hey, brother

by The_Fyre

Summary:

There is no such person as Todoroki Shouto; instead, Natsuo has an extremely peculiar quirk.

It’s kind of a problem for everyone.

 

This fic now has a REWRITE!

Notes:

*names the fic after one song*
*all the chapters are lyrics from a completely different song*

I had the idea for this fic when my brain randomly decided that the fact that Natsuo was four years older than Shouto was significant; and the idea was so wtf I had to write it immediately.

Chapter 1: should’ve been a better son

Natsuo is four years old when he gets his quirk; he is four years old when Shouto is born. These events, interestingly enough, are one and the same.

He’s awake. He wakes up. The world is a blur of colors and light; the words on the page of the book he’s reading swim before his eyes.

“Natsu? Are you all right?” Fuyumi asks, from the chair beside him; he breathes, and it’s his first time breathing, and he passes out while he’s still screaming.

“Shouto.” his mother says, and he’s not Shouto; but he is, isn’t he?

The next few days are ones of chaos and confusion. Natsuo looks into his own eyes; those that are grey, and those that are grey and blue.

“Hello.” he says, hearing his own voice with two sets of ears. He reaches out with a small hand to touch a larger one.

“Oh, he likes you! Lucky.” Touya says, sitting beside him. He sees Touya from two angles; one is a lot clearer.

“Tou.” Natsuo says. He cannot properly move his mouth.

“Did he just say Tou?” Touya asks, pushing Natsuo aside to look into his other, smaller eyes. “Did you, Shouto?

“I’m Shouto.” Natsuo says. Maybe…maybe that’s his quirk! But if that’s true, where’s Shouto? Is there even a Shouto at all?

“Don’t be silly.” Touya laughs. Natsuo pokes him in the face.

“Look, he poked me!” Touya cries. Natsuo, and the part of himself he will hereafter refer to as Shouto to avoid confusion, both sigh.

***

Life continues, and Natsuo soon gets used to being in two places at once, even though Shouto still isn’t very developed. But neither is he, not really.

“Go play with Shouto.” Touya says.

“I want to play with you, though.” Natsuo complains. He can’t play with Shouto, he is Shouto.

“You never talk to him.” Touya says.

“He’s a baby! And neither do you!” Natsuo points out.

“Yeah, cause I’m training.” Touya says, quite proudly. He’d turned his fire slightly blue the other day— a heat Enji had never managed to reach.

“What do you think Shouto’s quirk will be?” Natsuo asks. Will Shouto even have a quirk, if he was the creation of Natsuo’s own?

“Why do you care? You don’t have one.” Touya says. Natsuo frowns.

“I do. We just don’t know what it is.” he says; but he knows what it is.

“Probably something lame.” Touya huffs.

***

“You don’t belong with them, Shouto. You’re better than they could ever be—stop fighting me! You have to train, to reach your quirk’s full potential.” Enji roars. Shouto pushes himself off the floor; Natsuo’s pacing back and forth a few rooms over, and the rhythm of the footsteps steadies him slightly.

“My quirk? Is that all it’s about?” Shouto asks; he is four years old but he is eight years old and Enji praises how smart he is for his age.

“It is what makes you incredible. It is what places you above your siblings.” Enji says, as he’s said many times before.

“We don’t even know what Natsuo’s quirk is, just that he has one.” Shouto says, but he knows what his quirk is, he’s pressing his hands into the dojo floor at the same time as Natsuo presses computer keys, the loud clicking only Shouto can hear echoing through his mind. He’s playing Minecraft with Touya; it’s hard to concentrate, though.

“If it was anything useful, we would have known already. He is nothing compared to you. You are better than I am, even, Shouto. Look at me.” Enji says. Shouto does. He hits a creeper with a sword and imagines it’s his father.

“Stop resisting my training. You could be so much more than you are, and you aren’t trying hard enough.” Enji says. Fuyumi says Natsuo might be an empath, because he seems to always feel Shouto’s pain. He cries when his brother does. An empath quirk? He wishes he had one, he wishes he actually had a second brother. Or maybe that he had no quirk, no Shouto at all.

“You don’t even— you don’t even know!” Shouto screams; Enji doesn’t know what his real quirk can truly do. To what potential could one stretch the existence of Todoroki Shouto? If Natsuo could help it, Enji would never find out.

Natsuo and Touya are best friends; Touya looks at him with love. Touya despises Shouto’s very existence; he looks at Shouto with hatred.

Enji looks at Shouto with— something.

He doesn’t look at Natsuo at all.

 

“It’s Shouto’s fault I’m not getting trained anymore, it’s his fault Father won’t help me, him and his stupid perfect quirk!” Touya yells, throwing a book across the room. It hits the wall with a loud crash.

“Touya—“ Natsuo starts.

“I won’t be second place to him! I won’t!” his brother screams.

“You don’t even know Shouto.” Natsuo says. Fuyumi hadn’t figured it out either; but she looked at them, sometimes, and Natsuo knew she wondered.

“Neither do you!” Touya says; Natsuo stands up, and holds his hand.

“I know you, Touya. Please. Your fire is hurting you— please, you can’t use it as much, as strong as you do!” Natsuo says, and Touya glares at him.

“You can’t say anything, on my quirk. You don’t have one, you’re lucky, you have no chance so you have no reason to fight. You don’t know what it’s like— it’s mine, I have to use it, I have to show Father just how powerful I can be.” Touya says.

And Natsuo doesn’t know how to tell Touya that he understands. That the feeling of flame flickering up his arm, of ice coating whatever he touches, it’s beautiful; but Enji is destroying whatever love he has had for Shouto’s body’s quirk. It’s a weapon, it’s what’ll beat All Might, it’s superior to everyone else. He’s Enji’s creation; but he isn’t, no, Shouto is an extension, an iteration, of Natsuo’s existence.

Shouto falls to the floor once more, and Natsuo’s character is killed by an enderman. In both cases, smoke rises.

Natsuo doesn’t experience the pain he feels in the Shouto body in his original one; but he feels his other self feeling it, and holds his own arm where Shouto is bruised. It gives the illusion of helping.

“What are you doing?” Touya asks. He hurts, it hurts; the body named Shouto had a quirk called Half-Hot HalfCold, but Natsuo was a different type of half and half, living two lives with two names but both of him are one and the same.

“I don’t know.” Natsuo says; they hadn’t been allowed to see Shouto since his quirk came in, and Shouto is told every day he’s perfect while Natsuo isn’t told anything at all.

“I don’t know.” he says, because the only useful part of him is his quirk, powerful enough to go by a different name; he isn’t anything, as Natsuo. But Shouto isn’t anything either; all Enji wants him for is his quirk, never once seeing that the quirk actually belongs to the son he won’t look at.

And now Touya’s been tossed aside, too, for someone who isn’t even real.

***

Touya burns himself down, and Sekoto Peak with it; Natsuo is beside himself with sadness. Literally.

“Touya…” Fuyumi says. Touya had tried to kill Shouto, one day, Natsuo remembers, but he’d take Touya’s anger towards his other self over no Touya, if he could. Fuyumi’s hugging him both, and he’s crying.

Usually, Natsuo saves his emotions for being Shouto. It’s easy to yell at his Father when pushing two sets worth of anger at him; Fuyumi usually tries to ignore what’s happening, but here, her face is flushed with anger.

“Why didn’t you go!” she screams; for Touya had wanted his father to meet him on Sekoto. Enji doesn’t answer.

“Why… why didn’t you go?” Fuyumi cries. Enji leaves the room, and Fuyumi is sobbing into Natsuo’s lap.

“Why didn’t he go…” she says, holding his hand, Shouto’s hand, two of his hands, so tightly it seems she will never let go.

“Promise me you won’t— you won’t— you’re my brothers, Touya was our brother, I can’t lose either of you!”

Fuyumi has only one brother.

***

Natsuo leaves for university at the age of eighteen. He can get out, he can escape, but he’ll never be free; not with Shouto still there. But he’ll take what he can, because there’s only so much the body named Natsuo can do. He’s useless, really, Shouto’s the important one; so he’ll help as many people as he can in a different way. Medical school. He’ll be a hero as Shouto, it’s inevitable; but there was some awful irony that the younger version of himself had such potential, such promise, such power. He has a scar on his face; Rei had said he resembled Enji, but the Shouto body doesn’t, not really. But Natsuo does; Natsuo looks exactly like his father. Natsuo’s hair is white with a bit of red, and he’s dyed the red out but he still knows it’s there, and Shouto is half and half, Natsuo’s other half. His better half, the half he’ll never be, the half he’ll always need. Because there is no such person as Todoroki Shouto, and as Fuyumi asks Natsuo why he’s leaving, he wants to tell her that he’s still there for her. That he’s staying. He’s considered telling her before. Considered it on the days that Enji wasn’t home, and Natsuo would stare at the ceiling and wonder how to explain why he never bothered, despite how much she’s tried, to have a relationship with his little brother. He doesn’t have a little brother. He and himself as Shouto are…different, slightly, due to being brought up differently; developing brains change things, and of course he’s much younger as Shouto. As Shouto, he has so much more of a life, so much more ahead of him; although, that could be argued. Natsuo enters his university dorm, and holds Fuyumi’s arm as he walks up the stairs. She’s not here with him, but she’s at home with him, and maybe things will turn out all right.

***

He’s going to have to go to school again. As Shouto, this time, and he’ll be going to nowhere else than UA itself.

“I’m so excited for you, Shouto!” Fuyumi says, and he gives her a soft smile. He’s… afraid of emoting, most of the time, as Shouto, out of a hidden fear someone will notice his reactions are the same as his “brother’s.” So Shouto has a blank face and an even tone. Being Shouto…it’s not an act, not really, but he’s not himself either. His mind, his body, his experiences, they’re all different. He’s changed, and he keeps these changes apparent, because he doesn’t know what he’d do if his father ever found out. He’s a teenager, and he’s an adult, and it makes emotions clash inside of him.

“I’m sure you'll make friends." Fuyumi reassures him. He makes a non-committal noise; he's made friends at university. He knows how it goes. Here, though, all the UA kids will be a bunch of teenagers; and while he is a teenager, he is also quite decidedly not.

"Thanks, Fuyumi." he says. His older sister; she wants the family to be a family again. But they never were one, and she's holding them all up like a glass statue that's cracked through. Natsuo wonders, sometimes, if he should come back, and help, but he's already there, isn't he? And if he can't get himself as Shouto out, he knows he can't get Fuyumi out. He left, but he’s stayed. What would Fuyumi say if she knew she’d never lost her brother? Sometimes he wonders what would happen if the vessel named Shouto dies. Some days, he wants to kill it. Because as human, as living, as Shouto is, in the end it's an it, not a him. Natsuo's extension, iteration, other self. Shouto brushes hair out of his face, and looks in the mirror, at the scar that stains him; he's hit by a sense of both this is him and this isn't me. Who is he? It's an odd sort of life, living two of them. The scar twinges, and he feels his fingers on his face miles and miles away, pressing the spot.

"Shouto-- if anything happens, just know I'll be here for you, all right?" Fuyumi says.

"Thank you." Natsuo answers. He remembers when Fuyumi last told him this; when he was out the door to college. She's still holding onto the past, Natsuo thinks. Fuyumi is carrying so much, carrying her dream, and she wants them to help her carry it, but he wants her to let go. He's said as such, as himself; but not as Shouto, never as Shouto. He doesn't want to break what little is left of Fuyumi's illusion. Doesn't want her to know the true extent of what has happened in the training rooms-- though she knows, somewhat-- doesn't want her to realize that "Shouto" has no forgiveness for their father. And it made sense, after all; Shouto is, for lack of a better term, a fictional character. He's got no forgiveness to give.

Fuyumi hugs him, and he finds himself crying, even through the facade that Shouto is. Shouto's a way for him not to be himself; an imprisonment as much as it is a freedom.
"Know that no matter what, I'll love you." Fuyumi says.

"I love you too." Natsuo says, and he means it, emotion breaking through Shouto's tone. Will she still love him when she finds he's a fake? When she finds all he is is built carefully to protect a fragile double life, to survive the horrors of the house that even leaving doesn't get him away from? Will she still love him when she learns he isn't there, that he's never been there, that she doesn't have a second brother? All he is, is his quirk. He hates thinking about it, but Enji is right.

"Shouto...why are you crying?" Fuyumi asks, and he's leaving again, so all he can do is cry more. He can't tell her. He can't. What would he even say?

Natsuo presses his face to a mirror miles away; tears streak down his face. Fuyumi calls once every few months; they talk, but she doesn't know him, not the real him. She tells him about Shouto, things he already knows, and Natsuo doesn't have the heart to tell her she's watching over a clone. But… she's helping him too, isn't she? Every day he hears her words.

But they aren't meant for him.

Chapter 2: we're all full of lies

 "Todoroki Shouto." the teacher, Eraserhead, says. Natsuo steps up to the hundred-meter dash, and slides along it at a good clip with his ice. Because he won't use his fire; if Enji was neglecting one of his actual halves, he'd neglect one of his metaphorical halves. Let Father see how he'd like that. The quirk apprehension tests are beyond easy-- watching all the other students, he's faced with the reality of his situation. Natsuo is... four years older than all of them. They seem so young. But at the same time-- he's a child too. He never properly got to be one, did he?

"Hello! I'm Midoriya Izuku!" greets the boy who broke his finger. Natsuo blinks at him.

"Todoroki Shouto." he answers. It always feels wrong, saying that.

"Let's be friends." Midoriya offers.

"I'm not here to make friends. I'm here to be a hero." Natsuo says, no inflection in his tone. Natsuo has a free life; Shouto is chained by his environment, quirk, state of reality. There is only one future ahead of him. Midoriya looks disappointed, and Natsuo feels slightly sorry for him, but that's life, kid. Deal with it. 

 

Then Bakugou nearly kills Midoriya in the battle trials, and God is All Might an incompetent teacher. 

"You're terrible at teaching." Natsuo informs the hero, who splutters.

“Er…next up is team G vs team B, Todoroki and Jirou, against Kaminari and Jirou!” All Might announces, and Natsuo goes to stand next to a boy with a bird head.

“Hello!” the boy’s shadow says. Natsuo blinks at it.

“In order to prevent confusion concerning my sister, it might be wise if you called me Fumikage.” the boy says. Natsuo opens his mouth to reciprocate and say he wouldn’t mind being called Natsuo—he goes by his first name most of the time in college anyway—except then he remembers he’s Shouto.

“Fumikage. Stay back.” he says, looking up at the building. The Shouto quirk was overpowered, really; but he knew exactly how to use it. Touching the side of the building, he covers the entire thing in ice.

“That will not work against my sister, I fear.” Fumikage says, and after a moment, Natsuo hears ice shatter with a muffled sound wave. All right, then. He’s looking up the balances for an equation concerning elemental isotopes; it takes some concentration, which he quite likes. It’s easier to separate his two minds when focus is involved. There’s another crashing noise as Natsuo and Fumikage enter the building; it sounds like Jirou’s gotten Kaminari out of being trapped, too. They’re only a short way in when the building shivers, sending sound waves crashing through the area; Dark Shadow appears from Fumikage, looking around. She gives him an odd look.

“HAHAHAHAHA!! YOUR DESTRUCTION IS HERE—ONE MILLION VOLTS!!” a voice yells, and Natsuo spins around to face a boy with yellow hair and a manic smile. The boy swings his arm towards Natsuo and Fumikage, electricity leaping from his fingers in a brilliant arc; it’s wide and inaccurate enough to spread through the entire hallway, but Natsuo hits the wall and sends a sheet of ice to block the area. Fumikage’s dark shadow loops around the iceberg to collide with Kaminari, who yelps.

“A demon!” he shouts, and more sound waves shudder the walls as Natsuo vaults the ice barrier to connect his feet directly with Kaminari’s chest. In his own body, he was far physically stronger; Shouto’s training had always focused more on his quirk than other capabilities, but Natsuo had managed to do some martial training on his own time. The Shouto body wasn’t used to it, but it would do.

“Awwww…Jirou, save me!” Kaminari whines from where he’s landed, scrambling away from Natsuo. More loud shudders shake the area, and Fumikage grabs his head—his ears? does he have ears?—and makes an odd bird noise. Natsuo feels the sound shriek into his mind, and miles away knocks over a cup of pens by accident, wincing, for sound carries over. Natsuo reaches out to the wall and slaps it, sending ice coating every inside inch of the building once more; he feels his body chill, and knows he has to be careful not to use his ice too much in absence of using his fire. But it doesn’t matter anymore; they’ve won, and it’s over.

“Nooooo! We, team B, will defeat you in the future, I swear it!” Kaminari announces.

“The teams are only for this exercise, dweeb.” Jirou says, walking by him. He makes an incomprehensible noise of complaint, and Natsuo finds himself smiling before he halts the expression.

 

***

 

There’s a boy with yellow hair adorned by a lightning bolt walking down an alley; he adjusts his UA uniform, grinning at it. A hero. They think him a hero, or at least that he’s in school to be one. He thought he could have been a hero, once, but that was years and years ago; before the event that had ruined his already broken life. Before he’d left and never looked back. Not a single one of his classmates had suspected a jot of all the time he’d spent on villainy. It was incredible how naive they were to his superiority, not that he didn’t do his best to foster that impression, of course.

“Kaminari. You’re back. How did the first day go?” Kurogiri asks, looking up from the bar; Shigaraki doesn’t even acknowledge Kaminari’s brilliant entrance of crashing the door open, which is quite rude.

“Well enough. I’ve got the info on the USJ you want, and I took some notes on your targets. Jirou Kyoka and Jirou Fumikage?” Kaminari asks, placing a few papers on the table. Kurogiri takes them without comment, handing him some papers in return.

“What’s this?” he asks.

“Another potential target. You are to take her into your confidence; the master accepts, though, that it might take some time considering you are in different classes.” Kurogiri says; Kaminari eyes the papers.

 

Toga Himiko.

 

His past was coming back for him, was that it?

“She has an incredibly powerful quirk that is likely the product of a fusion—the ability to copy any other quirk for a length of time, which at its minimum is five minutes after simply touching a target, or an entire day after drinking a cup of their blood.” Kurogiri says.

“I see.” Kaminari answers, his sudden fear and trepidation hidden beneath a mask of calm.

“Her quirk bears traits from separate quirks, two that could have come from her family. Her mother had the quirk of Morichro, to control the inner workings of her own and other’s bodies; her father, Replica, to emulate the emissions of any emitter quirk seen used in the past minute provided he copied the movement used. He disappeared twelve years ago, a short while before Toga Himiko’s half-brother, Monoma Neito, died from unknown causes. We believe it was a fusion similarly to the case of Tokoyami Kyoshi and Tokoyami Fumikage, now Jirou Fumikage, who has what remains of his sister as a quirk. The master is extremely interested in this phenomenon.” Kurogiri says.

“Well, I’ll do my best.” Kaminari answers, carefully trying not to look at Himiko’s picture as he folds it up and places it in his pocket.

“How’s our prisoner doing?” he asks.

“Your twin brother?” Kurogiri asks. Kaminari nods.

“Denki is… managing. He is once again claiming you are not related to him.” Kurogiri answers, and Kaminari sneers, stretching.

“Little idiot. Doesn’t he know who’s in control here? I even took his place… you wouldn’t mind if I go at him again, would you?” Kaminari asks.

“You are not supposed to be allowed in the prison area, but as of yet it has done no harm. Do keep in mind the area is watched, as usual.” Kurogiri says, opening a portal, and Kaminari steps through it with a sigh. He loves being a villain. What he doesn’t love, is that his sibling is in danger, and he has no idea what to do about it.

“Denki, Denki, Denki. How’re you doing?” he asks, walking up to the bars of the room he’s been deposited beside before reaching through and ruffling the hair of the one who shares his face. The one who he’s currently pretending is his brother.

“What— leave me alone!” Denki yelps, backing out of his reach.

“Telling them we aren’t related? How rude.” Neito drawls, feeling electricity at the tip of his fingers. Touch wasn’t enough to keep the illusion up reliably, but it would work until he got some more of Denki’s blood.

“Please. I don’t have any fight anymore— you got what you wanted, just… stop this. You come and beat me up almost every day, what… what’s the point?” Denki asks.

“Please— you deserve it. For existing.” Neito answers; for despite what he’s told the league, despite who’s face he wears, Kaminari is not his family name. No, he pretends to be the brother of a boy imprisoned, a class across from the sister who thinks she killed him. Neito unclips the lock of the cells, and strolls in to face Denki, who’s standing ashen-faced, staring at the floor. 

“Just— get this over with.” he says.

“No running, no fighting?” Neito asks.

“I can’t beat you. And there’s nowhere to run to.” Denki says. Neito grabs him by the shirt, and drags him up to the wall.

“Don’t tell me you’re giving up.” he hisses.

“ Heroes ,” Denki whispers back, in a voice quieter than the sound of the dawn, " never give up .”

 

Because Neito is a villain, known as the Phantom Thief, and his fusion of a quirk makes him crave blood; but he’s not evil. It’s called survival in a world he wasn’t meant for; but he doesn’t hurt others, he doesn’t kill. Of course, the villain named All for One and his lackeys can never know that. To them, he’s as full of hatred and despair as they are; and they cannot know otherwise. But they’re planning to destroy the world he loves so much, and while he’d enjoy the ruin of the hero system, the lives they’ll take to bring it down? Never mind what happened to Neito and Himiko, so many years ago. He has to save his sister from the man who only wants her quirk. The quirk Neito shares, that nearly killed him, that to all appearances did. 

And Denki? Denki is a hero. He’s what Neito will never manage to be; and with a quirk of eternal energy that holds a self-healing factor, he’s the perfect target for AFO to attempt a quirk fusion on. At least, once he finds a good quirk to combine with it. And that was why Denki was trapped; why he refused to let Neito find a way to get him free. Because they had to stop this guy, he said, and all his plans. The families he’s destroyed by initiating these quirk fusions, by making Nomus, his goal of ultimate destruction—they were on the inside. They should stay, and do something about it.

 

You’re an idiot, Neito had told him.

I am, he’d answered. But I’m a hero .

 

And that was how they’d gotten where they were, with Neito as his evil twin brother, and they had strategy and info sharing chats while Denki pretended to be beat up. 

“AAAAAaaaahhh… please… please!” Denki yells.

“Haven’t you learned that that doesn’t work?” Neito says, voice laced with false amusement as he blasts Denki with electricity; not for a hundred million volts could it ever truly harm him, though he twists and jerks and screams.

 

***

 

There’s something odd, Neito thinks, about Todoroki. He’s hiding something, it’s quite clear; from one actor to another, Neito can tell that the Todoroki that is presented to the class is not the truth. He doubts that it is someone else, pretending to be Todoroki; no, it is more likely that Todoroki is keeping his real self hidden. But why? Who is he? At the most basic level, he’s the youngest son of Endeavor, but Neito can tell there’s far far more to him. And then there’s Fumikage; his sister’s been reduced to a shade, attached to him, barely human anymore. Neito wonders what that’s like; he himself nearly died in the aftermath of his quirk fusion with Himiko.

“A dual quirk… can I ask you about it, Todoroki? That’s so cool!” Midoriya says, running over to the boy with red-white hair.

“I suppose.” Todoroki answers, coldly. He does not seem in the mood to make friends; after all, he said as such.

“There are versatile quirks with many applications— one example is Yaoyorozu’s, she can do so much, but it all fits under a theme. Yours though has two very distinct and separate applications, which is seen very rarely, if ever.” Midoriya says, and Neito looks up from where he’s sitting. This is interesting.

“What are you saying?” Todoroki asks.

“Is it possible you’re a chimaera? Sorry if it’s an insensitive question—“ Midoriya starts.

“What’s that?” Todoroki asks.

“It could be possible that you have two separate quirk factors from, uh…absorbing a sibling in the womb.” Midoriya says, and the look of pure horror on Todoroki’s face tops even anything Neito could have expected.

“I…see.” he says, before pausing a moment. Neito decides to slide over.

“Todoroki! Midoriya!!! Hey, guys!” he shouts, waving as he sits next to them.

“Hi, Kaminari.” Midoriya says. Todoroki nods in greeting.

“We’re going to the USJ today! Excited?” Neito asks. He, for one, is rather hyped, as Shigaraki and a select amount of other villains are to attack. His goals? Make sure no one dies and hopefully get Shigaraki and Kurogiri caught.

“Absolutely!” Midoriya says.

“Not really.” Todoroki says. They both look at him.

“But… rescue training!” Midoriya says.

“What about your quirk?” Neito asks. Midoriya’s superstrength that broke his bones was really interesting, as well as extremely dangerous.

“What about it?” Midoriya asks, suddenly on the defensive.

“It’s a bit like All Might’s, isn’t it?” Todoroki asks.

“No! It’s not!” Midoriya protests. Bakugou gives him an odd look.

It’s about this time that the bus pulls up in front of the massive glass dome.

Kurogiri shows up and starts throwing everyone through portals; Neito misses his chance while he’s deliberating how to manage everything and not let the villains realize, and he ends up landing in the mountain zone with Todoroki.

“You good?” he asks the other, who appears to have shifted in demeanor entirely. Neito blinks; Todoroki seems older, somehow.

“Villains. Naturally.” he says, and in a moment he’s encased all those approaching in a sheet of ice. Whoa, that quirk was overpowered… Neito taps Todoroki on the shoulder as he walks to interrogate a villain, copying his quirk and appearance into his inner databank where it would remain for the next few minutes.

“They’re going after All Might, but the strongest villains are in the center—I’m going to go help Aizawa-Sensei fight them.” Todoroki says.

“You’re going to fight?” Neito asks, carefully layering worry and fear into his voice.

“You should stay back. It will be dangerous, and you’re a kid.” Todoroki says.

“Aren’t you a kid, too?” Neito asks.

“I suppose.” Todoroki answers. Neito follows him to the center, but is frozen in shock at what’s there; Shigaraki, Kurogiri and the Nomu, about to kill Aizawa-Sensei, Tsu and Midoriya. Todoroki slides forwards on a curtain of ice, and Neito ducks behind a rock; how is he going to do this? How to make sure they don’t realize it is their traitor Kaminari? The answer is simple. Neito reaches into himself, to where he stored his copy of Todoroki’s appearance and quirk—

 

wait, why is there no quirk?

