Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Touya sighed as he took in the scene. There was ice everywhere and several people were injured. This is why he hated responding to Pro Hero Iceman’s scenes. Unfortunately, his medically licensed fire quirk ensured he was always the paramedic chosen to be sent out to assist. He pitied his partner, who was shivering inside his jacket. His lizard mutation quirk did not take kindly to the cold.

“I’ll warm up those who need it, you treat any other injuries.” Touya instructed and Iguichi headed off to treat one of the sidekick’s bleeding leg. 

The villain of the day was encased in a block of ice from the neck down and shivering. 

“Iceman!” Touya yelled. “Unfreeze him before he gets frostbite!” If he didn’t have it already. 

“He’ll try to attack. Or run.” Iceman turned to the villain with a sneer. “Besides, maybe a little frostbite will teach him a lesson.” 

“Unfreeze his hands and cuff him then.” Touya replied, annoyed. Why he hadn't done that after the villain was first restrained was beyond him. Though, Iceman probably got off on having that sort of power over others. 

Huffing, Iceman did as he asked. The villain flinched as the cuffs locked into place around his wrist. The technology was designed to administer painful shocks to the wearer if they resisted. If a person’s quirk was considered dangerous enough they were also given quirk suppressing drugs. It wasn’t an ideal solution, but it was the technology they had. 

“He’s your problem now.” Iceman spat, then stomped away. The drama queen.

Touya rolled his eyes. Now that Iceman was gone he could get a proper look at his patient. Touya frowned at the sight of the villains’ raw red fingertips, but at least they weren’t black. 

“I’m gonna use my quirk to warm you up, okay?” Touya told the shivering villain.

“Ok-kay.” The man nodded, his teeth chattering. 

“I’ll start with your hands.” Touya found it best to talk people through what he was doing, especially when it came to jumpy criminals. He wasn’t too worried since the guy was cuffed, but he’d had people take swings at him before. 

He took his hands and started to slowly push warmth through them. 

“So, how’s your day going?” Touya asked. The warming process had to be done at a steady pace, too fast and he risked making things worse. He tended to strike up conversations to pass the time — and because silent staring was awkward.  

“B-been bet-tter. Damn her-roes.” 

Touya snorted. “Yeah, Iceman’s a piece of work.”

He always went overkill when it came to takedowns, not only using excessive force on villains, but also uncaring of property damage. People could lose their homes or cars — caught in the crossfire between heroes and villains.

“Ass.” The villain hissed, his words coming out clearly this time and Touya chuckled. At least he could always use Iceman’s shitty personality to build rapport with his criminal patients. It made his job both easier and harder. 

“I’m Touya, by the way. What’s your name?” 

“K-Kenji.” He replied. Touya was relieved he hadn’t given him a villain name. Those types of criminals were always harder to deal with. Once a criminal had told him his name was “skull crusher.” 

“You’re gonna be okay, Kenji.” Touya reassured him. “No missing fingers.” 

“Yay…” He said with a sarcastic lack of cheer and Touya held back a snicker. 

Once he’d sufficiently warmed up the villain, and gotten him a blanket for the road, the police took him away. Touya moved onto the next person, a civilian who’d slipped on the ice and hurt their wrist. Luckily, it turned out to be a sprain rather than a break. 

Just as he was finishing up, his radio crackled to life. “Two GSW victims on Willow Street.”

Touya sighed. This was gonna be a long night. He headed back to the ambulance, sliding into the passenger seat as Iguichi took the wheel. God save him. 

“Ambulance fifty-seven responding.” He radioed in. 

The sirens sounded and they drove off to the next emergency. 

— — — 

Touya was awoken by the sound of his doorbell ringing. He groaned as he sat up, his body aching. He was starting to regret getting a Ring Doorbell installed on his apartment door. It was easier to ignore knocks. 

He threw on some sweatpants and a t-shirt. He blinked blearily at his alarm clock that pronounced it was ten in the morning. An ungodly hour for him, given that he’d just finished a brutal twelve hour shift the night before. 

Touya frowned to himself as he tried to figure out who would have cause to be at his door this early. It couldn’t be any of his friends — or they’d be hollering at him through the door by now. Was it his landlord? Fuck, Touya hoped not. The man had it out for him ever since Touya had accidentally set off the sprinklers with his quirk. 

Touya approached the door with trepidation. The doorbell sounded again and he sighed, then opened the door. The man on the other side was not his landlord. It was a plain looking man in a trenchcoat, hat, and tie. He didn’t recognize him in the slightest. 

He raised his eyebrow in silent question. 

The man smiled politely. “Hello, are you Todoroki Touya?”

“Yes...” Touya answered warily, his eyes narrowed. What did this man want with him? 

”I’m Detective Tsukauchi and I’m here regarding Endeavor—“ 

Touya slammed the door shut. The “detective” part already had him wary as lots of cops tried to get him to violate privacy laws with his patients, but the second the word “Endeavor” came out of the guy’s mouth he was done. 

How had Endeavor found his address? He’d already had to change his phone number because of his harassment. The last thing Touya needed was him showing up at his home. His lease wasn’t up for another six months and if he had to move… 

Fuyumi better not have given the old man his address. She’d given Endeavor his phone number before and Touya had been pissed. He’d immediately changed it, alongside reading his sister the riot act. However, this might not be Fuyumi’s fault. Endeavor could have used his connections to find Touya’s address since his name was on the lease. It would be a small abuse of power compared to all the other shit he’d pulled. There was a reason he’d gotten a camera installed on his door, after all. 

“Sir!” The detective was knocking at the door again, but Touya ignored him. “Please, it’s important!”

Oh, he’s sure it was if Endeavor had sent a detective to do his bidding. Touya couldn’t think of anything he’d done to piss him off recently, but Endeavor could easily find grievances when it came to Touya. Touya was already enough of a disappointment with his defective quirk, but he was working as a paramedic as well — an inferior type of first responder compared to pro heroes. Not to mention his rebellious appearance with his numerous tattoos, piercings, and dyed black hair. He was the black sheep of the family and he looked the part. 

The knocking continued and Touya growled in frustration, whirling towards the door. 

“Tell Endeavor that whatever he wants, he can shove it up his ass!” He yelled through the door, refusing to open it lest the detective try to push his way inside. “He doesn’t own me! And I’ll be damned if I let him push me around! Now leave before I make you!” 

The knocking stopped. When Touya peered out the peephole a few minutes later, the detective was gone. Good riddance. Touya had practice dealing with his fathers’ lackeys. Sidekicks, cops, HPSC agents, and more. Touya had bashed heads with them since he was a preteen. Now that he was an independent adult, Endeavor couldn’t control him anymore. He didn’t live with him, he didn’t rely on him financially, he was his own person and there was nothing his father could do about it. 

— — —

Detective Tsukauchi walked away from Todoroki Touya’s residence, his phone to his ear as it dialed a number. 

“How’d it go?” Eraserhead’s scratchy voice questioned, cutting through any potential greetings. 

“It didn’t.” Detective Tsukauchi answered, tightly. He’d dealt with reluctant witnesses before, but Touya’s vitriol had surprised him, as had his assumptions. “He assumed I was sent by Endeavor and slammed the door in my face before I could properly explain myself.” 

Eraserhead sighed. “I don’t like what that reaction implies.” 

“Me neither.” 

Endeavor was a powerful man and he had the resources to cover up his domestic abuse. But it was disturbing to think just how deep this corruption went based on Touya’s negative reaction. They only knew about the abuse in the first place because when Todoroki Shouto had returned to UA after the Sports Festival, his injuries had been noticed by his classmates in the locker room, then reported to the teachers. The poor boy had assumed they wouldn’t believe him, much less do something about his father’s crimes. 

But Tsukauchi knew he was telling the truth, even without his quirk the evidence was clear. Shouto’s refusal to use his fire quirk, Endeavor’s yelling at the Sports Festival, plus Shouto losing the finals — it didn’t paint a pretty picture. Not to mention the fact that Recovery Girl had healed all his injuries from the Sports Festival. For Shouto to show up to school covered in bruises and burns… 

Eraserhead had been furious with Endeavor — and beating himself up for not recognizing the signs of abuse. All Might had called in Tsukauchi to ensure no one could accuse Shouto of lying. 

All Might’s retirement was looming, and Endeavor would likely take his place when that retirement happened. Such a reprehensible man could not be Japan’s new symbol of peace. The fact that he was currently Japan’s Number 2 hero was bad enough. Tsukauchi felt sick just thinking about it. Heroes were supposed to protect others, they were supposed to be good. Japan had put its trust in Endeavor, all while the man had been abusing his family behind closed doors. 

“I’ll ask Shouto to talk to his brother.” Eraserhead said, the rustling of fabric indicating he was on the move. “Then we can try again once he knows we’re on his side, not his father’s.” 

“Should I wait here? Or try to contact the other family members?” 

“I’d hold off. We don’t want Endeavor to find out we’re making moves against him. We have to handle this discreetly.“

Todoroki Rei was in the hospital, and Todoroki Fuyumi still lived with her father, so it’s possible that could tip off Endeavor. Todoroki Natsuo was a college student who would likely be in class, so they’d sought out Todoroki Touya first. Shouto had informed them of his estrangement from Endeavor, so he’d been their best bet. 

Tsukauchi nodded in agreement, even though Eraserhead couldn’t see it. “We can use the upcoming internships to keep Shouto away from him for a while. But we need to get a custody removal order signed by a judge, or else we’ll have to send Shouto back to Endeavor.” 

It was the law. As much as Tsukauchi hated it. They couldn’t take Shouto away from his father without evidence of abuse and signed judicial orders. Especially when the father was someone as powerful as Endeavor. They’d need all the evidence they could get. 

“I have intel that Endeavor is going to Hosu to hunt the Hero Killer. We can make our moves then.” Eraserhead replied.

The Hero Killer. Another thorn in their side. Not only had he killed dozens of heroes, and recently crippled Ingenium, but he was growing in popularity. Tsukauchi had been starting to see Stain merch in windows. The idolization was troubling. 

“Understood.” It was a good plan to strike while Endeavor was out of town. If someone tipped him off, he’d be too far away to properly intervene. 

Abuse cases were always tricky. Victims often recanted and family members were reluctant to come forward. Not to mention the social stigma associated with it. If they wanted to keep Shouto safe, they’d need to corroborate his story. If his mother and siblings spoke up about the abuse as well, they’d have a much stronger case. 

He could only hope that Todoroki Touya would help them. 

— — — 

Shouto sat on the couch in the teacher's lounge, his fingertips digging into his pants as he waited for Aizawa to return. The longer his absence stretched, the more anxious Shouto became. He never should’ve told them. Midoriya had encouraged him to tell the teachers the truth, but now… he wasn’t sure if he’d made the right decision. There would be a big fallout and it would disrupt his life. It could have devastating impacts on hero society and his family. He should’ve put up more of a fight with Bakugou. He should’ve known giving up like that would infuriate his father — that he’d be determined to beat that weakness out of his “creation”. 

The door opened and Shouto’s head snapped up. Aizawa walked into the room, looking even more tired than normal. 

“I just got off the phone with Detective Tsukauchi. He visited your brother, but he refused to speak to him.” Aizawa explained. He took a seat on a heavy lounge chair, giving Shouto space while still being nearby. 

“Oh...” Shouto should’ve guessed that his siblings wouldn’t want to talk about their father. It was very uncomfortable for Shouto, and likely would be for them as well. 

“Touya assumed he was sent by your father. We were hoping you could clear that up.” Aizawa said. “Has your father paid off police officers before?”

Shouto shrugged. “I don’t know. I haven’t seen him do it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he did.” 

Shouto had been very isolated before coming to UA. His father had pulled him out of school after Shouto was injured and his mother was sent away. After that his education came from hired private tutors, so Shouto rarely had cause to leave the house. The tutors never asked questions about his family. Neither did Endeavor’s private doctor. Their careers were bankrolled by his father, after all. It wouldn’t be a stretch for him to have paid off police officers as well. 

“Can you inform your brother about the current situation? So, he knows that we’re trying to help your family, not protect Endeavor.” 

Shouto nodded and pulled out his phone. He stared at Touya’s contact, unsure. Touya and Shouto didn’t really talk. Fuyumi had added him to the sibling group chat once Shouto got his own phone, but their communication had been sparse. The only time they’d spoken one on one was when Touya had told Shouto that if he ever needed an escape from Endeavor, his door was open. Shouto had never taken him up on it — he didn’t want to drag Touya back into Endeavor’s range of fire — but the offer was comforting. 

Shouto took a deep breath and clicked the call icon, bringing the phone up to his ear. His heart beated in his chest alongside the dial tone. Why was a simple conversation with his brother so nerve wracking? 

“Shouto? Are you okay?” Touya asked as soon as he answered.

“I’m fine.” Shouto replied automatically. To the side, Aizawa lifted an eyebrow at the lie. “Actually, there is a… problem.”

To put it lightly. 

“A problem? Is it dad?” Touya’s voice had gone dark and cold. 

Shouto winced. “Mostly?” 

Touya sighed. “Shouto, I’m gonna need you to be less vague.” 

“Sorry. I… my teacher found out about dad’s training.” Shouto swallowed thickly. “After the Sports Festival, he… he wasn’t happy that I came in second.”

Touya sucked in a breath. “Fuck, I didn’t realize— I’m sorry, Shouto, I should’ve paid more attention. I should’ve known he’d be pissed.”

“It’s okay.” Shouto reassured him. “You wouldn’t have been able to do anything.” 

Touya made a noise of disagreement. “I could’ve picked you up and had you crash at my place until he cooled off or got busy with work.” 

“He probably would’ve accused you of kidnapping.” Shouto replied dryly.

“Only if he knew where you were. And I’m not a snitch.” Touya replied, and despite himself, Shouto cracked a smile. “What about Fuyumi? Where was she during all this? I can’t believe she didn’t tell me.” 

“Fuyumi wasn’t home. She’d gone to visit Grandmother.” 

Shouto was glad Fuyumi hadn’t been home. He didn’t want her to get caught in the middle — like all the times his mother had. Fuyumi couldn’t stand up to Endeavor, she’d just get hurt if she tried to intervene. 

“Are you hurt? Wait, why am I even asking that?” Touya interrupted himself before Shouto could answer. “Of course you are. How bad is it?” 

“Some burns and bruises. A sprained ankle. But Recovery Girl saw to that.” 

After Detective Tsukauchi had taken photos of them, which had been a little humiliating. He’d felt so weak and helpless. Like he was a five year old child all over again. 

“What are your teachers doing about it? Do they…” Touya trailed off, but Shouto knew what he was going to say. 

Do they care?  

After all, Endeavor was the Number 2 hero. He was more important than Shouto. It wouldn’t have surprised Shouto if they’d averted their eyes for the sake of the greater good. But they hadn’t done that. Aizawa had believed him and called his father a criminal. No one had ever said that about his father before. He was always Endeavor, a hero, and thus any transgressions could be overlooked. Some might call him an asshole or a bad father, but no one had ever dared to call him a criminal . 

“They’re on my side. They said what da— what Endeavor was doing was wrong and against the law. Aizawa-sensei he… he said he’d protect me.” Shouto’s voice shook, emotion choking him up. 

His mother had tried to protect him, but she couldn’t win against Endeavor. Aizawa, however, was a trained pro hero who could cancel quirks. UA was an extremely prestigious school with lots of influence. They actually had a shot at taking Endeavor down. 

“… they did?” Touya’s voice was soft and disbelieving, just like Shouto’s had been when Aizawa had promised to help him. 

“They did.” Shouto confirmed, then remembered why he’d called Touya in the first place. “Aizawa-sensei said they sent a detective to your house, but that you thought he was there on behalf of Endeavor? They wanted me to clear that up.” 

“Oh… well, shit.” Touya swore. “I really shot myself in the foot there, huh?”

Shouto snorted. “It’s okay. You didn’t know.” 

