Chapter 36

Sports Festival Part 4:

A Tale of Fire and Ice

"Ugh... did anyone get the number of the truck that hit me?" were the first words to come out of Izuku's mouth as he brought one of his hands up to his forehead, rubbing it tenderly with another audible groan escaping his lips.

"Well, look who decided to wake up…" the soft, elderly voice of Krile said as she walked into the private room where they were keeping him. The small lalafell clambered up onto a stool that was placed beside his bed as she put her hand on his forehead, then moving it to his neck to feel his pulse.

"H-Hey Krile…" the boy spoke sheepishly, his cheeks red in embarrassment from not only being shirtless but as well as from how icy her little hands felt on his skin as she checked him over. It took a few moments, but Izuku finally spoke up once again as he winced from the sheer coldness of the stethoscope placed on his left pectoral, "I-is everyone alright? I didn't hurt anyone, did I?"

"Hmm? Oh no, aside from the dean having to placate the audience about how your quirk was negatively affected by that Shinsou boy's brainwashing quirk, it seemed to dispel some of the weariness of the audience. But, as to your question, everyone, aside from you, of course, came out fine."

"Oh, good…" Izuku gently laid back onto the medical bed with a heavy sigh escaping past his lips, staring up at the ceiling for another few moments before he spoke once again, as if he was clearly deep in thought, "How long was I out for?"

"About forty or so minutes, which wasn't long as it took to repair the platform and restart the fights." spoke the elderly nurse as she pulled up a clipboard that was hanging off of the end of his bed, "So far, that Todoroki boy has already moved onto the next round, while the youngest Iida has just finished his battle with Shiozaki, currently Bakugo and Tokoyami are brawling and as I'm sure you had decided, that fight will not last long, given the nature of Dark Shadow."

Izuku gently nodded as the expression on his face dimmed slightly; while he had no qualms with how strong his bird-headed classmate was, being pitted against a quirk that literally causes massive explosions of light would quickly end the battle within a few strikes. That, and Bakugo was no idiot, and when it came to combat tactics, Bakugo was one of the best in class. Coupled with the blonde bomber's own observational skills, he would have figured out Dark shadow's weakness already.

But now, Izuku felt a pit in the middle of his stomach as he looked towards Krile, who was busy scribbling away on the clipboard, "U-Um… so who won in my match?"

"Hmm? Oh, you were the one to progress to the next round due to two factors. Despite the danger he was in, Shinsou did fall out of bounds, so technically, it was his loss despite the danger he was in. And second, he also forfeited for that very reason as well, even citing that he was the cause for the prolonged state you were in due to not releasing his quirk's hold over you."

Izuku had already risen out of his bed as she spoke, wincing slightly from how sore his arms and legs felt, but he had that determined look in his eyes as Krile sighed heavily, already knowing what he was going to go do, "Aside from the soreness in your arms and legs, you are fit to continue in the tournament, Midoriya… if you are going to do what I think you are going to do, then make it quick as your next fight will be starting shortly. Also, Nezu wishes to talk about what happened after the festival."

Izuku nodded, slowly making his way to the door as the shorter woman grumbled something under her breath and sighed once again, calling out to him as he made his way down the hallway, "AND TEXT YOUR MOTHER AND ERI! YOU SCARED THE LIVING HELLS OUT OF THEM, YOU DUNDERHEAD!"

Shinsou sighed gently as he watched the latest match of the sports festival with the rest of his classmates in the general studies stands. While he wasn't particularly proud of his performance against the "golden boy" of Class 1-A, his classmates had actually been supportive of him when he had returned back from visiting Recovery Girl to have a quick check-up.

Shinsou's eyes squinted down as he watched the rather arrogant blonde taking down his classmate with relative ease. He wished he could have knocked that asshole down a few pegs, as Shinsou knew it would have been far easier to get Bakugo to reply to him; at least, he had hoped that would be the case.

"Um... Shinsou?" an airy feminine voice from behind him on the stairs called out to him. Turning his head, he came upon the visage of one of his classmates, one of the girls with wild gray hair styled like an upwind swirl and waving slightly in the air. She looked a little frightened and tilted his head past her, and looking up to the entrance, he could see why.

