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[Part 1]
He had to be gentle.
The forge in Greatwyrm’s classroom was a delicate instrument, and it was Touya Todoroki’s responsibility to keep it running.
Slowly and with precision, Touya pushed out his flames. Their colour casts a soft blue light over his face.
He focused, getting the heat just right.
It was intense, but nothing he couldn't handle, he’d been through worse.
A month ago, Touya had someone else shoved into his mind. They were forced to share a body, and in the process, they did terrible things.
Among those things were joining a terrorist group, and assisting in an attack that left many of his now schoolmates in the hospital.
Touya had done terrible things.
But life had given him a second chance, and he had taken it.
Things were starting to look up for him. He and his second passenger were getting along well, he was starting to repair his relationship with his family, and he had even learned a handful of new languages in the process.
The only problem was that, now that he had been given his second chance, he didn't know what to make of it.
Touya heard someone's footsteps approach him from behind.
“Alright, the shift's done for today. Good work today kid,” Greatwyrm walked up behind him.
“Thank you, sir.” Touya's expression remained aloof. He gently turned off his fire.
Greatwyrm nodded. “Your old man is here to pick you up. It's the weekend, do you have any plans?”
Touya shook his head. “No, sir. Sorry…”
Greatwyrm let out a sigh. “What do I always tell you, kid? You've gotta have something to do with your life.”
Touya's gaze fell down. “Sorry, sir.”
Greatwyrm shook his head. “Don't apologize, kid, just figure out the kind of life you want to live.”
The teacher sighed. “But that's enough for me, don't leave your old man waiting, alright?”
Touya smiled and gave his teacher a nod before leaving the room.
Touya had a, to say the least, complicated relationship with his dad.
Enji Todoroki, the #2 Pro Hero Endeavor, used to see his kids as nothing more than his own legacy. If he couldn't be number #1, then they would for him.
It pushed Touya to a breaking point, where he ran away from home. But after everything he had done, he found himself back where he started.
But things were different. He was welcomed. Enji was different.
Enji wasn't perfect, but he was trying to be better.
And for Touya, that would be enough.
[Part 2]
Enji sighed as he leaned against the walls of the empty hallway.
The last month or so had been an emotional rollercoaster. His son, who he thought was dead, had come back to him.
And even though he was sharing his mind with someone else, it was still his baby boy, his Touya.
In the past, Enji wasn't a good dad, but he was determined to fix that, he was determined to shower his children with all the love and care they deserved.
Even if he didn't exactly know how.
“Hey… Touya…” The greeting came out awkward, Enji was still getting used to the idea of openly showing his emotions.
“Hey… Dad…” Touya wasn't much different. After spending so much time hating his dad, the feeling of trying to love him was new to him. It was something he was getting used to.
There was a light silence that fell over the room as the two of them stood. The best they could do was give one another an awkward smile.
They were happy to see each other, it was just difficult, to say the least, for them to express it.
“The car is outside… we should probably get going then.” Enji let out a forced laugh, to which Touya responded in kind.
There was more awkward silence as they walked to the car.
Touya looked up at his dad. It was hard for him to believe that that was the same man who had pushed him to run away from home all those years ago, he seemed warmer.
Ironically enough, the Flame Hero used to be kind of cold.
“Het is koud buiten vandaag,” Touya spoke out loud to himself, complaining about the temperature.
“What was that?” Enji raised an eyebrow.
“Nothing… just Dutch,” Touya looked down, a soft smile on his face, happy for the company.
Enji gave a nod.
“You like those languages… don't you?”
Touya nodded back. “It's something I picked up from the SI.”
There was more silence. The two entered the car.
It was a newer model, a muscle car. The kind a man would drive in a midlife crisis.
“So, do you… want to listen to the radio?”
Touya nodded, “Oui.”
He messed with the touch screen, scrolling through songs until he found one he liked.
“WE ARE THE PANZER ELITE, NEVER RETREAT, BORN TO COMPETE, GHOST DIVISION.”
Enji winced at the noise.
“Pre-quirk rock and roll… huh?”
Touya nodded, “Yeah, an old Swedish band my SI liked. They made songs about history.”
Enji nodded. While he wasn't happy about the noise, he was at least glad his son was enjoying it.
“Son I… I was thinking... It's the weekend, we'll get fried chicken.”
Touya gave a small smile, “Sure… That sounds nice… Dad…”
Enji smiled back. It reminded him of when he was in U.A. He’d argue with his classmates about small things. What they’d get for lunch. Usually, it was either fried chicken, pizza, or burgers.
He was glad Touya got to go to school.
For the longest time, he thought he was dead. He could barely put into words how much he meant to him, let alone say it out loud.
His son was alive and beside him.
Enji would get to see his boy grow, laugh, find love, and start a family of his own. Enji couldn’t wait to see his grandkids.
His boy was alive, and he wouldn’t trade it for anything else.
[Part 3]
Grand Poulet, it was a French fried chicken franchise that popped up sometime after the Dawn of Quirks.
The founder, for which the chain was named, was a vigilante with a deep frier quirk. Before the governments of the world came up with the system of heroes, Grand Poulet was a force to be reckoned with.
No villain wanted to have a face full of burning oil.
But after pro-heroes started to pop up, quirks became more regulated, and the streets of France started to become cleaner. Grand Poulet decided to retire and put his quirk to use spreading the joys of chicken to the world.
Today, more than a century later, people still visit his restaurants.
Enji pulled up the car and reversed into the parking spot.
“Grand Poulet… I used to go here when I was your age…”
Touya nodded.
Getting out of the car, the two walked into the restaurant.
Enji turned to Touya and spoke. “Son… what do you want to order?”
Touya thought for a moment.
“A medium chicken sandwich combo. With fries and water.”
