214Pros Are So Cool!
Izuku grinned happily as he made his way back to the arena. Clutching his notebook to his chest as it now held the signature of Edgeshot! Edgeshot! One of the coolest heroes out there! He let out a sigh as he finally arrived back in the arena. He smiled as he found his group of friends, though they all looked worried.
The boy made his way over. Wondering why they all looked worried.
"Well maybe it's cause you and blasty didn't tell anyone anything, you know? It's just a thought but maybe that could be it." Kokoro told him in very emphasized sarcasm, making Izuku feel kind of like an idiot. At least she didn't call him a dumbass. "Fucking dumbass." Was it too much to hope?
He let out a sigh as he finally made his way to his friends, Momo approaching him. "Izuku, what happened with Bakugo-kun? He looked very distressed." She asked.
Tokage raised a brow in her corner of the group, many girls had been calling the greanette by his first name, which was might strange. But maybe he just liked being called by his first name rather than his surname? It wasn't unheard of, just strange.
Izuku rubbed the back of his neck as he thought about it, "I-I'm not sure if it's really my place to tell, but some stuff happened with Kacchan's team during the paintball match, that's all I'm gonna say." He wanted to tell her more, but he wasn't sure if it was his place.
On one hand, he's sure Eiko and Kacchan wouldn't want them to talk about it. Eiko was all about manliness and he assumed that she wouldn't want them talking about a moment where she had lost. Bakugo was the same but with his pride, letting someone he cared about be hurt, most surely damaged his pride at least a tad.
But on the other hand, he and Momo were the representatives for their class, they had to make sure everyone was ok, it was part of their duties. But he didn't want to overstep in this scenario, if he had to help later than he would with Momo's assistance.
But for now, he would leave it at that.
Momo still looked worried but nodded, "Alright, but they're doing better now?" She wanted to make sure her friends were ok, and she let out a content sigh when Izuku nodded. If they were ok then that was fine and she knew Izuku wouldn't lie.
After all, she was trusted with one of his, and All Might's, most prized secrets, even if it was a complete fluke that she had managed to find out. Honestly, perhaps All Might pushed himself too much….
A bouncing brunette came up to the two of them, smiling as she tugged at Izuku's arm, pointing at the scoreboard of the stadium that was displaying who would continue. "We made it! We're going to the tournament!" She smiled widely, the sight made Izuku sigh and smile as well.
Though there was something that Izuku had noticed. He squinted at the screen, but he couldn't find Ojiro on the screen, despite the rest of the blonde's team being visible as moving onto the next event. Izuku rose a brow in confusion, what was going on?
He tapped Ochako's shoulder, the girl had still been holding his arm, though he didn't look at her. When she turned her gaze to him she saw his look of confusion staring at the board, "Could you let go for a second Ochako?" She did.
He walked through the crowd of students, looking for a distinct meaty tail. He passed a couple of people from other courses before finding Ojiro talking with Sato and Koda, both of them were asking what was on Izuku's mind, or at least Sato was, Koda was standing there, too nervous to speak.
"Dude, what happened man? Why'd you drop out?" Sato said as he laid a hand on Ojiro's shoulder.
"Ojiro-kun!" Izuku called out as he approached, the three looked at him, Izuku opened his mouth but closed it soon after, thinking of what to ask, what to say. "Why?" He eventually said.
The blonde knitted his brows, "I didn't earn it Midoriya… I don't even remember what happened during the second round." Ojiro clenched a fist at his side, his teeth grinding against each other. He was mad, that was clear.
Izuku sighed, he didn't like that Ojiro was giving up a chance to show what he was made of, but there was no changing his mind. Ojiro was a martial artist, he fought with honor, and his honor would be tainted if he continued, Izuku knew that. He laid a hand on his classmate's shoulder, "If that's what you want Ojiro-kun, but you did great." He patted the blonde's shoulder and walked away.
He wanted to say more, do more, but he couldn't. It wouldn't matter.
"AND NOW WE'LL HAVE AN HOUR INTERMISSION TO ALLOW ALL PROCEEDING STUDENTS TO GET THEIR ENERGY UP FOR THE FINAL PART OF THE FESTIVAL! SO STAY TUNED FOLKS BECAUSE YOU WON'T WANNA MISS IT!" The voice of the voice hero was heard to any and all as the students made their way to the cafeteria built into the stadium. Izuku entered a hall and stuffed his hands in his pockets.
