He swallowed.
Venom appeared on his shoulder and bared his teeth against the man covered in flames.
...
Izuku could feel both his fear towards this man and his flames, as well as his anger at being burned by him(Though really, that was Izuku's own fault, not Endeavor's). There was also a large pang of… Disgust?
Endeavor did not seem bothered by either of their reactions and continued talking.
"I've been looking for you Izuku Midoriya."
"...Why?"
"I've been watching you very closely today."
Izuku suddenly found a large, pointing finger right in front of his face.
"You and Uraraka Ochako to be specific. There are a couple of others around, but the two of you are the only ones who are going to be a real challenge for Shoto."
"Um… Thanks?"
He felt like he should feel way more happy about being praised by a hero who had reached so high, but he just didn't. The flames he so feared got in the way.
"Black Cat's brat might also have been a challenge for him, but she is up against Connor's bastard next round, and that isn't a battle she can win. So, it will be you and Uraraka Ochako who will be his tests for this tournament."
Izuku swallowed. Then an oddity with that statement struck him.
"Wait, what about Mei?"
Endeavor snorted.
"Shoto has nothing to fear from that girl. However brilliant she is as an inventor, the girl has never seen battle before. Not like you two have."
Izuku, bizarrely found himself wishing to stand up for Mei and push back on the way Endeavor dismissed her, but Endeavor continued before he could say anything.
"Strength, speed, durability, and ranged power. Both of you have all of that in plenty. And though I'm rather sure the girl will become the more dangerous of you two in time, you are clearly the more powerful of you two at the moment, however inept you are at aerial combat."
Then, a truly terrifying grin spread across Endeavor's face.
"And best of all, if that reaction you just had right now is any indication, you fear fire."
Izuku immediately began panicking, then bit his lip, and desperately tried to compose himself. He didn't need to have bothered. The terrified look on his face had told Endeavor that his guess had been right on.
Izuku swallowed. Hard.
"That is good. Shoto will not prevail against you without using his flames. Either he will stop his ridiculous rebellion and use his flames, or you will crush him, and he will learn how helpless he is without MY flames. Either way, this will be a good test for him."
Izuku's brain took a few seconds before it caught up with what had just been said.
"Wait, what?! Todoro-I mean, Shoto... He won't use his fire? Why?!"
The revelation completely threw Izuku off guard.
Endeavor finally withdrew his finger from Izuku's face.
"The brat has reached the point of his life where he thinks he knows better than I do. Now, he refuses to use his fire powers for no other reason than to spite me."
Endeavor stepped to the side and walked past him, Izuku making sure to keep a good distance between him and the open flame, and his eyes never leaving the number 2.
Endeavor stopped for a moment, then without turning back he kept talking.
"My boy Shoto… Has a duty to surpass All Might before he dies. Win or lose… This next fight will be critical for his development. So give it your all, Izuku Midoriya. Put on a good show out there. Show him how helpless he is without fire."
Izuku just stared at him, feeling like he had jumped into a manga at volume 3, and missed the character introduction. He didn't have the slightest idea about any of the context here.
As endeavor left, not saying another word, Izuku felt utterly confused about everything.
---
Uraraka as Uraraka stepped back unto the viewing stands, she caught surprised looks from her classmates.
"Man, that was quick." Mina commented, her face looking relieved. "Everything well with your ears?"
She nodded.
The truth was that she still felt a faint ringing in them, but Recovery Girl had told her that would fade in an hour or two.
She would take her word for it.
Compared to the insane pain she had felt after the battle, it was a small price to pay.
As she sat down on the seat that had until recently been occupied by Izuku, a feeling of unease began to spread through her gut.
Down below, Izuku and Shoto had both just entered the arena.
Izuku looked like he usually did, with a nervous look on his face, His gym uniform being coated in a black substance.
On the opposite end of the arena was Todoroki Shoto. Wearing a cold, stoic, determined look on his face, he also didn't look much different than he usually did.
At least that's how she would have described that look yesterday. Today, she knew more about Shoto, how he came to be, and what drove him.
She was able to see that underlying anger, just hidden beneath the surface. More important than that, however, was that she thought he seemed incredibly… Sad.
She didn't know what to feel about this match.
She had little doubt Izuku would win, and she would be happy for him if he did, but at the same time… she would not be happy if Shoto lost.
She had no idea how to help Shoto right now. But him suffering a crushing defeat in this tournament could surely not be the answer.
Storms. Before today, she had been so nervous about this tournament. She had seen it as just a sports competition. An important milestone for her, her first real test where she was thrust into the spotlight as All Might's successor.
Now… That seemed to be the furthest thing from her mind. Instead, she was worried about Shoto and his struggles with his asshole dad, the fact that she just couldn't see a way to help Shoto.
Wasn't that what being a hero was all about? Helping people? How did she help Shoto in the situation he was in?
Had Uraraka been older, and more experienced in the way of the world, she would have known the answer. Take the information to All Might. Or Aizawa, or literarily any of the adult Heroes in her life, or just take it directly to child services.
Alas, being young, and with the idea that she had to solve everything herself, she failed to see this obvious, easy answer.
Down below the fight started.
...
Shoto slammed his foot down and ice shot up around it. In less than a second afterwards, a giant mass of ice shot forward up along the ground towards Izuku with the speed of a moving car. Only this mass had sharp, pointy spikes at the front.
Izuku jumped, soaring straight up into the sky, and avoiding the mass of ice, which now formed a wall across the arena below.
A line of black slammed down into the ground to the right side of the wall, and with a heave, Izuku shot down again, barely avoiding as another mass of ice shot upwards where he had just been.
As he slammed down into the ground, the mass of ice that had just shot into the sky, slammed down, into the ice wall just to his right. A shower of broken ice hit him, and all the ground around him, though since the black suit that was Venom had instantly covered him fully when the fight began, he had suffered no damage.
Izuku saw Shoto make the move for his next attack. Time to counter-attack.
His right hand shot up and from it, a line of black web surged forward, right at Shoto's chest.
Instead of hitting him, however, a big wall of ice, roughly two meters tall, materialized out of thin air to block it, Todoroki having instantly switched from attack to defence.
Izuku tried to simply wrench the ice away to the side and out of the arena, but all that got, was that a chunk of ice broke off from the rest, and sailed through the air, crashing into the walls of the arena.
Adrenaline shot through Izuku, so he was fully prepared when Todoroki suddenly shot up from behind the ice wall, having propelled himself up with a wall of ice from below.
His hands shot up, preparing to fire another line at Shoto, only to stop as a wall of ice shot forward, not at him, but instead above him, forming a roof above, blocking off his view of Shoto.
Another wall suddenly shot forward at his right side, enclosing him off, with only the way behind him open to the air.
He understood what was about to happen next.
...
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