Ochako Uraraka. The nice girl. The one always ready with a smile and a kind word. The one no one would believe could hurt a fly. She wanted to be a rescue hero. She wanted to be successful to give her parents an easier time. To thank them for working so hard raising her, giving her every opportunity they could for her to succeed. That was her ambition in life. Was there anything wrong with that?
Her opponent stood across from her. And like always when she looked at him her heart began to race. In a way entirely different to the pressure to perform, she felt the rush, the fluttering in her stomach. To most, he wasn't the most impressive. His freckles, his messy hair, he wasn't very tall, didn't look imposing. But she saw past all that. She had seen it over and over again. When he came to save her in the entrance exam, when he faced down his rival in the combat exercise, when he and Hatsume basically carried their team in the cavalry battle. Today, everyone was seeing what she had always known was there. That resolve and drive that he had, that kept him moving forward to face down anything that came his way.
And here... In this round of the tournament. He stood across from her. She saw him shift from her friend to her opponent. Saw that same drive and resolve directed her way. And the thing that brought it out...
The cavalry battle was humbling. So many people had challenged Izuku head-on. Bakugo. Todoroki. Iida. All of them wanted to prove themselves against him. Each had pegged him as a threat, reluctantly or not. And so had Uraraka. But instead of challenging him like they had, she had hitched herself to his wagon, hoping he would drag her to success like he had in the combat exercise. She had done it with no hesitation at the time. No regret until Todoroki and Iida proved their intent to challenge him. Even then, there wasn't much. She had doubted her actions, doubted whether she had the same resolve to stand on her own. But that was only a prelude. As she hoped, Izuku carried them to victory, Ochako only working as a float system to give Hatsume's gadgets a little more oomph. She contributed once, then made an error that almost sank them, and from there she was dead weight.
They had won... Izuku and Hatsume doing the heavy lifting. And once it was over, there she was. Ochako wanted to like Jiro. She really did. The other girl hadn't done anything to earn distaste. Only been Ochako's strongest rival for something she took too long to realise she wanted. But then, to see the difference between them. Ochako had been a hanger-on. Jiro had stood proud herself, had gotten into the finals on her own merits. In that moment of realisation, it hadn't been about Izuku at all, save for seeing what he saw in Jiro.
Then... The tournament. What the other girl had to do to win her match, it wasn't pleasant to watch. Wasn't pleasant to do, judging by how Jiro looked after doing it. But she had won. She had pushed through when no one expected her to, when she was clearly outmatched. After seeing that, what could Ochako do but fight? Claw her way to her own victory? That was the realisation she came to. Izuku, and Iida, and Todoroki, and Bakugo, and even Jiro, they were all fighting their hardest. Giving their all to show what they were made of. Showing their drive, their will, their motivation to succeed.
And in this match, the thing that motivated Izuku in this moment. It was Jiro, in the stands, cheering him on.
Ochako Uraraka. She wanted to be a rescue hero. She wanted to be successful to give her parents an easier time. To thank them for working so hard raising her, giving her every opportunity they could for her to succeed. That was her ambition in life. Was there anything wrong with that?
Was there anything wrong with wanting more than that?
Or maybe that word was the wrong one. Wanting. Izuku didn't just want to be a great hero. It was like he needed to. Like there was nothing more important to him. He brought that same fierce determination, that same expectation to the tournament. If Ochako were honest... That same drive that Izuku, Bakugo and Todoroki shared, she wouldn't have said Jiro had it too from everything she had seen of the other girl. Until today. Had something changed today? Or had it changed and she hadn't noticed? Maybe at some point between the USJ and today, Izuku had inspired her just the same to give her that same fire.
Because what Ochako wanted... What she wanted was that same need. That same drive. Just wanting to be successful wasn't enough to get there. Just wanting to provide for her family wasn't enough. Just wanting to win in this tournament wasn't enough. Not when faced with people who felt that need.
Just wanting to be with Izuku wasn't enough.
