Chương 33: Sport Festival Part 6: The Quarter Finals.

[Third person POV]

"It's the first match of the quarter finals! These two heroes in training have both been frontrunners in the sports festival!" Present-Mic.

"He got the 2nd place in the first competition of the festival, a wild card that exceeds expectations again and again, if only he could stop destroying his body, Midoriya Izuku!"

'He'll start with an ice attack. I'll have to make this a resistance battle.'

"Versus! The son of the #2 hero, the one whose ice renders everyone immobile! Todoroki Shoto!"

'I can't allow him to use that power of his too much.'

"But which of these rivals will advance to the next round!?"

"Begin!" Midnight.

Todoroki sends a wall of ice against Midoriya but he destroys it with a finger flick. The flick created a wind current that was strong enough that Todoroki almost got pushed away from the stage.

'Hmph. Just as I expected. He's prepared to injure himself to counter me.' Thought Todoroki after seeing Midoriya's broken finger.

"Wow! Midoriya managed to break Todoroki's insane opening move!" Present-Mic.

'I wonder if my actions can produce a different outcome.' Thought Kaito.

Midoriya blocks another attack from Todoroki and breaks another finger.

'I only have 1 shot at winning, using the breathing technique somewhat eases the effect of OFA but, it still is another burden since I'm not so proficient at it.' Midoriya.

"You want an endurance match. But I'll end this quickly." Todoroki attacks Midoriya one again.

The exchange continues until Midoriya breaks all the fingers in his right hand. Noticing an opening, Todoroki rushes at Midoriya to finish the match quickly.

Midoriya panics and uses his whole left arm to send Todoroki away. Midoriya's left arm is now broken.

"You're trying to keep me away. Smart." Todoroki.

'Mind and body fierce, but I can't waste my trump card.'

"What's the matter? Are you really that worn out from defending against my attacks?" Todoroki had his right side a little covered in ice.

'He's shaking. Is he reaching some kind of limit? I've got to keep fighting!' Midoriya.

"I'm sorry about this, but thanks for drawing it out. Look at him. He's furious I'm not using his power." Todoroki.

"I don't have to rely on his damn fire Quirk. You see, I'm going to show that bastard that I reject his power, and take first place without using it. With your hands like that, you can't fight anymore, can you? Why don't we end this?"

Todoroki sends a wave of ice to defeat Midoriya but suddenly.

"I'm not done yet!"

*BOOM*

Midoriya sends another wind blast against Todoroki surprising him.

"Dammit. With your broken finger? Why are you going this far?" Asked Todoroki pissed.

"You're trembling, Todoroki." Midoriya answered.

"Quirks are physical capabilities, so there must be a limit to how much cold your body can handle, so why haven't you used your fire to counter the temperature?"

"But no, you refuse to do that now. Listen. We're all giving it our all…to try and win. To make our dreams into a reality. To become number one!"

"You think you can win with half your strength? Look at me, Todoroki. You haven't managed to put a single scratch on me yet."

"So come at me with all you've got!" Midoriya.

"Midoriya…What are you trying to do here? You want my fire? What, did my monster of a dad bribe you or something? Now I'm mad." Todoroki glares at Midoriya and dashes towards him.

Todoroki tries to attack but Midoriya's reflexes allows him to dodge his attacks, Todoroki tries to go for the one-shot by stepping the floor but Midoriya stops him with his own foot.

Midoriya's foot begins to freeze but, in that instant, he directs a punch at Todoroki's gut.

"The instant I lifted my right foot…He's coming!"

"It won't explode! It won't explode! It won't explode!!!" Midoriya sends a powerful punch towards Todoroki but he freezes Midoriya's left arm.

"A solid punch! That's the kind of action I like to see!" Present-Mic.

"Should I step in, Midnight?" Cementoss asks Midnight for orders.

"Midoriya knows that Recovery Girl will heal his wounds after the match, so he's being reckless and hurting himself. He's full of adrenaline. He probably doesn't even realize how much pain he's in."

"But those injuries are bad. They probably can't be healed in one go. Even if he wins, he might not be able to fight in his next match. He's sacrificing himself. At this rate, he might end up with permanent damage."

'Blah, blah, blah, Midoriya finish this shit so that I can fight Todoroki and Bakugo. Epic anime moment incoming."

"I want to be like All Might. He's the greatest hero, and I wanna be just like him. In order to do that, I have to be strong enough to become number one. I know my motivation might seem stupid compared to yours."

"SMASH!" Midoriya sends a blast using his thumb.

"Why are you putting yourself through this?" Todoroki.

"I wanna live up to people's expectations. I wanna be able to smile while doing something good for them. I wanna be a pro! Whatever it takes to be a hero!"

The exchange continues and Midoriya connects another hit at Todoroki's face, he can barely feel his arms and Todoroki has ice sprouting from his right side and bruises.

