A/N: I hope you all are enjoying how mouthy my Izuku is. I figure, at this point, he's already had to deal with so much in such little time that he's basically just done with everyone's bullshit. Although Himiko is just as done with her little green cinnamon rolls shit too.

I know this chapter took a while, but the main reason is that I was writing out a bunch of scenes I will have later on in the story, and I didn't want to lose them just because I'm not in those points of my story yet. As a little idea of where I'm taking it, I will say this: there is going to be a huge divergence from canon during the training camp arc and after. Heck, I'm even planning a not-so-original plot point, but I hope I can write it well enough that you don't mind it.

The other reason is that I'm working on other fanfics, including ones I haven't released yet. I have a Naruto one I'm working on, and I was thinking about getting a beta reader for it and this fanfic. If anyone would be interested, either DM me or post a comment, and I'll get back to you.

That being said, let's get into this chapter. I hope you enjoy!!!!

"Regular speech,"

"Flashback speech,"

'Inner dialogue,'

'Phone Text Chat'

Himiko was pissed off. She was so royally pissed off. She wanted to strangle the two boys in the room with her.

Izu, for blatantly ignoring her warning and going back on his promise. And that idiot Todoroki for being just as brain-dead as Izu for going all out in some dumb match that had nothing at stake to warrant it.

"So, what part of 'if you hurt yourself, you'll regret it for the rest of your life' did you not understand?" Himiko glared down at Izu; his arms had been mangled, his eardrums were ruptured from the air pressure they had both exerted, and his left arm had been so severely burned and frostbitten that it had taken Recovery Girl two whole matches worth of time to fix the damage. And that included the time it took to rebuild the arena and repair the terrain surrounding it completely.

Himiko had stressed very heavily that while his arms were fixed now, Recovery Girl had said that if he kept hurting himself like he was, eventually, the ligaments of his arms would be ground down to dust, and he would lose the use of his arms.

"Don't you think you're being a bit hard on him," Todoroki, the other idiot who had landed himself in the infirmary, said, "It's not entirely his fault."

He had been just as hurt as Izu. He had two broken ribs, lacerations from stray debris, ruptured eardrums like Izu, and a severe concussion. The two idiots were lucky that U.A. had someone like Recovery Girl around. Otherwise, they both would have had lengthy hospital visits.

Himiko glared at him, "If you don't shut up, I will cut you."

"N-Now Himi-chan, please don't do anything you'll regret."

Himiko turned away from the stoic boy and looked at Izu. It was almost cute how he was cowering under her stare… almost.

"Oh, I won't do anything I'll regret." Himiko leaned down, hovered her lips an inch away from Izu's, and then turned away, "No fun for you for three weeks."

Izu sighed, clearly thinking that was the extent of his punishment.

As Himiko opened the infirmary door, she turned back to him, "Oh, and we're training every day after school and on our days off during that entire time. And when I say training, I mean the same level as the training we did to prepare for the sports festival."

Izu going pale was the last thing Himiko saw as she shut the door behind herself, and if she slammed the door a bit too hard, that was her own business.

Himiko didn't hear anything from inside the room for a few seconds, and then she heard Todoroki speak, "I think I see why you are so crazy."

"Is he awake?"

Himiko wasn't surprised to find All Might leaning against the wall next to the door, "yeah, him and mister 'I'm so edgy I could cut a razor blade factory' are both awake."

All Might made a noise that was suspiciously close to a snort but immediately covered it with a cough. "Yes, well, I suppose I should go in and tell him the results of the match if you haven't already."

Himiko looked away from the number one hero and glared at the wall, "I don't want to encourage idiotic behavior, so no. I didn't tell him."

All Might made his way in, but Himiko remained outside. She couldn't bring herself to look at Izu any more than necessary at the moment. Seeing Izu disregarding their promise mere minutes after making it had been a shock. She didn't think Izu was the type of person to be able to break a promise like that, but she also had to consider who he was. Izu, while extremely kind, was a reckless idiot who would sacrifice himself for others, and he had been that way ever since he was a child.

Himiko knew that all too well. She had been on the receiving end of that side of him for so long she'd taken it for granted, and now it was jarring to see he had that level of concern for people other than her.

'He should only be that way for me…' Himiko slammed a fast into the wall, upset with her selfish way of thinking but not really regretting she had thought it.

Himiko looked at the time on her phone, realizing she didn't have much else to do other than stand around. She had already finished her match with the idiot with electrical powers and missed the match that had followed it.

