A wave of ice rushed forwards and crashed into a building.
Todoroki sneered. Bakugo had managed to use his explosions to evade the assault of ice.
Bakugo blasted forwards, only to be met by another pillar of ice. By all means, they were at a standstill. Bakugo was dodging every attack Todoroki threw, and Todoroki could block any attack Bakugo launched at him. It seemed like this fight was going to come down to a battle of attrition, which neither heroes in training were happy with.
Izuku rushed through building to building. At this point, it was better to be stealthy, he didn't need to be seen at this point.
He only had one problem. It seemed like neither of these two had both medals, they had obviously both immediately attacked each other.
This meant that, if Izuku wanted to win, he had to beat both of the top guys in the class.
Suddenly, the entire building that Izuku was hiding in shook. Izuku didn't let himself panic, it was just collateral damage from the fight. He just hoped that the building wouldn't be destroyed in the conflict.
Todoroki was breathing heavily. He was suffering from frostbite, a clear sign that he was overusing his quirk.
His opponent had a powerful quirk, and was certainly skilled in using it. However, Todoroki was certain that he would win.
Bakugo blasted through another iceberg, causing Todoroki to scowl.
He sent out another wave of ice, this time he let it cover the ground. Bakugo smirked. "Are you an idiot? I can fly, dumbass!
Todoroki did not respond. Instead, he slammed his foot into the ground, causing icy stalagmites to shoot upwards from the sheet of ice.
Bakugo blasted around violently, using his explosions to rapidly change his trajectory in hopes of dodging the onslaught. He was cit by a few of the shards of ice, but he managed to launch an A.P. shot that hit Todoroki square in the chest.
Todoroki was knocked to the floor.
He stood up, wincing from the injury.
He had no choice now, but to go in for a point blank freeze, in order to end the fight quickly.
As Bakugo blew through another iceberg, and kept drawing closer, Todoroki suddenly rushed forwards.
Bakugo seemed to realize what Todoroki's intent was, but he had no intention of backing down.
And so, when they were only a meter apart, they both stuck with all they force they could muster.
The rapid increase and decrease in heat in such a small area caused a massive explosion.
The force from the explosions blasted put in waves, each destroying massive parts of the faux city block. Within the center of the explosion was the two teens, who had both been knocked back, and were in the middle of falling backwards, when they were both separated with their medals. As the boys flew backwards, the pockets that were holding their medals had been incinerated. As the boys flew away from each other, the medals flew towards each other.
They collided in the middle, between the two teens.
The boys mirrored each other, as they both slammed a foot into the ground to stop themselves from flying forwards, and they pushed forwards with those feet.
They both reached out with one hand, to grab the medals, which collided together with a *clink*.
As they both reached out with one hand, both used their free hands to prepare another elemental assault. Todoroki's frostbite seemed to spread further along his hand, as Bakugo's started to spark with explosions.
They were both just a couple of inches from the medals when a thunderous *BOOM* was heard.
A third hand grabbed the medals.
Izuku Midoriya came rocketing through the gap between the two teens, who looked on in shock. He flew by in the air, a trail of lightning following him, as he seemed to dance through the air.
Unfortunately, he didn't have a landing planned. He was used to coming to a stop when using lightning breathing from the ground, but not from two storeys up! But he had to launch himself from that high up to get to the medals.
Izuku skipped across the concrete road, like it was a lake, until he crashed through the window of another building, and came to a painful stop by crashing into a pillar.
Despite the pain from the landing, and from the numerous cuts that the broken glass from the window had made on his face, Izuku didn't spare a moment, getting up immediately and rushing up the stairs that he had landed beside.
He didn't have time to slow down, both of The others would be on him in a moment.
A loud "DEKUUU" that he heard nearby cemented that fact.
Midoriya ran onto the roof of the building. He looked around, he needed to figure out where he was in relation to the exit.
Once he had spotted the gate, he started moving across the roofs, but it was interrupted by Bakugo, who blasted up to the roof in a second.
