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Aizawa Shouta lets out a weary sigh.
It’s only the second day of school and he can already tell who his main problem children will be.
The first, Midoriya, has once again been sent to Recovery Girl having destroyed an arm and an entire building in training today.
The second, Bakugou, was the one that pushed Midoriya to go that far when he almost set the kid on fire.
And the third… well the third is currently sitting on the couch across from him in the teacher’s room waiting for him to speak.
“Todoroki…”
Shouta steeples his fingers on the desk and leans forward slightly. “I’m sure you know why I’ve called you here…”
The boy’s face is an impressively blank poker face that would put professionals to shame. “No sir,” he says tonelessly. “I do not.”
Shouta narrows his eyes slightly but the boy does not so much as twitch. He does however tense slightly when Shouta starts speaking again as if bracing himself for… something.
“This is about…” a pause to gauge his student’s reaction and yes while the boy still remains outwardly calm his hands are now clenched into fists. “...your costume,” Shouta finally says.
The tension vanishes immediately and Shouta wonders briefly what it was the boy had been expecting him to say to be so clearly relieved now that he's spoken.
“My costume sir?”
It's all very odd but Shouta sets it aside for the moment to focus on the matter at hand. “Yes. I took a closer look at the schematics after getting a glimpse of the look and the entire thing is impractical.”
“I know.”
“Now I am aware that designing your first costume yourself can be tough and most don’t want input, especially not from adults, but I must-” Shouta cuts himself off as the boy’s words finally sink in. “Wait. You know?”
Todoroki nods. “Of course. Using my ice lowers my core temperature and to mitigate the negative effects of overuse I usually warm up with my left side. The costume covering my left side in ice while utilizing a pathway system through the material from my right side to keep said ice cold so it doesn’t melt means that wearing the costume limits my quirk and the amount of time I can use it without going hypothermic.”
Shouta continues to stare as the boy ducks his head and mumbles “also it looks really bad.”
“I’m.” It takes Shouta longer than he’d like to recover and then he’s sitting up straight and frowning. “If you know the costume is terrible then why did you request it?”
Now it's Todoroki's turn to stare. “I didn’t.”
Shouta waits for him to explain but the silence drags on.
He raises an eyebrow.
Todoroki… fidgets.
“Um.”
Ah and here’s a crack in the mask as Todoroki looks around as if to assure himself that they are alone before leaning forward slightly to clasp his hands on his knees. “It was. A punishment… My father…” He takes a deep breath and lets it out in a whoosh. “My father got upset when I said I wouldn’t use fire in battle. When I told him I would become a hero using only my ice he said,” and Todoroki pauses here but it’s calculated so he can search Shouta’s face for… something.
Whatever it is he must not find it because his eyebrows furrow just enough to give away his confusion before smoothing back out into that stoic blankness again.
“He said I couldn’t do it halfway. If I wanted to be an ‘ice only’ hero then I would need to commit. I didn’t actually see the costume myself until today when All Might told us to get dressed for training but it makes sense that he’d come up with something that was not only horrendous to look at but also hinders my ability to use my quirk besides.”
He smiles then but it’s an odd thing, rueful and cold about the eyes. “Pettiness runs in our family after all.”
Shouta is so shocked by this turn of events that all he can think to say to that is a deadpan “does it now?”
Todoroki’s smile turns somehow darker. “Well I wore it didn’t I?”
Shouta honestly doesn’t know how to respond to that. Luckily he doesn’t have to as Todoroki just keeps going.
“I was expecting an atrocity but he outdid even my expectations. I gave in my actual costume request yesterday to Power Loader-sensei but unfortunately due to the fact that the school expects the students to take these decisions seriously it’s going to be a while before he can fill it. He felt pretty bad after I’d explained myself but since rules are rules I won’t be able to receive a second costume till after the sports festival like everyone else. We were talking about a possible loophole where if significant damage is done to the costume then changes can be made during repairs. But ultimately we agreed it would be too suspicious if my new costume was ready so soon, especially since my new request wasn’t to make changes to my existing costume but to make a whole new one from scratch.”
Shouta sighs and covers his eyes with a hand. He can already feel a headache coming on. “What a mess.”
“Sensei?”
“You’re right that it would be suspicious. Midoriya’s costume was almost totally destroyed today and his replacement won’t be ready till after the sports festival either. He’ll be using a regular gym uniform for the duration. I suppose we could extend you the same courtesy. That is assuming you’re done with all your,” a vague hand wave “pettiness.”
Todoroki’s eyes widen minutely but that’s the only outward sign of his surprise. “Yes please. I’ve already taken a selfie and sent it to him with the caption ‘living the dream’ so if I don’t have to wear it again that would be much appreciated.”
