Written by Aduubo, Buckichamp, and PikachuSpartan.
I OWN NOTHING. KILL LA KILL IS OWNED BY STUDIO TRIGGER AND KAZUKI NAKASHIMA. MHA IS OWNED BY TOHO ANIMATION AND KOHEI HORIKOSHI.
—
As Midoriya was venturing to his waiting room, he felt a few emotions swirling within him. On the one hand, part of him was eager to continue showcasing his skills in the festival. But on the other hand, he was nervous because he had to fight Todoroki of all people. The tension was especially high since Todoroki singled him out. Bad blood in the ring. Terrific.
The greenette made sure to keep steady so that he wasn't walking too fast. He didn't want to have his blood pressure spiraling out of control.
A thunderous step echoed through the corridor as Midoriya approached the corner. Stepping out into the open was none other than the No. 2 hero: Endeavor.
"W-Whoa! Endeavor!" Midoriya exclaimed and stopped in place, being startled by the flames that lit up the hallway.
"Ah, Midoriya. I was actually looking for you," The large pyro calmly stated and faced the greenette.
"Oh-uhm, hello. What brings you down here then?"
"I watched your fight against the brainwashing guy. Your power is pretty impressive; being able to close the gap between yourself and your opponent within mere seconds. That kind of speed reminds me a lot about All Might."
"I hear that a lot," Midoriya responded almost tiredly.
While the two continued to talk, Matoi, Iida, and Uraraka drew closer to the waiting room. They stopped once they spotted the two further down.
"There's Izu- Whoa! Wait! Who is that?" She hushed herself and ducked behind the corner they just rounded.
"That's the No. 2 hero, Endeavor. Todoroki's father," Iida whispered.
"Wow, I can see where he gets the angst from," Matoi drew a parallel between the father and son.
"You will be the perfect test to see what other training Shoto will need. It's his duty to surpass All Might and take his place as the next No. 1 hero. So hit him hard. Give him everything you've got and pressure him until he's gasping for air."
Midoriya stayed silent and didn't directly respond to Endeavor, which he assumed was the boy's way of acknowledging what he said.
"That's all I wanted to say. I apologize for bothering you," Endeavor spoke before carrying on and walking past Midoriya.
"Endeavor," The greenette called, which made the hero stop.
"I'm not All Might."
"What? What are you talking about-"
"And Todoroki isn't you," Deku turned his head to stare at Endeavor with conviction in his eyes.
"He may be your son, but he's his own person. He'll create his own path. I won't be a puppet in your game to make him the hero that you want him to be. I'll help him become the kind of hero he wants to be."
Endeavor sneered and only tightened his fierce gaze. He already had one bratty teenager to deal with. He didn't have enough patience for another to defy him.
Now that he made his point, Midoriya continued his path towards the waiting room. He exhaled deeply as he already had enough on his plate as it is. Endeavor barking orders at him didn't do any favors.
"Psst, Izuku," Ryuko whispered from the corner that he passed by moments ago, which made him turn to find the group bunched against the wall.
"Ryuko? Guys?"
The greenette sighed in relief as he saw his friends. All of his existing troubles that were bothering him seconds ago had washed away all at once.
"What's up?" He asked.
"We wanted to check up on you before your match. You still wanna head to the waiting room?" Ochako asked.
He turned his head in the direction of Endeavor before something dawned on him.
"You saw that, didn't you?"
"How did-... Yeah, we saw some of it," Ochako admitted. "I remembered that you and Todoroki went to talk and well, I know something happened. You were way too calm after chatting with him."
Izuku looked to his left, and then to his right before motioning forward.
"Let's get to the waiting room. It's better to not talk about it out here," Midoriya replied as they started moving, not too far away from their destination.
A minute later, they'd made it inside. Izuku closed the door slowly to make sure it shut.
"If you saw that, then you'll maybe understand Todoroki better when I tell you what happened. Just… don't tell him I said anything."
"He's a prick! Why not?" Matoi countered.
"Settle down, Matoi. Todoroki is our classmate," Iida intervened.
"His father is using him to surpass All Might, and that's not the worst part. He was the product of a Quirk Marriage. Everything in his life is so screwed up compared to mine," Izuku stated.
The trio's hearts dropped and their eyes widened slightly. Midoriya looked down at his hand, clearly troubled before continuing on with the details of what happened.
Matoi was plainly stunned as she began to process all of that information Midoriya continued to lay out. Maybe she owed Shoto an apology at some point for the "daddy issues" comment.
"That's horrible," Uraraka grimaced.
"It's no wonder why Todoroki is so troubled. I can only imagine how much he has to deal with, especially since he lost the first two rounds," Iida added.
"Are you going to be okay, Izuku? This must be so nerve-wracking after he tried to confront you twice," Ochako expressed her concern.
Izuku responded to her worry with a grin.
"I'll be fine, Ochako. Thank you. I actually have a plan on how to fight him."
For some reason, his optimism completely vanquished whatever unease she felt.
"Somehow I knew you would. But, just be careful, okay?"
"I'll do my best."
"We should let Midoriya continue to think over his plan then. This is a match he needs to be prepared for the most," Iida suggested, but not before he placed his hand on Midoriya's shoulder.
"We'll be rooting for you."
"Thank you, guys," Izuku smiled. Hearing that the second time helped further boost his confidence.
