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If you're wondering how many couches you have to destroy accidentally in order to get sent to quirk control classes, the answer is three. Shouto never wondered this, but now he has the answer.
(If you're wondering how many couches you have to destroy on purpose to get sent to anger management classes, the answer is one. But that would be a better question to ask Bakugou.)
Ever since he first used his fire in the sports festival a few months ago, his fire has come to him easier and easier, like instinct. So when someone needs a candle lit or a marshmallow roasted, he can comply easily. It's so easy, he can do it in his sleep.
(In fact, you can say that that's part of the problem. That was couch number two, but we'll get to that.)
But with all of this new access came a more difficult time controlling it. All of the suppressing and controlling he practiced with his ice, he never put the time and effort into with his fire. Sure, he can control it during a battle, but when he sneezes, gets angry or startled, or when he's not paying attention...
Whoosh. Out come the flames, and everyone in the vicinity has to duck for cover.
They forgave him for the first sofa. Midoriya sat too close and he didn't expect it and their legs brushed and suddenly everyone was running and yelling for water and Bakugou of all people was cursing him out for ruining "a decent fucking couch."
"My parents bought this one, fuckwad," he groaned, and Shouto gracefully didn't mention the fact that they only bought it because he destroyed the old one in the first place for the debatably valid reason that class B took over his favorite gym. Never mind the other two gyms available to them, oh no. He was sure they did it to spite him, and he made sure the entirety of class A heard his complaints.
But that's off topic. The fire was put out quickly, a new couch was bought with Endeavor's credit card, and life continued.
Until two weeks later, when Shouto fell asleep on the couch and a tiny flame from his fingertip spread to the rest of the couch, which probably would've hurt like hell and given him yet another scar if Kirishima didn't shove him away in time.
This second couch was also bought with Endeavor's credit card, except according to UA rules, he had to be contacted too. All he said was that he was glad Shouto was "using the quirk he was given" and that his fire was just coming along, give it time.
UA forgave that. They did not forgive the third couch.
"Nobody informed me we were watching a horror movie," Shouto said in his defense, once the smoke cleared out and Aizawa was brought. "I do not enjoy jump scares." He felt they were tasteless, just designed to get a reaction, and a reaction they did receive. It just so happened to be one that set off every fire alarm in the room.
"Evidently!" Bakugou hissed, gesturing to the remains of the couch. "Did you really have to freeze it too?" The charred remains of the couch also happened to be encased in a block of ice, courtesy of Shouto's better behaving side.
"That was the easiest way to stop the fire. I figured-"
"Nobody talk to me for the rest of the night," Bakugou said, storming off no doubt to the gym. Shouto hoped for everyone's sake that his favorite gym was open. There wasn't any couch left for him to destroy.
He was already half-way through ordering a new couch - Endeavor was going to be accumulating a lot of credit card points - when Aizawa informed him that it wasn't enough this time.
"Since this has become a recurring theme, you will be required to attend quirk control classes twice a week, Mondays and Thursdays," he said, away from the prying ears of the class. "You'll meet me by the staff room on Monday at 7, and I'll take you to the class. Any questions?"
Shouto didn't truly believe he needed quirk control classes, but he wasn't going to make a fuss about it like Bakugou would. "Will my father hear about this?" he asked instead.
"We figured it wouldn't be necessary to tell him, unless you'd rather tell him yourself." Thinking about how Endeavor would react to him needing more extra classes - the remedial course classes already made him blow a fuse - made him flame up unintentionally.
Well. Maybe he did need the classes after all.
"Okay," he said simply, and returned to the common room. The frozen over couch wasn't too uncomfortable when he sat on it. Made for a good thinking space, at least.
Now he stands in front of the staff room, occupying himself by freezing his pen and melting it out repeatedly. He doesn't know what quirk control class will entail, so for today he only brought a pen and a notebook.
Aizawa emerges a moment later, with an enthusiastic Present Mic on his heels.
"See you around, Shouta," he says, beaming at him. Aizawa waves somewhat stoically, and then turns his attention to Shouto.
