Green Tea Rescue

by ss3dj

When Midoriya Izuku was 4 his quirk finally manifested. The doctor named it psychokinesis, but his friend Bakugou Katsuki called it worthless. For the next 10 years, Izuku would grow up bullied and isolated. Then, when a new student named Uraraka Ochako transfers into his class the last year of jr high, everything changes. Rated M for eventual themes.

22. Convictions vs Reality

"Toga Himiko, Uraraka Ochako. Please report to your waiting rooms."

With a grunt, Himiko stood up from her seat and stretched. As she did, her eyes drifted over to Ochako's still-empty chair.

"I guess she needed a little more time to get patched up," Tooru observed.

Himiko just shrugged. "Either she's ready or she isn't. I don't really care one way or another."

The frost in her voice got the attention of a few students that looked up at her questioningly, but she ignored them. Himiko's statement also wasn't entirely true. She in fact did want Ochako to be ready. She wanted to see her standing in the ring at her best. It would make driving her into the ground all the better. But if she got into the ring and wasn't at her best, it wasn't going to stop Himiko from beating her all the same.

"She'll be ready."

Izuku's quick reply and the confidence in his eyes made Himiko pause before she left. She had only made it a little ways into the hallway before she heard footsteps following after her.

"Izuku, no offense, but maybe we shouldn't be talking right now."

She heard the footsteps skip a few steps, and turned to see a startled Izuku coming to a stop, "Toga?"

"Sorry, sorry but let's be honest here. I'm not the person you want to win. Am I?"

Izuku stuttered as he looked away, but Himiko cut him off, "Calm down. I'm not mad or anything. You've been friends with Ochako for way longer than you've known me, so honestly it'd be weird if you chose me right now."

Izuku smiled sadly. "Well if we're going by that logic, I'm going to be cheering Kacchan on for the rest of the day."

Both stood in silence for a few moments before they broke into a fit of laughter. "Oh, oh god, Izuku. That's too much."

"Well, at least I got you smiling again."

"Huh?" Himiko blinked

"You haven't been smiling for a while, which is honestly really, really weird."

Himiko scratched the back of her head, "Well...there might be a...reason for that."

"You and Uraraka had a fight."

Himiko went stiff, "Wait, you know!?"

Wait, wait a second! What exactly does he know? Did Ochako go tell him? Does he think I attacked her...which I sorta did but it was totally justifiable...ish!

"I know you two are having some issues, but I don't know over what exactly. Uraraka said this was something the two of you were going to have to work out. Probably in your match, I guess."

"Bitch has got that right at least," Himiko grumbled under her breath before she suddenly realized she had said that outloud and slapped a hand over her mouth. "I MEAN! Um! Wait!"

Izuku wasn't mad like she had been afraid. He just looked sad, which in so many different ways was worse for Himiko.

"Things are pretty bad, aren't they?"

Sighing, Himiko nodded. "They aren't great right now, no."

"And I probably shouldn't be sticking my nose into it?"

"Honestly? Not unless you're ready to lose it."

Rubbing a hand through his hair, Izuku sighed, "Will you at least let me wish you good luck?"

"You sure? You know I'm going into this fight to win, and I don't plan on holding back."

"Probably a good idea not to. If you did, things might get a little floaty for you."

Himiko chuckled, but it was cold and humorless, "Yeah well, that's not gonna happen. Still, thank you, Izuku. You're a good friend."

Izuku smiled as best he could given the circumstances, "You are, too, Toga. And good luck."

Waving goodbye to Izuku, Himiko made her way down the hall, not entirely sure she could agree with Izuku on that last point. Getting into the elevator, she pushed that issue aside. There would be time to deal with that later. Right now, she had a lesson to teach.

---

Ochako looked down at her phone as she read through the texts she was getting from her parents and friends wishing her good luck. Sighing, Ochako closed her phone and put it into a locker. She felt a little bad not going back up to her seat after she had been fixed up by Recovery Girl, but after her last encounter with Himiko, she thought it best to make sure they had their space before their match. On top of everything from before, Himiko had once again brought up the fact that she didn't think Ochako was strong enough to survive the real world. That she was weak. After taking that kind of disrespect from Katsuki for over a year, she was not going to take it from Himiko, too. So to prevent any potential pre-fight scuffles, Ochako stayed back. Now though? Now she was free to show Himiko just how wrong she was.

---

"So our baby is facing Toga, right? She's one of her friends," Mr. Uraraka asked as he sipped his drink.

Inko nodded, "Izuku, Ochako, and her started hanging out right after the first day with a few other friends. The group has gotten a little bigger since then, and they spend a lot of time together."

"She actually lives at U.A., if I remember what Ochako told us. She didn't go into exactly why, but from her tone it didn't sound like a pleasant reason," Mrs. Uraraka added.

Mr. Uraraka rubbed his chin, "Hmm, she looks pretty tough. Maybe she's been getting extra lessons since she lives on campus. She was leading all those kids by the nose for a while. And then she knocked that other poor boy out cold. It's enough to make a father a little worried. What do you say, Mr. Yagi? Don't suppose you know anything that would put my mind at ease?"

All Might frowned, "Young Toga's...a...unique case. Her records are sealed, so even if I knew anything, I couldn't tell you more than what Young Uraraka was told by Young Toga herself."

Any further questions were cut off when All Mights phone rang with a text message. Blinking, All Might took out his phone and read through the message, "Um...if you all will excuse me. I have to...make a call. I will be right back."

"Try to hurry back, I think Ochako's match is going to be starting soon."

Nodding, All Might quickly exited the suite, and made his way down the hall until he ran into Principal Nezu who was waiting for him.

"I got your text message, sir. What did you want to talk to me about?"

Nezu was typing away at his phone, an impressive feet with his paws, "Well I needed to talk to all the staff before the next match, and since you aren't wearing a headset like everyone else, having you here saves me a trip to talk with you privately."

Holding his phone out, Nezu put it on speaker, "Now, I think that's everyone accounted for."

A chorus of affirmatives came through the phone's speaker.

"Excellent, excellent. Now I wanted to take this opportunity to talk with everyone about the upcoming match."

"You mean between Uraraka and Toga?" Aizawa asked.

"Yes, exactly. I think we all need to be prepared for this match to be a little more...plus ultra than the others."

All Might frowned at Nezu's choice of wording, "Wait, why do you think that?"

"There was an incident between the two earlier today," Midnight said after a few seconds of hesitation.

"Define incident." Aizawa's seriousness was mirrored by the other heroes. All Might included as he waited for Midnight's reply.

Midnight sighed, "The two were fighting. Arguing mostly, though it got a little physical at the end. but nothing that required me to step in. Most of the damage was psychological from some...differing opinions on things."

"...And we're only learning about this now?" It wasn't hard to miss the edge in Vlad King's voice.

"Arguments in the hero course aren't that uncommon. Scuffles happen from time to time between students, too."

"Toga isn't just another student, though," Vlad quickly countered.

"Perhaps not, but the incident was dealt with and observed by Midnight, who will make sure that Toga talks about it during her next therapy session. The incident isn't what this call is about, though."

"You think Young Toga and Young Uraraka will use their match to air out their personal grievances against each other?"

"That is correct. And since both young ladies are exceptionally trained," Nezu looked up at All Might for a second before turning back to his phone, "I think we should expect a more intense fight that the others."

"I see," Snipe said, "So we're going to discuss our plan to restrain Toga if she loses control?"

"Oh, absolutely not. This call is to remind everyone that all calls on if this match is to be ended are up to Midnight. While Cementoss will advise for medical reasons, it will be Midnight who has final say on everything. As such, no one is to do anything to interfere with this match unless she asks for help.

"Wait, are you serious? You expect us to do nothing, even if the fight goes south, unless Midnight calls for help?"

"Exactly. You all were so ready to jump in during the last event, I feel it's necessary to remind you all that you are part of the audience right now. We can't have different people deciding when to step in. Midnight has spent the most time with Toga out of everyone here. She is the perfect person to decide when, if at all, intervention is necessary. Now, is this clear? I don't want you all to do anything. Understood?"

There was a long pause before slowly each teacher agreed. Even All Might, who was now more than a little anxious of the upcoming match, nodded in agreement.. Satisfied, Nezu bid everyone a good day and hung up his phone, "Well then, now that that is settled, I'll be on my way. Please give Midoriya and Uraraka's parents my best wishes. Oh, and that adorable little girl, too."

All Might eyed Nezu quietly as he left. Suddenly, some things about this year's sports festival made a little more sense, Ah, so that's why you have Midnight as the judge this time. You wanted to make sure Young Toga had the best chance to compete without interference...Still, just what kind of fight do you think we're going to get...

---

With a grunt that sent several small-time heroes scurrying for a new seat, Endeavor leaned against the railing as he looked over the arena. He had been walking around the stadium for the better part of the day and had yet to run into his son. The stupid boy was obviosuly avoiding him, which only grated the giant man's nerves more. Watching his son throw his temper tantrum and refuse to use his full power was something he was used to at this point. He had hoped that by the time Shouto had made it into U.A. the school course would have made him use his fire . Sadly, that hadn't happened, and even worse, it was becoming clear that the boy was set on trying to win the whole sports festival without using it either.

"Not that there are many kids here that are strong enough to push my son that far...What a joke."

