Chapter 30: Burning Pride and Determined Fists Part 5
Ochaco didn't much fancy her chances of winning, as much as she might have wanted to. She hadn't been able to say it to Izuku back in the stands, but she wanted to win for his sake, as well as for her own. She had seen how Todoroki treated her friend, how he looked down on him. Someone who looked at Izuku like that, they didn't deserve to face him in the finals. He deserved to fight someone who knew how incredible he was, how smart and brave and strong and kind he could be.
None of that mattered right now though. Now, she had to concentrate on the immediate threat, which was Todoroki. She'd gotten a decent read on her opponent in the few moments she had seen him fight. He had strong attacks, but he seemed to have a limit to them, and he lost control pretty easily if he was upset. Plus, he had to be touching the ground for his ice to work, at least she thought so, which meant when and if she could get him in the air, the jerk would be completely helpless.
Really, it would come down to getting in close, something he wasn't likely to allow her to do. If he opened with a glacier as she suspected, Ochaco would have to be both very quick and very lucky to avoid getting trapped in it, even if she floated herself. The last one had topped the stadium for goodness's sake, and if she wanted him off balance enough to slip inside his range, she would have to make him even angrier than he had been before.
Finding a moment of levity in picturing the admittedly handsome boy's face scrunched up in a mix of confusion and anger as she tossed him over the top of one of his own glaciers, Uraraka couldn't help but giggle a bit. It was more nervous sounding to her own ears than she would have liked, but it did help loosen the tightness in her chest.
She found herself laughing further at the idea of the boy instantly building himself an igloo to prevent her from getting in close, and positively cackled when she pictured him lighting a small fire inside the icy structure for warmth, with the curly smoke rising from its frozen chimney. It was these kinds of moments that she was most grateful to her parents for. For all their bad fortune over the years, between losing contracts or having companies renege on payments, her parents had always managed to fill their home with laughter.
It came easy to Ochaco, after so many years of practice. Almost as easy as tears seemingly came to Deku, who for all his chipper attitude also seemed to carry a great, deep sadness with him as well. She found herself wondering some days if he had always had that frailty to his cheer, or if it had been beaten into him by life over the years. As the semester had gone on, over only two months, she had seen that mask practically disappear entirely, and she wasn't about to allow someone like Todoroki to force it back onto him.
Unlike many others who wouldn't have noticed the face he sometimes wore when the days were just a bit too hard at the start of the year, Ochaco could spot the truth all too clearly. Her friend was selfless, something she had known since she first met the boy who had risked everything at the entrance exam to save what might as well have been a complete stranger to him. He had put both his chance of passing and even potentially his life on the line to help someone in need, and that, more than anything else, was what had made her try to give up her points for him.
That was another aspect of Deku that so far, only Aizawa had seemed to pick up on. He valued everyone over himself, to the point that he threw himself against a monster made to kill All Might himself just for the sake of the other students. It was both inspiring, and horrifying, and was also part of the drive behind one of her reasons to become a hero. To save those who would give everything to save others, but who couldn't save themselves.
For Deku's sake then, she couldn't, she wouldn't lose to Todoroki. Because Deku, selfless, forgiving Deku would be hurt in a match against him, win or lose. And honestly, he would probably win against the frosty jerk. He'd beaten him once in class already, and with his latest advancements to his armor, he could probably do so again. Even as unlikely as it was, Deku losing the match to Todoroki wouldn't have been the problem.
The problem lay in how Todoroki would conduct their fight, how Deku would be looked at by the other boy. He would be treated with utter disdain, total disregard on the national stage by the son of the number two hero, and people would see that as an endorsement to do the same to him for an accident of birth that ultimately mattered very little to someone like him. No one, but especially not Deku, deserved that. So more than anything, she had to beat Todoroki, so that Deku didn't have to, even if she was sure he could.
"Uraraka!" Shouted the object of her thoughts, pushing his way into the prep room through the door in a flustered tangle of limbs and embarrassed good nature.
"Deku-kun, what are you doing here?"
"I need to ask you something, and if I'm right I think it might help you beat Todoroki." She frowned a bit at that. She had already declined his aid once before. Even if she was outmatched, she thought she had been clear about her reasoning. Seeing her discomfort, Deku quickly waved his hands wildly and sputtered an apology.
"I, I know you said you don't want any help, b-but I don't think it's really help so much if you f-figured out the answer to my q-question on your own. I mean, I know you're really strong, and you d-d-don't need help, especially my help, I mean, I don't even have a quirk, but I study them a lot, you know that, oh man I'm screwing this up-"
"Deku," she interrupted, irritation giving way to fondness at the sight of one of his rambles. Of course he wasn't disregarding her wishes, of course he wouldn't try to give her help when she asked him not to. Of course he was just trying to help her to help herself, like she wanted to be able to do for others too. "I'm not mad, Deku-kun. Go ahead and ask your question, okay?" She smiled, hoping it would calm his nerves. She didn't need both of them to be nervous wrecks going forward after all.
"Oh, okay. So, I was wondering, do you know if your quirk is actually negating, like, nullifying gravity? Have you ever tried looking at it from another angle?" She sat waiting in silence, wondering what the rest of his question would be. When he said nothing more after a few moments of awkward but hopeful staring she realized that that really was all he was going to give her.
Well, that was certainly unexpected. Not that she'd doubted Izuku's intentions, but that was pretty vague. It seemed like he was implying her quirk might have had more than one component to it, or maybe, that what her quirk actually did wasn't necessarily what she thought it did. Or maybe the angle comment had significance, like it mattered how she touched an object, or perhaps that the idea of an object was somehow limiting her application.
If she were to touch a person, their whole body would become weightless, but why wasn't her quirk limited to just the part of the body she touched? And why did it affect their insides, muscles, blood, bone and all that, and not just the skin? Was it contact based, like anything touching what she touched would be affected? But in that case, why weren't a person's clothes automatically floated as well?
"Uhm, Deku-kun?" She began, her resolve starting to crumble in the face of all these questions. It was her own quirk after all, so why hadn't she thought of these things before? Why had she just accepted what the quirk counselor had told her it was and never bothered to see if they could have been wrong? "Do you think you could maybe be a bit more specific with what you're asking?"
To her surprise a regretful look flashed across Deku's face before he shook his head.
"I'm sorry Uraraka, but I don't think it would be fair to you to get any more specific than that. You said you wanted to take the opportunities to learn and grow and question and fail, and it wouldn't be right for me to disrespect your efforts by denying you that. It was impolite of me to offer in the first place with my notes earlier, and I'm truly sorry about that." He sunk into a little bow at that before popping back up with a gleam in his eyes and a grin to his lips that made her want to smile with him. "Besides, you're really smart, and intuitive, and determined, so I know you'll figure out the answers eventually, even if it's not today."
As Deku finished responding, the light above the door buzzed green, signalling that it was time for her to make her way to the tunnel. As she got up from her seat Deku ran up and grabbed both her hands, pinkies held just a little bit out, and squeezed them reassuringly.
"No matter what Uraraka, you're gonna do great. I'm really proud of you, and I'm really lucky that you're my friend. So don't doubt yourself, okay?" Another blinding smile along with a redness to his cheeks caused her own blush to rise and something to flutter in her chest before she nodded and squeezed back.
"Thanks, Deku-kun. Be sure to cheer the loudest for me when I win, okay?" Without waiting for his response she smiled as wide as she could even if she didn't really believe in it and took off out the door and down the tunnel leading up to the arena. A moment later she found herself in the shadowed entrance, waiting for her cue, still mulling over the question Deku had asked her.
Staring down at her hands she looked closely at the soft little pads that crowned each fingertip, when suddenly realization struck. With how much she loved space, it really should have hit sooner. But now, well, it probably wasn't the best time to test things like this, but maybe it could help. Maybe if it turned out to be true, it would be enough to beat Todoroki.
