Chapter 18: Collision III
The light outside was far too bright in Hitoshi's opinion, but no had asked for his input when they decided how the sun was going to work, so that was just how it was going to be. Maybe it was time to invest in sunglasses. It was either that or becoming completely nocturnal.
He ambled toward the concrete square in the center of the arena, trying not to let his nerves show. Oddly enough, his opponent looked about as nervous as he felt.
Yaoyorozu was clutching one arm in front of her. She hunched in on herself, barely sparing a glance for the crowds of spectators.
Hitoshi had mixed feelings about this match to some degree. He'd met Yaoyorozu. She'd been nice. Too nice. She was a perfect specimen of a hero student. She'd offered copies of her notes with a smile to make sure he knew what material was being covered. He wasn't quite sure just what it was about her that irked him and how much of his annoyance was due to the dissonance of fighting someone who'd been good to him.
There were so few people in Hitoshi's life who had been kind without looking for recompense. Midoriya was one. Yaoyorozu was another, little as he had seen of her. He didn't want to have to fight either of them.
Yaoyorozu was already in the hero course, he told himself. Unlike him, she had little to gain from this and even less to lose. It was in Hitoshi's interest to make her look like a powerful opponent so that his victory would be all the more impressive.
He needed to win. He'd do what he had to in order to ensure he did. Whatever happened afterward couldn't be helped. Now was not the time to be kind and considerate.
He didn't think he'd let slip what his quirk was in the previous round, and according to Midoriya, his opponent wasn't snitching. Yaoyorozu likely didn't know what he was capable of. The crowd might have had an idea since they had been able to watch the previous round. Hitoshi tried not to think about that. Ultimately, whatever the crowd said about him didn't matter if he won.
A wolf whistle cut through the air. Yaoyorozu blushed furiously and hugged herself tighter.
Roused from his thoughts, Hitoshi looked up in confusion. More whistles followed the first.
"Show that traitor who's boss!"
Ouch. Hitoshi wasn't particularly torn up over his "betrayal." Midoriya had told him it was in the rules for a reason, and he did not give a flying fuck about Bakugo or anyone else on that team. They were all hero students anyways.
"Give up already, villain!"
Hitoshi had no intention of doing that. These people didn't understand. They never did.
"You're so hot!"
Okay, Hitoshi was pretty sure that wasn't directed at him. On her side of the ring, Yaoyorozu looked like she wanted to sink into the ground. For her part, the pro hero Midnight was glaring at the crowd. She looked pissed. She flicked her whip impatiently against her thigh and looked somewhere off to the side.
Hitoshi shifted uncomfortably where he stood. Shouldn't they have started the match already? Every second that they stood there doing nothing, he felt more awkward.
The noise from the crowd cut off, and Midnight smiled with her teeth on full display. "Finally! Sorry about that, sweeties," she turned to the two contestants and winked. "Noise cancelling barrier is up now. Let's get this show on the road!"
Without the heckling, Yaoyorozu's shoulders relaxed. Hitoshi felt the tension drain away a little, as well. He didn't care what anyone said. He was going to become a hero regardless, but not having to listen to them was nice.
"Ready? Begin!" Midnight cracked her whip.
Yaoyorozu drew a staff out of her arm. Naturally she had a completely broken quirk.
Hitoshi settled into a fighting stance and prepared to take a beating.
*
"This is why physical quirks aren't everything," Aizawa said as he watched Shinso order Yaoyorozu out of the ring, ending their match. Yaoyorozu had done well and shown off her skills with her staff, but Shinso had still managed to catch her after a very long minute of pummeling. Aizawa's bones ached in sympathy.
He had to hand it to Shinso, the boy had tenacity. There had been better ways to handle the match, but it was impressive that he'd held out long enough to elicit a response from Yaoyorozu.
Zashi laughed. "You say that every time."
"Has it ever stopped being right?"
"We all know it's just because a quirk like that is difficult to objectively measure." Zashi leaned back in his seat and had to visibly hold himself back from running a hand through his gelled hair.
Aizawa grinned at the little movement, but the smile dropped from his face when he looked back over at Shinso's file that was open on the table in front of him.
Every year, he and Zashi prepared files on every student, little blurbs of information to introduce them to the audience. Most of them ended up unused, but they'd agreed that it was helpful in getting the students offers to give a brief explanation of their quirks at the very least. It made the matches more interesting for those watching, as well, if they knew what was going on.
After the two attacks that had already taken place, they had decided against giving any additional information about the students as a safety precaution.
It was convenient in some ways, like for Izuku. Since they weren't announcing anyone's quirks, it wasn't abnormal for them to refuse to confirm Izuku's official quirkless status.
It also meant they didn't have to comment on Shinso's quirk, Brainwashing, and they didn't cause him to lose his advantage by revealing the activation conditions of his quirk.
Aizawa was willing to admit that he might have made a hasty judgment regarding Shinso. When Izuku first brought him up, he'd had a vision of a different type of kid entirely. Call him biased, but Aizawa had seen far too many kids who were all hot and bothered that they hadn't been admitted to the hero course because of their amazing and powerful quirks for his initial suspicion to be anything different.
But, since it was Izuku, he'd considered that maybe this one had potential, even if they were relying heavily on their quirk.
He knew Shinso had a powerful quirk, but by the second round, he'd realized that he'd underestimated Shinso's motivation. He was evidently crafty. He was attending on a scholarship, after all. That much should have been expected. He'd played into his teammates' biases about Gen Ed students to take advantage of them, and he'd successfully used a similar strategy on the Blue Team. His negotiation with Bakugo had likewise showed a calculating side. Even if he wasn't particularly strong or good at fighting, Shinso was putting up one hell of a fight.
Shinso's match against Tsuburaba had only confirmed this view. Instead of showing off his quirk in an obvious way, he'd made it look like a contest of strength. Was that Izuku's influence? Probably, but the fact that Shinso was pulling it off so well said something.
