33 Ice, Fire, and Gravity

"Wait. You're still going to fight, Izuku?" Ochako asked when she caught sight of him.

"I am." He responded.

Izuku had left Rei and Eraser barely two minutes earlier after reassuring them both once more that he was fine, and after promising Rei that he would meet her after the fight. Then on the path to the contestant waiting room, he ran into Ochako, who was presumably on her way back to him after her own fight.

"But… Are you sure you're okay? You seemed pretty out of it. You're allowed to withdraw from the fights if you want to, y'know?"

A smile formed on Izuku's face, one that was only partly forced. He raised a hand and set it on the top of her head.

"Don't worry." He said. "I'm feeling much better. Besides, right now, a fight is just what I need to take my mind off what happened."

"If you say so…" She said, frowning. "Just don't go overboard, alright?"

"Of course."

"Now then." He said, a bit more cheerful, and activating 'Shower in a Can.' "In more pleasant news, I heard that you won your fight against Yaoyorozu?"

Ochako nodded, smiling. "Yep! It was a good fight. She did a pretty good job of using her quirk to force me to keep my distance. But once I got close enough to get a hand on the staff she likes to use, the weight disappearing was enough to throw her off balance so could get in and finish it."

"Excellent. I'll have to find a recording later to see for myself."

He lightly tapped his fingers on the top of Ochako's head, before dropping his arm back down to his side. "Now, it's time for me to see what Todoroki has to offer, then it'll be our turn."

"Good luck. I'll meet up with you after the fight, okay?"

Izuku nodded, before continuing on his path.

'Tamako. This time you're free to do whatever you want. Stay with me, or join Rei or Ochako to watch.'

"I'll stay with you." They responded. "I want to see you fight firsthand."

Izuku nodded again. He knew that there was more to it than that – he could feel it through their connection – but it didn't matter too much to him. He was glad to have their comforting presence in his mind.

A few short minutes of moving through the hallways brought him to the contestant waiting room, and to the entrance to the arena a short distance away. He stopped in mild surprise when he arrived. Just like right before his last fight, he found Endeavor just outside the room. Only, this time he was alone. Shouto was most likely on the opposite side of the stadium, waiting in his own room. Just like before, Endeavor's trademark flaming hair wasn't present, nor was the rest of his costume. He looked like a normal spectator.

"You." Endeavor started. "Etsumi, if I'm remembering correctly."

Izuku nodded. "Pro Hero Endeavor. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

The hero was silent for a moment, some sort of internal struggle making itself known in his expression for a brief instant.

"I have a favor to ask of you." He finally said. "A request."

"Oh?" Izuku said, raising an eyebrow. "And what might this request be?"

Endeavor was silent for a few more moments, before speaking again.

"Help Shouto. Please."

Izuku didn't respond, keeping his eyebrow raised in a silent invitation for the hero to go on.

"From what I understand, you are incredibly intelligent, rivalling even Nezu." Endeavor said. "Surely you've noticed the way Shouto is limiting himself?"

Seeing Izuku nod, he continued. "And I'm sure you've realized the sort of harm that will cause in the future if he continues to do so? Not just to others as a result of it affecting his hero work, but also to his own health."

"I have." Izuku said. "There are the obvious problems that arise from a hero actively limiting himself, from innocent lives potentially being put at risk to practically showcasing a weakness that any villain with more than two braincells to rub together might pick up on. And I've seen him after a particularly strenuous fight. I've seen the way continuous use of his ice causes frost to collect on his right side, and how he begins presenting signs of frostbite."

Endeavor nodded along as Izuku spoke, his expression somewhere between grave and guilty.

"I made a horrible mistake, years ago, that all but tore my family apart. I've done everything I can since then to make up for it, but Shouto has never stopped blaming me for it. Then, at some point he somehow got it into his head that the fire half of his quirk is mine, and because of that he refuses to use it."

'So that's the reason why.' Izuku thought to himself. 'What an idiotic way of thinking.'

"I'm certainly somewhat glad to have that little mystery solved." Izuku said. "But why exactly are you telling me all of this?"

