Izuku squinted and put a hand over his eyes, his mind still foggy from the events that had just occurred. Where.. Where am I? He thought to himself, slowly becoming aware of his surroundings. He let his hand fall down to his side, too weak to keep it afloat, and looked around. He was in the medical tent, if his memory served him right. There was red fabric that shielded himself from the sun, and the outside world. He quickly saw the entrance to the tent, and reached towards it, as if to open it. Feeling a tugging sensation on his arm, he quickly stopped. There was a tube inserted into his forearm, for some reason. A sharp intake of breath could be heard as he realized what had occurred.
That one girl.. Duoy, that dart she got me with must have had some kind of paralyzing substance in it.. Was it really that strong..? Izuku groggily thought. The IV tube in his arm suddenly caught his attention.
Izuku muttered as he pulled the IV tube from his arm with his teeth. "I guess so.. If they had to drain my blood to get the chemical out of my body, then it must have been extremely strong.."
Yawning, he pushed himself onto his feet. His vision immediately began to unfocus, and a lightheaded sensation began to overtake his consciousness.
"Woah there, slow down a bit, give yourself a chance to heal!" A clearly feminine voice exclaimed. Izuku felt a light pressure of the woman's hands on his chest as she forced him to sit back down on the cot.
He looked up to see The School Nurse looming over him, her eyebrows furrowed and lips pursed in a downward fashion. Why doe she keep looking at me like that..? He thought, searching for an answer with the little information he had.
He looked at his body, for that was what she seemed to be staring at, and was met with his bare chest. His face turned scarlet at the realization, he had never been in a situation like this. He attempted to change the subject.
"S..So what happened to me..?" Izuku managed to say, fumbling with his words.
The nurse pulled her eyes away from Izuku's body, and looked him in the eye. "You were injected with a strong paralysis dart, you were lucky it hit where it did, or else you would not have been able to move for another week or so."
Izuku gulped, he knew it wasn't luck. The girl who hit him with the dart knew what she was doing, and if this was an actual situation, he would have been at the mercy of whatever villain hit him with the dart.
Izuku frowned. "Oh-" He paused, a thought suddenly coming forward. "Wait, is the competition still going on?!"
The woman's lips slightly turned upwards. She let out a low noise, and covered her mouth as she continued to emit the noise.
Is.. Is she laughing at me..? Izuku thought.
"Of course you would be worried about that. You could have been seriously injured, but all you care about is getting back onto the field!" She said, still trying to stifle the giggles with her hand.
"No it's just-"
"No you didn't miss the competition. It's on hold right now, for you in-fact, so be thankful for that." Her tone of voice dropped. "Only reason that happened is because they wouldn't have enough people with out you.." She finished, muttering the final part of the sentence.
Izuku let out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding in. His gaze turned towards the door. I get another chance.. He thought, pushing himself up again.
"I wouldn't do that if I were yo-!" Izuku turned to her, and gave her a look of pure determination.
He fully stood up, and stretched his tight muscles and tired limbs. "I needed to get up anyways.." He insisted, still stretching out.
"O.. Okay, well I'm sorry if this sounds a little childish, but since we had to drain so much blood, we're gonna have to start getting it back somehow. Here." She said handing him a cookie and juice.
Izuku nodded, and took the glass and cookie into his hands. Izuku watched as she hurried out of the room, and began to eat the food he had been given.
As he was eating, he began to hear noises outside of the tent. Izuku was about to get up to see what was going on, three forms rushed into the small tent he was in.
"Are you okay?"
"What happened?"
"I swear if you scare me like that again, I'll-!"
Izuku coughed as he choked on the food he was chewing. Of course his friends would be there, they always were.
He put his hand out towards them, as if to quiet them. "One at a time, I can barely understand you all!"
Before the other two had a chance to talk, Eri intervened. "What happened? I remember watching you as you ran back to the safe point, and then you started to slow down, and you just collapsed!"
"I was tranquilized." Izuku supplied, as if it were no big deal.
Eri nodded. "It was that girl from your class.. Duoy? Doesn't she have that quirk, something straight out of angry birds, that lets her hit almost any target accurately?"
"Yeah, and if it landed an inch away from where it hit I would still be paralyzed. I was left completely at her mercy..." Izuku muttered, looking away.
"Y..You still made it.." Fretia piped in, adding a small smile to make Izuke feel better.
