After Izuku beat Shinso, it was time for Todoroki's first match. Juzo managed to last a couple of seconds longer than Sero did in canon, but in the end our Icy-Hot classmate flattened him all the same. A brief recess was called to clean up the ice and fix the ring—Todoroki really did a number on it—at which point we decided to use the break to check out the stands outside the arena. On our way there, though, we were stopped by a deep booming voice from around a corner in the hallway.

"Shoto, this disobedience has gone on long enough."

Sidling up against a wall, Izuku and I poked our heads around to see none other than Endeavor with his back to us, staring down the younger Todoroki.

Izuku starts to whisper to me. "What's going—"

"Shh," I said, cutting him off. This was too important a conversation to miss.

Our classmate glared up at his father, but was otherwise silent for the moment as Endeavor continued.

"You have a duty, Shoto! As my creation, you have the duty to surpass All Might in my stead!"

" 'In your name', you mean," Shoto growled back. "I told you, I don't give a damn about what you want. If you want to beat All Might, do it yourself. I'll win without your power."

As Shoto turned to leave, Endeavor stomped after him and put a hand on his shoulder, turning him back around to face him. "And just what makes you think you have any choice in the matter, boy?"

"I know your secrets, father. You're the one without a choice in the matter. You either watch me surpass you without your quirk in front of the entire country from the stands... or you can do it from—"

SMACK!

A backhand from Endeavor crossed Todoroki's face, but the latter didn't so much as flinch. His expression remained fixed in rage at the father. A silence fell over everything, and after a couple of minutes Endeavor broke the standoff by stomping away himself, still unaware of our presence.

"This discussion is not over, Shoto. You will do your duty."

I looked on in mild confusion. What secrets was Todoroki talking about? What does he have on Endeavor? Before Izuku and I could ruminate on it more, Todoroki turned in our direction. "Come out, whoever you are. I know you're there."

As we stepped out from our hiding place, Shoto grunted in annoyance. "Hmph. Of course it'd be you two..."

"Todoroki... what was that all about?" Izuku asked, concern on his face.

"It's none of your business. Forget everything you heard—"

"You're our classmate and our friend, Todoroki," I interrupted, "That makes it our business!"

Shoto fixed me with an icy glare. "No, it doesn't. You're the competition. Both of you, the competition..." A pause came over him as he turned to look at Izuku. "But you, Izuku Midoriya, are a special case. I'd like to talk to you in private—"

"Whatever you have to say to me, you can say to my brother," Izuku said firmly. "I don't know why you're so obsessed with me, but don't act as if he isn't here!"

Todoroki began to protest, but then sighed. "Fine. You want my story? I'll tell you my story..."

Hearing Todoroki's backstory in the anime was one thing. Having him tell it to me personally was something else entirely. I already hated Endeavor before coming to this universe; being told the sheer extent of his cruelty in person only amplified that. To think that such a scumbag could be legally called a "hero"...

"...And that's why I can't lose to you, Izuku Midoriya," Todoroki said as he finished his exposition; "I won't allow that bastard even the slightest satisfaction. I'll surpass him and you without ever using his quirk."

A sympathetic pause came over us. I sensed that Izuku was about to give the same response that he did in canon, and was about to let him when I recalled something we had overheard before, a question that still needed answering.

"What exactly do you have on your father?"

Shoto turned to look at me with an icy stare. "It doesn't matter."

"And why not? If he's as bad as you say, why waste anything you can use against him?"

Shoto seemed to think about that for a minute before shaking his head and turning away from us. "Because there's no real point. It's enough of a threat to him to make him squirm, but not to really cause him harm. He's the number two hero, and he's one of the wealthiest in the world. He's got connections all over the place. Who do you think people will listen to? Besides... I don't just want him punished. I want to humiliate him so badly that all his success and popularity will taste bitter. I want him to live a long time, knowing how irrelevant he really is compared to me."

The sheer level of hate coming off of Todoroki was palpable; as he spoke that last part, he shook a little and clenched his fists so hard I thought they might bleed. If he hadn't had his back turned, I'm sure we would have seen his teeth grinding as well. So much hate, and all of it completely justified. But at the same time, Endeavor was a major problem for the hero community, particularly with the League of Villains looking for any sort of weakness to exploit in the hopes of disrupting the peace by eroding public trust. Whatever dirt Todoroki had, it would easily provide ammunition for the League, unless it came out in a controlled fashion. Even so, it was obvious that trying to get Todoroki to volunteer that information or cooperate in bringing it to public light would be futile until he could be reached through all that hate... and there was only one person I knew who could do that. Thankfully, that person decided to comment at last.

"Todoroki... I can't remotely pretend to be able to feel your pain. You've had it so much worse than anyone I've met... but you're not alone. And you don't have to be. If you want to surpass your dad, though, you'll need to give it everything you have and not hold back. Because when I reach you in the finals—and trust me, I will—I won't hold back, either."

Our icy-hot classmate seemed to ponder Izuku's words for a few more moments before walking off in silence. Neither of us followed him; it was obvious he needed space. Besides, enough time had almost certainly passed for the arena to have been cleaned up for the next match...

