Frostbite

Chapter 14: Nights 2/3 Kyoto/Hosu

- The next afternoon -

I didn't even remember climbing into bed. The night was really strenuous; though nothing crazy happened the rest of the night. But between the adrenaline and all the relocation: I was so sapped that I blacked out as soon as I got home.

Mr. Aizawa told me that he usually stayed out all night and camped in place during the day if he needed rest. However, he said that was unsuitable for a student like myself and told me to head home. We will be meeting in a new city tonight. He didn't want me to get complacent, thinking that all this moving and changing would help keep me on my toes. And he'd be right, if it weren't for the fact that I am already a foreigner and barely remember directions to school by memory.

Still it would let me see how different areas dealt with: problems, police response times, crime differentials, etc. And that could be fun on its own.

I dragged myself out of bed and grabbed breakfast, though the sun was telling me I was a bit late to lunch. Uraraka and I had missed each other in the odd schedule, but things had moved so I was sure she had been here. Her internship was with Gunhead, a CQB hero. She claimed this was her chance to round out weaker points in her skill set, and she'd be right. Hopefully it wasn't too rough. Some people just can't relax.

I had also exchanged some texts with Jiro. She was interning with Death Arms. Another unusual choice honestly, but she hadn't received much in the way of offers after all. The day for her had been mostly patrolling, which just made her realize how lacking her cardio was.

I told her a little about my night, leaving out the extreme bit with the gun. Jiro was the only person I had told that I was interning with our teacher. She didn't question my choice however. Just shrugged and said "Of course you would."

I smiled thinking about her and shot a quick goofy picture of myself making a dumb face, hoping it would make her laugh. Her laugh was always genuine and infectious, so I wanted others to see her less serious side.

- That night -

"Are you concentrating?" Came the gruff voice, from over my shoulder.

"I'm trying..." I shot back quickly.

"Remember the goal isn't to freeze it. Try to funnel energy inwards."

"Yeah yeah. Light up the lighter." I felt overwhelming pressure to perform.

Silence. Two people, staring at a lighter on top of a trash can, in silence.

"Ugh!" I gave in. "I'm just not sure how this is supposed to work, sir."

I grabbed my head with both hands in frustration. Staring down I could see all the dozens of lighters I had bought after receiving the instruction to get "a couple" from Mr. Aizawa.

"Look, I get that it's hard." He said walking over the lighter and grabbing the small box he had brought. "There's energy in the air, even if it's just the smallest kinetic energy of molecules moving across each other."

"I'm just not used to trying to target anything that little. It feels like grasping for straws." I groaned.

He walked over to me, flicking the box lid open and retrieving a small cylinder. "Despite feeling unsuccessful, you are making progress."

With that he tossed the cylinder to me. It was a very warm, white glass tube, contrasting the chilly night. Turning it I could see that it had markings; a thermometer reading 103°F.

"You're successfully heating the air inside of a very small microclimate, you just need to condense it further on the target. The fuel in common lighters is very flammable and has a low flash point, but you have to apply heat over 38° Celsius (100° Fahrenheit) directly to the liquid in order for it to even ignite." He spoke as if teaching a class.