Chapter 46 Consequences

Hours later, Souta finally woke up again.

He turned his head and looked around. The first thing he noticed, was the room, 'Yep, I'm definitely in a hospital.'

As his eyes got used to the bright light, the sliding door to his room opened, and behind it revealed a nurse in her uniform. She was, at first, still occupied, with some documents she was carrying, but then noticed him sitting upright on the bed, "Oh, you're awake already. I will notify the doctor and everyone that has been waiting."

She then bowed slightly and closed the door again, leaving Souta once more alone in the room.

He didn't mind this one bit, that way, he would at least have some time to reflect on the fight, and what his body had accomplished there, or rather what his new 'true' quirk was capable of.

Since he was alone, Souta simply began mumbling out what his thoughts were, "That form, and those powers… along with the name of it, that should've definitely been a phoenix power.

And among those powers, there seemed to be some kind of elementalization, and also a shapeshifting part – though still questionable, if it is a general ability or only for the phoenix form. Besides those, the obvious thing was the flame, or rather flames.

It didn't feel like, as if I had made those flames, but rather became them," Souta stared at his hands in wonder, when he reached this part, "but what were those golden flames?"

About that time, he started hearing multiple pairs of shoes walking down the corridor outside, most likely towards his room.

In the next moment, for some reason, it looked like nearly everyone related to anyone came into his room. It wasn't just his classmates, and Mirko – who after all was still the hero in charge of him for the week – but also, his father Endeavor, as well as Fat Gum, the Pro hero Manual (Iida's Pro hero instructor), and an elderly, very short man, who must've been Gran Torino.

And all of them entered along the doctor, of course.

The first to rush to his bed, were Midoriya, Iida, Shoto, and Kirishima.

"Souta-kun!"

"Todoroki-san!"

"Souta."

"Dude, that fight was as manly as it gets!"

Before the other could've gotten close as well, the doctor stepped in, "Please, calm down everyone. I will conduct the last few tests, before you can swarm him all you want." The middle-aged man then turned to Souta with a scrutinizing expression, taking a quick look at his notepad, and eyed Souta weirdly again.

"Young man, what actually is you quirk? How can it be that your body seems to be perfectly fine, but, at the same time, has the weirdest results I've ever seen before? I mean, just your body temperature, its all over the place, fluctuating between extremely high and extremely cold temperatures.

Next, your brain scans, how does your brain work with at least five times the speed and efficiency of other people? And the worst part, it seems to be constantly adapting, learning and improving. If I didn't know it any better, I would assume your brain is just beginning to actually develop, after having been stuck in some infancy-state for your entire life, until now, of course.

Nevertheless, the answers to these questions need to be given to other people, and not me. From everything we have gathered about your current state, nothing seems to be a problem. I'd say you could be discharged immediately, if you so wish. Just let someone know, and a guardian of yours can sign the discharge papers. That would be all from my side, I will take my leave then."

Just when the doctor was stepping outside the door, multiple pairs of steps could be heard again, before three people suddenly stormed into the room, after the doctor barely managed to step aside, "SOUTA!" "Lil Bro, are you alright?"

The trio, Toya, Fuyumi, and Natsuo, Souta's other siblings, only then noticed everyone else in the room. Though, as soon as they saw their father, Fuyumi averted her gaze, while Toya and Natsuo simply glared at him.

After a moment of silence, Toya spoke through gritted teeth, "You're the number 2 hero, and you let a student, a teenager, your own child, fight and get injured, while you get out of it unscathed? What the fuck is wrong with you?!"

"Big bro… Toya, he isn't at fault here, and I'm also technically not injured…" Souta tried awkwardly refusing the current situation.

"But…," Toya wanted to say something more, but let it be for the moment.

Endeavor, meanwhile, had the usual stern look on his face, but it seemed less oppressive, compared to usual. Almost, as if he was actually understanding and being hit by these words, more than he would like to admit.

