A/N. Yeah, its been a while since the last update. As a refresher: it's the semifinals in the Sports Festival and Kimi's against Todoroki after a battle with Momo Yaoyorozu. Enjoy :)

/~/

Leaning back in the chair, Kimiko waited for her match with Todoroki to start.

She was still a little breathless. A little dazed from that… that power.

The energy she'd felt when fighting Momo had been absolutely stunning. She'd just barely brushed against that clear, still pool of power within her and was already aching for more. Her mind kept drifting to the sheer euphoria of the moment, the utter feeling of dominance as reality itself bent to your whims. Better yet, she wasn't suffering the drawbacks that usually occurred after One for All.

Todoroki was not going to be an easy opponent to beat. With more raw power than she would have in her lifetime, and a sharp mind to back it up, she wouldn't be able to beat him with any conventional means. And if he did what he'd done to Sero, enveloping the entire battlefield in ice, she…

What would she do?

He'd trapped her in the ice once, and it was only with the sheer power of One for All that she'd managed to break free. But that wasn't a sustainable option here, if she wanted to keep fighting. Her window of time after unleashing One for All was painfully small, and Todoroki wouldn't even be winded,

If he did that, she was done.

Unless she could figure something out fast…

/~/

"I thought I told you to use your fire, Shoto."

Shoto didn't even spare his father a glance. "I didn't need it."

"It is not a question of need," said Endeavor. "It is a statement to the world. You must first claim your heritage before you can finally grow."

"I," snarled Shoto, "will do no such thing."

He stalked away.

/~/

"Man," said Mina. "Uraraka's match with Bakugo was brutal."

Asui bit her lip in worry. "I hope she's okay…"

"She was great- I'm sure she'll be fine." Mina glanced at the picture of the matchups saved on her phone. "Hey look: Midoriya's up next against… oh god."

"Who is it?"

"She's against Todoroki." She sighed. "And she was doing so well too… how unlucky."

A small, concerned ribbit escaped from Asui. "Well, I hope she doesn't get seriously injured… but Todoroki doesn't hurt his opponents too bad."

"Oh yeah, remember Sero?"

"Poor guy..."

"Didn't even get a chance to shine," Mina said sympathetically, before Present Mic's voice boomed through the stadium. "Oh hey, the match is starting! This'll be good…"

/~/

God, she wasn't ready.

Present Mic had called them out, but her trembling legs refused to move. She hadn't felt this way before any of her other matches, but that was because she hadn't thought… she hadn't thought that she would-

All Might told me taught me helped me trusted me-

Kimi closed her eyes, the darkness only drawing the fear in closer, allowing the sensation to envelop her in a lover's embrace. Walk. She had to walk.

Shoto Todoroki was insanely strong, that much was true. But she still had to win. She had to. With the entire world watching… with All Might watching… Failure was not an option. She'd do whatever it took, whatever was demanded of her. She'd made her sacrifice; what was a little more?

Her hand grasped the cool metal of the doorknob and twisted. Kimiko walked out the door and into the light.

/~/

Shoto refused to burn for his father.

And that was final.

/~/

They'd barely interacted with each other since their talk on their beach. Sure, they'd exchanged brief words, but the topic of All Might always loomed over their heads, straining their relationship.

Shoto Todoroki didn't really see, or at least that was what she'd thought when first meeting him. His eyes were open, but he didn't really see what or who was in front of him. Those eyes were always intently pinned to some invisible goal that only he could see.

Kimi had only become visible in his field of vision because she'd met his mother.

That twisted family of his that she didn't really understand was what had brought them together, so it was only poetic justice that it would tear them apart.

"-and Kimiko Midoriya! They'll be competing to see exactly who will advance to the final round!"

But, she admitted quietly to herself, I do miss the way it used to be.

"Begin!"

The sweeping frost was as fiercely powerful as ever, and Kimiko barely managed to teleport away. She took several running steps and flashed to the side, avoiding the second blast. Her eyes met Todoroki's before the ice swept around him, blocking him from view.

He's fully encased, but that means he can't see me either – oh shit. With a loud crackle, Todoroki shot up into the sky, the beautifully twisting ice bringing him higher and higher. He stared down at her from the sun, and Kimi had to shield her eyes from the brightness of it.

