Izuku was about to do something stupid.

The smart thing to do would be to let Todoroki beat him-even if he had shown that he was powerful, no one would be surprised that the son of the Number Two Hero of the nation would be able to beat out some nobody with unusually strong telekinesis. It would be expected. Safe.

Eh, that would be boring.                                                                                               

Down in the arena Yaoyorozu summoned an anchor to keep herself safe from Iida’s Recipro Burst, her normally spotless attire rumpled and dirty. If Izuku were placing bets, he’d put one on her. She may take longer to activate her Quirk, but the was more versatile and a strategist to boot. As much as he was rooting for Iida, he was aware he other boy’s chances were slim.

“Go Iida!” Uraraka cheered, having been cleared by Recovery Girl as long as she promised to take it easy.

Shinsou didn’t join her, but Izuku could tell he was paying attention to the match.

Yaoyorozu just barely managed to sidestep Iida-at least that’s what she wanted him to believe. In reality, Izuku could see that she was primming him for another run-he would expect something similar to happen the next time, which would give her an opportunity to-

“AND WHAT’S THIS? YAOYOROZU LASSOS IIDA’S LEGS AS HE PASSES BY! WHAT A STUNNING DISPLAY TO COORDINATION AND TIMING!”

The weighted ball at the end of the rope was particularly impressive in Izuku’s opinion. She would’ve had to create it at the same time as the rope and have it be attached. Not for the first time he wondered the specifics of her Quirk-could she make things that were different temperatures? Did it take physical effort to create things? Could she make water if she were dehydrated?

“IIDA IS UNABLE TO MOVE! OUR WINNER IS YAOYOROZU!!”

“You’re damaging my eardrums.”

“OH COME ON, ERASER! HAVE A LITTLE FUN!”

“No.”

It was a miracle and a half that Mic had been able to wrangle Aizawa into that booth at all, much less get semi regular commentary out of him.

After a few more minutes, Bakugou and Kirishima entered the ring.

“Begin!”

…

Eijirou was so ready for this!

His fight with Tetsutetsu had been awesome! It wasn’t every day you got to fight someone with a similar Quirk and fighting style, and man, did it feel so good to beat him in an arm-wrestling match!

Now he got to fight Bakugou! Who was probably the manliest man he’s ever met. He obviously wanted to win, but honestly he was just hyped about doing this at all. Sparring in class didn’t compare to this.

Bakugou stared at him from across the ring, red eyes boring into him as he started Eijirou down. It was nice to know the other boy was taking this seriously, even if he’d been able to gather it from the Athlete’s Pledge.

It was so manly to declare war on everyone like that.

“Start!”

Eijirou wasted no time, meeting Bakugou in the middle as the blond propelled himself forward with blasts, only to be forced to duck as he sent his hardened fists towards him. He knew what most people assumed about him-that because of his tank like Quirk he would be slow. It worked out in his favour a lot of the time-people didn’t expect it, so he was able to catch them off guard. Rocks can be speedy too!

It doesn’t take long for the blond to counter however, and Eijirou hardened his stomach to take the blast that was sent at him.

He grinned, displaying his sharklike teeth. “That won’t work on me.”

Bakugou’s expression twisted into a snarl and Eijirou forced him to back up with another punch, not giving him any room to breathe. If he was lucky he’d be able to force the Bakugou out of the ring like this.

Unfortunately, Bakugou’s peripheral vision wasn’t hindered, and he always managed to angle himself away from the edge, making the two of the turn in circles.

Bakugou occasionally sent blasts towards him which he was able to harden against. It was getting difficult to keep this up, and from the other’s grin, he knew it too.

Uh oh.

Eijirou was forced to duck the next explosion rather than block it, and Bakugou’s grin sharpened.

The one after that connected with his torso, causing him to hiss in pain and nearly fall over. Those blasts weren’t just for show.

“You were saying?” Bakugou sneered.

Any response Eijirou could have made was snatched away by the next large explosion that sent him flying over the ring limits.

“AND WITH THAT FINAL BLOW, BAKUGOU IS OUR WINNER!”

The boy in question smirked, but Eijirou caught him wincing minutely as he touched his wrists. Those explosions must have a lot of recoil.

