Hey everyone! We're closing in on 30 chapters pretty quickly, and there's going to be plenty more to come! Just as an FYI, if you don't see a review that you submitted to the story, don't panic. There's been a review glitch going around that makes some not visible for the moment. It seems like its a quick fix if anything.
Also, I'd like to point out if you're someone who's curious about the likes of Edens Zero, check out the manga! What's been shown in Season 1 of the anime pales in comparison to the story threads ahead. And you'll see just how they're implemented here.
But for now, it's time to get back into this story!
"IZUKU!" Rebecca as she burst into the nurse's office, breathing frantically. Her eyes widened at the sight of her best friend on the bed, writhing in agony as his right arm was completely casted up. Both Sister and Recovery Girl were watching over him worriedly. They turned to see the Leaper Quirk user there.
"I should've expected you'd be one of the first to make it here..." the latter of the two practitioners noted. The door opened again as everyone looked over to see All Might enter.
"How is he?" he immediately asked as he approached the bed.
"Not very good..." Sister admitted in reply, "His right's arm screwed up enough as is, but his hand's even worse," she noted, crossing her arms over her chest, "When he used it at full power at the end of the fight, he fragmented the bones in his fingers, which were already broken," she explained.
"I can heal him, but he'll need a quick round of surgery first," Recovery Girl mentioned, "Even then, I doubt he'll have enough energy for his next fight..." she sadly confessed, "Honestly, he worked so hard out there and broke himself all for your sake, All Might..." she muttered out as Rebecca blinked in surprise, "You putting that undue pressure onto him is so stupid, I ought to-!"
"No..." the Leaper Quirk user suddenly said, interrupting her rant as she and the others looked to see her start to tear up, "He... was fighting for himself..." she pointed out while trembling, "He was fighting... for me..." she added, covering her mouth with her right hand as she sobbed.
"Young Bluegarden..." All Might uttered out, knowing how close she was to his successor.
"Tsk," Sister scoffed, "I hate seeing people cry like this..." she grumbled, "Old hag, I'm gonna call up Midnight and tell her that they can send Shoto to the next round," she told her partner, who growled at the nickname.
"But-!"
"Rebecca, he's in too bad of shape to keep going..." the Shining Star Hero pointed out, interjecting her, "We'll get him back into shape so he can watch the rest of the tournament with you and the others, but that's it," she told her, reaching up to her communicator and pressing it with her right index finger, "Hey, Nemuri?" she greeted. As the Leaper Quirk user heard her tell Midnight to advance Shoto to the next round, she felt her heart drop further and further into despair. All throughout the tournament, she had seen Izuku's amazing progress with how much more controlled he had become with One For All, and how he learned to use it more effectively.
But all that was for naught as he lost to Shoto. And whatever may have happened during that battle that made him use his flames, it was enough to yield a draw. If Izuku was only still conscious, he could have won a rematch against the Half-Cold, Half-Hot Quirk user. But now... he couldn't.
"Hey, Deku!" Ochaco exclaimed upon entering with Tenya, Tsuyu, Minoru, Shiki, Homura, and Weisz. It turned out that the next match was delayed so that the stage could be repaired.
"That was the scariest match I've ever seen in my life, Midoriya..." the Pop Off Quirk user pointed out with a trembling finger.
"Yeah, what kinda pro's gonna want that?" Weisz inquired with an arched eyebrow.
"SHUT UP!" Rebecca screamed angrily as tears pricked her eyes, "Any pro would be lucky to have someone as dedicated as him!" she pointed out as she whimpered.
"Rebecca..." Ochaco uttered out worriedly, while Shiki's eyes shook.
"Alright, calm down!" Recovery Girl insisted as she came over, getting everyone's attention, "I need to focus on surgery right now!" she informed of them.
"Wait, what?!" Weisz exclaimed in shock.
"Surgery?!" Tenya repeated, quite stunned as well.
"Don't worry, it'll be alright," Sister assured, having ended her communication with Midnight, "He'll be back up with you guys in the stands before the round's over," she promised to them.