"Yeah, you did awesome out there man. I saw you out there." Usagi said, gripping Izuku's shoulder, his pink hair bouncing.
"Thanks guys, but I would have lost if she hadn't been so merciful with me.." Izuku admitted. "Usagi, Fretia, did you pass?" Izuku asked, eager to change the subject.
Fretia looked away, and shook her head, letting out a sigh. "I..I didn't.. I was close though.." Was all she said
In reality, Fretia had stopped fighting and ran to Izuku as she saw him pass out at the safe point. She dropped all of the badges as she ran, with no other concern but Izuku.
Usagi smiled, a smile that Izuku knew all to well. It was as if the smile was saying I drew on your face and i'm not gonna tell you I did. "Well, I can tell you the end isn't coming anytime soon for the both of us." He said as he held up his 4 different badges.
Izuku reflected Usagi's grin back at him. "Nice!" Izuku's excited demeanor halted. "That means-"
"-We'll have to go against each other at one point." Usagi finished. "Fine with me. I'll just get another chance to whoop your ass."
"Fat chance, Usagi." Izuku challenged back.
They looked at each other and began laughing, unable to control themselves. Izuku let out a little sigh once he was done, and looked at the digital clock on the fold-out table. It read 3:56, almost time for the preliminaries to start-up again.
"We gotta get going!" Izuku exclaimed a he stood to his full height. He began heading out of the tent, but heard a small cough. He turned and saw Eri pointing at him with a fist covering her mouth.
"You.. Might want to get a shirt on, buddy." She giggled out.
"That is very correct, thank you for the observation, Captain Obvious." Izuku said with a mock salute as he threw his school athletic uniform top on. "Now, lets get out there and kick some serious ass!"
He tied his shoes on and pushed the tent flaps out of the way, walking through the opening. The sun was still high in the sky, and the crowd cheered as he exited the tent. Izuku gaped by the sheer volume of the stadium, not having time to step back and look at it before. Every seat was filled, and then some.
He scratched the back of his head sheepishly, embarrassed that he had kept up the whole thing, and walked to the student reserved seating with his friends.
Sitting down, he looked at the rest of his classmates as they glaring at him. He had just held up the competition by a solid three hours, something that they were waiting to do and waiting to watch.
"Nice job, Dickwad. If it really takes that much to put you down, I'll end up having an easier time beating you this time." Izuku heard his bully say.
He looked at Usagi and chuckled as Usagi gave him a strange look as if to say You're crazy man. Good. Without him, this whole competition would be completely unbalanced. Usagi would take first with no problems. End of story. Nothing else.
Izuku heard the static of a microphone and turned his attention to the center of the arena, the source of the noise. "The rules are as follows! One, No maiming or killing allowed! Two, If you are pushed out of the arena, then you are out! Thats it! Now for the One on Ones to start! First up, Kinyiu Vadiu and Dinge Hastaki!" The announcer shouted, gesturing towards the open tunnels on opposite sides of the stadium. The two students exited from their respective tunnels.
Izuku remembered Vadiu. His Bully's, Katsuo Enki's, friend. I mean, I'm not really mad at him. He's too stupid to actually do that to someone without being provoked. He's not too bad.. Izuku thought.
"C'mon, lets go Vadiu!" Izuku cheered as he had his hands cupped around his mouth.
Izuku sat back down and was met with a glare from Enki. Izuku smiled at him and turned his attention back to the match that was about to start.
Two boys made it to the arena, the crowd cheering more for the Class 1-A student rather than the Class 1-B student.They got into their fighting stances as the announcer stepped to a safe distance.
"Begin!" The Announcer shouted as the two students began to clash.
The Class 1-B student looked like he was at a disadvantage, with him being much shorter than the other student. But the Class 1-B student, Kinyiu Vadiu was much stockier than the other, making the Class 1-A student, Dinge Hastaki look almost like a skeleton.
They stood their for a few minutes, analyzing each other, seeing who would move first. As if on a timer, and with a burst of movement, Vadiu rose his arm, and it detached from his body and shot at record speeds towards Hastaki. Hastaki let go of the breath he had been holding, eyes turning grey, and smoke spread through the arena.
Class 1-B Kinyiu Vadiu - Quirk: Bodyshot
The user can shoot his limbs off of his body at varying speeds! And, like boomerang, they always come back! He can punch you from up to a mile away, so don't piss him off!