Failure couldn't be acceptable. Disappointment couldn't be acceptable. That defiant spirit she found when fighting Tokoyami, she needed to hold onto it. She needed to make it a part of her. To become the kind of person who would never quit, never expect others to do the heavy lifting for her. If she wanted to achieve any of her goals, it wasn't enough to want it, she had to need it. Reach for it with everything she had.
"Are the fighters ready?"
It had to start here. Here and now. She'd be just like Izuku. Just like Jiro. She'd become more than she was. A girl who grabbed her future with both hands! Her stance widened, lowered, her arms spread wide. She stared at Izuku– No. At her opponent. And she gave a firm, certain nod.
It was like he could see it in her. The change. And his smile in reaction sharpened her resolve to get what she needed.
"Begin!"
She knew her plan. She knew her backup plan. It all relied on one single thing. She had to touch him. Just once. It was the most major hurdle of this fight. She knew Izuku was far stronger than her, that he was faster than her, that he was a better fighter than her. If it became an actual fight, she would lose. Guaranteed. Her dad had taught her what little he knew of fighting. How to throw a punch. Useless to her. But how to move? How to react quickly? That was something she'd have to rely on.
There was no point in staying away, keeping her distance. Both of them needed to get in close to win. She ran forward, taking small steps as she neared so she would be able to dodge if she needed to. Just as well, when she got close enough, sudden as a gunshot, Izuku jolted into her space and took a swing at her. She kicked her heel into the floor, halted her momentum and swayed back away from the fist. In the fraction of a second it took for that arm to move away again, she realised that was a chance she just passed up. His arms. His legs. His extremities after an attack. Those were perfect moments to catch him while overextended.
It worked in her favour. Seeing her dodge back, Izuku seized the momentum she had ceded. Pushed forward toward her, a fist coming in for a body blow. She twisted aside, her open hand coming around to grab the arm, but he too was able to force himself out of the way of her reaching limb. Deny her the chance. A leg followed up, she moved back, tried to grab his leg but one chance was all he allowed her. The movement of his kick was fluid, unlike the punches. It kept moving with no moment of pause to give her an opportunity to grab. Her fingers barely even approached his foot before the limb retreated.
A flash of a smile broke through her focused expression. Just like him. The whole exchange took maybe a second but he already refused to give her a second shot.
But... There was still a way. A way for her to get hands on him. A way in which he wouldn't be able to get away quite so easily. It was just a matter of finding the right moment. She pushed forward again, not giving him a chance to recover. She dodged a jab, a straight, each fist snapping out and in in a movement that must have strained his arms a little. Even if those fast punches wouldn't have much power on their own, his quirk would see them hit harder than a haymaker. But next came her moment. A knee that came up in what could have been her blind spot if she weren't specifically looking for something like it. The knee drove upward into her gut, slamming into her tensed muscles. It knocked more than the breath out of her. Even having fully braced for it the impact was severe.
Even so, she felt it. That moment of delay. She knew Izuku's strengths, but she knew his weaknesses too. Coming into contact with pretty girls, his quirk held on, leaving him stuck to them. And so when his knee made contact with her abdomen, it couldn't come away as easily. For just an instant of greater effort to pull away, he was stuck. She grinned, the strain of the hit still written on her face. One arm held onto his shin, attempting to keep him there for just a little longer as she reached for his face. Bare skin. It had to be. Making his clothes weightless wouldn't mean anything. This was it!
She felt a jarring pain in her wrist, in her fingers as the leg disappeared from her grip. The face before her disappeared in the blink of an eye. She looked around and saw him, panting, wide-eyed. He knew just how close he came to losing. Just as Ochako knew just how close she came to winning. So close.
"WOW! A blistering exchange from our quarter-finalists proving just how much grit and determination they have!"
"It's almost a match of brute force and finesse. Midoriya has power to spare and Uraraka knows it. But all it takes is a single touch from her and this match could be over. Uraraka took advantage of Midoriya's known weakness, but she had to pay a price for it to make an opportunity for herself. She played it smart, showed some real guts, but it didn't pay off."
