Chapter Text
For the students of UA, the sports festival was their chance to get their name out to the world, to make their big debut on the hero scene and draw the attention of professionals.
For Shouta, however, this particular sports festival was an exercise in surveillance. Since the beginning, he had spent every second he could with his eyes firmly fixed on Endeavor. The Number Two hero had spent the morning in his seat, but he could tell the man was fuming just from the constant flaring of his flames. He had been quite vocal in his…support for his son, and although Todoroki had dominated the first two rounds, his father seemed to only grow angrier as time passed.
No sooner had the lunch break begun than Endeavor left his seat, stomping off into the stadium. Fortunately, Shouta was released from his announcer duties for the time being so, with little more than a mumbled farewell to Hizashi, he strolled out himself, ignoring the squawks of his friend behind him.
As was to be expected from a building designed by Nedzu, the tunnels beneath and around the stadium were little more than a maze of concrete, but Shouta was more than used to the rat’s games, and weaved his way around like he had a map of the place. His journey brought him towards the east side student prep rooms, and just in time; he could hear Endeavor’s growl echo from the corridor ahead. Drawing on his stealth skills, Shouta walked up to the corner, and listened in.
“You still aren’t using your fire, boy?! Are you trying to make a fool of yourself?”
Todoroki’s icy voice replied, “I won’t use your fire, old man. I’ll win this sports festival and beat you without it!”
“You are my masterpiece , Shouto!” Endeavor roared, “You were designed to surpass All Might! Now, with that buffoon dead, you must prepare to take his place!”
“Not with your fire!” Todoroki snapped back, “My mother’s ice is all I need to beat you!”
That seemed like Shouta’s cue to intervene, so he stepped out of his hiding place, “Endeavor,” his voice was gruff as usual, and both father and son snapped their eyes towards him, “these tunnels are for UA students and staff only. I have to ask you to return to your seat.”
The hero curled his lip in displeasure, but didn’t argue, instead sending his son one last, heated glare before storming away. Shouta watched him leave, before turning his attention to his student, who stood stock still, “Want to tell me what that’s about?”
“It’s nothing.” Came the boy’s cold response.
“Didn’t seem like nothing.” Shouta shrugged, “Seemed like a big deal to me, actually.”
“ Family business. ” He hissed.
He cocked an eyebrow, “Looks to me like he wants you to be something you’re not.” He softened slightly, “Todoroki, I’m not going to force you to do anything or tell me anything you don’t want to. Just know that you can trust me.”
The boy gave him a long, hard stare, eyes piercing through to his very soul to detect any hint of falsehood or malice. Shouta, for his part, merely stood there and waited for his next action.
After a neverending minute, Todoroki relaxed slightly, and looked away, “My… mother. In every memory I have of her, she’s crying. Years ago, my father realised he could never surpass All Might with his own efforts, so instead he sought out a powerful ice Quirk, and he paid the family for the privilege of marrying their daughter.”
His eyes widened slightly, “A Quirk marriage…”
The boy nodded, “My father planned to produce a child that would succeed where he failed, someone with a Quirk powerful enough to defeat even All Might. My eldest brother Touya was the first product of this union. He was born with a fire Quirk hotter than even Endeavor’s, but without protection from his own flames. My father trained him, for a time, but he was unsatisfied with the results, and so continued to sire two more children, my sister Fuyumi and my brother Natsuo. Both were born with a weaker form of my mother’s ice Quirk, and so Endeavor created one more child.”
“You.”
Another nod, “Though my father continued to train Touya, he eagerly awaited for the day my Quirk came in. When it manifested, my mother and siblings did their best to hide it from him, but he found out. In that moment, he discarded Touya and trained me instead.”
Todoroki’s fist clenched tight, “He has been training me every day for eleven years. Touya burned himself to death trying to get his attention, my mother could not handle his treatment of his family and scalded me with boiling water,” he touched the rough patch of his scar, “just because my face reminded her of him. Natsuo couldn’t wait to go to university and Fuyumi is trying her best to hold our family together.” He scoffed bitterly, “ Family . All we’ve ever been is that bastard, his ‘masterpiece’ and his rejects.
“And now All Might is dead, and the goal he dedicated his life to, that consumed his entire family in his hellish flames, is forever out of reach.” The boy looked up at him with mismatched eyes, “You can imagine how he’s taking it.”
Shouta took a deep breath. For the first time in many years, he was completely stunned speechless. This was the Number Two - no, Number One - hero behind closed doors? He wasn’t naturally an angry man, but rage rose in his gut, indignant at the injustices his student had been put through. Still, he fought hard to control this anger; he didn’t want to scare Todoroki. Instead, he walked over and hesitantly, and awkwardly, laid a hand on the boy’s shoulder.