"Like I said. I have a request for you. No matter what I do, or what I try to say, he won't move past the hatred he has for me, even though it's hurting him. From what I've heard, you're Deku, and you're also one of his classmates and the class president. My hope is that he'll be more willing to listen to you."

Endeavor sighed. "At this point I've almost given up any hope that he might forgive me, but I don't want to see him continue to hurt himself because of my mistakes. So, please, will you help him?"

Izuku thought for a moment, before hearing the announcement for him and Todoroki to report to the arena. He spoke up as he moved towards the entrance.

"I have neither the power, nor the desire, to force him to do anything. If he wishes to continue to limit himself the way he has been, then no one but him has the right to change that. All I can do is talk to him, and attempt to convince him otherwise. Whether or not he chooses to listen is his decision, and his alone"

"That's all I ask." Endeavor said from behind him as he moved away.

Izuku considered the conversation he'd just had as he drew closer to the light at the end of the tunnel to the arena. He was curious about the rest of the story, what the 'mistake' was that Endeavor supposedly made, that was apparently significant enough to make his own child hate him. He was also slightly irked at Shouto's flawed way of thinking regarding his own quirk, the fact that he thought of his fire as Endeavor's. If that was truly his reason for not using his fire, then he was an idiot.

All the same though, despite the – frankly irritating – flawed belief, Izuku's firm decision to not force Shouto to do anything didn't change.

'Whatever.' Izuku thought as he exited out into the sunlight, ignoring Present Mic's announcement as he did. 'Whatever I end up doing, it'll have to wait until after the festival. For now, I want to see what Amaya's temperature resistance quirk can do while I do my best to punch Todoroki across the arena.'

He was dimly aware of the cheering of the spectators, and Present Mic egging them on, as he moved up onto the ring, with Todoroki stepping up at the same time. The boy stared Izuku down as he moved towards his starting point, his expression unreadable. Mist was already rising from his right side in anticipation.

Izuku smirked, rolling his shoulders as Midnight repeated the explanation of rules and winning conditions she'd been giving at the start of all the fights. He pulled on 'Air Cannon' and a few strength quirks, clenching and unclenching his fists as he waited for the signal to start.

A few moments of waiting later, the noise of the spectators fading into the background as he focused, she gave it.

Before the shouted 'Begin!' even fully left Midnight's mouth, a wave of ice was barreling across the ring towards Izuku. His smirk grew ever so slightly as he swiped an arm out in front of him, scattering the wave with a blast of air. Mist and ice crystals filled the air, and he knew that it must've dropped the temperature in the ring, but he didn't feel it.

Todoroki had no intention of halting his assault, and didn't waste any time sending another wave of ice, larger than the first. Izuku's smile continued to grow larger as he swept that one aside just as he had the first. Then, before Todoroki could send another, Izuku raised a hand towards him and launched a blast of air with a flick of his finger. Todoroki danced out of the way just in time, choosing to just watch Izuku once he came to a stop.

With the momentary break in their fight, not even a minute after it began, Izuku pulled his hand back, cracking his knuckles as he watched Todoroki.

"Hopefully you have something more impressive to show me." Izuku said. "Because if all you intend to do is use your ice to turn this into a battle of attrition, you're going to be disappointed."

He dropped his hands to his sides once more, flexing his fingers. "Do me a favor. Don't be so boring as to believe that will work."

All at once, the temperature in the arena plummeted. Izuku saw Midnight, as well as some of the closer spectators, begin to shiver simultaneously. He could even almost start to register the change in temperature himself.

With that serving as a secondary starting signal of sorts, the fight began in earnest.

A layer of ice coated the entire ring in an instant, even partially covering Izuku, before another massive wave was sent rocketing towards him.

"Yes." Izuku muttered, bringing his hands up. "Do your best to keep this interesting for as long as you can. I want to see how long you can manage."

Just before the wave of ice could reach him, Izuku brought his hands together in a clap, the shockwave dispersing the ice in a massive explosion of mist, snow and probably dangerous shards of ice.

Before his vision even fully cleared, Izuku found another wave rushing towards him, and pulled back a fist to intercept it.

