The largest of the two fighters lumbered forth slowly and seriously, unlike the previous foe that Shinso had to contend with. This one seemed far more cautious than the last Obviously they would after what he displayed in the arena. And of course, he was his teammate during the cavalry battle. This kind of reaction should've been expected.
"Are you going to bumrush me too like that dumb beast of a hero student? Doesn't intelligence decrease when you eat sugar? You sound like you'd make great company." Hitoshi taunted. A ploy to make his opponent fall into the trap of his quirk. He knew this was far too rudimentary for a hero, but he wasn't one. Not yet. He knew the cavalry battle and his first match had gotten him recognized, so a transfer might be possible. But until then, he had to do his best to dupe his opponent.
Sato equipped a poker face, his brows tilting a little in irritation. But he did not answer.
"Shouldn't you look quite fat, eating all that sugar?" Shinso stood his ground, steadfast to make the muscular fellow trip up in his thoughts. It was difficult to be completely callous when hounded. He knew that well. Every person has that one thing that'll vex them when you bring it up.
The burly student continued his slow approach. Unaware of what exactly activated Shinso's quirk, and only having Merry's word and his own observations to go off of. What was most difficult was brushing him off. His words were indeed irritating, and he knew he had to do ignore them as far as he was aware. But Sato simply wasn't used to acting like this. Out of character, not responding felt like a torture in and of itself. An inability to express oneself, angrily or otherwise.
He could not completely understand how anyone could truly enjoy keeping to themselves entirely. When he thought about it. A couple of those people in class were used to brushing people off. Some less than others, some selective, and so on. But still, they did it. Todoroki wasn't here to make friends. Keeping to himself until he has to team up with someone. Detaching themselves from the human relationship. Bakugo made a friend because of his skill and brashness. But made twice the enemies with his aggression, detaching himself from them. And sometimes even the fair-haired girl, Merry. While not usually acting the part, it felt like she often tried detaching herself from others. They were all different of course, but this one thing was an aspect likened to all of them.
Of all things he could be sure of. It's that quite often, people who were adamant about shutting themselves off from others were not so pleasant to deal with.
Staring like a cat who just picked up on something, Maribel gazed at Todoroki. Every step made him more wary of her, until he looked away in defiance of her disruptive presence.
"Why do you keep your walls up? Do you understand how bad that feels or has that not hit you yet?"
As if that goaded him, Todoroki turned his head to her. Resting his arm on the seating to turn himself around. They interchanged stares for a good thirty-seconds. For all one knows they were too nervous to speak or too lost to find the right words. Cold expressions and sweat on both of their faces.
"You brushed me off last time, what's so different now?"
An additional pause came, one only felt by Maribel as her extraordinarily quick mind raced for words. As much as she could love her own voice, the colleen didn't have the guts to talk to Todoroki right now. All of this had been at bottom unbidden of her. An effort made without thinking.
What is so different, really?
Finding her reason was easy, but much harder to admit. Midoriya's incessant efforts to reach out to people, to her, had galled her quite a lot. But now, thanks to the profuse approval everyone grants him, Hearn could only respond by trying to look better. To be greater than she was before.
If Maribel didn't, her words to Iida would be like void. Why accept the pretense that she would talk to him if she did nothing different? Showing no change?
Contriteness would wash over her if she was criticized for such. Forcing herself to do this was all Hearn could come up with.
"The difference is I've started feeling okay with relating."
He let out an annoyed gasp. After that, it was like the air was empty of words for a dozen seconds. That is, in the eyes of Maribel. So, she brought herself to continue speaking before he could respond.
"...I also ran into your dad earlier. Told him that he should try and help you with friends." She said with a straight face, with honesty.
Groaning angrily, he got up onto his feet and walked away from his seat and stepped toward her with determination. Irritation in the glare he cast.
The cold intimidation set the girl on guard. Causing her to tense up and snap back just a tiny bit, narrowing her eyes at Todoroki. After getting up close, he stood straight, almost matching her in height. He stared right into her eyes, and if it wasn't for her confidence in her abilities, she might've cowered a bit.
Speaking lowly to her, with great seriousness. "Keep your hands out of any business between my father and me."
Thoughts came to Maribel as if they were on a production line. And she spat out her answer to his remark in a snap. "You have daddy issues, Todoroki?"
He pulled his head back a little and tilted it to the side. "...All I want to prove is that I can reach the top, without his quirk." Shouto asserted, reluctant to tell her everything. The blonde felt a welling anger at his impoliteness, but acted not. He continued with a calm vexation. "You handily defeated Midoriya-san. So, I'll spite my father by defeating you instead."
