CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Megumi would not lie. This was the fight she had been looking forward too. Todoroki and Midoriya both had very powerful quirks. And the way Todoroki had declared a battle on the green-haired boy made her think that there was some kind of history between the two, even if they hadn't known each for that long. 

Sitting next to her brother, she crossed her arms in anticipation, almost digging into her skin with her neatly cut nails. Natsume, sensing her nervousness as always, gave her a slightly curious look. But she ignored it, staring down at the arena, like many of her classmates and those in the arena, keeping a close eye on the two who were a part of this fight. 

"Now! Midoriya vs Todoroki! START!"

It was the work of an instant. The moment Present Mic yelled out 'start', Todoroki immediately shot his ice towards Midoriya. This ice wall wasn't nearly as tall as the one used against Sero in the first round, but it still had a pretty considerable height. 

But somehow, Midoriya managed to break the wall into pieces. The ice that was coming for him broke from the impact of his attack, the shockwave from it producing a massive blast of very cold wind. Even Megumi, whose body had a naturally high temperature, felt chills go down her spine. Next to her, Natsume shivered. 

"Damn, this wind's just like ice," He mumbled under his breath. Megumi nodded in agreement. 

Todoroki shot out more ice, only for Midoriya to use his 'smash' move and break it again. Another shockwave was sent through the arena. Behind Megumi, she heard snippets of a conversation between Bakugo, Sero and Kirishima, but she ignored it. Her attention was now fully captivated by the battle. She hadn't really missed what Bakugo had said though; about quirks being physical abilities. 

'This fight,' Megumi thought. She stared down as Todoroki launched another blast of ice towards Midoriya who broke it yet again. 'It's gonna turn out to be an endurance match.'

Then, Todoroki went for a different approach. He ran straight at Midoriya, using his ice to create a large ramp for himself.

"Todoroki doesn't recoil from Midoriya's power and gets in close!" Present Mic exclaimed as the crowd cheered loudly at the move.

Midoriya flicked his finger at the ice, blowing away the ramp. But Todoroki jumped out of the way in time. The dual hair-coloured boy slammed his fist into the ground and ice spiked from it, reaching out for Midoriya. 

But then, the green-haired boy pulled off a surprising boy. His arms glowed with bright red veins, visible even from the 1-A sitting area. With a furious move, Midoriya slammed his fist into the ice, shattering it into pieces. 

This time, the shockwave that was produced was ten times more powerful than the other ones. The icy air completely covered the two fighting for a few moments, till it cleared. 

It was then Megumi realised the one thing she had missed. She had completely been awed by the moves she had seen during this fight. But unfortunately, one of them was facing a very heavy backlash on his body as he kept on using his quirk. Midoriya's arm looked so torn and beat up, even though none of Todoroki's moves had actually hit him.

'Holy shit, is he going to be okay?' Megumi stared at Midoriya with concern. 'His arm looks way too screwed up.'

All of a sudden, Midoriya clenched his fist and yelled out loud, "Come at me with everything you've got!" 

Todoroki ran straight at him, arms raised and ready to attack. But...

"Todoroki's movements have slowed down," Natsume remarked and Megumi couldn't help but agree. "I think Midoriya wanted this. He wanted him to use his ice a lot more."

"You're definitely right about that," Megumi replied. 

The fight progressed as both boys went into a full, offensive mode. Midoriya punched Todoroki's guy, sending him flying. But before he completely left the arena, Todoroki froze Midoriya's arm. The green-haired boy looked like he was in a lot of pain. Using this moment, Todoroki summoned more of his ice, blasting it towards Midoriya.

Somehow, Midoriya dodged the spikes of ice, jumping sideways. 

This fight was the most intense out of all the fights till now, Megumi thought, a serious look on her face. Clearly, neither of the two boys fighting were going to back down. The expression on Todoroki's face seemed to turn angrier, the most emotion she had seen on his face in the short time she had known him. In the arena, people were cheering loudly. 

But Megumi wouldn't lie; she was extremely worried about Midoriya. Every time he used his quirk, his arms were getting more and more battered. Yet, he kept on fighting. 

'He's being so reckless,' Megumi thought with worry. Even if she had not known Midoriya for too long, she had come to think of him as a friend. 'But I hope he wins. I really hope he does. He deserves to, after all the effort he's putting in.'

Then all of a sudden, it happened. A wall of flames erupted from Todoroki's body, completely filling one half of the stadium, the one where class 1-A was sitting, with heat. Next to Megumi, Natsume was shielding his face from the flames. Megumi wasn't. She didn't need to because of the nature of her quirk. In fact, she was almost tempted to reach out and touch them. But she resisted the urge.

She felt the power in these bright flames. They were so much stronger than she had thought. And with that being said, she was in complete awe. She was really enjoying seeing such a strong fire on display. Then out of nowhere, came Endeavour's voice, shouting in the stands. 

"Shoto! So you've finally accepted it! Yes! Excellent! It all starts now for you! With my blood running through your veins, you will surpass me...you will fulfil my ambitions!"

'Huh?' Megumi spoke with surprise. Fulfil his ambitions? What the hell is Endeavour talking about?

Next to her, Natsume expressed the same sentiments. "Endeavour's a weird man."

"Yeah," Megumi answered, but by then her attention was on the match again.

