Ochako collapsed onto her bed, her hair sprawling out behind her as her legs dangled off the edge of her mattress. Running a hand along her soft green blanket, she let out a sigh and glanced outside. Stars dotted an otherwise empty pitch black night sky. Even though she was still on a university campus, the view reminded her of home. Quiet. The rare sound either came from her classmates or the occasional sparring match between other hero course students. She ran both her hands through her hair and looked at the clock. It was ten o'clock, but she couldn't even close her eyes to sleep. Her nerves were shot; just thinking about fighting Todoroki had her shaking. He'd been especially callous recently. His matches in the tournament, so far, hadn't lasted longer than a minute, and the only exception was against that lady who could detach her body parts and fly.
"Dang it. I wonder what Deku would do against him? Probably something super flashy. Stop it, it doesn't matter what Deku would do, I have to think of how to beat him on my own. Speaking of Deku, I was sure he'd want to chat before—" She flinched as a heavy knock came from her door. Sitting up and stretching, she felt a little hope flourish in her chest.
"One sec, I'm comin!" she hopped out of bed and walked over to the door, making sure she looked partially presentable before opening the door. She glanced at a sweaty Deku, blinking at his damp t-shirt tightly clinging to his body before feeling her cheeks burn hotly. Spinning away and walking back towards her bed, she tried not to stare at the way his hair clung to his forehead or the light panting he was doing.
"Uraraka! I, um... I worked out a bit to, um, calm down a little. Then, I ran to town to get you something to help with your nerves hopefully!" He held up a bag as he finished. Walking into her room behind her and dropping down onto her pink bean bag, he reached into the plastic bag and pulled out a fancy looking carry out box. As he slid the top off the container, she felt her eyes pop out slightly as she saw a collection of delicious pink mochi. Feeling her tongue slide across her lips unconsciously, she twirled her finger around one of her strands of hair, looking back at Midoriya.
"T-thanks, Deku. You didn't have to, you know, especially following your workout. How much do I owe you?" Fearing the cost at the sheer amount of mochi Deku had bought her, Ochako gently bit at her nails. He had a good heart, but… she rapidly blinked at him shaking his head as he lounged back in the bean bag, a big stupid cute smile on his face.
"Nothing, you don't owe me anything, Uraraka. These are your favorites right? It's my treat." She felt her cheeks burn even hotter as she picked up one of the mochi he was offering and started to eat it. Feeling her nerves already starting to calm down, she glanced at him again. He was yawning and stretching, his shirt rising a little, just enough to reveal a hint of the toned muscle beneath.
"Deku. I'm going to lose tomorrow. No matter what I do, I can't think of a way to get close to Todoroki. Try to at least learn something from my loss..." Deku locked onto her, a fire in his eyes―a rare look for him.
"Even if it's pointless, you can't just give up. Everyone gave it their all because they still thought they could overcome the odds. I mean, I know that's basically empty advice, but still…" He rubbed the back of his head before standing up and stretching his arms above his head before he turned to look out her window. "I think you've got a really good shot!" She layed back on her bed, chewing on some more of that sweet, sweet mochi he'd gotten her.
"Well, I mean… Okay, Deku!" She sat up and smiled at him brightly. Standing up and putting the rest of the mochi in her little mini fridge, she looked at herself in the mirror. He was right, it wouldn't be right for her to give up when everyone else was giving it their all. Even if she couldn't win, she owed it to everyone to give it her best shot. "I'll do my best, and we'll see each other in the finals!"
"Yeah! We'll make the upperclassmen's matches seem tame by comparison!" Deku boasted. Uraraka smiled at him; he was always so positive. Leaning back against her bed, she wondered where he got the strength to keep that attitude up all the time. Glancing back at her green haired friend, she sat up as he stood up and yawned.
"Welp, I just wanted to stop in and check on you before I went to bed. Get to bed soon, okay? I don't want to have to come and wake you up, but I will if you're not downstairs at our normal time!" He jokingly threatened, a soft smile spreading across his face as he walked out.