"Follow me," he says, and Shouto complies unquestioningly. The sooner they get this over with, the sooner he can return to the common room. Someone taught Iida how to play poker, and now everyone's waiting to see if he'll be really good or really bad at it. Shouto bet 1000 yen that he wipes the floor with everyone. He'll have to ask Midoriya for the results.
Aizawa leads him through the hallway, passing by their homeroom class and stopping by one of the many training rooms they have in the school. Instead of having equipment like the gyms, they simply have concrete floors and disaster proof walls that can withstand basically any quirk that comes near it. The devil works hard, but the UA architects work harder.
(Besides for their lax security, but since everyone else chooses to forgive them, Shouto supposes he can do the same.)
This training room, however, is not empty. Lying on the concrete is a giant pile of firewood, with many other pieces of wood nearby. Laying in the opposite corner is a huge pile of lightbulbs and extension cables. And standing beside this giant pile, a lightbulb in each hand, is...
"Aizawa-sensei, you didn't tell me you brought me a friend!" Kaminari gasps, and both lightbulbs illuminate brightly. "Not that you're bad company, of course, but conversation with you is kinda stale..."
He puts the lightbulbs down, then ambles over to where Shouto is surveying the room. "Gotta say, I'm kinda surprised you're the first one here. You are, in a very platonic way, the most perfect person in our class."
"Three couches say otherwise," Shouto replies dryly, when a thought occurs to him. "When you said I am the first one here, did you mean more people are coming?"
Kaminari snorts, covering his mouth with his hand. "I meant you're the first one to be in this class besides me, period. Again, not that Aizawa-sensei is anything less than perfect company, but he always goes to sleep eventually. It'll be nice to have someone else to hang with for an hour."
"How long have you been coming here?"
"Mmmmmm, since the USJ attack?"
Shouto raises his eyebrows, then forces them back down. "Since you have the experience, what do we do here exactly?" He gestures to the pile of firewood. "Do I just set it on fire?"
"Basically." He returns to his lightbulbs. "Principal Nedzu's theory is that I - well, we - can get better quirk control just by using our quirks more. Once our bodies are more used to it, then accidents like stray sparks or couch fires won't happen anymore."
Shouto isn't so confident in this theory. "If I get more comfortable with my quirk, won't I only set more couches on fire? Since it will be more instinctual?"
"The more you do something, the easier it'll be for your body to control it on auto-pilot. Like drinking water without inhaling it or something." He tosses a bulb in the air, catching it before it can shatter on the concrete. "You can control your ice perfectly. How did you learn that?"
Through physical and verbal abuse from my father until my body submitted to his will, Shouto doesn't say. Instead, he shrugs and says, "It was so long ago, I hardly remember."
"Well, you'll get it eventually. And in the meantime, we get to destroy shit with Aizawa sensei's consent!"
Shouto turns to Aizawa for a clarification. "In a controlled environment, of course," he says, "but yes. You should burn each log individually, using as much of your fire as you can without it getting out of control." He takes out a silvery grey bodysuit. "You should also wear this, for protection's sake. Completely fireproof."
"Okay." Shouto isn't sure what he expected from quirk control class, but this certainly isn't it. He's not complaining or anything; what could be better than destroying stuff for an hour? He goes to the bathroom, changes into the bodysuit, and returns to the classroom.
Kaminari takes out a speaker, plugging his phone in and handing it to Shouto. "Usually me and Aizawa-sensei switch between songs, but since you're here you can have first dibs."
Shouto is intrigued. "What does Aizawa-sensei listen to?"
"White noise," Aizawa says from his sleeping bag across the room. Kaminari laughs out loud at this, and Shouto smiles a little. Definitely could be worse. He chooses a song from YouTube and lets it play. Kaminari listens for a second before grinning.
"Didn't peg you for an emo type, dude."
"What can I say? I am a child consumed with teenage angst and daddy issues." He says this all with a straight face, and Kaminari bursts out laughing again, slinging an arm over his shoulder.
"I am so glad you're here," he says. "Now let's get to destroying some shit."