"Why don't you two go ahead? I still have something I need to ask him about. It'll be quick," Ryuko said. Both Tenya and Ochako took her word for it and left the waiting room.
"Ya know, one thing is a little funny," she smirked. "The 'Secret Love Child' bit? I could see why he got that impression now," she laughed a little, trying to diffuse some of the tension.
"We're not talking about that right now. After this is over, All Might and I made you a promise. I just don't know when we'll chat with him yet. We'll talk later tonight," Izuku demurred.
"I know, I know," Matoi pouted a bit as she sprawled out on the table. "Just curious, but does the name of your Quirk have to stay a secret too?
"Yeah, it does," Izuku responded.
"Can you tell me the name now so I can stop asking?"
"And what good will that do if someone overhears us?"
Ryuko sat up, opened the door and searched the hallway before closing it with a confident smile.
"No one remotely close."
Izuku let out a sigh, knowing he wasn't going to get out of this. He had a match soon and didn't want to spend a ton of time arguing. She'd keep the secret, so what was the harm in giving into her small request now?
"One For All."
"What?" She shot him a puzzled look.
"That's the answer. Please, I need to focus on the match. After all, I need to beat Todoroki a-."
Izuku stopped talking for a second, as Ryuko looked him over.
"Is there something else?" Izuku asked.
"Yeah. I need to talk with you –just you– after the sports festival is done. It's something that isn't related to… your Quirk," Matoi lowered her voice out of caution, but also because she didn't want to spook him off. "Quirk first, then the other thing. Okay?"
"Oh, sure!"
She hopped back up on the table for a moment, mulling everything over.
"So… What's your plan?" She asked.
"Um, well-"
"We're about to start the second round! Contestants: To your starting places!"
"I have one, but it'll be too long to explain! See you in the next round!"
Midoriya rushed out with a weak smile, but his friend just chalked it up to nerves as she followed him out the door.
"Oh, okay! Good luck!"
She started making the trek back to the 1-A seating area, as she mulled everything over.
"One For All," Senketsu murmured.
"Yeah, what about it?" Ryuko questioned, but received no response.
'Why does it sound familiar?' The Kamui thought.
..~~~HLK~~~..
Right before Midoriya's fight, Kirishima won the tiebreaker event to move on and face Kacchan. Midoriya guessed that'd be the case since Kirishima's doppelganger had a Quirk based on steel. If his assumption was correct, that guy needed to have a higher intake of iron to keep his power going.
But now, this was Izuku's moment. He had to win this match. If he won –No! When he won– then he'd hopefully see Ryuko in the next round.
"Let's get things rolling folks! Time to start round two!" Mic revved up the crowd as the two combatants walked towards the ring.
"He's been in the Top two in the first two events of the day and has become a crowd favorite! Give it up for Hero Course 1-A student Izuku Midoriya!"
Crowd favorite, huh? Not too shabby for an intro.
"His opponent is his classmate, who's finished third in the two opening events. I'm not sure he needs any further introduction after what happened last round. Here comes Shoto Todoroki!"
"Give me a break!" Sero groaned as Kirishima and Ashido consoled him.
The two boys stepped foot into the ring, staring each other down. But for Izuku, he had a different spark than before. He was going to win and do it his way.
"This is where I beat you," Shoto declared.
"Sorry, but I'm not losing to you, Todoroki. I'm winning and advancing. You have your reasons and I have mine," Izuku shot back, much to his opponent's chagrin.
'He's not fazed. Well, I guess I should have expected that,' Todoroki analyzed quietly.
'This will work!' Izuku processed everything in his plan again. There was no room to fail.
"HERE WE GO FOLKS! LET THE FIRST MATCH OF THE SECOND ROUND BEGIN!"
'Now!'
'Now!'
There was no hesitation on either combatant's part. Todoroki kicked off the match with a huge storm of ice spiking its way along the arena floor towards Midoriya.
Midoriya expected this and quickly raised his right hand and charged up One For All in one of his fingers.
"SMASH!"
Flicking his pointer finger, a tremendous amount of sheer power went flying in the form of pressurized wind at Todoroki. The latter braced himself with his arms while creating an ice barricade to stop him from moving to the boundary line.
"WOAH! What's Midoriya doing?!" Mic wondered aloud. "He released a ton of force to stop Todoroki's ice barrage!"
"Yeah! What the heck is he thinking? Why's he abandoning his power control?!" Ryuko grinded her teeth, unsure what the hell Izuku was thinking as he recoiled from the pain.
'I was right! I'm glad I only broke my nose against Shinso. He's going to send another wave now, and after that is when I can really start fighting him.'
Taking a moment to readjust his balance, Shoto blasted another wave of ice at Izuku, who again went with a 100% blast with a second finger. This time, Shoto actually had to make more ice to prevent himself from falling out of bounds.
"Grrrr," Deku gritted his teeth. He had to bear the pain he just self-inflicted to make the rest of the plan work.
"What's Izuku doing?!" Uraraka panicked. "He seemed so in control earlier!"
'These morons. I know exactly what that damn nerd is doing. How's Icy-hot not figured it out?' Bakugo scoffed. It wasn't a bad tactic on Deku's part, but it certainly annoyed him to no end.
"What's with the change in tactics?" Todoroki grunted. "Did my bastard of a father put you up to this?!"
The heterochromatic haired teen heard no response as Midoriya raised his arm once more.
"Fine then!"
And just like that, another ice blast was sent Izuku's way, but this time it was smaller.