Class 1-A Dinge Hastaki - Quirk: Smoke
The user has the ability to excrete and solidify smoke! Must come from a source, like cigarettes! the thing is, he's immune to the effects of Smoking! Talk about letting off some steam!
The Smoke slowly spread around the arena, surrounding Vadiu. He turned side to side, looking for the other boy. A punch landed on Vadiu's face. And another. And another. A continuous barrage connected with various sections of Vadiu's body. Vadiu couldn't breathe, as the atmosphere around him was smoke instead of air. Vadiu passed out, making Hastaki the winner of the fight.
"Lets hear it for Dinge Hastaki, the winner of the first fight!" The announcer declared, raising one of Hastaki's arms.
The Hastaki walked off the arena waving to the crowd while Vadiu limped away, grinning like a madman. Izuku watched as he made his way back to the stands, the rest of 1-B (Eri Excluded) was. as well After he sat down, Izuku clapped his shoulder and congratulated him on his efforts.
He chuckled like a toddler falling over himself. "I coulda' gotten' him myse'f. I have a finishin' move that could kill him instantly, but I would die afta'" Vadiu said in his western-esc accent.
"What would that be?" Izuku asked curiously.
"I coulda shot my heart at him. It goes the fastest outa any body part o' mine" He said, still chuckling.
Izuku nodded, part of him partly scared of the hidden moves these students can have. All goes to show not to judge a book by its cover. A sharp noise went off and Izuku was pulled out of 'la-la land' and came back to the real world. He looked around and realized he must have been spaced out for a while, since the next fight had already concluding.
The arena was covered in shattered ice, and a blondy was lying on the ground. A girl Izuku semi-knew, Rei Light, was standing over the girl on the ground. He knew her quirk was something to do with singing, but he couldn't put a finger on how she overcame the other girls ice-based quirk until he noticed the shattered ice surrounding the stage. Light must have shattered the ice and immobilized the blonde girl with the loud noise Izuku heard. He watched as she exited the stage and thought How am gonna beat people when they have quirks like these..?
Izuku felt a slight pressure on his only arm, and turned to the source, Eri. She smiled him, obviously stifling laughs and asked through the giggles "Did you actually miss all of that fight..?"
Izuku's face resembled a lobster. "N..No!" Izuku blurted out. "I just spaced out a little." He said a little quieter.
"Sure.." Eri quipped sarcastically. "Well your going up the next round after this, so I advise you should go and get ready for it."
Izuku looked at the giant LED board in the stadium to confirm she was correct. He saw his name next to a girl named Sorayni Karin, and he leaped out of his seat rushing towards the back exit to go the waiting room.
"Wait!" He heard Eri shout "There's something you need to know about this girl! Her quirk-" The sound of her voice was cut off by Izuku slamming the door behind him, too anxious-excited for his match to wait and listen to Eri. It felt as if his stomach was a torrent of emotions, the good, bad, the unknown. Frankly, it excited him as much as it scared him.
He sprinted down the halls of the stadium until he got to the wait room. He saw the girl who must have been his opponent.
He extended his arm for a handshake. "H..Hey! I am Izuku Midoriya! Y..You must b..be.." His words screeched to a stop when he saw that she was just staring at him with her cold red eyes. "P..Pleasure to.. be your opponent.."
The girls eyes followed Izuku across the room as he sat down. She continued to stare at him. Sh..She's scary..! It's so awkward, though. I..I need to say something, break the ice.. He thought as the girl and him sat in complete silence.
As Izuku was opening his mouth, she broke the silence.
"Hmm, Interesting." She said flatly. "I'm Sorayni Karin, nice to meet you as well."
Izuku stared at her for a minute, not really expecting her to respond, and so formal. "What's so interesting..?" He asked her.
For a minute her calm demeanor shed exposing a surprised expression, as if she didn't realize he heard that part. She quickly regained her composure. "Nothing. You seem like a tough opponent. I've seen what you can do in a fight."
Izuku blushed a bit and scratched his head. "It wasn't that much, I practice everyday so-"
"Not your quirk. The way you carry yourself. You don't just quit, you persevere. You keep fighting even if the future looks dim." She finished after interrupting him.
How could she tell all that with just a glance at me..? Izuku thought. Before he could pursue the topic with her he heard a noise blare from the speakers in the ceiling.
