Chapter 5: Impossible

"As of noon your Hero Network accounts will be active." Aizawa surveyed the room as he lowered his phone. A small chorus of buzzes made his eyebrow twitch as the emails were recieved.

"Your access is limited while you have your Provisional licenses, and you can not initiate communication. You can't even edit your profiles yet. I could teach you how to use a social media tool, but that would be inefficient. You'll each be assigned a hero to research. Use this as a resource. Once you've completed this assignment, you'll have more permissions." Hands shot up. "You'll be assigned a hero, you can't choose." The hands dropped slowly. He leaded back against the edge of the desk. "One who has been dead at least ten years or retired for twenty. You are to prepare a ten to twelve page dossier on them and their career. If your assignment is alive, and you can find them, you may reach out to them- any travel, see me first to get a pass of campus. You'll have a hero name, a real name, or a quirk, any two of the three. Any relevant questions?"

A hand shot up again. "What's Hero Network, sensei?"

"You should be familiar with it, Mineta. Uraraka, can you answer the question?"

Uraraka blushed- she should have known during the mission brief for the Yakuza raid. Of course Aizawa would remember. "It is an internet service that requires a hero license to access- it has activity reports from Pro Heroes and police, information on wanted villains, and you have secure messaging between Heroes." She hadn't known that, but it was a good guess since they couldn't initiate communication and H-N logically would be inaccessible to the public.

"Very good. There are storage space for evidence files, and folders can be shared with other heroes so you can colaborate on an investigation. Any other questions?"

"Does it have... everyone, sensei?"

Aizawa closed his eyes. Problem Child would ask that. "Iida- I have a special assignment for you."

Tenya lept to attention. "Of course, sir! As the class representative it is my duty to-"

Shouta let his eyes slide partway open as he bowed his head to hid the start of a smile behind his scarf. "Make sure Midoriya's lights are off by 11, and he makes it to class and meals. You have my permission to confiscate his phone and laptop if needed to keep him from trying to read all of HN in one session. You may draft any additional help you feel is needed." There was some embarrassed mumbling from the back, and some laughter from the rest of the class. "If there are no further rational questions? Aoyama, Bronze Bombshell..."

Todoroki let his instructor's voice fade in the background until he heard his name. He was already familiar with Hero Network, having been introduced to his father's access to it several years ago. It wasn't a social media site, but it was close. There were even sections where silly pictures were shared, or serious ones with silly captions, which were hidden from the public.

"Todoroki. Shimura Nana, quirk Float. Hagakure..."

Todoroki let the voice drown on, distracted by a gasp from Midoriya. His friend clearly recognized the name. There might be something useful there.

"Yaoyorozu. Madame Icepick, quirk Dry Ice."

Todoroki frowned slightly. There were a lot of ice heroes, and he'd studied several of them, but that wasn't a name he was familiar with. Dry Ice, that was a very suggestive quirk name. He couldn't quite go that cold. He knew his mother supposedly could, but he'd never seen it.

He jumped when fingers tapped on his shoulder. He looked up into the bottomless obsidian pools of Yaoyorozu's eyes. The whites were the pure white of dry ice, but they held nothing but warmth.

"Todoroki-kun? Are you coming to class with us?"

Regretfully, he blinked. He could have drowned in those night black pools. "Yes, of course. I'm sorry."

"You looked lost in thought."

"Sorry."

-mha-

Toshinori waited silently for the teacher's room to be empty. His fingers drummed on his thigh as he glanced between Aizawa's head and the text from Midoriya. This was something he'd not anticipated. This was a problem. He watched as Nemuri left.

"What?" Aizawa didn't bother to look up at All Might. He'd felt the other man's stare. If it couldn't be said before Midnight it had to do with the Problem Child.

"Aizawa, I must beg a favor of you. Please change young Todoroki's assignment."

Aizawa blinked. He'd had a reaction prelanned, fully expecting there to be a question about something with Midoriya or maybe Bakugo. But Todoroki had been undexpected. "Why?"

"Shimura Nana was my mentor. She was a dear friend of Gran Torino. And she was killed by All for One while I watched." Toshinori inhaled slowly. The rest of his words were hard to say, choking him as the memories flooded his mind. There was more, but it was for him and Midoriya to know. "She was like my mother. And that man murdered her in front of me."

