A tea from the heart

"You did that on purpose!" roared Shoto across the battlefield. It wasn't enough that this damned unsympathetic guy, who seemed to control the wind, thwarted his plans once again. No, he absolutely had to address Enj Todoroki a few moments before.

Shoto gritted his teeth, trying to suppress the memories that wanted to break their way. He didn't want to be reminded of how his bastard of a father beat his mother.

Unconsciously, he grabbed at the burn scar on his face. Now that he was almost an adult, he could understand his mother's knee-jerk reaction. He shook his head and tried to pull himself together. Now was not the time for that. He had to get his provisional hero's license. It should have been an easy exercise for him.

But thanks to the wind guy, it wasn't. Shoto rekindled his flames and aimed at Gang Orca. Once again, his flames were smothered by a powerful wind.

"Yoarashis, stop that!" now shouted Shoto across the field as he was hit by Gang Orca's Quirk and pinned to the ground. He was gasping for breath, he would be able to deal with the pain, but not with his father's accusations of having failed again!

In the middle of the battlefield, Katuski casually touched his ear. He had agreed with his lover Shoto to use a different frequency to communicate if necessary. One that the organizers of the test would not use.

Katsuki's mood became even gloomier. He would kick Inasa's ass when this was over. Logically, this asshole couldn't know that he had triggered Shoto. Because not everyone knew about the sad fate of the youngest Todoroki.

Bakugou paused and looked across the field. "Damn." he muttered as Denki snapped him out of his thoughts. "Come on! We're supposed to evacuate. It's about our test!" he niggled.

"Stop bugging!" cursed Katsuki, giving Denki a disdainful look.

When he felt Eijirō's hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong with you?" the redhead asked.

"Why did you have to chase after me so much?" cursed Katsuki angrily, backing away a bit. He kept running and activated the button in his ear.

"Breathe, Shoto. You can handle this. Try not to think about what was done to you now." He heard Shoto's ticked-off breathing at the end of the line. "Katsuki...", replied Shoto, strained.

"Shhht... You don't have to talk now. Try to collect yourself. That guy may have fixed you." Katsuki grinned triumphantly.

"But that won't stop you, right darling? He can only fixate your body, but not your Quirk!"

"Right!" replied Shoto, and Katsuki could hear him saying to the wind guy. "Pick up my flames with your wind. We'll create a fire vortex around Gang Orca!"

Katsuki could see the fire whirl all the way here. He took a deep breath, glad that Shoto acted. But he also knew that the conflict he had fought out in front of everyone would lead to Shoto failing the test.

He would not pass the preliminary exam. Shoto, of all people. Katsuki closed his eyes and ran his fingers through his hair. He didn't want Shoto to suffer this embarrassment alone. Because he knew how much he had already been through.

Katsuki made a decision - Shoto would not experience this disgrace alone -.

"Come!" he called to Denki and Eijirō "Let's score some points!" he growled, still scowling, as the two followed him, his eyes fell on two people who were obviously supposed to be injured.

Katsuki rolled his eyes in annoyance - great, not even a real fight yet - he thought and put his hands in his pants pockets.

"Hello!" exclaimed Denki, questioning. "Should we get them out of there, are they hurt?" the hero student asked helpfully.