apathy

who the hell cares about endeavor?

Todoroki stands with his back straight and his face impassive as waves of heat wash over him. His father is growling out a speech before his next fight, against Midoriya of all people. Todoroki is sure it has something to do with not losing to the boy with no quirk, but he thinks that such a speech is unnecessary—there's no way he can lose with his ice. Of course, thinking back to the USJ incident, Midoriya seems full of surprises.

While he hadn't been there for it, he had heard from his classmates the way Izuku Midoriya had recklessly run out and confronted the villains. His recklessness most likely meant that Midoriya would come at him without fully thinking through a plan. He might be looking to release some aggression too, after being outted as quirkless, which was good for him. Anger meant plenty of little slip ups that Todoroki could exploit.

"Shouto!" Endeavor barks, jolting Todoroki out of his thoughts. "Are you listening to me?"

"Of course, Father." Shouto answers immediately. Endeavor puffs up, sending out yet another wave of blistering heat that makes Todoroki at least thankful his quirk gives him a bit of heat resistance. "I won't lose."

"See to it that you don't." Endeavor growls before turning to stalk out of the waiting room and to his seat, probably. Todoroki stays frozen in place for a moment, then exhales the tension in his shoulders when he can't hear his father's steps anymore. Outside of the waiting room, he can hear Present Mic warming up the crowd, so he slips out the door and starts making his way towards the arena.

The crowd roar is deafening even before he steps out into the light, and it only gets worse as he and Midoriya approach the ring. Most of the cheers that Todoroki can hear are actually taunts—telling him to be 'gentle' with the quirkless kid—but there's a group of who he thinks is business students and that Hatsume/Shinsou pair chanting Midoriya's name. Todoroki focuses on his opponent instead of any of it.

He looks tired, as he did at the USJ, but he's got the boots from the first event on, lit up blue. There's a green sticker on his cheek as well, and what looks like a hairdryer attached to his belt. He looks prepared, which means he doesn't mean to go down without a fight. Unfortunately for him, Todoroki don't plan to let him have a chance.

As soon as Midnight yells go, Todoroki throws a wave of ice at Midoriya, who—isn't there anymore. Todoroki looks around, then up, because he knows what the boots do, and sees Midoriya dropping down at him, feet first. He dives and rolls out of the way just in time, standing up to see that the place Midoriya had landed is cracked. That means his boots can increase gravity as well, which is something to watch out for if this match continues longer than Todoroki anticipates.

"Decrease 23%." Midoriya says, getting a blip of light from his sticker and boots, and then he's not stuck to the ground anymore. He doesn't even look Todoroki's way, like he's not concerned with him or this fight in general.

Todoroki scowls and shoots another devastating wave of ice at Midoriya. He sees him go for the hairdryer, and then steam is billowing out from where he was, obscuring everything in the ring. A confused, shocked outcry rises from the crowd, with one excited whoop thrown in.

"Sonic Hairdryer." Comes a voice behind him, and Todoroki spins just in time to block a punch from Midoriya. He jumps back, readying another wall of ice, but Midoriya is already shooting it with the hairdryer, sending more steam in Todoroki's face. "I don't know who looks at a hairdryer and says 'this could be more sonic,' but if it works.."

Present Mic yells something when Todoroki pushes out a few more walls of ice in every direction and is rewarded with even more steam. It is, strangely, thanks to Endeavor he is aware of his surroundings enough that he's able to dodge another punch, this time from his left, and then the next few, though it's close. Midoriya is too near for comfort, and his ice isn't working—but he will not use that fire.

"You're getting frostbite." Midoriya notes, initiating a sweeping kick that Todoroki jumps over, only to be caught in the jaw by an uppercut. He stumbles back and glares at Midoriya, then charges again, relying on the hours of combat training he was forced through to guide him through the attack. Midoriya takes some of the hits but dodges most of them, infuriatingly. "You're half fire, why don't you just fix that?"

"I will not use my father's fire to win this." Todoroki hisses in return, haphazardly creating a wall of ice spikes to push at Midoriya. He jumps over these, landing a bit away. There's a hint of annoyance on his face, nothing compared to the emotion he's shown earlier today, but still a little jarring anyhow. "I won't ever give my father the satisfaction of—"

Midoriya shoots the hairdryer, blowing the wall of sharp ice into steam that blinds Todoroki for a moment.

"I don't give a damn about your father!" Midoriya shouts over the crowd, stepping forward but still shrouded in steam. Sun filters in, creating a sort of halo effect around him. Todoroki pulls up short, staring at it wide eyed. "Does your dad control all fire? Is he the one who ignites you?"

Midoriya storms forward and attacks, forcing Todoroki on the defensive and slowly, slowly driving him back towards the line.

"No?" Midoriya grunts, taking one of Todoroki's punches with his forearm and pushing back. "Then just shut the fuck up about what your father wants. I'm not fighting him, am I?"

With that, Midoriya punches him in the face, hooking his foot behind Todoroki's ankle and toppling him. Todoroki stares up at him, a giant planted firmly with a blank challenge on his face, the halo reappearing behind his wild hair.

"So, your ice doesn't work on me and I'm obviously going to beat you without quirks in play. What will you do?"

A small, awed smile spreads on Todoroki's face, and he bursts into flame.