All Might hadn't finished speaking before Eraserhead's phone was in hand, thumb tapping. Todoroki, your assignment is canceled. Do not investigate that Hero. Do not ask Midoriya. I'll give you your new assignment shortly.

He didn't expect a response, since his class was with Midnight right now. "Done."

"Thank you, Aizawa. I owe you a great deal."

"No, you don't. It would be irrational to assign an Hero who could be researched so easily." He sighed. As irrational and cruel as it would have been to assign someone Shirakumo.

-mha-
Several days later,

They had learned that when you surrender your license, you can have much of your information redacted on HN. A lot of heroes just walked away from it when they left the life, and wanted no connections. For those, the bare minimum was listed. Hero name, quirk name and description, date of license issuance, date of license surrender and date of death. Some even removed their official photo. That many of those listed a date of death within a year had been commented on soberly by several of the class. You could die from being a hero, even if you were no longer one. Or maybe they died from no longer being able to be heroes.

They were using the case history to cross reference with other Heroes, forcing them to write to various Pros as if they were performing an investigation. They'd had to go outside of HN to reach out to people, often by contacting more readily available and current heroes who'd been sidekicks before going out on their own. A UA email address had helped. In all the cases where they'd been able to get replies, those had come through HN. From those points of contact, other references were made, branching out through the community.

For other heroes, they could only find villains they'd stopped and were still alive, but there was no mention of who the sidekicks on those cases were. The lack of sidekicks being mentioned has infuriated Kaminari and Sero alike. Hagakure had for some reason known that a Hero license would make it easier for them to get court and prison records. She and Iida and several others were trying to convince Aizawa to let them visit villains in prison to learn more about the Heros that had taken them down, and from there they could maybe also learn who they had mentored.

Some of them had been easier to find, but it had dead ended with heroes that just fell off the face of the earth. They had no history before their license, and even less after they gave it up. It was like the commission had suppressed everything there was to know about them. For those heroes, the answer was to go into media records and start to build a trail. Mina's had been one of those- several people had commented that it wasn't fair to get something like that. She'd told them it only looked impossible.

Momo's had been one of those as well. Madam Icepick had just disappeared. What she could find was a few fan pages online, with conjecture that she had probably started a family. But they still had posting boards for "hey, is this her" sightings. They also had news and security camera videos which gave her other places to explore. But she watched the videos every day. Particularly one towards the end of the woman's career.

The security cameras at the bank had caught all of the incident. Three villains had barged into the lobby with knives and swords, taken a hostage, and demanded money. At some point the alarm had been tripped. When the police had arrived, the villains had barricaded the door and started making demands. The first was to negotiate with a pro Hero. Madam Icepick had arrived within seconds of the police, and offered to trade herself for the citizens. Once the bystanders were out of the way, she'd given the criminals one last chance to surrender.

They laughed at her.

She said nothing as she sealed the door behind a thick wall of ice. It wasn't even a flick of a finger or a shake of her head that did it- her technique was not theatrical, just sheer effectiveness. Then the camera shook, a dull thump picked up by the mic as the air filled with flakes. The snow and frost formed instantly, sucking the moisture from the air. Reflections on the windows shifted as the air pressure dropped and the glass bowed.

The one closest to her was stunned by the thump and the cold, his hair and clothes instantly rhimmed with the ice as he clutch at his throat and gasped. Her hand flicked a casual, practice backhand in the air, the snow charging the second like a swarm of bees. In a moment, his hand was frozen to the wall. The second she touched, making him scream as the frostbite drove deep and another swarm of ice wrapped around his feet. The one with the swords backed away.

Jiro watched over Yaoyorozu's shoulder. "She's beautiful and so strong. We should have heard of her as kids!"

On the computer screen, the final villain's second blade froze and shattered like the first. Steel came apart like tempered glass while liquid formed on it. What would that be, Yaoyorozu wondered? It wouldn't be dry ice, that was a solid. Could it be argon? Madam Icepick was creating cryogenic fluids with nothing but the strength of her will and the power of her Quirk.

"I know!" Yaoyorozu clapped her hands over her cheeks as she blushed. She was trying very hard not to squeal with glee. "She is amazing, I wish I had that kind of confidence."

