Chapter 10: new trick

The city were uneasy that night. A bit of gang rivalry seemed to be getting out of hand, so they had double the pro heroes patrolling the streets. Aizawa had already gone by the time Akane returned home, leaving a note on the kitchen counter.

Called to work last-minute. Pizza money in the drawer. Text if you need anything.

Aizawa's absence was a relief, at first. It gave her some time and space to consider how exactly she was going to tell him what had happened during the match with Todoroki. It wasn't that she worried he'd disapprove, but rather that she still hadn't come to terms with the discovery herself, let alone found the words to share it. But the longer she waited for him to return, the antsier she got, trying desperately to formulate an explanation that didn't get stuck in her throat.

As much as it still scared her, Akane couldn't deny her curiosity. Reluctantly, she lit a match, and with a held breath, touched the tip of the flame with her forefinger. A single moment of searing pain and then…ash.

She swallowed, fighting the bout of nausea that arose at the feeling of her quirk in action. The ugly memories that feeling represented. But then, she tried again, remembering what Todoroki said.

It's not just human life your quirk manipulates. It's got to be anything that exhibits signs of life.

The doctor, as well.

It isn't just human lives your quirk has the ability to manipulate. I'd like to try it out on other organic materials.

Akane considered. Other organic materials, huh?

Needless to say, when Aizawa finally got home to find an apartment full of dust and dead house plants, he was more than a little confused.

He put his work bag down. "Uh…Akane?"

Asleep at the kitchen table, Akane jerked awake. Seeing Aizawa, who had obviously noticed the mess she'd made, her eyes bulged. "Hi."

"Hi yourself. Want to tell me what happened in here?"

Akane opened her mouth to explain, but found to her dismay that the words still wouldn't come. She ground her fists in frustration, bringing Aizawa's attention to her burned, gloveless hands. His face fell, confusion replaced by concern.

"You're hurt?" He rushed toward her. "What happened? Who did this?"

Akane swallowed. "I did."

Slowly, Aizawa looked up, false understanding dawning on him. "Akane…"

Realizing she wouldn't be able to explain without showing him, Akane grabbed the box of matches. She'd tried it out so many times that there were only a couple left. Before Aizawa could ask, she lit a match, and held her finger up to the flame.

Lightning fast, Aizawa grabbed her wrist. "What are you doing?"

Her smile surprised him, signalling everything was okay. Reluctantly, he let go.

Slowly, so Aizawa could see exactly what happened, Akane brought her finger to the flame. Instantly, it fell to ash, leaving nothing but an angry red burn on her skin.

Aizawa's eyes popped. "I…I don't…what was that?"

"It's like the doctor said," Akane said, softly. "My quirk works on other organic materials."

"Fire?"

"Among other things." She gestured around the room — notably, the dead houseplants — and blushed. "Sorry. I got carried away."

Aizawa shook his head. "That's…remarkable."

"There's this, too." Akane stood to fill up a glass of water. She brought it to the table, dipped her finger in it, and watched the water explode to dust. She shrugged. "I guess water's kind of alive as well."

Without warning, Aizawa threw his arms around Akane's shoulders, pulling her into a close hug. She blinked, unable to suppress the instinctual panic, and turned stiff as a plank. Especially with her gloves off, she wasn't ready to be this close to another human being. Once Aizawa finally registered how uncomfortable she'd become, he promptly pulled back.

"Sorry," he blurted. "I'm sorry. I don't know where that came from."

"Are you okay?" Akane asked, fear rising inside of her. "I-I'm not wearing my gloves, I'm dangerous."

"I'm fine," Aizawa assured her. "And, Akane?"

Akane looked at him. He grinned.

"You're not dangerous. You're incredible."

Her lips parted in shock. "What?"

"I am so, so proud of you."

Slower this time, he pulled her into another hug. Akane was careful as ever not to let her hands touch him, unsure of how much control she had over her quirk, but let herself relax just a little bit into his embrace. He held her almost too tightly, but knew to leave her enough room to breathe, dropping his chin on the top of her head and smiling into her hair.

"This is where things change," Aizawa told her. "It's all uphill from here, kid."

Finally, he released her, and looked Akane deep in the eyes.

