Chapter 332 - 16-17

Chapter 16: Between Steel and a Hard Place

Izuku was fairly certain he was about to faint. This was simply because of the following sequence of events that almost made his heart race out of his chest.

It was only a few moments after the second round ended that he felt a strong tug on the web line attached to his chest, and it didn't take him long to conclude that he was heading down toward his teammates, who were eager to celebrate with him.

"Don't release your quirk yet Uraraka, let's dogpile him first," Itsuka smirked, shrinking her hands and digging her heels in to catch her friend.

With a small giggle, Uraraka nodded, not seeing how this situation could go wrong.

Spreading his arms to slow down his descent, the super powered teen was not as easily convinced.

Why is she shrinking her hands?

It only took the boy a few seconds before he began sweating bullets, realizing what the orange haired teen's plan was.

"Wait! Itsuka, I'm weightless but I'll still have inertia! You need to grow your-"

"Oof!" The pair called out as they collided. The impact wasn't anything more than a small knock to the ground, but it still came as a shock to the big fist user.

Izuku groaned as he came to his senses, only for his face to nearly catch fire as he realized that he was now sprawled on the floor on top of his orange haired friend.

Hello!? Spider sense!? Are you on leave or something!? The boy thought in embarrassment.

"Hehe, yikes. That was a ditz move on my part." Itsuka laughed off, sitting up on her elbows before breaking out in another fit of laughter at Izuku's petrified face.

Even Uraraka found herself laughing at the sight of the poor boy frozen in place.

"Hey, get off of her, man!" Tetsutetsu grunted out, a little harsher than he had intended.

Finally breaking out of his stupor with the steel user's prodding, Izuku sprang up in the blink of an eye, wishing at this very moment that there was a hole somewhere he could crawl into. "S-sorry Itsuka, I should have-"

"Woah, relax," The redhead corrected urgently while standing up to dust herself off. "That was my fault Izuku, don't sweat it. You too, Tetsutetsu, relax." She said, turning to him with a not so amused look. "It wasn't a big deal, we're both fine. And it's not like we're not used to being on the ground like that. It's actually pretty normal during training, right Izuku?"

At this point, the super powered teen's brain was threatening to turn to mush, his face gaining total tomato status. There was only one singular phrase reverberating in his mind as he simmered in his mortification.

Go get em tiger…

Even Ochaco couldn't help but blush at the unfortunate wording used by the big fist user.

"Tch, whatever," Tetsutetsu grumbled before stomping away, muttering something under his breath.

Soon an awkward silence took over the air around the winning team, straining them until Ochaco finally broke it.

"Well, so much for celebrating…"

Choosing instead to ignore the tension in the air, Itsuka spoke up. "I don't know what got him so bent out of shape, but regardless, that round was amazing. You two were awesome out there!"

Picking up on the girl's determination, Ochaco nodded, pumping her fist as well. "I agree! We all played our parts perfectly! Thank you as well for all the guidance Midoriya-san!"

Not one to boast, Izuku could only scratch the back of his head as he came down off the embarrassment high. Or should he say low...

At this, Kendo couldn't hold back a chuckle. "Still modest as ever I see… She's right though, great job thinking on your feet, dork. We couldn't have done it without you."

Accepting the genuine compliment, Izuku did his best to hold his self consciousness at bay, giving his two teammates a pleasant thumbs up in return.

Ok but seriously, why did she call me tiger!? Was that just a coincidence!? Am I going crazy!?

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! WHILE OUR BELOVED STUDENTS CLEAR THE FIELD FOR OUR WONDERFUL REPAIRMAN CEMENTOSS, PLEASE DIRECT YOUR ATTENTION TO THE VIDEO BOARD TO SEE THE FOUR TEAMS MOVING ON TO THE FINAL ROUND!"

Suddenly, a very bright and attention grabbing explosion of colors occurred on the jumbotron, with a list of four names appearing on it once the special effects faded away.

1st place: Team Midoriya

2nd place: Team Bakugo

3rd place: Team Ida

4th place: Team Shinso

"Gero, yep, we didn't make it." Asui croaked out sadly.

"Dang! Midoriya took the points that would've pushed us over the edge!" Mineta complained, balling up his fists before suddenly relaxing. "But hey, you know what? It's alright! It was worth it!"

Shoji, who was also bummed out, raised an eyebrow at this behavior from the smaller boy. In the short time that he'd known him, it wasn't like the purple haired teen to just let something go so quickly like this.

"Perhaps Mineta-san is right," the six armed teen began. "We did make it to the second round after all. That's no small feat for us first years."

Tsuyu nodded at their horse's words, agreeing wholeheartedly, Mineta however, did not stay quiet.

"Oh yeah, well that too I guess. I was referring to round one though. Being strapped to Yaoyorozu made all of this worth it!"

…

With a sweat drop, both of the boy's teammates rolled their eyes, happy when Present Mic spoke up again to give further instruction.

"BEFORE YOU KIDS MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE STUDENT SECTION OF THE BLEACHERS, MAY I PRESENT, WITHOUT FURTHER DELAY, THE BRACKET FOR THE FINAL ROUND OF THE U.A FIRST YEAR SPORTS FESTIVAL! THE ONE-ON-ONE TOURNAMENT!"

Right before exiting the field, everyone turned their attention upwards as more names began appearing on the screen.

BLOCK A

Match 1: Izuku Midoriya VS Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu

Match 2: Itsuka Kendo VS Mashirao Ojiro

Match 3: Kosei Tsuburaba VS Shoto Todoroki

Match 4: Mina Ashido VS Mei Hatsume

BLOCK B

Match 5: Tenya Ida VS Katsuki Bakugo

Match 6: Denki Kaminari VS Eijiro Kirishima

Match 7: Fumikage Tokoyami VS Momo Yaoyorozu

Match 8: Ochaco Uraraka VS Hitoshi Shinso

"THERE IT IS FOLKS! LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED WITH THE MAIN EVENT! FOR THE CONTESTANTS PARTICIPATING IN MATCHES ONE AND TWO, PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE TOURNAMENT WAITING ROOMS! WE'RE GETTING THIS SHOW ON THE ROAD IN THIRTY MINUTES!"

Izuku didn't know why, but he found himself shuddering as his spider sense ran a tingle down his spine. And after looking around, it didn't take him long to find his former steel quirked teammate staring him down.

Holding the boy's eye, the green haired boy attempted to match his first opponent's intensity, but he just didn't have it in him, instead choosing to just close his eyes and take a deep breath.

It wasn't until his friend put a hand on his shoulder that the boy opened his eyes and regained his composure, and by then Tetsutetsu was long gone down the hallway.

Itsuka gave the boy a confident, yet understanding look. Knowing there was some odd tension right now with the grey haired teen, she couldn't stop the pang of pity from coming.

It feels like this is my fault… Why does Tetsutetsu all of the sudden have beef with Izuku?

Meanwhile, in a dark tavern, kilometers away from the school, a pair of men gathered around a small archaic TV in search of answers to the many questions on their minds. At the moment, the two were staring at an intricate graphic showing the two contestants of match one facing off. It was then that one of the men clenched his fists at the sight of the green haired teen.

"Izuku Midoriya… You're an impostor… Just like All Might!"

"Ugh, what's so special about that little nerd, anyway!?" Tetsutetsu pouted angrily, knocking down an adjacent chair as he paced around his waiting room.

"Dude!" Kirishima stepped in, picking up the chair and returning it to its rightful place. "Not cool, stop complaining. You sound like Bakugo right now."

Only grumbling more at his friend's response, the silver haired teen didn't back down. "C'mon bro! They train together! What the heck is up with that!?"

"Uh, you do realize WE train together, right!?" The red haired boy bit back, losing his patience. "Lots of our classmates do! It's called being social and wanting to get stronger!"

"Yeah… Well, they're calling each other by their first names! What's that about!?" Tetsutetsu responded, this time with less frustration as he finally began to calm down.

Reading that his friend was quickly deflating, Kirishima smiled sadly at the boy, not being able to stay mad as sympathy flooded his system. "So what? She calls you by your first name too…"

"Screw you, stop trying to be clever!" the boy chortled, not being able to stop his lips from curving up.

Laughing along with his friend, Kirishima continued. "You need to relax man. Midoriya is cool, stop letting your feelings get out of hand. Like I said before, it makes you do stupid stuff, like abandoning your friend's cavalry team when they need you…"

Shaking his head and looking down at his hands in acceptance. Tetsutetsu allowed for guilt to wash over him. "Tch, you're right Kirishima… I've been a total jerk."

"What was that?" The red haired boy said sarcastically, wanting to hear it again.

"I said I… Wait, screw you! You're enjoying this!"

Now laughing uncontrollably, Kirishima slapped his knee. "Yeah, says the guy who's jealous over a girl he's talked to three whole times."

