The Tournament, Part 3: It's your Power!
At Class A's booth.
"Those two haven't started yet?" Ochako asked Tenya and Riku as she approached. Tenya was taken aback by the look on her face. "I came to see." She added.
"Are your eyes damaged? You should go to Recovery Girl-" Tenya said panicked before being cut off.
"I did already." Ochako said. "This is, you know… Different." She added as she sat down.
"It's different?" Tenya asked.
"You might as well drink water later." Riku suggested to her, he guessed that she must have been crying from the looks of things.
"If that's the case, then you must have been very frustrated before." Tenya figured the same.
"Instead of feeling regret now, you should use the next match as a source of encouragement." Fumikage said to the girl calmly.
"Agreed." Riku said to him. Ochako nodded in response.
"It's true." Tenya wanted to say that before Tokoyami and now felt like they took the words out of his mouth.
The torches of the ring ignited and the public roared.
"Thanks everyone for waiting! The first match of the second round is a good one!" Present Mic announced excitedly. "The man that managed a grand victory of the first round and left the audience literally frozen- From the hero course, Shouto Todoroki!" He presented the dual-haired boy as he was stepping into the ring with a serious look on his face. "On the other side, the boy that barely passed the first round! What kind of fight will he show us this time? From the hero course, Izuku Midoriya!" He presented the emerald child, he was wearing a determined face. The public cheered as both contenders came face to face with each other.
"Here you are." Shouto said to him with a stern, yet calm tone.
"Todoroki-kun…" Izuku said back at him.
Back at Class A's booth.
Katsuki was looking at this with interest.
"Tokoyami-kun, what do you think of this match?" Tenya asked him.
"It depends if Midoriya can get near Todoroki." He replied with his arms crossed.
"He's right." The all heard Sora, who came in and sat beside Riku. "You guys saw my fight with Shouto, but it only looked easy because my slashes were stronger than his ice, it's actually tough and it comes fast." Sora describe what he knows what Shouto can do. "Deku must have figured as much, he won't be able to dodge so his only choice will be shattering it to get to him." He analysed and predicted, maybe Deku is rubbing off on him a little. Sora was concerned for his nerdy friend, Shouto was actually a tough opponent and arguably he's the 3rd best in the class in terms of power.
Riku knew that this might not end well for Izuku. He really had a bad feeling about it.
"But then, how will Deku-kun do it?" Ochako asked looking back at the ring. She was worried for him.
Meanwhile, Tomura Shigaraki was watching the live-stream of this event.
"Look attentively and prepare, Tomura Shigaraki." His teacher said to him standing behind him. "Someday they might become your obstacles." He added.
The decay young man smirked as he was scratching his neck. "That's a pile of shit." He said as he really hoped the green brat would lose horribly.
At an unknown location, Luxu was also watching this even on TV.
"Well… about time you had your moment to shine." Luxu said out loud smirking. "So far you've been obscured by the special guests, but this is YOUR show, the main character shouldn't be oppaqued the whole time, better don't disappoint, ninth kiddo." He said smugly looking at the screen being laid back as always.
At the teachers' booth.
"Those two tried to save you, didn't they?" Thirteen said to All Might beside them.
"Yeah." He nodded in response. "It's just a feeling, but I think those two… give off the same aura." All Might said as he reminisced of the events of the USJ incident. Todoroki and Midoriya tried to save him along with Sora and Riku. He also kept in mind what Endeavour told him about Todoroki-shounen, it was worrisome to say the least…
Speaking of the flame hero, he was looking attentively at the ring with his arms crossed.
"In this year's sports festival, both of them showed high-class performances! They are like two rivals fighting each other!" Present Mic commented as Izuku and Shouto got into battle stances. "Now-"
"First, he'll attack with ice." Izuku thought as he held his right wrist.
"It'll be dangerous to let him use that power as much as he wants." Shouto thought as he stomped his right foot forward.
"The moment it starts…" Both contenders thought at the same time.
"Start!" The long-awaited match has begun!
"Let's go!" Shouto created many icicles from his foot, that went at Midoriya quickly.
"Smash!" Izuku focused One for All on his middle finger and unleashed a shot of powerful wind that not only stopped the ice, but sent it back at Todoroki twice as fast. However, Shouto was ready, he created an ice barrier behind himself to not get blown away by the violent, cold air.
When it stopped, Shouto looked at Midoriya. "As expected. He was ready to hurt himself to nullify the attack." He looked at his opponent's broken finger, he was trying to withstand the pain.
"Wow! Midoriya stopped Todoroki's attack!" Present Mic commented amazed and the public cheered.
All Might knew that what his successor did was the only thing he could do against Todoroki's ice, but still he was greatly preoccupied as that also implies that if he wants to win he will have to break several bones…
Shouto repeated his attack. "Smash!" Izuku countered it by sacrificing his index finger, blood came out of the red, swollen finger.
"He stopped it again!" Present Mic commented again.
Shouto withstood the cold burst of wind until it stopped again. "Dammit…" He looked back at Midoriya.
Izuku was standing still enduring the sharp pain in his fingers. "Due to the way Todoroki-kun fights, it always ends in an instant so I don't have much information, expect from when Sora defeated him in the battle training. He used his physical prowess and fire-based magic to nullify the ice, he was also fast enough to dodge it except from near point-blank. Right at the end of it, even if it was brief, it seemed that Todoroki-kun's right arm was trembling, so that would mean that he has a limit of how much ice he can use before it starts to affect him. But I'm not completely sure as it happened so fast then so… during this fight I have to find an opening…" He quickly thought as he remembered Sora's battle with Todoroki, Sora overwhelmed him to the point of forcing him to use his left side in self-defense. Since he can't do what his otherworldly friend can, he had to resort to this tactic. "Probably by putting ice behind him he plans to not get dragged away. Which means, using my fingers was the right choice." He analysed when looking at Todoroki standing in front of an ice barrier then at his broken fingers. "It's very probable that it works too with my smash at 100%, in which I sacrifice my arm." He then predicted since using his arm is more powerful than using his fingers. He looked back at his opponent. "I have to watch carefully… Think… Find it… I have 6 more chances…!"
"You…" Shouto said to him as he exhaled cold vapor before attacking again the same way as the first two times. Izuku used another smash with his ring finger to counter the attack.
"Five more!" He had to think quick as he already used up three fingers.
At Class A's booth.
Riku cupped his chin as he analysed the match so far. "I see what Deku's doing. He must have also seen it when Sora overwhelmed Shouto during the battle training. Even if it's extremely risky, it's the right and only choice he had. Drag on the fight until Shouto starts to freeze with his own ice." Riku knew what Shouto's weakness was, he also knew that Shouto was only using half of his power on purpose…
Sora also knew this. Having gained knowledge of this first hand after all, but he also looked down briefly, he remembered what Shouto told him, it really affected him. He looked back at the fight, he shouldn't be thinking about this right now.
Eijiro came in running into the booth. "It started!?" He asked standing beside Bakugou.
"Kirishima, how good it was that you passed to the second round." Denki congratulated him.
"Yeah, the next one I'm going up against you, Bakugou. Let's have a good fight!" The manly redhead said to the explosive teen with a competitive smirk.
"I'll kill you." He flatly replied with his arms crossed, his eyes were focused on the match.
Eijiro laughed as if he just said a joke. "You can try!" He replied cheerfully. (Well, at this point we all know when Kacchan says: I'll kill you' most of the time he means 'I'll beat you up.', he rarely actually means it, remember that he's just foul-mouthed and loud-mouthed.). "But man, you and Todoroki can make many strong attacks one after the other. Something like 'Bam!'." He added sounding more serious and a little envious.
"Besides, with no delays." Hanta commented being a little jealous too.
"They're not one after the other. Don't underestimate them." For once Kastuki didn't shouted in response or say something harsh or offensive, and he even sounded calm. Something rarely seen in him. (We just have to appreciate this moment.)
"Eh?" Eijiro blinked confused.
"If you use too much muscle, the fibers will be torn, and if you run too much, you run out of breath." Katsuki elaborated on before looking down at his left hand. Like others, he has a limit of how many explosions he came make before it takes a toll on his arms, that is the reason why he design his costumes in a way so he could shoot those excessive explosion without damaging his body. "Quirks are physical abilities too. They must have their limits." He concluded looking back at the match quietly. He looked at icy-hot, he could briefly saw when Deku 2 wiped the floor with him the other day, that it seemed that his right arm was trembling. Knowing the green nerd that Deku was, he would have also noticed this and acted upon it.
