Everyone in the room cheered as the students started making their way onto the field. More junk food was passed around as Present Mic started listing off the different classes, with Saito and his group of friends clapping happily now that this year's Sports Festival was about to begin. Around the teens' table, more patrons of the restaurant started to speak up, each an 'expert' on who they thought looked like they could win. The ones who had already consumed a number of beers were clearly the wisest, and loudest, as they pointed out the 'clear' winners.

"Oh hey, that's the class that got attacked, right?"

"Yeah I saw them on the news. Oh, there's that hot girl with the huge boobs!"

"Seriously, dude?"

"What? I'm not the only one looking."

"So you and a bunch of drunk old men. Great company you keep."

"Oh, bite me."

Leaning back in his chair, Saito groaned as his friends argued. Choosing not to get involved he went back to watching the screen, "Doesn't the class seem bigger than the news showed?"

"They didn't have a group photo of the class, so they just used some quick pictures from the front gate as they were leaving."

"It's a good thing All Might saved them. None of them look really tough."

"Okay, one, there's no way you go up to any of those guys and say that to their faces, and two, didn't the news report say that a lot of the villains from the attack had to be treated at ICU's because they got so messed up?"

"You don't actually think those guys took on a horde of villains? It was probably All Might and all the teachers that came to rescue them. I bet they were pretty pissed off, and those villains got the brunt end of it."

The camera following the students from 1-A panned over as Present Mic continued his introductions. For a split second, a patch of ash-blonde hair caught his eye, but before he could focus on it, it was gone. Soon, it was time for the opening speech. More than a few people pointed out that the green kid looked like he was ready to faint, but he ended up giving a pretty rousing speech.

"You know, it almost sounded like he was calling out the villains that attack his class."

"Oh yeah, because poking the bear is always a great idea."

"Will you guys keep it down?! They're about to announce the first event!"

When the tv screens flashed up 'dodgeball' a few of the patrons groaned, "Boring! Last year was way better. That obstacle course was sick."

"Will you shut it? Midnight is about to explain the rules."

When the match began, any worries the crowd had about the first event being boring was thrown out the window. The sheer insanity of everything made it feel less like they were watching an actual sporting event, and more like they were watching one of those American home video shows. Every time the camera cut to a new student, it was just in time to see them get clobbered. Saito might have felt bad for laughing so hard, if it wasn't so funny.

Then it happened.

In a flash of green, Izuku and Ochako soared into the air, and the laughter stopped and gave way to loud hoots and hollers, "Holy crap, look at that green kid go!"

"That's the same kid that gave the speech, right? He looks like a totally different person."

"Who's the girl on his back? She a tag-along?"

"No, look; it's giving us their quirk details down below. Huh, Psychokinesis and Zero Gravity? The guy can move stuff with his mind, and the girl makes things float."

"Oh they teamed up to fly away then? That's pretty neat."

"That's cheap."

"No, it's smart."

The rest of the first event flew by for everyone, with many applauding at the end. With the match over and the winners being announced, Saito reached over the table to grab a bag of chips from the bowl when he heard one of his friends gasp and another one swear.

"What the fuck?"

"No. No, no, no no! That can't be her!"

Pulling his attention away from the bowl of goodies, Saito looked over at his friends and was shocked to see them looking horrified. Wondering what had gotten them so worked up, he looked over at the screen, and felt the floor get pulled out from underneath his feet. On the screen were pictures and names of each person that was moving onto the next event. There at the bottom of the list was someone that Saito only ever thought of in his nightmares.

"T-Toga?"

While Saito collapsed back into his chair, his friends started to panic.

"There's no way that's her, right!?"

"She has to be in jail by now. It's just someone that looks like her."

"After she vanished, they never said what happened, though…"

The noise of the crowd and his friends vanished asSaito clutched at his chest, hands resting over the large scar. All at once it came flooding back to him.

Her eyes.

Her smile.

The flash of the knife.

The horrible pain.

It all came flooding back, but none of it was as horrible, as gut wrenching as the memory that haunted Saito in his darkest nightmares. It was the sound. The sound she made when she used a straw to drink his blood.

"It's her...It's really her…" Saito curled up wanting to disappear. The attack had happened years ago, but seeing Himiko on the television brought it all back. For him, years didn't matter. It might have as well happened yesterday.

"But how? If that's really her, why is she in U.A.? It's a hero school!"

Saito didn't have an answer. He wanted one, but nothing came to him. Himiko was a monster. Her own parents had called her a demon when he had met them after the attack. And yet, there she was, in a U.A. gym uniform, walking around without a care in the world. It didn't make sense, but one way or another, he was going to find out what was going on.

"We are the future that those villains couldn't stop! We are the future that won't be stopped! Today, we will show you all that the future is in good hands. Today, we will show you, and anyone watching, that the future is bright, and no darkness will ever dim it. We are the future, and we will rise to any challenge that is put in our way! PLUS ULTRA!"

Reaching up, Tomura dug his fingernails into his neck, scratching the skin, and leaving deep red welts that stood out, harshly, against his pale skin. After being ordered to watch the Sports Festival because it would be a good opportunity to observe his enemy he had been told, Tomura had almost destroyed the television in front of him when Izuku had walked up on the podium. His already foul temper took a greater turn for the worse when he started to give his speech.

"This brat! If it wasn't for him getting in my way, I would have killed All Might! He's only alive because of EraserHead! He got lucky once, and he thinks he can talk about being the future?"

Behind him, Kurogiri stood motionless as he kept an eye on him, "Please be careful not to do anything to reopen your wounds. If we are to move forward with Master's orders, you must recover as quickly as possible."

Grunting in annoyance, Tomura took his hands off his neck and folded them into his lap. All for One had ordered him to watch, so he would, but he didn't have to like it. The sight of all these teenage hero wannabes made him itch. But he would watch. Watch and see if this future was anything to be concerned about, and more importantly, to see if this future would be able to put up a fight before he killed it.

Despite his sour mood, he couldn't help but grin as he watched Izuku walk off the podium. Grin as he imagined his hands around the boy's neck, feeling him waste away into nothing.

"What a start, ladies and gentlemen! Hatsume just threw down the gauntlet! No Quirk is a match for the right gear? How is Midoriya going to respond to that? After all, his Quirk has helped him keep hold of first place since the day started!"

Aizawa grunted in annoyance and looked over at his co-host, "Yamada, what are you doing?"

"It's called giving colorful commentary. You should try it sometime. And call me 'Present Mic' when I'm going live!"

Aizawa wished his arms weren't in slings so that he could rub his temple to soothe the headache that was growing, "And just who are you giving commentary to, exactly?"

"My adoring audience, of course," Present Mic said, sweeping his hands out towards the crowd.

"With a broadcasting system that's just been hacked?"

"I...oh…"

"Yeah."

Present Mic deflated into his seat, and the two hosts sat in silence. Down below, it was anything but quiet as the crowd roared in anticipation. The audacious claim that support gear could be a match for a trained Quirk had not only grabbed the attention of Mei's fellow classmates in the Department of Support, but also several pro heroes. They all wanted to see if Mei could back up her claim. Izuku, now recovered from his initial shock, got back into his fighting stance.

"Are you ready to go, Hatsume? Or do you want to give another sales pitch first?"

Mei smirked, and waved him on, "Take your best shot. You won't be able to touch me."

Because her mic was still on, the crowd could hear their whole conversation, and they reacted with a chorus of reactions that made them sound more like a studio audience than a crowd watching a sporting event.

Well, at least she took my pep talk to heart, I guess. Let's see, she has those Electromagnetic Soles she showed me, some kind of leg braces, and a harness with those weird cylinders hanging off her shoulders. Also, that is a jetpack, and I want it. Stop! Focus on what's important. Win the match, and then ask about the jetpack…. She's probably expecting me to use my Quirk right off the bat, so let's give her a surprise.

Izuku charged forward, closing the distance between the two in several long strides. Pulling his arm back, Izuku threw a haymaker, letting his momentum add to his strike's power. Mei smiled and fell straight backward, Izuku's fist sailing right over head, and his momentum carried him several steps past her. He had expected her to dodge; it was as telegraphed a punch as he could manage. He wanted to see if she would use any of the gear she was wearing since he had no idea what most of it was. He had not expected her to dodge like that, however. Whirling around, he expected to find Mei flat on her back, but the small cylinders at her shoulders spun and hissed, sending jets of air out and pushing Mei right back up.

"HA! With my Auto Balancers, you're never going to knock me over!"

Crunch!

A sound, not unlike a crushed soda can, followed by a high pitched hiss, echoed over the loudspeakers, as Izuku reached out and crushed the air cylinders on Mei's shoulders with his Quirk. Izuku knew this was a fight, and that going easy on her would mean defeat, but he couldn't help but wince as the hiss of compressed air that escaped petered out and finally stopped.

That might have been a little mean.

"YOU KILLED MY BABY!" Mei screamed in horror as she looked at her damaged gear. Izuku did his best not to lose his composure, "Please don't say it like that!"

Mei glowered at him. "You're a villain! Baby killer!"

"Don't say that, either!"

A soft glow came from her boots as they activated, followed by a harsh roar as her jetpack came to life. Izuku yelped as Mei literally rocketed right for him. Izuku tried to slow her down, but anything he grabbed on her was ripped from by the speed and force behind her. Realizing she was about to ram him, Izuku braced himself for the impact.

But it never came.

At the last moment, twin pistons shot out from her belt, pole-vaulting her into the air and over Izuku. As she sailed by, she pulled a pair of cuffs from her belt and tossed them right at Izuku. Little lights flickered on as the single cuffs twisted in the air and snapped onto his wrist.

"Hey!?"

The cuffs were only the size of a watch band, but when Izuku pulled at them, he was startled to find that they were very sturdy and not coming off. Mei landed and glided over to one of the carts she had brought with her. Yanking a decent-sized, metal suitcase up, she tossed it out of the ring. When it hit the ground, it popped open and drove large piledrivers into the ground, anchoring it. Then a pillar unfolded up, reaching a few feet high. Pulling out a remote, Mei pressed a button, and both the pillar and the cuffs on Izuku's wrists started glowing the same blue color.

Oh, that's not going to b-!

Izuku didn't even get to finish his thought as the cuffs slammed together and started to drag him across the arena, towards the case Mei had thrown.

"HA HA HA! My Magneto-Cuffs will make short work of you, Midoriya!"

Izuku tried to dig his heels in, but he was still getting dragged out of the ring despite his best efforts. Trying to stop the constant pull almost made him lose his balance, which would result in him falling flat on his face and leaving a nasty smear along the concrete. Seeing that he wasn't going to be able to overcome the magnetic pull, Izuku instead focused on the cuffs. First, he tried to use his Quirk to break them, like he had with Mei's other invention, but these were much more sturdy. The metal used was thicker, and he could tell these were meant to take a beating.

If these are supposed to hold villains, I guess they need to be strong. I could try and pull my hands apart, but that's not going to do anything to stop me from getting pulled out. I'm almost to the edge of the ring. Think, Izuku, or you're going to get yanked to that pillar, and that's it for you!...Wait...THE PILLAR!

With only a few feet separating him from a ring out, Izuku looked up from his cuffs and out towards the pillar. Quickly, he reached out, and a green glow drowned out the blue light the machine gave off. With a grunt, Izuku yanked it up. The first pull pulled it, along with most of the grass and dirt under it, up into a small hill. The next pull ripped it free.

Alright! Now I just need to bre- OH NO!

Unfortunately, Izuku hadn't realized that with the pillar out of the ground, he was now the new anchor point of the magnetic pull. Breaking out of his hold, the pillar flew right into Izuku, connecting with the cuff, and sending Izuku tumbling backward. Fortunately, it was away from the out-of-bounds line. Grunting, Izuku stood back up, the magnetic gear still attached to his wrists. Lifting it up, and ignoring the distressed yell from Mei, Izuku focused on the pillar, bathing it in bright, green light as he began cracking it. While the cuffs were very sturdy, the pillar itself and all the mechanics inside were more fragile. Once cracks started to form, Izuku slammed it into the concrete a few times until it fell off the cuffs and landed in a pile of sparks and scrap. At the same time, the magnetic pull between the cuffs stopped, and Izuku was able to pull his hands apart.

"Whew, that was close."

Mei stomped her foot down, "Stop breaking everything!"

"No?"

Mei growled before whipping out one of her Capture Guns and firing; however, Izuku was able to catch the net and hold it in place before, with a flick of his hand, sending it right back towards Mei, who used her Hydraulic Bracers to dodge out of the way.

"How dare you use my own babies against me! You're really asking for it, you know!"

"Do your worst, Hatsume!"

After saying that, Izuku was hit by a feeling that warned him that pushing an already-angry mad genius even further was not a great idea. She glowered at him, ripped off her head gear, along with the headset, and pulled out a strange headband from one of the boxes. It was a device that looked eerily familiar to him. When she then pulled out a soldering kit of some kind and started putting the two items together, he decided that maybe it would be a good idea to not let her finish what she was making. As he powered up his Quirk, Mei, not taking her eyes off her work, pointed a remote towards one of the retractable walls around the arena. A feeling of dread filled Izuku as he watched the section open, and multiple dodgeballs from the first event flew into the sky.

"That should keep you busy while I work."

As all the dodgeballs ripped through the air, straight for Izuku, the poor boy didn't even have time to groan in exasperation, "Oh, you have got to be-"

CRACK!

Somewhere in the stands, a blond teen was laughing harder than he had in a very long time.

Present Mic frowned as he watched the match below, "Hey, Shouta."

"Yeah?"

"Should we be worried that some kid is just able to hack past our security like this?"

Aizawa groaned, feeling a headache and a long meeting in his future. "Probably."

"Mrs. Midoriya, why did Izuku try to catch that ball with his face?"

While Inko patted Eri's head, Mr. Uraraka fell out of his chair laughing.

Izuku ducked and weaved about, doing his best to ignore the stinging pain in his jaw. Around his feet, the remains of a few of the dodgeballs Mei had turned on lay broken. After the first hit, he had been dazed long enough to get struck in the body a couple more times before he was finally able to start countering. Now after smashing the first half-dozen, Izuku was dealing with the last projectile. A small little thing that was whipping around like the world's most annoying mosquito.

Okay, I think I'm done with this!

Picking up the largest chunks of scrap metal he could, Izuku had them hovering around himself, waiting. Just as the little ball whizzed by, he slammed them together. Izuku waited a second before pulling the metal apart, and sighed in relief at the smashed little ball, "Finally."

Dropping everything, Izuku turned to find Mei, who had just put the finishing touches on her new invention. When she looked up at him, Izuku felt a cold chill run up his spine. When she looked at him, she seemed apologetic.

That...that's not a good sign.

