TRIGGER WARNING: none
THEMES: fluff
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"I haven't been skating in years!"
"I don't think I'm very good at it!"
"You will be terrible, crappy Deku!"
"Thanks Kaachan..."
"I think you'll be a fast learner."
"Thanks Todoroki! You too! Wait, have you ever done skating before?"
"Hm. A little."
"Really?! Wow I bet you're so good!"
Aizawa rubbed at his temple as he herded his kids into the skating arena, already regretting the idea of a class trip to let off some steam and stress.
"Remember this is a class trip so keep in mind you are representing all the students and staff at UA. And don't-"
"Hi, can we skate now?!" Denki asked the receptionist excitedly, jumping up and down with a grinning Mina.
"O-of course." the receptionist nodded whilst being taken-aback by the energetic boy; they received a sympathetic nod from Aizawa as they checked their booking time. "Here it is. The rink is yours for the next two hours, use it well and have fun!"
"Yay!"
Rushing in to the changing room, the class all grabbed skates in their size before pulling off their own shoes and hanging up their jackets. They were a mixture of black and white with sharp silver blades that looked very dangerous indeed. Some of them struggled with a few of the laces and had to ask for help of others.
For example, when Momo was struggling with hers Todoroki knelt down from sitting next to her and quietly laced them up, asking if they fit right. Momo blushed but replied gratefully that they were perfect, and she and Jiro headed off to the rink together whilst chatting animatedly.
Todoroki himself grabbed a pair of white skates and swiftly laced them up, remembering the first time he came and sat whilst his mother laced up his skates for him, telling him he would be able to do them perfectly when he was grown up. The smallest smile appeared on his face and he headed out to the rink, putting in his earbuds and starting some music before slipping his phone into his back pocket.
At the rink he found Deku and Uraraka looking at the ice with anxious expressions; every time they put one foot on the ice it went sliding and they hastily retreated. Shoto stopped at the entrance next to them and checked his skates were tight enough before taking a breath in and pushing out onto the ice, getting used to the weight and finding his centre of balance. It luckily didn't take too long and so he went over to Deku and Uraraka.
"Do you need help?" he asked.
"Yes please Todoroki! You're so good at this!" Uraraka complimented; Shoto thanked her before gently taking her hands and pulling her onto the ice, checking behind him to make sure the ice was clear.
Todoroki showed Uraraka how to glide without falling over before giving her advice on her posture. Soon she shakily could skate on her own, still with her hand on the railing just in case, so Shoto went over to Deku. This time Deku put his hands on Todoroki's first and took the first hesitant step onto the ice.
But his foot slid forwards and he fell back. Todoroki grabbed the boy and pulled him up before asking if he was okay.
"Fine thanks! That was a close one!"
"Hm."
After a minute or so Deku was skating as good as Uraraka, yet he was hesitant to let go of Shoto's hands. Todoroki saw this and assumed he was just still a little nervous, so he skated them over to the brunette and linked their hands together, saying the best way to improve was to help one another. Then he re-shuffled his song and skated off, wanting some time alone.
He let himself relax as he slowly skated around the rink, moving away from the edge and into the inner circle since he knew others would need to use the railing for support. He simply glided from left to right, or sometimes turned around and skated backwards to test his balance. The music was calming in his ears and the melody allowed him to time his movements well, and soon he was doing simple turns or longer glides. He took out his phone once to turn up the volume and didn't notice the eyes on him.
Aizawa watched as Todoroki was in his element, looking more relaxed than he possibly had ever seen him. It was like he belonged on the ice: strong, calm, cool and awe-inspiring to look at. He noticed that his other students also noticed how good Todoroki was on the ice, seeming to skate effortlessly along the frozen surface. But most of all, Todoroki seemed happy.
But then he paused, pulling out his phone with a confused expression. It soon became neutral once again as he accepted a phone call, skating to the edge of the rink to answer it.
"Hello."
"Hey Shoto! How are you?"
"I'm okay Fuyumi. Are you okay too?"
"Of course I am. I heard that you're on a field trip today with your class! You know you've always been really good at skating."
"Hm. I'm not too bad."
"Maybe you should show your friends the things you would do on the lake behind the house? You're really talented you know."
"Another time maybe, I think everyone should focus on having fun themselves. Speaking of, how was your class' production?"
"Oh it was amazing Shoto! Everyone did so well I had to treat them to ice-cream afterwards."
"I'm glad to hear it. Why did you call me now?"
"Can't I check in on my little brother? That's my job, isn't it?"
"... Hm. I suppose so."
Todoroki looked over his shoulder when he heard footsteps getting closer. He saw Aizawa was making his way down to stand at the railing, and asked who he was speaking to on the phone.
"Do I need to speak to Endeavour again?" Aizawa asked in an annoyed tone, remembering the last time he had to speak to the man to allow Todoroki on a training exercise trip to the beach.
"No, it's my sister Fuyumi."
"Your sister? Why is she calling?"
"'To check up on me.'" Shoto quoted, but still sounding unsure himself.
"Shoto, is that your teacher? Is he being nice?"
"Aizawa-sensei is a good teacher Fuyumi. He was just asking to see if it was Endea- our father."
"Then can I speak to him? You can carry on skating if you'd like."
"Hm, alright."
Todoroki silently handed Aizawa the phone before returning to the ice, skating round the rink and checking up on Deku and Uraraka whilst glancing over to his teacher every so often. Momo came up to him at one point and they skated around together whilst chatting, and Todoroki even taught her to skate backwards. Although she stumbled a few times, Shoto was always there to catch her and she was soon very consistent.
