Sports Festival Arc Continues!
Ending of the first round of one on ones - Izuka's fight and some surprise requests/visitors for her!
How will our girl prevail!?

Thanks for all of your comments and love for this story! I enjoy reading each and every comment, and try to answer them accordingly! After 20 pages, here is the next chapter of HIPV!~

AC/DC IS THE INSPIRATION FOR THESE CHAPTERS - check out the song dedicated to this chapter: Are You Ready?

Please mind - I beta read my own stuff, so if you see any mistakes please, please, please let me know!~

Saying he was exhausted was an understatement. He never knew that fighting someone who wasn't even within the same realm of talent as him could make him this tired. Rolling his shoulders out, he let a small smirk form on his face.

He felt good, besides the searing pain in his forearms.

If it wasn't for that single drop of perspiration he felt rolling down his palm, focusing on it as Izuka screamed out to him, he wouldn't have been able to break out of that weird brainwashing the purple haired-freak had done to him.

He would have lost… To a nobody General Departments Student.

His smile dropped, eyes hardening once more as the roaring of the crowds around him finally hit his senses.

The smile on Izuka's face as he glanced up from his spot on the concrete gave him the energy to slowly stand up, and lifted his fist in the air as he walked off towards the entrance near his classmates. He glanced down at Shinsou, who was sitting up and rubbing his head as he looked down at the ground, clearly dejected and bitter about losing.

"If you're serious about becoming a hero, then don't fucking quit. The ones who make it to the top are the fucking best of the best, like me, and you'll have to go through hell and back to make it there, you shitty fucker." Bakugou kicked Shinsou's shoe as he walked off, his eyes staying forward. "If you want to talk to a person who already has the heart of a true hero, talk to the girl you were dissing back there. But don't make her fucking cry or else you'll regret it and I'll fucking have your head on a platter." His red eyes pierced through Shinsou's as the purple haired male gave Bakugou a startled look.

He walked forward, ignoring the groaning coming behind him as Shinsou moved to get up from the ground. Midnight announced the next two who were competing after him, his pinky finger moving to rub into his ear drum as the ringing in his ears was still there from the large blast he created before. His right arm felt numb… Maybe he could get Izuak to-

"Kacchan!" Speaking of the ang-, Bakugou shook his head of that statement before it could finish - devil, Bakugou smirked up at Izuka who looked down over the railing with Kirishima. "Great job! I knew you could do it!"

"Had us scared there for awhile Bakubro!"

"Shut the hell up you piece of shit hair for brains! There was no reason to fucking worry over my ass!" He snarled as he walked towards the staircase, pausing when he heard Shinsou's classmates cheering him on.

"You were so cool Shinsou!"

"Nice job!"

Bakugou watched from the corner of his eye to see Shinsou's facial expression grow shocked, his eyes glancing up at his classmates in the stands.

"We were on the edge of our seats, dude! Seriously!"

"You're like, our star of hope for all of us general education kids!"

"You gave the kid who placed in the top 3 from the obstacle race a real run for his money! You did awesome!"

Many more words filtered towards his way, and Bakugou nodded as he kept moving towards the stairwell, feeling a pair of eyes on his back as others congratulated Shinsou.

Moving up the staircase, he passed Mina as she skipped down the stairs. He gave her a slight nod, moving past her and into the light where his classmates were located. He looked over to see Izuka back in her seat, laughing at something Denki must have said. He made his way over, placing his hand on Izuka's shoulder before squeezing it lightly.

"Eh? Oh! Kacchan!" Her smile lit up her face as Denki gave him his lopsided, nervous smile. "What's up?"

"Come with me." He pulled on her arm, getting her to stand up and the rest of the class looked on in interest as he took her to the darkened hallway once more.

"Yo! Keep it PG you two!"

"Denki shut up!" Eijirou's yell caught their attention as Izuka ducked her head to hide her blush that was spreading across her cheeks. Katsuki's grunt brought her attention back to him, her embarrassment going up a few notches to see Katsuki's face just as red, if not redder than her own.

"So like- I need… Uh…"

Was Bakugou Katsuki… stuttering?

"Deku- I want you to- wait no- I would like…?"