When he had witnessed Souta fighting, and then in the end beating the enemy, he himself had not, his mind first tried to find excuses, like that he hadn't gone all out at the time, or things like that, but he put those thoughts aside nearly as fast as they had appeared.

In that moment, he was ashamed. Utterly ashamed. Not because his son had won a fight he didn't, but simply because he was once again trying to find excuses, and now they were directed at a child, his child.

It was the first time, in many years, that Endeavor actually doubted his methods. Even now, his mind remained in scrambles, unable to find an answer.

"How do you feel now, kid?" Mirko spoke through the currently ongoing silence.

Souta was truly grateful for her breaking the tense family tension. He patted his arms, his upper body, flexed his toes for a second, nothing felt unusual, "I'd say good. Somehow, though, that feels like an understatement. Honestly, I feel great. As if I had been reborn or something like that."

"About that reborn part… would that explain the sudden change in your image, Souta?" Fuyumi asked, while eyeing both his hair and eyes.

"Huh, what do you mean?" Souta was truly confused, now there had been two people who had asked, or said something along those lines to him.

It was Shoto who took out his phone, and handed it to his brother, with the camera app currently on. Souta took the phone, still with a puzzled look, which soon changed to a greatly surprised look, when he saw himself.

"Is that like some elaborate prank, you guys are playing on me, right now?"

Everyone shook their heads, in response, causing Souta's eyes to grow wider and wider.

Then, it was too much, "How did my hair change to blue and my eyes to gold then?! Since when are golden eyes even a thing?"

Some of the others brought forth some ideas, but no one could properly explain it. While they were doing this, Endeavor had already left the room, and did what he was technically responsible for, filling out the paper forms as a guardian.

Along the conversation, Fat Gum injected, and asked if Souta felt good enough to open another gate, for him and Kirishima to return with. It could've come off as somewhat impolite, but with the way the burly pro hero tended to speak, Souta didn't mind.

And, he had somewhat kidnapped him and Kirishima, so… fair is fair.

It was then, that he noticed something weird. When he tried opening a gate, nothing happened. Souta looked puzzled at his hands, before trying it immediately again.

Nevertheless, the result did not change.

"I… I can't… I can't feel it anymore…" Souta mumbled to himself, merely audible. So quiet, that from the people present, only Mirko picked it up, due to which she also heavily crunched her eyebrows.

"Sorry… it doesn't work right now, Fat Gum." the now blue-haired teenager apologized to the Pro, who looked confused, but let it go, immediately after upon noticing the distressed look on the boys face.

"Ah, no, don't worry, 'bout it. Still, to make it back before it's too late, we may need to head out now then, Red Riot."

"Eh? ...ah, yeah. Alright." Kirishima, caught off guard for a second, replied and began moving towards the door afterwards.

He looked back once more, and flashed his friend a toothy grin, "Don't worry 'bout it, Souta. I'm sure, you will be able to use your stuff very soon again. Now, see ya!"

After those words, both of them headed out, and started their journey back, to their own city.

With what had just happened, the atmosphere became a lot more tense, and no one really knew what to say anymore, until the door opened again, revealing Endeavor, who had a few pages in his hand. As soon as he entered though, behind him, another person was revealed.

A dog. Well, a dog person? The person wore a black suit, which directly made it clear, that it was a human with a mutant quirk, instead of it being just a giant dog.

The second he entered, Midoriya and Iida seemed to shrink a bit, and tried to disappear into the background. But right now, they weren't on Kenji Tsuragamae's Radar.

"Excuse my intrudence, but I would need to have a talk with Souta Todoroki. Everyone else, beyond immediate family, and Pro hero Mirko, may leave the room now." his voice carried clear authority.

Hearing this, the two still present duos, who had lost their chance to leave, when Fat Gum did so, now also said their goodbyes and left soon after. Now, there was only the Todoroki family, along with Mirko, present.

Toya wanted to protest against Endeavor's presence, but was stopped by a meaningful look from Fuyumi, and therefore let it go.