All throughout this little confrontation, Maribel's open and accepting demeanor had shifted. With the last sentence, it had been replaced with mild fury. "Are you seriously acting like this even after I try opening up to you?" She said, eager to show her displeasure. "Isn't that what you wanted before?"
"That you are barging into my affairs like this is just ironic." He said, looking her dead in the eye for a moment, before looking elsewhere. Hearn wondered uneasily if her quirk became focused and she shed a tear of sweat. However, Todoroki began to walk past her and into the hall, informing her otherwise of her assumption.
"Sorry for wasting your time." Was all he followed up with. As it seemed like he wanted not to speak with her.
And it was enough to make the girl dislike him.
After a good minute of berating, shouting and a responding silence. The battle was about to come to a close.
"You can't seriously be ignoring me like this! Do you have nothing to say for yourself?!" The purple haired boy shouted at his opponent. Preparing to make his stand. Knowing he could not quite defend himself if his opponent came close.
Maybe I should've avoided team play after all. Was this all that my quirk could really do? Was this all my words could do?
He had enough. There was not much left to do. He would either have to make his opponent slip some words up-close, or lose. The last resort was to make a daring run for his enemy.
They crashed into each other. Both stood their ground, but it was clear who was going to win the fisticuffs department. Shinso tried to cling to Sato and topple him with just his weight, to compensate for the lack of muscles. Sato was strong, in comparison, his legs, his arms, his core was muscular as could be for a guy his age. All he could do was grunt as he tried prying him away, attempting to walk his way to the ring-out zone. "I won't let you!" Shinso spat at Rikido as his opponent observed him with eager eyes.
Both of them had their resolve. The resolve to keep talking, the resolve to keep silent.
Shinso was losing, he knew that. At best, they were in stalemate. One that his opponent would inevitably break. Suddenly he broke away from his hold on the ground to rear his head and weight back. Sacrificing a good meter of ground and putting a meter between them and the ring-out zone. "Take this!"
Just as Sato began pushing with all his might, Shinso's head collided with his enemy. One moment, they both hurt extremely. The talker of the two lost his balance and fell out of the ring. Opening his eyes in realization that he lost.
"HITOSHI SHINSO-SAN RINGED OUT! RIKIDO SATO IS VICTORIOUS!"
The other reared back and cried in pain for a moment. "Ouch, ouch!" He yelped, holding his forehead. Quick to open his eyes to the sight before him. A quarter of a sentence was all that was came from his lips. "...Did y-"
Shinso pushed himself to a sitting position. Staring at his now immobile, statue-like, brainwashed schoolmate. No longer an enemy, as the match had ended. First he was baffled at his defeat, then disappointed.
The miss' look was callous, a guise she put on, too. Maribel stepped onto the field. The walk felt like it took ages, and as such, her mind raced.
Maribel's face spoke of callousness as she stepped onto the arena floor. Her thoughts raced a hundred times over, as it felt like it took an hour to make her way to the actual battle zone.
How do I get him to open up? Does he get how irritating he is being? He needs to reflect, reflect...
Making her way up the stairway to their conflict, her face maintained the cool it had before. But with less care. At ease.
He defeated Sero without any difficulty and seems to have dispatched Kaminari while I was at the nurses'. Thus, I cannot take him lightly.
That ice of his will not be as effective through a gap. It lacks precision. Done correctly, I can remove the effectiveness of his power. I don't know his exact issue with his father, but his dad's quirk is a fire quirk, not ice. Either he's an abnormality, like me, or he's reluctant to unleash it. Assuming that is the case, I can force him to confront the issue that I have a problem with, something rooted in the trouble with his father. I will make him feel... useless. Next I will leave him with his most hated option, while goading him to try and open up.
It's a little bit mean-spirited when I put it like that. Maybe I should be a little more good-natured about it?
Maybe.
For a second, Maribel sweat. She was surprised she managed to create that train of thought, but there was a lingering satisfaction after she did so.
Wait...
It feels so correct for a mere assumption. Rather, maybe I have deduced it all.
Taking the final step up unto the field, Maribel brushed her hair behind her ears and basked in the irritating light. Of all the brief thoughts, she had, the one that stuck out was her curiosity. Could she put out the sun with her power? Flip the border of night and day?
Well, it did not matter.
Demetori - 今宵は飄逸なエゴイスト 〜 Ego, Schizoid, Beat.
Maribel opened her eyelids, her orbs taking on their signature mystical air as she stared down Todoroki.
