Tara's Note: So it took me a month and a half to come back around and write this story, if for no other reason that I was super busy working on Harry Potter and the Shell of the God-King. Y'all had to wait a month and a half for an update to this story. Those people have been waiting since 2007. Although I feel like me updating that story is firm proof that if you keep an open mind as a writer, nothing is ever abandoned so much as just waiting for the right inspiration to come back to life. I mean shit, I have Step by Step which gets one chapter every other year or so. So yeah. More of this story, but also check out some of my other stories. They're fun too.
Dedications & Thanks: To Nicholas, Howard, Jade, Alexander, Tibor, Alonsis2, Daniel, Clark, Adrien, erlking, ridillin, Haematite, Charles, Jacky, Edward, Andrew, Roofcrawler, Wil, PbookR, Samuel, Mikey, Beverly, Daniel, Charles, Crygon20, Subtle, Christopher, Stephen, Fablesrogue, Morgan, Joseph, Jason, RileyWestfall, bloodylord, Marc, Ziryo, Chris, George, Koby, William, Devin, JJbelle, David, Gavin, TheTenthAncestor, Lookshy, Mauday, John, Roman, Warren, and Jess for sponsoring me on Patre0n, and making it easier for me to spend more of my time writing.
"So what's your plan for the next round?"
"I was going to give him a High Five and see where things go from there."
"Intriguing strategy. After all, that's an ability that the rest of the class doesn't know about so I feel like it's a viable tactic." Sitting on the bench in the waiting room with Izumi perched on her lap, Yaoyorozu Momo hummed softly as she ran the fingers of her left hand through Izumi's hair. And God, did she love how affectionate her girlfriend was. As someone who had been starved for positive attention for the last decade or so, Momo was a veritable buffet and Izumi craved every moment she could spend with her girlfriend. "Are we sure that we want to get the extraordinarily powerful opponent high? I mean, I freely attribute my victory over Tokoyami to the boost that your quirk gives me. Todoroki is formidable enough in and of himself. Do you really want to risk boosting his abilities?"
Reaching up to rub her chin, Izumi nodded slowly. "You outperformed Tokoyami because you're used to how my quirk affects you. You've trained to harness the boost that it gives you and channel it into faster creations, which allowed you to get the jump on Tokoyami and Dark Shadow. Todoroki? Will probably be taken completely off-guard by the experience. While he's trying to adjust to being high, I'll close the distance and throw him out of the ring. Easy peasey."
Momo hummed in acknowledgement of the verdette's point, leaning her head down to rest her chin on the top of Izumi's head. After a long stretch of comfortable silence, she spoke again. "Izumi? Did you ever imagine that we'd end up like this when you asked me for help during Aizawa's quirk assessment test?"
"The part where we synergize so well and lift each other to new heights?" Izumi covered Momo's right hand with her own, not wanting to dislodge her from her perch by attempting to look up at her. "Or the dating part? Because the former... kinda. As soon as you told me that you could make anything you understood with your quirk, I knew that we'd be a great hero pair if you could see the potential that I had. Which... I wasn't sure you would. But you did. And so here we are."
Momo chuckled against the top of her head. "Mmm, how could I not see the value in someone who could 'punch the shit' out of opponents to buy me time to make my more complex creations? Or create a feedback loop between our quirks to improve my quirk efficiency by fueling your quirk?"
Giving Momo's hand a squeeze, Izumi nodded faintly. "I mean, a few people in life have seen the value of my quirk. Like Giran trading heavy lifting duties for the necessary fuel for my quirk. Allowing me to train myself even just a little. My mother saw the necessity of what I was doing, but quite obviously didn't approve in the least. I feel like you're the first person who really saw the full potential of my quirk and embraced it."
"I see." Nuzzling her cheek against the top of Izumi's head, Momo pressed a kiss to her scalp before bumping her cheek against her head a bit more firmly. "So is that why you decided to ask me out?"
Izumi wiggled forward a little in her grasp, turning on her lap so she could meet Momo's dark eyes. "I mean, there's also the fact that you're literally the prettiest girl that I've ever laid eyes on." Momo blushed faintly at the compliment, ducking her head at the flattery. "But I mean, at the end of the day, I'm a weird girl with an even weirder quirk. And you saw something in me. How could I not wanted to grab hold of that and ride it as far as I possibly can?"
Blush darkening, Momo batted playfully at Izumi's shoulder. "There shall be absolutely no 'riding' of any kind. We are fifteen."