There was more crackling, and Kimi glanced at the floor. The frost swept across the stadium at a hungry speed, and she jumped, tucking her legs close to her chest. But the moment she landed, the ice reared up to grab at her ankles.

Kimi flashed away again, but she couldn't keep that up for long; her power would have long run dry before Todoroki even got close to being tired. One misstep and its all over.

She would lose if she stayed on the ground, but Todoroki was oh-so-very high up. She didn't want to be there, but-

"Control your emotions," Aizawa's voice snapped in her head.

Need. She needed to be there, so that's what she would want. The world around her blinked out and back into existence, revealing the dizzying height of Todoroki's pillar of ice. She desired friction at her feet and lunged, intending to sweep him off the tower.

"Try again," he breathed, throwing himself backwards off the ice into the world below.

Almost instinctively, Kimi leapt after him, soaring into free-fall with the wind ripping her heart from her chest. Todoroki twisted in midair, a platform of ice rising to break his fall. It was all-too easy for Kimi to wish herself there. Her eyes opened to Todoroki's unreadable face, and she threw a punch that hit nothing but the crystal frost.

A jagged line of ice shot forwards to spear her and Kimi leapt up, balancing precariously on a spike with a feline grace. She threw Todoroki a half-smile and teleported behind him, grabbing him before he could react.

Her fist swung towards his head, but a spear of ice shot between them, drawing a line of blood from Kimi's arm.

Todoroki leapt away again, and Kimi plowed after him, twisting and twirling and flashing around. The world became a blur as they danced through the air, clashing beneath the sun. The strange foreigness between them melted away as they fell into step; the ice was the song and the sky their domain. The world below faded away– it was just the sky and the ice and the wind through her hair.

A blade of ice swerved around them and Todoroki leapt onto it, riding it like a wave. Kimi jumped again, the free-fall more exhilarating than fearful. She landed before him on the narrow ridge, pushing him off.

Todoroki threw out an arm and the ice carried him backwards and away. A feral smile had split his lips, his eyes alight with the taunt: catch me if you can.

Kimi laughed, and the world danced with light.

The sunlight reflected off the ice's surface, its incandescence blurring as they wove around each other in this kingdom of frost and glory. The stadium had become a palace of sleet, allowing Todoroki to strike from nearly all directions. But Kimi wasn't going to be caught that easily; she darted through the air, disappearing and reappearing and weaving back and forth, light and free as the wind.

"You've gotten better," he said softly, but Kimi heard it.

"You have too."

"It's been fun, Midoriya," he breathed. "But I'm afraid I'll have to end it now.

Todoroki spread his arms; a colossal sheet of ice rose before its king, shining beneath the sun. It crackled and creaked, surging to its full height and spanned nearly the entirety of the stadium. Todoroki stood from above, watching from his throne of ice as it rushed Kimi in a massive magnificent wave.

She laughed again, flashing to a previous platform and calling, "Nice one!" That overwhelming power of his was a beautiful beast, but to control something on this scale took time and concentration. The ice dragged through the walls of the arena, roaring and devouring everything in sight.

Once, Kimi would've found the situation hopeless.

Now, it was thrilling.

She threw out a hand and summoned a long pike, holding it like a jousting stick as she rushed the ice. It reared up to swallow her whole, but she jammed the pike into its surface and vaulted over it and into the brilliant blue sky.

She landed behind Todoroki, summoning friction to her feet to keep from sliding, and surged forwards. He couldn't use his power; all concentration was on his ice, and his guard was down, and everything was just right as the song to their dance played its final, crashing chord.

Their eyes met.

Todoroki set the world on fire.

/~/

He didn't want it to stop.

The exhilaration, the delight, their lethal dance through the sky. She was always exactly where he needed her to be to match him step for step, except–

He'd been the one to falter.

He saw her coming, felt her appear behind him in a burst of cascading light while he was still locked in controlling the wave of ice. The doom was inevitable; the moment he felt her, the darkness had reared up to swallow him whole.

Despair.

Despair, for only one of them was allowed to stumble, and it wasn't supposed to have been him.

There was nothing in his mind, his heart except the overwhelming need to continue. To fall back into step and quicken the beat and feel the adrenaline race through his heart. Fire came roaring up to fill the emptiness, the pressure building beneath the skin, and he threw his head back and let the wildfire roar.