Quirk control class goes as such:
Shouto burns his firewood, each log individually, until he's surrounded by ashes and his clothes are sooty. He doesn't mind the mess; his clothes get destroyed so often by his quirks, it's a non-issue. Besides, this is the school's gear, not his.
Kaminari's training consists of picking up his lightbulbs in twos, pumping electricity into them until they seem like they'll burst, then putting them back in the pile. Aizawa-sensei observes them for the first ten minutes, then curls up in his sleeping bag with a warning that any explosions will wake him up and make him very disappointed.
The music switches between Shouto’s "moody emo music" (in Kaminari's words), Aizawa's white noise, and Kaminari's upbeat pop. Shouto finds it disorienting at first, but it all fades to the background once he really gets into the burning. Using his quirk in large, flashy movements is always exhilarating, but watching his flames slowly consume a log is much more satisfying, he finds.
Towards the end, Kaminari puts his lightbulbs down and calls, "Aizawa-sensei, we're ready to finish up!"
Aizawa stirs, crawling out of his sleeping bag moodily. "Make it quick," he says, and leads Shouto out of the room. They watch through the small window on the door as Kaminari puts on a face guard, leaving only his hands exposed out of his whole body.
"Todoroki, watch this!" he shouts, muffled through the thick door, and Shouto stares as he grabs two lightbulbs like before, powering them up. Except this time he doesn't stop until they've burst to bits, the crackling of glass audible even through the door. "Cool, right? I get to destroy all of these."
He starts going through the stack, and after a while, maybe for Shouto's sake, he finishes the pile off with one giant voltage blast. By the end, the whole room is covered in broken glass, and the smell of ozone permeates the door.
"Put these on," Aizawa instructs, handing him a pair of thick rubber boots. "Don't want to get glass in there."
Shouto leaves his shoes at the door, pulling on the boots and following Aizawa in. He only notices now that the man is wearing an identical pair.
Kaminari puts the face guard back on the hook, grinning wildly. His hair is only standing up a little, which really attests to the strength of his hair gel. Shouto can see Aizawa's hair starting to float around, and he practically feels the electricity crackle in the air.
"Your turn!" he says, gesturing to the remaining firewood. "Make a huge bonfire or something, it's really cathartic."
"Forgive me if this is an idiotic question, but how will this help my quirk control?" Shouto asks, puzzled. He doesn't ask where UA has the money to fund an endless supply of lightbulbs and wood from; it seems there really is no expense UA won't take besides hiring better security.
"Letting out the extra energy, you know?" Kaminari says. "Blasty's right, breaking things is super therapeutic. This is sorta like reverse art therapy, because instead of making stuff, we destroy it. You don't have to, obviously, but I like to finish up by destroying shit. "
Shouto remembers a second later that "Blasty" is Bakugou. "I will take you up on that," he says, and pulls on his own face guard. Kaminari and Aizawa step outside, and Kaminari gives him a thumbs up through the window.
"Go for it!" he shouts, and Shouto takes a deep breath. Keeping his right hand by his side, he extends his left at the remains of the woodpile, squints his eyes, and burns.
He's overcome with a memory. It's during the hero licensing exam, using his flames full force against the students from another school and exploding the building beside him. That didn't feel cathartic, exactly. He was just doing what he had to do at the time.
He doesn't realize the wood's already reduced to ashes until he hears loud knocking from the door. He opens his eyes - when did he close them? - and stops his flames abruptly.
"Dude, that looked awesome!" Kaminari crows, fanning his face a little. "Super hot in here too, I have no clue how you're not sweating."
"You grow used to the heat after a while," he says.
"Sooooooo, how was it? Get any of that teenage angst out?"
Shouto doesn't know how to answer, because he isn't entirely sure. Do I feel better, or am I just empty?
"I'm looking forward to Thursday," he says in lieu of a proper response, and Kaminari takes it.
The next few days are normal. His friends ask him where he was, and he says he was doing work. Having to explain exactly what he was doing seems like a waste of energy, and he knows that bringing up the topic of his flames will trigger an "emotional group experience." He loves his friends, he really does, but sometimes they forget that he doesn't do emotions like they do. Talking about them exhausts him; just feeling them exhausts him.
