Chapter 16: The Sports Festival (Part II)Summary:The fighting tournament begins.
Notes:(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter TextAfter about thirty minutes of intermission, Present Mic screamed into everyone's ears, again. "AND WE ARE BACK, FOLKS! The time has come for the part that you've all been waiting! The apex of this Sports Festival! The 1 on 1 tournament! Now hedge your bets, put on your popcorn, and keep your eyes peeled, because the arena is about to get messy! Let's see who's fighting who!"
Izuku looked up at the tournament pairings that were totally not chosen at random. The first person he'll be fighting against was someone named Shinso… huh. Now that was a name he'd never heard before. And his quirk is something he had no idea about…
"Now we begin with our first match! First off is the first placer of this year's entrance exam! Some may know him as Mean Green Bean of Class 1-A! He brings with him an endless imagination and a quirk that's as magical as it gets! Let's welcome Midoriya Izuku!!!!!"
Mean… Green… Bean?! Izuku was shocked, but not surprised. That's a… strange nickname, but it was oddly fitting.
Meanwhile, Inko chuckled. "MEAN GREEN BEAN! AHAHAHAHA! Frieren, get a load of this, ahaHAHAAHAHA!"
"Right, right," Frieren rolled her eyes. She found no logic in the nickname.
"Facing him is the 21st student of Class 1-B! He is as mysterious as it gets! Hitoshi Shinsooooo!"
Izuku looked at his first opponent. He was tall, maybe 5'9", with messy purple hair and dark circles under his eyes that spoke of a chronic lack of sleep.
"Get ready, contestants!" Midnight announced, whipping her whip around. "Ready… set… go!"
"Your mother is a whore and your father abandoned you for a hoe in the streets."
Izuku's blood vessels twitched just before he could put his mind to firing a Zoltraak at Shinso. One second into the match and Shinso was already insulting his parents? What's up with this guy? What gives him the right? Izuku should send him to the afterlife at this very moment.
"Not going to say anything? I guess they can't count on you to defend th-"
Shinso quickly found himself flying out of bounds as a beam of blue light impacted right on his chest. He was knocked against the stadium wall, the air slammed out of his lungs.
"Ugh… that hurt…" Shinso groaned. That was the first time someone who didn't know about his quirk didn't even bother to respond to his provocative words. That trick usually worked!
Midnight whipped her whip as the smoke cleared, showing Shinso leaning on a slightly dented stadium wall. "Shinso Hitoshi is out of bounds! Victory goes to Midoriya Izuku!" The crowd cheered, unaware that Shinso had just said something Izuku might consider unforgivable.
"Hey."
Shinso looked up to see a rather… unemotive Izuku looking down at him, though it was... scary. "Yeah, yeah, I get it, I insulted your family, but I didn't mean it."
The greenette raised an eyebrow at him. "You didn't?"
"My… quirk, Brainwashing, needs someone to respond to me before I can use it on them," Shinso painfully got up from the ground. As he rose to his full height, Izuku lazily looked at him in the eyes, making the purple-haired teen shiver under the sheer… weight of his erstwhile opponent's gaze. "So, yeah, I usually say something provocative to make them respond to me."
Izuku's eyebrows switched in their raised positions. "You should… try a different provoking phrase…"
"But it always worked. Until now, that is."
"Well, my father did die before I was born," Izuku shrugged. "He was a JSDF operator. He was murdered by a villain during a joint operation with heroes."
Shinso's eyes widened at the revelation. "Oh crap, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean any of it, alright?"
"You already said that," Izuku glanced up at the jumbotron, where the next match was displayed as being between Aoyama and Mina. "You're forgiven." He then hurried up to the stands, putting the whole situation with Shinso to the back of his mind, and began waiting for the next fight to begin.
That match ended fast too, with Aoyama quickly getting a stomachache while trying to hit Mina with his navel laser. Mina simply slid around him with acid beneath her feet, waiting until his stomachache began unbearable. She made it even worse, as she knocked out Aoyama of the match by kicking him in the stomach, pushing the support item that focused his laser into beams, and making him bowl over in pain. Fumikage then defeated Sero; the latter didn't have a lot of things to latch his tap on to within the arena, so he just sent his tape straight at Fumikage… just for Dark Shadow to shred them as they came before sending Sero skidding out of bounds.
The matches after that were… interesting. Kirishima and Tetsutetsu simply punched each other's hardened bodies for ten minutes straight, dealing very little damage to each other. In the end, Midnight decided that they should simply determine the winner with armwrestling.
Tetsutetsu won, though it was just as plausible that Kirishima could have won it. After Tetsutetsu's victory was concluded, the two gave each other what they called a 'manly handshake'. They then proclaimed themselves as the manliest people of this sports festival before marching out of sight as though they've known each other since time began. When Mei and Iida fought, Mei turned their fight into a shameless advertisement for the support companies that were watching before promptly bowing out and letting Iida get the win, even if he… barely did anything.
Then Todoroki froze Yaoyorozu in a glacier after that, not even giving her the chance to create anything. It was… spectacular. It's like he said. "I'll win with my mother's ice." Poor Momo, though. She looked very disappointed (with herself) when Todoroki thawed her out.
"I like him," General Winter said with a grin as he took in the sheer size of the glacier that Todoroki created. "Can I take him home?"
"Art, you know you can't do that," Star and Stripes reprimanded. She then set her oversized arm on General Winter's head, making him puff in annoyance. "And it's weird when you say it that way!"
"I'll teach him cryomancy better than Endeavor ever could. That tryhard… still trying to overtake All Might out of all people like he's got a damn chance!"
"He wouldn't be Endeavour if he wasn't always endeavouring for something, yeah?"
"Ugh. You're lucky that I like you Star, or I'd freeze you right now.."
"When are you going to propose to me, anyway?" Star and Stripes' eyelashes fluttered at General Winter, who looked away to hide the flush in his face.
"We're not there yet!"
Then, Bakugo blew up Tetsutetsu, sending him flying from the arena despite Kirishima's cheering. Speaking of, Kirishima's cheering was rather contradictory. He would scream for Tetsutestu when he had the upper hand, and then for Bakugo when he was the one winning. When Bakugo took the win, Kirishima excitedly jumped up and down before abruptly switching to a somber mood as he realized Tetsutetsu lost.