Aizawa signaled for the phone. 

“Aizawa-sensei wants to talk to you? Is that okay?” Shouto asked.

“Sure.” Touya sighed. “Pass him the phone.” 

Shouto frowned at the lackluster response, but passed the phone over anyway. He didn’t really know Touya, so he couldn’t tell what Touya was thinking. Had he not wanted to be dragged into this mess? Touya was estranged from their father, after all. He might not want anything to do with him, period. Even if it was for a legal case against him. 

Both Touya and Natsuo had distanced themselves from the family. Touya had completely cut himself off from their father and Natsuo had chosen to go to college in another prefecture. Fuyumi was the only one who’d stayed, but even she was like a ghost in the home, quiet and careful. 

Off to the side, Aizawa was discussing arranging a meeting with Touya.

“We need to get your side of the story, independent from Shouto for legal reasons.” Aizawa explained. “But after that, we can make arrangements for Shouto.”

Arrangements? 

“We can come to your apartment. If that makes you more comfortable.” Aizawa paused as Touya responded. “Yes, that’s fine. We will be recording it as well.” 

Shouto didn’t like not being privy to conversations about himself. He wanted to know what was going on. His hands twisted in the fabric of the couch cushions as he watched Aizawa talk to his brother. 

Eventually he handed the phone back to Shouto. 

“What’s going to happen now?” Shouto asked, hating how small his voice came out.  

“Detective Tsukauchi and Eraserhead are dropping by my place to get my testimony.” Touya explained. “You’ll crash with me tonight and the rest we’ll figure out later.” 

“What if Endeavor notices I’m gone?” He asked, worriedly.

“We lie.” Touya said simply. “Your classmates leave for internships tomorrow, so that's our cover story while we collect evidence and get the courts involved. Endeavor will be told that your supposed “internship” is further away so you had to leave a day early to travel.” 

Internally, Shouto sighed in relief. It was reassuring to know the plan. Adults tended to handle things themselves and rarely kept Shouto in the loop — they just told him what to do. It was nice to have the next steps explained to him.  

“I gotta run now Shouto, but I’m in your corner, okay? I’ll speak out against Endeavor.” Touya reassured him. 

“Okay. Bye, Touya-nii.” 

Touya paused, and for a second Shouto wondered if he’d made a mistake. “Bye, Shouto.” Touya said quickly, then hung up. 

Shouto stared down at the phone clutched in his hands. That was the first real conversation he’d ever had with his brother. He vaguely remembered speaking to him when he was younger, but those memories were murky. In the past decade, they’d never said anything to each other beyond quick texts. He wouldn’t have recognized his own brother’s voice if not for the contact information telling him who was on the other side. 

Aizawa sat down again and explained that another teacher would stay with Shouto while he visited Touya with the detective, once they were done Shouto would be driven to Touya’s place. Everything else would be figured out later — once they had more information. 

Shouto nodded along mutely. Honestly, he wished he could just go back to class. He could explain away the injuries they’d glimpsed in the locker room. After all, only Midoriya knew the truth. He could just say he’d tried to train his fire quirk on his own and gotten hurt, and the teachers had lectured him about it. They’d believe that, right? Honestly, Iida might give a lecture of his own. 

Maybe he could sneak back to class after Aizawa left? Or convince the teacher assigned to babysit him to let him return to class? 

The door clicked open and a skinny man with blond hair walked in. Behind him a head of green curls popped out. Midoriya . 

Something like relief swept over Shouto at the sight. Midoriya sat down next to Shouto, eyes wide with concern. 

“Are you okay?”

“I… I don’t know.” Shouto said, being honest this time instead of reflexively insisting he was fine. 

“Can I… can I give you a hug?” Midoriya asked hesitantly, his voice soft. 

Shouto nodded and Midoriya wrapped his arms around him. The touch was strange and foreign, but not bad. He didn’t think he’d hugged anyone since his mother had been hospitalized. Fuyumi had tried originally, but he’d flinched away from the touch and she’d never done it again. 

Everything was so overwhelming. The stares, the questions, the anxiety of the unknown…  A tear slipped down Shouto’s cheek and he hugged Midoriya back, clinging tight. 

All his life, Shouto had felt so alone. But now he had people who would fight for him. Midoriya, Aizawa, and Touya. He wasn’t a child facing down a monster by himself anymore. He had help and that was what finally caused the tears to flow.

“It’s okay, Todoroki-kun.” Midoriya whispered. “I am here.” 

Chapter Text

Aizawa was not sure what to make of Todoroki Touya. Over the phone, his concern and protectiveness towards his brother was clear — as was his distrust of pro heroes and police. Now, sitting across from him on a couch, Aizawa had the chance to observe him in person. Touya had spiky black hair, tattooed arms, and several piercings. He also had the same blue eyes as Endeavor. The only similarity to Shouto was his rounder face shape, pale skin, and sharing half an eye color. Though, Aizawa suspected Touya’s hair was dyed. 

There was also a likeness in Touya’s frosty reception. He’d allowed them into his home and agreed to talk, but it was clear he was on guard. 

Two different recorders were laid out on the coffee table, though no one spoke. A heavy silence hung over them like storm clouds.

Eventually, Tsukauchi broke it, leaning forwards to press the red ‘record’ buttons on both the devices. 

“Can you state your name for the record?” He requested politely. 

Touya exhaled heavily. “Todoroki Touya.” 

“Can you explain your… family situation?” Tsukauchi settled on, carefully skirting anything leading.

“That Endeavor is an abusive father and husband? Yeah, I can do that.” Touya did not have any qualms about delicacy. “But how do I know you’ll actually do something about it? How do I know you won’t sweep it under the rug for the sake of the greater good?” 

How many people had ignored Endeavor’s abuse for the sake of the greater good? What had Touya witnessed to cause him to be so jaded and distrustful of the ones supposed to protect him? Just thinking about it made Aizawa’s blood boil. 

“Well, for one, we’re asking.” Aizawa pointed out. Touya might appreciate his no-bullshit way of doing things more than the detective’s carefully crafted words. “Two, as a pro hero and a teacher, I have a responsibility to protect my students. I suspect Todoroki Shouto is being abused, so I am investigating. If I wanted to sweep this under the rug, we wouldn’t be here.” 

“You could be covering your asses. To say you “investigated” but didn’t find proof.” He mimed quotation marks with his fingers. “Or you could use what I tell you against my family.” 

“We understand why you are wary. Some people might not believe a pro hero could be capable of such things. Or that the people Endeavor saved and the villains he stopped matter more than your family’s safety.” Tsukauchi said. “However, domestic violence is against the law. It is our job to enforce that law, no matter who the person is.”  

“So, you’d actually send Endeavor to prison?” Touya asked, half in challenge and half in disbelief. 

“Provided the investigation reveals he broke the law, then yes, that would be the goal. But in order to do that, we need proof. We need testimony from those who witnessed his actions and any other evidence we can find.” He explained. “I won’t lie to you, convicting Endeavor will be difficult due to his position, but I will do everything I can to get justice for your family and protect them from further harm.” 

Touya scanned over the both of them, his eyes narrowed as he searched for signs of deception. Then he sighed, and leaned back in his seat.

“All right, I’ll take a chance on you. But if you turn on us, I’ll walk right into the nearest news station and create the biggest PR disaster known to man.” He threatened, blue eyes blazing. 

Aizawa believed him. Touya wasn’t bluffing. 

“May I ask why you didn’t try such a method before? You clearly care about your family and detest your father’s abuse. So why have you stayed silent?” Tsukauchi asked.

“I have told people before. But I either wasn’t believed or Endeavor’s contributions were considered more important than one woman and her four kids.” Touya retorted, fists clenched. “There were a few people who wanted to help, but they were powerless to do anything against the Number 2 hero. I uh…” He hesitated for a moment, before powering on. “I also wasn’t sure if my mother or siblings would speak up. They might even be angry if I exposed the family’s dirty laundry. Hell, I’m shocked Shouto actually said something to you.” 

“He didn’t originally.” Aizawa replied. “It was only after we questioned him about his injuries that he admitted that Endeavor had caused them.” If they hadn’t, Shouto might have kept silent about his situation. Like his brother, he thought he wouldn’t be believed. It made Aizawa feel sick. 

Endeavor was beating his child and calling it training. He’d been doing it since Shouto’s quirk had manifested. Who in the right mind would train children for combat at that age? The only training kids needed was for controlling their newly manifested quirks, not pushing their quirks’ limits until their bodies gave out! 

“Bastard.” Touya hissed. “He’s always hated that he was stuck as Number 2, so when Shouto placed second in the Sports Festival, he would’ve lost it. Usually, he’d be more careful about damaging his “masterpiece.” But he’s always had a temper — and his inferiority complex about being second best is a guaranteed way to set him off.”

Masterpiece? Inferiority Complex? 

Shouto had only given them the bare bones of an explanation — ashamed of his victimhood and reluctant to talk about it. He’d been furious about the abuse his mother suffered, but skirted around his own. They knew Endeavor was obsessed with his son becoming a hero and expected perfection. They knew Endeavor’d beaten his wife when she interfered with Shouto’s training. They knew she’d been so terrified of Endeavor that she’d attacked her son because his left side looked like him. Everything else, however, was uncertain. At least Aizawa now knew why Todoroki had refused to use his fire. 

Tsukauchi blinked. “Can you elaborate?”

“It’s a long story, but the abridged version is that Endeavor was so obsessed with his inability to surpass All Might and be Number 1, that he decided to have an heir with the perfect quirk to do what he couldn’t. He arranged a quirk marriage with my mother — He basically bought her from her father.” He spat out, incensed. 

“Is there any record of that?” The detective asked. “A contract perhaps?”

“I don’t know. Maybe?” Touya shrugged. “The old bastard is dead, though. So you don't need to bother getting his testimony. He probably wouldn’t have helped you anyways. All he cared about was money. He’d gladly throw his daughter and grandchildren to the wolves if it meant a pay out.”

“How long ago did he die?” Tsukauchi asked as he jotted down notes. 

“Hyoga had a stroke about a year ago. I didn’t go to the funeral.” Touya said simply, though this hatred of his maternal grandfather was obvious. 

The way Touya referred to his grandfather by his given name made it clear it wasn’t out of any affection or familiarity, but disrespect. He didn’t use a family name or call him grandfather. He was just Hyoga. Just a man with no relation to Touya. He’d likely been dead to Touya long before he’d passed away. 

“And your maternal grandmother?” Tsukauchi inquired. 

“She’s still alive. My sister checks in on her from time to time.” Touya answered, then elaborated before Tsukauchi could ask his next question. “And Endeavor’s parents are both dead.” 

“Do you think your maternal grandmother could be of help?” Aizawa asked. Did Touya have any older family members he could rely on? Or was she complicit like her husband? 

“I’m not sure…” Touya frowned, his brow furrowed as he considered it. “She was a housewife like my mother. She wouldn’t have been able to stand up to her husband or Endeavor, even if she wanted to.”

The cycle of abuse. From one powerless wife and mother to another. Had her mothers marriage been arranged as well? Had Rei endured her husband's abuse because she’d seen the same thing with her mother? 

Tsukauchi’s pen scratched across his notepad as he wrote all the information down. Aizawa saw the word “grandmother” circled so he anticipated there’d be an interview with her in the near future. 

“Anyways, after my parents married my mother got pregnant fast and started popping out kids. Me and my sister, Fuyumi, are actually Irish twins. Born within a year of each other so there’d be twice the chance of getting the quirk he wanted.” Touya grimaced and Aizawa did the same. Two back to back pregnancies must have been rough. “Originally, he thought I had the quirk he wanted. My fire quirk was even stronger than his. But my body wasn’t able to handle it and I… I burned.” 

He held out his arms for them to see and they both leaned forward. His skin was covered in tattoos, but upon closer inspection he could see the red-pink discoloration and texture of scars. Burn scars. Aizawa sucked in a breath at the sight. They were all over Touya’s arms in patches, worse in some places than others. There was also a tattoo on the side of his neck with the same discoloration that hinted at a scar. How many more burns were under Touya’s clothes? 

Tsukauchi’s stunned face indicated he felt the same horror Aizawa did. Honestly, he was kicking himself for not noticing sooner. To be fair, Touya’s tattoos did a good job of covering up the scars. It was likely the reason why he’d gotten them despite the slight cultural taboo. 

“I’m sorry that happened.” Tsukauchi offered sympathetically, after the silence stretched. “You all deserved better.”

“What we deserved was a system that didn’t treat heroes like gods.“ Touya snapped. “We deserved a dad that loved—” he choked on the word. “Sorry, I— I need a minute.” 

He quickly stood up and dashed down the hall, slamming a door shut behind him. 

Aizawa sighed. Endeavor had really done a number on his kids. He’d gotten away with it for over twenty years, but no longer. Aizawa would make sure of that. 

— — — 

Touya splashed water on his face while mentally berating himself — get it together! He’d been wanting to expose Endeavor for years, and when the opportunity fell in his lap he broke down like a baby? He was so pathetic.  

He gripped the edges of the bathroom sink, staring at himself in the mirror. His father’s hateful eyes stared back. It was only thanks to years of therapy — and the cops in the next room — that he didn’t punch the glass. 

After forcibly calming himself down, he returned to the living room where the Detective and Eraserhead waited. He needed to stay composed and give his testimony calmly. He couldn’t act like a nut case or else his credibility would be shot and no one would believe him. After all, when he’d told a teacher about his home life he’d been written off as nothing more than a difficult child acting out. It was always his fault. His defective quirk. His anger issues. His mental instability. 

He couldn’t fuck this up. Law enforcement believed him this time. Well, they believed Shouto. If it had been Touya who’d come to them first, would they have believed him? Probably not. His rebellious looks and bad attitude tended to cause a negative reception when it came to law enforcement. The amount of times heroes and cops had dismissed his medical expertise because of his appearance was staggering. One would think his EMT uniform would’ve been enough. But no. 

“Sorry about that.” He apologized. He tried to sound calm and collected, but probably came across more like a scolded child. 

“It’s alright. We understand the situation is difficult to talk about.” Tsukauchi reassured him. 

“It’s fucked up.” Eraserhead agreed and Tsukauchi shot him a disapproving look. 

Touya just laughed. “Yeah, it’s really fucked up.” 

He’d been out of Endeavor’s control for six years, yet he still couldn’t get over it. His therapist said it would be healthy for him to turn his anger into indifference, but Touya couldn’t let it go. His anger still burned like a never ending flame, slowly eating away at him. 

“So, what happened after your quirk started burning you?” Tsukauchi asked gently, guiding them back on topic.  

“My parents took me to the doctor. He told them that I had an extremely powerful fire quirk, but that my body wasn’t built to handle it.” Touya stared down at his arms — at his burned skin. “I inherited my mother’s resistance to the freezing cold instead of my father’s resistance to extreme heat.” 

He still remembered sitting in that doctor's office as his world crumbled around him. His father’s devastation that his son’s quirk was defective. His mother’s tears of anguish that her ice quirk was the reason her son burned. That doctor’s visit was the last time Endeavor actually treated him like he was his son — like he was worth something. 

“After that, Endeavor tossed me aside like… like I was trash.” Touya snarled, leaning on anger so he wouldn’t do something more pathetic — like cry. “He set about replacing me and forced my mother to have more children. Natsu was born, but he didn’t have the quirk Endeavor wanted so he was also discarded. Finally, he got what he wanted with Shouto.” 

Touya still remembered when they’d brought Shouto home from the hospital. How crazed and triumphant his father had seemed as he stared down at the infant. He’d learned that his children’s coloring were indicators of his quirk and Shouto’s split white-red hair and heterochromatic eyes were dead giveaways. Touya knew his replacement had finally arrived and his heart shattered into a million pieces. He’d even — No. He shouldn’t tell them about that. He didn’t know how trustworthy they were. Better to keep that information to himself.

