Chapter Text
There was fire in the hallway.
Toshinori’s first thought was to look for a fire alarm and try to put it out– But, luckily, before he transformed and tried to punch the fire away (he had a technique for it!), he realized it was just Endeavor.
He considered hiding around the corner and transforming, then having a conversation with him, hero to hero. It had been a long time since they’d spoken, and their conversations were always so short, interrupted by various family emergencies and Endeavor needing the bathroom, among other things.
Toshinori hoped that Endeavor had gotten that looked at, actually. Needing to use the bathroom that often couldn’t have been healthy, or convenient for hero work. Although, if Toshinori was to complain about that, he’d be a hypocrite, and if there was one thing a hero shouldn’t be, it was a hypocrite.
.
“Toshinori, please, just realize that he hates you because he’s a massive–”
“No swearing,” said Hikage.
Nana lifted her face from her hands to stare at Hikage. “What?”
“No swearing. Ninth might hear us.”
“Hikage, I’m going to bet that Ninth knows every swear word Toshinori ever used and then some. He can probably quote each and every one and say when and where he was when he said them.”
“Yes. We should set a better example.”
“Hikage,” said En. “I’ve already given up tasting food and also my entire life and body to be here. I’m not going to give up swearing.”
Hikage frowned slightly. “You don’t swear.”
En shrugged. “It’s more about the principle of the thing.”
.
But, time was running out of the lunch break, and if young Midoriya wasn’t already with friends, he would certainly want to be with them to watch the first matches! Any of the winners could be his opponent in short order, after all, and knowledge was power!
In light of that, and his ever-present awareness of just how much time he had left for hero work every day, Toshinori didn’t transform. Instead, he raised a handkerchief to his mouth (smoke was very bad for his single, lonely lung, and although Endeavor’s flames were remarkably clean-burning, they were still fire) and hurried down the hallway.
“Wait,” said Endeavor.
Surprised, Toshinori stopped.
“You,” said Endeavor, his voice low, almost a growl, “I know you. I’ve seen you before.”
“I, er,” said Toshinori. “Yes, I suppose you have. I work for–”
“All Might,” growled Endeavor. “Yes, I’ve seen you trailing after that annoyance. Doing the work he’s too high and mighty to deal with.”
That was a little harsh, considering that Toshinori was All Might, but he supposed Endeavor couldn’t know that.
“Well, that’s my job,” said Toshinori. “Secretary, you know…”
“And now you’re here,” said Endeavor. “Still following him while he wastes time making those frivolous announcements.”
“Well, that’s part of his job, now,” said Toshinori. “He teaches here, after all.”
Endeavor, snorted, flames leaping from his moustache.
Not for the first time, Toshinori wondered if there was actually hair under there. If so, how did he keep it from burning off? Even the natural heat resistance of fire quirk users had its limits.
“He teaches.” The word was dripping with… something. “Well, tell your master that my creation will surpass him and anything he makes.”
“Uh,” said Toshinori, feeling slow. “You mean… your agency…?” Somehow, he didn’t think that was what Endeavor meant.
“Shouto,” said Endeavor, shortly.
“Oh, ah,” said Toshinori, he was on slightly steadier ground, here. “I’ve heard that he’s a very conscientious young man–” especially since the battle trial, “--incredible quirk control, although–”
“Are you mocking me?”
“No,” said Toshinori. He would have held his hands up, except that they were full with the bentos. “No, not at all. I was just– All Might had just commented on his abilities, and that must be thanks to your influence. You’ve trained so many successful sidekicks, after all! So many of them go on to found their own agencies–”
To Toshinori’s surprise, Endeavor snarled. “What,” he said, gritting out the word, “are you getting at?”
“Nothing! Only that you’re, ah, probably a good teacher…?”
Endeavor turned away, stomping to the nearby set of stairs. “That easy breezy personality… You’re the same as All Might. How perfectly annoying.” He went down the stairs as Toshinori watched.