Still smiling, he said, "And I'm going to be there every step of the way."

xxx

Much to her friends' relief, Akane returned to classes a couple days later. She made no comment about what had gone on, or what she'd discovered. It was still too soon for her to trust Todoroki entirely, but she trusted he'd keep her secret for as long as she wanted. It wasn't like the guy was much of a chatterbox, anyway.

The weird thing was…her quirk wasn't a dirty little secret anymore. She could do more with it than she'd ever imagined. But once word got out what she could do, she'd be expected to do it in class training. That was the part she wasn't ready for. Even without taking human life, the feeling of her quirk being activated still put Akane in a space too vulnerable for comfort.

That was why, during lunch, Akane couldn't bring herself to tell Bakugou what the last couple days had uncovered about her quirk. He met her on the roof. Even brought her an energy drink, like he was trying to soften her up. Like he knew she had something to tell him.

"Just take it, moron," he grunted, shoving the Redbull in her face.

Akane blinked. "Thanks."

Bakugou sunk to the ground next to her, leaning against the concrete ledge. He bit into the onigiri he had on hand, chewing absently, clearly thinking about what to say.

"So where were you?"

Akane sipped her drink. "Nowhere. Home."

"You were gone almost a week. Just lazing around at home?"

"Fine, I was sick."

"Ugh. Gross."

"Excuse me?"

"And a dumb excuse," he said. "Spit it out. You were getting your quirk checked out, weren't you?"

Akane stiffened, but stared ahead in the hopes he wouldn't notice.

He nodded at her hands. "Would explain the gloves. They're new."

Akane frowned. The gloves were indeed new, but how the hell did he notice? They were identical to her last pair.

Answering the unspoken question, he continued, "They look all dumb and kinda…shiny. It's obvious."

Akane shrugged, taking another sip. "To a stalker, maybe."

"The hell did you just say to me?!"

She smirked, hoping the provocation had steered him off course, or at the very least let him know she didn't want to talk about her damn quirk. Not now. But then, unfortunately, he went on.

"Look, if you're not telling me what happened, and if you weren't quirk testing, the only other thing I can think is that I banged you up in that fight a lot worse than you let on. And if that's what happened, you damn well better tell me right now, 'cause I have a right to know."

"No, you don't."

Bakugou stopped. "Huh?"

Something about his words lit a spark in Akane. He had a right to know? A right? Akane's life was her own business, and it was a business she very much liked to keep private. He knew that. What's more, he knew the reason why. Which meant he knew better than most not to make dumb assertions about what he was entitled to know.

"Be careful what you ask from me, Bakugou. You might not like what you get."

"What the hell is that supposed to —" Bakugou froze mid-sentence, seeing the hardness of her jaw and the fists clenched in her gloves. Only then did he seem to realize he was being insensitive, and fought the urge to sock himself in the gut.

Instead, embarrassed by how much he cared, he just scoffed and turned away.

"Whatever you say." And then, for good measure, he added, "Dumb newbie."

They sat like that, quietly eating and drinking, for a couple minutes. Every now and again, Bakugou snuck glances at Akane, curiously perturbed by the faraway look in her eye and the ever-present scar across her face. Who hurt you? He couldn't help but wonder. And how can I kill them?

Without even being aware of having opened his mouth, Bakugou muttered, "Just tell me if you're okay."

Akane blinked. She looked at Bakugou, who for once did not try to hide his blush, knowing he was well past the point of return. He worried about her. Now, she knew it. There was no going back from that. He waited for her to laugh, or leave, or smack him. But, much to his surprise, she just smiled.

"Getting there."

Bakugou caught his tongue before he could press any further, wary of exposing himself more than he already had.

xxx

Considering she wasn't ready to train her quirk in a class environment, Akane enlisted the help of both Todoroki and Aizawa to help her practice it in private. The learning curve was not an easy one.

"Okay, Akane. Gloves off."

Akane looked at Aizawa; his soft, expectant gaze; and swallowed. Hands shaking, she pulled off one glove. Todoroki watched, feeling the pain and panic radiating off of her from all the way across the ring. He couldn't begin to imagine the memories she had associated with removing those gloves. The trauma. He was in awe of her, but kept this face blank — before they started, Aizawa had instructed him to remain calm at all times. Keep the energy in the room neutral.

Akane got to the other glove, but couldn't bring herself to take it off. Her body froze, at war with memory, unable to let go.

