Flames of Hope

Chapter 13

Izuku looked down at the Flame Hero, his cyan eyes extinguished of that fire he had seen before his quirk was absorbed. Emerald glared into blue, before the boy held out his hand a bright ball of fire hovered over his palm, Hell Fire. Coldly, Izuku throws at Endeavour,

"This is your Core. Not many quirk holders have them, a rare phenomenon so to speak. Your quirk relies on the Core to function, without the Core, your Hell Fire has no fuel to ignite." He told brutally, "Your quirk has not gone, only the fuel for it." Izuku moves into Endeavour's personal space, face to face with the man, "I ripped your fuel out of your body, your quirk useless without it. Your powerless." Then stormed off, leaving a powerless Endeavour behind. Turning the corner, Izuku collapsed into a wall, feeling his breath become shallow with fear as his heartbeat sped up, causing him to begin hyperventilating. He felt lightheaded and his eyes went into tunnel vision, hands callously gripping his hair in panic, memories buzzing about as Endeavour's fire set of Izuku's memory of his father, phantom pain crawling up his back.

Suddenly, a pair of hands anchored him back into the real world. There crouched in front of him was the heterochromia boy, Todoroki, his usually stoic face betraying one of concern. Izuku could barely hear the boy as he spoke,

"Midoriya! Midoriya breath with me! Come on, breath in," He breathed in, "and out," he breathed out, "and again," It took some time, but Izuku finally calmed down, his heartbeat calming back down, his breathing normal again. He nodded to Todoroki in thanks, unable to cough up words. Izuku frisked himself to find a pen and paper to write on, no such luck sadly, so he waved his hand to Todoroki, telling him to follow. Izuku held a hand over his heart, feeling like his heart was ripped in two, he admits to himself he misses Todoroki's hands on his, one being cold the other warm, but quickly shakes the thoughts away, no time, he thinks. They reach Changing room one, where no one was due to them wanting to get a bit to eat before the last rounds of the Festival begins.

Izuku strides over to his eye bleeding yellow bag, getting out his notebook, writing to Todoroki,

'Thank you. I rarely have a panic attack now a days. Your dad is a prick by the way.' The shocked confused look on his face, combined with the slight head tilt made him look like a kitten. Izuku blushes, adorable... Wait no hold on! His thought train is derailed when Todoroki looks at him, telling him to continue writing, 'Yeah... he told me my quirk is a mere shadow of his Hell Fire.' Izuku quotes it using his fingers, 'So I took it.' Pure awe is what Izuku would say looking into the boy's eyes who yelled,

"YOU TOOK HIS FIRE?!" Shrugging, Izuku played innocent. It wasn't everyday you hear the Number Two Hero is lacking his signature flames, so he held up Hell Flame's Core. 'He doesn't deserve his power' is what Izuku wrote to Todoroki. Before either could talk again, the intercom buzzed to life, as the screen lit up, showing the next matchings:

1. Izuku Midoriya vs. Shouto Todoroki

2. Hitoshi Shinsou vs. Katsuki Bakugou

Izuku smiled at Todoroki, bright and pearly white teeth glimmered, and Todoroki covered his eyes, muttering under his breath about something being 'too bright'. Izuku shrugged, he had a match to get to, so he looked to Todoroki and prepared to fight the boy in a heated duel of fate; one vying to denounce his father, the other to show that he is here and that he has what it takes to be a hero. Izuku threw a casual wave over his shoulder to the other, the next time they see each other, they will be enemies.