Todoroki looked at the ceiling in daze.
The scent of disinfectants permitted through the air and the white colour themed room was very impactful.
He looked down at his casted body and let out a long sigh.
"So I used my fire side huh?"
Now that the previous adrenaline rush had calmed down, Shoto was able to think straight.
He remembered the sensation of finally letting his flames loose.
"Why?"
Why did he feel guilty yet so happy at the same time?
Was he doing the right thing?
These were the flames that slowly turned his mother insane.
The same element that killed his elder brother...
Was it really alright to use them?
"Don't think so hard you'll get wrinkles early."
Shoto turned his head abruptly to the right.
He winced at the pain that shot through his neck, "Shin?"
"Yup," Shin replied nonchalantly as he took a slice of the apple he had peeled.
Seeing the look of confusion on Todoroki's face, Shin felt he needed to clarify some things, "You're in the infirmary," he paused a bit before adding, "You lost..."
Shoto sighed, "I know-"
"To me."
Shoto: "..." now he was seriously questioning whether this guy was just here to rub it in.
"To someone who's quirk only awakened a year ago."
Shoto's eyes widened at the revelation.
A year ago?
Was that even possible?
"Hard to believe but it's true," Shin dropped the knife down on the tray and reached out for another slice of apple with a toothpick, "I know your quirk might be a touchy subject for you but at the end of the day if you can save a life with it," he shoved the fruit into Shoto's mouth, "isn't that what truly matters?"
Todoroki fell silent as he let his classmates' words sink in.
Shin noticed this and felt like he had persuaded enough.
After getting along with frosty for a while now, Shin had gotten a better understanding of the dude.
He was a bit rash but not unreasonable.
At least if you weren't speaking nonsense and he wasn't in an emotional state, then it wasn't impossible to reason with him.
That's why Shin decided not to push him too much.
After all, he had already succeeded in making him use his fire side once, all the guy needed was a little push in the right direction.
"Shin?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you."
Shin smiled softly, "No problem frosty-"
"I ship it."
The warm atmosphere was shattered with these three words.
Both boys turned their heads to the direction of the sound and sure enough they saw Toru waving her bandaged hands in the air.
With Shin's magoi sensing currently active, he could make out the silhouette of the girl doing a silly dance with her hands.
"Speak less," Shin smacked her head without mercy.
"Ouch!" Toru rubbed her head, "Don't you know how to be gentle with a girl?"
Shin smirked, "I do."
"Then-"
"Exactly what I mean. I'm only gentle with girls."
"Shin!"
"Hahaha"
Todoroki looked at the two bickering with a rare smile.
He looked out the window and for the first time in eleven years, he suddenly felt like the world was bright.
...
Midoriya had just finished his first of many lecture sessions from recovery girl and was currently making his way back to class.
He let out a long sigh as he lamented his fate.
"I skipped all the noon lessons. Aizawa-sensei is going to be so mad..."
Oh well, as long as he does not bring up the expulsion threat again, Izuku felt like he could handle anything.
A few internal dialogue's later and he was once again face-to-face with the Class 1A door.
Thinking of Bakugo's glaring eyes, Izuku hesitated for a while before opening the door.
The once noisy class became silent upon his entry but soon erupted once more, "Deku-kun you're back!" Uraraka exclaimed.
"Your punch was as cool as ever!" Uraraka stared at him with stars in her eyes.
Feeling her hot gaze on him, Midoriya's face quickly turned beat red.
"As expected of you Midoriya," Iida nodded with a smug smile. If one didn't know, they'd think his son had just gotten first place at some competition.
Seeing the proud fatherly demeanour, Izuku smiled warily, feeling a little helpless, "Ida-kun... Huh?"
His words faltered at the sight of the empty seat.
His pupils shrunk and a wave of panic washed over him.
"Iida-kun, Uraraka-san... Where is Kacchan?"
"Bakugo? he left. We tried stopping him but he didn't listen- Ah? Deku-kun, where are you going..."
Seeing her green headed friend running down the hall all of a sudden, Uraraka was left confused.
"Don't mind. I think him and Bakugo-san have some things to sort out," Ida comforted.
"Yeah..."
...
Meanwhile, the greenette in question was so busy running down a flight of stairs that he had no time to think of anything else.
His childhood friend's words during the hero training exercise still lingered in his mind.
'Hey you were deceiving me right?'
No he didn't.
'You were enjoying it huh?'
