shocked a few nearby people, causing them to grumble a bit. As Izuku landed, he quickly took the chew toy out of his mouth. "It has good power."

"Yeah," Mei admitted, "buuuuut, it may not be the most fuel efficient. It'll give you an audio warning when fuel's about to run out, though. Next, try these!"

She handed him two circular devices. These had been the floating devices for his hands. "You activate them by squeezing the things at the top."

Izuku did as she instructed, feeling them suddenly push back against his hands. He used his muscles similar to how he did a push up to gather himself and rise above the ground, hands firmly locked below his waist. He released his grip on the two devices, instantly dropping to the ground.

"These what you're looking for?" Mei asked.

"Perfect," Izuku reassured her, slipping on the straps attached to the two floatation devices. "And the cover?"

She tossed him the three disc-like objects, which he instinctively caught using Blackwhip. Mei whistled in appreciation, looking with great curiosity at the black tendrils.

The explanation for how these discs worked was short but to the point. "Press the button, deploy. Press it again, seal. Got it?"

Izuku did just that, "pressing" the red button at the top of the disc with a strand of Blackwhip. Immediately, it unfurled into an even bigger disc, easily capable of covering two to three people behind it. He clicked the button again, watching as it recondensed itself.

"Is everything good? What you expected? More than even your wildest dreams?" Mei asked, eager to see his and Momo's reaction.

"These'll be perfect," Izuku answered honestly. "I'm glad that you joined us, Mei."

Mei let out a satisfied hum, grinning widely.

Momo, feeling a tad left out, said, "Is there anything you need me to do, Midoriya?"

"No, no," Izuku answered. "I might've had a plan before to have you make some things, but now that Mei's here, we've got everything we need."

"Perfection," Mei happily said. "And just one more thing. I wanted some heroes-in-training to answer a few questions for me…"

They spent the rest of the fifteen minutes all but being interrogated by Mei. When time ran out, Midnight announced, "TIME'S UP! Hopefully you've all formed your teams. If not, oh well, guess you're out of luck~" She smiled sadistically.

"Go to a starting position on the field. Once your team is there, wait for the referees to bring you your headbands."

Izuku, Mei, and Momo walked to the closest starting position. It was clearly labeled with blue paint, so it was impossible to miss. Midnight came up to them personally and handed him a headband with 10,000,000 painted onto the front of it.

With a word of thanks, Izuku took it and tied it securely around his head. He stepped onto Momo's hands and placed his hands on Mei's shoulders, being careful to not break the floatation devices he cupped with his palm. Three tendrils of darkness floated around him, holding onto the deployable cover.

He stared at the rest of the teams readying up. Ochaco, Shoto, Denki, and someone he didn't recognize were situated to the far right of them, while Katsuki's team of Katsuki, Eijiro, and Mezo were placed directly across from him.

Right as the last referee left the field, the speakers roared to life.

"Are you all ready?" Midnight called, chuckling darkly. "Sucks if you aren't. BEGIN!"

At the sudden beginning, Izuku didn't waste a second. He used two tendrils of Blackwhip to shove against the ground, pushing him off of Momo and Mei. Once he was airborne, he bit down on the chew toy, blasting himself up into the air. After he reached a good twenty feet above the ground, he released the chew toy from his mouth and squeezed down on the devices in his hands, hovering mid air.

He looked down at Momo and Mei, grinning. Mei, in particular, had a star-struck expression on her face, happily jumping up and down. She was probably excited that her precious babies worked.

Now the rest is easy, Izuku thought. I just need to chill out up here for—

"DEEEEEEEEEKUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU—"

A sharp, stabbing pain in his head told him to dodge at all costs, so Izuku listened to his instincts and disabled the floatation devices in his hands, free-falling towards the ground. A moment later, a screaming Katsuki blasted right by his head, barely missing the ten million point headband.

"FUUUUUUUUUUUUuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu—" Katsuki raged, voice slowly growing softer as he traveled further and further away from him. He let loose a blast aimed at the ground, halting his flight, and he fell into the waiting arms of his teammates. "I was so close!"

Izuku realized that his air superiority might not be as uncontested as he thought before. There was the problem of Katsuki launching himself at him, but there was also the problem of a rapidly growing ice wall manifesting on his right.

Shoto appeared at the top of the ice wall, looking down at Izuku. Wordlessly, his left arm ignited and erupted into flame to cleanse the frost that had overtaken his body.

Oh, crap. So much for this plan.

