The armature dragon reached what Ashido calls 'The Arena'. Said Arena is apparently one of the only rooms in the academy with human fire.

"-just so you can get the feel of fighting an actual human!" the creature said. "..a Gem Devil's weakness is a human's fire, and they know that."

It's overall atmosphere sent shivers down his spine; bricks in disarray along the floor, dark sharp corners, locked cages that swallowed up the abyss, and the quiet.

Quiet. It reminded him of so many things...his mother's death; the silence of her lack of breaths...how the village can go silent after so many people have gone missing; his own grandmother disappeared one day and has yet to return...how quiet people got when Izuku walked in the streets; the aura's of unbridled disgust around the townsfolk...

...he never liked the quiet before...

Midoriya shook his head. He can't think about that now. What he needed to do now was train.

After Mitsuki came to the school, he understood what the students go through. They've been taught to learn how to fight back- some of them anyways.

That day, he stood still. He stood still and did nothing as his friend got bit.

He must've been so scared.

He yelled.

He bled.

Deku doesn't want that to happen again..to Bakugo, Uraraka, or anyone.

The greenette sighed, and looked down at his body.

His hands and feet? His pointy ears and sharp teeth? The tail and wings residing on his backside?

Dragon.

He's different now.

He needs to be strong enough to fight, and now he has the body to do it.

-

A pained cry erupted from his mouth as smoke escaped. A burning sensation sinks in his throat as tears well in his eyes, but he wiped them quickly.

'..nine..' he thinks to himself.

This was the ninth time he tried to breathe fire and it didn't work.

How come Shoto makes it look so easy?

Training, he says to himself. Todoroki-kun's body is enough to show rigorous training to hone his abilities. Though if the greenette ever questioned his technique, the boy dismissed it...

And now he can't even let out the tiniest flame.

'I bet my father is ashamed of me...'

No. He needs to stop thinking about that. Negativity isn't going to get him anywhere.

Izuku doesn't give himself enough time for a break and turns around to land a kick at the barrel near the wall.

His foot plants itself inside of it and a loud bang echos through the halls.

A proud, shakily laugh was interupted with a pained grunt/whine as he felt the agony of the wood lodged into his leg.

Midoriya removed his appendage quickly and hobbled back a few feet before falling backwards intentionally.

"Dammit..." he whispered. This..would take some time.

-

One final whimper of pain was quickly replaces with a sigh of relief was he pulled out the last shard of wood. Izuku steadied himself on the all and tried to and up properly, only to fall back as he leg gave out.

He grunted, but wasn't really surprised.

This would've happened at some point...which is why he came prepared.

The satchel he wore during his first day at the academy was a few feet away, and a short, slightly pained crawl later he clutched the bag tightly and pulled it toward him. He dug into the large pocket- where the book used to be- and pulled out a bulky glass with a cork and blue, glistening liquid.

'Thanks, Uraraka.' he thinks as the cork pops off easily and he drinks....a it more than he should have.

He shuddered, feeling no more pain in his leg, but a wave of discomfort through his whole body. Snickering at the intense side effects, he drops the items back on the floor and stands up with ease this time.

As Deku gets into a battle stance once again, footsteps echo from the stairwell. He didn't have time to react as the figure revealed itself quickly.

"You seem to have no clue what you're doing." the voice was cold, though familiar.

"T-Todoroki-kun!" Deku stuttered. He wasn't as embarrassed as he was concerned. 'How loud was I..?'

"Do you know what you're doing?" he asked with a deadpan expression. "You already have marks on your neck from burning it." He points to the boy's throat, reddish brown burns are apparent on his skin. He covers them up and turns, saying nothing.

Silence.

Midoriya shuddered as the thoughts came back to him, but he stayed quiet.

Todoroki noticed how he shook, it always happened when he was alone.

Sometimes he'd just be walking past his open dorm and he'd be there; in the dark, shaking in the silence.

It was clear that he didn't want anyone to know.

He's built a fragile wall between himself, his friends and his secrets.

He's just like Shoto.

They're were lost, had nobody to turn to.

But now he does, and Izuku seemingly still has no one.

He sighs.

Midoriya needs his help.

Shoto walked in front of him, and for that second he was right next to him, Izuku noticed a too-dark spot on his left side.

Though he put it out of his mind and and followed, keeping his distance when the boy motioned for him to stop. No matter what it is, he wouldn't want to speak of it. Plus, he's offering help and he wasn't about to interrupt it.

The dual-haired creature raises his eyebrows and Izuku readily nods.

--

"Make sure your stance is flexible enough for you, but not your opponent."

"R-Right, don't give them an easy opening."

-

"Don't hurt your throat with our fire by yelling. Let it come out as if your simply breathing."

-

"Alright, that was good. Again!"

-

"Calm yourself, Midoriya. I don't want you over exerting yourself."

"Okay, I'll-...what?"

The two were in the middle of sparring when Shoto swung a hit too hard and Izuku doubled over in pain. He quickly drank a potion he had Uraraka he to him the other day...its supposed to heal him but at the expense of physical strength anyways.

Shoto recognized the color of the liquid quite well, so he felt it neccassary to warn his...well, he'll call him a friend for now.

This sudden kindness had Midoriya taken aback.

"...what did you say?" he asked again, still on the grou

The latter stayed silent, almost questioning if he should have said what he did. Looking at the dragon however, he would tell he meant nothing negative. Those emerald eyes of his held nothing but care, determination and bravery 24/7.

'How does he do it...'

"Forgive me, I didn't want you hurting yourself with that." He dismissed his thoughts and pointed to the nearly empty vile next to Deku. "Now that I think about it, we should head back..." Shoto reached out with his crimson red hand, but hesitated.

Izuku noted this and quickly took away his worry away by grabbing his hand and pulling himself up. "You're right, the teachers might get worried, yeah?"

Shoto hides the smallest tea in his eyes at Midoriya's kindness towards him...buy he can't he'll but smile at it. "Yes, let's get going."