Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Shouto didn't remember much after he left the dorms on Friday night. He remembered being told by Aizawa-sensei that his father had gotten permission from the school to have him home for the weekend, which, of course he did, he's the Number One hero now, why would they suspect anything about that? He remembered the dread he felt, the sinking in his stomach when he got a text not long afterward as he packed a bag: a single message from his father.

flaming piece of shit 👎

You will be home this weekend to train. There is no excuse for failing your license exam.

As if that didn't make Shouto low-key want to pull a Midoriya and break a few bones just to stay in Recovery Girl's office instead.

Yeah. Right. Like he wouldn't have a couple broken bones anyway from the old man's 'training'. Wonderful.

So now here he sat on Saturday night, all lights out, sitting in the bathroom with his brother while Natsuo tried his best to patch him up in a way their father wouldn't notice.

"Nii-san, I'm okay, really."

"Shouto, hush," Natsuo halfheartedly glared at him. "You know as well as I do that you're not. I'm not just gonna stand back and let you suffer if I can help. This house is a damn nightmare. It's why as soon as I was legal I got the hell outta here, and you should do the same."

"I'm fine," Shouto insisted. "I have Fuyumi-nee."

"I love Fuyumi, but she's halfway delusional," Natsuo rolled his eyes. "She still has this ideation in her head that the piece of shit is 'trying to be better' and we can all be a 'family' again. As if we ever were."

Shouto nodded. "I know. But she cares about us, too."

"You're right, but that doesn't mean that she doesn't stand back and let this happen to you. Never speaks up to the old bastard to help you, or convince him to lay off. You're better off just sneaking out tonight and coming to stay with me at my apartment. I'll tell my partner to stay at their's tonight, it'll just be you and me."

The change of topic was a gladly taken one, and Shouto smirked at his brother. "You mean your secret boyfriend, Hawks?"

Natsuo sputtered. "How did you know?"

Despite himself, and the situation the shitty, tiring day Shouto had, he quietly laughed at his brother's shock and indignation. Natsuo shook his head and smiled, grabbing the antiseptic wipes from the first aid kit and opening the pack to continue seeing to Shouto's cuts and wounds from training.

Even knowing that he would get in trouble for it later, Shouto ended up taking Natsuo's advice and snuck out later that night after his brother had gone home, leaving him a message to let him know he was coming.

shouto 🔥❄️

i did it. i'm on my way.

 

natsu 🙂

sick!! i'll get some snacks ready and we can binge watch something!!

 

shouto 🔥❄️

okay.

thanks, natsu.

...

:)

Shouto had expected to find trouble for sneaking out. But he was thinking more punishment from his father, not finding someone injured in an alleyway. 

He'd thought at first that the faint groaning sounds were just some homeless person, probably hungry or something. So Shouto, the kind soul he is who loved to give away the abundant allowance of money his father gave him, cautiously approached them. The idea of it being a trick from a villain was in the forefront of his mind, since he could never be too careful with all that had happened to him and his class this year so far, so despite his idea to help, he was still on edge.

But it wasn't some homeless, hungry person. It was someone bleeding out on the pavement behind a dumpster. 

Shouto threw all caution to the wind and dropped to his knees next to the person, rolled over on their stomach, and shook their shoulder to let them know that there was someone there. "My name is Todoroki Shouto. Can I turn you over to assess your wounds?"

"...Todorok-ki? K-Kid?"

Oh, shit, Shouto recognized that voice.

"Sensei?" Shouto rolled the person over, and was greeted with the pale, blood-drained face of his homeroom teacher. "Shit."

Aizawa opened his mouth to speak, but choked on a bloody cough before any words could come out. Shouto quickly pulled his phone out of his back pocket and dialed 119, putting it on speakerphone and already getting to work on helping Aizawa's wounds from bleeding anymore.

He tore his shirt━very expensive shirt, his father would kill him━up to the middle of his torso so he'd have more material to use, bundling it up and pressing it over the darkest spot on Aizawa's hero costume, where he assumed the gut wound originated from. 

"119, what's your emergency?"

"I've found a hero gravely injured. I'm issuing aid as we speak," Shouto panted in slight fear, fighting to keep it under a tight lid so his teacher wouldn't panic either. "I need an ambulance to my location, my phone's GPS tracker is on. I'm applying pressure to the wound."

"Understood, sir, we'll send someone immediately. Please stay on the line."

Aizawa's breathing was labored and choppy, his hair matted to his face with blood and sweat. The torn fabric was already soaked through with blood and Shouto's hands were covered in it. The pressure he was pressing down hurt wrist, probably fractured from earlier training with the old man, and his own breathing was unsteady from likely bruised or broken ribs, but Shouto's only focus was keeping his teacher alive.

"T-Thanks, kid..." Aizawa gasped. "Don't kn-know how y-you know to d-do this, bu-but━"

"Don't talk," Shouto said. "Focus on breathing and staying conscious, sensei."

But instead of listening to Shouto's advice, Aizawa's head rolled to the side, eyes shut. 

Shouto cursed. "The hero has lost consciousness," he told emergency services over the phone. "Checking for a pulse."

As he said, Shouto pressed two fingers to Aizawa's neck, over his carotid artery, and swore again when he felt nothing there after a few seconds. "Damnit. No pulse, I'm starting CPR."

"You're doing amazing, sir. Please stand by, the paramedics are almost there."

Shouto let go of the bloodied cloth and did what Natsuo told him to do in situations like this if he ever faced one. He started pushing the cloth into the open wound with his thumb until it was sufficiently plugging the blood flow. When it was mostly in, Shouto straddled Aizawa's torso and crossed his palms over one another, starting compressions on Aizawa's sternum. 

He counted under his breath, remembering his brother's teachings. 30 compressions, 2 breaths, check for pulse and breathing, repeat if necessary and until professionals can take over or someone can stand in. The pressure of pressing his wrist downward with the other was sending waves of agony up Shouto's arm. "━27, 28, 29, 30."

Tilting Aizawa's head back by his chin, Shouto pinched his nose closed and gave one breath, then another, and leaned his ear down on Aizawa's chest to listen for movement. When he found none, Shouto started over again. "1, 2, 3, 4, 5━"

In the end, Shouto had to repeat the process several more times before sirens roared in his ears and red and blue lights flashed from the corners of his eyes. Shouto didn't stop his movements until a paramedic came over with an AED. Shouto tore the front of Aizawa's costume open for the paramedics to attach the shock pads to his chest, one to the right pec and one to the left side of his torso, under his left pec. 

Everything afterward was a hazy blur.

Shouto at some point was pulled off of his teacher and he could faintly hear a paramedic praising him for his quick acting and keeping calm in the situation until they arrived, but the voice was dull and distant over the ringing in his ears. The only thing he really remembered after that was refusing to leave his teacher's side when they put him in the back of the ambulance, and the paramedics had no time to argue so they let him ride with him after Shouto told them his teacher's identity and that he was a member of his class at U.A.

He didn't breathe contently again until Aizawa was hooked to an IV drip and stabilized on his gurney, a heart monitor beeping with the sounds of his teacher's restored pulse, and he reached out to grab Aizawa's unconscious hand in a move to ground himself with the fact that he was alive, Shouto saved him, he did well, Aizawa wouldn't die.

His hands were still bloodied, and his wrist was now at a slightly awkward angle, but none of that mattered to Shouto. He wasn't worried about that. All he cared about was making sure his teacher, who had risked himself for his and his classmates' sakes so many times, would live to see the morning.

Shouto was made to sit in the waiting room while they took Aizawa into emergency surgery. He refused any assistance from nurses who offered to get him some clean clothes or help him wipe off his hands and arms, instead just asked them to keep him updated on his progress and if anyone was coming for him. The nurses assured Shouto that they had called Aizawa's emergency contact upon his arrival after they'd taken him into the OR, and though it slightly eased Shouto's conscious, he still refused to leave. That was his teacher. His teacher's blood was coating his hands, under his nails, seeping into his skin, oh god━

"Todoroki? Is that you, little listener?"

The voice was familiar, finally, and Shouto looked up to see his English teacher, dressed down and out of costume, with worry lines pinching his face. He wore regular glasses instead of his usual strangely-shaped sunglasses, a pair of black sweatpants and a mustard yellow hoodie that looked haphazardly thrown on.

Shouto's voice was hoarse with emotion when he responded. "Hello, Yamada-sensei."

"You alright, kiddo?"

He went to nod, on instinct, but remembered that his father wasn't here to punish him for not being strong, and he instead dropped his head back down, holding his hands between his knees. "I don't think so."

"What happened? I was called in for Shouta, they didn't tell me you were here too," Yamada sounded confused.

"I was walking to my brother's apartment," Shouto said thickly. "I heard a noise in an alley. I was on edge, but I thought it was just some homeless person who needed money for food, so I was going to offer them some of my money to help them. But when I got there━" Shouto's breath shuddered. "I found Aizawa-sensei on the ground."

Yamada crouched down in front of him, putting a hand on the knee of his blood-soaked jeans, seemingly uncaring about getting it on his own hands. "I'm glad you found him, little listener. Have you called your brother to let him know why you never showed up?"

Shouto shook his head. Yamada was right, he should call Natsuo. 

He pulled out his phone with shaky, bloodied hands. He nearly dropped it, but Yamada caught it and offered his other hand for Shouto to hold for support. "Here, kiddo, I'll dial the number from your contacts for you, and if you want, I'll do the talkin' for ya, that sound alright?"

"Y-Yeah," Shouto nodded. "Okay."

The phone rang not even twice before Natsuo picked up the phone, and Yamada put it on speaker for Shouto to respond after Natsuo spoke. "Shouto, where are you?! Are you alright?! You were supposed to be here an hour ago!"

"I'm sorry, Nii-san," Shouto said. "I can't come over anymore."

"What? Why?"

Yamada gave Shouto a smile and spoke for him instead. "Hi, Todoroki-san, this is Yamada Hizashi, one of Shouto-kun's teachers. There's no need to worry, he's safe and in good hands. We're at Musutafu General Hospital."

"Oh, shit, did something happen?! Was it a villain attack?! Shouto, say the word and I'll be on my way."

"I'm fine, Nii-san. I found my homeroom teacher injured on his patrol and stayed to help after I called 119."

"That's good. I mean━! Not good that your teacher is hurt! I mean, good that you stayed to help! Fuck, that came out wrong. Sorry. I'm glad you and your teacher are okay, Shouto. Don't worry about the old man, I'll tell him you went back to school to finish an assignment so you can stay with your teacher. How's your wrist?"

"Um," Shouto nervously eyed Yamada, who seemingly just noticed the weird angle his wrist was bent at beneath the red staining his pale skin and was looking at it with worry. "I think it's still fractured, maybe broken. It wasn't bad earlier, but I had to do CPR."

Yamada's eyes bulged and water gathered from his tear ducts behind his glasses. Shouto figured it was probably from hearing that Aizawa lost his pulse after Shouto found him.

"Was there someone there you could have switched out with after a few rounds? How long were you doing compressions and breaths?"

"No, I was alone. I think around 8 minutes, the paramedics took over with an AED when they showed up."

"Shit, Shouto," Natsuo stressed. "Are you sure you don't need me to come to the hospital?" 

"I'm sure," he nodded, though his brother couldn't see it. "I just want to stay and make sure Aizawa-sensei is okay. He's in the OR. I wanna be here when he wakes up."

"That could be hours, even days, Shouto, you know that."

"I don't care. I want to apologize to him."

Yamada furrowed his eyebrows. "Apologize for what, kiddo?"

Shouto frowned. "For not getting there in time. If I had been there sooner━"

"Little listener, I haven't talked to any doctors yet, but I'm pretty sure you saved his life," Yamada said, as if it were obvious and Shouto was missing that fact. "You did CPR for 8 minutes straight with no breaks, with a fractured wrist. I won't ask you how that happened, but doing something like that with the injury you have is was very heroic of you."

"But━"

"No buts, Shouto," Natsuo said. "Your teacher's right. I'm so proud of you."

Tears sprung to Shouto's eyes without his permission. "Thanks, Nii-san. I'm going to hang up so I can wait for news with Yamada-sensei. I'll text you soon."

"You better! Had me worried sick!"

"Sorry, Nii-san," Shouto wearily laughed. "It won't happen again."

"I'll talk to you later, Shouto... Love you."

"...Love you too. Bye."

It was quiet for a moment after Shouto hung up the phone with Natsuo. Yamada kept his hand on Shouto's knee and placed his phone on the chair next to him, staying crouched to the tile floor in front of Shouto. Instead of keeping his free hand to himself, Yamada held it out in a silent offer for Shouto to hold it, in an act of silent support.

"I-I don't want to get your hands dirty," Shouto tried to decline. His chest clenched.

"I don't care about that, kiddo. I think we both need it right now."

Shouto sighed, the tension in his shoulders slightly lessened, and gently grabbed Yamada's outstretched hand. The large but slender hand clenched his own in a tight grasp, but not enough to hurt. He was mindful not to bump Shouto's other arm, the one with the fractured━broken?━wrist. Dried blood was starting to cake onto his skin, and was transferring over to his teachers, but like he said, he didn't seem to mind, even if it was Aizawa's blood and not Shouto's own.

After a long two hours, Shouto trembling softly in his chair from the events of the night and the pain in his wrist and ribs, and Yamada sitting on the floor in front of him in silent, companionable support, their hands clasped together the whole time, a surgeon finally walked in and called for Yamada. 

"Yamada-san?"

Both of them stood upright, though Shouto wasn't called for, he knew exactly what the surgeon's entrance meant.

The surgeon eyed Shouto, like he wasn't sure if he was allowed to speak the details of Aizawa's condition to anyone but Yamada. Yamada noticed this and wrapped a gentle arm over Shouto's shoulders to show that it was alright. "How's Shouta doing?"

"He's been stabilized. The surgery went perfectly well, we had no difficulties with his injuries. Aizawa-san did not flatline once, and there were no lacerations or tears to any vital organs. He was lucky that whoever did this didn't seem to be experienced in the weapon they used. Is this the boy who we found on scene with him?"

Shouto nodded. "Yes, that's me."

The surgeon smiled. "Aizawa-san was very fortunate that you knew how to handle the situation. You did well with the limited resources you had, and you did everything right. Normally we don't use already-blood-soaked cloths to stuff internal wounds like you did, but in the situation, it may very well have been what saved his life in the end after he was revived on the scene. You should be proud, son."

Shouto's knees gave out in his relief, and Yamada barely caught him in time before he hit the ground. He sunk to the floor next to Shouto and brought his face into his shoulder, letting Shouto privately cry his tears. 

"You did so good, kiddo," Yamada sobbed. "You did so good. I'm so proud of you, so proud. Thank you, thank you, thank you."

Yamada pressed kisses to the crown of his head, like Shouto imagined a good father would do to their child. The actions made his tears come faster, and his chest shake with silent cries. He hadn't received a loving action like that since before his mother was sent away as a child. It had been over a decade. 

So in all fairness, Shouto thought his tears were justified. 

