MHA Universe, Earth, Japan, Musutafu.
Seeing the gigantic iceberg that appeared in the stadium, the crowd fell silent. The awe they felt after seeing such a display of power was immense. On top of that, they were currently shivering at the severe temperature drop such a huge chunk of ice caused.
Meanwhile, Enji, Shoto's father, who was watching with his arms crossed, snorted disdainfully.
"That arrogant little bastard spoke so confidently." Enji muttered to himself. "Yet, without even forcing Shoto to use his flames, he was completely demolished in less than a minute."
Shaking his head, Enji was ready to turn around and seek out Shoto's next possible opponents to convince them to push Shoto far enough to use his flames. However, something felt... off. So, he turned back to look down at the ring.
"Why hasn't that woman announced the winner." Enji asked himself while looking at the iceberg. Yet, when he really looked at it, his eyes widened sharply as the flames on his face flickered violently. "Impossible."
Enji was not the only one who noticed something in the iceberg. Many of the Heroes in the stands noticed, as well. And just like Enji, they were staring at the ring with surprise.
"So, he can do that, too, huh?" Rumi said with narrowed eyes. "He never used anything like that while sparring with me. But he did use it during the Team Event. So, it really shouldn't be so surprising."
"I imagine it was because he did not want to kill you by accident." Ryuko replied. "But you're right, he used that technique when he cut through the vines that tried to steal his team's flag. But to see it being used like this, it's kind of scary."
"Yeah… It is." Rumi said with a nod.
The thing that had so many of the Heroes surprised was the way that Tatsuo defended himself from Shoto's ice. When Rumi saw the scale of Shoto's attack, she expected Tatsuo to use what he called [Kamui] to simply walk through it.
Instead, Tatsuo, with his arms and legs coated in midnight purple light, swung punches and kicks in all directions, creating a spherical zone where all the ice was completely destroyed.
But what was even more disturbing was the fact that There was no sound of destruction wen Tatsuo obliterated the ice around him. Nor was there any debris lying on the ring. Instead, it was as if every strike simply made the ice disappear.
Naturally, Shoto was the most surprised to see what happened. In fact, he never meant to create an iceberg that was so big. But thanks to his unstable emotions, he overdid it by quite a bit. He was even prepared to begin melting the ice that was still connected to the right side of his body.
But when he saw Tatsuo start attacking his surroundings even faster than his ice could form, he was caught completely off guard. So off guard, in fact, that he did not even react when Tatsuo started carving a path through the iceberg until he was only an arm's length away from the purple-haired Hero in training.
"You know, your father came to talk to me before the match started." Tatsuo said casually, seemingly completely unbothered by the low temperature inside the iceberg. "He wanted me to push you far enough to use your flames."
Hearing that, Shoto clenched his fists and gritted his teeth in anger.
"He also told me that if I could do so, he would send me an internship offer after I lost to your true power." Tatsuo said while ignoring Shoto's growing anger.
When Tatsuo reached that point, he narrowed his eyes. And when Shoto saw the anger and pride swirling in Tatsuo's eyes, he almost subconsciously took a step back. The only thing that stopped him being the iceberg he was still connected to by his right side.
"Isn't that funny?" Tatsuo asked, his tone no longer as casual as before. "He actually thought that I needed his charity after a loss that was completely impossible. It's pretty hilarious, right?"
It should be noted that because of the ice, and the distance to the crowd, and any listening devices, no one, not even Nemuri, was able to hear Tatsuo's one-sided conversation with Shoto. So, to the crowd, it looked like the two were having a simple conversation mid-match. But what happened next surprised nearly everyone.
*Crash!*
After speaking his piece, Tatsuo drew his fist back to throw a punch. And when the punch exploded forward, it shattered all the ice between Tatsuo and Shoto before Tatsuo opened his fist and grabbed Shoto's collar. He then lifted Shoto off the ring with one hand, his eyes cold, and spoke once again. And with the ice shattered, the audience was able to hear his words, as well.