"Lay off! I'm not jealous of that little nerd! I'm gonna kick his scrawny butt! He thinks he's some big strategist!? I'll show him that I'm more than just muscle!"

Reaching for the door now that his friend was in better spirits, Kirishma concluded that his work here was done. But he couldn't resist teasing the boy one more time before slipping out.

"Yep, definitely gonna have to start calling you Bakugo Jr. if you keep this up."

"I don't know what his deal is, but don't sweat it Izuku. You're gonna do awesome." Kendo said with sympathy as soon as they entered the waiting room, closing the door behind her

Itsuka felt as though she knew the green haired boy pretty well at this point, so she was not taking it lightly when the boy sat in a chair and clammed up on her.

"Izuku, I know you're bummed out about Tetsutetsu but-"

"Why did you call me tiger earlier?"

The sudden inquiry startled her, but the question he asked surprised her even more. "What? What are you talking about?"

"You know, right before you threw me as a part of plan B, you said 'go get em tiger.' Why did you call me that?" the boy questioned again in an even tone.

"Um, I don't know. I guess I was just being playful, and that's what I thought of in the moment. Do you want me to stop or something?"

"No!" The boy replied quickly, much louder than he intended. "T-thats not what I meant! I was just wondering… I've uhh, heard that phrase somewhere before and just wanted to know if you had as well…"

"Oh. Well, uh, that's good. And no, I hadn't. Like I said, I just thought of it on the fly…" the big fist user said somewhat awkwardly. She should have predicted that the boy would react poorly to her nickname. Maybe that was too soon on her part.

Note to self, try something else next time, tiger was a miss…

Feeling relief enter him, Izuku smiled for the first time since entering the room. "Hah, well, I guess it's just a coincidence." He scratched the back of his head. "We should really focus up, I think I've got a plan for Tetsutetsu-san mostly worked out, but what about you? You need help on a plan for that Ojiro guy from class B?"

Welcoming the new topic wholeheartedly, Itsuka matched her friend's newfound smile. "Ha! Of course you already have a plan. I wouldn't expect anything less. And as for my match, don't worry about it. I've been leaning on that brain of yours for too long this semester. I've gotta show those judges that I'm hero material all on my own!"

Izuku once again found himself looking into his friend's bright turquoise eyes as she oozed with excitement. There really was something about her demeanor that was just so contagious to him, and boy was he starting to really appreciate it.

"Besides," she continued. "You better watch yourself with Tetsutetsu. He probably knows that you're going into this with some fancy plan. He was our teammate after all, and I don't think he's as much of a meathead as Bakugo."

Chuckling softly at his friend's sarcastic choice of words, Izuku stood from his chair. "Somehow I doubt that. I'm not saying Tetsutetsu-san is stupid or anything, but Kacchan is definitely a better tactical thinker. It just doesn't look like it sometimes cause all you've seen is him losing his cool."

"Whatever," Itsuka shrugged off, wanting to spend as little time talking about the unpleasant blonde as possible. "Mind at least sharing what you have planned for that metal head?"

"I thought you'd never ask. It's really not all that complex."

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! IT'S FINALLY TIME FOR THE MAIN EVENT! ONE MORE TIME, ARE YOU READY TO RUMBLE!?"

Izuku did his best to throw off his pre fight jitters as he walked into the arena, the enormous roar of the crowd not necessarily making things easier.

Taking what felt like his fifth deep breath in a minute, Izuku ran through the checklist in his mind one more time as he heard his name called in the background by Present Mic. He'd made sure to refresh his web shooters with brand new cartridges, as well as check them for any damage. Up to this point, any wear and tear on the gadgets had been superficial, nothing that couldn't be buffed out after the festival.

Just stick to the plan, I've got this.

"AND IN THE OTHER CORNER, WE HAVE SOME REAL JAPANESE STEEL! AND TRUST ME WHEN I SAY THIS FOLKS, HE'S NOT MADE OF THE SOFT STUFF THEY USE FOR KATANAS, HE'S AS TOUGH AS THEY COME!"

Although Izuku was no history buff, he at least knew enough of it to understand Present Mic's underhanded joke, but all of that went out the proverbial window in his mind as soon as he locked eyes with his opponent.

Not backing down, unlike last time. The green haired teen had no issue in holding the boy's gaze as Midnight went down the list of redundant rules that he had already memorized.

And by the looks of it, either Tetsutetsu also memorized them, or he just flat out didn't care, because he too was holding the intense glare, not seeming to mind his surroundings at the moment.

Izuku assumed it was the latter; in any case however, it wasn't long until Midnight held up her small flag.

"Are you two ready!?"

When the two boys nodded impatiently, Midnight allowed her arm to drop.

"Begin!"

Without another moment's notice, Izuku shot two web lines at the ground in front of him and stepped back, wasting no time in slingshotting himself at full speed towards his opponent in his signature drop kick position.

This is the same attack that really hurt Monoma-san, but since I couldn't break his copied steel barrier, I doubt I'll be able to break the real thing. I need to forget about trying to knock him out and just push him out of the arena.

Surprisingly though, it seemed that this was just what the silver haired teen saw coming, grinning from ear to ear as he activated his quirk before stomping both of his feet into the ground, anchoring himself to the concrete.

"Tch, did you really think I was that stupid!? I knew your plan would be to try and knock me off the platform!" Tetsutetsu roared, puffing out his chest as if making it a target.

Too late now to respond to his spider sense, Izuku braced his legs, relief coming over him when he heard the boy wince at the impact of the heavy drop kick.

This relief was short lived though, because similarly to a few weeks back with Monoma, Tetsutetsu absorbed the pain running through him long enough to rear back and deliver a strong right hook to the super powered teen's leg.

Grimacing as pain reverberated through his thigh, Izuku kicked as hard as he could with his opposite leg, pushing himself away from the silver haired teen with a backflip in the process.

"Gah!" Tetsutetsu groaned out, that second kick finally forcing him to outwardly show his pain.

This at least gave Izuku some kind of positive reinforcement as he landed in a shaky perch crouch and regained his bearings. Dang, that really hurt. But he's hurt too… I guess I'll have to think of something else.

Hating that he'd shown that the pain got to him, Tetsutetsu gritted his steel teeth in frustration. Little did he know that he was thinking something along the same lines as his opponent.

Dang, that really hurt. But he's hurt too… This little nerd has a lot more muscle on his thigh than I thought. And he hits like a freaking truck!

Once both boys had recovered fully from the opening attacks, it was the metal quirked teen who made the first move, and that was to begin pulling his feet out from the concrete below. It appeared however, that this was going to be a bit more strenuous than lodging them in there in the first place.

Trying not to panic, Tetsutetsu did his best to appear casual to his opponent, but as soon as he saw the green haired teen's eyes go to his feet and a small smirk appear on his face, he knew the jig was up.

Agh! NO! He definitely knows I'm stuck now. How deep did my feet jam into this stupid floor!?

Now with a new bright idea fresh in his mind, Izuku sprang into action, wasting no time in aiming his web shooters and lathering the boy's sunken feet with a healthy serving of web balls.

"Gah! What on earth!?" The boy complained, now knowing that he was gonna be stuck in this predicament permanently.

"Well, for someone trying to prove they aren't stupid and can think ahead, you sure did something pretty stupid and short sighted…" Izuku joked, bringing the tension of the situation and his heart rate way down.

Tetsutetsu clicked his tongue in frustration, the boy's sarcasm only rubbing salt in the wound.

"This took a lot less time and pain than I was expecting." The green haired boy spoke up, walking closer to his opponent and staring into his angry eyes. "Concede the match, It's over."

Blood boiling at this point, Tetsutetsu struggled for a few more seconds before directing his attention back to Izuku. "Go to hell!"

Sighing, the super powered teen turned to Midnight on the sidelines, yelling loudly in order to be heard over the crowd.

"He can't move anymore! Call the match!"

The older woman took a few moments with a hand on her chin to assess the situation.

"You wish!" Tetsutetsu butted in. "I'm good to go! Do your worst, Midoriya! You ain't breaking through my steel before I get out of this crap."

This was all the convincing that Midnight needed. "The match will continue!"

Rubbing his forehead in annoyance, Izuku shook his head. It looked like the silver haired teen was hard headed in more ways than one. "Yeah, you've got that right, cause I'm not planning on busting up my knuckles trying to break through your quirk."

"What?" The steel quirked teen replied in confusion. "What do you-"

In the blink of an eye, Tetsutetsu found himself with a mouthful of synthetic webbing, and just like its creator found out during the early testing phase, it did not taste good.

"Oug!" The newly gagged teen cried out, quickly reaching up to his mouth to remove the adhesive substance.

Thwip*

Reacting perfectly, Izuku shot another web ball at the now silent boy, restraining his arms as well. "You're not getting that stuff off, Tetsutetsu-san, it's over. Don't make me leave you to suffocate until you faint."