 

Neito’s fused quirk works like this; just by touching someone, he can copy their appearance and quirk for five minutes; he can hold up two four appearances and four quirks. Of which he can copy and use independently of one another. Should he take blood, depending on the amount drunk he can hold both appearance and quirk for up to twenty four hours; this is another reason the league is not aware of, that Denki needs to stay alive. Again, with blood, he has both Denki’s quirk and appearance active; but switching over to Todoroki’s appearance, he’s quite surprised Shouto has no quirk at all, and thus remains holding Denki’s quirk. It’s rather odd, particularly the fact that Todoroki is using his quirk against the Nomu at this very moment. And yet. He does not have one? Before Neito’s quirk fused with his sister’s, he could copy stockpile quirks but not the stockpiles; he can now, however, carry over stockpiles with appearance. But Todoroki does not have a blank stockpile quirk. There is quite simply no quirk factor within him at all.

 

Neito thinks on it, and decides there is only one option: how in all that was holy did Endeavor’s son manage to get a quirk from All for One?

 

***

 

Natsuo is trying his best; he doesn’t blame Kaminari for hiding. He wants to hide, too; he doesn’t want to die. But as Shouto, he’s safe. As Shouto, he knows his real body is miles away.

“Todoroki!“ Midoriya shouts; Natsuo had sent a sheet of ice across the ground as the Nomu had rushed at him, sending it slipping. And while there were no communications possible outside the dome—the villains hadn’t counted on Natsuo, who was calling UA anonymously from college. Help would arrive soon enough; they just had to hold on until then. And poor Aizawa… he tried his best, to protect these kids, but the villains. They were too much for them. God… here Natsuo is, going through school a second time, but it was their first time, their first and only life. He’d give Shouto’s life up to save them if he had to, he realizes; maybe finally do something useful and get rid of the one thing that made his life so complicated.

“More kids? Where is All Might?” the villain with hands all over him asks. Natsuo squints at him; the man probably isn’t that much older than he himself is (as opposed to he, Shouto).

“He’ll be here.” Natsuo says. And soon enough, he is; All Might arrives, and he fights, but Natsuo can tell there’s something wrong. That the greatest hero isn’t as great as he’s supposed to be. But Natsuo would know all about that, wouldn’t he? Top heroes hiding things behind a screen? Something isn’t right— and Midoriya, Natsuo realizes, knows exactly what it is. But he isn’t going to ask the kid; no point in going after the secrets of others when he has his own to keep.

Chapter 3: if you can stay, then I'll show you the way

Notes:

updating this one day early cause Im going to be at the hospital all day tomorrow

I'm so tired

They all only just barely survive the USJ, and Neito knows that he is in trouble.

“I hid the entire time! That was our deal!” he says, watching Shigaraki rage around the bar, sporting multiple bandages over bullet wounds.

“You should have done more, Kaminari. We lost our Nomu!” Shigaraki hisses, and Neito decides he didn’t sign up for this. Shigaraki is volatile enough to kill him, and he does not want to be here for it— but he’s here, because of his sister, because of AFO; it’s not like anyone can take his place.

 

Wait.

 

“I will be… right back!” Neito says, spinning around to Kurogiri.

“Going to take your frustrations out on the other Kaminari?” Kurogiri asks.

“Wuss.” Shigaraki says.

“Hey— not all of us are top-ranked villains.” Neito counters, walking through the portal.

“Hey. Denki. Idea— we switch places. Every day. How’s that sound?” Neito asks.

“You feel bad about me being stuck in here? It isn’t awful… just a lot of waiting with my own thoughts. Though it’s really boring.” Denki says.

“You want out?” Neito asks. Because, in truth, he does feel slightly bad; but mostly, he doesn’t want to get killed. Mostly, he doesn’t want to meet his sister.

So, they switch clothes, and switch places; in between shouts and curls of lightning, Neito explains to Denki how things have gone.

“You’ll do great. Make friends, have fun, be a hero.” Neito says. Because Denki is more of a hero than he’ll ever be.

“I’ll make sure to say hi to your sister. Make sure she’s doing all right.” Denki answers, and Neito smiles. He’d been too scared to face her, but he had to know. Plus, doing this, he’d get some rest; keeping up an act all day was fun, but tiring. He wouldn’t be wearing his own face, but hey, that was just the way things were; he hadn’t worn his real face in a while. Neito taps the small bottles all lined up on his belt; the quirk within him desired to devour that red liquid, and when he found himself beating up villains or heroes, he’d take some from them for later. Plus, emergency quirks; from strength enhancing to water control to duplication (fighting that one robber with the black-white suit who could twice himself had been hard), he was prepared for any occasion. Because Monoma Neito wouldn’t put himself in a prison without a foolproof way out of it.

 

*** 

“Natsuo. Did— did you hear about the USJ?” Fuyumi asks, over the phone.

“I did.” Natsuo answers.

“Then why aren’t you here? Shouto’s class was attacked!! It had to have been awful! ” Fuyumi says. Yeah. He knows, thanks, they all nearly died.

“You can take care of him.” he answers. “Shouto could have been killed.” Fuyumi says.

“Do I have to come?” Natsuo asks.

“If you don’t come to see Shouto, I will— I won’t call you.” she says. He thinks about this; no, he can’t have that, he likes being able to talk to Fuyumi as himself.

“I’ll come.” he says. Time to comfort himself. Bother.

 

Natsuo has to admit, he’s a little shaken up from the attack; but he’s far more worried for the UA kids than himself. If he was really a teenager, he figured, he might be more worried. Never mind that he isn’t really afraid of dying as Shouto.

“Hey. You doing all right?” he asks. Fuyumi is glowering at him. God, he must seem like such a bastard, not even worried about his little brother.

“Yeah.” he answers, looking at the ground. Talking to himself was so weird. There was a reason he avoided it as much as possible.

“ Natsuo .” Fuyumi says.

“What? What do you want me to do?” he asks.

“What’s wrong with you? Don’t you care?” she asks.

“I stopped caring a while ago.” he admits.

 

Fuyumi hits him on the arm. He stares at her.

“I thought that you hated Father. So why are you acting just like him?” she asks, and he nearly chokes. Enji had talked to Shouto— he’d had just as much reaction as Natsuo did, which was not what Natsuo intended at all, but it’s not like it’s easy to show sympathy for himself.

“I am nothing like Father.” he hisses.

“No. You’re not. You know who you are like? You’re like Shouto.” Fuyumi says.

“I’m like Shouto?” he asks.

“He looks up to you so much, Natsuo. But he doesn’t seem to care that you’re gone. He knows things only you could have told him, but you’ve rarely spoken to each other that I can remember. You two, you act so similarly, that half the time, Natsuo, it’s like you never left.” Fuyumi says.

“Um.” Natsuo says.

“You don’t look at each other, and yet you move in sync. You share much of the same opinions, but won’t be in the same room. I don’t understand you; I don’t understand that for every difference between the both of you I can piece out, the whole picture makes it seem like you two are the same person.” Fuyumi says. Natsuo sucks in a deep breath.

“Shouto?” Fuyumi asks. He blinks, and looks at her. Sometimes when he’s focused too much on what’s happening from one body, he’ll zone out of the other one.

“I’m okay. But—” his iteration says.

“Do you mean it, Fuyumi?” Natsuo asks.

 

“You two didn’t look at each other, just then. Didn’t exchange any glances; you two always do that, it scares me.” Fuyumi says. She pauses, seeming to become aware of her words.

“I’m sorry, I— Shouto, that was rude of me to say. All of that. You’re your own person.” Fuyumi says.

“Not a Natsuo clone?” the Natsuo clone laughs. Fuyumi squints at him, and Natsuo decides… maybe it’s time.

“There’s something I’ve got to tell you. You’re right.” he says.

“I’m right?” Fuyumi asks.

“We’re the same person.” Natsuo says.

 

Fuyumi doesn’t seem to know how to respond to this.

 

Shouto leaves the room.

“Fuyumi, hold up some amount of fingers.” Natsuo says. She does, battling through confusion.

“Four.” Shouto’s voice calls from the other room.

“Oh… oh my God.” she whispers, eyes widening.

“Two.” Shouto’s voice says.

“I… always thought you two were… odd .” she says. Natsuo holds her hands.

“There’s no such person as Shouto.” he says; the non-person so named re-enters the room.

“I’m Natsuo.” Shouto says. She looks between the two of him.

“I’m in two bodies, somehow. Shouto is… my quirk.” he explains.

“Since always?” she asks.

“Since always.” he confirms, and there isn’t isn’t disbelief on her face, but understanding.

“I remember when— we were younger. You said you were Shouto… I didn’t listen, I… I’m sorry.” Fuyumi says, and Natsuo realizes that she doesn’t need convincing. The answer had always been there, just out of her reach.

“It’s all right.” Shouto says. She looks between the two of him.

“What— what is the name Shouto, to you?” she asks.

“Like… it’s what this body is called. But it’s not my name.” Natsuo admits. It feels nice to be able to tell someone the truth.

“Would you like it if I called you Natsuo, then?” she asks, addressing the Shouto body.

“I… yeah. But not if anyone’s watching!” he says. She smiles.

 

“Wait, you…you said you don’t like that Shouto isn’t using his fire…and you’re Shouto.” Fuyumi realizes.

“I’m just doing that to spite him. Make his perfect creation not so perfect. But also I’d use the fire if I had to; I used it at the USJ, after all. But calling my fire Enji’s fire is stupid. I’m being petty, I know. But it’s not his fire; it’s my quirk. Cause— Shouto is my weapon, when it comes down to it.” Natsuo says, from Shouto.

“You’re referring to yourself in the third person… but it’s not you… God, this is weird.” Fuyumi laughs.

“Welcome to the carnival.” Natsuo says.

 

It’s at this point that the door swings open.

“I guess Father’s home.” Natsuo says. And then, he grins.

“Natsuo?” Fuyumi asks.

“Watch this.” he says, as Shouto, and he stands up in his younger body to face himself. Fuyumi’s right, he never does look Shouto in the eyes; it’s always the oddest feeling, to be looking directly at himself twice over. He doesn’t like it.

“What are you doing?” she asks.

“Remember how Shouto and I fight sometimes?” he asks.

“Yes, and I wish you wouldn’t… Natsuo. Oh my God.” she says, understanding in an instant that every time the two have ever fought hasn’t been real. “Shouto” grins at her, then proceeds to shove Natsuo in the chest as Enji enters the room.

 

***

 

“What was that for?” Natsuo snaps. Fuyumi glances from him to “Shouto”; they’re looking at each other, he’s looking at himself, directly eye-to-eye in a way that’s jarring in both that it’s terribly unusual for them to be looking at each other and in that she knows there’s only one mind at play.

“What’s happening?” Enji asks.

“Why is Natsuo here?” Shouto asks, glowering up at his brother— at himself. This is going to be weird to get used to, Fuyumi realizes. But what was Natsuo doing?

“Well— I came because you got attacked at the USJ, but apparently you aren’t happy to see me.” Natsuo huffs.

“Why would I be?” Shouto answers. Fuyumi sputters.

“Natsuo, stop antagonizing Shouto. I have to talk to him.” Enji says.

“Me? Antagonizing? Hardly.” Natsuo says.

“Natsuo, please. ” Fuyumi says. She can hardly tell him to stop arguing with himself, but what else can she say?

“Hey, don’t look at me! He started it, you saw him!” Natsuo says. Fuyumi narrows her eyes at him. He wanted to play that way, did he?

“Shouto just got attacked by villains, and you’re bringing up an old argument? You should be ashamed.” she says.

“Oooh. Look at that. Sis bringing out the big guns. See, Shouto wouldn’t have this problem if he used his fire. Which I bet you didn’t even use during a life or death fight, did you?” Natsuo asks.

“You don’t understand. You haven’t had the life I have. This is what I will hold against him.” Shouto says, his gaze towards Natsuo as hard as glass as he points towards Enji.

“Choose something different. You’re endangering yourself.” Natsuo says.

“Shouto, listen to your brother.” Enji interrupts. He is ignored.

“I will become a hero with half my quirk.” Shouto says. He pauses. “That’s one and a half times better than you’ll ever manage.”

 

Fuyumi gasps.

“Shouto! You can’t say that!” she shrieks, before belatedly realizing it’s Natsuo insulting himself.

“He can say whatever he wants. He’s right, isn’t he?” Natsuo says, turning away to glare at Enji.

“It’s no different from what you’ve ever said.” he continues, and Fuyumi understands. This… this “fight,” it is for their father’s benefit. For him to see what he’s done. For… for her to see what he has done.

 

Fuyumi thinks about it. Natsuo and Shouto are the same person, but they have led two entirely different lives. She looks at Enji; he’s looking at his son, his one son, who he’s never once noticed wasn’t two. But who is she kidding? She never realized it herself.

“Just leave again, why don’t you?” Shouto asks.

“Maybe I will. I only came because Fuyumi asked me to— Fuyumi, you’re trying so hard, why are you trying to stop us from falling apart? There’s nothing left to hold together.” Natsuo says, and she takes a deep breath. She doesn’t want this fighting, but looking at the way Enji looks at him both; at the vague annoyance towards Natsuo, at the command towards Shouto… he doesn’t see. Fuyumi has been trying to get their Father to care, to listen, but Natsuo’s never home; except he has been home, all this time. He has been here .

 

Fuyumi thinks about talking to him on the phone. Despairing that he never listened. Thinks about her “brothers” avoiding each other, never getting to know each other, thinks about this secret she’s only just learned; about what Natsuo’s been carrying this whole time.

“I have you.” she says. And then, because she’s in on the ruse as well, she supposes, she turns to “Shouto”.

“I have both of you. And I have Father, too. Isn’t four enough to be a family?” she asks. Natsuo gives her a look she can’t decipher, and leaves, heading to the door.

“You’ll have to manage with three.” he says.

 

***

 

Kaminari Denki is going to UA.

He’s only been captured four days, Phantom’s working on a plan to defeat the greatest villain in Japan— and Denki will help!— and now he’s finally getting to go to UA. Finally going to learn how to be a hero. Of course… he’ll have to remember everyone’s names, for that. Sheesh, there are a lot of people in the class. According to Phantom, Jirou Fumikage (previously Tokoyami Fumikage) is the result of a quirk fusion; apparently, AFO had initiated three, but only two had had significant results. Fumikage’s sister, Kyoshi, had quite literally become his quirk; Denki watches the one called Dark Shadow spin around the room, and wonders what it’s like for her to exist like that. Is she human anymore? Is Fumikage living with his sister’s shell? Or is she still as much of a person as she’s ever been? And how did Fumikage’s adoptive sister, Kyoka, fit into it?

Then there was Monoma and Toga. AFO having set the quirk fusion up like all the others, before the younger of the siblings was born, once Monoma had obtained his quirk it had immediately begun conflicting with his sister’s. Unlike the Tokoyamis, who had suffered their fusion almost immediately, it had taken until Monoma was twelve for their quirks to reach the climax point, and combine. According to Phantom, Monoma had died; and Toga had survived holding both her quirk and her brother’s. Phantom’s been really insistent on Denki watching her specifically; he feels as though she is in the most danger.

There was also, as Phantom had discovered yesterday, Todoroki Shouto. An unsuccessful fusion. Despite AFO using the same combination of quirks on his mother as he had for all the others, Shouto had not been fused with any of his siblings. AFO had theorized it was due to his chimaerism, for the fact remained that Shouto was perfectly normal. One of his older siblings had died, but that had been from entirely unrelated causes, according to AFO, at least. He seemed to know everything, and it was extremely epic of Phantom to be able to sneak around and find his research. Denki peers at Shouto, who’s reading an English book.

All of AFO’s notes were all very well, but apparently Phantom had attempted to copy Shouto’s quirk, and found none. Which was impossible, of course, barring that he’d been given a quirk from AFO. Except… that now obviously was not the case. So, what was? How could one have a quirk and no quirk factor? Denki cannot think of an answer.

 

***

 

It is time for the sports festival.

“We’re going to defeat you. Soundly.” a girl with blond hair in messy buns says; Natsuo thinks her name is Toga. Kaminari is looking at her rather intensely… he probably has a crush, Natsuo decides.

“You challenging me?” Bakugou snaps, stomping up to the girl with explosions flashing. She grins at him, revealing fanged teeth.

“Of course.” she answers.

 

He runs into Enji before the festival starts.

“Father.” he says.

“Are you going to stick to that idiotic resolution of not using your fire?” Enji asks.

“Maybe.” Natsuo answers. It isn’t that important, not really.

“Shouto. All I want for you is to realize your full potential.” Enji says, and Natsuo laughs. There’s so much he hasn’t been able to explore with his quirk, by the fact that he and “Shouto” have always been separated. He knows that the “zoning out” is only the beginning; there’s something incredible about being in two places at once. And honestly, as much trouble as it is, he doesn’t know how he’d live without it.

“I’m not Shouto. Shouto doesn’t exist. I’m Natsuo.” he says.

“ Shouto .” Enji snaps. Natsuo shrugs.

“I mean it.” he says.

“This is not the time for stupid games. You have to go out there, and win the sports festival. Keep your focus on the goal.” Enji says. Natsuo, in response, shifts more of his focus from Enji to his other body and college homework. Biology was far more interesting than this.

“Someday you’re gonna remember I said this, and hate yourself. Well. More than you already do.” Natsuo says. Enji crosses his arms and glares at him.

“Time for the sports festival.” Natsuo says, before turning around and leaving.

“Don’t you dare turn your back on me.” Enji says. Natsuo gives him the finger. It’s not in character for Shouto, but what the frick. Old man’s annoying; and stupid enough to not even realize the truth when it’s told directly to him.

 

The race is easy, and Midoriya is extremely intelligent. That trick with the metal board and the mines? Epic! Meanwhile, Bakugou is acting like a child. Well. He is a child, isn’t he?

“Stupid Deku didn’t even use his stupid quirk.” Bakugou says. Midoriya’s quirk… Bakugou had been very odd about that, hadn’t he? Acting like he hadn’t expected Midoriya to have a quirk at all. What was that about? Wait— Midoriya’s quirk was like All Might’s. All Might, who he totally idolized, and then somehow knew about him being weakened at the USJ… Midoriya, who analyzed quirks, he was trying to hide something. But what?

 

Natsuo looks over at Midoriya, who’s crying at Uraraka joining his team for the cavalry battle.

“Hey, Todoroki! Join our team!” a voice says. He spins around to see that girl from 1B, Toga, with the Jirou siblings, Fumikage and Kyoka.

“Oh. Okay.” he answers.

 

Toga’s quirk is incredible. She can copy the appearance and quirk of others for five minutes after a touch, and use them separately; she can hold four of each at once, and expand the length of time even further by drinking blood, up to a day with a cup.

“I propose we go for… Kaminari? He’s been watching me this whole time.” Toga says.

“He probably has a crush.” Natsuo says, without thinking. They all stare at him.

“And Todoroki is blunt as usual.” Kyoka comments.

“There’s something wrong with Kaminari.” Dark Shadow says, suddenly. They both look at her.

“He feels different.” she says.

“Doesn’t seem too different.” Natsuo says. The kid still seemed as excitable as usual, though he was forgetting everyone’s names.

“The darkness he previously held has lifted from him.” Fumikage says. Natsuo has no idea what this means.

“So, our strategy?” he prompts.

 

The cavalry battle is hectic, and Kaminari attempts to pursue Toga near the entire time; she copies his quirk and blasts him with it, but he shrugs the energy off, laughing.

“I’m immune to my own quirk! Hah!” he laughs, as Iida carries his team forwards.

“Just cause you have a crush doesn’t mean you can’t watch what your team’s doing.” Natsuo says, sending ice across the ground for Iida to slip on.

“A— a crush?” Kaminari yelps, swinging around to stare at Natsuo.

“Don’t think we haven’t noticed you staring at me the whole time. At least you’re looking respectfully.” Toga says, and Natsuo laughs, remembering a certain diminutive Gen Ed student whom he’d seen Toga nearly punting through the halls the day before.

“I do not have a crush!” Kaminari shouts, indignantly.

“Yeah, right.” Toga says, then she shoves him in the face with an explosion courtesy of Bakugou. Natsuo, however, blinks; he can tell Kaminari isn’t lying. And if so— what’s his deal with Toga, then?

 

Toga reaches down and taps Fumikage on the shoulder.

“Time for a second Dark Shadow!” she whoops. However, no second Dark Shadow appears.

“Huh.” Kaminari says, looking at Toga’s confusion with an odd sort of understanding. Fumikage and Kyoka, though, are both looking rather fearful.

“Touch Dark Shadow!” Natsuo shouts; Toga does so, and instantly transforms into a Dark Shadow-like being herself.

“Huh.” Kaminari says, again. Toga reaches out and slaps him across the face with an expanding hand of shadow; he falls off his teammates unceremoniously.

“Lemme try you, Todoroki.” Toga says, and before Natsuo can react, she’s reached down to tap him on the shoulder as well; she raises her hand, but neither fire nor ice comes.

“Why do you have no quirk factor? ” she asks. Natsuo blinks. Oh, it must be because “Shouto” is a quirk, like Dark Shadow, so he doesn’t have one!

 

Wait. She had copied Dark Shadow. What?

What?

 

While Natsuo is undergoing a crisis, he realizes his teammates are waiting for an answer.

“It must be because of my chimaerism— two quirk factors cancel each other out.” he says, making up rubbish on the spot. It’s very smart of him, he thinks, and they thankfully accept it.

“Why do you have a telepathy quirk? ” Toga hisses at Fumikage.

“You are not permitted to learn the secrets of the shadows.” he says.

“What?” Toga asks.

“It’s none of your business.” Kyoka huffs. Natsuo, however, is rather intrigued. He’ll have to ask Fumikage about it later.

 

That’s when Midoriya slams unexpectedly into the team, and Natsuo feels his arm flare up with fire in surprise. Whoops. He glances up towards the stands, where Enji’s watching from. Oh well, he’d have liked to win without the fire, but there was no real trouble with it, not really; not except for the part where he’d said he would. And Natsuo wasn’t someone who backed down.

 

***

 

Todoroki corners Izuku in a hallway after the battle.

“Er… what’s up, Todoroki?” Izuku asks, slightly nervous. Todoroki seemed to have everything together, and his quirk was so cool; however, it was odd that Toga hadn’t been able to copy his quirk. Especially considering he can’t have been chimaerism preventing it— Izuku knew that Todoroki barely knew what chimaerism was.

“You made me use my fire.” Todoroki says.

“Is that… a problem?” Izuku asks. Todoroki runs his hand through his hair.

“Not really. I mean, I was planning to stick it to Father by not using it cause I know it would annoy him to no end, especially if I said I considered it his fire which is stupid. But it bothered him, so—“ Todoroki mumbles, and cuts off. Izuku watches as his expression of brief nervousness transforms into the blankness Izuku is used to seeing.

“I refuse to use my Father’s fire.” he says, tone a distinct difference than before. Izuku furrows his brows.

“I’m tired.” Todoroki says, then looks as if he hadn’t meant to say that.

“Biology homework is stealing my brain.” he mutters.

“We… don’t have biology homework.” Izuku points out, now rather confused. Todoroki seems to realize he’s talking himself into a hole.

“Um. You’re All Might’s secret love child!” Todoroki says, in perhaps an attempt to change the subject. Izuku sputters.

“You knew about his power weakening, and your quirk is very similar to his.” Todoroki explains.

“I’m not!” Izuku yelps.

“Yeah, that would be stupid. But I know there’s something between you two.” Todoroki says. The two stare at each other for a moment.

“Why couldn’t Toga copy your quirk? And don’t say chimaerism.” Izuku asks.

“You caught that, huh.” Todoroki says. Izuku waits.

 

“Instead of telling you that, I will instead explain to you why I cannot use my fire.” Todoroki says. Izuku decides Todoroki is very weird.

“It’s because I hate my father and this will make him angry.” Todoroki says. Izuku gets the odd sense he was supposed to hear something more along the lines of a tragic backstory.

“Uhm. Okay?” he says.

“Cool. So don’t surprise me like that again. I accidentally used my fire cause of that.” Todoroki says.

“You’re acting… differently than usual.” Izuku dares to point out.

“I am, aren’t I?” Todoroki sighs, and then he walks away. Izuku stares after him in confusion.

 

*** 

“Whoops.” Natsuo says, looking up at the giant block of ice poor Sero is imprisoned in.

“Sorry, dude.” he says. Sero stares at him. Man, he’s really slipping on “Shouto” today, isn’t he? Must be because of talking to Fuyumi this morning; he’s feeling better than he has in a while. He walks over to release Sero from entrapment.

“You’re acting off, you okay?” Sero asks.

“You just got stuck in an iceberg.” Natsuo points out.

“Yeah, man, but you’re acting like an entirely different person.” Sero says. Natsuo blinks. Was his Shouto persona really that separate from himself? He hadn’t noticed.

 

After making sure Sero’s all right, he thinks about it. Himself as Shouto… mostly constructed for Enji and Fuyumi’s benefit, greatly influenced by being a bit younger and no doubt by being raised differently, that persona was different enough from his real one. Cold and hidden, unknowing of a lot of social cues, an absolute bundle of emotions and blankness…”Shouto” wasn’t really all that dissimilar to his real self, as Fuyumi had noted he was both, but there was enough of a change his classmates found it weird. “Shouto” wasn’t quite as open in some ways, and weirdly ready to share information in others.

Natsuo wonders, for the first time, who Shouto could have been. If he’d been someone. If Natsuo had actually had him as a brother. God… what kind of quirk made you get born a second time? Natsuo looks over at a house, and sees Kyoka, Fumikage and Dark Shadow in deep conversation. He gets up to follow them into the tunnel, and sees directly into Kaminari, who appears to have been following them as well. He slows down, to be a distance behind the other.

 

“She copied my quirk. My real quirk.” Fumikage says.

“Mine as well.” Dark Shadow says.

“I didn’t think it was possible… but that means I’m still here, doesn’t it?” Dark Shadow asks.

“Kyoshi, you’ve always been here.” Kyoka says.

“We will find a way to restore you. I swear it.” Fumikage says. Natsuo watches Dark Shadow, Kyoshi, make odd noises; it sounds like she’s crying.

“We could tell people, you know. Of what happened to you.” Fumikage says. She shakes her head.

“You can’t. He’ll find you— or someone else will. What happened to us, if anyone knows, we’ll be in so much danger.” Kyoshi says. Suddenly, Kyoka freezes.

“Come out. I heard you.” she says. Kaminari scoots out from around the tunnel corner.

