Chapter Nine: Fire After the Storm

Kirishima walked through the USJ doors, looking around as he went. A makeshift concrete tent had been set up just outside the doors, with Snipe and the Principal talking between each other next to it. Bakugou was seething with rage nearby, while Ojiro tried (and failed) to cheer him up as he stood by Sero. Smiling at the sight of his friend, Kirishima ran in and they met for a high-five. "Hey! How are you guys?"

Sero shrugged. "Okay, I guess. Iida saved me and Kaminari from the warp villain, and then Kaminari managed to scare him away. But then, well," He gestured to Kaminari.

"Whey."

Ashido ran in from behind, laughing. Satou followed her. "What the heck? What's he doing?" Kirishima waved his hand in front of Kaminari's face.

Sero said, "I dunno. He made a massive shock, and then his brain just. . . short-circuited, or something? Hmm." He looked back at Kirishima. "Where'd you guys end up?"

Kirishima said, "The warp guy dropped us at the Mountain Zone. It. . . honestly wasn't that bad?"

Ashido nodded. "Yeah. There were like five villains, and they were pretty weak. Two of 'em ran the second I used my quirk. Aizawa's scarier."

Sero put his hand to his chin. "Huh. Must have gotten lucky. Those guys-" He pointed to Ojiro, Asui, and Tokoyami, who were standing together in the lawn, "apparently had a really bad time. And then there was Todoroki. . ."

Izuku pried open the USJ's doors and quickly began to scan the area frantically. Come on, where is she?

He felt a hand gently settle on his shoulder. He looked over his shoulder, and found Shouji pointing towards Uraraka, who was staring into the ground. "She's there."

Izuku nodded in thanks and ran towards her. "Uraraka!"

Uraraka stiffened, and looked back. "Deku!" She rushed towards him, a worried look on her face. "Are you okay?"

Izuku nodded. "Yeah. It was scary, but none of those villains were particularly threatening, and I had Shouji to help me." He looked back at Shouji, who was walking to meet them. "Thank you again, by the way."

Shouji said, "No problem."

Ochako gave a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness! You were taking a while to get back, and I was starting to get worried. . ." Her mouth slipped into a frown, before she quickly shifted it back into a cheery grin. "Well, of course you're fine! You're a really cool fighter! Heh." Ochako tried to give her beaming smile, but it wasn't as bright as it normally was.

Izuku gave her a nervous smile. "Uh. How was it for you, Uraraka?"

Uraraka jumped almost imperceptibly, but kept her face's composure. "Oh, it doesn't really matter."

Izuku and Shouji quickly glanced at each other. Why would she hide that? Unless. . . "Are. . . you okay?"

Ochako's smile twitched. "Yeah, of course! Everything is fine!"

Izuku didn't believe that. He opened his mouth to say something, but Shouji grabbed his shoulder and shook his head. They stood there awkwardly for a few seconds.

"So, uh." Ochako pointed to Shouji. "You're Shouji. . . Shouji. . . starts with a 'ma'. . ."

"Shouji Mezzou."

"Right!" Ochako outstretched her hand. "I'm Uraraka Ochako! I hope we can be good friends!"

Shouji took her hand. "Likewise."

Izuku smiled. It was nice to see Uraraka and Shouji getting-

"MIDORIYA!" Izuku jumped half a foot in the air as an engine roared behind him. "ARE YOU OKAY?"

Izuku turned around while clenching his heart. "Iida!? You almost gave me a heart attack!"

Iida stiffly bowed. "My dearest apologies, Midoriya!" He stood back up, and chopped his hand in the direction of Yaoyorozu, who was looking over the crowd. "The Class President asked me to confirm the status of all of 1-A's students! So, again, are you okay?"

Izuku nodded. "Yep." Shouji and- a bit too quickly- Uraraka followed suit.

Iida brought his hand to his chin. "Hm." Accentuating with a hand chop, he continued, "Are you sure? This was quite an incident."

Izuku felt a bead of sweat go down the side of his head. "Yeah." I appreciate the concern, but I'm perfectly fine?

Shouji put his hand to his chest. "I've looked him over, and he is completely uninjured. I would know."

Before Izuku could question that last comment, Iida grabbed his shoulder. "Let's check with Recovery Girl to make sure!"

Izuku yelped, "Wait-!" before Iida grabbed his other shoulder and sped him off in the direction of Recovery Girl's tent, leaving Uraraka and Shouji in the dust.

Izuku felt the burlap tent flap hit him as he flew into the tent. Iida stopped and let go, carefully ensuring he wouldn't trip from the change in acceleration. Izuku let out a breath, before looking around the tent. Recovery Girl had a folding table set up with a few assorted medical supplies neatly organized on the side. There were three beds, one of which was empty. Jirou was lying down in the closest bed, facing away from the door. At the far side, Todoroki lay unconscious, with the entire left side of his body and pockets of his right arm encased in ice.

Iida turned to Recovery Girl. "Can you check Midoriya out and ensure he's unharmed?"
Recovery Girl smiled as she looked at Izuku. "Alright, come here. . ." Well, I guess seeing a doctor after a terrorist attack can't ever be a bad idea. Izuku stepped closer and put his right arm out towards her.

Recovery Girl looked closely at Izuku's sleeved arm. "Other one." Izuku put down his right arm and put up his left one. Recovery Girl squinted harder. "Take off your gloves." Izuku did just that, and Recovery Girl moved her head to catch every angle. She grinned, before leaning back. "Good job on the lack of injuries, sonny." She pulled out a bag of gummies. "Here, have some gummies. Call it a reward for being responsible."

Izuku took the gummies. "Thank you, miss!" He turned to look back at Iida with a smirk on his face, as if to say 'I told you so.'