Out of sheer boredom, he stepped out from the halls and found a decent spot to watch the next match. While he didn't think much of the two little girls that would be fighting next as neither had seemed that impressive in their first round, at the very least he would see if maybe the winner would be able to make his son use his fire in the semi-finals.

Though, he seriously doubted that.

---

"Loyal listeners, after a short intermission to dry the ring, we are ready to get the quarter finals underway! Are you all ready!?"

The crowd exploded into screams and excited shouts.

"That's what I like to hear! Now let's introduce our fighters! They might not need any introductions, but I'm going to do it anyway! First up! I don't think anyone here understands the Gravi-Tea of this girl's power! It's Uraraka Ochako! Versus- Her smile might seem like A Positive influence, but one look at those fangs and you'll know that's a big Type O! It's Toga Himiko!

While the crowd around them groaned at the puns, neither Ochako or Himiko paid any of it a second thought. Both were silent as they stepped into the ring and made the way to their starting positions. Ochako's knuckles popped as she clenched and unclenched her fists. The muscles and tendons in her body felt taut, like a bow string pulled back, ready to fire. She was very grateful for the breathing exercises Gunhead had taught her; otherwise, she was sure she would have snapped by now.

Across from Ochako, Himiko stood waiting for the match to finally start. Her arms hung limply by her side, but her hands were flexed, fingers curled inward. Her normal smile was nowhere to be seen, instead replaced with a thin, down-turned line. A dark shadow fell over her eyes, which were narrowed into slits. The yellow of her irises was practically glowing with a cold inner-fire.

From her podium, Midnight looked between the two, doing her best not to show how nervous she was. In so many ways this was beyond just a simple match between students. Ideals and values were being put on the line. This was just as much a psychological fight as it was a physical one. It was also the biggest test of the time and effort U.A. had put into helping Himiko move beyond her violent and twisted nature. She saw this as even a bigger test than the USJ attack. There, Himiko had held back even if she technically didn't have to. Here? She had to hold back, and Midnight knew Himiko didn't want to.

A small crackle came from her earpiece as Present Mic spoke up, in an unusually subdued tone, "We good to go Midnight?"

Midnight glanced up to the announcers booth, "Yeah. Let's get this started."

Alright, Toga, it's time to show them just who you are.

"Alright, fighters! Let's get this party started!"

Ochako and Himiko crouched into their stances.

"Fig-!"

Present Mic hadn't even finished signaling the start of the fight before both Ochako and Himiko exploded towards each other. Ochako struck first, firing a flat palm strike right for Himiko's head; the other girl deflected it away with a raised arm. Ochako ripped her arm back as she attacked with her other palm, striking at Himiko again and again. Himiko, however, kept deflecting. When another of Ochako's palm strikes was blocked by Himiko's raised arm, Ochako didn't immediately pull back, instead opening her hand up. When she pulled back this time, she swiped and tried to have each of her fingers brush against Himiko's head. But Himiko was ready for it. She had kept an eye on Ochako's hands and with her fingers curled up for the palm strikes, she could afford to simply block and deflect. With her fingers outreached though, she immediately changed tactics and dodged, leaning to the side as Ochako's hand whooshed past her, missing widely, and leaving her open for Himiko to go on the offensive.

Himiko's first strike grazed Ochako's cheek before she was able to get her arms up, with her forearms now taking a beating as Himiko slashed away at Ochako with her fingers and nails, each attack leaving a cut on Ochako's arms. Grunting, Ochako twisted herself to the side and swung a foot out, landing a solid hit into Himiko's side. Ochako had expected the blow to stagger Himiko, but she was shocked when Himiko, through gritted teeth, wrapped an arm around Ochako's leg and held it against her own body. With one leg held up, Ochako balanced herself precariously on her other leg while Himiko swiped at her with her free hand. Ochako leaned back and kicked herself backward, ripping herself free of Himiko's grip and putting some distance between herself and Himiko. With several feet now separating them, the two took the moment to collect themselves before they started up again.

Himiko winced as she pressed a palm into her side where Ochako had kicked her, while at the same time, flexing and rotating her wrists that were red from the multiple palm strike's she had deflected, Okay. Bitch knows how to throw a half decent punch...and kick. Those fucking thunder thighs aren't just for show.

Ochako hissed as she touched her cheek and saw a red smear on her finger tips. Her arms were also covered in scratches. Deep red beads of blood seeped up from some of the cuts, She fights like a darn alley cat. She's also making sure to keep an eye on my hands. I guess I'm not too surprised, though. I didn't think this was going to be easy.

With little warning, Ochako went on the attack. Covering the distance in a moment, she lifted her knee up to drive it into Himiko's side. Himiko sidestepped the attack and threw a right hook into Ochako's back. With Himiko now slightly behind her and sucking in a breath through clenched teeth, Ochako swung her elbow back, only for Himiko to lift up her arms and block the attack. Ochako felt some satisfaction that she was able to draw out a nice sharp hiss from Himiko, certain that the hit was going to leave a nice dark bruise. Her attack wasn't over, however. Twisting her body, she pushed Himiko back with her elbow, and, as the other girl stumbled back, Ochako extended her arm and reached out with her hand. One by one, her fingers made contact with Himiko's shoulder.

One.

Two.

Three.

Fou-!

Briefly, Himiko's eyes went wide in an instant before narrowing again and with a snarl, Himiko snatched Ochako's wrist and yanked her hand away. Ochako tried to pull her arm and hand back, but Himiko held it in place. With her free hand, Himiko reached up and grabbed hold of Ochako's pinky. Ochako didn't have time to think about what Himiko was about to do before the girl's grip tightened. Toga sharply pulled the finger up, twisting it. Ochako felt a sickening pop in her hand at the same time, Himiko yanked the finger backwards. Biting back a scream, Ochako pulled her hand back, at the same time, Himiko let her go. She then rolled across her back and grabbed her other hand, doing the exact same thing to it as well.

Stumbling backwards, Ochako fought tooth and nail not to scream at the sudden pain she found herself in. Himiko, though, wasn't going to let her get far, closing the gap; this time, she caught both of Ochako's wrists in her hands and held them up at eye-level so Ochako could see exactly what she had done. Blinking away tears, Ochako looked at her hands. Both her pinkies had been dislocated. The bottom knuckle joint had been popped out and pushed back into the hand so that it looked like a small hill compared to her uninjured fingers and knuckles. The finger was already beginning to swell and turn a dark purple.

"Count yourself lucky I only popped it out."

Ochako lifted her gaze from her hands to Himiko who was glaring down at her.

"If I had wanted to, I could have ripped it off easily. That's what people do out in the real world, Ochako. If this was real, you'd be Quirkless now. Right now, though, you just won't be using your Quirk for this fight."

Ochako looked back at her hands. For her Quirk to work, she had to make contact with all five of her finger pads. Now though, with her pinkies dislocated, bent backwards, and swollen, she couldn't move the finger at all, meaning she couldn't use it to touch anything or grab anything. Her fifth pad was now a non factor in the fight, making her Quirk null and void.

"This is how fights in the real world work, Ochako. So what are you going to do now that you can't float me?"

It was a fair question, and Ochako had a fair answer. As Ochako leaned back, Himiko blinked a few times before Ochako snapped back and drove her head right into Himiko's face. After the initial hit, Himiko let go of Ochako's wrists and covered her face with her hands, leaving her open for Ochako to drive her foot into her stomach with the strongest push kick she could throw. As Himiko stumbled back several yards, Ochako shook her head to shake out the ringing and focused on trying to ignore the pain in her hands. Glancing up, she saw Himiko was also collecting herself. Bent over and hacking, she had an arm wrapped around her stomach while her other hand was held up to her nose with blood seeping through her fingers and running down her chin, staining the collar of her gym top.

"I'm going to do that, Toga."

Himiko glared at Ochako as she stood up, pulling her hand away from her face. Her nose was smashed to the side, the skin along the bridge was busted open, and all the blood dripping from her broken nose fell past her lips, outlining her teeth and fangs in bright red. This gave her snarling face a much more gruesome and animalistic look.

She almost looked like a monster.

---

"Okay, Midoriya, what the hell is going on between Uraraka and Toga?"

Since the match had started, no one had been able to say anything. The whole of 1-A had been blown away with the ferocity of the fight. The savagery of it. Other matches in the opening round had been fierce, too, but everyone could tell there was something different about this fight.

Izuku, after tearing his eyes off the match, looked over at Eijirou and gave the only answer he could: he just shrugged while looking completely and totally lost. Katsuki rolled his eyes and sneered. "Way to live up to your fucking name, Deku."

Izuku supposed that wasn't a completely unfair statement. As Ochako and Himiko's friend, he felt that maybe he should at least know what was bothering them. Especially now since whatever it was was making them tear each other apart.

Izuku was brought out of his thoughts though when Denki pointed down towards the ring, "Hey, is Toga melting?"

Turning back around, Izuku's eyes went wide, "She's transforming!"

But into who?

---

When Toga's body began to excrete gray sludge, Ochako was more than a little disturbed and worried. Though, only for a moment. As the strange grey sludge started to cover Himiko up, she had taken off into a sprint right for Ochako. Halfway to her, Himiko flipped over and used her gymnastic strength to propel herself into the air. As she arced into the air above Ochako, her whole body was covered in sludge. Ochako's eyes widened as she recalled the way Himiko had looked after the capture the flag match.

Her Quirk!? But who is she going to transform into? One of our classmates? Deku or -!

