A/N: Thanks to BookFairy06 for beta reading!
This scene is set during the Heroes Rising movie, so (obviously) there are spoilers.
"Do it," Kirishima uttered as he fell forward. And Shoto jumped.
His father's words from long ago, drilled into him with intense training, came back to mind.
"Increase the temperature of your body to its maximum limit." Shoto ground his teeth together. Even now he was thinking about his old man. But he would not let the lecture go to waste. He would use what he was taught about fire and apply it to his ice instead.
Thanks to Kirishima acting as his shield, he had come close enough to catch the villain by surprise and get through his defense. The instant he landed on his opponent's shoulders, Shoto extended his right hand and summoned his power, letting his body temperature decrease rapidly.
All his concentration was on the task, and he didn't realise his opponent's counterattack in time. Mere inches before the hand could reach him, Tsu caught it with her tongue and ripped it out of the way. Only a second later Iida blocked the upcoming tail hit, aimed at Shoto's head, with a swift kick.
"Do it!" Iida yelled.
Shoto shot his hand over Chimera's mouth and blocked the upcoming laser-fire with his ice.
Colder.
Keep dropping.
His right side was beginning to freeze over. He ground his teeth in an effort to keep decreasing his body temperature, to not stop the constant stream of ice. He was shivering from the cold, not able to feel his hands or feet anymore, but he couldn't give up now.
Go beyond.
The villain made an abrupt jolt that almost threw Shoto off him. Chimera flung his body around and crashed Iida and Tsu together in the air, causing them to fall to the ground, unconscious and bleeding.
No! It wasn't enough to immobilize the villain. He needed to go colder. Shoto could feel his insides slowly turning to ice, his strength giving out. Never before in his life had he been so cold. How much he wished to be able to warm himself up just a little. But he couldn't fail now. His friends had sacrificed themselves to give him an opening. He had to succeed.
Colder! He had to drop the temperature further.
His opponent's feet got trapped in ice, but it still wasn't enough. Shoto ground his teeth and reached out to the deepest core of his quirk.
Plus ultra!
With the last of his strength, he sent out an immense burst of cold. He let out a scream as he managed to finally freeze his opponent, making him immobile to the point where spikes of ice grew out of his mouth.
Somewhere at the edge of his mind Shoto registered himself dropping to the ground. He did it, and it was all he could do for now. He just lay there, shivering and unaware of his surroundings. His body was colder than he ever thought possible. He didn't even have the strength to warm himself up.
As his eyes drifted shut, and he felt his consciousness slipping, he mumbled: "We've done our part. Midoriya...Bakugou..."
Hopefully it would be enough, because he didn't feel like he would wake up again any time soon.
Kirishima cracked an eye open when he started to shiver from the decrease in temperature. He was met with the sight of ice covering the floor and the villain a frozen statue in the middle of the battlefield.
"Yeah! Todoroki did it! That's so manly of him!"
Kirishima pushed himself up, he squeezed his eyes shut with a hiss at the pain in his burned arms. He collected himself, then he took two of the smaller ice blocks that lay around and pressed them against his blister-covered skin. It felt wonderful on his burns.
With shaking legs he stood and looked around. The battle was clearly over, a calm having settled over the area. Kirishima inhaled sharply when he spotted Tsu and Iida unconscious only a few feet away from the ice structure. He hurried over and shook Iida's shoulder,
"Hey, are you okay, man?"
The class rep didn't move, but Tsu groaned as she slowly began to regain consciousness. The redhead quickly moved to her side and helped her sit up,
"Are you hurt? Your head's bleeding!"
"It's not that bad." Tsu mumbled as she wiped the blood off her face, "The villain flung us into each other. I must have blacked out, but besides that, I think I'm fine. What about Iida?"
Kirishima shook his head. "He hasn't woken up yet. The wound on his head looks bad, but I don't really know how to treat something like that."
"Let me see." Tsu was still a little unsteady, so Kirishima helped her over to Iida. After she had taken a good look at the wound and wrapped fabric around it to help stop the bleeding she said,
"It should not be fatal. He might have a concussion, but he should be fine until help arrives."
"Man, I should've paid more attention in med-class to know this stuff," Kirishima groaned.
Tsu gazed at their ice-covered surroundings. "Todoroki really went all out, didn't he?"
"Yeah. He did a great job. I knew we could count on him." Kirishima went to bang his arms together, the way he usually did to back up his point, only to flinch and grimace at the pain flaring up from his burns.
"Speaking of Todoroki. It's kinda strange he is nowhere to be seen, don't you think? Maybe we should look for him?"
He helped Tsu get up and after she had stabilized herself, they walked around the massive block of ice in search of their missing classmate.
"There!" Tsu pointed to a spot right next to the frozen villain. Todoroki lay on the ground, motionless.
"Shit!" Kirishima cried out. "He's completely covered in ice."
Within a second both of them were at Todoroki's side. The red-haired boy carefully touched his shoulder. "Man, he's freezing. And not like hypothermia freezing, but inhumanly cold."
"Ribbit. We have to get him off the ice and out of the cold."
Slowly, carefully so as not to slip, they carried their friend to where the ground wasn't frozen.
After they had put him down on the ground, Kirishima scratched his head and asked,
"So, what now? Do we carry him back to the base or should we wait for help?"
Tsu shook her head in response. "I don't think we should move him too much in his current state. We have to warm him up, but I have no idea how."
