Rule #46c: Take time to enjoy the little moments alongside the big ones

The last week of the semester before Christmas was filled with a variety of last-minute assessments and tests that the teachers tried to ram down their throats in preparation for the next semester. But more than once, Toru found herself waking from a nightmare in a cold sweat; most of them pertaining to their little venture out to Okutama and all that it had entailed. Dreams that were painted in red, bodies that exploded into a smattering of pieces, the terrified screams of fully grown men as they were torn to pieces, the heat of the explosive on her skin as it detonated and the stomach-roiling disgust that surged through her whenever she thought of how she had had to pull a wayward limb or shard of a person out of her hair.

And more than once, Toru had lain back on her bed with her chest heaving, as she thought about how dangerous this sort-of-secret infiltration mission into the League of Villains-slash-Liberation Front was and how close she was to death every single day. She knew that those villains (however amicable they appeared to be) could—& would—snuff out her life without a second's hesitation. The invisible girl could crow about being a (would-be) assassin all she wanted—she could even brag about the few kills she had under her belt—but when it came down to it she didn't know if she could stomach being a villain like them. Hawks had it easy; he could charm a snake into buying shoes, but for Toru who knew that with each of her kills (indirect or not), they were more or less just flukes; results of their situations that involved a fair amount of sheer dumb luck.

For Koro-sensei, that mercy-killing was a group effort and she hadn't even been the one to drive the dagger through his heart (that had been Nagisa's honour). As for Stain, that had been an instance of self-defence; admittedly, she had put herself in that situation to protect her friends/classmates and then ended up needing to defend herself. There had been Koga & Fleur, two older teens who had been a part of Oishii's little thug group, who had intended to rip her limb from limb and so she had reacted accordingly, if a little over the top.

Koga had gone out thanks to a protractor through the jugular and Fleur had been blown up in a cramped vent, one which she had sealed shut on her way out. There was Oishii himself, who had been mauled to death by a hoard of wayward nomus, who she had (accidentally) released in their attempts to infiltrate the Hassaikai base. And then there was that nomu at the very beginning, back at the USJ invasion where she had jammed a pipe into his brain and it had split itself into two creatures. That one, again, could be argued as self-defence as the villains had been trying to kill them, afterall. And when she thought about it like that, she was less of a badass assassin-turned-wannabe-hero and more of a frightened little girl with a knife & a torch.

Sweat plastered her fringe to her forehead and the albino sighed heavily as she tried, once again, to calm her racing heart. At least Kuro was a good comfort as he purred religiously at her side and stretched out lavishly against the crumpled folds of the duvet. "Well" Toru coughed dryly as she buried herself deeper beneath the warmth of the blankets in an effort to stave off the winter chill permeating the air. "At least someone's happy"


Snow fell from the sky like powdered sugar that day as the students bustled about in layers upon layers of warm clothes. Well, at least some of them did. There were a few unaffected by the weather thanks to their Quirk (Todoroki) and a few who were just crazy enough to walk around practically shirtless in the snow (Kirishima) thanks to some crazy training regime. Although at the sight of the white snow, anything serious quickly diminished into silly snowball fights and sculpting snowmen. In fact, most of them were buzzing like sugar-crazed toddlers in their seats, all throughout lunch at the idea of going to play out in the snow.

"IT'S SNOWING~!" Mineta cheered as he ran out into the white landscape; but he only got so far before he tripped on a hidden curb and face-planted into the powder. Not that it seemed to bother the boy as he easily freed himself and laughed jubilantly at the impromptu facial hair he had garnered thanks to that.

"Hey! Check it out! You two look like ketchup & mustard!" Toru grinned, leaning out of the open window as she watched Kaminari & Kirishima gang up on each other with handfuls of snow. The two boys in question had dressed up in colourful snow jackets; one coloured bright yellow whilst the other one was bright red.

"Wha—?" Kaminari turned, only to receive a snowball to the back of the head in that small window of a distraction. "Pffft! Kiri—!"

"—Haha! Your face!" Kirishima laughed good-naturedly as the flaps of his jacket fluttered about to reveal the boy's uncovered torso.

"D'you idiots remember the song?" Jiro called out, popping up next to Toru in the window. The song she was, in fact, referring to, was from an American advert that had become rather popular in Japan.

"Of course!" Kaminari replied, puffing up his chest as the two giddy boys easily fell into position, ready to act out the advert at their friend's (inadvertent) request.

"~My name is Ketchup~!" Kirishima sang, animatedly popping out from behind Kaminari who stood in front.