No Kacchan, I wasn't.
All he wanted was to be able to walk shoulder-to-shoulder with his friend once more but from the looks of it, he just made things worse.
As for why he was in such a hurry to talk things out with Kacchan?
For some reason, Izuku had a nagging feeling that if he let Kacchan walk through the gates of UA without settling things with him today, things between them would never be the same again.
He would lose him.
He didn't know how he knew this but he was certain of it.
It was because of this feeling that immediately once he saw the figure of the blonde, that he screamed with all his might, "Kacchan!"
"Huh?" Bakugo steps halted and he slowly turned his head to face him.
Emerald orbs met scarlet ones.
They both stood silent for a while, each having their own complex thoughts.
They were so deep into it that the group watching the show from the school entrance surprisingly went unnoticed by the two.
"Alas, love is harder than fighting villains," Shin thought to himself.
"Oh yeah, where is Kaminari?" he suddenly remembered the blonde that said he would hang out with them after school.
Hearing his question, Kirishima showed a wry smile, "He said Uraraka made his heart beat, so he plans to make her take responsibility."
Shin: "..."
Sure enough, the blonde was hopeless.
He couldn't be saved.
...
"So huge?"
Staring at the UA entrance gate, the middle aged woman stood frozen for a while.
Just the price of the gate alone made her shudder.
And to think her son attended such a school.
Megumi thought back to her once quirkless child and the rage in her heart could hardly be suppressed.
"That white eyed wolf!"
This old lady carried you for nine months and you don't even repay her?
Thinking of all her hard work over the years, Megumi felt aggrieved.
The picture of Shin's fearless face as he signed the papers and walked out of the house resurfaced in her mind.
Sure enough, her second child truly inherited his father's genes.
"No wonder he had gotten bolder. Turns out he had already awakened his quirk."
If not, how else could he be so fearless?
The feeling of being tricked by someone she looked down on made her uncomfortable.
It was like the little employee you used to bully at work suddenly becomes your boss the next day.
The abrupt change of class would be hard for anyone to accept.
Hinami at the back seat was a little hesitant, "Mom I don't think this is a good idea..."
Unlike her parents, Hinami had a better sense of intuition.
Just from the look her elder brother gave her after he found out she was the one to spread the news of him being kicked out, Hinami knew that the chances of him forgiving her was dangerously thin.
If it was before, Shin would ignore her but definitely not leave her to suffer when in trouble.
But now, Hinami had a vague feeling that his heart would remain indifferent no matter what happened to her.
This revelation made her panic a bit.
It would have been fine if Shin was still a quirkless nobody.
But who was he now? He was this year's UA top scorer!
The world's number one hero school!
From the moment he became a student here, his future achievements were beyond doubt.
It was estimated that he and her family would never be from the same world again.
Moreover, she was well aware of how much the Kobayashi family had wronged Shin over the years.
If she were in his place, Hinami knew for sure that once she had gained enough influence, she would never let them go.
Since this was the case, why did Shin not retaliate against them?
Hinami tapped her fingers on the car seat repeatedly.
"Perhaps he still has a soft spot for us?" She looked out her window.
She saw her big brother talking to a red headed boy with a gentle smile plastered on his lips and fell into thought.
It must be so!
After all, Shin had always craved family affection.
How could he have the heart to retaliate against them?
The more she thought of it, the more she felt it made sense.
A smug smile bloomed on her lips and her gaze became eager.
"Mom let's go down and see big brother. Be sure to be gentle and don't-"
Just as her palm touched the car door, the air got heavy.
The temperature dropped by several degrees and their spines shivered collectively.
Beads of sweat dripped down her forehead.
For what felt like hours, Hinami finally managed to take a glance at her mother beside her just to realise that she had already passed out.
The sense of suffocation got heavier and her sight began to blur.
Before everything went dark, the picture of familiar cold amber eyes peering over her was all she could see.
At the entrance gate of UA, two boys with distinct hair colours walked side by side.
Kirishima was talking with Shin about today's battle training results when a sense of uneasiness washed over him, "Hey.. did you feel that?"
Shin's expression froze for half a second before it went back to normal.
His smile even gentler than before, "What was that?"
"Never mind... must be nothing."
...
[The author has something to say~]
I'm back~
Sorry for suddenly going incognito, the start of the year was quite packed.
On the plus side, I graduated!
I'm done with college.
Now I have to do Masters...
Sigh, this is depressing.
-YBA