"Use all your strength, Todoroki." Tatsuo said coldly. "Fighting me with only half of your power, with one hand tied behind your back is nothing short of an insult. An insult I will not tolerate."
*Gasp!*
Hearing what Tatsuo said, many of those in the audience gasped at his domineering stance. But at the same time, if he was telling the truth and Shoto was actually handicapping himself, they could all understand why Tatsuo was angry.
Even Katsuki, who very rarely agreed with anything Tatsuo said, if mostly on principal, could not help nodding his head in agreement with what he had to say.
"If Todoroki-Kun doesn't use his fire, things are not gonna go well for him." Akatsuki said while shaking her head.
"Mhmm." Sakura hummed in agreement.
Before anyone could ask Akatsuki and Sakura what they were talking about, the other students in the waiting area heard Shoto's response.
"I don't need them to beat you." Shoto said while looking down at Tatsuo with defiance.
"Wrong answer." Tatsuo replied, his eyes narrowing dangerously.
*Bang!*
Immediately afterward, Tatsuo, while holding Shoto aloft with his right hand, stepped in with his left foot and slammed an elbow strike into Shoto's ribs.
"Gah!" Shoto groaned as the air was forced out of his lungs.
Yet, Tatsuo did not stop there. Twisting his waist, Tatsuo quickly repositioned himself and threw Shoto over his shoulder onto the ring.
*Bang!*
Upon contact, Shoto's mouth opened wide with a silent scream of agony. Yet, the defiance in his eyes began to blaze even hotter.
*Freeze!*
Slapping his right hand on the ring, Shoto froze the ring beneath Tatsuo, attempting to disrupt his footing. At the same time, ice spikes materialized around Tatsuo from all directions before shootting toward him at high-speed.
"It's cute that you thought that would work." Tatsuo said before vanishing from where he stood with a [Blink].
*Shatter!*
An instant after Tatsuo disappeared, all the ice spikes shattered when they slammed into each other at the spot where Tatsuo once stood.
At the same time, Shoto's eyes widened in surprise when Tatsuo appeared in the air right above him with his knee pointed down at his sternum.
*Bang!*
*Crack!*
Quickly rolling to the side, Shoto was just in time to avoid Tatsuo's knee strike. And the sound of the ring being damaged made him realize that he would not have been able to continue fighting had he not reacted quickly enough.
Slapping his palm on the ring, Shoto shot up to his feet. Yet, before he could counterattack, his eyes widened once again before he quickly crossed his arms in front of his chest.
*Bang!*
"Urgh!" Shoto grunted as Tatsuo's foot slammed into his cross arms.
As a result of Tatsuo's kick, Shoto was sent sliding back into the tunnel I the iceberg that Tatsuo had carved out not too long ago.
"Use it, Todoroki." Tatsuo said as he slowly lowered his leg. "Because this is getting sad. You claim you want to be the No. 1 Hero. Yet, you won't even use your full strength. The level of disrespect you're showing for every Hero is truly disgusting."
After saying that, Tatsuo charged into the tunnel after Shoto. He then threw another punch once he was close enough. Yet, all the more observant members of the audience noticed something.
"He's not using his [Quirk]." Rumi pointed out as she leaned over the railing at the front of the seating section. "If he wrapped his attacks in his [Quirk], this would have ended already."
"And he might have killed Todoroki-Kun." Ryuko pointed out. "If his attacks would have the same cutting attribute as when he made space for himself in the ice, that is."
"Tch! I guess." Rumi snorted. "Even so, that kid doesn't stand a chance at this rate. If he's not gonna give it his all, he might as well give up already."
"I can't disagree with that." Ryuko replied as she continued to watch the match.
Meanwhile, Shoto continued to fire ice constructs at Tatsuo, thinking to take advantage of the narrow space. Yet, just like he did when Shoto first attacked with the ice spikes, Tatsuo simply [Blinked] away from the attacks, reappearing in one of Shoto's blind spots.
