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Chapter 30: Wasted Potential
🕑 Added 2024-07-19 14:44:45 +0000 UTCThe final match of the quarter-finals brought out a level of excitement from the crowd that hadn't been expressed yet, though no one was surprised as the two about to take to the field had left their marks already, just in the 1v1s they had proven themselves exceptional with how effectively and quickly they defeated their earlier opponents. But in this excitement, one could tell that Todoroki had more supporters than Kendo; no doubt people thought he'd take another landslide victory as he did against Yaoyorozu.
With the teachers, All Might watched the arena with a worried frown, which only made him look as old and exhausted as he had when he heard Midnight's joke. He wasn't too worried about young Kendo. Even if she could only use around 20% in single moves, he had faith that she'd find a way to win. Rather, it was young Todoroki he was worried about.
"Remember this, I will make sure that boy becomes a hero that will surpass you one day. That's why I created him."
He had been sitting on Endeavour's words since he heard them, even with the meeting with that strange woman. He didn't have kids of his own, having always put his all into hero work, and with the added pressure of having One for All, he could never bring himself to risk his family being targeted. What he felt for young Kendo now felt close to what a parent felt for their child, or at least, a mentor would their apprentice. Because of that fact, he knew the pride that came from believing your student, your child, could become significant.
But he didn't get that feeling from Endeavour; he spoke about young Todoroki as less like a person and more like an object. Of course, Endeavour had never been warm, despite his quirk. He knew the man was terrible at handling people or expressing patience and empathy. Still, he had thought it was, at least, on some level, part of his hero persona. He certainly wasn’t ‘All Might’, Yamada wasn't always loud and trying to hype crowds. Kayama rarely acted like how she did with the public and students when they spoke between or outside classes.
But with Endeavour and words, perhaps he was always like that, and he knew that didn't bode well for a happy domestic life as he knew the man was terrible with kids.
"The boy's just going through his foolish rebellious stage now, but it will pass, and he will dethrone you as the number one hero!"
Those words, spoken with such anger, left All Might silent. There was more going on there, which didn't sound pleasant when he considered young Todoroki had a burn scar and refused to use his fire. He knew approaching Endeavour would lead nowhere, the man having made it clear that he hated All Might for some slight the number one couldn't even remember. His best bet was approaching Nezu with them when he asked him about young Midoriya's teacher.
All he could now was wait, as they couldn’t even get Tsukauchi involved because they had nothing but suspicion and gut feeling. As he pondered these issues, the firepits lit up again, with the students in class B waiting for the match to begin when one of their numbers returned.
“They haven’t started yet?” The class turned to see Midoriya walking in, with them smiling and waving his arrival.
"Oh, Midoriya, you finally made it back? What's wrong with you?" Awase asked him as he chuckled and took his seat next to Shiozaki and Kodai.
“My master wished to speak with me about something.” He replied, though he kept most of the details to himself. He imagined it wouldn't go down well if both classes heard that his master made a bet with both Endeavour and All Might. This bet revolved around the three students of each taking the win.
“Was it the fact you were distracted in that last match?” Lucky for him, Kurorio offered up a cover for him without prompt.
"Oh, she had words about that. It looks like my weekends will be brutal with punishment training." Midoriya shivered, as even if that was only part of why she called for his presence, she did make it clear that his performance was little to be praised for and that she’ll be working to correct it once they get back to training, made worse by the fact she implied she’ll get that crazy cat involved.
“Still, it was super shroomy that you managed to win, that means we still have a fungi in the race!” Komori stated, others nodding along with her, offering encouragement, which made Midoriya feel a bit warm inside.
"I'll do my best; class B's gonna take the gold home; I'll be sure of it." He flexed his arm and claws, getting some laughs, but Honenuki was more focused on the coming fight as the bonfire pits lit up while the screens changed to show the upcoming match card.
"Easier said, than thought, considering what you'll face in the next round. However, you've lucked out with getting back before things started, as we can watch this fight and help you prepare for whoever wins." The lipless teen noted, with Midoriya nodding at it, his gaze shifting to the arena. However, he couldn't hide the smile that grew on his face simultaneously.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we have arrived at the final round of the quarter-finals. Can I hear some noise!” Midoriya smiled, though there was a wince from how loud the crowd got there.