"That's why I'll give it my all just like you should be!"

"There's no way I can know what you've gone through, or why you're even here. Your life has been so much different than mine, but right now…Stop screwing around!"

"If you wanna reject your father, fine, but you don't have the right to be number one if you aren't going to use your full power."

Todoroki experiences some Vietnamese flashbacks.

"I refuse to use my left side…" Todoroki was interrupted by Midoriya.

"It's yours! Your Quirk, not his!"

Todoroki realizes how blind he has been, the fire he has is not of his father but his and only his. With a clearer resolve, Todoroki ignites his left side unleashing his full power.

"You're helping your opponent. You fool. Even though you wanna win this battle. Now which one of us is screwing around? I want it, too. I'll become a hero!"

"SHOTO!!!" Endeavor. (I only put it here for meme reference material.)

"Have you finally accepted your purpose? That's it. Very good. This is the dawn of a new era for us. With my blood in your veins, you'll surpass me. You will live up to the reason I created you!"

'Its curious how no one thought that his words were weird.' Thought Kaito.

Midoriya smiles at the sight of Todoroki using his right.

"Why are you smiling? With those injuries…In this hopeless situation…You must be crazy." Todoroki says after seeing Midoriya's injuries.

"Don't blame me for what happens next."

"That's it, Midnight. One of them could be killed. His body won't hold up!" Cementoss yelled.

"Gotta try my trump card." Midoriya starts breathing and the air around him changes.

Small particles of green energy come out from his body, Midoriya's body stopped breaking apart and he has his glare fixated at Todoroki.

"Thanks to Kaito's pointers with the technique, I managed to reach this point."(But my body won't hold on longer due to the fatigue.) "Come at me with your full power, Todoroki!" (One for All: Total Concentration!)

"I see now, Midoriya. I won't hold back either." Todoroki condenses all of his flames into his left arm and points at Midoriya.

"Midoriya. Thank you." Todoroki blasts the fire at Midoriya with immense power.

"I'll surpass you. Todoroki."

Midoriya opens his palm and strike Todoroki's fire.

"ALASKA SMAAAAAAASH!!!!" The energy goes out from Midoriya's palm and impacts the fire.

Due to the sudden change between coldness and heat in the area, a huge explosion encapsules the stage where Midoriya and Todoroki were standing. Due to the butterfly effect, Cementoss was not fast enough to "protect" neither Midoriya nor Todoroki.

'Interesting my young padawan.' Thought Kaito while receiving the shockwave of the explosion as if it was nothing.

"AHHHH! Help me!" Mineta was holding onto one of Shoji's tentacles to not be thrown out of the arena.

The rest of class 1-A and 1-B were somewhat similar, they noticed Kaito just standing there as if nothing new was happening until the blast calmed down.

"Having a great power doesn't mean you'll be a good hero. But these two are amazing." Cementoss

"What happened just now!? What the heck is up with your students!?" Present-Mic complained.

"The air around the ring had been thoroughly cooled down, and then rapidly expanded when heated up." Aizawa answered calmly.

"Wait, that's what caused the explosion!? How hot did that fire get!? Jeez, I can't see a thing! Is the match still going on, or what, huh?"

Present-Mic sees two silhouettes standing out of the stage, only difference is that Midoriya was Knocked out cold and Todoroki was missing his whole shirt.

Midnight and the UA staff try to look into the cameras and see who actually won…after checking, Midnight gave the verdict.

"Under normal circumstances, the match would've been treated as a tie, however, due to only one of the participants is conscious we declare that: Todoroki Shoto wins the match! He advances to the third round! Midnight.

The crowd cheers at the amazing battle and the robots take Midoriya away and Todoroki gets out on its own, he meets his father along the way and tells him that he will use his fire whenever he needs it.

[Infirmary]

"I'm sorry All Might, I couldn't be up to your expectations." Midoriya cried.

"Its ok, you've surpassed them more than I could have hoped for." Yagi.

"I will begin to operate, could you leave All Might?" Recovery girl.

"Yeah, repairing shattered bones is not an easy task ya now?" Kaito said impatiently.

"Y-Y-YOUNG KAITO!?" All Might said in disbelieve.

"Yo! Midoriya, we should seriously talk about you calling Yagi-san All Might in public spaces."

"S-sorry." Midoriya was embarrassed.

"What are you doing here boy?!" Recovery girl was mad.

"What? I thought it would be interesting to see a real live surgery." Kaito admitted.

"Get out of here." Recovery girl.

Yagi and Kaito were thrown out from the infirmary and stared at each other before laughing.

"Did you see her face?" Kaito.

"Yes, she looked really pissed." Yagi.

"Welp, I'll be on my way to prepare against Iida, see ya later Yagi-san."

"What an interesting kid. I do wonder however, how did young Midoriya exerted such power without getting worse injuries? I'll ask him after the festival."

