More fights as Izuku judges, not quietly and Monoma is asking for pain.

Btw. Did you know that the imperial Japanese navy had a battleship called Kirishima? I cant help but wonder if that impacted the character's naming. After all, battleships usually have pretty "hard" armour.

Also I decided to do something different and included a Dragon Ball reference this time rather than Star Wars. Keep your eyes open for that.

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Comments:

Psy-Kick: I have list of quirk ideas for the story and interesting suggestions and ideas might end up on, but all inclusions in the actual story will be based on what I think the story needs/benefits from, not suggestions.

Dsman: And using Kirishima to make Mina cooperate. :D

SonicMax: You aren't totally wrong. Managing a class of 20 in story with enough interactions is hard. If this was original story not fanfic, I might have kicked half of them out and halved the class size. Try to think them as reserve to maybe use in later arcs like, Kirishima, Tokoyami, Todoroki and to lesser extend Ojiro have gotten used in current/recent ones. Maybe I should make someone more hostile or suspicious along with Ojjiro. Just a struggle to do so without going totally ooc.

GgeorGge: Pretty sure the only in chapter pov change was that one Bakugo chapter. Everything else should be single pov for the whole chapter.

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Proofread by 3DPhantom

Chapter 41: The Fight of Shadows

Izuku followed Todoroki back to the audience stands. From the volume of cheering something had just happened. Peering over the railing, it turned out the fight was already over. Kaminari had lost and was completely wrapped in the… hair of his opponent. The long green thorn-like hairs of the girl Kaminari had fought had extended well beyond their previous length to tie and lift him up. There was also a bunch of separate hair rising from the surface of the arena like a wall, or a shield.

Izuku might have licked his lips, but his 'taste buds' were still only interested in the power they had witnessed with Todoroki's iceberg. The next fight was bound to be more interesting anyway. Izuku took his seat next to Tenya.

"How did it go?" Tenya whispered. Izuku sighed and shook his head.

"It's better than before, but he is still resistant to thinking differently. At least he admitted the risk of what happened with his quirk. He met his father like I feared," Izuku grit his teeth together. "I really want to drop that man from his pedestal."

"Be careful not to do anything stupid. Whatever he might have done behind the scenes, he is still the number two hero. Even if you had evidence he probably has just as many lawyers as your father."

Izuku brushed his chin as he watched Cementos clear and fix the arena with his quirk.

"Don't…" Tenya said.

"What?"

"You have that look in your eyes. You are plotting something."

"Is that a problem?"

"It is if you get burned."

"Hmm. Actually that could be really useful… though with people's biases not as effective as you might think."

"Izuku stop," Tenya commanded. Something in his voice reflected genuine worry, even fear, which brought Izuku out of his thoughts.

"Sorry," Izuku said. "Didn't mean to worry you."

"So you won't get yourself burned by Endeavour?"

"I'll try to avoid anything with… permanent consequences."

"Izuku…"

"Tenya, do you think I would choose to get myself seriously hurt?"

"Depends. Are you calling Todoroki a friend yet?"

"Okay everyone!" Present Mic drowned out any further attempt at conversation. "We have two more matches left for the first round. The next one is Fumikage Tokoyami from the class 1A! Facing him is Shihai Kuroiro from class B!"

Tokoyami's opponent was an interesting case. His hair was almost as white as Izuku's, but the rest of him was completely black, not like someone with African heritage black, black like Tokoyami's raven-black feathers. It would have been difficult to distinguish any features as Kuroiro's skin seemed to suck in all light that hit it, making him seem faceless, especially from a distance.

It almost seemed like someone wanted to arrange a fight between shadows for people's entertainment.

"I should go get ready for my fight," Tenya said and got up. "Don't," he emphasized, "get in a fight with Endeavour while I'm away."

"I'll try. Don't lose."