She's faster than me, so the options are to catch her off-guard by keeping her on her toes, or slow her down. If I implement both into this, I'll have my best shot.
"We're entering the semifinals now! Our first match will be between..."
Todoroki took a breath, cold air seemingly emitting from his mouth as he stared at her with an equally callous expression as hers.
"He's been smashing each of his matches with ease thus far! Will the son of Endeavor be stopped? From Class 1-A, Shouto Todoroki!"
Maribel breathed through her nose as she braced herself for the starting signal.
"With untapped potential that even her teachers are unaware of, she's won all of her matches! Can she leave us surprised again?! From Class 1-A, Maribel Hearn!"
Both of the contestants braced themselves both mentally and physically to move. Hearn shifted her legs so she could move left as soon as was possible. Todoroki made ready to release a wave of ice.
"Which of these classmates will advance to the finals?! We're about to find out! STAAAAAAAART!"
His plan was clear in his head. To catch his opponent off-guard. His glittering ice erupted at a brisk pace, enveloping the entire battlefield in an extensive glacier that would surely have encased Maribel. But he knew better. Shouto's next action was also planned. His ice erupted from below him to instantly create a leaning pillar that reached far into the unclouded sky. Done in perfect conjunction, he narrowly escaped the girl's first attack. Maribel's feet collided with the side of the pillar that faced the sky, and she slid down. Instinctively crouching and putting her hands against the ice to preserve balance, and as to grab onto something.
Next, Todoroki would naturally follow this up by forcing her into the chase. The pillar did not have infinite tensile strength and would break under the force of its weight not long after he had created it. The top of the spire broke off, Todoroki coming down with it as it flew towards the ground. On the opposing side of the pillar in relation to his enemy. The young man did not slide off of the pillar as it fell, rather, he rode it to the ground. With his quirk he produced a mass of ice from the spire, covering the side of the arena and quite a bit of the grassy field. All of this just before hitting the ground, softening the impact by spreading out the kinetic energy. Thereafter, he used his quirk to propel himself away. Making a wall to his side as ice shot out from under his feet to keep him moving.
To tell the truth, Shouto had now left the boundaries of the arena. However, there was a technicality. He never touched the ground because of the ice. It was no different from flying above the battlefield. He'd noticed the lack of ruling when Maribel flew outside the ring for a few moments against Iida. It was contact with the ground that mattered.
Slowing down, Todoroki unleashed his quirk to create more ice on the grassy field, more walls to obscure his location. It wasn't simply to obscure where exactly Shouto was, but also what he was doing. Shouto knew it added a degree of uncertainty to his action that she did not want to deal with. It was either an approach where she may slip up, or not to play at all.
He continued moving like he did for a bit, creating more walls to obscure his location far ahead of him. But there was a loud bang, as if an explosion went off right next to him. The part of the wall just before him burst into fragments and flew into the grassy edge of the arena. Todoroki slid to a stop and was pushed by the wind to the edge of his ice path. He covered his face with his arm as the cold wind made it almost impossible to keep his eyes open. He could barely keep himself standing on his legs through the sudden pressure wave, and created ice behind him to help him brace.
Then, the wind's howl faded away. Todoroki lowered his arm to see Maribel stepping onto the other side of the icy path. Light reflected off of her hair and skin to make her look almost heavenly for this one moment, and imposing, confident. Her expression was unusually at peace, but most of all, hard to pierce. She had to be utilizing some method to observe him without being in close proximity.
He smashed his right sole against the ice rather violently and let his quirk take effect. Todoroki released a massive tsunami of crystallized liquid in the girl's direction and in the path to the concrete battlefield they started on. Rapidly consuming the image of the girl. Whether it hit or not, he did not know, but his training forewarned him that he should plan a step ahead regardless. Todoroki began to rush as fast as he could up the frozen wave. Pushing himself along much faster using his quirk to make the ice 'swell' and push him forward. Todoroki knew he was being outmaneuvered, and it was arduous to come up with a counter now that he knew she could keep track of him regardless. He would have to preemptively strike if he was to enjoy any chance.
The red and white haired young man reached the end of his 'ramp' that lead to the concrete battlefield. Just before jumping, he heard his enemy and began to twist himself around on muscle memory. Todoroki was sweating. Before he could even begin to get his eyes on her, the cold soles of her shoes impacted hard with his left side. The power in her kick hurled him. Not into the air, but rather rolling onto cold hard ground, groaning angrily. In mild disorientation, Todoroki rose up and darted his eyes around everywhere. He was back in the middle of the arena. The environment had changed too abruptly, so she had to have transported him herself.
