A/N: Trigger warnings in the End Notes!

Federico gives him the same covetous look his father did when Touya demonstrates his power, an ability Touya now knows is called a Dying Will Flame - specifically, the Cloud variant. It's supposed to have some special property that sets it apart from the other flames aside from color, but as far as Touya's concerned, the most novel thing about it is that it doesn't hurt him. Other than that, it acts like regular fire. Like his old fire.

(A small blessing that it does not resemble Endeavor's fire. He never could reach Touya's hotter blue flames, much less this strange pretty purple.

Touya will never look fondly upon that which has caused him such grief - in both this life and the last - but he can't deny the petty part of him that delights in knowing that he can go hotter still, reach heights Endeavor could only dream of, and become a force to be fucking reckoned with - without his help.

He's so much the son Endeavor had always wanted, had hoped so desperately for, and the old fuck will never know. Will never be able to use him in his pathetic campaign against All-Might. Will never win . Not with Touya and he thinks there's enough of himself in Shouto to know that it won't be with him, either.

It's a pyrrhic victory, and he was thrown right into the next old man's grubby, greedy fucking hands without so much as a breather, but he'll take what he can get. He's always made do.)

He doesn't understand what makes his flames - or his use of them - so valuable, and that's dangerous. Lack of intel always is. Who knows how accurate his education even is? It's entirely possible he's spent the last few years being fed more bullshit than just plain old propaganda, and he has no way of knowing, at least for now.

In any case, Federico only gives him what he has dubbed the Greedy Asshole Look for a long, long moment before it's replaced by a plastic smile, faker than any Fuyumi had managed for him and with none of the familial affection or shared suffering to make Touya appreciate it anyway. He watches Federico warily, but the asshole just keeps smiling pleasantly with nothing behind the eyes, like an actor in a children's special.

"Can you come here for a moment, Touya?" He asks, but as with every fucking thing Touya is "asked" to do, it's not a question. Touya can't say no.

Reluctantly, Touya moves closer. It takes everything in him not to flinch when a big hand reaches out to hover over Touya's, which is still displaying pretty purple flames.

His instincts flare in warning when orange fire sparks to life in Federico's palm, right above Touya's fire and licking the edges. Alarmed but not knowing why, Touya jerks his hand away.

It's useless, though. Federico just grabs his hand and holds it in place. He is a grown man. Touya is twelve years old. He can't even put up a semblance of a struggle.

Touya grimaces, both at the painful grip and the soul-scraping discomfort he feels as the two flames begin to mix. He can't begin to understand why, but it feels wrong. Like oil and water. These two flames aren't supposed to combine. They don't go together. They shouldn't be forcing it. It's not right.

The bone-deep feeling of wrongness builds and builds and builds until reaches a crescendo- until it almost seems like the orange flame will subsume his purple, like it's about to give in and submit in a manner completely antithetical to Touya as a person, but Touya remembers blue flames and a cold home and dead eyes and Endeavor -

and all at once, he snaps.

Touya explodes.

Flames quickly engulf him in a fiery inferno, but they're wrong. They've been corrupted. Contaminated. They're hurting him. He's burning alive.

The pain is unimaginable. Like nothing he's ever felt. Touya has been burned before - but never this badly. Never for this long. And never like this. These flames are his, but they aren't. They're alive, and they're angry. Full of his anger and frustration and despair- at everything.

Touya is no exception to his own fury - too weak, too soft, too useless; can't save anyone; can't even save himself - and so Touya burns.

Federico burns with him. He doesn't stand a chance. Whatever he was trying to do, there were risks- The risk of backlash, of Touya's flames taking over and consuming every last bit of will that had invaded him so wantonly. Federico turns to ash, and so does everyone and everything within a five mile radius.

Touya burns, and he heals, and then he burns again. Like some fucked up Phoenix stuck in fast forward. It is white hot agony. He doesn't even have the energy to scream, can only kneel and gasp for air that burns away before he can inhale it. He has never known pain like this. He has never known anything else.

An eternity later, when his anger is exhausted and every trace of orange flame eradicated, he manages to curb the output, to tamp down on the fire until it is only barely leashed, vibrating just beneath his skin, tongues of fire flickering through the pores like it can no longer be fully contained after running wild.

Unfortunately, the healing stops too, and he does not have enough control to heal without hurting. He had to claw for every scrap of control he could in order to reach this far. Large patches of skin on his face, arms, chest, back, legs - his entire body - are burnt so badly, they've lost all feeling. He's no expert, but if they can't be healed, they'll probably require skin grafts.

(Touya knows all about the degrees of burns and possible treatments. No one in the Todoroki household was allowed to remain ignorant in that regard.)

The flames thrashing against his authority dampen the pain or maybe distract him from it. Either way, it's keeping him alive and conscious. Any normal person would have passed out by now, the body's last ditch attempt to protect itself. Touya isn't afforded that luxury because his body has chosen instead to fight him.

He doesn't so much stand as throw himself to his feet, movements erratic and jerking as he tries to force his body to move. He has just killed a mafia boss's son. And presumably a bunch of his underlings. Even if they don't kill Touya in return, nothing good awaits him if he falls back into Vongola's hands. He's surprised they haven't caught him already, but perhaps they don't want to approach a dangerous situation without knowing what they're up against and with no guarantee they won't also get burned to a crisp.

This is the chance he's been waiting for. A clean break. If he's lucky, they'll assume he killed himself and took everyone else with him. It definitely looks like a bomb went off. If he isn't, they'll send people after him. Either way, Touya needs to get the hell out of here.

Letting out a hoarse, dry breath that feels like it rattles out of him, Touya mercilessly shoves down any emotion that is not bullheaded determination to escape and starts walking.

End Notes:

TRIGGER WARNINGS: This chapter includes graphic descriptions of Touya burning alive and grievous burn injuries as well as murder and self-harm (via the burning.) If you think I need to warn for anything else, please let me know.