Todoroki started creating ice with his right side, while his left side was still ablaze. He looked quite ready to unleash his full power. As did, Midoriya, whose legs were suddenly covered in bright red veins. Todoroki sent an ice attack...no, it wouldn't be right to call it an attack. It was more of an ice mountain, which the green-haired boy jumped over with ease. The two got closer and closer, ready to attack. Things happened so quickly in the next moment that Megumi barely had any time to comprehend. 

Cementoss-sensei's walls shattered with the explosion and the shockwave that erupted from it, nearly sent her tumbling to the ground. Natsume did tumble, almost hitting his head on the floor, but Megumi grasped the back of his jacket just in time. 

"What's happening?" Mineta yelled, from somewhere in the back.

"This is crazy!" Kaminari exclaimed. 

Around the arena, everyone was in shock as they stared at the dust clouds. This fight was surely the most intense one yet; probably the most intense one at the sports festival in the past few years. 

'Crazy didn't even begin to cover this,' Megumi thought, in answer to Kaminari's exclamation. 'I don't even know who could win. Both attacks were too powerful.'

The crowd slowly settled down as the dust cleared. Midnight was called on to identify the victor of this match. When the last of the dust finally faded away, it revealed that Midoriya had been thrown against the wall of the arena. He was out of bounds and unconscious, which meant only one thing. 

"Midoriya is out of bounds! Todoroki wins and advances to the third round!" 

The worry that she had felt for Midoriya had led Megumi to follow Uraraka, Tsuyu, Iida and Mineta towards the infirmary to check on him. Even if her and Iida's match was next, both of them had talked and decided visiting their friend was much more important. Besides, the stadium was still in shambles and was currently being repaired to restore it to a battle-worthy stage. 

"Deku!" Uraraka yelled as she opened the door to the infirmary and entered the room. 

"Midoriya!" Megumi, Iida, Tsuyu and Mineta yelled as they followed Uraraka into the room. The infirmary was nearly empty, except for Midoriya lying on a bad with bandages wrapped all around him, Recovery Girl and other two people, one a sickly looking man with blond hair, dressed in a suit and another, a tall woman with brown hair, wearing a reddish cloak (or was it a gown?) with gold floral designs. 

'They must be teachers,' Megumi thought, before turning her attention back to Midoriya who looked completely battered.

"He is no state to see any visitors," Recovery Girl told them, as the brown-haired woman stepped aside, talking to someone on her phone. 

"Hey, you guys," Midoriya spoke weakly, barely opening his eyes. "Shouldn't you be watching the matches?"

"The arena was mostly destroyed," Iida explained. "So there's a break while it's being repaired."

"Yeah, there was a lot of damage to the place," Megumi added. 

"That match was the scariest thing, Midoriya! No pro's gonna want to hire you!" Mineta spoke, a little bluntly. In retaliation, Tsuyu struck him with her tongue and Megumi hit him with her fist. 

"Now you're just rubbing salt in his wounds," Tsuyu spoke.

"You have terrible timing, Mineta," Megumi said, with a mildly irritated tone.

"Pipe down!" Recovery Girl suddenly scolded them. "I know you're worried, but I've got to focus on his surgery now."

"Surgery?!" All five of them exclaimed in shock.

"Go on. Get out of here," Recovery Girl said, motioning for them to leave the room.

"But..." Uraraka looked quite worried. 

"Oh crap, how badly is he hurt?" Megumi spoke, with her expression mirroring Uraraka's.

"Surgery is a big deal, isn't it?" Mineta added. 

"Will he be alright after the surgery?" Iida asked. 

"Don't worry, just leave me to it," Recovery Girl told them. 

Tsuyu croaked sadly as all of them left the room, with one final glance at their bruised friend. 

*

As much as Megumi had been worried about Midoriya, that had to be pushed to the back of her mind. It was her match next and she was going to be facing Iida, who was a very formidable opponent. He was fast and he had a strategic mind and he was quick at understanding how things worked. But Megumi was like him too. This time, she paid no attention to the cheers and the noise of the crowd. Because there was no need to. 

Even as she shot her white flames at him, Iida speedily dodged and went to attack her. Megumi managed to escape and send a bigger burst of flames towards him.

Suddenly, her dad's words came back to her. Use your opponent's momentum against him and the battle will be in your favor.

Iida was getting ready to attack her, his legs powering up with steam. 

'What if I don't attack him? What if I just don't move and let him get close to me? And then I'll just move out of the way as he attacks and that should....'

Megumi didn't have the time to finish her thoughts as Iida rushed at her, ready to push her out of bounds. But the plan had already formed itself inside her mind and she didn't move. Iida got closer and closer and closer. Till she finally decided to roll out of the way.

Judging by the surprised look on his face, Iida was not expecting that to happen. He tried to break himself, but the speed and his momentum carried him right out of bounds.

"Phew," Megumi sighed in relief. Her plan was very silly and last minute, but it had worked. 

"Okumura wins! She advances to the third round!"

It was as she walked to Iida, she realized. Her next opponent, the person she would be fighting against was Shoto Todoroki. The same one, whose attacks had destroyed the arena.

'Oh, holy shit. This is going to be fun.'

I am so sorry about the lack of updates for this; this past year was a stressful one for me, what with college and everything. but now that I've graduated (yay!), I can fully invest myself in my writing. And hopefully, updates for this, along with some other stories, will pick back up once again. 

The next chapter is gonna be hella fun, am I right? ;)

Till then, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Let me know your thoughts in the comments!