His eyes fell on Maribel, who looked like she had just landed. The girl sat hunched as she was just about to rise to her feet. Four meters away from him.
She's making me angry...
I'll have to use a short range to attack faster!
Shouto Todoroki panted a frosty breath. His skin glistened a little in the light, frost had enveloped parts of his body. It was paramount he got rid of this before continuing, so he decided to use his left side in the only way he permitted it. His body heated up, with steam, not flames rising from it. For a moment, he met Maribel's mystical eyes. She paid attention to this particular act. He didn't like it. There was no way she was going to offer him crucial breathing room to keep himself at an optimal temperature now. Todoroki allowed himself to have some wishful thinking for a moment. He hoped she did not start taking advantage of his down-time, but that didn't stop him from feeling stressed.
The young woman put down a leg in front of her and leaned forwards. Subsequently, she leaped, aided by her impressive strength. This was an easily predictable attack for Todoroki due to how she commenced it, but fast regardless. His eyes narrowed aggressively, spawning a blindingly rapid wave of ice that took every spectator by surprise. It did not reach high, focusing entirely on the first burst of speed and the range. Creating a flat, foggy plane of ice that covered more than half of their concrete battlefield. Shouto was quick to give attention to a gap appearing the moment he attacked. To his left, above his sudden wave, the girl came flying. Elegantly, balanced and with sufficient momentum to lift her through the icy fog. The boy tried to turn his right side to face the incoming girl, but there was no way he was fast enough.
Maribel hit the ground, her shoes making a metallic screeching sound as they ran against it. Coming dangerously close to, and within arm's reach of Todoroki's left side. He couldn't do anything but watch and contain the instinct to lash out with his other side. Maribel's pristine and strangely sharp nails dragged across his skin, gently, and left was soon as they came. She wore an unamused, faintly sweating face as she left a harmless, painful sting. A result of her speed, as no apparent injury came to pass. The boundary girl began slowing down, since her shoes were not designed to slide, leaving Todoroki enough time to move.
I have to be quick!
He pushed with his legs to allow him to face her with his left side. Yet, when he did, the gal side-stepped through another gap. Cool air and ice whipped up around him as he fired off his attack too late, and was punished with a sharp blow to his left side again. This time by a fist coming from down low. Sending Todoroki upwards a good ten centimeters. His anger was only being fed by this, how she was pushing him around so easily. He began feeling like she didn't take it seriously. Ignoring both his attacks and openings, and when she did assault, her attacks paled to what they were last match.
Landing again, he first tried to turn his right side to her in a state bordering on pure fury and reaction. His eyes shot to where she was, and his right leg moved over his left. Stomping down to create another unimaginably big wave of ice. At this, he would not be foolish enough to think she'd be done for. Through the fog of the ice, Todoroki acted preemptively, creating another pillar to rise into the sky on. There was a loud pang in the air, and he knew what it was. Maribel was able to shoot herself out of her warp gates somehow, as he'd seen previously. Fast as the muscles behind his eyes would allow him to, Shouto caught a glimpse of Maribel and let go of his apparent composure for a second. Using his right side to envelop the entire tip of the spear in a huge mass of ice. He had created his one effective countermeasure. While he could not see it, Maribel smacked against the glacial mass of ice that had suddenly formed. In surprise at its speed. As if Todoroki had gotten stronger, or tried as hard as he could.
"Gah..." Came forth from her rosy lips, her legs were almost embedded into the ice as they struck. Durable enough to take the hit. Strong enough to do damage to the ice. This was almost unfortunate as her attacks easily burrowed into the ice. Making her stuck. The spire began giving way, and the big mass proceeded to fall right over one half of the frozen wastes that used to be the arena floor. Maribel pushed hard with her hands for a moment and stared menacingly and in defiance against the ice.
I might have to be even more direct... But he seems to be getting how irritating it is to deal with a person like him!
Maribel created a gap that moved right behind her in relative position. The crushing weight of glittering ice would crash toward the ground with her under it, the young lady uneasily awaiting her plan to take effect. Her gap would let her pass through, and leave the rest of the mass to hit the ground.
Breaking the ice and setting her free where any other option would've taken too long.
The masses were unaware of their strategies and worries, cheering nonetheless as Todoroki dumped what may just be called a glacier on his opponent.
Todoroki stood on the mass of ice. Darting his eyes around the arena and turning himself about to have full vision. There's no way she didn't dodge it.