“Todoroki… what Endeavor’s done to you and your family is wrong . I promise I’ll do everything within my power to stop it.” Todoroki scoffed, clearly not believing him, “After the festival’s over, wait for me, and we can sort it. Can you do that?”
The boy gave him another of those intense, piercing stares, though this one was shorter, and he gave a small, hesitant nod. Returning it with one of his own, Shouta gave him a small pat on the shoulder before walking away.
He needed to clear his head.
As much as the UA sports festival was useful for heroes to see the up-and-comers of the hero course, it was also very useful for the right villain. Even with their stripped-back commentary in the wake of All Might’s death, it was a wealth of information for a villain with the know-how to use it.
And Izuku would count himself as such.
Present Mic’s commentary was decidedly less informative on the subject of the student’s Quirks, but that was honestly some of the least useful information he could glean from the broadcast. After all, he had access to the Quirk registry, and had enough analytical prowess to comprehend everything the students could possibly do.
No, the really useful information came in the form of tidbits he couldn’t have gained just from reading a report. Things like personalities, bonds, flaws and so on. The sports festival was very useful indeed for someone who could pick people apart from seconds of footage as he could.
Izuku’s phone buzzed in his hand as he waited for the tournament round to continue, and he smirked slightly at the notification. He could definitely work with this.
“Kurogiri,” he called his oldest friend over and showed him the message, “the word on the street is that Stain attacked Ingenium.”
“So I see. What do you intend to do with this information?”
He grinned, “Iida Tenya. First year UA hero course student and younger brother to Ingenium. Don’t you think he seems a little rigid?”
“I couldn’t possibly say.”
“Well, take his fight with Hatsume, for example. So intent on the rules of fair play he allowed himself to be baited into a glorified advertisement, and seemed quite put out by it afterwards. Besides, I’m sure I’ve seen him lecturing his fellow students several times. He seems the lecturing type, anyway.”
Kurogiri hummed, “What about him?”
“I try to be flexible in my planning.” He began, the bartender rolling his eyes slightly as he wound up into one of his patented speeches, “After all, it is impossible to control every aspect of a situation, and unexpected things do occur. Personally, I would say flexibility is an admirable trait. Concurrent with this, rigidity is something to be avoided. If you can’t bend, you’ll break, and Iida?” He smiled, “Iida is decidedly the type of person who’ll break before he bends. So, what do you get when a rigid hero student sees his beloved older brother lose his career due to the machinations of an uncaught villain?”
“You believe he’ll go rogue?”
Izuku hummed, “It’s a distinct possibility, one I don’t intend to discard. I’d say the most likely outcome is that he attempts to hunt down the Hero Killer, which is definitely something I can use.”
“Will this take precedence over your current plan to recruit the Hero Killer?” Kurogiri picked up a glass and began to polish it.
“Oh no,” he waved off the idea, “no, I’ll still be following that possibility as well.”
“Stain is an avowed supporter of All Might,” the other man pointed out, “I can’t imagine recruitment being possible.”
“No, you’re probably right. As much as having him on my side would make things easier, at least in the short term, I doubt he’ll jump at the chance to ally with me. We are, after all, diametrically opposed. Not just in terms of All Might, but with our fundamental ideals as well. He is a force for change; he wants to improve the hero system, while I want it to stay exactly how it is. If he wants change, I want stagnation.”
“Then why ask him at all?”
He chuckled, “There’s no harm in trying my luck, is there? I try not to put all my eggs in one basket, and I’d rather not rely on the whims of an unknown teenager if I don’t have to.”
Kurogiri hummed and nodded, before asking, “This situation, with Ingenium: did you plan it?”
“No,” he shook his head, “and yes. It would be more accurate to say I planned for it. I knew that Stain would attack Ingenium at some point, just as he will every hero, and I could foresee situations in which that could be leveraged against my enemies, but I honestly had no way of knowing when that would happen or whether it would be useful when it did. Like I said,” his eyes glinted in the dim light of the bar, “flexibility.”
“Truly devious, Midoriya Izuku.” The bartender commented drily.
He huffed a small laugh, “I do, however, have much to set up for this course of action, and quite little time in which to do it.” He sighed, “No rest for the wicked, hm?”
The corners of the noumu’s misty eyes quirked up in the facsimile of a smile, “Certainly not.”
The festival wound down, with Bakugou ultimately coming out on top. The mood was sombre, subdued, as Midnight handed out the medals. It should have been All Might there.
Shouta didn’t have time to dwell on that, however; he had a student to rescue.
Nedzu sat on his shoulder as he walked through the corridors of the sports festival. The principal had been sceptical when he’d said he had proof of Endeavor’s abuse, but he trusted him well enough to follow without complaint.
He just hoped Todoroki could put the same trust in him.
