"HE COUNTERED! LOOKS LIKE BAKUGOU CAN'T LAND A HIT AGAINST KIRISHIMA'S FIERCE SWIPES!" yelled Mic as me and Weird Hair went at it. Not even fazed, I thought as Weird Hair stayed hardened. He's more than just 'hard'.
"Like I said, no dice!" he yelled back at me. Stuck up. I kept going, kept trying - and at last -
"IT CONNECTED?" Cried Mic as I landed it.
"You're always going on about how freaking hard your damn body is," I told him off, pretty pleased. "But it looks like with enough rapid attacks you start falling to pieces!" And with enough blasts, I was able to blow him away.
"NOW DIE! And I knew you wouldn't last in a drawn out fight with me," I grinned. I was riding a high. Nobody was gonna stand in my way.
"AND BAKUGOU ADVANCES TO THE THIRD ROUND THROUGH A DOWNRIGHT NASTY CARPET BOMBING! WITH THIS THE TOP 4 HAVE ASSEMBLED!" called Mic.
Next match between Glasses and IcyHot. Ended with IcyHot freezing him. Freezing him without using his fire. I get it. You won't use your fire unless your opponent is strong enough to make you. Damn it hurt to give Deku real credit, but it was true enough.
My match then would be against Bird Head and his weird shadow thing.
"IT'S BAKUGOU VS TOKOYAMI, FOLKS. AND BAKUGOU'S RUSH JSUT WON'T END! UP TO THIS POINT TOKOYAMI HAS BEEN ABLE TO NET WIN AFTER WIN THROUGH HIS NEARLY INVINCIBLE QUIRK, BUT NOW HE'S PLAYING PURE DEFENSE! HE CAN'T LET HIM ANY CLOSER!"
"That thing is so damned annoying," I grumbled, facing off with that damn bird thing. But he wasn't putting up even much of a fight. Not a real desperate failure though. Just badly matched up. Because it was getting pretty clear, from my earlier attacks and attacking now, what his weakness ways. I jumped behind him and prepared a Stun Grenade. Enough to knock him down.
"So you knew somehow."
"It was obvious after enough hits. Well, bad matchup for you. What a pity. Checkmate."
"I give," he said.
"TOKOYAMI THROWS IN THE TOWL! AND VICTORY GOES TO BAKUGOU! NAD NEXT, HTE FINALS WILL BE SETTLED WITH TODOROKI VS BAKUGOU!"
I glared over at IcyHot. Just one more. Just through you.
When I kicked open the door to my waiting room, damned IcyHot was sitting there.
"Huh? What're you doing he - crap, this is Waiting Room #2?!" I cried in shock as I saw the name on the door. IcyHot then just fucking ignored me, looking away like I wasn't even worth paying attention to. I stomped over to him, getting increasingly pissed.
"Hey, I mean, I get that I walked into the wrong room. But giving your final opponent the cold shoulder? What's the big idea?!" I slammed my explosions onto the table. Try and ignore me now.
"That….Midoriya said the same thing to me. He went out of his way to smash what was holding me back." I started back and stared at him. Midoriya Deku Izuku Midoriya. Always always him. "You guys were childhood friends, right? Has he always been like that? Midoriya?"
A bunch of annoying memories flashed through my head. Deku grinning as he tried to save me, trying to help me up from the creek. That damn nerd. Condescending and looking down on me and and
"That damn nerd." I kicked the table in my frustration and it toppled over. "WHO THE HELL CARES?! ALL HIS STUPID SPEECHES, AND YOU? YOUR FAMILY? YOUR DAMN FEELINGS? WHO CARES? COME AT ME WITH YOUR LEFT SIDE! I'LL CRUSH THOSE FLAMES LIKE I DO EVERYTHING ELSE."
I headed out to the stadium. I'm headed for the top. I want an unquestionable victory.
"THE TIME HAS COME! THE LAST BATTLE! THE TOP CONTENDER FROM UA'S FRESHMEN WILL BE DECIDED HERE! FINAL MATCH: TODOROKI VS BAKUGOU! READY! START!" I faced IcyHot in the stadium and at the sound of the starting bell he let loose with..an iceberg. Same kinda attack he'd wasted before on Tape Arms.
"RIGHT OUT OF HTE GATE WITH THAT! IS HE PUT OFF BY THE IDEA OF A CLOSE FIGHT WITH BAKUGOU? WILL THE CHAMPION BE DECIDED THAT QUICKLY?!" came the commentary.
As if. It wasn't too hard to blast straight through the whole iceberg. A strong quirk like that means his attacks aren't that precise.
"HE MIGHT'VE FENDED OFF TEH GLACIER WITH AN EXPLOSION AND DUG HIS WAY OUT LIKE SOME KINDA MOLE! DAMN, TALK ABOUT STRANGE SKILLS!"
IcyHot was just using more ice again. It was almost like he wasn't even trying. I blasted outta the way easy. Grabbed house shoulder and head and tossed him across the ring.
"YOU LOOKING DOWN ON ME, MORON?" I yelled. IcyHot surfed the ice to avoid getting thrown outta bounds.
"HE AVOIDED A RINGOUT WITH A WALL OF ICE! LOOKS LIKE FUN!"
