Chapter 21
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST I Don't Need Pretend Friends]
Even with the cheering from the crowd, Sora could still make out what the fighters were saying as he listened to them speak before the match started.
"You're the one who screws around with gravity." Katsuki remembered. "Right Pink Cheeks?"
"Pink Cheeks?!" Ochako repeated.
"Well if you're gonna give up, do it now." Bakugo told her. "Cause I'm not gonna hold anything back."
The slight amount of intimidation that Katsuki was showing from his words, though effective, weren't enough to make Uraraka back down. She put on a serious face and showed that she means business. Bakugo's expression didn't change, showing that he meant what he said, and was confident that he was gonna win. Then Sora heard Tenya speak.
"Midoriya." He said, getting Izuku's attention. "I'm Curious. What was that strategy you came up with that would give Uraraka an advantage against Bakugo?"
"Wait, strategy?" Sora questioned. "Did you give Ochako a plan to beat Katsuki?"
"Oh." Midoriya replied. "I offered her a strategy, but she declined, and honestly, it wasn't really much of a plan."
"Well that's good to know." Sora commented, making the two of them wonder what he meant. "Since this is a tournament, I wouldn't think it'd be fair for the fighters to help each other out by exchanging strategies, especially when the finals are about showing what you can do alone."
"But didn't you tell me to do exactly that against you?" Iida stated.
"I said to gather intel on me and make your own plan." Sora explained. "Not ask for advice on how to beat me. You didn't do that, did you?"
"At first I tried that." The class rep answered. "But no one, not even Midoriya had any idea how to beat you, so after that, I just gathered whatever intel I could from them, then formulated a plan of my own."
"And now Ochako probably did the same thing." Sora said. "She got enough intel to make a plan of her own. Now we just have to see what it is."
"It won't be easy though." Izuku stated. "Kacchan's so strong. When it comes to close combat, he almost never has any openings, and the more he moves, the more he sweats, which just makes his quirk more powerful. He's gotten really good at using his explosions to move around in the air, but if Uraraka is able to touch him, she can use her quirk to make him float. She could send him out of bounds. That's why it's obvious as to what Uraraka needs to do to get the upper hand."
"The only question is how." Sora remarked. "But I guess we'll find out soon enough."
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Threat of Offence and Defence]
"Let the eighth match, begin!" Mic announced.
Ochako ran forward, keeping her body low to the ground and her hands open. "Giving up isn't an option for me!" She stated, going full speed ahead.
"Whoa, look at her go." Midoriya remarked. "That's a good start, and all she has to do is touch him one time."
"But it won't be easy." Tenya reminded him. "You know Bakugo is not gonna let her get too close to him."
"Which is why he won't dodge." Izuku added. "He'll focus his energy on counterattacking."
Katsuki raised his right palm then said, "And now you die." He was rearing his right arm back, making Sora remember that Izuku said he always started off a fight like that. Uraraka noticed this too and was getting ready to telegraph the attack, but Bakugo changed his starting attack to a forward explosion, rather than the right hook, landing a close range explosion on her, forcing her back.
"Uraraka!" Iida and Midoriya said in unison.
"He blasted her." Minoru stated.
"Looks like Bakugo's not planning on showing her any mercy." Asui commented.
"He changed his starting attack." Sora noted, looking at Izuku. "He knows that you and her are friends, so he's thinking that she'll use a strategy that you came up with. Guess that means her denying your plan was a good idea in hindsight."
"Yeah, I guess so." Midoriya agreed. "But still, Kacchan will be even more on guard because of that."
The smoke was starting to clear a bit and Bakugo got his palms up stating, "You should have dropped out of the match." Movement was shown through the smoke and Ochako's jacket was coming into view, but Katsuki saw it and countered. "There's no way you can beat me!" He let loose another explosion and the force cleared out some of the smoke around him, showing that he pinned the jacket down, but Uraraka wasn't there.
She used his own smokescreen against him and feigned an assault with her jacket. Bakugo was surprised and worried, because he couldn't see her. Then from behind, Ochako came out of the smoke. "Woah!" Mic commentated. "She threw her jacket over as a decoy! What incredibly quick thinking!" She was inches away from his back, but Bakugo saw the attack coming and blasted her away. She flew back a bit, but was able to recover quickly, and hide in the smoke
"Look at that reaction time." Hanta pointed out.
"Seriously, the dude is insane." Denki commented. "You can't get the drop on him. And since Uraraka can't use her quirk unless she touches him, his lightning fast reflexes put her at a huge disadvantage."
Katsuki cleared the smoke away, not allowing his opponent to escape his sight again. She ran forward, but Bakugo dragged his hand on the ground, making an arched explosion attack. "Too slow!" he yelled out as the attack was sent out, once again hitting his target, and sending rubble flying up.