The glob of sludge grew bigger as it descended towards Ochako, and suddenly every instinct Ochako had screamed at her to fall back. To get away. Ochako leapt back just as the grey sludge came down where she had been, and a pair of huge jaws with rows and rows of razor sharp teeth snapped shut where her head had been. Skidding to a stop, Ochako's eyes went wide as the person before her finally took shape.

The shark villain from the attack on the USJ!?

Seeing this villain again sent a shiver up Ochako's spine. After she had been dumped into the lake by the warp villain Kurogiri, it had been this villain that had been the first to try and kill her. It was thanks to Tsuyu pulling her to safety that she hadn't been hurt. He was also the villain whose arm Himiko had cut off after he had tried to grab Tsuyu when she hadn't been looking.

But this guy is an amphibious villain, so I bet he won't be anywhere near as fast as he was in the water. So as long as I avoid all those teeth, I shouldn't have to worry too mu-!

"URK!"

Ochako's thoughts were violently cut off as Himiko kicked off the ground and closed the distance between the two of them faster than Ochako was ready for. That, and Himiko's now extended reach left Ochako completely flat-footed and unable to defend herself. Himiko had a large opening to take advantage of, driving her fist straight into Ochako's stomach. The force of the attack was strong enough to lift Ochako off her feet. Coughing and hacking, Ochako backpedaled as she tried to defend herself. The sudden change of reach, power, and form of her opponent left her reeling. Each punch that followed slammed into Ochako's arms and shoulders as she desperately tried to keep her head, body, and hands from taking any more damage. The downside to this was that her arms were starting to go numb, but at least she was still on her feet.

Which was pissing Himiko off.

Growling in frustration, Himiko kept hammering away at Ochako. While her attacks still had Ochako on the back foot, she still hadn't been able to knock her down. She'd be impressed if she wasn't starting to get pissed off.

Time to change things up. Try and counter this!

After her last punch, Himiko didn't throw another. Up until now, she had just been using the added physical strength to beat Ochako down, but now Himiko was going to use her new form's mutation to her advantage. Leaning forward, Himiko opened her giant shark jaws wide and snapped at Ochako. Ochako's eyes went wide, and she leaned back, while at the same time pulled her arms back as well to keep herself as far away from the rows of teeth as she could, which was exactly what Himiko wanted her to do. With Ochako leaning so far back, she was off-balance and an easy target to finally topple over. Stepping forward, Himiko used her form's long legs to put a foot behind Ochako's leg and sweep Ochako's feet out from under her.

Ochako hit the ground with a pained grunt. Now flat on her back, Himiko chased after her with her jaws, intending to snap up Ochako's head and hold her between her teeth, forcing her to concede. Afterall, there's not much a person can do when their head is inside a shark's mouth. Bending over, jaws opened wide, she dove down to finish Ochako off, but found her herself suddenly stopped. Ochako had curled herself up and put her feet between Himiko's jaws and her own head. One foot slipped under the top lip while the other did the same with the bottom lip. The soles of Ochako's shoes dug into Himiko's gums, and her legs flexed and strained as she kept Himiko back.

"You! Aren't! Eating! Me!"

Himiko just roared in response, spraying spit over Ochako, though the other girl had more important things to worry about. Not only were her legs burning from the strain of keeping Himiko's teeth away, she could feel herself starting to slide along the arena floor, the concrete leaving scratches and cuts along her back, giving her a horrible case of road rash as she desperately clawed at the ground to slow herself.

Need to do something quick before she pushes me out of bounds!

Desperation, and some slight panic, drove Ochako to take a chance and pull back her foot that had been pressed against Himiko's top jaw. Immediately, Ochako's other leg started to buckle, but she grit her teeth and fought through the pain. With her other leg free, she pulled it as far back as she could, her knee almost pressing into her chest, and kicked Himiko in the mouth as hard as she could. The first kick didn't seem to do anything, but that didn't deter Ochako as she tried again and again. With her third kick, several teeth flew from Himiko's mouth and skipped off the concrete floor. However, instead of blood dripping from the gums the teeth had been, more of that grey sludge dripped down until each tooth that had been kicked out was replaced. Ochako, though, immediately noticed that detail and it got her mind racing.

Before, when I ran into Toga after the capture the flag match, it looked like she was covered in a melting form. Her transformation was falling off her. And just now, she covered herself in that gray sludge before she took on this villain's form. So she's wearing this transformation, and it's not her actual body… and after it takes a little damage, it falls apart. She might be able to fix it later, but if I want these teeth gone, I don't have to worry about doing too much damage to her!

Eyes blazing, Ochako kicked Himiko again, this time aiming for the gum line. She kicked and kicked and kicked until she felt the flesh of the gums gave and mash together, turning gray and soft. Before Himiko could fix the damage, Ochako jammed her foot into the gray mess and sunk her foot into Himiko's upper jaw.

Growling in rage, Himiko pulled back, but with Ochako's foot stuck on her gums, Ochako was pulled up as well until she was standing vertically over Himiko, with her legs split over Himiko's open jaws. Ochako bent down and dug her working fingers into the sludgy mess of her upper jaw. Screaming, Ochako pulled with all her strength, and, with the most disturbing squelch sound Ochako had ever heard, she pulled the whole upper jaw out of Himiko's shark villain's mouth.

Ochako could already feel the jaw starting to melt in her hands, so she moved fast to capitalize on her new weapon. Twisting the jaw around so the teeth were facing down, she started hacking away at the remains of Himiko's jaws, head, and face until everything was a gray dripping mess. no longer able to hold its form. Ochako's feet fell through, and she landed back onto the ground. Hitting the ground, Ochako was about to press her attack. but a wild swing of Himiko's arms made her take several steps back. Himiko's form made a few more horrific gurgling sounds before everything started to melt away.

---

"Holy shit."

"You can say that again."

"Holy. Shit."

Hanta's jaw was on the floor, "Okay, hold on a second here. Uraraka just ripped off Toga's shark jaw...and then beat her over the head with it. Man can you imagine what she could do to someone she didn't actually like?"

Tsuyu, Hitoshi and Tenya all turned in their chairs to look over at Katsuki. Katsuki blinked at their gazes before snarling and turning back to watch the match.

---

Ochako watched Himiko closely as the rest of her transformation melted away and turned to sludge. As more and more of it fell off her, Ochako could start to see Himiko's new form. Instead of a giant shark man, Himiko was a tall woman, wrapped tightly in a light lavender kimono. While her body looked normal, her face was elongated, narrow and blank, with only narrow black slits for eyes, topped with long greasy black hair.

Does she...does Toga actually expect to be able to fight in that form?

Deciding she wasn't going to wait to find out, Ochako charged. As she got closer, Himiko, with grey sludge still dripping from her hand, swung her arm out. Ochako dodged the sludge and made it a few more steps when she realized something was up. The sludge around Himiko's outstretched hand hardened and formed a long pole that extended past Ochako.

She can transform the sludge into weapons, too!?

While this realization hit Ochako, Himiko reached up with her other hand and swung the long pole right into Ochako's side. Ochako was able to get her forearm up in time to protect her side and ribs. Himiko's attack wasn't over, however, as she yanked the pole back. When Himiko did, Ochako heard a few horrified gasps from the crowd just as she saw the bright flash of metal pass by her peripheral and felt a searing pain as something sliced through her shoulder.

"AHH!"

Ochako came to a stop, reached up her shoulder, and winced at the cut that ran along it. It wasn't very deep, but it hurt. Glancing back over at Himiko, Ochako also now knew that if she had wanted to, she could have cut her a lot worse.

That's not a polearm...it's a scythe!

Himiko twirled the weapon around before pointing the curved blade right at her.

---

"Midnight. Should we intercede?" Cementoss' voice rang in Midnight's head from her earpiece.

Midnight glanced over at Cementoss, who was still, at least outwardly, calmly sitting in his chair, observing the match.

"No. No one is to do anything."

"Are you sure?"

"Toga hasn't broken any rules yet."

"But that weapon…"

"Don't forget, Yaoyorozu used her Quirk to make tools and weapons in her match, too."

She could hear Cementos's resigned sigh on the other end of the mic. "Very well. Still, I'm very curious how Toga was able to get the blood for these transformations."

For Midnight though, there wasn't much to think about. "I think we both know who gave her the blood."

"...Nezu…"

If Midnight had to guess, he had probably given it to Himiko just before he called to warn her about the impending fight between Himiko and Ochako in the locker room.

---

With terrifying speed and skill, Himiko swung and jabbed the scythe at Ochako, who was now backpedaling desperately to try and get out of range of the large blade as Himiko just walked after her. Each time the scythe passed by, Ochako got a new cut added to all her other injuries.

Darn it! She's tearing me apart! At this rate I'm going to lose by 'death by a thousand cuts.'

Ochako knew she needed to get rid of Himiko's weapon sooner rather than later. So when the scythe blade passed by her side, she lifted her arm up so that the pole passed between her arm and side. Before Himiko could pull it back, Ochako trapped the pole to her side and grabbed it with her hand.

Growling, which was impressive considering her current form didn't have a mouth, Himiko tried to yank the scythe back, but Ochako's grip was too tight. Ochako, with her free arm, raised it above the pole and brought it down, cracking the wood as she snapped the pole in two. Gripping the remains of the scythe, Ochako reared back and threw the blade right back at Himiko. As it sailed through the air, the broken weapon burst into grey sludge and splattered over Himiko.

