One week has passed, and now we're finally back to school. Everyone has made some progress in their training, which makes me happy, and it seems that everyone has had a somewhat full recovery. Two people in our class weren't part of the miniature training camp, Katsuki and Todoroki, but I doubt that any of them are going to fall behind. Katsuki is stubborn and won't let himself lose to me, which is inevitable, and Todoroki is just good at what he does, even if I've only seen half of his strength.
"What's on your mind?" I heard a feminine voice ask as she sat down next to me. I looked over and saw that it was Rachel. I smiled at her, before I answered.
"Nothing, just thinking of how everyone's gotten somewhat stronger."
Rachel smiled, and nodded, as she then said.
"You're thinking about the two that didn't train with us... " As if she could read my mind. I looked surprised at first, then I smiled and said.
"You can read my like a page in a book... You're right, I am thinking about those two. Katsuki will make himself stronger, for the simple reason that he refuses to lose against me. Todoroki is a different question, for I've only seen him use his ice... I guess that the warrior part of me wants to have a go at him... "
Rachel only continued smiling, as she hugged my arm and said.
"Still the same idiot that I remember." With a joyous voice. I only smiled at her words, before I said.
"I must say that you've made some incredible progress with both your quirk and physicality." With a joyous voice. Rachel looked surprised at first, then she had a grin as she said.
"So you've been checking me out?" As if she was teasing. I only smiled, and said.
"Of course, it's harder to keep my eyes away from you." As if it was obvious. Rachel blushed fifty shades of red, and I could hear some jealous and nasty comments from Mineta in the background, but right before we could continue any of this the door was flung open.
The man who stood there had so many bandages that he looked like a mummy, but everyone still knew that it was Aizawa.
"Good morning class, get to your seats!" He said, and everyone obeyed.
"Sir, are you okay?" Someone asked, but Aizawa shrugged it off and answered.
"Recovery Girl went overboard on her treatment, but my health is not important. What's important is that The UA-Sports Festival is coming up soon, and you have one week to prepare for it!" He said, and everyone started to get excited.
"But sir, is it really a good idea to hold the festival right after a villain attack?!" Mineta asked, practically pissing his pants. Aizawa was still unfazed, and he said.
"We're showing that some villain attack won't affect us! The security will be upped, because this event is too big to be cancelled!" With a determined voice.
"That's true. The festival is our opportunity to prove our worth to the pros, it's too important to be cancelled so suddenly." I then commented. Aizawa nodded at my words, then he continued.
"Which also means that you can't be slacking off this week while preparing..." He finished, then he caught me off guard by saying.
"Midoriya, I heard that you trained the class after the USJ. I'm looking forward to seeing their results." With an approving voice. I looked at Aizawa with a smile, before I said.
"That totally depends on them." With a calm voice. Aizawa only smiled, before he left the classroom.
Everyone began talking about the festival, about how excited and pumped they were. I was excited of course, but I was more concerned.
Kirishima had barely made any forward progress with his quirks, and it's starting to worry me. He needs to get stronger and learn, but there aren't many ways to do so in a short while. There's one way, although it won't be guaranteed that he'll make it out in one piece.
I picked my phone up and began fiddling with it. Eventually I wrote a message to a number, with an intent I haven't had in a while. I then stood up and walked over to Kirishima.
"Hey boss, let's do our best at the festival!" He cheered. I held a stoic expression, before I said.
"You won't last... " With a calm voice. Everyone suddenly stopped, and Kirishima looked shocked.
"You've barely made any progress so far, therefore you aren't even close to being prepared for the festival." I then said. Kirishima looked at me discouraged.
"Don't say that to him! He's gotten way stronger than he was before!" Ashido came into the picture, trying to defend her man. I looked at her and answered.
"He has gotten stronger since then, yes. But not since the start of UA." Still calm. Both Ashido and Kirishima looked discouraged, but then I spoke once more.
"Don't worry, I know how to solve this issue." I said, calmly. Both Ashido and Kirishima looked at me, waiting for an answer.
"I'll arrange a fight for you Kirishima. Only real combat experience will awaken what you need." I said, voice still calm. They wanted to say that it was a bad idea, but they couldn't. Instead Kirishima asked.
"Who is my opponent then?" With a voice that showed slight worry. I looked him in the eyes, smiling, as I answered.
"Let's just say that his body is... Unnatural... " With a mysterious voice. No one in the classroom understood what I meant, except for Kirishima. He was practically shaking in his boots just thinking about it.
We then returned to our seats, and proceeded with the school day.
. . .
It was the end of the day now, and most of us were still mingling about. I picked my phone up and noticed that I had gotten a reply on my message.
"Come see me after school, Champion!" It read, and I had a wide grin across my face.