Sora couldn't see her because of the smoke, but was wondering what her plan was. These attacks aren't working and she isn't trying any kind of fake outs, so what was the point of taking these hits? He wasn't using much energy, so she can't outlast him like this. She tried another flank, but she gave away her position when she yelled out, "I've got you!"
Bakugo was getting tired of this and made an even larger explosion that she couldn't dodge. Class 1-A was very worried about Uraraka, as she was taking a beating in this match. Kyoka had covered her eyes, and a few others looked sick from watching this. Sora was angry, but it was mainly towards Ochako, because he didn't see the point in trying the same thing over and over, when the result will always be the same.
"Is she okay?" Tsu worriedly asked.
"I can't watch this." Jiro said, keeping her eyes covered by her hands.
"Like I always suspected." Mineta stated. "Bakugo's a total sadist."
For once, Sora could agree with something that Minoru said, but he was more focused on trying to figure out his friend's strategy. When is she going to change things up? Another failed attempt to get in resulted in her getting swatted away, but she kept going. "This isn't over yet!" Another explosion. Is she doing this to aggravate him? Is she hoping that he goes on the offensive? What is the plan?
Smoke was almost everywhere except where Katsuki was, and he was looking around for her. He managed to spot her coming in for yet another rush, but he blasted her back once more, this time it was starting to take a toll on her. "Looks like she's not resting between attacks, despite being exploded." Mic quietly commented. "The poor girl." She went one more time, and she got blasted away again.
Sora noticed how the crowd was trying to analyse the situation, coming up with her just being desperate. That can't be the case though, and he was then helped out by someone he didn't expect. "You idiots." Neito remarked. "Look closer." The Keyblade wielder did just that, but he didn't know what to look specifically for.
[Silence]
"Hey, shouldn't one of the teachers step in?" A bystander questioned.
"Yeah, this is too much." The Lizard guy from before agreed.
Another explosion happened and the smoke behind Bakugo was blasted away, showing how much he's destroyed the arena. Sora then realized something. The area around Katsuki had been blown to pieces, but there wasn't any debris. He then looked closely at the next rush that Ochako executed. When the explosion went off she seemed to be guarding her body by keeping her hands open and then...something. The smoke covered her after that, but he also noticed that some of the rubble was flying towards her during that time.
"This is shameful!" A spectator spoke out. "Listen kid, you really want to be a Hero? Then stop acting like a bully. If you're so good, then just send her out of bounds!"
Another explosion attack signaled that Bakugo either didn't care about that guy's opinion, or that he was too focused on his opponent to listen. Sora could see that at face value, this could be seen as Katsuki playing with his food, but with the little that he knows about the explosive kid, that wasn't really the case.
Not only that, but he also noticed something else about Bakugo. He was constantly keeping his eye on his opponent, not paying too much attention around him, unless she gets out of his sight. But she's going for frontal assaults and whenever she flanks him, she announces her attack. So Uraraka is forcing him as well as the audience to only pay attention to her.
Sora looked up with only his eyes, not moving his head, and he caught a very small glimpse of his friend's plan. He hid his mouth under his hand and smiled a bit, finally getting what was going on, but the rest of the audience didn't.
"Stop toying with the girl and end this match!" The Hero from before called out.
"Yeah, you heard the guy!" A female hero next to him agreed.
The audience started to boo Katsuki, and while it kinda was deserved, Sora knew it was for the wrong reason. "The crowd is now booing Bakugo!" Mic announced. "And honestly I kinda agree with what they're sayinGAH!" Sora could only guess that Aizawa just hit Mic in the face. "HEY WHOA! WHAT THE CRAP!?"
"Where's the man who started this uproar?" Aizawa spoke up. "Are you a pro? Because if you're being serious, you can go home and hang up your cape. I'd suggest looking into another career." That made the audience shut up real fast.
"You know what he's talking about?" Izuku wondered, which actually shocked Sora a bit. He should know Katsuki better than anyone, and not only that, he's usually the guy who thinks five steps ahead. So him not figuring out what was happening was really surprising.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST My Hero Academia]
"Bakugo's fierceness is an acknowledgement of his opponent's strength." Aizawa explained. "He knows she's deserved to have made it this far. So he's making sure he does whatever it takes to keep her at bay to come out on top."
Sora then thought to himself about what else he knew about Katsuki as well. He may be...well is a big jerk, but he also has a warrior like pride that won't let him just settle with winning by technicality. He's not gonna throw her out of the ring, because he wants to take her down himself. Basically, he's only going for victory by knock out, not ring out.
Ochako was still standing and Bakugo was keeping his eyes on her, but then she said something. "I think...it's about time." She stated. "Thank you Bakugo, for keeping your eyes focused on me."
Katsuki was confused, but Sora knew what was coming. The Keyblade wielder heard Monama silently berating the Pros for not noticing the strategy that was happening from the stands. He then explained the things that both he and Sora managed to catch, the debris being missing from a shredded arena. The relentless assault to both keep the boy distracted, while also giving the girl more ammo to use. And then the crowd looked up.
