(LOOK AT HOW AMAZING THIS IS!!!! THE COLORS AND THE SKY!! this is by booyahbaby on the discord server!!)
For once in his life, Izuku isn't late, though it's a close thing.
His encounter with Present Mic last night left him shaky and unable to calm down, so sleep is now nothing more than a distant memory. He hasn't slept in how many days now? The fact that he isn't even sure speaks volumes.
He should probably make more of an effort to sleep considering you need to be well-rested if you want a stab wound to heal. Even so, he can't find it in himself to care too much about that. The bucket of chicken he's clutching to his chest is a really good motivator; he doesn't feel tired at all.
Now, this might be because he has ascended past the point of mere exhaustion, but the point still stands.
KFC is a life-savor.
"Oi, let me have some."
Izuku glares at his friend and bares his teeth. "You touch this fucking bucket and I'll snap your fingers."
Kacchan backs off with an eye roll, leaving Izuku to cradle his food protectively and hiss at the lingering students. No onetouches his food without his direct permission and lives to see another day.
"Is everyone good and ready?" Iida shouts, standing in front of the door leading out of 1-A's prep room. "The event's about to begin!"
Oh, I'm good alright.
The students are all milling about, anxiety fresh in the air. Izuku isn't nervous, though. He can't be. He's going to be leaving tomorrow, and there's nothing anyone can do to stop him. He just hopes Kacchan will understand why he has to do this once he wakes up with Missy and all of her belongings in his room.
This is the only way Izuku can protect everyone. If he leaves, All for One will focus on finding him—not on hurting his friends and the ones he cares for.
"Midoriya."
Izuku whips around, about to throw hands with whoever has decided it's a good idea to ask him for some chicken, only to stop short when his primal gaze meets mismatched eyes. He blinks, not liking the way he has to look up to stare his classmate in the face. "Todoroki! What's wrong?"
Todoroki has never sought him out like this. In fact, Izuku hasn't even heard him speak outside of answering questions in class or battle training. This is new.
"Objectively speaking," the teen begins flatly, his eyes never leaving Izuku's. "I'm stronger than you. More capable."
Well shit. He's right about the more capable part, but that doesn't mean he should say it.
Izuku slowly reaches into his bucket and brings a chicken wing up to his mouth, patiently waiting for his classmate to continue as he bites into it. It tastes even better now that he's doing it to annoy someone.
"All Might's got his eye on you, doesn't he? Now, I'm not about to pry into why that is," his expression darkens, "but I will beat you."
Izuku blinks. Once. Twice. He takes another slow bite and chews thoughtfully. "Oh."
"Ooh! A declaration of war from the strongest in the class?" Kaminari teases, his words reminding Izuku that yes, Todoroki is saying this in front of the whole class. Lovely.
Kirishima seems to notice the tense air, as he steps forward to put a hand on Todoroki's shoulder. "Hey, man, why pick a fight now? We're about to go on—"
"I really don't care," Todoroki says coldly, shrugging off the touch. "I'm not pretending to be anyone's friend here."
The sentence makes Izuku pause, lips tugging downwards. The signs have been there all this time, and yet Izuku hasn't paid them much mind in favor of getting through his own issues. I'm sorry. I should've invited you over to our table that day when I had the chance. You probably wouldn't have accepted, but I know it would've stuck with you.
Because despite the cold words and standoffish demeanor, Izuku can see straight through Todoroki. His classmate is just like him, and Izuku has a feeling he knows why.
He looks down, staring into his box of fried chicken. And then, after a moment of contemplation, he holds it out to the boy. Kacchan's glare is hot on his back, but Izuku ignores it. He's planning on giving him the rest of the food anyway as an apology, so there's no reason for him to be jealous.
Not that his friend will know what the apology is for until later.
Izuku keeps his arm outstretched, not caring that most of the boys (plus Mina and Uraraka) have come over to take a wing. Todoroki stays still, though, completely unfazed.
"You're clearly stronger," Izuku agrees, because it's true. He may have more quirks than the dual-haired boy, but it's not like he's going to use them. He doubts all of his quirks together can measure up to the force of fire and ice anyway. "I only barely measure up to the others in skill, objectively speaking."
The skill he lets them see. He can't exactly fight his classmates the same way he fights dangerous criminals. That would require a nice blade and bōstaff, two things Izuku doesn't have permission to have; one of which is banned on campus.
Nobody has to know he has another knife in his left shoe. It's just a precaution.
"Don't be so negative, Midoriya. There's no need to be like that!" Kirishima tries, sweat dropping.
Izuku is thankful that someone is coming to his defense, even if he doesn't deserve it. "Everyone else is aiming for the top," he says quietly, lilac hair flashing in his mind briefly. "Even the kids from the other courses. And I promise you, I'm not planning on falling behind."
One last try. One big finale. That's what this is going to be.
A crumpled copy of a smile flashes across his face. "I'm going for it too."
Izuku doesn't miss Kacchan's suspicious look, and he doesn't turn around to face him once he walks away either, as he knows that out of everyone on this planet, his friend is the one that'll know something's wrong. All he needs is one look to figure him out, and Izuku can't let him have that.
Not yet. Not ever, probably.
And as they walk out of the prep room and down the hallway, ready to present themselves to the world and all the bloodthirsty media reporters, Izuku can't help but think back to the conversation he had with All Might.
Izuku's going to keep his promise. He's going to tell the world I am here.
And maybe piss off one of the most feared villains of all time along the way. Leading someone on a worldwide wild goose chase sounds fun.
"It's UA's sports festival! The one time each year when our fledgling heroes compete in a ruthless grand battle!" Present Mic's cheerful voice calms the beginnings of panic in Izuku's chest. He must be the announcer for the festival. "First up, you know who I'm talkin' about. The miraculous rising stars who brushed off a villain attack with their steely willpower! The first years of the hero course! It's Class A!"
The resounding cheers in response make Izuku wince. There are a ton of people in the stands, a lot more than Izuku can ever remember being in UA's past sports festivals. They must be excited to see how the school is doing after the attack.
Iida holds his chin with a hand. "We're expected to put on the best performance we can in front of so many spectators. I suppose this is merely one more necessary skill if we hope to become heroes."
Something that Izuku will probably never get used to. Good thing he won't have to worry about that for long.