'Go!'
The greenette immediately swapped gears and went up to 5% Full Cowling. He jumped over the coming onslaught of cold and nimbly hopped on the spiked icicles toward his opponent.
"That was all a bluff?! Damn! Midoriya's intense!" Kaminari exclaimed.
"What?!" Todoroki gasped as Midoriya quickly closed in and grabbed his collar. From there, the inheritor closed his free hand and landed a swift blow to Todoroki's face, his knuckles aimed down and directed at his right side.
Shoto stumbled back and grasped at the stinging pain he felt under his eye.
"What the hell happened to you?!"
"You're not using your full power Todoroki. If you think you can beat me with just ice, it's not gonna work," Izuku spoke coolly. "And your body's shaking. You have a limit without using your fire, right?"
Matoi looked down at the ring and it finally clicked for her on what Izuku had planned.
"That idiot! He just needs to win! He doesn't need to help his opponent out here!"
"Huh?!" The others turned toward her.
'His fire?' Bakugo raised an eyebrow.
"Shut-"
Todoroki never got to finish that sentence. Midoriya cut him off by slamming into his left shoulder and nearly sending Shoto out of bounds. Fortunately, he was able to fashion up another ice blockade to prevent that outcome, but his body slammed into the buffer hard. Now his body ached and screamed at him. His right shoulder was dislocated from that last blow!
"Take a good, long look, Todoroki. You haven't put a single scratch on me! So what are you going to do, HUH!?"
Shoto gasped, as the blazing fire in Midoriya's eyes pierced through his soul as the latter clenched his undamaged fist. The green electricity flew around him and crackled like a wildfire, uninjured save for the two self-inflicted broken fingers.
"COME AT ME WITH EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT AND DON'T HOLD BACK!"
'Not just for my sake. But for yours, Todoroki.'
Shoto shivered from the frost that accumulated on his right side. Using so many ice attacks and not warming up with his left side was going to put him at a disadvantage. But why was Midoriya going this far?
"Do you really think you know anything about me?" the dual wielder growled.
Midoriya stood tall, looking his classmate straight in the eye. This was the moment.
"You pulled me aside for a reason," he started, as Shoto tried to focus his next attack on Izuku.
"You never had to explain any of that to me. You're your own person, Todoroki! It doesn't matter if you hate your old man for what happened."
"Shut up!" Shoto snapped, firing off a wave of freezing cold at Midoriya. It wasn't enough, as the greenette swiftly dodged around the attack and got up close to the heterochromatic teen again. This time, he launched an uppercut straight to the ribs.
The blow sent Todoroki flying back a few feet closer to the end line, as he struggled to pick himself up.
"If you really want to be a hero, you can't reject your own power!" Midoriya tried to reason. He still had a few more words to say, hoping to get through to his troubled peer.
"BECAUSE IT'S YOURS! IT'S YOUR QUIRK, NOT HIS!"
Everything stopped for the dual-Quirk wielder. It was as if the world turned pitch black, with someone turning off the light.
The boiling pot of water. The constant abuse and pain. The anger of being used for a single goal.
But as time slowed to a crawl, a warm, welcoming glow beckoned to him. He was with his mother, watching All Might save the day with a smile while voicing over the scene.
"Shoto. You still want to be a hero, right?" Rei Todoroki spoke, as she placed a gentle hand on his head.
"Just remember, stay true to yourself. Your Quirk is your own power, and nothing else. Use it to become the hero you want to be."
A warm glow started to emanate from Todoroki's left side, forcing himself to his feet.
-FWOOOSH-
A pyre of sparks and flames soon engulfed the stage, as Todoroki finally released his fire.
"What?! Is that what I think it is!?" Mic came through the sound system.
'You made him use his father's power? Young Midoriya, was this your plan all along? To save Young Todoroki?' All Might analyzed.
The huge release of firepower heated the entire stadium up, as the 1-A students could feel the heat from above.
"Incredible!" Iida remarked.
"Holy shit!" Ryuko strained as she tried to defend against the flames that permeated warmth everywhere. "This fire is crazy! What were you thinking, Izuku?!"
"He was saving someone. Just like he's tried to save you."
Ryuko looked over to Senketsu's eye with a surprised expression. Was it really that simple?
"Astounding!" Satsuki's jaw dropped.
"Oh wow! That kid is something else," Mikisugi looked on as the nearby students tried to not get flash fried by the heat.
"Oooh! S'more time!" Mako grinned as she got her marshmallows and roasting stick out.
"How did you-" Mikisugi stopped, not sure how to proceed with Mako.
"Yeah, sure."
To say Midoriya was caught by surprise would be an understatement. He never expected this much firepower to burst out. It was mesmerizing as the orange, red and yellow danced wildly in front of him.
"Trying to help me out?"
Izuku gasped, as the momentary silence had been shattered and the frost on Todoroki began to melt away.
"You fool. Even though you want to win this, you were screwing around to bring this out. But you're right; I want to win, too. I'll be a hero!"
The greenette smiled as his Full Cowling coursed around him. It was truly amazing to see Shoto going all out, not to mention that determined smile he sported to match the intensity of his flames.
"YESSSSSSSSS SHOOOTTTTOOOOOOOO!"
"Huh?" Mic questioned what was happening below while Aizawa groaned.
"That's it! Use that fire of yours! With my blood in your veins, you'll finally live up to your purpose and the dream I've had for you!"