"Let's see how long we can keep this up. Why not put on a show for the crowds?"

---

Izuku and Todoroki fell into a pattern as the fight progressed. Todoroki would launch an attack in the form of a wave, or waves, of ice, each one traveling nearly faster than the eye could follow. Izuku would respond by destroying the attacks with a wave of his hand, a flick of his fingers, or a lazy punch, each one producing a shockwave strong enough to stop the attack dead in its tracks. He would follow it with another, only a bit more targeted, to strike at Todoroki, who would avoid it and launch another attack of his own, repeating the cycle.

As this went on though, Izuku watched as a layer of frost crept up Todoroki's limbs with each successive attack. Each one was coming a little weaker, a little slower, and every time Izuku counter attacked, Todoroki was ever so slightly slower in avoiding it.

His own quirk was working against him, and time was not on his side.

However… Izuku noticed something else at the same time. Something wrong.

The fight wasn't anything particularly special, it wasn't challenging in any way, nor was it one where he even had to move from the position he'd started in. If anything, it was a far sight easier and calmer than the majority of his fights as Oni. Despite that fact though, he was beginning to breathe heavier than he would've expected, and his hearts were starting to pound away far faster than what the situation warranted.

What's more, is that he could feel a cold sensation beginning to form in his fingers. It wasn't cold from the tremendously powerful ice quirk that was being thrown around. Were that the case, were it strong enough to overpower the temperature resistance quirk, Izuku would feel it everywhere, not just in his hands. No, this was something else.

He knew exactly what it was, what the heavy breathing and increased heartrate and the cold and now pins-and-needles in his hands meant.

Izuku had put up a brave front for Rei and Ochako, but he knew he wasn't completely over the episode he'd had. He was past the point of being non-responsive and inconsolable, trapped in his own memories, but he was smart enough to know that he wouldn't be back at 100% immediately.

When he reached the realization that-that was what he was feeling, he noticed another wave of ice rushing towards him, much closer than it should've been. A hasty swipe of his hand brushed it aside.

He clenched his fists, attempting to dispel the cold he felt as he gave his head a quick shake, but it stayed, instead progressing to a full tingling sensation in his hands. He blinked, his attention returning to the fight just in time to notice another wave of ice getting much too close. When he swiped a hand out to clear it away, he felt a finger make contact with the ice, sending a thin layer of ice up his entire arm. He barely noticed though, too preoccupied with his slowly worsening condition.

'Shit.' He thought to himself. 'Why is this happening? Just get a fucking grip.'

"Izuku you have to calm down." Tamako said, cutting through Izuku's thoughts. "You're alright. It's just you and Todoroki here, no one else."

'I know.' Izuku responded. 'I know that I'm safe and that I-' His thoughts paused as he cleared away another attack that had gotten far too close. '-That I have no reason to be like this. That's why this is so frustrating. I can't do anything about it.'

By this point he was breathing so hard it was like he'd just ran a marathon, without the quirks that would normally make such a thing effortless. The pounding of his hearts was nearly painful, and the cold, tingling sensation had spread past his hands, making its way up his arms.

He was spiraling, and he had no idea how to stop it.

Two more waves of ice entered Izuku's field of vision, once again much later than they should've. One heading straight for him and the other swinging around to the right to hit his side.

The one to the side would hit him first, so he would deal with it first. He raised his right hand to his chest, preparing to backhand the ice away. Izuku thrust his hand out, but before his attack could go off – a fraction of a second before 'Air Cannon' would've activated and created a concussive shockwave to rip the wave of ice to shreds – something shocked through Izuku's body and he hesitated.

Izuku. Izuku, hesitated.

Izuku never hesitated, or if he did, it was purposeful, because an attack needed to be halted. He never hesitated unwillingly. But nonetheless, something had him freezing, had his arm stopping in place before it could destroy the incoming ice.

Even if he wasn't too focused on the fact that he'd hesitated to do anything about it, he likely wouldn't have had the time to launch another attack, not without more quirks being activated.

The ice hit him, encasing his partially outstretched arm along with half of his torso and the bottom half of his right wing, trapping him.

