With the second round of the tournament about to begin, Midoriya was making his way over the ring. Things had been going smoothly so far. But the very real probability that he was going to have to go up against Bakugou was still lingering in his mind. In truth, the thought of throwing the next match just to avoid this confrontation did cross his mind. But his heart wasn't about to let him do that. Midoriya had spent years running away from the guy. And he wasn't about to let the lingering fear that he still had for him cloud his judgment.
Right as Midoriya made his way around the corner and onto the next hall, he was caught by surprise when he found himself standing face-to-face with none other than Enji Todoroki. More commonly known as the Flame Hero: Endeavor. He quickly realized that pictures never really did the man justice and that he was much more intimidating in person. And the constant stream of flames emanating from his body only added to his look.
"There you are, boy." The flame hero said as he pointed a finger at the face of Midoriya. An action that immediately rubbed the verdant teen the wrong way. "I was hoping to get the chance to speak with you."
"Me?" Midoriya tilted his head after this. What did Endeavor of all people want to speak with him for?
"Yes, you managed to best my son in the first round." You could practically hear the annoyance in the man's voice as the words left his mouth. "That child is going through a bit of a rebellious stage at the moment, but that shouldn't take away from your victory. I've been watching some of the highlights from the previous events and I have to say that you've impressed me."
"T-thank y-you, sir." Midoriya slightly stuttered out. Getting praise from the number two hero of all people certainly wasn't what he was expecting.
"You're still not as powerful as my Shouto, but you have potential. In fact, you remind me a bit of that annoying brat, Tornado." He continued. This was enough for Midoriya to look the man in the eye. However when he did, he couldn't help but notice something.
He had seen that look too many times before. It was the look of pure and utter arrogance. It wasn't a secret that Endeavor wasn't the nicest guy around, but the borderline conceited snarl on his face definitely didn't sit well with him. It was painfully obvious to Midoriya that the man was exactly the kind of person that he didn't like.
"I'll be putting in an offer for you to internship at my agency in the coming weeks. You'd do well to accept it."
Midoriya decided to do the smart thing and hold his tongue while giving the man a polite bow. "Thank you for your consideration, sir."
"Indeed." Endeavor simply nodded as he turned around. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go find my son."
With that, the flame hero made his exit. Leaving Midoriya with a weird feeling in his gut. 'I guess Endeavor really is just another one of them after all.'
"Alright listeners, it's time for the first match of the second round!" Present Mic yelled into the microphone. "First up, with a hero pedigree that would put most others to shame. He's a speed demon ready to sprint his way to victory. The vice-representative for the hero course's class 1-A. Make some noise for Tenya Iida!"
'I remember briefly crossing paths with Midoriya-san during the entrance exam. I'll have to use my top speed if I'm going to avoid his telekinesis. Tensei is watching so I need to make sure I put on a good show for him.' The engine quirk user thought as he entered the ring.
"And his opponent. He's being laying low up until now, but with his upset victory in the first round he's sure to be on everyone's radar. Class 1-B's resident Flyboy, Izuku Midoriya!"
"Did he seriously just call him, "Flyboy"? Oh man, that's great!" Tokage couldn't help but giggle at her classmate's new moniker.
'Iida-san's speed is top notch. I'll have to take to the air again if I want to win this. He's just too fast.' Midoriya told himself.
"Let the match, begin!" The R-Rated heroine shouted with a wave of her whip.
Having already decided that a prolonged fight would not be to his advantage, Iida immediately activated his quirk at maximum power and sprinted towards Midoriya. While at the same time, the 'telekinesis' user lifted himself off the ground.
What the green haired boy wasn't expecting however was for Iida to immediately jump into the air and ready his right leg to deliver a devastating kick. Somehow, Midoriya was able to recognize this in time and ascended further into the sky just out of his reach. Narrowly avoiding what was sure to be a concussion if that attack managed to make contact.
'That was my only chance!' Iida clenched his jaw after dropping back onto the ground. What happened next was pretty much what everyone expected. Midoriya simply used his powers to levitate Iida into the air and out of the ring. Securing himself a spot in the semi-finals.
"Tenya Iida is out of bounds. Izuku Midoriya is the winner!" Midnight declared to a roaring crowd.
"That was a fine showing, Midoriya-san. Your battle prowess and quirk are truly formidable." The vice-rep of 1-A said with a low bow. A gesture that Midoriya was quick to return.
"You did well yourself, Iida-san. I apologize for ending thing so quickly."
"Please, don't worry yourself over it."
"Oh my, such youthful vigor!" Midnight cooed at the gentlemanly exchange between the two boys.
Back in the 1-A booth, the hero course students were giving their thoughts on the match.
"This guy took out Iida-kun too, huh?"
"I'd hate to say it, but the only person that stands a chance of beating him is probably Bakugou."
