Izuku was walking to school when a voice called his name.

  "Hey, Deku!" She called.

  Izuku turned to face Uraraka, his face carefully schooled into a neutral frown.

  "Yes?" He asked.

  "Are you doing okay?" She asked, concern evident in her voice.

  Izuku was a little taken aback.

  "Y-yes, I am fine. Why?" He asked in return.

  Uraraka sighed with relief.

  "I'm glad you're okay. I wasn't able to ask you yesterday, everyone else was swarming you." She told him.

  Izuku turned away and kept walking.

  "Well you can see that I'm fine now, so come on." He said curtly.

  Uraraka hesitated, then followed beside him.

  "I'm not angry you know.." she told him.

  "About what?" He asked.

  "About what you said at the USJ. I know you were just trying to stop me getting pulled in too." The brunette said.

  Izuku sighed with relief, which didn't go unnoticed by his companion.

  "Well, I'm sorry anyway. Most of it was uncalled for." He said.

  The girl visibly brightened, glad that her friend was no longer as gloomy as he had been.

  Izuku smiled, walking the rest of the way to school alongside his friend.

  They entered 1A and sat in their places awaiting their teacher.

  Aizawa soon entered, taking his place at the front.

  "I have an announcement to make. The UA sports festival is tomorrow. You all need to do your best, otherwise you will be removed from the hero course in exchange for someone who did better."

  "Is that safe sir? So soon after a villain attack?" Kaminari asked.

  "I understand your concerns, but security has been tightened. The school wants to show strength, to let people know that a villain attack will not daunt us." Aizawa explained.

 
  Izuku was in the training hall, launching flames at targets. He flew through the air towards the dummy in the middle of the room, bringing his hands together infront of it's face.

  "Burn!" He yelled, amping his flames up to the hottest he could withstand.

  The blue flames shot forwards in a beam, incinerating the dummy's head on first contact and traveling across the room before starting to lose their perfect form.

  Izuku cut the flames off, wringing his hands.

  "Firepower isn't a problem.. neither is stamina.. I just need to work on control." He muttered to himself.

  The flames, now orange, swirled around him, creating a firestorm that burned the air, the deafening crackle drowning out his crazed laughter.

  Next, he willed the flames to take a shape, and they flew around the room, wings beating through the air. A phoenix, as orange as the setting sun, soared above him. With a flick of his wrist, the flames turned blue, then white.

  If Izuku wasn't physicaly releasing the flames, he could make them as hot as he wanted. It was more tiring, granted, but it was good to know.

  Next, Izuku lit a match, and removed the flame from the wood, holding it in the air, keeping it as small as he could.

  A few hours later, and only a little tired, Izuku headed outside.

  "Hey Deku! How's your training going?" Uraraka asked.

  Izuku smiled at his friend.

  "I'm done now. I'm just going to have some fun, which will also help train me." He said.

  Uraraka let the objects around her fall, pressing her fingers together.

  "Really? What are you going to do? Your quirk was pyrokinesis right?" She asked curiously.

  Izuku grinned, removing his shoes and socks, leaving them at the edge of the path.

  Without a word, he ignited a flame at his feet, sending himself soaring up into the sky.

  Uraraka watched in awe.

  "YOU CAN FLY!!??" She yelled.

  Izuku laughed, flying towards her in a nosedive before flying back up, stabilising with his hands. Izuku spun in the air, doing a loop de loop and several nosedives.

  Uraraka floated herself up into the air alongside him, spinning around in a ball.

  Izuku grabbed her arm, pulling the weightless brunette along beside him.

  The duo flew around, training with their quirks, Uraraka with floating herself, and Izuku flying without his hands.

  Uraraka glanced at Izuku as they flew high over UA.

  "Deku!" She said.

  He looked over at his friend.

  "Yeah?" He asked.

  "You can call me Ochako if you want. I call you Deku after all.."

  Izuku slowed, the duo both nearly falling out of the sky, before speeding up again, turning to look the other way.

  "Sure, Ochako.." he said, barely loud enough to hear.

  When they got too tired, Izuku would just hover, helping Uraraka with her nausea or Uraraka floating him to cool off.

  Eventually they had to return to the ground, both thoroughly exhausted but both content.