Many other students were following suit, some happy that they could rest and go home, some sad they weren't able to get further, others excited or nervous about the upcoming matches. And then those that were here to prove something.
Monoma clenched his fist. Barely. He had barely made it to the next round because some meat head from 1-A had dropped out. It was infuriating! First he gets shown up by some 1-A clown with anger problems and then this happened!
How was that redhead still qualifying?! The girl, Kirishima, had taken an explosion to her face, she was in pain, though mostly ocular pain. Her hardened skin had protected her from any other type of damage. So how the hell was she moving on!
Monoma took some breathes and ruffled his hair, "Everything will be fine, 1-B will be victorious, things will be as they should." His eyes landed on Midoriya in the crowded hallway, students chattering around seemed silent as the blonde narrowed his eyes.
The "Top Dog" of 1-A, perhaps even the entire first year course, Izuku Midoriya. Monoma had to hold his chest to stop himself from gagging. The boy had a good quirk, but that was all. There was nothing more to him than that.
But with Monoma's quirk, he had to make due with what was around him. And he'd do a hundred times better with Midoriya's quirk if he had it. He would've been able to beat that pomeranian bastard.
He scoffed as they entered the cafeteria, he needed food, then he needed to gather hair and make acquaintances
Shinso sighed as he fell into a chair in the cafeteria, most of the general course students were gone. Either they left since they had something better to do than see those better than them accomplish everything, or they went outside to the concession stands since they didn't want to be near the hero course..
Shinso found himself chuckling, he made it. And he managed to get someone from 1-A to drop out, some nonsense about not earning his place or something. It didn't matter to him.
He had made it so far, and now he needed to go even farther if he wanted to become a hero. He wouldn't stop yet, he had something to prove.
He clenched a fist at his side, he had regretted not working out. The obstacle course was a nightmare and he had barely just made it, but he had made it. That's all that mattered.
He found himself smiling and got up, he'd need energy for his upcoming matches, though if everything went as planned then it wouldn't matter. He'd win within seconds.
Izuku sighed as he sat at a table with his friends, looking cautiously over at Iida. He felt bad, truly terrible. Iida didn't get past the paintball match. His movements were more normal than usual, they weren't as robotic, they lacked enthusiasm. Izuku felt terrible..
He wanted to say something, but he couldn't think of anything! He just had to watch as his friend wallowed in self pity. Everyone else at the table had picked up on it too. The group consisted of him, Iida, Kaminari, Jiro, Momo, Ochako and Shoko. Kaminari looked like he was regretting his choices too.
It made sense, him and Iida were a part of the same team.
Kaminari looked up from his food, "Iida, I'm sorry dude, I didn't-"
Iida put a hand up, "It is alright Kaminari-kun, we failed, there's nothing more to it." He said rather dejectedly. Kaminari slumped, he felt bad for pulling his team down, he over used his quintessence cloak, got stuck in enemy territory, had to get fished out by Iida and Sero, and cost his team half of their points…
No one really knew what to say, they had all just felt too weighted down by the mood. Until someone unexpected opened their mouth. "Well you gotta fail, right?" Jiro asked from her seat next to Kaminari.
The group looked at her with raised brows but Izuku understood what she was talking about. "Yeah, you're right. If all you do is win, then you don't see your faults, you won't be able to improve. Losing sucks and it hurts, but it makes us better, right?" He rhetorically asked and he got nods in return.
Ever since coming to UA, Izuku hadn't lost much, but he knew that when it did happen, it would bite. So he'd push his strengths to their limits and covered all the faults he could. He didn't want his luck to catch up with him.
Iida nodded to himself as he fixed his glasses. "You two are.. correct, we must fail in order to succeed." He looked up and locked gazes with Kaminari, the smaller boy flinching, "Thank you Kaminari, for opening my eyes." He said and went back to his food.
Kaminari huffed, his held breath coming out. Jiro patted his back. "You're ok Jamming Way."
"Thanks Kyoka.." Kaminari smiled at her and went back to his food, not noticing the blush on the purplette as she huffed and got back to her own meal. "Stupid idiot." She muttered under her breath.