After that was Uraraka and Sato. She made the big boy float upwards helplessly the moment the two of them connected, though Uraraka sported a bruise on her face when Sato punched her (someone in the audience said something about 'hitting a girl' but then someone else threw a shoe at them). And thus, Uraraka won in a rather comical fashion as Sato flailed around in midair for about twenty seconds when he realized that he was basically immobilized. The next thing Uraraka did afterwards was get him a cupcake from the stands.
This next match, though…
"From Class 1-B, here to take the jobs of every mangaka out there! Ha, just kidding! Let's all welcome… Manga Fukidashi!
Now this guy was a strange one. His entire head was a manga page, with speech bubbles and all. He looked rather skinny… and he was carrying, what's that, a bunch of mints in his right hand? And are those lozenges on his left? Those wouldn't count as support items, wouldn't they?
"And out of Class 1-A, the most electrifying student that we have! Denki Kaminari!"
Izuku blinked. Is Denki… why is he holding a chain made out of copper? Or is that rusted?
"Oh yes, you might be wondering why our two contestants for this match are carrying certain, uh, items. Don't worry, those count as minor support items and were approved by Power Loader! Now, we'll let you do the honors, Midnight!"
"Of course, Mic!" Midnight laughed. "Now, my dear contestants. Shall we begin? Ready… set… go!"
Izuku (and Fumikage too, as Izuku noticed him get up to the stands to stand up beside him) watched intently as Kaminari immediately threw the chain forward. Manga wasn't the most nimble person, and his leg was quickly wrapped up in the chains. Kaminari pulled, making Manga fall on his ass with a thud. Arcs of yellow electricity began to crackle from Kaminari, traveling from him to the chain to Manga.
"Bzzzt!"
Izuku's eyes widened as Manga too began to crackle with electricity, only this time, his head had transformed into a speech bubble with a lightning bolt in it. Kaminari was surprised too, as he ceased his electrical onslaught against Manga, who had clearly become immune to electricity, and instead tried to drag him from the arena with his chain. Between the two of them, Kaminari was clearly the physically stronger one, and Manga began to get dragged along the concrete.
Of course, Manga, who was crackling with electricity, wasn't just going to let himself get dragged away. He visibly struggled against Kaminari pulling him, and when that didn't work, he resorted to his quirk yet again.
"Bang!"
Kaminari ducked, his chain unraveling from Manga's leg, as the words 'bang' left Manga's… mouth, literally, and turned into what might just be a Bullet Bill from Mario without the eyes or the mouth or the hands, slamming against a shimmering shield and exploding.
"Right, our dear audience!" Present Mic spoke again. "Our support department had erected a barrier around the arena so that no one has to worry about stray projectiles or whatever! Also, Manga just made sure that we won't get sued by Nintendo! Thanks, Manga!"
"Boom!" The word turned into an explosion, not unlike one by Bakugo, though it wasn't as big as the pomeranian usually liked it during training. Kaminari ran for nonexistent cover and covered his head, and Izuku watched as he shouted something at Manga, who then shrugged in response.
Manga popped a lozenge in his mouth (where is it anyway?!) and shouted again. This time, he shouted loud enough that the crowds could hear as well as see what he had just shouted out.
"CRASH!" The word blasted from Manga's mouth and turned into… is that a flying pillar of concrete!?
Kaminari dodged the incoming pillar of death, which then crashed into the shield. Kaminari threw his chain forward just to get it blasted away as Manga shouted "fwoosh", the words turning into a jet of flame that Kaminari also very narrowly dodged. His gym uniform was visibly singed from it, but he was otherwise fine. He was panting now; it must be very scary having to dodge Bullet Bill, a concrete pillar, fire, and an explosion, all one after another. And clearly, Manga knew his own weaknesses, judging from his lozenges and mints. Shouting out the words-come-to-life must be hard on the throat. And he barely even had a throat to begin with! His neck was just a shrively end part of a speech bubble. How does he even breathe and talk?!
But again, what a versatile quirk!
Manga visibly massaged his throat, popping a mint into his mouth. Kaminari took the opportunity to run towards him, whipping his chain like he was a cowboy about to catch a cow. Manga's fingers twitched like a villain making a devious plan. "SMASH!" The words turned into a giant boxing glove, slamming into Kaminari hard enough that he-
"Kaminari Denki is out of bounds! Victory goes to Manga Fukidashi!"
As he lay on the ground, Kaminari heaved and panted. He looked up to see Manga holding out his hand to him. Manga's speech bubble head was now in the form of a grinning smiley face. He took Manga's hand and painfully got off the ground. "That didn't go as I would like…"
"Well," Manga croaked, his throat clearly strained by the use of his quirk. "That last hit I gave you was probably going to be my last. I just got lucky."
"Oh…"
"Don't feel too bad! You did good. Don't listen to Monoma when he calls 1-A trash, by the way. He's, uh, complicated."
"...Right. By the way, you really didn't feel it when I let tried to tase you?"
"Well, if I hadn't used my quirk then, you'd have knocked me out cold," Manga scratched the back of his head. "Again, I'm just lucky, I guess."
"...I wish I got some luck, too."
"Say what," Manga glanced over at the medical tent just outside the stadium's gate. "Once Recovery Girl lets you out, I'll get you something from the snack booths?"
"You'd do that for me?"
"Well, I shot you, and then threw a giant bullet, a fireball, a concrete pillar, and a tree trunk at you."
"And I chained you up and tried to electrocute you."
"Well, yes, but you're the one with a singed uniform. And it's all just part of this, err, event. No biggie."
"Okay then!" Kaminari grinned and gave Manga a thumbs up. "See you later!"
"Look at and applaud the sportsmanship that Manga Fukidashi has displayed to his opponent!" Present Mic howled. "Now, see yourselves to Recovery Girl on the medical tent. We'll have a short intermission as we clean up the arena! But prepare yourselves for the first match of our semi-finals between Todoroki Shoto and Tokoyami Fumikage!"
"It appears that I must face Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation," Fumikage said as he rose from his seat beside Izuku. The latter barely held back a chuckle at that. "What? You've never heard me joke before?"
"It just sounds so wrong when you say it in your normal voice…" Izuku snickered.
"Hm. Speaking of Todoroki, you mentioned some time ago that he wouldn't… embrace his genetics?"
"He doesn't want to bring honor back to the Fire Nation…" Izuku giggled. Then he coughed and put on a straight face. No, he wasn't going to make fun of Todoroki. Not here of all places. That guy was just straight-up abused for the last ten years! "He refuses to use his fire side because of his dad, so, yeah."
