The participants of the round made their way off the field as Izuku pondered what he thought he had just seen from Todoroki. Flames? It had to be his imagination. Nothing else made sense.

He was dragged from his thoughts by the muted sniffles of someone nearby as well as a spike in sorrow from whomever it was.

Looking around, he spotted the Gen Ed boy with the rock formation forehead named Koda. He was kneeling amidst the battlefield and gathering up the corpses of birds and rats with the tender touch one might reserve for a family member.

The birds and rats that were only stunned had left some time ago but alas, not all had survived Izuku's attack.

His stomach dropped at the scene. It was clear that the boy was heartbroken.

Wordlessly, Izuku made his way to the boy and began to help gather the bodies with the same respect Koda was showing them.

Koda turned to him with confusion being the predominant emotion.

"I'm sorry about your friends," Izuku said, unsure how to convey his regret for doing what he had to.

The boy seemed to struggle as he visibly mulled over his words before finally responding in a subdued voice, "Thank you, but it's my fault, I asked for their help."

"Then you didn't force them," Izuku responded simply.

Koda didn't respond, seeming to think his words over as they fell into a comfortable silence as they gathered the dead animals. It wasn't until they had finished that Koda spoke again.

"I didn't make it into the hero course by two points," He said.

Before Izuku could respond, he continued.

"I'm glad I didn't. Nezu helped me realize a dream that will help animals instead of endangering them. With his help, I'm going to open a sanctuary for Quirked animals. Their Quirks inherently make them invasive species to their ecosystem, so they are usually put down. I'm going to save them, as many as I can," Koda declared clearly and with a conviction that left Izuku with no doubt that the soft-spoken man would realize his dreams.

Izuku smiled. "Seems pretty heroic to me."

XXX

After a standard check in with Recovery Girl, Izuku made his way to the break room where the participants could gather, rest, and eat a light lunch while they waited for the next round. The sounds of chatter filled his ears as he entered. Everyone from class 1-B and 1-A was chatting about the round, some with disappointment and others with triumph. The pitter patter of small feet could be heard before small arms wrapped around his legs.

"Papa," The owner of the small arms breathed out in relief.

Looking down, Eri clinging to him with her face buried into his leg. Reaching down, he grabbed under the child's armpits and picked her up, placing her on his hip.

"Hi, Sweetheart," He greeted his daughter who just pressed further into him, suspiciously clingy.

"There you are," Nejire said as she approached, a smile playing on her lips. When she reached him she pushed herself onto her tip toes and pressed a kiss to his lips. "She was worried when you didn't come back with everyone," She explained as she tousled their daughter's white hair.

"Look at me, Eri," He said softly, smiling when she unburied her head and did as asked. "I'm ok, everyone is ok," He reassured before making a waving gesture to the rest of the assembled people, Eri's eyes following the motion.

Seated at a table, Himiko was busy spinning a story, complete with sound effects and dramatic gestures with her hands. Rumi was seated directly across with Yuki in her lap, her strong arms wrapped around her kit. Rumi's ears were locked in a forward position as she leaned in closer. Yuki hung on every word, the snow white on her tail as well as the fur that went up to her elbows and knees bristled with every dramatic wave of Himiko's hands. He hoped that Himiko was downplaying any gory details there might be but judging by the stars in Rumi's eyes she was not.

Bakugou was off in a corner eating slowly and with far too much attention to detail, his usual anger overshadowed by shame and self loathing. Near him were Kaminari and Kirishima who were making a fairly obvious attempt to lighten the mood despite the disappointment clung to them. He might be on the best terms with Bakugou but he was glad that he wasn't alone right now.

What really got his attention was Mei, guilt was writhing under her skin like snakes. She was out of her Sororitas armor and in her Fibro-muscle under layer with not one but two of their partners on her lap. Ochako and Tsu were both planting reassuring kiss after reassuring kiss onto Mei as the pinkette squeezed them as close to her body as physically possible.

"Everything ok?" He asked, sensing Mei was upset about something.

Ochako nuzzled her face into the hollow of Mei's neck as her fingers mapped the shape of her opposite ear.

With a pop, Tsu broke from a kiss Mei to answer.

"She saw us get ambushed by Komori, ribbit. She thought we'd be upset that she didn't help us, so we're proving her wrong."

That made sense, Mei did NOT like breaking or failing the rules she had set up for herself. Her main rule was simple; help partners if they need help. Since she was always the best at math and science she would try and tutor the rest of them during study sessions. Problem is, she had a hard time teaching things in a way that made sense to them. It had frustrated Mei to tears on several occasions.

