AN: I don't own MHA

Side Note for fun: When you see the words "Are you ready?" or Touya closed his eyes. Play MHA's 'Say You Run'.

fight without it

"I'll fight without it!"

The U.A students looked at each other as if the boy was crazy. To them, he was crazy. Fighting without a quirk. It was incomprehensible. What was the point in training so hard for? Each and every one of them worked their hearts out to perfect their bodies and their quirks. Fighting without it sounded like a nightmare.

Touya's family and close ones had other thoughts. Mixed ones. His little brother had the most unreadable expression. Eyes stared up at his older silently. His father was a fanatic. Unsure what to think. Every part of him was telling him to stop his son but there was a speck of intrigue. Whispering to sit out and allow things to play through. His two closest friends seemed to be the only positive faces in the crowd. With Kai giving a stone face thumps up and Tenko brimming in awe. Then there was him.

"Did I hear correctly?" Arata cut through the crowd. Face blank as usual. He stared down at his young student. His deep blue eyes held a cold yet oddly amused gleam. "You wish to fight without your quirk?"

Firmly, Touya nodded. If his quirk was going to fail his body now at such a critical moment. Logically speaking he shouldn't use it for this last fight. It won't be easy, but he came too far and worked too hard to give up with a forfeit. He refused.

Arata grinned at the resolve in the boy's eyes. This was going to be fun. "Then you'll need these." The man then presented the boy with two of his own blades. Time to see how much they've grown.

"All right everyone it's the final match of the day between Shinji Nishiya and Touya Todoroki. Winner takes all," The announcer enthusiastically yelled into the mic. There were noticeable whispers in the background as the announcer hummed along with them. "Hold on listeners this match is going to be a little different. Per request, in return for allowing the use of special equipment they'll…BE FIGHTING QURIKLESS! I'm reading this right?"

The audience was a buzz. Some complained if that was against the rules. Others were excited about the unexpected turn of events. There were evening whispers of worry that the fight would be boring or unfair. One thing they couldn't deny was that this was a fight to pay attention to.

In the centre of the arena, the two young combatants face each other off. Their battle will start as soon as the bell rang. Touya cockily winked at the crowd. Both admirers and hecklers lash their words at them. None of them seemed to faze him. His opponent on the other hand stared at him as if he had two heads. You couldn't really blame him after being informed about this unusual match-up.

"Why are you doing this?" They asked.

"Why are you asking now? You've already agreed to the conditions," Touya augured back as if it was no big deal.

"That's because it would be beneficial to me. Your quirk tumps mine," Shinji counted. It's true. His Arbor quirk would have been no match for the boy's flames. The ability to grow wood from his body becomes pretty uselessly if his opponent could just burn them. When he found that they were going to be their final opponent he resented himself to defeat. Until these conditions were brought to him. "You could have won so easily. Wouldn't it be better to get help from Recovery girl?"

"And have her zap my stamina. I can't pass out before beating you," Touya countered back. There were numerous reasons why he chose this. The biggest was the possibility of Recovery girl taking away all his stamina before he could fight. Another was that he wasn't sure if his body could handle anymore fire. Even if it was small and controlled. Besides this would be way more interesting than an easy victory. He glanced down at the blades strapped to his side. The belt was a little loose on his teenage hips, but they'll serve their purpose. His hands gripped the unfamiliar handles. This was the first time he held blades like these. They were longer than the ones he practised with, yet somehow, they were lighter. Their sharpness complimented their shine. A true professional blade, unlike the simple ones he commissioned for his equipment. It may take some getting used to, but he'll pick It up.

His opponent's eyes arched up. Almost looking offended. How could he not? It was like the other boy was underestimating him. Willingly wanting to fight him without his quirk. What a ridiculous notion and how dare they. If they were going to be like that, then holding back would be a disservice. An overwhelming victory should teach this smug hero's child a lesson.

It wasn't long until the final comedown started:

"1!"

The two combatants cracked their bone joins. Never losing eye contact.

"2!"

The faces they have each other were ones of warriors craving victory. Losing was not an option.

"3!"

Disadvantage or not both will give this their all.

