I've got no Strings

Part 12~Todoroki

Fighting against her restraints, Seiji screamed into her gag.

“I wouldn’t bother if I was you. Fighting does nothing.” Mineta rolled his eyes, sitting peacefully in his chair. Seiji glared at Mineta, a clear spike of hate in their eyes. The villains weren’t even paying attention to them.

“Izuku will be so glad you’re back. He’s been so bad lately.” Naoki clapped Toga’s shoulder, a large grin on his face.

“Hell yeah, he should be. Wait… where is he?” Toga looked around in confusion as Naoki pulled her to the TV. Todoroki was taking on Iida, easily stopping the faster boy with a touch of his ice.

“Next is the semi-finals. Izuku is going against some kid named Bakugo.”

Toga gulped, sharing a look with Dabi as they sat in front of the TV.

“Did I say something wrong?”

Dabi shook his head, patting Naoki’s shoulder. “Yeah but it’s fine. You didn’t know.” Dabi turned back to the TV leaving Naoki confused and without any context.

Bakugo cracked his knuckles as he walked onto the stage, glaring at Izuku who took a deep breath.

Present mic’s excited voice screamed across the field, making Izuku wince. “Start!”

Bakugo launched himself in the air, his palms sparking as he twirled. Izuku didn’t move as the heat came closer, exploding around him. The crowd gasped in worry, fearing Izuku’s life but as fast as the fire came, it went and Izuku was left unharmed.

Bakugo growled trying again but the explosions couldn’t get close enough, Izuku pushed each one away from himself. Bakugo screamed, hitting the ground and causing a large blast of rubble to fly towards Izuku.

Izuku grinned, suddenly moving from his spot. He duck and weaved through the rocks, swinging himself low as the arena exploded with fire.

Bakugo cursed, the nitroglycerin on his skin exploding from the fire and leaving him ammoless. Izuku jumped out of the fire, kicking Bakugo to the side. Walking closer, Izuku held his fire in his hand when Bakugo rolled out of the way and swept his feet from under him.

Blasting Izuku before he could recover, Bakugo hit him far away, giving him much needed time to recover. Izuku coughed, pushing himself up as his eyes narrowed on Bakugo.

“Enough playing.” Rushing forward, Izuku pushed fire forward, hitting Bakugo back. Izuku gritted his teeth, the fire becoming stronger and forcing Bakugo back, almost over the line.

Boom!

Izuku growled as his feet became unsteady and he fell to the ground. Bakugo panted, the large hole in the ground providing him cover.

Izuku stepped closer, hopping into the whole and making their arena even smaller. “Ready to end this, Kacchan?”

Bakugo’s eyes widened for just a second, the shock numbing him as Izuku hit him square in the face. Bakugo spiralled back, hitting into the side of the wall with a loud crash. Bakugo fell to the ground, blood dribbling out of his head but he didn’t want to end. “No… It’s not over…”

Present mic announced the win as the crowd cheered.

Izuku took a deep breath, forcing his eyes to widen in fear. “Oh, no! Quick, he’s bleeding!” Taking off his jacket, Izuku ‘tried’ to stop the bleeding when the robots took Bakugo away, no matter how much Baugo complained against the action.

Once Izuku got out of the whole, Cementoss fixed it and the rest of the stage, readying for Todoroki and Tokoyami. While that match lasted longer than the last two Todoroki took part in, Tokoyami was still no match for him. No matter how hard Dark Shadow tried, they were pushed out and lost the match.

Izuku stepped away from the field, sitting at the back of the school, only a reminder telling him to go back for his match.

“You sure that’s a wise idea? You could miss your match.” Shinso smirked as he sat beside Izuku.

Laughing, Izuku stretched out, choosing to lean against Shinso’s shoulder. “Well, they’ll come looking for me. They can’t lose two students in one day.”

Shinso tensed at the mention of the missing student, chewing on his lip. “Did you have something to do with that?”

Izuku frowned, closing his eyes. “Who knows. Personally, I think they’re going to show up tomorrow without a scratch on them.” Izuku paused, looking into Shinso’s eyes. “Does it scare you? Knowing who I am. Does it scare you?”

Shinso paused, shaking his head. “No.”

“Good. Oh, and thanks for not ratting me out.” Izuku yawned, snuggling closer to Shinso’s warmth, not quite being able to shake off the chill clutching at him. Shinso gently reached out, wanting to touch the fluffy hair when a loud alarm interrupted the moment.

Izuku groaned, flopping down more. “No. Don’t want to go.”

Chuckling, Shinso picked Izuku up, forcing him to his feet. “Come on, time to win the sports festival.”

Huffing dramatically, Izuku started to drag his feet behind him. “Fine. You’re boring.” Izuku frowned, putting on a face as he walked back through the school and waved goodbye to Shinso.

Present mic was still screaming, announcing Izuku and Todoroki’s fight. The second Present mic announced the beginning, the field was covered in ice. Izuku rolled to the side, dodging the ice again and again and again and again and again and again and again and- Izuku yelped as he failed to dodge the ice once more.

Cursing, Izuku watched the ice charging towards him, erupting in fear and melting the water before it could reach him. The steam made it hard to see- or breath- and gave Izuku an idea. Rushing to the other stacks of ice, Izuku melted them one by one, making the steam thicker.

Todoroki spun around, watching the flashes of light as he tried to hit Izuku but he couldn’t get close. Leaping from behind, Izuku kicked Todoroki to the side, lending with a grin. Todoroki looked around the smoke in confusion when Izuku hit him again, sending him spiralling back.

Todoroki cursed, building an ice wall around him while he tried to think of a plan.

Izuku scoffed at the pathetic wall, punching through the ice and putting his face in the whole. “Here’s Suzuki!” Ducking back, Izuku avoided the ice spikes Todoroki targeted at him.

Swirling the flames around him, Izuku blasted apart the ice, throwing Todoroki to the back with a tut.

“This is a little pathetic. Why aren’t you using your fire?!” Izuku blasted out more flames, barely missing Todoroki but successfully scorching the back wall of the stadium. “Come on Todoroki! It’s now or never!”

Izuku hit down, the large burst of fire expanding out and almost finishing the fight. Almost.

Todoroki gasped, stumbling back to his feet. Izuku stared at him, the frog destroyed by the blast. “Come on, pretty boy. Don’t let that piece of garbage control you. Time to earn your worth.”

Todoroki smirked, flames expanding from his side and stretching up.

“That’s more like it!” Charging forward, the two fires met, throwing both back. Izuku gasped, stumbling up. They both barely stayed inside the ring when Izuku opened his arms and fell backwards with a smile.

The crowd stared in shock as Izuku started shaking, the day of using his quirk finally catching up with him. He curled into a tiny ball and awaited the robots.

Present mic announced Todoroki’s win as the robots carried Izuku away.