"~And my name is Mustard~!" Kaminari continued, animatedly leaning to the other side.

"~And together, we're Ketchup & Mustard~!" They chorused, raising their hands in the air as they jumped about like idiots.

"~My name is Ketchup~!" Kirishima paused to point his thumb at himself, with the goofiest grin splattered across his face.

"~And my name is Mustard~!" Kaminari copied the action across from him.

"~And together, we're your condiments~!" At this, they waved twin jazz hands at the girls.

"~Good on fries!"~

"And good on burgers!"

"~Together, we're Ketchup!~"

"~And Mustard~!"

"OOH! HEY~! HEY~! LET'S TEST OUR BODIES AGAINST THE ELEMENTS!" Kirishima suddenly turned to Kaminari, tossing off his snow jacket as the performance came to an end.

"Nah, I'm good" Kaminari replied, longingly eyeing up the redhead's jacket as if he was trying to decide whether to put it on atop his own as the redhead in question, immediately fell into several warm-up exercises.

"Suit yourself"

"Is that really necessary?" Momo asked from the doorway, as she wrapped her arms around herself to keep in what little warmth she could. Like most of the girls, she was more than content to stay within the warm realms of the dormitory than to venture outside into the snow, even as the sun sat high in the sky behind all those snowy clouds.

"BE CAREFUL NOT TO SLIP!" Iida bellowed in the vice's ear, tone commanding as he watched over his excitable classmates with a watchful and mothering eye.

"CLOSE THE DOOR, YOU GUYS!" Ochako called from the couch where she sat next to their amphibious classmate. "TSU'S GOING INTO HIBERNATION!"

"Oh! I got it!" Jiro quickly jumped to her feet as she skittered over to shut the door behind her classmates and shooed away those still lingering in the doorway. Meanwhile, Toru happily closed the cracked windows, now that Jack Frost had nipped at her nose and turned her features a bright pink in the wintry air. "Don't worry! We'll get her warmed up quick!"

"Wonder what the weather girl is saying?" Toru mused as she skipped back over to the girls' on the couch and then proceeded to flip through the muted channels in order to find a news station.

"Anyone know what time 'Roki's gonna be back from his big test?" Sero asked around a mouthful of rice from where he sat on the adjacent couch, "I wanna borrow some manga from him"

"Should be around six" Midoriya helpfully replied as he slung on another layer.

"It's their last supplemental class" Iida added in passing, "If Todoroki and Bakugou pass today, every member of Class A will have their Provisional Licences!"

"Yeah, let's just hope they don't go chasing after villains as soon as they get them" Toru commented cheekily.

"Ah! That was ONE time!" Iida blushed something fierce as he was reminded of the incident in question where he had gone AWOL to avenge his injured brother.

"One time too many, if you ask me…"

"…Toru, that's enough!" Momo admonished the albino as she delicately perched herself on the edge of the couch with a cup of tea in hand.

"Sorry" Toru murmured, only half meaning it.

"Although, with our luck…" Ochako trailed off, sounding very much like she thought that Class A was cursed or something. To be fair, with their track record, that belief wasn't that far off.

"I wonder if they're taking their test right now?" Jiro wondered around the rim of her teacup, legs pulled up to her chest so that she could sit somewhat comfortably on the chair she had pulled over. "They will pass, won't they?"

"Oh yeah!" Toru reassured her as the girls were joined by a few of the boys too. "Bakugou may be a jerk, but he's been doing real good lately! And Todoroki's been working on his fire too! They got this in the bag!"

"Maybe I'll make a cake while we're all waiting…?" Sato mused aloud as he brought over another kettle and a set of cups for everyone.

"Woohoo!"

"I'm still psyched that I got my licence before they did!" Kaminari chirped, shaking off any excess snow as he traipsed inside, soon followed by a rather flushed & bare-chested Kirishima. "It's about the only thing I've ever beaten those two at!"

"Someone feeling inadequate?" Sero smirked, unable to help himself from poking fun at the blonde.

"Denki is stinky~!" Mineta chimed in as he popped over the back of the couch with a mischievous grin plastered across his face.

"What the hell guys?!" Kaminari spluttered, sparing them both an unimpressed glare.

"Kaminari" Shoji calmly placated the blonde, "You have…positive attributes"

"Thanks Shoji!" Kaminari replied, "At least someone cares!"

"No way! Is that…?" Jiro suddenly exclaimed as she leant forward to get a better look at the pair of familiar faces flashing across the screen.

"The Curse of Class A strikes again!" Ochako chuckled, only half-joking as the pair came into focus.