Hundreds of pieces of debris and rubble were floating above the arena, waiting to be dropped when needed. Everyone was stunned, except for Sora, Neito, and Aizawa, as they managed to catch onto it before anyone else. Ochako then let out a battle cry as she released her quirk, her real plan now being put into action.
The debris began falling and since there was so much of it, the attack was going to cover everywhere that Katsuki could ever be at. "A meteor shower!" Mic commentated, sounding very shocked.
"Now you notice." Aizawa berated Mic.
"Hey, she had a plan all along!" Izuku stated.
As the rubble was falling, Bakugo was focusing solely on the falling rocks coming his way. While he did that, Ochako then sprinted her way forward. Multiple attacks coming from different directions. It doesn't matter what he does. He'll be open to one of the attacks. He can't dodge all of the debris, and if he wants to blast away the attack, he has to solely focus on that, and not Uraraka's charge.
Likewise, if he goes for Ochako, then he'll undoubtedly get pummeled by the debris falling towards him, and since there's so much, he'd either get buried under it, or taken out by most of them hitting everywhere around him. Sora couldn't possibly see Bakugo getting out of this, but noticed that he was gonna try anyway. His hand was raised all the way up and he seemed to brace himself. His friend was inches away from touching him. It's game set and match.
[Silence]
Katsuki's forearm flared up and then an explosion equivalent to a Firaza bursted out of his entire hand, completely destroying the debris aimed for him, while also making a massive shockwave that could be felt from the stands, blasting his opponent away from him, tumbling to the ground. He completely overpowered her attack.
When the smoke cleared, Ochako was struggling to get back up, looking in the smoke, terrified at the power that was just displayed. Bakugo then spoke up. "I figured you'd have some sort of stupid plan to beat me. You are friends with that damn nerd after all."
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Surpassing You]
"Bakugo bangs out a huge demonstration of power!" Present Mic announced. "He blasted apart Uraraka's finishing move, and remains untouched!"
Sora was silent, not because of the attack, but because of the condition of his friend. She was scared and looked helpless, looking down at the ground as she was on the verge of collapsing. Even though she was in a hopeless situation, she forced herself on her feet. The Keyblade wielder could only watch, even though he desperately wanted to help his friend, he knew that he couldn't.
Katsuki smiled. "Alright then." He spoke up. "Time for us to get serious, Uraraka!" He began running towards his prey, and she turned around to do the same. In spite of everything that just happened, no matter how hopeless the situation was for her, she still had some fight left. Her heart was in it, her mind was in it, but her body wasn't.
She stumbled back down to the ground, causing Bakugo to cease his charge, but still keep his guard up. "Uraraka is down!" Mic announced. She was still struggling, trying to force herself back onto her feet, not wanting to give up, to show the world that she had what it takes.
"This is too much." Iida said.
"Yeah." Midoriya agreed. "She's way past her limit."
Sora was still silent.
She wanted to make her family proud, to make people see her as Pro material. Her legs wouldn't let her stand, so she used her arms to start crawling, trying to inch her way over to her opponent and continue the fight. The girl struggled to speak. "I can...do this...I can...still fight...I can." She wanted to prove that she was strong, just like her friends, just like Deku and Sora. She stopped moving.
[Silence]
Midnight was in the arena, checking to see if Ochako was alright. She was unconscious. Midnight informed the crowd, "Uraraka is K. . Bakugo advances to the second round."
As soon as that was said, Sora had used his flowmotion to blitz his way to the arena, startling many people in the crowd, as well as Midnight, the commentators, and class 1-A. A few of them were worried about what Sora was going to do, because they knew that Ochako and he were friends, and that he didn't like Katsuki very much at all. His eyes were shadowed by his hair as he stood in place for a few seconds, before he walked forward.
[Play KH1.5 Remix OST Kairi III]
He took Uraraka's gym top, gently lifted the girl, put the top on her, then picked her up and started to carry her away. He turned his head to look back at Katsuki, his eyes still covered by the shadow of his hair, so nobody could see them. No words were exchanged between the two, but they both knew what the other was thinking about them.
Sora continued walking as the crowd watched him, applauding his generosity, but he wasn't paying attention to any of it. 1-A was silent though, because they could all see that Sora wasn't smiling. Izuku and Tenya both left their seats to go over to the nurse's office to see their friends.
When Sora was out of sight from the crowd, he used his flowmotion to take his friend to Recovery Girl in almost an instant. He knocked on the door, and when the healing Hero answered it, Sora walked in and laid his friend on the bed. He didn't leave the room until she decided to wake up.
[Play KH 358/2 Days OST Dearly Beloved]
After a few minutes, and a healing kiss from the nurse, Ochako had opened her eyes. She didn't know where she was and tried to get up, getting herself off the bed, only to trip from the lack of energy she had. Luckily for her, Sora caught her fall. "Easy." He said. "You got a little more hurt than you thought."