Momo, who was sat next to Izuku, had seen the display and her heart soared. It was just like her romance novels! The tsundere and the airhead, oh it was perfect! The thought of romance made her thoughts go wild as she turned to Izuku.
He wasn't overly handsome and he didn't have any stand out features like many protagonists in her novels did, but he was kind. And while she did have a thing for the bad boy characters, the classic charming angel wasn't bad at all. It was pretty good she had to admit.
She ate at her food as chatter continued. Stealing glances at the greanette, she saw him smile and laugh amongst their group of friends.
She smiled, she hadn't been much of a social butterfly in junior high, too many boys were creeps. And despite Izuku not making a great first impression, he hadn't been as terrible as those boys were or even those thugs that he scared away the day they met.
And now she had a big group of friends and it all started with Izuku.
She wanted to tell him so bad, tell him everything, but she was too nervous. What is she was the secondary girl in the story and their was someone else who ended up actually falling in love with Izuku and then they'd date and then get married and live happily ever-
She took a deep breath.
She didn't need her thoughts to spiral like that.
Izuku asked anyone if they wanted him to throw their food away since he was done, he ended up taking his Ochako and Kaminari's plates as he left the table. He disposed of them and turned around to head back when a small weight hit his leg.
"PAPA!" A loud and female voice yelled throughout the cafeteria, allowing many to hear. But Izuku didn't really care as he knelt and picked up Eri and twirled her around before giving her a hug.
"Hey Eri-chan!" He felt her hug around his neck as he heard footsteps, seeing Inko and All Might, deflated of course, running to catch up with her. "Mom, Mr. Yagi!" Izuku smiled.
"Hello-" All Might coughed, running without using One For All really made his lung act up, "-My boy." He smiled as he wiped away a bit of blood on his chin. "I must say, I'm proud! You did very well keeping your score during the paintball match!" He rustled Izuku's hair just a bit.
Inko smiled as she hugged Izuku, and since Izuku was holding her Eri too, "Oh my baby boy.. I'm so proud!"
Izuku chuckled, "Thanks mom, but how are you guys here? Spectators aren't allowed in this area."
Toshinori chuckled, "You forget Young Midoriya, I have a connection with Nezu. I basically got super VIP tickets! Working with All Might does have it's benefits.." He said with a sly smile, Izuku getting the message and nodding.
"Now Izuku, why don't you go with Eri to your friends. She's been wanting to see someone called Ms. Shoko all day." Inko smiled as she recounted Eri talking about the girl during the obstacle course and later in the paintball match too.
"Oh ok, will do!" Izuku smiled as he walked off.
"Oh they grow up so fast.." Inko's eyes were brimming with tears. Toshinori simled, "They do.. don't they?" The kid had changed so much from when they had first met. From a scrawny mess who couldn't use his quirk to a titan that was at the top of his class.
Izuku smiled as he returned to the table with Eri. The girl crushing into his shoulder as she hugged him around his neck. "Hey guys."
Eri peaked out to see the group, she wasn't comfortable with everyone, but there were a couple she was alright with, and she spotted Ochako. "Mama!" She smiled and tried to get out of Izuku's hold, the boy almost dropped her because of it.
He put her down and she ran and hugged Ochako's leg. The brunette smiled and picked her up, the two starting just talking about whatever and Izuku was glad Eri found comfort with someone.
Izuku looked at his friends and almost died of laughter. Kaminari was holding napkins for Iida, who was drenched in what Izuku assumed was Kaminari's drink, perhaps the boy did a spit take? But what would make him do that?
"D-Did Eri call you Mama, Ochako?" Jiro asked her brunette friend, ah that made sense. The brunette smiled and nodded as she hugged the little girl. The purple haired girl blushed as she turned to talk to Kaminari, she didn't want to know what that implied.
"I would reprimand you both if I didn't know who Eri was.." Iida commented as he cleaned his face. "But then again, you both seem responsible, you don't seem like the types to do something like that at such a young age."
Momo brightened as she thought about her romance manga, both of the mentioned teens also exploded at that.
"I-Iida-kun!" Izuku blushed a bit. While Ochako went full catatonic, Eri tapped her face a bit to get her to move and it was enough to distract the brunette, but she had a nervous smile on her face now, along with a blush.
Shoko tilted her head, she didn't understand what was wrong with what Iida had said. She started thinking about it, but she couldn't find out why they were so embarrassed. Shoko looked at Momo, "Momo, why's it so embarrassing?"