Present Mic goes on to announce the other classes, ranging all the way from General Studies to the Business courses, and Izuku feels himself frown. They're just here to make us look good. It's unfair that the school makes the kids who don't even want to be here attend. This is still a show, I guess. They need good ratings.
Midnight cracks her whip from her place on the stage, and Izuku stuffs his face with another wing, barely paying attention. "Now for the athlete's oath!"
Someone from the back row of the students grumbles: "I still don't understand how an R-Rated hero is allowed to teach high school students."
Multiple people snort, and the aforementioned hero immediately gets frustrated. "Shut it! Your student representative is from Class A, Midoriya Izuku!"
Izuku hums absentmindedly, digging for one of the hidden biscuits, only to choke on air as he fully processes what his teacher had just said. Huh?
He stands there, dumbfounded, until Kacchan elbows him in the side and makes him stumble forward.
"Midoriya? Must be because he placed first in the entrance exam," Sero says.
A student from Class B cranes his head to get a glimpse of their representative. "He broke the record, right?"
Izuku chokes even harder, nearly dropping his bucket altogether as the cameras zero in on him, easily picking him out of the crowd and displaying him on the big screen. What the fuck kind of bullshit is this! Aizawa didn't fucking tell me! Can I even say no?
Iida herds him up a few steps before giving him one last push towards Midnight, who stands to the side to give him room.
Oh. He still has the bucket of chicken in his hands. He offers it to Midnight nervously, blank-faced, and nearly faints when his teacher doubles over in laughter. She just gestures to the microphone, and Izuku's eyes flick up to the screen. And holy shit. He looks like a trash gremlin. His eye bags are as dark as his humor, his hair a green bush. There's chicken grease on his lips and around his mouth, and he hastily wipes at it. Damn, so much for a representative, huh?
The crowd's cheering dies down for a moment as they take a good look at him, and he swears, he swears he hears a familiar female reporter in the distance say it's him, lock up all the microphones in horror.
"Um." His voice cracks on its own accord, and he wishes the ground would just open up beneath him and swallow him whole. He doesn't have any confidence as Izuku on the best of days, and today isn't even close to being one of those. It doesn't look like he can back out now, though, so it's time to put on an act. He clears his throat and tries to at least look put together. He doesn't want to embarrass his teachers too much.
Speaking of which, Present Mic has been too quiet. Izuku wonders if he had to mute himself for some reason. Probably because he's laughing too hard.
"Kid." Midnight has finally stopped cackling and is now staring at him expectantly. "The oath."
"Oh, right!" One of the cameras zooms in on his bucket of chicken, and Izuku flushes. He hopes people don't think it's a sponsor. Actually, now that he's thinking about it, he kind of wants to be sponsored by them. He might get a lifetime supply of KFC out of it. He shakes himself out of his thoughts, suddenly hyperaware of the silence in the stadium. He feels like he's going to puke, and for once it won't be blood coming out. "Hi. How's, uh, how's everyone doing?"
"Just rockin', listener!"
That's the only reply he gets. Izuku is this close to naming Present Mic his favorite hero now instead of All Might. "That's good! So I—I know we all want to do our best today. This is a good opportunity for many of us, right? The past few weeks have been painful, but the only thing we can do is move forward now. The future needs us, not the past, y'know? So, uh, let's all give everything we have." He shifts on his feet, eyes glued to the ground. "Plus Ultra?"
He throws up a fist to mimic All Might's signature pose, only for his arm to accidentally jostle his bucket and cause it to tip, a wing falling with a moist thump onto the stage. The noise echoes faintly through the microphone, and Izuku gets the urge to cha-cha real smooth off a fucking cliff.
A few moments of silence, and then someone from the stands gives a loud whoop! Others hesitantly follow suit, and soon all that's heard is clapping and vaguely weirded-out cheering. Izuku shamefully picks up his fallen wing, practically running off the stage.
Kacchan is busy laughing like a madman, and Izuku throws the dirty wing at his cheek in retaliation because it's not funny, dammit!
"Deku! That was so good!" Uraraka bounces around him, eyes bright. "Very inspirational!"
His cheeks burn and he turns away, mumbling his thanks. There's no way that actually turned out good, right? She must be trying to make him feel better.
Midnight strikes a flirtatious pose. "Now! Without any delay, let's get the first event started. These are the qualifiers!" She brings out a remote from who knows where and points it at the big screen, an animated wheel lighting up. "It's in this stage that so many are sent home crying every year!"
She sounds way too excited about that.
"And the fateful event this year is this!" She clicks a button and the words Obstacle Course Race pop up in bold.
An ordinary race? Something easy to root out all of the outliers, Izuku thinks. Everyone has a pretty equal chance to show off personal skills this way, especially since they might be able to sabotage other students too. Damn. He'll have to set his chicken aside for this.
Izuku feels a small grin tug at his lips as Midnight explains the four-kilometer race. It's going to wrap around the outside of the stadium itself, and apparently anything is free game as long as you don't go off the course. Which is perfect. No limits as far as the eye can see.
"Racers, to your positions!"
A flash of light catches his attention as everyone moves. Izuku looks up and stares at the camera flying overhead in the form of a drone. The reminder that this is all being televised has him steeling his nerves. His father is most definitely going to be watching now, and he wants him to see everything.
"Start!"
The students are off like a rocket. Izuku's legs only burn slightly when he pushes off with Boost. He won't use One for All just yet; he's too sore from his fight with the mercenaries. He bandaged his torso and leg three times this morning in case his stitches decide to come loose during all this, so there's that. He should be fine if he takes it relatively easy.
Even if every step feels like pins and needles.
The gate leading out of the stadium is narrow. This must be the first filter. Izuku stays behind the crowd of students, not wanting to get immediately pushed and shoved for not going fast enough. He has to get in front soon, however, or else he'll miss his chance. He clenches his teeth, knowing this is going to hurt, and jumps a couple of yards into the air, using one of the closest students as a trampoline as he shoots forward and bounces off the walls of the entrance. To others, it kind of looks like he's the ball in a pinball machine.
Todoroki has created an icy pathway to slow others down, so Izuku aims his landing to be on the far side of the track to avoid it.
"Eraser!" Present Mic shouts. "Are you ready for our live coverage and commentary!"
"Not voluntarily."
Izuku snorts, only for his attention to snap back into the game at the sound of Kacchan's explosions nearby. "I ain't letting you get ahead of me that easily, half-n-half!"
