Days are getting shorter but at least the anime is back so here's a chapter for that. I hope you like it and if you don't, don't go burning any bridges, unless you are Ukrainian in which case go all out.

.

Comments:

SonicMax: I hope you are satisfied with the fight even if everything doesn't fit your earlier wishes.

GgeorGge: Wielding quirk?

.

Proofread by 3DPhantom

Chapter 42: Breaking Mind and Arm

Izuku stepped onto the arena. It was a lot quieter compared to previous fights. Monoma entered from the opposite side with a wide smile and generally friendly expression. Izuku was immediately on alert. Even Present Mic couldn't distract him from that.

"We are going to start the second round with a fight between Izuku Midoriya of class 1A, who already demonstrated his extensive fighting skills in the first round. His opponent from class 1B is Neito Monoma who showed he can have more tricks up his sleeves than one might expect."

"To be fair you could say the same for both of them," Aizawa added. "Either one could surprise us."

"It really is great to be here, even if having so many people watching us makes me a bit nervous," Monoma said still with his fake smile. He raised his hand offering it for a handshake. "Let's have a good match."

Izuku's hand inched a little upwards before he stopped and hardened his stare. He wasn't going to fall for such a simple trick.

"What's wrong. I thought a handshake is the proper way to start a friendly match. It… is going to be friendly right?"

Monoma made his voice shake like he was getting afraid while still keeping his hand up ready for a handshake, making sure everyone saw it.

"Please, I don't want to go to the hospital like your previous opponent."

"Can you believe that Midoriya kid?!" Someone in the audience shouted. How could anything be heard understandably that far from such crowd still baffled Izuku.

"Really? He steals quirks, did you expect him to be some beacon of morality?"

Izuku sighed. "You can drop the act. Both of us know you are just trying to touch me to copy my quirks."

"You might know," Monoma whispered, maintaining his fake expression, "but they won't. For people like us people are more than willing to assume the worst. So want to convince them more or…?"

Izuku kept staring at Monoma for a moment then smirked, for more than one reason. He raised his hand to accept Monoma's handshake.

"And you already know that both our quirks work through touch, except only one of us can use his after that."

Monoma froze still just as he was about to grab Izuku's hand and yanked his back.

"What's wrong, don't want to start with a friendly handshake after all?" Izuku taunted, glancing towards the audience.

"He wasn't being serious?" Some people in the audience at least noticed.

"I wouldn't shake hands with the Quirk Stealer either."

"So one refusing to shake hands shows bad morals and other refusing is what you would do?"

At least the whole stadium had one person with potential.

"Are you ready?" Midnight took control of the situation, forcing Izuku to focus on his opponent. "Start!"

"I hope I didn't ruin your whole plan," Izuku said, raising his hands in a fighting stance. "Then again you probably already copied someone else's quirk like with Toshi. So whose would you use against me? Either you need to keep your distance and attack from there or get something that helps you with hand-to-hand combat…"

As Izuku spoke Monoma's skin turned into metal and he charged. Izuku ducked and jumped to the side, avoiding the first punch.

"… and protection from my Dragon Blades wouldn't hurt either, smart. You picked a strong quirk, just made one mistake."

"And what would that be?" Monoma asked while swinging at him again.

"I have trained against basically the same power, you know the guy who beat the guy whose quirk you are using," Izuku dodged effortlessly again and lit a Dragon Blade formed as a shield. "The question is if you are a better fighter than him. So far, I'm not impressed. Don't burn your fingers."

He flashed the flaming shield hotter just as Monoma launched another punch but Monoma didn't pull back or even jolt as his fist hit its mark. The same couldn't be said about Izuku who got shaken to his core and pushed back. It wasn't as much force as Kirishima could hit with but still a lot more than someone could do without a quirk. Izuku bit his teeth together from the pain until it eased. Monoma made sure to hold his fist against Izuku's shield for a few seconds as he recovered.

"You might think less of our class, but is that Kirishima also fireproof? Didn't think so."

Monoma launched another punch. Izuku, having seen the limited usefulness of his shield, understood the brute force of the attacks would be too much for him to stop head on without breaking something. As he recovered from the first attack there wasn't enough time to properly dodge so Izuku had to give in and lean back from the attack. As he leaned far enough away from the attacking fist he shut off his shield and reached his arms backwards.

Izuku's hands touched the floor and he began a backflip. Normally he would have gone for a simultaneous kick on the chin but after breaking Hitoshi's, he hesitated rather than going with his instinct. A fraction of a second later he realised the chin was made of steel.

He returned to his feet and had just enough time to dodge the next attack. Monoma was now fighting faster, but also more haphazardly. It wasn't enough though. After dodging a couple of punches, Izuku jumped backwards, boosting his distance with his jets.

