chapter enjoy
"Izuku!" Momo shouts as she bursts through the door of a medical room. Inside are recovering Toshinori and Izuku, with a Recovery Girl sitting nearby.
She went past Toshinori, taking a seat next to Izuku.
"Sorry to worry you, Momo. How did you get here so fast?"
"I faked an injury to separate from the rest of the class. Thankfully, the principal and other teachers went along with it," she said, nervously rubbing the back of her neck.
"Faking an Injury is the last thing you'd expect from a class rep deputy!" he said with a smirk, which caused the girl to blush.
Her blush is quickly replaced with a mix of sadness and guilt. Toshinori, or All Might, the man, remembers what he told her about his draining power. It hits him that she was taking their agreement seriously, and it's enough to weaken her self-confidence, which he finds deeply troubling.
Izuku was doing his best to raise Momo's spirits, saying he had no one to blame but himself. They were heroes in training and should count themselves lucky that no one died.
This brought a small smile to the girl. Looking at Izuku, it quickly replaced a somber expression.
"Well, I did make some progress with One for All," Izuku said, getting their full attention.
Recounting his encounter with Nomu, Momo's expression quickly changed. Going off her hand on her chin tells them she's pondering this new development.
Momo minds going over everything she learned about One for All and the strain it puts on the body. Then there's All Might's regular form and muscle-bound form. When Izuku used his quirk during the assessment test on the first day of school.
"I wonder," she said aloud, getting the two's attention. "The issue with One for All is that you focus on one part of your body instead of spreading the power over your entire body?" Izuku's eyes widened at the realization as the memory of every time he used One for All played back in his mind.
"You might be onto something, Momo," Izuku said with a yawn.
"You should get some rest after Recovery Girl patched the two of you up," Momo yawned. The stress of the day has worn her out as well.
"You're right on that one," He said with a sheepish grin.
The two teens took a much-needed nap after a stressful day.
"Ah, to be young again!" Recovery girl said.
"You can say that again."
"Wait until you are my age to say that!" Before she could speak another word, Toshinori raised his hands in defeat, telling her he agreed.
The two teens woke up from naps shortly before the sun touched the horizon. Moments later, a police officer showed up, scaring the two teens since All might not be in his hero form.
"Relax, you two. This is Naomasa Tsukauchi, a close friend who knows my secret." The two teens nod.
He filled his friends and students in with all the information they'd gathered.
The following day, class 1-A learned about the upcoming sports festival. Izuku traded glances with Momo. Once school was out, they met up at the beach.
Izuku got into sparring form. Momo mirrored his stance before they bolted towards each other.
Not long after, All Might showed up to see his two students sitting on the ground, breathing heavily.
They willed themselves to their feet and got into sparring form. All Might could only smirk at the sight.
Their encounter with actual villains at USJ made them realize they have a long way to go as first-year students.
They continued with standard hand-to-hand combat for another half hour. Momo then created wooden weapons for them to use.
"One for All is a powerful quirk. But I highly suggest becoming skilled in a weapon as a backup plan." This stunned Izuku for a brief moment before his gaze hardened. All Might can only sit back and watch as the two push themselves to get stronger.
The number one hero is soon joined by Inko and a few teachers who want to see how the two are doing.
"I wondered how our students would react to the event at USJ Toshinori!" Nezu said, sitting on the guard rail. He was joined by a heavily bandaged Aizawa and a recovery girl.
The two teens noticed their small audience and took their training up a notch.
"Hard to believe that boy is the inheritor of your Quirk, Toshinori!" Aizawa added.
"Don't make me regret telling you about my quirk, Aizawa."
They silently watch the two spar in hand-to-hand combat and melee weapons.
Once the two-hour mark passed, they called it a day, noticing the setting sun and looking at their audience.
"Bravo! You also gave us a show for a simple sparring session. I look forward to what the future has planned for you!" The U.A. principal said, clapping, followed by the others.
The teachers notice Nezu's subtle change in expression.
"Nezu, what are you planning?" The number one ranked hero said.
"I've considered making a few changes to our school P.E. program for some time. The event at the USJ only solidified those thoughts."
"That's going to be tricky with the sports festival coming up."
"I'm confident that students of Class 1-A will become the perfect example for what I have in mind."