Momo smiled with closed eyelids, her grin reaching her ears. "I'll show you some of my romance novels later, Shoko." She clapped her hands together with a smile.
"Oh ok.." She wanted to know now, but that was fine. The Todoroki heir felt a tap on her hand, Eri smiling at her.
"Miss Shoko, you were r-really cool…" She said quietly, but there was admiration in her voice. The bicolored teen ruffled the girl's head, smiling lightly at the girl's choice of words.
"Thanks Eri-Chan.."
"Oh! Speaking of cool, guys look!" Izuku pulled out his notebook and opened it to a page of Edgeshot, the signature being seen underneath a drawing. "I met him in the hallway, he was so cool!"
Kaminari smiled at the signature as he took a look, "Man that's dope! Think you'll be able to get any more during the festival?" He raised a quizzical brow. The entirety of the top ten was patrolling the building, and Izuku knew that.
He put a hand on his chin, "Maybe, but I might not be able to, really it just depends on luck if I run into one of them or not." He answered.
Momo looked pensive and entered the conversation, "But it's past noon, no? So don't you think the heroes would be coming to eat as well?" She asked the group in general.
"FULL LIGHTNING!" In a zap of energy Izuku was gone, probably off to go look for some of the top 10. Momo sighed, she probably shouldn't have mentioned that fact, but oh well.
"So…" Iida trailed off, sipping at his orange juice despite not needing to use his quirk later today, "What have you all decided when to tell him?" He glanced at the three girls in particular.
"Eh, tell Midoriya what?" Kaminari asked aloud but was largely ignored.
"Well, we were going to tell him after the USJ, but then everything happened and after that training for the festival started, but we decided soon." Momo answered with a slight smile.
"Well it's about damn time..' Jiro grumbled, poking at her food.
"W-What were you guys gonna tell Midoriya!" Jiro deadpanned at the electric boy making him feel stupid, "Is there something I'm missing here?!"
Jiro sighed. "God, you're an idiot…"
"Hey come on Kyoka! You could at least call me a strong idiot!"
She stared at him like he was stupid again before chuckling, "Fine, you're a strong idiot.."
"Thank you!" He said as he crossed his arms with a satisfied smile, completely forgetting about the stuff with Izuku they were talking about.
Izuku whipped around the cafeteria, searching for any of the top 10, he had found washed and got their autograph. He laughed at how excitable the pro was, it was kind of infectious.
He hadn't found any more so far, but he heard footsteps, loud and proud. Ones that commanded respect, from behind him. He instantly thought of Endeavor, but then he focused on it.
These ones were softer, but still held power behind them. It was hard to make sense of it, but that's all that Izuku got before turning around.
"Oh my god!"
"Dude, is that really her, or am I seeing things!"
"I'm surprised our creepy principle convinced her to act as security."
"I know, right? The news says she always hates negotiations and stuff.."
Izuku heard as the person grinned wildly, his eyes widened in admiration. The strongest woman in all of Japan, and the current strongest state woman in Japan at Rank 7 of all the pro heroes, men and women alike. "Rabbit Hero: Mirko!" He gushed.
The surrounding students all turned, staring at the woman in awe. Though, no one moved to ask her questions or get an autograph. She had a reputation of not being the kindest to reporters and interviewers she deemed wasted time.
"Hey pipsqueak!" She yelled, taking steps towards Izuku. Despite being taller than her by a wide margin, Izuku felt infinitely smaller than her. She had an aura of power and excellence that Izuku only had when using darkness of light, and even then he couldn't use them to their fullest.
But just seeing her, Izuku could feel her strength. "Yes ma'am!" He went rigid, why? He had no idea.
But what he found strange was the fact that she talked to him at all. She never took interns. That was a fact. So her even patrolling the arena for the festival should've been a big waste of time to her, but she was still doing it.
Then he remembered Edgeshot's words.
Your skills have garnered some of my peer's attention, you have eyes on you Midoriya, even those that hate others and see personal strength as absolute have taken an interest in you
It was no secret to the public that Mirko was a hero that valued power above all else, just like Endeavor. But to Izuku, she was more human. She had a soft spot for kids, mostly little girls. And while she did cause some property damage, it was nowhere near Endeavors. And Endeavor's was damage caused by reckless thinking from using too much force on an opponent, and despite it not looking like it, Mirko often limited herself when fighting crooks.
