Chapter 59

Todoroki was being relentless in his assault. All the while Kumagawa was dancing about like nothing was happening.

[I must say, you have excellent control over you Quirk for someone so young. Your parents must be very proud of you.]

A snarl came from the dual-hair-colored teen in response. "Shut up!" he roared as he swung his arm towards Kumagawa, conjuring up another wall of ice.

[Oh? Hit a nerve now, did I?] the smiling teen asked as the ice wall disappeared, inches from his face. [Let me guess; daddy issues?]

Todoroki was now full-on scowling at Kumagawa. "That's none of your business!"

[Yep! Got it in one!] the teen replied with a smile. [Your dad is the Number 2 Hero, Endeavor, right? Having a hard time living up to your pop's expectations?]

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" shouted Todoroki as he unleashed another attack.

An attack that once again, never hit Kumagawa.

[Tell me; Your Quirk is Half-Hot Half-Cold, correct?]

Todoroki glared so fiercely it would rival Bakugou's.

[It's pretty obvious that you at least have your fathers fire, so why don't you use it?]

In the blink of an eye, Kumagawa was standing right in front of Todoroki with a sinister grin on his face.

[Your body is shivering.] he stated.

Todoroki swung his fist at Kumagawa, but he was already back on the other side of the arena.

[That's one of the drawbacks of you Quirk users. All your Quirks are extensions of the body. Meaning that you have to deal with backlash.]

There were more than a few raised brows at Kumagawa's statement. It was almost as if he was implying that he wasn't a Quirk user.

[In your case, it happens to be your body temperature. If you use your cold side too much, then your body will freeze over. But for whatever reason, you refuse to utilize your heat side in combat to rectify the problem. What's the matter? Still stuck in that rebellious phase? I know I was for quite awhile.]

"Stay out of my business." growled Todoroki.

[You know, I'm feeling quite insulted by your half-assed performance. Everyone is giving their all to win, and you aren't even willing to give it your best shot. That's spitting on the faces of everyone you defeated in order to get here.] Kumagawa sneered as he held his arms outward. [So, tell you what; I'm gonna help you learn something about yourself. Which do you value more? Your pride, or your life? Attack me and we'll find out.]

Todoroki didn't know what Kumagawa was getting at, but if he wanted a fight, he would happily oblige. He swung his arm to create another mass of ice... But nothing happened.

"Huh?"

He tried again. Nothing.

A third time. Still no ice.

He began putting as much force as he could to use his ice Quirk but yielded no results. Not even a snowflake.

"What's this?! Suddenly Todoroki doesn't seem capable of creating ice?! Can someone please explain to me what's going on?!"

[Come now Todoroki-san! Just because you can't use the ice-half of your Quirk, doesn't mean you can't use the fire-half!] Kumagawa taunted as he took his sweet time approaching the other teen. [Set me ablaze, boil my blood, turn my skin to ash, hit me with an inferno so great that not even bones remain!] the teen then appeared in front of Todoroki. [WELL?! DO IT!]

The dual-Quirk teen brought his arms up to block when Kumagawa swung at him with a quick straight. The impact caused Todoroki to stagger back a few feet, but there was no real damage. The moment he blinked though, Kumagawa was gone again. He then felt a heavy impact on the side of his head.

[I told you your weakness was close quarters combat, so why didn't try to improve on it? It's almost as if you want to lose.] Kumagawa scolded as he lowered his foot back down.

"Bastard!" Todoroki cursed as he swung at Kumagawa with a right hook.

The blow caught the teen in the chin and sent him spinning and on to the ground. But not even a second later, he was back up like it never even happened.

[Try harder. I've faced opponents who were many times more ruthless than you.]

Falling for the taunt once more, Todoroki blindly charged in and swung wildly in his attempt to hit Kumagawa. But every time he did so, Kumagawa would respond with a counter of his own. As the fight continued to drag on, Todoroki was beginning to tire, while Kumagawa didn't even look winded.

Trying once more to call upon his ice Quirk, Todoroki was met once again with failure. "What the hell did you do to my Quirk?!"

[Hmm?] Kumagawa uttered as he tilted his head. [If you're referring to your inability to create any ice right now, you brought that on yourself. However I'm sure your fire-half is still working properly. So why not use it?] he finished with a sneer.

"I will NEVER use my fire side in combat." Todoroki said fiercely. "That is my resolve. To show that shitty father of mine that I don't need his Quirk to become great!"

[...]