The heroine on screen danced through a spinning kick, the heel of her boot connecting with the villain who still stared dumbfounded at the stubs that had been his swords a moment ago. She was dressed in white and greys and blues so pale that they just looked like shadows and light on snow. Between the hood and the mask, all that could be seen was dark grey eyes and a whisp of white hair. She only glanced once to be sure that man who'd seemed in charge was down before she pressed her palms together and thrust at the door and threw her arms wide, the ice obediently parting and moving away from the door to let police in winter jackets in to pick up the criminals. When the warmer air from outside rushed into the bank, fog formed instantly. Everything obscured in the instant cloud bank, the mic recorded the police rushing in.

"I have a name. I know about her quirk- she could drop air temperature to minus 200 degrees Centigrade and throw ice in significant quantities. I know the date her license was issued, and the day she went inactive. She never surrendered it. Her big cases, her small cases. She worked with a few people. I know she worked a few times with Endeavor in the last few months of her career. This was her last incident. If I had to guess, she was starting a family. She'd probably be in her mid to late 40s now. But I don't know anything about her."

"What about her mentors?"

"Iron Slipper, she retired from active heroing to teach at Shiketsu, and retired from there ten years ago. I was able to track her down to a retirement home, where she's a nice old lady who doesn't remember yesterday. We spent a lovely hour talking about tea and flowers." Momo sunk in her chair, defeated.

"Well, we know people who know the Number One Hero." Jirou innocently played with an earlobe. "Pretty sure that something could be arranged."

"I know." Momo glanced out the window at the boy watching others sparing on the lawn. He seemed deep in thought. "But I don't want to disturb Todoroki."

"I don't think you could ever disturb him."

"Jiro!"

"Seriously! You could wake him up at two in the morning to open a stuck jar, and he'd do it!"

Momo grabbed her binder and hid behind it as she felt her face flare with heat. "Shhhh..."

-mha-

"Yaoyorozu, might I ask a favor of you?" Todoroki's voice was softer than normal. His feet had been silent on the carpet.

Momo jumped a little in the chair she was sitting in. She'd woken up early and knew she couldn't get back to sleep. After getting dressed, she'd taken her laptop down to get breakfast. "Yes, Todoroki. What is it?"

"Could I see the footage you found of your assigned hero?" He wasn't fully in his school uniform yet, just a white tank top under an open white shirt with the sleeves rolled up and his uniform slacks. He was so innocent looking, but on him that looked... delicious.

Momo blushed shyly as she swallowed. "Yes! Sure, yes! I..." She bit her lip, before turning the laptop to better face the chair next to hers.

Todoroki watched the first video, then the second, on and on. He'd stop or slow the videos, leaning close to the screen. After half an hour, he finally stopped with the bank fight. "Thank you."

"Do you know her?"

He breathed out, his breath fogging slightly. "I do not know Madam Icepick. But I may know someone who does. What are you doing tomorrow afternoon?"

"I don't have anything, but don't you normally have plans on Wednesday?"

"Please, come with me. I'll pay for your train ticket, I'm sure Aizawa-sensei will give you a pass. Particularly if it is the two of us. If we run late, I"ll buy dinner."

Momo felt her cheeks heat again. She knew he wasn't really asking her out, but that is how it felt. "Sure. It sounds like a plan."

"I'll see you then. And in class. Excuse me." With a deep breath and a hasty bow, Todoroki left the room. Social awkwardness covered up by formality was not unusual for Todoroki, and Momo wasn't insulted by it. But what she had no way of seeing was him going to his room and kneeling on the tatami, bowing until his forehead was to the mat while he breathed in short, fast gasps.

-mha-

"Shoto, you brought a friend?" Rei's smile widened. And it was a girl- a pretty one. With eyes like snow and night, a ponytail like water by starlight, a UA uniform. She knew about this girl even without being told her name, the Yaoyorozu girl that had been mentioned in her son's letters. He had mentioned many of his classmates, but this girl he clearly thought was special.

"Hello, mother. This is my friend, Yaoyorozu-chan. I wanted to introduce you."

