"You've made a mistake, Izuku Midoriya."

Shoto Todoroki stared Izuku down from a few paces away, the two of them locking eyes and glaring in silence. Izuku had no idea what he was talking about, but he picked up the undercurrent of something in Todoroki's voice, something other than the unfeeling stoicism that he maintained at all times. He didn't know what it was, it could have been anger, sadness, shock or glee, and Izuku wouldn't be able to differentiate between them whatsoever, as Todoroki's face remained as blank and still as searched Todoroki's sharp glare for a moment, trying to glean any remotely apparent emotion, but couldn't learn anything from just looks alone. The one thing that Izuku knew for sure was that Uraraka couldn't hear what came next, because it was surely going to be about Todoroki's particular problem with him and his name. He turned to Uraraka and took a moment to think of what excuse he wanted to use, unsure if she'd buy any kind of lie at this point. As her attention was caught by this moment of silent contemplation, Uraraka looked at him and her eyes widened, surely recognising what he was about to do.

"No," she said.

"I'm sorry," Izuku sighed. "I need to talk to Todoroki alone."

"I don't want to be left in the dark. Whatever he can say to you, he can say to me," Uraraka said, her voice rising in volume as she resisted Izuku's attempt to send her away. She looked over at Todoroki and met his eyes, attracting his glare to her own.

"She knows?" Todoroki asked. He quickly shifted his gaze back to Izuku after giving her an evaluating glance.

Though hot shame speared his chest and dried his tongue, Izuku hung his head as he answered with a breaking voice. "No."

"What don't I know?" Uraraka asked, taking a step away from Izuku and towards the wall, putting distance between her, Todoroki and Izuku himself in equal measure. "What's he talking about?"

"It's complicated," Izuku said, sending Uraraka a pleading look. He needed her to understand.

"I think it's very simple," Todoroki said, reminding Izuku of his presence.

"Shut up!" Izuku said, pointing a shaking finger at him. "Why are you even here?"

"Because you made me use my fire."

Silence filled the hall at that confession. Izuku and Uraraka were both startled out of their disagreement and stared at Todoroki in their bafflement. He stood unnervingly still, not saying a word more as the two of them collected themselves. The three of them remained quiet for a few moments, simply contemplating what they wanted to do next. Izuku's frustration won out over Uraraka's curiosity and Todoroki's mystery motive, and he snapped first.

"Is that all? You won. Congratulations; is that what you want? Did you just wanna rub it in?" Izuku barked.

"You don't understand—" Todoroki began, but was cut off.

"No, you don't understand!" Izuku said, taking a step toward Todoroki. "What the hell is your problem with me? Surely that's a simple question to answer for the prodigal son of Endeavor."

"Don't say his name," Todoroki snarled, his eyes alive with loathing at the mention of his father.

"Guys," Uraraka called, not willing to put herself in between the two boys as anger rose in their hearts.

"Why not? What was that you said about hot headed fathers this morning, huh? Care to explain?" Izuku asked. He felt his face get warm as his heart started hammering in his chest. He didn't know why he was getting so worked up at Todoroki, but he just wanted to be done with him so that he could move on and focus entirely on the final event of the festival. It truly felt as though the universe was simply throwing things in his path today for the fun of watching him struggle.

"I don't owe you anything," Todoroki said with a venom in his voice as he, too, stepped forward, bringing himself and Izuku face to face as they shot retorts back and forth.

"You don't?" Izuku spat, barking out a laugh. "What was all that this morning? If you think you can intimidate me and get away with it, you're wrong. You're dead wrong, too, if you think you can skate by on half of your perfect Quirk while the rest of us fight tooth and nail to get half the eyes on us that you did just by being born." Todoroki said nothing, simply staring and thinking, so Izuku pressed harder. "How lucky you are to be born with the perfect Quirk, with the perfect father to hand you greatness on a silver platter."

The temperature in the hall immediately dropped twenty degrees. A surprised cry came from Izuku's right as Uraraka reacted to the cold. Frost crawled on Todoroki's right arm, and Izuku's own hands twitched as he readied himself to respond if Todoroki did anything. However, neither of them made moves to attack or defend, locked in a back and forth of words, not fists.

"I told you to stop talking about my father!" Todoroki snarled. Frigid mist blew out of his mouth as he spoke.

"Oh, so your father's off limits, but mine's fair game? Must be because you're the perfect golden child and I'm the villain scum, right?" Izuku yelled back, his hands clenching into tight fists.