"If he refuses to use his fire then it would be easier for me to defeat him…"
"Wait," Izuku held on to Fumikage's wrist just as he was about to go to the locker room to prepare. "Can you… force a situation where he's forced to use his fire?"
"And jeopardize my own chances of advancing in this tournament?" If Fumikage had eyebrows, then he would have raised them. "I don't know if I can do that."
"Alright, it would be unfair of me to ask you of that," Izuku nodded and let Fumikage's arm go. He then raised his hand for a fist bump. "I'll cheer you on from here, man. And I hope we get to fight too!"
"...Perhaps if I sufficiently overwhelm him, I might force him to use his flames," Fumikage bumped his fist with Izuku's. "We shall see."
"Can you, though? It's not night or dark."
"...you'll see."
"And so it begins! First up we have the dark and mysterious bird of Class 1-A! He is never alone, for he always has a shadowy friend by his side! Let's all welcome… Tokoyami Fumikage!"
The crowd's cheering was… deafening. Fumikage didn't like it very much.
"Up against our shadowy contender is the wielder of ice and hot, the youngest son of our Number Two Hero, Endeavor! All applaud… Todoroki Shoto!"
I hate that he mentions my sperm donor , Todoroki grumbled to himself as he turned to face Tokoyami. He knew what to do. He can finish this in just one second. He'll just send a glacier out to trap his opponent, and he'll advance to the next round. He will defeat everyone just with his mother's ice. None of that bastard's fire.
"Get ready, fighters!" Midnight announced above them. "Ready… set… go!"
With a stomp of his foot, a glacier shot out of the ground, entrapping Tokoyami within. He was just about to turn away and accept Midnight's congratulations when the ice began to crack. "It couldn't have been easier…" Todoroki turned to face his birdheaded opponent. No matter. He just needed yet another glacier. If that failed, then he could send out another. And if that failed…
Just another one.
The glacier exploded into a hundred shards, the pieces of ice impacting against the shield. What came out of the glacier, wasn't just Tokoyami. He now had wispy tracks of black smoke clinging to his body, and it was just… darker within three feet around him.
"Oh ho!!!! Where did that come from?!" Present Mic screamed. "It looks like Tokoyami can make his own cloak of darkness! Truly, quirks have so many aspects these days? Right, Aizawa?"
"Yeah, whatever."
The crowd was filled with gasps and murmuring (except for Tokoyami Raito and his wife, who were screaming and cheering as if their son was the only person that mattered). Izuku too was taken aback. Just… how? He detected the use of a tiny amount of mana just before the ice exploded and let Fumikage out of there. He already knew that Frieren taught his friend how to create a small sphere of light should he ever need to subdue Dark Shadow, but this? He had no idea. Then he remembered what Fumikage had typed in the group chat two weeks ago when Uraraka had asked what they were doing to prepare for the Sports Festival.
The Prince of Shadows: I will not disclose any information .
"You really didn't disclose anything, huh?" Izuku leaned back on his seat, barely noticing that Uraraka was sitting just behind him. A spell like this was basic. Super basic. It was just the inverse of the super basic sphere of light spell. "It's going to be harder to beat you now…"
"That's your doing, right?" Inko turned to face Frieren, who had been eating a small bucket of french fries.
The ancient elf simply smirked. "I finally had a use for Nebelung. With this basic spell, he uses what little mana he has to his advantage. To compliment his quirk."
As the audience watched and Todoroki narrowed his eyes at his opponent, a voice could be heard… reciting a poem?
Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,
Todoroki only had a moment before Dark Shadow was coming at him with his claws out. He blocked the enlarged and enhanced sentient quirk just in time with an ice wall, which immediately began to crack as Dark Shadow slammed into it. And, as it turned out, it was Dark Shadow reciting the poem. Fumikage could be heard groaning
"Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou," I said, "art sure no craven, Dark Shadow punched the icewall to pieces, forcing Todoroki to throw a glacier at Fumikage, just for Dark Shadow to smash through it as well.
Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore—
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!"
"It appears that Dark Shadow is quoting the ancient poem by Edgar Allan Poe, 'the Raven'!" Present Mic excitedly remarked. "It's very fitting don't you think?"
"What, you didn't see that coming a mile away?" Aizawa dully replied. "I saw it coming and I can't even see right now."
He's burned through only 10% of his mana in the past two minutes… it really is a basic ass spell. What did Frieren ever even use it for?! Izuku observed Fumikage and Dark Shadow work in concert, the darkness amping up a tiny bit, making Dark Shadow grow a little larger just to smash through yet another of Todoroki's glaciers. Izuku turned his eyes toward Todoroki… who was slowing down. He was throwing glaciers less frequently now, and… wait, is his left side literally freezing over?
"What did you even use that for?" Inko asked.
Frieren shrugged. "In the past, I found it easy to be woken up when there's a bright light. So I found and used Nebelung to make sure that I will sleep in for a few more hours. Eventually, though, I became used to lights, ignoring them as I kept sleeping on and on.."
"...why am I not surprised that's the reason?"
"Teaching him has been a very informative experience," Frieren simply replied. "How strange it is that I, someone not of this world, could do so well?"
"You do have a thousand years of experience."
"Ah, that too. It was somewhat trying, at first. I think a few trees were destroyed."
" Nyet , his weakness is just like mine," General Winter lamented. "Most ice quirk users will end up frostbiting themselves if they overuse it."
"Well, that's better than burning to death," Star and Stripes vaguely looked in Endeavour's direction, who in turn was a little less… pleased with how things were going. "You know you're going to lose our bet, Art."
"I really hate you, Cathleen."
"You hate me so much that you love me."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever."
"Cease your rebellion now, Shoto," Enji Todoroki growled as he watched his masterpiece get pummeled by a damn bird of darkness. "Use my fire. It is the only way you can win, you fool."
"Use your fire, Shoto."
Shoto could hear his father's voice echoing in his mind. He refused to listen. He never will. He will never bow down to Endeavour's demands. He will win only with his mother's ice! That was his vow. That was his promise to himself, that he would spite his father for everything he had done.
He can still win.
Dark Shadow smashed through the last glacier, his power still empowered by the sphere of darkness that suffused Fumikage's body. He then went for Todoroki himself. Todoroki tried to raise another glacier, only for his body to refuse his command as frostbite began to take hold of his icy side. No… why? He can't fail! How else will he prove to everyone else that he did not need the powers of his "father" to win?
He was tired.
Nothing seemed to matter anymore.
