(A/N: Uploaded this at this hour totally on purpose. Uh-huh.)
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[Just this once]
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...
"Takahashi-san…" Midoriya stared at the scene below with a worried look.
For a moment, after that giant ice attack, he feared even someone as strong as Takahashi might have been done for. He hadn't even thought Todoroki was capable of that much power. They had seen him fight—but not to this extent.
But his fears turned out to be unfounded. The attack, while clearly powerful, had done nothing to Taka in the end.
It just went to prove once again the absurd gap that existed between Taka and everyone else.
"Why the hell are those two just talking now?" Kaminari asked, squinting at the two fighters standing calmly on opposite sides of the arena, speaking to each other. Soon he stood up, swinging his fist. "Boo, less talking, more fighting!"
To the side, Uraraka looked at the two wryly and let out a sigh. "The fight started so abruptly… seeing them just chat like that afterward, like nothing happened, feels super weird."
"To dare have a conversation in the middle of a fight broadcast to the whole world those two sure have guts," Sero commented with a wry smile.
Tokoyami closed his eyes, his tone heavy. "Is this what it means to be the strongest?"
Tsuyu put a finger to her mouth, looking at the arena curiously. "I wonder what those two are saying to each other right now."
"Looking at Todoroki's face… nothing good." Mina commented with a smirk.
Just like the class, the crowd was speculating just as much, staring at the brief ceasefire with confusion.
The fight had begun so forcefully—with an attack that would have put down anyone, maybe even some of the top-ranked heroes—yet had been completely disregarded by a mere student just like him.
Then, just when everyone expected a counter to come once Taka broke out from the ice unharmed, the two had strangely begun talking instead of fighting.
Which was why it all felt so out of place.
—Luckily, they didn't have to wonder about it for long.
—SSSSHHHHAAAAAA!—
Without warning, the exchange between the two ended—and a wave of ice surged violently toward Taka, forming a giant spire that struck him head-on.
—CRASH!—
Yet it shattered the instant it made contact, exploding into thousands of tiny glittering shards like a burst of snow.
Taka didn't even flinch. He began walking slowly in Todoroki's direction through the haze of ice fragments, his gaze fixed ahead.
But Todoroki's attacks didn't stop there. Without a moment's hesitation, he sent more and more ice spires surging toward him.
—CRASH!—
—CRASH!—
—CRASH!—
Yet no matter how many waves came, Taka's advance remained unchanged. Every attack ground to dust the instant it landed.
With each one that proved futile, Todoroki's face contorted further, desperation beginning to creep into his eyes.
If direct attacks weren't working…
"Hgh…!"
He struck the floor with both hands and changed his approach.
From his palms, a thick layer of ice began spreading across the ground like a coating. Before long, it reached Taka's feet and started creeping up them, locking them in place.
—For about half a milisecond.
Then Taka's foot tore through the encasement like it wasn't there, his walk completely unimpeded.
"…!"
Seeing even that come to nothing, Todoroki's teeth came together. He had no choice but to fall back—Taka was close enough now that he needed to rebuild some distance.
He retreated quickly, eyes never leaving Taka, and sent another ice wave ahead of himself to at least maintain the pressure.
—CRASH!—
The result, however, was unchanged. Taka walked straight through it with an impassive look.
Still, the distance had been rebuilt… but not everything was going well.
By that point, Todoroki's breathing had turned ragged, his whole body trembling with cold, his arms going numb.
He was hitting his threshold too quickly—the result of pushing his best attacks too hard and too fast.
At this rate, a few more attacks were all he'd be able to throw before the cold overtook him too much to continue using his ice.
He could manage for a little while longer. But even that might not be enough, given how easily Taka was brushing off everything thrown at him.
But despite knowing that, he wasn't going to give in.
Not with his old man watching. He couldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing him fail to prevail with ice alone.
He just couldn't. It would make everything he'd worked for until now feel useless.
With that resolution filling him, Todoroki readied himself to restart the barrage—but before he could—
"Hngh—?!"
A tendril of red aura shot from Taka, wrapped around his throat, and lifted him clean off the ground.
Without his feet on the ground, he couldn't generate any ice. He could only watch, helpless, as he was raised into the air and Taka slowly closed in.
Before long, his opponent stood mere meters away, eyeing him with a bored look.
He took in Todoroki's shivering frame, clearly feeling every bit of the cold he'd put himself through.
"Aren't you cold?"
"T—this is nothing." Todoroki answered through the telekinetic hold, his voice strained and his scowl stubborn.
Taka smirked. "Doesn't look like nothing to me."
Todoroki didn't answer. He knew putting on a front was useless.
Even he was aware that what he was doing was going nowhere. No matter how much ice he put out, it wouldn't be enough to beat Taka.
His fire was the only thing that might open even the smallest possibility… but he refused to use it. No matter what.
Even if it meant losing this fight, he'd pay that price.
His eyes shifted to the stands for a moment, finding his father's scorn-filled face.
'I won't.'
