After that run-in with Endeavor, Tsutsumi finally made his way back toward the Class 1-A stand, just as Jiro and Momo's match was already underway.
Momo's quirk allowed her to create objects from her skin, she had armed herself with a staff and shield. On paper, it looked solid. But thanks to her training with Tsutsumi, Jiro had sharpened her combat skills and developed a more aggressive fighting style. This gave her a clear edge.
With quick precision, Jiro swung her earphone jacks, wrapping them around Momo's staff. She yanked it to the side, throwing her opponent off balance, then spun around and landed a swift kick to Momo's ribs, sending her rolling across the ground.
Grimacing in pain, Momo clutched her side and tried to push herself up, only for another kick to slam into her cheek, knocking her flat again.
Thinking fast, Momo conjured a handful of smoke bombs and tossed them down. Thick clouds of smoke filled the arena, covering her retreat as she scrambled to create distance.
But Jiro was already on the move. She charged straight through the smoke, tracking Momo's every step with ease. Before Momo could fully regroup, Jiro lunged forward and delivered a leaping kick that sent her tumbling backward, straight out of bounds.
"Yaoyorozu is out of bounds! Jiro advances to the second round!" Midnight announced, cracking her whip for emphasis.
Momo groaned, still rubbing her cheek, as Jiro helped her back up. "How… how were you able to see me through the smoke?" she asked, disbelief in her voice.
"My quirk," Jiro replied simply, tapping her earphone jacks. "It lets me pick up the vibrations you make by just plucking them on the ground. Remember?"
It was a humble explanation, but the truth was clear: Jiro had turned her so-called "support" quirk into a powerful combat tool. Through Tsutsumi's training, she had developed the reflexes and creativity to weaponize it in ways few would expect, redirecting weapons, stabbing or jabbing with her jacks, even generating shockwave-like bursts using her heartbeat.
Combined with her flexible, kick-heavy fighting style, Jiro could confidently claim the best female combat hero in Class 1-A. In fact, many of her classmates were starting to forget her quirk was originally meant for support.
"Nice," Tsutsumi called out from the stands, tapping the pink camera hanging around his neck. "I managed to get the shot right as your foot smashed into her face."
Momo: "…"
"Could you not say it like that?" Jiro muttered, cheeks slightly red. She didn't press further, though.
The next match was Bakugo versus a girl from 1-B with vine hair. Unsurprisingly, it wasn't much of a contest. Bakugo tore through her defenses with relentless explosions, completely dominating the match. It was as one-sided as it got.
Yeah… not much suspense when you pit vines against literal dynamite.
Then came the tie-breaker between Kirishima and the guy with the steel body. Their battle was settled not with flashy moves, but with an arm-wrestling match. After a tense struggle, Kirishima finally slammed his opponent's hand down, sealing his victory.
And with that, the first round came to a close.
...
"Thanks for waiting, everybody!" Yamada's voice boomed across the stadium, mixing with the thunderous cheers of the crowd. "The first match of the second round is a clash of giants!"
He threw his arm toward the stage with exaggerated flair.
"The man who won a decisive victory in the first round, leaving the entire audience frozen, literally! From the hero course, it's Todoroki Shoto!"
The arena shook with applause as Todoroki stepped forward, each stride measured, his sharp gaze already locked on the figure walking out from the opposite tunnel.
"And facing him! The guy who declared he'd destroy all his opponents! The first place of the previous two events! From the hero course, it's Tsutsumi Ryoko!"
Tsutsumi stepped onto the field with his hands stuffed casually in his pockets, looking more like he was out for a walk than about to face one of the most anticipated matches of the festival. The crowd roared at the sight of the two teens squaring off, their hair shifting lightly in the breeze.
"So you're here," Todoroki muttered, his voice calm but eyes sharp as steel.
Tsutsumi tilted his head lazily. "Where else would I be?"
This causes Todoroki's eyelid to twitch.
