SORRY THIS IS LATE. I LOST TRACK OF TIME. WELL BETTER LATE THAN NEVER.
___
"SHOTO!!!"
The single bellow shook the stadium more violently than any explosion so far.
The crowd froze mid-discussions.
Present Mic blinked, halfway through a sentence.
"Uh—W-where did THAT come from—?"
Todoroki didn't need to look. His shoulders locked reflexively at the voice that had haunted his entire childhood.
Heads turned, section by section, until every eye in the arena landed on,
Endeavor.
The flames around his face burned brighter than they had all day. A grin split his features… one that had absolutely nothing to do with pride.
"Have you finally accepted your purpose?"
Endeavor didn't wait. He descended the concrete stairs step by thundering step.
"That's it… very good. This is the dawn of a new era for us." Spectators shrank back to give him room till he reached the barrier separating the audience from the field.
"With my blood in your veins, you will surpass me. You will live out the purpose for which I created you."
The words hit Todoroki harder than the blast he had just released.
The flames on his left side sputtered—just a little as his jaw clenched.
In the audience, a dozen phones captured Endeavor's declaration, recording history. The crowd began cheering once again with excitement.
Present Mic fumbled for his mic, scrambling to fill the silence.
"W-WOAH! Aaaaand—there's Endeavor! Looks like the Number Two Hero's giving his… er… fatherly encouragement to young Todoroki down below!"
"Father–son bonding at its, uh—HOTTEST? Haha—too soon? Too soon, huh Aizawa?"
"Someone get security down there. If Endeavor steps past that railing, I'm expelling him from the premises myself." Aizawa muttered though his gaze never left the ring.
Todoroki's face darkened. Hidden beneath his lowered head were clenched teeth and tightened fists.
'You damn basta ..'
CRACK!
A faint sound cut through the roiling steam.
Todoroki snapped his head toward it. In the distance, Yuta was rising.
Slowly.
'Tch. Damn endeavor. Here I thought I could win this on a counter if he attacked.'
He stood to his feet, eyes narrowed in annoyance. 'Ugh. That last strike actually hurt though. I was too careless.'
The stadium noise dipped as the monitors zoomed in.
The crowd winced in unison. His appearance was a jagged contrast to the pristine image he'd held all day. Half his uniform was scorched black with one sleeve being burned entirely. His left arm was a roadmap of angry red blisters, and a raw burn mark trailed from his cheek toward his jawline.
"Oh my god—!"
"Ouch. That's gotta sting—!"
"Guess he didn't come out unscathed from that last one!"
In a Hinohara apartment, a glass fell. Eri's eyes filled with tears as she clutched Aiko's arm.
"Y-Yuta …!"
Aiko held her and comforted.
"H-He's ok dear… he'll be fine once this match is over, ok?"
In Class 1-D's viewing area.
Hana stood up, fists over her chest. "Yuta …!"
Kimura swallowed hard.
"That heat must've been insane."
"It's fine though. He'll be good as new once he goes to Recovery Girl's office."
"Maybe. But those burns are gonna hinder him for the rest of the match."
The camera zoomed in.
"A-AKUTAMI YUTA IS STILL STANDING! B-BUT HE'S TAKEN CONSIDERABLE BURN DAMAGE FROM THAT BLAST! LOOK AT HIS ARM AND—WAIT, CAMERA, CAN YOU GET A CLOSE-UP ON HIS FACE?"
The screen flickered, showing Yuta's face in high definition.
"HIS EYES! IS THAT ANOTHER PART OF HIS QUIRK? THEY CERTAINLY WEREN'T THAT RED BEFORE, WERE THEY?"
The commentary caught the attention of the crowd.
Todoroki's brows furrowed. "It seemed my eyes didn't deceive me earlier,"
He ignored the roaring endorsement from his father, his focus entirely on the scorched boy in front of him.