"Endeavor's a caring father? Who would've thought?" Mic remarked.
"FINISH HIM NOW!" Endeavor roared as he looked on and kept smiling, completely oblivious to all other matters in the world.
Izuku couldn't keep standing there. If he did, Todoroki would nail him with his unleashed power.
"Thank you, Midoriya. I see things far more clearly now."
'One For All: Full Cowling! 6%!'
He rushed forward, as Todoroki steadied himself to try and fire off his flames.
'What?! Did he just get faster?!'
"TAKE THIS!"
With one punch, Midoriya connected with Shoto's chest, trying to avoid the flames. He backed up quickly and readied himself to finish Todoroki off.
Yet they both smiled, ready to finish what they started as they went at it one more time.
"HRAGHHHHH!"
"HRAGHHHHH!"
A dazzling light clashed in the center of the arena for a brief moment until the orange-red flames and green sparks subsided.
When the smoke cleared, there weren't two fighters on the stage. Standing in the ring was Midoriya, his jacket singed but his skin was alright. His two broken fingers from the start of the match throbbed, but he limited the damage to just that so he could keep fighting further into the contest.
And laying in the grass near the tunnel was Todoroki, panting and huffing as the entire right side of his jacket burned away in the flames. Even though he lost, this felt satisfying.
"Todoroki is out of bounds!" Midnight announced. "Midoriya moves on to the semifinal round!"
The crowd erupted in cheers as the 1-A students went nuts. That was a crazy match, no matter how you sliced it!
"The mind of a tactician with the body of a demigod! I want him!" Inamuta muttered.
"You'll get one shot," Satsuki replied, taking the sky bluenette by surprise. He didn't think she'd take him seriously.
"Oh. My. God! Are all of these UA boys jacked?!" Mako pondered as she could see Todoroki's right side uncovered.
Mikisugi could only shake his head as the other Honnōji attendees were going nuts. Still, this was an entertaining day. And it wasn't over yet. Ryuko's second match was right around the corner.
'Let's go, Ryuko! I can't wait to see how far you'll go.'
A few rows over, Inamuta poured over all of the data that was collected from the last match. Unfortunately, he lost a quarter of his remaining "helpers" from the heat blaze that consumed the stadium.
"If I'm not mistaken, Matoi's up next," Inamuta said. "I wonder how she'll fare against those vines? Even with that sword, her opponent seems to have the ability to block attacks that aren't at hypersonic speed."
"I guess we'll find out," Satsuki nodded. She was curious about this match coming up. How much had Matoi really grown in her short time at UA?
"Well, it looks like I'm up! Wish me luck!" Ryuko waved to her classmates as she made her exit.
Once she was out of earshot, a few students started some chatter.
"I know we all thought at the beginning of the year that Matoi was crazy, but I think we were wrong about her. She's honestly freaking cool! She's a total badass even without a Quirk," Kaminari leaned back with a relaxed smile.
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Sero said. "As long as we keep her and Bakugo separated, we'll all live to see graduation!"
Everyone started laughing while Bakugo clenched his teeth and looked away, not dignifying any response.
"Yeah, but Matoi's been super chill. I guess she's kinda like an anti-Bakugo if you think about it," Mina noted.
"She's honestly a better fighter than a lot of us and it's like she's elevating our game," Sero added.
"She certainly does that for Midoriya," Mineta grumbled.
"Hey Mineta!"
He suddenly found a jack floating in front of his eyeball. He began quivering from his earlier trauma of "The Grape Treatment™."
"Start acting like a respectable human being, or I might pull through on Midoriya's threat for him."
Jirou and Uraraka both gave him a glare that instantly terrified and knocked him unconscious as Midoriya weaved into the seating area. He was given a fresh jacket after the earlier one got a little fried, and his fingers were healed up thanks to Recovery Girl. Albeit, they were bandaged after a little berating by the elder caretaker.
"Hey everyone! I'm back and… what happened to Mineta? Did he say something again?"
Jirou and Uraraka started laughing as he joined in.
"He honestly deserves it," Sero and Mina chimed in.
"Well, Matoi's going to fight now," Iida cut in, trying to get things back in order. "Any thoughts on her matchup, Midoriya?"
"I'm not sure what to think. Honestly, Shiozaki might give her more trouble than I initially thought."
..~~~HLK~~~..
Ryuko and Senketsu talked strategy as to how they could beat Shiozaki. They had some crazy ideas, but hopefully they wouldn't be necessary.
"So, how does that Kamui work exactly?"
"Huh!?" The red-highlighted girl jumped from her chair as she saw All Might standing there in his skinny form.
"Jesus! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" She gasped.
"You said I needed to work on my stealth," he quipped, drawing a smirk from Matoi.
"We can discuss that matter later, Young Matoi. Anyway, the students usually get a two day break from classes following the sports festival. When you and Young Midoriya return to class, we'll sit down and chat," All Might explained.
"Heh! And I thought I was going to be waiting weeks!" Ryuko smiled. The No. 1 Hero was immediately following through on his word.
"You won't have to wait that long. Young Midoriya confirmed he'd speak with you later tonight when I stopped by to see him in the nurse's office."
"Oh yeah? How is he?"
"Not in bad shape. Recovery Girl was able to heal his broken fingers after some 'tough love,' but we also took a quick X-ray. We found that some of his ligaments and bones that he just broke… again, aren't healing as normally as they should. So there's a few small scars on those two fingers."