Yamada leaned over the mic, practically vibrating with excitement. "These two have been dominating since the festival began! Top-class powerhouses, facing off like true rivals in a clash for the ages!"
He pointed both fingers to the arena floor.
"Now, Todoroki versus Tsutsumi! START!!"
"That power you used against the Nomu… without it, you can't win." Todoroki's voice was cold, unwavering.
Tsutsumi: "..."
He really doesn't know whether the other boy was joking or was serious.
Did Scar Face just sign his own death warrant?
"Cool. Didn't know that," Tsutsumi replied flatly.
Almost immediately, ice surged across the ground, climbing higher and higher until it became a colossal glacier, threatening to swallow Tsutsumi whole.
The stadium gasped. Todoroki exhaled a chilling breath, his body steaming from the cold. All eyes were glued to the shimmering mountain of ice, waiting to see if Tsutsumi would emerge.
"Tsutsumi-" Midnight began, already preparing to call the match.
The glacier split down the middle, before shattering apart in a thunderous explosion of ice shards.
Form Ride: Build! TankTank Form!
"Rude," Tsutsumi said casually, stepping out of the collapsing glacier in gleaming blue TankTank armor, the long tank tracks hanging behind him. His heavy metal boots crunched the ice beneath as he walked forward.
Blazing blue energy shells ripped through the ice, detonating with sharp explosions that shattered the glacier before it reached him.
Todoroki's eyes widened. His ice, broken, scattered in seconds. He gritted his teeth and fired off another wave, bigger, thicker.
Tsutsumi sighed, raising his cannons again. The ice shattered once more.
"Really?" Tsutsumi muttered, unimpressed.
Pulling out another card, he slid it into his driver.
"Build Up!"
Form Ride: Build! RabbitRabbit Form!
Red armor pieces burst out, replacing the heavy tanks with sleek rabbit-themed plating. Energy surged through his frame as the rabbit-ear motifs flared, and his boots glowed crimson.
In a flash, he vaulted over Todoroki's newest glacier, landing lightly atop the icy ridge. His purple eyes gleamed behind the crimson rabbit lenses, narrowing in amusement.
"You seriously don't have anything else, huh," he said, disappointment dripping in his voice.
Then, he vanished.
The glacier cracked violently beneath where he had stood.
Before Todoroki could even register his movement, Tsutsumi was beside him. His kick connected with Todoroki's ribs, snapping his right arm and launching him across the field.
Pain shot through Todoroki's body, but before he could even recover, Tsutsumi was already above him in midair.
A brutal axe kick slammed him into the ice floor, the impact spiderwebbing the arena with fractures.
Landing with a resounding crash, Tsutsumi straightened, red boots grinding into the ice.
"Still think I can't win?" he asked coolly, looking down at Todoroki, who was struggling to push himself up. His left hand was frozen solid, ice halting the bleeding from his shattered arm.
"I remember… your quirk has fire too," Tsutsumi added, tilting his head in faint boredom. "So why aren't you using it?"
"I don't need his quirk…" Todoroki muttered, forcing his glare through the pain. "I'll beat you with my mother's quirk alone!"
Tsutsumi stared at him for a beat.
"...The fuck are you even talking about? Did you hit your head on the way down?" he asked bluntly. Then he turned toward Midnight without missing a beat. "Teach, I think this guy's got brain damage. Just so we're clear, I'm not paying for his hospital bills."
Todoroki: "..."
Midnight: "..."
Both Todoroki and Midnight were left speechless at how casually he said it.
"Todoroki, can you still fight?" Midnight asked, her voice tense as she glanced at the boy whose entire right side was coated in ice and frostbite, his breath ragged and shallow.
"I'm fine... I can still fight!" Todoroki forced out, his voice trembling yet stubborn, before he raised his arm and sent another wave of ice toward Tsutsumi. But this time, the ice was slower, weaker, a shadow of the previous overwhelming force.
Tsutsumi didn't even flinch. He simply leapt over the ice, landing lightly on his feet.