"Participants Izuku Midoriya and Sorayni Karin, step up to the arena!" A voice Izuku could only guess was the announcer.
"Good luck!" Izuku smiled as he turned to the girl, only to find that she was already in the doorway.
"Yeah, Thanks." Was all that she said.
Izuku sat for a moment and saw that this may be a hard fight. I don't even know her quirk. She could destroy me in the first few seconds probably. What if she hits me and I get knocked out? What if I fall off the arena? What if- He breathed, and slowed down his thoughts. He closed his eyes, and put on a familiar uncertain smile. He got up and walked shoulder to shoulder with her to the arena.
Even though Izuku cleared his head, he could still feel the emotions seeping through. But through all of that, he continued walking on. He glanced at the girl next to him, and saw that she was looking at him already. He looked straight ahead and walked faster.
What is up with this girl..? Izuku thought, confused. He's never had experiences with a girl in this way before, or so he thought. He shook his head and covered his eyes with his hand to see through the sun's blinding rays. He saw the whole stadium from the very center of it, and even though he had seen it already. He took a moment to take it all in. Thousands of people were just there for all of UA Highschool.
He turned his attention to the announcer, who had just started to explain the rules. "The rules are simple! You either knock your opponent off the edge, or immobilize them for 20 seconds by any means necessary! Now sit back and enjoy match number three!" The announcer shouted into the microphone as he jumped back off the arena.
he brought his hand up and began counting down. "Three! Two! ONE! Begin!" He ended with bringing his hand down.
Izuku wasted no time and gathered his quirk in his legs, which felt as if they were about to burst with power. He shot forward faster than the eye could see at his opponent and had his fist cocked and ready to punch. He was closing the gap quickly, fist outstretched. Her face got closer and closer to him and- he felt a tingle in the back of his head. He screamed in agony and skidded across the ground past her.
He held his head in the fetal position, and curled his knees inward. His eyes darted to the girl, Sorayni, before visions began playing in his mind.
Sorayni Karin - Quirk: Deceive
The user can make the victim see their worst fear, and feel physical pain from it. It affects the user as well. Talk about scary!
It was as if he were taller, and he had both of his arms. He tried to look around, move, but it was as if he were a spectator. But he could tell it was his body, the green hair and his voice. He was confused, and felt a searing pain in his body, put he couldn't feel where. The eyes in the body swiveled to the person in-front of him, a man with a-a birdlike mask? He was initially confused, until he saw why he was screaming.
His body was engulfed in these blue flames, and they couldn't be put out. But he could somehow tell that wasn't what this body was screaming about. He looked back at the man, and saw he was clutching a girls head within his fingers. He felt as if he knew her, a bobbed hair-cut, rose-y cheeks, a pink and black skin-tight suit.. He felt as if the answer was almost in his clutches. He felt panic wash over him as the man began to set her on fire as well.
"Help me! Make it stop.. Make it stop Deku!"
And that's when it felt like his world exploded.
He exited the trance-like state he was in and was greeted with the world being painted red. He launched himself off the ground, unconsciously using his quirk to boost him upwards. He twirled around in the air to face the girl, and her horrified face. He slammed back into the ground, and rushed at her. He sprinted side to side, forcing power into his legs. He saw the visions again, and screamed in pain. It was as if someone else's life was flashing before his eyes, but it all felt familiar.
Through all this, he continued. The girl saw her attempts as futile, and raised her arms in front of her, as if to get in the fighting stance. Izuku saw this and darted to her left, and kicked her in the shoulder with his shin, using both his quirk and his momentum to propel it into her upper arm.
A sickening crunch resounded throughout the stadium, and the girl was threw through the air like a rag-doll. Izuku landed back on his feet and his breaths became labored.
"A..And the winner is Izuku Midoriya..!" The Announcer broadcasted to the watchers of the arena.
Few claps were spread throughout the arena. Izuku had scared them, bad.
The Announcer turned back to Izuku, to find that he was just standing there, slouched and arm hanging down.
The Announcer moved the microphone away from his face to speak to Izuku. "Hey boy..? You okay?" He whispered, stepping near him cautiously.
Izuku shook his head, and blinked twice. Wh..What was that..? And what did that even do to me..? He thought, extremely confused and just as scared at himself as the audience was.
