Chapter 3: Shouto's Eventful Monday (Part One)
This time, Shouto awoke to his alarm and a distinct lack of ice in his room. Nightmares and quirk accidents were not foreign to him, although they were a rare occurrence since he arrived at the dorms, but that gave him the foresight to ensure his bedding was resistant to his flames. There was little he could do for his ice, however, but the worst it had ever done was given himself and Sero a chilly room. He hoped he didn't disturb his neighbor too much this time.
Grabbing his toiletries, he haphazardly made his way down to the showers, leaning against the elevator walls while trying to convince himself not to fall back asleep. When he reached the first floor, he was greeted by a bright smile from Midoriya. "Todoroki!" Midoriya rested a hand against Shouto's shoulder. He, too, had his toiletries and was headed toward the showers, looking like he just finished his morning run with All Might (which Midoriya denied had anything to do with father-son bonding). The green haired boy took in Shouto's sloppy and mussed up appearance and added in a whisper, "did you have another nightmare?"
Shouto wasn't sure at what point Midoriya started knowing all his signs. While everyone in the dorms knew by now that Shouto did not operate well on less than six hours of sleep, most just assumed he was up doing homework or browsing social media like the rest of them; Midoriya, however, noticed that the only time the boy didn't get a full night of sleep was when he was plagued by nightmares. Although, with what he told the other about his past, nightmares weren't exactly unexpected.
"I'm not sure," he responded slowly as the two made their way to the shower room. "I don't think nightmare is the right word for it."
"Do you… want to talk about it?" Shouto shook his head in response and was thankful that his friend didn't press further. There wasn't anything to talk about. Instead, Midoriya dived into a one-sided discussion on what he thinks the next hero billboards will look like when people get used to Endeavor being number one. Shouto doesn't listen too much, his exhaustion and frank disappointment in hero rankings overcoming his desire to even feign interest, but he does catch on enough to be aware that Midoriya thinks that there will be a lot less stagnant ranking than before. Shouto supposes he would have to agree with Midoriya on that one; All Might holding the number one spot for so long made the higher parts of the billboards predictable. Without their symbol of peace, maybe his father would have to work even harder to maintain his status. Shouto wasn't sure how he felt about that thought, although he did secretly enjoy watching his father's softer side show when he last spoke to Yoarashi. Maybe this change was good.
"I'll tell you more at breakfast!" Midoriya's voice brought Shouto back to his surroundings. They already made their way into the shower room, and Midoriya must have caught on to Shouto's spacey look, drawing his attention back to their surroundings. When he notices his friend's eyes seem to be once again taking in his surroundings, Midoriya takes his leave into the shower.
The warm water feels refreshing for Shouto. He doesn't know what temperature the water actually is, normally just turning on whatever faucet felt right that day, but his quirk works without his awareness to create the perfect shower. He never knew he did this until one day when the dorm's hot water heater went out and Shouto was the only student who didn't complain to Aizawa about it. He was confused why he had the showers to himself for two days before the repairs, while all his classmates went to 1-B's dorms for their morning routine. Shouto heard afterward that Monoma had a field day trying to guess which of the 1-A students ruined the water heater, even after they were told that this was simply a side effect of building so many dorms in a three-day span. An impressive enough feat, if all they had to worry about was a hot water heater going out.
After he finished getting ready for the day, dressed and teeth brushed (while trying to ignore Bakugo screaming death threats at his germs), Shouto headed toward the kitchen for breakfast. While his heart told him that cold soba was the ideal breakfast, Iida already set down a much more nutritionally balanced choice for him including miso soup, rice, and fish, which he gave a proper amount of appreciation for, promising himself that he would have his favorite food for lunch.
"Did you get enough sleep, Todoroki? You know it's important to have at least eight hours of sleep." While his words were strict, Shouto knew that Iida only spoke out of concern for his friend. Sometimes, the class rep was almost like a mother to them; while comforting, Shouto still wasn't entirely sure how to handle the sudden normalcy (even if he was the only one who called their dorm life 'normal').
"I am fine, thank you for your concern, Iida," Shouto assured him, taking a bite of his food.
"With exams coming up, now is not the time to change your sleep schedule," Iida continued.
Midoriya came to his rescue this time. "I don't think one night of not enough sleep is going to make him slip in the class rankings. Todoroki still has lots of time to catch up on his sleep before our exams."