 

Kaminari seems to have been prepared for this.

“There is, potentially, a way to unfuse you two.” he says.

“What?” Fumikage asks. Kaminari draws himself up, grinning.

“I know the Phantom Thief.” he says. Natsuo gasps— the most mysterious of villains who could be anyone; they’d never taken a life, but wherever they went they left chaos behind them. Their legends were fraught throughout modern culture, and they were only categorized as a villain and not a vigilante due to their constant criminal acts.

“And he’s trying to take down the villain who’s the source of this all. This villain, All for One, he initiated quirk fusion on three sets of siblings; the Tokoyamis, the Todorokis, and Toga and Monoma. What happened was… well, you two fused. Toga ended up with her brother’s quirk, and her brother dead. And Todoroki… as far as I can tell, nothing happened to Todoroki, although it’s weird Toga couldn’t copy his quirk. But… if this guy started this, we figure he might have a way to end it. To unfuse you.” Kaminari says.

 

Natsuo steps away from the tunnel. He can’t risk Jirou hearing him, hearing his heart beat with emotions. Did that mean— there could have been a Shouto? That this wasn’t just his quirk, but something a villain had done?

Chapter 4: we'll never let you go

So, apparently Midoriya broke his fingers fighting some Gen Ed kid. Which. What. This was a sports festival. Natsuo eyes his opponent from across the ring. He’ll end the fight quickly and carefully, he thinks, stomping his foot on the ground to send ice shooting towards Midoriya; it would pick him up and carry him out of the ring.

It does not do that. What the frick. Natsuo stares at the ice that has been shattered by an explosion of air; Midoriya’s wincing at a broken finger.

“Don’t do that.” Natsuo says.

“Use your fire.” Midoriya says. Natsuo blinks at him, then glances up at Enji, in the stands.

“Why? Not doing so makes him angry.” he says.

“But it’s your power, Todoroki. You have to use it. I don’t…I don’t understand. You have an ability, why aren’t you using it to its fullest?” Midoriya asks.

“It’s not mine.” Natsuo says. It's Shouto’s.

 

Natsuo is… not having the best time. The idea that there might once have been a Shouto? That Natsuo’s quirk killed him? It was too awful to imagine. He wasn’t in the “Shouto” body, he was in Shouto’s body. He’d absorbed his brother before he was born; a terrible form of chimaerism. The fire wasn’t his, the ice wasn’t his, the spot in UA wasn’t his; Shouto could have been a person. And Natsuo, and the villain who was fusing quirks, had prevented this. He’d killed Natsuo’s brother. Natsuo had killed his own brother by becoming him.

What had started as a stupid petty way to annoy his father had become a conviction; Shouto wasn’t Enji’s but he wasn’t Natsuo’s either, and so too with his quirk. Natsuo looks at the ice that’s spread across the arena. Shouto…

“You said it was your Father’s fire. But it can’t be. Because it’s your quirk, Todoroki.” Midoriya says.

 

Todoroki. They’re both Todoroki. And there’s a difference, isn’t there? Where Kyoshi is alive, trapped to her brother, Shouto is dead. Shouto never got to live. He’s Natsuo’s quirk; Natsuo’s known this all his life, but it feels different, now. And even should Kyoshi somehow find a way to unfuse from her brother, that’s not possible for Shouto. Because there is no Shouto. There never has been. So to whom does his quirk belong?

“Shouto” is his quirk. “Shouto’s” quirk is ice and fire, but really it’s just the emitter part of a mutation, so it’s Natsuo’s quirk, isn’t it? Natsuo lets his fire climb up his arm.

“Awesome! Now we can really fight.” Midoriya says, grinning, and Natsuo can hear Enji yelling something far off, in the background. Oh; he didn’t know…even in all their years, not once had Enji ever even seemed to conceive of the truth of the “brothers.” Fuyumi had often seemed like she knew something, sometimes, and she’d figured it out; but Father, he never would.

“Sorry about this, kid.” Natsuo says, and swings his hands, sending fire and ice spinning, leaping, towards the other; they’re carefully aligned as to collide once they reach Midoriya and so not hurt him as they rush him from the arena’s ring.

 

Midoriya screams; a spinning tornado of air erupts from his hand as his finger breaks, slamming directly into Natsuo’s icyhot projectiles; the ice and fire twists, twirls and shatters, twisting around the airburst and back towards Natsuo, who hits the ground and raises a smooth, curving ice wall just in time. Spinning like a record player, the chaotic bundle of energy roars up the track Natsuo had made for it; it seems to float in midair for a second after clearing the height, and immediately falls back down, gathering momentum, to swing straight into Izuku.

“Todoroki Shouto wins!” Midnight calls.

 

***

 

“Natsuo, are you watching Shouto in the sports festival? He’s doing such an amazing job!” Fuyumi says, over the phone.

“ Fuyumi. ” Natsuo sighs, watching himself on the tv. It was easy enough to direct the Shouto body’s attack even with the ice wall blocking his vision, as he had a perfectly good vantage point of the arena from his couch.

“Oh…oh yeah.” Fuyumi says. There’s a silence. “I feel stupid now.”

“It’s okay. It’ll take a while to get used to.” Natsuo says. He can’t understand what it would be like, finding out she only had one sibling where she’d thought she had two. And Fuyumi, she’d been working so hard to keep them all together, only to find out he never left at all. To find that she’d stayed for him, because he’d left but he’d both stayed and left for her.

“So… using your fire? I remember Sho— you talking about not doing that.” Fuyumi says.

“It wasn’t a big deal.” Natsuo says. He sighs. There was something that was a big deal, though.

“One of my classmates, Kaminari, apparently knows the Phantom Thief. Yes, the villain. And the Phantom Thief found out that there’s a villain called All for One who—who caused quirk fusions in pairs of siblings.” Natsuo says. Fuyumi’s breath shudders across the phone line.

“Fumikage and his sister, and she became his quirk. Toga and her brother, and he became his quirk but died. And…Shouto and I. There could have been a Shouto, Fuyumi, but he became my quirk instead.” Natsuo says.

“This Kaminari knows about you?” Fuyumi asks.

“No, I listened to him telling Fumikage about it.” Natsuo says. Fuyumi’s response is of relief, which seems anachronistic to what he’s just told her.

“It’s not about what could have been, Natsuo. There’s nothing we can do to change the past. It’s about what could be, and the future.” Fuyumi says, and that’s her whole deal, isn’t it, Natsuo realizes. That she wanted a family with who they were—not who they had been. But there was one family member who still hadn’t let go.

“Father needs to learn that.” Natsuo says.

“I know.” Fuyumi says.

 

“I’m up against Toga next.” Natsuo says.

“I’m watching.” Fuyumi says. When the match starts, “Shouto” doesn’t even get the chance to throw ice at Toga, because her eyes flare red and he collapses like a boneless rag doll, flat on his face, unmoving.

“Natsuo? Are you all right?” Fuyumi asks. Natsuo presses his hand to his forehead, disoriented, because for the first time in years he’s one person instead of two. Back in the area, Toga turns off Aizawa’s quirk, and Natsuo pushes himself off the ground with a breath for a brief second before being immediately re-banished from his body. He and Fuyumi then have the dubious pleasure of watching Toga drag the unconscious “Shouto” out of the arena ring.

“How are you going to explain this?” Fuyumi asks. Natsuo shrugs. He’ll figure something out.

“Oh, look at Father, he’s so angry! I bet he thinks I threw the match.” he says.

“Natsuo…” Fuyumi warns, but it’s too late, and she is treated to the sight of seeing “Shouto” hop to his feet outside of the ring and stalk to the back rooms while giving his father the middle finger on live television.

“This is way better than that stupid fire thing.” Natsuo laughs.

 

***

 

“You told Endeavor you threw the match, but I can tell that wasn’t the case.” Toga says. Denki looks between her and Todoroki, who seems rather tired, but pleased with himself.

“My quirk is a full-body mutation-emitter. It’s unlike a full mutation, as Aizawa’s quirk can’t erase those, but because it’s an emitter it can, so I fall unconscious.” Todoroki says.

“Hagakure has a full-body mutation-emitter quirk.” Toga points out.

“You’d think so, but no. Where hers covers her, mine is in every part of myself in order to balance the two separate sides of heat and cold.” Todoroki explains.

“I think that makes sense.” Denki says.

“Your quirk is weird, Todoroki.” Toga finally says.

“Very weird.” he agrees.

 

The next thing Denki does is lose against Shiozaki, and quite miserably too. As such, he ignores the rest of the Sports Festival in favor of tailing Toga and avoiding the Jirous; unfortunately, he manages to catch up to Toga at exactly the time they catch up to him.

“We need to talk.” Toga and the Jirous say at once, then they notice each other. Denki is effectively cornered, he realizes, sitting down against the wall with a huff. He’s a terrible villain, Phantom will be mad.

“About what?” he asks.

“For one, why you keep following me.” Toga says, crossing her arms.

“For two, you’ve got to tell us more about the Phantom Thief.” Kyoka says.

“What?” Toga asks.

“Kaminari knows them.” Fumikage explains. Kyoshi rises up threateningly beside him.

“How do you know a villain?” Toga asks, getting right up close to Denki’s face. He notices vaguely that she has dilated pupils and sharp fangs; interesting secondary quirk trait, for a Copy quirk.

“It’s… complicated.” Denki says. He reaches into his pocket and presses the button on the device he’s got there; because Phantom isn’t an idiot.

Never put yourself in a prison you can’t get out of, Phantom had said; he had a bottle of some of Kurogiri’s mist he’d somehow managed to capture, ensuring he could escape Denki’s prison anytime, just in case, alongside all his saved bottles of blood on his belt. And now Denki had pressed the emergency device which would send Phantom his coordinates—because he had no idea how to get out of the current situation.

“Complicated isn’t going to cut it. You’re going to tell us more about this fusion rubbish or so help me God— ” Kyoka shouts; but she’s cut off by something nobody could have expected.

 

***

You see, AFO had been planning to use Denki for a quirk fusion. And neither Neito nor Denki had known, that by the time they formed their plan, AFO had already inflicted Denki with a carefully calculated usage of quirks meant to incite a fusion. Because here’s the thing about fusions; it’s easier, with siblings, because like flowed to like. But it was not impossible to fuse two that were not siblings— because the the true necessary action that fusion required, perhaps anachronistically, was separation. And Neito’s usage of Kurogiri’s fused quirk to their location had kickstarted Denki’s fusion. Why? Because it was a fusion of quirks itself— because Warp Gate, in part made from Cloud, was also in part made from Shadow Travel— the quirk that has belonged to Fumikage’s missing father. And like flowed to like, and Denki’s fusion ignited, separating him into three.

His quirk went to Jirou, and fused with her; due to her great and near-constant proximity to Tokoyami, her body was used to being around fusions, and she is the only not already fused person in the room. As such, the electricity overtakes her and roars through her earjacks with the force of a rolling tide; she screams, and energy erupts from her, soundwaves and lightning, enough to make everyone collapse.

With Denki’s quirk and soul expelled from his body, this leaves an empty shell on the floor; but nature abhors a vacuum, and in moments what used to be Kaminari Denki becomes Tokoyami Kyoshi, a soul without a body breaking free from her brother, the volatility of the surrounding energy allowing her to escape. For the first time in years she can be human again; but not quite, not quite, for the curse of the fusion that holds her in Dark Shadow form remains, and transforms what used to be Denki’s body into that form as well.

And so when they all awake, Kyoka’s ears are bleeding; Kyoshi is alive, and Neito is holding onto Denki’s appearance, but he knows not where his friend has gone. Because Denki is gone.

However— as was said before, nature abhors a vacuum, and here we have Denki’s soul without a body; and not too far away sits a body without a soul.

 

***

 

Todoroki Shouto wakes up.

“Todoroki? Are you all right?” Midoriya asks him. He shakes his head; something feels wrong.

“I don’t…I don’t know. I think I am fine, though.” he answers. Because a brain holds memories, and Denki’s soul has collided directly into them; he’s faced with a past full of oddness and gaps, but any remembrance of Denki is buried deep.

Miles away, Natsuo once again loses his control; he assumes it is Erasure, and waits. A minute later, he is waiting no longer, and instead fear rushes through him; is “Shouto” dead? He will soon find out, though, that the situation is far worse; that “Shouto”, no, Shouto, is alive.

Chapter 5: stop asking me questions, I'd hate to see you cry

“What happened?” Aizawa-Sensei asks.

“I have Kaminari’s quirk. Kyoshi has a body again.” Kyoka summarizes. God, her head still hurts so much; Aizawa-Sensei must be feeling similarly, as he presses his hand to his forehead.

“Jirou— Jirou Fumikage— are you telling me, that all this time, Dark Shadow has been your sister. Who’s been trapped to you thanks to some villain, which Kaminari found out about because apparently he somehow knows the Phantom Thief.” Aizawa-Sensei says, and everyone looks to the other side of the room, where Kaminari is rather obviously avoiding Toga.

“Pretty much.” Fumikage says. He and Kyoshi are holding each other’s hands, and it doesn’t seem like they’ll let go.

Kyoka doesn’t know Kyoshi like Fumikage does. His telepathy quirk is constantly connected to her; while Kyoka is his sister, it is by adoption, not blood, and he and Kyoshi are together all the time. This is something new—something she’s aware she’s apart from. And all the while, Kaminari’s electricity is humming under her skin.

“Why…why haven’t you told anyone of what happened to you? Why does only your family know?” Aizawa-Sensei asks.

“Because despite not knowing the name of the villain, nor exactly what had been done to us, we knew someone was after us, for our quirks. We had to hide.” Kyoshi explains.

“He’s going to go for you, for Fumikage, for Toga, and now for Kyoka, since you somehow fused with my quirk. Although I still have it.” Kaminari says.

“All right. We will figure this out—I think Nezu had plans for dorms before, those might come in handy—just. Be careful, all of you.” Aizawa-Sensei says.

Kyoka’s sitting in a hallway with Toga.
“So…she got absorbed, into his quirk.” Toga says.

“They were really unlucky.” Kyoka comments. Toga shakes her head.

“She was far luckier than my brother.” she says. Kyoka stares at her.

“I…my Copy quirk, it’s not mine. It used to be Neito’s—but we fused quirks and, and he died. I remember…” Toga says, and she starts crying. Kyoka, unsure of what to do, places her hand on Toga’s arm. It gives her a slight static shock.

“My original quirk, it’s the ability to take on anyone’s appearance. It’s cursed.” Toga says.

“That doesn’t sound cursed.” Kyoka says.

“By drinking their blood.” Toga continues.

“Oh.” Kyoka says.

“It’s—I want to, all the time!” Toga cries.

“It can’t be good to suppress your quirk; you should do something with it.” Kyoka says, somewhat unsure. To not use a part of yourself—it had to be awful. But blood, that was…Toga couldn’t help how she was born.

“But it killed my brother, Jirou. I can’t be a hero with that quirk; I loved my brother and I wanted to be as amazing as he was, I wanted to be him, and I—and I—and now look at me! I have everything I’ve ever wanted and he’s gone!” Toga says, and Kyoka suddenly finds the other girl is pressing closer to her.

Carefully, she hugs the other back, but she’s terrible at emotional situations.

“He let me have some of his blood and I, our quirk fused, and he died. I’m what killed him.” Toga sniffles.

“Your brother supported you using your quirk, then?” Kyoka asks.

“He said it was beautiful! He loved copying it…but my mother, she, she won’t have it. I can’t use my quirk, I’m a vampire, I’m a monster. I can only do my best to be like he was. To be perfect. And I’m doing all right now, see? I’m going to be a hero. I’m going, I’m going to be the best.” Toga says.

“But can you be the best if you aren’t being you?” Kyoka asks. Toga blinks at her.

“Look—my parents wanted me to go into music. I’m great at it. But I wanted to be a hero. What do you want?” Kyoka asks.

“I have to be a hero. Not for them, for, for Neito. He always wanted to be a hero, so much. But my mother said he couldn’t be one—that what kind of quirk depended on the quirks of others? And what was wrong with him, to keep copying mine? He wanted to get out, but instead he…he was only twelve, Jirou.” Toga says.

“Then you’ll be a hero. For him; and for you. Don’t you think you should talk to Aizawa-Sensei about this, though?” Kyoka asks.

“You can’t.” Toga says.

“Why not?” Kyoka asks. There’s a pause.

“I’ll think about it.” Toga says, finally.

 

***

 

Something is very wrong, Shouto thinks. It’s in the way there are so many gaps in his memories, that he can count on one hand the amount of times he’s looked his brother Natsuo in the eyes. It’s in the thoughts that don’t make sense, repressed and loud emotions both clamoring for superiority. But why is he only realizing this now? Why is he only at this moment looking back and wondering what kind of person he is? He can’t tell.

There’s a scar on his face, and the painful memory of getting it resonates. But at the same time, he’s sure he never had a scar. His hair…it wasn’t half and half. But it had to be, didn’t it? It was. Half and half…he was missing a half. There was some great part of him that was now gone.

“Shouto?” a voice asks. He looks up; there’s his sister, Fuyumi. She’s always done so much for him.

“Hello. I didn’t get hurt in the fight, I’m fine.” he says. She looks at him oddly, like she’s expecting something to happen. Like she’s expecting to see someone else in his place, her bright blue eyes a piercing gaze.

“You’re early. I’m not to go home yet.” he points out.

“I know, I just, I was worried about you. I’m going to call Natsuo.” she says, and leaves the room.

Something is terribly, terribly wrong. It terrifies him. What had happened? All he knows is suddenly gaining an awareness of this, in the waiting room; but who had he been before that? What had he been? He wanted…music, he realized, and the familiar beats of songs stuck in his head string up. Guitar, singing; it’s various sorts of rock and pop, exactly what he likes. His fingers feel strange. But he never played any music—he’s never played the guitar, and he realizes in that second that the song beats start dancing in his mind, he’s never heard them before, either. The Todoroki house is quiet. Always.

He wants to sleep. His brain hurts. Doesn’t it often, when he overuses his quirk? No, that’s not his brain but his body, frostbite and fire. Only use ice…why? It was petty and stupid…he’d decided against it. He’d been chasing Toga around—why had he been doing that—and he’d fallen on the ground from Erasure, because his quirk was a full-body mutation-emitter. No, it was resistance and emitter, wasn’t it? Hadn’t there been a regeneration aspect? The chimaerism had been a lie.

He remembers a face with yellow eyes, yellow hair. He remembers…screaming. He was screaming—that was Kaminari, grinning at him while he yelled. What had Kaminari done to him? Something about quirks, about imprisonment, he can’t remember—

Why is his memory full of holes? He knows things he doesn’t remember finding out about; it’s as if he’s only seeing one side of his life.

 

***

“I can help you figure your quirk out.” Toga offers. Kyoka looks at her.

“You just fused with Kaminari’s quirk, didn’t you? You must be feeling disoriented. Two quirk factors have just combined into one, I…I know the feeling.” Toga says, and Kyoka realizes she doesn’t know what to do with what’s inside her. She can hear electricity crackling all throughout her, thanks to her enhanced hearing; her heart beats with not only soundwaves, and energy is rushing through her mind.

“We should probably go ask Kaminari about his quirk.” Kyoka decides.

“Of course. But Kaminari doesn’t know how to manage two quirks rolled into one; how to parse them and use the different aspects separately, how to use said aspects all at once. You can feel it, can’t you? Your body’s changed.” Toga says, and Kyoka understands it’s true.

They go to see Kaminari, and interrogate him on his quirk; he’d already been interrogated sufficiently on his relationship with the Phantom Thief.

“So—generating electricity that destroys my brain?” Kyoka asks, somewhat fearful. Kaminari gives her finger guns.

“Don’t worry, it regenerates. No brain damage is permanent—but it often hurts a lot.” he says.

Kyoka doesn’t learn who wins the Sports Festival until later; she’s standing in a training room with Toga, and feeling lightning in her blood. Because…Kaminari’s electricity came from his brain, but the soundwaves she powered her earjacks with came from her heart. And now both were mixed, within and without, and every soundwave that shuddered from the ends of her aux cords rippled with lightning.

 

***

“How was the Sports Festival?” Fuyumi asks, driving “Shouto” home. It wasn’t Shouto, she knew—so who was it?

“It was all right. I made a friend.” Shouto answers, looking out the car’s window.

“Oh? That’s nice.” Fuyumi says.

“His name is Midoriya.” Shouto says. He doesn’t seem like he’ll say more. Fuyumi grips her steering wheel, and takes a deep breath. Because whoever was in the backseat wasn’t her brother.

“Natsuo’s staying at the house for a while.” Fuyumi says, glancing up to the rearview mirror. Blue eyes meet heterochromatic ones.

“Natsuo doesn’t like me.” Shouto says.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Fuyumi says, hoping she sounds reassuring. Really, she’s worried; not only because of whoever, whatever, is sitting behind her, but because she knows Natsuo won’t be as calm about it as she is. If he attacks whoever’s in the Shouto body right away—it might have disastrous consequences. They needed to wait.

It can’t be Shouto, Natsuo had said.
I know, Fuyumi had answered. They both knew; because Todoroki Shouto wasn’t real, Todoroki Shouto was dead.

And yet.

 

***

 

Natsuo will not look Shouto in the eye.
“What did I do to you?” Shouto asks. Natsuo sighs, and does not answer.

“SHOOOOOOOUUUUUUTOOOOOOO!” Enji yells, walking into the room.

“Yeah?” Shouto asks. Why did he have such an awful father?

“I cannot believe you—you threw the Sports Festival! You disgraced yourself and the Todoroki name.” Enji says. Natsuo makes an odd noise that sounds slightly like a laugh.

“Why are you here?” Enji asks him. Natsuo waves his hand vaguely.

“Reasons.” he says. Shouto thinks about the sports festival. He’d lost to a girl in 1B…he remembers his vision going black after he used his quirk to his fullest power, incapacitating himself—wait. That hadn’t happened—Toga had knocked him out of the ring before he had a chance to use his quirk, with help from Erasure. But he’d fallen unconscious, he knows he had.

“I don’t remember throwing the sports festival. The quirk from the 1B girl incapacitated me.” Shouto says. Why can’t he remember which 1B girl? Why is there something so wrong with his mind, it’s got to be from all the times he destroyed his brain tissue but that ought to have healed…that…makes no sense. What. His brain is fine. He’s fine. Right?

Why won’t Natsuo meet his eyes?

“Your reaction earlier seems to indicate otherwise.” Enji says. Shouto thinks back—he’d been feeling excellent, today, ready to take on the world. He hadn’t been acting like himself. Who was himself? It didn’t feel like he’d been acting how he would.

“Well, apologies, but I was a little hyped. You know. Sports festival is extremely cool.” Shouto says. Enji blinks at him.

“Your speech…you’ve been spending too much time with those UA kids, but I suppose nothing can be done about that.” he says. All right, Shouto’s done. He wants to go check tik tok. Wait. He barely knows what that is. So why—

“So, we’re done?” Shouto asks.

“We are done. Leave him alone, Father, he must be tired, he’s had a long day.” Fuyumi says, reaching to hold Shouto’s shoulders but suddenly stopping. She’s looking at him, directly into his eyes, the opposite of Natsuo, who won’t even spare him a glance; but it seems there is a shadow on her face.

“Thank you.” Shouto says, as Enji leaves. Fuyumi has held him many times before, he remembers, but she is not holding him now.

“I’m going to go rest.” Shouto says. No one stops him as he walks the silent halls of the Todoroki home; for some reason, he feels as though it should be smaller, and takes wrong turns in a house he’s known since birth. He pauses, not at his room, but at a shrine. Touya. He barely remembers his brother; and yet he feels like he knew Touya well. He can think back to a memory of looking at Touya, blue fire in hand, glaring at him with anger; but he felt no fear and only sadness. There was something odd, there.

Shouto doesn’t like his bedroom. It’s too simple, not enough colors. Why isn’t there a single poster on the wall? And what’s with the traditional style?

He looks up Kaminari on the website known as tik tok. He doesn’t understand much of it, but eventually finds the one who might be responsible for his current situation. Because why else would there be brief flashes of the other in his mind? And with the word villain overlayed across them.

 

***

 

“Are you doing all right?” Fuyumi asks. Natsuo looks at her.

“I mean—Shouto. You don’t…you don’t have him.” she points out.

“Yeah that, it…it is weird. God, it’s so strange, it’s like—it doesn’t feel right, being in only one place!” he complains.

“The question is, though, since the body doesn’t contain its usual holder…who does it contain? Who’s up in Shouto’s room, in Shouto’s body? And seeing as they obviously don’t know about…the whole thing with you and Shouto…and they’re pretending to be Shouto…what are they trying to get out of it?” Fuyumi asks.

“Heck if I know. But it’s a problem.” Natsuo says.

“Maybe we should ask them.” Fuyumi says, and he stares at her like she’s gone insane. Okay, not that.

“Try using your quirk.” she proposes.

“I don’t have Shouto, you know that.” Natsuo says. She shakes her head.

“You’ve never really explored what you can do, have you? With this whole…being in two places at once possession thing.” Fuyumi says.

“No, because of everything with Shouto, and now with this, I especially can’t.” Natsuo says.

“But what if you could?” Fuyumi asks.

“How?” he asks.

“So this Kaminari guy…he said this villain fused people with their older siblings. So maybe…” Fuyumi starts.

“You’re kidding.” Natsuo says, realizing what she’s saying.

“Nope!” Fuyumi says.

“You’re not actually suggesting I try to, to—“ he says.

“Why not?” she asks. He doesn’t seem to have an answer to this.

“If that makes you feel too weird, go for the original one.” she offers.

“And have whoever’s in Shouto figure out what I’m doing while I fail? No, if this is my first time doing this…you’re right. We have to do this safely.” Natsuo says, and takes a deep breath.

“You’re really good with this?” he asks.

“Of course. And once you figure possessing me out, maybe you can get Shouto back.” Fuyumi says. Natsuo sits down beside her, hand in his hair. He laughs.

“I have no idea what to do.” she says.

“Just think about how it feels to be like you were before. And focus.” Fuyumi says; and Natsuo remembers what it was like, to be in control of the body of his nonexistent younger brother.

The first thing he notices, is pain; within and without, almost like chains wrapping around him, tightening into his skin.

“What the f***?” he breathes, a raspy voice leaving his mouth. This wasn’t Fuyumi. He looks at a hand bisected by purple skin and staples; he touches his face, and feels a body covered in scars. Burn scars.

