Shoto Todoroki sat alone in the player waiting room, brooding.
Do I use my fire against Bakugo or not? I… I'm just not sure…
The sound of cheers stirred him. The semifinal was over. Shoto stood, and began heading toward the door.
"Bakugo is out of bounds! Namikaze advances to the final!" he heard in the distance, a ringing shout through dozens of walls.
Shoto froze.
Meanwhile…
"YES!" shouted Toru.
"WOOOHOOO!" Mina stood and pumped her fist, shot full of energy.
"Holy shit… how, " Kaminari breathed.
"I thought he was done for sure," said Sato.
"Namikaze just keeps pulling through… but he must be awfully exhausted by now," Ojiro pointed out. The victorious blond boy was slightly slumped, still holding his fist up to the cheering crowd as medical bots escorted the unconscious Bakugo off the platform.
Kirishima snorted. "He's sure not gonna be happy when he wakes up."
"Why didn't he see it coming?" Yaoyorozu wondered aloud. "It seemed like a pretty obvious trick to me."
"Because Namikaze changed his tactics," muttered Midoriya.
"Hmm?" Most of the class turned to listen.
"Kacchan's reflexes and instincts in combat are incredible. He knew in an instant what Namikaze was doing with the concrete, and even correctly guessed that he'd try to flick one from behind his back. Because that's combat. That's where Kacchan's brain puts all its work, and usually that gets him the victory. But… then Namikaze tried something else. He attacked Kacchan's pride with words. Kacchan can't be physically tricked, but verbally? Most definitely. Namikaze said he wouldn't run, so Kacchan believed him… and paid the price. All Namikaze had to do from there was teleport behind like he did to Ashido, under the light of the explosion, and finish him off."
Everyone gazed at Midoriya in wonder. He glanced around nervously, squirming. "At l-least, I th-think so. Why's everyone staring at me?"
"Goodness, boy. I really wish you hadn't gotten this far." As Recovery Girl healed him, the burned and charred skin disappeared, replaced by new fresh skin.
Haru blinked, his vision suddenly getting all fuzzy.
"How do you feel?" the healing heroine asked.
"I was doing great until just now…" he moaned, rubbing his eyes. "Why did you do that?"
"Here." She tossed him an energy bar. "Eat that. Sorry, my Quirk only speeds up your own body's healing process. You're tired now, right?"
Haru chewed on the bar sullenly. "Yeah."
"Were you not before?"
He raised his eyes to the ceiling, considering it. "I don't think so."
Recovery Girl blinked. "You've been using your Quirk nearly nonstop for hours."
"Well yeah, but…" Haru swallowed the bite. "My Quirk IS energy, stored inside me. It's connected to hyperactivity and adrenaline."
She ruffled through some papers. "Goodness, lad. We've really got to work on the registry notes for your Quirk. I barely know anything about it."
"Sorry," he scratched his head, finishing the bar. "I mean, my muscles ached a bit, but I think you just healed 'em. I'm fine now."
She stared at him. "I'm not sure if your Quirk has somehow taken you past a threshold where you can be tired anymore, or if your adrenaline is just hiding it from you. In any case…" she sighed again. "I'm probably gonna be in for some more work after this bloody final. Sports Festival days are the worst."
Haru looked toward the door. "I believe it's time for me to go." As he stood up and walked out, he passed the unconscious Bakugo on one of the beds. "When that one wakes up, you may wanna restrain him," he called back to her.
Recovery Girl pinched her eyes in exasperation.
"The final match is here! From the hero course, it's Shoto Todoroki!"
Shoto walked out a bit faster than usual. barely paying attention to the cheers. I thought it was going to be Bakugo, I was so sure… but Namikaze beat him. Somehow he did, and I didn't see it. I was too busy… urgh!
He kept his promise, Shoto thought, suddenly disturbed and worried. He had to snap out of this, and get focused. Focus. Calm.
"From the hero course, it's Haru Namikaze!"
Namikaze was not doing his now-normal thing of waving to the cheering crowd as he came out. This time, he strode straight forward, his hands curled into fists.
Izuku swallowed upon noticing this. "Namikaze's whole aura has changed," he whispered, but Uraraka heard him, and nodded. "He's angry about something," she said. "But Todoroki looks… wary. It's like the reverse of what I was expecting."
"What we were ALL expecting," said Kirishima.
Mina, Tsuyu, Toru, Shoji, and Sero were all sitting in the front row now, leaning forward. The group of friends was still newly forged, but Haru felt like their representative from this point forward. "I hope he has a plan, ribbit," said Tsuyu.
Shoji shook his head. "He's not much of a planner, he said so himself. I don't know how much that would even work on Todoroki, though."
Sero grinned sheepishly and scratched his head. "Can confirm from personal experience. I thought I knew what I was doing when I went up against him, and then…" he made a poofing motion with his fingers. "It all comes down to instinct, with someone that powerful."
Mina bit her lip and muttered under her breath nervously, although only Toru noticed. The acid-emitting girl could not seem to tear her eyes away from the field.
The two boys faced each other. Todoroki had re-assumed his usual cold, determined expression. Haru could barely hold back a snarl.
Midnight strode out between them. "Let's have a nice fair match, okay?" She looked back and forth, as if she was anxious. Then, "Todoroki, are you ready?"
"Ready."
"Namikaze?"
"Let's light this candle." He felt the yellow rising up around his mouth again. It was possible, Haru supposed, that his voice might begin to teleport like it had when he'd gotten too excited during training. If that happened, everyone in the crowd would hear anything he said. Good.
Midnight stepped backwards out of the ring, and waved her brush thingy that Haru didn't know the name of.
Present Mic's voice rang out. "FINAL MATCH, BEGIIIIN!"