"Goodnight, Deku. See you in the morning." She sighed as she laid back on her bed and closed her eyes. Maybe Deku was right; maybe she'd win against that icy prodigy... what a miracle that would be.
Katsuki panted as he leaned forward on his knees. Glancing at a stop watch, he glared at the time. He'd only gotten in four hours of training, but he was already about to have to call it quits just to watch that stupid nerd lose against that icyhot bastard. He felt his blood boil at the thought of his own fight against Deku. Letting loose another explosion on one of the school's training grounds, he launched himself forward and landed in a roll, his heavy boots clacking hard against the ground. He growled, already getting ready for another flying combo.
"Stupid, shittyDeku. He humiliated me! Couldn't even get off my super move cause of all that stupid water he kept hitting me with; he would have been toast if I'd gotten my Howitzer off!" He punched an already torn up car as he shouted, and he felt his knuckles crack from how hard he hit the car. He flinched as he let off yet another explosion; his arms cramping horribly making him clench up… causing him to tumble uncontrollably out of the air and slam into the ground. Hard. A lot of his weight ended up falling on his left wrist, making him scream out in pain.
Grunting as the rest of his body caught up with his wrist, he let out a puff of anger at the pain as he rolled onto his back. Staring up at the sky, he felt his anger boiling over again, stupid Deku, stupid tournament, in a real fight they would've… they would've… he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. Ignoring the shattering pain in his wrist, he pushed himself up with his other arm. Glancing up at the empty sky, he let his head hang. Unconsciously, his uninjured hand slowly squeezed into a fist. They'd already fought once during the battle training All Might had made them do.
'I lost there too, because I—' he shook his head as he felt his phone ring in his pocket. No, he didn't mess up, Deku just surprised him, that's all it was. Next time they fought, that stupid nerd was going down. Looking at his phone, he let out a sigh.
"What, four eyes?" he growled. Stupid class president interrupting his training. Stupid rules saying he had to watch the other students compete even though he'd already gotten out of the running for first.
"BAKUGO! Your presence is requested immediately at the stadium. Uraraka and Todoroki both just got called down into their locker rooms to get ready for their match! You need to—" Bakugo hung up and slid the phone back into his shorts. Making a fist on his injured arm, he grimaced for a second. He needed to get that grimace under control: he couldn't let people think he was hurt, which he wasn't. Shaking his head as he started to head for the stadium, he was already thinking about how to get through training with his, probably sprained, wrist. He grunted. 'Fuck getting around it, I'll push through. All Might wouldn't let a sprained wrist get in his way, and I won't either.'
Ochako swallowed heavily as she walked out onto the arena platform. Stepping onto the arena, she could feel Todoroki staring at her coldly, and she could almost see the ice racing towards her. Staring up towards the stands where she knew Deku was, she let a small smile creep across her face. Hopefully he might learn something about Todoroki even if she did lose.
"WELCOME TO THE FINAL DAY OF THE SPORTS FESTIVAL, LISTENERS! WE'RE STARTING OFF TODAY WITH THE GRAVITY DEFYING URARAKA UP AGAINST THE COLD HEARTED TODOROKI! THE ODDS MIGHT BE STACKED AGAINST OUR ANTIGRAVITY GIRL, BUT PERSONALLY, I'VE ALWAYS LOVED AN UNDERDOG STORY! LET'S GIVE THEM A BIG ROUND OF APPLAUSE!" Present Mic riled the crowd up for a loud round of applause, though his speech did nothing but remind Uraraka that, for all her talking to Deku last night, she still couldn't possibly win. His raw power alone, in an environment like this, meant that she wouldn't get five feet before she was frozen. She started breathing heavily as panic started to set in; her vision started to shake as her legs wobbled underneath her.
'Is anyone even going to want me to intern with them after they see me get completely crushed by him? What will Mom and Dad think of me? What will Deku think?!' She shook her head and glared at Todoroki. Screw all of that. She would win, somehow she'd force her way past him into the finals with Deku! She felt her fingers warm up as she stared Todoroki down, anger started to boil in her as he stared at her with disinterest.