In a moment, though, the unfamiliarity, the dream, it’s all gone.

 

***

Dabi blinks. He’d been sleeping in an alleyway, or at least trying to; leaning against the corner of a stone building, water dripping nearby. The sudden disappearance of pain indicates he’d finally managed to fall asleep; and so too with where he was. On a sofa in the Todoroki house, beside Fuyumi.

“So, it didn’t work. Maybe it’s just Shouto.” Fuyumi says.

“Maybe what is?” he asks, looking at a hand without scars. His dreams didn’t often erase them; they were part of him, had been for years.

“You know. The possession thing, Natsuo.”

The possession thing?

Natsuo?

Chapter 6: we all carry on

Dabi wakes up, hitting his head on the stone behind him. He swears, grimacing; that had been a really odd dream. But it wasn’t like he hasn’t had weirder. He swings to his feet, adjusts his coat, and finds himself pleased by a news announcement playing across a nearby banner; the Hero Ingenium had been injured by Hero Killer Stain. At least someone was doing their job, he thinks. God…what kind of whacked out dream….he was Natsuo? He isn’t quite sure, and is too tired to bother trying to remember.

***

 

Shouto taps his pencil on his desk to a rhythm he doesn’t know; he watches Kyoka write something in her notebook as Kyoshi, Tokoyami’s sister who was previously Dark Shadow, introduces herself to the class. Aizawa-Sensei says something about final exams and summer camp; Kaminari’s rubbing on a bracelet as red as blood that’s wrapped around his wrist. Kaminari…was he the one who’d made Shouto’s mind so lost? The reason his memories were full of holes?

“We could go train later. In the gym.” Kyoka tells Toga; Shouto listens.

“Train…your quirk? So we’ll properly figure your fusion out, then?” Toga asks.

“My fusion and yours. All of yours.” Kyoka says, and a gasp of shock escapes from Toga.

“You mean—“ she starts.

“I do.” Kyoka answers.

Shouto decides to speak to Kaminari.
“Hey.” he says, walking up to the other boy, who looks at him curiously. Kaminari is leaning back in his chair, looking quite bored with the world. “Did you do this to me?” Shouto gets straight to the point. Kaminari frowns.

“Do what?” he asks.

“My memory.” Shouto explains.

“What’s wrong with it?” Kaminari asks.

“I don’t know.” Shouto answers. Kaminari glowers at him.

“It just started…it’s like I just woke up. On the day of the sports festival.” Shouto says, and Kaminari sits up straight, suddenly interested.

“After your fight with Toga? And after De…I fought Shiozaki?” he asks. Shouto nods.

“That’s. That’s definitely interesting. A failed fusion, maybe something happened and was activated…” Kaminari starts mumbling.

“You know a lot about this, then?” Shouto asks.

“Not enough. Only what Phantom Thief felt like telling me. I’m thinking since something happened to fuse my quirk with Kyoka’s yesterday, maybe it activated whatever fusion didn’t work on you. But…you don’t have any new quirks, do you? Just a broken memory. It doesn’t make sense.” Kaminari says.

“It feels like I’m missing half of who I am.” Shouto says, and Kaminari snaps his fingers.

“Maybe the fusion wasn’t unsuccessful. Maybe it worked, and maybe you lost it—your quirk is super weird, it’s already two quirks, you could be a fusion yourself! Hah! That’s it! He was wrong!” Kaminari crows.

“Who was wrong?” Shouto asks.

“If All for One thought you weren’t a fusion when you are…but no. You can still use both ice and fire, correct?” Kaminari asks. Shouto nods.

“So you didn’t unfuse. If you are a fusion. But something definitely happened.” Kaminari says.

“What happened?” Shouto asks. There is no good answer.

 

***

“You let Kaminari Denki escape.” Kurogiri says, and Neito sighs. He’ll have to do his best, to get out of this one; he’s fumbling with the bracelet around his wrist that he’d previously infused with Denki’s blood. It allowed him to keep up a disguise through the touch part of his quirk permanently.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Why would I do that?” he asks.

“Because one moment he was imprisoned, and one moment not, and you are the only person who knows where he is that might have a motive to free him.” Kurogiri explains.

“I’ve got no idea where he is—I swear, I have no idea why he disappeared.” Neito says. It’s technically not a lie, as he has literally no idea where Denki is at all.

“Surprisingly, that is the truth.” a voice says. Neito spins around to see the tv in the corner crackle to life with a voice; All for One. The cause of what had happened to him and his sister.

“There is no need to fear, Kurogiri. I believe I know what occurred—Jirou Kyoka fused with Kaminari Denki, as the fusion I placed upon him had been activated. How it managed to send his quirk to her, and why her, over a such a distance is perplexing, but this is the first fusion between nonsiblings that wasn’t set up before birth. So some oddness is possible.” All for One says. Neito takes a step back. “It was rather unwise of you to attempt to view my research and assume I wouldn’t have known about it, Kaminari Makoto.” Neito has to hide his relief; All for One still didn’t know who he really was. “It’s interesting, I find, that there are no records of you at all.”

Or…maybe he did.

“It’s interesting, I find, that there are no records of you at all.” Neito counters. He’s a little annoyed by the fact that All for One laughs.

“You are not Denki’s twin brother.” he says. Neito considers as to how to reply to this.

“I am not.” he finally says. There’s a moment of silence from the television.

“I wasn’t sure if you would admit it, Denki.” All for One says. Neito blinks. AFO thought he was…

“Fusions are impossible across distance. I should know, I created the phenomenon. The only way for Jirou to have fused with your quirk would be if you were in close proximity to her, which the one calling himself Makoto did…but it is you, now?” All for One asks.

“Um.” Neito mumbles.

“You cannot fool me. I was aware the whole time that the two of you were conspiring against me; but it is no matter. Not if you do not do so again. You’re a powerful advantage, but you can be replaced at any time.” All for One says. Neito thinks about how he is currently replacing Denki, who had disappeared into thin air.

“Yeah.” he says, finally.

“That raises the question, of course, as to where Makoto is.” All for One says.

“Um…I don’t know.” Neito replies.

“Of course.” the villain answers. Neito takes a deep breath. God…this was dangerous, but he couldn’t help himself; and somehow, All for One still didn’t know he was the Phantom Thief. “I was wondering how far you would go, Phantom Thief.”

Well. That’s. That’s a problem.

“I’m aware you’ve been trying to find ways to…what was it…take me down…since a while. I do wonder what grievance I have caused you. But we can put that behind us—you are working for me now, after all. Your quirk interests me. Tell me about it.” All for One says.

Neito realizes he’s either going to lose his quirk, die, or both. What should he do…oh! He knows.

“I’d love to!! I haven’t gotten to proclaim the truth of my wiles in years…no point doing so, you understand, to those who don’t need to hear it. But you, my esteemed rival, are the master.” Neito says, rubbing his hands together with a grin. “And I am, as you had ascertained, the Phantom Thief—though you may call me Kaminari Denki! My ability to become others is quite simple…you are thinking I have a transform quirk, perhaps! Well, guess what? I have a copy quirk!” Best to go completely off here, so the villain doesn’t look too deep into his words.
“I can copy other people.” Carefully flicking open one of his collected bottles as he puts his hand in his pocket, he touches the blood of that one duplication criminal he’d fought a few weeks ago. “Watch this.” Neito announces; he raises his hand, and copies himself.

It’s not being in two places at once, as his clone has separate control; but his clone is him, which means he knows exactly what to do. Neito watches as the clone waves to All for One’s tv, and leans on the wall beside him.
“I have full control.” Neito explains. Which is true for this clone. Because it’s also him. Even though it looks like Denki. Wait, there are two of him. Is this a problem? Probably not. It’ll be fine.

“So you copy others and that’s how you take their place?” AFO asks, sounding quite amused.

“Yes.” the clone answers, which is true, it’s just not the copy AFO is thinking of. Hey…his clone stole his response.

“I see. Now…I won’t ask you why you’ve been against me.” All for One says, and Neito gets the impression that he means it in an I’ll find out way rather than in a it doesn’t matter way.

“Welcome to the League of Villains, Phantom Thief.” All for One says; the tv turns off, and Neito wonders if he’s made a big mistake.

His clone runs out of the bar, sending the door swinging shut behind himself, and Neito realizes that his biggest mistake has just left the room.

 

***

 

Kyoka can feels two different beats humming in her blood.
“Can you separate them?” Toga asks. Kyoka shakes her head, and holds out her hand.

“You try.” she says. Toga takes Kyoka’s hand in hers, copying the quirk. She furrows her brows after a moment.

“There’s something not right here.” she says.
“You’ll need earjacks. To use my quirk properly.” Kyoka points out. Toga is silent.

“Go on. Turn into me.” Kyoka says. If the other girl was helping her with her quirk, she’d help in return.

“I can’t. It’s not right.” Toga mumbles.

“It’s your quirk.” Kyoka says. Toga hesitates, and Kyoka watches as the other girl becomes enveloped in an odd sort of substance, shifting her form, until she resembles Kyoka exactly; down to wearing the same clothes. Toga’s earjacks quiver, and the expression on her face is odd; it’s like looking in a mirror, Kyoka thinks, except the mirror does not follow your lead. Toga stretches, and the earjacks curve around, following the movements of her arms.

“The heartbeat-powered energy of your original quirk has become connected with the brainpowered energy of Kaminari’s quirk…it’s all flowing together as one. I think it’d be really tricky to separate, so for now…let’s just try controlling this new power.” Toga says. Kyoka can hear Toga’s heartbeat; she can hear her own, and she realizes, looking at Toga’s earjacks waving like cat tails, that Toga can hear her heartbeat too.

“I…ahhhh.” Toga says, an odd look on her face; it seems, Kyoka thinks, like a mixture of relief and admiration.

“I can hear your blood rushing.” Toga whispers; Kyoka’s blood is full of electricity and song.

“You get used to hearing things, with my quirk.” Kyoka says. The sound of two sets of fused energy surround them.

“Enhanced hearing…must be nice, to have this all the time.” Toga muses.

“You wouldn’t believe how hard it is to get a proper night’s sleep.” Kyoka laughs.

“So…if Denki’s quirk is powered by the brain, and yours is powered by the heart, to properly use a fusion between them we’ll have to use both together.” Toga says.

“In sync, for best results.” Kyoka says. She realizes Toga’s hand is still softly pressed around her wrist, and lifts the other girl’s fingers to her heart.

“What are you—“ Toga starts.

“Matched beats. Come on.” Kyoka’s says, and she begins humming, feeling energy beat through her with her blood. Something presses on her mind, and Toga squeaks a little; the pain of Denki’s quirk, they hadn’t realized. Though he healed, it destroyed his mind; and now, it was throughout her body, a body not meant for a quirk that wasn’t her own.

“Ow—ow—what’s happening?” Toga asks, and Kyoka feels pain splintering through like glass with the steady pulse of the tune she’s carrying. Small slits of cuts begin to open along both Kyoka and Toga’s skin, and blood falls like miniature rivers. Kyoka winces in pain, and Toga’s eyes grow wide like saucers. Something rings; a circular pulse of energy erupts from the two, a dome full of lighting that screams with sound, magnificent sound; it hits the walls of the UA gym with a muffled thud, leaving a crack.

“You’re…you’re beautiful.” Toga says. Kyoka blinks, and she feels a drip of blood falling from her chin, and then the cool relief of all the cuts closing, the regeneration finally kicking in.

“Uhm…thanks, I guess?” Kyoka answers. Toga takes her hand off Kyoka’s heart, and stares, seeming almost entranced, by the blood that coats her hand. She opens her mouth, revealing fangs, and licks some of the red liquid. She is crying, softly, and Kyoka realizes she feels a strange sense of power, of euphoria. This fused quirk ability—the energy they’d produced, it had been incredible.

“Feels nice, getting to properly use your quirk?” Kyoka asks. Toga nods, eyes closed, smiling.

“Doesn’t it feel wonderful?” she asks.

“It does.” Kyoka says; she thinks of the soft touch of Toga’s hand on hers, of the sheer ability and wonder they’d created. “It does.”

 

***

Shouto is staring at his homework, and he finally gives up and sets his head on his desk with a sigh. He should know this; he remembers solving math problems far more complicated than these quite easily. At the same time, though, it doesn’t feel wrong that he’d struggle. Maybe he should read something, he thinks, looking over at a selection of books on a short bookcase in his room. Mostly classics…oh, he remembers Pride and Prejudice, he’d really liked that—Darcy and Elizabeth were quite the pair. Picking the book up, he’s surprised to find it’s still wrapped in clear packaging, and the vivid memory of receiving the book and shoving it in his bookcase, never to be read, at once impresses itself on his mind. But…he knows he’s read this. He pulls the package off to open the book, and is at once greeted by a familiar story that nowhere in his memories does he remember reading before, not once in his entire life. And yet he knows these characters, these lines. Why is his memory full of so many holes? What had happened to him?

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” Shouto reads. He knows this line; it’s famous. And yet at the same time he’s never laid eyes on it, not once in his life.

“Reading?” a voice asks. Shouto looks over to see Natsuo, leaning on the doorframe; his eyes catch his brother’s gaze, which is immediately dropped.

“Why won’t you look at me?” Shouto asks.

“I’m sorry, Shouto.” Natsuo says. He’s still looking at the ground.

“What did I do to you?” Shouto asks. Natsuo turns to leave, and Shouto runs after him, grabbing him by the shirt.

“Hey!” he shouts, almost pleading. Why does his brother hate him? Why can’t he remember? Natsuo turns around, and finally, finally, looks Shouto directly in the eyes.

“Nothing. Nothing at all.” he says, and there’s something strange in his voice, something strange in his expression.

“I barely know you, Natsuo.” Shouto says. 

“Who are you?” Natsuo asks.

“I don’t know.” Shouto answers, and as Natsuo’s eyes widen in surprise, Shouto realizes that’s the truth.

He tells his brother everything. About the memory gaps, about the fusion event at the Sports Festival, about the things that don’t quite fit; about Kaminari Denki.

“So you--you ‘woke up’ during the Sports Festival.” Natsuo asks. Shouto nods.

“There’s something I should probably tell you. Though you won’t like it.” Natsuo says, with obvious hesitance.

“What?” Shouto asks, and Natsuo won’t meet his eyes again.

“There’s no such person as Shouto.” he says, looking away.

“...what?” Shouto asks. Instead of responding, Natsuo looks something up on his phone and holds it out to Shouto; it’s pictures of his classmate Kaminari, in the sports festival. Natsuo clicks on a video of him fighting Shiozaki from 1B, and Shouto watches in confused silence as Kaminari loses miserably.

“It wasn’t the best move, to use all your power in one go. The greatest strike is no good if it misses.” Natsuo says, quietly.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. I’ll do better next time.” Shouto answers.

A branch, blowing in the wind, clatters against the bedroom window.

“Oh.” Shouto says. But he isn’t Shouto at all, isn’t he?

“The fact that your memories were centered around Kaminari, added to the fact that Jirou obtained Electrify, leaves one likely conclusion.” Natsuo says.

“But how did you know I wasn’t Shouto?” Denki asks. Because he is Denki; because all his proper memories have fallen back into the holes where they belong.

“Because there isn’t a Shouto, kid.” Natsuo sighs.

“Then who’s body am I possessing?” Denki asks.

“My second one.” Natsuo explains. Denki considers this, and decides it isn’t his problem.

“But…if I’m Denki, then who’s the other Denki?” he asks.

“The other Denki?” Natsuo asks.

“In my class. He’s been around since I woke up during the Sports Festival.” Denki explains.

“Oh. I, uh, I have no idea.” Natsuo answers.

Chapter 7: wishing you well

Notes:

this chapter is posted late because i was in the hospital all day yesterday i hate hospitals

So, he’s not Todoroki Shouto. Which is a good thing. Probably. Although, it does mean that Natsuo and Fuyumi aren’t his brother and sister, which is slightly disappointing; he knows them so well, after all, because of all the memories that aren’t his. At the same time, he misses his real family, and wonders how they’re doing without him. Denki’s real memories have tilted back into his head with the realization of who he is, shoving “Shouto’s” memories to the side...although, they aren’t entirely gone. And Shouto...Shouto isn’t real. Shouto is Natsuo. Denki isn’t quite sure what to think of that, but he has a bigger problem, he thinks, sneaking out of class to follow the imposter. The one wearing his real face. Denki peers around the corner to see the other Kaminari encounter

another Kaminari. What.

“You.” the first says, greeting the other, who has a massive grin across his face.

“Me.” the second says, before dodging a sudden punch from the first. Denki stares as the two begin fighting, then turns around and decides to head back; he is not dealing with this.

“How’d the confrontation go?” Natsuo asks, after.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Denki sighs.

“We need to find a way to fix this.” Natsuo protests.

“There are two of them. Two imposters. And they were fighting each other!” Denki complains.

“Oh.” Natsuo says.

Eventually, it comes time to go to the summer camp. Denki...didn’t do the best, in the exams, to say the least; he's not used to Shouto's quirk. So he’s surprised he gets to go at all.

“I want to be myself again, I just, I’m afraid.” Denki protests. He doesn’t know what will happen, if he confronts the other. Of which there are two, because the universe obviously hates him. And in truth, with the way Shouto’s memories were still in his mind, he didn’t know. He didn’t know who he was anymore--he was Denki, of course, but he was Shouto too.

There is no Shouto, Natsuo had said. And that had been true. But Denki was now as much Shouto as Natsuo had been, and both of them were terrified of the implications. The idea that maybe he wasn’t Denki anymore; and there has never been a Shouto, but now there are memories that are no longer Natsuo’s, belonging to a separate body, a separate soul. Is the other Denki...was he the real Denki, now? And was Denki now Shouto?

 

***

“Why are there children here?” the villain Muscular asks, gesturing to Neito and some other boy with short brown hair in a school uniform.

“Excuse me, I am the Phantom Thief.” Neito huffs. Muscular’s eyebrows raise, and the other gasps.

“You’re the Phantom Thief? That’s so cool, I didn’t know you were my age.” he says.

“Who are you?” Neito asks.

“I’m Mustard. I’m here so I can kill stupid UA kids.” the boy says.

“Mustard.” Neito repeats.

“My villain name.” Mustard says.

“Obviously.” Neito says. The two stare at each other.

“You kids know what you’re getting into, here?” another asks; it’s a man covered in twisted purple scars and staples.

“Doesn’t matter if they do or not. You, they, are all part of the Vanguard Action Squad; it’s up to you to determine whether you’re enough to be part of the League. In my opinion, you’re all lame. Try and change that opinion.” Shigaraki says.

“I’m just here to kill Endeavor.” the burnt man, Dabi, snarls.

“We are going to be kidnapping his son.” Neito comments, hopping up to sit on the counter next to Mustard, who reaches for a drink. Kurogiri pushes the cup away from him, and he pouts.

“Really?” Dabi says. He looks taken aback.

“Him, and...who else...Toga, and the Jirous. Plus the Tokoyami girl.” Shigaraki says.

“That many?” a villain with a lizard quirk asks. Neito eyes his massive sword, and the equally large magnet belonging to the villain standing behind him. There was another, a man in a yellow coat and a top hat. Neito smiles. One person with some fashion sense.

“Why not? Hero kids are losers. Unless you’re too much of wusses to grab that many.” Shigaraki snaps.

“I just want to kill some of them.” Mustard says.

“We can agree on that.” Muscular says. Neito squints at him--isn’t that the guy who killed the Water Horses?

“Hello!” a voice shouts. Neito looks to see a man in a black and white spandex suit; someone he unfortunately recognizes.

“Oh. Hey.” he says, waving. Twice wouldn’t recognize him, since he looked like Kaminari now; but they’d fought before, and it had been trouble. And now there was further trouble, what with that Neito clone running around, though the clone was permanently stuck under Kaminari’s form.

“Nice to meet you all! I’m sure you all suck!” Twice says, his voice shifting. Neito stretches, and nearly knocks Mustard in the head.

“Watch it.” Mustard snaps.

“I am your superior.” Neito snaps back. He’s a proper villain, after all.

“You’re in a UA uniform.” Mustard sneers.

“Yeah, because I’m a villainous traitor. What have you done to help the league? Nothing. Plus, I bet your quirk is lame.” Neito says.

“My quirk can take down every single one of you. Plus, I have a gun.” Mustard says. Neito feels he has to respect this.

“I’m still better than you.” he says.

“Because of your quirk that’s interestingly similar to Twice’s?” Kurogiri asks, and Neito spins around. Oh no.

“The master will probably desire some words with you, later, Phantom Thief. Before then, I believe he would like to see your performance as a member of the Vanguard Action Squad.” Kurogiri says. Neito glowers into his flickering yellow eyes. He was aware he was playing a dangerous game, one he would probably lose, but this was his chance at real villainy more than petty theft or taking down small-time heroes or criminals. And it was the only way to ensure Himiko could have the future she had always wanted—to be a hero. The future Neito could never have.

Because neither of them had been good enough. Himiko had been the demon, the vampire, and he’d been useless, his quirk depending entirely on others; but at least he was better than she. At least, their mother had said as such. Neito remembers copying his sister’s quirk in an attempt to bear the burden, in an attempt to be anywhere near as awesome as she was, their mother was afraid of her but his quirk was nothing—he remembers Himiko’s love allowing her to copy his quirk as well, and they went back and forth and back and forth until everything went white. Until she had Copy, and he had Transform. Until he accidentally copied his mother’s quirk in the storm of energy that was tearing himself apart, and with the power dialed up to eleven it had winded his body down into a state near death. And dead they thought him.

Now Himiko was the better one, the one who had survived, able to both copy and transform with a touch; no need for the blood, for the hunger that filled Neito every now and then. He needed to drink the lifeblood of others, he could transform into anyone, he was everyone, he was no one at all, he was nothing. He was the Phantom Thief, the man without a face, and his sister would be a hero. God…he’s never been enough. Even now, all he could do was be others, be everyone, be the Phantom Thief; yell and gesture, and say Look at Me. But no one saw the real him...he wasn’t worth seeing, anyway. Neito traces his reflection in the polished top of the bar’s counter; Denki’s reflection. What did he look like? At this point, he barely remembers...it’s been three years since he’s been gone, three years since he’s been free, three years since Himiko’s been free of him.

“You okay?” Mustard asks, looking over.

“Somewhat.” Neito answers. But he isn’t, and he won’t be until he attacks UA and becomes the perfect villain; defeats AFO, and becomes the strongest villain; and doing so he’ll save Himiko, and she will be truly free, nothing hanging over her—and he’ll vanish into the evil he belongs in, while she’ll become the brilliant hero that she’s always been meant to be.

Somewhere out there, Neito thinks, is his clone, permanently stuck wearing Denki’s face; permanently, until he does something stupid and gets squished into sludge.

He’s not different from his clone at all, is he? Imprisoned under a disguise constantly, always aware he isn’t the better one...knowing he could be crushed at any moment.

Might as well do as best he can while it lasts...if he dies fighting AFO, no one will miss him who doesn’t know he’s dead already.

Dead already. Hm.

 

***

 

Kyoka’s soundwaves, rippling with lightning, tear the earth beasts to rubble.

“You’re doing amazingly!” Toga whoops; she has jacks of her own hanging from her earlobes, having figured out how to properly copy Kyoka’s quirk. Kyoka had even given her some blood, so she should hold it longer; Aizawa’s idea to get syringes as support items for Toga had been a brilliant idea. For now, she’d been living in UA, instead of going home; it seemed likely that her mother was going to be arrested for not only child abuse, but also for indirectly causing the death of one Monoma Neito through forced quirk withdrawal, which had led to the terrifying night of the fusion. It hadn’t been Toga’s fault; but it was hard for her friend to accept that, Kyoka thinks. Toga and Monoma’s mother had prevented either of them from obtaining the blood that sustained their quirks--Monoma, then keeping Toga’s quirk copied constantly, had suffered the same as she until it had been too much. Toga still said it was her fault Monoma wouldn’t let go of Toga’s quirk, but the only reason he’d been pushed to do that was because of the environment they’d lived in. Since then, Toga hadn’t needed to consume blood quite as often, due to having a modified quirk; but she still went after animals, occasionally.

“People often need special things for their quirks. For example, you know they’re building dorms? I’m getting soundproofed curtains around my bed. I’ll be able to sleep, for once. And you’ll get blood.” Kyoka had explained to her friend.

Once they arrive at the camp, Kyoka notices Shouto watching Denki the whole time they’re cooking.

“He’s been watching Denki a lot, hasn’t he?” Toga asks.

“Yeah.” Kyoka answers. She pokes the meat in the pan.

“You know, you could call me Kyoka, if you want.” she says. They’d been spending a lot of time together, recently; Fumikage was with Kyoshi most of the time, now. Kyoka was happy for the other, that she was mostly human again, but also slightly jealous. Fumikage was her brother...but he had been Kyoshi’s brother first.

“I can?” Toga asks, squealing.

“Yep. Most of 1A calls me Kyoka anyway, because of my brother.” Kyoka responds.

“KYOKA!!” Toga shouts, launching herself on top of Kyoka in a hug.

“You can call me Himiko!! Oh--are we best friends now? I’ve never had a best friend!” Himiko laughs.

“Sure.” Kyoka says, with a smile. “Why not.” She likes Himiko a lot, after all.

 

***

 

The villain attack begins with Neito punching himself in the face. Or, more accurately, as he’s walking with Fumikage and Kyoshi on the test of courage, his clone leaps out of the trees and decks him. At the same time, purple gas and blue fire begin to rise in the background. He staggers, grasping his chin. This wasn’t the plan--why was his clone ruining the plan?

“Kaminari!” Fumikage shouts, looking between them with shock; Kyoshi’s form ripples and wavers. The clone raises his arms with a grin.

“Tell me, have you heard of the Phantom Thief?” he asks.

“You--Kaminari said you were friends!” Kyoshi says.