"That's the one Izuku's been working with, huh?" Zashi must have turned off the mics. He pulled his headphones off his ears to hand around his neck. "He kinds reminds me of you. I always knew you were his favorite."
Aizawa grunted in response. He was aware of Izuku's opinion on the matter, and he could see the similarities. That didn't make them the same.
Zashi rolled the cord of his headphones between his fingers. "We might need to make a clarifying announcement about the second round, to make sure people know that what he did was something that Nedzu, or the rules, were expecting to happen."
"Maybe."
Aizawa watched Shinso walk out of the arena, dragging his feet behind him, shoulders hunched.
The kid had an impressive quirk, and he was smart about using it, even if he was using it a little too much for Aizawa's taste. And he wasn't afraid of a few hard knocks. Too many heroics hopefuls gave up when they first realized that they weren't invincible and they certainly weren't immune to pain. On that front at least, Shinso had what it took. It looked like he really would end up as Aizawa's student.
This sports festival certainly was full of surprises.
*
By the time Todoroki's second match rolled around, security had managed to remove Endeavour from the student sections, where he wasn't supposed to be in the first place. Todoroki was able to go from the prep room to the stadium without incident. Unfortunately, it wouldn't keep Endeavour out of the stands, but it was something.
Izuku watched from the prep room where he was waiting for his own match. He had a plan, but he still felt a little nervous.
Kacchan's match against Tetsutetsu had been exhilarating to watch, even if he'd known from the start that Kacchan would be the victor, and had given him some ideas for how to deal with Dark Shadow. He knew the quirk fairly well at this point, but knowing about a quirk and knowing how he could defeat it with empty hands were entirely different things. Even your average city street would give him more to work with to improvise a solution than the bare concrete ring of the stadium.
Izuku drummed his fingers against the table, his eyes fixed on the screen in front of him where Monoma faced off against Todoroki.
Based on his previous fights, Izuku knew how Todoroki would start. He'd try to end things quickly and keep Monoma at a distance. Monoma, on the other hand, would close the distance between them right from the start. If Todoroki caught him, it was over. But, if Todoroki's initial attack missed, then the results were more ambiguous.
Izuku would be the first to admit that Todoroki was one of the best students in their year. He was intelligent, a good fighter, and had a powerful quirk. In contrast, Monoma was somewhat lacking. He excelled in control, and Izuku would rate his control as superior to Todoroki's, but in a match where they both had the same quirk, Todoroki's other skills gave him an advantage.
At least, they should have. Izuku licked his chapped lips. He was nervous for Todoroki for some reason. An uneasy feeling settled in the bottom of his stomach. He knew what was coming. Did Todoroki?
Kayama-sensei announced the beginning of the match. Monoma hung back for a second, baiting a ranged attack from Todoroki that he skillfully dodged with the nimbleness of an eel. He closed in and threw a punch at Todoroki, which his opponent blocked easily. The blow might not have connected, but the skin contact sufficed for Monoma's purposes.
He danced a few steps backward and grinned. He held both hands out in front of them. Fire danced across one palm while ice coated the other.
The camera was focused on Monoma as he activated his quirk, but when it panned out again to show the whole ring, Todoroki was subtly tensed. Izuku wondered if he was even breathing. He looked like a wax statue, lifelike but unmoving, his glassy eyes fixed on the flickering flames in Monoma's palm.
With a crack and a snap that Izuku felt even in the prep room, he froze over the ring. Great, jagged spires of ice erupted from the ground, hemming Monoma in. The blond staggered back, then called on the fire side of Todoroki's quirk to combat the swiftly dropping temperature. His breath rose in puffs of white. Todoroki was no better, worse even, since he didn't have the benefit of the heat from the open flame.
Monoma melted himself out of the ice prison then experimentally sent an uneven row of ice crystals toward Todoroki. A stamp of his foot, and Todoroki had crushed Monoma's ice with his own. He was unquestionably more powerful. With a long sweep of his arm, letting his fingers brush the ground as he swung, a miniature glacier engulfed Monoma, and for several tense seconds, the ring was still.
The ice glowed, red and orange and yellow. Rivulets of water ran down it, and it cracked into slush and melting chunks. Panting and soaked to the skin, Monoma emerged, the left side of his body on fire. The ground hissed and steamed beneath his feet.
The TV was muted, so Izuku didn't get an explanation as to why the camera suddenly cut to show Endeavour in the stands, fire burning too bright for an off-duty hero as he leaned over the railing, his face red as a tomato.
When the camera cut back to Todoroki, he had gripped his left side with his right hand, and frost was spreading out from the point of contact. His face was hard, and set, and angry.
He pulled his hand away from his shoulder and summoned an icicle spear that he threw at Monoma. It melted in the inferno that Monoma summoned around him.
To the uninitiated observer, it might have seemed like Monoma had gained the upper hand. Izuku knew better. The air in the ring had warmed up again, and the ice crystals on Todoroki's right side were melting. Monoma was actually helping him. And Monoma himself…as Izuku had discovered, he did copy certain mutations, so he would have the same resistance to heat and cold that Todoroki had, but not even Todoroki was immune to his own quirk. He'd had years to learn his limits and how to balance himself. Monoma did not. While he was willing to use both sides, if he didn't do so correctly, he'd take himself out.
In a match of endurance, Todoroki would win any day.
It seemed like Monoma was feeling the heat, because he decided to switch to ice not long after.
Pressing his hands to the ground, Monoma tried to summon a glacier like Todoroki had before to trap his opponent. However, he was much slower than Todoroki had been, and the ice user slid out of the way. He used his ice to speed toward Monoma. Freezing the ground beneath them, he rammed into Monoma and sent him flailing backward and over the line.
Kayama-sensei announced Todoroki's victory to the cheering crowd.
When the camera cut to Todoroki's reaction, however, his face was overcast. His eyes were locked on the frozen ground, and he refused to acknowledge the crowd. He turned on his heel and stalked out of the arena.
Seeing Monoma use Todoroki's full quirk, Izuku was reminded of just how powerful his classmate had the potential to be. It wasn't just the power, though. Izuku's favorite unproveable quirk theory was that people's personalities were heavily influenced by their quirks. Quirks were a part of who people were.