Shouto was grateful that Yamada seemed to recognize his allergy to leaving Aizawa's side, because when the nurse came around to tell them that visiting hours were over, he showed her his hero license and told her his affiliation to the patient and said he would be keeping Shouto there with him.

Well, Shouto hadn't expected to find out his teachers were married to each other, but he wasn't exactly surprised.

Sometime during his stay by Aizawa's bedside, Yamada had taken a rag from the bathroom in the private suite and dampened it to wipe off his and Shouto's hands, so now his hands were, thankfully, washed clean of any blood. 

"I didn't know Shouta had taught you guys first aid for rescue scenes yet," Yamada smiled. "I'm glad he did."

"He didn't," Shouto said. "My brother is in university studying in a medical field to be a paramedic himself. He taught me first aid."

"Kiddo, what you did wasn't first aid," Yamada's jaw dropped. "Any medical professional would see what you did and think you were BLS and CPR certified."

"BLS?" Shouto questioned.

"Basic Life Support," Yamada said. "What you did was on the level of trained medical professionals, Todoroki. Not to mention how long you performed CPR with your own injuries, which, again, I won't ask about unless you're comfortable with it."

Shouto shook his head adamantly, to both things Yamada said. "I was just doing what I had to. I wasn't even thinking about being heroic or anything the doctors and paramedics said. I just... I couldn't let him die there. I would have done it for anyone. At first, I didn't even know it was Aizawa-sensei. He was lying on his stomach, so I told him my name and asked if I could roll him over to assess his injuries. He repeated my name like it was a question, and I recognized his voice."

"What happened after that?"

Shouto hesitated, but told him. "He was coughing blood, so I told him not to speak and to focus on his breathing instead and staying conscious. But... he passed out right after I said it. I informed the dispatcher that he lost consciousness and I was checking for a pulse, but there was none. I straddled him so I could have a better angle for compressions and told them I was starting CPR."

"You know how to do CPR even though you're not certified? And for eight minutes?"

"Thirty compressions to the sternum, tilt the chin back to open the airway, close the nostrils, give two breaths big enough to make the chest rise, carefully lower their head back down, restart compressions, repeat," Shouto recited what Natsuo had taught him once, several years ago without their father knowing.

"That's... That's amazing, kiddo," Yamada breathed, shaking his head in amazement. "I've never been able to last longer that three minutes at a time doing CPR on a victim without needing to switch out, and I've been doing this for over ten years."

"He's... He's Aizawa-sensei. He's saved us so many times. Even if he hadn't, I couldn't just leave him there."

Yamada smiled gently at Shouto. "I'm glad ya didn't, kiddo. You saved his life, and you saved me from being a widower before I start going gray."

"Does he get injured like this a lot? Being an underground hero?"

"Sometimes, yes," Yamada nodded, sighing. "Being a hero is dangerous, but underground? That's where a lot of the more dangerous stuff is. Drug rings, trafficking rings, assaults, kidnappings, sometimes robberies. Normal heroes deal with this stuff sometimes, too, but underground heroes see it nearly every night. If you ask me? Underground heroes are the real heroes of this world. And I'm not just sayin' it because Shouta's one, I really mean it."

"...For a while I thought about not becoming a hero," Shouto admitted to the silence that followed Yamada's claim. "I wanted to be a hero like All Might when I was a kid, but there was a couple years where I lost all interest."

"Yeah?"

Shouto nodded. "Yeah."

"Well," Yamada smiled at him again. "I'm glad you chose to be one, Todoroki. You're going to be an amazing hero after you graduate."

"...Thanks, Yamada-sensei."

"No problem, kiddo."

By the next morning, Aizawa finally woke up. Shouto still hadn't slept, opting to eagerly and slightly impatiently wait for his teacher to wake, but Yamada was on the other side of the bed snoozing away in peace with his head laid next to Aizawa's thigh, his chair pulled close to the bed.

Shouto met the confused gaze of his teacher, who asked, "Todoroki? What are you doing here?"

"You... don't remember?" Shouto blinked.

Aizawa shook his head, wincing slightly. "No. Why is your shirt all torn up like that? And the blood on your pants?"

Shouto grimaced. He still hadn't changed or showered, either. "I'm the one who found you, sensei. I called the ambulance that brought you here."

"Shit, kid, I'm sorry you had to see that."

"I'm really glad you're alive, sensei," Shouto said. "That... That's all I care about."

"So the torn shirt..?"

"Pressure to your wound," Shouto nodded.

Aizawa's lips thinned. "How long have you been here? It doesn't look too light out, so visiting hours can't have started yet."

"Yamada-sensei convinced them to let me stay. It's been about seven hours since we arrived in the ambulance."

"Have you slept at all, kid?"

"No. I've been waiting for you to wake up. It's around 8 AM, so the doctor should be coming by any minute to check your vitals. How are you feeling, sensei?"

Aizawa's eyes softened, which Shouto had never seen them do before, but he didn't let his shock show. "Nothing I can't handle. Thanks, Todoroki."

A few minutes later, Yamada woke to the sounds of their conversation and not long after that, the doctor came in, like Shouto had predicted.

"Good morning, Aizawa-san," she smiled. "My name is Dr. Suzuki. Did you rest well?"

"Yes, thank you."

"Great!" Dr. Suzuki grinned. "These two haven't left your side since you returned from surgery, they've been very worried. I'm just going to check your vitals, and if you have any questions, don't be too shy to ask."

As Dr. Suzuki set out to do her job, Aizawa took advantage of her offer. "How long did the operation take?"

"Roughly two and a half hours," she told him. "Had it not been for this boy here, it would have been longer. We did not have nearly as much trouble as we thought we would when we got the emergency call, thanks to your student's quick thinking and skills."

"That so?" Aizawa raised his eyebrows, stunned. "I don't remember much."

"Perfectly normal," Dr. Suzuki said. "Would you like a recount of last night's events?"

"Yes, please. Thank you."

Shouto avoided Aizawa's eyes as she told him of how Shouto called and professionally handled the situation, staying calm and telling the dispatcher everything he did as he acted. He felt his cheeks heat slightly when he felt his teacher looking at him, stunned as she explained how long Shouto performed CPR after losing Aizawa's pulse, and how he knew to tear the front of his shirt when the medics arrived with the AED, and even how when he had to shift from putting pressure on the wound to doing CPR, he stuffed the wound to keep the bleeding at a slow rate. 

When she finished, Shouto reluctantly looked up to see Yamada's proud smile and Aizawa's suspiciously, uncharacteristically watery eyes and dropped jaw.

"You were very lucky, Aizawa-san," Dr. Suzuki finished. "Had it been anyone else with less experience, you likely wouldn't have even made it to the OR."

"So I hear," Aizawa rasped. "I... I don't know what to say, kid. You saved my life."

Shouto looked back to his feet, feeling tears in his eyes again. Damnit, he'd cried enough tears for the next two years, stop it already. "I couldn't let you die if there was something I could do about it. Not after all you've done for m-us. For our class."

He mentally cursed himself for the near slip-up. His teachers didn't know about how safe he felt at school, away from his father's hands and scalding fire. They didn't need to know. They probably wouldn't believe him anyway, with Endeavor being the new Number One hero and having been the Number Two for over twenty years.

"Still," Aizawa insisted. "Thanks."

Shouto nodded, still avoiding looking up from the floor. "You're welcome, sensei."

After Dr. Suzuki made sure his vitals were in good shape, she left the room with a small bow and a smile.

"...I didn't know you were BLS certified, Todoroki. I wasn't planning on teaching you all about victim aid for another month."

Shouto shook his head. "I'm not. My brother is studying to be a paramedic, he taught me first aid."

Yamada laughed softly. "Listener, we talked about this. What you did was not first aid."

"Right, sorry."

"Kid, you have nothing to be sorry for," Aizawa said, his voice still hoarse with disuse and dryness but still somehow stern. "Doing what you did with no real practice was nothing short of a damn miracle. It takes medical pros months to do those things."

Aizawa eyed Shouto properly for the first time since he woke. "Did the CPR injure your wrist? 8 minutes is a long time to do it by yourself."

"No," Shouto shook his head, glancing at his wrapped arm for the first time since a nurse insisted on helping him a few hours ago. "It was already fractured when I found you. I think it's broken now, but I don't really care. It doesn't hurt too bad anymore."

"Kami, Todoroki," Aizawa looked so moved. It wasn't a look Shouto was used to, with how he grew up.

Shouto didn't know how to respond, so he shrugged.

He missed the concerned glance between his two teachers, still keeping his gaze to the floor to avoid making himself cry again. He wasn't Midoriya, he could handle not crying.

Then Yamada came around to his side of the room and sat down in the visitor chair next to Shouto's, wrapping Shouto in a hug like he had several hours before.

Shouto cried again.

Shouta had never been more stunned in his life than he was when he woke up in the hospital today. He didn't remember anything after he collapsed in that alley after an altercation with a suspected trafficking ring leader. Waking up in a hospital bed next to his husband after a night of patrol wasn't an unusual occurrence in itself, but to hear that he was saved by one of his students with professional-level efficiency when he hadn't even taught his class basic first aid yet? 

That was definitely a shock to Shouta. 

As Shouta watched Todoroki break down in Hizashi's arms, for what couldn't have been the first time in the last few hours, he felt a foreign feeling welling in his chest along with suspicion in his head.

How did a 16-year-old kid know how to handle a situation like his own with such precision? With no training? 

Alarm bells rang loudly in Shouta's head. Something wasn't right with the Todoroki family.

And by Kami Shouta was going to get to the bottom of it.

Come Monday morning, Shouta was cleared to go back to work. Teaching, that is, not back to patrolling. He still couldn't do that for another week. 

He had other teachers covering heroics training classes, since he couldn't do anything strenuous with his situation, so in the time when those classes were going on, Shouta stayed back in his classroom while his students were off in the training grounds with other teachers. Shouta was glad for the quiet, alone time. It gave him the peace and solitude he needed for the case he was planning to open.

So, when his class went off to Ground Gamma with Toshinori, Shouta set to work calling as many of his trusted contacts as he could.

"Aizawa-kun, this is sudden," Tsukauchi Naomasa's voice rung through his phone's speaker, perched between Shouta's cheek and shoulder. He couldn't risk speakerphone with such a sensitive topic. "How did it go with the potential trafficker?"

"Not great, but that's not what this is about. I need your help."

"Ah. You opening a new case? That was quick."

Shouta sighed. "Yes, I'm opening a new case, but it's sensitive and can't be released to the whole precinct. I just need you and a few people I know I can trust."

"...Alright. Talk to me."

"I'm opening a case on Todoroki Enji on child abuse, endangerment, and most likely domestic violence."

"Oh, damn. Yeah, this can't get out. I'll see what I can find in some records and let you know what I come up with. Keep me informed on who all is involved with the case."

"Of course. Thank you, Tsukauchi."

"Anytime, Aizawa-kun."

One phone call down, one to go.

Shouta wasn't sure how the next call would turn out, it was a pretty big reach, but he had a gut feeling that he trusted not to let him down. 

He hesitated before hitting the call button, but tapped his foot impatiently as the line rang.

Then, thankfully, the cocky asshole picked up his phone. "Yo, Eraserhead! What's up!"

"Hawks. I need your help."

"Shit, you never ask me for help. This that serious?"

"Yes, and secret. If you decide not to help me, I need to know I can count on you not to let the fact that I'm opening this case out to anyone. Can I trust you enough to do that?"

Hawks's cheerful demeanor was gone in an instant. "Of course. What do you need?"

"I need you to get into the HPSC's system and find me any and all files on Endeavor and his family. Top-secret or not, I need them. Anything you can find. Minor offenses, medical histories on every member of the Todoroki family, past cases he's worked on. All of it, Hawks."

"Holy fuck. Yeah, I can get it. Might take me a few days to get around the HPSC without arousing suspicion, especially getting into their system and downloading secured files without setting off their security system. But I'll get it done. In fact, if you want, I have... connections with one of the Todoroki children. I can easily convince him to talk to you in secret. He doesn't live at his family home, so no one would notice any interviews you have with him."

"I'm not gonna ask how you have connections to Todoroki Natsuo, but that would be greatly appreciated. I have a feeling if I ask Shouto he won't be as open as you say Natsuo will be."

"I'll set something up and you can have your interview by tomorrow at the latest. Who else is going to be on this case?"

"For the time being, myself, you, and Detective Tsukauchi Naomasa. Don't worry, he can be trusted. I've worked with him on numerous cases over the years."

"Got it. Keep me posted."

"Mhm. Thanks, Hawks."

Hawks hung up the call first, likely to get started on setting up Shouta's interview with the oldest Todoroki son for him and getting to work on retrieving the files from the HPSC. 

Shouta sighed and ran his hands through his hair, plonking his head onto the surface of his desk.

This was going to be a long, grueling case to get through.

An hour later, as his class started trickling back into their seats after training, Shouta got a text.

hawks

todoroki natsuo agreed to do a recorded interview with you tonight

i looked up your detective, his quirk would be handy to have along for the ride, especially this interview

it would help the case exponentially

 

eraserhead

thank you. i'll get tsukauchi on board and be at natsuo's place after school. 

ping me the location and i'll be on my way as soon as classes are over.

 

hawks 

[todorokinatsuo.location]

Shouta texted Tsukauchi the moment Hawks forwarded the apartment's address to him.

eraserhead

interview with todoroki natsuo once my classes are over.

meet me in front of his apartment in two hours.

[todorokinatsuo.location]

 

human polygraph 

👍

"Todoroki-san, thank you for meeting with us on such short notice. I'm sure Hawks informed you of the reason for our visit?"

Natsuo waved Shouta and Tsukauchi inside. "Yeah. Finally someone's investigating the old bastard, even if it is top secret. Makes sense, though. Number One hero and all, I guess. Have a seat! Oh, and you can just call me Natsuo, it'll probably make this a bit simpler."

The two nodded and sat down across from Natsuo in his living room. Tsukauchi pulled out his phone and pressed record.

"Alright, Natsuo, let's get started. Do you consent to this interview being recorded?"

"Yes, of course," Natsuo nodded. "Anything that'll help."

"Full name, age, and occupation for the record?"

"Todoroki Natsuo, 19 years old, and I'm a university student working for a degree in Emergency Medical Services to be a paramedic once I graduate."

"True. Eraserhead, would you like to begin?"

Shouta leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Has Endeavor ever been physically abusive toward you?"

"Not me or Fuyumi, no. Shouto and Touya, yes."

"True."

"Who is Touya? He's not in any of Endeavor's public records. As far as the public is aware, Endeavor only has three children."

Natsuo scowled, though Shouta knew that it wasn't directed at himself for the question, but at Endeavor. "Touya is━was━our older brother. The oldest son, firstborn. He would have been 24 this year. I don't know the full story of his death, I'm sorry. The old bastard and Mom are the only ones who know. I think Shouto was there, too, but he was too young to remember it now."

"True," Tsukauchi frowned. "What about psychological abuse?"

"If neglecting Fuyumi and I counts as psychological abuse, yes. For Touya and Shouto, absolutely."