"BEGIN!" Ochako sprinted to the right as a massive line of ice blew past her. Taking off towards Todoroki, she grinned at the surprised look on his face. Well, he had done literally the exact same thing against all of his other opponents. Her grin faltered when he just shot another ice wall at her, which she just barely managed to dodge, her shoe getting a little frosty as it shot past her.
'He's holding back; I shouldn't have been able to avoid that first ice wall based on the speed of his other fights. Is he conserving his strength for Deku?' she thought. She blinked at the anger spreading across his face, surprised that he could show any level of emotion. Getting ready to dodge away from the next ice attack, she tensed up as he quickly slid down onto a knee, his fingers touching the ground as a massive wall of ice shot at her.
"Nice footwork. Too bad it won't matter now." Todoroki murmured, barely loud enough for her to hear as that ice wall crackled along the ground; far too large for her to have any chance of dodging it. Uraraka instinctively held her hands in front of her and slid to a knee before she shut her eyes tight so they wouldn't get hurt by the ice. She let out a cry as she thought the ice touched her fingers. Keeping her eyes closed, she couldn't hear the crowd anymore. Did that mean he'd frozen her solid?
'No wait, I'd be a lot colder if he'd frozen me, plus I can still move my arms!' Slowly opening her eyes, she let out all the breath she'd been holding as a pink star swirled around her. The ice wall that had been flying towards her lay shattered around her. Looking at her hands, she held in a gasp as a light pink mist emanated from her fingers. Slowly turning her hand around, she blinked in surprise at her pads glowing a bright pink. Standing up and staring at the shocked Todoroki, she put her own surprise behind her for now.
"I can figure out what this is later, right now…" She held up one of her hands at Todoroki and pushed her palm forward… only for nothing to happen. Letting out a small gasp, she turned her hand back around towards herself; her pads were still glowing that bright pink but nothing was happening! Glancing back at Todoroki, she saw her opponent had gotten over his confusion and was sprinting towards her.
"I don't know what you're trying to do, but it isn't going to change anything!" Todoroki barked as he reached for her. She didn't really understand why he was up close, but she wasn't going to question him getting in range of her touching him. If she could float him then he wouldn't be able to freeze her! Thrusting her hand forward, she felt a smile force it's way onto her face as she neared him, his arm nearly touching hers as her fingers reached for his stomach. She flinched as a pink explosion went off, sending her icy opponent flying. The lingering pink mist from the explosion sparkled brightly as the air blowing through the stadium blew the mist away.
"Nice trick... powerful too, but like I said—" she stared at Todoroki as he was already almost back on her, ice shooting towards her from the ground as he reached for her again. She swung her arm towards him again, panicking at how quickly he had managed to reclose the gap between them after her blast. She gasped as another blast of raw power rocketed towards Todoroki, only for her opponent to dodge the blast by sliding on ice quickly around her and slamming his fist into her stomach before grabbing her head and slamming his knee into her face.
"GAH! Fuck!" Feeling tears build up at the pain in her face, and feeling her stomach threaten to make her vomit at the powerful punch from him, she swung wildly at him. She felt her fist connect for a second and… he was freezing cold! She glanced at him, noting that ice seemed to be covering part of his face and his arm. She inwardly cursed herself; if she had floated him she could have won… no! She still could! Tilting her hand, she smiled before feeling his hand grab hers and twisting it, making her fall to a knee as he bent her wrist before slamming his free fist against her jaw.
"You're strong, but you need to work on your split second judgement and pain tolerance." Todoroki scolded. She reeled from the punch, her vision flashing as she stumbled backwards. The pain starting to build from his brutal physical assault started to get to her as she swung her arm desperately, accidently letting another, even more massive, blast shoot off from her pads. As her vision cleared, she saw him rolling backwards from the blast, ice shooting up behind him to stop his tumble. As he regained his footing and looked at her, she saw frosty breath coming out of his mouth. His breathing was laboured, and the frost already on his right side was starting to spread.