By separating the two sides of his quirk, Todoroki was unbalancing himself in more ways than one. He couldn't rid himself of his fire anymore than his scar, his eye, or his hair. It was a part of him, and for good reason. It would leak out whether he liked it or not. His refusal to use both sides and balance himself led to extremes. He was cold and froze others out. He was hot and burning up inside with rage. He was the worst of both worlds when if he could just accept himself wholly, the two would balance each other out.
This was just a theory, of course, and Izuku wasn't so stupid as to think that there was some kind of personality disorder linked to Todoroki's quirk or that his ice was responsible for him being distant or his fire was responsible for him being angry. In truth, he suspected it was a much more complicated matter with its roots in his mess of a family.
And yet, his gut instinct, the part of him that connected to quirks even more easily than people told him that Todoroki and his quirk were two sides of the same coin.
No quirk was bad. No quirk was inherently evil. Izuku had known that instinctively his whole life. All quirks were beautiful. It was only how they were used that would reflect poorly on them.
He wanted Todoroki to see that, too. Fire did not have to mean anger and hatred and violence. It did not have to mean Endeavour. It could be whatever Todoroki wanted it to be—warm, healing, saving. His ice did not have to be diametrically opposed. The two sides of his quirk could work together as a whole.
*
Shoto could still hear Endeavour shouting from the stands. He'd never hated the bastard more than he did at that moment. He'd won, but it felt like a hollow victory when the bastard's flames had been on display, even if Shoto hadn't been the one using them. Monoma had still copied them from him.
At least he'd managed to prove that he was powerful enough with just his mother's ice. He'd shown that he had no need of fire, that he could triumph over the perfect masterpiece of a quirk that Endeavour had wanted.
He trudged back up to the stands and into the section reserved for Class 1-A. He wouldn't be there long. There were only two matches until his semifinal match, and from there he would go straight to the finals.
Most of his classmates were grouped together near the railing. Careful not to announce his presence, Shoto slipped into a seat in the back. The view was still fine for his purposes. Whoever won this next match would be his opponent in the semifinals. Shoto found himself unsure of the outcome.
Tokoyami undoubtedly had a powerful quirk that was useful both offensively and defensively. He was still new to fighting hand-to-hand, though, something that Midoriya was a master of. On the subject of his mysterious classmate, Shoto wasn't sure what Midoriya's goal in this tournament was.
It was obvious to him that UA wanted to keep Midoriya's quirk a secret. It was their own weapon, an ace in their sleeve saved for emergencies. His quirk was also one that might have been viewed negatively if it was known, despite how powerful it was. Shoto didn't know the specifics of course, but a quirk that killed someone even when Midoriya wasn't actively trying was a powerful in his books.
But, if Midoriya wasn't using his quirk, what was the point of having him compete? His loss was a foregone conclusion. Without a quirk, he could only get so far. Shoto would be the first to admit that on every other count, Midoriya surpassed him. He was a better tactician, smarter, a support tech, more accustomed to quirkless sparring, better at parkour and movement. But, that was all without quirks in the equation. With Shoto's ice, the playing field was more than levelled. Just like in the second round, Midoriya would be outclassed because his hands had been tied.
Literally. Shoto hadn't really taken note of it until the USJ, but Midoriya was always wearing the bracelets that Aizawa had told Shoto to put on the other boy back during the attack. He was fairly sure now that they were quirk-suppressing cuffs. Midoriya was wearing them even during the tournament.
Midoriya Izuku was a puzzle, and Shoto wasn't sure he had all the pieces just yet. He'd seen the edges, and the messy pile of pieces, but how they fell into place and fit together he had no idea.
Shoto had been determined not to let anything distract him from his goals, not friends, not fun, and yet here he was, intrigued by the enigma that his classmate posed. He was pretty sure there was some philosopher who said that friends were like other selves. If that was true, it explained the strange pull that Shoto felt toward Midoriya. Like recognized like. Midoriya was like him.
He didn't fully understand how, yet, but he knew the resemblance was there.
What would come of this strange connection between them, Shoto had no idea. He had no intention of making friends. Midoriya was an obstacle in the way of his goal to prove himself better than Endeavour's plans for him.
The green-haired boy was walking onto the field. The audience quieted their cheers at his entrance, and Shoto frowned. This what yet another thing he didn't comprehend. Making Midoriya appear quirkless exposed him to ridicule and persecution. What was UA's aim in subjecting him to that kind of treatment? Midoriya himself had clearly been prepared for it, even dating back to the first day of school.
Was that supposed to make Midoriya more loyal to UA, if he thought he had nowhere else to go? Shoto had noticed that the teachers had supported Midoriya whenever anyone took issue with his quirklessness. They were trying to indebt him to them, just like how Endeavour tried to pressure Shoto into training, because he was the only one who could train him properly and a whole bunch of similar shit.
Except, unlike Shoto, Midoriya didn't seem to have anything against the people who had done all this to him. It annoyed Shoto, to see him so complacent about how he was being taken advantage of. Thinking back to the Quirk Apprehension Test, Midoriya hadn't stopped Mineta for his comments about him. He had stepped in when the comments were directed toward Yaoyorozu as well, and that was only after Bakugo drew attention to what Mineta was trying to do. Even then, Midoriya had directed attention to his offenses toward Yaoyorozu instead of those toward himself.
How long had Midoriya been training? How long had UA had him in its clutches that he was so thoroughly brainwashed?
Shoto watched the other boy enter the ring to face off against Tokoyami. Again, he felt a surge of annoyance at seeing how Midoriya was constantly handicapped. Maybe it was UA's way of making sure he was an excellent combatant without his quirk, or just of hiding his real abilities, but nonetheless, it made Shoto angry. It was just like Endeavour, although the tactics were different. Both pushed their subjects beyond their limits, expecting impossible things of them. Shoto had been a child, and yet Endeavour expected him to excel beyond even the level of grown adults. Midoriya had his hands bound, was tossed into a river, and told to swim. Impossible tasks both of them.