Before he could do anything to break free though, before he could even flex his arm to shatter the ice that held it, the second wave of ice reminded Izuku of its presence, hitting him right in his chest.

And everything froze.

"Izuku!"

Now, had this happened any earlier in the fight, had Izuku hesitated and gotten hit any earlier, there wouldn't have been any issue. He would've been frozen, and then in the next moment he would've broken free and continued on with the fight. No issue aside from his still-worsening condition.

But at this point in the fight, several minutes and dozens of attacks from him and his opponent into it, it was an issue.

Izuku doubted that Todoroki would ever admit it to anyone, but the effects that continuous use of his ice had on him, especially after an extended period of time, were debilitating. Just as with most everyone else when their body is subjected to the cold, he begins to slow down. Muscles slowly stop cooperating, senses dull, and cognitive functions decrease.

A combination of that, and any actual exhaustion Todoroki might be feeling, loosened the grip he had on his quirk, reducing the amount of control he had over it, which after his training before the festival was rather impressive.

Instead of the precise control he'd demonstrated throughout the fight thus far, coating the arena and sending controlled waves of ice that, upon contact, were meant to latch onto their target and trap them, this last attack sent straight down the middle of the ring carried nothing but power and raw intent. Intent to win combined with the frustration of not already incapacitated Izuku. It resulted in an incredibly narrow and focused attack. One that reached out towards Izuku as it traveled, with arms in the shape of long, pointed shards of ice.

Shards that hit Izuku in the chest.

His durability quirks were active, as was 'Shock Absorption.' So they were there to take the brunt of the attack, but the shards of ice moved with a tremendous amount of power contained behind tiny points of contact. There was only so much his quirks could do.

Izuku looked down at himself to take in the damage. There were a number that were halted before breaking skin, tearing through his shirt only to be stopped by the combination of quirks, then there were a few that managed to break through, but barely. Then, right in the center of his chest, the biggest spike of the bunch had punctured deeper than the others.

He cocked his head as he looked at it. "That would be my heart." He said. "And now there's a hole in it."

He wasn't concerned about the damage. He could already feel his damaged muscles and skin twitching as his healing quirk tried to do its job. No, he was much more interested in everything else the attack had done.

Izuku's head was clear. His breathing was slowing, his hearts – though one of them was currently almost torn in half, and he could feel it trying to beat against the spike that was currently stabbed through it – were beginning to calm, and the cold, tingling sensation in his arms had all but receded entirely.

"Ha." He breathed, before chuckling under his breath. "That was exactly what I needed."

The shock of the pain, along with the cold that he could actually feel past the temperature resistance quirk, had snapped him out of it.

His laughing increased in volume a bit. "Excellent!"

As the mist in the air – a result of the constant destruction of ice – began to clear away, Izuku heard some distant gasps from the crowd as they caught sight of him. Todoroki's eyes widened when he saw Izuku, and he stood up straight, right arm dropping from the pseudo fighting stance he usually utilized for his quirk.

"Call the fight." He said to Midnight. "He can't-."

"No." Izuku said, his voice carrying across the ring, despite not being raised.

He looked up at Todoroki and Midnight, who had already begun to raise the whip in her hand.

"The fight ends, when I say it ends." He said, before a smile broke out on his face. "And as of right now, it's only just begun."

Izuku pulled on another strength quirk, letting the heat of it warm his limbs. With a quick flex of his right arm, the ice trapping it shattered. Taking a deep breath, he brought both hands up to impact either side of the spike in his chest, breaking it with a sharp crack. Then he twisted his torso, snapping any of the smaller spikes that didn't get caught when he broke the big one, before pulling away.

His healing quirk was already hard at work, pushing out any ice that remained in him, while Izuku grasped at the biggest one, puling it out and resisting the urge to grimace at the sensation. The wound healed around the spike, neatly closing when he pulled it out and barely letting a single drop of blood spill.

Izuku's smile widened as he stretched his wings out, shattering the ice that clung to his right one.

He stared down Todoroki, raising the spike in his fist, which despite being buried in his chest moments ago was only decorated with a few flecks of blood.

