Mom, dad, and Izumi are planning to throw a big party for her twelfth birthday, but for me, Todoroki and I are going out for ice cream! I mean, I would prefer it if we could all celebrate together, but I would just bring the mood down. Though I’m sure Izumi and her friends would enjoy beating me up. But Todoroki says I shouldn’t think like that, which is why we’re enjoying ourselves outside the ice cream store.

I decided to get my favorite, cinnamon, while Todoroki gets a mix of strawberry and vanilla, causing me to giggle at how it matches her hair. We talk about random stuff; school, the people passing by, heroes, and quirks. Eventually, I pose the question I’ve been wondering about for a while now.

“Todoroki… why do you come to school hurt sometimes?” She freezes with a scoop of ice cream halfway to her lips. “I know it’s not often, and that you work to hide it, but we’ve known each other long enough that I can tell.”

I rub my stomach where Kachan hit me with an explosion last time Todoroki wasn’t around. “If you don’t want to talk about it, it’s fine. But I know what it’s like to be hurt by the people you care about, so you don’t have to be afraid of sharing.”

I smile at her. “Because I am here.”

She lowers her ice cream back to her cup and stares down into it. She’s silent, but I don’t interrupt. It’s her decision, and I’ll respect whatever she decides. That’s what friends do.

Minutes pass as her ice cream slowly melts. Given how rarely I can enjoy stuff like this, I make sure to eat mine before that happens. Just because I’m here for her doesn’t mean that my ice cream should be forced to suffer!

Eventually though, she speaks. “My father… is the number two hero, Endeavor.” I’m not surprised since I know Endeavor's name is Enji Todoroki. It’s on the hero website after all. But I still make sure to listen carefully to her.

“He’s obsessed with surpassing All Might and becoming the number one hero. At one point, he decided that there’s strength in numbers.” She looks at me. “Tell me, have you ever heard of quirk marriages?”

I think for a minute, trying to see if I know. Something nags at me, but it’s just out of reach. Shaking my head, she explains.

“A quirk marriage is when two people marry in the hopes that their child develops a more powerful quirk combination. That’s the kind of marriage my parents had, though my mom was forced into it by her family to build connections with my father.”

She sighs, stirring her ice cream as she continues. “I got my mother’s ice quirk, and my father’s fire quirk. Due to this, my father sees me as the perfect tool to use in order to take All Might’s place.”

She stops talking, and we sit in silence while she gathers her thoughts. “He… trains me. But it’s not training. He has me use my quirk until I’m falling over in exhaustion. I spend most of my time at home doing exercises to increase my potential regarding being a pro hero. And at the end of every day, he has me spar with him. But he doesn’t hold back. And he’s a pro hero!”

She spits out the last sentence, her voice no longer her usual monotone. Now it’s filled with venom as her words come out in a rush. “He’s a pro hero and I’m his nine year old daughter! Of course there’s no way that I can beat him! But he doesn’t understand that! After he beats me to the ground he just stands there and tells me that I need to do better! That my quirk is strong enough to let me beat him! But it’s not! And he refuses to see that!”

She takes deep breaths after her rant, finishing it off with some final whispered words I don’t think she meant for me to hear. “At this rate I’m going to end up like Touya.”

I let her cool down from finally letting her feelings out as I finish my ice cream. After I swallow the last bite and am sure that she’s calmed down, I speak.

“I read something online once.” She looks at me in confusion as I continue. “The opposite of love isn’t hatred, it’s apathy. I had to look that word up, but it means that the person doesn’t care about you. At all. That’s what it’s like with my parents. So I can’t really say I understand your problem. But it sounds to me like he cares too much about you.”

Her eyes sharpen into a glare, but I just look up at the sky as I try to say what I’m feeling. “It sounds like he cares, but he just doesn’t know how to show it. To him, being the strongest is most important, so he wants you to be the strongest. So that you can be the most important person.”

Her glare softens, just the smallest bit. “He knows that you’re strong, and he wants everyone to see it too. At least that’s what I think.” I shrug. “But I don’t know him like you do. I barely even know my own parents after all. But do you have anyone supporting you?”

Her glare still isn’t gone, but now her mind flashes to her older siblings, Natsuo and Fuyumi. She nods. “So it’s not all bad. You have people who are there for you, even if it seems like your dad isn’t.”

There’s quiet once again as she thinks on my words. Like I said, I can’t really understand her own situation, but it sounds like her relationship with her dad is similar to mine with Izumi and Kachan. But his goal is good, even if he needs to work on his methods. He wants to see his daughter rise to the top, and he believes she has what it takes to get there. But for Izumi and Kachan…

I shake my head. Their reason for attacking me is because I’m quirkless. That’s all, I think. But as long as I think of it as training for the future, I can push through whatever they throw at me! I’ve already gotten really good at treating injuries, so it’s working! I’m already learning skills that would help a pro hero!

But still, I don’t know what Todoroki’s training with her father is really like, so I can’t say either way. But it at least seems like he cares. At least he’s paying attention to her. When I came out to get myself breakfast this morning, mom walked right past me while carrying a tray of pancakes, eggs, and bacon to Izumi for a breakfast in bed. She didn’t even glance in my direction.