"Hey, hey, hey Denki!" Toru flapped her hands in the blonde's direction as her gaze remained glued to the television. "Turn it up! Turn it up!"

"Okay! Okay! Geez!" Kaminari acquiesced to their requests as everyone gathered around.


NEWS NOON: THE CIDER HOUSE GANG STRIKES AGAIN! NEW HEROES ON THE SCENE!

"…I'm here, LIVE on location as the Cider House Gang strikes again, but never fear! For two of UA's newest heroes are here on the scene as well!" Reported a well to-do woman who looked like she was having trouble staying upright thanks to the onslaught of water, ice and explosions rushed through the streets. "UA's Sports Festival Champion, Bakugou Katsuki & son of the Number One Hero, Todoroki Shoto appear to be holding their own! Let's see how things play out! Will the newly-minted heroes prevail? Or will they flee in the face of adversity?"

From somewhere off-camera, the sound of All Might's voice could be heard as the two students raced towards the criminals; "YOU TWO HAVE ONLY BEEN LICENSED FOR HALF AN HOUR!"

"That a problem?" Bakugou huffed from where he clung to the upper half of a lamppost which stood clear out of the rushing water-now-turned-to-ice, palms singed orange with residual heat. Below him, Todoroki stood, unbothered by either weather or terrain. "Geez! How many minutes have to pass before we can be heroes?"

"What's the deal with you, brats?!" The villainous leader quivered in rage as he broke free from the mountain of ice with ease. "You pretending to be grown up Pros?"

"Hand over the things that you have stolen" Todoroki demanded as All Might tried his best to shoo the gathered public away from the scene. "You can't just take other people's belongings!"

"You think that you're so cool?" He sneered, vibrating within the ice as his eyes seemed to manically smile over the edge of his mask. "You've got another thing coming! A couple of ice cubes AREN'T GONNA STOP ME!"

SMASH!

"…In order to pull THIS operation off without a hitch, we mapped out EVERY last patrol pattern in this area" The Leader monologued as he slid down the side of the ice until he reached the ground and a couple of his colleagues joined him with misshapen handbags tucked under their arms. "We spent an ENTIRE month prepping to make sure that we nabbed a TON of the end-of-the-year loot! There should be NO heroes, just helpless bystanders! I WON'T LET YOU RUIN THIS!"

"Get a REAL job!" Bakugou retorted, unphased by the villain's tiring monologue.

"Too bad for you, we happened to cross paths!" Todoroki added, although his jab was more 'heroic' it seemed to have less of an impact than Bakugou's.

"Oooh! I'm SO scared! Why don't you get back to class? I'm not above hurting a couple of brats! " Leader taunted them as carbonated water began to flow from the gauntlets around his wrists, "See this? I can manipulate carbonation; makes me feel all tingly inside! I'm WAY more determined than some punk brats who should be doing their homework!"

"You're, like what? Two years older than us?" Bakugou quirked an unimpressed brow at the water user.

"I'm 28 years old!"

"…You don't act like it" Todoroki replied, unawares of the wicked grin pulling at Bakugou's lips when he unknowingly pushed the right buttons.

"YES, I DO! BECAUSE I'M MORE DETERMINED TO GET AWAY SCOT FREE, THAT IS!" He cried as he boarded a wave and fled in the other direction. "LATER LOSERS!"

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

"What? Those little blasts were enough to knock you out?" Bakugou taunted as the bodies of the unconscious Cider House lackeys rained down around him. It was quite the eery sight. "I thought I held back enough to keep you conscious! Now WHAT was it you were saying about getting away? 'CAUSE YOU SEEM MORE DETERMINED TO GET THRASHED!"

"That's it! I'M THROUGH PLAYING NICE!" Leader declared as he aimed both fistfuls of carbonated water at the explosion user.

"Crap!" Bakugou hissed under his breath as he suddenly found himself having to dodge and dance around the streams of water all aimed at him. Although once he got into the rhythm of it, it was too hard.

"Oh, whoa! These items are strong!" Leader exclaimed in surprise, almost as if he couldn't believe their strength or hadn't used them before.

With streams of carbonated water flailing every which way and only one person to keep the crowds back (even if that person was the former Number One hero), it didn't take long for a wayward bystander to sneak a little closer to the fight and, in turn, a little closer to the danger. It was only thanks to All Might's sudden dive that dragged her down, blocking her head from any further damage, and Bakugou's quick thinking which led to the falling lamppost exploding into a million pieces, that the starry-eyed girl only walked away with a couple of scratched knees instead of something much worse.

