DISCLAIMER: WILL DABI, AND OTHER FAVORITE CHARACTERS, EVER KNOW THAT I EXIST? NO, AND I DON'T OWN MY HERO ACADEMIA EITHER *drowns in depression*

Ochaco, Katsuki, Izuku gif

Chapter 17: Rising Sun
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THIRD POV
WITH THEIR TWO days off after the sports festival, Kasai and Shoto were ready for their return to school. The girl still had pain in her arms, but she's managed to deal with it, though the aches and hurting weren't as stinging as when she got them. Plus, she had her brother to help her with the pain. If her scars irritated her too much, he simply used his ice quirk to cool and numb them down.

Their meeting with their mother went surprisingly well. Kasai apologized to the woman for her rude behavior and outburst during their last interaction. Telling her soft natured mother that she was right all along, that she didn't need her father's approval to be a hero. Rei didn't blame her, the mother simply embraced her daughter in a gentle hug. The hug itself wasn't special or anything, it was short, but in that brief moment Kasai felt accepted. Acknowledged.

The sister also watched as her brother and mother interacted. The woman apologizing to Shoto for hurting him. She apologized to both of them, for being a bad mother in their childhood. For neglecting Kasai of any affection and for burning Shoto.

All in all, they mended their relationship, rebuilding the bond of mother and child. It's not forgotten of the past, or at all perfect, but it was the start to something better.

So, on their day back to school, Kasai finishes her morning routine as usual, a bit more slowly due to her arms, but nonetheless. Slipping on a pair of red high top sneakers since her old ones are worn out, and tying them with a certain difficulty, she races out the front door. However, rather than continuing her walk, she stops and patiently waits for her brother. So they can go to school together.

With the sun in the sky, Kasai closes her eyes and lets the warmth embrace her, allowing the rays of light to kiss her paled skin. She always did like the mornings where the rising sun can engulf her with gentle heat. It felt like a hug, even though she hardly expiriences the said action. The only person so far to hug her is her mother, but that was the day before yesterday. Her hugs often came from Touya, but he's been gone for years.

She misses him.

The door opening behind her, jostles her from her dazed dream state. Opening her eyes, she turns to her brother.

"Ready, Sai-chan," Shoto asks as he walks up besides her.

"Yeah, just waiting for you Sho-kun. Who knew you were such a slow poke," she teases with a smirk.

"I didn't want to get up," the dual haired boy simply states.

Kasai nods, knowing that her brother enjoyed sleeping. "You can take a nap on the train, I'll wake you up," she tells him.

Shoto nods, giving her a soft smile.

With that they were off towards the train station. Kasai had one earbud on, quietly listening to music as they walk whilst Shoto looked through his phone. The walk was quiet, but they were comfortable in each other's presence. No more animosity, or one sided anger. Just peaceful silence.

Though, it was interrupted when the soft sunny and cloud covered sky darkened before sprouting rain. The girl clicked her tongue in clear distaste at the weather change before taking her brother's wrist and running. Good thing the train station wasn't far, but she still had the discomfort of getting wet.

That was the thing about having a fire quirk. If her body gets too cold, or wet, and drops in temperature, then she won't be able to produce flames. That's why she hated rain, snow, ice, basically all of winter. She has nothing against her mother's ice quirk, but she prefers the fire she was born with. Hence summer being her favorite season - even if she did overheat quicker.

Reaching the station, she huffs in disgust as she feels her wet hair sticking to her face, and rushes beneath the little roof. Shoto follows her with amusement, not minding his own wet hair.

"I didn't know you disliked getting your hair wet," he muses with humor.

Kasai glowers, trying to ignite her hair so it could dry, but it just flickers off. "It's not just my hair, I hate getting wet when I'm supposed to stay dry. I can tolerate showers because I'm not using my quirk. But if it's raining, how am I supposed to keep my fire from going out? What if someone's in danger and it's raining, what then? That's why I dislike getting wet, or too cold," she explains.

"But I covered you in ice during our fight, didn't you get cold," Shoto asks, thinking back.

Kasai nods, using her hands to flame dry her hair. "You did, but I didn't stay in long enough to reach hypothermic levels. I need to be cold, to the point where I'm basically freezing and numb until I can't use my flames," she answers.