"Yeah, those are, like, three weeks away," Uraraka joined in, placing her food down next to Midoriya. "Besides, everyone has a little insomnia sometimes. It can't be worse than Aizawa-sensei!"
"It isn't too early to start studying," Yaoyorozu took her turn to speak, a gentler remainder than the one Iida would have given. "But Todoroki already finished his studying before dinner, didn't you?"
"I did," Shouto responded simply, before turning his attention back to his breakfast, hoping that he would be able to avoid any more conversation on his sleep and study habits. While the shower helped to wake him up and appear to (most) of his class as his normal composed self, the voice he heard over the last night continued to plague his thoughts, and he didn't want to risk telling anyone that he was hearing voices outside of his dream.
"Are you going to have your study group again, Yaoyorozu?" Midoriya asked. "I saw Kacchan and Kirishima were already starting to study last night as well. Maybe I could join you this time. I did alright in the midterms, but it would be nice to score a little higher this time."
"Why don't we have a big study party in the common room!" Uraraka cheers out. "Anyone who wants to can join and we can all help each other."
"That's an amazing idea, Uraraka," Iida agrees. "We should all feel like we can rely on each other."
"I'll make tea for everyone!"
"Maybe Deku and I can go down and get everyone snacks."
"Y-yeah, and if we all figure out who needs help in what subject and who is really good at that subject, we can be even more efficient about this."
"I'm sure everyone in class will be on board. Do we think we can organize this before Sunday?"
The enthusiastic voices of his classmates faded out in Shouto's mind. He agreed that this was a good idea, and part of him wanted to join (assuming he could convince Aizawa to not allow him to go home on Sunday), but the thought of studying weighed heavily on his mind. Not just studying, any thought felt heavy, he noticed. Perhaps that dream he had ruined his sleep more than he thought.
Although he was the first to finish his breakfast, Shouto didn't get up to head to class until he saw the others around him doing so, his mind still on autopilot. As they walked through the campus, he felt his eyes start to droop, his body swaying lightly. Any hope of nobody else noticing vanished when he felt Midoriya's hand on his shoulder. Shouto turned to give him a look that would reassure him that everything was fine. 'I'm just tired,' he thought to himself, hoping Midoriya understood.
Blinking slowly, he noticed that the sights around them were blurred into blobs of color. 'I forgot my contacts,' he bemoaned inwardly, hoping that he could make it through the day. Yaoyorozu always took good notes and never had a problem with sharing, and he hoped that there wouldn't be any work involving his quirk today.
He sighed, and turned back toward UA, which appeared to him clearly as an imposing yellow residential building, the same one from his dreams. 'Did we leave campus?' he wandered, glancing around. His friends were no longer with him, but his felt more focus than that morning. 'Ah, I guess school must be over?' That didn't make sense; he couldn't remember even making it to class, and the sun was still in its early position in the sky, but he distinctly was not at UA any longer. 'Did Aizawa-sensei approve me leaving campus?'
"I'm upstairs," the voice whispered to him, melodic and gentle like a young child. "On the top floor. This is my house."
Shouto let his hand hover over the door handle, glancing up toward the building. "Do you want me to come to you?"
"Please," the child responded. "What's your name?"
"Shouto," he answered. He wasn't sure why he chose his hero name, but the timidness to the child's words made him feel like that's what she needed. He gripped the handle and swung open the door. Inside was a blur of beige and white, gold numbers on the doors that he couldn't read. He made a note to himself to keep his glasses on hand; even if he didn't want the others in his class to know, not being able to read anything was getting frustrating.
He slowly climbed the stairs, wondering if he could still talk to the child. "How can you hear me if you're upstairs?" No response. "What's your name?" Still no response. Maybe he was imagining things, but nothing stopped him from climbing the stairs until he reached the top floor and there were no more. Five doors surrounded him, two on each side of the hall and one at the end. "Which door?"
"I don't know," the child finally answered him. "I can't read yet." Even their voice seemed to surround him, giving Shouto no chance of telling what direction they were in. Yet, he felt his feet step forward, moving his body on their own, until he reached the door at the end. He placed a hand on the door and swung it open.
"You okay, Todoroki?" Midoriya asked after they entered the school building, noticing Shouto heading toward a different set of stairs.
When he didn't answer, but thankfully at least stopped walking away, Yaoyorozu tried. "Todoroki, we really need to get to class."