"Kacchan? You alright there?" Izuka's giggle brought Katsuki's head up and his embarrassment slowly ebbed away to anger.

"Don't fucking laugh at me! I'm trying to ask you for help here and-!" Katsuki paused as Izuka's eyes widened at the confession.

"You… want my help?"

"Why the fuck are you looking at me that way? I asked for your help earlier and you turned me away to favor the other dumbfucks in our class! We would have dominated that field if you would have just-" He shut up as Izuka gave him a deadpan stare, one that always showed up when she was being serious.

"Kacchan… Please. What can I do to help you?"

Katsuki sighed as he ran a hand through his hair, his hiss of pain brought Izuka's attention to his forearms as he gripped his right wrist with his left hand.

"Kacchan! If you're hurt you should have gone to recovery girl - your pride be damned!" She rushed forward, her hands gently taking his forearm into her own as she ran her fingers over it. "You should know better than to overexert your quirk like this!"

"Sh-shut up! I didn't go to that grandma because I wanted you to heal me!"

Katsuki watched as the confusion slowly filled her eyes and she looked up to meet Katsuki's eyes. "What do you mean… Want me to heal it?" Her fingers stopped trailing over his skin, and her focus was solely on him. "I can't… I can't do that. I can only heal myself, and look where that put me." Her eyes glanced down at her arm still wrapped in bandages.

"No, Izuka, you can." Katsuki's softened expression made it hard to look away. Izuka's brow creased more, and Katsuki couldn't help himself as his free hand lifted up to smooth away the lines there. "You've done it before, to help me. I know you can do it." Her little nod showed she had heard him, but as her eyes focused on his forearm once more, her worry lines appeared again.

He wasn't surprised when her muttering habit followed soon after.

He let her go on for a few minutes before he poked the middle of her forehead, grabbing her attention once more. "Yo. Cut that shit out. Focus on bringing the heat to your hands and expelling it out at the same time. Maybe that'll do the trick or something. Fuck if I know how your damn quirk works." He looked away, a blush appearing on his cheeks again as her face grew in realization.

"Okay!"

His eyes stayed away from Izuka, letting her focus. His sight line brought him to some peering eyes over the edge of the wall. Was that-?

He snapped his attention back down to his arm, where a faint warmth had started to spread where Izuka was touching. He glanced up, seeing the sweat forming on her brow in concentration, but the expression on her face showed she knew it was working.

"Izuka, you are- holy fuck." The pain left his arm slowly, giving away to a dull ache that would go away before his next match. Izuka let go of his forearm, her eyes looking down at her hands, a wide, shocked smile blooming across her face.

"It-it worked!?" Izuka's laugh startled Katsuki as her eyes looked at him and then she jumped up and down, before shooting off and wrapping her arms around Katsuki's neck. "It worked Kacchan! It worked! Oh my goodness! I can heal people! I can heal others! This is-!"

Katsuki couldn't help himself, he let a smile grow on his lips as he chuckled against Izuka's shoulder, his own arms coming to wrap around her waist. "Yeah. I knew you could fucking do it." He pulled back to say something more when he spotted several pairs of eyes glancing around the bend of the wall. "Hey! You fuckers!"

The three boys eeped before scurrying away, but with them running away, Izuka's warmth left his arms. He glanced to see her face covered in a deep blush, her smile still large as she looked around the hallway.

"Well… We should probably get back to the others then."

His grunt was her only response as the two moved back towards the rest of the group. Because of the little exchange between the two of them, they had missed the next fight between Ashido and Aoyama. They both weren't surprised to see Mina come out as the victor, or hearing how exactly she had won her fight in the first place.

Izuka couldn't help the giggle forming on her lips as Denki explained it all to her and Bakugou, who showed only a slight interested in the way his body was turned towards Denki to hear him better. She eventually got up from her seat, casting a glance down at the field as Cementoss fixed up the arena's concrete from Mina's acid.

She felt the eyes on her from her friends, giving them a large smile as she walked towards the stairwell that led to the waiting rooms. She needed to go warm up.