Hm. Kacchan and Todoroki. Those are going to be Izuku's two main rivals. That's who he needs to look out for. Iida is also on that list, and with a quick glance around Izuku spots him near the front of the large crowd. His quirk gives him a big advantage for this, so Izuku needs to think of something quick if he wants to be on the same level as—
A rush of air, and Izuku just manages to swerve out of the way in time as a robot pops up from the ground. Another one enters his vision up ahead, and he doesn't break stride as he twists in the air, sending it flying towards the group of students with a swift kick to the main body. That should slow them down at least a little.
But it seems that the more distance Izuku manages to cover, the more the robots start to appear. These ones are sleeker than the ones at the entrance exam were. They must be the extras that nobody destroyed. They wouldn't have been able to salvage any from my battle center.
Present Mic's voice follows the students easily. There must be speakers on the drones flying about. "Every obstacle course needs obstacles! Starting with the first barrier: Robo Inferno!"
As he fully rounds the corner, Izuku and the rest of the students are met with more than a dozen robots, except unlike the other ones, these robots are easily fifty feet high and much larger than the previous ones.
They look like zero-pointers.
Fuck. Izuku only fought one during the exam, and it took a lot out of him just to get up there and manually shut it down. How is he expected to fight multiple at once?
Todoroki is the first to react. He slams his foot to the ground and sends ice up the legs of a few of them, easily freezing them up enough for him to pass under them unscathed. Other students try to follow suit, but Izuku can already see the cracks forming on the thin layer of ice as the robots start to break apart.
They're going to collapse.
Izuku's arms fly up to protect his face as the machines start coming down, large chunks of them breaking off as they go.
"1-A's Todoroki bursting through and sabotaging the others in one move! This guy's cold!"
Hah. That's punny.
Once the dust and debris start to clear up, Izuku realizes just how far ahead the ice-user is. He needs to catch up now, and fast. He can either bulldoze through the remaining zero-pointers and injure himself more than he already is, or he can find another way. It seems he has no choice but to try and find openings. Fighting them all would only waste time.
Find the safest route, even if it's not the fastest. The smaller robots go for the legs, so stay low to the ground. They'll typically avoid face attacks so as not to grievously injure.
As Izuku darts in and out of the fray, taking down robots here and there, he spots Kacchan using his explosions to propel himself up and over the zero-pointers. A few of the other students are too, namely Tokoyami and Sero. They're trying to be quick as well. They must've realized how much of a waste fighting them would be.
Izuku could follow their example and climb up the building-size robots like he did the last time, but that'd take just as much time as him fighting his way through. He might as well stay on the ground.
If only I wasn't fucking injured. I could use One for All to leap high above them otherwise. I would be up ahead with Kacchan and the rest of them.
Something catches his eye, and Izuku slows down just a little to yank a decent-sized slab of metal off the ground. It looks like the shoulder plate to one of the two-pointers. It'd make for a good shield in place of Deflect.
He grips the exposed wires hanging out the side and quickly ties it to his back. It's heavy, but it's not unbearable. He's carried more even without Boost there to help him.
"The current leaders of the pack are overwhelmingly from Class A!"
Gee. Where's the surprise.
A new voice comes from the speakers, and Izuku immediately perks up. Eraserhead doesn't speak often, so when he does, it has to be something important. Maybe something Izuku can use as a hint.
"They know there's no time to hesitate. They've been exposed to the outside world, up close and personal. They've had that fear planted in them." Oh. Unwanted memories plague Izuku's thoughts, and the boy pushes them away in favor of taking down another robot. "They've endured it. Overcome it. They've grown from that experience and have forgotten how to hesitate."
Because hesitating gets you killed. Izuku's known that from the very beginning, and yet he still hesitated back there. Back when his teacher was slammed into the concrete, back when his brother reached for his classmate's face.
Feeling slightly upset now, Izuku lets One for All hum through his veins the tiniest bit. He kicks the head clean off one of the robots, watching as the piece of metal flies into the air and captures the attention of the closest zero-pointer. The motion distracts it for just a moment, and Izuku dashes forward in a blur of red lightning. He breaks through the line of robots and out into the open air just as a loud boom echoes throughout the area.
"Piece of cake!" Yaoyorozu shouts, and Izuku laughs to himself. She made a fucking cannon.
Wicked.
"So the first barrier was a piece of cake? How about the second?" The voice hero is loving every second of this, Izuku is sure. "Fall and you're out! You gotta crawl if you wanna make it! This is the Canyon of Doom!"
Izuku is running for the next obstacle before Present Mic even finishes. It's just a series of giant tightropes pulled taut above a gaping ravine, that's all. He's run along wires thinner than this during his patrols. The boy is suddenly thankful he made Eraserhead teach him how to do exactly this.
"Focus on the balls of your feet. One after the after," the hero demonstrates one last time for Izuku, who's standing off to the side and watching the man run along an electrical wire. "If you let your heel slip to the side, it's downhill from there. Just focus on the flow of it and you won't lose balance."
"And what if I do?" Izuku asks, grinning.
"You lose balance one more time and I can promise you won't be getting any more smoothies from me."
It's safe to say that Izuku does not, in fact, lose his balance again that night.
He wouldn't be running across these ropes with such ease right now if it weren't for him, not that Izuku would ever admit it to the teacher's face.
Tsuyu is the next of the students to go, and she hops along it just like a regular frog would, using her tongue to help pull herself along. The next to challenge the Canyon of Doom is a support course student decked out in a chaotic mashup of gear and tech. Izuku tries not to get distracted because holy hell, he really wants to talk to her now. She must've made all of that herself if she was allowed to bring them, and is that a fucking jetpack?
Izuku is jealous.
"Meanwhile! The leaders of the pack move on undaunted!"
That's not a surprise either. All Todoroki had to do was use his ice to skate across, and Kacchan only had to use a few well-timed explosions to fly over it. Their quirks are versatile, and they both certainly know how to use them.
No one knows how many spots they'll accept for the second round. It's always different every year depending on what the first round is. It can't be any less than forty, right? They still have two whole rounds to get through after this race.
"Our leader has reached the final barrier! That is to say—this minefield!" Present Mic cackles gleefully. "A quick glance is enough to reveal the mines' locations, so keep both eyes open and watch your step!"
Oh hell yeah. The course was lacking a little bit of spice.
