….
"Why, Midoriya?" Todoroki's voice came out uneven, half demanding and half something he didn't want to name. "It doesn't make sense… why are you going this far–"
"BECAUSE YOUR POWER ISN'T JUST YOUR FATHER'S!"
Midoriya's statement tore across the arena in plea.
"You're not him! You're you! And if you want to be the best hero you can be… If you actually want to win… Then you need to accept ALL of yourself!"
"Don't talk like you understand!" Todoroki's ice erupted in every direction - wild, uncontrolled, cracking across the arena floor in jagged spikes. "You don't know anything about–"
"Ture!! I don't… Never will I. I know nothing about you or what you have gone through…. But so did Dabi sensei... He had gone through a lot…. That didn't make him stop using his fire quirk."
"I know what it's like to be told you can't be a Hero!" Midoriya fired back without flinching. "I know what it's like to have people look at you and see nothing! To doubt yourself so badly you almost believe them! But I am standing here anyway… And I am not going to lose to someone who won't even fight me at full strength!"
Something behind Todoroki's eyes shattered.
Memories flooded back - his mother's face, his father's training, the boiling water, the scar and the hatred that had consumed him for so long.
But also… Other voices…. Newer ones.
Dabi during the first day at U.A.: "You only use ice, so you are third."
Todoroki wasn't told he was weak directly, and he is third because he had chosen to be less than what he truly was. His hatred for Endeavor had drawn a line down the middle of his own body, declaring half of himself off-limits. He had turned his father's shadow into a cage, locked himself inside it, and called that his liberty.
Todoroki looked down at his left hand…. the fire side.
For years, he hadn't used it, not even acknowledged it existed.
It was his power, Endeavor's legacy branded into his genes, and rejecting it had felt like the only rebellion available to him.
But Midoriya, standing there with a broken hand and blood on his teeth, wasn't asking him to forgive his father.
He was asking him to stop limiting himself.
Todoroki's left side ignited.
Flames erupted across his body - red, orange, white-hot at the core, bright enough to force the front rows to shield their eyes and feel the heat on their skin from fifty meters away.
Fire and ice collided across his frame, generating massive plumes of steam and vapor that swallowed the arena whole.
The crowd lost its mind.
["TODOROKI'S USING HIS FIRE QUIRK!"] Present Mic was screaming into his microphone so loud it distorted. ["THIS IS UNPRECEDENTED! IN ALL HIS MATCHES, IN THE ENTIRE FESTIVAL, HE'S NEVER USED HIS LEFT SIDE!"]
["This is significant change in the battle."] Aizawa said, and for once there was actual emotion in his voice. ["Whatever Midoriya said to him, it worked. Todoroki finally uses both halves of his Quirk… although that might work against Midoriya now."]
["WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?!"]
["It means."] Aizawa said grimly. ["That things are about to get intense."]
The temperature in the stadium spiked dramatically.
On to Todoroki's right, the air froze, frost spreading across the arena floor and walls, and to his left, heat shimmered through the air, hot enough to turn the concrete red.
Both students were breathing hard now, staring at each other across the vapor-filled arena.
"Thank you, Midoriya." Todoroki said quietly. "For reminding me who I am. But… I should apologize for what I am about to do next."
Then he moved – ice and fire erupting in tandem.
A massive glacier formed from his right side while flames from his left superheated it, creating explosive pressure.
The combination attack was devastating, far more powerful than ice or fire alone could ever be.
Midoriya's eyes widened, [Full Cowling] was out of the question now to block that… he needs to go all out.
He thought of his mother, of his dream, of everyone who had believed in him.
One more time. I can break myself one more time if it means winning.
"One For All….
"100%!"
Midoriya's entire left arm lit up with green lightning, far brighter than before.
The power surge was immediate and catastrophic, his arm began to pressurise under his quirk.
But he drew back and punched.
"DETROIT–"
Todoroki released his combination attack.
"-SMAAAASH!"
The two attacks collided at the center of the arena, triggering an apocalyptic explosion as ice, fire, and raw concussive force met at a single point, sending a visible wall of compressed air rippling outward while the arena floor cracked and the remaining ice structures shattered.
And debris, massive chunks of concrete, shards of ice the size of cars, pieces of the arena itself, flew in all directions including the stands.
The crowd's cheers turned into screams.
Cementoss tried to raise defensive walls, but he was too slow, and Present Mic's commentary cut off mid-sentence as Pro Heroes rose to their feet, ready to intervene.
But before anyone could have made a move, Dabi was already in action.
Blue flames erupted from his position in the staff area, spreading across the stadium in a massive wave.
Every piece of debris flying toward the spectators was incinerated mid-flight; ice shards vaporized into harmless steam, concrete chunks crumbled into ash and powder, and the fire spread across the stadium like a protective dome, forming a barrier between the battlefield and the audience.
And incredibly, impossibly, the spectators didn't even feel the heat.
The flames were so precisely controlled that they only burned what Dabi wanted them to burn - and nothing else.
Temperature regulation at the molecular level allowed each flame to be individually directed and controlled, creating a display of Quirk mastery so precise that every Pro Hero present in attendance fell silent.
["HOLY..."] Present Mic's voice was awed. ["DID you see THAT, Eraserhead? The assistant TEACHER just–"]
Aizawa covered one ear. ["I did, and so did everyone else. Stop shouting like you're trying to burst my eardrums."]
The blue flames lasted exactly three seconds, long enough to neutralize all debris, then disappeared as suddenly as they had appeared.
