Chapter Text
“Never be a prisoner of your past. It was just a lesson, not a life sentence.”
- Robin Sharma
“Midoriya Izuku.”
Izuku snickered at the bold mention of his name. Was it really that necessary? “I’m honored, you remember me! But, calling me by my full name? What's up with that? Just call me deku, like kacchan does.”
Upon hearing the greenette say the word ‘kacchan’ so bitterly, some thought registered in Todoroki’s mind. He knew that he had heard it before, but he didn’t know how, where, or why? The name itself sounded familiar, so he searched deep within his thoughts where he had heard that seemingly harmless nickname. Then it clicked. Oh boy, it did.
‘Bakugo?’
He recalled.
He took quite the caution in referring to that topic since it seemed that Bakugo and the greenette didn’t get along too well. Bad history, definitely.
Having found the courage to bring that topic up, he asked, “By ‘kacchan’, do you mean Bakugo Katsuki ?”
The small boy smiled, though it didn’t feel nor look genuine. It was more bitter than sweet. “Ding ding! Correct! So smart of you, Todoroki-kun!” He cheered, gleefully clapping his hands.
One of the ninja-clothed students scoffed. “Ehh? Who’s this little greenhead? Calling for backup I see. Heh, I guess we overestimated you.” He then ridiculed, feeling all high and mighty.
Taking out two guys is better than one right? Especially when the other’s just some weak little hero wannabe. Well, that’s if it was true. If you were thinking of Izuku as that, then you’re practically just digging your own grave, which was unfortunately the mistake the guy was about to make.
With the intent of ‘taking out the frail greenette boy, then proceeding to 1 v 10 Todoroki’ and feeling so confident of his set of skills, the guy from the ninja uniform school throws two balls at Izuku.
Izuku, being Izuku , dropped his ‘carefree’ facade and became serious. He pulled two knives out of one of the support items he brought with him, then proceeded to throw the knives with arguable effort at the two balls approaching him. The knives penetrated through the incoming balls, causing them to be dragged with the movement of the knives, then dropping to the cement ground.
“I’m not talking to you.” He warned as he stared at the guy with blank dark eyes filled with intense loathing.
Todoroki was in shock. In awe partially. Never has he seen this kind of stunt be pulled off in front of him. In front of his eyes. Well to be fair, he hardly saw any knives in person, but still, that was pretty sick - he admitted.
‘Such high accuracy and precision?!’ He thought, stunned, theorizing how the greenette was able to pull that off. However, he knows that part of him is in question and suspicion.
Knowing that the greenette possessed much more skill than he looked capable of made him be warier of the small boy’s presence. Why was he here? What did he want? What would he gain? With what intent? He asked, feeling too suspicious.
“What do you want?” Todoroki hissed. He was on his toes.
“Don’t have to be so mean, Todoroki-kun!” The small boy spoke out, crossed his arms, and huffed. “I just want to benevolently spectate.” He defended with a toxic smile.
Izuku then directly points at his blue targets to emphasize them, proving his point.
Knowing that the small boy had already passed, Todoroki became less cautious of the targets stuck onto his body since the boy would have no reason to gain points from him considering he passed. However, Todoroki was now more skeptical of what may be the boy’s real intent and motive/s.
‘Passed already but stayed. What does he plan on doing?’
“I’m really bored now.” Izuku pouted as he laid down on the pipe he was on.
He immediately sat up and sported a big smile as he was enlightened by an idea. “Let’s make it fun!” he said.
Izuku then turned his head (along with his attention) to the ninja group, glaring over them. He then pointed at them with his index finger and spoke out. “Go resume your brawl, don’t mind me.”
Of course, because of Izuku’s previous actions, the group was hesitant. However, they weren’t that dumb to be stopped by their fear and doubts, and disobey the greenette. After all, Izuku made it very clear what he’s capable of doing when things don’t go his way.
One of the ninja-clothed students clenched his hands to form into a firm fist and gritted his teeth angrily. “Don’t think we’re done with you.” He snarled.
“Just because that greenette’s here doesn’t mean we’re holding back!” Another continued.
“I could say the same,” Todoroki remarked against the group, voice in monotone but eyebrows furrowed.
In the attempt of disabling the group’s mobility, Todoroki extended his ice in a precise line until it reached his opponents’ feet. Using the ice path he formed, he channeled more ice to travel to the opponents, resulting in their lower half being frozen.
“Crap! I can’t move!” They screamed.