"We could make a fire?" Kirishima suggested, already on the move to collect some wood.
"Do you know how?"
"No... But it's better to try than sit around and do nothing!" He went to the nearby trees, while Tsu stayed behind to watch their classmates. When he spotted an old tree with dry branches, he hardened himself, fighting through the pain in his arms, and broke off enough wood to start a fire.
He carried it back. When he set the wood down next to Todoroki, Tsu motioned to him with a panicked expression.
"We have to hurry, he's barely breathing anymore and his heartbeat doesn't sound right."
Kirishima immediately went into panic mode himself. He pressed his ear against the half-quirked boy's chest. Tsu was right, his heartbeat way too slow and somehow irregular.
"Shit, shit, shit." Kirishima breathed out. "We gave to get this fire started."
"I don't know how." Tsu's voice was shaking.
"Me neither!" The red-haired boy cried distressed. He started to chew his bottom lip, an old habit he hadn't picked back up since middle school.
"Body heat!" He suddenly exclaimed. He draped himself next to his classmate. Up close it was even more obvious how unnaturally cold the boy's body was.
Just as Tsu was about to join in on the other side, quick footsteps and rustling leaves sounded from the forest.
The two quickly got up and into fighting positions, ready to defend their friends, but to their great relief, who came into view weren't more villains but pro-heroes.
"Help has finally arrived! We're safe," Kirishima cheered.
Kido and Onima hurried to their sides. While Kido kneeled down next to the unconscious students, Onima spoke over an earphone,
"We found some of them."
They are part of the Flaming Sidekickers, Endeavor's agency. Exactly the kind of quirk we need right now.
Tsu seemed to be thinking the same as she asked,
"Is Endeavor with you? We need him to warm Todoroki up." Onima nodded and specified the location and request in her earpiece.
Less than a minute later more backup arrived. Endeavor drowned all of them out with his loud shout of, "Shotoooo!" He practically spirited to his son. Though Kirishima didn't hear what he was saying, because Kido led him aside to bandage his wounds, he managed to catch a glimpse of the number one hero's expression. When he touched Shoto and felt how cold he was, he looked actually shocked and... kinda worried?
Tsu was also watching as Endeavor slowly started to warm the boy up. Kirishima nudged her in the side,
"Isn't it strange to see Endeavor like this? He almost looks like he cares."
"Well, it is his son," Tsu said with a shrug.
"Yeah, but I've always felt they aren't especially close. Todoroki seemed to outright hate his father."
"I think their relationship is more complicated than that. Have you realised Endeavor has somewhat changed since he became number one?"
Kirishima nodded, but before he could answer their talk was interrupted by Gum-Girl who wanted to treat Tsu's wounds. Iida had finally regained consciousness with Onima looking after him. Now that everyone was taken care of, Kirishima finally felt that he was able to relax a little.
The first thing Shoto felt was warmth. Which was welcome, considering the last memory he had from before he fell unconscious was being utterly frozen. Much less welcome was the face that greeted him when he finally managed to open his eyes a few minutes later. His father. He was currently holding his flaming hands over him. That was the reason he was warm again, Shoto realised.
Endeavor had his eyes closed, as he concentrated on the task at hand, so Shoto had a moment to observe him. His brows were furrowed and his face pulled into a frown. Though that was quite a normal facial expression for him, something felt different. Shoto thought his father looked like he was...concerned? He had some difficulty bringing that emotion in line with the image he had of his father.
When he moved his head slightly, Endeavor opened his eyes and saw that he was awake. Within a second he was crushed in his father's arms, who screeched,
"Shotooo!", into the sky. Somehow the half-and-half boy couldn't decide if it was just his usual behavior or if there was true relief in it. He awkwardly looked to the side until his father sat him back down.
The sudden changes in posture made the boy fall into a coughing fit. His entire body hurt as it was jolted by the movement.
His father extended a hand and helped him lie back down.
Shoto really didn't know what to make of this situation, especially when his father started to lecture him,
"Shoto, what did you do? You dropped your body temperature far enough that you could have died had you stayed like that for much longer. Why didn't you heat yourself up? How could you have been so reckless!"
Wait. His voice sounded almost like he was worried. Shoto blinked confused. That didn't fit the father he knew. This was the same man who had tormented him to tears with his training when he was just a child.
"I'm fine now." He said with an emotionless voice. "I'm sorry if I wasn't being careful, but that villain was very strong and it was the only way I could've protected my teammates." He explained plainly.
"Well, that's my son!" Endeavor clapped him on the back, but quickly retracted his hand when the boy's shoulders tensed in pain, "Always putting others first. A true hero!"
Shoto just stared at him. What was going on?
Catching his son's incredulous expression, the fiery hero sighed and deflated. "I know I put you through a lot in the past, and I am sorry about that."
For a moment they sat in silence. Shoto was unsure how to feel about the sudden apology. It was a respectable gesture, but it couldn't make up for years of abuse, or for the way he had treated his wife. Though the apology was appreciated, it wouldn't result in immediate forgiveness.
Endeavor continued. "I'm trying to change. Not only to be a better hero, but to be a better father as well. I know it's not going to undo the past, but I can try for a better future. All I asked from you is to give me a chance. Please."
He sounded sincerer than Shoto had ever heard before. The boy hesitated for several minutes before he answered,
"I'll have to think about it."
Though his words were repellent, he felt lighter than he had in a while. His father's words might not make up for everything he had done to his family, but they were a start.