"And you?" Are you alright?" He asked Tsu.

"Just disappointed, ribbit. I don't want to see another mushroom for a while," Tsu answered before turning her attention back to Mei.

He was about to head over and listen in on Himiko's story but was waylaid by Todoroki approaching him. The low simmering rage that he had become accustomed to sensing from the boy had an after taste of shame this time.

"Midoriya. Can we talk?" He asked, his voice not betraying his emotions, as cool as ever.

Izuku contemplated turning the boy down, he really wanted to be around his polycule and check in on everyone in the class as well. As class president, he felt that it was duty to check on everyone, but Todoroki asking to talk was a significant thing.

"Sure," he finally responded, giving Eri a kiss on her horn and handing her off to Nejire before trailing after Todoroki.

Todoroki led him to an out of the way hallway that led to the backside of the arena, it was the perfect spot for the clandestine conversation the boy seemed to want to have.

Todoroki took up residence on the opposite side of the concrete hall but remained silent. If Izuku couldn't sense the boy's hesitation he would have assumed Todoroki had meant to intimidate him. Izuku waited patiently for Todoroki to find his words.

Finally, Todoroki spoke.

"You overwhelmed me."

Izuku nodded, he was pretty sure that Kodai had overwhelmed him in the first round too, but he wasn't going to point that out.

"You forced me to break my pledge."

Izuku raised an eyebrow at that.

Todoroki looked at his left hand like it had offended him in some way before explaining.

"You forced me to use my fire."

The flames…he hadn't imagined it…

Memories Of the USJ flashed through his mind, of Toru putting her life on the line to defend her classmates against a villain twice her size with nothing more than steel batons, of Tsu unmoving and curled up in a fetal position, half buried in the snow and defenseless, and of Todoroki shivering with blue lips and blackened fingers.

Toru had nearly died trying to protect someone that could have saved all of them…Tsu never would have been forced into hibernation and left defenseless if Todoroki had kept her warm…even Todoroki wouldn't have lost a pinky and several toes if he had used his fire…

Red began to crowd his vision as he struggled to tamp down on his rising anger.

Todoroki continued to talk, unaware of the rising tide of rage within Izuku. He was speaking about Quirk marriages, Endeavor buying his wife for her Quirk, his mother being driven into insanity and giving him his scar, and how he was going to beat Izuku with only his ice to prove a point to his father...

Izuku could barely make out Todoroki's words over the grinding of his own teeth.

He had endangered Tsu, Toru, and even himself. For what? Spite?

Warm liquid begins to gather in his clenched fists. The adrenaline that was thrumming through his veins making him unable to feel his nails digging into his flesh.

Through his haze of rage, he could gather that Todoroki had suffered much, but pain didn't excuse one's actions.

He willed the muscles in his jaw to unclench enough to speak.

"You've been through something terrible, but you endangered Tsu, Toru, and even yourself at the USJ by not using your fire. Holding back is a luxury heroes can't afford, Todoroki," Izuku said, far calmer than he felt.

Todoroki's voice was as cold as his ice as he bit out, " ' . .help."

The dam holding back his rising anger broke, his wrath ready to wash away everything in its wake.

Arcing green energy roared to life, chasing away the shadows and licking at the smooth concrete walls.

"Midor-"

"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" He boomed, his voice still echoing down the hallway as he stomped forward and glared down at Todoroki with baleful eyes.

Todoroki was Initially shocked by Izuku's outburst but that shock quickly morphed into a furious indignation.

Todoroki glared at him and made to leave, seemingly done with the conversation. Izuku however, was not. He had meant to plant his hand against the wall to cut the boy off. Instead, his hand buried itself wrist deep into the concrete, his finely tuned control crumbling in the face of his terrible rage.

"You gave me a declaration of war, I'll give you a warning. Face me in the arena at your own risk."

Izuku extracted his hand from the concrete and let Todoroki walk away.

He turned to the camera in the hallway.

"Sir."

"Yes, Cub?" Nezu's voice asked from a nearby speaker.

"You knew about this?" He asked, already suspecting the answer.

"Of course," Nezu chirped.

"How has he not been removed from the hero course for his inaction at the USJ?" he barely managed to ask, his jaw clenching so hard that he could barely speak the words.

"If he had his provisional license he would have been, or worse. It was his first week as a hero course student making him little more than a civilian, he had no more obligation to save anyone than a civilian would in a crisis."