Ochako lifted her arms up, and after hissing through her clenched teeth at all the cuts she now had, looked right at Himiko and dared her to make her next move. "Well? What else you got?"

Himiko stood motionless, glaring back at Ochako as she slowly began to transform again.

Sighing, Ochako stood back and waited. She knew she should be pressing her attack, but she needed the moment to catch her breath. As she recovered, she watched as Himiko's form melted away. Immediately, she could tell this new form was shorter, which Ochako hoped meant that she wasn't going to have to deal with someone who had a longer reach than her. As more and more of the gray sludge fell off Himiko, Ochako could start to see what was behind it.

Okay, she's definitely picked something more my size. Looks like they're wearing some blue sweats with red shoes...and they have green...hair...Oh...OH SHE ISN'T!

As the last of the sludge fell away, Ochako found herself with a perfect doppelganger of Izuku Midoriya. Smiling brightly, Himiko stepped out of the sludgy remains and waved happily at Ochako, "Hey, Uraraka. This what you were expe-"

WAM!

Himiko had only gotten a few feet closer before Ochako stepped up and drove her foot right into Himiko's groin, dropping the fake Izuku to her knees. Before Himiko could respond, Ochako twisted on one foot and kicked Himiko in the face, leaving her sprawled out on the floor.

"Two things," Ochako said as she stood over Himiko. "One, I really hope you weren't stupid enough to think I'd hesitate just because you looked like Deku. I watched you turn into him. And second, Deku and I trained together to get into U.A. A lot of that training was sparring toward the end. I got over punching and kicking Deku a long time ago. You can't do anything in that form to trick me or make me hesitate."

CRACK!

While still on the ground, Himiko pulled a leg back and slammed it into Ochako, forcing her back several paces. With Ochako no longer standing Himiko sat up before grumbling as she got to her feet, "Stupid boys and their extra equipment. Fucking hell that hurt."

Now on her feet, Himiko's hands went to her face and frowned at the damage. Ochako's kick had turned her transformed face into something that resembled a mask that was pulled too far to the side. Fortunately for her, it took very minimal effort to fix. Once she had, Himiko turned her full attention back towards Ochako who had recovered from her kick, "Now, as for you. What did you just say?"

Ochako's eyes narrowed as she got into her fighting stance, "You're not going to trick me looking like Deku."

Himiko arched an eyebrow, "How about we stress test that theory?"

Ochako expected Himiko to charge her. Instead, she just started to walk forward at a very leisurely pace. After a few steps, Ochako watched as once again a grey sludge began to cover her and run down her body. With each step, more and more sludge hit the ground, but at no point did Himiko's transformation start to melt away.

She still looks like Deku, but she's clearly losing parts of her transformation? What is she do...do...EEHHHHHHH?!

Ochako's eyes bulged and her face went scarlet as it finally hit her just what Himiko was doing. As she continued to walk, her gym clothes were melting off her body. Or more specifically, Izuku's clothes were melting off his body. Himiko took another step and her feet left behind the remains of Izuku's socks and red shoes. Another step and Izuku's shoulder, chest and finally abs were gleaning in the sunlight. And finally Izuku's pants liquified and started to run down his hips and past his gro-

Ochako ripped her eyes away as she turned her head and covered her face with her hands, "TOGA, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? YOU CAN'T JUST DO THAT TO DEKU!"

Oh my god. Oh my god! She's naked! She transformed into Deku, and is walking around as him naked. IN FRONT OF ALL THESE PEOPLE! How could she do this to Deku!? This...this fucking bitch! When I get my hands on her I'm going to wring her neck! Why go this far? Just because I said I wasn't...going...to...be...tricked...I'm not looking at Toga anymore...Oh shi-!I

The revelation she had been tricked into taking her eyes off Himiko hit her almost as hard as Himiko's fist as she drove it right into her stomach, which she followed up with a second punch, and then a third. By the fourth, Ochako was able to get a defence up and fight Himiko off, even driving her elbow into Himiko's shoulder. With Himiko driven back, Ochako readied herself for what she was about to do. She knew she couldn't keep fighting if she avoided looking at Himiko, so she turned to face her, prepared to deal with the consequences with Izuku later, which would involve no small amount of fervent apologizing.

Then she looked, and her mind sort of just ground to a halt. Not because of what she saw, but because of what she didn't see. While Himiko had melted all of Izuku's clothes off, she hadn't left his body exposed as she had feared. At least not fully. His chest, arms, legs and feet were bare, but the area around his waist line and his upper thighs were pale and, more importantly, blank and smooth. The skin looked waxy and was close to the same color as the sludge that her body was covered in whenever she transformed. At worst, Himiko had made Izuku look like he was wearing a U.A.-issued swimsuit that was a few shades off from his skin tone.

"You're not...but I thought…"

Himiko rolled her eyes in annoyance, "Let me save you some time. No, I'm not. No, I wouldn't, but yes, there are people who would and do. And if you can't deal with something as minor as a little nudity, you're going to get fucked up in the real world."

Ochako frowned at that, "You keep bringing that up! WHY!? This is a school tournament!"

Himiko took up a fighting stance, which Ochako instantly recognized as Izuku's fighting style, "Because, Ochako, you need to learn what's coming for you. It's for your own good."

Ochako didn't get a chance to ask what she meant by that, as Himiko was already on the attack.

---

"Bwahahaha! You're a fucking Ken doll!"

Katsuki fell back into his seat as he clutched his sides. While Katsuki laughed, Izuku buried his face in his hand, "Ah, this is so embarrassing!"

Mina tapped her chin as she leaned forward, "Hey, Midoriya. Just how...accurate is Toga's transformation of you?"

"That's what I look like," was Izuku's muffled reply, not understanding what Mina was getting at.

Mina glanced over at Eijirou who nodded, "Midoriya is surprisingly ripped."

"In that case, Mirdoriya, you got nothing to be worried about."

Lowering his hand, Izuku looked over at Mina, "I don't?"

Mina nodded, crossing her arms and looking serious, "Nope. Honestly, it's a little unfair. A face like yours attached to that body. You're a walking trap for an unsuspecting sweetheart...but at the same time you're a delectable snack for a carnivore."

"I...huh? What do you mean by that?"

Mina smirked but before she could reply, Tsuyu's tongue smacked her across the head, "No corrupting the innocent, kero."

Mina snickered while Izuku glanced between the two, "Wait, what am I missing?"

"Can we not talk about this shit!? I don't want to lose my lunch and miss the chance to see Round Face get the crap beat out of her."

Katsuki's growl shook Izuku out of his confused stupor, and he turned back to the fight at hand just in time to see Ochako get struck again by Himiko. It was a little disconcerting, seeing himself attacking Ochako with such ferocity. He also couldn't help but feel like the match was not going to last much longer. While it was almost impossible to tell what, if any, extra damage Himiko had sustained during the fight because she was inside her transformation. Ochako was not looking good. She had started out strong, but he could tell she was slowing down. Himiko was also slower than she had been at the start, but not to the same degree.

Other people and heroes in the crowd were coming to the same conclusion as well, including All Might. While Ochako's parents were still cheering their daughter on, he had become much more subdued. At the start of the match, he had seen Ochako start off in a blaze. Her attacks were fast and her defence was sturdy. She had brought all her talent and training under himself and Gunhead to bear against Himiko and had shown everyone the depth of her resolve and her drive to win. As Himiko began to change up the fight, Ochako had adapted and done her best to keep pace with her opponent. However, an unfortunate fact was beginning to become clear to All Might, and he was sure to many of the other professional heroes. Throughout the whole fight, Ochako had been at a disadvantage. Those with a keen eye could tell there was an experience gap between the two fighters.

Ochako's drive had done wonders to close it, but as the fight dragged on, Himiko's experience started to widen it again. She started taking less damage, and more often was able to keep Ochako on the defensive. While Ochako had several moments where she was able to break through, she was never able to fully capitalize on them. Perhaps she might have if not for the damage done to her hands that was preventing her from using her Quirk- another factor showing Himiko's greater understanding of the fight. Even now, Ochako was once again playing defense as Himiko was able to use Izuku's body to over power her, and beat her down. This wasn't to say that Ochako wasn't landing blows of her own, but for everyone one of hers, Himiko was landing three. Unless Ochako was able to pull something out soon, and take Himiko by surprise, this match would be coming to an end very soon.

---

When Himiko's fist collided with Ochako's side, she felt the ribs give. The second and third time she hit the same spot, she felt them give more and more as the spot felt softer to hit. Ochako tried to counter, driving her elbow up to connect with Himiko's jaw, but she leaned back and the blow went wide. With the miss, Himiko found another opening and threw a left hook. Ochako moved to the side, but the punch still grazed her chin with enough force to leave her dazed.

It had taken her longer than she had planned- Ochako had put up much more of a fight than she thought she would- but finally the fight was turning into a one-sided beatdown.

"If you were smart, you'd concede."

Himiko ducked an attack and jabbed her hand out and struck Ochako in the chin again.

"No," was Ochako's firm and quick reply.

"Good." With a grunt, Himiko knocked Ochako's arms to the side and threw an uppercut right into her stomach. She quickly followed up with a second hit that drove out any air Ochako still had left. It should have knocked her to the ground, but Ochako only stumbled back. She was standing on very wobbly legs, but she was still standing.