"Right," Iida bellowed out, loud as the class rep could reasonably speak. "It's important to arrive early and set a good example for our fellow peers."
"I have to go," Shouto murmured to them. "Upstairs."
"Huh, what's upstairs?" Uraraka chimed in, the only one close enough to him to hear what he was saying. "Shouldn't we head to class?"
Shouto just shook his head and continued up to the stairs on the other side of the hall. "Do you want us to come with you?" Yaoyorozu called out for him but received no answer. She looked toward her companions for help.
"We should get to class," Iida decided.
"Todoroki can't get into too much trouble while still on campus, right?" Uraraka supplied.
"You're right," Yaoyorozu nodded, grasping Midoriya's arm. "He probably just has to meet with another student; I bet he'll make it to homeroom on time."
Hesitantly, Midoriya agreed, though he couldn't help but feel like there was something more. He resolved to bring it up with Shouto at lunch.
When he opened the door, Shouto found himself greeted with an entire classful of students who he couldn't seem to recognize. They were all wearing UA uniforms, so he knew he was back at campus. Every detail was sharp and clear; he hadn't forgotten his contacts it seemed.
After a momentary stare down that felt like an eternity, a vaguely familiar voice broke through. "Oh, it's Todoroki from 1-A!" a girl with long turquoise hair nearly shouted, bouncing up and taking his hands in hers. Her smile rivaled that of even Midoriya's in size and her eager rambling matched his as well. "I have so many questions. Like, do you dye your hair, or is it just naturally like that? How did you get your scar? That's on your fire side, right? Did you give it to yourself? Oh and-"
Behind her, an equally enthusiastic but more socially adept blond laughed. "Nejire, I don't think we need to scare him." This time he addressed Shouto. "What's up? Classes are about to start; did you need something? I'm sure we can help you out, but I don't want to make you late."
Shouto glanced around and the pieces started to click in place. He blinked his eyes at Mirio, and then spoke more to himself than anyone else. "This is… not my classroom."
Mirio laughed boisterously, placing a hand on Shouto's shoulders. "Oh, you're funny, man. Seriously, we need to hang out more. Nobody expected you would be the one to make jokes."
Unable, and unwilling, to decipher what Mirio was talking about, Shouto instead deeply bowed in apology. "Excuse me," he muttered, quickly dodging as the 3-A instructor walked in.
Shouto knew there was no way he would make it to his own homeroom in time now, despite running as quickly as he could (faster than he normally could without Iida chastising him for it). He just had to hope that Aizawa was also late.
When he stepped into his own classroom, he realized that the universe was against him today. All nineteen of his classmates turned their attention to him, and Aizawa's disappointment was evident. "Todoroki," his teacher spoke, "care to tell me why you're late?"
Running to class gave him no time to think of an excuse, and his foggy mind wasn't helping on the spot either, so Shouto decided to tell the truth. "I… got lost," he spoke quietly enough for only Aizawa to hear, not wanting to admit this to any of his classmates.
His teacher, however, did not seem to get the memo, or felt particularly sadistic today. "You've been coming here for over seven months now, and you're telling me you 'got lost' on the way to class?" Shouto only nodded, and Aizawa sighed louder than he had in a while. "Sit down, problem child." Aizawa was not in the mood to break down what he was just told.
He overheard a few snickers as he walked all the way to the back to take his seat next to Yaoyorozu. She gave him a concerned look that he pretended not to see, and instead focused on his notebook.
"As I was saying," Aizawa continued, "UA insists on continuing your work-studies for the winter break now that everyone has their provisional license." Shouto's humiliation only deepened. "As such, while we will be administering your written exams, we have decided to let your work-studies serve as your practical exam. We will, for the next three weeks, do everything we can to prepare you for what you may face in the field, however your mentors are ultimately responsible for what you will be expected to do. Because of the recent uptake in villain activity, we will also be stricter with who you can intern with, in effort to keep you safe. I understand some of you were able to intern with top pros, and will be allowed to continue to do so, for the rest of you…"
Aizawa's voice faded into background noise, but Shouto was able to retain the relevant points to himself. A part of him desperately wanted to work with another hero, but his weaker fire quirk and his curiosity toward the 'new and improved' Endeavor/father left him certain that he would take the path of least resistance. It didn't help, too, that his father wanted him to take a spot at his agency when he graduated, meaning that the more experience Shouto had with Endeavor's sidekicks, the better chance he had when he was on the field.
