Giving Your All

Shoto Todoroki didn't concern himself with many of the matches. The only two that mattered to him had passed.

Momo had created a cannon to use against Kirishima, blasting past his hardening enough times to push him out of the ring. He wasn't surprised at all, she was quick on her feet and always had a plan.

His match had been more difficult. He hadn't over done it the first round with his ice, but Midoriya lasted long enough for him to start feeling the effects anyway. He could feel the ice in his pores even now.

He had won, sending the determined and broken man out of the ring. But winning a close battle with just his ice hadn't felt as good as he thought it would. It was a poor time to start remembering his mother, and his past. But his old man being around and Midoriya's bold words had a strange effect on him. He had hoped to find Momo after his match, but it seemed like she was avoiding him. It was worrying, especially-

Shoto froze when he turned the corner to see his old man leaning against the wall. His temper simmered violently in his chest as he started walking past.

"You're acting disgracefully, Shoto. If you had simply used the power I gave you, you would've had an overwhelming victory in every round, especially against that man All Might favors." Endeavor spoke disapprovingly.

Shoto ignored him, clenching his fists as he passed.

"You're my greatest masterpiece! It's time you stopped this rebellion and understood your duty to surpass All Might!" Endeavor continued. As Shoto kept walking, Endeavor hit where he knew it would hurt. "I see that woman I chose for you is also here. That was not what I intended for her when I chose her. She should be pursuing a stable career she can fulfill at home. I'll have to have a talk with-"

Shoto spun around, "You'll go nowhere near her!" He yelled furiously. "You cannot control her like you did your wife! Like you did to mom!"

"She'll only get in the way of your path to becoming the number one hero if she continues this naive dream!"

"She will be better than you ever were. As will I. I will prove to her that I am not you! I'll win this match and advance using only mom's quirk. I am nothing like you." Anger radiated through his body. "You'll never get the pleasure of seeing me use your quirk." Shoto vowed, voice low.

Endeavor stared him down, frowning as Shoto walked away.

"You'll soon find the limits of that power. I will be watching her carefully. You and her both. You'll do well to remember that, Shoto."

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Momo Yaoyorozu quietly stepped up to the stage. Shinso had finished his round all too quickly, saying something the crowd could not hear. Next thing they knew, Iida was running out of bounds. The same happened with Bakugo in his round. He quickly discovered Tokoyami's weakness to light, and had forced him into surrendering. While Momo was impressed by the speed, she was not thankful for it. It only meant that the next round was to begin, meaning she would be fighting against Shoto next.

It had felt wrong avoiding him, but she was unable to ignore the clenching in her chest when she saw him. She knew they had a lot to prove to the people around them, but she never realized she would have to prove she was capable to him as well.

He had always listened to her before, had asked for her input like an equal. Today, though… She did not recognize the man she saw today. He was so intent on proving himself to his father, that he had become driven by it, leaving her behind in the process. Leaving his friends behind too. Even going after Midoriya as well.

As Midnight counted down, she could see the hesitation in Shoto's normally sure eyes. She could see how his fists were clenched, as if he did not want his quirk to spill out of them.

They had trained in many areas, that was true. Yet, it was not until she stood on stage across from him, that she realized they had never fought with quirks. She bit her lip at this thought, hurt blooming in her chest. Was she not good enough? Did he not think she could handle it?

"Begin!"

Shoto hesitated for a second, and she felt the hurt grow. Did he really think her so incapable that he feared hurting her?

He finally brought his foot down, sending a wall of ice her way. It did not move as quickly as normal, making it easy for her to make two grenades. She slipped one in her pocket, and tossed the other one at the ice.

She had asked Hatsume to explain her creations between the rounds. The eccentric woman had been only too willing to comply, happy for the extra advertisement. Momo had a plan, as she always did. As Shoto should have trusted she would. Her chest ached at his hesitation in attacking her, confirming for her what she had feared most.

"So I was right during the cavalry battle." The explosion went off, mixing painfully with the sound of shattering ice. "You do not believe I am capable." She stated, trying to keep her voice even.

"You know I think you're capable. That's why you were on my team." Shoto replied, not understanding. Before the smoke cleared, another wall of ice was sent her way, this time from a different direction. "I thought we could work together, and prove to everyone that we can do this."