"Hatsume?"

"Sorry, Midoriya, but like you said: I should be here to win. And I can't have you breaking all my stuff before I move to the next round. So, sorry, but this is gonna hurt. Shouldn't be fatal at least."

"Wait, what does that even-!"

Mei didn't let him finish. She turned on whatever she had made. At first, Izuku only heard a high pitched whine coming from all the loud speakers around the stadium, then Izuku's vision went red. A sudden, searing pain drilled into his head, knocking him to his knees. The pain was sudden, harsh, but more disturbing; it was one he had felt before. It was a pain he felt every time he pushed his Quirk too far.

"Like I said, sorry about this. I didn't tell the guys to grab stuff I was working on for your costume. I just told them to grab everything."

Through the pain, Izuku forced himself to stand up. Now that she had said that, he recognized what the headband had been. He had asked Mei to make something that would lessen the effects of over using his Quirk. That headband had been one of the failed attempts. It hadn't made them better, but had made them worse. Just having it near his head had given him a horrible headache. And now she had it hooked up to her headgear and was broadcasting throughout the whole stadium.

Izuku tried to reach out with his Quirk and snatch the device out of Mei's hands, but he could feel his power get pushed back, painfully.

She's...making it so I can't use my Quirk…

The pain was making him nauseous. It was making it hard to find his balance. He was only vaguely aware of his surroundings when Mei slammed into him. With her boots and leg bracers supporting her, she began to shove Izuku out of the ring. As dizzy as he was, it was impossible to try and anchor himself for too long. He'd dig his heels in, but after a good shove from Mei, he'd be backpedaling several steps before he'd try again. He was getting pushed back and pretty soon he knew he'd be out of the ring, and out of the tournament.

Come on! Focus! Think of something!

He was only a few yards away from the outer edge now. It'd only take one or two good shoves, and he would be done.

Think!

But it was hard to think. The constant pressure on his head was almost too much. The feeling of having his Quirk pushed back into his head was almost too much.

Almost.

However that thing works...it's pushing against me...maybe if I push back hard enough…

Izuku was only a couple feet away from the edge. Gripping Mei's arms, he focused the best he could. He didn't focus on one single thing, instead he just pushed his Quirk against the force driving it back.

"AAHHHH!"

Digging deep, Izuku forced his Quirk out, pressing it against the invisible force and driving it back. He had never done something like this before, using his Quirk on a force rather than an object. The strain reminded him of when he tried to use his Quirk on the Zero Pointer. The kickback had been the worst pain he had ever felt. Now, though, for better or worse, he was more used to that kind of pain, and he had experience with worse kinds as well, thanks to Nomu. So he kept fighting, kept pushing. Ignoring the ice pick driving through his skull. Ignoring the wetness he felt on his lips. He just pushed. Around him, his green aura flickered- off more often than it was on, but that started to change. The glow lasted longer each time. It was dim at first, though soon it became brighter and brighter.

With each time his glow came back, the headgear Mei wore sparked and crackled. Small whiffs of white smoke started coming off, and, through the loudspeakers, static started to broadcast over the grunts of the two students as they fought.

Then Izuku's glow blazed to life, no longer flickering on and off. At the same time, Mei's headgear whined, cracked, and finally fizzled out, while the loudspeakers popped before they went back to broadcasting.

The pain gone, Izuku was able to finally stop himself from getting pushed back. Slamming a heel down, he saw he was just at the line. Grunting, Izuku reached up and grabbed Mei's gym top at the shoulders. Looking right at her, he saw surprise flash across her face, then resigned recognition as she realized what was about to happen. Sighing sadly, she smiled at Izuku, "Well, I tried."

"I know."

Tightening his grip, Izuku yanked Mei forward as he twisted around, throwing her out of the ring. Landing on her feet, Mei stumbled backward until she fell onto her butt with a grunt. Midnight raised her hand, signaling the end of the match, "Hatsume is out of bounds! Midoriya advances to round two!"

Midnight's voice echoed throughout the stadium and the crowd erupted into cheers.

"Oh hey, looks like Midoriya threw her out...wait I'm live?"

"We've been live since Midoriya broke whatever that thing Hatsume made. How else do you think we'd be able to hear Midni-"

"WHAT AN INCREDIBLE DISPLAY, LOYAL LISTENERS! I'M NOT SURE WHAT WAS GOING ON AT THE END THERE, BUT WE HAVE OUR WINNER! Midoriya Izuku wins by ring-out!

Using his sleeve to wipe his nose, and grimacing at the red stain, Izuku hurried out of the ring and over to Mei. Offering his hand to help her back up.

"That was incredible, Hatsume! Your babies were so cool...though I wasn't really a fan of that last one."

Taking his hand and standing up, Mei started to dust herself off, "Yeah, I might have gone a little overboard with that last idea. At least I only used the first failed prototype and not the one that makes heads go boom."

"...Thank you for your restraint…"

Mei rolled her eyes before looking away from Izuku and up towards the upper sections of the stands. Her eyes scanned over the multitude of people until she saw who she was looking for. A bunch of suits whispering to each other and pointing right at her. Izuku noticed Mei grinning widely, "Um, what are smiling at?"

"It looks like all the people from the support companies bit. I might have lost the match, but the war is mine."

Izuku blinked and looked up, "Wait, isn't the company ring of seats all the way at the top in the suites? How can you tell?"

Mei waved him off, and started packing up her gear, which Izuku following close behind to give her a hand, "With my Zoom Quirk, I can see them easily."

"Wait? That's your Quirk?"

"Yeah. Why is that so surprising?"

"Well I just thought your Quirk had something to do with all the inventions you're able to make," Izuku rubbed his head, embarrassed. The more he thought about that, the more it sounded like he didn't think she could have made everything without her Quirk. Which wasn't very fair to her. Fortunately, Mei wasn't bothered by the comment at all.

"That's silly, Midoriya. A person's Quirk doesn't dictate who they are. People are more than their Quirks, after all."

The truth of that comment hit Izuku hard. Thinking it over, he thought about some of the people he knew. Ochako had a Quirk that could have easily made her perfect to help her parents' construction business, but instead her parents wanted her to follow her own dreams. So she was now training to become a hero so she could take care of them. Then there was Himiko, who had a Quirk that some people might find villainess or at least disturbing, like he guessed was the case with her parents. Growing up with that hanging over her could have twisted her into something, or broken her, but she was here at U.A, too. Living her own life.

With the thought of family trouble fresh in his mind, Izuku's thoughts then drifted to Shouto. Unlike the others, Shouto seemed to be only dictated by his Quirk. He didn't even see it as his own, but belonging to his father, and he refused to use it. He's here in U.A, where people are giving it their all to become heroes, and Shouto was only using half his power. That alone showed how much he was trapped by that fire Quirk.

We're all here to become heroes, but Todoroki said he was here to spite his father. How does he expect to become a hero if he isn't willing to use a power he's so ashamed of? That's if he really does want to be a hero, and isn't just here because he hates his father.

Ochako let out a long breath as Izuku's name was called out as the winner. The match had been entertaining at first. Seeing Mei's different inventions and Izuku's solution to just smash everything had been fun. Even when Mei had surprised everyone by somehow turning on the dodgeballs from the earlier event, she had enjoyed watching Izuku fight back, even if she had been more subdued than everyone else. At the end, though. her gut had instinctually twisted in worry. While everyone else had been confused as to what was happening to Izuku's Quirk, when the cameras had shown Izuku trying to fight while Mei pushed him back, Ochako had zeroed in on the fact that Izuku's nose was bleeding. A lot.

However, now that the match was over and Izuku seemed to be okay, Ochako let herself relax. Or relax as much as she had been able to beforehand. Despite herself, Ochako felt her eyes drift over towards Himiko, noting that she too seemed to be watching the giant monitor closely. While everyone else talked about the match, she was keeping a close eye on Izuku. Perhaps, she thought, she was also making sure he was okay, even if his nose was bleeding. She was aware that Izuku got bad nose bleeds when he was forced to push his Quirk harder than he should.

Instead of feeling relieved that someone else was looking out for him, Ochako felt a dark shiver run through her. A swirl of emotions that had driven her to confront Himiko in the girls' locker room. The confrontation hadn't gone like Ochako had expected, and that wasn't even counting Himiko throwing her to the floor. It had been Himiko accusing her of knowingly leaving Izuku to die and, after that, not being able to protect him.

Those words made Ochako's blood boil.

How dare Himiko say something like that. She was Izuku's best friend. She would never leave him behind knowingly. They had been practically inseparable for the past year. They could talk openly with each other without worrying about the other judging them.

And yet, Izuku never said anything about what Toga was doing to him.

Ochako shook her head. No, even if he hadn't said anything, he couldn't not have a problem with it. It was impossible.

Right?

Then there was the last bit: the idea that she couldn't protect Izuku because she didn't know what the world was like. Ochako clicked her tongue in annoyance. She had fought those villains just like everyone else. She would get stronger, and she would keep her promise. She would protect Izuku. She wouldn't let anyone else hurt him like that ever again. As Izuku's best friend, it was her responsibility to look after him.

The dark emotions inside her added one last line to that promise; as Izuku's best friend, it was her responsibility to look after him. Hers, and no one else's.

Especially if they claimed that they were the only one able to protect Izuku from the horrible people of the world.

She hated this feeling. This unknown feeling that twisted her insides up and left her feeling hollow. She wished she could just feel angry- just angry, and not whatever else was going on inside her at the moment.

Himiko, perhaps feeling the anger emanating from Ochako, glanced over at her, but Ochako quickly turned away and forced herself to calm down. While her being angry over that part of the whole ordeal was easy for her to understand, everything else was not. Ever since she had met Himiko, the way she interacted with Izuku upset her so much, but she couldn't put into words the emotions she was feeling. Whenever she saw Himiko brush up against Izuku. Pressing her body up to his or grinding her hips or an exposed thigh on him. Whispering into his ear with temptations and innuendos to tease him, Ochako wished she just felt anger. Anger, she understood. She had learned a great great deal about anger from dealing with Katsuki. With Himiko, however, it wasn't just anger. Anger by itself wouldn't have driven Ochako to accuse Himiko like she had. It wouldn't have made her so boldly claim that she would protect Izuku from her. It wouldn't make her wish it was her that was brushing up against Izuku.

But doing such a thing was out of the question. Her own feelings for Izuku aside. Feelings she knew she had to keep out of the way for both their sakes since they were here to accomplish something. They wanted to be heroes, so neither had the time for silly things like flirting and touching, or romances and love. They had a job to do, and everything else was a distraction. And yet Himiko flew in the face of everything Ochako thought. The other girl made decent grades and excelled at hero training, even if she bemoaned the rescue portions and preferred the more violent aspects of it. She could do all that, and still found time to tease Izuku. Playing with her sex appeal to leave Izuku flustered and speechless. Doing things that should be between lovers. Between people with real emotional connections.

Ochako closed her eyes and pushed her feelings back down. She needed to be in control. She needed to focus. Focus, and ignore how much she hated the thought of Himiko hanging happily on Izuku's shoulder and how much she wished she could imagine it could be her instead. But such a thought was too impossible to fully imagine. She was here to become a hero.

And heroes don't have time for such silly things.

Maybe...maybe if I knew why she liked to tease Izuku, things would make much more sense. The way she talks, she sounds like she really thinks highly of Izuku. So why does she keep going out of her way to tease him like that?

What added to Ochako's confusion is that despite their fight, and despite the way she acted around Izuku, Himiko had proven to be a good and reliable friend to Izuku, herself and the whole group. Despite tackling Izuku to the ground and sitting on his lap the first day she met her, she also stood up to Katsuki and prevented the bully from attacking Izuku because he had gotten a higher score during the ball throw. Up until everyone else learned what Katsuki had done to Izuku, it had been herself and Himiko who made sure Katsuki didn't get too wild while dealing with Izuku. Their mutual dislike for the other boy giving them something to bond over. Then there were the times Himiko had gone out of her way, even endangering herself, to protect their group. She had viciously protected Tsuyu from a villain that had gotten the drop on her. She had even chased after herself when she had gone to rescue Izuku after he had been struck by the Nomu and left to drown at the bottom of a lake. There was little doubt in Ochako's mind that she and Izuku would be dead if not for Himiko attacking the group of villains that had surrounded them.

Ochako closed her eyes, and sighed. It was Himiko's idea to name their group of friends. She had stood up for Hitoshi when he had expressed some discomfort over using his Quirk when they first met. Himiko had done so much that should make her feel like a good and close friend, and yet here Ochako was. Left feeling angry, conflicted and confused by the other girl.

She hated this so much.

"Man, that was crazy. Everytime Midoriya got an advantage, that Hatsume pulled out a new gadget. Siccing the dodgeballs on him was just cruel," Denki said as he leaned back in his chair.

Hitoshi nodded. "Yeah, then there was whatever was going on at the end. It looked like Midoriya was in a lot of pain. She was almost able to push him out."

"Whatever she did to the speakers looked like it was messing with his Quirk. Did you see how it was flickering? Also did a number on my ears...ow," Kyouka grumbled as she rubbed her ears, trying to get the ringing to stop.

Momo patted her shoulder, "I wish you had said something earlier. I would have made you some hearing protection."

"What I don't understand is how she had something like that to begin with. Sure she had to make it, but to be able to throw something together to nullify a Quirk is a little crazy," Mashirao pointed out.

"Actually," Tenya started, "If I recall correctly, Midoriya said his costume repairs were being taken over by the school, and that someone from the Department of Support was going to be working on his gear. I think that was Hatsume, so she may have had a better understanding of Midoriya's Quirk, and knew how to counter it."

"Who the fuck cares? Deku let himself get pushed around by someone not even in the hero classes. He should be ashamed of himself. Wasn't even that good of a fight to be talking about it."

Eijirou rolled his eyes at Katsuki's dismissive tone, "Oh come on, you were watching the fight closer than anyone else here. Todoroki's eye never left Midoriya, but you- heck, you were watching Midoriya like a hawk."

Katsuki didn't say anything, clearly not happy that someone had noticed how he had been watching the match. Though, he did shoot Todoroki a withering glare, which the other boy simply ignored.

"And don't go sleeping on our fight coming up," Eijirou continued. "You gotta go through me if you want to face Midoriya. And trust me; I ain't gonna make it easy for you."

"I told you; I'm going to destroy you."

Eijirou laughed, "Yeah that's what you keep saying. It's another thing to man up and back up your words, though, Bakugou."

Katsuki sneered at Eijirou, who just returned his look with a confident smirk. Mina rolled her eyes as she elbowed Eijirou in the side playfully, "Oh my god, just go find a room already. All this sexual tension is getting to be a bit much."