Screw Endeavour.
So what if he loses, then? He is still never using that man's fire. If he wins only with his mother's ice, then he spites his father. If he loses while using only his mother's ice, then he still spites his father. That in itself... could be a victory.
Never.
"Let's finish this, Dark Shadow."
"Yes! And so quoth the Raven ," Dark Shadow slammed himself at the frostbitten Todoroki, sending the tired dual-haired teen out of bounds. "Nevermore."
Chapter 17: The Sports Festival (Part III)Summary:The Sports Festival continues on to the semi-finals. Shoto gets lectured by Endavour.
Notes:(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text"Shoto."
Shoto looked up at his "father." Endeavour, that flaming pile of human garbage, glared at him from his immense height, his disapproval clear from his disapproving eyes. Why he was incarnated to become this monster's child remains to be seen.
"Father," Shoto replied without much in the way of emotion. Recovery Girl had just let him out of the medical tent; previously, his chest sported a rather sizable bruise where Dark Shadow had slammed into him like a battering ram. He was tired and a little sleepy, not just from the exertion of the fights he had in the fighting tournaments of the Sports Festival, but from the side effects of Recovery Girl's quirk as well
"Let this be a lesson to you, boy," Endeavour growled, his arms still crossed together disapprovingly. "If you refuse to use your fire, then you will lose to the first competent opponent you face. You are fully capable of defeating the bird earlier. If only you would cease this pointless rebellion and simply act as you should. As I taught you to. You are my masterpiece. The one who will surpass All Might.."
Shoto didn't answer. Instead, he looked away, carefully hiding his hateful gaze from his father. Though there really was no point; Endeavour knew well that Shoto hated him with every fiber of his being, and would go far as to allow himself to be defeated if it meant spiting him.
"Come, Shoto. Perhaps if you watch your less nonchalant classmates, those who actually take their training seriously, battle, you will realize that you can never succeed in surpassing All Might without using all your power," Endeavor turned away, not even sparing a glance at Shoto. He expected his masterpiece to follow him back into the stadium.
"Hmph."
Endeavour walked on ahead, basically leaving Shoto alone in the hallway. He probably thought Shoto would catch up, eventually . At least he had the basic decency to not physically drag Shoto to the stands. Though Shoto was convinced that the reason wasn't because he was concerned about hurting him while dragging him along; rather, it's more likely because media vultures would converge around him if he was seen dragging his own kid.
Yes, that's right. Everything "good thing" he does is for the public's eyes. Everyone thought Endeavour was oh so great, the Number Two Hero. Little did the people know that the bastard was a monster to his own family, and just happened to have a lot of money to throw at problems.
Just as Shoto was about to enter the stands and once again lay his eyes upon the spectacle of his classmates fighting, he bumped into someone. That someone happened to be Iida, who wasn't looking where he was going. Well, neither of them were.
"Todoroki! Apologies, I wasn't looking," Iida hurriedly apologized.
"You're leaving already?" Shoto asked, looking up at his taller classmate. "You still have at least two fights ahead of you."
"Sorry. Family emergency."
"...what kind of emergency?"
"Nothing to worry about…"
"It's an emergency but it's nothing to worry about?" Shoto raised an eyebrow at Iida, who was looking more and more uncomfortable with every passing second. He wanted to get out, now .
"It's about my brother," Iida replied if only to placate Shoto's questioning. But Shoto could see that his eyes were red, likely from crying. He knew the signs of crying; heaven knows he used to cry so much when Endeavor, that piece of trash, trained him without mercy. And his mother wept for hours . "I have to go to him, sorry, Todoroki." The usually bombastic class rep hurried along, leaving Shoto to hear the concerned whispers from his nearby classmates. Shoto frowned as Endeavour looked at him from the far end of the stands, his gaze burning him even from a distance.
"Todoroki, you good?"
Shoto blinked as Midoriya somehow appeared beside him. "Yes. I am."
"Well… just remember what I told you," Midoriya patted him on the shoulders. What is this? What is this feeling? That has never happened before. Why did he… like that? Why would he like that?
"Well, well, well!" Present Mic announced as Cementoss finished repairing the arena. Dark Shadow had made quite the gashes on the concrete. "Our students are bursting with surprises, aren't they?! Well, I'm sure that our next contestants will be absolutely full of them! First off, we have the floaty girl herself! Woe be to all those that invoke her wrath, for she will send them to heaven, literally! All welcome… Uraraka Ochaco! And facing her is the one that makes words come into reality! Welcome back, Manga Fukidashi!"
Uraraka simply laughed at Present Mic's interesting and rather ominous introduction of her as she strode into the arena. Present Mic-sensei, really?! She's not in the business of sending people to the sky! Well, she'd have to send her opponents a few meters off the ground, at least. She may be headed to a career of being a rescue hero, but she'd have to fight sooner or later. It's just as Aizawa-sensei said. As for fighting Manga… let's see, she could keep dodging whatever he throws at her. If he throws one of those big pillars, she could use Zero Gravity on it and swing it like a baseball bat. If its Bullet Bill again, well, she could do the same, though she wondered if she could catch the thing before it sped off and slammed into the shield.
Meanwhile…
"I'll attend your funeral, buddy," Kaminari gave Manga a cheeky smile as the latter made his way to the arena. Manga simply let out a dejected sigh and popped a mint into his mouth. One might think that Uraraka's quirk wasn't that strong at first glance, but if she got her hands on enough debris… well, Manga would have some difficulty with that. So he won't send out anything that could give her anything to use! That's right!
She was also scary , kind of. She looked like she was, as some might say, 'locked in'. Were her eyes glowing? Manga could swear they were.
"Get ready, fighters!" Midnight flipped her whip with a resounding crack. "Ready… set… go!"
Manga was ready with his fighting words. "FWOOSH!" The letters morphed into a jet of flame, which Uraraka dodged, though it did singe her gym uniform. Why is she so fast?! When did she start running like this?! Was she training under Iida Tenya to run around? That could be the only reasonable explanation! "SWOOSH!" Manga then sent a blast of wind coming towards Uraraka, which sent her flying as you can't see air . Recognizing that this was something he could use against her without too much risk, Manga repeated the same wind-based onomatopoeia three times, keeping Uraraka just far enough from himself to prevent her from using her quirk on him. He hadn't used his mints yet…
Uraraka prowled around like a predatory cat, her eyes still locked on Manga. She was scary!