"Alright folks, I know you're excited, cause it's the last match of the second round! Now arriving from the South gate and looking absolutely fired up, it's your gravity grappling girl! She staged a major upset in her last fight with some creative maneuvering, which she's been showcasing throughout today's events! Give it up for Ochaco Uraraka!"
Ochaco swallowed as she stepped through the light and up into the ring. From her spot, Midnight gave her a sympathetic glance, and it occurred to Ochaco that the pro herself had likely felt the chilling effects of Todoroki's massive attack against Tokage in his last bout.
"And now, the cold caster who captured his last competitor with a single cryonic attack. He's got the spotlight now, but will he keep it? Let's find it out, because here's Shotooo Todorki!"
The young man in question emerged from the darkness of the tunnel looking as disinterested as ever, so long as one was only looking at his face. Ochaco looked past that, finding barely contained anger, akin to what she had seen in him in his match against the girl from 1B. He wasn't necessarily shaking with rage, not like Bakugo would have been if he were so visibly upset, but everything from the way he stood to the timing of his steps screamed out resemblances to the many furious and entirely unreasonable city and company officials who had come to her father's firm over the years. It didn't bode well for her, that was for sure.
"Ok you two, you've heard the rules enough times to know where you stand and how things go! Just try and keep your attacks out of the stands, okay?" Not waiting for their response, not like she would get one from Todoroki thought Ochaco dryly, their teacher brought her whip down with the sharpest snap yet. As the crack resounded, she shouted out the words Ochaco was dreading. "And, begin!"
Her first course of action was to float herself, fingers grasping her own elbows as she propelled herself upwards with a kick, noting that she had begun to rise from the ground even before she had jumped. That confirmed one of her suspicions which Deku had raised around her quirk, and what happened next also confirmed something she had observed from Todoroki. She had seen how Todoroki required contact with a surface to spread and launch his ice, so if she wasn't touching the ground, then it was likely the ice wouldn't be able to form a cage around her as it had Tokage. Her quick thinking was vindicated a moment later as, even as the ground began to roil and turn beneath his feet as the arena shifted, a massive glacier raced out towards her, but failed to encase her in its grasp.
The jagged mass rocketed skywards, and Ochaco found herself being pushed up with it as it rose, though the ice itself didn't climb her legs from where it pressed against the bottom of her shoes. That explained why Tokage hadn't been carried up the glacier as it grew, and instead had been trapped at the bottom. It had grown around her, not caught her in itself and then grown.
"Amazing! Ochaco Uraraka manages to dodge an attack that's caught pretty much everyone it's been used against, both here today and in training!"
"Yes, but it's only the first hurdle Todoroki is going to throw at her. If she wants to win, she's going to have to do more than dodge."
Looking down from her slightly unsteady vantage point, Ochaco caught sight of the arena proper which had, coincidentally, transitioned into the ice type arena, making it look as if Todoroki's attack had a much wider area of effect than it actually had. Now starting to feel the effects of floating herself, Ochaco brought her hands together and felt her quirk release its hold over her body as she began to drop down onto the icy surface.
Todoroki probably wouldn't expect it, but he was hardly the only one who knew how to maneuver on ice. During the winter months, ice skating with her parents had been a wonderfully fun, and also thankfully frugal, activity. As Ochaco slid down the sleek surface she bent low and brought her hands down to the glacier, feeling out with her quirk as she moved down the whole thing. She hadn't thought of trying something like this before, but it made sense to consider now that she could really visualize the way her quirk worked.
The reason that activating her quirk on a person affected the whole person instead of just the part she touched, but didn't reach to their clothes, was because of how she perceived that person as a single object, and their clothes as a separate one. But really, a person was filled with all kinds of spaces, inside and even on the atomic level. So it had to be that her quirk had some connection to her own perception! And that meant that if she could perceive the glacier she was sliding down differently, feel the seams and spears that made up its constituent parts as something separate from each other…
There! Only ten meters from the arena floor now, she could see it in her sense of the gravity around the object! The shape, the separateness of the pillar nearest her left hand. It was distinct, well within her weight limit, and begging to be lifted free.
"It's not just gravity," she cheered, the ground rapidly approaching and Todoroki, frost clearly puffing up from his mouth, glaring at her defiantly. "My quirk's not just affecting gravity!"
"Quite the surprise from Ochaco Uraraka as the little lady seemingly discovers something new about her quirk mid-match! Let's see what she means by all this, folks!"
Grinning, she felt the glow that emanated from her fingertips without needing to see it, felt the iceberg groan as a portion of itself was ripped free and began to ascend, weightless, and easy to grasp from where she was, just like one of the building pillars she had used many times during training. Trailing in its wake as she brought the pillar up, more and more fragments of ice broke off as she began to swing it around, wrapped up in the momentum of the larger object, caught in its gravity maybe? She didn't know and didn't care. After all, comets always had tails.
"Take this!" she screamed, launching the ice which was easily three times her height and twice as large around at her opponent like a steaming javelin, the cloud of sharp debris travelling along with it. Face screwed up in determination, Ochaco felt her feet hit the ground just as the projectile would have reached Todoroki, only to see a wall of solid, shiny blue ice spring up before him to intercept it. Frustrated, Ochaco felt herself growl as she prepared to float herself again, wary of the boy's imminent counterattack.
In the stands, Izuku was torn between excitement and a mild exasperation.
"Kacchan, she did it! Her quirk, it doesn't negate an object's gravity! It's like I thought, Kacchan, it applies a repulsive force to the object that she perceives ! It's why she was able to cancel my momentum during the entrance exam and the chariot race, because even if I had been weightless, my armor would have kept moving! She figured it out, she figured it out!"
"Calm down nerd, we all knew Cheeks was smart. Just because she's got a fancy new trick with her quirk doesn't mean she's won yet." Izuku frowned at that and sat back down, fingers itching to continue writing down his observations of the fight in his notebook.
"I just wish she'd stop shouting things at him when she's fighting."
"Hmph, you're one to talk after that shit you pulled against Eyebags," griped Bakugo, jostling his elbow lightly. Izuku sent him a hurt look back before barely hiding a giggle.
"At least I had a reason to talk to him, Mr. 'Howitzer Impact.' Why'd you give it a name that's just gonna let people know what's coming?"
"Cause it's cool as fuck Deku, that's why! Now stop bothering me and watch your girlfriend beat up Daddy Issues. If we're lucky she'll kick him in the balls too and we won't ever have to worry about him having kids."
"Kacchan! I, you, no, it's not, she's not, you-" Izuku spluttered, trying and failing to object to everything his friend had just said all in one breath. Beside him, Bakugo only laughed madly while Mei ignored the pair, showing a doodle to Ingenium in her own notebook as Iida chopped the air and encouraged them to return their attention to Uraraka's match. Yaoyorozu giggled into her hand fondly, glad to have made friends with such eccentric individuals.
"Not terrible, Uraraka," said her opponent, still looking at her with no real expression on his face. His body language seemed to say that his anger was being tempered somewhat as he fought to stay in control of himself, clearly not at all comfortable in the chilled environment the current arena presented, compounding the side effects of his own quirk. Of course, like Deku had said, if he weren't half assing things, that wouldn't have been an issue, so she couldn't feel too bad for him. "But I'm afraid I'm done indulging you and the rest of your little group. I have a duty to fulfill, and I don't have time to be playing around with you anymore."
"Big words from someone who's half frozen Todoroki," she jeered back. If she could emotionally unbalance him enough, he might overuse his quirk to the point that she would have an opening to attack. "You know, Deku-kun was right! You really aren't taking things seriously at all, and that's not going to work forever! What are you going to do when your ice isn't enough to save everyone? What are you going to do when someone dies because you didn't use your fire?"
"Don't bother, Uraraka," was his only reply before he attacked.
