When I woke up it had felt like I had been asleep for days. I felt groggy and weak, but it was better. Better than waking up in the white room or on a cold metal slab with bright lights and masked men hanging over me.
"Please stop. Please, I can stay controlled. Just put me to sleep, up my dosage please!" I cried. My arms and legs held down by metal cuffs. I could barely move them they were so tight.
He shook his gloved hand at me. "Uh, uh my dear. You're lucky we have someone here to stall your quirk, otherwise we wouldn't be able to...help you." His words were meant to sound kind, but they fell out of his mouth like acid. He gestures to a blonde haired man in the corner. He stepped closer to me and put his hands on the sides of my head. That only made me panic more. This must be how his quirk works, not very effective in combat if he needs to be this close.
"Now, be a good girl and try not to move." Hanford said as he began.
I shook my head trying to forget. I can't think about that now. I have to stay in control. I can't go back.
I sat up and was finally able to take in my surroundings. When they said everything in here could handle my flames, I thought I would be put in another white room. But this place actually reminds me of my old room. There are posters of heroes on the dark green walls. A desk, a wooden bed. It might not look exactly the same, but it looked like what a teenagers room should.
I get up and feel the carpet between my toes. It feels so soft compared to the tiles I'm accustomed to. I open the curtains and take in the full impact of the sunlight. Warmth, it was something I missed. Naturally, my body temperature is warmer than the average person's, but it was something that had been suppressed for who knows how long. Even after leaving that place my body hasn't fully regained its normal heat.
My door was propped open, a nice change to the locked state my door was usually in. I peek out into a hallway. No one's here? I was sure someone would've been posted outside my door.
I made my way to the living room. Still nobody. I vaguely remember this area of the house. I was so doped up for the whole endeavor, I only have blurry, scattered memories. There were quite a lot of people here. Guards, teachers, a mouse, and I think some students.
I check the kitchen and still no one. Maybe this isn't real, maybe this is some illusion or trick. Or maybe UA actually plans on abandoning me and leaving me to my own devices. Either way I'm not staying. I refuse to continue to be a puppet.
I take a deep breath and head for the front door. As soon as I reach for the handle it opens. A tired man covered in scarves stares me down. I remember him.
"You're awake." He stands tall almost as if he is shielding something.
"You were gone." I take a few steps back, my hands balled in fists, ready for anything.
He sees this and sighs. "I stepped out for a few minutes. Did you eat?" I shake my head. "Good. I have breakfast." I look at his hands. They're empty.
"Unless that breakfast is hidden in your scarf, I don't see any." I remark.
He gives me a small smile, something he doesn't look capable of. "Seeing as you're so awake, I'd like to introduce you to a student of mine." He steps to the side exposing a boy holding a plastic bag. I don't think he was here when I got here. I don't recognize a thing about him.
"Hello, it's nice to meet you." He says. So polite, but cold. Or maybe I'm too used to less than pleasant interactions that I just assume they're all the same.
"This is Shoto Todoroki. He's one of the few students in this school who got in on a recommendation."
He looks uninterested. Like he doesn't want to be here. Who could blame him? I probably wouldn't want to meet me either.
I take a deep breath. This is my first real interaction with someone my age since then. I have to make sure whatever this guy heard, whatever news clips he's seen, he knows that I'm not a monster. "It's nice to meet you too. I'm-"
"I know who you are. Mr. Aizawa already briefed me on your situation. Instead of wasting time on introductions, I suggest we get started." He interrupts. Well, so much for making friends.
Wow.
I'm incredibly confused. "I'm sorry, not to be rude," Not like him anyway, "I don't know what you're doing here in the first place."
He sighs and looks to Aizawa.
"Todoroki is here to help you gain control. He has experience in quirks like yours considering one of his is fire. He's also here to put out any fires that you start with his other quirk, ice."
"That explains the hair." I say gesturing to his dual colored head. He rolls his eyes and I narrow mine.
"Looks like I'm done here." He takes the bag from Todoroki. "I'm going to heat this up. "You two can get more acquainted outside. If anything goes wrong I will be able to temporarily erase your quirk with mine."
"Fine." I walk towards the door.
"You should change first." Aizawa says looking at my white gown. It was the only thing I was allowed to wear before.
"Maybe I was too out of it to remember, but I doubt my friends that dragged me from the states to here packed me a bag of teenage girl clothes."
"Midnight filled your closet with you're uniforms." Wow, actual clothes, but there's no use right now.
I shrug. "It won't matter." I turn back to the door and walk outside.
"Don't you want shoes?" Todoroki asks as he follows me. His face almost looking a bit disgusted.
I sigh. "Again, it doesn't matter. I'd hate to waste them."
I take my first real breath of fresh air. It feels so clean. The grass between my toes is soft and warm. The sun hits even harder when there isn't a window between us. I close my eyes, taking in the warmth of the rays. God, how I've missed the outside.
I hear a throat clear and remember I'm not alone.
"So, Mr. Aizawa says your quirk is 'tricky'. It's a fire quirk, how complicated could it be?" He shrugs. So condescending.
"Look I understand you don't want to be here. I'm guessing you'd much rather be doing anything else." I say apologetically. An ass or not, I'm not his responsibility.
"You guessed correctly." He says bluntly. "I'm not a babysitter." He puts some distance between us.
"What a relief to the children of the world." I say quietly.
"Now, hit me with everything you've got." He prompts.
Now I'm even more confused. "What?"
"How am I supposed to assess your quirk if I haven't seen it yet? So stop wasting my time and do it." He stands ready for an impact.
I start walking towards him. "I'm not going to do that. I don't even remember how long it's been since I used it freely. I'm not going to put you, some guy with a superiority complex, in danger because you're igno-" He throws an ice spear at me. I'm able to duck in time, falling to the grass on my hands.