By this time, Izuku had gotten back on his feet and had helped Momo to hers.
"Mom, Mind giving Momo a ride home!"
"Sure thing, honey," they got into his mom's car, leaving behind the small group of teachers.
Once they pulled up to her home, Izuku walked Momo to the front gate. Inko couldn't make out what they said. Momo waved them off before opening the gates.
Aizawa told his students about the sports festival the following day in class. This stoked the flames ignited by the USJ incident in all his students.
When P.E. finally comes around, Aizawa is blessed by the school principal, Nezu.
"Greeting students taking in recent events, I made the decision to allow you to work individually or in groups during your P.E. class for the immediate future!" This shocked most of the class, who were in the 1A class, but they wouldn't question this newly granted freedom.
Nezu hopes Izuku and Momo take the bait and inspire the others.
Izuku and Momo traded glances before continuing from yesterday. Trading punches kicks, and blocks, it wasn't long before sweat started to form on their foreheads.
To the principal's joy, the others followed suit, honing their skills in hand-to-hand combat.
"Didn't think they would take to it this quickly, Sir," Aizawa informed.
"I'm confident those two will help the others cooperate with each other more effectively." With those words, he returned to his previous business.
After a while, Izuku and Momo called it quits, wanting to return to strength training. Momo helped him out by creating training weights to use while performing push-ups.
Once he reached his limit, he rested for a few minutes. Looking at Momo and the others, they followed their lead, getting some practice in hand-to-hand combat with their quirks mixed in when the chance presented itself.
Izuku stood tall, looking at his closed hand. He reviewed his sparring sessions, remembering how much force he put into his punches.
He suddenly felt eyes on him, and a single glance told him everyone was looking at him, Especially Momo and Aizawa.
He noticed Aizawa's gaze hardened and ready to cancel his quirk if necessary. Momo quickly fashioned Izuku a manque a small distance away.
With everything he learned from sparring, Izuku channeled his quirk. He made sure to spread it all over his body. Using his feet, he pushed himself towards the target.
"Smash!" he shouted before obliterating the target, but not to the same degree as his previous attempt using One for All. Thankfully, he hadn't broken a bone or torn a muscle.
"You did it, Izuku. You didn't break your arm or legs at all!" Momo shouted back up with cheers from the rest of his classmates, minus Bakugo. Aizawa relaxed his gaze, giving Izuku a thumbs up.
"What was going through your head Izuku?" Iida said
"I figure maybe applying a quirk over my entire body might lessen the strain on my legs and arms," he said nervously. Looking to the back, he sees Momo nodding to herself.
Seeing her like that reminded him of a mutual agreement to keep the intricacies of their friendship hidden from their classmates. It's bad enough that the rest of Class 1-A think All Might is in his corner. They don't want to make things worse.
"Ingenious of you, Izuku!" Iida said as he pondered how to apply this thinking to his quirk.
"Well done, Midoriya. You finally got a handle on your quirk!" Aizawa added before getting back in his sleeping bag. With the show over, the class continued working on their Quirks to prepare for the sports festival.
Before they knew it, the sports festival was a day away.
Izuku was back at the beach once again. The beach he painstakingly cleaned up one piece at a time has become the only place he can have a clear mind and focus on the future.
"I Thought you'd be back here, Izuku!" He turns around to see Momo on the parking lot stairs.
"Can you blame me? After ten long months of cleaning it up, it became the one place I can truly focus!" he said as he gazed at stars barely breaking through the setting sun's grasp.
"Not one bit!" she said, standing beside him; she quickly created a steel staff to block his punch. Unfortunately, it failed against his smash attack.
"Still only at five percent."
"Better than breaking a limb," she added.
"You can say that again!" Unknown to the young Izuku, recent events have made Momo reevaluate their dynamic.
Her mind went over helping Izuku train as moral support, the promise she gave All Might, and finally, the massive scare they got at the USJ.
"Well, I'm heading home; see you tomorrow," he said with a wave.
"Back at you!" she waved back.
When he was far enough away, she crouched down, taking her spot on the sand with her hand on her heart. "What is this feeling!" she quickly shook those thoughts away before heading home.
When night finally turned to day, all U.A. students gathered at the stadium in their gym clothes, ready to give it their all.
As they waited for the first event to start, Momo caught sight of Izuku, and she had some words to give him.