She at first was glad that Sora was there to catch her, but then she realized where she was and then slowly pushed herself off of him and then sat on the bed again. "So I guess I lost?" She asked, sounding a slight bit sad.
The Keyblade wielder didn't even hesitate to answer. "You did, but you put up one heck of a fight." This caused the girl to look at him, seeing his warm reassuring smile. "Seriously, that plan of yours took awhile for me to catch on to. And you came up with it all on your own too. So cool."
Uraraka was taken aback by Sora's words. He thought she was cool, even though she lost the fight? "Well maybe, but even so I still lost, so I have to train even harder if I want to show the world what I can do."
Sora placed a hand on her shoulder and said, "You've already done that. You showed the world that you're willing to fight against an opponent with insane power. You showed the world that you won't ever give up and fight to the end to achieve your goal. You showed the world that behind that cheery bubbly smile of yours, is a tough strong girl who's not afraid of anything."
Ochako felt...warm. The praise that she was getting from arguably, the best student in the Hero Course, was a bit overwhelming, even if they were friends. She put a smile on her face and then replied, "Yeah. You're right Sora. Even though I lost the fight, I showed the world what I can do, now I just need to train to show the world that I can do even better." That answer earned a thumbs up from her friend, making her do the same thing back to him.
After a few more minutes, Uraraka was able to stand on her own and Sora helped her over to the waiting room. She wanted to get her stuff, as well as get a new gym top that wasn't covered in burns. Sora left her to her business and ran into Tenya and Izuku, who were wondering if Ochako was okay. Sora told them the news, as well as where she was and the two of them headed over to the waiting room while Sora went back to the bleachers.
[Silence]
Before he entered the bleachers though, he heard his classmates talking. It sounded like Katsuki got there just before he did.
"Hey Bakugo." Hanta teased. "Playing the Villain huh? Must have been tough."
"Even if it was just because of who you were up against, you did make a pretty convincing bad guy." Tsu commented.
"Shut up you idiots!" Katsuki ordered. "Or else!"
"For real dude." Denki voiced his opinion. "I don't know how you were able to aim a powerful blast at a frail girl like that. I couldn't help but hold back against Shiozaki."
"She completely overpowered you Kaminari." Asui corrected him.
Denki grunted. "Can't you just let me have this?"
Katsuki then voiced his opinion again, but this time he was calm when he said, "I definitely wouldn't call that girl frail."
From behind the wall, Sora wasn't expecting that to come out of his of all people's mouths. If what he just said is how he actually feels about his match with her, then he just acknowledged her strength. This didn't make Sora's bad blood for Bakugo go away, but it made him silently give more respect to the kid.
He walked out, everyone noticing him. He told everyone that Ochako was fine and that she'll be back on the stands with them soon. After a few more minutes of waiting, Sora and the class noticed Eijiro and Tetsutetsu walking to the arena, with Cementoss and Midnight following him. Cementoss made a cement cube from the ground and then the two boys got on each side, activating their quirks and locking arms. Time for the tie breaker.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Cavalry Battle]
"WAHOOOOO!" Present Mic yelled out, as the two boys arm wrestled with all their strength, cracking the cement cube they were competing on. "We are finally about to learn who the true winner is from the seventh match! Kirishima or Tetsutetsu! Whoever prevails in this arm wrestling match, will advance to the second round! Lets GOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Right at the end of Mic's commentary, Sora noticed Tetsutetsu's hand crack from the pressure, and he started to falter. Right when this happened, Eijiro noticed and used all his strength, letting out a battle cry as he slammed the steel arm to the cube, breaking both the steel and the cube.
"Kirishima is the winner." Midnight announced. "Add him to the bracket."
Eijiro yelled at the top of his lungs "YEAAAAAAAAAAAH!" as he claimed his victory. But he then looked down at his opponent.
"Ah, damn my metal deficiency." Tetsutetsu cursed. "Should have eaten more iron this morning." He then looked up at his opponent.
Kirishima had extended his hand to the steel student, telling him, "Hey man, you put up a good fight." Tetsutetsu had accepted the manly token of sportsmanship, letting Eijiro pull him up, which made Midnight visibly look like a girl fawning over a crush. With that settled, the second round of the tournament could begin.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Go Seize It]
After a few more minutes, Sora saw Tenya and Ochako, who he waved over. The two took their seats in between the Keyblade wielder and Fumikage. Sora had noticed something about Ochako's eyes, like they were dried up a bit, and he asked her, "Hey, what happened to your eyes? Were those damaged too?" Sora remembered that they weren't that way before, but he still wanted to ask. He also gave her a water bottle he bought on the way back.
"Oh this?" She replied, taking the drink. "It's from...something else."
"She was just frustrated after her match." Iida explained. "It makes sense though."
