A little girl sat in front of Izuku. Her sunny blonde hair was pulled up in two messy buns, and she grinned down at a little bird. The thing was small and hurt, but her teeth were poised to sink into the bird's tiny body.

"No!" Izuku ran forward to stop her, but his body moved so slowly it felt like he was wading through wet concrete. His hand, which had been just an arm's length away before, was now yards away from stopping her.

Her lips parted and gleaming white fangs peaked out from between them. Trails of saliva connected her top and bottom canines, and Izuku could tell she was anticipating the taste of the tiny bird's blood.

Izuku was horrified to see her teeth inching slowly forward. He struggled and struggled, pushing his limbs to move with great effort, and finally, he made it. Izuku had managed to cup his hands around the bird, stopping the girl.

He let out a sigh of relief but didn't know why he had been so frantic in the first place.

Izuku's world lurched, he was on his side, and suddenly he felt a sharp sting in his throat. The girl had sunk her teeth into his neck. His blood drained, slowly at first, but then the rush of his life essence sped away from him and into her. He was getting woozy, his eyes felt heavy, and as he looked up to get one last look at the girl's face, he saw it.

It was a face so horrible, and so hateful, that he wanted to look away. But he couldn't find the strength to move anymore, and Izuku was horrified at what he was forced to see.

A man, with tangled and greasy chalk-white hair stared down at both of them, his red eyes barely visible through the fingers of a severed hand. His eyes were crinkled, and Izuku immediately knew that the man was grinning down at him.

He was happy that the girl was killing Izuku.

Just as he felt himself slipping away, something stirred in Izuku's hands, and all at once, he remembered the bird he had saved.

He let his hands fall open, and the small sparrow flew away.

.

.

.

.

BOOM!!!

Izuku shot awake, his hands scrambling to stem the flow of blood he knew had to be spilling from his neck. But his hands came back clean, and unstained.

He looked around and remembered where he was,' the nurse's office.'

Izuku was startled when he spotted a pair of predatory yellow eyes observing him from the bed across from him. For long seconds he forgot that the dream wasn't real, and he felt the animalistic instinct to run.

Then his brain's fog cleared away, he remembered his girlfriend, and he saw that Himiko was just as startled as he was at the noise. The room shook, and trails of dust rained down from the ceiling.

"W-What the heck was that!" Izuku threw his covers away from himself and sprang from his hospital bed to Himiko's side.

"I-I don't know," she stretched her arms out to grab his shirt, but hesitated when he flinched away for a moment," I'm sor—"

Izuku grabbed her hands and pushed them into the fabric of his shirt," no, I'm sorry. I let a dream get to me, but I'm fine now. Maybe we should go see what that was. That is, as long as you're up to it."

She hesitated again, but Himiko let a smile spread halfway across her face. It was a dim, shadow of her usual smiles that he had come to love and look forward to, but it was a start. Izuku helped her to her feet, and he held her hand as they made their way out of the nurse's office.

Recovery Girl called after them," Think about what we talked about. You hear, young lady?"

Izuku looked back, puzzled.

Himiko paused for a moment, but just kept walking, dragging Izuku along as she hurried away from the infirmary.

The noise the crowd was making was so intense, that it nearly floored the pair, and when they finally made it out to the exit of one of the participant's tunnels, Izuku thought the world was ending. Dust and debris fell from the sky, chunks of smoldering stone fell in heavy thuds, and a huge plume of smoke billowed out in an umbrella, nearly blacking out the open roof of the stadium.

When he looked closer Izuku was shocked to realize the epicenter of the smoke was Kacchan, his arms raised to the sky and a feral grin on his face. Uraraka was glaring daggers at him in a way Izuku had never seen before, and her breath came out in ragged huffs.

"What the hell was that?" Kacchan glowered at Uraraka, but his snarl of a grin never wavered," That was the kinda shit that goddamn nerd would pull."