At the other end of the section, Yaoyorozu noticed the short smile on Uraraka's face. The brunette was good friends with their vice-rep from what she had seen, so it was odd seeing her react in such a way. "Is something troubling you, Uraraka-chan?"
"Oh n-no…" The brunette waved off. "I just thought that Iida-kun would stand more of a chance against Midoriya-san."
"Yes, this boy from 1-B seems to be quite the fighter. And his quirk gives him a major advantage over everyone else." The raven haired teen agreed.
"That's right!" A voice suddenly interjected. The entirety of their class turned their attention towards the dividing wall where Neito Monoma was giving them what was possibly the most smug grin they had ever seen. "Midoriya-kun is truly one to be feared. You 1-A jerks should've paid more attention to your competition. Just you wait until the rest of our class mops the floor with you!"
"Hey, you're that blonde haired guy from earlier!" Ashido pointed an accusatory finger at him.
"Well, if it isn't the girl who gave u- ack!" Monoma was cut off by Kendou chopping him in the back of the neck. Knocking the blonde boy out instantly. As she took the time to pick up Monoma's limp body from over the divider wall, she was met with the curious looks of the students of class 1-A. It was the first time that the orange haired girl had interacted with their class, minus Iida and Yaoyorozu. And she was not about to let Monoma of all people ruin their image.
"Sorry about him guys. He's kind of crazy." The 'big fist' user apologized to the other students.
"Oh, Kendou-san. Hello." Yaoyorozu greeted the girl.
"Hey."
"Please tell me that everyone in your class isn't like that."
"Oh, definitely not." Tokage interjected as she took up a spot next to Kendou. "I know our classes are supposed to be rivals and all that, but Monoma is a bit of a special case. To be honest, I think he might have rabies."
"Tokage-san, it's nice seeing again."
"You know her?" The girl with purple hair and peculiar earlobes asked.
"We took the recommendations exam together." Yaoyorozu explained.
"Neat, gero."
There were some interesting looking characters in 1-A based on first impressions. There was the masked guy with six arms and another student that looked as though his head was made of rocks. Then again, with guys like Bondo and Fukidashi walking around, people probably thought the same thing about her class.
"We'll be sure to keep Monoma here on a tight leash, so don't worry about him. He thinks you guys are all arrogant assholes."
"That's ironic."
"So, what's the deal with this Midoriya guy?" Kirishima asked, curious about the green haired boy. "He took out two of the strongest guys in our class and Bakugou seems to have a bone to pick with him."
"If anything, your classmate seems to be the one with the issue." Tokage retorted.
"I don't understand." A floating set of clothes said.
"I'm guessing they have history or something. He pretty much attacked him in the hallway a couple of weeks ago."
"Is that what all that yelling was about? I thought Bakugou was just having another temper tantrum."
"Well, the two of them will probably be going against each other in the semi-finals. Hopefully things don't get too out of hand."
"I wouldn't worry too much about it, Moptop is pretty level headed. I mean, you have to be to take out the son of Endeavor and Ingenium's brother, right?" Tokage joked.
"Speaking of which, has anyone heard from Todoroki? He hasn't been back ever since his match." Kaminari looked around.
"He's probably just licking his wounds. Or brooding, whichever one." Ojiro shrugged.
"Well, I hope he's doing well. He shouldn't let one loss get to him." Kendou stated before backing away from the wall. "We'll talk to you guys later."
"Indeed." The raven haired teen nodded.
The second match pitted Shiozaki against Bakugou. Unfortunately for the vine haired girl, the tables were turned on her from her last match. With the obvious mismatch when it came to quirks, it was practically childsplay for the boy the blow away nearly all of her vines. The match was over in less than a minute and Bakugou had secured himself a spot in the semi-finals.
'Shiozaki-san is good, but she just drew the short straw.' Midoriya thought to himself while letting out a sigh. Apparently the universe wasn't as kind to him as he had hoped.
"Are you okay, Midoriya-kun?" Yanagi asked in her usually stoic tone.
"Uh y-yes, I'm great." He reassured her.
"Setsuna's up next. I hope she can beat this Shinsou guy." Kendou stated in a worried tone. "I wasn't able to give any advice on how this guy's quirk works."
"Shinsou-san has power to take over brains, correct?" Tsunotori wondered.
"It appears so." Said Monoma, who only recently regained consciousness. "His last match was over so quickly that I didn't even get a chance to see what he did."
"Setsuna will be fine. I'm sure she's already picked out a way to handle this douchebag."
"Alright party people, it's time for the third match of the quarterfinals!"
"Yet another student who's made a splash onto the scene. This mystery man has everyone on their toes. From the general studies department's Class 1-C, please make some noise for Hitoshi Shinsou!"
The crowd began cheering for the tournament underdog, but the 1-C section made no attempt to hide their support.