"It's no time to wallow." Tokoyami interjected. "Use this next fight as a source of encouragement."
"Will do." Uraraka responded, drinking the whole bottle of water to rehydrate herself.
"You're so wise." Tenya silently praised.
"Good advice Fumikage." Sora complimented.
The fighters were walking towards the arena as Mic announced. "I can FEEL the anticipation in the stadium! And that's because the second round's first match is gonna be EPIC! It's the guy who won his first fight by a landslide, and literally left half the audience frozen! The Hero Course's Shoto Todoroki!" Shoto walked in the arena with his usual cold demeanor. "And this kid almost walked out of his first matchup, but made a stunning comeback by showing us some impressive moves! Also from the Hero Course, Izuku Midoriya!" Izuku was looking determined as he walked in the arena.
The two fighters stared each other down as they waited for the go ahead. The crowd was going crazy with their cheers, but the Hero course students were calm during this moment. Tenya then looked over to Fumikage.
"Tokoyami." He said. "How do you think this match will go?"
"It depends on whether or not Midoriya is able to get close to him." The dark student answered.
"Yeah." Ochako agreed. "That's the problem. How will Deku avoid the ice?"
Back at Tomura's room, both he and the Figure were watching, with the voice on the screen, who was now with the two in person, tutoring Shigaraki on how to analyse his enemies. "Pay close attention to them Tomura Shigaraki." He instructed. "These two could prove to be formidable obstacles to you one day."
Tomura chuffed at that statement. "I'm not worried about a couple of kids." He stated, scratching his neck as the Figure who was next to him, looked disapprovingly at that remark.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST The Power Of Endeavor]
Back at the stadium, Mic continued his commentary as the crowd was waiting for the fight to start. "Both of the Heroes in training have been frontrunners at the Sports Festival, but which one of these rivals will advance to the next round? Prepare for, Midoriya vs Todoroki!"
Sora watched, hoping that his friend could succeed in what he wanted to do for Shoto. "Come on Izuku." The Keyblade wielder quietly cheered. "Do what you told me you were gonna do."
Both of the boys got ready for a preemptive strike while Mic was commentating, already knowing their battle plans. Then came the moment of truth. "BEGIN!" Mic announced.
[Silence]
Todoroki starts the match with a large ice attack, reaching right in front of Midoriya, but the One For All user already had his hand up, as he used the power in his finger to completely destroy the ice attack, however the son of Endeavor had made a large chunk of ice behind him to brace on, allowing himself to take the force of the air blast.
The power of both attacks together made a gust of freezing wind that made everyone except those who were used to the cold, shiver and comment on how cold it was to them. Shards of ice were flying around, as the air was pushing those away too. The only ice left in the arena was the frozen floor around the fighters and the chunk that Shoto used to brace himself.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Go Seize It]
"Wow!" Mic announced. "Midoriya managed to break Todoroki's insane opening move!" Sora knew that Izuku could only use his quirk at 100 percent, and Shoto has always used massive ice based attacks whenever he's seen him in action, so this was expected, but since Midoriya only had eight fingers to flick with, he now only has seven more shots like that.
Todoroki used another ice barrage against his opponent, but it was once again countered by the exact same method. Six fingers left. "He countered AGAIN!" Mic commentated. Neither person had moved from their positions and yet two powerful clashes of ice and wind that were on the levels of Blizaza and Aeroza clashing, had been made in less than 30 seconds.
Izuku's hand was trembling, most likely from the pain, as he began analyzing his situation. Shoto was doing the same thing as well, recovering from the wind pressure and planning his next attack. He decided to speak, his breath visible from the cold air around him. "Let's continue."
The twin haired fighter made another ice barrage, and his opponent once again countered. It was clear that this was starting out as an endurance match between quirks, then Eijiro ran into the bleachers. "Oh crap. I'm missing it!" He stated.
"Hey, nice job making it into the second round Kirishima." Denki congratulated him.
"Thanks man." Eijiro replied. "Looks like I take down Bakugo next."
"I'll kill you." Katsuki retorted, mostly focusing on the battle.
"Yeah, sure. In your dreams." Kirishima taunted. "But seriously, it's crazy how both you and Todoroki have moves that blast the whole stadium. Must be pretty nice."
"Plus you don't have to pause between attacks." Hanta added.
"It's not as easy as you think, you morons." Bakugo informed them. "If you overuse your muscles, you risk tearing them apart. If you sprint too much, you run out of breath. Quirk's are physical abilities too. They can get worn out. You can't just use them nonstop."
Sora mentally agreed with his classmate. The same thing applied to his abilities. He couldn't use an infinite number of spells. At this point, without getting hit to get some energy back, it was five spells at most, six if he really wanted to push it, before he would need to wait for his energy to recharge mid battle, which would normally take about 30 seconds, but that can feel like a long time in a fight.
