The 2nd Sports Festival (Part 9)

Rei looked at Shoto. "...your boyfriend is… much stronger than you had described…" Shoto slowly nodded, also surprised. "He's been training a lot." She stood up. "Alright, I'm going to go get ready." Rei looked horrified. "You're not seriously going to fight him, are you?!" Shoto turned to her mother with a smile. "Why not? It'll be fun." Rei couldn't believe what she was hearing. Shoto comforted her mom. "Hey, it's ok. Jason knows when too far is too far. Besides, I have this one coming." "What? Why? What did you ever do to him?" Shoto smirked. "I melted half of his face off." With that, Shoto left her shocked mother and went to the waiting room.

Shoto ran into Endeavor in the hallway. She tried to ignore him, but the massive man was in the way. "What do you want?" "Nothing. I just wanted to wish you good luck." Shoto looked up at Endeavor, remaining cautious. "...that's all?" "That's all." "What's your game?" Endeavor took no offense to his daughter's defensive nature. "No game. Good luck." Shoto blinked a few times before looking away. "...Thank… you…?" Endeavor stepped out of her way. She walked to the end of the hallway before looking back, making sure she didn't exit the twilight zone. She blinked before shaking her head. She had to focus.

Cementoss had once again rebuilt the arena. Midnight wasn't near the stage and was instead next to one of the entrances. She didn't want to be anywhere near the fighting this time. Jason and Shoto stood across from each other. The young man sheepishly smiled. "If I win, will you break up with me?" Shoto rolled her neck, smiling. "Nah. I'll only break up with you if you hold back." Midnight took another step back. "...the final match is about to begin… Shoto Todoroki vs Jason Miller… Begin!" She sprinted into the hallway.

Jason raised his hand, activating his pride. Shoto unleashed a massive wave of ice. Jason flicked, shattering the avalanche. Jason felt the air heat up and jumped into the air, narrowly dodging a fireball. Jason smirked. "She knew I would counter, and used the shards of ice as a distraction for a giant attack. I almost forgot how skilled she is." Shoto looked up and concentrated her fire into a beam; a move she had learned during her time training with Endeavor. Jason flicked again, displacing the beam. Jason landed, taking his time to stand up as Shoto cooled herself down.

Chris came back to the stands. Eri leaped up and ran to him. "That was amazing!" Chris smiled as he looked down at the excited child. "There were colors everywhere! Then my seat shook, which was scary, then the arena went boom!" Chris sat next to Momo, who pulled Eri back onto her lap. Chris was still smiling. "I'm glad you liked it, Eri." He then looked back at the fight. "What did I miss?" Kirishima smirked. "The love birds just started." Mina looked at Chris. "They're not trying as hard as they did against you and Denki. Are they holding back? I mean, they are a couple after all." Chris shook his head. "They don't have a lot of experience fighting each other. They might be probing each other's strengths and weaknesses. Or maybe they're just having some fun before they get serious. It's always hard to tell with those two."

Jason took a deep breath. Using a combination of pride and anger, Inner Strength powered through eight of his fingers. Then he raised his hands. Shoto's eyes widened, recognizing the attack. Mimicking Chris's move from last year's Sports Festival, Jason unleashed eight consecutive shockwaves. Shoto created another ice wall that took the brunt of the attack. Jason got the distraction he needed. He rushed forward. He wasn't going as fast as he had against Chris, due to him running on fumes for most of his emotions. There were plenty of other emotions at his disposal, but he hasn't yet figured out how to use everything yet. His arm became covered with yellow energy, now down to using his joy. Shoto took a deep breath as she prepared her flames once again. This wasn't like their first match. Shoto was now an expert in both fire and ice, while Jason had become a master of his quirk. She raised her left arm and unleashed a wall of fire. Jason reared his arm back and punched. The shockwave completely dissipated the flames.

Jason, following his momentum, spun and powered up a kick with the last bit of anger he could muster. Shoto exhaled as her left arm was consumed in flames and her left arm became covered in ice. Jason's eyes narrowed; this was the technique he had been waiting to see. Shoto smiled. "Try this on for size. Apocalyptic Shock!" Her strongest flames and most powerful ice fired forward. Jason let his kick loose. However, Shoto wasn't the target. He kicked off to the side, sending him flying in the other direction. Shoto turned her head in surprise. Jason spun in midair and powered up the last of his pride into his right index finger. He smiled. "Prideful Blast!" The shockwave caused by the flick was sent rocketing at Shoto. She couldn't move. She got hit in the side and was thrown off of the arena. There wasn't enough power to throw her into the wall, so she fell relatively harmlessly onto the grass surrounding the platform. Jason managed to stick the landing just shy of falling off the platform himself.

Midnight raised her hand, signaling the end of the match. "The tournament has concluded! With Shoto being knocked out of bounds, Jason Miller is the winner!" Jason ran to Shoto, who was holding her side. She smiled. "...great match…" Jason pulled his girlfriend into a hug. "You too." They shared a quick embrace before walking back inside.

Jason and Shoto were stopped by Endeavor. The number one hero nodded to Jason. "Congratulations on your victory. May I speak to my daughter in private?" Jason turned to Shoto. She gave a slight nod. Jason let go and walked away. Shoto looked up at her father. "What is it now?" "Good job on placing second this year. I'm sure that, with enough training, you will-" "Answer my question." Endeavor sighed before looking Shoto in the eyes. "I didn't want to accept the position as Number One Hero when they told me I would rise to the position." Shoto was stunned. "What are you talking about? Wasn't your life mission to become the Number One Hero?" "No. My mission was to become the best. I never surpassed All Might. He simply retired." He turned his head to the side, staring at the wall just for the sake of no longer looking into Shoto's eyes. "...now that I am at the top, I see that the position itself doesn't mean anything. It's what you do while you're at the top that matters. I only understand that after all of the terrible things I have done to you, your mother, and your siblings…" Endeavor looked into Shoto's eyes. The hatred that once dwelled within them had vanished. "What I am trying to say is, I promise to become someone you can be proud of. Not just as the Number One Hero, but as the man you call 'father'."