Ignited Spark

by 3PeopleInACoat

When Midoriya Izuku was four years old, his quirk finally manifested - not a combination of his parents' quirks, but an entirely different mutation of its own. With the ability to blast lightning out of his body, a horrible accident convinces Izuku to give up his dreams of becoming a hero. But with the help of two girls, Izuku finds the inspiration to fight and become a true hero!

29. Round One, Part One

"I asked, what is One for All?"

There was a pause after those last three words left Nejire's lips. And then, Itsuka's body moved without even thinking through her actions.

One moment, she was staring blankly at Nejire, her face going pale as her mind finally registered that the blue-haired girl had not dragged her off to talk about her (or rather, their) crush on Izuku, and was actually talking about something a hundred times worse. And then the next moment, she had crossed the room faster than either of them could blink, and quickly brought up one hand to clap over Nejire's mouth, using the other one to roughly shove the blue-haired girl up against the door.

Nejire let out a muffled squeak of surprise as she was roughly pressed against the closed door. Itsuka kept her momentarily pinned against it, her eyes widened in panic - both at the question itself, and just how … loudly Nejire had said it, immediately pushing Itsuka into parnoia as she felt her mouth open and close in an attempt to stammer something - anything - out.

"I - uh -" She managed to say, having absolutely no idea what she was even supposed to say - and not even thinking about what she was supposed to do, now that terror was starting to get to her, and feeling guilty as she realized that she had pretty much shoved Nejire up against the door -

- and then, she suddenly felt something wet and soft flick against her open palm where Nejire's mouth was.

Staring at the hand she had there for a second as she realized what her classmate was doing, Itsuka let out a yelp as she quickly withdrew her hand that she had been keeping over Nejire's lower face, the sight of the blue-haired girl's tongue flicking out of her mouth confirming what she had been doing, and quickly turned her hand around to look at her palm in shock and exasperation, seeing what was obviously saliva there.

"Did - did you just lick me?!" Itsuka stared down in shock at her hand while Nejire, at least, had the sense to look embarrassed.

"Sorry!" She apologized quickly, going red. "It's just - well, sometimes Yuuyu also pins me against something and covers my mouth - y'know, when I go on and on about something - and I just kind of reacted automatically! I'm really sorry about that, Kendou, I - I know Yuuyu doesn't like it when I do it either. Like - last week, when I came back from -"

"Hadou," Itsuka felt herself wince a bit at her interruption, her heart still hammering in her chest, "I'm really sorry, but - but I need you to be quiet for a minute."

Nejire blinked a bit at the request to be quiet, but still quickly nodded as Itsuka finally took a step back to give her some space, lowering her spit-covered palm to wipe it against her pant leg. With a sigh, Itsuka continued to move back, regretful of how she had slammed Nejire against the door and wanting to back up so both girls weren't up in each other's business, moving to stand near the lockers as she raised her other hand to cover her eyes.

There was a moment's pause as she managed to get her thoughts back in order, feeling her stomach clenching tightly and her heart hammering quickly. Okay. Okay, so - so somehow, Nejire had found out about … about One for All.

Which … was pretty bad, Itsuka winced. If Nejire knew, then … then who else could know? It wasn't like Nejire was someone known to keep her inner thoughts to herself - but - okay, okay, no, she needed to calm down. She needed to … to approach this calmly.

She needed to know what exactly Nejire knew before she could do any damage control.

"Hadou," She said at last, taking a small, deep breath, "can you … please tell where you - where you heard about … that. It's -"

For a moment, she thought about trying to pass One for All off as nothing, just something small and needless … but, seeing as that would only cause more suspicion after her initial knee jerk reaction to hearing the name of her secret second quirk coming from Nejire's lips was to slam her up against a wall, she shook her head.

"- just … tell me where you heard those words."

"Uh …" Nejire paused for a moment, clearly unsure about what exactly Itsuka was thinking - which, to be fair, she couldn't blame her, the orange-haired girl winced, as she was currently struggling as well - and then quickly nodded.

"… okay. Okay, Kendou, I'll - I'll explain. Really quickly!"

"Right," Itsuka nodded.

"So, uh … well, I was coming back down to the bottom floor after talking to Midoriya," Nejire started, "after he went to the showers to warm up after being frozen by Todoroki. Midoriya got dragged off by him, by the way, to get questioned about stuff about you - you know, being All Might's secret love child -"

"All Might's what?" Itsuka felt her jaw drop, but then quickly caught herself and gave her head a shake when Nejire looked around at her in question. "I - sorry, Hadou, k-keep going. I'll ask you about … uh … whatever Todoroki was going on about later. S-so - so you, Izuku and Todoroki were down on the ground level."

"Right! So they were talking about …" Nejire hesitated for a moment, "… uh … stuff. And then after Todoroki left, me and Midoriya went to the showers, and we were talking about our favorite foods."

"Okay …"

"And then when he went in to warm up, I had the thought that, you know, if Midoriya was going to be in the showers for a while, it'd be nice if I brought him some lunch after he was done! You know, so he didn't have to run back upstairs and grab something to eat, since it's definitely kind of a walk to get from the showers down there to the cafeteria upstairs. Anyway, by the time I got back, though, I saw him walking away with you -"

Oh, god, Itsuka thought to herself, feeling herself shake as she immediately realized what had happened.

"- and you looked … kinda serious. Really intense! So I thought something was wrong, and … I followed you guys." Nejire, for her part, had the decency to look guilty and disappointed in herself. "I'm sorry about that, it was just … I wasn't really thinking, since Todoroki's been such a jerk today, I just saw you two walking off all serious like, and thought that, hey, maybe something was up!"

"Okay."

"So I followed you guys, and I saw you two walk into Recovery Girl's office. I was gonna wait for you two to be done after Toga-senpai left, so I decided to wait outside the door …"

"Oh, fuck," Itsuka muttered to herself, closing her eyes.

"… and … I heard you talking to someone about … traces?" Nejire wrinkled her brow as she tried to remember exactly what she heard. "Traces breaking you out of Shinsou's quirk? You saw … ghosts?"

Itsuka bit her lip.

"It was all … uh … it was super interesting," Nejire poked her cheek, unable to stop a small smile appearing on her face, "and I was just … wondering if you could tell me more about it! Like, when whoever you were talking to was saying something about you and - I think it was Midoriya - going up to get lunch, I kind of skedaddled out of there. And I'm still super curious about whatever One for All is, but …" Her smile faltered at the look on Itsuka's face, "… but now that I see how you're reacting, I think this One for All thingy is … something that I wasn't supposed to hear."

"I …" Itsuka hesitated for a moment, and then sighed while glancing away.

"… no. No, you weren't."

WIth that ominous statement, there was a short pause in the room - and then Nejire tilted her head.

"So, um …" She looked hesitant, "… I get it if you don't wanna tell me, but … can I know what One for All is, Kendou? If - if that's cool?"

At that question, Itsuka found herself keeping quiet for a moment, staring at Nejire with clear uncomfortableness - obviously, the answer to that question was a curt 'no, you cannot'. Because quite honestly, Itsuka winced at the mean thought, of all the people she would trust One for All's secret to, it wouldn't be the one person who would poke her nose into it harder than Izuku was barely restraining himself from doing.

If Nejire found out about it - the whole thing, from it being a quirk that could be passed on to All Might being the previous user (and honestly, she thanked whatever god above that Nejire hadn't recognized the voice she had been talking to in Recovery Girl's office) - she would want to know everything about it, every tiny detail that Itsuka wouldn't know. And he would have no idea how to even explain to All Might that she told the biggest secret in Japan to the one girl who liked to go off on ramble sprees without thinking much about what she talked about.

Add to the fact that Nejire only found out about the concept of One for All by complete accident … right now, she needed to do some serious damage control. Nejire knew about 'traces' and them breaking her out of Shinsou's quirk, and that she was talking to someone else about it, and that Izuku may or may not be in the know. That was it. That was all she knew.

So right now, Itsuka needed to come up with something - anything - that would prevent Nejire from poking her nose into One for All more than she already accidentally had.

But … but quite honestly, Itsuka knew as well how tired she was, she furrowed her brow. Not just physically tired, but mentally tired. Her emotional talk with Ochako from earlier and her hug with Izuku had … taken a lot out of her, and right now, she just felt nervous, miserable and exhausted. Even if she tried to come up with some elaborate story, she just … didn't have the mental capacity to get Nejire off of One for All's trail right now, not with anything convincing. Maybe later, when she took a break or had some kind of nap before, but … but not now. Not when her nerves were high and she would obviously stumble over her words trying to explain.

She had expected to come into this room having no choice but to break Nejire's heart over her feelings for Izuku. Not … not this.

But … but she had to try, at least. Not giving Nejire any kind of answer would only backfire on them in the long run. So, with a small sigh, she straightened up again and looked back over at Nejire as the curious girl tilted her head somewhat to the side, looking a bit confused as to why Itsuka had been so quiet for so long.

"Uh … listen, Hadou …" She took a moment to pause before she said anything else, trying to think up something smart to say, something good enough to get Nejire to back off on this -

- and for some reason, she came up with, "… what you heard before, you - you should probably forget about it."

There was a short pause. Nejire gave her a … well, not a judgmental or skeptical look, but it was certainly not a positive one, what with the way her eyebrows raised. At the look, Itsuka sagged her shoulders in defeat.

"Okay, that was - that was weak, I admit," She shook her head, biting her lip slightly again as she glanced back over at Nejire, "but … I …"

"…"

"… look," Itsuka sighed, raising her hand to rub her eyes, "I'll be honest, Hadou, I - I really don't have the mental fortitude right now to give you a proper explanation."

She found herself a bit surprised that she admitted that so freely, but … but at this point, she couldn't help but not care, far too tired from all the emotional talks today to try and come up with a reasonable excuse.

"We've still got the rest of the sports festival to go through, and - and if I'm being real with you, I haven't been having a really good day." She glanced down at the floor at that, frowning sadly. "So I'm just - I'm afraid that I'm not thinking clearly right now, and - and I do want to give you an explanation, but I just … I just can't right now."

Wincing a bit at how lamely she finished that explanation, Itsuka winced. She knew how pathetic this sounded - that she was 'too tired' to explain things to Nejire - and she was ready for her classmate to poke holes in her stupid explanation, or call her out -

- and then Nejire nodded and said, "Okay."

"…"

"…"

"… huh?" Itsuka blinked, quickly looking back around at her in shock as Nejire shrugged and gave her a smile.

"I said 'okay'!" She repeated, giggling despite herself at the gobsmacked look on Itsuka's face as she straightened up. "I mean - well, yeah, I know that me bringing it up was super out of nowhere, and I wasn't even supposed to even hear about it in the first place! And I still have questions, but … well, you're right, it is super busy today, so I don't want to add any more pressure to you if you're tired!"

"Oh," Itsuka said blankly, not even sure what the hell was happening anymore, "uh … well … thank … you?"

"You're welcome! But hey," Nejire's eyes suddenly softened, and she walked over to stand beside Itsuka near the lockers, "are you having a bad day? Is everything okay?"

"Huh?" Itsuka blinked - and then she felt her cheeks go a bit red as she realized, oh, right, she did admit that out loud. "Oh, uh -"

"I mean, I wouldn't blame you if you've been having a bad day," She said sympathetically, "I know that you've been dealing with Todoroki being kind of a jerk, and Monoma being kind of a jerk, and … Shinsou also being kind of a jerk … wow, you've been dealing with a lot of jerks today."

"I … yeah. I - I guess I have."

"Mm-hm! And that would make anyone really sad if you've been dealing with that nonstop! So are you feeling okay? Do you need a hug? I can give you a hug if you need one!"

"I'm -" Itsuka stuttered a bit, completely taken aback by Nejire's enthusiasm as the blue-haired girl quickly opened her arms as though inviting Itsuka to collapse in them, and then quickly shook her head, "- n-no, I'm - I'm fine, Hadou, I don't need a hug. Just …"

"Hey, hey, it's okay if you're not okay." Nejire dropped her arms, and reached out to pat her shoulder, giving her a small smile. "That's what you said to me when we went back to the USJ after what happened, remember? So if you're having a bad day, I wanna help you out! And you know, it's not like I haven't had my own sad days either! I can't just be positive forever, y'know? I've had days where I just wanna stay in bed all day and eat ice cream! But you know, having Yuuyu there to get me out of my funk always helps me, since she'll just bop me on the head and talk to me about stuff I wanna think about. So if you're feeling sad … and you're like me, and friends help …"

Nejire turned away for a moment to think, humming slightly - and then an idea clearly came to her, making her smack her fist into her open palm as her eyes brightened.

"I know!" She nodded happily. "If you want someone to talk to, I can go grab Midoriya or Uraraka, if you want! I bet they can cheer you up!"

Clearly, Nejire had brought up her training partners in an effort to try to bring up Itsuka's spirits. At the mention of her two best friends, however, Itsuka found herself wincing again, glancing away from Nejire as she uncomfortably bit her lip - something that Nejire caught at once, making her happy smile falter.

"… huh?" Nejire blinked. "Kendou? Are you okay?"

"I'm …" Itsuka tried to say, but then she let out a small sigh, "… well …"

Well … she couldn't blame Nejire for her thinking, Itsuka found herself frowning as she stared at the opposite wall. Ordinarily, yes, Izuku and Ochako would probably find a way to cheer her up. But seeing them right now would probably … well, it would probably make her feel worse, what with how awful she felt about leaving Ochako like she did back in the waiting room, and how awkward she felt around Izuku right now.

Biting the inside of her cheek, Itsuka stared at the floor for a moment, while Nejire waited for an answer with a curious look in her eye -

- and then she let out a defeated breath, and closed her eyes.

"… screw it."

"Hm? What was -"

"Hadou, I - I have a question for you."

"Huh?" Nejire looked a bit surprised at that. "Oh, uh - sure, Kendou, what's up?"

"I … I was wondering …" Itsuka found herself hesitating again. She knew that … well, this would probably be a bad idea, what with how emotionally tired she was right now and not wanting to - to hurt Nejire after she had gone out of her way to comfort her - but her heart wasn't catching up with the program, telling her that she might as well get this out of the way now that she was thinking about it, and her brain was too exhausted to really argue.

And … it would be a good way to take Nejire's thoughts off of One for All. It was … either way, she knew that this was a conversation that needed to be had.

Even if she was absolutely dreading it.

"… what did … you want to talk to me about back in the forest? That we were supposed to meet up at lunch over?"

At the question, silence once again fell in the small room, and Itsuka took that moment to finally glance back up, stealing a small glance over at Nejire to gauge her reaction. She knew that she probably shouldn't be doing this - having a conversation that would ultimately just make her mood worse - but at this point, she felt like she had absolutely nothing to lose, and was far too exhausted after everything today to properly think things through.

Nejire, for her part, blinked a bit in surprise at the change in topic - and then a small blush appeared on her cheeks as she realized what Itsuka was asking.

"Oh," She said simply, clearing her throat and glancing away with a small smile, "that. Uh - well, Kendou -"

"I … don't think you need to tell me," Itsuka winced a bit, "I … I already know."

Nejire faltered at that, the small smile on her face beginning to slip away as she glanced back at Itsuka. The class representative didn't look happy at all as she turned to face Nejire, feeling her stomach churning and the small, pathetic part of her begging her to stop this conversation before she said anything she couldn't take back, but she shook her head and tried to force herself through with it.

As she stared Nejire in the eye, she felt the memories of what they had talked about in the forest, before the second match, slowly repeat themselves in her head.

"So - this happened back at the bottom of the lake, but … well, I was down there, drowning, and … I kinda don't know, it just kinda happened!"

"Uh … okay?"

"Yeah! I was down there, kinda … dying. And then I started thinking about things that I hadn't done yet. People I still needed to talk to. And … well, I just kinda …"

"Yeah? You kinda …?"

"I just … thought about -"

"- him." Itsuka said in a low voice. "When you were … when you were fighting those guys in the lake, and - and you were thinking of what you still needed to do - you thought about Izuku, didn't you?"

Nejire didn't say anything at first - and then she slowly nodded.

"You have feelings for Izuku." Itsuka said that, not as a question, but as a statement of fact, feeling like her mouth was suddenly dry as she absently licked her lips.

There was another long silence in the room as both girls stared at each other, Itsuka with her face blank and Nejire staring at her as though she hadn't registered what her classmate had just said. And then Nejire awkwardly cleared her throat, a blush returning to her cheeks and making Itsuka gulp a bit nervously.

A smile slowly appearing on her cheeks, Nejire raised a hand to poke her cheek as she glanced away.

"Uh …" She giggled a bit nervously, "… I … yeah. I - I like him."

Itsuka felt her stomach twist.

"It's … kinda obvious now that you pointed it out, huh?" Nejire continued to look embarrassed at being called out, twirling her fingers together. "Like - me having a crush on him."

"I … guess."

"I mean … believe it or, I didn't - I didn't always like him." Nejire admitted, and then her eyes widened a bit, quickly whirling around towards Itsuka again as she frantically waved her hands in the air, as though she had said something insulting.