"GIVE ME BACK MY MEDALS, DEKUUUU" The enraged teen was seething.
He sent out a large explosion from his palm, but Izuku was already running in the opposite direction.
He jumped off the roof, falling down into a dumpster in the alleyway.
The burning explosions passed overhead as Izuku jumped out of the dumpster, only to be met by Todoroki at the entrance to the main road, who immediately launched a massive wave of ice.
Izuku had nowhere to hide from the attack, so he ran towards the attack, and grabbed onto the tip before it shot up out of reach.
He was carried up by the attack, and in a split second, he was in higher that any of the buildings in the city.
Izuku stayed hanging onto the skyscraper-sized iceberg for a moment, allowing himself to catch his breath.
Unfortunately, Bakugo seemed to be less inclined to allow Izuku this break, as he rocketed up, propelled by his explosions, straight towards the boy.
Izuku had no other choice, so he did the only thing that he could. He let go of the skyscraper.
Bakugo's outstretched hand missed Izuku by an inch, as he allowed gravity to take hold.
As he plummeted towards the pavement, he cleared his mind.
Deep Breath. In. Out.
His descent increased in speed.
In. Out. In. Out.
He passed the rooftops, as his fall continued to accelerate.
Focus.
Izuku was moments away from hitting the ground.
Moments away from dying.
Air flowed from his mouth in a deep sigh as he tensed his hips, rotated his body, and yelled out "Water Breathing, fifth form!"
"WATERFALL BASIN"
He slammed his blade into the ground before he landed, and the moment that the tip of the blade hit the ground, the potential energy generated by Izuku's descent dispersed into the ground.
Izuku hit the ground next, a moment later, landing into a front roll.
He stood up, muttering to himself. "How did I manage that?"
But he had no time to dwell on that thought. As he turned around, he saw both Bakugo and Todoroki chasing after him. However, both were approaching on foot. Were they trying to conserve their energy? If so, that meant that they were low enough on stamina for him to stand a chance.
Still, he ran the other way. The win condition wasn't him beating them, it was escaping.
And so, Izuku kept running.
Through alleyways, over fences, jumping from ledge to ledge, Izuku did whatever he could to get to the exit gate as quickly as possible.
Unfortunately, both Bakuho and Todoroki were hot on his tail, with Todoroki in the lead and Bakugo right behind, much to his frustration.
The moment Izuku moved into an open area, he knew he had made a mistake.
He tried to keep moving, but an ice wall stopped him.
No, not an ice wall. A dome.
He turned around. It was him and Todoroki.
Todoroki spoke up. "All it'll take is one touch to freeze you, Izuku. Just give me the medals"
The fact that he was talking to Izuku was told Izuku enough. Todoroki wasn't the type to negotiate.
Todoroki rushed forwards right when Izuku heard a muffled "Don't ignore me, Half'n Half!"
A dozen compressed explosions pireced Through the ice dome. Not enough to destroy the roof, Bakugo still couldn't get inside, but he could incapacitate the boys who were inside, which Izuku was given proof of as one of the dozen explosives hit into his sword, knocking it towards Todoroki, who had to dodge.
Izuku's only weapon was now embedded in ice behind Todoroki.
As explosive shots rained from above, Todoroki reached out with his right hand. He had got close enough to hit Izuku.
Izuku raised his left arm, hitting Todoroki's forearm with his, pushing the icy pam away.
Todoroki responded with a gut lunch from his left. It hurt like he'll, causing Izuku to step back, but it told him something. Todoroki couldn't freeze people with his left side!
As Todoroki came in for another strike, jumping in the air before coming down with his right hand, Izuku ducked under it, moving closer.
He kicked at Todoroki's ankle, causing the scarred teen to fall forwards, where his chin met Izuku's right fist, who had turned his body to the side to dodge another explosive shot from Bakugo, which had come frighteningly close, while throwing a mean uppercut.
