I found him waiting for me, buffed up long enough to walk me to an empty room to transform back into his true form.
"You alright, kid?" He asked, and I took a seat. Was I? I had no idea what had happened.
"When I was brainwashed, I couldn't hear anything besides Shinso. It's like the world went silent. But then I could hear voices calling out to me, a group of people, eight or nine of them. I couldn't see all of their faces clearly, but one of them, a woman, she called out to me." My hand ran through my hair, thinking about the whole thing.
"What did she say?" Questioned the hero, his entire demeanor changing.
"She told me,"Ninth, you can't lose now. You have a responsibility to the world." And then suddenly I could feel myself falling, but I didn't. You saw it, right? I floated off the ground." It didn't make sense. It shouldn't have been possible, but it was. Whatever had happened, it was because of those spectators.
"They're the traces of the past users of One-For-All. You said you saw a woman, yes? What did she look like?" He was really pushing this.
"Uh, she was tall, and buff, and had black hair." I told him, watching him smile and pull back a bit.
"That was my master, the seventh user." He informed me, taking a seat with a groan.
"So... what about the floating? I got stuck in the air while they checked to make sure it wasn't Uraraka, and it wasn't me. Was... was that her too?" Watching my mentor slowly nod.
"That was her quirk. It could be that you've managed to connect with One-For-All in a way I've never been able to. For now, until we can test that, I suggest doing your best not to float again. You should be focused on your next battle." He told me, patting me on the back.
"You're right. If they can see me, or part of them lives in me, and I can't afford to get lost in my head." I took a deep breath and smiled.
Once I left, I went to find my friends, just in time to watch the second fight go down, which lasted all of maybe twenty seconds before I had to dodge ice from Todoroki absolutely going overkill with Sero, who'd barely gotten his tape around him.
"Jeez, that guy. All that, for what? To show off?" I wondered, leaning back in my seat and watching as he helped to free Sero and then helped unfreeze the stadium, Iida getting up to go to the prep room. I wish I'd known about it before my fight. There were apparently snacks in there.
Once it did get defrosted, the next match didn't last long either, but I got some good Intel one of class 1-B, the girl with vine hair Shiozaki.
"Jeez, you just finished up a fight, and your planning counter strategies already? What a nerd." I could Mina tease, putting her head on my shoulder and watching me write.
"You know me, I like quirks. Learning about them, it'll help me be a better hero. I've even been researching gear for our class that I plan to ask the support course to build. But first, take a look at this."
I flipped the pages, pointing to a good strategy for her fight.
"I have one for you too, Uraraka, if you'd like." I offered, both girls shaking their heads.
"It's like Ojiro, and that short guy said. This isn't just about winning. It's about testing our strength. If we take an easy way out, our pride is damaged." Mina told me, kissing me cheek.
"Besides, we're all aiming for the top, so we're all rivals, right? I can't accept help from a rival like that." Uraraka said, and It made sense to me.
Iida came out decked in support equipment, which immediately brought up questions of it was allowed, Iida explaining that Hatsume had given him the equipment so they could fight as equals.
"I'm calling bull. The only reason Hatsume joined our team was to show off her gear. The same thing is happening here, too." I mumbled, making a new page for Hatsume, what I knew about her quirk, and the equipment I'd seen so far.
Since both parties were fine with it, no one saw any reason why Iida couldn't have it, only for him to be used as a walking billboard for ten minutes, and I got a good page and half on the pink haired inventor.
Once she was done using him to shamelessly promote her gear, Hatsume walked out of the ring, Iida quickly taking the gear off and being super annoyed about what had happened.
I gave Mina a kiss on her lips for good luck before she left for the prep room, Iida coming back and sitting, looking grumpy, but he didn't seem to mind too much once the next fight began, Uraraka leaving to get prepared.
Mina won quickly by dodging Aoyama and his laser, melting his belt, and uppercutting him so hard he got knocked out, and I learned that my type was definitely strong women, Yaoyorozu losing but still looking badass.
Tetsutetsu and Kirishima just became a slugfest, and while they fought, the rest of 1-A cheered on our redheaded rockhead, right up until it ended in a double knock out.
Finally, it was the one fight I was actually worried about. There was no way Bakugou would go easy on Uraraka or try to end things quickly. He liked to play with his food too much.
Watching Uraraka fighting, she was a perfect example of tenacity, watching her launch herself at Bakugou again and again, trying to touch him and get the upper hand, even using the smoke from one of his attacks to throw her jacket and trick him, but still no luck.
When a section of heroes began to boo him for not holding back against her, yelling that he was just toying with her. It made sense. It did look like he was just playing around. But in reality, she was giving it her all, willing to do whatever it took to win, and he knew it.
"A group in the crowd has started booing! But to be honest, I agree... ack, an elbow!" Present Mic spoke, his voice echoing before Aizawa took over.
"Is the one who said said he's toying with her a pro? How many years of active duty? If that's what you're taking from this, you can leave, no point in watching. Go home and start looking at job-hunting sites. She's come this far, and he knows her strength. His caution shows that he recognized her as a worthy opponent. It's exactly because he wants to win so badly... that there's no room for carelessness or holding back." Aizawa told them, Uraraka looking confident before she put her hands together, and those who'd missed it finally saw her plan, all the debri Bakugou had made hanging above him, coming down on him like a meteor shower.