Thursday comes faster than Shouto would've expected, and he navigates his way to the room alone this time, since he remembers the way. Kaminari and Aizawa are both already there, and Kaminari salutes to him when he walks in.
"Gear up, son," he says. "We're going smashing tonight."
When he returns from the bathroom, he finds that Kaminari's holding a couple of shopping bags of... something.
"These are all purchases in order to maximize our control," he explains, emptying out bags of marshmallows, hot dogs, and even a few potatoes. "Plus, we're missing Blasty's cooking tonight."
"That's a shame," Shouto says. One of Bakugou's only redeeming qualities is his cooking. "And Aizawa-sensei is the one who approved these purchases?" They both turn to look at the man, who is halfway into his sleeping bag already.
"The school has too much of a budget for its students," he says simply, which Shouto takes as a yes. "Go on, knock yourselves out."
They spend the next twenty minutes roasting and eating. Shouto has never had a hot dog before, which almost makes Kaminari fall over in shock, and he gets him to try one along with a roasted potato.
"It tastes interesting," he remarks, chewing slowly. "Very salty, but I think I enjoy it."
"I can finally say I accomplished something in life," Kaminari says with a happy sigh. "Take that, middle school bullies!"
He then attempts to get Shouto to try a s'more, which Shouto - correctly - asserts looks like three different flavors of sugar made into a sandwich. Kaminari eats it himself, mumbling, "You can't win 'em all," through a full mouth.
They then return to their regularly scheduled destruction. Kaminari puts his face guard on and attempts to juggle a few lightbulbs, which leads to the exact conclusion you would expect. Aizawa wakes up crossly, looking from the broken glass to Kaminari's guilty expression, and declares that he doesn't get paid enough for this.
"It feels odd, putting on protective gear in UA," Shouto says near the end, looking down at his protective jumpsuit. "Usually their policy seems to be 'heroes don't get injured, why should you?'"
"You're absolutely right," Kaminari snorts. "Aizawa-sensei actually got these specially made from the support course. He doesn't like to show it, but he cares about our safety a lot more than some of the staff here."
"Huh."
Kaminari decides to save juggling for another day in the end, choosing instead to pile the lightbulbs up and shoot a single condensed beam of electricity at them. Shouto almost has to look away, the blast is so bright.
"I'm practicing my aim for my hero move," he explains. He kicks away some of the broken glass to clear a way for Shouto. "Your turn!"
Once the room is empty, Shouto turns to the pile of firewood and starts the burn, keeping a good distance from the flame. Immediately, another memory strikes him. Shooting the flames at Aizawa himself during the practical exam with Yaoyorozu. Improvising with them, strategizing, using them for more than just mindless destruction. Using it with another person, instead of merely against someone else.
His eyes snap open again - he really must remember to keep them open - and the ashes of the firewood swirl around him like dust in the wind.
Being friendly with Kaminari - he wouldn't say friends just yet, considering they barely spoke before this - is easy. They basically just exchange sarcastic quips at random moments, and when Kaminari does finger guns to him, he does the respectful thing and does them back.
An example of one of their exchanges:
"Is something burning?" Kaminari asks on Saturday night, sniffing the air hard. Everyone around him tries to figure out what he's talking about, while Shouto replies, "The outlet is not working again, not to point any fingers." Neither of them look at the other, but, Kaminari explains later, "The vagueposting is real."
Kaminari is also an expert when it comes to internet humor, something that Shouto finds helpful, given that all of his friends either don't understand it themselves or can't figure out how to explain it.
"You've come to the right place, buddy," he says when Shouto approaches him regarding a meme he saw online. "I'll teach you everything I know, but you must swear to never disclose where you got this information."
Either way, the next day, when Shouto asserts that Stain had "small dick energy and a flat face to match," the first thing everyone within earshot does is turn to Kaminari, who's just about suffocating from laughing so hard.
"I didn't do anything, I swear," he says, but it would be more believable if he wasn't tearing up.
Aizawa continues to treat Shouto the same, which he is grateful for. Kaminari says that Aizawa secretly has a soft spot for the two of them, like he has one for all of his problem children, but if he does, he doesn't show it. Some of his classmates call him "dad" as a joke, but Shouto would never insult him like that.