"Now then." He said, clenching his fist, until the spike exploded in his hand, all the while pulling on a few speed quirks. "Let's begin again."

He didn't give Todoroki a chance to start things off. Before all the shards of ice from the spike even hit the ground, Izuku moved. He appeared at Todoroki's side, fist already pulled back.

Todoroki noticed him just in time, swinging an arm up to throw a small glacier at Izuku, while skating backwards on his ice to create distance. The glacier exploded before it could contact, and Izuku was moving again, chasing after Todoroki.

He purposefully kept his speed down as they moved, turning the fight into a mirror of how the first battle trial went, with Todoroki skating around, throwing waves of ice at Izuku as he gave chase. Eventually, as Todoroki launched a particularly large attack, Izuku turned it back up again, and darted to Todoroki's left side faster than he could notice, especially in his nearly frostbitten condition.

Izuku saw Todoroki's eyes widen when he noticed the outstretched hand inches away from his face, with the other pulled back in a fist. He froze, not reacting as Izuku threw the punch. Then, as Izuku's fist impacted with Todoroki's side, a massive plume of fire exploded out, enveloping Izuku as his punch threw Todoroki from the ring.

He didn't really pay much attention to Midnight's announcement that he won, too busy coughing as his healing quirk repaired his lungs. He'd accidentally inhaled when the fire hit him, and inhaling superheated air generally wasn't very good for a person's throat and lungs. At the same time, he blinked away the white in his vision. In addition to partially cooking his lungs, the fire must've seared his eyes just a bit.

Shaking away the last bit of disorientation, Izuku moved to the edge of the ring, dropping to the grass and making his may towards where Todoroki hadn't gotten up. He was okay – or at least as okay as he could be, with half of his body covered in frost and with whatever damage Izuku had just dealt to his ribs – just lying in the grass and staring at his left hand, which he was holding up above himself.

Todoroki looked up at him as he arrived and lowered himself a bit.

"You alright?" Izuku asked.

Todoroki raised an eyebrow. "Your shirt is on fire."

Sure enough, Izuku looked down to see small flames eating away at the frayed holes that the spikes had created.

He shrugged. "Eh. It happens."

Lowering a hand towards Todoroki, he repeated himself. "I'll ask again. Are you alright?"

Todoroki hesitated for a moment, before taking Izuku's hand and allowing himself to be pulled to his feet.

"…You made me use my fire."

"So I noticed." Izuku responded, gesturing down at his shirt.

Todoroki didn't say anything at that, instead continuing to stare at his hand.

"You know, it's never good to suppress such a major part of yourself." Izuku said. "Obviously I can't tell you what to do or how to live your life, but no harm would come from using your fire to at least maintain your temperature in the middle of a fight. Quite the opposite actually."

Todoroki frowned, eyebrows scrunching up in thought. Without saying anything, he turned and started walking towards the tunnel he came from.

Izuku shrugged internally, before turning to do the same.

It hadn't been intentional, but he'd put Todoroki in a position where he felt that he had no choice but to use his fire. Hopefully, he would consider what Izuku said. It wasn't right, or healthy, to neglect such a significant part of himself.

He shook his head as he entered the tunnel, a small smirk decorating his features. Whatever the case, the fact that he won meant that he'd be going up against Ochako next.

He couldn't wait.

---

"Etsumi!"

"Are you alright?"

"I thought I was gonna die! That was so cool!"

"You just flexed your way out of Todoroki's ice!"

Most of 1-A rushed Izuku as soon as he returned to their spot in the stands. He probably should've expected it, but it still came as a bit of a surprise to have most of his classmates all but shouting at him the moment he arrived.

As soon as his fight against Todoroki had concluded, Izuku had found Ochako and Rei waiting for him near the contestant waiting room. After a few minutes of reassuring them both that he was fine – after his episode that came from his fight with Shinsou and after the injuries they saw him sustain during his fight with Todoroki – and simply enjoying their presence, he and Ochako had made their way back to the stands together.

He pushed past his classmates, cutting off their onslaught of questions and comments.

