"Shinsou advances to the next round!" Midnight called, flinging an arm out toward the pitch.
Hitoshi dropped his control of Ashido, and she jolted as though waking from a dream. She looked down at her feet, obviously surprised to find herself standing outside the ring. Clearly she was one of the ones who went deep under, not even able to remember what happened to them while they were under his control.
As Hitoshi wiped at his nose -- finding to his relief that it wasn't bleeding this time -- Ashido turned around and gave him a bright grin and an exaggerated wink.
Be a little more obvious why don't you, Hitoshi thought exasperatedly. As though her responding to the first thing he said, before he'd even gotten a proper taunt out, hadn't made it obvious enough.
Ashido turned and practically skipped off the field, clearly not at all dissatisfied with her defeat. Hitoshi walked more sedately back towards the entryway, hands in his pockets. He had to admit, aside from how bad an actor Ashido was, the plan had worked remarkably well. He did his best to listen to what the crowd was saying, and none of them seemed to suspect anything. They were all just chattering about how easy it would be to take down villains with a quirk like his. Their admiration made Hitoshi feel warm inside, and as he stepped off the pitch and into the hallway leading off it he looked around to see if Midoriya had come to discuss their next move.
Then a figure stepped out of the shadows. It wasn't Midoriya though. "Shinsou," said Todoroki, his voice as flat as ever.
"Todoroki," Hitoshi replied, after considering and discarding several unflattering nicknames. The good ones had all been taken by Bakugou, and he wasn't about to copy that bastard.
"Come with me," Todoroki instructed, then turned and began walking away, apparently certain that Hitoshi would do as he'd said.
"No," Hitoshi said, crossing his arms over his chest and staying exactly where he was.
Todoroki paused but didn't turn around. "I need to talk to you," he said, presumably by way of explanation. "It's important."
Hitoshi was tempted to ignore him. He was tempted to go find Midoriya and compliment him on his strategy, thank him for coming up with a plan that was almost certain to get Hitoshi through to the finals. He was tempted to go back to the participants box in the stands and watch Yaoyorozu beat Tokoyami, as she would need to do for their plan to work. There was something about Todoroki's tone though, something about the way he ordered instead of asking, something about the way he kept walking as though it barely even mattered if Hitoshi followed. It made Hitoshi's
blood boil, made him want to wipe that blank look off Todoroki's face however it could be managed.
So, he followed.
Todoroki led him through the stadium, to one of the hallways that opened onto the outside. Distantly Hitoshi could hear more festivities, food stalls and other attractions, and the various people enjoying them. Todoroki stopped near the exit and turned to lean against the wall. Hitoshi mirrored him, back to the opposite wall and hands in his pockets. He fingered Yaoyorozu's handkerchief and waited for Todoroki to say something.
He found himself waiting a long time. Once they were both settled Todoroki simply stared at Hitoshi, his expression serious and fixed. Hitoshi stared him down, keeping his own expression carefully neutral. If Todoroki wanted to start a fight, then he'd have to commit to it.
Eventually though, he got tired of waiting.
"I saw how you turned Sero into a popsicle," Hitoshi said into the silence. "Did you need to go that far overboard?"
Todoroki didn't speak for another moment, almost long enough that Hitoshi thought he didn't mean to answer. When he finally spoke his voice was smooth and deep, and so frustratingly even that Hitoshi had cause to be thankful for his own skill at controlling his reactions.
"I was angry," Todoroki began, then paused for a few long seconds before continuing. "In the cavalry battle I was overwhelmed. It made me break the promise I made to myself a long time ago."
Hitoshi didn't have the faintest clue what he could mean by that, or what it could have to do with him. Todoroki also had his hands in his pockets, but he removed his left one now and held it up, looking down at it meaningfully. It seemed almost like he was glaring at his own hand, like his body itself had offended him. Hitoshi tried to remember which side of his body did which thing. The left side was for fire, right?
"It's useless to talk to Midoriya directly," Todoroki said, still looking at his hand rather than Hitoshi. "I've offended him somehow-"
"Somehow?!" Hitoshi sputtered, trying to decide if he felt better or worse knowing that Todoroki apparently hadn't meant to be insulting.
Todoroki ignored him and went on. "Midoriya already has something of a professional reputation. A lot of heroes have praised his insight, and many are now using special moves he laid the foundation for. There's a lot of talk about how he can still do analyst work, even from those who don't think he should stay in his place and leave heroics to people with quirks."