"The longer you stay on your feet, the more I get to kick the crap out of you."

Ochako hacked and wheezed as she fought to catch her breath, "Don't-" a guttural cough interrupted her for a moment, but she pressed on, ignoring the fresh taste of bile and iron in her mouth. "Don't get too full of yourself. You haven't won yet."

Rolling her eyes, Himiko shook her head, "Riiiiiight. You're going to suddenly get a second wind and win the day because of your drive or something comic book-ie like that. Oh wait, no. It's your convictions that're going to push you to victory right?"

"Shut up! You don't know anything about why I'm here!"

Ochako still hadn't fully caught her breath, but she charged at Himiko anyway, rage flashing in her eyes as she struck. Himiko arched an eye at the sudden snap and change in Ochako. Sidestepping, she stuck out her leg, tripping Ochako as she sailed by. "Oh, I know enough. You aren't that complicated."

Himiko swung down, but Ochako rolled into her fall and was able to get away. Himiko clicked her tongue against her teeth. "Selfish brats like you are so easy."

"Selfish?"

Ochako stood upright and stared Himiko down, face contorted in anger, "What do you mean selfish? What gives you the right to call me that!?"

"Oh, would you prefer greedy then?"

"AHH!" Ochako screamed as she attacked, first with a kick, then a knee strike. Not only did she miss, but her own momentum tripped her up, All Himiko had to do was give her a hard shove and Ochako hit the ground with a thud.

"What? Did I touch a nerve? Don't like getting called out like this? Then maybe you should have actually tried to hide why you were here. The way you talk about money, how you penny pinch, everything you do makes it so obvious you're here just to make money."

"I SAID SHUT UP! You don't know anything about me!" Ochako's eyes started to water as she struggled to stand up. "You don't know anything, so don't you dare stand there and pretend to judge me."

The tears in Ochako's eyes, the anger, and the hurt made Himiko slow down.

"I'm here for a reason, Toga. I'm here for more than just myself!"

"Enlighten me then. What reason is that?"

Himiko's legs tensed as she got ready to sprint forward...

"My parents!"

...Only to come to a very sudden stop, "W-what?"

"I'm here for my parents. They don't...we don't have much, and I don't want them to suffer anymore. They try to hide it, but I always see it. I see the stress, the hurt, and the worry. I grew up watching my parents be afraid of what the next day would bring, even while they tried so hard to shield me from it." Ochako pressed her hands off her knees as she forced herself up, eyes leveled with Himiko. What she was talking about she had only shared with Izuku, but to have Himiko belittle her and simplify her goals and dreams to simple greed compelled her to talk.

"Toga, you're right: I want to make money. I want to make money so that my parents never have to go another day feeling the stress they do now. So that they never have to pick between paying a bill, paying rent, or food. I'm here to make sure my parents get to live the life they deserve. You want to call me greedy and selfish? Fine, maybe I am. Because you know what I want even more than that. I want even more than what I first dreamed about when I trained to come here. I want to do more than just take care of my family. I want to take care of my friends and classmates. I want to take care of Eri and Mrs. Midoriya. I want to take care of Deku. And, you know what, I even want to take care of you. I will become one of the greatest heroes the world has ever seen, and I will protect everyone!"

Standing straight, Ochako stood proud in the center of the arena, "Toga, I'm going to protect everyone that is important to me. I'm going to protect everyone that I love, and no one is going to stop me. Not the League of Villains, not Shigaraki, and not you! Because you know what? For all your talk about how this dark world has made you so strong- how it's made you stronger than me- You still haven't stopped me yet! Toga, I will not stop!"

---

For Midnight, the whole fight had played out, mostly, as she had thought it would. Both girls were set in their ways and were impressive fighters for their age. Midnight wasn't surprised at all that the fight had turned nasty and become more personal than just a competition. After what she had heard go down between the two, she knew that if the two ended up facing each other, someone was going to have to make a visit to Recovery Girl. The two just kept slamming into each other, over and over, with neither showing signs they wanted to stop. Then slowly, Ochako started to slow down, and Himiko took that opportunity to start talking. To twist the knife as she got ready to end the match. To beat Ochako down physically and emotionally.

Then things changed.

Then Ochako started to talk.

Driven by Himiko's words, instead of being discouraged, Ochako unleashed her convictions onto Himiko in an avalanche. When Ochako started talking, Midnight could feel the girl's conviction. Her drive, her dreams, and her desires were expressed so openly in every word. That kind of display was normally just the kind of thing that would get her excited and her blood pumping. At the moment, though, that potential excitement was chilled by a cold dread, because the more Ochako talked, the less Midnight was able to get a read on Himiko.

Himiko just stood there as Ochako made her declarations. Stood motionless and almost expressionless. Which was scary. There were many things Midnight could say about the serial stabber. There were many ways she could describe her. Reserved was not one of them. Himiko was just standing there, and listening. Listening to everything Ochako said until finally her face twitched into an emotion Midnight almost couldn't describe.

It almost looked like pity.

When Ochako had finished, Himiko closed her eyes as she took a deep breath before she took up a fighting stance as Ochako did the same. Then she opened her eyes to look right at Ochako.

Every U.A teacher that saw those eyes knew something was about to happen. All Might way up in the suites, watching the fight on the giant monitors, acted as fast as he could to turn Eri away, distracting her with a snack. Midnight felt a cry get stuck in her throat. A cry to call the match. To end it before what happened next, happened.

But she was too late.

"I believe you," Those were the last words Himiko before she moved.

---

"I believe you."

Himiko wasn't lying when she said that. She had listened to every word Ochako had said, and came to the conclusion that the other girl meant every single word.

So for Himiko, there was only one thing for her to do. In one instance, she was in her fighting stance, and then next she was closing the gap between herself and Ochako.

When Himiko had first transformed into Izuku, she had been shocked at just how strong he was. She had compared his body and muscles to coiled steel- power just waiting to be unleashed. In that moment, she unleashed all of it. By the time she had closed the gap between the two of them and had pulled her arm back to throw her punch, Ochako had just gotten her arms up to block.

But that didn't matter.

The punch Himiko threw smashed through Ochako's defenses like they weren't even there. Ochako didn't even have time to realize she was about to get hit. Himiko's fist slammed into the side of Ochako's face, making her head snapped back, and a crack echoed over the suddenly quiet crowd. Ochako's legs buckled, and through sheer willpower, she kept herself from falling down as her world spun.

Himiko, however, wasn't done. Reaching out, Himiko grabbed the front of Ochako's gym top and held her in place as she pulled back and hit her again.

CRACK!

And again.

CRACK!

And again.

CRACK!

And again.

CRACK!

And again.

CRACK!

After the final hit, Himiko let go of Ochako and let her drop to the ground, where she lay face down on the concrete floor. Himiko stood over Ochako's motionless form. Her heartbeat thundered in her ears and her hands shook as she forced her fingers to uncurl from a fist. Looking down at Ochako, Himiko frowned, "Why? This would have been so fucking easy if you had just been another money-hungry piece-of-shit. But no, you have to go and be an actual good person. You had to have goals and dreams that make the rest of the world look as dirty as it really is. And you had to actually believe you could do all that too. You had to be so stupid to think that you're convictions would be enough to help you achieve your goals. Well, guess what, convictions can't beat reality."

Himiko took a shuddering breath, "If I have to be the bad guy and beat that into you, fine. Better that I beat the shit out of you than you getting killed in some alley trying to do too much. I doubt your parents want to bury you...and I know Izuku doesn't want to see you die trying to do something you can't do. You need to learn your limits. You want to save your parents; fine, do that. Just don't then try and lump everything else on top of that. It'll weigh you down, and you'll drown. It's a brutal lesson, but this is the kindest way I can drill it home, Ochako. Look after yourself, and leave the rest to the people that are strong enough to protect someone else."

Taking a step back, Himiko started to turn away, but paused and added softly, "I'll look after Izuku for you."

Turning fully around, Himiko's eyes met Midnight's and the two just looked at each other for a few moments before Himiko sneered, "What the fuck are you doing!? She's done! Call the fucking match already and get her to Recovery Girl!"

Midnight nodded. While there were many things she and Himiko were going to need to discuss, she had a responsibility as judge to end the match. Raising her hand up Midnight signaled the end of the fight, "Uraraka Ochako is unable to compete. Toga Himiko adva-!"

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

A loud scream ripped through the air, cutting Midnight off and startling Himiko enough to make her jump. Midnight's eyes went wide as she closed her mouth, no longer able to finish. Himiko whirled around and stood in stunned silence as Ochako screamed as she forced herself to stand. This wasn't a scream of pain, of anger, or of fear. It was a scream of effort and raw emotions. When she finally stopped, Ochako was standing up and looking right at Himiko. She was hurt. Anyone with eyes could tell that last flurry of punches from Himiko had hurt her. Half of her face- her normally round, pink cheek- was now swollen and a deep maroon. The cuts under her eyes were splitting open, and past the swollen bloody flesh, Ochako's eye glared back, red and angry. It was obvious Ochako was hurt, and it was obvious that she did not care.

Then she took a step forward, and Himiko took a step back.

"I told you, Toga," Ochako started, spitting blood as she spoke and stepping closer to Himiko who backed up in shock. "I told you I'm going to protect everyone that is important to me. I'm going to protect everyone that I love, and no one is going to stop me."