Izuku frowned, and then he scanned the arena. Slowly, he pieced together what Uraraka had done. The blast patterns in the arena were all suspiciously close to Kacchan, and it looked like he'd barely moved from the place he'd started the match. Long furrows of destroyed ground made it clear to him that Uraraka had rushed him over and over again.

But why?

Izuku then remembered the raining chunks of stone.

'She used Kacchan to make objects that she could float, and then she used all the smoke and dust to hide when she sent the debris up into the air!'

He had to hand it to her that wasn't a bad idea at all, and against most normal opponents it would work.

'But Kacchan isn't a normal opponent. She didn't consider how big of an explosion he could make without his gauntlets.'

"Whatever," Izuku looked back down to see Kacchan and Uraraka facing off," you don't look like you're dead yet! This is where the fight really starts!"

Kacchan was readying himself to throw more blasts Uraraka's way, and she was mid-stride ready to approach Kacchan with even more resolve.

"It's over," Himiko looked down and gripped Izuku's hand tighter.

"Huh? What do you mean, Himiko? It's over?" Izuku looked away from the fight to look at his girlfriend, but just as he did he heard a thud from the arena.

Uraraka was down, and Kacchan looked just as surprised as Izuku that she was.

Midnight leaned over the girl, held up a staling hand at Kacchan, and then she looked up," Uraraka is unable to continue! The winner i—"

Present Mic cut Midnight off with a loud shout," The winner is Katsuki Bakugo!!!"

For a second Midnight glared up at the announcer's booth, but she quickly called over a team of medical robots to cart Uraraka away to Recovery Girl.

Izuku wished he could have seen the start of the fight so he could see Uraraka's plan in real-time, but he would have to settle for online videos later. Right now he needed to consider a strategy for Todoroki since he hadn't been able to while he was sleeping. There was a lot he had to consider in his match, and he silently was glad he wouldn't need to deal with the boy's flames.

Even if the idea of Todoroki thinking he could beat everyone in this tournament with half his power pissed him off to no end.

"You're up next," Himiko whispered. Izuku had nearly missed her tiny voice over the roar of the crowd.

He smiled down at the girl, but was worried to see that she wasn't smiling; not even a little. In fact, she looked terrified.

"Himi-chan? What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"You shouldn't fight him."

Izuku blinked owlishly at that, "huh? I mean, I know Todoroki is strong and all but—"

"That isn't the reason!" Himiko grabbed the front of Izuku's shirt and yanked him down to stare into her eyes," I know you. You're not just going to fight him. You'll do something stupid, like trying to convince him to use his fire side, or you're going to do something even dumber and end up breaking an arm or a leg! Well, I won't let you."

Her grip tightened, she hooked her leg behind his, and in an instant she had him pressed into the ground on his back. Her mouth was dangerously close to his throat, and it reminded him horribly of the dream he'd had.

"Himiko, I have to do this."

She glared down at him, and Izuku thought it looked a lot like her focused hunter face when they sparred. This wasn't exactly that, but the look was startlingly close. It was focused, but also protective and worried. Like she didn't know if she should be angry or upset.

"You don't have to do anything. So the guy has daddy issues. Who doesn't?! I do. You do. Almost everyone does!"

Izuku frowned," I don't have daddy issues." Himiko gave him a very "whatever you say, honey" kind of look that made him all the more defensive," what?! I don't!"

"Izu, you grew up worshipping the ground All Might walked on, watched every single video about him, filled your room with all of his merchandise, and you nearly have an aneurism every time you see him in costume. If that isn't you subconsciously filling your dad-shaped hole in your heart with him, then I'm a flamingo."

"No, apparently you're a therapist," Izuku grumbled under his breath.

"Well if I can point out something so obvious, I'm sure you'd hate to hear what an actual therapist has to say."

They both just stared at one another for a few long drawn-out seconds. The loud chatter of the crowd filled the silence, but it didn't ease the tension in the air between them even a little. Izuku stared up unblinkingly at Himiko and she stared right back.