At the top of the stairs was one Izuku Midoriya, who gave him a timid little wave.

"He wanted to talk with you privately, should… would you like someone to go with you?" asked the girl, still looking a little afraid, though it seemed different now. Shinsou took a small inhale of air and slowly rose from his seat, thanking his classmate, shaking his head no to her question, and headed past her up the stairs to the Class 1-A student waiting patiently for him.

It hadn't taken that long to find a private area to speak with the green-haired boy; Shinsou had leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms, "If your upset about my forfeiting, then you can save it-"

"I actually wanted to apologize to you for a few things, actually." Izuku interrupted the gen ed student, "So, um… to start off, you're probably wondering how I figured out how your quirk works."

"I'm going to assume it was one of your classmates I brainwashed earlier in the festival telling you, and you figured it out?"

"A-actually…" Izuku rubbed the back of his neck, looking away in embarrassment, "I knew before the festival and kept it to myself…."

Shinsou's eyes slowly opened wide, shocked that somehow Izuku had found out what his quirk was beforehand, despite never using it out in public. His shocked expression slowly morphed into a squint, "... How?"

"W-Well, and I can explain myself! But… I asked for access to the student files to read over your quirk profile."

"YOU DID WHAT?!"

"I know! I'm sorry! But you piqued my interest! I wanted to know why you were so spiteful towards us after that declaration of war outside of our classroom. When you mentioned how unfair the entrance exams were as they favored flashy quirks, it made me want to know why you felt that way!"

"And you couldn't just, I don't know, come and ask me?!"

"... would that have worked?" was Izuku's response to the question, which caught Shinsou off guard for a moment, letting that question float around his head before the purple-haired boy grumbled out a sigh.

"Yea, no… probably not. But still, what the hell, man!"

"I-I know! I'm so sorry about that, but as I said, I didn't tell anyone! I would never share information about someone's quirk without their permission! H-Here!" Izuku reached into his pocket and produced two folded-up pieces of paper.

Hesitantly, Shinsou slowly took them and began to unfold one. At the same time, Izuku continued to speak, "That one is the notes I took down while I analyzed your quirk from your profile as well as my observations from today. Y-you have an amazing quirk, Shinsou! It would be perfect for hero work! Either by talking down civilians in dire situations or stopping villains before they can do anything!"

As Izuku began to mutter and continue to praise his quirk, Shinsou's tired eyes widened again at the information that was written down, his eyes looking over them slowly at first before just scanning them quickly. It was then he noticed it wasn't just a single piece of paper, but actually three! Full of possibilities, weaknesses, and ways to improve himself. It was at this point that Izuku had finally finished his muttering, looking at Shinsou with a smirk, "If you're wondering why I gave it to you, it's because I always make sure to ask people if I can analyze their quirk in detail. While I did rip them out of my notebook, if you'd allow it, I can keep it with the rest of the notes of my classmates in the heroic course."

Shinsou raised an eyebrow at this, "... And why keep them with your friends in the hero course?"

"Well, it just feels right?" Izuku shrugged, causing Shinsou to give him a deadpan look before looking at the second folded-up piece of paper he had been given. After moving his own quirk's notes under his arm, he began to open it.

"And what's this?"

"... Those are the notes on my quirk, 'Manifest'." Izuku said soberly that caught the general education student off guard, his eyes staring at Izuku who was smiling at him gently now, "I was always planning on giving that to you since I went to look at your quirk profile, and to also apologize for doing what I did."

Remaining silent, Shinsou slowly unfolded the papers and slowly began to read them. The sounds of the audience cheering echoing out in the corridor both boy's stood in. Izuku remained silent as Shinsou kept reading. Page after page was slowly turned over with more reading, and a frown gradually formed on Shinsou's face. As he finished the final page, he looked up at Izuku and kept his grimace as he spoke in a rather monotone voice.

"Magic?… really?"

"I know!" Izuku sighed in exasperation, hanging his head, "I know it sounds dumb, but it's the best reference I could give to some of my kit's abilities!"

"... and this 'inner beast' you mentioned in the information about the 'Warrior' Kit… that's what happened during our match?"