“You guys… Did you really watch the sport’s festival?” Todoroki asked, partially starting to look down on the group because of how easily they were taken down.
All things seem to be going according to plan, however, Todoroki made a vital mistake, and he wasn’t aware of it. Though they were deprived of mobility, they were still able to move their upper half. One of the students from the ninja group gritted his teeth and pulled a metal nut from his pocket. “Of course we did! Keep your eyes on me.” He shouted with confidence.
The metal nut enlarged as he threw it at Todoroki. In response to the sudden attack, Todoroki emitted ice formed into a temporary protective wall which fortunately was capable of withstanding the force of the enlarged metal nut.
‘A quirk that enlarges objects.’ Todoroki and Izuku thought silently in unison. After all, great minds think alike.
‘So cool!’ Izuku added in his thoughts. After seeing such a unique new quirk, he had so many questions in mind. How large can he make objects? What’s the maximum? What’s the minimum? Will the consequences of his quirk stay permanent? Does the quirk’s effect only work on solid objects? Does using it have any side effects?—and so on. Saying he was excited to meet a new quirk personally is an understatement.
“I’ve still got plenty!” the man who had the ability to enlarge objects shouted, ready to give Todoroki his all after possibly months of preparation.
The guy threw more enlarged items, specifically metal nails and nuts. He aimed these at Todoroki’s ice barrier/wall, which eventually collapsed due to the large amount of exerted force and impact.
Once the ice barrier/wall successfully shattered into pieces, the guy took advantage of the opening and threw an enlarged metal nut at the two-toned boy. Todoroki thought of melting the enlarged metal nut coming his way, but it was against his ideals to use the quirk he inherited from his father, fire , so instead, he swiftly attempted to dodge it.
‘Tsk.’ Todoroki groaned in his head, conflicted.
The man irritatedly scoffed.
He threw average-sized nails and nuts at his comrades’ frozen lower halves to break them free from the restraints. Like the ice barrier, they shattered, but his comrades’ were left unharmed.
The guy stands firmly with his arms crossed, showing a sense of pride. “Like I said Todoroki-kun, even if you're from UA, acting by yourself…” He paused and built a moment in what he was about to say to intimidate the dual-haired boy. He smirked under his mask and glared at Todoroki. “...I’d say you're overconfident.”
He used his ice to assault them, but it was no use. No matter what he did, he was being pressed till he finally exhausted himself. The fight was getting one-sided and he needed to do something about it if he wanted to pass.
“Keep pressing him!”
“Got it!”
‘Physical attacks for my ice. They’ve really thought of a strategy against me. It's also possible that they’ve prepared something for my fire.’ Todoroki thought silently as he defended himself from the attacks launched at him. At the moment, he couldn’t switch from defensive to offensive so he had to work on protection.
Izuku, on the other hand, thought that all the quirks clashing were amazing. He was seated on a pipe as his shoulders tensed in excitement, his hands formed into fists placed on top of his thighs and his legs were swaying back and forth randomly, not following any rhythm. Being Izuku, he didn’t waste any time and analyzed the situation out of habit even though it wasn’t necessary. ‘So cool! They made an actual working strategy. Physical attacks to destroy his ice and judging by the looks of it, since they used tungsten which can withstand intense heat instead of average metal, they’ve also prepared tactics to suppress his fire. But… They’re too weak. Too weak . They’ll lose to Todoroki… their power levels differ too much… for the meantime, I’ll focus on something else.’ He thought in disdain, suppressing the urge to mumble nor make his irritation visible.
He then clapped, only once. Though it was one measly clap, it had that snap that tore through the tension present. Catching the attention of both Todoroki and the group.
Izuku crossed his legs and placed his gloved hand on his chin. He followed all this with a blank, empty smile. “So many wonderful quirks!! Eh, but what do we have here?” He said as he glared at Todoroki.
He moved his free hand to point at Todoroki. “Such a shame. You’re wasting your abilities, Todo-kun. Is it alright if I call you Todo-kun? Anyways, let's not get too far from the point.” he unhesitantly spoke out.
Todoroki raised an eyebrow and asked, irritation present in his voice, “What abilities are you assuming that I’m wasting ?”
Izuku slowly dropped his smile. His face turned blank, dark. He crossed his arms as he leaned back. And finally opened his mouth to talk. “Y’know, Todo-kun, I hate people like you the most.” He openly said, not bothering to hide the anger and disgust in his tone. "You're shit."
Todoroki knitted his eyebrows annoyed, intensely staring back at the greenette’s emerald orbs.