What a strange conversation. Strange, and troubling. Part of him wanted to go, follow Endeavor, maybe as himself, maybe as All Might, demand answers, but what he’d heard wasn’t really enough to justify that. Was it? Endeavor hadn’t really said anything wrong, and a rivalry between heroes, even over something like student progress wasn’t anything out of the ordinary - Vlad King’s rather one-sided one against young Aizawa was proof of that.
But even so, referring to young Todoroki as a creation in that tone of voice rubbed Toshinori the wrong way.
The bentos weighed heavily in Toshinori’s hands.
Yes. Young Midoriya. Lunch. And then, perhaps Toshinori could ask young Aizawa or Nezu if his conversation with Endeavor was at all typical for parents. Or a school environment in general, come to that.
.
“Don’t start,” said Yoichi.
“Start what?” asked En, far too innocent to be believable.
“We were with Eighth when he went to school. He went to school here.”
“Well, I wasn’t going to bring it up,” said En, “but UA isn’t exactly what I’d call a typical school environment.”
“Oh, shut up,” said Yoichi.
“Okay, actually,” said Banjo, “how many of us really had had a normal school experience. Like, I know Hikagi didn’t.”
“What do you mean?” asked Hikage.
“Well, Yoichi is… like that. Second and Third grew up during the dawn of quirks, when everything was broken.”
“There were still schools,” said Third.
“But did you go to them?” asked Banjo.
“Yeah,” said Third.
“How long?” asked En.
“Well,” said Third. “Look. That’s not important.”
“Hey,” said Nana. “Let’s tune back into the present before we get into another pointless fight over schools.”
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“Young Midoriya?”
Izuku almost jumped out of his skin. “Mr. Yagi! I– I was just talking to Todoroki,” said Izuku. “I…” He trailed off. He wasn’t sure how much he should say. He wasn’t sure what to say. Had– Had Mr. Yagi overheard anything?
“What a strange coincidence,” said Mr. Yagi. “I was just talking to Endeavor! Although, that conversation… Well, maybe it only seemed odd to me because I was in this form.”
“It seemed odd?”
“Yes,” said Mr. Yagi, frowning. He shook his head. “However, that is not why I am here! I am here… With lunch!” He held up a pair of bentos wrapped in rabbit-patterned cloth. “Assuming you haven’t already eaten, that is.”
“I haven’t,” said Izuku, coming closer. “Things keep happening, somehow.”
“Your conversation with Todoroki was one of those things?” asked Mr. Yagi. He deposited the bento in Izuku’s hands and made a motion for Izuku to follow him.
“Yeah…” said Izuku.
.
“Tell him! Tell him! Tell him!” chanted the ghosts, who, unsurprisingly, hadn’t come up with a better plan.
Yet.
“Lie,” said Hikage.
The other ghosts turned on him, incredulous.
“Toshinori is the adult here,” said Hikage.
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Mr. Yagi nodded, brows knitting together slightly. “I overheard the very end of your conversation, I think.”
Izuku wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. He wanted to tell someone about what Todoroki said about the quirk marriage, because that was… There were some laws against it, although they were hard to enforce, because there was no good way to check if someone really was in a quirk marriage or not. Sometimes, people with compatible quirks were able to live together or meet each other more easily. Two people with polar bear mutations would be more likely to meet one another than a person with a polar bear mutation and a person with a quirk that let them photosynthesize, and were more likely to find the same places habitable, too.
But a quirk marriage… and his mother pouring boiling water on him… and the fact that he was angrier with Endeavor over that than his mother…
He was sure that Todoroki wouldn’t want him to just start telling people. He didn’t want to tell people about Kacchan, after all. The fact that Todoroki had overheard all of that in the bathroom made him feel vaguely nauseous.
.
“Oh, great, what disaster is he predicting now?”