“In the one corner, she’s got the hands, she’s got the spirit, she’s got the power! From the hero course, it’s Kendo Itsuka!" Kendo walked onto the stage from the one side, her eyes straight ahead and back straight, with class B hearing quite a lot of support from over the wall.
“And in the other corner, he's an avalanche given form and absolutely dominated his last match! From the hero course, Todoroki Shoto!” When Todoroki took to the field, Midoriya felt like he wasn’t as angry as he had apparently been when faced off against Yaoyorozu. Still, there was a notable greater support for him from the audience. On the field, Kendo noted Todoroki's glare, which seemed like his regular stoic one. Still, she knew him enough to know that he was agitated.
But that didn't mean he was going to break that vow of his. In fact, she suspected that he would be all the more adamant just to prove to her that he could defeat the best with just half his power, a notion that still ruffled her feathers.
"Todoroki, for your safety, I'll say it more time. There's no chance you'll beat me with just your ice," Kendo stated. Midnight, one of just two people who could hear them, the other being Cementoss, raised an eyebrow at that, as Kendo never gave off arrogant vibes to her, and her eyes confirmed that. She said that as if it were a fact of life, undisputable. Todoroki's agitation grew, his frown deepening as his glare sharpened.
"You already know my answer." He kept it brief and cold, as was typical for him. Kendo took a deep breath and then let out a long sigh in response, her shoulders slumping just a little before she righted themselves. When she looked up, her gaze was like that of the sun.
"You laid your bed; it's time to lay in it," she replied as she shifted her stance and raised her fists. Her big sister aura shifted, getting more aggressive, commanding, and powerful. Todoroki had only seen her like this once before, when she was up against that Nomu thing at the USJ to protect Asui and Mineta. He, Cementoss, and Midnight knew that Kendo wasn't going to take this casually; she wasn't going to treat him like she did Ashido.
She would fight with all she had to see him defeated, and Todoroki refused to buckle to that. In fact, this was better. If he could best the class champion, someone with a clear, if unknown, connection to All Might, it would go a long way to achieving his goals and proving he didn't need his father's damned quirk.
“And let the final match of the quarter-finals, Kendo vs. Todoroki, start!” Todoroki slammed his foot into the ground, creating a wave of ice the size of a house that raced towards Kendo. Seeing the multi-ton mass of ice crashing towards her, Kendo pulled back her right hand. The power of One for All sang in her veins as she reached 7% power, her form cloaked in orange lightning. Additionally, her fist grew until it was 8 times its normal size.
"Smash!" She brought her fist barrelling into the ice, the power of her straight, and the cannonball-sized air column that accompanied it slammed into the ice like a wrecking ball, smashing all the way through the ice wave, forcing Todoroki to shift from fixing the hole to erecting some ice behind himself to keep from being blown back. Meanwhile, the ice from the attack traveled past the limits and up into the crowds, people yelping or crying out in shock at the high-speed frigid air, the barriers letting the air through but not the pieces of ice caught in the draft.
"So cold!" Someone yelled as it felt like being a mountain during winter.
"Just the wind is already this cold?!" A pro asked, bewildered that such a thing could be created as a byproduct of two quirks clashing, the students' quirks no less. Todoroki didn't focus on that. Instead, he tried to spot his opponent through the mist still blowing past him. Spotting movement, he erected a giant ice wall between him and his now useless ice wave attack, a smart move on his part as the wall was smashed to pieces by Kendo, who hadn't remained still.
Kendo kept on the offensive; her other arm already cocked back to strike, with Todoroki having to twirl to get his right side into position to fire. "Smash!" Kendo's attack shattered that ice and managed to hit him in the right side, right where his kidney was, which made him cough up spit and bile. Still, he did manage to graze her fist, froze, spreading over it to her elbow before she pushed back from him.
“And Kendo takes the first hit of the match after shattering through Todoroki’s massive icy opening move!" Present Mic announced as Kendo remained on her feet, though her left arm was limp at her side, covered in ice. Whereas Todoroki was getting back up from where he landed on his butt, coughing a little as he still felt the pain from that hit. However, it wasn't nearly as strong as it could be as she hadn't increased her fist to his larger size with that strike.
