While everyone else was out for lunch, Tsumi was panicking. She had to get her bandages back. She couldn't let anyone see. She couldn't let anyone know.

Right now, she was rushing to the stands to get some spare bandages, hopping in the vents to help shorten the trip. Eventually, she manages to find them and begins wrapping them around her neck while still hiding in the vents, only to hear a conversation between Izuku and Shoto.

Curious, she decided to listen...

Shoto was silent for a bit, Izuku not sure what was on his mind. He knew Shoto could feel emotions, that much was clear from his body language. But his tone of voice and facial expressions were so deadpan that anyone who didn't know him would think so.

"Um, if you don't want to talk, that's fine." Izuku awkwardly said. "I'll just leave and-"

"I was overwhelmed by your last attack." Shoto finally spoke up. "It made me break the promise I made to myself... A long time ago."

"To be honest, I don't really know the reason for it," Izuku admitted. "Your fire could be very useful and sooner or later, you might end up overextending your ice side."

If Shoto took any offense to that, he didn't show it as he looked at his left hand.

"I thought I knew the full scope of your true power... From what I observed in footage of the Entrance Exam, the Quirk Assessment Test, our combat training, and later during the USJ Attack. But now I realize... You're still learning. You've only just begun to master your Quirk. I thought I was objectively more powerful... But you've shown me just how weak I really am. That power reminded me of something..."

He thought back to how easily All-Might brought down the Nomu. It had only taken five punches, with All-Might pushing beyond what everyone thought he was capable of.

"When I saw All-Might's Quirk for the first time, I realized how similar it is to your own."

"Well, my Quirk actually mostly comes from my dad." Izuku pointed out. "I mean, you don't see All-Might creating smoke or black tentacles."

"It may not be exactly the same, but it does feel that way," Shoto admitted. "Midoriya, tell me...did All-Might and Regenizard perform some kind of eugenics experiment to give birth to you?"

Izuku blanched at the sheer absurdity of the question, unable to comprehend how utterly out of left field it was.

"N-No! My dad and mom are happily married to each other! And if All-Might was my actual dad, I'm pretty sure I would've known!"

"It was only a question, nothing more."

"The truth is, All-Might helped train me," Izuku explained. "I don't know how you could've thought he was my secret father or something."

Shoto narrowed his eyes. "Call it...personal experience. My father is the Flame Hero: Endeavor, I'm sure you know about him."

"Well, obviously. Anyone who is anyone has heard of the #2 Pro Hero right behind All-Might."

Meanwhile, as Endeavor was heading back to the stands after getting a drink of water, he ran into All-Might himself.

"Ah, Enji! Been a long time, hasn't it!" The Symbol of Peace smiled jovially. "I see you're still wearing that same ol' scowl!"

"I was hoping I'd run into you. It's about that boy you've been training...Tony's son."

All-Might smiled. "Indeed! A chip off the old block if I ever saw one!"

"Yes, him. He's already surpassed my son Shoto in the first two events of the Sports Festival...and it's increasingly clear that as long as he clings to this childish rebellion of his, he will only grow weaker."

"As you probably know, my father has a long list of accomplishments to his name. But All-Might has been the insurmountable mountain he could never climb." Shoto explained to Izuku. "The Symbol of Peace is the living embodiment of Endeavor's failure."

"Yeah, failure to inspire the people. All-Might's not the top hero because he's the strongest, or because he's won the most fights. He's the #1 Hero because people believe in him." Izuku pointed out. "Sure Endeavor's only real problem is that he tends to cause collateral damage, but he always makes sure to take responsibility and compensate for any damages he causes. Yet once the job's done, that's it. He just heads off. The only time he interacts with the media is during press conferences."

"That is all true. Ultimately, Endeavor realized he never could beat All-Might the way he was, so he devised a new plan." Shoto said. "Tell me...do you know about Quirk Marriages?"

Izuku winced. "He...did that? Those have been pretty frowned upon."

"My father sought out my mother in the hopes of having a child who could become better and stronger than him, to ultimately become the hero he never could, the #1 Hero to surpass All-Might," Shoto said, his eyes narrowing angrily. "My father has a rich history of accomplishments, and a lot of money to throw at his problems. So he paid off my mother's relatives so they would agree to a marriage."

"Did he...he didn't FORCE himself on her, did he?" Izuku asked fearfully.

"No, my father is a scumbag, but he'd never stoop that low," Shoto admitted. "But once he saw that I was the perfect child, he started grooming me to replace All-Might."

"But why would he go to all that trouble?" Izuku asked. "All-Might actually told me he's been recently contemplating retirement."

"Regardless if he knows or not, it's annoying! I hated being seen as nothing but a pawn for his ambitions!" Shoto snapped. "In every memory I have of my mother... I only see her crying. Eventually, she couldn't take it anymore. I remember her calling my left side unbearable... And she poured boiling water on my face..."

Izuku silently paled in shock, realizing that was where Shoto's scar came from.

"I want to show my old man what I was capable of doing, without having to rely on his fire. I'll reject his power, and take first place without his help." Shoto declared.