She shook her head as he missed her point. "That is the problem, Shoto." Without hesitating, she created another grenade. "We may have been on the same team, but we were not teammates." Throwing her grenade at the ice, another explosion went off as she dodged. "Teammates listen to each other, and utilize each other's strengths."

"I did acknowledge your strengths. You defended us, and were a vital part of taking out the other teams." His confused voice carried through the smoke, followed by another wave of ice. She quickly created a grenade to counter it.

As his hesitant attacks continued, Momo felt the hurt in her chest spread through her body.

"I did not choose that though, Shoto!" She created grenade after grenade against his walls as she spoke. "You did not ask for my input on what role we should fill. You let your desire to prove your father wrong cloud your judgment, and put your team at a disadvantage!"

Slowly, there was more and more time between his attacks as she continued. "Only using your right side's power as the rider allowed for Midoriya to exploit it. You were so blinded by your desire to be the best that you did not once consider taking a different role."

The smoke was starting to clear as his ice slowed.

"With the ice on your left side, you would have been ideal as the left side runner. As the rider, you were unable to use your powers at certain angles without hitting the front runner. On the left side, you would have had nothing in your way."

The temperature was dropping rapidly as the match continued.

"You would have been able to be overwhelming without risking your teammates." She continued, letting off one more explosion against his ice. "Instead, you put me there to keep me out of harm's way! My quirk is safer and more versatile. As the rider, I would have had more space to create things, been able to use my quirk without risking others. And could have used my quirk to protect the headbands!"

Finally, as she spoke, the smoke had enough time to clear between the slowing attacks. She bit her lip as it slowly revealed the man she called her partner.

He was panting, breath visible in the frosty air. His arm and leg were partially iced over, and she knew what that meant. Unlike her, Shoto was not able to eat between matches to restore his quirk power. Not only had his match against Midoriya already taken a lot out of him, but his attacks against her required more of his quirk than her defense did. He was running on fumes, and they both knew it.

"I… I didn't consider it… You are correct Momo, I… Did not consider that you would be better suited." His eyes pleaded with her as he paused in his attacks, his visible breaths giving his condition away. "Why did you not speak up?"

"You did not provode me a chance to…" Momo replied sadly. She saw an emotion flitter across Shoto's face at the hurt in her voice. "I… I was so proud of you when you worked with Olivia. I thought she had gotten through to you, that you had begun to change..."

"I just wanted to show everyone that you are capable, Momo. I wanted you on my team to prove that we could make it in the hero world, together, as equals!" Another wall came towards her following his heartbroken words.

"Sho… How can you prove that to anyone, when you seem to not believe it yourself?" She glowed as she created another grenade to throw at it. "I am capable, you are correct. But I proved that to everyone already when I got in on recommendations. The only person here who still seems to doubt me… is you."

He paused in his next attack, looking up at her words in astonishment.

"How can you say I am capable when you do not ask for my input? How can you say we will be heroes together, when you still try to keep me out of harm's way? How can you say I am your equal or your partner, when even now, you are holding back, unwilling to hurt me?" She let the emotion bleed through her voice, her hurt rising to her throat. She could feel her eyes sting.

Shoto looked pained as he replied to her, sending a slower ice wall towards her as his body iced over. "You know why I am not using my fire. I am not my father. I refuse to hurt you like he hurt my m-"

She cut him off, choking on her emotions as she yelled. "Really? Because from where I am standing, he does not seem to be the reason." The explosion from her grenade went off. "Your fire is not what makes you like him, Shoto! What does make you like him is not asking for input, not letting others take the lead when needed, declaring war on people who do not deserve it, not treating your opponent as an equal, refusing to give them your all… refusing to give me your all! And… and not acknowledging my dream to be a hero too!" She yelled, a tear spilling over and falling down her cheek.

He took an unsteady breath in at the sight of her tear, and let the largest ice wall yet crawl towards her. She quickly created two bombs, taking advantage of his slowed movements, and grabbed the third one from her pocket, letting them all loose. The biggest explosion yet went off, sending pieces of ice out of the ring from the smoke filled the area.

Using this opportunity, Momo let a shield form from her body as she raced through the smoke. Shoto must have predicted this since he shot ice through the smoke, but she easily avoided his blind attack.

She jumped out of the smoke in front of him, a shield raised above her.