He watched Bakugou’s retreating back as he struggled to his feet.

So manly.

…

Hitoshi faced the vine-haired girl across from him rolling his shoulders in an attempt to work some of the tension out of them. He could do this. Even if she had managed to figure out his Quirk, he had always been good at provoking responses out of people. Considering her match with Kaminari, flirting would just get him his ass handed to him, barbed insults would just make her indignant and silent, and she was unlikely to laugh at a joke.

“Start!”

Before she could send her vines towards him, Hitoshi held up his hands and said as fast as he could-

“Would you mind waiting a minute for me to say a word of prayer?”

Her determined expression switched to surprise, before smiling. “Oh course! I would be happy to-”

Gotcha.

He felt a little bad for using her religiousness against her, but you gotta do what you gotta do, and Hitoshi was gunning for first place in this. That was his surest chance of getting into the Hero Course.

“Walk out of the ring.” He ordered.

Shiozaki did, face blank.

“SHIOZAKI WALKS OUT OF THE RING, MAKING SHINSOU THE WINNER! THIS UNDERDOG IS GOING FAR FOLKS!”

He released her.

She blinked several times before turning to him.

Hitoshi braced himself.

She held out her hand. “Match well fought.” She said serenely, no hint of disgust or discomfort in her expression.

After a beat he accepted. “Yeah, you too.”

Shiozaki smiled.

…

Enji was not a patient man.

He had thought that Shouto’s childish refusal to use his fire would fade with time once he saw how powerful they were, but he still refused to see reason.

There was an opportunity here however, and Enji was never one to let something like this pass. This Festival would show Shouto that he needed his fire, needed Enji’s legacy if he were to surpass All Might. He hadn’t expected any of Shouto’s classmates to come close to him in power, and had been surprised by the explosion boy. He seemed to be the only real threat and it was better in the long run. If he beat Shouto when he was refusing to use his ice it would demonstrate to the boy how he was lacking, and if he used it and won, well, then that was just expected. There was no one who could match his masterpiece once it was fully realized.

It was worth talking to his next opponent however, to make sure he wouldn’t be as disgraceful as Shouto’s last one.

The green-haired boy rounded the corner, looking strangely unsurprised to see him.

“I don’t think you’re supposed to be back here.” He said politely. “This area is for competitors only.”

Enji’s flaming eyebrows rose without his permission. “I am the Number Two Hero; I can go wherever I please.”

“I’m pretty sure trespassing laws say otherwise.” He took a bite of an apple Enji hadn’t realized he was holding. “Though I’m sure you aren’t here to discuss that.”

Pushing aside the teen’s impertinence, he got to the point. “It is Shouto’s duty to surpass All Might.” He informed him. “His match against you will be a useful test.”

Midoriya didn’t respond.

“Put up a good fight against him, it will be a valuable experience.” That was all Enji needed to say, and just as he was about to begin walking away, the boy spoke.

“It’ll bite you in the ass one day.”

“Excuse me?” He growled.

Midoriya's eyes bored into him, frigid and hard. “Treating people like pawns.” He elaborated. “There will come a day when you will need those bridges you burned on your path to power, a day when you will regret every action that brought you to where you are.”

Enji’s temper soared. “Are you threatening me?!”

An unsettling grin settled over the his lips. “Threatening? Of course not. You’ve already plotted your own downfall without any help, so I don’t see why I would offer any.”

“And what exactly do you mean by that?” He snarled. He was not unnerved by a pint-sized teenager. He was not.

A low chuckle reverberated through the metal hallway.

“You say that you want Shouto to beat All Might, that you want him to surpass the current Number One Hero. Say he does.” Acidic green eyes froze him to his core. “What exactly will that make you?”

Enji froze.

That eerie smile once more. “Just some food for thought.” The boy tossed something over his shoulder, and he was still shocked enough that it hit his face.

It was the apple.

…

Shouto wanted to get this over with.

He watched impassively as Midoriya approached the ring, in one of his hands an apple with only one bite out of it.

Midoriya was strong, but he wouldn’t be able to beat him. Shouto would win without his left side and show everyone that he didn’t need it.