"Geez! How much power does he have given that you're practically invincible?!" Ryuko muttered.
"Enough to where he probably can't keep using that level of power for a little while. That new fighting style and percentage limiter is a gamechanger for him. He'll be just fine for his next match, just thought you'd want to know," he nodded.
"Yeah," she scratched lightly at her cheek. "Thanks."
The pro hero nodded before heading toward the door.
"I won't be slinking around the rest of the day. Plus, I want to see you and my successor going at it if you advance to the next round. Good luck, Young Matoi!"
Without another word, he slipped out and started making his way back to the teacher's area.
"WAIT!"
"GAHK! What?!"
"Does Principal Nezu know yet?" Ryuko asked in a hushed voice.
"He will know later tonight," Toshinori whispered back as the girl nodded.
"Round Two: Match Two Contestants! Please head to your tunnel!"
"We're up, Ryuko," Senketsu noted casually.
The teenager hummed in response and waved to Toshinori as she soon left his field of vision.
'Empowering her will only make her stronger. It's not just Young Midoriya I have to look out for. Young Matoi's had a troubled past that requires me to look out for her well being,' All Might thought as he trudged back up the stairs, holding onto his side.
'Especially when it comes to seeing my successor's happiness. I keep getting a bad feeling that he has returned. They'll both need to know about him sooner rather than later.'
..~~~HLK~~~..
"That was a spectacular start to the quarterfinals! Can our next contestants keep the pace going?! Let's give it up for one of our big stars after her last stellar match! Ryuko Matoi!"
"Ah geez…" Ryuko's cheeks turned into a light shade of pink. Her moment in her last match made more of an impact than she realized. On top of that, all it did was bring back the flash memory of Izuku going on with his regular antics to hug and congratulate her, only to stop out of embarrassment.
"Up next is an elemental powerhouse that struck out lighting itself! Give it up for Ibara Shiozaki!"
"Matoi, your match earlier really moved me. You've set a wonderful example for the future generations of heroes that will come after us. I am proud to be your opponent today. Let's have a good match," The bundled vine girl looked up to Matoi with a heartwarming smile before bowing in front of her.
"O-Oh! Um! Yeah! You too!" Ryuko stuttered before bowing as well.
'Damn it!' The red streaked girl cursed in her mind. Shiozaki was being nice to her and of course she had to screw it up.
"YES! I love the ongoing chivalry with these students!" Midnight's thighs rubbed together as she took in all of the positive energy.
"With that, let's kick off the second match of the second round! BEGIN!"
Ryuko immediately pulled the pin off of her Sekki Tekko and powered up into Sync Mode. She was actually excited about this matchup; she could finally get in full gear without any emotional weight dragging her down.
Ibara wasted no time either. She unleashed a barrage of tendrils towards the Kamui wielder, but spread them apart to cover more ground and catch her by surprise. Ryuko was quick on her feet to slice all of the vines that hurdled towards her.
"She's fast! Matoi's cutting those tentacles like nothing!" Denki cried out.
"Her reflexes are incredible," Tenya chimed in.
Izuku listened in on his classmate's comments on Ryuko. They were constantly impressed by her skills that she was demonstrating throughout the festival. The greenette only watched with full confidence as he knew how capable she was.
Matoi continued to slash the oncoming attacks until she saw that they began to slow down. Using this opening, she leaped towards Shiozaki and aimed to give her a nice, well needed haircut. But once she swung, Ibara ducked down to dodge the weapon and directed all of her locks right into the Kamui wielder's abdomen.
Having briefly knocked the wind out of Matoi with that amount of force, Shiozaki attempted to incapacitate her by tying her down. But Matoi's instincts kicked in and she quickly sliced through the bundled vines and landed on her feet.
Mother Nature sent another barrage after Matoi in order to keep pace with her. Once again, those tendrils were cleaved by the life fiber blade. She had to take it up a notch and send more, and change up the directions they came from. More roots sprouted from the girl's head, and some dug underneath the platform.
"Ryuko! You better come up with a strategy quickly! I don't think we can keep this up for long!" Senketsu alerted.
"It'd be helpful if you pitched in an idea too!" Ryuko barked back.
Even with her speed, Matoi was eventually overwhelmed and caught by surprise when a stray tendril lifted her into the air with the rest of them surrounding her like snakes. She continued to hack at the vines, but more latched onto her before fully enveloping her into a cocoon, minus her head.
"Damn it…! Can't…move!" The kamui wielder struggled to wrangle out of her predicament. Whatever method she'd use to get out, it didn't matter.
"Ryuko Matoi! Can you continue?!" Midnight called out to her.
"W-Working on it!"
"Ryuko! Hear me out! I may have an idea!" Senketsu shouted.
"Not much else I can do! Shoot!"
"Remember what Izuku said at the beach? What he suggested?"
Matoi took a deep breath and closed her eyes as she went back a few days in time.
..~~~HLK~~~..
-Danchi, three days before the UA Sports Festival-
"All this training really has me beat," Ryuko slumped into the dinner table, as nightfall cascaded on the duo. Mako would be arriving tomorrow and she couldn't wait to see her, though not when she was as tired as she was now.
"Yeah," Izuku agreed, trying to mull over something he'd been wanting to sort out for a while.
"When we started training, you said you and Senketsu didn't have any ideas on what you could do to enhance your fighting style, right?"