I’m pulled from my own thoughts by Todoroki restarting the conversation. “My mother gave me this scar.” She covers the scar around her left eye tenderly, lost in the memory. “She was in the kitchen, boiling water to make something. But she was also on the phone, and I heard her talking. I didn’t hear all of it, but I did hear her say that whenever she saw my left side all she could see was my father. She said she wanted to run away.”

She takes a shaky breath. “Then when I called out to her, she looked at me. The look in her eyes… It was like she was looking at a monster. She grabbed the kettle and threw it at me. It was so hot.” She hunches down into herself and I put a hand on her shoulder. To show that I’m here for her.

“Afterwards dad had her put in a mental hospital. He said that he couldn’t have her hurting his masterpiece.” She spits out the last word like it’s a curse, looking down at her left hand. “So I decided that I would become the number one hero. But I would do it without using my left side. Without using his quirk to do it. Mom’s ice is the only thing I need to be number one.”

“You’re kind of dumb, you know that Shoko?” She looks at me in shock, but I continue before she can speak. “It’s not your dad or mom’s quirks that you have. It’s yours. Your dad can only use fire, and I’m guessing your mom can only use ice. Neither of them can use both, which means your quirk belongs to you. Nobody else.”

She looks at me in surprise, but I don’t know why. It’s her body and her quirk. It would be pretty weird if she would somehow get somebody else’s quirk. Just imagining that is crazy! But if it was possible, I wonder what I would do to get one?

Mentally pushing the inane thought aside, I point my spoon at her mostly melted ice cream. “How about you use your power Todoroki to fix your ice cream?”

Looking down, she blinks at it before the air around her hand gets colder, refreezing the melted parts. Seeing that she’s distracted, I sneak my spoon in to snatch a scoop, laughing at her bemused expression and the slight smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

𝌡𝌡𝌡

Seeing the scene start with young Todoroki and young Izuku, the audience can’t help but smile. Other than Tomura, who’s getting impatient for the brats to grow up so he can see if he’s changed in this universe.

“Hey guys,” Mina asks, “do you think we should have nicknames for the other us?”

Uraraka taps her chin. “I don’t think so? I mean, we know we’re talking about our counterparts, and there aren’t a lot of us here anyways.”

Toga bounces in her seat with her hand raised. “But like, what if someone there does something really stupid, like reeeaaallllly stupid like that spiky haired guy did and everyone wants to call them out on it? If we use our own names then it would feel like we’re insulting each other!”

“”HEY!”” The two spiky haired people shout in offense before the more chill one realizes that they aren’t talking about him and calms down.

“I don’t see the harm in it.” Todoroki shrugs, still kind of bemused at the fact that he’s a girl.

“Well, since you have a different name, being Midori’s future beau and all, we can just call yours Shoko.” Mina ignores Todoroki’s sudden coughing fit as she ponders on what they should call the other Midoriya, especially since he’s not Midoriya there.

All Might opens his mouth to suggest just calling him Yagi, but Tsukauchi slaps a hand over his mouth. Unlike the number one hero, he knows how to read a room, and he can tell that nobody has a good impression of his own counterpart.

People start calling out suggestions while they wait for the children on screen to do something other than small talk.

“Broccoli Head?”

“Green Bean?”

“Cinnamon Roll?”

“Midori-bro?”

“Bush Boy?”

“Deku.”

“Problem Child #2?”

“Bloody Green?”

“Future party member?”

Everyone turns to look at Tomura at his suggestion. “What?” He asks. Collectively deciding to make a note to address that later, they continue making suggestions until someone finally gets fed up.

“Let’s just stick with Midori since he isn’t here anyways. Plus it still fits his green hair.” Everyone nods in acceptance just as Midori asks Shoko a question.

“Todoroki, why do you come to school hurt sometimes?”

Now that they’re thinking about it, they realize that his words are true. In the montage of clips they were shown between what they call ‘episodes’ sometimes Shoko would have bandages on.

Listening to her talk about her father and his training, they turn to Todoroki, who nods. Tsukauchi coughs to get his attention. “Has what happened to Shoko happened to you? I need a verbal response.”

“Yes.”

Tsukauchi sighs. “Looks like we’re going to have to investigate Endeavor when we get back.”

“And schedule therapy for more than Midoriya.” Aizawa pipes up, drawing looks from Inko, Toga, and Tomura.

“Wait, what do you mean schedule therapy? Shouldn’t all of the kids be in therapy after getting attacked at school?”

“Eh, they won’t need it. I never got it and I’m fine!”

“I would hope that my attack at the USJ would at least warrant therapy given that I failed to kill All Might.”

“Wait, does our school even have a therapist?” Mina asks.

“I think we do, that guy who looks like a dog, right?” Kirishima responds.

“Oh, you mean Hound Dog! Yeah, I was wondering what he did at school since he doesn’t teach any of our classes.” Uraraka exclaims.

Sighing again, Tsukauchi turns to Nezu. “Have you neglected getting therapy for your students after a traumatic villain attack on your school?” He asks with a monotone voice.

“...Perhaps.” Getting a glare for his flippant answer, Nezu sighs before giving a proper one. “Yes, though once we get back I plan to. Though I’ll be prioritizing Todoroki and Midoriya.”

While the adults have been revealing the neglect on their part, Todoroki is considering Midori’s words. He cares… too much? And it’s my power…

Looking down at his own left hand, he clenches it, deep in thought.