Chapter Text
The golden rays of daylight were peeking through Class 2-C’s windows. The start of a new year meant the incessant grind of learning how to be high-grade heroes, being more significant and striving to develop as pro heroes in this day and age. Nobody told Class 2-C that a class of first years would block their front doors to take a peek of their rumored upperclassmen like they were on display for a museum or a zoo for their first day of school.
The broadcasting of the Sports Festivals was one of many ways UA promoted its high school as this prestigious region where brilliant minds gathered around and screamed to the world that the next generation is becoming the next superstars. With their continuous appearance on the news for their saves and hard work towards society, all of them were gleaming with pride.
Throughout these kids’ journey, there were three heroes that caught the public’s eyes and stood out among the rest.
A boy in the classroom was flaccid sitting on his chair, his legs propped up and an opened book was sprawled on his head. His white, short hair shining from the gleaming light and the burns that were forming around his arms, legs and face because of constant use of his quirk were becoming more conspicuous as the blue flame enrages on. His friends, Tenko Shimura and Shuichi Iguchi were snickering at their friend. Even though Tenko was just as popular as that white haired boy, he was hiding behind Shuichi since he hated the attention despite wanting to be a hero.
"Seems like you have quite a few fans.” Tenko started.
Shuichi digresses, squinting to his eyes to see what the hype was about. “What’s attractive about Touya anyway? He’s so ignorant for a hero, the only good thing he has going on is his attractiveness.”
Tenko just laughed harder. “Shuichi! You’re just mad you don’t have any fans!” Which was met with a book hitting the back of Tenko’s head as the black hair boy continued laughing at the lizard heteromorph. Touya, deciding to please his fans a little, removes the book on his face and winks at the crowd of girls, and gives a flirtatious grin.
“Oh my god, did you just see that!? Cremation winked at us!” One of the girls squealed, and the crowd followed along with that same type of energy. Hearing the boy laugh harder over some bickering with the lizard, a fangirl spots him.
“Is that Stratofortress over there? I heard that his grandmother’s Nimbus, but she was in hiding because of All for One and is insanely strong!” The squeals became more prominent.
Tenko groaned after being found by one of those fangirls, wanting to bang his head on the desk right here and right now. “Yikes, they found me and even did their research.”
Shuichi was about to let a word in before Touya cut him off and rolled his eyes. “Just ignore them. Gang Orca’s gonna come any minute now and yell at their homeroom teacher and maybe them, if we’re lucky.” He gave his best picture-worthy smile, staring at the mess of fangirls and curious onlookers. In reality, he wanted to scowl at them and yell at them to go away. He wanted to save people but hated the attention it brung. No one ever told the three boys that with becoming second years, interactions like these would become more common.
“Excuse me, coming through!” A girl demanded, causing more cheers of fanboys to emerge from her appearance.
It felt like she was shining amongst the crowd.
“About time, Yu. Shoulda’ used your Gigantification to crush these newbies.” Shuichi remarks, as Yu Takeyama shoves her way through the crowd and into the classroom. She sets her backpack on her desk, which is right next to Touya’s.
“What a moodkiller you guys are! This is the best time to get fans!” She turned around to the heap of fans and blew a kiss towards the crowd with a coquettish wink and everyone screamed, fanboys and fangirls alike. “You don’t understand the appeal of fanservice!” She takes out her mirror and combs through her messy hair before realizing dull expressions were staring right at her and scoffs at their arrogance. Boys, she thought.
“I just want to be a hero and save others and disprove my dad.” Tenko scowls.
Next to him, he hears Touya laughing. “Me too.” Touya exclaimed before they high fived with each other. Shuichi and Yu stare at the two of them before at each other with a stunned complex.
“Holy dad complexes over here.” Shuichi commented before Yu burst out laughing, getting books thrown at both their heads this time.
Keigo Takami and Rumi Usagiyama were standing outside, watching the interaction happen between the top three in their class. In order for the UA Sports Festival, the first place winner was Cremation, the second was Mt. Lady and the third was Stratofortress.
Keigo and Rumi met during the UA's entrance exam. They were one of the few heteromorphs that applied for UA; even in their class, they ended up sticking with each other more often than not. They had a lot of similar interests with being heroes—obviously—favorite movies, and TV series.
“I didn’t expect Cremation to be such a heartthrob, to be honest.” Keigo was plucking a loose feather as he stared at the four of them interacting.