"N-not that I mean that in a mean way!" She clarified quickly. "He's always been so nice, and I've always liked him! Just - just not always romantically. I was … well, I was always kind of fascinated by him, ever since we teamed up during the entrance exam. He - he's my friend, my first friend outside Yuuyu. But it was … but it was after what happened at the USJ, I realized that … I was starting to like him, like him."

"Right," Itsuka said in a quiet voice, absolutely hating this conversation, "that's … what you said in the forest."

"Mm-hm! Or - y'know, tried to say before we got interrupted."

"And then … you went on a date with him."

"Yeah! Wait," Nejire suddenly blinked, looking around at her in surprise, "you knew about that? How? Did Midoriya tell you about it? Wait, no, that makes no sense if you - oh, wait! I talked about it with Uraraka earlier, so - so she must have told you! Am I right?"

"Yes."

"Okay, that makes sense! But, uh - yeah, we - we went on a date," Nejire let out an embarrassed giggle, moving to lean against the wall and tapping her hands against it, "just over to a beach on the other side of the city, and it was super fun! We did some training for the sports festival, so we ran around and played tag. Which kind of seems silly now that I'm thinking about it, since we could've done something like pushups or swimming, but since the second round turned out to be a game of tag - or more like capture the flag, since we had to gather points, but - well, you get what I mean! Anyway, I think it went pretty well! And then we talked about some stuff about me, and then we went out for dinner, and then you texted the chat about Eri! That's when the date just kinda … stopped."

"Uh-huh." Itsuka said unemotionally.

"Yeah, and then after - wait," Nejire suddenly stopped, her happy smile fading somewhat as she looked back around at Itsuka, "why did you wanna know about this?"

"I - huh?" Itsuka blinked a bit, shaken out of the mood that had been growing more and more sullen the more Nejire had talked, and looked around to see the other girl curiously looking at her.

"I mean, I would get it if you wanted to know if Midoriya didn't tell you," Nejire shrugged, poking her cheek curiously again as she slightly tilted her head, "but … why do you seem to be … sad about it? You look upset, Kendou."

"I - I do?" Itsuka felt her eyes widen - oh, god, she hadn't been subtle at all! She must have had her emotions written all over her face! "Oh, uh - w-well, I - I don't -"

"Wait," Nejire's eyes widened, "do you …?"

Ooooooooh, shit, Itsuka winced. She found herself going red, turning to glance away with a noticeable grimace while Nejire stared at her in shock.

She wanted to try and deny it, but even if she could, Nejire had already seen her obviously uncomfortable face, her mouth moving into a small 'o' shape as she waited for the confirmation. For a moment, Itsuka felt like she had been trapped in a corner, just like she had been with Ochako earlier when she had been called out about this exact same thing, with nowhere to go now. And like before with One for All, she was far too tired to come up with some kind of convincing story or explanation that would convince Nejire otherwise.

So, with a small sigh, she bowed her head.

"Yeah," She said in a short, defensive tone, "I do. I … I have feelings for Izuku."

She was ready, Itsuka closed her eyes. She was ready for this to become a hundred times more complicated. She waited for the hurt reaction from Nejire, whether it be from heartbreak or jealousy, she didn't know. She was ready to break her heart for Ochako's sake. She was ready for -

"Then you should ask him out, too!"

- for the reaction to be -

- anything -

- but that.

At what Nejire had just said, Itsuka found her frightened, anxious thoughts screeching to a halt. Opening her eyes, she stared down at the floor for a moment, blinking slowly and feeling her mouth drop open slightly, and then she quickly looked back up at Nejire, who had balled her fists and was looking far more excited than the situation probably demanded as she bounced up and down on her toes.

"… what?" Itsuka asked dumbly.

"I said," Nejire was practically trembling with excitement, grinning widely, "you should ask him out! Ask Midoriya out on a date! The date we went on was so much fun, so I bet you'll have a fun time too! Oooh, but what would you do?"

"I - uh -" Itsuka stammered for a moment, completely taken aback as her face went red.

"I mean, we went to a beach and trained for the sports festival, and then we went out for dinner, and then before you texted the chat, I was thinking of taking him out for a walk through one of the parks nearby," Nejire quickly gushed, unaware of Itsuka continuing to stare at her with her mouth open like a fish, "and that was all good first date stuff, right? Beach, dinner, walking through parks - super romantic stuff! But maybe that's not a thing you would want to do, right? Like, what I think of as romantic may not be what you consider romantic. Hm … well, what are your hobbies? What do you like to do?"

"I - w-wait, Hadou -"

"Maybe you could go see a movie? Or go to a dance club! Can you dance? Wait, can Midoriya dance?" Nejire looked uncertain about that, tapping her finger against her chin. "I'm not sure about you, but I don't really get dancer vibes off of him. Maybe he'd prefer something quieter? Like, he seemed to be okay on the beach after a bit, but I was also wearing a bikini, so it took him a while to -"

"Hadou, hold on for a second," Itsuka quickly interrupted her before she could go on, moving her hands up to interrupt Nejire and feeling her face turn redder and redder by the second (and taking a mental note of Izuku being around Nejire in a bikini, making her frown a bit), "I - I'm not gonna ask Izuku out!"

"Huh?" Nejire blinked, looking back around at her in surprise. "But why not? You like him. And now that I'm kind of thinking about it, I think he likes you too!"

"Here we go again," Itsuka muttered, biting her lip as she was reminded of her talk with Ochako earlier.

"You two totally look like you have feelings for each other! Like back after the USJ, when you two hugged! But, y'know, now that I'm thinking about it, Uraraka was also there in the hug, and that … was …"

Itsuka watched as Nejire's happy, if somewhat questioning, expression suddenly began to fade as something obviously came to her, making her blink a bit - and Itsuka took that opportunity to speak up.

"I'm not gonna ask Izuku out," She quickly said before Nejire could take over the conversation again, the blue-haired girl looking back up at her, "because … because you and I aren't the only ones that like him."

There was a pause again.

"… oh." Nejire simply said, her eyes widening, "oooooooooooh."

"Yeah," Itsuka grimaced slightly, walking over to sit slightly on the edge of the table, "oh."

"So … Uraraka likes him too?"

"She does," She nodded in confirmation, staring down at the floor while Nejire likewise moved to lean against the table as well, "and … and she's totally in denial about it. She's trying to pretend that she's okay with me just … swooping in and grabbing Izuku all for myself. But … but I can't do that. My feelings for him don't matter at all, and - and it's clear that he's got feelings for her. So," She took a deep breath, closing her eyes as she felt her stomach tense, "could I ask that you … not do anything with Izuku?"

"…"

"Like … like how I'm not going to," She clarified, "I won't do anything to address my feelings, and - and I just want to ask that you don't as well."

"…"

"Er - Hadou?" Itsuka glanced over at her, seeing Nejire's face looking weirdly blank as she temporarily turned away from her. "Are you -"

"Nope."

"I - wait, what?" Itsuka blinked, looking at Nejire in slight shock as the blue-haired girl turned to pout at her. As Nejire continued to pout, a defensive feeling pulsed through Itsuka, and she straightened up. "What - what do you mean, 'no'?"

"I mean no," Nejire confirmed, balling her fists together, "I don't accept that."

"I - I don't really care what you do or don't accept," Itsuka found herself frowning a bit angrily, moving off of the table as her own hands clenched into fists at her sides, ready for this to turn ugly, "just - Izuku and Ochako have feelings for each other, and - and you and I don't need to shove ourselves into that. So just -"

"Huh?" Nejire suddenly blinked, looking confused. "I wasn't talking about that."

"…"

"…"

"… I …" Itsuka let out a long, tired sigh, reaching up to rub her eyes, "… then … what were you talking about?"

"I was talking," Nejire suddenly reached out, and Itsuka found herself faltering as her classmate gently took her shoulder again, prompting her to look up at her kind face, "about you, Kendou."

"I - what?"

"You were talking about … you know … not addressing your feelings," She clarified, "and I don't want you to do that. I don't think you shouldn't do anything about your feelings for Midoriya."

"I'm -" Itsuka tried to protest again, but Nejire quickly silenced her with another pout.

"I don't know what's going on!" She pointed out, moving away from Itsuka and around the table. "I feel like there's a lot of info that I'm not in the loop about! You're allowed to have your secrets, Kendou, but it's like - it's like you're holding back about this too! And it's not good to keep something like this in - I would know, y'know. Emotions are supposed to be let out and felt, not kept in!"

Itsuka watched in confusion as Nejire took a seat at the table, letting out a little sigh as she settled herself down. Quite honestly, the formerly orange-haired girl had no idea what was going on - one moment they were talking about One for All, and then their feelings for Izuku, then Ochako's feelings for him, then back to Itsuka. Such pinballing back and forth could only result in her staring in confusion as Nejire turned to smile up at her.

"I can't make you talk to me about stuff if you don't want to," She said in a kind voice, "but sometimes, it's good to talk to someone, y'know? Let someone else hear about your thoughts and problems, and anything else you're keeping on the inside. And then once you get it out, that person can understand and help you! That's kinda what Midnight-sensei told me when we had our therapy thingy. I can't make you tell me anything you don't want to," She gave Itsuka a soft look, "but … if you want to tell someone about your problems … about your feelings … I can listen. And - and I won't tell anyone, I promise."

Itsuka found herself faltering once again at that, about to open her mouth to refuse - wanting to just get this conversation over with, and tell Nejire again not to pursue her feelings for Izuku - but for some reason, she found herself unable to say anything. Nejire was giving her a helpful and happy smile, gesturing towards the chair on the other side of the table for her to sit -

- and then Itsuka let out a small, shuddering sigh.

Honestly … today was exhausting. From her bad experiences in the first two rounds, to her hurting Ochako with their talk and their kiss, and then that weird hug with Izuku. There was a part of her that wanted to just bury that stuff deep down and keep going until the end of the day, and she could slink home and just pass out in her room.

But …

"… nothing I say," Itsuka said in a quiet voice, "can leave this room, Hadou. I need you to promise that."

"Okay," Nejire nodded in agreement, "I promise. Your secrets are safe with me. Pinkie swear and everything."

"I … okay." Itsuka sighed again, and moved to sit down on the other side of the table from Nejire, brushing some of her hair out of her face, and then, as she saw Nejire raise her hand with her pinkie extended, sighed and reached out, wrapping her own pinkie finger around Nejire's again, just like back in the forest.

"Then I guess … what do you wanna talk about first?"

---

This was it.

Three rounds. Three fights he had to win with Ochako at his side, despite how awkward they were feeling around each other, and then they would be done with the day, and he could run home so he could hide in his room and die of embarrassment.

And … holy hell, was it already so awkward.

Staring down blankly at the table before him, Izuku felt like his insides were slowly squeezing tighter and tighter, feeling his hands continue to shake as he read Tenya's page in his hero analysis over and over again while Ochako paced in front of him. It had been nearly an hour after their teams had been announced, and they had been excused to go and form a plan as to how they would take on Tenya and Mei during their first round. And ... well, technically they had, with Izuku and Ochako not saying much to each other other than planning their strategies, with Izuku letting Ochako read what he had noted about Tenya, and briefly discussing what they had seen of Mei's inventions that she would probably use against them during the match.

Other than that … nothing. They were both still feeling awkward around each other, and Izuku had no idea how to fix it.

Now, glancing at the clock on the other side of the room, their first fight was coming up a lot sooner than either of them expected, and on the chance that they won … they both knew who they would be facing next. Izuku wanted to remain supportive towards Eijirou, and believe that his friend could do it, but he also knew Katsuki. He knew how much he had angered his former childhood friend in the forest with his challenge, and … how much Katsuki probably wanted to kick his ass for daring to think that he had beat him once before.

There was very little chance that Katsuki wouldn't be fighting his hardest to win in order to finally have a go at the two of them. And if they were facing Katsuki next …

… this awkwardness couldn't continue, Izuku shook his head and frowned. He needed Ochako to be calm around him.

So … so he just …

… he needed to get to the bottom of whatever was going on with her, and whether or not it was his fault, so he could apologize, and they could move past it and get back to normal. That's all he wanted right now - for whatever this weird feeling he was having around Ochako and Itsuka to go away, so he could hang out with his best friends like they used to.

However, before he could open his mouth to speak to her, the intercome above them suddenly crackled. Both Izuku and Ochako looked up as a familiar voice suddenly spoke above them.

"Hatsume, Iida, Midoriya, and Uraraka," Aizawa's voice droned above them, "the recreational games have just come to an end, and Cementoss is now finishing building the arena. Please make your way to the arena now for the first round."

Both students blinked in alarm - wait, they had to go now?! - and Izuku quickly looked around as Ochako faced the wall for a moment, letting out a low, shuddering sigh - and then she nodded, straightening her shoulders and stealing a small glance at Izuku before turning away.

"W-well," She stiffly gestured with her head, not looking back at him at all, "that's … us, Deku."

"R-right," Izuku nodded equally as stiffly, quickly scooping up his notebook to put back in his pocket, "let's … yeah."

With that, both of them walked stiffly out of the waiting room that they had taken over to plan (if it could be called 'planning', Izuku winced), and together, they both began to walk down the hall towards the arena. They knew that the entrance to the stadium was just around the corner, so it wasn't too long a walk, but still, Izuku felt more and more awkward as they moved forward together, Ochako not looking at him at all and keeping her eyes on the ground.

So … it was up to him to resolve this awkwardness. Great. Something he was totally adept at doing, he thought sarcastically.

Clearing his throat slightly, Izuku glanced at his best friend again, seeing her tuck some of her brown hair behind her ear, and then opened his mouth - only to close it, glancing away from her as he frowned a bit. Several thoughts ran through his mind as to what they could possibly talk about - this upcoming round, Tenya and Mei, Katsuki, their hug in the forest, their parents, what they might be doing this weekend, Itsuka. And, of course the one question he kept asking himself over and over - why they were feeling so weird around each other.

And yet, even as his mind ran around in circles, Izuku had absolutely no idea how to clear the awkward air or make it even more awkward. As they moved around the corner, seeing the distant light at the end of the tunnel that would lead outside to the arena, Izuku found himself sweating nervously, both from nerves of what they were about to do and how Ochako wasn't looking at him at all, as they heard Present Mic begin to screech over the intercoms again.

"HEY, GUYS!" They heard Present Mic screech through the speakers at the end of the tunnel. "ARE YOU READY?!"

Loud, distant cheers filled the small passageway as Izuku and Ochako slowly walked forward, Izuku continuing to desperately attempt to think of anything he could talk about to Ochako as she continued to stare at her feet, and the nervousness they were both obviosuly feeling as their hearts beat quickly in their chests.

"A LOT'S HAPPENED SINCE WE GOT BACK FROM OUR LITTLE LUNCH BREAK, BUT NOW IT'S COME DOWN TO THIS! A SERIOUS BATTLE ON THIS STAGE, THANKFULLY MADE FOR US BY OUR PAL, CEMENTOSS! EVERYONE GIVE HIM A CHEER!"

As Present Mic continued to commentate over the roaring crowds, Izuku and Ochako took slow, deep breaths as they got closer to the opening of the tunnel, Izuku stealing another glance at her as Ochako slowly exhaled -

"Hey!"

At the sound of a familiar voice behind them, both Izuku and Ochako jumped, quickly looking around. Power walking towards them quickly, All Might panted a bit as he managed to slow himself to a stop, rubbing his side where his wound was and looking more than a little winded, as though he had ran here, but he still gave both teenagers a smile as he straightened up.

"Sorry I'm late," He apologized to them both, "got a bit held up again - seems that everyone wants to talk to me today."

"All Might?" Ochako blinked in surprise, as though she just suddenly realized he was standing before them. "W-why are you here?"

"To support you both, of course," All Might chuckled, moving forward so he could put his hand down on the young girl's shoulder, "it may surprise you, Young Uraraka, but I seem to recall that I trained more than one teenager on Dagobah Beach last year. I'm not just here today to support Young Kendou - I'm also looking forward to you two succeeding as well."

"Oh," Izuku said simply, going a bit red at the support, while Ochako likewise nodded a bit stiffly.

"But … well, do you both feel ready?" He glanced between both teenagers, a knowing look in his eye as he glanced down at the deactivated gauntlet on Izuku's wrist. "I know that this will be a challenge, no doubt, to face Young Iida and Young Hatsume at the same time. And … well, we all know who you two may be facing next as well, and your … history with him. Young Midoriya - do you feel confident enough to use your quirk against someone else?"

Both Izuku and Ochako paused at All Might's question, blinking slightly. Well … it wasn't like it was an unfair question, Izuku winced - he was somewhat aware before that this wouldn't be a situation that he was going to be able to just use his quirk to bounce around, nor was it a fight against a robot or something. This was going to be a straight up fight against someone else - a fight where he would have to risk hurting someone else with his quirk.

This was … going to be a big step for him to take, Izuku frowned. Using his quirk for the first time against someone else, something that hadn't happened since he first activated it against Katsuki all those years ago.

And … odds are, it would have to be against Katsuki again.

While Izuku momentarily stared off into space, Ochako let out a small, shaking sigh, wringing her hands together as she glanced up at their mentor.

"We … yeah, we know that we may be facing Bakugou right after this," She nodded slowly, getting Izuku's attention on her again as she glanced back down at the ground, "… and … honestly, I'm not sure if I'm ready for that."