A rapidly growing-in-volume scream alerted him to Katsuki's next attack, so Izuku thought quickly and attached Blackwhip to Shoto's ice wall, propelling himself towards it and evading Katsuki's attack. He channeled fifty percent of One For All, held back by Chrono Force, into his right leg and delivered a harsh kick right into the side of it, causing the ice to shatter into a multitude of bright fragments. As Shoto's foundation collapsed, Izuku bit down on the chew toy and shot towards Shoto, aiming for his headband.

Izuku had initially decided to play defense, but when given an opportunity like this to even further widen the gap between first and second place, he had to take it, no?

Shoto, realizing what was going to happen, pointed his left arm at Izuku. Izuku reacted instantly, deploying one of the portable cover discs in front of him with Blackwhip. Not even a second later, a torrent of flame arced out of Shoto's palm, burning up the cover. Fortunately, the cover served its purpose and protected Izuku, but Izuku could tell, based on the damage it sustained, it would not last against another attack. The attack's aim had been off, anyways—the brunt of the fire wasn't even aimed at him.

As he blasted by Shoto and his fire attack petered out, Izuku ditched the destroyed cover, letting it drop to the ground twenty feet or so below him. Izuku stabilized himself with his hand floatation devices, turning around and surveying the current situation.

Todoroki had managed to catch himself by landing on a pillar of ice, and Katsuki had landed on top of his team. Due to Mezo's Quirk, Katsuki had a pretty big area to land on. Izuku spotted Momo and Mei seemingly chatting with Ochaco, Denki, and the purple-haired kid that he didn't recognize from before. Since Izuku and Shoto were duking it out in the sky, they could do nothing but cheer them on.

Mei noticed him looking and gave him two big thumbs up.

Shoto's ice pillar advanced towards his location, growing in scale and completely disregarding the poor souls underneath that were in his path. As cavalry teams yelped and attempted to dodge being frozen solid, Shoto surfed what appeared to be a massive wave of ice. The ice blitzed towards Izuku's location, and Shoto periodically ignited his arm to keep himself from getting frostbite.

Here was Izuku's main problem: the floatation devices only kept him up, and they didn't offer much help in moving laterally or up and down smoothly. He had the inkling that, given some more time with them, he might've been able to figure out how to move around more successfully. But, right now, he was essentially a sitting duck as he floated in mid air.

As Shoto advanced upon him with frightening speeds and he saw Katsuki preparing for another fly-by, Izuku decided that his plan of playing defense wasn't going to work. Something something, a good offense is the best defence, something something.

He shot two strands of Blackwhip at Shoto's ice pillar. The heterochromatic boy, caught off guard by the sudden switch in tactics, pointed his left arm at Izuku, but Izuku swung underneath him right in line with the other students. Shoto, unwilling to blast fire in the direction of defenseless classmates, could only hurriedly build an ice wall as Izuku barreled into it from below.

Shattering it near instantly, Izuku leapt up onto the ice platform so that he was on even footing with Shoto. Izuku made quite the sight—four tendrils of darkness, each cupping a floatation device or a deployable cover, raced out from his body, curling around him like snakes. Hands now empty, having passed off the floatation devices to Blackwhip a moment prior, Izuku looked menacing… or would have, had he not had a pink chew toy in his mouth. Now without the threat of hitting his other classmates, Shoto blasted a torrent of flame towards Izuku, but the attack seemed more like it was just for show than anything else. The verdanette blurred, dodging the fire and suddenly appearing all up in Shoto's personal space, hand reaching for the headband.

Shoto's only reaction in the moment was to shatter the ice pillar they were standing on, allowing it to crumble underneath their feet. With his footing suddenly gone, Izuku fell downwards, quickly gathering the floatation devices back into his hands by taking them from Blackwhip and halting his fall ten feet above the ground. Shoto had cocooned himself in an ice sphere twenty, thirty feet above the ground. The ice sphere connected itself to the ground with four separate columns.

Acting immediately, Izuku used Blackwhip to latch on and propel himself towards the columns, destroying them with a kick or a punch. Shoto emerged from the falling wreckage, creating another ice pillar to stand on. By now, he had to keep his left side constantly ignited in order to stave off the ice covering his body and was panting heavily. As Izuku attached a strand of Blackwhip to the pillar and advanced towards Todoroki, he almost missed the screaming ball of fury that was Katsuki propelling himself rapidly at Izuku.

Again, a stabbing pain in his head instinctively told him where Katsuki was, so he released the Blackwhip strand connecting him to the pillar and bit down hard on the chew toy still in his mouth, blasting upward just out of Katsuki's reach. The blonde smashed into the side of the ice pillar, and out of frustration, pointed both palms towards it and utterly decimated it, releasing a blast that shredded the ice structure like it was glass.