"You've got no clue what you're talking about!" Todoroki shouted back. A few thin lines of ice crawled up his neck as the temperature plunged even further, so much so that Izuku's skin stung and his fingers ached at the instantaneous chill.

"You've gotta stop yelling!" came another unheeded cry from Uraraka, echoing in the freezing hall.

"Then enlighten me! Please explain why you feel the need to hold your perfect life over me, when you know who I am and what I've seen!" Izuku screamed. He wasn't really thinking anymore, just letting his mouth run as he lost himself to his anger and frustration. His hands were shaking, but it wasn't because he was cold. In fact, Izuku no longer felt the chill in the air as the sound of crackling ice rang out in the hall.

"Perfect?" Todoroki asked with a scowl, and he laughed. It was the first time that Izuku had heard him laugh, and it was accompanied by an even colder puff of chilled air that momentarily obscured Izuku's vision. "You of all people—!"

Izuku didn't let him finish his sentence. When the cloud of frigid fog dissipated, he could see Todoroki's frosted hand pushing toward him, his outstretched finger pointing at his chest as it surged forward in a jerky, accusing point at Izuku. It triggered Izuku's instincts, and he threw his own hand out, hand outstretched and fingers splayed out evenly. As Todoroki's hand stopped short of touching Izuku's chest, and therefore allowing Todoroki to freeze him with his Quirk, Izuku shoved the other boy as his hand shot out and pressed against his collarbone, pushing Todoroki back with the force of it. Both of them stumbled back after the impact, Todoroki in shock as he shrank away from Izuku's touch in a frenzy, and Izuku out of reflex to avoid Todoroki's hands after his displays in the festival so far. The two of them stared at each other in shock, tension rippling through their bodies, and were stunned into silence as they stood in the hall, a thin layer of ice crunching under their feet as they shifted.

"Hey! What the hell are you two doing?" Uraraka yelled in her third attempt to get their attention.

It was an automatic reaction that had Izuku glancing over at Uraraka as her shout drew his attention away from Todoroki. With that glance, he saw that she was shaking in the cold, her hands balled into fists and glaring at them with an annoyance and ire in her eyes that Izuku rarely saw, much less pointed at himself, and even if he did share it with Todoroki in that moment, he couldn't say he enjoyed the way she scowled at him and glared with a pointed anger. She stepped closer, not bothering to hide the way her teeth chattered in the freezing cold, and scoffed at both of them.

"Does anyone want to explain anything at all? Seriously, what is wrong with you two?" Uraraka said, turning to Izuku for an explanation.

"Like I said, it's complicated," Izuku said. The fire in his chest was put out by the shock at what he'd done, and it was now that the cold began to bite at him in earnest, having been put off by his rage. He drew his hands together and started to glare at Todoroki in a silent request to undo the dramatic decrease in the local temperature.

"Make it simple," Uraraka demanded, a puff of mist escaping her as she sighed impatiently.

Izuku didn't know how to say what needed to be said. He stayed silent as the patch of ice that had briefly spread from below Todoroki evaporated and warmth radiated from his left side. In a few moments, the hallway had returned to a relatively normal temperature, and Uraraka stopped shivering so horribly. Izuku was still trembling, but it still wasn't because of the cold. He had no idea what he wanted to say to Uraraka. He knew he wanted to apologise, he knew he wanted to explain everything about his father and what had happened, and he knew he wanted to keep yelling at Todoroki, but he couldn't say anything to those effects, because his mind had stopped completely upon the realisation of what he'd done. He'd pushed Todoroki, and he'd done it with all five fingers pressing against his chest. If he'd not been wearing gloves, his knee-jerk reaction would have seriously injured Todoroki. It was a fraction of a second of contact, but that was enough for Decimation to take hold and do some damage to Todoroki's upper torso. What had Izuku been thinking? He sent a panicked look at Todoroki, who was still simply staring at him with wide eyes, seemingly having realised the same thing.

"I can explain," Izuku said with a shaking voice. "Everything," he added as he turned to Uraraka.

"Then please, explain," Uraraka said. She gave Izuku a stony expression, and Izuku knew he was screwed. He couldn't lie anymore.

"When I was four years old, my Quirk came in. My father wasn't a very kind man, and I was otherwise defenceless. So … you can imagine what a scared and desperate kid would do when given a Quirk he didn't know how to control, and which kills people when used poorly," he said, staring at his own feet as he spoke.

"You killed Dragon?" Todoroki asked in a whisper, and Izuku brought his head up to glance at him. He was white as a sheet of paper and looking at Izuku with a mix of clear surprise and mild scepticism, which Izuku supposed was earned.