Katsuki ignored her while Eijirou playfully pushed her back, "Very funny, Ashido. I guess I can't blame Bakugou too much, though. With his Quirk disadvantage, it makes sense he'd be worried about Midoriya."

There was a pause as everyone stopped and turned to look at Eijirou, who flushed some at the sudden undivided attention he had. Katsuki's head snapped around as he glared at him, "Care to fucking repeat that, Shitty-Hair!?"

Eijirou, not in the least bit worried or insulted by Katsuki, answered simply, "I mean it's kinda obvious, right?"

Again there was silence from the class.

"I mean, come on guys...Uraraka, this is obvious right? You've known these two for a while now. You have to know what I'm talking about."

A few heads turned to look at Ochako, who up till now had been in her own little world deep in thought. Blinking a few times she shook her head slowly, "Not...really."

"Bakugou's Quirk blows stuff up, right?" Eijirou started, clearly a little surprised no one else could see what he saw. "So when he uses it, there's going to be loads of collateral damage."

"Yeah…The gym always has to get fixed every time he uses it to practice his Quirk," Mina said as she leaned forward.

"Not every fucking time! I'm not some out-of-control mad bomber," Katsuki countered harshly. The blank stares he got in reply made it pretty clear no one really believed him.

"Like I was saying, when he uses his Quirk, he's gonna wreck the arena, I bet."

"Your point? They got Cementoss down there to fix everything if something breaks. What does me blowing up the arena got to do with anything?" Katsuki asked, not very happily.

"We'll, isn't that just gonna give Midoriya huge chunks of concrete to use as ammo?"

"You're a fucking idiot." Katsuki seethed, "All the ammo in the world isn't going to make a bit of difference because I'm going to blow Deku the fuck up before he can use any of it!"

Eijirou rubbed the back of his head, "Ah...yeah I guess there's that."

"You're assuming your explosions will be able to stop Midoriya fast enough, though, kero."

Everyone turned to look at Tsuyu, who wasn't fazed at all by the death glare Katsuki was giving her, "I assume? You think I'm weak or something, Frog-Legs?"

"No."

"Thats fucking righ-"

"But are you stronger than the Nomu?"

"..." Katsuki's mouth clamped shut.

"Midoriya was attacked by Nomu. It hurt him really bad, too. We all saw how Midoriya looked when they carried him off in the ambulance."

An uncomfortable silence fell over the class. Some shuddered at the memory, while some others looked visibly nauseous.

"But despite that, after Uraraka revived him, what was the first thing he did? He picked a fight with Shigaraki, the leader of the League of Villains."

As that statement sunk in, the class was interrupted from their thoughts as a voice came in over the intercoms, "Kaminari Denki, Yanagi Reiko. Please report to your waiting rooms!"

Denki clapped his hands together as he got out of his chair, "Well that's my cue. Wish me luck guys."

Soon after he had left, Izuku walked around the corner, dabbing a tissue to his nose. Tenya was the first to notice, "Ah! Midoriya! Congratulations on your victory."

"Oh thanks, Iida."

As Izuku took his seat, Katsuki huffed, rolling his eyes, "You let that support chick make you look like an idiot."

"Aw, come on, Bakugou, lighten up." Eijirou said, "Though, what's up with your nose, Midoriya?"

Izuku waved him off, going out of his way not to look over at Ochako, who he swore was eyeing him pretty hard.

"Alright, everybody! It's time for the next match! Its the ghostly apparition of Class B, who would be great for haunted houses! From the hero course, it's Yanagi Reiko! Versus- Class A's living fuse box! Let's just hope he doesn't short out! From the hero course, Kaminari Denki!"

Denki eyed Reiko as she took her position in the ring, The way she holds her arms is a lot like Asui. Super cute! Plus, she totally has a kuudere-look going on. I wonder if she's got a boyfriend?

"Hey, sorry to say, but even though we were teammates just a little while ago, I'm not going to take it easy on you. But what do you say to grabbing a bite to eat afterwards? My treat. It's the least I can do after I win this match."

Reiko tilted her head to the side, "I remember you. Your electricity is indeed very dangerous..."

Denki puffed out his chest, "That's right. My Quir-"

"...If you can manage to hit me, of course. If not, then you're nothing more than puffed-up words and sparks."

Yeouch! That's harsh...Though, maybe I should be careful. Her Quirk is a lot like Midoriya's, and that dude can be scary if he wants to be. Might be worth it to try and end this as fast as I can.

"Let's get this match underway! Fighters! START!"

The moment Present Mic signaled the start of the match, Denki started powering up. Lightning jumped and arked all over his body as he got ready to attack.

"This match is over! I'll cover this whole arena with lightning! Indiscriminate Shock - 1.3 Million Vol- URK!"

Denki didn't get a chance to call out his attack. An invisible force grabbed him from behind and yanked him backward. As he was getting pulled back, he let off his attack, engulfing the whole area around himself with lightning. However, as he was getting pulled backward, Reiko had also moved herself as far back as she could, putting as much distance as she could between herself and Denki. With the added distance, even though she was still stuck with some stray bolts, the power behind them was greatly diminished. Fighting through, she kept pulling Denki until he cleared the arena, and she let him go, sending him tumbling backwards into a heap.

Midnight raised her hand up, "Kaminari is out of bounds! Yanagi advances to the next round!"

"WHAAAT!? It's over already?! If you blinked, then you missed it, listeners."

While Reiko let out a breath of relief, Denki was still laying on the ground with a goofy grin on his face. "Weeeeeee."

"Well, looks like you know who you're facing next, huh, Midoriya?" Hitoshi said.

Izuku nodded, "Yeah, I guess I do."

"Man, I feel bad for Kaminari, but how cool is it that we'll get to see a match between two Quirks that are so similar," Eijirou said with a smile, "Brain power battle!"

"It'll be interesting to see how you two use your Quirks differently; though, by looking at her, she doesn't seem to have the same physical training you have," Tenya observed.

"HA HA HA HA HA HA! You don't actually think you stand a chance against a superior Quirk do you?"

The class turned to find Neito crawling over the wall separating the two class sections, "You're puny Quirk is just a counterfeit of Yanagi's Poltergeist. You must be quaking in your tacky red boots."

Izuku blinked, "Umm?"

"What nothing to say? Just as I thought, all talk and no act-ACK!"

A giant hand raised up from behind Neito and smacked him in the back of the head before pulling him down from off the wall. Itsuka poked her head up after removing Neito. "Sorry about that. He...likes to talk."

When Itsuka left, the rest of class 1-A was left wondering what the heck had just happened. Tsuyu tapped her chin thoughtfully, "At least we know that they have weirdos in their class, too."

Collectively, the class nodded.

With a disinterested grunt, Katsuki stood up, "Hey Shitty Hair, let's get going. We need to get to our waiting rooms."

Eijirou blinked before following after him, "Oh yeah, our match is next."

"Good luck, you two!" Izuku called after them.

Katsuki clicked his tongue against his teeth, "I don't need your fucking luck."

Kyouka rolled her eyes, "Do you ever turn off the douche?"

"No, he never does." Ochako grumbled, ignoring the hate getting thrown her way by Katsuki before he turned and walked off with Eijirou close behind.

Tsuyu tapped her chin, "I wonder what's got him in a bad mood?"

"That's just Kacchan being Kacchan. He's just really competitive."

Katsuki was tempted to turn around and tell Izuku to keep his nose out of his business. He didn't need him making excuses for him when he didn't give a shit about what anyone else in the class thought of him. Besides, he wasn't even right about what had him in a sour mood at the moment anyway. At least. not fully. At first, he was in a bad mood because his day had not been going like he had planned it, but now that the tournament had started, he had put that on the back burner. He didn't want the distraction messing up his fights. Then he had been upset that he had gotten caught keeping tabs on Izuku's fight, and, rightfully, getting called out for overlooking Eijirou. Then he was upset because he hadn't learned anything useful while watching Izuku's match. The whole fight- if you could call it that- had been a shit show. The gear used made it more of a demonstration than an actual fight. He knew Izuku had a long-range Quirk that could be used for offense or defense depending on what he had around him to use. Despite this, Izuku had the habit of closing the distance and getting his hands dirty. Katsuki was very uncomfortable with how similar that was to his own fighting style. No, he was upset because Eijirou was right; his Quirk would end up giving Izuku ammo because he would damage the ring, and he couldn't think of a way around it. If he tried to keep the ring intact, he'd either have to aim high, which would be a huge pain to do throughout a fight, or he'd have to lower the power behind his explosions, which led into Tsuyu's point.

Fucking Deku can take a hit and keep swinging. I can't pull my punches...fucking hell…

This was a problem, and worse yet, he couldn't afford to be worrying about it right now.

Need to focus on Shitty-Hair first. Then either Lavender or that annoying shit from the other class. Then, then I'll have a plan for that worthless upstart Deku.

"Alright, you connoisseurs of carnage! Are you ready for your next match? This one is going to be explosive!"

A loud groan escaped from beneath Aizawa's bandage covered face, "Who writes this junk?"

Present Mic ignored him, "First up, he makes high-fives a serious health hazard! It's Bakugou Katsuki from the hero class 1-A! Careful folks; he's just a tad volatile, like any good bomb! Versus— Whatever you do, don't fist bump this young man. Also from hero class 1-A, it's Kirishima Eijirou! A walking shield that uses more hair products than me!

Eijirou sighed, running a hand through his hair. Pulling at the 'horns' he gave himself, "Man, he didn't have to call me out like that."

"Alright, you two! Let's get this match started! Fight!"

Almost immediately, Katsuki used an explosion to close the distance between the two. When he was right in front of Eijirou, Katsuki slammed both his hands together and pointed them right into Eijirou's chest. Eijirou brought his hardened arms up to protect himself just as Katsuki's explosion slammed into him.

But Eijirou had learned his lesson. He'd been on the other side of these explosions several times now. After the first time in the gym when he had been sent flying into a wall, he had been thinking of ways to keep that from happening again. So while he protected himself from the blast with his arms, he hardened a foot and leg and slammed it into the ground, ripping through his shoe and digging his toes into the concrete, anchoring himself.

Katsuki's eyes went wide when Eijirou didn't go flying like he had planned, instead swinging a hardened fist right for Katsuki's face. Katsuki was able to just dodge to the side. He avoided a direct punch, but the hardened skin still grazed his cheek, leaving several shallow cuts. Suddenly finding himself on the back-foot, Katsuki could only fling out a few smaller explosions that Eijirou tanked through as he pressed his attack.

"Bakugou's getting pushed back?"

Ochako leaned forward, shocked at how the fight was going. It wasn't that she thought Eijirou couldn't win. She thought he had a chance, but she hadn't been ready to see what was pretty much a one-sided fight.

Mina was clapping wildly. "Way to go, Kirishima! You got this!"

"I thought he was a goner when Bakugou blasted him right off the bat, kero."

"Yeah," Rikidou added, "Normally after something like that, I'd have to pull him out of a wall."

Izuku nodded. "Before Kacchan's attack, it looked like Kirishima anchored himself down. That was a good idea. Now he has Kacchan off-balance, and he can't use his explosions as much as he'd like."

"He's still popping a lot of them off, though?"

Izuku shook his head, his eyes never leaving the match, "No, they're too weak. He can't use any of his big explosions while he's off balance or he might knock himself over completely. Those small ones are just to keep Kirishima from being able to finish the fight. They're small, but Kirishima still has to protect himself."

Mina grinned, "Then it's only a matter of time before Kirishima wins then. If Bakugou stays like that-"

"He won't," Izuku stated, cutting Mina off. While this got him a few quizzical looks, Ochako wasn't one of them. She was frowning now, "If Kirishima can't take advantage of his edge soon, he's going to lose it."

"Eh?"

"Kacchan is smart. He hasn't just been backpedaling this whole time. The moment he gets his balance back, he's going to know what he has to do to win. If Kirishima can't win before then…"

BOOM!

A loud explosion ripped through the air signaling that Izuku's dire words were about to come true.

Katsuki sneered up at Eijirou as, after another glancing blow, Katsuki, instead of taking another step, started to fall backwards. Eijirou, thinking he finally had the upper hand, took a step forward to slam his fists down into Katsuki. He flinched when Katsuki's sneer turned into a horrifying smirk.

"Gotcha!"

Wait!? Did he mean to fall on purpose!?

Pointing a hand out, Katsuki used an explosion to propel himself to the side, giving himself plenty of room to regain his composure, "It's my turn now! Let's see you keep up with this!"

Oh, this is gonna suck…

Keeping one hand pointed to the side, Katsuki used it to accelerate himself as he began running circles around Eijirou while with his other hand pointed right at his opponent, firing explosion after explosion.

Up till now, he's only been hardening parts of himself I hit. He's been avoiding using his Quirk over his whole body. His fucking Quirk is supposed to be a perfect defence, and yet he's been avoiding using it like that. Let's see what happens when I fucking make him use it!

At first, Eijirou tried to keep himself facing Katsuki, his hardened arms raised to protect himself, but Katsuki's superior speed and mobility quickly made that impossible. After taking several blasts to his unprotected back and sides, he was forced to change tactics and began hardening his whole body. With his whole body protected, he charged through Katsuki's explosions, trying to reach him and pummel him into the ground. Katsuki, however, never let Eijirou get too close. Again, his speed and mobility let him slip by and stay out of Eijirou's strike range. As Eijirou kept chasing after Katsuki, and Katsuki kept blasting Eijirou, the former started to notice something, bringing a feral grin to his face.

"That's why you tried to keep from using your Quirk on your whole damned body! Keeping yourself hard like that is a real pain in the ass for you, isn't it!?"

Oh crap!

"And everytime you move to attack me, you're fighting against your own Quirk! Attacking and keeping up your defences at the same time is making your Quirk crumble! That's why you tried to only use your arms!"

Eijirou charged forward, swinging wildly at Katsuki, who launched over him, "You're coming apart at the seams! So let's see how much more punishment you can take, Shitty-Hair!"

Bakugo redoubled his efforts, running rings around Eijirou and hitting him with blast after blast, all the while Eijirou kept trying to catch him, until, after a devastating blow to his side, forced him to stop and hunker down. When Katsuki saw that, he stopped worrying about staying out of Eijirou's hands, and focused solely on his attack. Coming to a stop, he began firing blasts in rapid succession. Over and over, tearing Eijirou's hardened skin apart. Seeing Eijirou start to wobble, Katsuki charged forward, using the opening to deliver his last attack. Hands inches away from Eijirou, Katsuki fired a huge explosion that engulfed Eijirou in fire and smoke, tearing the ground under him apart and sending him sailing into the air.