There was no sound but crumbling ice. Then there was the sound of clothing brushing against skin and more clothing. Todoroki froze and looked almost petrified as the noise became clear.
Above me!
On impulse, the ice welled forth again from down under him. The force of it pushed him away, and quite quickly, causinghis opponent to brush the hard soles of her footwear against the side of his head. Almost harmlessly, but enough so that he could dodge. It sent his hair a little out of order, and gently nudged his head to the side.
From Maribel's side, she'd come out from a slightly diagonal angle. Impacting the ice with her iron soles quite hard. Creating big and visible cracks in the glacier for at least five meters. Next, she put some effort into ripping her embedded shoes out of the ice. Shouto had to counterattack quickly, and threw his right leg and arm forward as swiftly as he could. Allowing him to point his right side, his mother's side, at his foe. Instead of a large wave came instead a flash-freezing cold that froze everything in front of him into a thick wall. In the midst of this, Maribel flung her head to the incoming attack and tried to create a gap by her left-hand side.
Maribel now looked locked in place, half her body looked to be frozen into this wall of ice that he had made. Half of her face stuck out, giving him a view of her shivering expression. The gap she had used closed.
"Todoroki finally caught his opponent! Will she surrender, or does she have some fight left in her?!"
Todoroki slowly walked on up, stopping just four meters away. He only stared at her as she wobbled with her half outside of the ice, trying to push herself out of it, banging on the glacier.
"Do you give up?" He asked with the same disinterested look as before. Todoroki only desired this over with. If it ended here, the one who defeated what might as well be the spitting image of All Might would lose to him without his father's quirk.
"Argh..." She groaned tiredly to herself and breathed out, her hand shot up to her neck ans she began to claw and pull at that region. Soon enough, a drop of red visibly dripped out of the ice. Todoroki looked at her only in worry and suspicion. "Huh?" She let out, meeting his eyes and forcing him to flinch as her aura seemingly assaulted his nerves. It was a bizarre phenomenon, but it came in handy. "No!"
After that word, Maribel pushed away with her left leg. Causing her to spin and slide on the ice. The part of Maribel's body outside of the ice phased right through the crystalline solid. That frozen water had been covered with a gap, perfectly fit for her to pass through.
"Hu-..."
Todoroki stopped breathing as he fathomed it. She was never stuck in there. In his confusion, he did not know where to look, but the first thought was... behind him. So, he spun and raised his right arm. Just as it erupted in ice, a preemptive defense, it collided with a kick that had traveled through a gap. The leg and foot as a result had its force divided over a larger area and thankfully, the only crack was that of ice.
But Todoroki was still flung back, sliding into the wall he had created. He inhaled as the dull pain set in after the impact. Weakly glancing at her so that he did not look her in the eyes.
"Wha-wha!? It seems like subverting expectations just happens to be her M.O!"
Meanwhile, Hearn pulled her leg back out of the gap and stomped into the ground. Making a resounding crack once again as most of the ice he made was shaken off. Her attack had been made up-close, but Hearn had actually been five meters away from Todoroki.
"Quick as the ice is, both my quirk and I are faster. So, you are playing defensively and waiting for an opening... Aren't you? I've outmaneuvered you for most of this battle, so you must've realized this by now."
Todoroki's feelings couldn't settle, but he frowned at her, nonetheless.
"If you keep holding back, you don't have a chance." A breeze blew past them and Hearn's hair flowed in the wind, an expression just as stoic as any that he had.
"...If you remember, you'd already know my answer." He declared.
"Then, do you give up?" The blonde asked, shrugging in his direction. She pried her strange eyes all across him, he was starting to look quite frozen.
There was no word he wanted to speak except but the obvious as Shouto locked his eyes with her briefly. "No."
Another wave of ice shot forth at a considerably more sluggardly pace than before. This time she stood still, letting her gap take the hit for her. Splitting asunder the ice down the middle. The girl stepped forth as if she walked up the stairs, her right foot landing on top the ice that was supposed to be encasing her. Hearn peeked with most of her body out of the gap, setting her arm on her leg.
Todoroki leaned himself against the wall as he felt particularly weak, breathing out visible carbon dioxide into the cold air around them. Shouto had been taxing himself trying to keep her away. As fast as she was, he hadn't planned on her being able to counter it even at this range.
Now, Hearn stood almost as if she was triumphant over him. As calculated and skilled as he was in battle, Todoroki could not deny her words. His dear mother's quirk would not be enough. The gaps would be too much of a defense, too much of an offense to fight with only a solid like ice.
Song End
"...Were you lonesome as a kid? Did your father keep you away from everyone else?"
