Spoilers: Last chance about a certain character's identity and quirk details that haven't been aired in the anime, yet!
Denki had stars in his eyes as he gave Neito rapt attention throughout the retelling of the last few days, glancing at Hitoshi every once in a while, during major points in the story with the same awe in his gaze. He made Hitoshi feel very seen. That was different because others usually avoided looking at him at all when he could notice as to not engage him in unwanted conversation where they would be open to brainwashing.
Hitoshi even felt a little shy with so much attention being thrown his way when his bigger-than-life soulmate was right next to him. He could see Neito exaggerating even more than usual with his movements and dramatic words as he retold the story, but even still, Denki's eyes would switch between the two of them. Hitoshi even believed that Neito might be doing that for his sake, exaggerating and upping the dramatics, that is. Others from the outside looking in might see Neito being an attention hog who is jealous when Hitoshi gets any attention usually reserved for him, but Hitoshi could see the way Neito glanced at him throughout the story when too many of his audiences' eyes flickered in his direction. He was making sure that he was okay and trying to read him to know what to do next, whether that be bring him into the conversation if he looked left out, or even kick the dramatics up a few notches if he looked uncomfortable with the eyes flickering to him at certain parts of the retelling of how they met.
That was when Hitoshi thought that they might be a good match, after all. Hitoshi kind of froze then, though, because with all that Neito was doing in his small ways to keep Hitoshi comfortable, what did he have to offer? What if his soulmate gets tired of his selfishness someday?
Neito, on the other hand, saw that Hitoshi was grateful, and he loved feeling like a hero. Hitoshi didn't know it, but he was giving Neito everything he needed through the small grateful glances that lasted half a second but held full conversations. But maybe it was because they were actively looking for examples that bonded them further as soulmates, or else they would have also noticed the same kind of connection with Denki.
Both boys noticed pretty quickly that Denki was excellent at reading them, from the second he asked about them being soulmates when they hadn't decided if they were going to tell anyone, yet. Denki seemed to read people easily, regardless of who it was. It was effortless, too. Neito and Hitoshi didn't even know if Denki realized he was doing it.
When Hitoshi would shift after too many eyes would be on him, Denki would jump in with a wild question for Neito, spreading the attention between the blondes instead. When it was not a good time for a valid question, Denki wouldn't hesitate to ask what color the curtains in the classroom were like he just had to be updated on the latest curtain gossip. Denki didn't even mind when a technician who was checking in on them snickered at his pointless question because all of the people who mattered, the three at the table with him, knew exactly what he was doing and went along with it anyhow. Denki was amazed when he was allowed to take the lead like that instead of having pushback. He wasn't used to people following his lead, especially when it was something that could easily be thrown back onto him in order to tease and pick on him for his situational unawareness, even though to the most observant people, it was quite the opposite. So, when Denki just had to know what color the curtains were, Neito just had to lean in like he was about to unleash a mind-blowing secret and tell Denki in bated whispers, loud enough for the others to hear if they leaned in and gave him their full attention, that the curtains were royal blue with red and yellow triangles all over them. Denki would gasp like the thought was ridiculous and ask why they would use triangles instead of music notes in a music classroom. Touya would point out that Denki should be an interior designer, but Neito would argue that triangles are an important instrument. Ochako, who was passing by, would second that wholeheartedly before going back to coloring with the group who sat a few tables away. And just like that, all of the attention would be away from Hitoshi as they all laughed at how talking about soulmates led to a debate about which instrument was objectively the most important.
When Neito had, for once, been shy when he had been talking about always wanting to be a hero, just like Denki had said during group therapy introductions, Denki would tell him that he would top the charts before quickly moving on to target Touya with his next question, easily transitioning the conversation into his training regimen to prepare himself for heroics that he had mentioned during group therapy introductions. Denki was an expert on transitions in conversation.
"Touya!" Denki had chirped, turning toward the older teen who looked over at him, not prepared to be flung into the conversation but easily going with the flow.
If you want to be a hero, you have to be flexible, and not just physically. Touya was socially flexible as well, but even he felt small in comparison to Denki's ability to read the room and jump around where it benefited the group and conversation the most. Denki was just feeling more relaxed than usual, though, so he was really shining in his element. No one had called him dumb for a while because he hadn't been given any schoolwork to do.