Todoroki's velocity was reversed, and as he fell backwards, torso facing the sky, Izuku appeared above him, slamming his left fist into Todoroki's gut, the force of the punch rocketed the icy teen towards rhe ground, which he hit with a loud *thud*.
Izuku watched him for a moment, but Todoroki made no effort to get up. He had been knocked unconscious.
Suddenly, the ice dome shattered into pieces. Bakugo's shots had destroyed it completely.
Izuku scowled out of frustration, grabbed his sword, and started running as fast as he could. He could see the exit! He was almost there!
"HEY, DEKU!"
Izuku turned around, and Bakugo was there, only a few feet away.
He was holding onto some sort of pin on one of his gauntlets.
"I had to use most of my sweat up fighting half'n half, but I've got enough to beat a powerless loser like you!" He yelled, as he pulled the pin.
Izuku saw the cluster of explosions erupt from Bakugo's palms. It seemed to happen in slow motion.
The cluster of explosions were close together.
They reminded him of those stone pillars that the masked man threw, for some reason.
Izuku had spent hours going over the memory of what Rengoku had done. There was something different about the way he performed his breathing techniques. Izuku wasn't able to figure out what it was, but now…
He didn't bother dodging the blast. Instead, he raised his sword over his head.
If he could replicate the unique way Rengoku uses the breathing techniques, he was sure he could figure out what he was doing wrong with his other techniques.
He just needed to do it once.
He took another deep breath in. He exhaled it all at once.
"Flame breathing, fifth form"
The cluster of explosions were inches away from him.
He breathed out. Flames spit out of the corners of his mouth. But they weren't phantoms like how they usually are. He felt them burning away his skin.
"BLAZING UNIVERSE"
He tensed the muscles in his arms and shoulders, as he swung the blade directly downwards. The tip of the blade carved through the approaching explosions like butter, until it reached the floor.
A large shock wave of air pressure was released from the attack.
Izuku parted the explosions like a sea of red destruction. The fire protected him from the explosions.
The two halves of the blast flew behind him, exploding, leaving Izuku completely uninjured from the blast.
He was panting heavily, as Bakugo just stared at him, that same powerless look in his eyes that Izuku saw during the sludge villain incident.
Izuku sluggishly turned around, and started stumbling towards the exit. Bakugo started chasing after him, running as fast as he could.
Izuku wanted, so desperately, to run. But he couldn't.
That attack felt like it had burned through every fiber of muscle in his body.
As he willed himself to move forwards, the line got closer.
Bakugo was right behind him now. About to grab him.
Izuku didn't have the energy to fight back.
But he didn't need to.
Right as Bakugo was about to pass him.
Izuku Midoriya passed the finish line.
Bakugo stood there, horrified to have lost to him.
Izuku turned around, looked Bakugo in the face, and said the one thing that came to his mind.
"Kacchan…"
"I win"
And then Izuku's legs gave out, and his sight went dark.
The next few weeks were a blur.
Todoroki didn't seem all that upset about losing, but Bakugo was enraged.
He protested after the exercise, saying that Izuku only won because he caught them off guard after him and Todoroki had weakened each other.
Of course, Aizawa responded with the point that ambushes were a fairly common part of being a hero, especially in the underground business.
A few days after the Hero excercise, Aizawa had announced the Sports Festival.
The class was excited, understandably, but it came with a catch. For the next month, until the Sports Festival, school was from Monday to Sunday, no rest days.
This also meant they ouldnt be able to visit their families.
Of course, Izuku was disappointed with being unable to see his mother, but he knew it was for the best.
So, for the rest of the month, Izuku traine with his classmates.
But he went further.
He knew the situation he was in. To put it bluntly, he was weaker than everyone else. That was obvious.
So, he had to train twice as much.
When they were in school he trained.
When everyone else was in the dorms, he trained.
When everyone else was asleep, he trained.
Thanks to being able to replicate Rengoku's flame breathing to a certain degree, Izuku had figured out what was wrong with his attacks.
Well, part of what was wrong. The breathing forms were like a big jigsaw, and he was missing a lot of pieces.