He chanced a look over at Yaoyorozu, who seemed to be working out for herself what she wanted to do. He remembered her internship was not what she was looking forward to, finding herself forced into commercial work more than hero work. He continued to think of his other friends. Midoriya worked most recently with Sir Nighteye, whose passing meant that his agency was unable to take an intern. Bakugo's former mentor was currently MIA. Iida, as well, would need new a place to work, too.
'Maybe I can convince Endeavor to take on more students,' he thought to himself. While he knew he would ultimately take on his father's agency for the winter break, that didn't mean his father knew. If he played it right, he could help at least one of his friends.
Homeroom blurred into first, second, and even third period with thankfully no incident. Despite his frustration, Aizawa still seemed to prefer ignoring breaking down Shouto's directional challenges than disciplining his student.
Now, fourth period was here, and Aizawa was lecturing on something regarding hero laws. Shouto did his best to follow along, but he began to feel the drowsy feeling he had earlier that morning come back.
"Will you help me, Shouto?"
"What are you?" Shouto asked. He turned his head around, and none of his classmates were there anymore. Instead, he simply sat at his desk, surrounded by the hallway from earlier, large door directly in front of him.
"Shouto, please save me," the child responded, voice as desperate as it was during his dreams. Shouto pinched the inside of his arm, the sharp pain alerting him that he was completely awake.
"Is this a quirk?" He desperately hoped he wasn't going crazy.
"No quirk," the small voice insisted. "Pease save me, Shouto."
Once again, his movements didn't seem to be his own. Shouto stood, leaning his right hand on his desk, but that quickly disappeared. He jumped back, cradling his hand as though it had been burned, despite no feeling of pain. "This has to be a quirk," he told himself as he approached the door in front of him.
"No quirk," the voice repeated, nearly screaming in childish anger. "No quirks, just help me, please."
Shouto had never been good with kids, he knew this. Although he improved greatly after his lesson with Gang Orca, he still flinched at the thought of upsetting a distressed child. "I'll help you," he agreed, voice calmer. "I promise I'll save you."
"Come inside," the voice instructed. "You can open the door. Please?"
Shouto nodded, although he wasn't sure if the child could see this. They seemed to know anything he was thinking earlier, so that didn't seem too unlikely. He took two unsteady steps forward and placed a hand on the doorknob. When the door opened, all he saw following was black, as he felt his body fall forward.
"This led to a rise of quirk marriages, as heroes and villains attempted to create quirks that were more ideal for their goals. Officially, these became illegal in- Todoroki please sit down," Aizawa interrupted his lecture, turning around when he saw his normally well-behaved student standing, leaning uncertainly against his desk, making no move to sit down. "If you have something to say, I'd love to hear it," Aizawa offered, still getting no response.
Midoriya glanced back, wrenching his hands in his lap underneath his desk. He wasn't sure how well Shouto was going to take their lecture today when Aizawa started into quirk marriages. "Todoroki," he whispered.
Shouto then took a step forward, unsteady, leaning sharply against Tokoyami's desk. "Are you alright?" the other student asked, standing up as well in case something happened. From her seat, Yaoyorozu also stood up and stepped behind Shouto warily.
"Todoroki?" Aizawa's voice switched from annoyance to concern, and he left his spot at the board, though he didn't approach Shouto closely yet.
Blue and grey eyes locked with Tokoyami's dark eyes, but there was no hint of recognition in them. "I'll save you," Shouto whispered to his avian classmate before his body fell limp.
"Todoroki!" Yaoyorozu exclaimed, grabbing him quickly before his head could hit the floor.
"Take him to Recovery Girl, Yaoyorozu," Aizawa wasted no time, even giving in to Yaoyorozu's inevitable plea before she could ask it. "You can stay with him until lunch."
"Yes, sir," she nodded as she carefully lifted Shouto from the floor. Understanding the immediacy in his voice, once she had him in her arms Yaoyorozu hurried to Recovery Girl's office before anything worse could happen.
"Sensei-" Midoriya's hand shot up, but Aizawa's patience was limited.
"He'll be fine, now let's return to the lesson." Leaving no chance for any of his other overly empathetic classmates to respond, Aizawa returned to the board and began again on his lecture on quirk marriages.
A white ceiling greeted him when he opened his eyes. While this was not particularly unexpected, this room seemed to bright and white for his taste, and Shouto recognized it as Recovery Girl's office.
