Flea

Chapter Seventeen

"IT'S YOUR QUIRK, NOT HIS!" 

Maeve watched this interaction with a yawn. Not because it was boring, or unimpressive. She was just really, really tired. Over 50 students had been through her office in less than three hours. 

The match was lasting quite a while and had eventually descended into clumsy, yet undeniably savage fighting. Maeve almost couldn't watch. Midoriya had no respect for his own body, causing irreparable damage to himself for one fight. It was heartbreaking. All Might had clearly put too much pressure on the boy to do well, which lead to him practically killing himself in order to win. Things would have to change. Maeve already planned to contact Gran Torino about possibly giving Midoriya an internship. He needed it.  

But hey, what Midoriya was saying seemed to click for Todoroki. Maeve didn't know whether it was her words or the boy's, but Spice was suddenly embracing his fire. She couldn't help instinctively recoiling from the screen as he completely wrecked the arena in a massive wave of heat expansion. The entire stadium shook, and Maeve struggled to control her breathing as trauma bubbled to the surface. She remembered how he looked engulfed in fire perfectly. 

Midoriya was knocked out, finally succumbing to his broken body. As Maeve watched this, she suddenly jumped up, realising something. She'd run out of ice, there were too many people to get through and all of Uraraka's blast injuries had clearly the stocks right out. Which meant the nurse would need to find her own source. Fast. Maeve couldn't fully heal burns. She could close up the skin, and remove any tissue damage, however, the real danger came from the heat still trapped inside the body, which proceeded to cook people alive if they weren't cooled thoroughly. That was why people were encouraged to hold burns under running water for so long. 

Midoriya would need extensive surgery, that was obvious. But the fire induced wounds would be a massive problem if left alone while she dealt with his more serious injures. If his joints began to swell as well, that would make operating far more difficult. Maeve needed someone to regulate his body temperature. That someone was just walking off stage with half his clothes burnt off. Bill and Deb were busy with Midoriya. Collecting her personal human ice pack was going to be up to her. 

Unfortunately, in her rush to prepare for the surgery, Maeve didn't consider that there would be someone else waiting to greet Spicy in the wings.  

***

Todoroki strode out of the arena, breathing heavily. He'd used his left side, he'd really done it. It didn't feel wrong. In that moment, he'd actually forgotten all about his father and the bastard's expectations. The fire was his, and his alone. Everything Maeve and Midoriya had said seemed to trigger memories buried under years of fear and hatred. Memories of love and acceptance with his mom. 

Todoroki waited for the robots carrying the stretcher to trundle away with Midoriya and then made his way out of the arena. Endeavor had disappeared from the audience, but wasn't in the entrance. Strange, Shoto would've thought he'd be right there, assuming his son had finally backed down. The bastard was probably already planning new training regimes. Yet he was nowhere to be found. 

As he headed down an empty corridor back to his preparation room, however, Todoroki stopped in his tracks, head cocked to one side. He'd heard something. 

"What have you told him, you little brat?" The familiar snarl of his father drifted from behind a closed door. Shoto's feet carried him closer almost of their own accord, but they paused when Maeve's voice was the one that answered. The only other time he'd heard her sound so coldly clinical was when she interrogated that disgusting villain with liquid flesh. 

"I don't know what you're talking about. Please let me go, I need to perform a surgery."

Todoroki couldn't see them, but it was clear that Endeavor didn't give any heed to what she'd just said. He felt his fists clench as memories of his mother being locked in her room for hours and crying to be let out surfaced. Sure, Maeve obviously hated his father and consequently him. That didn't mean he wasn't willing to step in if Endeavor was giving her trouble. He'd been too young to do anything about his mom, but at least he could help this girl.