"I'm fine." He said. "A little bit frozen from Todoroki's ice but otherwise perfect."

"Yeah but that was so cool though!" Kaminari exclaimed. "It was just like the battle trial! You kept brushing off his attacks like they were nothing!"

"I'm glad it was entertaining." Izuku said, settling down in his spot just in time to see Midnight give the signal for Bakugou and Kendou to begin.

"Okay, but what happened down there during your other fight?" Yaoyorozu asked. "The one against that purple-haired kid, Shinsou. One second the two of you look like you're talking, then you freeze and hunch over for a few seconds, and then the next something happens that made it hard to breathe and made my body not want to cooperate."

Izuku frowned. "I've no idea what you're talking about."

He could see the thoughtful expression on her face without even looking over at her.

"But clearly something happened, right? You moved, that… whatever it was happened, then Shinsou fell to the ground, without you even touching him."

Izuku shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe he just faked it, and fell over on purpose."

"But he- that doesn't." She huffed. "That doesn't explain what we felt though."

Izuku sighed, turning to look at her with a tired, deadpan expression. "If you don't already know what that was, then you don't need to. Most of the time, the only people that end up learning about that are either dangerous, experienced, or incredibly unlucky. As far as I'm aware, none of you fall into any of those categories. Now drop it."

A particularly large explosion drew Izuku's attention back to the arena, looking over just in time to see Kendou landing outside the ring and for Midnight to announce Bakugou as the winner.

"Well that took about as long as expected." He said, already raising himself up from where he'd settled, just as Present Mic was calling for him and Ochako to make their way to the waiting rooms.

He glanced over at Ochako, who was also already getting up.

"Shall we?"

She nodded, smiling. "Let's do it."

"Good luck, you two!" He heard Ashido call out behind them as they left their class' section.

Izuku and Ochako were mostly silent as they moved through the halls. Eventually, they reached the point where their paths split, leading off to their respective waiting rooms. They paused to look at each other before they separated.

"So…" Ochako started after a moment of thought. "You're not going to go easy on me, are you?"

"If by that you mean, 'am I going to refrain from knocking you out of the ring as soon as we start?', then yes, I will be going just a little easy on you."

Izuku continued when he saw her open her mouth to argue. "I want to make this fight as fair as possible. This festival is more about us showcasing our skills to the world than anything else. That's why I didn't end the last fight as soon as it started. You wouldn't benefit from the fight ending too quickly, which is why I'll be holding back a bit."

"That makes sense, I guess." Ochako responded. Izuku could hear in her tone that she was a bit dejected. "But I don't like that you'll be making things easy for me."

"Oh, I never said anything about making things easy for you." He said, grinning. "What I said was that I would be going easy on you, as in holding back to make things a bit more even. This'll still be a challenging fight, and if you bring anything less than your best, you'll find yourself overwhelmed."

Her smile was back instantly. "Okay, that sounds good. I just wanted to make sure it feels like a proper victory when I throw you out of the ring."

"Ha. I'd like to see you try." He said, before lowering his voice a bit. "And just to make things a bit more interesting. I'm going to avoid using a particular skill that would keep me stuck to the ground if you happen to get lucky enough to use your quirk on me."

"Whatever you say." She responded, turning to walk away. "Just make sure you don't regret that when you lose."

"And make sure you don't get upset when I brag about that particular limitation after I win."

With that, Izuku turned to head down his own hallway. His smile remained in place the whole way to his waiting room.

---

A few minutes later, the two of them made it out into the sunlight, having been called from their rooms by Present Mic. As he and Ochako moved up onto the ring, Izuku felt Tamako enter his mind, having left a few minutes ago to check in with Rei.

"Rei wanted me to let you know that we're both rooting for Ochako." They said immediately, not even letting him greet them first.

He smirked. 'Let her know that the support is appreciated. Tell her that if I win, she's in charge of treating us to dinner later.'

He felt their amusement as they left with a "Sure thing!", darting back in the direction of where he knew Rei was.

