Chapter Six

The next day we head directly to our respective work studies. This time, Shiori and I arrive with Bakugo, Midoriya, and Todoroki and while Shiori's been having a pretty regular conversation with Midoriya, I've been mostly quiet. All I can think about is what to do next. How do I get my name out there?

"Hey, bird brain, what are you starin' at?" Bakugo huffs and I glare at him.

"Hey, asshole, why do you care?" I snap in English and I'm surprised when his eyes widen and his nostrils flare.

"What'd you call me?!" he shouts and my glare deepens.

"You heard me" I snap before a solid object nails me right in the top of the head. I wince, sucking in a breath. Looks like Burnin' got tired of us arguing and whacked us both in the head.

"Ow" I mutter, rubbing the now sore spot. Burnin' beams at us.

"Welcome back" she says cheerfully, hands on her hips.

"Hey, what was that for?!" Bakugo shouts and she gives him a challenging glare.

"Don't pick fights with me, kid. You'll lose" she assures him before going on to ignore him completely.

"Today we're gonna split you up. Shiori, you're gonna tag along with Bakugo, Midoriya's with me, and Todoroki? You can take Kaida on your patrol" she says and my first instinct is to argue.

"Seriously?" I'm surprised to hear Shiori say before I get the chance, her face so obviously unhappy that it's hard not to laugh. Burnin' raises an eyebrow at her and tilts her head curiously.

"You have something to say about it?" she demands. Shiori doesn't say anything in reply but I can tell she's pissed. Pairing her up with Bakugo? Probably one of the worst things anyone could have done. But pairing me with Todoroki? That's not how this works. I'm always with my sister. Always.

"Shiori and I work best together. We've never been apart for patrols" I begin and if I'm not mistaken, Burnin's fiery green hair sparks a shade lighter as she turns an irritated gaze onto me.

"Go with your assigned partners or go home!" she snaps and none of us dare speak again. Instead, I look back at Shiori several times as I follow Todoroki into the city, that is, until I can't see her anymore.

"You seem disappointed" Todoroki notes after a while and I sigh, feeling a little bad.

"It's not that..." I try, but I am disappointed. Still, I guess I get it. Shiori and I know nothing about the patrols in Japan, let alone what it's like working with other heroes. I know why Burnin' did it. That doesn't mean I like it.

"You and your sister... you're close" he says and I try my hardest not to stare at him sarcastically.

"Ever since we were born" I agree and he nods.

"It must be difficult to be separated from her" he adds and this time I have to make a face.

"What is this? Small talk?" I ask and his eyes widen a fraction.

"I'm sorry, would you prefer we stay silent?" he wonders and I start to wonder myself if he's always so... robotic? I sigh internally. I can't complain about his monotonous attitude and complain when he's trying to make an effort.

"No. I'm sorry... I'm just surprised I guess. You didn't seem like the type to be interested in that sort of thing" I reply and he purses his lips in thought for a moment.

"I wasn't always..." he begins, then looks at me. The sudden eye contact makes me feel flustered, though I can't put my finger on why, and I avert my gaze, cursing my pale skin.

"Did you want your blanket back, by the way?" he asks and I whip my head back to stare at him in shock. Was he really awake last night? How did he know it was mine?

"How did you...?"

"Your sister saw me with it this morning and asked me why I had it" he replies before I can finish asking my question. Of course she did. I roll my eyes.

"Right... you can keep it... if you want" I mumble, embarrassed for no reason. You did a nice thing, Kaida. There's no reason to be shy about it.

"Thank you..." he says in a way that reminds me of that last night when I gave him the spoon. My cheeks flush again but I don't say anything back. What a weird conversation. Truthfully, I don't have many long conversations with many people outside of my sister and when I'm faced with one on one quality time, it makes me vastly uncomfortable.

"So... where are we headed?" I ask, changing the subject and I can see the professionalism wash right back over Todoroki. He nods once in the direction straight ahead.

"We get to patrol downtown. It's usually a good way to get some practice in with rookies since the place is usually crawling with small time criminals" he tells me and I frown. Rookies? Is that how he sees me?

"You've got my back then?" I ask him and he pauses, a funny look coming over his face. When he finally nods, it feels like a century has passed.