"Darn...it…"

Eijirou slammed into the ground, rolling over himself before coming to a stop on the concrete arena floor. Pulling his arms under himself, he tried to push himself up, but before he was able, his arms gave out as he collapsed into a smoldering heap on the ground. As he tried a second time, Katsuki stomped over and stood next to him, palm pointed right at his back. "Stay down, Shitty-Hair. You're done."

With a grunt, Eijirou went slack on the ground. Turning his head to the side, he found Midnight watching him closely. "I give up."

Midnight, hearing what she had been waiting for, immediately raised her hand, "Kirishima has conceded the match! Bakugou is the winner and will advance to the next round!"

While the crowd cheered, Cementoss got off his chair and walked over towards the two. "Kirishima, do you need assistance getting to Recovery Girl's office?"

Eijirou was about to answer before Katsuki waved the teacher off and reached down to pull Eijirou up by the scruff of his ruined gym top, "I'll drag him there. Not gonna let Shitty-Hair embarrass our class by letting himself get carted off like a wimp. And you, man the fuck up and let's go. Don't make me have to throw your ass down the fucking halls."

Scrambling to his feet as Katsuki dragged him out of the arena, Eijirou did his best to keep up, "Ouch! Man, your bedside manner needs some work."

"Shut the fuck up and move!"

"Er… How about that camaraderie, folks!? He's not letting anyone else take care of his friend but himself!"

Katsuki glared up at the announcers booth. "Fucking bite me!"

"Shinso Hitoshi, Monoma Neito, please report to your waiting rooms."

Without a word, Hitoshi got up and started walking toward the hallway.

"Hey, Shinso. Wait a second."

Turning around, Hitoshi looked over at Izuku who was hurrying after him, "What's up, Midoriya?"

Izuku frowned, "There was something I wanted to talk to you about. Is it alright if I walk with you?"

Hitoshi shrugged, "Sure. What's on your mind?"

Falling in line with Hitoshi, the two walked down the hallway. Izuku glanced back towards the rest of the class, and only started talking when they were out of sight, "I wanted to talk to you about Monoma...and I didn't want Iida to hear..."

Hitoshi arched an eyebrow, "Oh?"

Izuku laughed nervously, "Yeah he might...think what I'm about to do is cheating."

Almost tripping on his own feet, Hitoshi felt his jaw drop as he stared at Izuku, Midoriya? Cheat? I can't even imagine this guy jaywalking. What is he talking about?

"Okay, Midoriya. Before you ruin your reputation and we have to call you the PG-Rated Hero," Izuku groaned loudly, burying his face into his hands, "What exactly do you want to tell me?"

Recovering from his embarrassment, Izuku straightened up, "It's about Monoma's Quirk."

Hitoshi almost laughed. He had been expecting something else. Something more serious. Maybe some kind of dark secret he could capitalize to make getting him mind controlled easier. Though, with how much the class B student liked to talk, Hitoshi wasn't worried about that at all.

"Midoriya, relax. Us talking about other people's Quirks isn't cheating. Besides, I already know what it is."

Izuku blinked in surprise, "Oh it isn't? That's good to know...Wait? You do? How?"

"Yeah. Uraraka and I talked about it for a bit right after the capture the flag match. He has a Quirk like yours and that girl from 1-B, Yanagi. So don't worry about...what?"

Halfway through Hitoshi's explanation, Izuku started shaking his head vigorously. Hitoshi frowned and crossed his arms, "What?"

"That's not his Quirk."

"Huh? But Uraraka said she saw him pulling those flags out of the air from the other base she had snuck into."

"Shinso, his Quirk is Copy. He copies Quirks."

Hitoshi blinked before he swore under his breath, "He can copy...well shit."

"Yeah. He copied Yanagi's Quirk for our match. But He might not have that Quirk when he faces you."

The more Hitoshi thought about that, the more concerned he became. He was suddenly facing a lot more unknowns now than he had been ready for.

"Wait...what else do you know about it? How does he copy Quirks or…"

Izuku shook his head sadly. "Sorry, but I don't know anything about it. He made sure that Yanagi didn't talk about it, and he went out of his way to make sure he didn't let anyone know anything about it. I didn't even see how he used it. Or if I did, I couldn't tell."

"So, not only could he have copied anyone from his own class, but he could have copied anyone from our class that was in that match at this point."

Izuku rubbed his hands together nervously, "It might be safer to assume he could also copy everyone from our class. Since we don't know how he does it, he might only have to be near someone, or it could be like Aizawa Sensei and it's visually activated."

...Son of a bitch.

An unsettling thought crossed through Hitoshi's head as he was already trying to wrap his mind around everything else that Izuku had just dropped into his lap, "I don't know jack about the other classes' Quirks. None of the people from 1-B were on my team, and I wasn't exactly watching them while the match was going on. I either had my eyes on yo-on Toga or was busy sneaking into another base to steal some flags. Great, just great..."

"Well," Izuku started as he reached behind his back, pulling out his notebook, "You might not have had a chance to watch them, but I did."

Hitoshi looked at Izuku, then at the green notebook he was holding out. Then back at him, "Wait...you're serious?"

Izuku nodded, "When Toga was running around, I took some mental notes and made some quick scribbles in here. It's only on the students that were chasing Toga, so it's not the whole class- and it's only my quick observations- but it's better than nothing, right?"

Holy crap. Midoriya was able to take notes while that whole crazy match was going on? This guy is scary sometimes.

Hitoshi looked at the notebook again and weighed his options. Some might argue that this kind of info was a bit unfair. No one else had this kind of insider information to use. Heck, even Neito would be going into the match somewhat blind since Hitoshi hadn't used his Quirk on anyone from Team A. But Hitoshi knew he had limits. His Quirk relied on him getting a reaction out of his opponent. If he couldn't do that right away, he'd need every advantage to last until he was able to trick Neito into replying and getting him under his control. In this world, if you aren't taking every advantage, then you're just asking for trouble.

Reaching out, Hitoshi took the notebook from Izuku, "Thanks, Midoriya. I really appropriate it. I better get going if I want to have time to study what you wrote down."

Izuku smiled before something flashed over his face, and a dusting of red spread over his cheeks, "Yeah...um just do me a favor?"

"Sure?"

"All the stuff for the 1-B students would be towards the back. So…" Izuku looked down at his shoes and mumbled out, "...You don't really need to look at the front…"

Hitoshi's response was instantaneous, "Oh so that's where you have Uraraka's entry and all your professional team-up fantasies and super moves dreamed up, right?"

"Eep!" Izuku wrapped his arms around his face and turned away, blushing while squeaking out denials and making sounds that you would expect from a dog's chew toy than an actual person.

Oh wow, I hit the nail on the head. He actually has all that written in this book? No wonder Uraraka hasn't been allowed to look...Great, now I feel bad for teasing him.

Hitoshi raised his hands as he tried to calm Izuku down, "I was joking, Midoriya. Don't worry, I won't look."

"O-oh….right. A joke. Just a joke...ha ha haaa," Izuku trailed off with a sigh, "Like I would actually have something like that with me where anyone could actually read it...haaaa. Well um, good luck, Shinso."

"Thanks. I'll see you after the match."

"ALRIGHT! After that explosive last round, it's time to give these next contestants our full undivided attention. The last round was super flashy, but I get the feeling this next one is gonna be a real battle of wills! First up, he may look tired, but his sharp tongue will leave you dazed. From the hero course of class 1-A, Shinso Hitoshi! His bark will make you bite! Versus- A jack of all trades, master of none, this young man is a living random encounter. Also from the hero course, of class 1-B, Monoma Neito! I'd talk about his bark, but this is a family broadcast, so I'll just have to pass!"

Hitoshi watched Neito closely as the other boy took his position across from him. In the short time he had in the waiting room, he had gone over everything Izuku had jotted down about the Quirks of the students of 1-B.

First there's Poltergeist and that metal skin Quirk, which are just like Kirishima's and Midoriya's Quirks. So if he uses those, I just have to deal with it like I'd deal with them. Then there was that guy that was able to spin his hands like a drill, the girl with the super big fists and the green dude that made swords pop out of his arms. All are close-range-combat Quirks that I do not want to get into a straight up fight with. Hopefully, I'll have him brainwashed before I have to deal with those. If not, that's going to suck. One guy was able to turn the air into a solid wall and another turned the ground almost into water. Those will be a pain if he tries to entrap me with them. Best solution, get him brainwashed before he can use them. Also, it'd probably be a good idea to just stay back. The horns and that girl's Quirk that lets her come apart are the two I'm worried most about. They give him range if he uses them. At that point...I'll just have to try and get lucky and either get him to talk right away, or try and knock him out of bounds. Of course, if he has a Quirk from my class...like Dark Shadow…

Hitoshi shuddered at the idea. After racking his brain, his plan ultimately came down to simply getting Neito to talk right off the bat, or doing everything in his power to stay in the match until he did. Getting up close and trying to actually fight was not an option.

"Alright, you verbal gladiators! Time to put your money where your mouths are! FIGHT!"

"S-"

"You know,none of the other matches had the fighters acting very sportsman-like. No hand shakes or glove touch. That's a real shame don't you think? Want to shake my hand?"

Neito cut Hitoshi off before he could even get a word out, making the other boy stumble over his words before silencing himself. Neito had a smug grin as he held out his hand towards Hitoshi. The odd request, and gesture from the boy, on top of the smug smile he had kept Hitoshi from moving from his spot. He did notice that Neito had been in such a hurry to start talking over him, that his first few words he spoke had been jumbled together. Hitoshi frowned and opened his mouth to try to speak, but with a growing grin, Neito talked over him again, "So are you just going to stand there? Here I am trying to be a good sport and you're just acting like a spoiled brat."

Hitoshi clicked his tongue in annoyance, "Liste-"

Neito's smug smile grew larger as he withdrew his hand and shrugged dramatically, "What? Nothing to say? Are you 1-A brats so full of yourselves that you think it's beneath you to show a little good sportsmanship?"

He's intentionally cutting me off. He's going out of his way to keep me from talking. But why would...Wait? Nothing to say? He just asked if I have nothing to say? He's been hurrying to cut me off, and is baiting me like he knows...He knows. Shit, how the hell did he figure out what my Quirk is? I didn't use it on anyone from his team. So how would he even know...oh…

Hitoshi recalled that while he hadn't used his Quirk on anyone on the same team as Neito, he had used his Quirk on someone from his class. The student that was hiding, literally, in the shadows, Shihai. Worse, he also recalled Mezou trying to warn him not to speak when he had used his Quirk on him. It wouldn't be hard to put it all together after that, and Shihai could have easily warned Neito about his Quirk the same way Izuku had warned him about Neito's.

At least it doesn't seem like he's copied me, or I would be brainwashed already. Should have thought of that possibility sooner before I started talking back.

Eyeing Neito cautiously, Hitoshi now had a choice to make. He could keep trying to get Neito to reply to him, but that option wasn't looking too good. The blond had come up with a brilliant way to circumvent the trigger for his Quirk. He needed a reply for it to work. If Neito just kept talking, something he was clearly good at, over him every time he even opened his mouth or interrupted him before he even got a full word out, he was safe. And the longer he tried and failed to get him under his control, the more time Neito had to counter and attack him with whatever Quirk he had copied.

No, he couldn't afford to keep waiting. So that left him with option B. Which boiled down to running up and punching the smug blond in the face before shoving him out of the ring. Hitoshi wasn't thrilled when, after a brief moment of shock, Neito just went back to smiling. He really wasn't thrilled when Neito lifted up his hand, formed a fist, and shot the hand off his wrist.

Crap, he has that one girl's Quirk!

Ducking to the side, Hitoshi deflected the hand away with his arm, wincing at the glancing blow.

That wasn't as bad as the dodgeballs from earlier, but it still packed a punch...Note to self; tell no one I made that pun.

Neito raised his other hand and shot it off as well.

Just have to get past this one, and get him out of bounds before he puts himself back togeth-!

Hitoshi's thoughts were interrupted when the second hand Neito threw at him suddenly grew much, much larger. Large enough to easily grab him. With a flick of his handless wrist, Netio started to squeeze his hand around Hitoshi, pressing his arms against his side and making it very hard for him to breath.

"ACK!"

"Sorry, you weren't expecting that I guess. I bet Midoriya told you what my real Quirk was, but I didn't tell him everything. I only told Midoriya that I can copy Quirks. I never said I could only copy one at a time."

Hitoshi tried to free himself, but he was trapped. Glaring up at Netio, he tried to force his ways closer to him, but the giant first kept pushing him back.

"Don't worry, though; I'm not some sadist. I'm not going to squeeze you till you pop or anything like that. But since you're with 1-A, you don't get to get off with just a ring out."

"Bastard, what are you-"

Whack!

From behind, the first fist Neito had launched swung back around and enlarged before chopping Hitoshi in the back of the head. Knocking him out cold.

"Shinso is unable to continue! Monoma is the winner and advances to the next round!"

"And the match is over listeners! The match started slow, and it looked like Monoma was trying to get Shinso to shake hands with him. Then WHAM! Like a kick to the head, or I guess a karate chop, Monoma won by knockout!"

While Present Mic yelled into his microphone, giving a summary of the most recent fight, Aizawa watched as Midnight helped Hitoshi to his feet. This match, he had been anticipating, and, unfortunately, it had gone similarly to how he had expected. As class 1-A's teacher, it was his job to help prepare these young students for their future as heroes. This meant making sure they grow up and mature as they improve. The best way to do this, in his mind, wasn't to help improve their strengths, but to get them to realize their weaknesses. Which meant that he had to be aware of his students' weaknesses. And he was very aware of Hitoshi's weaknesses. After all, they reminded him of his own when he was a student.

For the first two events, Aizawa watched as Hitoshi was able to use the element of surprise to use his Quirk effectively. However, in his first one on one match, he wasn't able to repeat his success. Neito had known what was coming, and Hitoshi had no answer for that. His tactic of using insults to get a reaction out of people could be effective, but so far, it was the only tactic Hitoshi had. So once that had failed, he fell back on trying to win through brute strength by running right at his opponent. Unfortunately, that meant he was pretty much fighting Quirkless against someone with an endless possibility of options to take him out.

Which is exactly what happened.

So as far as Aizawa was concerned, Hitoshi had two areas of improvement he needed to work on right away. His fighting capabilities were one; fighting head on, as he had learned after several lost fights, was not always the best option after all. He needed to learn tactics, and mobility. Aizawa had some ideas that would help with that front.

The other thing that Hitoshi needed to work on was how he deployed his Quirk. Insults would only get you so far. Hitoshi needed to learn of other ways to get reactions out of people and, unfortunately for Aizawa, he knew of someone who was very good at getting a reaction out of whomever she wanted. He just hated the idea of having to make that call.

Izuku winced when the second giant hand hit Hitoshi in the back of the head, "Oh no."

