The industrial sector of the exam grounds was usually a place of cold steel and silence, but today, it echoed with the high-pitched wailing of two souls in absolute agony.
"NO! NO! NO! IT CAN'T BE!"
Mineta Minoru fell to his knees, his hands clawing at his scalp, literal streams of blood gushing from his tear ducts—a biological anomaly fueled purely by jealous rage. Beside him, Kosei Tsuburaba of Class 1-B was biting into his own knuckle, his face a mask of tragic despair.
Before them lay the defeated form of Shihai Kuroiro. The Vantablack hero had been the first to fall to Midnight's Somnambulist quirk, passing out almost instantly. But that wasn't the tragedy. The tragedy was that Midnight, the R-Rated Hero, was currently sitting on a concrete slab, legs crossed, with not only Kuroiro's unconscious head resting gently on her lap but Hanta Seros as well. She stroked their hair absentmindedly, looking at the remaining students with a sultry, predatory grin.
"Come on, boys," Midnight purred, licking her lips. "Don't you want to join them? It's very soft here. The scent of sleep is... intoxicating."
"IT'S NOT FAIR!" Tsuburaba screamed, pointing a trembling finger at his fallen classmate. "Kuroiro acts all edgy and dark, 'I am the creature of the night,' and he gets the lap pillow?! He's asleep! He can't even appreciate the curvature or the texture! It's a waste of resources!"
"Why does God punish the faithful?!" Mineta screeched, the blood-tears staining his costume. "I've studied for this! I've dreamed of this! And the guy who shoots tape from his elbows gets the prime real estate? Damn you, Sero! I hope you have a nightmare!"
Midnight cracked her whip against the pavement, the sound echoing like a gunshot. "If you want the spot, you have to come take it. Or... are you going to run?"
The two boys looked at each other. The lust was strong, but the primal fear of that whip—and the purple haze beginning to emanate from her skin—was stronger.
"RUN!" they screamed in unison.
Turning tail, the grape-themed hero and the solid-air user scrambled away into the maze of pipes and pillars, leaving their dignity and their fallen teammate, behind.
The Viewing Room
In the monitoring room, the atmosphere was a mix of second-hand embarrassment and heavy silence. The screen displayed the two boys fleeing in terror, their screams still audible over the audio feed.
"Oh, man, it had to be Mineta of all people against Midnight?" Yang Xiao Long asked, crossing her arms and looking at the screen with a mixture of amusement and pity. "I mean, I've seen some hopeless guys back at Junior High, but this is a new low."
"It is most unbecoming," Iida Tenya said, his hand chopping the air stiffly, though his face was flushed with shame for his classmate. "Mineta's behavior reflects poorly on Class 1-A's integrity!"
Ruby Rose tilted her head, watching Mineta trip over a pipe on the screen. "They're running away from the teacher? But Mr. Aizawa said they have to either handcuff her or escape through the gate. They're just... running in circles."
"It is sad," Elizabeth Liones murmured softly, clutching her hands together. "They seem so driven by... well, the wrong things? "
"That's Mineta for you, kero," Tsuyu Asui said bluntly, her finger on her chin. "He's always been like that. Honestly, I'm surprised he hasn't been expelled yet."
Momo Yaoyarozu sighed, her eyes glued to the tactical map. "Sero was knocked out instantly, but Mineta and Tsuburaba may still pull through. They need to focus."
Blake Belladonna watched silently from the back, her amber eyes narrowing. "Cowardice is one thing. But they aren't just scared of the enemy. They aren't even focused on her, it's that they're more focused on her body"
It was then that Recovery Girl, seated in her swivel chair, tapped her cane against the floor. The sharp sound silenced the room. The elderly heroine looked at the screen, her expression uncharacteristically stern.
"You children... you ask if this is normal," Recovery Girl began, her voice raspy but carrying the weight of decades. "U.A. Academy is the pinnacle of hero education. Thousands apply. A handful are chosen. We look for power, yes. Intelligence, certainly. But mostly, we look for drive."