Izuku needs to move quicker if he wants to keep his place. He's in the top ten, he's pretty sure. His basic enhancements are enough for him to keep up with the others, but at this rate he'll be overtaken in no time. His muscles burn as he pumps his legs faster, nearly finished with the second obstacle. He still has to practice more on his tightroping skills; he's not nearly as good or fast at it as Eraserhead is.
If I use One for All again this early I'll tire myself out. I'm already hurting from just this little bit of speed.
A minefield is interesting. It's something that not even Izuku could have expected from UA. This newest obstacle puts the leader at a disadvantage whilst also reeling in those views. It's flashy, but it's also smart.
He rounds the last corner, the last tightrope having been cleared, and he sees Kacchan blasting his way to Todoroki's side in the middle of the minefield. "Hah! This shit can't slow me down!"
I can hear him all the way from here. Present Mic has some competition.
Kacchan takes the lead, and Izuku is sure the media is loving this right now. They always love a good ol' turn around.
"The rest are catching up!" Present Mic reports dramatically. "But with these two grappling for first, can they hold on to their lead?"
Izuku narrows his eyes, watching everyone else brush past him and hobble onto the minefield. He stopped a little bit ago, right where the gates widen up at the beginning of the final obstacle. He can hop around using Boost and scan for safe spots at the same time, which is the safest option—one that will probably work. But the thing is it's going to hurt. The field is large, and it's still quite a long ways until the finish line. It will take him a while to complete it.
And if he uses One for All he would just be making his dilemma obvious. Not only is the whole world watching, but his teachers are probably watching him, too. He's not dumb. They're searching for a slip up.
Besides. There's just a ton of bombs that haven't been stepped on yet, and it would be just a waste if they were left there to collect dust. Izuku fights back a near-feral grin and slides the robot's arm plate off his back. Anti-personnel mines should only be fourteen to fifteen centimeters down. He can just dig them up using the shield
This is probably his worst idea yet, which is why he's feeling absolutely giddy at the mere prospect of it.
This is gonna be so fucking funny on the big screen.
A few students pass him with wide eyed looks, and this time he can't hold back his smile. He takes a step back, admiring his handiwork, and quickly assesses the situation. He's lost his place now, but that's not a big deal. He'll gain it back really quick.
He holds the makeshift shield in front of his body and promptly bellyflops onto the pile of bombs he just dug up.
"Midoriya, what are you—?"
A large explosion is Jirou's answer, and then Izuku is flying through the air, screaming. The wind whips at his face and hair as he gains height and momentum, the slight heat from the bombs licking up his legs.
Taking a page from your book, Kacchan.
"A giant explosion from behind? What caused such a blast? An accident, or was it intentional?"
A drone flies alongside him, and Izuku sees his face briefly on the TV hanging on the outside of the stadium. He's suddenly taken back to that time he jumped out of a helicopter, when the cameras caught the moment Rabbit nearly died on the job. Not his finest moment for sure, but Izuku still looks back on it with extreme fondness. The only difference this time around is that Izuku isn't being tempted with death.
"And Class A's Midoriya rides the wave in hot pursuit—or something!"
Or something is right. Izuku still doesn't have a clue what's going on here, he just kinda thought of an idea and rolled with it. But now it's working and the students down below are looking up at him in shock. His screaming has now turned into maniacal laughter, and he passes Todoroki and Kacchan with relative ease. And god, he lives for the look of surprise on their faces. That's the highlight of his day, hell, his week.
But his momentum is dying down, and he can tell he'll hit the ground soon. If that happens, the other two boys will just surpass him, and Izuku won't have a chance at passing them again unless he uses One for All.
There's the pop of explosions, and Izuku turns back to stare smugly at his two classmates. "Deku! Get the hell back here!"
Todoroki curses and uses his ice to speed himself up, not caring about how it'll help the others now.
"Our former leaders have called a ceasefire to chase down Midoriya! When a common enemy appears, people stop fighting!"A brief pause. "Well, actually, they're still fighting, just not each other!"
"What are you even saying?"
Izuku giggles once again at Aizawa's words, only for his mild amusement to disappear once he realizes his shield is moving away from him, leaving him flying forward by himself, completely vulnerable. I'm stalling. I need to do something.
He tightens his grip on the exposed wires of the slab of metal and tumbles forward in air, now facing the two pursuers. They're right there, just a breath away.
Don't let go. You're getting first place in at least one of these things or else it's all pointless. That's the point of this, right? To make a statement?
Izuku flips, holding the shield high over his head. There's a patch of bombs in front of them a few yards away. He can just see the churned dirt in his haze. It's going to blow up right in his pursuers' faces if he does this right.
Not my problem.
Izuku slams the shield down, right in between the other two, and then he's blasted forward yet again, the shield long forgotten as it gets thrown high in the air. He's sent soaring forward, this time at a much quicker rate. He's not very high like last time, but he's in the lead, and that's all he wants.
"And Midoriya blows off the competition with no time to lose! Your class is something else, Eraserhead, what're you teaching those kids?"
The boy can't hear his teacher's reply in the midst of his sudden panic. He's hurtling through the tunnel toward the finish line, but he's heading straight for the ground as well. Fuck. He has no time to brace.
This is going to hurt.
He clenches his jaw as he hits the floor hard, his stitches pulling painfully at the impact. He rolls sloppily right out into the open, coming to a stop a few yards after the opening.
He lays there for a moment, trying to catch his breath, and feels the eyes of everyone in the stadium on him.
"The one who made it back to the stadium first is none other than Midoriya Izuku!"
The resulting claps and shouts make Izuku lift his head. They're cheering for him.
He's never been praised like this. Sure, as Rabbit he's always had the occasional civilian thank him for saving them or for getting their cat out of a tree, but this? All of this for plain old Izuku?
It's a change. He's not sure what he thinks about it.
Is All Might proud? The thought is traitorous, and Izuku hates how he finds himself instinctively searching the crowds for his mentor's face. Did I do okay?
He hasn't used One for All too much yet, even though he knows All Might probably wants him to. Is he upset over that?
A shadow passes over him, and Izuku blinks up at his friend, Kacchan's face one of irritation. "You made a mistake, Shitku."
Izuku lets a breathy chuckle escape him. "Did I?"
The blond rolls his eyes but yanks him up with a hand. Izuku grunts his thanks, and Kacchan fixes him with a predatory look. "I'm gonna destroy you."
"I'd like to see you try."
Uraraka and Iida are the next to come up to him, both of them panting and sweaty.