"True."

"I'm sorry to have to ask this, but has Endeavor ever sexually abused any of you four?" Shouta asked, hoping that the answer was no. He could already feel the bile forming in his throat at how horrible this already was.

"No," Natsuo shook his head. "That I'm sure of. He's a sick bastard, but thankfully not that sick."

"True."

"Tell us about Todoroki Shouto's facial scar, as much as you can in detail."

Natsuo's eyes turned sad. "Before that, I want to make sure you know that none of this was our mother's fault, and you need to know the whole story first."

"Go on."

"Endeavor bought her twenty-five years ago from her family, for her quirk. He knew that with his own power, he could never surpass All Might and be the Number One hero, so he decided to create us in his attempts to make the perfect quirk to surpass All Might. Touya was first, had fire hotter than even Endeavor's, but his body wasn't suited to handle it. He, like myself, was made to withstand ice and cold temperatures. But Endeavor still relentlessly 'trained' him to become a hero. 

"Before his quirk even manifested, though, Endeavor had already made Mom have Fuyumi, as a backup of sorts. Her quirk is the opposite of Touya's; an ice quirk with a body suited for heat. He deemed Touya's better, though, and cast Fuyumi aside. I was born three years later, with just a plain ice quirk exactly like Mom's. So I was pushed aside, too. Mom was already nearing her breaking point by the time Shouto was born. From the moment he was born and Endeavor saw his halved hair colors, he knew what Shouto's quirk would be before it even manifested. He threw Touya aside next, and focused on Shouto only. Then when Shouto was five, his quirk manifested and the 'training' begun.

"He struggled to keep up with the old man's cruelty. When he was six, Mom tried begging him to at least give Shouto a break. 'He's only six,' she said. 'He's already six,' he refused her. That was just about Mom's final straw, and she was in the kitchen one day making tea, when Shouto walked in. She took one look at his left side and broke down, pouring the boiling water from the kettle onto his face. His left side reminded her too much of our father. She realized what she'd done, though, and tried to help him. I can still hear her screams and apologies even now. But she didn't remember that his left side is resistant to heat, not cold, so she tried to freeze it to help, and her ice gave him the scar on his left eye. After that, Endeavor locked her up in a damn loony bin and has kept her there since, even though her doctors have long since cleared her as healthy."

"All true," Tsukauchi breathed in horror. 

Shouta felt rage boiling in his chest, and he wanted nothing more than to come face-to-face with Endeavor just once now so he could severely hurt him. How could someone do things like that? Not only is it highly illegal, it's just plain horrifying. Inhuman, even.

"Thank you, Natsuo. Now, can you tell us about recent events in which Todoroki Shouto refused treatment at Musutafu General Hospital after saving the life of an underground pro hero? Do you know why he would do as such, or where his injuries came from?"

Natsuo nodded. "Endeavor wanted him home for a weekend so he could 'train' him better, deeming him 'weak' and 'useless' as a successor to the Todoroki name in heroics for failing his provisional license exam. Shouto had texted me that he would be home for a couple days, so after Endeavor went to bed, I went back to the house and helped Shouto with his injuries as much I could without Endeavor noticing. If he saw Shouto's injuries wrapped or treated, it would only make it worse for Shouto. I managed to convince Shouto to sneak out and come over to my place to get away from him, but he found the pro he saved on the way here. I'm so proud of him."

"True. And are the claims true that you taught him the skills he used that night?"

"Yes. I showed him the skills in case he would ever need to use them, along with basic first aid for himself as well as others."

"True."

Shouta furrowed his eyebrows. "Todoroki Fuyumi's personal files say she still resides at your family home, does she not? Could she not have helped Shouto as well?"

Natsuo sighed. "Fuyumi... is complicated. She has an idea that there's still a chance that Endeavor will change in the future and we can all 'be a family again'. We were never really a family, by normal standards. Just victims in a house of horrors. She loves us, and we love her, but she's never once stood up to Endeavor on Shouto's behalf."

"True. Have you ever stood up to Endeavor on your younger brother's behalf?"

"A few times," Natsuo said. "Not while I still lived there, I was too angry about the forced segregation and how Endeavor neglected Fuyumi and I, and I still to this day blame him for whatever happened to cause Touya's death. But once I'd moved out and been on my own, I started getting more in contact with Shouto over phone calls and texts, to try and get to know him the way Fuyumi and I were never allowed. Anytime I would come home, I would defend Shouto if Endeavor got too upset with him for no reason."

"True."

Shouta asked the question that had been on his mind for the last few days. "Was Shouto's fractured wrist his only injury that night he saved the hero?"

"No. Shouto had a fractured wrist, but also had several bruised ribs. Hence, why I convinced him to get the hell out of there and stay with me the rest of the weekend until he had to go back to U.A."

"True."

Shouta felt sick to his stomach. His student, aloof Todoroki Shouto, had saved his life and performed 8 full minutes of nonstop CPR on him, while he had not only a fractured wrist, but several bruised ribs. "Were these injuries due to Endeavor's 'training'?"

"Yes," Natsuo replied. "He was harsher than he'd been in a while, since Shouto failed his license exam."

"True. Will you be willing to testify against Endeavor in a court of law in the future?"

"Absolutely."

"True. I believe that can conclude our interview for the time being, Natsuo. Only one more question."

"Anything you want to know."

"Do you believe that Todoroki Fuyumi will be as willing to do an interview with us as you were?"

"No, I don't."

"True. Thank you very much, Natsuo. This will be a very big help to our case, and we promise to keep you in the loop with anything we find that we can disclose outside of a courtroom."

"Thank you, detective. You too, Eraserhead. It's about time the old man gets what he deserves."

"Yes it is," Shouta agrees, pressing the button on Tsukauchi's phone to stop the recording for the end of the interview. 

After staying a few more minutes to chat, Shouta and Tsukauchi left Natsuo's apartment with heavy hearts and determined minds. 

"That was certainly enlightening," Tsukauchi commented gravely. "I'm glad you brought me in on this, Aizawa-kun. We'll make sure Endeavor is put behind bars soon enough."

Shouta ground his teeth together, clenching his jaw. "If I have anything to say, that bastard will rot in Tartarus for the rest of his days for what he's done."

"I don't doubt it."

It was almost an entire week before Hawks messaged Shouta to meet with him in the cover of night, saying he had what Shouta asked for. By then, Shouta had only told one other person of the case he had opened: Nedzu, since Shouta could probably use the stoat's smarts and his analytical skills. He hadn't even told his husband yet, which he would probably end up doing tonight if Hawks really had the files he asked for.

Shouta didn't know why he expected Hawks to be more discreet. The man had huge, bright ass red wings attached to his back. Hawks couldn't be discreet if he wanted to. 

And there was Shouta, leaning against the side of an old, abandoned warehouse in the edgy sides of town wearing a black hoodie over his hero costume, the hood pulled over his head and hair shifted to cover his face. As an underground pro, he'd learned that secret meetups and stealth missions were more likely to go unnoticed if he made himself as blended in to his surroundings as humanly possible.

So when Hawks landed a few feet away from him, curling his loudly colored wings into his back to make them seem smaller, Shouta tried━he really tried━not to scowl at him. He failed, obviously, but the effort was there.

Shouta got straight to business. "You got the files?" 

Hawks stuck a hand in his jacket, presumably into a hidden inner pocket, and pulled out a flash drive, wiggling it slightly with a smirk. "I got 'em. Took me a while, but anything you could possibly want to know about Endeavor, incriminating or not, is on here. You got a plan on how to explain to any defense attorneys how you got your hands on the information without getting yourself in trouble?"

"I'll figure something out," Shouta grumbled, taking the flash drive from Hawks with a nod of thanks. "Not my first time around doing these things. If I can't think of anything, we've got Nedzu on our side to help us out."

"Good, we'll likely need him."

Shouta narrowed his eyes. "I still don't know why you're so keen on being such a help in this case. All I originally needed you for was getting me the HPSC files. What's your aim here?"

"I used to be Endeavor's biggest fan," Hawks shrugged. "Then, as I'm sure you've guessed, I met Todoroki Natsuo and he told me the story of how Endeavor treated all of them. I'm kinda disgusted with myself for thinking so highly of him practically my whole life when he was making life hell for his wife and kids behind closed doors."

"Right," Shouta nodded again. "Well, I appreciate your help in this. If this case gets out to the public or the HPSC before we have all the evidence we need for a trial, it could mean bad shit for us."

"I know," Hawks said. "You think you'll be able to get Todoroki Shouto to open up enough to get some more to incriminate his father?"

Shouta sighed. "Possibly. It's hard to tell. He's a sixteen year old kid who's been traumatized and separated from his siblings his entire life. I know he's recently been going to visit his mother to repair that relationship, but it's a slow-going process. They send letters now that U.A.'s got the dorm system in place."

"...Is that worth trying out? Would it be too risky to try getting in to talk to Todoroki Rei?"

"I'm not sure," Shouta shrugged. "From what Natsuo said, she was deemed healthy enough for release a couple years ago. It's just Endeavor's money keeping her in the hospital so he can keep her under a tight leash. Even if she'd be willing to talk to us, it would be hard to get in for a visit without someone on the hospital staff informing Endeavor of our presence and interrogation."

"Theoretically, do you think that if you were able to get in to question her, would it be good for her mental state and recovery process?"

"Again, I'm not sure," Shouta shook his head. "Todoroki Rei is a mystery wildcard. Any move we make with her could possibly be detrimental to this whole case."

"I'm sure you'll figure it out, Eraser."

Shouta scowled. "I'm putting that bastard away even if it means I incriminate myself in the process."

Shouta didn't bother going to bed when he got home. He probably should have, considering his meetup with Hawks ended around 3 AM and he had school the next day, but he didn't. When he got back to his apartment on campus, Shouta made himself a pot of coffee and got his laptop out, settling himself on his couch and getting to work. One of his cats, Teriyaki, was miffed at being woken up by the addition of Shouta's weight on the couch and grumpily mewled in his general direction.

Once the files had downloaded to his laptop, Shouta blinked at the sheer amount that made it's way into his storage. 

Every single incident report and covered-up medical treatment sent wave after wave of utter horror through Shouta's veins. When he got to the incident report for the death of Todoroki Touya, Shouta had his head in his hands trying to regulate his own breathing. How could they have let Endeavor be a supposed pillar of society for so long? There were so many reports of him burning civilians in villain fights without offering them assistance or even apologizing, complaints from citizens and businessmen about property damage that Endeavor refused to pay for. 

He was so out of it that he didn't hear his husband waking up until he heard his voice calling his name.

"Shouta? Why are you still up? It's almost 5 in the morning."

"I can't sleep," Shouta mumbled into his hands. "I have to go through these files for this case."

"Is this the case you've been investigating for the past week and a half?"

"Yeah," he nodded, sniffing and rubbing at his nose. "'Zashi this... This is so much worse than I thought."

Hizashi sat down next to him on the couch and let Shouta curl into his side, pushing Shouta's laptop further away on the coffee table. "Wanna talk about it?"

"I have to get him out of that house, Hizashi," Shouta murmured. "He's not safe there. We need to get him away from his father."

"You need my help?"

Shouta trusted his husband. He could keep the case secret until the time was right. "I've opened a case against Endeavor. It was originally to investigate if he was abusive toward my student, but... it's so much worse. I have to get him out of there."

"Shit..." Hizashi breathed. "Yeah, I can see why you've kept this under a tight lid. Who all knows about it?"

"Nedzu, Detective Tsukauchi, Hawks, myself, and Todoroki Natsuo. Now you as well."

"Is there anything I can do to help out?"

"...I don't know. I just know I have to get Todoroki out of that house. He saved my life, 'Zashi. It's the least I can do."

"If anyone can pull this off, it's you, Shou. You'll figure this out."

"Thanks, 'Zashi."

A few hours later, Shouta walked into class first thing in the morning as the bell rang, practically dead on his feet and on his third pot of coffee.

"Alright class, settle down, sit in your seats, and be quiet. Today is a free study period, don't let it go to waste."

"Sensei!"

Shouta sighed. "Iida, what could you possibly need to question."

"I would like to ask if you are alright, I believe you are bleeding! Part of your costume is darker than the rest, and it looks to me like an injury!"

Looking down, Shouta felt the dampened spot on his costume that his student had pointed out, and cursed under his breath when his fingertips were sticky with blood. "I didn't notice. Thank you, Iida. Stay in your seats, I'll be back. If I hear you've misbehaved, I will not hesitate to give all of you a week's worth of detention."

A chorus of "Yes, Sensei!"s responded, and Shouta sighed, walking back out of his classroom toward Recovery Girl's office.

Looks like he'd ripped his stitches sometime during his all-nighter. Shouta was not looking forward to hearing Hizashi's lecture for that. He was only a couple more days out from being cleared to have them removed, and here Shouta had gone and ripped them. 

He was too tired for this.

Hours later, Shouta sat beside his husband in Principal Nedzu's office. Shouta's stitches ended up having to be redone and now he had to wait even longer to get them out, which neither he nor Hizashi were happy about━Shouta because he hated sitting around idly at their apartment, and Hizashi because he'd been careless and to taken proper care of himself.

"Aizawa-kun," Nedzu smiled, which, creepy as always. "You said you've received the files on Endeavor-san from Hawks? Tell me what you've learned."

So Shouta described, in detail, what he'd read from the HPSC's files thus far. He still hadn't gotten through all of them, there were so many, but just having those files wasn't going to make their case and have Endeavor locked away. Because, technically, he was never supposed to be able to get his hands on the files in the first place.

Hizashi and Nedzu were silent throughout Shouta's recounting of his findings. Even if he hadn't gone through everything yet, Shouta knew that just with what he did know, they already had more than enough to implicate Endeavor in a court of law. No judge in their right mind would allow him to stay on the way he is, no matter now much money Endeavor offered them. 

"I see..." Nedzu tapped the tips of his paws together. "And what do you plan to do to help Todoroki Shouto once you've gotten him out of the household? I suppose he could stay there with his sister, but from what you've told me and what I've heard from your interview with Natsuo, it wouldn't be likely that CPS would allow him to stay with her. I would suggest Natsuo himself, but he's a university student in a medical field, which leaves him barely any time for himself in his personal life, much less the time to care for a teenage boy on top of his studies."

Shouta frowned, but it seemed Hizashi already had an idea, as he blurted, "We'll take him in."

Ah. Shouta liked that idea.

Nedzu raised one of his eyebrows, his paws now flat on his desk. "Oh? How do you mean? Fostering him until adulthood, or legal adoption? Perhaps, now that U.A. is a boarding school, he could even be put under the school's care if you two don't feel prepared enough to take him in."

"No," Shouta shook his head. "He's a child who had nothing short of a traumatizing time growing up. If we can get permission from him, and the rest of his family members besides his father, Hizashi and I would be glad to bring him into our home. It's ultimately up to Shouto what he wants to do once this is all over, and where he wants to go, but our door will be open to him whenever he needs it, regardless."