So the question was: Was she interested in Izuku?
"Say kid, what's your quirk?" She inquired as she stood before him, despite having to look down to see her, Izuku squirmed.
"Ah, it's Elements.. it lets me control and create lightning, fire, water, earth and wind.." He explained.
Mirko grinned just a bit, "Alright then kid, get first, or else." She crossed her arms and walked away. Izuku shook in place, he still needed to get an autograph. He turned around, she was still there.
"Ms. Mirko, can I have an autograph?!" He asked loudly, she turned to him and grinned.
"Get first!" She called out and kept walking.
Izuku deflated just a bit, but he did really want that autograph, it was good motivation he had to admit. He closed his notebook, which he had open to her page, and let out a sigh.
He decided he'd look for more pros though, he really wanted to get more autographs.
"ALRIGHTTT, ALL STUDENTS PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE STANDS! CAN I GET BAKUGO KATSUKI AND SHISHIDA JUROTA TO MAKE THEIR WAY TO THE ARENA PLEASE!" The voice of Present Mic was easily heard, the students that moved on all nodded to themselves, it was time for the tournament.
Izuku found his way to his friend group, a little saddened by the amount of autographs he got still.
His friends that weren't participating sent the ones that were some smiles. "I guess we should head to the stands now, do you need to take Eri back to your mom?" Ochako asked as she got out of her chair, Eri in her arms.
Izuku thought about it, before pulling out his phone. After two rings it picked up.
"Problem child, if you did something I swear-"
"I was just gonna ask if we could have Eri in the stands with us Aizawa-sensei, why do you always think the worst when it's me.." Izuku heard a sigh on the other side of the phone and waited for a response.
"That's fine, just make sure she doesn't cause too much trouble." The man replied then hung up.
The greanette sighed at such an abrupt end to the call. The man was probably sleeping before he called. "Aizawa-sensei said we could take her with us, I'll tell my mom." Izuku walked off, making another phone call.
"Hey mom, could I take Eri-chan to the stands with me?"
He heard a laugh, "Izuku of course you can. After all, you do know Eri-chan more than I do, even your friends do, so maybe it would be better." That actually made sense. "And Izuku?"
"Yeah mom?"
"Good luck sweetie, you'll do great I just know it." She said with joy in her voice, he was going to respond but she continued, "Oh, and Toshi thinks you'll do amazing too sweetie."
"Ah, t-thanks.." This was still going to take time to get used to.
"Alright, love you sweetie."
"Love you too mom." Izuku hung up, stuffing his phone in his pants. It had been a long enough day so far, but it was about to get even longer, and he was excited. "I can't believe I'm actually here.." He muttered.
He remembered watching the Sports Festival every year when it happened, and now he was participating, it was all so surreal.
"Oi, Deku.."
Izuku turned around to see Bakugo, he seemed to have calmed down from earlier which was good. Overall, he looked a lot better than earlier, though Eiko and Mina weren't around which confused Izuku a bit.
"Oh hey Kacchan, what's up?" He asked.
Bakugo straightened his back, as if to look taller, more imposing, before raising his head just a bit. "I told you that I challenge you before this all started, don't lose to anything else, ya got that? You're only gonna lose to me."
Izuku nodded, "If you say so, but I'm going to do my best."
Bakugo turned around and walked away, "It won't be enough.." He said.
Izuku let out a breath, he seemed more locked up than usual, so he probably wasn't as good as Izuku thought. "What was that about?"
Grief is a strong tool, little one, it can push a person to new heights but that requires a cost.
The boy locked up at her voice. It had been a while since he had last heard her. He thought about it, Eiko got hurt, Bakugo wasn't able to do anything.
"Shit.."
END
Ok so I might take a small break from this series, I don't want to burn out, and I have other stories that I'm working on. Though none of them have a large amount of chapters.
But I do want to upload the first chapter of at least one, so I'm going to put up a poll between three series I'm working on.
Class B's cinnamon Roll: Izuku is in class B instead.
Hope in the Dark: Reboot of my villain Deku story.
Demon to Hero: Izuku has Rin Okumura's powers.
But that's all, thanks for watching and as always,
Jay out!