"FWO- ack!" Manga suddenly coughed as a sore throat caught up to him. He fished his pockets for mints and lozenges… and- what, he was out of them?! He tried to use his quirk again, only for half the onomatopoeia to come out as he coughed again, resulting in a small gust of wind that did absolutely nothing but stir up some dust.
Uraraka laughed maniacally as she ran straight towards Manga. This felt good! She had been dodging those annoying words of wind at least five times already, with two actually hitting her and nearly throwing her out of bounds. But Manga had just started coughing, and she took the chance.
"RAH!" Uraraka shrieked as she ran at him with arms stretched out wide. She didn't expect Manga to actually take a wrong step back and fall at his ass when he saw her closing the distance, but, oh well. He was only forming half-words right now, as he couldn't shout out his onomatopoeia without breaking into a coughing fit.
Uraraka jumped on Manga, literally, as the other hero student found himself floating off the ground, his weight completely nullified. Not letting him get the chance to speak out another word, Uraraka grabbed him by the legs, whispering a quiet sorry as she did so, and then threw him out of bounds.
Midnight swept her whip towards Uraraka, who was panting from all the running and dodging she did. "Manga Fukidashi is out of bounds! Uraraka Ochaco wins! My my, I swear I saw this move in Call of Duty once…"
Oh no , Uraraka frowned as she heard Midnight. Please don't-
"Ah ha! This was an execution move! Well done, Uraraka! Now, Present Mic, if you will?"
"Gonna take it from here, folks!" Present Mic barged into the audio, though, for some strange reason, his mic made a terrible feedback noise that destroyed everyone's ears. "Now, our next match was supposed to be between Iida Tenya and Tokoyami Fumikage, but for personal reasons, Iida has forfeited the match. Tokoyami Fumikage has won by default," a disappointed "oh come on!" could be heard from within the crowd at that. "However… our next battle is one that will surely be recorded in the history books for ages to come: Bakugo Katsuki and Midoriya Izuku!"
"Hah." Frieren suddenly let out a chuckle as she heard Present Mic mention that Izuku was going to fight in the next match.
"What's so funny, Frieren?" Inko asked. She knew nothing about Bakugo's bullying in the past. As far as she knew, the two were still acquainted with each other…
"I just know that this fight will be a good one to watch," Frieren put down her phone and placed her arms on her chin. "Izuku's been working on something."
"Frieren, I don't like it when you're being vague!" Inko frowned.
"Heh."
"Oh ho ho ho! Here's the one I'm waiting for!" Star and Stripes practically vibrated on her seat, which annoyed General Winter. "The Mean Green Bean! Imagine being called that!"
" Da , how terrifying," General Winter shook his head.
This is a dream.
Ever since the Battle Trial, Izuku could very well imagine himself defeating Bakugo. Basic defensive magic had a bit of a problem defending against physical mass, which meant that Manga could have given him some trouble if he threw out "CRACK" and "SMASH". His basic defensive magic could resist some flying pillars of concrete, yes… but there was a reason why elemental magicks had become the norm in Frieren's world.
As for the portal magic that he created with some, ehem, inspiration from a certain villainous cloud…
Ho, ho, ho.
"This is making so excited!~" Midnight posed dramatically, as though she was a damsel in distress. Somewhere in the stands, Fumikage had his fingers in his ears while he trilled 'la la la la' to himself, while Uraraka was simply pretending to be shocked. "I wonder who will emerge victorious after all this time! Now! Get ready!"
"Heh." Frieren smirked knowningly as her student and his former bully and now present classmate squared with each other. Izuku looked at Bakugo with a deadpan expression, as if seeing him wasn't bringing up memories of them playing together and then turning to a downward spiral as the explosive child bullied the child with no quirk for wanting to become a hero.
"Frieren… is there something you're not telling me?" Inko looked at her worryingly. She was more worried about Bakugo at this point, because who knows what strange spells Frieren had been teaching her son… but again, she was the reason he could fulfill his dream again. "What have you been teaching him lately?"
"Oh no, it's mostly his friend I've been teaching," Frieren replied. Despite her quiet voice, she still sounded excited. Somehow . "Izuku created this spell on his own."
"Oh…? So that's why his pants are always so dirty when he comes back home…"
"Indeed."
"Ready…"
Katsuki flexed his fingers. Finally! This is the day that he will make Deku pay for humiliating him in the Battle Trial! That nerd just got lucky for sure! No matter what his quirk does, Explosion is still better! Stronger! Faster!
"Set…"
Izuku looked back at Bakugo with expressionless eyes. Truth be told, he had so many things he wanted to tell his erstwhile friend. But Bakugo wouldn't care for any of it. Their relationship has been such… a disaster. Half of him just wanted this over with. The other half wanted a demonstration of the heights he'd reached.
Both sides won.
"Go!"
"DEKUUUUUU!!!!" Katsuki screeched as he blasted forward. Why is the nerd not moving? Why isn't he doing anything? No matter! He's probably surprised and is just pretending to be all calm and collected!
"Tur."
As Katsuki hurtled towards Izuku, the fabric of space began to bend and churn. Star and Stripes leaned forward, the edge of her seat threatening to break under her weight as she focused on what was happening. Miao Ying stood up, her interest piqued. General Winter let out a surprised gasp. Aizawa sighed, while Present Mic, normally one to always talk, was speechless. All Might, who was watching from within an enclosed area, had his jaw drop to the ground. Endeavor seethed even more.
Frieren smiled.
A portal had appeared in front of Bakugo just as he was throwing himself forward at Izuku, with its exit being outside the arena. To his credit, he immediately reversed gear, throwing his arms forward and creating explosions to propel him away from the portal before he could send himself out of bounds. The explosions, however, travelled through the portal, causing the exit point to belch out fire and smoke. When the hell did he have that ?! Katsuki questioned himself as he, for the first time in his life, did not want to charge at Deku.
"When did you get that, Deku?" Bakugo asked, twitching and flexing his fingers as he looked for an opening. This nerd was just completely out of control! He had barriers, laser beams, tentacles, armor crap, and now this portal stuff!
"My quirk allows me to replicate the effects of quirks that I see in action, as long as I can imagine myself performing said effects," Deku replied. Three of those accursed magic circles appeared around him and began to glow with blue light.
"Wh… what an unexpected development!" Present Mic finally pulled himself together, because by the heavens, he did not expect that! Especially when the last person he knew of that had a warp quirk (besides a 78-year-old retired pro hero from Malta) was a villain directly responsible for getting his students into dangerous situations. "It looks like that Midoriya has replicated a warp quirk using his quirk! Truly, his quirk is only limited by his imagination!"
