#halvedquirk

     “Hey, Todoroki.  Whaddya say you and I spar?”  Eijirou leaned on the other boy’s shoulder, fangs flashing in a grin.

                    “Story time! He was handsome, all the ladies that looked at him fell in love... Oh and Todoroki-kun was decent.”

     “Shouto...” To think she’d ever see her son like this again. It immideatly caused her think of the incident, yet the nausea was oberpainted by incredible joy bubbling in her chest. Lips pressing together she tried not to cry as shaking hands took the child from Fuyumis arms. The explanation of what had transpired was received but hardly settled in Aoi as she just looked at her beloved son. Tears streaming down her face she hugged him close, yet carefully delicate. Her son... Her beloved little baby... Her Shouto.

     “I-... I’m fine baby. I am just very happy to see you.” She whispered, placing kisses onto his head. She walked carefully to her bed to sit down with the boy in her lap, hardly containing the tears that didn’t seem to find an end.

As much as he knew that the two of them couldn’t just rest on their laurels, Shouto couldn’t say that he blamed Katsuki for that remark. After a hard-earned victory, it only made sense for him to be tired. Shouto was, too.

While he typically felt rather sleepy, that was a different sensation than the exhaustion that settled into one’s body after combat. Thanks to technique, he had avoided running himself ragged in their fight, but he had still worked his muscles and used up quite a bit of energy.

Still, they couldn’t walk away from the scene—not yet. 「 WE HAVE TO WAIT FOR THE POLICE, BAKUGOU, 」 he reminded the other, pulling out his phone to dial. They couldn’t just leave their opponents where they had knocked them unconscious. While Shouto could encase them in ice to avoid them escaping or causing further damages, too much exposure to that could kill a person’s cells, or, ultimately, kill a person altogether. 「 WE CAN RELAX ONCE THEY GET HERE. 」

                  Bakugou wondered if just... breaking their legs would count as subduing them and he could lay down. One of those guys had a water-based Quirk, it made setting off explosions more difficult. The wetter he was, the more force he had to put into the explosion to get it half as strong as it should be since the water kept whisking away his sweat and making it increasingly difficult to ignite what was there. Stupid water guy. It usually took four times as long to exhaust him this much but his whole body felt like a well worn muscle.

                  “Then fucking dial faster, Half-n-Half. I want to get out of here and get something to eat.” Preferably something with low water content. No soups. Or noodles. Hell, he’d take a bowl of dry rice just to feel like it was soaking up some of the water out of his body. At least the other guy was easier to take out. Despite the water, his bracers had done their job and it just took one big explosion to knock him back and down and out. Well, Shouto had done most of the work there but... Bakugou was taking credit for that victory.

                 “Todoroki!” Izuku shouted on the way to school, running to catch up with the quiet boy. They barely returned to school after the sports festival, but Izuku was concerned about him. It wasn’t pity, no. He knew many people had difficult upbringings, but Izuku felt a closeness to Todoroki after everything. “Are you busy tonight?”

“I DON’T KNOW IF YOU’LL LIKE WHAT I HAVE TO SAY TO YOU, BUT I HAVE TO TELL YOU ANYWAY.”

Well, this was surprising: since when had Katsuki ever warned someone when he was going to say something unsavory? He insulted people whenever he was given the chance to open his mouth, and he seemed to dislike Shouto in particular. If he was still angry about him not using his left side during the sports festival, then he certainly knew how to hold a grudge. Considering Katsuki’s personality, however, it wasn’t surprising that he might refuse to let such a thing go.

Even so, Shouto found himself slightly…concerned. If Katsuki was telling him that he was about to say something that he wouldn’t like, was it bad enough to require that foreword? Did he have something serious or important to say? He was the type of person to speak his mind without bothering to put a filter on any of it—not be careful to keep from bothering people. It was likely obvious that Shouto was pondering the possibilities of what this conversation starter might entail due to how he simply stood there and stared for a good while.

「 THAT’S NEVER STOPPED YOU BEFORE, 」 he finally managed. 「 WHAT IS IT? 」 A part of him worried if he would regret asking Katsuki that question….

                    “I think you’re a fucking dumbass.” That was no secret, and also not what his main point was. But it just felt like he had to say that in response to Shouto’s big stupid mouth going off instead of just saying yes like he should. It wasn’t like Bakugou wanted to have this discussion, but he wasn’t going to let it just... sit on his mind anymore. It wasn’t his problem and he shouldn’t be thinking about it but somehow he couldn’t get the thoughts out of him until he settled the matter once and for all.

                     He grabbed a chair, pulling it toward him, setting off a scratching against the floor, and sat backward in it. His dark eyes bore a hole into Shouto’s head. “I know about your shitty ass old man. And I know you’re working with him. And I think you’re a huge, massive, fucking shithead dumbass for doing it, but it’s not my fucking problem what you do or what he does to you if you volun-fucking-teer for it. I’m just--”