She turned her chair to face the group—Midoriya, the team from Remnant, the Seven Deadly Sins representative, and her own students.
"The rigorous training we put these children through strips them bare," she continued. "It breaks down pretenses. When you are staring down a villain who wants to kill you, or holding up a collapsing building with your bare hands, superficial desires evaporate. Fame, money, the attention of women... those fuels burn out very quickly when faced with death."
Midoriya Izuku looked down at his gloved hands, his expression tightening. He knew that weight better than anyone.
"I have seen many students with incredible quirks wash out of this school," Recovery Girl said, looking back at Mineta on the screen. "Because when the fear takes hold, if your 'why' isn't strong enough, your legs won't move. To be frank... a boy with Mineta's current personality and shallow goals? I do not believe he will survive the coming year. The world is getting darker. And UA is too difficult for those without the drive to be true heroes". She said sadly.
Back with Mineta and Tsubaraba:
Mineta and Tsuburaba slid down the side of a massive concrete pillar, gasping for air. They were hidden in the shadows of a suspended walkway, safe for the moment from Midnight's whip.
"Okay... okay, we lost her," Tsuburaba panted, wiping sweat from his forehead. "Man, did you see the way she looked at us? Like we were bugs."
"Lucky bugs," Mineta muttered, though his heart wasn't in it. He pulled his knees to his chest. "Dammit. Kuroiro is out. Sero is out, it's just us. And we're just... here."
"It's not fair," Tsuburaba said, leaning his head back against the concrete. "I came to U.A. to get famous, you know? I thought, 'Hey, I can make solid air, that's cool. The ladies will love a guy who can make invisible walls.' I thought it would be easy."
He looked over at Mineta, his expression dropping the comedic act.
"But then I look at my class. Look at Kendo. She's... she's like a relentless force of nature. She drags us forward. And Tetsutetsu? The guy is made of steel, but his will is even harder. He throws himself into danger without blinking. Me? I just make walls and hide behind them. I slack off. I look at skirts. And now... now I'm hiding from a teacher while Kuroiro took the hit."
Mineta remained silent, staring at the purple balls on his gloves.
"We're pathetic," Tsuburaba whispered.
"Yeah," Mineta croaked. "We are."
Mineta closed his eyes, and the image of a green-haired boy flashed in his mind.
"I used to think a hero was just a celebrity," Mineta said quietly. "Then I met Midoriya. At the USJ... on that boat... I was crying. I was so scared I wet myself. I told him we were gonna die. I called him crazy."
Mineta clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white.
"But he didn't listen to me. He jumped. He fought. He saved us. And it didn't stop there. I watched the news about Stain. I heard about how he saved our class mates. And then..." Mineta's voice trembled. "Then I saw him fight Superman."
Tsuburaba blinked and looked down the memory of his parents terror while watching the symbol of hope become a monster etched into his brain like a tatoo on his skin. "The guy with the red cape? The one who took down All Might? I saw him, I remember that fight"
"Yeah," Mineta whispered. "Midoriya stood in front of him. A literal god among men. And Midoriya didn't flinch. He broke his bones, he screamed, but he didn't run away."
Mineta felt hot tears pricking his eyes again, but they weren't blood this time. They were tears of genuine shame.
"I called him a monster back at the USJ," Mineta admitted, his voice cracking. "After he saved my life, I looked at him and thought he was scary. How messed up is that? He's the greatest hero I've ever seen, and I'm just... the pervert who sticks things together."
"Mineta..."
"I know I'll never be like him," Mineta said, looking up, his eyes burning with a sudden, desperate fire. "I'll never be the Symbol of Peace. I'll never fight Superman. I'm just Mineta. But... but if I run away now, while Midoriya is watching? While my classmates are watching?"
He stood up, his small legs shaking.
"I don't want to be the guy who let his friends down. I don't want to be the joke anymore. I want to be cool, dammit! Even if just for a second!"