“Actually,” said Hikage, “that is just regular anxiety. But back to what we should say–”
.
If Mr. Yagi had overheard, though, then he wouldn’t have to tell him about… all that.
Izuku’s heart made a funny motion. “O-oh? You heard?”
“I know, eavesdropping doesn’t sound very heroic, but a hero is someone who involves themselves in others’ problems!” He coughed, slightly, then licked his lips. “Don’t, ah, don’t make a habit of it, though! There are various legal problems, of course, you want to make sure you aren’t breaking any privacy laws, but public property is usually your best bet… Not that I should really encourage… or discourage, for that matter… However, I’m not sure I understood everything you were saying.”
Izuku stopped, shoulders inching up to his ears.
Mr. Yagi walked a few more feet - just one and a half steps, considering his long stride - and then stopped, looking back. “Young Midoriya?”
“What did you hear?” asked Izuku. His voice sounded far away, hollow. Was he panicking? Was this panic? It felt different than his usual panic.
.
“No, I think you’re dissociating,” said En, breaking off from the new chant.
“Yeah,” agreed Yoichi. “That seems about right.”
They returned to chanting.
.
“I… didn’t hear much,” said Mr. Yagi. His hand moved in an aborted gesture towards Izuku, then came up to rub the back of his neck.
“You didn’t?” asked Izuku, not sure if that should relieve him or not.
“No,” said Mr. Yagi. “Only…”
.
“Bakugo!” shouted the ghosts. “Bakugo! Bakugo!”
“Ew,” said Yoichi, “I hate saying his name.”
“Hush,” said Nana. “Keep chanting.”
.
“You and Bakugo… He’s the one you saved, the day we met–”
.
The vestiges cheered.
“Now, the next one!” cried Yoichi.
“Bullying! Bullying! Bullying!”
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“You saved him,” said Izuku, quickly.
Mr. Yagi waved this off. “Physically, perhaps, but it was your actions that spurred me forward. But I know Bakugo also was the one to chase you in the cafeteria. Young Midoriya, I may be on entirely the wrong track, but,” he hesitated, visibly, “are you being bullied? By Bakugo?”
Izuku’s whole body quivered. He– That– Well, yes, Bakugo did bully him. He knew that. But he also knew that Bakugo would be an amazing hero someday. He was so powerful and so smart– Even with all of 1-A, plus Shinsou and Hatsume, working against him, he’d still gotten past the first round. And even if Bakugo had gotten detention that one time– Nothing had ever happened before. It was a fluke. It had to be.
His mouth fell open. If he didn’t say something, he would throw up over the wonderful bento Mr. Yagi had made for him.
(Even if it tasted like asphalt, it would still be wonderful. All Might had made it.)
That couldn’t happen.
He had to stay something.
“I think Endeavor is trying to force Todoroki into a quirk marriage!”
Blood sprayed from Mr. Yagi’s mouth in a fountain over a foot long, splattering the near-white floor of the hallway, the collar and front of his loose-fitting suit, and the bento he still held. “What?”
.
“Wow, smooth,” said En.
“Hey, it worked.”
.
Shouta heard the door to the announcer’s booth opening and, unhappily, opened his eyes to stare at the underside of the announcers’ console. That hadn’t seemed nearly long enough. Maybe Shuzenji was right about not being recovered enough to go on patrol.
“There we go,” said Yagi, “sit down here, young Midoriya.”
“O-oh, that’s your chair, I couldn’t!”
Why was Midoriya in here? There wasn’t any rule about it, but Shouta thought that Yagi had meant to eat with Midoriya somewhere else. Otherwise, he very much would have minded.
He wriggled out from under the console, mindful of his injuries.
“Look, there’s a stool here–”
“I’ll take it–”
“No, no, I’ll take the stool, you ought to–”
“I can’t–”
“Midoriya,” croaked Shouta. “Just take the chair.”
