Chapter Text
“You’re abusing him, Endeavor,” The atmosphere in the room is tense, and heated as Aizawa hisses this accusation through clenched teeth. He could feel his anger well inside him and his hands curl together in fist, yet he knows better than to fight with the number two hero. Not now.
Endeavor shrugs off said accusation with a wave and a sneer, “The way I train my son isn’t up for debate-”
And at this, Aizawa snaps, “He’s not your son!” He doesn’t mean to raise his voice or get into an argument, but he’s too far gone, and he continues to snap. “Parents don’t treat their children like this,”
“If you have a problem with it Eraserhead my lawyers would be happy to assist you,” Endeavor states easily, undeterred by outburst and not even a hint of fear or guilt shown on his face that he just admitted to physically abusing (training, he’d argue) his own child.
Aizawa whispers as he turns around towards the down, his hair covering his eyes and his hands clutching and unclutching at his side, “Do want you want, I’m not afraid of you, Endeavor,” and he spits out Endeavor as if it’s venom in his mouth. He only stops when he reaches the door, and to say one last parting words to the number two
“But the kid is coming with me,”
Todoroki lets his head relax against the cool window of the moving car, his eyes droopy and heavy, and all he truly wants is to go to sleep. Slowly, he shifts his eyes towards his homeroom teacher who merely drives in silence. Aizawa, too, looks like all he wants to do it sleep, and his arm sports a large first degree burn in the shape of a hand print.
He sighs and turns his eyes back towards the road.
“I’m sorry for the burn,” Todoroki apologies, breaking the silence for the rest time since he got into the car.
Aizawa hums with a quick roll of his eyes, “Don’t apologize, kid, you didn’t do anything wrong,” he shrugs, “I should be apologizing, this was more difficult than intended,”
“Why’d you do this?” Todoroki whispers, still not adverting his gaze from the road, and he hates how quiet his voice sounds, how low and how soft. Nervously, he brings his fingers up to pick at the scarring surrounding his left eye.
His father hated his nervous tick.
“I noticed the bruise on your stomach during training,” Aizawa responds after a few moments of mulling over the question, and Todoroki winces at the observation. He gone through extra care to make sure no one noticed the purple and blue wound on his stomach. “I was worried about you,”
“Oh,” was all Todoroki says.
“You’re not taking him,” Endeavor states, rising to his feet and using his height as a show of superiority.
Luckily for Aizawa, he meant what he said when he said he wasn’t afraid of Endeavor. Turning around to face Endeavor, he tilts his head in defiance. “Don’t try to stop me,” he responds blandly, and pivots back around to leave and find Todoroki.
“If you take him off this premises the police will hear of this, Eraserhead,” Endeavor threatens, but the threat falls on deaf ears.
“I already told you I’m not afraid of you,” Aizawa restates, and a smirk stretches across his face almost bitterly, “But I’m sure the press would love to hear of a scandal featuring the flame hero, Endeavor. I’m sure they have a special place in prison for villains like you,” Aizawa spits out angrily, and doesn’t miss the way Endeavor’s eyes narrow. “Unless you want to be stripped of your hero status, I suggest you give me Shouto,”
Endeavor takes a breath, “No one would believe your accusations,”
“Do you want to find out?”
“Are you hungry?” Aizawa asks him as he shoves the keys into the lock and twists it. “We can cook you something if you want,”
It doesn’t go pass Todoroki of how Aizawa says ‘we’, but he doesn’t comment on it. “I ate dinner,” he states quickly, and Aizawa hums in confirmation.
Finally, he opens the door and the warmth of inside is what hits Todoroki first. The second thing that hits him is the low meowing of a black and grey kitten that comes tumbling down the stairs to greet Aizawa. As soon as the cat reaches the door, it rubs up against his legs and purrs.
“That’s Mitsu,” Aizawa says, slipping off his shoes and inclines his head to invite Todoroki in.
Todoroki doesn’t take his eyes off the purring cat, even when he takes off his shoes and coat.
“You can pet her,” Aizawa breaks the silence again, “We have another one, his name is Sora, he’s quite old, doesn’t come out as much,
He said we, again, Todoroki thinks, now kneeling to place his hand on the kitten’s head. Mitsu purrs loudly, continuing to rub up against Todoroki’s outstretched hand.
Aizawa watches the scene before him for a couple more seconds, then nods - mostly to himself. “We’re home,” he calls out, and gets an incoherent shout in response.
