✓ | TO PROTECT YOU

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Ochako let out a cry of relief, her hands clasped over her mouth with joyful tears now streaming down her cheeks. Izuku wobbled to his feet, but the look of determination never left his eyes. He kept his stare strong all while keeping eye contact with Posiongrip. The villain's look of shock and disbelief slowly turned into one of amusement. His laughs rattled out into the surrounding air.

          "You have got to be kidding!" Posiongrip's laughing fit continued, his finger pointing at the drenched One-For-All user. "You can't fight me like that! You're nearly half-dead already from all that poison!"

          Izuku suddenly smirked, surprising everyone from UA. "That's where you're wrong."

          The Venom Blade user stopped in his tracks, his red irises watching Midoriya as he began to explain. "I'm sure I still have some toxins in my system, but I've figured out a way around that. Poison can only spread throughout the body when the victim moves around, causing their blood to continuously be on the move. However, there's only one way that the blood can be pumped to every nook and cranny of the body, and that's the heart.

          "You see, if the heart isn't moving, the blood is at a standstill, meaning it has nowhere to go but out. And I could tell if the poison was completely out of my body by the color. A dark red―almost black―is the original color of blood, so if it's purple―"

          "Violet!" Aoyama corrected.

          Deku facepalmed. "―violet, then it's contaminated. There was another around holding my breath and that was to rinse out the venom. That was the only reason I was heading for the water, but before I could even get there, the poison had left my body entirely."

          Posiongrip clapped slowly, obviously mocking the student. "Very impressive, but how are you going to win against me in that state? I haven't got a single scratch on me whereas you can barely stand on your own two feet."

          Izuku was hardly paying attention; he kicked his remaining shoe off his foot, both feet now bare and cold against the pavement. He then began to unbuckle his belt, ripping the pockets off the red material. With his left hand, he tied it around his shoulder to the best of his abilities. Using his teeth, he gripped his blood stained gloves and slid them off, dropping them at his feet.

          Posiongrip watched in amazement that Midoriya thought by doing this, he could defeat the villain. However, Posiongrip believed he would only die from his efforts. He knew he was reaching his limit, maybe even flirting with the line as he drew another blade from a blood cell in his body. Posiongrip tried to hide his heavy breathing, but because he had used his Quirk much more than before, he was starting to feel the effects.

          "Stay back," he breathed out, drawing yet another knife from his skin. He observed the young hero carefully, who was retrieving the knife he had thrown into the villain's foot. "If I am to end all of this, it must be without any help."

          Izuku held the knife in his palm, gulping dryly. He didn't want to end Posiongrip's life, but if it was the only way to end all the death the Venom Blade user had caused and will keep causing, then so be it. With shaking hands, he wiped the blood covering the blade on his pant leg, standing in a ready position.

          "You may want to stand back," Posiongrip muttered, his knuckles turning white from his hold on the weapon. Taking his advice, Jōkā and Fang both stepped back quite a few steps, crouching in anticipation.

          Silence settled in the clearing, all pairs of eyes watching the two closely. The tension was building up to the point where if Midoriya adjusted his grip or moved an inch, Posiongrip copied the movements. Ochako sat back down close to All Might, her teeth biting her fingernails as an old habit. No one even blinked, afraid they would miss the entire fight.