Himiko had been mildly interested in watching the match after hers because the cute girl with pink skin was fighting, but she had been more concerned about Izu.

After Pinky had won her match, it was Izu's dickhead bully's turn. He was fighting a girl who could split her body into multiple pieces she could control, so Himiko had no particular interest in the match.

All Himiko could think about was her self-loathing and, hopefully, how she would get the message through Izu's thick skull not to put himself in danger when it wasn't necessary constantly.

"You've really upset young Toga this time, it seems, young Midoriya." All Might's smile, while as bright as ever, seemed very sympathetic as he said that.

"Y-Yeah. I'm not looking forward to her getting her revenge," Izuku groaned, feeling the fatigue of so many sessions with Recovery Girl, "I have a horrible feeling she's going to use it as an excuse to mess with me somehow."

Todoroki seemed strangely sympathetic to Izuku's plight, "you and that girl have such a strange relationship. Are you sure you're friends?"

Both All Might and Izuku looked at the boy owlishly.

"Uh, Todoroki, you know that Himiko and I are dating, right?"

Todoroki's eyes seemed to grow as wide as dinner plates, and he looked very flabbergasted, "that makes more sense. I thought you were just very good friends."

All Might looked to be suppressing laughter behind his hand, "D-didn't you get the idea when Present Mic was constantly teasing them about the two dating, young Todoroki?"

"I thought that was just Present Mic's idea of a joke."

Now, it was Izuku's turn to suppress a laugh. Seriously, how could he be so observant about Izuku and All Might's connection but oblivious about something so obvious?

Both Izuku and All Might were trying not to devolve into laughing fits, while Todoroki only added to the hilarity with a very puzzled expression.

After long seconds of holding in laughter, All Might wiped a stray tear from his eye and addressed the pair, "Well, young Todoroki's observational skills aside, I'm sure you two wish to know the outcome of your match. And while I'll say it was quite the sight to behold, I won't praise either of you for doing something so reckless. No one besides you two was hurt in the ruckus, but that could easily have not been the case. When I say there is a time and place for such power, I am not exaggerating, but both of you should have known it was not the time while surrounded by thousands of spectators."

Both boys lowered their heads and felt very guilty about putting themselves in danger and people who hadn't even been involved.

"That being said," All Might boomed, making the boys jump in unison, "I must say I was on the edge of my seat the whole time during your match! Really, it was spectacular!"

All Might seemed poised to continue, but he suddenly clammed up when the door leading to the hallway opened, and a single cat-like eye bored a hole into him.

"Ah, but— I believe I've said too much, and I think I should just say this. Your match was extremely close. Both of you were thrown from the ring, and at first, the ruling was that you would both be disqualified." Both boys opened their mouths to say something, but All Might held his hand up, "however. The audience did not find that ruling to be fair, seeing as how you both put your best efforts in when competing, the judges ruled that whichever one of you woke up first would be the victor."

All Might paused, and they leaned in closer to hear the outcome of the match.

"Young Midoriya was the first to wake up, even if it was to start screaming his head off about his broken arms."

Izuku cringed as he vaguely remembered that. He had woken up for a split second, and the pain was almost blinding. His lungs had been filled with dust, blood, and bile. He had screamed, his throat raw, and his arms felt like they were being twisted in opposite directions, crushed, burned, frozen, and shattered all at once. It had been the single most painful experience of his life, and it had only lasted a few seconds before he passed out again.

"So, congratulations, young Midoriya! It seems you will be the lucky winner to face off against young Toga!" All Might smiled, his hands pressed into his hips as if he were presenting some honorary award.

All Izuku was happy about was that he wasn't still experiencing that godawful pain.

"You aren't allowed to use your quirk in your fight with me either, Izu," Himiko opened the door a bit and stuck her head in, "Oh, and it sounds like that assholes match is almost over, so we better head out."

All Might sighed, "Although I don't agree with her choice of words, I believe she is right about young Bakugo's match, so make your way down and please try not to overdo it. You're dangerously close to exhaustion after so many treatments from Recovery Girl. I fear you may have to forfeit even if you somehow win against young Toga."

Izuku cringed at the thought of not having One for All when facing Himiko. It took all he had during their sparring with One for All not to have his ass handed to him, and even then, he lost nine times out of ten. So he basically expected to have Himiko beat the crap out of him for a few minutes, get bored, and then throw him out of the ring.