'I can win, he's at his limit I can—" She tumbled as she started to run towards him.
Her chest hit the ground first, and she let out a gasp as she slid forward, her vision quickly darkening. She didn't even have the strength to move her arms, let alone push herself up. She felt tears well up as she realized that her body wouldn't do what she told it to. As her vision blurred with tears and exhaustion, she let out a shuddering gasp.
'...I guess I couldn't.' She thought as the darkness consumed her vision and she passed out.
"WHO KNEW THAT URARAKA POSSESSED THAT KIND OF POWER?! EVEN THOUGH SHE PASSED OUT, LET'S GIVE BOTH OF THEM A HAND TO WAKE HER UP!" Most of 1-A was standing up at the banister rails staring down at their unconscious classmate, including Izuku. Swallowing and turning around to walk off, he heard Yao-Momo start commenting on the match.
"Wow, Uraraka really showed her stuff, didn't she? That was some insane power she was hiding!" Yaoyaorozu marveled. Izuku barely made out what she said as he left his class' stands. Walking down to the locker room, he avoided people on autopilot as he felt his anger start to boil over. It wasn't directed at Uraraka, though he had a few questions for her. He held up his own hand and produced a star the same color as the energy she had unleashed,then crushed the star as he clenched his fist. He wasn't mad at her for maybe concealing her own magic. Heck, to him it was really cool!
'He didn't respect her at all, even when she almost beat him, he just stood there ready to lose. It was hard to see but…' He opened the locker room door and sat down, taking in deep breaths to try and calm himself. Nothing was working though: counting down from ten, going to his calm place, deep slow breaths, all that anger just stayed there. Even at the threat of losing, Todoroki still wouldn't go all out. While everyone else was giving their all, he still thought he could get away with using literally half his power.
"Amelinda, did Uraraka perform magic back there?" he asked, trying to distract himself from his seething anger. Waiting for a moment, he held the bracelet up, the silence that followed was deafening to Izuku.
"Hey, Amelinda? I asked if—" Izuku started.
"UH, MIDORIYA? WE'RE WAITING ON YOU GET OUT HERE BEFORE YOUR FORFEIT!" Izuku flinched and jumped up; he'd been so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't heard them call him. Running out to the arena, he noticed that Kendo had her lips in a tight line on her face. Jogging up the steps, he saw Midnight shoot him an encouraging smile, which just made his cheeks burn with embarrassment at being late.
'I hope people don't think I'm a coward or that I got cold feet, especially All Might. I didn't I just—' He clenched his fist as he cut off that line of thinking. He just needed to get his head in the game and prove that he wasn't getting scared.
"Hey Midoriya, you okay?" He looked at his opponent who was stretching now, a gentle smile replacing the tight line on her lips. Putting a hand on her hip and waving towards the audience with a sigh.
"Don't worry about them, just think about our match, and if you're worried about fighting me? Well, to be honest, I think I might be more… actually we just need to give it our all. Sorry if I've seemed rough to your classmates, but I need to do my best, you know?" Izuku blinked before feeling a smile spread across his own lips. He hadn't expected someone who'd so easily brushed aside his classmates to be so nice up close. However…
"Yeah… and I'm sorry, but I can't afford to lose." Izuku felt his smile falter at the frown forming on her face. She shook her head, her frown turned into a confident smile that baffled Izuku.
"Yeah, well, neither can I. We're both here to win. Don't think that just because you 'can't afford to lose' that I'm just going to magically fall over and—" a competitive grin grew on her face as she kept talking before the intercoms cut her off.