"And his opponent, frankly her quirk gives me the heebie-jeebies. The vice representative for Class 1-B, Setsuna Tokage!"
The green haired girl was too focused to let her teacher's less than stellar introduction get to her. Although she wasn't sure about what this purple haired insomnia case could do, she knew that he had some sort of mind control power. The problem was that she didn't know what conditions had to be met for him to activate it. Based on his last round, it obviously worked at a distance. So she needed to be careful.
"Y'know...I'm jealous of someone like you. You have all this power and you got fast-tracked into the hero course. Did you even have to work for your spot?!" The boy taunted her in a smug tone.
"Save the banter for after you lose the match!" She shot back almost instantly, more out of reaction than anything else.
"Why would I do that when I've already won?" Shinsou gave her a smug grin.
"Let the next match, begin!" Midnight announced with a dramatic wave.
Immediately, Tokage split herself up and sent her head flying towards the sky. She was pretty much gambling on keeping herself out of his range. But it was the best she could do in this situation. Deciding to play it safe, she sent an arm towards him but the boy was able to move out the way. Just barely. The girl was about to send another arm at him but noticed how his face twisted into in almost manic grin.
"What are you smi-" The moment the words came out of her mouth, Tokage felt her entire body lock up. Her muscles tensed and it felt as if someone put her entire brain in a pot of freezing water. The only thing she could get her mind to focus on was her opponent's voice. 'What the hell just happened? I can't move any of my pieces.'
"I guess that recommendation was all for show. I'm not surprised though, the rest of your buddies went out just as easily." The boy taunted again. "Now, do me a favor and put one of your feet passed the boundary line."
Against her will, Tokage followed the boy's command her set her leg down outside of the ring. There was a silence amongst the crowd as everyone waited for the verdict from Midnight. Who herself had to think about it for a second. "Setsuna Tokage is out of bounds. Hitoshi Shinsou advances!"
The moment the words came out of her mouth, Tokage felt herself regain control of her body and immediately pieced herself back together. Once she was done, she shot a glare back at her opponent. "What did you just do?"
"It's a trade secret." He said with yet another smug grin before walking off. Leaving the girl completely confused about what just transpired.
Something wasn't right. One second she was in complete control, the next she wasn't. However this guy's quirk worked, it was powerful. Deciding that she wouldn't linger on it any further, Tokage picked up what was left of her pride and made her way back to her classmates. Still completely confused on this whole ordeal.
Within a few minutes, the girl was back in the 1-B booth and was met with Tetsutetsu throwing an arm over her shoulder. "Damn, I thought for sure that you were going to beat that asshole!"
"That guy's quirk is insane. I don't even know how he got me."
"It was the same for us." Shiozaki pointed to herself and Tetsutetsu. "Shinsou-san's mind control isn't easy to figure out."
"You got that right."
While his classmates were discussing the previous match, Midoriya's mind was running a mile a minute. Shinsou's mind control ability was definitely top notch. The further he thought about the boy's last two matches, the more confused he got. There had to be some kind of trigger that needed to be met for him to use it. It couldn't have been an area of effect type quirk, otherwise he would've just taken control of the entire field during the cavalry battle. Maybe he could only control one person at a time? No that wasn't it. He had his entire team under his control in the last event. The verdant teen was brought out of his mental rambling when Tokage sat down in the seat next to him.
"Man…" The girl said with a slight grin. "I couldn't even make it past the second round. I guess I won't be seeing you in the finals then, huh?"
"Y-you still did great out there, Tokage-san." He told her sincerely.
"You're so sweet, do you mind being my shoulder to cry on? Or y'know...I could lay my head on your lap."
"I-I-I…" He stuttered out as his face quickly adopted a shade of red.
"Alright, now I feel better." She said with a not-so-subtle laugh. "Getting a reaction out of you is just what the doctor ordered!"
"Oh..."
"Tell you what, if you really want to make me feel better..." A devious smirk quickly formed on her face. "You can take me out on a date so I can lick my wounds later today. You can fly me somewhere nice."
"Wow, you don't waste any time. Do you?" Honenuki started laughing, only to be joined by a few others immediately after.
"That's enough!" Monoma half-shouted. "We need to start putting our heads together and come up with a strategy for Kendou-san to beat this Shinsou character. He's making our class look bad!"
"Aren't you forgetting about Yanagi?" Kamakiri asked the 'copy' quirk user.
"Kendou-san weighs too much for her to control. I don't want to sound impolite, but Yanagi-san doesn't really stand a chance."
*Slap!* One of Shiozaki's vines hit the boy in the face.
"Don't be rude!" The girl scolded him.
"I'll be sure to tell Kendou that you called her fat." Awase laughed at the display.