There was slim chance Midoriya would win, but Shoto wasn't expecting it. Midoriya didn't even have his support gear with him in the ring.
Midnight called the beginning of the match, and Shoto leaned forward in his seat. He, like most of the audience, was extremely confused when Midoriya immediately started stripping.
Well, he didn't go that far. He only pulled off the shirt of his PE uniform, and he was wearing a black tank top underneath, so there would be no charges of public indecency.
Balling up the fabric, Midoriya reached over the line and stuck it into one of the columns of flame at the corner of the ring. When he had his makeshift torch, he held it in front of him and charged at Tokoyami and Dark Shadow. The shadow recoiled, and Tokoyami was shocked enough for Midoriya to slip under his guard.
Midoriya delivered a powerful spinning kick to Tokoyami's mid-section, and his opponent stumbled backward. He followed it up with a flaming backhand to the shrinking Dark Shadow, then another kick, driving Tokoyami out of bounds before he could ever go on the offensive.
Only when Midnight called the outcome of the match did Midoriya seem to realize that he was still holding the burning fabric. The flames were licking at his wrist and forearm, and Shoto winced thinking of the burns that Midoriya probably had on his hands already. Midoriya threw the bundle of charred fabric down and stamped out the fire. His burnt arm was held carefully away from his body so it wouldn't rub up against anything.
The audience was again much quieter than usual when Midoriya left, presumably to get his injuries looked at before his match with Shoto.
Shoto stared at his retreating back. He'd challenged Midoriya that morning and promised to beat him. He'd been sure he would be able to do it, and he still was. Midoriya stood no chance, handicapped as he was. He'd almost eliminated the other boy during the second round.
But, beating Midoriya in a one-on-one like that held no appeal. It proved nothing. There was no glory in beating someone who wasn't using a quirk.
He remembered the hunted, despairing look in Midoriya's eyes when he'd been frozen in place during their last fight, the moment when he realized there was no way of winning the fight. This fight would just be a do-over.
While he was still brooding and lost in thought, Yaoyorozu looked over and seemed to notice him for the first time. She left her seat next to Jiro to sit next to him. "Todoroki-kun, congratulations on your win!
Shoto nodded. "Thanks." Yaoyorozu had lost her match in the second round. It would probably have been insensitive to bring that up.
"You're going up against Midoriya," she observed.
Right, Yaoyorozu and Midoriya were close. "He's been trained," Shoto said.
Yaoyorozu looked at him curiously. "I suppose so. But, haven't we all been to some extent?"
It seemed Yaoyorozu didn't know anything, or else she was very good at hiding it. "Maybe," he replied noncommittally.
He left not long after that to prepare for his semifinal match.
*
Izuku flexed his fingers experimentally. He'd needed a visit to Recovery Girl after his match against Tokoyami. Although the school nurse couldn't use her quirk to heal him, she could at least bandage the burns that bloomed up his right arm. They weren't too bad. Izuku had gotten worse from accidents in the support lab, but Recovery Girl still fussed over him like a worried grandmother.
"Honestly," she tutted as she finished wrapping his arm, "I can't imagine how you got it into your head to do that."
Izuku shrugged. "I had to if I wanted to win, and you guys were the ones who wanted me to compete."
Recovery Girl tapped the top of his head with her cane. "For the record, no one meant this. You know I can't heal you. You need to be more careful."
"I will be," Izuku promised. "I didn't think it would be this bad."
Recovery Girl snorted. "Dearie, you stuck your hand in a fire. What were you expecting? Well, that's all I can do for now." She cocked her head toward the muted TV screen in the corner of the room. "We're out of time. Good luck, Izuku. No more sticking your hand in the fire."
With his next opponent, that was going to be a little difficult. "No promises," Izuku said with a cheeky grin. He waved to Recovery Girl with his freshly bandaged hand before he left, trudging through the corridors to get to his prep room.
He didn't have long in there before Bakugo was announced the victor in his match against Shinso. It was too bad, but at least Shinso had a good run. The match with Bakugo had run long, and Shinso had put up a good showing. Izuku was pretty sure he could convince Nedzu-sensei to make the transfer happen.
He had to turn right around and enter the arena once more. Thankfully, he'd been able to replace his uniform top, but it seemed the crowd hadn't forgotten about his latest stunt. There was only a smattering of applause when he entered compared to the roar that Todoroki received.
The lack of noise made the huge space seem empty.
His opponent was staring at him and looked just a tad bit angry. It set Izuku's nerves even further on edge.
It had been his plan to use some of his support gear for this match. Todoroki's quirk was so over-powered that no one should have had an issue with him using support gear. With his visit to the infirmary, he ran out of time. He wouldn't have been able to use his gauntlet properly with the burns on his arm, anyways. There was no use crying over spilled milk.
Izuku had promised the teachers he would try his best, but he was thinking about cutting his losses and giving up this match. He was injured, and unlike the others, he couldn't heal between matches. He had no gear. He'd already lost to Todoroki the round before. Even if his loss hadn't resulted in an elimination, it had been a loss.
At the same time, the spotlight was on him in earnest. If he performed too poorly or gave up, people would say he didn't deserve to be in the hero course or that he'd cheated his way through the earlier rounds. Much as he didn't really care what the general public thought, it would still be a hassle. The staff might not complain about dealing with the backlash, but it would still be there. He'd just have to put up a good fight and hope for the best.
As he took his place opposite Todoroki, Izuku tried for a friendly smile.
Todoroki's face was the usual blank. His eyes tracked Izuku closely, and Izuku tensed under the attention. Todoroki nodded to his bandaged hand. "You didn't visit Recovery Girl?"
Izuku grimaced at his arm. "No time to heal."
Todoroki raised an eyebrow. "You're planning on losing."
"I never said that."
For a few seconds, Todoroki stared at him in silence, then he exhaled. "We'll see."
