It seemed like fate really liked this fight, didn't it? Because once again, Izuku was up against Shoto in the second round of the brackets. He'd won against IIda in his first match, the fourth fight of the first round, so now he'd be facing Izuku. Shinsou had also won his match against Honenuki from class B, and Shiozaki had wrapped up Ojiro before he could wrack any real damage. Eijro, on the other hand, totally wrecked Awase. Lastly, Momo had outsmarted Mina, which was good for her, honestly. Izuku wished he could bring back her confidence without running the risk of bringing back her memories, too...

He tried not to think about it as he watched Kacchan beat the absolute shit out of Kaminari, making his way to the waiting room when he saw this fight wouldn't drag on much longer. Yeah, not being able to bring Momo's confidence back was going to weigh on him, but not as much as not being able to save Shoto. Because that's what this was, wasn't it? Fate teasing him, throwing a rock at his face knowing Izuku wouldn't be able to catch it. He wouldn't be able to save Shoto, wouldn't be able to yell at him, to tell him his quirk was his and no one else's. Izuku wouldn't be able to do so without triggering his memories to come back.

So here he was, standing face to face with one of his best friends, one of the kindest, most generous people he knew, and all he received was a stone cold glare. Izuku was just a pebble on the road for him, after all. He hadn't even given him his declaration of war this time around. No, why would he? There was no resemblance with All Might, so why should he care about who Izuku was? He was just some quirkless support course student who happened to bullshit his way into the last round. There was nothing more to it.

That didn't mean Izuku wasn't going to beat his ass, though.

When the first wave of ice came his way, he reflected it with little to no problem, only being pushed back about a foot or so due to the recoil. Shoto, on the other hand, had to put up a wall being him so he wouldn't be blasted out of bounds while shattering his own attack as it was being thrown back at him.

"Your usual tactics are not gonna work, Todoroki!" Izuku called out, charging at him. It was better to get this over with quickly, before Izuku changed his mind and tried to remind Shoto of who he was. "How are you going to convince Endeavor of your strength when you can't even beat a quirkless brat, hah?!"

That seemed to stun him for a moment, giving Izuku the chance to punch him in the gut. He couldn't push Shoto out of bounds, not directly, not with that wall in the way. But he could punch him and follow it up with a throw, smashing him onto the ground with everything he got.

"Don't think you're all that just because you have a fancy quirk!" Izuku yelled, and wow, where did that suddenly come from? He'd never been jealous of Shoto, never envied his situation. So why was he saying all those things now..? He almost didn't flinch back when fire shot up into the air, scorching some of his hair as he stumbled away. Huh, that's right, Shoto hadn't used his fire against him in the cavalry battle. Izuku hadn't expected him to use it now, either. "Fire, huh? Didn't know you had it in you, Todoroki-kun."

"You don't know anything about me," Shoto hissed, trying to sweep his leg as he got up, but Izuku darted back in time to avoid the attack. He'd like to argue with that. Izuku knew a lot about him. But it wasn't the time nor the place to do so. No, because flames were a little harder to redirect and reflect, turns out. Some of them made it past his arms, little embers burning holes in his uniform and burning away a few strands of hair. He hissed when some of it hit his face, but he braved the pain knowing Recovery Girl would be able to heal those small burns in no time.

Shoto wasn't having an easy time either. The reflected flames pushed him back, and when he tried his ice- probably a reflex, Izuku thought- it was enough to send him flying out of bounds. Izuku was still breathing heavily as Midnight announced him the winner, wincing when he touched his face. God, he must look awful right about now... But his support item worked, it held up against Shoto's quirk, and that was the most important part. Although, looking at his bracers now, he could tell they'd been damaged quite a bit.

//\\
\\//

"Congrats on your win, psycho."

Izuku looked up and smiled when he saw Shinsou enter the pop up nurse's office. Seems like he had a few cuts in his uniform as well, probably from Shiozaki's thorns if Izuku had to hazard a guess.

"Thanks!" Izuku smiled. "How did you do? I wasn't able to see your match since Recovery Girl had to treat my face, so-"

"I won," Shinsou shrugged, trying to be casual about it, although Izuku could tell he was really happy about it.

"That's amazing, Shinsou-kun!" Izuku gasped. "You really deserve it, too! The semi-finals- Like when was the last time someone outside of the hero course made it that far? It's crazy! I bet UA will have no choice but to put you into the hero course! I heard there's an empty spot there anyway, since Eraserhead expelled someone on the first day, so you could-"

"You made it too, though. Don't forget," Shinsou chuckled, sitting down on the bed next to him.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, but that's not-"

"You're a quirkless support course student, Midoriya," Shinsou stated, and Izuku went quiet. "I think that's pretty impressive, and you're making it seem easy."

Izuku didn't reply. He'd become so used to the sportsfestival, to its layout, its structure. He had become so used to making it this far, even if he wasn't trying as hard before. Izuku was used to coming this far as a hero student, as someone with a quirk- He hadn't stopped to think about the fact that, yeah, he wasn't any of those things now. Well, he knew, of course. He was very consciously aware of it, just like he was aware of the sportsfestival and the impact it could have on your career, your life- He'd just failed to connect those two pieces together, somehow.

"Taking away all my thunder," Shinsou scoffed, playfully shoving Izuku aside.

"Hey, that's not true!" Izuku argued. "Besides, I'm not... I don't want to get into the hero course. I'm not here to prove myself or show off my quirk or something like that. I just... I need to win."

"Why?" Shinsou asked, confused.

