A/N: Alright, we're back with the next chapter of The Taste of Green! Idk if you guys would want me to write out every match how I think they would go or if you want me to just skip them cause honestly I think the Sports Festival is one of my least favorite arcs. But hey character buildup is important too and while not a lot is different we are seeing a much more honest yet angry Izuku.

Anyway I hope you enjoy!!!!!

Izuku was riding high on their success, even if he had almost cost them the match. That quickly changed when he was taken aside by Todoroki of all people.

It had taken a lot of convincing for Himiko not to follow, because in her words, "I should go just in case I need to stab him."

Izuku had to put the whole 'stabbing people' thing of Himiko's on the back burner for now, because Todoroki was looking very pissed.

"Uh, don't you think we should go somewhere else? This is the student and faculty entrance, won't it be busy soon?" Izuku tried in vain to get an answer out of the boy, but all he got in return was that icy stare.

'This cold indifference is way different than Kacchan.'

"I was almost overwhelmed," Todoroki said out of nowhere," when you and that girl were fighting me, for an instant I could feel myself about to use my left side."

His eyes, which had been cool and calm a second ago, were now alight with anger.

Izuku was confused," W-Why are you telling me this?"

"Earlier, when I was fighting you both, I felt that power of yours, and it made me think. Your power, it's a lot like All Might's, isn't it?"

'Shiiiiiiiiiiiiit!'

Izuku was panicking. Had Todoroki figured it out? What would happen? Would All Might be disappointed in Izuku?

"W-W-What d-do y-y-you mean?" Izuku stammered out. He could feel buckets of sweat running down his face.

"Be honest with me," Todoroki was glaring a hole into Izuku's face, and the pressure building around them was palpable," are you All Might's secret love child or something?"

Izuku blinked, turned that over in his head, opened his mouth, closed it, and then blinked again.

"Huh?"

"Well, are you?" Todoroki's face never changed, his mouth didn't twitch even a little into a smile, so Izuku knew this couldn't be a joke.

"N-No! It's nothing like that! I mean All Might is a really busy hero, and he's constantly saving people! So he wouldn't really have the time to have relationships like that, and he even said in an interview once that he avoided relationships to focus—"

"I get it, stop rambling," Todoroki was still glaring," but that's interesting. You said 'It's nothing like that' which means there is something going on with you and the number one hero. I wonder what that is."

"Todoroki I—"

"Either way, I don't really care what your relationship with All Might is. You have some connection with him, and that's all that matters. My shitty old man has this delusion that I'm going to be his 'greatest masterpiece' to finally beat All Might, but I don't care about that. I'm gonna show Endeavor that I'll be a great hero without using his power."

"I don't get it, why are you telling me all of this Todoroki?" Izuku was confused, and none of what the other teen was saying made any sense to him.

"Do you know what quirk marriages are?" He didn't wait for Izuku to answer," Back when quirks started appearing, wealthier families started marrying off members to other families. It was to make stronger, more specialized quirks. Over time the practice was frowned upon and died out, but that didn't stop my old man from all but buying my mom from her family so he could make a perfect balance of his quirk and hers. He had three other kids before he got what he wanted, me. Living with him was hell for my mom, and I don't think I have a single memory of her where she wasn't crying. I remember she called my left side unbearable, just before she poured boiling water on my face."

Izuku's blood ran cold at that, and he could see a sliver of pain crossing Todoroki's face as he clenched his hand over his right eye.

"The reason I picked a fight with you wasn't for any special reason, your quirk just seemed a lot like All Might's. So I'm going to use you to prove to my old man that I don't need his power to be the best," Todoroki turned to leave," you better make it to the finals so we can have our fight, and I can prove to that bastard how much better than him I really am. Fight however hard you like, in the end, I'll be sure to crush you with just my right side. That's a promise."

He was a few paces away when Izuku took a few steps out of the student/faculty entrance, and shouted after him," Todoroki!"

The scarred boy turned to face him.

"I don't have some huge important reason for why I want to be a hero like you. I was just a weak, depressed loser, and at my very lowest, I gave up. My life was all but over in my eyes, but Himiko saved me. It's because I was helped that I can say this now. I'm going to beat you, and when I do, I want to help you too!"

Todoroki didn't say anything, he just studied Izuku for a second and then left.

Thirty Minutes Later

"All right everybody! I hope you got your snacks, and all the bathroom breaks you needed cause it's finally time to announce the matchups of the bracketed tournament!" Present Mic called out, and his shout seemed to energize the crowd as their voices thundered around the stadium.

