Days are getting shorter, and colder. Hopefully not too cold since that would help the little bald führer in the east. Well at least in this chapter getting cold is the thing Izuku most certainly doesn't need to worry about.

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Comments:

Chronolocked: If something like that happens, can't confirm or deny anything, everyone is going to have to make some difficult choices.

Psy-Kick: Thanks

Dsman: He decided to do it so it would be difficult to make him not to.

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Proofread by 3DPhantom

Chapter 43. A Heated Meeting

"Punch the wall," Izuku commanded Kirishima, pointing at the concrete wall next to them.

"Eh… why w…?"

"Do it," Izuku snapped, "punch the wall."

Kirishima was still staring wide-eyed out of confusion. He glanced at the wall before turning back to stare at Izuku. After a few seconds he turned to face the wall and raised his fist, ready, but gave another questioning glance to Izuku who nodded. Kirishima's arm hardened as he pulled his fist back.

"Wait, don't!" Izuku yelped. Kirishima blinked.

"But you told me to…"

"Yes… but don't use your quirk. I don't want to explain to dad that he needs to pay to repair UA stadium."

"Oh, sorry."

"Just do it."

Kirishma's arm returned to normal and he punched the wall softly, more like a tap just with a closed fist.

"Harder," Izuku commanded with a voice that did not allow the words to be questioned. Kirishma did as told and the second punch actually looked like a punch, but more like a friendly punch to the shoulder of a training buddy.

"Harder! Do it like you were in an actual fight."

Finally Kirishima swung his arm in a wide arch in a proper punch. It wasn't nearly as hard as he could do even without his quirk, but the sound of impact convinced Izuku it was enough for his needs. This was confirmed as Kirishima started nursing his fist with his other hand.

"Does it hurt?" Izuku asked, trying to keep the most obvious concern away from his voice for the moment.

"A bit," Kirishima answered. "I still don't get why I did that."

"Do you blame the wall for your hand hurting?"

"What? No, what do you mean?"

"Is it the wall's fault, your hand hurt punching it?"

"No, why would it… be responsible for what my punch did?"

"It isn't, and shouldn't. Remember that when you talk about your fight with Kaibara. He broke his own arm, not you. You were just the wall."

"Yeah, but…"

"No buts. You already carry around too much self-doubt… and you need to focus on your next match."

"Right," Dark Shadow whined. "You get to show what you can do beating each other up."

Dark Shadow let out another whine that sounded almost like crying.

"Is i… he okay?" Kirishima asked.

"Yes, unlike you they have something to blame themselves for." Izuku glanced at Tokoyami. "Sorry, that was…"

"The truth. Denying the shadow would not help us step out of it."

"I don't think you need to worry about it since Midoriya invited you to his place. It's going to be great, just wait and you'll see," Kirishima gave Tokoyami a thumbs up. At least he had cheered up from just a moment earlier. Tokoyami's expressions were harder to read, but he would probably have smiled if his beak bent that way.

"So," Kirishima continued, "were you in the middle of something? Todoroki's fight is about to start."

"No, we just finished," Izuku responded and gestured Tokoyami to follow, "you too should come watch rather than stand here just the two of you."

"Very well."

"I hope Todoroki wins quickly so we can get to our fight sooner," Kirishima declared as they walked.

"We spar every weekend," Izuku reminded him.

"That's not the same. This isn't just training. We are going to test our manliness head on in the arena for victory. You'll have to fight seriously."

"Why is everyone so interested in getting beaten up seriously?" Izuku muttered, wondering how Hitoshi was recovering.

"You can only get tougher if you get hit, so don't hold back."

Izuku sighed. "Well, at least that actually works in your case. Just remember people can't see that during the tournament. You aren't going to get any points for getting your ass kicked."

"Heh. If you can do that you can have my quirk for the final."

Izuku stopped mid-step like he had walked into a wall. Kirishima took two steps before realising and stopping himself.

"Did you just say what I think you said?" Izuku asked. Kirishima tilted his head.

"Eh… Yeah I guess. I mean you did it already once during lunch. It… isn't a problem right?"

"No… I'm just surprised… You sure?"

"Why not? I didn't even notice when you did it last time."

Izuku brushed his eyes and got his hand wet.

"Did I promise to get you a second quirk yet?"

"Ehh, you said something about it. Are you… going to make that as a bet?"