"If I think about it, I think you're right…" Eijiro said reflexive before looking at the match. "Then, against Todoroki, Midoriya wants to have…"
"...A battle of endurance, eh?" Shouto realized what Midoriya was trying to do. "I'll end it soon." He then threw another barrage of icicles at the greenette.
"Smash!" Izuku used his pinky finger null the attack. "I already used all of the fingers on my right hand." Izuku winced in insufferable pain, his pinky finger bled. Four of his fingers were swollen and broken, he couldn't use his thumb to make a smash.
It was Todoroki's chance, he dashed at him.
"Todoroki doesn't back off against Midoriya's attacks and charges ahead!" Present Mic commented as Shouto created a pillar of ice that was shot towards Midoriya, the half-teen was dashing over the ice he created to quickly get to his adversary.
"Dammit…!" Izuku used the middle finger of his left hand to shatter the ice coming at him. When he did, Todoroki jumped over to avoid the powerful pushing force and then he dived at Izuku.
The emerald child dodged the diving punch Shouto used, it left ice in its wake. However, Shouto was relentless in his assault as he threw another barrage of ice at Izuku.
Due to the momentum, Izuku was unable to dodge and his right foot was trapped by the ice. "Oh no, it's too close!" Izuku was reading another Smash with his left ring finger, he then saw Shouto erecting ice barriers behind him. With no other option, Izuku summoned his power into his whole left arm and threw a smash at 100%!
The resulting burst of wind was more powerful than all those that the green nerd had made before.
Izuku screamed in agony as his left arm was now broken and useless. However, he was now free of the ice, so he endured the pain and glared forward as the cold vapor was dissipating.
"It was more powerful than before." Izuku was shocked to see Todoroki not out of the limits, he was laying on the ground with ice barriers behind him, although he was really close to being pushed out. "Are you trying to tell me… to get away…?" Shouto questioned as he pushed to the ice a big spike of ice over his body to the side and stood up.
"It's not just his quirk. His judgment, skill, and mobility… All of his abilities… are strong!" Izuku now realized the caliber that Shouto Todoroki has. Said boy looked back at his opponent with an empty glare as he breathed out cold vapor.
The dual-quirk user was already stronger than the average pro hero…
"What's wrong? Are you undone after just defending and fleeing?" Shouto asked him seeing Midoriya struggling with his agonizing pain.
But, when Deku looked at Todoroki, he could see that in his frost-covered, right arm… "He's trembling…? So that's truly it… Dammit…" He had confirmed his suspicions, Shouto was hitting his limit, just like then. Izuku looked down as he kept resisting the pain on his broken bones.
"Sorry…" Shouto apologized with him, he didn't have to be involved into this… "Thanks, Midoriya. Thanks to you, that guy's face is clouded." He then thanked him as he looked to the side and saw his Father's upset face. A step closer to reaching his goal…
Izuku clenched his teeth in frustration and anger, he remembered what Todoroki told him and Sora earlier.
"With the arms like that, you can't fight anymore, right?" The dual-haired teen said to the greenette looking at his broken arm and fingers. "Let's finish this." He decided to put an end to the fight as he shot another barrage of huge icicles that were coming fast at Midoriya.
"Todoroki continues attacking with an overflowing power! Here comes the final ice attack!" Present Mic narrated. Everything seemed to be over for the One for All heir. All Might, Sora, Riku and the others were at the edge of their seats.
"Where are you looking at?" Against all odds, Izuku was able to use a smash to shatter the ice nearly pushing out Todoroki. This took everyone by surprise.
Shouto was able to stop at the last second, right behind the limits of the ring with ice to stop getting pushed back. "Damn you…" He uttered weekly. "With your broken finger...?" He was taken by surprise when looking at Midoriya's right hand. His index finger was now black-ish purple, he used it again even if it was already broken? "Why are you going so far?" He questioned him as he stood up once more.
"You're trembling, Todoroki-kun." Izuku replied. Shouto's eyes widened, he realized his weakness… "Quirks are physical abilities too. There's a limit of how much you can endure it, right?" He continued as he slowly moved his aching right hand up. "Isn't something that you can resolve using the heat from your left side?" He asked him, Shouto frowned at this, why was he lecturing him? "Everybody is fighting with all they got… To win and reach their goal… To become number one… Do you want to make it only using half of your power?!" Shouto remembered what Sora said to him, he said something similar. "You haven't even given me a scratch!" Midoriya clenched his right fist despite the broken fingers. Shouto glared at him with a deep scowl "Come at me with everything you got!" Izuku declared from the top of his lungs.
"Midoriya-shounen…" All Might looked at his successor in awe.
"That brat…" Endeavour glared at the boy with a deep scowl as he remembered what the kid said to him earlier.
"Deku…" Sora looked at his friend with concern in his eyes.
"Shouto…" Riku looked at the half-teen with empathy in his eyes.
"Midoriya… What are you planning? With all I got? Did my father pay you to do this?" Shouto glared at Izuku with anger, his voice had venom and resentment. Out of spite he dashed at his weakened opponent. "Now I'm mad!" He was sick of this, he'll end this nonsense right now!
Izuku however noticed something in Todoroki. "His moves are…!"
"...Slow!" Both Katsuki and Izuku saw that even if Shouto was running at him, he was moving too slow. "It's because of the ice on his body… Unlike my power limit,, it's probably like the Magic meter from a game…" Kacchan was quick to analyse the repercussions of the overuse of the ice in Shouto. "Was the attack he used against Flat face his max?" He theorized looking back at the number icyhot did on flat face. He must have hit his limit with that huge blast of ice.
Riku figured the same extremely fast too. He was actually expecting it to be like that. "Shouto's inner body temperature must be extremely low for his muscles to move that slow, he's freezing up from inside out." Riku explained to his friends. The fact that the right side of Shouto's body was being covered in frost and that he was now constantly breathing out cold air solidified this line of thought.
"I see." Sora understood him clearly. "Then this might be Deku's chance! If only he can land a simple but effective smash, he could throw Shouto out, but…" Even if this might be the only chance that Deku might get, Sora was also aware that Deku was extremely spent and injured due to constantly using his smashes to counter the ice blasts. "Not to mention… That he might not want to end it like this…" Sora was aware that Deku was trying something beyond winning the match. Riku's eyes were indicating that he too thought this.
Shouto was approaching Midoriya even if his moves were significantly slowed down. But he was too injured to move too. "At short distance, you can't do anything!" Shouto jumped at Izuku. But… "On the second I moved my right foot… This guy…!" Shouto quickly realized that when he was no longer in contact with the ground, Izuku moved forward having a chance to attack!
"Imagine… the microwaves…"Izuku then focused One of All on his right fist. "It won't explode… It won't… It won't…! It won't…!" He landed a heavy blow on Todoroki's stomach!
"He hit him!" Present Mic announced. "Finally we have a direct hit!" However, on the moment that Deku landed his attack on Shouto, he froze his broken left arm before being sent flying backwards to then hit the floor.
Izuku winced in pain as three of his already broken fingers worsened, even his thumb injured too. Blood came out of the heavily damaged fingers.
The public was amazed on how Midoriya was able to punch Todoroki despite being extremely bad.
Sora and Riku noticed that even if he did land a direct hit on Shouto, he wasn't thrown out. But something told them that it wasn't out of extreme pain and weariness...
Shouto slowly got up coughing, he was barely able to resist the pain in his abdomen. "Why…?" He glared at Midoriya with rage. Why was he doing this? Why doesn't he just stop already?
Todoroki created more icicles to try to finish off Izuku, but he was able to dodge them barely. "The speed of the ice has decreased…" He noticed that not just his body movement was affected by the freezing effect, but also the usage of the ice was affected. Izuku was ready to attack Shouto with another flick of his broken fingers when Shouto got to him and tried to freeze him from the ground he was standing. But Izuku pushed both himself and Shouto back with another burst of wind, which sent the dual-haired boy crashing against some icicles.
Izuku was able to stop himself from being pushed back. He quickly glanced at his darkened fingers before preparing to use his middle finger again.
Cemetoss talked to Midnight through his communicator, he was concerned for Midoriya as he was being dangerously reckless and his injuries are worsening by the second.