"Alright, will the remaining sixteen contestants step forward to draw a number from the raffle?" Midnight brandished the box in her hands as if it were the most important relic in existence.

The matchups seemed just as random as the method used to select them, which made sense exactly because of that. But what shocked Izuku the most was his own matchup.

1st Match

Izuku Midoriya VS Hitoshi Shinso

2nd Match

Hanta Sero VS Shoto Todoroki

3rd Match

Denki Kaminari VS Itsuka Kendo

4th Match

Tenya Iida VS Himiko Toga

5th Match

Mina Ashido VS Kinoko Komori

6th Match

Reiko Yanagi VS Momo Yaoyorozu

7th Match

Eijiro Kirishima VS Setsuna Tokage

8th Match

Ochako Uraraka VS Katsuki Bakugo

It sucked that Izuku had to fight one of his newest friends so soon, and it was made all the worse knowing it would be the very first match.

It also didn't help that Himiko would have to fight another one of Izuku's friends. He only hoped she would go easy on Iida. Otherwise, the boy would be laid up in the hospital for a while.

Just in case, Izuku pressed his palms together and prayed for Iida, "I'm so sorry for what's going to happen."

The last match worried him too. Kacchan could be a little much… okay he could be a lot. But It didn't mean the boy would wail on a girl, would it?

"Hey, Midoriya," Shinso came up to Izuku, his face grim and determined," let's give it our all, yeah?"

"Right," Izuku smiled at the other boy.

"Let's get this party started everyone! Let's have our first two contestants make their way to the arena, and everyone else please go up to your designated seats." Present Mic instructed the participants.

Every other student had left the arena, and Izuku was reminded yet again just how many people were watching him. The seats in the stand were packed to the brim, people even stood on walkways to watch.

'This is so scary!'

Izuku shook under the hundreds of eyes staring at him. His stomach felt weird, and he wasn't entirely sure that he wouldn't throw up.

"Our first contestants are a couple of oddballs if I do say so myself! In one corner we have Hitoshi Shinso, a student from the general education course, and I'm sure it hasn't escaped anyone's notice that he and his opponent were teammates during the cavalry battle. We may not know much about him but I'm sure this'll be an interesting fight."

Present Mic took a deep breath in, and Izuku braced himself for whatever low opinion the pro hero had of him," in the other corner we've got another odd duck! Izuku Midoriya is a member of class 1-A in the hero course, you may remember him as the guy who was carrying his girlfriend during the obstacle race, and he was also the guy who got into a fistfight right when they were about to finish that very same race! He hasn't gotten to show us all he's capable of yet, but I'm sure he's more than itching to impress! Give 'em both a hand folks!"

Shinso stood across from Izuku, and while Present Mic finished the explanation of the battle's rules he spoke," I gotta say, it must be nice."

"Huh?" Izuku frowned.

"Having a power like yours lets you take risks no normal person would. Like helping some poor weak idiot during the entrance exam, asking around about him, and using his quirk to win in one of the Sports Festival events," Shinso's smile was condescending and cruel," I'm just saying, it must be nice having everything go right for you. But for people like me, it's just insulting to see someone like you who was so blessed using such underhanded tactics to win."

A vein throbbed on Izuku's head. What bullshit was Shinso spewing? Blessed? Underhanded tactics? What the fuck?

Izuku had never once seen himself as blessed. His life had been one long disappointment after another, and only recently was that all turning around.

"Let the match BEGIIIIIIIIIN!"

"You're wrong! I never—"

Izuku's body went rigid, his vision tunneled, and he couldn't move even a fraction.

'Shit! I was so worked up I forgot about his quirk.'

"Sorry to do this to you, Midoriya, but I'm here to win. So turn around, and walk right out of the arena."

The words rang in Izuku's ears, sending electrical signals to his brain as if they were his own orders. He could feel his body turning to leave the arena the same way he had entered.

'No! I need to break free, but my body won't listen at all! Is all of the work we put in just going to go to waste all because I'm such an emotional Idiot?!'

Izuku was trodding, slowly but surely, toward the edge of the ring. His head was filled with static and fuzz. He tried with all his might to turn around, plant his feet, anything, but all he did was march steadily toward his defeat.

"Is this the one All Might chose, really? He's just some wide-eyed punk with no common sense!" The voice was far away, in the distance Izuku could swear he saw six pitch-black figures standing in one of the entry tunnels. The spookiest thing was that one of them looked a lot like All Might.

Trust an All Might fanboy for life to be able to spot his hero.

"I think we should trust All Might's judgment, after all, he was the closest out of any of us to defeat my brother. And besides," the figure that was talking stretched his hand out toward Izuku, and even though he was across the arena, it still felt like his hand had ruffled Izuku's hair, "we all need a little help now and then, don't we?"