"Deku! that was awesome!" Uraraka pumps a fist in the air, cheeks flushed. "First place, though! Man, I'm jealous!"
Izuku turns away, just as he did after the oath, rubbing the back of his neck. He'll never get used to this attention. "Ah, it was really close!"
Too close, almost. Everything was pure luck. He honestly didn't expect his strategies to work that well.
Iida goes on to talk about how he needs to improve with his quirk if he couldn't even win a race with his speed, and Uraraka chimes in here and there. And sitting there, listening to both his friends happily converse, Izuku finds that he's actually glad he ended up deciding to participate after all.
He wouldn't miss this for the world.
"So it's finally over," Midnight starts, taking her spot back on the stage. "Let's check the results!"
The very second Izuku sees Kacchan listed as number three and not number two, he cuts a glance over at the explosive teen, who glares right back at him. "Don't fucking say it."
Izuku mimes zipping up his lips, throwing the key away. He'll just have to tease his friend about this later.
"The top 42 from this qualifying round will move on! Now, on to the second event! I already know what it is, of course." The R-Rated hero smiles devilishly, winking at one of the reporters positioned off to the side. "Dying in suspense? Next up is a teen favorite: paintball!"
The words flash on the screen, and everyone blinks in unison, equally as confused. Paintball? Izuku thinks. Like what me and Kacchan play at the mall sometimes?
"Participants can, on their own, form teams of two to four members each, though you can choose to work alone if you wish! The rules are fundamentally the same as those of an ordinary paintball game—shoot at other players to disqualify them—but with one exception." The board changes, listing the top forty-two students again. "Each of you has been assigned a point value based on your ranking in the last event!"
"We'll earn points like in the entrance exam? Sounds simple," Satou begins.
Kaminari frowns. "Wait! If we choose to work in a team, will all our points be combined at the end?"
"I'm about to explain it, so just shut up already!" A crack of her whip has everyone quieting down. "Anyway, yes! Which is why it's important that you choose your members wisely. Your individual point values start at five, at the bottom! So the student who took 42nd place is worth five points, 41st is worth ten, get it? To get a student out, you need to hit them five times. This means that if your target is worth five points, each shot will be worth one. If they're worth ten, each shot is worth two, and so on!"
So if you get shot you lose a fraction of your points and give it to your attacker. There's no way to get your points back either, it seems. You only add to your team's total when you shoot someone—you won't be adding to your own individual value. You're stuck with what you have in the beginning.
There also isn't any bonus-life stuff either. You only have five tries, if you think about it.
That must've been Eraserhead's doing. There are no do-overs in real life, as he would say.
Midnight clicks a button on the remote, a quick list of the rules and objectives flashing on screen. "Now, I recommend forming teams. Not only is it good to have people watching your back, it's also good in the long run, too. If you get eliminated, there's a possibility you can still move on if your remaining team members score high enough to go through the next round! But if all members get out, your team is disqualified regardless of how many points you earned!"
Buckets are passed around filled with gear and equipment, and Izuku feels a bit of excitement course through him. Paintball is his favorite game. He's pretty good at it, too, but he's never been allowed to use his quirks inside the arenas he and Kacchan would use. This is something new to him.
He picks out a pair of red goggles and keens at the sight of a green-themed paintball gun. Perfect.
"Sounds easy, right? There's a catch." Midnight's voice takes on a more sadistic edge. "Our first place participant won't abide by our five-point scale. He is instead worth ten million points!"
Damn, that sucks. Izuku feels bad for that poor sou—oh. That's me. I'm the poor soul.
The boy feels as if he suddenly got dunked in ice water. Everyone is looking at him hungrily, eager for a chance at redemption, and he smiles at them nervously.
Ten million? Are you joking? Fucking hell. You know what? Fuck this school. Izuku hates it.
This means that each hit on Izuku is worth two million points, enough to guarantee a team a spot on the leaderboard, most likely. It's practically a test revolving around Midoriya himself—a test to see who the lucky ones to hit him are, because that part is inevitable. He's going to be the main target for everyone. If he gets hit once, he can still keep his number one position with eight million points, but that won't be good enough. He'd prefer it if he didn't get hit at all. What he needs to do is take out the next greatest thing: Todoroki. He'll have the second highest amount of points.
"The higher-ranked students are the ones to aim for. This survival game is a chance for a comeback. It's anyone's game!"
Yep, Izuku is definitely going to be targeted. He's going to be in danger. This entire thing is dangerous. This round is going to be so fast-paced it'll be sheer chaos.
"As you must have heard a countless times since enrolling at UA," Midnight's expression darkens, "this is Plus Ultra."
Good thing Izuku has always felt more comfortable in chaos.
They're given fifteen minutes to decide on their game plan, but to Izuku the time flies by quickly. He doesn't know exactly how it happens, but in the end he somehow ends up with a team of his own.
Most of the students avoided him like the plague near the beginning, and just when he was about to call it quits and go solo, Uraraka called out his name. She really is a god among mankind. A savior.
She has an amazing quirk as it is, and this situation will only exemplify that. The middle of the arena has opened up to reveal a large building of some sort, almost like a warehouse—a warehouse that gives Izuku not-so-fond memories, but a warehouse nonetheless. It's large, and its many rooms make for a realistic battle experience. Uraraka can use her quirk to make objects lying around float and distract the other teams into misfiring.
Hatsume Mei ended up seeking Izuku out personally, wanting to show off her babies to any potential heroes watching. Her inventions are even more spectacular up close, and Izuku was more than happy to team up with her if only to get a chance to use her jet pack at some point. He needs to ask her how she managed to make it without having access to dangerous parts. Perhaps Power Loader gave her them? If that's the case, would it be possible for Izuku to have access to their supplies for non-school related purposes?
Izuku was the one to seek out Tokoyami. Dark Shadow is almost like another being in itself, so technically their team has five members. The entity can make enemies think the team is somewhere where they aren't, and they'll mess up. Dark Shadow is also that powerhouse that the team so desperately needed, as Izuku doesn't think using One for All this round will be beneficial in the long run.
He just knows the third and final round will be brutal. If he even makes it that far.
"Formed your teams? Made your plans? Too bad if you haven't, 'cause here we go!" How the voice hero still manages to sound so upbeat is beyond Izuku. "The countdown to this brutal battle royale!"
They're all decked out in their gear, now, and if Izuku's being honest, everyone looks badass. He shifts his paintball gun from one hand to the next, getting familiar with the weight.