Shouta slowly massages his forehead. This child cannot be serious.
“While we’re on the subject though I would advise some kind of weapon for your left side so your fighting style doesn’t become unbalanced.”
“What.”
“If you’re only using your right side in combat then you need something for your left or it’ll become a weakness. Perhaps some kind of glove that utilizes the pathways of your current costume so you can pass your ice quirk to your left hand as well?”
Todoroki looks like his mind has been blown and his eyes are suspiciously shiny. “Um. A glove connection would probably only produce water if I’m still using my left side to regulate my temperature.”
Shouta nods. “That’s good though. It’s better than nothing and if you can experiment with the pressure then it’ll still be some form of weapon. Especially combined with your ability to effect cold on the area around you. If you get a villain wet first then you can expend less energy to freeze them in place.”
“I see.” Todoroki says, eyes still wider than Shouta thinks is normal for him. “That’s. That makes a lot of sense. Thank you Sensei.”
“It’s what I’m here for Kid.” He resists the urge to check the time. “Anything else while we’re at it?”
Todoroki looks away, fingers digging into the couch. “Um yes actually. I was just wondering…” He seems to steel himself before finally meeting Shouta’s gaze head on. “You’re not going to make me use my left side?”
Ah. That explains it. Todoroki must have been waiting, somewhat anxiously, for him to mention it since it was first brought up.
“Why would I do that?”
Shouta could just explain his reasonings instead of returning the question back to him. But when he thinks about it, Todoroki’s been dropping pieces since this meeting first started and Shouta’s honestly hoping to get enough of them to complete the puzzle that is his third problem child.
“I’ve. Been called selfish. Among other things.”
His tone is bland as if he’s talking about something harmless like the weather and his airtight poker face makes a return but Shouta knows the signs to look for now.
Todoroki’s eyes are pained and his fingertips are pressing into the couch so hard they’re practically white.
“People would kill for a quirk like mine," he continues, voice taking on a particular cadence that practically screams that he's robotically repeating words he's been repeatedly told. "And if I’d just stop being stubborn I could make something amazing of myself. It’s not right that I have it and don’t use it when there are people out there with less useful quirks or no quirk at all. Using only half is slapping myself with a handicap and it’s an insult to everyone else that I’m going in half assed while also aiming to beat them.”
And Shouta has to take a minute.
He wants to sigh, roll his eyes, press his fingertips to his forehead and squeeze.
Who the fuck has this kid been talking to?
Who the fuck thinks it’s okay to put these kinds of expectations and guilt onto a child.
He keeps his voice even and his tone calm and even puts in the extra effort to loosen the tension in his face.
The last thing he needs is for Todoroki to think he’s mad at him. Or to doubt the validity of what he’s about to say.
“I’m gonna stop you right there Kid. It’s your quirk and you can do whatever the-“ he bites back the ‘fuck’ very narrowly and covers the slip with a cough. “-heck you want with it. No one can force you to use it if you aren’t comfortable. If it was holding you back from showing potential that would be another story but if you can beat out the others with just your ice then go off Kid. It’s your power. No one else can tell you how to use it. Heck if you told me you didn’t want to be a hero at all and wanted to drop out that’d be fine too. You don’t need to be here just because you’ve got a great quirk.”
“No I. I want to be a hero.”
The words seem to have slipped out without Todoroki’s say so because his eyes are wide as a look of awe spreads over his face.
“I’d still advise you to try and learn to control your fire just in case of course. You don’t need to use it in battle or even use it at all but it’d definitely come in handy to have something hidden up your sleeve as a pro. Heroes shouldn't be one trick ponies after all.”
“You. You really mean it? You aren’t going to stop me?”
“Come on Kid, use that brain of yours. Do we force people with healing quirks to go into medical fields? Or fire quirks to become fire fighters? Your quirks are simply tools in your belt. Whether you choose to use them or not is no one's choice but yours.”
The kid looks on the verge of tears and Shouta decides it’s enough for now. It’s only the second day after all. He’s got time to collect the rest of the pieces to this particular puzzle.
“If that’s all then you’re dismissed. See you tomorrow Todoroki.”
“Yes…” Todoroki gets to his feet slowly and then he’s suddenly bowing low. “Thank you Sensei.”
Shouta watches him leave and finds that he can’t quite leave it like this. “Todoroki.”
The boy turns back, one foot already in the hallway. “Yes?”
“If there were… some form of... insidious reason why you felt you couldn’t use one of your own tools… you could always tell me.”
Todoroki’s lip twitches like he’s fighting back a smile even as his eyes shine with emotion. “I know Sensei.”
The door shuts behind him like a promise.
Shouta will wait as long it takes.
Trust isn’t built in a day.
But at least now the ice is broken.