Fortunately, it seemed his wish had been granted, as they found the quiet boy sitting in Class 1-A’s now-empty changing room, staring at his hands with an inscrutable expression. He looked up when they entered, clearly nervous but… quietly hopeful, if he was reading his face right.
“Todoroki,” he started without preamble, “want to tell Nedzu what you told me?”
It was important to give him a choice, after all. Todoroki was a hurt child, and would need to be taken care of, and it had to start by giving him a choice. He eyed the two of them for a moment, gaze raking over them, before he nodded and began to speak, relaying every detail he’d told Shouta, and quite a few more besides. His voice was cold, objective, nothing like the blazing passion he’d used when telling Shouta his story. He simply rattled off every single piece of information, almost as if it had happened to something else.
Out of the corner of his eye, Shouta could see his boss frowning more and more with every detail added. Once Todoroki had reached the end of his story, silence fell as Nedzu took a moment to digest it, before slowly nodding to himself.
“Todoroki-kun,” he spoke seriously, squeaking voice hardened, “UA will do everything within its power to protect you and your family. For the time being, I will ask Aizawa here to use his emergency foster licence and give you a home for the night.”
Both of the others’ eyes widened. The licence was something Nedzu required every UA teacher to obtain, just in case of a situation exactly like this one, but he’d never once heard of one being used, even during his school days.
He was fine with using it, don’t get him wrong, but… “What about his siblings?”
“Well, Todoroki Natsuo is a university student, isn’t he?” The student nodded, “And if you could ask your sister to stay somewhere safe for the night, Todoroki-kun, that should keep everyone safe for now. If you agree to this course of action, of course.”
The boy slowly gave another nod, still stunned speechless, and a small smile spread across the mammal’s face, “Excellent! Well, Aizawa will take you back to his apartment, and I shall deal with the remaining logistics!” With that, Nedzu hopped off his shoulder, and scurried away into his vents.
Shaking his head at his boss’ antics, Shouta turned back to the boy, “Get changed, and we’ll go.” His voice was gruff, but not unkind, and he only had to wait a few minutes outside the door before the boy exited the changing room, bag slung over his shoulder. With a simple nod, he pushed off from the wall and led him out of the stadium, heading towards his car.
The drive back to his apartment was quiet, though not necessarily uncomfortable. Both of them were simply trying to wrap their heads around the new development, and adjust. Todoroki’s stay with him was only going to be temporary - likely only until one of his siblings had custody transferred to them - but he was still going to be taking care of an actual human child, which was quite the step up from his cats.
Fortunately, it wasn’t long until they arrived at their destination, and Todoroki trailed after Shouta like a lost duckling.
“Don’t mind the cats,” he grumbled as he unlocked his door, “they won’t hurt you.”
Shouta’s apartment was relatively plain and unfurnished, with only the basics inside. It was comfortable enough for him, anyway, and his cats seemed to like it. Speaking of the little devils, Moondrop, his tuxedo cat, strutted out to greet them, looking to all the world like he owned the place.
Little bastard.
Todoroki blinked at the cat as he stared up at the unfamiliar boy, and Shouta shut the door behind him.
“Put your bags down anywhere, get comfortable, do whatever. I’ll make us some dinner.”
Slowly, the boy nodded, sitting down on the sofa. He sighed as he hung up his capture weapon, and tried to remember what he had in the fridge.
“Sensei.”
He looked at his student as he quietly uttered his first words in hours, “Yeah?”
“...Thank you.”
Shouta huffed slightly, “Just doing my job.”
Mirai smiled and clapped as Mirio accepted his gold medal from Midnight, a small smile set upon his face. The third year sports festival had been quite a heated competition, but Permeation combined with One for All made for an unbeatable adversary. Truly, he was proud of just how far his protégé had come.
The weeks following All Might’s death had been difficult for everyone, but especially so for those who knew the man personally. He’d only been Mirio’s mentor for a few months, but Mirai could tell how much the boy idolised the man, and how his death had devastated him. Still, he had refused to succumb to despair, instead pushing himself further and harder to master One for All and become the Symbol of Hope the country, the world needed.
If Successor truly was the next generation’s All for One, he would meet his match in Lemillion.
And yet… Mirai was worried about the boy. He had been training hard, yes, but perhaps… a little too hard? He couldn’t remember a time since the USJ when the boy wasn’t in the gym, either at school training his body, or at the agency training his Quirk. It was concerning, and reminded him of his predecessor in the worst way. Toshinori, too, constantly pushed himself beyond his limits - it was what had originally caused their schism, after all - and it had left him broken, tired and empty. He didn’t, he wouldn’t , see Mirio meet the same fate.