Unbidden, Blackwhip snapped out and gouged a deep furrow into the concrete. Blackwhip almost seemed to be writhing in anger as well.

"You can't possibly intend to let him become a hero that lets people die that could have been saved if he hadn't been holding back," Izuku challenged.

"Of course not. He has been warned that he needs to use his fire time and time again. He doesn't know it, but the festival is his last chance. If he does not properly use his fire he will be removed from the hero course." Nezu happily explained.

XXX

By the time Izuku had stomped his way back to the private cafeteria there was only a minute or two left to eat. After grabbing a plate of food he sat heavily into a seat and began shoveling food into his mouth.

Nejire sat next to him and placed a warm hand on his back, rubbing it in calming circles, no doubt sensing his mood.

"What did Todoroki want to talk about?" She asked.

"Fire," He gritted out between mouthfuls of food without looking at her.

Nejire inhaled softly, her gasp was a quiet thing, barely even noticeable, but he had heard it.

Izuku froze, food halfway to his mouth.

"You knew." It wasn't a question.

"As dorm supervisor, I can't share students' personal information and it's something he wanted to keep secret. I'm not sorry for doing my job," She said, proud and defiant before asking a few silent seconds after, far less sure of herself, "are you angry with me?"

He was certainly angry with Todoroki, but Nejire? Irritated maybe, she had kept something important from him but she had solid reasons for doing so.

Seconds passed without him looking at her or answering.

Hurt began to coil off of her, the sensation making him feel sick to his stomach.

Izuku swallowed and turned to look at her. Moisture had begun to accumulate at the corners of her eyes and her jaw was clenched. She seemed resolved to weather his anger, to be the bigger person.

It was heartbreaking that she felt the need at all.

His anger vanished like smoke on the wind.

"No," He said finally in a whisper as he thumbed the forming tears away. "I'm sorry for my tone, I shouldn't have spoken to you like that."

Nejire only smiled in response and rested her head on his massive shoulder, Izuku leaning his head onto hers, their hands intertwining under the table. The two of them slipped into a comfortable silence until Nejire broke it with a question.

"Are you going to tell Tsu and Toru?" She asked under her breath.

"I…I don't know," He said.

Suddenly, he realized how hard it must have been for Nejire to keep a secret like this. On one hand, Todoroki had told him all this in confidence. On the other hand, keeping things from the people he cared about rankled.

An idea struck, if he could force Todoroki's flames out during their match then this problem would solve itself.

XXX

The first bracket consisted of: Todoroki vs Honenuki, himself vs Shoda, Manga vs Hitoshi, and Momo vs Rumi. The second bracket consisted of: Sero vs Shiozaki, Kyoka vs Itsuka, Yanagi vs Mei, and Kodai vs Bondo.

If Todoroki managed to half ass his way past his first fight then Izuku and he would fight in the second round of fights. That is if Izuku could manage to focus on his first fight and not get caught daydreaming about punching Todoroki until flames came out like some kind of pyrotechnic pinata.

Izuku couldn't stop glaring at the two toned boy as he watched him take his place in the arena opposite of Honenuki. He worked his jaw as he clenched the armrests of his chair, the metal groaning under his hands.

Yuki's sharp claws digging into his thigh snapped him out of his violent daydreaming. Looking down, he saw his little girl climbing her way onto his lap one handed, her other arm wrapped possessively around a tub of popcorn that was nearly as big as she was. Momo had gotten Yuki and Eri more snacks than they could possibly eat. When Izuku tried to repay the ravenette she had only smiled serenely and ignored him pointedly. When he had tried to press the issue Kyoka had told him to save his breath because it was never going to happen.

"Ouch," He said with a small smile, causing the snow leopard girl to giggle mischievously as she plopped into his lap and turned to watch the upcoming match.

Now that the one versus one matches were underway class 1-A was seated together while they waited for their matches to come up. Nejire and their daughters had moved to the section to watch with them.

Nejire's hand pried his own from the now ruined armrest and squeezed it in silent comfort.

"Yuki, try to keep your fur clean or you'll have to have another bath," Nejire warned, Yuki's fur bristling at the threat before she noticeably began eating more carefully.

From the opposite side, Toru leaned in to whisper in his ear, "I haven't seen that look in your eye since the polar bear villain at the USJ. What's wrong?"

The genuine worry in her voice and aura made his heart clench, for he couldn't tell her, not yet.

"Why I'm mad will either become apparent soon or I'll tell you why later today," He said.