The ice, the stadium, the world went up in flames.

He turned, but Kimiko Midoriya was gone. Flickers of her form flitted here, there, everywhere- faster than the eye could see. But he kept his eyes trained on the single spot he knew she'd be –the only spot he left untouched– and extended a hand.

Oh so very softly, he said to that empty space, "May I have this dance?"

/~/

Kimiko felt small, trapped in his sea of overwhelming power. There was nothing to do, nowhere to go. No possible way out.

Shoto Todoroki was stronger than humanly possible. In the end, his vast expanse of power was too much. The flames were everywhere, wicked tongues of fire lashing at her from every angle. It brushed against her face, the heat searing her cheek.

The heat – the crushing, oppressive heat. The tiny platform of ice beneath her was rapidly melting, and she would tumble down into the hungry flames below. Kimi quickly glanced around for a way out, before the words of forfeit on her tongue slipped out.

The ice sparkled around her, the fire making it glow with flickering golden light. It was a beautiful place to lose. A gorgeously tragic end to the tale they wove. The world was quiet, the skies were lit aflame, and it really was a nice place to fall.

Then Shoto Todoroki extended his hand and asked her to dance.

Kimiko's eyes sharpened, her back straightening. Because… because who was she to refuse? If Todoroki wanted to play with fire, then hell, she'd let herself burn.

One for All came alive in her veins, roaring, pounding, demanding. The ice beneath her slipped away into water and she twisted, landing somewhere else with the fire lashing pain at her ankles. She slipped away again into the folds of space and time, reappearing to spin in midair and launch a kick at Todoroki.

Ice snapped her leg away, sending her sprawling through the air, but she was gone again, riding the breath of the wind. The heat, the heat, the heat had to go. She wished, and clouds above released their rain. Though they were immediately devoured by the flames, going up in steam with a forlorn sigh, the world around them cooled.

She landed on a small bridge of ice then slipped off, but she teleported back up and caught her balance. A wish for a wind ripped through the steam, revealing Todoroki with his left side burning with the fire of a thousand suns.

One for All sang a mighty battle cry within her and she gave in. Gave herself to the song, let it consume her, gave it everything. Kimi ran on the melting platforms of ice, riding the gale and tearing through the fire. She let herself burn, let it sear, and launched herself at Todoroki to finish this once and for all.

She ran with the power of the gods and a thousand ancient spirits at her back. The fire burned, but she'd rise from the ashes and let herself live anew. Shoto Todoroki looked at her form tearing through his fire and grinned- actually grinned.

Breathlessly, Kimiko felt herself smile back.

She leapt onto a spider-like strand of ice, willing the power of the universe to have it hold. With a cry, she threw herself into the air, a sledgehammer appearing in her hands which brought it crashing down.

Todoroki extinguished his fire and threw up a wall of ice. The sledgehammer crashed into it, dissolving away into nothingness as the ice exploded into a thousand shards of dazzling brilliance. He reignited his left side and looked up at her, lips slightly parted.

There was a small window of time when he switched between his two sides, and Kimiko exploited it ruthlessly. By the time the fire had leapt up to devour her, there was already a gun in her hands.

A gun, a knife.

A past that didn't die.

It no longer felt cold and foreign between her fingers. Maybe it was the knowledge that the gun was empty. Maybe it was the intimacy of its gunshot which had never really left her ears. The weight of everything that had happened four years ago lay heavy in her hands, cold and foreign and revolting.

She landed in front of Shoto Todoroki whose eyes were trained on the gun in her hands. The fire whooshed back to life and she lifted the gun, the action echoing what she'd done to that villain all those years ago. Kimiko let that old despair wash over her. Let the hopelessness, the fevered rage and desperation build. She let it flow into the gun in her hands, that cursed weapon that had blown out a human's brains.

And Kimiko laughed, and threw it all away.

She let the wind rip the shell of the gun into dust, but the fire, eternally starving, latched onto something. The only thing she'd let remain.

Gunpowder.

Kimiko let herself fall backwards off the bridge of ice, eyes still dancing with laughter as an explosion of scorching heat swelled and burst from the heart of the burning kingdom.

Let the past die, she thought viciously.

Shoto Todoroki fell.