Midoriya collapsed like his legs had been cut off, and the overlarge announcer’s chair sort of… Enveloped him. The bright yellow wrapper of the bento box gave the scene a hint of the absurd. Otherwise, he looked… like he had right before the USJ trip, actually.
“Do I need to call Nezu and get him to cancel the Festival?”
“Huh? What?” asked Midoriya. “Why would you do that?”
“Are you not here because your quirk is acting up?”
“I… No, I don’t… think so.”
Shouta flared his quirk. Midoriya’s overall state and demeanor didn’t change.
.
“Oh, crap,” said Yoichi. “We fumbled that one.”
“Does it matter?” asked Banjo, “this is all his normal, anxiety, right?” He elbowed Hikage.
Hikage’s eyes narrowed. “I’m… not sure.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
.
Okay.
Slowly, Shouta’s heart rate dropped. He hadn’t even realized he was having that kind of reaction. How annoying. He’d have to see a therapist about that, most likely.
“Then why are you two here?” he asked, just a little irritable.
Yagi looked back and forth between Shouta and Midoriya, apparently more than a little nervous himself. Finally, he folded himself down onto the stool.
“First,” said Yagi, “I must apologize to you, young Midoriya. I did not hear much of your conversation with Todoroki at all, only the last few things you said about beating one another.”
Midoriya gave Yagi a look of betrayal that would have been funny in– Well, it was funny now, honestly. It’s just that it would have been funnier if Midoriya didn’t already have trust issues.
“I don’t know what came over me, to mislead you like that. I should have corrected the misunderstanding at once, or spoken more clearly. It’s only that I had just come from that strange conversation with Endeavor, and when you mentioned Todoroki… Then, for some reason, young Bakugo crossed my mind… In many ways, he’s similar to Endeavor.”
“Not you, too,” said Midoriya.
“Me too, what?” asked Yagi.
Midoriya shook his head. “It’s not your fault. You told me you didn’t hear much, and I– It’s just– I assumed, when you said Kacchan’s name that you’d heard from earlier and– and–” He stuttered to a halt, blushing to the roots of his hair.
He really did look like a strawberry like that.
“Yagi’s logical ruses aside,” said Shouta, “I would appreciate an answer.”
Yagi nodded. “Young Izuku, can you please tell young Aizawa what you told me?”
Midoriya played with the tie on the bento box, meeting neither his eyes nor Yagi’s. “I think Endeavor is trying to force Todoroki into a quirk marriage.”
Shouta wasn’t a slow person, even right after waking up. Grogginess was irrational - and, more importantly, a liability on the job. Besides, he’d been up for long enough that it shouldn’t matter. Still, it took him five irrational seconds to process what Midoriya had said.
Five seconds where Izuku’s pale, clammy skin began to flush.
“I believe that you think that, and that you wouldn’t think that without reason,” said Shouta, carefully, “but can you tell me those reasons?”
Midoriya took a deep breath.
.
“Then, combined with what Endeavor said to me,” said Yagi, after Midoriya had finished, “I feel like a rather nasty picture is painted.”
Shouta sighed. “Midoriya, eat your lunch or you won’t have time to digest before your match.”
Midoriya flinched, then hurriedly started untying his bento.
“Outside,” said Shouta.
Midoriya looked up at him, sharply.
“I’m sure you want to stay,” said Shouta, “I know you want to help. But there are rules about what information we can share about students. Even with other students.”
Midoriya looked down, shoulders slumped. “Oh. Okay.”
“If there’s anything we can do, we will do it,” said Shouta, knowing that this platitude would mean little to Midoriya and that, hero students being hero students, he would have to be carefully watched to make sure he didn’t take things into his own hands.
Midoriya nodded and stood up, shuffling reluctantly towards the door.
“I will come out to join you when we are done,” said Yagi, “but please don’t wait for me to eat. You need your strength for your match! Plus ultra!”
“Plus ultra,” said Midoriya, weakly, before opening the door and walking out.
