"Tap, tap, tap..."

  In the corridor eg the pyers' louo the arena within U.A.'s gymnasium, Todoroki walked forward with a calm but steely expression. Unlike his cssmates, he hadn't watched the previous match between Uraraka and Shinso with the others. Instead, he had spent the time alone in the lounge, quieting the turbuleions that had surfaced after witnessing Kaminari's performance.

  Now, he was ready.

  "Hmm?"

  Just as he turned a er, his expression turned icy upon notig the man blog his way. "Don't stand in my path," he said ftly.

  It was Endeavor—his father, the current No. 2 hero in Japan, standing there with an imposing presence.

  "You're wasting your potential, Shoto," Endeavor replied, his eyes just as cold. In fact, they mirrored Todoroki's own, though in a different way.

  "In your st match, if you'd used the power of your left side after creating that iceberg, you would have easily overwhelmed Kaminari's 'Thunder Aegis.'"

  Endeavor's voice was filled with s, as if he couldn't uand why his son would choose to limit himself. "There's a massive differen potential between you and someone like him."

  Todoroki kept walking, choosing not to respond. But as he moved past Endeavor, the older hero spoke sharply.

  "You o stop ag like a rebellious child. You have a duty to surpass All Might." Watg Todoroki's retreating figure, he tinued, "You were born different from your siblings. You're my fi creation."

  Those words hit a odoroki halted just before stepping into the sunlight streaming in from the other side of the corridor. His fists ched, and he spoke in a low, shaking voice, struggling to tain his anger.

  "If that's all you have to say, then pay attention…" He took a breath. "I'll win this festival without using your power. I'll do it with my mother's strength alone."

  Endeavor's expression didn't ge, though he looked unimpressed. "Even if you mao scrape by this time, you'll reach your limit soon enough, especially against someone like Kaminari. It's not as easy to freeze electricity."

  Todoroki took a step forward into the bright sunlight, his face set iermination. "Then watch closely. I'll defeat Kaminari without ever toug your fire."

  With that, he walked away, leaving Endeavor to shake his head slightly, murmuring to himself. "Stubborn fool. That boy Kaminari has a far better grasp of his Quirk than you do…"

  The sed, any trace of Endeavor's thoughts vanished as cheers from the stadium echoed through the corridor.

  ---

  The arena lit up as the fme throwers statio each er fred, setting the stage for the match.

  "Thank you for waiting, EVERYONE!" Present Mic's voied as he amped up the crowd, more enthusiastic thahe st match hadly been thrilling, but this one had all the signs of a crowd-pleaser.

  "Our match is betweewo petitors!"

  The ss around the stadium lit up with photos of Shoto Todoroki and Juzo Honenuki. The audience's excitement reignited as they reized Todoroki from his previous dominating performances.

  "Here we have two highly taleudents who were admitted to U.A.'s hero course by reendation! This should be an intense showdown!"

  On the field, both Todoroki and Honenuki faced each other without a hint of emotion. Todoroki stood with his usual cold posure, while Honenuki's expression was unreadable, his body nguage calm and steady.

  The audience seemed drawn in by their stoic attitudes, as if expeg something special from the "elite."

  Meanwhile, in the Css 1-A stands, Kaminari gnced over at Bakugo, atg Todoroki ily.

  "Aren't you going to che Uraraka?" Kaminari asked with a hint of curiosity.

  Bakugo gave him a side-eye, then turned back to the arena. "I don't care about some g girl. Besides…"

  He scowled. "Deku already went, didn't he?"

  Kaminari chuckled. "You really trust Midoriya, huh?"

  "Trust? What kind of idiot do you take me for?" Bakugo snarled, his voice filled with irritation. "Say something like that again, and I'll kill you."

  Kaminari shrugged, unfazed. By now, he uood Bakugo a bit better, underh all that bluster, he wasn't as harsh as he seemed. More than anything, he was just a guy with zero filter.

  ---

  "Alright, let's get this match started!" Present Miounced, and immediately Honenuki made the first move, stepping forward as he activated his Quirk. The t floor beh his feet softened visibly, spreading toward Todoroki in a wave. His Quirk, "Softening," allowed him to turn solid ground into a squishy, malleable surface, though it had no effe living beings.

  Seeing the darkened, softened ground approag him, Todoroki's eyes turned sharper. He didn't move from his spot, instead extending his right hand. A massive wall of ice erupted from the floor, surging forward like a tidal wave.

  Honenuki observed calmly. "It's no use. Even if it's ice, I still soften it."

  And he was right, when the ice wall made tact with the softened ground, it began to break down, almost melting into a slushy mess. But Todoroki's ice kept ing, yers piling on top of each other faster than Honenuki's Quirk could break them down. Within seds, an enormous iceberg, fifty or sixty meters tall, had formed in the ter of the arena.

  The weight and size of the iation caused the stadium to tremble slightly, like a small earthquake. Even the professional heroes in the audience looked on with wary admiration, impressed by Todoroki's trol.

  Yet despite the overwhelming dispy, Todoroki's face showed no signs of satisfa. Frost coated the right side of his body from the strain, but his gaze remained locked onto Honenuki, who had beeirely buried beh the ice.

  "Sorry…" Todoroki muttered as he exhaled a cloud of cold air, his eyes distant. "There's just too much of a differen our levels."

  Up iands, Kaminari watched the entire se unfold with an impassive expression.

  "This guy really doesn't hold back, huh?" he muttered to himself, impressed by the sheer scale of Todoroki's power. "But if I end up fag him… how am I supposed to ter something like that?"

  He khe rules prohibited him fring in any equipment besides the standard hero course items. No steel balls, no s without those, his Railgun, Lightning , and even his defehunder Aegis were all rendered iive.

  As Todoroki stood in the arena, catg his breath, Kaminari found himself thinking hard about what he'd o do if he wanted a real ce against his cssmate.