"Deku…" Sora watched as his friend just kept using his damaged fingers to try to drive back Shouto and his ice. "He's too reckless, even for his own standards and mine. He must be full of adrenaline for him to tolerate such agony on his arms. But those injuries… I don't know if they can even being treated with Recovery Girl's healing and the strongest healing spell Riku and I have, the bones in his fingers can't be just broken, by the many times he used One for All so constantly, they must be completely shattered up inside!" With good reason Sora was being heavily worried for Deku, with that self-inflicted damage, it might not be enough for the usual method of healing… Even if he can win, he won't be able to keep up fighting… or worse… He could tell that the others, specially Ochako watched this with heavy hearts. He didn't need to see All Might-sensei to know that this was also heartbreaking for him.
While Riku was extremely worried for Deku as well, he noticed something. "The power output reduces each time Deku uses a smash. But at the same time he has more control now. He's not fighting senselessly, even like that he's trying to do his best." Riku analysed trying to keep his head cool as he watched how Deku tried to punch Shouto even if his movements were slow and limpy. "But it can't be that the huge discharge of adrenaline in his body is what allows him to even kept standing, for someone to resist such agony like his, there has to be a huge driving motive and determination… Deku, are you…?" He figured out what he was trying to do…
Sora also did.
Izuku was slowly and weakly charging at Shouto. He responded by throwing another ice attack at him. Izuku charged his right thumb to counter it. "Can't close my fist…!" His fingers were too numb to the make a fist so doing something rather crazy, he used his right cheek to prepare the smash! This of course shocked Todoroki. "Smash…!" He unleashed another burst of air at Shouto that shattered the ice and pushed him back even through the first ice barrier he created, he crashed heavily onto the second one he made.
"Why are you going so far?" Shouto asked as he was slowly getting himself standing straight again.
"Because I want to meet everyone's expectations…" Izuku replied, making Shouto looked at him as he was trying to get to him again. "I wanna be able to smile… and answer them… Be a cool hero… That's what I want to be!" Izuku shouted with full determination in his heart.
"Deku… Shouto…" Riku muttered seeing his friend fighting, to the point of risking his limbs for Shouto… He then felt a heavy thump inside his own chest, disconnecting him from everything else around him except the scene before his eyes.
"Shouto…"
"...!" Riku heard a delicate and gentle voice inside his head, a woman's voice. It sounded familiar…
Shouto was shaken by the sudden memory of the voice of his mother. "That's why…!" He was snapped out of this when Izuku tackled him head on pushing him back significantly. "Everyone gives their best!" Izuku shouted at him with anger and frustration in his voice. "There's no way that I or even Sora can know your circumstances. But he was right about something, there's no way he would lose to such a half-assed rival like you!" He scowled at him profoundly with his teeth clenched.
Riku felt like he was actually standing in Shouto's place, hearing what he's hearing.
"You doing all of this… Trying to become number one without giving your all, to reject your father… Right now, just like Sora, I think you should stop being a fool!" Izuku said to him taking a few steps weak steps closer. Sora was completely right with everything he said to Todoroki and he couldn't agree more.
Shouto looked at Midoriya with a shocked expression. Memories flooded his mind quickly.
Riku then felt like his consciousness was pulled out of his body to somewhere else…
Everything was complete darkness until he heard the sound of a child coughing. He opened his eyes and he was inside of a foreign and yet familiar house.
"Stand up!" Riku heard a voice he could clearly recognize and when he turned around he saw Endeavour wearing civilian clothes. "If you're taken down by something like that, forget about surpassing All Might, you won't be able to even defeat second-hand villains…" At his feet there was a 5-year old Shouto, on his knees holding his own stomach. The poor child received a hit so hard that it made him vomit.
"This is... Shouto's memories…?" Riku couldn't understand how or why he was suddenly having flashbacks of memories that are not his own. Yet here he was looking at such horrible scene as if it was happening in real-time.
"Please stop! He's just five years old!" Then Riku saw a white-haired woman that somehow he could recognize. But he couldn't look at her eyes as they were obscured by her hair.
"Shouto's mother…" He knew that the woman was the one that gave birth to Shouto and his siblings. He saw as she pledged her husband to stop mistreating her youngest child.
"He's five-years old already! Get out of my way!" Riku then witness with shock as the damn bastard slapped her away from the young Shouto.
"Mom…!" The child looked up with tears in his mismatched eyes in fear.
Riku mind was suddenly taken back to the real world. He looked as Deku charged at Shouto again, as the ice over the right half of his body worsened quickly.
"Shut up." The boy uttered with bitterness as another memory flashed back to him. Once more Riku was pulled into it.
Riku now saw a different memory in which Shouto was crying as his mother held him gently within her arms.
"I don't wanna, Mom…" The child cried on his mother's chest. "I… I… I don't wanna be like dad… I don't wanna be someone that mistreats you, Mom!" Shouto cried in pain and fear.
"Shouto…" Riku could feel the pain and fear that Shouto felt as if it was his own.
"But you want to become a hero, right?" The mother said to her son as she cradles the back of his head gently. The young boy looked up at his mom's face, there was a visible smile on it. "I think you can do it. As long as you strongly wish for a future like that." Riku could feel the gentleness of the woman's words. It was almost like hearing his own mother trying to raise his spirits.
Riku's mind returning to reality again. He saw that Izuku was at punch's distance away from Shouto.
Deku charged One for All on his right first again. "That's why… I'll win!" He landed another heavy punch in Shouto's abdomen, sending him flying. "I'll surpass you, like Sora did!" He shouted at him with determination.
Another memory appeared inside Shouto's mind, hence inside Riku's as well.
Riku was now standing beside the illusory image of the 5-year old Shouto. The boy was looked with longing in his eyes at 3 other children slightly older playing with a ball.
"Fuyumi, Touya, Natsuo…" Due to the connection with Shouto's heart and memories, he could recognize his three older siblings. He could also see their grandmother watching happily as they play together.
Riku then saw Endeavour taking Shouto away bye the wrist. "Don't look at them, Shouto. They are from a world different than yours." He ordered his son as he was dragging him away from his own siblings. He wasn't even allowed much interaction with them during his childhood...
Riku knew these were just memories, but the rage he was feeling was growing the more he looked at that empty-hearted man. These feelings were real for him.
Riku then suddenly appeared in a different memory, he saw kid Shouto walking into the kitchen as he was rubbing off the sleepiness in his eyes. For some reason, Riku felt his heart started to race, as if his body was warning him about something horrible about to happen.
"Mom, I'm going crazy… I can't anymore." Both Riku and the little boy saw from the door as Shouto's mother was talking on the phone, to both guessed it was Shouto's grandmother. "The kids are looking more like him… And Shouto… His left side sometimes looks repulsive to me… I can't keep taking care of him… I feel like I shouldn't…" Riku could tell that the woman was just about to snap. The mental hell she must have been through…
"M… Mom…?" Shouto called his mother feeling his heart droop, Riku could feel it. Then he heard a sound that made him shake in fear, the sound of a whistling teapot...
"T-this is…!" Riku recognized what this memory was about, he felt like his whole body was paralyzed with fear, Shouto's fear taking over Riku. He couldn't move, nor react, he could only watch helplessly as the mother slowly then suddenly turned around, horror plastered in her eyes.
Suddenly everything went black. The memory cut off, but Riku knew exactly what happened next, he could almost feel a burning sensation on his left eye as he put his left hand over it briefly.
"I…" Riku heard Shouto's thoughts as yet another memory appeared in front of him.
Riku then found himself back into the house, he saw again the younger version of Shouto. But, he was looking down and he had a bandage covering his burned eye.
"Dammit, this is an important moment…" Riku could hear Endeavour, but he couldn't care less, he just stared at the little boy feeling a notch in his stomach.
"Where's Mom?" Little Shouto asked his father feeling broken inside. Even after this he still loved her, he still does now.
"Oh, she hurt you, so I ingressed her in the hospital." Endeavour replied uncaringly. Riku clenched his fist at this.
He then saw Shouto boiling his fists and shaking in rage and hatred. "It's your fault. You're the one who did this to Mom…" The boy glared at his monster of a father with tears leaving his right eye. This is the root of all the resentment against Endeavour and his own self…
"Curse you…" He could feel all of the hatred Shouto has for his own father. It was a little overwhelming, but no different for the hatred Riku himself felt towards Ansem.