"Hey! Izuka! Good luck!" She gave Eijirou a thumbs up in return, and waved over her shoulder. She heard a gentle 'good luck' from Bakugou, his face focused down on the field as she nodded, walking into the hallway.

She could hear the starting cheers from the next fight between Tokoyami and Yaoyorozu, as she moved towards the waiting rooms. She paused in front of her door, moving her arms above her head and stretching out her body before she moved to open it.

"Hey… Midoriya."

Izuka jumped a little, being startled from her thoughts as she looked up to see Shinsou standing down the hallway from her. She blinked, taking her hand off of the door's handle as she turned her body to look at him.

He gave her a sheepish smile, his hand coming up to run through his wild hair as he took in her form. A blush seemed to form on his cheeks, as he looked away and put his hands back in his pockets. "I uh, listen. You don't gotta worry about me using my quirk on you. I just want to talk."

Izuka raised an eyebrow but nodded, moving her body to continue stretching along the wall as she gave him her attention. He moved closer, coming to lean against the wall opposite of her own, and looked at the ground in between them.

"I… I wanted to apologize. For what I said about you out there. It wasn't meant to be… You know, against you. It was meant to drive-"

"Kacchan crazy, I know. It was a good strategy to get him to talk." Izuka stood up and glanced at Shinsou. His look seemed to convey confusion and she quickly corrected herself. "Sorry, Katsuki, Bakugou. I uh, I call him Kacchan, childhood friends, you know? It's a habit."

He seemed to nod at it, and he looked down again. "Is that where Deku stems from?"

Her eyes seemed to grow sad at this, and Shinsou quirked an eyebrow before her look was quickly replaced and she laughed. "Ah, well, yes and no, but that's a long story." He gave her a look, but didn't press, and an awkward silence filled the space between them.

"Can I ask you something Shinsou?"

He perked up and looked at her, his eyes taking in her still stretching form as she fixed him a seriou look. "Sure. Yeah…?"

"Why Heroics?"

He could tell she didn't want to press further, just a simple curiosity coming to her about where his determination came from. He looked troubled for a second, before looking away and sighing. "I can't help what I long to be, can I?"

He's just like me in that aspect. I felt exactly the same way before I received One for All and found out about my real quirk…'

"We're… similar you know. You and I."

Shinsou looked up, shock written on his face as he looked at Izuka smiling down at her closed fists. "Wha-What do you mean?"

Her large grin caused him to pause in questioning more, as she opened up her mouth to respond before hearing over the speakers for her to make her way towards the entrance to the field.

"Well, looks like you'll just have to wait and find out, won't you?" Her giggle brought an odd smile to his face, and she moved to walk down the hallway before pausing when hearing Shinsou speak up.

"Even with the results from my fight, I can still come under review to be placed into heroics." She looked over her shoulder at him, a look of determination in his eyes as he gave her a forced grin. "Remember this, Midoriya Izuka, even if it's not now, someday I am going to qualify for the heroics department, enter your department, and show you all how fantastic of a hero I can be."

Izuka's face slowly lit up into a giant smile, and she gave a thumbs up as she ran down the hallway. "I can't wait to see that day Shinsou! I'll be waiting!"

She missed the large blush that formed on his cheeks, and a real smile that lifted the corners of his mouth as she ran towards her own fight.

Izuka paced in the hallway from side to side, her breathing labored as she stretched out her limbs in a way to get her blood moving, her body pumped for the upcoming fight. She knew based on physical strength alone that she had the fight in the bag, but Ochako's perceptiveness and ability to quickly think during the heat of a battle may just be her downfall.

A grin formed on her face as she threw a few punches into the air. She was ready, and excited to see what her friend was going to send her way.

"Hey!"

Izuka turned around, her eyes widening as All Might made his way towards her, hand raised in a thumbs up. "You seem to be ready to go out there. You are handling the power well so far, Young Midoriya."

Izuka smiled before poking her fingers together in a nervous habit. "Ah, I wouldn't necessarily say that." She looked up at him, her face turning serious as she looked at her outstretched palm of her right hand. "I'm still a little afraid, to be honest. My control on One for All isn't great yet. I still shake up from time to time, and the strain to hold it back from going to 100% is taking a quicker toll on my body than I like to admit, and also…" She glanced down at her bandaged right arm, the pain from before no where near as bad as it had initially been. "It seems I may have discovered some limits to my healing quirk as well."

