Touya holds his palms out, gritting his teeth as the fire flares out, up and burns hotter. His entire body is trembling from the heat, sweating gathering in the creases of his skin and even the clothing that touches him is too hot. His hands hurt, bright red and starting to bubble up in the telltale sign of burning himself from within.
"Begin the white hair katas," Obaasan says, eyes cold and flinty, "And do not lower the temperature of your flames."
"Hai Sensei," Touya bows, clenching his flaming hand into fists. The added pressure makes the pain worse.
He begins to move, sharp and precise, the way she had drilled it into him a hundred times. With the movement, it's hard to keep the fire at a thousand celsius with the air threatening to extinguish. Still he pushes on, dropping into a lower stance. At this point, he's stopped feeling the heat, just focusing on his movements.
Tap. Tap. Tap. The slide of a rice paper door. Uncle Raika steps into the dojo, sightless eyes turned unerringly towards him. His usual pleasant face holds the hint of a scowl, looking more alike to his twin, Enji, than usual.
"Okaasan, it's getting late. He still has school tomorrow." Uncle Raika carefully finds his way to her, cautiously seating himself beside her in a supplicating form.
"A hero must always be ready to do his duty, no matter what. Exhaustion, pain, tragedy–these are all trivial in the pursuit of duty. A hero should be capable of defeating all obstacles and let nothing stop him. " Okaasan directs the last words towards him, gravelly voice harsh and firm.
"Yes, a hero must–-but Touya is a child and it's nearing midnight. A hero is not only judged by his strength but also his intellect. He needs to be well-rested to do well in school, Okaasan."
Touya can't help but let his grasp on his quirk slip as he tries to listen to their conversation.
"Again!" Obaasan snaps, fingers getting a red-hot glow as her temper flares, "And this time, your flames must be even hotter."
"Hai sensei," Touya gives a shaky bow. Starting from the bow pose, he begins again. He throws all his will into the fire, into the movement, not even caring what they are talking about now. He flashes hot and then cold, even hot air is a clear relief to his sweaty back.
"I will not take advice from a failure." Her voice is cold and cutting. "You were the pride of our family and look at you now, reduced to this ."
The venom is clear in her voice, like the frosty lance of a poisoned blade and Touya feels himself grow cold. It's not Uncle Raika's fault for what happened to him. His arms and legs are shaky now and the world seems dark in comparison with the bright blue fire of his flames.
Finally, he finishes the set. Whatever the two had been saying had not cut through the din of blood rushing in his ears. He bows to Obaasan, waiting for her next instruction. From his position, he can only see the edges of their robes from where they're seated on the wooden platform.
"Now the Large Cross pattern. Same temperature."
"Okaasan–!" Uncle Raika starts, a worried crease to his brow.
"Silence!" She snaps, throwing a hand up. "You were not given permission to speak."
"Hai Sensei," Touya chokes out, mouth so dry. He moves to rise from his bow but the world grows darker, even with the bright lighting of the dojo. Detachedly, he realizes he's crumpled to his knees.
"Get up, child," Obaasan rises, her shadow looming over him. "Before I make you."
The packed dirt is so cool against his skin that it makes him shiver. He tries to push himself up but finds no strength within. He stares dully at the sight of his hands, a mottled white and red and trembling.
"What's wrong with him? What did you do?" He hears the ringing cry of his uncle. "How could you do this again?"
A pop song blares from his phone.
Enji grasps for it blindly, knocking over his glasses in his search for it on the nightstand.
"What?" It's more grunt than word. Enji has never been one of those able to wake up quickly.
"Enji," Raika's voice is low with a hint of a warble. "It's Touya. He's in the hospital."
"What?" He asks again, sitting up against the headboard. "Wha're you talking about?"
"Okaasan–she did it again. She kept pushing and pushing and I couldn't see what was happening. Touya collapsed of heatstroke and he's got horrible burns on his arm and–Enji! How could she do it again? After Gouyou? I can't–" He rants, voice breaking near the end.
