Sightless

Chapter 18: Round Three Part One

As Midoriya's literal fountain of tears subsided, he felt both Ururaka and Hatsume give him simultaneous hugs. This renewed his tears slightly, and he tried wiping his face as they poured out.

"We told you we could do it," Ururaka said, giggling.

"Guess I'll be seeing you all in the finals then! How exciting!" Hatsume laughed. Midoriya smiled, then Midnight's voice rang out again.

"And the Cavalry Battle is over! The winners will move onto the next round! But first, we'll take a break so that our competitors can rest, eat lunch, etcetera before the final round! The break will end in half an hour!" Midoriya stood up straight and was about to ask his friends if they would eat lunch with him, when he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"Midoriya," Todoroki said simply. Midoriya turned to him.

"Todoroki," he said back, not entirely sure how to respond to him.

"You won the bet. Let's go somewhere private where we can talk without being overheard." Midoriya nodded and held out his hand. Todoroki took it and guided him through a couple twists and turns before finally stopping. Todoroki let go of Midoriya's hand, but he still stood close to Midoriya and spoke in a hushed tone. It gave Midoriya an eerie feeling.

"I'm going to tell you this up front, Midoriya. I made a vow today, to not use my fire side. I don't know if you saw or felt it, but you made me break that vow. Only slightly, but I broke it."

"A vow to not use your fire side? Isn't that impractical?" Midoriya asked.

"Perhaps. But I'm not doing it for shits and giggles, there's a reason for it. And it's not a pleasant story behind that reason. Do you still want to hear it?" Todoroki asked quietly, and Midoriya could hear the underlying nervous tone in his voice.

"Only if you're willing to tell it. I know how it feels to relive tragic memories. If it becomes too much, you can stop at any time. I promise I won't get mad or demand you to continue," Midoriya said reassuringly. Midoriya then felt the temperature change, which he was used to when talking to Todoroki. However, he wasn't used to the air getting warmer. The temperature then stabilized as Todoroki took a deep breath.

"Thank you, Midoriya," he said, the nervous undertone gone. "First, I have a question. Your Quirk is very similar to All Might's. Why?" Midoriya stiffened. All Might had sworn him to secrecy, and while he had already almost broken that swear by telling Bakugou, he really didn't want anyone else finding out. As he struggled to come up with a semi-plausible explanation, Todoroki spoke again.

"Are you his illegitimate child?" Midoriya's jaw dropped, and he was dumbfounded.

"No!" he shouted, louder than he meant to and he felt Todoroki jump back slightly. "N-No," he repeated, quieter. Todoroki was quiet for beat.

"Sorry. That theory was a little half-baked. But you must have some connection to him," he concluded as Midoriya sighed with relief.

"That's not all you wanted to talk about, was it?" Midoriya asked.

"No. No it wasn't. You know my father is the #2 Hero Endeavor, correct?" Midoriya nodded. "Have you ever actually seen him and his actions?" Midoriya thought about it. He knew that Endeavor was forever stuck under All Might, but had never really stopped to wonder why. But when he really thought about it, the answer was obvious. While All Might was usually very careful in his heroic actions and very loving towards citizens, Endeavor was not. He routinely damaged structures around him with his flames, not really ever caring about the damage he caused, and he was brusque with everyone, even his own fans. His interactions with other heroes especially showed off his callousness, and he seemed to only care about fame and power. In short, he could never beat All Might because of his own attitude and pompousness.