"Then we shall take your word for it," Homura decided with a polite bow, ready to exit. However, she did stop. "Midoriya," she began, glancing over at the One For All inheritor as he grimaced in pain, "I will defeat Todoroki in your place," she vowed, heading off. The others soon exited, though Rebecca, Ochaco and Shiki stayed behind. The latter of the trio had his eyes shake at the sight of the former's tears.
"Rebecca..." Izuku uttered out, getting her attention as she looked to see him weakly smile at her, "Do you... need a hug...?" he guessed. At that moment, the Leaper Quirk user felt her emotions give way as she ran over and gently wrapped her arms around him, while he wrapped his unbroken left around hers. "I'm sorry..." he apologized.
"Don't be...!" she whimpered out, "You did your best like you said..." she noted through tears, "That's good enough for me..." she assured. As she pulled away, she went ahead and gently kissed his cheek, which he didn't seem to react to. He smiled, giving her a thankful look before seeing her leave with Ochaco and Shiki.
"God dammit..." Sister cursed, undoing her nun's habit.
"IVRY!" Recovery Girl angrily shouted, while All Might blushed a bright red.
"Old man, you better get outta here before I wind up doing this," Sister advised to the skinny form of the number one hero, "It's at least gonna alleviate the pain long enough for Chiyo to do her thing," she pointed out.
Shining Star Hero Sister Ivry! Quirk: Heal Atomizer!
Her power is like an immediate aspirin to any person she uses it on! It works especially well when she's in her underwear! Though no one knows why...
"Do the surgery after I do this," she insisted, dropping her habit to reveal the skimpy black underwear she had on, aiming her right hand out at the asleep Izuku as a golden light wafted off from it, "As someone who was once the Life of Edens, I swear I'll help save this kid," she promised.
"I have faith that you will," All Might assured in response. In the meantime, Rebecca whimpered her way back down the hall. She wiped at her eyes again and again as the tears wouldn't stop coming.
"Bluegarden..." Tenya uttered out worriedly.
"Rebecca really does care about Midoriya, huh?" Tsuyu guessed.
"It looks that way..." Ochaco concurred, remembering how the Leaper Quirk user had kissed Izuku before leaving the nurse's office. All of a sudden, there was a sudden bang, causing everyone in the hall to jolt in shock. They turned to see Shiki with his left fist against the heavily cracked and dented wall. His green-glowing markings showed.
"Dude, what the heck are you doing?!" Weisz exclaimed in question.
"My friend cried... because of those two jerks..." the Satan Gravity Quirk user noted as a response, gnashing his teeth together as he growled, thinking of both Katsuki and Shoto, "I'm gonna crush them!" he vowed fiercely. Everyone looked at him in shock, wondering just what he aiming for with such a statement...
"Okay, we're finally back!" Mic greeted through the microphone, "Thanks to Cementoss, the stage is back into full capacity!" he pointed out, "So with that said..." he continued as he grinned excitedly, "let's get to the third match of the third round!" he insisted as the crowd cheered. Coming out from the tunnel, Fumikage stepped onto the stage. He blinked in surprise to find Shiki doing the same on the opposite side. After seeing his last two matches, he would've assumed that the Satan Gravity Quirk user would just drop down like before.
"You're actually using the tunnel for a change..." Midnight noted aloud. Shiki didn't respond, staring out at his opponent with determination in his eyes. "If you boys are ready, you can begin!" she declared, swinging her flail down.
"Dark Shadow!" Fumikage commanded, causing the shadowy entity within him to burst out from his stomach, zipping toward Shiki. He took a deep breath.
"Sorry," he apologized in advance, rearing his right fist back as the energy markings upon it glowed brightly. He fiercely punched Dark Shadow, blowing it back in an instant. Fumikage endured the force of the attack as he crossed his arms over his face. But all of a sudden, he found himself pulled over to his foe in an instant thanks to his gravity, followed by being slammed against the ground in an instant.
"Ah!" Eijiro gasped out.
"Dude, what the hell...?" Weisz uttered in disbelief.