"Maybe they should stick to showing off for the cameras and leave real heroics to those of us with the drive for it!" Hitoshi spat. If Todoroki was trying to make Hitoshi want to take a swing at him, he was certainly doing a great job.
"You've got Midoriya in your corner helping you out," Todoroki noted. "He's been putting all his effort into making sure you do well in the festival. Shinsou . . ."
Todoroki paused, and Hitoshi wondered if he was finally going to find out why he'd been brought here.
"Are you really some hero's secret love child or something?" Hitoshi blinked. "Excuse me?"
"It would make sense," Todoroki said, sounding like he was speaking half to himself and half to Hitoshi. "If they didn't want to acknowledge you, because of your illegitimacy or because of your quirk, then they might see contracting Midoriya to help you as a kind of peace offering to show they support-"
"Don't make up weird melodramas in your head!" Hitoshi snapped, angry as much as confused. "Mido's helping me because he's my friend! Why would you even think a thing like that?"
Todoroki closed his eyes as though shielding himself from what he had to say next. "My father is the hero Endeavor," he said. "You must have heard of him. Which means you're aware that he's the Number Two hero."
"Everyone knows that," Hitoshi griped. It was true. Even Hitoshi, who paid less attention to the top ten than he did the dirt under his fingernails, knew who Endeavor was just by pop culture osmosis.
"You may also know he has a temper," Todoroki went on. "What you probably don't know, is that he absolutely hates the fact that a quirkless person made it into the hero course."
"Why should he even care?" Hitoshi asked. "And more importantly, why should I care what he thinks?"
Todoroki sighed, then looked back at Hitoshi, settling more firmly against the wall as though bracing for a long explanation.
"My old man is ambitious," Todoroki said, "he aims for the top. He used his power to make a name for himself as a hero. But he was never able to best All Might, so the Symbol of Peace is living proof of his failure. He's still at it though, trying to take down All Might. One way or another."
"Does this story have a point?" Hitoshi pressed. He didn't really want to listen to Todoroki gush about his awesome hero parent for the next ten minutes.
Todoroki leveled Hitoshi with an unreadable look. "Have you ever heard of Quirk Marriages?"
"The unholy meeting of straight nonsense and casual eugenics?" Hitoshi said flippantly. "Yeah, I've heard of it. Designer children like teacup lapdogs."
"Then you know it was unethical," Todoroki said, surprising Hitoshi for the first time. He hadn't thought Todoroki would care about 'unethical' in any context except class.
Hitoshi nodded carefully in agreement, and almost imperceptibly the tension in Todoroki's shoulders eased.
"My father has not only a rich history of accomplishments, but plenty of money to throw at his problems," Todoroki told him. "He bought my mother's relatives to get his hands on her quirk. And now he's raising me to usurp All Might."
Todoroki was looking down at his hand again, so he didn't see the look on Hitoshi's face. Hitoshi was glad of this; he wasn't entirely sure what expression he was wearing, but it wasn't the mask of deliberate neutrality that he'd had on before. Things like this just didn't happen in this day and age. People weren't allowed to just buy other people as broodmares to create powerful children.
Especially not a hero, a public figure, a man held up as the apex of morality. Someone would know. Someone would stop it.
Wouldn't they? Hitoshi kept listening.
"It's so annoying," Todoroki said, eyes narrowed as he looked at his own hand. The hand from which his fire sprang. "I refuse to be a tool for that scumbag."
Hitoshi had barely heard Todoroki say anything before, but even based on that limited experience, he'd had no idea the other boy could speak with such vitriol. His eyes blazed with it.
"In every memory of my mother, I only see her crying. I remember she called my left side unbearable," Todoroki lifted his left hand to his face, hiding the prominent scar in his palm, "before she poured boiling water on my face."
"Dear god," Hitoshi whispered. He wasn't sure if Todoroki heard him, but either way, he didn't respond.
"The reason I tried to talk to Midoriya," Todoroki said, face still half hidden, "the reason I'm talking to you now, is that I want him to know I'm not like that. I'm not going to beat him because I want to put him in his place or whatever poison my father spits. I'm going to defeat him because I have to win, to show my old man what I'm capable of doing, without having to rely on his damned fire quirk."
Todoroki removed his hand from his eye, and looked at Hitoshi with an uncharacteristic intensity. "I'm going to show him that I reject his power, and I can take first place without using it."