Tenya shook his head as he left. Izuku focused on the fight. He hadn't had much chance to train or fight with Tokoyami besides the major exceptions of USJ and the first day, but considering Dark Shadow's speed and strength Kuroiro wouldn't have much chance trying to fight in a direct physical brawl, so much would depend on his quirk and how he used it. Now, Izuku didn't want to make assumptions, but usually physical changes caused by a quirk had some connection to the power, and Kuroiro did not exactly seem like someone with a light producing power that would give him an advantage over Dark Shadow.

Midnight started the fight. Tokoyami did not hesitate, Dark Shadow launched from his chest like he was shot out of a cannon. Kuroiro didn't even have time to move in the instant the quirk took to stretch across the arena. It seemed like Dark Shadow would throw him out in a single move. The quirk collided with his opponent and kept moving, but without Kuroiro.

In fact he was nowhere to be seen. Dark Shadow stopped at the edge of the arena and turned up to look around for his enemy, but he wasn't visible at all, despite the flat arena not having anywhere to hide. Then again, Mightnight and Cementos did not appear confused and did not disqualify Kuroiro for leaving the arena, so where was he? Could it have been an invisibility quirk? Something like that could have definitely come with mutations in the skin and light absorption, but Kuroiro's clothes had disappeared too. What else could it have been and what would Kuroiro do next? What would Izuku have done in his position? Izuku's gaze moved to Tokoyami, still attached to the stretched Dark Shadow.

Kuroiro appeared out of Dark Shadow right next to Tokoyami, launching himself at Tokoyami and delivering a powerful punch in Tokoyami's stomach that made him bend over.

"Fumi!" Dark Shadow shouted and rushed back towards Tokoyami to attack Kuroiro. Kuroiro swung his fist again, delivering a blow under Tokoyami's beak. Tokoyami fell backwards on his rear. Then Dark Shadow was on Kuroiro.

Kuroiro jumped aside seemingly to dodge Dark Shadow but it was clearly a pointless attempt from the beginning. He held his arm out so it touched the attacking Dark Shadow first and… was sucked into the quirk. It was like he had just completely melded with the black mass that formed Dark Shadow. The quirk didn't even have the time to be confused as Kuroiro emerged from his other side and delivered a kick to Tokoyami's head while he was still getting up from another fall. Izuku grimaced, remembering what he had done to Hitoshi and what it could have caused.

"Man, Dark Shadow can't do anything to that guy," Kirishima said, clearly feeling a bit sorry for Tokoyami in this case.

"Doesn't seem so," Izuku agreed. "Unfortunately, it doesn't seem Tokoyami knows what to do either. He's relying too much on Dark Shadow. That first attack might have caught him by surprise, but unless that guy's quirk enhances his strength Tokoyami should have been able to even out the situation by now."

"Eh, you know not everyone has your skill with stuff like this."

"That's just because he hasn't trained enough, or the right way," Izuku said, then fell quiet, brushing his cheek. This lasted for a moment as Dark Shadow repeatedly failed to catch Kuroiro and Tokoyami struggled to defend against the rapid attacks.

Kirishima looked at Izuku for a while, longer than Hitoshi would have, but figured out Izuku's thoughts eventually.

"Is he going to join us tomorrow?"

"I… wouldn't be opposed to it. It's not bad to have him around, if he wants to be, and Hitoshi is getting tired of you tossing him around."

"Heh, sorry."

"Don't apologize for doing what you were supposed to."

As they talked Tokoyami had realized what needed to be done and convinced Dark Shadow to go back inside so Kuroiro couldn't merge with him. Depending what else his quirk could do the fight might have just turned into another basically quirkless brawl. Unfortunately, that seemed to still leave Tokoyami in the weaker position.

He displayed basic fighting skills, but his movements were awkward. It seemed like he was out of balance trying to fight without Dark Shadow being out. Kuroiro was really a perfect match for him. It certainly didn't show Tokoyami's and especially not Dark Shadow's abilities in the best light to the audience. Even without Dark Shadow Kuroiro still showed off his quirk by diving into Tokoyami's shadow to avoid a counterattack only to emerge at high speed and deliver a rapid upward strike.