"Yes."

"Wait, who's Dragon?" Uraraka asked with a tremble in her voice. Izuku's own eyes betrayed him by meeting hers, and he saw that she had taken a step back in shock, and was openly gawking at the topic the conversation had shifted to. Izuku didn't blame her for staring at him with wide, startled eyes, but it did make his stomach squirm uncomfortably to have that expression aimed at himself.

"My father. Like I said, he wasn't a good man. In his day, he was actually one of the more dangerous villains in Musutafu. He and Endeavor even fought once, but he was never caught," Izuku said, lamely gesturing to Todoroki as he explained.

"What … why'd you keep that a secret?" Uraraka asked. She spoke with a whine, and Izuku didn't need to see her face to know she was probably feeling hurt right now, like her trust in Izuku had been taken advantage of so that he could keep secrets and feel better about himself. Unfortunately, he did see her face, and the tight frown and drawn-together eyebrows painted that picture without a doubt.

"I-I was scared. I didn't know how you'd react—I didn't know how I'd react. It wouldn't be easy for either of us, so I wanted to wait until I was sure I could do it. I absolutely was going to tell you, I swear, but I guess I have some help," Izuku said. He felt his fists clench once more as anger poked at his heart, and he shot a dirty look at Todoroki.

"I guess my only question is … why? Or—I guess, how? What puts you into t-that position?" Uraraka asked again. She and Izuku locked eyes, and he could see that the anger in those eyes had been chased away by the empathy that he had always admired. She bore no ill will, no desire to make him feel bad about what had happened, just curiosity and sympathy. After ignoring her to get into a screaming match with Todoroki, he didn't feel like he deserved her patience, but he wasn't going to turn her away now, not when she was owed the answers to her questions.

"He hurt my mom," was the simple phrase he uttered that caused a visceral reaction in Uraraka, a grimace twisting her face and understanding dawning in the eyes she kept on his. He wanted so badly to avert his gaze, but he forced himself to maintain eye contact with her as she processed his answer. "Things escalated, but that was the core of it."

"Oh, my gosh. That's—I couldn't imagine. He didn't hurt you, did he—you don't have to answer that if you don't want to. I shouldn't have even asked!" Uraraka said, flying through her words as she realised she had asked a potentially insensitive question. Izuku didn't mind or care all that much, but what got his attention was Todoroki, who he remembered was still there and still listening to everything they said.

"A little bit. It was a long time ago, so it's healed just fine, but …" Izuku trailed off as he held up his left arm for his audience to see, a splotchy patch of paler skin than the rest that curled around his forearm near the elbow. It was a ring of fire, one that had been hurled at him by his father's Quirk, and though it had been healed, he still bore the scar. He was surprised that Uraraka hadn't noticed it before, since he didn't bother to hide it. Izuku forgot about it most days, since it was so old it felt normal, so her not picking up on it when he'd worn short-sleeve shirts was a wonder.

"How'd it happen?" Uraraka sighed, staring at the burn scar.

"Like I said, he hurt my mom and things escalated," he said simply.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Uraraka sighed.

"Don't be. It's done, and I try not to care all too much about what happened. That begs the question, though; why do you?" Izuku said, turning to Todoroki with his pointed question.

Todoroki was staring at Izuku with the same expression he'd been holding ever since Dragon's fate had been revealed. He seemed to be studying Izuku, staring at the side of his head with a glare that would put his father's signature look to shame. Meeting his eyes was difficult, as Izuku had no idea what he was thinking, nor what he'd say if he said anything. The way that Todoroki's hands were clenched into tight fists, with small tremors making his whole body tremble as he silently contemplated whatever he was in such deep thought about. Izuku thought for a moment he was going to lurch forward and attack, but Todoroki instead relaxed his entire body, his face returning to the passive, emotionless mask that he always wore around people. He looked Izuku right in the eye and it sent shivers down his spine, wondering what he could be about to say that would warrant such a look of pure loathing and hatred. Oddly, though, Izuku didn't feel that those feelings were directed at him, more that he was just picking up on them being aimed elsewhere. That was interesting, but as Todoroki spoke, Izuku pushed that to the back of his mind.

"Have you two ever heard of Quirk marriages?" Todoroki asked, his voice back to its smooth, cold steadiness.

Izuku startled, but Uraraka simply mumbled, "No, what's that?"

"I think I've heard about them, but if they're what I'm thinking of, they're illegal, both nationally and internationally—hell, Quirk marriages are eugenics. You're not gonna say what I'm thinking, right?" Izuku said, the implication sending a shock through his mind as he sent a pleading look at Todoroki to keep his unsaid confession just that.