Tsuburaba looked at the small, trembling boy. He thought of Kendo's disappointment. He thought of Monoma's crazy speeches about Class 1-B's superiority. If he lost here, while acting like a coward, he'd be proving everyone right.
Tsuburaba stood up and took a deep breath. He exhaled, and a small, invisible platform solidified in the air before him. He stepped onto it, hovering a few inches off the ground.
"You're right," Tsuburaba said, a grin breaking through his fear. "If we go down, we go down swinging. We can't let the 1-A vs 1-B rivalry end with us crying in a corner. I won't let Tetsutetsu outshine me today."
"You got a plan?" Mineta asked, wiping his nose.
"Yeah," Tsuburaba nodded. "But it requires you to be the bait. And it requires us to stop thinking about her... assets... and start thinking about her weakness."
"Bait?" Mineta swallowed hard. "I hate being bait. But... I hate losing more."
The sound of high heels clicking on concrete announced her arrival before she even turned the corner. Midnight emerged from the shadows, her whip trailing behind her like a serpent.
"Found you little mice," she cooed. She raised her hand, tearing the fabric of her bodysuit slightly to release more of her Somnambulist aroma. "Are we done playing hide and seek? I'm getting bored."
"We're done hiding!" Mineta shouted.
He stepped out from behind the pillar, standing alone in the center of the walkway. He was trembling visibly, sweating buckets, but he stood his ground.
Midnight laughed. "Oh? Just you? Did your friend leave you behind?"
"He's not my friend!" Mineta yelled, forcing the lie. "He's the competition! I'm taking you down myself so all the girls will cheer for ME!"
"Is that so?" Midnight's eyes narrowed playfully. "Let's test that resolve."
She lashed out. The whip cracked through the air, aiming to wrap around Mineta's waist and toss him aside.
Now!
Mineta didn't run away. Instead, he reached up and plucked four spheres from his head in rapid succession. "GRAPE RUSH!"
He threw them not at Midnight, but at the ground in front of him and the walls beside him.
Midnight scoffed. "You missed."
"Did I?"
Midnight stepped forward to close the distance—and her boot hit something hard. Not the ground. Something... invisible.
CLUNK.
She stumbled, her momentum broken. "What?"
"NOW, Tsubaraba!" Mineta screamed.
From the rafters above, Tsuburaba exhaled with the force of a hurricane. He wasn't making a wall; he was making a cage.
Solid Air: Invisible Prison!
He had spent the last minute hyperventilating to build up his lung capacity. He breathed out distinct, geometric panels of solid air all around Midnight.
Midnight reacted instantly, her whip lashing out to shatter the air constructs—but as her whip struck the invisible wall, it didn't bounce off. It stuck.
"What?!" Midnight gasped.
Stuck to the invisible wall—which Tsubaraba had positioned perfectly—was one of Mineta's Pop Off spheres.
"I combined my breath with his grapes!" Tsubaraba yelled, dropping down from the ceiling. "Invisible Sticky trap!"
Midnight yanked her whip, but it was fused to the solid air panel. She tried to step back, but her heel caught on another invisible step that Mineta had slapped a grape onto.
"You boys..." Midnight growled, realizing the trap. They hadn't tried to hit her; they had mined the air itself.
"I'M NOT DONE!" Mineta roared. He began ripping balls off his head at a speed that caused his scalp to bleed. "SUPER GRAPE SHOTGUN!"
He hurled a dozen spheres. Midnight tried to dodge, but Tsuburaba blew a wall of solid air behind her, cutting off her retreat. She couldn't move back. She couldn't move forward because of the whip.
SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT.
The purple spheres impacted her arms and legs, pinning her limbs to the invisible walls Tsubaraba was frantically maintaining.
"RUN NOW!" Mineta shrieked, his voice cracking. Both he and his partner took off running to their team mates at full speed, adrenaline pumping through them.