League of Villains Hideout, Kamino Ward
Kurogiri hissed. The wine bottle that he had been polishing shattered in his hands as he watched one of the hero brats demonstrate his own warp gate in live TV. "He copied it…"
A girl with cat-like eyes jumped up the counter and sat on it, not caring that Kurogiri and Shigaraki were now glowering at her for her sheer audacity. She happily moved her legs up and down as she watched the TV with them and all the other members of the League. "And the guy he's fighting is sooooo cute! I want him~"
"Toga, do you actually think you have a chance with the hero brat?" A man with burnt skin being barely held together with metal rings chimed in. He had been suspiciously smiling when Endeavour's kid lost, but other than that, he didn't seem to care all that much about the UA Sports Festival.
"I'll make him love me~"
"But what about me?!" Now a man with a theater mask and a formal getup hit the counter with his fist. "I'm supposed to be the magician! Now he's… he's stealing my thing!"
"Why do you care? You should beat him up for it!" Now, an extremely muscular man in a black and grey tightsuit replied without any prompting.
"I'm gonna get that explosive ass~"
"Toga, stop simping for the hero brat or so help me-"
"Well, then," Katsuki hissed. "If you really want to fight me, fight me! Don't you dare just send me away with your portal crap!"
Izuku considered it for one moment. "Yeah, fine, if you want."
"Don't run away from me, Deku!" Bakugo blasted off, getting above Izuku to pepper him with an explosion. A blood vessel in his head twitched as he saw Izuku simply looking at him with a bored expression… and then he noticed that the blue hexagons that made up the nerd's barriers were moving around Izuku, tracking exactly where Katsuki was aiming.
Izuku looked up at Bakugo, conserving his mana by only putting up Skeldus where Bakugo was aiming his hand at. Once, he looked up to him, metaphorically speaking. Now… all he had going was sheer drive and a strong quirk. Everything else about him? Izuku had no respect for the attitude.
Katsuki fired off an explosion, which was blocked by a partially constructed energy barrier. The barrier immediately shattered, but it was quickly replaced by another one when Katsuki unleashed another, bigger explosion. That barrier shattered too, and Deku jumped backward, calmly and serenly landing on his feet. He looked at Katsuki with that same bored, deadpan expression, as if he were just looking through thin air. The sight made Katsuki's blood boil. It is bad enough that he hid his quirk from him, mocking him as he did so. No way in hell did he believe that he was this strong and only manifested it a year ago! You can't get strong in just a year! No way! Katsuki has been honing his quirk for half of his life!
"Look at me, Deku!" Katsuki rushed forward, unleashing explosion after explosion in rapid succession as he approached. Each explosion was blocked and parried by those barriers, and Deku still looked bored. How dare he! He's fighting the future number one! How dare he look like that ! As he threw another explosion, there was a particularly large amount of smoke. He looked around, seeking for his cowardly opponent.
Twack! Katsuki found himself suddenly grabbed by one of those icky energy tentacles from behind, and was violently pushed forward… toward a portal that just appeared. He tried to make an explosion but then his hands were encased in shimmering armor made out of energy. He couldn't make an explosion without ripping his own hands apart. Deku was… behind him?! When did he get there?! No… don't tell me… he used the smoke from my explosions to step into a portal and get behind me! Trickster!
Katsuki still couldn't believe it as he found himself thrown out of bounds by the damn portal. Deku lied to him! AGAIN!
While Uraraka did her best in the next round, she lost pretty quickly.
As it turns out, trying to make something that's already accustomed to the sensation of floating, that being Dark Shadow, float, didn't really do all that much. She rapidly found herself being literally carried out of the arena by the sentient quirk, who then unceremoniously dropped her to the ground. Overall, it had been a quick but expected fight. At least neither of the contestants got hurt?
At least Uraraka will be top three in the whole Sports Festival. That was one truly mean feat, especially for someone that many may believe lacked a powerful quirk. But when you could turn a boulder into a projectile with the touch of your hand, can you really be called "weak?"
So, all that was left for the fighting tournament and thus the Sports Festival was…
"And so the final battle begins!" Present Mic announced after a short intermission. "Who will win between our last two contenders?! Who will gain the title of champion?! Well, we'll see in a few minutes!"
"May the best son win," Inko confidently smirked as Raito and his wife, Kaguya, cheered Fumikage on with their banner. Raito turned around and patted her shoulder, but he failed to look at her directly as he was laughing uncontrollably .
"Oh please, Inko, we both… hahahaha, know our sons are both the best!" Raito struggled to form coherent words as he chuckled, while Kaguya simply looked on at her husband like he was the biggest idiot in the planet. "Win or lose, we'll cheer them on! Right?!"
"Of course!" Inko laughed back at him. Meanwhile, Frieren had become more attentive than ever, focusing on the upcoming match between Izuku and Fumikage. They were the ones that summoned her to this world, and now, they were both technically students of hers. Oh yes, she mostly definitely focused on Izuku, as he was the one with a mana pool that could grow to rival a mage from her world, but since she already taught Fumikage two spells, he already counted. It is lamentable, really, that she could foresee that his mana would eventually have a hard limit. There was only so much "inventory space" that his body and mind could support when he already wielded such a strong, complex quirk and a bit of mana alongside.
Well, either way, mages aren't everything. There's a reason warriors and priests are a requirement in any adventure party.
"Ready, contestants?" Midnight scanned Izuku and Fumikage as they faced each other. She had a good feeling about this one. As for why, she wasn't sure.
"Izuku," Fumikage began, readying a combative stance, arms stretched out wide and his right foot placed forward. "Let it be known that I have looked forward to this moment when our abilities will be matched against one another."
"Same, Fumi!" Izuku gave him a wry smile. "Let's both do our best and become great heroes someday!"
"Indeed we shall."
"Alright!" Midnight swiped her whip at the arena. "Get ready! Ready… set… and go!"
Three things happened immediately. First, the three-foot radius around Fumikage darkened as he activated Nebelung, or as the onlookers might say, the secondary function of his quirk. Dark Shadow became larger, his claws elongated and sharpened. But contrary to all expectations, Dark Shadow didn't charge, not yet, at least. Instead, he stayed beside his host, floating in anticipation of what was to come next.