Tsuyu croaked sadly while Tenya sighed, but kept himself composed.

Momo leaned backed after watching the match closely. "It looked like Shinso wasn't able to use his Quirk."

Kyouka frowned. "How, though? That Monoma was talking pretty much the whole match."

Iuzku shook his head. "Hitoshi needs someone to respond to him. Just because Monoma was talking doesn't mean he was responding to what Shinso was saying."

Fumikage crossed his arms as Hitoshi was called out and Neito declared the winner. "Having to rely on a Quirk that needs someone else to activate puts him at a real disadvantage."

"Himiko Toga, Ojiro Mashirao, please report to your waiting rooms."

Mashirao sighed, "Well I guess we should get going, Toga. I hope we'll give everyone here a good...Um Where's Toga?"

When Mashirao had looked over to Himiko's seat, he found it empty. Tooru, who had been sitting next to her, turned and made a surprised gasp, "Wow! When did she sneak away?"

Izuku looked back, equally surprised Himiko could have snuck away, considering she was in a seat farthest away from the exit.

She left before anyone could wish her luck...Normally, she would have at least teased me a little to make sure I was rooting for her. Something must really be eating at her. I wish I knew what was going on.

Izuku glanced over at Ochako, who had also looked over with everyone else. He watched her eyebrow twitch and lips turn down in a frown. Izuku blinked, startled when Ochako's face briefly turned into an ugly sneer before she turned away. As she did, her eyes caught Izuku's, and she stopped. The sneer vanished, replaced with momentary shock. Izuku didn't know what he was looking for as he looked at her. It wasn't like the problem was just going to show itself on her face, right?

When the shock on Ochako's face melted away, she didn't go back to being angry, or distant, like she had been. She looked guilty and ashamed. She broke eye contact and looked away, back out to the wide open field and arena, doing her best to ignore Izuku completely.

Oblivious to the strange looks going on between Ochako and Izuku, Tooru shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe she wanted to have some privacy while she prepped for your guys' match. Don't think too much about it. It's not like she's going to be able to do that during your match."

"Unless she turns into you, Hagakure," Kyouka added thoughtfully.

Mashirao gulped. Fighting an invisible Himiko was not an appealing thought.

Tsuyu tapped her chin, "She didn't have to be invisible when she tore through all those villains, though, kero."

Paling at that idea, Mashirao stiffly started to walk. Tooru, noticing his unease, called after him, "Ojiro, wait!"

Mashirao turned around to see one of Tooru's sleeves raised up, "Good luck out there! I'm sure you'll do great!"

Mina chuckled, "What are you doing with your arm?"

"It's a thumbs up! I'm giving him a thumbs up. Can't you tell?"

While most of the class just stared at her, Mashirao smiled and gave her a small bow. "Thank you, Hagakure."

After sneaking away from the class, not wanting to deal with everyone wishing her good luck at the moment- or worse, Izuku, because she didn't feel she could handle that without bursting- Himiko sat in silence, staring at an empty chair in the waiting room trying to come to terms with a feeling she didn't have a lot of experience with.

Remorse.

After her fight with Ochako, Himiko had expected to feel vindicated, Or at least more so than she did. Since meeting Ochako, the other girl had rubbed her the wrong way. It didn't help that she had such a hard time getting a read on her. It had been easy to understand people when she was living on the streets. Out in the dark corners of the world, people were simple, and all their wants and goals revolved around simple things.

Money.

Sex.

Drugs.

Power.

Blood.

Those five things were always the answer, one way or another. Want money? Sell drugs, offer sex, or kill someone. Want drugs? Offer sex, steal money, or kill someone. Want someone dead? Pay them in money, drugs, or sex. Want power? control the other four things. Even Himiko had fallen into the same pattern, though her want for blood was much more literal, but she got it the same way as everyone else. It was so simple. People liked to think they were complicated, but when it was all boiled down, it was so simple. It made people so easy to read and easy to copy when she put on a new face.

Then she got to U.A., and things got complicated. Suddenly, she was surrounded by heroes and kids that wanted to be heroes. At first, most of her logic still applied. In fact, it was almost easier. Blood and drugs were pretty much scratched off the list, which just left money and power. Sex was still around, but this was more a byproduct of the fact that teenagers are horny and the adults were just better at hiding it, Midnight notwithstanding.

Things didn't stay that way, however. These people, her classmates, her friends, started acting in ways that Himiko hadn't expected. It took Himiko time to realize what was different, and it was the why behind their actions. Why were they trying to get stronger? Why were they trying to be heroes?

She didn't have the answer to the why's for everyone, but she had some pretty good guesses. Tenya was legacy, Eijirou was his manliness, Bakugou was pride and ego. Izuku was because it was his dream, to help people, to be like All Might, etcetera and etcetera. With Izuku, she was still learning, and she loved every second of it.

Ochako, though, was different. There were so many things she didn't understand about the other girl. The things she did know, she could list on one hand. One, she was here for money. Whenever Home Economics or the rare non-combat-driven Heroes class the lesson covered money-related topics like investing, savings, or what to charge as a hero, Ochako would be at attention, taking more notes than even Izuku did when he was analyzing a Quirk. Two, she was Izuku's best friend, and the two had trained together for a year to get into U.A.

That was it.

Everything else about her was a big question mark. So she tried to learn everything she could about the other girl. Her goals, her desires, or at the very least, the reason why she kept putting herself in between Izuku and herself and spoiling her fun and chances to woo the boy. However, immediately she ran into several roadblocks.

First was Ochako's constant lying. Even now, Himiko didn't know exactly what it was that Ochako was lying about. It was such a strange thing. It wasn't that she was walking around telling some bold face lie. This was different. The lie was part of her. How she talked. How she acted. It was only just after the USJ attack that Himiko thought perhaps she had figured something out about it. That the lie was becoming more obvious. The next few days after the attack, whenever she saw Ochako, she seemed off. Himiko at first contributed this to surviving the attack, but soon she saw that the strangeness was more often than not directed at Izuku. A lingering glance. A pause when saying his nickname. Walking just a little slower so that she was always next to Izuku in the hall. Little things that didn't add up. But soon, the strange behavior faded into the background, or Himiko just started to ignore it. Whatever the reason, the lie she was looking for also became harder to find.

So, because Ochako's lie, her mask, was so hard to narrow down and uncover, Himiko decided to try to do what she normally did when studying someone she intended to change into. Watch them closely and see what makes them tick, but this also proved tricky, as Ochako played her cards close to the chest. She could tell Ochako wanted to be a hero, and that she wanted money, but there's more to it than just that. She couldn't understand what was driving Ochako to work so damned hard all the time. The superficial stuff she got easily. The inner workings of the other girls mind, though, not so much.

Girl needs to learn that keeping a mask on like that is only going to get people hurt, Himiko shuddered unconsciously at that, though.

Faced with that dead end, Himiko decided to try a more direct approach to learn what she wanted about her. She snuck into the U.A. records room to find Ochako's file. U.A. does background checks on everyone, according to Midnight. So a quick peek would give Himiko all she needed to know. At least that had been the plan. What she found instead was Principal Nezu waiting for her with a fresh cup of tea and a lengthy speech as to why sneaking into off-limits areas of the school was a bad idea.

So after so much hard work, Himiko wasn't any closer to understanding Ochako. She was judgmental and thought she knew what was best for others. She saw Himiko's actions as a threat, and was determined to stop them. In many ways, Ochako reminded Himiko of her parents and the Quirk counselors she had dealt with growing up. The ones that wanted her to wear a mask and pretend she was just like everyone else. Pretend she wasn't herself. Their words echoed in her head, over and over. Like a hate-filled record playing with a faulty needle.

What's wrong with you?

Stop acting like that!

Be a good girl.

Be normal.

Be like everyone else.

All Himiko was doing was expressing her love for Izuku. All she was doing was trying to be herself, but that wasn't good enough for some people. She had compromised some with the heroes when it came to blood. At least with that she had a better chance of not repeating the incident that had happened back in Jr. High. But Himiko would not compromise her love. No one was going to tell her what was right or wrong about how she fell in love. No one was going to tell her that being in love with someone that trusted her so completely was wrong. No one was going to tell her how she should express her love, either. Not her parents, the counselors, the heroes, and sure as hell not some secretive, lying bitch like Ochako.

So Himiko should feel good about tossing Ochao to the ground. She should feel good telling her off finally, after putting up with her bull shit for so long. Ochako was secretive and judgmental. She was just like the people she hated. Ugly, horrible people. Himiko should feel great after everything.

And yet, she didn't. Sitting alone in the waiting room, she felt some vindication, but also remorse over her actions.

So why do I feel like shit?

Himiko knew the answer even before she asked the question. Because, despite all the issues Himiko had with the other girl- despite not understanding her reasons for how she acted, and everything else she didn't know about her- she knew this.

Ochako Uraraka was a good person.

So while Himiko hated so many things about Ochako, she didn't hate Ochako herself. Which made looking back on her fight with her very complicated. Maybe, maybe throwing Ochako to the floor was a step too far. Himiko knew so many different ways to get out of the grip Ochako had had on her arm. At the very least, if she had gone a less violent way, she wouldn't have to deal with talking to Midnight later after the festival. However, throwing Ochako to the ground wasn't what was making Himiko so conflicted. It's what she had said afterwards that ate away at her.

"You think you know everything that's going through Izuku's head? Fuck you. If that were true, then you knew exactly what Izuku was doing back at the USJ when he pulled us out of that shit show. You knew that Izuku was going to stay behind, leaving himself at the mercy of those villains. You knew, and then you still went along with it to save your own pathetic self. You let yourself get saved and let Nomu have him!"

Himiko leaned forward and groaned into her hands, "Fuck me, why'd I go and say that shit?"

She had been so angry at that moment, so enraged that Ochako would dare to say the way she expressed her love was something dirty, to claim she knew Izuku's own thoughts, and to say he needed to be protected from her. Himiko had been so angry that she instantly went for blood, not even bothering to think about the words coming out of her mouth. She had just wanted to hurt Ochako, and the look on the other girl's face when her words hit let Himiko know she had done exactly what she had wanted to do.

At that moment.

Now, though? She knew she didn't just step over the line, she pole-vaulted over it. Not only was what she had said cruel, but beyond stupid. Of course Ochako hadn't knowingly left Izuku to die. She had seen the shock and horror in the other girl's eyes when Izuku had lifted them all up and pushed them away. Everything that Ochako had done after that proved that she would never abandon Izuku. Putting herself in danger as she rushed back and saved his life. The hollow look in her eyes as she drifted through the rest of the day until Izuku had finally stepped out of the recovery ward. Even to her arrogant declaration that it was her job to protect him now.

"I could have just brought up that Izuku said he trusted me to get her to shut up. Nope, not only did I stick the knife in, I gave it a good twist, too."

With a heavy sigh, Himiko sat back up, "Still, at least I know I was right about something today. Ochako needed a reality check. At least everyone else in class learned they need to get ready for the world. But what does Ochako decide she's going to do right after almost dying? She's gonna try and protect herself and Izuku. Ha ha ha, it'd be funny if it wasn't so fucking arrogant. I just wish I knew if it was just arrogance or if she's just that stupid. I mean, being Izuku's friend is one thing, but why does she think she's going to be able to protect him? If I understood where all this stupid was coming from, I could fix her before she gets killed. I mean, really, what is driving that fucking bitch?"

"Toga Himiko, Ojiro Mashirao, report to the arena."

Leaping out of her seat, Himiko stretched her arms and shoulders, "Oh well, no use worrying about it anymore. Got a fight to go win. Plus, it's not like I'm suddenly going to have an epiphany and figure Ochako out. Don't know why I care so much anyway. It's not like we're really friends, right? We're both just going through the motions is all...Right?"

Himiko glanced back at the empty chair, almost expecting to hear a certain heroine's voice talking back to found the silence that greeted her more than a little unsettling. Perhaps she had just gotten so used to whenever she opened up, Midnight was there listening to her.

Shaking her head, and ignoring the empty feeling she had because Midnight hadn't been there to answer her, turned and left the silent empty room, "...Right…"

"Would you look at this, loyal listeners! Two new contestants are entering the ring, so that must mean it's time for another match! And another great introduction by yours truly!"

"...You'll stop once the next round starts, right?"

"Nope! I got enough for all the way to the finals!"

Aizawa sunk into his chair, wishing his arms weren't broken so that he could throttle his co-host and save himself a headache.

"Now lets see who we have first! She slices, she dices, and I bet she'd make great julienne fries. From class 1-A, Toga Himiko! But wait there's more! Keep your eye on this one people, she might not look the same after you blink! Versus- He may look ordinary folks, but look again! Also from class 1-A, Ojiro Mashirao! Do you see what I mean, everyone! He's got a tail!"

Himiko glared up towards the commentators box, "Did that greased up, leather-coated loud mouth just make me sound like a damned product from an infomercial!?"

"Pfft!"

Whirling around, Himiko caught Midnight coughing into her hand, doing a horrible job hiding the huge grin on her face.

I'm switching out her birth control pills with tic-tacs!

Mashirao sighed as he rubbed his arm, "At least yours was funny."

"Define funny."

With a shrug, Mashirao crouched into a fighting stance, "Hopefully, he'll do a better job with my intro in the next round."

Himiko's head creaked back around as she looked at him, "WOW, look at you trying to be all bold and tough. I think I'm going to make you eat your own tail."

"Alright! It's time to FIGHT!"

Mashirao launched himself forward, twisting in the air and swinging his tail right for Himiko's head. He had hoped that a sudden and swift attack right off the bat would take Himiko off-guard. When his tail hit concrete instead of Himiko, though, he quickly realized he had guessed wrong. Himiko had sidestepped his attack and swiped at his exposed side. Wincing as Himiko dug her knuckles into his exposed ribs, Mashirao used his tail to somersault away. Himiko, however, didn't let him get far, as she kept pace with him.

Coming to a stop, Mashirao attacked with several high kicks, using his tail to hold himself up and extend his attack range. The kicks sailed over Himiko, who had folded herself over before scrambling right for Mashirao. He punched down, but she slammed her shoulder into him before twisting around and grabbing his arm. Pulling him over her shoulder, Himiko slammed Mashirao into the ground. With him dazed, Himiko drove her knee into his shoulder, pinning him to the ground so she could wail on him. While Mashirao was able to get his free arm up to block most of the strikes, more than a few were able to get through. He could tell he was going to have a nasty shiner on his eye later, and counted his small blessings that Himiko was striking him with the bottom part of her hand and palm and not her knuckles. Muscle memory, he was sure, since she would have had a knife in her hand if this had been a real fight. Grabbing the front of her gym top, Mashirao grunted as he pulled and threw Himiko off him. Using his tail to spring back up, he chased after Himiko, who was rolling away.