The R-rated hero struggled, but between the molecular bond of the grapes and the unyielding hardness of the solid air, she was completely immobilized. Finally Mineta and Tsubaraba had grabbed their team mates and pulled them out through the exit.
" BEEEP. TEAM MINORU MINETA, HANTA SERO, TSUBARABA KOSEI AND SHIHAI KUROIRO PASS!"
Mineta fell to his knees, panting heavily, blood trickling down his forehead. Tsubaraba collapsed beside him, lightheaded from oxygen deprivation.
Midnight tested her bonds one last time, then sighed, a small smile playing on her lips.
"Well," she said, looking at the two shivering, terrified, but victorious students. "It was crude, sticky, and lacked elegance... but you boys certainly have some drive after all."
Mineta looked up, his vision blurry. He didn't feel like a hero. He didn't feel like Midoriya. He felt like he was going to throw up.
But as he looked at Tsubaraba, who gave him a shaky thumbs up, Mineta realized something.
He hadn't run away.
In the viewing room:
The collective tension snapped like a rubber band, replaced instantly by a wave of baffled relief. On the screen, Mineta and Tsuburaba were hyperventilating, covered in tape and fluids, but Midnight was secured.
"I can't believe it," Blake muttered. "The little pervert actually pulled it off."
"It was unrefined," Momo noted, though a small smile graced her lips. "But he showed a tactical adaptability I didn't think he possessed."
"See?" Yang grinned, leaning back in her chair with her hands behind her head. "Sometimes the weird ones surprise you. Though, if he tries that sticky ball thing on me, I'm punting him into orbit."
The celebration was short-lived as the sound of a cane tapping against the floor cut through the chatter. Recovery Girl spun her chair around, her eyes fixing on the green-haired boy sitting near the back.
"Midoriya, deary," she said, her voice softening just a fraction. "Don't get too comfortable. The final match is approaching. It's your turn."
The room went quiet. The air grew heavier. Everyone knew who Midoriya was fighting. It wasn't just a teacher; it was the teacher. The Symbol of Peace.
Midoriya stood up, adjusting his gloves. His face was pale, but his eyes were steady. "Right."
"You got this, Izuku!" Ruby Rose bounced over, her cape fluttering. She wrapped her arms around his waist in a tight squeeze. "You fought Superman! All Might is... well, he's All Might, but you're you!" She pulled back and planted a quick, sweet kiss on his cheek. "Good luck!"
Midoriya turned a shade of pink, but before he could stammer, Tsuyu hopped over, joining Ruby. "Do your best, Midoriya-chan. We're all rooting for you, kero." She gave him a firm, warm hug.
"Hey, don't break anything I wouldn't break," Yang said, strolling up and punching him in the shoulder—hard enough to bruise, soft enough to be affectionate—before yanking him into a headlock-style hug. "Show him what the next generation looks like."
Blake Belladonna approached last, her movements silent and graceful. She placed a hand on his arm, her amber eyes serious. "You have a strength that surprises people, Izuku. Use it." She leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to his other cheek. "Be safe."
"I expect a victory worthy of a class representative!" Iida announced, chopping the air, though his glasses were fogged up with concern. "Do not let your guard down for a moment!"
"Thanks... everyone," Midoriya managed, overwhelmed by the support. He turned to Elizabeth. "Ready?"
"Always, Sir Midoriya... I mean, Izuku," Elizabeth corrected herself with a blush, standing up.
Midoriya walked toward the exit, his heart pounding a rhythm against his ribs. Just as he reached the door, a voice called out.
"Midoriya-san! Wait a moment!"
He turned to see Momo Yaoyarozu hurrying after him. He looked at Elizabeth. "Go ahead to the gate, I'll catch up."
Elizabeth nodded, offering a polite bow to Momo before disappearing down the corridor.
Momo stopped in front of him. She was wearing her hero costume, her expression a mix of determination and shyness. The hallway was quiet, the sounds of the viewing room muffled behind the heavy door.