“Things changed.” the clone laughs. Neito rolls his shoulders; he’s not going to take this, he decides, rushing forwards to try and break the clone’s arm—that’ll turn it into sludge. Annoyingly, his attack is blocked, and soon enough he’s facing off against himself. The clone would know his fighting style equally...bother. But the clone was stuck with Denki’s quirk active--and Neito had access to as many as he could touch. He flicks through the quirks he has copied (he always has his slots full) and settles on Shoji’s; a good balance of superstrength and hyper-senses to take down the clone as fast as possible. Now, the only problem was making sure the Jirous didn’t notice the way his mouth was widening, the way his arms were twisting--

A sudden burst of white-hot pain envelops him, and he stares at a set of long blades embedded in the ground, having severed his arm at the elbow. He can feel Shoji’s quirk regenerating him as he looks up at the villain Moonfish, he’d forgotten about that bastard--

Kyoshi screams, and suddenly she’s enveloping the entire clearing, a monster made of darkness; she’s twisting, leaping, curling, yelling, the shadow she’s made of devouring her mind--Moonfish is knocked into a tree and out cold, while the clone just barely manages to dodge. Neito, once his arm is grown back, switches his copied quirk to Aizawa’s; he can’t have Kyoshi like this if he’s to kidnap her.

The moment he activates it, Todoroki slides in on a sledge of ice; he’s glaring at Neito and his clone, and doesn’t seem to have any problem with the discrepancy of two Denkis. What he does have a problem with, though, is the appearance of the third Denki, tumbling to the ground from the air where Kyoshi just rose. He lies still on the ground for a second, Neito, Neito’s clone, Todoroki and Fumikage all staring in shock.

“Why am I a boy? Why am I Kaminari?” he shrieks; Neito realizes that the third Denki is Kyoshi, with her Dark Shadow transformation for once deactivated.

“What the frick.” Todoroki says, staring with an uncharisteric look of confusion; Neito decides enough is enough, and switches to Mr. Compress’s quirk (he’d taken some blood from the man earlier) and slaps Todoroki, imprisoning him in a marble.

“Wha—“ Fumikage starts, and Neito salutes the siblings with a grin; he tips a little blood into his mouth from one of his collected bottles (it was astonishingly easy to surreptitiously collect blood from his classmates during training) and activating Iida’s quirk, is away with the roar of an engine, too fast for them to follow, a marbled Todoroki gripped tightly in his hand. He knows AFO wanted Kyoka and Fumikage captured too, but...Kyoshi had Denki’s body, somehow. It was his fault, what had happened to Denki; never mind that the only way he could capture Kyoshi would be to erase her Dark Shadow transformation quirk and then she would be Denki, and then there would be…questions. And there’s no way he can grab Fumikage without having to grab her, too.

But what had happened to Denki? He’d been thinking on it for weeks, but no answer had become clear. The boy had vanished, and Kyoka had gained his quirk; he’d figured Denki dead, killed by a fusion. But if Kyoshi held his body..a fusion, according to AFO’s research, necessitated the separation of quirk, body, and soul. So where was Denki’s soul? It couldn’t be gone and him dead, Neito realizes, because otherwise Kyoshi wouldn’t have been able to take his body. So...where was he? And why did it feel as though the answer was directly within his grasp?

Chapter 8: you made us oh so famous

“You have to be careful, your body isn’t built for—oh.” Yaoyorozu says, watching Himiko copy her quirk and appearance to create enough gas masks for everyone.

“I can hear the source of the gas. It’s someone’s quirk.” Kyoka says, peering into the purple murk.

“Let’s go get them.” Himiko decides, punching her hand into her fist.

“I’ll stay—I don’t think we’ve found everyone yet.” Yaoyorozu says. She looks at them.

“Are you sure you’ll be all right?” she asks.

“Not really. But what else can we do?” Kyoka asks. Himiko creates a sharp knife with Yaoyorozu’s quirk.

“Just in case.” she says.

And so, the two walk through the thick gas, towards the footsteps at the center.

“Get down!” Kyoka suddenly says, launching herself on top of Himiko; the sound of a gunshot shivers through Kyoka’s ear jacks, and she can feel the purple gas parting from the slicing winds of a bullet.

“Look at that…the UA students are here.” a voice says, drifting eerily through the violet gloom. Kyoka hears the mechanisms of a gun clicking, and heavy breathing coming through a gas mask. The villain wasn’t immune to his own quirk? Kyoka jabs her earjacks into the ground, and sends jolts of sound rippling through it; the grass is torn up by electricity, and soon enough there’s a scream and a thump. The gas begins fading, and the girls push themselves off the ground to see someone in a school uniform, unconscious from the dual threat of electricity and sound waves colliding with him.

The sound of Iida’s engines comes from the distance; Kyoka and Himiko look over, but the boy who walks in front of them is none other than Kaminari.

“Oh. Hey.” he says.

“Where’s Iida? I heard his engines.” Kyoka says.

“He’s going to find Aizawa. Are you two all right? Oh, epic, you took a villain down!” Kaminari says, walking over; he sits between them, and places a hand on both of their shoulders, and suddenly everything folds up into darkness.

 

***

 

Something was wrong, Natsuo suddenly realizes. Well, something was always wrong, recently, if you considered Denki being in Shouto’s body. The kid wanted to go back to his family, but at the same time, his memories were tricking him into thinking the Todorokis were his family as well. Over the last while, he’d partly gotten used to being in only one body at once; but now, he felt as though the way to Shouto was…open. Concerned, he reaches out, and suddenly finds he has a second mind again; this one, though, is strangely muffled. He can’t see or feel anything around himself; this odd sensation only lasts for a short while though, before he blinks awake and finds himself chained up in a chair.

“Fuyumi, I think we have a problem.” he says. His sister looks over to him.

“Todoroki? He got you too?” Kyoka asks; also trapped is his classmate, and Toga from 1B.

“Welcome to the League of Villains.” a voice says. Natsuo looks up to see the villain Shigaraki; with him is Kurogiri, and multiple others Natsuo doesn’t recognize…and one he very slightly does.

How is he Shouto again? What had happened to Denki? Speaking of Denki…he was standing right there. But was it him? And over in the corner, a man covered in scars and staples, he calls himself Dabi…the oddest sort of memory comes tapping at Natsuo’s mind. He doesn’t understand it.

“You—you traitor!” Kyoka shouts, but the boy just laughs. Beside him is another kid, crossing his arms and looking annoyed.

“I can’t believe you all tried to leave me behind.” he huffs.

“I’m not a traitor, I’m a villain. I’m the Phantom Thief!” the Denki lookalike says.

“Where’s the real Kaminari?” Toga asks. Phantom raises his hands in a gesture of announcement.

“I am Kaminari Denki. Always have been. I’m just the Phantom Thief, too.” he says.

“No. You’re not.” Natsuo says.

“And what would you know about it?” Phantom asks.

“You aren’t the real Denki, because I talked to him while you were impersonating him.” Natsuo says. He remembers what Denki told him, about the Phantom Thief who wore his face.

“Wait...you aren’t Kaminari?” Kyoka asks.

“I am Kaminari.” Phantom says, glowering at Natsuo.

“Everyone shut up. You hero kids—you’re here because we want you on our team. We want you as villains, to work with us; because of your fused quirks.” Shigaraki says.

“You’re just asking us to join you? You think that will work?” Kyoka asks. Shigaraki sneers, and bends down towards Toga.

“Don’t you want to be free? If you were a villain, you could live life however you wanted. I know about your quirk--I know you want to drink blood, to transform into others, to use your full powers. With us, you can.” he says, and there’s something very odd in Toga’s eyes.

“I’m a hero.” she says, but her voice is wavering.

“Himiko--“ Kyoka starts.

“I’m better than that! I won’t fall for your tricks! I can live the way I want to, you say? Well, I want to be a hero!” Himiko yells.

“And trust me. There’s no way you won’t get to be who you are, fully. I swear to you.” Kyoka says. Shigaraki laughs.

“You really believe that? That you can be a hero with your quirk? The world will deny you, Toga. They won’t let you reach your full potential, they will despise you. I know you know this, deep down. But we; we know the truth. We are living in a broken world, and only we, the villains, the broken ones, can fix it. So I invite you to join us.” Shigaraki says.

“I’ll take care of little Todoroki Shouto.” Dabi says, walking up and grabbing the back of Natsuo’s chair. As he’s dragged out of the room, the door slamming shut behind him, Natsuo’s running to the car with Fuyumi; he doesn’t know if the part of him that’s Shouto will get out of this alive. But that’s all right, isn’t it? Isn’t it?

 

***

 

“Himiko, you can’t.” Kyoka says.

“They’re right.” Himiko mumbles.

“They’re not!” Kyoka protests.

“My life has been awful, Kyoka. You’ve been a single spot of light in it. But as much as I want to be a hero, I…I’ll never be accepted. I know this. I’ve been trying to keep my desires back, but I can’t any longer, and I…I don’t know what to do.” Himiko says, and Kyoka’s realizes her friend has been hiding her pain. There’s such sadness in her eyes.

It is at this point that the door swings open, revealing another Kaminari.

“It’s the second one…” Kyoka whispers.

“I am the real Kaminari Denki! And I’m the real Phantom Thief!” he yells.

“What?” Shigaraki asks.

“No—that’s my clone, he isn’t real at all!” Phantom protests.

“Didn’t you say you could control your clone?” Kurogiri asks.

“He wishes!” the clone shouts.

“Wait, that’s my quirk!” a villain in black and white yells.

“What’s happening?” the teenage villain asks. Then he shouts, because Phantom grabs his gun and fires off a shot at the clone; it misses, and the clone launches electricity through the room. The villains seem to realize there’s a fight on, and Kurogiri traps the clone in a portal as the lizard man swings a massive sword directly into the clone’s head. It collapses into sludge.

“Hey, that is my quirk! Wait, what’s all this stuff?” Twice yells; Kyoka realizes there’s purple gas everywhere, and Phantom, a mask on his own face, pulls the masks around Kyoka and Himiko’s necks up to cover them as he faces Kurogiri, the only one of the villains not affected by the knockout gas. The purple begins to fade as Phantom realizes it won’t work.

Kyoka hears a snap; Himiko is breaking out of her bonds with the knife she’d made with Yaoyorozu’s quirk earlier. She lets Kyoka out, and the two watch the Phantom fight Kurogiri, dodging portals and countering with Kaminari’s quirk. Kyoka looks towards the door to the room Todoroki had been dragged into, and runs to it; but it’s locked, and to her dismay, soundproof. A television on the wall crackles to life.

“Master.” Kurogiri says, inclining his head; Phantom falters in his movements.

“I see there has been a development.” the voice says, no doubt aware of all the unconscious villains all over the floor.

“There fricking well has, AFO. I’m not letting you make these kids into villains.” Phantom says.

“You’re the one who kidnapped them.” AFO says. Phantom laughs.

“So they’d help me defeat you. I’m not enough of an idiot to take you on my own—and you’re going down. I’ll be the greatest villain in the world!” Phantom yells.

“We’ll do what, now?” Kyoka asks. Phantom gestures dramatically to the television.

“That, there, is the so-called most powerful villain ever!! Help me defeat him, and you will be famous, as I will be; I’ll be the best villain, and you can be the best heroes!” Phantom shouts.

“You wish to fight the master? You are children. You will fail.” Kurogiri says. Phantom blasts him with electricity, and he collapses.

“Phantom Thief. I would ask you to tell me about your quirk, but I have already solved that mystery.” AFO says.

“Oh?” Phantom asks, but his voice is shivering.

“You can copy quirks, that is obvious. Quite tricky of you…however, it doesn’t explain how you manage to constantly change your appearance. A copy quirk and a transform quirk…now, isn’t that familiar.” AFO drawls, and Kyoka’s brows furrow; isn’t that what Himiko has? From her fusion with her brother?

“What?” Himiko asks. There’s something broken in the Phantom Thief’s expression.

“You figured it out, then.” Phantom says. He’s addressing the tv, and he sounds…tired.

“You have honestly done a good job, for how long you managed to keep this from me. But I always win in the end, Monoma Neito.”

Himiko makes a sound that’s a cross between a scream and a cry.

“I…” Phantom starts, and then hesitantly, he reaches a hand up to his face.

“It’s not—you can’t be—Neito’s dead! Who are you?” Himiko yells. Kyoka watches in horror as Phantom presses on his face, which is identical to Denki’s before his fingers start tearing it apart; as his image falls into sludge exactly how one of Himiko’s transformations is removed; how the liquid of disguise slides off him, revealing a boy with short blond hair and grey eyes.

“Neito.” Himiko says, and it’s as if the word is torn from her throat.

“This is the last thing I wanted.” Neito says. His voice is ashen.

“I thought you were dead—I thought I killed you!” Himiko yells.

“It should have stayed that way. I…you can be a hero, Himiko. Please. Forget me.” Neito says.

“Two fusions for the price of one. I hadn’t thought you’d survived, Neito, but this is only an extra prize; you two have the honor of being the most successful fusion I’ve created to date. Both alive, and both with improved quirks. Exactly what I am looking to replicate.” AFO says. Neito points towards the tv.

“That villain, All for One—he’s the cause of what happened to us. To Fumikage and Kyoshi. To you, Kyoka, and Denki—and I don’t even know what happened to Denki!” Neito yells.

“He’s dead, most likely.” AFO says, amusement in his voice.

“That’s what I thought, but I…I don’t know. But it’s your fault. And I’ll kill you for it, for everything. What kind of villain am I? My first kill’s going to be my last. Because I know there’s no way I can destroy you and survive.” Neito says.

“I’ll help.” Himiko says.

“I will, too.” Kyoka says, speaking up for once. She takes Himiko’s shoulder in her hand, and glares at Neito, who turns to Himiko.

“You can’t be a villain. You don’t want this life; it seems like freedom, but Himiko, this is the first time I have worn my own face in three years. I’m just barely managing to keep myself from becoming obsessed with blood, and even then I drink it when I can. I’m lost and broken, I always have been, and you’re so much more than me. I can’t let you lose your chance.” he says.

“We have equal of each other’s quirks. And just because you decided to give everything up for me—and who asked you to do that?—it doesn’t mean you can’t be a hero, too.” Himiko says.

“It means I’m going to be the greatest villain in the world!” Neito roars.

“Both of you are worth nothing, despite your pretty words. I made you into who you are—“ AFO says; he is cut off by Kyoka shoving her earjacks into the tv’s connected speakers, and sending a pulse of lightning and energy through it enough to make the device explode in smoke and sparks, and no doubt give him quite a painful sound in feedback.

“You just basically hung up on AFO—oh my God—we’re so dead.” Neito laughs, but he’s laughing in that way that means he knows he’s doomed. He looks around at all the unconscious villains, and then at the quirk restraints behind the bar.

“Come on, let’s take care of these guys.” he says, and the three work on tying up all the villains.

“Neito…I missed you. I really, really missed you—and you were the Phantom Thief this whole time?” Himiko asks. Neito grins.

“I know, I’m pretty famous. Everyone knows who I am, but no one does; it’s everything and nothing I’ve ever wanted. But Himiko—I remember when we were younger, and I…it was your dream to be a hero. I can’t let you throw that away. That’s why I’m here, with the league. So I can kill AFO, take the worst of the trouble, because he’s long since been coming for you.” he says.

“Did you copy our mother’s quirk, then?” Himiko asks.

“I…yeah. It wasn’t on purpose—I didn’t mean to, but I just slowed everything down, and I…I’m sorry. I’m sorry you thought I was dead.” Neito says.

“I was holding you, and you were cold. You weren’t opening your eyes, you weren’t breathing! Why would you think I’d be better off without you?” Himiko yells.

“Because all I’ve ever done is try to be as amazing as you. All I’ve ever been is an imitation, a copy.” Neito says. He sits down, and spins a small bottle around his hand with a sigh.

“I don’t know you, but…if you’re Himiko’s brother, I’m sure you’re just as cool as she is. I mean. Look at this!” Kyoka says, gesturing to the tied up and unconscious villains.

“You took down the entire League!” she points out.

“I did, huh.” Neito says. He pauses.

“Why hasn’t AFO sent an army of nomus in to kill us yet?” he asks. Kyoka shrugs.

“Maybe he wants to kill us personally.” she says. Which also doesn’t answer the question of why they weren’t dead yet.

“Neito—this, if anything, means you can be a hero.” Himiko says.

“I have beat up minor heroes. And drunk their blood.” Neito points out.

“Well, guess what—if you won’t be a hero, I won’t be one either. I have you back, Neito. I won’t lose you again. So I’ll go with you wherever you go.” she says.

“I can’t!” he says.

“Then I can’t.” Himiko insists. Finally, he reaches out, and takes her hand.

Kyoka abruptly remembers their classmate, and casts an anxious glance towards the far door.

“Todoroki…” she says.

“Oh frick. I forgot Dabi had him—“ Neito says; he yelps, for the door has swung open, revealing Dabi, who looks around at all of them.

“Huh. Hadn’t expected that.” he says, blinking in shock at all his unconscious allies before looking at Neito with some confusion.

“Where’s Todoroki?” Himiko asks. Dabi grins.

“Right here.” Dabi says, and Kyoka’s heartbeat thuds in horror; Dabi is dragging Todoroki’s body--the boy is lifeless and still, one entire half of him horrifyingly burnt to chars.

Chapter 9: we're all gonna die

The last thing Denki remembers is the other Kaminari, who now that he thinks about it was probably Neito, slapping him. And yet here he is, lying on the forest floor. He’s himself, he realizes, in a flash. Not Todoroki Shouto.

“Kaminari?” a voice asks. Denki looks up to see Fumikage, and floating beside him yet attached to no one, Kyoshi.

“Hi.” he says.

“Why was I possessing you?” Kyoshi asks.

“Probably because I was possessing Shouto.” Denki says. He realizes abruptly he has no quirk. Oh…Kyoka has it.

“What?” Fumikage asks.

“It’s complicated.” is all Denki can manage.

Toga, Kyoka and Shouto are all missing. Kidnapped. That raises the question, though, of what happened with Shouto; did Natsuo take him back? It seemed the most likely option.

 

***

“YOU GOT KIDNAPPED??” Fuyumi screeches.
“Shush! We’ve got to get out of here before they call Father.” Natsuo says, dragging his sister to the garage as the villain Dabi drags him off to a side room.

“It’ll be fine. I know where I am…not locationally…but I can get to it.” Natsuo says, taking the front seat of Fuyumi’s car.

“You want to just—go? By ourselves?” she asks.

“Got a better option that doesn’t involve telling others about Shouto?” Natsuo asks. Dabi is monologing about how much he hates heroes, and how much he hates Endeavor in particular. Natsuo zones out from Shouto, Dabi’s words fading to the back of his mind; he doesn’t need to hear it.

“We could tell Father.” Fuyumi points out. Natsuo considers this.

“I’d rather escape on my own.” he says. Not in a million years will he tell Enji about Shouto; holding onto the fire is false but for this, he won’t let go.

“Shouto could get killed!” Fuyumi says. Natsuo shrugs.

“Won’t be a terrible loss.” he says. She stares at him, and he can see the moment in which she realizes he’s right.

“If Shouto cops it, things might be better.” he says.

(you are nothing to me!! Look at me, Todoroki Shouto, son of Endeavor! You’ve lost, little hero…speak to me. What’s it like to realize your daddy can’t pull you out of everything? That you aren’t as perfect as you’ve been told you are?)

“Better?” Fuyumi asks, and she seems an odd sort of devastated.

“Yeah. Yeah. Everything I am, Fuyumi, everything useful, everything worth anything, it’s Shouto. If that part of me was gone, I think I might be free.” Natsuo says.

“Free of what?” Fuyumi asks.

“Obligations. Father. A life I never wanted. I won’t have to be Shouto anymore, I can just be Natsuo, I can stop playing a part.” he explains.

“Is that all Shouto is to you?” Fuyumi asks.

“What else would it be?” he responds.

“You’ve lived your entire life with him, Natsuo.” she says.

“With it.” he corrects. Shouto isn’t a him.

“As him.” Fuyumi says. He opens his mouth, but doesn’t answer as lights flicker past the car window.

“You say Shouto isn’t a person, isn’t real, but that isn’t quite true. Natsuo, he’s you. If you lose that part of your life…do you want to be a hero?” she asks.

“I…maybe.” he answers. He doesn’t know. But he likes training that isn’t pain, he likes to feel useful, like he’s worth something.

“Listen to me. If Shouto dies, I will not miss him.” Fuyumi says.

“Really?” Natsuo asks.

“Really. Because all he is, is you. Because you’re my brother, and what you do with your life, either of your lives, is your choice. Because you are someone without Shouto, you are everything without Shouto. You don’t need a powerful quirk to make something of yourself. But what I’m asking you is, are you acting like this because you feel you aren’t enough?” she asks.

“Acting like what?” he answers.

(all this time, none of you considered. Didn’t even think of it. You forgot! You forgot, and it will be your end!! You can never let go of the past, no matter how much you try…it’ll drag itself from the grave to watch you burn.)

“Acting like you aren’t Shouto, too.” Fuyumi says. He stares at her, but she’s right, isn’t she? A big part of who he is, of the decisions he makes, an entire half of his life is in accordance with his younger body.

“You know I don’t forgive father.” he says. It isn’t a question.

“But you know what Shouto says, about him?” he asks.

“That you’re willing to give him a chance if you think he ever gets around to deserving one.” Fuyumi says. She leans against the car’s window.

“That’s because of me, isn’t it?” she asks.

“I honestly don’t know. I think it’s…I study this stuff, Fuyumi. Shouto’s brain has developed in an entirely different way than mine. I’m not two different people, no way, but when I’m him I don’t think I’m the same.” he says. Losing Shouto, he’d be losing an entirely separate way of thinking he’d long since been part of. And during the days that Denki had been Shouto, he hadn’t known what to do with himself. With there being only one of himself.

(because I am the one you thought gone!! I am your doom and your downfall!! Think of how your father will feel when he sees that I’ve killed you…that he’s lost yet another son. Although, that’s inaccurate, isn’t it?)

“Besides, if Shouto died, all your friends would be devastated, and you could never talk to them again.” Fuyumi points out.

“They’re kids.” Natsuo says.

“You’re a kid too.”

He leans back in the car’s chair.
“I’m not.” he says. But nineteen isn’t that old, is it? And his fifteen year old brain isn’t even that.

“You’re my little brother. I wish…I wish I’d figured this out before.” Fuyumi says, and he remembers how she felt when he’d left. He remembers how before then, that for all the time they spent together she lamented she didn’t know Shouto.

“It’s all right.” he reassures her.

(the one lost has returned. I have returned. For I am your brother, I am TODOROKI TOUYA!!!)

“I think there’s a villain yelling at me. Should probably zone back into awareness with Shouto.” Natsuo says, and blinks his second pair of eyes before looking up at the scarred man Dabi, who has blue fire spinning around him and a look of mad triumph on his face.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you. Wasn’t listening.” he says.

 

***

 

Dabi feels his high crash like a waterfall, as he stares at Shouto’s patient expression. The boy hadn’t heard anything. Anything! Dabi puts his face in his hands and screams.

“Uh…you all right?” Shouto asks.

“Shut up.” Dabi hisses, glaring at him. Blue eyes meet heterochromatic ones.

“You ruin everything! You ruined even this! Even what would finally vindicate me!” Dabi cries. Shouto watches him, and an odd expression spreads across his face, one of understanding.

“Oh. Touya.” he says; he seems surprised, but only slightly, and mostly just very, very sad.

“That’s it? THAT’S IT?” Dabi roars. Shouto hangs his head, and wrapped up in quirk restraints and chains as he is, Dabi is the one pacing like a caged tiger.

“I’m sorry.” Shouto says, and he means it.

“For what? For what happened to me? The only way you could have done anything about that would be to not exist.” Dabi says, slamming a camera onto the table facing Shouto. He’s going to record himself brutally murdering the boy and send it live to Endeavor.

“Sometimes I wish I didn’t.” Shouto says. He looks up, and sees the camera.

“This isn’t for me, is it? It’s for Father.” he says.

“It’s for both of you. I hate both of you.” Dabi snaps.

“No, you…I remember you.” Shouto says.

“Unlikely.” Dabi huffs. Shouto had been five years old when Touya had died.

“You don’t hate me for who I am, because if you did, you’d know who I am.” Shouto says. There’s something Dabi recognizes in his eyes. Something that’s familiar, that shouldn’t be there, that isn’t right.

“You hate me for what I am.” Shouto says.

The worst part is that he’s right. Dabi doesn’t know Shouto; but he doesn’t need to, not with what Shouto represents. The destruction of his future, of his life. The whole reason he’d become Dabi was because Shouto, perfect Shouto, had been born.

“I hate myself for what I am, too. But I…I didn’t know what else to do, Touya. I tried, I really did. But it wasn’t enough, and you…I’m sorry.” Shouto says. He’s crying.

“Apologies are worth nothing.” Dabi spits.

“I should have done more, I could have told you—I was too afraid to tell you, for the amount you wanted my place. You wanted everything Shouto had, but you also wanted the nothing I had.” Shouto says.

“What are you talking about?” Dabi asks.

“I never was quirkless.” Shouto says, and Dabi doesn’t understand.

“You hate Shouto as a concept. Only logical, really. That’s all he’s ever been.” Shouto says, and something clicks in the corner of Dabi’s mind.

“Natsuo.” he says, and Shouto, not Shouto, nods assent. And Dabi laughs; he laughs, because isn’t it the most brilliant irony? Isn’t it the most terrible thing?

“So you weren’t lying, huh.” he says; he remembers when he was younger, when Natsuo had claimed himself to be Shouto. He remembers not listening; he remembers the way the two had always acted oddly similar. And there was no way little Shouto could remember him; only Natsuo, only the one who had once been his friend, could recognize him as Touya as he just had. And it makes no sense, but it makes perfect sense, because there’s no other option considering the way Shouto is speaking, the way Shouto is looking at him.

“Shouto—Shouto is your quirk.” Dabi says. Natsuo had passed out with no explanation, the day Shouto had been born; Natsuo had a quirk no one knew of, but he’d always seemed to know it himself. Know it, and resent it.

“Shouto is your bloody fricking quirk!” Dabi yells. Fire erupts in his clenched fist, as blue as the depths of the ocean. He’d only ever spent as much time as he had with Natsuo because Natsuo couldn’t challenge him—so to find that Natsuo had been Shouto all along? It destroyed him.

“Why? Why?” he asks. Why hadn’t Natsuo told anyone? Told their father? He could have received everything Shouto did, could have had a life that didn’t leave him locked away. Could have been more than the useless that everyone, even Dabi, had assumed him to be. He didn’t understand. Why hadn’t Natsuo been the best twice over?