Punches like that got the strongest reactions from the audience, especially his classmates, but what less people paid attention to was that the fight was moving towards the edge of the arena. That was really the best way to end a fight for anyone whose quirk didn't allow for an instant knockout. Izuku glanced at Kirishima. Instant knockout without brain damage or worse preferably.

Tokoyami was now at the very edge of the arena, a single step away from losing. He did the sensible thing and tried to move sideways to get out of the precarious position, but Kuroiro matched his movements to deny any escape.

"Looks bad," Kirishima said. "He might lose."

"He's in a bad position, but not hopeless," Izuku said. "Considering their performance so far it is unlikely that Tokoyami could fight his way out of this hand to hand, but if he stays calm and works with Dark Shadow smartly…"

"Won't that guy just… get into Dark Shadow the moment he comes out?"

"If he tries to attack directly, yes. That's why it is so important that he… they, stay calm and think through what to do."

Tokoyami dodged an attack, stumbling right on the edge of the arena. He tried to push off and rush towards the middle. That was his chance, but nothing more happened. Kuroiro was able to recover from the momentum of his previous attack and grapple Tokoyami before he got away. Tokoyami somehow stayed on his feet like most wouldn't, but it wasn't going to be enough. Izuku sighed. Dark Shadow burst out of Tokoyami, pushing Kuroiro away from him in an instant.

"Yes!" Kirishima cheered, "maybe…"

"No," Izuku said.

For a moment Dark Shadow's assault seemed to be efficient and was pushing Kuroiro away. The force of the impact could have certainly stunned him. After several metres Dark Shadow extended his shadowy limb to get a proper grasp of the enemy but like with every attempt before Kuroiro disappeared into Dark Shadow. Tokoyami had learned enough to raise his arms in defence before Kuroiro had a chance to emerge and attack. It worked, except for one little detail.

"Tokoyami is out of bounds," Midnight declared, "the winner is Shihai Kuroiro!"

Despite defending against the attack quite well, Tokoyami had never gotten properly away from the edge. Too focused on the attack, his foot had slid out of the ring.

"Man, that sucks," Kirishima said.

"One of them had to lose," Izuku shrugged. "That's the whole point of competition."

"Yeah, but he never really lost the fight. His foot was just a little over the line."

"Those are the rules of the competition that they both knew beforehand. Knocking your opponent out isn't the only goal with every fight, even outside competitions. That's how I almost lost with Toshi. He used his brain and my rush to get him out. Without my jets he might have succeeded. Even if he didn't beat me in the fight that would still have been a win. Tokoyami could have done the same, but made the wrong move, or at least Dark Shadow did."

"I see," Yaoyorozu spoke up. "That is what you thought Dark Shadow could do."

"I don't follow?" Kirishima said.

"It is quite simple. Since Dark Shadow couldn't safely attack their opponent, Tokoyami should have used it to push himself away from the edge. That way he could have used Dark Shadow for mobility, but his opponent wouldn't have had a chance to merge with it."

"Something like that," Izuku said and glanced at Kirishima. "Sometimes attacking directly or taking the hit isn't the best option, especially if you are literally balancing on an edge."

"Right."

"Kirishima, when did you get a new sensei? Be careful or mister Aizawa might get jealous." Kaminari commented with a sly grin. Kirishima stared at him, confused.

"When he showed he was worth the effort," Izuku answered in his place. "You should watch out or he'll leave you behind even more than you already are."

"Ouch," Sero said, "maybe you should ask Todoroki for some ice on that burn."

At least most of the class could take that comment with good humour.

Tokoyami left the arena with Dark Shadow out in his smallest size and leaning against Tokoyami's chest. He was even petting Dark Shadow's head. Izuku just hoped Tokoyami wouldn't need a quirk psychiatrist. Izuku had a strong hunch of who that would be.

"And now the final fight of the first round," Midnight announced. "From class 1A, Tenya Ida!"

Part of Izuku was happy as Tenya got one of the loudest reactions from the audience, second only to Todoroki. The other part of him was annoyed because he knew why that was, and the people certainly weren't cheering for Tenya and Todoroki because of their own efforts.