“What did Endeavor say to you?” asked Shouta.
“I was in this form at the time, so he may not have usually said this to me, but he told me to go tell my ‘master’ that his ‘creation’ would ‘surpass,’ well, me. And anything I - All Might - made.”
Shouta resisted the urge to rub his eyes. It never helped.
“That does sound… Bad. Unfortunately, except for the bit about Mrs. Todoroki pouring boiling water on Todoroki, nothing is actionable.”
“But–” said Yagi.
Aizawa raised his hand. “You know that as well as I do, Yagi. Neither Todoroki nor Endeavor actually said that Endeavor was abusing him in any way. Calling your child your creation is distasteful, but technically correct. And Mrs. Todoroki isn’t on any of Todoroki’s emergency contact forms, so it’s likely that she isn’t involved in Todoroki’s everyday lives. That being said.” He glared Yagi into submission. “We can still investigate. Ask Todoroki about what he said. See if there are any other signs of abuse. We just have to investigate as teachers, not heroes. We can’t burst into Endeavor’s house and start treating him like a villain.”
.
“See, this is why vigilanteism is better,” said Third.
.
Yagi’s mouth closed into a flat line. “I have been a hero for decades, young Aizawa. I know the procedures. I know what it takes to get a search warrant, let alone one for arrest.”
Shouta was not the type to blush. If he was, he’d be as red as Midoriya when his friends called him ‘strawberry.’
“I know young Midoriya’s testimony, being hearsay, wouldn’t be enough to get a warrant even if Endeavor wasn’t the number two hero. I know it’s possible that both Midoriya or I misunderstood. Heavens know that I’ve never been able to understand Endeavor.”
He unfolded himself from the stool and collapsed in the chair, massaging the bridge of his nose. “I was hoping you would have more insight on how to proceed. As teachers, you say?”
Shouta nodded. “Yeah. And most of that’ll have to wait until after the festival. Nezu’s better at that sort of thing than either of us. But… How did you get from talking about Bakugo to Todoroki?”
.
Izuku made his way out to the stands rather shakily. The bento had been delicious, as expected, but he couldn’t help but feel as if he didn’t deserve it. Mr. Yagi had apologized for his misdirection, as minor and unintentional as it was, but Izuku’s misdirection was much more intentional, and he’d gotten away with it completely, as far as he could tell.
.
“Not so much,” said Banjo. Half the ghosts were watching their Eighth stumble through explaining his conversation with their Ninth to Aizawa. “Sorry, kid.”
.
He wasn’t even sure why he’d done it. He knew Kacchan bullied him! He knew it!
He’d just… never admitted it out loud before.
Was that why? Was that really all it was?
No. No, it couldn’t– It wasn’t. It was just… Kacchan was… He was going to be amazing. Someday. An incredible hero. One who could save so many people.
That’s… That’s what everyone said.
Didn’t they?
He hadn’t actually heard anyone say that since he’d come to UA. Except for himself.
.
“Yes,” said Yoichi. “Yes. Realize that he sucks, then mail him a box of spiders.”
“I’d say something, but at least it isn’t as bad as breaking his fingers,” said Nana, exasperated.
“Why spiders, anyway?” asked En.
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“No,” muttered Izuku to himself. “Don’t send him a box of spiders. You already decided that was unheroic. All those poor spiders…” He’d written about things like breaking Kacchan’s fingers and sending him spiders extensively in some of his earlier journals, but while it was certainly doable - there were all sorts of specialty stores on the internet - it ultimately wouldn’t accomplish anything.
Kacchan would know it was him.
.
“Because he blames you for everything,” said Yoichi.
“Hey, is the spider thing another family trait?” asked Banjo. “Because I’m starting to feel like I dodged a massive, spider-shaped bullet when I fought King Bastard.”
.