"BEGIN!" Izuku didn't summon his cane, instead pulling his arm back and willing a powerful gust to course along his arm. His opponent was already enlarging both of her hands and sprinting towards him. Letting his smile fall away from his face, he focused on the fury he felt when Todoroki insulted Uraraka by holding back, even when he'd been about to lose. The malice he felt surged throughout the wind on his arm, letting dark particles corrupt the wind, bolstering the already billowing gales even further. Noticing Midnight to his left holding her glasses on, he let out a sigh and thrust his hand forward. "Gust of wind" didn't cover it; what Izuku unleashed was more of a darkness-corrupted cyclone. Kendo was immediately blown out of the arena. Izuku noticed that it took a bit more effort than he expected; her fists' increased size must increase their weight without affecting her ability to swing them. That, or she was just super strong. Both were viable options. The spell ended on its own eventually, only a few moments after Kendo sailed out of the arena and landed on the grass.
"M-Midoriya wins by ringout!" Midnight shouted, holding up her whip towards Izuku. Letting out a small sigh and feeling a bit of exhaustion from the overpowering spell he'd just unleashed, Izuku leaned forward, hands on his knees. Looking up, he saw Kendo looking down at her hand, a grimace on her face as she stood up and walked off the field.
"IN ONE MOMENT, MIDORIYA REMINDS US WHY HE'S MADE IT TO THE FINALS. IS THIS A CALLOUT TO TODOROKI, TELLING HIM TO BRING HIS BEST?! LET'S GIVE A HAND TO HIS OPPONENT THOUGH! THERE'S NOTHING SHE COULD HAVE DONE AGAINST THAT SHOW OF FORCE! THE FINAL MATCH OF THE FIRST YEARS IS ABOUT TO BEGIN! DON'T LOOK AWAY LISTENERS, ONCE THEY START THEIR MATCH, IT COULD BE OVER IN AN INSTANT WITH THESE TWO!" Izuku tried to fake a confident smile as he walked back toward his locker room, but on the inside, he was panicking. Walking towards the concession stand, he decided he really needed something to perk him up and give him confidence for what he had to do before the match. Reaching the concession stand, he smiled at Lunch Rush, who was filling up all the different drink and food stands for people to pull food out of the different hot food bars and glass windowed minifridges. Leaving money on the counter, he pulled out a sports drink.
"Thanks, Lunch Rush!" Izuku waved before noticing he had actual customers, so Izuku started to head back to his assigned locker room. Opening the sports drink, he started sipping on it as he walked. Looking down at his hands, he took in a shuddering breath. Drinking a potion to prepare wasn't "cheating," right? Shaking his head, he took in a deep breath to steel himself. He had to win, he had to do what All Might asked him to, and he had to live up to the expectations everyone was putting on him.
"Hey, boy." Izuku stopped cold as he heard that fiery voice. Looking over his shoulder, the air in the room seemed to get heavier as he saw the number two hero staring at him. His fiery mane and mustache billowed around him, even indoors, which would be incredibly unsafe if they were anywhere other than a stone hallway. Two sharp, suspecting eyes seemed to go through Izuku like he was barely worth Endeavor's time to look at.
"That power. You've demonstrated several since the start of the festival, but that one… it reminds me of All Might's power. You'll make an excellent springboard for Shoto to jump off of; if only he would stop being a child about unleashing his flame." Izuku slowly formed a tight fist, remembering Todoroki and Endeavor's conversation the previous day. Carefully unclenching his fist, he looked forward and started to walk away from Endeavor. "Perhaps he'll surpass me even sooner than I thought if you can force him to use his left side. That brat with the brown hair almost did, but she was too pathetic to—" Izuku was furious when Endeavor, who was suddenly very reminiscent of Bakugo, called him a stepping stone, but a bomb dropped when he called Uraraka "pathetic". Izuku could barely contain his anger, which was all the more obvious by the way dark energy flowed off of him and darkened the hallway he and Endeavor stood in. Endeavors' flames lit up the area around him, but the rest of the hallway seemed to steep in shadow.
"I'm not All Might, you know. I'm my own person." Izuku snapped, glaring over his shoulder at Endeavor. Endeavor blinked in surprise before nodding, a glare settling across his features.
