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There's screaming coming from the gym closest to the dorm.
The smell of ozone and smoke drifts into Alliance Heights from whatever is going on in Gym Beta. This is not abnormal, especially because Katsuki and Izuku spar at least every other day as a weird form of flirting that Denki still can't comprehend. If it were them, then Denki would say it's normal and not worth checking on. However, it can't be them right now.
In their class, two people have power that triggers the smell of smoke: Katsuki and Reika. There are also only two people who smell like ozone when they discharge their power: Izuku and Denki himself.
Katsuki, sitting beside Denki on the couch with a game controller in his hand, looks just as confused as Denki himself.
"Are Izuku and Reika fighting?" Denki asks hesitantly. Today is their shift day, Reika with Tenya at Iidaten and Izuku with the Aerie. They're expected back soon, but not in such an explosive manner.
Katsuki doesn't hesitate, chucking his controller on the table and grabbing the hoodie he'd thrown over the back of the couch.
"You coming or not?" He snaps, stomping to settle his heel in his hastily donned slip-on sneakers.
Denki is self-aware enough to recognize that he is not a powerhouse like Reika, Katsuki, and Izuku. He could be, but he doesn't want to be. He can fight, one of the only perks of his shiny new prosthetic is that he can turn his whole arm into a taser without frying his brain, but he doesn't like it.
Denki is a support hero. He's been on the front line and it fucked with him. He likes taking care of people, making them laugh and smile in the face of something terrible. He likes making them feel safe and making them whole. While most of his friends are signed to combat agencies, he's on contract with the Wild Wild Pussycats. It's a good fit.
Reika, Katsuki, and Izuku all suck at first aid. They may need him.
An awful sound shrieks through campus, ice crushing metal, and Denki grimaces. The carnage sounds like it's approaching Sports Festival levels, which isn't great. As he continues listening, Denki realizes that Reika is the one yelling, not Izuku.
Izuku yells when he fights all the time, but Reika? She's usually quieter. It doesn't bode well.
"Fuck," Denki says, tossing his controller down beside Katuski's and snatching his coat off the floor. "I hope the building is all that they break."
There is good news and bad news when they make their way to Ground Beta.
The good news is that this brawl is at least loosely supervised, Tenya leaning against the doorframe with a sour look on his face. He's still in his costume undersuit, his armor in pieces up against the wall. He only has one foot inside the doorway as he does his best to avoid the action while still keeping an eye on the situation.
Tenya looks sad in a way that Denki finds jarring and unfamiliar. The source is clear.
This is the bad news: Reika is crying.
Denki can't remember a time when he's ever seen Reika cry. Maybe after she fought Dabi, but even that was only because she was exhausted. Now, she's obviously furious, the air around her heating and cooling with such frequency that pressure is building within the gym. She's unzipped her costume halfway, tying the sleeves around her waist but even in the tank top she wears underneath, she looks like she's boiling. Tears stream down her flushed red cheeks, freezing solid and evaporating instantly as she screams and throws another volley of ice toward Izuku.
Denki's glad that Izuku seems grounded as he sends blasts of compressed air back at Reika. He might be the only person on campus who could take Reika down in a one-on-one quirked brawl like this. He's still clearly distressed but the source of his discomfort seems to be Reika's pain. He's still in his full suit, his bag thrown against the wall so haphazardly that Denki thinks he'd only just stepped into the gym when Reika lunged.
"Four Eyes," Katsuki says, slowing when he sees that Tenya isn't attempting to intervene. "What the fuck happened?"
"Katsuki," Iida says, tracking Reika and Izuku as they circle amidst the ruins of glaciers. "What do you think?"
Denki waits for the snap and snarl, for Katsuki to demand an answer, but it doesn't come. They watch as Reika bursts into flame in the middle of the gym, hot on top of the cold.
"Shouto," She snarls, the content of her yelling clearer now that he's focusing on it directly, "Shouto, Shouto, Shouto. Shouto how could you do this to me? Shouto what would your mother think about this? Shouto you were already perfect I don't know why you had to go and ruin yourself like this. "
Denki can still hear Reika, but he does his best to stop paying attention to the words. It comes in one ear then out the other, like water through his fingertips. Whatever Endeavor said that hurt her so badly is none of his business.