Todoroki suspected he would have time to gather himself, as clearly he couldn't overwhelm her; that was fine; he could just test her powers and strike when he had an opening. Kendo wasn't going to let him as, without breaking eye contact with him, her right hand grew, and she reached for her left arm, grasping it; she squeezed it in her grip while flexing her left arm, the ice coating it shattering. Again, she was cloaked in that lightning of hers.
Todoroki barely saw her moving. He instinctively fired off a line of ice spikes towards her, but the third one hadn't even formed when Kendo's enlarged fist crashed through all of them and smashed into his face, knocking him off his feet and flying back. Again, his instincts went off, with him firing ice from the right side of his face right where she hit, but it was nothing compared to the first time, partly due to the face Kendo was already pulling her fist back.
His feet were still off the ground, his body seemingly suspended in mid-air. His eye barely tracked her shifting, the lightning around her brighter and more chaotic than normal as she twisted her body. His right hand curled into a fist and headed right for him. "Jumbo Fist!" she cried as her attack hit home, crashing into his body, robbing him of breath and bending him over. Todoroki was launched further, landing in a tumble and thump as he rolled to a stop.
Todoroki could barely breathe without it hurting now; his head and torso felt like someone had taken a baseball bat to him; even trying to use his ice to help felt like peanuts as he could hardly move, but he still forced himself to. "Holy-that was quick, I barely saw her move, did you, Aizawa?”
“What do you take me for? But I think the real question is why she's not taking advantage of this?” Todoroki realized that point as Kendo was just watching him, her face giving nothing away, save for the fact that she was looking down on him, hardly seeing him as a threat, which only angered him.
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“Wait, does she want him to get back up?" Kaibara asked as they had barely been able to follow along in the last couple of seconds, such as the speed at which Kendo moved.
"Is it me, or did that last hit send him away from the edge of the arena?" Honenuki asked, with Tsunotori shaking her head.
"No, I saw it too; it was real strange," the American added with a frown.
"It's because she doesn't want a ring out," They turned to Midoriya, who didn't shift his eyes from the field as the two started to fight again. However, it would be more accurate to say it was Kendo pushing Todoroki back, smashing his ice, and striking at him with great ease. "She's playing for keeps, and that means either Todoroki gives or she knocks him out." His statement was punctuated by Kendo driving her fist into Todoroki's gut and following it with a spinning hell kick.
"But couldn't she have done that by now?" Monoma asked, as they had all seen her power earlier. Midoriya knew it well, as he recalled that trick she pulled during the obstacle race.
"Yes, she could," he answered, his smile shifting a little as he analysed the mauling that was happening. He noted a second time when it seemed like Todoroki was about to fall out of bounds, but Kendo's attack shifted him just enough to keep him within the lines.
‘What are you trying to do, Kendo? You’re not someone that would drag on a match for no reason, and certainly not for the fun of it.’ He thought to himself, in fact, that the only reason he could imagine she would do this was because she was trying to force Todoroki to surrender, or maybe, force him into doing something else- but what?
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"Todoroki remains on his feet…but that's all he's doing now." Present Mic's typically loud, upbeat commentary was now uncertain. If Todoroki's bruised ears weren't faulty, he sounded uncomfortable. That just added to his rage, but it was a rage without a target as he forced his knees to remain strong, though he was swaying.
Across his body, he could feel bruises forces, a tooth having already been knocked out, and a sleeve shredded from when he was sent through his ice by one of Kendo's attacks. In contrast to his beaten, dirty and fatigued form, Kendo remained strong, as not a single one of his counters or attacks had managed to reach her; instead, she just shattered or evaded them, moving so fast he could hardly keep up before taking pot shots when she damn well pleased. Either with those massive hands, their normal-sized versions, or air blasts.
"What's…your game, Kendo? You said I made my bed and have to sleep in it, yet I'm still in it. You haven't beat me." He asked, only for Kendo to do something unexpected.
She chuckled, a smirk on her face that looked so wrong to him; that was the kind of smirk he would have expected to see on Bakugo's face. It was the smirk of someone who didn't see you as a threat, who saw you as lesser to them.