"You know the rules, boys! The match is over when one of you is unable to continue or has left the ring! Ready? Begin!" Kayama-sensei flicked her whip for emphasis and stepped out of the ring.
The temperature dropped, and a row of ice spikes bloomed out of the ground between them. Izuku side-stepped them easily, but Todoroki followed up with a wide ring. Izuku dove forward to avoid them, tucking and rolling to negate the fall.
In the split second that he was on the ground, Todoroki tried to capture him in a small iceberg. Izuku felt ice freezing over his skin as he launched himself away from where he had landed. Another pillar of ice rose behind him, pushing him forward. Todoroki was cutting off his escape routes. Well, he could play at that game. Close quarters was his specialty after all.
Using the ice structures as cover, Izuku fled Todoroki's line of sight. He crouched behind the wall of spikes and listened carefully for Todoroki's movement. He heard a step forward, and then the crackling of ice all around him.
Todoroki was going big. Izuku had seen the aftermath of this move. Todoroki could fill half the arena with ice if he so desired. Izuku wouldn't be safe anywhere…except exactly where he needed to be.
He vaulted over the wall of spikes, ignoring the way the cold bit into his burns. Focused on his move, Todoroki tensed a second before Izuku crashed into his left side and latched into him like a koala, pinning his arm to his side. Not the most elegant strategy, but with Todoroki's determination not to use his left side, it was slightly sound.
The other boy was shivering, Izuku noticed, now that they were close. Frost had stiffened the right side of his uniform, and ice crystals decorated his hair. His left side was warmer, but it wasn't enough to keep his other side from freezing.
Todoroki attempted to throw Izuku off, but he held firm. "You're hurting yourself," Izuku said through gritted teeth. "Use your fire!"
Todoroki planted his right hand firmly on Izuku's face and pushed. "You're such a hypocrite! You know I can't do that. I refuse to do it."
"It's your quirk, isn't it?"
Todoroki pressed against his face harder, and Izuku couldn't say anything more. He felt the other boy's hand grow cold, obviously in preparation to turn him into an ice sculpture, so he released his hold, grabbed Todoroki's left arm, and used it to throw his opponent to the ground.
Todoroki was taken off guard, but he was no easy opponent. He twisted mid-air and gripped Izuku's wrist tightly so that he was pulled down with him.
The air left Izuku's lungs as he sprawled next to Todoroki. The next second, he'd scrambled to pin his opponent to the ground. They grappled, Todoroki struggling against Izuku's hold on him. Izuku may have been light for his age, but he was more than used to fighting opponents that were bigger and stronger than him, and Todoroki wasn't all that heavy. He was all lean muscle.
Izuku focused his attention on Todoroki's right side, to ensure that he wouldn't be able to use his quirk without it affecting both of them. He got the other boy in an arm lock, and they sat there, panting, while Izuku pressed Shoto against the rough concrete of the ring.
Dully, he heard Kayama-sensei announcing his hold and starting a countdown.
It didn't feel right though. "You could escape," he told Todoroki with a frown. His left arm was barely restrained. He could burn Izuku, throw him off without much effort at all.
Todoroki grimaced, his face twisting into something rawer than rage, grief exposed by empathy. "Then why don't you?"
Izuku's mind blanked.
"This isn't about me. This is about you. You've been given such an amazing power." He grunted as Todoroki tried to throw him off, writhing as much under his words as his weight. "But you refuse to use it. What will you do when the day comes that you have to use it? Who will you fail to save because you refuse to use your power!" He was shouting by the end. What had begun as pinprick of annoyance at Todoroki had morphed into something different that clawed at Izuku's heart.
Todoroki had so much power, power that could do so much good, but he was holding back, hurting himself even, all because of one man's desire to have someone in his image. Todoroki was rebelling, yes, but it was a self-destructive rebellion.
"You're such a hypocrite," Todoroki seethed. His blue eye sparked. He pushed his face right up into Izuku's, close enough that Izuku could see the ruined skin of his scar in detail. "Don't you hate them? Why do you just obey?"
"You're wrong about this, Todoroki. We're not the same. I'm…you're…you have a power you shoulduse." I have a power I shouldn't use.
"You do, too."
A warm touch on his arm, then white hot searing pain.
He must have hit his head, that was why the world was fading. All the colors were paler, the noises duller. Did he still have his hold on Todoroki? He couldn't tell.
Then, the pain was back. A circle of heat and pain around his wrist, pulling his arm back. Distantly, Izuku felt his back hit the concrete.
He couldn't be doing this, not here, not now. He needed to get out, get back to earth, away from this untethered version of reality.
His skin prickled with cold, and then a rush of fever heat. They were simultaneously, lapping at his skin and seeping into his bones.
"—doriya!"
A familiar pressure closed over his wrist, binding him back to reality. The freezing heat that crawled beneath his skin didn't fade, but he could feel again.
"Honey, I need you to come back to me. Izuku, honey, focus on me."
Izuku blinked. Kayama-sensei's violet hair stuck out around her head like a rough halo. She exhaled. "Good, you're back." Her hand at his back was warm as she helped him to stand, keeping a hand snaked around his shoulders even once he was on his feet.
Around them were walls of concrete that rose high into the sky. The closeness of the space was a comfort.
Kayama-sensei guided them toward a gap between the walls. "Let's get you out of here," she said. "There. Recovery Girl is waiting for you." She pushed Izuku down onto a stretcher that hovered nearby with a medical bot in attendance.
"What happened?" Izuku demanded as he sat back heavily. His head felt light and heavy all at once, and he was still wrapped in that hot shivery feeling.
Kayama-sensei bit her lip, one hand playing with the tassels of the flog hanging at her hip. "You scared us, is what happened."
Izuku's heart clenched in his chest. What did I do? How long was I out of it? I should have just dropped out the first time I slipped. What the he—
A hand, Kayama-sensei's, gripped his shoulder tightly. "It's okay. You didn't do anything.
Izuku gasped for breath, shock crashing over him. "What did I do?" He tried to get his shuddering breaths in check, but his lungs were spasming.
