"Reiko Yanagi vs Neito Monoma!" - Present Mic yelled, announcing her match. Reiko got up from her seat at the 1-H box, and proceeded down to the arena. She deliberately walked as slow as possible, dragging out those precious seconds of Monoma's quirk – one, two, three…

"Four, five, six…", Reiko started counting, while walking down the stairs, until she came face to face with Katsuki.

"The fuck are you doing, Reiko? Counting stairs?" - Bakugou said, locking his eyes onto her.

More time to kill! Seven, eight, nine… She should probably answer his question.

"I am counting down Copycat's quirk. Big brain tactics here, Firecracker." - Reiko said, tapping the side of her head.

Katsuki snorted. "With Weird Hair and Metal Guy resting at Healing Hag's, me here, Lung and Half and Half are probably sulking somewhere – Monoma has a very short pick of quirks. You are in luck.", Bakugou said, and started ascending the stairs.

"Thanks, Firecracker." - Reiko called out to his back. Katsuki flipped her the finger. Reiko let out a short laugh, and continued on her way down.

She stopped right at the gate, and glanced down at her feet. With a sigh, she took off her worn trainers and socks. She wiggled her toes, getting used to the sense of her quirk through her soles. It was the same as with her palms – just from a different appendage. The feeling of control spread throughout the ground, binding the concrete to her will.

"Enough with fucking stalling. I'll win this fair and square." - Reiko said to herself, and walked out into the eyes of thousands.

With every step, more and more ground came under her control. It didn't spread far, but Reiko didn't really need an island from those patches – just ammo to fling at Copycat. He stood there, tapping his foot impatiently. Looking smug and assured at himself.

"What's better – to master one move or to know one thousand?", he suddenly asked, "This fight won't be an accurate comparison – I only have three, and you didn't master yours. But the quote fits, in my opinion."

While he was yammering about quotes and moves, Reiko continued with her quirk, claiming more and more stone on her march towards the arena. She started cracking the ground, freeing the chunks of concrete from the monolith whole.

"What? Cat got your tongue?" - Neito tried to goad her.

No, just don't want to lose this in an instant. Bakugou warned her about Eyebag's quirk – no need to play with fire by answering him.

"Well, there goes this plan. Did Bakugou spoil it? It was risky, but if it worked this fight would be decided in a second." - Copycat continued his monologue.

Yes, we get it – you are fucking smart. Shut up already. Reiko stopped, and considered breaking out an island, but decided against it – there was just not enough time. Better to stock up on rocks.

"Start!" - Present Mic yelled.

Reiko immediately abandoned all pretenses of stealth, and with a staccato of cracks, freed all of her stepping stones. A veritable halo of concrete started orbiting her, giving her enough leverage to levitate off the ground.

Monoma responded in kind. His body started spouting one blade, then two, then chains. Kamakiri's quirk. Cheeky fucker. She was used to fighting him though, it was not as good of a choice it could be.

And then his metal body started splitting. And floating. For fuck's sake, Setsuna. Reiko counted around twelve parts, until it stopped. Well, at least it's not fifty. Not like it would help her much. But judging by their speed, Tokage's quirk was not strong enough to carry those heavy chunks of Kamakiri's quirk, and wasn't that a weird sentence to think.

Reading Kamakiri in his form was always confusing – he usually used chains to do rudimentary communication, but Monoma, of course, didn't know it. He started waving his chunks around, probably confused by their slowness. Reiko broke out of the spell that befallen her, and started destroying the grounds of the arena, gathering more material to work with. Monoma clearly understood too that waiting around is a death sentence for him, and started his slow crawl towards her, metal 'spheres' following him in tow.

Stalling the fight until his quirks run out is her best bet. Reiko can't really get him out of grounds – now fucking way she is getting all of his body over the bounds. Trying to beat him in Kamakiri's form is also pointless – how the fuck do you knock out a person who has no organs, just blades, hooks and chains.

"Oh! This is shaping up to be a very interesting match!" - Present Mic said.