"I … yeah," Izuku sighed as well, looking ashamed of himself as All Might glanced back over at him, "me neither. And … I don't know about my quirk either, All Might. I know that I've been using it a lot today, but … but not against someone else. I haven't really been thinking about it, but - but I guess at this point, I'm probably not gonna have a choice, if I'm supposed to be showing off what I'm capable of in front of all the pros. I just …"

There was a pause - and then he slumped his shoulders.

"I'm sorry, All Might," He looked ashamed of himself, "I - I don't know if I'm ready."

"Yeah," Ochako muttered, "me too."

A small silence fell as Present Mic continued to go on and on about something over the speakers and the crowd continued to cheer loudly outside the tunnel. All Might glanced between both of them again with a raised eyebrow as they both looked down towards the ground -

- and then the pro hero raised both his hands up, and brought them down sharply to chop them both on the top of their heads.

"Ow!" Ochako squeaked, raising her hands to hold the top of her head where All Might struck her as she looked back up at the now scowling pro hero in shock and anger, the Danger Pout on full display, and Izuku likewise grabbed the top of his head in surprise. "All Might, what the -?!"

"If you two are gonna be saying something, it should be along the lines of 'I'll do my best', damn it!" All Might put his hands on his hips as he gave both his pupils a frown. "You prince and princess of nonsense!"

"I - huh?!"

"Come on, now! Do you really think that I'd be disappointed if you two said you were scared? That you're not ready?" All Might interrupted Ochako before she could go off on him, glancing between both of them again. "It's alright that you're not confident! Or that you're scared and worried! It's not like I'm going to be disappointed if you two don't end up winning out there - but I'll be rooting for you either way!"

Both of them paused at that, looking up at All Might as he straightened up again, smoke beginning to emerge from his body before he suddenly buffed up, returning to his true self and flashing them a big grin.

"Don't you remember what I told you before, Young Midoriya?" He pointed his thumb at his large smile. "My smile hides my fear. It's not like I don't get scared to face something sometimes! It's when you're scared that you should deal with it by smiling! To trick the fear inside. You've both made it this far - it'll be fine if your smiles are merely bluffs. Stand proud, and don't forget that I'm rooting for you both, just as I'm rooting for Young Kendou!"

Both of them hesitated for a moment, staring up at All Might as he flashed the two of them a proud grin - and then, after a second, they finally turned to glance at each other, their eyes meeting for the first time since they returned from lunch. Ochako, for her part, was still looking incredibly nervous and awkward, but she tried to flash an obviously fake grin at Izuku, which, after a moment of hesitation, he stiffly returned.

Slowly, the two of them turned towards the light at the end of the tunnel, and continued to slowly walk out, with All Might taking a step back to let them move forward. They were quiet for a moment -

- and then Izuku, taking a small, deep breath, said, "Hey, Occhan?"

"Y-yeah, Deku?"

"Are …" He hesitated for a moment, "… are we good?"

There was a pause between them as they both slowed their step, staring out of the tunnel and seeing what looked to be a large stage rising out of the ground - and then she let out a small sigh, and both of them turned to look at each other again.

Izuku was very quick to notice the shame in her eyes, making his chest clench slightly at how sad and disappointed she looked in herself, but before he could say anything, she nodded and turned back to look out at the stage again.

"Yeah," She said in a quiet voice, "we're good, Deku. I just … got stuff I'm thinking about. It's - it's okay."

"Oh," He said simply, and then turned back to look out at the stage as well, "I - I get it, Occhan. I - I just - I get it."

"Okay."

"Are … are you ready to - to do this?"

Ochako slowly sighed again - and then she nodded, straightening her back.

"Hell yeah, I am," She tried to say somewhat confidently, even if there was a shake in her voice, "let's go kick some butt, Deku."

Izuku blinked a bit at that, turning to glance at Ochako again - and feeling his heart skip a beat at the look on her face, making him gulp as the weird feeling overcame him again - and then he shook his head and tried to imitate All Might's confident smile from before.

"Y-yeah," He nodded, "let's - let's go kick some butt."

With that, both of them took deep breaths, Ochako hopping up and down briefly and Izuku trying to calm down the fluttered feeling in his chest, and then they both began to walk out of the tunnel and into the sunlight, All Might watching them leave with a soft smile on his face as he deflated back down into his scrawny form.

As they walked out of the shadows and into the sunlight, they both raised their hands to briefly cover their eyes as the sun shined down on them, wincing at the loud roar of the crowd that intensified at their appearances, and looked around at the field. Everything seemed to be normal, except, of course, for the large, circular dirt hill rising out of the field - it was pretty tall, but not imposingly so, only big enough that it would take them a few rolls to get from the top to the bottom. In the middle of the hill was a small flight of concrete stairs - which meant, of course, that their fight would be taking place at the top of the mountain of dirt, where Midnight was pacing around on her podium.

Nodding at the same time, Izuku and Ochako began quickly making their way across the grass towards the ring.

"LISTENERS!" Present Mic called over the crowd's cheering. "THE FINALS THAT YOU HAVE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR ARE ABOUT TO BEGIN! SO LET'S GET A NICE FIRST LOOK AT OUR FIRST CONTESTANTS - IZUKU MIDORIYA AND OCHAKO URARAKA, AGAINST MEI HATSUME AND TENYA IIDA!"

As Izuku felt rather than saw the cameras point at him, he gulped nervously and straightened his shoulders, knowing how awkward he must look at the moment with the stiff smile on his face and the way his arms robotically swung at his sides.

"EVEN IF HE'S DONE EXTREMELY WELL SO FAR, WITH FIRST PLACE IN BOTH THE FIRST AND SECOND ROUNDS, WHAT'S WITH THAT LOOK ON HIS FACE?! FROM THE HERO COURSE, IT'S IZUKU MIDORIYA!"

"Hey …" Ochako pouted a bit at that call out while Izuku winced, although she couldn't scowl for long as she felt the cameras' attention turn to her, glancing up at a random screen up on the stadium's wall and squeaking as she saw the focus now on her, heavily resisting the urge to smooth down her hair, and totally pretending she wasn't hearing her dad yelling even over the loud ambience of the crowd, making her blush.

"WALKING BESIDE HIM! OUR GRAVITY GAL WHO LOVES SPACE SO MUCH, SHE TRIED TO HEAD THERE A FEW TIMES TODAY! IT'S OCHAKO URARAKA, ALSO FROM THE HERO COURSE!"

Now Ochako was definitely pouting hard enough that her cheeks began to puff out, which got a few giggles from the audience, while Izuku, despite still feeling awkward around her, had to hold back his small chuckle in fear that she was going to shove him down to the ground as they approached the dirt hill, beginning to walk up the steps. In the crowd, Inko was sobbing again as she cheered wetly for his son and Ochako, and Tenohira and Hakushu yelled as loudly as they could for the two teenagers while Eri waved her little arms in the air to imitate the two Kendous.

"VERSUS!" Present Mic continued to announce in a large, hammy tone as they approached the top of the stairs. "IT'S LIKE HE'S THE EPITOME OF THE MIDDLE OF THE PACK! FROM THE HERO COURSE AS WELL, IT'S TENYA IIDA! AND BESIDE HIM! FULLY EQUIPPED WITH SUPPORT ITEMS AND NOT AFRAID TO USE 'EM! FROM THE SUPPORT COURSE, IT'S MEI HATSUME!"

As Present Mic finished his narration, Izuku and Ochako finally walked up to the top of the stairs, and had a quick look around at the arena as they stepped in. The gray concrete was morphed into a large circle for them to walk on, while on the side, Midnight stood on her podium on a small part of the top of the hill, turning to nod in approval at Izuku and Ochako as they entered the circle, and then turned to look around at Tenya and Mei as they likewise approached the top of the stairs.

Mei, for her part, was jogging up the stairs with glee, her arms full of briefcases that she quickly tossed just on the outside of the circle, and then turned to giggle happily at the sight of her opponents, which made Izuku and Ochako gulp nervously as her yellow eyes narrowed at the sight of them, looking up and down the both of them. Tenya, meanwhile, came up the stairs as he lowered his hands …

… to adjust the straps of the exact same propulsion support item he had been wearing during the second round, the two metallic straps looking like wings behind him as he fastened the belt and straps around his shoulders, waist and thighs to keep the knee guards and leg propulsion system secured.

"Huh?" Izuku blinked in surprise, temporarily taken out of his nervous mood in his confusion. "Wait, is Iida …?"

"That's against the rules!" Midnight quickly and immediately called out to Tenya in a stern voice, causing Tenya to freeze in his step in terror as she pointed her whip at him. "Those that use equipment need to petition beforehand."

There was a moment as the gears apparently turned in Tenya's head, his eyes widening - and then he immediately wheeled around to point at Mei, who began innocently whistling as she looked away.

"I knew it!" He chopped his hand indignantly at her. "You had said that you had gotten permission to share the items for the next round, Hatsume!"

"Well, technically I did!" Mei giggled, shrugging. "I told you that I got permission to use them during the final round. I never said that they would be attached or used by myself."

"Curse you!" Tenya reprimanded her, and then quickly turned around towards where Midnight was tapping her foot against the podium while staring at him in judgment, and he quickly lowered himself into a bow.

"I completely understand your ruling, Midnight-sensei!" He looked absolutely ashamed of his actions while Mei gave him an unimpressed look and turned to look down at the screen she had attached to her work glove, making sure that it was strapped on tightly. "And I do humbly apologize! Should you wish to disqualify our team, I will not offer any complaints!"

"Huh? Oh, well …" Midnight felt herself sweat a bit - honestly, she had been leaning more towards just having Tenya take off the equipment before the match got started. However, before she could say so, Tenya suddenly looked back up at her with his face filled with determination, which made the teacher pause.

"However …" He hesitated for a moment, glancing over at Izuku and Ochako as they gave him a confused look back, before he shook his head and looked back at Midnight. "… I must admit, even if Hatsume meant it as a form of trickery, there's a part of myself that is by her sportsmanship. Even if she is from the support course, she said that she wanted to have us fighting together as equals. That is the reason why she gave me this gear!"

While Midnight's eyebrow raised in intrigue, Tenya straightened himself from his bow, gesturing boldly to himself and Mei as she didn't even pay attention to what he was saying, too busy playing with the screen attached to her glove.

"I did not think that I could ignore her willingness to consider us equals," He made clear to the entire stadium, "so that was why I had thought to put on this gear - to match her fighting spirit!"

"Such youthful vigor!" Midnight squealed without any warning, and began to squirm sensually on her podium, with Izuku squeaking and looking away with a red face and Ochako rolling her eyes nearly into the back of her skull.

While the teacher made the entire crowd suddenly become very interested with what was going on down on the podium, Teko frowned as he covered Eri's innocent eyes again, the little girl blinking in confusion as to why she wasn't allowed to look at the writhing woman on the field below, while Miwa and Tenohira judgmentally stared at their husbands as they suddenly became fascinated with their shoes.

"Seriously," The Kendou patriarch grumbled to himself, "this woman teaches at a school?"

As sudden as Midnight's sensual squirming started, definitely playing it up for the blushing audience, she quickly snapped back to seriousness as she wheeled around at Tenya and pointed her whip at him with a sure look.

"I'll allow it!"

"I - what?!" Tenya gasped in horror, taking a step backwards. "Y-you're letting us proceed with using unsanctioned support items?! Is - as you said, Midnight-sensei, that's not legal!"

"I'm making it legal!" Midnight threw her arm into the air with that same, slightly crazed look on her face she'd worn at several points that day. "Since both you and Hatsume agreed to share the devices, that should be fine! With that said, before we proceed - Midoriya, Uraraka! Do you have any complaints if we adjust the rules of this game?!"

"Huh?" Izuku blinked while Ochako jumped a bit, both of them taken aback as their teacher looked at them with that same crazy look on her face. "I - I don't think so? N-no, I - I don't, at least."

"No, me -" Ochako hesitated, glancing at Mei uncertainly for a moment before shaking her head, "- me neither."

"Then it's within regulations! The match can proceed, with only one exception!" Midnight quickly looked around at Mei, who was continuing to tap instructions into the device on her wrist. "Hatsume! If you end up being pushed out of the ring or otherwise incapacitated, your support items have to stop with you! I assume that you followed regulations from Power Loader before the sports festival, and installed a shutdown sequence for your inventions? So I believe that it would only be fair to Midoriya and Uraraka that your inventions will shut down if you are taken out of the match. Do you agree?"

"Hm?" Mei hummed, only half-paying attention as she looked up from the device on her wrist, and then shrugged. "Oh, yeah, sure. That's acceptable."

"… then say it." Midnight raised her eyebrow, catching the small dismissiveness in the support student's voice.

"If I get kicked out, my babies will shut down."

"Good girl. In that case, I'll offer no more complaints!"

"ER … SO IT'S FINE?" Present Mic questioned, clearly hesitant to continue after Midnight's little … 'scene', as they would call it, down below.

"I guess if they're all in agreement, it's fine," Aizawa said offhandedly.

With the crowd hesitantly clapping for resolving … whatever that was, both duos took a step back, getting ready for the match to begin as several people in the crowd glanced between each other in confusion. On the other side of the arena, Izuku and Ochako glanced between each other again before looking back over at Mei, who was smiling a bit to herself as she continued to tap on buttons on the screen.

They were both clearly thinking the same thing - admittedly, Izuku and Ochako had only known Mei for a relatively short time, but … well, they were obviously both wondering if she really someone who'd say stuff like that. About sportsmanship and seeing herself and Tenya as equals. From how she had acted during the second round, they had the impression that she had only been participating in the festival in order to …

And that, right about then, was when Ochako noticed Mei moving her hand up towards something on the gear wrapped tightly around her head, and brought it down towards her mouth, a small smirk appearing on the support student's face that immediately sent a foreboding feeling down Ochako's spine.

"W-WELL, SINCE PERMISSION TO USE SUPPORT ITEMS HAS BEEN GRANTED BY OUR LOVELY REFEREE, THEN LET'S GET STARTED WITH THE FIRST MATCH!" Present Mic quickly got back into the swing of things, pumping some energy back into the confused crowd. "MIDORIYA AND URARAKA! IIDA AND HASTUME! LET'S GET THIS FIGHT … STARTED!"

There was a short pause, in which the four students glanced between each other, and the crowd began murmuring as well.

" … GO! THAT WAS THE GO AHEAD! FIIIIIIIGHT!"

Both Ochako and Izuku jumped a bit in surprise, their eyes widening a bit as they both realized that the match had already started, but unfortunately for them, Tenya quickly made the first move, sinking down to a crouch, and they heard the sudden loud sound of the engines in his legs rumbling. Before either of them could blink, Tenya was moving, a lot faster than they anticipated, towards them, the support items he had on squeaking as they pushed him to move quicker than they were prepared for.

"Occhan!" Izuku called to her in warning, swiping his hand against his other wrist and activating the Full Gauntlet quickly as Tenya leapt up into the air with a grunt, clenching his teeth tightly as he moved to kick Izuku right in the side of the head -

- and then, behind him, Mei suddenly spoke up.

"Isn't that acceleration wonderful, Iida?!"

All three of the other contestants - even Tenya up in the air - blinked at the sound of Mei's voice - or rather, they blinked as her voice seemed to be … echoing all around them, as though she were talking through the various speakers lined up throughout the arena. Even Midnight looked taken aback, quickly glancing around in her confusion.

And that, right about then, was when Ochako glanced back at what Mei had been playing with on her headgear before the match had started, and realized that Mei was grinning as she spoke …

… right into a mic.

"Oh, no." Ochako felt herself pale in horror.

"Oh, no." Izuku likewise felt himself begin to sweat.

"Oh, no." Tenya realized his mistake at once.

"Don't your legs feel lighter than usual?" Mei continued to inquire excitedly, watching eagerly as Izuku barely managed to duck underneath Tenya's kick, and Ochako quickly acted, beginning to run straight towards her before the pink-haired girl wheeled around to look at the confused crowd. "Well, it's to be expected! The leg parts that Iida is wearing right now are designed to help the wearer's movements, and assist with better mobility and flexibility!"

"Is Hatsume seriously turning our match into a commercial?!" Ochako growled to herself as she ran at her, moving across the circle in an instant and reaching out to grab Mei while she was distracted with talking to the crowd - only to squeak when the backpack Mei was wearing beeped, and shot out a hydraulic press into the ground to shoot Mei up into the air and away from Ochako's grasp, causing her to trip over the long piece of metal and nearly face plant onto the concrete floor.

"That's -!" Izuku gasped, recognizing the device Mei had strapped to her back at once - of course he did, she had leant it to him to wear in the last match! But - but it had been broken after their crash in the pond, and the beating it took from Shouto! How did she fix it so fast?!

"This backpack, of course," Mei giggled with glee as she gestured to the press, "will allow me to easily evade my opponents with the hydraulic attachments in the back! As seen in the last round with the opponent I'm facing right now, this baby is versatile and quick to react to movements that even the wearer doesn't see coming! Since it's got built-in sensors looking in every direction, I can deal with attacks that even I wouldn't be able to pick up in time, but this baby will be the one looking around for me!"

