Trust the fall (on hold)

Out for revenge

Izuku rested his gaze on his opponent across the square arena. He ignored that anger that was trying to bubble up. If he wanted to win, he needed to be tactical, not emotional.

He waited, then rushed forward as soon as Midnight shouted. As expected, Todoroki shot a barrage of ice his way, which he swiftly dodged around, avoiding getting hit, albeit barely.

He needed to get close, force Todoroki to shoot loads of ice blasts. He noticed in the earlier matches that Todoroki began to frost up, so if he wouldn't use his fire, he wouldn't eventually slow himself down, or even give himself hypothermia. Of course, Izuku didn't want it to go that far, even if he did out his friend in the infirmary.

He dodged another blast, flipping over one of the icicles and using it like a spring board to fling himself at Todoroki, who's eyes widened in surprise as Izuku landed a strong kick on him, causing him to stubble, catching himself with his ice.

Izuku growled. He didn't like being looked down upon, and if Todoroki thought he could win with half his power. "Come on Todoroki! It's not your Father's power that makes him bad, it's his dangerous actions. You are just as likely to commit those with just your ice as you are with both, so just give it your all! That's what being a hero is! It's not giving up, it's trying no matter how hard it seems, and it's doing everything you can with all you have to save others! You can't be a hero with half your power!" Izuku let his anger and desperation show in his words.

"No, I can't use his quirk! It's only led to pain and suffering, I don't want to follow in the footsteps of a man and a quirk that I can only see as causing pain and suffering!" Todoroki practically screamed.

"It's yours!" Izuku screamed as loud as he could, over the top of the crowd. "Your quirk, not his! Is half your body you fathers? of course not! A quirk isn't based on where it comes from, but what you do with it! Prove that your quirk is the quirk of a hero! I won't let you win at half power, because then I'll feel responsible if a life is lost because you wouldn't use half of your power! So please Todoroki. Not for me, or for Endeavour, but for a future civilian who needs you help, use your quirk!" Izuku took in gasps of breath. Maybe screaming in the middle of a match wasn't his best idea. It became an even worse idea when Todoroki burst into flames. "Thank you, Midoriya."

All Izuku could think was, 'well shit'.
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Izuku launched himself away from the roaring fire that Todoroki sent his way. He wouldn't give up, even if he had drastically lowered his chance of winning. Todoroki also seemed to realise this "I'm not sure why you would help and opponent you might have beaten otherwise, but I'll still thank you for it, and honour you by giving it my all!"

Izuku didn't have time to respond, to focused on dodging. He managed to dodge another blast and slip underneath Todoroki, giving him a clean shot at his chin. He delivered a powerful uppercut, causing the boy to stumble back, before kicking of a bunch of icicles and sending them towards Todoroki, which he melted. However, some got close enough that the melted water splashed over Todoroki, causing him to  go out, much to the fire and ice users surprise.

With this opening, Izuku ran forward, putting as much power behind his fist as he could. Todoroki noticed him coming, and at the last second managed to dodge.

Just as Izuku had predicted. He sent a powerful kick into Todoroki's stomach, knocking the wind out of him and pushing him back. He clutched his stomach, giving Izuku the chance to attack again, this time landing a heavy punch to the face, knocking him even further back. However, In the shock of being hit again, Todoroki released his fire again, burning Izuku.

Todoroki stood back up from the hit, ready to continue the fight, but Midnight called an end to the match. At first both Izuku and Todoroki were confused, but then they both noticed that the last punch had actually pushed Todoroki  out of bounds, which was slightly anticlimactic.

Izuku was elated at his victory, but then he noticed the pain in the hand that had delivered the punch against Todoroki, seeing how burnt it was. They were both quickly escorted to the infirmary, Izuku for the burns and Todoroki for any possibly head injuries from the punches.

Victory never hurt this much before.
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Aizawa was as proud as he'd even been, not that he'd ever admit it. His kid had beaten Todoroki, probably the top of his actual heroics class, and with only minor injuries. All in all, Aizawa was very pleased with how life was going.
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Izuku watched from the infirmary as Bakugo and Tokoyami fought. He'd learnt Tokoyami's weakness just before the cavalry battle, and Kacchan had probably figured it out during the battle.

Bakugo was a lot of things, but he wasn't stupid. Outwardly, Izuku would scream at anyone who asked that he wanted Bakugo to win so he'd be able to pummel him in the final, but internally he knew he still hadn't gotten over the years of bullying Kacchan inflicted upon him, and that it would be a definite weakness that Bakugo would happily exploit in the match.

His heart fell slightly as Tokoyami was blasted out of the ring.

Next up was him.

A/N maybe it's just me but I felt this one wasn't as strong as the last. I could've made it slightly longer, and better in general. Either way, I hope you all enjoyed it, and the next chapter will be the climactic showdown between the 2 Childhood friends, so be excited for that.