"Yanagi just needs to stall until Monoma's quirk runs out. And to clarify the rules – to beat somebody with this type of quirk, you still need to get their whole body out. No cop outs." - Aizawa intoned.

Thanks, sensei. Really fucking helpful.

Reiko started bombarding the spheres, trying to go for her usual tactic against Kamakiri – getting as much of his body out from his control. Reiko couldn't use her quirk on him, while he is whole, but when she rips out chunks from him, she can fling those away, chipping away at his mass.

She started sending off volleys of stones at the closest chunks, whittling them away, bit by bit. Monoma tried to pick them up, but it seems that mechanics of Kamakiri's quirk won out over Tokage's – they didn't count as her pieces anymore. Actually, can Tokage use her quirk on bits of her body that were cut off from her? That was a dark thought.

The metal that was ripped off, started to fade into dust, like Setsuna's destroyed body parts. And then Neito started regenerating them. Kamakiri doesn't tire in this form, though. So Copycat can possibly do this forever. Fucking hell.

Well, destroying the chunks was still useful – Neito was forced to form them on his body, and it was not an instant process. Which bought Reiko time. Monoma was clearly out of his depth with Kamakiri's quirk – his movement was erratic, not used to his now inhuman body. He could either attack, or move – but not two at the same time.

Reiko's altitude advantage was also nothing to scoff off – ability to fly was always a force multiplier. Copycat's chunks were too slow to catch her. He understood that too, and converged them all together, reforming his body. Reiko continued flinging concrete at him, constantly scoring small hits on his body. Monoma finally got the basics of using the chains to ward those off, but his defense was still mediocre, and he let many stones pass through.

"Monoma chose his quirks, thinking that Tokage's quirk would offset the biggest problem of Kamakiri's quirk – consistent mobility. While it granted him ability to change altitude, it is still useless against a highly mobile target like Yanagi. But, against less agile targets, this is a very powerful combination. Monoma just got unlucky with his opponent. Or his theory on synergy of these quirks." - Aizawa diluted the silence of their battle with his analysis.

True. And if this was not a battle using constrained rules, like not getting out of the bounds, or not hurting the opponent too much, Neito could probably just spam ramming move on her – one hit would be enough to get her out of commission. That's why Reiko preferred using a big island compared to those smaller platform-stones – while it was a much bigger target, it was also paradoxically easier to use, and to bring higher, out of Kamakiri's reach. She didn't need to constantly adjust the balance of the stones, correcting for the movements of her body.

But sometimes the added mobility of the smaller chunks was preferable to the stability of the bigger island. Monoma started shooting out chains, trying to catch her, but Reiko smashed them with her rocks, either bringing them off course, or breaking them apart outright. Their battle descended into a stalemate, with no party being able to sufficiently bring harm to one another – Monoma was constantly regrowing lost metal, and Reiko's quirk allowed her to dodge slow objects, like Monoma's attacks with ease.

Copycat's time was running out, and it was running out fast. Reiko didn't count the seconds, but she was confident that it was less than two minutes before Monoma drops to the ground, quirkless once more. Neito, not being a retard, realized it too, and changed up his strategy once again – bringing out a lot of chains, trying to score even a single hit. But he had shit control over them though, they were not as powerful as a concentrated attack with less chains.

But when he grazed Reiko, she realized her error. Monoma didn't care about hitting her – he cared about touching her. And getting her quirk with that single, glancing hit. He spread his body all over the arena, and then Reiko heard a giant litany of cracks. The ground split, and a shit ton of concrete came under his control. Reiko startled wrestling some of them from his grasp, his quirk much weaker then hers, but he still managed to get away with a lot of stones.

Copycat started a bombardment of Reiko, giving it all to dislodge her from the skies, to bring her down, where he is much stronger. Rock met rock, stone met stone – Reiko was winning the battle, much more experienced with using her quirk, but some slipped past her defense, and scored some hits on her – shin, forearm, shoulder. She responded in kind, trying to wrestle initiative from him, and to force Copycat to focus on regenerating and defending. More and more rocks came under her control, Copycat's swan song move turning into his folly. Strike after strike, blade and chain, hook and spike were ripped off, and sent into the distance.