"Yaoyarozu-san?" Midoriya asked. "Is everything okay?"
"I..." She fidgeted with her hands. "I just wanted to say that I believe in you. I know the opponent is All Might, and the odds seem impossible, but... I've watched you. I know you can do this."
"Thank you, Yaoyarozu," Midoriya smiled, scratching his cheek. "That means a lot coming from—"
He didn't finish the sentence. Momo stepped forward, closing the distance instantly, and wrapped her arms around his neck. It wasn't a friendly side-hug; it was a full embrace. And due to the height difference and the nature of her costume, Midoriya's face was pulled directly into the soft, ample valley of her chest.
"M-M-Momo?!" Midoriya's voice came out as a muffled squeak.
His entire nervous system short-circuited. He could feel the heat radiating off her skin, the rapid thumping of her heart against his ear, and the scent of expensive tea and lavender. He turned a shade of red that defied the visible light spectrum.
Inside his mind, the spectral gallery erupted.
"Sate sate!" Meliodas threw his hands behind his head, grinning like a Cheshire cat. "Get a load of this, Rokuro! Our boy is drowning in paradise! That's the dream right there! Motorboat city, population: Izuku!"
"He's not motorboating, he's suffocating!" Rokuro shouted, though he was whistling appreciatively. "But damn, talk about a morale boost! If this doesn't make him go Plus Ultra, nothing will!"
"I DON'T GET IT!" Natsu Dragneel yelled, fire spewing from his mouth in the mental landscape. "WHY IS HER HEART BEATING SO FAST? IS SHE SICK?! IS SHE TRYING TO CRUSH HIM?! IZUKU, FIGHT BACK! USE THE FIRE DRAGON IRON FIST!"
"YOU IDIOT, DON'T PUNCH THE GIRL!" Rokuro and Meliodas screamed in unison both uppercutting the pink hai-salmon-haired dragon slayer into orbit.
In the real world, Momo pulled back slightly, but didn't let go. Her face was burning, beet red, her eyes swirling with a mixture of embarrassment and boldness. She leaned down, her lips brushing the shell of his ear.
"If you win..." she whispered, her voice trembling, "If you manage to beat All Might... I'll give you a real reward. Anything you want."
She let go as if she had been burned, turned on her heel, and sprinted back toward the viewing room, burying her face in her hands to hide her shame from the inevitable jealous glares of the other girls.
Midoriya was left standing alone in the corridor.
He was frozen. Rigid. His eyes were wide white circles with no pupils. His mouth was agape. Steam was literally rising from his ears with a high-pitched tea kettle whistle.
Inside his head, it was chaos.
"EARTH TO IZUKU!" Rokuro yelled, waving his hand in front of the mental projection of Midoriya. "Come on, buddy! Snap out of it! We have to fight All Might in ten minutes!"
"He's gone," Meliodas poked the frozen mental-Izuku in the forehead. "Brain functionality is at zero percent. The blood rushed somewhere else and caused a system crash. We lost him."
"IS HE DEAD?!" Natsu screamed, grabbing the mental-Izuku by the shoulders and shaking him violently. "WAKE UP! DON'T GO TOWARD THE LIGHT! OR THE SOFTNESS! STAY WITH US! EAT SOME FIRE, IT'LL HELP!"
"DO NOT FEED THE BOY FIRE, NATSU!"
"HE'S IN A COMA! A BOOB-INDUCED COMA!" Meliodas cackled. "Quick, someone tell him All Might is attacking his limited edition action figures!"
Midoriya remained in the hallway, a statue of pure, adolescent shock, while his inner demons fought a war to reboot his brain.
In the waiting room:
Far away from the comedic chaos of the hallway, in a dimly lit waiting room designated for Team Midoriya, Bakugo Katsuki sat alone on a metal bench.
He stared at his gauntlet—the grenade-shaped bracer that stored his sweat. It was cold against his skin.
