It's been awhile since I've been on but I plan on taking this story slow and making sure I make it good. There are more people interested than I thought there would be which really makes me happy. I'm glad you guys enjoy reading the fic. Please tell me what you like or dislike about the fic so that I can get better. Thank you all for the support!

Chapter 17: Old Friend

-The Transparent World-

Izuku held his blade in a clash of strength against the man named Zenitsu. The yellow hashira is extremely fast to the point where his steps sound like thunder. As they trained Gijoro sat at the side watching them. He corrected the mistakes that Izuku made and gave the occasional lecture of encouragement. Despite Zenitsu coming off as a weirdo when they first met, the boy noticed his smile everytime his own attacks got better. They haven't taught him any of their techniques, but wanted to see what he can do.

To his slight annoyance the man didn't use his techniques on him either. The rules are that Izuku can use whatever he can expect fire bending to attack Zenitsu but the older man can't use his thunder breathing. Izuku is pushed back a good distance and takes in a deep breath. He looks at Zenitsu who is currently grinning at him. The younger boy grins back and holds his blade in a wind up swing that makes the yellow man quirk an eyebrow.

"Flame breathing, first form!"

The boy annouces as he dashes forward winding up the attack. For a second Zenitsu is caught off guard by the technique he saw so long ago. Izuku appears in front of the man ready to swing his blade.

"Unknowing fire!"

Both Zenitsu and Gijoro could swear they saw the flames from the breathing technique not the fire bending. At the last moment Zenitsu brought up his blade and took the attack head on. To his shock he started sliding back against Izuku's blade. Gijoro watched as they both struggled against each other with Zenitsu sliding back.

"Enough! We're done for now."

The elder man said, his voice almost sounding like striking thunder. They both lower their blades and bow respectfully to each other. Gijoro walks up to Izuku with a wide grin. Zenitsu is also smiling softly at him while he sheathes his sword.

"You have been improving well Izuku. The breath of flame suits you very well. Soon you'll be able to learn the breath of thunder."

Hearing that surprised Izuku. He didn't think they were going to teach him their techniques because he is a user of flame breathing. In a way though, since he can use actual electricity it made sense. He bowed in respect to the former hashira. Before he could raise his head again the world around him went dark.

-Izuku's Bedroom-

Izuku woke up from his slumber with a spark of electricity traveling throughout his body. The feeling made him shake slightly then went away. Sitting up he raises his hand with his palm up. Taking a breath fire appeared just above his palm in a little ball. He let it dance in his hands for a moment before letting it go out. He took another breath and this time green and blue electricity started to dance around his whole hand. The feeling of the two are so different that it bothers him how he can use them separately.

Shaking off the electricity, he gets out of bed and looks out the window. The sun hasn't risen yet but the sky is starting to change from dark to a gloomy blue. He takes a moment to enjoy the view then gathers his gear for morning training. He quietly exits the front door wearing black track pants, a white shirt with the kanji for 'shirt' on it, a short sleeved blue hoodie, and his red shoes. He also has a yellow backpack with his training sword attached to it.

He makes sure the bag and sword are safely strapped then starts to jog to the beach. As he jogs he keeps focus on his breathing, making sure to keep up total concentration. The training after the entrance exams has been increased from Rengoku and Iroh so that he can catch up on flame breathing. So far he has the first five forms down. Rengoku has yet to teach him the last four because he has to get stronger and faster.

-Takoba Beach-

While jogging Izuku is lost in thought thinking about the entrance exam and the other maybe students he met. Before he could linger on the thought for long he notices someone on the beach but can't make out any features due to the barely rising sun. As he gets closer he can make out the blonde spikey hair and angry scowl on the person. Izuku cursed whatever luck he had at his old friend finding the spot where he trains.

"I've heard the rumors that some green haired kid cleaned this place up. I had a feeling that it was you Deku! Are you trying to show me up or something?!"