Izuku raised a finger and pointed at his left side. “ Fire. ” He blatantly stated.
Todoroki felt anger rush through him, as the simple word rang and beat his head. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth as he continued to dodge the opponents’ attacks. “Tch. I refuse to-”
Izuku snapped. He couldn’t take any more of the boy’s stupid excuses. “Don’t give me that bullshit Todo-kun. I don’t give a damn about whatever excuse you have for not using it. No matter how much you want to refute, it’s yours, isn’t it? No one else’s power but yours alone so fucking use it.”
"You want to be a hero right? One better than what you're father could've ever been. Then get your shit together, Shoto Todoroki. If not, I'll definitely go hell and back to make sure that you're kicked out of the hero business before someone dies from your ignorance."
‘Yours, isn’t it?’
Upon hearing that seemingly normal statement, he finally breathed out the breath he didn’t know he was holding. Everything started to click smoothly. His world turned from black and white to a world filled with vibrancy. He started seeing things from a different perspective, a perspective he never knew he would even get the chance to get a glimpse of. The restraints holding him back started to crack, break, and clank on the cold concrete pedestal he stood on. He started floating down, down from the pedestal his father built for him.
Even though all these changes happened, he didn’t want to waste any time. He had no time to play around, especially when he had already spent his early minutes with an ignorant thought in mind. What the greenette said may have thrown him slightly off his game, but he will make damn sure he continues playing it right. He started planning out the right things to do in order to succeed. He needed a plan, and he needed it now.
Now free from the burden he felt he was carrying, he decided to take his left side on a test drive. He hesitantly emitted fire, going straight for an offense. However, his flames were immediately taken out by two people from the ninja group who were water and mud quirk users, perfectly contrasting his flames.
At the contact of the three quirks, steam resulted. With the steam’s thickness, it formed a cloak, enabling Todoroki to hide for the meantime. He sought out to use the steam to his advantage as he thought of his next move.
‘I knew it. They prepared against my flames too. I hate being the son of a flame-user.' He thought internally as he ran through the terrain, searching for something in particular.
“Tsk. Where is he?” The guy shouted. Unlike Todoroki, the steam wasn’t working in their favor.
‘Building a factory-stage like this on the test location... it must’ve been done on purpose to make us fight utilizing certain features of the building and the terrain.’
He stopped as he hit the jackpot. He was lucky to find what he was exactly looking for so quickly. He used his left side, emitting flames that drew the enemies’ attention. Looking for something to light on fire (which should be near his ‘jackpot’), he used his quirk on a sign, causing it to light up in flames.
‘Then there should be… the real thing, in the tank...!’
He returned to the tank he claimed as the jackpot to his plan and used his right side to emit ice, piercing through the tank. He made sure the pressure and damage his ice did weren’t enough to cause any major setbacks so that he could get to a safe distance first and create the perfect timing. If all goes well, they would be completely immobile, enabling Todoroki to go for their points.
With their attention caught by the flames, the only thing they could see in the steam, they rushed to it in hopes of capturing the dual-haired boy. However, they were left with nothing but disappointment once they figured out that the thing they were after was nothing but a measly sign. They were fooled.
“Did he… Trick us?”
Seeing that the opponents willingly fell for his trap, Todoroki once again emitted flames towards the pierced tank. Due to his flames, the pierced tank heated up causing a reaction to occur and for it to explode. Todoroki hid behind an ice barrier he made to keep safe from the strong impact. Fortunately, the explosion was strong enough to reach and weaken his opponents. His plan succeeded.
His opponents, once they reached the ground after being knocked up, were then immediately frozen by Todoroki.
“That bastard… he’s crazy.” one of them growled.
“Hmm… I guess the commission kept the scale of the explosion down. That’s unfortunate.” Izuku quietly murmured from the top, looking over the mess the explosion made. Sure it looked cool and all, but he felt that the explosion was too weak for his liking.
“You!” The man gritted his teeth as he saw the dual-haired boy come near them
“Sorry, but I can’t afford to fail,” Todoroki blankly explained. Keeping a stoic look.
‘I need to practice the simultaneous activation of both. It's slowing me down, and I have to do something about it.’
As he was deep in thought after the exhausting first part of the exam, the sudden presence of a greenette beside him genuinely surprised him.
“Wow Todo-kun, you did quite a number on them,” Izuku noted, leaning forward to the half-conscious half-unconscious ninja group frozen on the cement floor.