The paintball guns are lighter than real guns but heavier than guns that hold tranquilizers. It's a comfortable feeling. Familiar.
Now this is something he's good at.
"Start!"
The students are given a one minute grace period to actually make their way inside the building and find their own pathways. It's kind of like a maze with the winding hallways every which way you go and the empty rooms off to the side with even more hallways branching off inside it. But, according to the schematics they were given, it all opens up into a large clearing in the middle.
The kill zone.
Altogether, Izuku's team has 10,000,325 points. They're automatically in first place by a landslide—it's just keeping the points that's the issue.
They rush inside, sticking to the outskirts of the building. It'll do them no good to head straight for the middle where a bloodbath will no doubt start soon.
"Remember the plan!" He says quietly, staring at each of his teammates in turn to make sure they understand. "We spread out for the first half of the game and focus on picking them off one by one! Just don't let them see you."
Izuku's always been a fairly decent shot. He's always a sniper when he plays this game with Kacchan. He's got a good eye, apparently.
In Izuku's opinion, however, he's just good at seeing things.
They all split up in different directions, and he immediately heads up to the rafters. He needs a good view of everyone passing by. Staying on the ground will just make shooting him easier.
Fifteen seconds until the grace is over, a lone student jogs underneath him, unsuspecting. Izuku almost feels bad.
No one ever thinks to look up.
"You may now shoot, listeners!"
Five quick paintballs to the chest and the student is out for the count. Izuku doesn't know how many points he just earned, as he didn't pay attention to the screen on the student's chest that shows how many lives and points they had left, but what he does know is that if he didn't just get the first kill he's going to be upset.
Izuku doesn't wait around to see the student's reaction, he's already off and running. The guns aren't exactly quiet; his position could've been revealed.
He grabs onto a nearby ladder and hoists himself up onto the highest level, and he crouches there for a while, just waiting. He can be very patient when he wants to be.
Extract is doing him a favor. He can feel them coming in his direction before he can even see them, so no one can really sneak up on him. Is this considered cheating? He isn't sure.
After two more kills Izuku decides he should start to head for the middle. He can already hear battles going on and quirks being used. It's nearing the halfway mark, so his teammates should be there soon.
This kill zone is exactly how it sounds: an area in the building where enemy fire comes at you from all sides. There looks to be five teams in the middle right now, all of them trying to block oncoming paintballs whilst also shooting out some of their own. It seems everyone had at least some common sense, as almost every team has some sort of member with a quirk good for shielding.
They haven't spotted him yet, as he's too high above them. He won't be able to get a good shot on any of them, though, not while they're moving around so quickly.
Izuku drops down onto a middle level, landing as quietly as he can—only to realize his dumb, dumb mistake a moment too late.
A large crate is thrown his way by Satou, and Izuku is forced to drop the rest of the way down to avoid being smacked in the face. He is so, so dumb. Jirou could hear him.
Tetsutetsu's team is coming straight for him now, same with Hagakure's. Izuku jumps behind a wall and shoots his classmate twice before trying to make his escape. He powers up One for All, willing to deal with the consequences of using it for his legs if it means he can jump out of here quickly, when something cold and wet takes over his feet.
He's—he's sinking! It must be because of someone from Tetsutetsu's team.
Shit, shit, shit, he's gotta get out of the kill zone! He fires off more warning shots in his attackers' directions, hoping to get them to back off, only to hear the sound of jet propellers. He looks up just in time to see Uraraka drop from above and tap him on the shoulder, making him immediately start to float upward. She pulls him out of the sludge with the jetpack as added force while Hastume comes out of nowhere and distracts the other teams.
Izuku kicks free from the last bit of sludge, shivering involuntarily, and he ducks just in time to avoid a stray paintball.
"Jirou!"
Oh. So not so stray after all.
"On it!" Jirou replies to Hagakure, and Izuku curses as she extends her ear jacks to try and pull him back down for a better shot.
There's a blur of black, and Dark Shadow flies forward to smack the earphones away. It would be more funny to Izuku had he not just escaped metaphorical doom.
Uraraka flies him up quickly to a nearby safety spot, Hatsume and Tokoyami warding off paintballs the entire way. They all drop down to catch their breath, and Tokoyami nods approving at his quirk. "Well done, Dark Shadow. Be sure to cover our blind spots."
"Gotcha," the creature replies
Izuku is suddenly struck with a newfound appreciation for his classmate. He's just the defense the team needed.
"Well, barely five minutes have passed, but the battlefield's already crazy! With everyone scrambling for points, it's not just the ten million out there! Those other high tankers are worth a shot as well."
Yes. If Present Mic keeps pushing everyone toward the other high-ranking students, it'll give Izuku and the team an opening. This is more like a one-sided massacre, after all. Everyone in the killzone was aiming at them. They need some form of reprieve.
They do not, however, get that reprieve, as in the next second Shoji is being thrown onto their level by Tsuyu's tongue, and Izuku chokes upon seeing the multiple guns Shoji holds in his multiple hands. Is that even legal?
He must've snagged them from other fallen students.
Extract hums lowly in his mind, and Izuku leaps onto a neighboring platform just in time as Tsuyu's tongue reaches for his weapon. No, Tsuyu must've snagged the guns from existing players. Izuku shoots, but she latches onto a guardrail and hauls herself back. She fires her own shots, but instead of hitting Izuku, it goes right past his shoulder and hits Uraraka instead. Fucking hell.
"Good job dodging, Midoriya!" Tsuyu croaks.
Izuku doesn't get a chance to reply to her as he suddenly feels them. His heart leaps in his throat. "Scatter!"
Kacchan and Todoroki are charging for him at the same time. Kacchan blasts at him, a dark cloud of smoke obscuring Izuku's vision. A paintball cuts through the haze and hits him in the shoulder, another going right past his ear. The slight pain spurs him into action, and he fires his own shots into the smoke blindly before taking off running—only for ice to encase his feet and freeze him in place.
Oh. Oh, no.
Izuku can feel Todoroki behind him, and his team isn't that far off. He twists, being forced to watch with wide eyes as his classmate aims his gun and pulls the trigger. On instinct, Izuku's arms come up in a cross, and he's just about to use Deflectwhen he realizes just what the hell he's doing.