"Yea…" Izuku now frowned and crossed his arms over his chest, "What still confuses me is how I was able to even switch into my kits while under your control…."

"Well, given how much your quirk breaks any sort of logic to what we know about quirks in general, maybe my brainwashing had some sort of unknown effect that neither of us could have anticipated."

"I think that's what happened as well… say, Shinsou…." Izuku uncurled his arms and looked at the purple-haired student, who raised an eyebrow in curiosity, "After the internships, would you mind if we did some tests with your quirk and mine? Supervised by Mr. Aizawa, of course, since if something happens like it did during our match, Aizawa could cancel out your quirk, so I regain control."

"Why not just cancel out your quirk?"

"... he can't… for whatever reason, my quirk cannot be erased."

Shinsou sighed heavily, his hand moving up to the bridge of his nose and rubbing it slowly, "Of course it can't."

"O-one of the reasons my teacher gave me the nickname 'problem child'... amongst other things." Izuku rubbed the back of his neck, chuckling gently with a slight blush on his cheeks. At this point, Shinsou was just staring deadpan at Izuku, though a little confused why he seemed to enjoy having such an odd nickname. The tired-looking student sighed heavily once more, his hands in his pockets now as he waited for Izuku to look back at him.

"I guess I should apologize too; I figured I'd try and say some nasty things to get you to finally say something did… but I just want to let you know that I didn't mean anything by them."

"Yea, I had a feeling… and admittedly, you did hit a little too close to someone I care about personally."

Now that caught his interest, "Oh? Was it that Ashido girl? Or the one with the black ponytail?"

Silence, with Izuku blushing and looking away and scratching his cheek was all Shinsou got in response, which caused him to whistle low, "Damn… you hear rumors of hero harems being formed, but I never would-"

"I-It's not a harem!" Izuku shouted, looking absolutely flustered, "I-Its a polyamorous relationship, where everyone in it dates everyone."

"So, like, they date not only you but also each other?" Shinsou asked with an eyebrow raised, which got Izuku to nod his head rapidly. As the gen ed student was about to continue his questions, the audio speakers blared to life and called Izuku down to the central battle platform for his next fight. Both boys looked at one another, and Izuku was staring at Shinsou with a determined look.

"I'm sorry that I looked at your quirk profile, Shinsou, and I do wish the entrance exam didn't cater to flashy quirks, but… and I don't mean any offense as I say this, but relying on your quirk and only your quirk is not the best way to make it in the hero course here… While your brainwashing is fantastic, did you ever think what would happen if you went against a villain that was, say, deaf? Or unable to respond to anything you said"

Shinsou remained quiet at that, his hand rubbing his arm a little sheepishly now, "...I wanted to prove my quirk wasn't a 'villains' quirk to everyone who kept telling me that throughout my life. Even if your 'kit' went berserk just now, I doubt you'd know what it's like to have a label like that."

Izuku smiled gently at that, "I actually do… my quirk didn't come in until about a year before the start of this semester. So all my life, I was labeled as a 'quirkless loser that had an impossible dream of being a hero'..."

Shinsou only stared at Izuku in pure shock, while admittedly being called a "villain in the making" while growing up wasn't the best of experiences… o.k. It fucking sucked. But, being labeled quirkless and even believing he was for so long, the horror stories you would hear about how poorly quirkless people were treated, and the suicide rate at that…

"Geezus, Wow… I feel like an absolute douchebag now."

Izuku placed a hand on his shoulder, smirking at Shinsou, "Your not, trust me… and I can say that if it wasn't for my… geez… it's still weird to say this, 'girlfriends' and my friends that I made here at UA… well, I wouldn't have made it as far as I had. So that's why I want to help you get into the hero course!"

Shinsou looked shocked at Izuku, who was now smiling brightly, and continued to speak, "After the internships, I can set us up with some weight training as well as basic combat practice! Plus, I have a few ideas where I can make you some really great gear with magitek!"

Still remaining silent, the speakers blared with life again, making the last call for the combatants, watching as Izuku began to run towards the entrance where he needed to go. His face was still in shock before a slow smirk crept on his face.