"You seem to be in a hurry," Izuku said while jogging sideways to keep his distance from the approaching Monoma. "Does your copy perhaps have a time limit? Shouldn't have wasted time trying to mess with my reputation."

"Says the coward who is just running away."

"So now I'm a coward. Wasn't I supposed to be some kind of violent maniac or a thief?"

"You are going to be declared the loser if you just keep running away."

The steel was still holding up on Monoma so Izuku flicked his arm and launched a blue but relatively weak Hellfire Arrow at him. Monoma dodged the first one but couldn't change directions before the second one hit. As the smoke cleared Monoma had been thrown on his back by the impact but his steel defence was intact, not even a scratch. There was just a little bit of steam rising from where he was hit.

"You sure you don't want to test if our quirks can work together?" Izuku asked, strolling towards Monoma who scrambled to get up.

"I'm not going to fall for your trick to take my quirk."

"If I wanted to take your quirk I could and the consequences would be no different than if I tricked you, but fine. I can test all I want to know with Tetsutetsu's quirk while you have it."

He said it confidently, but that same quirk meant he didn't have much chance restraining Monoma long enough to test, not physically at least. Luckily that and his All For One were exactly the threats Monoma was focused on. He was back on his feet still steely and visibly tense as Izuku approached. His stance left one of his hands remaining mostly open in a very Bakugo like way to more easily use his quirk.

"You should be careful about using your quirk on me," Izuku said. "Usually people only have one quirk to copy. You might get more than you can handle and I won't be responsible for the consequences."

"You think I couldn't handle your quirk?" Monoma responded, too focused on the discussion about their quirks to think of stopping himself. He was left quiet after that, standing still and staring into the empty air.

"After beating Yaoyorozu with this I thought you'd be more careful," Izuku said as he stepped in front of Monoma, who didn't, couldn't, respond. Izuku raised his hand and put it on Monoma's forehead. "In battle you need to watch for more than one threat at a time."

Izuku focused on his quirk and those laying within Monoma. At least there were supposed to be more than one. Monoma's skin was still steel, but… Izuku could only sense one quirk. There was a strange feeling around it he hadn't experienced before, but there was only one quirk factor, that much he could be certain about.

"What is he doing?"

"He's taking his quirk!"

"Someone stop him!"

"Silence!" Aizawa's voice boomed across the stadium. "If you can accept freezing someone inside a glacier during a match and cheer you have no right to whine at a persons' quirk being taken during the match."

Izuku wanted to smile hearing his teacher's voice, but at the same time he could feel Monoma's skin changing under his fingers and also felt a change in the one quirk in Monoma. He bit his teeth together and frowned as he let go.

"It would have been too good to be true," Izuku muttered and looked at Monoma who was still staring into nothingness. Izuku had won. The match would end as soon as he ordered Monoma to leave the arena. It didn't even feel like he had tried, but that was how good Hitoshi's quirk could be. If everyone could just see that.

"Are you… going to do anything with him?" Midnight asked, having come closer. "I can just do the count."

"Yeah…" Izuku paused mid response and reached out for her microphone. "Can I?"

"What do you want it for?"

"You've heard what people think about me and my quirk… and not just me."

She looked at him for several seconds, but eventually nodded and gave him the microphone. Izuku took it but breathed in deep and hesitated for several seconds before bringing it in front of his mouth.

"Ladies and gentlemen, especially those calling yourself heroes…"

He was doing his best to keep unnecessary sharpness away from his voice, he really was.

"I would like to introduce you the quirk Brainwashing. For the whole day you have seen students fight and beat each other with everything from fists to ice and of course with a healthy dose of risking injury to one or the other, you know a bit like your job, not just restraining villains, but beating them in a risky fight. Wouldn't it be nice to skip that part about risking injury?"

Izuku made some grand gestures towards Monoma who was still standing in the exact same spot, not having moved a millimetre.

"Completely pacified, restrained and easily to arrest with zero resistance or violence needed. I could make him walk straight to Tartaros itself if I wanted to, and this isn't even the first fight today to be ended by this quirk. You could have this capability for your agency, and be backed by the brain and tongue needed to make it efficient. Just send an offer of internship to the owner of this quirk, Hitoshi Shinso of UA class 1A, and make it more worth his time than any other offers."

"Do the count Midnight," Aizawa's tired voice said from the speakers as soon as Izuku's stopped.

"Are you done?" Midnight asked.

"Yes," Izuku handed the microphone back, "I hope it mattered."

"The words alone maybe not, but with the demonstration you put up most certainly yes. A proper visual demonstration can do wonders in getting people's attention." She winked and leaned forward in a posture that pushed her chest outwards, towards a now blushing Izuku. "Trust me, I know."

