"It was honestly a good match" Izuku consoled Momo, who had just lost her match against Iida.
She had used a good strategy; scattering caltrops wherever she could and using her staff to keep him at a distance.
They weren't nearly heavy enough though, and Iida was able to blow them out of his way with the wind his kicks generated at the 2nd gear.
One Recipro burst after that, and Momo had been gently escorted out the ring.
"I know, it's just frustrating" his friend said as she looked at Tetsu and Katsuki's match half-heartedly.
"you did great against Tokoyami though" Izuku reminded her "you figured out his weakness."
"That was with your aid." Momo said miserably "If I hadn't seen your quirks in combat during the second round, I probably would have lost there as well."
"That's not the point" Izuku said as he saw her muffle the sound of a sniffle behind her hand "and you don't have to hide it if you're upset by a loss. Especially not from me."
She nodded, and removed her hand from her face.
"Thank you."
Izuku sighed, and grabbed her hand.
"Hearing me ramble probably doesn't help does it?"
He leaned back into his chair, and looked at the stage to see Katsuki end the match by flipping over Tetsu using his explosions and launching him out of the ring and into the wall.
"That concludes the Quarter Finals! Let's keep this momentum going, and start the semi-finals round! For the first match, will Izuku Midoriya and Shoto Todoroki come down to the stage please!"
Izuku sighed, and stood up.
"I'm up."
Momo nodded.
"Do your best."
Izuku gave her a wry grin before turning and jumping off the stands with a burst of light.
He went up slowly for a second, before falling to the ground like a comet.
In front of him was Todoroki, walking out of the tunnel with a raised eyebrow.
"That was quite an entrance."
"This is going to be quite the fight after all" Izuku said as he cracked his knuckles and drew his arm back, already ready to fire off an attack.
"Izuku Midoriya vs Shoto Todoroki, BEGIN!"
In an instant, Todoroki sent out a glacier as big as the one he used earlier to cover Izuku.
The ice lasted for less about 10 seconds.
Then it shattered completely.
[FLOW STATE, 20%]
Izuku felt One for All flow through his body at 20%, pushing Glint pass it's natural limit.
The fist he had cocked back earlier had already been thrown forward, punching through the second ice barrage and sending Todoroki skidding by a bit.
"You didn't really think you could take me down like that did you?" Izuku asked as he looked at Todoroki.
"No, I didn't." Todoroki said as he raised his right hand and aimed straight up.
"You should be honoured, Midoriya." Todoroki said as ice crystals swirled around his raised arm "I had to create a new move just to use against you."
He made a fist, and punched the ground.
"[Frozen Blossom]!"
Ice erupted around the spot Todoroki had planted his fist.
Izuku charged One for All at 35% into his right hand, and swiped the air with an open palm to release a gust of wind.
The wind blew away the shards in front of him, but he could only watch as the ice took the shape of a giant Sakura blossom made of ice, with Todoroki in the centre.
"This is the defence I need to keep up with you." Todoroki said, hand still planted firmly in the ground.
'Todoroki can't control his ice after he loses contact with it' Izuku thought as he channelled
Haki into his senses to predict the next move 'that means he's still going to pull some trick.'
[BELOW!]
Izuku jumped up high, jumping from one ice pillar to another until he was standing at the side of one, hand glowing as it held on to the tallest pillar of ice.
" An AOE (Area of effect) attack eh" Izuku muttered as he charged up Haki into his legs before jumping into the air.
"TWO CAN PLAY AT THAT GAME!"
He felt gravity take hold, and started spinning as he put both his legs together, Haki coating his entire body below his waist.
The crowd could only cheer as they saw a literal star fall down in a storm of black lightning.
"[FALLING COMET]!"
The formation Todoroki had created caved with almost no resistance.
The dual haired teen had to abandon all defence, and thrust his right arm back as he created layers upon layers of ice to cancel the force with which he had been flung back.
Izuku had landed in a crouch, black lightning still rolling off of him as he looked up at Todoroki and smirked.
Todoroki gritted his teeth in fury as he saw the move he had spent weeks cultivating be rendered useless the moment it made contact with his opponent.
He hadn't even gotten to actually display the defence part of it, Izuku taking it down before he could truly show it off.
"You won't beat me if you're only going to use half your power"
"It's not that simple" Todoroki snarled "You've seen what just my Ice can do. Do you really want to add Endeavour's flames to that!?"
"Won't know till you try" Izuku aimed at Todoroki and clapped his hands, releasing a shockwave that destroyed the ice that had been behind Todoroki.
"Don't you remember what sensei said?" Izuku called out "no good hero is a one-trick pony. Your 'trick' might be strong, but against people like me or Katsuki, it won't do much."
"I can make more moves" Todoroki argued "My frozen blossom move earlier just didn't get to shine because you're a maniac."
"that's my whole point here" Izuku muttered before charging forward and grabbing Todoroki by the sleeve and dangled him over the edge of the arena.
"Blast me away right now."
"I… won't!"
Todoroki tried putting out ice from his hand, but Izuku grabbed his right arm with a haki infused arm and held it up.
"Why…won't my ice come out!" Todoroki groaned.
"Because you lack resolve" Izuku said, leaning forward.
"My power is overwhelming you right now because my resolve isn't flickering."
Todoroki winced as Izuku squeezed his right arm.
"I don't understand."
"You need to get out of your head" Izuku said "Stop thinking so much. Stop listening to your brain, and start listening to your heart. What is it saying right now?"
"I…want to win!" Todoroki said "I want to be a hero!"
"Then become a hero" Izuku yelled at him "be the hero you know you could be if you just removed your restraints!"
"I won't hurt people with those flames" Todoroki said through gritted teeth.
"oh for god's sake" Izuku groaned "it's your quirk! Train it to not hurt people! We've already talked about this!"
With an annoyed grunt, Izuku threw Todoroki towards the centre of the arena.
"I promise you; I won't go down just because you light up a bit" Izuku said, crouching down to meet the downed teen.
"Just try once. This is UA, they'll stop you if you go out of control" Izuku promised "Just once, stop thinking and just do!"
Todoroki didn't say anything, and Izuku thought that he might have knocked his opponent out for a second.
And then he used it.
A blast of flames shot into the sky.
He saw Todoroki sit up and shake his head.
"You're crazy for this, you know?"
Todoroki had a grin matching Izuku's on his face.
"That's what I'm talking about!" Izuku exclaimed as he dashed forward.
"[20% SMASH]!"
Todoroki rolled to the side, releasing a torrent of flames at Izuku.
Izuku jumped back with a blast of energy before swiping at the air with Haki overflowing from his arms.
Todoroki had to create his own blast of flames to stop himself from being thrown out.
"It's great that you're using your flames and all, but nothing's changed" Izuku informed him "this match is still mine to win!"
"we'll see about that!"
Todoroki tensed, flames and ice both rushing out of him like water from a dam.
In front of him stood Izuku, no black lightning or white light in sight.
"I'm ending this!" Todoroki said before unleashing his move.
"[FLASHFREEZE HEATWAVE]!"
Izuku took in a deep breath, and threw his fist out.
"[100% DETROIT SMASH]!"
Neither noticed the walls Cementos sensei suddenly put between them, or the pink mist from Midnight sensei's quirk that was blown away from the blast.