Touya cleared his throat, then continued. “To make up for lost time, Endeavor brutally trained Shouto. It was so bad at times that Shouto would cry and throw up. Anytime my mother tried to intervene, she was beaten until she stopped getting in his way. Eventually, she snapped and had a mental breakdown. She’s been in the hospital ever since.” 

Eraserhead and the detective stared at him in stunned silence, their eyes wide and faces pale as they tried to comprehend the horror that was his family. 

As much as he tried to avoid it, he still thought about his mother. Was she getting the medical care she needed? Or was the psychiatric ward being used as Endeavor’s personal prison? He could only pray it was the former. 

Touya swallowed thickly. “Did— did Shouto tell you how he got his scar?” 

“He told us.” Aizawa confirmed, his hands clenched into fists on his lap. He was angry. 

Good. People should feel angry about Endeavor actions, not sweeping them under the rug. If law enforcement had felt even a fraction of the rage that had been building in Touya for years, Endeavor would’ve been punished a long time ago. 

Tsukauchi winced. “I’m assuming that’s what you were referring to when you said your mother had a mental breakdown?” 

Touya nodded. “She wasn’t in her right mind. She was so terrified of Endeavor that she couldn’t even look at us.” It could have been any of them. They all bore resemblance to their father. Touya had his blue eyes and fire quirk. Natsu had his build. Shouto had his coloring on his left side. Even Fuyumi had red streaks in her hair. “Endeavor he… he was so angry. He beat her, locked her up in a mental hospital, then threw away the key.” 

Touya had come home from Sekoto Peak to screaming and sobbing. He’d ran to the kitchen to find Shouto wailing and clutching his face, their mother desperately apologizing and trying to ice his burn. She’d been so panicked that she hadn’t realized ice would just make the burn worse. Touya had yelled at her to stop, that she was hurting him, and pried Shouto out of her grip. Shouto had clung to him, shaking like a leaf. 

Then Endeavor had stormed in, his face twisted in fury. At first he’d thought it was Touya’s fault and started raging. After all, Touya did have a reputation of jealousy towards Shouto — if anyone would hurt him, Touya would be the first guess. His mother could’ve lied and saved herself, but she didn’t. As soon as Endeavor’s burning hand came down on Touya’s arm she’d confessed and begged him not to hurt her sons. Touya hadn’t realized she’d still considered him her son after everything. Endeavor’s rage then turned on her and Touya fled the room with Shouto. 

When the police came to haul their mother away, none of them had questioned why she was covered in bruises and burns. Maybe they’d thought it was justified after she’d hurt Shouto. His baby brother was whisked off to the hospital and Touya was left alone in his room, cradling his burned arm. 

“What happened after your mother was hospitalized?” Tsukauchi asked, after giving Touya a moment to collect himself. 

“Shouto’s training got even more brutal. Mom wasn’t there to interfere anymore. And on top of that, Shouto refused to use his fire after what happened. Endeavor tried to correct it with brute force. Shouto never gave in, though. Stubborn kid.” Touya would’ve been impressed if it wasn’t so depressing. “Fuyumi tried to pick up the pieces and comfort everyone, but we weren’t very open to it. Natsu stayed out of the house as much as possible. He joined every sport and club he could. Though, even when he was home, he was basically invisible.” 

“What about you?” 

Touya swallowed thickly. He’d been dreading this part. He always hated people’s reactions when they found out —  how it changed the way they looked at him. 

“I… I tried to commit suicide.” His mom being gone and Shouto’s scarring was part of it, but the main reason was that he’d realized his dad didn’t love him anymore. He’d tried for years to get his dad to show him a sliver of attention or affection — it didn’t even need to be love. He just didn’t want to be ignored and avoided. When Endeavor hadn’t shown up to Sekoto Peak to see his progress, it had finally sunk in. His dad didn’t love him anymore, and there was nothing he could do about it. “Natsu found me and called an ambulance.” 

Touya was still ashamed of himself for that. After everything Natsu had gone through, after shouldering Touya’s issues over the years in whispered conversations at night, after being ignored by their father, he’d had to find his brother half-dead on the bathroom floor? He’d only been eight years old. 

Based on the shocked looks on the two men’s faces, Touya guessed they hadn’t known about that. He wasn’t surprised. Endeavor had always done a good job of covering up his family’s suffering. Shouto might not have even been told what really happened. He probably believed the boarding school lie that Endeavor fed to everyone else. 

“Are there records of this?” Tsukauchi asked, likely hoping for evidence to build his case. 

Touya shrugged. “There should be if proper procedures were followed. But Endeavor’s influence and money could have ensured that my treatment was off the books.” 

“What hospital were you at?” The detective asked. 

“At first, I was at Musutafu General Hospital. Then I was transferred to a psychiatric hospital for children in Fukuoka.” His father had practically shipped him to the other side of the country. He’d wanted to get rid of Touya ever since his diagnosis, and after his suicide attempt he had all the ammunition he needed. “The paramedics who treated me could also be witnesses. One of their names was uh… Yoshida or Yokota? It was Yo-something. She treated me on the way to the hospital.” 

He might not remember her name, but the memory of that ambulance ride was clear as day. That woman had saved his life — not just with the medical treatment, but how she cared. He’d been sobbing about how he was a failed creation, how his father didn’t love him, how he was useless and shouldn’t exist. Her response had knocked the breath out of him. 

You matter, Touya. Don’t ever let anyone convince you that you don’t. 

Whenever he was feeling particularly low, he’d repeat those words to himself. He mattered. He was a human being and he had the right to exist and take up space. He hadn’t been a failure, kids weren’t supposed to be perfect weapons, Endeavor was the failure — as a hero and a father. 

It’s why he became a paramedic, so he could help save those who were hurting. To show them that even a perfect stranger could care about them. 

“I’m sorry.” Tsukauchi said, his voice soft and quiet. As if talking too loudly would break something.

Touya waved off his pity. “Don’t be. Ironically, that suicide attempt saved my life. It ensured I got the help I needed. I was a traumatized kid and I was given the medical treatment and therapy that I’d been denied for years.” He’d never understood why Endeavor hadn’t gotten him support gear, or at least brought him to a therapist. He’d probably been too prideful. “I was finally able to have my own life. I finished school. I made friends. I got certified as an EMT. It’s not glamorous, but it’s leagues better than the hell my life was under Endeavor’s roof.” 

He’d take his tiny apartment over Endeavor’s fancy mansion any day. Everything in here was his own. His father couldn’t take it away.  

Eraserhead’s brows rose. “You’re an EMT?” 

“Yeah, been doing it since I was eighteen. I started out in Fukuoka, but I moved to be closer to Natsu after he started college.” Natsu had specifically chosen a school in another prefecture to get away from Endeavor and Touya didn’t blame him. Natsu stayed with him over school breaks, and would occasionally visit on the weekend. Though, those visits were getting less frequent since he got a girlfriend. “He’s at Kenko University. You should talk to him before Fuyumi or our mother. He won’t snitch.” 

“Could you inform him that we’re on his side?” Tsukauchi requested, his dark eyes shining with mirth. “I’d hate to have a repeat performance of earlier.”

Touya snorted. “Yeah, I’ll give him a head’s up.”

“What about your sister and mother? Is there an order we should visit them in? Anything we should be wary of?” Eraserhead asked. 

Touya sighed. “They’re… complicated. Mom has no contact with Endeavor, but her medical care is bank rolled by him and their reports go to him. A police officer coming to see her out of the blue would likely get back to him.” 

The detective frowned. “Is she mentally stable enough to be a witness?” 

“I’m not sure. I haven’t seen her since I was thirteen. Natsu and Fuyumi say she’s doing better, though.” 

He didn’t blame her, not anymore. When he was younger, he’d felt betrayed by his mother’s inaction. But now he saw her as what she was — another victim of Endeavor’s abuse. She’d tried, but with everything that was dropped on her shoulders, it was no wonder that she’d snapped. They’d both broken, like mother, like son. 

“And your sister?” Tsukauchi asked. “Her name is Fuyumi, right?” 

“Yeah. She uh… she’s in denial about Endeavor being an abuser.” Touya shifted uncomfortably. “The abuse escalated over time, and Fuyumi remembers when things were better. I mean, our family was always toxic from the start,” It was a quirk marriage, for god’s sake, “But Endeavor wasn’t as… cruel.” 

Touya remembered when things were better too — when he was his father’s world. Then it was all ripped out from underneath him. Even if his training hadn’t been as bad as Shouto’s, it was still messed up. Especially given their young age. 

“Fuyumi internalized a lot of bad stuff. She always tried to placate Endeavor and get us to behave, because as long as we didn’t make him mad, he wouldn’t hurt us.” 

She’d tried to stop Touya from bothering Endeavor. She’d begged Shouto to use his fire side. She’d clean up any mess before their father could see it. Touya knew she was trying to keep them safe the only way she knew how, but it had also felt like she was blaming them. As if it was their fault Endeavor hurt them. 

“No father should hurt his children, no matter how angry they make him.” Erashead said firmly. 

Touya nodded numbly, staring down at his hands. He’d wanted for people to believe him— for them to listen — for so long. But now that they did, he felt… drained. Tired. As if all his energy had been sucked right out of him. 

“I think that’s enough for today.” Tsukauchi said kindly, and stood. 

Touya bit down a sigh of relief. He was glad that was over. 

Eraserhead followed the detective’s lead, his phone in hand. “I’ll let Yagi know he can drive Shouto over.” 

Oh shit. He’d almost forgotten about that part. He was gonna see Shouto, in person, for the first time since he was thirteen. He’d seen pictures of the kid and talked to him over the phone, but this was different. Shouto was all kinds of traumatized and Touya was a barely functioning adult. 

He should probably book an appointment with his therapist. 

Chapter Text

“We’re here, Todoroki-shounen.” 

Yagi’s car stopped in front of a nondescript apartment complex. Shouto peered out the window curiously. So this was where Touya lived? 

Shouto opened the car door, glad to leave after such an awkward car ride. Yagi was nice, but his attempts at conversation fell flat in the wake of the situation. It didn’t help that Shouto wasn’t exactly a social person himself. 

Shouto walked up the building’s front steps, a hand clutching the strap of his bookbag. Nerves fluttered in his stomach. What was he even supposed to say? Endeavor, though awful, was at least a known quantity. He hadn’t seen Touya in a decade. He didn’t know what to expect. 

Yagi walked with him in silence. Thankfully, not attempting small talk as they rode the elevator up. They reached Touya’s apartment door and Shouto stared at the numbered plaque beside it. He hadn’t even known what floor Touya was on, much less his apartment number. Almost everything was unknown. 

Shouto swallowed thickly, then knocked on the door. He barely had the chance to take a breath before the door was swinging open. His memories of Touya as a child were foggy, but he knew his brother looked different. The most obvious being the black hair dye and tattoos. One arm had a tattoo of a snake wrapping around it and multiple flowers. The other arm was holding the door open so it was partially obscured, though Shouto could make out swirls of ink. The most jarring thing was that he could easily meet Touya’s eyes. He didn’t have to lift his head up to see his brother’s face — his big brother was barely taller than Shouto. 

They both stared at each other in silence for a moment. Brothers in blood, but not much in practice. 

“Hey, Shouto.” Touya finally said. 

“Hi, Touya-nii.” 

Silence fell again until Yagi coughed behind Shouto. 

Touya blinked, as if he’d just noticed Yagi was there. “Oh, uh… hello, Yagi-san. Thanks for dropping Shouto off.” 

“It’s no trouble. I’m glad Todoroki-shounen has family he can rely on.” Yagi replied. 

Could he rely on Touya? He didn’t know. Shouto had been on his own ever since his mother was hospitalized. Touya seemed nice. Definitely better than Endeavor, though the bar was in hell with the standards he’d set.

“He’ll be safe with me.” Touya promised, then gestured for Shouto to come inside. His nails were painted black — something Endeavor never would’ve allowed. But it was nothing compared to the reaction that Touya’s tattoos would’ve elicited. “Come on in, Shouto. I made soba for dinner.”

His eyes widened. How did Touya know soba was his favorite food? Had Fuyumi told him?

Shouto stepped inside as Touya bid Yagi goodbye. There was a shoe rack near the door and Shouto toed off his sneakers. Further inside was a coffee table, an armchair, and a couch with a throw blanket over the arm. Behind the couch was a small, but functional kitchen. On the counter were two bowls of soba, ready and waiting. 

“Go ahead, take one.” Touya said from behind him and Shouto flinched at the sudden sound. 

He hoped Touya didn’t notice — that he could brush it off like he always did. 

“Sorry.” Touya immediately backed away, his hands up. His eyes were sad and understanding. “I didn’t mean to startle you.” 

Shouto’s cheeks heated in embarrassment. Of course, Touya had noticed. Ever since Shouto had told his teachers the truth about Endeavor, he’d been jumpy. He knew Endeavor would eventually find out about it. It was a horrible waiting game of waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

“I’m fine.” Shouto looked away from him, trying to hide whatever pathetic expression was on his face. He was supposed to be training to be a hero — not acting like a scaredy cat. 

He grabbed a soba bowl and the chopsticks set out for him. He took a seat on one of the bar stools and started slurping up the noodles so he could avoid answering any uncomfortable questions. Touya quietly sat down next to him. 

They ate their noodles in silence. Shouto couldn’t tell if it was a good or a bad type of silence. At least the soba was delicious. 

They finished their food and Touya took their dishes to the sink before Shouto could offer to wash them. Shouto stood there, looking around the kitchen. There were magnets on the fridge with notes and photographs. He didn't recognize the people in the photos. Were they Touya’s friends? He didn’t really know anything about Touya’s life. 

“That’s Tenko and Hana.” Touya pointed at one of the pictures with two dark haired teens and Touya, who still had white hair at the time. “They were hero students back then, like you.”

“They were?”

“Yep. They’re siblings so they were in different years at Shiketsu, but now they’re a rescue hero duo.” 

Huh, he’d thought they looked familiar. He’d probably seen them on TV before. 

“What about them?” He asked, and pointed to a photo of Touya and three other people. One was a lanky man with short brown hair, another was a buff woman with red hair in a ponytail, and the last one had a lizard mutation quirk. 

“Those are my coworkers. Sako, Magne, and Iguichi.” He answered. 

“You’re EMTs, right?” Shouto remembered Fuyumi and Natsuo talking about Touya’s job as an EMT in the sibling group chat. He’d never participated much though, just lurked. 

“Yeah. We all work the same shift rotation. I had today off, but tomorrow I’ll be working.” He paused, brow furrowed in thought. “Though, maybe I should take a few sick days while we get everything sorted.” 

“You don’t need to do that.” Shouto quickly assured him. He didn’t want to disrupt Touya’s career — or his life — more than he already had. “I’ll be fine.” 

“You’re right, I don’t need to.” Touya agreed. “But I want to.”

“Why?”  

Touya was already doing so much for him. He was letting Shouto stay at his apartment. He talked to the police about Endeavor’s abuse. He’d cut himself off from Endeavor for a reason, he’d escaped, and Shouto was just pulling him right back in. 

“You’re my brother.” Touya said simply. “I know, we haven’t interacted much. Not like brothers should. Honestly, I’ve been a pretty shitty big brother. But I want to fix that.” 

“I…” Shouto blinked away the moisture gathering in his eyes. “I’d like that.”

“C’mon. I’ll give you a tour of the place.” Touya grinned and ruffled his hair. “You’ll be bunking in Natsu’s room. Don't worry, I changed the sheets and Febrezed it.” 

Shouto frowned. “Why? Does it stink?”

“Natsu plays a lot of sports. And sometimes he goes to bed without showering.” Touya explained, wrinkling his nose. 

“Ew.”

“Right?” 

Despite the shitty situation, Shouto found himself smiling, happy to be included in brotherly gossip. He wanted to know more about both his brothers. If anything good came out of this situation, Shouto at least hoped He could become closer with his more distant siblings. 