All Might's eyes widened as he glanced at her own arm as well. Limits to a healing quirk…? I wonder what that's supposed to mean… "Yes, well, that is something we can further discuss after this is all over. We haven't really gotten to test the limits out of that healing quirk, have we? That is something we will do to truly see your boundaries." Seeing Izuka nod brought a smile to his face. "I would say at about right now, with One for All being used at your level, you are at about 10% of its power. Just a few weeks ago, you were only at 8%, so this new surge must be from your constant training you have undergone."

"It's all thanks to you All Might, honestly, I may have never gotten this far without your and everyone else's help in all this… Maybe a bit of luck is in play as well…" Before she could continue he smacked the back of her head as his booming voice filled the hallway.

"Nonsense! Give it your best out there kid! The hero that you dream of being is at the end of this hallway!" She looked up at All Might, rubbing the back of her head as he slowly transformed in front of her. "It's times like these when that anxiety and fear should give way to that brilliant smile you have! You have already arrived at this point!" Giving her a large thumbs up, his familiar smile brought one to her own.

"Don't forget that I am watching you!"

Izuka nodded as she was announced out onto the field, the smile on her face showing her determination as she and Ochako came face to face on the arena floor.

"You better give me a good fight here, Ochako!" Izuka grinned over at her friend, a nervous smile enveloping on Ochako's face in return.

"You better come at me with everything you've got Izuka! I want to prove myself to you and everyone here I am worthy of wearing the title as a rival!" Ochako put up her hands, coming into tight fists as she looked towards Midnight to start the fight.

Izuka took her starting position as well, one leg pushed back, weight placed on it as her arms lifted up into a ready position. "I wouldn't dream of holding back against you, Ochako." She let a grin fly and Midnight announced the start of the fight. Her hand slashed down, and Izuka took off, heading straight for Ochako, opting not to use a One for All charge off the bat. She ran forward, her fist held back as she swung towards Ochako.

Ochako jumped back, but her eyes widened as an electric green color flowed around Izuka's arm as she faked the swing, and punched the ground between them. The impact shook the ground before shattering the cement below them, crumbling the earth around them and causing large pieces of the cement to form barriers and large pillars sticking up high into the air.

She could hear Cementoss' sigh from here.

Izuka quickly jumped from one piece to another, landing on top of a high pillar, glancing down and smiling at the stunned looking Ochako who kept her balance on a floating piece of cement before settling on the ground softly. Ochako looked around before having to dodge quickly as a piece of cement went flying past her face. She gasped, moving behind a large pillar, her cheek throbbing as a cut formed from the close impact of the cement.

Ochako stood her ground, quickly thinking out a plan as she glanced behind the pillar, searching for any sign of Izuka before she heard a giggle coming from above her. She dove out of the way, just as Izuka landed on the spot she was standing on, the earth cracking below her. Ochako lifted up her hands, racing forward to try and touch Izuka who dodged out of the way by ducking below her arm and grasping Ochako's arm around the elbow, keeping it bent and away from her.

Ochako's eyes widened as Izuka gripped her arm with both hands tightly, before swinging her around and sent her flying towards a pillar. Ochako lifted up her hands, facing the racing ground below her able to smack a loose piece of cement below her, and having it raise slightly to settle her feet on to soften the impact that was coming.

She still ended up crashing into the pillar, a gasp leaving her lips as her breath left her. Izuka charged forward, and Ochako barely had enough time to duck before the pillar cracked and shattered behind her. Ochako lashed out her hands, nearly hitting Izuka who moved out of the way with a crackle of green electricity.

Ochako wiped the sweat from her brow, her eyes hard, breath heaving as she looked towards Izuka who seemed to be slightly out of breath herself. "You're keeping me on my toes Izuka."

Izuka grinned as she lifted up her hand to wipe at her mouth. "You as well, you're quite quick on your feet, and you know what seems to be coming your way."