Riku's mind returned to reality again. He witnessed Shouto over one knee. "I'll reject it... my father's power…"
Izuku just had enough of his nonsense. "It's yours! It's your power!" He shouted at him, making Shouto reacted shocked at this. This unlocked a last memory within him. Riku was able to see into this as well.
Riku could see little Shouto sitting beside his mother watching TV, they were watching an interview that All Might had back then.
"Yes, it's true! Children inherit quirks from their parents. But what's really important, it's not that connection, instead recognize your own flesh and blood, and recognize yourself. That is what I mean when I say: 'I am here!' See?" Riku listen to the words of the man of legend. He glanced at Shouto with sparkling eyes, like Deku, he has a deep admiration for the Symbol of Peace since childhood. He also saw how his mother caressed him affectionately.
"But, you want to become a hero, right? I think you can do it." The words of Shouto's mothers encoded within Riku and Shouto.
"Without realizing it, I forgot it…" Shouto couldn't remember this up until now. How did he forget such a significant moment for him?
"We should all be free to choose who and what we want to be, you can still choose something better for you. You're better than him, you're better than this." Now both heard Sora's words.
"So that's why… It sounded so familiar…" Now Shouto understood why those words resonated so deeply inside of him.
"You don't have to be a prisoner of your own blood. It's alright that you become what you want to be." And with those words, Shouto's heartbeat accelerated as his temperature skyrocketed until there was a burst of flames erupting from the left side of his body!
Riku fully snapped back into reality, no longer feeling synched with Shouto's heart.
"Th-this is…!" Present Mic and the whole audience was taken by storm when Shouto suddenly activated his left side.
"The heat…" The hot air could be felt even on the bleachers, Ochako and everyone else could feel the intense heat.
Tenya remembered what Shouto told him before the Cavalry battle. "He used it!" He was shocked.
"You were trying to save Shouto from himself this whole time… Deku, you…" Sora looked at this as a smile was slowly drawn onto his face. He would have done the same exact thing if he was in his place.
There was a proud smile on Riku's face as well. Deku just risked his life and limbs for someone in need, even if it might have cost him everything, it will be worthy...
"You made him use his left side… Midoriya-shounen, don't tell me that you were trying to save Todoroki-shounen…" All Might realized what his pupil was trying to do for Todoroki.
Izuku glared at the bursting flames. "Even though you want to win…" Izuku then heard Shouto speaking softly to him. "Dammit… Help your enemy… Who's being a fool now?" He asked him as the ice on his right side quickly evaporated. "I also want to become a hero…!" Shouto declared with full conviction.
Izuku looked at him in awe before smiling. Shouto smirked back at him with his eyes a little watered.
Endeavour smirked now really pleased. "Shouto!" He shouted loudly at his son, making many people look at him in wonder. "You finally accepted yourself!? That's it! Good! Everything that's for you here! With my blood, you'll surpass me… You'll fulfill my desire!" He declared as he approached to watch the match closer.
Both of them heard the loud declaration coming from Endeavour, but they really didn't pay mind to this. A tear came out of Shouto's right eye.
"Endeavour-san suddenly shouted cheers…? What a loving father." Present Mic commented the least accurate thing possible.
"Wow…" Izuku was amazed by Todoroki's full power.
"Why are you smiling?" Shouto asked him, making his smile vanish. "With those wounds… In this situation… You're crazy…" He said to him as he wiped his sweat with his left arm. Izuku now had a more serious look on his face. "Don't blame me for what happens next." He warned him before stopping his right foot on the ground. Thanks to the heat of his left side, he could create ice with no repercussions. Intense cold air came out from the ice he was creating.
Izuku then channelled his quirk on his left leg, unleashing powerful burst of wind in the process. Both opponents were ready to charge at the other one last time!
Cementoss and Midnight tried to prevent this from getting out of hand and to prevent Izuku to be mortally wounded.
However, it was too late as Shouto shot an enormous ice pillar at Izuku at insane speeds, Izuku used his left leg to jump over it and fly at Shouto, ready for the final attack. "Try to get closer… and hit him with everything I got! Come at me with everything you got!" Izuku was flying quickly at Shouto, while he generated a heat so intense that it evaporates the ice in his close vicinity immediately.
Shouto was preparing to make his final move. "Midoriya… Sora…" He muttered as he created a fireball in his left hand. Izuku focused One for All on his right hand ready to make his final attack! "Thank you." He softly thanked the two of them as he shot the fireball at the same time that Deku threw his right arm for a full powered smash! Cementoss raised several wall stones to prevent the clash, however the resulting collision still resulted in a huge explosion that blew everything away!
The subsequent ripple effect was so strong that it sent Midnight flying away.
The students of Class A were bracing from this violent burst of wind, Mineta was nearly taken away, but Shoji held him tight by the leg.
After a few moments, the explosion died down…
"That something is powerful, doesn't mean it's good, but it's amazing…" Cementoss said standing up again after the blast and saw the resulting damage done, the ring was extremely damaged with huge cracks around them.
"What was that…? What's up with your class?" Present Mic asked Aizawa, the blast threw him upside down on his chair, but Shouta seemed just fine.
"The air cooled up and then it heated suddenly, expanding." Aizawa explained.
"That created the explosion…? How hot was that?!" Present Mic questioned shocked as he stood back up quickly. "Damn, I can't see a thing! Oi, who won the match?" He asked as there were clouds of smoke so dense that it couldn't be seen what happen to Todoroki and Midoriya.
Midnight stood up again feeling some parts of her body sore, then she was able to see what happened as the dust was clearing…
And to everyone's shock, there was Izuku against the wall before falling to the ground unconscious.
"M-Midoriya-kun is out of the limits…" Midnight declared as Shouto, being held by some icicles and with the left half of his jacket burned, looked at his defeated opponent in shock. "Todoroki-kun advances to the third round!" And so the public cheered for the winner of the first match of the second round. However, he feels like he didn't actually win at all…
Around the stadium, whispers could be heard among people about the seemingly contradictory actions made by Izuku, and of course with much irritation Katsuki heard them.
Shouto was on his way back until he stopped in his tracks when he saw his father standing in front of him.
"'You're in my way.' You won't say something like that, right?" Endeavour said to his son with his arms crossed. There was a prideful smirk on his face. "You need to control your left side… You're just letting everything out, and it's dangerous." He pointed out to him. "But you abandoned your infantile tantrum and at last you became my upgraded version. Once you graduate, come to work with me. I'll take you through the road of the powerful ones." He extended his left arm to his son feeling proud of him for the first time.
"There's no way that I abandoned it." Shouto simply replied, much to his father's confusion. "It's not something that I can undo so easily." He continued as he looked at his left hand. "It's just that… then… For that moment… I forgot about you." He said as he slowly closed his fist. Endeavour gasped surprised. "If it's something good or bad… If it's right or not… I need to think about it." He said to his father as he walked past him. For the first time, he was no longer sure what he was supposed to do, he was confused with himself...
Izuku was quickly taken to the infirmary to be treated, he was lying in a bed with both arms plastered and his left leg as well.
"The bones of your right hand are shattered… They'll never heal completely." Recovery Girl informed the wounded boy as he was trying as hard as he can to tolerate the pain. All Might was also there and he gasped in shock at this grave news. "I must remove the bone fragments so they won't stay in your articulations. I'll heal you after that." The old nurse informed him of the prior procedure to treat him before she then sighed. "Push and encourage a kid that will destroy his body this way for what he longs for… I don't like that." She said to All Might in a sad tone. "You're going too far. You and this boy too. You mustn't congratulate him for that." She added being more serious.
Before All Might could reflect about his attitude as a mentor and the actions of his pupil, the door busted open and there was Sora and his friends calling out for the shounen at the same time. This scared him to the point of coughing blood.
"You okay?!" Ochako was the first one to quickly approach, Sora, Riku and Tenya were behind her. She then noticed the skeleton-like man. "Oh, nice to meet you…" She greeted him.
"Yeah…" He awkwardly replied. Good thing no one recognized him like that.
"They're so loud." Recovery Girl complained.
Izuku opened his eyes to look at his friends. "Guys… What about the next match?" He softly asked them.
"Since the arena was considerably damaged , it was decided to take an interval to repair it." Tenya explained to him moving his arms stiff as always. Ochako's face screamed that she was in pain of seeing Deku like this, Sora was no better. Riku was trying to keep his composure, but it was an eyesore seeing his friend like this.
