BNHA: Lessons Learned

Chapter 18

True to his word, Todoroki arrived at quarter-to four.
He was casually dressed, wearing black combats and a white tee along with a red tracksuit top, so Izuku deduced that school must have finished a little earlier again today.
   "Hey." He said after closing the door and walking over to sit by Izuku's side on the bed. "How's things? You look better."
   "Almost." Izuku smiled. "Just got some last-minute checks to do, and I'll finally be able to escape."
   "Recovery Girl is a miracle worker."
   "She sure is...I'm tryin' to think of a way to thank her, like a gift or somethin'. Any ideas?"
Shoto gave a slight smile. "...not get injured again?"
   "Haha, yeah. I'll do my best. How is everyone?"
   "Same as usual. They've all been missing you. My visit was a little short last time so I decided to come again. I can also pass on their wishes and your thanks."
   "...yeah. Thank you very much."
Always so cool and thoughtful. To Izuku, those traits and others were even more awesome than his hybrid quirk.
   "Of course, there's another reason that I came today." Shoto then added. "I meant what I said. I wanna help."

   "Umm...that's real nice of you, but are you sure that it's okay with the school? And with your dad?"
Shoto nodded. "I took care of them first. Dad does have some good uses on occasion, heh. I'm sure that you could imagine what the reactions of All Might and Minari would be if I'd not gained permission first."
Izuku nodded; he definitely could. "Oh yeah."
   "Have they been visiting you often?"
   "Yeah, it's been great to see 'em. I think they're due to stop by again soon, in half an hour or so."
   "Well then, there's no time to waste. If we work out an idea now, we can enact it the instant that they visit. Time is of the essence with this creature, that's for certain."
Izuku nodded and reached for his notebook. "Here's what we have so far, as well as two attempts that didn't work out." He then proceeded to tell Shoto everything he knew, and his friend listened very intently with the occasional nod.

   "Hmm." He then said afterwards. "So this Mimic is very stretchy, then...or at least, his body allows him to move and absorb shock way beyond that of a human being."
   "He definitely isn't human." Izuku shuddered. "He sounds just like those guys in that movie you said I should watch."
   "If he's under threat of constant decay, his elastic properties would gradually decrease over time and they're far from unbeatable. He may also be prone to sudden changes in temperature, that's why I'm here."
   "...of course, your quirk!"
   "Yes." Shoto nodded. "Using me is also rathermore efficient. Why have to coordinate two separate heroes, when I can do both jobs in one? I can heat up that slime to get him at his thinnest consistency, then I can flash-freeze him to make him as fragile as cobwebs. One punch and he's gone."
So simple... "That's bound to work. I know it'll work. As long as he doesn't get chance to copy you, he's dead."
   "Exactly." Shoto smiled.
   "I'll just write all of this down, gimme a minute..."

Sasha and Toshi were most surprised to see the visitor, and even more surprised to learn of all those details.
   "...Endeavour agreed to that?" Toshi gasped. "Woah. That's a huge amount of balls there. I'd have thought that you'd be the last person he'd wanna risk."
Shoto shrugged. "He believes in you all. As well as that, it's another great opportunity for his darling son to shine."
   "Bringing you along isn't gonna get us all tangled up in some kinda domestic, is it? Cos' if it will..."
   "He's in full agreement. Of course he'll have parental concern, but he also wants me to fully show what I can do and it's far more efficient on man power."
   "Heh. Yeah, that sounds like your old man, alright. And what about you, how do you feel about doin' this?"
   "I'll be fine."
Toshi then looked at Sasha. "...babe?"
   "The plan could work, yeah, there's bound to be some kinda relationship between the decay and his stretchiness." She nodded. "You've only got a provisional license though, Shoto, and that means you'll have to explicitly take orders from me as I can't let you get too close to him at any time."
   "Of course." Shoto nodded. "You're the boss."