Ochako couldn't help but smile, but her brow furrowed as she looked towards Izuka once more. "I hate to do this, but I think it's almost time to end this, don't you think?"

Izuka raised an eyebrow, and she glanced around before forcing her eyes back on Ochako. "What does-" Suddenly her eyes widened as Ochako lifted up her hands, pressing her fingers together as a determined smirk flittered across her lips. "Shit!"

Izuka looked up, just as Ochako yelled 'Release!' and Izuka saw the numerous pieces of cement above their heads floating in the air. She quickly looked around seeing a large piece of pillar still in tact, and raced for it. She punched the pillar, grabbing it quickly as the first small pieces of cement hit the ground around her. Izuka called One for All to her limbs once more, her right arm screaming in pain from the exertion, still not over the burns littering her from the warhorse challenge before. She grit her teeth as she swung the pillar, hitting the pieces of earth heading her way and sending them flying up in the air once more.

Ochako's eyes widened as a large gust of wind carried around the destroyed arena. The gust had her off of her feet and flying towards the edge of the stage before nearly falling out of bounds. She grunted as her feet slid on the ground and she stood up quickly to see the pillar Izuka held in her hands now flying her way.

Ochako let out a loud 'eep!' and ducked as the pillar flew and hit the side of the arena wall, a few students and crowd screaming out as the impact shook their seats. Midnight and Cementoss looked flustered as the pillar had flown just over their heads from where they were seated on the arena floor.

Izuka huffed out a heavy breath, her arms screaming in pain as her healing quirk slowly lifted the pain away. She grinned towards a still stunned Ochako, her body sprawled across the ground next to the line of the stage, surprisingly still in tact with the amount of damage Izuka had caused to the floor.

"You give up?" Izuka started walking her way, moving her shoulders in circles to elevate the pain to move from her arms quicker. Ochako let out a puff of laughter, slowly getting to her feet as she wobbled where she stood.

"No way, I've still got a few more tricks up my sleeve for you Izuka."

Izuka smiled and she let the familiar feeling of One for All to flood her system. She set a steely look on Ochako, and launched herself forward. Ochako didn't have time to react as Izuka slid in front of her, stopping One for All just in time to grin at Ochako before pushing her off of her unsteady feet and hitting the floor out of bounds.

"Sorry for making that a lame way to lose, but my limbs hurt and I need to rest before the next round." Izuka grinned as Midnight slowly raised her hand in the air, and announced Izuka as the winner.

Izuka stepped off the arena floor and fell to the ground to sit next to Ochako, a grin on her face as she looked at her friend. "Thanks for a great fight Ochako, I hope you got to show everything you had in you."

Ochako's smile was small, clearly disappointed but she let it form on her face nonetheless. "I wanted to show some more, but like you, I wouldn't have been able to hold on much longer." She sighed as she leaned back against Izuka. "Ahhhh! I'm so bummed I lost! I thought I had you there for a second!"

Izuka laughed as her limbs protested her slight movements. "I honestly didn't know what to do at first! You totally caught me off guard with that. I didn't even think that creating all those pillars would create that much debris!" Izuka paused before she let out a quiet 'stupid' and hit her forehead. "I'm an idiot. Did I really just say that?"

Ochako laughed as she moved to get up, pulling Izuka with her as the crowd let out a loud round of cheers and applause for the two girls. "I won't tell anyone! Promise!" Ochako winked and helped Izuka move towards the stairwell, their classmates grinning down at them as they both waved towards them.

Izuka laughed at the looks her classmates gave her and Ochako, seeing as this was the first time a lot of them felt the actual vibrations from her One for All attacks. She glanced down at the arena, after taking a seat besides Kacchan once more, seeing Cementoss slowly fixing up the arena once more. She grinned down at him as his eyes seemed to meet hers before a shake of his head could be seen.

She couldn't help the sweatdrop that slid down her face at that.

Kacchan's grunt brought her attention to him as his eyes looked at her closely. "What the hell was that out there?"

Izuka raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"You of all people should have known not to give Ochako any chance to strike back, and by destroying the fucking arena floor you gave her just that. It was like you were giving her the fucking materials to actually fight back." His eyes widened as her smirk grew on her face. "You little piece of shit, you did that on purpose!?"