On the other side of the ring, Izuku leapt back from another one of Tenya's kicks, narrowly ducking underneath the strong calf that sailed over his head, and let out a small noise as he quickly backed away from Tenya's desperate attempts to at least kick Izuku out of the ring before Mei could do anything else that would mess up the match. Knowing that he wasn't going to have many alternatives now that he was at least backed away from Tenya, Izuku took a deep breath, and glanced down at the Full Gauntlet still activated on his other arm.

Despite the images of Inko clutching her injured arm and a child version of Katsuki lying injured on the ground appearing in his vision, Izuku shook his head, and clenched his fist. He didn't have a choice. He knew he didn't. So, taking a deep breath, he glanced down at the Gauntlet and urged his body to pour some lightning into the support item, in order to at least have some of his energy prepared for the fight …

… only for nothing to happen.

"Huh?" He blinked, looking down at his arm in alarm - confusion briefly rose within him, staring down in shock as absolutely no lightning flickered out of his arm and was absorbed into the Full Gauntlet. However, before he could panic, or try to think about what was going on, he heard the sound of engines blasting towards him, and was reminded that he had another thing he had to panic over first.

As Izuku quickly dodged out of the way from another roundhouse kick from Tenya, the boy in glasses let out a sputtering gasp as the pistons on his back suddenly let out a small puff of air, and instead of stumbling over his feet as he came down from the air, he was instead spun back around towards Izuku as the other combatant jumped back, his eyes widening.

"Iida, of course, just adeptly changed course thanks to the auto-balancer on his back!" Mei threw her hands happily into the air as she came down to the ground again as well, Ochako looking around at Tenya in a mix of horror and sympathy as he wobbled around, completely out of his own control and in Mei's as she looked back up at the crowd. "Something that, if you were all paying attention, was also used during the last round! The leg parts detect the wearer's brainwaves to predict their movements, so there's no need to worry about lag time!"

As Tenya began sprinting impulsively at Izuku again, he desperately tried to ignore how much of a fool Mei was making him out to be, and let out a gasp as he tripped over his own feet in his haste to get to Izuku, the other boy dodging out of the way again, and came dangerously close to the edge of the ring -

"And the auto-balancer is also equipped with a 32-axis gyro sensor! It will be sure to keep the wearer from falling over unless they want to!"

Without his input, contrary to what she just said, Tenya was shoved back up onto his feet with the hiss of the device on his back, letting out a yelp of shock and fear as he was temporarily sent spinning in circles before he came to a stop, wobbling slightly in his dizziness. Thankfully for Izuku, Tenya took a small break from attempting to come after him again, wheeling around at Mei as she bounced up and down on the stage and ignored Ochako's attempts to grab her and throw her out of the ring.

"Hatsume!" He shouted at her, his voice filled with indignation. "Didn't you say that we should be seen as equals?! Why are you controlling my movements like a puppet?! That's the opposite of seeing me as an equal!"

While he yelled at the currently apathetic girl, Ochako let out another shout as she leapt back at Mei, her hands thrown towards the support student in an effort to float her right out of the ring, so that there would be a chance for her team to take out the one opponent inspiring this much chaos - but with a small engine boost from the boots strapped to Mei's feet, she leapt up into the air before Ochako could reach her. Sputtering a bit, Ochako quickly looked up at Mei in shock as the rocket boots sent her up into the air.

Those boots had - they had been near silent! She was used to Mei's items being loud and flashy, but those boots had been so quiet she hadn't even noticed them activating, her eyes on them as Mei threw her legs up so she could gesture to them for the crowd.

"What do you all think of this lightness?!" Mei giggled with glee. "These electro shoes use electromagnetic induction on both feet to allow for instant evasive action!"

As she landed back on the ground again, she quickly threw her arms into the air, eyes wide with craziness.

"And who invented all of these lovely support items?" She rhetorically asked the confused and befuddled crowd. "Who perfected them? Who is showing you all the next steps in support item history?! It's me! Mei Hatsume! Mei Hatsume! Mei Hatsume! The newest name in the support gear world! And now, I will talk about the next support items on our list, so let's spice things up!"

With that proclamation, she pressed down on another button on the screen of her glove, and the boxes that she had dropped near the center of the ring before the start of the match suddenly began trembling. Izuku, Ochako and Tenya looked around with wide, alarmed eyes as one of the boxes suddenly opened on its own, and as though they were mini-rockets, several pieces of equipment shot out of the box and right towards Tenya.

The poor boy in glasses had no way of dodging out of the way in time as several support items began to attach themselves to him - strapping around his arms, legs, chest, hands and one even around his face. Soon enough, he had been sealed inside what looked like a black, high tech version of his hero costume, only with his eyes and hair exposed, and he looked around at the other two in horror as though asking for help - and then Mei pressed another button, and they all heard the sudden sound of something in the distance exploding.

"Er …" Midnight said weakly from the side, having absolutely no idea if she should stop this (or if she even could) and realizing only now how much this was backfiring on her. Izuku and Ochako quickly looked around as they heard what sounded like … engines beginning to rumble, looking around at the tunnel where Tenya and Mei had come out of, and saw …

… oh. Right. Now that they were thinking about it, she did have some drones in those boxes of hers.

"And now, let's have a look at these little babies!" Mei cooed as the circular drones surrounded the arena, reaching out and patting one that had zoomed over to her while giggling. "High advanced drones capable of multiple functions, both offensive and defensive! For example -!"

She then pointed up at the sky, and three of the … twenty drones, Ochako gulped nervously as she counted them quickly, complied with her unspoken orders. Quickly zooming up into the air, they watched as one of the drones suddenly stopped right in the center of the circular arena, right above the ring - and then a blast of purple energy suddenly shot out of all sides of the drone, quickly expanding and falling down to surround the ring.

Ochako quickly shook her head, trying to refocus on the job at hand as she looked around at where Mei was slowly spinning in a circle, obviously basking in the attention that everyone was giving her, and quickly ran back over, shaking her head in her disappointment that she only had one real trick going for her - float Mei, and get her the hell out of the ring - while remembering Midnight's warning before the match started and what Mei agreed to.

"If I get kicked out, my babies will shut down."

Get rid of Mei, and the support items will shut down. That would take a big load off everyone's back - and yes, she was including Tenya in that, she thought as she glanced at the utter state of disarray her friend was in and wincing on his behalf.

"See?" Mei giggled, moving over to the purple energy surrounding the forcefield, and Ochako let out a small cry as she moved to shove Mei right out of the field - but instead, Mei quickly slipped out of the way, easily spinning away from Ochako's grasp. The brown-haired girl barely had any time to realize what happened as she stumbled, flying off of her feet and letting out a gasp of panic as she fell face first towards the ground, and about to fall out of the circle -

- only for her face to suddenly smudge as she hit the purple forcefield, letting out a muffled grunt as she fell into it, briefly stretching it before the field suddenly shoved her back with a force and speed she wasn't entirely ready for. Letting out a yelp, Ochako was repelled straight across the arena as though she had been launched from a cannon, flailing a bit in the air - and slammed straight into Izuku, who had stopped his attempts to use his quirk and get some lightning into the Gauntlet when he heard Ochako crying out, and only had enough time to look up just as she slammed straight into him.

With two grunts, both of them were sent flying through the air for a moment before they both came down onto the hard ground, flopping onto the concrete floor and rolling for a moment before they stopped. Luckily, their fall onto the ground didn't completely knock the breath out of them, allowing both Izuku and Ochako to sit up and look around in shock at the force field surrounding them.

On the other side of the arena, Tenya let out a small grunt as the support items wrapped around him suddenly began moving without his input, forcing him to run over to Mei as she bounced up and down in excitement, unaware that up in the teacher's box above the arena, Power Loader was holding his head in both hands while Ectoplasm stared down at the ring in confusion and Vlad King pinched the bridge of his nose in his exasperation.

"As you can see," Mei gestured around at the force field while the crowd began muttering in confusion to each other, "this baby has an impenetrable force field, with no one able to get in or out! Handy for capture work! Now then, with Iida here, I will demonstrate Baby #18's capabilities! Iida, do a headstand!"

"I - what do you - ah!"

While Tenya let out several cries of panic as the suit that he had been forced into did most of the work for him, flipping him over so that he could throw his legs in the air and balance himself on his hands, both Izuku and Ochako stared at the strange spectacle, glancing down at Tenya's face as it practically screamed 'help me' at them - and then looked at each other.

"Okay …" Izuku pouted, "… I guess this is happening."

"Yep," Ochako nodded with a frown, starting to get up, "so, uh - what's the plan?"

"Well," Izuku grimaced, getting up as well and cursing their earlier awkwardness - had they been able to actually talk to each other, they might have realized that this was something Mei would definitely do - "the shield's gotta go, obviously - as long as that's up, we won't be able to get either of them out. And Hatsume … okay, we should concentrate on getting Hatsume out of the ring before Iida, her support items are just gonna cause chaos. Focus on her, get her out, and then we team up to beat Iida."

"Okay," Ochako nodded, slowly looking around at the drones zooming around them as her eyes trailed up - and then she blinked as she stared at the top of the forcefield.

"Wait - Deku, look," She quickly pointed up, "that drone - I think it's the one that's generating the field."

"Huh?" Izuku quickly looked up as well, and felt his eyes widen. Indeed, at the top of the ring was a drone floating there, stationary, and the purple energy of the force field was slowly seeping out of all of its sides to completely encircle the ring - but there was still a half of the drone that was in the arena, rather than be protected by the force field.

As he stared up at it, Izuku felt his mind begin to work, glancing back over at Mei as she had Tenya continue to spin in circles and keeping her eyes off both of them - although he would bet that she was probably keeping track of where they were in case they tried anything.

"Okay," He slowly nodded, glancing over at Ochako as she also looked at him, their awkwardness from before somewhat forgotten now due to Mei's craziness, "okay, I think I've got a plan. I'll head over and distract Iida and Hatsume, and you - you can jump up and disable that drone. That way, we can get the field down and push Hatsume out of the ring. So I'll -"

"Huh?" Ochako suddenly interrupted him, looking confused. "W-why don't you just shoot it? It's not moving at all, you can probably get it easy."

"Oh," Izuku found himself hesitating, feeling his cheeks go a bit red, "I, uh … my quirk's not working."

"…"

"…"

"… what do you mean, your quirk's not -"

"Now let's see what my other babies can do! Drones 1 through 8, dive bomb!"

Feeling themselves blink as they felt Mei's attention suddenly return to them, Izuku and Ochako quickly looked around, and squeaked as they saw the other drones that had been lazily flying around stop in the air - and then shot straight towards their heads.

Eyes widening and quickly ducking, the duo acted at once, running straight forward while Mei continued to happily commercialize her products.

"What do you mean, your quirk's not working?!" Ochako managed to finish her previous thought, ducking underneath another drone that nearly slammed into the side of her head.

"I mean, I'm trying to pour lightning in the Gauntlet, but it's not working!" Izuku raised said Gauntlet to defend his face from a drone, wincing as it scraped against the red metal. "I think something's wrong!"

"I - okay, in that case, I'll - I'll float you and push you up to the drone while I distract Hatsume and Iida! That'll give you time to try and break it!"

"Occhan, you could easily float yourself up there instead! Besides, Iida's -"

"Deku, don't say Iida's stronger than me!"

"I wasn't! I'm just saying -"

"I can totally take Iida!"

"Occhan," Izuku winced as he ducked another drone that had tried to hit him right square in the forehead, "normally, I'd be rooting for you in a fight against Iida, but not only is he wearing lots of armor right now, you don't exactly have headgear to protect you in case he kicks you in the head with the freaking engines in his legs! He's gonna give you a concussion if he lands a hit!"

"The same could be said of you, Deku! And I can survive a kick to the head!"

"A kick that's coming at you eighty miles per hour?!"

While arguing with each other in increasingly panicked tones, they quickly ducked underneath more of the drones that continued to divebomb them, ignoring Mei happily making a profit out of their misery as she kept her eyes up on the box that her potential customers must be in. Izuku let out another yelp as another one of the flying machines scrapped the Full Gauntlet again as it flew dangerously close to his face, and he let out a small groan as he glanced down at the red support item wrapped around his arm, and the small scratches that were -

- wait.

Wait a second.

"But speaking of support items, I don't recognize what you have there. The material doesn't match anything we have at the support studio - looks more like nano-technology, that's more American based tech. Where'd you get it?"

"Huh? Oh, this was, uh - it was a gift from one of my friends in America. It helps me control the output of my quirk."

"Aaaaaah, I see, I see, that makes sense. No wonder it's so shoddily made."

As the memory of Mei's … thoughts about the Full Gauntlet filled his mind, Izuku stared down at it in shock for a moment - and then he said, in a plain voice, "I know what'll distract Hatsume."

"Huh?!" Ochako looked around at him in confusion, her head still low to the ground to avoid the drones trying to hit her.

"I know what'll keep her attention on me. Just - when I distract her, head up to the drone and disable the shield!"

Without waiting for Ochako's counterargument as to why the powerless one of their duo should be attracting the most danger, Izuku quickly jogged forward away from her, moving towards where Mei was still excitedly talking to the crowd as she forced Tenya to kick his leg straight up into the air, the boy in glasses wincing as it went up a bit further than he was comfortable with. Sliding to a stop, Izuku took a deep breath, raising his hands to his mouth, and called to the support student.

"H-Hatsume!"

Mei completely ignored him at first, continuing to talk to the audience happily - at least, until he took a step forward and raised the arm he had the Gauntlet on, making the pink-haired girl glance at him with a raised eyebrow before she turned back to the audience.

"This Full Gauntlet," He shouted, feeling himself sweat a bit nervously, "was made by Melissa Shield, from America! And it's far more impressive than anything else I've seen today!"

At that proclamation, at long last, silence fell in the ring. The drones that had been zooming around suddenly froze in the air, causing Ochako to blink as she realized that was her cue, and quickly lowered a hand to touch her leg and float herself. Mei's rambling and giddy giggling about her inventions suddenly ceased entirely, staring blankly forward for a moment as the audience glanced unsurely around at each other, as though wondering what the hell was going on -

- and then, Mei began to stiffly and slowly look around at where Izuku was standing, holding the Gauntlet up in the air, and feeling himself begin to sweat nervously.

Only when Mei's yellow eyes met his did he realize that he had just made a horrible mistake insulting her babies - her pupils had shrunk entirely, the manic smile completely dropped as she looked at him as though she had never seen him before.

"Excuse me?" She said in a quiet whisper, her voice still echoing around them due to her mic near her face, and the entire crowd, which had been awkwardly giggling and talking amongst each other at the spectacle, fell into silence as well, as though they just realized that they were about a minute away from witnessing a brutal murder.

"Uh …" Izuku hesitated for only a single moment, praying quietly that Ochako would get the force field down sooner rather than later so he could run the hell away from the crazed support student, "… I … said what I said! The Full Gauntlet is … it's incredibly well crafted, and … uh … it works really well, and … uh … it's awesome. W-way more comfortable than the pack you lent me in the - the second round."

There was a pause.

"N-no offense," Izuku clarified quickly, his manners getting the better of him, "thank you for helping us get to the third round, Hatsume. Just - yeah."

Several long seconds of silence followed as Izuku continued to sweat nervously under Mei's cold stare, the intensity of her glare almost feeling like it was burning a hole through his head - and then she let out a long sigh, turning back towards the crowd.

"It seems as though my opponent here wants to compare!" She smirked, and then pressed another button on her glove. Izuku let out a loud yelp as a drone suddenly zoomed over and hit him right in the back, sending him stumbling forward - and Mei immediately bent down to grab his wrist, lifting the Full Gauntlet up into the air for everyone to have a look at.

"Observe!" She called to them, unaware of Tenya continuing to spin around the ring like a top while yelling at the top of his lungs, and Ochako quickly floating up to find a way to turn off the drone and the sphere. "Look at this strange weird American gauntlet. Serviceable in design, of course, but in comparison to my babies? It's pretty much exactly what it looks like - a bunch of red toilet paper wrapped up into a glove!"

---

Melissa suddenly crushed her semi-empty soda can, dark liquid slowly sliding down her hand to the floor as she stared at the girl on the TV with a vein twitching in her forehead. David decided, right about then, that it was about time he headed to the bathroom for a small break.

---

"Indeed! It's so pathetically and poorly designed!" Mei inspected the Gauntlet a bit further, while Izuku froze up, not entirely sure what to do now that Mei was up in his business as she dropped his arm and began circling around him, like a predator wondering how best to begin devouring her prey. "I'm not even sure what this thing is supposed to even do, it's that vague looking! Tell me what it does, Midoriya, and I imagine that one of my babies can easily do whatever this poor excuse of a support item is supposed to do, and even better!"

"Er …" Izuku hesitated for a moment - he could hear the small sounds of Ochako panickingly fumbling with the drone that was emulating the force field, and knew that she would need a bit more time to figure it out, "… it's … uh … to minimize the - the amount of energy I emulate with my quirk and - and fire them out in shorter blasts."

"Oh! Very good! As it so happens, I have a baby for that exact purpose!"