Izuku didn't know whether to sigh in annoyance or to turn around and sprint home. Then he remembered what he told the angry teen the last time he saw him. He stares at the blonde for a moment before putting down his bag and starting to stretch. The silence made Katsuki twitch with rage. He hated being ignored, especially from the person he hates most.

"I said something to you Deku, are you stupid or something?!?"

Izuku looked at his used to be friend with not anger but confusion. For the longest time they had been apart with the blonde making his life a living hell. He often wondered if it was because his quirk came in late. After his quirk manifested he always wanted to prove he is the stronger one. The greenette then asked the question that has been on his mind of years but was too afraid to before.

"What do you want from me...Katsuki?"

The question was simple but to the explosive blonde it meant something else. Katsuki stared at Izuku with hatred that would make anyone else shiver in fear. The fact that Izuku looked confused instead of scared made the blonde even angrier.

"I want you to stop trying to be something you're not! You think that a Deku like you could ever become a hero?! I've always been better than you."

Izuku glared at his old friend after he finished talking. Of course Katsuki has always been better than him. The two of them are so different from one another. Katsuki grew up adored by everyone while Izuku grew up with only his mom there for him. Ego is what drives the angry boy to prove that he and only he is the best.

"You think the things you do are hero like? You've bullied me and everyone at our school for years. I will not stay in your shadow the rest of my life."

That only fueled the blonde's rage as he ran forward with a battle cry. Izuku expected this and was glad he got a few good stretches in before he set off the bomb. He took in a breath as Katsuki closed the distance with his arm outstretched, palm open. Katsuki swung his arm so that the explosion he set off would be aimed at Izuku's face except the greenette ducked under the blow and aimed a kick at his feet to get him off balance. The kick landed on the back of Katsuki's ankle making the blonde stagger.

Izuku took the moment to grab onto Katsuki's arm and went for a throw down. Katsuki recovered faster than the greenette thought he would and placed his hand towards the ground igniting a powerful explosion. Both boys are sent flying into the air making Izuku let go of Katsuki. The blonde used small explosions to right himself midair while the greenette tucked and rolled back onto his feet. They both stare at each other with different expressions. Katsuki's face is full of anger while Izuku is doing his best to hide a scowl.

"We don't have to do this Katsuki. I just want to get back to my training."

Said boy just snarls at the other. He holds up his hands, palms facing up with small explosions going off like fire crackers. Izuku sees that the fight is not going to be avoided and gets into the stance Kyojuro taught him. Without saying a word Katsuki throws his hands behind him and ignites a big explosion to launch himself forward. In response Izuku throws a few windmill punches with small fireballs shooting from his fists. The first two are dodged by the blonde with the last one meeting an explosion from his hand cancelling out the attack.

"Is that all you got Deku?! Weak ass fireballs that don't even hurt!?"

Izuku dodges a swing from an explosive hook punch but didn't expect a kick from the other. The kick landed in his stomach making him grunt. Before Katsuki could attack again Izuku grabbed onto his foot and pushed back hard using total concentration to add more force. As he got more distance Izuku thought back to what Iroh taught him. Changing his stance he widens his legs to get a strong position and stretches his left arm out with his palm open leaving his other arm bend to his side making a fist.

'Let him wear himself out then find a way out.'

Katsuki doesn't say anything and rushes at Izuku with his arms spread out making mini explosions. Izuku waits for him to get closer to make his move. Once he gets close enough Izuku spins around swinging his left arm that makes an arch of fire flying towards the blonde. On instinct he ducks under the fire and uses an explosion to propel himself into the air. Expecting that Izuku uses both hands to swing outwards creating flames around his hands and puts them back together to thrust forward. The flames come together and shoot towards Katsuki with more power than the smaller fireballs.

Katsuki glares in annoyance as he sees the bigger fireball fly towards him. He uses a small explosion to blast himself out of the way and another explosion to launch himself towards Izuku aiming a kick at him. He jumps out of the way a second before the kicks lands into the sand. Before Izuku can recover to attack Katsuki hits him with an explosive punch to the stomach. He falls to his knees and rolls out of the way before another kick hits his head.