No kidding. She strained, stretched her abdominal muscles no matter how painful it might have been. She couldn't afford to get stiff in a moment like this. Ochako watched Izuku, knowing he wouldn't give her an opportunity like that again. And sure enough, she saw him settle into a side-on pose. A hand come up.
"Oh, man! From what we've seen of Midoriya so far, it looks like he's about to take off the kid gloves!"
This was it. She knew what would happen next. She had known he could do this. He had proven it in the race, completely disabling Todoroki and Bakugo with it. Her first plan was shot. But she had scared him enough that her backup plan was in play. She watched that hand. And the instant his fingers moved to beckon her toward him...
Left or right...
Left or right...
Right!
Izuku stepped to the side out of the way as Ochako felt herself get dragged toward him, or rather where he had been. Instead, the momentum was going to drag her over the edge of the ring. However, the force could only pull her to where he was and that was a straight line along the ground. She touched her fingertips together, dropped her weight to nothing. The force of Izuku's pull had already acted on her. Inertia kept her moving, but a new force... She kicked off the ground, redirecting herself toward Izuku. Her speed increased, catapulting her toward his new location as he could only watch with wide eyes as his gambit backfired.
"Release!" she shouted, putting her fingers back together before palming Izuku's face. His vision obscured, her full weight rammed into him, legs wrapped around him, taking him off his feet over the edge of the ring. Off the edge of the platform. Weightless Izuku held down by Ochako with ease so he would hit the ground first.
And he knew it.
His leg dropped, and in the instant before the two of them would plummet to the grass, he kicked. Yelped in pain.
The pair launched upward.
"WOAH a desperate gambit from Midoriya to avoid a ring-out takes our two fighters into the sky above the ring!"
"Uraraka, what are you doing?!" Izuku demanded, his voice muffled by her hand still on his face.
The two of them tumbled through the sky, Uraraka trying to guide their fall by changing the gravity for each of them so Izuku would land first. All the while Izuku forced them to stay in the air with blasts of air pressure. "I'm gonna win this Izuku! I'm gonna win and then–!" She forced down a belch and a bout of nausea from constantly turning her own gravity on and off. "And then you're gonna take me on a date!"
"What?!" Izuku asked, floored by the sudden outburst.
"SORRY!"
He was below her. That was all she needed. She couldn't detach from him or else Izuku would just save himself, blast himself back into the ring. She had to distract him so they'd land that way!
"It's an air battle for supremacy! Both our fighters barely holding on as they struggle to see who literally comes out on top!"
It wasn't enough. Even if they fell like this, Izuku could knock them away or up again. And she was running out of time. With the constant shifts in gravity her nausea was rising at speeds she had never experienced before. She needed to distract him. Keep his eyes off where or when they would land. It was all or nothing now! She grabbed his head with both hands and pulled him in against her, pressed him hard into her chest. Mashed his face between her breasts! He couldn't see and his whole problem was he thought she was hot, right?! This would work! It had to work!
And for almost long enough, the surprise from trapping him between her pillows did indeed work. For almost long enough. The pair plummeted again, toward the edge of the platform, outside the ring. But for the loss of focus Izuku experienced as he was smothered in a heavenly embrace, he still felt the dropping sensation, the rush of air on his back. He couldn't see. He couldn't pull away in time. So he kicked. Once. The pain of those kicks had only gotten more severe as the air battle went on, the pressure of overstressing his body with his quirk.
The pain of landing was worse as his back slammed into concrete, willingly taking the entirety of the impact.
"And at the last second Midoriya knocks them back inside the ring!"
Uraraka gasped. No! It couldn't–! She heaved, frantically reasserted her own gravity, but that moment of inattention on her opponent was enough for him to take her in his arms, roll her onto her back.
Over the line.
"Ochako Uraraka is out of bounds! Izuku Midoriya moves on to the semi-finals!"