Hitoshi considered this for a moment. He would almost have considered the story too outlandish to be real, a fabrication Todoroki had constructed to elicit maximum sympathy. He knew better though. He himself had been witness to the myriad of ways hero society failed children, children born both inside and outside its sphere. He looked at Todoroki and saw everyone he'd ever met with a powerful quirk, told over and over that they would be heroes, regardless of how suited they as people were to the task. Like all of them, Todoroki was shortsighted, and selfish, and too proud to rely on cheap tricks to win.
He was also, however, horribly broken in a way Hitoshi had never seen before.
Todoroki turned to go, his eyes lingering on Hitoshi until his head was fully angled away. "I understand that you and Midoriya have worked hard for this, but I can't let that stand in my way," he said as he walked out into the light of the area surrounding the stadium. "No matter how fiercely the two of you come at me in the future, I will defeat you using only my right side. I can assure you of that."
"I wouldn't be so sure of myself if I were you," Hitoshi said, without giving himself time to think.
Todoroki stopped. Hitoshi stared at the back of his head for a moment before he turned back, looking at Hitoshi with his usual blank expression.
"We all have our reasons for wanting to win this," Hitoshi continued. "We all have something to prove. But some of us also have something to gain. You don't gain anything by pissing off your old man, hell you might even invite more suffering on yourself and your family by rebelling. I on the other hand have my whole future riding on the outcome of this festival, and possibly the future of my friend as well. So don't tell me I can't win because you deserve it more for what you've
been through. As long as you're just lashing out instead of working towards a future you can be proud of, you don't."
With that Hitoshi turned and walked back inside. He listened, but Todoroki didn't call out for him. Eventually, when he was nearing the junction of the interior hallway with another, he heard distant footfalls of Todoroki walking away.
A hand closed around his arm.
"What the-" Hitoshi jumped nearly out of his skin, surprised beyond all belief that someone else had apparently been so close at hand for that whole exchange.
"Sh!" someone hissed, and Hitoshi realize that it was in fact Midoriya who had hold of him. "Have you been there the whole time?" Hitoshi asked as Midoriya towed him around the corner.
"Yes," Midoriya said, peering out to see if Todoroki had noticed the commotion. When he turned back to look at Hitoshi his expression was nervous and a little guilty. "I saw you leave with him. I . . . thought he might want to fight you. Outside of an official match, I mean."
"I thought the same," Hitoshi admitted, "at first. So you heard all of that? Everything he said?"
"Everything," Midoriya agreed. He was pale, obviously shaken, and he was wringing his hands in distress. "I can't believe I thought . . . and he wasn't at all . . ."
"You had no way of knowing," Hitoshi consoled. "I had no way of knowing. The important thing is what we do now."
Midoriya paused, looking at Hitoshi in surprise. "What do you want to do?" "Depends," Hitoshi said, with a raised eyebrow. "Do you have a plan?"
"Well," Midoriya said guiltily, looking away. He drew breath as though to speak, then let it out silently and bit his lip.
"What do you need from me?" Hitoshi asked.
Midoriya gave a shy, nervous little smile. "Just tell me if you're willing to roll the dice again." "With you on my side?" Hitoshi grinned. "I'll take my chances."
Hitoshi and Midoriya discussed the specifics on their way back inside. The ring had been prepared for the next match, and Yaoyorozu and Tokoyami were on the field ready to begin by the time they made it back to the participants box in the stands. As soon as Mic called for the match to start, before they had even taken their seats, Yaoyorozu shot a long pole of some unidentifiable material out of her hand straight at Tokoyami. Dark Shadow dove at her, knocking her sideways off her feet, but that merely resulted in the angle changing so the pole hit Tokoyami in the beak instead of the chest. He stumbled backwards several steps before falling over, his head on the wrong side of the line.
"Yaoyorozu wins!" Midnight shouted. "She advances to the next round!"
"Looks like we're on track," Hitoshi said as he and Midoriya sat down near the back of the congregation.
"Yeah," Midoriya said, then gulped. "And I'm up next."
Hatsume was as good as her word, and stepped over the line as soon as she was done using Iida to show off her inventions. Izuku had to admit it was slightly underhanded, but it wasn't like she hadn't given the match her all with everything she'd brought, and Iida was advancing to the next round. Ojiro forced Koda out of bounds before he could call any animals for help, but they shook hands after the match to show the audience there were no hard feelings. Aoyama's laser was no match for Kirishima's hardened skin, and Kirishima merely walked straight over to him and threw him out of the ring.