Thinking on the fly Izuku puts both hands in front of him and rasies them high above his head, creating a wall of fire to separate them. Katsuki is shocked to see him make that much fire and is caught off guard when Izuku pushes the wall towards him. The blonde is blasted back a few feet with small burns on his arms and parts of his clothes singed. He quickly gets up only to see that Izuku is gone along with the bag and sword. He growls in anger and shouts to the sky.

"THIS ISN'T OVER DEKU! YOU CAN'T ALWAYS RUN AWAY!!"

Izuku is hiding behind the concrete stairs that he used to move the trash from the beach to the truck. He is trying to catch his breath as he clutches his bag tightly. There is a small smile on his face despite what just happened moments ago. He is happy that the training he's been through pulled off some what against his old friend. He notes that there is still a lot of room for improvement as he got tired after using total concentration and fire bending together too quickly. Thinking of the fight as his training for the morning he makes sure that the blonde already left before he jogs back home.

-Midoriya Apartment-

Izuku opens the door and smiles brightly when he smells breakfast being made by his mother. He closes the door and heads to his room to change into different clothes. Inko is humming in the kitchen while making bacon and eggs with toast on the side. While in the bathroom, Izuku cleans the small burns and bruises he got from the small fight with Katsuki. He doesn't know why the blonde would go out of his way to find him at the beach and challenge him.

Deciding not to think on it for now he turns on the water in the shower and undresses. His body has changed since the start of his training. there are bruises on his body that show how hard he works everyday. Careful not to hurt himself too much he washes the burns and bruises.

'I hope he doesn't always want to fight when we get the test results.'

He thinks to himself. The written exam was more difficult than he though but he knows he got a pretty high score. The physical portion of the exam was even easier with his duel quirk. The image of the girl he saved flashed into his mind for a moment.

'I wonder if she passed the exams...'

After his shower he changes into a pair of blue jeans and a green shirt that almost matches his hair. Inko calls out to him from the kitchen and lets him know the food is ready. The boy's stomach growls loudly as he makes his way to the kitchen. Both greet each other with a smile and say good morning to one another. Izuku eats his breakfast while Inko does the same. She notices a bruise on Izuku's face and instantly goes into mother mode.

"Oh my gosh, what happened to your baby honey?!?"

She leans over the table to get a better look at her son's face. Izuku lets out a small sigh as his mom examines his cheek. He was hoping that she wouldn't notice or make a big deal out of it.

"Katsuki found me at the beach today. We had a little fight and things got a bit out of hand. I'm ok though I cleaned it while I was in the shower."

Inko knew about their falling out and was sad that her son lost his childhood friend due to the blonde's pride. She is also a bit angry that he would harm her son. She made a mental note to tell his mother. After she fussed over the bruise for a little longer they went back to eating breakfast. She is still surprised to see how much Izuku can eat now that he's training in the mornings and evenings.

-Later In Izuku's Room-

Izuku sat at his desk writing away in his self analysis notebook. He noticed during his fight with Katsuki that the blonde's fighting style is faster paced than his own. The fighting style he was taught by Iroh and Rengoku are older and more traditional compared to Katsuki's self taught style. In a way he is glad they jad that fight because now he knows more of the others attacks and can counter better for the next time the explosive boy tries to fight him. He writes down the information quickly and then closes the notebook.

Currently the subject on his mind is to find a more modern way to fight so he can adapt better on the fly. Taking out his phone he looks up some different gyms that teach boxing and other martial arts. He also thinks about asking Iroh and Rengoku if they know anyone else that could teach him. Widening his eyes as he notices the time he rushes to change into workout clothes and meet up with Rengoku for flame breathing training.

That wraps up another chapter! Thank you all for waiting on me to update the story, I know that I've been taking a while to make new chapters. I've been busy trying to find a new job and some other things. I can't wait to put down the ideas I have for future chapters. Anyway like I keep saying I would appreciate feedback and what you all think of the story so far.