Chapter 8
Hi guys! Thank you to The-Storm Unleashed for your reviews! I did play around with the idea of changing ships buuuuuut my heart won over for Todoroki and I hope you understand why later :) I am working on another fanfic with Bakugou and another OC which should be out later this month.
This first part of the chapter is a bit intense but so important for Kaiya's development.
Flashback:
"You should have control of that damn Quirk! If you don't understand it, then don't use it!" Kaiya's foster father screamed at her as her foster mother calmed the other girl who was clutching her arm in pain.
Tears streamed down Kaiya's face as her foster father rounded on her angrily. "I'm sorry! I didn't know it would hurt so bad!" Kaiya cried, shaking in fear.
"It's fire! Of course it would hurt Kaiya!" Her foster father got really close to her and went to strike but Kaiya cried out and accidently thrust more fire in his direction, catching his hand in the flame. "Jesus Christ! Now you're going to get it Kaiya!" He yelled at her again, clutching his hand to his chest in pain. He grabbed for the trembling girl and held her hand in front of her. "Actually, no. You will." His face darkened as an idea hit him.
"What?" Kaiya whimpered, tears streaming down her face.
"Burn yourself. I want you to understand what pain the fire causes so you will be more careful in the future." Kaiya's foster father explained, placing her hand on her forearm. "Go on. A nice big flame like you sent on me." His face was hard and angry, determined to punish her for the mistake.
"Please don't make me do this. I'll be careful!" Kaiya pleaded to her foster father.
"Do it now!" He ordered, squeezing her arm. She cried out and let the fire course out of her hand to her forearm. She wailed as she felt the skin burn and kept the fire on herself until her foster father appeared satisfied. "There. Now do you understand how dangerous you are?" Kaiya nodded sadly, clutching her burned forearm.
She ran to her room, tears streaming down her face while clutching her scorched arm. "Mama...please help me?" She mumbled, soaking her pillow with tears and blood.
Kaiya finished her story and found herself clutching to her left forearm where the burn mark had faded slightly; but still burned into her. "The pain was so intense, I couldn't lift my arm for weeks. They didn't take me to the hospital because they feared I would be taken away from them. So I applied burn ointment myself and it healed." Todoroki's chest hurt at the story, anger and sadness coursed through him as he listened more. "I was too young for my resilience to the flame to have manifested; now I'm less susceptible to burns."
"My god." Todoroki mumbled under his breath.
"They treated me differently after that. The kids were afraid of me and the man kept striking me whenever he thought I was practicing my Quirk. So I ran away a few months later. I was too afraid I'd lose control again and didn't want to go through that pain again. So I bounced around the city; taking shelter wherever I could." Kaiya continued, not allowing her voice to crack. She saw that Todoroki was upset with the story so she straightened herself up and held her head high to show she was okay. "I am okay now; I take care of myself, I train hard and do what I can to survive. It's made me stronger." A few silent moments passed before she spoke again. "This is why I took your invitation sir. I wanted to learn from the best." Kaiya finished, bowing to Endeavour.
Todoroki's father, who he had rarely seen shaken; turned pale and distraught at Kaiya's story. "My child. That is one hell of a story. I will do my best to teach you what I can in the time we have. I will pull no punches with you." Endeavor finally found his voice; placing a hand on her shoulder. Kaiya's only response was staying in a bowed position to will the tears not to pool. She couldn't bring herself to look at Todoroki beside her either. "Get your things together. We leave for Hosu to find the Hero Killer Stain." And with that last order, Endeavour left the teens in his office. An awkward silence fell into the room as Kaiya grabbed for her hero outfit in her case and stepped to where a room divider stood. Todoroki was frozen in place.
"Please. Say something." Kaiya whispered from the divider, her pain in her voice. Todoroki couldn't find the right words to say. He had always wondered what had happened to Kaiya after seeing her burn, but he never expected that kind of story to come out.
"I'm sorry. You knew about my past; but I was oblivious to yours." Kaiya winced at his admission and situated herself into her leggings and crop top. "Your lack of confidence makes sense now." Todoroki heard Kaiya growl and saw her step out from the divider and stalk up to him angrily.