In the VIP section, Endeavor watched with an expression that cycled through several emotions too quickly to name.
His youngest son had finally used his fire, combining both halves of his Quirk in a devastating display that even Endeavor himself would struggle to replicate.
Yet it was his eldest son, the one he had believed dead, the supposed failure who couldn't handle his own Quirk, who had just demonstrated a level of fire control surpassing anything Endeavor had achieved in twenty years of Hero work.
How? The thought consumed him. How did Toya become that strong? His body couldn't handle fire, he was just a fail–
There was no time to process it, the vapor in the arena was already clearing, revealing both students down.
Midoriya's both arms are completely shattered - bones broken in multiple places, each limb hanging at an unnatural angle. He was still conscious, but the pain was obvious, his teeth clenched tightly as he fought through it.
Todoroki was conscious as well, but utterly exhausted.
Using both sides of his Quirk together for the first time in years had drained nearly all his stamina. He remained on his knees, breathing heavily, frost and small flames flickering around him without control.
But there was one crucial difference between their positions.
Midoriya had used the force of his one-hundred-percent punch to propel himself backward during the collision.
His broken body had landed just outside the boundary line.
Todoroki had held his ground during the attack, and….
….is inside the ring.
Midnight checked their positions carefully, then raised her whip. "Midoriya is out of bounds! Todoroki wins by ring-out!"
There was a moment of stunned silence, then the crowd erupted.
["TODOROKI WINS!"] Present Mic's voice cracked from the volume. ["DESPITE BEING NECK TO NECK. HE TAKES THE MATCH! WHAT A FIGHT! WHAT A SPORTS FESTIVAL!"]
["Both students pushed far beyond their limits."] Aizawa said, and there was something close to pride in his normally flat voice. ["Midoriya destroyed his arms to match Todoroki's power. Todoroki overcame years of self-imposed restraint to use his full Quirk. This is what the Sports Festival is meant to show…. students discovering what they are truly capable of."]
Recovery Girl was already rushing into the arena with her medical team.
In the stands, some people were crying, few were cheering but everyone was talking about what they had just witnessed.
And in the staff area, Dabi allowed himself a small smile.
Not bad, problem children.
….
[Final Match: Katsuki Bakugo vs. Shoto Todoroki]
The finals were delayed by thirty minutes to let Todoroki recover.
Midoriya was in the infirmary with a cast on his arm, but he had insisted on watching the final match on a monitor.
He wanted to see who would win.
The crowd was buzzing with anticipation. After that semifinal display, everyone expected something spectacular.
The two finalists faced each other across the repaired arena.
Bakugo looked like a contained volcano on the verge of eruption, while Todoroki - now acutely aware of the reckless, adrenaline-fueled choices he had made in his last match - looked conflicted once more.
["FINAL MATCH!"] Present Mic announced. ["BAKUGO KATSUKI VERSUS TODOROKI SHOTO! THE WINNER BECOMES THIS YEAR'S SPORTS FESTIVAL CHAMPION!"]
["Both students are powerhouses."] Aizawa observed. ["Bakugo has surprisingly shown consistently tactical thinking alongside his raw power. Todoroki has just unlocked his full potential. This should be the most competitive match of the day."]
Midnight raised her whip. "BEGIN!"
Bakugo exploded forward immediately, his Quirk propelling him across the arena in a burst of force and heat, closing the distance before Todoroki could set up.
But Todoroki was prepared, ice erupted from his right side, forming a wall between them.
Bakugo blew through it with a concentrated explosion, sending ice shards flying.
Todoroki countered with fire from his left, melting his own ice to create a cloud of steam that obscured vision.
Present Mic shouted. ["USING THE INTERACTION BETWEEN HIS TWO QUIRKS TO CREATE TACTICAL ADVANTAGES!"]
Bakugo wasn't deterred; he blasted away the steam with a series of explosions, his sharp combat instincts already tracking Todoroki's position through the vapor.
They clashed in the center as explosions met ice and fire met fire, turning the arena into a warzone of colliding temperatures and devastating power.
During the training period, they didn't just go through physical exercises; they also underwent combat training, including one-on-one sparring with Dabi.
Though he didn't even use his fire Quirk, it was hardly fair to call it a real spar.
Even so, it gave Class 1-A the…. valuable…. nightmersih… experience they needed which they haven't signed up for.
Bakugo was relentless in his approach, launching attack after attack without giving Todoroki any space to breathe and forcing him to defend and counter at the same time.
Todoroki countered with a combination attack, using ice to pin Bakugo's position and then fire to force him to dodge.
From the stands, Endeavor shouted. "THAT'S IT, SHOTO! THAT'S HOW YOU DO IT! SHOW THEM WHY YOU'LL TAKE FIRST PLACE!"
Present Mic laughed into the microphone. "LOOK AT THAT! EVEN THE NUMBER TWO HERO IS JUST A PASSIONATE PARENT CHEERING FOR HIS KID!"
Off to the side, Aizawa made a small, uncomfortable expression, as if suggesting it might have been better if Endeavor had simply stayed quiet.
Something was wrong in the arena, as Todoroki's movements suddenly slowed, his flames flickering and dying down while the ice he created formed weaker than before.
Bakugo noticed it immediately, his combat instincts too sharp to miss the signs.
"OI! HALF-AND-HALF!" His voice carried across the arena, angry and demanding. "DON'T YOU DARE LOSE FOCUS IN THE MIDDLE OF A FIGHT!"
"I am not–"
.
….
[To be continued…]
★─────⇌•★•⇋─────★
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