Chapter Text
“Hey! You’re hogging the swing it’s my turn.”
Todoroki Shouto is 8 years old when he realizes the world truly doesn’t revolve around him. He’s 8 years old when someone finally decides to defy him; someone tinier and blonder than him.
“I’m serious if you don’t get off I’ll make you get off.” Todoroki huffed once more. The small boy clenched his fists in frustration, trying his best to contain his composure.
The blonde boy showed no signs of interest. He didn’t nod his head nor acknowledge Shouto at all. He didn’t even turn his head to see who was yelling at him! This infuriated Shouto even more.
“I’m talking to you.” Shouto said as he leapt forward, arm grabbing the chain of the swing. “And when I talk to you, you listen.” As he spoke his final words, he yanked the swing as hard as he could.
With his harsh yank, Shouto managed to make the blonde boy fall. He smirked, satisfied with seeing the blonde on the floor. He knew practicing tug-of-war with his brothers was going to come in handy one day!
The blonde boy, who prior had not shown any reactions, finally acknowledged Shouto. He turned his head back with a scowl as fierce as the one Shouto’s mother gave his older brothers when they misbehaved. Red eyes met grey and blue for the first time that day. The blonde boy let out a huff before lifting himself off the floor. He dusted himself off and put his fist up, challenging Todoroki.
Some nerve this kid had! First, he sat on Todoroki’s swing, the same swing his father had donated to the park which ultimately made him the owner, and now wanted to fight him for wanting him off his property.
“Put your fist down. This wouldn’t have happened if you gotten off the swing when I asked you to. Next time, listen when others ask you to do something. Especially when you’re talking to a Todoroki.” Shouto spat, feeling even more angered than he had in the beginning.
The boy didn’t answer. He showed no signs of acknowledgment once more. He continued to hold his fist up, waiting for Shouto to take the first move.
“Don’t you talk?!”
No response.
“Fine if you don’t want to talk, then I’ll have my fist talk to you. Maybe then you’ll understand.”
Todoroki walked closer to the blonde. He raised his fist, as his father had showed him that one time. He was prepared to take down the nuisance who had dared to defy him.
Just as he prepared to take his first swing, a flash of green hair ran in front of him, stopping him from creating an impact to the blonde’s skin.
“Stop it!” The greenette yelled, though it sounded more like a plead to Shouto.
“Huh? This idiot here wanted to fight, so I’m going to give him what he wants.” Shouto replied, fist still raised up.
He recognized the green haired boy before; he was the kid in his class who always cried. He sat in the back and didn’t have much friends from what he saw. Mainly because Shouto and his friends had deemed him as someone not worthy of friendship. His name was Midoriya. Midoriya Izuku the green haired kid with one mom and a notebook he always wrote in.
Midoriya turned quickly behind him and began to do something with his hands. It confused Shouto. He hadn’t seen people move their hands that quick, only in the anime his brother watched. To his surprise again, the blonde boy began to move his hands too. He still carried a scowl on his face.
“C’mon now. Are you really doing that Naruto Justu thing? You guys are seriously pathetic. Face me like a man.”
The two boys continued to ignore him. They waved their hands around and didn’t utter a single word between them.
“HEY! What the hell is going on? Let me fight your friend to put him in his place. Move out the way broccoli.” Shouto yelled in attempt to get their attention.
That caused a reaction in the blonde boy, who had previously stared at him while Midoriya continued to move his hands.
The blonde boy pushed his friend out the way and leapt forward. With his fist raised, he punched Shouto. Shouto fell to the floor while the blonde boy fell on top of him.
“He’s. Not. Broccoli. He’s. Deku.”
As he prepared to give the boy under him another punch, he was pulled back.“Deku”, who he had known as Midoriya, was pulling his friend off of him, tears in his eyes.
“I’m so sorry. He didn’t mean it. He didn’t understand what was happening. Kacchan usually isn’t like this. Please forgive us. We won’t come to this park anymore.” Midoriya mumbled quickly, still holding back his friend. The blonde boy thrashed in his friends arm, letting out loud huffs of air.
Todoroki, who was still on the floor clenching his cheek where he had been punched, looked up at the two boys.
“You’re friend punched me. I’ll let you go when we get even.”
“No please! You can’t hurt Kacchan! Punch me instead. He-He didn’t understand please just punch me instead and let us go. We won’t come here— please just don’t hurt Kacchan.” The younger boy pleaded.
For some strange reason, Shouto no longer felt like getting revenge. He thought of how desperate Midoriya looked and thought that was punishment was enough. A boy crying at the thought of hurting his friend: that was enough suffering for him.
“Tsk. But you two, never come back. In fact, don’t show up to any park that is under the Todoroki name. I’m the youngest Todoroki. If I even hear of you two imbeciles in my park, I’ll rain hell on you. Now get out, you both look pathetic.”