"Akane?" Todoroki prompted, softly.

Aizawa held up a hand to silence him. He approached his daughter.

"It's okay," he said. "Take it at your own pace. We can start with one hand."

Nodding gratefully, Akane took a deep breath. Relax, she told herself. Relax, relax, relax.

Aizawa gestured to the glove she had already removed. "Want me to take that for you?"

Instantly, she clutched it to her chest. "No. I've got it." In her eyes, a desperation — please.

Aizawa stepped back. "Whatever you need."

The match begun shortly thereafter. They started with pure hand-to-hand, establishing a safe and familiar space for Akane to ease herself into the next part. The next part being, of course, Todoroki hurling his fire at her, and her urgently dodging to avoid the very thing she was here for: to practice her quirk.

Just like the last time they trained together, it took until Akane was out of breath and saw no other option before she was able to activate her quirk. She saw the fire coming at her, and moved to dodge just a second too late, and knew there was only one other way to avoid getting completely scorched.

She held out her hand. And she touched the flames.

There it was again — that electric surge through her body, threatening to split her apart with the sheer force of its destructive power, bringing back all the memories she worked so hard to suppress. Todoroki's flames were big and hot and her own quirk had to compensate, amping up stronger and stronger to diminish his attack to ash. All-consumed by the physical and emotional toll, she didn't realize she was shouting, or feel the tears on her cheeks.

Aizawa, on the other hand, did notice. In an instant, he used his quirk on Todoroki, whose flames were cut short. Breathing hard, Todoroki frowned. He looked to Aizawa, whose stern expression read that's enough. And then, seeing Akane, trembling and crying, he understood.

However, the both of them didn't get a chance to approach Akane and calm her down before they heard a blunt, abrasive voice in the gym doorway.

"What. The. Fuck."

All three of them gasping, they turned to see Bakugou, slack-jawed, clearly in awe of what he had just seen. He'd been spying on them.

In a rare outburst, Todoroki snapped, "Dammit, Bakugou!"

"Deal with him," Aizawa ordered Todoroki. "I'll look after Akane."

Bakugou was already storming into the gym, fuming with a ferocious curiosity. Todoroki intercepted him before he could get to the ring — get to Akane — and held him back.

"Back off."

Bakugou snarled, whacking him away. "How long have you known she could do that?!"

"It's none of your business."

"None of my— hang on, she told you about this? You!"

Todoroki's fists clenched. "She's my friend."

"Oh yeah?"

"Is that a problem?"

"You bet your ass it's a problem!"

"Of course you're the jealous type."

"What the hell did you say to me, icy-hot?!"

"Hey!" Aizawa snapped, glaring at them from the ring. "Morons. Calm it down, now."

Immediately, both Bakugou and Todoroki focused on Akane, still wrapped up in her panic. She could hardly stand, shaking like crazy as she desperately tried to yank her glove back over her fingers. Aizawa got close enough to comfort, but retained a sufficient distance — one touch right now could send her over the deep end. Instead, he murmured soft words, trying to ground her back to earth. She glared down at the hand she'd just used with glassy eyes, looking utterly disgusted. And honestly, it broke both the boys' hearts to witness the hate she held for herself.

Their fight completely forgotten, Bakugou turned back to Todoroki. "Is she gonna be okay?"

Todoroki pursed his lips. God, he hoped so.

"I hate this," Bakugou grunted, unhappily watching Aizawa comfort his friend from afar. "I gotta do something."

Todoroki shook his head. "We'd just make things worse. Leave it to Mr Aizawa."

Bakugou gave an exasperated sigh. He folded his arms, forcibly restraining himself. He wouldn't admit it, but he knew Todoroki was right.

"Bakugou," Todoroki said, "about her quirk. It was an accident that I found out. I doubt she would've told me otherwise."

Bakugou scowled. "Why tell me that?"

At that, Todoroki smirked. "Because you really are jealous."

"Huh?"

"And you shouldn't be. She'll talk to you, when she's ready." He sighed. "Right now, she can't even look at her hands without triggering a flashback. Actually using her quirk must feel like a nightmare. So…give her time."

Knowing, once again, that Todoroki was right, Bakugou just huffed, and responded with a noncommittal, "Yeah, whatever."