"And opposing him is a highly talented student from class 1B who was admitted to UA with high-standing recommendations, Juzo Honenuki!"

Tenya's opponent was a pale blonde-haired boy with a minor mutation of having his teeth visible on the outside where his lips would normally have been. Izuku dug through his memories for information about the boy from earlier competitions.

"Tenya might be in trouble," he concluded.

"How so?" Kirishima asked. "I doubt that guy will even have time to see him coming."

"That's assuming he can run at full speed. Honenuki is the one who did something to the ground during the cavalry battle."

"Right, I noticed something strange, but you made us fly before it reached us."

"Something Tenya can't do. I fear he might be just as bad a match up to Tenya as Kuroiro was for Tokoyami."

"So they were just unlucky."

"Yes, though in life you sometimes need to face people you're a bad match against, better here than in an actual battle. At least in the tournament the worst you can lose are more chances to show off what you can do. Even then you can take lessons from your mistakes. Speaking of which."

Izuku looked back at Tokoyami who had just re-joined them. He was still holding Dark Shadow like a crying child, quite literally.

"I'm sorry Fumi. I didn't mean to make you lose. I just wanted to get him off you. Now people are going to think you can't fight."

"As much as it pains me, I fear they would be right. Without you I could not do much."

"I'm sorry."

"It is not your fault. I have put too much of our training on your wings."

Izuku sighed, wishing UA at least gave out degrees in quirk psychology. Then again, he didn't let himself sugar-coat even harsh truths.

"Tokoyami," he said getting the two's attention, "did you tell Dark Shadow to launch that last attack?"

"No… he… I told him to stay in."

"Then that final losing move was his fault," Izuku said. Even though Dark Shadow lacked a face he somehow managed to express even more grief. "Don't try to convince him otherwise. He, both of you, can only improve if you recognise what you did wrong."

"I knew it," Dark Shadow cried out.

"That doesn't change the fact you would have lost anyway, with the way you were fighting."

"Hey, you can't talk to Fumi like that!" Dark Shadow said, breaking off from his crying.

"I call it like I see it. If you want the best for Tokoyami you can't deny things just because you don't like to hear them."

"You are right," Tokoyami agreed. "In trying to control Dark Shadow's power I have failed to train myself adequately."

"Yes, you have. We'll start fixing that tomorrow," Izuku said and turned back to face the arena.

Tenya was presently running away from his opponent, with a spreading patch of liquefied arena pooling around said opponent who was half sunken into it like he was in a swimming pool.

"This is going to be great," Kirishima declared, still not looking at the fight. "You get to train at Midoriya's place. He has helped me improve my fighting more than UA."

There was a long silence, except for the rest of the noises in the stadium.

"What is he talking about Fumi?"

"Midoriya said you could come train with us tomorrow. Ain't that great?"

"You don't have to come," Izuku said without looking at them, "but if you don't want to be dependent on Dark Shadow alone, you should."

"It would be an honour."

"Hey, why does Tokoyami get to go?" Kaminari complained.

"Because I say so," Izuku responded, more focused on Tenya's fight. He had been driven near the edge of the arena already. He'd have to do something very bold to grasp a win. Backed into a corner, literally, Tenya crouched like he was preparing for a sprint. His engines, properly cooled thanks to Todoroki, flashed and he wasn't there anymore. Knowing what to expect Izuku just about followed what happened.

Pushed forward by his engines Tenya initially streamed over the surface, reaching Honenuki who had no time to react. As Tenya's foot sunk into the liquid arena in front of him, the other delivered a full-force kick that sent him backwards with devastating force. Unfortunately, he was still half inside the arena and Tenya couldn't actually fly with his engines. He was already dipping into the liquid arena and the impact took most of his momentum. As soon as he sunk deeper into the liquid he began tumbling across the surface until he stopped some distance from Honenuki. Both of them were left floating on the surface, which began solidifying around them. Seeing this Tenya scrambled to get away but could only make sure his head remained above the surface as the arena hardened around him. Honenuki did not even move as he was left half inside the arena.

"Well…" Present Mic looked for the right words. "Did one of them win?"