After getting over his shock, a million thoughts were racing through Izuku's head. Ultimately, he let out a sad sigh.

"Todoroki...I'm sorry all that happened to you. And I've no doubt that all of it is true." He said before his eyes grew firm. "But at the same time... It's a stupid reason."

That ended up setting Shoto off as he tightly grabbed Izuku by the shoulder.

"Are you mocking my pain?!"

"You already did that when you accepted your father's recommendation into UA!" Izuku angrily pointed out, shocking Shoto and causing him to let go. "If you really wanted to show up Endeavor, then you should have just taken the Entrance Exam like the rest of us! Even Iida was able to make use of it to stand out when his recommendation didn't pan out!"

Elsewhere, Endeavor and All-Might were having a similar conversation.

"I had given Shoto everything, but in doing so, I feel I pushed him too hard, too harshly." Endeavor admitted. "The fights that Rei and I had because of it were definitely not for the faint of heart either. Because of that, I have only made him weaker."

"I recall your confessions a year ago. It took a lot of courage and self-reflection to admit to how you hurt your family." All-Might said. "In fact, it was thanks to you that I was able to help manage Young Midoriya's training. While you made your mistakes, it ultimately helped me in figuring out how to properly guide my boy."

Endeavor sighed. "I'm glad to see SOMETHING good came from my sins... Because of that, I have reason to believe that Midoriya may be the one to save Shoto from himself."

"I'm here because I had so many people helping me. I had support from my mom and so many amazing friends, I had training from All-Might and Endo Hound and I have the lessons I learned from Aizawa-Sensei and the other teachers." Izuku continued on Shoto. "Todoroki, if you're only trying to do this on your own... You won't make it far as a hero."

With his piece said, Izuku turned and walked away.

"I was inspired by All-Might, but I'm not aiming to be the next version of him, nor am I aiming to be the next version of my father. You should aim to be your own self. Unless you're planning on dropping out, you'll need to learn to take what your father gave you... And make it your own. You declared war on me earlier, but it sounded hollow. So now I'll make a declaration of war of my own..."

He turned back and pointed at Shoto.

"I'll make sure to beat you, and make you understand how useless your promise is for being a hero!"

Shoto was left in stunned silence at Izuku's words, not knowing that Tsumi had heard everything from the vents while Katsuki, Ben, and Morimoto had heard from around the corner.

"You tell that Icy-Hot bastard, Deku." Katsuki thought. "He can't just coast by the rest of us on his stupid pledge."

"Alright, now that we've got some good food in our bellies, it's time to showcase the final round of the Sports Festival!" Present Mic called out. "But all of you who couldn't make the cut, there's no need to feel worried! You can still get some attention in the super-fun side games we've prepared! After all, what kind of sports festival only has three events!?"

"A lame one."

Present Mic guffawed upon hearing Aizawa was the one to say that.

"Emi really has been rubbing off on you, Sho!"

"Don't tell the entire stadium that so brazenly!"

Present Mic then looked out on the field to see the girls of 1-A were all wearing cheerleading uniforms as well as unamused expressions.

"AND WHAT'S THIS?! IT LOOKS LIKE THE LADIES OF CLASS 1-A ARE ENLISTING FOR THE CHEERLEADER ROUTINE!"

"Honestly, I can't believe Mineta and Kaminari convinced us to do this..." Kyouka grumped.

"Well, at least they were honest about it..." Momo sighed. "Mostly thanks to Shudai's influence."

"Hey, some of us actually agreed with them!" Tooru said, shaking her pom-poms excitedly.

"Yeah! It's okay to have fun like this once and a while, ya know?" Mina added.

"I do feel cute in this uniform-kero," Tsuyu admitted.

Tsumi smirked. "It helps that I got the little man by the balls...and I don't just mean the ones on his head."

"That is dirtier than anything I've heard Mineta say since we met during the school year..." Mayumi blanched.

Meanwhile, Monoma noticed that even the students who had gotten into the finals were participating in the side games and couldn't help but scoff.

"Are the students of Class 1-A really so pretentious to show off when they've already got the golden ticket?"

"Not everyone's gonna be able to make it through the last battle. Some of them might want to showcase skills unrelated to fighting." Itsuka pointed out.

"Well, let them have their fun. When the tournament begins, we will show them exactly why Class 1-B is superi-URGH!"

Itsuka, annoyed with Monoma's boasting, enlarged her fist and punched him hard in the face, sending him flying into a nearby wall as she shuffled her hands afterward and walked away.

Wankuro chuckled. "Nice one, Kendo! I was about to give it to him myself!"

"Hey now, no roughhousing before we get to the actual tournament!" Midnight scolded, having seen this. "Speaking of which, the final event is now underway! We have thirty-two students participating and we're drawing lots to see who fights who!"

"Excuse me," Oujiro spoke up, raising his hand, "I intend to withdraw from the competition."

"Ojiro, are you sure?" Tenya asked, the rest of the class sharing his shock. "This is a rare chance for you to get scouted."