Quickly snapping her fingers together, Mei looked around excitedly at one of the boxes that she had dumped at the beginning of the match, which immediately shot open when she pointed at it, and one of the drones quickly zoomed over to lift it out, Izuku hearing what sounded like magnet sounds as it dipped down, attached itself to something, and pulled it out. Izuku found himself gulping very nervously at the appearance of what looked to be a large backpack with a cannon attached to it by a few loose-looking wires, but before he could take a nervous step back, Mei grabbed his shoulder tightly, giggling sinisterly as the drone, now carrying the menacing looking support item, slowly started moving towards him.

Mei let out another giggle as she quickly lifted his arm - the one that the Full Gauntlet wasn't on - and Izuku privately freaked out as the cannon was quickly strapped onto his arm. As she slipped the huge backpack the cannon was attached to over his shoulders, Izuku glanced around at the crowds as though begging for help, not even noticing Tenya's wobbling screaming as he continued to spin like a top around the arena.

"Now then!" Mei finished strapping the backpack over Izuku's shoulders, causing him to grunt as he took its full weight, and then raised the arm she attached the cannon to in order to make sure it was secure. "This baby here can absorb emitter quirks, based off of one of my old designs from watching Mister Blaster and how his quirk works! This baby is fully capable of absorbing quirks and blasting them out through the cannon - in theory, of course."

"I-in theory?!" Izuku squeaked.

"Now then! Please, Midoriya, demonstrate your quirk! I'd be more than happy to show and compare how my baby operates compared to the pathetic American tech you consider 'good enough'!"

Izuku found himself gulping as she lifted the cannon that his hand was currently trapped in - and a bit uncomfortably, as a matter of fact, with Izuku wincing as it felt like he couldn't move his fingers at all - and felt nervous as to how it was supposed to work. Feeling himself begin to shake, both in nervousness and due to the backpack he was now wearing starting to tremble ominously as well, he quickly glanced back up at Ochako, seeing her floating there while experimentally and panickingly tapping on the drone, looking absolutely frustrated at the lack of progress -

- and then she muttered, "Ah, fuck it!"

And with that, she threw her fist back, and with a loud shout, threw it forward to punch the drone as hard as she could.

Granted, it didn't do exactly what she had expected it to do - she kind of wanted to try punching straight through the drone to destroy it, but instead, she hit her knuckles very hard against the hard metal and drew her hand back at once to wave it, letting out a small curse of pain. But as Izuku glanced around, he blinked as he saw, thankfully, the shield waving for a moment, the thin purple walls of the force field faltering -

- and in that moment, Izuku acted.

Not even considering his actions, Izuku quickly used his free hand to grab Mei's wrist tightly, prompting the still chattering girl to pause, turning to blink down at his hand on her - but before she could speak, Izuku yanked on her arm hard enough to lift the support student right off her feet.

Mei let out a yelp as she was quickly brought into the air, and with a yell, Izuku judo-threw her over his shoulder as hard as he could, aiming to throw her away from the circle. Being flung through the air, Mei flailed in the air in panic as she headed straight towards the faltering shield - and to his relief, due to the wavering of the force field, she sailed straight through, letting out a small grunt as she fell a small distance onto the small hill the arena was on, and began rolling down the hill towards the ground.

On her podium at the side, Midnight blinked down at where Mei came to a stop on the bottom of the hill, sprawled out for a moment and staring up at the sky as she realized what had happened - and then the teacher quickly threw her whip into the air.

"Hatsume is out of bounds!" She quickly called. "As per the agreement at the start of the match, her inventions must now shut down due to her elimination!"

Down below, Mei slowly managed to rise to her feet, her yellow eyes slowly turning towards where Izuku was standing near the edge of the ring, clearly attempting to keep himself up with the heavy support items attached to his arm and back weighing him down. There was a moment, as she glared at him, that she was clearly considering vengeance, her hand slowly drifting towards the control panel on her arm -

- but then, she let out a long, heavy sigh, looking disappointed but slowly nodding, as though considering what it would look like in front of potential investors if she went back on her agreement with Midnight - who, by the way, was now giving her a pointed look as she tapped her foot impatiently against the podium.

"Let it be known," Mei called through the speakers, trying to smile widely again, "that Mei Hatsume is, above all else, a woman of her word!"

With that, she pressed a button on the screen - and at once, everything that she had brought into the arena stopped working at once, the drones stopping their rapid flying around and falling to the ground. The cannon attached to Izuku's arm suddenly dropped, making him yelp as it dragged him straight to the ground; Tenya finally stopped spinning in circles from the gear still on him, letting out several pants as he wobbled a bit briefly before trying to take one step forward and immediately falling on his face; and the drone that Ochako was currently holding onto with her gravity gone fell out of the sky, and she let out a gasp as she was dropped by its weight straight to the ground, slamming against the concrete and having the air driven out of her lungs.

The entire crowd watched in befuddled silence as the three teenagers that were still in the ring struggled to get back up, with Ochako taking several shaking breaths as she tried to roll over in an attempt to regain control of her breathing, tapping her fingers together to restore her weight; Izuku, meanwhile, continued to struggle to lift himself off the ground against the weight of the support items Mei had strapped him into, and Tenya attempted to get control of his dizziness, trying to get back up only to fall back down at once. In the crowd, the Urarakas were watching their daughter with sympathy, while Tenohira tried her hardest to control her giggles at how utterly pearshaped this first match turned out to be, and Hisashi likewise tried to look just as unamused while Inko gave him a pout.

Finally, once she was able to get control of her breathing, Ochako managed to get up on shaking feet, looking around for Izuku, and once she spotted him struggling on the ground, walked over and knelt beside him in order to help him out of the gear. Izuku let out a small murmur of appreciation as she managed to get the backpack off of him, and then started on getting the cannon off. While she did so, Tenya finally managed to regain his balance somewhat as he sat up, quickly shoving off the armor and various support items he had been unwillingly strapped into, and then whirled around to point a rage-filled finger straight at Mei, with the support student dully beginning to pack up the drones that had begun to zoom over to her to be placed back into the cases again.

"You tricked me!" He shouted in an accusing tone, blushing a bit at the crowd laughing at his reaction. "How disgraceful, Hatsume! Have you no shame?!"

"Yep," Mei casually nodded, pouting as she continued putting away the drones, "I used you."

"I hate you!"

While he continued to yell at his teammate, Izuku let out a small sigh of relief as Ochako finally helped him get the cannon off, allowing him to finally stretch his back now that the heavy machinery wasn't pushing him to the ground. Together, they both got up, Izuku flexing his hand a bit after having it be stuck in the cannon, as he glanced over at where Tenya was shouting at Mei -

- and then he glanced at Ochako, who gave him a weak smile.

"So, uh …" He gestured with his head towards their classmate.

"Yeah," Ochako quickly nodded, "let's do it."

And with that, both of them began charging towards Tenya at the same time, their fists at the ready - they knew that getting Tenya at least pushed out of the ring would get them the victory, even if it was a bit unfair to team up against one person.

Unfortunately for them, however, Tenya wasn't too distracted while yelling at Mei, hearing the sound of them running up behind him, and quickly looked around, his eyes widening as he realized what was happening. Quickly, he activated the engines on his legs, making them both wince from the loud blast as he quickly ran away from where they had tried to reach out and shove him out of the ring, both of them stumbling briefly before quickly looking around at their classmate, seeing him slide to a stop on the other side of the ring.

Naturally befitting Tenya, he was giving them a disapproving look for their attempt to shove him out of the ring - but there was a weird confidence in his eyes as well, one that made both Izuku and Ochako gulp a bit and Yui lean forward suddenly from her spot in the crowd. Someone who was being teamed up on, two on one … probably shouldn't be looking that confident.

"Disgraceful, Midoriya, Uraraka!" Tenya was quick to reprimand them, straightening up and chopping his hand at them. "Attempting to sneak up on me while I was distracted? How shameful."

"Er …" Izuku glanced at Ochako, who shrugged her shoulders in confusion, before glancing back at Tenya and likewise giving him a confused, apologetic look, "… sorry?"

"Well," Tenya shrugged a bit, before a grin suddenly appeared on his face, and both of them gulped nervously as they heard his engines rumble as he leaned forward, "in any case, I should probably thank you both anyway. While I shouldn't be happy that you removed my partner from the match, at least now I can show the pros what I'm capable of against two opponents at the same time!"

With that, he took off a lot faster than either one of them were ready for, and it was only due to luck that Izuku quickly leapt to the side and out of the way before a kick from their classmate could connect with his head, and rolled away as Ochako likewise ducked underneath Tenya as he quickly kicked out at her as well. With Tenya a bit imbalanced after landing on the ground again from his leaping kick, Ochako quickly attempted to reach up and press all five of her fingers to take away his gravity to make him easier to handle -

- but Tenya seemed to anticipate that as well, quickly twisting out of the was as his other leg came up, and she let out a grunt as she was sent flying back by his leg connecting with her side, sending her flying back and yelping as she bounced off the concrete once before landing on her side, wincing.

Okay … okay, she'll never tell Izuku this, she pouted, but maybe he had a point. Tenya hit like a freaking truck.

With Ochako on the ground, Izuku let out a small grunt as he leapt back up to his feet, taking a deep breath before trying to pour some electricity out into the Gauntlet - but to his rising frustration, nothing happened again, only feeling a shiver crawl up his spine as he shook his head. Okay, he frowned, figure out what was going on with his quirk later - right now, Tenya was turning towards him, narrowing his eyes as he bent down in a runner's stance, his engines continuing to rumble loudly.

"Oh, no," Izuku muttered to himself, "he's gonna do the Recipro Burst thing, isn't he?"

Indeed, he was, as twin bursts of blue flames suddenly shot out of his engines, and Tenya began sprinting at Izuku faster than he could blink. It was only because of Izuku's natural instincts screaming 'get the hell out of the way now!' that he dodged in time, gulping as he barely avoided Tenya's attempt to jump up in the air and use both feet to kick Izuku out of the ring. As he stumbled away, Izuku let out a squeak as he barely leaned back in time to avoid Tenya's sweeping kick, as then, as Tenya straightened up and threw his fist back, Izuku acted quickly, raising the arm he had the Gauntlet on to cover his face before Tenya's fist slammed into it.

"Ow!" Tenya yelped in pain as his knuckles connected to the metal covering Izuku's lower arm, but it was Izuku that was knocked off balance by the force of the blow, tripping over himself and landing on his butt with a grunt.

Luckily for Izuku, however, Ochako acted in that moment, taking advantage of Tenya being distracted by his attacks on Izuku to leap out, trying to ignore the cheering crowd now that the match had turned back into a fight that they could watch in entertainment, and threw her hands forward to grab at Tenya again - but he quickly moved his head back, leaning back as Ochako's hand only barely snagged at his face.

Keeping his eyes closed from automatically wincing at her hand nearly hitting his face, Tenya quickly leapt back, practically blasting across the entire ring to give himself plenty of space to recover and reorganize, keeping his eyes closed as a confident grin spread across his face again.

"My apologies, Uraraka," He began opening his eyes, "but you must be … faster … than that …?"

The reason he suddenly faltered, of course, was because when he looked over at Ochako, he suddenly found that … she was blurry.

In fact … everything was blurry. And that, of course, was because in Ochako's hand, barely snagged off his face during his attempt to dodge her attack, was his glasses.

For a single moment, both Izuku and Ochako stared down at Tenya's glasses in the brown-haired girl's hand and Tenya stared at Ochako - and then Mei suddenly dropped one of her cases on the side, and the loud noise caused Ochako to jump a bit - and since her hand tensed, the glasses easily slipped out of her grip. With a gasp, Ochako quickly tried to fumble for the glasses for a moment, but was unable to stop them from falling to the ground and shattering.

There was a pause as all three teenagers stared down in shock at the broken glasses on the ground. The crowd fell silent as well, having absolutely no idea what was going on anymore, while Midnight attempted to stifle her giggles of amusement, Present Mic continued to try and figure out how Mei had silenced his commentary up in the booth, and Aizawa held his face in his hand - or, at least, in the cast he had on - while the rest of Class 1A stared down in exasperation.

"You …" Tenya turned to look up at Ochako in shock - or, at least, he was staring at the blurry blob he thought was Ochako - "… you broke my glasses."

"Uh …" Ochako gulped nervously, and Izuku very nervously glanced up at Tenya as well, "… I did. Sorry."

"I - Uraraka, that is very unsportsmanlike!" Tenya pointed indignantly somewhat to her left. "Impairing your opponent's eyesight for your own advantage! I expected better from you!"

"Er …" She shrugged helplessly. "… I'm in it to win it?"

"Unbelievable!" Tenya suddenly reached into his pocket, fuming, and pulled out … another pair of glasses, making both Ochako and Izuku blink as he quickly put them on, and then looked around angrily at his classmate. "Utterly unbelievable!"

"You …" Izuku tilted his head a bit in confusion, "… you keep another pair of glasses in your pocket?"

"Of course! I have several! I'm just thankful that I had the hindsight to be prepared for this very situation!"

---

"…"

"…"

"… that one." Setsuna flatly said.

Yui said nothing. Pony and Kyouka were likewise giving her looks with their eyebrows raising.

"You want … that one."

"Honestly," Yui shrugged, completely unashamed, "the fact he keeps spare glasses in his pocket just makes him cuter to me."

"… good lord, woman." Kyouka shook her head.

---

Alright, Izuku narrowed his eyes, after stealing one glance at Ochako as she likewise glanced at him, it was time to finally finish this match.

With a shout, he quickly hurried forward, hearing Ochako crying out (in a slightly stilted voice), "Wait, Deku!" behind him as he began charging across the ring towards Tenya. The bespectacled boy quickly went back down into a runner's stance as the other boy charged, his eyes flickering between both of his opponents - but it became clear to him, quickly, that Izuku was running forward to challenge him by himself, while Ochako hung back.

Taking a deep breath, Tenya turned his attention mostly towards Izuku, seeing him throwing back the arm he had the Gauntlet on, and tensed - it was clear to him that, with Izuku having the best chance of striking him from afar, he would need to be eliminated first before he got Ochako out of the ring. So he quickly made a plan - once Izuku threw his arm in front of him to fire, he would use Recipro Burst to get to the side, and then move quickly to kick Izuku out of the ring while he was unbalanced.

And then, as Izuku slid somewhat to a stop and prepared to throw his arm forward, Tenya acted.

Blasting to the side briefly, letting Izuku quickly throw the arm he had the Full Gauntlet on be flung forward, Tenya let out a yell as a loud explosion of blue fire blasted out of his calves behind him, leaping up into the air as he sprinted forward aimed a kick right at Izuku's midsection, with no way for Izuku to move out of the way. As he leapt up into the air, Tenya saw Izuku glance over at him in surprise, taking a deep breath -

- and instead of moving out of the way, Izuku quickly and suddenly dropped onto the ground, flopping on his stomach and letting Tenya miss him by just an inch, Izuku wincing as Tenya's shoe grazed the top of his head. Tenya sputtered a bit as he attempted to quickly twist himself in the air, wanting to at least kick Izuku while he was on the ground and unable to move, in order to potentially take him out of the game through injuries he couldn't bounce back from -

- and that was when Tenya felt it.

A pair of hands suddenly clamping down on his leg as he was midair.

And then the feeling of his weight disappearing made Tenya realize his mistake at once.

In his sudden panic as he realized he had fallen for a trap, Tenya quickly tried to activate his quirk again to get out of Ochako's grasp - but apparently, that had been what Ochako had been waiting for. As soon as Tenya's engines ignited again, she let out a shout as she quickly spun around, Izuku continuing to remain down on the ground so he wasn't hit by their now weightless classmate, and then, just like Izuku had done to Mei, she threw Tenya as hard as she could towards the edge of the ring.

And due to the blast of his engines activating in that moment, Tenya was sent spinning head over ass several times as he flew through the air, letting out several warbled shouts before Ochako finally pressed her fingers together to restore his weight the moment he flew over the edge of the circle.

With a yelp, Tenya fell straight down onto the hill of the ring and began flailing as he rolled down the dirt mountain, grunting and coughing as he kicked up a bunch of dust as he rolled several times down the hill. Finally, he came to a stop on the grass, laying on his back and staring up at the sky in confusion - or probably dizziness again, with Ochako and Izuku thinking that it wouldn't be a surprise if there were mini-glasses whirling around his head.

Before they could both move to make sure he was okay, however, they were suddenly distracted by the sound of a whip cracking.

"Iida is out of bounds!" Midnight officially confirmed, sounding somewhat relieved and amused as she pointed towards where the other two were, Izuku quickly getting back up and wincing at the dust on the front of his uniform from laying on the ground. "Midoriya and Uraraka advance to the next round!"

The crowd began roaring throughout the stadium at the confirmation of victory (a cheer that sounded albeit a bit confused about what exactly had happened in the ring for the past couple of minutes). Upon realizing that the match was over, Izuku and Ochako looked around at each other in surprise that they had apparently won, Ochako absently rubbing her back where she had been slammed into the ground by the drone and Izuku rubbing the top of his head where Tenya had barely grazed him, both of them somewhat confused about how exactly they had done that.

"Uh …" Izuku sounded a bit breathless, shaking his head lightly, "… n-nice job, Occhan. A-and good going on - on figuring out what I was gonna do with Iida at the end."

