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Flames lashed out at the darkness of being a failure, the urge to escape the place he woke up in swarming his mind.
Lashing out was easy.
He’d done it before, lashing out at Shoto the day they brought Shoto home from the hospital, attacking, trying to prove—
—something—
“That I’m not a failure,” even though every big did. Toya felt like a failure; the sight of his own face and the scars left horrified him almost as much as the idea of someone other than his father training him.
He wanted to leave—
—yelling—
Yelling from outside of the room distracted him, allowing My. Sunny, the chance to grab his wrist and redirect the attempt to throw flames his way, the smile on the man’s face turning into a frown as a feeling of dread spread through Toya’s very being, suddenly thinking escape might not be possible if—
He pushed further and—
What happened next was a blur, someone bursting through the door—
And then Mr. Sunny was knocked to the ground, while Toya continued to lash out with his flames, yet—
“Calm down.”
Blue, like the color his flames should be, surged forward, causing Toya to step back, hand to pull back as the person speaking closed the distance, yet his flames still erupted out.
“It’s okay,” she said, the hero dressed in blue, a reminder of what Toya couldn’t become, bringing out a strangled sob as she stepped into his space, defying the fires, his fires, making him for a moment feel even more like a failure, but then—
Her lips locked with his, her hands reaching out and grabbing onto his arm, a cooling sensation spreading out from the touch, reminding him of—
Toya’s eyes closed at the calming sensation, remembering when his own mother would step in and cool him and his emotions down with her ice Quirk.
“Rose, what…” came another voice. “Are you serious?”
Rose, or who Toya assumed was Rose, pulled out of the kiss, still holding his arms as her ice gently coated his arms, and he teetered, mildly at first, but then she simply let him slide down to the floor with her, as another Pro Hero took care of Mr. Sunny, arresting him.
Toya took a deep breath, head resting against her shoulder, feeling a wonderful coolness that his body ate up, even though he couldn’t, as his captors told him, necessarily feel as he used to, with different parts of his body feeling the coolness differently.
He remembered her stepping in, blue like his flames, his eyes flickering open as he leaned into her shoulder. “Tenshi.”
“What?” She asked, reaching up to run her fingers through his white locks, her blue hair pulled back into a neat do. “My Japanese isn’t that good. What.”
“Angel,” the person who called out to him before said. “He…”
There came a pause.
“Are you okay with, uh…”
“It’s okay,” Rose said, rubbing Toya’s back as Toya latched on, not wanting to let go, his eyes having closed again. “I’m probably the only one here who can handle his flames, so I think I should stay with him.”
“They were that intense?”
Toya shook his head. “No. It…” He buried his face into Rose’s shoulder, taking in her scent and, more importantly, the coldness emanating from her, eating it up, repeating what he’d been told.”
“Huh,” Rose said, running fingers through his hair again. “Is that so?”
Toya nodded, continuing to bury his face into the crook of her neck, taking in the chill.
“What did he say?”
“Apparently, his flames are supposed to be hotter than that.”
“What the…” And then the other person took a deep breath. “Yeah. If that’s the case, yeah. You’re the only one currently able to deal with a fire Quirk user, but…”
“You aren’t jealous, are you, Origami?”
“No, no!” the other stammered. “Just, he’s grown rather attached to you rather quickly, Rose, whoever he is.”
To which Toya muttered his name to her, and she repeated it to Origami.
“Yeah. I’ll go let the Pro Hero in charge know,” Origami said.
Toya thought Origami would leave, but then—
He felt a squeeze on his shoulder, as if the other person was attempting to reassure him that he was now safe. Rose hummed. “So, Toya, how old are you?”
Toya stiffened, then, “What’s today’s date?”
“Today’s date?” Rose asked
“I was asleep,” he muttered, still clinging to her, hugging on for dear life, but he turned slightly, eyes opening, only for his face to heat up slightly despite the coolness emanating from her. “Around three years?”
“Three?” Rose carded fingers through his hair. “And you’re up and walking about?”
“Yes?” Toya stared, confused. “I woke up, pulled out the IV. The other kids said it’s been three years, and then Mr. Sunny and…”
He glanced at the burnt computers, noticing the way Rose iced them down.
“You’ve an ice Quirk?”
“Yeah, what of it?”
“Mmm, nothing,” Toya said, then, “Oka-san has an ice Quirk.”
“Oh, really?” Rose said, continuing to stay with him. And then she told him the month and the day.
Toya sucked in his breath. “I turn sixteen in two days.”
“Ah. So, you’re turning sixteen this year as well,” Rose said, combing fingers through his hair. “It’s going to be okay.”
“I don’t know,” Toya said.
“So, do you know how you ended up here?” Rose asked. “I mean, we’re going to be asking all the kids we found here?”
Toya paused, then, feeling a blush across his cheeks, head unsure of why he found his cheeks heating up like that, or why he felt so at ease telling her. “I kind of self-combusted.”
“Oh?” Rose said.
“Sekoto Peak,” Toya muttered.
She let out a hum, pulling out a device and looking through something. Not that Toya paid her much mind, but then her eyes blinked.
“What?” he asked.
“Hey? You said your mother has an ice, Quirk?”
“I only inherited her ice resistance,” Toya said. “And got his fire Quirk without the heat resistance.”
Only for her to set the device and pull him in close, hugging him. “Hey? Are you sure that’s necessarily true?”
“Yes?” Toya said. “Why? Why do you…”
“Because you just told me you woke from a three-year coma,” Rose said, “And what I looked up? The Sekoto Peak fire from three years ago? It was two thousand degrees.”
“And?”
“You don’t recognize the significance?” Rose asked.
He shook his head, going back to leaning into her, letting her ice Quick keep him calm. He’d had the urge moments before to run, to head straight home, but—
In that moment, in the darkness, a light appeared, and—
Toya found himself attached to that light.