One for All shot down Izuku's arm, slammed into his index and middle fingers, and flexed with such force that a blast of wind impacted the ground so hard it was felt in the stands above.

Izuku's index and middle fingers were broken, he was panting so hard he was sure his lungs would burst, and Shinso stared in utter astonishment.

'What was that?! Who were those people? Was that All Might? And what did that one mean by All Might almost stopping his brother?!'

Izuku's hand throbbed, he hadn't needed to break any of his bones in so long that he almost forgot how bad it hurt during the entrance exam.

"What's this?!" Present Mic boomed," It looks like Izuku Midoriya somehow managed to break himself out of Hitoshi Shinso's brainwashing!"

"Hey, Midoriya. What the hell was that?" Shinso was wide-eyed and shocked.

Izuku couldn't blame him, he was sorry he couldn't answer the boy's questions. He didn't know what that had been, and there was the little matter of Shinso brainwashing him if he did say anything.

No, Izuku wouldn't waste this opportunity he'd been given. Even if he had two broken fingers, Izuku was going to win this match.

One for All filled Izuku with power, but he kept it restrained to about two percent. Shinso was a normal boy, aside from his brainwashing quirky after all, and Izuku wasn't the type of person to rub someone's disadvantage in their face. Besides, Shinso hadn't been mocking or taunting when he had ordered Izuku to exit the ring, so Izuku would get this over with as fast as possible.

He bent his legs, angled himself toward Shinso, and sprang forward. His legs carried him so fast to Shinso that the other boy barely had time to yell, "wh—" before Izuku grabbed a hold of his collar, shot over his shoulder, and used his momentum to swing Shinso out of the ring onto his back in the grass.

"Izuku Midoriya wins!" Present Mic called over the now roaring crowd.

Izuku looked around, stunned. Was that it? Did he win? It was that easy?

"Damnit." Izuku looked over at Shinso, the younger boy was flat on his back in the grass, and his arm was draped over his eyes.

Izuku knew that position all too well. It was the universal pose that said 'I just got my ass kicked and I feel like shit'.

"Shinso, I—"

"Damn, what a shame." A hero spectating into the crowd crossed his arms.

"I know right? Why is a kid like that in general education, with a quirk like that he could wrangle villains so easily!" Another hero nodded at his own praise of Shinso.

"Flashy quirks are great and all, but there's something to be said about utility as well."

Shinso's arm came down, and he stared up at the heroes who were now shouting praise at his efforts. Izuku could see tears starting to form in the boy's eyes, so he turned away and made his way to the participant's spectating area.

All the while Izuku had a small smile on his face.

Five minutes later

Okay now the small smile Izuku had for Shinso was gone, and in its place was a half-terrified/half-angry look of disbelief. Endeavor, Todoroki's father, was glaring down at Izuku, and the man was scary as hell.

Izuku had gotten a little taller since All Might and Himiko had started training him, but two or three inches was nothing compared to the mountain that was Endeavor. The flames flickering across his body and face didn't exactly make him look very friendly, and Izuku could see where Todoroki got his scowl from.

Although, Todoroki's glare was more glacial, where Endeavors was a red-hot glare of barely concealed rage. Yeah, not very friendly-looking at all.

"C-C-Can I h-h-help you, S-S-Sir?" Izuku squeaked out, his body shivering under the heated glare. No pun intended.

"You, your name is… Midoriya. Right?" If Endeavor had any issues staring murderously at high schoolers, then Izuku couldn't tell.

"Y-Yes, Sir!" Izuku's back went ramrod straight, and his palms started to sweat.

"Well, Midoriya, I want to make a deal with you. When you get to your fight with Shoto I want you to give it your all, of course, you'll still lose, but that power you have is similar to All Might's. Defeating you will be an important milestone in Shoto's development, right now he's under some illusion that he doesn't need to use his left side, but I want to divest him of that notion." Endeavor's simmering stare unsettled Izuku, and this whole monologue sounded suspiciously like he wanted Izuku to hurt Todoroki so he would be forced to use his fire," right now my masterpiece is all but wasting away as he refuses to reach his full potential, but I have a feeling that facing someone like you will show him the error of his childish ideas. Try your hardest to push my son before you inevitably lose. That's all I have to say."

Endeavor turned to leave, the giant literal flaming douche had surreptitiously managed to do something that not many people managed to do; he'd pissed Izuku off.