"Yeah..." he replies and I make a face as we continue on our walk. Todoroki may be one of the top heroes of our generation, but I wasn't banking on him being so odd. I'd heard before that he was cold, calculating, and aloof. Certainly, I've seen plenty of that in him but... every so often I catch this glimpse of something much softer. Something... confused and even... sad.

For a long while, Todoroki and I kill time just walking. Fans of his stop us a few times and a few people even recognize me once or twice, but the patrol is unnervingly quiet. So quiet in fact that at some point I start internally begging for an explosion, or kidnapping, or something. Anything to add some excitement for once. In fact, I'm begging so hard in my mind that I'm almost ready to give up when I hear the scream of a woman nearby. I jump, looking to Todoroki immediately. He makes a face.

"Don't look so excited" he reproves and I try to wipe the eagerness off my face as we race towards the sound. A few blocks away, we finally see it; a small crowd is gathered in lose formation, muttering and shouting in horror as a large, gorilla-like man holds a tiny woman up in the air by her arm. The guy is huge, definitely larger than an SUV, and he holds the thrashing woman easily in his hand, his hairy knuckles clenched around her wrist like it's a toothpick. Rage awakens within me and, just like always, I feel the energy inside me swelling for the fight.

I lunge forward as the ape man smacks his lips greedily, chortling about his next snack. The words make my skin crawl but before I can do much of anything, Todoroki catches my arm.

"Wait! You can't just go charging in" he insists, appalled. I yank my arm away from him, gesturing wildly at the woman in the ogre's grasp.

"Are you kidding me? Look at her!" I snap, furious. Todoroki shakes his head.

"You could hurt someone" he tries and I start towards the scene anyway.

"He is hurting someone" I reply, turning away from him and rushing into the crowd. I hear Todoroki shout after me but all I can see is the fear and uncertainty on this woman's face. She's terrified. The thought of it makes my blood boil.

"Hey, you!" I shout, breaking through the front of the crowd and clenching my teeth when the giant turns his eyes to me, a dangerous shine lighting up his eyes. The woman's gaze, however, is pleading desperately for help. I hear some of the civilians mumbling... some of them even know my name, but I can't focus on that now.

"Heroes" the big guy huffs in a booming, distorted voice. He flings the woman to the ground and she cries out as she falls. My eyes widen as the gorilla man starts lumbering towards me and without a second thought I throw my arms out, curling my fingers under and siding the woman out of the way with overlapping waves of energy. She glides across the street, gasping as she comes to a rolling stop amongst the crowd and I brace myself too late against the impact of the gorilla man swatting me aside with his heavy knuckles. I go flying, arms wheeling through the air as I crash into a store window. I grunt with the pain, forcing myself up and out of the broken glass as Todoroki finally makes his appearance, a sinister glimmer in his eyes. This is the Todoroki I expected to meet. The gorilla guy holds up an arm to attack but Todoroki is quick with his quirk, blasting ice from his right side and encasing the ape in a solid wall. The beast struggles, rage making his eyes a terrible red, and I rush to Todoroki's side. The ape yanks his fist through the ice, shattering it easily and roaring at us both.

"What was that about me breaking your ice?" I ask breathlessly and he huffs in agitation.

"Just subdue him!" he orders, running around the other side and spitting more ice. I take a deep breath and focus, dodging another swipe of the gorilla's giant fist and hold my arms out in front of me again. A low humming pulse starts radiating off of my body, the effects of it rippling through the crowd. I see a few people looking around, stumbling and trying to catch their footing. Shit... shit... more FOCUS, Kaida. I hiss to myself, trying to steady my racing heart. Come on... come ON... I close my fists tightly and my energy wraps around the thrashing monster, his bellows reverberating off of the buildings around us. I gasp at his strength as he struggles against the invisible hands of my own creation. I squeeze harder, my fingernails biting into my palms and drawing blood as the energy begins to seep out of me.

"Todoroki, whatever you're going to do, do it now!" I shout over the roaring of my own heartbeat in my ears. I catch a glimpse of Todoroki's expression then and wonder why he looks so shocked, but I can't focus on it for long. The beast struggling against my hold brings me to my knees and I hear a familiar click in my headpiece. No! Not yet. I force myself to stay alert and squeeze my fists together so tightly that my knuckles feel like they might burst apart before finally, finally, Todoroki unleashes his final blow. The animal lets out a single yelp before falling limp in my grasp. I gasp again, releasing my energy and gingerly opening my shaking hands. My breathing comes in shallow gasps as the beast falls to the pavement and the gathered crowd erupts in smattered applause. I catch my breath as Todoroki talks with some of the other heroes that showed up mid-fight. He gestures to me and I groan internally as I force myself to stand. I'm not only good for a single fight, no way. I'll walk all the way home if I have to.