"No, no bets, just a promise." Izuku breathed in deep and got back some self-control. "I still need to get you that ass-kicking first."

"I'm not going to make it easy. Just… don't break a leg when you do it."

That got a laugh out of Izuku, and he patted Kirishima's shoulder as they kept walking.

They got back to their class just as Todoroki's fight started and leaned on the railing rather than sit down. As soon as Midnight declared the start of the fight Todoroki launched a stream of ice across the arena. The trio leaning on the railing quickly stepped back, but there was no instant glacier this time. After a few seconds they dared to move back to see what had happened. A layer of ice had spread across the arena but at least it had been more restrained this time.

Shiozaki had been able to mostly avoid the attack using her hair like legs to quickly move out of the way, but the attack had been too wide, the hair still had to touch the ground to move herself and the ice had spread from there. The glacier was smaller than before but she was at the top of it. Some of her green thorny hair had even gone for an attack, reaching towards Todoroki. The furthest strands were only a meter or so away from Todoroki before they were caught in the ice.

"She's faster than I thought," Izuku commented.

"Didn't think she'd almost win against Todoroki," Kirishima said.

"She didn't. She almost reached him, but that alone isn't enough to win against Todoroki, even if he is still only using his ice… crudely."

Izuku licked his lips.

"Apparently it doesn't make you less hungry eh," Kirishima had at least enough sense to whisper.

"Hss…" Izuku still hissed back.

"Right, sorry. Our fight is after the next one. Should we go get ready?"

"Sure," Izuku nodded, smiling as they left. This tournament was turning into a lot of walking back and forth. At least the corridor was clean and quiet and the company wasn't bad either, though Kirishima was outpacing Izuku, being already a few steps ahead.

"I can't wait for this fight."

"There is still a fight before ours. Moving faster isn't going to make it start any sooner," Izuku said and grabbed Kirishima's shoulder to hold him back before he could disappear in the stairway behind a corner. Kirishima stopped and half turned to face Izuku, a smile on his face. Izuku was going to say something nice about Krishima's excitement, but the words died in his mouth as a large form appeared behind Kirishima.

Endeavour had just stepped around the corner behind Kirishima. His head turned in slow motion until his eyes focused on Izuku. He quickly turned to completely face Izuku as both his arms raised a little, more prepared for a fight than seconds before. It was because of Izuku's quirk of course but he could at least take some pleasure in the fact that the so-called number two hero was at least a little afraid of him.

Only now Kirishima started realising something was going on. Glancing back he jolted and jumped to Izuku's side upon seeing the very large man.

"En… Endeavour."

The man ignored Kirishima as his stare focused on looking down on Izuku, as far as he could tell behind the beard and mask of literal flames that covered most of the man's face. Izuku responded to the stare without yielding a millimetre, but a nagging feeling in the back of his head reminded him of Tenya's warnings.

"You are the quirk stealer that is manipulating my son."

"I'm one of the people trying to be your son's friend after you raised him to barely understand the word. You really are a number two, and I am not talking about hero rankings."

Endeavour stared at him for a moment before his eyes widened and his lips pressed against each other, holding back anger. The heat that radiated from his constant flames got a little warmer. Izuku barely stopped himself from licking his lips. This was the quirk that let such a pile of garbage be considered number two hero.

"You disrespectful…"

"For sure," Izuku interrupted, "but respect is earned. Number twos like you haven't earned any."

"Midoriya," Kirishima whispered.

"You can't bow down in front of people like him. Remember what Todoroki told us, the other Todoroki," Izuku said, breaking his stare of the so-called hero long enough to talk to Kirishima eye-to-eye. He turned back towards Endeavour, continuing to talk to Kirishima.

"Not all villainy happens in dark alleys by people with mutations, or even most of it. Often it happens with those people you least expect it from."

"Bold words from a thief."

"You think repeating that accusation is going to achieve anything? It's something a middle school bully came up with."

Izuku paused for a long moment. He should have gotten past the large man quickly to be safe, especially since Kirishima was there too. Tenya's warnings repeated in his mind. On the other hand, one of the people he hated in this world was standing right in front of him.

"Not that an abuser like you is in any position to complain about anyone else."