 
  The next day was the day of the festival. Izuku felt surprisingly pumped up.

  *I'm going to show up all of these wannabes. To think a villain could beat them in their own games, on their home turf? Pathetic.*

  "You ready to go Deku?" Ochako asked.

  Izuku's scheming thoughts vanished.

  "Of course!" He said.

  "Midoriya." A monotone voice said.

   Izuku turned to Todoroki.

  "Yes?" He asked, with even less emotion than the dual haired boy.

  "You use fire. I'm going to beat you with my right side." He said.

  "Oohh, the strongest in the class is issuing a challenge?" Kaminari said.

  Kirishima tried to interfere.

  "Come on man, springing this on someone right before the festival ain't manly at all!" He exclaimed.

  "I'm not here to make f-"

  The boy was cut off by mirthful laughter. He stared at the greenette in shock.

  A cold smirk spread over Izuku's face.

  "Strongest? Don't make me laugh. You won't even use half your power over a temper tantrum, and your ice is weak. You thing an arm and a leg will have enough power to stop me? I was stronger before, but now that the playing field has 'evened out' I'm far stronger than anyone else here. The only people with the slightest chance against me were Uraraka and Kirishima. Now that I can wield flames, that number has been cut in half. Kirishima is the only one able to even get close to my fire, let alone push through it."

  Izuku paused.

  "If you want to 'declare war' then that's fine by me. Go ahead, make yourself look like an idiot on live television. I'll have a good chuckle when I watch it back later. At least you'll know for next year, only declare war on someone you actually have some kind of chance beating."

  At this point the entire class was staring at Izuku with worry on their faces. Everything he'd said was right, and they knew they didn't stand a chance.

  With his piece said, Izuku left the room to await Present Mic's cue to enter the arena. Ochako followed him.

  "Sorry about that." He said.

  "It's alright." Ochako told him. "Just because I don't like it doesn't make it untrue. Besides, nobody else was close to beating you before, so I'll at least take that as a win!" She said.

  Izuku smiled briefly.

  "I feel a bit bad for Todoroki, he looked like you'd slapped him. But he did bring it on himself." She said.

  Izuku sighed.

  "It just annoys me a little. The fact that he actually has powers, but refuses to use them to their full potential. I would have killed for even half his power." Izuku looked down at his hand.

  "I guess I did get half his power.." he muttered.

  Ochako smiled, patting his shoulder.

  "Well, even without powers I thought you were pretty cool!" She said.

  Izuku laughed, just as Present Mic's voice rang out.

  "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WELCOME TO THE UA SPORTS FESTIVAL!!!"

  "That's our cue.." Ochako muttered.

  Izuku gave her a thumbs up.

  "Let's do our best Ochako!"

  The first event was an obstacle course. A race around the arena and back inside.

  Izuku looked around for his friend.

  Ochako walked up to him, obviously having the same idea.

  "I guess you want to hide the fact you can do it alone then!" She said.

  Izuku smirked, removing his shoes and socks.

  "Yep. The festival always ends with a one on one tournament. I'm saving my solo flight for that. I'll surprise whoever my last opponent is and claim first place."

  Ochako grinned playfully back.

  "Not if it's me you're facing you won't!" She said.

  She pressed her fingers to Izuku's chest, then her own, making them both weightless. Izuku wrapped his arm around her waist, hugging her close.

  "START!!" Present Mic screamed.

  Izuku used a burst of flame to propel them over the crowd. He made it look like his flames were only pushing them along, and Zero Gravity was doing all the work.

  Ochako rolled her eyes.

  "Anyone smart enough will figure out my quirk is in effect, then they'll wrongly assume you need help to fly. You're being pretty sneaky." She said.

  Izuku laughed, sailing over everyone's heads, passing by a group of zero pointers.

  "I'm making my flames look really weak too, I just need to adjust the intensity on the flame at the outer edges. Any fire I produce near the middle of a burst is as hot as I can get it. But from everyone else's perspective I can only shoot out fireplace flames." He explained.

  The duo flew over a pitfall obstacle and an empty field for some reason.

  It was a couple seconds until they reached the finish line that they realized how close they were. Ochakowas practically wrapped around him as they floated through the air.