Izuku had been quick to the draw as well when Midnight gave them the go. He expected Dark Shadow to immediately come at him, and so he immediately opened a portal that would lead just above Fumikage and fired a Zoltraak into it. His eyes widened in surprise, however, as instead of charging in and leaving Fumikage open to attack, Dark Shadow moved to intercept the beam with his shadowy form as the portal opened above his host. Dark Shadow took the hit, screeching as the beam struck. His size reduced slightly, only for his lost strength to quickly return as the darkness around Fumikage fed his power. Izuku sort of expected something like this to happen; Fumikage had watched his fight with Bakugo, after all, and getting shot at the back through a portal seemed to be a strategy that would be used more than once. But then… his fight with Bakugo had also used up quite a lot of mana. He needed to be careful from now on with defensive magic. Dark Shadow technically counted as physical mass, so if he slammed into a Skeldus barrier at a high speed and whilst enlarged, he could very well smash right through. Skeldus was a good spell, but it had its limits.
Very well. A lot of Zoltraaks it is. He could simply overwhelm Dark Shadow's ability to regenerate from damage with the darkness around Fumikage. Between the two of them, he was the one with more mana, so… if he tried to charge Dark Shadow to compensate, then… it would become a fight of attrition. Oh, he had a suggestion for Fumi to make up for his weakness in close range combat, but that was neither here nor now.
Six magic circles appeared around Izuku and began to fire like a battleship in a broadside. It was a sort of gambit, but Zoltraak does not take a lot of mana to cast. Maybe a lot of it would. A dozen beams of Zoltraak slammed into Dark Shadow every few seconds, who was now unable to leave his host's presence lest he be targeted and knocked out instead. Dark Shadow spread his shadowy form in front of Fumikage like a shield, and they moved… forward ? Wait, that isn't his style, isn't it? Dark Shadow has always attacked for Fumikage from a distance, not from up close! Well, it's not like he'll get close enough before he runs out of mana charging Nebelung to keep Dark Shadow remain functional.
Probably. He's down by 40% mana now… and he's getting closer. Is he trying to get into hand-in-hand? Does he even know hand-in-hand?
"The boys will love him so much." Star and Stripes chuckled as she watched the Mean Green Bean fire a constant barrage of what appeared to be energy beams. "He's throwing out so much ordnance down there!"
"Of course, that's the part that gets you excited," General Winter said with a disappointed tone, though he was still thoroughly interested in the match in front of them. "Typical American obsession with heavy weaponry."
"Hey, it's not like you don't like those either, Winty."
The Novgorodian pro hero looked up at the American Number Two and sighed. She did have a point there. "...fair."
Izuku was a bit surprised when Dark Shadow stopped shielding Fumikage and charged forward with blinding speed. He had attacked right as… oh, that made sense. Fumikage was keeping track of how many Zoltraaks he was blasting out, and how often he did them. So of course he sent Dark Shadow just as he was still "reloading" another barrage. Granted, reloading took all of two seconds, but that was enough for Dark Shadow to nearly get to his face before he summoned Skeldus to block the impact.
Dark Shadow slammed his face at the barrier; if he had actual skull with a brain inside, then it would have given him a severe concussion. But he was quite literally built different, and took only a second to recover before returning to his host to block yet another barrage of Zoltraak. Fumikage repeated the process twice. On the third attack from Dark Shadow, Izuku's Skeldus shattered under the sentient quirk's onslaught, and pushed Izuku to the concrete. Magische Panzer was a second too slow to be casted and Izuku found himself pinned to the ground by Dark Shadow's claws.
The trap is sprung.
"Dark Shadow! Ret-"
He was a second too late as a portal appeared under Fumikage and sent him out of bounds. He had been so focused on coordinating Dark Shadow's rapid movements that he failed to notice the sparks appearing under him. When he did, the portal had already formed and he was in the process of falling through. Dark Shadow was immediately pulled through as well, screaming in terror as he fell into the portal like water through a flush.
"Tokoyami Fumikage is out of bounds! Victory goes to Midoriya Izuku!"
Izuku sighed as the portal disappeared and Midnight gave her congratulations, while Present Mic screamed something about "the mean Green Bean." He had… very little mana left, between fighting Bakugo, who exploded his way through mana-extensive barriers like they were made of paper (seriously, there was a possibility he could have lost if Bakugo was much more mindful of his surroundings) and Fumikage. Izuku likely would have been declared immobilized had he not possessed that portal spell... or maybe he could have shot Fumikage with a Zoltraak while Dark Shadow had pinned, but that was more noticeable. But of course, everyone would think that he was utterly confident because of his deadpan expression for most of the fight.
"What a great way to end the Sports Festival! Our contestants are virtually untouched! But still go to Recovery Girl's tent, please and thank you! Now, we'll have our awarding of our top 4 winners in 15 minutes. All Might himself will be giving out the medals!" The crowd screamed, but Izuku paid it no mind as he left the arena.
As he approached Fumikage, the latter got up from the grass and dusted off his gym uniform. "I should have anticipated that you'd do that," Fumikage remarked as Dark Shadow appeared on his shoulder. "Well done. You knew I'd keep my distance even when I got closer. You exploited that fact. If I was more skilled in close combat…"
"Well, I did have a thought about that," Izuku said. "Dark Shadow doesn't really have a set form, right?"
"Right."
"He could… wrap around you, like armor, yeah? Like Venom and Eddie-"
"Ew," The tiny Dark Shadow glowered from Fumikage's shoulder. "Venom is icky."
Izuku chuckled. "I don't know, you might be icky too. Maybe I'll ask Hatsume to look up your search history…"
"Hm," Fumikage ignored Dark Shadow's protestations as he thought deeply. "That would be helpful. But I would need to learn close-quarters combat…"
"Well, in the internships, you could choose someone that's good at it?"
"I suppose so…"
"Well, let's get out of here. They'll be setting up the stage for the awarding…"
15 minutes later, and All Might had arrived to give out the medals amidst the cacophony of a screaming crowd.
While Izuku didn't go absolutely insane over All Might's presence, given that the man had been his Heroics class teacher for the last two months, it was still quite something to be presented with a medal by the person he'd looked up to for his entire life.
Bakugo was the first to be presented with a medal, but he… obviously didn't want it. No, of course he didn't! He was fourth place, and the only place he wanted to be in was at number one! All Might was able to place the medal around his neck regardless, however, and he seemed to visibly calm down when All Might stepped forward and hugged him. Once All Might moved on to Uraraka, though, it was like every grievance he had experienced in his entire life returned to the forefront and he began to shake with fury at being in fourth place again.