Let's say as a kid, Kasai did a lot to test her limits. Like having Touya cover her in snow one winter when they were younger, almost to the point where she resembled a snowman, and she stood there until her arms and legs grew numb. She remembers how they spent the rest of that day drinking hot chocolate and being cacooned in warm blankets just so she can warm up, all while watching their favorite movies.

The older twin furrows his eyebrows. "How do you know that?"

The pale haired girl shakes her head, thinking back to that winter day, and smirks. "Haha, it's nothing you need to know. I'll just say that I became a bit frosty," she chuckles.

Oh, where did the good days go, she thinks as her smile falls.

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

EVENTUALLY, THE TODOROKI twins arrived at UA and made their way to their class. Kasai was once again using her hands to flame dry her wet hair, a displeased look on her face.

Mina immediately noticed her friend, smiling at her.

"Hey, Kasai!" The pink toned girl waves happily. Though, that's before she gasps, pointing at the girl. "Why are you burning your hair!"

Kasai frowns, but it quickly changes to irritation when her brother laughs.

"Shut up, Shoto! It's not funny," she glares. She then looks to Mina and sighs dejectedly. "I don't like the rain," she mumbles with an embarrassed pout.

Shoto laughs.

The pale girl snaps her head towards him, glaring. "Damn it, Shoto, stop laughing at me," she seethes, lighting her hair on fire.

It instantly flickers off which makes her even angrier.

Kaminari laughs. "Wow, Todosai, you're looking a lot like Bakugou right now," he compares.

Kasai's left eye twitches.

She grits her teeth, and class silently watches, knowing that there's a reaction coming.

"You brain-dead dolt, don't you even compare me to that stupid firecracker! I'm nothing like that loser," she yells, her hair finally igniting in wondrous white flames.

That triggers the hot tempered blond. "The fuck you say to me, you shitty white-out!?"

The class sighs, they're at it again.

Kasai gives him a taunting smirk, huffing as her icy eyes shine with mischief. "You heard me, you explosive dud. I don't want to be compared to you when we both know I'm better," she says.

"Hah! That's not what the sports festival concluded. My name's on that gold medal, you second place loser," Bakugou scoffs, grinning widely.

The Todoroki narrows her eyes, baring her teeth. "Let's go at it, then! I'll rip that medal off your neck so fast you wouldn't even realize what's happening," she seethes, closing the large space between them.

They're practically nose to nose. Her sapphire gaze glaring up at him. His ruby eyes angrily looking down at her. A match of fire and ice, but both burning with equal intensity.

Mina, Sero, and Kaminari share identical smirks, those two really have a lot of pent up tension.

Kirishima steps up, trying to mediate between his two hot tempered friends. "Bakubro, Todosai, there's no need for you two to fight right now. Maybe a spar when we have our next hero class," he tries to dissuade.

Kasai keeps looking up into the ash blond's red gaze. However, the heat of her glare dies down, and all she can do is stare into the beautiful vermilion shade. She always did love that color. Stepping back, she lowers her head as her cheeks burn with blush.

"Y-yeah, y-you're right. No point in fighting now, not when we just came back," she stutters, turning away from the blond's burning gaze.

Calm your stupid feelings, you idiot, she chastises.

Kirishima grins, patting both of his friend's shoulders. "Great! Now, what did you two do over the two day break," the boy happily questions.

With the tension cut, the class turned away and started their own conversations.

The girl smiles. "Shoto and I went to go see our mom again! This time it went good, she forgave me for being rude to her from the last time and I told her about the sports festival. She was happy I got second place, and Shoto third," she states genuinely.

"Yeah, I told my moms about it, too! They were proud at how far I got in the tournament," Kirishima smiles.

They both look to Bakugou, waiting for his response. The blond huffs, shoving his hands into his pockets and looking away.

"The hag said nothing special, like she expected that I would come out on top. My lame old man only said he was proud of me, like how can he not be proud," the blond sneers.

The white haired girl rolls her turquoise eyes at him, at least your dad says something about it, mine just ignored me as always.