"That match was frightening, Midoriya… Which pro would want something like that?" Mineta pointed at him with a scared look on his face. Tsuyu shot her tongue at his ear to shut him up.
"I don't like that you're salting the wound." The frog girl said to him, most likely she was upset underneath the blank face.
"But it's true!" The midget retorted as Tsuyu removed her tongue. He then saw that Sora and Riku were looking at him menacingly. "...F-f-forget what I said…" It was enough to tell him to just keep his mouth shut.
Sora then looked at his greenette friend. "Don't worry, Deku. Riku and I are here, we're gonna-" He was about to use a healing spell on him, but the nurse cut him off.
"Hold it, you two." Recovery Girl raised a hand. "Right now you can't use your healing power on him. I know that you all are worried, but you have to leave right now, I have to perform him a surgery. You both can treat him after that." She informed them as she was ushering them out of the room.
"SURGERY?!" The group of teens were shocked at this. As the keybladers feared the wound in Deku's right hand have to be that grave to get to that point.
"C'mon, get out." She insisted. Ochako tried to argue while Tenya and Minoru asked if he was going to be okay. "Get out already! Leave everything to me!" And with that she pretty much kicked them out of the room.
"I'm sorry…" Izuku apologized to his mentor. The man turned around to look at his pupil. "I couldn't do what you asked me… If only I remained quiet… It's because of what I said that to Todoroki-kun… that I…" The boy couldn't help but feel like a failure, he failed horribly and lost in the quarters and ended up horribly wounded. He wasn't able to tell the world 'I am here!'.
All Might looked at his successor with sadness. "You wanted to make him realize something…" He replied.
"It's true that… Todoroki-kun seemed really sad… and that's why I thought meddling in something that had nothing to do with me… But it wasn't that." Izuku said to his role model, which confused him. "More than that, in that moment, I just… was frustrated. I couldn't see forward, nor around… I'm sorry…" He admitted with shame and regret, he was just so frustrated that he has to work so hard to barely make the cut to then face someone just putting in half the effort, it actually made him really upset.
"It's true that the result is regrettable. Saying that what you did was dumb won't change it. But meddling in things that you shouldn't… is the essence of being a hero." The mentor tried to give a few words of console to his protege.
Izuku just shed a single tear.
Recovery Girl sighed as she prepared to perform the surgery.
Sora and his friends were walking back to their booth slowly. Sora looked at Ochako and there was only worried plastered on her face. "Worried about Deku?" He asked the round-faced girl.
"She said that she has to perform surgery…" She replied with her eyes glued to the ground.
"Recovery Girl is taking care of it, don't worry!" Mineta said to her trying to raise her spirits. (For once he's not being annoying, who would have thought?)
"He's right." Tsuyu agreed.
"I know things look bad for Deku, but it'll be okay, Ochako. You know as well as I do that Deku is strong, he'll get through this." Riku said to her putting a hand on her shoulder. "Sora and I will make sure of it." He added smiling, Sora nodded smiling as well.
"Yeah." Ochako smiled back at them feeling a little better.
"Welp, guess we should be on our way, Tenya." Riku said to him.
"Oh, right. I almost forgot our match." Tenya replied, with all of that happening, he almost forgot that his match with Riku was next.
"It's cool, man. I almost forgot about it too." Riku shrugged in response still smiling.
"Well, good luck to both of you." Ochako wished the two of them good luck. Tsuyu and Minoru did the same.
"Thank you. See you in the arena." Tenya said to him with a competitive attitude. "Let's have a good fight." He added.
"You're on." Riku replied with the same attitude. And with that Tenya walked off.
"Well, see you in a bit." Sora said to Riku and he was about to leave with the others.
"Wait Sora." However, Riku stopped him from doing so. Sora looked at him curiously. "You guys return to the booth, I need to speak with Sora in private." He said to the others.
"Oh, alright." Ochako said understanding. "We'll wait for you at the booth then, Sora-kun." And with that Ochako and the others left.
"There's something important that I need to tell you, Sora." Riku said to his best friend, even if it sounded cold, in his voice there was a subtle sense of urgency.
The keyblade duo talked in private inside a waiting room. Riku told him that he, along with Kastuki, heard everything about Shouto's story. He apologized for that, he then explained to the spiky brunette that he was able to witness some of Shouto's memories at the last moments of his match with Deku.
"So, you're telling me that, somehow you saw Shouto's memories?" Sora was confused to say the least, although being fair, it wouldn't be the first time that he hears about looking into the memories of someone else, as far as he could remember of course.
Riku nodded as he was sitting on a chair across Sora, who was also seated. "I just don't know how or why it happened, it just did." Riku tried to wrap his head around this too. "I think that, for some reason, my heart connected with his, they synced. It was like I could see within him, feel what he felt, as it my heart was inside of his." He explained the experience again, this time detailing how it felt. "I think you know how that is."
"...Yeah." Sora nodded, he better than anyone knows the feeling of sharing a heart with others, keeping storage of three other people deeply tied to him and all… "But then, again, how'd that happen? 'Cause you're still here, you still have your body." Sora was still confused, as two of the three times Sora saved a heart within him, their bodies vanished. "But, to be honest, you seemed like you spaced out for some moments back there." He noticed that there were times when it seemed like Riku's mind just wasn't in the place at the moment.
"Those have to be when I saw Shouto's memories, you can say it was like my mind was literally in another place." Riku replied to him. "Maybe all of this happened because we keyblade wielders have certain powers over the heart, but I didn't unlock Shouto's heart… at least not consciously." Riku theorised looking at his left hand. "Maybe that had something to do with the resonance that we both have in a mental and emotional level, I must have unconsciously connected my heart with his through my keyblade powers." He added, that was the thing that made the most sense to him and Sora, but not even Riku himself was completely sure. "In this type of situation, Naminé would have a solid answer, or even Ansem the wise and his apprentices." Now any of them would provide a more definitive answer to this strange occurrence "But right now it doesn't matter how or why, what matters is… that I was able to see some of Shouto's most meaningful and painful memories, I could see it clearly as it was happening for real. I felt his sadness, fear, pain and anger as if they were my own, all of that just felt so real." Riku said with a melancholic voice as he put his left hand over his right eye, he can still feel the burning sensation there, even if it was all in his head…
"It was as horrible as I think it is, right?" Sora said to his best friend with sadness in his voice.
Riku removed the hand from his eye. "Worse, actually." He replied looking at the table, it was like Shouto's feelings still affected him, it was really painful.
"And you won't just sit by and let it continue any longer, right?" Sora knew that his best friend enough to know that he will do something about Shouto.
"You know me too well." Riku looked at him with a small smirk. "I just can't let him continue to suffer alone anymore, this is beyond personal for me. I know that you also want to help him, but you've done enough with what you said to him. I can tell you for certain that your words did stick in his head." Riku said with a serious and determined face. "Let me take care of the rest, Deku did a lot for him already, but I know it's not enough, it was just the beginning. Right now he needs someone that understands him, that stands by him each step of the way. To help him find his road to dawn." Riku added as he stood up. "You can say, it's like a payback for what you and Mickey did for me when I was suffering back then."
Sora smiled as he stood up. "King Mickey and I did that because you're our friend and we would have done that again." He said with a warm smile.
"I know, and I could never thank you enough for that." Riku replied smiling back at him. "But now it's my turn, to be one that extends his hand at someone in need." Riku said clenching his right fist in determination.
"You can do it, Riku. I know you can." Sora was confident in his best friend. If someone can truly reach Shouto, it's him.
"Thanks." The silver-haired boy thanked his best friend. "Well, I should get going." He then extended his fist at him.
Sora chuckled and bumped fists with him. "Don't go too harsh on Tenya, give him at least a chance, will ya?" He said in a playful tone.
"I'll try. That is if he doesn't have another trick under his engine." Riku played along with him briefly. And with that he left for his match.
"Hey there, everyone! Now that the arena is repaired we can continue with the second match of the second round!" Present Mic announced as both adversaries were already in the ring. "From the hero course, Riku Yasue! Versus… also from the hero course, Tenya Iida!" He introduced both of the contenders.
"Riku-kun, I know I might stand no chance against you and your speed. Even so, I still want to at least try to defeat you!" Tenya declared with a competitive smile. He was unwilling to lose without a fight.
Riku chuckled. "Alright, then I'll accept your challenge, Tenya." Riku replied smiling competitively as he summons his keyblade. Riku was actually looking forward to fight properly with his speedester friend.