“Shouto never got to see you or Fuyumi. I didn’t want to lose either of you. Because I was scared of who I was becoming as Shouto, and I wanted at least one part of me to be myself. Because being Shouto hurts and I was terrified. And Shouto…being Shouto lets me fight, lets me be angry, lets me defy our father; Shouto is holding on. And I am running away, I am letting go. I left the house, but I was never free. I’m a living contradiction and I hate it, but at the same time it’s all I’ve ever known. I’m as much Shouto as I am Natsuo; I have two lives, two halves, and I’d lose so much if I lost one. ” Natsuo says.

There’s only one thing Dabi has ever been fighting for. Only one thing he is still fighting for. Hate.

“You destroyed my life. You’re the only thing Endeavor cares about. Whatever your name is, your actions did this to me, and because of that I’ll kill you.” Dabi says, his confused emotions finally fusing into a single blade. There is no such person as Shouto, but there is Natsuo, and so Natsuo is the one at fault. And it’s not like Endeavor knows that Shouto isn’t real—thus, killing him will have the desired effect, which is all that really matters.
“Touya, we used to be friends—we used to tell each other everything!” Natsuo, no, Shouto, cries; they are one and the same, and it is breaking Dabi’s brain.

“Everything? Is that right, Natsuo? Everything?” Dabi asks. He flicks the camera on; finally, finally, it is time to obtain one half of his ultimate goal. It is time for Shouto, for Natsuo, to die.

 

***

 

Fuyumi just manages to grab the steering wheel in time to prevent the car crashing when Natsuo starts screaming; he is screaming, and twisting, and he looks like he’s dying. Leaning over, she pulls the vehicle to the side of the road; Natsuo is holding himself tightly, crying.

“What’s happening?” she asks.

“Touya is—he’s killing me!” Natsuo screams, and she notes he’s only holding his right side, his ice side, and Fuyumi makes the connection that Touya is burning Natsuo alive. And she doesn’t know what to do; because they’re here, not there, and still too far of a distance away from Kamino, and her brother is dying in front of her at the hands of her other brother and there’s nothing she can do.

“I’m trying to fight him, but I can barely even use my quirk…please, just please, I don’t want to die!” he yells, holding his head in his hands; and physically, he’s fine, but miles away the body named Shouto is getting its flesh seared from its bones. Natsuo is curled up on the carseat, his screams fading to whimpering.
“I thought, I thought, I thought…what’s wrong with Touya? Why…why…it hurts so much, don’t!"

Fuyumi wraps her arms around him, and slightly activates her ice quirk; it cools the air, and assuages Natsuo a little, but it can do nothing to stop the inferno that Shouto is dying in.

“I’m sorry. This was my fault, this is my fault!” he says.

“Touya was not your fault. He couldn’t have been. You were too young, and we could do nothing.” Fuyumi says.

“I could have done something! I could have told him! I could have, I should have, I was Shouto, it was Shouto the reason that Touya is NO, NO, NO, NO, STOP! Stop it…” Natsuo pleads.

“It wasn’t on you. It wasn’t. It’s Father’s fault, Natsuo, all of it.” Fuyumi says. Because her brother is dying in her arms, and it’s because her other brother hates her father; the family she would give everything to keep together is tearing itself apart.

“He’s laughing. He’s laughing, Fuyumi.” Natsuo says.

“I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.” she tells him. She hates this; hates that she is useless here, hates that all she can do is watch. But as fire burns, cold infuses the air; like an icicle, her heart is struck. Her family, her brothers, she loves them so much; she even loves her Father. But Enji is the reason Touya is a monster; and in truth, despite her words, she has not forgiven him. She just wants a chance. Wants them to be what she’s always wanted them to be. But Touya is killing Natsuo, and she thought Touya was dead but he’s alive, he’s alive and he’s lost himself and he’s nothing like who he was. And she needs to do something about it.

Natsuo takes a deep breath, shivering, and falls still; for a terrifying moment she worries, but then he moves again, and his face is streaked by tears.

“I died.” he says. He’s holding his hand out in front of him, looking at it.

“Touya burned through my wrist. I saw my hand fall on the floor, it was black like charcoal, and he stepped on it and it crunched and I—“ Natsuo falters. Fuyumi hugs him. He’s taller than she is, but now, he seems so small. The roar of a singular car driving past the road hums loud in their ears, and then it is gone, and Natsuo is wearing a look of despair.

“I loved Touya.” he says.

“So did I.” Fuyumi says. They both look far ahead, to the city of Kamino. Fuyumi’s phone rings in her pocket.

“Oh. It’s Father.” she says, quietly.

“Touya did say he was streaming my murder live.” Natsuo says, with a short laugh. They both watch the phone ring.

“You said two of your classmates got kidnapped with you?” Fuyumi asks.

“Yeah.” Natsuo says.

“Do you remember where Shouto was?” she asks.

“Yeah.” he says.

“Then let’s go find them.” she says, and the two drive off; the sound of an unanswered ringtone fades into silence.

Chapter 10: return from the ashes you call

Notes:

warning for brief graphic violence description, it's all in the first paragraph

Kyoka’s breath catches in her throat.

Dabi has one foot on the body he’s tossed to the floor; it has hair as red as the setting sun reflected in a lake. Directly splitting the middle of the corpse’s face is a line of cracked and blackened skin—Todoroki’s entire left side has been turned mostly to ashes, a broken set of ribs are jutting through the air covered in gray dust, and squishing sounds of gore seeping onto the floor are terribly clear in Kyoka’s hypersensitive ears. Todoroki’s legs are both still intact, but his left arm is almost completely removed from the shoulder, and missing the hand.

“Like what you see?” Dabi asks, laughing. He presses his foot into Todoroki’s half-head. Something snaps, and Kyoka wants to throw up, hearing the bone clicking on the floor between the drips. Dabi drops Shouto’s arm, and it flops, hitting the ground with a thump. The villain raises his hands, stepping forwards.

“Oh God. Oh God.” Neito says; Kyoka glances at the blond boy and his sister, both of whom have a mixture of disgust and desire on their face. The blood…it must be calling towards their vampiric quirks, Kyoka realizes, so she grabs Neito and Himiko by the hands, dragging them backwards through the room around all the unconscious villains as Dabi follows, not even bothering to walk quickly.

“Copy their quirks!” Kyoka hisses; if Neito grabs Kurogiri’s portals, they can be out of here.

“What, you’re just going to leave? After I killed little Shouto?” Dabi asks. Neito’s hand transforms into a purple mist, but then he freezes.

“I need to know the exact coordinates.” he says.

“Can’t you teleport to where you can see?” Himiko asks.

“We’re in the middle of Kamino Ward, kids. A city full of people. I’m feeling pretty good right now…and it’s wonderful how quickly fire spreads.” Dabi says, a blue whip of fire lashing about his wrist.

“We can take you down.” Kyoka says, and in that moment she realizes it’s true; with Himiko and Neito able to copy the quirks of all the villains, never mind herself, they’re enough of a force to match Dabi. Dabi, who had killed Todoroki.

She doesn’t think her brain has fully accepted the fact that Todoroki is dead. She hardly knew him, but now he is gone, and his murderer stands there grinning. So she shoves her earjacks into the floor, and a pulse of electricity screams; a ball of flashing yellow energy vibrating with terrible sound crashes into Dabi, who draws up a shield of fire to block the assault. He slams into the far wall of the bar, and something starts blaring, flashing red.

“Whoops. Looks like you activated the just in case.” Dabi says, and Kyoka steps back as monsters, Nomu, twisted creatures start sliding out of black sludge coming from thin air.” “The big boss had a fail safe set up…I do wonder why he hasn’t said anything himself. But no matter.” Kyoka screams; energy is raging through her body with every beat of her heart. Himiko holds her hand, and then Neito’s got her other one; Kaminari’s quirk is tearing her, tearing them all apart.

“What—stop it!!” Dabi yells, as even the Nomus are collapsing from the waves of raging energy; the building they’re in shatters, crumbling, falling apart. Kyoka sees blood in the air, and knows it’s her own, it’s her friends’. Kaminari’s quirk is made for the brain, not the body.

Dabi’s fire reaches a crescendo; it leaps and twirls and rages like an army, tongues of flickering flame a million spears. Kyoka is acutely aware of Himiko’s, of Neito’s heartbeats; they are in sync now, all using the same quirk. Something spins and shatters in the depths of her mind, an anachronistic quiet to what surrounds them.

“You killed Todoroki!” Himiko screams.

“And I’ll kill you!” Dabi yells back.

“Who are you kidding? You’re the villain, you’ll lose.” Neito laughs, a wild look on his face as his hair flows around him.

“We’re the heroes here.” he says. And it’s acceptance.

“Come on! You can do it!” Himiko yells.

“We can do it, you mean!” Jirou shouts back; and she sees there’s a crowd around the broken building, heroes fighting Nomu as the three of them face off against Dabi.

“ENDEAVOR!!!!” Dabi yells; the number two hero, and the number one hero, are both here. Whatever for? To save them?

“Too little, too late!” Dabi laughs; and Kyoka remembers that Todoroki is Endeavor’s name. And the Nomus are everywhere, and Dabi is overcoming them, and Endeavor falters upon seeing inside the broken building, seeing what’s left of his son.

“Hey!” a voice shouts. She looks up; there’s Kyoshi, a flying form of shadow, and riding her is Kaminari Denki. He has no quirk, she has his quirk, what is he—

Ice erupts from Kaminari’s outstretched hand in a cone, barely missing Dabi and colliding with the ground; it knocks the villain from the sky, and he lands on his feet for a moment. But that moment is enough, for an engine revs, and a car, of all things, zips out of nowhere and hits directly into Dabi. He falls, and does not get up.

“Is it over?” Himiko asks. The villains are captured, the heroes are here, the energy and electricity between them fades to silence.

“Yeah. I think it’s over.” Kyoka says.

 

***

 

“So...I hit Touya with your car.” Natsuo says.

“He deserved it.” Fuyumi says. They’re waiting as all the villains are rounded up, and watching as Dabi, despite his capture and injury, is crowing superiority over Enji; superiority the other cannot protest.

“You doing all right?” she asks.

“I think so.” Natsuo answers. With Shouto gone, his quirk buzzed at him, since his ability for control was now empty. Somehow, Denki had obtained Shouto’s “quirk”; Natsuo figured it must have been due to something in the fusions or whatever after his death.

“Shouto’s dead. I didn’t want to lose him.” Natsuo says. He sighs. “But I think I’ll be all right. I...I don’t really know what I was doing, with Shouto.” He had wanted to be a hero, wanted to be someone, to be something more than he was. But at what point did he stop being himself?

There was no such person as Todoroki Shouto.

“Father’s going to expect us to grieve.” Fuyumi says.

“Then he can expect it.” Natsuo says, watching Dabi. Dabi, who had killed Shouto.

“What’s Dabi going to do now?” he asks.

“Go to jail, I guess.” Fuyumi says. She squints at the scene not too far off.

“I think Father is reconsidering all his life decisions.” she says.

“Good for him.” Natsuo answers. They sit in silence, watching Dabi’s shouting and laughter fade slowly into crying--or, at the very least cry-screaming, since no tears were falling from his eyes.

“...why is he crying?” Natsuo asks. Dabi hadn’t shown a single sign of remorse during the excessively brutal murder.

“You could go ask him.” Fuyumi says.

Natsuo gets up, and walks past his father, who appears to be having an existential crisis.
“Why are you crying? Because. I should be the one crying, I think.” Natsuo says. Dabi meets his eyes; the scars on his face are leaking blood.

“I won.” Dabi says. His hands are restrained, so he nods towards Enji.

“You won?” Natsuo asks. Because if that was true, wouldn’t Dabi then be celebrating?

“Look at him. He’s broken. Despair. Life utterly ruined. It’s everything I’ve ever wanted.” Dabi says. And he’s right; the death of Shouto at Dabi’s hands was, it seemed, horrible enough to shock Enji into a stupor. “It’s perfect. But...he wouldn’t be like that, if he knew about you. All this...it’s not because of me. He’s still got nothing for me. It’s all for Shouto, and it’s all because of you. And isn’t that just so ironic? I’ve waited years for this moment! Years! And then you ruin it, and then it isn’t about me, or even you, at all. And it's always been you.” Dabi says. It's always been about Shouto, but it's never been about Shouto; a father who only sees his children for their quirk, doesn't really see them at all. Dabi will never get what he desires.

“Didn’t get what you wanted?” Natsuo asks. He’s feeling petty. Which is, perhaps, excusable, considering the situation.

“You understand, though, don’t you. After everything I’ve done, everything you’ve done, it’s still only about Shouto. And Shouto is...” Dabi says, attempting to gesture with his shoulders.

“Yeah.” Natsuo says. He looks over at his brother.

“You’re acting pretty calm, considering earlier. Which I won’t forgive you for. That was painful.” he says.

“Good.” Dabi says. He swings his feet back and forth, looking at the ground.

“I’m done now.” he says.

“Done?” Natsuo asks.

“I wanted to kill him. But now I’m thinking it would be a greater end for him to live suffering in ignorance. He’s trapped in a prison he’s created himself. Like I am. Everything was for his eyes but he can’t see.” Dabi says.

“The fact that you realize this, means you might find a way free.” Natsuo answers. The memory of burning alive is still solid in his mind, but maybe out of love, or maybe out of idiocy, he wants to give Dabi a chance.

“I killed Shouto and ruined Endeavor’s life. I’m done. I figured I’d die doing this. The fact that I’m not dead...I don’t know.” Dabi says.

“You could try living.” Natsuo points out.

“Why are you talking to me? I killed Shouto. I killed him the same way I died.” Dabi says.

“Must not be a very effective way to kill people.” Natsuo says, and Dabi laughs.

“I’m talking to you because I’m the one who won.” Natsuo explains.

“Even though I got exactly what I wanted, it isn’t anything I’ve wanted at all. I think that’s…I think that’s why I feel rational. There’s nothing left for me to think about.” Dabi says. And Natsuo gets it, a little. He can’t imagine how long Dabi’s been living on his hate. How long he’s been waiting for this moment. And when he finally gets it, poof, invalidated. But...Natsuo doesn’t have sympathy. Because Shouto dying had hurt.

“How do you think I feel?” Natsuo asks.

“If I’m honest, I missed you. You weren’t the problem like Shouto was...God! Hah!” Dabi says, shaking his head with self-derisive laughter. He’s lost, Natsuo realizes. He’s reached the end of his rope and he doesn’t know where to go.

Natsuo failed Touya once, even if it wasn’t his fault. He won’t do it again.

 

***

 

Kyoka is holding Himiko’s hand. Neito looks at them, his sister and her best friend—more than a friend?—and spins his pencil. They’re in UA, they’re both in UA, and despite everything, he’s going to be a hero. He’s sitting at desk number fifteen. There’s a scorched mark on the corner; he taps it with the pencil. How did it get burnt? Maybe Bakugou, or…oh.

The image of what had happened to Todoroki Shouto still occasionally rises in his mind. It had been horrific, and a huge blow for the community that Endeavor hadn’t been able to save his son. Besides that, All Might would apparently retire soon; from what Neito remembers of that hectic night, the heroes had found AFO’s body in front of an exploded computer. It had appeared a wave of energy had burst through the speakers enough to kill him. Kyoka hadn’t been sure how to react to that, he remembers; she’d killed the greatest villain in the world by accident, because of course the last thing AFO would have expected was sound waves to blast through his speakers and wreck his life support with some electricity to help.

Because Kyoka still had Denki’s quirk, and Denki had Todoroki’s. And for some unknown reason, Todoroki’s older brother was helping him learn how to use it. There was something weird there, Neito knew, but it wasn’t his to know.

“Toga, I understand you are good friends with Jirou, but do get back to your classroom before Vlad gets annoyed.” Aizawa says.

“Yes, Aizawa-Sensei!” Himiko says, waving to Kyoka and Neito as she leaves for 1B. He had never thought this would be possible, him here, especially considering all the crimes he’d committed. Especially considering he’d kidnapped Todoroki, and as such it was his fault Todoroki had been killed.

But Kyoka, Himiko and Denki had all insisted on it; and Aizawa-Sensei, who due to being a kind of ward for Himiko was also technically the ward for Neito, had had some say. Neito wasn’t the only one, that other young villain Mustard was going to Shiketsu, apparently. There was some kind of juvie villain reform program that Neito and he had been placed in, and considering the fact that Neito had been the reason AFO and the League had been defeated—plus he’d never killed anyone—he’d been allowed a chance.

Except he sits here and he traces his fingers on Todoroki’s desk, and he doesn’t know if he deserves it.

“Cheer up! We’re going to go up against 1B in training exercises today…I know you’re excited about that.” Denki says, leaning over. Neito stretches his hands in the air, and grins.

“I am! For 1B is useless against us…even though it contains the force that is my sister, they are nothing against us, class 1A!! We are unstoppable!!” Neito shouts.

“Monoma—“ Aizawa starts.

“Fear not! 1B will be defeated for all time, this time! There is no other solution, no other way to gain the win we so very clearly deserve! You know we’re superior, Aizawa-Sensei. Come on, now.” Neito says. Aizawa sighs.

 

***

 

Natsuo’s carrying cardboard boxes to Fuyumi’s car.
“Glad to be moving out?” he asks, grinning. There was no reason for her to stay in Enji’s house any longer.

“I think so.” Fuyumi says, shading her eyes from the sun. “How’s it going with Kaminari?” After the brief “familial” connection they had experienced, never mind that the boy had somehow inherited Shouto’s quirk, Natsuo had taken it upon himself to help the other out when he could.

“He’s doing a great job.” Natsuo says. Half-hot Half-cold wasn’t Natsuo's quirk any longer, but it was definitely a heroic quirk, and there was something brilliant about it still being used for heroism, far out of Enji’s reach. Speaking of…their father had, in a surprise turn that had shocked Natsuo to his core, apologized. And he’d actually meant it, and he was promising to try and do better. To atone. But as Dabi would say, too little, too late, because there was a shrine for Shouto in the place of the shrine for Touya, but it was just as much of a lie. Enji failed, and his son died; but he failed again, because his son lived, and he didn’t realize. Twice.

Natsuo didn’t know if he ever would. Enji had understood that something wasn’t right, because Natsuo hadn’t bothered putting on any act of grieving; he was done playing a part. But his father still hadn't seen. Fuyumi, though...she might be having fun with the act, or maybe it was some kind of vindication at finally being in on one of Natsuo's schemes, but either way she had hit him a little hard with that book she had thrown at him for not being sad about Shouto. He thinks that perhaps, what she’s really grieving is the perfect family she’s always wanted, that she’ll never get now. Not after Dabi, not after Shouto…even Fuyumi had stopped looking back. Because there was something awful about Enji mourning his dead son when Natsuo was still right there.

When Natsuo had always been there.

Growing up with near-equal portions of directly abusive attention and neglect had left him not overly inclined to like his father. And while as Shouto he had claimed he might still give Enji a chance, that chance was gone now, because Natsuo couldn’t stand it. Because even Fuyumi couldn’t stand it. It was all about Shouto, even now—but it wasn’t really about Shouto, was it? Because if Enji had really known Shouto, had seen him for more than his quirk (literally), he would have known that Shouto wasn’t Shouto at all.

“How has mother been?” Natsuo asks. He and Fuyumi had visited her recently, he for the first time in a long while. He missed her. It was good she was getting out of the hospital, now; she was going to live at Fuyumi’s new house with her.

“She’s…happy.” Fuyumi says. It had been a shock to both of them to find that Rei had known about Natsuo being Shouto all along. All this time; but who listened to a woman who had lost her mind? Natsuo had burst into tears in that room when he’d learned. Learned that someone had seen him.

Dabi had been angry Enji had had only eyes for Shouto, but those eyes had been blind. Dabi had hated a concept that wasn’t even a truth. Dabi…he would be in jail for a while, and despite the way the memories of death haunted his dreams, Natsuo was willing to wait for Dabi, for Touya. He’d done enough waiting for Enji.

Natsuo’s phone rings. This time, he picks up.

“Hey, brother.” A raspy voice finds its way over the phone.

“Hey, Touya.” Natsuo says.

“Heard you guys got mother out.” Dabi says.

“We did.” Natsuo answers. God, he missed the Touya that had once been. But there was time; and while they would never be the same family again, that was a good thing, wasn’t it?

“Sorry about killing you.” Dabi says. Natsuo’s eyebrows raise.

“Really?” he asks.

“No. Not yet. But I figure you’d like to hear that.” Dabi says. Natsuo huffs, but says nothing in response; there isn't really anything to say.

“I guess I was stupid to direct so much hate towards you, Shouto. It was wasted.” Dabi continues.

“I’m not Shouto.” Natsuo says.

“Well, I’m not Touya.” Dabi answers.

 

But neither of those are quite true.

 

THE END

Notes:

everything metaphorical about the Todoroki family in canon, is reality in this AU.

Chapter 11: when our brothers in arms are gone

Notes:

Surprise! Bonus chapter!

I couldn’t help but wonder how things would go if Natsuo had told his family about his quirk, so, well, here it is.

“My name is Todoroki Shouto.” he says, to the mirror. God, he hates lying.

“You okay? Shouto?” his sister asks, noticing his worried expression. He winces.

“Do you have to call me that name?”

“I’m sorry, but you are going to have to get used to it.”

“Not from you.” he says.

“No.” Fuyumi acquiesces. “Not from me.” The fact remained, though, that he would still have to get used to the name. Unfortunately.

“Shouto literally means freeze-burn. It’s ridiculous.” He looks ridiculous, he thinks, glancing over the familiar half-and-half hair and heterochromatic eyes. Not to mention the scar. He looks almost fake, if he thinks about it. “Well. First day of high school, I guess.” Again.

Natsuo hates his life, and he hates his nonexistent brother; he doesn’t remember much from before he got his quirk, if he’s honest. His quirk, which makes his little brother, well, him.

“You’ve got an apparent quirk this time.” Fuyumi says, possibly in an attempt to be reassuring. Seeing as his quirk was the oddity of having two bodies, Natsuo’s actual body was functionally quirkless. Somehow, despite being a quirk, the Shouto body had achieved Enji’s dream. To everyone’s inconvenience.

The discovery of Natsuo’s unconventional quirk had been very odd for the family, the first few years. Touya had been relentlessly curious, always trying to figure out how exactly it worked; Fuyumi had accepted it immediately, and Rei had done her best, although it had taken her a little while to understand. Natsuo didn’t blame her. And Enji… well, he mostly just ignored all of them, at least until the Shouto body had gotten its quirk— and then, everything had changed.

At eight years old, Natsuo barely knew his father; but he loved his siblings, and fought being taken away from them with all he could. He’d been nothing in Enji’s eyes until Half-hot Half-cold had arrived; and then he had become everything. Poor Touya hadn’t known how to take it— he had been fighting so hard for Enji to train him again, only for Enji to start training Natsuo out of the blue. Natsuo remembers when Touya had attacked the Shouto body.

If I kill it, you’ll leave Natsuo alone! You’ll look at ME!

The only thing that had happened, was both of Natsuo being taken off for training; but it hadn’t taken long for Enji to realize that Natsuo’s real self was useless in a fight, and so half of him was able to escape, more often than not. And while he couldn’t get away— not truly— he did what he could, on his own time, to find himself a future that wasn’t attached to being a hero.

Natsuo didn’t really want to be a hero. But it was a few years yet before he could get his other half out of the house— he had managed to leave with his actual self, and was in college and on track to getting a medical degree. Once Shouto was eighteen, he’d be completely free, and could go off to live with himself. He’d quit hero school, and never have to think about it, or his father, again. One thing he especially hated was that legally, Shouto was registered as being his own person; it was a really weird secret, kept within the family, that there actually was one less Todoroki son.

That was also why Natsuo was going to UA underneath what was essentially a false identity; pretending to be his own brother.

“This is messed up.” he sighs. He’s used to what he looks like, as Shouto, but it’s not what he looks like. Not really.

“It’s safer.” Fuyumi says. That was true; through some discreet checkups at a quirk clinic that had sworn to keep its mouth shut, Enji and Natsuo had discovered that should the Shouto body be killed, Natsuo would remain alive. The reverse, unfortunately, was not true.

It bore saying that they’d only checked this after Touya’s death. Touya… Natsuo missed him, his real brother; Touya had been his best friend. He’d been so angry, all the time— always full of such denial. Natsuo doesn’t think that Touya really ever accepted that he and Shouto were the same person, especially after the Shouto body had gotten its quirk; Touya couldn’t handle the fact that the brother he loved was also the one he hated, who had taken his place as the one favored by their father. And despite Natsuo remembering Touya complaining about Shouto to him, brushing off Natsuo’s explanations of his quirk as something along the lines of a psychic link, Natsuo didn’t blame him. He wouldn’t blame Touya for anything.

He’d give anything to be able to talk to Touya again; Natsuo had never once wanted the pedestal that Enji had placed Shouto on.

Getting into the car with Fuyumi, Natsuo thinks about Fuyumi’s perception of it all. He’s spent a lot of time with her across his life— but even all that while, he had also been shut away, forced into training, becoming Enji’s weapon. Fuyumi doesn't really realize what has happened to him, he’s pretty sure. Because he’s been with her; and she doesn’t think about what happens to his other half. Natsuo didn’t blame her for blocking it from her mind— Fuyumi actually forgot that the Shouto body existed, when she was younger. And often. But now she’s driving him to UA, and he hopes he can depend on her; and he loves her. But in truth, he doesn’t know how much she really knows, or where, in the end, she will draw the line.

“I’ll see you later, Natsuo, okay?” Fuyumi asks. He smiles.

“Yeah. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.” He will have to deal with being in a class full of fifteen-year-olds, unfortunately. He sighs; these days, it seemed like everything in his life was some type of “unfortunately”.

 

***

 

There was something very odd about Todoroki Shouto, Aizawa thinks, looking at his student during the quirk apprehension test. Already quite skilled with both halves of his dual quirk, (never mind having done amazingly well on the recommendation written exam) Endeavor’s son seemed well on track to becoming a powerful hero. And there wasn’t anything wrong, not really— the boy was slightly awkward around his peers, maybe, but that was hardly cause for concern.

If anyone was concerning, honestly, it was Kaminari; he was on edge constantly, although admittedly good at pretending he wasn’t. Aizawa chalks that up to first-day nerves. But with Todoroki, Aizawa couldn’t quite put his finger on what he found to be off.

Things get interesting right about when Aizawa declares Midoriya expelled.