Ever since the sports festival, he knew a lot of people would favor Touya—including him—for his quirk and attractiveness, but not to this extent. For years, he'd been an Endeavor fan, and now he felt like he was living the dream, as there was a direct connection to maybe meet him in real life.
“These fangirls and fanboys are pissing me off.” Rumi watched as they were basically shoving each other, trying to get a glimpse of the top three. As both of them were standing a little awkwardly to the side, there were both close enough to get a view of them, she leaned in with Keigo to hear what the other students had to say about them.
Touya Todoroki, also known as Cremation, was the son of Endeavor. That was one reason he was popular. There were three more reasons. The first was his quirk, Blueflame, which was noted to be hotter than Endeavor’s Hellflame; Endeavor once said it himself. The second reason was because of the gnarly burns he bore around his arms and legs due to his skin being unable to handle the heat. They were stapled on, making him look way more badass than needed. The third and final reason was because he was hella attractive. The smirk, those light blue eyes; his father was attractive but Touya was on another level.
Tenko Shimura, also known as Stratofortress, was the grandson of Nana Tenko, who was known to be an underground hero fighting All for One, a threat to society but was later defeated by All Might. It was rumored she trained All Might with Gran Torino, rumored to teach UA for a year before completely disappearing. Tenko’s quirk, Ascend, enables him to suspend and shoot himself in the air, permitting him to also control how fast he wants to go. It sometimes made him look like he disappeared, but the yellow ring in the air exposes his location. Yet, with the training he’s put on with short range combat, it allows his quirk to be way more powerful than needed.
Yu Takeyama, also known as Mt. Lady, came out of nowhere. She didn’t have a flashy background but her Gigantification quirk, which a lot of people didn’t think was that useful, was proven incorrect when she came out second during the sports festival. She knew she was attractive, often using her sex appeal and body as fan service and attracting more and more fans. Her creamy, long blonde hair, her signature purple and orange costume, and her flashy display of kindness masked with ego catch everyone’s hearts whenever she gets interviewed or is just trying to save the day.
Shuichi Iguchi, also known as Spinner, isn’t that well-liked. He’s a heteromorph like Keigo and Rumi and at this moment, a lot of the public were against heteromorphs. Yet, he proceeds and tries to show the world they are just like humans. His quirk, Gecko, gives him lizard-like traits, allowing him to scale up on walls. His friends, especially Tenko, make fun of his hero costume; they say it looked like cosplay because of how much he was inspired by Stain’s villain costume. He was placed tenth in the UA Sports Festival and doesn’t have many abilities nor flashy backstory or appearance to make him stand out, besides the pink hair. Rumi thought that was a little sad to hear.
They were other interesting heroes in class 2-C, but the three—sometimes four— were the talk of the school.
Keigo stares at Touya, his hawk eyes were glued to the white hair boy. He’s never really been interested in anybody, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. Touya was just so fucking stylish. Not only were his burns with the staples so hardcore, his hair was cool and his fashion sense was breathtaking. It might’ve been more of an appeal for him because he learned birds were really into sparkly stuff when just hunting and building nests. It’s why he idolized Touya even more. Of course, he wouldn’t expect less from the son of Endeavor. Oh, he thought Endeavor was the best of the best.
It came to a surprise to him that day, when the commentator for last year’s UA Sports Festival announced the boy’s full name. Touya Todoroki, the son of Endeavor. There was a loud eruption of cheers being made by everyone there, while there were some curious onlookers and confusion. He looked nothing like his father except for his blue eyes he bore. Not a lot of people even knew the Number 2 Hero was married and had children because he focused his political profile on his savings rather than family matters. It was proven true that a paparazzi photo of the Todoroki doing a family outing wasn't AI'd and was accurate.
So, this was totally a shock when he rocked everyone there and secured first place at the festival. Ever since , Keigo wanted to be a part of UA High. If he could be friends with him,he could personally meet Endeavor. A total dream come true! But, he swore he would never tell anyone about his plan. A lot of people knew he was a big Endeavor fan but not to that extent. It was his dirty little secret.
When he came back to focus from thinking about his planning, he noticed those teal eyes staring right back at him. It looked like shock at first before he lowered his gaze and gave a flirtatious smug.
Fuck!
He immediately hid behind Rumi, covering his face with his hands as he felt his cheeks heating up from the embarrassment. He probably had his mouth wide open just staring at how amazing Touya was.