At the referee call, both combatants made their first move. A wood like helmet from around Shinji's brown locks as his arms expanded into branches. They sprouted out like a tree on fast forward. Each branch parting off from one another and created a twisting net of wood. They extended outward casting their reach wide, but all connect to one point. This all happened in a mere minute. Goes to show the scoop of his quirk control and power.

But was the sheer force of power enough to shake his opponent?

Slash!

Not in the slightest.

With a wide grin on his lips, Touya's first move was very simple. Charge forward without fear. The growing wave of contorting branches wasn't anything to be afraid of. Not when he could cut through them and that's exactly what he did. With precision and confidence, he sliced through the wave making the cut-off branches useless. No branch could touch him. Not when their body was swift with constant moments. Even cutting the ones trying to sneak up on him.

A gasp of shock escaped Shinji's mouth as he noticed how easily the other teen countered his attacks. Even as he tried to surround them in a wooden cage, his branches were simply cut off and kicked aside. Thinking fast, he slowly merged his branches into each other so thick it shouldn't cut so easily. All while attempting to cage his opponent in. Unfortunately, he was too slow.

Touya was quick to notice the circling as the branches bending in on to each other. Walling him in as they tried to circle all around him. In the mesh of branches, he found a weak spot above him. He quickly jumped along the edges of the walls and then climbed up. Then sliced through and made a small opening. Just enough for him to squeeze past and before the branches completely closed in. He found himself above the branches with a perfect pathway toward his opponent. Without hesitating, he raced down.

Eyebrowed arched high, Shinji tried to shake their opponent off, but they were too long and heavy at this point. He couldn't move effectively from his place. So did the next best thing and further concentrated on his quirk control. The branches started to move and twist, trying to capture the running teen. Or at least knock them off balance. Some smaller sprouts tried to whip their feet, but this proved to be not as easy as he thought.

Touya was too swift. His movement could only be described as elegant as he leapt across the twisting and moving branches. Making quick headway towards his destination. He never allowed his body to rest in one place. The second one foot met a surface he was on the move. Too fast for the breaches to catch. When they tried to hit him off with a few sneaky whips, he counted with a slashed. One did manage a light graze at his waist, but Touya easily recovered. He simply leapt back and with quick foot movements to find his footing again. Another branch tried to get a hit in. However, an extra wide high kicked it blocked it before Touya spun out of the attack. Using the momentum to lunch forward.

The more you watched the more it looked like the teen wasn't attacking at all. Sure, they did the damage, but it was almost mesmerizing to watch how he moved from one point to another. With wide leaps, pointed footwork, high kicks, and one-legged spins. Replaced the sharp blade with a pair of fluttery ribbons and it looked like something else.

"Is he dancing?" The announcer questioned. Unsure what else to describe it.

To the onlookers, it did look like some form of a peculiar dance routine. In a way, they weren't wrong. Inside his head, Touya groaned when the announcer made that distinction. He didn't want to admit this was a dance, however, he couldn't deny it. Considering its origins.

"I am so done with these stupid ballet lessons." Touya one day snapped as he angrily flicked off his ballet slippers and threw them at his so-called teacher. Not like they had any effect. The man caught them with his quirk before they could hit him. That didn't change how sick the teen was of this joke. He'd been having ballet lessons at least once a week for several months now. For what? This man to make fun of him. Sure, his flexibility improved, but that doesn't make this any less embarrassing.

Arata hummed while the slippers twirled at his side. He tossed them away carelessly while his focus honed on the angry boy before him. "I suppose you know enough of the basics."

Warily, Touya watched the man move closer. Their swords that lay safely away at the corner of the dojo glowed and returned to their master's hand. The air around him felt different. It had been since the incident a couple months back, when their overly cheerfulness dropped, but this was something else. The pressure weighed on his shoulders as well as the man's eyes.

The man's cold expression stared down at him. Swiftly, he pointed a blade at them causing them to stumble. Never once did their eye contact drop. "There was another reason I taught you ballet. The exercise happened to coincides well with my sword style."

"Sword Style?"

