Half an hour ago,
Todoroki and Momo sat opposite each other on sofas, both lost in their thoughts.
"This is the only way we can win," Momo said after a while. "We will need to take every step by the book and make sure not to make silly mistakes."
Todoroki remembered Momo's plan and couldn't help but look up.
She has changed… Shoto realized. He remembered Momo from the first term — lacking confidence, prone to nervousness, and low self-esteem. She had looked so overwhelmed that she refused to speak up among the masses, letting others guide her instead.
It was especially so when Momo was paired with Midoriya, Bakugo, and others, who she felt were much stronger than her.
Todoroki remembered many times when Sand had paired her with him during the first term for a few exercises.
Momo had never taken the initiative to come up with anything, instead letting him dictate the strategy.
But, at some point in time, slowly, she had changed.
And as Todoroki looked at her, he knew exactly how and why.
It was because of Luke.
It wasn't like he had guided her exclusively.
But whenever he was involved in something, he brought out the best of you, Todoroki knew.
"… What?" Momo asked, backing up a bit.
Todoroki blushed, realizing he had been staring for a while now.
Suddenly, an announcement rang, asking the two of them to get ready for their turn soon.
"… What do you think Luke would say about this plan?" Todoroki suddenly asked.
Momo frowned.
Suddenly, she remembered a shy Luke from a few days ago as he had come out of the bathroom, and a wry smile surfaced on her lips.
"First, he would probably say that we have already lost," Momo almost laughed. "Then, he would say…"
…
Krrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!
Flames burned across the battle site, hissing and crackling.
Mountains worth of ice melted in an instant, drenching the sandy terrain in hundreds of meters.
The golem, towering in the middle of the battle site, gained a much darker tinge as the entire sand it was made up of got wet.
Then, it began crumbling apart under its own weight.
Swaths of wet sand came sliding down, and the entire golem became a small hill of wet sand, losing its well-defined shape.
On the top of the hill, with a watery, squelching sound, a dehydrated Sand landed with a proud frown lingering on his face.
"… Solid strategy," Sand said, barely able to speak through his sunken mouth. He put both his hands on the wet sand. "But…"
Then, under the shocked gazes of both Todoroki and Momo, who had gotten up far behind him, the hill of wet sand began shaking so fast that afterimages appeared on its boundary.
As if that wasn't enough, slowly, the hill began rotating, picking up speed with every passing moment.
A few seconds had barely passed when the hill began rotating so fast that it looked like a solid block of black stone.
Oh, shit! Todoroki and Momo cursed, realizing what was happening.
In front of them, a sandstorm surged around the mass of blackness, rising higher and higher around Sand under the effect of centrifugal forces.
"MOMO!" Todoroki shouted, ice and fire bursting out of him. "NOW!!"
A chill hissed across the battle site on one side, the heat vaporizing the water out of the sand instantly.
In front of Todoroki, Sand's eyes narrowed as he realized Todoroki was using the same move as the kid had used against Midoriya during the Sports Festival.
His gaze then went behind Todoroki.
Near the exit, Momo was getting up, creating something using her Quirk.
But the exit itself was blocked by a massive amount of sand. No matter what she created, she wouldn't be able to leave the battle site anytime soon.
So, focusing on the incoming attack entirely, Sand controlled the surrounding sandstorm, creating a conical structure in front of him.
Damn! Sand thickened the structure's wall with a thought, a headache blurring his vision. This is tough…
As a handicap, Mr. Principal had asked Sand not to drink water.
Otherwise, given Todoroki's Quirk, he could have had a never-ending supply of water.
Now that he was already dehydrated to the extreme, Sand had no choice but to face the attack head-on. Because even he didn't have the confidence to ignore Todoroki's move and go after the children.
Ice claimed the entire space, cooling the air to the extreme.
Suddenly, Fire roared out of Todoroki's left side, rapidly heating and expanding the surrounding air.
Flashfreeze —
Hissing out a frosty breath and smiling a little, Todoroki brought his left hand forward, his palm burning red-hot.
— Heatwave!
BOOOOOOOOM!!!
Everything ceased to exist in one form where the blast passed.
Sand, wet or dry, got upended, along with broken structures, an icy-hot storm raging in the battle site, becoming bigger and bigger.
Behind the conical structure, Sand covered his mouth, thin strands of sand holding onto his hands and legs as tightly as they could.
But, even then, the Pro Hero realized the oddness.
The blast, directed at him, wasn't as powerful as he had expected it to be.
Wait! Sand's sunken eyes suddenly widened. Did they…
The conical structure crumbled in front of Sand, revealing the shocking sight.
It was as he had feared.
Todoroki hadn't attacked him.
The boy had directed all the force of his ridiculous move behind him — toward Momo — who was nowhere to be seen anymore.
Sand's eyes suddenly snapped up.
Through the dust, clumps of clay, and stones, he spied Momo, holding tight onto a massive glider.
They tricked me… Sand realized.
With a hiss, all the sand near him rushed in front of him, becoming a bow and arrow.
But before he could fire the arrow and make Momo fall back into the battle site, his eyes landed on Todoroki.
The boy was running toward him, looking desperate.
Somehow, that desperation made Sand remember Luke, making him sigh.
With a hissing bang, the sand arrow left and traced a sandy arc across the sky, missing Momo's glider by mere inches.
In the next moment, she crossed the battle site.
And, watching her disappear beyond the wall, a stunned Todoroki couldn't help but remember Momo's words about Luke. Then, he would say…
…
In the Monitor Room, Midoriya looked gobsmacked as Todoroki and Momo won against Sand.
Slowly, he looked to his left, where Luke was standing, smiling ear to ear at the screen.
"Ah, well…" Luke said, grinning. "… Glad I didn't make a bet…"
*****************
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