When Izuku made it back up to 1-A's seats, the on site staff had just finished setting up for the next round. Hatsume-san against Asui-san.

"Where did you disappear off to, Mido-kun?" Uraraka-san asked. "You missed Iida-san's match."

Izuku put on his class rep smile. "I had faith in you Iida-san," he said, nodding to his classmate. "And I had a few personal things to take care of."

Bakugou snorted a few rows down. "Your old friends from Aldera cause any problems?"

Izuku rolled his eyes. "They do anything you can see from here?"

"Unless there's another Izuku here today," Ashido-san laughed pointing across the stadium and a bit lower in the stands.

Leaning over the front row of their section were Izuku's classmates, holding a banner that said "3E All The Way! Go Izuku Go!"

"I don't know why I expected anything less."

"I think it's sweet," Hagakure-san cooed. "You must be pretty close for your friends from middle school to come out to cheer you on."

Izuku's smile softened into something a little more real. "We are. And that might be cute," Izuku said pointing at the banner, "but they are not. Seriously, they're menaces."

"Now that the field has been cleared, lets get back to business!" Present Mic-sensei's voice filled the arena once again. "This time we've got another wildcard on the field. It's Hatsume Mei from the Support Course! She's facing off against her teammate from the last round Asui Tsuyu!"

"Anyone want to place bets?" Sero-san asked.

"Betting is highly inappropriate!" Iida-san jumped to his feet.

"Um…"

"Come on, Iida-kun, it won't be that bad."

"A little fun betting never hurt anyone," Ashido-san said, throwing her arm around Iida-san's shoulders.

"Would you want Tsuyu-chan to find out you bet against her?" Yaoyorozu-san spoke up.

"I wouldn't be betting against her," Ashido-san pouted. "And besides how would she find out?"

"So I can put you down as for Tsuyu-chan?" Sero-san grinned.

Aoyama-san hummed "I think I will also bet in favor of Tsuyu-chan," he said.

"Begin!"

Izuku sighed. "Do you really think you can keep the class's betting from the subjects?" he asked. "If you bet now, you'll bet later. And it would be more fair to everyone if you placed bets before the match started anyway."

Asui-san whipped out her tongue from where she was standing on the far side of the field. A clean and clear attack, probably aiming to restrain Hatsume-san before she could get out any of her gear.

A set of metal rods extended from Hatsume-san's hips, pushing her up and to one side, Asui-san's tongue flying past, missing completely.

"Welcome, everyone!" Hatsume-san's voice echoed through the speakers. "And I thank you in advance for your time today!"

"Does she have a microphone?" Kirishima-san asked.

"As you can already see, from this fantastic demonstration, my hydraulic attachment bars add an extra dimension of maneuverability to dodge all kinds of attacks!"

"Looks like it," Satou-san agreed. "What is she doing?"

"A sales pitch," Tokoyami-san hissed.

"What…"

"A born sales woman," Aizawa-sensei grumbled.

Hatsume-san landed back on the ground, and a small puff of dust kicked up from her clunky boots before she leaned forward and moved sliding across the ground like a skater, though there were no wheels in sight. "And my hover boots let you glide over the terrain, negating friction and saving energy all while actually gaining speed!"

She was moving incredibly fast by the time she reached Asui-san, but not fast enough to stop Asui-san from jumping away. Hatsume-san turned quickly, throwing out an arm to steady herself and aim a grapple gun into the air.

Jirou-san winced as Hatsume-san started describing the next gadget. "This is… uncomfortable to watch," she said.

Izuku felt his phone buzz in his pocket.

Kanzaki: I don't know what else I should have expected from a support course student.

He put his phone back. Not too much point responding to the group hat right now.

"Was Hatsume-san like this during the Cavalry Battle," Izuku asked, glancing towards Tokoyami-san.

"To an extant," Tokoyami-san nodded. "While she did not have the stage or attention to go quite this far, she was more concerned with 'showing off her babies' than anything else. Though I could not begrudge her for that. It is just as important for Support Course students to show off their work as it is for us to show our skills. But this… this sullies the contest."

"At least it is unlikely the rest of us will need to face her," Aoyama-san said. "I doubt she will see a need to continue after this."