“My apartment is a little cramped. But I try to keep it nice.” Touya pointed to the other side of the apartment, where there were multiple doors. “That middle door leads to the bathroom. My bedroom is to the left of it and the room for brothers is to the right. I can lend you some pajamas for tonight, but tomorrow we’re gonna need to get you some essentials.” He walked towards his room, presumably to retrieve sleep wear for Shouto. “Like a toothbrush, because you are not borrowing mine.” 

Shouto made a noise of disgust. “I wouldn’t want to.” 

That’s right. All of his stuff, except for what was in his book bag and what he was wearing, was back at their father’s house. He wasn’t particularly attached to anything there — Endeavor didn’t endorse sentimental items — but he was going to need other clothes and toiletries. 

“Here ya go.” Touya handed Shouto a folded pair of plaid patterned pants and a worn band t-shirt. “We’re about the same size, so they should fit. Otherwise you’d be drowning in Natsu’s stuff.” 

Shouto didn’t see Natsuo much, but from what he had glimpsed, his brother was huge. He had broad shoulders and often ducked under the tops of doorways. He was almost as big as their father. He looked a lot like him too. Shouto wondered if Natsuo hated that about himself, like Shouto did his left side. 

“C’mon, I'll show you around.” Touya said and gestured for Shouto to follow him. 

Touya showed Shouto his own room, which had obviously been lived in by Natsuo. There was lots of sports stuff scattered around, anime posters on the wall, and a bean bag chair in the corner. Next, Touya led him to the bathroom and showed him where things were. Then he did the same for the kitchen. He showed him where the utensils and dishes were kept, as well as the locations for things like the first aid kit and the fire extinguisher. 

Shouto stared at the fire extinguisher, then down at his left hand. He still wasn’t sure about using his left side. It was his quirk — Midoriya had made that pretty clear — but fire was still an uncomfortable reminder of his father. Would he ever be able to use his fire without thinking of him?  

Touya had a fire quirk, but he couldn’t remember ever seeing him use it. Only the aftermath of burns on his arms. Did Touya even use his quirk anymore? 

Shouto thought about asking, but what if he made Touya uncomfortable? He didn’t want to bother him. Shouto should probably just go to bed early. It’d make things easier on both of them. 

“I’m gonna shower and go to bed.” Shouto told Touya, stepping back.

“Yeah, you’ve had a really long day.” Touya nodded in agreement. “Good night.” 

“Good night.” Shouto echoed and fled. His brother’s eyes burned into his back until the door clicked shut behind him. 

— — — 

Aizawa’s phone buzzed and he glanced at it, hoping for an update from Detective Tsukauchi. Only to be disappointed when he saw it was a text from one of his colleagues about grading papers.  

Earlier, they’d interviewed Todoroki Natsuo, who’d basically parroted what his brother had said, but he’d also given more details about the abuse Touya suffered. His decline in health, both physically and mentally, until he finally snapped and tried to end it all. 

“After Touya’s diagnosis, Endeavor stopped training him. Which would've been the right call, if he didn’t completely ignore Touya after that. To him, Touya wasn’t worth his time anymore.” 

“Touya tried everything to get Endeavor to pay attention to him. He didn’t care if he was screamed at, hit, or burned. Negative attention was better than no attention.” 

“He trained his quirk even though it hurt. He just wanted Endeavor to care about him again.” 

“Endeavor refused to get Touya medical treatment for his burns. He said it was to ‘teach Touya a lesson’ about not listening to him when he told him to stop using his quirk.” 

“I found him on the bathroom floor. He was bleeding. I— I thought he was dead.” 

Each of the Todoroki brothers had been more angry about the abuse another had suffered than their own. Natsuo for Touya, Touya for Shouto, and Shouto for their mother. It was both endearing and heartbreaking. 

Afterwards, Tsukauchi had bought a train ticket to Fukuoka, hoping he could get information from the children’s hospital about Touya. Concrete evidence and testimony from medical professionals could help bolster their case, but it could also risk a leak. Endeavor was in Hosu hunting for the Hero Killer, but that didn’t mean they were safe from his interference. The Number 2 hero’s influence was a powerful thing and Aizawa did not want to fail his student. He couldn't imagine having to return Shouto to his father after everything he’d learned.  

“You alright, sensei?” Shinsou asked, his eyes narrowed. “You seem distracted.” 

Aizawa cringed internally. The Todoroki case had been troubling him, but he hadn’t realized it had gotten so bad that even his student was noticing. He was training Shinsou, while his class was off on their internships, in order to prepare him for a future transfer into the hero course. The kid deserved his full attention. 

“I’m fine.” He grunted. 

Shinsou raised a judgemental eyebrow, clearly not believing him. To be fair, it’s not like Aizawa had been very convincing. Since finding out about Endeavor’s abuse, he hasn’t slept much and his eye bags were even worse than usual.  

Aizawa sighed. “I was just thinking about a case I’ve been working on. Get back to your stretches.” 

“What case?” Shinsou asked as he settled into a lunge. 

“It’s confidential.” Aizawa stated firmly. 

Todoroki deserved to have his privacy protected. Though, Aizawa wasn’t sure how long that would last if they went to court. Given how famous Endeavor was and the Press’ lack of basic human decency, it would likely make headlines. 

“Boo.” Shinsou pouted. 

Aizawa rolled his eyes. “Focus.”

“It could be helpful, for both of us.” Shinsou argued. “You get a sounding board and I get a look into underground hero work.” 

Maybe this kid should be a lawyer instead of a pro hero with how much he liked to argue. 

“Nice try.” Aizawa glared at him. “Now do the splits.”

Shinsou groaned as he settled into a split, as far down as he could go. “Why do I even need to be flexible?”

“You wanted to learn my fighting style. Flexibility is part of it.” Aizawa pointed out. “Over reliance on your quirk is why you lost in the Sports Festival.”

“Thanks.” Shinsou replied sarcastically, hand reaching for his toes. 

“It’s the truth. Physical capability is vital to being a Pro Hero.” Aizawa wished UA’s curriculum would focus more on martial arts, but the hero world was quirk obsessed, and that was reflected in the hero schools. 

“Yeah, yeah. Midoriya folded me like a lawn chair. I get it.” 

Aizawa clamped down on a snort. He didn’t want to encourage Shinsou’s sarcasm. 

His phone buzzed and his head snapped down. It was a text from Touya. They’d exchanged numbers when he’d first spoken to Touya on Shouto’s phone. He’d wanted Touya to be able to contact him if anything happened. 

Todoroki Touya 

How long is Shouto going to be staying with me? 

Just wanna know how much stuff I should be buying him

He’d attached a picture of Shouto wearing a beanie with a shopping basket on his arm. The kid was staring at an aisle full of different toothbrushes like he was trying to solve a math equation. 

Eraserhead

At least for the week

The rest depends on whether your mother is well enough to be granted custody 

They had yet to visit Todoroki Rei due to fear the hospital staff would report back to Endeavor. So they were saving her interview for last. Natsuo had informed them his mother’s mental health had stabilized, but that he avoided discussing Endeavor around her. They didn’t know if asking about her husband's abuse would trigger her. Natsuo had also been hesitant about Fuyumi, expressing the same concerns as Touya. 

If Rei wasn’t able to take in Shouto, then Touya was the next best option. He might even be the better option since he had his own income and could financially provide for Shouto. There was also the issue of Rei still being married to Endeavor. 

Aizawa did have a foster parent license, but the courts tended to favor family. Their chances of getting Shouto out of Endeavor’s custody were better if they presented an alternative family member, rather than the over burdened foster care system. 

Detective Tsukauchi believed in the law and the legal system, but Aizawa was more skeptical. He didn’t know if they would be able to take down Endeavor. A custody removal, however, was more doable. As much as he’d love to see Endeavor go to prison, his first priority was removing Shouto from a dangerous home. 

Speaking of children in dangerous homes… he focused back on Shinsou, who was gritting his teeth through an attempted middle split. Aizawa suspected something might be going on with Shinsou’s home life as well. 

The kid was in the foster system. His records showed that he’d been moved to several foster homes in the past few years, all blamed on Shinsou’s behavior. Aizawa had expected a problem child the likes of Bakugou, based on his record. But while sarcastic, the kid was pretty well behaved for a teenager. He hadn’t used his quirk on Aizawa either, despite several opportunities to do so, which didn’t match up with the warnings in his file. He suspected quirk discrimination might be at play. Though, it was possible that Todoorki’s situation was coloring his vision. After missing the signs of mistreatment with one student, he didn’t want to make the same mistake with another.

Todoroki Touya

Keep me updated

Aizawa could practically sense the man’s anxiety through the phone. Though, he didn’t blame him for being worried. Endeavor would be a hard man to take down and ensuring the Todoroki family’s safety would likely be an uphill battle. But Touya would definitely fight for it, and Aizawa would be right there with him. 

“I’m done with my stretches!” Shinsou announced, standing up. “Can I punch stuff now?”

Teenagers. 

— — — 

Touya sighed as Shouto once again retreated to his room. The kid was tip-toeing around him. Given his experiences with their father, Touya didn’t blame him. He just wished he knew how to make his baby brother feel safe. Usually, he’d ask Fuyumi for advice about this kind of stuff, but he couldn’t tell her about why Shouto was staying with him. She’d blow a gasket. 

At least Natsu had taken it well. He’d texted Touya a rant about how stupid Endeavor’s “solution” to his failures was. It’s not about a lack of power! It’s about popularity! He’s ranked lower than All Might because he’s a jackass! 

Was it concerning that they did most of their brotherly bonding by dunking on their dad? Should he try that method with Shouto? Or would it be like pouring salt in the wound? 

Maybe he could entice the kid with some food. He’d devoured those soba noodles yesterday. Should he make the same meal again? Or would Shouto want something different? 

After a bit of pondering and staring into his fridge like it held the answers to the universe, Touya decided to make soba again but with a twist. Instead of just plain noodles, he’d add other ingredients to it. A balanced diet was important. Shouto had eggs this morning, which accounted for protein. Now he needed some vegetables. Luckily Touya had some shiitake mushrooms, sweet potatoes, and green onions in the fridge. 

Satisfied, he started pulling out ingredients; vegetables from the fridge, olive oil and soy sauce from the pantry, and gomasio from the spice rack. He retrieved pots and pans from the drawer under the stove. As a final touch, he put on some music, then got to work. 

When Touya was roasting the chopped vegetables, Shouto poked his head into the kitchen. He was drawn by the smell. 

“It’ll be ready in a few minutes.” 

“What is it?” Shouto asked as he took a seat on a bar stool. 

“Soba with mushrooms and sweet potatoes.” He replied. “I also added some soy sauce for flavoring.” 

“You didn’t have to do all that. Just plain soba is fine.” Shouto seemed opposed to Touya going out of his way for him. As if he was worried their brotherly currency would run out. 

“Growing boys need their vegetables.” Touya replied, pointing his wooden spoon at him. 

Shouto huffed. “You sound like Iida.” 

“Whose Iida?” That name sounded familiar. 

“Class president. He’s a big rule follower.” Shouto explained. “He would’ve come in third or fourth place in the Sports Festival, but he had to leave early because of a family emergency.” 

Then it clicked. “Because of Stain?” 

Touya had never been a paramedic on the scenes of one of Stain’s murders, but he’d heard horror stories. How the corpses would look like they were straight out of slasher movies. Touya empathized with Stain’s cause, but the man’s choice of targets was way off. Why go after Ingenium and not Endeavor? As far as Touya knew, Ingenium was a pretty decent hero. Unless he had some hidden skeletons in his closet. Which was possible, given that Endeavor had been covering up his abuse for years. 

Touya focused back on the dish, mixing the vegetables with the soba noodles. He pushed them around with the spoon so they'd be evenly distributed. 

“Yeah. His brother was hurt pretty badly. And Iida keeps pretending like he’s fine, but it’s obvious he’s not.” Shouto huffed, annoyed.

Oh, the irony. “Sounds like someone else I know.” 

Shouto frowned. “Who?”

A bowl thunked onto the counter in front of Shouto, soft curls of steam floating up from it.  

“You, dumbass.” He probably shouldn’t call his traumatized brother a dumbass, but he’d never had much of a filter when it came to swearing.  

“That’s different.” Shouto averted his eyes. “I— I’m used to this kinda stuff. Iida isn’t.“ 

Touya raised a brow. “You do realize that being used to it doesn't make it better, right?” 

Living in an abusive home shouldn’t be normalized, but that was the life Shouto had been born into. By then, Endeavor's obsession had become all consuming — poor Shouto never stood a chance. 

“I guess…” 

As frustrating as it was, Touya understood. Touya’s apartment might be a safe space, but that didn’t erase the years of trauma. Shouto already had a lot of stuff to process, so Touya decided to drop it. He was definitely going to talk to Eraserhead about getting Shouto in therapy, though. 

He changed topics. “Do you like your classmates?” 

“Some of them.” Shouto picked up a mushroom with his chopsticks, stuffing it into his mouth and chewing thoughtfully. “Others I could do without.” 

Touya snorted. He knew the feeling. “Oh, yeah? What’d they do?” 

“One of them yells and picks fights all the time. It’s annoying.” Shouto wrinkled his nose. “And another one is always drooling over the girls instead of paying attention in class. He even tried to peep on the girls in the locker room.”

“The fuck?” What a creep! 

“Yeah, the girls were really upset.” Shouto paused to slurp his noodles. “Aizawa-sensei gave him detention for a week.” 

“Good.” Touya stated, then angrily shoved a cubed sweet potato into his mouth.  

He didn’t even know why peeping was still a thing in the modern day. If a teenage boy wanted to see a naked girl they had easy access via the internet. It wasn’t like they were in the 1900s. 

“Midoriya and his friends are nice, though. Tokoyami and Shouji are quiet and peaceful. Yaoyorozu is very resourceful. And Sero is cool… I feel kinda bad about hitting him with a glacier.”

“Oh, yeah. I saw that on TV. You did go a bit overboard.” More like overkill. There's a reason the entire stadium tried to comfort the poor Sero kid.

Shouto blinked. “You watched the Sports Festival?”

“Of course, my baby brother was competing after all.” Touya didn’t particularly like watching high schoolers beating the crap out of each other, but his brother had been competing. Plus, the Shimuras had invited him over for a watch party at their place. 

It had been a pretty chaotic watch party. Tenko had lost it when the green haired kid had pulled out a last second win in the obstacle course race. Hana had been rooting hard for the gravity girl against the explosion boy. They’d all cackled like hyenas when the girl from the support course had used her match as an advertisement for her inventions. 

Then, there was Shouto’s fight against the green haired kid. It was insane. The kid just kept injuring himself, and at one point, Touya had to look away — unable to watch any longer. The quirk-caused injuries and the desperate determination on his face had reminded Touya too much of his younger self. 

“The fight with the green bean, though. That was… intense.” 

“Yeah. He just wouldn’t give up.” Shouto shook his head in exasperation — and perhaps fondness. “Not until I used my fire.” 

That had been a surprise. Especially when Shouto had refused to use his fire quirk for years. 

“What changed?” 

“Before, I didn’t see my quirk as my own. I saw it as half mom’s and half Endeavor’s.” He looked down at his hands. “But that’s not true, is it?”

“It’s not.” Touya agreed, having to stamp down on age-old anger to keep his tone level. “It’s your quirk. And you are your own person. Dad doesn’t own you.” 

“Yeah…” Shouto nodded numbly. “But it still feels almost… wrong to use my fire quirk.” 

“You associate fire with Endeavor, so it makes sense you’d be uncomfortable around flames.” Touya said, trying to comfort him. “You probably just need time to get used to it — to see it as something other than pain or destruction.” 