An intense death glare and muffled screams were the only responses the super powered teen got, sighing to himself once again when the restraints only tightened around his opponent the more he struggled.

"Quit yelling, you're wasting all your air." Izuku suggested before turning again to the sidelines. "Midnight-sensei, call the match! He's gonna pass out soon!"

It was just then that Midnight realized that the steel quirked teen's nose was covered in webbing as well, presenting quite the impending threat to his consciousness.

Finally seeing enough evidence to call the match, Midnight did just that, waving the flag in her hand as she called it out. "This match is over! Tetsutetsu is unable to continue! The winner is Midoriya!"

It was at this point that the crowd, as well as Present Mic, went into another frenzy, but Izuku ignored them, instead choosing to walk up to his opponent and quickly jabbing two fingers into the webbing on his face, creating two nose holes.

Not waiting for the boy to finish taking in as much air as humanly possible, Izuku made stern eye contact. "I have nothing against you Tetsutetsu-san, so stop giving me that look." The teen muttered in slight annoyance as he turned around and began walking off.

"The support department recently discovered that my webbing dissolves when peanut butter is applied to it, so the U.A staff will have you out in a bit." He finished off nonchalantly, waving behind his head as he continued walking.

Why, you little...

Taking a deep breath and keeping her nerves at bay, Itsuka did her best to walk calmly through the stadium tunnel. She was able to catch the end of the short opening match on the monitor in her waiting room, so she knew the result, not that it surprised her at all.

Of all the ways Izuku could have beaten him, that was by far the most humiliating for Tetsutetsu.

It didn't take long until she began to hear the footsteps of said friend approaching as he too entered the tunnel from the arena.

"Well, look at you." The big fist user chided. "Glad to know you decided to take my advice. Did you plan it like that from the start?"

Scratching the back of his head, the super powered teen winced every step as he put weight on his badly bruised leg. "No actually, I got pretty lucky that he made a dumb mistake. For a second there I thought I was gonna have to go through hell by drawing out that fight. Thank goodness I found a loophole."

"Ha! I would have paid good money to see that."

Without even realizing it, both teens stopped when they were finally face to face, locking their eyes and taking a moment to enjoy the comfortable silence among the thunderous atmosphere around them.

It was moments like these that reminded Izuku that he was now really good friends with a really pretty girl.

That's a really nice shade of turquoise…

Eventually, the moment had to end, and if his heart rate was anything to go by, one would think that he was back in the middle of his match.

"You've got this Itsuka. Go win this so we can show everyone how good we've gotten at sparring." He said with a big, toothy grin, raising his right hand for a fist bump in the process.

Matching the boy's energy, Itsuka felt a fire in her belly ignite. This had been just what she needed to get over her own pre fight jitters.

"You got it, dork! Nothing is gonna get in the way of me kicking your butt on national television!" She yelled out excitedly, punching the boy's fist way too hard and running past him towards the arena.

Ouch. Thanks a lot, spider sense… Izuku thought sarcastically as he walked towards the infirmary with an aching fist to go along with an aching leg.

After a brief, yet hilarious few minutes of unsticking Tetsutetsu from the arena and Cementoss making some repairs, the final round of the U.A sports festival continued to move along in anticipation.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! THIS MATCH IS SURE TO PACK A SERIOUS PUNCH! WE'VE GOT TWO MARTIAL ARTS MASTERS IN THE HOUSE! SO LET'S ALL KICK BACK AND ENJOY THIS KNOCKOUT OF A MATCH!"

Preparing herself, Itsuka squatted into a defensive position, choosing to hold off on activating her quirk as she looked her tailed opponent up and down.

"Wow, Present Mic's jokes are horrible." Ojiro chuckled, getting into a fighting stance as well.

Going along with it, Itsuka smiled a bit as well. "Heh, his standards for a martial arts master are probably just anyone who wears a black headband."

Meeting their eyes, both contestants nodded when Midnight prompted them to get ready.

"Begin!"

Quickly enlarging her hands, Itsuka reached out with her left to block the boy flying forward. It seemed that the tail on the boy's rear was not merely cosmetic. It appeared to make the boy much more nimble than the average fighter.

Once she blocked the boy's flying kick, Itsuka swung a karate chop at him with her opposing hand, grunting in frustration when the boy easily jumped out of the way and avoided the attack.

"Ohh, you're strong." Ojiro began, landing swiftly on his tail, showing impressive balance. "But strength means nothing if you can't touch me. I'm gonna win this with speed."

Narrowing her eyes, Itsuka returned her hands to regular size. Ain't that the truth, but I know for a fact from just that one engagement that you aren't nearly as fast as Izuku. And I've been getting better and better at tagging him these last few weeks.

"Quit the chit chat," she began again. "Let's let our fists do the talking."

"Gladly."

Itaru Kendo smiled with pride as he observed the fight below. His little girl was fighting tooth and nail down there, and holding her own at that. It was a bit hard to believe if he was honest. Not because he doubted her skill, but simply because of the grand stage she was on. His hero school back in the day was not nearly as prominent as U.A, so this setting was a lot to take in.

"OOOH! AND KENDO FINALLY MANAGES TO CLIP THE OJIRO'S SHOULDER! SHE'S ADAPTING QUITE FAST TO HER OPPONENT'S AGILITY!"

Widening his smile further, the orange haired man briefly wondered if his daughter's opponent was the classmate that she had begun training one on one.

No, it can't be him, he's much too skilled a fighter to have only started two weeks ago.

Although his logic made sense, the man couldn't help but wonder if it was the distaste for the idea of his daughter training privately with a boy that made him write it off.

Nah, it checks out, she's probably showing one of the weaker girls some self defense.

Izuku sneezed roughly as he ran down the hallway, rubbing his nose and looking at the numbered signs above as he searched for the student section of the stadium.

I hope I haven't missed too much of Itsuka's match!

Shaking the negative thoughts from his head, the super powered teen beamed when he finally found his classmates.

"Hey Midoriya!" Kirishima waved, patting the seat next to him. "Great job out there! What took you so long? I would've thought you wanted to see this match."

Blushing at the boy's implication, Izuku hurried over and sat down next to him, ignoring the glaring red eyed blonde on his other side and instead responding. "Yeah, I did want to. I'm glad it's not over at least. I had to stop by Recovery Girl's office. I'm just glad it was only a bruise. I don't want her draining my energy in the first round."

Showing his pointy teeth, Kirishima nodded. "Yeah, some of the guys and I were talking about that. If you get beat up badly before the final round, you won't be at full strength anymore and your shot at winning goes way down."

"Exactly." The green haired teen nodded at the sound logic, turning his urgent attention to the battle below.

After a short time of comfortable viewing, Izuku deduced that the fight below was at a bit of a deadlock. Itsuka clearly held the advantage in power, but Ojiro was outpacing her and had managed to remain relatively unscathed. This had all the makings of turning into a battle of attrition. A game of who wanted more, of who had more determination.

Or at least, it appeared that way to everyone else…

"Man, they're evenly matched." Jiro spoke up behind them in the stands.

"I'll say," Kaibara added with a grunt. "Can we get some action already? This is getting boring."

"What are you talking about!?" Awase questioned incredulously. "These back and forth kind of fights are the best! At the very least it's way better than the last match. No offense, Midoriya."

"Heh, none taken," Izuku replied, his knowing smirk growing. "But you guys are wrong. This isn't a stalemate. Itsuka is about to end this."

Breathing heavily, Itsuka kept her complete focus on all of her opponent's movements. She knew that he was getting frustrated at the few times she had struck him successfully. Albeit, the few attacks she had landed were without her quirk, but still, they were solid hits.

He's starting to slow down a bit. I think I can use it soon.

No longer bothering with the sarcastic jabs, Ojiro ran up to his opponent once again, hoping to finally break through her flawless defense.

"You can't keep this up forever! I will break through!" The teen yelled, jumping in the air and spinning in preparation for a tail attack.

You took the words right out of my mouth. Itsuka thought as she braced herself, growing her left hand just in time to block the boy perfectly.

Ojiro however, did not cease his attack here, falling to the floor and beginning a barrage of jabs and kicks aimed at the orange haired teen.

Not missing a beat, the big fist user shrank down her left hand and engaged the boy in hand to hand combat.

He's using some kind of kung fu variation. That's why his movements are so fluid. The girl thought as she barely moved her head out from the path of a vicious jab from her opponent.

Keeping pace with the boy, Itsuka matched all of his attacks, either meeting them head on, or flat out blocking them with her forearms. It wasn't until she noticed the boy slow his pace of attacks that she sprung and made her move.

While simultaneously blocking a kick with her left forearm, Itsuka cocked back her right fist, smirking when she saw her opponent hastily attempt to put up his guard.

But whether or not he would get his block up in time was not relevant with this specific punch, because soon the boy saw something totally new from the big fist user.