His forms weren't infinite either, as he could only get to those through fighting and stockpiling the energy before using them. Even then, they were still temporary, only being prolonged by continuing to fight in the form, or switching Keyblades to save the power from the blade that can use the specific form he's in. Not even his Focus was infinite, and that could be charged multiple ways. Offensive, defensive, siphoning someone else's energy, but even then, it still had to be managed, just like the Quirks in this world.
"It makes sense when you put it that way." Eijiro understood. "I wonder if that's how Midoriya thinks he's gonna beat Todoroki."
Back in the arena, Shoto spoke up. "You want an endurance match, but I'll end this quickly." He launched another ice barrage, and Izuku used the last finger on his right hand, destroying the attack, but while the One For All user finished the attack, the son of Endeavor made a path of ice, while simultaneously running towards his opponent.
"Todoroki withstood Midoriya's power and is now rushing his classmate!" Mic announced as the events unfolded. Izuku switched to his left hand and then blasted the ice in front of him, but Shoto was above the attack, dropping down towards his opponent's position. Midoriya dodged the attack, but Todoroki froze the ground upon contact, letting the ice travel towards Izuku's leg, catching him. Midoriya wasn't going to let this be the end, and clenched his fist, letting the power flow through his entire arm, before slamming it into the ice that trapped his leg.
The force from that attack made an even stronger gust of wind, but it didn't block out the sound of Izuku yelling from the pain he just inflicted upon himself. The force from the attack destroyed all the ice in the arena once again, leaving only the ice igloo that Shoto made to brace himself, though it took some damage.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Robo Inferno]
"That was much more powerful than your previous attack." The recommendation student stated, as he was pushing the ice in front of him away, and getting onto his feet. "You're trying to keep me away. Smart."
Looking at both of the fighters, the situation wasn't looking good on the surface. Midoriya had a broken left arm and four broken fingers on his right hand, all of which was from using his own power to drag out the match. He was also incredibly stressed both physically and mentally. Meanwhile Todoroki looked completely fine, the only thing different was that some ice was on his skin and clothes, but he looked as calm as ever.
Sora observed the situation a little closer however and noticed something. "What's the matter?" Shoto called out to his opponent. "Are you really that worn out from defending against my attacks?" The ice user was slightly shivering as he said that, and the Keyblade wielder noticed. If Midoriya can somehow keep going, then he might be able to get Todoroki on his last legs and help him. "I'm sorry about this, but thanks for drawing it out." The boy looked towards his father. "Look at him. He's furious that I'm not using his power." Shoto pointed out to Izuku. "With your hands like that, you can't fight anymore, can you? Why don't we end this?" He sent out one more ice barrage, looking to finish the fight.
"Whohohoa! Todoroki continues his overwhelming attacks!" Present Mic commentated. "Could this be his finishing move?!" The ice was getting closer and closer by the millisecond, centimeters away from Midoriya, before it was completely blasted away by the boy. Everyone looked shocked, even Sora. How did he do that? But the answer was clear. Izuku used one of his broken fingers to counter the attack, and it pushed his opponent far, almost sliding him off the edge, only to catch himself with a last second ice wall to his back.
Shoto wondered why he was doing this, and he got his answer. "You're trembling, Todoroki." Izuku stated, sounding very angry. "It's easy to forget that Quirks are physical abilities, and that means, there's a limit to the cold that your body can take, right?" He was struggling to raise his right hand while he kept speaking. "I get it. Usually you make up for the drop in temperature by using the heat from your left side, but you refuse to do that now." Shoto was visibly angry with those words. But Midoriya kept going. "Listen. We're all giving it our all, to try and win, to make our dreams into a reality, to become number one. You think you can win with half your strength? Look at me Todoroki." He fought through the pain and formed a fist with his right hand. "You haven't managed to put a single scratch on me yet. So come at me with all you've got!"
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Your Power]
That speech managed to make a noticeable change, for better or worse. While everyone else saw the two of them as angry, Sora managed to notice a tiny detail on his recommended classmate. There was a minute darkness that was starting to seep out of his right side, as the ice around him was starting to faintly glimmer with darkness. He's getting closer to his last legs, so Izuku was on the right track. The darkness inside of Shoto was starting to come out, and now it needed to be expelled by him. If the One For All user fails to help his friend expel it, then Todoroki will close himself off forever and the darkness will consume him. But if he manages to succeed in helping the son of Endeavor expel the darkness, then both of them will become physically and emotionally stronger.
"Midoriya. What are you trying to do here?" Shoto growled. "You want my Fire!? What, did my monster of a dad bribe you or something?" He didn't even bother using a barrage, instead running towards Izuku, ready to fight in close quarters. "Now I'm MAD!" While he ran, Sora and a few others had noticed how his movements were slower than normal, showing that he was getting tired.