"Will the participants of the next match please make their way down to the arena?! I repeat will the participants for the next match please make their way down to the arena?!"

"Himiko…"

"I'm not letting you go down there. Not if you're just going to end up hurting yourself."

Izuku sighed and let his head rest against the tile beneath him," fine. If I promise not to hurt myself more than in a regular match, then you'll let me go?"

She seemed to turn that over in her head, and then her toothy grin came back in full force," I think I can live with that. But just so you know, if you're lying to me," her grin turned sinister," I'll make sure you regret it for the rest of your life."

With that threat hanging over Izuku's head Himiko sighed, stood to her feet, and pulled him up to his own feet.

Himiko smiled sweetly, and it was a look that made him shudder," w-what'll you do if I don't keep that promise?"

Her smile turned all the sweeter," how about you do it and find out."

"I-I'm good," Izuku slowly made his way out onto the grass that ringed the middle arena, but he stole a single glance back at Himiko.

That proved to be the wrong idea, because she hadn't moved even an inch from where she had been standing, and her face was still set into a serene smile. But her eyes weren't smiling at all. It was as if her eyes were saying," If you get hurt, I'll kill you."

Izuku shuddered and hurried up onto the platform.

'She's so scary when she wants to be!'

Todoroki was already in the arena, his ever-icy glare boring a hole through Izuku. But that glare was nothing compared to Himiko's stare.

Izuku set about stretching his joints to alleviate the anxiety he felt. He threw his arms over his head stretching to the left, then to the right, he crouched and stretched his right leg out to loosen the joints, and then he did the same with the left. Todoroki seemed even angrier as he obviously thought Izuku wasn't taking this seriously.

'Of course, I'm taking this seriously! If I didn't stretch before using One for All at eight percent I'll die of muscle cramps!' Izuku stood to his feet, twisted his torso, and sighed when his back popped pleasantly.

"Are you done yet?" Todoroki was definitely pissed off. His voice was a cold monotone that practically shouted he wouldn't take Izuku seriously if Izuku himself didn't take Todoroki seriously.

"I think I'm good," Izuku relaxed his body, let the eight percent of One for All he could handle spread through his body, and then prepared himself for his opening move.

'Most likely he'll try to freeze me like he did Sero. If I can dodge his big opening move, I should have a small window where he'll have to recover from overusing his ice.'

"Well isn't this an interesting matchup folks?! We've got the winner of the first match, Izuku Midoriya, facing off against everyone's favorite to win the whole sports festival, Shoto Todoroki! These two have been standouts from the very beginning, and while we haven't seen much from Izuku Midoriya, aside from his early display of mobility during the obstacle race, I'm sure this'll be a match to remember. Now what do you say folks, should we get this party started?!"

The crowd burst into a wall of sound and Present Mic managed to somehow roar over them," Alright! Then let the match… BEGIN!"

Immediately, a wall of ice shot toward Izuku.

'I knew it!'

His legs tensed and Izuku shot over the encroaching iceberg before it could fully cover his jumping distance and block him off. With the speed at which Todoroki was releasing his ice, Izuku was willing to bet he wouldn't have full control over how or where it spread. So he planted his feet into the wall of ice, and before Todoroki could think to freeze his feet down, Izuku shot straight for the boy in a forward tackle.

'One.'

Todoroki retreated quickly, but his right side was sluggish and covered in hoarfrost.

'Two.'

Izuku caught up to the retreating boy, managed to grab Todoroki by the collar of his shirt, and threw him toward the pillar of ice he had used as a springboard.

'Three.'

Todoroki flew toward the pillar of ice and as he approached, he spoke," Well I guess you are taking this seriously." A small flood of snow rushed past Todoroki, creating a cushion that he used to soften his impact. The boy stood to his feet and brushed a bit of ice off of his pants," I guess I'll put in some effort."

Izuku had to consciously stop his eye from twitching in annoyance at that.