Launching her right fist at full speed, Itsuka struggled a bit to activate her quirk, but soon she pushed through that barrier in her mind and her fist grew to only a fraction of its full size. More or less mirroring the dimensions of an average basketball.

Ojiro's eyes widened, knowing full well that this development meant the incoming attack would be weaker, but also faster than her full size fists.

Crap, she got me. This is gonna hurt…

Breaking through the boy's haphazard block with ease, Itsuka relished when her fist collided with his ribs, knowing instantly that she had at least bruised a couple of them.

After that, the girl didn't hesitate to end things, thankful that the discomfort of manipulating her quirk was over as she enlarged her hand fully and delivered a strong karate chop to the boy while he was off balance.

Not having nearly enough time to react, Ojiro felt his body get smacked across the ring like a ragdoll, wincing even further knowing that he was hit from the same side as his touched up ribs.

When the boy finally regained his bearings, he realized he was lying on the grass right outside the white square of concrete representing the battlefield.

"IT'S OVER LADIES AND GENTLEMAN! WHAT A DEADLY FINISHING COMBO BY KENDO! NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL A KNUCKLE SANDWICH!"

Among the roaring crowd of the excited masses, the elder Kendo kept his eye on his little girl as she did her small victory lap. Very much impressed with how his daughter had learned to use her quirk in such an unorthodox way.

Itsuka, that was very clever. I've never seen you use your quirk like that. It looks like U.A really is all it's cracked up to be. I'll have to thank the faculty when I get the chance.

Regardless, his daughter was now moving onto the next round, and he couldn't be prouder.

Looks like your next opponent is that Midoriya guy that you teamed up with in the second round. You're gonna crush him. Somebody needs to get that skinny kid a sandwich or two…

"Finally, it's over. What a snooze fest…" Kaibara yawned.

"You're deranged, man!" Awase grumbled in annoyance. "You just wanna see an uneven fight where someone gets pummeled."

"You got that right."

"Quit whining you two!" Monoma laughed out manically. "Don't you see what just happened! Our superior class just took a dump all over 1-B! That was glorious!"

"Hey, screw you, man! Your class is full of jerks!" A pale class B student with exposed teeth called out from across a set of bleachers.

Rolling his eyes at the behavior of his blonde classmate, Izuku did his best to savor the victory of his friend as he watched her joyfully shuffle out of the stadium while waving to the crowd.

She really did it. She was able to pull off an uncomfortable move in the heat of a real fight. Itsuka. You're so cool!

"HOLD ONTO YOUR HATS EVERYONE! THINGS ARE ONLY GONNA GET BETTER FROM HERE! THE TOURNAMENT ROUND OF THE SPORTS FESTIVAL IS OFFICIALLY OFF THE GROUND! THIS IS ALREADY SHAPING UP TO BE ONE OF THE MOST EXCITING YEARS YET!"

Chapter 17: Sensory Deprivation

Kendo couldn't stop beaming as she walked through the winding hallways behind the stadium bleachers. Much like Izuku before her, she was trying to navigate herself to the student section in order to sit with the rest of her classmates. She couldn't wait to see the next match with Tsuburaba vs Todoroki, especially after she had accidentally overheard an intriguing and private conversation from the half and half boy and his father outside the waiting rooms earlier.

Thinking back on the curious encounter, it wasn't like she'd meant to eavesdrop, but after she had finished her match and was walking back to her waiting room, she just happened to hear them going at it down the hall.

"Stop being stubborn, Shoto! I have no doubt you can beat that Bakugo brat without your fire, but you should still go all out! The world is watching! You need to show them your best!"

"Tch, not like it matters. You're still gonna make me intern with you no matter what. Why should I care about what other heroes think?"

"Don't talk to me that way! You're my son! Do you hear me!? I made you! And now you need to go out there and show the world that you can be the next number one! Because you're mine!"

Gritting his teeth and looking away, Shoto again just shrugged his old man off. "Whatever. You should know at least that Bakugo isn't the only threat. Midoriya is also at the top of our class, and he's strong too."

At this, the older man almost laughed. "Hah! Good joke Shoto, but go ahead and just forget about him. I've been studying your classmates very closely, and Bakugo is the only one who has a quirk that's even close to matching yours. So I'll say it again. Ignore all distractions and just crush everyone quickly. Save your strength for Bakugo. And for heaven's sake, stop being rebellious and just use my quirk!"

Frowning as the memories came back to her, Itsuka couldn't help but feel bad for her classmate. She may not have spoken to him much, if at all, this semester, but she could still feel sympathy for how cold and demanding his father acted.

And while she may not have been a fan of the number two hero's strict parenting style, she couldn't lie and say it didn't produce results, because right as she finally found the rest of her classmates, she came to realize that the anticipated match was already over.

"Itsuka!" Izuku grinned, standing up from his seat and shuffling over to her. "You did amazing! I can't believe you pulled off that move on such short notice!"

Smiling as she looked past the boy momentarily, all she could see on the field was a giant glacier taking up the whole platform.

What the heck!?

Sensing that the girl was distracted, Izuku followed her gaze.

"Oh yeah, you just missed it. Todoroki-san just obliterated that class B student. I don't even think the match was ten seconds long."

Yikes…

"Well, how about that…" Itsuka coughed, not sure what to say. "Hehe, I guess now you don't have the most boring match of the day."

Izuku laughed. "I doubt it. What Todoroki-san did just now was anything but boring."

At last allowing herself to forget about her stoic classmate and relax. Itsuka took a deep breath and shot Izuku a signature grin.

"Anyway, what'd you think of my surprise boxing glove!? Was that wicked, or what?"

"Yeah! I was surprised when I saw you setting that move up. I thought you hadn't mastered it yet!"

"Yup! That's what extra practice at home will do for ya! Just another benefit of sharing a room with a bunch of training dummies."

Nodding, Izuku had already heard all about how the orange haired teen lived in the martial arts studio owned by her family. It really was an advantage to have a proper training space so close to home.

Continuing, Kendo took her seat next to Midoriya as she acknowledged some of their other classmates with a friendly wave.

"I haven't mastered it, though, so don't get the wrong idea. It's still super uncomfortable to have my hands that size."

"Then that makes it all the more impressive that you pulled it off in a high pressure situation." Izuku complimented without missing a beat.

Holding back a blush, Itsuka turned away, instead choosing to look down at the stadium as the half and half quirked teen began to help the faculty melt the iceberg.

But her looking away did not stop the boy from smirking and attempting to push the girl's buttons.

"Hey! Don't get all shy on me! Now who can't take a compliment? Aren't you supposed to be the confident one? Sensei?"

Giggling at the boy's teasing antics, Itsuka turned back to him, no longer caring that she was openly blushing. "Go ahead, keep it up. I'm gonna make you eat those words in our match next round."

Joining her in lighthearted laughter, the two teens rode it out as long as they could before Present Mic's voice came back on the loudspeakers.

"ALRIGHT LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! AFTER THAT WILDLY QUICK MATCH, IT LOOKS LIKE WE'RE FINALLY BACK ON TRACK WITH ALL THAT ICE MELTED! AND SINCE NO PART OF THE ARENA WAS DAMAGED, MAY I PRESENT TO YOU THE NEXT TWO FIGHTERS!"

"Poor guy, he got annihilated," Tsunotori called out sadly, her classmates around her nodding with pity.

"I'll say," Kendo cut in. "I didn't even get to see the match."

"Well, you all can throw him a pity party if you want. I for one thought that was the best match yet," Kaibara said as he kicked his feet up on the empty seat in front of him.

"You're so cruel!" Awase cried out.

"Cruel!?" Monoma chimed in. "Those second rate class B scum don't deserve our pity! Ahahaha!"

…

"You guys do know that we can hear you over here, right?" A mantis looking boy called out from the class B student section.

"Sorry!" Kendo stood up. "I promise we all don't think like this idiot!"

Not looking all that convinced by her words, the boy merely turned away, ignoring her.

Well, so much for them not hating us… Stupid, Monoma and Bakugo…

As Present Mic introduced the next two students entering the arena, Izuku perked up as he heard a familiar name he wasn't expecting.

"AND GOING UP AGAINST THE ACIDIC ASHIDO, IS THE ONLY SUPPORT COURSE STUDENT LEFT IN THE FESTIVAL! MAY I PRESENT TO YOU ALL, MEI HATSUME!"

What? Hatsume-san made it to the final round? I didn't even notice her name on the screen before…

"Hmm? Do you know her, Izuku?" Itsuka inquired.

Jolting slightly at his friend's words, the green haired boy nodded. He didn't realize that he'd mumbled that out loud…

"Yeah, she's always in the workshop when I go and visit the support department. Honestly, she's probably the best student in the support course. She's a genius."

Feeling a bit strange hearing her friend dish out such high praise to the pink haired girl, Itsuka shifted uncomfortably as the boy went on.

