Cool Ice (IzukuxFuyumi)

22: The Final Obstacle

Tell 'em big brother Toya's waiting for them in Hell.

*fwooooOOOOOSH*

"*GASP* AHHHHH! HUFF HUFF HUFF-"

Frightened out of a horrible nightmare Midoriya gasped desperately for air as he frantically looked all around him and the room he occupied. He was tethered to a recovery bed in an empty recovery room, his right arm bandaged heavily from the elbow all the way down to his hand. Beside his bed a vital monitor beeped rapidly in synchronization with his heartbeat before it slowly began to dial down as he gradually calmed himself, his chest painful from the hearty thumps of his organ.

'A dream.' Midoriya thought, a deep breath flowing through his nose and exhaling out through his lips. 'It was...it was just a dream. It was just a dream...'

His attention sobering, Midoriya furrowed his eyebrows as he looked down to his right arm that had been cast in heavy bandage wrapping. He struggled to remember or realize when and what happened for his arm to be encased within a tomb of bandages, he doesn't recall breaking anything during his fight with Shoto. The last thing he remembers was his arm tightening with the power of One For All coursing through him, then came a loud noise like an explosion happening right in front of him, and after that he remembers...nothing. Was he knocked unconscious by the force of One For All colliding with Shoto's heat? No, that's not all, there was something else that he remembers just before he went dark. It was a glimpse, a mere fleeting glimpse that flashed for nothing more than a moment but he remembers it regardless. His twisted face, his sick stitches attaching burnt skin to untainted flesh. There was no doubt about it.

'Dabi...'

*SLAM*
"AHHHH!"
"Midoriya!" The first year winced as the door was suddenly thrusted open and from the outside came Shoto quickly running to the side of his classmate's bed. "What's wrong?!"

"T-Todoroki!" Midoriya stuttered. "Phew, it's just you. You kinda have a bad tendency of just slamming doors open don't you."

"I heard your screaming from out in the hall, and I came to see if everything was okay."

Midoriya blinked. 'That was well over several moments ago though....N-No no it's fine, Todoroki. Thanks for checking up on me."

"I see. How's your arm recovering?"

"I think it's fine? I don't really feel anything and, I'm really curious to know how I ended up in this situation exactly. What happened?"

"Towards the end of our match when you and I were about to exchange blows, it looked like you were thrown off focus by something and ended up butchering your attack completely." Shoto explained. "Your arm was mangled by the force you had stored up in your limb, and you were thrown out of the ring to be knocked unconscious by the wall. From what I was able to hear, from your hand all the way up to your elbow your bones were broken and Recovery Girl had to conduct surgery on it. But I could be missing something."

"I see, so I messed up on the delivery and ended up breaking my arm as a result, that sucks."

"What drew your attention away? Surely with your strength you could have put up more of a fight in our contest. Did you throw your match just so Fuyumi can keep watching me?"

"N-No! I-I didn't throw anything about our match Todoroki I promise!" Midoriya answered. "Truth be told I really wanted to beat you and continue on in the Sports Festival so I can try to win for myself this year. But, I...I saw, something, in the crowd."