Thirsty? (Bakugo x OC)

Thirty - Shattered

Tell me, Katsuki Bakugo.
Tell me what I am to you.

*

"We've got a week left to prove to my father his training methods were inefficient." Todoroki said to Ren as they entered the training room that afternoon during their work study. "You can control flames well now, you're able to build them stronger, bigger and hotter and extinguish them all together. The only thing we haven't nailed yet is how to start your quirk."

Ren looked at her hands. "All I know is that my body is hot, crazy hot, and the heat is burning to burst through my skin but I don't know how to let it do so. What does it feel like for you?" She dropped her hands back to her sides and looked at him intently.

Todoroki rubbed his chin as he thought. "It feels like the fire and the ice are always in my body, waiting for me to beckon them. The difference is I've had that feeling my whole life and I learnt to what extent I should call upon my quirk. How often have you managed to activate your quirk yourself? Even if it was an accident."

Ren squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to remember anything, any tiny moment where she may have ignited a flame herself. "I- I don't know. I don't know if I have."

"You've lost control when you've been emotional, right? Anything that may have made you upset or maybe when you heard about your father coming home?"

"Now that you mention it..." Ren thought back to the trial and the moments leading up to her father's outburst in court. "There was this one moment during the trial when my father went to attack Mr Aizawa when he was making a statement for me. In the commotion, I noticed I'd ignited a small flame in my palm but before anyone could notice, your father extinguished it."

Todoroki furrowed his brow. "Do you remember what you were doing?"

"I think I was just sitting there, everything happened so fast-"

"Is that all? Were you tapping your foot, biting your lip, doing anything that could have triggered your quirk?" Todoroki took a step towards Ren, observing her as he questioned to find any sign that could help him. They didn't really speak much outside of training anymore, and when they did it was only to do with their shared work study. Ren couldn't exactly pinpoint when the change had happened but she missed having her friend.

She looked down at her hands again, once more trying to remember anything that could help them. "My hands... I was wringing my hands. My body was hot and I was so anxious the only part of me that would move were my hands."

"And in doing that, you could ignite a flame?" Todoroki asked as he took Ren's hands in his own, inspecting them intently.

"Y-Yeah." She gave a little nod.

"Okay, let's try that then."

Ren powered up, fuelling her quirk with the rage and pain she'd felt over the years until her body felt so ridiculously hot she felt like she'd burst. Then she brought her hands together, wringing them so hard against one another until they felt like dry paper slapping against one another.

Todoroki narrowed his eyes as he watched her hands work. The faster and harder she moved them together, the more often he'd see the sparks that often zapped around her seem like they were trying to ignite. "Keep going." He whispered to her as he knelt down so he was level with her hands. "Come on, Ren, you got this."

The sparks flashed as she brought her hands together a little faster and harder than she had been doing previously. They ignited into flames covering her hands, making Ren stumble back and Todoroki shoot upright. "Woahoho!" Ren stared at her hands as she focused on bringing down the size of the flames covering her skin. "It worked! Todoroki, it worked!" She extinguished the flames in her hands and beamed at him.