Chapter 36 Why am I on Fire? by Yojimbra

Being a teacher at U.A. was a lot like how I remembered being a teacher being back before I ended up who I am now. The kids were confused and curious; many of them were still trying to find out who exactly they were, others were trying to be someone who they weren't. Even in a school where they all wanted to become heroes, there was still so much growing that they had to do.

And with that growing came a lot of pains.

"Rumi," I kept the ice-pack firm to my face as I stared at her with one eye. "I'm fine, go to class."

Her usually straight bunny ears were flat against her head as she looked at me with big sorrowful eyes. "But, I knocked you out! And gave you a black eye!"

I had a few vague memories of a student slugging me in the face before, but honestly, I had a hard time blaming Rumi in this situation, this was a school full of superpowered teenagers that were well on their way to becoming heroes that would have to beat up bad guys from time to time. "I'm well aware that the bottom of your foot slammed into my face and then I woke up in the nurse's office."

The day that Recovery Girl was away treating other heroes no less.

I could have used my fire to block or mitigate the attack, but with such short notice, there was no way to do so without causing more damage to Rumi or the other students.

"I know, but I—"

I held up my free hand and smiled at her. "What did you learn?"

"Learn?" Her ears were still pressed flat against the side of her head and she fidgeted where she stood. "That, I, That I—" She fidgeted, her leg bouncing up and down for a moment until the room started to shake and she forced herself to stop. "That I'm not really good at controlling my own strength."

"Right," I sat up off the bed and glanced at the clock—Rei should be finished with classes in about twenty minutes or so. "I can relate to that, you know."

"You can?" Her red eyes went slightly wide and she stared at me with just a hit of admiration and awe. "But, you're so good with your fire, I've seen you heat up a cup of coffee just by blowing on it! And you've even shot that note I was tossing to Ryukyu! You're so good with it, but all I can do is break things. And people."

"My Hero agency is right next to a fire station." I gave a light chuckle as I remembered some of the men that worked there. An interesting bunch, many of whom I would call friends. "Do you know why?"

"Because the city is paranoid?"

"Kind of, but they are for a good reason." I looked at my hand and forced a bit of flame into my palm. "You saw what I did in Kyoto right? I know there's at least a dozen videos of that night."

"Yeah, you destroyed most of the castle and even damaged some streams to kill that one bad guy, right?"

Heh, no doubt All for One was screaming at being reduced to 'that one bad guy'.

"Yep. Just like you, my quirk is really strong—so strong that it's hard to control. Everytime I fight, it's not about am I strong enough to beat them, it's a question of if I can beat them without killing them." I clutched the fire in my hand and let it go into several burning petals, which was a neat trick that my girls absolutely loved. I wasn't telling the whole truth: up until that day when I thought my family had died, I had a hard time controlling my quirk and using it at full power, but the experiences of Endeavour were mine as well now. "It took me years of practice to control my quirk. It's hard work."

I held up my warm fist and bumped Rumi in the shoulder. "But you're not afraid of hard work, are you?"

"No way!" Her ears shot up and she let out a smile that reached all the way up to her eyes. She pumped her arms and bounced up a few feet with ease. "I'm going to work even harder and become a hero that's even better than you and All Might."

"Haha! That's the spirit! Remember, don't be afraid to ask for help." I tried not to let the fact that my eyeball was currently feeling like it might pop like a zit distract me from being a good teacher. "I and all the other teachers will help you however we can."

"Right, I'll get started right away! Can I have the keys to the gym?"

I blinked my one good eye and then pointed towards the door. "No, but you can go to class and then go to the after school clubs."

"Oh! Right. Okay Sensei! Thank you and sorry about your face!" Rumi bounced on her heels and started to run out the room.

"Oh, and Rumi!" I shouted and gave her my best fatherly smile as she stopped halfway out the door frame. "Go easy on my son. I'm aware it's fun to tease him, but give him a bit of a break."

"But, he won't talk to me otherwise!"

"Have you tried confessing?" Rei's soft voice rang like a glass of perfectly poured wine next to a firelit dinner.

Rumi let out an eep and her ears fell back down. "Other-Todoroki-sensei! I umm, don't have a crush on him! I don't!"