His face was a mask of calm, but it was the calm of a dormant volcano. His eyes were narrowed, fixated on the pin of the grenade.
Flashback
The air in Class 1-A was dry and suffocating. Aizawa Shota stood at the podium, his capture scarf loose around his neck, his eyes glowing red with quirk activation.
Bakugo sat at his desk, looking away, scowling.
"Do you understand why you are in detention, Bakugo?" Aizawa asked, his voice low and raspy.
"Because the nerd got in my way," Bakugo grunted.
Aizawa slammed his hand on the podium. The sound echoed all around the empty class. Bakugo didn't blink.
"You are here because you lack the fundamental disposition of a hero," Aizawa said, his words cutting like knives. "During the battle training, you launched a lethal explosion at Midoriya in a confined space. You targeted not only your opponents but also your teammate, Iida Tenya, with excessive force. You nearly killed Blake Belladonna during a sparring match because Midoriya beat you, because he 'annoyed' you."
Aizawa walked closer, leaning down until he was face-to-face with the explosive teen.
"And the Sports Festival. Your match with Uraraka. Your match with Midoriya. You treat your classmates not as rivals, but as vermin to be exterminated. You fight with the intent to break, not to win."
"They shouldn't be so weak then!" Bakugo snarled, slamming his fist on his desk. "If they can't take a hit, they don't belong here! They're just extras, stepping stones for me to get to the top!"
Aizawa's eyes narrowed further. "That arrogance is poison, Bakugo. If you cause another incident—if you put a student's life in danger due to your uncontrolled temper again—I will not hesitate. I will expel you. I don't care how strong your quirk is. U.A. does not raise murderers."
Bakugo had just scoffed, turning his head away. He didn't care. Aizawa was just another stone. Another extra who didn't understand that strength was the only truth.
End Flashback:
Bakugo clenched his fist, the leather of his glove creaking.
"Expel me..." he whispered to the empty room. "He thinks he can look down on me? Just like him."
His mind drifted to a memory that burned hotter than his explosions.
He was at home. His father, Masaru, was sitting on the couch, holding his mother, Mitsuki. The TV was blaring news from Metropolis. The camera was shaking, capturing the image of a green streak of lightning clashing against a red and blue blur.
Deku fighting Superman.
He watched his mother—the loud, brash woman who never cried—sobbing into his father's shirt. She was clutching her phone, dialing Inko Midoriya's number over and over.
"He's so brave," Mitsuki had wept, watching Midoriya get smashed through a building only to get back up. "Look at him, Masaru. Izuku... he's really a hero. He's amazing."
Bakugo had stood in the doorway, unnoticed. A shadow in his own home.
He felt it then. The hollow pit in his stomach. The absolute, undeniable horror of being second. Of being irrelevant.
He was supposed to be the best. He was the prodigy. He was the one chosen for greatness. Midoriya was the pebble on the side of the road! A quirkless, useless, stuttering Deku!
So why was he the one fighting gods while Bakugo watched from a couch?
"I'll show them," Bakugo growled, his voice vibrating with venom. He stood up, sparks popping uncontrollably from his palms. "I'll show the old hag. I'll show Aizawa. I'll show that damn nerd."
He walked toward the door, his face twisting into a demonic scowl.
"Trash is trash. A pebble will always be a pebble, it doesn't change cause he suddenly woke up a quirk. I am the main character of this world. And today... I'm going to bury that little shit."
Timeskip:
The distinct sectors of the exam site were massive, but the gate leading to the central plaza—where All Might waited—felt like the entrance to the underworld.
The massive steel doors loomed overhead, casting a long shadow over the five students gathered there.
Izuku Midoriya stood at the center. He had finally rebooted from his encounter with Momo, though his face was still slightly flushed. He took a deep, centering breath, trying to calm the tremors in his hands.
To his right stood Ibara Shiozaki of Class 1-B. Her vine-hair was writhing slightly, sensing the tension in the air. Her hands were clasped in prayer. "May the Lord grant us protection against the beast we are to face."