Bakugo sneered a bit as the green bitch stared at him with a weird look on her face. "What the hell are you looking at me like that for?"

"Apologies," Ibara replied, "You simply look troubled."

"You calling me scared?!"

She shook her head. "I didn't say that. I merely thought you seemed to be troubled. Your face... you're trying so hard to be frightening, but you're hurting inside, aren't you?"

"BEGIIIIIIIIN!"

Bakugo roared and rocketed toward her. "SHUT UP!You're gonna be hurting all over when I'm done with you!"

As wall of vines shot up to block his attack, he heard an infuriating sigh from his opponent behind it. "You poor thing..."

"Don't mock me!" Bakugo snarled back. "I'll make you pay for that!"

Another vine wall blocked his path. "I would never mock one in need of salvation!"

"I said shut up!" Gritting his teeth in fury, Bakugo used his quirk to boost around a new wall just fast enough to get in Ibara's face. "Now I got you! Di—"

He froze, his voice catching in his throat. Before he could recover, a huge mass of vines erupted from the ground and lunged at him; he barely managed to get out of the way before they could trap him. He couldn't believe it; for the first time in his entire life, he was on the defensive. By sheer luck, he was able to find an opening long enough to try again, lunging at her. "D—"

He froze again. To make matters worse, this time he actually felt moisture in his eyes. What the hell is wrong with me? Why the hell can't I say it?!

This time, he was unable to dodge before Ibara's vines tangled him up from the neck down, trapping his arms against his sides. As he struggled and thrashed about, trying to escape, the infuriating girl frowned at him. "Oh my... you poor dear. You truly are a soul in pain, aren't you? What is it that ails you?"

Bakugo finally recognized what was so enraging about her expression: she wasn't mocking him. She was pitying him.

"RRRRAAAAAAGGH!"

Unleashing a massive explosion that practically incinerated the mass of vines around him, Bakugo charged at her once again, this time with the power of pure rage fueling him. "SHUT UP! SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!"

Ibara threw up vine walls left and right, trying her best to keep him at bay, but it proved to be a futile effort as Bakugo continued to evade and press the attack. At one point, she thought she'd had him, creating a vine wall just in time to stop him from reaching her, but he quickly rocketed straight upwards in an attempt to go over her. In a last-ditch effort to defend herself, she created a vine dome; the dome lasted about three seconds under Bakugo's barrage of explosions, at which point the blonde bomber tackled her to the ground. Sticking his open palm mere inches from her face, he fired off small sparks from his fingertips.

Sighing, Ibara tapped out, leaving Midnight to declare the result.

"Ibara Shiozaki forfeits! Katsuki Bakugo advances to the next round!"

As Bakugo stood up, intent on leaving the arena to punch something and vent his frustration, he felt Ibara's eyes on him yet again. "What. Do. You. Want."

No answer came, save for a sad expression on her face. Bakugo nearly turned to face her again... but the knowledge that he would certainly be disqualified prevented him from doing anything but snarling and storming away.

I'm fine. I don't need anyone's help. I don't need anyone's pity. I'm fine...

Uraraka did her best to swallow her nervousness as she stared across the arena at Iida. She had put on a decent showing in the preliminaries, but now she had to prove herself in the finals as well. Strangely enough, without the rather silly over-the-top "villain" performance or his armor, her bespectacled classmate was genuinely intimidating.

Get it together, Ochaco, she reassured herself, you've faced him before. You know his moves. He has no range game; he'll have to come to me. And that gives me the advantage... if I'm fast enough to react in time.

She breathed in and out slowly, planting her feet firmly in preparation for what would almost certainly be a right-off-the-bat charge in her direction. The seconds ticked by, the tension making each one seem like an hour... until the signal was finally given.

"BEGIIIIIIIIN!"

"Reciprooooo Burst!"

As predicted, Iida charged forward; the speed of that charge was such that Uraraka nearly failed to dodge in time, tossing her top in Iida's face. His reflexes proved just fast enough to put a hand in the way and toss it aside, but his need to stop in order to turn gave her more than enough time to prepare for his next attempt. All I need is one opportunity... if I can keep dodging long enough to get used to that speed, I'll have this in the bag!

He charged at her again, letting out another Recipro Burst; she managed to dodge once again by using her quirk to float herself over his head and land on the outside edge of the opposite side of the ring. It was now or never.

"Recipro Burst!"

There! I've got him!

Just as Iida reached her, she sidestepped him and reached out for his arm. He can't stop on a dime! Now to use his momentum against him and send him flying—

Her thoughts were interrupted by Iida grabbing her wrist and bicep, pivoting and turning before letting go to send her flying out of the ring instead. Before she knew it, she was lying on her back outside the ring, hearing Midnight declare Iida the victor.

I failed...

"Uraraka."

Looking up, she saw Iida's warm smile as he offered her his hand. "You did well. To be honest, you surprised me with that last move; I almost didn't notice it in time to respond. Don't be discouraged; you put on an excellent performance in this festival already, and I would be very surprised indeed if you were not noticed!"

She blinked a few times, the moisture that would have come fading at the praise. "Th-thank you, Iida."

I failed... but he's right. I did well. I can be proud...