I could all but hear Rei's soft and motherly humm. "Well, okay then, now hurry back to class while I make sure my husband is still my husband."

"He did punch my boob."

I blinked. "I bumped your shoulder!"

"You have big hands sensei!" Rumi shouted before she stuck her tongue out at me and then ran out the door.

Rei walked in with all the grace in the world. Her soft eloquent smile filled my chest with butterflies that spread throughout my entire body and stopped my eye from hurting even more. I couldn't keep my eyes off of her as she walked; the tight skirt she was wearing was modest enough that it wouldn't distract the students, but my love for Office Lady apparel, and the fact that I would get to see her take that off tonight, made it ever-so-slightly erotic to me. Even her light blue blouse that revealed nothing put a smile on my face.

I grinned through the pain and kept my eye focused on her. "Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?"

She rolled her eyes and stood in front of me, her cold hands touching my face. "Multiple times every single day. At least I know you're still you: only my loving and adoring husband would shamelessly flirt with me like this at school."

She removed the ice pack from my eye and replaced it with her cooling touch. Despite her cold fingers, I felt myself melt into her hand ever-so-slightly.

"Rei," I said with a soft voice, "how many times do I have to tell you? I'm here to stay."

"I know," she whispered softly and sat down beside me. "I know you are, but that doesn't mean I don't worry about losing you. Especially if you get kicked in the head by Rumi and you end up being an amnesiac and you forget about me."

She guided me downward until my head was resting in her lap, her fingers blanketing the side of my face with a cool breeze that reduced the pain to nothing.

"Our life isn't that dramatic," I let out a long content sigh as I enjoyed using my wife's lap as a pillow. Technically I could ask her to do this whenever I wanted, but there was something special about her being the one to engage. "Am I going to have to cancel our HBO?"

"Hey, you're the one that got us started on those romance stories you love so much."

"And you all got addicted to them." Movie night was often just whatever romantic comedy we could dig up from the internet. "Besides, even if I did lose my memories, All I'd have to do is see you to know that we are in love."

"I thought you said our life wasn't that dramatic." Rei rolled her eyes and then looked me in the eye. "Besides, I don't think anyone of those movies has their husband witness the death of their family and then destroy a historical landmark."

"Hey, we've calmed down from the drama and now we're in slice of life territory. It's smooth sailing from here." I grabbed her hand and smiled. "By the way, we should go on vacation."

"Where?"

"Somewhere where I can see you in a bikini all day."

"I can wear one of those at home, you know."

"Yeah, but our kids will see, and I think most of them are traumatized enough with how often we flirt."

Rei hummed, "Fine, fine. Where did you have in mind?"

For a moment I stared up at the ceiling and thought about all the places I could take Rei. There were so many places we wanted to go. "Hmm, Hawaii?"

"Mexico?" She countered. "They have better food."

"True," I shrugged. "But there's more people there."

"Hmm, true."

I reached up and cupped her cheek and smiled. "I'm sure that wherever it is, so long as I'm with you, it will be amazing."

Rei sighed and melted into the palm of my hand just a bit. "You're such a sap."

"And you're sweet as sugar, so together we make syrup." I gave a big toothy grin. "I'll make pancakes this weekend."

"Keep that up and I won't be wearing a bikini."

"Oh, I know a few ways to burn off the pancakes."

"You know, we really shouldn't be flirting like this at work."

"Isn't that the best part?"

She gave a wry, knowing smile before she leaned downward and gave me a soft, quick, loving, and oh-so-daring kiss. "It is."

Before we knew it, our first year of teaching came to a successful end.

And we only got caught kissing twice!

It wasn't my fault! Rei was just too irresistible! And it wasn't like she never initiated.

XXXX

I wasn't sure if teaching made time fly, or if growing older made time move faster, but it felt like three years went by in the blink of an eye, and now, I was standing next to Rei, as proud as could be as we watched Touya receive his diploma and official hero license.

The young hero Perseverance had officially been born into the world, ready to do his part and try to make things better.

Dressed in his graduation gown, Touya all but sprinted towards us, and I greeted my dyed-haired punk of a son with the mother of all bear hugs.

"I'm proud of you."

"Thanks dad."

Simple words.

Infinite meaning.