"Who are you messaging?" Rachel asked, as she began peaking into my phone. I quickly hid it away, thinking that she would be upset if she found out.
"No one." I said, trying to hide it away. Rachel looked upset, which I felt would happen regardless of what I did in that situation. Then came the most shocking out of all questions.
"Izuku are you cheating on me?" She asked, showing concern. I froze for a second, then I heard her follow up the question.
"Am I not good enough for you?" She asked, as if she was about to cry.
I felt infuriated, on a deep level. It wasn't because I felt offended, it was because of the fact that she thought so low of herself.
Before she could say anything else, I pulled her close to me and kissed her. I did it so that everyone could see, and I did it intently. Then I stopped, and said.
"You're the only one for me, don't think so lowly about yourself!" Showing just how serious I was. Rachel's expression turned into a smile, as she tightly hugged my arm.
I then turned to the rest of class, who was staring wide eyed, before I said.
"Get back to your own bullshit!" With a hint of aggression. Some felt attacked, but at the same time they must have realised that they were in the wrong.
After everything went back to normal I kept cuddling with Rachel, then she asked me.
"So who was it that you texted?" With a confident voice. I took a while to think, then I decided that it didn't matter.
"Your grandfather." I answered, my voice being as calm as possible. Rachel got out of my embrace, and then looked at me as if I was a lunatic.
"It's not for me. It's for Kirishima." I said, trying to clear the air. Rachel calmed down a little, then she leaned onto me once more.
"Are you sure about this?" She then asked, a little concerned for Kirishima's sake.
"He needs it, so yes." I answered calmly. She moved a little, then she asked.
"Are you sure that he'll accept?" With a much calmer voice. I stood up at the mention of those words, before I answered.
"I'm going there to discuss it right now. Wanna come with me, I'm sure that he'll be thrilled to meet his granddaughter again." With a smile on my face, as I held my hand out to her. Rachel smiled, as she grabbed my hand, and answered.
"He'll be more thrilled to know that we're back together, and yes I'm going with you." As I helped her up. I giggled a little at her comment, my way of agreeing with her statement, as she smiled and grabbed onto my arm again.
We then walked towards the door, intent on leaving the classroom, but stopped when we opened the door. It would be more appropriate to say that we were stopped, since there was a mob of people lying in wait behind the door.
"What's going on?" Uraraka asked, confusion being written all over her voice.
"Why are you clogging up the hallway?" Iida asked, probably doing some robotic hand gesture behind my back.
I looked at the mob for a second, then I realised what it was about. I smiled, as I started to giggle, then I said.
"I see, so that's how it is then?" With what sounded like a sadistic voice. Everyone looked at me in confusion
"They're scouting out the competition you idiots." Katsuki said, as he began walking towards the door. At some point Rachel had decided to move away from me, letting the impossible happen. Now Katsuki and I were standing next to each other, facing the same direction.
"You're right for once Katsuki, but I sense that someone in this crowd of weaklings wishes to speak up." I said, my voice still being sadistic. Katsuki seemed to smirk at my comment, then a male student with purple hair walked up in the front.
"That someone would be me." He declared, as he stood in the front.
"So this is class 1-A. I've heard so many great things about you, but you don't look special to me. Are all of you a bunch of egomaniacs, or is it just you?" He said, pointing at me and Katsuki. I could hear people behind us freak out to some extent, but Katsuki and I didn't. He got pissed, while my grin grew wider.
"I wanted to be in the hero course, but like many others here I had to pick a different career. However, if we perform well in the sports festival the teachers can choose to move us up to the hero course. They'll move people out to make room when that happens." He then said, and some were getting shocked and scared.
"My peers here might be scouting the competition, but I'm here to tell you that if you don't bring your A-game I'll sweep your place from right under you!" The man finished, as he then began to walk away. Most of the class was afraid in some way, but not me. I was getting excited.
"What's your name?" I asked the purple haired boy. He stopped surprised, and said.
"Hitoshi Shinso..." He answered, a bit bored. My smile grew wider, as I said.
"You're weak!" With a bit of power behind it. Everyone around me was shocked, and Hitoshi looked angry.
"What did you say?!" He asked, anger prominent in his voice.
"Your body, your quirk, it's weak. Everything about you is weak, including your spirit. But you talk a big game, so I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt... The third round, don't lose until you face me there. If you lose before then, well... There's a reason that you're not in the hero course, you lack the resolve to go to the necessary lengths... If you don't win the festival, or if you get knocked out before facing me, you don't deserve to be a hero." I said, my sadistic smile growing as I speak. Hitoshi looked in both anger and fear, as he then took off running.
At this point the crowd had decided to steer clear of me, afraid that I might pound them. Katsuki looked at me with a conflicted smile, as he said.
"Deku, don't lose until you face me!" He shouted, right before he took off. He was stopped, however, by another student who began shouting at us aggressively.
