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“Stain.” He wasn’t yet used to a voice hissing in his ear. The kid better have a good reason for distracting him. “Two is here.” Followed by an address. Okay, that was a good reason.
“Better hurry,” Chizome thought to himself. Dabi might do something stupid. He had Native against the wall, slice his throat and be done. A hero attacked Stain. He knocked the armored newcomer aside only to realize it was a kid, not a hero. “Leave me be. Even children can become my targets.” He warned the teenager. He hated killing kids, most couldn’t help but be tricked by the lies of fake hero culture.
This boy started talking about revenge. Stain should to stay and determine the character of this wannabe hero. “Stain! He’s making quick work of these things. Get here now!” Dabi yelled over his earpiece.
Stain made a noise of frustration. He loathed to leave work unfinished but bigger fish. The whale about to die was far more important than angry teenager. He decapitated Native and incapacitated the teen in three quick moves.
“Two minutes.” Stain scaled the alley wall.
“He’s moving. I’m going in.”
Stain didn’t waste breath berating his hot-headed accomplice.
Endeavor didn’t work well with others, everybody knew and gave him and his deadly flames a wide berth. The only person anywhere near him was Shoto. Shoto focused on moving civilians rather than watch Endeavor fight, he’d seen more than enough of that. Endeavor landed after throwing a fire spear at the flying Nomu. He watched the monster retreat and didn’t notice the person behind him. Multiple throwing daggers hurtled at his back. Endeavor reacted quickly enough to dodge or deflect all the projectiles except one, which was mostly stopped by his armored suit. On the tail of these weapons, a person ran straight at Endeavor, whom instinctively created a wave of fire.
The assailant remained completely unperturbed by the fire, diving right through it. Endeavor rarely fought anyone fire-proof. He didn’t respond quickly enough to prevent the attacker from ducking behind him and stabbing him in the back of the knee. He buried a short sword in the unarmored joint and then withdrew. Endeavor roared and launched another fire attack at the retreating figure. This was easily countered with a flash of blue flame.
The young man stopped between Shoto and Endeavor. Bloody sword held slightly behind his back as if shielding it from the flames.
Shoto prepared to intervene but stopped dead when he heard an unfamiliar voice utter a familiar phrase “Easy Sho-chan. I won’t let the bastard hurt you anymore.” He glanced away from Endeavor to give Shoto a fond look. Shoto took in the scared face and blue eyes. More than that his stance sparked old memories. He stood facing Endeavor as if guarding Shoto, blue flames in one hand backlit by Endeavor’s angry red. “What? Can’t you recognize your big brother?”
This also made Endeavor pause. Shoto couldn’t believe it, not yet. “No.” Shoto managed with more conviction than he actually felt. “He’s dead.”
“Yeah?” A mirthless chuckle. He didn’t lower his guard to Endeavor but managed to smirk at Shoto. “Who told you that?”
“Shoto!” Endeavor screamed, and went ignored.
“Did you ever get sight back in your eye after Mom? Does Sis still have that scar from when he knocked her down? How many times has Natsuo fainted trying to use his quirk?” He watched a furious Endeavor as he listed facts only a Todoroki could know.
“Toya.” Shoto stood frozen as if encased in his own ice. He could remember clearly now, an early training session, Toya stepping in, taking a hit for him, blue flames shielding them both.
“Sorry it took me so long, Sho-chan.” Endeavor was slowly approaching so he couldn’t risk a glance back, but there was a smile in his voice. “Someone threatened to kill me if I ever contacted you again.”
“Lies! Shoto, burn him!”
Toya twitched as if hearing something. He threw his short sword to the side and used both hands to send distracting flames at Endeavor. At first this looked like an overly dramatic way to free his hands but movement came from the direction of his throw. A streak of red and white landed just in time to catch Toya’s sword. Onlooking heroes, never mind civilians, barely had a moment to recognize Hero Killer Stain before he was moving again.
Endeavor’s flames flickered and went out. He stood frozen, eyes wide in surprise for half a second until the Hero Killer’s blade connected. Dark red hung in the air for a moment, almost a perverted version of his flame mustache. The illusion shattered when he collapsed.
The street of witnesses were panicking. Stunned silence, screams, shouts, and vomiting. Shoto barely heard it over the blood rushing in his ears. Was he screaming? Was he shivering without having used his ice? Was that rough feeling under his hands pavement? He didn’t know answers to any of these questions until a rough pair of arms wrapped around him.
“It’s okay, Sho-chan. He can’t hurt you anymore. Everything will be fine.” Toya’s voice scratchier and deeper than he remembered but just as soothing. “You’re safe, now.” He sounded happy. Should Shoto be happy? relieved? He didn’t feel it. How was one supposed to feel when the monster they had centered their entire life around was missing half his head, limp, bleeding in the road? Numb, numb was the answer. He limply allowed Toya’s hold. Stain was saying something but it didn’t register as words.
“Todoroki!” With a shout and a flash of green lightning, Toya was ripped away from him. Toya landed on his ass several yards away, still grinning like a maniac. “Todoroki-kun, are you alright?” For the second time that evening someone stood over him protectively.
“Midoriya…” Shoto wasn’t sure this wasn’t some kind hallucination. Midoriya looked down at him with visible concern.
“Take care of Sho-chan for me, Hero.” Toya grinned then began to run. Shoto learned why a second later as his frazzled mind registered pro heroes approaching. Toya and Stain fleeing the scene of Endeavor’s murder, pros hot on their heals.
“NO!” Shoto slapped his right palm to the pavement, creating a glacier between the retreating killers and heroes. He was shivering again.
“Todoroki-kun?” Midoriya crouched next to him. Shoto grasped his jumpsuit so he won’t leave. Was it wrong that Midoriya’s presence was more comforting than his brother’s. Midoriya held his shoulders and Shoto realized what he just did. He dared to look at the angry heroes standing nearby.
“I can’t…” say this to them. He had to look back at Midoriya. “He’s my brother.”
A bystander with a phone caught this confession and it ended up online with the rest of the fight. Videos immediately started circling the web. Most searched items; ENDEAVOR DEATH HERO KILLER TODOROKI. The most popular video ‘made Stain look cool’. The most difficult to find one was created by Todoroki Toya himself. A collection of articles and news reports showing Endeavor’s cruelty and carelessness for civilians, the only audio, self-named Hero Killer Dabi describing his childhood and father’s abuse in vivid, brutal detail. Obviously this one was removed as soon as it appeared on any policed site. Most of 1-A had the decency not to watch this video, or the one that focused entirely on Shoto’s panicking face and how he refused to let go of Midoriya until the pros forced the camera-man to leave.