He looked up at the announcer. "Y..Yeah.. I..I'm fine.." He muttered, and began to walk back to the tunnel where they came onto the battlefield. He scanned the stands for Uraraka~Sensei. He couldn't find her anywhere. She.. She must have left after seeing me as a monster.. He thought, with his head down.
He glanced at the girl he had hit, and started to walk towards her motionless body on the ground. "I..I'm sorry, Karin.. I don't know what came over me-" Two guards stepped in front of him, cutting his sentence short.
"I think you've done enough kid." One of them said, the other slightly nodding.
"But I-"
"Kid, just go back to that stands.." The other guard stated while pointing to the tunnel.
Izuku opened his mouth to explain, but stopped trying. He hung his head and walked to the tunnel. This was supposed to be a victorious moment. He was supposed to feel good. Instead it was just a walk of shame and a fight of embarrassment.
Izuku couldn't get over the what had happened, and how he didn't understand a bit of it. This.. This must have happened in the fight with Enki.. But what triggered it..? I..I can't put my finger on it.. Izuku was searching his thoughts for an answer, but couldn't find one. Was.. Was something wrong with him? Other than the obvious missing limb?
Izuku didn't speed up to go sit back down. He frankly didn't want to see his friends, and vice versa. He especially didn't want his classmates to see him, even though they already had. What will they think of me now..? They saw me as trash before, what will they see me as now? A.. A psychopath..? He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. Think happy thoughts Izuku.. He told himself. He had won. That was good, he guessed. His friends would be happy for him, unless they thought less of him now..
He was haunted by these thoughts the whole way back to the seating section he was sitting in. It must have been an hour or two since his match had ended, but he felt it as if it was a few minutes ago. He opened the door to the seating area, and was greeted with his peers faces turned in his direction, watching him. Judging him. He looked at his shoes to avoid their gazes. He saw the long blonde hair with black streaks of his friend Fretia, and quickly sat down without saying a word.
"M..Midoriya.. " Fretia gently said.
Izuku braced himself for the worst. She would end up saying that she didn't want to be friends anymore. Eri would agree with her, and he would go back to having no friends and being a loner.
"That.. Was an awesome fight! I'm really proud of you!" She exclaimed. "You were like 'Ah!' then like 'bah' then 'bam' and you won!" Eri said making punching movements with her arms.
And that's our friendship ruined- Izuku whipped his head to her. "R..Really..?" He doubtfully asked.
"O..Of course..! We're your friends, why wouldn't we be proud of you..?" Fretia inquired shyly.
"Y..You guys.." He wiped his eyes, tears already swelling in them. "I thought you guys would think less of me.. I..I didn't mean to hurt her that bad.. I honestly don't know what came over me.." He was nearly sobbing in relief that his friends didn't think he was a freak.
"Midoriya it's a fight, that's how things go." She comforted him. " It's not like you can feel bad when you beat up a villain. Besides, we all thought you did good!"
It was only then that he realized that everyone was talking about his fight, even his bullies. He smiled, and felt a feeling of happiness bubble up from inside him.
He looked for Usagi, but couldn't find him. "Eri, Kaminari, where's Usagi..? I thought he'd be here."
"Oh right, you haven't seen the board yet. His fight is about to start." Eri explained, pointing to the giant board in the stadium.
He squinted and saw Usagi's name. Five minutes until it starts, huh.. Guess I cut it close. Izuku thought. He better win, and fight me or else I'm gonna have some things to say to him..
"I can't see it from here, but who's he fighting?" Izuku asked, leaning on the edge of his seat to try to get a better angle of the board.
"A kid named Funkie Light, or something like that.." Eri replied. "She had this weird get up on when I saw her in the bathroom, and smelled strangely sweet, kinda like sugar."
Fretia nodded. "Y..Yeah it was strange.. It also felt as if there was some k..kind of power emanating from her.." She added
"This is mostly likely gonna be a hard fight for Usagi.." Tisho said with her arms crossed.
"You gotta have more faith in Usagi, he can easily beat that girl.." Teien said in an annoyed voice.
You go.. Usagi.. Izuku thought as he watch him walk up to the arena. He saw the other girl and saw what Eri meant by weird get up. She was wearing a punk-rock shirt, but it was lined with neon. Same with her skirt and chains.
The announcer went over the rules, and stepped back and began counting down.
"Three... Two... One.. Begin!" The announcer exclaimed, bringing his arm down in a swift choping motion.