"Hey you! I'm from class 1-B next door to you! I heard that you fought some villains and I came to see if that was true! But it turns out that you're just a bunch of brats who think that you're better than us! Those villains couldn't have been much then!" The man shouted, as if there was no tomorrow. Normally I would accept his declaration of war, but this time I was just pissed off.
The way he spoke about the villain attack, it was as if he was mocking that entire situation. He wasn't there, had he been he would have been hurt in some way. Everyone here suffered some sort of injury that day, whether it was physical or mental, so he was basically laughing at the fear that everyone felt that day.
Pfffhhh!!!... That loud noise was heard all around the campus. Everyone, including me, froze in place at the scene. Rachel had walked up to that boy and slapped him across the face, her expression filled with nothing but burning hot rage.
"How dare you say that! We were all scared that day, we had no help from the pros and we didn't know what to do! We only made it out because... Because... " She said, her voice growing more and more unstable as time passed. I was going to walk up and stop her, but she finished her sentence.
"We only made it out because Izuku fought off the villains on his lonesome!... Even after he was unconscious and broken... HE STOOD UP AND FOUGHT!!!" She shouted the last part, as tears streamed down her face. The pain caused from thinking back to those moments must have been too unbearable, so I walked up to comfort her. She immediately ran into my embrace, crying into my shoulder.
Everyone looked in shock, no one uttering a single sound. The one from class 1-B was completely silent and frozen, he didn't know what to say. He had probably realised that I am the Izuku she was talking about. I looked at the man, my glare so hot that it could melt steel, as I asked.
"What's your name?" With murderous intent. The man looked at me, regaining his senses, then he answered.
"Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu." With a somewhat aggressive voice. I didn't break my glare for a second, as I continued to speak.
"Well, Tetsutetsu... I was going to give you the same declaration that I gave to Shinso... But then you went ahead and insulted me, my girlfriend, and my other classmates.... I would tell you to face me in the third round, but I won't... Because you're weaker than Shinso... " I said, aggression visible in my voice. Tetsutetsu looked angry, as he said.
"What?! You think that you're better than me?!" With a roaring voice. I didn't change my expression, as I said.
"Since you asked the exact same question, I'm going to give you the same answer that I gave to Katsuki almost a year ago...." While pointing my free hand towards Katsuki, who was watching the mayhem with pleasure.
"I don't think... I know that I'm better than you!" I said, my anger reaching its limits. Tetsutetsu lost it, as he turned his left fist into steel before throwing it at me.
I easily caught it with my right hand, my left was still around Rachel, and I held him back just as easily.
"Since my girlfriend has occupied my left arm, we'll do it like this. One arm each." I said as I started to tighten my grip, and slowly pushed against Tetsutetsu.
As if on cue I could both hear and see two teachers approach us. It was Aizawa, and the homeroom teacher from class 1-B. They were about to stop the fight, but Katsuki walked over and filled them in on the situation. In that moment I could see Aizawa hold the other teacher back, for he deemed that this was well deserved.
I kept pushing, and Tetsutetsu let out grunt after grunt. His knees started to bend and shake, as they inched closer to the ground. As if he was giving it his all, he turned his other hand into steel and used it to help pushing.... That's when it suddenly stopped...
"Who said that you could use your other arm?!... Oh well, it won't make a difference!!!" I bellowed, as I pushed even harder than before. Tetsutestsu's knees collided with the ground, making craters and scraping his skin. He was struggling even more than before.
"One hand, that's more than enough to beat you!" I said, my voice being omnius. I noticed that we had gathered a crowd, which mostly consisted of class 1-A and 1-B, that's when I continued speaking.
"Wanna know another thing that I told Katsuki on that very same day?!" I asked, not expecting an answer. Tetsutetsu looked at me, and waited for me to continue.
"The man who doesn't know his own limits is a fucking idiot... " I said. Tetsutetsu looked at me shocked, but that turned into a roar of pain. I pushed even harder, so much that his steel arms began creaking.
"Don't you agree?!... Tetsutetsu?!" I then asked, manically, right as his arms cracked under the pressure.
"AHHHHHH!!!!!" He screamed, as he let go of my hand and began to roll in pain while covering his arms. Once they turned back to flesh they started to bleed, and people began surrounding him in order to help.
Aizawa walked up to me, and the rest of the class, as he said.
"I heard about what he said, he deserved it. Are you okay?" As he looked at us all, but mostly at me and the still clinging Rachel. The homeroom from 1-B, Vlad King, approached us as he spoke.
"Aizawa, I won't accept this. Your student needs to be punished!" He roared with an angry voice. Aizawa didn't give a damn, as he said.
