Burnt to Ashes - Kenichi Todoroki

A Fresh Start

Coda's POV:

It was Izora's last day at the mental hospital, and Maxwell was busy, so I covered it.

Summer was practically here. In Canada, though it wouldn't seem like a lot anywhere else, ten degrees Celsius was pretty hot. I was excited to see Izora too, and after a long talk over with my mom and my sister, I was able to take my sister's car and pick her up. After the whole kidnapping thing, my mom's been hesitant about even letting me out in the backyard, but it's been a while now so I'm sure she's gotten over it.

And taking my sister's car seemed cool. I heard many years ago you had to be 16 to learn how to drive, but with technology now, driving was a breeze at any age. Besides, driving lessons nowadays would take up too much time, especially since..

I was dead set on getting into Toronto Hero Academy, where I'd officially be on my way to becoming a pro hero.

I stopped in front of the hospital. I called the front office and notified them that I was at the front. Minutes passed, and they brought her out with all her stuff and loaded it into my sister's car. I anxiously tapped my fingers against the wheel as I made eye contact with her, which she instantly broke. I feel as if this won't be an easy talk.

She got into the passenger seat and stared down at her feet, not saying a word. She seemed to be welled up in her thoughts, and I didn't want to disturb her, but I felt the tension in the air rise..

"Sorry I'm burdening you." Izora mumbled.

"Izora, you're not burdening me. I'm happy to see you." I reassured her. "I.. I hope this is your last time."

Her eyes dully kept to the floor. I saw a tiny smile creep on her face, but disappear.

"I just wish you didn't have to see me like this. This.. it wasn't supposed to happen." She tilted her head up and fanned her eyes, trying to dry the tears. Despite her attempts, the tears poured down her face anyway.

"Izora.."

"I'm not usually like this.. it's never been like this before." She buried her face into her hands. "I don't know why I'm doing these things. I don't know why you still want to be around me, or why you care when.. you barely knew me and.."

She couldn't keep her composure. Her quiet flows of tears turned into light sobs but grew into a violent breakdown. It hurt seeing her like this. It hurt even more that I didn't know how to help her.

After she had calmed down a bit, I started picking out the right words to say. "I'm still here because I.. I love you, Izora. I have since the very first interactions we've had. I want to be in your life, to be around you, and it's been rough for a while but.. I want to help you get better. I know you can."

She didn't respond for a few minutes, but those minutes felt like hours. I let her process what she needed to before she spoke.

"I'm ready to get better." Izora said. "But I don't know if I can. I can't with my dad yelling at me about how much money I'm costing him with the mental hospital shit.. I can't with my mom being disappointed in how I'm ending up.. I can't be around them, Coda, I can't!"

"You can stay with me." I blurted out, clearly not thinking.

"You don't have to say that to be nice, it's fine." She whispered.

It wouldn't be that big of a deal, I'm sure. My mom would definitely let her stay. I just can't see her hurt like this.. I can't let her go back to the place that's giving her all this pain.

"I want you to." I told her. "Here's what we're going to do, okay? We're going back to my house, I'm gonna talk it out with my mom, Maxwell's going to get more of your stuff and you're staying in my room. Does that sound okay with you?"