As it turns out, Monoma had the ability to see the future. The match between Yanagi and Kendou was short. Due to the fact that Kendou outweighed the girl by a few kilograms, the grey haired teen was all but helpless in their fight. Luckily for her, the orange haired class-rep was merciful and simply picked her up and set her outside of the ring instead of going all out.
'Alright, let's get this over with.' Midoriya sighed to himself as he stood up and walked towards the exit.
"Give 'em hell, Moptop!" Tokage gave him one last word of encouragement.
"T-thanks."
As he made his way up the steps, Midoriya was admittedly having a difficult time keeping his nerves in check. Across the ring, Bakugou was giving him a death glare that promised him nothing but pure agony. In his mind, he could only assume that the 'explosion' quirk user was furious that he had the audacity to even breathe the same air as him. And the fact that he now had an unexplained quirk was just another tally mark on his record.
The green haired boy's mind was in two places right now. On one hand, part of him still retained a slight bit of fear towards the guy who made his childhood a living hell. On the other, he knew he had no reason to be afraid of the guy. Sure Bakugou's quirk was as amazing as it had always been, but now he was more than capable of going toe-to-toe with him. Midoriya resolved himself to just end things quickly and use his telekinesis on him as soon as he was given the signal.
"There's nowhere for you to run, Deku!" The ashen blonde teen barked at him. "Once I'm done beating you to a pulp, you're going to tell me how you got that shitty quirk of yours. No one makes a fool out of me and gets away with it!"
'Of course he thinks this is all about him.'
In the student section you could practically feel the tension radiating off the two competitors. Tokage found herself a bit worried about her classmate, but quickly set that aside. Midoriya was guaranteed an easy win. This was literally going to be as simple as levitating Bakugou out of the ring.
"Midoriya-san's gonna win, right?" Tsunotori asked in a slightly nervous tone. She had faith in the guy, but he was going up against someone who could blow things up with a flick of the wrist.
"He'll be fine." Honenuki reassured her horned classmate.
"Our first match of the semi-finals is going to feature two of the top dogs of the hero course. Both of these boys are heavy favorites to win it all, but only one of them can make it to the next round!"
"Now for our first competitor. The lean, mean, green machine from Class 1-B. He's been soaring his way into our hearts, Izuku Midoriya!"
"Go Midoriya! Avenge me dammit!" Tetsutetsu shouted after the introduction.
"And his opponent, sporting a face that only a mother could love. His mouth is almost as explosive as his fists, give it up for Katsuki Bakugou!"
"C'mon Bakugou. Make our class proud!" Kirishima cheered loudly from the 1-A booth.
With his plan already in place, Midoriya activate his 'telekinesis' and got ready to fling his opponent out of the ring. That's all that he had to do. No more, no less.
"Let the match, begin!" Midnight shouted with a wave of her hand.
The moment the words left the R-Rated heroine's mouth, Bakugou did something unexpected. Instead of flying straight towards Midoriya, the ashen blonde aimed his hands towards the ground and blasted everything directly in front of his feet. This created a plume of smoke that completely clouded Midoriya's vision.
'A smokescreen? I can't see him.' The green haired boy thought. Barely a second later, a powerful blast went off and a wall of fire made a beeline straight for him. Midoriya didn't have enough time to think and only reacted by rolling to his right. However, the teen was met with a second blast was just as strong.
With a quick moment to breath, Midoriya took to the air to get a better view of the ring. As he made his ascent, he was able to get a glance at Bakugou through the smoke. The two locked eyes for a second and he was about to use his quirk on him, but the 'explosion' quirk user was quick to put up another smoke screen to obstruct his vision. 'Did he already figured out that I need to see him to be able to use my quirk?' He wondered.
"You can't levitate what you can't see. Isn't that right you loser?!" Bakugou's voice said from the smoke cloud. Unbeknownst to Midoriya, the boy had spent a good amount of time looking up information on telekinetic quirks before the match. And the fact that he was still able to move on his own was more than enough confirmation for him.
'Of course he'd figure it out. He's seen me fight twice already.' Midoriya said to himself. He should've known better than to underestimate the guy. The verdant teen quickly decided to play the waiting game and ascended further into the air. He may not be able to see his opponent, but the same was also true for him. Sooner or later he'd get his chance.
Bakugou however, wasn't having any of it. For a short moment, enough of the smoke cloud dissipated to where Midoriya could see the boy's silhouette. He stuck out his hand to grab a hold of him, but another blast went off and obstructed his view. What happened next definitely caught him by surprise.
From the middle of the smoke cloud, Bakugou used his quirk to propel himself upwards into the sky. With this window of opportunity, Midoriya yet again attempted to grab a hold of him. But the 'explosion' quirk user quickly sent a blast his way. Out of instinct, Midoriya moved himself to the right to avoid the attack, but doing so cost him his chance at victory. In the time it took him reorient himself, Bakugou was already back on the ground and had kicked up some more smoke.
