More than anything Bessie wanted the day to be over, but she still took delight in each and every class. During lunch she sat with her classmates – no, her friends – and got to know them better. The practical lesson at the end of the day was basic rescue training with Thirteen, where each student had a chance to retrieve dummies from a simulated hazardous environment – something that proved tricky with a quirk like Bessie's. While her quirk could make do for an effective weapon, it wasn't something that could be used to remove someone from a dangerous situation, unless it was a very particular dangerous situation.
Some students used their quirks effectively to complete the exercise quickly. Izuku and Uraraka were both able to carry multiple dummies effortlessly thanks to their quirks. Ashido and Kirishima were both able to reach the exit quickly by using their quirks to make shortcuts through the walls – Ashido by melting them down and Kirishima by busting through them.
Then there were some students who missed the point a little. Sero cocooned multiple dummies in tape and dragged them to the exit. Sato, after eating enough candy to lift a ridiculous amount of realistically weighted dummies over his head, proceeded to do so. But due to his quirk's drawback he ran rather carelessly and the dummies hit a few doorways and other obstructions on their way out. Then there was Bakugo, who had no problem carrying two dummies at a time, but for the sake of time stopped on the far side of the last corridor before the exit and used his quirk to launch the dummies the rest of the way, not forgetting to call out his signature "die!" while doing so.
Afterwards Thirteen addressed some of the students regarding their use of quirks in rescue missions, focusing on the ones that required more attention. Specifically the ones that were more suited for destruction than safety.
"Bessie-san," Thirteen said upon reaching Bessie's name in the notes. "A Quirk like yours is limited in the field of rescue. Even dangerous quirks like Bakugo's and my own can be used to clear debris from an exit, but since yours has little kinetic effect it is not the case for you. Nonetheless, I don't want you to dismiss your quirk in the rescue field altogether. Fire can still be used to prevent hypothermia or see your way out of a dark environment to name but two. When assessing a situation, try to be creative and think outside of the proverbial box, but also exercise extreme caution."
Bessie was learning valuable lessons. Even if some of them were simple and seemed obvious when one thought about it. Attending UA made her quirk feel like a tool with many uses rather than a flashy box of matches. It was no wonder UA was the top hero school and had been producing so many excellent superheroes since decades before.
Finally dinner time arrived and Bessie met Shoto at a place that was quiet and had a relaxed atmosphere. It was not particularly classy, but had more taste than your typical fast food chain restaurant. The conversation started off light and not particularly meaningful – the look of the place, what type of food they served, and the like, but later moved onto deeper topics, like likes and dislikes, Bessie's life back home and eventually, Todoroki's quirk.
"So what's with your quirk?" Bessie asked. "You have both fire and ice but I hardly ever see you use fire. Why is that?"
Todoroki looked a bit awkward but felt compelled to answer, feeling like he could trust Bessie. "It's a bit of a family history thing. I got my fire half from my dad, and there were some issues between us. It's still not completely worked out but I've more or less come to terms with things. There was a time I refused to use my fire half in combat at all, but I'm getting used to using it."
Bessie blushed and couldn't help but giggle at the thought that popped into her head following Shoto's answer.
"What? What is it?" Bessie's laughter made Todoroki feel slightly entertained himself.
"Oh… It's nothing…" She said awkwardly, but feeling close enough to her companion to speak her mind. "I just had this silly idea come to mind: My quirk is fire, like half of yours. It… kinda' feels like I'm the other half you've been missing for most of your life."
Once the words were in the open they didn't sound quite as lighthearted as they did in Bessie's head. For a moment Todoroki sat frozen in his seat, his eyes wide and his mouth agape. Then his expression hardened into a scowl.
"Your quirk is unsightly!" he snapped and stood up from the table. He stopped at the cashier and paid for the food like he had promised, and the next moment he was gone.
Bessie remained seated for a moment, stunned at the harsh words that jutted from her heart like a spear made of anger. Her breaths quickened and a painful lump formed in her throat.
"Can I get these to go, please?" she quivered at the waitress.
Bessie choked back her tears as everything around her faded into a salty blur. She made her way back to her dorm as quickly as she could. As soon as she entered her room she dropped faced-down into her bed, soaking her pillow through muffled sobs.
It was still early in the evening but Bessie had no desire to interact with the outside world. She dug her earphones out of her bag, connected them to her cellphone and lined up all the sad songs she could find. For the first time in her life she wouldn't have seemed out of place back in OC High. She spent the rest of the night lying on her bed, trying not to think about anything. Least of all how she was to face whatever challenges the next day held.