Another step. "Not the League."

Another step. "Not Shigaraki."

And another. "And not you! After all that, you still haven't beaten me, Toga. And if that's the best you and your dark world has, you never will. Your reality is no match for my conviction."

Himiko stopped taking steps back, and her face contorted into something horrible. Her face twisted from so many different emotions until it settled on one that looked completely unnatural on the disguise she wore, "You think that's the worst I have, Ochako? You have no idea what I'm capable of."

"Bring it on."

Himiko's form exploded as her Izuku transformation melted away. Gray sludge seeped out of every pore and extruded from every orifice until she was nothing but a glob. A glob that started to get bigger and bigger until the sludge towered far above Ochako. A humanoid form slowly began to form as the sludge hardened and giant arms ruptured from underneath. The skin, pale at first, darkened until it turned black with deep red scars running down her arms. Torn, tan khakis covered her legs, pushing her new form even higher into the air. A yellow beak with sharp jagged teeth was exposed as the excess gray sludge fell away, followed by large eyes and an exposed brain.

Nomu stood before Ochako, tall and terrifying. Opening her mouth, Himiko screamed her answer to Ochako's challenge as she crouched down, toes and fingers digging into the concrete as she prepared to launch herself at Ochako.

Ochako didn't blink, crouching once more into a fighting stance.

---

Inko hadn't realized what All Might was doing when he reached over and turned Eri away so suddenly with a treat, but now she was grateful that he had. Holding the little girl close to her chest, Inko patted her head as she looked up at her confused, "Why is Ochako lying down? Did something happen? Is it over?"

Inko glanced over at Ochako's parents. Both were pale and holding onto each other as they sat back down. The end of the fight had been so strange for the group. In reality, the match hadn't been that different than the others, if you looked at it objectively. In the other matches, students had tried to electrocute each other, used weapons or acid, and were even blown up. Even at the start of this match, things while intense, still felt like a tournament. But seeing someone who looked like her son beat Ochako down like that had changed the room.

As parents, they knew there was the chance their kids weren't going to win, but none of them expected Ochako's run to end like that.

"Yes, dear. The match is over n-"

Then they all heard the scream. Even with only Midnight and Cementos wearing mics, they could still hear Ochako scream as she stood up all the way up in their suite. Mr. Uraraka leapt from his chair, "She's getting up!...Oh lord, she's getting back up."

While Mr. Uraraka switched between excited for his daughter and terrified, Mrs. Uraraka had her hands clasped in front of herself, watching everything intently.

"Oh, it looks like Young Toga is transforming again."

Inko's sigh was obvious, which got her some sympathy from Mr. Uraraka, "I guess having a young women running around looking like your boy while not being...completely dressed can be a little stressful."

"You have no idea."

The brief exchange brought back some humor back to the suite, but as they watched Toga change, that mood quickly turned.

"That's...that's the monster that almost killed my Izuku…" Inko was in shock while besides her All Might tightened his grip on his arm rests as the giant form of the Nomu took shape in the arena and started to get ready to attack Ochako.

Nezu, what did you do!?

---

Nezu, what did you do!?

Midnight only had a few seconds to recognize the monster in front of her before the receiver in her ear blew up. Teachers calling out in alarm. Wondering how Himiko could have gotten the blood needed.

"Everyone please remember what we discussed." Principal Nezu's voice cut through everyone else, even though he sounded calm and collected.

"Have you lost your damned mind! If you think I'm just going to-"

"I have my eyes on Toga," Aizawa cut off Vlad King, "If I have to, I can end her transformation instantly."

Vlad King grunted, "Uraraka is your student. As her teacher, you have a responsibility-"

Again Aizawa cut in, "Uraraka and Toga are both my students, and making sure both are safe is a responsibility I take very seriously. Safe, but at the same time, making sure they do everything they can to grow into heroes. Clearly, both have decided to give this match everything they have. Something I encouraged my students to do since they only have three chances at these Sports Festivals. Something I know you did for your students, too. They may be using this match for more personal reasons, but it will still get them noticed by other pro heroes."

Aizawa stopped, giving Vlad a chance to counter, but the teacher of Class B had nothing to say.

"Then let me cut to the chase. Midnight, is Toga in danger of losing control?"

"No," was Midnight's instant reply.

"Is Uraraka in mortal danger?"

"No. I think...Toga, in her own admittedly twisted way, is trying to save Uraraka's life."

"Interesting. Very Interesting," Everyone could see Nezu rubbing his paws together just from his voice. For Aizawa, Midnight's answer was enough. "Then I will keep doing my job up here and trust in Midnight's judgment as the official in these matches."

There was a muffled snort as Present Mic mumbled, "What job? You're the quietest commentator in the world."

If there is nothing else everyone," Neru waited, but no one voiced a new objection, "Then let us go back to watching this match. I have a feeling it's about to kick off again. And I for one want to see how this ends."

---

Ochako was staring death in the face, and she didn't care. Himiko had taken the form of the monster that had put her teacher into the hospital, fought All Might one-on-one, and had almost killed Izuku with a flick of its arm. This was a monster in front of her, and she should be scared. She should be, but she wasn't. Looking at the Nomu in front of her, all she felt was angry.

A tightening in Himiko's legs, and a twitch from her eyes was the only warning Ochako got before Himiko started her attack. The concrete underneath her exploded into chunks as she rocketed into the air. As she came back down, Himiko pressed her fists together and brought them down in a devastating hammer blow. Ochako dove out of the way as Himiko's fists slammed into the concrete, causing fissures and huge cracks to spread out and chunks of concrete to fly in all directions.

The sharp chunks cut into Ochako as she rolled away, but she didn't pay them any mind. She was marked up all over a few more cuts and bruises weren't going to make a difference. However when something soft splashed against her leg, that did get her attention. As she scrambled to get to her feet, and reached down to see what had hit her.

Is this...a part of Toga's transformation?

Ochako looked down at the sludge that was dripping through her fingers, and then back up to Himiko. Past the kicked up dust, she saw that Himiko's giant arms had liquified and were reforming back into shape. Even her legs were dripping and paler than the rest of her body.

She destroyed her arms in that attack, and her legs must have been damaged when she kicked off the ground. Is...is Nomu's strength tearing her own transformed body apart?

Himiko ripped the remains of her arms out of the concrete and charged at Ochako. A disfigured fist pulled back to swing at her.

She's slower! I can dodge this!

Ochako was able to dodge Himiko's fist, but the force behind the attack still struck her. Hit by the shockwave, Ochako tumbled back as she fought to keep Himiko in her line of sight.

OKAY! I can't let her hit me! One strike like that, and I'm done.

Hurrying to get up, Ochako had just enough to time scramble away as Himiko attacked her again, driving her first into the concrete floor and cracking the arena in half. The once pristine flat concrete was now cracked open, and jagged rocks split out of the ground like rows of teeth along the giant crack. Himiko chased after Ochako, but Ochako noted, she wasn't using the terrifying speed she had at the start of the fight, or like she had seen when the real Nomu fought All Might.

I still don't understand. Even if that form is too strong for her to attack without destroying her body, shouldn't it's Shock Absorption Quirk keep the kickback from the attacks from doing anything?

Then something clicked in Ochako's mind.

Wait, I don't think I've seen Toga use any Quirk when she's transformed. She didn't use Deku's during the capture the flag match, or again just now. And I'm pretty sure she didn't with those other villain forms.

Ochako's eyes scanned the ruined arena floor until they came across a chunk of concrete that she was sure she'd be able to pick up and swing around. Rushing over, and with Himiko hot on her heels, Ochako grabbed the rubble and heaved it up. This would have been much easier of course if she was able to use her Quirk on it. She probably would have gone for an even bigger chunk, but she wasn't in a position to complain, and besides, she had spent months and months picking up heavy trash at the beach. A single cinder-block-sized piece of concrete wasn't going to give her much trouble. Swingin it and herself around in an arc, Ochako launched the concrete as hard as she could right for Himiko.

It hit her square in the face, ripping through the Nomu's beak and head. With its head now gone, Ochako could see the top of Himiko's hair buns sticking out from its opened neck, confirming at least that Ochako hadn't accidentally taken Himiko's real head off along with her disguise.

Grabbing another large chunk of concrete, Ochako charged Himiko while she was distracted. Lifting the concrete up, Ochako slammed it into the Nomu's giant legs, forcing it to a knee. She then took the chunk and started hacking away at its chest, spraying gray sludge everywhere as she tried to get at Himiko inside the transformation. She saw more blond hair. Reaching in, she grabbed hold of it, and braced herself against the hulking frame of the Nomu, "Get out here, Toga! You can't hide in this monster any mo- ACK!"

Ochako had been so focused on getting to Himiko, she hadn't thought to keep an eye on her arms and hands, both of which were now fully fixed and beginning to squeeze her. Both hands were wrapped around her chest and shoulders, driving her arms into her side. Ochako tried to suck in a breath, but Himiko just squeezed harder. As she was squeezed, Himiko was able to fix all the damage done to her form and stood back up, lifting Ochako into the air and holding her up so that her feet dangled uselessly.

Nomu's giant eyes glared at Ochako angrily. Himiko snarled from behind them, applying more and more pressure to squeeze not just air, but the fight out of Ochako. This match was over, and all she needed was to see Ochako acknowledge it. She needed to see it in her eyes that she had lost.