She stood back up straight and began counting down towards Monoma's loss while Izuku tried to stop blushing and remind himself of the superficiality of heroes more focused on 'visual demonstrations' than helping people.

"… Two… one… zero. The winner is Izuku Midoriya by… a knockout, I think."

Izuku raised his hand and flicked a finger at Monoma's forehead hard enough to wake him. Monoma jolted and took several steps before stopping to stare at Izuku.

"You…"

"Won," Izuku said. Monoma's stare hardened.

"Give my quirk back right now."

"Never took it. I didn't exactly have any use for it in a one versus one fight. More importantly your quirk doesn't actually create a copy of people's quirks. It just replicates their effect, or something like that, still very impressive. It means your quirk is doing all of the things the quirks it copies did. I can't imagine how it does that, but I couldn't even feel the Steel quirk in you."

Izuku turned away.

"Since you don't want anything to do with me, I won't bother you about our quirks. Just make sure to not complain when people suspect or fear you because of your quirk. Not when you think the exact same way as they do when it comes to others' quirks." Izuku paused. "Also… I was serious about not using your quirk on me. Having multiple quirks can be a strain and even I need time to adjust when I increase my number. If your quirk tries to copy multiple at once that could have unexpected consequences."

He walked away, not showing any joy at his victory. As far as he was concerned the whole thing with Monoma had been a total waste of time. Maybe mass-producing copies of quirks would have been too good to be true. Well, at least the sports festival was almost over. He just needed to make sure he wouldn't get buried under a glacier and survive whatever Hitoshi had to say about the stunt he just pulled. Izuku knew he'd either apologize or laugh by the end of it.

He met Kirishima in the corridor coming down for his own match. The redhead raised his arm and the two fist-bumped as they met.

"Great match… and speech," Kirishima said.

"Thanks. It was a decent warm-up for our match I guess."

"Heh, I still have to win mine first."

"I have faith in you. Show them how to use your kind of quirk properly."

"Thanks. I'll do my best."

Izuku passed him and continued towards the stairs a bit happier than when he had left the arena. He made sure to walk a bit faster, wanting to see the whole drill-vs-wall fight. He got back to his class just in time as Midnight declared the start of the fight. Kaibara charged forward right away, turning his arms into large drills. Kirishima hardened and also charged, fist raised. It seemed like it was going to be a head-on meeting of brute force. At the last moment Kirishima twisted his body and shifted to the side to avoid Kaibara's direct attack and deliver a punch from the side, a smart choice made just in case Kaibara could actually hurt him.

With Kirishima's ability to hurt Kaibara there wasn't even that small doubt so Izuku couldn't claim surprise as Kaibara did the exact same thing in the opposite direction. Both passed each other, pulled out of balance by their over-extended punches. Izuku's pen scratched against the paper of his notebook without him even looking at it.

While Kirishima corrected his position with great agility he was still slowed by his hardened state and adjusting it on the move. Kaibara didn't have that problem as his quirk only increased how his body could move. He spun around and launched another attack. Kirishima having only just steadied his stance barely had enough time to raise his hardened arms. Kaibara's drilling punch hit right in between them with full force and continued drilling after the initial punch, and drilling, and drilling…

Kirishima peeked from behind his raised arms and while it was impossible to see from this far away, he was probably smirking, thought that wasn't necessarily a very Kirishima thing to do. Apparently he had gotten an answer to the question about Kaibara's ability to hurt him.

Without hesitation Kirishima's fist launched forward in a counterattack, but using one of his feet as a pivot point Kaibara used his quirk to literally spin out of the way. He used the momentum to hop beyond arm's reach. As soon as both of his legs were solidly on the floor again his entire upper body began spinning. Kirishima charged forward to deliver a punch that would end the match no matter how much Kaibara spun except….

He had extended his arm out from his spinning body. The spin accelerated his fist to a speed no human could achieve without a suitable quirk and the two fighters were again on a collision course. It was too late for Kirishima to stop his attack or do anything except maybe increase his hardening. It was hard to say from far away.

Kaibara's drill-like hand impacted right in the middle of Kirishima's chest. The speed and sheer momentum of the impact pushed Kirishima back. He slid on the concrete for a couple of meters but succeeded at staying on his feet. Meanwhile Kaibara's spin destabilized, and he took several seconds to stop and find his balance.

Kirishima bent his upper body back to upright, having been pushed backwards by the impact. With his opponent at a safe distance the first thing he did was to glance down. There was a large hole torn into his shirt right in the middle of his chest but there wasn't any sign of even the smallest injury. Kirishima's movements themselves only suggested surprise at most. If there had been any doubt after the first attack, the question between drill and wall had been settled after the second. Wisely Kirishima quickly moved his attention back to his opponent, holding a proper stance despite his clear advantage.

