Burning Away the Hateful Past
Izuku is panting a little as he can feel his body is starting to get a little strain from having to use his Quirk this hard in this match, but he knows that he can't stop now.
"What's the matter? Don't tell me my attack did more harm to you than it looks?" Shoto taunted.
Izuku looks up to see Shoto still standing with that cold expression as always, but he notices his right arm is covered in a little frost and shaking as well.
"(He's shaking. That must be he's reaching the limit of his ice Quirk, which means I may have a chance.)" Izuku thought clutched his fist.
"I'm sorry for drawing it out." Shoto apologized before looking to his left and up.
"Look at him. He's furious I'm not using his power." Shoto can see the anger in his father's eyes.
"Show my old man what I was capable of doing. Without having to replay on his damned fire Quirk." Those words repeated in Izuku's head, the words of Shoto's goal.
"I'm going to show him that I reject his power, and I can take first place without using it."
"You seem to have gotten two options to attack me, but we both know you wouldn't risk hurting yourself any further if it means losing." Shoto pointed out.
Izuku gritted his teeth in frustration upon hearing that.
"Why don't we end this?" Shoto said and launched another overwhelming ice attack toward Izuku.
"Whoa! Todoroki continues his overwhelming attacks! Could this be his finishing move?" Present Mic asked shock.
"Izuku! Get out of there!" Ruby shouted.
"This could be bad!" Eijiro worried.
"Don't worry, he knows what he's doing." Weiss said, being calm.
"I am not done yet!" Izuku said.
Shoto gasp upon hearing that and in that instant, another powerful wind attack completely broke through the ice attack and the pressure pushes Shoto back toward the edge though managed to stop himself with his ice wall.
"Damn it… With your other finger?" Shoto was shocked that Izuku used another of his finger for his wind attack.
"(But Why? He has that Full Cowling as I heard him called it, so why is he hurting himself now?)" Shoto thought confused.
"You're trembling, Todoroki." Izuku said, this got Shoto to gasp.
"It's easy to forget that Quirks are physical abilities, and that means there's a limit to the cold your body can take, right?" Izuku pointed out the basic flaw in Quirks.
"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." Izuku stated as well.
Weiss can see that Izuku is giving Shoto some strong words probably to get him to use his fire half, and she honestly hopes he succeeds.
"Listen, we're all giving it our all… to try and win. To make our dreams into a reality. To become number one!" Izuku said, knowing that all the first-year students have and keep on giving their all in this festival including himself.
"You think you can win with half your strength?" Izuku asked as his body starts to glow faintly green with sparks of electricity zapping around him.
"Look at me, Todoroki. You may have gotten me with that one attack, but it barely felt like a tickle and I'm still standing." Izuku mocked.
"(Like a tickle?)" Shoto thought felt insulted from that.
"So, come at me with all you've got!" Izuku shouted.
"I can't tell what he did, but it looks like he just pissed off Shoto." Yang guessed.
"He did." Blake nodded, having heard that with her cat ears.
"(Young Midoriya.)" Toshinori thought can tell that Izuku is trying to do something.
Endeavor looked on seeing how determined Izuku is being right now, serious just like earlier when he had that talk with him and what he said.
(Flashback)
"He maybe your son, but he isn't you." Izuku stated.
(Flashback End)
"(That boy…)" Endeavor thought felt his is more than meets the eye.
Izuku clutches his fists while Shoto is a little shaken up, and it's not just because of the ice shiver on his right side.
"Midoriya… What are you trying to do here? You want my fire?" Shoto asked, feeling angry that Izuku is trying to tell him to use his fire.
"What, did my monster of a dad bribe you or something?" Shoto asked, knowing that his idiot fire father had something to do with this.
"Now I'm mad!" Shoto shouted while charging at Izuku to freeze him up close.
But Izuku notice something is up with Shoto's running.
"(He's movements are…)"
"(…slower.)" Katsuki thought noticed, thinking the same thing as Izuku is seeing right now.
"(Is it because he's got so much frost on his body? Maybe his Quirk is like a magic meter in a video game. If that's true, then he could be running on empty.)" Katsuki thought theorized.
"(Did he waste all of his energy fighting against Tape Arms?)" Katsuki thought wondered.
"(And now he's charging at Izuku to get in close to freeze him. Almost a desperate move.)" Weiss thought commented.
"(He's going to try close combat. Big mistake!)" Izuku thought glared.
Izuku blitzes at Shoto the moment he lifted his right leg, but he stops right in front of him which confuses Shoto until he looks down and his eyes widen with shock to see that Izuku is holding his right hand, and the fingers are clutches for another wind smash.
"(I can't dodge this!)" Shoto thought fearful and tried to throw his right hand at Izuku's head to incase him in ice.