Toru placed a hand on his shoulder, "Ok…but I don't like seeing that look in someone so kind," She said, her voice laced with too many emotions to decipher.

Izuku turned to look into Toru's prismatic eyes that held all the colors of an ever shifting rainbow, he saw only truth and care there.

"Thank you, for worrying about me," He said sincerely.

The alabaster skin on Toru's cheeks reddened as her gaze flicked away for a moment, it was then that he realized how close they were. He thought that she might turn invisible in order to avoid her apparent embarrassment, but she didn't. Only a moment later her eyes slid back. Now, looking into her eye's again, he saw affection and maybe something more…

"Fight!" Midnight shouted.

The air took on a sudden chill as a veritable iceberg spawned into existence.

Snapping his eyes to the match, he saw Todoroki's breath misting the air and the iceberg where Honenuki had been standing.

Just as a shivering Midnight was about to call the match, something happened.

The massive amount of ice began to wobble like jello before it began to turn liquid and collapse on itself. It didn't seem to be melting in a normal sense at all.

Honenuki's head popped out of the blob of the liquid but not melted ice and cackled with his unhidden teeth on full display.

"Kek Kek Kek!"

The blob of ice began to shift quickly to form the shape of a massive hand that clenched into a fist and rocketed for Todoroki.

Clearly agitated, Todoroki slammed his food down once more but this time there was no iceberg. Instead the fist of ice froze solid again, its collision course with him halted.

What followed was a tug of war with Honenuki softening the ice and Todoroki freezing it solid again. It became a battle of attrition, Todoroki's shiver becoming more and more prevalent while Honenuki's chattering teeth could be heard from here. Minutes past as the two were locked in a stalemate.

The chill in the air became cold enough that he began to worry about Tsu. When Izuku turned to check on the frog girl he saw Momo producing one of Mei's wireless heated blankets and layering it atop two others that were already on a very toasty looking Tsu. Idly, he mused that Momo and Mei must be seriously getting along in their support class if Mei was sharing her schematics with her. He watched as Momo continued to fuss, Tsu seemingly content to let her. Izuku had always taken to the caretaker role because that was simply who he was and because being able to feel other people's emotions made it so rewarding to be giving. To see someone else taking on the role so fervently for someone he loved warmed his very being.

"Todoroki wins!"

Izuku looked to see Honenuki's head was lolling to the side with his body trapped in the now solid ice. Todoroki was on his knees breathing shallow breaths that he could see from here.

"Time for me to go," Izuku said.

Yuki handed Nejire her popcorn, clambered down from his lap, ran off to where Tsu was and crawled underneath the blankets with her. A moment later, her head popped out from under the blankets to nuzzle under Tsu's chin. He could hear her purring from here.

After a round of goodlucks, he made his way to the arena.

A minute or two later Izuku stood stock still as he waited for his Mama to say the awaited word. Across from him stood Shoda, but Izuku wasn't looking at him. No, his eyes were unfocused as he fumed over Todoroki. Away from Nejire's calming touch and Yuki's sheer adorableness, the rage had come roaring back.

It was hot, too hot in his own skin. His blood felt like it was boiling beneath this skin.

Midnight looked at him with maternal concern but said nothing due to the many watching eyes.

"Ready!? Fight!" Midnight shouted.

There was a sudden BOOM that had some in the stadium wincing in pain and holding their hands over their ears. Everyone looked on in shock at Izuku now standing where Shoda had been and Shoda bloodied and half buried into the stadium's concrete walls, unconscious, one arm dislocated.

Not trusting his own restraint, Izuku had attempted to perform a shoulder throw to get Shoda out of bounds. Instead…instead, he had done this…

"Midoriya…wins," Midnight said in shock.

In the next instant Izuku was gently pulling Shoda's unconscious form from the wall and lowering him to the ground where medical droids were already deploying a stretcher. Remembering the scant lessons he had with Recovery Girl and thanking that Shoda wasn't conscious, he popped the boy's shoulder back into its socket.

When he began to channel Cell Activation he felt his guilt and still boiling rage funnel into the Quirk leaving him calm as Shoda began to emit a faint green glow.

The moment he got the boy into a bed in the infirmary a cane cracked against his shin causing Izuku to wince in pain. He summoned Blackwhip to armor his shins in time for the next blow and when he didn't react Recovery Girl's scowl deepened.

"What the hell was that!? You could have killed him!" Recovery Girl shouted as she began to look over Shoda and run some tests.

