Be Careful What You Wish For

The Storm

Izuku sat back hunched, legs bent, and stared listlessly at a pile of firewood. He'd just deposited it into the masonry heater, and lips pursed in deliberation while he tapped a finger against his thigh. He reached out to the leftmost piece, picking it up before plopping it down in the middle. He paused for a moment. Then, with a brisk shake of his head, he snatched it back and threw it to the right.

He glared.

With a meticulous sigh, he scooped all the pieces to the ground and started to rearrange them again from the beginning for the third time.

"It's all going to burn the same anyway... it's no big deal," he mumbled between pressed lips. With two motley sized pieces in his hands, he scrutinized them firmly. Should he put the bigger ones in the middle and the smaller ones on the side? Or would an even surface be better? What about the small ones in the middle and the bigger ones beside it?

He groaned. "No... that's stupid."

Dropping the blocks, he tried again.

He worked with a keen and single minded focus, when his interest was snagged by pair of familiar boots creeping into view. Izuku paused in his ministrations, looking up to meet a pair a dual colored eyes staring at him. He nodded in recognition.

"Todoroki."

"Midoriya."

The newcomer pointedly glanced to the pile of wood by the furnace. "Are you... doing okay?"

Izuku followed his line of sight. Then, he looked to the few scattered blocks of wood he'd managed to file onto the brickwork of what was to be their cooking station. He shrugged. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just trying to think of the best way to arrange this firewood."

"...oh," Todoroki nodded, though he did not look any less befuddled. "...why?"

Izuku tapped some kindling against his knee. It was the same question he'd asked himself each time he scrapped his work only to build the fire again back from scratch. Something nagged at him in the back of his head, whispering that it was absolutely imperative that he got this right, or something terrible was sure to happen. Which was ridiculous of course, but knowing that didn't make the voice any easier to ignore or feel any less real.

It's been too long since anything important happened. By this point, his nerves were wound so tight, he'd be relieved once the other shoe finally dropped.

Ignoring the woodpile's taunts for now, he dropped the piece in his hand and planted both palms on his knees. "So... Todoroki. What's up?"

"Um..." Todoroki averted his gaze. "Not much... I think. What, uh, what about you?"

"Same," Izuku nodded, very proud of his contribution to this riveting conversation. He glanced around. "Hey, have you seen Kota around anywhere?"

Todoroki looked thrown by the jump in conversation, muttering a quick, "Who?"

"Kota. That kid from earlier. You saw him when we first got here."

"Oh, yeah... I remember," Todoroki eyed their immediate surroundings before shrugging. "I don't know. Did you need something with him? I'm sure Mandalay can help you."

"Ah, no... not really," Izuku rubbed the back of his neck. "I was just thinking that he must get bored here, no other kids his age to play with and all... Just thought I'd check in, you know? Well, that and I..."

Their conversation from yesterday had kept Izuku up for the better part of the night. The words the child threw at him must have gnawed on Kota for some time. Did he ever talk about his feelings with Mandalay? Or anyone, for that matter? Losing your parents is never easy, nevermind losing them at such a young age. And the type of resentment Kota was showing... it's not the kind that goes away on its own. It just keeps growing.