Thirsty? (Bakugo x OC)

Twenty-Eight - Self Control 🍋

"Fine." Endeavour muttered after a while of painful tense silence so think it was hard to breathe. "If you think you can do better, be my guest Shoto." He paused before a devious smirk curled onto his thin lips. "But, if Ren can't produce a flame on her own by the end of this month, I'll drop you both from the sidekick program."

"Deal." Ren and Todoroki uttered in unison. They exchanged a satisfied glance while Endeavour let out a semi-defeated sigh.

"Have fun." The number one hero muttered through the side of his mouth as he huffed away, having had enough of these children and their foolishness. After they heard the elevator had clearly zoomed up to his floor, Ren turned to Todoroki.

"You sure you can get me to do this in that little time?" She asked with a concerned quirked brow.

"Don't you trust me?"

"Of course I do." Ren nodded slowly and gnawed on her bottom lip.

"Let's get started then." Todoroki lifted his left hand and ignited a small flame within his palm. "Give me your hand, please." He held out his other hand and waited for her to place hers within his.

Ren went to give him her hand but hesitated when she looked at the flickering flames. "You're not gonna try burn my arm off too, are ya?"

Todoroki smiled, it was small but still a smile. "I didn't burn you that time you fell asleep with me." He said quietly. The memory of the two of them huddled up together on the couch all that time ago made Ren blush a little. Even though nothing had ever happened between them, she remembered how angry it made Bakugo to see the two of them on the couch together.

"Okay." Ren placed her hand in Todoroki's chilly right. He rotated her hand so her palm faced up before he brought his left and to hers and transferred the little flame into her palm. She was surprised at how heavy it felt in her hand before Todoroki pulled his away.

"See if you can keep it steady." He instructed as he backed away and leant down so his two-toned eyes were level with Ren's shaky hand. "Breathe." He instructed. The flames flickered up and down randomly as she tried to keep the petals at a consistent size. "Breathe." He instructed again. "There's no danger here, it's barely a light."

Ren shut her eyes and let out a deep breath. He was right, there was nothing to fear, nothing to fight. It was just her and Todoroki in a room that blocked the rest of the outside world away from Ren's failed attempts. She felt the warm plumes calm and settle in the centre of her palm.

"There you go." Todoroki glanced up at Ren and gave her another little smile. "Learn to have a little faith in yourself, Chinami."

She felt her cheeks flush a little before she turned her attention back to the flame. "Now what?"

Todoroki straightened himself and placed his hands on his hips. "Extinguish it."

"... How?"

"When I work with a flame," He ignited another little blaze in his palm and held it up so Ren could see. "The more energy I put into it, the hotter and higher it'll burn." The flame expanded in his hand. "To extinguish it, I take that energy away. If you're focusing on maintaining a balance of energy to keep it steady, you're focusing on a balance of energy or no energy, right?"