A wall of ice, smaller than the others but still easily five meters high rocketed up from the ground and approached her at speed. She jumped to the side, pushing her quirk into herself and hoping that the other aspect of it she might have figured out would work. When she cleared the ice wall as it sailed past with room to spare, she realized what Deku had meant when he had asked her to look at it from a different angle. Sure, she could manipulate gravity, and as she had just discovered, that manipulation was tied to how she saw the object in question rather than what the object actually was. But this, this was bigger, more significant.
She could negate gravity, and for the most part, that was what she did. But every time she floated something to a certain height and stopped it from ascending higher, it hadn't been the object's gravity she had been affecting, at least not completely. It had been the object's inertia that she had changed, removing it at first before increasing it subconsciously once it got to where she wanted it to float in place until it came to a stop.
Now that she was aware of what she was doing, and had just confirmed the facts of her suspicions with her own empowered leap, her power was much more versatile than she had ever thought before. She could change the movement of something her quirk affected in that way too, increasing or decreasing its momentum as well as its mass. Like measuring any spatial body, it wasn't just mass that the unassuming little pads on her fingers could manipulate, it was velocity too.
Another ice wall rocketed up at her, wider and taller this time. Clearly, Todoroki was hoping he could push her out of bounds by making his 'net' too big for her to clear effectively. An hour ago, it might have worked. Ten minutes ago, it might have worked, but now, Ochaco had a new trick to try. Bracing her legs, she stuck out both hands in front of her as she leaned forward, only moving back a little before the five contact points on each hand shined with their familiar rosy glow, and she felt it. Almost like breathing, something she had learned in health class was autonomic for the most part, there was a somatic component to her interactions with inertia as well, and if she focused on it, then it was in her control.
She slid backwards for a full four meters before she came to a stop, the ice wall totally motionless beneath her hands.
"Whoah, did Uraraka just manifest a second quirk? Super Strength maybe? What in the world is going on in this match! Eraser, what are you feeding these kids?"
"When pushed, when everything is on the line, it's when students are most creative. It's why UA allows for the use of logical ruses in our teaching curriculum, to draw out students' potential. Uraraka hasn't manifested a second quirk so much as she's discovered a new aspect of her own quirk. At least, as her teacher, that's my assessment."
Ochaco smiled despite the increasing strain she was feeling in her stomach. Aizawa had seen what she had done, which meant that Deku and her parents had too! They were seeing that she was getting better, becoming stronger. She was going to become a hero, and the path to that goal lay through Todoroki's ice.
Pouring her quirk into the wall before her with everything she had, she felt its natural inertia fight against the sudden change in velocity before it was overcome. In the blink of an eye, the wall was gliding back the way it had come, even faster than before, and it was only thanks to Todoroki raising a last minute pillar to shatter it on impact that he wasn't caught up by his own returning ice. Noting the shock on his face as well as half the ice receding into the ground in a cloud of smoke as the arena changed, Ochaco took her chance to try and catch him flat footed, and shouted out to him.
"What now, Todoroki? I can take whatever you can throw at me, and give it back! You think you're done playing around with me, huh? Well guess what, I'm strong, Bakugo's strong, everyone here is, and that includes Deku! I made a promise to meet him in the finals, and that means that you're going to lose!"
Ochaco slammed her hands down, feeling through the material of the now normal tile of the arena, seeing how the arena was both a whole object, and so many different parts together, all emitting their own gravity, their own distortions on the world around them. She poured her quirk into the tiles, watching as the pink glow spread along the ground towards Todoroki, stone and his own leftover ice being lifted free and sent speeding off as the arena tore itself apart.
He countered, raising the smoothest wall of ice she had yet seen him produce, intercepting the roaring path of nullified gravity and inverted momentum and forcing it into the sheer, seamless wall. It rose, meter by meter, frost pouring off its surface as it climbed higher and higher, completely bisecting the arena as the ice grew in an unstoppable rush upwards. Sensing what was about to happen, Ochaco tried to bring her hands together, but it was too late. The glow of her quirk had captured the object, which was now easily five tons of solid, unbroken ice, and though she might have had time to think about it differently under normal circumstances, she had already seen it as a single, solid mass. The feedback was unbearable.
"No," she muttered weakly, trying and failing to fight the effects of her quirk's backlash. "Not yet, no." Her arms wouldn't move, couldn't move as the nausea she normally felt bloomed into an all consuming pain and sickness that spread throughout her entire body. Tears blossomed in Ochaco's eyes as she protested weakly. "I promised, I promised that Deku wouldn't have to. No!" Her legs wouldn't move now either, and she couldn't stop herself as she fell forward, retching a bit before she vomited fully, barely rolling onto her side as she remembered what to do for when someone vomiting lost consciousness. A moment later, she screamed, and everything was pain. She writhed there, feeling as sick as she ever had in her enitre life and ten times worse for a full fifteens seconds before Midnight interjected.
"Ochaco Uraraka is unable to continue the match. Shoto Todoroki wins by technical knockout, and will advance to the next round."
A single blessed moment later, the pain lessened as someone, probably the boy himself, melted Todoroki's ice and her quirk let go. Ochaco couldn't concentrate too well as a pair of feet came into her vision, likely Midnight. The careful, quiet monotone that the next words she heard were delivered in proved that it wasn't her teacher who had come over, even as she felt a pair of UA medical bots slide a stretcher under her limp body.
"You probably could have pulled the win, if you hadn't been so distracted by some fantasy of helping him. I'd consider what having your power means, and who you need to use it for, if I were you," Todoroki said. Even as hurt as she was, Ochaco couldn't help but detect something more behind his words. Anger, yes, always a cold, cool, thing, but hurt too. Deep, profound, and old, and behind that too, something else. Was it...envy? Overwhelmed by everything, Ochaco gave into the creeping darkness and passed out as the bots hoisted her up and out of the arena.
"After that incredible showing from Ochaco Uraraka and Shoto Todoroki, we'll be taking a twenty minute break to assess any damage to the arena as we move into the semifinals. If you need to use the bathroom, grab some snacks, or pick up a limited edition Nezu plushie, now's the time folks!"
"Kacchan, we have to go check on her, now," said Izuku, absolute steel in his voice and a set in his shoulders that made Bakugo almost sorry for Shishida, considering that Izuku was likely to absolutely annihilate his competitor in the semifinals. From the way Bakugo was glowering, Izuku figured that he had similar feelings towards Todoroki in that moment. What his friend said next surprised him, however.
"S'not me she needs right now, dickhead. My brand of asshole is good for a rockhead like Shitty Hair, but it ain't gonna work for Cheeks. Go on ahead, nerd. I'll buy her an ice cream later, or something stupid like that." Izuku simply nodded, not happy with how Bakugo had dismissed himself as a comforting presence; he knew personally now how much help the boy could be when emotions were high, surprisingly enough. But now was not the time to get into an argument with an explosive personality which was already on edge, so he instead opted to bolt from his seat and head towards the infirmary.
It didn't take him long to reach his destination, and he distantly took note of the fact that the third years that had been occupying the space when Bakugo had been waiting there were now absent, likely back in the stands and watching their own tournament. Recovery Girl seemed to have been expecting him, and just gave a small nod of her head towards the attached prep room, one of the extras used during multi-person tournaments in the past. Pushing in like an avatar of the goddess Cardea, Izuku stood frozen in the doorway at the sight of a seemingly unharmed Uraraka.
"Guess I lost, huh Deku?" she said, sheepishly rubbing the back of her head. She was sporting a brace over her nose, and though he hadn't been able to see it from the stands, the girl had clearly suffered a significant nosebleed at some point during her fight. "But your questions really helped me think outside the box, you know? Who would have thought that I could do more than just float things with my gravity, right?"
Izuku couldn't speak as he took two hesitant steps forward, staring at her wide eyed. He recognized the look she was wearing, and it was too familiar to him. Her smile, the color in her cheeks, the look in her eyes, it was all the same as what he had worn when he greeted his mother after coming home from some of his worst days.
"Are you...are you okay, Uraraka-chan?" he said simply, drawing up beside her and falling into the chair next to her at the room's solitary table.