Well, if he still had a chance to just keep walking it was gone now. Endeavour's stare hardened and the nagging feeling had turned into a real sense of danger. Izuku focused on not yielding in front of the stare. With Endeavour's size and the colour of his costume Izuku could at least imagine he was just facing a Nomu, except this one wouldn't stop if he told it to.

"Sometimes words can be dangerous. You might want to choose yours carefully."

"No, not my style. That's what dad keeps lawyers for. Also, what words I use don't change what you have done to your family."

"The only thing you need to worry about my family is to stay away from it, especially Shoto. He will be the greatest hero and doesn't need to be seen with people like you."

"People like what? People who would like to be his friends?"

"You brat. You know what I mean."

"And what would be so wrong with him having friends?"

"Shoto doesn't need friends. The purpose of his existence is to become the strongest hero. That is what I made him for and that is what he will do whether he likes it or not. Anything that doesn't help that doesn't matter, any sacrifice he needs to make he will make, and anything that stands in the way of that..."

Endeavour leaned forward, bringing his facial flames even closer to Izuku and lowered his voice. Izuku held his own wrist in what seemed like an expression of hesitation and uncertainty, but the same move had pulled his sleeve back slightly exposing most of his wristwatch. The one his dad had sent as a gift. Kirishima was standing next to Izuku, tense, and inched slowly even closer.

"Needs to stay away if it knows what is good for it."

"That sounds like a threat, but that wouldn't be very heroic. Should I take it as a threat?" Izuku asked sarcastically, struggling to keep a neutral, almost bored expression.

"At least you aren't stupid," Endeavour responded. "Shoto will be the most powerful hero, but to be number one he must also be the most popular. I don't want him to be seen with the quirk stealer unless he is defeating you."

"Well, it is good neither of us take orders from you then. But you should already know that for T… your own son… sons. Must have been a real disappointment when your abuse didn't make them submit to your will. Too bad you didn't learn after the first one."

"Them?" Kirishima muttered, surprised, but Izuku didn't have time to explain the discoveries of his research in peace. The burning reactor in front of them was about to blow the lid and Izuku had broken his cooling pumps.

"It was pretty shocking to hear how you have treated Shoto, but I was only surprised when I started looking into things more closely. It's pretty well known that you have three children. Not many know there is a fourth one, there was a fourth one, until there was a fire when he was alone. I wonder what you did to drive him into that."

Endeavour's flame bear flashed. Izuku squinted his eyes at the light and pure pressuring malice from the man. In an instant Endeavour's arm rose sharply, reached instantly for Izuku's throat with a hand that had caught fire. Despite the air cannon training Izuku wasn't moving fast enough to avoid it completely. Something yanked his shoulder and as he got pulled backwards a red mess of hair filled his vision. Endeavour's hand slapped Kirishima's face harmlessly as the redhead hardened in time.

Endeavour withdrew his hand, looking at it for a few seconds in surprise before his stare hardened again and focused on Izuku. Kirishima didn't move from the position he had taken between them. There was no sign of hesitation even when facing the number two so-called hero. Izuku drew a sharp breath, but slowly his hand squeezed in a fist with flames sparking over it and he met Endeavour's flaming stare with his ice-cold one.

"Kirishima, are you okay?" He asked without breaking his stare.

As Izuku spoke he grabbed Kirishima's arm and tried to pull him into a safer position, but he wouldn't budge from his protective position. It was like trying to move a boulder.

"Yeah, that was nothing. Not sure I can handle it if he cranks up the heat though," Kirishima responded and pushed Izuku's hand away.

"I knew you were evil, but to attack students at their school is low even for you."

"You brat, don't pretend to be innocent and keep your nose away from where it doesn't belong."

"Afraid I'd find something you don't want the public to know, besides what I already did of course, anything that would ruin your 'heroic' reputation? Now I am curious."

"Midoriya," Kirishima whispered in his best Tenya impersonation.

"You are walking on thin ice kid. Things can happen to people that take that kind of risk, especially for people with such villainous quirks. You could easily get arrested for trying to steal people's quirks if you don't know how to behave."

"Not really since I don't do that, unless you are suggesting you'd make false accusations. Thinking a judge would believe the number two 'hero' rather than the kid with a 'villainous' quirk?"

"I am glad I don't need to explain your position. Make no mistake. I can make your life very unpleasant and as far as anyone else is concerned it would be you who is considered responsible for getting burned, and I do mean that quite literally." Endeavour stepped to the side to walk past them. "Stay away from my Shoto."