Touya’s own feelings towards his quirk were complicated. He still thought of himself as defective. He hated his burned skin. But being able to use his quirk, not for fighting, but as a source of warmth, did help. Cooking had been another avenue of using his fire for something positive. People enjoying the food he created was gratifying. His therapist had encouraged him to find other hobbies or uses for his fire that weren’t associated with hero work. As much as he hated to admit it, his therapist had been right. Other hobbies had helped. 

“What about your fire quirk? Do you feel um… weird about it?” Shouto asked hesitantly. 

“Yeah.” Touya answered honestly. Shouto deserved the truth. “Not as much as I used to, but those uncomfortable feelings never completely go away.” 

“I don’t—“ Shouto cut himself off, sighing in frustration. “I don’t want to let Endeavor control my life or my quirk. But I can’t stop thinking about him. Especially when it comes to my fire. I don’t… I don’t know what to do…”  

“Maybe start off small.” Touya suggested. “You don’t need to go around whipping out giant flame attacks. Just use it to light a candle or roast marshmallows or something.”

“What’s a marshmallow?”

Endeavor, that bastard. He knew the old man likely had Shouto on a strict diet, but for Shouto to not even know what marshmallows were? How isolated was the poor kid. 

“It’s a type of candy. They uh… actually, it’s probably better if I just show you.” 

Touya stood up and walked over to the pantry. Not only did he find a bag of marshmallows, but he also found the necessary ingredients for s’mores and toaster forks. Perfect. He could rectify Endeavor’s horribleness by introducing Shouto to s’mores. 

He brought back the snacks and set them on the counter top. He pushed the bag of marshmallows towards Shouto. 

“Here, try one.” 

Shouto reached into the bag cautiously, as if it contained vipers and not confectionery. He lifted a single marshmallow to his mouth and took a small bite. He chewed, thoughtfully.

“It’s very sugary.” He said neutrally, which probably meant he wasn’t a big fan. 

Touya didn’t find eating marshmallows straight out of the bag appealing either, but he was a sucker for s’mores. 

“They taste better when they’re roasted over a fire and put into a s'more. It’s like the difference between eating plain deli meat or a full sandwich.” He explained, then asked. “Wanna try making one?” 

Shouto blinked. “Right now? In here?” 

“Sure. If you think you have enough quirk control to keep the fire small.” Touya shrugged. “Or we can make them in the bathtub, just to be safe.” 

“The bathtub?” Shouto asked with a slight laugh. 

“It’s a convenient water source in case we need to put out a fire. And it’s less flammable than these stools.” He patted the wooden edge of the seat, then stood. “You up for it?”

Shouto smiled slightly. “I’ll give it a shot.” 

Touya and Shouto grabbed the ingredients and shuffled into the bathroom. The bathtub was barely big enough to fit both of them, and they had to hug their knees to their chests so there’s be an open space for flames. 

He set up the ingredients along the lip of the tub. Then explained the process of making a s’mores, carefully detailing each step while Shouto nodded along. After he was done, he handed a toaster fork and a marshmallow to Shouto. 

“I’ll be your campfire.” Touya held out his hand, a small blue flame coming to life in his palm. 

Shouto startled at the sight, alarm making his heart jump — not for fear of flames but fear of Touya being burned. 

“You— is that safe? Won’t you get burned?” Shouto asked. Endeavor had always complained about Touya’s weak constitution — how great of a hero he could’ve been if not for his lack of resistance to his own flames. 

Touya scoffed. “I do have some degree of fire resistance. Don't worry, a flame this small won’t hurt me.” 

Shouto gaze flicked to the hand cupping the blue flames, but he didn’t see any sign of damage. Touya was okay. His brother's safety confirmed, he reached for the supplies. He put a marshmallow on a toaster fork and held it over the flame, rotating it carefully. The outside of it changed, darkening to a light brown color. Then it started to slide down. Before Touya could warn Shouto about the slippery nature of a softening marshmallow, the sweet had slid off the end of the toaster fork and splattered onto the tub floor. 

They both stared down at it. Shouto was wearing an expression of pure betrayal and Touya burst out laughing. It was just too funny! 

He used to do this with Natsu and Fuyumi in the backyard. Many marshmallows had been lost to the firepit that way. He remembered how Natsu had shrieked at him to catch it while Fuyumi giggled. 

Shouto was still looking betrayed, which didn’t help calm Touya’s laughter. 

“It’s fine. It’s fine.” Touya assured him between his wheezing. “Don’t worry about it. One of the reasons why I had us do this in the tub is because it's easy to clean.”

He scooped up the goopy marshmallow and chucked it in the trash. The heat didn’t bother him — his hands were the most fire resistant part of his body.  

Touya handed Shouto another marshmallow. “Try again, but angle your fork upward this time, or catch it with a graham cracker when you see it start to fall.” 

“Okay.” Shouto nodded, determined. It was adorable how seriously he was taking this. 

Shouto gave it another go, and this time he successfully managed to toast a marshmallow and place it atop a graham cracker. 

Touya whooped in celebration and Shouto rolled his eyes. He lifted the s'more to his mouth and took a bite. It crunched under his teeth and Shouto’s eyes widened. 

“That good, huh?” Touya asked with a knowing grin. 

Shouto threw a marshmallow at him. But he was licking his lips, so Touya knew he was spot on. Shouto had crumbs on his shirt and a smear of chocolate on his chin. Touya was tempted to take a picture. 

Once Shouto finished his treat, Touya decided to take the leap and ask.

“So, do you wanna try being the campfire?” 

— — — 

“So, do you wanna try being the campfire?” 

Shouto paused, considering. Did he want to try? This wasn’t like class where he could safely experiment. Fire was destructive and he could do some serious damage if he lost control. However, he didn’t want to let his father control his actions. Crafting s’mores was fun. Doing it in a bathtub was a little ridiculous, but that was part of its charm. 

Besides, Touya’s bathtub had a detachable shower head, which was resting in his brother’s lap. If anything went wrong, Touya would blast him with it. 

Shouto reached his left hand and called his fire. At the Sports Festival, his fire had been wild and uncontrolled, billowing out of him like a storm. Now, he wanted to make it small and contained. He’d also like to avoid getting sprayed, if possible.  

A fire sparked to life in his palm and he startled at the sight. The flame grew bigger and he gasped. 

“Easy. Take a deep breath.” Touya said. The shower head was in his hands, but he didn’t turn on the water. “Panic will only make it worse.”

Shouto sucked in a breath. Calm down. It’s okay. Touya was there. Water was nearby. He wouldn’t be burning anything or anybody. Just toasting a marshmallow. 

The fire slowly shrank, until it became a manageable size. 

“Good.” Touya lifted his toaster fork. “Think I’m safe to toast a marshmallow?” 

Shouto glanced at the flame in his palm. It seemed steady enough. “Yeah.” 

Touya held the toaster fork over the flame. He’d put two marshmallows on it, one on each prong. The show off.

Though, multiple marshmallows likely meant Shouto was getting another s’more. Marshmallows on their own were too sugary, but s’mores were a perfect blend of the sweet and savory. They also contained chocolate. Endeavor didn’t allow Shouto to have candy, but occasionally Fuyumi would buy chocolate bars from the konbini on her way home from school and sneak one to Shouto. It was always delicious. Chocolate never disappoints. 

Soon, Touya had two perfectly toasted s’mores which he placed onto the pre-prepared graham crackers. Next, he broke off pieces of the chocolate bar and placed them on the marshmallows. Then, he placed the other graham crackers on top. Shouto felt like he was watching a master chef at work. 

Shouto put out his fire and Touya handed him one of the s’mores. 

“Bon appétit.” Touya said, lifting his s’more. 

Shouto lifted his in response, like they were toasting glasses. Then they both took big bites of their treats. 

Two brothers, who barely knew each other, were sitting in a bathtub and eating s’mores. It was one of the weirdest, but also one of the happiest, moments of his life.

Chapter Text

Shouto sighed as he stared up at the ceiling. Touya had left for work early in the morning and Shouto had no idea what to do with himself. He’d never really had free time. He was always either training, studying, or sleeping. 

He should be interning with a pro hero, improving his quirk and his skills, but instead he was loafing around on the couch. 

His phone rang and Shouto’s gaze snapped to the welcome distraction. Midoriya’s contact information flashed across the screen.

Midoriya? Why was he calling? 

Shouto quickly answered the call. “Midoriya? Is everything all right?” 

“Yeah?” Midoriya’s voice filtered through the phone. “Why wouldn’t it be?” 

Shouto blinked, the anticipatory tension turning to confusion. “You just… you’ve never called me before. I thought something might be wrong.” 

Iida had created a mandatory Class 1A group chat after the USJ incident. It mostly consisted of Iida reminding them of homework and scolding the others for spamming the chat with memes. Shouto had never had the phone number of people his age before, much less twenty at once. It was overwhelming and he had yet to send anything in the class group chat. It was much more manageable to text people one on one. 

A spike of anxiety went through him at the newness of the situation. What if he messed it up? He’d never talked to a friend on the phone before. Hell, he was still new to having a friend. Over the phone, Shouto couldn’t take the time to organize his thoughts and choose his words like he could over text. 

“No! N-nothing is wrong!” Midoriya hurriedly reassured him. “I was just calling to check up on you.” 

“Oh…” That was nice of him. Shouto finally allowed himself to relax into the couch cushions. Midoroiya was just being Midoriya. 

“Sorry. I probably shouldn't have—” He cut himself off with a gulp, his nerves palpable. “I’m making things weird, aren’t I?” 

“It’s not weird. It’s nice.” Shouto replied. “I was just surprised. I thought you’d be busy with your internship.”  

Unlike Shouto, who was bumming around on the couch. He was grateful UA was helping him get away from his father, but the missed internship opportunity stung. He didn’t want to fall behind his classmates. 

“My mentor told me not to wake him up until noon.” Midoriya replied dryly. “So I’ve got time.”

“So do I. Touya is at work and I have nothing to do.” It was honestly starting to drive him a little crazy. As surprising as it was, he was glad Midoriya called. It was definitely preferable to mindlessly flicking through streamings services.

“Touya, that’s your older brother, right? What’s he like?” Midoriya asked. 

“He’s nice. He made me food.” Shouto replied with a smile, then he added. “And we ate s‘mores in the bathtub.” 

Midoriya laughed. “What?” 

Shouto proceeded to explain the whole story to an amused Midoriya. Their brotherly talk about their fire quirks and how it led to them roasting marshmallows in a bathtub. 

“Aww, that’s actually really sweet.” Midoriya said once Shouto had finished the story. “I've always wanted a sibling. I’m actually kind of jealous of you and— and Iida-kun.”

The light mood sobered at the mention of Iida. The news of Ingenium’s injuries had aired the day after the Sports Festival. Another hero ended by Stain.  

“Is Iida okay?” Shouto asked. 

Midoriaya sighed. “I don’t think so… he pretends like he is but… he chose an internship at a hero agency in Hosu. I’m worried he’ll do something rash.” 

Shouto’s stomach dropped. “Wait, you think he might be…”

“Going after the Hero Killer?” Midoriya finished. “I hope I’m wrong, but… why else would he choose an agency in Hosu, especially when he had offers from more prestigious hero agencies?” 

“Even if that is his goal. He’ll be under the supervision of a pro hero, right? So he should be fine.” Shouto didn’t know if he was trying to reassure Midoriya or himself. “If law enforcement can’t find Stain, it’s unlikely Iida would be able to.” 

“You’re right.” Midoriya agreed hollowly. “I shouldn’t worry so much.” 

“It’s not a bad thing. Iida is your friend. And I doubt you’re the only one who's worried about him.” He’d caught several of his classmates looking at Iida with concern. Even Shouto, who’d kept his distance from his classmates, had done so. 

“Thanks, Todoroki-kun. That makes me feel better. Oh! I almost forgot!” Midoriya exclaimed. “I compiled notes from the classes you missed. Do you want me to send screenshots? Or put them in a word document?” 

“Screenshots are fine.” Shouto said. He didn’t want Midoriya to do extra work by transcribing them. “Did anything interesting happen while I was gone? Or was it just normal school stuff?” 

“Mostly normal stuff. But we did get to pick our hero names! It sucks that you missed it. Some of them were really cool. Like Froppy and Red Riot.” 

Hero names? Despite spending most of his life training to be a hero, Shouto had never given much thought to what his hero name would be. His father would’ve chosen it for him, so there’d been no point. 

“What name did you pick?” Shouto asked, curious. 

“I uh…” He paused. “I picked Deku.”

Shouto blinked. “Deku? Isn’t that what Bakugou screams at you all the time?” 

Shouto was surprised his throat was still intact with all the yelling he did. He wished the guy would calm down. His angry yelling was an uncomfortable reminder of his father’s temper. Shouto caught himself tensing up around Bakugou more times than he cared to admit, but he usually managed to contain it and prevent anyone else from noticing. He wasn’t scared of Bakugou or anything, he just… didn’t like the yelling. 

“Yeah… but Uraraka put a positive spin on it. She said Deku sounds like a shortened version of dekiru, which means “I can do it” instead of “useless” like Kacchan intended.” He explained. 

Useless? He hadn’t liked Bakugou before, but now his opinion was shifting from annoyance to outright disdain. Shouto had never liked the word “useless” — not after the way Endeavor used it to describe his siblings. Fuyumi and Natsuo didn’t have fire quirks, so they were useless to him. It was even worse when Endeavor had talked about Touya like he was a defective product. Shouto hated that they were treated like tools instead of people. 

“I also want to reclaim it!” Midoriya added fervently. “I want to show Kacchan — show everyone — that even a useless Deku can become a hero!” 

So he wanted to stick it to Bakugou and all the other naysayers. Shouto could understand that. He’d refused to use his fire side for years just to stick it to his father. 

“Pro Hero: Deku.” Shouto said aloud, sounding it out. “It has a nice ring to it.”

Midoriya squeaked. “Th-Thanks! I’m glad you like it.” He paused, before asking. “What about you? Do you have any ideas for a hero name?” 

“Not really.” Shouto shrugged. He was honestly drawing a blank. Ironically, the only thing he could think of was Bakugou calling him “Icy-Hot” but he refused to use that as a hero name. “I’m open to any ideas, though.”

“Hmm... You could do something based on your quirk.” Midoriya mused. “Like… Elemental? Or Frostfire?” 

They were decent name suggestions, but they somehow didn’t fit. 

“Maybe.” Shouto said noncommittally. 

“A few members of the class haven’t settled on a hero name yet either.” Midoriya reassured him. “We’re planning to host a brainstorming session after the internships.” 

“Who else hasn’t decided?” He asked, standing up to get a glass of water. 

“Uhh… Iida, Kacchan, Aoyama, Ashido, Tokoyami, and Jirou I think.” Midoriya listed them off. It made Shouto feel a bit better to know a fourth of the class hadn’t decided on a name yet either. “Mostly because Midnight said their name ideas were too scary or too long. And Jirou had multiple ideas for a name but couldn’t decide on just one.”

“What name was too scary?” Shouto asked. It was hard to think of a hero name that could be scary. Even his father’s hero name was digestible. 

“King Explosion Murder.” 

Shouto choked on his drink. He could guess who came up with that one. 

“Who puts the word ‘murder’ in their hero name?” He asked incredulously. 

“Kacchan.” Midoriya replied dryly and Shouto chuckled. 

“Why am I not surprised?” 

“You should’ve seen the class’ reaction, it was— Oh!” Midoriya cut himself off. “My mentor is waking up! I gotta go get my ass beat by a senior citizen. Bye Todoroki-kun!”

The call ended with a click and Shouto pulled his phone away from his ear, staring down at it. Had Midoriya just said he was going to get his ass beat by a senior citizen? Or did Shouto need his hearing checked? 

Oh, well. It was back to being bored. At least Touya had streaming services connected to his TV. 

— — —

“Get your very own Hawks rubber duck to make your bath time bubbles of fun!” Hawks beamed at the camera, holding a rubber duck styled to look like him. 