"Oh, it's okay Deku-kun, I'm good. The bandage looks nasty, but Recovery Girl is healing me in batches, so I don't end up too sleepy to watch the rest of the tournament. Darn it, I almost got him too, but Todoroki's really something else, huh?"
"Uraraka-chan," began Izuku uncertainly, looking her in the eyes and finding her gaze starting to waver. "C-can I show you something? I think I...just, don't freak out, okay?"
"Uh, sure Deku-kun. Is it something you wrote down about my match? Cause your question was really helpful, you know? I can't believe I was able to figure all that out from just one hint in the right direction!" She looked down, her facade cracking for a moment. "But even with that I still couldn't win."
"Uraraka-chan," he interrupted, pulling aside the neckline of his gym uniform to reveal his naked collarbone. Sitting on his frame, stretched now owing to the growth he had gone through since first receiving it, was a faded yet still angry mark, seared into his flesh. He heard Uraraka gasp as he pulled his collar down a little lower, exposing more of the scars that littered his torso. Funnily enough, not many had been from Bakugo, even if he had been Izuku's most frequent tormentor. No, the boy had always held back, even if only barely in his rage, from permanently marking Izuku. That hadn't always been the case with the others at Aldera.
"I know what a fake smile looks like, Uraraka-chan," he said, feeling the sadness that he himself had for the most part left behind pooling up behind his eyes as he looked at her. "I wore one for a long, long time. But I don't have to use one so much anymore, because I know people like you now, people who I'm not afraid to show the hurt to when I need to. So please, Uraraka-chan, don't wear a smile like that for me."
"Deku-kun," she breathed, still looking at him now not so much with suppressed grief as mounting horror.
"It's behind me now, Uraraka-chan. But I learned that it doesn't help anyone to hide it. You did great, you know? In your match. You said earlier that you didn't want my notes because the whole point of this festival was to show us where we needed to get stronger. And now, you know, you have a power you didn't know you had, and you get to learn to use it, and develop it, and use it to save people! And Todoroki, he didn't change one bit from this, so as far as I'm concerned, that means that you got the real victory out of your match, as hollow as that might sound right now." He reached across and grabbed her hands, noting that her mask had slipped entirely and that his friend was crying thin, choked tears.
"Deku-kun," she said through her sadness, lips trembling. "I, I promised myself that I'd become a hero that saves other heroes, besides just helping my parents. And Todoroki, he's, he's not, he won't treat you well if he gets to the finals. I, I wanted to stand with you, and Bakugo too, and I wanted, I wanted to prove that someone like you, someone who tries harder than everyone else, that a person like that is the real, real hero. I'm sorry Deku-kun, I couldn't, I couldn't keep my promise to stand with you. Even with you helping me, even with this new power you showed me, I'm not, I don't know."
Izuku felt his heart break in his chest at that, even as the pure sentiment behind Uraraka's distress pulled it back together with warm, gentle hands that cared for everyone too, too much. He didn't know what he could say to something like that, if there was anything he could say to someone so selfless that she was hurting because she couldn't spare someone like him from the pain of another's disdain.
"You're so incredible Uraraka-chan," he began, now crying alongside her. "It's okay to be sad that you didn't win this time, but don't start to doubt yourself just because you couldn't beat Todoroki with a power you just found out you had! You're so kind, and so brave, to fight on despite how strong your opponent was. You're probably the kindest person I've ever met beside my mom." He let out a wet laugh and thankfully, she laughed with him, though it was weak and watery.
"Thanks, Deku-kun" she said, hiccuping a little in the middle, and drawing another giggle from them both.
"I'm so glad I know you, Uraraka-chan, because I don't think I'd be able to fight half as hard as I do without knowing there's someone like you behind me, ready to catch me when I fall. You want to save the people who save others, and I don't know if there's anyone with a goal even half as laudable as that. But, someone's got to be able to save you too, y'know?"
"Who saves the hero that saves the heroes?" she laughed, and he nodded.
"Yeah, something like that." They shared another laugh at that, and settled into something approaching a comfortable silence between them, even as it was interrupted by the occasional sniffle or hiccup.
"Izuku Midoriya and Jurota Shishida, please report to your waiting rooms. The first match of the semifinals will begin in ten minutes!"
"Oh," said Izuku weakly, not having noticed just how long he had been talking with Uraraka. A moment later he registered that his hands were still holding onto hers, and he let out a small 'eep' as he jumped up, red faced. "I, uh, I guess I need to-" Uraraka cut him off with a giggle.
"Go on, Deku-kun, I'll be cheering for you!" She made eye contact with him at that, smiling with a genuine light behind it, and Izuku felt himself relax at the sight. Things were going to be alright.
"Thanks, Uraraka-chan," he said, nodding determinedly as he headed for the door. He was halfway out when he stopped as she called out to him.
"You can call me Ochaco, Deku-kun," she said, looking up at him from the table, clutching her pink flip phone in one hand. "I think you should, since I get to call you Deku-kun!" Izuku smiled back at her before nodding once more.
"Thanks, Ochaco. Wish me luck?"
"You don't need luck, Deku-kun. You're amazing, and you need to remember that," she smirked at him. "But if it helps, good luck!"
"Thanks, Ochaco," he said before he stepped through the door completely and closed it behind him, running through the infirmary and into the hallway towards his designated waiting room.
A moment after he had left, Ochaco pulled her phone open as the buzzing that had been intermittently occurring in her pocket began once more. Feeling so much lighter than she had before, lighter even than when she floated herself, she pressed her thumb onto the green button.
"Pa, I'm sorry I missed your call before! A friend came ta talk ta me after the match was over," she said, slipping into the accent she had grown up with. From the other end of the phone a rough, warm voice responded, sounding like hammers and nails and lumber and home.
"Baby girl! Your ma and I saw the whole thing, and we're so dang proud of ya! My buttons practically burst twice during that last match! So close kiddo, and against some rich kid like Endeavor's boy! I bet ya you'll have all sorts a' offers comin' yer way at the end of it!"
"You did great out there honey-bun," chimed in the more distant voice of Ochaco's mother, delicate and tender, and reminding her of warm hugs and soft mochi.
"I, you guys, I, I miss ya both so much," she said, feeling the distance between them all the more keenly than she had even that morning.
"Hey now, ya better not be getting down on yerself kiddo!"
"Darn right!"
"No, Ma, Pa, I ain't getting down. My friend came an' talked ta me, an he really helped me feel better. I think things are gonna be alrigh'."
"That's tha way, my lil' starshine, " came the voice of her father. "Win or lose, ya did great today, and we ain't in no hurry for ya ta go pro, kiddo. Long as it takes, we know our sweet little moonbeam's gonna be the kindest, greatest hero ever someday."
"Pa," Ochaco whimpered, smiling as she cried happy tears at her father's declaration. "I love ya and Ma both so dang much."
"We love ya too, baby girl," answered her mother, clearly having taken the phone from her father at that point. "But what's this I hear about some boy coming ta talk to ya before ya answered your dear old Ma and Pa's call, huh?"
"Ma!" Ochaco squeaked.
"Ah, there you are boy," growled a deep, burning voice from behind him. Izuku slowly turned, still somewhat angry despite how light he had felt after talking to Ochaco, and absolutely not prepared to deal with more Todoroki bullshit right then. "I had hoped to have a word with you," said Endeavor, arms crossed over his chest and flames uncharacteristically extinguished.
"Oh?" said Izuku, failing to hide the edge in his voice. "And what precisely , could the number two hero want with me?"
Chapter 31: Semifinals and Secret Meetings Part 1
"It's not what I want, boy, it's what you're owed," said the hero. He regarded Izuku with hard, almost searing eyes for a moment before he uncrossed his arms and brought them to his sides as he bowed.
