Fangs are Forever

Sports Festival part 2

Izuku wanted to drop out of the tournament.  He was so shaken and terrified by what had happened with Shinsou.  Maybe he could say he was feeling sick?  Which wasn't actually too far from the truth.  He quickly chased the thought away, if he dropped out everyone who was counting on him would be disappointed.

So, he swallowed his fear and anxiety, and walked back out to join his classmates.

~

Watching Todoroki destroy Sero and not even giving him a chance to fight, was hard to watch.  Maybe it was Todoroki's sad expression that gave him the most feelings of unease.

Uraraka's battle with Bakugou, might have been even harder to watch.  She gave it all she had, but in the end Bakugou had shown no mercy.  When he went to the waiting room, he found her there.  She preached she was fine, but by her body language and the slight stiffness in her voice, Izuku knew she was lying.  He couldn't do anything to help her.  Even when he left the waiting room he could hear her quietly sobbing.

But right now, he had bigger things to worry about.

His fight with Todoroki.

~

Izuku hands shook with anxiety, his heart pumping with fear.  No matter what happened, he had to help Todoroki.  How far would he go to do that?  He didn't know yet.

He stepped up to the arena with a look if determination on his face, his fists clenched tightly.  He dared to meet Todoroki's icy glare, the two boys stared at each other intently.

"Ready, START!" Present Mic yelled loudly.

The fight started off with Todoroki's ice, but Izuku easily flicked it away, while breaking his fingers in the process.  They'll heal, he told himself.

                      
Todoroki immediately recognized that Izuku was trying to wear out his ice side so that he would be forced to use his fire.  An endurance match.  He rushed his classmate, sending more ice to trap him.  The ice caught his foot and Izuku was forced to make a decision.  He used One for All in his entire arm and destroyed the ice that trapped him.  The wind forced Todoroki back immensely but wasn't enough to get him out of the ring.

Izuku cried in pain at the force of his arm breaking, it'll heal, it'll heal, he repeated to himself.

Toshinori gasped when he saw the damage done to his successor's arm.  Did it really hurt him that badly?

Todoroki regained himself and spoke, "With your arm and fingers like that, you can't fight anymore.  I'll end this."

My fingers and arm aren't healing fast enough... so what do i do?  Izuku pondered his limited options as a wave of ice advanced towards him.

He smirked, "Todoroki, I'm not finished yet!" he snapped, as he reused his broken finger to smash through the ice once again.

Todoroki had to quickly save himself from the edge of the area with his ice, "Why are you putting yourself through this!" Todoroki growled when he regained himself and saw Izuku's purple fingers.

"You're shaking, Todoroki." Izuku's hair covered his eyes, "I bet you would usually make up for the drop in temperature by using the fire from your left side but you refuse to do that, huh?  Listen here, everyone is giving it there all, and you think you can win by half-assing it?  You haven't managed to hurt me yet, so come at me with everything!" Izuku screamed.

"What the hell is wrong with you, you want my fire!" Todoroki snarled at Izuku as he rushed him.

But as Izuku quickly realized, Todoroki's movements were painfully slow.  Izuku went in to deliver another punch to the stomach.  His fingers burned with pain.

Todoroki didn't let up on ice, but it soon became easier to dodge.  Izuku continued to jump out of the way and flick his fingers.

"Why are you putting yourself through this!?" Todoroki hissed at him.

Izuku didn't hesitate, "I want to be the greatest hero in the world, so I have to give it my all!  Everyone here is giving it their all... you can't call yourself number one if you're not going to give everything!"

"Shut up!" Todoroki yelled.

"I understand if you want to reject your father, but it isn't his quirk, it's yours!" Izuku screamed at the top of his lungs.

The last thing Izuku remembered was fire engulfing his entire vision.

~

The wolf inside him snapped and snarled at the warm flames swirling about Todoroki's body, but somehow it knew these flames meant something good.

~

Nezu stared in wonder at Izuku.  Should he stop the fight?  Should he let it go on?  He observed with an interested smile on his face.  He would let the fight play out.

The fire engulfed the entire arena, Izuku jumped forward, Nezu recognized One for All being summoned.  Cement walls suddenly appeared between the two, a large explosion sent debris flying.

~

Izuku woke up in a hospital bed.  His arms were wound in bandages, as well as one of his legs.  He looked to the left and saw Recovery Girl hovering over him.

"Glad you're awake, I was just about to remove your bandages." She spoke.

"What..?" Izuku felt dazed.

"I had to preform surgery on your arms," Recovery girl informed him, "Even with your advanced healing, your body couldn't sustain the damage you took."

Izuku felt a flash of panic, "How do you know about tha-"

"The healing?  The werewolf?" she chuckled, "Nezu told me."

He settled back down into the hospital bed and watched Recovery girl remove the bandages from his arms.  A couple scars littered his right hand.

"Those scars are a reminder of what happens when you push yourself too far."

"Did I do anything?" his voice shook.

"No one saw anything suspicious, at least I didn't.  Todoroki might have seen something, he was closest to you."

"w-who won?"

"Sorry, Todoroki won.  He seemed pretty shaken."

"I'm so useless, I can't even remember." Izuku started to cry.

Recovery girl patted his head, "You're not, I promise.  All Might was very worried about you."

"Oh... I feel bad for worrying him."

"You haven't told him?"

"I haven't." Izuku couldn't meet her eyes.

"The longer you wait, the worse it's going to be if he finds out." She informed him, "But the secret is yours to tell, not mine."

Izuku nodded.

"You can head back to your classmates; I think the festival is almost over."

"Thank you."

~

During the final round, Todoroki versus Bakugou, Todoroki started to use his flames, but he stopped.  Izuku wondered in sadness what more he could have done to help.

Bakugou ended up winning, but Izuku felt like the biggest loser.  He'd lost control twice.  He noted Shinsou's quirk, and Todoroki's fire as triggers.  Something to avoid.

Izuku went home and cried that night.

Utterly helpless.

I will be posting the next chapter immediately after this one, and i will
explain my reason for being gone at the end of the next chapter.  Just to clarify, i have not given up on this story!!!