Chapter Text
The classroom is quiet as he walks in. He arrived as early as he could get away with, after all.
He`s the fourth student to arrive. Towards the front, he spies a boy vigorously reading the school guidebook. His legs reveal him to clearly be the younger Iida brother. They had interacted once or twice at events, but he couldn`t say he knew him (Or anyone for that matter. He was closer with Yaoyorozu, but they were acquaintances at best).
At the back he spies the other two occupants of the room. A bald(?) boy with a seemingly hardened skull, quietly having what looked to be a crisis, but who was he to judge, and a boy with fluffy, frazzled purple hair who seemed to be catching up on sleep.
He made his way over to his desk, setting down his bag. As far as his plans went, he wouldn`t need to get particularly close to anyone.
He`s just got to get through the next 3 years… and then Shoto can make Enji Todoroki suffer.
“Father wants me to take the recommendation exam next month, Touya-nii. What should I do?”
On the other side of the small table the pair sat at, Touya (He went by Dabi, but that wasn`t his name) took a sip of his drink. They met up at least once a month if Shoto could sneak out.
Touya sighed. “Shoto… I think you should do it.”
“Look. I know you want to get revenge on the old man for what he did to me and mom. I get you. But think about what getting a hero licence would get you. Money, quirk training, the cameras on you…”
Touya`s smile grew sharp with that last bit.
(In another world, Touya would have gone after Endeavor himself, burning himself in the process. This time, unfortunately, he wouldn`t have the chance. His survival from that peak was far shakier, with the underground doctor who rescued him having far more shoddy work than the madder one, what with his master being focussed on acquiring a different quirk at the time. Using his quirk would kill him before he accomplished much of anything. Now he was simply bitter.)
“You don`t have to kill him, but what you CAN do is make him suffer. Be a hero he`d hate. Or have him assassinated. Wouldn`t blame you. But whatever you do, Shoto, you need to remain true to yourself. If you can`t handle heroics, my door`s always open, OK? For as long as I can, I`ll be your backup.”
Shoto knew, looking at his brother`s dulled smile, that he would do it. He would become a hero, and when the moment was right… he`d burn. He`d burn brightly enough to destroy that which created his father in the first place.
The first few days are peaceful enough. Everything regarding high school was strange to him, having never gone to school before.
His teacher, one Aizawa Shouta, seemed decent enough. A little negligent, but he taught his classes well enough. Shoto wouldn`t have been able to figure out the man`s hero name if it wasn`t for Midoriya`s timely knowledge.
His classmates were… manageable. Some of them were louder than he would have liked. The group that was forming around the brutish Bakugo Katsuki, notably the man himself, were to be avoided, but it wasn`t like they were terrible. On a good day, however, he could handle the rest.
He found peace in the quieter ones. Ojiro, Kouda, and Sato were pleasant enough to be around, and Jiro would often sit with him alongside Yaoyorozu. Outside of that, he hadn`t really gotten to know the rest of his classmates.
In the case of the schools staff, of the ones he met, it was a mixed bag. He enjoyed learning from Cementoss and Ectoplasm, but Midnight and Present Mic were a bit… loud.
Like everyone else in the class, however, he was interested In the group that had begun to surround one Midoriya Izuku.
He had only talked to the boy once or twice, but it was clear that he was smart, charismatic, and well mannered, if not very anxious. This was abetted by Uraraka Ochaco, who never seemed to be too far away from him. He had unsurprisingly (to him at least. He could tell that the boy was a natural leader under all that anxiety) already gathered a few ‘followers’ in the forms of Iida Tenya, Asui Tsuyu (“call me Tsu”) and Shinso Hitoshi.
He would have to keep an eye on them, too. They had potential to be pretty good heroes. Not like his father, at least.
He`d try to talk to them after today`s heroics lesson. He`d just have to brave the bus first.
“We are the league of villains. We are here to tear down those who took the life of our leader, starting with the source of it all, U.A. Now, you will be distributed while we deal with your teachers. Be scattered!”
Could these guys really have not waited a few years to do this?
He froze another villain, being mindful to not go overboard in case there was another student here. He may… dislike… heroes, but he wasn`t going to give his classmates hypothermia. That was asking for trouble.
