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I MCFUCKING HATE SCHOOL.

HERE'S YOUR CHAPTER AFTER THREE WEEKS OF HELL AND IT'S NOT EVEN FINALS WEEK YET. I LOVE YOU ALL I SWEAR SCHOOL IS JUST AWFUL.

Chapter 15: Tournament Trials; Round 2

"Endeavor?" Izuku stumbled backwards as the burning hero approached.

He tensed as the smell coming off of the man's flames hit his nose. Anger… jealousy… a toxic desire of some kind… what kind of horrible person are you?

"I watched your fight." Izuku snapped back to attention "You have some incredible power and versatility. It almost seems unfair as to how strong you are. And your skill names, these 'Mighty dragon' techniques of yours."

Izuku gulped and forced himself not to step back.

"You're just another All Might fanboy, despite your abilities."

Izuku inhaled slowly and walked past Endeavor. "Of course I am. Who isn't, these days? After all, All Might is the best hero."

"It is my Shoto's duty to surpass All Might." Izuku stopped dead and gritted his teeth.

"His match with you will be a very instructive test bed. Try not to disgrace yourself in it."

Izuku's face twisted into a snarl.

"That's all I wanted to say. I apologize for bothering you right before the match."

"I am not All Might." Izuku's voice was tinged with rage.

"That's oviou-"

"That's obvious, right? Todoroki-kun isn't you either. I don't know what you did to him, you toxic bastard, but he is under our protection now."

Izuku turned his head to look at Endeavor's shocked expression.

"Whatever you did to taint his quirk with the taste of sorrow and hatred, I'm determined to undo it. So you leave him alone, or I'll rip your quirk right out of your body."

With that, Izuku turned away and stormed off, leaving the shell-shocked Endeavor behind.

Izuku wrestled with his protective rage as he tried to form a plan.

I need to make sure that Todoroki-kun forgets his father for a moment, but how? He was no closer to a plan by the time he reached the battlefield.

"So you're here." Todoroki's words snapped Izuku out of his thoughts.

"Todoroki-kun…" I still don't have a plan. Guess I'll have to wing it.

"Start!" As soon as Mic called, Izuku crackled with Booster and Todoroki sent out a surge of ice.

"Mighty dragon's Demolition Fist," Izuku yelled as he flicked his middle finger. The shock wave shattered Todoroki's ice attack and put him on the defensive temporarily.

When the wind stopped, Todoroki looked up to see what kind of backlash a move like that could have. His eyes widened in surprise to see that the broken finger was already looking less broken.

Izuku smirked. "I never did tell you about that, did I? I stole this quirk out of a meat puppet called Nomu. Got a shock absorption quirk out of it too," he stated.

Todoroki glared and summoned more ice. Izuku used his index finger to fire off a Demolition Fist this time, the pain in his middle finger warning him that it would take a little time before he could break it again.

"You…" Todoroki stepped forward as he summoned another ice attack. I need an opening, Izuku thought as he sacrificed his ring finger to another Demolition Fist.

"You're trying for an endurance match, huh?" Todoroki summoned yet another ice attack that Izuku gave his pinky to nullify.

Todoroki used his next attack as a ramp to run up, and Izuku's eyes flashed upwards as he used the middle finger on his other hand to break the ice.

He leaped backwards almost casually from Todoroki's descending punch, and was taken by surprise when ice shot towards him again, reaching his leg before he could react.

Crap! He's too close! I have to risk it!

Izuku summoned Demolition Fist into his whole left arm and punched, forcing Todoroki back almost to the edge. Izuku's whole arm burned as it slowly regenerated.

"That was a lot stronger than before. Do you want me to stay away?"

He's good, Izuku realized. Not just his quirk, but his body, his judgment, he's an incredibly powerful all-around fighter. Maestro's training only made him better, but it helped me too, so we should balance out, but that may not be enough.

"Jeez, are you really that beat up from just defending and running?" Izuku grit his teeth in determination, noticing Todoroki's shivering.

"Thanks. That guy's face looks pretty unhappy thanks to you. With your body still healing, you can't fight anymore. This is finished."

Todoroki sent out a brutal ice surge.

"Where the hell are you looking?" Izuku's twisting voice seemed to roll over the battlefield as his Demolition Fist flick shattered the ice.

Todoroki was pushed back to the edge of the boundary before managing to stop himself. Izuku's middle finger had finally healed enough.

Izuku winced at the lingering pain in his finger. Okay, maybe I fired that off a little too soon, he thought.

"Bastard," Todoroki muttered as he pushed himself up. "Why are you going so far?"

Izuku forced a smirk through the pain. "Quirks are physical capabilities, Todoroki. There's a limit to how much your body can take, isn't there? Why not warm yourself up, huh?" Todoroki's eyes narrowed at the accusatory tone.

"Everyone here is fighting with everything they've got to win, to get closer to their dream. And you dare to try and win with only half of your strength?! You haven't put a single scratch on me yet, you know."

Todoroki glared as Izuku snarled. "You better come at me with everything you've got!"

"What the hell are you going on about," Todoroki spat out. "Everything I've got? Did my old man pay you off or something?"

Todoroki suddenly ran forward. "Now I'm mad!"

Izuku shifted marginally as he noticed Todoroki's movements. He's slow! It must be because of the frost on his body. He's also leading with his left foot, so his ice side must be going numb.

Izuku stood his ground as Todoroki drew closer, then lunged forward the second Todoroki's right foot left the ground. He slammed an Iron Fist into Todoroki's stomach and sent him flying backwards.

He ignored the ice on his almost-healed arm and pushed aside the pain in his almost-healed fingers. Todoroki stood up and tried to send more ice, but Izuku just jumped out of the way.