"So you're trying to compete against me, eh Deku? You think you can beat me? It doesn't matter if you got some shitty quirk now. You're still nothing. Just trash on the side of the road! A bug I can crush whenever I want you damn loser!" Bakugou's voice shouted from the ring.
Midoriya had to bite back a tinge of anger after hearing this. He knew what the guy was trying to do. He was trying to agitate him and get him to lose focus.
"I fucking hate you! What made you think you could even be here, huh?! Even after all this time you still haven't fucking learned. Are you trying to humiliate me? Hiding your quirk from me and pretending your some kind of big shot!" The boy's words were followed by a few indiscriminate blast in multiple directions. At the very least, Bakugou didn't know where he was.
'Calm down, Izuku. He's just trying to get under your skin.'
"Maybe I should tell your loser classmates just how pathetic you really are? I bet they would love to know that you're actually just a spineless wimp. One who decided to run away from his problems instead of facing them like a man. Is that where you've been all this time? Tucked under some hole with your tail between your legs? How fitting for a worthless waste of space like you!"
Midoriya doesn't really know why, but something in his mind snapped after hearing that. Actually, he does know why. Because it wasn't too far from the truth. But there was something about hearing those words come out of Bakugou's mouth that just made it an even more bitter pill to swallow.
Midoriya wasn't someone who had ever learned how to process anger very well. Or even at all. He had always experienced anger in small spurts, but he usually forced those feelings downs as soon as they came up. Heroes never let their emotions get the better of them after all. But there was just something about what Bakugou said that struck a chord in him that he didn't even know he had.
Everyone in the stadium watched as the boy visibly relaxed his body in mid-air. For a moment, he was sent back in time and years of his life flashed across his mind. The bullying, the beatings, the apathetic looks, the burned clothes and bruises. All of that contributed to what was probably going to be a major mistake further down the road.
All of a sudden, the boy's mind went clear. It was as if everything in the world suddenly didn't matter.
Midoriya turned his gaze back down to the dissipating cloud of smoke and the opportunity that he had been waiting on presented itself on a silver platter. It was quick, only for a second, but he got a glance at his opponent. More accurately, Bakugou's completely exposed back.
"Come down here and face me you motherfuck- ack!" Bakugou's tirade was cut off when he felt something wrap around his throat. The boy reached his hands up to deal with what was now constricting his airflow, but there was one problem...nothing was there. The next thing the 'explosion' quirk user felt was his body being lifted off of the ground and rotate nearly a full 180 degrees before being forced out of cloud.
The boy managed to look up. And when he did, he admittedly felt a tinge of something that he had experienced only once before. There in the air was Midoriya, with an arm extended towards him and his hand mimicking the shape of a vice-grip. What was more unnerving was the expression of absolute calm on the boy's face.
Bakugou absentmindedly tried to talk but that only worsened his current predicament. His throat was being crushed, he was losing air fast and he could hear the blood rushing through his head. It was at this moment that ashen blonde teen finally realized what he was feeling. It was fear. Fear brought on by someone that he should've had no problem putting in their place. The 'explosion' quirk user looked up once again towards his foe and tried to figure a way to get himself out of this before he passed out.
On the flip side, Midoriya's mind had gone blank. All of the emotions that he was feeling had bubbled over and he wasn't thinking straight. It was only when he looked into Bakugou's bloodshot and bulging eyes that he finally came to his senses.
What was he doing? What in the actual hell was he doing? He was using his quirk to cause harm to another student.
Immediately the boy released his hold and Bakugou hit the ground with a thud, only for the boy to immediately suck in as much oxygen as he could through his mouth.
In the air, Midoriya's mind was racing. His head was throbbing, his heart was ready to leap out of his chest and he could feel himself ready to throw up at a moment's notice. Without a second thought, the green haired teen lowered himself to the ground and quickly turned on his heels. Not even caring that he technically just lost the fight. His brain was still foggy and he needed to find a bathroom quick before he spilled his guts all over the place.
"Uh...Izuku Midoriya has forfeited. Katsuki Bakugou is the winner." Midnight said in a confused tone as she watched the boy leave without a word.
Back with Bakugou, once the words finally hit his ears he immediately looked up to see Midoriya retreating into the tunnel. His mind was also processing thing at lightning speed.
He just gave up. That useless loser just gave up in the middle of the fight. Useless fucking Deku just forfeited the match when he was about to win. Bakugou was having a hard time coming to terms with something so ludacris. Did Deku of all people think that he was so weak that he needed his pity? Was this his way of sending a message? If it wasn't for the fact that his throat was still in pain he would've shouted at the boy before he disappeared into the tunnel.
One thing was certain in Katsuki Bakugou's mind at that very moment. Deku was going to pay for making a fool out of him.