During the dash towards him, Midoriya had made a dash the instant that Todoroki's right foot was in the air. He charged up the power in his arm and was concentrating really hard, keeping focused, before thrusting his arm forward and striking his opponent directly in the gut, without breaking himself or Shoto.
"A solid punch!" Mic announced."That's the kind of action I'd like to see!" During the attack, while being pushed back, Todoroki managed to scrape his fingers on Midoriya's left arm, freezing it with dark ice before he was sent back. Izuku recoiled from the pain, but it wasn't from the ice. He broke his other three fingers on his right hand.
While the crowd was stunned at how Midoriya had landed a solid strike on Shoto, Sora was just leaning on the edge of the safety barrier, keeping his eyes on both of them. "Come on Izuku." He quietly cheered. "Don't back down, just keep pushing."
Todoroki was breathing heavily, placing his right foot forward and sending more ice forward, but it wasn't nearly as much as before, and the attacks were much easier to deal with. Midoriya avoided the attack and got ready to flick. Shoto was now in his face and started to freeze the ground below him, but he managed to blast his opponent away. The ice user made another ice wall to stop him, but it almost broke on contact. Izuku had used his thumb for that attack, breaking his last finger. He got himself ready for another flick.
Sora had noticed that Cementoss was contemplating on stopping the match or letting it go on, asking Midnight if he should. During this time, Todoroki went for another attack, but Midoriya ran past it and went for another flick, breaking the attempted counterattack from his opponent. He slid back, but could still move his fingers, getting ready to flick again. If this keeps going, then Izuku might lose his fingers, but if this stops, then Shoto will be consumed by his anger and lost to darkness in the future.
Now the two fighters were face to face again. The One For All user was attempting to strike his opponent, while the son of Endeavor was dodging the attacks, trying to freeze his opponent, but failing every time, because his attacks were too slow and small. After gaining a small amount of distance, the ice user attempted an attack while his opponent charged him, but Midoriya had stuck his thumb in his mouth and then flicked it towards Todoroki, destroying the attack.
Shoto made ice behind him, but it broke. He made even more, but it still broke. He did it one more time, and it finally stopped him from moving. He was struggling to get up as he asked. "Why are you putting yourself through this?"
[Silence]
"I want to live up to people's expectations." Izuku answered. "I want to be able to smile, while doing something good for them!" He ran towards his opponent as he continued. "I want to be a Pro. Whatever it takes to be a Hero!" That answer made Shoto freeze, allowing Midoriya to land another strike on him with his head, forcing the ice user back, The boy was still speaking. "That's why I'll give it my all, just like...YOU should be!" Todoroki slid back a bit, but stopped himself without using his ice. "There's no way I can know what you've gone through, or why you're even here. Your life has been so much different than mine, but right now, stop screwing around. If you want to reject your father, fine, but you don't have the right to be number one, if you aren't going to use your full power!"
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST I Absolutely Won't Use The Heat]
Those words made Shoto get lost in his thoughts. The personal things that Izuku mentioned must have been going through his head, as his darkness started to flow out a bit more. Dark ice was starting to form around his right side as he barely managed to say, "Shut up."
Sora gripped the barrier a bit harder. "Come on. Come on." He thought. "Don't give into the darkness, Todoroki. Let Midoriya's light in to help you expel it, or at the very least subside it." He looked over at his friend. "Please Izuku, just keep pushing. You're almost there."
The dark ice was covering most of Shoto's skin, but he wasn't attacking at all, still entranced in what could only be the memories that made this darkness inside him. The boy's guard was down, leaving him completely open for another punch in the gut by Midoriya. "That's why, I'm going to win this!" The physically broken boy decreed as he forced the mentally scarred boy back. "I'll surpass you!" The dark ice on his skin was broken from the attack, most of it falling off of Todoroki, but he didn't care. He was still deep in his memories, looking back on what made him this way.
In a tragic way, Shoto was reminding Sora of his best friend Riku, back when he first got the Keyblade. His struggle with darkness caused him to suffer, similar to how the ice user was suffering now. And Izuku reminded him of himself back during that time. Constantly pushing, not stopping until he knew that his friend was saved from his own suffering, even if he had to physically suffer in order to do it. This history needed to be repeated, but only this part. Todoroki doesn't need to be alone for a year, dealing with his problems by himself. If he opens up, then his friends can help him through the struggle, like Riku and Terra did for him and the other guardians of light.
Shoto landed on the ground, still in the arena, but barely moving, struggling to even stand from the cold and the pain he was feeling both inside and out. He forced himself onto his feet. "I will reject you." He thought out loud. "I refuse...to use my left side."
One last push Midoriya. "IT'S YOURS!" He yelled out. "YOUR QUIRK, NOT HIS!"
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST You Say Run]
That made Todoroki snap out of his trance, and remember something else from his past. Whatever it was, it sparked a faint light within him, one that was shrouded in the dark for so long and needed to shine again. This light, that was eclipsed by darkness for too long, that was dormant within him, was what he desperately needed. Those six words were exactly what Shoto needed to hear for a long time. His right side started to steam up and the dark ice started melting.