"You okay?" Todoroki asks me finally, once he's finished talking with the others. I give him a wink, catching him off guard.

"I'm great. Full of energy still. Was that the only bad guy? Kinda subpar if you ask me" I start, knowing I'm rambling, but he grabs my hand suddenly, silencing me. For a moment, all I pay attention to is the feeling of Todoroki's hand on mine, turning my palm up to face him and tracing his fingertips across the surface. They're surprisingly soft, but when they graze over the puncture wounds my fingernails made, I wince, trying to yank my hand away.

"Ow" I complain, but he doesn't let go. Instead, he eyes me seriously, his expression dark.

"You're bleeding" he says. I'm surprised by the anger in his voice and, for once, I don't have anything to say in response to him. He lets my hand go and turns back in the direction of the agency.

"Come on" he instructs but my stomach sinks.

"I'm not going back to the agency" I say and he whirls on me, face full of disbelief and aggravation.

"Of course you are, you're done" he replies and I shake my head, meeting his gaze head on.

"I'm far from done, Todoroki, and you're not my parent. We're heroes, and I refuse to go back when I can still work. I'm fine" I snap and he grits his teeth, really glaring at me this time. The look is more intimidating than I thought it would be, but I hold my ground, swallowing my unease.

"And if I refuse to go with you?" he demands. I give him a tired grin, determined to show him what I'm made of.

"Then I guess I'll be out here on my own" I retort and he sighs heavily, clearly pissed off but holding himself together anyway. He starts towards me and I flinch when he grabs my hand again.

"Hey, wait" I start but before I can finish my thought, he uses his right hand to spread a thin layer of ice over my wounds. I let out a small breath of relief at the instant cool.

"Wow... thanks..." I say and when he looks back at me, we both pause for a moment. There's just something about his eyes... I clear my throat and pull away from him, awkwardly scratching the back of my neck.

"Let's go" he says in a dull voice and I agree, turning to follow him when an insanely familiar voice stops us both.

"Shoto" it booms, making my heart race. When we turn around, my suspicions are confirmed at the sight of Endeavor looming over us, all menacing six foot four inches of him. I practically scream with delight.

"Father" Todoroki greets darkly but I feel like I might be salivating.

"Endeavor" I breathe and he turns an intensely intimidating stare in my direction.

"Pulse" he says, greeting me by my hero name. I try not to cry with joy.

"Was there something you wanted?" Todoroki asks, a bit coldly. Endeavor frowns at his son and the tension ruins my moment.

"Are you responsible for this?" he asks, gesturing at the monkey man. I grimace, suddenly feeling like my handiwork might be a little sloppy. Should've thought about that before ignoring Todoroki, huh?

"At least partly" Todoroki confirms and I stare at him in disbelief. What does he mean... partly? He wanted nothing to do with my backwards version of a plan... I swallow my sudden guilt and steel my nerves.

"Actually, sir... it was me" I fess up and this time, Todoroki's the one staring. Endeavor looks over me, that same intense expression picking me apart for a moment before he decides to speak.

"You're not very subtle" he notes and I glare at him, refusing to get talked down to.

"The guy went down, didn't he? I didn't see you out here helping" I snap and for a moment, I think he might actually burn me to a crisp. From the looks of Todoroki's expression, he seems to think so too, at least until Endeavor cracks an irritated crooked smile. If I didn't know any better, I'd think he was about to laugh.

"Don't bite off more than you can chew, girl. A powerful quirk only takes one so far" he warns but I can tell the impression I made wasn't necessarily a bad one. Todoroki doesn't say much else, but this time, when he tells me we're going back, I listen without argument. Todoroki may have a chip on his shoulder most of the time but after meeting his father? It's not hard to see why. Growing up, I had a happy childhood. My parents were in love and kind, my sister was my partner in crime, and nothing seemed impossible... at least... that's how it felt before our mother was killed. As much anger as I still hold onto, I can't imagine having Endeavor for a father and that thought serves as a reminder that Todoroki is just as human as I am.