'Speed, strength, that weird thing with the ice… and now this. There's no way his quirk is speed-based. That's probably just one application. But I don't know what the core principle is, so I won't be able to guess if he has anything else up his sleeve. Still, to think I'd be pushed to this point.'
His fists clenched. With a thought, the flames on his left side extinguished.
Endeavors grinning face turned dark.
'What is he doing?'
"What are you doing Shoto? This is your chance. Your flames have burned his arm and weakened his fighting ability. You can easily win this."
"No. The last time was an accident. I've already decided. To win with my ice alone."
His words caused murmurs to spread through the audience. Todoroki didn't care.
'It doesn't matter how strong he is.'
His eyes grew determined. 'I'll win without his Quirk.'
In the distance, Yuta's brows furrowed.
"Win huh?"
Honestly, with their battle putting him clearly at a disadvantage, he didn't expect Todoroki to still be so stubborn. It seemed, without a strong enough ideological contrast, he wouldn't change his mind. In Canon, this was exactly what Midoriya had done.
By presenting his goals and motivations to reach the Top, alongside the possibility of his own loss, only then was Todoroki enlightened.
'Fine then.' Unfortunately, Yuta couldn't care less. Without Midoriya, Todoroki's internal conflict was destined to remain much longer than it should have. After all, he wasn't Midoriya, nor did he have any desire to strengthen his enemy.
Through the focused clarity of his vision, the stadium lights stopped glaring, and the crowd became a distant hum.
To the onlookers, he was staring blankly at his charred arm. In reality,
'Thermal damage to the papillary layer. High level of inflammation. I just need to force cellular turnover.'
His pupils tracked the burn lines. The blistering. The tissue damage. Microscopic details Todoroki couldn't even imagine.
Then—
His quirk already activated to numb the pain, went to work again. With the consumption of chakra, the burns began to recede at a rapid pace.
The raw tissue on his cheek smoothed over, turning from an angry red to a clear tan.
The scorched, dead skin flaked off his arm like ash in a breeze, revealing flawless, pink tissue underneath that quickly hardened into his original complexion.
'Much better.' Yuta thought at the view of his arm.
'Now let's see the effect it has on the audience.'
He didn't raise his gaze, but the silence all around said everything.
Inside the broadcast booth, the mic went dead for three full seconds.
"WHAT?!" Present Mic shrieked, slamming his headphones against the desk. "DID HE JUST REGENERATE?!"
The replay confirmed.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN—IS THAT—HEALING?! RAPID, FULL-RECOVERY HEALING?! ON TOP OF EVERYTHING ELSE?! WHAT IS THIS KID'S QUIRK MADE OF?!"
The crowd went into a fever pitch.
"HE—HEALED?!!"
"He can heal?!"
"NO WAY—!! HOW MANY ABILITIES DOES THIS GUY HAVE?!"
In the Nurse's office, Recovery girl watched the broadcast while sitting on her cozy chair.
"Hmph. Looks like some benefit came out of his near death experience. Though something is definitely wrong with his quirk."
Todoroki stood with his mouth open, sharing the shock and disbelief in the audience. 'He ... Healed? In an instant. What kind of quirk is that?' Yuta flexed his fingers in the arena. "Now then, what were you saying?"
Todoroki's expression hardened.
"What kind of quirk do you have?"
"It's a secret. Though I can make an exception and let you know after my victory."
Todoroki's features darkened even further.
"You're implying I'll lose."
Yuta raised an eyebrow. "And you're implying you'll beat me at half power, when you've already lost."
Todoroki's breath caught for a fraction of a second.
"...What?"
In response, Yuta pointed a finger towards him. For some reason, Todoroki felt a chill ran up his spine.
Without warning, he fired an ice blast towards Yuta.
Watching the attack, Yuta placed both hands in his pockets just as the ice wave reached him.
'What's he—'
Todoroki's thought was cut short by a violent displacement of air. He didn't see the threat, but he felt the sudden, high-velocity rush coming from his blind spot.
Behind him, a block of Ice aimed for the back of Todoroki's skull with surgical precision.
___
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