"Yeah, I - oh, wait," Ochako's eyes widened suddenly, "Iida!"

Quickly, both of them felt their shock at managing to win without either of them getting knocked out of the ring be replaced by concern for their friend, looking aorund at where Tenya was still sprawled out on the field. Quickly, after getting a nod from Midnight to confirm it was alright for them to leave the ring, they both quickly slid down the hill towards where Tenya was laying, and once they reached him, quickly began to help him sit up as he looked quite dizzy.

"I'm really sorry about that, Iida," Ochako apologized, dusting off some dirt on his uniform guiltedly, "I had wanted to get you out of the ring, I didn't expect you to - uh - yeah."

"T-that's quite alright, Uraraka," Tenya managed to get out, raising a hand to take off his glasses and rub his eyes as he shakingly stood up with assistance from the two of them, Izuku keeping his hands on Tenya's arm and shoulder in case he fell over again, "it was a smart tactic, that I will very much admit - floating me and using my quirk to push me out of the ring was a nice strategy. And Midoriya, congradulations as well - you definitely faked me out with that blast."

"Uh … thank you, Iida."

"Indeed. So, er … I just …" Tenya, for his part, looked somewhat embarrassed as he swayed on his feet, "… may need some assistance returning to the waiting room to gather my things - I'm not quite sure I can get there without falling over again."

"Er - right, of course," Izuku quickly nodded, immediately moving to wrap Tenya's arm over his shoulder, and began half-carrying, half-dragging him towards the tunnel that would lead back to the waiting rooms.

While the crowds around them clapped politely for the showmanship, Ochako let them move ahead of her, watching as Izuku carried Tenya over to the tunnel to go and help him sit down, and hopefully regain his balance - and then she felt her gaze automatically flick over to Mei as their other combatant snapped her fingers, prompting the drones from before to pick up the cases she had brought to the ring and fly them down towards the tunnel. With a grumble, Mei slipped off the sleek white boot and put it back in the compartment, before quickly calling to the investors to remember her, speaking again over Present Mic's increasingly annoyed attempts to get the speakers back under his control.

As the support student began to walk over towards one of the tunnels with the rest of the cases, Ochako found herself hesitating for a moment - then her gaze fell to the case where she had seen the white boots be placed inside. There was a part of her - probably the smart, self-preserving part of her - that knew that any interaction with Mei should be kept at the minimum … but …

… but one thought of how the boots had worked during the round, how near silent they had been, made Ochako's mind up.

Quickly, she began to jog away from Izuku and Tenya and their attempts to get Tenya somewhere where he could regain his balance, hesitantly raising a hand to the cheering crowds in thanks again, before she called out to the support student.

"Hatsume! Wait up a second!"

Thankfully, at the sound of her voice, Mei did pause her attempts to drag her stuff down the tunnel they had just entered, looking up and raising her eyebrow at Ochako as she slowed herself to a stop, panting a bit from running across the large field towards her and now standing at the entrance of the tunnel, both of them walking in so that they were out of the sun and the attention of the crowd.

"Ah," Mei looked displeased, "the baby puncher."

"I - okay, I'm not gonna touch that," Ochako shook her head, wincing as one of the drones that was still floating around bumped her on the side of the head as though it was annoyed with her, and then, with a small sigh, looked back over at the case she had seen the boots be put in and pointed at it. "I - I just had a question about one of the support items you showed off. Your - the boots."

Mei found herself blinking at that, and looked back down at the case that Ochako pointed out. Giving her a suspicious look, Mei flipped open the case again, seeing the bright white metal boots with the spinning disc near the ankle, and the three red dots on the front. Tilting her head and raising her eyebrows again, she looked back up at Ochako questioningly as the hero student looked awkward.

"I was just …" Ochako hesitated for a moment, "… wondering how they worked."

"Hm?" Mei hummed, fixing some of her hair behind her headgear as she glanced back down at the boot. "Well, I already explained that to the support companies during the match. Weren't you listening?"

"I -" Ochako paused, blushing in embarrassment, "- well, honestly, I - wasn't really listening, Hatsume. Kinda … got distracted fighting you and Iida."

"Hmph!" Well," Mei lifted up one of the boots from the case, allowing Ochako to have a closer look at it, "they're electro shoes. They use electromagnetic induction on both of my feet to allow for instant evasive action."

"And … they're really quiet," Ochako noted with a small nod.

"Hm? Not sure what that has to do with anything," Mei tilted her head, "the flashier the better, I always say. Why, should they be louder?"

"No," Ochako quickly shook her head, taking a deep breath to gather up the courage to ask this as she looked up at Mei, already knowing that this was probably a bad idea, "I was just … I was wondering if I could possibly have them for my hero costume? Or - or if you could build something similar. I'm thinking of becoming a stealth hero, and … and those boots look like they could work well with getting me places fast, and them being quiet would - you know - help me out."

Ochako winced a bit at how lamely her question ended, but at least it didn't matter to Mei - rather, it seemed to grab her entire attention, her eyes widening as she looked at Ochako as though she had only just noticed she was there. Ochako, for her part, gulped a bit nervously as Mei studied her for a moment - and then that wide, manic grin reappeared on her face.

"Ah! A potential customer!" She suddenly looked excited, and quickly leaned over her case to get in Ochako's face, the hero student jumping slightly as she quickly leaned back to get away from the wide-eyed grin. "Well, why didn't you start with that?! A hero costume, and you need my quiet babies?"

"I - well, I was just thinking -"

"Say no more! Wait, no, I might need your name. Give me your name!"

"Uh - O-Ochako Uraraka?" Ochako said in a hesitant tone, as though she wasn't sure.

"Ah, ah, I see, I see," Mei quickly pulled a clipboard out of the open case, writing something down while nodding excitedly, "you were the one who had their costume with us … was nearing complete repair, but now … now we'll have to throw it all away!"

"I - wait, what?"

"Yes, yes, if you're going to be a stealth hero, you can't be too loud," Mei excitedly muttered to herself, ignoring Ochako's increasingly nervous stammering, "but if you want to use my babies … yes, yes … we'll have to get to work at once."

Before Ochako could protest that, Mei reached out to grab her wrist. Rather than get flustered by the feeling of a hand on her, however, Ochako winced at the tight grip, feeling as though something was cracking from how hard Mei was holding onto her.

"Come," Mei giggled with glee, slamming the case shut again as the drones picked them all up and began floating down the tunnel, "we'll have to get to work at once!"

And with that, she began pulling Ochako at full speed, the brown-haired girl yelping in both surprise and a bit of terror as she was pretty much dragged down the rest of the hallway towards somewhere Mei could begin working.

---

"Are, uh …" Izuku hesitated for a moment, gulping nervously, "… are you sure that you're okay with how our match ended, Iida? I wouldn't blame you for … y'know … not being okay with it."

"Well," Tenya shrugged as the two boys continued to make their way down the hallway towards the stairs, wanting to walk to the floor that their classmates were seated at, "I won't pretend that I'm not disappointed that I was defeated, Midoriya. But on the other hand, if I focus only on the downsides of the match, that would be detrimental to my development. So, instead of dwelling on what I may or may not be bitter about, I choose to focus on the positives of the day."

"And … uh …" Izuku found himself sweating a bit, "… what would those be?"

"With hindsight," Tenya smiled, "I believe I did quite well during the first round, even if I didn't place first. The second round, meanwhile, showed my speed and ability to work well with others! And while I was tricked by Hatsume into being a walking advertisement -" That, at least, made Tenya's eyebrow twitch, "- you and Uraraka managed to get her out of the ring before she could dominate the entire match, and while I was eventually defeated by you both, I managed to show the pro heroes what I was capable of against two opponents at the same time. And I was only really defeated when you two tricked me, instead of being defeated through force or being overpowered."

Turning back to Izuku, he patted the smaller boy's shoulder.

"Quite honestly," He beamed, "even if I didn't make it to the last round, I would like to think that I at least had a good showing today!"

"That's - that's really good, Iida," Izuku gave him a shaky smile in turn.

Indeed, the two boys had pretty much immediately gotten over the intensity of their match when they had gotten back to the waiting room, gathering their water bottles and phones in order to head back upstairs for a bit - once Tenya had managed to get his balance back after practically spending half the match spinning around in circles, of course. Once they had gotten their things, they had started making their way back up to the top floor of the stadium, after Yui had posted in their group chat where they were all sitting, so that Izuku could at least watch the next two rounds with their friends before he had to go back down to get ready for his second match.

Izuku had been very relieved that there weren't any hard feelings from Tenya about how the match ended - as Tenya had said, he seemed to be rather satisfied with his day, despite how the match went and his ultimately being defeated. And, seeing as since Tenya lost he wouldn't have to do the next round with Mei, he seemed to be more relieved than anything - which Izuku couldn't blame him for, wincing slightly as he imagined how awkward it would be for Mei to use Tenya as a prop for her inventions and then have to do another match with him. So maybe he understood why Tenya was okay with being done for the day.

Still though, he had been a bit taken aback when he had realized that Ochako hadn't followed them, having looked around and saw her going off after Mei once the match ended - but still, Izuku tried to ignore how hurt his heart felt that she apparently didn't want to spend any unnecessary time with him that she didn't have to. He'd … well, he'll text her in a bit to inquire where she went off to, and when they'd get back together to go over the plan for the next round.

Although speaking of the next round …

"So, Midoriya," Tenya sighed as they turned down the corner down the hallway, glancing over at his friend, "I believe that depending on how the next round goes, your next opponents will be …"

"Either Kacchan and Tokoyami," Izuku nodded, feeling his smile fall, "or Kirishima and Mineta."

"Er … yes," Tenya grimaced slightly, knowing immediately why Izuku was suddenly looking down - he was, by his own admission, a bit socially dense, but even Tenya had picked up on all the dirty looks that Katsuki had been shooting both Izuku and Ochako all day long. "I suppose that - well, we can't discount Kirishima and Mineta just yet, of course - perhaps they have a trick up their sleeves."

"I … maybe," Izuku nodded, trying to keep his real thoughts to himself as he bit his lip.

Indeed, he wanted to believe in Eijirou's chances of getting to the next round, trying to feel confident for his friend, but … well, like he had thought before, he knew that Katsui wasn't going to just roll over for Eijirou and Mineta, Izuku winced. And he knew that Katsuki wasn't going to be dumb about this either - there was a small chance that Mineta could surprise him, but he knew that Katsuki was smart enough to pay attention to the general studies student while they had all been on the same team, and had probably come up with ways to counter him.

So the chances that he and Ochako would be fighting Izuku's former childhood friend in the next round was … admittedly a lot higher than he was comfortable with. However, before Izuku could voice his thoughts to Tenya, he glanced over at the bespectacled boy and blinked as he suddenly began vibrating.

"Uh … Iida?" Izuku asked in an unsure voice. "Are - are you okay?"

"Hm?" Tenya hummed, his voice shaking a bit as he reached down for his pocket. "Oh, I'm fine, Midoriya. It's just my phone."

"Oh, okay," Izuku sighed in relief, glad that it wasn't some sudden nerves or delayed anger that overcame Tenya as he pulled out his phone and glanced down at who was calling him. Looking at the screen, though, made Tenya blink.

"Mother?" He wondered out loud, drawing Izuku's attention back to him as he stared down at the screen in surprise. "Perhaps she wishes to talk to me about the festival … Midoriya," He turned to flash a grin at the smaller boy, "please excuse me, I should answer this in private. I'll see you back up with the rest of our class."

"Oh, uh - right. See you later, Iida."

Giving him a small wave, Tenya quickly turned to walk towards the nearest empty room for privacy. Izuku nodded a bit stiffly as his friend walked away, letting out a small sigh, and then turned back to the stairwell, quickly opening the door and starting to climb up the stairs towards the floor that the group chat had said they were, pulling out his phone to double check.

As he moved up the stairs, he found his thoughts returning to the next match he and Ochako would be participating in, feeling his small smile from talking to Tenya fade away. From what he could gather from the announcements Present Mic was making, his voice echoing through the halls and stairwell, the next match would be starting in a couple of minutes - and then once the other two matches were done, then he would have to fight whoever one this upcoming match.

And that … might be Katsuki. And Fumikage as well, Izuku sighed, he couldn't ignore that Katsuki's partner was equally as dangerous with Dark Shadow.

So … this would be the first time he's gotten into an actual fight with Katsuki, huh? Well, besides their altercation at the playground all those years ago, but - well, Katsuki clearly held the opinion that what happened there didn't count at all, Izuku grimaced as he continued climbing up the stairs. So … well, in any case, he shook his head, putting his phone back in his pocket and turning to look down at his hand - he couldn't focus on small stuff like that. He knew that if he was going to be fighting against Katsuki and Fumikage, he couldn't hold back at all. And that meant that he would have to use his quirk.

And that … that might be a problem, seeing as he needed to quickly figure out why he wasn't able to fire off a shot at all during the last match.

Pressing the button of the Full Gauntlet again, he let the support item activate over his arm, letting out a small sigh as he gave it a once over. Nothing seemed to be wrong or broken with the support item, he frowned - no cracks or pieces falling off or anything like that, other than a few scratches from the drones that had hit it during Mei's presentation. After a moment of staring at it, Izuku took a deep breath, concentrating slightly as he attempted to use his quirk to run some lightning along his skin to be absorbed into the Gauntlet.

And just like below in the stadium … nothing happened.

No sparks, no sudden flicker of lightning, nothing. Nothing but another shiver that crawled up his spine as his body refused to warm up from being stuck in ice earlier.

Letting out a small grumble of dissatisfaction, Izuku tapped on the screen of the Full Gauntlet to shrink it back down, staring at his arm in disappointment before letting it fall limply to his side. Quite honestly, he scowled as he pushed open the door to the top floor, where Yui said their booth was, he was getting rather tired of his quirk being mysterious and hard to use. On other days, he might be confused or curious as to why it wasn't working, but right now, all he felt was frustration and exhaustion towards his stupid, unstable quirk.

He just … wanted a single day where he could use his quirk normally and not have to consciously fight with this body on how to use it. And not only that, Izuku sighed, but of course his quirk had to screw him over at the absolute worst time, right before a match that he would definitely need it for coming up within the next hour.

At least Ochako somewhat knew about his quirk not working, he sighed as he walked down the hallway, hearing the crowds excitedly talking and cheering in the seats below him. So once he … eventually saw her, they could talk over what they were supposed to do if his quirk didn't start behaving.

Just … needed to find out where she went, he frowned sadly, and hope that whatever he did to make her feel awkward around him wouldn't -

"Deku!"

At the sound of his name - or rather, his nickname - being called out unexpectedly behind him, Izuku nearly tripped over himself, letting out a small yelp as he stumbled over his feet. Blinking, Izuku stared forward for a moment, as though believing for a moment that he had just imagined that, and quickly looked around - there were only three people that referred to him by that nickname, and seeing as Ochako was currently avoiding him for unknown reasons and Katsuki's voice had not suddenly turned high-pitched, there was only one person who could be calling out to him right now.

And sure enough, as he looked over his shoulder, Izuku blinked as he spotted a small girl poking her head out from one of the stairwells that led down to the crowd, her eyes widening as she saw his face.

"Eri?" Izuku straightened up, a smile appearing on his face. Momentarily, his worries about the next match, his anxiety about his quirk, his thoughts about Ochako, all of that completely faded as the little girl came out into the hallway, and he quickly jogged over to where she was standing.

Thankfully, before he could ask her why she was standing around all alone, his unasked question was answered as soon as he approached her, as his mom, wiping her eyes with her handkerchief, Miwa, and Tenohira made their way up the stairs to join Eri, all three of them looking at him in surprise as he approached.

"Mom? Miwa? Mrs. Kendou?"

"'Mrs. Kendou'?" Tenohira repeated dryly, raising her eyebrow and putting her hands on her hips, but before Izuku could begin sweating nervously at the mistake he kept making, Inko let out a loud wail as she threw her arms wide, a gyser of tears immediately exploding out of her eyes.

"Oh, Izuku!" She cried, throwing her arms around Izuku and making him grunt in slight pain as she practically crushed him in a big hug, her tears soaking the front of his gym uniform. "You've been doing so well today! Coming in first during the first round and the second round, b-but - oh, goodness, I've fainted so many times today, you wouldn't even imagine!"

"Erk," Izuku grunted, going a bit red as he managed to pat his mother's back despite her crushing him, "er - sorry, Mom."

"What are you apologizing to Inko for?" Miwa giggled, adjusting the strap of her purse on her shoulder. "I think you should be apologizing to Tenohira and myself - we've been the ones that have been making sure she's okay."

"Oh, honey, you don't have to apologize to anyone," Inko shook her head as she finally let go of him and took a step back, wiping her eyes with her wet handkerchief again, "it's okay, just … your mother worries, is all. I've just been so - I'm so happy that everyone has been talking so positively about you."

"H-huh?" Izuku blinked, confused. "Everyone? W-who's everyone?"

"Well, everyone watching, of course!" Miwa giggled, reaching over and giving Izuku her own hug, which he confusedly returned. "I don't know if you haven't noticed, but you've been getting a lot of attention today, Izuku - when we were getting lunch, you were practically who everbody's been talking about!"