  That is why, when they crossed the finish line, both their faces were crimson.

  Ochako let Izuku go and floated away, releasing them both to land on the ground.

  The cheers from the crowd had died down, and we're now filled with murmurs, understanding how their flight was achieved.

  "FROM A PHOTO FINISH, WE CAN TELL THAT IZUKU MIDORIYA WON FIRST PLACE BY A SINGLE STRAND OF THAT BUSHY HAIR!!!" Present Mic yelled.

  Ochako cheered along with the crowd.

  "Well done Deku!" She said.

  Izuku sighed, a resigned grin on his face.

  "I won because I didn't get my semi-monthly haircut... Well done me."

  Ochako laughed, and Izuku's smile widened.

 
  It took ten minutes for Todoroki and Bakugo to arrive, both looking considerably pissed.

  It took a further ten minutes for everyone else to arrive.

  By that time Izuku and Ochako were back in perfect fighting shape.

 
  The second event was a 'cavalry battle'.

  Unfortunately for Izuku, he needed a team to participate.

  Fortunately for Izuku, he had two volunteers, which was all he needed.

  "It's unfortunate that I've got 10,000,000 points on my head, but we can manage, it doesn't change the plan." He said.

  Ochako nodded, and Kirishima grinned at his manly friend.

  Five minutes later, and the event began.

  Izuku threw up a wall of dark blue flames. He didn't go up to light blue, or white, because that would obliterate any of them foolish enough to try and get through.

  Izuku held his arms out, sweeping the flames across the arena, pushing the other teams back into a quarter of the original arena. Izuku, Ochako and Kirishima stayed at the opposite end of the arena, in the three quarters on this side of the flames.

  "AND IZUKU MIDORIYA WASTES NO TIME IN THROWING A BARRIER UP!! CAREFUL KIDS, THOSE FLAMES ARE
H O T!!"

  A few of their competitors tried to get through. Someone in 1B tried blocking the flames with solid air, but Izuku's flames just went around it.

  Todoroki tried to make an ice wall, but the ice evaporated before it even got close to the fire.

  Eventually the teams gave up, and in their cramped section of the arena, began fighting for headbands.

  "THERE ARE TWO MINUTES REMAINING!!" Present Mic announced.

  "Really? That went by quicker than anticipated. I guess I can lower the intensity of my flames.." Izuku said.

  The flames went from a dark blue to a blinding yellow.

  The other teams still couldn't break through his fire, and Todoroki's ice still melted on contact.

  Just as "TIMES UUUPPP!!" rang out Izuku put out his flames, hopping off his teammates and onto the arena floor.

  Kirishima cheered, giving his teammates a high-five.

  The trio left for lunch, Izuku mainly drinking lots of water.

  *So my first opponent is Shinsou.. I wonder what his quirk is?*

  "Midoriya."

  Izuku groaned, turning to face the dual haired teen.

  "What is it now Todoroki?" He asked.

  "Please, come with me."

  With that, the boy turned and walked away.

  Izuku waved to his friends, following Todoroki to a secluded area.

  They both stood silent for a minute.

  "You made me break my promise."

  "What?" Izuku asked him.

   "During the cavalry battle. I weakened, and used my flames." Todoroki said.

  "Oh. I didn't notice." Izuku said.

  "I gave in to weakness. I u-"

  "Look, I don't care." Izuku said.

  Todoroki stared with surprise.

  "I already know your father's a bastard, but I don't need to hear your life's story. Just know that even if you go all out, you have no chance of winning."

Todoroki opened his mouth to speak, but Izuku was already leaving.

  "I'll see you in the tournament. I don't care how much of your power you use. It won't change the outcome. You'll always just be a whiny brat throwing a temper tantrum over his mean daddy."

  Izuku left the outraged Todoroki behind, walking to the canteen to join Ochako and Kirishima.

  "What did he want?" Ochako asked.

  "Nothing important." Izuku said.

 
  Finally, it was time for the first match.

  Izuku stood before his opponent, thinking about what Ojiro told him.

  *Mind control huh.. easy enough to counter I guess..*

  "START!!" Present Mic screamed.