(All for One sneezed again, and was forced to put aside the reports he’d gotten from the doctor to while the time away until the third event started. On audio, of course.)
(It really was too bad that most human bodies couldn’t support eight limbs, but the doctor was making progress, and All for One was soon to have another classical element of a Demon King’s army: demonic spiders.)
(Even Tomura approved. He said they were in a lot of video games. All for One was looking forward to seeing what he did with them.)
(After he… reprimanded whoever had gotten so much dust into his breathing equipment.)
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“Don’t call him king anything,” said Yoichi, pulling a face. “He’ll be way too smug if he ever finds out.”
“Okay, but the spiders,” pressed Banjo.
“They’re an effective tool,” said Yoichi.
“He’s not wrong,” said Third.
“Wait,” said En. “Wait. Banjo, are you afraid of spiders?”
“... No.”
.
“What about spiders?”
Izuku jumped away from Dark Shadow, heart hammering. He needed to pay more attention to stuff going on around him when he was muttering. Even if he had Danger Sense, that couldn’t protect him from everything.
“Hi,” he breathed. “Sorry, didn’t see you there.”
“Midoriya! Over here!”
Izuku looked up to see Uraraka waving him over. She was sitting with most of the rest of the class. Only Jiro, Todoroki, and Iida were missing. Even Shinsou was there, although he was sitting somewhat to the side and chewing at his lower lip.
“Are you okay?” asked Uraraka as he came closer. “You’re looking a little pale.”
“Yeah, were you able to get lunch, after everything?” asked Ashido. “Todoroki pulling you aside, and all.”
“I’m fine, it was just sort of heavy,” said Izuku, holding up his hands and putting a smile on his face.
“Oh, Todoroki gave you another declaration?” asked Kirishima. “That’s manly! You must’ve really impressed him or something.”
“Or something,” echoed Izuku, weakly.
“Well,” said Uraraka, “come sit down! Jiro and Todoroki will be on any minute!”
Izuku dropped himself on the bench next to Uraraka. His knees were still a little wobbly.
“It’s exciting, isn’t it?” she said, leaning forward and raising a fist. “I know I’m on the other side of the bracket, but I could still wind up fighting one of these guys!”
“I’m hoping it’ll be Jiro,” said Sero, “since she’s the one who’s been hanging out with us at all.”
“Hearing a ‘but’ there, dude?” said Kirishima.
“Because Todoroki is most likely to win, kero. I doubt he’s gotten weaker since the battle trials.”
“But his quirk did lose them twice,” said Ashido.
“And you shouldn’t judge someone just by their quirk, you know?” said Monoma. “I’m the one who lost against Midoriya, not Todoroki. Although, today, I will certainly prove superior to both of you.”
“Plus, he didn’t actually lose against me and Tokoyami, kero.”
“And me!” said Dark Shadow.
“A mark of eternal shadow on my soul,” said Tokoyami. “A shame I will rectify today.”
“He gets more dramatic when he’s nervous,” said Dark Shadow.
“I dunno, guys, I think you’re all counting Jiro out way too fast,” said Kaminari. “She can be brutal.”
“What do you think, Midoriya?”
Izuku blinked. Listening to his classmates analyze the matchup had been soothing, and he was taken off guard being addressed directly.
“Oh! Um. I think that Todoroki will win, ultimately, but… even if he gets the first strike and immobilizes her with his ice, it won’t be… immediate?”
“What do you mean? If you can’t move, you’ve lost, right?” asked Kirishima.
“Well, that’s only if you can’t move,” said Izuku.
.
Shouto paced back and forth in the ready room. He couldn’t calm down. Ever since talking to Midoriya…
What if Midoriya was right?
What if Shouto succeeded, what if he became a hero without fire, and instead of admitting defeat, his father did… that?
He could do it. Shouto had no doubt. Once upon a time, before the Dawn of Quirks, the lowest age for marriage in Japan was eighteen. But the same laws that allowed teenagers to act as heroes and law enforcement officers had lowered the age of marriage.