The next Monday around, Kaminari gets him to try juggling a couple of flaming logs.
"I can't believe you've never even tried it," he says, ducking away before he can get beaned in the head with burning lumber. Shouto isn't very good at juggling, but it's entertaining, and Kaminari gets a kick out of it.
"My father always said that using my quirk for frivolities was a waste of time," Shouto replies softly. Kaminari squints at him, and his eyes move inadvertently towards the scar. Shouto knows that the main rumor about it is that his father gave it to him; he’s never felt the need to clarify.
"Want me to record you doing this and send it to him?" he asks with what Aizawa would call "the problem child smile of someone up to no good." He's already holding his phone up enticingly, but Shouto doesn't need much convincing to annoy his father.
"Yes, thank you." He pauses. "Would it be better if I appeared to be good at juggling or bad at it?"
Kaminari thinks it over. "Maybe we can make a video of you doing it well, then a blooper reel of you messing up a few times. The full spread, yannow?"
Shouto got lost about halfway through his sentence, but he nods anyway. This is nothing new. "Sounds perfect."
About halfway through filming, Aizawa opens his eyes, narrows them at Kaminari, and says, "You're a bad influence. Having you around Todoroki was a bad idea. Todoroki, I apologize."
Shouto, who almost has the hang of this whole juggling thing, merely says, "It is no issue, sensei. I'm learning a lot here," and catches a flaming log from the air. Kaminari whoops, claps him on the back, and narrowly misses getting burned by the firewood.
His memory of the day is of the forest, right before Bakugou's kidnapping. Using his fire to save Tokoyami and to stop Dark Shadow's rampage. At the time, he felt... exhilarated, both from the fear of the villain with the metal teeth and from using his quirk for good. It was the first time he ever teamed up with Bakugou outside of hero training, and it made him feel accomplished.
Then a few hours later, the accomplished feeling disappeared entirely.
It's been a while since he willingly thought about that night; even in the nightmares, it mainly focused on Bakugou being taken, rather than what came before. He had forgotten about all of the wins of the night. They hadn't felt important, after the one giant loss.
"I feel better," he remarks when Kaminari comes back in. "I think this helped."
"Really? Aw, dude, you're gonna make me cry," Kaminari says with a grin. "Wanna send the video now? I finished editing it while you were in there."
"Yes please." It's the first text he's sent to his father in months; Endeavor responds a minute later with a row of question marks, which he ignores as he sticks his phone back in his pocket. Kaminari cackles all the way back to the dorms.
He decides to tell Midoriya about the classes. He's the most interested in Shouto's quirk, after all, and he is also his best friend and closest confidante. He shows him the juggling video too, which makes him smile and mess up his hair affectionately.
(Shouto does not set his bed on fire. These classes might just be doing something after all.)
"It sounds like these classes are doing good for you, Todoroki-kun," he says. Shouto told him about the memories too, which he didn't even tell Kaminari about. "Positive associations with your left side are the key to releasing the pent up anger at yourself about it. It might be easier to talk to your mom now, too, without the guilt of having flames with her ice quirk."
"You know a lot about everything, Midoriya," Shouto says genuinely. Midoriya is, without a doubt, the smartest person he knows. While Shouto only studies what he must for school, Midoriya spends hours every night reading about all sorts of subjects like psychology and physics and chemistry. He says it makes it easier to analyze quirks, although Shouto believes that he would do great at it either way.
Midoriya blushes, like he always does at any hint of a compliment. "Thank you, Todoroki-kun, although I'm just speaking from basic psychology. The easier access of your fire might also be linked to a different part of your brain since you didn't develop it as an innate part of your senses..."
Shouto lets him mumble, since it's adorable as well as intelligent. He can't follow a word of it, of course, but he enjoys hearing it nonetheless.
When he finishes his thought, he asks, "Is there anyone else there with you?" and Shouto realizes he didn't mention Kaminari. It didn't feel like his place to call him out like that, especially since he isn't even sure Kaminari told his own friends.