"I, w-what," Izuku managed. Between his talk with Ochaco and this completely unexpected action from someone who he was sure would hate him more than even Todoroki, he was so emotionally unbalanced that he may as well have been tipping over the side of the tightrope of stability he always crept along. "You, I...what?"
"On behalf of the House of Todoroki, I apologise for the behavior of my son towards you," said the pro, rising from his bow to glare down at him again. His teeth and fists too were clenched while something not even Ochaco would have been able to read ran across his face. It was oddly unblemished, behind the flames, and Izuku couldn't help but feel it made the man seem vulnerable. Well, that and the fact that the second ranked pro hero had just apologized to him personally, something he'd never even heard of the man doing publicly.
"Shoto has many pressures on him, Midoriya. Expectations and duties far too heavy for someone his age to have to bear and I fear that in my attempts to help him to shoulder those burdens, I have warped his perception of both his role in the world, and the roles of others." Endeavor brought his arms up again and crossed again before looking off to the side and sneering.
"Based on his assessment of you, I had intended to speak to the board demanding your expulsion from the hero course." The flash of anger that coursed through Izuku at that comment saw him pulled firmly back onto the line he walked above the abyss, no longer confused as he balanced his options.
"I'm not going anywhere, Endeavor-san. And from what I've heard, you had more than an accidental hand in making your son into who he is." The man barked something approaching a laugh at that, cold and bitter, and Izuku bristled. What he then said in reply a moment later however firmly tipped Izuku right over the edge of his feelings once more, but in the other direction this time.
"Believe me boy, I know the truth of that. Likewise, the place you're heading isn't out of heroics so much as a spot at the top. I said my prior views were colored by Shoto's assessment. Having seen you today, I will say that it was not accurate in the slightest. Hence, my apology. Cherish that, boy, it's the only one I'm likely to give."
"Uh, right," replied Izuku lamely, so thoroughly unprepared for this particular flavor of Todoroki bullshit that he wasn't even sure he was awake in that moment. The whiplash was becoming a bit much for him at this point in all honesty, and he was worried about whether he'd be able to give his all in his match with Shishida. Endeavor sighed and seemed to deflate somewhat with the motion, looking smaller and hurt in a strange parallel to the way All Might did in his true form. Were all the top pros carrying hidden pain? Probably. Did he particularly want to involve himself in this? Nope.
"I must speak with your friend before his match with my son. Frankly, I hope you have the opportunity to face Shoto in the finals, to force him to demonstrate his true strength in this contest for those watching. Not so much for your benefit as his." He looked past Izuku for a moment, staring at nothing but an empty corridor yet seeming to discern something lurking within the shadows. "It is, however, unfair of me to place that burden with you."
"I, uh, I appreciate that, Endeavor-san," said Izuku, still somewhat in shock over the entire conversation. He happened to glance towards the digital clock hanging on a wall outside the prep room and saw he had less than a minute remaining. "And, I, I accept the apology. But I, I really need to get ready." The man harrumphed but moved aside to allow Izuku into the room.
"Midoriya," called the pro, right before Izuku could close the door behind him. "I have noticed you have some difficulty with restraint and collateral damage. It is an issue I have worked on myself since some trouble outside Tokyo a few years ago. Expect to receive an offer to intern at my agency within the next week. I will help you to control the damage you can bring to bear more fully, if you will accept my lessons."
"Right," said Izuku, closing the door fully and quickly running last minute checks over his armor and energy reserves. He had made it all the way down to the voltage switches in his gauntlets when the reality of what had just happened sunk in, and he was left more sputtering, confused, and annoyed than he had been in some time. Unfortunately he hardly had any time to process things as the light above the door buzzed green, and he was forced to run from the room towards the entry tunnel.
Outside the door Izuku had dashed through, Endeavor grimaced before he turned to face the open hallway, glaring at the corner.
"Come out boy, I know you're there. I said I wished to speak with you as well." There was a short rustling of cloth as the eavesdropper pushed himself off the wall he had been leaning on/
"Alright asshole," sneered Bakugo, stepping into view. "What the fuck was up with that shit and the nerd and what the hell do you want with me?"
It was a deep luster that shone from Izuku's carapace armor, seeming reminiscent of some emerald beetle caught in the mid-afternoon sun. Even without his helmet he cut a figure akin to some lithe but powerful knight, the black-green announcing at once both a connection to the verdant waves of the forest and a glimpse of the beasts that lurked within its darkness.
"Alright folks, it's time for the first match of our semifinals! You know him, you love him, you probably want some more of him, it's the lean, mean, green fighting machine, with extra emphasis on machine! Now entering from the South gate, Izukuuuu Midoriya!"
Izuku tuned out the crowd's still somewhat subdued cheering. They probably thought he had no chance now that he was going up against someone with a truly powerful combat oriented quirk, considering his first two matches had been largely utility fighters. That was fine, really. So long as that 'JA' guy wasn't around to start trouble again, he'd be fine, no matter what happened.
Sure, he wanted to win, but there were other, more important things warring in his mind than the casual bigotry of a stadium full of heroes and his classmates with their families. With all of it being broadcast on pretty much every major station in Japan currently. Okay, yikes, maybe that was pretty bad to think about too.
What really was at the forefront of his mind was the complex mix of emotions he was working through. Izuku wasn't mad per-se, or even distressed, not really. He had rarely felt confusion before in his life, but it had become an increasingly common companion since coming to UA. The logic of the world had always been apparent to him, and the sheer contrast between the logical side of his classes and their practical lessons against the flamboyant pageantry that heroes danced around in had always seemed a necessary evil for the sake of visibility, of reassuring the public and inspiring hope.
But all the bullshit that had been happening since the USJ, and even a bit before? Izuku hated being confused, pretty much more than anything else, and it had happened to him far too often around the Todoroki family. Endeavor apparently wasn't a complete asshole, his son absolutely was, and there was something else going on behind the scenes that the pro was hinting at. He was probably trying to draw him into their family drama in order to fix the mess he had made with his child, which meant he would really have to consider that internship offer carefully. No time for that now, though, his match was about to start, and he owed it to Shishida to give him his full attention.
"And now, you've seen him effortlessly eject his opponents from the arena with a surprising combination of strength and intellect. He's big, he's bad, and boy are we glad - to see this young man in this match today! Though I can't help but think he'd be able to rock some blue hair dye, give it up for Jurota Shishidaaaa!"
"Midoriya," called the boy, stepping up onto the arena across from him and carefully removing his glasses before folding them and placing them in a case that disappeared into one of his pockets. "It is a pleasure to do battle with one known to such an extent for his erudition as yourself. I wish you good fortune!" He stepped across the arena and stuck out a hand, which Izuku moved to shake with a firm but painless grasp. Compared to the beginnings of his last two matches, this interaction was downright pleasant.
"Such passionate sportsmanship from two of my favorite brainiacs! You kids inspire me!" cheered Midnight as she winked devilishly and licked her lips for the cameras. The two boys shared an amused look as they stepped back and offered a more traditional bow before assuming their fighting stances. "Let's see you keep it up as long as you can. Begin!"
The now almost nostalgic crack of Midnight's whip set them both off as the telltale smoke of an arena change began to pour up from beneath their feet.
Shishida shifted quickly, his arms shooting out and down to meet the ground as he arched his back and let the fur he was covered in stand on end as it too lengthened. Overall he grew significantly larger and let out a powerful roar before charging to meet Izuku in the middle with loping, intermittent strides, only pausing to make use of the rising terrain and various machinery of the electrical arena as springboards to propel himself along.
Izuku for his part decided that the best way to really judge his opponent's power was with as much of his own as he could bring to bear safely. Spreading his feet wide in parallel to his shoulders as he dropped his center of gravity low, he brought his elbows back and clenched his fists before feeling through the interface for his boosters in conjunction with the flight modules in his feet and hands.