"Besides that! People always congratulated me when they saw me, like this morning! I had someone says congrats for making it to the top fifteen," the red head boy grins, raising his fists.

Kasai smiles at his exuded happiness. "That's great, Kirishima. I didn't go out much, but when I went to visit my mom the other day, and today this morning, people congratulated me too, and they raised their fists like I did when I won my matches, saying 'hell yeah'."

Kirishima nods. "Oh, that's right! What arm did you raise? Your..."

"My right arm, though when I beat Shoto I raised both," the Todoroki answers.

Kirishima shoots his right fist to the air, "Hell yeah!"

Kasai covers her face, blushing with embarrassment. "Please don't, I already got enough of that."

"Well, you earned it, plus it's actually really fun to do," Eijiro smiles at her.

"Hell yeah," Mina shouts, raising her right fist.

"Hell yeah," Sero copies after her.

"Hell yeah," Kaminari joins, throwing both his fists up.

"Guys," Kasai whines.

"Hey, at least you get a 'hell yeah', all I get is a 'good effort'," Sero tells them.

In synch Kasai, Mina, Kirishima, and Kaminari all reply "good effort!"

Sero slumps dejectedly.

"But it really was," the pale girl says. "My brother was a force to be reckon with, especially when my father's presence there just angered him the more. But you lasted long, and you showed your quirk well enough for others to see your capabilities."

The raven haired boy nods, smiling at her words. "Thanks, Todosai."

"Tch, you still lost against Icy-Hot," Bakugou scoffs.

Sero slumps, dejected once again.

Kasai glares at Bakugou, but the ash blond just smirks.

Stupid sparkler!

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

WITH THE BELL, class started and everyone took to their seats as Aizawa walked in. Though, unlike last time where he was covered in bandages, he appeared to free of them and completely healed. Though, the pale haired girl did notice the new scar beneath his right eye.

"Good to see your bandages off, Aizawa-sensei," Tsuyu speaks up.

The teacher sighs. "The old lady's healing was excessive. But never mind that, today we've got Hero Informatics class. And a special one at that."

Kasai leans forward on her desk, using her hands to prop up her chin as she listens, intrigued but apprehensive. It better not be some dumb test about rules. Let's face it, I'm better at breaking them than naming them.

"You'll be coming up with your hero aliases," Aizawa specifies.

The majority of the students jump up, excited. Kasai joins them with a wide grins, throwing her fists in the air.

"Hell yeah!"

"How awesome!"

"Time to shine!"

Aizawa turns on his quirk, and everyone sits back down, shutting up.

"But first, concerning the pro drafts I mentioned the other day. It's based on who the pros think will be ready to join the workplace after another two or three years of expirience. So you could say that it's a way for them to show interest in your futures. But there's ample time for their interest to wane before you graduate, and any and all offers can be arbitrarily revoked," the teacher tells them.

"Stupid adults and their whims," Mineta cries.

"So, if we're picked now, that just means there'll be higher hurdles in the years to come," Hagakure asks, speaking up.

"Yes, now here're the complete draft pick numbers," Aizawa informs, raising the screen covering the green chalkboard.

CLASS A DRAFT PICK TOTALS

TODOROKI, S - 4,123
TODOROKI, K - 3,998
BAKUGOU - 3,456
TOKOYAMI - 360
IIDA - 301
KAMINARI - 272
YAOYOROZU - 108
KIRISHIMA - 68
URARAKA - 20
SERO - 14

Kasai whistles lowly when she sees her numbers. Compared to the raven haired boy in her friend group, she's has at least three-hundred times the offers that he does. Though, she does narrow her icy eyes at her brother's higher offers. That obviously reeks of her father's doing.

"There's typically a more wide spread, but our top three stole most of the spotlight," the teacher explains.

Kaminari throws his hands up. "Gah! They're in a whole other league!"

Aoyama huffs with a smile. "Those pros have no eyes for talent!"

"Didn't they get first and third place backwards. Also Todosai beat Todoroki but how did he still get more than her," Kirishima asks.

"Guess they were just too scared of the two who don't know how to hold back," Sero states, looking at the ash blond and the pale haired girl.

"What the heck are the pros doing getting intimidated," Bakugou yells.