Nodding, Arata dropped the floating slipper. Before they hit the ground, Arata griped his blades. His body turned almost on a pirouette as he lunged for the shoes. He pierced them both before they meet the ground. "I don't remember who taught me this, and I've never properly taught anyone. I'm unsure if it has a name. This style requires absolute control, flex ability and swift footwork." Then Arata changed at the young boy. It was different from the way they were used to. The steps were wider almost as if he was leaping. Touya clumsily tried to fight back with a quick-fire blast, but the man was too quick. With grace and speed, Arata easily dodged the blast. Then spun stepped to the boy's back and pointed his blade at their neck. "You think you're ready for a training upgrade?"

Starring at the sharp blade that nearly nicked him, Touya bit his lips. Maybe these stupid lessons won't be a complete waste.

Izuku's eyes couldn't stop watching. He recognised the swift yet elegant movements, although he had only seen them once in action. The way Touya contorted his body with such poised and flexibly almost exactly matched Arata. There were only slight differences here and there. Touya was faster and far more aggressive. While Arata focused on smooth, calculated, yet deadly strikes. Never westing energy on unnecessary swings. Touya's were wilder. Marching forward with such ferocity and physical might. While his base skill belonged to Arata. A little bit of his father's fire shined through. Even so. The way Touya fought so fiercely, with what would be considered a handicap, was breath-taking.

Enji would have to agree. While he knew and was told Touya was doing well in terms of schoolwork and general training. He never imagined this. It was easy to predict the boy could make it in the industry, but his worry was how far they could go. With a profession like this and a quirk with their drawback he thought that bar would be too high to reach. Perhaps it was closer than he thought.

Touya's furry didn't stop. It only burned higher the closer he got. His strikes became less elegant and more animalistic. Anything that blocked his path was instantly silenced down. His eyes glowed with a wild gleam.

In his panic, Shinji retracted his quirk as fast as he could. The random whips of his branches were only a mild distraction. He knew nothing he could currently produce would be strong enough to stop those blades. Along with the amount of force behind them. What he was really doing was retracting them for a different counterstrike.

Eventually, Touya caught wind of this as the wooden platform he was running on became thinner. Once his feet met the tip of the branches, he bounced off creating a sizeable distance between them. He took a firm offensive stance with his legs apart and one blade pointed in front of him. The other held further back. Ready for a sweeping slash.

Once Shinji's arms returned to normal, he checked his wooden arms. Although they were easy to regrow, they did have their limits, and they were showing with the away they chipped everywhere. As if a hungry flock of woodpeckers decided to make them their meal. It didn't hurt as much as they itched. A type of irritation that couldn't fully be described. This was going to be a lot harder than he thought. "Ok, then how about this."

Shinji cracked his arms but instead of aiming his quirk at his opponent, he pointed down to the stadium floor. The branches buried themselves like roots.

With a clear opening, Touya tried to take it by charging forward but suddenly stopped. In a flash, root popped below him. Luckily, he managed to leap away but another root popped out. Again, he dodged

More and more roots pierced the arena floor. Some of them stayed above ground. Others retracted back to the holes they made. The rest drilled back in creating more holes and twisted against its other roots. The entire centre arena was overrun by them. They cracked the once solid surface reformed with jagged peaks and pitfall traps. The more the roots moved the more the terrain shifted with them. One wrong step could lead to disaster.

In theory at least.

"The terrain is moving yet Touya doesn't seem to be fazed at all," the announcer gawked.

The crowd watched and cheered as the handicap combatant effortlessly danced through the shifting grounds. Almost like he was a second ahead of every trap. A pitfall suddenly crumbled behind him he leapt in a different direction. A root dared to strike him he was ready to step on and over them. Not even the shaking wave of broken concrete could throw him off balance.

Honestly, this type of terrain was child's play compared to the 'training' he was subjected to not too long ago.

"AAAHHHHH." Once again Touya found himself falling onto the sand. You'd think it won't be so bad, however past a certain height it hurt. A lot. Don't even get him started with all the little bits getting everywhere. His undershirt, hair, ears…elsewhere. Some places inched that he never knew they could.