"Do you train on your own or do you have someone train you?" Denki asked, eyes wandering briefly over Touya's physique and wondering if he would look like that, too, someday.
"My father used to train me, but now I'm on my own. I learned a lot from him," Touya had admitted with a shrug, "but I adapted to better suit my personal needs as much as I could."
"Is your father a professional hero trainer?" Neito had asked to Touya's surprise.
For once, Neito wasn't taking a jab at him, but genuinely curious. If Touya knew when he first met the little shit that heroic talk would get him to behave, he would have given away every little secret then.
"My father is a Pro Hero," Touya answered with a shrug, but reveled in the attention the boys flung his way. If there was any good about being the son of Endeavor, Touya felt that he had the right to milk it. He had earned it, after all.
"Endeavor?" Denki had guessed right away with wide eyes.
He felt stupid as soon as he said it and wished he could take it back, swallow the words that were already out into the open before they could reach the ears of his new companions. Just because Touya had a fire quirk, seemed strong, had faded red hair, and said his father is a Pro Hero doesn't mean his father was the number two Pro Hero in all of Japan. And Denki had been getting along so well with everyone. He just had to go mess it up by slinging wild guesses around, hadn't he?
"Yeah," Touya answered, surprised that he had guessed it so immediately. Most people never did, out of fear of being wrong or maybe because Touya's build didn't exactly look like Endeavor was the one sharing workout secrets with him.
"Oh!" Neito sang out, leaning in closer to the group to speak more quietly. In a conspirative whisper, he said, "so you're a Todoroki, huh? What are they doing sending a rich kid to a place like this? What did you do, Touya?" he teased, but was actually interested.
Neito's eyes had flashed in surprise when he got an actual answer instead of punched across the face, especially leaning in like he was and teasing like that, he really was instigating hard. Touya took it in stride. Maybe he saw his actual curiosity, or maybe no one had ever been brave enough to ask that before and Touya really wanted to tell someone. The other option that had come to mind was pointing out that if anyone in the group acted like a rich kid, it was Neito. Touya wouldn't have been surprised to find out that he was Monoma Neito. The Monomas had a lot of reach and influence after becoming designers, expertly creating all things fashion and even nice looking gear for heroes that was previously bulky, uncomfortable, and ugly. Touya opted to just answer the question instead of biting back, because it was glaringly obvious why Neito had be locked away in this place over and over again.
"I'm here for self-harm," Touya started simply, noticing all three sets of eyes shoot down toward his wrists, and actually seeing relief when they saw nothing concerning there. Touya clarified, "I got my fire quirk from my father, but my body's temperature tolerance from my mother. I can stand very low temperatures easily, but I'm actually not so great with the heat."
Neito had sucked in a breath through his teeth. "That's rough," he stated, feeling a little sorry for asking in the first place.
Touya shrugged it off; he didn't need anyone's pity. But when he looked around the table, it wasn't pity that he saw, but more of a sad understanding. Empathy. Empathy from 12-year-olds when he had never seen it in the adults who tried to break the news to him over and over again that heroics wasn't in his future.
So, he continued, "my own flames burn me when I use them too much. I can do small things without too much damage, but it gets really bad if I try to do anything that would actually be considered heroic. I was training my own way, because Endeavor doesn't know how to train a body not fit for the quirk because he had always had a strong control over his own. After training for a year, I tried using my quirk again at full strength, and…" Touya winced at the memory. "He has healers on standby, of course. Really good ones. They saved my life, healed me right back up to normal, then I was promptly dumped in here to atone for my sins."
"Sins?" Hitoshi asked quietly, wanting Touya to continue. All three boys were entrapped in the story that Touya was painting with his words.
"My father told me to give up heroics because my body isn't meant for it… But I'm going to make my body be meant for it," Touya growled, eyeing his own hands palm-up on the table.
Neito noticed Touya take a quick glance around the room, so he shot forward to touch one of Touya's outstretched hands before he could ignite them. The next instant, four hands were upturned on the table in the corner of the group room, small blue flames flickering across their fingertips as the other two boys stared in awe.
"Your body is better with cold, then," Neito surmised, eyes not daring to leave the flames of their palms on the table.
He felt like he could cry, he felt so bad. He swallowed it back, knowing that he would never live it down if he did, and that is exactly what Touya wouldn't want. He knew that because pity is the last thing Neito would ever want, and they were more similar that he cared to admit aloud.