"He... wasn't even fighting seriously up to now...?" Momo wondered aloud as her eyes shook. Fumikage looked up and widened his eyes to find the glare coming down onto him from Shiki, who kept his right fist clenched tightly as he had it reared back.
"I... yield..." he ultimately said with shame in his tone.
"Tokoyami has yielded!" Midnight announced afterwards as she raised her flail, "Granbell wins and moves on to the semifinals!" she exclaimed as the crowd cheered. The Satan Gravity Quirk user picked Fumikage up from the ground by his right hand.
"I'm really sorry..." he apologized again to the Dark Shadow Quirk user's surprise, "but I can't lose when I've got friends to fight for," he stated, turning around and taking a deep breath, "KATSUKI! SHOTO!" he bellowed out, catching the attentions of the two teens in question as they perked up in surprise, "You better watch out!" he warned, "I'm gonna kick your asses and win this whole thing!" he proclaimed. The Half-Cold, Half-Hot Quirk user seemed genuinely surprised by the declaration, while the explosive teen sneered.
"Now that's a declaration of war..." he muttered out with a sadistic smile.
After he had gotten fully healed, Izuku was permitted to leave the nurse's office. He faintly remembered the moments before passing out, trying to put on a brave face for Rebecca. But in all honesty, he was hurting. He felt like he failed her. More so than how he felt about failing All Might. He looked at the scars lining his right hand and closed it into a fist out of frustration.
"Young Midoriya?" his mentor said, getting his attention as he turned to see him approach from behind.
"All Might..." he uttered out, glancing down sadly, "I-"
"You didn't fail me at all, kid," the number one hero interrupted assuredly, "You showed me just how dedicated you are to all of this," he noted, "And you showed me that you have what it takes to master my power someday," he added firmly.
"But I..." Izuku started to reply, "I... lost..." he pointed out, glancing away ashamedly.
"That doesn't matter," All Might responded, "You fought to save Young Todoroki, you didn't destroy your body needlessly..." he listed off, "You might not see it as anything significant, but you've made such great progress," he noted to him, "So stand proud," he insisted, "You did well in my eyes," he assured. With that Izuku was able to find himself smiling a little. But he was still unsure if he was really a worthy successor.
However, All Might told him that he had been Quirkless, too. Even so, his master had believed in him, just as he believed in Izuku. And thus, he would support him through thick and thin.
"And Young Midoriya..." he continued, "treasure the fact that you have a caring friend like Young Bluegarden," he advised of him to his surprise. However, he grinned.
"I will, All Might!" he assured, jogging off to the stands. Meanwhile, Katsuki's match against Laguna had already begun. And unlike his previous matches, the Tears Lover Quirk user found himself at a disadvantage.
'This guy... is a maniac!' he noted to himself, having to barricade himself with barriers of water he conjured to stop the explosions of his foe.
"What's the matter?!" he inquired loudly, "Can't stop me without getting some damn tears?!" he guessed in a mocking tone.
"Tch," Laguna scoffed. His signature technique wouldn't work in this situation. And he had doubts that he would be able to get his foe to cry, even once.
"Too bad you can't manipulate my sweat..." Katsuki grumbled as small explosions crackled between his palms, "Otherwise, I'd be done for..." he admitted as he sneered.
"Shut up!" his opponent roared, unleashing a large wave of water towards his foe, who leapt up to evade it in a powerful blast.
"Heh!" he chuckled, blasting himself down and landing right behind his opponent, who widened his eyes.
"Oh shi-!"
"GOTCHA'!" Katsuki roared, firing off a powerful blast from behind that knocked the General Studies student down.
"Laguna!" Hitoshi cried out from the stands and he and his classmates watched on worriedly. Izuku arrived in time to find Katsuki pinning the Tears Lover Quirk user to the ground with his right foot upon his back, smirking all the while.
"I win," he declared, "And you're up next, gravity bastard..." he added, looking up to the stands and glaring towards Shiki, who glared back. The semifinals were looking to be quite intense...
And that settles that! Up next, the start of the semifinals, featuring the backstory of one Homura Kogetsu! I hope you look forward to it!