"As you all found out yesterday," Aizawa said, bland voice carrying across the snowy clearing at the base of a looming mountain, "Both your ability to travel, as well as the effectiveness of your Quirks, can be compromised by the weather with differing degrees of severity."
Izuku startled, his smile wobbly as Aizawa zeroed in on him through the crowd.
"Some of us more than others need to learn the delicacy of our abilities."
Knowing it to be true, Izuku clenched his fists in determination and took in the steep mountainside which disappeared into the thick, grey clouds.
"Anyway, I'm tired. Mic, you go."
"Alriiight, young listeners!" Mic's voice trembled the base of the mountain. A tiny clump of snow rolled down.
Izuku's skin prickled, nerves sharp icicles in his belly. Yesterday, he'd been reckless. The teachers always berated Kacchan for his rash, rage-influenced choices, but Izuku had always known he was just as bad. Where Kacchan was brazen with emotion and rarely cared who he cast aside in his race to victory, Izuku was negligent of his own body and actions – he cared little for the damages he took on in order to attain his goal.
Whether the end-game was saving a victim in a real life villain battle, or emerging first in a challenge, Izuku inevitably ended up the most injured of everyone. He'd learned to minimize the destruction over the years, but the fact still stood. When Izuku was on a mission, he didn't think about himself for one second. His greatest asset and downfall were one and the same.
The avalanche had been his fault alone. The snow was loose, layered below by ice. Charging through the trees and mountains, Full Cowl coursing through his feet and shooting through the ground, he'd been cracking the earth straight through with every step. If he climbed in the same way as he had the day before, there was no outcome but loss.
"Oiy." Kacchan elbow Izuku's side. "You listen to a word he said, braindead?"
Izuku jumped in place, turning his head to stare owlishly at the aggravated clench of Kacchan's teeth.
"Sorry. I was thinking."
"You were muttering through Mic's entire fuckin's speech. You need –"
"I'll fill him in," Todoroki said, hooking his arm with Izuku's and guiding him away.
"You're dead!"
"Dead inside, sure," Todoroki said over his shoulder. Arm in arm, they walked with the students, who were lining up, shoulder to shoulder, at the base of the high, white-carpeted peak. "Listen. Twenty of us down here, ten flags at the top. The first ten to capture a flag and make it down with one don't have to take the spring battle midterm. The losing ten do. Simple stuff for us."
"Is battle between us allowed?" Izuku said, pulling the ski goggles atop his head, down over his eyes. They hadn't been allowed to pack their uniforms, but whatever they'd brought on the trip had been allowed.
Briefly, Izuku considered Kacchan's gloves. They'd be a huge asset. Without them he might not even have been able to make explosions for the entirety of the challenge.
"Yeah," Todoroki said, removing his own gloves, which would no doubt hinder him rather than aid. "You can take it from someone."
A plan was already grinding the gears in Izuku's head, his expression stern with determination as he stared straight ahead. There was no way he could count on his Quirk in his weather. If anything, he might accidentally cover all of his friends in several feet of snow, and there was no way he'd allow that to happen.
"You gonna be okay?" Todoroki said, pulling a warm, breathable mask over his nose and mouth. "Your head, I mean."
"Don't worry about me," Izuku said, his voice firm. "Good luck, Todoroki."