"Of course you're not All Might, you—" Endeavor started.
"Right, of course I'm not All Might; I could never be All Might, but just like I'm not All Might, Todoroki isn't you, and he will never be you. He's his own person with his own power. You might have been part of the reason he has that power, but that doesn't mean you own him. I'll be going; I have a match to get to, Number Two." Izuku emphasized, earning him a flare up from Endeavor's mane. Izuku gave his own glare over his shoulder at Endeavor as he started walking. "And for the record. Uraraka, that 'brat with brown hair,' is stronger than you could possibly know. Holding back or not, she forced your son into a corner―easily. He won because I'm sure you trained him his whole life to be a weapon. With training, or in any other scenario besides an empty arena, I'm sure she could surpass him as a hero." Izuku chided. Before Endeavor could retort, Izuku walked/ran back to his locker room and shut the door behind him, letting out a long held in breath.
'What was I thinking?! Everyone knows he hates being called the number two hero… though, he deserved it, calling Uraraka 'pathetic.' He closed his eyes and took in a shuddering gasp before downing the rest of his drink. Sitting down at the table, he poked Amelinda a few times; he needed to drink his potion if he was going to be able to force Todoroki to go all out.
"Hey, I know you're avoiding talking to me about Uraraka doing… whatever that was, but I need a potion of Exhaustion to Pain." Feeling her awaken within the bracelet, she was silent for a moment before a tiny bright spotlight came out of the bracelet on the table, a small bottle materializing out of the glowing spot. Looking at the normal looking water bottle, albeit with purple liquid floating in it, Izuku uncapped it before staring at it for a moment.
"...Just so you know, it's not like a pinch. The more magic you use the more pain you'll be in. It's not for the weak willed. I know you want to show All Might that 'you are here,' but…" Amelinda cautioned. Izuku shook his head, a smile slowly forming on his lips. Grabbing the potion and downing it in an instant, he let out a small gasp. Even his residual exhaustion from the magic he'd used against Kendo was enough to cause a bit of a headache. Looking down at his hand he saw what looked like dark lightning coursing through his skin. "That's the cue that the potion is active. Thankfully, it only lasts a short while, so be quick in your match. You've no time to dawdle." Amelinda advised.
"Thank you, Amelinda. I wouldn't normally use this, but… well, I feel like I have to at this point. Not just to show everyone that 'I am here' but…" He shook his head. No point in talking about it. Hopefully Uraraka would be up for his match, but he wasn't counting on it. The first time he'd passed out from magic usage, he'd been out for an hour.
"MIDORIYA! TODOROKI! HEAD OUT TO THE ARENA FOR THE FINALS!" Present Mic commanded. Izuku stood up and walked out to the arena for his last match. Quickly jogging towards the light, he slowed down as he reached the edge of the shade provided by the archway onto the field. Walking with a false bravado towards the arena, he could feel that, on the inside, his heart was beating a mile a minute. Eyeing down Todoroki as they both walked up onto the stage, Izuku noticed he wasn't limping or moving slowly anymore. His limit was obviously based on how much cold his body could handle, but Izuku had no idea what that limit actually was. He'd slowed down against Uraraka, but he'd unleashed massive ice attacks against her.
'Is he going to do the same thing against me? Or is he going to do something smaller and more precise? …No, small attacks aren't his style; he wants to beat me in a flashy way to show Endeavor that he doesn't need his fire.' It would be fast paced no matter who attacked first, though Izuku was pretty sure that Todoroki would go on the offensive first. 'I just need to wear him down. Using his own ice slows him down, so using ice spells against him will make him hit his limit faster.'