Shoto landed on yet another ice structure, but it seemed that constant usage of ice had its own negative drawbacks. By now, most of Shoto's body had been covered by ice, and it wasn't difficult to see why: today, in the past ten minutes alone, he had probably created more ice than he had during his entire stay at U.A. Even at the U.S.J., his ice formation had been deliberate, not drawn out haphazardly by constant pressure. He had taken his time building the ice bridge at the U.S.J., slowly and, most importantly, he was controlled when he did so.

Now, under the constant pressure Izuku was placing on him, Shoto's control was cracking. He'd never built so many large ice structures in such a short period of time. It was inevitable, then, that his control over his other side would slip.

As Shoto ignited his left arm to keep the frostbite at bay, the ignition did far more than light up his arm. An almost liquid stream of flame poured out of his left side, dripping red hot flame onto the ice and causing it to instantly melt. He panicked and redirected the stream of flame into the sky. It would've been fine if no one was there, but… Izuku had just flown up to avoid Katsuki.

Since the entire process took less than a second, the flames that suddenly rocketed towards Izuku were pretty much undodgeable. Judging by its width and trajectory, he would end up enveloped in the fire if he kept biting down on the chew toy and accelerating upwards, so Izuku released the chew toy and allowed himself to fall back down towards the ground.

However, that wasn't fast enough, and for a horrifying moment, Shoto's red hot flames enveloped Izuku's upper body.

.:.

Inko Midoriya was having what one could call a mixed day.

She had tuned in to watch U.A.'s Sports Festival on the TV since Izuku had called her about it the day before. Although she might have forgotten the time and missed the opening ceremony, she made it in time to watch Izuku win the obstacle course race by a landslide.

That had made her so proud and happy. Her sweet, darling Izuku was doing something that he loved to do. That was all a mother could ever want for her son.

But then the cavalry event started, and she saw, firsthand, how capable her son was. The cameras mainly focused on him and that handsome one with white and red hair. After all, their fight, with Izuku flying through the air with the assistance of some gadgets while dodging Katsuki's attacks and flying ice and flame must've been one of the most spectacular occurrences in U.A. history.

However, she realized how… dangerous this all was. Just one wrong move, and he would be engulfed by flame—

Her heart stopped. Her face paled.

Inko Midoriya watched as her son's upper half of his body—head, torso, and arms—was enveloped by fire.

No.

.:.

Midnight's eyes widened.

Everything had been going fine up to that point. Sure, Shoto and Izuku had essentially abandoned their steeds to duke it out on their own, and Shoto's ice was making it hell to ref the event, but everything was manageable and within the rules—that is, until a stream of raw fire baptised Izuku's upper body.

She went to blow her whistle to signal the cancellation of the event, but she was suddenly interrupted by Toshinori's voice in her ear comm: "Don't, Nemuri!"

"Are you out of your mind?!" Midnight screeched back. "We need to stop the event and get Midoriya—your own protege—some medical assistance ASAP. I can feel the heat from here!"

"That… won't be necessary." Toshinori sighed. "Just look."

Midnight did as she was instructed and watched as Izuku emerged out of the plume of fire. Rather than a scarred, marred, burnt shell of a human being's remains appearing within her vision, she saw a slightly miffed Izuku glance around him.

He appeared perfectly alright. The same could not be said for his equipment. The discs that he had been using to float in the air were nothing but burnt shards of metal, and his deployable cover, which he had apparently attempted to deploy while under fire, were nothing more than two smoldering, ruined husks of what they once were. Even his backpack, which he had been using to propel himself, was in tatters and on fire, causing him to quickly remove it from his shoulders and drop it to the ground some twenty feet below him. Despite all of this, Izuku appeared to not even have a single burn on his body.

His shirt was a goner, though. After being consumed by Shoto's flames, only his sweats remained. Izuku's chiseled upper body was revealed to the world, with hard lines defining a rigid six pack and pectorals. Midnight might have taken the time to admire the sight before her had it not been for the other, very obvious fact: Izuku Midoriya's floatation devices were destroyed by the fire, his jetpack discarded and in tatters. That being the case…

Why was he still floating in midair?

He wasn't attached to anything, no strands of darkness came from his arms and hands… he was just there, floating.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, Midnight didn't know anymore—the event's timer ran out, causing confetti to pop everywhere and bells to ring.

She watched in abject disbelief as Izuku gently floated to the ground, landing gracefully, with the ten million headband still attached to his head.

Alright, she had seen enough.

Midnight promised herself a nice, long drink tonight and got back to business.

.:.

"Wait, wait, wait," Tomura Shigaraki said, staring at the monitors in front of him. He couldn't believe his eyes.