"I don't think so," Aizawa said, "While Honenuki appears to be unconscious, Ida is also effectively pinned. If nothing happens by the time Midnight does the count it will be a draw."

Midnight moved to check on both students. The stadium was quiet, like actually quiet. Cementos too joined Midnight on the arena, probably intending to free Ida and Honenuki with his quirk once Midnight declared the match over.

"5… 6…"

Honenuki's head moved and Midnight fell quiet. Slowly the concrete around Honenuki softened on he dragged himself up with some effort. His feet shaky as he pushed first on his knees and then to his feet. Midnight raised her hand.

"Honenuki is still conscious and able to move. He is the winner."

Izuku couldn't join the cheering of the audience around them. In the end only Todoroki and Kirishima had moved on from their class and he could only watch as Honenuki freed Tenya from the concrete.

"What's wrong?" Said the infinitely irritating voice of Monoma, who was hanging over the divider between the audience segments for the different classes. "Are you surprised that the mighty class A is barely staying in the tournament?"

"What do you want?" Izuku said, not bothering to look at the quirk copier. "Our fight is next so choose your words wisely."

"You really trying to intimidate us? So typical for class A. You think yourself so much better, that you can do whatever you want."

"No, just that there is something wrong with you to constantly act like this. Did your parents drop you on your head as a kid? Brain damage doesn't always make people nicer you know."

"I guess we are going to find out after your so-called friend recovers. Such brutality from the supposed number one class."

Izuku finally looked up. Neither Hitoshi nor Tenya was there and others would not have recognized the signs or moved in time to prevent Izuku from taking out Monoma. The idea was certainly attractive.

"If you think this is going to somehow help you in our fight you are wrong, you're only digging your own grave deeper."

It must have been something in Izuku's voice as Monoma hesitated with his response until a giant hand slapped him from behind. An orange haired girl peeked over the divider and after a few seconds Izuku even remembered her name, Kendo.

"Sorry about him. We really don't know what's wrong with him, but he is a good planner. He can just get a bit too competitive."

"More like self-destructive," Izuku muttered.

"Did you say something?"

"No… Has he considered what I suggested before about trying to use our quirks together?"

"I don't think so. It seems like quite a big ask."

"It really isn't. I'm not even asking to borrow his quirk exactly."

At least that wasn't necessary to start with.

"Still seeking to get at our quirks," Monoma said barely audible behind the divider. "Did your classmates already figure out to avoid getting theirs taken? Probably keeping their distance and warning people to stay out of arm's reach."

Izuku was surprised to realize that behind the annoying tone Monoma's voice had a tint of bitterness. Maybe he was not just mocking Izuku. Kendo looked behind the divider at Monoma and then shrugged her shoulders at Izuku.

"He doesn't have to be interested in what you suggest. Hope you understand."

"We will have a short break and then move on with the second round," Midnight announced. "The fighters for the next match should proceed to their ready positions."

Izuku got up from his seat and headed for the door.

"I guess we'll have to continue this talk in the arena."

He encountered Tenya as he entered the corridor. The speedster was walking with his shoulders slumped and chin down. Izuku stopped just as they were passing each other.

"Decent job," Izuku said, approaching him, "just hesitated too long before making your move."

"I know. I was too focused on avoiding his quirk's effect until it was too late to safely reach him."

"Your quirk works great for running but it won't keep you flying for long, maybe sliding would work. You should probably consider that with your support equipment."

"That is probably a good idea, but shouldn't you concentrate on your own fight?"

"I am… but it's not the fight I'm interested in. Just have to be careful at the start in case he copies someone else's quirk before the fight. Don't worry about your loss. Your strengths are easy for people to see even besides family connections. This tournament isn't going to hold you back."

"I know, but I still failed."

"More training," Izuku said and kept walking. "Speaking of which, Tokoyami will join us tomorrow."

"Good to hear you are comfortable enough to have him around, and Dark Shadow."

"He knows part of the darkness I have to walk through."

"You even sound like him."

Izuku chuckled once as he walked out of Tenya's sight.