"THE FINALS OF THE FIRST YEARS ARE FINALLY HERE! BOTH OF OUR COMPETITORS ARE FROM 1-A; THEY MUST'VE USED ALL THAT EXPERIENCE THEY'VE GAINED SO FAR TO PUSH BEYOND THEIR COMPETITION! IT'S MIDORIYA AGAINST TODOROKI!" Present Mic riled up the crowd. "BEGIN!" Izuku didn't have a hope of overpowering Todoroki with ice. Summoning his cane as Todoroki let loose a massive glacier meant to freeze Izuku solid, Izuku accelerated his body, sliding out of the way just as the wall of ice crashed past him. His body did its usual routine after an "acceleration," his veins felt like they were on fire along with his muscles spasming for a moment before relaxing, letting him move freely again.
"You did the same thing against Bakugo, though I see that you're briefly vulnerable after a burst of speed like that," Todoroki growled coldly as he shot a precise line of ice at Izuku. Raising his cane and slamming it against the ground, dust rose around the impact site and cracks quickly formed throughout the concrete. Earthen plates, glowing with green energy, ripped up through the cracked arena to stop the advance of Todoroki's ice. As Izuku angled his cane, the plates tilted forward and slammed into the arena, shaking the whole stage. Izuku gasped, clutching at his arm holding the cane; the dark energy throbbed and grew darker for a moment as Izuku felt a white hot, searing pain course through his arm. Dropping the cane, his creation disappeared as he fell to a knee; his vision doubled for a moment before he forced himself back up in time to see Todoroki dusting himself off.
"Neat trick, but I know that you must have figured out my weakness during my match with Uraraka. Even if you hadn't, I know you would catch on soon enough. I won't let you draw out this match any longer." Izuku let out a small sigh of relief; he apparently hadn't noticed Izuku's intense agony. Amelinda was right, this wasn't a pinch on the cheek. Swallowing before glaring at Todoroki, who let loose another volley of ice, Izuku let dark energy course through his arm as it approached.
"You're right! I do know your weakness!" Swinging his arm along the ground, he let raw dark power rip through Todoroki's ice; the dark energy cascaded into a chain of explosions as it neared Todoroki, who deftly used fresh ice to skate away from the attack. As soon as the spell ended, Izuku felt his arm clench up involuntarily, biting his lip hard to avoid letting out a cry of pain. His arm felt like liquid fire was coursing through his veins as the dark energy laced throughout his skin throbbed violently. Gritting his teeth and glaring at a surprised Todoroki, Izuku started running towards him. "I WILL BEAT YOU!"
"I thought I had you figured out, but you're not getting tired right now." Todoroki huffed. He shot an even larger, more widespread ice wave at Izuku, then ran up onto the ice. "However, it looks like you're in quite a bit of pain. How long till you lose your concentration and slip up?" Todoroki taunted. Izuku ignored him and willed ice to start gathering around his left arm as he charged Todoroki. A bright sheen covered his right arm as he gathered energy from the force element in it. Throwing his right arm forward, he blasted a hole in the ice he was barreling towards. He heard boots crunch against the ice, and immediately, he turned around to see Todoroki reaching for him. "You're getting predictable, you know; you did the same against Bakugo."
"You're gloating a lot for someone who hasn't managed to hit his opponent!" Izuku shouted. Adding in some wind to the massive amount of swirling ice on his left arm, his body started to respond to his force spell ending. He swung his left arm in a sweeping arc. An arctic gale blew Todoroki back towards the edge of the arena; though before he could fall out, he made a small wall of ice to stop him. Counting on that, Izuku had already begun to squeeze his fist; the arctic gale turned into a sphere of snow billowing around Todoroki. Nothing that could hurt him, but… Todoroki ran out of the ice, panting and glaring at Izuku as he dropped the spell and fell to a knee. The pain flared to even greater heights, slowly starting to spread throughout the rest of his body. Taking in deep ragged breaths, Izuku forced himself to stand up again.
"I-I'll admit, I didn't think you'd do something that didn't have a chance of hurting me just to try and take advantage of my weakness." Izuku noticed frost starting to cover his body; his movements were getting less coordinated as he moved; his body was visibly shaking as he approached Izuku. "It's not working by the way. I might be getting a little slower, but you look like you're barely standing. It's time to finish this." His eyes floated up to the stands, a small smile forming on his lips. "I should thank you though, dear old Dad doesn't look like he's enjoying this match. When I win without using my left side, I'll—" Izuku raised his arm and let off a blast of light and force magic. The combination created a shockwave that shattered the ice Todoroki had tried to form on instinct, blowing him back towards the edge of the arena.