"In that case," Nedzu shared a meaningful look between them. "We should inform him of what will be happening concerning him and his family situation, should we not? I can call him from his classes for the rest of the day and we can catch him up to speed, if you agree. It's your case, Aizawa-kun, so I leave the call up to you."

"...Bring him in."

Shouto didn't know why he was being pulled out of class. His classmates had all given him curious looks when Principal Nedzu came over the announcements in his classroom to call Shouto out, but Shouto was just as in the dark as they were. He hadn't done anything wrong in training, had he? Did he go too overboard and accidentally hurt one of his classmates? No one had said anything to him, if that was the case.

The only reason he could possibly think of was that his father had been upset with him over something again. He hated the bastard and how much control he had over him, but there wasn't anything he could do about that. At least not until he was of legal age like Natsuo and Shouto could get the hell out of the house, but that was still a couple years away. 

He wasn't expecting both his homeroom teacher and his English teacher to be sitting in waiting for him with the principal when he arrived, that was for sure. Did it have something to do with what he did to help Aizawa? Shouto knew he didn't have the right to do anything with the quite literal no training he had, so now maybe he was being punished for it. His father would not be happy with him for this.

"Todoroki-san," Nedzu said warmly. "Come sit down, would you?"

Shouto nodded and sat down between his two teachers opposite the principal's desk. He said nothing afterward. Why make things worse if he could just sit quietly and take whatever came to him? That usually seemed to work at home, it would be best for him to do the same here.

"I'm not gonna butter anything up and sugarcoat this," Aizawa sighed, turning to Shouto and looking him in the eyes. "I've opened a case against your father."

Shouto blinked. "A... case?"

Yamada frowned. "For the way he treats you, kiddo. There's no excuse for anyone to abuse or neglect their children like Endeavor has, even under the guise of him 'training you'. You... do understand that, don't you?"

"But he's the Number One hero," Shouto said. "There's no point in opening a case against him. It won't do anything."

Aizawa put a gentle hand on his shoulder, shifting Shouto to face him fully. "Kid, it doesn't matter what ranking he is in the hero charts. He's abusive not just to you and your siblings, but to the public as well. Endeavor is going to be put away for his crimes and have his hero license taken from him. I promise you that he can't hurt you anymore."

Shouto clenched his jaw, shaking his head. "It doesn't matter. He'll pay off any judge who will even think about going against him. He has the money for it, and he'll use it."

"We're not going to let that happen, Todoroki-san," Nedzu smiled. "Endeavor is going to be sent away, and there's no one he will be able to pay to get him out of it."

He didn't know what to say. Why were they doing this? Why now? After all this time... his father was going to be punished instead? Not him? 

Echoes of harsh yelling and the sounds of his own agonized shouts rang in Shouto's ears. He could still feel a distant ache in his ribs from nearly two weeks prior when his father had taken to getting his own frustrations on Shouto's failures out on him. 

His hand ghosted over the yellowing bruises covering his abdomen. Was this really happening? It wasn't just one of his childish dreams of Endeavor finally facing justice? His mom, Fuyumi, Natsuo... They would all finally be okay?

"Todoroki," Aizawa broke him out of his thoughts. "We brought you in here because we want to ask you if you're willing to help us on this case. He's your father, and if you don't want to get involved, that's entirely your choice. No one is going to force you into anything you don't want to do, not here. Okay? This is your choice."

"...Does he know yet?"

"No, kid," Yamada shook his head. "Endeavor won't know about this until we've gathered as much evidence as we can. Your brother, Natsuo, has already spoken with Shouta and Detective Tsukauchi to give us his side of the story. If you want to leave now and forget we asked, you're more than welcome to. We wouldn't want to have you bring up painful subjects just for our own benefit for the case. It's all your choice."

Shouto saw the raw honesty in the eyes of his teachers. So, he nodded. "I'll help."

Nedzu grinned, making the hairs on Shouto's arms stand on end. "Wonderful! Now, we do have other things to discuss as well. Regarding yourself, not Endeavor."

"Oh. Me? Why?"

Aizawa nodded. "Yes, you. When Endeavor is put away, CPS is going to be contacted regarding your living situation. Based on what Natsuo told us, you likely won't be living with your sister still, as she's been neglectful to your treatment by your father and hasn't attempted to help you at all, and apparently sympathizes with his actions in hope that he'll change. And with your mother's deteriorated mental state, you won't be able to live with her once she's released and no longer under his influence. So you'll have a choice to make."

"A choice?"

Yamada smiled softly. "You can choose to go into foster care with another family, a group home, or if you'd like... Shouta and I would love to accept you in our home. We're familiar faces that, hopefully, you trust, and we'll take care of you. You don't have to feel obligated to make a decision right away, and we won't think any less of you if you choose not to accept our offer, but we just wanted to make you aware of the fact that the option is absolutely on the table for you."

"I... I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything, kid," Aizawa patted his back lightly. "Just think about it. Know the offer stands."

"...Thanks, Aizawa-sensei, Yamada-sensei."

Yamada grinned. "Anytime, little listener!"

"Todoroki-san," Nedzu said. "For the time being, this case is still very much kept under wraps, and only a select few know of its existence. I understand that you may want to tell your friends about this if they ask about your absence from class, but I must ask that you wait until the time is right and we have gone public with this."

Shouto nodded. "I understand."

Aizawa cut in. "Not necessarily. He should be allowed to have a support system if he wants one. Maybe one or two classmates at most. Is there someone you can think of that you trust enough to share this with? Just to get anything off your chest if you need to?"

Instantly, Shouto's mind thought of Denki. He didn't know why, it wasn't as if he and Denki were the best of friends━Shouto had never even had a best friend. Denki did tell him a while ago to use his given name instead of his family name like everyone else uses, though. He would have considered Midoriya, but Midoriya can't keep a secret from Bakugou to save anyone's life, and Shouto didn't necessarily want Bakugou in his business.

Shouto hummed. "I think so."

Nedzu smiled. "Great! Now, if I may, I have an idea."

"What is it," Aizawa sighed. 

"If we want to gather more evidence to use against Endeavor in a court of law, it would be most beneficial to us to speak to as many members of the family as we possibly can. Now that Todoroki-san is on board with us, we could use this to our advantage and possibly speak to the mother as well. We've already spoken to Todoroki Natsuo and gained his knowledge of things, and he has told us that he doesn't believe their sister will be as willing to speak out against their father, but it is quite possible that Todoroki Rei will speak with us, if not a jury, about her own experiences and past with our current Number One."

Shouto leaned forward. "You can use me."

"Pardon?" Nedzu cocked his head to the side.

"Father will have people at her hospital on his side, and reporting back to him if someone interrogates Mom about him. If he doesn't know yet, that could ruin the chances of this going in favor of the case. So, use me. Now that we live in the dorms, students need to have a teacher shadowing them if they leave campus, right? The only reason I didn't a couple weeks ago was that Father is currently the Number One hero. But if Aizawa-sensei accompanies me to the hospital, we can use the excuse that he's shadowing me for the visit to get in and interview her. It wouldn't rouse any suspicion on his part, since Fuyumi has already told him I've started going to visit her now."

Aizawa mirrored Nedzu's grin. "Good thinking, kid. Logical and effective. We'll make arrangements for this weekend to visit your mother."

Shouto nodded. "I also don't think that her mental state right now would be effected by any questions. Bring up bad memories, yes, but she won't deteriorate back to how she was years ago. She's spent a long time recovering, and her doctors had already cleared her years ago. Mom would have been released years ago if Father wasn't paying the hospital to keep her locked in there."

"Good to know," Yamada said. "That's one less worry for us, then. You want me to come with you two this weekend?"

"Yes," Aizawa said. "If there's a possibility that her son is coming to live under our care, I want her to meet both of us so she'll know that he's going to be in safe hands and treated well, should he decide to accept our offer."

Shouto looked between his two teachers in silent awe, seeing the determined glance they shared with one another. 

They were really serious about taking him into their home.

He had a lot to think about in the coming days.

As the day passed on, Shouto ended up discussing details of the case with Aizawa, Yamada, and Principal Nedzu until hours after classes had ended and school was over for the day. He didn't really want to do anything else for the rest of the night, since the long discussions tired out his brain emotionally and pretty much drained his social battery enough for the next week. 

But, of course, as soon as he got back to his his class' dorm building, he was stopped in the common room for a questionnaire by his classmates.

"Dude, Todoroki! Where've you been all day?!"

"Todoroki-kun, is everything all right?!"

"Where did you go all day, man?!"

Shouto sighed. Why. He just wanted to go to sleep after the day he's had. But no.

After ignoring all of his classmates questions in favor of escaping to his room to lie in relative darkness on his futon, Shouto felt slightly better. His head hurt from all the information that he had gone over with his teachers and principal in that office, and his emotions were everywhere and nowhere all at once. He didn't know how he was supposed to feel, or what he was supposed to do. Was that normal? To feel indifferent to something that also meant everything at the same time? This case would change everything, and yet all he felt was numb. Shouto didn't know how to process this, and it was irking him greatly, but his head was pounding and there was nothing but static, white noise in his brain. 

A knock sounded on his door, and Shouto muffled a sigh into his pillow. "C'min."

"Todoroki? Dude? Shit, it's dark in here. Anyway! You good?"

"Hi, Denki."

"Oh! There you are!" 

Denki shuffled his way over to Shouto's futon in the dark room and sat cross-legged beside it. Shouto rolled over to face him, his blanket still half pulled over his face. "Hi."

"Hey," Denki grinned. He held out his hands. "I made you tea! See!"

Shouto sat up, gently taking the cup from Denki's hands. "Thank you. Why?"

"You looked really like, done with the world when you walked in earlier? And I know you like tea almost as much as Yaomomo does, so I just thought that maybe a cup would make you feel better, even if it's just a little bit? If you don't want it, it's fine! I can take it back to the kitchen! I mean, I've never really made tea myself before and it might not be good, it's probably terrible, actually, but I know my favorite stuff always helps me when I'm feeling shitty, so I just thought... You know what, you probably shouldn't drink it, it's gonna be all watery and I don't think I left the tea bag in long enough and━"

Shouto looked Denki straight in the eyes, and took a sip.

It wasn't the worst tea Shouto had ever drank in his life, but it wasn't the best, either. Still, Shouto appreciated Denki's gesture and took another, longer sip. If only to relieve Denki's worries about Shouto not wanting the whole cup, which he did. 

Denki seemed to relax at this, and Shouto offered the smallest of smiles. "It's good."

"It is? Thank god, I totally thought it was gonna taste like pure leaf water and have literally no taste whatsoever. So like, are you doing okay? You don't have to talk about whatever happened today if you don't wanna, I just... wanted to check up on you? I guess?"

"I don't know how I feel," Shouto frowned. "Just..."

"Head hurty, shitty feely?"

"In other words," Shouto nodded. "Yes, that."

Denki smiled. "I totally get that. Do you want me to go? I can go if you want. I know I'm not the best company when people already have headaches 'cause I talk a lot and I'm annoying so if you want me to leave you be I can totally do that. I just wanted to do something cool and make you some tea, even if it was just plain boiled leaf water."

Shouto shook his head. "You can stay. I like your company."

Denki blinked. "You do?"

"Yes," Shouto said. "You're nice to be around. It makes me feel better."

Red blossomed on Denki's cheeks, so bright that Shouto could see it even in the dark of his room. Denki opened and closed his mouth several times, like he had no idea how to respond, and Shouto smiled again despite himself. He scooted over on his futon, giving a look between Denki and the empty space, and Denki shook his hands for a second before he sat down next to Shouto. 

Shouto tiled his head. "Why do you do that with your hands when you feel happy?"

"Oh, the shaking? Sorry, I know it's probably weird," Denki rubbed the back of his neck. "It's like, an ADHD thing? I do it when I'm excited or happy sometimes when I don't know how to put my feelings into words, it's a stim."

"It's not weird," Shouto said. "I was just curious. I don't think you're weird for being excited or what you do when you are. It makes you who you are as a person, does it not? Why would I judge you for that?"

Denki shrugged. "I dunno. Some people think it's weird, I guess. I'm really glad you don't though, cause otherwise this would've been even more awkward, haha."

Shouto blinked. "What's awkward?"

Denki blushed again. "You know... me sharing your futon with you? You don't think it's awkward? I mean, we're friends, but... some people think that's more of a romantic thing, I guess?"

"I don't think it's awkward," Shouto said. "If you're uncomfortable you don't have to sit with me, I just figured I'd offer since you brought me this tea. I'm sorry if I made you feel awkward, that wasn't my intention."

"No, no, dude, it's cool! No worries!" Denki shook his head rapidly. "This is totally cool, totally awesome and friendly and wow your blankets are soft what the hell."

Shouto chuckled, earning him a wide-eyed look from Denki. Did he really not laugh around his friends? Why did he only laugh in the company of himself? It was that shocking to those who know him to hear him laugh? Wow. Thank you, Father.

"Bro, your laugh is adorable."

Shouto froze. "It... is?"

Denki nodded, jaw dropped open. "What would you do if I just. Said a bunch of terrible jokes in attempt to make you do it again."

He blinked again. "I wouldn't say anything?"

"Cool, cool. So did you know I don't trust staircases? They're always up to something, you know?"

"...But some of them go down, too?"

Denki nodded. "Okay, okay. That one failed. Hey, when two vegans get in an argument, is it still called a beef?"

"I think vegans eat tofu."

"Nope, didn't work either. 'Kay, how about... Oh! I'm on a seafood diet: I see food, and I eat it!"

Shouto softened. "I'll let Lunch Rush know about your food choices if you're uncomfortable with telling him yourself."

"No, I'm not on a━They're jokes, Todo! You're supposed to laugh!"

"Oh," Shouto blinked. "I'm sorry."

"It's all good!" Denki grinned. "I just gotta keep trying! So... what kind of villain hates cows?"

"...I don't know."

"A No-moo!"

Shouto smiled.

"Progress! Okay. Let's see. Oh! Uraraka was reading a book on anti-gravity the other day. She couldn't put it down!"

A snort.

Denki grinned. "Woo! I'm gettin' it! You know, Shishida from Class 1-B used to hate his facial hair, but then it grew on him!"

That got Shouto chuckling again, and Denki's face lit up bright at the sound. "There it is! Ahh! Do you feel better now? Laughing always makes me feel better! Did it work?"

"I think it worked," Shouto grinned and took another sip of his tea. "Thank you, Denki."

"No problem, Todo!"

"You know you can just call me Shouto," he said. "You let me call you Denki, so Shouto is fine."

Denki squeaked into his hands, covering his face. "Okay, Shouto!"

Denki ended up staying with him for a few more hours, and Shouto didn't even realize how late it had gotten until he'd woken up and it was dark outside from the window of his balcony door. His eyes were heavy when he blinked them open, and there was a foreign feeling on his head that he wasn't sure what to make of.

When reality came a little clearer to Shouto, he heard a soft humming noise. It wasn't a slow hum, either, it was Denki humming a quite fast-paced song. Then, he realized what he felt on his head was Denki petting him, running his fingers through his hair and slowly moving singular hairs from one side to the other. His head was also on Denki's shoulder, and they were both lying down now. That was new.