In the 1-B section, the students let the initial shock of what they just witnessed wash over them.
"Damn…" Awase simply said.
"Dude, Midoriya's...intense." Tsuburaba followed up.
It took Tokage a second to shake herself off before speaking up. "Were any of you able to hear what Bakugou said to him? Even though he was yelling, I could barely make out what he was saying."
"All I was able to make out was something about Midoriya-kun being a wimp." Yanagi answered in her usual dry tone.
"I think it's safe to say that is definitely not the case." Kamakiri commented.
Without warning, Tokage stood up from her seat and went straight for the exit. Something was definitely wrong, she could feel it. The entire time during their fight Bakugou was the only one talking. Which means that he must've said something outrageous to get Midoriya to choke him out on national television like that.
"Where are you going?" Tetsutetsu asked.
"I'm going to go find Moptop and see if he's okay."
"Do you want us to come with you?" Shiozaki looked to the girl. She herself was worried about her classmate's well being. The boy looked very distressed as he left the ring.
"No...I think I should go by myself. We'll be back in a bit." She waved her off. "Can you guys not be a bunch of asshole when we do?"
Everyone in the booth nodded in agreement.
~Blizzard Hero Agency, Saitama Prefecture.~
"Well shit…" Ozehana said in a slightly bewildered tone. "This Midoriya dude is one bad motherfucker. That Bakugou kid must've said something crazy to him in all that smoke. I wish they had microphones inside the ring."
To her right, Fubuki's eyes lingered on television screen. The woman had been silent since the match ended. "Interesting."
"What's up?"
"That was a "force choke"." The green haired woman simply answered.
"A what?" Ozehana gave her an inquisitive look.
"A very difficult move to pull off." She began explaining. "Very few people with a quirk like mine can do it without snapping a person's neck. It takes a ridiculous amount of precision and control. The only people I know who can do it safely are myself and my sister."
"So...are you still going to take him on as an intern?"
"Of course I am. Like I said before, you don't come across talent like that very often."
In a seedy bar in the bowels of Kamino Ward, a young man with dry skin and sky blue hair was grinning at the television screen in front of him.
"Kurogiri…" He said in a raspy voice to a well dressed, human-shaped cloud of mist. "I want him!"
"The boy does seem to possess an affinity for the wicked." The man now identified as Kurogiri responded before turning his attention to the other television monitor on the back wall. "What do you think, Master?"
"I think that Tomura has a wonderful eye for talent." A sinister voice stated from behind the screen. Although neither of the two men in the bar could see it. The man behind the television was very pleased at this turn of events.
A few minutes went by as Tokage made her way down to the waiting rooms. She was a bit sad that she was probably going to miss Kendou's match, but there were more important things to worry about right now. About halfway down the hall, she noticed a cracked door on her left. The girl let out a sigh before opening it and was met with the sight of Midoriya sitting in one of the chairs with his head in his hands. It didn't take a genius to see that the boy wasn't in the best of moods right now. And part of her knew that she should probably leave him alone. But the other part won out.
"You okay, Moptop?" She asked in a delicate tone.
"Tokage-san?" Midoriya looked up at her. He was about to say something else, but the girl held up her hand to cut him off.
"Before you say anything, everyone in the class heard that dude yelling at you. We couldn't hear exactly what he was saying , but it must've been pretty bad if it made you of all people lose your cool."
"I'm sorry." He apologized, more out of habit than anything else.
"What are you apologizing to me for?"
The boy decided to stay silent instead of giving her an answer. The two remained in that position for a few seconds before the girl took the open seat across the table from him.
"So...I know this is none of my business." Tokage started. "But what's the deal between you and that Bakugou guy? He seems to hate you, like a lot."
"It's...complicated…" He answered her in a slightly dejected tone.
"I wouldn't doubt it. Look, if you don't want to tell anyone, that's fine. But it's not good to bottle things up if they're bothering you."
"Yeah...I know."
The silence between them lingered for another two minutes before Tokage decided to do something about it. It probably wasn't good for the guy to be by himself right now. So it was her job to try to cheer up her friend. "Alright, that's enough sulking! Let's go!" She said while standing up.
"Go where?"
"First, to that smoothie stand near the cafeteria. Then back to the class. Itsuka's match is about to start and we need to be there to cheer her on."
"Oh…" He simply said. The boy knew that he probably shouldn't be left alone right now. But a part of him had more than enough reason to be nervous about facing the rest of the class. He didn't really know what they thought of him before, and no doubt their opinion of him just worsened. "A-actually, I'd rather just stay here for a few more minutes."
"That's fine." The girl responded as she sat back down. Honestly, she should've known better than to try and force him to return to their group so quickly. But she wasn't really experienced in this kind of thing. The two remained there for a few minutes before Midoriya finally calmed himself down enough to be able to go back to his classmates.