Instead, he ignored Todoroki and set about doing something he was sure would backfire somehow, " three seconds."

"What?" Todoroki's face hadn't changed at all, he still looked sharply focused, but Izuku had gotten his attention.

"About three seconds is how long you have before you can safely use your ice after overusing it. You probably wouldn't usually have that problem, but you aren't using your left side; not even to melt the ice buildup on your body." Izuku could see the other boy's eyes narrow, and he silently cheered for his borderline quirk obsession and its helpfulness in times like this.

"Knowing that won't help you. You can clear the distance in those three seconds sure. But what can you really do in that amount of time? You can't keep attacking me, I'll just freeze you if you stay too close. You can't keep throwing me, I'll just keep breaking my fall and you'll get tired eventually. So what could you possibly do in three seconds?"

Izuku winced. He wasn't exactly wrong, and even if Izuku could get a few blows in, they would be useless if Izuku couldn't knock Todoroki out in those few hits.

"I can do this!" Izuku sprang forward, but a stream of ice rushed for him, forcing Izuku to make a wide right turn around Todoroki.

It was frustrating, but Izuku had to hand it to the boy, his defense was superb. If only Izuku could control more of One for All so that he could use air pressure like All Might did, then the boy's ice would be easy to deal with.

'Kacchan would have an easy time dealing with the walls of ice, so long as Todoroki couldn't freeze his sweat glands shut anyway.'

Thinking about Kacchan gave Izuku the idea that he could use debris like Uraraka had in her fight, but then how would he make it? Todoroki's ice wasn't exactly destructive like Kacchan's explosions, so using his quirk against him wouldn't work. If Izuku had something to protect his fists he would be able to break up the ground himself, but with just bare hands he would only manage to break his own bones. Kicking would be just as ineffective without steel-toed shoes, but then he remembered something Himiko had taught him.

"You know what the best parts of the body to hit people with are, right?"

"Uh, the fists and feet?"

Himiko stomped the heel of her foot down on his toes, and when Izuku was jumping up and down, she jabbed her elbow into his ribs knocking him over," the elbows and heels of the feet are very sturdy parts of the human body. The elbows can deliver a very precise amount of force in a targeted area, and while you can't get as much momentum with elbow strikes as you can with punches, you also won't need to worry about breaking or spraining a finger. The same applies to the heels of the feet regarding strikes, except you can get more range of motion with them as opposed to the elbows."

Izuku had been driven to the edge of the arena and was steadily noticing the buildup of ice on Todoroki when he started to formulate a plan.

He rushed forward again.

"This again? When will you learn your lesson?" Another wall of ice shot toward Izuku, but this time he didn't jump to avoid it, he jumped straight at it.

The ice was rushing quickly, but not as fast as Todoroki's opening attack had been. Clearly, using so much ice right off the bat and having to keep using more without heating himself up was slowing him down.

Izuku took a page from Himiko's book, turned midair into a backflip, and then when he had reached full rotation; slammed the heel of his foot down on the ice wall. Shards of ice exploded outward, pelting Todoroki, and making him raise an arm to protect his face.

"I learned my lesson, but clearly you haven't learned anything!" Izuku landed on his feet, winced slightly as his heel touched the ground, but kept advancing on Todoroki through the pain," I won't give up! Not even if it seems impossible."

"You crazy—" Todoroki backpedaled as Izuku approached, throwing more ice at him.

Izuku just plowed through the walls and small trails of ice he was trying to trap him with. Izuku could practically hear Himiko yelling at him, saying he was an idiot for trying to brute force his way through this like All Might. But trying to outsmart Todoroki would only help play into his strength. Someone like Todoroki was rational and could formulate plans to keep close-range enemies at bay with his ice, but Izuku was willing to bet he rarely fought against people who would just break through it and rush in head first.

Izuku grimaced,' This feels like something Kacchan would do, but sometimes not thinking is the right thing to do.'