To her right was Itsuka Kendo, the Big Sister of Class 1-B. She was stretching her arms, her expression focused, but her eyes kept darting toward Midoriya with concern.
On the far left, leaning against the wall and refusing to look at anyone, was Bakugo Katsuki. He was practically vibrating with aggression, small explosions popping off his fingertips every few seconds.
And to Midoriya's immediate left was Elizabeth Liones.
"Izuku?" Elizabeth whispered.
Midoriya looked down. He realized his hand was shaking. Before he could clinch it into a fist, he felt warmth.
Elizabeth had taken his hand in hers. Her touch was soft, contrasting the battlefield they were about to enter. She looked up at him, her blue eyes shining with a gentle, unwavering affection.
"You are not alone," she said softly. "We are here. We will face him together."
Midoriya felt a lump in his throat. "Elizabeth..."
Suddenly, he felt a weight on his other shoulder. He turned to see Itsuka Kendo standing there. She wasn't looking at him—she was looking at the gate—but her hand squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. A faint blush dusted her cheeks.
"She's right, you know," Kendo said, her voice steady. "We've seen what you can do. You lead, Midoriya. We'll follow."
Midoriya looked between them. The fear of All Might—the overwhelming pressure of the Exam—began to recede, replaced by a warm, burning resolve.
He wasn't alone.
Suddenly, the air behind him shimmered.
Invisible to everyone else, three figures materialized at his back, looming like guardian deities.
Rokuro Enmadou grinned, slamming his fist into his palm, his corruption arm glowing with spectral magma. "Let's wreck house, Izuku! Show 'em the power of the Twin Star!"
Natsu Dragneel cracked his knuckles, fire wreathing his scarf. "I'm all fired up! Let's show this All Might guy that he can't beat a guild... I mean, a class! If he's strong, I just wanna fight him more!"
And Meliodas stood directly behind him, hands in his pockets, darkness swirling around his feet, his eyes shifting to a demonic black. "We've got your back, little Izu. You worry about the strategy. We'll handle the spirit. Let's make the Symbol of Peace sweat a little, yeah?"
Nana Shimura and Banjo suddenly popped out with big smiles as they looked at Midoriya's back." Don't forget about us Kiddo", Nana smiled genltly while Banjo punched his palm with excitement. "Le'ts kill him !" Before Nana smacked the back of his head.
" Ow, sorry, Kiddo, don't kill him. Just beat him like ya beat the boy scout back in Metropolis!"
Midoriya felt their phantom weight against his back. It wasn't heavy; it was grounding. It was the feeling of family.
"Yeah," Midoriya whispered, his eyes narrowing, the green lightning of One For All beginning to flicker around his body. "Let's do this."
The massive siren sounded, signaling the start of the match. The heavy gears of the gate groaned, and the doors began to slowly part, revealing the ruined cityscape beyond.
Time seems to slow down.
Bakugo pushed off the wall, his gauntlets clicking. He didn't look at the team. He looked straight into the darkness of the city.
(I will prove it,) Bakugo screamed in the silence of his own mind, his teeth bared in a feral grin. (I don't need help! I don't need a team! I will surpass All Might! I will crush Deku! I will become the undeniable Number One, and everyone will look at ME!)
Midoriya stepped forward as the gates opened fully, the wind from the city hitting his face.
(I used to be afraid,) Midoriya thought, the voices of Natsu, Rokuro, Meliodas, and the warmth of Elizabeth and Kendo filling his heart. (I used to think I was nothing. But I'm not just Deku anymore. I'm a hero. And a hero doesn't run!)
The two rivals stepped across the threshold simultaneously.
"I WILL WIN!" Bakugo roared internally.
"I WILL SAVE EVERYONE!" Midoriya vowed internally.
And from the shadows of the city, a laugh echoed—booming, heroic, and terrifying.
"I AM HERE!"
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