“Arrogance like that is what gets people killed.”

He shook the words out of his head, ignoring the part of him that whispered that it was true.

Midnight cleared her throat. “You’re gonna have to put the apple down.” She informed Midoriya.

There was a pause.

Then, he raised his gaze to meet Shouto’s, one hand enclosing around the apple.

His scarred hand crushed the fruit to its core.

“Okay.” Midoriya said, tossing the now reduced apple to the side. “Is there anything else?” He questioned.

Midnight looked mildly amused. “You’re clear.” She raised her whip. “Start!”

Shouto summoned his ice.

…

Izuku watched as an entire iceberg erupted towards him. It seemed that Todoroki was going to use the same strategy he used with Sero and at the Battle Trials. Overwhelming force.

He let the ice engulf him, the noise from the stands abruptly cutting off. It would seem that he’d have to do this in a way Todoroki would understand.

He pulled several Quirks to the surface, the ice restricting every movement. That didn’t matter-he didn’t need to move for this anyway.

Fracture.

…

Sorahiko’s eyebrows rose as the iceberg Endeavor’s brat had sent exploded into chunks, his opponent walking out of the wreckage calmly. It didn’t even look like the brat had used One For All.

The cameras weren’t able to get that close, but there was something uncomfortably familiar about the green one, something had his instincts screaming.

Who exactly did you give your power to Toshinori?

…

Everything burned.

You would think that Dabi would become numb to the heat after so long-it wasn’t like he had much skin left anyway-but it never got easier.

Stain was practically inhuman and no matter how many times he burned him the man just kept coming. Ingenium was still down and at this rate there were going to be two corpses in the alley instead of one.

He would probably die from the backlash of his Quirk once this was over, so might as well take the bastard with him.

Dabi dimmed his flames enough so that it looked like he was running out of gas-he was-and took a staggering step backwards.

Stain, never one to miss an opportunity lunged for him with his blade stretched outward.

In one smooth motion he sidestepped the blade and grabbed the Hero Killer’s wrist, setting it ablaze. Stain screamed and attempted to retreat, but Dabi refused to release him. He raised his other hand, fully intending to burn the man alive along with him-

“Don’t!”

The shout made him loose his grip, allowing Stain to break it and dart away, out of site before he could even comprehend what was going on.

It was unlikely he would return, not after the nasty wounds Dabi had given him.

He turned to face Ingenium, surprised to see the other man on his feet. “Why did you stop me?” It probably wasn’t the best idea to antagonize the Hero who had just seen him commit vigilantism, even if it had been to save him.

“You were going to kill him.” It wasn’t a question.

Dabi responded anyway. “Yes.”

“It would have killed you too.” Ingenium seemed very sure of this. “I saw how you were using your fire-you don’t have the heat resistance for it right? Except on your hands.”

That was…not what he’d been expecting.

“I mean obviously I don’t condone killing, but this was in self defense and he was trying to kill you too.” He scooped up his fallen helmet. “I’ve alerted the other Heroes in the area with an SOS, so someone should be arriving pretty soon.”

Not good. Not good. Fuck. How was he going to get anywhere? It wasn’t like he could show up at a hospital without getting asked a shit ton of questions. His burns weren’t exactly inconspicuous.

“Are you alright?”

It was only after Ingenium asked him did he realize he was swaying on his feet.

“Quirk…overuse.” He panted, the heat coming in waves. “Do you have any water?”

Ingenium unclipped one from somewhere on his armour and handed it to him. “Does this happen often?”

Try every bloody time I use my Quirk. He internally grouched. Outwardly he shrugged. “Often enough.” The water was mercifully cold, and he took a long gulp before pouring some on his neck. That was usually the easiest way to get his temperature back to normal. Well, as normal as it ever was.

He let himself slide down against the alley wall, legs not able to support him much longer. His fingers clutched the water bottle like a lifeline, and he tried to breathe evenly.

A shadow fell over them and if he wasn’t already sitting down Dabi would have fallen over in shock.

“You don’t look like you’re in the middle of an SOS situation.” The Number Three Hero said, one blond eyebrow cocking.

His day really couldn’t get any worse.