"I... you know what I mean." The two exchanged a look before bursting into laughter, even as a faint blush stained Izumi's cheeks because her traitorous mind couldn't help but imagine it. Despite talking - and acting - a good game, she was still relatively inexperienced... not that she wouldn't be open to changing that when Momo decided she was ready. When they settled back down, Izumi rested her head on Momo's shoulder for a few seconds before sighing. "Speaking of the second round, we've been focused on me this entire time. Are you ready to face Ashido?"
Momo nodded eagerly, her face rubbing against the top of Izumi's head. "I mean, not to be mean or anything, but it's Mina. She's faster than me but I can create compounds that neutralize her acid. Or acid-resistant protection for myself. It's an even worse matchup for her than it was for Tokoyami against my flash bang grenades."
Nodding thoughtfully, Izumi pulled away again so that she could look Momo in the eye. "I'm not going to lie, I mostly want to see you kick her ass because she melted half her uniform off during the first round. Like, I can't compete with her melting a hole in her pants that leaves a whole ass cheek out. There's only room for one giga thot in this class and it's fucking me, damn it." Before Momo could respond, there was a soft chime and the light over the nearby door blinked from red to green. Shooting to her feet, Izumi pumped her fist in the air excitedly. "Oh! That's my cue!"
"Good luck, Izumi. But first..." Rising to her feet, Momo hurriedly unzipped her uniform top as the pale skin of her cleavage began to sparkle brightly. A thick dusting of white powder appeared on her skin, whiter than even her porcelain skin. "Top up?"
"The first match of the second round! At this year's sports festival, both have shown top class performances! Midoriya! Versus! Todoroki! Start!"
Rather than immediately launch herself at Todoroki, Izumi held up her hands calmly and took a step forward. "We didn't really get a chance to talk before the match started. They just sorta... trotted us out here and threw us at each other. Would you be willing to shake hands? A show of good sportsmanship?"
Todoroki stared at Izumi with the same cold, impassive look that he always wore before nodding slowly. "Unlike my father, I believe that I will strive to be a well mannered and courteous hero. Yes. I will shake your hand before we start our match." Doing her very best not to cackle, Izumi closed the distance between them and stretched her hand out, Todoroki taking it after only a moment of hesitation. She could see the exact moment where his quirk took effect, the heterochromatic boy's pupils dilating largely. "What... did you do to me?"
"Right now, it's my ace in the hole. I call it the High Five because I generally activate it by high fiving someone." Izumi raised her hand to demonstrate, a wide smile on her face. "Keep things light and friendly, and then bam. They're under the effects of my quirk."
Frowning faintly, Todoroki stared down at his hands as if he'd never seen them before, before looking back up at Izumi with a faintly betrayed expression on his face. "I see. So you did not wish to be a good sport, you wished to use your quirk on me to gain an advantage in the battle to come."
Well when he put it like that, Izumi sort of felt like a bitch. After all, they were fairly evenly matched: with her cocaine-fueled strength, Izumi could easily punch her way through the ice that Todoroki sent at her. Now she had an unfair advantage. After a second's thought, Izumi shrugged it off. No changing it now. Todoroki would be high until Izumi's quirk ran its course and wound down. "I mean, if you really want to get back at me, you could use your fire. I can't really fight that. I can punch ice all day, but I can't really punch fire."
The frown on Todoroki's face grew as he raised his left hand a bit closer to his face. "I could. But that would be giving my father exactly what he wants." Looking up, his frown grew even more severe as he stared at Izumi. "Did my father put you up to this?"
"I... what? Are you seriously asking if your father asked me to get you high on cocaine in the middle of the Sports Festival?" As ludicrous as the idea even sounded, Todoroki considered it for a moment before nodding slowly, making an incredulous laugh slip from Izumi's lips. "No! This was just my own stupid idea. I thought it would throw you off your game enough to give me an advantage, so I did it. And I mean, you haven't buried me in an iceberg yet so clearly it's working to some degree."
Humming softly, Todoroki continued to stare at his hands for a few more seconds before slowly lowering them to his sides. Around them, the crowd rumbled uncertainly, clearly wondering when the match was going to begin. Given that it was Izumi on stage, they should have expected something like this given her 'fight' with Shinso, but clearly they had learned nothing from the first round. "I feel... I'm having a hard time describing how I feel right now. Energetic. But also... pleasant? Very pleasant. Is this what happiness feels like?"
Izumi looked over at the crowd before deciding, what the hell, she would absolutely humor Todoroki before punching him in the face. "Uh, cocaine can have a bunch of different effects on different people. It definitely makes me feel wide awake, and like I can think faster. I've gotten higher scores on tests when using it to fuel my quirk, but I don't know how much of that is actually the cocaine and how much is my quirk enhancing my mind. Momo creates faster on cocaine, so there's some validity to that idea. And yeah, it can make people feel happier, more excited, and more confident."