"It wouldn't feel right. I barely remember anything from the Cavalry Battle." Oujiro said. "One minute I was talking with Shinso, the next thing I know, the battle's already over and our team had taken sixth place."

Izuku looked to Mayumi, who hummed as she scanned Hitoshi briefly.

"According to Gyrfalcon's scan function, his Quirk is Brainwashing. Maybe that has something to do with it."

"Brainwashing? Damn, he's full-on Professor X," Ben noted.

"I've already thought it through. Everyone else gave it their all while I was just someone's puppet." Oujiro said. "I don't want to advance if I don't even know how I got here. It'd feel too cheap, even if I proved myself in the final round."

Shoda approached as well. "I think it would be best if I dropped out as well. This isn't how I wanted to get here. It would go against the values of the festival to advance without earning my spot."

"Shouda, think about what you're doing!" Monoma hissed while rubbing his bruised cheek. "This is our chance!"

"Shut up, Monoma." Le coldly said. "We don't need you forcing him to participate if he doesn't wish to."

Midnight sighed. "That sort of talk is incredibly naive... But I can see your minds are made up. That does mean we'll have to move up two students from the other teams based on performance."

Since Tetsutetsu's team placed ninth, he and Ibara were chosen to move forward.

"A divine gift..." Ibara said, clasping her hands in prayer. "I promise to make good use of it."

"Personally, I think it's stupid you'd wanna drop out," Tsumi admitted. "But I respect your decision, Maishirao."

Oujiro nodded. "Thanks, Shudai. I appreciate your honesty, but some men need to have humility in these matters."

With everything settled, the first bracket was announced by lottery. The matches would also be randomized to make things more unpredictable.

Izuku Midoriya vs Hitoshi Shinso

Katsuki Bakugou vs Ochako Uraraka

Benio Toriokoyoshi vs Monoma Neito

Morimoto Tanaka vs Ibara Shiozaki

Mayumi Goto vs Denki Kaminari

Tsumi Shudai vs Itsuka Kendo

Le Ultimave vs Reiko Yanagi

Kirby Hoshiboshi vs Kinoko Komori

Wankuro Nikaido vs Setsuna Tokage

Akatani Mikumo vs Sen Kaibara

Shoto Todoroki vs Sero Hanta

Tenya Iida vs Mei Hatsume

Fumikage Tokoyami vs Momo Yaoyorozu

Mina Ashido vs Yuuga Aoyama

Eijirou Kirishima vs Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu

Tsuburaba Kosei vs Kuroiro Shihai

"SERIOUSLY! HOW DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING?!" Eijirou and Tetsutetsu called out when they saw they were matched against each other.

"Hope we can meet each other in the tournament, Deku," Katsuki said. "I want us both to show the whole world what we can do."

Izuku nodded. "Same here, Kaachan."

Ben noticed Monoma grinning at him darkly and glared.

"One of 1-A's most powerful members...truly when I beat him, Class 1-B's power will be shown to all."

"That blonde shitfaced asshole has all the more to lose." Ben sneered to himself. "Good, I look forward to BREAKING him."

Akatani and Sen looked at each other with somber eyes, which a few of their peers picked up on.

"If only Katsuo and Mom could see this, huh?"

"Yeah...this is for them, Bro."

"Izuku Midoriya."

Izuku perked up as he looked at Hitoshi, Danger Sense flaring mildly in his head. It wasn't anything dangerous, but he could pick up Hitoshi's hostile intent.

"Shinso." He calmly greeted. "Something tells me you might get your wish to get into the Hero Course."

"Don't know about that fully." Hitoshi shrugged. "I still need to prove myself against you, after all. I may not have done much working out, but I figured I'd see if I can use my Quirk in a combat scenario."

"Your Quirk is turned off. I can sense it." Izuku noted. "Maishirao said he was talking to you before he blacked out. So your Quirk activates when someone responds to you, but you can control when it activates."

Hitoshi blinked. "You figured it out from just one conversation? I'd heard you were top of your class, but that's just amazing."

"Well, I don't know what'll happen. I don't think I've ever adapted to a mental situation before." Izuku admitted.

I'm ending the chapter off here because I want to cover the whole first round of matches next chapter. Considering there are thirty-two contenders instead of sixteen, it's gonna be a real doozy.

-BIO TIME-

[HITOSHI SHINSO]

Quirk: Brainwashing

Quirk Description: Brainwashing allows Hitoshi to mind control anybody who verbally responds to him. When under his control, his targets are forced to do whatever he tells them to. He can brainwash multiple people at once but doing so puts a strain on his head. Also, people can be knocked out of his brainwashing if they experience a shock of some kind.

[ENJI TODOROKI/THE FLAME HERO: ENDEAVOR]

Quirk: Hellflame

Quirk Description: Hellflame allows Endeavor to generate and manipulate fire so that he can freely control how he sees fit. He can surround himself in flames without harming himself and project powerful blasts of fire to incinerate his targets. He can also control the temperature of his flames to avoid unnecessary damage.