"Do not think of me as weak. I have my issues obviously, but I do not want pity."
Todoroki's eyes melted into her emerald fires and she softened her tone as he did not fight her. "I want to be stronger and make my parents' regret leaving me." Todoroki finally found movement in his arms and did something he was not used to doing. He wrapped his friend in a warm embrace, feeling her tense at the action until she realized what he was trying to do. She buried her face into his shoulder, accepting the comfort. "Thank you." She whispered.
"I should go change." Todoroki mumbled, realizing his father was probably waiting for them. Kaiya nodded and released her grip on him, allowing his freedom to the room divider. "Oh, and Kaiya?" Todoroki's voice sounded once more. "There's a lot of words I could use to describe you; weak is never going to be one of them." Kaiya smiled at his words, hiding a searing blush with her hair.
"Get changed." She whispered, knowing he saw her embarrassment.
As Todoroki and Kaiya were running to keep up with Endeavour, Todoroki found the courage to ask a weighing question. 'Why didn't you tell me about choosing this agency?"
"I was scared you'd talk me out of it. I also did not know you were planning on choosing this either." Kaiya told him. "Guess we both got a surprise." Before Todoroki could respond, he pulled out his phone and glanced at the message that was on his screen.
"You're supposed to be watching me!" Endeavor called to his son who had stopped in his tracks.
"Midoriya?" Todoroki whispered, gaining Kaiya's attention too. He took off in the opposite direction, telling his father his friend was in danger. Kaiya debated for a second who to follow but tore off after Todoroki. "He may be in danger." He whispered to Kaiya, increasing his speed.
They arrived at the location Midoriya had sent Todoroki and saw a flash of green further down the alley. "Is that Stain?" Kaiya asked, seeing two bodies lying on the ground nearby. The knife wielding murderer was approaching the armored body on the ground and was about to strike it with a blade when Todoroki and Kaiya thrust their fires at him.
"Midoriya. You need to send more information next time; we were almost too late to stop this guy." Todoroki chastised the young hero who was catching his breath. Iida lay where Stain was about to strike, along with the Native Hero.
"Todoroki? Kaiya?" Iida managed to ask, straining against himself.
"How did you get here?" Midoriya asked the pair from his place against the brick wall. "You're both using your fire?"
"We were in the neighborhood. But maybe use more information than a location next time" Kaiya answered, her fire still blazing on her right arm. Sharing a look with Kaiya, Todoroki sent a wave of fire and ice Stain's way as Kaiya went to check on Iida and Native's injuries.
"Be careful Todoroki! He can control people's movements by ingesting their blood; that's how he got us!" Midoriya called out, wincing in pain.
"Ah that makes sense as to why you two are down." Kaiya mumbled, looking up to see Todoroki stand against Stain.
"Looks like you have good friends Ingenium….or you did!" Stain growled, throwing an attack towards Kaiya but Todoroki blocked him with an ice wall.
"So I just keep my distance then." Todoroki mused but a blade cut across his cheek before he could move. Stain grabbed him and stretched out his tongue for a taste but Kaiya blew him away with a wind burst. "Thanks Kaiya." The girl took her place beside him and stood ready to attack.
"So much for keeping your distance." Kaiya snarked, earning a growl from Todoroki. "My elements will counter attack your Quirk if we don't communicate. My wind can cause your fire to go out of control; my water will cancel out your fire; our only hope really is ice, fire, and earth." Kaiya deducted.
"Sounds like a plan." Todoroki agreed, pulling up a wall of ice as Midoriya crawled to the pair. "He's strong…"
"Please. Stop this. I can't watch you guys get hurt because of me. I am Ingenium. This is my fight. Not yours!" Iida cried out, still frozen on the ground. Todoroki clenched his teeth and threw more fire out to Stain.
"You're Ingenium now? Funny; the Ingenium I knew didn't have that look on his face before." Todoroki yelled, trying to reach Iida.
"You're blocking your field of vision from an attacker who is faster than you." Stain pointed out to Todoroki.
"Come and get me then!" Todoroki threatened but got two blades thrown into his arm. Kaiya threw up fragments of the ground at Stain but couldn't strike him down in time before his knives reached Todoroki and Midoriya threw himself into Stains attack at Native. "How are you able to move Midoriya?"