"B-barely standing? A-are you even paying attention?!" Izuku growled. Ignoring the rising pain in his body, he glared at his opponent. Letting loose several more light and force shockwaves, each one blowing Todoroki closer and closer to the edge of the arena. Each wall of ice Todoroki made to catch himself getting smaller and smaller as he neared the edge. "Everyone's been giving it their all this whole time. Me, Uraraka, Bakugo, Tsuyu, everyone gave their best! This is how it will be in a crisis when we're heroes! People will die because you won't use all of your power! Surpass All Might? What a joke. You won't even reach the top ten like this!" Izuku scoffed. Resummoning his cane and leaning heavily on it, his legs faltered a bit at the pain coursing through his body, but his will wouldn't give up. "If you're not going to come at me with everything you've got, then you don't deserve to be a hero at all!"
"Shut up! What do you know about anything?! I'm going to deny him completely by winning without using my flames!" Todoroki retorted, shooting a weak, for him, line of ice at Izuku. Leaning off his cane and dragging it along the ground, he shot a line of cracking earth at it to intercept it. The earth and ice collided, creating a small explosion of dirt and frosty fragments. Izuku ignored the sound of the crowd as he fought through the growing pain in his body and kept charging Todoroki.
"What do I know? I know I'm going to be a hero people can depend on. Someone whose presence alone will be enough to tell everyone that they're going to be okay! That's why I keep giving it my all! I'll save you too!" Izuku shouted back. Pulling his cane back, clear energy gathering on it, he thrust it forward sending Todoroki flying as the boy tapped Izuku's shoulder, coating it and a part of his arm in iceas Todoroki nearly fell out of the arena. The icy boy coughed and barely managed to push himself up.
"I refuse to use my father's—" Todorki started as he stood to his feet glaring at Izuku with unfocused eyes. Izuku stepped forward, swinging his free arm as he leaned heavily on his cane again.
"It's your power! Your father has nothing to do with it anymore! You can save so many people with your strength!" Todoroki's glare disappeared as he started at Izuku. Izuku blinked in surprise as Todoroki's eyes seemed to glisten with tears for a moment before a sudden blaze sent Izuku tumbling backwards. Holding an arm up, enough residual flame flowing for him to create a blazing shield, he smiled at the flaming man in front of him. Izuku heard the unmistakable bluster of Endeavor shouting something but he ignored it as he stared at Todoroki. "Amazing."
"Why do you look so happy? I'm still going to beat you, and as you are now? You're barely standing as is. What happens to you now isn't on me." A massive smile spread across his face as his fire blazed even brighter and he started to build a wall of ice behind him. Izuku just smiled and let his cane disappear. Forcing light and dark magic to flow throughout his right arm, he reared back.
"Yeah? Well not like I'm going to make it easy for you!" Izuku taunted. He swung his arm forward as Todoroki flung his left arm forward, a massive blaze flying at Izuku. He should have been scared, but all Izuku could do was smile as they let loose their attacks. "VOIDLIGHT!" The light and dark energies swirled around each other until they gathered together in one ball of rotating darkness and light expanding rapidly. He summoned a shield of light in front of him followed by a wall of darkness as the two attacks connected. His shields shattered instantly as the impact of his magic colliding with Todorokis' fire created a massive shockwave, sending him flying. Throwing a blast of wind at the wall to soften how hard he hit it, Izuku was surprised that the pain he'd been feeling was evaporating, as he hit the ground he thought about what Amelinda had said.
'Fifteen minutes huh? Well it was just enough for me to—" his thought cut off as his vision quickly faded, the last thing he saw was Todoroki, who had hit the opposite wall from Izuku.