"Alright, for starters, I should probably introduce myself first. I'm the chief of police, Kenji Tsuragamae, and I'm here right now because of what had happened earlier today." The high-ranking police officer announced, before giving them a moment, for their minds to properly understand it.

"Yes, so the problem lies in Souta Todoroki's forbidden usage of his quirk, in a direct villain vs hero scenario. Normally, this would cause serious consequences, but seeing the results he brought forth while doing so, and especially the attention his actions attracted, we abstain from any legal consequences. We would simply ask for a bit more discretion the next time, something happens. Burying something like this once is not unheard of, but more than that could become problematic."

Officer Tsuragamae spoke with conviction, though, also a hint of shame. He has always been a firm believer in the law, but even he had to admit that, after reading through the report on today's occurrences, such 'disciplinary' behavior should not be necessary.

In his heart he knew, the boy before him had acted heroically, in a moment where he was not required to, but did so nonetheless, knowing that possible repercussions could come back to him.

After making Souta's situation clear, he turned to Mirko, who was still standing to the side, "As for you, Mirko-san, I'm terribly sorry, but we will have to issue serious restrictions to you, regarding future internships and the like."

He finished the speech with a deep bow, to which Mirko merely snorted for a second, before nodding. She knew, she went a bit far with her 'permissions', but didn't, not in the slightest, actually regretted them.

The only thing she actually regretted, was that she hadn't been able to do nearly as much, as she could have.

That was at least what she believed. In reality, her part in all of it was by no means as insignificant as she made it out to be. While others had been going after the smaller and weaker Nomus, she alone had held back the strongest of them, until Souta accidentally powered him up even more.

Mirko would've been more than capable to take down a significant number of the weaker Nomus by herself, but she herself chose to stay behind, and trusted her hero companions.

With his business in the room finished, Kenji bowed to each person politely, and then excused himself.

When he was gone, Mirko also began moving from her spot on the side, "Guess, this is where the farewells are in place, since I'm probably now forbidden from taking interns. So… see ya, kiddo."

Her face remained hidden, as it was already directed at the door, ride in front of her, by the time she finished her sentence.

"Huh? Where are you heading already, at least let me get dressed first! So… could I get some privacy here?"

"HUH?" Mirko was stunned and turned around, and saw Souta smiling at her.

"What? He said 'future' internships right? So, technically, the current one is still valid, isn't it?"

The question made everyone ponder it for a second, before they nodded sagely – except for Endeavor, who remained stoic and silent in his corner.

A smirk made its way onto Mirko's face again, "Alright, kiddo, don't take too long, then!"

Now it was Fuyumi's turn to look puzzled for a moment, before eventually a motherly smile painted her face, 'I suppose he doesn't need us to get him back to U.A. then…'

"Seriously, guys, I need some privacy! I only have this damn hospital thingy on right now."

With that said, everyone else left the room shortly. Once outside, Endeavor decided to really take his leave now, as for Shoto, he left the decision to him. He could decide for himself, wether he wanted to finish the internship, or already head back, along with his siblings.

In the end, though, Shoto followed him, after excusing himself from his siblings. Having seen what Souta had done today, was eye opening. Just mere weeks ago, he had thought they were on one level, but now… now, it looked like his brother had surpassed him by heaps and bounds.

He couldn't accept that so easily.

As Souta left his room, now back in his Hero costume, he noticed the two missing people, but didn't mind it one bit. The group continued together towards the station, and only split when they went towards their respective trains.

Toya, Fuyumi and Natsuo headed back to U.A., especially because Fuyumi had work the next day, Toya would need to prepare food, to welcome everyone back, and Natsuo… he could relax back in the dorms. Right now, he had a break, and therefore no classes.

Mirko and Souta rode the train mostly in silence, both reflecting on the day, and everything that had happened.

The silence between them though, was by no means awkward or tense. For the two normally relatively active people, it represented a nice change of pace.