A minute later Shoda began to stir.

"What…what happened?" Shoda asked as he blinked his eyes into focus.

"I lost control, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have hurt you as bad as I did," Izuku apologized, bowing deeply.

Shoda blinked a few more times, confusion turning into realization and realization turning into frustration.

"Don't patronize me, Midoriya. I lost badly, by the sounds of it," The man said with a stern voice that Izuku had not expected.

A moment of silence passed before Shoda let out a small laugh with little humor.

"You really kicked my ass." He said before laughing again but this time genuinely.

With the tension broken, the laugh proved to be infectious as Izuku began to laugh as well.

"I just wish I could have seen your Quirk in action," Izuku said with a fading smile on his lips.

" I could just tell you," Shoda said.

A tendril of Blackwhip shot out to the other side of the room, Recovery Girl cursing loudly. The tendril returned with a pen and paper which Izuku grabbed.

"Please," Izuku all but begged, hands poised to write.

Shoda's eyes were as wide as dinner plates for a second before he began to guffaw until he was weezing. Nearly a full minute passed before Shoda had calmed enough to speak.

"My quirk was called Twin Impact. It made it so after touching or hitting something I could trigger a second, more powerful blow. As far as I could tell, It was roughly three times the original hit's strength. After you evolved it, it can trigger a third time for about three times the second's power, or nine times the original's power."

Nine times!? He idly wondered what that Quirk would do if he had it and fired off a 100% punch. If All Might could change the weather with a punch then he would probably blow a hole in the atmosphere big enough to pop it like a soap bubble.

"You said it WAS called Twin Impact, what did you rename it?" Izuku asked, pausing in his scribbling.

"Triple Trample," Shoda said with a grin.

Knowing he wouldn't be able to make it to his seat in time, he and Shoda focused on the monitor in the room to watch the next fight. They didn't have to wait long to see Hitoshi and Manga taking their positions.

"Fight!"

"Do you-" Hitoshi began.

"Twang!" Manga yelled.

A decidedly cartoonish anvil appeared above Hitoshi and began to plummet for his head. Hitoshi barely managed to roll out of the way before the anvil struck the ground, splitting the concrete.

"Thwack!" Manga yelled as Hitoshi righted himself, a cartoonish baseball bat spawning into his hands.

"You must like gag manga, Manga!" Hitoshi stated as the speech bubble head boy charged at him.

""It's peak comedy!" Manga replied as he readied to swing his bat.

Hitoshi snapped his fingers and winked.

"Walk out of bounds," He commanded, Manga following the orders without question.

"Aizawa wins!"

XXX

Izuku got back to 1-A's seats and saw that Eri was seated in Ochako's lap with her own tub of popcorn. She was busy trying to toss kernels into Kaminari's open mouth, the boy diving for each one. With each successful toss Eri would look back over her shoulder at Ochako to make sure she had seen it, smiling brightly.

Izuku took his seat between Nejire and Mina.

Next up was Rumi versus Momo. Izuku respected Momo, but in a straight on fight against a foe that was far stronger, faster, and more durable like Rumi? With no cover? He doubted she would be fast enough to devise a way to put Rumi down before the berserker hare reached her.

"Fight!"

As predicted, Rumi exploded forward and low to the ground to reduce wind drag and to simultaneously present a smaller target.

Momo was faster than he had given her credit for. The moment Rumi twitched forward, Momo fired a grenade round at the ground between them. Where the round struck, liquid fire spread and licked at the air.

Rumi leaped through the curtain of fire, eyes wild and teeth bared in challenge. To Momo, she must have truly cast the visage of a demon clawing its way into the physical realm.

What Rumi hadn't accounted for however was that Momo had been counting on this. Rumi was mid air and unable to dodge. She had also lost sight of her quarry for a split second thanks to the flames. When Rumi caught sight of Momo again the ravenette was wearing dark sunglasses and thick headphones, the barrel of her automatic grenade launcher pointed directly at Rumi. Flashbang rounds began exploding directly against Rumi's torso in rapid succession. Rumi cried out in pain for the first time Izuku had ever witnessed. The sound was so alarming that He hadn't even realized that he was standing, nor did he notice that Himiko and Mei had stood as well. In all the time they had known each other they had never once heard Rumi cry out in pain, swear in pain sure, but not this.