‘So quick’ Todoroki thought, once again stunned by the boy’s actions. Based on what he previously saw, the boy was undoubtedly very unpredictable and most importantly, scarily skilled.
Izuku pouted, leaned back, and crossed his arms. “That’s unfortunate… I wanted to question them about their quirks. Oh well.”
“How did you get down from up there so quickly?” Todoroki asked, tilting his head in confusion.
Izuku blinked at him a few times before proceeding to break contact and open his mouth, “Hmm… how did I even get up there in the first place? Doesn’t really matter, anyways-”
Todoroki’s targets suddenly lit up a blue color, similar to the one Izuku had. It indicated that he certainly passed. That was fortunate.
“Look! We’re now the same.” The greenette chirped, smiling .
“Those who have passed should head to the anteroom.” was once again announced in the same high pitch voice, informing that of the newly passed Todoroki.
“I’ll be going to the anteroom, do you want to go with me?”
Izuku scratched the back of his head, “Sorry. I won't be able to accompany you Todo-kun. I plan on staying some more.”
“That’s fine. See you.”
They parted ways. Though it seemed as if they were leaving each other with nothing attached, little did they know they left a sort of friendship between them.
As Izuku walked away from the dual-haired boy, he grabbed his notebook out of the insides of the green jacket (which was part of his hero costume) he wore. He opened it and flipped a few pages, revealing a blank empty page. He took out the pen clipped on his notebook and started jotting down notes he gained from the previous interaction with Todoroki.
“Todoroki Shoto
Quirk: Half-cold Half-hot
His left side emits fire, while his right emits ice. Using too much of each side independently can cause severe harm to oneself. Using too much ice can cause frostbites, while too much fire can cause burns.
Characterwise, he can be close-minded and indifferent. Not to mention, he holds a grudge against his father which only clouds his morals and objectives.
Strength: HIs quirks make up for his weakness. Using both quirks simultaneously proves to be very beneficial in stopping the disadvantages of his quirks individually. In addition, having two quirks allows him to be more flexible in facing different conditions and circumstances.
Weakness: Hesitant/doesn’t use his right side due to some personal issues. (Pretty arrogant and idiotic if you ask me). However, once he has overcome this, his only weakness is lack of agility, reaction time, and physical attributes. Without a quirk, he's pretty weak and defenseless, allowing him to be easily targeted and taken down.
Update: Still isn’t physically strong, but is improving quirkwise. Learned to use his right side (fire) which is a pretty huge improvement both in strength and character. Has maintained an impressive control over his left side (ice) which greatly compensates for his poor control over his fire, but constraining to ice can only do so much considering its approaching limit. With that, he still needs to work on using both quirks simultaneously otherwise using both at the same time would be more of a liability than an advantage.”
He then closed the notebook shut and clipped the pen to the notebook. He returned it back from where he got it and zipped his jacket shut.
"Now that that's done, where should I go next?" he questioned as he placed his hands in the pocket of his jacket. He was unfortunately bored again.
Suddenly, static noises started to emit from his earpiece.
"'Zuku, I'll be going to the anteroom along with the general (Mora). He coincidentally passed by me as I took the last point I needed, and decided for us to head to the anteroom together since we both totes passed." Painstakingly informed Camie.
Shishikura slowly sighed. "So that leaves me left huh?" He then blatantly replied.
"'cuz you're totes a slowpoke." The fawn-colored hair woman unhesitantly took the opportunity to tease the purple-head.
"Wow, gee, thanks for reminding me." Shishikura sarcastically spoke out. With how intense his narrowed eyes are glaring, you could slightly feel them through the earpiece.
"Very much welcome." She continued with a snarky response.
Izuku lightly taps on his earpiece to unmute himself, preparing himself to speak.
"Shishikura-senpai, are there any fun opponents near you?" Izuku asks, craving for more kick-ass action and the like.
"None that can amuse you, Izuku. I mean, if you’re up for examinees who have failed, there are some camping here. I've been looking for a while now but I'm still empty-handed."
"Oki. Hmm... I'll continue roaming around since I am not content with the entertainment and information I gained."
"GOODLUCK SHISHIKURA-SENPAI!" Inasa then suddenly shouted with joy, wanting to show how much he supported his senpai.
Shishikura pinched the bridge of his nose as he replied, "I'm too uninspired to reprimand your shouting but thanks."
“Oh and Seiji, I think I spotted at least two- wait maybe three? UA students going your way. Watch out.” Camie said in a serious manner and tone which genuinely made the purple-head slightly stiffen and suffocate from the tension ‘serious Camie’ gave.