From a corner not too far from the two students, Aizawa smirked to himself before pushing off the wall he was leaning against and began to walk towards the general education student who still remained standing in his current position.

All the while thinking of the potential this future hero would have.

As the crowd cheered somewhat more soberly when Izuku had finally made it down the field, Shoto Todoroki was glaring at him with an intense look in his eyes. He had been approached by the man he "called" father before this match and tried to force/convince him to use his fire. Of course, Shoto had told him off, proclaiming to his "sperm donor" he would win this entire tournament with just his ice, storming off before he could hear the rebuttal of the number two hero.

The encounter had left a sour taste in Shoto's mouth. Admittedly he was more angered than he usually would allow as he kept staring daggers at Izuku, who met his gaze with a fierce look of his own. Clearly, the well-known "hero fanboy" was already analyzing him, probably thinking of ways to either take him out quickly or make him use his fire.

That was the one reason why Shoto had sought him out after the second event, despite not using any of his so-called "kits" and relying upon that maniac of a support student's inventions, the way Midoriya had fought him with such vigor and strength had caused Shoto to use his fire side a little, nearly breaking his vows of never using the accursed powers of his father.

The words of Midnight were lost to him, but at the cracking sound of her whip, Shoto brought his right foot down, sending a massive glacier of ice instantly towards his opponent. Admittedly, he may have used too much ice compared to his previous matches, probably due to how upset he was still with his father, Endeavor.

"You might as well call it, Ms. Midnight… I doubt even Midoriya could break free from-"

"HEY, TODOROKI!"

Shoto's eyes widened and looked straight up the glacier before him; a few gasps and cries from the audience added to the sheer audacity of the spectacle. From on top of a very tiny point of ice stood Izuku, wearing the iconic armor of the dragoon while wielding his bizarre yet beautiful lance with the glowing violet edges. Shoto tsked and clenched his hands as for the first time ever, he could see a smug smirk on the other boy's lips in his usually more aloof and stoic persona, as Izuku slowly bent his knees to prepare for a jump, but not before shouting something that made Todoroki's blood begin to boil.

"You Missed."

With a mighty leap up, the blue serpentine mist appeared around his body before shifting into the deep crimson red, flipping himself in the air and diving down as his voice echoed out with a draconic sounding roar tinge to it, the red rings forming as he descended down into the ice.

"STAR DRIVER!"

The giant glacier of ice began to crack and split down the middle, falling into itself as Todoroki frowned, raising his foot up once again to send another wave of ice.

However, this time it did not connect as Izuku shot out of the falling debris like a bullet, shifting into his Monk kit, and began to wail upon the dual-colored haired boy with ferocious and quick strikes. Thankfully, Todoroki had some basic combat skills since it had been literally beaten into him at a young age, and he was able to parry or dodge some of the strikes Izuku had tossed his way.

With his own swipe at Izuku, trying to grab hold of him and freeze his arm, the monk leaped back only to jump back and begin backflipping as Todoroki now had room to send a much smaller wave of ice towards his classmate in hopes to freeze his lower half and just remain still to allow for an easy win.

As he put more power into the creeping path of ice rushing towards Izuku, Shoto had begun to feel his body temperature drop, parts of his right arm began to frost over along with the right side of his face. It was hurting like hell, but he needed to end this right here and now.

The ice coming towards Izuku grew more spikes, quickly gaining speed as Izuku did one final backflip to shoot himself higher into the air and right himself to face the oncoming attack. He slowly brought his hands together to his side, his eyes narrowed before pushing them forward and shouting loudly, "ELIXIR FIELD!"

A beam of light shot forth from his hands joined at the wrists, hitting the oncoming ice and shattered the top of the attack that almost had reached him as well as the bottom that clung onto the surface of the battle platform. Izuku landed on his feet, panting heavily as he looked on to see Shoto panting heavily as well, the right side of his body frosting over with clear signs of the beginning of frostbite and probably hypothermia. Izuku's eyes narrowed as he slowly stood up from his battle stance and wiped his brow, "You know if you used the fire side, you would have a better chance against me, as well as defrost yourself."

"I…" Shoto took a deep breath in, squinting his eyes, "I… refuse… to use… his fire!"