Even if it hadn’t, Shouto knew very well what kinds of pressure Endeavor could bring to bear against his children. Shouto might be isolated from his siblings, but he knew that Natsuo’s major wasn’t his first choice, and that the school Fuyumi worked at had been the third one she’d tried to apply to, and the only one that was high enough quality to satisfy Endeavor.
Speaking of Fuyumi, father always only talked about Shouto’s superiority to his brothers, did that mean anything? And Fuyumi was old enough now to get married normally. Had she been forced into any omiais?
He’d have to do it quietly. But it would be possible. Endeavor had kept Touya’s death and Rei’s commitment quiet, too.
What if–
The door banged open.
“Shouto.”
Shouto, surprised, met his father’s gaze for a split second before looking away.
“Your behavior in this competition has been truly disgraceful.”
As if the bastard knew anything about disgrace. Shouto kept his head down.
“If you had used your left side, you would have easily swept away your competition. No one would have even come close to you in that ridiculous scavenger hunt. You would have easily pulled your whole team to victory in the race if you could have propelled yourself instead of merely sliding, winning a complete victory without having to rely on a Gen Ed student.”
Endeavor stepped all the way into the room, his flames making the shadows dance strangely.
“It is time for you to stop this meaningless resistance. You are no longer a child. See to your duty, to your destiny. Surpass All Might! Look at me when I’m talking to you!”
With thoughts of quirk marriages still running through his mind, Shouto did.
“Do you understand yet?” snarled Endeavor. “You are my great masterpiece! Act like it!”
“I’m not your anything,” Shouto snarled back. “I’ll earn my victories using only Mom’s power.”
Endeavor scoffed. “Even if that works for you now, in high school, you’ll reach your limit, eventually, and–”
The buzzer in the room that signaled the time for competitors to go out to the stage. Shouto tore his gaze away from his father and shouldered past him, uncaring of the singes he picked up on his PE uniform. It’d get worse damage before the end of the competition, especially if he had to fight that boy from 1-B who was always chasing after Midoriya.
But before he looked forward at that… there was this match.
.
“I understand your reasoning,” said Yaoyorozu, “but the force to break ice–”
“And that brings us to the end of our intermission and recreational games. Now, what you’ve all been waiting for! The third round!”
Izuku looked up at the announcer’s booth. He wondered again what Mr. Yagi and Mr. Aizawa had talked about, after he’d left. If they knew enough, together, to help Todoroki. If Mr. Yagi had noticed how Izuku had distracted him from any discussion of Kacchan.
“Our qualifying competitors are about to battle one another in an intense single-elimination tournament! Who will win? Who will lose? Who will exemplify the Plus Ultra spirit of UA? Those are the questions! The answers depend on the students and their spirit! And, of course, the rules! Midnight will explain!”
“Thanks, All Might!” said Midnight. There was a cheer from the crowd. “Today, our wonderful first-years will be fighting one another in a series of one-on-one battles on a simple stage!” She gestured behind herself at the raised platform and the marked off rectangle on it. “The rules are simple. Victory is achieved when your opponent is unable to move, your opponent says ‘I give up,’ or by ‘ringing out’ your opponent! We have Recovery Girl on standby, so wounding is allowed– But no murder or maiming! Remember, you’re hero students, after all. The wonderful Cementoss is here to stop anything like that, and to keep the action from spilling over into the audience.” She waved at Cementoss, who looked very grim in his thronelike chair. “Which leaves just one more question– Are– You– READY?!”
The crowd cheered and Midnight motioned for Jiro and Todoroki to come forward and step into the ring and position themselves on the marked spots. Mr. Yagi and Mr. Aizawa gave them both an abbreviated introduction, consisting of their class and hero names. Jiro looked nervous. Todoroki looked… furious. Had Izuku’s conversation with him affected him that much?
