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A scream rang out and he was immediately on high alert, pinpointing the culprit to be a woman at a street vendor. A pair of thugs were trying to rob it and the poor clerk's quirk appeared to be that he could make his fingers stretch out. Not very helpful against a gun and a man whose upper body turned into a huge blackbird.
He cast a thin sheet of ice along the ground and slid over, his left arm engulfed in flames as he approached them. "I knew crows were interested in shiny things but I didn't think it applied to mutation quirk owners," he said slyly. "Drop the jewelry and I won't hurt you."
The gun was suddenly aimed at him. "You may have a powerful quirk but you've got nothin' to stop bullets. You shoulda waited until a real hero showed up!" the man scoffed.
He barely had time to comprehend the insult before the trigger was pulled and he thrust out his right hand, ice shooting from his palm and freezing the bullet in midair.
He picked it up off the ground and studied it. "Sorry, it's an automatic reaction. Do you want this back?"
The wannabe villains seemed to understand how dire their situation was and the bird flapped his wings, a gale force wind picking up and blowing dust everywhere. Todoroki shielded his eyes until the dust settled and realized they'd made it to the roof of a nearby apartment complex.
He simply shook his head and propelled himself with a pillar of ice, easily catching up to them. Once they realized he was tailing them the bird squawked and flew off, leaving his partner behind. The gun was pointed at him again, the muzzle unsteady as the crook's hands shook. "You don't scare me! There's a limit to everyone's quirks and you're no different!"
At that point a crowd had gathered below and he scanned for a familiar mop of green hair, giving a small smile as he found it. Even as a pro Midoriya sought out fights to watch other heroes and study their techniques. "I know at least one person who's expecting a show. Shall we give it to him?" His flames flared up and he removed his mask, a glint in his eyes.
The villain's grip grew slack and he grabbed the weapon, freezing the muzzle and breaking it off in one swift motion. "No fuckin' way..."
"Not many can say they've had the privilege of facing the Hot and Cold hero. It'll be something to brag about in prison."
Defenseless and cornered, the man apparently resorted to his quirk and pulled the piece of the gun from Todoroki's hand.
Pulling small objects towards himself, most likely. Unless he uses my ice crystals I don't see how that could help him. No wonder he just used a weapon.
There was no point in delaying the inevitable. With every step he took ice crackled at his feet and the man's fear grew more palpable.
"Just give me the weapon and the bag of jewelry. No one has to get hurt."
"Like hell I'll do what you say!"
He threw the bag over the edge and Todoroki slammed a hand against the roof, a ledge of ice shooting out and catching it. Before he could retrieve it the man tried to shove him off but ended up slipping himself and losing his balance. The hero could only watch in horror as he fell over the side, no ice or fire able to stop him before he hit the ground. Bystanders screamed and for a moment he felt frozen to the spot.
He can't be–
The thug's leg spasmed and he breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn't dead.
He could hear the voices, even from his spot on the roof.
"Why was a rookie on his own in the first place?" "None of it would've happened if he hadn't toyed with them and just did his job." "Isn't that Endeavor's son? After the news that came out about his training methods, it's no wonder his sense of right and wrong is skewed."
Ice climbed along his arm and he shook it off. Before long police stormed the roof and the crushing anxiety returned as he met their skeptical gazes. As far as the law was concerned, he'd nearly killed someone. Even if the victim did try to steal some bracelets.
Hands raised, he slowly grabbed said bag of bracelets and slid it towards them.
"Mr. Todoroki, we need you to come down to the station for some questioning."
Well, if they already thought he was a villain then he had no reason not to play the part. "Like hell I'll do what you say," he said in a low voice.
"Mr. Todoroki, please–"
He made a wall of flames between them before leaping over the rail, sliding to the street and extinguishing his quirk as he took off into the crowd. People scattered and he readjusted his mask, hiding his face and his cursed scar. He was more recognizable by that than the costume. Hopefully people would just assume he was an avid cosplayer.
Only a young man with a mess of green hair knew better and chased after him.