Izuka's hand reached out and pressed against Katsuki's mouth. "Shhhh! Shut it Kacchan! I wanted it to be a fun and exciting fight! Ochako deserves the attention she got from that fight, and it wouldn't have been much of a fight if I didn't initiate some form of way for her to actually fight back against me!" She crossed her arms over her chest and looked away, puffing out her cheeks in irritation.

"Oh whatever, Deku. We both know you could have -" He paused as he went over her words in his head. "What the fuck do you mean by fun and exciting fight? Are you saying my fucking fight wasn't fun and exciting!?"

Izuka laughed and winked at Katsuki. "Well we didn't get to see that explosive behavior of yours, since you had to be unnaturally quiet and all."

His responding growl and smoke pluming from his palms had Izuka sweating and laughing nervously. "Why you little piece of shit! I should kill you for that!"

Izuka was about to run from her seat when the next fight was announced, and she glanced back down to see Eijirou jogging out to face Tetsutetsu. Izuka couldn't help the giggle that left her lips at the look they gave each other.

"This is going to be a fun one to watch."

Katsuki grunted next to her, his hand coming up and smacking the back of her head as he crossed his arms back over his chest. "More like a fucking boring one. The two fucks are too similar to make this interesting…"

Izuka laughed, rubbing the back of her head as Midnight announced the start of the fight. "Who knows, maybe it'll end in a draw or something and they'll have to do a tie breaker?"

Izuka sweatdropped as both Eijirou and Tetsutetsu fell over from the final punch, both unconscious as they hit the ground. She glanced over at Katsuki, who was snorting back a loud laugh that had their classmates looking at him in question.

"FUCK! Izuka you fucking called that! Holy shit, oh wow, oh damn! HA! Can't wait to see Hair-for-brains shitty face after this one!" Katsuki let out a loud laugh as he sat back in his chair. "Oh boy, I can't wait to see how they fucking decide this one!"

Present Mic's voice filtered over the speakers - calling everyone's attention as Midnight looked over both Kirishima and Tetsutetsu. "They're both down! It's a draw! In the case of a draw, after they both come too, the match will be decided by a simpler game…" They all heard the pause of Present Mic's voice, him speaking to Aizawa up in the booth they were both featured in, and suddenly his voice boomed once more. "We'll have them arm-wrestle for the right to advance!"

This made almost her whole class sweatdrop, and another round of barely controlled laughter left Bakugou's lips as his body hunched over in his seat. Izuka couldn't help but let out a snort, knowing Eijirou will be very bummed not winning fair and square in a one-on-one battle like them.

It didn't matter however, knowing that he would win the arm-wrestling match no matter what.

The next match ended quickly. Kaminari had tried his best in discharging his electric in waves, but Shiozaki's quirk was too effective against his own. Her hair, a beautiful array of vines that sprouted at will from all directions, had dug deep into the ground and created a root system to avoid the electricity that would surge towards her.

Kaminari had missed the tell-tale signs of the vines moving towards him beneath the earth as his brain slowly fried with the use of his quirk. Just as he let out the biggest shock, she had effectively wrapped him up in her vines, rendering him useless as the fight was over within a few measly seconds.

"Derp…? Weeehh?"

Shiozaki smiled at the cheering of the crowd, especially the ones coming from her classmates as they celebrated a win over the Class 1-A students. "Ahh! I am so glad the second chance I was given didn't go to waste!"

Kirishima ignored the muttering coming from besides him, heavily used to it by now as Izuka did this often with quirk analysis. Her newest notebook he had watched her purchase a couple of weeks ago already showing signs of heavy use. He noticed Bakugou looking at her from her other side with a look of…

He couldn't really place the look as he had never really seen something so… gentle looking on Bakugou's face before.

When red met red, Bakugou's hard stare began again, his eyes locking with Kirishima's before he huffed and looked away. His fists tightening from their places across his chest.