Theoretically, these villains had the same idea that he had. But to go about it this way… foolish. This would end with nothing left behind if they succeeded. Thus, he would deal with them.
He silently groaned as approached the centre of the U.S.J. He`d need to pace himself better in future if he wasn`t going to use his fire.
Thankfully, more villains seemed to be unconscious than not. He shouldn`t have underestimated the Eraserhead, then.
Suddenly, a burly, fleshy man leapt forwards at the order of creepy hands guy, grabbing his homeroom teacher.
The creature – who was apparently ‘Nomu’ – looked pretty much like a walking corpse. While tall with thick black skin, it was cut up in various places. It had a small head, an exposed brain, and seemingly possessed a… beak? Before he could question the thing (he could surmise that it wasn`t human. Even high end heteromorphs couldn`t look like that), creepy hands guy spoke up.
“Master may not have been able to finish Nomu, but he`s still plenty strong! A bioengineered monster who could have taken down the symbol of peace, but even now he can take down any hero!”
A bioengineering project? Fascinating. He supposed it was a good thing that whoever was making them was dead though. He couldn`t imagine that the process of turning from a person (or animal? Probably person.) into whatever the Nomu was could have been pleasant. He`d put the thing out of its misery though, considering it probably couldn`t be considered alive-
Before he could rush forward, however, he felt a hand on his shoulder. The only reason he didn`t immediately attack was because he knew it could only have been a classmate. If it wasn`t, he`d be dead.
“I wouldn`t recommend going there, mon compagnon”.
Aoyama straightened as Shoto turned to face him, A grim smile on his face.
Looking at Aoyama, Shoto would have expected a gaudy hero costume. This was, miraculously, not the case. A sleek black suit with white undershirt covered him, although it was clearly reinforced. His belt was a sleek black, with the focusing compartment the only source of colour in the ensemble, a deep red. It was something He`d question later.
Despite his generally efficient costume, it was clear that it had seen some conflict, with various tears throughout it. It seemed he had followed him out of the landslide zone.
Shoto looked at him, confused. “What are you-?”
Aoyama put a finger to his lips, with his other hand counting down. Not long after he finished counting…
*CRAKOOM*
Shoto turned to see the Nomu being blasted back by Bakugo, who had a furious look on his face.
Aoyama chuckled lightly (A coping method as good as any at a time like this.). “I figured you wouldn`t want to get in the way of the chien en colère.” He groaned as he grabbed his chest. “Good grief. J'en ai trop fait. You really had to leave the biggest guy in that zone to me?”
Before Shoto could respond, another series of explosions bellowed from the center fountain as Bakugo and the newly arrived Kirishima fought back against the remaining villains in order to guard the unconscious body of their teacher.
“I believe now would be a good time, brûler-geler”
He supposed he would need to learn a little French, then. He nodded and burst onto the scene.
(Thankfully, the teachers would arrive not long after. The main villains escaped, but it was a close thing. Aoyama stuck close to him for the rest of the day. The flamboyant boy even managed to pry Shoto`s (burner) phone number out of him. They would chat often, with Aoyama thankfully seeming to want to talk about heroics even less than Shoto did. He couldn`t for the life of him figure out why, but he wasn`t going to complain when he finally had someone to discuss books with.)
Shoto hid at the back of the class as they walked onto the field. He`d have to get a decent position at the festival, both to get his name out there, separate from his father, and to hopefully sate said father for a while. That didn`t mean he had to like it, though.
Yuga, as Aoyama insisted on being called after Shoto asked to be referred to by his own first name, gave him a light nudge with his elbow.
“Stand tall, Shoto! We need to show these people how bright we can shine as future h-heroes!”
Yuga was doing a better job at hiding his anxiousness than he was, at least. He figured that if anyone could show themselves off, it would be the shiny boy.
Another elbow nudge brought him back to reality as Uraraka sauntered off the stage. Her speech got plenty of cheers. The only member of the class who wasn`t satisfied at least a little was Bakugo, who was sulking off to the side. He was at least quiet about it, which was a step in the right direction.
(Considering how thoroughly the boy had been defeated by Uraraka during the battle trials, Shoto wasn`t exactly afraid for Uraraka`s safety.)
Midnight cracked her whip as the first game was announced to be a race. He could do that. He`d push through this, and then get through whatever the second round was roughly the same way. He could ‘show off’ in the third round.