Momo blushed slightly at the -chan, he'd never called her that before, and went crimson as Rei squealed happily. "Hello, Ma'am." She bowed formally, before glancing at the boy beside her. "Todoroki, why didn't you tell me it was your mother?"

"That is a good question- Shoto?" Rei looked at her son in confusion.

"We were assigned random retired heroes to report on. Yaoyorozu-chan was assigned a heroine with the Quirk of Dry Ice."

Rei stepped back, eyes wide. "You've never seen..." She sagged back onto the edge of her bed. "I haven't used Dry Ice to it's fullest since before Touya was born. How did you know?"

Shoto crouched down before his mother, taking her hands in his. "Father told me once that you could make dry ice and even go below that temperature. And when we found the pictures of you, even if I didn't know Madam Icepick, how could I not know my mother's eyes?"

Momo held her hand before her mouth, trying not to disturb them. Todoroki-kun had only told her that he thought he might know someone who knew Madam Icepick. He hadn't told his mother she was going to be with him. He hadn't even asked? What did that mean? He wanted her to learn who his mother had been with her at his side? Why? The fingers of her other hand settled lightly on his shoulder. He leaned back, just a millimeter, to lean into her.

It did tell her one thing. He trusted her, perhaps differently but as deeply as he did Midoriya, and more than anyone else in their class. Quiet, calm, reserved Todoroki wanted her here...

Rei teased a hand free, cupping her son's cheek. "I haven't been a hero in a long time. I'm... I"m just Rei, now..."

"Ma'am." Momo couldn't hold back. She had felt awkward, this was a family moment, but she couldn't let a plain untruth go unchallenged. "Madam Icepick has kind of become my hero. You are amazing."

"Oh, call me Rei." She laughed, still rubbing her son's cheek below the scar, aware of the warmth of it. "And maybe I was amazing. But I will answer any questions you ask about Madam Icepick."

That was the start of a long conversation about the career of Madame Icepick. With only fifteen minutes left to visiting hours, Rei had asked her son to step out so she could say something in private to Yaoyorozu-chan. He sat in the waiting room, thinking about what he'd learned. He knew his parents' marriage had been a eugenics project. He'd accepted that. But he'd never thought about what it meant about his mother.

His father was powerful, but held back by his heat. Of course he's find a partner that wasn't just able to cool him down, but someone who could be as cold as he was hot. As controlled and dedicated as he was. Even if his mother wasn't as physically strong as his father, she was faster, more agile, and what he'd seen in the videos said she was as capable of using her quirk as Endeavor was using his.

Endeavor...

Shoto jerked inthe chair in the hidden alcove. His father was here. Endeavor bowed to the charge nurse and exchanged a few words. In his hands were the blue flowers his mother's room always had. He nodded, bowing slightly as he handed the flowers to the nurse. As he turned he froze for a heartbeat, eyes widening. His flames flared as he came over to the corner, but collapsed after a few steps. "Shoto."

"Father." Shoto didn't bother to stand. "Why are you here."

"I bring her flowers every day I can. I thought you'd have left by now."

"We stayed late."

"We? Your brother and sister are here?" One of the things Todoroki Enji did not want was a public encounter with his oldest surviving son. Natsuo would never forgive him, and having it out with him here would not be good for Rei's care. Enji knew that he understood people not at all, but that was obvious. Enji wasn't consciously aware of stepping further behind the wall.

"No. I came here with a friend, they're talking to Mother."

Enji grunted softly in surprise. But maybe it shouldn't have been. Rei was the longest resident of the long term care ward of Mustafar General's Heroes floor. Blazin had told him that one of Shoto's classmates had reached out to her about some class project. He really didn't have something to say to his son, but it felt awkward to say nothing. "I was bringing her flowers."

Shoto kept his face stoic, but inside he wondered why his father was repeating himself. "Rindou. They're her favorite."

"She knows I bring them. But she's not ready to see me." Endevour sat carefully in the chair. "I don't know what to say to her, but maybe I just need her to see me in person. Maybe..."

Shoto could only watch his father silently. As the top of the hour got closer, he finally spoke. "Perhaps I could give them to her.."

"Thank you."

