A Silent Kind of Strength

Chapter 32

Izuku took a few deep breaths as he walked forward, trying to force down the anxiety making his insides squirm uncomfortably.

He climbed the few short steps and listened as Midnight went over the rules with them one more time. His kyoketsu-shoge was in his hand down at his side, he didn't want to have to unclip it and waste time once the fight started, but he also didn't want to be accused of cheating. So it remained at rest.

As soon as Midnight called the start Izuku dodged to the side, just barely making it out of Iidas range as the other boy passed. Coming out of his roll he popped up to his feet and swung the weighted end of his weapon in a wide arc, the cord unfurling with a snap as it went. Iida stumbled as halfway through his turn his legs were suddenly ensnared and he went down, hard.

A green blur was on him in an instant, pinning the bigger boy on his front by yanking his arm back into a pressure hold. Midnight gave them a second and then when Iida admitted he couldn't get free she called it. And just like that, the first match went to the quirkless support student.

Freckled hands trembled a bit with leftover adrenaline as he helped the blue haired teen untangle himself and stand. Trying his best to ignore the confused but impressed comments from the stands. "Sorry a-about that Iida, you fell pretty h-hard, are you ok?"

"Yes. Thank you Midoriya! That was a wonderful move! Maybe we can spar together some time so I can get more practice fighting against weapons?!" Izuku grinned up at him as they made their way across the pitch, together this time. "S-sure! Sp-sparring with the M-mirokumas g-gets kind of r-repetitive."

"The Mirokumas? As in Mirokuma Kiba?!" Izuku tilted his head in confusion at the tone. "Yes?" The other boy chopped his hand excitedly. "My brother plans to have him tutor me over the summer break. He is a fantastic instructor! No wonder you are so talented with your martial arts!"

Izuku rubbed the back of his neck with an awkward giggle. "Ah. Y-yeah. I've been g-going to his self d-defence classes f-for a few years… It's j-just recently that I-i started having pr-private lessons…" They passed Tetsutetsu in the hall, the steel skinned teen obviously in the zone.

"I-uh. I'm going b-back to the st-stands. I w-want to check on 1-H, m-make sure n-no one got hurt d-during the ob-obstacle course... Are you going to cl-class 1-A's box?"

"Ah. No. First I have to make a phone call to my brother." Izuku smiled and nodded at the show of familial devotion. "OK! I-i'll see you later then!" As the other boy stalked off towards the locker rooms the freckled teen took a left and walked up the stairs towards the student boxes. Once up the stairs he looked out over the stands, the first box on this side was 1-K he nodded to the business students he vaguely recognized from around the school and started looking for his own class. J... I… ah. There it was.

As his gravity returned Sero had the leverage he needed. In an impressive show of core strength he grabbed the tape and torqued his body, pulling Uraraka harshly off of her feet. She landed with an Oomph, one foot touching the ground outside of the marked line just a second before Sero himself hit the grass.

Midnight pronounced Sero's win as Yamada enthusiastically praised both of the fighters for the close match. Even Aizawa pitching in to give a begrudging compliment.

Izuku buzzed with excitement before Kaminari grinned over at him. "Do you wanna go say hi to them? I think Mei and Shinso are with 1-A right now. So you can go talk to Sero and Uraraka and then chill with them?" Izuku paused where he was bouncing in his seat and then nodded enthusiastically. When the two stood Kuroyama did as well. "May I come too? I would like to talk to Mei about the functionality of a disk shooter."

"Sure man! The more the merrier!"

With that the three of them headed out, walking around the top of the stadium towards the hero course boxes. When they arrived Kaminari called out a greeting. "Hey guys! Look who I found!" They walked through the entrance and were bombarded by welcomes and compliments on Izuku's match.

Mei was on them in an instant. Babbling about all of the things she had been talking to the hero kids about. Izuku smiled and nodded along even as he signed a greeting to Shinso who waved from his spot on a bench near the front.

As they all waited on the next match they chattered to each other. The hero students bouncing from one conversation to another with ease. After a moment Izuku retreated to Shinso, Mei following along without pausing in her ramble.

The next fight ended quickly and with a fairly predictable win. Aoyama just didn't have the mobility or the tenacity to take down Bakugo. As the match ended Mei scampered over to the other pink themed girl in the stands near them and all but dragged her away. It was their turn next after all.

Izuku hoped she asked before she used the other girl for her plan. But knowing Mei she was already three steps ahead in her mind space and would probably forget to communicate.

The way the fight went actually surprised him though, it seemed like Mei changed her plan after all. Instead of Ashido using the gear Mei had made Mei was using it all herself, narrating over hijacked loudspeakers as they went. Mei would pull out a baby, Ashido would see what it was and attack as if she knew what it did, and then Mei would counter with the invention. And then the dance would begin again.

Izuku was on the edge of his seat the whole time. There were so many gadgets that Mei had never even mentioned to him! Oh he was so hacking her computer in the lab to see what else she had been holding out on him. After about thirty minutes of grandstanding and playing up to the support companies who were watching Mei finally showed off her last bit of gear. A shimmery smoke bomb in her trademark pink.

"And that, folks, ends today's demonstration! Please give it up for my lovely assistant Ashido Mina from 1-A!" As Mina waved to the crowd the support student went on. "And remember! If you need gear without peer come to me! This is Mei Hatsume of Hatsume Incorporated signing off!" With that she stepped out of bounds with a grin.

Midnight was giggling uncontrollably as she announced Ashido the winner. And then the two girls walked off the pitch arm in arm. Izuku smiled at their antics. Writing down all of the questions he had for Mei in his notebook so he could quiz her when they got home

It was good to see her getting along with other people their age. Especially people he himself didn't really hang out with much. He was really happy she had made a friend.