“You can’t do that.” Todoroki says.

“And why not?” Aizawa asks. He’d been about to take back his words, of course, and explain the logical ruse— but he’d like to hear what Todoroki has to say on the matter, as none of the other students were inclined to speak up.

“The test is biased. The entrance exam was, too, really; towards people with physical quirks—”

“Midoriya has a physical quirk.” Aizawa points out.

“—and against those whose quirks hurt them.” Todoroki finishes. He takes a breath; there’s something determined in his eyes. “There are people whose quirks are not suited to their bodies. Like Midoriya. When you wouldn’t let him break his arm— that was good. But Midoriya, the next thing you did was break your finger.”

“What are you suggesting?” Aizawa asks.

“Not— not that he doesn’t use his quirk. Not that. I’m thinking— there’s probably a way around it. Or a support item he could use. I’ve been studying— never mind.” Todoroki thinks his words over for a few seconds. “You’re his teacher. It’s your responsibility to make sure he doesn’t hurt himself with his quirk, while you’re watching him. If you expel him— if you don’t take the time to help him, after he took the time to actually get into UA— things could… end badly.”

“You’re lucky that I’m not actually expelling anyone, and that was a logical ruse.” Aizawa says.

“Wha— oh.” Todoroki says. He seems embarrassed.

“And you’re correct that Midoriya needs to stop hurting himself with his quirk. If you’re so knowledgeable, why don’t you help him? Midoriya, get over here.” The bone-breaking child steps forwards. “The both of you have… the rest of the week… to find a way to stop this.”

“A week?” Midoriya yelps.

“You’ve had your whole life with this quirk, you can afford to hurry it up.” Aizawa snaps. Midoriya seems like he’s going to say something, but doesn’t.

“You can’t just push the responsibility onto me!” Todoroki protests.

“Yes, I can. Besides, it’s about time for all of you to go to battle training. Shoo.”

Aizawa feels Todoroki’s glare on his back as the class exits the room.

 

***

 

Natsuo decides he’ll handle this logically.
“So… Aizawa-Sensei says you broke three limbs during the entrance exam?” he asks Midoriya. He can consider this practice, he supposes, and if he’s able to help Midoriya, so much the better. In his own life, at medical school, Natsuo is specifically learning how to help people whose quirks injure them— because no one helped Touya, and if Natsuo can do for others what wasn’t done for his brother, he’ll be able to be a hero in his own way. What he doesn’t want is to be a hero in the hero way; to fulfill Endeavor’s life goal. Luckily, Shouto will be old enough to legally get away from Endeavor by the time he graduates hero school, and then he can just quit.

“Yeah.” Midoriya says.

“During the test, you managed to only break one finger. What’s the difference between how you used your quirk now compared to then?”

“Um… I focused on concentrating all the power from my quirk into just my finger, instead of my limbs.”

“That— wouldn’t compressing the power across one limb into a single finger do even more damage to your finger than was done to your arm?” Natsuo asks. Midoriya frowns, and sorts this out in his mind.

“I didn’t compress the power, I just only activated it in my finger. If I had compressed it… that probably would have done some serious damage.”

“Next question: have you tried spreading the power all through your body?” Natsuo asks. If compressing the power made it worse, thinning it should do the opposite.

“I… wait, you’re right, that’s a brilliant idea!”

It was common sense. Touya had always hurt himself more when focusing heat instead of simply creating flames. “You should try it out in the battle trial.” Natsuo proposes.

“I will. Uh, thank you, Todoroki!”
“You’re welcome.”

The battle trial, even after Jirou Kyoka shatters his first sheet of ice, is a piece of cake to win. Shouto’s quirk is really overpowered— and it takes Natsuo going up against people other than his father for him to truly understand that fact.

“A quirk worthy of the son of the number one hero.” Jirou Fumikage says, voice tinged with awe. Natsuo sighs. Whoever he is, he’ll always be Endeavor’s son, won’t he?

Midoriya’s battle trial is insanity. He does okay with his quirk, at least; Natsuo notices Aizawa’s surprise at Midoriya’s sudden improvement. He doesn’t know what to do with his new speed, though, and gets almost blown up by Bakugou, who is…being unnecessarily violent. In a way that makes Natsuo rather uncomfortable— he recognizes a bully when he sees one. He’s confused, though, about Bakugou’s denial of the very obvious existence of Midoriya’s quirk.

It almost reminds him of Touya.

 

***

 

It’s the second day of school.
“We should sit with Todoroki. He really helped me with my quirk yesterday.” Izuku says, when he walks into the cafeteria with Uraraka and Iida. The fact that he has friends at UA is amazing, and he won’t leave anyone out; especially not when Todoroki is sitting alone.

The three of them slide into the seats next to Todoroki; he seems surprised at their arrival.

“That’s college level!” Iida suddenly says, and Izuku blinks as Todoroki hastily shoves a cellphone listing some very complicated math equations into his pocket.

“Just, uh, extra practice.” he mumbles. “What are you all doing here?”

“I invited my friends to sit with you! Todoroki, this is Uraraka and Iida.” Izuku says, introducing the others.

“Hello.” Todoroki says, nodding politely. He doesn’t look very interested in socializing. Izuku scrambles to make conversation.

“So! Why do you all want to be heroes?”

This seems to shut Todoroki down even more, to Izuku’s disappointment. Iida, however, practically glows.

“I want to be a hero like my brother, Ingenium! He inspires me, and l hope that one day I can be anywhere as great as him.”

“I want the money that comes with being a hero, to help my family.” Uraraka says. “Is that bad?”

“Not at all! To provide for one’s kin is a noble goal.” Iida reassures her, and she smiles slightly.

“I want to be a hero like All Might. To save people with a smile.” Izuku says. And he’s been given All Might’s quirk, he’s in UA, he’s farther towards his goal than he’s ever been. “What about you, Todoroki?”

Todoroki taps his fork against his plate.

“I don’t.” he says.

“You don’t what?” Izuku asks.

“I don’t want to be a hero.”

“Then… forgive me, Todoroki, but why are you in UA at all?” Iida asks.

“Because of my father. Endeavor won’t let me do anything else but become a hero. Carry on his legacy, become number one when he can’t.” Todoroki sighs. “The moment I turn eighteen, I’ll quit.”

Izuku can safely say he hadn’t expected to hear anything of the sort.

“Can’t you convince him otherwise? I know that I had trouble convincing my mom to let me go to UA at all, especially after I broke so many bones in the exam.” Izuku says. Todoroki shakes his head, and then jumps in surprise when Uraraka grabs his hand.

“I’ll support you.” she says.

“Support me?” he asks.

“Support you not wanting to be a hero.” she explains. “It’s only fair, if we’re friends. Oh! I know! You could try and get expelled from UA!”

“Uraraka!” Iida admonishes, but Todoroki lights right up.

“That’s an amazing idea. Thank you.”

“I’ll help, too!” Izuku says. Iida looks between them in consternation, and finally relaxes his pose.

“I suppose I can aid in this endeavor as well—“ everyone winces slightly at his ill-advised word choice “—if it is to help a friend do what they want in life. No one should be bound by the wishes of their relatives, but only by the rules they themselves have determined are best to follow.”

“Team Get-Todoroki-Expelled-From-UA has been formed! Never fear, your wish shall be granted!” Uraraka announces, and they all laugh. Even Todoroki smiles.

“Honestly, that’d be great. Dad couldn’t do anything about it, and I’d be out.” he says. Izuku tries to think of something else to talk about.

“Iida, you said Ingenium was your brother? Uraraka, Todoroki, do you have any siblings?” Uraraka shakes her head.

“I have an older sister. Fuyumi.” Todoroki says, when everyone looks at him. “She’s… she’s great. We’re pretty close.” A pause. “I used to have an older brother too, Touya, but he died. I miss him.”

“Oh, Todoroki, I’m so sorry!” Uraraka says. Izuku mentally curses his failures at making conversation.

“I’ll never forgive Endeavor for—“ Todoroki cuts himself off. “You… you all don’t need to hear this, I apologize.”

A silence descends upon the table.

“It’s okay.” Izuku says.

“Oh! Right, I’ve got another brother. Natsuo.” Todoroki suddenly says, sitting up straight as if he’s just remembered. “I, uh, we don’t see each other often. Like. Ever. I barely know him. So I forget he exists.” His words come out in short bursts.

“Maybe you can become closer to him in the future?” Iida offers, and Todoroki scoffs. It’s an odd enough reaction that no one quite knows how to respond, and for some value of thankfully, it’s right about then that UA’s intruder alarm goes off.

After some quick thinking and a collision with an emergency exit sign, Iida manages to calm the crowd of panicked students down; for this, he is given the title of Class President.

“Good job, Iida.” Todoroki says, and their classmate seems very proud of himself. “Do we really think that it was the press, though?”

“What— of course it was!” Izuku says.

“You really think a group of reporters managed to get inside UA’s walls? It’s possible, I guess, but really unlikely. We ought to be on our guard.”

 

***

 

“Your quirk is like All Might’s.” Asui says, as the class rides to the USJ, and Natsuo looks up at the suddenly flustered Midoriya.

“No! It isn’t, not really, mine breaks my bones!”

“But you fixed that problem, didn’t you?” Asui points out.

“Todoroki helped!” Midoriya squeaks, and suddenly Natsuo finds that everyone’s eyes are on him.

“I did.” he confirms.

“That doesn’t change that your quirk is like All Might’s. For all we know, his quirk used to break his bones, too.” Asui continues.

Natsuo considers this, remembering Midoriya yesterday, and how much of a fanboy he had been over All Might. How Midoriya’s goal was to be a hero just like him. So why would he be denying such an observation? Wouldn’t he love it? No, instead, Midoriya’s excuses are coming in short bursts of words with waving hands… sounding almost like when Natsuo was talking about, well, himself. He wouldn’t be surprised if Midoriya’s hiding something.

All thoughts about his classmate’s mysterious quirk, however, vanish once the USJ is attacked by villains— because Natsuo apparently can’t get a break for anything, it seems.

The entire class gets teleported across the stadium, and Natsuo finds himself with Kaminari in the mountain zone. After helping the other boy to his feet, Natsuo’s easily able to freeze all the villains in the vicinity. Some brief interrogation later, Natsuo finds out that the plan of attack is to kill All Might, and the villains had brought a very dangerous weapon to do so.

“Why— why can’t I—“ Kaminari stutters, apropos of nothing; he looks at Natsuo with an expression of shock.

“I’ll go see what I can do about this. You stay back, okay?” Natsuo says, already skating off to the center area of the USJ. He’s got an overpowered quirk, he might as well use it— and he’s not exactly afraid of dying, since even if this body gets hurt, his actual self will be fine.

Natsuo arrives to an injured teacher, and Midoriya doing his best to protect Asui from three villains; he helpfully launches a barrier of ice in between his classmates and their enemies. A tall man formed of mist, an even taller person with an exposed brain and a bird’s beak, and someone about Natsuo’s (real) age who is covered in severed hands.

“Todoroki!” Midoriya shouts.

“Back off.” Natsuo says to the villains. The one with the bird beak breaks his ice wall into splinters. Okay, he has enhanced strength, good to know.

“Another child.” the hands villain drawls, and Natsuo feels insulted.

“You’re like, what, four years older than me?” he asks.

“Five years.” the mist villain says, helpfully.

“Kurogiri!” hands villain snaps. Kurogiri shrugs.

“I’ve had enough of this. Nomu, kill them.” the hands villain says, and Natsuo only just barely manages to slide out of the way as the Nomu lunges towards him. He sends a burst of fire at the villain in return, but stares as the Nomu’s burnt skin heals almost instantly.

“Two quirks?” Natsuo yelps.

“The Nomu is bioengineered to be the perfect weapon! Super strength, extreme regeneration, shock absorption—“

“Shigaraki. Maybe don’t tell the hero students everything?” Kurogiri says.

“I can if I want to, it’s not like they’ll be able to fight it.” Shigaraki huffs. It’s at this point that the Nomu is hit by a lightning bolt.

“Why are there two of you?” Shigaraki asks, and Natsuo would also like to know the answer to that question; for a distance away, electricity flashing around him, stands someone who looks exactly like Natsuo— well, like Shouto. The imposter runs behind an outcrop of rock, and vanishes from all of their views.

“What the frick.” Natsuo says, staring in shock; he then remembers he’s being attacked by villains, mostly because Midoriya is fast enough to push him away from the Nomu’s second attack.

And then All Might arrives, and the rest of the USJ passes by in a blur.

 

***

 

“Who do you think that was? The person who looked like you?” Izuku asks. He’s sitting next to Todoroki and Uraraka, and they’re in UA’s courtyard with everyone else.

“No idea.” Todoroki says. “I hope Aizawa-Sensei is okay.” Izuku winces, because their teacher had been in terrible shape when he’d been taken off by emergency services.

“At least no one died.” Uraraka says. They both look at her. “What!? It’s good!”

“I don’t want to talk to Dad about this.” Todoroki complains, pressing his fist into the earth. “I don’t want to talk to him ever again, really, but I’ll take what I can get. And I especially don’t want to deal with what he’ll have to say right now.”

“I’m sorry there’s tension between you and Endeavor.” Izuku says. What was it like, having a top hero as a father? Not very nice, apparently.

“Tension.” Todoroki scoffs. “Maybe I could call Fuyumi to pick me up instead… but she’s still at work, I don’t want to bother her.”

“You just got attacked by villains. I think a little bothering is okay.” Uraraka says. Todoroki shakes his head.

“It’s not like you can pick yourself up from school.” Izuku points out, and Todoroki suddenly grins.

“Todoroki?” Uraraka asks.

“I’ll be right back.” Todoroki says, taking his cellphone from his pocket. “I’m going to call Natsuo.”

Izuku and Uraraka watch as Todoroki retreats around a corner of the school, presumably to call his brother.

“Didn’t he say he barely knew Natsuo?” Uraraka asks.

“Yeah.” Izuku answers. Enough to briefly forget that Natsuo even existed. “Maybe he’s just that desperate to avoid Endeavor.”

“Maybe.” Uraraka says. Izuku watches as Todoroki comes back around the corner, looking very satisfied with himself, and wonders what exactly was up with his friend’s family.

Once Natsuo himself arrives, he brings with him more questions than answers.

“Natsuo! Over here!” Todoroki yells, jumping up to wave just as a tall man with white hair walks around the main building. Izuku looks from Todoroki to Natsuo in surprise— Todoroki had noticed his brother showing up the exact instant that he had. When Natsuo gets closer, he looks over all three of them vaguely, but the second he meets eyes with Shouto, both of them immediately flinch and look away from each other.

“Bye, guys.” Todoroki says, getting up; Natsuo pulls him into an extremely awkward hug, and then they turn to leave. Izuku frowns— Natsuo has nothing to say about the USJ? Apparently not, Izuku thinks, watching as the Todoroki brothers walk off stepping almost in sync, no further words exchanged between them.

“That was… weird.” Uraraka says, after a moment. Izuku can’t help but agree.

As if to top off the weirdness, Endeavor shows up a minute later.

“Where is my son?” he asks.

“His brother Natsuo picked him up.” Ectoplasm answers; Endeavor’s expression goes from confusion, to incredule, to annoyance, before he turns around and leaves without saying a single thing.

Something rather strange is the case with the Todoroki family, and Izuku decides he’ll figure it out.

 

***

 

“I can’t believe we’re still having the Sports Festival tomorrow.” a voice says. Hitoshi looks over; three hero course students are sitting together and talking.

“Dad expects me to win it, and I just feel like losing on purpose.” the boy with red-white hair says. Hitoshi scoffs. Hero students just took everything for granted.

“You can’t do that!” the boy with green says.

“Instead, take the opportunity of the Sports Festival to get yourself expelled.” the girl says, and Hitoshi stops in his tracks. What now?

“It’s not fair if you don’t do your best, Todoroki. Everyone’s done the most they can, to be here.” green-hair says.

“I don’t want to be here.” Todoroki says. “How to get expelled through the Sports Festival…”

“You want to get expelled?” Hitoshi asks, unable to contain himself. All four others turn to look at him, and he walks over.

“Yep.” Todoroki says.

“You’re Endeavor’s son, aren’t you?” Hitoshi asks.

“Unfortunately.” Todoroki answers, and whatever Hitoshi was going to answer vanishes from his brain, because what’s he supposed to say to that?

“I don’t want to be a hero. He’s forcing me. That’s the only reason I’m here, and therefore, I would not like to be here. Thus: getting expelled.” Todoroki says. And that… that’s quite a story. Not only that— it’s an opportunity.

“You want to quit the hero course?” Hitoshi asks, smiling. “I want to join the hero course, and an empty spot will definitely make that easier.” He sits beside Todoroki; there’s no way he’s letting a chance like this go by. “I’m Shinsou Hitoshi. Tell me what I can do to help.”

The others all introduce themselves in return, although… “What’s your given name, Todoroki?” For he had not offered it.

“Does it matter? You won’t be using it.” Todoroki says.

“It’s courtesy.” Midoriya mutters.

“It’s Shouto, but I don’t like it.” Todoroki complains. Shinsou raises an eyebrow. “Dad chose it and it’s stupid.”

“Shouto… means freeze-burn, like your quirk?” Midoriya asks.

“Exactly why I don’t like it. It’s my quirk’s name. Not my name.” Todoroki says.

“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.” Hitoshi snaps. His own name means control-hearts use-people, so he doesn’t see where Todoroki gets off. “The majority of people are inexplicably named after their quirk. Get over it.” People with overpowered quirks never failed to think themselves above everyone else, did they?

“Back on subject: getting Todoroki expelled from UA.” Uraraka interrupts.

“Should be easy.” Hitoshi points out. “Just fail all your tests. No need to do anything dramatic.”

“I kind of like the idea of pulling something crazy during the sports festival, though.” Todoroki says, smiling slightly. “Whatever I do, it’ll be the ultimate refusal to Endeavor— so why not make it big? I’ve had enough of him controlling my life.”

“You’ll show him, then.” Uraraka says, and then hesitates before scooting closer to Todoroki, who is taken off-kilter by her approach, and especially so when she reaches out and grabs his hand. “Here I am wanting to be a hero for my family, while you… I’m sorry, Todoroki, that Endeavor’s like that. That’s awful— you should be able to choose what you want to do in life!”

“I wish I didn’t have this stupid quirk.” Todoroki complains.

“You wouldn’t want to be quirkless.” Midoriya says, which, fair.

“My life without a quirk is better than my life with it.” Todoroki says, and Hitoshi wonders at his odd usage of tense— and then, at Midoriya’s look of offense.

“You wouldn’t know.” he mutters. But then again, neither would he.

“Anyway… getting expelled in a flashy way. I don’t want to hurt anyone.” Todoroki sighs. “Maybe someone else will cause chaos and I can take the fall for them.”

 

***

 

Natsuo is going to cheat at the sports festival. Well, really, he’ll just be watching the event from the television in his college dorm at the same time as participating in it, which will give him an improved perspective. Unfortunately, it hasn’t started yet, which means Enji has had time to corner his Shouto body into having a discussion.

“You will win the sports festival, Natsuo. I won’t accept anything less.” Enji says. Natsuo glares at his father; they’re in the backrooms of the festival arena.

“I will do whatever I want.” he says. Alas, he and his friends had not managed to come up with a proper strategy to get him expelled, but he supposed he’d think of something. “For example, currently, I’m working on my college homework, so that I can concentrate on that instead of on talking to you.” He’s telling the truth; time didn’t stop for his real self while he was being Shouto, and assignments continued to be due. “Maybe I’ll fail the festival on purpose.” Natsuo muses, interrupting Enji. He’s not going to, of course, as he has something far better in mind; but it’s fun to see how angry Enji gets over the thought.

“You wouldn’t dare.” Enji growls.

“Yes, I would.” Natsuo meets his father’s gaze. “Every day I have to live with you, and each one is a day that Touya didn’t get to see. It’s your fault that my brother is dead— your fault, and you will never be forgiven for it. But because you decided it was a good idea to make sure Shouto is legally a different person than myself, I can’t get out until I can get him out, too. But just you wait— a few years, and you won’t have authority over either of me.”

Both of Natsuo’s selves had been kept away from the rest of his family, originally, after the kettle incident. But Enji only had time for Shouto, and eventually, Natsuo had been able to get half of him away. By then, though, it was too late— Rei had been taken away. Natsuo had… taken far too long to have the courage to go visit her. She’d been terrified to see him, his Shouto-self, for he looked too much like his father. Red hair, blue eye, one half of one of his halves simply wasn’t right.

His real self resembled Enji far more. In build, and in facial structure— in contrast, Natsuo’s second would look exactly like his mother, if it wasn’t for his fire half.

“I am tired of your attempts at rebellion, Natsuo.” Enji says, finally.

“And I’m tired of your existence.” Natsuo snaps back. He gets up, stretching slightly. “I’m going to go be with my classmates until the festival starts— I’m done arguing with you.”

“At the very least, appreciate all that my training has done for you. There’s a reason you’re as powerful as you are.” Enji says, as he walks to the room’s door.

“I’d rather have no quirk at all than live with this one, with what you’ve done to me for it.” Natsuo spits, slamming the door open. He does fine in his personal life, in his original body, which legally (and practically) holds no quirk to its name— sure, it puts a damper on his social life, to be quirkless, but it’s better than the abuse he suffers on the other side of things.

“NATSUO!” Enji shouts, fire flaring.

“Uh.” Midoriya says. Natsuo notices, then, that his friend is standing on the other side of the door. “I just came to get you…”

“How much did you hear?” Natsuo asks.

“I didn’t hear anything, I promise!” Midoriya says, waving his hands. “Well, except that he called you Natsuo…”

“Dad can’t even remember which one of his kids he’s talking to. Typical.” Natsuo huffs, slamming the door on Enji. He hopes Midoriya accepts the excuse. “Let’s go. I’ve had enough of him.”

 

***

 

There’s something very odd going on, Izuku thinks. Mostly with Todoroki— the more he learned about Todoroki’s family, the more concerned and confused he became. But mostly was not only; Kaminari was acting especially strange today, forgetting everyone’s name and unable to stop himself from constantly glancing at Class 1B’s Toga Himiko. Izuku shakes his head. He shouldn’t be getting himself involved in other people’s problems— and he especially shouldn’t be wishing he had heard more than the tail end of Todoroki’s conversation with his father.

Even that was enough for questions, though, Izuku thinks, barely listening to Katsuki’s pledge to win. Endeavor had called Todoroki “Natsuo”— the name of his mysterious older brother. With the way that Todoroki has been talking about Endeavor, Izuku wouldn’t put it past him to call his son the wrong name. The event wasn’t really… anything big, or meant much at all, when Izuku thought about it, but there was just something— what with all the weirdness that had happened so far— that indicated to Izuku that an oddity was afoot. What that oddity could be, though, he can’t possibly imagine.

The race in the Sports Festival passes quickly enough— Izuku somehow obtains first place through usage of explosives, and that in turn nets him a million-point headband. Iida wishes to challenge him, so Izuku and Uraraka find their third team member in Todoroki— and their fourth, in Kaminari.

“Deku! What’s our strategy?” Uraraka asks.

“Uhm.” Izuku answers, because he hadn’t thought about that.

“Everyone will be coming after us.” Kaminari points out. “Do you think I would get expelled if I burnt the million point headband?” Todoroki asks, all of a sudden.

“What?” Izuku asks.

“If I incinerated it.” Todoroki says, fire flickering over his fingertips for a second. “Whoosh. Ashes.”

“I think,” Izuku finally says, “that that would work very well for stopping the other teams from constantly pursuing us.”

“We should destroy every other headband we get, and just keep our original ones!” Uraraka says. “It’s not technically against the rules— and when the teachers get mad, we’ll just blame Todoroki.”

“And I’ll get expelled.” Todoroki says, smiling.

“Back up a second.” Kaminari says, waving his hands.

“Todoroki wants to be expelled.” Uraraka explains.

“I do.” Todoroki confirms, with a nod.

“You— you are crazy.” Kaminari manages.

“It’s complicated.” Izuku sighs. “So, do we have our plan?”

They did.

 

***

 

Hitoshi was not, to say the least, having a particularly good day. He’d managed to get through the race by brainwashing some people to carry him, but in doing so, he had caught the eye of a girl from 1B.

“Join my team.” she’d said. “I saw your quirk. We could catch a lot of headbands, with something as powerful as that.” And, well, Hitoshi could hardly turn down proper appreciation of his ability, and had joined up with Toga and the Jirou siblings.

“I can hardly call you both Jirou,” Toga had pointed out, and thus they were Kyoka and Fumikage.

“We’re going for the million-point headband.” Hitoshi decides— since he’d made sort-of-friends with Midoriya, he didn’t doubt it would be easy enough to catch the other under his quirk.

“Going for the gold is always the best plan.” Toga agrees. To Hitoshi’s dismay, she will be the one on top; Toga needed her hands free to use her quirk, where he, Kyoka and Fumikage did not. Hitoshi fixes his eyes on Team Midoriya— Todoroki is at the front of the team, with Midoriya on top and Kaminari and Uraraka at the sides.

“We’ll get them.” Kyoka hisses.

“They know not the darkness that watches.” Fumikage says, ominously.

“That headband’s ours!” Dark Shadow cheers, and Hitoshi nearly jumps— he hadn’t expected the quirk to speak.

“START!” Midnight yells, and such is the focus of Hitoshi’s vision that he is able to clearly see Midoriya take the million-point headband off and hand it to Todoroki, who immediately incinerates it.

Multiple teams had been charging directly towards Midoriya’s group; at this action, they all stagger to a stop, for Hitoshi is not alone in being completely blindsided by this very odd strategy.

“WHAT THE FRICK?” Bakugou roars, and Uraraka takes advantage of his outraged (and most importantly, distracted) confusion to swipe the headband from Kirishima.

She hands Kirishima’s headband to Todoroki, and it goes up in flames just like the first.
“Some of you might be playing this to win—“ Uraraka says, grinning with intensely competitive fervor, “—but we’re playing to make everyone else lose.”

The cavalry battle passes in a whirlwind of chaos; instead of Midoriya’s team being pursued by all, they chase everyone else, leaving a trail of ashes in their wake— and despite previous planning, Team Toga instead does their best to keep well out of their opponents’ way. They don’t entirely manage it, and Hitoshi’s efforts at using his quirk are stifled by Toga yelling about being unable to copy Todoroki’s quirk, for whatever reason— and then having trouble copying Fumikage’s quirk, as well.