The rubber duck matched his hero outfit. It was wearing headphones and a brown aviator jacket with red wings poking out of it. It was rather cute. His younger fans would definitely like it. 

“Cut!” The director yelled. “Do it again! This time with feeling.”

Seriously?? He was supposed to be mentoring his UA intern, but instead he was here because of a scheduling error. And now the director had the gall to be picky? 

Thankfully, before Hawks went against his PR training and expressed his distaste, a giant CRASH sounded. 

People cried out in alarm and Hawks ran to the window. In the distance a large cloud of smoke was rising in the air. Feathers flew out of his wings, unlocking the window latches and sliding it open. He leaped into the sky and speared towards the smoke. He was in such a rush he didn’t realize he still had the rubber duck in his hand. He snorted and shoved it into his coat pocket. 

He soon found the source of the explosion. There was a multi-car pile up in the middle of a freeway. Alarms were blaring and people were screaming. One of the cars was on fire. The front of the car was engulfed in flames, likely ignited by the engine. The flames were also starting to spread to the closest car. 

Hawks landed next to the burning car. A woman was in the driver's seat, slumped against an airbag. He tried to open the door, pulling on the handle several times, but it wouldn’t budge. Hawks tugged a feather out of his wings and sharpened it. Metal screeched as he sliced it down. The door crashed to the ground by his feet. 

He pulled off his glove and held a finger to the woman’s pulse point. She was alive. Bleeding, but alive. Hawks went to work. He used one of his feathers as a make-shift neck brace, then carefully lifted her out of the car. 

“Help! Help!” A muffled voice yelled. 

A man was banging on his car window, eyes wide with panic. The flames from the other car were spreading to his own vehicle. He banged on the window again, his hand leaving a bloody smear. 

“My kids are in the car!” 

A small face peered out the back window, pale and scared. She couldn’t be more than seven years old. He also could hear a baby crying. Was there an infant in the car? 

Sharpened feathers flew out of his wings, hacking away at the doors. The doors clattered to the ground with metallic clangs. 

His feathers swarmed inside, freeing the girl from her seatbelt and grabbing the infant-carrying car seat. 

“Daddy!” The little girl called, reaching out to her dad as red feathers carried her away. 

“It’s okay, sweetie.” Her father reassured her with a wobbly smile. “Go with the hero.” 

He didn’t move to get out of the car. Was he stuck? Or too injured to move? 

Hawks handed off the woman he was carrying to his longer feathers. Then he crouched down to survey the man in the driver's seat. He was sweating, his face red and eyes darting towards the encroaching flames. The front of his car had crumpled and his lower half…  

“My— my legs— they’re pinned.” 

Shit. How was Hawks supposed to get him out of here? He couldn’t just cut him loose like he’d done with the doors. He could barely see the man’s legs. Even worse was the threat of the flames which could cause an explosion any second. Not to mention the dozens of other possible victims involved in the pile up. 

He couldn’t expect for medical help to arrive any time soon either. The pile up had caused traffic to come to a stand still. Ambulances wouldn’t be able to get through. He couldn’t risk doing anything that might hurt the man even worse. 

“Need some help?” 

Hawks turned to see a black haired man wearing a red cape, a gold belt, and black body armor. He also wore gloves that only covered some of his fingers — they were common among heroes with five finger activation quirks. 

“He’s stuck. The car crunched around him and I don’t want to risk further injury to his legs.” Hawks explained. “And I don’t like how close the fire is.” 

“I can handle the fire.” He said and twisted a knob on his glove, the fabric covering his fingers retracted and he reached out towards the nearby flaming car.

As soon as his hand made contact, the car crumbled to dust. Without a fuel source, the flames soon shrank into nothing. It was only after witnessing his quirk that Hawks recognized him. He was Pro Hero: Retrograde. A member of the rescue duo who’d trained under All Might. 

Hawks soon spotted the other half of the rescue duo as a woman  — Pro Hero: Spectra — descended from the sky. Like her brother, she wore a red cape, gold belt, and black body suit. Her dark hair was in a bun that had two hair sticks speared through it, making it seem like she had an X on the back of her head. She also emanated a faint glow, likely due to her ghost quirk. 

“Just talked to dispatch. They said ambulances should be arriving any minute now.” She reported as soon as she was within ear shot. Now that she was closer, Hawks could see she had a faint scar running down the side of her face, jagged and pale. 

“How are they supposed to get here? Traffic is so backed up they won’t be able to get through.” Hawks asked doubtfully. 

Honestly, with the current situation, Spectra and him would likely have to fly their victims to medical care.

Spectra only grinned. 

Before Hawks could question her further, giant, swirling masses of indigo appeared on the freeway. Ambulances drove out of them and EMTs flooded the scene. 

Hawks’ jaw dropped. “There’s a hero with a teleport quirk?” 

Why hadn’t he ever heard of them? With a teleport quirk that powerful they definitely would’ve pinged his radar. 

Retrograde shook his head. “Not a hero. That’s the work of Daiyu’s head dispatcher; Kurogiri. He transports heroes, ambulances, and victims in severe emergencies.”

Damn. Daiyu City was lucky to have a guy like that. Hawks was surprised that a bigger city like Tokyo or Nagoya hadn’t poached him yet. Based on the pride and admiration in Retrograde’s voice, he’d probably beat Hawks off with a stick if he tried to swipe Kurogiri for Fukuoka.

Hawks transported the children and the unconscious woman towards the ambulances with his feathers with relief. He was glad he finally had somewhere he could send the injured before he ran out of feathers. 

“Oh, thank god.” The trapped man moaned, relieved. “Can you get me out of here, now?”

Hawks turned to Retrograde. “Can your quirk free him?” 

“My quirk turns whatever I touch to dust. Including organic matter.” Which was a polite way of saying he could turn people to dust. “I can only safely control the spread of what I can see.” 

“So we take it slow. Do it piece by piece.” Hawks said. 

Retrograde snorted. “That’s an oxymoron coming from you.”  

Hawks rolled his eyes. He was used to his reputation for being the fastest hero leading to certain remarks. At least this one wasn’t about his performance in bed. 

“Help! P-Please!” A voice called from somewhere in the pile-up and Hawks hesitated, glancing between the two situations.  

Retrograde waved him off. “You can go. I got this.” 

Hawks nodded and fluttered over to the call for help. It was coming from a flipped car. The tires were in the air and there was broken glass scattered across the asphalt. There was a woman hanging upside down in the driver's seat, her face squished against the airbag. 

“Are you hurt?” Hawks asked, crouching down next to them.

“My arm— I think it’s broken.” She whimpered, tears gathering in her eyes. 

“Okay, try to keep it still.” Hawks instructed. “I’ll help get you out.” 

He carefully cut her out of her seatbelt, then extracted her from the car. Her arm was bent at an odd angle and it was starting to swell. 

“Yeah, that looks broken. Let’s get you to an ambulance.” Hawks gently picked her up and carried her over wreckage, touching down in front of the nearest ambulance. “This woman likely has a broken arm. Her car flipped upside down so I’d also check for a head inju—“ Hawks froze when the EMT lifted his head. Blue eyes met his and his heart stuttered. “…Touya?” 

“Hawks.” Touya replied, his tone even and professional as his stare swept over him. The rational part of Hawks knew he was likely checking him for any injuries, but the optimistic part of him hoped Touya was checking him out. Then Touya turned to the woman and offered her a hand. “Come inside. I’ll take a look at your arm and check for a head injury.” 

The woman took Touya’s offered hand and gingerly climbed inside. She sat down on the gurney and he began examining her. 

Touya, he… he’d been in Daiyu City this whole time. How many times had Hawks flown over the city, unaware that Touya now lived there. 

Hawks had first met Touya in the aftermath of a villain attack. Even back then, his stare had been piercing, as if he could see every secret that Hawks was hiding. He hadn’t been intimidated by Hawks, even though he’d been ranked the Number 7 hero at the time. In fact, Touya had bossed him around. To be fair, Hawks had been trying to go back on patrol with a concussion. Touya refused to allow that and even threatened to handcuff him to the ambulance. Hawks, of course, had replied ‘dinner first’ and a — friendship? — full of snark was born. 

Touya had been an EMT operating in Fukuoka back then, so they’d often run into each other at the site of emergencies. Touya would check him for injuries, they’d banter, then they’d leave to attend to other emergencies. 

The cycle broke one night when Hawks had spotted Touya outside of a club while on an evening flight. He’d swooped down to say hello, then stopped dead in his tracks. It was the first time he’d ever seen Touya out of his EMT uniform. He’d been wearing sinfully tight leather pants and a low cut top that showed off his ample chest. 

‘My eyes are up here.’ Touya had purred. Then, next thing Hawks knew, they were making out in the club alleyway, their bodies pressed against each other and the bricks. Hawks had recovered enough sense to suggest they take this somewhere more private — and soon they were tangled together in Hawks’ bed sheets. 

When he’d noticed Touya sneaking out the next morning, he’d been a little disappointed, but hadn’t held it against him. In fact, Hawks had been hoping for an encore. 

That is… until Touya had disappeared from the scene of emergencies. Hawks had been worried something had happened to him, and asked one of the other EMTs about Touya’s status, only to be told that Touya had transferred to another region. He’d left and hadn’t breathed a word to Hawks about it. Hawks had been left wondering: why? 

Had he done something wrong? Was he not good enough? Why did Touya leave? 

“Are you hurt?” Touya asked, snapping Hawks out of his thoughts.

“No?” 

Touya raised an eyebrow, silently asking ‘then why are you still standing here?’ and Hawks flushed. 

“Right, I’ll uh… I’ll leave you in his capable care ma’am.” He saluted Touya and the injured women, then shot into the sky.

Stupid. How long had he been standing there like an idiot? There were people who still needed to be saved! He couldn’t let himself get distracted. This was exactly why the HPSC advised against any sort of intimate relationship. 

Hawks began extracting injured people from cars on auto-pilot. The pile up was nasty, but with multiple pro heroes and ambulances on the scene, they resolved the issue rather quickly. 

Every victim was now in the hands of medical professionals, so Hawks’ work there was done. He should probably head back to his commercial shoot… 

However, it wouldn’t be polite to leave the local heroes with the clean up. He could also check in with the victims who didn’t require immediate hospitalization, just to be nice. If questioned, he’d say it would help boost his popularity. It had nothing to do with a certain EMT with alluring blue eyes and shiny piercings. 

Besides, the Rescue Duo was lingering by the ambulances, surely he could do the same. As Hawks neared them he realized it wasn’t just any ambulance they were lingering around, but Touya’s ambulance. They were talking and smiling — Touya was smiling, his eyes crinkling at the corners as he gazed up at Spectra and Retrograde. 

Did they know each other? Were they friends? Had Hawks and Touya been friends? Or were they just work acquaintances who hooked up that one time? The idea of that being all they were caused a vicious stab of loneliness and jealousy. 

His pace increased until he was skidding to a stop in front of the group. The hero duo, an EMT with a lizard mutation, and Touya all turned to look at him. Hawks then realized he’d never worked out what to say.

“Heya!” Hawks greeted, smiling widely to cover up his social awkwardness. “Great work out there guys. Daiyu City has some amazing first responders.” 

Spectra beamed. “Thanks! We really like working he-“

“There a reason you’re in Daiyu City?” Retrograde cut in and his sister elbowed him. He just elbowed her right back. 

It seemed Retrograde was the territorial type. Hawks’ agency was located in Fukuoka, but he’d helped resolve incidents all across Japan. Some heroes could get defensive about their “territory” being invaded by an outsider — or didn’t want to share the spotlight. Hawks thought it was a bit ridiculous. After all, he was only there to help. He was just grateful that Retrograde hadn’t let any negative feelings show during their rescue efforts.  

“Oh, I was in the city for some advertising stuff. I heard the commotion and came to help.” Hawks explained, then switched tracks. “What caused the pile-up anyways?” 

“Some jackass didn’t properly secure equipment to his truck.” Retrograde answered, his ire clear. Whether for Hawks, or the irresponsible truck driver, he couldn't determine. “A ladder flew off right into oncoming traffic.” 

Hawks winced. “Damn, no wonder the pile-up was so bad. Did everyone make it out okay?”

“No one died on scene, if that's what you're asking.” Touya replied, showing off his eerie perceptiveness that never failed to throw Hawks for a loop. If he didn’t know better, he would’ve thought it was because of a quirk. “Can’t say for certain what will happen on the operating table, though.” 

“I’ll stay optimistic.” Hawks knew better than to check the status of the injured he saved. It was easier to compartmentalize that way. They were alive when he last saw them, so that’s the way they’d stay in his mind unless he was told otherwise. He couldn’t get emotional over the people he lost or it would impact his ability to act as a hero. 

His handlers were always reminding him to keep his emotions in check. He wondered how they’d react if they found out he was pining over an EMT.  

”Yeah, it’s good to stay positive.” The lizard heterotroph agreed. A metallic tag was clipped to his breast pocket and read: Iguichi. “Retrograde was just showing us pictures of his dog to cheer us up.” 

“Show him! Show him!” Spectra insisted, pushing Retrograde towards Hawks. 

Retrograde grumbled a bit, but did as she asked and showed Hawks a picture of a big, white, fluffy dog. It was sitting in the grass, its bushy tail curled up around it. 

“Aww.” Hawks coo-ed, completely involuntarily. He couldn’t help it. The dog was just too cute. “What’s the baby’s name?” 

“Pluto.” A faint smile crossed Tenko’s face as he talked about his dog. It was sweet. “He’s a Samoyed.” 

“Pluto-kun is super popular. He even has his own Instagram.” Iguichi said, showing him the Instagram page which had twelve thousand followers. Holy shit. 

Never doubt the power of cuteness. Should Hawks get a dog? No — he wouldn’t have time for a pet. Still, he was definitely going to be following that Instagram account.

“His dog’s Instagram is more popular than his hero socials.” Touya snickered and Retrograde flipped him off. 

“Fuck you.”

“No thanks.” Touya replied dryly. 

Retrograde threw his glove at Touya, who laughed. 

Hawks watched the two of them bicker, his throat tight and stomach twisted in knots. That… that used to be him and Touya. They used to joke and banter after emergencies were resolved. Was Touya like that with every pro hero? Had Hawks been naive to think their relationship was special? Had he been so starved for friends or affection that he’d imagined a relationship that wasn’t there? 

It couldn’t have been a complete fabrication — they had slept together after all — but Touya had never indicated an interest in anything deeper than that. Most of their interactions had been while working. Anything outside of work was mere coincidence. It wasn’t like Touya had ever invited him to drinks or even asked for his number. He’d just… left. He hadn’t even said goodbye. 

Should he just leave? He’d wanted to talk to Touya, but maybe he should take the hint. He was an outsider here. 

“Are you okay?” 

Hawks turned to see Spectra looking at him with concern. Fuck. Had his mask slipped? 

Hawks plastered on a smile. “Yes, why wouldn’t I be?” 

“You looked upset.” Her gaze bored into him. The irises of her eyes were unnervingly pale. 

Hawks faltered, taking a step back. “I—”

”Touya told us about you, y’know.” She offered, her smile knowing. 

Despite himself, Hawks’ breath caught. “He did?” 

“Yeah. He mostly complained about you being reckless with your health, but that’s how he shows he cares.” She said fondly. “Me and Tenko have known him since middle school. So I know him pretty well. You should talk to him.” 

“I want to, but…” He gestured subtly at the other two men. 

“Ah.” Spectra nodded in understanding. “Leave that to me.”

She flew — well, more like floated —  towards her brother and Iguichi. She looped her arms through both of their elbows and dragged them off, babbling something about having lost her phone and needing their help to find it. Not the most subtle approach, but she accomplished the goal.  

Hawks’ stomach swooped. He’d wanted to be alone with Touya, but now that he was, his anxiety was getting the better of him. 

You’re the number 3 hero! He mentally scolded himself. Pull yourself together! 