“There’s a room prepared for you,” Aizawa explains, and Todoroki stands despites Mitsu’s loud complaints. “If you need anything don’t hesitate to ask one of us,”
Just as Todoroki was going to ask who ‘us’ was, someone emerges from one of the bedrooms. Todoroki tilts his head, eyes narrowing at the person. He’s tall and lengthy, with long limbs and arms. His hair goes down to his mid back and is tied back with a single black hair tie. The only thing that gives away who it is, is the very distinct mustache.
“Present Mic?” he whispers, and once again is shocked how quiet he sounds.
Present Mic’s smile widens, “Hello, Todoroki! Welcome home!” Then, he practically dances his way to Aizawa to peck his cheek in greeting. He scans over Aizawa a few times, before his gaze meets the handprint that’s wrapped around Aizawa’s forearm.
Gasping, he asks, “What happened?”
“Endeavor,” was Aizawa simple explanation. “I’ll tell you about it later, but first…” he turns back to Todoroki, who’s watching the scene with wide eyes and an unreadable expression.
“Let me show you your new room,”
It happened fast, Aizawa thinks, too fast.
Just as him and Todoroki were about to leave, Endeavor appeared at the front door with an angered expression and loomed over the two of them. After spitting out insults and other various complaints to the other pro-hero, he reached to wrap and arm around Todoroki’s arm.
Instinctively, Aizawa pushes forward and Endeavor wraps his hand around the slim forearm.
He feels the heat coming from Endeavor’s hand quickly, it burns and had he been anyone else he would’ve winced back from the prickling pain. He activates his quirk, slightly scared what would happen if he didn’t, and erases the hell flame quirk from Endeavor easily.
The heat disappears from his arm, and Aizawa quickly wrangles his arm away from his grasp, hissing at the red mark that stands out against the pale skin.
Ignoring the stingy pain, Aizawa allows the dark eyes to glare into Endeavors.
“We’ll be going now,”
Todoroki finds himself outside around twelve with Sora - a large, white cat with bright blue eyes - on his lap. It’s difficult to sleep, so he goes outside. The cool wind blowing against his skin feels nice, and the soft cat beneath his hands grounds him.
He doesn’t know how long he’s been here, but he does know when someone steps out from the front door and sits down on the steps next to him.
Todoroki tenses habitually, preparing for a fight.
“Calm down, it’s just me,” Aizawa states quietly, and Todoroki does exactly that.
The two lapses into silence, the only sound is the loud purring of Sora and the wind hitting the wooden house. Aizawa brings a finger up to point to the house right across from theirs, and says,
“An old woman lives there, I don’t know her name,” he explains, and Todoroki doesn’t know why he’s explaining but he appreciates the distraction, “But she loves Hizashi, brings him cookies once a month,”
He then moves to point to the house next to the Cookie Lady, “A family lives there. The parents have three kids; two boys and one girl. The girl wants to be a hero,”
“They’re from the west,” he then moves to point to the house right next to theirs, “Their Japanese is a little off, but they’re good people. Roommates, I believe, I think they may be moving back west soon,”
Todoroki hums in acknowledgement, “Who lives there?” he asks, pointing to the house on the other side of the old lady.
“Ah,” Aizawa chuckles to himself, “One of my old General Studies students, actually. She’s the one who gave us Mitsu,”
Todoroki nods at the newfound knowledge, going through each of his new neighbors and storing it in case it’s needed for later.
He hopes the old lady brings cookies soon.
The front door opens again, and a thick blanket finds its way onto Todoroki’s shoulders, warming him instantly. He curls the blanket around him tighter and murmurs a thanks to Present Mic for the blanket.
“No problem,” he says, and Todoroki notices how quiet he is compared to in the classroom.
Placing a nearly identical blanket on Aizawa, he sits next to his husband and hums. “What’re you talking about?”
“The neighbors,” Aizawa answers, and doesn’t verify further. It seems the answer is enough for Present Mic, because he smiles and curls himself into Aizawa’s arms childishly.
“I hope you enjoy it here,” Present Mic says to Todoroki, although his eyes remain to stare at the stars in the sky.
Todoroki doesn’t respond right away. He takes his time to look at Aizawa and Hizashi, curled together like a perfect couple with a happy marriage - something he has hardly seen before. He then runs his hand down the spine of the white cat on his lap, and he smiles.
He thinks he’ll enjoy it here.
“Your heart’s in wide receiving
been too long buried in the sand
some things require leaving
this gift will fall right in your hand,”