"I assume that by now you both know how this goes." Midnight said as they made their way towards their starting positions in the ring. "Don't fight dirty. The fight ends when one of submits, exits the ring, or becomes unable to fight."

She looked between the two of them. "Understand?"

They both nodded, prompting her to raise her whip and announce "Begin!"

Ochako dropped into a stance, one foot forward, the other directly behind and angled to the side, and both of her arms partially outstretched, one a bit more than the other, with both palms almost parallel to the ground.

Izuku smirked as he saw this. Ochako had explained to him some time ago that after his advice to her as Deku, she had taken on martial arts training. Specifically, she focused on Aikido and Judo, two styles that were more geared towards self-defense than attacking, and which had a heavy focus on putting one's hands on the opponent.

After she'd told him that, Izuku had done some research to understand it all a bit better. He'd briefly considered learning a form of martial arts himself, but decided against it. It wasn't really necessary for him to do so. Nonetheless, he at least knew enough to recognize that Ochako would apparently be relying on Aikido for their fight, at least to start.

It – along with Judo, as both were somewhat similar – relied on redirecting the opponent's momentum, using it against them to throw them or grab them. Against an opponent like Izuku, who relied solely upon sheer force, it was almost ideal. Combined with the fact that a single touch from Ochako would end the fight, and it was even more devastating.

As Ochako waited in her stance – it seemed that she would wait for Izuku to make the first move. Another thing that worked in her favor – Izuku slowly made his way towards her, cracking his knuckles as he went.

Then, without warning, he darted forwards, coming to a stop right in front of her with a fist already drawn back. He threw it, pulling on 'Quick Thinker' at the same time, slowing down his perception of time to watch her reaction.

It came without hesitation. She moved to sidestep to the inside of the punch, one hand moving up to tap his outstretched arm while the other thrust towards his torso, seeking to hit him with all five fingertips.

He pulled his arm back, avoiding her hand, while his free hand darted out, grabbing at the wrist of the hand that was aiming for his torso. In a quick motion, he threw her arm back, throwing her off balance. He followed it with a punch aimed at her stomach. It landed, forcing her to double over, and the continued his assault by aiming a palm for the center of her chest, aiming to throw her out of the ring entirely.

Before it could hit though, her hand darted out to intercept, almost too quick for him to react in time. He pulled back just in time, distinctly feeling four fingers brush against his arm before he managed to retract it.

He backed away, putting distance between them as Ochako recovered, righting herself.

"Hm." He hummed, watching her. "Years of fighting experience and superior strength and speed, versus a dangerous combination of extensive martial arts training and a powerful quirk that can end a fight with a single touch. I wonder which will win."

Ochako dropped back into her stance, grinning at him. "Come on over here so I can show you."

His grin mirrored her own. "Good answer. Now, let's find out, shall we?"

With that, he darted back in to renew his assault.

---

Their fight carried on for some time, even longer than his fight with Todoroki had. It was a constant back and forth, with neither of them able to gain any ground. The combination of quirks Izuku had picked out put him on nearly equal footing with Ochako. Unless he pulled on more, they would remain locked in a stalemate, with him just fast enough to avoid her attacks, but not quite fast enough to land anything significant enough of his own without either putting himself at risk, or being willing to aim for hurting her rather than simply incapacitating, which he wasn't.

Or at least, they would've remained locked in a stalemate, were it not for one of the few ways they were still unequal.

Izuku had limited his strength and speed to be more manageable for Ochako, and obviously had not pulled on any of the quirks such as 'Air Cannon' that would've augmented his attacks. However, one of the few things he hadn't adjusted was his stamina. Not only was it a bit greater than normal as a result of his snake tail – it wasn't a huge increase, but it was enough to be noticeable – but he also had his energy stockpile quirks that ensured that he could keep going for far longer than most anyone else.

That was why, after several long minutes of constant back and forth where they – but especially Ochako – were pushing themselves to move as fast as possible, Izuku was starting to notice her movements slowing ever so slightly.

A couple of exchanges after he noticed that fact, one of her attacks – a palm thrust aimed at his chest – was much sloppier than she likely intended for it to be, and Izuku took advantage of it.