"This next fight should be a lot more interesting." Kirishima looked over as he heard Izuka speak, not realizing her mumbling had ceased. His eyes looked around as he spotted her notebook nowhere in sight - where the hell did she keep that thing!? "I mean, I feel bad for Denki cause he really did try his best to overcome Shiozaki-chan, but her quirk has the superiority over his own, so it was a no brainer on who was going to win… I wouldn't mind facing against her someday. She looks like such a strong opponent."

"Well, don't be wishing too hard on that cause you gotta get through me first before you can even think of the next round." Kirishima grinned as Izuka gave him a small smile, her eyes narrowing down on the field as the next two contestants walked out of the hallways.

"I already know who will win this round however…"

Kirishima looked shocked before glancing down at the field, his eyes widening on the look of pure fury in Todoroki's gaze. He nodded, an audible gulp leaving his throat.

"This will be a one-sided annihilation… Poor Sero."

A few minutes beforehand…

"Out of my way."

Endeavor looked up from his place against the wall, his eyes narrowing at his son who stalked towards him, completely ignoring his own look. "Your behavior has been nothing but disgraceful, Shouto. If you would have used the power of your left side, you could have crushed both the obstacle race and the warhorse battle easily. That girl would have had no reason to be standing in your path as she is now! Your resistance is childish and tiresome. So stop fucking around and maybe you'll see to your duty to surpass All Might."

Todoroki grit his teeth as he glared up at his father. His fists clenched at his sides and he held back to snide remarks he wished to unleash on this stupid man.

"Has it gotten through to you yet!? You're different from your older siblings! You are my greatest masterpiece!"

Todoroki continued in his path, his fists unclenching as he looked forward towards the light in the narrow hallway. "Is that all that will ever spew from your god forsaken mouth? I will win this tournament with using only mother's power. And I will never, never use your power in any battle.

"Even if that works for you now Shouto, you'll reach the limit soon enough."

Todokori drowned out his father's next comment, making his way into the arena and seeing Sero stretching in front of him as he made his way onto the makeshift concrete platform.

Sero's smile seemed to falter at the look on Todoroki's face, his normal grin fading as he rubbed at his head. "I don't know if I've got a shot here, but…" Sero shot out his elbow tapes at different angles, effectively snatching Todoroki from his standstill. Swinging him up with the momentum of his release and pull of the tape, Sero flung him away towards the edge, a look of determination filling his eyes. "But I definitely won't be giving up easily either!"

Todoroki finally broke out of his inner rage before quickly glancing at Sero, a simple 'sorry' leaving his lips before ice erupted out all around. The ice soared through the arena, barely avoiding the section his classmates were sitting in, as well as towering over the arena's walls as it shot skyward. The ice crusting his body broke the tape holding his body captive, his teeth gritting as the cold settled over his body as he regained his balance.

It had been an easy win. Seeing his father right before the match had struck a deep chord within Todoroki's heart, driving his rage to get the anger out of system in the only way he knew how. He glanced up, hearing Sero's teeth chatter as he tried to speak from his position in the middle of the ice.

"A little much… dontcha think?"

Todoroki let out a breath as he moved towards Sero, his heart pounding from the amount of exertion this one giant move caused him. Midnight spoke to them, the sounds muffled in the pounding of his ears. He slowly began to melt the ice as he registered the crowd clapping for him as Midnight announced his win.

"Sorry, I overdid it." Todoroki placed his hand left hand on the ice around Sero, slowly melting it away as he focused on his core temperature. "I was just a bit pissed…"

"I don't mind! Really!"

"It's almost sad…" Bakugou looked up to see Izuka's eyes following Todoroki's movements as the ice surrounding the field was slowly melted. "To see him like this."

Bakugou looked back down, his eyes narrowing at Todoroki. "What? Seeing two-face completely destroy tape-fuck's chances or that it wasn't as exciting as you thought it would be?"

"Just…" His eyes lifted back up to see Izuka sigh, her bandaged arm coming to rub at her forehead. "Just, well… Nevermind."

Bakugou grunted in reply.

He wasn't going to force it out of her if she didn't want to say anymore.

From up in the stands, and across televisions around the area, three sets of eyes settled on Izuka as the camera filmed over the students still left in the versus tournament. One pair filled with shock, another lust, and the final, a fiery interest.

Chapter End