Though, Rumi, who had fought Tatsuo before, noticed that Tatsuo's attacks were always a beat late to land an attack on Shoto after he reappeared. But it only took a moment for her to realize why that was.
"He's clearing the ice." Rumi said with a raised eyebrow.
*Shatter!* *Bang!* *Shatter!* *Bang!* *Shatter!* *Bang!*
And that was exactly what Tatsuo was doing. Every time Shoto moved away from one of his attacks, Tatsuo would open a rift in space after knocking away a chunk of the ice. Then, the sound of impact would sound outside of the ring, the chunk of ice neatly deposited near the stadium's separating wall.
Like that, the game of cat and mouse continued for the next ten minutes. And in that time, Tatsuo managed to clear off the entire ring. Though, most of the iceberg was still shooting up into the sky. But there was nothing Tatsuo could do about that in the short term. If he was not careful, the entire iceberg could collapse into the ring. And although he would be fine, there was a real chance that Shoto could end up crushed under all the debris.
And despite all his anger, Tatsuo had no intention of killing Shoto. Though, those intentions were starting to shift the longer this lasted with Shoto not using the other half of his [Quirk].
Even so, it was also clear that Shoto was not doing too well at this point, either. Although Tatsuo had gone out of his way to give Shoto chances to evade his attacks, thus not taking any physical damage. His body temperature was getting dangerously low thanks to the use of his [Quirk].
'If I keep going like this, I'm going to lose because of hypothermia.' Shoto thought to himself. His thoughts continued as he launched another attack at Tatsuo. 'Is it really impossible to be No. 1 without using his flames?'
"[Spatial Rend]." Tatsuo muttered as he swept his arms at the wave of ice Shoto shot at him.
This time, Tatsuo's attack changed. Using [Spatial Rend], blades of midnight purple [Energy] shot forward along the lines Tatsuo's fingertips drew in the air. And those [Energy] blades easily cut through the ice wave, mincing it into diamond dust that scattered across the ring harmlessly.
At the same time, when Shoto saw the incoming spatial blades, he shot himself to the side by creating more ice under his feet.
"You know, I have a feeling I know what you're thinking." Tatsuo said after [Blinking] right behind Shoto while also dispelling the [Spatial Rend] before it could do any unintended damage.
Surprised, Shoto swept his right arm towards Tatsuo's voice, sending another wave of ice in its direction.
"You're wondering if it's really impossible to be the No. 1 Hero without using 'his flames.' Tatsuo said while making air quotes after once again [Blinking] behind Shoto.
Once again, Shoto swept his arm in the direction he could hear Tatsuo's voice coming from. And once again, he hit nothing. AT the same time, it was becoming obvious that Shoto was reaching his limit. The ice he was producing was forming slower. On top of that, his movements were getting sloppier as his body temperature dropped.
"But the fact of the matter is that you can't even use your ice at full capacity without using YOUR flames." Tatsuo continued as he once again appeared behind Shoto. "I'm sure you already know the weakness of your [Quirk], Todoroki. You're also well-aware of the fact that if you don't use all of it, you're going to end up knocking yourself out before even coming close to making me do it."
Knowing that Tatsuo was right, Shoto grit his teeth even harder than he had at any point in the match thus far. Even so, he was reluctant to use his flames. Because if he did, he knew he would give his father the satisfaction of seeing him use them. And that was something he was not willing to do.
"Once again, I think I know what you're thinking." Tatsuo said after avoiding another wave of ice. "You think that using YOUR flames would give Endeavor some sort of sick satisfaction at how he forged the greatest Hero of all time…"
Tatsuo then [Blinked] away from another one of Shoto's increasingly sloppy ice waves.
"But you seem to be misunderstanding something." Tatsuo said, whispering into Shoto's hear from behind.
*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*
Before continuing, Tatsuo through a low kick, sweeping Shoto's legs out from under him. Then, with the same leg, he raised his foot high before slamming it down on Shoto's abdomen, slamming him onto the ring once again.
*Cough!* *Cough!* *Cough!*
Then, after Shoto, who once again had the air knocked out of him, got his breathing under control, Tatsuo crouched down next to him with an irritated smile on his face.