There was a pause between the two.
"What are you getting at?"
Maribel's mind felt odd at this moment. There was an unbelievable clarity to her thoughts, her mind seemed more adventurous than usual. Concomitantly, she felt like she disregarded some of her own barriers.
Her voice softened to a great degree. It was honest and felt personal, plus bizarrely unapologetic. Underlying that, there was calculated intent.
"I get sick when I see people that shut themselves away from everyone else. I was like them once, and I don't want to be. It'd be best for you not to be either."
He let out a sigh, whether of relief or of irritation was hard to tell. Clearly, his mind was racing. Maybe he was pondering on how she came to understand the situation on his end? Perhaps he was murmuring angrily in his head? She felt confident he wouldn't lay down and quit, either way. "An issue with your father should not stop you from making friends. For guys, it's exactly what helps you get better. And if you keep going, you hold yourself back. You'll spiral into depression."
Maribel stood tall and put her hands on her hips. "And... relying exclusively on your ice is like using your legs without the balance. That balance is yours, and you can do with it how you please. Besides, you need it. I don't want to fight someone walking on one leg."
The Todoroki was lost in thought. The spectators murmured.
"Now Todoroki-san's caught in a corner! Will we see yet another turnabout, or is this the end!?" Yelled Present Mic.
"You may be strong, but I can perfectly counter your half of your quirk both in attack and defense. Without your other half, what option is there?"
Steam began rising from Todoroki's body as he elevated his head in a mighty frown. "I'm not done yet!" He said as he pushed off of the ground, invigorated by anger, he ran at her as if he was fresh. Maribel mirrored his expression and shot up straight, almost leisurely.
Looks like he's got a big of a bug in his system. Her inner voice spoke angrily, it looked almost as if a vein was about to burst. The girl sent a kneecap into the air in front of her. Her leg was like a missile as it entered a gap and exited right at Todoroki's abdomen. Maribel withdrew her knee just as it put a stop to Todoroki before he could go far. He almost slouched over. The crowd didn't sound too pleased by that, and was almost confused as to what they wanted to roar out.
"You'll never even break number two with your limitations! You might see that the problem is of your own making, IF YOU WEREN'T SO OBTUSE!" She yelled, her quirk achieving a level of synchronicity with herself as she felt the usual aggression mixed with her clear state of mind.
And so, his fire shone bright. A sprawling wind washed over the entire arena as the cold air expanded rapidly thanks to his flame. Straight away, the air around Maribel rose a dozen degrees, giving her shivers. The clump of glacial ice that they stood on began feeling very wet and slippery. The crowd was collective wowed.
"This seems to be the climax of the fight, folks!"
Fire poured out of his left side as he exhaled in inanition, slowly feeling invigorated once again. "I don't care why, but letting your opponent tap into all their strength is just as much-"
"A limitation." She completed his sentence.
He looked somewhat miffed by that.
"I've done what I wanted to do and am satisfied. So I don't have to hold back anymore." Maribel closed her eyes and took proper control of her aura again. Throughout this fight, she'd been able to bring it out in small bursts. But she wanted to be like the Horned Hermit or Nishidia. She needed to be able to keep it constant. While sleeping, dreaming, hurting or distracted. Make it as natural as breathing. Her body shone an odd purple. Mystical as it may be, everyone knew what it meant after the last battle she had. Opening her violet eyes, Maribel felt her mind becoming more boundless. There were more things she felt she could see and feel. Things were perceived as moving much slower. Her body felt strong and sturdy, from the smallest strand of hair to the largest limb.
"Allow me..."
A familiar voice only heard in a few of her dreams drew forth. For a moment, her body was possessed with divine intent as her aura shifted. Maribel almost expunged her, if it wasn't for those words she'd heard and the sudden comfort it made her feel. The stance, approach, focus and the thinking of her aura focus had changed. Not unlike an instructor helping you move your arms and legs. In that instant, it all clicked for the little girl and her power flowed. Freely and naturally. The glow around her body calmed, it was now faint and skintight. Not raging like a flame but fastened like an exoskeleton and bonding with her, running through her veins and every muscle. Even her clothes.
"IT IS!" Present Mic continued yelling, the crowd was finally roused enough to start shouting again. Thousands of eyes drew themselves to the fight, a horned hermit, two crazy dancers, all of the classes, except for a particular four-eyes.