Scrambling to her feet, Himiko leaned to the side as Mashirao swung for her. While his punch missed, his followup didn't. Letting his momentum carry him, he whirled around and swung his tail. Himiko brought her hands up just in time to protect her head from being struck, but not from letting the end of the tail wrap around her head. Her grip on his tail tightened as she strained to keep from clamping down.

"Incredible! It looks like Ojiro has finally managed to land a hit! Toga had been running rings around him before, but it looks like it's all over for her!"

Himiko strained as she tried to keep the tail from fully grabbing hold of her head, but even with both hands pulling it back, she could feel it getting tighter.

Alright, time to play a little dirty.

When Mashirao saw Himiko open her mouth wide, exposing her fangs, he only had a second to recognize what was about to happen, "Wait a seco-"

CHOMP!

Himiko didn't wait. She also didn't give him a chance to pull his tail back. Taking as big a bite as she could, she clamped her teeth down and bit into Mashirao's tail.

"AAHHH!"

Ripping his tail back, Mashirao desperately started rubbing the end of his tail, wincing at the deep teeth indentations left in the skin.

"Oof! I bet that hurt!"

Letting his tail go, Mashirao redoubled his efforts against Himiko. In a flurry of punches and kicks, he tried to drive her back towards the arena's ring-out line so that he could deliver a final blow with his tail, but she kept dodging him or deflecting his blows. With each deflection, she would close the gap and strike him before backing off so she wouldn't get hit when he tried to counter. When this tactic didn't work, he tried attacking with his tail more often, but quickly found this left him at an even bigger disadvantage. To try and strike her, he would twist around so his tail would whip around to deliver a strong hit. However, everytime he did this, there was a brief instance when he would lose sight of her. In that instant, she would dodge and attack him in his blind spot. After another miss with his tail, Himiko slammed her elbow into his ribs. The strike toppled him over onto his knees as he gasped for breath and left him open for Himiko to keep up her attack. After landing from her first attack, Himiko whirled around and kicked Mashirao in the side of the head.

The crack from Himiko's foot hitting Mashirao's head echoed throughout the stadium, followed closely by the soft thud as he fell to the ground, out cold.

"Ojiro is unable to continue. Toga is the winner and advances to the next round!"

While most everyone sitting in the 1-A seat winced in sympathy after the harsh kick, Tsuyu tapped her chin and looked over at Tenya, "Looks like Toga took your advice Iida, kero."

Tenya looked over at her startled, "Wait, what advice?"

"A good swift kick to the back of the head will solve any issues," Tsuyu quoted.

Tenay blinked a few times before he noticed a few of his classmates looking at him questioningly, "Er..well I...um...Context is important!"

While Tenay fretted, Tooru fidgeted in her seat. "I hope Ojiro will be okay."

Mina reached over and gave her a pat on the shoulder, "He's a tough boy; I'm sure he'll be fine."

"He might not remember anything, though- ACK OW!" Denki swatted away a pointed jab from Eijirou, "It was a joke, man!"

"Whatever. Not manly to make fun of someone when they're still out."

Hanta frowned as he rubbed his chin, "I'm just shocked at how one-sided the fight was, though. I thought for sure Ojiro had the advantage. He did so well against the villain we fought at the USJ."

Yuuga nodded along with Minoru. "Je suis d'accord. His fight was dazzling for sure."

"Plus, Toga didn't have any of her knives. Isn't that how she wrecked all those villains? At least, that's how I heard it," Denki added.

"Fucking idiots. Just because Bun-Bitch likes to use knives doesn't mean she's helpless without them. Bitch knows how to fight, and she was a better fighter than his Curious-George-lookin ass."

Denki glanced up at Bakugou, "I'm sorry, did you actually read Curious George?"

"Shut. The fuck. Up."

While Denki turned away from Katsuki's death glare, Fumikage spoke up, "We shouldn't forget how she was able to keep all of us at bay during the capture-the-flag round. Toga is clearly a very skilled fighter, with or without her favored weapons. She has stealth, mobility, skill, and savagery in spades."

"Plus, she can transform into other people. Imagine if she turned into someone like All Might and used his super strength to fight like she does," Kyouka added.

Momo nodded. "True, she has a potentially devastating Quirk. She can be very dangerous if she wants to."

Izuku frowned, not liking where the conversation was going, even if he didn't think anyone really meant any harm, "That's not entirely fair to say. You have the potential to create any number of weapons or explosives if you wanted."

Izuku didn't think anyone meant anything bad. They didn't even know about the blood aspect of Himiko's quirk yet, and they were just talking hypotheticals. He did it all the time when he made notes on a Quirk, wondering what a person could do with it. But knowing that Himiko had taken great care up till now to hide her Quirk, seemingly because her own family had thought it made her a monster, he wanted to change the train of thought going on.

Izuku's quick defence of Himiko made Ochako look over at him subtly, while Momo nodded. "That's...a fair point. You could honestly say that about all of us in some way. And Heroes, too, for that matter. I shouldn't have let myself go so far like that."

Tsuyu tapped her chin, "Now that I think about it, she can copy how someone looks, but can she copy their Quirk, too? When she was disguised as Midoriya, I don't think I ever saw her use his Quirk."

Several students who had been on the other teams all agreed that they never saw her use his Quirk, or even glow once.

Further discussions on the topic were cut short when a call came in over the intercom, "Uraraka Ochako, Ashido Mina, please report to your waiting rooms."

Mina jumped up from her seat, "Welp, looks like it's our turn," pointing down a few rows at Ochako, Mina flexed dramatically, "Hope you're ready, Uraraka!"

Getting out of her chair much more subdued, Ochako looked up at Mina silently with a cold eye. Mika raises an eyebrow, "Oh? Trying to take a page out of Todoroki's book and go with the cold silent treatment? I can deal with that."

The two started making their way towards their rooms after everyone had wished them good luck in their match. Izuku silently watched the two turn a corner and disappear out of sight. A couple of times he almost got out of his seat to go after them. He could tell something was still eating away at Ochako, but he wasn't sure it was his place to get involved. He was here for a reason, too, after all. But at the same time, so was Ochako, and it didn't seem like she was focused on that reason. After his fourth time almost standing up, he felt a hand give him a hard shove. Forcing him to his feet. Startled, Izuku looked around to see Tsuyu pointing towards the hall. "I'd hurry if you want to reach her before she gets to the elevators, kero."

Izuku's breath hitched; he nodded and gave Tsuyu a quiet and quick, "thank you" before jogging down the hall. While the whole exchange had been quick and subtle enough not to get too much attention, Hitoshi rubbed a hand through his hair as he leaned over towards Tsuyu. "Good job."

"Didn't want him worrying about not saying something when his next match comes up."

"Hmm, yeah neither of them can afford to have anything distracting them."

Tsuyu croaked nervously as she eyed one of the jumbo screens that showed the current bracket.

"Uraraka, wait!"

Ochako had just pressed the button to take the elevator to the lower floor when Izuku rounded a corner and waved his arms to get her attention.

"Deku?"

Wait, why is Deku here?

Guiltily, Ocako eyed the close doors button, her finger hovering over it. I know he probably wants to talk about why I haven't talked with him much but...I really don't want to discuss it right now. No reason to get him dragged into my fight with Toga. I'll just pretend that I didn't hear hi-!

Ochako's thoughts were interrupted as Mina gave her a shove in the back, sending her skidding out of the elevator and into the hallway. Whirling around, she saw Mina grinning deviously at her as she pressed the close door button, "You two have a nice talk."

"Ashido!"

Mina waved as the doors closed, "See you in the ring, Uraraka."

The doors closed with a ding and Ochako was left seething, Ashido, I swear I'm going to throw you into orbit for this!

"Uraraka! I'm glad I caught you."

With Izuku now right behind her, Ochako turned around and did her best not to show how annoyed she was at her current situation. When she saw Izuku flinch and nervously look away, she realized she probably wasn't doing a good job hiding her feelings, which made her feel a little guilty. She knew Izuku was just doing what he always did. The problem was that she didn't want him worrying about her right now.

"Deku, look, I get you're worried over what's going on right now, but I really need to concentrate on my fight and-"

"Uraraka, please," Izuku quickly cut her off, "I...I need to say this. If I don't, I might not have the courage to do it later, and by then it might be too late."

Despite not wanting to have this conversation, Ochako kept quiet. It wasn't like Izuku to just plow over someone like this, which meant he really was determined to say his piece. She could try and cut him off, but he could be very stubborn when he wanted to. They had that in common. If they just kept trying to talk over each other, it might lead to an argument, and Ocahko wanted that even less than she did the conversation.

Seeing that Ochako wasn't going to interrupt him, Izuku took a deep breath and just started talking, 'It's obvious that something happened between you and Toga. There's been something going on between you two since school started, but now it's gotten bad. Before I thought it was a rivalry or something, but now I don't know what is going on. I want to help, but I wouldn't even know where to start."

At least Deku isn't going to pry...then what is it he wanted to say?

"But just because I don't have a solution to whatever is going on, doesn't mean I don't have something to say to you."

Izuku took another breath, readying himself. Ochako tilted her head to the side and raised her eyebrow as she waited for Izuku to speak.

He's probably going to try and say something to pump me up…

"Uraraka, you're an idiot."

For a few brief seconds, Ochako's brain just stopped while she stared at Izuku, bug-eyed and with her jaw on the floor.

Wha...wha...WHAT!?

First, her jaw snapped shut followed quickly by her eyes narrowing at Izuku. Face reddening in anger, Ochako sucked in a huge breath through her nose, filling her lungs with enough air to fuel the tirade she was about to unleash against Izuku. However, when she opened her mouth to start telling him off, Izuku cut her off, "Uraraka, I'm sorry, but you need to be quiet and listen."

The look in Izuku's eyes, the firmness in his voice, his whole body posture, Izuku's past nervousness was gone. Now he looked ready for a fight. Not a physical one, but Iuzku was ready to stand his ground as he made sure Ochako listened to what he had to say, "Do you remember what Aizawa-sensei told us about today? Today is one of only three days we get to go out in front of the world and show what we are capable of. Three chances to be on a world stage and to make people remember our names. But today is more than just our first chance; this could be a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Think about it, Uraraka. Normally when do all the really big news crews show up? When are stands really filled to capacity? When are the heroes really watching? It's when the third-years are on. Because they have the most experience and are about to graduate. Except that's not the case today."

The faint roar of the crowd sounded a lot louder than it had a few moments ago.

"All those reporters are here, the stands are packed, and there are so many heroes here watching us because of the attack on the USJ. After that attack, our class was in the news for days. Because of that attack, we aren't just first years, we're the class that fought the League of Villains, and everyone wants to see what that means."

Izuku motioned out towards the whole stadium, 'Uraraka, today isn't a one-out-of-three chance for us to shine. This is a once in a lifetime chance. After today, there's a good chance that some new news story will grab the attention of everyone, and by the time our second Sports Festival happens, they'll go back to watching the third years again. And when it's our turn as third years, who's to say if something won't pull their attention away from us? For all any of us know, this might be the best chance we have to put a good word out to other heroes that are looking for new talent. This could be our big break, but you aren't focused on it. You're distracted. Earlier, you were giving it your all, fighting tooth and nail to come out on top, but now? Now, you're focused on other things that can't be as important as today and what it means."

"Deku, you…" Ochako took a breath. She couldn't argue with anything that Izuku had just said, but she could be just as stubborn as he could. It was almost instinctual to try and argue anyway. Plus, she still wasn't exactly happy at being told to shut up and listen, "You have no idea what I'm thinking right now. Or what has me distracted."

"Is it more important than your parents?"

Izuku might have well struck Ochako across the face with how hard she flinched back.

"That's why you're here, right? So that you can earn enough money to take care of them. I'd say getting scouted by some well known heroes today and getting to spend some time doing a work study at their agency would look pretty good on a resume. And the better your resume, the better your chance of getting a good job right out of U.A. and earning the money you'll need to take care of your parents."

Izuku finally broke eye contact, turning away as he kept talking, "I know I might not be the best person to say all this. I'm the one that said I was going to use the Sports Festival to try and settle things with Kacchan. But while that's important to me to try and do, I haven't lost sight at what's really at stake here. I have to give everything I have while I have the chance...and I can't stand the idea that you might be letting today slip by."

He didn't bring up the other subject that was on his mind either. His talk with Shouto still weighed heavily on his heart. He was being a hypocrite, the living definition of 'do as I say, not as I do.' Even still, he had to say something.

After Izuku had brought up her parents, Ochako felt like she had been hit in the face. She had of course never forgotten what her true goal was. Her family would always be her biggest priority. But along the way, she had taken up other responsibilities, too. She had discovered new things she wanted, new emotions she had never felt before, and new people she wanted to protect. Things, people, and emotions that for, good or ill, came with baggage. Her parents, her goals, her wants and emotions, both positive and negative, had all gotten so mixed up and twisted with her own self-doubts that they had threatened to drag her down. But standing there after getting hit in the face with some truths and facts from Izuku helped. The weight dragging her down suddenly didn't feel so heavy anymore. She knew she still had things to figure out- a lot of things- but there would be a time for that later. Here and now? She had to focus.

After all, she had a fight to go out and win.

When Izuku turned his head back around to look at Ochako, he wasn't sure what to expect. Would she still seem distracted? Maybe she would be mad at him? He just didn't know. So he tried to prepare himself for anything.

At least almost anything.

When he was greeted with a determined, and dazzling, smile, it took Izuku a couple of seconds to remember how to breathe. "U-Uraraka?"

"Thank you, Deku. I think I needed someone to slap me awake."

Sighing, Izuku ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm glad I could help. I was worried, you know…"

Ochako nodded. "I know."

"Plus...I didn't want to have to watch Ashido beat you up and melt you or something."

"Pfft!" Ochako covered her mouth, "You know what? I'd rather that not happen, either. She did place pretty high in Aizawa-sensei's test."

"And she throws a mean punch...look out for that."

"I will."

"And, Uraraka...if there's anything else I can do…?"

Ochako shook her head, "Deku, you got my head back on straight. That's more than enough. As for the other thing, that's... something that'll have to be settled between me and Toga. Okay?"

Still smiling, turned and called the elevator back. Stepping inside, she gave Izuku a quick wave while he wished her good luck. Just as the doors were closing though, she stuck her hand out and held it open, "Oh, Deku, one last thing."

While Ochako was still smiling, there was an aggressive glint in her eye that made Izuku a little nervous, "Y-yeah?"

"I may still need to smack you after that 'shut up and listen' stunt you pulled."

A brief silence followed before both broke out laughing, "You know what, Uraraka? You can try and get back at me in the finals."

"Try?"

Izuku just grinned, "I know what I said."