A minute or so of this telekinetic duel, and Copycat finally gave in. He stopped using her quirk, and started waving his chains around. Reiko understood that as a sign of his surrender, and laid off from her assault, turning to Midnight, the referee.

"Um, Monoma, are you surrendering", Monoma chose that moment to transform back, and dropped down to the ground, the exhaustion of constant regeneration finally catching up to him.

"Winner – Reiko Yanagi! What a great match!" - Present Mic yelled, and crowd agreed with him, judging by the cheers.

Reiko lowered herself to the ground, and hissed from the pain in her leg.

She should probably visit Recovery Hag, or whatever the fuck her name is.


"Shoto." - Endeavor said, laying his hand on his shoulder, rooting him in place.

Shoto turned to his father, waiting for another lecture on using his left side. On using his fire, on how important it is to his future as a hero.

Endeavor turned off his flames, revealing his face to Shoto. He always hated looking at his father's face. His tired, exhausted face. The bags under his eyes, the wrinkles that riddled his skin. All of that hidden from the public under the fiery exterior of Endeavor. The truth kept from the masses, in fear of them losing faith in their protector.

Shoto always hated how it… was an allegory for Endeavor's view on hero society. Of the gilded visage of All Might, providing cover for the rotten system. That would break, the moment the golden hero falls. How they need to struggle, to constantly overexert themselves, to keep up, to be enough when the house of cards falls.

Todoroki hated it, but it was just that – a stupid allegory. All Might will never fall, he didn't fall for the previous twenty or so years, and he wouldn't fall for twenty more. He didn't even age in the last ten or so. Shoto always hoped, that the man was immortal. That his father was wrong about everything.

Endeavor looked him in the eyes, and sighed, turning his face away.

"Good luck, and do your best." - he said, and walked away. Doing his best in this moment was, of course, using his flames.

"Final bout of round one! Shoto Todoroki vs Fumikage Tokoyami!" - Present Mic announced his battle. Shoto walked out of the gate, and eyed the pristine arena. UA was lucky by having Cementoss, or else they would be forced to wait for God knows how much for it to be fixed. With amount of damage Yanagi and Monoma caused, maybe even transfer the event somewhere else.

Tokoyami was already in position, waiting for him to arrive. They already faced off with each other in the second event, and Shoto knew the best way to win this fight.

To use his fire.

Tokoyami's quirk, Dark Shadow, was strong. Durable. Fast. With sharp claws, capable of piercing his ice with ease. It would be a tough battle, but Todoroki would manage without flames. He must manage.

"I wish you good fortune in the battle to come." - Tokoyami said, his expression unreadable. Todoroki replied with a nod, "Thank you. Good luck to you too."

"Start!" - Present Mic yelled.

Todoroki immediately summoned ice, hoping to end the bout in one blow. Alas, Tokoyami's reaction was on point – Dark Shadow surged out of his body, shielding him, and breaking the ice away. He immediately tried to close distance between them, his quirk more suited in close to mid range fighting. Todoroki was not inclined to humor him in this endeavor – another ice wall surged between him and Fumikage, and once again it was broken by Dark Shadow.

Dark Shadow is just too fast to rely on long range attacks. While Todoroki needed to land just one good blow, his quirk was not limitless – sooner or later he is going to start shivering, and the cold would overtake him. Shoto would let Fumikage get closer, giving him an opportunity to attack. If Todoroki is lucky, he will attack at his maximum range, leaving Tokoyami exposed, and Dark Shadow overextended. If not – Shoto would be forced to attack him once again, to try to goad him into counterattack.

Tokoyami, it seems, was not stupid. Todoroki engaged his quirk once again, and created another jagged wall of ice, but this time Dark Shadow was not fast enough to leave Fumikage completely unscathed – his left foot got frozen. Shoto took this for the opening it was, but Dark Shadow outstripped him, attacking Todoroki instead of trying to get his holder out of ice. Smart move by itself, or Tokoyami could somehow communicate with it non-verbally? Todoroki was forced to defend once again, forcing Dark Shadow away, all the while Tokoyami was getting his foot out of ice.