Kaminari was matched against Kacchan in the final match of the first bracket, and that was the most brutal fight of all. Kaminari needed a few seconds to focus before he could discharge his overload attack, but he had no time to collect himself as Kacchan chased him around the ring with blast after blast. It was clear that Kacchan was toying with Kaminari, and after a while the crowd started booing him for not finishing his opponent off when he clearly had the power to do so. Eventually Kaminari just ran out of the ring to escape the assault, and Cementoss had to put up a wall to stop Kacchan from pursuing his opponent any further.
Then it was time for the second bracket of fights to begin.
"Are you sure you want me to do this?" Izuku asked as he and Shinsou parted ways in the hallway outside the participants' box.
"Would you feel like a hero if you didn't?" Shinsou countered.
Izuku looked down. "I wouldn't feel like much of a friend if I didn't at least ask you," he said.
He looked up through his lashes, to find Shinsou with his head lowered slightly as he tried to catch Izuku's eye. They both raised their heads, looking at each other, and Shinsou gave him a benevolent smile.
"I'm not just trying to get into the hero course for my health," he reminded Izuku. "You came up with this plan because you want to do something. I want to do something too. I wouldn't feel worthy of calling myself a hero if I didn't do the easiest thing in the world to ease your mind about it."
He smiled crookedly, the smile that meant he wanted things to be less serious than they were, and he didn't know how to lighten the mood. Izuku gave an exaggerated nod, then before he could let himself think better of it stepped forward and flung his arms around Shinsou. There was a moment when Shinsou didn't respond, but then his arms went around Izuku in return, and for a few seconds they both squeezed tight.
"Knock 'em dead," Shinsou said when Izuku stepped back.
"I'll do my best," Izuku promised.
Shinsou returned to the participants' box and Izuku made his way down to ground level. The pitch had been redone again, Kacchan had created quite a few holes in it, and as he stood in the archway leading out onto the field Izuku tried to get a glimpse into the entryway across from him. He couldn't see Todoroki, but he knew he was there.
"It's time for the first match of the second round!" Present Mic called as Izuku and Todoroki both walked out onto the pitch and into the ring.
Todoroki stopped a few yards past the line, and Izuku mirrored him. His expression was
unreadable, but Izuku scanned his face for signs of ferocity and found none. He wasn't wound up waiting for this fight to start. He wasn't expecting a need to come out hard and fast. He was anticipating an easy victory.
"These two heroes in training have both been frontrunners in the sports festival!" Mic went on, and Izuku suppressed a laugh as he considered how there were people on both sides of this fight who would consider the comparison unfair.
"It's Midoriya!"
Izuku cracked his knuckles pointedly.
"Versus Todoroki!"
Todoroki tensed, and to Izuku's relief turned his right hand so that the palm was facing Izuku, as though preparing for an underhanded toss.
That was it. This was going to work.
"But which of these rivals will advance to the next round?" Mic speculated, and the crowd
cheered as though in answer. "Ready? Begin!"
Immediately Izuku ran forward. He didn't get very far though. Almost as soon as he started Todoroki's hand came up and then ice was shooting toward him, starting at the ground and reaching rapidly for the sky. Izuku was less than halfway across the ring before it reached him, the frost creeping across the ground threatening to overtake him.
Izuku jumped.
He didn't even have to jump forward, he leaped straight into the air as high as he could go and the ice came to meet him. He landed on top of the lowest, fastest crystals, jagged peaks all around him and carrying him quickly toward the boundary line. He began to climb, reaching for whatever hand and footholds presented themselves in the uneven ice formation, scrambling up and up and up. Thankfully Todoroki hadn't been paying much attention to the fine details and the ice froze unevenly, the surface rough with tiny crystals rather than smooth like a frozen pond. The quirk enhanced ice didn't melt under his fingers or boots, so he used it to gain traction and haul himself toward the top. Before the formation had reached the boundary line Izuku was on top of it, scrambling forward across the massive wall of ice.
"What's this?!" Mic demanded in comically exaggerated disbelief. "Todoroki opens with a devastating ice attack, but Midoriya's determined to stay on top of things!"
Izuku had cause to be thankful for the ambiguity in Mic's words. The ice had blocked Todoroki's view of him, and he was halfway across the glacier before Todoroki even suspect where he was. Great spears of ice began to shoot upwards randomly, but Todoroki was attacking blind, so Izuku was easily able to slip between them.