"Yes, I get that, Todoroki. But, is this really worth it to show up Endeavor?" Izuku frowned, "Is it worth it to not use your full potential?!"

"Y-you don't… use your full power… I've seen it…." Todoroki breathed out slowly, readying himself once again, "I saw it at... The USJ…during the training lessons against the training dummies… hell, the first event you went all out and took down all those giant robots. So DON'T lecture me about holding back, Midoriya!"

Izuku's expression slowly soured, the frown deepening as he shifted once again, this time taken on the Warrior Kit with the same outfit many of his classmates had seen before. The furred cape billowed slowly as he unlatched it and let the cape fly off somewhere off of the platform, "You're correct... I do hold back, for if I didn't, I'd have accidentally killed our classmates or teachers with my strength long ago."

"But there is a difference between restraint and outright refusal to go one hundred percent! Like All Might, I do it so I don't kill anyone by just sneezing or giving them a 'light' tap to the shoulder. YOU-" Izuku shouted and pointed his blunted ax at the dual-quirked student, "Choose to not wield the powers of your fire because of a grudge! While everyone else has been giving their absolute best, you're barely giving it your all!"

"So, why should I take you seriously and give you my all when you don't have the courtesy of doing the same?" Izuku said with a bluntness to his words that really made Todoroki snarl, quickly bringing down his right foot and creating one last glacier, rushing towards the warrior at blinding speeds, engulfing him and three-quarters of the central area in a towering block of ice.

"GEEZUS!" Kaminari exclaimed as before the stands where class 1-A were seated, their view now obstructed by the ginormous glacier in their vision. While most of their classmates were worried about the fate of Izuku as they had looked up to see no sign of the barbarian outfitted classmate.

Further up in the bleachers, four out of the six girls of class 1-A not only dealing with the possible fact that their boyfriend was now buried under who knows how much ice now, but one girl was having her own issues.

Tsuyu shivered and curled up on herself, metaphorically frozen to her seat as she looked absolutely exhausted, beginning to hibernate due to the massive cold front caused by the glacier's presence. Both Mina and Kyoka, who were sitting beside her on either side, had tried to rub her arms and legs to keep the heat flowing in the frog girl's body, while Momo was beginning to unbutton the bottom of her gym top to create a blanket.

"Hold on, Tsu!" Toru said she had sent Yuga to go fetch something hot to drink with all due haste, "You gotta keep awake!"

"I-It's really hard too… k-kero…." The frog girl shivered out a croak, "B-But we s-s-should be worried… a-about… I-Izuku…"

"Our muscular cinnamon roll can handle himself, Tsu." Mina had said and was rubbing the frog girl's arms feverishly, "And knowing him, he'd be more worried about you than himself!"

"K-Kero… t-true…" Tsuyu had sighed gently, looking down slightly before noticing a large shadow had moved far above her, slowly looking up the other girls doing did so as well, they all looked on in shock as floating down to them was Izuku's discarded cloak, having been launched into the air when the glacier had formed.

It sailed in the air clumsily before landing on top of Toru, Mina, and Tsu. Which the first two had quickly pushed off of them and wrapped the freezing frog into like a cocoon with it.

Tsuyu's breathing became more steady as she nuzzled against the soft and warm fur, causing all the girls to gently coo at how adorable she looked. Kyoka snapped back to her senses when she heard something coming from the giant block of ice; her eyes widened when she saw the faint red glow from deep within the glacier faded, "Um.. girls... We might wanna move back from the giant block of ice."

All of them now looked to see the faint red glowing from the middle of the glacier appear once more, and piecing together what was going to happen, Kyoka and Mina had gently helped Tsuyu to her feet. At the same time, Toru and Momo directed the rest of their classmates back towards the entrance. Momo sighed inwardly at the fact that Iida had stepped away to answer a phone call before the match had begun and yet hadn't returned to his seat, which would have been a boon for taking charge as the class president.

Everyone, not only Class 1-A, had quickly moved back towards the entrances of the stadium as the glacier began to shake and tremor, causing some of the thicker icicles to come crashing down the sides and landing onto the ground, smashing into hundreds of smaller pieces.

