AN: I would like to apologize in advance for the shittily formatted text conversation. Sadly, this website doesn't let you align text to the right, which would have made this look 10X better. For now, I just have to settle with centering it.

When Izuku awoke, it was in a cold sweat in the early hours of the morning. He gasped for air, like a drowning man emerging from the watery dark depths of the sea. Frantically, he scrambled for his phone to check the time.

03:26 it read, and Izuku groaned. He threw his head back on the pillow in frustration and squeezed his eyes shut, in a vain attempt to fall back asleep. Thoughts raced through his head, and he twisted and turned in his sheets in a losing fight to find a comfortable position, all while he tried to erase the horrid images that enveloped his brain.

But no matter how hard he tried to forget, his mind refused to listen as it kept returning to the dream he just left. Most of it was little more than a fading memory by this point, just small images and fleeting emotions passing through his brain to remind him, all but that one scene. So much clearer than the rest of them, it refused to leave him alone. He'd tried to ignore it, but it would always return to haunt him.

Sometimes, it was nothing more than a still image or a simple noise.

Splash.

Sometimes, it would play out like a film reel, projected under his eyelids.

Crack.

A constant reminder of—what? Izuku's mistake? His accomplishment?

All Might's face was welded to his eyeballs. His mouth, straight white teeth grinding against each other, smile forcefully taken. The corners of his mouth pulling back and down, down down down. Jawn unclenching in a gasp. His widened eyes unveiling the hidden blue glow of his iris, fading. Pupils shrinking, eyes dull, face pale, sweating, tearing, breaking—

The acrid taste of copper.

And then, all he could see was a fountain of red. Red, red, red, red, red, red.

Izuku's body had broken out in wracking tremors, and his cheeks were wet from the stinging saline tears that escaped his eye ducts. He unlocked his phone, and through blurry eyes, tapped across the screen until the name 'Kacchan' was displayed in big, blocky letters.

For several minutes he just stared, wiping the wetness from his eyes. Kacchan was probably still asleep, and he'd hate to bother him at this hour. But after another minute of hesitation, Izuku finally pressed a thumb against the screen and typed.

Are you awake?
Sent 03:48

He closed his eyes, letting the hand clinging onto his phone to drop limply on his chest. Time ticked by, and Izuku was about ready to assume his text went unread, when his phone dinged. His eyelids shot into the back of his skull, and the device was brought up to his face while he squinted at the bright light that invaded his pupils.

I am now, shithead.
Sent 03:50

Izuku frowned, tapping out his reply.

Sorry.
Sent 03:50

I'll let you get back to sleep.
Sent 03:50

He locked the screen of his phone, about to put it back on his nightstand, when a new message arrived.

Why are you even awake at this hour?
Sent 03:51

Is this about the USJ?
Sent 03:51

Izuku hesitated a second, before answering.

Yes.
Sent 03:53

The reply was almost instant.

I told you to stop thinking about
that shit. All Might's fine.
Sent 03:53

I know, I just…
Sent 03:53

I can't get it out of my head.
Sent 03:54

There's no point lingering on that bullshit.
All Might doesn't even remember what
happened, and he's the one who died.
Sent 03:55

Now go the fuck back to sleep.
Sent 03:56

Izuku took in the words while staring at the screen listlessly, letting out a sigh as the screen turned black.

"Kacchan's right," he mumbled, slumping into the mattress. "There's no use thinking about something that technically never happened."

He jumped slightly when his phone suddenly lit up, notifying him of an incoming message. Apparently, Kacchan wasn't done yet, and Izuku unlocked the screen to their conversation tree.

Seriously. I know you're still thinking
about it, even though I tell you not to.
Sent 03:59

Go talk to All Might when we get to school or
something. See that he's still there for yourself.
Sent 04:01

Now don't wake me again.
Sent 04:01

Izuku let out a soft giggle as Kacchan sent him a rather inappropriate emoji of a hand flipping him off. Blackening out the screen, he placed his phone back on the small table beside his bed and fell back against his pillow. The image of All Might was still present in his mind, but it wasn't as burningly clear now as it was before he shared his woes with his explosive friend.

He closed his eyes. There, in the darkness, he was met by a bleeding wall of red. The cold chill of fear creeped up his spine, but then, a light shined to his left. He dared a glance in its direction, and there he stood, just as fierce as ever. Kacchan let a few explosions off in his palms and bared his teeth, snarling.

"Come at me, you fuckers!"

Izuku smiled.

The day after the USJ incident, U.A. was closed for 'security reasons', but reopened the very next day. Izuku was currently chatting enthusiastically with Uraraka and Iida about a newly debuting hero, when the door to the classroom slammed open, startling several off them and making every head turn in its direction automatically.