“Woah, what the hell dude!” Rumi was about to fight back before he noticed Touya staring right at them and had a feeling she kind of knew what this could be about. “Were you staring too hard?” Keigo hid behind the wall and agreed, too flustered at the moment to play his playboy attitude, he'd been trying to polish it before high school started but it definitely needed some work done here and there. Rumi just cracked up before a loud voice boomed through all the conversation.
“Class 1-B!?” Lord Edgeshot bellows, “Get back to class! You can’t be disturbing the second year like that!” Before long, everyone shuffled out from the entrance of Class 2-C and the hallway was empty once again.
- - -
“I am so sorry for this commotion!” Edgeshot bowed apologetically, looking at the students with immense regret.
“Ah! Don’t be!” Yu waved her hands around. “The little ones were interested in us, we didn't mind. After all, we all have heroes we admire too.” The rest of the class agreed, except Tenko, Touya and Shuichi who were grumpy at the whole situation.
“Don’t worry too much about it!” One of their classmates blurted out, a girl named Tsumugi Fujiwara said but shifted the conversation towards another important matter. “But, do you know where Gang Orca is?”
Edgeshot nodded. “Most of the teachers are a bit late due to the last battle we had with the new villain group. The roads aren’t cleared up too well.” The last battle was with this new anonymous villain group, that said, no one was able to catch their group name. Just as Edgeshot was about to continue on the topic, Gang Orca showed up.
“Hello, class 2-C! You guys are bright and early!” Everyone cheered seeing Gang Orca, half because they’re finally going to start their lessons and half so he could scold the first years. That was wishful thinking, now that Touya dwelled on it. Edgeshot excused himself seeing that Gang Orca finally arrived. He was probably going to yell at the newcomers now.
Touya listened to what Gang Orca had to say for a measly three minutes before his mind wandered back to that interaction with the blonde hair, red winged boy and the bunny chick he was next to. He could only sneer, remembering how flustered he got when Shuichi pointed him out and he made intense eye contact with him. He was laser focused on Touya. He wasn’t too popular with the guys, more so with the girls, so that came with a bit of a shock seeing a guy staring at him like that. He thought that was kind of… cute? When the boy turned away totally embarrassed, it was the face Natsuo would make whenever he got caught red-handed eating one too many cookies. Eyes widened, face flushed and wanting to dig himself in a hole.
He swore he saw that boy somewhere, though. Was it from the news? The street? Maybe it was a family member who had those same exact wings. Cremation doesn’t forget about these things, yet he somehow did.
I mean, he thought to himself, those red wings are very noticeable. If he'd seen it before, he would've remembered.
He didn’t like super bright colors, choosing a monotone color palette whenever he could despite his blue eyes and flame. He especially didn’t like the color red because it reminded him too much of Endeavor’s hair. But, the colors suited the gold hair boy very well. He’s never really seen a heteromorph bird once before, sure he’s seen bunnies, lizards, and even a lion. But, a bird? What bird was he even supposed to be? That was a fun thing to ponder about.
“I also need to tell you all before you forget.” He cleared his throat. “When we were inspecting the first year’s students’ quirks with the second and third year’s, we saw a lot of incompatibility between them.” There was confusion with what he meant. Gang Orca cleared his throat before continuing.
“Your class and conveniently— Class 1-B— are the opposite of each other. To help train them, in a month, the teachers agreed to let you guys battle each other.”
There was a lot of excitement buzzing around the class now. “This will allow the new students to get the hang of using their powers while seeing how much you’ve improved since last year. Just be prepared before and train hard.”
Touya could feel an ominous presence behind him, Tenko was planning no good. He hated when anyone brought up his family issues and anything about All for One, reminding me of how he killed his grandma; he was going sicko mode.
“I’m going to crush you. Your little sightseeing trip to Class 2-C is gonna turn traumatic.” he murmured, and Touya felt a cold breeze down his neck, making him freeze up.
“Dude… are you trying to kill us first..?” Yu held in her laughter, looking straight ahead with her best cold stone face, trying her hardest not to but he could clearly see her eyes squint with tears. Touya looked at Shuichi for help, but he looked away at the window, pretending he had nothing to do with this.
They were absolutely no help, Touya thought as he closed his eyes, accepting his fate.
- - -
Class 1-B got the worst earful ever by Edgeshot. Keigo slumped his head on the lunch table, across from him was Rumi. “I think I might die from shame.” Keigo sighed, covering his face with his hands and letting out a shaky breath, before sitting back up and staring at Rumi. She looked confident and unaffected but deep down, he knew it affected her just as much.
“If we didn’t follow that girl to class 2-C, we wouldn’t have gotten that lecture.” Keigo nodded along, listening to Rumi ramble about the whole ordeal.