The metal plating at his shoulders snapped open as the telltale whine of the afterburners rose up in a steadily higher pitch, and the bit of heat he felt radiate onto his neck told him that the pinpoint flames were glowing blue. The more gentle hum of the flight module hummed up through the soles of his feet and the palms of his hands, signalling their readiness. Grinning madly he flexed his armored fingers, watching with no small amount of satisfaction as snapping blue lightning buzzed up from his palms and arced into the contact points that held it in until he purposefully released them.
With a roar to match his opponent that wasn't quite as loud but which somehow seemed all the more ferocious for its intensity, Izuku soared forward to meet the beast boy in the middle of the arena, leaving a trail of sparks behind as he tore through the metal plating and various machinery of the temporary arena.
"Ah, Bakugo and Uraraka, it is good to see you both rejoin us. Midoriya-kun is off to quite the riveting start!" Cheered Glasses from his spot next to Ingenium and Bubblegum. Ponytail was to the inventor girl's left while the hero was to her right across from Glasses, who looked pretty uncomfortable being caught between the crazy chick and a potential client and grateful for their arrival.
"Hey Goggles, you show Ingenium those designs you and the nerd made for your storage crap like on my gauntlets? Bet he'd like to see if it'd work for motor oil or gasoline or whatever it is he drinks." Lighting up about as fast as Deku did when he saw a new quirk, the girl practically climbed over Glasses while gesturing wildly with her notebook in hand, sending a few elbows towards the uptight guy that were none too gentle in the process.
Katsuki snorted at the predicament before turning to look towards Cheeks. The girl's eyes were still red rimmed, but she seemed to be keeping her sniffles under control and maybe there was a hint of amusement at the scene as well. After his talk with Dumpster Fire he had been making his way back to the stands in an even fouler mood than before when he had found her on the bench outside Recovery Girl's infirmary. For how tough she was, and how absolutely fucking badass her fight with Daddy Issues had gone, Katsuki could sympathize.
Losing, and he hated to admit to himself that it ever happened to him but it did, fucking sucked more ass than probably even the goddamn sex offender who was refereeing the whole event did. But Katsuki knew, even if he wasn't the best with the sappy shit like both Cheeks and the nerd seemed to be, that it was something more than the loss that had been eating the girl.
So he did what he could, obviously inept at the whole 'making someone feel better instead of worse' thing. He had simply looked at her, told her to follow, and stormed off back to the stands with some comment about how the nerd would be sad if he saw her like that, and that he'd probably appreciate it if she was watching when he kicked Hair Day's big fuzzy ass.
Speaking of the big hairy bastard, Katsuki had to admit that the Beast of 1B was no fucking slouch. He had seemingly met the dork in the middle of the field and gone for a grapple, tearing through several active generators and the coils on top that shot out wild electricity totally heedless of the pain in order to get to the fight faster, and he was laughing all the while. Not scary laughter, no, but he actually sounded like he was having fun.
When Izuku had rocketed into the bastard's gut with both hands extended and sparking with that taser shit he sometimes used during training, Katsuki laughed at the look of confusion on Hair Day's distorted face as he was met with the full force of the nerd's considerable voltage. The bastard fell back a bit and ripped something that looked like a giant press of some kind free from the bolts holding it down and swung it right into his friend's side. Katsuki grunted, definitely not in concern, as the nerd went flying backwards. He knew he'd be alright.
"What a devastating counter from Jurota Shishida as Izuku Midoriya is forced to find some distance after taking a hit like that!"
"The armor he wears provides a decent level of impact resistance so I doubt he'll walk away with anything more than a bruise. He's lucky however that he didn't end up sliding out of the ring with a hit like that."
As if that could happen. Deku had taken that strike like a god damned champion, rolling with the hit even as he dug in his footing and found his stance again, quickly moving to re-engage with even more blue lightning crackling from his palms than before. The fact that he was hovering over the ground certainly helped him to move more efficiently, though Katsuki wondered how long he could keep it up without exhausting his energy reserves.
As the fighters neared each other in the middle of the ring once more the nerd seemed to brace his arms before surprising Katsuki by shooting out an explosion wreathed with the snapping electricity of his shock gauntlets right into the hairy bastard's chest.
"Blow him to bits, Deku-kun!" Screamed Cheeks from his right, giving voice to Katsuki's thoughts. He failed to choke down the snort that shot out of him at the exclamation, and turned to see the girl, still a bit watery but much better now, regarding him with mock disdain and clear embarrassment. Sensing a moment where he had less of a chance to fuck things up than he had before, Katsuki decided to ask her a question.
"Cheeks, I know it ain't just cause you lost to Daddy Issues that you were so fucked up a bit ago," he said quietly, keeping his eyes forward as Deku picked up the hairy bastard and flipped the two ton monkey into a rising wind turbine as the arena changed around them once more. "Fuck, I mean, Deku came and gave you a fucking pep talk, yeah, so what's the problem?" Cheeks stilled beside him for a moment, remaining quiet as they both watched the nerd start to rain successive blasts down on the gorilla from the spot he had taken to in the air, seeming to rely on the gusts of wind from the turbines to keep him steady without having to use his hands for propulsion. Katsuki nodded approvingly at the sight before glancing sideways at his companion.
"I...I'm not mad I lost, not really," she said after a moment, brow furrowed and fists clenched tight, but thankfully holding back any more tears. "I just...I really didn't want Todoroki to win."
You and me both, Cheeks, thought Katsuki, recalling his conversation in the hallway with Dumpster Fire. That the prick had the gall to ask him of all people for help dealing with the little asshole he made, god, it made him sick.
"Fucker's a prick, that's for sure," he grunted. "For what it's worth, I'd a rather it was you I'd be fighting in the next round, Cheeks. You actually want to be here."
"I...yeah, I do, but that's not it either."
"The nerd?" She was quiet for a moment before she nodded, and kept her head down when she finished the motion. In the arena proper, Hair Day had ripped a turbine free from the ground and was swinging it at the still airborne dork, who had used the arrow-cable thing of his to remain rooted as he dodged around the thing.
"I just, he fights so hard, Bakugo. He deserves to face someone that will fight just as hard as he does, someone who's not gonna look down on him just because of who he is..." Oh, fuck. Those words hit Katsuki right in the gut, and he couldn't help but think of how angry he had been every time he had thought of Deku looking down on him.
He hadn't been, and Katsuki knew better now. The nerd had never seen him that way, but Daddy Issues sure as shit saw Deku like that, and the thought of his friend having to face down someone so disdainful of his very existence made Katsuki's blood boil. No wonder Cheeks was still upset, fuck, he was upset too.
"Good show, good show," yelled the furball down in the arena as he jumped through the air, twisted metal dangling from each massive arm as he leapt towards the nerd who said nothing in reply. Of course he didn't, because he never did. Izuku always gave every fight his all, as a sign of how much he respected his opponents, how seriously he took their abilities, and how much he wanted to be the best hero he could be.
"And it looks like Shishida is going in for the finisher as Midoriya begins to drop in altitude, folks!"
"Deku-kun," hissed Cheeks, and Katsuki felt some of his rage calm.
"Just watch him," he muttered, smiling as he recognized exactly what was about to happen. Sure enough, Izuku brought both hands up in front of himself and set his shoulders, bracing for the recoil that was about to wrack through his frame. A bright, fiery orange glow shone along practically every seam of the armor he was outfitted in, and Katsuki could practically hear the mental shout of Die that the nerd was thinking, even if he would never say it.
The nerd did, however, scream wordlessly as he let out all the power he had left in that armor of his in one gigantic attack. The resulting fireball and lightning storm totally enveloped the rising monkey before shooting off, out of the arena in a streak of light and sound that he could feel in his teeth, taking the boy from 1B with it.
It made him smile, despite or perhaps directly because of Daddy Issues' challenge earlier, to see the nerd wield his power as familiarly as if he were Katsuki's own brother. And wasn't that a melancholy feeling too, of the distance he had put between them, and of how hard he was trying to claw it back to where it once had been now that things had changed. It really hurt to think about that, how the two could have been like the nerd was with Tintin. How he wouldn't have had to have been so lonely for so long, even if he hadn't known that loneliness was what he had felt at the time. As it turned out, the whole, 'having friends' thing was pretty okay despite all the bullshit they put you through, not that he'd ever admit that out loud.