Suddenly a giant pillar of flames that rivaled Axel's self-destruct move was in front of Midoriya, and everyone knew what was going on. "Wha...IS THAT...?!" Mic questioned.
"He's using his fire!" Ochako stated, squinting her eyes from the bright light.
Tenya remembered that Todoroki told him about how he never uses his fire in combat, and then said, "Incredible."
Sora smiled, seeing the darkness around Shoto dim to the point where it was basically gone. The dark ice was evaporating into nothing and in its place came pure ice, glimmering with the light reflected from the fire on his left side. "You're helping your opponent." He pointed out, "You fool. Even though you want to win this battle. Now which one of us is screwing around." He looked at peace, focused on one thing, and one thing only. "I want it to. I'll be a Hero!"
Midoriya smiled and Todoroki did too. The flame user was saved from his darkness, and now he can become an even greater Hero than what he imagined. "He did it!" Sora said out loud, not caring who heard that. Everyone was just thinking that he meant Shoto using his fire, when he really meant that Izuku had saved his classmate.
Then a familiar voice was heard. "YES SHOTO!" It was Endeavor, blissfully encouraging his son as he walked down to the edge of the barrier to watch him up close. "Have you finally accepted your purpose?! That's it! Very good! This is the dawn of a new era for us! With my blood in your veins, you'll surpass me! You will live up to the reason I CREATED YOU!" His body was flared up as much as his son's as he said those words.
A single strand of water had trickled down Todoroki's cheek, looking like it came from his eye, most likely he shed a tear for breaking his oath, but he didn't stop using his flames. He didn't care anymore. "Endeavor's suddenly shouting words of...encouragement?" Mic guessed. "What a doting father."
Izuku was still smiling, as he praised the power in front of him. "Amazing." He said.
"Why are you smiling?" Shoto questioned, making his opponent come back to reality. "With those injuries, in this hopeless situation. You must be crazy." Both boys got their serious faces on one last time, ready to do one final ultimate clash. "Don't blame me for what happens next."
Todoroki started freezing the right side of the ground, while his flames began flaring up even more, letting both of his powers out at their maximum strength. While Midoriya channeled One For All in his left leg, making a torrent of wind that broke off the ice on his left arm and shredding the pants leg from the power.
Cementoss and Midnight were now going to try and stop the match, with cement walls and knockout gas, but there was no stopping this. It was time for the final clash of this fight to commence.
Shoto made an ice barrage that was almost as strong as the one he used on Sero, but much more focused and precise, as it blitzed towards his opponent, but Izuku jumped over the attack and was blitzing towards the dual element user, yelling. "COME AT ME WITH YOUR FULL POWER TODOROKI!"
As those words were said, Shoto's left hand was behind him as he heated up the area around him, melting all the ice as he slowly raised his hand in front of him. "I see now Midoriya." He said, as the One For All user put all his power into his right arm, extending the limb out, ready to deliver the final blow. "Thank you." Todoroki's arm was extended forward as he sent out a fire blast that could only be rivaled by the Megaflare spell, towards Izuku.
Five cement walls were made in a split second, but they were easily eviscerated when the attacks made contact with them, making an explosion that sent Minoru flying out of his chair, only to be held onto by Mezo, and everyone else in the crowd holding onto their seats, except for Sora, and Endeavor, who just looked at the spectacle that was that clash.
[Silence]
That match was one of, if not the most powerful fights that Sora had seen in this world. Not even All Might fighting the Nomu, or his battle against the Demon Tide were that much of a spectacle. Dust had covered the entire arena, so nobody knew who did what. Then Present Mic asked. "Whahat happened just now? What the heck is up with your students?"
"The air around the arena had been thoroughly cooled down, then rapidly expanded when heated up." Aizawa explained.
"Wait, that's what caused the explosion?" Mic questioned. "How hot did that fire get? Jeez, I can't see a thing. Is the match still going on or what, huh?"
Midnight got back up after being blasted into the air and landing on the ground shortly after. She looked around and found Shoto, still in the ring, the left side of his shirt burnt off, and ice behind his back, that was cracked, barely withstanding the force that was applied to it. Then she saw Izuku with his back against the wall, his leg and arms broken, and slowly leaning to the right, before he fell to the ground, unconscious and out of bounds.
"There" Midnight stated. "Midoriya is...out of bounds. Todoroki wins! He advances to the third round!" The crowd cheered for him, and Sora smiled, happy for Shoto's victories.
Longest. Chapter. Ever. 18 pages, to cover two matches. The aftermath of the match and the rest of the quarter finals will be shown in the next chapter, as well as some more of the villains' perspective, since a certain someone will be around during this time. Hope you guys like this chapter, and until I decide to upload again. ;)