But he had just found a big one.
The way Rengoku used Total Concentration Breathing was different to how the book described it.
It was hard to describe. The book had simply described it as being a way to inhale more air into your lungs at once, but the way Rengoku did it, it was like his entire body was breathing.
So, Izuku started using this form of Total Concentration Breathing.
It was like starting from scratch, and it frustrated Izuku. But it was important to build strong foundations, and he knew this.
Strangely enough, after about three weeks of practice, with only a week left until the Sporrs Festival, Izuku felt like he had more energy before.
It was strange, because he had started to cut into his sleeping time. He had started only giving himself 4 hours to sleep about two weeks before this, so that he would have more time to train.
Then it clicked.
What Rengoku had told him about.
Total Concentration Breathing Constant.
After his meeting with Rengoku, almost all of Izuku's training had been based around reaching this, but he was never able to.
Was he able to now, because of his new way of breathing? How far did this new energy go? He guessed that he still needed to sleep, bhut how much?
He had so many questions about this, but one thing was clear.
Izuku Midoriya was stronger now.
He jumped off of his bed, and grabbed the manual.
He flipped through it, and started reading about some of the forms he wasn't able to use currently.
But something caught his eye.
He went back and read over the pages about the third form of flame breathing.
This was the form that Izuku had come close to copying from Rengoku, and he felt like he had a solid grasp of the technique.
And that's how he noticed how just how… off the book was when it talked about this technique. The muscles it told you to use, the motions it told you to make, they were all slightly off.
It was like… this was written from an outside perspective.
Izuku rested his head in his hands as he stifled a scream of frustration.
Why was everything he got lesser, compared to everyone else.
He was already born quirkless, with a dead father, was it too much to ask for a stupid book to actually be accurate?
He sighed, and left the book on his desk. At least it helped him get into UA. He should be happy with that.
But it made him wonder. What were these techniques he had used like, when they were at their full potential?
What… What was his full potential? Could he ever reach it, now that hundreds of years of knowledge had been lost?
He didn't know the answer to that.
But would he try?
Izuku knew the answer to that question.
The month seemed to pass by in moments, and all of a sudden, it was time for the Sports Festival.
The busses for the stadium was split up between classes, and 2A's bus was packed to the brim.
Izuku was unfortunately, wedged between Bakugo and Todoroki. Downside: He might die.
Upside: He got one of the backseats of the bus!
The bus was lively with chatter, everyone was excited.
Kirishima and Kaminari were arguing loudly about something.
"I'm just saying, it'd be easier for all of us if you just went a bit easier in the strength and conditioning classes!" Kaminari exclaimed.
"It sounds like you're just falling behind. Besides, it's not manly to not give it your all!" Kirishima retorted.
The moody kid that Izuku had yet to be acquainted with groaned loudly. "Would you two just shut up already?
And, much to Izuku's surprise, they did.
They students arrived at the stadium that the Sports Festival took place in.
There were a lot of other buses, which made sense. Between the general, business, hero and support classes of each year, there was bound to be a lot of people. Izuku wondered why they didn't just transport the entire hero course over one bus. Was the rivalry between classes so intense that they wouldn't stay in the same bus together for half an hour?
The second years only had two different exercises to do, which made sense to Izuku. The first years were always focused on because they were the "face of the new generation" and the third years got focus because they were close to graduating and becoming the new generation of heroes.
In comparison, second year's just didn't have as many eyes on them.
Izuku walked in with the rest of the second years, onto the main stage. The stadium was filled up with people. Hundreds of people, plenty of pros, all of them were cheering.
It was all overwhelming, to be honest.
Izuku heard Eraserhead and Present Mic call out the rules. It was supposed to be a team fight, with people having to find their own teams, and protect their own flags. The last four teams standing would win.
It was simple enough, and Izuku was excited to start.
Unfortunately, he needed to find a team.
Kirishima was already partnered up with Bakugo, and Izuku didn't want to go near that.