"I don't talk to her every time I visit, but she does have this weird fascination with my web shooters. She's actually the one who discovered that the fluid dissolves with peanut butter." He chuckled at that last part.

Ohhh, so that's why they were lathering up Tetsutetsu when I got onto the arena… That certainly didn't do his image any favors.

Speaking of the steel quirked boy, he was still MIA as far as the student section went. Perhaps the comfort and silence of the waiting rooms were more his speed for the moment.

"Regardless," Midoriya began again. "She's pretty eccentric, just watch. This won't be an ordinary match. There's gonna be two winners by the end of it." He continued, already knowing what the girl was planning since he'd seen her rehearse for it.

Over hearing, Mineta butted in. "What? Two winners? What are you saying, Midoriya? That's impossible."

"Yeah! Mina's got this thing in the bag! She'll win easily!" Hagakure defended.

I guess we'll see. Itsuka thought as Midnight called for the match to begin.

They did indeed see…

The Match between Ashido and Hatsume was not necessarily long, just unorthodox. From the very start, Hatsume appeared to be in control, dishing out invention after invention while somehow also gaining control of the stadium microphone.

In the end, it was just as Izuku said, both students had won. Hatsume had conceded after her presentation, giving Ashido the official win, with the publicity of national television being a more than sufficient victory for the peculiar inventor.

Throughout the whole stadium, only a few people were more shocked than Ashido, and those people were her classmates. Not even necessarily at the match itself, just Izuku's prediction of it.

"Guys… I think Midoriya is a wizard!" Mineta mumbled cautiously, his classmates around him unsure if he was joking or not.

"Dude! Seriously! Save some talent for the rest of us! You can't just be good at everything! It's unfair!" Kaminari grumbled.

Flicking the lightning quirked boy in the back of the head, Jiro shook her head. "Or maybe you're the one who needs to catch up. Crybaby."

"Ow! That hurt!"

Chuckling to himself at his classmate's antics, Izuku scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

From there, the matches went by at a steady pace as Block B began. The only exception was the first one, which took a bit longer than the others.

"Kick that jerk's butt Ida! Show him that 1-B is strong!"

The match between Ida and Bakugo was now well underway, and both teens were fighting tooth and nail. Ida had definitely held his own for a good chunk of the match, but much to the disappointment of his classmates, this was simply a delaying of the inevitable.

"DIE!" Bakugo wailed as he landed a strong explosion to the boy's face, shattering his glasses as well as countering his signature move.

W-what!? He reacted fast enough to avoid my Recipro Burst!?

With his opponent temporarily blinded by the sudden flash in his eyes. Bakugo didn't hesitate to finish it from there, quickly charging up a pair of explosions that shot his dazed opponent off the battlefield.

"THIS ONE IS OVER FOLKS! AFTER A DRAWN OUT BATTLE OF TRADING BOOMING BLOWS, THE WINNER IS KATSUKI BAKUGO!"

Not caring at all about the crowd's excited reaction, Bakugo simply turned and walked away.

Tch, that four eyed nerd kicks like a mule. Glad I didn't let that drag on anymore. He got sloppy and went for a finishing move too early. If he had just kept wearing me down, that could have turned into a serious match…

Regardless, that was in the past now. He'd won decisively and was moving on to the next round. He had bigger prey than some class B snob.

You better not lose until I face you. Useless Deku…

"Aw man! We lost again!" A hairy boy with glasses complained as he and his classmates watched their main representative receive first aid below them.

"This is bullcrap man! Now we only have Uraraka left to represent our class! This blows!" The mantis looking boy chimed in again, his anger from earlier still apparent.

"Class A is full of Monsters man, it's crazy what just one villain attack can do…" A student with pitch black skin thought out loud as he looked over at the adjacent class's bleachers

They too were chattering about the now finished match.

"I'm kinda surprised that Kacchan took so long to finish that, I guess it goes to show how much he respected Ida-san's skill since he was being so cautious."

Nodding, Itsuka agreed. "I know what you mean. Ida got a couple of solid kicks in, and they looked like they hurt. But Bakugo stayed patient and made him pay when he rushed to finish it."

A few more classmates nodded at the pair's analysis. No one else really had more to say though. The only one who was always interjecting into their conversations was Kirishima, and he was down in the waiting rooms about to start his match.

And start it did, because it was at this point that the rest of the first round flew by.

Kaminari vs Kirishima ended rather quickly, with Kirishima taking a few electric shocks here and there before knocking his opponent out cold with a single hardened punch to the face.

Tokoyami vs Yaoyorozu was also quick. It was very clear from the start that Dark Shadow was overwhelming the black haired girl's ability to think under pressure, resulting in a swift and relatively painless loss for the creation user.

Now, when it came to the final match of Uraraka vs Shinso, this one arguably went by faster than Todoroki's did. Because as soon as the start flag dropped, Uraraka bolted right for the purple haired boy. Not hesitating to touch him with her quirk and push him out of bounds, keeping her mouth shut the whole way, even through all of his verbal protests.

Tch, this is so frustrating! My one chance, ruined just because of a bad matchup! Shinso thought in frustration, cursing the fact that he had been paired up with someone who had been on Team Midoriya last round.

Though the boy had grounds for complaints, it didn't change the fact that he had lost. And pretty soon, he had U.A faculty urging him to move on from his spot on the grass so the second round could begin.

Ochaco, on the other hand, was on cloud nine as she quickly vacated the battlefield, having one specific thought about one specific person on her mind.

Thanks for the tip during the cavalry battle Midoriya-san! You're the best!

Speaking of the green haired teen, he was feeling somewhat neutral as he walked through the tunnel and towards the light of the open stadium. For this match in particular, he wasn't nervous per se, but just on edge and shuddering with anticipation. He was definitely excited to face his friend in a real match, but he also didn't wanna make a fool of himself either. Not to Kendo or the entire country watching live.

Let's hope she doesn't wipe the floor with me.

If he was being honest, Izuku didn't really have any sort of elaborate strategy for this particular fight. Who knows, maybe deciding to wing it was unwise, but he didn't really see the need to be so uptight about this one. He knew his friend pretty well at this point,

I'm sure I can adjust on the fly…

Right when the boy was about to exit the tunnel out into the open air, his spider sense rang quietly as a silhouette appeared before him.

"Tch, it's you…" Shinso grumbled, glaring at the boy.

…

Rolling his eyes, the general studies student clicked his tongue at the boy's cautious silence.

"Give it a rest. I'm not using my quirk right now, there's no point. You made sure to ruin that for me."

Not knowing what the boy's problem was, Izuku stayed silent as he watched him walk away back toward the waiting rooms.

Me? What did I do?

"AND IN THE OTHER CORNER! WE HAVE OUR MEAN GREEN WALL CRAWLING MACHINE, IZUKU MIDORIYA!"

Crap! I didn't even hear him announce Itsuka! The boy thought in a panic as he rushed out into the open.

Up in the stands, Itaru Kendo kept a close and sharp eye on the small green haired boy as he entered the arena a few seconds after his cue.

Scoping the boy out, he attempted to dissect everything he could with only his eyes, raising an eyebrow when he appeared to greet Itsuka casually.

Hmm, do they know each other?

"You ready for this Izuku!? Uraraka sends her thanks by the way." Kendo grinned, once again roughly punching her fist.

Matching her wide smile as he felt his comfort level grow, Izuku nodded, giving Midnight a thumbs up as well as she eyed the two teens. "That's nice of her!"

Kendo shifted to a smirk at this though, attempting to bring back all the energy the boy had before.

"What? No sarcasm? No joking around? What happened to all that bravado from after my match? Hmm?"

Before a blush could set in on his cheeks, Midnight interjected.

"Begin!"

Izuku didn't know what surprised him most, how quickly the demeanor in the air shifted, or how fast Itsuka was on him when the match began.

"Hiya!" She called out, barely missing a karate chop as she closed the distance with her opponent.

Even though it missed, this first strike was just a formality, because soon she shifted into a different stance and went for a flurry of punches.

Widening his eyes as he ate two powerful jabs to the stomach and a hook to the cheek, it was at this exact moment that two alarming realities became apparent to the green haired teen.

The first was the fact that Itsuka was a totally different fighter when she wasn't holding back. It appeared as though the past two weeks had been nothing but child's play to her, because right now he was seeing an intensity that was simply not present before, and boy was it vicious.

The second head scratcher for him was the most concerning, he had already been hit hard three times and barely dodged once, yet not for one of those punches did his spider sense ever go off…

W-what… What the heck is going on!?

Unfortunately for the boy, no matter how deep his inner turmoil was, the world around him kept spinning.

Landing another punch with her dominant fist, Itsuka swelled with pride when her friend stumbled back before jumping away, completely disengaging her in hand to hand combat.

"What's wrong dork? I hope you weren't expecting this to be like training. This is the real deal!"

Coughing violently as he jumped back again and got his distance, Izuku did his best not to panic. Admittedly though, this proved to be too hard a task, because before he knew it, the crowd around him got louder and louder as he began to hyperventilate.