"You say that like you've done anything," she started, her smirk fading as her cold words emerged. All you've done is flounder around. You got two hits in, and yet…you're shivering."
"Shut up!" Todoroki yelled, launching another wave of ice towards her, but he was slower than before as frost crept up his right side. Kendo hardly reacted to the ice, as she had just increased the power of OFA to 7% and increased her fist's size before flicking at it. She shattering the ice with a massive air blast knocked Todoroki back, the blow slower to rise as she remained where she stood.
"I'm not Yaoyorozu. I'm not some robot and test for you to brute force, Todoroki. I'm someone you can't hope to beat as you are now." She told him, words tinged with a sense of finality that bit at him almost as much as the frost on his body.
"Were you put up to this by my dad? Was that it?! You act like you're better and still take that bastard's money, or did he promise you a place at his agency?" Midnight raised an eyebrow at that accusation. She wasn't blind to the fact that Todoroki didn't like his father. She doubted that a staff member who had interacted with him more than once could see otherwise. There was dislike, and then there was this hatred he seemed to carry.
“Hate to break it to you, but I'm doing this for my own reasons. Because you using just half your power is an insult to me and everyone here." Kendo's face was shadowed by her hair, but when she raised her head, he saw something different happening in her; an idea had come to her mind. "But since you can't see and listen to words, maybe action will do." She took some steps to the side, Todoroki breathing heavily, feeling the bruises forming. She got ready for her attack but paused when her cloak faded.
He wasn't the only one who thought this was strange. The spectators and heroes watching all started to talk, confused as to what happened with her quirk as she continued to move. Still, she stood close to the edge of the field, everyone wondering why she gave up the centre of the field. "What are you doing?"
“Hit me.” She stated, crossing her arms.
"What?" Todoroki felt his jaw drop in puzzlement. Cementoss and Midnight watched the exchange, wondering what she was thinking.
Kendo's arms remained crossed as if she were done with the fight. "I won't move, I won't dodge. Hit me with your best attack; maybe that failure will be enough to show you how wrong you are." Again, she spoke as if it was a certainty. Almost like she was one of their teachers; no, it was like whenever Endeavour supervised his training, and he tried to attack the man with his ice, only for his hell flames to counter everything. But this wasn't his family dojo, and she wasn't burning so hot he could ignore the frostbite biting his flesh.
"I'm not—" Kendo silently apologized for what she was about to say and for what she had already said and done in this fight, but she hoped that this would finally get through to him. If he refuses kindness and understanding, then she'll take a page from Eraser-sensei's book and use the harsh truth as her weapon.
Channeling as much Bakugo as she could, she snarled out. “Hit me with everything you got! Let me show you your mother’s quirk isn’t strong enough!” Todoroki's face paused as the words registered, as he heard the blatant insult towards his mother right to his face. But he didn't explode in a fiery rage, not at this moment, as instead, she watched in what felt like bullet time as the frost continued to spread over his right side. At the same time, his blue and grey eyes went cold as a winter's night, but as deep with hatred as a chasm.
“Shut your mouth.” His demand was soft, almost too soft for Midnight and Cementoss to hear, as Todoroki slammed his hand into the ground. In his absolute rage, he threw restraint and caution to the wind as he poured all he had into this attack to finally get Kendo, to get everyone to shut up about his father’s quirk!
The ice that poured from his attack was the greatest amount he had used yet, far suppressing what he had unleashed against Yaoyorozu. It was like a mega Tsunami of frost and ice had formed, towering over Kendo while the spectators, heroes, and students all looked in shock and some horror at such an attack.
True to her word, Kendo didn’t move even as the colossal wave of ice raced towards her, freezing any and everything in its path. Instead, she closed her eyes for just a moment and tapped into One for All again, not the 7% to 10% she had been using, but instead, she went for something greater, as she pushed it to 20-then 25-finally 30%. That 10% increase had the power near busting from her body; even as she activated Big Fist to help funnel the energy and give it a larger container, it still felt like she was trying to contain a thunderstorm in a bottle.