"So what's the deal here?" Tsutsumi called out, his tone deceptively casual. "Did I hit you so hard you started hallucinating playtime with daddy or something?"
The mocking words sliced deeper than Todoroki's frost ever could. His glare burned, his teeth clenched, and more jagged ice erupted across the arena floor, cracking stone and rattling the stands. But it was sloppy, desperate.
Tsutsumi dodged again, landing just outside the range with irritating ease. He clicked his tongue in mild annoyance as he watched Todoroki strain.
"You know," Tsutsumi said, his voice sharpening, "your fire side could help with that frostbite."
For the first time, his tone wasn't mocking; it was edged with faint concern. If this idiot really froze himself to death here. Then he would most likely be dragged to this idiot's funeral.
"I don't need it! I don't need my father's quirk to win!" Todoroki roared, veins bulging at his neck as he staggered forward. The ice creeping across his right side pulsed painfully before faint traces of red began to burn through it.
"So you see your fire as your father's property, huh?" Tsutsumi's voice dropped lower, colder. He tilted his head, icy eyes narrowing on Todoroki. "Then half of your quirk belongs to your dad, and the other half belongs to your mom. That means you don't own anything. That makes you quirkless."
Todoroki froze mid-step, shock rippling through him.
"You don't even see your own body as yours," Tsutsumi continued relentlessly, voice slicing like a blade. "So tell me, if you can't claim your own power, if you can't even stand by your own choices, how the hell are you going to save anyone? Are you going to stop in the middle of a burning building and ask, 'Mom, Dad, can I use your quirks to save these people?'"
He spread his arms wide, openly mocking him, his voice booming across the arena. "Are you gonna tell grieving families, 'Sorry, I couldn't save your child, Daddy thinks it's too dangerous for me to use his quirk!'"
The crowd murmured at the brutality of the words, but not one could deny the truth buried inside them.
"So tell me, Todoroki," Tsutsumi said, his voice falling cold as ice. "Is your life yours to live, or is it theirs?"
Todoroki's breath hitched. He didn't answer. He didn't move. He just stared blankly, trembling as if Tsutsumi's words had cracked open the walls he'd spent years building.
"If you can't even decide who you are, if you're only here because someone told you to be, then quit." Tsutsumi's voice cut like a verdict, merciless and final. "You don't help others because you want to, or is it the right thing. You are doing it because someone told you to. You are nothing more than a puppet dancing for someone else's entertainment."
Todoroki lowered his head, bangs shadowing his eyes. For the first time in front of everyone, his walls shattered. His fists shook. His lips trembled. And then, a single tear slid down his face.
The silence of the arena was deafening.
"Ask yourself," Tsutsumi pressed, his voice softer now but sharper than ever, "Who are you? And what do you want to do with your life?"
Todoroki's breath hitched again, but this time, fire, his fire, sparked to life. Flame emerged gently from his left side, melting away some of the frostbite.
The crowd roared, seeing Todoroki finally using his flame.
"SHOTOOO!" A cry of pure joy burst from the stands, loud, proud, and unmistakable.
"Thank you... Tsutsumi." Todoroki whispered, voice raw and hoarse, yet burning with something new.
He then turned toward Midnight.
"I forfeit." Todoroki said suddenly, his voice steady this time. The arena went silent, disbelief crackling in the air.
Just as quickly, it turned to rage. "SHOTOOOOOO!!!" The same voice thundered again, venom and fury shaking the air.
Everyone's head turned toward Endeavor.
"Todoroki has forfeited! Tsutsumi advances to the Semi-finals!" Midnight announced, her voice strained with surprise.
Todoroki looked up one last time at the boy who had cut into his very soul. For the first time in years, he smiled, a small, genuine smile, before turning to walk toward the infirmary.
Tsutsumi also calmly turned away, his armor disappearing as he stepped out from the arena. He shoved his hands into his pockets, muttering under his breath, "At least he's got a brain. Better than a certain someone who can't think at all."