"No one I recognize," he replies, eyes on the wall since he is a terrible liar. "Now please continue talking about the brain, I wish to know more." Midoriya resumes his ramble and he leans against the wall, shutting his eyes and humming slightly. He read online somewhere that the key to dealing with traumatic experiences is to imagine yourself in your happy place, and he is right there in it.
"Yo, dude, you know what we should try?"
"What?"
"I should zap the log and set it on fire, and you should control the fire and make all of the other logs also go on fire. Like a domino effect."
"I feel as though you are referring to firebending from Avatar. I will clarify once more that I cannot control fire once it leaves my person. Only when I'm releasing it may I control it to my will."
Avatar is one of many pieces of media that Kaminari introduced him to at 1am. Shouto enjoys watching the clips of the waterbenders, although the firebenders hit a little too close to home. Looking at Prince Zuko also makes his stomach tense up with empathy. He's glad at the end, when he becomes friends with everyone and repents for his actions. He deserves to be happy.
"Bummer."
"Indeed."
"And just checking again, you're not the avatar?"
"Not that I know of, no. If my father had three wives with different quirks-"
"Oh-kay, let's stop you right there. Very TMI, especially with our homeroom teacher right there."
"I apologize. I didn't mean to make anyone uncomfortable."
"Nah, it's all good. Wanna race to see who can set more logs on fire in a minute? Aizawa-sensei will time us."
"No I won't. Why did you wake me up?"
"Come on, sensei, it's for our training! I thought you want us to be better at controlling our quirks."
"I agree with Kaminari. Using our quirks in tandem will help us gain valuable skills."
"Why do I let myself be bullied by two children?"
"I think that's a yes!"
Shouto doesn't have nightmares often, so it takes a few weeks of destruction therapy for him to realize that he hasn't had one in a while.
"Do you get nightmares?" he asks Kaminari one Thursday, using a finger to burn a design in the log he's holding. Kaminari showed him a few woodburning videos on YouTube, and he wants to make something nice for Iida, since his birthday passed a little while ago.
"Sometimes," Kaminari replies, showing him the display of rainbow LED lights he arranged in a pattern. Asking a question like that a few weeks earlier would have been too personal, but now it feels alright. "About Kamino, and the USJ incident, and I-Island, and all that jazz. Why?"
"I feel like I'm having them less often due to this quirk control class," he answers, throwing the firewood away when the pattern gets ruined and picking up a new one. He wants to make a nameplate for his door, but every time he tries to make a pair of glasses, they always end up smudged. "Is that supposed to happen?"
"I've been doing this for a while, so I can't really tell how it would've been without this class, but all the better, right? Less nightmares is cash money." Cash money, Shouto remembers, is a good thing. "Also if you want to be precise for your design, you should get a metal tool to burn with and heat it with your fire. Maybe ask Yaomomo for one."
"I will try, thank you." He resumes his attempts, and without looking up, says, "You've improved a lot with your quirk, Kaminari. In training today, I noticed that even when you released your biggest attack, you retained the same level of concentration. There were no brain dead moments."
"Aw, thanks man. I try my best."
"But if you can control your quirk now, why do you keep coming to this class? I assume you don't plan on taking it forever, and I am unsure how much more you plan to gain from it." He hears Kaminari pause in his actions, and he wonders if he said something wrong. He only pointed out that Kaminari is talented and knows how to use his quirk. Surely that isn't an insult.
Kaminari sighs, loud enough that Aizawa opens an eye before going back to sleep. "Honestly? I like the way that my quirk is improving. I'm kinda afraid that if I stop coming here, then I'll lose all the control I got from it. Helps with my hyperactivity too, since I get out the extra energy. It's harder to sleep on nights when I don't have this class."
"Control isn't a skill you learn and forget," Shouto points out. "You retain it, especially since you use your quirk so often. I do not think you have anything to worry about on that front." He doesn't know what to say about the second point, but they can deal with one at a time.
"Mmm, I guess," Kaminari says after a pause. "I like coming here, though. All this quality bonding time, right Aizawa-sensei?"