Two paintballs hit him, one after the other, until he calls upon One for All and smashes the ice into smithereens, freeing himself. Izuku dashes away, red lightning biting at his skin. He's not quite quick enough, though, as another paintball comes flying from the other side of the building and hits him right in the cheek. He forces himself not to break stride and keeps going until he finds himself in an empty closet space. He shuts the door and allows himself a moment to just breathe.
Who got that last shot in? He—he has to find out. Because now he's down to only two million points, putting his team at somewhere around fourth or fifth place depending on who exactly shot him those four times. He can't be sure yet.
His group scattered like he told them to, though that might not have been the best idea, given by the quick loss of their points. Of course they'd both come after me at the same time.
The boy clutches his side, sudden panic hitting him at the thought that oh fuck, I might've torn something! But after a quick check he realizes his stitches haven't come undone yet, though they're loosening, and he can feel the needles of pain coming back. His medicine must be wearing off.
Izuku shakes his head at his own stupidity and lays there for a moment, just listening. He's in a quiet space, so no one can see or hear him, but he can see and hear them.
Someone is attacking Kacchan's team. His friend must've been taken off guard while fighting off Jirou and Hagakure's shared team.
"Too simple, really," Izuku hears.
And is that—? Oh. That's the boy from before. The one that Izuku wholeheartedly despises. The one who, now that Izuku can get a good look at the screen on his chest, must have gotten that last shot in. That's the only way he could have more than 2,000,000 points.
The blond says more stuff to taunt Kacchan, but Izuku doesn't allow himself to pay attention just yet. He's fingering the trigger on his gun as he forces himself up. He has the perfect angle here, hidden in this little room with little peepholes all around it. He can shoot the blond—Monoma, his friends called him, and eliminate him. His teammates are nowhere to be seen.
When Izuku does let himself pay attention, he regrets it immediately.
"Did you really need to shoot for first place? You're already a celebrity, aren't you?" Monoma's mere voice grates on Izuku's ears. "The victim of that sludge incident! I'll have to ask you sometime. How does it feel to get attacked by villains on an annual basis?"
And there it is again. Those words.
Celebrity. Sludge villain. Attack.
Izuku feels something dark enter his bloodstream, and the grip on his gun tightens. His eyes flicker to Kacchan, who seems to have snapped as well.
No one talks to my friend like that and gets away with it you fucking coward.
But just as Monoma shifts that centimeter over, just as Izuku is about to pelt him with a whole lot more than five paintballs, Present Mic's voice rings out in the large warehouse and Monoma disappears from his vision.
"Both the doggedly pursued first place team and its determined pursuers from Class A are nothing to sneeze at! Let's take a look at the current spread. How are our teams doing after seven minutes of play?"
A hologram pops up in the middle of the small space Izuku is hiding in, so it seems that Nezu must be watching him as well.
A brief, shocked pause before Present Mic speaks again. "Oh? Now wait just a second! Team Midoriya has lost their place as number one and have dropped down to number four! What's going on?"
Todoroki's team is first, as they shot Izuku twice to get an extra four million points, followed by Bakugou and Monoma. The latter is only third right now by the skin of his teeth.
That's not right. Izuku is decidedly going to kill him.
It's all too clear what happened during the first round. Class B threw the qualifiers and planned for the long game. Even before now, Izuku has had the impression they're stronger than they show, but this is a whole new level. They want to end Class A's supremacy by completely humiliating them.
By the time the game is more than half over, Izuku has found his way into very large vents. He's been planning on staying in there and sniping the occasional fool that happened to go under him, but then, right at the last three minutes mark, the hatch beneath him gives way and drops him right in the middle of room he does not want to be in.
The air turns cold behind him. Extract warned him a while ago that they were here, but to be fair Izuku didn't expect to get dropped from the vents.
Fucking Nezu. Fuck off you funky stoat.
Izuku turns around to face his classmate, who has his gun hanging limply at his side, and nods in greeting. "Todoroki."
"Midoriya," is all the warning he gets before the ambush happens. But this time, Izuku is ready for it.
The two shots that come his way from behind are easily dodged, and Izuku picks up a heavy crate sitting nearby and kicks it at them. The wood splinters and makes the weights inside of it go flying.
Yaoyorozu and Iida are pushed back, but Kaminari doesn't waste time and immediately sends out a wave of electricity, shocking Izuku. He breaks it off too early, however, as if he's afraid of hurting Izuku too much, and the green-haired boy uses this worry to his advantage. He shoots forward in a blur of red, quickly snatching the guns from both Yaoyorozu and Kaminari before either of them can react, and snaps them in half with a grunt.
The entire team is holding back, that much is for sure.
They're trying to protect Todoroki while also trying not to harm him. This leaves him more exposed than he would've been, which makes it easy for Izuku to see his chance. Todoroki can't use much of his ice without hurting Iida or his other teammates either, so he's left standing off to the side while the others try and detain Izuku.
Yeah. That's not going to slide.
Izuku jumps on the wall and soars sideways through the air, skillfully ignoring the throbbing heat in his stomach, and he aims.
Bingo.
Todoroki's eyes widen. The paintball heads right for him, and Izuku knows right from that look that his classmate is on his last shot. He doesn't even have to look at his screen to know. Todoroki will get eliminated if this one hits, and if he gets eliminated, his teammates will be on the chopping block. They'll get picked off until there's no one left, and then the four million they got earlier will be worth nothing.
Ice is a no-go. For him to make an ice barrier thick enough to stop the paintball at this close of a range, he'd have to risk harming one of his teammates. Todoroki won't do that, Izuku is sure. He may not always be a team player, but he's not stupid.
And so, for the first time, Izuku sees a spark of flame erupt from the boy's left side. It happens quick; a flash of orange and yellow in front of him, and then the shell of the paintball melts as it makes contact with the wall of fury and heat before it can even touch the boy.
It's beautiful, in a way, if not entirely dangerous.
But that beautiful fire also means Izuku can't touch or shoot Todoroki anymore, so he has no choice but to retreat. Iida tries to rush him, seemingly not wanting to use his own paintball gun, but Izuku pushes himself faster, cold lightning licking at his flesh.
One more shot and Izuku is out, too. He can't get hit anymore or he'll screw everything up.
When he meets back up with his teammates near the middle of the building, hiding up in the rafters, he can barely look them in the eye. "Sorry guys, they trapped me. It was like an ambush."
A well-coordinated ambush at that.