"His Quirk has a time limit?" Kaiya tried guessing, sending waves of wind at Stain to knock him off balance or slow him down. "He's fucking fast."
"If the time limit was true, I'd have been free by now." Native replied, still straining. Midoriya pushed against Stain but fell short, dodging Todoroki's ice attack.
"If it's not the time limit...what can it be? Loses strength the more people he controls?" Midoriya asked.
"Must be the type of blood you have. It's the only thing that makes sense." Kaiya deducted as Stain grinned at the teens and dodged more attacks, tossing his blades. Kaiya dodged all of them but missed the smallest blade as it struck her thigh.
"Kaiya!" Todoroki called to her, blazing his flames to keep Stain at a distance as Kaiya knelt down in pain.
"So you've figured it out? Bravo. Very impressive little girl." Stain smirked, inching closer to the trio.
"We can't keep fighting him; we're losing too much blood." Kaiya groaned, ripping her sleeve to wrap around her thigh.
"I'll distract him while you two give me support." Midoriya ordered, his body flashing red. "Sound like a plan?"
"You want us to take a pretty big risk...okay." Todoroki answered. "We can protect them."
"This won't be easy." Kaiya whispered beside Todoroki, but lit her arm in flames anyway.
"Has anyone ever told you, you rely on your Quirk too much?" Stain asked Todoroki who answered him with an ice attack.
"We have to protect Native and Iida until the Pro's get here." Midoriya called out to Todoroki and Kaiya, dodging Stain as well. Kaiya strained against the pain in her thigh and tried to piggyback onto Todoroki's attacks against Stain while Midoriya was frozen again. She could hear the ice teen trying to encourage Iida but she concentrated on keeping them both safe by forming an earth barrier between them and the killer.
"You want to make your brother proud? Then stand up and be Ingenium! Be the hero he wanted you to be!" Todoroki called out, his arm engulfed in flames as Stain broke through the ice and earth barrier in front of the group.
"I may spare you three. You are true heroes, unlike these friends you are bleeding to protect." Stain snarled, tossing his knives in the air.
Iida regained his footing slowly and stood behind Todoroki, stretching his engines."Recipro burst!" He called out, kicking Stain away from Kaiya and Todoroki.
"Watch out!" Kaiya called Todoroki who barely dodged a blade. "He's getting desperate; his fighting style has changed!" Kaiya observed.
"This has nothing to do with any of you. I'm okay; but I won't have you three spill anymore blood for me." Iida stated as Stain chuckled.
"There is no point pretending to be a hero now. A person's true nature doesn't change in a few minutes. You'll never be anything more than a fraud." Stain snarled, brushing his blade through the air.
"You're a fundamentalist lunatic...Iida don't listen to this murderous lunatic." Todoroki growled but froze when Iida shook his head.
"No, he is completely correct. I have no right to call myself a hero. But if I give up now, then the name "Ingenium" dies." Stain cursed at Iida and lunged for him while Todoroki blew him back with a large fire.
"Idiots! Stain is only after me and the white armored kid. Stop fighting back and get out of here!" Native ordered the teens, but Kaiya blasted out another fire wave with Todoroki and growled in reply.
"He won't let us even if we wanted to run."
"Todoroki! Can you regulate your temperatures?" Iida asked him.
"Not so well with my left but yes I can." He answered quickly.
"Freeze my engines without plugging the exhaust." Iida told him, pointing at the target. Todoroki was busy freezing Iida's booster that neither boy saw Stain throw more blades at them. Kaiya used her wind to block the attack and got two blades wedged in her right forearm for her trouble.
"Why won't you stay down?" Stain growled loudly, bringing Kaiya down slightly.
"Kaiya!" Todoroki cried out. Kaiya staggered but kept her balance, clutching her arm in pain as blood poured out of the wounds. "I got you, it's okay." He urged her, her breathing heavy as pain coursed through her.
"He's really fucking fast." Kaiya swore. Iida grabbed the blades from her arm and used his recipro burst to attack Stain. Todoroki watched the attack as his hand applied pressure to Kaiya's wound. "Your arm is messed up too." Kaiya groaned, seeing him eye his own wound. "When they land their attack, we burn him." Kaiya pushed herself off of Todoroki and braced for the next attack.