The boy gaped when he saw who walked through the door, the man looking just as casual as he always did. Izuku never expected Aizawa to recover so quickly—well, 'recover' was a strong word, he was still wrapped in bandages from head to toe—but he supposed that what it means to be a pro.

"Alright," the underground hero's voice rang clear through the classroom, silencing any lingering conversations. There was a dramatic pause while he walked behind his desk, before turning toward his wide eyed students. Then, "It's about time for U.A.'s Sports Festival."

Silence. Not even so much as a whisper of a breath could be heard as everyone's brains worked to process the words just uttered. Then, all as one, the room broke out in a violent cacophony of bewilderment and excitement.

"That's so normal!"

"Oh, I almost forgot this was an actual school for a second."

"You know, after almost getting killed, being broadcasted on national TV doesn't seem so bad."

"What the hell are you laughing for?"

Oh—that last voice was talking to him. Izuku looked at Kacchan, brows furrowing lightly in confusion. "Are you talking to me?" he asked, subtly leaning backwards in his seat when he saw a blonde eyebrow twitch in response to the inquiry.

"No, I just decided to stare at your face for fun," was the biting reply, as Kacchan looked at him like he'd just grown a tail. Or maybe like he'd just told him he had a time traveling quirk. "Seriously, you sound like a creep."

And oh—had he been laughing? He hadn't even realized, but if Kacchan said so, then it must be true.

"Sorry," Izuku gave his friend an apologetic smile. "It's just—well, they're right. Just a few days ago we almost died to villains, and now we're doing something so normal? It's such a whiplash, it's kinda funny."

Kacchan snorted at his explanation, before returning his gaze to the blackboard. "Weirdo."

After the whole ordeal with Aizawa announcing the upcoming Sports Festival was over, it was time for the moment Izuku had both been dreading and looking forward to since yesterday. He quickly excused himself from his friends, before setting off into the corridor with one goal in mind: finding All Might.

The hero found him first.

"Young Midoriya!"

The boy stopped in his track when the familiar timbre of a voice that could only belong to his idol reached his ears, and found All Might leaning out from around a corner, staring at him.

"Are you looking for someone?" he asked, curiously. Izuku stared back.

"Ah—" he gaped, caught off guard by the sudden appearance of the hero. Speak of the devil... "I thought you'd still be with Recovery Girl."

All Might waved a dismissive arm his way as he emerged from his hiding spot. "Nonsense! If Eraserhead can make it out of his bed to teach, then so can I!"

Hm, I suppose the Symbol of Peace can't let himself be outperformed by a lower ranking hero, Izuku mumbled, sending the man in question into a violent coughing fit. He wondered if maybe he should be worried, but All Might was quick to recover.

"Well, not quite, but—" the teacher cut himself off with a shake of the head. "Nevermind that. You look like you have something on your mind. Maybe I could help?"

Izuku smiled. "Actually, I was just looking for you." One of the teacher's eyebrows quirked upwards as if to say "oh", and he looked at him quizzically. They shared an awkward silence as the teen's smile brooke slowly, because he suddenly realized he didn't actually know what he wanted to tell his hero.

I just decided to follow Kacchan's advice, but I have no idea what to do next! Should I just ask him if he's okay?!

"Are you okay?" came the intelligent, and well thought out response to All Might query. Izuku wanted to slap himself. He'd been agonizing over this encounter ever since the text conversation with Kacchan, and this was all he could think to say?!

All Might looked at him oddly. Then, a big hand shoved Izuku forward as he slapped him across the back.

"Of course!" he shouted, laughing jovially. "That villain sure gave me a hard time, but not to be worried! I've faced worse!"

Worse than that thing? Izuku thought, biting into his lip before he could stop himself. That only makes me worry even more! But, if he's survived worse before, then—

Izuku stopped himself, because the realization suddenly hit him with enough force to give him a concussion. If it wasn't for me, All Might would be dead right now. So how can he have survived worse? Unless—

He ceased his musings before he could get any further. No, he was just getting ahead of himself. There are many explanations for how All Might could have faced a stronger enemy and still survived. For example, he could have had help from other heroes. Yes—that's it! It's a perfectly logical explanation.

Just because All Might have survived stronger villains than that monster without Izuku's help, doesn't mean the hero has gotten weaker.

A relieved smile graced his face. "Ah, I'm glad. I guess there was no reason for me to worry, huh?"

All Might grinned right back at him, like he always does. But, and maybe Izuku was just projecting here, something about it seemed… off. Something that he couldn't quite place his finger on. He thought the expression might be a bit less bright than usual, or was that just him imagining things?

