icy hot

@dualburnt

                     The cave that he had to adventure in was freezing. Whoever decided to turn on the AC was going to get their ass kicked. Not too long ago, the weather was mildly content for Bakugo, but now he was in a working condition that was tough for him. The cold plummets his Quirk, and he hated that thought. He was pretty much useless here. Whoever came up with this idea, they were going to get a nagging at. To make matters worse, half-way through the cave, he ran into someone he didn’t expect to see.

                                                                        Icy-Hot.

                    That made him unnerved. There was no way he was going to get this done with him. He could do it on his own, for sure! But it seems like, whoever sent them a letter through the mail, told them to work together. This won’t do. He knew the letter was from UA, and a specific teacher sent it to them, but they remained anonymous. It was most likely who he thought it was, but right now was not the time to be pointing fingers.

❝ It’s too damn cold! ❞  it’s not as if a little cold was going to stop him from moving forward. They did receive warm cloaks, and he put one on, but it was a bit in the way and unreliable to him. He’ll just have to tolerate it for now, until he gets warm enough to start sweating… if that happens.   ❝ Why do I have to be stuck with you!? ❞  he was very tempted to run off on his own than be with the one next to him. This was the stupidest idea ever!

          even dressed in his hero garb, shoto isn’t affected much by the cold. his left side sends warmth through his veins, keeping the boy from shivering while he traversed through the cave.           he’d received a letter days before explaining his task -- the teacher who had sent it off had kept themselves anonymous, but shoto had his own suspicions. they had specified that he’d be working alongside one of his classmates, and when midoriya hadn’t also received a letter for the same task, he’d expected the worst.           and of course, fate is not so kind to him.           he hears the other before his eyes adjust enough to the blackness of the inside of the cave, the other’s incessant whining echoing through the caves and shoto wants nothing more than to plug his ears full of cotton. of course -- out of everyone to be paired with for something such as this, it would be bakugo. the teachers must be aware of their rivalry, and decided it would be best to pair them together for this mission.           it’s here that he wishes, for the very first time, that his father would have been the one to appoint him to this task -- the prideful man would have boasted that the son of the number one hero ( ugh ) would be perfectly capable to handle this on his own.           at least, that’s what he’d like to believe.

     he’s still babbling on about it, unable to put a halt to the words flying out of his mouth– everything he spills is a variation of what he’d already said, er, asked. a change-up of words, but still the same question.      somehow though, midoriya manages to get a grip of himself, his jaw clenching briefly as he forces his mouth to stop working, a loud swallow following. he manages to steel himself overall finally, his expression… deathly serious as he practically stares poor todoroki down, waiting for any sort of response.

     perhaps the green-haired boy had… blown this up much more than he really needed to, the quivering of todoroki’s lips drawing midoriya’s attention as he waits. or maybe todoroki was finally going to explode at him ( figuratively, or even literally ? ) for the stuff he said during their match.      but once the words finally leave todoroki’s mouth, midoriya can’t help but to allow his eyebrows to practically shoot up into his hairline. he– he wasn’t mad ?      … todoroki really, honestly, genuinely wasn’t angry with him ?      not even in the slightest ?      ❝ you…you– ….      you’re not… ? ❞      he can’t even bring himself to finish the reaffirmation.       and with todoroki’s next words, midoriya can’t help it when his eyes well up with tears.

     ❝ th–thanking me ? oh… oh my gosh– haha, uhm… sorry, i don’t know why i’m– ❞ a loud sniffle. ❝ i’m crying, maybe i was just more anxious over this than i thought.      i feel so– aahh, so silly now.. ❞

@dualburnt liked for a starter!

𝄢 Shigure sat on a bench in Begonia Meadows, a scroll of paper covered in little doodles sitting in his lap. He dipped his brush into an inkwell, swirling it in the black liquid idly as he observed the other people in the park.

𝄢 Before he had arrived in Koi, he worried that his light blue hair would stand out too much. In his home world, it made him instantly recognizable as the son of Azura, the songstress. Thankfully, this was not the case. The city was home to people of all different hair colors, though he suspected many of them were the result of dyes, not genetics.

𝄢 He caught a glimpse of movement to his left – he turned and saw the profile of a teenaged boy with snow white hair. How long had he been sitting there? Shigure had been too distracted to notice. The boy moved his head to cast a glance towards him, and he stifled a gasp. Scratch that, his hair was only white on one side. The other half of his hair was a rich, bright red. Shigure never would have thought that color combination would work, but wow, did it look good on him. He was so caught up in admiring the teen’s hair that he almost missed the dark maroon mark around his left eye.