"Start!" And the match began.
Both Riku and Tenya charged at each other at high speeds. Both of them clashed in the middle of the arena as Tenya tried to kick Riku, but he swiftly blocked him with his keyblade.
Riku pushed the speedster back and tried to slash him horizontally, but Iida was able to quickly move out of the way. Tenya tried to run as fast as he could to get behind Riku, only for him to driff to a sudden halt.
"Not so fast!" Riku appeared before him, forcing Tenya to quickly turn around and ran in the opposite direction. However, again Riku outran him and got in front of him and then charged at him ready to attack.
"Oh, Riku was able to outrun Iida! He can't get away from him! Could Riku strike another quick victory?!" Present Mic commented.
At Class A's Booth, Sora gasped.
It seemed Riku would be able to get to Tenya faster than he can try to get away from him and was about to land an attack on him. However, Iida was ready this time and he jumped into the air to dodge Riku's attack.
"I'm not done yet!" Tenya was ready to attack Riku with all he's got! "Recipro… Burst!" He activated his secret technique and went to kick Riku at full speed! Riku was able to dodge the attack barely able to dodge by ducking. "I got ten second before my engines stop!" Tenya landed back in the ground. "I have to win in that time!" He went to attack again using a downward kick. Riku's quick reflexes allowed him to block the attack with his keyblade just in time, however the weight and speed of the attack made Riku flinch a little as Tenya felt like he just kicked a wall of hard steel, but nothing that he can deal with.
"Riku blocked such a fast attack! Nothing gets past him!" Present Mic commented.
"Gotcha! Blizzaga!" Riku took this as a chance to cast an ice spell on him. The spell landed a direct hit on him quickly freezing his body from the neck below. "Don't you forget that Shouto's not the only one able to freeze around here." Riku said to his rival as he stood up straight again.
"Iida-kun is immobilized! Riku-kun advances to the third round!" Midnight announces and the audience cheered.
"Riku advances showing great skill along with his huge speed!" Present Mic commented.
Riku approached Tenya as he winced in pain. "Oi, don't feel that you lost, Tenya." Riku said to cheer him up as he ignited his right hand on fire to quickly melt the ice covering his body. "It was a good fight, better than your last match at least." He said to him smirking as he finished unfreezing him.
The engine teen sighed in relief as he moved again. "Yes, I guess so." He replied as he rubbed the back of his neck. "It was worth a try at least." He added smiling.
"Yeah, you almost had me for a moment." Riku replied still smiling before extending a fist to him and Tenya replied by fist bumping.
At Class A's booth, Sora was happy that Riku won, but at the same time he felt Sorry that Tenya lost. The same could be said for Ochako.
Riku and Tenya were on their way back together to the booth.
"Riku-kun, if you want you can go ahead. I need to call my brother." Tenya said to him as he stopped and took out his phone. "I want to talk to him and apologize for losing."
"Hey, at least you made it far, you gave me a fight." Riku replied seeing that he was still a bit saddened. "Be proud of it, and I'm sure your brother would be proud of you no matter how far you made it." Riku said to him smiling.
"Thanks, Riku-kun." Tenya thanked him smiling before he dialed the number of Tensei and put his phone to his ear. Riku just stood there waiting. Then Tenya heard the tone that informed him that call was connected. "Hello, Tensei? It's me, Tenya…" He greeted his older brother.
"Currently I'm on a mission and I can't answer the phone." Sadly, Tenya was met only with Tensei's voice message, right now he's at work.
Tenya hang up his phone. "Tensei… Do your best." He muttered hoping that he does well on his mission.
"I take it that Ingenium is at work right now." Riku said to him with his arms crossed. Tenya replied with a nod. "Well, whatever he's doing, I think he'll be great, just like you said." He added smiling.
At that exact moment, somewhere in the city of Hosu, Tokyo, the turbo hero, Ingenium dashed through the streets carrying out his mission.
"Squadron A, to the north! Squadron B, check the west side!" He commanded through his communicator. Both squadrons acknowledged his orders.
Ingenium went on his way at fast speeds until he noticed a shadowy figure in an alleyway. "What was that?" He drifted to a stop and went back towards the alleyway. He used the thrusters on his shoulders to push himself into the air and then he jumped off a wall then to the next until he jumped over the roof. "There's no doubt. It's him!" He used his thrusters to delay his fall until he landed safely into another alleyway. "I found him! The hero killer!" He turned around ready to fight the shadowy figure with bright blood-red eyes, the hero killer…
Back the U.A's stadium.
"Yahoo! Here we are at the third match of the second round!" Present Mic announced excitedly. Both opponents were already within the arena. "From the hero course, Sora Nomura! Versus… Fumikage Tokoyami!" He introduced both contenders.
"Hey, Fumikage." Sora talked to him. "Hope you don't take what's about to happen as me getting back at ya for what happened with Momo-chan." He clarified smiling friendly.
"I know, It's not in your nature to harbor resentment towards others." Fumikage replied with his arms crossed as usual. "So here we are, a clash between light and darkness. It's obvious which one will prevail, but don't expect me to make it easy for you." He added as he unfolded his arms with a small smirk as he got into a stance.
"Heh. Right, not that I'm not used to it anyway." Sora replied smirking summoning his keyblade and getting into a stance too.
"Start!" The match started.
Sora dashed at Tokoyami at high speeds.
"Go, Dark Shadow!" He summoned his shadowy beast.
"Roger!" The bird-like shadow went flying at high speeds at Sora.
Sora charged his blade with light. "Light!" And he unleashed a light-powered slashed at Dark Shadow and damaged him badly. Sora took this chance to dash right at Fumikage again at high speed.
"Trap him! Dark Shadow!" Tokoyami ordered his sentient quirk. He extended his shadowy claw-like hands to try to catch Sora from behind.
Sora noticed this and he jumped upwards as Dark Shadow's arm followed him. "Back off!" Sora charged the tip of his blade with light and shot a light beam right at Dark Shadow reducing him to a small size in an instant! However, Sora wasn't finished. "Strike Raid!" Sora threw his keyblade while in mid-air at Fumikage at extremely fast speeds that the bird-headed teen could only react for a brief second before the attack made contact with him and sent him flying out of the arena!
"Tokoyami-kun is out of the limits! Sora-kun advances to the third round!" Midnight announced as the public cheered as Sora landed in a very badass way and then he caught his keyblade when it returned to its master.
"And in a flash of light, Sora defeated Tokoyami and his amazing, almost invincible quirk! That's the power of light for you!" Present Mic commented as Sora approached Tokoyami, who was seated on the ground feeling sore on his midriff.
The light-hearted extended his right hand to him with a friendly smile, which Fumikage accepted it smiling back at him and then Sora helping him back up. "Good fight." Sora said to him cheerfully and Fumikage replied nodding.
At Class A's booth.
Momo smiled brightly as her heart skipped a beat when she saw Sora just looking so cool out there, but always being that sweet-hearted boy she knows.
"Wow. I kinda knew that Sora-kun would beat Tokoyami up, but dang he made it look so easy." Mina, beside her, said in awe.
Momo snapped out of her little daydream and then ponders on this as well. "There has to be a reason." She said thoughtfully analysing the match to figure out what Sora did specifically to win, it wasn't just his raw power alone, there was some thought behind his match.
"Man, again Sora and Riku won really fast again and it didn't look like they really put their all." Mineta said creeped out. He doesn't want to know how it'll be like when they do put in their all.
"Tokoyami-chan's Dark Shadow is great, but Sora-chan's power is even greater." Tsuyu commented being impressed, though it can't be told with the look on her face, as she was making her usual gesture.
"Sora-kun could cut through Dark Shadow due to his light-based quirk… That was the worst match. Too bad for Tokoyami-kun... " Ochako of course knew already Dark Shadows weakness, she couldn't help but feel bad for him.
"Man, Sora made Tokoyami look like a wimp there." Hanta commented to Denki.
"Yeah, but that also means he's not invincible." Denki replied. "Still as of now Sora and Riku were killing in the fights, makes me glad I didn't end up there." He added creeped out, one beat up from them was enough for the rest of his life. (Ahahah as if it would be the last…)
Recovery Girl successfully finished the surgery on Izuku and she just applied her quirk on him.