The culprit for his current suffering. The same culprit he foolishly accepted as his teacher. "Ok, that's it. You're trying to kill me with this death trap!" He accused the dark-haired man who coldly stared at him. They've been doing things like this to him for years. Chasing with swords, making fall form trees, he still hasn't forgiven him for that lake incident.

The boy angrily pointed to the newest death trap he had to deal with. An amalgamation of junk stitched together. Broken class there. Some plies of mystery stuff here. Knifes another sharp object filling out some gaps. Some things overlapped with other things from walls, crocked ladders and uneven sloops that might also be staircases. Some things were suspended with rope and wires like some tires and that random couch. Beams or pipes, wooden planks, and chains crisscross randomly together making layers of floors. The structure seemed to go on forever. There was an end, since you could just see the sky peeking from the top, but how to reach there was a mystery.

Now what was he supposed to do with this junk death trap. Why climb it of course. Easy right? Just use flames to propel himself from one place. Easy if it weren't for the catch. He had to manoeuvre through to the death trap without his quirk.

Arata looked down looking almost hurt. Even if his expression was mostly blank. "I thought I did a good job."

"It's being held together with duct tape!" Touya yelled. He could hear the eerie creaks whenever the smallest breeze came by. How it was still standing is nothing short of a miracle. "How the hell do you expect me to get through this. Without my quirk! It's falling apart. Things move. Hell, they break. It's too unstable to do anything on. And stop with the stone-cold face it's creepy."

"Would you prefer I go back to this," Arata asked with his bubbly high voice retuning. Along with the widest smile he could muster.

Touya stared at their face for a few seconds. Despite seeing it before so often before it no longer matched the man at all. "No that's creepier."

His forced smile dimed to a thin smirk, Arata walked towards the child. His eyes glowed while he pricked him up and gently shook him. Shaking off most of the sand that clung to their body. "You're overthinking," He began to lecture. His eyes glazed up at his creation. Yes, it's heavily unstable. Pieces were falling off it as they spoke. Some platforms wouldn't hold a person's body weight or were hooked with traps. That's the point of this little exercise.

"I've been shaping your instincts for many years to prepare you for such unstable terrain. Anything could happen here so you must learn to adapt."

In near awe, Touya watched as the man leapt into on pile of junk to crack on the makeshift walls. Never once did he hesitate nor slowed his swift moments. Good thing too. Some parts were broken under his weight. They dislodged some from their place and joined the junk on the sandy ground. He used the tips of knives as stepping blocks to climb higher. Tipped-toped crosses mental chains and rope. At some point, he slipped and Touya let out a concerned yell.

That didn't stop the man.

Mild fall, he grabbed onto a hung tire and then swivel to the next. His moves were always sure and swift. There was no time for second-guessing. Not when everything was changing around him. Some platforms started to snap then slant. More junk lost its holding but there was little concern. In fact, some presented an opportunity. When a TV lost its place and was ready to fall Arata spotted it and quickly used it as a launching point to propel him higher. Soon he was halfway to the top.

Once on the stable-ish ground, Arata unsheathed one of the swords at his side. In the corner of his sight, he saw Touya's gaping mouth and wide eyes. He smirked at the side and pointed his blade at his student. "Now come up here and strike me."

Once again, Shinji found himself with the threat of a changing Touya. There in their eyes grew as wild as their strikes. Nothing he did tripped them. Or at least not long enough for him to effectively strike back. His opponent was always just a step ahead. If this fight was this difficult without their quirk pure hell was the only thing, he could picture with it. "This is ridiculous," he groaned.

Touya was closing the distance rapidly. Another leap there, a couple of quick sidesteps here and he'd reach the target. Slicing forward at the incoming roots his swings become slopy as he honed in. It wasn't long until he came face to face with Shinji's panicked eyes. To win he needed to either incapacitate his opponent, throw them out of the ring or make them give up. Either way. This will be his victory.

Then his body stopped.

Shinji's panic switched to smugness. "Gotcha." Touya was careless and failed to notice the thin wood fibres latched themselves on their leg. They managed to climb up over their uniform undetected until they wrapped themselves on one of their arms. They tightened at the right moment as Touya stopped mid-swing. "It's time to end this!" He declared. The branches soon retracted and or shoot from the ground to clasp onto Touya's legs.