Meanwhile, Touya, Tenko and Shuichi were sitting together eating lunch. Shuichi murmured under his breath, loud enough for the two of them to hear.“God, I hate you two so much.”
Touya just rolled his eyes. “Just jealous you have no fangirls, huh?” Tenko bursted out laughing, choking on his food.
Before they even reached the cafeteria, fangirls and some fanboys swarmed Touya and Tenko, praising them and asking for autographs while Shuichi was cast aside, waiting a good 10 minutes before the crowd shuffled out. Most of the fans were first years, and some of them were second years.
“I’m not even surprised Yu is still out there greeting her fanboys.” Tenko commented and everyone nodded in unison.
“There are more guys than girls in our school. Guys are more likely to like girl heroes, appearance wise...” Touya trailed off, thinking about the first year bird boy. The bird boy was looking at him, not Yu. For once.
“Are you saying guys can’t idolize guy heroes?” Shuichi gave a smug look, eyebrows raised.
“That is not what I meant and you know it.” Touya took a bite of his dumpling.
Tenko rolled up his uniform sleeves before taking out his switch. “Oh my god man, you can’t be serious.”
Tenko and Shuichi completely ignored Touya. “Is that… the new League of Villains game everyone’s been talking about?” Shuichi stared with wide eyes and pure enthusiasm.
“Hell yeah! Do you want to watch me play?” When Shuichi agreed, Tenko went over to the other side of the table so now Shuichi could watch Tenko play and talk about it.
Yu appeared out of nowhere and sat right next to Touya. “What are they doing?” pointing at the two invested staring at the screen of the switch.
“Playing this new League of Villain game.” Touya replied with a bored tone. “Sounds a bit boring.” Yu retorted back and they both giggled, staring at those gaming nerds.
“So, you made it out, huh?” Touya looked at Yu, who was inspecting her nails now.
Yu looked up. “Yeah, I almost chipped a nail back there.”
Touya chuckled, “You should’ve used your quirk and squash everyone.”
Yu snorts. “And give them more fanservice by letting them get crushed with my ass? That’s where I draw the line.” Touya bursted out laughing, and so did Yu until tears came out their eyes as they added more to the joke.
“Touya, all your girl fans will disappear if you keep talking like that.”
“I couldn’t care less about them. I just want to prove my dad wrong.”
“Me too!” Tenko calls out and they high five once more. “Is this a gag they keep doing..?” Yu asked, gazing at them with pure disgust.
Shuichi nodded. “Sadly, yes. That’s their way of coping.”
Yu just leans back. “Friendships are weird.” She looked back at her friend group sitting on the other side of the cafeteria. “I’m gonna go now, pretty sure they want to hang.”
Shuichi just nodded, knowing she didn’t stick long with them anyway, despite the good company. “Okay, see you in class.” Yu flashed a grin before waving and hurrying to the other side of the cafeteria.
Rumi stared at Keigo, still surprised to find out people like Keigo exist. “I’ve never seen anyone idolize Endeavor before. You might be the first.”
Keigo looked up at her, midbite. “Huh?” He cocked his head.
Rumi pointed her fork at Keigo. “I mean… everyone prefers All Might more. Endeavor has a nasty attitude.”
Keigo crossed his arms, “You don’t understand. I just don’t get the appeal for All Might when Endeavor can do just as much!” He protested and Rumi just raised an eyebrow. “Why do you think all the All Might plushies sell out first and there’s still 100 Endeavors plushies?”
Hawks tried his best to clarify himself. “Well, I’m a fan! When I become a pro hero, I’m gonna sell out all his merchandise.”
Rumi just cracked up. “You’re a definite odd ball out here.”
Keigo snickered just as hard. “Shut up.”
- - -
Keigo and Rumi stepped out of the property of UA High School. They were talking about villains and their quirks as they walked down the hill that UA’s on.
“My quirk is similar to a rabbit, but better.” Keigo gave a shaky smile.
“That doesn’t seem any good.” Rumi rolled her eyes.
“Hey! It is good. No one thought I would make it, but I trained hard as hell to get where I am now!” She flexes her arm and Keigo gawks in astonishment at her muscle build.
“Woah! You’re awesome, Rumi.”
Rumi smirked. “Knew you would turn around and say I’m awesome. What about yours?”
Keigo thought for a moment to describe his quirk. “Well, it’s like a bird’s. I could move the individual feathers to scout the area, pick people up and I could fly around.” There’s more he could say but that was how much he wanted to disclose himself.