She didn't see that. What she saw was fire glaring back at her. And then teeth.

Rearing her head back, Ochako opened her mouth and bent as far forward as she could. She could just reach Hmiko's thumbs and knuckles with her mouth. Sinking her teeth into one thumb, she ripped and tore into it. The skin and flesh popped and melted as she did, loosening Himiko's grip and letting her free one of her arms. She then tore into the other hand, loosening its grip so she could free her other arm. She slipped it free just as Himiko fixed the damage and started to squeeze out the last of her air.

With her vision starting to go dark, Ochako reached out with her hand and grabbed hold of the top of Himiko's arm.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Her swollen and dislocated pinky wouldn't bend, preventing her from making contact with all five of her fingers. At least, it wouldn't bend without help. Gritting her teeth, Ochako raised her other free hand up, and slammed it down on her pinky, forcing it to pop and bend, pressing its pad right into Himiko.

FIVE!

Himiko tried to toss Ochako away when she realized what she was doing, but she was too late. With her gravity gone, her feet left the ground while Ochako's feet touched down. Himiko growled angrily; even as she floated up into the air like a balloon, she refused to let Ochako go. As long as she kept hold of her, she could still win. Ochako, though, wasn't done. Pressing her now 'fixed' hand into her chest, Ochako floated herself and kicked off the ground as hard as she could. Driving herself and Himiko up into the air.

Startled by Ochako's move, Himiko let go and Ochako slammed into her chest. The two tumbled higher and higher into the sky. Grunting, Ochako climbed around Himiko's body until she was sitting on Himiko's stomach, knees pressing into her sides to keep herself fixed in place. By that point, Ochako guessed, they were high enough for her to finally end this fight. Biting into her sleeve, Ochako grabbed her other dislocated pinky and yanked it forward, popping it back. Ochako could feel her head spin, the lack of air and pain almost making her black out. But that didn't matter now. Looking down, Ochako looked Himiko dead in the eye as she pressed her fingers together, her mind screaming, PLUS ULTRA!

"Release!"

With the effect of her Quirk cut off, the two plummeted back to the earth with a splat!

It took Ochako a few seconds to remember where she was. Her head was throbbing, her body ached and all the cuts stung something fierce. Her hands and fingers felt three sizes too big and ready to burst. She also felt wet and sticky, which she decided was the worst part of everything at the moment. Forcing herself up to her hands and knees, Ochako looked around to figure out what her situation was.

She was still in the arena, landing close to the edge of the ring. She was laying on what was left of Himiko's Nomu transformation. The top part of the Nomu's face, upper torso, and hips were melty, but still recognizable. Her arms, legs, and the entire back of her body was gone, splattered over the ring from the force of the impact. All in all, Ochako's plan worked perfectly. Not bad since she had thought of it on the fly.

As Ochako got to her feet, more of Himiko's transformation melted away until her bruised and bloody face started to poke through the remains of the chest, gasping for breath. As Himiko started to sit up, Ochako put her foot on her collarbone and pushed her back down. Himiko scowled up at Ochako, but stopped short of saying or doing anything. Something in the other girl's eyes made her stop.

"I told you, Toga, I am going to protect everyone I love: My parents and Deku. I will take care of them, and nothing you say- nothing you do-is going to take that responsibility away from me."

Himiko's scowl started to deepen, but then she blinked. Once, twice, then at the third time, her scowl simply vanished as her eyes widened and her mouth opened into a small 'oh' shape. Her shock turned into a deep inquisitive look for a few moments as her mind raced, putting pieces together that had eluded her up until now. Finally, her expression changed again into a calm, bemused recognition. Ochako, who had watched every change, was left wondering what was even happening. She would have scratched her head, if her hands and fingers didn't hurt so much.

"Toga, what are-"

"You love Izuku."

Ochako clamped her mouth shut. She refused to allow herself to get flustered now. Not in the middle of a fight. Not after her last mistake of letting herself get distracted allowed Himiko to pummel her. Himiko, though, just started to chuckle, letting her head lay in the gray sludge around her, "All this fucking time, it was right in front of me, and I couldn't...wow, I suck at reading people like you, Ochako. I couldn't figure out what you were trying so hard to hide, and I couldn't figure out what was making you act so stupid. And it was the exact same thing. Love. You love him too, don't you."

Ochako's heart thundered in her chest. She never expected to have someone call her feelings out like this. She really didn't expect it to be Himiko to call her out, either. She started to deny it. Say that Himiko had it wrong, but as she replayed what she had just said that led to Himiko's epiphany, 'I am going to protect everyone I love: My parents and Deku.' And the fact that her hiding this feeling had been behind whatever confusion and anger Himiko had towards her originally, lying now just seemed so wrong.

"Yeah, I love Deku."

For Himiko, the mask she had seen on Ochako's face was suddenly just gone. She was still bemused that it was love that was the key to everything, but she supposed since Ochako's version of love seemed to include love for her parents, it made sense she didn't understand it in the slightest. It also made something else clear to her: Ochako really wasn't going to be stopped. Unless Himiko was willing to cause her permanent physical harm to stop her from her goal, which she wasn't at the moment, there wasn't anything she could do now. Plus, she went into this fight viewing Ochako very differently and didn't know how she felt fighting her now after this revelation.

"Ah, fuck this. I give up."

Ochako stiffened as she looked down at Himiko in shock. "Wh-what!?"

Midnight almost fell off from her podium as she rubbed her ears. "I...didn't quite catch that...I think?"

"I said 'I give up!' This bitch is crazy. I'd have to kill her to win at this point."

"Toga…?"

"You have your foot at my throat, and you literally just dropped me a few stories. At this point, I'm scared at what you'd do next." Himiko's normal wide grin was back as she finished, "I misjudged you, Ochako. You...you're a lot stronger than I thought you were, So, today, I concede."

While Ochako stood stunned at the sudden turn of events, Midnight was quick to act. Raising her hand she called out to the stadium, "Toga Himiko has conceded the match! Uraraka Ochako advances to the Semi Finals!"

---

"What an incredible turn of events! With a last second gambit Uraraka has turned the tide and won her match! Our Infinity Girl and Princess Stabbity both have given us a real Plus Ultra show here, folks! Give them a round of applause!"

While the crowd around them started cheering loudly, Ochako was still at a loss. She had thought the only way for her to win was through knockout or ring out. For Himiko to concede the fight was not what she had expected at all. That, and everything else Himiko had said had Ochako's mind racing.

"Um, Ochako?"

Blinking, Ochako looked down at Himiko, "Yeah?"

"You mind taking your foot off my throat now?"

"Take my foot...oh...OH!"

Quickly taking her foot off, Ochako took a few steps back, making sure she wasn't standing on top of Himiko anymore, "Er...sorry about that." Pausing briefly, Ochako extended her hand down to Himiko, "Um, here. Let me give you a hand."

Himiko's eyebrows raised some in surprise as she looked from Ochako then to her outstretched hand, "You sure?"

Ochako nodded, "Yeah. I'm sure."

Reaching out, Himiko wrapped her fingers around Ochako's wrist, careful of her damaged finger, and Ochako pulled her up out of the melted remains of her Nomu transformation, "Toga, I think...I think we need to talk."

Himiko nodded, "Yeah. I think that's a good idea. Fortunately, it's a bit of a walk to Recovery Girls office," A teasing smile came to Himiko's lips, "Think you can make it?"

Ochako rolled her eyes, but was smiling too, "Oh please, I'm fine; you're the one thats dripping...dripping…" Ochako trailed off as she looked at Himiko. Once she was pulled out of the giant sludge puddle, and more of the remains were falling off her, Ochako noticed that she wasn't wearing her gym uniform anymore. In fact, as the rest of the gray sludge dripped off, it became obvious to Ochako that Himiko wasn't wearing anything anymore.

"TOGA! YOUR CLOTHES!"

Himiko looked down at herself and laughed. While there was still some sludge covering her important bits, everything else was exposed, "Oh yeah, When I transform over my clothing they get destroyed, and Baku Bitch ruined the clothes the support department made that don't urk-"

Ochako yanked her blue gym top off and rushed to wrap it around Himiko to cover her up, while at the same time Midnight was screaming for Cementoss to put up a wall around the arena and exit. Several stories of concrete shot up, separating the arena and exit tunnel from view. Himiko looked at everything and started laughing, "Seriously? This is a bit much."

"But you're-"

"Naked, yeah, yeah, whatever. Not like anyone could see any of the important stuff. But," Himiko trailed off as she gave Ochako a smile, "Thank you for doing something to help...I guess. Anyway let's get going."

Ochako shook her head exasperated as she walked besides Himiko. As they walked, Ochako glanced over Himiko and took a breath, well she did say it was a long walk…

"Toga, you said too before."

"Huh?" Himiko tilted her head to the side, "Too, what?"

"When you said that I loved Deku. You said too."

Scratching her head, Himiko grinned happily, and even with a heavily bruised face Ochako could tell the other girl was blushing, "Well, yeah. I thought that was obvious. I followed him to this school after all. Hell, I know I've been taking things slow, but I thought it was pretty obvious."

Ochako's jaw dropped. Nevermind that now all the teasing she had seen Himiko do to Izuku took on a whole new meaning, but that bit at the end punched through all her other thoughts, "Slow!? That was you taking things slow!?"