"I - what?!" Izuku squeaked, going a bit red as he looked between the three women. All of them nodded with small giggles, and Tenohira reached out to rub Izuku's shoulder.

"Yep, kiddo, you're kind of famous," She smiled at him, "we've been spending all day watching you and Ochako going absolutely nuts out there and everyone loves it, it's been amazing! So you bet your butt that we're gonna have a lot to celebrate about tonight - I think you've earned yourself a few bowls of katsudon when we get back home."

"I - wait, katsudon?" Izuku quickly straightened up, looking over at the Kendou matriarch hopefully at the mention of his favorite food, which only made the three women giggle some more. Thankfully for them, Eri got the conversation back on track as she reached up to tug on Izuku's hand, drawing his attention back down to the little girl.

"We're getting more popcorn," She told him informatively, "Hira said that I could have one more small bag, and then that would be it. I've had a lot of snacks today."

"O-oh, is that right?" Izuku found himself smiling down at her, taking a step back from the mothers surrounding him so he could kneel down to Eri's level, "Not too much, though, right?"

"Mm-mm," She shook her head, "just a bit. Teko didn't want me to ruin my supper tonight." She then leaned in to whisper, as though sharing a secret with him. "Candy apples are awesome."

"I'm - I'm glad to hear it."

"But … where's Occhan?" Eri then turned to look down the hall, her small smile fading a bit and unaware of Izuku's smile freezing slightly at the question. "I thought she was with you."

"Oh, uh …" Izuku found himself hesitating for a moment, not entirely sure what to say there - how would he explain to a little girl that his best friend has been avoiding him, for a reason he don't really know? - and then let out a small sigh.

"… I'm … I'm not really sure, Eri," He admitted, "she walked away with Hatsume when we were done with the match, but - but I'm sure I'll see her soon, when we meet up for the next round. I - I'll tell her you were looking for her, okay?"

He knew that his voice had caught a few times there, making Eri falter slightly and the smiles on Inko, Miwa and Tenohira's faces fade slightly when they heard it, but he knew that there was no way that he could go into it right now. Quickly getting back up and straightening his back, trying to put on a smile, he turned on his heel in order to walk away, giving the three of them a small wave.

"Uh … anyway," He tried to hurriedly say, smiling a bit stiffly at them before turning around, "I should probably - uh - well, I should probably make my way over to the booth my class is staying in - I guess Kirishima and Kacchan's match is starting soon, so I should - I should watch that. Uh - I guess I'll see you -"

"Izuku?"

His step faltered, however, at the sound of his mom's soft and inquiring voice, and glanced back over at her. He winced as the proud, somewhat watery look faded from her face, replaced by worry as she put the wet handkerchief back in her pocket. Miwa and Tenohira, meanwhile, also weren't smiling anymore, both of them looking concerned as Inko reached out and gently took his arm.

"Honey," Inko said in a quiet voice, aware of Eri glancing up at Izuku in confusion as well, "are you okay? You seem to be …"

"Uh - er - w-what do you mean?" Izuku stammered, continuing to smile stiffly as he glanced left and right nervously, as though looking for some kind of route to escape from this conversation. "I'm okay, Mom, I just - I should -"

"Izuku," Miwa pouted, while Tenohira gave him a deadpan stare and Inko raised her eyebrow, and Izuku immediately shut his mouth at the three separate 'Mom isn't impressed right now' looks being aimed at him at the same time, "don't lie to your mother."

"I'm - I'm not, though," Izuku continued to glance around nervously again, feeling himself shrink a bit, "I'm really - I'm okay."

"Mm-mm," Eri shook her head, pointing up at Izuku, "that's a lie."

"I - Eri?!" Izuku balked at the betrayal from the young girl, now completely surrounded on all sides. However, before he could protest more, Inko reached up to pat his shoulder again, drawing his attention to her as she gave him a smile.

"Why don't you come with us to get Eri's popcorn?" She offered him kindly. "We can talk a bit there."

"Uh -" Izuku hesitated for a moment, wondering how he could possibly say no to this - but Miwa's serene but still expectant smile and Tenohira raising her eyebrow sealed his fate. That, plus he couldn't resist his mom's puppy-dog eyes and Eri tugging on his hand, even if she wasn't entirely sure what was going on.

"- sure, Mom," He sighed, "let's - yeah."

With that, the five of them began walking down the hallway, hearing the sound of Present Mic beginning to announce the next round on the intercom above them. As they walked away, Izuku let out a small sigh and quietly wished Eijirou luck - because, knowing Katsuki, his friend was definitely going to need it.

Thankfully, it didn't take them too long to find a stall that sold some popcorn, quickly joining the small line and letting Eri look around interestingly at the other stalls, holding Izuku's hand so she didn't go off on her own and explore. Izuku, for his part, felt a bit relieved that no one seemed to recognize him as he stood there, which meant that he could keep his head down a little bit and not have to deal with anyone realizing who he was - although it was hard to fight off the feeling that there were eyes on him.

While Eri continued to look around curiously at her surroundings, the three moms shared a small glance between each other, and then Inko let out a small sigh and patted Izuku's arm.

"Honey," She said in a quiet, kind voice, "is everything okay with you and Ochako?"

"H-huh?" Izuku blinked, looking back around at her and feeling his cheeks go a bit red at the question. "I - yeah, of - of course it is, Mom. W-what do you -"

"Well," Miwa gave him a knowing look, knowing that she would have to heavily restrain herself during this conversation to keep things unbiased, "it just seemed like … there was something going on while we were watching the last few rounds. We noticed when you guys came back for lunch, you weren't looking at each other at all."

"I - well -"

"And you weren't looking at each other either when you came out during the first round," She continued on, knowing that Tenohira was scowling slightly as she likewise looked around while accepting that she would also have to be unbiased for this conversation, "and then in the forest, when you two crashed into each other -"

"Oh, no," Izuku groaned quietly to himself, feeling like he was slowly dying on the spot the longer his neighbor talked. Luckily for him, Inko took over for her.

"- it just seems like there's something going on," She patted Izuku's arm again, "and we're just … hoping that everything between you two is okay, sweetie. I haven't seen Ochako looking like … that … around in … well, I don't think I've ever seen her like that."

There was a short pause - and Izuku found himself blinking.

"Looking …" He glanced over at his mom, "… like … what, exactly?"

"Like …" Inko hesitated for a moment - not entirely sure what to say here that wouldn't cause her son to melt into an embarrassed puddle on the floor - but then Tenohira cleared her throat, drawing everyone's attention to her.

"It's … not just you and Ochako," She looked a bit embarrassed to be butting into the conversation, but didn't want anything to remain unsaid now that they were on the topic, "I also … noticed you were acting a bit weird around Itsuka too, Izuku. Like you two were …"

"… like … you're avoiding each other." Inko finished for the three of them.

Izuku found himself stopping at that, feeling his cheeks turn red and his slight panic from the conversation he hadn't been ready to have fade away as he frowned at the ground, something that was picked up by the moms surrounding him and causing them all to look at him in concern.

Of course … of course they would've noticed, Izuku winced. Their moms of course would've noticed that not everything was okay with their children, and that things were awkward. Honestly, he thought as his cheeks remained red, now that he was thinking about it, it must've been more than a little obvious that he, Ochako and Itsuka weren't being as close to each other as they've been before today.

It was just … well …

"I …" He hesitated for another moment, and then felt his shoulders sag, sighing, "… I … I think I've messed something up. With - with both of them."

"Well, what's going on, sweetie?" Inko gave him a concerned look as Eri continued to bounce up and down as they got closer and closer to the front of the line, both Miwa and Tenohira exchanging concerned glances as well before looking back to Izuku. "You can tell us, you know - whatever's going on, it'll stay between the four of us."

"That's right," Tenohira smiled, "I definitely won't tell Itsuka anything, if you want. Your secret's safe with us, Izuku."

Izuku hesitated for a moment, feeling his heart beat uncomfortably fast in his chest - and then he shook his head, sighing and looking away.

"I'm … I'm not sure what I did," He admitted quietly, "that's the thing. But I feel … all today, and - and for the last few days, I've just … felt … weird around them."

The three mothers slowly nodded at that, exchanging another glance between each other before returning their gazes to the young man. With Inko giving him an encouraging nod, Izuku let out a small sigh, and began to explain to them everything that happened today between him and his training partners - from feeling awkward around them when they got to school, to those weird moments alone with Ochako in the forest, to the weird feelings in his chest when he thought of both of them, to the awkward hug he had shared with Itsuka during lunch. While he talked, he felt his heartbeat begin to lessen its hard beating, but his stomach twisted and tensed, making him feel more uneasy than anything.

He had been so concentrated on staring at the floor while telling them everything that had happened that day, he completely missed the varying looks from the three mothers - going from curiosity, to shock, to Miwa and Tenohira sticking their tongues out at each other at different points of the story while Inko merely rolled her eyes at them, and then excitement, to shock, and then back to feeling concerned as Izuku sighed unhappily.

"… and then the hug just … went on forever," Izuku groaned a bit in humiliation, holding a hand over his eyes as his face burned bright red, "and when I realized that I had been holding on to Kendou for too long, we pretty much jumped apart and ran away from each other. And now I - I can't even look her in the eye. And now Occhan's acting weird around me too, and - I just - I know that I must've done something wrong," He glanced away, feeling himself tear up a bit, "since neither of them don't even want to talk to me at this point, unless we don't have a choice. But the weird thing is - is that when I was hugging Kendou, I felt those - those weird feelings I felt around Occhan for her, too, and I - I just don't know what's going on with me."

"Uh … huh," Tenohira nodded slowly, holding out a spare handkerchief for Inko to grab and dab at her eyes with, the emotional mom unable to help herself from tearing up.

"And I just … I know that they're avoiding me, and I just - I don't know why. I don't know why I'm feeling weird around both of them, and I just - I want things to go back to normal again." He felt tears sting in his own eyes as he admitted that. "I want to go back to us … just hanging out without it feeling weird, but - but I don't know how. I don't know why I feel weird around them, and I just … I just wanna hang out with them again without feeling like I did something wrong."

There was a long moment of quiet as Inko, Miwa, and Tenohira slowly absorbed what Izuku told them. Even Eri, who had been bouncing around excitedly for her popcorn, had turned to look up at Izuku, saw the sad look on his face, and calmed herself down enough to reach back over for his hand, not even sure what was going on but still wanting to comfort him. Miwa and Tenohira stole a glance at each other again, both of their faces fallen - honestly, after what Izuku told them and how torn he obviously was about it, they didn't really feel like being in a competitive mood anymore.

Inko, meanwhile, stayed quiet for a moment as she stared down at the floor - and then she let out a small sigh.

"Well, Izuku," She nodded slowly to herself, "if … if you want the truth, I don't think you can."

"I - huh?" Izuku blinked, looking back at his mother in shock as she looked back up at him.

"I … don't think you can go back to spending time with Ochako and Itsuka like you did before," She admitted, wincing at the hurt look that quickly crossed her son's face, "but … well, I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing."

"What?" Izuku found himself momentarily stupefied, while Miwa and Tenohira glanced at Inko in surprise. "But - doesn't that -"

"Honey, can I ask you something? And I want you to be honest with me, okay?"

Izuku felt his brow wrinkle a bit, but still nodded as his mother gave him a serious look, while also keeping mind of Tenohira and Miwa looking at her in confusion as well, as though wondering what she could possibly be asking of her son.

"Can I ask you …" She hesitated for a moment, "… what … exactly do you feel for Itsuka and Ochako? Like - how do you feel about them in general?"

"Uh -" Izuku found himself faltering, confused by the question, while Miwa and Tenohira let out small noises and quickly looked around at Inko in shock, and Eri glanced between them all in confusion. "- like - w-well, they're - they're my friends. My best friends."

"Mm-hm," Inko nodded, "yes, okay. But … how do you feel for them … specifically? Do - do they make you happy?"

"I -" Izuku still felt a bit confused about where this was going, glancing at Miwa and Tenohira but not getting any answers as they both conspicuously and quickly looked away to hide their faces. "- yeah, of - of course. More than anything."

"And the thought of them … does it make you feel better?"

"I … guess?"

"And you want to spend time with them? More out of anyone else?"

"I - Mom, where are you going with this?" Izuku sighed, not entirely sure what his mom was talking about as she continued to give him a concerned, yet knowing look. As he glanced back around at the other two adult women to maybe get some support, however, they both quickly and suddenly moved to take Eri's hands in theirs, with the little girl looking as confused as Izuku was, and led her over towards the popcorn stand, with Tenohira quickly pulling out some yen from her purse to pay for a bag for the little girl.

Now alone with his mom, Izuku glanced back over at her, and then sighed as she gave him an expectant look, clearly looking for an answer to her question.

"I - I guess I do?" He shook his head. "I don't - I mean, yes, I - I do wanna spend time with them, but - but why are you asking me these things, Mom?"

"Just … okay, I'll tell you, honey, but I do have one more question before I do." Inko bit her lip a bit, wringing her hands together anxiously as she looked up at her son, seeing him look around as his cheeks remained red.

"I - okay. W-what's the question?"

"Do you … would you be ready to … to hurt one of them?"

At those last five words, Izuku found his confusion and slight annoyance with his mom's weird questions cease entirely. Feeling his eyes widen a bit, he quickly looked back around at Inko, as she likewise gave him a concerned look.

"… Mom, what - what does that mean?" He asked in a confused, slightly shaking voice. "I - I don't wanna - I don't wanna hurt Occhan or Kendou. W-why would you ask me -?"

"Because …" Inko hesitated again, glancing again at Miwa and Tenohira as they led Eri, now happily munching on her popcorn, back down the tunnel that led towards their seats. With a small sigh, Inko gently took Izuku's shoulder, and began to pull him along, Izuku still staring at her in confusion and bewilderment as he automatically began walking with her.

"… listen to me, sweetie," She turned to look at him again as they walked, giving him a soft look as he clearly looked antsy about what she had just asked, "I … I think I do know why you've been feeling so weird around both of them. And … and I think you know what those feelings are, too - it's something that you've probably always known, you just … never really put much thought about it."

"Then - then what is it?"

"I … think it'll have to be something you figure out for yourself," Inko winced a bit at how vague she was being at the moment, especially when a vein Izuku's forehead twitched, "but - I want you to know one thing, okay?"

Izuku let out a small sigh at her elusiveness, but still nodded.

"I need you to know," She hesitated again before she quickly shook her head, "that once you do figure out what's going on between you and the girls - and I think you've been doing that all day long - you need to … to know that you'll have to make a choice. And that choice … it's going to hurt either Ochako or Itsuka."

Izuku found his stomach tense slightly as he slowly mulled over what his mom said. He thought that he understood what she was implying, but …

"Are …" He found himself swallowing a bit, "… are you saying that I'll … I'll have to hurt their feelings? T-that kind of hurt?"

"Yes, honey," Inko nodded, not looking very happy about what she was saying, "and it … it will hurt. It'll hurt both of them, and - and it'll hurt you as well. I know how much you care about both of those girls - I know how much they've both changed you, for the better. Ochako - she was there for you when you needed her the most, and Itsuka was there for you when you started coming out of your shell, and - and I know how much they both mean to you, in their own ways."

"But …"

"But once you realize what these … weird feelings … are," Inko teared up slightly, "you may have to hurt one of them. Because …"

She slowed them both to a stop, and Izuku blinked as he glanced around at their surroundings and realized that his mom and led him back to the stairs where they had first met up, hearing the distant sound of explosions and yelling from the crowds. Inko then patted her son's cheek, causing Izuku to look back around at her and see the tears in her eyes again.

"… because I know," She took a deep, shuddering breath, "how much you love them both."

At that, Izuku found himself straighten up.

"I - what?" He quickly stuttered, going a bit red. "W-what do you mean, Mom? T-that I -"

"Sweetie," Inko shook her head, causing Izuku's flustered stammering to immediately stop as she gave him a knowing look, "you love them. I can't tell you what exactly that love is, because … well, it's something that you'll have to figure out yourself."

With that, she moved up on her tippie toes to kiss her son's cheek, and gave him a teary smile.

"Just … think about it, okay?" She asked him. "It doesn't have to be now, but … just think about it. And know that no matter what decision you make, I'll always back you up."

"I …?"

"I'm going to go back down to watch, okay? Good luck, sweetie. Just … don't do anything crazy, though, alright? Your mom's heart can't take it."

With that, she then turned to begin walking back down the steps towards where the rest of the families were seated, with Miwa and Tenohira giving her concerned and weird looks as she made her way back down to them, Taiyo and Hakushu waving in greeting at Izuku, Hisashi glancing between his ex-wife and Izuku with confusion, and Teko offering him a brief nod before turning back to watch the match.

Izuku, on the other hand, merely stared off into space for a moment as his mother's words continued to echo through his mind - not even looking down at the ring as Eijirou threw haymaker after haymaker at Katsuki as the blonde boy dodged around him, and Mineta screamed pathetically as he tried to pelt the balls on his head at Fumikage - and then, Izuku let out a slow, shaking sigh as he took a step back. Moving to stand near the wall next to the tunnel, Izuku raised one hand to scratch the side of his head, feeling his shoulders slump and his lips thin as he thought over what his mom said.

