Chapter 60: Thawing Determination

Recap:

Pressing his advantage, Suijin sent dozens of shots into the air, most impeded by a block of ice built above Todoroki.

But the boy still smiled as his plan was commencing—three shots to break the ice, all sharp ones heading towards a concentrated area.

Then there were three more to attack through.

And it seemed to work. Not expecting anything to get through, the overconfident boy let out a grunt as he felt that the skin on his chest would soon bruise up.

Immediately after, he reinforced the ice walls, making them multiple inches thick—so thick that if he didn't deliberately build a thin point on the opposite side of where Suijin's shooting from, he'd be forced to use that.

Alas, his descent was inevitable, and with less water than planned due to his blunder earlier, Suijin had to preemptively fall down, cushioning his fall.

The boy was peeved at not being able to press his advantage towards Todoroki, but he felt that this was for the best as he had a long battle ahead of him.

"WHAT A MATCH IT'S BEEN SO FAR, ONE OF THE CLOSEST SO FAR, WITH TODOROKI TAKING THE LEAD SEEMINGLY TRAPPING HIS OPPONENT ON AN ISLAND WAITING TO BE CONSUMED, BUT PULLING OUT ONE OF HIS FAMOUS TRICKS, SHIMIZU ESCAPES AND PRESSES HIS ADVANTAGE, PUTTING THE ICE-BOY ON THE BACK FOOT!!!!!"

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The crowd roared with excitement, taking the commentary as a cue to express their satisfaction at the battle unfolding.

The back and forth put both sides that supported either boy on the edge of their seats, the underdog not being clear; it was a marvelous show.

And it was just getting started!

Both sides shouted encouraging things to their respective representatives (Suijin or Todoroki), encouraging them too…in shorter words, 'beat' the other.

While some were more explicit than others, the general consensus was that they wanted the one they shouted for to win.

The clamor echoed off the walls, making even those at a farther distance clearly understand the atmosphere in the stadium.

On the stage, with Todoroki safely coming out of his makeshift cocoon with a stupendous amount of craters, he looked at Suijin in another light.

He underestimated the boy and overestimated himself.

The boy didn't even have to look at the vacant section of the stands to see his father's expectant and disappointed face.

Likely thinking that this setback would force him to use his powers as Midoriya did in the previous round.

He hadn't even been given a proper chance to rest yet, nor had he found the time to deeply think about his classmates' words.

'That's your power, not his!!'

Five words were enough for him to abandon a philosophy he's been following since then.

But without letting the boy come to a conclusion yet again, fate played a hand as Suijin, now stabilized, took his time to talk.

"Thanks; I'll pay you back after the festival…"

Looking ahead, Suijin stopped talking for a moment, confounded by the look Todoroki was giving him.

 "...What? Did you think I'd just give up just because you did me a favor?"

Genuine surprise laced Suijin's words at Todoroki's duped face; had he really expected that little of the boy?

Somehow, that thought kinda…hurt.

Meanwhile, the half-and-half boy was confused, his mind laced with questions related to two people: Midoriya and Shimizu.

'Why do they meddle so much? Why won't they just do as expected and lose? Why? Why are they so…kind?'

Over his life, he knew the world wasn't all black, as he'd met some nice people; his siblings were a perfect example.

But even they didn't breach any subject related to him.

They left him alone with his own thoughts, letting him do as he pleases in terms of his inner turmoil.

The only person who used to meddle as much as those two have was her.

Unpleasant memories played of his scar, which oddly started throbbing at this time, and of that listless gaze that reduced all feelings of happiness when he occasionally saw her into nervousness and eventually fear.

Fear that he'd never see the old her again.

As they did, darker thoughts started flooding his mind, his overthinking nature leading to speculation that quickly led to a conclusion.

'Are they using me?'

It all made sense to him!

She took care of him because he was a child, her child, someone she had to take care of.

And now those two must pity him.

That's the only reasonable explanation as to why they're doing what they do; they're after that feeling of self-satisfaction, like that guy; they're merely using him.

With his mind made up as to both of their motivations, anger clouded his mind.

Even though he was usually stoic, he did have his own pride, and being used by both of them wasn't such a nice feeling.

Still, he calmed himself enough to mitigate that anger into a determination to not letting Suijin win, and an additional purpose of driving the boy into despair sprouted.

With that thought process only taking a few seconds, the boy did something…odd by his own standards.

He raised his arm in the air—and just left it there.

The action was odd, yet its effects were felt after a few seconds of waiting.

'Is it colder?'

If Suijin wasn't so surprised, he'd be spouting about how 'Bullsh*t' that quirk is.

But the boy knew that what was happening would only be a detriment to him if he allowed it to continue.

After seeing that his experiment worked, the boy increased the freezing power from his hand, rapidly changing the state of the stadium.

Instantly, the temperature was dropping tens of levels below what it was previously.

The audience shivered as many hadn't brought jackets on this sunny day, and within the time it took for Suijin's disrupting shot to reach Todoroki, this place had become the temperature of a tundra.

"BY EXERCISING HIS POWER ON THE AREA AROUND HIM, TODOROKI HAS GAINED THE ABILITY TO AFFECT THE STADIUM'S VERY TEMPERATURE!!!!"

If before the crowd clamored, then this time the stands were silent, listening to the unique application of his quirk.

However, after the few seconds it took them to process his words...they erupted!

"How ingenious!"

"Wow, UA is really... I'm at a loss for words."

Praise was sung from both sides at Todoroki's strength, and his own father even had a look of respect.

Suijin, though, was cursing internally.

'I'm screwed.'

He looked at the boy more angry at the situation than anything right now—the very situation he never wanted to occur occurred!

Water Molecules x Cold = Slow.

In other words, speed, the very factor that he relied so much on, was practically nerfed in this environment that heavily suited Todoroki.

'Aren't I supposed to achieve my domain ability, which is super OP negating the enemies, and I'll come out on top?'

Jokingly, the boy pushed really hard, eliciting a fart from some excess waste he hadn't dealt with previously, but otherwise nothing.

Sigh

'Well, I wanted to save this for when she was watching, but I'm forced.'

A helpless look appeared on Suijin's face as he looked at the camera that was off to the side, hoping that Mina was looking at it now.

He whispered 'For you.' into the screen before looking at his dad in the stands.

While clearly looking at Todoroki, Suijin said out loud this time, "Thanks, Dad, for the inspiration, and Uncle Akarai for telling me the story."