Shouto sighed softly. "I fell asleep."

"It's cool!" Denki smiled. "I was pretty entertained trying to separate your hair from one side to the other! Like, make sure all the red was on the red side and all the white was on the white side. I also have this really catchy English pop song stuck in my head? I don't know what most of it means but I heard Yamada-sensei listening to it from his headphones once and it just kinda like, stuck? I don't know. Did I wake you?"

"No, it's fine. This is relaxing."

"Oh, sick! I didn't want you to think I'm like, irritating or something."

Shouto frowned. "Do you think these things about yourself?"

"Huh?"

"That you're annoying or weird or irritating. Who told you those things?"

"Oh, uh, like... Everyone? My whole life? Besides my family and stuff but like kids in primary school and middle school? A couple of people here, too, but they never talked to me again so I don't really━"

Shouto thumped his forehead, stunning Denki into open-mouthed silence. "You're not."

"I'm... huh?"

"You're not the things they told you. You talk a lot because you have a lot to say, even if sometimes you don't think before you speak. You stim when you're excited or anxious and don't know how to use words. You like to keep your hands busy, and it makes you touchy sometimes. I don't mind it, and I know our classmates don't either. They make you who you are."

Denki buried his face in Shouto's hair and smiled. "Thanks, Shouto."

"For what?"

"You know. Saying all that."

"It's just the truth, though?"

Denki wrapped his arm over Shouto's chest. "You're the best."

"Thank... you?"

"No, dude, thank you! Wait this totally shouldn't be Comfort Denki Time, it's Make Shouto Feel Better time. You were feeling shitty earlier! Are you sure you're good? Did the nap help at all? And the tea? And the stupid corny jokes?"

Shouto sighed into Denki's shoulder. "Aizawa-sensei opened a child abuse case against my father."

Denki inhaled sharply. "Oh, shit... How's that going?"

"It's going as well as it can right now, I think," Shouto said. "It's still a secret to the public, so only a few people know. Aizawa-sensei I could tell a classmate or two I trust. I thought of you when he said that."

"...Me? Why me?"

"Because we're friends, and I trust you. Do you think you can keep it from our classmates until the case goes public?"

"Yeah, dude, absolutely," Denki nodded. "Thanks for telling me."

"...Can I ask another favor?"

"Hm? Yeah, totally!"

"Will you... stay?"

Denki threaded his fingers back through Shouto's hair and pulled his face snugly into his chest. Shouto sighed in content.

"Of course I'll stay."

By the time the weekend came, Shouto had prepared himself for this visit to his mother with his teachers. He'd been nervous for a while, about the things he would have to hear his mom say about his father and what life with him was like before and after he was born. It wasn't something that he ever enjoyed thinking about, since the devolution of her mental state over the years is what ultimately led to her pouring boiling water over his face because his left side looked too much like his father to her in the midst of her breakdown.

Sitting in the backseat of Yamada-sensei's car, Shouto stared out the window at the city outside. He wondered, if he had grown up in a different family, would his life have been normal? Could he have been like the boy on the sidewalk, walking hand-in-hand with his mother carrying half-eaten dango sticks to snack on during their outing. In another life, would he have been that boy smiling so wide with sticky rice flour coating his teeth, swinging his and his mother's joined hands back and forth as they went?

Shouto's phone pinged with a text message, and he tore his gaze away from watching the passerby out the window to look at who it was from.

denki⚡️✨

hi shouto!!!!!

good luck visiting your mom today!!!!

when you get back we should totally hang!!! sound good??

only if u feel like it tho!!!

A smile broke out on Shouto's face, despite the light feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach for the day ahead of him.

shouto 🔥❄️

thank you :)

i'll see you when i come back. meet in your dorm?

 

denki⚡️✨

totally!!! 

see you then !!! <3 !!!!

Shouto had a long day ahead of him, but maybe things were finally going to start looking up for him.

Maybe, once this was all over and done with, he could finally learn what it felt like to be normal. To be happy.

Chapter Text

With the weight of his father's case weighing down his shoulders like an Atlas burden, Shouto was tense walking into the psychiatric ward of Musutafu General Hospital. He'd just been here not long ago, sitting by the bedside of his homeroom teacher and his husband waiting for him to wake up after a life-saving surgery, but this was different. The situations, surely, were separate from one another, but his last visit to the hospital is what inevitably brought him to where he was now, about to trick his mother's doctors and nurses into thinking he's just being supervised by his teachers for an off-campus visit, when really, this was bound to be an interrogation with her.

The nurse at the front desk smiled when he walked up to the sign-in sheet, eyeing Aizawa and Yamada behind him strangely, like she didn't know who they were. "Good to see you again, Shouto-kun! Rei-san is going to be very happy that you're visiting!"

Shouto nodded. "These are my teachers. Aizawa-sensei, Yamada-sensei, this is Aoki-san. She takes care of my mom a lot of the time."

Aoki furrowed her eyebrows. "You brought your teachers along?"

Yamada grinned at her, using his public hero persona as a charmer to ease any suspicion she had. "Yeah! U.A. students need shadows if they leave campus now, so we thought we'd come along with Shouto-kun here! He's our favorite student!" he winked.

Aizawa huffed and rolled his eyes. "I apologize for him. He's loud. But he's telling the truth."

"Alright!" Aoki smiled, taking the sheet from Shouto once he'd finished signing them in. "Lunch wasn't long ago, so she should be back in her room right now! You know the way, Shouto-kun!"

"Thanks, Aoki-san."

"Anytime, hon!" she waved him on. "Go on, go on! Rei-san has been talking about you for weeks now, she's going to love this surprise visit!"

As the three of them walked away, with Shouto leading the way to his mother's room, Aizawa spared a glance back before murmuring to Shouto under his breath, "Is she one under Endeavor's hold?"

Shouto shook his head. "Thankfully, no. She only looked suspicious of you two because I never bring people with me to visit besides Natsuo or Fuyumi. We three are the only ones who visit her. Natsuo the most, and Fuyumi more than me because I only started coming after the Sports Festival a few months ago. Aoki-san can be trusted not to report back to Father about you two being here as well."

"Good," Yamada smiled. "That makes things easier for us."

When they eventually reached his mother's door, Shouto hesitated before he knocked. He didn't know why he felt so sick to his stomach. Even the first time he'd visited her months ago hadn't felt this nerve-wracking, and it had been almost 10 years since he'd seen her then. Now it had only been a couple of months, and he felt slightly nauseous. He didn't understand.

"You alright, kid?" Aizawa put a hand on his back.

Shouto swallowed. "I'm fine."

He knocked.

The three stood there waiting for barely ten seconds before his mother was at the door, opening it with a smile. "Shouto, it's so good to see you. These must be your teachers, I assume? Come in, come in."

They followed Rei inside, the woman herself taking a seat on her bed while Shouto sat next to her and his teachers sat in two visitor chairs placed against the opposite wall.

Shouto held his hands out to his mother, and smiled through his nerves when she grasped his softly in return. He pressed a gentle kiss to her knuckles, and she rubbed the back of his with her thumbs. "How are you, sweetheart?"

"Mom..." Shouto refused to meet her eyes. "We need to ask you some questions, and they might make you uncomfortable. You can say no if it's too upsetting."

Rei raised a slow hand to Shouto's right cheek, her other still in his own hands. There was no longer a smile on her face, only a worried frown. "Of course. What is it? Has something happened at U.A.? Or with your siblings? They haven't told me anything."

"...A case has been opened against Father, Mom," Shouto said. "And it hasn't been released to the public yet, since evidence is still being gathered to incriminate him. Aizawa-sensei is leading the case, and if you're okay with it, we're here to get your side of the story with Father."

Aizawa nodded, and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, hands folded between them. "That's right. But, keep in mind that if this will be too painful for you in any way or will be too upsetting to bring up these memories, this doesn't have to go that way. It can just be a regular visit between you and Shouto with his teachers accompanying him by U.A.'s new rules for student leave from campus."

Rei squeezed Shouto's hands with both of her own now, the one previously on his cheek now back in his hold. "Will my testimony move the case further?"

Another nod from Aizawa. "Yes, it will help us a lot, but we're more worried about your own health than the case itself, Todoroki-san. We don't want to cause your recovery any harm with this, and it is solely your choice on how involved you wish to be and how much you tell us."

"Please, call me Rei. And... I think I'd like to speak. It will be hard, yes, but I've had many years to think about the past and everything Enji has done to me and my family, and I would do anything to keep him from hurting my children any longer."

Yamada smiled. "Would you consent to this interview being recorded for our evidence?"

"Of course," Rei said. "Where do you want me to start?"

He pressed record on his phone and set it on the table between where he sat next to Aizawa, between them and Shouto and Rei. "Can you state your name for the record, married and maiden?"

"Todoroki Rei, formerly Himura Rei."

"How did you first come to meet your current husband, Todoroki Enji, otherwise known to the public as the Flame Hero: Endeavor?"

"He approached my family some years ago, using his money and power status to gain their favor in giving me to him as a wife. Our marriage was never one of love or happiness, only his own selfish greed and desperation for heirs with a powerful quirk that could surpass his own and All Might in the hero rankings."

Aizawa leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and folding his hands between them. "How much did he pay the Himura family for your hand?"

"I'm not sure," Rei shook her head. "I was never told anything but that I was to be his wife. My family was never poor, per se, we had plenty of money, so it must have been a hefty amount to get them to agree. Or maybe it was his high ranking in society that was my family's Achilles Heel, not his money. I never thought to ask, either. I just... accepted my fate, you could say."

"In all public records, it is only shown that Todoroki Enji has three children. But, in our interview with Natsuo, we discovered there was a fourth: Touya, your oldest. Would you be comfortable telling us what happened in the events leading to Touya's passing, and when it happened? We asked Natsuo, and he told us that only you and Todoroki-san himself know the details."

Rei's grip on Shouto's hands tightened, but her face remained passive. Shouto was intrigued, he wouldn't lie, but he was scared to hear the story all the same. He'd only heard in passing from Fuyumi and Natsuo about their older brother, but bringing him up in conversation was sort of taboo in their house. Sure, they had a tamaya for Touya in one of the more unvisited rooms, but Touya himself was never spoken about.

"Touya was a bright child," Rei said softly, though loud enough for the recording to pick up. "My firstborn, my baby boy. I loved him dearly, but even then, at the beginning of the marriage, I still was not happy with my life. I don't think I was as attentive of a mother as I could━as I should have been."

"How do you mean?" Yamada asked.

"Touya knew from the beginning Enji's expectations of him, and any siblings he may or may not have in the future. He wanted his father's attention, his praise and love. But Enji has never been a man of love, only greed. He trained Touya relentlessly, from the time he was a toddler to when the incident happened. Even after Fuyumi was born, Enji never stopped, never gave Touya a break. And Touya never asked him to. But... Touya's body was biologically similar to my own: built for an ice quirk, not fire. And Touya had only fire that burned hotter than even Enji's, which is why Enji pushed him so hard."

Rei went on to tell how with each child, Enji grew more desperate for the perfect, dual quirk that Shouto had, and how that affected Touya's mental state. Touya himself grew desperate to keep their father's attention, and in his own distress he had ended up attempting to attack Shouto while he was still in their mother's arms, a harmless baby that had done nothing to him. He refused to speak to Rei anymore, wouldn't talk to Fuyumi, and only spoke with Natsuo when he wasn't vying for their father's recognition. 

"Shouto's quirk came in sometime after he turned five," Rei said, frowning. "I believe that was near Touya's final breaking point. Enji began to train Shouto, much like he had Touya from an even younger age, and Touya hated it. Enji didn't believe Touya could surpass All Might anymore, so he stopped training him."

"I see. And what happened to Touya after this?"

Rei put one hand over her face to muffle a sniffle. "He was my son, and I loved him, but I never truly saw him. I didn't pay enough attention, trying to split as much of my time between all four of my children and trying to stop Enji from hurting Shouto, or to at least slow the training as much as I could convince him, which never worked. So, Touya took it upon himself to start training by himself instead. He was hiding burns from us, from his own quirk. When Enji screamed at him for this, Touya snuck out the next night to Sekoto Peak, and he lost control of his quirk in his solo training. I remember overhearing Enji speaking to an officer on the scene, and his fire had gone to temperatures over 2,000°C. He... Touya was never found. He burned himself alive in that forest. And I wasn't there for him."

There was a horrified silence for a few seconds before Shouto's teachers seemed to recover themselves, remembering that they were in the middle of an interview, not just a normal visit. Shouto, on the other hand, had been left speechless. Emotions boiled in the pits of his chest, too many to name.

Aizawa was the first to speak again. "Rei-san, none of this was your fault. This is all Endeavor's doing, tragedies born from his own selfishness. You are not to blame for anything that has happened."

Rei swallowed thickly, nodding, and wiped tears from her cheeks. "I know. It's taken many years, but... I don't blame myself completely anymore. I'm not so naive to think that I didn't have any part in Touya's death, but I know that I wasn't the only one at fault."

"I'm very sorry for your loss," Aizawa bowed his head. "And for bringing up painful memories for you."

"It's alright," Rei said. "You must have more questions. I'm willing to answer anything."

Yamada, eyes downcast like his husband's, took the lead to continue. "I'm sorry to ask this, but for the sake of the investigations and what charges your husband will be facing in the coming trial, I have to ask. In any time during your marriage to Todoroki-san did he sexually assault you in any way?"

"No," Rei shook her head adamantly. "Everything, including the creation of our children, was all consensual."

"Was Todoroki-san physically abusive toward you at any point in your marriage?" Aizawa asked.

Rei exhaled through her nose. "Sometimes, he was. If I did or said something against his wishes, he would lay his hands on me, but only then."

Shouto gritted his teeth. He had known this already, but hearing the words come from his mothers mouth and not his own memories had him clenching his jaw so hard that it hurt. Shouto knew he had to stay silent, though. It was his mother's interview, not his own. His interview had been earlier in the week, after this trip had been scheduled. He'd spent a lot of time with Denki after that night, just asking him to talk about anything and everything to distract Shouto from all of the things in his brain he didn't want to think about anymore, which he had.

Aizawa nodded, having already known this from Shouto's account a few days before, but having asked for the sake of putting it on the record in Rei's own words. It didn't make it any less upsetting for any of them, but Shouto wasn't angry at his teacher for asking. It was all going to be worth it in the end.

"Rei-san, would you consent to having the recording of this interview played in front of a jury for Todoroki-san's trial?" Yamada asked her.

"Yes," Rei nodded. "Of course."

Shouto's teachers gave her a smile. "Alright, Rei-san," Yamada said. "That can conclude this interview. Thank you for being patient with us, we know it can't have been easy for you."

"Thank you," Rei stressed, shaking her head. "There will never be enough for me to repay you with for what you're doing."

"It's our job, Rei-san," Aizawa smiled minutely. "Your testimony will be monumental in helping us with this case."

Yamada stopped the recording, and Shouto wrapped his arms delicately around his mother. 