"There's no way that Endeavor will feel any sense of satisfaction after I kick your ass even when you use those flames you hate so much." Tatsuo said coldly. "So, stop wasting my time. Either start fighting me like you have enough respect for the competition to go all-out or give up and get the hell out of the ring."
Hearing Tatsuo, the entire audience fell silent as if they were holding their breath and waiting for Shoto's answer.
Meanwhile, Shoto's eyes widened further than Tatsuo thought possible, clear disbelief swirling in their depths.
"Give up?" Shoto whispered, his volume only loud enough for Tatsuo to hear. A moment later, the confusion disappeared, replaced by anger. "Are you asking me to give up? That's impossible."
As Shoto's anger grew, embers began to shoot from his left side. Over time, those embers grew into flickering flames before they eventually grew into sustained flames. And with those flames, Shoto's body temperature began to increase, made evident by the fact that his pale complexion was growing rosy at a visible rate.
Meanwhile, Tatsuo only continued to stare at Shoto blankly from where he was crouching next to him.
"So, you're only using them because you're throwing a tantrum, huh?" Tatsuo asked in a bored tone. "The anger in your eyes makes it clear that you're still not taking me seriously. And that's starting to piss me off."
*Voom!*
In the next instant, the space in the stadium began to shake violently, making it hard for some of the weaker people in the stands to breathe.
"Damn… Is this kid really so strong?" Rumi asked in an incredulous tone.
"It's quite impressive for a young man of his age." Ryuko said while her eyes were laser-focused on Tatsuo. "In the future, he will truly be an impressive Hero."
"He's only fifteen, Ryukyu." Rumi said with a deadpan. "So, try to keep it in your panties, okay?"
"Wha-Wha-Wha-What are you talking about, Mirko?" Ryuko squealed as her face exploded with a fierce blush. "I-I-I wasn't suggesting anything like that. I-I-I-I was just admiring his strength, that's all!"
At the same time, the pressure Tatsuo was producing snapped Shoto out of his angered state, causing the flames on his left side to die immediately as his eyes dilated. A moment later, he registered what Tatsuo said before he started putting pressure on the surrounding space.
'Though I don't' feel that he's taking me seriously either, I guess I understand where he's coming from.' Shoto thought to himself as the anger was replaced by understanding. 'But since I won't even fight him with all my power, I guess that's' the right attitude to have. Even though I still loathe the flames I inherited because of HIM, not using my full strength really is disrespecting not only the rest of the competition, but the profession of a Hero as a whole, isn't it.'
"Oh, looks like you finally got your head out of your ass… At least for now." Tatsuo said as he stood up and took a step away from Shoto while lessening the pressure on the surrounding space. "Good. Then come at me with everything you have. That way, I can show your failure of a father what kind of mistake he made provoking me earlier."
Hearing hat, more than a few of the Heroes in the stands shot curious glances in Enji's direction. Yet, the No. 2 Hero completely ignored them. Instead, he only stared at Tatsuo with, literally, burning anger after being insulted so publicly.
Meanwhile, Shoto slowly stood up. As he did, flames ignited on the left side of his body while cold air billowed from his right. And for the first time since the school year started, Tatsuo saw Shoto's lips curling into a smile. Clearly, he was happy to hear how flippantly Tatsuo humiliated his father on national television.
"*Sigh* Yeah, you were right." Shoto said. "Though I had no intention of doing so, the way I was acting before was quite disrespectful. And for that I apologize. As an apology, I'll fight you with everything I have."
"Heh!" Tatsuo tutted as his smile became less malicious. "Good. Still won't change the outcome, though."
"I 'm aware." Shoto replied calmly. "But when I've put more time into training the other half of my [Quirk], things will be different."
Tatsuo did not respond to Shoto's declaration. Instead, he only shook his head while taking a proper fighting stance for the first time since the match started. He then curled a finger in Shoto's direction, clearly telling Shoto to bring it on.