Himiko laughed, "Hell yeah it is. After finally seeing him again at school I had to change up my plans a little. I knew if I came on too strong and went with my original idea, I might break him."

"Original plan," Ochako chirped. "What were you going to do to Deku?"

Himiko's grin turned devious, and her eyes took on a hungry glint that sent a shiver up Ochako's spin, "I was going to take him back to my room after Aizawa's test and fuck him through my bed."

Ochako stopped dead in her tracks, face red, and mouth hanging open. Himiko also swore she could see steam coming out of her ears. "You...but...you were going to...take Deku and…"

Himiko broke out laughing, "Oh my god get a hold of yourself. It's just sex; it's not that big of a deal. You're thinking about it way too hard, though...are you just thinking about me wanting to have fun naked times with Izuku, or just of fun naked Izuku? I did give you a pretty good idea of what that's like."

When Himiko stopped laughing and looked back towards Ochako, she found the girl wasn't next to her anymore, but had floated up and was pressed against the ceiling of the hallway, hands pressed firmly against her face.

Oh my god, how the fuck did I never get that she's this in love with Izuku? I've missed weeks of chances to tease her!

"Do you want me to pull you along?"

Ochako shook her head and after taking several deep calming breaths, pushed herself back to the floor and de-floated herself.

"So," Ochako began after she trusted herself to speak, "All the...teasing and stuff. Why go so over the top...Why not just...say it?"

"Say it?"

"Why... haven't you said you love him?" Ochako's eyes looked away as she spoke. This wasn't exactly the kind of conversation she had envisioned herself having with Himiko after their big blow up.

Himiko shrugged, "I could ask you the same thing. Why haven't you told him how you feel? Why hide it?"

Ochako looked away, chewing on her words, "I...You remember what I said, I was here for my parents."

Himiko nodded.

"Well, that's the reason."

"Huh? How do your feelings for Izuku and your goal to look after your parents have anything to do with each other?"

Ochako sighed before she looked over at Himiko, her face taking a more serious look despite she still had some of her blush on her cheeks, "I'm here for a reason, Toga, and so is Deku. I can't allow my...personal feelings get in the way."

Himiko rubbed her chin as she thought about that, "I'll be honest, that makes no sense to me, but since you seem to put your love for Izuku in the same breath as you love for your parents, maybe that's why I just don't get it, cause you know. No love loss there. Not going to say you're wrong, though; a person should be free to love how they want."

Ochako frowned but didn't say anything to add on to Himiko's mention of her parents. To not have love for or from your parents was such a foreign feeling, "You haven't said why you haven't told Deku how you feel."

"Why I haven't walked up to him and said, 'I love you?'"

Ochako nodded.

"Two reasons. One, actions speak louder than words, and I'd like to think I'm pretty obvious about how I feel for Izuku. Or anyone for that matter."

Ochako felt her insides twist at that, She was being obvious...

"And two," Himiko continued, "Izuku is not ready for that kind of confession. Ignoring the fact that I think he would actually combust if I flat out told him how I feel, I can kinda tell he's pretty dense when it comes to romance. He'll blush and stutter when I'm on him, but he plays it off as just teasing or my sense of humor. That boy needs to grow up a little more before he's ready for a relationship."

That was a very fair and thought-out point, Ochako thought. Now that she thought about it, she wasn't sure she had ever seen Izuku express any interest in romance. She knew he was aware of girls- the magazine she had confiscated before told her that- but besides a natural interest, he hadn't shown any desire to further that line of thought. "Yeah, Deku has...other things on his mind."

Deku isn't just here to become a hero. He's also here to become the next holder of One for All.

Himiko sighed dramatically, "No kidding. He's so wrapped around Baku Bitch's little finger it's sickening."

Ochako coughed and sputtered, but she knew Himiko had a point. "Hopefully he'll be able to do what he said and move on after today."

"That sure would be nice."

The two continued on in silence for a while, both thinking over everything that they had talked about. Ochako felt conflicted. On one hand, she wasn't exactly overjoyed that Himiko had feelings for Izuku like she did, but at the same time, she felt better that all the teasing wasn't being done for her own cruel amusement. Now that she had a better understanding of the situation, it also put her own feelings, and her own previous actions, into perspective.

"Hey, Toga," Ochako began slowly. Himiko glanced over at her, but seeing the serious look on Ochako's face, she kept quiet and let her talk. "I...I owe you an apology. I crossed a line accusing you like I did. I just saw everything you were doing and just assumed the worst. After almost losing Deku, I just want to keep him safe from everything. I failed so horribly last time that just the thought that your actions might hurt him in some way, I just...acted. I was so angry at you...and...and jealous of you; I just wanted you gone. I didn't want you near Deku, because...I didn't want you to take him away."

Himiko's eyes widened when Ochako mentioned she was jealous of her. That was not something she ever thought she'd hear from anyone. At the last bit, her eyebrows scrunched together, "What do you mean, take him away? Like, I'm-the-villain-from-the-USJ kind of take away? Or I'm-the-mistress-coming-to-steal-your-man kind of way?"

"I...both. I guess I saw it as the same thing…"

"Wow, that's pretty fucked up."

Ochako nodded, shame etched across her face. "What I did is inexcusable. I want you to know that I am so sorry for what I said."

Ochako bowed her head as she finished. Himiko frowned, not entirely comfortable at the heartfelt apology, "Um...can you not be so...earnest here. You're forgiven and all that. I mean, you aren't the only one that fucked up today."

Ochako looked up, confused for a second before she recalled what Himiko had said. "O-oh...right. That. About how I left Deku…"

"Yeah, like I said, you aren't the only one that overstepped and said and did something pretty fucking stupid... Sorry."

"I forgive you, Toga."

"Just like that?" Himiko asked, surprised at how quick Ochako had said that, "Is it really that simple?"

"I think it should be for friends."

Himiko was silent for a few more steps before asking, "Are we? I don't think we were before."

Ochako frowned, but she couldn't exactly argue that point. Their relationship was different than with everyone else in their little squad. They had hung out together while with everyone else, but the two had never really talked with each other besides trading barbs and dirty looks. But after talking with Himiko, and now maybe understanding her a little better, Ochako thought they could be- If Himiko wanted to, that was.

"How about a fresh start then?" Ochako asked as she held out a hand towards Himiko.

Himiko blinked and looked down at the offered hand. She stared at it for a little while. Everything that had kept her from opening up to Ochako before was gone. Ochako's views on some things were still so strange to her, but now that damned mask was gone, crushed to dust under their feet from their match.

Himiko smiled, a huge toothy smile, and took Ochako's hand. Carefully.

"I'm Toga Himiko."

Ochako smiled back, "Im Uraraka Ochako. It's nice to meet you, Toga."

"Same to you, Uraraka. It's a pleasure to meet you."

The two shook and when they let each other go, both felt like a huge weight had been lifted off them. It felt really good.

"Say, Toga."

"Yeah."

"I have this friend. He's a bit of a dork, and can't keep himself from getting into trouble."

Himiko snorted, "He sounds like a real handful."

Ochako rolled her eyes and let out an exaggerated groan. "Oh my god, you have no idea. But you see, he's a really good person, and I've been trying to keep an eye on him for a while now."

Himiko nodded, "He's lucky to have someone like you looking after him."

"I am a saint; what can I say?"

Himiko cackled, earning her a playful shove from Ochako, making them both wince, "Anyway, I've been looking after him for awhile now, but...I think I need help."

Arching an eyebrow, Himiko looked over at Ochako, "You want me to give you a hand with him?"

"If you wouldn't mind."

"Any benefits to this job?"

Ochako blushed as she smirked, "His smile will light up your day."

Himiko made a show thinking the offer over, "Well I dunno…"

"He's also really cute."

"Sold!"

Both broke out into a fit of laughter, though they ended up wincing as their injuries reminded them they were still both pretty beat up.

"Hey Ochako, I might have lost today, but don't think I'm going to lose tomorrow."

The fire in Himiko's eye was reflected in Ochako's as the two looked at each other, "Good. If everything was easy, it'd be boring. Now come on, I want to get fixed up in time to watch the next match. And you really need some clothes."

"Yeah yeah yeah, again with the clothes. Tooru runs around naked, you know. Besides, are you really in a hurry for whatever lecture Recovery Girl is going to give you after having to see her a second time today?"

Himiko nearly broke into another fit as Ochako started walking a lot slower.

Notes:

Hi there! Looks who dropping by to post a little update. So, originally the plan was for this chapter to be all the Quarter Final matches and the first Semi Final, but after my Editor-and-Chief Tmalasia looked over the Ochako Himiko fight, he suggested that this become it's own chapter. And I agreed with him. Since this is the end of this part of their character arc it's fitting that it's gets its own chapter instead of being lumped together with everything else.
I really hope you all enjoyed this match. I've had this fight sitting in my outline since near the beginning of the fic. I wanted to build up to it and I really hope you all enjoyed the payoff. Also fun fact, the original title for the fic was Time to Shonen Logic some Friendship . I think new title it better.
A big thank you to all you readers out there! It's a shorter chapter but I think it turned out pretty good. If you liked it please feel free to leave a comment or a critique :D
A Huge shoutout to my friends at IzuOcha Temple and Epsi's Hoard!
And a huge thank you to my beta reader Tmalasia!

P.S. That scythe villain is actually a canon villain in the show. Go watch the USJ and pay attention to the background people. Some of them are crazy.