"Laddies and dudettes! It's time for the sixth match of the day! It's a battle of the pinks, and I'm not just saying that because they're both girls. In the words of the immortal Lou Bega, 'One, two, three, four, five; that's all she needs to float on by.' From class 1-A, it's Uraraka Ochako! Versus- She's pink, da ba dee da ba daa, and ready to melt your heart! Also from 1-A, Ashido Mina!"

Mina groaned into her hand, "Wow, that was so horrible."

"You know your name is Da Ba Dee now, right?"

"Shut it, Mambo No. 5!"

Ochako wasn't impressed at all. "Yo listen up, here's the story about a little girl that lives in a pink world."

Mina covered her ears, "Oh my god, I liked it better when you were giving me the silent treatment! "

Ochako crossed her arms and smirked, "You shouldn't have pushed me out of the elevator then."

"Guess your make-out session with Midoriya really got you loosened up then."

Ochako's face lit up, "W-wait WHAT!?"

"FIGHT!"

The bell was rung and Mina went on the offensive. Using her acid, she started skating right up towards Ochako, wanting to use her flustered state to close the gap and deliver a strong uppercut she was sure would lay Ochako out flat. Except, there were two problems with that plan. One, Ochako wasn't flustered anymore, and two, she had also decided that her opponent needed to get laid out.

Mina let out a yelp of surprise as she slid to the ground, just narrowly avoiding the elbow Ochako had tried to drive into her chin. Ochako turned after her, swinging her foot out to kick Mina, but the other girl had already slid far enough away that she was safe. Ochako, though, wasn't going to let her stay that way, as she quickly chased after her. Before Ochako could press an attack, Mina skidded to a stop and flipped herself onto her hands, swinging herself up and over her own body and twisting around.

Wait, is that break danc- AHH!

Ochako gasped as acid sprayed from gaps in Mina shoes, forcing her to back off before she got too close. Wincing, Ochako batted away at her thigh and leg, where drops of Mina's acid had hit her, burning through her gym pants and leaving red blistered skin underneath.

Okay, acid hurts!

While Ochako was distracted, Mina flipped back onto her feet and started to skate circles around Ochako. As she did, she filled her hands with gobs of sticky, viscous acid and hurled them at Ochako. Ochako's first instinct was to bat the globs away, which she instantly regretted, as the skin on her forearm and wrist flared in pain. Ochako made sure to dodge the other acid balls Mina threw at her afterwards, but this was trickier than it seemed. The attacks weren't coming from the same place every time, so Ochako was constantly working to keep Mina in her line of sight. She also wasn't always throwing large globs at her. Sometimes it was spray from her fingers, little droplets like rain, or ribbons of it kicked from her feet. The change in direction and size of the attack meant Ochako wasn't able to dodge all of the acid getting hurled at her.

Mina, after her opening attack had almost backfired completely, had decided that keeping her distance and adopting hit-and-run tactics was her best way to win. With her acid, she could skate across the surface of the concrete like it was ice, giving her a huge speed advantage, so she could easily get around Ochako and hit her with more of her acid. Sooner or later, she would get worn down. Then she would close in for the knockout.

This isn't working. I'm getting hit with as much acid as I'm able to avoid! And I can't reach her if I'm constantly dodging, I need to - AHH DAMMIT!

A large glob splashed against her side, sizzling as it dissolved through her clothes and left another blistered patch of skin before Ochako was able to hurriedly brush it off with the back of her hand.

Waiting around is not an option anymore. I need a new plan!

"COME ON, OCHAKO! KICK THAT GIRLS A-"

"Honey," Mr. Uraraka said, tugging at his wife's arm, "Maybe not in front of little Eri."

Mrs. Uraraka blushed before sitting back down, eye glancing over at Eri who was hiding her face into Inko's side, not enjoying watching Ochako getting burned. Inko patted her on the head, "it's okay dear. I'm sure Ochako is just fine."

"That's right! My daughter is going to give that pink girl what for, just you wait and see," Mr. Uraraka said with a smile.

Mrs. Uraraka slammed her fists against the arm rests of her chair in frustration, "AHH! That pink one keeps skating around! Ochako can't get to her."

All Might leaned forward as he watched the fight, "Unfortunately for Young Uraraka, the arena's terrain puts her at a disadvantage. Young Ashido is capitalizing on the flat ground and using her Quirk expertly. She's well aware that getting in close is dangerous with someone like Young Uraraka. If this was a close-quarters fight, or at the very least there was a roof over them, Young Uraraka would be able to use her own Quirk to move around better. She's picked up a few tricks to bounce around closed-off areas."

Inko frowned. "If she can't turn this around, though…"

"They have Midnight down there, as well as Cementos to keep an eye out for safety. If things go on too long, one of them may call the match to protect Young Uraraka from getting any more burned, but I don't think we have to worry about that just yet."

Eri pulled her face out of Inko's shirt, "You think Ochako will be okay?"

All Might smiled down at the little girl, "Young Uraraka is tough; tenacious; and most importantly, smart. She'll figure something out."

Ochako scanned the arena around her. At first, she had hoped that Mina's acid would break up or weaken the concrete so she could rip some of it up, either to use it as a shield or a wrecking ball against Mina. Unfortunately for her, this wasn't the case. The acid, while it was strong enough to eat through cloth and leave some nasty blistered skin, was not strong enough to eat through the concrete floor.

I've seen her make acid that eats through rock before...I guess she didn't want to use something that strong against another person. All this acid she's leaving behind is doing is - OW - leaving a slimy trail so she can skate...wait.

On a hunch, Ochako put a foot onto one of the acid trails and pushed. Her shoes slipped over it with little to no traction. The acid was starting to bubble and melt the bottom of her shoe, but not that quickly. She'd have a little bit of time before her shoes were gone.

Sidestepping another spray of acid from Mina, Ochako's mind raced. Normally, if she wanted to move from one point to another quickly, she would float herself and kickoff to propel herself forward. If Mina was skating in a straight line, she might be able to catch her, but she wasn't going in a straight line. Ochako also didn't have a way to change direction once she was moving through the air. Chasing after her on foot was also a no-go. Even if she took out all the dodging she had to do, a person running just wasn't going to catch up with someone skating.

But what if she started skating, too?

I'd only have a few seconds before my shoes melted, but I should be able to do it. The other issue is that - OUCH - is that I won't be able to dodge since I'd be on a set path after her.

Wincing as more of her skin burned and blistered, Ochako clicked her tongue against her teeth, "Okay, I'm already getting burned after just trying to dodge everything. I can take a few direct hits."

Eyes scanning the ground, Ochako found Mina and an acid trail that would work. Taking off into a dead sprint, Ochako leapt into the acid trail behind Mina and skated after her. She could hear the hissing coming from her shoes as the soles melted away and feel the heat in her heels and toes as she pushed forward, faster and faster. She wasn't sure she was going to have anything protecting her feet from the acid trail in a few more seconds, but that didn't matter to her. She had done exactly what she wanted. She had caught up to Mina.

Mina's eyes bulged as Ochako caught up to her, "Are you crazy!? Who jumps into acid!?"

Spinning around so that she was sliding backwards, Mina faced Ochako and filled her hands with globs of acid, as thick and viscous as she could make it. When she threw them, they deformed and stretched out into long ropes. Mina had made them that way to cover more area since she was sure Ochako was going to try and move out of the way, but she didn't. Ochako, keeping her arms raised up to protect her body and face, powered through. She hissed and grunted with each hit, but she was done dodging. Ochako had weighed her options and decided that if she was going to get hit regardless of what she did, she might as well get hit while ending the match.

Shocked that Ochako was still barreling right for her, Mina tried to turn and skate away, but she was too late. Ochako tackled to the ground. While the two rolled over on each other, Ochako pressed her fingers into Mina and pushed, sending the other girl up into the air before pushing her towards the wall surrounding the area, where she floated on by, helplessly pawing at empty air to stop her movement. Ripping off her melted shoes, Ochako, gingerly, rolled onto a clean section of concrete and took a seat watching as Mina finally and softly bounced off the wall.

Midnight raised her hand, signaling the end of the match, "Ashido is out of bounds! Uraraka will advance to the next round!"

"Are you sure you don't want some help getting to Recovery Girl's office?" Mina offered as she stepped into the elevator to go back up to their seat.

Ochako just waved her off, "It's not a big deal, Ashido. I can take care of it."

Mina might have been more convinced if Ochako didn't wince everytime she took a step, a side effect of the acid burns she got on her feet after her shoes had dissolved away. She also had holes in her clothes and more chemical burns that were red and blistered underneath.

"If you're really sure…"

Rolling her eyes, Ochako reached in and pressed the button to take Mina up to the rest of the class, "Tell everyone I'll be right up after I get treated...and get some new clothes."

Ochako picked at one of the holes in her top. Mina chuckled, "Alright, alright. I know when I'm not wanted. Though you might want to keep the look; it shows off some of those nice muscles you got, like those abs."

Slapping the close door button and giving Mina a massive eye roll, Ochako waved goodbye and made her way down the hall towards Recovery Girl, wincing with every step.

This, ow, really, ow, sucks, ow! Should have, ow, taken Midnight sensei's advice, and let the stretcher, ow, carry me, OW. Oh man, I think I popped a blister...Whose stupid idea was it to try and skate on the acid? Stupid brain, coming up with the idea. Stupid pride, saying I had to walk on my own. Almost there, ow! Just have to make it down this...hallway...oh what the hell?

Ochako's thoughts trailed off when, only a few doors down from Recovery Girl's office, she found her path block. By Himiko. Himiko had her back against the wall, leaning lazily with her arms crossed. Slowly, she lifted her head up and looked at Ochako. Then she looked her over, eyes passing over each and every chemical burn. She started at the top and worked her way down, a deep frown forming the lower she went until it was a sneer of disgust when her eyes reached her feet.

"Remind me," Himiko started, voice dripping with contempt as she pushed herself off the wall and started walking towards Ochako, "What was it you said to me a little while ago?"

Ochako felt her body tense as Himiko walked up to her, taking very deliberate steps. She eyed the other girl silently, preparing herself in case Himiko decided to try something. Though, what she could do at the moment was very limited.

Himiko sneered at Ochako's silence, "What? Nothing to say? You sure didn't have a problem running your mouth when you decided you knew what was best for Izuku and then called me a sexual predator."

Ochako's eyes drifted to the side, but Himio wasn't going to let that slide, "You fucking look at me, you selfish bitch. You don't get to act like a fucking boss and say that kind of shit to me, then start acting like a simpering coward. Own up to your shit."

Fists clenched, Ochako's eyes hardened as she looked right at Himiko, "What do you want?"

"Remind. Me. What. You. Said."

Ochako started to replay the events from earlier in her head, but she could already tell her delay was getting Himiko even more upset.

This is getting nowhere. I should just ask what she's talking about.

"Why don't you remind me?"

...Right...not the best way to phrase that.

"You said it was your responsibility to look after Iuzku. To protect him."

"That's right, I did. And I will."

Himiko glared at Ochako for a couple of seconds before her hand whipped up and she jammed a finger into Ochako's exposed, blistered shoulder. Ochako hissed in pain and withdrew a few steps. "Ahh! The heck!?"

Ochako looked down at her shoulder, wincing at the ripped open blister that leaked down her arm. Himiko brought her hand up and rubbed her finger and thumb together, feeling the clear serum make them feel slippery, "Do you still honestly think you have any right to make that claim? Look at you; you're the worst off out of everyone that has fought today. Even Eijirou was in better shape after his match after getting blasted by Baku-Bitch. You? You look like shit. Mina's acid can melt through stone. What would have happened if she hit you with some of her strong stuff? You think that bullshit you pulled out in the ring would have worked then? If that had been a life-or-death fight, you'd be a puddle right now."

"Except," Ochako countered, "It wasn't a fight to the death. It was a Sports Festival tournament match."

"That's right, it wasn't. You went up against someone that was holding back because she didn't want to fucking melt, and you still got your ass handed to you. So," Himiko stepped up until she was face to face with Ochako, "What's going to happen to you when you get into that ring with me? Because right now, I think hurting you would be the best thing to wake you the fuck up."

Ochako's eyes narrowed, and despite the pain she was in, she willed herself to get ready, "You're more than welcome to try, Toga. Let's see what happens when you don't start with a cheap surprise attack."

Neither Ochako or Himiko were willing to back down, and neither was going to take the risk of taking their eyes off the other. So neither saw the handle of a syringe cane come down and smack them both across the head.

"OW!"

"WHO THE FU…!? Oh, hi, Granny."

Recover Girl eyed the two disapprovingly. "If you two are done rabble rousing like a couple of immature children, I think one of you needs to come into my office for some treatment and a change of clothes."

Ochako, still rubbing her head, nodded, "Yes, ma'am."

"You both are going to get a chance to sort your feelings out later in the ring. Save it for then, and not in front of my office. Now you," Ochako jumped when Recovery Girl pointed her cane at her, "If you can manage to not burst anymore blisters, go find a bed to sit on, and I'll be with you in a moment."

Himiko eyed Ochako as she made her way around, but stopped when Recovery Girl smacked her hip with her cane, "And you stop instigating things. Go back to your seat this instant. You've been sulking down here in my office since her match started. Get going...and don't call me Granny again."

Himiko glared down at the older hero, "You don't scare me."

"Deary, we both know that isn't true. Now get going."

With a huff, Himiko walked away leaving Recovery Girl alone in the hall, "I swear. Why are these kids today such idiots? No time to just talk; they just yell and scream like toddlers. Hopefully, they'll knock some sense into each other during their match. "

When Himiko made her way back up to the rest of her class, she noted that there were two other empty seats, besides Ochako's and her own. "Huh, I guess Momo and Fumikage already left?"

Kyouka looked up along with a few other students, "Yeah, they got called a while ago. Their match should be starting pretty soon, actually.

"Oh, then I won't miss a good show then," Himiko said as she took her seat.

"Do you mind if I ask where you went after our match, Toga?" Asked Mashirao. "You disappeared so suddenly."

"Oh um...I...just went for a walk to unwind is all. Ended up watching the next fight in Recovery Girl's office."

Tenya turned to her, "Were you injured in your match?"

Denki snickered, "Maybe she chipped a tooth after taking a bite out of Ojiro's tail."

Denki continued to laugh until he was brutally silenced by an ear jack jammed into his neck, Himiko rubbed the back of her head nervously, "Um...no hard feelings about that I hope."

Mashirao shook his head, "None at all. I just wish I could have given you more of a challenge. You avoided my attacks so easily."

"Well, taking your eye off your opponent is a pretty stupid way to attack someone. Your tail might be unconventional, but if you attack the same way with it all the time, you get easy to read."