“Ooh! That’s so cool! We’re gonna be amazing pro heroes one day!” They continued to walk, talking about the little things.
“Okay, I gotta turn this way now to get to my house.” Rumi gestured towards the right side of the area.
Keigo gave a small nod. “See you tomorrow then.” Keigo waved a farewell and so did Rumi. Before he could take another step, his feathers picked something up, someone was behind him. Keigo turned around and saw him.
Touya Todoroki.
“Are you following me?” Keigo cocked his head, having a weird feeling about his intentions. Touya stopped dead in his tracks, both of them a few feet apart from each other.
He hummed for a moment, making Keigo tense up for a bit. “Well, I just happened to see you walking with that rabbit chick. And!” He pointed towards the direction of where Keigo was headed. “What if we’re walking the same way home?”
Keigo lowered his guard down for a bit, that was true. Bold of him to assume he was following him—nonetheless— something didn’t add up. “You’re lying.” Keigo flatly stated.
Touya just snickered. “Fine, you caught me.”
Just as he thought.
“What do you want?” Keigo took a step back.
Touya took a step forward before speaking. “Have I seen you anywhere?”
Keigo straightens his head and back, tensing for a moment. Touya was so blunt and expressionless. He thought of something for a second before shaking his head. “Not really.”
Touya put his hands in his pockets. “Well… sorry to bother you .” Keigo just nodded, a little weirded out. The ‘sorry’ he said sounded sarcastic and he was starting to get pissed off. He recollected his thoughts and was about to step away before Touya said something that perked his interest.
“I’ve never seen a guy stare at me so hard in the morning.” There it was, that dreadful scene he didn’t want to talk about.
Keigo slowly turned back, giving a sheepish grin. “Yeah, uh… I just remembered your festival performance when I saw you. It was cool.”
Touya whipped his head back, dying of laughter before he looked back at the bird. “That isn’t the first I’ve heard of that. However, I have to know—as a guy— what did you find impressive?” Touya turned his head a bit, wanting to know.
Keigo thought for a bit, his wings twitching. “Mm… I like your quirk, and your style is cool.”
Touya just nodded, looking like he was taking a mental note. “You’re a fan of Endeavor, right?”
Keigo felt his face flush; he quickly calmed down. “I-Is it that obvious?”
And Touya gave a teasing laugh. “There’s a keychain of my dad in your bag.”
Oh right.
“See, I don’t really like fans of Endeavor’s. Therefore, I don’t think we’re gonna get along.” Keigo’s resolve just shattered for a second. What does he mean by that?! He would’ve melted right there.
Keigo panicked. “How can you not like Endeavor? He’s the coolest and he can save everyone so fast!”
Touya’s expression hardened, losing his playfulness in an instant. “Who are you to tell me to like my dad or not?” He walked right up into Keigo’s personal space almost instantly, poking him harshly using his index finger. “Don’t meddle in other people’s businesses if you have nothing good to say.” He was so dangerously close that he could smell his cologne right there. It was like some sort of water flavor with a mix of ashes. It was subtle but strong up close.
Keigo shut himself up, who was he to tell him how to treat his dad? It was dumb and not hero-like. “I’m so—”
“Shut it.” Touya tched, turning around and speed walked out of his sight. “I don’t want to hear your excuses.” Within moments, Touya was gone, already walking back to his own house. He just made himself an enemy, didn’t he? How stupid could he get?!
Flying to his apartment, he knew that he just wanted to shut down for the day. How could he call himself a hero if he wasn’t showing qualities of a hero towards others? He’ll just apologize to him some other time when he sees him.
Keigo immediately rubbed his face with his hand, feeling so much guilt and agony all in one place. He might as well die from humiliation and a hundred more negative feelings. Fuck, this sucks.
- - -
Touya walked back to his house, kicking a rock. God, that boy was just angering him so bad. He soon arrived at his house, the Todoroki estate. He opened the gate to the front entrance. His mom was nowhere to be seen.
It’s been like that for a while now. He saw when his Mom threw boiling water at Shoto, the big fight between his mom and Endeavor and finally, his mom getting sent straight to the mental hospital. He went upstairs to put his bag down in his room, took off his uniform, and rewarded himself with a nice, long shower before drying up and putting on something more comfortable.
He walked towards Natsuo’s room, before creaking the door open. He was just doing some work from middle school. “Oh, hey Touya.” Natsuo said, looking up from his homework. He waved at him before turning fully to him.
