In His Element(s) || avatar / bnha

Some Things Aren't Linear

"Are you still grounded?"

Aang froze, slowly looking over to Shouto with visible confusion.

"I'm... not, grounded?"

Shouto tilted his head, looking the monk over thoughtfully.

"Then why are you still in the dorms with Midoriya and Bakugou?"

"I, uh, chose to be?"

"Does it have to do with your spirit hunt-"

Aang yelped and pounced Shouto then, quickly clamping a hand over his mouth before he could finish his sentence.

"Todoroki," he hissed, grey eyes only a few inches away from his own. "You can't just say that out loud. I can be terrible with my own secrets, but you can't!"

Shouto, who had reeled backwards a bit at the unexpected proximity, pushed the monk away, feeling an unwilling fluster color his face.

"I'm not being terrible with your secrets. There's no one else in here."

"Hmm." Aang kept his hands on Shouto's shoulders, glancing around the room suspiciously before conceding the point. "I mean, Shinsou is here."

"Shinsou is always here."

"I resent that remark," the person in question called out from where he was draped, upside down, on the common room couch.

"It's 5 in the morning," Shouto pointed out. "Shinsou is here because he doesn't sleep, but you and I are the only other ones awake."

"Ok, ok." Aang patted him on the side of the head and on his shoulder once more before pulling back out of his space. "What were you asking about, again?"

Shouto blinked, rubbing the side of his face unconsciously where Aang had made contact.

"Can you help me with something?" he blurted out, before he could lose his nerve and shy away from this.

Aang smiled at him, sunny and unfairly awake.

"Of course. What do you need?"

"Can..." he took a deep breath and powered through. "Can you show me how you firebend?"

Aang simply looked at him for a moment, quiet. Shouto resisted the urge to bite his lip or fidget as the monk scrutinized him. He met the other's eyes and was surprised by what he found there, because it wasn't pity, or fear, or disgust, like he'd expected. No, the only thing there was... understanding.

"Yeah," Aang said softly. "I would be happy to."

Behind them, Shinsou fell off the couch in a squawking tangle of limbs, spoiling the moment a bit.

Shouta was tired, exasperated, worried, furious, and unsettled, all at the same time. All because of a series of information that he really should have been informed of before now.

Unfortunately, murdering the former Symbol of Peace was frowned upon.

All for One, One for All, Midoriya being quirkless, the situation at Aldera Middle School, Bakugou and Midoriya's history-

Damn it.

He hated how much sense everything suddenly made. He may understand why the kid had kept it a secret, but it still pained Shouta to think that he could have helped him so much sooner.

...he wondered if he could get Nedzu to open a lawsuit against Aldera.

He rubbed dry eyes, glaring balefully at his empty mug of coffee. It was maybe 5:30 at most, he had an entire semester's worth of notes on Midoriya to go through and overhaul completely, and he had to make sure both of his miscreants went to see Hound Dog separately today. It was going to be a long day.