"No..." Ochako hiccuped, half out of sadness, half of sickness. Her breaths coming in unsteady and uncomfortable heaves.
"I'm sorry," Izuku said, sitting her up and rubbing her back in soothing circles. "You were amazing though. And honestly kind of terrifying."
"Hnnnn," she groaned. "At least I didn't throw up on– Hurgh!" she suddenly retched, though nothing came out as she doubled over the edge of the platform. She sat up again, smiling at him with teary eyes. "False alarm!" she assured him with sad laughter.
The two left the stage, headed into the tunnel. Ochako quickly headed toward the nurse's station. Izuku, unsure what to do in that moment, went the other way toward the stands. The temptation was there to follow Ochako, to talk to her. But being honest with himself, he had no idea what he would say. She had let it all out in the open when they were in the air. What her feelings were. What she wanted from him. And he had no idea how to handle that. How to resolve that. He was with Kyoka. He couldn't– He shouldn't reciprocate Ochako's feelings or respond to them. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt Ochako. Hell, if things had been different, if he hadn't gotten so close to Kyoka first...
He didn't know what to do. And so he chose to defer the decision. He had two more bouts in the tournament. He had some time to figure it out.
-(-)-
The final match of the quarter-finals. It had the potential to be a great bout. Unrealised potential. For as humiliated as Hiryu Rin was in his first match, he went into his second with a burning desire to prove himself. His combat power wasn't as high as it could have been without his support equipment, but as he activated and reversed his scales, it was clear he wasn't going to hold back. Meanwhile Setsuna Tokage had pretty limited avenues of attack in a wide open space like this. A lot of her quirk's ability came in the form of support. Scouting. Observing. Ambush. None of which made a blind bit of difference in a one on one match in the open.
And with Rin knowing her separated parts would regenerate anyway...
"Setsuna Tokage surrenders!" Midnight announced, said girl looking worse for wear with an arm and a leg temporarily missing, the separated parts destroyed by Rin's vicious scales. "Hiryu Rin moves on to the semi-finals!"
And just like that, they were back to the top of the bracket. The semi-final match.
Itsuka Kendo walked out into the arena with a focused look, her eyes locked on her opponent, her lips pinched shut with effort. Her opponent smirked as he saw it. Knew exactly what must have happened between his last match and this one. So he had finally been rumbled. Had to happen eventually.
"Are the fighters ready?" Midnight asked, getting nods from both of them.
Well, Shinso mused as he observed his opponent. He might have been found out, but that didn't mean he had no chance. Just had to be a little more audacious. "You've been getting pretty close with that Midoriya kid in this tournament."
"Begin!"
"Got a little crush? Maybe used those man hands of yours to jerk him off in the waiting room?"
Her eyes flashed, but she forced down any response, even the growl that threatened to escape her throat for fear that would be enough. Instead she stomped forward, not even bothering with her martial training as her hands grew. Grabbed hold of him from his head to his chest to shut him up. Lifted him and tossed him out of the ring.
"Hitoshi Shinso is out of bounds! Itsuka Kendo is our first finalist in the sports festival tournament!"
"So ends an impressive run from someone so unexpected," Aizawa commented before Present Mic could even say anything. "He might have fallen through the cracks in the entrance exam, but he has shown here today that with the right training he has potential to become an incredible hero."
"Yeah, he really–"
"Getting so far while hiding the limitations and even nature of his quirk," Aizawa interrupted the other commentator, "Not giving up even when those secrets had been found out and by the look of his opponent, almost succeeding anyway. It's that kind of focus and determination that is needed in the hero course."
"Starting to feel like you're showing a little favouritism as someone who also started in General Studies, Eraserhead."
"... I don't know what you're talking about."
"Oof," Shinso groaned as he sat up in the grass, looking up at the girl who beat him. Her arms folded over her chest. "I deserved that. Sorry about what I said, by the way. Had to go big since I could tell you already knew how my quirk works." He paused, waiting for an answer only to see the girl's lips were still pinched shut. "The match is over. I'm not gonna do anything now."