"How are you feeling?"
The voice wasn't Recovery Girl, and Shouto wasn't sure if he was thankful to not have to talk to her right away, or if he was more embarrassed that whatever brought him here was witnessed by at least Yaoyorozu.
"I'm fine," he responded honestly. "Why am I here?"
"You passed out in class."
That was even worse than he hoped. Shouto groaned and pulled the blanket over his face, wishing that he could just die of embarrassment in that moment. Not only did he end up in the wrong class this morning, then had to admit it to his entire class, now he passed out in front of them. If the League of Villains happened to attack at that moment, Shouto would run right into Dabi's flames.
"Is it because you didn't sleep?" she asked, gentle voice laced with concern. "Todoroki if you're not feeling well, you know Aizawa-sensei would understand if you said something."
"I feel fine," he repeated, poking his head out from the blankets. "Honestly, I do. I'm not sure why it happened."
"Oh, he's already awake?" Recovery Girl entered through the privacy curtain with surprise. "Seems you're doing better."
Shouto sat up and bowed toward her. "I apologize for disturbing you," he said. "I am feeling fine."
"No disturbance, dearie," she told him, patting his hand gently. "Your friend tells me that you fainted in class."
"I… don't remember that," he admitted sheepishly.
"Not uncommon," the nurse assured him. "You're fortunate she was able to catch you before you hit your head, otherwise we might have some concerns. But there doesn't seem to be anything physical we need to worry about. I'll let you rest here, but you should be fine to return to class, since you don't have any training today. But if you feel lightheaded again, you come back immediately, you understand?"
"Yes, ma'am," he agreed with another bow. To Yaoyorozu, he said, "I feel well enough to go back."
"Well, Aizawa-sensei said we could stay here until lunch, and class ends in a few minutes, so why don't we go ahead down there?" she offered, and Shouto agreed. He didn't love missing class, but it did seem wasteful to go back at this point.
So instead, the two made their way down to the lunchroom, Shouto attempting to ignore Yaoyorozu's worried hovering. She gestured him to sit down in his usual spot while she went to grab their food, promising him a serving of cold soba. She made it to order when the rest of the students began to spill into the lunchroom.
"Oh, Todoroki!" Midoriya cheered when he saw his friend. "You're already here?"
Shouto nodded. "Recovery Girl said I was fine."
"That's great! I was worried, especially since Aizawa-sensei was talking about quirk marriages, and given, well, everything I thought that you weren't okay and-" a pointed look from Shouto ended Midoriya's rant before anyone else happened to overhear. "Right. Should I go get you some food?"
"Yaoyorozu already went to do that," Shouto informed him, and seeing the look of disappointment at not being more helpful, he decided to give in. "But could I borrow your notes tonight? I don't think I took any from that class."
"Of course!" Midoriya's eyes lit up, and Shouto felt his lips twitch into a hint of a smile before returning to their neutral position. Despite knowing the legal history regarding quirk marriages intimately, giving his friend a sense of accomplished purpose was worth it. Midoriya then notices Iida and Uraraka gesturing him from the line, as well as Yaoyorozu returning with two trays of food. "Oh, I guess I should go get food," he laughs. "I'll be right back, Todoroki!"
While Yaoyorozu seems to respect his space, for now, not everyone in class 1-A is on the same page. While slurping his soba, he notices Bakugo, of all people, choosing to sit next to him. "So, we are friends," Todoroki speaks plainly, as though he were informing someone else. He has no intention of pissing off Bakugo, but with Bakugo that seems to be the default setting.
"What? We are fucking not," Bakugo insists, crossing his arms defiantly over his curry. "I just wanted to know why the hell you decided to go for a walk and get lost before class this morning. Did your quirk melt your brain?"
"I don't think it can do that," Todoroki mused, taking another bite of his soba. "I didn't go for a walk."
"You're an idiot," Bakugo grumbles.
"Bakugo," Yaoyorozu sounds like she's pleading with him. "Why are you bothering Todoroki?"
"He's not bothering me," Shouto assured her. "We're friends."
"We are not!" small explosions crackled off Bakugo's palm.
"You're sitting with me at lunch," Shouto points out, straightforward and his mind innocent with his words. "That's what friends do."
"Oh my god," Bakugo groans into his hands. "This could not get any worse."
