Once More (My Hero Academia)

18: Spark

The wall of fire crashed down like a tsunami.

Tokoyami's Dark Shadow rushed in front to block the flames but instantly shrunk back as the bright light almost erased it entirely. Tokoyami stumbled back as the fire singed the collar of his shirt.

They could still dodge this, Izuku thought through gritted teeth as the team retreated backward.

"Stop, stop, stop!" Uraraka's voice rang suddenly, her voice panicked. Her foot was caught on something. The team's lurched backward, but Hatsume's random jet pack that she put on at an unknown time automatically blasted a stream of air, saving the team from falling down like dominos.

The split-second Izuku recovered, Todoroki snatched away his headband.

Before Izuku even blinked, his arm shot out instinctively and yanked on whatever fabric he could reach.

Everything happened almost too quickly. Todoroki's team had retreated, the fire died away, Uraraka realized her shoe was stuck on one of Mineta's stray purple balls, Tokoyami took a deep breath as Dark Shadow shivered by his side, Hatsume started rambling about the genius design of her baby jet pack, and Izuku heard the blaring sound of Mic's voice: "TIME'S UP!!!!"

It was then that everything seemed to finally register for Izuku.

Todoroki used his fire.

The round was over. Izuku's teammates set him down as the other teams also broke formation.

"Did you get it?" Iida raised his hand stiffly at Todoroki, his eyes still wide from surprise at Todoroki's sudden use of fire.

Todoroki held up the million-point headband.

Uraraka was crestfallen at the sight. "Wait, does that mean..." She looked at Izuku apologetically.

Izuku saw Uraraka's worried expression and smiled gently.

He held up his fist, and Uraraka gasped at the fabric clutched in his hands. At the last moment, Izuku managed to grab all of Todoroki's original headbands as the other boy was distracted by the million-point one.

"Don't worry, we still made it," Izuku nodded his head toward the display screen, which listed the final rankings and score.

At this time, Present Mic announced the winning teams that would proceed to the next round.

Todoroki's team was first. Bakugo's was second. Izuku's was third, and Shinso's was fourth.

Izuku looked gratefully at his teammates. He didn't need to say anything. He was sure his expression told them all they needed to know. Well, at least for Uraraka and Tokoyami. Hatsume was already gone.

•••

"Todoroki."

The boy with the scar turned back to Izuku's voice.

"What do you want?" Todoroki replied calmly, but Izuku knew him well enough to detect the cold, frightening anger in his voice.

Izuku lifted his hands placatingly, his voice tinged with panic, "Look, Todoroki, I'm not here to..."

"You know, Midoriya" Todoroki interrupted -- from which Izuku instantly knew that he was furious since Todoroki was usually polite and rarely interrupted people -- "if you were wondering, this would be the last time I used my fire. I know making me use my fire is your goal, for some reason, but you guys won't get what you want."

He turned away, without waiting for a reply.

Izuku sighed and stared at Todoroki's figure walking away. He could hear the distant voices of his classmates behind him and the gentle shuffling of trees in the wind. Parts of the crowd in the stands were retreating for food in the one-hour break.

Izuku looked down and stared at the moving patterns of sunlight seeping through the shifting tree branches.

Scenes of the cavalry battle replayed in his mind. He thought about Todoroki, then about Bakugo. Those two boys have been growing stronger way faster than Izuku expected them to. It was exciting in some way, but it also brought an overwhelming feeling of apprehension.

•••

Shoto leaned on the wall and exhaled in frustration. He raised his hands and studied them.

The bright firelight flashed in his mind, and he extinguished it immediately.

He couldn't believe himself. He broke his own pact.

He felt pressured by Midoriya, and unfortunately using fire was the only way to win, but that angered Shoto even more. It was exactly what his father wanted.

But the thought still clung to him stubbornly. When he used his fire today, it didn't disgust him. In fact, it almost felt natural, even.

He tried to convince himself that he was wrong, that he actually hated the fire, but he couldn't.

•••

"Iida," Uraraka muttered, "Deku's being weird again."

Iida shook his head side-to-side like a robot, "sometimes I wonder what's going on in his head."

Izuku's hands were placed tensely on his face, his expression a mixture of concern and surprise.

And of course, he was muttering. To others, it was unintelligible, and most just gave up listening and tried hard not to forcibly shut the boy's mouth close.

But in Izuku's perspective, it was truly shocking to see the pairings exactly the same.

This was after the one-hour lunch break, and the festival had continued.

Just before the final round draw, two people dropped out. Ojiro, along with Shoda from class 1-B.

Izuku expected it. It was because they felt guilty proceeding to the next round while being brainwashed by Shinso.

But what Izuku didn't expect was for the pairings to be exactly the same as last time, even though the drawing order changed since they got third.

I guess randomness really works, he thought.

But although the same matchup for the one-on-one round gave Izuku an advantage, he didn't like it.

Izuku genuinely did not want to fight Shinso.

...If he did, he would need to make a very hard decision during the fight, and Izuku didn't know if he would be able to.

"Midoriya Izuku... Ah. First place from the entrance exam. Such a pleasure to meet you again." Shinso's cold, stone-hard voice rang from behind Izuku.

Before Izuku could turn around, though, Ojiro's tail yanked him away from Shinso.

"Don't answer him," Ojiro said, his voice tense.

That's the issue, Izuku thought sadly, I have to answer.