"Please don't wake me up to bolster your own ego. You are a quality student, like every other person in 1-A."
"Classic Aizawa-sensei tough love." He blinks, remembering the serious tone of their conversation. "Maybe I'll stop taking it when you stop. That way I won't be alone again and Aizawa-sensei can finally sleep in his bed at a normal time."
"I look forward to it," Aizawa says, and rolls over in his sleeping bag.
Shouto's memories continue to appear in reverse-chronological order. The incident with Stain, where he was fighting to save Midoriya and Iida. The sports festival, when he first truly felt connected to his fire. After that, the memories become less positive, but no less cathartic to relive. If anything, it's comforting to see how far he's come, how he's grown to accept himself.
He mentions this to his mom during one of his visits to her. He leaves out most of the details regarding quirk control class, sticking to the memories.
"Does this make me a bad person?" he asks at the end. "Treating my fire like my ice. Accepting it as such."
She takes both of his hands in each of hers, squeezing his left just as tightly as his right. "You could never be a bad person, Shouto," she says, her voice a little wobbly, "and I'm sorry for making you think you were one for all of those years I was gone. I've come to accept your fire as your own during my time here, and it makes me very happy that you can accept yourself too."
He blinks hard, ignoring the stinging in his eyes. "Thank you, mother," he says quietly, and lights one of her candles for her. Lavender, her favorite. "I do accept myself."
"You know, we should plan something big for our last session," Kaminari says. Shouto knows the end is coming soon, as he hasn't set anything on fire accidentally in two weeks. He's proud of himself, but feels a little ache at the thought of just removing the class from his weekly schedule. Maybe this is why Kaminari just kept coming.
"What do you suggest?" he asks, since Kaminari is the one with the big ideas.
"I'm thinking fireworks. They combine fire and sparks, so they'd be perfect. We just have to ask Aizawa-sensei for permission." They both turn to the man in the sleeping bag, waiting for him to wake up. At this point, he doesn't even need loud noises to stir; when it's quiet for too long, his body wakes him up on instinct.
It takes a little bit of pleading on Kaminari's part and Shouto's equivalent of pleading - which involves a lot of blinking and hand clenching - for him to even consider it.
"It'll send us off with a bang!" Kaminari argues, while Shouto adds, "A literal one, since they are fireworks."
"You'll wake up the whole school," Aizawa counters, putting in his eye drops. "And it might not be good for students who have bad experiences with explosions. Could be triggering for them."
"So we won't do them near the school. Ground Beta is far enough, right? Plus, it's a big enough space that no one will get hurt."
"You'll have to ask Principal Nezu for permission if you want to use it at night."
"But he's scary. I got that firsthand at the end of term test. Can't you talk to him for us?"
"Why must I do everything here?"
"Aizawa-sensei, we wish to commemorate our time here with a significant event. Midoriya says that symbolic endings help cement an event in our minds."
"Of course he said something like that." Aizawa rubs his eyes. "Fine. Just give me a date for when you want it."
"Next week Thursday," Shouto answers for the both of them. "Our graduation is set."
Aizawa does what he has to do, getting them one night at Ground Beta. Kaminari is in charge of getting the fireworks, which he does by asking Yaoyorozu nicely and agreeing to take dish duty from her for a month. This was Jirou's idea; she's generally in charge of making sure Yaoyorozu is fully compensated for her favors and not taken advantage of.
During their last Monday session, the air is unusually still.
"Man, this is bumming me out," Kaminari complains. "It feels like goodbye."
"We will still see each other and Aizawa-sensei in our normal classes," Shouto reminds him.
"Yeah, but it's not the same." Shouto is inclined to disagree, but makes a domino chain of firewood and lights them all up in order to cheer the electric boy up. Seeing Shouto do anything remotely interesting with his quirk always perks him up.
Kaminari destroys all of the lightbulbs at once when the time comes, wasting no time with it.
"Goodbye, room of broken glass," he says mournfully, stepping to the side to let Shouto in. "Let's finish this right."
Shouto assembles his pile of firewood, takes a deep breath, and releases his flames on the pile. His last memory, his earliest memory, strikes him harder that the rest, and his eyes close involuntarily at the intensity of the flames.
