The one who came victorious from the second segment was Katsuki. With his ferocious attacks and ingenious mind, he had managed to get Sero to snag the 10 million headband from Hitoshi.
Hitoshi had barely passed, but that still meant he was ongoing in the competition, so that was fine.
Dekh stood up once again, heading out for the lunch break before the third game began.
Reaching the cafeteria, he headed to the 1-B table, and sat down with a huff.
"We need to work on planning." he said simply, and while the others didn't know why Neito and Setsuna shivered, they would later on that week.
"Fuck." Neito said simply, leaning backwards in exhaustion, making Deku scoff.
"I'm not that bad! You're exaggerating."
Setsuna coughed.
"Even Eraserhead is easier on his students. You're worse than a slave driver!"
Deku turned to her, eyes shut in a dark smile.
"Did you say something, Setsuna-san?"
The girl immediately paled, shaking her head frantically.
"Not at all, you're an amazing teacher! I have nothing against your teaching! You're the best in the world!"
Deku shot a pointed stare at her, causing her to gulp nervously, but just shook his head.
"Right." he replied, clearly not believing a single word. He then turned to the rest of the class, and hummed, narrowing his eyes.
Only four of them were left: Itsuka, Neito, Ibara and Tetsutetsu.
He then took out a few pieces of paper, and laid it out in front of him, making the other lean forwards in interest.
"Itsuka-san, you're well trained in martial arts. You're more agile than average, and you can enlarge your hands to block blows and stabilize yourself. If you can control your Quirk so that your hands enlarge in the last millisecond of your punch, you can get in much more powerful hits. Your weakness is that when you use your Quirk, you lose your advantage in speed, so be careful about that.
"Neito-san, your biggest disadvantage is that the Quirks you copy are unfamiliar to you. Before you enter the ring, copy a few of your classmates' Quirks, as you are more familiar with them. With my training, you are well versed in hand-and-hand combat, but you are a bit impatient, causing you to lose battles that are longer than five minutes. Your grappling techniques are your biggest strength, so be sure to use them often, but not rely on them only. Your in-battle analysis has progressed nicely, so you should be able to find weak points in your opponents and strike accordingly.
"Ibara-san, you rely too much on your Quirk. If your opponent has a fire-natured Quirk, you're doomed. Remember that your Quirk is more than a shield or a sword. It can also be used as a rope, or for tripping and traps in general. Be sure to use your Quirk secretly and in angles invisible to your opponents to catch them off guard. You are slow and weak physically, but with the help of your Quirk, you can dodge nicely enough. Also, don't strike randomly, but at certain points of the human body, causing more damage and temporary paralysis. Don't maim them, though, or else I'll be at fault.
"Finally, Tetsutetsu-san, you might be durable, but you are weak to saltwater and the likes that can cause rust, and your stamina isn't all that great either. With the help of your Quirk, you can strike more powerfully, so be sure to aim at the nose, chin, stomach, groin, and the shins. Don't be afraid to play dirty, because nobody cares about being a gentleman in a real fight. Don't harden all of your body, but small parts that cover the strikes carefully, so you don't use too much stamina. Understood?" All four nodded, and he clapped. "Great, then I'll get going. And the others, even if you lost, you all did a great job. You've grown a lot since we've first met."
Deku stood up, and walked out of the cafeteria. Out there, he heard some yelling, and rushed forward, being careful not to make any noise.
There, he saw two Todoroki's, and groaned internally.
Just what he needed. A family argument.
"I'll win without using your flames!" roared Shouto, and Enji's flames thickened, and he took a step forward in fury
"Stop these childish actions!" he roared back, and knowing it was time to intervene, Deku rushed forward, jumping on his back, and hitting him in a few pressure points, making both of his arms go limp, then jump down with a summersault between them, uncaring of their bewildered looks.
"That's enough, Todoroki-san." he said, his eyes glowing a toxic green, a dangerous glint in them.
Endeavour growled.
"This isn't about you, boy! Undo what you did!"
Deku felt a smile widening on his face, eyes sharpening even more.
"You know," he said, tone so deadly calm that both males froze. "my mother called me 'boy' when she hit me with a beer bottle. I can't say I'm particularly fond of that name."
Endeavour shivered at the boy's eyes. He was dangerous. Every cell of him was screaming for him to run away, to hide and never come, because if he showed even his head this monster would tear him into pieces and devour him, and laugh while he did so.
The intense aura faded as the boy turned around, giving the Candy Cane™ a glance to see if he was injured, then cheerfully chirping.
"Sorry I was so cold, your father's such a flaming idiot that I couldn't help but try to extinguish his idiocy!"
The younger Todoroki blinked once, then twice, but before he could answer he was tugged away by the hacker from the frozen No:2 Hero.
As soon as they turned a few corners, the boy stopped, making the other bump into him, so he leaned onto the wall for balance.
Todoroki snapped back to reality with the bump, and leaned backwards, aware of the too small distance between them.
Deku took off his hoodie and mask, grinning sheepishly at the boy.
"Sorry I was so abrupt, I wanted to get away as soon as possible. Just being in that piece of trash stinkier than Dagobah made me want to puke. So," h eglanced at him worriedly. "are you alright? His bitchiness might be contagious after all."
Todoroki couldn't help it: he burst into laughter.
Someone insulting his father so interestingly made him extremely amused.
After a while, his laughter died down, and Izuku grinned.
"Got that out of your system?" At his nod, his smile widened. "Good. Now, are you ready for your match? It'll be the second, after all. I estimate that you have around ten minutes for it."
Todoroki nodded.
"Yes, I feel quite ready." he replied, his usual emotionless persona immediately snapping back on.
Izuku nodded.
"Good. You're not upset or anything right? I wouldn't want the talk with your sperm donor to affect your performance negatively."
Getting an affirmative, Izuku turned around slightly.
"Then I'll get going now. I'm unfortunately a commentator after all." he raised his head slightly, shooting a toothy grin at the bi-coloured boy. "Well then, good luck with your match! I'm supposed to be impartial, but I hope you win!" He patted the boy on the shoulder encouragingly, then walked away, shooting him another grin and a wave as he turned around the corner.
Todoroki stood there for a while after he was left alone.
As Present Mix's voice rang out, stating it was time for his match, he headed towards the arena, a nearly invisible smirk on his lips.
Huh, maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.