“BATTLE START!”
Jiro charged forward immediately, ear-jacks oriented forward, ready to strike. Todoroki… shifted.
The appearance of the glacier was as abrupt as it was inevitable. It covered half the field, starting just a few paces in front of Jiro and ending well outside of the limits of the rectangular ring.
“Woah!” said Kaminari. “That’s– That’s way overkill, isn’t it?”
“Yeah…” said Izuku. That… That couldn’t be healthy for Todoroki, either. Quirks had physical limits, and Todoroki was… shivering…?
Izuku had mostly been focused on the quirk marriage part of his conversation with Todoroki, because that was the most alarming part. But what else had he said?
I’ll win without using that bastard’s quirk…
That couldn’t be good.
On the stage, Jiro slammed her ear-jacks into the ice coating her shoulders. Without the amps attached to her costume, the sound of her heartbeat couldn’t be heard over the distance and the crowd, but the ice holding her arms immobile shattered, and she started tearing at the rest of the ice covering her body.
Todoroki threw another, smaller layer of ice at her. Jiro tried to break it again, but apparently, either the ice was stronger this time, or the cold had sapped too much of her strength. She said something to a shivering Midnight, and the hero raised a flag signalling Todoroki’s victory.
“Another point to your analysis, then, Midoriya,” said Yaoyorozu, sounding just the slightest bit miffed.
“Oh, no, I think you had more right than I did,” protested Izuku. “I thought she’d be able to get all the way out, at least once.”
“Even so,” said Yaoyorozu. She sighed. “Who do you think will win the next match?”
“Between Iida and Hatsume?” asked Izuku, watching Cementoss clearing off the remainder of the ice after Jiro was freed. “Uhm. Iida. I don’t think Hatsume is really interested in winning. Or fighting… that.”
“Yeah,” agreed Uraraka, “she’s really more concerned with advertising. When she left after the race, she said something about trying to find Iida before the match, for an ‘advertising deal,’ but I don’t know if she found him.”
“She probably did,” said Monoma. “The arena isn’t that big, and her quirk is good for that sort of thing. I tested it.”
“Sure, but Iida wasn’t eating on-campus, kero.”
“That’s right,” said Shouji through one of his hands. “Ingenium picked him up. Something about wanting to show him a special cafe, known only to UA students?”
“Perhaps,” said Tokoyami, “he will share his dark secret with us upon his return.”
“That sounds like a great idea!” said Hagakure. “We can all hang out there together! We’re all UA students, too, after all!”
“For our next match, we have Brigid, the Support Course member whose inventions rocketed her team to first in the second round, and Celerity, whose speed carried his team to a respectable third place finish! Brigid and Celerity, please come take your places on the stage!”
Izuku frowned and leaned forward, trying to see into the tunnels that led up into the arena. There was Hatsume, decked out in her equipment, but he didn’t see Iida.
He was getting a bad feeling about this.
.
“So am I,” said Nana. “Hikage… Didn't you say your quirk would go off if someone close to Ninth was targeted, too?”
“Yes,” said Hikage.
“Then why-?” started Banjo.
“It did. That reaction was too strong to just be caused by Bakugo.”
“But that means…” said En.
“That whatever happened, it's already over.”
.
“Maybe he lost track of time with his brother?” suggested Uraraka.
“No offense to my brother, or to Ingenium,” said Ojiro, “but this is the UA Sports Festival. There’s no way.”
“Celerity, please come to the stage.” There was a tapping sound, as if Mr. Yagi was trying to test his microphone. “Hero Student Celerity, please come to your stage for your match.”
“Celerity,” said Mr. Aizawa, sharply. “Come to the stage within the next five minutes or forfeit your match.”
The next five minutes were some of the most excruciating Izuku had ever experienced, and that included the time Kacchan and the others at Aldera had– well, it wasn’t relevant. As painful as the minutes were, they passed.
Iida never arrived.