In the meantime, the whole stadium got to hear Kaibara's scream as he held his hand close to his chest, a bit crouched forward protectively. Kirishima dropped his stance and reached one hand forward apologetically as he took a step closer, only stopping as Midnight gestured him to.

"Oh great," Izuku sighed.

"He's going to blame himself for that," Ashido finished Izuku's thought. "It's just like back in middle school. A lot of other people even blamed him then."

Midnight talked to Kaibara and checked on his hand. As Kaibara moved it for her to see better Izuku could see the whole hand hanging unnaturally, not just from the wrist but the forearm itself. Considering the force of the impact Izuku was surprised Kaibara's arm was still properly attached on his shoulder. His quirk had to provide some reinforcement to his body even if it was clearly insufficient.

"What was he thinking hitting that hard if he couldn't handle it?" Izuku muttered.

"Most likely," Tenya said, "he saw Kirishima's endurance before and thought his normal attacks wouldn't work."

"So he just went all out not thinking about his limits," Izuku finished. "Probably so… You think their quirks would work well combined?"

"I… don't think Kaibara is planning to sell his."

"I know," Izuku sighed. "Still, they could be a great match. Imagine Kirishima using that same attack."

"My bones are hurting just thinking about it. Still, no."

Izuku turned to look at the arena again and brushed his chin.

"I wonder what would happen if he had a flexibility enhancing quirk. Would they work together or contradict each other?"

"Should I be worried that I'm not even surprised by what Midoriya is saying?" Kaminari said.

"I'm not sure anymore," Sero responded.

"I just wish I had an extra quirk to sell him," Uraraka muttered. Izuku glanced at her, but was more interested in Tokoyami, who was standing in the shadow of the exit corridor. Still holding Dark Shadow in his arms like before. Izuku sighed and turned away from the sunny arena below to step into a literal shadow.

"How are you doing?" He asked.

"Well enough. I am trying to review my mistakes during our battle."

"Sorry Tokoyami, I was actually talking to Dark Shadow." The quirk creature perked up in Tokoyami's arms.

"I failed Fumi. I don't care what you say about his skills. Now he won't get a good internship. Everyone thinks he has a bad quirk like they did with Shinso after you broke him."

Izuku needed a few seconds to pull out the figurative knife Dark Shadow had stabbed his heart with.

"You'll have new chances to show you are a great quirk. You just need to work with Tokoyami and not blindly attack."

"Even then, people got to see how good washing brains could be, Fumi won't have another chance today and that's what matters to that internship thing. The sleepy man even said this is one of only three chances in a lifetime."

"It's okay Dark Shadow. We will still become heroes. We just have further to go than we thought."

"Then shouldn't you get a better intern place?" Dark Shadow asked.

"That would help greatly, but we cannot change it anymore."

"Why not? Brainwashing got a second chance, and third."

"That is because I could borrow the Brainwashing from Toshi without being smashed through the wall by it," Izuku said. "Trying to take you from Tokoyami wouldn't work out that well. It's why you wanted to kill me before, remember?"

Dark Shadow's wings and 'head' flopped down in disappointment.

"We shall have our new chance in time," Tokoyami assured the shadow-bird, but Dark Shadow didn't seem to care.

"You will," Izuku said "and Dark Shadow, you are more than powerful enough to convince people of it. Tokoyami is lucky to have you."

"Certainly," Tokoyami agreed, but Dark Shadow didn't seem to believe them. For a moment no one said anything until Izuku pulled out a notebook and spoke again.

"So, if you still want to join us tomorrow for training, I'll text you the address. We usually start at 9am. You can get some good practice with hand-to-hand combat. Not sure yet how to help Dark Shadow train."

"We appreciate all of the help you are offering. Those who train with you do seem to excel in our practical exercises no matter what kind of shadow the school casts their way. If you are certain you are comfortable with opening your home to us. I have understood that-"

"It's okay," Izuku interrupted. "Having more people visit makes it feel less empty. I just… need to make sure those people don't cast even darker shadows inside."

"I understand," Tokoyami nodded.

"So, what's your number?"

Izuku had just written Tokoyami's phone number down when Kirishima walked past them. He barely acknowledged them, looking at the torn sleeve of his arm and occasionally feeling the much larger hole over his chest. Izuku reached out to grab Kirishima's shoulder just before he got out of arm's reach. He didn't pull hard but the surprise from the yank was enough to stop Kirishima. He turned to look at Izuku, surprised, but didn't have the time to say the question in his eyes.

"Punch the wall," Izuku commanded.