"For now, I healed you enough so you can walk. Don't forget to ask your magical friends to heal you when you meet them again." She informed him as Izuku was panting from exhaustion due to the use of the healing quirk.
The greenette nodded in understanding. "Thank you very much…" He thanked the nurse tiredly. He had bandages on both arms, on his chest, his left cheek, and his left leg. Izuku then looked at his right hand.
"That's what you get for using it so often in such a short time. Consider that twisted hand as a warning." Recovery Girl said to him as Izuku looked his scarred, deformed right hand. "And also, I won't treat this type of wound anymore." She added as she saved her instruments, Deku and his mentor gasped at this. "You have to find a way for him to use his power in a non-destructive way." She said at All Might with seriousness.
Later, All Might and Izuku were walking through the corridor, the boy of course was walking with a limp due to his left leg.
"A different way, eh?" The skeleton-like man said cupping his chin.
"All Might." Izuku called him as both of them came to a stop. "Originally you became a teacher in U.A to find a successor, right?" He said to him to verify.
"Yes." He replied.
"By putting everything I got in U.A's sports festival, I could feel with my body the strong emotions that no one wanted to back down." He felt the passion, determination and the will of those that tried to get to the top through the festival. "That's why I…" His sentence driffed.
"...You think that someone else should be my successor?" Toshinori guessed what his pupil wanted to tell him.
The boy let out a breath as his shoulders slumped. "Hai." He replied, he sounded disappointed. Heck, if Sora or Riku weren't from another world, they would be more worthier of the power than him.
"It's true that in this place is full of potential great heroes. One for All is the crystallization of the power. Those that have quirks… For example, if Todoroki-shounen inherited it, then with the super strength, plus with his Half-Cold, Half-Hot, he would become a superhero." All Might explained to him.
"Then…" Izuku was about to say something to his mentor before he interrupted them.
"But, I was quirkless too." All Might said to him pointing at himself with his thumb smiling.
Izuku's eyes widened greatly and he turned around to look at his role model with a shocked look on his face. "Quirkless…? You…? He asked him not believing his ears.
"It wasn't something as rare as in your generation, but rare anyway. My master had a quirk, but even so, she believed in me and gave me One for All, to then raise me and for me to become a hero." He retailed him about the woman that made him who he is today, the 7th user of One for All.
"You never told me about that-" Izuku said to his mentor in awe before he interrupted him again.
"You never asked. Although I thought you would." He said to him giving him a thumbs-up smirking.
"All Might… so you were quirkless too…" Deku now tried to assimilate that at one point his hero was just like him back in the day.
"That's right!" He replied. "At the beginning, I saw myself reflected on you. But you surpassed my imagination over and over again. There's something that only you can make. I believe in that." He said to his pupil in a compassionate and encouraging manner.
Izuku felt touched, closer than ever to his role model and hero. "I'm sorry…" He apologized with him holding back his tears.
"Anyway, the sports festival isn't over yet! Make sure to see it until the end!" All Might said to his protege smiling.
"Alright!" Izuku replied feeling now more than ever hopeful and motivated to move forward.
At this very moment the match between Kirishima and Bakugou was taking place.
"Take this!" The hardened redhead threw a punch with his right fist that Bakugou barely dodged, but he still received a cut on his right cheek. Katsuki tried to attack back by using an explosion on his left hand, it had a direct hit on Eijiro's right ribs.
"A counter!" Present Mic commented.
Eijiro stepped back. "Hahah! That won't work on me, Explosion boy!" He taunted Katsuki since thanks to his hardening quirk, he came out of the attack with no injuries, though his jacket was now had a huge hole on its right side.
Katsuki gifted backwards with a deep scowl. "He's not flinching… It's not just hardness." He knew that this time around he was up against a hard opponent, literally.
At Class B's booth.
"Kirishima, his chin! His chin!" Tetsutetsu was standing up shouting at Eijiro.
"You were enemies before and now you're friends." Juzo commented looking at his friend a little weirded out.
Meanwhile, Izuku got to bleachers.
"Kirishima-kun and Kacchan…" The green-haired boy said softly looking at the match unfolding. "Which means… Sora and Riku advanced to the next round." He turned to look at the position table to confirm what he already knew. "I knew it… I wish I could have seen it." He sighed in disappointment.
Back at the match.
Eijiro was throwing punch after punch at Katsuki, which he dodged.
"Bakugou is having a rough time with Kirishima's fierce attack!" Present Mic commented.
"Kacchan is on the defensive?" Izuku was surprised to see his childhood friend not going on the offensive, on the contrary, he was backing away dodging Kirishima's attacks. "Kirishima-kun's quirk is simple, but that's what makes it strong." He went into mutter mode analyzing the match.
"Hey, Deku!" He then turned around to see Tenya and Riku approaching him.
"I see that the surgery came out well. I'm glad!" Tenya said to the greenette as he and Riku approached him smiling.
"Ditto." Riku agreed with him.
"Yeah, thanks, guys." He thanked his friends.
"Here." Riku then used Curaga on him, healing him significantly. "All better?" He asked him friendly.
"Yeah, I think I can move my leg normally again." Izuku replied to him checking his left leg and now feeling no pain when moving it.
"I'd say a few more doses of healing will put you back in full health." Riku said to him crossing his arms.
"Thanks, I appreciate it." Deku thanked him smiling. "And congratulations, Riku." He said to the silver-haired boy. He replied with a nod.
"I'll be going up against Shouto in the semifinals. Sooner or later it would have come to this." He said looking at the positions board, next round he will fight against Shouto. "I'll use what I learned from your match and Sora's fight with him to try to win." He said to Izuku with a serious look.
"Alright." Izuku nodded in response.
"I'll also be watching so I can be ready for our next fight, Riku-kun." Tenya said to him smiling.
"Heh. I'll look forward to that too." Riku smiled back at him.
"Say, Iida-kun. Is your older brother, Ingenium, watching the tournament too?" Midoriya asked his friend with cursorily.
"I called him, but he's working." Tenya replied.
"Oh, so you called him." The greenette replied.
"But I think it was for the best. I would like to tell him in person my progress at the sports festival. I know I've lost, but still I think he would be proud of me and I'll use that as encouragement to move forward." Tenya replied with an optimistic smile. Riku and Izuku smiled at this, both being aware of how much Tenya idolizes his older brother and his dream to be like him one day.
The three of them focused on the still ongoing match when Present Mic talked to the audience.
"Bakugou counter attacks again! What? It's working now?!" He commented surprised as Bakugou landed another explosive attack on Kirishima's right ribs, but this time Eijiro winced in pain!
"You tried hard to keep your body hard as a rock this whole time, right? If you attack quick in that state, sooner or later you'll collapse!" Katsuki figured out Eijiro's weakness, much to his shock. Bakugou went to attack again and Eijiro withstood it, but Bakugou assaulted him with a barrage of explosive punches!
"Damn you-!" Eijiro was at the point of collapsing, he could no longer maintain his hardened skin!
"Here's the final attack! Die…!" And Katsuki threw a last explosion at Eijiro which sent him flying away. The minor burns around his body and his clothes were badly damaged. "Now I get why you didn't want to go on an exhaustion fight against me." The explosive teen smirked confidently as he witnessed his opponent fall to the ground unconscious.
"Kirishima-kun is out of combat! Bakugou-kun advances to the third round!" Midnight announced and the public cheered.
"You baka! You don't have guts, Kirishima!" Tetsutetsu shouted upset. Juzo just looked at him weirded out again.
"With that massive bombarding, Bakugou advances to the third round! And that shows the last four!" Present Mic commented, the four semi finalists were decided.
First Match: Riku Yasue vs Shouto Todoroki.
Second Match: Sora Nomura vs Katsuki Bakugou.
"Finally!" Katsuki smirked like a maniac when he learned who will be the next one he 'kills', that goddamn Deku 2!
At Class A's Booth.
Sora just narrowed his eyes at his next opponent. He felt his rage surging through his veins… He then saw how Kacchan glared at him dirty from where he was, Sora just looked back at him coldly.
"I dunno if I should cheer for Sora or pity Bakugou." Kaminari said with mixed feelings.
"Honestly, I'm not sure what would happen when the semi-finals start." Sero commented. "But I'm pretty sure those are gonna be crazy." He was certain that the next two matches are gonna be wild.
"No kidding." Denki agreed.
Momo looked at Sora and only saw him looking at the arena with a neutral look on his face, she was getting worried about him now.