S.S.H - Eternal Eclipse - Girls' Sealing Club
Todoroki regarded her, almost with unease. This was the same power she wielded against Midoriya. But he did not have to get up close like Izuku did, so how different would the situation be? Shouto had to fight with her previous performance in mind. He held out his left arm toward Maribel with an open palm and blasted her with an ocean of fire. Swifter than the wind, it moved at blistering speeds surpassing that of sound now that he did not have to hold back. The cool air aggressively expanding aided in this explosive increase in attack power.
Naturally, Maribel could not allow herself get hit by this. In fact, she feared being hit by this. Todoroki was no longer a solved opponent, and she had to be vary. Close or at range. Being aided by a god, Maribel moved on guided instinct away from the flame. Gliding off of and away from the large glacial clump of ice entirely and out into the open air. His fire was far quicker than his ice, chiefly working in tandem. Even with Matara's sudden help, she was only narrowly faster than the fire while flying straight. Ribbon-tied, blonde hair dragged along in the wind as Hearn moved backwards. Coming to a stop five meters above a seat of astonished spectators. The fire started withering away into smoke when it went that far, but her vision was still obscured.
If there was something to be heard from the announcers, it miss the ears of them both quite easily.
"Hmph!" She groaned. In the midst of all the exultant cheers, the terrific heat and the exciting power running through her. Maribel was actually hungry for a battle. She felt in the mood. Her aura stood strong, she did not know if she was still being helped or not, but it didn't matter. Maribel made a gap, a border space. One end in front of her, another far away to spread the stress on the boundaries. Fire and smoke to the fore of her and air far away filled it in five seconds. Hearn placed the gap in front of her and made sure to propel it along with her, as if it were a shield. The blonde's flowing hair fluttered in the wind as Maribel accelerated, lunging through the fire and the flames as she undid one end of her gap. It spewed air, smog and flame in a constant burst as she flew right into Todoroki's attack. Parting it as if it were a cloud, in defiance of the fact that the fire kept coming.
Todoroki's eyes widened as the sight cleared, and Maribel flew forth. He ceased his flame, prompting Maribel to stop moving. The gap released the rest of the air it contained, making a heavy wind wash over Todoroki and forcing him to slide along the large glacier he had created earlier. It cracked, twisted and started to break apart under the heat and pressure of their attacks.
Aizawa's voice rang between in the dozen second chain of attacks that they were going through. "Midnight! Cementoss This-getting out of-"
What pressure! Thought Todoroki. He stomped his right foot down, creating a wave of ice in the path of both the wind and the blonde. Expending itself, the gap from before ceased to exist altogether. Leaving Maribel to react. She accelerated a little to the side, and upwards, then toward him. Shouto had been faster with preparing an attack, however. While he was far from as mobile as her, his attacks boasted a far more impressive range, and were much more intimidating than before. What greeted Hearn was then a jet of flame, it was quick, and her inexperience with flight put her in a bad spot. If it wasn't for the main ability of her quirk. For what she lacked in experience, Hearn made up for in sheer versatility. Instantly disappearing from the initial path of the fire, Maribel flew out the gap ten meters away.
Shouto narrowed his eyes at the sight, huffing to himself. The red-white haired boy quickly drew the hand that was blasting at her with fire across the air, using it effectively as a whip. Quickly gaining a twenty meter lead, the girl put her focus on accelerating toward Todoroki again. She angled herself and shifted the force that was making her accelerate to do so. This put Shouto on alarm, prompting him to wave his arm around with flames spewing about to try to impede her. Maribel was unused to flying, but with her intuition at work, she weaved past each swing. Some narrowly, some completely.
"Gnrgh..."
One burst of flame hit and enveloped her right arm, and while it didn't catch fire for some odd reason, the sleeve did. It hurt bad, yet she pressed on as the air rushed past her.
With two hundred and fifty meters between them, and the intent to attack, impact was inevitable. The question, who would land their attack hardest? Shouto was feeling excessively heated after using his fire.
This is the match point! Both of them thought.
His luminous flame ceased for the moment. All the sweat that had been gathering on his body became apparent. The battle was rousing him, and he had come into the flow of it. Todoroki's right side spread a chilly fog across the entire clump of polar ice they'd been on. Crystalized liquid welled forth, all around, and temperatures cooled massively.
Likewise, the girl likewise had come into the flow of it all. Maribel reared her right arm back. Her acceleration slowed down as her aura gathered in her hand to produce a bullet of energy, leaving air resistance to slow her down quite a bit. She had no idea if she could hit him from far away, and did not want to take the risk. But medium range would be perfect.
If anyone were to try and stop them, they'd be far too slow. It was also too chaotic to approach.
Don't blame me if I hit you too hard...