Shoto went to the desk, talking softly. He picked up the flowers, glancing back at his father before knocking on the door, and slipping inside. Enji waited, not expecting anything. He had not expected this friend to be a girl. Young Midoriya or Bakugo, yes, but not this girl that his wife embraced in the doorway. Seeing Rei, he pulled back further into the shadows, and his flames died.

He felt ridiculous, but he looked away. But he didn't want Rei to see him by accident. He would offer every day possible, but she'd have to accept the offer. She had to give him permission. It had to be her choice. He... owed her that.

The girl was familiar to him, but he needed a moment to remember her from the sports festival. The Yaoyorozu heiress. His breath caught in his throat, but then he relaxed. She was looking at his son, smiling, almost taking his hand. When the elevator door opened, she stepped in first, then Shoto. Enji nodded when his eyes met his son's.

He sat there for several minutes, silently. Mostly he looked down at his hands, but he'd glance out the window, watching two young Heroes until they were out of sight. He knew that he didn't want the girl to see him, either. But he couldn't say why. When one of the nurses told it really was time for him to leave, he just nodded and left silently.

-mha-

As Todoroki was getting getting ready for bed, he was putting his thoughts about the day together. He kept telling himself, he'd helped a friend with her homework. It was more than studying together, certainly, but it was no more than if he'd offered to escort her to a museum that had an exhibit he thought would interest her. Or an art show, the theater. Or a... one of those things with music... Not a concert... The symphony.

That he'd paid for her train ticket was just being polite. It was his idea in the first place, so it was only right. As right as it had been to pay for dinner when it was clear they wouldn't be back to campus on time. And if Aizawa wanted to punish someone for it, it should fall on him entirely.

That restaurant had just been on the way. He'd seen it many times before, and with their uniforms several of the staff had recognized them. He was slightly annoyed that more had recognized him than her. He'd let Yaoyorozu-chan order tea for them both, as she had a more educated palette. She'd had gyukatsu; he'd fallen back on his usual hadakda soba. They'd talked about the project- she had page after page of notes. She'd tried to pay, but he told her he was in her debt. Bute did let Yaomomo pay for train tickets back.

Aizawa had been sitting on the front steps, reading with Eri- they'd stopped and watched until he was finished with All Might Goes to the Farm. Everyone else had been watching, either from inside or from the lawn. Maybe they were waiting for him and Youyorozu. Or maybe they were standing guard over something. Aizawa only said they were late, and asked if they had eaten. That was it.

And he now knew more about his mother than he ever had. It hadn't seemed odd a few weeks ago, but now he felt like he should have known. Or maybe no young child truly knew their parents, and that was when she'd gone away. All he could compare it to was his father, who was a celebrity and not a role model. Without this impossible seeming assignment, he would never have known to look for Madame Icepick. He knew he could ask Midoryia or Iida what their experiences as the sons of heroes were like, but it was a little embarrassing.

His phone chirped with a text message. He frowned when he saw it was from his father. Don't make my mistakes. I once hoped your mother would look at me the way that girl looks at you. That is all the advice I can give you, son.

Todoroki held the phone in both hands, his breath shortening. He squatted down, trying to breath, but fell back on his futon. He sat there for a long time. After a few minutes, the phone chirped again. It might be more advice than I have a right to give. If it is, I am sorry.

The implications of these words were a weight on his chest. "That was a date..."

-mha-

Aizawa yawned through his nose as he straightened the pile of papers. Last night had been too long. Eri's Quirk hadn't activated but her nightmare had kept her awake all night. He knew from his reading that with normal children it might have been the best course of action to stay with her while she slept, but she hated being watched in her sleep. They'd tried letting her sleep in his bed with him, and she'd panicked in her sleep when she rolled over and touched him that one time. All he could was let her try to make sense of her dreams and reassure her that she was safe, and then promise her the door would be open all night. And he went out and sat against the wall, listening.

He was already regretting having given this assignment- too many students had raised honest concerns along with the normal complaining. He'd borrowed the idea from Kan. Kan had assigned people he'd personally worked with, but not only was that a degree of connection that underground heroes lacked, Aizawa wouldn't do that to friends. Doing this blind had been unfair of him. He was already planning on grading this with a curve, because some had been too complicated. The plan had always been to pass anyone who exhausted their opportunities, but only if you didn't even try would they fail now. And none of his kids hadn't tried. This was the first time he'd done this exercise, and it was a mistake he would not repeat.