The fight continued for ten uncomfortable minutes. Halfway through, Ashido-san and Tokoyami-san both decided their time was better spent preparing for their own match than watching the "fight." Izuku only saw two good things coming out of this match for him. One: he knew who he wanted to work with for support gear, if at all possible. Two: Asui-san didn't seem all that upset about the situation, so it was likely the pair had come to an agreement before hand. Which did technically lead to a third: there was no possible way Izuku would be facing Hatsume-san in future rounds.

Finally, Hatsume-san stepped out of bounds, satisfied that she had made a lasting impression on the support company representatives in the stands.

"Uh…"

"Asui-kun wins," Aizawa-sensei took over for a moment while Present Mic-sensei processed what had happened. "Now that that's over, let's get back on schedule."

"Right!" Present Mic-sensei snapped back. "Well done, Asui-kun! Hopefully you get a better chance to show off in the next round!"

Izuku winced. Asui-san's next match was against Todoroki-san. A bad match up for someone whose quirk made them temperature sensitive. Especially with Todoroki-san favoring ice.

"Alright, let's get back to something most of us can understand a bit better. We have Ashido Mina, from Team Bakugou, against Tokoyami Fumikage, the last member of the lucky Team Hatsume!"

"Any bets for this one?" Sero-san asked as Ashido-san and Tokoyami-san entered the field.

Izuku sighed. "Is everyone comfortable with betting? With being bet on? This should have been set up before hand, with agreed upon weights and balances, and I don't think any of us know each other well enough to not take it personally."

"Do you have a problem with the betting?" Hagakure-san asked.

Izuku shrugged. "I personally don't care, I'm used to being the underdog. But I don't want to deal with the fallout if someone finds out their friend bet against them."

The class fell silent. "He's got a point," Satou-san muttered into his popcorn.

"Begin!"

Attention snapped back to the arena. Ashido-san skated forward, sliding across the ground on streaks of acid that left tracks in the cement as Tokoyami-san held his ground, Dark Shadow-san bursting out and surging forward.

Ashido-san flung globs of acid forward, trying to ward off the approaching quirk. They sizzled, but did nothing to discourage Dark Shadow-san. The creature reached out with its large hand like appendages and pushed against Ashido-san, throwing its "weight" against her. The acid now worked against Ashido-san, as she had no grip to hold her ground against Dark Shadow-san as it pushed her back and back and out of the ring.

"Tokoyami-kun is the the winner!"

"A short and decisive match this time!" Present Mic-sensei cheered. "Though we will have to take a short break to fix up the stage before we move on to the next round. It seems like that's going to be a common theme this year!"

Asui-san hummed as she sat down next to Kouda-san. "That's too bad. Dark Shadow-chan must not be affected by Ashido-chan's acid. The next fight is Kirishima-kun, right?"

Yaoyorozu-san nodded. "Against class B's Shiozaki-kun."

"Okay, not betting," Ojirou-san said, "but do you have any ideas who's going to win, Midoriya-kun?"

Izuku shook his head. "It really all comes down to if Shiozaki-san's vines are stronger than Kirishima-san. For most people the thorns would be enough deterrent to stop them from struggling too much, but with Kirishima-san's Hardening, he won't be bothered by them. Conversely, his quirk encourages him to take on a slow fighting style, like a tank in a video game, which means it'll be easy for her to grab him in the first place."

Satou-san blinked. "Uh… and that means?"

Bakugou sighed. "She's gonna grab him with her vines, so he's gonna have to break out of them. And she might not be used to holding onto people who can actually fight back," Bakugou glanced up at Izuku. "Shitty Hair is gonna win. I thought you were the sunshine and roses and trusting people guy."

Izuku shrugged. "Being realistic is a life skill some people learn the hard way." That and Izuku was not about to ruin the reveal. He hadn't seen Kirishima-san use One for All yet, but it would easily be able to break through any vines.

"The arena is fixed," Aizawa-sensei drawled over the speakers. "Please don't break it again. We need to actually get through all these fights today."

"And that's why we've got Cementoss down there!" Present Mic-sensei said. "Big hand for the guy for making this possible, folks!"

The crowd whooped and cheered politely. Cementoss-sensei waved back at them and gave a mock bow.

"And really, Eraser, you know things aren't going to get any better as this goes on."

"I can hope."

"Well, either way, we've got another match to get started! We've got 1-B's assassin of thorns. Shiozaki Ibara against 1-A's rock solid Kirishima Eijirou!"