Touya walked in, sitting on his bed. “How was your first day of middle school?” He asked innocently, Natsuo leaned back on his chair.
“A bit boring, but alright. How’s UA?”
“Same as usual.”
A silence hushed over them. Both of them didn’t know what to ask the other. As the minutes went by, there was a thud next door, followed by screams. “Shoto! Why can’t you do this?!” Both of them just stayed quiet. They were Endeavor’s failures. He didn’t pay attention to them, he only paid attention to Shoto and trained him to be the best he can be. Touya was the first successor, having flames hotter than his. He was proud and drilled into the idea of beating All Might into Touya’s head.
However, the more he trained, the more his body got burned and Endeavor didn’t like the idea of that. That was when Mom and Endeavor found out that he had the body of his mom who could only handle ice, but the power of his father who had fire. Touya became unable to use his fire without getting burned. But, he didn’t mind the injuries. He just wanted to impress his dad so badly. He was just one step away from being Endeavor’s pride.
Yet, Endeavor didn’t want to hurt Touya anymore so he stopped training him. Despite how much he begged and pleaded, his father never looked at him the same and so he trained in secret in Sekoto Peak. His power grew and he was able to learn how to use them without getting burned.
After being burned so many times, Endeavor stopped caring about what happened to him and to prove him wrong, he trained everyday. He learned how to have the flame grow to a minimum yet have them so strong it could help him with combat. Only when Touya got into UA without telling anyone did his father finally see him, yet he continued to train his second successor. He was way too focused on Shoto.
Shoto.
He was able to have both ice and fire, allowing him to cool himself while using the hottest flames known to man. It was everything Endeavor wanted, a successor that could beat All Might and be the Number 1 Hero. It was everything Endeavor wanted, thanks to his soulless quirk marriage that had ruined their family lineage from the start.
Yet, there was one question that constantly poked at his mind. What did Touya think about Shoto? He didn’t like him all that much. He stole the attention he wanted from his father because no matter how much he despised his father, he always wanted his father to look at him and be proud of him for who he truly was.
Another thud hit the walls, followed by Shoto crying and Endeavor just yelling at him more. “Come on Shoto! You can do it, stop crying and get up!”
“Is training supposed to be this painful?” Natsuo murmured. Touya looked at him and noticed that despite how Natsuo portrays himself as the bratty, ignorant younger sibling, he really did care about the others around here.
Touya placed his hands up on his head, resting it there as he leaned on the wall. “No, he’s taking it way too far.”
Natsuo looked at Touya with sadness. “What can we even do? He’s just a kid with ambitions.” Touya reflected his gaze towards a poster on his wall, a music band he had no interest in.
“I’ll beat him up one day.” Touya whispered quietly, just enough for the two of them to hear.
Touya didn’t like showing his soft spot, despite how stoic and arrogant he is, he’s human after all. He knows when to feel bad, guilty, or discomfort.
Natsuo just chuckled, wiping his eyes. “Fuyumi’s always treating his wounds now that Mom’s gone. Endeavor’s always on night patrol now." Touya just listened, it wasn’t like he didn’t know this but he’s pretty sure Natsuo’s trying to lighten the mood or whatever shit he’s playing at. It doesn’t really help but he’ll let him talk a bit longer.
Touya’s mind drifts towards the incident with that bird boy. He didn’t even get his name and he crushed his heart by talking bad about his idol… or whatever. “Hey Natsuo. Do you remember anyone with red wings?”
Natsuo turned around again and thought for a second. “No..? Why?”
Touya thought for a moment too long before turning back to him. “There’s a first year with red wings. He’s kind of familiar but I don’t really know why.”
Natsuo thought a bit more shrugged. “Maybe it’s something you did back when you were younger.” Touya just nodded again, clearly dazed and thinking.
After a good moment of silence again, broken by the occasional scream or thud, it was completely silent now. Touya and Natsuo could hear footsteps until it stopped, followed by Natsuo’s door opening.
It was Endeavor, staring at Touya sitting on Natsuo’s bed.
“Oh, you’re here.”
Touya looked confused. “What do you want, Endeavor?”
Enji— also known as Endeavor— crossed his arms, completely ignoring Natsuo on the side. “How was your second year of UA?”
Touya shrugged. “Why do you need to know?”
Endeavor tched before speaking again. “When are you starting internships again?”
Touya thought for a moment, before shrugging. “After the sports festival when you can even put an offer in, I guess. Why?” Touya’s eyebrows were raised, confused about the sudden questions.