Todoroki tried to rush him, but Izuku turned and used his index finger to blow him into the just-formed ice wall. Todoroki got up and tried to run at him again, this time forming an ice surge as he ran, but Izuku blew both tactics away with his ring finger.

The two began a slow combat dance, Izuku's fists and Todoroki's ice circling and evading over and over again. Izuku made a tired advance, stumbling slightly, and his pinky flicked away Todoroki's ice attempt.

"Why," Todoroki rasped out. "Why are you going so far?"

"Because they believe in me," Izuku responded, the faces of his friends, his family, his thunder flashing through his mind.

"Because I want to be able to look at them with a smile! Because I want to be their hero too!" Todoroki's eyes widened as a warm memory flashed through him.

"That's why," Izuku said, voice tight with pain as he slammed head first into Todoroki, "everyone here is giving it their all, including me! I don't know what you went through in the past to make you the half-hearted person you are today. But for you to become number one without giving it your all, just to piss off your father."

"I'm telling you right now, stop screwing around!"

Todoroki tensed as memories washed over him again. "Shut up," he muttered as frost began to coat his right side.

"That's why I will win! I'll break you until you face me at full strength," Izuku said as his Iron Fist slammed into Todoroki's gut.

"I must reject," Todoroki gasped out as he pushed himself up, "my old man's power."

Izuku's iris's flashed neon green for an instant as he shouted. "It's your power, isn't it?!"

Todoroki felt something inside him crack at those words, and a single happy memory flashed through his head. The memory echoed over and over, and warmth spread through his chest, out to his arms and legs, and suddenly burst out as a geyser of flame.

Izuku smirked as he smelled the flames from Todoroki's left side. Hope, joy, kindness… yes. This is what I wanted to see from you, Todoroki-kun.

"Even though you want to win, you still focus on helping your enemy? Damn, now which one of us is screwing around?" Izuku couldn't help matching Todoroki's warrior's smile, and began devouring sound from the crowd to speed his healing process.

He absently noted that a larger than normal amount of sound energy came from a specific flaming pile of garbage. Yeah, right. Like I'm letting you get back into Todoroki-kun's head, bastard.

Izuku flexed his now healed arms. "Why are you smiling? In this situation," Todoroki said, despite the matching grin on his own face, "don't blame me for what happens next!"

Izuku slammed forward as Todoroki sent out a glacier, his fist charging up a glowing ball of energy. Todoroki suddenly switched to fire and blasted heat into the semi-frozen air.

Izuku hurled the ball of energy forward. "Mighty Dragon's TITANIC IMPACT!" Suddenly, walls sprang up between them, but they were blown away effortlessly as the two attacks tore forwards and collided into an explosion that completely obliterated the battlefield.

The smoke cleared to reveal…

"Midoriya is out of bounds!"

Izuku smiled as he walked from Recovery Girl's temporary office.

The explosion had done some damage, enough to knock him out, but after resting for a few minutes he was up and running again.

He walked back to the stands, and was instantly tackled by Tsuyu, followed by Uraraka, Kirishima, Kaminari, and Ashido.

"Midoriya!" Several people stared in concern or awe as the group hugged the boy. Tsuyu just buried her face in his chest and cried.

"We were so worried, Midoriya," Ashido said through her own tears.

After assuring everyone he was fine and just needed a nap at least five times, Katsuki finally snapped.

"OI, fuckfaces, he said he's fine, leave him alone!" The small explosions that popped in his hands backed up his threat, and soon Izuku was laying down behind the last row of the stands, Tsuyu laying on top of him with her face still in his chest.

"Tsu-chan. Are you feeling alright?" Tsuyu finally lifted her head, and Izuku couldn't help the small gasp that pushed past his lips. Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes, but the fear in her expression was what really surprised him.

"Izu-chan," she whispered, "please don't do that again. You really made me worry about you." Izuku blushed slightly at the nickname, but pulled her closer to his head.

"Alright. I won't. So don't worry, okay?"

He brushed the tears out of the corners of her eyes, and she blushed at the tender touch. They stared at each other for a moment, unconsciously moving closer.

"Hey guys, Iida's fight is up next!" Mineta's shout startled them both, and Tsuyu drew back as Izuku pushed away, both of their faces bright red.

Tsuyu turned towards Mineta with a rare glare, and Izuku turned away to find a seat.

"What," Mineta asked when he noticed Tsuyu's glare. "Did I do something wrong?"

Izuku smiled as he watched Iida's effortless victory and Tokoyami's fight.

Iida returned to the stands as the fight between Katsuki and Kirishima began.

"Hey, Iida. Is your brother watching?" Iida smiled at Izuku's question.

"I called him earlier, but he was working."

Izuku smiled and listened to Iida talk about his older brother. A sudden thought occurred to him as Iida went to prepare for his fight against Todoroki.

I wonder what Maestro is doing right now…

Barriers of green magic surrounded Tensei Iida's legs, deflecting the katana away from the unconscious hero. Stain's eyes widened in shock.

"I know that power," he muttered, turning his gaze towards the sky where a familiar vigilante floated under the disguise of an underground hero.

"We have a lot to talk about, Chizome," Maestro stated in a tone that just barely concealed his anger.

Stain's expression twisted into a snarl.

"Yes, we do. Muinago."

So there you have it!

First of all, Izuku was bluffing. While he doesn't see Endeavor as a good person, he's still a person. Izuku can't use Quirk Ripper on him.

I hope I did your expectations justice. The fight between Izuku and Todoroki took me over an hour all on it's own.

Also, we get some background for Maestro, who's real name is Muinago.

See you eventually, I hope! PLUS ULTRA!