Of course, this plan would only work for Izuku so long as Todoroki didn't throw something out as powerful as his opening move. But with Izuku constantly attacking it would be a war of attrition. Would Todoroki collapse from frostbite, or would Izuku's muscles unravel from the continued strain of One for All at eight percent?

That was the question, and Izuku was slowly approaching his limit. Todoroki, on the other hand, looked a bit frostbitten. Overall his body was in better shape than Izuku's, and they both knew it.

"You're insane!" Todoroki backpedaled, but when he saw Izuku had pushed him to the edge of the arena he stood his ground; his hands held up with his palms open.

"And you're not running anymore!" Izuku rushed forward lashing out with a quick straight jab to Todoroki's face.

When Izuku was sure his fist would land Todoroki did something he hadn't been expecting. He somehow managed to push his right palm into the side of Izuku's fist, then wrap his left hand around Izuku's wrist, and use his momentum to turn and throw him back into the middle of the arena.

'What the?!' Izuku flipped and landed on his hands and knees, skidding to a stop ten feet away from Todoroki. He stared bewildered at the boy.

"What? Did you think I wouldn't have any close-combat experience? What kind of idiot do you take me for?"

Izuku slowly stood and was concerned to see that Todoroki's frost buildup was slowly diminishing.

'I need to close the distance before he recovers enough to throw a huge attack.' Izuku rushed forward again.

One step.

Two steps.

He would reach Todoroki in just one more lunge, and this time he would be expecting the boy's reflexes.

Three—

A wall of ice shot up toward Izuku, but this wasn't like the previous ones; it seemed Todoroki had recovered enough for another huge attack. Izuku could see the ice rushing forward. Reaching for him so that he would be entombed and immobilized like Sero had been earlier.

But the worst part was that Todoroki was already turning his back.

Izuku grit his teeth," Don't look away from an opponent before you know for sure you've won!"

Before Izuku knew or could think to stop what he was doing, One for All had rushed into his arm at full strength and Todoroki's ice was blasted apart.

The pain nearly blinded Izuku. His arm felt like it was being ripped apart, cut into a million pieces, and burned all at once. The bones in his fingers were shattered, his arm had somehow managed not to be bent out of shape, but the bones were definitely in pieces.

Izuku staggered backward clutching his right shoulder, the skin was a mottled patchwork of black and purple bruises," d-did I w-win?"

"That was more powerful than I expected."

Izuku froze and stared open-mouthed at Todoroki who had managed to erect a thick wall of ice between himself and the gale-force winds Izuku had made.

Izuku grit his teeth,' Seriously? That didn't catch him off guard somehow!'

"I'll admit you nearly had me, but you need to remember. I'm stronger than you."

Izuku grimaced, both at the boy's nonchalance and the pain in his arm. But something didn't feel right. Something in Todoroki's tone was off. But what was it?

Izuku powered through the pain and did what he did best. He analyzed Todoroki.

'He used that large attack after barely recovering enough to use it. He already had a buildup of frost that had been slowing him down. He was caught off guard by my surprise attack, but he was still able to protect himself with a thick wall of ice. But then what did I hear in his voice that made me hesitate?'

Izuku looked closer, and then he smiled. It wasn't one of his "I'm scared shitless" kind of smiles. It was a feral smile that he was sure looked closer to the ones Kacchan often had.

"Todoroki, how could you be standing there gloating so much when you haven't managed to land a single blow on me?"

Todoroki's eye twitched," look at yourself. I don't need to land a blow. You've almost managed to knock yourself out of this fight."

Izuku laughed," You're one to talk. You're trembling Todoroki, and I have a feeling it has something to do with that." Izuku pointed to the nearly inch-thick buildup of ice all along Todoroki's right side, and even some of his left.

He just glared.

Izuku rushed forward, and this time Todoroki was too slow to put up a defense. Even with one arm broken, Izuku was stronger than Todoroki physically at eight percent. And so it came as no surprise when Izuku started beating the crap out of Todoroki.