This prey still had some fight left. Keeping control of his blubbing rage, Touya swag below him to loosen the incoming branches. He found mild success by freeing one of his legs and kept one arm free.

Shinji wasn't having it. More of his wooden quirk returned to him. Quickly, he entwined them on Touya's legs again, but it wasn't enough to stop them from cutting away at the bindings. Only repeating this ongoing cycle. There was one thing he could think of at the time for a victory. So, he took it.

The sudden jolt in movement caught Touya off guard and halted his slicing. He soon found himself disoriented as he was flipped outside down. On instincts, he jabbed on of his blades into the wood as he was violently tossed around. Like a cowboy on a bull, he never let go. A vice like grip on the partly embedded blade.

Once the shaking stopped, Touya felt his body shoot upwards along with the branches that gabbed him. The ground below him grew further and further away.

"Nishiya is taking Todoroki out of the arena. Is this the end?"

This was the only plan Shinji could think of on the fly. A win with out of bounds. He thought about throwing them and tested the waters by shaking them. As expected, they held on tight by anchoring once of those damded swords in his quirk. which was good for his backup plan.

Using his quirk, he stretched it to edge of the stadium at the steep angle he was using. Why the steep angle? Well, if he kept them close to the ground, undoubtedly that would give Touya the to slice away. After witnessing how insanely hard-headed they were, they would surely fine away. At least with an angle going up and out of the arena, they shouldn't be crazy enough to slice free. Not without the fear of falling. The only other way out of that was for Touya to use his quirk to propel him back. That would still end in Shinji's victory. If Touya remained stubborn he could squeeze them until they admitted defeat, or the referee called the match over.

Touya allowed himself to get carried higher and higher. He blankly stared at the ground below him. The sound of the gasping crowds as they started to look like dolls in a playhouse. The height felt oddly nostalgic. Perhaps that's why he didn't fight back as much. Too busy being swept away by the feeling of being dangled upside down and gazing at the endless distance between him and the ground.

It remained of his first parkour lesson.

"Why are we up here?" Touya yelled while clenching onto the tree trunk for dear life. It was one of the first times he was convinced the man was trying to kill him. Dragged him to the middle of the forests and then plop him on one of the highest tree breaches. One wrong step and it was death.

"Why for training, of course, You said you wanted to learn parkour," Arata explained with such joy in his high-pitched voice. The man looked so proud of himself while standing confidently on a different branch. He wouldn't be so confident if he couldn't fly. "Don't tell me you're scared of heights," he half mocked.

Touya bit his lip and clenched his body around the tree trunk. Of course, he was scared. He can't fly and it's not like anyone was around to witness his death. Aside from this smiley whack job. Why was he smiling so carefree? And why does it make his blood boil hotter than his flames do?

"That's not good. You said you wanted to try flying with your fire, but you can't so if you're scared of heights. Best to fix that," Arata sang while his eyes glowed with a mischievous light.

Screaming, Touya found himself upside down dangled off the edge. Below him was the ground…several 100 meters away. Now that he was forced to look at it, he couldn't see it at all past the thick tree branches. "What are you doing!" He yelled while struggling against the inviable force. Not the best thing to do but what could he do at that moment what else could he do.

"I'm going to drop you from this high again and again until you learn to stop screaming. Doesn't that sound fun?"

"You're crazy!"

"Touya."

The boy's panic was desperate to stop the moment he heard that voice. It was completely different from the annoyedly high-pitched one he was used to. It was deep. Stern. A tone that demanded absolute attention. He has it to the man and was met with cold deep blue eyes. They always seemed cold before but now their expression matched. Their outrageous smile was missing as their eye dimmed blank. Even the air around them seemed different he couldn't pinpoint why at the time.

"If you wish to fly you need to be prepared to fall," Arata stated with his naturally deep voice. This was the first time Touya ever heard that voice. The shock stole his whining screams as he stared at the man. Their lips twitch to a smirk. "Are you ready?"