'This is going to suck.'

"Izu," Himiko's eyes stared dangerously into his, "hurry."

"Y-Yes!" Izuku sat up straight, threw his covers to the side, and hurried to follow after his girlfriend, "Um, Himiko?"

She walked in silence for a while, her sneakers squeaking noisily as she angrily stomped along, but after a few angry turns, she answered, "What?"

"You know I didn't mean to break my promise, right? I mean, I just got carried away, and before I knew what I was doing, I just—"

Himiko stopped, turned, and pinned Izuku to the wall, "Oh, I get it alright!"

Izuku cringed, ready to take a hard blow, but all that landed was a soft hand on his chest.

"I get that you're a reckless, hot-headed idiot with a penchant for hurting yourself for the sake of others." Himiko looked up at him, her eyes quivering with unshed tears, "But you need to understand that you aren't the only one who gets hurt when you do things like this. It's not just me, either. Think about what was going through Inko's head as she watched that, and what about Eri? She was probably watching that whole thing. Is that how you want her to see you?"

"No, I—"

His voice was small, but Himiko wasn't done, it seemed, "No, you don't get to interrupt me. There wasn't some high and mighty purpose in what you did, like protecting me or someone else. You only did what you did because you can't help but stick your nose in other people's business. I can understand how much you want to help people, but there have to be limits. I told you that you'd get carried away trying to get involved; you said you wouldn't hurt yourself, but look what happened! So no, I've got to teach you a lesson, and hopefully, you'll start to rethink doing such stupid things."

Himiko gave him one last scathing look before making her way to the entrance she would be using.

Izuku sighed, "I can't help but think I kind of deserve whatever she's about to do."

Himiko sighed, wiped her eyes furiously, and then glared at the person who was coming in through her tunnel. That asshole bully had that stupid fucking smirk he puts on when he's about to say something that'll piss her off.

"What? You just get dumped by the useless fucking nerd, you blonde skank?"

Himiko really fucking hated this asshole.

"What? Are you hoping he's single so you can get a piece of his ass for yourself? Well, sorry to say, Izu's still happily with me, but even if he wasn't, he doesn't swing that way." Himiko looked the boy up and down for a second and then smirked, "But I guess if you put on a skirt, you might have a chance. He has a thing for blonde skanks, after all."

She walked past him, and for a second, his expression was frozen with that stupid sneer. But when she was a few feet out into the open air, she heard him yell from the tunnel.

"What the fuck did you just say, you bitch!?"

Himiko smirked.

"That definitely improved my mood a little," Himiko sighed happily, thinking about how much that probably pissed the boy off.

"Alright, everybody, are you ready for the match that will determine our first finalist!? These two have been through so much today, from giant robots, bottomless pits, and minefields to heart-pounding battles both in teams and on their own! But through it all, these two have stuck together! Now they have to face off against one another, and we can only guess how this match could possibly go! It's Izuku Midoriya versus Himiko Toga!"

Izuku sighed and looked at the crowd in the stands. None of them looked particularly sympathetic for him, but really, why should they? For all they knew, he was the one with the advantage, with his quirk being more powerful than Himiko's.

'But that won't help now. I can't use One For All, and even if I did, I bet Himiko would still kick the crap out of me.'

"I don't think I need to remind you, Izu, but I'm going to anyway," Himiko's eyes seemed to glow as the sun overhead cast her face into shadows. "Don't use your quirk."

Izuku cringed at that look. That look was a promise, and he could read it clearly. It said, "If you use your quirk, I'll kick you where the sun doesn't shine as hard as I can."

"Y-Y-Yes, ma'am!" Izuku shot up straight as if he were under the scrutiny of a drill instructor.

She held that look for a second, then let it drop into a sunny smile, "good!"

"What's this, folks? It looks like Izuku Midoriya is in the doghouse with his lady. Maybe it has something to do with his last match," the crowd whistled and jeered at them, and through it all, Himiko's wide smile never went away.

'Why do I have a bad feeling about this?'

"Well, a lovers spat aside, I think we should get this match underway! So let the match…. BEGIN!"

The crowd roared louder than Izuku would have expected. They had been loud during his and Shinso's match, but not nearly as loud as ones that involved huge explosions and amazing quirk usage. He couldn't exactly blame them; after all, his and Shinso's match wasn't exactly flashy and had boiled down to a short tousle. They had been very loud during his match with Todoroki, so loud in fact that he had thought he would go deaf just from the noise. The shouts from the crowd now weren't quite that loud, but his recently healed eardrums were aching.