Mirai sighed. All Might was on everyone’s mind, it seemed, not just his own. Indeed, in a turn of fate that was, frankly, not as surprising as it could have been, all three student pledges this year had paid tribute to the man. The first year, Bakugou, had praised how the man won every fight, and his own desire to channel that spirit of victory. In the second year, Sakamoto had reflected on All Might’s constant refrain of ‘anyone can be a hero’, and how that related to his own life. And, of course, Mirio himself had given a rousing speech about his smile, and the hope that he brought.
All in all, the country was still reeling from the loss of its symbol, and he doubted that would change soon.
Mirai shook his head. All Might had left them, and a complete mess remained. Villains were growing bolder, citizens had lost their sense of safety, and somewhere, lurking within the shadows, Successor and his League of Villains plotted their next move.
Still, All Might had left one more thing behind; a legacy of hope. It was in every soul he’d touched, that burning desire to do good, to be a torch against the darkness, and it shone in no one brighter than it did in Mirio.
Mirai would protect that legacy with his life.
Izuku stepped through the portal, exiting in a cold warehouse in a rundown dockyard. His plans for Stain were progressing smoothly; there were just a few more pieces he needed to put in place. He had a plan for Toogata and Nighteye, one for Nedzu, and plenty of others for all the various annoyances that would appear on the pathway to his ascension.
Yes, all was well.
Now, with some time on his hands, he could set about bringing his empire to heel. Case in point, the Blue Dragon Gang, a relatively small organisation that would otherwise have escaped his attention, had it not been for their past association with his father.
The gang all turned to look at him as he entered. There were around 20 members in total, none of whom had any particularly interesting Quirk or skill of any note. That said, they were one of his father’s sources of Trigger, and he would prefer to have a few backups in place once Japan’s primary source went bust.
The leader, some bald, brutish-looking man, sneered at him, “Y’lost kid? Beat it.”
“Oh no,” Izuku spoke calmly, almost condescendingly, “I’m quite where I want to be. You are the Blue Dragons, yes?”
“What’s it to ya?”
He smiled beneath his mask, “Well, you see, your gang used to have an arrangement with my father, but now it appears you’ve gone your own way.” His eyes gleamed in the dim light, “I request you return to the fold, and we can let bygones be bygones.”
The man stared at him, before laughing harshly, “You really are a mouthy little shit, huh? I don’t give a shit who y’daddy is, make like a tree and fuck off !”
Izuku rolled his eyes. He truly despised dealing with the common rabble. Well, it seemed a show of force was necessary. Regrettable, but what could you do? He pulled his hand out of his pocket, splayed it out in front of him and murmured, “ Rivet Stab style: Spears of Gungnir .”
Instantly, the tips of his fingers morphed into black and red tendrils that shot forth and pierced through the man’s body, striking his heart, lungs, liver and kidneys. He choked, eyes wide, and when Izuku pulled the tendrils away, he collapsed to the ground, dead. Izuku deactivated his Quirk, frowning at the corpse, and wiped his bloody fingers on his handkerchief.
“Now,” he spoke aloud to the stunned warehouse, “does anyone else wish to challenge me?” Silence. “Good.” He nodded, satisfied, before pointing at a member at random, “You will be the new leader. You report to me now. Continue operations as normal until I say otherwise.”
Without waiting for a response, he turned around and walked back through the portal, the swirling vortex closing behind him.
“I do hate using violence to get my way,” he muttered as he hung up his coat, “but sometimes it can’t be helped.”
The smell of curry wafting from the bar eased his consternation somewhat, and he sat down at his plate with a smile. On the other side, Kurogiri watched him eat as he cleaned a glass.
Izuku smiled, “Delicious as always, Kurogiri.”
The noumu’s misty eyes quirked up into a smile, “I am glad.”
He hummed as he ate pieces of perfectly tender chicken, “You know, I don’t think Father ever appreciated you the way he should have. The way I do .”
The bartender hummed, “What makes you say that?”
“As intelligent as he was, he never saw anyone as anything other than a tool for him to use. You, me, Tomura, the Doctor, even my mother. We were all simply means to an end for him, resources to be built and expended as needed. I loved my father, don’t get me wrong, but he was rather short-sighted in that regard.”
Kurogiri gave him a look, and Izuku snorted, “Short-sighted in other ways as well, yes. My point is, you have so much more potential than just being convenient transport and child-rearing. Truthfully, you are a cornerstone of this empire; I couldn’t do this without you.”
The man bowed his head, “I am grateful you think so highly of me.”
He smiled, a soft thing reserved only for family, “I think the world of you, Kurogiri. Thank you for everything, all you did for Tomura and I. I don’t know where I’d be without you.”
“Then I suppose I shall delay my retirement.” Kurogiri’s voice was soft, but laced with amusement, and Izuku couldn’t help but smile back.