Kasai scoffs. "Just shows how weak they are," she sneers, crossing her arms.

"Well done as always, Todoroki," Momo says to Shoto.

The boy remains straight faced. "It's mostly just my father's influence."

"With that settled. Whether you were picked or not, you will all have a chance to work alongside the pros. It's true that you have already experienced more than most, but seeing the pros in action and taking part yourselves will be worthwhile training," Aizawa informs.

The pale haired girl smirks. "I guess that's where our hero names come," she says, hitting her desk excitedly.

"This is really getting fun!" Ochaco exclaims with glee.

"They're only tentative, but you still have to pick something appropriate," Aizawa reminds.

"Or else you'll know true hell," a new voice interrupts as the classroom slides open.

Turning their heads to the door, the class watch as Midnight walks into the room. Kasai always acknowledged female heroes, or in other words heroines, and Midnight just so happens to be one. Hopefully another strong heroine put in an offer for her to work with.

"The name you pick," Midnight smirks teasingly as she raises her arms behind her head. "May be what the world ends up calling you. That's happened to plenty of pros out there."

"Midnight," the class exclaims at her entrance.

"Yes, true enough. And Midnight here will be assessing the sensibility of the names you pick. I'm no good for that," their homeroom teacher states, grabbing his sleeping bag. "What future do you see for yourself? The name you choose will bring you ever closer to cementing a certain image because names are capable of reflecting one's true character."

Next, they're handed whiteboards with markers, and Kasai grabs hers when Koda passes it down to her. The blue eyed girl thinks hard for her name, but she never really had one in mind. Heck, she never expected it to make it this far. A year ago she was in a middle school with no friends, no aspirations, and just breaking rules, but most importantly she was still striving for her father's attention. She had no self esteem. No one saw her for who she was. No one believed in her.

No, that's not true, Kasai shakes her head, I always had someone believing in me. Touya believed in me, he always did.

And with a soft smile, she writes out her hero alias. A name that warms her heart and lights her soul on fire. A name that brings bittersweet tears to her icy eyes.

Minutes pass by as everyone else contemplates their names, but eventually Aizawa calls out.

"Let's finish up. We can start with whoever's ready," he states.

"Here I go," Aoyama steps up at the podium. He raises his whiteboard. "Shining Hero: I Cannot Stop Twinkling!"

Class 1A deadpans. "It's a whole sentence!!!"

Midnight walks closer to the French blond. "It'll be easier to say if take out the 'I' and contract 'cannot' to 'can't'," she advises.

The blond smiles, "I see, mademoiselle~☆."

"Okay, I'm next!" Mina exclaims, stepping to the front of the class. She flips her whiteboard. "Call me, Alien Queen!"

"From the sequel?! Is it because her blood was super acidic? That's terrible," Midnight questions, rejecting the name.

Mina pouts, walking back to her desk in a dejected mood.

Kasai softly chuckles at her friend's antics.

"Can I go next, please," Tsuyu asks, raising her hand. With permission, the girl walks up to the front. "I've had this thought out since elementary school. Call me, Froppy!"

"So cute! It makes you sound like you'd be easy to get to know," Midnight compliments, approving.

The Todoroki girl stays silent as the majority of the class chants, "Froppy! Froppy! Froppy!"

Kirishima steps up. "This is me! Red Riot!"

"Red Riot! Could this be a homage to the Chivalrous Hero: Crimson Riot?!" Midnight asks.

The redhead nods, grinning. "Right! I know he's from back in the day, but Crimson's the kind of hero I wanna be."

Midnight smiles. "Just know that bearing the name of your personal hero comes with a lot of pressure."

"I'm ready for that," Kirishima declares with a broad smile.

Kasai smiles at her friend, proud that he approved his alias. Up ahead she could hear Jiro and Kaminari talking, mostly how the girl is making fun of the blond. Shaking her head in amusement, her icy gaze watches as Jiro finally steps up.

"Hearing Hero: Earphone Jack."

Shoji steps up. "Tentacle Hero: Tentacole."

"Cellophane," Sero states.

"Tail Man," Ojiro says.

Mina steps up again. "Pinky," she exclaims, smiling.