"Todoroki." Aizawa called out when the student skated by.
Todoroki came to a sudden halt, leaning heavily over his feet, taking Aizawa by surprise as he seemed to defy gravity Yet Todoroki soon stood upright and turned to face him. However, his stop was too sudden and a skating Kirishima had to shout and hastily try to stop his skates. But he didn't know what to do and was about to crash into Todoroki.
Todoroki saw a blur of red to his right, and turned around just in time to stop Kirishima. He had to kneel down and they slid back a little but they didn't end up falling over.
"Are you okay?" Todoroki asked as he was basically keeping Kirishima up.
"Yeah! Thanks Todorokibro!"
"It's not a problem."
They stood and Todoroki made sure that Kirishima was skating well again with Denki before returning to Aizawa, who congratulated him on his save.
"It's nothing. What do you need?"
"Your sister Fuyumi told me that you're quite the skater."
"Oh. Did she?"
"She did. And she and I talked and came up with a proposal. If you can show me how you skate, and it's good enough, then we can incorporate some skating time into your training and we can look into adopting that cat you told me about."
Despite Todoroki's passive face, he could see the excitement in his eyes.
"But why?" Todoroki asked. "It's just skating."
"As my student it is my job to know you better and to help your skill set develop in order to be a great hero."
"A skillset?"
"If you can skate it will increase your mobility and combat on the ice, an area where several of your classmates would struggle. I'm sure there is a hero out there somewhere who could help you train."
"But my father... Endeavour wants me to improve my fire power. He wouldn't approve."
"Todoroki, does it look like I really care what your father thinks? He is a good hero but I am in charge of your studies whilst you are in my class."
Todoroki was quiet for a moment before nodding, a small smile on his face as he decided he would skate. But he cast a nervous glance at his classmates, not wanting them to all stare.
"Fuyumi said you practised a few routines you saw on the television when you got the chance. Do you remember any of them?"
"Hm."
"Then can I ask you to link up your phone to the speakers? I'm sure everyone would like to watch."
"Everyone?"
"Everyone. You should show them this skill and maybe they will try to find a special skill of their own. Jiro has her music, Sato bakes, and maybe skating is your thing."
"... Okay."
Todoroki looked through his playlists, trying to find a song he wouldn't mind skating to, whilst Aizawa went and spoke to the receptionist who was more than happy to help. She gave the internet password to Shoto who connected his phone, handing it to Aizawa before heading back out onto the ice.
"Anything else you need?" Aizawa asked as Todoroki looked around the rink.
"No."
"Okay."
The song came on, gradually getting louder, grabbing the attention of the rest of Todoroki's classmates. For a moment everyone slowed to a stop as Todoroki checked his skates, adding even more ice to the steel blades to make it even smoother. Then he looked over to his teacher who nodded before breathing out and skating off to the left.
The other students slowly made their way off the ice, but some were a little slower than others. At one point Todoroki had to get down to the floor, one leg balanced out in front of him whilst the other was on the ice, helping him turn, in order to avoid Sero's arm. Yet he was going at such a fast pace that Sero didn't even realise what had happened before Todoroki was meters ahead. Aizawa noticed this and was surprised at the amount of speed Shoto gained in such a short amount of time.
Doing simple step sequences to gather more speed, Todoroki allowed himself to fall into the rhythm of the song. His sister really liked this song, saying it gave her hope for the future, and so he let himself feel the warmth of hope rush into him too. It was true he wanted to become a great hero, to give his family a better life in the future.
As the music reached a crescendo, Todoroki skated right to the edge of the rink. Some of the students were worried he was going to smash into the wall but he switched his blades at the last second, taking him in a backwards directed. He inhaled and exhaled before crossing his legs and jumping up, willing his body to rotate three times before landing back down on a single foot.
He did another single rotation on the ice to slow down his momentum before regaining his balance and skating around once more, making intricate patterns on the ice as he felt himself loosen up on the ice. He hadn't jumped in a while; it felt nice. The music began to ascend once more so he did an eagle spread with his legs before lifting one foot and doing a quad toe loop, landing the same way as before.
Finally after a few more steps and a balance or two, he found a smooth spot on the ice and span, testing his balance and managing twenty turns from a sit spin to an upright spin, adding in a butterfly to continue the momentum. At last he came upright as he slowed down, halting to a stop as he let his arms fall to his sides.
Todoroki was breathing slightly heavy as he hadn't done any full-out skating for a long time; he also forgot that he had an audience. He cast a glance over his shoulder to see his classmates, his teacher and the receptionist all watching with wide eyes or dropped jaws. He took in a long breath before skating to the edge of the rink, grabbing his phone and pausing the music himself before it repeated again.
"So?" he asked Aizawa who seemed more collected.
"Todoroki, why didn't you show me this earlier?"
"Uh... it's just skating. Anyone can skate."
"Not like that."
"Oh, was it not good? Can we not get the cat now?"
To his surprise Aizawa laughed and patted his shoulder, making Todoroki looked surprised and confused for a moment.
"If you use your skating skills like that in training then you can adopt all the cats you want."
"Oh. Okay." Todoroki agreed with a nod.
The rest of the class soon clambered down from the seats and joined Shoto and Aizawa. Quickly they gave their praise to Todoroki, complimenting him on his skating. Many were surprised why he had not shared his skill before, and they were so loud that he couldn't get a word in himself.
"I told you that you were an amazing skater Todoroki!" Midoriya beamed.
"Hm. Thankyou Midoriya."