ATOMIC STRUGGLE

4「temperature」9

(Comment goal is 17, now go forth and enjoy!)

"Hey," Izak greeted as Todoroki opened the door. It was Sunday afternoon, just barely after lunch. Mihoko had demanded lunch from Izak before he left since she apparently could no longer live without his food, and Shinso had brought up no argument when the maroonette had given him food as well. And then they were all off, two to the arcade and one to the Todoroki household.

"Thanks for coming," The two-toned boy said as he stepped aside so Izak could come inside. "I have a lot I need to talk with you about."

"No problem," The other teen murmured, taking off his shoes and allowing his classmate to lead him inside. As they walked, a certain someone stepped out of a room. Immediately, Todoroki tensed.

"Ah, Shoto. And you," Endeavor's eyes narrowed at the person standing behind his son. "We met at the festival."

"That we did," Izak agreed. It was silent for a second, as if Endeavor expected him to say more, but the boy just stood there.

"I invited him over, so leave him alone," Todoroki was suddenly blocking his father's view of his classmate, causing Izak to raise an eyebrow and the other Todoroki to frown.

"Shoto, I'm only doing this for your own good. He didn't even have the courtesy to introduce himself, you shouldn't be hanging around such a bad influence," Endeavor criticized, making his son fester more. Before he could explode at the man, Izak hummed.

"I mean, you are right that I don't usually exercise courtesy, but I don't think I'm a bad influence," He surmised, looking thoughtful of himself. Endeavor almost deadpanned at him as Todoroki sort of blinked at Izak. Then, shaking his head, Todoroki took the maroonette's wrist and stomped past his father, leaving the flame hero gawking in their wake.

"He's so infuriating," Todoroki grumbled, now safe inside his room along with Izak. "I'm sorry, I thought we wouldn't bump into him since he seemed busy this morning," He bowed slightly, but the maroonette just waved him off.

"I'm sure he really is just thinking of you, so it's not a big deal. Now," Izak leaned forward with a tilt of his head. "What did you want to talk with me about?"

"I.. wanted some advice about the use of my quirk," The two-toned boy explained hesitantly. "I'd rather die than ask my old man, and since you're, well, you, I figured you'd be my next best option."

"Fair enough," The maroonette confirmed. "So, practical usage, right?"

"Yes," He nodded.

"Then we probably shouldn't do it here," Izak mused as he glanced around the room. "Outside would be better."

"I suppose so, but could we talk through the theory first?" Todoroki asked. "I don't want to risk running into my old man."

"Okay," Izak agreed. "Then I'll ask, can you regulate your temperature?"

"Not well with my left, but yes I can," He confirmed.

"How cold can you get with your right side?"

"Negative twenty celsius."

"Make it negative thirty," Izak instructed, then moved on before Todoroki could say anything in return. "How hot can your left get?"

"...I'm not sure."

"Then you'll need to figure that out. Since you want to go through the theory of what we're going to do," The maroonette leaned back. "We can start with your right or your left, since we'll need to do both at some point."

"I'd rather start with my left," Todoroki answered. "Since I don't practice it often."

"Alright then," Izak acknowledged. "We'll need to figure out what your highest temperature is. For the first time, I'll regulate your body temperature so you don't hurt yourself, and then the second time we'll see how high you can go without my help."

"And for my ice?"

"You're gonna make yourself an iglou and hunker down to see how cold you can get before you pass out from frostbite," Izak said, and instantly Todoroki was grimacing. He knew what a frostbite burn felt like, and he knew it was going to hurt to literally pass out from the cold. But, he narrowed his eyes as determination filled his eyes, if it's Izak, it'll be worth it.

"Alright," He stood up. "Let's start."

"Sounds good," Izak followed his lead, and soon they were outside. On their way, Endeavor hadn't made another appearance, but even so, Todoroki was still a bit tense as he produced his flame after a nod from Izak. He wasn't making a huge fire, just one in his hand. With the maroonette's hand on his neck, the two-toned boy forced his flames to get hotter. He could feel the heat climbing, could almost feel it as the degrees went higher.

More, he urged himself, more!

"SHOTO STOP!" His father's voice broke his concentration, causing the boy to gasp and the flame to disappear. Endeavor was panting, his eyes blown wide as he watched his youngest son's flames go hotter than his own flames had ever gone.

He didn't want to lose another son to the agony of burning to death in flames hotter than 2000 degrees celsius.

When he'd felt the heat from inside, a bad feeling washed over him so of course the hero had gone to check it out. He had never expected for his son that had adamantly refused to train his flames to be using them, and not only that, but pushing them hotter by the second. Endeavor hadn't even registered that Izak was there, the flashbacks to seeing his first born's death causing him to lose all reasoning, and thus he had ran and shouted for his son to stop.

"About 3500 degrees, that's a good place to be," Izak said, ignoring the pro hero. "Anyone wielding tungsten won't be a problem for you if you're able to maintain and withstand 3500 without help, so aim for that."

"R-right," Todoroki was a bit shaken up by the sudden appearance of his father, but still nodded to his now-trainer.

"No one can withstand 3500 degrees, don't encourage that!" Endeavor snapped, now enraged instead of worried and trapped in the past. "He could have died!"

"But he didn't," Izak glanced over so that their eyes locked, causing the pro hero to flinch ever so slightly. This kid, he thought to himself as his eyes narrowed. "It seems your father wants to talk to you, so let's end here," The maroonette said as he stuffed his hands into his pockets and walked towards the entrance.

"Wait!" Todoroki reached out, trying to stop him. "I wanted you to come with me to see my mom!"

"Let's go together next time," Izak glanced back at him with a peace sign. "See ya Todoroki."

Right as he passed Endeavor, the pro hero grabbed his shoulder. "Name, now."

"Morgan Izak," The boy responded. "I'm not a fan of trauma dumping, so I'll leave you both to it." And just like that, he brushed off the pro hero's hand and left the estate.