"Excuse me!" Shiozaki-san turned towards the commentators' booth. "What do you mean by calling me an assassin? I have not come here to kill anyone, but merely to do my best in this competition."

"Uh… sorry!"

"I do not believe I have done anything to earn such a scornful title-"

Midnight-sensei cracked her whip, not waiting for Shiozaki-san to finish. "Begin!"

"If I have done something wrong, please, tell me so that I may atone for my mistakes."

Kirishima-san, on the other hand, clearly didn't want to attack his opponent while they had their back turned. He shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot, glancing around the arena.

Bakugou slammed his fist on the railing. "Just start the fight already, Shitty Hair!"

Shiozaki-san now turned her attention to 1-A's seats. "Who just called my hair… that vulgar term!? That discriminatory language is not acceptable at this institution!"

Izuku put his head in his hands. Was this the thing that was going to get Bakugou in trouble? Of all the idiotic things, it wasn't even something he did.

"Uh, he was actually talking to me," Kirishima-san said, laughing nervously and pointing at himself. "But, uh, now that I do have your attention, maybe we should, you know, actually fight?"

Shiozaki-san hummed. "As you wish," she said. "Though your chivalry may have cost you the match."

Her vines plunged into the cement, and Kirishima-san moved, bolting forward, his skin hardening all across his body. He didn't move fast enough, though, and Shiozaki-san's vines exploded underneath him, wrapping around his limbs and holding him in place.

"An amazing first strike for Shiozaki-kun, now that the match has properly started!" Present Mic-sensei said. "But will it hold Kirishima-kun in place?"

Kirishima-san gritted his teeth and pulled. He opened his mouth and released a battle cry as his arms tore through the vines and he lurched forwards, legs breaking free a moment later. He moved with a speed he shouldn't have. Shiozaki-san only had a moment to be surprised before Kirishima-kun's fist slammed into her face and she dropped like a sack of flour, her vines falling limp on the ground beside her.

"Kirishima-kun breaks free and knocks out Shiozaki-san in one quick movement! Wow, that kid is fast! Eraser, have you seen him move like that before?"

"I haven't but it isn't uncommon for students to keep moves secret from their classmates leading up to the Sports Festival. It's likely that he's been downplaying some of his skills in class for moments like this. I hadn't seen Iida-kun use his Recipro Burst before today either."

Izuku leaned forward, trying to get a better look. Yagi-san drastically changed between his true form and his hero form when he activated One for All, but Kirishima-san looked largely the same. He wasn't bigger, or buffer. He was just Kirishima-san. Though… his skin looked a little rougher. Maybe a bit more jagged, and Izuku thought he could see some red from between the cracks, but it was hard to tell from here.

Bakugou huffed. "Told you, shitty nerd." He stood and started walking away. "You're next, Sparkles," he grunted as he walked past Aoyama-san.

Aoyama-san squeaked, and glanced at the rest of the class. "I'm doomed aren't I?" he asked after Bakugou left.

"Definitely," Asui-san said.

"Yeah," Satou-san nodded. "Honestly, just try to make it look good."

Dark Shadow-san poked his head out of Tokoyami-san and patted Aoyama-san on the shoulder.

"I'm sure you won't do worse than my showing against Todoroki-kun," Yaoyorozu-san said with a weak smile.

"I- I should go." Aoyama-san scurried out of the booth.

Izuku stood and stretched, watching as the medic-bots loaded Shiozaki-san into a stretcher with some help from Cementoss-sensei to free her and her vines from the arena. "I'm going to go chat with Kirishima-san," he said quietly to his little group of friends. "If any of you want to come with me, that's fine, but I doubt the next fight will last very long if you want to go prepare, Uraraka-san."

Uraraka-san nodded and grinned over at Sero-san. " I hope you're ready for me to kick your butt, Sero-kun!"

Sero-san grinned back, ignoring Iida-san's sputtering about sportsmanship. "Is that what's going to happen? Because I'm pretty sure I'm going to win this match!"

"Relax, Iida-kun," Hagakure-san said, pulling him away by the hand. "There's nothing wrong with a little trash talk between friends. It's how they get pumped up for the fight."

Iida-san sputtered again and Izuku snorted softly as he followed behind them. "It is still hardly appropriate to talk to an opponent that way!" Iida-san said. "It shows a fundamental lack of respect!"