A giant crack within the tower appeared at the base. With each shake of the ice, it grew more and more, reaching the very peak of the glacier before everything came crashing down. The screams and shouts from the audience due to the buffet of cold wind that escaped when the icy structure fell filled the air for a few moments before everything went silent again. Once it was deemed safe to look back down, everyone was hit with a… rather pleasing sight to most.

Standing in the direct middle of the glacier debris was Izuku, panting heavily, with what looked like a sphere of melted ice cracked in two laid to his left and right side. Droplets of water caused by his intense body heat melting the frost on his skin slowly traveled down his form, outlining every crevice of his muscular body for all to see as his long green hair stuck to his head and upper back.

As everyone looked on to the scene, a clearing of a throat from above them caught the attention of Class 1-A. They all looked up to see the floating head of Setsuna looking down at them, but what was odd was what looked like small mushrooms had sprouted in her hair.

"So, a little embarrassing…But, Kinoko kinda… exploded… After 'big green' down there broke free, and now our seats are covered in mushrooms, so could we sit with you guys?."

Todoroki looked on in awe and shock at the feat that his classmate had performed, panting heavily with the right side of his body practically frozen in place now and his breath now visible from how cold his body was.

He watched as Izuku slowly took a few steps forward, rolling his shoulders as a slight green mist enveloped his body before disappearing just as quickly as it appeared. The warrior, glaring at Todoroki and a mere twenty feet away, held his hax in a single hand; the droplets of water that were traveling down his body had evaporated at this point, possibly due to the body heat he was generated when he used his "infuriate" ability within the icy enclosure.

"Are you done?" Izuku asked with a stone-cold tone of voice, "Do you see that your ice alone and half-assing this won't stop me?"

"S-shut up…" Todoroki stuttered, his body shaking from the cold and the numbness throughout his body wasn't helping in the slightest, "I -I don't have to a-answer to y-"

"Then who will answer for it? Will it be the civilians you fail to save? Will they answer for your refusal?"

Todoroki was taken aback by this latest accusation. His eyes went wide for a moment as he slowly began to think. Of course, if it was to save civilians, he may have to use "his" fire… actually, no... he wouldn't; why would he need to use that man's power when his mother's ice worked practically all the time?

Gritting his chattering teeth, Todoroki took slow breaths, "I will not use "his" fire-"

A stomp of his classmate's foot, with the platform cracking, interrupted the dual quirked boy, Izuku's face was now enraged, and his emerald eyes glowing a fierce deep red color as he snarled at Todoroki, "YOU IDIOT! IT'S NOT HIS FIRE, HIS POWER; IT'S YOURS!"

Todoroki watched on as Izuku took a few calming breaths, his hand clenching tightly on the shaft of the ax as he spoke evenly but sternly, "It's your power, your fire, AND ice! Not your mother's, not your father's!"

"Just because you're the son of Endeavor doesn't mean that your fire is tied to anything to him! It's yours to control and wield for you and you alone! Tell me, Shoto." Izuku said, calling out his classmate's first name, "Tell me, why are you at UA? What do you want to be?"

Todoroki's eyes slowly widened as he began to remember a memory long since forgotten, a time where he was barely four years old, sitting in the family's living room with his mother, watching the latest news coverage of his father and All Might on T.V.

He remembered how sweet her voice was, as the young Shoto said he was scared of using his fire and that he would be just as scary as the pro hero. His mother had held him close and told him that his fire was different from his father's, and he could do so many great things with it. She then asked him what he wanted to do, and the answer he gave back then was the same as the one he gave to the bare-chested classmate standing before him.

"I want to be a hero!"

Izuku smiled, watching as the left side of his classmate ignited into a glorious blaze of reds and yellows; the heat he generated had begun to melt the ice all around them, as well as defrost the boy's right side. The fire continued to burn, expelled out of his body like that of a phoenix of myth.

A flash of light and Izuku was back in his gym outfit, still panting gently as Todoroki was smiling at him, "You are an utter fool, Midoriya. What kind of person is willing to try to help out their opponent and hinder their chances of victory?"

