Fire Within -Tododeku

Echoes of valor

To Todoroki's absolute surprise, Nomu didn't react as expected. It didn't come to defend its master, nor did it move in the slightest. Did the creature lack enough autonomy to act without instructions? With morbid fascination, Todoroki realized that Nomu would no longer intervene in the course of events. Apparently, it hadn't been given sufficient instructions to react in such a situation. Shouto would have celebrated, but he was no longer able to move without feeling a sharp pain in his chest. So he simply stayed on the ground, next to Midoriya, watching as the blue-haired guy who had kicked him so many times was finally unconscious due to the impact of his fire. He would have preferred never to have to resort to using his left side, but with some relief, he realized he had no regrets. Shigaraki didn't seem like a significant threat, but he was capable of causing harm. It would be absurd to regret attacking the guy who not only seemed to be the leader of this villain organization, but also kicked his classmate multiple times.

He didn't regret it at all, in fact, he felt untroubled.

But there was one question. To get Nomu to attack them, there would be a need to say an order to do so, and if there was already an order, why did Nomu stop?
Todoroki's answer came with All Might's arrival.

*

It turned out the villain organization name was the pathetic "League of villains" surname, and their main objective was to defeat All Might through the use of, as Shouto supposed, an experiment: Nomu. Things didn't turn out quite well for them, since their main leader, identified as Shigaraki Tomura, got imprisoned for terrorist activities, and Nomu got captured by the authorities with no resistance whatsoever, besides quite a good amount of villains that had attacked the students. Todoroki couldn't see the fight between All Might and Nomu, since he got evacuated with an unconscious Midoriya as well. It seemed he had passed out from all the kicks he got in the head from Shigaraki.

He had wished to be unconscious too, due to the amount of pain he had been put on by Nomu. He had gotten it healed, though, by Recovery Girl.
Now, he was tired, but he couldn't sleep. Midoriya was awake as well, both in the same hospital room.

"You were really foolish out there, Todoroki." Midoriya broke the silence. They were both laying on their beds, unmoving, and Todoroki collected the strength to sit up in the bed. Sure enough, he supposed Recovery Girl had treated his wounds, because he didn't feel any pain nor did he struggle breath anymore.

He was just tired, but now, his grogginess was replaced with stupor.

"What?" He asked, not sure if he had heard it right.

"You tried to distract Nomu by shouting at me just because it was close to me. I might have had a severe concussion, but if you remember, we were doing good at that moment." Midoriya, as impertinent and bold as he was, seemed to be at loss at why Todoroki would help him at all.

"Doing good? I was barely able to dodge his attack and since you screamed at me the direction to dodge, and by then he would have attacked you if I didn't do anything. I wasn't gonna just stand there and watch you get yourself killed" Todoroki realized he had raised his voice and was about to apologize before Midoriya responded, unfazed.

"Nothing would have happened to me because I would have blinded him again, and he wouldn't have been able to figure out my location." He affirmed, apparently very sure of himself, but his increasingly reddening cheeks betrayed him.

"You have no idea if that thing wouldn't have been able to figure out where you were by your footsteps. I wasn't the one to get a concussion and all my senses are back, so stop acting like I could have died, I just broke a few ribs..." Todoroki realized how absurd that sounded, and decided to give in and recognize the truth. "Well, sort of. I kind of could have died if you didn't intervene there. You might have zero sense of preservation, but your determination to beat that shit was really surprising. I think you do have the material to be a hero, if you aren't one already. Heroes sometimes have to get roughened... to survive and help others, I guess" Todoroki finished, lamely, but open and honest like he had never been before.

"Izuku, thank god I was here!" Inko kneeled in front of him, hugging with relief.

Behind her, the smell of a burnt corpse lingered in the air, but Izuku, too relieved to see his mom, hugged her back
As he hugged her, Izuku felt an odd dampness against his cheek. Pulling back slightly, he looked up at his mom's face. His innocent eyes widened in realization as he saw streaks of crimson on her clothes and a hint of pain in her eyes.
"Mommy, you're bleeding," Izuku whispered, concern etching his small features. His hug tightened instinctively, as if he could shield her from any harm.
In that moment, his mom smiled gently, brushing a strand of hair from his forehead. "It's okay, sweetheart. Mommy is strong, and heroes sometimes get a few scratches. But I'll always keep you safe."

His words had waken old memories tucked away for the best.

"Thank you, Todoroki" Izuku added, a wave of nostalgia and gratitude washing over him. "The way you were so worried about Uraraka before... it was as if you didn't have any fear for yourself. You came back for me, Todoroki. I will never forget that." His emerald eyes shined with emotion.