"Are you nuts!?" I point.
"Stop wasting my time!" He says as he continues to shoot ice at me. I jump out of the way and land on my stomach. I grip the grass between my fingers.
"They think you're incredibly powerful. I don't see it. All I see is a girl who is too scared to do anything. It's..."
"...pathetic. In all the time you've been alive, you couldn't even stop yourself from hurting someone after a tantrum?" A guard barks at me as he brings my food. I hold the tray in my hands, gripping it tightly.
"You realize what that makes you? A burden. A pathetic, little bur-" I swing my tray, one that is white hot, at his face. He falls hard. The tray sticking to his melting cheek as it begins to cool.
"I'm not pathetic."
"I'm not pathetic." The grass singes under my hands. I stand up, my hands taking flame.
"It's about time. Now hurry up. I don't have all day." He throws another spear and I catch it in my hand. It melts instantly. He takes a step back.
"You know what's pathetic?" I ask as I grow a ball of fire in my hands. "A boy stupid enough to question the power of a quirk belonging to someone who was locked in a prison for seven months." I throw it at him aiming straight for his face. He creates a wall of ice to block it, but it melts right through. He falls on his back.
I'm getting hotter. "You need to stop me."
He sits up to look at me, his clothes lightly burned. He narrows his eyes determined to hit me.
TODOROKI'S POV
She melted right through my wall and the fire ball was still able to hit me.
"You need to stop me." She says. I look at her. Her flames moved from her hand up to her shoulders.
"You asked for it." I respond. I stand up and take a hard step in her direction. The ice is racing towards her, spiking up at random.
Mr. Aizawa walks outside and stands at the porch. I give him a nod to signal I've got this when I hear steam.
The ice didn't even reach her. I can see the steam rising as my ice melts away, not even reaching a liquid state before evaporating. That's when I see her. She's so bright. Every inch covered in flames. The grass at her feet setting on fire. The heat waves coming off of her like she's the sun. I can see the features of her face and the outline of her body. Her eyes are bright white and all they say are rage. Her the flames on her hands grow bigger, ready to strike me down again.
"Enough!" Mr. Aizawa shoots her down with his quirk. Her flames subside and she looks relieved. She falls to her knees and sobs, gripping the grass for some sort of stability, as if she'll fall again. She wasn't kidding. Her quirk is too sensitive. And my rudeness didn't help.
"I'm so sorry. I, I didn't want to do that." Her eyes are filled with tears. She's so sad. "Please forgive me."
I walk towards her, suddenly I want to comfort her and console her.
"Get her a blanket." Mr. Aizawa stops me. That's when I notice, she's nude. The thin material that was covering her frame disintegrated into nothing. I can feel the heat in my face as I quickly run inside.
HAZE'S POV
"I did it again. I lost control. I just got out." I grab at my hair. "Everyone was right, I'm not ready to be here. I don't deserve to be here!" I cry.
"You need to calm down. If I release you right now you'll light up instantly." Aizawa says, his eyes wide and intense.
I feel something enclose my body and I panic.
"Hey, hey it's okay." It's Shoto. He fixes the blanket over me.
I sob. "I'm so sorry. I didn't want to do that. I just couldn't st-"
"It's not your fault. I was arrogant and I pushed you too early. I'm sorry." His voice is soft and genuine, a complete 180 from his previous demeanor. I tighten the blanket around me, feeling just a touch safer. I can feel myself calming down, my emotions subsiding.
TODOROKI'S POV
She begins to calm down. She stops crying and begins breathe normally again, clinging to the edges of the blanket.
"Come on. Let's go eat." I smile. I place my hands on her shoulders to help her up. As soon as we touch, she screams
She pushes me off and stands letting the blanket fall off of her, showing no concern. She shoots her arms out in front of her directed straight towards me. When nothing happens she must've realized Mr. Aizawa was still using his quirk on her.
She breathes heavy and lowers her arms.
"I'm sorry." She looks down at the floor, her voice calm and her tears gone. It all happened so quickly. If he wasn't using his quirk I would've likely been cooked.
"It's okay." I say letting out a breath I didn't know I was holding. Is my heart beating fast? She calmly grabs the blanket and wraps it around her like a towel. She takes a deep breath and looks at Mr. Aizawa.
"I'm okay. I'm going to go get dressed if that's alright." She says calmly.
He doesn't let up. "Are you sure?"
She nods. "Yes. I'm sorry for scaring you both." Her voice is cold and almost emotionless. His eyes narrow as he's likely pondering whether setting her free is a good idea, but his eyes eventually close. She begins to walk towards the house and heads inside without another word. I stand up and turn to Mr. Aizawa.
"What was that? She was calming down, but then she just panicked."
"It's not for me to discuss." He says quickly. He looks off towards the house with an expression I can't place. Pity, maybe? "But it's no secret this girl has been through a major ordeal. I'll continue to monitor your trainings just in case." He turns back to me. "That is if you're still interested."
I look towards the door. Am I even capable of helping her? Is there anyone else? And even if there was, would they even want to? She could end up with someone cold and uncaring, though that's probably what she thought of me.
"It's alright to say no." He must sense my doubt. "This won't be easy. As you saw, her isolation has left her...unstable. It'll take time for her to adjust effectively. It may be best for you to focus on your own academics and training."
I close my hands into fists. "No, I'll do it." He eyes me silently, trying to see if I'll change my mind.
"Hm, alright. As for her time during school hours, the principal seems it's necessary for her to gain social interactions with people her own age. Do me a favor and keep an eye on her."
I nod. "I'll keep her close by."
"Good. And one more thing, don't let anyone touch her."