"In some cases, sure," said Izuku. "That's why it's important to mention the between friends part. Neither of them was taking that too seriously. They were both smiling, it's fine."

Izuku's phone buzzed again.

Terasaka: which one's Aoyama again?

Izuku: the sparkly French boy with the belt.

Sugino: against blasty? RIP

Kanzaki: what is it the Americans say? Thoughts and prayers?

Ritsu: I believe that part comes after the tragedy.

Kimura: I don't think we're gonna need to wait very long.

"Hey! What are you guys doing down here?"

Izuku glanced up at Kirishima-san's voice, bouncing off the concrete walls of the stadium.

"Midoriya-kun suggested that we come check on you after your match," Iida-san said, chopping his hands.

"Aww, that's sweet, Mido-bro," Kirishima-san grinned. "But I'm fine, see?" He held his arms out to his side so they could get a good look at him.

And he did look fine. His gym uniform was practically shredded, but that was expected. It was going to snag and tear on Shiozaki-san's vines. But…

"Your skin looks redder than normal," Hagakure-san said. It looked like she was poking Kirishima-san arm, judging by the odd indent that appeared and disappeared a few times before she backed off.

"Yeah," Kirishima-san laughed nervously. "Shiozaki-san's vines must have irritated it or something."

Izuku gently took one of Kirishima-san's hands and lifted his arm to look closer. It was true that his skin was red in general, and clearly irritated, but it didn't quite look even to Izuku. Faint jagged lines that were slightly more red than the rest ran up and down the limb, just barely visible. They didn't line up right for them to have been caused by the thorns. Really, they looked more like the edges his skin got when he used his quirk.

Izuku dropped the hand and stepped back. "Keep an eye on it," he proclaimed. If he needed to spell out the truth to Kirishima-san, he could do it later in private. "If it gets worse you should see Recovery Girl-sensei."

A boom echoed from the arena and the group collectively winced on Aoyama-san's behalf. "Did he have to go that hard?" Hagakure-san grumbled.

Iida-san made a noise of agreement while Kirishima-san frowned. "What's wrong with giving it your all?"

"Well, nothing," Hagakure-san said slowly. "I just don't think he needed to use that much force against Aoyama-kun."

"Bakugou does have a problem with excessive force sometimes," Izuku hummed. "But rarely when it comes to people."

Iida-san raised an eyebrow in Izuku's direction. "You think he needed that much to beat Aoyama-kun?"

"To beat him? No. But Aoyama-san won't be excessively injured. And in a situation like this… how do you think Aoyama-san would feel if he found out that Bakugou didn't give everything he could? How would you feel if you lost to someone who wasn't even trying?" Fuck Todoroki-san. If he didn't learn soon, he was going to get someone killed.

Kirishima-san nodded, his infectious grin growing across his face. "Yeah, man, that's exactly what I'm talking about! Bakugou-kun doesn't treat anyone like they're weak!"

Iida-san was still frowning, but he nodded slowly. "I suppose I can understand that perspective. And that means there will be no hard feelings after I beat you in our match, Midoriya-kun?"

Izuku fought down a laugh, keeping his smile perfectly civil. "What makes you think you're going to win, Iida-san?"

Iida-san's arms chopped the air. "A simple intelligence quirk like yours won't be enough to outpace my engines, Midoriya-kun," he said. "Surely you know that."

Izuku shook his head. "The gift of intelligence isn't in reaction time. And I hope for your sake that Nedzu-sama doesn't check the cameras back here." The strength of intelligence was preparation, something it seemed Iida-san was going to learn the hard way. Though speaking of, there were a few things that he was going to have to grab before his fight with Iida-san. "I'll see you on the field," he said with a short wave over his shoulder.

"Er, yes, of course!" Iida-san sputtered. "We must both give our best!"

Izuku rolled his eyes and shook his head softly as he rounded the corner out of sight, then winced. Iida-san probably wasn't going to take his loss well, but it was going to happen one way or another. Hopefully his family was a bit more flexible and understanding than Iida-san acted.

It wasn't something Izuku could afford to worry about right now. Iida-san had everything he could possibly need to be a hero. He had a great quirk, strong connections, and a leg up in training. He had already been taught basic sparring and techniques by his family, and had plenty of second hand stories to help guide him.

Izuku had his wits and a rule book.