Rumi crumpled to the ground and rolled away but Momo had wisely not stopped firing, the belt of ammunition feeding from her hip directly into her weapon in a never ending stream. What was more, it seemed that Momo had taken to alternating the rounds from flashbang to concussive rounds like the ones she had used against Tsu in the battle trials. Explosive sound and light alternated with puffs of pink smoke as Momo pressed her advantage.

It was painful to watch as Rumi was made deaf and blind as round after round struck her in a staccato of heavy gunfire.

Even as round after round crashed against her and nearby, Rumi forced herself onto her hands and knees, her hands digging into the concrete to anchor herself. She lifted her head to glare unseeing straight at Momo with tightly closed eyes, blood now trickling from her ears to mix with her white hair. With a feral bellow that was far more animal than it was human, she blurred forward. Still mid roar, Rumi released a wild kick at full power where she thought Momo was. It was lucky that the kick hadn't landed directly, because even the air pressure was enough to send Momo out of bounds and even Midnight bracing against the gale.

"Oguro wins!"

Unable to hear, Rumi kicked out again…and again…and again until, finally, she collapsed to her knees clutching her ears and panting.

To his surprise, Momo was by her side in less than a second and went red in the face with exertion as she tried to help Rumi stand. With Rumi pushing four hundred pounds of pure muscle he could understand her having difficulty. Even from here he could tell Momo was fussing and what's more, she seemed to be…apologizing even as she guided the victor off the field.

XXX

By the time Rumi and Momo got back Sero and Shiozaki were already taking their positions. Izuku immediately noticed Momo's self pitying mood even if she was hiding it well behind a mask.

"Good job, Momo. You were at a real disadvantage against Rumi in such a straight on fight and you still almost won," Izuku praised.

Immediately he noticed her mood lift even if it wasn't by much.

"Ya, she really rang my bell," Rumi agreed as she still hung on to the ravenette despite having been healed up.

Seeing as her mood wasn't much improved, he tried again. "If it makes you feel any better, I've never beaten her."

"Oddly enough, it does. Thank you," Momo said sincerely if a bit quietly before making her way over to Kyoka who was waiting with a hug ready.

Izuku and Nejire grunted as Rumi flopped bonelessly across their laps.

"My eardrums got blown out, I got shot in the boob, and now I'm tired from healing," Rumi huffed, Nejire and Mina wincing in sympathy from either side of him.

Nejire leaned over Rumi, her periwinkle hair cascading over her shoulder and curtaining both of their faces. If he wasn't right next to them he wouldn't have been able to hear Nejire whisper low and full of promise,"Want me to kiss it and make it better?"

He could feel Rumi give a full body shudder in response. There was a quiet sound of lips parting before Nejire sat back up, her eyes dark as she looked down.

Izuku shuffled Rumi's significant weight, began channeling Cell Activation, and opened his mouth to speak but was cut off sharply.

"If you say I'm too heavy, I WILL bite," Rumi warned.

He almost said it just to call her bluff, to dare her, because honestly-

"That doesn't sound so bad," Mina says next to him with a thoughtful expression, her black sclera eyes tilted up and to the side, her full lips pursed in thought.

In unison, Izuku, Nejire, and Rumi all turned to stare at Mina who had picked up Rumi's feet and placed them on her lap.

"What?" She asked in incredulity as if it were a perfectly normal thing to say.

"FIGHT!"

There was a colossal tangle of tape and vine as both combatants attempted to land the first hit.

Who was winning quickly became apparent. Sero couldn't control his tape after he fired it out, the strands only going where he had aimed them. Shiozaki on the other hand could control her vines as if they were an extension of her own body and he supposed they were, actually.

Vines exploded from the ground by Sero's feet, neither him or Izuku having noticed them burrowing at Shiozaki's feet. The vines wrapped around Sero's feet, tying them together before coiling upwards to quickly mummify the boy head to toe.

Midnight gave a ten second countdown before shouting, "Shiozaki wins!"

Kyoka stole a quick kiss from Momo before standing up.

"That's my que," She said casually even if he could feel her nerves.

"You'll do great, don't worry," Izuku commented.

Kyoka flashed him a genuine smile at that before nodding sharply as marching out to her match with renewed confidence.

"Mama!" Eri said excitedly as she ran over from where she had been with Ochako and crawled on top of Rumi's stomach.

"Hi Kit, are you done feeding the wildlife?" Rumi asked, Kaminari squawking in protest and not helping his case at all.

Eri giggled as Rumi wrapped her arms around her, squirming to get comfortable.

"Ugh, I think I have a cavity now," Mina fake complained.

Kyoka and Itsuka took the field.