The dark-haired boy with piercings sighed. "What is it?"

"These aren't the Quirks that he's supposed to have."

"Huh?" the boy grumbled. "What Quirks are he supposed to have?"

But Tomura was already off in a world of his own. "I always thought it strange… a strength-enhancing Quirk of some sort, but it was never mentioned in his file, those strange black strands, his apparent ability to fucking float…"

What had once appeared as a crackpot theory did not seem as far fetched as he had initially thought that it was.

"Kurogiri, get her on the line."

"Who?"

"You know who, you clown."

.:.

As Izuku landed, watching as bells and confetti heralded the end of the event, he checked to see if his headband was still there.

It was. He pulled it off to verify that he still had the ten million points. Apart from being slightly crispy around the edges, the headband had sustained less damage than, well, pretty much everything else. It was either a miracle, or these headbands were made up of some supremely tough stuff.

The jetpack, the floatation devices, even the deployable covers—they had all been burnt beyond repair by Shoto's fire. Even his t-shirt was gone, evaporated. But, judging by the hair that he felt underneath his fingertips and his eyebrows, his body parts were able to stay strong and pull through the heat thanks to Chrono Force.

That didn't mean it didn't hurt like hell, though. It was a strange feeling. He felt as if he was burning to death, the heat had been that extreme, but physically, not even a hair on his head was touched.

Izuku wondered that if he learned to master Chrono Force, would he be able to become unbreakable? It was worth investigating.

And then there had been the Quirk that had appeared at the very end. He didn't have a name for it, no mystical meeting with a previous holder of One For All. All he knew about it was that it allowed him to float, and it was accompanied by pleasant laughter. No key phrases like visualize opposites or visualize reconstructing, not healing—just a gut feeling.

Instinctively, that told him that there were two different types of Quirks within him, but he pushed that nonsensical thought out of his mind.

Izuku was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't even notice his surroundings until someone grabbed him and pulled him into a tight hug.

"Thank God you're okay," Momo whispered, releasing him. Suddenly bashful, she looked down at her feet. "I didn't know what to think or do when Todoroki's fire…"

"My babies," Mei cried, "are they alri—I mean, uh, glad to see you're doing okay, Izuku. Did my precious babies make it?"

Momo let out an exasperated sound as she looked at Mei. It seemed that the inventor had her own priorities in mind.

Izuku raised his hands and turned around in a circle. The action caused Momo's cheeks to redden even further while Mei whistled in appreciation. Strange. "No, Mei. Unfortunately, they didn't."

"May their souls find peace in their next life," Mei said sagely, closing her eyes and clasping her hands together in prayer. Then, she opened her eyes, not looking too affected by the demise of her babies.

"Midoriya!"

Izuku looked over at the voice. A panting Shoto appeared before him, looking extremely out of sorts considering his usual calm exterior. "Oh, Todoroki. Hey, great fight! That's got me all fired up for our actual match during the tournament."

Shoto stared at him incredulously. He looked him over top to bottom. "Midoriya… are you… all good?"

The other members of Shoto's team, Ochaco, Denki, and the unknown purple-haired kid all appeared behind him. Ochaco took one long, hard look at Izuku before turning away, ears faintly tinged red.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Izuku grinned to ease their worries, but his statement just made Shoto seem more agitated.

"But I… with my fire…"

Izuku blinked. Then, he smiled. "Remember what I said, Todoroki? Don't be afraid to go all out."

Shoto remained silent.

Izuku reached out and grabbed the taller boy's shoulders. "Look, you said something about holding back out of fear that you'd hurt someone, right? I get that. But you don't have to worry about that with me. Don't be afraid to go all out—as you can see, I can handle it."

In a moment of rare vulnerability, Shoto said, "I was just afraid that I'd lost control and hurt someone. I know I said that against you, I wouldn't hold back, but I guess… it was always a phobia of mine, causing harm with his cursed flame—"

"Why is it cursed, Todoroki?" Izuku asked.

The question caught him off guard. "Well, because it's my father's Quirk."

"No it isn't," Izuku said. "It's not your father's Quirk. It's your own Quirk, it's Shoto Todoroki's Quirk, isn't it?"

The words left Shoto momentarily speechless.

"Deku!"

The group turned to find Katsuki stomping up towards them. Sweat glistened off his brow, and he tersely said, "How the fuck were you floating?"

"Great question. I don't know."

"What the fuck?"

The referees came around to collect their headbands and count them up. Midnight, having heard Katsuki's foul language, chopped him lightly on the head, saying, "Bad boy. Save such language for the bedroom."

Katsuki instantly flushed scarlet. Whether it was out of embarrassment or anger, Izuku didn't know.