"Hey, ssh, Green bean, I'm using my quirk, just a little bit. You need to get off the field, now. It's gonna make you sleepy, help you calm down, you know the drill. Is that okay?"
Izuku nodded. Kayama-sensei held a hand up to his mouth and nose, and the sweet scent of her quirk invaded her nostrils. The world swayed and went dark.
*
"No, you may not speak to him," Aizawa-sensei's voice bit through the haze of half-consciousness that Izuku was in.
"So you can hide him away?" Todoroki's voice was cold. "What are you so afraid of?"
Izuku's eyelids fluttered open. He was back in his private room in the infirmary. He felt much calmer than he had when Kayama-sensei knocked him out. The weird hot and cold sensation was still present, but it had faded in intensity somewhat.
Aizawa-sensei was standing in the doorway. Over his shoulder, Izuku could see Todoroki's split hair.
"Todoroki, return to your bed so Recovery Girl can finish your exam. This doesn't concern you. If anything, you've done enough damage."
Izuku sat up in his bed, rustling the sheets enough to catch the attention of his teacher and classmate.
"Izuku," Aizawa-sensei breathed out a sigh of relief. "I swear, I look away for one second, and…you really are a problem child." He glanced over at Todoroki. "Well, he's awake. You can go now."
"No," Todoroki said. He locked eyes with Izuku.
Aizawa-sensei looked at him, exhaustion evident on his face, then slammed the door in his face and bolted it. Izuku choked back a laugh.
"I'm seriously going to expel him," Aizawa-sensei grumbled as he approached the bed. He sat down on the edge and brushed back the disheveled strands of his hair. "I'm sorry, Izuku."
"What for? What happened?"
His teacher sighed deeply into his capture scarf and gripped the white material. "During your match, Todoroki broke one of your suppressors."
It was as if someone had dropped a lead weigh on Izuku's chest. He couldn't breathe, couldn't move. "I didn't…"
"We don't know how bad it is, yet," Aizawa said. "Recovery Girl is checking on him right now. Or, she's trying to. But, he can't use his quirk."
"No."
"You weren't in contact for more than a few seconds, and you still had one bracelet on. I was able to get in view and erase your quirk quickly." Aizawa-sensei leaned forward, head in his hands, looking much older all of a sudden. "We shouldn't have asked you to compete. We knew this was a risk. Fuck."
Izuku rubbed at his wrists. The bracelets were off, but the room was made of suppressant material, so he didn't have to worry about that. It still didn't feel right to not be wearing them.
What if Todoroki's quirk was gone? Permanently? What did that make him?
"I don't know what Todoroki was thinking," Aizawa-sensei continued. "It looked like he was targeting your suppressor. He shouldn't have known about that. He knows you have a quirk, yes, but I thought he knew better than that."
That might have been Izuku's fault. "I was trying to get him to use his quirk, the fire side of it," Izuku admitted. "He's not stupid, sensei, he probably guessed what the bracelets are, knowing that I don't use my quirk."
"You were trying to get him to use his fire?"
Izuku shrugged. "It seemed like a good idea. I mean, I was going to lose anyway. I thought maybe I could convince him to actually use his full quirk. I…I don't think he took it well, considering I don't use my quirk either."
"Doesn't make it right," Aizawa grunted.
"Can I…Can I speak to him?" Izuku asked. He needed to know what had happened. More importantly, he needed Todoroki to know. He wanted to apologize. He felt like he had to. He always had. Just for existing, he owed the world an apology.
I'm sorry.
"You don't have to, you know. You don't owe him anything."
"I want to." Izuku pulled his blanket up further in an attempt to stave off the crawling feeling of hot and cold.
Aizawa-sensei looked at him, his tired gaze taking in the sincerity on Izuku's face. "All right," he relented. The mattress of the hospital bed shifted when he rose and crossed the room. He opened the door, only for Todoroki to fall back onto the floor of the private room.
Aizawa just blinked down at his student as he picked himself up off the floor. He stood aside and let Todoroki approach Izuku's bed, then left the room. "I'll be right outside if you need me," he said as he closed the door.
Todoroki said nothing as he sat down next to the bed, and Izuku suddenly became more aware of how loud his breathing was, his heartbeat, too. He swallowed, unsure of what to say. He might have hurt Todoroki beyond healing. Were there words to adequately apologize for that?
They didn't know what would happen with Todoroki's quirk just yet, and the uncertainty only made it worse.
Izuku took a deep breath.
"I'm sorry," Todoroki said.
Izuku stilled, his hands fisting in his blanket, breath caught in his lungs, the apology on his lips unsaid.
Why did he always end up here? It was a vicious cycle of apology and guilt.
"Don't feel bad," Todoroki continued. "I don't. I saw what your quirk is capable of. I got off easy. And honestly," he held his hands up in front of himself like he was studying the lines of his palms, "if I don't have my quirk anymore, well, maybe it's for the best."
"It's not!"
Todoroki looked at Izuku, his dual-colored eyes making his face seem strange and unbalanced in the half-light of the hospital room. "My quirk has never brought me anything good," he said. "You would understand that. Maybe, if I didn't have this quirk, I could have had a different life. Maybe I still can."
"Don't say that! You have an amazing quirk, Todoroki. And, it's a part of you. Perhaps it's insensitive of me to say this, but your quirk, your whole quirk, is part of you, and…and…I…"
Todoroki nodded. "You don't like using your quirk. I understand. I shouldn't have tried to make you use it. I thought," he frowned, "I thought it would help you, to get away. If people knew about the power UA wants to keep hidden, you might be able to get away from it all. I…never had that chance."
Izuku's heart sank in his chest. "Todoroki…"
"It's all right. If my quirk never comes back, then maybe I'll get that chance. My father won't have a use for me without my 'perfect' quirk."
"But, don't you want to be a hero?"
Todoroki smiled, a cynical smile to be sure, but the first one Izuku had ever seen on his face. "That's a little hypocritical of you."