After the encounter, nothing exciting or different happened. Tokoyami vs Mina ended the same way with Tokoyami taking the win. and the same about Bakugo vs Kirishima.

It was the final combat of the quarter finals, Kaito vs Iida. Both classmates were in their respective rooms and waited for the repairs to be done.

"OH YEAH! Ladies and gentlemen! Prepare for the final battle of these quarterfinals!" Present-Mic.

"This battle is extra special. The students are both representative and vice rep of their class. So, let's make some noise!"

"On the right, he is fast, he is smart and of course he is strong, from the Iida family! Tenya Iida!"

'Isn't that the same family that is progenitors of fake heroes? Hopefully in the future I won't be in the necessity to kill him.' Thought Stain watching the festival from his phone.

Due to Kaito catching his attention, Stain decided to focus his attention in the festival and didn't kill anyone that day, ergo avoiding Ingenium's fate.

"And from this side! The one that does not need presentation, a wild card amongst wild cards! Kobayashi Kaito!"

Kaito enters the arena without swords, he just has some black boots.

"Are you perhaps underestimating me, Kobayashi-san?" Iida asked indignantly.

"Not at all, it's just that I wanted to teach you what a real kick is!" Kaito raises his left leg and gets in crane position.

"Begin!" Midnight.

Iida went for a straight kick directed at Kaito's chest, Kaito dodges and kicks Iida in the back of the knee.

Iida falls and almost gets out due to momentum.

"Amazing! Just a few seconds and the exchange were almost over! Now for Kobayashi's counter…he's not moving." Present-Mic said disappointed.

Kaito just stood there with his hands in his pockets. Iida stands up and gets away from the border of the stage, he tries to analyze Kaito but fails to understand his intentions.

"Bad reflects, too much speed with no maneuverability and a simple predictable attack. Ok, now that I know what is wrong, I'll imprint in your body how kicks are supposed to be delivered, hope you are hungry." Kaito smiles and disappears

Kaito appears behind Iida and delivers a kick to the neck.

"Collier! Kaito says as Iida face hits the ground. Kaito take a few steps back and decides to wait for Iida to stand again.

Iida stands again and asks Kaito in a pissed tone.

"Kobayashi-san, I know that you are stronger than me, so why, why are you holding back?"

"I wanted to train you right here and now, your techniques are not that good when fighting at normal speed, moreover during the USJ incident, you were one of the few that didn't gain any fighting experience. I'll be that fighting experience, I'll be a wall that you must overcome." Kaito explained.

'Of course, Kobayashi is not the type of person to humiliate others, I knew that fighting him would be pointless but still! I'll make him go serious, even if he uses no swords!' Iida thought and went for another kick, Kaito also dashed at him.

Iida's kick was blocked by Kaito's left arm and he delivered a knee to the gut, Kaito didn't let a moment to rest and barraged Iida.

"Épaule! Côtelette! Selle! Poitrine! Gigot!" Kaito disappears again and appears in front of Iida.

"Mouton Shot." Kaito delivers a kick at Iida's face and he falls.

"Looks like you were too full for dessert." Kaito walks towards Iida to see if he was unconscious or not.

Kaito sensed something wrong and blocks a kick from Iida but then receives another in the same place and gets pushed back.

"Nice comeback Iida!" Kaito yelled.

"I still have ways to go." Iida got in a dash stance and charged his engines.

'I got a hit but it was still blocked. My engines are overheating from that propulsion earlier, either I finish it in this last attack or lose.' Iida thought.

'He's learning fast, he understood the boost that he gets when he goes from 0 to max helps him deliver a powerful kick, however, his engines are overheating, meaning that this will be his last attack, the normal plan would be to dodge since he can't maneuver that well, but as a rival for the 1st place, I'll use all my might!'

Kaito starts spinning at high speeds and focus the strength in his right leg, he then activates a mechanism that overheats his right boot and shines from the heat.

Kaito stops and gets into Sanji position.

"Gadget #43.20, the leg of the devil Diable Jambe!" Kaito announces the name of his technique while his foot expels heat.

"Recipro Burst!" Iida dashes towards Kaito at high speeds.

Kaito reacts and delivers his attack.

"Collier Strike!" With a swift, strong and heated leg, Kaito delivers a powerful blow to Iida's leg.

The struggle to overpower the other continues for a while until Iida's engines overheat due to Kaito's gadget, making them fail and lose the fight. The kick sent Iida flying out of the stage and crashed into a wall.

"Tenya Iida is out of bounds; the winner is Kobayashi Kaito!" Midnight announces.

The crowd went crazy for the fight, they knew that more than a fight it was a training session but even as that the display given left everyone in awe. Iida was taken to the infirmary and Kaito freed his foot from the overheated boot.

With the quarterfinals over the semifinals were about to begin.