"Now, off the record, we have one more thing we'd like to discuss with you," Aizawa said quietly, not wanting to interrupt the soft moment between mother and son.

Rei undid herself from Shouto's hug but kept close. "Yes?"

Aizawa shared a look with his husband, and Shouto understood then what he meant. They were going to talk about what they'd spoken with him and Nedzu about.

"When this is made public, Child Protective Services is going to be contacted by law enforcement in regards to Shouto. In light of things we discussed with your other son, Natsuo, we believe it is unlikely that Shouto will be allowed to continue living with Fuyumi in her care. She's not unfit to be his guardian, but Natsuo has informed us that Fuyumi chose to remain close-lipped and relatively blind to the things Todoroki-san has put Shouto through, which is child neglect and continued allowance of known abuse, even if Shouto is not her son but her brother. Natsuo, on the other hand, is a full-time college student and will not have the time or money to care for a growing teenager, especially one training in heroics. And I'm very sorry, but given your past actions, though not your fault, will not be disregarded even after your release once Todoroki-san is put behind bars."

"...I see," Rei frowned. "What are you proposing, then? Will there be any way I can still stay in contact with Shouto?"

"Yes," Aizawa nodded. "As you know, we are Shouto's teachers at U.A. But, the reason that I had Hizashi here come with us today, is because we have an offer to make."

Yamada smiled softly, a look Shouto has been coming to know intimately lately. "I'm Shouta's husband, we've been married for about six years now. As pro heroes, we have emergency foster care licenses, and as his teachers and two people who care deeply about your son, we want what's best for him both now and once this case is closed and dealt with. We are both one-hundred percent willing to take Shouto into our own home and care for him the way he needs. We've discussed it a lot over the past week, and we wanted to get your consent as well as Shouto's. I came with my husband today so when this conversation was brought up, you would be able to meet both of us and see that we are nothing but genuine in this situation, and so, hopefully, you could see that Shouto would be well loved and cared for with us."

Aizawa continued. "We have not put any pressure on your son to accept our offer, and don't plan to do so if he doesn't want to come live with us. We only wanted to let him, and you, know that this is always going to be on the table, even should he decide to go into foster care with another family and find he doesn't like it with whoever takes him in. There's also the option that Shouto could choose to become a ward of U.A., now that it's a boarding school, he can legally be taken under the care of the school should he not want any of the other options like an unfamiliar foster family or a group home."

"I've thought about it, too," Shouto said, avoiding the looks of the three people in the room. "I don't want to go to a group home or live with a foster family full of people I don't know. I wouldn't be comfortable with either of them. I know... I know that if I stayed with you, I would be... happy. And I know that you wouldn't cut me off or keep me away from Mom or Fuyumi or Natsu. So... I think I want to stay with you. If you're sure, I mean. I don't... I don't want to impose on you or anything."

"Shouto, sweetheart, look at me," Rei turned his face toward her own and smiled when he met her tear-filled eyes. "Your teachers obviously care for you very much, if they're willing to lay this card out on the table. If you're unsure because you think I won't approve, don't be. I want you to be happy, Shouto. And... I know you will be safe with them. I can feel it in my heart. If you want to accept, and go live with them when this is all over, I will not say or do anything to get in the way of your happiness. Just don't be a stranger, please?"

"Never," Shouto shook his head.

Rei caressed his cheek with her thumb, still smiling. "Good. I love you."

Shouto smiled back. "I love you, too."

As soon as Aizawa and Yamada dropped Shouto back off at 1-A's dorm building and he made it inside, Shouto went searching for Denki. When they'd texted this morning, they'd planned to meet up in Denki's room once he got back so Shouto could talk about how things went if he wanted to, but now, Shouto was just exhausted. Physically and emotionally.

So when he found Denki in the common room with a couple of their classmates, Shouto sat down on the couch next to him and leaned his head on Denki's shoulder without a word. He was taller than Denki, so the angle kind of hurt, but when Denki instinctively reached his arm up to put a hand in his hair like he'd grown to love doing, Shouto found he didn't mind the small cramp in his neck. 

Denki turned away from his previous conversation as soon as Shouto melted into his side, eyes closed. "You okay? How'd it go?"

"Mm."

"Understandable," Denki nodded, oblivious to the stares of confusion from their classmates around them and their silence. "You wanna go up to my dorm and talk about it?"

"Mm mm."

"Okay. Wanna nap?"

"Mhm."

"Coolio," Denki threaded his fingers through his hair. "Lay down, get comfy."

Shouto blinked tiredly. "M's'ay?"

"Yeah, dude, I'll stay. C'mere."

Denki leaned back further into the couch and Shouto purposefully fell sideways to lay his head in Denki's lap instead, the hand returning to its ministrations in his hair, and Shouto closed his eyes again, sighing. "M'nks"

"Anytime!"

"━right. Thank you. You too. Bye."

Shouta hung up the phone with a sigh of relief, plopping his head down to rest on his arms pillowed on the table in front of him. A soft meow came from below his feet and Shouta chuckled to himself, picking Teriyaki up off the ground and settling him in his lap. He didn't see his other cat anywhere nearby, so Shouta called out to his husband. 

"'Zashi!"

"Yeah, babe?!" Hizashi yelled from the bathroom, where he was finishing up his hair routine after washing it and was now combing it free of tangles.

"Where's Cavity?"

"She's in here with me! You want her?!"

Before Shouta could even respond with a yes, Hizashi trotted out of the bathroom with a tiny, pure white kitten on his shoulder and a comb stuck in a knot in his hair. "Take her, please," Hizashi laughed. "She's not making combing this any easier, she just wants to play with it."

"Give."

Hizashi gently transferred the kitten from his own shoulder to Shouta's, and the cat easily entertained himself with Shouta's long hair in lieu of Hizashi's, batting at it and trying to eat it, as any kitten does with hair they can reach. Shouta smiled at the cat before holding his phone up and shaking it. "Got a warrant. Judge approved. Case will be public as soon as I've searched the Todoroki family home and taken pictures with Tsukauchi to add to our ever-growing file of incriminating evidence against the bastard. Tsukauchi's going to tell the rest of the precinct and get Tsuragamae to announce it via a press conference on live television."

"Shou, that's great!" Hizashi grinned. "I'm so excited to have the little listener come live with us! I've already asked Amplifier to cover my show tomorrow so I can go out shopping for furniture for the kiddo's room! Obviously, we're going to take him to get stuff to personalize it himself, but I wanna get him some essentials and stuff, y'know?"

"I know, 'Zashi," Shouta smiled back softly. "Go on, go finish up your hair and we'll go to bed. We both have long days tomorrow. You're shopping after classes and I'm going to have Nemuri and Yagi covering my classes so I can search Endeavor's premises. Tsukauchi's just coming with to make sure Endeavor doesn't try lying to me about anything I do while I'm there, like reasons I can't go into certain rooms or anything like that. If he lies and makes excuses, Tsukauchi will call him out on it with his quirk and remind him of the warrant and how much worse the lying will look on him in court when this all comes out in the trial."

"Alright," Hizashi pressed a quick kiss to his cheek, right over his scar from the USJ incident. "No staying up too late tonight, you insomniac. You need sleep for your long day tomorrow, or you'll probably end up punching Endeavor and compromising the whole case before we even make it to court."

Shouta's smile fell into a scowl. "I would not."

"Yes, you would," Hizashi laughed, walking back to the bathroom. "Go to bed!"

"Shut up," he said, though loud enough for Hizashi to hear from across the apartment.

"Never! You love me!"

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be in bed soon. You need sleep, too. You still have to teach classes tomorrow."

"Shoutaaaa! Just let me daydream about shopping for our kiddo in peace!"

"Never," Shouta smirked. "You love me."

"Don't throw my words back at me!" Hizashi laughed loudly. "You can be little spoon for that tonight!"

Shouta sighed. "Damnit."

The next morning, Shouta and Tsukauchi arrived at the Todoroki home to be met with Hawks and Natsuo standing outside the gates of the property, waiting for them. Hawks had a hand reached out to a pacing Natsuo, ineffectively trying to calm him. Natsuo looked up when the two got out of Tsukauchi's car, biting his thumb nail. 

"Where's Shouto?" Natsuo asked them.

"He's back at U.A. in the dorms, given permission to take the day off. As far as I know, only one of my students besides Shouto knows of the case, and Shouto is more than likely with him at the moment. He was given the day off as well to stay with Shouto. We went your mother's hospital yesterday for an interview under the guise of a supervised, off-campus outing for Shouto to visit her like he would before U.A.'s new rules were in order. Rei-san told us some... rather troubling things that we weren't able to get from yours or Shouto's own interviews."

Natsuo's face fell further. "...Touya?"

Shouta nodded grimly. "Yes."

"...What happened to him? What did Mom say?"

"It's... I believe it's best we leave that to be revealed in court. The story isn't a good one or a short one, and if we want to get this inspection over with sometime today, we won't have time to discuss it. I've already had Tsukauchi look over the recording of your mother's interview and he has confirmed that nothing she said was untrue."

Natsuo nodded. "Okay. I can wait until then. It's fine."

"Is your father home at the moment, or just Fuyumi-san?"

"Just Fuyumi," Natsuo said. "Bastard's at his agency getting ready for his morning patrol with Kido, Burnin', and Onima."

Tsukauchi sighed. "I guess that's for the best. By the end of today, Endeavor will be made aware of the case we've built, but him being absent from the premises will be helpful to us in avoiding conflict of interest."

"Conflict of interest?" Hawks asked. "What do you mean by that?"

"Legally, I'm not supposed to be here," Shouta shrugged. "Once the trial is over, my husband and I are going to be taking Shouto in as our foster child until he reaches legal age. We've already spoken to Shouto and to Rei-san about it, and Shouto has accepted our offer with Rei-san's blessing. We promised to take care of him the way he should have been growing up, and contact with remaining family members will never be cut off unless Shouto himself chooses it. Since I will be one of his foster fathers in the near future, my being here isn't supposed to be permitted, even if I am the one who opened the case in the first place."

Natsuo's and Hawks' jaws dropped. "You're really doing all that?"

Shouta furrowed his eyebrows. "He's my student. I care for his well being. So does my husband. Before this, we had never talked about children before, but this case changed things. We're both in our early thirties, and both pro heroes with multiple jobs that run in different hours, so children weren't really on the table for us. We both... took a special liking for Shouto after he saved my life. The more we found out about Endeavor, well, we mutually agreed that we'd do whatever we could to protect him."

"Can I meet your husband?" Natsuo asked. "Or just... talk to him on the phone?"

"Of course," Shouta nodded. "I believe you've already spoken to him once before on the phone, so Hizashi should recognize your voice. You can use my cell to call him, he'll answer. Tsukauchi and I will head inside and talk to Fuyumi-san before we start the inspection."

Natsuo took Shouta's phone from his outstretched hand, and Hawks put his hand on Natsuo's back. "Do you want me to stay?"

"No," Natsuo shook his head. "You go inside with Aizawa-san and Tsukauchi-san. I'll be fine, thanks."

Hawks' hand lingered for a second longer before he pulled away and followed Shouta and Tsukauchi through the gates, heading to the door.

Natsuo called the number saved in Aizawa's phone under [hizashi🌟🎤] and raised the phone to his ear, resuming his earlier pacing now that he was alone outside, waiting for the man to pick up the phone. Natsuo remembered the name Hizashi, he was Shouto's teacher who had called him after Shouto saved Aizawa. He'd introduced himself as Yamada Hizashi, and Shouto called him Yamada-sensei. Natsuo didn't have the time or patience at the moment to process the fact that he was married to Aizawa, because Yamada picked up the phone.

"Shou? Everything all right with the inspection? Should I get someone to cover my classes for the rest of the day?"

"Um, this is Todoroki Natsuo, we spoke a couple weeks ago from Shouto's phone? Aizawa-san gave me his phone to call you from. He's okay! I just wanted to thank you."

"Oh! Hello, Natsuo-san! Thank me for what, exactly?"

Natsuo smiled, feeling tears well into his eyes. "For taking care of Shouto. And for offering to foster him once this is all over. It means... so much. I've been worrying where he'd end up after the old man is put away. For Shouto to agree to go with you, he must really trust you, and I want to thank you for being someone he can rely on to take care of him."

"Of course! We love the little listener already!" Yamada said. Natsuo could hear the smile in his voice from over the line. "Shouta probably already told you, but Shouto will still have every right to contact you, your sister, and your mother while he's living with us. We would never deny him seeing or talking to any of you. Shouto's a good kid, and we're glad to take him in!"

"Still," Natsuo sniffed. "Thank you. I would have taken him myself but... I don't even have a job yet, and I'm still in school. I know he wouldn't have been living with me since U.A.'s got the dorm system now, but I wouldn't have been able to support him myself. I just... Thank you so much, Yamada-san."

"It's our pleasure, Natsuo-san! In fact, we're already preparing for Shouto's arrival in our little family! I'll be going out to shop for some essentials for Shouto after classes are over today, for his new room and anything else he'll need if he ever needs to stay with us in our on-campus apartment instead of his class' dorms. Shouto's not allergic to cats, is he? We have two of them who will absolutely love him, but if he's allergic we can figure something out about that."

Natsuo clutched his shirt in his fist, over his heart. "No, Shouto's not allergic to anything. He... He loves cats, actually. I should let you get back to your classes. Thank you for talking to me, Yamada-san, and for everything else."

"No problem! How 'bout you send my contact to yourself from Shouta's phone so you can call me anytime to talk about Shouto?"

"Sounds good," Natsuo smiled again. "I'll talk to you again soon, Yamada-san. Have a good rest of your day."

"You too, Natsuo-san! Bye bye!"

"Bye," Natsuo hung up.

He sent Yamada's contact to himself like he'd suggested and turned the phone off, heading inside to follow his boyfriend and the two investigating the house. He'd be more willing to give them information than Fuyumi is bound to be, after all. 

Denki was distracted.

He wasn't trying to be, but it was kind of impossible to work on assignments for Ishiyama's Modern Japanese Literature class when he had Shouto's head laying in his lap, peacefully sleeping.

It wasn't the first time Shouto had fallen asleep on Denki like this, he'd napped in the exact position yesterday when he'd gotten back from his visit to his mom with Aizawa and Yamada. Boy, did Denki have trouble dodging those questions from their friends when Shouto had done nothing but mumble and then fall asleep on him. For some reason, Shouto was comfortable enough around him to be vulnerable like this, and it made Denki really happy, it did, but it was also hell on his easily-distractible mind. 

They were in his dorm this time, like they'd originally planned yesterday, and Shouto had stayed the night the night before. He'd borrowed some of Denki's clothes to sleep in, and Denki's poor bisexual heart had been screaming at him since last night just from seeing Shouto in his Thunder Bolt shirt and his black sweatpants. Since Aizawa had given both of them a day off━to give Shouto some time after the day before, which made Denki assume some pretty bad stuff was revealed when they interviewed his mom, and Denki was there for Shouto's moral support━Denki decided to attempt to finish some homework while Shouto napped off his stress.

