"Happiness is a choice,

not a result.

Nothing will make you happy

Until you choose to be happy."

-Ralph Manston

Present Day- 5 minutes before Present Time

It was an... interesting feeling.

Watching an elderly grandma apologize over and over again for something that wasn't even her fault. It was just pure concern. For him. He never thought that those two sentences would align and fit together because the meaning of it was almost too much to bear. When was the last time someone had actually cared? She had just met him today, she had no relationship with him whatsoever, and yet...

She had given him something in 25 seconds that no-one else besides his mother had given him in the entirety of his 15 years of life.

Slowly, she withdrew herself from his shaking and disbelieving arms, absentmindedly patting his head one last time, before acting like it was nothing out of the norm. His short-circuiting brain reset and brought itself back to the real world as if someone had just punched the factory reset button.

He felt strangely whole and warm. It was a nice feeling.

"I'll, uh, continue with what I was saying before. If that's alright."

The little old lady faintly nodded her head up and down before stating,

"If you reveal that you did something stupid again, I'll clobber you."

A faint shiver shot through his spin, and at that moment, he found her more frightening than All for One himself. Just a little.

"U-Understood! ...Essentially, what I was trying to get across before is that I don't control it down fully. I'm basically a manager. And as the manager, I assigned my lightning to slow or displace the neurons from reaching the Parietal Lobe of your brain. That's why it felt like you were moving slower and I was moving faster. But using this quirk on someone else, and specifically, to target a part of the nervous system... That takes a lot out of me."

He looked up, expecting an interjection, but all they were doing was listening intently.

"Ahem, I wasn't going to crash and burn at the time when you started to have your attack. But..."

He silently clenched his fist.

"I was emotionally compromised. I was irritated at him for being a dumb, suicidal idiot."

'Well, it's kind of hypocritical of me to say he's a suicidal idiot. But I can tell. He hasn't given up. His actions seem more like recklessness than a full, thought-out ideal. That's what made me irritated. He wanted to bet his life without considering all of the consequences. Yes, that is the case, and I'm not making excuses for myself at all. Nope.'

He sighed in the (dis)comfort of his own mind.

"After Todoroki sprung his attack at me from underground, I said some words that could allude to fire. Or in this case, the fire part of his quirk. I can't be completely sure, but my quirk could have taken it as a new order. I can't be certain. If he was wounded, I would have immediately been able to tell that something was wrong, and put a stop to it... But as it is, it was functioning as it was supposed to. If I can check, I can see whether or not my lightning traveled outside of the Parietal Lobe."

The old lady turned and stared at Todoroki, before heaving a faint sigh under her breath.

"Goodness, if it weren't enough to have one reckless idiot, I have two on my hands. I'll have you tell me, in full detail, what exactly Allen is alluding to by saying that you're a 'dumb, suicidal idiot', but for now... Todoroki, do you want to do this? It's merely speculation at this point, and it isn't necessary for the betterment of your physical health, but do you still want to check?"

He stared at his hand for a moment, his brows scrunching up as he stared at what Deku now realized was the fire part of his body.

"Do it."

Allen stood up, before walking over to the teenager. His hands hovered over his forehead, faint electrical sparks coming to life.

"You might feel a little zap, but nothing painful. If you feel uncomfortable at any time, tell me. Got it?"

"Yeah."

His hands landed straight and center on his cornea, and he began the 'operation'. He focused on the sensitivity of his lightning, feeling about for where it felt similar. His lightning had been messing with his nervous system for quite a while, so some residual signs were still there. Sure enough, out of the semi-concentrated remanents that floated around in the Parietal Lobe, there was an almost unnoticeable trail that ended in the Frontal Lobe. Everything made sense, he thought as he ejected his lightning out of the brain, careful not to overstimulate anything on his way out.

"...It is indeed the case. There was a trail that ended in the Frontal Lobe. I can guess what happened. Either it almost entirely rendered your impulse control nil, or it amplified your emotions, enough so to counteract your reasoning. It could have paralyzed your judgment as well."

He looked straight into his eyes.

"Regardless, I'm almost 100% percent certain that the reason you used your fire is because of my quirk-"

And then Endeavor entered the room.

He was a big man with a presence that matched it. The only thing that rivaled his muscle mass was the sheer temperature of the flames surrounding the man. Deku had felt all of the moisture on his body instantly evaporate the moment he appeared. But, in truth, he wasn't all that focused on becoming instantly dehydrated.

'...I couldn't feel his presence at all. How long has he been here..?'

"Nezu, my son seems plenty able to fight. While it is unforgivable that he remains... unwilling to use it, he can still continue to fight this boy. His earlier disgrace was probably also caused by him. I don't recall a judgment ever being made as to the conclusion of the fight."

The ever-bubbly Principal popped out of seemingly nowhere, but it seemed like there was some underlying tension in him.

'I couldn't sense him either... This is a worse situation than I thought it was.'

"Endeavor, we can't allow him to fight on account of his injures. Mental injures, I might add. While this whole ordeal might have been triggered by Allen's quirk, you can't deny that Todoroki has suffered. It is fairly evident that Allen has won. Let's just leave it at that."

The temperature in the room got higher.

"Nezu, I don't think you understand. While I see a rule here that states that combatants may be withdrawn because of physical injures, I don't see anything on Shouto. As his guardian, I freely give permission for him to resume combat. Unless you want to strip that away?"

'...Yuuei has probably never encountered this situation before so they don't have any rules to defend against it. Combined with the No. 2 Hero's influence and sphere of authority, they can't even retaliate. But there's still one avenue that they can take...'

"Todoroki, do you want to continue to fight against Allen? You are free to drop out at any time you wish. It is entirely up to you if you wish to continue fighting or not. Personally, as your principal, I don't believe that it is the best idea. But the decision is yours."

In that instant, it felt like the entire world was entirely focused on Shouto Todoroki. There was Nezu's encouraging gaze, Endeavour's angry, piercing gaze, and even Recovery Girl joined in with a glare of outrage. Deku merely sighed to himself, because his answer was already present within a gaze of his own.

A gaze of unsurmountable determination.

"I'll fight."