“I’m going to ask your homeroom teacher to let me internship you.” Endeavor firmly stated, causing Touya to lean off Natsuo’s bed and sit a bit straighter.
“Oh? And what if I don’t want to?” Last year, Endeavor was over the moon seeing how crazy Touya’s quirk was and how he was able to display himself, even winning first place. He even offered an internship to mentor Touya, but Touya chose some underground hero who specialized in fire, making Endeavor so enraged. Touya liked the look he had on his face that day but the following events were not pretty.
Endeavor rubbed the temples of his forehead before responding. “I don’t care. You’re going to, whether you like it or not.” He shut the door on Natsuo’s room.
“Are you accepting that?” Natsuo asked, his eyes filled with concerns.
Touya laughed. “Maybe, after all, I did want him to look at me.”
When he got the offer last year, he really wanted to do it. His addiction for his father’s praise was still in him after all. Yet, for his own well being and character development, he didn’t. He just wanted to see Endeavor go batshit crazy. “I’m going to go train now. Call me when dinner’s ready?”
In which Natsuo rolled his eyes, “Fuyumi will do that.” Touya nodded and left the room.
He puts on some comfortable clothes, ready to head out to the backyard. He walked down the hall and saw Shoto walking down to his room, tears gushing out his eyes. Both of them made eye contact and without a word, past each other. He didn’t like Shoto too much, he was too nonchalant for his own good and at such a young age. This was really the first time he’s seen him cry so much.
“Training must’ve been rough today.” was all he commented. He turned around and saw Shoto stopping in his tracks as well, giving a silent acknowledgement towards the other. Touya just gave a smug smile and walked off.
As dinner time rolls around, the four of them just sit there awkwardly. Endeavor was out on night patrol, again, so per usual it was the four of them. Fuyumi, the second oldest in the family, was as old as the first years of UA, but she had no intentions of being a hero. Her love for kids and cooking made her want to be a school teacher instead. Natsuo was also more interested in the medical field, so he had no intentions of being a part of UA either when high school would roll around for him.
Touya takes a bite of his chicken with rice, sitting next to him was Shoto who ate his rice and pork cutlet. Fuyumi laughed awkwardly, trying to stir conversation as usual. The silence was comforting yet deafening. “How was school, everyone?”
“Fine.”
“Great.”
“Okay.”
God, these responses were awful. Fuyumi nodded and everyone just ate dinner quietly. Once finished, Touya was washing the dishes as Natsuo and Fuyumi put them beside the sink. Fuyumi smiles, bringing the last of the dishes. “Thanks for helping as usual, Touya.” Their relationship was kind of strained, especially since he didn’t know how to interact with Fuyumi all that much. They were so different. Fuyumi’s so forgiving, while Touya would kill anyone who dares treat him wrong.
“Don’t mention it.” He murmured, loud enough for the both of them to hear. It was hard for him to act kind sometimes.
After a long day, Touya was looking on his phone, watching the news and his presence in the media. It was pretty solid, like how he wants to be portrayed. Cremation did this, Cremation did that. He mentioned to the media he wants to get out of Endeavor’s shadow, which got a lot of cheers from some and boos from others but he couldn’t care. Fans are fans. As he was about to shut the lights, there was a knock on his door. He frowned, what time was it even?
The analog clock shined the time, 1:00.
Was it Endeavor? He doesn’t knock on his door though. Maybe it was Natsuo. He walked over to open the door, it was Shoto; out of everybody that could possibly be out there.
“What do you want?” He leaned on the door, arms crossed and clearly pissed. “Why are you even up?”
Shoto fidgeted a bit before responding. “I-I couldn’t sleep, no one else is awake.”
Touya rolled his eyes. “Obviously. It’s 1 in the morning. Didn’t Fuyumi put you to sleep?”
Shoto nodded, “But I woke up.”
Touya just sighed. “And what the hell do you want me to do about it?” They both stared at each other, and as if he was reading Shoto’s mind, he just stood back up and let him in.
He grabs a pillow nearby and gives it to Shoto, right next to him. The lights were out and they both laid there, the futon large enough to cover the both of them. The summer wind was starting to turn a little chilly, marking the start of the school year.
“Do you think I’ll get into UA too?” Shoto asked— so kind and childish— it cracked Touya up. He sometimes forgets that the boy is only 8 and has feelings too. That nonchalant expression he kept wearing was making him forget that way too much.