As the round staring horn blared, Shoto took a deep breath to centre himself.
Somewhere in that crowd sat his father. Someday in the future, he would prove to his father that his “masterpiece” was a failure. For now, he`d have to grin and bear it.
(He wasn`t grinning, but it was close enough.)
Shoto was beginning to become only slightly concerned for the health of Midoriya Izuku.
The first round had gone about as well as he had planned, with him comfortably sitting in second, with Bakugo frontrunning to nobody’s surprise, until Midoriya surged forward via an explosion, leaping into first place. All without using his enhancement quirk because “it would tire him out too quickly”. Because using a piece of metal to fly consumes zero energy. Yes.
The second round had been equally weird. While he had teamed up Kaminari, Yaoyorozu, and Iida, a team that would succeed, Midoriya had used the ridiculous team composition of himself, Uraraka, Tokoyami, and a girl from support to fly, protecting their headband the whole time. Shoto was honestly impressed.
Thus, he was grateful when Midoriya accepted his request to talk.
The pair stood out of the way, out of view of cameras and eyes.
He took a deep breath as he asked the only question on his mind (not really);
“Are you All Might`s secret love child?”
Midoriya blanched.
“…eh?”
“You have a powerful strength quirk, a can-do attitude, and everyone likes you. You said you had a foster father, since your parents aren`t around. Clearly this supports my theory.”
Midoriya is quiet for a moment before laughing softly.
“I wish, Todoroki-san. I`ve met my dad. Total deadbeat, I assure you. Screwed off to America when my quirk didn`t manifest when it was supposed to. Then mom died in a villain attack three years ago and… here we are. Not much more to tell you.”
Shoto sulked. Well, there goes that theory. Back to the drawing-
“What did you really want to ask me, Todoroki-san?”
Shoto`s eyes widened. Had he…
“You`ve been watching me all morning, Todoroki-san. Whatever it is about me that upsets you, I`d like to clear it up… at least before you start disliking me. I don`t want that.”
(Thankfully for Izuku, Shoto only saw the surface layer of that statement.)
Ah…
“How are you so strong, Midoriya? Endeavor has made me train for years and yet you seem stronger then me. How?”
Midoriya seems confused by this.
“Oh. That wasn`t what I thought was bothering you, Todoroki! I figured I said something rude or distasteful! Heh…wait, you think I’m stronger than you!?”
Shoto blinked. “Of course. You always seem one step ahead of me, even with my power…”
“Well, I`d say that`s it`s because something is holding you back from using all of your quirk.”
Anger flared from within him. “I`ll never use Endeavor`s fire. I`ll prove my worth only using my mother`s ice alone.”
Midoriya was silent before muttering. “Huh. That`s a lot more issues than I thought…”. Raising his voice, he continued. “That`s… an interesting perspective, but why is it Endeavor`s fire, and not yours’s?”
…what?
“I mean… people aren`t supposed to have two quirks. You`ve just got the one, the ability to use ice and fire. I`d say it`s your fire and your ice. Are your siblings` quirks theirs or your parents`?”
Shoto hates to admit that he can`t that Midoriya isn`t wrong, but Midoriya is still talking.
“But… I think that`s beside the point. Todoroki… what`s wrong with Endeavor. To you?”
Todoroki looks down. Could he…
“What is your opinion on secrets, Midoriya?”
There's almost no time before he gets a response.
“They are important. If this is something that isn`t meant to get out, I won’t let it. I have plenty of experience with that already, Todoroki.”
That`s simultaneously reassuring and concerning, but close enough. Perhaps he is blinded by a bright smile and a kind face, but the world will know eventually. Might as well start now.
“Midoriya. What do you know about Quirk Marriages?”
The following conversation is as harrowing as it is refreshing.
“IT`S YOUR POWER, TODOROKI!”
‘Ah,’
-Shoto thinks as his left burns brighter than ever before, blocking out even the bellowing shouts of his father-
‘so that`s what it means to believe in someone so much that you bleed.’
He was burning ahead of schedule, but for whatever reason, he didn`t feel to bad about it.
He smiles as the heat and force of his opponent knocks him out. It wasn`t exactly what Shoto was expecting from his sports festival, but he can work with this.