While a couple people winced at Himiko's blunt reply, Mashirao nodded in agreement, "You've shown me something I need to work on. Thank you."

Himiko blinked, not expecting that, "Oh um, sure. No problem."

"Hey, you said you came from Recovery Girl, right?" Mina asked, leaning forward.

"Yeah?"

"Did you happen to run into Uraraka? She was headed that way after our match."

Himiko's teeth clicked together as she closed her mouth and thought really hard on just what to say. Suddenly very aware that Izuku had turned around in his seat and was looking right at her, "Yeah...we...met. She's getting treated now."

Not technically a lie. Not gonna say I was waiting for her and ambushed her...Doubt Izuku would like that very much…

Fortunately for Himiko, the class's attention was pulled away when Present Mic's voice boomed over the loudspeakers, "All right! After a thorough washing and some minor repairs, the stage is back up to one hundred percent, and we can move on to the next match!"

"Down below are two people that go to show that if you thought Quirks were weird before, you ain't seen nothing yet. The law of conservation of mass means nothing to her; she's the Vice Representative of class 1-A ,Yaoyorozu Momo! Versus - The ethical questions that come up when you think too hard about his living Quirk give me a headache, so I'm just going to focus on his bird head. Also from 1-A, Tokoyami Fumikage!"

While around them, the crowds cheered, both Momo and Fumikage watched each other carefully, waiting for the moment the signal was given and their match would start. However, while Fumikage directed his full attention towards her, Momo found herself glancing between Fumikage and Dark Shadow while her mind went over her plan again and again in her head. Before today, the only time she had ever seen anyone get the better of Fumikage, or more specifically Fumikage and Dark Shadow, was their first day of Heroics class when Izuku had been able to take them by surprise and temporarily overpower them. Since then, however, they had been dominant in their execution of the class training, cementing themselves as one of the powerhouses of the class and not letting anything stop them.

Until today, if Momo's plan worked out.

I just hope my defenses hold up long enough.

"FIGHT!"

The signal was given, and the fight was on.

"Dark Shadow, GO!"

At Fumikage's call, Dark Shadow flew across the arena, claws reaching out to grab Momo and quickly end the match. Momo acted just as fast. She had expected a direct attack, and quickly put her plan into action.

First, I need to buy myself time to make a defensive wall!

Lifting her hands up, palms facing her oncoming attacker, a pair of large army green canisters popped out of her hands, along with two pulled pins and safety levers that bounced off the ground. Seconds later,e huge pillows of white smoke began covering Momo's whole section of the arena. By the time Dark Shadow reached the smoke and swiped where Momo had been, she had vanished.

Fumikage squinted as he tried to peer through the dense smoke, "Dark Shadow, do you see her?"

Dark Shadow shook his head as he darted around and through the smoke. Swiping at the air, hoping to get a hit.

"Keep looking; she's in there somewhere. The breeze is already starting to blow the smoke away. So either we find her, or her cover will blow away-!"

Movement caught his eye, whiffs of smoke, being pushed against the wind.

"Dark Shadow, to the left!"

Dark Shadow swung in the air, diving right for the break in the smoke. What followed were a series of sounds that left Fumikage confused.

CLANG!

BANG!

And finally a loud screeching sound as something was dragged across the concrete, leaving deep scratches on the surface. As more of the smoke cleared, Fumikage saw what had made the strange sounds and what Dark Shadow had run into. Following the deep scratches in the floor, Fumikage saw Dark Shadow smashed up against a large black shield- a shield easily as tall as Momo was, with large metal spikes that dug into the concrete, holding it in place. Dark Shadow has pushed the shield back several feet before the spikes had dug in, stopping it. Along the front, were deep gashes from Dark Shadows attack, but even with the damage, the shield was holding.

Some kind of ballistic shield!?

Dark Shadow slashed and slammed itself against the shield again, causing even more damage while Fumikage's mind raced. Why would Momo create something so heavy? It might have withstood Dark Shadow's first attack, but it wouldn't last much longer. Plus, there was no way for her to lug it around the arena. Something like that was meant to get put in place and stay in place.

Unless she it's only supposed to protect her from the first few attacks!

From where he was standing, he could just see around the shield and caught sight of a tattered U.A. gym uniform.

Tattered? Wait? What else did she make!?

"Dark Shadow get back!"

As Fumikage called out to Dark Shadow, Momo was already springing into action from behind the shield. Pulling out a long bandelier with a series of unpinned canisters that looked just like the ones she used at the start of the fight, Momo tossed them over the shield in the gap between herself and Fumikage. Dark Shadow whirled around and dove from them, "No more smoke from you!"

Fumikage was moving around, making sure he wouldn't get caught up in the smoke if Dark Shadow wasn't able to toss the smoke bombs away in time. From his new angle he had a better look at Momo, and nearly tripped when he saw just how much gear she had strapped to her back. While he didn't recognize what everything was, his eyes stopped when they reached Momo's face, which was obscured by a dark tinted visor.

Oh no!

Fumikage didn't have time to warn Dark Shadow to drop the bandelier. Right at that moment, each one exploded with a deafening crack and blinding light. Dark Shadow shrieked and recoiled back, while Fumikage closed his eyes tight and covered his ears with his hands. With Fumikage distracted, Momo leapt from behind the shield and rushed forward as fast as she could. The bright light from the flash bangs had already faded and Dark Shadow was beginning to recover. If she had had time to congratulate herself, she would. After seeing Dark Shadow recoil back from Denki's electrical attack, she had theorized that the shadow had a weakness to light. So she just needed to create some items to keep Dark Shadow away. The only problem was she needed time to make them and used them. The smoke bomb gave her time to make everything, and her ballistic shield gave her the opening she needed. Now, she just had to capitalize on her opening and win.

Yanking some of the gear off her shoulder, Momo slammed down several portable industrial searchlights, aimed them right for Dark Shadow and turned them all on. The light might have been physical with how hard Dark Shadow recoiled back, further and further away until he was back toward the other side of the arena. With Dark Shadow dealt with, Momo pulled the other item she had been carrying. An item used by the sidekicks of one of the most villainous looking heroes around.

A perfect copy of the Cement Gun used by Gang Orca's sidekicks.

The ringing in his ear, and dots in his vision had only just started to clear for Fumikage when something wet and heavy slammed into his chest, sending him tumbling to the ground. Gasping, he tried to get up, but he found his arms held in place as the cement hardened around him. Desperate, he tried to roll over, but Mom was already on top of him, slamming her foot down to hold him in place and pointing the Cement Gun right towards his head.

With Dark Shadow held back by the powerful lights, and himself immobilized, Fumikage bowed his head towards Momo, "I surrender."

"Tokoyami has conceded the match! Yaoyorozu has won the match and will advance to the next round!"

"Okay, I'm sorry but what just happened?" Denki asked, scratching his head.

Kyouka smirked. "Yaoyorozu just kicked butt. That's what happened."

"But how? Shouldn't have Dark Shadow, you know, kicked her butt?"

Katsuki growled as he glared at Denki. "Is you're fucking brain still on the fritz after your shit show of a match, Lighting-Dolt? It's fucking obvious how Ponytail won."

"Lame name," Himiko coughed out.

"Bite me, Bun-Bitch!"

Himiko turned to look at Katsuki and flashed her fangs at him. "if you insist, Baku-Bitch."

While Tenya and Hitoshi helped keep Himiko in her seat, Eijirou did his best to redirect Katsuki back to Denki's question, "Anyway! What did you mean it was obvious?"

With a huff, Katsuki turned away from Himiko and answered, "Obviously, Ponytail figured out that Birdbrain's Quirk is weak against light. Doesn't matter if it's a living shadow. It's still a shadow."

Denki blinked before clapping his hands together as a thought struck him, "OH! So that's why Dark Shadow was so freaked out by my electricity. I thought that was pretty weird."

Katsuki shook his head. "How do you even function?"

Izuku, who was scribbling away in his notepad, stopped and tapped his pencil on the edge of the book, "I wonder, if Dark Shadow gets weaker when exposed to light, what happens when it's used in a dark setting?"

Tsuyu looked over at him, "Where do you pull that out from, kero?"

"Oh, I just keep it in my -"

"Todoroki Shouto, Iida Tenya, please report to the waiting rooms."

Without a word, Shouto stood from his seat and left. Tenya was right behind him, pausing long enough for his friends to wish him good luck, and Hitoshi to give him some advice.

"Try not to get frozen."

"Boy, do we have a gift for you now, loyal listeners. Here in the final match of the opening round, two young students are looking to continue the family business! He's a little frosty, but only because he'll give you the cold shoulder. From class 1-A, it's Todoroki Shouto! Versus - The only boy in school to have afterburners and exhuast fumes that aren't the result of a stupid dare and too many beans. The class representative of 1-A, Iida Tenya!"

Tenya frowned at the announcers booth high above, "I understand that Present Mic is also a radio host and their job sometimes means making off the cuff remarks, but must he compare my Quirk to something so unsavory?"

Shaking his head, Tenya turned his attention towards Shouto. During his wait, he had debated how he would face his classmate. Overall, while the exact how he would try and win was still up in the air, he knew he could not afford to let the match drag on. If Shouto was able to freeze the arena, he would either be trapped, or he might slip on the ice and his own speed could be used against him for a ring out. So he had decided to use his trump card and risk the ten second time limit.

"FIGHT!"

The roar of Tenya's engines drowned out Present Mic's voice and the cheering crowd as Tenya went on the attack, "Recipro Burst!"

Tenya's engines rocketed him forward, right for Shouto. As he closed the distance though, the ground under Shouto flash-froze as ice exploded underneath him, shooting him upward into the air on a pillar of ice. Tenya's feet slammed into the ground as he forced himself to stop going forward before kicking off the ground, leaping after Shouto.

As Shouto rose higher and higher into the sky, he pressed his hand into the ice pillar forming large jagged edges to grow out along the side, to get in the way of Tenya as he came after him. Unfortunately for Shouto, Tenya was able to kick through the ice, and used them as a platform to further propel himself upward.

Almost there! Almost there!

With one more arching kick, Tenya smashed through the last of the ice in his way, and roared above the pillar. Now face to face with Shouto, Tenay wound his leg back to deliver a kick to end the match. Just as he was about to swing his leg out however, the roar and fire coming from his legs sputtered and died out.

Tenya's ten seconds were up, and his engine had stalled. Wide eyed, Tenya realized he no longer had any propulsion to go through with his attack, or to keep himself up in the air. This realization was quickly followed with stomach-sinking horror as he fell backward and plummeted towards the ground. He knew from this high up, there was no way he was going to be able to land without sustaining some kind of injury. However, instead of slamming into the concrete below, Tenya was ensnared by more ice coming from the large pillar, preventing him from hitting the ground, but securely capturing him. Held in the prison of ice and with his engine stalled, Tenya was not able to continue the fight.

While Midnight declared Shouto the winner, Shouto himself let out a long breath. He had been lucky that he had seen the Tenya's Recipro Burst once before during the USJ attack. If he hadn't, he wouldn't have guessed that Tenya would try to use the move to end the fight quickly and not risk losing the teran advantage to his ice.

"What an incredible match, loyal listeners. It was less of a fight, and more like a quick draw at high noon. Iida looked like he had the advantage in pure speed, but just before he could capitalize, Tordoroki was able to keep himself safe for just long enough and come out on top. And with that, the first round of the tournament has come to a close. We'll pause for a quick intermission while all that ice is cleaned up, and then it'll be time for the quarter finals! Who's up next anyway? Hey Eraser Head, you know?"

"Toga and Uraraka."

"...Uh oh."

With a click, Tensei turned off his phone and pocketed it. When he turned back to his sidekicks, he saw them each giving him sympathetic looks.

"That's too bad, Ingenium. I thought your little brother had it in the bag when he broke out that super move."

"I hope little Iida doesn't get too discouraged."

Tensei waved them off, "He'll be fine. If I know my brother he'll turn this loss into a learning opportunity. I'm sure he must have thought that using Recipro Burst was his best chance given his opponent, but he needs to learn that sometimes it's better not to take the high risk move right off the bat."

With his phone put away, Tensei reached over and picked up his helmet, "Now, thank you all for letting me have the chance to watch my brothers match, but it's time for us to get back to business."

"Yes, sir!" The yall answered immediately.

"Now, for the past few days Hosu City has seen an uptick of attacks against their local heroes. While the police and the Hero Public Safety Commission have tried to downplay this, I believe these incidents are more than just random attacks. The attacks fit the pattern of the hero killer, Stain."

A cold shiver ran up the backs of all the sidekicks in the room.

"Despite their best efforts, the Commission has still not yet been able to bring this monster in after months of trying. Now they've become very gun shy with sending heroes after him and seem to want only to have heroes in the top ten do the job which has only delayed the capture even further since these heroes are all over the country and Stain is always on the move. It's gotten to the point that the Commission has outright refused to share information about Stain to any other hero or agency."

The group grumbled at the obvious politics at play. Having a high profile hero catching Stain would make the Commission look great, while at the same time, if it looked like they were sending in lower ranked heroes and they got hurt, it wouldn't look good form them at all. The president of the Commission didn't get to her position without being very aware of public image.

"So if this is Stain, we're going in blind?"

Tensei nodded, "That's right. So while I think this is the work of Stain, I don't have concrete proof thanks to the Commission keeping everything to themselves. That's why while we are on patrol, I want everyone else to group up into teams of no less than three. It's possible that I may be wrong, but I don't want to take any chances."

"We understand!"

"What about you Ingenium?"

Tensei put on his helmet, "I'll act as a vanguard and see if I can find anything while you all take a more controlled and methodical approach. You'll work through the streets after me and catch anything I kick up."

"Yes sir!"

"Good! Alright Team Idaten. Let's get to work and see if we can find this monster.

Notes:

Boy did this chapter take awhile to come out. Sorry about the wait everyone! This chapter was just slow to get written. But it's here! And boy oh boy I have a feeling some people are going to be very angry with me. Considering NO ONE guessed that Neito was going to win. Everyone was like "He talks so Hitoshi is going to win." But NOPE! I turned Neito's talking into the ultimate shield! Now he gets to face Katsuki... :)

I also hope that this chapter clears up some questions on the whole Ochako and Himiko dynamic and made their POV's a little more clear. While they may have good intentions, neither is going about this thing the right way. Having good points doesn't make you right. At least they're going to get to air their problems with each other in the ring. Which I'm sure won't have any unintended consequences. At all...maybe Present Mic was right when he said "Uh Oh."

A big thank you to all you readers. I hope the new chapter lived up to your expectations! If you have any comments or critiques, please feel free to leave them!

Another huge thank you to my beta reader Tmalasia. Dude puts in so much work making my stuff readable.

Catch you all later for Chapter 22, and the Quarter Finals!