Kyouka on the other hand was scared and anxious, because 1) Riku will fight against Todoroki and she knows he took his story personal. 2) Sora seems to be pissed again at Bakugou and that might not end well… for Bakugou, but also there was a scary look in Sora's eyes when he seemed angry.
Meanwhile, back with Izuku and his friends.
Riku let out a deep breath. "It's time." Riku said with determination in his eyes. "Well, gotta go." Riku said more casually to his friends.
"Good luck, Riku-kun!" Tenya cheered him, Izuku nodded in agreement.
"Thanks, wish Sora good-luck when you see him for me." Riku said to his friends smiling. "And don't forget to ask him to heal you, Deku." He said to his nerdy friend. Izuku nodded in response, and with that Riku walked off.
Tenya and Izuku returned to their booth.
"Deku-kun! Iida-kun!" Ochako greeted her friends.
"Midoriya-chan, I see that the surgery came out well." Tsuyu was glad to see him alright. Minoru and Sora were also happy about this as well.
"Yeah." Izuku nodded in response. "She healed me enough to walk again and on the way here, Riku used his healing power on me, so I'm better than expected, I can walk normally again." Izuku explained as he went to take his seat beside the gravity girl, who had a concerned look on her face.
"Great to hear that, Deku." Sora smiled at this.
"Shouldn't you be resting…?" Ochako asked him concerned.
"I want to look at the efforts of all those that want to become heroes appropriately." Deku replied as he took seat, while Tenya took his seat on the other side of Ochako.
"Sounds good, man." Sora said to him, being in the seat behind him. "Oh, before I forget." Sora then casted a Curaga on Deku.
The green nerd sighed in relief. "Thanks, Sora. I'm a lot better now." He thanked his otherworldly best friend. "Riku said that you should heal me up a few more times for me to get fully recovered." He explained to him, Sora nodded in acknowledgement. "Though my right hand will remain scarred, most likely." He added sounding a little down for a moment looking at his right arm.
"No biggie, heroes gets scars all the time." Sora said cheerfully.
"Easy for you to say, when you never come out physically damaged." Izuku joked with him.
"Heh, welp, guess that makes me lucky." Sora replied playing along, and then the two of them and their friends giggled briefly. "Man, I'm really nervous right. Riku will fight Shouto soon, it's exciting but at the same time I'm a little worried for the two of them." Sora commented sounding a little more serious.
"Me too, but I'm sure none of them will come out as bad as I did." Izuku tried to light up the mood again. Sticking with Sora for quite a while made him able to come up with a few jokes to lighten the mood.
"Well that's true." Sora agreed.
Riku was walking through the corridor towards the field, the painful memories of Shouto were flashing through his eyes the closer each step he took, his description of his experiences echoed inside his mind. "Shouto…" He looked at the ground briefly before look forward again.
"Excuse me, young one." Riku stopped dead in his tracks when he heard a voice that he now got to despise behind him. He slowly looked over his shoulder to look at who talked to him.
"...Endeavour" He was met with the monster in the shape of a man, the flame 'hero' in person. He was glaring at him with a calm look on his face.
"You must be Riku Yasue, one of the 'Heroes of 1-A'. I heard a lot about you." Endeavour said to him crossing his arms with interest in his eyes.
Riku turned around to face him, he was making a monumental effort to conceal all of the rage, hate and venom forming inside of him. "That's me. Do you need something of me?" Riku asked him sounding monotone like Shouto. But underneath his blank face there was a storming rage. "Like piercing you in the heart?"
"I watched you fight, I witnessed your strength. And I say you impress me, you and your friend, Sora, are prodigious, you can even make some pro heroes look like weaklings." Endeavour said to him smirking.
"So?" Riku asked him boiling his right fist tightly.
"You, like my Shouto, are above others, you are made for greatness!" The no.2 'hero' declared to him still smirking.
"Don't you talk about Shouto and Sora in front of me!" "Thanks, I guess." Riku told him flatly holding back all of the venom within. "Means nothing coming from scum like you." "Is that everything you need to say to me?" He asked him just wanting to get away from him or else he might not know how long he could hold back his rage.
"No, in fact I came to give you a proposition." He replied him crossing his arms once more.
"What? Offer me money to lose on purpose?" "Proposition?" He asked him dryly.
"Yes, I see great potential in you and your friend, I'm also aware that you are the best and only ones capable of fighting off the creatures known as the 'Heartless', but fear not young man, what happened at the USJ is still a secret to the public." Endeavour explained to him calmly. Riku gasped briefly in surprise when hearing he knew what happened at USJ and the Heartless.
"Maybe through his influences he learned about it, but I don't think it has enough reach for him to learn the truth about me and Sora, he would have told me otherwise." Riku calmed down after thinking about it thoroughly.
"I see the most potential for growth in you, Riku. Sora is very powerful as well, but he's too much of a good kid for his own good, unlike you. I can see it in your eyes, you have what it takes to take hard decisions that your friend wouldn't." Endeavour explained to him once more. "In all honesty, you remind me a lot of my son, you are exactly what I want him to become, you accept yourself and your power!" He went on, he was honest when he said that Riku reminded him a lot of Shouto, even the way he spoke is almost the same, except he saw Riku as what Shouto should be.
"Just because he has your blood doesn't make you his father…" Riku thought. "Where are you going with this?" He asked him flatly again, still holding back the rage.
"I want you to fight with your all against my son. Right now he's finally stopping his childish tantrum, as you can see he is finally accepting himself fully. But I know he's doubting, and that's why I need you to show him a good example." Endeavour requested him sounding serious.
"So you're asking me to become a tool for your sick desire…" Riku narrowed his eyes, there was rage burning in his eyes.
"But that's not everything I'm asking you." Endeavour however wasn't finished. "As I said, I saw the most potential in you, you might as well become one of the greatest heroes in history, just like Shouto will surpass All Might one day, however I believe that you will need the right agency to take you in the path of the powerful." He added smirking again.
"You're asking me to work in your agency?" Riku guessed where this was going.
"Correct, once you graduate, come to work with me. I'll take you through the road of the powerful along with my son." He extended his left hand at him smirking.
"...Thanks for the offering, I'll think about it. If you excuse me, I have to go right now." Riku said as he turned around and walked away from the bastard without giving him a chance to reply, he was just sick of hearing him. Endeavour just saw him walk away silently, the boy was indeed like his son.
Riku was away enough for him to let out all of his venom. "As if I would ever work with him…" Riku said with deep hatred in his voice, all the times he saw that bastard he just saw an image of Ansem behind him. "To think I looked up to that bastard!" There was a time in which he thought that Endeavour was actually really cool, the thought made him sick now. Out of rage he punched a hole in a nearby wall, it left a huge crack on it! Riku's breathing was ragged, he tried to steady it as he took out his fist, which was not even bruised, out of the hole he made. Riku let out a deep breath, his head was cooling down now. "Don't let those emotions control you, it's not you…" Riku reminded himself that his feelings wasn't just his rage at Endeavour, it was also the rage and resentment Shouto feels for him. He has to keep his mind clear and don't let himself be controlled by these strong emotions.
Riku had to keep his focus, he walked towards the exit to the field.
Shouto was on his way as well towards the field, however it seemed like something was bothering him.
He stopped and looked at his left hand. He remembered the fateful day in which his mother scorched him, then what Sora told him about choosing who he wants to be, then Midoriya telling him to fight with everything he's got, then him telling that his power is his alone. "I wonder when it started. Until I fought against Midoriya, I didn't even try to think about it." It was something so simple, but it never crossed his mind out the spite he felt for his father. "Midoriya acted imprudently and came to destroy all the issues I was carrying. No doubt that Sora would have done the same exact thing if he was in his place, he's the kind of guy that would risk his life and limbs for others. Midoriya was always like that?" Shouto clenched his left hand into a soft fist, ever since his last match he felt like he was inside a mental haze. He tried to not think about this and instead focus on his next match against Riku. "I'm honestly not sure if I can win, Riku is almost as strong as Sora and he defeated me and without going with his all no else… I wonder if I did fight with my all back then against him, would he have done the same? I think so, but I still don't know how strong he or Riku really are." Shouto was now doubtful, he was no longer sure if his rivalry is for Riku or Sora. "No, don't think about, focus on the match." Shouto said to himself trying to keep his mind clear. He went on his way towards the field.
His next match awaits…
To be Continued...