Izuku handed over his headband to Midnight, who took it after giving him a top down check for any burn wounds. Not finding any, she showed a genuinely relieved expression and went on to collect Katsuki and Shoto's headbands.

As she did so, Izuku didn't notice Ochaco and Momo's furtive glances in his direction. Katsuki, on the other hand, did.

Sighing, he said, "Yaoyorozu, make something to cover Izuku up, so I don't have to deal with two horny girls."

Spluttering, Ochaco hit Katsuki on the shoulder before stomping away, and Momo lifted up her shirt a fraction and created a blanket. She handed it to Izuku, who was still confused as to what was going on.

"Your shirt's, ah, been destroyed," Momo simply said, holding out the blanket while averting her eyes. "And Bakugo, I'm sure both Ochaco and I don't appreciate being called that. We were simply concerned as to… whether or not Izuku would catch a cold." At that, Katsuki huffed and responded with a yeah right.

"Oh." Suddenly feeling a bit embarrassed himself, Izuku covered his top with the blanket that Momo provided.

"We have finished counting up the headbands, and here are the results!" Midnight announced, gesturing towards the big screen. The top sixteen players were displayed there.

Team Izuku Midoriya was obviously in first place due to him having held onto the ten million headband. Team Shoto Todoroki was now in second place instead of third because they had an additional person compared to Katsuki's team, and Team Katsuki Bakugo, with him only ever going after Izuku, ended up in fourth place. Team Tenya Iida, surprisingly, took over third place, having cleaned up the other competition while Shoto and Katsuki had been busy fighting Izuku.

However, that wasn't enough for sixteen people since Izuku and Katsuki only had teams of three people. Also, apparently Mezo resigned from the tournament for personal reasons, as his name wasn't anywhere up there. The remaining three people were taken from the fifth place team, Team Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu.

The seeds were randomized, so they looked like this:

1. Tenya Iida

2. Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu

3. Denki Kaminari

4. Eijiro Kirishima

5. Pony Tsunotori

6. Mina Ashido

7. Tsuyu Asui

8. Hitoshi Shinso

9. Momo Yaoyorozu

10. Itsuka Kendo

11. Ochaco Uraraka

12. Shoto Todoroki

13. Rikido Sato

14. Mei Hatsume

15. Katsuki Bakugo

16. Izuku Midoriya

The match times were displayed on the next screen. First up, in half an hour, would be the first seed versus the sixteenth seed. Then, after that, it would be the second seed versus the fifteenth seed. However, the first and second seeds were on opposite sides of the bracket, so as a result, the fifteenth and sixteenth seeds were as well. If Izuku really wanted to face Katsuki, they'd have to meet at the finals.

If Izuku won his match with Tenya, he'd go up against the winner of the eighth and ninth seed battle, Hitoshi or Momo. It seemed that Hitoshi was the purple-haired kid that he didn't recognize from before. And after that, it was Shoto Todorki. To be fair, it could be any of the fourth, fifth, thirteenth, or twelfth seeds, but Izuku found it difficult to imagine Shoto losing to any of them.

It's all good, Izuku thought to himself. It did not matter who they were or when they fought—as long as it was a one versus one battle, some part of him instinctively knew:

I will not lose.

---

Some notes:

1. It's probably important to note that Izuku has two personalities at war with each other, idk tho hehe

2. A main goal of Himiko and Izuku's conversation at the beginning of the chapter was to impress upon the reader just how unhealthy Himiko's love/obsession with Izuku is.

3. Also, regarding the speech: I wanted Izuku to make a declaration like Katsuki did in the original, but I also wanted to explore the difficulties that he would have in making such a speech in the first place and after giving it. Momo serves as the perfect person to "pick up" Izuku when he's feeling bad over the speech he gave.

4. It also serves to highlight one of Izuku's traits: he performs better when there are high expectations placed upon him. Currently Izuku thinks that it came from All Might, but I wonder about that…

5. Now, the sports festival itself. Writing the fight scene was a blast. I can just imagine Izuku and Shoto duking it out with an occasionally screaming Katsuki flying by them. But really I just wanted to demonstrate the greater control he has over all of his Quirks. I also snuck in Float, one of the One For All Quirks, in there as well.

6. Poor Momo. Will she ever get the bravery to ask Izuku what she wants from him?

7. Shoto's got complicated feelings about his fire. Sure, he said that he won't hesitate in using it, but he definitely has reservations about losing control and hurting people with it—that's what I was going for. Hopefully he can get over it by the time the tournament starts.

8. Thanks for reading! We hit 1k in follows and favorites! I'm glad so many of you enjoy my work! Wooooooooo~