"Try not to get yourself killed!" Bakugou berated her, his tone tinged his worry as he landed a pace or two away.

"HAHA! THAT'S THE STUFF!" Leader manically cackled, now uncaring of where his quirk landed or who it hurt. "THIS IS SO AWESOME!"

"I was HOPING we could AVOID any violence!" Todoroki huffed as he rolled up his sleeve before thrusting his hand forward to let out an immense heatwave which sent the villain flying back until he hit the wall of ice behind him. "FLASH FREEZE: HEAT WAVE!"

"Eeeee…!" Leader wheezed as his breath left him.

"Maybe you didn't know, but carbonated water goes flat when its heated" He drawled, stepping closer.

"You pulled that crap at the Sports Fest!" Bakugou commented as he joined his classmate in the middle of their destruction.

"Well, I held back this time" Todoroki replied amicably as he rolled his sleeve back down. "Are you hurt at all?"

"Of course NOT, dammit!" Bakugou scowled, "You making fun of me?!"

"And what about the bystander?" Todoroki continued on, used to & unfazed by the blonde's temperament as he was.

"I SAVED HER LIFE!"

"HEY!" All Might rocketed into view with Slidin' Go hot on his heels, "Are you kids okay?!"

"Oh! You're that infamous delinquent from UA High!" Slidin' Go greeted, hands on hips.

"You wanna rethink THAT word?!" Bakugou growled at the violet hero.

"Did you two manage to do this by YOURSELVES?" He asked, glancing over at the pile of criminals bundled together.

"They were just SMALL-TIME criminals robbing bystanders, I think" Todoroki shrugged off. Compared to all that they had faced, water-powered bag thieves were small fries. "We were able to capture all of them before anyone in the gang escaped"

"And the stuff they nabbed?"

"I stashed them over there, before it got incinerated" Bakugou grunted, nodding over to a pile of purses & bags a few paces away.

"Perfect! You're INCREDIBLE!" Slidin' Go swept both students up into a tight hug, squeezing only a little bit too tight as elbows were pressed into spleens. "I CAN'T believe that you're only students! Thank you, thank you! You're gonna be top heroes! I'm positive about it! And you can just leave the rest of this mess to Slidin' Go! That's me!"

POOF!

"…Did his gauntlets just blow up?" Bakugou puzzled as the purple hero finally set them back down on their feet, and he turned at the quiet noise.

"That's what he gets for using inferior goods from the black market" Slidin' Go admonished almost cheerfully.

"The two of you were AMAZING tonight" All Might praised them, a hand on each crown.

"Thank you" Todoroki smiled softly whilst Bakugou just grunted in irritation that someone would dare to touch his hair.

"Now, let's go home. You must be hungry?"

"I need to melt the ice" Todoroki excused as he reluctantly pulled away from the blonde hero.

"I'm NOT helping…!" Bakugou forewarned him even as he moved to help anyway.

"…And there you have it, folks!" The reporter reappeared back in frame, with a smile that was beaming wide. "UA's latest up and coming heroes…!"


It was dark by the time Bakugou & Todoroki eventually returned to the dormitories and when they did, they were greeted by a surprise. The lights were dimmed and the people hushed as they waited for the two to enter. "…Did we have a blackout or something?" Bakugou wondered, gaze roving about the darkened living room.

"Maybe everyone else went to bed already?" Todoroki offered.

"YOU GOT YOUR LICENCES!" Class A cheered as the lights suddenly flickered back on, washing the room in a warm glow as confetti rained down. "CONGRATULATIONS!"

"Have some cake!" Sato appeared at their side with a four-tiered cake complete with fruity toppings and vanilla icing.

"That thing is massive!" Bakugou exclaimed in surprise.

"Wow, Todoroki!" Momo gushed as Toru sent the vice a knowing look.

"We're proud of you!" Iida added.

"Thank you" Todoroki nodded his thanks.

"Bakubro! You did it!" Kirishima chirped.

"Congrats!" Midoriya added, his eyes gleaming under the neon lights. "Now we can do hero work together! It'll be great, Kaachan!"

"Huh?" Bakugou turned to the expectant pair as he nibbled on a slice of cake, at least until the greenette's words sunk in and he predictably exploded. "WHAT?! DO YOU THINK YOU'RE BETTER THAN ME 'CAUSE YOU GOT YOUR LICENCE FIRST?!"

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT! I SWEAR—!"

"—YOU BETTER SHUT YOUR FACE IF YOU WANNA LIVE!"