The girl perked up, nodding.
"Yeah. It's just been hard to think of something, ya know? It's like I hit a brick wall," she sighed.
"Hmm."
"He's clearly got an idea cooking," Senketsu noted.
"Whatcha thinkin', Izuku?"
Inko turned her head to sneak a few peeks on the two teens while they were discussing strategies and smiled. More and more, it looked like Izuku and Ryuko were kids again. It was a simpler time that she was happy to see come back.
The greenette turned his gaze over to the Kamui wielder, his thoughts finally pieced together.
"I might be spitballing, but since Senketsu can shapeshift, is there a specific limit to it? Maybe you can further change the form?" Izuku pondered, curling his brows with intrigue.
"Huh…That's a good question. We should totally test that out sometime, Senketsu!" Ryuko was thrilled by the possibility.
"Sounds like a plan," Senketsu replied.
"Just another thing I thought of at the last second," Izuku rubbed the back of his head and sheepishly chuckled. "Sorry, Ryuko. Wish I came up with that sooner."
"Ah, come on Izuku…"
..~~~HLK~~~..
"...better late than never."
Matoi's lips curved to form a smirk, which confused Shiozaki and the audience that were able to catch a glimpse of it.
The kamui wielder's eyes flashed open, her adrenaline kicking in in full force.
"Ready, Senketsu?!"
"Yes! I'm ready!"
Sparkles bathed the stage in a bright light, which always drew in the audience. Izuku was especially intrigued. He knew that look on Ryuko's face. She figured something out!
Sharp spikes sprouted from underneath Shiozaki's binds, tearing through them like butter. The vine girl gasped as she watched her trap come undone easily, and without Matoi's scissor blade.
"HRRRRRAAAAH!" Matoi roared as she liberated herself out of the plantae straight jacket.
"SENKETSU SENJIN!"
Serrated spikes protruded all over Senketsu's body. Ryuko's shoulder pads and gauntlets sharpened, and two sets of retractable claws extended over her knuckles. She had become a walking gauntlet of blades, which completely negated all of Shiozaki's attacks.
"Whooooaaaa!" Ochako, Tsuyu, and Jirou gasped.
"Holy crap! She's like a walking blade factory!" Kirishima shouted.
"Her Kamui is amazing! I wonder what else it could do?" Tenya wondered.
"I'm dead if I approach her," Mineta stated blankly. Today had made him realize a lot.
"OhmygodRyukoisawesome!" Mako jumbled together.
"And somehow she just became a horrible matchup for me," Sero let out a defeated sigh.
A few seats over, Izuku's eyes glistened as a full-blown smile appeared. He was writing down as much as he could about Ryuko and Senketsu's new form. This was like an information gold mine for him as he made sure not to miss a second of what was happening.
'You really are amazing, Ryuko! Go and win this! I can't wait for the next round!'
"Alright Senketsu! Let's do this!"
"On it!"
Whipping her scissor blade around her wrist, she charged in with the blades on her now-enhanced armor and claws. This helped to cut away the forestry and clear a path to Shiozaki.
"This can't be!" Ibara looked on helplessly.
Ryuko stopped spinning the rending scissor and grabbed onto the blade handle, taking a swipe at the Vine girl and easily cleaving any wall she could put up and blasting her near the edge line.
Shiozaki struggled to get up, but that was just fine. Even if she could slice the vines, she could buy time to delay the onslaught from a stationary position.
"BAD MOVE! You were standing still just now and that didn't stop me either!" Ryuko hollered.
Ryuko swiped at the 1-B girl with one of her elongated claws and sent Shiozaki a few feet over the boundary line with a small cut on her arm.
"Ibara Shiozaki is out of bounds!" Midnight announced to the stunned crowd. "Ryuko Matoi advances to the semifinals!"
The crowd erupted as the person who could have easily been viewed as an underdog had become one of the favorites of the festival. Matoi was an absolute powerhouse.
"You wanna mess with her now?" The one spectator shouted up to the horndog.
"No. No, I do not," he whimpered.
"Her Kamui adapted mid-battle! I never knew that it could do something like that!" Inamuta looked over to Satsuki. There was that smile again.
As soon as she saw Inamuta's gaze on her, Satsuki's smile evaporated for a more neutral look.
"It's definitely interesting. I had no idea either," Kiryuin admitted. "Still, she's become far stronger than I could have anticipated."
"Does-"
Inamuta was silenced when the heiress shot him a glare. The festival wasn't the place to talk about other matters.
"Keep collecting as much data as you can. It'll prove useful down the line," Satsuki ordered.
Not too far away, Mikisugi was astounded.
"Good job Ryuko! Way to go! You're the best!" Mako kept shouting, but Aikuro had a different thought process.
'I'm impressed by this development, though it's also concerning. They haven't absorbed a ton of Life Fibers other than Sanageyama's a few weeks ago,' the teacher pondered.
'Maybe since there hasn't been a ton of Life Fiber absorption, those two will be fine for now. But I better ask Nezu and Hawks to keep an eye on her for any further changes like this one.'
Ryuko exited her Sync Mode as she walked over to help Shiozaki up.
"Sorry about the cut!" Matoi apologized. "I kinda thought that up on the spot and was just going with the flow. You gonna be okay?"
"Yes," Shiozaki responded with a soft smile. "Thank you for the match. Bless your soul, Matoi."