Maribel, thank you.
There were a few instants, and both were uncertain who would strike first, and when to attack.
250 meters...
150 meters...
100 meters...
50 meters...
The girl counted as best she could. She had no mind on the context of the fight anymore, only on what was happening.
Todoroki's fire erupted as it hadn't done before. He went all out, and the air around him erupted into a firestorm, complete with scalding hot steam. Throwing his arm forth, he released its intense heat toward her in an explosion rivaling that of Midoriya's full power blow. Maribel's eyes widened, but she did not stop. The girl crashed right into the quite gigantic attack as she fired hers. A sole bullet of remarkable energy, concentrated and swift.
From the both of them, there was total silence. Nothing to distinguish. The radiance and mighty noise of Todoroki's massive attack made it all but impossible.
Maribel instantly felt like she was battered by a truck once again, this time directly, less so than being merely blown away. She was still flung away. Her attack was not. It blasted right into and through Todoroki's attack. A bullet had much more force concentrated into a singular point than an explosion. Whistling in the wind among the almost deafening noises from the explosion. He could not anticipate it and was struck dead center. Cringing in pain, a second explosion rang out. Shouto was sent flying off of the glacial ice he had created much earlier. His body spun in the air for a bit as it flew. Smoke and steam ran off of him until he hit the frosty concrete ground, outside of the ring.
A brisk breeze blew gently through the arena. Cold fog and hot smoke slowly faded, revealing the condition of the other combatant and the battlefield.
The clump of ice that they had fought on was reduced to water and broken shards of ice.
Still flying, Maribel dizzily tried to remain straight. When her surroundings cleared up, the blonde seemed oddly unbalanced as she drifted aimlessly to one side quite slowly. Hearn shivered involuntarily as her arms looked quite burnt. Parts of her clothes had small patches of smoke rising from them and there was a missing sleeve on the arm she had attacked with. Several holes lined her outfit, burnt. None too bad, but it all hurt badly. The golden hair she usually wore was singed, giving her a few seemingly random black highlights with smoke rising from them.
The girl slowly lowered herself, gliding on over to the concrete battlefield again. When she stepped down upon it, inside the ring, Hearn made many dizzy steps until she was forced to sit down. The glow around her mellowed out, or at least, stopped being visible. Maribel didn't pant. But she looked rather weary. Over the course of this tournament, she did not get sick from using her quirk like this, maybe it was starting to bite at her after all.
That was... a new experience.
There was a heavy silence for a couple of moments. Maribel looked on over to where Todoroki had fell, but nobody did anything but murmur in the background. Todoroki did not rise again.
I always go too far like this.
I don't want to send people to the nurse if I can help it.
I hope he isn't angrier than before.
I hope he takes all of what I said... to heart.
As if at a loss for words, Midnight offers her judgement. "S-Shouto Todoroki has been K.O'd and is unable to fight! Maribel Hearn moves onto the final round!"
It took a while to get this chapter out, and that's because I'm doing a lot of things nowadays.
Anyway, I'm satisfied thematically with this fight. I'm no master writer or anything, but I feel like this is at least adequate. Personally, I think I could've expanded and added more exchanges to it all, but I am impatient and I feel like it would also bloat things.
Aside from that, I've only changed about a couple of things here and there in past chapter. I added an intro to a chapter where Midoriya puts more work into controlling OfA to justify using it so much more easily so early.
After this, there'll only be Sato vs Bakugo and the final battle. Then I will probably try making the plot somewhat leisurely again, which I feel is easier to progress with. Maybe you'll get Merry's "Origin" wrapped up?
You might wonder why Okina decided to be even more direct for a tiny moment. It's mostly because I don't view her as being ill-willed, as ostentatious as she is. A god of the discriminated. But in any case, she's an enigma, and it offers me a lot to room to expand on with her. Hearn tried to do good for a person who had a bad hand in life, to an extent because of how they were born, even if she wasn't nice about it. I don't think she'd dislike that one bit.
Maybe you'd like Maribel to lose, but hobestly, she was really close in this one. When he wasn't predictable anymore, she would always try to go on range. If she'd accelerated further and gone truly up-close, she wouldn't be going to the finals. And I've kind of asked myself, would I like to rewrite things that already happened in canon or make new scenarios? And I think this should at least partially explain how I view the situation of her power. Which should, too, have more relevance later when everybody is much more capable. Maribel's speed and mobility are simply off the charts, and I think that'd be predictable with a Touhou character.
Well, I guess I shouldn't ramble.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Give me criticism, please.