"Outside of the festival, we're friends for today. We are rivals, Deku!"
"Back at you, Creati!" he said, causing the two of them to smirk.
The first event was a race around the stadium. Now, with One for All more or less under control, Izuku effortlessly kept up with Shoto.
Speaking of the ice and fire wielder, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't hit Izuku with his ice. He was either too fast or hit the ground with enough force to compensate for the loss of friction. He ended up pulling just nearly ahead to get first place.
That is when they learned about the second event, which put a massive target on Izuku's back. He and his cavalry barely made the cut for the final event.
After a near loss to a quirk that can brainwash anyone, Izuku squared off against Shoto.
The two stared each other down; Shoto made the first move, unleashing his frost quirk. The ice raced across the battle ring intended to overwhelm Izuku.
With newfound control, Izuku counters with a smash punch, destroying the ice attack. Not letting up, he races across the edge before using the ground as a springboard.
"SMASH!" He shouts, attacking with his right arm. Shoto counters with a wall of ice, only for it to shatter from the force of Izuku's punch. Shoto wasn't worried since it allowed him to dodge Izuku's attack.
The two trade blows, counterattack, and dodge each other's attacks while playing cat and mouse. Izuku broke through Shoto's ice shield near the end, forcing him to use his flame quirk.
They stood across each other for the final time, purring everything they had to their next attack. Just as the two were about to collide, Midnight and Cementoss stepped in. Shoto came out relatively unharmed, and Izuku unfortunately lost control, breaking his right arm in the process.
The final match came down to Shoto and Bakugo; ultimately, the walking explosion won the sports festival.
The entire school got two days off because of the sports festival. This served two purposes: first, it allowed the students to recover, and second, it gave hero agencies time to review the sports festival footage.
Izuku needed to increase his limit, so he did standard strength training those two days. Momo, on the other hand, is mulling over how her indecisiveness led to her loss. That only further compounded with her promise to All Might. She needed some advice and to talk to Izuku in hopes that his intelligence would give her an answer. Pulling out her phone, she texted in her mind her best friend.
"Izuku, you busy?"
"Taking a break from strength training, what's happening?"
"I can wait since you are busy."
"Strength training can wait if you need help!"
"Meet me at the beach then,"
"On my way!"
Within half an hour, she met up with Izuku at the beach, which was slowly becoming their secret hideaway.
"So what's on your mind, Momo?"
She sighed, not holding anything back, bringing up her lack of confidence after recent events.
She wasn't expecting him to start attacking her with hand-to-hand combat.
"What are you doing? Now is not the time for sparring!" he didn't let up.
"You said you're losing confidence in yourself!"
"Yes, but what does this have to do with Sparring?" she counters his assault, pushing him back.
"Did it ever occur to you that you're overthinking things?" This shocked Momo enough to allow Izuku to swipe her legs. Quickly recovering, she cartwheeled away from him.
"But if I don't think then we won't have a strategy to win!"
"True, but it shouldn't come at the cost of what's happening now. I remember you telling me you, Jiro, and Kaminori were fighting the thugs enough to get some breathing room, then countered!" He shouts as he blocks one of her attacks. His words struck her enough for a momentary pause before quickly dodging Izuku's next attack.
"I'm starting to get it now, Izuku!" she swiped his legs, knocking him off balance enough to slam his back against the sand.
She stood overhead with an outstretched hand when he got his wits together. Grabbing her hand, he pulled back to his feet.
"Thanks, Izuku. I'm starting to understand where my problem lies," she said with a smirk and her hands behind her head.
"No problem, that's why I like sparring. It forces you to think fast when you're in a bind," Izuku said with a hint of nervousness.
"As strong as your quirk is, your greatest strength is your intelligence!"
"Now you're making me blush, Momo!" he said with pink cheeks.
"See you at school." With those words, they headed home.
As Izuku walked home, he pondered the new feelings for Momo forming in his heart. He shook those thoughts away. He is still a long way away from mastering One for All.
That's it for this chapter.
also, My Username Before was Cringed mentioned in the last chapter it felt rushed
.I better get this out of the way now. I want to focus more in-between arcs rather than during them
I'm not opposed to rewriting arcs if the chance presents itself.
as always make sure to fav follow and leave a chapter review