She had just pulled her fist back when the ice reached her. When it hit, the entire stadium shook from the force of this massive glacier forming, and then crashing into it, as it smashed right over the boundary lines once more, exploding outwards towards the stands, even faster than before as the shield generators kicked in once more. But even with that protection, it was like the total weight of a winter storm was crashing into it, and the generators whined as they kept the flood of ice back.
But it held, and just like before, the ice climbed all the way to the top, reaching higher than the stands and even higher than the roof, piercing into the sky, another army of frozen spears aimed at the heavens.
Like before, the entire stadium was silent; even if this was the second time they had seen it, it was clearly a more decisive attack than before. Todoroki, however, was much worse off than before as his entire right side was frozen over, barely able to bend, much less move. Every breath he took let out mist and cold, his battered body far past its limits, and now the consequences of his reckless move were making themselves known.
However, a change from the last time he used this attack was that Midnight wasn't caught in it, though she frowned as she looked at it, worried for Kendo, who was buried…somewhere in that mass. The silence persisted, with just Todoroki's worn and pained breaths for her to hear. She didn't know what Kendo was planning, but it seemed it backfired on her. 'A shame, but why did she egg him on like that? Was it even worth it? With his state as it is now, he might as well forfeit his next match.' Midnight through to herself.
Todoroki saw out of the corner of his eye that Midnight had raised her hand to call the match, but her lips had only opened before Kendo made it clear she was still in this fight.
They felt it as much as they heard it at first, thuds and blasts coming from within the ice, each louder and heavier than the last. Midnight looked on in shock, while Todoroki, barely capable of movement and shivering, felt his eyes widen in shock and fear. That shouldn't be happening; that was impossible. He poured all he had and extra into that.
His wishes would go unanswered as the ice started to crack and shift as Kendo worked her way out of the icy mountain. Soon, pieces of ice broke off and just fell away, but then, before they could see her again, it stopped. Silence reigned again, but only briefly before they all heard Kendo roar.
“Colorado Smash!” With her cry, her attack didn't just shatter the ice keeping her locked inside but obliterate it. What could have been tens of tons of ice was near erased with a single move. The shockwave travelled so fast it knocked Midnight and Todoroki over while Cementoss held a hand over his eyes to shield them from stray bits of ice. Again, the crowds were hit with a bitterly cold wind from the arena.
But when all was said and done, Kendo stood, her top shredded, exposing her right arm to her shoulder. She looked winded, but she stood unmoved from the spot she had been in when the attack had hit.
Such a stance, a reveal that not even Todoroki's most substantial move could do much as move her left the entire stadium slacked-jawed, with even All Might being surprised at how far his successor had come in the months since she inherited One for All, but where he felt pride, Endeavour felt rage as his flames near burned out of control at this display of patheticness from his masterpiece. He told him this would happen, and he didn't listen, and now he was made to look like a fool for all the world to see, not even able to rise up with how badly frozen over he was.
With Kendo, she kept up the appearance, but she felt like her arms were going to kill her. It had taken more than she expected to both anchor herself and punch and blast her way out of that attack, with that last attack pulling on 20% of OFA win conjunction of her natural quirk. She didn't think anything was broken, but it felt like she had put her hands and arms through a multi-hour endurance exercise.
Taking a breath through her nose and out of her mouth, she raised her head to look at her fallen foe, Todoroki. Looking like a half-dead corpse left in the winter snow, he hadn't even risen again, unlike Midnight, who had quickly gotten up. Seeing him like this when he could be ready for more when he could have tried something else angered her.
'Wasted potential, ' she thought to herself as she lowered her fist and took a step forward, followed by another and then another. She walked towards Todoroki, each step echoing over the still ice-covered ground, and to Todoroki and the world watching, it was akin to a giant approaching a mere mortal.
"Was that all? Was that all your ice could do?" She asked him as she approached, Todoroki's earlier fury overridden by fear, exhaustion, and something else she couldn’t quite discern.
But it wouldn't matter as she came to stand over him. She wasn't using One for All at the moment, and she didn't need to for her point to be made. "Well, at least you kept your promise. I hope it was worth it." She didn't let him respond, so with a quick jab, she knocked him onto his back, knocking him out. After which, she looked into the stands, where the students sat.
Midnight had to blink a couple times just to be sure she saw that right before she made her call.