𝄢 Shigure paused. He had seen enough injuries to recognize it as a serious burn scar. He had also talked to enough soldiers to know that if a person does not mention their scar, it is best not to ask about it. Thus, he tries a slightly safer question.

“Hello! I’m Shigure, I just recently moved here. I must say, your hair is amazing.” (He figured calling it ‘beautiful’ would be a little too weird.) “Is it natural?”

     he needed to hurry up and get the ball rolling.      this wasn’t THAT big of a deal, and midoriya knows it, deep down inside of him… but he’s just CONCERNED that he had GENUINELY upset todoroki that day.      midoriya had shoved his worry away, stuffing it inside his-now overflowing closet of… emotions.      ❝ um.. do you wanna… maybe sit down, before i uh, pretty much word vomit ?      i bet you’re gonna laugh when you find out what’s gotten me so worked up, haha… ❞      he raises a hand to nervously scratch at the back of his neck, green hues trained on his roommate, carefully analyzing every subtle move that todoroki makes.      midoriya doesn’t wait for him to sit, instead fitfully tossing his arms up against the back of the couch, a groan leaving him as he shifts.      ❝ it has to do with the sports festival.      our… fight, to be even more specific. ❞      unable to help it, he swallows loudly, the action itself a bit of a struggle for the poor boy to do.      ❝ remember when i… said that stuff to you, about your powers ? how i was so determined to make you use your fire, and in the end you whipped my butt ?      i know i stick my nose where it doesn’t belong, that i like to shake the beehive– any number of examples i could give and they would all fit me.      did my words… upset you ? did they bother you ? i know you’ve been using your fire more since then, but you just seemed really angry for what i said, just for the briefest moment. ❞      midoriya’s mouth is dry from all his rambling on, his jaw sore from the rapid-fire word-forming. he pauses to swallow again and take a few breaths, his mouth twitching as he struggles to not let his emotions take control.      ❝ i’m just really, really worried that i upset you. i never want to do that again, if i actually made you mad.. ❞

          a sinking feeling sits in shoto’s stomach but he disguises it well, as he always does, mismatched eyes peering into midoriya’s obvious anxious green eyes with the same stoic expression he’s held for many years. a look he’s perfected over years of emotional and physical abuse training, a wall he’s built to keep his inner emotions from surfacing, as his old man would always describe it as a weakness -- ironic that his father was frequently violently mad over his failure to surpass the Number One Hero.            he gets comfortable in his seat, wiping thoughts of endeavour from his mind whilst physically wiping beading sweat from his forehead, waiting patiently for midoriya to begin.           the sports festival? ---- oh.           his first thought goes to the worst possible outcome, his insecurities getting in the way before midoriya has the chance to speak for himself, eyes darting to midoriya’s malformed hand. the hand he destroyed, his own personal problems getting in the way. a wave of pure shame washes over him, and it’s much harder to hide, his eyebrows furrowing and his lips quivering just the slightest bit, but noticeable to the naked eye.           he’s taken out of his split-second reverie by midoriya’s rambling and his attention returns to his friend, and his eyes grow wider when the underlying problem is finally revealed.

     the older toys with his hands as he awaits a response from his roommate, inner turmoil likely obvious– the idea that he’s allowing himself to so outwardly show his unrest makes his face burn hot, likely just as hot as the flames that todoroki can make erupt from his left side.      and speaking of HANDS…      midoriya glances at the scars left on his right hand, his dominant hand. his fingers flex a tad, muscles working they best they can in their deformed state. he almost chuckles– midoriya had done this to himself, yet their classmates ( and other students at u.a. ) had taken to calling todoroki the ‘ hand crusher ‘, along with other similar-like names.      and they kept it up, even after midoriya had tried telling them that he’d done it– he’d broken all his fingers during the battle, and then continued using them after they’d been destroyed. it wasn’t todoroki’s fault. it never had been and it never will be.      he can’t help but let out a quiet ( relieved ) sigh as todoroki answers with a ‘ sure ‘. what was midoriya thinking, that todoroki would stare at him and run back out ? or just ignore him and go about his business ? the younger boy was quiet and reserved, yes, but he and midoriya were friends ! he wouldn’t leave his friend hanging.      ❝ yeah… g-great ! uh, you can change or get water if you want, first… ‘cause i know you went for a run and all.      i just wanted to, to uhm, talk about something that’s been bothering me for awhile… but lately it’s been REALLY bothering me.      a-and… i can’t talk to anyone else about it, really, ‘cause it’s about.. y-you and me. ❞