As he neared the edge of the wall Izuku didn't wait to see if he'd been right. He jumped again, this time the force of his leap carrying him beyond the ledge and over it, to where the ice trailed all the way back to Todoroki. He landed sideways, feet brace like he was on a snowboard, and noted with satisfaction that had assumed correctly. The specific way in which Todoroki had flung the ice had affected its formation, and it swept away from Todoroki in an arc. Now there was a slope of ice leading right to him.
A slope, or for Izuku's purposes, a slide.
This ice had been made in a continuous motion, and had frozen more evenly than the sandpaper texture on the other end. As such it was slick, and even the steady grip on Izuku's custom boots didn't stop him from sliding rapidly towards Todoroki. He picked up speed as he went, and he was already over halfway down when Todoroki's eyes widened in realization. His arm shot up, but he misjudged the distance and the giant point of ice appeared just behind Izuku instead of just in front of him.
"Just look at Midoriya go!" Mic screamed.
As he reached the end of the slide Izuku angled his body towards Todoroki and drew back his fist. Todoroki was standing just at the base of the formation, and he had clearly not been anticipating a need to move from that spot. As Izuku threw his weight forward, putting the full force of his momentum behind the punch, he merely closed his eyes and accepted the inevitable. The hit connected, sending Todoroki flying backward, and Izuku fell to his knees as the toes of his boots met solid ground after slick ice.
Izuku braced himself with his hands, ending up crouched on all fours, but he reared back as soon as he could do so to see where Todoroki had ended up. He'd been knocked completely off his feet, and nearly to the edge of the field, but an ice formation had sprung up behind him to keep him in the ring. As Izuku watched it kept growing, creating another massive wall behind Todoroki, curling around the edges of their field along the boundary line and boxing them in with each other.
Perfect.
"Midoriya used the ice formation to build up speed for one solid hit!" Mic narrated as Izuku got to his feet and Todoroki pushed himself off from his ice wall. "But what's happening down there now? I can't see a thing!"
The two of them stood and took stock. About two thirds of their arena was now covered in a giant block of ice. The space they had left was enclosed, so neither of them could effectively push the other over the line, but it was small. Todoroki couldn't sling massive ice formations around in here, not without risking catching himself in a trap if Izuku managed to evade again. They would have to fight hand to hand.
Todoroki released a breath, the cold air around his body turning it white and opaque.
"Well done Midoriya," he said, eyes narrowed. "You've managed to force me into fighting you in close quarters. But you know that my fighting style isn't one note. I can do precision work as well as large scale attacks."
"You must be scared," Izuku speculated. "You're the one who made it impossible for us to win by pushing the other out of bounds. You didn't think you could immobilize me before I forced you where I wanted you?"
"I have no intention of losing," Todoroki said firmly.
"Come at me then," Izuku invited, holding up his clenched fists in anticipation.
Todoroki came. Encasing his right fist in ice he ran at Izuku, ready to smash the blunt object against Izuku's face full force. Izuku backed up, letting Todoroki get close, then when his back was against the ice wall he ducked beneath his opponent's arm, letting Todoroki punch the wall instead. The ice shattered on impact, and Todoroki whirled around, keeping his hand balled into a
fist and trying to hit Izuku with a backwards swing.
Izuku watched Todoroki's hand as it swung toward him and missed again when Izuku reeled back. It was covered in a patchy layer of frost.
Now it was Izuku's turn to attack, and he came at Todoroki with a right hook worthy of Kacchan. Instead of dodging though, Todoroki caught Izuku's fist in his own right hand, then quickly encased their joined hands in ice. It was burningly cold, but Izuku couldn't waste time. He grabbed Todoroki's right arm and flipped him, throwing him to the ground with enough force to break the ice connecting them. As Todoroki rolled into a crouch Izuku backed up and tapped his hand against the ice wall, knocking loose the remaining ice crystals.
The frost was now creeping up Todoroki's arm.
Todoroki got up, and suddenly a thick, angular layer of ice was covering his entire right side. Izuku knew it would be smarter to attack his unarmored left, but he wanted to test a theory. Instead he attempted an inelegant kick with his left foot, smashing the steel toe of his boot against Todoroki's ice. It shattered, most of it falling away, but Izuku's question was answered.
Frost was now spreading unevenly over his entire right side. What was more, he was starting to shiver.
The walls of ice surrounding them had made the air bitterly cold, but all the strenuous movement had left Izuku with little more than goosebumps. Todoroki, on the other hand, was struggling to keep his whole arm from shaking. As Izuku watched Todoroki backed away, not ready to attack yet as he attempted to get himself under control. He'd clearly put a lot of stress on his body with that last move.