“Todoroki has been rendered unconscious! Kendo moves onto the semifinals!” She declared, and much like Todoroki's first match, it took time for the crowd to react to it, but when they did, it was a wave of applause and cheers as people couldn't believe what power she had, many pros already talking about how she had potential to join the top ten by her 20s and how they needed to send out the offers now.
Kendo remained still on the stage. Even as the robots came to collect Todoroki's defeated form and take him for medical treatment, her eyes remained on their mark, the person she would be fighting next.
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“What…what the fuck was that?” Sero asked, pale as he and the rest of the hero course could barely comprehend what they had seen.
"Guys, if Todoroki can take up any of us with ease, and he just got his ass handed to him by Kendo, just how much stronger is she?" Kaminari asked, shivering and spreading that to others, with him giving voice to that question.
"I…I have no clue." Jiro, ever-calm Jiro, stuttered as she never thought she would see such power from anyone bar All Might. How else could you describe someone who could so easily tank such an attack and not just remain standing but unmoved?
"Oh shit, she's looking this way!" Awase nearly ducked in terror, but it wasn't the entire group she was looking at. It wasn't even Bakugo whose eye was twitching as he struggled to accept that Kendo had that kind of power but never used it on him, a voice whispering it was because he was not worth it. Instead, her gaze was locked on Midoriya.
"Midoriya, aren't you-" Kodai blinked when she turned to her friend, only to see his reaction. Midoriya wasn't surprised, he wasn't scared, he wasn't angry. Instead, he was bleeding eagerness. His crossed arms flexed as his smile looked like it would rip his face in two while his eyes seemed to glow emerald and crimson, and his ear ears flicked back and forth like they wished to jump off his head.
Her pause brought attention to Midoriya’s reaction, with Kuroiro commenting on it. “It seems that the light within the body calls out to the other.” He noted that Kendo finally turned to leave the field so it could be cleaned and prepped for the next match.
"A clash a titans will be upon us soon enough," Tokoyami added, as Dark Shadow peeked over the wall and relayed to him what he saw on Midoriya's face, the raven head boy feeling a little relieved that he was eliminated earlier as if he had to take on two fighters like them when they seemed so eager to battle...he’ll rather face off against those villains from the USJ again.
"I hoped for a show, and I got a grand performance," Midoriya whispered in awe, as if he didn't hear his classmates talking; as he got up and walked towards the railing, gripping him tight enough they could listen to it cry as the steel was deformed slightly.
"Kendo Itsuka, you'll be the greatest challenge I'll ever face." Before chuckling to himself, he stated that his classmates were mildly concerned by it, same as class A, even if Bakugo grunted as he and Shoji got up to leave.
He didn't even bother to acknowledge them leaving. Instead, he continued to chuckle like a cat that had spotted a bird perched on a tree branch overhead. Only this time, it was an eagle, ready and able to tear him to pieces if he should be careless.
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Well, we’re finally at one of the big fights for the festival. Kendo vs Todoroki. I went back and forth in the planning stage about this for a while. Kendo is an entirely different kind of fighter to Midoriya, even with full cowling, so I had to get creative. Also, because of how I wrote this chapter, I had to distinguish between the announcers and the students using attack names, but you'll likely pick up on it quickly.
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And that's that! Kendo vs. Todoroki ends with her inarguable victory for class A's big sister; like most stories that have any one of meaningful strength fight Todoroki, I wanted that person to force him to see the error of his ways, so I used what I did in an earlier story when it was Bakugo that fought him. There, he forfeited the fight when, even when Todoroki was freezing himself, he refused to use his fire, which meant that Todoroki advanced, but it was a hollow victory.
I went for a similar feeling here when Kendo used the kind of tactic All Might would use against Bakugo and Midoriya, overwhelming force to break him of his ill-advised mindset. Still, sadly, he didn't have a Midoriya to knock some sense in him, so he took the most extensive L. As for why Kendo would take such a harsh line, she's the big sister figure, and that sometimes means tough love; as anyone with responsible elder siblings can tell you, there'll be times when they need to hit you with that reality check, no matter how much emotional damage it does.
But that does mean we're close to done with the Sports Festival, as we have just the 3 fights left.