"My student stood up for his classmates and taught your insensitive excuse of a student a well deserved lesson. This man stood up against those villains on his own, had the pros been even a minute late he wouldn't be standing here... That's how hard he fought that day... If you have any complaints you can take them to the principal, but I doubt that he'll speak in favour of you... " With a half aggressive voice of his own. Vlad King looked angry, but he didn't say anything against it.
After that, both classes were dismissed, and Tetsutetsu was taken to Recovery Girl. After his exchange with Vlad King, Aizawa walked up to me and said.
"I appreciate what you did Midoriya, but please save it for the sports festival." With his regular tired voice. I smiled at his comment, and said.
"Will do sir!" Before he left.
I looked over to Rachel, who was still clinging to me, and said.
"Come on, your grandfather is waiting." In an attempt to make her move. She only hugged me tighter, as she stubbornly said.
"He can wait a little longer!" Like a spoiled child. I surrendered to her behavior, because I know better than to try and defy her when she's like this.
. . .
"Well, here we are!" I said, as we walked up to a big estate. Rachel didn't give much of a reaction when I said that, she only walked with me. As we made it to the door, it was opened. A man who was wearing a fine suit was standing there to receive us.
"Champion! The master has been expecting y-OUUUUU!!!" He said, until he looked towards Rachel and almost jumped out of his shoes.
"Miss Rachel! You're here! Come, the master must know of your arrival!" He said, as he quickly motioned us to follow. He must have been shocked still, or maybe excited, for he was practically racing through the estate. Eventually he stopped before a door, and calmed himself before opening it.
"Master, you have visitors!" He said. Through the door I could hear the faintest reply, which was for us to enter. I walked in first, and received a greeting.
"Champion! Long time no see!" The short and old man said, a broad smile across his face. I smiled back at him, and said.
"It's been a while. How've you been, Tokugawa?" With a joyous voice. Tokugawa smiled as he answered.
"Oh I'm growing older, but I get to see more amazing battles." Before he laughed. I laughed with him, then someone else walked through the door.
"My, you have someone with y-..." He started his sentence, but stopped the second that he saw who it was. Suddenly his smile grew wider, and he rushed in for a hug.
"Rachel! You're here! How's my favorite girl doing!?" He said, as he hugged her tightly. Tokugawa was much shorter than his granddaughter, so Rachel gave as good of a hug as she could.
"I'm good grandpa, I'm just glad to see that you're doing well." Rachel said as she smiled. Tokugawa then let go of her, as he spoke.
"I'm so relieved to know that you're on good terms. Now I don't have to worry as much about my little girl, the champion is there to protect her!" He said, while wiping his tears from his eyes. He was probably talking about the fact that Rachel and I are in the same class, and I can look after her.
"Actually... We're more than just on good terms... " Rachel said, as she held my hand so that it was visible. Tokugawa was frozen for a second, then he looked overjoyed.
"Really?! My little girl is back with the man she loves! This calls for a celebration!" He roared as he ran in to hug us both. After that he walked over to a table, and took out a bottle of sake and three glasses, while giving us his classical smile.
We sat down at the table, as Tokugawa poured us some sake.
"You shouldn't be drinking this, so you'll have to keep it a secret." He said, smiling all the way through his words. I gave him a smile of my own, as I picked my glass up, and said.
"Wouldn't be the first secret that I'm keeping!" With a joking tone. We all laughed at that, then we began drinking.
"So, what brings you here?" Tokugawa asked, still smiling. I looked at him intently, as I said.
"The underground arena." With a calm voice. Tokugawa looked shocked, then he looked excited.
"Oh, the champion wishes to make his comeback?! We'll have the arena full immediately!" He said, growing more excited as time passed.
"It's not for me." I then said, quickly shooting down his excitement. The old man looked at me confused, as he waited for me to continue.
"It's for Kirishima." I said. Tokugawa looked even more confused than before, then he said.
"Are you sure about this? I don't know if it'll draw attention." With a hint of concern. I took another sip from my glass, before I answered.
"He's gotten much stronger, he just needs some proper experience for the sports festival. As for the advertising..."
Tokugawa waited for me to continue, he wanted to know my plan.
"Picture this: The undefeated champion of the underground arena has a student that he trained personally, and that student is going to fight to prove his worth... It practically sells itself." I said, smile across my face. Tokugawa smiled after hearing my words, and he even started to giggle.
"You're right! We just need an opponent!" He then said, while thinking.
"I've already settled on an opponent... " I said, calmly. Tokugawa looked excited, and he asked.
"Someone already accepted the challenge?" With shock. I took another sip, before I answered.
"No, but he will. He's been waiting to fight Kirishima since day one." With a voice that was filled with intent. Tokugawa looked shocked at first, but then he smiled as he realised who I was talking about.
"You're right... It does sell itself... " He said, as he had an even more intent smile than ever before.