"I helped you out because it was the right thing to do, Todoroki, as All Might would say, 'Sticking your nose in other people's business is what it means to be a hero'!" Izuku chuckled as Todoroki smirked for a moment.

"So… are you going to take me seriously now? Given you aren't wearing that loincloth anymore?" The dual-quirked student said with a little bit of mirth to his voice as some of his fire slowly died down. Izuku, on the other hand, blushed, and his cheeks puffed up in indignation.

"Says the guy whose original costume covered his entire left side, even his eye."

Todoroki chuckled at that before his smile faded. He looked on to Izuku as if waiting for the honest answer. The green-haired boy sighed gently, his own smile fading to a slight smirk, "In truth, you know how my quirk works… I get 'pulls' from people or objects that unlock more of my kits."

With his opponent waiting, Izuku continued, "Ever since I saw you use your ice at the beginning of the year, I felt a small tug, nothing major to look into until our talk at lunch today."

"It seemed your objections to using your fire had actually made the tug feel weaker, or something was blocking it; I can't explain it well... But it didn't feel right. So, while my priority was to make sure I could help you overcome whatever was stopping you from using your fire…." Izuku had rubbed the back of his neck, looking away in embarrassment, "There was… a teensy part of me that also did it to help me unlock my new kit that is connected to you."

Todoroki squinted his eyes at this, looking into Izuku's when the boy brought his gaze back up to see if the green-haired boy was lying to him just now. But all he saw was the innocent look his classmate always had. With a gentle sigh, Todoroki nodded to himself as he slowly readied himself, "So, now that my fire has been released, why haven't you become this new kit you mentioned?"

"That's the thing, I thought it was because of just having your fire come out that it would appear, but now I see it as something much more." Izuku said as his head began to hurt; the fading voice of Hydaelyn's words started to echo in his head as he smirked, "It was the combination of both your ice and fire, two chaotic forces of nature that are the direct opposite with one another but so in tune with your mastery of them… even if you haven't wielded your fire much, I can see you lowering your flames right now, such delicate control for a quirk you haven't used in a very long time."

"You are going all out… so I will do so in kind, on equal footing."

Izuku's body lit up the entire stadium once again; the gasps and shouts from the audience echoed as the light seemed to be brighter than before, with a higher pillar of light shooting forth from the center of the stadium. Todoroki had to cover his eyes from the sight. However, as it faded, he moved his arm away from his vision, and his heterochromatic eyes slowly opened wider at the sight before him.

Izuku stood there in bulky but intricately decorated black robes where silver threads decorated the edges and hems of the blackened cloth with intricate designs running up the sleeves and robes in various parts. The shoulders were covered by a single piece of fabric. In the middle of the "pauldrons," a bright purple crystal was stitched into the dead center of the outfit.

What looked like a giant hood hung behind his neck and rested against his upper back, though not needed apparently as sitting on top of Izuku's head was a large pointed hat, the edges of the brim were uneven with a green silk ribbon wrapped around the base of the "cone" of the obviously witch-like hate. However, it had the oddest addition of a black cover over his right eye (either as some sort of mockery or perhaps a nod to Todoroki, he wasn't too sure.)

Slowly, Izuku raised his hand up, revealing the sharpened metallic clawed gauntlets that enveloped his fingers, the angle showing Todoroki that the "gloves" traveled to his elbow underneath the baggy-looking robe sleeve. Another small flash of light and his empty hand now wielded an admittedly dark-looking staff.

Bringing it down to his side where the bottom end of it was placed on the ground, it was barely taller than Izuku, though the odd skull of a ram (at least he hoped it was) sitting at the top looked on ominously with a bright blue crystalline orb sat underneath.

The black-robed boy suddenly shifted into an odd battle stance, raising the staff up and slanted to the side in a forty-five-degree angle, where his free hand hovered behind it. Todoroki's fire and ice began to form over his body as the blue orb on the staff began to glow, and Izuku was smiling at his opponent. Though the smile felt off, not his typical bright smile that he was known for, but a manic-looking one, with his one visible pupil shrunk down to add to the look.

"Come Todoroki, let us give the audience a beautiful display of fire and ice, let us unleash our full potential and show the people their future heroes and leave the villains quaking in their boots at our awesome power!"