"Is that it, Todoroki?" Taka's voice cut through, pulling his attention back.
He found Taka's face looking back at him, expression flat with disappointment.
"So all that talk about wanting to be a hero was just something you told yourself to feel good?"
Todoroki's face shifted—confusion first, then outrage.
"No!"
Taka tilted his head, eyes dropping to the shiver running through him. "Then what is this you're doing?"
"What…?"
"Because, as far as I know, a hero doesn't risk lives and hold back just because of a tantrum."
Todoroki's face tightened. He didn't answer, but the anger in his eyes was plain.
Seeing that, Taka sighed.
"I asked you this already, but let me ask again. What will you do when you're a pro, and lives are depending on you? Will you still refuse to use your fire just because you want to upset your dad?"
"Shut up! What do you even know?"
Taka let out a mocking snort, the corner of his mouth lifting. "Quite enough, apparently. You rambled a lot, and so did your dad. Must run in the family."
Todoroki's eyes widened for a moment before his scowl deepened, now looking at Taka like he was truly his worst enemy.
"So in the end, he did buy you off—"
"He came to me, so I heard what he had to say," Taka cut him off with a scoff. "But like I said, there's little a mere second place can offer me. What I'm telling you now is my own choice, as your class representative and your opponent right now."
"…"
"You think doing this is getting back at your father… and maybe it actually is. He didn't look very pleased when he talked to me about your situation. But is this really the only way you can think of to get back at him? By halving your own potential? By half-assing a profession where lives are on the line? By letting your goal of becoming a hero take second place to the need to get back at him?"
"…"
"I'm not telling you to forgive him and forget your anger. I'm telling you to take this seriously."
With those words, he let go of Todoroki, letting him drop to the floor.
-Thud!-
Now with contact to the floor, Todoroki looked ready to press the attack for a moment—but hesitated as Taka stepped closer, and saw his eyes fall upon him with a questioning glare.
"... Is your dad really worth all that?"
"..."
Todoroki didn't answer, letting the silence of his own doubts hang over the platform.
Taka stayed equally quiet, giving him the space to think it through.
But when enough time had passed, Taka closed his eyes, his tone a little softer.
"Hey, Todoroki—have you thought that maybe your mom is watching this right now?"
"…!" Todoroki's look of confusion sharpened into something like shock.
"I don't know her. But judging from what you told me about her—do you think this is what she would have wanted for you?"
Todoroki's hand moved to the burn scar on his face.
"What do you know? I'm doing this for her. She hated my fire—she called it my unsightly side as she burned my face."
"I'm talking about your mother. Not the one who burned you."
"…?"
"The mother you remember. The one that makes you hold her so dear. What would she think of seeing you waste yourself like this—out of hatred for someone like your father?"
"…" Todoroki's eyes closed as he turned it over in his mind. Especially the moment he had first decided he wanted to become a hero.
She had been there with him. She was the reason he'd made it his choice.
But as he reached for that memory, others surfaced alongside it—her face, terrified, and the scowl of the man responsible for all of it.
He couldn't let go of it that easily. If he did, that bastard would get the satisfaction of seeing him play along with his desires, even after everything he'd done.
But as those thoughts started to crowd in, Taka's voice reached him once more.
"Forget about everyone here right now. This isn't about me, the people watching, or Endeavor. It's about you and what you really want."
Todoroki's eyes opened, and he found Taka standing there—no longer radiating that oppressive presence from before, just his classmate, looking at him with a calm expression.
"Do you want to be a hero?"
"I…!"
Todoroki's mouth opened, but the answer didn't come right away.
'What I really want.'
He wanted to see his father pay. He was sure of that.
But like Taka had said—was this really the way? By halving what he could be?
His mind returned to his mother.
She was the reason he hadn't wanted to use his fire—when she burned him, he had seen the hatred for his father in her eyes… but would she, the mother who had once pushed him toward becoming a hero, when everything was simpler, truly come to hate this side of him? Would she be glad to see the path he was taking?
Would his mother, right now, feel the same way?
He hadn't spoken to her in so long. He didn't know.
His fist tightened.
For a moment, his father's face surfaced again.
But as he looked at Taka—standing there not as an overwhelming wall, but as an opponent who genuinely wanted the best from him, just like everyone else giving everything they had at this festival—his father's face faded away.
Displaced by a single desire.
"Haaah…" Todoroki let out a slow breath.
Then—
—Fwoosh!—
Fire ignited from his right side.
He lifted his hand, stared at the flames covering it, and closed his eyes as the warmth seeped into his body, chasing away the cold that had settled into his bones.
Then his eyes opened again, locking onto Taka.
That desire...
That desire was to fight with everything he had, right here, right now.
"Just this once," He finally said, smiling faintly.
Taka smirked back.
Then, in but the blink of an eye, his figure blurred, suddenly jumping from Todoroki's spot, to the opposite end of the arena.
The instant both were at enough distance, aura from before began flaring around Taka again. Like a fire that was alive, dancing in earnest for battle.