"Told ya, Cheeks," he teased at the sound of wonder the girl beside him made. Behind them Ingenium let out a low whistle, while his little clone sat with his glasses askew, likely from the shockwave that had rolled over them all from the blast. Ponytail had somehow materialized a small hand fan and was using it to push away bits of dust and rubble from the fight as they entered her personal space. Last of all, Bubblegum had her goggles down and was mumbling something about materials while staring at Ponytail, having apparently only just now noticed the girl use her quirk. The lunatic had been holding the banner that Ponytail had made for Cheeks at the end of the first round, how hadn't she noticed until now?
"Bakugo," said Cheeks after a small spell of coughing and waving away the dust from her eyes. Izuku was standing in the arena, front and center for everyone to see, panting a bit and firmly rooted to the ground. A path of devastation extended in front of him, deepest at the edge of the arena where it trailed out across the lawn and into the reinforced siding that lined the walls of the space. "Can you promise me something?" He cocked an eyebrow at the girl.
"What?" he said, already suspecting what she wanted.
"Beat Todoroki in your match, okay?" He laughed.
"Was already planning on it Cheeks," he said, expression dropping from one of tolerant annoyance into something darker. "Bastard's not getting away with any more shit. You can count on it." He turned to stomp away towards the waiting room, but paused when she called back to him.
"One more thing," she said, matching his glower with her own. "When you fight Deku, after you beat Todoroki, you can't hold back. He deserves that much from all of us, right?" Katsuki only nodded in return, as if he would ever give anything less than his all to the nerd. Turning on his heel, he stomped towards the waiting room, his feelings twisting up his guts in strange and unfamiliar knots. Deku had always said the urge to protect people, to save, was what made someone a good hero. Maybe if that's what this feeling was, the absolute dread at the idea of the nerd getting hurt because he failed to beat Daddy Issues despite there being no real mortal consequences for either of them, then maybe there was hope for him to be the kind of hero Deku could be proud of yet.
From the steaming crater that had been bored into the wall across the ring a single large, brown hairy arm emerged before flashing a thumbs up followed by a roar of laughter. As Shishida pulled himself from the hole he had been pushed into he began to shrink, the more bestial features his larger form bore giving way to his normal, albeit still impressive stature. His roar of laughter turned into hearty guffaws of more human sounding speech that was still halfway feral before slipping back into light chuckling as he fully resumed his normal self.
"Oh my stars and garters. Hmm, excuse me. I'm afraid that though I can maintain my sense to some degree while transformed, my quirk likes to, err, heighten my endorphin flow while I'm in that state. Ah, but yes, well played sir, a fine shot to end it on. The match is yours, rather obviously I should say, Midoriya," Shishida said, re-affixing his glasses as he stepped back up into the ring before reaching out a hand to shake. Izuku took it warmly and smiled at his opponent in turn.
"If it weren't for the rules of the tournament format that could have gone a lot differently, Shishida-kun! I bet you could have kept fighting for a crazy long time. You're really strong you know."
"Perhaps my friend, I hope you don't object to me calling you such, but there are so many situations in life where the objective of a thing is more important than one's ability to continue at it for an extended time. This defeat has shown me I still have much to learn, and I am very grateful for the opportunity to find a new way to grow." He smiled and shook his head, the hair along it settling back into place from its ruffled, disheveled look into a more normal mane.
"I must say Midoriya, that work of yours is an absolute marvel. It must have taken a great deal of engineering knowledge to construct. Should you ever find yourself with an urge to discuss these things, I think you would find that I am very easily engaged on such matters. Or perhaps you would care to discuss any range of topics over a game of Go sometime? I am given to understand you play with the principal on occasion."
"You play too? I'd love that Shishida-kun!"
"Indeed, I have a fondness for the game. My father has a beautiful board from Nagoya, a little more than three hundred years old now, which he taught me to play on. Perhaps you would care to see it sometime?"
"Huh, oh yeah," said Midnight, resuming her stance on center stage with her hat cocked at an odd angle and her glasses somewhat askew. Her headset was held up to one ear as she tried to get her referee outfit back in order. "Jurota Shishida was out of bounds! Izuku Midoriya wins by ring out, and will advance to the final round!" Izuku grimaced, not having meant to put that much power into the blast, but Shishida had forced his hand at the end. Thankfully, his classmate from 1B seemed pretty much completely unhurt.
"Katsuki Bakugo and Shoto Todoroki, report to your waiting rooms. The second and last match of the semifinals will begin in ten minutes!"
"Ah, we should probably get back to the stands to watch the next match, Shishida-kun," said Izuku, rubbing at his interface. His mind was scrambling, desperately running calculations on how much power he had left to work with.
"Indeed, Midoriya-kun. Good luck in the finals. I rather hope you win. It would be good to know that I lost to the man who toppled the sports festival."
"R-right, thanks, Shishida," said Izuku, turning and running back down the hallway, keenly aware of his friend's impending match with the one person he really didn't want to have to think about any more today. Knowing Bakugo, no matter what happened, things would at least be interesting.
For a while the quirks were quiet in his mind as he watched young Tomura through the monitor, inasmuch as he could see the boy. His gift to the child was doing an excellent job at snapping his focus back to the matter at hand, especially given how often the boy had let his mind wander before receiving it. That was something a foggy, distant part of him found satisfaction in. A lipless rictus grin stretched the craggy skin of his face as he moved aside a few of the plastic tubes that fed their life-sustaining vitae into his body.
He had the chemical cocktail ready before the blasted inheritor had injured him of course; no quirk could preserve a body indefinitely without some kind of assistance. Now, so terribly unfortunately, the man who had once been Shigaraki found himself relying on his precious Ochimizu far sooner than he had ever hoped to. Still, things were improving, little by little, as both the doctor's work and his own quirks sought to repair the damage. He could remain free of his hospital bed for a full thirty minutes at a time now, and had even worn one of his old suits in preparation for his meeting. It was a special occasion after all. He couldn't even foggily recall the last time someone had given him a pleasant surprise.
Ah, but this appearance was unacceptable. Even distorted as it was through the sight of his quirks, All for One knew that the damage that had robbed him of his eyes was unsightly, unseemly for the king that had once held the future of not just Japan, but the evolved human race within his grasp. No, even reduced as he was, frustrated by the machinations of shortsighted fools and lesser men with their small, jealous minds, the image he presented had to command the authority that he aspired to recapture.
A snap of his fingers and a gentle prod of his servant's mind with his own expanded consciousness saw a portal open before him, the swirling mass of darkness lost to his eyes but still shining brightly to his other senses. Kurogiri's quirk had been such a beautiful work, one of his and the doctor's greatest collaborations, though the true intricate beauty of the way its constituent parts operated in such delightful harmony was something only he would ever be able to perceive. His face ached as he stepped through, enjoying the brief sensation of passing through a living work of art as he entered into his private gallery and vault.
The space was ordinarily lit sparingly, only the gentle warm yellows of hidden lights illuminating his various exhibits, but now, it was kept in total darkness. No doors, no windows, not even any adjoining suites or galleries. This construction, gentle red Brazilian rosewood paneling and soft, shallow carpet running underfoot was All for One's sanctuary, a private domain he had not been able to appreciate since his wounding. In one far corner sat a lonely chair and music stand, still bearing the sheet music for Kodály's cello Sonata that he had been reading the last time he had been in this room.
It was a melancholy place now, reminding him even more bitterly of what he had given up in his pursuit of man's ultimate destiny, of his sacred duty as the only being capable of shepherding the species through its greatest trials. He had seen the greatness that humans could craft, he kept much of it in this solitary hall of his, and yet, so much was given over to mindless depravity, foolish cult worship, and whatever other pitiable excuses the chaff of the world wasted their time and potential on. So much to do, and so little time.