W-what is this!? Spider sense!? Where a-are you!? You worked fine just now with Shinso-san!

Slowly but surely, the super powered teen felt the grip on his emotions slipping away by the second as dread set in. This was the most naked he'd ever felt since discovering his powers. And his blurry vision and ringing ears were not helping ease his scrambled senses.

It's too much, I-I can't focus… He thought to himself as he grabbed his aching head tightly. It was almost like all of his other five senses were overloading to compensate for the loss of his sixth one.

Feeling his knees wobble, the boy was about to fall to the floor until he heard a voice cut straight through all the deafening background noise around him.

"Izuku!? Are you ok?" Itsuka asked worriedly, relaxing her guard for a moment. Something appeared to be happening to her friend, but she couldn't quite gauge exactly what the issue was. It couldn't have been the four strikes she'd hit him with. She'd seen him shrug off much stronger attacks than her's before.

Locking his eyes with hers for what felt like the hundredth time today, Izuku felt the world around him drain away as he captured her concerned turquoise orbs with his green ones.

Relax, everything is fine. It's just a fight with Ituska… Yes, she's going hard, but she's not trying to hurt me… 

…

…

…

Sighing, Midoriya shut his eyes again as he struggled to push down all of his mixed up emotions, taking a few more deep breaths in order to finally calm himself down.

I guess I've never realized just how much I rely on my spider sense. This feels horrifying…

Shaking his head violently as if to remove a thought, Izuku gave the girl a weak and appreciative smile. "Yeah, I'm fine Itsuka, sorry about that. I'll explain later. Let's get this going. Don't want anyone to think we're holding back or something."

Happy to see the boy recover from whatever just happened to him, Itsuka prepared her stance once again. There was something about his voice just now that seemed a bit more forced than normal, but he was right, now was not the time for discussion.

Nodding, Itsuka responded. "Sounds good to me!"

"Tch, what was she thinking? She hesitated and let the boy recover." The elder Kendo mumbled under his breath from his spot in the stands. It wasn't like his daughter to just randomly let such an opening slip away without a good reason. His suspicions only grew when the camera being broadcast on the jumbotron zoomed in on the girl, showing her smiling while speaking to her opponent.

What is she doing? She never acts this loose during a fight. Don't lose focus, Itsuka. Take that scrawny kid down!

"Dang it! Quit jumping around!" Kendo yelled, grunting as she missed another swing of her big fist.

Now proceeding with extreme caution since his spider sense was still nowhere to be found, Izuku decided to completely abandon traditional hand to hand combat. If he could barely keep up with Kendo when she held back, even with his spider sense. Then there was no way he'd ever survive her fists of fury at one hundred percent without his treasured precognition.

"Ohh, you are so in for some intense training after today dork! Stop running away and fight like I taught you!"

Not even remotely in the mood for quips, Izuku only gulped as he continued to evade her at a distance. His overall confidence was not the highest at the moment, so much so that he didn't even feel like responding sarcastically.

This was something that Itsuka picked up on, continuing to flood the boy's ears with remarks in hope of bringing out her friend's more lighthearted side.

What's wrong with him? Ever since that little episode, he's been unusually quiet. Something's up…

"Nothing? Not one joke? Where's all that talk from earlier?" She said as she missed another swipe of her enlarged hand.

What is she doing? Is she trying to bait me into getting distracted? 

Regardless of what his friend was thinking, one thing was certain. She wasn't going to defeat herself like his last opponent did, so he would have to stop avoiding her eventually.

Here goes nothing… Izuku thought as he sprang into action silently.

From the high peak of his jump, Izuku fired out a pair of web lines in mid air, aiming right for his friend. He intended to try and pull himself down toward her at high speed and perform some sort of sporadic attack.

What the boy didn't realize however, was the fact that this was a pretty predictable move from him, because in no time at all, Itsuka had side stepped one of the web lines, and caught the other one on her enlarged hand.

"Fine! You don't want me to come at you, then you're coming to me!" Kendo yelled, yanking hard on the web line like she had earlier today, even going as far as to note how much heavier the boy was without Uraraka's quirk activated.

As her friend sailed down in her direction, Itsuka couldn't help but continue to wonder why the boy seemed to be off his game.

Did he not realize how obvious that move was!? He practically announced what he was gonna do with how indecisive he was… What's going on with you, Izuku?

Meanwhile, said boy was only a skip and a jump away from an anxiety attack.

Crap! That was stupid! She saw that coming from a kilometer away!

Only soaring closer and closer to his alluring opponent by the second, Izuku tried to forget about the horrifying fact that he would not be warned of the oncoming danger.

Ok, I need to lock in! I don't have my spider sense, but that's not the end of the world! Unlike a real battle, I can see the danger right in front of me. If Peter can push through losing his powers against six of his worst enemies, then I can do it in an exhibition fight!

Being encouraged by his memory of issue #1 of The Amazing Spider-Man Annual, Izuku bore down mentally and did his best to adjust his flight path in mid air.

I won't be able to dodge… I'll have to take it, then counter afterwards… This is gonna hurt…

And right he was, because just like he'd imagined, Itsuka grew her other hand and flattened him, smacking him downward with a slapping motion.

An array of oohs were clearly heard from the crowd as the sound of the boy hitting the pavement reverberated. To many, this match seemed all but over, but they were mistaken.

Itsuka herself knew better than to think Izuku was finished, but after cringing a bit at the sound of her friend's body cracking the hard concrete, she hesitated for a moment once the dust settled.

This proved to be a critical mistake, because before the girl could regroup her thoughts, a pair of feet were kicking her in the stomach as Izuku kipped up with more force than she knew was possible from a supine position.

"Gah!" Kendo cried out, falling onto her back and feeling her opponent's foot pressed firmly on her stomach.

Izuku didn't hesitate from there, instantly raising his hands to immobilize the girl with some web balls. Which he easily would have done had Kendo not reacted instantly.

*Thwip*

"Woah!" Izuku yelped as the girl wrapped around his leg and pulled, causing him to fall to the floor with her. He had only managed to fire off a singular web ball, successfully sticking her right hand to the tile of the arena below.

"Tch, you think I can't wrestle you into submission with one hand!? I guess it's time for your sensei to teach you some grappling!" Kendo chided through a smirk, locking her legs around his torso from behind and using her free arm under his neck for a headlock.

Writhing as he reached up to hold her arm, Izuku searched his brain for a way out of his current situation.

Can't breathe… Itsuka is a lot stronger than she looks. My shoulder is killing me and my ribs are still creaking from that introduction to the floor that she gave me…

After a few more moments of struggling, Izuku decided to just turn his brain off and brute force it, pulling Kendo's arm as hard as he could and freeing his neck immediately.

Now it was the orange haired teen's turn to be surprised. Of course, she knew how powerful the boy was, more or less, but the way he'd ripped her arm away just now felt effortless.

Shaking away from her inner train of thought as she felt her opponent shift to try and stand up, Itsuka tightened her hold between her legs, squeezing as hard as she could to try and stop the green haired boy.

But when this wasn't slowing him down, she instead grew her webbed up fist to full size, ripping the webbing and grabbing the boy to hold him down.

Seeing the girl flip over onto him, Izuku growled in frustration as he once again felt himself get pinned.

Ugh, spider sense, I officially hate you…

Itsuka breathed heavily, finally feeling herself gain control of the boy and grinning as she made eye contact with him under her enlarged and spread out hand. "You-" She began before taking in a large and very much needed breath. "Are such a slippery fighter. But now I've got you."

Squirming in between her large fingers, Izuku couldn't help but meet her joyful expression with an apprehensive one of his own. "Thanks, but I won't lie. I don't feel very slippery at the moment without my spider sense."

This piqued the girl's interest, causing her to lean closer to the boy on the ground as curiosity claimed her mind.

"What? What's wrong with your spider sense?"

The boy was about to respond genuinely, but as soon as his friend asked her question, he felt the slightest bit of force let up from under her enlarged palm, giving him just enough leverage to adjust his arms to push up.

"Oh no you dont!" The girl said hastily, noticing the boy squirming and beginning to push.

Izuku had all the leverage he needed though, because as soon as he was allowed to push up with his hands on the girl's larger palm, he began to bench press the large appendage upward at a steady pace.

Crap! Itsuka thought alarmingly, searching her mind for a fast solution before the boy's insane strength could push her hand off.

What is she doing!? That's twice now that she loses focus and forfeits a chance to win! Itaru Kendo thought in irritation. Not only had his daughter failed to end the match two separate times, but now the scrawny boy was somehow escaping her quirk's full power!

The martial arts master watched with a dumbfounded expression as the boy continued to push upwards against his daughter's large hand. This already shouldn't have been possible for such a weak looking boy, but that wasn't even the shocking part.

