Echoes of Vapor (Shoto Todoroki)

01.04

PART 04

POWERLESS

Katashi taught Ryou a lot of things. He taught Ryou a lot of things, but the one thing that Ryou learned the best was how to fight.

Sure Katashi had the majority of the student body shriveling at his feet, but that didn't mean that he didn't get into fights with students foolish enough to believe they had what it takes to end Katashi's violent tyranny.

It was an impromptu decision on Katashi's part, pushing Ryou forward when a student challenged him to a fight over something Ryou initially hadn't been paying attention to.

"Fine, ya wanna spend more time with Ryou? Fight him, then." Katashi sneered, shoving Ryou forward again, causing him to stumble slightly as he moved forward again.

Ryou made eye contact with one of their classmates, confusion brewing behind his expression. Daisuke Takahashi, he vaguely recalled. One of the people in Katashi's old group and Kitamura's best friend.

"I'm not fighting him, are you crazy? I just asked if he wanted to hang out. You know, with his other friends?" Takahashi hissed, his forked tongue slipping out as he did so due to his snake-like quirk. His eyes narrowed into a glare, his body tensing up as if he were getting ready to fight, despite his words.

"Forget it. Keep him and hog him for yourself. I feel bad for the guy, he isn't allowed to do anything with you breathing down his neck." He snapped, slinking away into the crowd that had begun to form.

Ryou looked at Katashi, who clenched his jaw in frustration, watching Takahashi get away with ease. Eventually, Katashi broke his gaze away and grabbed Ryou's hand, leading him to the rooftop despite lunch almost being over.

"What're we doing here?" Ryou spoke finally, looking around warily. No one was here anymore since class already started.

Katashi smiled, as he lit a cigarette, "I'm gonna teach ya how t' fight." He said as he rolled his shoulders. Ryou tensed up, immediately jumping to the conclusion that Katashi would take up a very violent hands-on approach. Katashi glanced at Ryou's expression and sighed some smoke out, rolling his eyes. "Relax, I won't hurt you. I'll teach ya how to punch and how to fight dirty if ya need'a."

Ryou furrowed his brows, "I don't need to know how to fight." That was a lie. He did need to know how to fight, because when he got older he wanted to become a hero. He was aware of how silly it sounded.

A delinquent boy who had already inhaled far too much smoke for someone his age with a broken past and broken family, wanting to become a hero? Unfathomable, highly unlikely, and foolish. It was a secret that only the teachers who read in between the lines of his "what do you see yourself doing in 5 years" essays knew. Ryou always kept it vague, but never directly stating that he wanted to become a hero.

I want to be someone that kids could look up to.

I want to be someone who anyone can rely on.

I want people to know my name and would trust me with their lives.

I want to be someone who can put a smile on anyone's face.

"I'm not stupid," Katashi frowned, crossing his arms. Ryou watched the display with confusion. Katashi scuffed his foot against the ground, and Ryou realized he was pouting. "I know ya wanna be a hero. And besides, we only have two more years until we're in high school. Well, one more technically since this is our last week of this year."

Ryou's mouth slowly opened to protest, but realized it was better if he came clean.

"I- well, yeah, but how'd you know?" Ryou felt his cheeks light up in embarrassment. It wasn't that he didn't want anyone to know, but when it was said out loud, it suddenly felt a lot more childish in his head.