"Sensei!" He looked up, taking in the set and angry look on Yaoyorozu's face. He didn't say anything, he just invited the conversation with a raised eyebrow. "That wasn't fair. Why did you give me Todoroki's mother?"

Aizawa paused for a moment. I did what? He caught his eyelids before they went too wide, stifling any look of surprise.. He hadn't even really looked at the names, it had been completely random, and he knew not one of his students would ever believe it. Particularly not this one. It was only years of practice that kept his face straight as he realized the most likely reason for this failure was that Mistress Icepick's license was issued on her maiden name, not Todoroki. "Why do you think?"

"I don't know." Momo crossed her arms. The look on her face was that of a senior manager asking an accountant to explain a suspicious discrepancy. "Please tell me."

"How did you find out who she was?" Through the concern about the situation, he was proud of her. She was now confident enough to do this, to call him out. At the end of the first term, she wouldn't have been. If nothing else came of it, this assignment was not an utter failure. Before him stood not only a corporate princess born to a high tower, but a hero who'd earned her status.

"We've all been working together and Todoroki-kun said he might know someone who knew who Madame Icepick was. But he'd didn't know for sure." She paused. "He didn't know who his own mother was. Sensei? Why me? Why not him? If anything, he should get the credit for my report."

What she said made him blink. He couldn't stop it. It had been completely random- he'd just queried the registry for retired heroes who'd never ranked more than 20th in the charts and met the retirement parameters. Anyone he recognized he deleted. And there were heroes who still didn't put their real names into Hero Net, just like his was sealed. He'd had to discard several of those before he'd found twenty. Time for a logical ruse. "Sometimes it is the one connection only one person can see. You still don't want to bother others. You could have found her only by working with others without worrying you were imposing on them. If you'd used only Hero Net, you'd just have a list of her fights and that's about it."

He wouldn't fail an entire class because he'd made a mistake as their teacher. He was going to apologize to them at the end of the day. He was going to ask Hizashi about grading. Hizashi always graded on a curve.

Momo thought about it. Everything personal had been redacted on HN. Date of birth, real name, family, even her school. Madam Icepick appeared and disappeared from history like a spring frost. "You gave her to me because I should be able to ask for help."

"Yes." No I didn't! None of this was planned. "You'll be late if you stay here."

As she left the room, Aizawa leaned back in his chair. He was exhausted, but he was going to have to read that one first. Although, if he'd known the truth, he might have done it this way. Youyourza and Todoroki complimented each other well in temperament and skills. Whatever form their partnership eventually took, they'd be stronger for it.

And he had never admitted that out loud. Even still, in his head he could hear Midnight whispering, you ship it.

No he didn't.

That would be completely irrational.

Author's Notes: I don't know, does going to Kamino to save Bakugo count as a date? I don't think so, but... First date being to take the girl to meet your mom? Clumsy and smooth at the same time, Shoto. And finding out just how cool your mother was when she was younger, that's priceless.

From Enji's madness, she had to be as cold as he was hot. Madam Icepick has to be as badass as Endeavor, and every bit the hero where only the truly stupid don't surrender when given the chance. Even if "prominence burn" is puffery rather than actually being as hot as a solar flare, he's still as hot as a cutting torch- she has to be able to go cold enough to make dry ice if not going into the edge of the cryogenic fluids like argon. He's trained, not just for brute force but for skill- she'd also have been a martial artist, as agile as he strong. Rei would have been the very embodiment of "beware the quiet ones".

Which to me makes Enji losing his soul that much sadder. Because as a working duo, they would have been a power couple. And if a sane Enji and a sane Rei had together trained their son, Shoto... Even still, he lives up to his name. Fire forged and cryo tempered, Shoto is every bit of his name.

And Rindou is an perennial member of the gentian family found throughout East Asia. The kanji for it transliterate to Dragon Liver, but I'm told that in the so-called language of flowers, it is a symbol for a strong sense of justice. Ponder on that. Rei's favorite flower, and it is canon that Enji sends it. He is trying to become a better man. Not sure if he can, but he is trying.

And that shade of blue would look amazing on Momo. Just saying.