It didn't matter, Bakugou blew the debri into nothing, turning to face her. As they rushed towards each other, he stopped, Uraraka falling, unable to keep going.
Midnight called it. "Uraraka is unable to continue. Bakugou moves on to the second round!"
There was a short break, mostly so they could repair the arena and move Uraraka.
"Guess this is me. Wish me luck." I got a kiss on my cheek from Mina and an encouraging word from Iida.
"I'll see you in the finals." He told me, pushing his glasses up on his nose.
On the way to the prep room, I bumped into Bakugou, who was more annoyed than usual.
I'd planned on just walking by, but he spoke to me.
"You suggested that, didn't you? That freaking self-sacrificing scheme of hers. You caused me a lot of trouble out there."
A smirk made its way to my lips. "I didn't. All of it. Uraraka came up with everything just to beat you. So if it really was a lot of trouble for you, that was Uraraka messing with you."
I didn't stay long enough to hear him out, heading to the prep room where Uraraka was, me standing in the doorway a little unnerved how upbeat she was after losing.
"Guess I lost. I just got carried away at the end when I thought I could actually win." She told me as I walked in
"Uraraka, are you okay? Getting beat by Bakugou sucks, trust me, I won't judge." I told her, grabbing some water and a snack.
"I'm okay. Well, I'm getting healed bit by bit, so my stamina doesn't get drained, just these little scrapes left." She pointed at her cheek. "But darn it! Bakugou's just too strong. I couldn't put a scratch on him. Guess I just gotta try harder next time!"
"Are you... okay?" I asked, looking at her with a little bit of worry. She wasn't acting as Uraraka as she usually did.
"Yeah! Somehow I am! I mean, you're always looking ahead to the next challenge, Midoriya. I lost, but I don't wanna lose again."
I started to say something, but I could hear Present Mic. "Ahhh! Ohhh! Kirishima or Tetsutetsu? Who's going to move on?!" A moment passed, and he continued. "After their earlier draw, Kirishima has won! We now have our full lineup for the second round! With that said, let's get right to it!"
"Already?" My water wasn't even opened yet, but I guess I could wait until after this match.
"Ack, sorry! You wasted all your prep time talking to me! Good luck out there! I'm rooting for you!" She called, and as I left, I walked down the hall, I thought I could hear her crying, bracing myself for my fight before out from a corner stepped Endeavor.
"Hey. There you are." He looked intimidating, but he had to have stopped me for a good reason, right?
"What do you want?" I asked, trying to look more confident than I felt.
"I saw what you did out there. That's an amazing quirk, creating such a force with just a flick of your finger. In terms of power, it seems on par with All Mights." I rolled my eyes, sure now I knew what he was doing as I walked away.
"My boy Shoto. He has a duty to surpass All Might. His match against you will provide a valuable test. So give it your all, put up a good fight against him. That's all I have to say. Sorry for my bluntness."
I paused, anger filling me. "I'm not All Might."
"Well, of course you're no -" but i cut him off.
"Right, of course I'm not. And Todoroki isn't you." I looked back at him with disgust in my eyes before I left him standing there.
As I stepped out onto the arena, Todoroki spoke to me. "You ready?" He asked, and I nodded.
"Both of these competitors have won top marks in this year's sports festival so far! But there's only room for one of these greats in the ring! It's Midoriya! Versus! Todoroki! Start!" Present Mic called out, and Todoroki immediately tried to freeze me, and I smashed through it.
"I've told you already, you can't win with half a quirk! If you want to win, to show the world the kind of hero you want to be, you have to give it your all!" I called, stepping closer to him, smashing another wave of ice out of my way.
"I've told you why I can't do that. Why I won't." He told me, another wave of ice getting smashed, and I could see it taking a toll on him. He was giving all he could with half his power, but it wasn't good enough. He'd give himself frostbite soon if he wasn't careful.
"Screw that! Screw expectations from our mentors! We're us, not them! I'm not All Might. You aren't your father! So if you want to win, you have to learn this now! Those flames are yours to control! Now give me everything you've got!" I yelled, just pissing him off now.
"Everything I've got? Did my bastard of a father pay you off or something?" He asked, running at me, but I dodged, hitting him in the stomach and watching him fly back.
"Nope. I wouldn't accept his money. You have incredible power, but you won't use it. How long until you need your flames, and you refuse? How long until someone dies due to your stubbornness?!"
Now I was on the offense, running to him and getting in his face.
"Why are you going this far!?" He asked, holding his ground and making another large batch of ice, puttting room between us while I smashed it.
"Just trying to meet expectations! A smiling, dependable, cool hero! That's what I wanna be! That why I'll give it everything, for everyone! Your experiences, your determination, I can't even begin to imagine what all that like, but if you become number one without giving it your all, then I don't think you're really serious about denying him everything!" I told him, smashing through more of his ice, shivering myself now.
"Shut up!" He yelled, trying to hit me, but I upped the amount of power, dodging behind him.
"That's why I have to win! I have to surpass you!" I yelled back, pushing him hard to the ground, moving away.
"I'll... I'll show my father-" but I cut him off like I did his father.
"Your power is your own!" My words did something, having to jump back away from an inferno.
"I thought you wanted to win. Dammit... so why are you trying to inspire me? Which one of us isn't taking this seriously now?" He looked at me, a determined grin on his face. "But I wanna be a hero too."