Licensed Villains

Fire

Izuku followed Shouto all the way to the boys bathroom. The whole way there was spent in silence, leaving Izuku to wonder what this was about.

"Come here," Shouto said from where he stood by the sink. Izuku blinked at Shouto for a few seconds, confused, before complying. He moved to stand next to the boy, frowning. Shouto said nothing as he reached out and grabbed a hold of his wrist, drawing it towards him.

"Hey, what are you-"

"Shh, quiet," he cut him off. Izuku's jaw snapped shut but it didn't stop the questions swirling in his mind. He was almost certain Shouto was dragging him here to yell at him. Was he really just meaning to patch him up? Izuku watched the other boy turn on the tap and slid his hand under the water palm up. A hiss of pain escaped his lips as the water ran over his burn. Shouto's eyes flicked up to his for a moment, possible concern underlying his blank expression.

It was strange to Izuku how Shouto's eyes never failed to catch all of his attention. It was hard to focus on other things like the sound of the running water when instead he could be picking out the details in the two toned iris' of his. It could be the nerd in Izuku, the part of him that used to wish he had a unique feature like that so he could stand out a little more with his lack of a quirk, or maybe it was something else entirely. Something more closely connected to the weird way he found himself looking over all of Shouto's features from the curve of his lashes to the sharp angle of his jaw.

Feeling his face heat up, he quickly looked back down at where Shouto was guiding his hand under the tap, rinsing the burn. The original chill of the water no longer shocked him and he could admit it relieved the pain in his hand a bit. Still, his hand felt like it was going to freeze. The only sense of warmth he was getting was from Shouto's gentle fingers on his wrist, holding him in place. He didn't think the boy would be so delicate with something like this. The pad of his thumb brushed across his burn, seeming to lightly rub at a piece of dirt that got in it. Izuku winced, the action apparently more noticeable than he thought, for Shouto's thumb immediately pulled away.

When he glanced up at him, his eyes were trained on his hand with concentration. A few seconds passed like this before he released his hand and turned off the tap. Izuku observed him reach under the sink, surprised when he pulled out a first aid kit. He hadn't even realized that had been there. He'd been so caught up in what Shouto was doing as he sorted through different medical materials that he barely registered his words when he finally spoke.

"I used my fire," he said, voice almost level but for a few traces of what Izuku dares to call bafflement.

"Uh." He didn't really know what to say. I know, that was my goal, doesn't seem like the best way to go about this. Instead he shifted on his feet awkwardly and mumbled, "Yeah. I, uh, saw."

Shouto grabbed his wrist again, polysporin in his other hand. He uncapped the lid and started applying it to Izuku's hand without a trace of hesitance. Izuku sucked in air through his teeth sharply, the sting of the disinfectant drawing the reaction.

"I haven't used my fire in years."

The admission was less than expected though Izuku didn't find the fact itself all that surprising. Dabi hadn't used his fire for a year when he was living on the streets and needed it to survive, it was almost a given that Shouto wouldn't use his much either, especially seeing as he has another half of his quirk applicable to him.

Shouto's eyes locked with his for a fraction of a second before darting to look back down at his hands where he was now binding his burn in gauze. "What I tell you does not leave this room."

Izuku raised his eyebrows. "So why tell me at all?"

"I could not tell you."

"No, please, go on."