Uraraka was, by contrast, all too glad to accept the medal from All Might. Like Bakugo, she too got a hug from All Might, and that was when it dawned on Izuku.
All Might is going to hug him when he gets his turn. Somehow that thought was more tantalizing than having All Might as a faculty member in UA.
Fumikage was seemingly frozen in place as All Might congratulated him, gave him the medal, and hugged him too. Izuku nearly let out a chuckle when he realized that Fumikage's beak was right where All Might's armpit would be. Did the man use Axe Body Spray?
"Young Midoriya," Izuku straightened as he realized that All Might was in front of him. "You have displayed great ingenuity and strength. It is only right that on this day, you are crowned the champion of this Sports Festival. You have earned it."
Izuku stiffened as All Might presented the medal to him. "Uhhhhh yes, All Might!"
Then he got hugged by All Might, and he hugged All Might back. He couldn't be happier than right now.
"EVERYONE!" All Might turned to the adoring masses and held up Izuku's arm. "SAY IT WITH ME! PLUS…"
"ULTRA!!!!!"
Endeavour had left Shoto alone in the stadium. Actually alone. The Flame "Hero" had, quote, "many important duties", so he took off, leaving Shoto with his classmates. Right now, though, he'd rather get out of here. This place reminded him of his failure.
"You. Two-haired child."
Shoto turned around to see General Winter standing before him, his arms folded behind his back. Unlike Endeavour, General Winter had a more amicable atmosphere about him. While he rarely smiled, unlike All Might, the Novgorodian hero was clearly a much better person than Endeavour.
"Yes?" Shoto asked. After throwing literal glaciers around, Shoto could somewhat see this coming.
"Say, UA has an… internship program that allows its students to go abroad, if a foreign hero takes interest in them?" The man's Japanese was impeccable. It was almost terrifying hearing it spoken so fluently by a foreigner, especially from a country that didn't have particularly strong ties with Japan to begin with.
"It does… where are you going with this?" Shoto asked.
"Well, young man," General Winter held up his gloved palm, forming a miniature cat made out of ice on top of it. "I happen to believe that you and I can learn quite a lot from one another. Do you feel the same?"
"I… are you offering me an internship?" Shoto asked.
For the first time of the day, General Winter laughed. He laughed so hard that he clutched at his armored stomach and his ushanka fell off, revealing his head of messy hair. "Ahahahaha! Yes, of course! Why else am I here taking up your time and attention? Well, I'll be in touch. I'll show up in your emails sooner or later." General Winter turned away, waving at Shoto as he did so. "Farewell for now, Todoroki Shoto."
Shoto smiled. Finally, another way to spite his father.
As he got back up at the stands, Izuku was met by his mother and Frieren, the former of whom wrapped him in the most crushing hug she could ever muster. "Izuku! You're really the champion! Again!" Meanwhile, Fumikage was getting carried up to he air by his father, who was deceptively strong for someone with such a small frame, while his mother issued her own congratulations to her son. Dark Shadow cackled.
"Three times in a row," Frieren helpfully added as she finally put her phone back in her pocket. "Congratulations. You have learned well and become strong."
"Well, I was a bit lucky in the fighting tournament," Izuku fidgeted. He was by no means invincible, and he knew it. "Against my last two opponents, I could have been in real trouble of losing if they were either more mindful of what's around them or if they were faster…"
"That is true, which is why you have to work with your casting time, even with powerful attacks," Frieren answered. The only reason Izuku could fire Zoltraaks as fast as he did is that none of them were capable of doing anything close to lethal damage. They can knock someone out, that was it.
"Anyway… yeah, I do need to work on- oh hey, Uraraka!" Izuku saw Uraraka approach from the side with Kaminari close in tow. She was… no, she wasn't happy? Why wouldn't she? She was in third place out of a thousand students! As for Kaminari… he wasn't all that happy-looking either.
"What's with the sad faces?" Dark Shadow asked. "You look like someone died."
"Midoriya, Tokoyami," Uraraka said dejectedly. Kaminari stayed quiet behind her. "I… found out why Iida left earlier."
"Right," Izuku nodded, along with Fumikage. "What happened?"
"Well…" Uraraka pulled out her phone, which had a breaking news report displayed. "His brother… he's dead…"
"What." Fumikage took Uraraka's phone and started reading the article. "Stain… the Hero Killer… killed Ingenium… and nearly killed Native as well."
Inko gasped and placed her hands over her mouth. Frieren looked at the people present one by one, understanding well what was happening but not commenting on it. Raito appeared to lose his cheerful mood, instead seeming like he could descend into a murderous rage. Kaguya appeared to be stoic.
"But Stain was apprehended by Hawks and Gentle Hero," Fumikage said as he finished reading the article. "Says here that Hawks sliced off the fingers on Stain's swordhand before he could decapitate Native and then Gentle Hero captured him."
"We need to be there for Iida," Izuku said, breaking the silence before it could reign. Uraraka, Kaminari, and Fumikage nodded in agreement. "He's our friend. He went home, right?"
"He didn't say," Uraraka shook her head. "We can call or message him later, though."
"Yes…" Izuku sighed. "Let's just let him know that we're here for him."
"Frieren?"
Hours after the Sports Festival concluded and everyone had gone home, Izuku sat in the living room, where Frieren was reading books, as always. But she would always stop and listen whenever he called her name.
"Yes?"
"You've seen a lot of people you cared about die, right?"
"I've seen many perish, but if it's those I cared for…" Frieren thought about that for a moment. She supposed that she liked Flamme and cared for her. Almost everyone else that came through her life, though, was… just that. They came through and left little to no trace on her. That changed with Himmel, though. He was the first person she cried for in a thousand years of existence.
A short-lived human, whose life was a mere blip in her eyes. Yet he was the one that changed her. "There are also those. Why?"
"Well, as you know, Iida's brother was murdered," Izuku sighed. "I'm thinking of a message to send to him. You know, condolences and such. Something to make him feel better. I don't know what to say…"
Frieren thought about it for a moment. She remembered something about what Heiter said about when people came to him for funeral rites during the whole year she spent trying to decipher that fake "immortality grimoire" he gave her. And then the deaths of her whole village… even after a millennium, that still hung over her, though that manifested in a burning hatred for demons. "Simply be there for him in time of mourning," she replied, echoing what Heiter said.
"Okay…"