Chapter 15

To the ice users surprise, Kumagawa proceeded to lift his foot off the floor. The ice had permeated his socks and reached the soles of his feet, so when he took a step, the skin on the bottom of his foot peeled off with a wet ripping sound. Blood began to drip from his now injured foot, before he placed it back down on the floor to take a step forward. A squelching sound was made as the fleshy bottom of his foot made contact with the ice again.

Todoroki's eyes widened in alarm. "W-what the hell are you doing?! Don't you see that you're hurting yourself?!"

[Yes, as a matter of fact I do see that.] responded Kumagawa as he raised his other foot, tearing the skin off of it as well. [However this is in no way my fault.]

The dual-haired teen took a reflexive step back as Kumagawa took one step forward.

[You see, I'm doing my best to try and win this exercise. That means that as long as I can go on, I will. The fact that you froze my feet changes absolutely nothing. In fact, the only reason I'm sustaining these injuries is because of your attack. So these injuries, they aren't my fault. They're yours.] Kumagawa then rushed forward, his feet losing more and more skin from repeated contact with the ice.

Todoroki barely reacted in time to avoid the punch that was aimed at his jaw, back stepping to put distance between himself and Kumagawa. However in the blink of an eye, Kumagawa seemed to disappear. Suddenly Todoroki felt a fist make contact with his abdomen. The force behind it wasn't particularly dangerous, but it was enough to send him staggering backwards.

[I'll have you know that even in the bleakest of scenarios when victory is truly unattainable, I will continue my struggle to win.] Kumagawa explained as he stood across from Todoroki. [So something like having my skin peeled off is nothing compared to what I'm willing to go through in order to achieve victory.]

Back in the observation room, a good portion of the class was disturbed by Kumagawa's actions. To be so easily willing to wound himself in order to continue fighting... That he was going that far in just a training situation of all things, they couldn't comprehend it. Several of the students were looking sickly upon seeing Kumagawa's flesh peel off, and All Might was more than a little worried about what was going on in Kumagawa's head.

'Why is he doing this? Why hasn't he used his Quirk yet? Is it possible that his Quirk is some kind of illusion-type? That all we're seeing isn't real?' All Might's mind was conflicted. If everything they were witnessing was just the byproduct of a possible illusion Quirk from Kumagawa, then he wasn't really injured at all. But on the off chance that the teen really did just willingly maim himself... 'Perhaps I should call the fight.'

[Come now Todoroki-san, if you truly aim to win, then you must put some effort into it. Otherwise it's insulting to me.] Kumagawa spoke as he rushed the other teen once more.

Todoroki quickly erected a wall of ice to act as a barrier between himself and Kumagawa so he had some breathing room. He definitely wasn't expecting Kumagawa to go so far in order to win. It really spun him out to witness the teen actually challenge him in his current state. He was under the impression that the fight would have ended after the first attack. Now he had to deal with the unpredictable.

[You're wide open.]

The ice Quirk user turned to the voice, only to have a fist smash into his face.

[So many openings. You're not used to having opponents this close to you. That much I can tell for certain.]

Todoroki let out a hushed snarl as Kumagawa seemed to gloat in front of him.

[If you want to beat me, then you are going to have to use your Limit Breaker!] Kumagawa said in an excited voice. [Come on, charge up your super move and hit me with all you've got!] he shouted as he threw his arms outward.

"What are you going on about?" asked Todoroki.

[There isn't a single person in the world who is weaker than me, so I know you can beat me. So why haven't you done so yet?] Kumagawa asked as he tilted his head. [Is it the blood? The self-mutilation? Things getting a little too serious is enough to make you shut down? If you won't take initiative and fight me, then I'll just have to pull both of our weight.]

"HERO TEAM WINS!" came the voice of All Might over the speakers.

[Eh?] Kumagawa uttered as he turned around to face the weapon.

Standing next to the device was Shouji with his hand touching it, having effectively secured it.

Todoroki let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding as the test finally concluded.

Kumagawa let out a sigh and gave a wistful smile. [It seems that once again, I couldn't win.]