I headed towards him again. I'm not gonna give you a choice. You used that fire before on - you're gonna use it on me too. You hear? I aimed for the left side. use that fire. Use -
"USE IT!"
Endeavor's voice. From the stands. Yelling at IcyHot to use his fire.
He didn't use it. He just tossed me away.
I looked up at him, slowly. Feeling rage and frustrating burning through every inch of me. "I ain't good enough for that? You'll regret making a fool outta me! I'll freaking kill you! I'm taking the first to end all firsts! There's no point in winning against some half-assed punk! No point if I can't do better than Deku! So if you're not trying to win, get the hell outta my face! Why are you even here, you bastard?"
I held up my hands, prepared to do anything. Why won't you do it? Why won't you fight? I blasted into the air and twisted, prepping, thinking of attacks. He just stood there. Come on. Come on, what're you even doing you idiot.
"TODOROKI!" he yelled. Deku. From the stands, standing up to do it, arms all tied up in slings. "DON'T LOSE! COME ON!"
That damn nerd, I thought, but this time I was grinning. That's it. Icyhot's flames came to life. Yeah, that's it. If you're gonna fight me, fight to win. Come atm e with everything you've got! I readied and then unleashed it. My strongest move against that fire. Howitzer Impact. I shouted the name to the attack as it launched, my hands stinging from the pain of unleashing so much force at once.
Just as the impact hit I saw that IcyHot had deactivated the fire and was just standing there staring at the ground.
As the dust cleared I saw him lying there, knocked out. no way. no. no…
"You decided not to use your fire?!
With what little strength I had I got to my feet. And ran to him. Ran and grabbed his shirt collar and tried almost to make him fight me even while he was unconscious.
"Stop messing around! This isn't a real win unless you try harder! It can't end this way! not - not like - "
And everything went black. Midnight sensei's quirk.
When I came too my head was clouded by a rage like nothing I'd ever felt before. Something let me understand that I was the "winner" and they expected me to go to get a medal. A medal!? For that? ! WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND A GODDAMN THING?!
fucking bastards tied me up in chains to a fucking podium with a muzzle over me to stop me from swearing next to IcyHot and Bird Head in 2nd and 3rd. Me on some big fucking platform labeled #1. Mother fucking what the hell what is this why
"Time to confer the medals! And the one who'll present the medals this year is naturally none other than - it is -
"And I am here with the medals!"/"Our hero All Might!" said Midnight and All Might together as the #1 hero let into the stands.
He placed the first medal around Tokoyami's neck. "Congratulations, young Tokoyami. You're a strong one."
"You honor me too highly."
"But relying on your quirk alone won't be enough to overcome a bad matchup. Hone your innate strength to open a world of opportunity."
"Understood."
All of this passed beside me like a blur. Like something away from reality. Next All Might headed over to goddamn fucking IcyHot to give him his #2 medal for that half-assed performance. you barely won against Deku but you're in 2nd place after that
All Might was saying, "Young Todoroki, congratulations. You held back. You didn't use your left side in the final match. WAs there a reason for that?"
"It was my match against Midoriya. I think I've lost my way. I know you've taken an interest in him, and I'm starting to see why. I've always wanted to be a hero like you, but it's not like I can just forget and get over things. That's not enough. There's something I still have to settle first."
Deku dammit always Deku why the fuck is it always always him?
All Might was hugging IcyHot then. Giving him a fucking pat on the back fro goddamn nothing. "That's a new look I'm seeing on your face. So say no more. Whatever you must settle, I'm sure you can do it."
Then he was looking at me. "Hm, this is a bit much," he murmured as he unlocked the fucking muzzle. "You lived up to your promise. Wonderful!"
"ALL MIGHT…THIS WIN IT DOESN'T MEAN SQUAT! DOEESN'T MATTER WHAT ANYONE SAYS! IF I DON'T RECOGNIZE IT, THEN THAT MEDAL'S JUST GARBAGE!"
"Hmph. In a world that's constantly graded on a curve, there aren't many that can keep their eyes on the top space. So accept this, even if you have to think of it as a wound. Something you'll never forget."
"I DON'T WANT THAT PIECE A GARBAGE!"
All Might slowly, inexorably forced the medal into goddamn mouth. "Come now, there we go."
"And there you have it! This year, it's these three! However, take heed folks. There was a chance for everyone in this arena to stand there. It's just as you saw with your very own eyes! Ladies and gentlemen! They competed and boosted each other up! Everyone climbing to ever high advancing ever farther! The next generation of heroes will surely sprout from the seeds planted this day! And to that sentiment I'll add one more thing! Everybody say it with me now! and - Great work - "
"That was such a plus ultra moment!" booed the crowd.
The next day was off. It took me tons of teeth brushing to get the taste of that fucking medal outta my mouth. I wanted to choke on it. I wanted to spit and vomit until the taste of that fucking tournament was outta my entire goddamn system.
All sorts papers and media everywhere I went were talking about the UA Sports Festival's winner. My own damn face on that fucking podium everywhere I goddamn went. Like a goddamn reminder to constantly flash in my face. You win, because IcyHot half-assed it. You win, because Deku didn't. You win, but you didn't beat him. He's still…