At the word pathetic, “Kacchan” began to thrash again. He kicked and screamed as Midoriya held onto him as hard as he could.
As soon as he had a solid grip of the angry blonde in his arm, Midoriya made his way with Kacchan in toll to the exit of the park. As they reached it, Kacchan turned back, making eye contact with Shouto. Shouto stared intensely before sitting on the swing. He smirked as he watched Kacchan begin to thrash again.
★
Later that night, when Shouto arrived from the park, his mother rushed to his aid, seeing the bruise on his cheek.
“Oh my! Shouto, what happened? What did they do to you my beautiful boy?” She ran as she lifted the young boy onto the counter.
“Fight.” He mumbled, knowing he was going to receive the lecture of his life because of it.
“Enji! Honey come down here. Shouto got into a fight!” She yelled out to his father.
A few moments passed before his father arrived to the kitchen. Shouto faced away from his father, not wanting to see what look he had on his face.
“Shouto,” he spoke with an uncertain tone in his voice. This was it. Shouto had become the problem child. He had beat Touya as the bad kid.
He gulped, swallowing the fear down his throat. He was going to face this lecture as a man. Like a true Todoroki would.
“Shouto, look at me.” And that he did. His eyes met his father. Enji took a deep sigh before continuing on. Shouto knew he was dead.
“Shouto, did you win?” His father laughed out.
“Enji! This is not something to laugh about. He’s injured! Look at his beautiful face!” Rei argued.
“Yeah dad, I won.” Shouto replied, joining his father with his laughter.
“See! He won! That’s good. He’s just like me at that age.” Enji lifted up Shouto and span him in the air. “He truly is my son!” He spoke with pride.
“Enji, please. This isn’t something we should have pride in. If our son sees encouragement in him winning a fight, he might go and start more. Enji talk to him right.” Rei ran a hand through her hair as she spoke.
“Shouto. A true man doesn’t fight. A man only fights when he needs too. But if he does fight, he should always win.” Enji told Shouto as he held the boy to face him.
“That’s even worst! Ah, Shouto go to your room so I can tend to your wounds. You, Enji, stay here we’re going to talk about this.”
And with that, Shouto made his way to his room, a smile spread across his face．
★
“Shouto, sweetie, why did you fight with the person?” Rei sighed.
Laying under his sheets, with an ice pack pressed to his face by his mother’s hands, Shouto felt completely at ease with life. Had it not been for the sudden question, he would’ve soon been to sleep.
“Mom. He didn’t listen to me. I asked him to get off the swing because he had been sitting there for so long. He didn’t listen. All he did was continue to swing. I told him multiple times too! He didn’t even turn around! It made me mad! I had to do something. And then and then after I had finally got his attention his friend came. They started moving their hands around. Almost like in the anime Touya watches it was so weird! I told them something and it made one of them mad and he punched me. But it’s okay because I scared them off, the other boy was crying and I didn’t even lay a hand on him!” Shouto explained. He sat up too angered to keep still.
“Hand waving? Do you think he could’ve been deaf Shouto?”
“Deaf? What’s that?”
“It’s when you can’t hear. Maybe the boy couldn’t hear you. Oh poor thing you must’ve frightened him! He couldn’t understand and he probably thought you were going to do something. Oh my poor-”
“Mom but he could talk! He stared at me and then spoke.When I said something, he responded!” Shouto interrupted ,before his mother could continue feeling empathetic towards the blonde kid who hurt him.
“Maybe he read your lips Sho?”
“I don’t know mom. Even if he was deaf, he didn’t act like it. Someone with a weakness like that wouldn’t have put themselves in a fight. Maybe he was faking it, like our cat. Sometimes she doesn’t listen. Only when she wants too! He’s a cat.”
The boy under the blankets jumped at his realization. He had heard of catboys in those weird mangas Fuyumi insisted on reading. Maybe they were real and maybe Midoriya was really doing ninja justu with him. At the conclusion, Shouto made the decision to pick up manga to prepare himself to face the world better.
“Oh sho!” Rei laughed out. “Maybe he was a cat, but that doesn’t give you an excuse to fight with him. You know how feisty snow is. You should never fight with a cat!”
“Never fight with a cat, got it!”
Rei and Shouto both began to laugh. It was a silly thought. As their laughter died down, Rei became more serious.
“Shouto, if you see that boy again, you play nice. You be nice to him okay? You go and you apologize to him-”
“But mom!!!”
“-I’m serious Shouto. You never know what’s going on in someone’s life. You go and apologize to him. Cat or not, he deserves an apology.”
“And if he punches me again?”
“You get the last punch in. After all, you’re a Todoroki.”