“Why are you thinking about that now? You probably could from nepotism.” He could feel the confused eyes staring at what those big words meant but Touya brushed him off. “Just shut the hell up and sleep.”
- - -
The clock shined the numbers: 2:00.
Keigo was going to burst into tears. For hours, he was thinking about ways to apologize to Touya. How could he act so ignorant?! Thoughts kept spiraling in his head and before he knew it, his stomach was rumbling. His mother and him had to skip out on dinner again. Despite his mother finally getting the courage to sell out his abusive father to the pro heroes and police for a huge sum of money, it allowed them to rent a tiny apartment and for all the support and praise she got, gave her even more courage to finally get a job.
However, it wasn’t enough for the both of them, oftentimes Keigo’s mom never really changed. She only cared about herself and Keigo had to fend for himself. She subconsciously buys more food than she needs, probably remembering that from time to time she has a son that goes to UA that needs to be fed. She didn’t really care where he ended up, but knowing that he got into UA, Keigo saw her display a small smile which he hadn’t seen for a while now.
He did get a job at a cafe far back within Shizuoka Prefecture after he landed the spot at UA, which he was sure he wouldn’t meet anyone he knew and wouldn’t be laughed at. He was really fast and efficient so he knew he would be fine with managing the cafe. Nevertheless, that was something he had to worry about later; right now, he had to deal with this new enemy that he made. It could either make his life worse or for the better, and there was absolutely no way it would be the latter. It wasn’t even friendly competition, he was gonna have a knife through his neck for their next encounter.
He went on his phone and searched up, “What happens if I get someone so mad because I tried to give them advice about something I shouldn’t have meddled with?” The situation was so specific, there was literally no answer for it. It was over for him. He could barely sleep, oh… he was so ready to die.
He covered his head with his pillow and after minutes of thrashing around, he fell asleep. In his dream, he dreamed of where he was soaring high in the sky, feeling independent of any worries or doubts he had moments ago. His red feathers were iconic for his character, citizens knew that if he was around, they were going to be safe and sound. There were a lot of people who wished they had wings, wanting to feel as free as the birds in the sky.
The more he flew around, the more liberal he felt. His mind felt empty and he was enjoying the view that came with it. It was the best feeling in the world and he was sad not many people could understand.
There was a black screen, like his mind went blank for a moment before he was revisiting an old memory. He was outside some sort of room, he doesn’t really remember where this was. He was holding his mom’s hand, her eyes frantically searching for something, or anything. The people in front of them handed her a big wad of cash. “Thank you for giving us the clues about your husband. Don’t worry, you will not be charged for your crimes unless you do community service for us.” His mom just nodded, taking the wad of cash. Keigo was holding the Endeavor plushie next to him and saw beside the police was Endeavor himself.
He’s always thought heroes were just on TV, they didn’t exist. They were fictional characters that strolled around town. Yet, that was when Endeavor himself took up the job and brought him away from his father, leaving him with just a mother. Endeavor just looked at him, Keigo’s eyes were shining from seeing his idol. Endeavor just gave him a scowl, unsure of how to even express happiness towards his own fan.
Behind Endeavor was a boy with red hair, a streak of white on the side. They looked to be the same age and the boy took his hand, shaking it with pure amusement. “My dad said I can be a hero! He said I will be able to surpass All Might!”
Keigo looked shocked and giggled with the boy before asking his own question, “Do you think I can be a hero too? Even if my dad did all those bad things?”
The boy didn’t know the answer to that. “I don’t know.” He tugs on Endeavor. “Can he?”
Endeavor looked down and said something with a scoundrel. Keigo's eyes shined so bright, he swore he was burning a hole in his idol.
…, Keigo woke up.
He slowly sat up and started to pace around his room, confused. He stared at the time, school didn't start until 9 and he had around an hour to kill. He was getting fidgety, confused about what the older guy said.
What did he say? Was it a memory or a dream?
Keigo thought back to that moment, nodding in his head. It was definitely a memory, not a dream. He was reminiscing about memories. After he was getting ready to go to UA, it was only after he spat out all the toothpaste in his mouth did he realize what Endeavor told him. That’s right. Those were the words that made Keigo want to pursue this path. His worries, guilt and humiliation were covering that moment. For a second, he almost fell astray from it.
“You too, can still be a hero.” was what Endeavor said, and the boy next to him eyes were shining just as much.
“Haha! That’s super cool! We’re gonna be pros together then!” And Keigo remembers his cheeks hurting so much from smiling with the boy, clutching his Endeavor plushie tightly in his hands.
His hope, his savior.