"Nope," All Might said, popping the 'p'. "No reason at all."

And for their own unique reasons neither in the other party could know about, they told each other the lies that tore them up inside.

After school, Izuku and Kacchan gathered at that burger joint they enjoyed so much. Yeah, they might be heroes in training and a healthy diet was important if they wanted to stay in top shape, but they're still teenagers. Besides, some fast food now and then wasn't going to kill them, especially since they would just run off the calories afterwards. And right now, they needed some good thinking food, according to Kacchan.

"Alright," he had announced, after a long sip of his drink. "Time to come up with a plan."

Izuku's eyes flickered over in his direction. "For the festival?"

"Duh," Kacchan clicked his tongue in annoyance. "I'm obviously gonna win, but this is your chance to prove yourself to those extras."

Izuku sighed. "I told you, it's rude to call our classmates that." Kacchan gave him this look that said, "does it look like I give a fuck?" Izuku ignored it, continuing. "I figured we would double our training until the event?"

"That much's obvious," the blonde popped a few fries into his mouth, and chewed. "But that ain't gonna cut it. I'm gonna be pretty fucking pissed if you don't at least make it to the last game."

"But we don't even know what they're going to be. It's pretty hard to prepare, if we don't even know what we are preparing for."

"So? We just have to prepare for anything. One way or another, we're definitely going to have to fight other first years. Analyzing is at least something you're good at—so analyze."

"Wait—" Izuku blinked up at his friend. Kacchan said all these things like it was obvious, but—"Why are you even helping me with this? We're going to be rivals once the competitions start."

"I know that—" Kacchan grit his teeth and looked like he wanted to smack him for being an idiot. "Looks like you've forgotten again, dumbass. You're not going to be able to use your full quirk when we compete, so it doesn't matter if I help you. This doesn't count. But maybe you can finally impress Caterpillar-sensei before he gets tired of your ass and expels you for real."

Izuku opened his mouth, considering Kacchan's words. Then, "That's… a good idea, actually. He'll probably kick me out if I can't even get a decent score in the first game…"

"Exactly," the blonde teen pointed a finger toward him, accusingly. "And that's why you need a fucking plan, to prove to everyone that you're in the hero course for a reason."

For the rest of that day, that was the question left on his mind. A plan. Some strategy to make sure he left a good impression during the Sports Festival. But how was he supposed to do that?

The next time Izuku saw his classmates, it was with notebook in hand and a glint in his eye.

"Analyzing is at least something you're good at—so analyze."

And so he did.

In the end, his notebook didn't contain much information outside of 1-A. He rarely had time to catch the other classes in practice, and it's not as if he could ask them about their quirks so close to the festival. It'd be stupid of them to divulge information to a potential enemy.

Every night, as time slowly ticked one step closer to the festival, he would stare at his handwriting, thinking. He scanned the words intently, combing through every piece of information for some essential clue he might have missed, and memorizing every word. The majority of his counter strategies just relied on not getting hit in the first place, which was a bit pathetic, if he were honest. But it was hard to come up with anything beyond that, as he had no idea in which circumstances they would face off against each other, and what he would be available for him to take advantage of.

And while he had been practicing dodging attacks with Kacchan more than usual, that just wouldn't cut it.

I can't use my quirk, he chewed on his finger, thinking. At least not to its full extent. I can only rewind time on myself twice without passing out—if even that. Doing that consumes a lot of stamina, and I'm going to need every last bit if I want to make it to the end...

...will I even be able to do this?

He slapped himself across the face. What would Kacchan think if he heard him now?

Focus.

He flipped through the messy pages of his well-worn notebook for—he's not sure what, exactly. But he was running out of ideas, and like a movie, this was his last desperate resort to reach some sort of epiphany that would change everything.

He stopped. The name staring back at him was someone he'd been watching closely for a while now, and for good reason. Todoroki Shouto. No doubt one of the strongest students of their class, or of any of the first years for that matter. Even Kacchan couldn't deny that.

Half hot, half cold, Izuku mused. The power he wielded with his ice alone was incredible, and his left—

Ah.

He frowned, tapping his pen against the scribbled page in an attempt to jog his memory. He'd seen Todoroki use his left side to melt the ice he created, but now that he thought about it, isn't that all?

...had Todoroki ever created a lick of flame?

The force of the realization hit Izuku like a brick to the face, and he cannot believe he hadn't noticed until now. But he was right, wasn't he?

Todoroki Shouto doesn't use fire. The only question remaining now was…

...why?

AN: Not the most exciting chapter, and kind of short too. But we should get to the Sports Festival next chapter. :) And boy, I am excited.