He tried to partner up with Todoroki, but he denied him. He wanted people with quirks that were as strong as possible. It stung a little, but hey, he wasn't just saying no to Izuku, he was saying no to plenty of people. It probably wasn't just because Izuku was quirkless.
It sucked though. The two friends Izuku had made so far wouldn't team up with him.
He was struggling to find teammates when that moody kid from Izuku's class came up to
him.
"Hey, want to team up?"
Izuku was surprised, to be sure, since him and the moody guy had never really talked to each other, but he didn't see any reason to not team up.
"Sure!"
Izuku felt someone bump their shoulder into him.
"I always knew you were a little follower, Deku" Bakugo whispered maliciously.
The sounds of cheering had increased in volume since a moment ago. He looked up to the big screen, to see Present Mic's announcement.
"AAAAND FINALLY, TEAM SHINSO GETS THROUGH, WITH ONLY A MOMENT TO SPARE!!!"
The announcement continued, but Izuku wasn't listening. To his horror, he saw his own face plastered on the screen next to Shinso's, and two other people he didn't recognise.
What had happened?
The second years were given an hour to rest and recuperate. Everyone knew what was up next. The tournament fights.
It happened at every Sports Festival. The 16 second year students who made it through each year would be randomly paired off in brackets in 1v1 matches until one student won.
It was essential to make a good impression, as your hero internships that took place after this were entirely based around how well you did in this tournament.
The break room was loud, with people from every class talking to each other, and trash talking the other classes.
But the room was immediately silenced when the screen in the break room turned on.
There, for everyone to see, was the match ups.
Midoriya vs Kaminari
Shinso vs Tokoyami
Yaoyarozu vs Shiozaki
Todoroki vs Hatsume
Uraraka vs Kirishima
Iida vs Tetsutetsu
Kendo vs Monoma
Bakugo vs Tokage
To say that Izuku was nervous was an understatement. Kaminari had already left for the other tunnel into the stadium, and as Izuku peered down the tunnel, he only caught a glimpse of the outside crowd, but it was still massive.
Izuku was used to large crowds, he had lived in the city for as long as he could remember, but having all that attention on him? That was new to him. The only attention he was used to was the mocking of his old class, or the pitiful looks he got from his neighbors.
"Feeling nervous?"
Izuku turned around, to see Ochaco walking up to him. He rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, kinda. I know it's dumb, and that if we make it as heroes, I can't let myself be bothered by such a large crowd, but it's Still freaking me out"
Ochack shook her head. "Nah, it's not dumb at all. I remember how I felt last year, I was absolutely terrified. And honestly? I still am. But I'm not going to let that stop me"
Izuku had to admire that outlook.
"Hey, Midoriya… is it true?..."
She had turned away from him.
She didn't need to finish the sentence, he knew what she meant.
He nodded. "Yeah, I'm quirkless"
She took a moment to think about that, before turning around to him. "For the longest time, people saw me as helpless, as just "the rescue girl". And last year, when I went up against Bakugo, I thought that I had a chance to change that. But when I fought him, and he gave it his all, the crowd booed him. They saw me as just a defenseless little girl, not a hero in training"
Her fists were clenched together, pulling on her uniform.
"And, a year later, nothing has changed. You've seen how the crowd has reacted. Everyone sees Bakugo and Todoroki in the final. Hell, they've even shouted out their declarations of war to each other"
Izuku blinked. He must have been too entranced in his own mind to have noticed their yelling.
She looked directly into Izuku's eyes, and smiled. "So how about this? You and me in the finals"
Izuku was shocked. Unfortunately, before he had a chance to respond, the siren indicating Kaminari's entrance blared. He had to go out there.
She smiled, and turned around, and started walking back to the break area. "See you there, Midoriya"
Izuku gulped. With a declaration like that, how could he let her down?
Izuku walked out of the tunnel, and as he looked all around him at hundreds of people, their attention all focused on him, he smiled.
He was going to make it there. That's for sure.
He whispered to himself. "See you there, Uraraka"