"Quirk marriages are unethical, but they do happen. They're arranged marriages designed to produce children with powerful Quirks, and unfortunately, even Endeavor is not above such means," Todoroki said with a dark tilt to his already low voice.

"Wait, so you're saying that your Quirk is the result of one of these Quirk marriages?" Uraraka asked, getting a nod from Todoroki in return. "That's crazy. I mean, we all know you're uber powerful, but would the number two hero really do something like that?"

"He would, and he has. See, my old man made a name for himself with his strong fire Quirk, but he has limits, and they're not the type he can overcome. He hit a wall, and that wall was named All Might. He can't surpass All Might, and so he sought out someone with a powerful ice Quirk so that their child could gain the advantages of both Quirks and negate the drawbacks," Todoroki continued.

"How would that even work? How could he know?" Uraraka said with a hysterical laugh. Izuku felt a pang of sympathy for her denial, as she clearly didn't want to believe that such a great hero could be capable of such things. That was when Izuku realised what Todoroki was saying, and his stomach sank right out of his body, or at least that was what it felt like.

"He didn't have to know it would work, he just had to be crazy enough to try. Besides, don't you see how it does work? Todoroki's fire and ice are split down the middle, perfectly equal. The downside of a lot of fire Quirks is that humans can't be completely resistant to fire, even with Quirks, and they overheat. The downside to ice Quirks is the same, but with extreme cold. If those drawbacks start to affect Todoroki, he can just use the other side to balance himself out and be good to go. It's awful, but Endeavor knew what he was doing," Izuku said in an attempt to explain to Uraraka in the best way that he could. Her eyes widened and she looked at Todoroki in an attempt to gauge how accurate Izuku's theory was, and got a stiff nod, which made her grimace deepen.

"He did. He forced my mother into a relationship and made her have children so that he could satisfy his sick ambition. He bought her like a thing, and used her for his own ends, mainly surpassing All Might as the number one hero. He made me to usurp that title, and trained me for years in an attempt to hone me as an extension of himself," Todoroki said, his face contorting in anger.

"You didn't have a choice? Your mom couldn't have done anything to get you away from him?" Uraraka asked, and Izuku saw Todoroki's eyes fill with sadness and bitterness.

"No. None of us had any choice but to play into that man's desire for power. I reject that, though, and I've promised myself that I'll reject his will and be my own kind of hero, without his damned fire. I'll be the number one hero with only my mother's Quirk, and deny him everything he wanted in life. That's why I'm going to beat you, Midoriya, because we're the same," Todoroki said, and Izuku startled at that confession. "We're cursed with power we don't want, with fathers who've burned us in the past. If I beat you, I beat him, by beating the version of me that he wants me to become. I'll defeat you, and that's not a promise, it's a warning. You made me use his Quirk, so I'll stop holding back with you. You've dug your own grave, Midoriya."

Izuku stood there, taking in what he'd heard. He spent a moment reconciling the hero he knew Endeavor to be with the picture Todoroki was painting of his home life, but he didn't have to ask to know he had an easier time than Uraraka, who looked to be having a complete mental shutdown in response to the information they'd just been given. Izuku found it fairly easy to accept this new side of Endeavor into his world view; he had experience with people not being what they seemed. That said, this whole thing was unbelievable to Izuku. It wasn't the facts of Endeavor's dark side—that was decently easy to incorporate into his image of Endeavor; the man was focused on the prestige of heroism and the strength of Quirks. It wasn't that he doubted Todoroki's story, not one bit. Honestly, if any top hero was going to be secretly corrupt, Endeavor was Izuku's best guess. That, and Hawks—nobody knew anything about Hawks, which was strange for the number three hero, but that wasn't relevant at the moment. What was relevant was that Todoroki had used all this information as an explanation for his actions. He was using it as an excuse.

"You're not gonna hold back. Is that what you said?" Izuku said, his voice shaking with anger that was slowly rising in his chest.

"That's right. You've proven yourself to be a threat to me, and so I'll give you my full attention in the coming trials," Todoroki confirmed.

"Oh, shut up! We both know you don't mean that!" Izuku yelled, causing both Todoroki and Uraraka to look at him in shock and confusion, respectively. "If you were really going all out, you'd use your fire on me!"

"I just told you—" Todoroki tried to say, but Izuku didn't let him make any more excuses.

