Every Heart Has its Thorns

The sons of heroes

As expected Shoto won his match against Sero, and Izu was pretty excited about facing his friend, though Shoto didn't seem to feel that. As Izuku was heading down for his second match, he heard voices and caught sight of Shoto standing before his father with his head bowed. Izuku had vamped up his emotion filter again, but he didn't need his quirk to know Shoto was upset and Endeavor was angry. He glared slightly, before Endeavor saw him, when he did Izu straightened up, standing tall and defiant. Endeavor's mouth pulled up into a snarl and he stalked off. Shoto glanced at Izu, who gave him a soft smile.

"Give me a good fight Sho." Izu told him and headed in the opposite direction. Shoto watched him go with a sad expression and sighed. He really didn't want to fight Izu.

YAMADA VS TODOROKI! START!

Izu ran forward as Shoto let out his Ice. Izu took a deep breath and jumped, grabbing hold on a ice spike, and pulling himself up, climbing, before sliding down the ice. Shoto stared at him wide-eyed.

"sorry for dropping in so suddenly!" He smirked punching Shoto hard in the chest. He stumbled back, coughing. "Come on Sho, you can do better than that." Izu told him. "Don't tell me your getting cold feet." Shoto looked up and stared at him. Did he seriously just make a joke? Izu smirked and delivered another punch. "Come on Sho! You want to win or not?" Shoto frowned, and sent another round of ice at him, Izu was carried back a bit, but he once more climbed over the ice, sliding down to Sho again, a smirk on his face. "Gotta try hard then that!" Sho glared, and the match truly began, Izu had to fight multiple waves of ice, but he did his best. He coudlnt' get close to Shoto anymore and had to concentrate not getting trapped or pushed off the side.

"You can't fight anymore..." Shoto announced to his friend, as Izu stood close by, catching his breath, tired, and standing on wobbly legs.

"Who says I'm done!" Izu yelled, loud enough for everyone to hear him, his voice ringing out. He glared at Shoto, who took a step back. "I am not done, and I never will be, not until you realise what you're doing!"

"What I'm doing?" Shoto repeated, what the hell was he talking about.

"Your father has mad your life a living hell!" Izu continued to shout. "You have suffered alone, but you're not anymore! You have me! And you don't even see what you doing to everyone in our class. We are trying with everything we have, but you..." Izu punched at him, but Shoto knocked him aside. "But, you do everything with half a quirk, you are doing this half-heartedly! DO YOU KNOW HOW INSULTING THAT IS!" Shoto frowned and glared at him in turn "Quirks are just additional physical abilities, Sho... You have a limit to how much cold you can bear..." Shoto noticed he was shivering... "But then again, you could easily use your left side to thaw yourself out, right? GIMME EVERTHING YOU'VE GOT!"

"What are you planning?" Shoto frowned. "Did my bastard of a father pay you off or something?" Izu genuinely looked hurt.

"You've known me how long... and you accuse me of that!" Izu delivered a punch to his face, Shoto threw up, coughing as looked back at Izu, who had tears in his eyes. He continued to throw punch after punch, Shoto had to turn to blocking with ice. Izu bite back cries as he felt bones break as his fist connected with a block of ice.

"Why are you going this far?" Shoto asked, voice breaking.

"Just trying to meet expectations. A smiling, dependable, cool hero! That's what I wanna be!" Izu ran at him again, punching his stomach. "That's why I'm giving it everything. For everyone! Your experiences... your determination... I can't even begin to imagine what all that's like... but..." Izu looked up at him. "If you become number one without giving it your all... then I don't really think you're serious about denying him everything...."

"Shut up..." Shoto shook his head.

"That's why I have to win!" Izu yelled

"I'll show my father..." Shoto began

"Your power is your own!" Izu bellowed, Shoto stared at him, eyes wide in surprise. Seconds seemed to fly by, as fire suddenly erupted from Shoto's left side. Izu took a small step back, watching with slight amazement in his eyes. He grinned at Shoto, who smiled back. Izuku ran in for one last punch, whilst Shoto sent fire and ice at him, Izu immediately noticed his mistake, Cement rose up in front of him, but that did stopped the explosion. The last thing he remember was flying back through the air...

Shoto breathed heavily, waiting for the smoke to fade, but he soon spotted Izu, unconscious against the far wall. His breath caught in his throat.

Yamada is unable to continue, Todoroki moves on to the next round... oh...

Shoto went running, jumping over the ruined field and to his friends side.

"Izu... sorry..." He gasped, touching Izu's cheek.

"He'll be okay." Midnight came over, putting a hand on Shoto's shoulder, before she helped place his body on a stretcher carried by medical robots. Before he watched Izu being take away.

"I shouldn't have used my fire... I can't control it..." Shoto growled, he had acted like an idiot.

"It's okay. We'll help you gain control, so this doesn't happen again. You should go to recovery girl, looks like Izu dealt a lot of damage with his punches." Midnight patted his back. Shoto nodded and headed to where the infirmary was. On the way, he saw his father in front of him...

"So, you're not going to tell me to get out of your way this time? Without control over your flames, going all out is dangerous. But, you've finally put aside your childish rebellion. You're ready to replace me, to surpass me even!" Endeavor said "Work at my side after you graduate! I will guide you down the path of supremacy."

"I haven't put aside anything." Shoto told him, Endeavor stared at him, Shoto looked at his left hand. "As if I could be turned so easily. It's just... in that moment... I forgot all about you...Whether that is good or bad, or something in between, that's something I have to think about." Shoto walked passed him, before smiling a little. "Besides, a good friend says the path to be a hero isn't a competition." Shoto walked off, leaving his father far behind him. Thank you... Izu...