  "So, the hero course huh? You must have a pretty strong quirk to get in there. I bet people were praising you as hero material ever since you got your quirk!!"

  Izuku chuckled, walking forwards, his hand outstretched.

  *You have no idea..*

  A burst of flame forced the boy to leap back and to the right. Several more bursts of orange flames forced Shinsou out of bounds.

  "IZUKU MIDORIYA WINS!!" Present Mic announced.

  Izuku turned and walked away.

  "Don't speak about things you don't understand." Izuku threw over his shoulder.

  Izuku watched several more matches start and finish. Soon enough it was Uraraka's match against Bakugo. Kirishima was out cold after his tie with Tetsutetsu.

  Izuku opened the door to her waiting room.

  "Hi. You doing okay?" He asked.

  Ochako gave Izuku a shaky thumbs up.

  "Yep. I'm going to do my best, and face you in the finals!" She said.

  Izuku smiled.

  "I'll see you then. Good luck!" He said, watching her leave the room.

Once the door closed his face fell to a scowl. He knew her chances against Bakugo were minimal. But he would still cheer her on, no matter what.

  Izuku headed back to the stands, sitting alone watching the competitors walk out.

  "Begin!" Midnight called.

  To his surprise, Ochako sprinted forwards, keeping her body low to the ground.

  "Why..?" He muttered.

  Bakugo threw a blast at her, scattering rubble everywhere and throwing Ochako back. Izuku's thoughtful frown became a feral grin.

  "Holy shit, that clever little.."

  The other students briefly glanced at him, assuming he meant the trick with the PE top.

  *If she can release it in waves, force a single desperate explosion, then pummel him with the second volley..*

  Ochako stuck to her plan, keeping low and getting blasted about. While the crowd slowly became more subdued and anxious for the seemingly desperate girl, Izuku's grin only got wider and wider.

  Eventually, someone was brave enough to speak up.

  "Midoriya, why are you so happy? Isn't she your friend?" Mina asked.

  Izuku turned to 1A, noting how upset they all looked at the match. Everyone's gaze was locked on the smiling boy.

  "What's Ochako's quirk? Is it durability? Foresight? No. It's Zero Gravity. Don't you think it's strange she hasn't tried to use it yet? Well let me enlighten your ignorant, unobservant selves." Izuku's grin became even wider, and a throaty laugh escaped him.

  "Look up." He said, pointing at the sky.

  Class 1A and the curious 1B looked into the sky.

  "Holy shit!" Sero exclaimed.

  "RELEASE!" Ochako yelled.

  Everyone's gaze was drawn back to the fight, where Bakugo let loose a massive, desperate explosion. The smaller rocks were turned to dust, but the bigger chunks of concrete were blasted into smaller chunks, which scattered everywhere.

  Ochako was pushed back by the shockwave, but thanks to her rigorous training with Izuku, she was able to push onwards. She brushed her fingertips against the scattered chunks, floating them around her.

  Bakugo stared at her, a worried scowl on his face. He was hurting, and that big blast had worsened the pain.

  Izuku leaned forwards in his chair.

  Ochako threw the weightless rocks at the explosive blonde, forcing him to release more explosions to protect himself. The blasts he released were getting weaker and weaker every one he used.

  Ochako ran forwards, reaching for her opponent.

  Bakugo grabbed her outstretched arm, burning her with his quirk. He swung her around, grabbing her face and burning it.

  He blasted her back, sending her sprawling. She spun around, only to be kicked in the face. Bakugo blasted her again and again, small but still powerful explosions throwing her around.

  Bakugo pummelled her back and forth, only throwing her out of bounds once he'd relieved his anger.

  Izuku's grin was gone. Bakugo had gone too far. What kind of a hero in training does that?

  Izuku's scowl was dark, and his aura made the people nearest to him shift away.

  "You'll pay for that." He muttered.

  Izuku was fighting Todoroki in the next round, but the arena needed to be fixed before they could fight.

  Izuku power walked down the hallway towards Recovery Girl's temporary office.

  He opened the door, finding an unconscious Ochako being tended to by Recovery Girl.

  "Hello dearie, I thought you'd be along soon. She'll be okay, she wasn't tired in the least, so I healed her easily enough. I shooed Bakugo away, he went too far in that match. Honestly, the temper on that boy.." Recovery Girl said.