The blood rushed to Izuku's face, and his cheeks grew hot. "That's not—"
"It's fine. You're right, I have always wanted to be a hero. It's something I thought I would be good at. I would be lying if I said that not being a hero would be a disappointment. We don't know for sure if I've lost my quirk anyways, so maybe I'm getting ahead of myself." He leaned forward, placing his hands on the edge of Izuku's hospital bed. "I have to ask, what is your quirk?"
Under his blanket, Izuku tucked his legs underneath him criss-crossed, shifting to face Todoroki head-on. He had been anticipating this question. How they had ended up here, he wasn't exactly sure. It had never been the plan to reveal his quirk at all, but after the USJ, perhaps it had been inevitable that Todoroki would find out sooner or later.
"It's some kind of destruction type, isn't it?" Todoroki hypothesized, narrowing his eyes as he studied Izuku's face.
"Yes," Izuku admitted. His fingers circled his wrist in an instinctive gesture. "Um, I don't really use it, though. Like ever. I mean, I know you've seen it, obviously, but that's just about the only time I've used it."
Todoroki drew his eyebrows together in a perplexed frown. "You don't use it in training?"
Izuku shook his head.
"Isn't that what UA is training you for?" Todoroki didn't seem to understand. "How do they expect you to be able to use your quirk if you've never trained with it?"
A wry smile tugged at Izuku's lips. "That's not what's going on," he said. "UA isn't training me like that."
"Then…what are they doing?"
Earlier, Todoroki had bared his past, or a part of it, to Izuku. The time had come to return the favor.
"It's a long story," he chuckled.
"I'm listening." Todoroki leaned back in his chair, eyes still fixed on Izuku.
And then Izuku realized what he had signed himself up for. He…didn't talk about the early years of his life. The distance between his younger and his current self was so immense that he felt disconnected at times. He'd changed so much. But, looking at the marred skin on Todoroki's face and knowing his complicated past with his mother, perhaps he was the best person to share it with.
"When I was about four," he began, "I was diagnosed as quirkless. I, um, I wasn't. Surprise!" Izuku did jazz hands. Todoroki didn't react, so Izuku continued. "The first time I used my quirk, I erased my mother's quirk. Not permanently. I just damaged her quirk factor, I think. I was pretty young at the time, so I don't really remember, and she didn't tell me what had happened. I was put on suppressants to keep the same thing from happening with worse results."
"Was that the reason you were sent to UA?" Todoroki asked. "Because your quirk was dangerous?"
"That came later." Izuku swallowed and closed his eyes to get out the next words. "I didn't know I had a quirk." He'd never admitted this to anyone before. The UA staff knew he'd had reservations about his quirk, even denied having one, but it had never been a subject they'd had to discuss. He looked over to see Todoroki's reaction.
The other boy's face was carefully neutral, but his fists were clenched in his lap.
"It took me a while to figure it out. I did, eventually, but I wasn't really able to accept it." He laughed a tiny laugh that died somewhere in his throat. "I used to think that being quirkless was contagious, you know? I think I just didn't want to admit that I did have a quirk, just, you know, a quirk like mine that shouldn't exist."
"No."
Izuku blinked at Todoroki's icy face. The other boy lunged forward and gripped one of Izuku's wrists tightly, pulling it out of the hold Izuku had had it in.
"My quirk shouldn't exist," Todoroki said. "My father created me as a genetic experiment. You are not the same. Your quirk is yours."
Izuku gently disengaged Todoroki's hand. The touch was comforting, but Todoroki didn't seem to understand. He might not want to touch Izuku later.
"My quirk makes other people quirkless," he explained. "I destroy people's quirks by touching them, and just being around me makes them unable to use their quirks. I can't control it." I'm damaged. I'm broken. I shouldn't exist.
Was that also what Todoroki thought about himself? Was that why he'd only leaned closer and captured Izuku's wrist again, like he was determined to keep that contact between them. Izuku didn't want to pull away again. That was the burned hand, and more rubbing would only aggravate the burns.
"My mother died when I was eight," Izuku said in a rush. "I don't…I don't know if it was my fault." The last part came out in a strained voice. I'll never know. But after that, I had nowhere to go. I never had a father, so I ended up in a home. I was still, y'know, quirkless back then. I couldn't stay there. I ran away, and came to UA, and I've been here ever since."
Todoroki's face showed faint confusion. "So, they took you off the streets?"
"No, I came to UA on my own. I just started living here, and they let me stay."
"So, your quirk?"
"That was never a factor. They found out about it pretty quickly, but they've never pressured me to use it. I don't want to, and they respect that."
"I see." Todoroki looked down thoughtfully. "I was wrong then."
"Yeah." Izuku smiled. "Well, you were right about me living at UA, and I was trained by the teachers, but it was because I wanted to."
Todoroki wasn't over his confusion. "Then, why hide your quirk. It's powerful, even more powerful than Eraserhead's."
Izuku pulled his knees up to his chest defensively. "Like I said, I can't control it. it's why I wear the suppressors. I have absolutely no control over it. And, it's not right. I can't use it."
"I see." Todoroki released his hold on Izuku's wrist once again.
The door to the room opened, and Izuku expected Aizawa-sensei to walk in. It was Nedzu-sensei. The short mammal, dressed to the nines as always, had his customary smile on his face. The smile turned up a notch when it was directed toward Todoroki.
"I do hope I'm not interrupting anything," Nedzu-sensei said, which was complete nonsense. He'd probably been waiting for a good time and decided that now was as good a time as any to make his entrance.
He trotted over to Izuku bed, and Izuku gave him a hand up. Once settled at the end of the bed, Nedzu-sensei turned his beady gaze to Todoroki.
"It's good to see you, Todoroki. I've been wanting to talk with you since our chat during the recommendation exam, but there was never a good time. Who'd have thought we'd be greeting each other like this.?
Todoroki inclined his head in greeting but said nothing.
"I was considering expelling you for a few minutes after your match with Izuku here." Nedzu's smile didn't falter. It only grew sharper and more feral. "I decided against it, of course. I couldn't do that to you, not after all the work I've put in.