(Denki's not sure if he's going to go for his doctorate yet but doctor-patient confidentiality isn't that different from his work as a medic. People often unintentionally share secrets when they're hurting. He's gotten good at feigning obliviousness.)
"Damn it," Katsuki hisses. "Endeavor's not even supposed to talk to her without permission, what the fuck happened?"
"There's an upcoming multi-agency operation run by the Aerie," Tenya sighed. "They invited Iidaten and Endeavor Agency, but left Endeavor off the list of partner agencies presented to Iidaten."
"That's against the law, right?" Denki asks.
"Correct," Tenya says, "I called my brother on the train, he's filing a complaint against the Aerie. If he'd known that Endeavor was going, he'd have sent Crawler instead of us. The current assumption is that Endeavor asked Hawks for a favor, deducing correctly that we would welcome a team up with Deku."
Lightning strikes the gym floor, energy discharging as Izuku's fist collides with Reika's stomach. She spits fire, forcing him to take two large steps backward.
"Endeavor thought that the hallway outside the strategy meeting was a good place to have a conversation about all of the choices Genesis has been making," Tenya says. He attempts his normal even tone, but there's a tenseness that betrays how angry he is. Denki isn't sure he's ever seen Tenya this mad.
"He was loud enough to be heard inside the meeting. He embarrassed her," Tenya says, his voice cracking. "And when she tried to get away when Deku tried to step in between them, Endeavor escalated. We left when he grabbed her and wouldn't let go."
"Burn or bruise?" Katsuki asks quietly.
(Denki remembers now, that Katsuki and Izuku have known about Endeavor's behavior around his children longer than everyone else. He's pretty sure that Tenya learned shortly after them before Dabi ran his manifesto on national television. Neither of them were surprised when the news broke.
Denki knows that they're short on competent heroes. He also knows that even though everyone is aware of how the Todorokis grew up Endeavor has faced no consequences. It doesn't make sense. Denki had Endeavor posters on his wall growing up, a hero with a power easily used for the destruction that he thought was using his skills for good.
He threw it in the trash when he visited his parents, directly after the fighting. He wanted it gone, wanted it destroyed, but when he tried to set it on fire he gagged. His mother, a disaster relief specialist with a grounding quirk, sat under the spray of the cold shower with him as he sparked and sobbed, making sure he didn't drench his still-healing arm.
They were just kids. They were all just kids.)
"He burned her," Tenya says. "It's minor in the grand scheme of things, but Endeavor is supposed to be an ally and they were in a hallway, not battle."
"I'm going to kill him," Katsuki growls.
"Get in line," Tenya says tiredly. "I've been encouraged to leave vigilantism behind, but I am continually tempted."
"Excuse me?" Denki asks.
"I tried to kill Stain after he paralyzed my brother," Tenya says distractedly, flinching as Izuku slams Reika to the ground. With her back still on the ground, she grabs Izuku with her legs and twists, bringing Izuku down hard onto the mat beside her. He shoots to the sky to avoid a pin, closely trailed by a half-dozen icy daggers. "I would have been killed, but Izuku found me. Reika came to save us both after he texted for help. I think that's when I fell for her, even though I didn't know it yet."
"That's very sweet," Denki says, deciding to unpack all that later. "Is there anything I can do for her?"
She doesn't need medical care or a battery charged, so Denki's not sure where to go from here. Bakugou will undoubtedly be staying, but this seems like a situation where Reika would prefer some space. Denki loves her in the same way he loves all of his friends, their class blood-bonded and battle-tested, but sometimes showing that means giving them ample room to fall apart without the extra eyes.
Tenya thinks for a moment. It looks like Reika is starting to wane, her movements becoming slower and more predictable. Unsurprising, as Izuku's quick has a minor stamina enhancement aspect. He can brawl like this for days. When she falls, he'll catch her.
"Coffee," Tenya finally says. "If you could bring a cup of coffee to the showers in Alliance Heights, it would be helpful. As long as it's sweet and cold she's not picky. I'd go myself, but I'm the only person from our class with the authority to supervise extracurricular training on campus right now. Aizawa would be lenient given the circumstance, but Vlad King is on security watch tonight and he's less forgiving."
"I'll be back with Starbucks in twenty minutes."