No, that came when his daughter attempted a last ditch effort to keep the boy down, growing her other hand and pushing down with that one as well. But much to both his and Itsuka's amazement, the boy continued to steadily lift up the enlarged appendages like they were mere weighted blankets.

That kid… What is he…

"Gah! Dang it!" Itsuka growled out as she jumped back, aborting her earlier plan of holding the boy down. It was no use, once she stupidly allowed him to adjust his hands and press up, it was over. She couldn't beat him when it came to raw strength.

Just like before, the boy kipped up like nothing had happened, leaving Kendo to wonder just how much the boy had left in the tank.

I'm getting pretty gassed myself, but his movements looks fresh. No surprise there though, his stamina is insane. But There's no way he's one hundred percent right now either. I tagged him pretty good at the start of the match. Not to mention the big blow against the cement. He's gotta be feeling that at least a little.

The girl's assessment ended up being spot on, because Midoriya was evaluating his physical situation as well.

Ugh, my shoulder is throbbing… I think it might be dislocated…

Overall, the boy was hurting just about everywhere, and eventually he couldn't help but wince a bit as pain shot through his ribs where he'd been punched earlier.

This in turn, gave the girl just what she needed to know.

Yes! I knew it! There was no way he was just brushing off those attacks! He's not invincible! I just gotta keep pushing him. I'll find his limit eventually.

Everyone had their limit, even someone with the insane stamina of Midoriya, and she was more than excited to explore that limit, especially since she had never even come close to finding it throughout their two weeks of training.

"Ready for round two, dork?"

Coughing out the pain in his chest one more time before matching her intensity, Izuku lifted his fists to his head and nodded. Again deciding it was better to stay silent as he pondered his next move.

Waiting there in a tense neutral standoff. The two teens held eye contact until the moment one of them made a move.

That person was Izuku, and much to the big fist user's surprise, the boy was a lot more agile than she would've thought for someone who was as roughed up as he was.

Woah! How is he still so fast!?

Lunging at his opponent, Izuku didn't take his eyes off her.

Just focus on her, she's the only threat. If I just watch her movements carefully, I know I can dodge.

Bracing himself when he saw her enlarge one hand, Midoriya dodged to the side, avoiding the hammer fist completely as it cracked the ground next to him.

Yes! I knew I could do it! 

From there, the boy pushed forward, using his speed to outpace Itsuka's surprised guard and get in close.

This was where the orange haired teen lost her bearings, because before she knew what was happening, she was taking a hefty punch right to her stomach, one that no amount of abdominal muscles would be able to dull the pain of.

Now doing her best to hold in her lunch, Kendo found herself grabbing her stomach as spots filled her vision.

Only for her opponent to make a move that made her stomach lurch even more.

"Sorry Itsuka, but this match is over," Midoriya said calmly, trying to hold back his emotions as he moved to end this.

It was from there that the boy grabbed hold of the girl's small frame and essentially threw it up into the air, aiming for her to land very roughly in the grass outside the ring.

He wasn't that cruel though, especially not to her.

*Thwip*

"Oof!" Itsuka groaned, her stomach doing backflip after backflip before finally coming to a rest from the stillness around her.

Regaining her sense of direction, the big fist user realized that not only was she on the outside of the arena, but she was also sitting on a soft and sticky layer of webbing as if it were a makeshift beanbag.

Without even getting the chance to think straight, the crowd erupted into a roar at her defeat. And before she knew it, Itsuka looked up to find a hand waiting to help her stand.

Taking a deep breath and letting her sprinting senses die down, Kendo craned her neck up at the boy offering her his help. Now that she wasn't in butt kicking mode, she could finally get a good look at him, and all she could say about his appearance was… Well, let's just say she hoped that she didn't look as bad as he did right now.

The boy's gym clothes were a bit tattered, but that was expected. What really shocked her was his developing black eye, as well as the scratches all over his body and his unusually low hanging shoulder…

Ouch, I really went all out, didn't I…

"Are you… Ok? I-Itsuka?" The green haired teen called out almost timidly, emphasizing his outstretched hand.

Not even wanting to take his one good arm in fear of hurting him further, Itsuka spoke. "I'm fine dork! But what about you! You look like hell! Don't worry about me I-"

Before she could finish that thought though, Izuku had already grabbed her hand, pulling her up with enough force to rip the webbing stuck to her behind.

"Eep!"

Getting yanked right into some sort of oddly positioned hug, Itsuka felt her cheeks redden as she sensed the boy's heavy and ragged breathing.

"Izuku," she said in barely a whisper, now getting worried for the boy. "What's going on with you? Is this about that weirdness that happened during the match?"

Feeling the boy nod from his spot buried in her shoulder, Itsuka patted his back gently before she heard his raspy voice again.

"I… I think I'm about to have a panic attack. Can you walk with me b-back to the waiting r-rooms? I need to t-talk about what just happened."

Feeling the urgency of the situation, Itsuka nodded with a new look of determination. She knew what his tone of voice meant; he needed her right now, and like she'd promised him before, she was gonna be there for him no matter what. The result of their match was the last thing on her mind right now.

Without missing a beat, Itsuka rearranged their awkward looking embrace into more of a sideways shoulder hug, playing it off perfectly for the world around them now that they only appeared to be helping each other off the field.

"LOOK AT THAT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! NOW THAT'S THE GOOD SPORTSMANSHIP WE COME TO EXPECT OUT OF SUCH TALENTED STUDENTS HERE AT U.A!"

Focusing now on getting her friend to the waiting rooms, Itsuka hoped that her acting, as well as Present Mic's announcement, were enough to get awkward suspicion off of their backs. The last thing she needed was her classmates being all weird about her and Izuku.

Or even worse… If my dad started asking questions… Itsuka shuddered as the thought crossed her mind. That was the last thing she needed, especially knowing how overprotective he was when it came to boys…

With his daughter's match now firmly wrapped up, Itaru Kendo had many different emotions running around in his mind. The main ones being both shock and indignation at what just occurred before his eyes.

It wasn't just that his daughter had lost the match outright, that he could get over. No, what had him more concerned than anything was the show of familiarity from his daughter when she embraced her opponent without batting an eye.

What's going on here... She tried to play off that hug just now, but I know her better than that. What are you hiding, Itsuka?

It was then that it occurred to the large man the very real possibility that this boy was the classmate his daughter was training one on one.

That would explain why you were so lax and distracted during your match… Young lady, we're gonna have a long talk later today…

Breathing out another monumental sigh of relief, Itsuka trudged forward while continuing to hold onto her distressed friend. They were now well outside of the limelight, having been walking through the stadium tunnel for quite a while now as they searched for a vacant waiting room.

The word vacant was very key here, because they had already run into Todoroki while he was leaving his own room. And although he barely even spared them a glance, it was still awkward running into someone you would most likely be facing in the next round.

But while it may have appeared to the two worn out teens that Todoroki was being his cold and usual self, he was still very much attentive to the toll their battle had taken on them. Especially when it came to the green haired teen.

Kendo is no pushover, definitely one of the strongest in our class, but to struggle that much to beat her? My dad was right about you, Midoriya. You're no threat to me.

Deciding not to linger, Shoto turned around and continued walking. The last thing he wanted was for the pair to catch him looking back.

Which is almost what they did, or at least Kendo did, making sure the boy's back was basically out of sight until she spoke softly.

"Well, it's not like he's gonna need it anymore, right? We can use this one," She half groaned as she reached for the doorknob of the half and half user's former waiting room. She was beginning to feel her body succumb to soreness now that she was off the adrenaline high from the match.

Izuku remained silent, his demeanor not looking any better as he forced himself to take deep and controlled breaths.

What could that have been? I didn't lose my spider sense… It rang slightly just now when we ran into Todoroki-san. So why did that happen to me… Peter, help, this is freaking me out.

Sensing that the boy next to her was accelerating his breathing again, Itsuka wasted no time in pulling the boy into the room and sitting him down in a chair.

"Alright Izuku, what the heck is going on with you? You looked like a deer in headlights out there for a minute."

…

…

…

"Izuku, come on, I'm here for you. Take a deep breath and just let it all out. You know you can trust me." Kendo encouraged, putting one hand on his shoulder and another closer to his neck.

Feeling his breathing slow down at his friend's genuine words and warm hands on his shoulders, Izuku nodded slowly as his brain fully processed what she said.

Where do I even begin?

Now that he had his lungs under control, the super powered teen decided that the best thing to do in this situation was to just cut to the chase.

"I… I'm sorry Itsuka… I don't know what happened. All I know is that right before the match started, my spider sense was working just fine. But as soon as you threw the first punch, it just abandoned me…"

Widening her eyes at the explanation, Kendo continued to listen, not wanting to interrupt her friend now that he was getting on a roll.

"Sorry for freaking out on you, for a moment there I felt like I was drowning in my heightened senses. Everything around me felt so loud and bright, and even stuffy. l guess I never realized how crucial my spider sense is to my body's equilibrium."