"I've completed the necessary paperwork. As of now you are under UA's guardianship. Endeavour should be losing custody as soon as I can get a court date.
Excitement and relief flooded though Izuku's veins. He'd known Nedzu-sensei would do something as soon as he heard Todoroki's story, but this was even faster than he'd expected.
"Of course," his teacher continued, "we here at UA couldn't allow a student to return to such a household. Also, considering your condition, I thought it wise not to allow you to return to your home."
Todoroki had blinked once or twice since Nedzu-sensei started talking. He was still as an ice sculpture.
Nedzu-sensei seemed to find this amusing. "You are now a ward of UA, Todoroki, just like Izuku here. Your father will never be able to lay a hand on you again, not if I have anything to say about it."
"How?" Todoroki asked, his voice coming out as half a wheeze and half a whisper.
Izuku reached out to lay a hand on his shoulder. "He heard our conversation, Todoroki. He knows."
Todoroki looked between the two of them.
"Welcome to UA!" Nedzu-sensei said. "We look forward to seeing you around."
*
The finals match was canceled, and Bakugo was named the winner of the sports festival. With his quirk erased, permanently or not, Shoto was in no position to fight.
For some reason, he didn't care.
Without his quirk he felt a curious freedom. He'd gone into the tournament desperate to win, to prove that he didn't need the fire Endeavour was so convinced was the greatest power in the world.
With a detached air, he watched All Might handing out medals to Bakugo and Shinso, the second place podium conspicuously empty.
He'd left Midoriya's room to return to his own bed and to allow the principal to speak to Midoriya in private. He'd been wrong about his classmate, but in ways, he hadn't been entirely wrong. Midoriya was like him. He was sure of that. Recovery Girl was puttering about. She'd said the result of his tests wouldn't come out for a few hours. Until then, he wouldn't know what had happened to his quirk. He could barely bring himself to care. Endeavour's legacy wasn't something he cared for.
If the principal was to be believed, he wouldn't have to worry about Endeavour either.
He wouldn't be going home that day. For some reason, that felt like a homecoming in and of itself.
*
"We're proud of you, son," Masaru said as he ruffled Katsuki's hair. It felt like it was happening to someone else.
Katsuki brushed the hand away. He was still clutching the gold medal that All Might had wrestled over his head. It was a joke, giving it to him because the other two had taken themselves out of commission.
Katsuki had seen the match on the screen in the prep room, mentally screaming for Izuku to win so that they could finally fight.
In hindsight, he hated how he'd let the competition get to him. He knew he had a problem with anything competitive, but it had still gotten to him.
He brushed past his parents to go to his room. Once he had locked the door behind him, he stripped off his sweaty and singed uniform that he hadn't bothered to change out of. After a moment of hesitation where he'd been tempted to throw the medal out the window, he set it on his desk instead.
He stepped into the shower and turned the water on as hot as it would go. He sank onto the floor and let the hot water wash over him. It was one of the best ways he'd found of relaxing. The sweat and grime of the day washed away until Katsuki finally felt clean. More than that, it was like the anger had been steamed out of his pores.
After a quick wash, he turned the water to cold by gradual degrees. It was a calming ritual he'd developed, based partially off advice from his quirk therapist. The cold water lowered his body temperature which meant less sweat, which in turn meant less nitroglycerine in his system.
Katsuki changed into sweatpants and a hoodie, then trudged over to his desk, hair still dripping onto the towel he'd thrown around his shoulders,
From one of the small cubicles, he used to organize his supplies, he pulled a pill container. He looked at it and sighed.
He hadn't taken his meds today, like he usually didn't take them on days he had hero training. It was counterintuitive, because those were the days he needed them most, but he didn't like the way they made him drowsy and slower to react. There was no way he'd have been able to do his best like that.
Katsuki tossed the container away, and the pills clattered inside it as it rolled across his desk. It wasn't like the stupid pills would have prevented IcyHot and Izuku from pulling a draw and robbing him of his final match.
The blond lay down on his bed, limbs sprawled out in all directions. He hated how he felt, how the whole sports festival had made him feel. He'd been trying, damn it! Most of all, he hated how he was feeling about Izuku.
It was illogical and stupid, and Katsuki was fucking over it. He'd been so excited to see Izuku again. Izuku was strong, stronger even than Katsuki remembered. Izuku ignoring him was less than ideal, though Katsuki could admit he hadn't handled things perfectly. Katsuki wasn't proud of the feelings swirling inside his chest, or the way the competition had fanned the flames.
His intention had been to use the event to fix things. He wanted…he didn't know…to connect? He honestly couldn't remember what it was he'd been so fixated on. With Izuku ignoring him, and the icyhot bastard's stupid challenge, Katsuki had gotten caught up in the competition.
Old feelings had reemerged. They were old, from the days after Izuku had disappeared from Katsuki's life. Guilt and anger had pooled in him back then and combined into something ugly that he'd never really been able to get rid of. It simmered inside him, waiting to rear its ugly head like it had earlier that day.
Katsuki pressed the heels of his palms against his eyes.
Was it too much to ask that he didn't screw up the one relationship he cared about? He was beginning to wonder if he'd imagined it all. Maybe he and Izuku were nothing to each other, or maybe he'd never been anything to Izuku. Was it time to give up?
No. He'd given up on Izuku once before. He could give it one more try.
Katsuki sat up and crossed his room in a few steps. He grabbed his pill container. The section for that day opened easily. With a grimace, he swallowed his medication and chased it down with a mouthful of water from his water bottle.
*
In a dark room, a single TV screen cast its light across a pale face. On the screen, a green-haired boy smiled, tired but triumphant. His name—Midoriya Izuku—flashed across the screen. He and his team had won the second round of the UA sports festival. The announcers chatted about him, remarking on his exploits during the round.
The man, sitting in his armchair, turned the volume down. He'd already heard everything he needed to.
"Found you, Midoriya." Pale lips curved in a sinister smile. "Found you at last."