"Hey, Kacchan!" Midoriya greets him, sitting on his other side. "I didn't think you were joining us for lunch today."
"Bakugo is sitting with us?" Uraraka takes her turn to voice her surprise.
"I think it's a great chance to get to know our classmate better," Iida smiles as he and Uraraka take their seats next to Yaoyorozu.
"Are you going to the mall on Saturday?" Shouto asks, before anyone can mention his morning again.
"What? You and Bakugo go to the mall together? I didn't realize you were so close!" Uraraka smiles mischievously toward the blond. While Shouto may take everything at face value, she knows that she can get under his skin quickly this way.
"Yoarashi and Camie wanted to go," Shouto informed her, and then to the raven-haired girl, "they said you're welcome to come, if you still would like to."
"Oh, sure," Yaoyorozu smiled, looking aside to try to hide her blush. The looks on the others' faces (with exception for Shouto and Bakugo) told her that she wasn't as sneaky as she hoped.
"Yes, I'm going," Bakugo admits through gritted teeth. "I don't think they would let me get away with not. Now answer my question you damn half-and-half bastard!"
"You asked a question?" Shouto tilted his head slightly in confusion, nose crinkled just slightly as he tried to remember what Bakugo was asking him. Then, as though he figured out, he repeated, "Oh, I said that my quirk can't melt my brain. I think my body is just used to the temperature."
"I asked why you got lost," Bakugo growled.
"Oh. I didn't choose to. I just ended up in 3-A's class." Somehow, repeating it while Bakugo became increasingly frustrated seemed to take the humiliating edge off the story. Maybe it wasn't as bad as he thought.
"You seemed pretty determined to go upstairs this morning," Uraraka mentioned. "What was that about?"
Never mind, he decided, it was as bad as he thought. He could not tell his friends that he was hearing voices; as well meaning as they all would be, he knew he would end up in a room just like his mother, and without any chance of seeing her again. That thought alone led to his carefully crafted retelling. "I just had a feeling," he said slowly, eating soba to buy himself time. What was it that his father always said? Right. "I thought I sensed some sort of danger. Guess it was nothing."
"That's noble of you," Iida commended, "to try and keep your fellow students safe. But next time you should probably approach one of the teachers about it instead of being late to home room."
The conversation then turned to their study session they were planning that morning, which Shouto mostly hummed along in agreement and Bakugo interjected randomly to complain that he was stuck there with them, despite being offered to leave the table several times.
When Shouto stood to clear his lunch tray, Bakugo jolted up to follow, despite half his curry still being uneaten. "Aren't you still eating, Bakugo?"
"I'll go back to it in a second," he grumbled, following Shouto to the trashcan. When they were as alone as they could get in the lunchroom, Bakugo gripped his forearm. "So, what the hell was that in the classroom earlier, hm?"
"What do you mean?"
"Did you forget that you just passed out in front of everyone?"
Oh. Shouto didn't have a good excuse lined up for this. "I'm not sure," he chose to reply honestly. "Recovery Girl said nothing was wrong." A nonchalant shrug freed his arm from Bakugo's grip. "I appreciate your concern as my friend, but it's nothing."
"We're not friends," Bakugo repeated despite his only audience being the trashcan, since Shouto had already returned to his table. When Bakugo got back, Tokoyami approached Todoroki and stood off to the side of the table.
"I hope you're feeling better," Tokoyami said.
"I am, thank you," Shouto nodded in response. He wished that everyone would pretend it didn't happen, but as usual, that was not an option. "I apologize for disturbing class."
"Todoroki, nobody is mad at you," Midoriya interjected. "Really, we all just want you to be okay."
"Midoriya is correct," Tokoyami nodded. "And I appreciate the sentiment, but it is unnecessary. I wanted to check on you because you were saying something to me before you fainted."
"I was?" Shouto's nose wiggled lightly without him noticing. "What was it?"
"I'm not sure," Tokoyami admitted, crossing his arms. "I couldn't quite tell. I suppose it can't be important then, but if you remember, we can talk later." The two reserved boys nodded at each other as Tokoyami headed back toward his normal table.
Much to Shouto's relief, the rest of lunch continued on with no other interest into his eventful morning.
AN: I decided to stop here, since this was getting longer than I expected. Shouto is having it easy for now, but pretty soon he'll be experiencing all of the effects of the quirk. I hope you're enjoying it so far :)