But Izuku smacked the hand away and unleashed another Delaware Smash right onto the stomach sending Shoto flying back and gasp in pain that was so close to him, he used his ice to stop himself again. Though he did manage to get a little bit of ice on the arm Izuku used to smack it away.
"Shit! That kid got another hit on the number two hero's son!" One hero with chainsaw teeth gasped.
"Midoriya is really got all out with his attacks." Another hero was amazed by Izuku's power and skills.
Shoto coughs a little as he clutches onto his stomach, feeling the intense pain as he gets back up.
"(Why…?)" Shoto thought asked himself on why Izuku is going through such extremes now.
Shoto launches a wave of ice at Izuku only for him to dodge it again.
"(The ice attacks aren't moving as fast now.)" Izuku thought noticed this.
"(That means he won't be able to keep up!)" Izuku thought charged up his body.
"If you were having this much trouble with me right now, then let how you handle me… at 15%!" Izuku yelled, increasing the power output of One for All throughout his entire body.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, did he just say 15%?!" Denki asked in shock.
"That idiot! He only just recently started using his power Quirk at 10% when he fought against me, and now he's rushing himself to a higher level!" Weiss facepalmed.
"Oh boy, Izuku better know what he's doing or else he may end up exhausting himself, or worse." Ruby gulped.
"Like I said, there's no need to worry. He got this." Yang believed strongly in Izuku.
"Is it really wise to say that while grabbing onto your own breast like that?" Blake asked, seeing Yang's hand squeezing and groping her own breast.
"Yang Xiao Long! How could you?!" Momo gasped.
"You're almost a pervert as Mineta!" Kyoka groaned, earning a "HEY!" from the grape-headed boy.
"Oh, when did I start doing that?" Yang was surprised at herself for groping like that.
Izuku can feel the intense pressure from increasing One for All up to 15% like his body flinching a bit.
"(I know it's risky, but I have to try! I have show Shoto that I can fight at my very best and beyond!)" Izuku thought gritted his teeth.
Shoto can see that Izuku is gonna try attacking him while keeping that power under control, quickly going to conjure ice to attack him again.
"Weiss was right! You are a coward!" Izuku shouted.
That cause Shoto to pause his attack as he gasps and Izuku ran at him the instant he does landing a kick in the stomach followed by a punch down on the head knocking Shoto away.
"That's the kind of action I like to see!" Present Mic commented.
"(It hurts, but that's to be expected.)" Izuku thought flinched in the pain.
"(I can't stop now!)" Izuku thought glared at Shoto.
Izuku blitzes toward Shoto to deliver a swift strike on the shoulder, then on the back and head, then another strike on the left side, then he goes on with a barrage of attacks on all sides.
But then Izuku felt his body arching in pain that cause another of his punches to pause just for a second, but that one second is what Shoto needed to move out of the way even though he got a graze on his right arm.
"You won't get me that easily!" Shoto growled.
"Should I step in, Midnight?" Cementoss asked through his ear-comm.
"Midoriya has gotten better in control with his Quirk, but now it looks like he's being reckless like before and hurting himself. He's full of adrenaline, he probably doesn't even realize how much pain he'll cause his body over time, but those injuries will get bad, and I fear they probably can't be healed in one go." Cementoss stated.
"I'm also very worried if he tried fighting again in the next round if he does something like this." Cementoss said.
"(Izuku Midoriya, just what are you up to?)" Midnight thought wondered.
Aizawa watches on, seeing the fight Izuku is doing right now, and it made him think back about the time when he gave Izuku a scolding after the combat training exercise.
(Flashback)
"Work harder. And don't give me the excuse that you don't have control over your Quirk." Aizawa said which Izuku took those words very well.
(Flashback End)
"(His power has lessened, but he gained some control. Better and sooner than expected.)" Aizawa thought admitted that much.
"(It's not that he's fighting recklessly. He's just doing everything he can to win the match within his current skill level, even if that means pushing himself above.)" Aizawa thought noticed this.
"(But man, even if it can be healed. To go through such pain and still putting up a fight requires an absurd amount of resolve. What's driving him? Why's he so intent?)" Aizawa thought wondered.
Shoto forms an ice wall behind him to block a punch from Izuku though that didn't stop him from pushing through and performed another wind smash on him.
"Go, Izuku! Fuck him up good!" Yang cheered louder.
"If you dare lose to Shoto before he realizes what a fool, he's being then I'll never forgive you." Weiss yelled.
"It's just as Weiss said earlier. You are a coward and nothing more if you're only going to fight halfway!" Izuku shouted.
Shoto growls in anger upon hearing about Weiss again and remembering what she said to him back then, and that slap she gave him.
