….
"No." Midoriya shook his head. "I mean literally. This isn't–"
"Yeah, yeah! 'We're not done yet!' Love the motivation, Midori–"
"Warm-up's over." Dabi cut in.
"Main exercise starts now."
Every face in Class 1-A cycled through the same sequence - confusion, disbelief, horror - before arriving at a single, unified expression that could only be described as existential dread:
This is hell!
It was written on every face, etched into the trembling of every limb and confirmed by the tears forming in at least three pairs of eyes.
And this was only day one.
A month…. they had to endure this for a month?
But through it all the despair, agony and the creeping certainty that their assistant teacher might actually be a sadist, one thing kept the complaints sealed behind clenched teeth.
Dabi wasn't watching from the sidelines. He was training alongside them, though the weights strapped to his body didn't look like theirs.
Where their sets were dark metal with compression straps, his were something else entirely, dense, matte-black slabs that looked less like training equipment and more like pieces of siege machinery bolted to a human frame.
….
[Dabi's Weight Load:]
Ankles: 500 kg
Wrists: 300 kg
Shoulders: 150 kg
Waist: 600 kg
Total: 2,500 kilograms.
….
Two metric and half ton strapped to one man.
[Breath of the Sun] at full completion had turned his cardiovascular system into something that would make an Olympic athlete look vestigial - oxygen uptake, red cell density, metabolic throughput, all operating so far past the human ceiling - which wasn't even visible anymore.
The completed [Super Soldier] serum had hardened his muscle fibers at the cellular level, every tendon reinforced to tensile strengths.
And the [Arachnid Genome] - still early, barely twenty-two percent(20%) integrated - was already weaving enhancements into his connective tissue and reflex architecture.
For Dabi, two and a half thousand kilos wasn't a strain - it barely qualified as exercise.
He moved through his routine without much effort - squats, lunges, weighted sprints that punched shallow craters into packed earth.
Kaminari stared at the weight slabs on Dabi's waist from where he lay on the concrete, started counting, and stopped himself on principle.
"Don't." Sero croaked next to him. "Just… don't do the math."
Kirishima, face-down on the ground, turned his head just enough to watch Dabi knock out one-legged squats while carrying a literal ton.
Something caught fire in Kirishima's chest.
That's what I am chasing?
He pushed himself off the concrete.
Arms screaming, legs worse and everything below the waist felt like it had been packed with wet gravel.
He stood anyway.
"The hell are you doing?" Kaminari hissed.
Kirishima grinned, blood on his teeth from a bitten lip. "Being manly."
And then, one by one - dragged upright by the stubborn, reluctant refusal to let someone else's strength be the excuse for their own weakness, the rest of 1-A followed.
Dabi watched from the center of the training ground - Two thousand and half kilos on his body.
Nineteen students clawed their way vertically around him.
The corner of his mouth moved - a grin.
….
[A Month Later]
[U.A. Sports Festival]
As expected, the stadium had been packed with full capacity since the morning of the first round of the sports festival.
Thousands of spectators filled every available seat - civilians seeking entertainment, professional heroes scouting talent, media representatives from every major network, agency scouts ready to grab interesting candidates.
This was the biggest stage U.A. students would their first real challenge.
Dabi stood in the staff observation area with other faculty members, and watched the proceedings from the first round - while also analysing the changes in his students.
He was actually offered to be a commentator, but his mind was sane enough to instantly reject it - and just like the anime - that honor belonged to Present Mic and Aizawa, whose dynamic was... interesting, to say the least.
["-AND HERE WE ARE, FOLKS! THE SEMIFINALS OF THE U.A. SPORTS FESTIVAL!"] Present Mic's voice boomed across the stadium with its usual excessive enthusiasm. ["THE NEXT MATCH IS GONNA BE ABSOLUTELY EXPLOSIVE! OR SHOULD I SAY... ICY? GET IT? BECAUSE–"]
["Just introduce them."] Aizawa's dry voice cut through. ["Your puns are painful."]
["YOU'RE NO FUN, ERASERHEAD! ANYWAY. INTRODUCING OUR COMPETITORS!"]
Dabi almost smiled at their banter. Those two had been doing this routine for years.
The preliminary rounds had gone mostly as expected.
Midoriya had advanced through a combination of strategy and his newly developed technique. Bakugo had unpredictably dominated with explosive quirk and natural intuition. Todoroki, still stuck to his composed self, had frozen his way through opponents with overwhelming ice power, never once using his fire side.
Overall, class 1-A really had been the dominant side by any and all miles compared to other class students.
But the semifinals were where things would get interesting.
….
[Semifinal Match: Izuku Midoriya vs. Shoto Todoroki]
The two students faced each other in the arena.
["The FIRST MATCH OF THE SECOND ROUND!]
The contrast was stark, Midoriya looked nervous but determined, his green eyes bright with focus.
Todoroki was unlike his usual aloof sense, seemed ragingly focused…. And frustrated to prove a point… to someone.
["BOTH STUDENTS HAVE SHOWN INCREDIBLE GROWTH THIS YEAR!"] Present Mic announced. ["MIDORIYA WENT FROM LAST PLACE IN THE ENTRANCE EXAM TO THE SEMIFINALS! AND TODOROKI HASN'T TAKEN A SINGLE HIT IN ANY OF HIS MATCHES!"]
["WHAT DO YOU THINK, MR. AIZAWA? WHO'S GOING TO WIN?"]
["We can't predict the outcome."] Aizawa replied calmly. ["But Midoriya will have a tough time if Todoroki decides to use his fire Quirk as well."]