"You can't control your left well." Todoroki pointed out to her, her right arm gushing out blood.
"I can't call myself a hero if I only use half my body." She winced, her eyes meeting Todoroki's concerned glare. Deeper meaning flooded her words but only them two knew it. "I'll use my earth to knock Stain out, you use your ice to get the boys down here safely after we burn him." Todoroki looked doubtful, but he went along with her plan. He blasted a fire ball towards Stain, subduing him mid air as Kaiya pulled fragments of cement to knock Stain out completely. Stain fell on a protruding ice fragment as Iida and Midoriya slid down Todoroki's ice slide.
"God I hope that was enough to knock the bastard out." Kaiya groaned, feeling warm blood trickle down her thigh and arm.
"Let's restrain him and pull him to the street." Todoroki instructed.
"Take his weapons away too, just in case." Kaiya winced, lowering the earth so they could reach the killer. Both of them were losing blood quickly from their wounds; Kaiya hoped Todoroki's father had listened to him and sent reinforcements to the alley.
"I must apologize." Native started carrying Midoriya on his back. "I'm supposed to be a pro hero, but I was useless back there."
"I don't think any one hero could take on Hero Killer Stain. Not with that, of his." Midoriya said, barely holding onto consciousness.
"The four of us barely won against him. Even then, it was only due to his own mistakes. He was getting desperate and riled up. He forgot about Midoriya's quick recovery time, he couldn't block Iida's recipro burst, and forgot that Kaiya had more than just fire on her side." Kaiya groaned as they trekked to the road, eager to stop moving.
"What are you doing here kid?" A loud, elderly voice erupted. A small, yellow armored man appeared and kicked Midoriya in the face. "I thought I told you to stay on the bullet train?" He chided.
"Who is this?" Todoroki asked.
"Gran Torino. I'm doing my internship with him. How did you find us?"
"I was told to come here by someone else. I have no idea what is going on here, but I'm glad you're not dead at least."
"Charming." Kaiya mumbled, hearing a group of Pro Hero's running up to them.
"Endeavour told us to come here. But...kids? Those injuries look bad." One hero stated, until another pointed at Stain on the ground. "Is that the Hero Killer?"
"I'll call an ambulance, and the cops!" One of them announced, seeing the injuries on the teens.
"Guys…" Iida croaked, bowing behind Midoriya, Todoroki and Kaiya. "I'm so sorry. I was so angry and you got hurt because of me."
"We're your friends. We should have noticed when something was wrong." Iida's tears pooled as Midoriya apoligzed too.
"We're all too good at hiding things." Kaiya mumbled, gazing at Todoroki who nodded.
"Pull yourself together. You're the class rep." Todoroki told Iida.
"Right." Iida mumbled, wiping his eyes. Kaiya dropped to the floor clutching her arm as soon as they stopped walking.
"I did too much." She whispered, squeezing her eyes shut to stop the tears. Todoroki crouched down to her and pressed her wounds.
"Get down!" Gran Torino ordered, seeing a flying Nomu swoop down, grabbing Midoriya. Kaiya tried pulling the Nomu back by controlling the wind, but he was too strong.
Suddenly, Stain awoke and cut himself loose from his restraints, licking the splattered blood the Nomu left. He brought Midoriya and Nomu back down to the ground and turned to see the Hero's preparing to fight him.
"Why are you all standing around like fools?" Endeavors' voice roared. "Wait a second...don't tell me that that man is…." Stain's eyes burned into Endeavor as his bandana peeled off.
"Endeavor...false hero." He snarled. Endeavor increased his flames until Gran Torino stopped him in fear of hurting Midoriya. "These streets must run with the blood of hypocrites. Hero...I will reclaim that word! Come on! Just try to stop me you fakes!" Todoroki stood between the approaching attack and Kaiya as she grasped his free hand tightly, her hand trembling with fear. "There is only one man that I will let kill me. He is a true hero! All Might is worthy!" Stain suddenly fell silent as the group stared at the frozen and silent hero killer. A heavy, thick silence hung in the air until the ambulances and police arrived.