Thankfully for the green haired boy, no one pressed him about what happened during his match. It was pretty obvious to them that Bakugou had to have said something pretty extreme during their fight. But what that was exactly was none of their business. Instead, the students of 1-B decided to cheer on their class rep.
The second semi-final match between Kendou and Shinsou was a bit of a disappointment for the students of Class 1-B. Once again, Shinsou recorded another effortless victory after Kendou forfeited her match against her will. As expected, the girl was pretty upset about falling victim to this guy's quirk for a second time. But there was nothing that she could do about it. And with that, every member of Class 1-B was out of the tournament.
"I think I've finally figured out this guy's quirk." Monoma spoke up.
"You think so?"
"Well spill man, what the hell is this guy's deal?" A now very curious Tetsutetsu asked.
"I think it's voice activated." He started. "In every one of his matches, he said something to his opponent before they began. It's a shot in the dark. But if that's the criteria for him to use his quirk, it's a smart way to do it without tipping anyone off."
'I think he's right.' Midoriya silently agreed.
"Damn! If only we knew that before the start of the tournament we could've put him down. The guy's built like a twig. I bet he'd go down with one good punch."
"Well there's nothing we can do about it now." Tokage shrugged. "At least Moptop and Itsuka tied for third place."
"I'm calling it now. Bakugou's gonna win." Honenuki flatly stated. No one else found enough reason to disagree.
The final match of the tournament went just like Honenuki predicted.
Upon entering the ring, Midoriya noticed the absolutely furious aura surrounding Bakugou. The students of 1-B watched as Shinsou tried another attempt at taunting the boy from 1-A. But you could see the nervous sweat form on the purpled haired boy's face when he didn't respond. No one could tell if Bakugou had figured out the boy's quirk, or if he was just too angry to talk. But it became apparent that Monoma's assumption might have some merit.
The match started and ended with Bakugou blasting the general studies student out of the ring with one decisive attack. Simply put, Shinsou didn't even stand a chance.
In no time, Midoriya and Kendou were ushered to the podium to accept their third place medals. Although both students were satisfied with their placement, there was still a lingering sense of disappointment in the air. Kendou was kicking herself for falling prey to her opponents quirk twice. And Midoriya was still a bit distraught with how his own match ended. Actually, the only person who seemed somewhat happy was Shinsou.
However, neither student could really focus all that well seeing as Bakugou was in the middle of throwing a fit. The boy was literally chained to a cement pillar that Cementoss had to make and his hands were bound together with some heavy metal cuffs. And his eyes were focused on nothing but Midoriya.
"Y'know, you should be the one up there." Kendou whispered to her classmate. "I heard from Setsuna and Yanagi-chan about what happened during your match."
"It's fine Kendou-san." Midoriya told the girl with a half-hearted smile.
Before the girl could respond, the voice of Midnight came on over the loudspeaker and their podiums began ascending onto the parade field. As expected, everyone was more than a bit uncomfortable seeing their new champion thrashing around in a such a state. Some of the spectators couldn't help but comment on how the boy looked like a feral animal.
"Geez Aizawa, is he always like this?" Kan asked his fellow teacher.
"More or less." The bandaged man responded.
"And you haven't done anything about it yet? The kid seems off his rocker."
"Bakugou may be rough around the edges, but he gets results when it matters. As long as he doesn't do anything egregious I don't really see a point in trying to adjust his behavior right now."
"Well that just seems irresponsible." Kan absentmindedly responded.
The night time hero quirked an exposed eyebrow at his colleague's words. "Excuse me?"
"Forgive me, that was unprofessional." The white haired man quickly apologized. "You've been doing this a lot longer than I have, so I'm sure you know how to handle these kinds of things."
"Now, let's break out the hardware!" Midnight began while motioning towards the sky. "Of course, there's only one man worthy of distributing these awards!"
Out of nowhere, the sound of boisterous laughter caught everyone's attention. And like a muscle bound angel descending from the heavens, All Might made his grand entrance. Unfortunately for the number one hero, Midnight completely screwed up his introduction. The "R-Rated" heroine quickly apologized by holding her hands up in front of her face. The blonde haired man wasted no time in securing the medals and making his way over to the podium. And his first stop were the two third place finalists from 1-B.
"Young Kendou, congratulations. You showed great strength befitting that of a class representative."
"Thank you sensei. But to be honest, I feel like I could've done a lot better." The orange haired teen responded as the medal was placed around her neck.
"Take these experiences to heart and use them to overcome your own shortcomings. From what I've seen, a lot of students in your class look up to you."
Next up was Midoriya. As the pro hero placed the other bronze medal around his neck, he couldn't help but notice the odd gaze that the boy was giving him. Obviously this was something that he needed to address some time soon. But now was neither the time nor the place for it. Instead, he opted to keep to the script and give the boy his praise.