(Flashback)
"You're calling me a coward?" Shoto asked, then suddenly got slapped on the face hard by Weiss.
"Because you're saying such nonsense that the fire is your father's when we all know it's your power, you're the one born with it and it's through your will only to make that fire yours. It was never your fathers to begin with." Weiss stated.
"If you don't see that, then you'll just bring yourself down than going up and that attitude of yours… You're only turning yourself into your father." Weiss pointed out.
(Flashback End)
"(Izuku, through the short times that I've gotten to know you. The only thing you ever wanted to be was a hero, a kind of hero just like All Might.)" Weiss thought recalled those moments.
"(He's the greatest hero, and I wanna be just like him.)" Izuku thought clutched his fists and look towards Shoto who has just gotten back up.
"(In order to do that, I have to be strong enough to become number one.)" Izuku thought took one step forward.
"(I know my motivation might seem stupid compared to yours.)" Izuku thought gasped when seeing Shoto about to unleash another ice attack.
"Smash!" Izuku fired another wind blast from his fourth finger.
"Why are you putting yourself through this?" Shoto asked.
"I wanna live up to people's expectations." Izuku answered while walking towards Shoto.
"I wanna be able to smile while doing something good for them. I wanna be a pro! Whatever it takes to be a hero!" Izuku said more a little louder.
"Shoto." Shoto could've sworn he just heard his mom's voice in his head, but that little direction got Izuku to punch a punch across the face knocking him down.
"That's why I'll give it my all just like you should be!" Izuku scolded.
"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 wanna 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." Izuku scolded.
Every word Izuku speaks with is starting to cause Shoto to remember more of his past, about his mom and what his dad put him through.
(Flashback)
Little Shoto is coughing hard after another hard training session with his dad.
"Now get up. If you can get hurt that easily then you'll never be able to beat All Might, or even a small-time villain." Enji demanded.
"Please, stop pushing him! He's only five years old." Shoto's mom pleaded.
"He can take it. Get outta my way." Enji smacked Rei away much to Shoto's shock.
Next scene shows Little Shoto is seen hugging onto his mom, sobbing in pain because of what his father is putting him though.
"I don't want to, mom. Please, I… I don't wanna be the kind of guy he is. I don't wanna be someone who bullies you and hurts people, Momma!" Shoto cried while hugging his mom.
"But honey, you do still wanna be a hero, don't you?" Shoto's mom asked as she stroke his head.
(Flashback End)
"Just remember, stay true to yourself. You can be the kind of hero you want to be when you grow up." Words from Shoto's mom said in his head.
"That's why I'm going to win this! I'll surpass you!" Izuku blitzed at Shoto with a punch in the stomach sending him back.
Once again, Shoto starts to remember more of his early childhood.
(Flashback)
Little Shoto looking down at his two older siblings playing ball together and Enji comes in taking the boy's hand and dragging him away.
"Ignore them, Shoto. They live in a different world than what I'm training you for." Enji proclaimed.
Now we see Rei in the kitchen alone and talking to her mother on the phone, and Shoto caught after his bathroom trip.
"Mom? I feel like I'm going crazy. I can't take it anymore. Every day, the children seem more like him. And Shoto… That child's left side sometimes looks unbearable to me. All I can see is his father." Rei feared.
"I can't raise him anymore. I want to run away from this life." Rei admitted in fear.
"Mom, what are you saying?" Shoto asked which spooks Rei as she slowly turns around to see Shoto, but with the eyes of someone who is looking at a monster.
"(I remember…)" Shoto thought recalled it all.
Then came the sound of sizzling splash sounds.
Next scene is where Shoto is standing in the hallway with the left side of his face covered in bandages even over his eye.
"Moronic woman. To hurt you at such an important time." Enji sighed.
"Where did momma go?" Shoto asked.
"Huh? Oh, she hurt my masterpiece, so I put her in a hospital to keep you safe." Enji answered.
"It's your fault this happened…" Shoto said making his father look at him.
"You're the one who made her hurt me." Shoto angered.
"(I will reject you.)"
(Flashback End)
"I refuse… to use my left side." Shoto groaned as he gets back up.
"It's yours! Your Quirk, not his!" Izuku yelled with his fist held high into the air and the electric sparks emitting around his fist. And then he blitzes at Shoto to give him a slap on the same spot just like Weiss did.
This causes Shoto to gasp.
KO a new chapter is done and hope you all enjoy it!
Izuku is really giving his all in this fight to even use his Delaware Smash on Shoto while landing some smackdown more than just his punches, and it looks like his words have given Shoto some thoughts more about his past. Along with a slap, taken a page from Weiss when she slapped him.
KO comment, favorite, and follow through of how this story will go!