The Broken Hero, Jashi

Part 14~Punch Down

Tapping my fingers nervously, I chewed on my lip. Zashi was screaming his introductions as Toshi walked out into the arena. 

I felt Koasaku placing a hand on my shoulder, giving me a comforting smile- or at least what I guessed was one since he was a squiggle and it was a little hard to tell. Umeki came up to my other side as we watched Denki Kaminari walk into the space. 

"He'll be okay," Umeki whispered, taking my hand in hers. 

"Umeki is right, so stop worrying. Your boyfriend can take care of himself," Bill said, hitting my back while smiling like an idiot.

"He is not my boyfriend," I corrected making her tilt her head. 

Thankfully, before she could say anything else Zashi announced the start. 

Kaminari surrounded himself with electricity. Toshi looked slightly panicked but hid in well under a bored expression. "What are you planning to do with that?"

Kaminari smirked to himself as he pointed his finger out. "I'm going to do this..." 

I let out a shaky sigh of relief as Kaminari went limp and dropped his arm.

"What's this?! Kaminari has stopped mid attack!" 

"Be a good boy and walk out of the arena," Toshi ordered, making Kaminari turn around and walk out. Gasps surrounded the field as they gaped at Toshi's Quirk. The second Kaminari stepped over the edge, Toshi let him take back control. 

"Toshinori Shinso wins the match!"

"See, you had nothing to worry about," Chiyumi said smugly, a sweet smile on her face. 

Rolling my eyes slightly, I backed out of the group and went to find Toshi. Smiling upon seeing him, I jumped up and wrapped my arms around his torso. "You did amazing Toshi!" I craned my neck up to look at him, giggling when his face turned red.

"You... You should go get ready for your match," Toshi stuttered, pushing me away. 

Smiling up at him, I turned around to leave. "Cheer for me."

Running down the corridor, I didn't notice the internal screaming going on in Toshi's mind. 

I arrived at the tunnel and watched the match going on. The second they left I was called on. I could see my classmates cheering for me as I came onto the arena. Ibara was standing on the other side.

"Go!"

Instantly, I surrounded the area with fire, making it tall and thick. Slowly I pushed it forward to attack Ibara who took steps back to avoid the blaze. Thankfully, she didn't know the fire would hurt her and didn't realise how close she was to the edge. Smiling, I redrew the fire and looked up to Zashi. 

"Izuku wins!"

I spun around and left the arena, beaming up at Toshi who was smiling proudly at me. Of course our smiles didn't last long. And of course it was Bill who pointed it out. 

"You two do realise you are going to fight each other next round right?"

I didn't want to fight Toshi yet here we stood, opposite each other, both in fight stances. At this point we knew each other too well for this fight to end quickly. Neither of our Quirks worked on the other and we were both taught to fight by the same man. We sparred against each other constantly and at this point it was a toss to work out which of us would win. 

Running forward, I threw the first punch. Toshi ducked under my fist and tried to hit me in the head but I jumped back and avoided it. This is going to take a while. He tried to hit me but I caught his wrist and twisted it making him flip it and punch me in the gut. I jumped back and kicked him in the side but he stopped me before throwing the limb away from him. Punch after punch. Kick after kick. Dodge after dodge. 

This was getting us nowhere. Deciding to try something else, I ducked down and managed to punch him in the eye. He stumbled back as I tipped down the glasses. Toshi launched forward to attack me, he went to punch me but I disappeared. Coming up from behind him, I wrapped my arms around his stomach and threw him over the outer line. 

Toshi looked confused for a second as I offered out my hand. I pulled him up onto his feet as he stumbled a little. 

"How did you do that?"

"I created an illusion of myself to draw you to the edge," I explained chirpily. 

"You are getting better. I really fear what you do to the next lot." Toshi threw his arms around my shoulder as he let me out of the arena.

"I'll give them hell!"

The next match was against Todoroki and I was a little afraid. Todoroki knew my illusions were just that, illusions. I could take into his own personal hell but that is definitely a last resort that I would prefer not to use. 

Todoroki launched some ice at me but I jumped to the side. I sent out a make line of fire but Todoroki didn't care, he knew it wasn't real. He sent more ice at me but I jumped away. This continued for some time, I was getting cold and I could tell Todoroki was as well. 

I knew this wasn't going to go well so I started to poke about in his head. His memories flashed through my head, thundering through my head. Well, that was a mistake.

Stumbling back I pressed my fingers against my temple. At least it seems to have affected Todoroki more than it has affected me. He had a shit life. Stopping, I looked over at him analysing his every more. 

"Todoroki..."

Before I could say anything else, more ice was sent at me. 

"You realise you are killing yourself!"

More ice.

"Todoroki! Stop this! Stop ignoring your power! He's your power, not his! Yours! Do you understand?!"

I think he does.

Fire erupted out his side, a wide smile on his face. I could hear someone shouting something off to the side of me but I ignored them, they weren't going to help me not die.

Todoroki launched at me, ready to destroy me. Cementoss tried to stop him but he wasn't strong enough. Fire hit me in the chest, making me scream. 

I flew through the air, crashing harshly into the wall. I could feel my bones breaking as I let out a strangled cry. I fell onto the floor as black dots clouded my vision. I could hear Toshi calling my name, panic clear in his voice.

This was a mistake.