"Piss off," Izuku responded after Endeavour passed Kirishima. The man froze mid step, figuratively speaking of course. "He needs to get away from you as soon as possible and I am going to help."

Endeavour's hands squeezed into fists. Izuku tensed to dodge faster this time, but under the anger his confidence was cracking. He might have gone too far or his stupid mouth did. Hero or not Endeavour was powerful enough to be considered the number two after All Might and while his aura wasn't as overwhelming it was far more malicious. Even he wouldn't get away with attacking students at school, probably, but if Izuku had pushed him to that point Izuku and Kirishima would not stand a chance.

"Hey!" A very familiar voice shouted, making Izuku's anger flash even surrounded by his fears. Kirishima sighed from relief. "Long time since the last time I saw you."

All Might was standing some distance down the corridor in his muscular 'hero' form. He was smiling and had his hand up in greeting towards Endeavour, but something in his eyes… If it was directed at Izuku he might not be able to fight it. The stare was backed up by the overwhelming power he had felt at USJ.

"I see you have met some of my students. I hope you aren't planning to chat for too long. They need to get in the ring soon."

"Of course, they would be your students," Endeavour sneered. "I don't care about them. Just make sure they don't get in my Shoto's way."

"If you are referring to the tournament, I believe that is what they are expected to do. Surely you want your son to be challenged by opponents giving it their all?"

"All Might," Kirishima said, "he…"

Izuku grabbed Kirishima's arm and pulled him to follow. The redhead fell quiet.

"We need to get to the arena," Izuku said in an emotionless tone.

"Oh, right." Kirishima finally started walking on his own rather than being pulled. He even stayed quiet as they walked down the stairs and far enough to not be seen or heard by the two top 'heroes'. Izuku drew a deep breath.

"Shouldn't we have told all might what just happened? Endeavour…"

"Did pretty much what I expected, maybe a little more straightforward," Izuku interrupted, "and even if All Might could do something about it I'd get burned before begging for his help."

"I still really don't understand why you feel like that about All Might?" Kirishima said. Izuku stopped and turned to stare at him.

"Sorry," Kirishima said quickly. "That's one of those things you don't want to talk about."

Izuku sighed.

"Yeah… maybe," he looked down. "Back there, you jumped between me and Endeavour. You must understand even you couldn't take it if he seriously decided to attack us."

"I guess. I wasn't really thinking about that. My… body just moved before I could think."

"Moved before you could think," Izuku muttered. "I hate that you risked it for me but… That might be the most heroic thing anyone has ever said to me."

"You think so?"

Izuku smiled softly. "Yes, very manly."

That got a wide smile on Kirishima's face. That said, there was still one thing Izuku had to address before he could face Kirishima in the ring. He turned to face away from Kirishima."

"Kirishima, back there before the whole getting attacked by Endeavour, you tried to tell me to stop, to hold me back at least."

Kirishima didn't say anything, probably not sure how to respond.

"Do you want to be another Tenya, trying to lecture me off of doing things when you disagree with what I am doing?"

"No, Midoriya I…"

"Because if you do you should at least use my first name. Otherwise, you sound like a teacher and that isn't going to work… Eijiro."

"Oh…" Kirishima gasped. "Sure, if that's okay with you Mi… Izuku. So you aren't… angry about that…?"

Izuku stepped back closer to Eijiro and reached an arm over his shoulders. They continued walking like that.

"Why would I be? I might not listen to you, especially in that kind of situation, but…" Izuku swallowed and blinked. "It is nice to know someone cares enough to try."

Eijiro gave him a blank stare for a few seconds before his lips stretched into a wide smile, again. He slapped Izuku's back.

"Sure Izukubro."

"Izukubro?" Izuku asked.

"Sorry. You don't like it?"

"You apologize too easily. At least it's better than what Toshi came up with."

"Oh, what was that?"

Izuku hesitated for a few seconds.

"Izu… also Zuku."

"Heh, Izubro, actually that sounds better."

Izuku held his face with his free hand, though there was still a smile on his face.

"What have I done?"

"Zukubro?"

"Oh shut up Kir… Eijiro."

"Okay," Eijiro said and actually kept his word. The previous fight was already over by the time they reached the ground level and stepped outside together.