But the other students don't seem to mind. They're still in fourth, after all, so they're most likely going to head to the next round. Uraraka and Hatsume ended up getting a lot of people out with their combined efforts, and so did Tokoyami with Dark Shadow as his blanket of darkness.
The middle down below is nothing short of a war zone. People are using their quirks to trip others up and defend their own remaining points. Paintballs of all different colors are flying, and some people have taken to just throwing the actual guns at their targets to distract them while a teammate with better aim shoots at them. It's a bloodbath, and many are heading for the exit as they get eliminated in the blink of an eye. There's not many left at this point.
"One minute left, listeners!"
Bakugou and a few other teams are duking it out, just trading hits and not doing much damage to the other. The sounds of explosions take the precedence over every other sound. Todoroki is nowhere to be seen.
Less than thirty seconds left. He's okay. He could hide here, he could hide and stay at fourth place. But it's not enough.
It'll never be enough for Izuku.
He calms his breathing. There's a multitude of quirks all around him, and it's slightly overwhelming. He's been holding back Extract, trying to push it away because of how annoying it is in his head, but now he needs it.
For the first time in a very long time, Izuku calls upon Extract willingly, and he searches.
It doesn't take long to find him. He can feel him, hiding behind his own large obstacle on the ground level. He was planning on waiting it out, too. Yeah, Izuku isn't going to let that happen. He doesn't deserve to get away with being in third.
Monoma has been plaguing Izuku's thoughts since the first day back after the USJ. In some ways he reminds Izuku of Kacchan, in some ways not. Kacchan has conviction in his eyes and the strength to rise up to a challenge whenever faced with one. Monoma is like a wasp, one that stings and stings and stings without a reason, if only to quiet his own insecurities.
Izuku finds it hard to truly be afraid of Kacchan, at least not anymore. His words hurt sometimes, but that kind of pain is a temporary thing. He knows that his friend cares, even if he doesn't show it. Those words don't leave scars like Monoma's does. Because sometimes, Izuku can't help but feel that Monoma is right.
Their class is special now. Bonded together through a traumatic experience. Some of them only came upon their spot in 1-A because of sheer luck, including Izuku. He can see where Monoma is coming from, and he knows that it's just the boy's strategy to mess with people's emotions, but he can't help but feed into that anger he's feeling inside him.
And now he's been given the chance to act on that anger without any real repercussions. It's almost too good to be true.
He won't lose to Monoma. He can't. He'll take him out personally just to spite him and make sure he knows that 1-A is worthy of their titles as heroes in training. They're not just a bunch of cocky assholes.
He'll show him.
He steps out of his hiding spot, ignoring his teammate's frantic calls behind him. He steps onto the ledge, and far down below he hears one of the students ask their teammate why do I hear Megalovania?
He knows he's being petty, but that word might as well be his middle name. He locks onto the copy cat Extract is so very fond of, and right then it's almost like a switch has been flipped. Everything around him becomes clearer, as if in high definition. His chest feels tight, and he feels as if he breathes he might just release that pressure inside him and let the coil spring loose. The faintest bit of red seeps into his eyes, and the boy grips the gun a bit tighter.
A vengeful Izuku is a scary thing.
He steps off the platform and drops headfirst into the middle of the war, a sharp smile on his face as he shifts the gun just a little and pulls the trigger.
Found you.
He catches Monoma's gaze halfway across the battleground and sees the look of realization on his face as the boy remembers he's the last of his team. A new wave of paintballs come toward Izuku, everyone eager to be the one to get the remaining two million.
Izuku's own five paintballs hit Monoma in the center of his forehead with deadly precision, one right after the after, and the force is enough to have the blond stumbling back.
And maybe Izuku will pay for that later, as no teenager should have that level of accuracy with a gun, but he can't do anything about it now.
The buzzer sounds, and then the balls that were aimed at Izuku collide with him all at once. He bites back a cry at the onslaught. Some of them hit his leg and back, but others hit his stomach, right near his wound—
For a moment there, he nearly blacks out from the sharp wave of pain that overtakes his body as he hits the ground, and when he comes to, Uraraka is the first face he sees. She helps him to his feet using her quirk. "Deku, we did it! We got third place! And that move you just did was so cool and—hey, are you okay?"
Izuku laughs nervously as they walk their way out of the warehouse, his hand trying to discreetly cover his stomach. He can barely even walk straight. This can't be happening to him right now. "I'm just fine! I'm happy we made it to the finals!"
It's a good thing Present Mic is quick with the results, as Izuku needs to leave right now.
"Team Todoroki got first place, Team Bakugou got second, and Team Monoma got—oh? What happened there? What a turn of events, listeners! In third place we have Team Midoriya, and for fourth place Team Shinsou comes out of nowhere with the unexpected elimination of Monoma!"
The rankings aren't even all the way out of the voice hero's mouth before Izuku starts to speed walk to the bathroom, waving off the concerns of Uraraka and Iida. His stitches have definitely loosened, and he can feel something vaguely wet coating the insides of his bandages. Damn it all, he has to fix this before it becomes obvious. There's an hour break before the final test, so he's got time.
By the time Izuku makes it into a stall inside the stadium, he's already out of breath. Fuck.
He shouldn't have gone after Monoma like that. Why did he do that? It was a stupid idea, really. Childish, too. Does he always have to fuck things up in his life like this?
Izuku rolls his ring up and down his finger out of habit, needing something to do with his free hand as he lifts up his shirt to inspect the damage. He feels like he's going to throw up, and his head is pounding. There's no way his wounds are getting infected, is there? He cleaned them up that night, albeit quickly, so he should be fine.
He should be better than fine. He's been through worse. He doesn't know why this has to happen now of all times. Literally any other time would've been ideal.
He's royally screwed, isn't he? He fucked up. Izuku fixes up the stitches as best he can without proper materials and presses toilet paper over the wound to wipe up the small dribbles of blood that escaped the incisions. He places the sticky bandages back on top, over the added layer toilet paper, his jaw starting to hurt with how hard he's clenching it.
There's no alcohol to numb the pain this time.
It only takes him another few minutes to finish up, and thanks to Extract, Izuku is only half surprised when he comes out of the bathroom and finds Todoroki waiting for him at the mouth of the hallway, face partially shadowed.
He says his name in that low way of his, and to be frank, Izuku could just walk away. His classmate can't exactly make him stay. He could just walk right past him and ignore the other boy so he can deal with his own problems, but he doesn't.
Izuku stops, and he listens.