Shoto was crying alone, sitting on a snowbank he'd made himself. Ordinarily such a feat would be celebrated. Not anymore.

He touched his tender face, and broke into more tears. Ever always practicing, he froze them before they hit the ground.

His sniffles and hiccups were all he could hear, so he didn't know she was there for a while.

But as his sobbing subsided, he started to hear little sounds, like AWF and WHUMP.

Suddenly on guard (kidnappers!), Shoto quickly got to his feet, looking around for the sound. He cautiously stepped forward, following the noise, and he came to a clearing.

What he saw caused him to quickly clamp his hand over his mouth to keep from bursting into laughter.

There was a little girl about his age with little wings on her back. She climbed up the ice, then leaped, with an AWF, toward the snowdrift she'd pilled up. She flapped her wings a whole lot, managed to stay in the air for a bit, then landed in the snowdrift with a WHUMP.

Then she climbed up and did it again. Over and Over.

It took him a beat to realize that this was training. But she was doing it on her own!

That's what he was trying to comprehend, and so lost was he in thought that he didn't realize she had come over.

"Hey kid!" The angel yelled.

"It's not kid it's Shoto! Todoroki Shoto!" He cried back, melting the snowball she'd thrown at him.

"Whoa cool!" She grinned, showing crooked baby teeth. "I'm Hikawa Kurai! I'm trying to learn to fly!"

"I…can see that."

Kurai pouted at him. "Shoko, no need to be mean. I know I can't do it yet, but I will! I wont be a disgwace!"

Shoto stared at her. He was surprised to find himself angry. "Who told you you're a disgrace?!"

"Ma-nee." Kurai said distractedly as she added snow to her drift.

To get her to pay attention, Shoto easily built up the snowdrift himself. It worked, she whirled and stared at him.

"Cool! Fire AND Ice. Shoko, you're awesome!"

He was starting to like his nickname. "Finish the story."

Kurai nodded. She was eyeing his bandage, but didn't asking, choosing instead to continue. "Well it's like this. My family quirk is inheritance, but there's one special skill that's passed down. Whoever gets it becomes the next family head. Mana's the oldest, so she's been trained for that her whole life; but when mom died, I got the special skill instead. So now she torments me… " Kurai nodded her head. "She told me that I couldn't come home until I learned how to fly."

"Huh?!" Shoto stared at her. That was so stupid! How could she fall for that?! "Of course you can go home!"

Kurai laughed humorlessly. "I know. But if I go home flightless it'll prove that I can't do this, can't hold up this family. And I want to do it! Mom chose me for a reason!"

But instead of heading back to the ice, Kurai cupped Shoto's face in hers. He felt warmth from her fingers seep into his wound. He opened his mouth to cry out, but then realized it didn't hurt! He could feel it healing, and sure enough…Kurai unwrapped the bandage. There was a scar, and she frowned at it.

"I'm sorry Shoko, looks like Reiko can't heal scars. Thought I'd give it a shot."

"Reiko?" Shoto stared at her. "But you healed me."

"Nah." Kurai smiled her crooked kid smile at him again. "I shared sis' power for a minute there. That's what Inheritence is."

Shoto just stared at her, eyes wide.

"Oh cmon, don't be scared." Kurai said. "You feel better right? I…I tried to soothe the pain inside you. I think it'll be easier for you now." She smiled up at him. "You can go home! Just like me!"

Shoto then realized she was right; the agony and pain inside had subsided. It wasn't gone, but the ache was bearable now. She had done that?

Shoto grabbed her in a hug, squeezing her, not wanting to let go.

It was that moment, on a frozen day the December of Shoto's sixth year, that he fell in love for the first time.

That was when it all began.

Little did the two of them know, but in the Todoroki house, Kuri's grandmother, Grams, and Endeavor were looking down at them, toasting sake to celebrate.

"To a splendid engagement." Endeavor raised his glass.

"To the best power couple this world has ever seen." Grinned Grams, signing the marriage contract.

The adults smiled conspiratorially, looking down at the children they had just betrothed.

Unknowing, Kurai and Shoto smiled at each other, and he began to help her learn to fly.