  Izuku sat beside Uraraka, keeping an ear out for any announcements Present Mic made.

 
  "IZUKU MIDORIYA VERSUS SHOTO TODOROKI!! I WONDER WHO WILL WIN THIS NEXT MATCH???" Present Mic yelled.

  "Begin!" Midnight called.

  Ochako hadn't woken up by the time he'd left. Izuku was still pissed off.

  Todoroki launched the same glacier at Izuku that he used against Sero. Izuku just pointed a finger at the oncoming ice, bright blue flames melting the ice and evaporating the water in an instant.

  Todoroki launched more ice at the greenette, but was met with the same results.

  Flames swirled around the arena, surrounding Izuku as he advanced on his opponent.

  In respiration, Todoroki ignited his own flames, launching them at the oncoming greenette.

  Izuku's flames just engulfed Todoroki's, adding them to the burning wall around him.

  Todoroki was forced to step out of the arena, the blistering heat becoming too much for even him.

  The flames went out in an instant.

  "MIDORIYA WINS!!"

  Izuku turned on his heel, walking away from the arena.

 
  The next few fights were quick, Iida, Tokoyami and Bakugo moving on to the next round.

  Izuku was now facing Iida, who he pushed out of bounds with a wall of heat. He was saving his firepower for the finals.

  Bakugo beat Tokoyami with ease, the light from his explosions weakening Dark shadow.

  "HERE IT IS LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE FINAL ROUND!!! IZUKU MIDORIYA AND KATSUKI BAKUGO!!! WHO WILL TRIUMPH IN THIS HEATED BATTLE??!?!"

  Bakugo sneered at Izuku from across the arena.

  "Just because you've suddenly got a quirk doesn't make you good. I'm still the best, the little tricks you used before won't work on me! You can't even do the best one without the gravity bitch!!" He mocked.

  Izuku smiled.

  "What, you mean.."

  "START!!"

  Izuku's flames pushed him into the air, hovering a few feet off the ground.

  "This trick?"

  Bakugo, having charged forwards, realized his mistake.

  He blasted himself back, away from Izuku.

  Izuku's smile became a grin, the flames at the edges of the arena turning bright blue and circling the arena, drawing closer and closer, forcing Bakugo into the centre with Izuku.

  Izuku flew higher, closing the flames in around Bakugo. Not close enough to burn, but the heat would still be almost unbearable.

  Izuku left the flames a few seconds, before letting them dissolve into thin air.

  He flew to the ground, punching Bakugo across the face with a flaming fist, pummeling the blonde much faster and much harder than was necessary.

  Izuku dodged the bastards weak attempt at an attack, hitting him across the face, chest and stomach over and over again.

  His flaming arms moved faster than the audience could see. The dark blue flames a blur connecting Izuku's shoulders to Bakugo's body.

  Eventually Izuku finished the fight with a vicious uppercut, launching the burned, bruised, and now unconscious Bakugo out of bounds.

  "AND WITH THAT INCREDIBLE SHOW OF OVERWHELMING STRENGTH IZUKU MIDORIYA WINS THE SPORTS FESTIVAL IN A LANDSLIDE!!!" Present Mic screamed.

  The crowd roared, cheering for Izuku's victory. Izuku stood smiling in the middle of the arena, barely out of breath.

  Ten minutes later, Izuku was stood at the top of the podium, Bakugo on his right in second place, a subdued look on his nor.ally angry face. Tokoyami stood to Izuku's left in third.

  All Might presented each of them with their medals, giving words of congratulations and a hug.

  All Might stepped up to Izuku.

  "WELL DONE YOUNG MIDORIYA! I MUST SAY, YOU HAVE GAINED CONTROL OF YOUR NEW QUIRK QUITE WELL!" All Might said to him.

  Izuku said nothing as All Might hung the medal around his neck.

  "A hug will not be necessary." Izuku said.

  All Might stepped back awkwardly, turning to the crowd.

  "THERE YOU HAVE IT! THE NEXT GENERATION OF HEROES!!" He called to the audience.

  *Not if I have anything to say about it..* Izuku thought.