"Charge-bolt," Kaminari declares.

Hagakure takes her turn. "Invisible Girl!"

"You're all doing great! Let's keep it going," Midnight yells, motivating them.

"I hope to do justice to this name," Yaoyorozu states, showing her name, "Everything Hero: Creati."

"How creative!"

The pale girl watches as her brother steps up. "Shoto."

"Really, just your name," Midnight asks.

"Yeah," Shoto nods.

All their own, I guess, Kasai muses as her eyes follow her brother back to his seat.

"Jet-Black Hero: Tsukuyomi," Tokoyami shows.

"God of the night!"

"Grape Juice!" Mineta proclaims, raising his whiteboard.

"It pops! It's kitschi!"

"Petting Hero: Anima," Koda presents.

"Yes!"

"King Explosion Murder," Bakugo yells.

"No good. Try again," Midnight rejects.

Kasai breaks out laughing. The straight faced rejection was golden, especially when it ticked off the ash blond and made him angrier.

"Shut it, white-out! Let's see you try," Bakugou huffs, stomping back to his seat.

Calming down, Kasai nods and stands from her seat. With a fluttering heart, she grabs her whiteboard and walks to the front of the class. Inhaling to calm down, she makes her way behind the podium. Looking out at her classmates, she sees Kirishima nodding at her, Mina gives her two thumbs up with a smile, and Shoto gives her a warm look.

"This is what I thought of, a mixture of a childhood nickname and something someone very dear used to tell me," she says with a soft expression. She flips her whiteboard.

"Blazing Hero: Solar Flare!"

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

AFTER CONCLUDING THEIR hero names, with the exception of Bakugou, they were handed the lists of their offers. Kasai quietly sits in her seat as she reads through the nearly four thousand listed offers. However, as she finally reaches the last page, she scoffs, slamming the packet on her desk.

This buys the attention of her brother, who sits to her left.

"What is it," he asks.

"I should've figured. Even though I ranked the top three in the sports festival, our dear old dad doesn't even give me an offer. It's like whatever I do, I will never meet his requirements. Whatever, I don't need him or his help! Screw him," she seethes very bitterly.

Though, despite her words, she can't help but feel a painful wedge in her heart. She knows she's said it many times now, but how can she not care? There's just something painful about never getting recognition when it's long deserved. What else does she need to prove? To be seen? It's like she's nothing in his eyes. Completely invisible.

However, the more he keeps failing to acknowledge her, the more it pushes her away, and the more she grows to resent him. At this point, there's nothing that will fix their relationship.

Shaking her head, Kasai pushes the hurt she's feeling and instead focuses on the words she told him at the sports festival.

She doesn't need him or his help to shine like the sun! She'll reach the top ranks without him. She'll become number one, and it'll all be on her own! Like she said, screw him!

"Let me guess, he gave you an offer," Kasai smirks with contempt, anger sparking in her eyes like flames.

Shoto nods, "yeah."

"Figures," the girl scoffs. "You were always his favorite, so no surprise there. Are you going to take it?"

"I'm considering it. I do need help with my fire side, and he's the only one who's capable of teaching me," Shoto informs.

The youngest Todoroki nods, seeing his point. She might not like her father, but she can't deny that he's a great hero. After all, he's the number two hero, after All Might, and that alone says something.

"Yeah, you should go for it. I won't lie, Shoto, I'm jealous that he continues to see you as the better one between us, but don't let my anger stop you from becoming a better hero. If you really want to work on improving your fire capabilities, then by all means, go for it. I'll never stop you, jealousy or not," she says, calming down as she gives him a smile.

Shoto nods, accepting her words. Truth be told, he was a bit worried that she would revert back to her angry ways with him. It's no shock that she's jealous of the attention that their father gives him, but it's not like he enjoys it either. Their father ruined too many relationships for him, especially when it came to his siblings. All those years he could've spent knowing his siblings, he spent it being forced to train.

He's just glad that Kasai can now seperate her feelings for their father and for him.

"So, what hero offer are you taking," Shoto asks.