A large swing to the right of Todoroki's face. A sideways kick to his left side. A straight jab into Todoroki's nose.

"What's the matter with you?! Are you giving up?! Just because something you weren't expecting to happen came up during a fight? What kind of hero gives up just because of that?!"

Izuku grabbed Todoroki by the collar and slammed his forehead into Todoroki's nose.

Crack*

'Was that his nose or my skull?'

Todoroki stumbled backward and fell to one knee clutching his bleeding nose.

"You half-assed bastard! Do you think you can win this without using your full power?!"

Todoroki glowered through his watering eyes," did my old man put you up to this? What? Did he offer to pay you if you could get me t—"

Izuku rushed forward and kneed Todoroki in the face," I don't give a shit about your dad! This isn't about him! This isn't about any of that. This is about you, disrespecting all the others who are giving it their all to win this tournament! This whole time you haven't been taking this seriously. You've just been running around with half your power thinking that's good enough to beat every single one of us. But look at yourself Todoroki! You said I'm weaker than you, and I've got you on your ass bleeding and bruised, ready to just give up."

Todoroki glowered up at Izuku from his crouched position," I don't care how battered I get. You can punch me, kick me, beat me half to death, but I refuse to use that bastard's quirk!"

"IT'S YOUR POWER, NOT HIS!" Izuku glared right back at Todoroki, and he could swear that just for a second the other boy's eyes shone with a fervent light. As if he had been waiting to hear that his whole life. And then an eruption of light nearly blinded Izuku.

Todoroki rose to his feet, steam pouring off of his body as the ice evaporated under an intense heat. Flames licked the boy's left side, and trails of ice erupted out of his right; melting as quickly as they formed.

"Shotoooooooo!" Izuku could barely hear the shout over the jet-like roar of Todoroki's flames," So you've finally accepted it! Yes! Excellent!! It all starts now for you! With my blood pumping through your veins, you will surpass me… you will fulfill my ambitions!"

The stadium seemed to go silent at the event going on, and of course, that was the moment Present Mic thought to chime in," I guess that's meant to be a pep talk from the number two hero Endeavor to his son. What a doting father."

Izuku's feral smile turned up even further as he took in Todoroki, and he was sure that he looked deranged with his broken arm," incredible."

"I don't know why you're smiling. Only a moron would willingly goad an opponent into doing something that would give them an advantage over him."

Izuku let the smile drop from his face as he readied his left arm. If he was going to go all out against Todoroki he needed to do it with an unbroken limb. He would only get one chance to deliver a full-force attack with One for All, and it needed to be with a limb that was as undamaged as possible.

"Well, whatever. Don't blame me for whatever happens next." Todoroki crouched and held his arms out for a two-pronged attack that would bring to bear the full force of both his fire and ice.

Izuku mirrored his crouch and cocked his arm back for another full-force strike of One for All.

Izuku couldn't hear anything anymore. Not the roar of Todoroki's flames, the crackling of his ice, or the roar of the crowd. All he could hear was the rush of the blood in his ears, and the pounding of his heart.

Both boys lunged forward. All Izuku could see was a wall of cement that briefly obscured them from one another, and then they were plowing through it and meeting in the middle.

The air around them grew hotter than any desert, colder than any snowstorm, and windier than any hurricane.

Izuku thought one thing, and then he blacked out,' Himiko is going to be so pissed.'

A/N: So I didn't know if I should change the outcome of Todoroki and Izuku's fight. In one hand Izuku's good arm still would have broken, not allowing the full force of his punch to land, but on the other I would say the canon fight was so close that the only reason I can think of for him losing was exactly because of his broken arms in canon.

If anyone has any thoughts on it just let me know. I'll probably wait a while before I start writing the next chapter so that I can weigh in on everyone's thoughts and come to a decision on that. In the long run it might not have any significance, but hey you never know.

I hope you enjoyed reading, and I'll see you all in the next chapter!!!!!