“I uh… I've been wanting to talk to you.” Hawks started haltingly, wringing his hands. How could he say this without sounding like an obsessed stalker?   

“Okay.” Touya looked him directly in the eyes, giving him his full attention. It was a respectful gesture, but it wasn’t helping Hawks’ nerves. 

“Did— did I do something?” Hawks blurted out. Better to rip off the bandaid than skirt around the issue. “After we, y’know, you just left.” Not just his apartment the morning after, but the entire city. “You left Fukuoka.” 

Great, now he sounded accusatory. Hawks had all kinds of socialization training, yet in front of Touya he was tongue tied. 

Touya sighed heavily, running a hand through his thick locks. “Would it be cliche if I said it’s not you, it’s me?” 

“Yes.” Hawks replied, distinctly unimpressed. 

Logically, he knew that Touya didn’t owe him anything. It had just been a one-night stand. Hawks wasn’t even sure if they’d been friends — much less something more. But he still wanted answers. Was that pathetic? 

He still remembered Miruko’s reaction when he explained the situation. How she’d shrugged and said: 'So you got ghosted, what’s the big deal?'

It shouldn’t be a big deal, but for some reason it was. Maybe Miruko was right when she’d told him he was lonely. 

“I moved to be closer to my family. My brother got accepted into Kenko University and I wanted to be there for him.” Touya explained. “It really wasn’t because of you.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me you were leaving? Why didn’t you say goodbye?” Hawks asked, his throat tight. “I thought… I thought we were friends.” 

When he’d learned that Touya had left, it had been like a punch to the gut. He’d felt hurt and… and betrayed. Had he really mattered so little to Touya that he hadn’t even warranted a goodbye? 

Touya’s eyes widened, his breath hitching. “You did?” 

“Yes!” Hawks snapped defensively, his arms crossed over his chest. Had he read into a friendship that wasn’t there? He’d at least thought they could be classified as ‘work friends.’ Or was Touya just being nice and Hawks’ had mistaken it for something else? “We talked any time we ran into each other. We laughed and joked together. We had each other's backs in the field.” His wings drooped, scraping the concrete as self doubt started to trickle in. After all, ‘talking to each other’ wasn’t the strongest evidence. “I was always happy to see you on scene, but maybe you weren't happy to see me. Maybe… maybe I was just reading into things.”  

Touya gaped at him, jaw slack. “I… I didn’t realize…” 

Hawks’ cheeks burned in embarrassment. Of course, he hadn’t. Hawks had been reading into things after all. He was so fucking lonely that he’d imagine friendships that weren’t actually there. 

“I’m sorry. I’ll go now.” Hawks said quickly, turning away.

“No, wait!” Touya grabbed his arm. “That’s not what I meant.”

Hawks paused, confused. “What did you mean, then?” 

“I just.. I didn’t realize I was that important to you. You’re the number 3 hero for god's sake, and I’m just a random EMT.” Touya let go of his arm and looked away, but Hawks’ eyes caught a tinge of pink creeping up his cheeks and the tips of his ears. “I didn’t say goodbye because I didn’t think you’d care. But I guess I misjudged that.” 

“Oh.” Hawks gasped softly. 

Touya hadn’t left without a word because Hawks didn’t matter to him, but because Touya had thought he wasn’t important enough to matter to Pro Hero Hawks.

Before he could say anything more, the radio crackled to life. 

“Get ready for transport.” A female voice instructed — likely a 119 dispatcher. 

Touya leaned out of the ambulance and hollered. “Yo! Iggy!” He waved his arms around in an attempt to get his partner’s attention. “Time to go!” 

“Wait— before you go let me give you my number.” Hawks dug around in his pockets for a pen and paper, but ended up pulling out the rubber duck from his advertising gig instead. 

Touya snorted at the sight of the rubber duck in his gloved hand. “Is that a rubber duck of you?” 

“Yeah.” Hawks admitted, cheeks flushing. “I was doing an ad for it earlier and— goddammit.” He hissed in frustration. He’d been lucky enough to find Touya again and he was not going to repeat his earlier mistake of neglecting to get his phone number. “Where is—“

“Birdie, chill.” Touya held out his phone. “You can just put your number in my contacts.” 

“Oh, right.” If Hawks’ face had been flushed before, it had to be bright red now. 

He sheepishly took the phone and started to type in his number. Thankfully, he remembered it even after having to change it because of a fan leak. 

“Y‘know, this is pretty cute.” Touya teased as he picked up the rubber duck, his long fingers turning it from side to side as he examined the product. “It fits your whole bird brand. I bet your fans will love it.” 

“You can keep it.” Hawks blurted out, before he could think better of it. “If… if you want.” 

His manager would kill him if the new merchandise leaked, but Hawks didn't care. He wanted to give Touya some form of physical proof that he mattered to Hawks. Besides, he could just say he lost the prototype in the chaos of the pile-up. 

Touya’s brows rose. “Really?”

“Of course! It’s a special early release for my favorite EMT.” Hawks winked, falling back on his practiced charm in an attempt to hide how flustered Touya made him.

“Maybe I can sell it on EBay and make some cash money.” Touya joked and Hawks snorted. 

Before he could continue their banter, the other EMT ran up. “I’m here! I’m here!” 

“Took you long enough.” Touya rolled his eyes as his partner ran past him to the front of the ambulance. 

“Fuck off.” He snapped in response then slammed the driver’s side door shut. 

Just in time because a purple portal appeared in front of the ambulance. 

“Bye, Hawks.” Touya backed up, reaching for the open back door of the ambulance. “I’ll uh… I’ll text you.” 

Hawks nodded. “Okay.”

Touya smiled at him and Hawks' heart fluttered in his chest. Touya closed the red doors and the ambulance drove into the portal, vanishing without a trace. 

Chapter Text

Touya stared down at his phone — at Hawks’ number — not quite believing his eyes. Had Pro Hero Hawks really given him his phone number? What should he even say? 

“Is everything okay, Touya?” 

He looked up to see Sako frowning at him in concern. Sako was one of the most experienced paramedics at the EMS station and often acted as an uncle figure, dispatching both advice and comfort. 

“Yeah, why wouldn’t it be?” Touya responded, trying to play it cool. He knew from experience that saying ‘I’m fine’ didn’t work on Sako. 

“You seem to have a lot on your mind lately. Ever since that family emergency.” Sako was an observant one. “Is… is it your father?” He asked, gently.

Right. Endeavor. Sako knew he had a strained relationship with his father, but not the horrible truth. How could Touya let himself get distracted by boy troubles when his family was in such a precarious position? 

“Partially.” Touya opted for vague honesty, hoping to pacify Sako. 

Also he knew that admitting he had Hawks’ phone number would only cause chaos. Especially with the Hawks fans in the EMS station.

“If he’s giving you trouble, you can talk to me.” Sako offered, sitting down next to him. “I can help.”

Talk? Yes. Help? Unlikely. Endeavor was one of the most powerful people in Japan. Sako couldn’t do anything against him.

Touya shook his head, his shoulders slumped in defeat. “There’s nothing you can do to help.” 

“Maybe not. But I have friends in all kinds of places.” He slid a card over to Touya, not a playing card, but a business card. 

Touya picked it up, his eyes scanning over the kanji. It was for a lawyer. How the hell had Sako known? If Touya didn’t know the man had a compression quirk, he’d think he was a mind reader. 

“Megumi is an old friend of mine. She’s smart as a whip and isn’t afraid of ruffling feathers.” Sako continued. “She’ll help you, if the need ever arises.” 

“…Thanks.” Touya carefully tucked away the card. 

Law enforcement wasn’t reliable, so maybe a lawyer was a better option. He could only hope Sako’s old friend would give him a discount if he needed her services. He wanted to believe Eraserhead and Detective Tsukauchi would help them, but at the end of the day their loyalty was to the law, not to Touya or Shouto. 

“Well, I’ve said my piece so I’ll leave you be.” Sako patted Touya on the shoulder, then stood and walked away. 

Touya sighed and slumped down in his chair. He hated how much influence Endeavor still had over his life. He was a looming shadow Touya couldn’t escape, no matter how hard he tried. 

It even interfered with his love life. Touya hadn’t been completely honest with Hawks. Yes, he’d moved to be close to Natsu’s college, but the reason he’d left without a word was more complicated than his insecurities. 

He hadn’t planned to sneak out of Hawk's apartment. Despite his own wariness of heroes, he’d been charmed by Hawks. Touya had liked him — really liked him. He’d wanted to lounge in bed and make breakfast. He’d wanted to believe a one night stand might turn into something more. 

But then he’d found the Endeavor plushie. He'd been searching Hawks’ drawers for something to sleep in that wasn’t his leather pants, and had found the plushie. It had been old and worn, but clearly well loved. 

Hawks had groaned at the sight of the plushie in his hands, acting all embarrassed about keeping a childhood toy. If it had been any other toy, Touya would’ve found it endearing. But he could only see his father’s likeness, the fake felt flames somehow causing a burning sensation across his fingers. 

“I know it’s childish but… Endeavor inspired me to be a hero. He’s the reason I’m the person I am today. So I’ve held onto this toy for all these years. I hope I can be as great a hero as him one day.”

It had taken all of Touya’s willpower not to set the room on fire. He’d silently put the Endeavor plushie back in the drawer and crawled into bed with Hawks. Logically, he knew he had no reason to be upset with Hawks. It’s not like he knew about the horrible things Endeavor did to his family. But… he couldn’t help the sick feeling of betrayal swirling in his stomach. As soon as he was sure Hawks was asleep, he’d slipped out into the night. 

Now, a year later he’d run into Hawks again. He even had his phone number. He’d promised to text him. But should he? Touya liked Hawks. He knew he wasn’t a bad person. Hawks didn’t even know Touya was related to Endeavor. However, he couldn’t help the feeling of unease. Starting something with Hawks could end in disaster. What if he found out Touya’s dad was Endeavor? How would he react if Touya spoke badly about him? Would he deny the ugly truth? 

He shouldn’t risk it. Not with everything going on in his life right now. His focus should be on protecting Shouto from Endeavor, not his lingering feelings over Hawks.  

But… he had promised to text him. Touya didn’t like breaking his promises. Not after Endeavor had broken so many of them. He could just text Hawks the one time. It’s not like a single text would turn into a relationship. 

His fingers hovered over his phone’s keyboard. What should he say? “Hello” felt too stiff and formal, “hey” was too gruff, and “hi” made him sound like a teenaged girl. Honestly, he was acting like a teenaged girl by agonizing over how to phrase a simple text message to the guy he liked. 

Eventually he bit the bullet and texted a simple “It’s Touya” forgoing any standard greetings. Then he switched over to Shouto’s contact. Touya’d been gone for hours and he wanted to check in. He clicked the call button and listened to the dial tone. 

“...Touya?” Shouto answered, sounding confused. 

“Hey, Shouto. Just calling to check in.” He explained. “How are you doing?” 

“Fine.” Shouto answered flatly. 

Touya raised an eyebrow. “Fine?’

“I’m fine.” He repeated, huffing in annoyance. “Just bored.” 

Right. Shouto wasn’t used to having free time. He was either training, studying, or sleeping. His entire life was micro-managed by Endeavor. He probably didn’t know what to do with himself. Did he even have any interests or hobbies?  

“I’m sure you could find something interesting to watch on the TV.” Touya suggested. He did pay for streaming services for a reason. 

“I don’t want to watch TV!” Shouto burst out, hot and frustrated. Touya’ eyes widened in surprise. “My classmates are all at their internships, learning to be heroes, and I’m just sitting on a couch! I’m hiding like a coward and its—” he cut himself off abruptly, his teeth clicking audibly. “I’m sorry. It’s not your fault. I shouldn’t be yelling at you.”

“It’s okay to be frustrated.” Touya reassured him. After everything Shouto went through, he was well within his rights to yell. It was definitely preferable to Touya’s own coping mechanisms. “And you’re not a coward, Shouto. You’ve been standing up to our father since you were four. That’s pretty brave.” Probably reckless too. But Touya wasn’t one to judge, given how many times he’d deliberately provoked their father as a child. Destructive attention seeking at its finest. 

“I don’t feel brave.” Shouto replied sullenly. “Heroes are supposed to fight the bad guys, not run or hide.”

“And heroes aren’t supposed to beat their wives and kids. But here we are.” Touya replied sarcastically, old bitterness rising up within him. Then he winced, realizing how that might come across to Shouto. “It’s not wrong to ask for help. If more heroes worked together instead of competing for the spotlight, the world would be a lot better off.” 

Touya hated the hero rankings with a passion. Not only because his family was abused in his father’s pursuit of the title of #1, but they were actively harmful. All the hero rankings did was encourage unhealthy competition among people who should be working together. It also incentivized pro heroes to prioritize popularity over actual hero work. So they were doing photoshoots instead of helping people.

“I know it sucks right now. But remember you’re still a kid.” Touya reminded him. Shouto was only fifteen. “You’re still learning and no one is expecting you to fist fight Endeavor.” 

Shouto snorted. “I wouldn’t fist fight him. I’d throw a glacier at him.”

“Ah, so he’d share the tape kid’s fate.” 

Shouto sputtered. “That— that wasn’t—“ He groaned in defeat. “I hate you.”

“Sure you do.” Touya grinned. Shouto was finally getting a dose of the sibling teasing he’d missed out on for years, and his reaction was very entertaining. 

“You suck.”

“And you swallow.”

“What?”

“Nothing.” Touya said quickly, realizing a few seconds too late that he probably shouldn’t have replied with innuendo. “Ignore me.” 

“I…” Shouto started then sighed. “Nevermind.” 

Uh oh. It seems Touya’s attempt at diffusing the situation with humor wasn’t 100% successful. Shouto was clearly still bothered by something. 

“What is it?” Touya asked, trying to sound encouraging. 

“I just… I feel lazy…” Shouto admitted reluctantly. “All my classmates are getting real hero experience from their internships. And I’m missing out because of him.” He hissed. “I hate it.”

Endeavor had taken so much away from them. Their childhoods, their sense of safety, and more. How could he look at his own children as nothing more than tools — how could he be so indifferent towards their suffering? He was supposed to be a hero. 

“Yeah, it sucks.” Touya agreed lamely. Not knowing how to properly express all the fucked up feelings caused by their sorry excuse of a father. 

“What if I fall behind?” Shouto was spiraling now, delving into worse case scenarios. “What if I lose my spot in the hero course?” 

Touya had to reign in a scoff. “Shouto, you’re miles ahead of most of your classmates. The only reason you didn’t win the Sports Festival is because you threw your match against the explosion boy.” 

“Exaclty! I threw the match!” Shouto snapped. “That's the whole reason this is all happening in the first place! Because I chickened out!”

“That was not chickening out.” Touya argued. “You have a right to feel conflicted about using your fire. You’re a child soldier who is tired of fighting. It’s not wrong to choose yourself.”

Shouto didn’t reply, the other end of the line falling silent.

“Shouto… do you even want to be a hero?” 

Touya had never wanted to be a hero. Not really. He’d just wanted his father’s approval. He’d known from an early age that attention and affection were transactional when it came to Endeavor. If they weren’t useful, they were abandoned. Locked away in hospitals or shipped off to boarding schools. Locked out of his life, meanwhile Shouto was locked inside it. 

“I… I don't know.” Shouto admitted softly. “I wouldn’t know how to do anything else.” He didn’t know anything else. Endeavor had made sure of it. 

Then, because emergencies had horrible timing, the station siren started wailing. Touya cursed under his breath. 

“I gotta go, Shouto.“ Touya said quickly as he ran for his ambulance. “We can talk more when I get home.” 

“Okay.” Shouto sounded resigned — disappointed. 

Touya winced, guilt clenching in his stomach. “Bye, Sho.” Then he hung up. 

“Who was that?” Spinner asked as he slid into the front seat.

“My brother.” Touya answered, shortly, hoping to dissuade any further conversation into the topic. 