"Then let's end this with a bang. This has been too much talk—don't you agree?"
"It's you who couldn't mind his own business." Todoroki said, the smile not leaving his face.
Even as he said it, his fire intensified—hot enough that the heat began reaching the crowd from afar.
And then, from his left side, ice started generating in enormous amounts.
On Taka's side, his smirk widened.
The aura around him shifted, pulling away from him in four tendrils, which slowly converged and began forming a sphere of pure crimson light before him.
—FWOOSH!—
Then, the next second, it no longer was light—but raw fire, concentrated into a single point. It was equal to, if not hotter than Todoroki's.
—Crackle, crackle!!!—
Only for arcs of electricity to then begin wrapping around it, sharp and violent.
—Bzzzzz!!!—
The sphere gave off a dangerous feeling, like the concept of destruction made physical.
As the two readied their attacks, they glared at each other one last time, smiles widening in equal lengths.
To go all out, without restraints anymore… truly felt good.
"Not this again, what's with these first years?!" Cementos snapped out of observant state, rushing toward the platform.
He had been attentive during all the fight so far, so he was close enough to reach it in an instant.
As he did, Cementos drove both hands into the platform, pushing up several thick concrete walls between the two.
But by then, it was already too late for that.
"Don't blame me for what happens next." Todoroki said, not particularly caring whether Taka could hear him from that distance, or with the walls separating them.
—SSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHAAAAAA!—
Without further delay, the ice from his left side surged in enormous quantities—equal to, if not greater than the first wave he'd unleashed against Taka. A surge of ice so massive it swallowed the distance in mere milliseconds.
—BOOOOM!—
In an instant, the ice tore through the concrete walls Cementoss had made, rushing toward Taka.
But then—
"Try not to die," Taka said.
And snapped his fingers.
—BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!—
The sphere of fire and electricity exploded into a monstrous beam of both elements, letting out a sound resembling a mixture between screeches and howls, like hell itself brought to earth.
—SCREEEEECH!!!—
The beam soon clashed against the massive amount of advancing ice, letting out a sharp screech as it ate through it, evaporating all of it in mere instants, and quickly tearing through it in Todoroki's direction.
But that wasn't the end of Todoroki's attack.
In that brief moment where both attack clashed, even if not for long, Todoroki's right side moved.
He pointed his flaming hand forward.
"Takahashi—thank you."
And with those words—
—FWOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!—
A beam of pure fire shot forward, joining the clash.
The ice gave out not long after, but by then, the fire beam had arrived at the collision point.
—BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!—
Both beams met with such force that the arena itself began crumbling from the energy radiating off them.
Heat and violent gusts of wind exploded outward in every direction.
Cementoss had no choice but to shield Midnight and himself instead of interfering, knowing this was beyond them, even as pros.
The sound that seemed to come from hell only intensified, followed by an amount of light coming from the clash that many had to cover their eyes.
It was like seeing the very sun being created.
'Should I step up?! At this rate, those two will destroy the entire stadium!' For a moment, even All Might looked ready to intervene, looking incredibly worried as he too covered his eyes from the light.
But before he could think how to disrupt such a destructive clash without causing a disaster, the stalemate between both attacks ended.
—FWOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!—
A second later, Taka's beam swallowed Todoroki's, absorbing it completely, and surged toward the wide-eyed teenager. So scorching and violent that, for a moment, Todoroki felt his own life nearing its end as he saw the beam advance toward him uninterrupted.
But before it could reach him—
"…?!"
The beam redirected upward, curving comically and shooting straight into the sky.
—BOOOOOOOOOM!!!—
As soon as it was high enough, it detonated with an intensity that sent a shockwave rolling across the entire surrounding area—the ground shaking like an earthquake from the sheer energy of it.
Todoroki stared at the result of their clash, completely dumbstruck.
So much so that he didn't notice the figure now standing directly behind him.
"This was a start. But next time, once you're past your restraints, I hope you'll give me a more proper fight."
"…?!" Todoroki's eyes snapped wide open and he spun around.
But by then it was too late. His collar was grabbed, and he was swung around like a ragdoll before being thrown out of bounds, completely unable to do anything in time.
-Thud!-
His body hit the grass. He caught himself before landing too wrongly, but it still hurt.
As his eyes shifted once again to the platform, he saw Taka, looking satisfied.
Todoroki let out a huff as his mouth curled into a small smile.
Thus, after a few more seconds of utterly baffled silence—
{"T-Todoroki is out of bounds—Takahashi advances to the next round!"}
The fight was finally declared over.
...
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-To Be Continued...-
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(A/N: I wasn't too satisfied with how this chapter went when I first wrote it. But revisiting it, I think it was fine. If anything, maybe the two talked a bit too much, and the clash didn't quite have the feeling I'd hoped for.
But whatever.
Also, second shot out to the other ff I'm writing, One Piece - Hax.
MC has hacks and all'at.
Alright, no more self-promotion. I don't like doing it, but I can't resist the benefits that come with it. So this is the last time.)