Enji raised an eyebrow.
“Fries and… water? You do know you're allowed to have more than that, don't you? Why not a soda, or juice?”
Touya shrugged. “I like water.”
Enji raised an eyebrow, perplexed.
“What about your sandwich? Do you not want any other toppings or even sauce for your fries?”
Touya shook his head.
“It's ok… I don't really have a preference.”
Enji shook his head. He didn't always understand what was going on in his son's head, but he loved him nonetheless, so he decided not to push the topic.
The two sat down with their food.
It was silent for a while. This wasn't going how Enji hoped.
Enji loved fried chicken when he was Touya's age, wouldn't Touya love it too?
No, he wouldn't. Enji sighed as he realized his mistake.
His son was his own person, that came with his own interests.
Enji may have loved fried chicken, but Touya had his own interests, like European languages and pre-quirk rock music.
Where could he take him that would match his interests?
Enji took a bite out of his meal.
The chance that there would be a pre-quirk rock concert close enough for Enji to take him was next to none.
He had to think.
Touya chose a song on the radio earlier, didn't he?
It was about Panzers, those German tanks that Enji remembered learning about in his old pre-quirk history classes.
That would do.
“Son… how would you like to go to a museum? A colleague of mine told me about one that’s hosting an exhibit on pre-quirk wars.” Enji looked up.
At that statement, Touya was beaming; a smile that stretched from ear to ear.
“Yeah! I… I’d like that… thanks… Dad…”
[Part 4]
The father-son duo finished their meals and got into the car. Although he did not show it, Touya was excited that he would be able to visit the history museum, and he was more excited that he would be able to see the Panzers.
Enji started the car. The engine roared to life with a rattle, drilling out a constant beating hum as Enji pulled out of the parking lot and made his way to the highway.
The traffic was slower than usual, not slow enough to be a hassle, but slow enough to notice.
Enji spoke up. “So… you have an interest in history?”
Touya nodded, his eyes looking out the window into the Mustafu city skyline. “Ja. I like music. One of my favourite bands makes songs about history, it’s an interesting topic…”
The sun’s rays were bright, intense and heavy as they washed over the skyline. Traffic was slow. Too slow.
(This scene goes well with this OST: https://youtu.be/DP7noiuDu4g?si=bD0WUgRM_CfheVvu&t=0 )
Enji’s eyes narrowed. His decades spent as a hero gave him a sense of these kinds of things.
“Touya, I’m going to turn on the radio, something is wrong.”
Touya nodded.
As Enji turned on the radio, he turned the dial until the station hit the Mustafu news.
“-ice armour quirk. The villain has stated that unless the Ministry of Transportation revokes his 140 parking violations, he will destroy the E1A expressway. More on this story after the brea-”
Enji shut off the radio.
“Touya I have to go.” Endeavor burst out of the car.
Touya followed. “I’m coming with you.”
Endeavor winced as the two ran, “Fine, but be careful. I want you to stay safe.”
Touya nodded.
The two reached the right of the highway and jumped off.
Endeavor spotted the villain, but before he could engage, Touya shot toward him.
“I’ll take him down, you focus on saving civilians.”
Endeavor grimaced, but gave a nod regardless, “Don’t do anything stupid Touya.”
The ice villain was large and heavy. The titan was engulfed within a large, bulky, ice-blue armour, made entirely of their quirk.
His glowing eyes streaked yellow as he turned to face the challenger, but before he could speak Touya shot into him.
He rocked a dropkick into his face, slammed into a punch, letting out a violent explosion of blue flames as he did, and then swung his fist in a heavy uppercut, which blew off the armour’s icy helmet, breaking off with a deep crash.
Punch, kick, left, right, knee, punch, blast. Touya shot off a blast of blue flames, blowing off the armour’s arm with an explosion.
“Had enough?” Touya’s eyes narrowed.
The villain smirked.
“No parking law in the world is going to stop me!”
His icy armour shot back to life, covering the villain’s body once more.
He shot a punch forward, then a swing, a slam, an uppercut. Touya ducked, weaved, and hit a kick. The villain blocked, he kicked the other side and blocked again. He threw a punch, flaming, straight into the gut.
The villain winced and slammed his arms together to counter. Touya rolled back, and fired off a combo of flames, blowing up and sending chunks of ice flying.
The villain burst through. Flames rolling over his cold thick armour.
“Didn’t you hear what I said…”
Rushing forward, his body rumbling as he did, the ice villain went for a plow.
“HERO?”
Touya cocked back, coating his fist in blue.
“Pathétique.”
Touya’s fist exploded straight into the villain, flames shooting back as his punch let out a loud roar.
The villain’s quirk, Ice Armour, let him make, and remake, armour from himself out of a thick heavy ice. For many heroes, the regeneration would be a problem.
But Touya could put down punks of that calibre easily.
The cracks started to spread.
No matter how much armour a villain had, it could only do so much.
The villain stepped back.
Touya smirked.
“Hero… huh?”
An explosion lit across the ice. A loud, mighty show of fire let out a roar as it shot pieces of ice in all directions, leaving the villain exposed.
Touya shot his hand forward, grabbing the villain before his armour could regenerate.
“Ja… that sounds about right...”
It didn’t take long for law enforcement to arrive and start to clean up the mess. Endeavor arrived shortly after, having evacuated the last few civilians in the area.
“Touya… are you alright?”
Touya gave his dad a slight smile.
“Yeah… are we still going to that history museum?”
Enji’s face softened at seeing his boy unharmed.
“Yeah… we are.”
Touya smiled as the two of them walked off.
Greatwyrm had been giving him a hard time for a while now, always telling him that he needed to find something he wanted to do.
He thinks he found it.
“Hero… That’ll do…”