Unfortunately, Spinner was used to his caustic partner and didn’t let that deter him. “Natsu?”

“No. My other brother.” 

“Dude, how many siblings do you have?” Spinner asked, shaking his head. 

Too many. Was what the younger Touya would’ve said. But not anymore. Natsu and Fuyumi were there for him more than his parents had ever been. And now he was finally starting to bond with Shouto. They were each other's lifelines in the storm of their fathers abuse.   

“Three.” He said simply. “All younger.” 

“So you’re the big brother?” Spinner asked, tone slightly teasing. 

“Yeah.” Touya smiled. “Yeah, I am.” 

— — — 

Hawks finished his commercial shoot and was delighted to find that Touya had texted him. It was a simple message, basically just a way to give Hawks his contact information, but Hawks was still happy. He finally had a means of talking to Touya outside of passing chatter at emergencies. 

He needed to play it cool, though. He didn’t want to come on too strong and scare Touya away. 

Hawks

hi touya

its nice to be able to talk to u again after so long 

i missed my fav emt

That wasn’t too strong right? Hawks didn’t really know how he was supposed to interact with people outside of a work context. He’d been raised inside the HPSC’s hero program which didn’t give him much experience with cultivating relationships outside of what would be advantageous to his hero career. His sidekicks had been hired by the HPSC and he didn’t feel comfortable being casual around them, or he risked any slip up being reported back to his handlers. 

Miruko was the closest thing he had to a friend, but it was very rooted in the hero scene. They mostly hung out at hero events. He didn’t even know her civilian name. Though, that was probably for the best as Miruko would likely expect him to reciprocate and Hawks wouldn’t be able to. 

The phone buzzed with Touya’s reply and Hawks practically gave himself whiplash from how fast he looked down. 

Touya 

You’re such a sap

Are you letting the EMTs in Fukuoka treat your injuries?

Or is your dumb ass flying away with a concussion?

Hawks

that was 1 time!

and u wouldnt let me fly away remember?

Touya

You’re welcome

Hawks smiled to himself. Touya was a rather bossy EMT. At first, Hawks had been a bit annoyed by it, but now he found it endearing. Touya’s stubbornness in providing medical care was how he showed he cared. He didn’t take any shit when it came to people’s health. When others were starstruck and nervous around pro heroes, Touya had no qualms about calling out to pro heroes who were trying to ignore their own injuries. His catch phrase was “don’t be a self sacrificial idiot.” Hawks had been on the receiving end of that one-liner several times. 

Hawks

what are u doing rn?

Touya

Watching drag race

We’re in between calls right now

Hawks

ooh ive heard of that show!

never had the time to watch it tho :(

Touya

Blasphemy

How has a gay man not seen a single episode of drag race?

Hawks

im soooryyy

pls dont revoke my gay card

i need the D

Touya

Lmao

Speaking of the “D.” Hawks didn’t know where they stood on that front. Hell, he wasn’t sure where he and Touya stood, period. Before he could comfortably call them ‘work friends,’ but then they’d slept together. Not very platonic of them. Plus, there was the whole situation of Touya leaving the morning after without a word because he thought Hawks wouldn’t care. To say their relationship was ‘complicated’ was an understatement. Especially, after it had been a year since they’d seen each other. 

Hawks liked talking to Touya. It was fun and surprisingly easy. He didn’t feel the usual pressure to put on an act. Touya couldn’t care less that Hawks was a pro hero. He treated Hawks like a person instead of a rising star. Hawks’ entire value was centered around heroics, it’s why the HPSC had bought him from his mother in the first place, so for someone to see him outside the hero lense… it was exhilarating. Hawks didn’t want to lose that. 

He typed out a message, then deleted it, then tried again. Anxiety bubbled inside of him as he tried to work out how to phrase his question. He didn’t want to pressure Touya into anything, but he also wanted some clarity.  

Hawks 

what are we exactly?

friends? something more?

i just want us to be on the same page so i dont cross any boundaries

Hawks watched the screen, heart in his throat as a speech bubble with three dots appeared, then disappeared, then appeared again. Had he fucked up? Why was Touya so hesitant in his response? Hawks had gotten chastised about his lack of patience dozens of times, but never was it more evident as he watched those three blinking dots. 

Finally, after what felt like hours — but was probably less than two minutes — a reply came through. 

Touya

I’m not really in a place to be in a romantic relationship right now

But friends is cool

Ah. The classic “it’s not you, it’s me.” Hawks wouldn’t lie, he was a bit disappointed. Though, it was probably for the best. Hawks had never had a real romantic relationship before. They were either quick flings or PR stunts. His career wouldn’t allow for anything else. 

On the bright side, Touya still wanted to be his friend! Not a work friend — but an official, real friend! Touya wasn’t wrapped up in the world of heroes, but he was a first responder, so on some level he could understand Hawks. Touya wasn’t some star struck civilian. He was an EMT that was stubborn as a mule and couldn’t care less that Hawks was a pro hero. He was perfect friendship material. Hawks wasn’t going to let this opportunity pass him by. 

Hawks

friends is great!

i spend most of my time talking about hero stuff so its nice to talk to someone who doesnt give a fuck about all that

Touya

I live to serve

Hawks

lol

The conversation should probably end there. Hawks shouldn’t prod any further. But there was one thing that was still bugging him. 

Hawks 

ok i gotta ask

was the sex bad or smth? 

its been bugging me

Touya

No!

The sex was good

A solid 8/10

Hawks

only 8/10??

no wonder you ghosted me i can do sm better than that

Touya

I’m messing with you

I enjoyed myself A LOT

But my days of hook ups are on pause because of some family drama

Hawks

👀🍿

Touya

Believe me you don’t wanna know

It’s more sad than entertaining

Short version is my little brother is living with me now and he cannot know I have sex

That detail did make Hawks feel a bit better. Touya wasn’t rejecting him because of anything Hawks did wrong, but because of a situation that made sexy times a no-go. There was hope for them after all. 

Hawks

lmao

isnt ur little brother in college tho?

Touya

No that’s my other brother

I have 2

The one living with me is 15 and does not need to know what a slut I am

Hawks

ur not a slut

Touya

not anymore

Then he sent a meme of the pope and Hawks cackled. Touya was covered in tattoos and piercings, wore all black, and swore like a sailor — so the idea of him with any form of purity was hilarious. Don’t get him wrong, Touya’s edgy look was very alluring, but it was not in any way “holy.” Except in a blasphemously horny context that would scandalize anyone who was religious.  

Hawks

blessed be saint touya

so virtuous

Touya

you know it

if the little cockblock is ever at a sleepover or smth I’ll hit you up

I wouldn’t be opposed to a round 2 ;)

Hawks squeaked and nearly dropped his phone. His face burned as he reread the message. Holy shit! He actually had a chance! Sure, Touya seemed to be suggesting friends with benefits, rather than an actual relationship, but that worked just fine for Hawks. He wouldn’t have to worry about his lack of romantic experience and could still enjoy Touya’s company as well as his hot mouth, long fingers, and pierced di— okay, Hawks was getting off track. He needed to reply before Touya got the wrong idea.  

Hawks

i would be down for that

Touya

Cool

Gtg emergency call came in

Hawks

Good luck!

Hawks flopped onto the couch and stared up at the ceiling, strangely giddy. He was smiling so hard his cheeks ached and his chest felt like it was full of popping fireworks. It reminded him of the first time he’d gone flying. The fluttering nerves and exhilaration that melted into pure joy. 

But he couldn’t linger for long. Hawks needed to head back to Fukuoka. He had an intern waiting for him. 

— — —

“I’m sorry, detective. But I can’t give you access to a patient's medical records, without a warrant or a signed release form.” The receptionist said firmly. 

If Tsukauchi could go back in time and smack himself, he would. He can’t believe he’d forgotten to get Touya to sign a release form. Speed was of the essence with his investigation into Endeavor, he’d been in such a rush that he’d failed to achieve proof of Touya’s consent to access his medical history. Tsukauchi had wasted hours in travel and Touya wasn’t picking up his phone either. The man was likely at work. He was an EMT so Tsukauchi wouldn’t be surprised if Touya put his phone on do not disturb when he was working. It was a good protocol for emergencies, but not so much for Tsukauchi. 

“I do have Touya’s consent. I just don’t have the form.” An oversight, admittedly, but Tsukauchi did not want to waste his trip to Fukuoka. “If I get him on the phone, could you release them that way?” Tsukauchi asked.  

The receptionist shook her head. “We don’t allow that for security reasons. But he can submit the form electronically.” 

“Did you say Touya?” A woman asked and Tsukauchi turned. The woman looked to be around her mid thirties and was dressed in business casual attire. Most noticeable was her purple skin and hair. She also smelled of lavender, which could either be perfume or her quirk. 

“Yes, I did.” Tsukauchi confirmed. Did this woman know Touya? Did she work at the hospital? “An investigation has been opened into his father.” 

He purposefully kept it vague. He didn’t want to risk word getting back to Endeavor. Most people didn’t know his children’s names, so he should be safe when discussing Touya. 

The woman’s violet eyes widened and her breath caught. She clearly knew who Touya’s father was. Jackpot. 

“Why don’t we speak in my office?” She suggested. So she did work here. He doubted she was a doctor based on her lack of scrubs, but she could be a part of management. 

“Of course.” Tsukauchi agreed and followed her down a hallway. 

She led him into her office. There was a couch and chairs in the middle of the room, covered in colorful pillows. There was a bookshelf with several children’s toys, board games, and story books. A desk was shoved into a corner next to a standing lamp and a file cabinet. 

“I’m Doctor Fujiwara. I’m a children’s therapist.” The woman said as she sat down, confirming what Tsukauchi had been starting to piece together. “Touya used to be my patient.” 

Her words floated around her head, tinged in green. Truth. Tsukauchi’s quirk was similar to synesthesia and he saw people’s spoken words in colors. Green for truth, red for lies, and orange for uncertainty. His quirk wasn’t infallible — for example: it would register people’s misconceptions as truth — but it was very useful for detective work. 

“Then I assume you’re aware of his father’s abuse?” Tsukauchi prodded, taking a seat in one of the chairs.

“Yes.” Fujiwara sighed. “This investigation is a long time coming. But I admit… I wasn’t sure if it would ever happen.” 

“Why not? Did you not report it?” 

“I did report the abuse. Nothing ever happened.” She shook her head sadly. “I tried again and was threatened for ‘breaking doctor patient confidentiality.’ After that, I didn’t push further. I didn’t want to risk Touya being removed from our care.” 

“I understand.” Beforehand, Tsukauchi had mistakenly assumed no one had reported Endeavor out of fear. But now he knew it was more likely that those reports had never been filed. “Endeavor is a powerful man with lots of influence. An unfortunate amount of people are willing to cover for him.” 

“It’s a travesty. The staff here did their best to help Touya heal. But Endeavor wasn’t very….” She paused, her lips thinking. “ …cooperative. He refused to participate in family therapy. And he never visited Touya. Not once.” Anger flashed in her eyes, before she took a deep breath and calmed herself. “Though, perhaps that was for the best. If Endeavor refused to attempt to improve himself, then separating Touya from him was the next best thing.” 

“What can you tell me about Touya?” He asked. “Evidence of his father’s abuse would bolster our case. We’re currently trying to remove Endeavor’s youngest son from his custody and time is of the essence.” 

“I'm sorry. I can’t tell you anything more without a warrant or a signed release form from Touya.” She apologized. “My hands are tied.” Truth. “Even if I did give you his medical information, it’s mostly about Touya’s mental health. There’s still stigma and disbelief around such things in Japan. It’s just as likely Touya will be painted as unreliable, rather than giving credibility to his testimony on his father’s abuse.” 

Dammit. She was right. Still, Tsukauchi needed all the evidence he could get. They were trying to take down the number 2 hero. They needed a mountain of evidence if they didn’t want Endeavor to evade justice. 

“Is there anything you can give me?” 

Fujiwara paused, considering. She clearly wanted to help, but medical privacy laws stopped her. “I’d suggest you speak to Doctor Shimano at Fukuoka General. He treated Touya’s burns.”

Right. Physical injuries were taken more seriously when it came to abuse. Natsuo Todoroki had told them that Endeavor had refused to get Touya medical treatment for the burns caused by his own quirk. Hopefully, the hospital would have evidence of Touya’s untreated burns. 

“Though, I believe you should wait until Touya signs a release form. Doctor Shimano will require that in order to give you the evidence you need.” Fujiwara advised and Tsukauchi nodded. 

“I will. Thank you for your time, Doctor Fujiwara.” 

“I hope your investigation is fruitful. That man’s deeds should not go unpunished.” She said as she stood, then bowed deeply. “Good luck, detective.” 

Tsukauchi’s breath caught at the display. In that moment, he knew they could count on Doctor Fujiwara being in their corner. She truly wanted her patient, and by extension the Todoroki family, to receive justice. 

“Thank you.” He put his hat back on, then left the room. 

He may not have obtained any medical records, but Doctor Fujiwara had confirmed everything he’d heard from the Todoroki children. She’d also pointed him in the right direction to find more evidence. 

Tsukauchi could only pray that Touya’s burns had been recorded. Many of Endeavor’s transgressions had been covered up or erased. They didn’t need to add another misdeed to the pile. 

— — —

Touya turned his key inside the lock, opening his apartment door. His twelve hour shift was finally over. He hadn’t called Shouto back about their earlier conversation, figuring it was best to finish it in person. Shouto was having a lot of conflicted feelings over heroism. Touya was perhaps the only one who could understand. The ideal of heroes had been ingrained in him since birth and it was difficult to escape — so difficult that it had neatly killed him. 

“Shouto?” He called out as he kicked off his shoes in the entryway. 

Lamp light from the living room filtered in, but there was no reply from his little brother. Touya frowned and walked further into the apartment. 

“Sho?” He repeated. He held out his hands by his side, fingers tingling with heat.

Then he stopped. Shouto was lying on the couch, a blanket hanging off his lap and drool crusting on his cheek. Touya sighed in relief. The kid was just asleep. He didn’t know what he’d expected. An injury? A villain? Endeavor? His job was making him paranoid — and his childhood didn’t help. 

“Hey, sleepyhead.” Touya said softly, placing a hand on Shouto’s shoulder.

Shouto groaned, but didn’t open his eyes. He was clearly still half asleep. 

“Shouto, you shouldn’t sleep here. You’ll regret it in the morning.” Couches did not provide proper support. Touya’s spine could attest to that. 

Shouto grumbled unintelligibly and Touya sighed. 

“C’mon. Get up fatass.” He wrapped his arms around Shouto, lifting him off the couch with a grunt. Fuck, this kid was heavy. 

Touya half carried, half dragged Shouto to his room and dumped him on the bed. Shouto just burrowed into the comforter, not a care in the world. It was honestly kinda cute. 

Touya had wanted to talk to Shouto about their earlier conversation, but that could wait. The kid probably had years of sleep debt to catch up on. 

He flicked the covers over Shouto and turned off the light. “Night, kid.” 

His brother dealt with, Touya turned to his next priority — a shower. He always felt grimy after a shift. It must be all the bodily fluids he encountered. Touya closed the bathroom door behind him and started to strip. A thunk sounded as he shrugged off his jacket and Touya looked down. It was the Hawks rubber duck. He snorted and leaned down to pick it up. 

“You wanna join me in the shower, buddy?” Touya asked the rubber duck, feeling a little ridiculous but mostly amused. 

The rubbed duck said nothing, because it was an inanimate object. It really did look like Hawks. The manufacturers had done a good job of mimicking his likeness. 

“Well too bad.” Touya placed it on the edge of the sink, next to his soap. He turned the rubber duck so it faced away from the shower. “No peep shows for you.” 

Man, he must be exhausted. He was talking to the rubber duck like it was a person. Touya shook his head and stepped into the shower, letting the spray wash away the stress of his day. He could handle his issues tomorrow.