By the end of it all, Hitoshi’s team has just barely managed to stay in the running. Team Midoriya gets third place, still holding all but one of their original headbands; almost every single headband on the battlefield has been destroyed, either by Todoroki or by a girl from 1H with many support items who had decided to copy his scheme.

“This is insane.” Hitoshi says. “Guys?”

“Where’d they go?” Toga asks; Kyoka and Fumikage have vanished, and Hitoshi looks around to see them running off with Kaminari, for whatever reason. Well, it’s not his problem.

 

***

 

Midoriya was already enough of a problem, Hitoshi thinks. He’d managed to break his finger, somehow, and escape from Hitoshi’s quirk; and someone getting out of his quirk on their own had never happened before, ever. Whatever it was that had occurred, it was completely unfair. If Hitoshi had had the ability of extradimensional perception, he would have blamed the event on Midoriya’s protagonist energy.

Regardless, Hitoshi now finds himself facing Todoroki in combat (how is this possible if Hitoshi lost against Midoriya? The answer probably has something to do with Monoma) and traps him with brainwashing easily enough by the simple exploit of calling him Shouto (which he took extreme offense to, for whatever reason). Hitoshi smirks, watching Todoroki clock out of control over his own body, eyes blank.

“Walk backwards.” he orders. If Todoroki does something Midoriya-esque, Hitoshi needs to be able to see it.

As feared, Todoroki does, in fact, do something Midoriya-esque, and that something is nothing at all.

“Walk backwards.” Hitoshi repeats. Todoroki, however, continues not to move, despite the fact that Hitoshi has a tight hold over his opponent’s mind— he can feel brainwashing solidly gripping its target.

“Turn around.” Nothing. “Jump up and down.” Nothing. “Raise your hand in the air.” Nothing. “Turn on your fire.”

Well. That’s something, Hitoshi thinks. But why had that command worked, and nothing else?

“Walk backwards.” he says, and Todoroki, fire still flickering from his arm, ignores Hitoshi completely.

“Why isn’t my quirk working?” he wails, staring into Todoroki’s blanked-out eyes. Todoroki meets his gaze with all the impassivity of someone brainwashed (or, more accurately, of someone who isn’t really a person, not that Hitoshi is aware of said fact), and does not respond.

“Hit yourself in the face.” Hitoshi snaps, more out of annoyance than anything else. This does not result in Todoroki hitting himself, but it does result in the brainwashing suddenly vanishing from him as though he had.

“What.” Hitoshi complains. He is immediately engulfed in an iceberg.

 

***

 

“Ow.” Natsuo says, blinking. “Ow!” What kind of quirk did Shinsou even have, he wonders, looking around at all the stuff on his desk that he’s managed to knock to the floor through Shinsou’s mind control— that was it, wasn’t it? And Shouto didn’t have a mind to control, so Shinsou had taken over Natsuo instead. Except in the case of the fire, since that wasn’t something Natsuo could do in his own body; following Shinsou’s command, he’d gotten Shouto to do it. And probably confused Shinsou immensely. Natsuo hopes this won’t become a problem.

And then he goes up against Toga, and her eyes glow red with Aizawa’s quirk; and Shouto collapses, soulless.

“What— that’s cheating!” Natsuo yells, staring at his own motionless body through the television screen. Even Toga seems concerned, and blinks, ceasing Erasure’s effect; Natsuo takes a deep breath as he’s returned to the Shouto body, trying to re-orient himself. Being in one place instead of two— that, he really wasn’t used to. Toga uses Erasure again, banishing him once more.

“Well. This is a way to lose the Sports Festival.” Natsuo comments, watching as Toga starts dragging him to the edge of the ring—

But this won’t get him expelled, will it? And his friends are waiting to see what he’ll do… and the thought of seeing Enji’s face, if he did manage to get expelled— no, he needs that. He needs that freedom, that way out of being a hero that his father can’t do anything about. Natsuo closes his eyes, and focuses on the bond between himself and Shouto; his quirk might be erased, but it wasn’t gone. It was a weird fricking quirk, too; if anything could overcome erasure, whatever Natsuo had might well be able to.

Something in the darkness snaps, and Natsuo opens a second pair of eyes; it had worked!

Or maybe it hadn’t, Natsuo thinks, looking at a pair of hands that definitely aren’t Shouto’s. He shakily stands up in an alley, black coat swinging around legs he’s unfamiliar with, his entire body stretching with scars. There are… staples in his hands, crossing over his face, and he feels the power of a fire quirk at his fingertips. Igniting it creates flames of blue.

 

***

 

“That’s not me.” Natsuo says.

“What?” Fuyumi asks. She’s watching the sports festival from the television in the Todoroki houses, and is surprised to receive a call from Natsuo at the same instant as Shouto loses his match.

“Something— something happened, and I’m not in the Shouto body anymore. Whoever’s moving it around right now isn’t me.”

Fuyumi opens her mouth. Closes it again. Stares at Shouto on the television.

“I think it’s Touya.” Natsuo says.

“What?” Fuyumi asks.

“I’m kind of in Touya’s body, I think.” Natsuo says. A pause. “He’s not dead.”

“You’re in… Touya’s body.” Fuyumi repeats. Her cellphone makes a sudden dinging noise that indicates she’s received a text from an unknown number.

“That’s me, with Touya’s phone.” Natsuo says. Hesitantly, she opens the text, and is greeted with a picture of her dead brother’s face. It’s Natsuo, behind his eyes; but those eyes are the same blue as her own, a color Natsuo’s eyes have never been, and his face is split and stapled with purple scars. It’s Touya; of that, Fuyumi has no doubt.

“How— he’s alive?” she asks.

“Seems like it.” Natsuo says, something broken in his voice. “God… I don’t blame him for not coming back, but couldn’t he ever have said something?”

“If— if you’re in his body, where is he?” Fuyumi asks, resolving to have an emotional breakdown at a more convenient time.

“Well. Someone’s in Shouto’s.”

Simultaneously, even though they’re miles away from each other, Natsuo and Fuyumi turn towards the television.

“Hey, look at that.” Natsuo says. “It’s everything either of us have ever wanted.” And he’s right; there was nothing Touya had ever desired more than Shouto’s place in life, and Natsuo had long since wanted to lose it.

“Wait— I’m getting texted on Touya’s phone.” Natsuo suddenly says. A few seconds pass, and then Fuyumi hears a sharp intake of breath.

“What is it?” she asks.

“You remember how the USJ got attacked by villains?” Natsuo asks.

“Yes…” Fuyumi says, worried.

“Looks like their leader was recruiting Touya.” Natsuo says. “And he was more than happy to sign up.”

“Please don’t do something stupid.” Fuyumi says; she can hear the desire for retribution in Natsuo’s tone.

“I’m going to do something stupid.” Natsuo says, because of course he is. “Make sure that Touya doesn’t do anything equally stupid with Shouto, all right?”

“Natsuo—“

He hangs up on her.
“Rude.” Fuyumi looks again at the photo of Touya’s face. Where has he been, all this time? How had he survived Sekoto Peak? Why was he joining a villain group that had attacked Natsuo?

“I guess I’ll go get him.” she sighs, even though no one’s around to hear her. If Touya runs into Enji right now, after Shouto’s just lost the sports festival, she doesn’t see that going well— and either way, she isn’t going to spare a single second. It’s been far too long since she’s last spoken to Touya; Fuyumi needs to find him as soon as possible, because she refuses to lose him again.

 

***

 

He’s Shouto.

Somehow, Dabi is Shouto, and he doesn’t have a single clue how it could have happened.

“Are you okay? You’ve been kind of… staring off into space after your match with Toga. Why did you collapse from Erasure, though?” a voice asks. Dabi looks up to see a young boy with green hair... Midoriya, Dabi remembers, from watching the sports festival on his phone. Right, they think he’s Shouto.
“Erasure?” he asks, and startles at the voice coming out of his mouth. He sounds so… young.

“Toga was copying Aizawa-sensei’s quirk! Do you have any idea why it did that to you? I know that Erasure makes mutations unable to be moved, but it’s not like you have a full-body mutation… unless your half-and-half quirk counts as one, somehow…” Midoriya trails off into muttering, and Dabi sighs.

He considers that maybe, he’s somehow managed to switch bodies with Shouto, and laughs. Body-swapping quirks were hardly unheard of, and it wasn’t impossible for Shouto to have run into one, in this school full of heroes. The question was whether it was temporary or permanent— no, the real question was what he should do with this opportunity.

He could not, unfortunately, kill Endeavor in Shouto’s body. No— his father had to know that he had survived, and not only that, but Dabi needed to kill Shouto in front of him. He’d have to find a way to reverse the quirk… oh, wait a moment. He couldn’t kill Shouto like this, nor Endeavor; but he could kill Natsuo and/or Fuyumi. Dabi grins, leaning back in his chair. The sheer amount of pain he could cause to his father— if he successfully managed to pretend to be Shouto, and murdered his siblings— oh, that would be beautiful. Then he could figure out how to reverse the quirk, and leave Shouto to deal with the blame.

“Todoroki!” Midoriya suddenly says, and Dabi is jolted out of his reverie. “Your sister showed up to see you!” Oh, really now. Wasn’t that convenient?

“I suppose I can’t keep her waiting, then.” Dabi says, standing up. It feels very odd, to be in a body without scars, and even odder, to have the power of Shouto’s oh-so-perfect quirk at his call. He has everything he’s ever wanted, but none of it is his own; and his family will burn, for what they have done to him.

Dabi wonders, briefly, how Shouto is doing in his body. If he’s realized he’s been switched with his presumed-dead brother; if he’s managed to get himself killed by the League of Villains, if he’s trying to contact Endeavor. Or… wasn’t Natsuo’s quirk some kind of psychic link, with Shouto? Dabi can’t remember all too well— his memories from before Sekoto Peak were a bit of a bundle, even though he remembers the important things clearly. But if Dabi was correct, well, that meant that the psychic link had carried over with the body swap, seeing as he definitely wasn’t connected to Natsuo at the moment.

“Hey, Fuyumi.” Dabi says, jogging into the side room. His sister looks so old, compared to when he saw her last; he takes a moment to fix her face in his mind. This’ll be the last time he’ll see her, after all, before he burns her down with Shouto’s quirk. Hm. How to use Shouto’s quirk, exactly? It couldn’t be that hard.

“Hello.” Fuyumi says, and there’s something very strange in her eyes. “Touya.”

His jog skids to a stop as the door to the room slams shut behind him.

“Natsuo called you.” Dabi snaps. “Stupid psychic link quirk.”

“That’s… not Natsuo’s quirk.” Fuyumi says, seeming confused. She shakes her head.

“Touya, why didn’t you tell us that you were alive? And— and you’re joining a group of villains!”

“I’m not in the mood to talk.” Dabi says, igniting Shouto’s quirk on the right side, and sending a blast of fire directly towards his sister’s head.

Fortunately for Fuyumi, and to Dabi’s great annoyance, such is the nature of his attack that he automatically finds himself activating the left side of Shouto’s quirk as well. This creates ice under his feet, and trips him, which makes the shot fly wide and collide directly with the room’s wall, incinerating a large portion of it. As Dabi winds up for a second strike, the smoke clears, revealing four students engaged in a fist fight on the other side of the wall. Jirou, weird ear version, and Jirou, bird version, versus… two Kaminaris. Who, unlike the Jirous, are not siblings, but the same person.

Perhaps three seconds pass during which everyone stares at each other, before Dabi decides he doesn’t care, and continues attempting to kill Fuyumi. He is, however, foiled by the appearance of recognizable portals around his arms; the quirk of one of the two villains he’d been talking to for recruitment to the League. The interesting part was that the portal quirk, at the moment, was currently being used by one of the Kaminaris.

“Can we all maybe stop fighting for a minute?” said Kaminari asks, his hands transformed into purple mist.

“You’re the one who won’t tell us what you know about the Phantom Thief.” Bird Jirou says, pausing. “Unless that was the other one of you…”

“I,” portal-controlling Kaminari says, “am the Phantom Thief.”

“I am not.” the second Kaminari says. Dabi tries to attack Fuyumi again, but is unsuccessful.

“Why are you attacking your sister?” Ear Jirou asks.

“That’s not Shouto.” Fuyumi says. “It’s my other brother. I mean, my other brother than it usually is.”

“What’s that mean?” Dabi hisses.

“It means that I’d like to know why you’re trying to kill me, Touya.” Fuyumi says.

“To cause dear old Dad as much pain as possible, of course.” Dabi says, grinning jauntily.

“Oh, so it’s daddy issues.” the Phantom Thief says, derisively. “Not that I can talk.”

“Can I suggest maybe not attempting murder?” Kaminari asks.

“No.” Dabi says.

All of Dabi’s attacks are being redirected uselessly into the walls, and he’s trapped hopelessly between portals, so he decides to just relax for now. He’s waited six years. He can wait a little longer.

 

***

 

“Dabi. I thought you wouldn’t be arriving until next week.” Shigaraki says.

Natsuo shrugs, rather unsure as to what he’s doing.

“I changed my mind.” he says. The base of what is to be the League of Villains is in a bar, for whatever reason, and the only other person in the room besides Shigaraki is Kurogiri. Natsuo knows Shigaraki’s name from reading through Touya’s phone— and knows that Touya is going by the alias of Dabi. Cremation; how unnecessarily emo.

“Okay, so now what?” Shigaraki asks. Natsuo considers this, and comes to the conclusion that he has no idea.

“Oh dear.” Kurogiri suddenly says.

“What is it?” Shigaraki asks.

“Our prisoner has vanished.”

“HOW?” Shigaraki screams.

“It appears that he… used my quirk.” Kurogiri says, and Shigaraki can’t find any way to reply.

“Wait, what’s going on?” Natsuo asks. Shigaraki spins towards him.

“Do you want to make yourself useful, Dabi? Well, here’s your first job as a member of the League— to go capture Kaminari Denki, and bring him back. Or kill him, I don’t really care. Makoto won’t be happy, but that’s whatever.”

“Makoto?” Natsuo asks, trying to rationalize the idea that Kaminari has been imprisoned by the League at the same time as going to UA, somehow.

“Kaminari Makoto. The twin brother of our captive, who has been attending UA in his place and giving us information.” Kurogiri says, suddenly creating a swirling portal in the air like the ones at the USJ.

“Oh.” Natsuo says, helplessly.

“I can identify the exact coordinates he took the portal to, as it was my own quirk used— but how did he manage such a thing?” Kurogiri asks, and Natsuo, at a loss of anything else to do, walks through the portal.

The first thing Natsuo notices is that Shouto— presumably Touya possessing Shouto— is trapped between portals.

“Shouto!” Touya says. “Give my body back!”

“Isn’t being Shouto everything you’ve ever wanted?” Natsuo asks. “Wait, why’d you call me Shouto… are you still in denial?”

“I am confused.” a voice says, and Natsuo realizes there are five other people in the room. Kyoka, Fumikage, Fuyumi— he waves to her— Kaminari, and… another Kaminari. That would be the twin brother, Natsuo supposes.

“I’m in his body. He’s in my body.” Natsuo says, pointing between himself and Touya.

“Right. I can… probably fix this.” the Kaminari controlling the portals (Makoto, Natsuo supposes) says. “Let me just…”

He touches Natsuo on the shoulder. “…copy your quirk. Oh, this is weird!”

There is suddenly another Shouto in the room. This one is missing the scar.

“Um. Todoroki, what exactly is your quirk? And the quirk of the body you’re in? Because something unexpected seems to have happened.”

“It usually does, with him.” Fuyumi says.

“Touya’s quirk is blue fire—“

“My name is Dabi!”

“—and my quirk is, uh, Shouto.”

“Excuse me?” the new Shouto in the room (who is presumably controlled by Makoto) asks. Natsuo gestures between the new Shouto, and the old one.

“I’m not Shouto. Well, I am, but— I’m Natsuo. I don’t have a younger brother; being in two bodies at once is my quirk, and one of those bodies is Shouto. Usually.”

“What? No, you’re lying!” Touya snaps.

“He isn’t lying. This quirk is so strange…” Makoto whispers.

“He’s not, I’m afraid.” Fuyumi confirms.

“So the fusion on you did work.” Fumikage says. “But instead of your sibling losing their body, the body lost the soul.”

“I didn’t think there could have been a worse result.” a new voice says, and Natsuo realizes it’s Dark Shadow talking.

“That’s not all. Oh my God.” Makoto says.

“What are you planning, Phantom Thief?” Fumikage asks, and— Makoto is the fricking Phantom Thief, because things apparently can’t stop getting any crazier for anyone.

“Somehow I was able to copy Natsuo’s— your name is Natsuo, right? I copied your quirk at the same time as… Touya’s? And now—“

The second Shouto in the room suddenly lights up with blue fire and black ice.

“—except since unlike you, I have an actual quirk in my own body, that has carried over with me into my Shouto, just like how your quirk that is not connected to your body carried over into Touya—“

The second Shouto reaches over to touch the Phantom Thief.

“—and I can copy the copy of your quirk from myself, and then stack it on top of the carried-over quirk, and then we can both copy each other again—“

“Do you know what he’s talking about?” Kyoka asks.

“Not a clue.” Fuyumi says.

“—and just like what happened with Himiko and I, I just have to copy the copy quirk until it gets too much and activates the fusion catalyst—“

 

***

 

Todoroki is taking a while, Izuku thinks, wondering what exactly his friend is talking about with his sister. He rests his hand on his face; he’d lost his match against Uraraka, and he couldn’t be prouder of her, but her next opponent was Katsuki, and that was… not going very well at all. It was obvious that she was trying to get close enough to touch him— but despite all her effort, even if she did manage that, it would do nothing. Katsuki could fly with his quirk— it granted him incredible mobility— and even so, he wasn’t moving. He was fighting standing still; Uraraka was doing her very best, but Katsuki was barely even trying.

“You call that an explosion?” Uraraka shouts, stumbling backwards from the blast that had incinerated her meteor-fall. She looks, though, as though she’s about to collapse.

“I’m the god of explosions.” Katsuki growls. “There isn’t anyone who can do it better than me.”

It’s at this point in time that the part of the stadium that contains the backrooms blows apart in a massive eruption of fire and ice; the flame is a deep azure blue, and the ice as black as the night sky. Screams of panic and ringing alarms fill Izuku’s ears, and he stands up, running through the structure and the smoke to see the epicenter of the disaster. Because— because Todoroki is there, and Izuku can’t not go see what happened, despite the fact that fire and ice are very much a Todoroki-sort of event.

Lying at ground zero, surrounded by a flower of ice and fire, is none other than Todoroki himself.

“That’s not me.” his voice says. Izuku looks up to see a second Todoroki (???), along with Fuyumi, three of his classmates, and a man covered in scars, although the latter is unconscious.

“The good news; everyone is back in their own bodies. The bad news; Phantom Thief has apparently reached quirk singularity.” Kaminari says.

“I think I have half a decent chance against All for One now.” the Todoroki lying on the ground says, and then, with a swirl of purple mist, he vanishes.

“What is going on?” Endeavor growls, and Izuku looks over to see the Flame Hero himself, followed by multiple other heroes, who have all appeared to try and discover the source of the chaos.

“Hi, Dad.” Todoroki says. “This is my fault.”

“If that had been aimed towards the stadium instead of away, there could have been massive casualties.” Midnight snaps.

“It wasn’t on purpose.” Todoroki sighs.

“You’re expelled.” Midnight says, and the smile that spreads across Todoroki’s face is brilliant.

“YOU CAN’T—“ Endeavor says.

“From the hero course, into Gen Ed.” Midnight continues.

“Aw.” Todoroki says. “Well, that’s good enough. What should we do with Touya once he wakes up?”

“Touya?” Endeavor asks. Todoroki gestures vaguely towards the unconscious scarred man, and Endeavor’s reaction is something incredibly emotional and terribly incomprehensible, his fire going out like a light.

 

***

 

Statement of Todoroki Shouto Natsuo, age 15 19, concerning his quirk, as recorded by Detective Tsukauchi Naomasa

 

Todoroki: You know, I was thinking about it. And I think I’ve got an answer.

Tsukauchi: Is it an answer about the Phantom Thief?

Todoroki: Ehh… not quite.

Tsukauchi: Unfortunately, that’s the question I’m asking; about how the Phantom Thief copied your appearance and quirk to defeat the villain All for One. The destruction to the Sports Festival stadium is immense, and even more so to Kamino ward— we need to know the limits of the power that the Phantom Thief now has available to him, now that he’s decided to become the new “Demon Lord” in All for One’s place.

Todoroki: That’s really not my problem. I’ve had enough of heroes and villains— there’s a reason I took the credit for the explosion at the Sports Festival, you know? [pause] I don’t want to be a hero.

Tsukauchi: From what I understand, the power demonstrated at the Sports Festival was beyond anything you’ve ever done with your quirk so far.

Todoroki: Yeah, ‘cause I didn’t do it.

Tsukauchi: But how did the Phantom Thief do it?

[silence]

Tsukauchi: Todoroki. There is a mostly-unknown villain with control over All for One’s former resources, and if we are to prevent yet another ruler of the criminal underworld from coming into being, we’ll have to stop him before he starts. Any information you can give us will be useful.

Todoroki: Problem is, I’d have to explain my quirk.

Tsukauchi: Yes.

Todoroki: The only people who know what my quirk actually is are my parents, and my sister. [pause] And Touya, I guess. I still can’t believe he’s alive.

Tsukauchi: Not your brother Natsuo?

Todoroki: [laughter]

Tsukauchi: Take this seriously.

Todoroki: Fine, fine. But you’ll see what I mean. Can you— can you tell me what happened at Kamino? Because a lot of it’s hidden from the public, and— I want to know what the Phantom Thief did with my quirk. I’ve never explored the full potential of my quirk, really, but I’ve always known it was more than it appeared.

Tsukauchi: The Phantom Thief fought All for One at Kamino Ward with a supercharged version of your quirk, and during the battle somehow managed to copy many of All for One’s quirks in return. He was able to combine these quirks in a way All for One had never managed— he called it fusing them, and thanked your quirk for allowing him to do so. Most oddly, at the end of the battle, All for One killed him.

Todoroki: What?

Tsukauchi: And yet, he still lived. He appeared under Kaminari’s appearance, and created a second clone of you while the body of the first still lay there, and using it, returned to All for One the same fatal blow as had been given to him. Once again, he praised your ability. How did he do so much with Half-hot Half-cold?

Todoroki: Probably because my quirk isn’t Half-hot Half-cold. It’s— well, there’s something called a fusion quirk. I don’t really know, I talked to Kaminari about it.

Tsukauchi: A fusion quirk?

Todoroki: All for One’s fault. He did something to my mom. To Fumikage and Kyoshi’s— to Toga’s. It makes the quirks of siblings… combine. Often to the great detriment to one of them. [pause] I guess you haven’t heard about it yet, but Kyoshi and Fumikage explained everything to the entire class after All for One was killed, and… well, you know Fumikage’s quirk? Dark Shadow? That’s Kyoshi. She’s his sister. And Toga— well, we’re all pretty sure that the Phantom Thief is her dead brother—

Tsukauchi: What?

Todoroki: Ask her about it. I’ve got enough family problems of my own to be dealing with someone else’s. Anyway, my quirk? It’s a fusion. I was supposed to have a younger brother. [pause] Instead, I’ve got this, and it’s ruined my entire life.

Tsukauchi: Your quirk was supposed to be ice or fire, and his the other, but instead both are yours?

Todoroki: That would have been easier.

Tsukauchi: We won’t get anywhere if you keep dancing around the issue.

Todoroki: I need a better way to find Touya than possessing him.

Tsukauchi: Possessing— Your quirk has a possession aspect? In addition to the two it already has?

Todoroki: It’s weird.

Tsukauchi: Obviously.

Todoroki: I can possess either of my siblings if I try.

Tsukauchi: Either? Don’t you have three siblings?

Todoroki: I told myself I was going to get my actual quirk registered legally, but actually saying what it is… harder than I expected. Some part of me wants to hold onto the secret, but if I let it go, I’ll be able to get away from Dad for good.

Tsukauchi: Just— tell me what your quirk is.

Todoroki: Shouto.

Tsukauchi: Your quirk is your name?

Todoroki: No. Well, yes. Although it’s not my name.

Tsukauchi: I hope you realize how supremely unhelpful you’re being.

Todoroki: Shouto is my quirk. [pause] I’m— I’m not Shouto. [pause] Well, I am—

Tsukauchi: Please say something that makes sense.

Todoroki: I’m my own brother.

Tsukauchi: That did not make sense.

Todoroki: I’m Natsuo.

Tsukauchi: You’re—

Todoroki: Shouto doesn’t exist. I was supposed to have a younger brother, but I got a second body and a weird fricking quirk instead. I’m Natsuo, I’m in two places at once, and the Phantom Thief was able to create a feedback loop of copying quirks over and over again until he made yet another fusion, but this time between two quirks that were already fusions. He can stack any quirk infinitely on top of itself and evolve it, and presumably he’s grabbed all the quirks that were in All for One’s inventory, too, and is doing whatever he wants with them.

Tsukauchi: Oh.

Todoroki: And, um, I’d like to change my quirk in the registry. I don’t want to legally be a separate person than myself.

 

THE END (again)

Notes:

-Dabi managed to escape, and ended up meeting Monoma, the most powerful villain in the world and brand new Demon Lord, and Monoma’s sister, Toga. He ended up staying with them (and their constant snipping over villainy and heroism) for the chance that Monoma would help him kill Endeavor, but alas, all this did was awaken his big brother instincts. He won’t admit it, but he misses Natsuo, even though he still wants to kill Natsuo for the crime of being Shouto. He swears he will someday, once Monoma stops constantly being RIDICULOUS—

-Monoma is a terrible supervillain, and in fact acts much more as a vigilante. He tries his best, though.

-Shigaraki and Kurogiri are out there somewhere too, trying to survive in a world without AFO.

-Natsuo said goodbye to all of his friends from UA, because he’s quitting hero school now that “Shouto” doesn’t have to go anymore. Izuku took the revelation in stride and interrogated him incessantly about his quirk.

-Monoma eventually, with Toga’s prodding, used his insane arsenal of quirks to separate Kyoshi from Tokoyami and get her a body again.

-Kyoka and Toga still date in this universe, of course. Somehow.

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 2 of the todorokis are doomed