A foot slammed into the side of his head, and Izuku remembered his very angry girlfriend.

"I thought I always told you to keep your eyes on your opponent," Himiko glared at him from the crouch she had taken after the high kick and lunged when she saw he was paying attention now.

Her right fist whistled just an inch away from his nose. Just as he was letting out a sigh of relief, her left foot was about to slam into his face again.

Izuku narrowly threw an arm up, blocking the blow with one of his still fragile forearms, 'She used her punch as a way to build up momentum and pivot into another kick. I've thought about this so many times, but you really are amazing, Himiko! Most people rely on their quirks to fight; it's rare to see someone who has practiced so much with basic hand-to-hand combat.'

"What are you smiling at?!" Himiko growled at him.

He hadn't noticed, but now that he thought about it, he was smiling from ear to ear as he realized she had been going very easy on him in their training. She most likely hadn't meant to do it, but she'd gotten him so used to her training speed that it was jarring to see just how fast she could be. Either that, or she had intentionally done it to lull him into a false sense of security so that when he progressed far enough along in their training to catch up to her speed, she could just put in more effort and throw him off, guard.

'Her reflexes are on par with me at eight percent; they might even be better.'

"Sorry, but I'm discovering all over again just how amazing you are, Himi-chan!"

He could see her cheeks flush red and her eyes sparkle for a second, but that went away, and she leapt at him again.

"Flattery won't get you anywhere in this fight, Izu, but I'll be sure to knock you out in a nicer way."

He was bracing himself for another punch to the face, but in an instant, she shifted her weight in a way that seemed like she would kick his thigh as a way to immobilize him. He lifted his leg, bracing to block in the way she had taught him. Suddenly, he was tackled down to the ground, her hands gripped his wrist, and her legs wrapped dangerously around his arm as she pressed down on his chest with her full weight.

"Oh, look at this! We've got a classic arm bar here! I haven't seen one of these in a while! For those in the crowd who don't know, this is a hold meant to dislocate and sometimes break an opponent's arm!"

Izuku groaned; he wasn't exactly as happy about his situation as Present Mic seemed to be.

Izuku could feel his joints screaming as Himiko tugged a bit harder, "he's not wrong. With this move, I could rupture your flexor tendon, dislocate your ulna, and, in some cases it can, damage the ligaments of the arm. Of course, you're already at risk of having severely damaged ligaments in your arms, so I bet that would hurt."

Izuku could feel sweat beading on his forehead, and his arm groaned under the strain. For a second, he considered just tapping out, but he was sure that would just piss Himiko off more. So he grit his teeth, tensed his muscles, and slowly started to bend his arm.

"What are you doing? I'm telling you, if you move, I'll dislocate your arm!" Himiko roared in his ear, but Izuku fought through the tension, and he eventually managed to bring her closer. He angled his head backward, and for an instant, all he could see was the sky. Then he shot forward, slamming his forehead into Himiko's.

"Ooooooh! That looked like it hurt!" Present Mic winced as Himiko rolled away from Izuku, holding her head.

He was in just as bad a state, if not worse. His head throbbed, and his arm screamed in agony. Izuku was sure he couldn't keep this up much longer, but he wasn't given much of a respite before Himiko had made it back to her feet and was stalking toward him.

"That was a good surprise attack, Izu, but you're supposed to headbut with the crown of your head, not your forehead."

Izuku scrambled backward, all too aware of the edge of the arena behind him. "I-I'll keep that in mind, H-Himi-chan."

She never broke stride, even when she slammed into him with her full weight. Somehow, she had managed to swing herself around him in a way that her weight didn't drive him off of the arena but teetered precariously close as her legs wrapped around his neck and her thighs squeezed hard around his head.

"You're surprisingly stable, Izu, but—"

Himiko started to squeeze, and the force cut off the flow of blood to his head. Izuku's vision started to swim, and they fell toward the middle of the arena as Himiko squeezed.

As she straddled his face, Izuku was very aware of the very risqué position they were in. His face was buried somewhere it probably shouldn't be with so many people watching. He wasn't sure if his face was hot because of her legs or because of his own intense blush.

His head started to go fuzzy, but as it did, he caught sight of the strangely gentle smile she was giving him. Her eyes gleamed brightly as a ray of sunlight caught them in just the right way. Her cheeks were flushed a pretty pink, and as he stared, he had to admit one thing. "This… is a nicer way to get… knocked out."