Touya closed his eyes as the rushing wind to pull back his hair. This nostalgic feeling soothed any fear he could have had. When he was younger and experimenting with ways to use his quirk, he was always drawn to the idea of flight. To soar high above his competitors with the power of his flames. For younger him, it was a brilliant idea. It wasn't impossible. With a little support, he should theoretically be able to fly using his flames as an energy source. The problem came when he realised how scary fighting could be. To be up that high with the possibility to crash fall. Course he was scared. Who wouldn't be with such possibilities?

Now the hights don't seem as daunting. It was almost exhilarating to see the world from such a different perspective. like a wide shot painting with little details, you could never see on the ground. Little by little the fear was chipped away and replaced by awe at the breath-taking sights. Besides, so long as you can see a safe pathway down. Why should you be afraid to fall?

"Yes," Touya whispered the answer to that old question. stilling holding on to his trapped blade, he swiftly readjusted his free blade and cleanly slice through. This allowed his trapped legs freedom. However, with nothing to hold him in place gravity became his master. What goes up must come down.

The sudden action acquired a choir of gaps from the crowds. What were they thinking? Was this some roundabout way to surrender, or was he that stubborn that they thought they could win despite falling from such a height? They couldn't be that crazy. Yet there they were, leisurely falling with a chuck of wood weighing down one of his blades.

"What is that idiot thinking?" Shinji asked himself. He never thought his opponent would willingly fall. Unless they planned to use their fire quirk to break their fall, he couldn't see any way of them surviving this. Should he help them? Was that their plan? Should he simplify risk them using their fire quirk and call that a victory? Or should he be worried that they'll be too hard-headed to do so and fall to their death? The mind games muddled his thoughts to the point he was at a standstill.

Izuku and Enji were screaming. They jumped out of their seats and pressed themselves at the windowpane yelling: "Touya!" Their son/brother who was falling to their doom. How else were they supported to react? They both prayed that they would either throw the match or have some sort of plan.

Ignoring all the screams, Touya simply allowed gravity to embrace him as the ground below him grew ever closer. The weight of his whole body dropped at a constant pace. He could see all the little details clearer. The panicked referee and of course his confused opponent. Still attached to his outstretch pillar of breaches. His eyes focused solely on them. Stay calm he told himself. Panicking would only lead to defeat. To clear his mind, he took a deep breath. Then in one fluid motion, he twisted his body to reangle the twisted wood chunk. Once done, with a little jostling and brute force he freed the trapped blade.

Then he firmly placed both his feet at the surface of the falling chunk of wood. With him unpside down on the perfect angle. Quickly, he bent his body to a crouching pose on top of the falling wood chuck. His eyes and body never leave their desired target. It was the ideal pathway, so he took it.

He launched himself off the wood with nothing but the sheer power of his legs. His body strengthened with one of his arms and blades firmly at his side and his legs tightly. With his stronger arm, he used his blade as a pointer to get to his desired direction. Like an arrow, he cut through the air and dived directedly to his target. In the final seconds, he let go of his pointed sword allowing it to lodge itself onto the wooden pillar.

He twisted his body above it and pushed one hand against the handle to give him a little more height. His shoes soon met the blade's blunt end and slid along it before crashing into the pillar. It hurt but it wasn't as bad as his father's punches or anything Arata had put him through. Soon he found his bearings, with the sword as a platform below him, giving a moment of relief.

That relief didn't last as branches started to attack him again. He easily sliced through the attack with his other blade. Then he quickly kicked the blade below him lose and slid his body down the blanches. His back barely touched the wood as easily fell with little friction. While falling, the boy hooked one of these blades to the side and used that to lever himself on top of the twisted branches.

Finally, on solid ground, Touya smirked. Resolve blazing, he kept his body close to the twisting branches and dashed forwards. Shinji tried to stop him but like before bit it wasn't enough. He easily sliced through any sneaky twig that tried to tie its legs up again. Occasionally he'd leapt over them and do a minor free fall, but the always remained on target.

It made Shinji's confidence shake. No matter what he tried, Touya would find his way around it. The closer his opponent got the more desperate he got. He tried to shake him off by waving his quirk as best as he could, but they were too nimble. It only took a couple of daring free falls and leaps to steady themselves again. Soon his mind became a jumbled mess. His concentration slipped as his quirk retracted itself bringing Touya with it.