Shouto is four years old when his quirk develops. Both sides come in at the same time, one cold and one hot. He likes them both the same. The cold one is good for keeping his ice cream from melting, and his hot one keeps him warm on nights when the house is especially cold.
His dad also thinks that both of them are good, but his mom doesn't like the hot one. She doesn't like when he warms the kettle up for her, or heats up her food, or does anything with it, really. He doesn't understand why, but maybe she just doesn't like warm things. He stops using it around her, and it's fine for a little while.
His dad starts his training early on, and Shouto realizes quickly why his dad thinks that both of them are good. He thinks they are useful, that he can be twice as powerful with them. He trains him hard, harder than all of the rest of his siblings. Not that Shouto sees much of them; they play outside, and he's not allowed outside.
His mom doesn't like his fire side so much, she tries to get it to go away by throwing hot water on him. It's weird, because even though he can make fire, he still feels every drop of the boiling water when it hits him. It burns, right down to his skull, and he feels bad for a long time. His dad takes him to the hospital, and when he asks for his mom, he's told that she went to a different hospital. No, he can't visit her today. But a definite visiting day is never given.
As soon as he comes home, the training resumes. He doesn't want to use his hot side anymore, not when it made his mom so sad, but his dad is insistent.
"Go on, Shouto, use your fire!" he commands, pointing to a pile of firewood, and Shouto hesitates. "Do it!" And the fire, on command, comes shooting out.
Shouto opens his eyes suddenly, staring around the blackened room. His eyes feel hot, and he touches his cheek to find sticky spots on there. Evaporated tears. He didn't even realize he was crying.
He joins Kaminari and Aizawa without a word, but he must look strange, because Kaminari asks, "Are you alright?"
Shouto thinks about it for a moment. The memory was the basis of years of self hatred, hatred towards his father, his siblings, even towards his mother at times. Every time he felt like he was advancing with his fire, that memory would strike him in the chest, as if to say That's just what he wants. You're playing into his hand. It was like a leash, pulling him back, keeping him trapped in Endeavor's hand.
But now, trying to reach for it, he feels no jab of pain. It's more subtle now, a wisp of the sting it used to be. A shadow. He tries to imagine his mother's face before she threw the water on him, but now all he can think about is her saying, "It makes me very happy that you can accept yourself too." He's moved on, and the memory still exists at his core, but now it's changed. He's changed.
"Yes," he says finally. "I think I am."
The "Kaminari and Todoroki Firework Extravaganza" begins as soon as it's dark out, and the two of them carry the bags of fireworks, accompanied by both Aizawa and Nezu. When they reach Ground Beta, they start to unpack the bags, and Aizawa clears his throat.
"The school has something for each of you," he says, and Nezu pulls out two scrolls. "Certificates of completion. One for each of you." Shouto looks his over, nodding at the fancy script on the paper. Kaminari is absolutely floored by his.
"These are so cool!" he exclaims. "I would've asked to leave ages ago if I would've known I would get one of these." Aizawa just rolls his eyes, but a small smile appears on his face. It seems even he is in good spirits tonight.
Kaminari sets up the fireworks, since he has the experience, and Shouto is in charge of lighting them up. He waits patiently for Kaminari to finish, reading his certificate over again.
This certificate hereby declares that
Todoroki Shouto
completed his quirk control course, and is now better able to
utilize his own abilities. May he use them only for good.
Signed,
Principal Nezu
Aizawa Shouta
"Done!" Kaminari says, and his head snaps up. In true Kaminari fashion, he arranged them in a smiley face pattern. "Now it's time to let em rip."
Shouto nods, setting his certificate aside, and approaches the closest firework. He's never seen them before in real life, but the videos online make them look stunning. No better way to end off the class.
"Come on, man, don't leave us hanging!" Kaminari shouts, and he takes a deep breath. This is all you, Shouto. This is your quirk, and you will make it count. He lights the first one on fire, then runs to set off the rest. He joins the three other figures at the side, and they stare at the sky as it turns multi-colored with the sparks.