Class was just wrapping up. Miss Amara was talking, but my mind was elsewhere. I looked up when I heard my name. "Miss Todoroki, I need to see you after class, please."

Shit. I was pretty sure I knew what this was about. I braced myself for an uncomfortable conversation as the rest of my classmates left. After what seemed like a long time I broke the silence. "Am I in trouble, miss Amara?"

"No, nothing like that" she said quickly. "You've actually been excelling in my class, in all your classes from what I've been told, but..." She was silent for a long moment, like she knew what she wanted to say but couldn't find the right words. Finally she asked "Why do you want to be a hero, Miss Todoroki?"

That wasn't exactly what I was expecting. I relaxed slightly. "Cause I want to help people." It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth either. I didn't want to tell her the whole truth. I didn't want to bring him up.

"Of course. That's the whole point, right? No, I mean why do you, specifically, want to be a hero? All your classmates have their own reasons, but I never got the chance to ask you."

Never got the chance? I actively avoided this conversation as long as I could. Nobody talked about it out loud, least of all around her, but we all knew what happened, all the people my bastard father murdered, including Miss Amara's sister.

She expected an answer though, and I wasn't leaving until she got one. "Because...because I want to protect people from monsters like my old man."

She nodded. "Is that why you won't use your left side?"

Fuck, there it is. Damnit, I didn't want to have this conversation with her of all people. It was bad enough she had to look at me 5 days a week, to be reminded of him every time she saw me. "Why do you care anyway?"

"Cause I'm your teacher. Cause I want to give all of my students all the knowledge and experience they need to become the best pro heroes they can be."

"No, but why me? You should hate me."

"Why would I hate you, Shouko? For what he did?" I heard her voice break, just slightly, but she kept her composure. "You're not him, and that's not his quirk, it's yours."

"I got it from him though. I want to prove to him, to everyone that I can be number one without his damn fire quirk!"

She was silent again for a moment. "You can't be a pro hero, much less number one while only using half your power. I know you think that if you use his quirk that's some sort of victory for him, but he's already lost. He's gonna be in prison for the rest of his life. Anyway think about it. You can use the quirk you inherited from him for good. To help people instead of hurt them. Isn't that a bigger rejection of him than just refusing to use it at all?"

I didn't know what to say to that. She made some good points, but I didn't want to become my old man. I didn't want to be anything like him. I wanted to be a hero, my own person, not just Endeavor's daughter.

"Just think about what I said, okay? You can go. I'll see you tomorrow." I nodded and left without a word. She gave me a lot to think about.