For a second, he could swear Himiko nearly snorted in laughter, but just as he was about to pass out, Himiko yelled something that was directed at Midnight. He couldn't hear what she said through the rush of blood in his ears. The woman seemed surprised but reluctantly waved her whip in their direction. In an instant, blood rushed back to Izuku's head, and he took large, greedy gulps of air, filling his lungs.

Himiko skipped happily in front of him, gave one of her large toothy grins, and helped Izuku to his feet.

The crowd was astir with murmured words of confusion and befuddlement. He couldn't make out any words, but that didn't matter when Present Mic finally seemed to exit his own stupor.

"H-Himiko Toga has forfeited the match?! What kind of upset is this!? What the heck was all of that?! I don't have the foggiest clue what that girl is thinking! First, she throws the guy all around the arena, puts him in a few wrestling holds, nearly knocks him out with a move that'd make Midnight blush, and then she just forfeits! Izuku Midoriya really seems to have his hands full, doesn't he everyone?"

Izuku looked over at Himiko, who was happily supporting his weight with a smile that didn't seem to care about the stunt she had just pulled. She looked quite pleased with herself.

"You just did all that to mess with me, didn't you?"

She turned a carefree smile on him, "Why, Izu, I haven't the foggiest idea what you mean."

She waved happily at the crowd as they made their way off the stage and to the participant's stands.

In a bar lightly illuminated by flickering old bulbs, a man sat irritably on a stool, his arms wrapped in bandages stained with old blood. His chalky white hair hung around his face in clumps, and his chapped lips quirked up from under the severed hand, covering his face in a parody of glee. He stared fixedly at a small TV that was broadcasting the U.A. Sports Festival.

A man made of black mist in a suit vest and slacks stood behind the bar counter; his vapor-like hands scrubbed away at the inside of a whiskey glass with a rag.

"They sure don't hold back. Even fighting each other," he watched as the two brats who had gotten in his way during their invasion of U.S.J and had the gall to deny his invitation into the league walked off the arena platform, "they don't act very heroic. Do they?"

The TV flickered, and the screen went blank. A deep and thoughtful voice filtered through the speakers, "You can hardly blame the girl, Tomura."

Tomura scratched his neck and tilted his head, "that's understandable, but I still don't get why she won't join us. She has as much reason as anyone else, and the information we got on her background says as much. I hate it when games don't have consistent character writing."

"Ah, but there are external factors that our sources cannot account for. Perhaps her connection to Izuku Midoriya was more of a factor than we could have anticipated."

Tomura scraped at his neck again and sneered, "Izuku Midoriya. That kid makes my skin crawl. Something about him just pisses me off. I don't know if it's that stupid wide-eyed look of his, that All Might fanboy attitude, or the fact he thinks he's an innocent little hero."

He pulled his fingers away from his neck with great effort and picked at his chapped lips, "That kid is the farthest thing from innocent. And a hero? Don't make me laugh. He fully intended on killing me when I went at his little girlfriend."

The man on the TV hummed thoughtfully, "Then what was your reasoning for extending them both an invitation to the league?"

Tomura shifted his eyes to stare at the black screen. Sensei wasn't actually asking; he was nudging Tomura to verbalize and rationalize his own actions.

"He interested me," Tomura paused, hoping that would be enough for Sensei, but when the man didn't say anything, he knew it wasn't. "I had the impression that the kid was the same as the other brats in the hero course, doe-eyed and completely dazzled by that fake facade that this rotten society had about heroes… then he went to kill me without hesitation."

"You were confused by his actions. I can see how you would be, but it is quite a rational reaction for the average person when a loved one is threatened."

Tomura shook his head, "No, this was different. When I saw that kid's face, he wasn't scared I would get to the girl. He knew fully well he'd get to me before that," the image of the green-haired kid's face flashed in Tomura's head. "He didn't look horrified or scared about what he was about to do. He looked relieved, almost happy."

Tomura smiled widely.

"The kid was glad he was about to kill me. If that isn't the type of person we need in the league, then no one is," Tomura seemed feverish. "Maybe our tactic recruiting them was a little passive. Sensei, could you look into the kid's background next? I have an idea for our next operation."

There was no answer from the TV for a moment, but then the voice returned, "Very well, Tomura. All of my resources are at your disposal."