Without another word, Shiozaki headed up the tunnel, likely heading to Recovery Girl as a precaution.
"Way to go Partner," Ryuko mumbled.
"I try my best," Senketsu said.
..~~~HLK~~~..
"Hey Matoi!" Uraraka called out as the red streaked girl entered the class' seating area.
"Way to go, Ryuko!" Izuku jumped before holding himself back. He did it again. He just couldn't help himself, huh? He remembered what happened after the cavalry battle, and it'd be better to give her some space.
"That was awesome, Matoi!" Ashido exclaimed.
"Geez, ya guys gotta stop flattering me," the girl blushed as she took a seat in the front row, next to Izuku and Ochako.
"How'd you do that?" the gravity girl followed up.
"Last minute thinking. Gotta give Izuku some credit for the thought," Matoi chuckled as Izuku laughed a little.
For some reason, Ochako felt a little unnerved seeing the two best friends laughing together. They were her best friends. She'd never felt this way before, so what was this new sensation?
"Oh hey!" Izuku's words snapped her out of her spell. "Iida's about to start his match!"
"But before all of that," Ryuko whimsically spoke with a sly grin, "I hope you're ready for the next round!"
She made a point of emphasis by gently poking a finger into Izuku's chest, but he didn't squirm. He raised an eyebrow, but smiled.
"Yeah. But let's enjoy this match before having to think about that," Izuku stated, not seeming nervous at all.
"Oh crap, that's right! You two have to face each other to go to the final!" Jirou realized.
"I wonder how that's going to go?" Ochako gave a worried look. She knew they were both close and a loss meant the end of one of their days.
..~~~HLK~~~..
-Danchi-
"Yes! Ryuko Won!" Inko swooned as she couldn't be happier for the girl.
"Now she has… to face… Izuku…"
The mama bear's color drained from her face. Her son and the girl she knew from all those years ago now had to face each other to advance. The Cavalry Battle took enough out of her, but this?
"I can't root against either of them! It's my son! But Ryuko! Izuku! Ryuko! IZUKU AND RYUKO NOOOO I CAN'T CHOOOOOSE!"
As time passed, the entire apartment complex had to be evacuated from flooding.
..~~~HLK~~~..
-UA Sports Festival, match in progress-
Dark Shadow had Iida on the defensive. While the bird and Tokoyami's limits were unknown to him, he had to do something. He needed to save the finishing move at least until the next round.
"Man, Iida's really having to move around down there!" Ryuko mumbled, drawing a nod from Ochako.
"This might be the most even match of the festival in terms of fighting ability," Midoriya stated. "Both are quick but Tokoyami has a slight advantage in strength. It won't matter if Iida can connect though, so that advantage is negated. Whoever makes a mistake first, loses."
Down below, Iida kept dashing around. He could keep running, either at a sprint or at a slower pace to not burn too much fuel. Could he possibly tire Dark Shadow out?
'This is a tricky battle. Fortunately, our class president can't really do much to weaken Dark Shadow, but I can't have him staying on constant alert,' Tokyami thought.
"Hey man! What're we doing?" Dark Shadow called out.
Iida knew someone needed to make a move or this match would drag on forever.
'This isn't something I'd do, but if I want to win, I need to take a risk like Midoriya would!'
"RECIPRO BURST!"
Tenya essentially shot out of a cannon and went straight for Fumikage.
"What the heck's he doing?!" Ryuko asked.
"I wonder…" Izuku muttered, drawing the other's attention.
"Now Dark Shadow!"
On command, the bird lunged forward and went to grab the speedster. Just as he anticipated with this last ditch strategy! As Dark Shadow and Iida were on a collision course, the dark energy went for the grab only to come up empty.
"What!?" Tokoyami looked down to see Iida slide at the last second before popping back up to his feet and lunging forward.
"Whaaaa!"
"Grhk!"
"Gah!"
They both landed out of bounds, shocking their classmates and the spectators.
"Whoa whoa whoa! We've got ourselves a photo finish!" Mic said. "Does our referee need the instant replay pad?"
"Yes, I do," Midnight spoke over the microphone. "As soon as I activate it down here, throw the screen mirrored video onto the stadium board."
"Dude, I've never seen Iida do something crazy!" Kaminari commented.
"A little out of character from the class rep, but it might have secured him the win," Todoroki spoke up, shocking the rest of them.
"He probably would have kept running and then cramped if he went another 10 minutes. We'll see if his gamble paid off."
"Yep," Izuku agreed. "That's exactly what I was thinking."
The instant replay video soon came up with a zoomed out shot of the two competitors falling out. The video fast forwarded and rewound a few times until they determined what they needed to focus on: Did Iida's feet touch the boundary line first since his arms were sprawled out to the side? Or did Tokoyami's body land first?
"There!" Izuku pointed to the big screen as it zoomed further in on the feet and boundary line from a side camera angle.
Iida's feet were still in bounds, albeit barely, while Tokoyami's back left heel clipped the ground, kicking up a few small bits of rubble.
"Tokoyami was the first to land out of the ring! Iida advances to the second round!"
The crowd cheered as Iida wiped his brow. It worked.
"Nice strategy," Tokoyami congratulated his peer as both took a bow.
"Well there you have it folks! One more match to go before we get to the semifinals! Contestants, you have five minutes before your match is up. Get ready!"
"Looks like I'm taking down Bakugo!" Kirishima announced and pumped his chest with his fist.
