TIME TRAVEL - I ADOPT A BUNCH OF BRATS

CHAPTER 26 - SPORTS FESTIVAL PART III

The one-on-one fights went by quickly, with students using their quirks to gain the edge needed to beat their peers. Shouto had been ending his matches swiftly, much to the awe of the spectators, and the terror of his next opponents.

"That kid's going to go far!"

"Wow! Now THAT'S a hero's quirk!"

"Never mind the hero's quirk! That fine control!"

"He's a Todoroki after all!"

Words of praise piled on him every time a match ended, but along with the praise came expectations. They were heavy.

"I don't even know why his opponents even try anymore. It's not an even fight at all!" Shouto didn't think that was true. Though his opponents hadn't exactly been a challenge, to win solely because your opponent gave up was shameful. He'd never want someone to just give him the victory. Apparently, his sister thought the same.

"HOW STUPID CAN YOU ALL BE?!" Fuyumi's voice bellowed over the audience.

"THEY ARE ALL HEROES AND TRYING THEIR BEST! JUST BECAUSE SHOUTO IS OUR BROTHER DOESN'T MEAN HE DIDN'T WORK HARD TO GET AS GOOD AS HE DID! TO PUT HIM ON A PEDESTAL BECAUSE OF 'OUR FATHER'S LEGACY IS STUPID!!" Fuyumi's eyes were blazing as she ripped into the crowd, giving them a thorough tongue lashing. The speakers rang as Aizawa's voice joined hers.

"As Thermis has said, to discredit the amount of work and effort the students put in by saying they are 'not good enough' and should just give up. You should just give back your hero licenses now. If you're not willing to push yourself and put in the effort to get better. You're better off pursuing a different career." That shut the crowd up as the heroes who had been speaking looked down in shame.

Shouto smiled to himself, thankful for the interjection. The audience's words had made him uncomfortable, they sounded positive, but for some reason, they weighed down on Shouto like bricks.

Unfreezing his opponent, Shouto offered a handshake to the student before walking off stage. He was sure he'd be fighting Tenya next. He'd need the rest before the fight started.

—-------

The battle between Tenya and Shouto arrived all too soon. Tensei was nervous as Tenya walked onto the stage, eyes calculating as he surveyed his opponent. Shouto had shown that he was a formidable opponent, ending all his previous matches within seconds.

Next to him, Tensei could feel the Todorokis and Tenko all tense as they focused on the battle starting below them. He did the same. Whatever happened would determine the outcome of their bet after all.

—-------

Shouto opened his attack by having waves of gigantic ice pillars erupt from the ground, they surrounded the field and rose like mountains, towering over Tenya and obscuring his vision.

Tenya first tried to fight Shouto's ice by aiming a quirk-powered kick at it. It didn't work. Trying to kick at the ice didn't fully break through, like the ice walls he'd constructed in the first task, Shouto's ice was extremely difficult to break. More solid than natural ice, the youngest Todoroki had trained his ice manipulation into an art. Tenya knew that if he didn't do something soon, Shouto would just freeze him where he stood. It was only by sheer luck that Shouto hadn't done that first. Perhaps he wanted a longer fight?

Climbing the jagged walls of ice, Tenya ignored the stinging cold and small cuts that formed on his hands, relying on his quirk to propel him upwards and towards Shouto.

For some reason, the other boy didn't move. That should have been warning enough, but Tenya wasn't thinking as he ran towards his classmate. If he could just...reach him!