"Personal reasons," Izuku sighed. "Sorry, I'd rather not say. I hope you can-"

"Oh, no, it's alright, I was just curious," Shinsou shrugged. "But don't forget you'll have to defeat me first. I'm not going to make this easy for you."

He grinned, tapping one of the bracers.

"Bet these things can't repel mind quirks, now can they?"

"You'll have to see and find out," Izuku said, holding up his best poker face even if he knew Hitoshi had figured him out already.

"Guess I will," he hummed, getting up again. "See you in the final, Midoriya."

//\\
\\//

Kacchan.

His next opponent was Kacchan.

Of course it was. Izuku was going to have to fight Kacchan, and Hitoshi was going to have to fight Eijirou. Two completely different difficulty settings, if you asked him. Then again, he was sure to get a medal at the end of this either way, so that was something. It wouldn't mean anything if he wasn't able to keep his secret, but it would look nice next to his funeral picture after Kacchan murdered him for keeping him in the dark.

"Ready to die, nerd?" Katsuki asked, falling into his fighting stance as he stared at him with that wicked grin. His winning smile, Izuku liked to call it, since it got imprinted in his mind as his image of victory. He didn't want Kacchan to win this one, though.

"I'd really rather not," Izuku laughed, holding up his arms, getting ready to brace the impact as Midnight counted them down. Katsuki charged at him the moment their fight started, throwing several explosions at him all at once. Izuku was pushed back a bit, the explosions being thrown back at Kacchan with just as much power, forcing Katsuki to jump back.

"Those things really are fucking annoying," he grunted, falling back into his stance as he observed Izuku, as if waiting for him to pounce. Izuku quickly glanced down at his arms, seeing the damage had gotten worse. He needed to finish this as quickly as possible or he'd be in trouble... Kacchan seemed to pick up on that as well. "But they're not indestructible, are they..?"

Oh fuck.

Izuku yelped at the barrage of explosions that were thrown his way, trying to keep his footing as his bracers tanked the hits. He wasn't sure how much longer they were going to last this way, and it seemed like Kacchan wasn't planning on switching to hand-to-hand combat any time soon, either.

"This thing gotta break eventually, Deku!" Katsuki grinned, dodging the reflected blasts as he sent out a new wave. "You're going down!"

"It's sturdier than it looks, Kacchan!" Izuku stated, hoping he wasn't looking as nervous as he felt. If his support items broke, the only way Izuku could win was if Kacchan stopped using his quirk and Izuku could take him down in close combat. Because Katsuki may be a natural combat unit, he had nothing on the years of training and experience Izuku had under his belt.

"Oh yeah?" Katsuki laughed when he heard a loud crack. Izuku's eyes widened, glancing down to see the material fracture around his arms. Shit. "Looks like your time is running out!"

Izuku flinched when the bracers shattered within the next wave of attacks, stumbling back and falling onto the ground with a grunt. Damnit, he really worked hard on those! Katsuki didn't leave him any time to come up with a new plan, coming at him with everything he got. Izuku rolled aside, avoiding the blast while crawling up to his feet. He needed to get those explosions under control...

"You're out of tricks, Deku. Just give up," Katsuki told him. "You're going to lose."

"I'm not giving up that easily," Izuku said, determined to get through this. All he had to do was get in close without getting hit. Shouldn't be too hard, right? Izuku knew Kacchan, knew his movements, and he knew how to beat him, too. So he charged. He took Kacchan by surprise and grabbed his wrists, pressing onto his carpal tunnel. Not many people knew about that weakness, about the fact Katsuki had special sweat canals throughout his body that complimented his quirk.

Canals that could be blocked.

It wasn't something doctors noticed right away, only discovered much later in his life when Katsuki had made some wrong wrist movements and accidentally blocked his quirk for a few days. Katsuki hissed when Izuku pinched them, pushing him off and waving his hand in front of him, only for nothing to come out. No blasts, no explosions. Izuku could see the panic in his eyes and felt his own blood run cold. Izuku hadn't seen Kacchan look at him like that in a long time, and he absolutely hated it.

"What the hell did you do to me?" he breathed as Izuku stepped back, putting some space in between them.

"It's temporary, I promise," Izuku told him, unable to look away from those pained and panicked red eyes. He'd taken his quirk, the one thing Kacchan took the most pride in, the one thing he built his life around- and Izuku had blocked it like it was nothing. God, Kacchan must feel so powerless right now- a feeling he despised more than anything. "I... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have- I didn't want to-"

"What the hell did you do to me?!" Katsuki exclaimed, much louder this time. Blind rage took over the panicked desperation, and Izuku was pushed back before he knew what was happening. His body didn't react immediately, didn't fight Kacchan's blows, not at first. And once he did, it was already too late. Katsuki had the overhand and Izuku was pushed out of bounds in a matter of moments. "Answer me!"

"I... I..." Izuku stammered, unable to hear Midnight call out Katsuki's name. "I'm sorry, Kacchan-"

"I don't want to hear it!" Katsuki yelled, grabbing him by the helm of his shirt, pulling Izuku partially up from the ground. It reminded Izuku of Kacchan's bullying in the worst possible way. "How?! How do you always pull shit like this?! How do you always know everything?! How did you take away my-?!"

Izuku blinked, seeing the pink gas of Midnight's quirk fill the air around them. Ah, that's how the final in their original life ended too, wasn't it? When Kacchan kept going at Shoto even after the battle was over. Izuku blinked, again, unable to keep his eyes open and Katsuki's grip loosened, dropping him onto the ground before falling down himself.