"Hey!" Izuku barked after the number two hero getting the man's attention," I don't know what kind of life you've led up to this point, and honestly I don't care, but you need to realize one thing. Shoto isn't you. He's his own person, and no matter what you say or ask of me, I'm going to give it my all against him. Not because you asked me to, but because he's strong, and fighting him with anything but my best would be an insult to him. So you can take your talk about disillusioning him and shove it."

Endeavor stared down at Izuku in bewilderment, he clearly never would have expected someone like Izuku to say such a thing to him. Honestly, Izuku was just as surprised at himself. When had he grown so crass?

Izuku hurried away from Endeavor, and the no-doubt nuclear stare that was drilling through the back of his head.

'Stupid, stupid, stupid!' Izuku thought furiously to himself as he approached the participant's viewing box.

"Izu!" Himiko stood to her feet and waved him over, her fanged grin wide as ever, and her cheeks red with delight.

"Did I miss anything?" Izuku smiled sitting next to her.

Himiko put a thoughtful finger on her lips and seemed to think for a second," I mean that blonde asshole you got into a fistfight with was yelling, but other than that not really. That kid with the split hairdo went down to the arena with the kid with weird elbows."

Izuku grimaced," How do you not know our classmate's names?"

"I only remember the names of people I find cute, and so far there's only three people I remember; Ochako, Tsuyu, and my Izu."

Izuku's cheeks felt hot. You'd think being around the girl so much would desensitize him to her blatant flirting, but somehow it made it worse.

"H-How do you think Sero will do against Todoroki?" Izuku asked, trying to draw attention away from his furious blush.

Himiko grinned at him, clearly having seen through his halfhearted diversion, but she humored him anyway," he won't last even a few seconds. Look at Todo-whatever, he's clearly on edge about something, so he'll probably be volatile. Getting into a fight, even a tournament one, will probably set him off."

Even from the stands Izuku could see Todoroki's hateful glare. But the thing was, he didn't seem to be glaring at Sero, it was like he was staring at someone who wasn't there, and Izuku had a good idea who that was.

"Well, ladies and gentlemen it's time to meet our next contestants! He's got skills, but at the expense of some really creepy-looking elbows, from the hero course; it's Hanta Sero!"

Izuku looked up at the announcer's booth with a very bewildered expression," should he really be talking about students like that?"

"His opponent is someone who I'm sure you all remember as a front runner for the obstacle race! He's a guy who's too strong for his own good, and rightfully received recommendations to join the hero course; it's Shoto Todoroki!"

The crowd roared loudly at Todoroki's name being called out, clearly he would be a crowd favorite. Izuku couldn't really blame them; he was looking forward to this fight too.

"And with that! Leeeeeeeet's—"

Sero was stretching his arms out over his head, the smile on his face never leaving," Man I don't feel like I'll win this fight—"

"BEGIN!!!"

"But I don't feel like losing either!" Sero was moving in an instant, tape wrapped around Todoroki's arms, and they were made immobile as the tape quickly wrapped around his torso. Izuku couldn't see his face, but Todoroki for a second or two didn't seem to be making any effort to fight back as he was swung to one side of the arena. Clearly Sero was trying to end the fight as quickly as possible.

And then all of a sudden Izuku's vision was obscured, the entire arena was shaking, and a blast of intense cold had him shivering. An iceberg as tall as the arena was right in Izuku's face, and through the confused shouting of the crowd he could hear Midnight.

"Tell the truth Sero, can you move at all?"

"A-A-Are you kidding? Obviously not! M-My body is freezing!"

Himiko laughed next to Izuku," what'd I say? Not even a few seconds!"

"H-How can you possibly laugh at a time like this! I've gotta fight him!" Izuku shouted both panicking internally and externally.

'How am I supposed to fight someone like him without big moves that would break limbs? He'd freeze me before I could even get close.'

"Aww you'll do fine Izu! Just give it your all and I know you can do it!"

Izuku wanted to shake his head very furiously and argue that he, in fact, could not do it, but of course, that smile she gave him made Izuku steel his resolve.

It wasn't like there was any special reason he had to win against Todoroki. Honestly, there was no reason he needed to try to win the sports festival, aside from making Himiko, Eri, his mom, and All Might proud. But really, they had all expressed their pride in him in one way or another, so really, Izuku was just trying to come up with a justification for why he wanted to beat Todoroki, even though he already knew why.

"You better make it to the finals so we can have our fight, and I can prove to that bastard how much better than him I really am. Fight however hard you like, in the end, I'll be sure to crush you with just my right side. That's a promise."

Izuku grit his teeth, remembering Todoroki's face, as he had said those words.,' I'll show you just how wrong your way of thinking is, Todoroki.'