He grabbed at her wrist, yanking her up and swinging her around to throw her out of the ring. However, as soon as her feet left the ground, her other hand came up and, faster than he could let go, tapped against his own.

The effects were immediate. He felt the sensation of weightlessness wash over him, making him feel unnaturally light. A moment later he felt himself begin to rise into the air. Before he could leave the ground, however, he clenched the muscles along the underside of his tail, constricting it so that his scales could find just enough purchase to keep him momentarily rooted to the ground.

"Smart." He said, looking over at her where she was still held in his grip. "You knew you were getting tired, so you faked an opening to get me in a position where I couldn't avoid you."

"Yep!" She responded cheerfully. "Thanks for the win. Hopefully you don't regret holding back."

"Oh?" He said. "Did you forget where you are right now? And have you not noticed the fact that I'm still on the ground?"

Her smile dropped immediately, her eyes widening at the same time with her realization that he was right. Without hesitation, she brought a palm up to impact his jaw, but he ignored it.

Between his tail keeping him stuck to the ground for the moment, and the fact that he still had Ochako in his grip weighing him down, he had enough leverage to thrust his free hand down towards the ground, penetrating into the cement ring and digging in, anchoring himself. In the meantime, Ochako was doing her best to break free from his grip, even planting a kick to the back of his head, which was also ignored.

Now properly rooted to the ground, he flung Ochako off behind him, which was the direction he had the greatest amount of leverage to throw her in. Thankfully, it also happened to be where the closest edge of the arena was.

Izuku shifted around so he could watch, and this time his own eyes widened as he saw – and felt – Ochako grab on to the end of his tail, which had-had the least grip on the ground and therefore had been rising into the air since the moment he'd been rendered weightless. In his slowed down perception of time, he watched her spin in midair as she fell, twisting so that his tail was beneath her, ensuring that it would hit the ground first.

Dislodging his hand from the ground, he slammed both hands down against it, launching himself up into the air. With that momentum, he clenched his tail once again, bringing him and Ochako together faster than she brought his tail to the ground.

As soon as he was close enough, he took the end of his tail in one hand and grabbed Ochako by the back of the neck with the other. He pulled himself free, throwing her towards the ground, the force of it changing his momentum once more, sending him floating upwards. She hit the ground a moment later.

"Uraraka has been removed from the ring!" Midnight announced. "Etsumi wins!"

The crowd exploded, cheering at the announcement, at the conclusion of what had been a long and entertaining fight.

The instant she announced that, Izuku felt his weight return to him all at once. His wings opened on instinct, fluttering as he fell in an attempt to correct himself. As soon as he touched down, he made his way over to where Ochako was sitting on the ground.

She smiled up at him as he approached. "Nice one. I thought I got you when I finally managed to use my quirk on you, and then again when I tried to fall on your tail."

"You did very well." He responded. "You put a very good show of your skill, and then you took it one step further by very nearly beating me. It was an effort to take pride in, that's for sure."

Ochako fell back onto the ground with a muttered 'Oof.'

"Well, if nothing else." She said. "At least it was a fun fight."

"It was indeed. Now, are you injured?"

"I definitely have a few bruises, which Recovery Girl could probably fix in about a second, but I'm good enough to walk." She looked up at him, smirking. "Though, if you were to offer to carry me there, I wouldn't say no to that."

Izuku let out a quiet laugh, extending his hand out to her, which she took.

In a fluid – and at this point, practiced – motion, he lifted her up off the ground and swung her onto his back. Once she was settled, he set off towards the tunnel he'd come from.

He hummed to himself as they entered back into the stadium, the noise of the spectators fading into a dull roar with every foot they traveled. A minute or two later, once it had gotten quiet enough, he heard Ochako humming along with him.

Izuku had enjoyed himself in their fight. It wasn't the sort of enjoyment he got out of going all out against a truly powerful opponent, or that came from putting his own life at risk to punish criminals, but instead the sort of enjoyment that came from watching someone he cared about give their all and have a good time doing it.

And now, it was time to fight his old friend, and see firsthand just how far he'd come over the years since they last knew each other.