“Yeah. I will. But seriously, your seriousness is very intoxicating, I’ll admit.”
“Fun Camie is a lot better right?” She smugly asked, prying that one sweet victory response she has always wanted to hear from the man.
Shishikura scoffed.
“I definitely gotta go there to you Shishikura-senpai!” Izuku chirped, excited to meet more new quirks.
"Alright, now that all is settled and done, let's continue with our missions." Mora reminded them, keeping all their chaos on track. Sure, Izuku was great at doing his duties and responsibilities as a general, however, without a doubt, Mora definitely could handle them better. Izuku was more of a tactician than a leader, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t capable of leading.
"Understood!" They all replied in unison.
With that, they all went offline from their earpiece channel.
Having nothing to do nor witness, Izuku miserably sat on the floor looking up to the sky.
“Hmmm… Now that I think about it…” He said, deep in thought.
“I think we’ve shifted from plan A to plan G. Interesting, certainly. Originally, we would have a ‘center’ or ‘a leader’ I suppose which is, yours truly, I, who’ll keep track of enemy and ally activity. We would each go to different terrains and do stuff under the impression of our objective to pass as a team. We didn’t really have a tactic other than ‘Objective. Do. Observe. Report. Respond. Pass. Accomplish.’ Well, now that I think about it, our tactic is really vague but it's as simple as it sounds. A complicated plan wasn’t necessary considering what my schoolmates and enemy are capable of so our best weapon would be communication rather than physical battle strategy, with some adjustments of course. After all, underestimating the enemy is nothing but fool’s play. No complications so far so naturally, this would’ve been plan G. None of us failed, needed back-up, nor were injured physically/mentally rendering us unable to continue. However, I’d say that plan A truly is the safest plan to do considering the split-up of the UA students. With them being scattered, facing more than three UA students is more likely, proving that communication really is our best weapon. Plan G’s mostly about prioritizing the goal of oneself passing rather than passing as a team. Shifting to plan G doesn’t really mean we applied it, rather we were under its impression of doing things our own way (that is if it’s safe to do so which is why plan G is the riskiest but it would prove to be most efficient if, for example, the status of the battlefield is complete scattering of student + strong opponents) and would just reassemble at a point if needed (not much communication is used). I’m done venting out my suppressed thoughts. Although all that I said wasn’t that valuable and necessary, ranting out my thoughts felt great.” Izuku mumbled, chuckling at the end of his unnecessary rant.
“Anyways! Shishikura-senpai (and 3 unknown UA students - kuns) here I come!”
He stood up and dusted his costume off of the dirt which could’ve possibly stuck onto him from sitting on the concrete floor. As he was about to take a step in the direction he was heading to, a voice started to shout in his earpiece. It was Inasa.
“IZUKU-KUN, I FORGOT TO ASK, BUT WHY WERE YOU MOST CAUTIOUS OF UA WHEN THERE ARE OTHER DANGEROUS SCHOOLS OUT THERE? JUST WANNA KNOW SINCE I’M PRETTY CURIOUS ABOUT IT NOW THAT I REMEMBER.” He asked, of course, in a shouting manner.
If it meant that Izuku could rant out his thoughts, then ready or not, here he comes. He took a deep forced breath and exhaled, continuing to finally open his mouth to say the answer. “Simply because UA focuses on accepting students with strong physical quirks. Those with mental ones rarely pass into their hero course. Not that I’m discriminating against those with mental quirks, I’m just saying that the possibility of them having legit wild cards would increase. Sure, there are some mental quirks that are considered wild cards, but facing a physical one can lead to much worse uncertain consequences. With that uncertainty, sometimes, even seeming to have the safest plan can make everything go wrong. Based on what I observed of their quirks during their sports festival, I admit that they are genuinely amazing which says a lot. The only thing we’re betting on when it comes to them is their ability to utilize their quirks.”
After all that, silence followed. Well, not after Inasa shouted a ‘THANK YOU’ to Izuku.
“THAT WAS A LOT, BUT I KINDA GOT THE GIST OF IT. THANK YOU.”
“You gotta teach me how to sound smart, Izuku. I wanna sound cool too.” Camie asked. You could clearly hear the awe in her voice. Well, after all, Camie found her Kohai’s (underclassmen’s) explanation very amazing.
“Try and practice actually being smart first.” Shishikura snarked.
“Be my tutor then.”
“I’ll think about it.”
Izuku smiled and genuinely chuckled. Oh how he loved his life at Shiketsu High School.