Iida smiled. "Wonderful, Midoriya! I'm glad you're okay! Well, I'll be out to ensure. . ." He saw Todoroki from the corner of his eye, and chopped towards him. "May I ask, what happened to Todoroki?"

Recovery Girl sighed, shaking her head. "Another foolish student, throwing himself into a situation outside of his control. He decided to attack the villain's ringleader, and would have gotten himself killed if Uraraka hadn't saved him."

Iida nodded with his hand on his chin as Izuku paled. That. . . explains some things. No wonder she doesn't want to talk about that. Izuku said, "Is. Is he going to be okay?"

Recovery Girl grimaced. "I've called his father, and he said this isn't the first time he's done this. To think he's damaged himself to this state before. . ." She shuddered. "If he doesn't learn restraint someday, he's going to end up killing himself."

Iida grimaced. "Alright then. I'll. . . let Class President Yaoyorozu know." He turned away and briskly walked out of the room, leaving Izuku to stand in silence.

"Midoriya, how. . . how did you deal with Bakugou for so long?"

"Eh?" Izuku turned his head, and found Jirou sitting up, still facing away.

Jirou continued. "That bastard ended up ditching me right after the warp villain warped us through that portal. Shattered my eardrums while he was at it. Ended up stumbling into a villain ambush. If All Might hadn't shown up when he did. . ." She sighed. "I just don't understand why a hero student would just leave me to die like that."

Izuku chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, he's like that sometimes. Charging ahead without caring what anybody else thinks." He shook his head. "Don't worry, he probably just figured you'd be fine."

Jirou mirthlessly smirked. "Yeah, I have to doubt that." Her face went back to a frown. "Whatever. I'm gonna go make sure those idiots haven't gotten themselves killed." She walked over to the doors, exchanging a nod to Recovery Girl on the way.

Right as she was about to step out of the tent, a light shone through the door as a massive refrigerator of a man stepped through. "You're in my way." He shoved Jirou to the ground and marched over to the frozen boy on the other side of the room.

Jirou grimaced in pain as she tried to soothe her arm. "Watch where you're going, jackass, can't you see I'm. . ." She trailed off as she realized who this man was. "Endeavour!?"

Recovery Girl was incensed. "Oi, Todoroki! Don't just barge in here and knock over one of my patients!"

If Endeavour even realized they'd spoken, he showed no indication of it. Every ounce of his attention was squarely on Shouto.

Izuku's eyes shot up in surprise. "Holy crap, Endeavour! What are you doing here? Is-" He paused. Didn't Recovery Girl call him. . . "Wait. Todoroki. Are you- Is Todoroki your son!?"

Endeavour blinked, before stopping and staring at Izuku. "Do I- Grrh!" In an instant, Endeavour's face contorted into an expression of pure rage. "How the hell did you get here!? Whatever, I don't have time for this."

Izuku felt a sweat drop from the side of his head. Should have expected that.

The number two Hero finished his march to the side of his son's bed, sighing as he looked at his still form and refusing to let the pain reach his face. "If you are able to, leave. I want to talk to my son. Alone."

Jirou groaned as she got to her feet. "I was already leaving anyways." She walked out of the tent, scowling. Izuku quickly followed, after one last glance at the man who inspired him.

Recovery Girl narrowed her eyes, thinking over her options, before sighing. "Sure, Todoroki. Give him a good scolding, while you're at it."

Endeavour's hands ignited, and he brought them to Shouto's chest. "Of course."

Recovery Girl nodded, and left without a further word.

Shouto came to as he felt his body fill with warmth. Huh? He groggily opened his eyes, and started to sit up. What is this- A massive, scalding fist slammed into the right side of his face. Gah! He grunted in pain as he rubbed his now ice-free head, before sitting up and glaring at the imposing man standing at his bedside.

Endeavour stood hunched above him in full hero attire with his arms crossed and his eyebrows furrowed in rage. "You can't keep doing this, Shouto."

Shouto intensified his glare. "Father."

Endeavour glowered. "This idiotic rebellion of yours has to end. There is absolutely no reason for you to have escaped that fight with no injury and still end up hospitalized."

Shouto yelled, "It was a monster designed to defeat All Might, there was no choice-"

Endeavour growled, "And you're a hero designed to surpass All Might, so where's the difference? And what do you mean, 'no choice?' Is that a joke? Why didn't you use your fire?"

Shouto's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I will not break my promise."

They'd gone through this argument enough times that Endeavour knew that that route was going nowhere. (He staunchly refused to take the same logic to the argument itself.) "What, do you plan to make this a habit? Send yourself to the hospital every time you fight a vaguely threatening villain?"

Shouto said, "No. I'll get used to the cold."

Endeavour gave a long blink in response, as if trying to parse if Shouto was serious. "You have no idea what you're getting into." Shouto stayed silent, his glare never letting up. "You won't get saved forever-" Endeavour physically recoiled at his own sentence. "You shouldn't need to be saved to begin with! Absolute disgrace!"

Shouto stood up from the bed. "If all you're here to do is to complain, I don't see why we're still here. So quit it, nobody wants to listen to you."

Endeavour rolled his eyes. "As long as you continue to refuse your bloodline, your only fate is to die as some no-named hero, killed by your own power against nobody important." He looked up and over at Shouto, who had simply walked to the door.

Shouto grabbed the flap of the tent as he walked out. He pointedly said, "Goodbye," before throwing the flap of the tent as if he was slamming a door.

Endeavour sighed as Shouto left. It didn't matter. Shouto would see reason, eventually. Even if it took until graduation. Then, Endeavour gave a nasty smirk as he made to leave, you'll follow your destiny and become Number One, as you were created to.