It wasn't long until Touya was right in front of him. His eyes were sharp as his blades were held high. Shinji clumsily rolled away as they slash down beside him. His heart was pounding in his ears as his body tried to steady itself with heavy breaths. This was no time to rest.

Seeing his blades did not meet their target, Touya's head corked to the side. His eyes were wide with something wild. Like a predator looking at prey and refusing to let them get away. He struck again and again. His body wobbled to one side. There was a shot of pain zapping through his right leg but that didn't stop his relentless attacks.

May it be from tiredness, fear, or both, Shinji couldn't think of anything else but to go on the defence. Quickly he brought his arms together and formed a wooden shield. Smaller pieces were hacked off, forcing him to keep growing replacements. The cracked, unusable ground they created earlier turned against him as it was harder to find a good footing to brace the attacks. Each time a blade back down on him he was forced back. Occasionally tripping over a crack or two, he managed to keep on his feet.

Slash after slash.

Step after step

Again, and again it came without rest.

Then a sudden stop broke the flow.

"I got you now," Shinji celebrated while curling his quirk around the two blades. Allowing them to sink deeper in place. "Not so tough without these things are you." During the brief rest, he rooted the wood in his legs as deep as he could. It wasn't as secure, with the ground being so damaged, but it should be enough to keep them form being pushed out of bounds. Good thing too since Touya was clearly physically stronger than him.

Tugging on his blades, Touya knew he was stuck. Without the momentum or enough physical strength, he couldn't pull them out. This left him only with the option to push back against his rooted opponent. Maybe because they were getting winded, or their quirk had reached a limit, but they didn't try to subdue his body. Only stand their ground and trap the swords. The two teens ended up pushing against each other in a stalemate. Neither gave the other the inch, despite Shinji's exhaustion and Touya's mild twisted, pulsing ankle.

The eldest Todoroki growled while glaring at his opponent. This fight needed to end as fast as possible. He could feel his bones creaking and muscles wailing. He was sure his opponent was hitting the exhaustion wall too. It was anyone's game with whoever struck next. While glaring he noticed something.

Their body was completely exposed. Mind fulling copied with keeping their wooden arms up, their legs rooted, and cementing his blades in place.

The boy thought back to all the hand-to-hand training he received from his father over the years. Now, what was it the old man used to say?

"Remembered, Touya." The image of a fire face Enji flashed to mind as he instructed in a bellowing voice. He pointed to the diagram behind a human outline. Several parts were circled in red. "If an opponent is foolish enough to keep these parts exposed show them no mercy."

Immediately, Touya dropped his blades and changed forward on his last good leg. His fist balled tightly. Although he wasn't an expert, and he had a very bad leg but that didn't mean he couldn't throw a good punch. "Who said I need them to beat you!"

"The face is a key target. Especially the eyes, nose, side jaw and temple. They're usually more venerable areas to attack. If you can get to them."

Touya made a cheer shot for their jaw, clocking them right in the cheek. You should've really covered that jaw! "Surprised by the attack, Shinji stubbled back. The weight of his quirk held up high forced them to lean back.

"Another one is the stomach. It's usually soft and is a clean, large target. Hit it hard enough and your opponent will lose their breath."

With another clean strike, Touya punched Shinji directly in the stomach. They coughed with the pressure as their eyes bulged out. The clatter of mental rang beside them as they were forced out of their quirk concentration due to shock. Yet Touya wasn't done.

"Lastly don't forget the legs. Especially, the keens or feet. If you can get your opponent to fall off balance, they'll find it hard to recover. Use that window of confusion to your advantage."

In their opponent's state of pain and confusion, Touya crouched down on his good leg and lunged to one of the fallen blades. Then spun his body as fast he could to smoothly slice Shinji's rooted legs. Casing them to start falling bac wards. With no time to attempt recovery, Touya dashed forward and hooked an arm around their thinner waist. He then hurled the light body away from him.

Soon the buzzier rang as the match was called.

"Shinji Nishiya has been thrown out of the ring Give it up to our winner: Touya Todoroki!"

AN: This was such a hard write. I don't know if I'm fully happy with it but I did it.