His body was already trembling, the attacks whittling away at his endurance. Shoto needed to end this, and fast. A big, flashy attack, to distract Dark Shadow. And a hidden strike at Tokoyami in close quarters. He started to close distance, shielded by his previous attack. Dark Shadow managed to get Tokoyami out of the ice – and was locked on him. Todoroki was only happy to oblige this attention. He engaged his quirk, and Dark Shadow reacted accordingly – trying to engage him in close quarters, to throw his concentration off. But Shoto didn't train his whole life to be distracted by such trivialities. He used his quirk to glide around the strike, letting Dark Shadow fly past him, and struck at its back. Less of a wall, and more of a small iceberg appeared from his palm, trapping Dark Shadow inside of it. Tokoyami's mouth opened at the display, his astonishment leaving him open. Shoto used what was left of his quirk to rush to him, and trap his body in a prison of ice.

"Surrender." - Todoroki said to Fumikage. He responded with a nod to Midnight.

"Winner – Shoto Todoroki. What a display of power!" - Present Mic yelled.

"Can you melt the ice, Todoroki?" - Midnight asked. Todoroki could, but should he? No, it would be improper to leave this as it is. And leaving Dark Shadow to suffer would be impolite too. He pressed his palm first to Fumikage, melting his prison, and the proceeded to do the same with Dark Shadow's.

"Todoroki, that was scary, but cool! Pun not intended." - Dark Shadow screeched at him. It was… endearing. Todoroki wanted to touch it, curious about its texture, but caught himself.

"Dark Shadow.", Fumikage interrupted the quirk, "It was… an enlightening battle. I would need to do better moving forward." Tokoyami offered him a hand, and Shoto took with a nod, and the proceeded to the exit from the arena.

He was going up the stairs, when he ran into Yanagi. Her eyes widened a bit, startled by the collision, but then narrowed. She placed a hand on her hip, and another one on his shoulder.

"Why didn't you use your fire, dumbass?" - she asked him.


"What?" - Half and Half replied, with a dumbfounded expression on his face. Or more accurately, Icy-Ice, what with his right side being covered in it. Reiko started absentmindedly brushing it away, swiping rapidly melting snowflakes on the floor.

Did she need to repeat herself, or something? Okay, why not. Maybe he is just shell shocked that a girl started a conversation with him, that was not his mother. Or sister. Did he have sisters?

"Why didn't you use your fucking fire? It would've been an instant win, no need for this bullshit cosplay of Sub-zero." - Reiko repeated her question, adding some clarifications for his probably half-frozen brain.

"You wouldn't get it." - he said, and tried to brush her arm off. Did he really just quote Joker at her? Fucking hell, he is an edgelord after all.

"Then enlighten me, motherfucker. You are so fucking full of yourself, Half and Half. Constantly walking around the school like you fucking own it, speaking to us peasants only when needed. I get it, you are basically royalty in a hero school – son of number two hero, cool quirk, all other bullshit. Then why the fuck are you shooting yourself in the knee? To make everyone else to feel even worse after they lose to you? That they are not good enough to get even the whole quirk to be used in destroying them? And now, you were moments away from getting fucked by a sentient shadow chicken, and you still refuse to use your flames. Why?" - Reiko ranted to Todoroki, her grievances about him finally aired. She stopped to catch her breath, and locked her eyes on him.

She couldn't think that his face could have gotten dumber, but it did. His mouth has fallen open, even his tongue was a bit frosted over. Shoto's eyes were wide, and glazed over. He trembled a bit, but it probably was caused by the ice still covering his body, but still.

"I…", he paused clearly trying to come up with something to say. Yeah, it was a very fucking loaded conversation, but Reiko needed to know.

"It was… not my intention to be appear like that. And… you know what, sure. I will tell you, you clearly thought about it a lot. And maybe I need to tell somebody else too. I heard it helps." - Todoroki said, and settled down on the stairs. Oh fuck no. Did he have a sad depressing backstory and now he is going to use her as a therapist stand in? She is so fucking it up, boy, get ready.