Kasai tilts her head. "Hmm, there's a few that catch my attention. There's Mirko, Fatgum, Hawks, Gang Orca, and others. What I'm really looking for is a combat hero, since I don't need help with my flames. Sure, there's my blue flames that I still need to regulate without burning myself, but if I really get the time, I can learn that myself. What I need is a hero who will teach me to improve my other skills like combat, my agility, my endurance, my speed! Stuff like that," she grins, making a determined fist.

Shoto gives her a minute smile. He wonders how Kasai came to the conclusion to become a hero. He, himself, wanted to be a hero like All Might, but what about her? From what he knew, she didn't idolize the number one hero, did she even have a favorite hero? He knew that she striped to be the best, but there's so much that he doesn't know about her. He knows that she likes the color red, that her favorite season is summer, that she secretly likes the subject of art by the way she carefully works on her projects in class and how her eyes dart to interesting pieces, that she likes fruit flavored drinks, or that she has a liking to sweets and desserts, but that's about it.

But what made her want to become a hero? Or who?

Shaking his head, he just chooses to be happy for her. "I'm glad you know what you want work on, and I'm sure you'll pick the right hero to intern under," he says.

"Yeah, I'll figure it out," she smiles, looking down at her draft offers.

Looking over the names of the agencies, she tunes out the commotion from her classmates as they talk about their own options. As she flips through the pages, only a few names catch her attention. Going back and forward through the packet, she sighs and groans at the multiple options. It's like choosing between many tempting desserts, but only having one.

Well, three, since they're supposed to list three options. Two as back ups.

"Okay, Kasai, narrow it down to ten choices and from that, pick your top three choices," she mumbles to herself.

She takes out her notebook, ripping out a blank page, and takes out her red pen. Next, she reflips through the packet and scours the names that catches her attention. Of course she's not going to pick heroes that she knows nothing about. Or the heroes who are only for the beauty and looks and media. Kasai may not be a super fan like Midoriya, but she does have knowledge about the current heroes. And she wants a hero who could actually help her grow.

Picking her top ten, Kasai trusts her instincts to help her choose.

"Submit your choices by this coming weekend," Aizawa informs them.

"We've only got two days to pick," Sero questions with a yell.

Closing her eyes, she huffs. I really hope these choices are the right ones. Especially my top choice!

CLASS 1-A TODOROKI KASAI
Desired Internship Agency

First Choice - Hosu City, Tokyo: Rabbit Hero Mirko Agency

Second Choice - Esuha City, Japan: Fat Gum Hero Agency

Third Choice - Kyushu, Japan: Hawks Hero Agency

And with that, she turns in her paper.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Whoop! Whoop! That is Chapter 17! Sorry I took a long time to update, I had a few paragraphs written a few moths ago with the intention to finish it, but I clearly got busy with life. Though, I spent all day today writing it out!

So, what did you think?

Kasai and Shoto are getting along better, yay for development! They're sharing things and talking! But is it too good to be true?

Lolol, pushing that aside, I do love their dynamic. They laugh at each other, share things, and yes there still some slight conflict, but I love how far they've come!

Oof, I slipped in another Kasai and Touya memory, if you caught it! I can just picture little Kasai asking Touya to help cover her in snow and him just looking at her like she's lost her mind, lolol. And I can picture them in blanket burritos, drinking hot chocolate, and watching action movies - their favorite. They shared the idea of becoming a hero - that's who she got the inspiration from.

Hah - Kasai glaring at rain, snow, or water is giving me life. She's like a cat, hating the idea of getting wet. I wonder how the pool episode will go 👀

Yes, her hero name, Solar Flare was inspired by Touya. Solar, for how he told her that she'd shine like the sun. Flare, for his nickname for her - little flare. It's a bittersweet name for her, but it still motivates her.

Also, lolol, I can imagine people who watched the sports festival just raising their right arms and yelling 'hell yeah' when they see her.

A little bakusquad moment ♡

Kasai and Bakugou, their tension just keeps growing 😏😏😏

And finally, which hero agency will she end up interning at? I like all three choices, but who knows!

I hope you enjoyed!

Don't forget to COMMENT, VOTE, and FAN!!!

SEE YA LATER, ALLIGATORS!

(Remember to be safe and to take care of yourselves ♡)

Word Count: 4,887