"I see." A thoughtful expression crossed Todoroki's face as he continued to stare off into space. "How can I tell if I'm feeling happier if I've never felt happy before?"
An American phrase that she'd picked up from watching a few too many of young All Might's American interviews came to mind. "Holy shit." Izumi stared at Todoroki for a few seconds before raising her hands and waving them vigorously. "This is not where I thought this conversation was going to go and I absolutely do not want to be a part of it. My good man, you need to spend some time with Hound Dog. And maybe take a break from training long enough to touch some grass. Jesus Christ, I am not qualified to be having this conversation with you whatsoever. I take it back. Can you just... throw an iceberg at me now?"
Todoroki nodded his head before shaking it and then cocking it to the side thoughtfully. "We are not actually fighting. I could create the fire that you wanted me to without breaking my vow."
"Uh, I guess? I mean, that's some pretty weird justification because..." Izumi gestured from herself to Todoroki and back before gesturing with both arms to the stadium full of spectators around them. "I mean, we're in the middle of the Sports Festival."
Nodding, Todoroki made a fist with his left hand as it burst into flames, covering him down to the middle of his forearm with crackling fire. "Conversely, eliminating you in a single burst of fire isn't actually a fight, is it? It's single stroke elimination, the likes of which my father isn't always capable of."
Oh. So they'd reached the confidence phase of Todoroki being high on cocaine. Wonderful. Izumi took a few steps back to open up some space between the two of them before settling into a fighting stance. "And what happens if you can't eliminate me in a single attack? Then it's a fight."
Todoroki thought about that for a long enough stretch that Izumi was starting to get antsy by the time the bicolored boy finally shrugged negligently. "Then I'll only use my ice. Because I won't use my fire to fight people."
Opening and closing her mouth several times, Izumi finally settled on an exasperated sigh before making a beckoning gesture with both hands. "I mean, you do you, I suppose. Let's do this, then. Hit me with your fire."
"If that's what you really want." Drawing his flaming fist back, Todoroki threw a punch that clearly had some degree of training behind it and a torrent of flames erupted from his hand. Izumi's green eyes went wide at the incoming firestorm, twisting to her right as she tried to curl away from the oncoming flames. Much to her surprise, the flames followed the motion of her arm, curving away to the right and sweeping past Izumi. As she stood there, peeking back over her shoulder, Todoroki simply raised an eyebrow. "So you've been hiding telekinesis from the class as well?"
Straightening up, Izumi shook her head as she traced the scorched path on the cement with her eyes, following it as it curved around her and then off to the right of the stage. "Can telekinesis move fire? I mean, it can move something into the path of fire, but that was more like... pyrokinesis? I actually controlled your fire? I think?"
Todoroki looked as confused as Izumi felt by this turn of events. "So you're pyrokinetic? As part of your quirk?"
"I have no idea! It's not like anyone has ever thrown fire at me while I've been high before!" Straightening up, Izumi made another beckoning gesture at Todoroki. "Wait, now that I'm ready for it, do it again. We're still not fighting. We're, uh, testing my quirk. So it's completely okay."
After considering that for a moment, Todoroki nodded agreeably. "As Natsuo would say, that 'seems legit'." Thrusting his hand forward, he unleashed a smaller, weaker torrent of flames and now that she knew to look for it, Izumi could actually... feel the flames themselves the moment that they left Todoroki's hand. It wasn't something that she could easily put into words, having less than a minute's experience with this new aspect of her quirk, but she could... sense fire.
And manipulate it. Raising both hands, Izumi made grasping motions and then yanked her hands apart, the fire cleanly separating into two separate streams that followed her hands. They flowed through the air until they reached her hands, curling into neat little balls that settled into her palms as she stood there casually holding fire like it was no big deal. Glancing back and forth between them, Izumi let out a slightly hysterical laugh. "Todoroki, I'm a pyrokinetic!"
Todoroki let out a strained, awkward noise that might have been a chuckle. "I can see that. I suppose this makes you an even more formidable challenger than you already were. Although it does justify me refusing to use my fire against you, seeing as how you can just turn it against me. Since you can use my fire against me and fight through my ice... there really is no viable path to victory for me, is there?"
Analysis always being one of her strengths, Izumi genuinely considered the question. "I mean, you could try for hand-to-hand and just knocking me out?"
"With your enhanced durability from your quirk? I'd really rather not."
"That's fair."