"Use your fire," Izuku ordered. Todoroki glared. "No."
Angry now, Todoroki apparently decided to risk a small ice formation, and created for himself a set of low, uneven stairs so he could come at Izuku from above. Izuku dove out of the way, and Todoroki's fist came down on the ground where he'd just been standing, a collection of ice crystals like a tuft of tall grass blossoming from the point of impact.
Izuku rolled and sprang back to his feet, keeping his back to the thinner ice wall around the near side of the ring. "Use your fire!" he repeated, louder this time.
"Why do you care?" Todoroki spat, wrenching his arm free with obvious effort.
"You're trembling Todoroki," Izuku noted as his opponent stood, braced with feet wide apart as though afraid he'd tip over if he stood straighter.
Todoroki puffed out another highly visible breath.
"It's easy to forget that quirks are physical abilities," Izuku went on, "and that means there's a limit to the cold your body can take, right?"
Todoroki let out a frustrated noise, then lifted his right foot and slammed it down in front of himself. Ice shot outwards from his boot, a long line of sharp crystals that Izuku barely managed to dodge. It hit the ice wall and stopped, further limiting the size of their arena.
"I get it," Izuku said, keeping his distance for now. "Usually you'd make up for the drop in
temperature by using the heat from your left side. But you refuse to do that now."
"What are you trying to do here?" Todoroki shouted, eyes blazing even as frost creeped over the right half of his face, marring it with ice as the left half was marred by a burn. "You want my fire? What, did my monster of a dad bribe you or something?"
Izuku grit his teeth and leveled Todoroki with as fierce a glare as he could dredge up. "I think you've disrespected me enough for one day Todoroki."
"What do you mean?" Todoroki demanded, his expression flickering to one of confusion.
"All day, you haven't been fighting me," Izuku told him. "You haven't even been seeing me, and how hard I've been working to earn the respect of people like you. Even now, you're still not giving me the courtesy of looking at me. You're too busy watching your father to see the person in front of you!"
Izuku darted forward and dropped to the ground, swinging his leg at Todoroki's ankles. Todoroki leaped backwards, over and away from the attack, but his foot came down on a patch of ice and slid out from under him. He stumbled back until he hit the thicker ice wall, calling out large crystals to prop himself up with.
"If I'm going to win, I have to win against you," Izuku told him as he stood up. "If you're going to lose, I want you to lose against me. I won't have you lose this match to your determination to reject your father. So use your fire, and protect yourself from your weakness!"
"Shut up!" Todoroki growled.
He pushed off from the wall and swung his right fist at Izuku, but his movements were slower now, and Izuku had plenty of time to duck and dive at Todoroki's middle. He knocked the other boy to the ground and pinned him, using both hands to hold Todoroki's wrists in place.
"I get that your father hurt you," Izuku said, unsure if Todoroki's wide-eyed stare was surprise at what Izuku knew or shock at what he was saying. "I get that he caused you and your mother pain. But hurting yourself even more isn't going to take that pain away or make it better."
Ice spread upwards from Todoroki's right wrist, encasing Izuku's hand in biting cold and creeping up his arm. At the same time, Todoroki's left wrist began to grow unnaturally warm.
"It's your power!" Izuku reminded him, or perhaps told him for the first time. "Use it to protect yourself, so you can protect others! Don't let him hurt you or anyone ever again!"
Fire sprang up beneath Izuku's hand. Immediately he let go of Todoroki's wrist, his heart skipping at the familiar pain of a bad burn, but the ice encasing his other hand stopped him from reeling back. He flailed, trying to get away from the flames, but Todoroki sat up, using the place where they were connected to control Izuku's movements. He could feel the heat building as Todoroki rose, forcing Izuku to his knees.
The fire raged, billowing out from Todoroki's left side in a great column of flames, and the ice connecting them melted away fast enough that it turned to vapor before it hit the ground. Izuku's ears were full of the roar, and his whole body went from cold to hot so fast the world began to spin. At the center of it all he could see Todoroki's face, the wide, manic smile beneath the cold light in his eyes.
A shockwave like one of Kacchan's explosions hit Izuku all at once, and his whole body was blown back by the force of it. The last thing he remembered was when he hit the thinner ice wall
and kept going, ending up surely a long way out of bounds. After that, there was darkness.