"Fight!" Midnight shouted.

Itsuka grew to twenty feet tall faster than any gigantification Quirk user he had ever seen.

Kyoka's jacks clicked into her naturally occurring gauged earrings.

Concrete exploded as Itsuka blurred forward faster than she ought to be able. She seemed far stronger than even her size would suggest.

Shockwaves of sound blasted out in a sphere all around Kyoka and just in time.

Itsuka's fist collided with the shield of sound, the barrier halting it but not doing any damage like it had with Mezo.

A look of surprise crossed Itsuka's face. A second fist blurred forward faster than the last, that's when Izuku realized she had been holding back. This time when the colossal fist connected it blew through the barrier of sound like it was tissue paper. Kyoka was sent flying, bouncing across concrete and finally coming to a stop just before going out of bounds.

Kyoka pushed herself to her feet, everyone in 1-A shouting encouragement. Itsuka may have gotten past the shield but it wasn't a direct hit, her fist's trajectory had been thrown off by the barrier

Itsuka's brows furrowed as she appeared ready to dash forward to finish off Kyoka.

She didn't see Kyoka's jacks racing straight at her until too late. Itsuka tried to dodge but the metal tipped jacks slammed into her shoulder and chest, piercing the skin even if only about an inch.

Itsuka's entire body seemed to vibrate as she fought to keep standing. For a second, Itsuka tried to snatch Kyoka's jacks but they proved to be evasive, one darting away while the other would stab a new area, the vibrations slowing her movements too much to catch them. Blood could be seen trickling from her nose. Persevering through the attack, Itsuku took a heavy step forward that cracked concrete. Overcoming the pain, she fought to lean forward into a sprinters stance. Pain marred Itsuka's face, but there was confidence there as well.

Half of the platform exploded in a shower of concrete. Itsuku planted a foot down hard right in front of Kyoka, arresting her immense momentum. The stomp was so powerful that the ground exploded from under Kyoka. The angle of the force was enough to carry her well out of bounds.

"Kendo wins!"

Mei got up reluctantly from where she had been seated between Ochako and Tsu.

"Want me and Tsu to help with gettin' ya in your armor?" Ochako asked, seeming to be reluctant to part with the woman as well.

"I don't need help…" Mei said, somewhat disappointed.

"What she means is do you want kisses all the way to the arena entrance?" Tsu asked, throwing all nuance and discretion over the railing.

Ochako's face went crimson, but she didn't dispute the statement.

"YES!" Mei yelled before all but dragging her girlfriends away.

Her cackling could be heard echoing in the hall long after they exited the viewing area.

XXX

A few minutes later and Midnight was impatiently tapping her foot, glaring at the entrance opposite of where Yanagi had come from. Yanagi was in position and looking unbothered as she waited.

Rumi had Eri on her shoulders and was angrily pacing along the front row of seats.

"Where is she?!" Rumi questioned nobody in particular.

Kyoka came meekly into the room then and tried not to make eye contact with anyone as she made her way to where Momo was waiting with worry in her eyes.

"Kyoka," Himiko said suddenly, startling the punk girl. In Himiko's lap was a purring Yuki wrapped up into a heated blanket, her eyes drooping from the heat.

"Kendo wiped the floor with my team last round and we never hurt her as bad as you did," Himiko finished once Kyoka had looked her in the eyes. Not waiting for a response, Himiko went back to nuzzling the purrito she was cradling.

Danger sense pinged, it was little more demanding than a phone vibrating, but it was there and he suspected he knew why. Quick as lightning, he pulled out his phone and hit record.

"Mommyyy," Yuki whines as Himiko rubbed her cheek against the child's head.

Himiko's eyes snapped open, feline pupils dilated so much that no gold could be seen. She looked like she was doubting her own ears until her eyes softened into something so warm that he could almost feel it. She cradled the child even closer and pressed a kiss to the girl's head right between her rounded ears that fluttered in response.

"My little kit," Himiko purred with a waver in her voice.

A hand gripped Izuku's forearm and he turned to see Nejire staring past him, her eyes misting and love radiating off of her like the sun that beat down overhead.

Nejire whispers so quietly that it might be to herself, "I was so afraid I wouldn't be able to give her a family…"

For a long moment he and anyone that had noticed the interaction basked in it, soaking it in as they watched Himiko forget the world around her.

A second later Mei came flying, literally, out of the tunnel to land in her position. The faceplate on her helmet folded up to reveal her swollen lips and kiss drunk expression.