Itsuka nodded as she backed off of him a little, following along well so far. "That sounds horrible. How do you feel right now? If you did lose your spider sense, then this could become a much bigger problem."

Taking a moment to answer, Midoriya gently grabbed his shoulder where her hand had just been. "That's the weird part, it's back like it never left. I felt it tingle slightly when Todoroki-san walked past us a few minutes ago. It only ever failed to go off when you were attacking me. Which is why I'm leaning toward this being a mental problem rather than a physical one."

Craning her neck curiously, the orange haired teen raised a hand to her chin, not fully understanding.

Seeing this, Izuku clarified. "How do I put this? I think that this may be some kind of mental block instead of an actual problem with my spider sense. Does that make sense? Now that I think about it, last round when we tumbled onto the ground after the cavalry battle, my spider sense didn't go off… The same as when you fist bumped me too hard after my match with Tetsutetsu-san…"

Now having all of the puzzle pieces click in her brain, Itsuka gathered her thoughts as realization hit her.

"You think I'm the problem?"

Cringing a bit at her choice of words, the super powered teen shook his head vigorously. "N-no! Of course not! You aren't a problem, Itsuka! Sure, right now you may look like the common variable, but we can't jump to conclusions!"

Letting out a sigh and pulling a chair up next to the boy, Itsuka sat down. "And here I was thinking that I was landing more hits because I was going all out…"

"Oh, believe me, that definitely played a big role. Has anyone ever told you that you're terrifying in a real fight?"

"Hehe," she chuckled, scratching the back of her head in embarrassment. "Was I really that different?"

"Are you kidding!? It felt like you were trying to kill me out there!" Izuku joked. "The only thing keeping my senses at bay was me telling myself this was just an exhibition. But my instincts were telling me to catch the next bus out of town ASAP."

Giggling at the boy's lighthearted joke, Itsuka allowed herself to smile, the tension in the room from before now long gone.

So much so in fact, that Itsuka didn't realize how long she was giggling, because when she opened her eyes, she found that her green haired friend was staring at her quite dearly. If she didn't know any better, she would almost say that the boy's expression was almost dreamy.

"Uhh, Izuku? You good? Is your head hurting again?"

"Huh!? Oh! Uhh… No! I'm fine! I just-"

The boy didn't even have a chance to apologize before his friend busted out again into heavy laughter.

Crap! She caught me staring! Get your head out of the gutter Izuku! She's your friend, you can't think about her in that way!

Unbeknownst to the boy though, behind the girl's fit of laughter was a rapid heart rate that she couldn't seem to slow down or understand.

This guy… I'll never understand how he makes me laugh so easily…

The pair were only broken out of their individual thoughts when they heard a soft knock and a turn of the doorknob.

"My goodness, young man! Look at you! You look like a bulldozer ran you over!" Recovery girl barged in, surprising the two teens.

"Well, what can I say ma'am, that's kinda how I feel. I was fighting against a master after all." Izuku said gently, never losing eye contact with his friend.

There it was again, Itsuka couldn't help but blush slightly as she looked down at her shoes. Once more, Izuku recovered way faster than she anticipated and was back to being snarky.

And here she was, continuing to let it drive her crazy…

Recovery Girl must have picked up on this as well, because she soon put herself right in between the two teens as she began working on Izuku.

"You little jokester, you can laugh it up now, but if you want to win this tournament, then you better not get roughed up next round. I know you've got more stamina than most, but even you will get put on your heinie by three of my sessions in one day." She said sternly as she gave the boy a soft kiss on the cheek.

"Right! Thank you ma'am!"

"Now scoot! Let me work on your friend here."

This was where Itsuka inserted herself into the conversation. "Oh, actually, I'm just fine, Recovery Girl, just a few scrapes and bruises. Nothing I cant-"

"I don't wanna hear it!" The older lady demanded stubbornly. "Doctor's orders! So go wait outside young man! I'll be done with her in a jiffy!"

"Y-yes ma'am!" Izuku croaked, cringing at how high pitched his voice sounded as he walked out of the room.

Itsuka merely sweat dropped at the intense attitude of the healing specialist.

Apparently, this was all an act though, because the moment the door clicked behind Izuku, Recover Girl was all smiles as she reached out and touched Kendo's bruises.

"Ah, boys… Always so gullible. Some things never change…"

This was where Itsuka got confused, but she was unable to voice this as the doctor began talking again.

"Pardon me for acting so batty, I just wanted to have a private word with you for a moment."

"Yeah? What about?" Kendo responded curiously.

"It's about your friend, that was a sweet thing you did, accompanying him even after you lost your match. It's very clear how much you care about him, which is why I wanted to say this to you. I saw the footage of the battle trials, Aizawa showed me just to make sure Midoriya was ok. I'm not gonna get into detail about how I yelled All Might's ear off, but I did want to share with you that I know about the incident and how Midoriya didn't come see me afterward."

Understanding completely, Itsuka nodded glumly, already seeing where this was going…

"Boys are stupid when it comes to that macho stuff, which is why I want you to gauge your friend honestly after his next battle. If he needs to see me, you make him come see me, no matter what that means for his chance in the tournament. Do I make myself clear? I know you have that kind of influence over him."

Itsuka nodded without even realizing it. It made perfect sense to her, and she definitely saw Recovery Girl's point of view. Even when Izuku's increased healing ability was factored in, it was still unwise to have skipped at least a check up with the school's medical team.

What she didn't feel comfortable with however, was the way the older woman was talking about her sway on Izuku.

Pshh, she makes it sound like he's my boyfriend or something. As if.

Although, in the very few times Itsuka had ever thought about the B word, certain characteristics that her friend held did come to mind…

Nope! Not doing this right now! Shut up brain!

"Ooh, blushing already? I take it that means you'll do as I ask?" Recovery Girl teased.

Dang it! Screw you brain!

Both hero course classes could barely believe their eyes when Todoroki beat his time from his first match in his second one. Once again creating an enormous glacier that encapsulated the pink skinned girl fully.

"Wow," Awase began. "He didn't even wait for Midnight to finish dropping her flag that time. What was that? A five second fight?"

"Who cares, it was epic." Kaibara yawned.

"Epic!? He just turned Mina into a popsicle!" Hagakure complained.

"Yeah, not cool. If that were me, I'd be forced to go into hibernation, gero."

Of all the chattering students, one silver haired teen stayed silent as he eyed the stage below. He couldn't care less about the remaining matches. His mind was still replaying his own fight over and over, and it was making him cringe every single time.

Although, thinking about it, the previous fight also pissed him off too.

"Tch, stupid Midoriya, using your stupid little tricks and thinking you're so smart. See if Kendo still likes you now that you've used one of them on her." Tetsutetsu grumbled to himself in frustration.

Much to his delight though, soon the very same big fist user he was thinking of showed herself as she walked through the threshold of the student section.

"Kendo!" The steel quirked user all but yelled, being the first one to spot her. "Over here!"

It appeared as though she didn't hear him though, because she kept walking in their general direction without looking up. Clearly she was deep in thought about something.

"Kendo-chan! You did great out there!" Tsunotori spoke up before the silver haired teen could try again.

And wouldn't you know it, this time the orange haired teen looked up, breaking her train of thought and hearing with no problem.

"Thanks, it was a good fight. Izuku is just really freakin' strong."

Nodding her head in agreement, Pony was about to respond to her class rep's statement when she noticed that she was walking toward them alone.

"Speaking of Midoriya, where is he? We saw you two walk off together." Yaoyoruzu pointed out before her horn quirked classmate, once again sending Itsuka back into her deep thoughts as she held back a blush.

"Uh, yeah… He uh, decided to stay down there and strategize for Todoroki. He figured he would win pretty fast so he didn't wanna come up just to go back down. Looks like he was right. What did I miss?" She finished quickly, wanting to change the subject so she could forget about the green haired boy for a moment.

"Oh, I see. And yes, it appears he was indeed correct. Todoroki won quite hastily again." The creation user agreed, her tone of voice no longer very positive since her loss in the first round.

"You can say that again! He crushed her!" Tetsutetsu spoke up, wanting as well to be a part of the conversation. "Going back to your match though Kendo, it really sucked how dirty Midoriya fought, he should really-"

"Ida is what!?" A student from across the bleachers rang out.

Suddenly, all of the attention of class A was turned to its sister class a short ways away.

"I don't know! All I know is that Ida-san had to go. They said that it's some kind of family emergency!" A girl with mushroom shaped hair said with concern.

"Poor Ida!" A girl with green vines for hair said sympathetically. "First he loses in the first round, and now this? I hope he's ok…"

From her vantage point, Itsuka could see that the mood in the other hero course class had suddenly shifted for the worse.

Like she said, I hope their class rep is alright… But hey, at least that interruption got Tetsutetsu to stop yapping for a second…