["BUT IN THE FIRST PLACE WHY WOULD HE HANDICAP HIMSELF LIKE THAT?"]
["....just watch the match."]
Midnight raised her whip. "BEGIN!"
Todoroki went all out from the very start; his right foot slammed into the ground and a massive wave of ice erupted across the arena - the same overwhelming opening move he had used in every previous match.
Flash-freeze the opponent before they could react.
But Midoriya was ready. "One For All: Full Cowling - 5%!"
Green lightning crackled across Midoriya's body as he launched himself to the side, dodging the ice wave with enhanced speed.
The crowd gasped at the display.
["WHOA! IT'S THE SAME LIGHTNING SPEED AGAIN!!"] Present Mic shouted. ["JUST WHAT KIND OF STUFF ARE YOU TEACHING YOUR STUDENTS AIZAWA?!"]
During the Sports Festival's first event, the Obstacle Race, Midoriya had used [Full Cowling], a technique he developed during the brutal training course Dabi had forced them through.
Because of that, clearing the first round had been almost easy for him. He crossed the finish line in first place.
The second round was the Cavalry Battle, and once again Class 1-A really displayed why they are the best of the best.
It wasn't just Midoriya who had improved.
Everyone from 1-A did, each of them had grown in their own way during that training.
Now the tournament has reached the Battle Round.
In one of those fights, Midoriya had been forced to push his power above five percent just to win.
That moment told the commentators something important - he still wasn't using his full strength.
Because when he had used it before… The fight would end in a single move… Yet nobody is sure who is gonna win.
Will it be Midoriya with barely standing due to his own quirk overpowering his body?
Or will it be Todoroki, who might miraculously dodge the one strike K.O.
Whatever it might - one thing is certain, the outcome of the match will be brutal to the point of even questioning what these generations of children may achieve.
["I didn't teach him that… maybe someone else did."] Aizawa said, leaning forward with interest. ["But it's clear he is using his Quirk differently now. In his match with Rikido Sato - Sugarman, he had to use power beyond what his body could handle, concentrating everything into single, devastating strikes that shattered his own limbs."]
His eyes followed Midoriya's movements.
["But the version he has been using since the Obstacle Race appears to be a constant, low-level activation spread across his entire body, enhancing his speed and strength without the same self-destructive backlash."]
["SMART! BUT CAN IT STAND UP TO TODOROKI'S ICE?!"]
Todoroki's eyes narrowed as he responded immediately, sending another wave of ice across the arena, then another, trying to overwhelm Midoriya with sheer volume and speed.
But Midoriya kept moving.
Using [Total Concentration Breathing], he maintained [Full Cowling] without the loss of concentration and drain on his stamina.
"You have improved a lot, Midoriya." Todoroki said, his voice carrying across the arena despite the roaring crowd. "Honestly, you surprise me eveytime… But no matter what, I have no intention of losing today."
"If you want to win that desperation then use your full power…. like everyone else here!" Midoriya called back, then pushed his enhancement to 8%.
The green lightning intensified. He launched himself forward, closing the distance faster than Todoroki had seen in this duel.
Their clash was immediate and intense.
Midoriya's enhanced punches met Todoroki's ice constructs.
Every time Todoroki created a barrier, Midoriya would find a way around it - over, under, through weak points.
["THIS IS INCREDIBLE!"] Present Mic was practically vibrating in his seat. ["MIDORIYA'S MOVING LIKE A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FIGHTER!"]
["BUT TODOROKI'S NOT MAKING IT EASY!"]
Indeed, Todoroki was adapting, his ice formations became more faster - walls, spikes, slides that tried to control the battlefield and limit Midoriya's mobility.
They fought in earnest for several minutes, neither gaining a decisive advantage.
The crowd was on its feet, watching two of the U.A.'s most promising first-years push each other to their limits.
Then Midoriya did something unexpected, he started talking.
"Todoroki!" His voice cut through the sound of breaking ice. "You are still holding back?!"
Todoroki's expression flickered. "Then what about you, Midoriya? Those words don't seem to apply to you – you have been holding back from the start too."
And, he wasn't wrong.
Midoriya hesitated for a split second.
A towering wall of ice was already rushing toward him, jagged and fast.
He lifted his hand, not using five percent, or eight, or even fifteen, which was the limit his body could handle.
100%!!
The same reckless output he had used when he first inherited One For All.
Seeing that, Todoroki's was taken aback.
He needed more solid defence to block the incoming attack - Now! Or else he would be blown out of the ring.
He got it up just in time.
The impact was unlike anything the stadium had witnessed in this tournament.
A shockwave ripped across the arena, shredding concrete, scattering debris into the stands, forcing spectators to brace against their seats.
When the dust thinned, Todoroki stood a few steps from the boundary line, while the ice wall supported his back - barely in bounds.
And Midoriya was still standing at the center of the ring, pale-faced, his right hand hanging at a wrong angle, obviously broken.
But he lifted it anyway, curled those shattered fingers into a fist, teeth clenched so hard the tendons in his neck stood out like cables.
"Now... It's your turn. Give me everything you have got."
In the stands, Endeavor leaned forward.
The flames wreathing his body crackled brighter, pupils locked on the arena floor with an intensity that bordered on hunger. In the VIP section, several Pro Heroes exchanged uneasy glances.
This duel had stopped being a school match a while ago, and might turn into something deadly if this continues.
"Why, Midoriya?" Todoroki's voice came out uneven, half demanding and half something he didn't want to name. "It doesn't make sense… Why are you going this far–"
.
….
[To be continued…]
★─────⇌•★•⇋─────★
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