"I'm ready!" She shouted loud enough for Izuku to hear.

"Ha!" Rumi guffawed from her belly, Eri laughing as well.

Tsu came running into the room with a panting Ochako close behind. Their hair was a mess, their clothes were disheveled, and their lips were swollen as well.

"Good, we made it just in time, ribbit," Tsu said evenly, not out of breath in the least.

Midnight dragged a hand down her face in exasperation for the girl that was essentially her daughter in law before snapping back to her role of referee.

"Fight!"

Mei drew her railgun pistol from where it was mag-locked to her thigh and fired from the hip so fast that he doubted most people could have seen the motion.

For a moment nobody made a sound as the gunshot echoed.

Then everyone realized Yanagi was still standing, not having moved from her position. A blue gel coated an invisible hand that hovered in front of Yanagi.

The hand shot forward. Mei raised her gun fully and began firing rapidly even as a cloud of Mei-flies swarmed forward. The drones exploded into pink riot foam, the Electrogel rounds striking yet more invisible hands.

Izuku switched to infrared but even then the hands couldn't be seen, they gave off no heat. Wait. He refocused and saw that there was a displacement of warm air, it had to be the hands. Mei must be seeing the same thing with her own thermal vision. There were a dozen of them if he could see correctly and they all connected with Yanagi's back.

The now massive clump of riot foam was big enough to block line of sight. It fell to the ground, no longer being held up by the hands.

Yanagi seemed surprised to not see Mei where she had been mere moments ago. Head turned this way and that, the most movement she had shown so far, then she looked up.

With the midday sun at her back, Mei dive bombed. She collided with the barely visible hands. She grabbed them and pushed them aside as her thrusters continued to burn. The hands were becoming more and more visible as they struggled to arrest Mei's movement. The servos in Mei's armor whined as she struggled to fight off the nearly visible appendages. Izuku switched his thermal vision off and to his surprise, Yanagi's Quirk was now visible to the naked eye, appearing like a shimmering mirage.

"Warp Drive!" Mei yelled through the speaker, or Vox as Mei called it, in her helmet.

The wings linked thrusters on Mei's back suddenly kicked into overdrive, their plasma contrails grew larger and larger until they joined together to create what looked like massive wings of blazing plasma. She looked like an avenging angel descending on a battlefield.

Yanagi stood no chance as Mei barreled through the now fully visible hands and punched her with an electric fist right in the face, flattening her to the ground with the force.

Mei stood over Yanagi's limp form with one arm dangling, the armor too damaged to move properly. The other jerked and started as Mei fought to raise it above her head, fist clenched.

"Hatsume wins!" Midnight announced.

The crowd cheered and there was a scuffling sound from the speakers before Snipe's voice filled the stadium.

"That's mah protégé for ya'll! She knows when ta hold'em and when ta FOLD'em!"

More scuffling.

"That's mine!" Present Mic yelled in the background.

"WOOOO!" Rumi cheered. "DID YOU SEE YOUR MAMA!?" She asked way too loudly to her small passenger.

"Ya! Mama flew in like a bird!" Eri answered, her Mama's excitement rubbing off on her.

Momo stood up, worry marring her beautiful features. "I'm going to see if Mei could use help repairing her armor."

"I'll come too, and don't worry they have monitors showing the fights everywhere. We'll see your fight, Green." Kyoka said, getting up as well.

It wasn't much later when Kodai and Bondo were facing off across the arena.

"Fight!"

Kodai began to grow larger but slowly, far slower than Kendo had and slower than Mt. Lady by quite a lot as well.

Bondo was not so slow.

What looked like glue began pouring out of the boy's oddly shaped head. He raised his arms and the glue began to float, controlled by unseen puppeteer strings. The glue flew at Kodai and covered her head to toe but she continued to grow.

Bondo clenched one fist and the glue hardened instantly, Kodai trapped within.

Midnight began the countdown.

"10, 9, 8, 7, 6-"

The Kodai statue shattered. Bondo attempted to capture her again but she was growing too big to cover completely. His window of opportunity had closed.

Kodai now towered at her full height of sixty feet. She bent down and flicked. Bondo tried to shield himself with a wall of glue but it wasn't enough, the finger crashed through the substance and sent him sailing out of bounds limply.

"Kodai wins!" Midnight announced.

There was a round of cheers before Present Mic's voice sounded.

"Next up; Todoroki versus Midoriya!"

Izuku turned in his seat to see Todoroki already glaring back at him.

It was finally time.