STARDUST IN OUR BLOOD, mha

vii - fighting tournament, round two

"GO TETSUTETSU!"

"Beat him! Come on!"

"You can do this Tetsutetsu!"

Tetsutetsu and Kirishima both gripped at the cement block, gritting their teeth as they arm wrestled. They were perfectly centered, barely moving an inch.

Suddenly, Tetsutetsu's hand cracked and Kirishima took the chance to slam it to the cement block. Class B groaned, falling back into their seats as Midnight announced Kirishima's win.

After the two cleared off the stage, the second round began. The jumbo screen displayed the pairs that would face off that round before showing Shoto and Midoriya's pictures. They would be the first round.

Hiroshi wasn't sure what Midoriya's quirk was, he'd never asked, but they'd met quite a few times in Recovery Girl's room so he figured his body wasn't made for it. But he knew he was smart and he must've been powerful to just snap himself out of Shinsou's quirk. Then again, everyone knew that Shoto was easily one of the most powerful students in their year.

Good ol' dad, Hiroshi figured.

"The first match of the second round is a big one!"

Hiroshi leaned forward, leaning his elbows on his knees. He was excited to see how this one ended. Luckily, Shoto always had a tendency to leave massive messes of ice after fights so Hiroshi could prepare for his next fight afterwards.

"Three, two, one, START!"

Shoto's attack was instant. Massive crystals of ice directed straight at Midoriya but, with one flick of his finger, they were broken. Gusts of freezing wind flew at the crowd as Shoto shielded himself with a block of ice.

Shoto sent another attack as Midoriya used the same counter but everyone seemed to notice the damage he did to his own body. Shoto repeated his attack and Midoriya repeated his defense. That was half his fingers broken in the first minute of the match.

It had been reduced to an endurance match.

Shoto suddenly rushed at Midoriya, running up a massive ramp of ice. He jumped, coming down at Midoriya but he dodged, jumping back. Midoriya sent another attack, this one more powerful than the last. Shoto was blasted back but caught himself with a wall of ice.

The jumbo screen displayed a closer view of the two boys and Hiroshi noticed the ice covering his right arm. His eyes widened. Ever since they were kids, Enji drilled into all of his children that Shoto's quirk was perfect for many reasons but one was that he could do away with any cons. If he was ever overheating, he could use his ice. If he was freezing, he could use his fire. But he wasn't using his fire.

"He's going to hurt himself going like this," Hiroshi mumbled, leaning his chin on the railing.

"I mean, he's already broke his arm," Monoma joked, "Pretty sure he's already been hurt."

Hiroshi didn't reply. Honenuki and Kodai gave him odd looks but neither said anything.

"Shoto sent another ice attack but Midoriya managed another blast of wind, sending Shoto's body back. He almost went over the boundary line but managed to stop himself. The camera zoomed in on Midoriya.

He'd reused an already broken finger.

The match continued but both had lost so much stamina. Shoto's ice wasn't as fast and Midoriya's attacks not nearly as powerful. It had become a close combat match, neither ever getting more than a few meters away from each other.

They were at a stalemate.

Both stood in the center, eyes trained on each other. That's when smoke seemed to come from Shoto. Suddenly, within an instant, flames burst from his right side, swirling around them.