"Good." She paused, waiting to see if he was a man of his word. "You're a jackass. I accept your apology."
"Guilty as charged," he shrugged as he got to his feet. "If you could pass on an apology to... What was her name... Shiozaki. Best way to use my quirk in a situation like this is to get a rise out of people, so saying some unpleasant things is my best play."
"You think it's heroic to make disgusting comments like that?"
"You think it's heroic to bitch slap a ninety pound girl into a wall with a hand five times her size?" Shinso immediately countered.
Kendo flinched at the accurate accusation. "It wasn't into a wall..."
The gen ed student rolled his eyes at the weak defence, not bothering to comment on it. "Heroes have to fight, do what they need to for the sake of stopping their opponents, am I wrong? If all it takes for me to take down a villain is some hurt feelings, I feel like I'd do pretty okay as a hero. But hey, what do I know? I'm not hero course. Yet."
-(-)-
Izuku breathed a sigh of relief. After his bout with Ochako was far more intense than it had any right to be, and after the live grenade she had forcefully dropped in his lap, he was actually pretty happy for this match. A match not against a cute girl for once, instead a guy he barely knew anything about. He couldn't use his own quirk and it wouldn't get in his way. Just a straight up fight with no nonsense.
His opponent didn't seem to appreciate his laid back attitude going into this fight, but he was also a stranger so it was hard to worry about that with everything else that had been bouncing around in his head. He stepped onto the stage and settled into what could very loosely be called a stance.
"Both fighters ready?" Midnight asked. "Begin!"
The green of Rin's scales reflected the sunlight as they coated his arms. So far as Izuku could tell, Rin had two modes. Defensive when his scales were in their normal state, and offensive when they were reversed. As they were in a defensive state, it was probably safe to put more power than usual into his punches without worrying. For Ochako it hadn't seemed necessary. That had turned out to be a mistake. But here he felt secure in the other boy's toughness to come at him with maximum safe power of eight percent.
The two competitors met in the middle of the ring, Rin's arm raised, ready to take the jab he could already see coming on his viridescent scales.
And he did.
And the arm was blown away.
Rin's eyes widened as the guard he had put up was instantly blown open. Caught completely by surprise, he hadn't seen that kind of power in Izuku's previous matches. A simple jab had completely overcome his strength. He backed off but the green haired boy gave chase, capitalising on taking the initiative. Another attack, this time a one-two punch that Rin tried to defend against with a cross-arm block, hoping that would be enough. His bones rattled from the force that passed through his scaled arms.
He backed off again, getting dangerously near the edge of the ring. He needed a change in tactics. His thought had been to do as Uraraka had done. Take a hit and hit back harder. But he couldn't take these hits. He reversed his scales in the bare second he had, making those devastating punches a risky proposition for Izuku. It would be like punching a wall of spikes. But when he refocused, he didn't see his opponent.
Izuku was already at his side, a kick swinging at his unguarded back, the dragon-scaled boy too overwhelmed by the absurd onslaught to keep his awareness. The kick hit home, blasted the boy back toward the middle of the ring as he rolled to a stop.
Izuku blinked in surprise. Hiryu Rin wasn't getting up. Though to his relief, he was trying. On shaking arms, his opponent tried to force himself onto his hands and knees at least. But it was no good. Even if he could rise, there was no way for him to put up a decent fight against that. Confused and beaten, Hiryu Rin dropped and stayed down.
Midnight considered that as good a confirmation as any. "Hiryu Rin is defeated by knockout. Izuku Midoriya is our second finalist in the sports festival tournament!"
-(-)-
A/N: Reminder that when it comes to esoteric fight mechanics, Casey is not a physicist and in fact barely scraped a pass in the subject in high school. Just so we're all on the same page there.
This chapter seen a week early by my generous supporters on THE GREAT FORBIDDEN P. Fear the P. Love the P.