"Calm down, Raika, " He turns the speaker on, hurriedly dressing. "I'll be there in a couple hours. Are the kids up?"
"Yeah, I yelled for the maid to call the ambulance. Fuyumi was helping to calm down Shouto. I don't know where Natsuo is. Oh! And Kotori is out on a ladies' trip! Again! So Okaasan is Touya's medical guardian because she's not here and you're not here!"
"Fuck," Enji swears, tucking his button down into his pants. "I'll try to call in a favor to get there faster, okay? Just try to make sure that she doesn't refuse medical attention or something."
"Yeah," He sighs, "I'll try."
Touya wakes up to the muffled noise of shouting. Through blurred vision, he realizes he's in a hospital room, eyes trailing to the tube connected to his arm and his wrapped hands.
The figure next to his bed is Uncle Raika, long red hair falling over his shoulder as he gazes into the distance.
"Uncle?" He rasps, trying to move his fingers. The gauze limits the movement and all he gets for his effort is a dull throb.
"Touya?" His head snaps quickly towards him, eyes fixed at something over his shoulder. "How are you feeling, bud?"
"Like shit."
"Oh, I bet." He laughs with a sad tinge to it. "I'll let it slide just this once, but I doubt your dad will be so lenient."
"Dad's here?"
Raika nods, placing his hand on the bed. "I called him."
"Where is he then?" Did he leave already, is what he wants to ask. It's been four months since he last saw him and now, he's not even in the room when he wakes up.
"Ah," Raika gestures with his head towards the door. "That's him actually. He stepped out to yell at your grandparents."
Now that he mentioned it, Touya recognizes the voices, though the words are indistinct. There's the cold, cutting voice of Obaasan, the shrill tenor of Ojiisan and the low, angry growl of his father.
"Touya, I'm so sorry," Raika's hand sweeps gently along the bedcovers, as if he's searching for something to touch. Gingerly, he gives a wrapped hand which he clasps loosely. "I should've intervened. I know how hard she is and how her training is. I knew that she was pushing you too hard, too fast and I should've argued but I didn't. I'm sorry Touya."
"It's okay," Biting his lip, he tries to keep the tears from falling though he knows it's audible in voice.
"I promise, she's not going to train you again. None of you. You don't need to be hero Touya, you don't need to fulfill the family legacy or whatever else the elders say. You can choose to be whoever you want and I will support you wholeheartedly–Enji will too. We... I lived through that once so I know how it feels. I don't want you to go through what we did..."
Yeah right, the whole reason his parents got married was to create the perfect child for the Todoroki legacy. If not him, then who? Both Fuyumi and Natsuo had ice powers, which was completely different from what the Todoroki family had always presented to the world and Shouto was still too young for his quirk to show up.
"It's okay," Touya tugs his hands away, looking out the window. "I'm happy to become a hero."
Uncle Raika draws back, "Even so, she won't be allowed to train you. You and your siblings won't be living with us anymore. Your dad's already hired a contractor to build a new house on the estate. This way, they won't be able to interact with you as much but the security will still be good, okay?"
"Yeah, I guess," Touya puts his head back down on his pillow. Makes sense, his dad's never home but he gets to decide where he lives.
The door opens and his dad walks in. He and Raika look the same, being twins, if not for some key differences. His dad always is glaring, looking grim and harsh while Raika is much more pleasant, smiling cheerfully out onto the world even if he can't see it. Raika has the classic spiky red Todoroki hair though his is grown out long, tied back into a ponytail.
"Touya." He comes closer, dropping a heavy hand onto his bicep. "How are you feeling?"
"Okay, I guess," Touya flexes his jaw, holding back the simmering anger. Enji's mouth thins.
"Rest up. You have a meeting with a doctor specializing in burns tomorrow. She has a quirk that should help with the nerve damage." He pauses, glaring firmly down on him. "I'll go call the doctors. They said they need to talk to you once you wake up."
With that, he's out of the room.
"Oh Enji," Raika sighs, "How'd you get married with a personality like that?"