"Careful, Kirishima. You don't want to go too hard on him. You might knock him out cold with the first punch! His ego is already fragile as is," Matoi said with a chuckle.
"Haha, right," Kirishima laughed back and made his way towards the exit.
"Good luck, Kirishima!" Midoriya shouted.
"Thanks Midoriya!"
Once Kirishima walked off, Midoriya looked at Kacchan's empty seat. Every match he was in, Kacchan would sit in the break room for the entirety of the one before it. He was taking the sports festival very seriously. Midoriya could see why, considering that he'd been on a losing streak for the last two rounds. Izuku didn't know what the outcome of the finals would be, but he knew it was going to get ugly when either he or Ryuko would have to go up against Kacchan.
Once five minutes of prep time had wrapped up, Eijiro's match against Katsuki began. At the start, he had the upper hand on Bakugo thanks to his hardening protecting him from the blonde's explosions. Along with staying on the offensive, the bomber didn't have many options on evading. Kirishima was even able to land a scratch on Bakugo's cheek.
It seemed that he had this in the bag. But there was one glaring flaw that Bakugo knew about. Kirishima was completely hardened from the beginning of the match. He had used up too much of his quirk and had to tone it down a few notches, which left parts of his body exposed for Bakugo to blast. Exploiting that weakness, the blonde began laying out actual damage to Kirishima and caused his hardening to weaken even more.
It was only a matter of time before Bakugo would land the finishing blow, defeating Kirishima and advancing to the semifinals.
"Damn! He nearly had it!" Ryuko banged her fist on the railing.
"I wonder how fast Kirishima could transfer parts of his hardening through his body. He probably would have won if he did that instead of using it on his whole form," Izuku analyzed while writing into his notebook.
"Let's not forget Bakugo's incredible reflexes were able to keep him out of Kirishima's attacks," Iida added.
"Yeah, you can almost never get the jump on him!" Sero exclaimed.
"Ahem."
The tape student turned over to find Matoi pointing at her raised fist while donning a smug grin. She rotated her fist in slow movements, as if presenting it like a trophy.
"Oh, right," He stifled a laugh.
"Dude, imagine how he'd feel if he didn't get a chance to get back at you," Kaminari chuckled.
"That's if Midoriya beats her," Sero interjected until he came to a realization. "Holy crap, Midoriya and Matoi are up next!"
"Star-crossed lovers now turned fierce rivals! God, that sounds spicy!" Ashido clasped her pink cheeks in her palms and swooned over the dynamic.
"Lay off, Ashido!" Matoi angrily shook her fist at the girl. "Regardless, Izuku and I are going to bring the house down! Ain't that right?!"
"R-Right!" Midoriya responded.
"Come to think of it, this is a match up between the two leading winners of the Sports Festival. This is really exciting. Ribbit," Tsuyu added.
"The crrrrowd is going wild! Why is that?! It's because we're onto the semi finals! Two EXCITING matches that will determine who will fight in the finale! Fighters! Please take your places within 5 minutes!"
"Ready?" Ryuko turned to look at Izuku.
He realigned his glance to match Ryuko's and was enamored by what he saw. Her eyes shined a bright blue. Izuku swore they were even brighter than usual. And her smile was fully invigorated with joy and excitement. He could never get enough of seeing her looking at him like that.
His mouth shifted into a grin that matched Ryuko's, as he could feel the same level of exhilaration as she did.
"Ready!"
The duo stood up from their seats and walked together in the halls to their designated positions. This was a fight that they had been looking forward to for a long time. Now they could truly see how they fared against each other in a real fight.
"Here comes our man of the hour! From the hero course, Izuku Midoriya!"
The greenette stood on the battle platform, deeply inhaling and exhaling. He was both excited and nervous. There was so much going on, he just couldn't believe he got this far.
"And his opponent! From the hero course, Ryuko Matoi!"
The red streaked girl took her place on the opposite end of the platform and waved at Izuku with her usual smile. It helped put him at ease from all the pressure.
"This match in particular is a very exciting one, ladies and gents! Because it's between the two MVPs of the sports festival!" Mic struck a pose by raising his fists into the air.
"Midoriya took the win in the first round with Matoi taking second right behind him! But then she turned the tables around and took first place in the cavalry battle!"
"These two aren't just fighting for themselves. They're fighting to settle a score. Time to see who rises up as the top dog here," Aizawa's voice echoed through the speakers, which surprised everyone.
This was quite a match up. Could it be that Aizawa was also intrigued to see how it would turn out?
"You heard it from the man, folks! It's time to see this rivalry come to a rrrRRRRousing finale!"
Izuku activated One For All, green electricity soon forming around his body as he powered up to 5%. Ryuko pulled her the pin in her Sekki Tekko and sparkles lit up before she reappeared in Sync Mode. The two exchanged friendly smiles one last time before they pulled on their game faces and got into their fighting stances. Brows furrowed, elbows locked, knees lowered.
"READY?! BEGIN!"
To Be Continued…
Buckichamp A/N: If you thought this chapter was good, just wait for Chapter 27! I think I speak for all of us when I say Chapter 27 is going to floor everyone.
We will enjoy making you suffer for the next two weeks until we release it on Thursday, July 14, 2022. But it'll be worth it.
Aduubo A/N: Ryuko's fight against Ibara was based off of Terkoiz's animation, FLLFFL Vs. Tarantula RHG6. Watch it on Youtube!