Reiko sat down beside him, leaning on the wall, her knees pressed to her chest. Todoroki was struggling to begin – his brows were knitted, and his expression more serious than a moment ago. Reiko absentmindedly brushed her trainer against his thigh, startling him.

"I don't really know where to start." - he confessed. Reiko smirked at him. Do anyone knows?

"I dunno, I heard that starting from the beginning helps." - Reiko whispered.

Todoroki snorted. He snorted! A motherfucking miracle, send heralds to every corner of the world, Shoto is not a complete retard.

"Endeavor is my father." - Shoto said, and then stopped. Reiko waited a bit for him to continue, but he didn't.

"Yes? I already knew it, I am like, not blind." - Reiko said, and kicked Todoroki's hip once more.

"I was gathering my thoughts. Endeavor is a really good hero, yes?" - Half and Half asked her.

"Yeah. He is kinda number two, if you didn't know it yourself." - Reiko said, resting her head on the palm of her hand.

"That's all he is. No, that's all he became. My father is obsessed with this… notion that All Might is all that is holding this country together. No, system. With a capital S." - Todoroki said, turned to her, probably waiting for her answer.

He is somewhat right, though. Reiko couldn't really think of a world without All Might – and now wasn't that a scary fucking thought. What would happen when the Symbol of Peace falls? War?

"Okay, I get it. Your father is a bit paranoid, and maybe even rightfully so. All Might accounts for like, eighty percent of reasons why villains are just hunkering down. How is that connected to you not using your fire?" - Reiko said, tapping fingers on her face.

"My father is strong, but he is not as strong as All Might. So he decided to make someone strong. Me and my siblings. He married my mother for her quirk, to offset the weakness of his own." - Todoroki said.

"Let me guess – he was a shit husband or something." - Reiko took a shot in the darkness.

"Not at first. Actually, I don't really remember clearly how it was. I was small, but it was good, you know. We watched TV together, got out to parks, something like that. I don't remember. We were… just a normal, happy family." - Todoroki said, a sad, reminiscing smile on his face.

Reiko tried hard to not imagine her own family like that. Mother not being in a constant drunken stupor, Father talking to her beyond what is socially required of him. Going out somewhere – to eat maybe, maybe to a fucking park, like Half and Half. It hurt. Physically. Mentally.

"But father always liked Touya the most of us all. My oldest brother. He didn't inherit mother's quirk, but his quirk was stronger than father's. Father trained him, teaching him control, how to not hurt himself while using his quirk. He always insisted on using it with his supervision, but he also constantly imparted his ideology on Touya. And I don't really know all the details, but my brother, I think, started training by himself. More and more, trying to live up to father's desperate expectations of heroes who would be able to stop the tide of villains that are surely to come."

Shoto stopped, to catch his breath.

"And it didn't end well. He burnt himself, to death. Took a whole park down with him, they didn't even manage to discern his ashes from the trees and the grass. Everything went downhill from that point. Father went further and further into his hero work, stopped speaking to the rest of the family. Started training me, after a while, but I never felt as Touya did. Never felt this fervent believe in his baseless notions. And using my fire… always felt like validating them." - Todoroki finished his speech.

That was a lot to unpack. Reiko felt like she just watched a drama film, or something.

"He is not wrong though, you know. Your father. When All Might dies, we are fucked." - Reiko replied without thinking.

"All Might is not going to die anytime soon. He is still young. He looks young, at least. And even if he does, other heroes are going to be just fine. We'll manage without this end-of-the-world hysteria." - Todoroki said, and it felt really prepared. Like he was constantly saying it to himself.

"He could be killed, you know." - Reiko said.

"Nobody can kill All Might." - Half and Half replied.

"A month ago, everyone thought that a no one would kill a UA student. And now look where we are – seven of our classmates are dead." - Reiko countered.

Todoroki stayed silent, not knowing what to say.

Reiko got up, and walked away.