She … asked him how he felt around his best friends. If they made him happy. If he was … ready to … hurt one of them. That one thought made Izuku scowl a bit, folding his arms across his chest and shaking his head. He - no, he pouted, he wasn't sure exactly what his mom was implying, but he didn't want to hurt either Ochako or Itsuka. Not at all.

But honestly … it was the last thing that Inko had said that kept ringing in his ears, and making his heart hammer in his chest.

"… but I know how much you love them both."

Love.

Why … why was that one word making Izuku's stomach twist when he thought of it?

Love.

His mom said that he … he loved Ochako and Itsuka. That - that had never been a word that he associated with them, Izuku felt his cheeks turning a bit redder. He … he definitely liked them, of course. They were his best friends! Of course he liked them! They meant a lot to him!

But he … he never …

… he never thought about … loving them.

…

Not - not like - not like being in love with them! Izuku quickly shook his head as that thought entered his mind without permission, going much redder and shaking his head so fast it looked like his hair became a temporary blur of green. Of - of course not! He wasn't in love with - with Ochako. He wasn't in love with Itsuka.

He wasn't …

… he …

… wasn't …

Slowly - ever so slowly - Izuku found his mind stopping there. His eyes stayed on the ground for a few moments, his mouth dropping open slightly. Nothing, not the background noise of the fight happening in the arena, Present Mic's gleeful commentary on the intercom above him, nothing broke through the weird fog his mind suddenly found itself in, his heart continuing to beat harder and harder in his chest.

He wasn't … in love … with either of his best friends … was he? But … but he was just …

… it was those weird feelings, he realized, that was - he was just - he wasn't thinking things through - they weren't -

- he didn't -

- no.

No. No more of this.

Izuku found himself staring at the floor for only another moment longer - and then he finally shook his head, moving his head up to stare at the ceiling, and then quickly smacking his cheeks with both hands, taking a slow, deep breath.

He had no idea what was going on with him today. He had no idea why he was feeling so awkward around Itsuka and Ochako. He had no idea if this … was … love, he blushed, or if it was just his mom's phrasing that was making him feel flustered. But … but he was tired of this stupid stuff. He was tired of slinking off into a corner and overthinking everything, like he always did when it came to them. Like when he had been unsure about them growing closer, and Katsuki fed him that dumb thought about him being a third wheel and them leaving him behind. A thought that still caused him anxiety, but the growing frustration within him was quick to silence it as it tried to poke at him.

He was tired of it. Ochako and Itsuka - they were his best friends. He had no idea why they were acting so awkward around him, but - but he wasn't going to do this anymore.

He wasn't going to be stiff and awkward around Ochako, someone he's known his entire life. He wasn't going to act weird around Itsuka, who was the first friend he made in years and someone he's come to admire greatly.

He … he needed to talk to them. Both of them.

Without pause, he pulled out his phone from his pocket, taking a moment to look for their group chat - not the Kendousquad chat, of course, but the private one the three of them had from when they had trained on the beach. After a second to think of what he wanted to say, he took a deep breath, nodded slowly to himself, and then started typing.

YOU

hey guys

i know that it's pretty busy rn and you're probably

doing stuff, but i was

i was wondering if i could meet up with you guys

just for a bit

Finishing typing, he moved his hand down so that he could lean back against the wall, knowing that they probably wouldn't text back immediately, and glanced up at the screen on the other side of the stadium to have a look at the fight going on below. He stared at the screen aimlessly for about a minute, seeing Fumikage using Dark Shadow to grab Mineta in a tight grip and shaking him around like a ragdoll - and then he felt his phone vibrate in his hand.

Quickly, he brought his phone back up, feeling his heart hammer in his chest.

OCCHAN

uh

hey deku

i'm

sort of free rn

just gotta shake hatsume off me

she's designing her inventions rn and

i'm kind of being a guinea pig against my will

Before he could think of a response to that (or what he even could respond to that with), he saw Itsuka's own picture start to pop up under the 'typing' notification, and quickly held his breath as he waited for her response.

KEN

is everything okay, izuku?

YOU

oh yeah, everything's

it's fine

just

wanted to talk to you both before the next match, if it's cool

KEN

...

okay

i

think we can meet up real quick

i got my match with monoma and ashido coming up soon, and then

y'know

you guys are back up again

but

anyway

where do you wanna meet?

YOU

er

KEN

or maybe

i'm sitting down in a waiting room with hadou rn

we've been

talking

if you guys don't mind her being here, we can chat there

OCCHAN

i guess that works

where is it?

KEN

bottom floor, near the tunnel

waiting room 4

i can also send my location if that works

OCCHAN

i think i'm close to there

YOU

okay

i'll be there soon

Quickly nodding to himself, Izuku slid his phone back into his pocket, taking a deep breath before he turned on his heel to start jogging back towards the stairs he had come up from. He was so focused on getting downstairs, he didn't even notice Present Mic announce the end of the match, with the screens around Izuku showing Katsuki dusting himself off while Eijirou was slumped over in defeat, Mineta laying far away from the ring on the field, and the blonde boy sneering down at both of them while Fumikage folded his arms across his chest, Dark Shadow slowly receding back into him.

No, the fact that he was going to have to go up against the one person he was absolutely dreading fighting didn't matter at the moment. At the moment, Katsuki didn't matter. Right now, he wanted to talk to Ochako without both of them wanting to look away from each other. He wanted to hang out with Itsuka without feeling like an awkward idiot. He just …

… no. No 'ifs' or 'buts' about this. All his anxious thoughts and worries about what his mom meant about hurting one of them could wait until later.

Right now, he wanted his girls back. And by god, he was going to get them back. It was with that determined thought that Izuku pushed the door open to the stairwell and quickly began making his way back down to the bottom floor.

He was in such a hurry, he didn't notice a pair of green, dark eyes staring at him, watching the hero student storm back downstairs with a raised eyebrow and a smirk, and then turn back to scribble something on her notepad from where she had been leaning against a pillar out of view of him, before flipping some of her pale, lilac hair behind her shoulder, and then turn to start walking down the hallway towards where the subject of her article vanished to.

---

"Keep away from the door, and face the wall. Now."

At the low growl from behind the thick door of the cell, the prisoner sitting on the bed let out a small huff as she reluctantly stood up. The gun in the top corner of the room immediately turned to point straight at the back of her head in warning as she walked over to the wall and pressed her forehead gently against it, closing her eyes as she heard the sound of the mechanical lock on the door beginning to slide open.

Shame, she scowled, and here she had been so excited to just sit on her bed and continue her staring contest with the wall. Still though, if the guards were coming into the room for once, that meant that something was up - they rarely if ever came into her room, usually only opening the small slide on the door to give her breakfast, lunch and dinner.

So that meant one of three things: one, they were going to cut her hair again, which made her scowl since it wasn't even that long yet. Two, they suspected she was up to something, so they were going to come in and search the room.

Or three … someone was here for a visit.

At the sound of the door opening behind her, she continued to glare at the wall, keeping her arms limply at her sides as she had learned from experience. And sure enough, the two guards quickly grabbed both her wrists, with her fighting down the urge to rip them free and slam her elbows into their faces, and brought them behind her back, with the prisoner feeling them being sealed tightly inside the quirk-suppressant cuffs. She tried her hardest to fight down the shiver from the cold feeling of metal clasping around her arms - it made sense to her, at least, why they insisted on keeping her restrained, seeing as it'd be a lot harder to fight against them if she had two fucking heavy pieces of metal attached to her arms.

Just like what happened on the rare cases she actually got to arrest villains. Just sucked now that she was the one that had to have the cuffs on her.

Once she was secured, the guards kneeling down to strap shackles to her ankles as well, they both took a step back, and one said, in a rough voice, "Turn around, Prisoner 656698. And do not speak unless spoken to."

With another small huff - she doubted that the guards could do anything to her if they had some kind of outsider in their walls (although she couldn't account for them beating her after the visitor left) - the prisoner slowly turned, the cuffs keeping her hands behind her back forcing her to straighten her back due to their weight dragging her back. Turning to face the door, she felt her eyes narrow slightly at the sight of a young woman slowly walking in, nodding slowly and looking around the room - not that it would look very impressive, seeing as it probably looked like every cell in Tartarus.

The woman, standing before the prisoner with a raised eyebrow, was young - younger, at least, than the prisoner was, with a slightly matured but still youthful face to indicate that she had to be in her early or mid twenties, at most. She wore a business suit, with long black pants going down to the dark heels she was wearing, a white dress shirt beneath the dark jacket accompanied by a white tie. Her blonde hair was tied back in a short bun, and she had a serene smile on her face as she finally turned to take the prisoner in, looking up and down her as the prisoner scowled.

"Kaina Tsutsumi," She said in a light, airy voice in comparison to the serious attire she had on, "the infamous Lady Nagant."

"And you are?" Nagant huffed, leaning slightly against the wall and ignoring the glares from the guards, although if the woman before her minded the disrespect, she didn't show it as she sank into a small bow.

"My name is Kanshi Shiryoku," She introduced herself with a smile, "the new chairwoman of the Hero Public Safety Commission. I thought that I would come and introduce myself to you."

"Chairwoman?" Nagant raised her eyebrow, moving to sit back down on her stiff bed as the stranger walked in a small circle around the cell. "What happened to the last one? Did someone put a bullet in between her eyes, too?"

"No, no," Kanshi shook her head, that serene smile never leaving her face as she glanced around, her gaze continuing to flicker around curiously, "no one's repeated your mistake and shot my mother, Tsutsumi. She simply took an early retirement, and left me to take charge of the HPSC. A very daunting position, I must tell you - I'm under quite a bit of scrutiny and suspicion from my fellow members of the board, with rumors of nepotism coming from everywhere."

"Hm," Nagant gave her an unimpressed look, "well, since you did get your job from nepotism, I can't really blame them for that."

"Putting that aside for now," Kanshi smirked a bit as she turned to lean against the wall opposite of Nagant, straightening her back, "I actually came here today with a proposition for you, Lady Nagant. I think you'd be interested to hear it."

"Doubt that," Nagant scoffed, turning to look away, "unless you're here to offer me a TV."

"Well, I can't promise a TV," Kanshi shook her head, turning towards the door, "but what if I could promise you a bit of fresh air?"

That, at the very least, got Nagant's attention. The woman with lavender and pink hair felt herself blink slightly as she looked back around at the young woman, who continued to smile at her and took a step towards the door, gesturing with her hand while looking around at the assassin with a raised eyebrow.

"Well?" She gestured with her head. "Come along, now. It's a bit stuffy in here, the least we could do is step outside to have our conversation. I made a promise with the guards that I wouldn't be running away with you, so we can at least have a five minute talk outside. It's been a while since you've seen the sun, hasn't it?"

Nagant found herself hesitating for only a single moment, staring blankly at Kanshi as she stood near the door and gestured towards it - and then, against her better judgment, the former hero found herself slowly standing up from her bed. Staring out at the door for a moment, Nagant's lips thinned -

- but she couldn't stop herself as she began to shuffle awkwardly towards the open door, carefully walking so as not to trip over the shackles wrapped around her ankles. She tried to ignore the smirk on Kanshi's face as she moved past her, standing outside the cell for a moment and wincing at the bright lights above her making the white-platted hallway shine even brighter, and slowly walked behind Kanshi as the chairwoman began walking down the hall, aware of the guards behind her.

She followed the new HPSC chairwoman towards the elevator, trying to ignore the scowling guards behind her trying to find an excuse to beat her down for whatever reason they were trying to figure out. There was a part of her that was convinced that this was a trick - she wasn't being brought outside, she was just going to be shuffled somewhere to take another beating at the hands of the guards while she was restrained and defenseless.

But as they stepped inside the elevator, Kanshi pressed the button to the roof, and Nagant felt her hands begin to tremble within the cuffs, trying hard to make sure that she wasn't being obvious as she stared down at the floor.

And then, once the elevator doors slid open, she couldn't help but shiver at the feeling of cold air hitting her.

"Come along," Kanshi stepped out of the elevator first and onto the roof of Tartarus, the fringes of her blonde hair flicking around in the wind, "there's something that I wanted to talk to you about."

Nagant stayed still in the elevator for a moment, hating how her confidence and defiance had left her the moment she was promised fresh air - but she was unable to stop herself from stepping outside, shivering at the air and wincing at the sun shining down over her. The skies were blue, and it had been so long since she had been outside, she felt a bit overwhelmed at how … cold it was. Her cell wasn't air-conditioned at all, so the feeling of cold air hitting her made her shiver probably harder than the situation demanded.

But still, she walked over with Kanshi as the government official stood near the edge of the roof, looking out over the sea towards the mainland, and Nagant was forced to stop a few paces behind her as a guard roughly pulled her back.

"The official story," Kanshi said, not even looking back at her as she folded her hands behind her back, "is that after the death of one of her hero friends in an accident - a bullet that was supposed to incapacitate a villain but instead fatally struck the hero - Lady Nagant was so horrified by what she had done, she chose to retire from hero work, taking up a life of seclusion and requesting the media to give her her privacy. That was the answer the HPSC had you give in that press conference before we put you in here, Tsutsumi, and it's the story that we've maintained. Any reporter or tabloid journalist that tried to dig into what really happened have been silenced."

Nagant, for her part, said nothing.

"No one outside of the HPSC, and a few of the Top 10, know that you're here, Tsutsumi. Had we wanted it, you'd be spending the rest of your life in that cell downstairs, rotting away with your hair cut down to nothing."

The chairwoman looked around at her, finally, with that same serene smile.

"I believe that my mother once told me that you loved having longer hair, didn't you?" She asked curiously. "Before Tartarus had it cut off to prevent you from growing more ammunition."

The prisoner's sad look hardened at that, and her mouth thinned into a line.

"Just get to the point."

"Gladly," Kanshi nodded, still smiling. "I came to visit you today because I have a job for you."

"A job …" Nagant repeated, her eyes narrowing, "… and when you say that …"

"I want you to kill someone."

Nagant merely glared at her as Kanshi took a step towards her from the edge of the roof. It was only now that Nagant looked her properly in the eyes - and instead of that stupid peaceful smile, she saw what the chairwoman was really thinking, with how calculating and analytically she was staring at her.

"I think," She gave her a sympathetic look, one that Nagant didn't buy for a second, "that it would be an awful waste to have someone of your talents waste away in an terrible place like Tartarus. And I have the feeling that you would be far more comfortable in a much … homier location. For example, I could always help you get your old penthouse apartment back - or, if you don't like the memories, we can get you a new place."

"… what makes you think I even want to come back?" Nagant huffed, wishing she could cross her arms across her chest if not for the fact she was currently restrained. "Killing people - criminals or vigilantes, whatever you want me to do - is not why I wanted to be a hero. Even when the old HSPC director tried to gaslight me into thinking it was."

"It's not what you signed up for," Kanshi gave her, shaking her head, "but it's what you're good at. And I would hardly want to waste your talents. Besides, this isn't some normal job - it's a problem that's been making the HSPC look very bad for the last year or so. This isn't us trying to use you to get a win for the Commission - this is a pest that's been annoying us for some time now, and we'd like it exterminated. I'm sure that you understand how much we'd want to get rid of a recurring headache."

Nagant merely raised an eyebrow.

"Besides," The calculating look in Kanshi's eyes returned, "what else do you have to do? Go back to your little cell and stare at the ceiling for the rest of your life? If you say no, then fine. I'll simply get our golden boy to do it, it would hardly be the first time we've put him to taking up your old work. But if you agree," Now she began smirking, "perhaps I'll let you visit your daughter."

At that, Nagant felt herself go still. Her eyes widened, and her hands, still encased in the restraints, began shaking again - but this time, not from the cold or nervousness.

"Not under the assumption that you can actually see her," Kanshi wagged her finger as though disciplining a dog, "but looking at her from across a street would be fine, wouldn't it?"

"…"

"I have nothing to lose if I recruit you or not, Lady Nagant. But you … you have everything to lose if you refuse."

There was a long pause - and then Nagant closed her eyes in defeat.

"… what's the job?"

Kanshi smiled in satisfaction.

"One month," She raised a finger again, "you'll be out of Tartarus for one month, doing this job. You'll be enrolling in UA's internship course under the disguise of 'briefly coming out of retirement to pass your skills on to the next generation'. We'll give you the freedom to choose who you want as an intern -"

"Yeah, right," Nagant huffed not-so-quietly, "you'll let me pick someone you can use in the future."

For her part, Kanshi ignored that.

"- I've been keeping my eye on a case building between two members of the Top 10, and you'll be joining them under the pretense of helping them out."

"A case?" Nagant furrowed her brow.

"Just an alibi that will let you be where we need you to be. Your target will be working in the shadows, so while your 'partners' will be off doing their own case with their interns, you'll be leaving yours with them while you hunt. Do well, and eliminate the target, and we could be convinced to let you stay under house arrest somewhere out of the eye of the public. Fail," She raised an eyebrow, "and we'll simply dump you back in your cell downstairs, and wash our hands clean of you."

There was a long pause - and then Lady Nagant let out a small sigh.

"And …" The assassin opened her eyes to glare at the ground, "… who is the target?"

Kanshi smiled.

"A villain," She answered, "calling themselves the 'Hero Killer'."