"Young Midoriya, you certainly made an impression on everyone here. A lot of people had you as their favorite to win the tournament. I'd like to commend you for focusing on teamwork rather than chasing the glory of being in the top spot. It's a trait that many aspiring heroes like yourself should possess."
"Thank you, sensei." The boy dryly stated as he accepted his prize. His tone of voice not sitting well with the blonde haired man at all.
Shinsou was next on the pecking order. The purple haired teen made no attempt to hide the smug grin on his face as the silver medal was given to him.
"Young Shinsou. I think I speak for everyone here when I say that you were certainly the "Cinderella story" of this tournament. Your quirk is truly impressive and you managed to make your mark on both the spectators and the faculty."
"Expect to see me in your class very soon." The boy responded.
Finally, was Katsuki Bakugou. Even All Might had to take a moment to admire his colleague's handiwork. He was fairly certain that the restraints the boy was placed under were meant for highly dangerous criminals. Not a high school student. But instead of pointing that out, he decided to just roll with it. Against his better judgment, he loosened the muzzle around the boy's mouth.
"Well young Bakugou, you did exactly what you said you would in the pledge. You are true to your word."
"All Might…" Bakugou growled out towards the man. "Winning first place like this is useless. It doesn't prove that I'm the best one here! Even if the whole damn world recognizes me as the winner I refuse to accept like this!" He said before turning his attention to Midoriya. "I didn't even get a chance to face off with that half-and-half bastard. And worse, shitty Deku thinks he can get away with forfeiting our match and making me look like a fool. You hear me Deku?! I don't know what game you think you're playing, but this isn't over! You're not better than me dammit. And I will make sure that I prove it you and everyone here!"
"This guy is psychotic." Yanagi whispered to Tokage who quickly nodded her head in agreement.
'We should probably end this sooner rather than later.' All Might thought before letting out a subtle cough. The pro hero attempted to place the gold medal around the boy's neck but he refused to take it. Instead, he decided to just put it between his teeth and be done with it.
With one final speech to the crowd, and a massive miscue that ended up being replayed for the rest of the day, All Might gave a close to the festivities. Giving the students the chance to return to their class and wait to be dismissed.
Back at the 1-B classroom, Kan was giving his students the final word of the day.
"Congratulations on your performance today. Seeing as the second and third year sports festivals will span the rest of the week, the principal has decided to give you a four day weekend."
"Hell yeah!" Awase and Kaibara high fived each other at this news.
"We've already received quite a few offers from pro's who want to recruit some of you. But you'll have to wait until Monday to receive the final draft. Until then, use this time to recuperate and reflect on your performance today. Have fun."
Without missing a beat, the students began making their way home. Midoriya didn't even get a chance to make it out of the front gate before he felt a tap on his shoulder. The boy turned around only to see Tokage standing with her hands behind her back and a sharp grin on her face.
"So Moptop, we still on for this weekend?"
"Huh?"
"We're hanging out this weekend. Don't you remember?"
"O-oh uh…"
"Oh no, did you not want to spend some time with me?" The girl teased as placed her hand over her chest in mock offense. "You're gonna leave a beautiful young lady such as myself to weather this four day weekend all by lonesome? How shameful, Izuku Midoriya."
"I-I don't really know h-how to respond to that."
"You can respond by giving me and answer." She shot back jokingly. "I mean, I was really looking forward to spending some time together. But if you're too good for me, I understand~."
Midoriya was about to say something, but his mind flashed back to a conversation that he had with his mother a few days ago. Actually, it was a conversation that the two of them had more than a few times ever since school started. "Izuku...I know this is still a still a sore topic for you, but can you at least try and make some friends this year?"
The boy looked at his classmate and pondered for a moment. He really had no clue if the girl was genuine about her request or not. But his mother wouldn't have been happy if she ever found out that he was actively avoiding interacting with other students. On top of that, Tokage had only been nice to him so far, so denying her request would've come off as rude. The duo stood in silence for a few more seconds before Midoriya let out a sigh.
"I'll be in Saitama this Friday. I'm...busy in the morning, but I'll be free that afternoon." He whispered out with a tinge of redness on his cheeks.
Tokage's face almost lit up with excitement after hearing that. "Awesome! It's a "not-date"!"
"A w-w-what?"
"A "not-date"." She repeated. "Y'know...a totally platonic outing between buddies that's totally not a date but technically is."
The green haired boy's redness intensified after hearing this. Which only caused the girl burst out in a fit of laughter. Apparently getting him flustered was some sort of hobby for her.
"Well, I look forward to seeing you this weekend Moptop. The two of us are going to have a blast!" She gave him one final pat on the shoulder before heading off towards the train station. Leaving Midoriya to process her previous statement.
'What did I just get myself into?'