Attempt being the key word there. He wasn't very successful. The essay he was supposed to write on what he thought the main theme of Snow Country was had been kicking him in the ass and he hadn't even started it yet. The essay, he meant. He'd finished the book, twice actually, but he still had no idea what he thought the theme was. It was just a sad man who had a love affair with a geisha, so what? The guy liked to live a little. Denki didn't see how he could possibly find a theme for this book, it was impossible.

Shouto would probably know, but Denki wasn't about to wake him up just to ask him. He'd had a rough couple weeks, Denki wasn't that heartless and stupid. So he texted Sero.

denki⚡️✨

yo dude?? u kno what the thme of snow country is???

 

sero dude🤙🧡

??? fuck no its so confusing???

 

denki⚡️✨

damnit me neithr !!! why does ishiyama-sensei h8 us this way

 

sero dude🤙🧡

pfft idk bro ask roki hes there w u right?? 

 

denki⚡️✨

no hes sleepng i dont wan tto wakeh im up

srry im typinh with oneh and its hard

 

sero dude🤙🧡

wheres ur other hand??

 

denki⚡️✨

trappd under shoutos heaf

heas

HEAD

 

sero dude🤙🧡

LMAOOO GL BRO

UR SO WHIPPED

 

denki⚡️✨

shut ur fuck

Denki sighed and dropped his phone back onto his pillow next to his head. Sero was useless, then. Denki glared at the unassuming book on his mattress. Stupid book, stupid assignment, stupid Sero being right, stupid Ishiyama-sensei for giving an impossible assignment, stupid━

"Denki?"

"Ah!"

Shouto was now awake and blinking up at Denki with furrowed eyebrows. "Are you alright? You were muttering like you were angry."

"Wow, you're a light sleeper," Denki chuckled. "I'm okay, I'm just frustrated over the essay that Ishiyama-sensei assigned us on Snow Country, it's no big deal. You can go back to sleep, Shouto."

"I can help, I have it finished."

Denki went to protest, but he had already reached beside Denki and picked the book up himself and turned to a certain page. "You're struggling to understand the theme, right? You need to read deeper into it with context clues to get it. It took me a while, too."

There was no room for argument, so Denki settled back into his pillow and paid as much attention as he could when Shouto finally found the page he was looking for, putting his finger beneath one of the lines as he read to Denki so Denki could follow along easily. 

"In the depths of the mirror the evening landscape moved by, the mirror and the reflected figures like motion pictures superimposed one on the other. The figures and the background were unrelated, and yet the figures, transparent and intangible, and the background, dim in the gathering darkness, melted into a sort of symbolic world not of this world. Particularly when a light out in the mountains shone in the center of the girl's face, Shimamura felt his chest rise at the inexpressible beauty of it."

Shouto's voice was smooth and intoxicating, and Denki had to stop himself from zoning out a few times even though it was only a short excerpt. 

"This is one of the places where I found the theme," Shouto said. "Beauty. Shimamura kind of gets lost in his own world when he experiences seeing things of beauty, like this landscape or when he sees Komako. Most of the mentions of beauty have sad undertones, like how Shimamura sees loneliness in nature's beauty or the wasted potential of Komako's beauty. How he thinks love is beautiful but the effort put into acts of love is misspent."

"Oh," Denki said. "That makes sense, I guess. You're right, that's depressing. I kind of zoned out half the time we read this, it was sorta boring."

Shouto laughed quietly. "Yeah, most books Ishiyama-sensei picks are. I liked No Longer Human, though. It was a little morbid, but... I got sucked into it. It's one of my favorite books now."

"Really?" Denki asked, slightly surprised. "I think you're the only one in our class who liked that one. I didn't think it was that bad but the book is way old and the way of speaking is hard to understand sometimes so I guess that's why I didn't like it so much? It was alright, but I don't think many other people liked it. Maybe Midoriya, though. I think I remember him saying he read it like four times before we gave them back to sensei and Uraraka teased him for being a nerd."

"...I think it was because I related to Yozo in a lot of ways. With how he perceived life, I mean. I never tried to... you know. Never thought about it, either. But, some of the things he thought about humanity really resonated with me. It was a bit of a wake up call to myself, I guess. I never attempted to make myself the 'funny guy' like Yozo did, either. It was just the way he viewed humanity, I guess. I don't know."

Denki leaned down, resting his chin on Shouto's head. His breath moved Shouto's hair with every exhale, but Shouto didn't seem to mind, only melted back into Denki in return. "Do you reread it a lot?"

"Ishiyama-sensei let me keep my copy," Shouto said. "I know a lot of it by memory now."

"Yeah? Like what?"

"'I know that I am liked by other people, but I seem to be deficient in the faculty to love others. (I should add that I have very strong doubts as to whether even human beings really possess this faculty).'" Shouto recited tonelessly. "He was lonely his entire life because of his lack of understanding of society. I was the same. Father kept me separate from the world, my siblings, my mother. I didn't have people in my corner, people to teach me how to love or be loved. I knew my siblings loved me to an extent, but it was different to know something than to experience it. 'The 'world,' after all, was still a place of bottomless horror.' All I knew from birth was cruelty, hatred and hurting. I had a different situation to Yozo, but I still found myself relating to him."

Denki frowned, wrapping his arms over Shouto's shoulders and shifting him up higher so instead of his head being in Denki's lap, it was against his chest and Denki was hugging him from the back. "You don't feel that way anymore, though, right? Like, everyone at U.A. loves you, you know that? Heck, Aizawa and Yamada-sensei are adopting you!"

"Fostering me," Shouto corrected with a chuckle, hesitantly putting a hand over Denki's conjoined ones over his chest. "Not adopting. And, no, I don't feel that way anymore. Especially not since we all moved into the dorms. I haven't been home as much, so there hasn't been time to feel like that. And Natsuo and I have gotten closer in recent years, so he never lets me feel alone."

"Good!" Denki grinned. "'Cause I'd do it myself if I had to! I mean, you're like one of my best friends at this point besides Jirou and Sero, so I can't let you feel shitty if I can help it!"

Shouto sighed, content, and Denki smiled, tightening his arms around him. "C'mon, lets nap. I can write the stupid essay later. It's not due until the end of the week anyway."

"But I just woke up?"

"So?" Denki grinned, moving his school work off his bed and onto the floor, pulling Shouto into lying down with him. "Naps are always fun!"

Shouto shrugged and curled into Denki's chest. "Okay. Is this okay?"

"Duh," Denki rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "Cuddling is the best for naps. Are you comfy? We can switch if you're uncomfy. I am A-OK being little spoon if you wanna be big spoon."

"What does silverware have to do with napping together?"

Denki snorted. "Oh, Shouto, my dear friend. I have so much to teach you."

To say Shouta was uncomfortable walking into the Todoroki family home was an understatement. Tsukauchi seemed to be in the same boat, but less so than Shouta since he dealt with things like this more often as a detective than Shouta did as an underground pro. Hawks just seemed like he was bored, but Shouta could see the tenseness in his shoulders while they waited for Natsuo to follow them inside.

Fuyumi had invited them inside at their arrival to the door, and Natsuo walked in just before they explained the reason for their visit.

"Natsu!" Fuyumi smiled. "You didn't say you were coming home today! I would have made something to eat!"

"Sorry, nee-san," Natsuo scratched the back of his head, handing Shouta his phone back. "Kinda last minute."

"It's alright, just a surprise, is all! So what brings you all here?"

Tsukauchi pulled a neatly-folded paper from a pocket in his coat and handed it to Fuyumi. "We have a warrant to search and inspect the premises, Todoroki-san."

Fuyumi paled. "A... warrant? Why?"

"We've opened a case against your father, Todoroki Enji, on grounds of child abuse, neglect, and endangerment, as well as domestic violence and spousal abuse, among other things. We're here to search the premises for visual evidence of this to go along with our recorded proof via interrogations with various family members."

Natsuo's lips thinned grimly when Fuyumi remained open-mouthed and stunned silent. "I can show you around. You'll want to start in the place where most of Shouto and Touya's abuse went down."

"And where is that?" Tsukauchi raised an eyebrow.

Shouta's eye twitched angrily. "The 'training' room."

"Ah," the detective nodded. "Alright. Lead the way, Natsuo-san."

The three men and Fuyumi followed close behind Natsuo as he led them through the house, passed closed doors and dusty shelves full of fake family pictures to make them seem as if they were a normal, happy family. They made Shouta sick to his stomach to look at, knowing they were just a front put up by Endeavor to hide his true actions to anyone who would visit so he wouldn't get caught in his violence against his family. 

Natsuo stopped them in front of a closed door at the end of a hallway and hesitated before he opened it. "Fuyumi and I have never been in here. So... whatever you find in there, it's going to be just as new to us as it will be to you. Father threw us aside like we were just last week's garbage, so neither of us have ever set foot in this room. I just know where it is from seeing Shouto and Touya go in and out so much."

Hawks put a hand on Natsuo's shoulder as he opened the door, and he stepped aside to let Shouta and the detective through before he himself came in. Fuyumi followed close behind them, leaving her brother in the hallway after one last nervous, worried glance.

The sight of the room made Shouta nauseous and furious all at once. There was shards of broken glass on the floor, sloppy in an attempt to clean it up, and there were quite a few holes in the walls as well, some even singed around the edges. There were burn marks on the floor, spots in the wood that had been weakened and softened from years of water damage from melted ice. When Shouta looked close enough, he could see small splatters of blood stained on the walls near the holes, both old and new. 

Tsukauchi slowly pulled out the camera from inside his coat. Shouta stepped back out of the room to calm himself while Tsukauchi busied himself with gathering photographic evidence to add to their ever-growing file of horror. 

That room was where Shouto had spent his life pouring blood, sweat and tears at his father's hands. Where he had suffered a childhood of abuse and solitude because Endeavor kept him alienated from his siblings and his family. That room was where Todoroki Touya had slowly lost his sanity in his desperation for his father's approval and love and attention. Where Todoroki Rei begged her husband to stop hurting her children and paid the price for it with being physically harmed. That room was the reason Rei's mental state deteriorated year after year until she broke down and hurt her own child because half of him reminded her of her abuser.

Shouta wanted to kill Todoroki Enji with his own two hands.

It was really, truly a shame that he had to do this legally. If he wanted Shouto to end up safe and out of Endeavor's hands, which he and his husband both did, Shouta had to play by the rules until Endeavor was put behind bars. 

Hizashi was right. If Endeavor were here, Shouta would have punched him in the face and lost the whole case.

It was nearing late afternoon when Shouto got the first text from his father.

All of his classmates were back from school, and had greeted himself and Denki eagerly to tell them all they missed during the day to make it easier for them to catch up, telling them stories from training that made Denki crack up laughing and Shouto himself smile. 

Yamada had warned him via phone call earlier in the morning that his father would more than likely know about everything by the end of the day, but it had slipped his mind at some point during his day spent destressing with Denki.

So when his phone chimed, he thought nothing of it. Then he checked it, and Shouto swore his heart stopped beating for a millisecond. It chimed with message after message, and Shouto felt cold to his very bones.

flaming piece of shit 👎

Why am I hearing of a case involving our family, against me?

I was told to contact a lawyer.

Respond, Shouto. What is the meaning of this?

Are you involved? You will be punished if this is true.

They say that the investigators spoke with your mother. You know better.

You will come home. Now.

I will not tell you twice, Shouto.

"Shouto?" Denki broke him out of his stupor, and Shouto noticed his hands were shaking. He dropped his phone, fumbling to get as far away from his father's words as he could. A distinct thump could be heard as it hit the floor, and Denki was suddenly on the floor in front of where Shouto sat on the couch, crouching to be at eye-level with him. "Shouto, talk to me, what's going on?"

"He," Shouto clenched a hand over his chest, trying to breathe through the tightness. "He knows. He knows."

"Shit, were all those texts from him? What did he say to you, Shouto? Do you want me to get Aizawa? Or Yamada? Shouto, breathe, you're going to be alright. You're here, not there. He's not going to do anything. Alright? Breathe with me. In... Out... In... There we go, keep breathing, alright? Yaomomo, call Aizawa! Jirou, call Yamada! We need both of them!"

"Right away!" Momo fretted, pulling her phone out and calling their homeroom teacher. 

Shouto vaguely heard Jirou cursing from across the room and the beeps of fingers dialing numbers. Others in the room sounded panicked, but the more sounds that reached Shouto's ears, the further he dissociated and let it all fade to background noise. He breathed with Denki, in and out as instructed, though his mind was elsewhere, carefully blank while it instinctually repressed the words he'd seen on his screen from his father.

This was a familiar feeling, the fear he felt. A soul-deep panic. In a way, it was almost comforting to feel something so familiar. It wasn't something new, something unknown to him. In the back of his mind, he realized how messed up that was, but it wasn't registering for him completely since his only focus was on the ringing in his ears and the amicable sense of terror.

And then Shouto felt nothing.

Hizashi had just finished up putting some things in the spare room in his and Shouta's apartment for their kid when he got the call. Shouta was in the living room grading papers to get his mind off the events of the day, which Hizashi had been filled in on by Tsukauchi since Shouta had been so angry that he'd been silent since they left the Todoroki home earlier in the day while Hizashi was shopping. 

He rarely got calls from his students, especially Shouta's students, so he picked up on the first ring once he'd seen who it was from. "Jirou, kiddo! What's up?"

"Yamada-sensei! We need you and Aizawa-sensei to come to our dorms! He isn't answering Momo's calls! Please get him and bring him over here!"

Her voice was unsteady and nervous, and Hizashi was already grabbing his jacket as he responded, jogging into the living room and putting the phone on speaker. "I've got Aizawa here with me, listener, tell us what's happening."

"I don't know!" Jirou stressed. Shouta sat up instantly, on alert and staring intently at Hizashi's phone. "We were all talking and everyone was telling Todoroki and Denki what they missed today and Todoroki started getting a bunch of texts and then he started panicking and he's still breathing okay but he's unresponsive! Denki told us to call you two! Please hurry!"

Shouta was out of his seat in seconds, grabbing Hizashi's phone from his hand and then both of them were running out their door, not even bothering to close it as they left. "We're on our way, Jirou. My phone is off, I'm sorry I didn't respond. You said he's unresponsive?"

"Y-yeah," she seemed calmer now that she knew they were on their way. "Denki was guiding him through breathing, but then he just stopped responding to anything."

"Is he completely catatonic, or is he still moving?"

"Um, catatonic? He hasn't moved an inch since he dropped his phone. The last thing he said was 'he knows', whatever that means."

Shouta cursed and ran faster, Hizashi right at his side. "We're almost there, I'm going to hang up now. Todoroki's going to be okay, Jirou. I promise you."

"We'll sort it out, little listener!" Hizashi agreed. "Don't worry!"

Hizashi took his phone back mid-stride and was the first one inside the 1-A dorm building once they'd reached it.

Yaoyorozu and Jirou were waiting in the entryway and both let out a simultaneous sigh of relief at seeing them, pointing to the living room area of the common room. 