Even without his quirks guiding him to that particular piece, All for One could have found it by memory. It was a favorite of his, acquired alongside the quirk of its late owner, a woman who had used her ability to cancel waves of all types of energy to move unseen and unheard through many a museum in her pursuit of wealth. That she had tried to sell this particular treasure to him of all people was the insult that had sealed her fate, moreso even than the pathetically unimaginative way the woman had used her quirk.
The life support contraption Ujiko had made of his old helm was powerful, terrifying even when worn with the full force of all his many years and overwhelming charisma behind it, but it would not do for this. Even with the extended periods of freedom it could afford to him, some things were worth sacrificing for the sake of the image. No, this piece in particular, not the practical but instead, the purposeful, that was what was called for.
The mask his fingers found their way over was old, older even than he was, which was hardly the case with anything that he interacted with these days. Though there was no exact date, the Gigaku mask dated from some point during the Nara period, making it at the very least 1300 years older than he was. He traced the surface beneath fingers that barely registered the cool wooden material.
A wide, mocking smile, a pronounced brow, an elongated, drooping nose, all of it was framed by sweeping, ridged wrinkles that were hemmed in by a pair of ears that dangled down to the rounded chin in a jolly parody of an old man. A brown lacquered finish that was worn away in splotches along its overhanging brow only served to deepen the effect of the shadows cast over the merry, upturned spaces for the eyes, seeming almost reminiscent of the Western comedy mask.
Using a flesh sculpting quirk that protested feebly against his wishes, he temporarily rearranged the structure of his own scarred mass of flesh to better fit the mask as he gently slotted it down over his head. A voice projecting quirk that would convey his thoughts without the appearance of telepathy would complete his attire, along with the briefest splash of Bulgari to cover the smell of antiseptic upon returning to his chambers through Kurogiri's portal. Unable to truly see himself yet also satisfied with his handiwork, he gave one final glance towards the monitor that showed Tomura, still hard at work studying the UA sports festival.
Ah, that too, was so tempting. Like a prize auction, the ranchers of UA held up tantalizing, succulent beasts on national television. The quirks were begging to join his chorus, to be cared for by one who could truly appreciate their unique beauty as only he and the other quirks within him could, or else to be bestowed upon more worthy individuals. Such a shame, that that particular prize would elude him for some time yet. But ah, on to more important things.
"Kurogiri," he intoned, making no effort to use either his mind to reach the servant or his voice projecting quirk to summon the smoky figure from the nearby room. The rasp of his natural voice was strange to hear without the accompanying sound of his medical equipment, and discomforting. It was so far removed from the deep, dulcet tone it had once been.
"Master," said the shade. His batman appeared in a whirl of energy at his side, stooping in a bow that was all too English for his origins or their current circumstances, but which the man found pleasing all the same. A remnant of one of the pieces that made up the entity before him exerting some phantom influence. Well, even his greatest creation couldn't be called perfect.
"I trust the venue has been prepared," he began, only having to pause for a moment as he fought his voice to remain even. "And that our young supplicant was likewise...hmm, prepared?" To his right, Kurogiri bowed once more.
"I have surveilled him since his departure from the Yakuza compound, Master. He has brought your requested tribute and with minimal escort. He carries a case handcuffed to his arm which one of our agents within the precepts has stated contains several drives with the data for his work."
"Mmm, and the source?"
"Riding in a separate car within the motorcade, the second of the three and directly behind Chisaki."
"Their arrival time?"
"They have taken up their designated waiting place. The boy will enter the building in three minute's time." Another portal opened before them, this one slightly larger than the one All for One had taken into his vault. Smiling beneath his mask, he shook his head fondly before stepping through and into the gloom of the arranged meeting place. It wasn't the warehouse that one might have expected, like where he had told the fodder to assemble ahead of Tomura's raid on the USJ. No, instead he sat within the confines of a wood and stone structure that was 800 years younger than the mask he now wore, but which carried with it so much more history.
Blood, wine, deceit, artistry, truth, beauty, ink, fire, men and women too, all had flown in and around the Matsumoto castle, the "Crow Castle" as it was sometimes called for its beautiful, black paneled exterior. One of the old national treasures, it had been given over as a museum of sorts until the age of quirks, when it had been acquired by some mysterious businessman during all the chaos. Apparently, he made rare use of the structure, preferring that it should be preserved against the carelessness of tourists who might harm the historic site. That was what the locals understood.
Here, now, All for One sat on his western style chair, a comfortable construction of leather that pressed reassuringly up into his pained frame and which gave no impression at all of the wounds he suffered beneath the veneer of power he had erected about him. Here, he was as he once was, a lord sitting upon his throne, ready to address the supplicants who dared to enter into his sacred hall.
He observed the cars parked outside the bridge leading into his keep, a distasteful necessity for the young Yakuza's being able to meet him at all. As the slight figure dressed in black and bearing a matching surgical mask stepped across the bridge with the expected metal case locked firm about the wrist on one arm and a pale, hollow seeming child dangling from the other, his quirks screeched in seeming terror within the conglomerate of his mind. He pushed their fears down, not caring at all for the potential harm the young man represented to any of his legion of quirks as the boy drew into the keep. He sensed as Chisaki began to ascend the wooden stairs, pausing occasionally to pull the child along behind him. At last, the pair appeared before him, illuminated only by the few motes of light which filtered in from the outside.
"Kai Chisaki," he boomed, the projection quirk having its intended effect as he saw the young man's eyes widen slightly. A snap of All for One's fingers saw the few small lanterns in the room ignite in a glow that cast the distance between them in far too many shadows for the scant amount of light that they emitted. "I understand that your Eight Precepts seeks a place in the future. You are wise, to come to me. Sit, and bring the child with you."
Barely perceptible in the darkness were a pair of cushions, which the boy stepped towards gingerly. He considered them for a moment, before seeming to come to a decision. Moving forwards, Chisaki knelt and brought his chest down into his lap as his hands came up along his legs before reaching the ground, forming a triangle under his face which his head nearly pressed into. Beside him, the child mimicked his motions with no small amount of trembling before the pair returned to their seated position.
"Thank you, great Lord of the Underworld, for deigning to hear me out," said the young man, speaking for the first time since his arrival. Deciding that magnanimous was probably his best response in this case, All for One waved a hand through, allowing some levity into his voice as he projected it back at the pair.
"Think nothing of it, Chisaki. I am always delighted to be shown such...enterprising ideas as yours, and it is good to see the honorable Yakuza regain its ambition. You make an old man's heart glad. Come, speak of your dreams, and we shall see what can be done to make them reality. But first, ah, the child? I should like a name, if it has one."
Across from him, Chisaki visibly stiffened, but brought an arm up to grasp firmly onto the girl's shoulder. Her trembling intensified under his touch, and a rather unfortunate number of his quirks screamed at the sight, knowing just what it was that the Yakuza's quirk, Overhaul he had named it, could do to the girl's flesh. She probably had felt its effects more than any other living being, if his suspicions about the drug were true.
"I...I'm Eri," mumbled the child, trying to sound as small and harmless as she looked. "I, I don't know what to call you, sir," she managed, the trembling intensifying until Chisaki removed his hand from her shoulder. Still playing into the personality he was choosing to display, All for One let out a gentle chuckle with a bit of an empathy quirk behind it, sending some reassurance to both the individuals before him. It would not be acceptable to have either become too tense.
"I suppose the many names I have worn are rather confusing, are they not, young Eri?" He considered for a moment before lighting up with delight beneath the wooden covering he wore. "I think perhaps you could call me, hmm, Goryō. Yes, Goryō will do fine." He paused, waving his hand lazily through the air, mentally cataloging his remaining time that he would spend free of the blasted machines. "Now then, young Chisaki," he said, returning his attention to the other youth before him. "Let us discuss business."