"So, my body can handle your flames better than your own can?" Neito finished, glancing up at Touya.
Neito expected a hardened expression, but Touya was smiling at him.
"You got it, smartie," Touya praised with a nod, surprising himself along with everyone else.
He could tell then that Neito never meant to hurt him beyond anything than surface-level teasing. Neito didn't have the heart to be anything other than annoying. He wasn't malicious. Touya couldn't be mad at him for something he didn't even know.
Neito felt terrible. He always wanted to be the one to be the best at every quirk he had ever copied, pulling ahead of his peers after copying their quirks and showing them how adaptable he can be. He never meant to hurt Touya. He wanted to best Touya because of his adaptability and quick learning, not because Touya's body will be forever unsuited for his own quirk. He wanted to win in a fair fight to prove his worth, and this wasn't fair at all.
Out of all of the quirks that Neito had copied, Touya's was one of his favorites. It was powerful, showy, and he gained easy control over it. Now, he kind of never wanted to use it again.
Neito let the flames go out and just stared at his empty palms. Touya reached over and slapped his hands into Neito's open palms, fire still flaming.
"What-?" Neito gasped, igniting the flames once again to prevent Touya's flames from burning his skin.
"You still have one minute fifteen seconds left, but I think you can last one minute thirty seconds, can't you?" Touya challenged with a determined glint in his eyes, glancing toward the clock ticking on the wall before meeting Neito's gaze once more. He figured if he couldn't use his quirk to its fullest potential, might as well let someone get good use out of it. This was as good a place as any to start.
Neito tried, a manic smile growing across his face at the challenge. He didn't make it the extra fifteen seconds, but he did last an extra five.
"Progress is progress," Touya praised the boy with the already inflated ego, but maybe he started to see them as being on the same team instead of someone to compete against with no hope of ever pulling out on top.
That was something that he had taught himself. Endeavor was an all-or-nothing type of trainer, and Touya could never keep up, no matter how hard he tried. For his own sanity's sake, he had to adapt his training to be at peace with smaller victories than meeting insane standards the first try. Touya might never know how much that would help Neito, the secret perfectionist who loathed not getting a quirk right on the first try.
Others might have seen that whole conversation as Denki bringing Touya into the fold to make sure everyone was involved and no one was left out, but Touya had looked comfortable, lounging back as far as the heavy sand-filled plastic chairs would allow, and watching the conversation unfold among the younger boys. Everyone at that table had quickly figured out that Denki brought Touya in because he wanted to give Neito a second to regain his bearings and take attention away from the fact that heroics is an insecurity that Neito has. In Hitoshi's and Neito's eyes, Denki was a social genius, but it wasn't this genius that allowed him to break from Hitoshi's brainwashing so easily. Later, they would learn that it's more of a brainwave thing, and because Denki's quirk is electricity that messes with his brainwaves, he can more easily break free from Hitoshi's quirk because of the similar and extensive practice he had from his own quirk backfiring on him. So, the next thing that Denki would ask would set him up for a lifetime of success, and he didn't even know it.
"Will you train me, Touya?" Denki had asked out of the blue.
"What?" was Touya's clever response. He hadn't been expecting that.
"Oh! Me, too! Please!" Neito intruded, slamming his palms down on the table as he stood up, leaning over the table to get closer to Touya like a closer proximity might convince him to say yes.
It wasn't the proximity, but the fact that Neito had said 'please' so easily and without the normal bite of sarcasm or hint of attitude. He pretended to be thinking it over as the blonde boys continued to throw pleases in and up the stakes with promises of extra muffins in the morning for breakfast.
Hitoshi surprised them all by saying, "yeah. I'm in, too."
"Who said I was going to do it?" Touya said matter-of-factly.
"What else are you going to do? Play more Monopoly?" Hitoshi sassed, looking across the room at the group who were currently playing Monopoly. "Monopoly that has missing pieces, at that."
Touya thought that maybe Hitoshi could brain-read people as well as brainwash because he said it so surely as if he knew that Touya had already decided to say yes.
"Fine! Fine!" Touya conceded as if it were a huge pain, but the smile on his face gave him away. "But keep your muffins. You're going to need every calorie you can get."