The Hellish Todorokis

Chapter 10

A blast sounds from the clearing where Touya is training the three little hell hounds he'd somehow gotten attached to. The same clearing he had lost control in a few weeks prior. Some of his scorch marks were still etched into the dirt around them. They served as reminders, not only of his pain, but of his growth since then. Of how far he'd come since that night.

"Watch out, Deku!"

Katsuki flies towards Izuku, who somersaults out of the way just in the nick of time. Landing in a crouched position, the green-haired boy positions his wooden staff in front of him, ready to go on the defensive.

Touya looks over from where he's working with Shouto, instructing him on how to gradually increase the temperature of his flames. It was very basic, something Shouto had already learned from Enji, but their father had only cared about the heat, not bothering to train them on how to increase, decrease, and hold their flames at a healthy rate. All that had mattered back then was how hot they could go.

"You know, Blasty, if you can get a balance down, you can probably fly at higher altitudes."

"Not sure if you've noticed, dumbass, but I don't have wings," comes the sarcastic response that has Touya rolling his eyes.

"Not sure if you've noticed, brat, but your explosions can keep you in the air if you can control their output. Keep your hands vertical, aimed towards the ground, and try letting off small explosions."

Katsuki frowns and grumbles under his breath, but he positions his hands facing the ground and lets off a blast. The force blows him up and backwards, and he lands on his butt in the dirt. Touya tries to hold back his laughter as the blond stands up red-faced and coughing up dirt.

Izuku goes to rush to his side but stops when Katsuki gives him a look, warning him to stay back. It was a minor improvement from the screaming match that used to ensue when the green-haired boy showed any concern whatsoever for his friend. Touya would take any win he could get, no matter how small.

"Good. Now try bracing yourself before you let out the blast and focus on your balance." He turns back to Shouto and Izuku. From watching them at the dojo and training them the past couple days, Touya has quickly figured out that the best way to get through to Katsuki is to give him light praise and let him work on his own.

He'd provide just enough feedback that the kid knows he's listening, but not enough to make him feel like he's being told what to do. Katsuki had an incredible sense of combat as it stood. He was a natural, so it's not like he needed to be told anyways. He always picked things up super quick.

"Okay, Izuku. That was a great move. Try switching back and forth from defensive to offensive maneuvers. It's important that you can both parry and attack, one right after the other. Villains won't wait for you to change strategies." The boy nods eagerly at his teacher, before running off to one side of the clearing and going through his exercises.

Izuku was the easiest to train. The kid was like a damn sponge. Every suggestion, criticism, and praise that Touya gave him was absorbed and analyzed in a way that made him better every time they trained. Touya knew he already had an entire notebook dedicated to their training sessions and it had only been three days. As a result, his battle IQ was already off the charts at age nine. If being a hero didn't work out, Izuku would be one hell of an analyst.

Lastly, Shouto had surprisingly taken very well to training his left side. His power was so freaking strong and he was a fast learner. If Touya wasn't so damn proud of him, he'd probably be jealous of his brother's skills. He did everything without question or fear, no hesitation whatsoever.