"—you won't use your fire. I get it, you have daddy issues. You're not special, and you're not taking this seriously. If you think you can come at me with only half your power and expect me to feel honoured or something, then you're dead wrong," Izuku said, meeting Todoroki's eyes once again and glaring at him with a hot fire roiling in his stomach. "I feel bad for you, but a bad home life doesn't give you an excuse to be an asshole. I've been in that spot, and it's not good for anyone, least of all yourself. Handicapping yourself because your dad sucks just makes things worse for you. I won't pretend to know where exactly you're coming from, but I do recognise that we're more similar than I thought, and so believe me when I say that I have no beef with you. I'm not my father, and you're not yours, and so we don't have to be enemies. If you think just because our dads fought each other that you can beat me and surpass him, then you need to get your head out of your ass and ask yourself if you're really rejecting him, or if you're just as much an extension of him as he wants you to be. I'm leaving to prepare myself for the rest of the festival, so don't follow me. I'm done with you," Izuku rambled.

Turning to Uraraka, who'd been stumped and had gone silent to watch, Izuku silently asked her if she would come along with him. He extended his hand to her, and waited for a response. She looked at him with wide, frantic eyes and giggled to break the silence that had engulfed the three of them.

"That's it? It's just … war?" Uraraka asked with an incredulous note to her voice.

"That's up to him," Izuku replied, gesturing with his other hand to Todoroki.

"But I think we should talk this out more. Shouldn't one of us report what you say your dad has done?" Uraraka asked again, turning to Todoroki.

"If you find someone who'll believe that the number two hero conducted a eugenics experiment on his own family to engineer the next top hero, then sure, go ahead. I wouldn't hold my breath, though," Todoroki drawled, already turning to walk away. At that moment, Izuku realised that Todoroki had never explained what became of his mother. He figured he should show some empathy and make sure that his other family was okay before he totally disregarded the situation.

"Hey, Todoroki," he called out, making the boy stop and look back over his shoulder at Izuku. "Is your mom okay? What happened with her?"

"Things escalated," Todoroki said, and didn't care to elaborate before he walked away and around a corner.

It was a two word repetition of what Izuku had said earlier in reference to his father hurting his mother, but he got the message. Endeavor had not only forced his wife into marriage and having children, but the implication left in Todoroki's wake was that he'd become violent with her as well. Izuku felt all his anger wilt away at that realisation, the final straw laid upon the bombshell that had been dropped on Izuku and Uraraka's heads. Izuku hadn't lied to Todoroki, he did feel bad for him, but that didn't change what he had to do today. He'd still have to beat Todoroki, he'd just feel bad about kicking a boy while he was down. Izuku already had a vague strategy to deal with Todoroki's overwhelming ice, so even though it was a little insulting that he thought he could best Izuku with an arm tied behind his back, Izuku thought that he was manageable with that handicap in place. If he started using fire, Izuku would be screwed. He wouldn't be able to get close to winning against Todoroki, and neither would anyone else. As much as he hated it, if Todoroki actually took his advice and forgot about his petty, made up rivalry with him, then he might as well just forfeit.

He couldn't think about that, though. Izuku needed to clear his mind of worry and focus on the present, and that meant preparing for the final event of the tournament, which was due to start in about half an hour. He turned back to Uraraka once again, sighing and hanging his head low.

"I'm so sorry," Izuku muttered.

"Uh, thanks, but … I think I'm still catching up. I can't believe that all happened, to both of you. I don't think I should've been a part of that conversation, it feels like I stumbled onto something really private," Uraraka said, holding her own face in her hands as she flushed with embarrassment.

"No, it's good that you know, and I was wrong for not telling you my side earlier. Todoroki shouldn't have been the one to force it out of me, but here we are, and I'm sorry for that. And if Todoroki wants people to listen to his dramatic monologue about his tragic past, then he can deal with one more person knowing Endeavor's secret," Izuku said, stepping toward her.

"I guess so. And thanks, you know, for telling me. I don't blame you for leaving all that out. I'm just blown away, I think," Uraraka said. Izuku agreed wholeheartedly. Their attention was drawn to a low gurgling sound, which the two of them quickly recognised as Uraraka's stomach.

"I think it's lunch time," Izuku said with a laugh devoid of humour.

"I think so, too," Uraraka said, smiling sadly as she finally took Izuku's hand in her own once more, painting a similar, half-hearted smile on his face as well.

WIth that, the two of them set off towards the lunchroom, where they'd eat before the final struggle was set to begin. Izuku didn't know what was in store for him, who he'd have to best and how, but he was willing to tackle it with all he had, and if any of his opponents fought him with anything less than their full effort, then they'd be wise to rethink that course of action.