When Denki saw the two of them, he instantly scooted over on the floor and Hizashi dropped to his knees in his place. "Hey, Shouto, can you hear me? It's Yamada. You in there, kiddo?"

The look in his kid's eyes was blank, and it nearly broke Hizashi's heart. It looked almost scarily similar to how he'd found Shouto at the hospital weeks ago, trembling bloody hands and empty eyes. In his peripheral vision, Hizashi saw his husband take a seat next to Shouto on the couch, close but a careful distance away so it wouldn't make the kid panic further. 

Without taking his worried eyes off Shouto, Hizashi asked Denki, "Has this happened at any other time today?"

"No!" his student said. "He's been calm! We had a good day! We━We talked about his favorite book and worked on homework and took a nap! This didn't happen once, I swear!"

"We believe you, Kaminari," Hizashi's husband said. "Calm down. Why don't you go get Shouto some water while we try and get him back with us, alright? The rest of you, leave. You can come back later."

Everyone reluctantly left as instructed, and Hizashi leaned forward a little bit. "Hey, Shouto," he said quietly, trying to repress his own panic at his unresponsive kid. "Can you hear me?"

No response, again. Hizashi's lips thinned. He raised his hands to hover over Shouto's face, hesitating. "I'm going to touch you, okay?"

As soon as his fingertips touched Shouto's cheeks, the poor kid startled violently, flinching backward in an instinctual move. "I'm not going to hurt you, Shouto. Alright? I promise, I will never hurt you. Will you let me touch you?"

Nothing, and then, an almost-imperceptible nod. Hizashi smiled, slowly placing his palms on either side of Shouto's face in the gentlest way possible. Shouto didn't move again, but he also didn't say a word. "Can you see me, kiddo?"

Another barely-there shake of the head. "Good!" Hizashi grinned. "There we go! Can you speak?"

Shouto's mouth opened, and no words came out. When he realized he couldn't verbally respond, he tried to shrink in on himself again, like he was expecting a punishment. Hizashi shook his head. "No, no, it's okay, little listener. You don't have to talk, okay? You've done nothing wrong. How about we get some feeling back in ya, alright? Try moving your hands for me, sweetheart."

He guided Shouto through slowly returning feeling and awareness back to himself, limb by limb, until Shouto's eyes were less clouded over and he was just left shaking instead of being completely suspended in a state of nothingness. Hizashi encouraged every movement positively, making sure Shouto explicitly knew that Hizashi was not there to punish him for anything, or to hurt him in any way for anything he did. His husband sat beside Shouto the whole time, a hand hovering over his back and a knee brushing the kid's so he'd know that he was there as well.

Denki came back with a glass of water and sat on Shouto's other side on the couch, holding a hand out, palm down facing the cushion. Hizashi didn't know what for, but the kid knew Shouto, so he wasn't going to question it when he had other things presently to worry about.

Shouto slowly lowered his head, Hizashi's hands still on his cheeks, and saw Denki's outstretched hand. His hand moved at a snail's pace, sliding underneath it and pressing his palm to Denki's before hesitantly entwining their fingers together. Ah, so that's what it was for. 

"You with us, Shouto?" Shouta murmured quietly, ghosting his hand over their kid's back to test the waters. When he made no move to flinch or retract back into himself, Shouta put his hand on Shouto's back and rubbed it in a soft, grounding circle. 

"I..."

"Don't rush yourself if you don't want to talk," Denki scolded quietly. "You don't have to be scared with us, okay? We're here."

Shouto closed his mouth, clenching Denki's hand harder until both of their fingers were pale from the pressure.

Hizashi softly ran his thumbs across Shouto's cheeks in a repetitive gesture, smiling whenever Shouto dared to look at his face. Every time their eyes met, Shouto looked away as quickly as it happened. He trembled in Hizashi's hold, but Hizashi held securely. 

His kid needed him to be there, and that was that.

When Shouto finally came to enough to move himself without Yamada's help, he leaned to the side and slumped against Denki. It seemed like that was a common occurrence in the last few weeks, but Denki never seemed to mind and Shouto liked being close to him. Denki's free arm wrapped around him, the other still lax against the couch cushion with Shouto's hand clutched in his. 

"You wanna talk about it, kid?"

Shouto minutely shook his head at Aizawa. 

"Alright," Aizawa said. "You want us to leave?"

He hesitated, then shook his head again. 

"You think you can take a couple sips of water for us, listener?"

Yamada held out a glass of water to Shouto, who carefully took it with a shaking hand and brought it to his lips to do what he was asked of. The water felt nice, like he was a desert that finally got some rain.

"Can..." 

All heads turned to Shouto when he spoke a clear word for the first time in what had to have been almost an hour. "Can what, Shouto?" Denki frowned.

"Can I... I want to... talk to Natsu?"

Aizawa nodded. "I'll call him and you can talk to him, okay? Do you want me to inform him of the situation?"

Shouto returned the gesture. "Please..?"

"Alright," Aizawa smiled, patting Shouto's leg gently. "I'll be right back. Hizashi and Kaminari are right here if you need anything else."

"That's right!" Hizashi agreed.

Denki chuckled, tightening his arms around Shouto and pulling him closer to his chest. "I sure as hell ain't going anywhere!"

"Hey, babe?"

Natsuo looked up from his textbook at his boyfriend entering the room. "Yeah?"

"Don't you think you should take a break?" Keigo frowned. "You've been at this for over two hours. You've already read that book four times cover to cover. You're worryin' me here."

"Can't," Natsuo shook his head. "Exam's next week. If I stop studying now I'll get distracted thinking about everything else and I don't want to think about what that bastard is going to do to Shouto when he finds out about the case. I want to be there for my baby brother and I can't, Keigo."

He sighed deeply, putting his pencil down and taking off the reading glasses he wore. Keigo walked up behind him and gripped his shoulders, massaging them gently while Natsuo rubbed his eyes. "They warned me a few hours ago that he'd be made aware of the case tonight."

Keigo's hands paused for a short second before continuing. "What do you think he's going to do?"

"I don't know," Natsuo frowned. "I know he's at least going to be blowing Shouto's phone up after he does, saying who knows what. Shouto has been so tense about this whole thing, like he still doesn't believe it's real yet. I don't really blame him, but... if that piece of shit makes Shouto spiral again..."

"Maybe━"

Both of them paused when Natsuo's phone rang, the caller ID showing the name [Aizawa Shouta] on screen.

"Keigo━"

"It's okay," his boyfriend soothed. "Maybe it's not about Shouto, maybe something new came up in the case for more evidence to incriminate Endeavor?"

Natsuo grabbed the phone and slowly slid his finger across the screen, raising it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Natsuo-san. I'm glad you answered. Shouto wanted to talk to you, and I'm going to give him the phone after I’ve explained what you'll be dealing with here. Is that alright?"

"Uh, yes, of course," Natsuo's eyebrows furrowed with worry. "What happened? Is Shouto okay?"

There was a sigh from the other end of the line. "Physically, he's fine. From what we heard from students who witnessed it happen, Shouto got several texts in a row on his phone, and then completely froze up when he saw them. I personally did not read them, that's up to Shouto if he wants to share. We've only just calmed him down enough to speak again, and he asked if he could talk to you."

Natsuo clenched his jaw. Of course that asshole would do something like that and scare Shouto immobile. "Yeah, I understand. You can put him on now."

There was shuffling on the line for a minute, and Keigo motioned to Natsuo that he would be in the other room to give him some privacy. Natsuo gave him a small, barely-there smile and leaned up to kiss his cheek before he went.

"...Natsu?"

"Hey, Shouto," Natsuo smiled fully this time. "You feelin' alright? Aizawa-san said you had a panic attack. You wanna talk about it?"

"He━He asked me if I'm involved in the case. And then he told me that I would be punished, and to come home immediately."

Natsuo was glad he'd put his pencil down, or he would have broken it right then. "I'm gonna kill him."

"Don't do that. You'll get arrested."

"Sounds like a fair enough trade to me."

Shouto chuckled over the line, followed by a sniff. "Natsu?"

"Yeah, Shouto, what's up?"

"...You're not gonna leave me when this is all over, right? When I go stay somewhere else? You'll visit?"

Heart clenching in his chest, Natsuo shook his head like his brother were in front of him and said, "No, Shouto. I'm not gonna leave you, alright? I'll visit all the time, and I'll call and text so much you'll get sick'a me. I promise."

"Okay. Thanks. Do you... Do you think Fuyumi-nee will feel the same?"

"Shouto, Fuyumi loves us," Natsuo said. "I know you might feel like she doesn't because she's always been so quiet, but she does, in her own way. When this case is all over and done with, I doubt Fuyumi would ever miss a chance to come and visit you. And hey! When you finish your extra classes and get your provisional license, how about the three of us and mom go out somewhere and celebrate, yeah? She'll be released long before then."

"...Yeah. That sounds really good. Thank you, Natsu."

Natsuo smiled sadly. "You shouldn't thank me. I'm just trying to be what I should've been all along, Shouto."

"What?"

"A good big brother."

Another week went by.

Shouto now stood in front of his dorm building, waiting for Aizawa and Yamada to pick him up to leave for the courthouse. He cracked the knuckles in his fingers, subtly fidgeting in nervousness. Denki stood beside him, having insisted to the rest of their class that he would catch up in a bit and promised he wouldn't be late for class (which Shouto doubted, Denki was often late on normal days, why wouldn't he be today?).

"Shouto?"

"Yes?"

"Are you... okay, dude?"

"I'm fine," Shouto said, fiddling with the collar of the button-up shirt beneath his blazer. 

Denki chuckled, stepping in front of him and moving his hands, replacing them with his own. He loosened Shouto's tie a little bit, to give Shouto more breathing room, and fixed his button-up collar before smoothing out his blazer. "You look great, you're going to do great, and you're gonna come back tonight a free person. Your dad is gonna get put away, Shouto. He's not making it out of this with his money or power."

Nodding nervously, Shouto swallowed thickly and gave Denki an attempt at a smile.

"I'll be fine," he corrected his earlier words.

"Hell yeah, you will," Denki encouragingly grinned. "You totally got this. Repeat after me."

Denki dramatically cleared his throat and placed his right hand over his chest, raising the other in the air next to his head. "I solemnly swear that this trial is going to go amazing!"

"I don't think it works that wa━"

"Ahbapbapbap!" Denki cut him off. "I solemnly swear that this trial is going to go amazing!"

Shouto chuckled, the tension in his shoulders slightly easing. "I solemnly swear that this trial is going to go amazing."

"And Endeavor can eat a bag of dicks for the way he treated me and my family!"

Laughter bubbled up in Shouto's chest. "And Endeavor can eat a bag of dicks for the way he treated me and my family."

"Amen!"

"Amen," Shouto shook his head, grinning. "You're ridiculous."

"Thank you," Denki said earnestly. "It's my defining trait."

Shouto heard a loud cackle from behind him and Denki and turned around, seeing a bent-over Yamada clutching his stomach from laughter and Aizawa fondly shaking his head next to him. 

Yamada wiped a tear from his eye underneath his glasses. "Holy shit, kiddo, that was hilarious! I wish I would've recorded that!"

"Kaminari, you're going to corrupt him," Aizawa huffed amusedly. Then to Shouto he said, "C'mon, kid, we've gotta get going if we want to get to the courthouse on time."

Shouto's smile dropped and he sighed. 

His friend noticed this, grabbing his cheeks and squishing them together like a child's. "Hey! No sad! Bag of dicks, remember? No sad!"

"Bag of dicks," Shouto nodded. "You're right. No sad."

"Great!" Denki clapped once. "I'm gonna head to class before the prez yells at me for being late again. My phone's on if you need me, 'kay?"

"Okay. Thank you, Denki."

Denki saluted and jogged off toward the main school building, turning back to wave one more time before speeding off.

Aizawa placed a hand on his shoulder as Shouto watched him go. "You ready, kid?"

"As I'll ever be."

"Right!" Yamada mimicked Denki's clap. "Off we go, then!"

"Good morning, everyone. Calling the case of the Flame Hero: Endeavor versus Family. Are both sides prepared?"

"Ready for the Family, Your Honor," Aizawa stood, nodding. Shouto sat next to him, stock-still, and refused to meet the eyes of anyone.

Endeavor's lawyer stood as well, shuffling papers. "Ready for the defense, Your Honor."

"Please be seated. We will now begin."

The judge tapped the gavel and Shouto stood alongside his teacher, holding his held his breath in anticipation.

"The jury has come to a conclusion. Todoroki Enji, you are hereby sentenced guilty of all crimes brought to the courtroom today. You will be charged with the permanent revocation of your hero license and 30 to life in prison, no chance of parole. Officers, take him."

Aizawa caught Shouto as he collapsed in relief, strong arms holding him up as he buried the side of his face in the fabric of the black suit Aizawa wore. Shouto stared his father in the face as the officers came around to cuff him, using quirk suppression cuffs in case of a possible lashing out. Enji glared back at him, cold and angry, as he was dragged away. Shouto gripped the back of Aizawa's blazer tight, burning turquoise eyes meeting anxious but relieved heterochromatic ones. 

"It's over," Shouto murmured. "He's... It's really over."

Aizawa ribbed his back. "Yeah. It's over, kid. He's gone."

Shouto cried.

Denki was waiting outside their dorm building for them when they returned, and that made Shouto feel a strange fuzzy way in his chest that he didn't understand.

He'd had an exhausting day. Getting ready, arriving at the courthouse, the whole trial, watching his father be taken away in cuffs, hugging Natsuo like his brother was air he needed to breathe, even getting a long hug from Fuyumi with an apology and tears on her end for everything she'd never done for him. All in all, Shouto was tired.

And as soon as Denki saw the car pull up and Shouto get out of the backseat, Shouto said a quick goodbye to his new guardians and walked over to his friend, throwing his arms around him and lifting him off his feet. 

Denki squeaked and wrapped his arms around the back of Shouto's neck for leverage, laughing when Shouto set him down and quickly unwinding himself. 

"What was that for?" Denki asked breathlessly.

"Just felt like it."

"Hey, I'll take it, bro!" he laughed again. "How'd it go? Did they find him guilty? Is he in jail? Are our senseis your dads now? What about your siblings? Did━"

"It went great, like you said it would," Shouto cut him off with a chuckle. "But now I want to sleep. For three days. Minimum. Can we do that?"

"I━You━Huh?"

Shouto blinked. "Like how we did that one day. When I was feeling upset after visiting my mother and we took a nap."

"Yeah!" Denki brightened with realization. "Come on, let's go! My room or yours?!"

"Yours," Shouto smiled. "I like your blankets. They're heavy."

"Weighted blankets, dude! A friggin' miracle, I mean it!"

Denki grabbed his hand and dragged him inside, chattering away excitedly as they passed their classmates who gave them varying looks of confusion, concern, and blankness. Shouto offered them a short wave before they promptly disappeared around a corner toward the stairs, Denki apparently too impatient to wait for the elevator.

As they climbed the stairs, Shouto smiled to himself, thinking, Yeah. Life sounds like it could be fun now.

Thanks for saving me, Aizawa-sensei.