Inheritance: A My Hero Academia AU

Shoto Todoroki

"So who were those two guys?" Natsuo asked me. He had his arm hanging out of the open car window, and his hand was moving with the breeze.

"They introduced themselves to you," I said. "You know who they are."

"I know their names," Natsuo said, glancing at me. "That doesn't mean that I know who they are."

I rolled my eyes.

"I recognized that black haired guy with the glasses," Natsuo said. "We've done business with his family's car company before. But I've never seen that green haired dude in my life, and I've never heard of any up and coming businessmen named Midoriya."

"No one really knows anything about him," I said. "He's a mystery. It's suspicious, if you ask me."

Midoriya's words from earlier echoed in my mind: "It's like how little girls dream of being princesses, except I dreamed of being a multimillionaire."

There was a gaping hole in his story, and I was curious as to what, exactly, that missing thing was. I was starting to understand why Bakugo was so obsessed with him.

"I guess so." Natsuo glanced at me, a smug smirk on his face. "Are you guys friends?"

"I don't have any friends," I said, returning my gaze out the window.

"You know, you're allowed to have fun every once and awhile," Natsuo teased.

I frowned. "I do have fun."

"No, you don't," Natsuo said. "Maybe you should go out with one of those girls that give you so much attention."

Natsuo pulled up to the ferry and slowly drove up the gangplank.

"Those girls don't really know me," I grumbled.

"Well, maybe you should let one of them get to know you," Natsuo said, parking his car. "You know, being happy isn't a betrayal to her."

"I know."

"Do you though, Shoto?"

My frown deepened and I looked down at the floor of the car.

"You know, she's been asking about you," Natsuo said quietly.

I perked up, stomach clenching in excitement. "She has?"

Natsuo nodded. "You should really go see her one of these days."

"She probably doesn't want to see me," I said. I scar tingled like it always does, when I think of that day. "I'll just remind her of him."

"I literally just told you that she's been asking for you," Natsuo exclaimed. "Of course she wants to see you, Shoto. Stop being so dramatic."

"I don't want to put her in pain, Natsuo."

"I think you not coming to visit is putting her in more pain than if you did come," Natsuo said.

Silence descended on the car.

"Do you ever get jealous, Natsuo?" I asked him. "Do you ever wish that it had been you that dad picked, since you're older than me?"

Natsuo thought about it for a second, then shook his head. "Not being the heir gave me a lot of freedom, and I think that I'm better off for it." Natsuo's eyes darkened. "And I saw what it did to you, what he did to you because you were the chosen one, and I was glad that it wasn't me who had to endure that."

I frowned as memories came back to me in a flood, memories of high expectations, harsh punishments and challenging lessons. My scar tingled again, and I brushed it absently.

"There's not a day that goes by where I don't wish that I could have done more to protect you and Mom," Natsuo said. "Maybe if I'd been a little braver back then, things would be different now."

"What Dad did to Mom and I was terrible, but we weren't the only ones who suffered," I said. "We all endured his cruelty. He's the only one to blame, for all of this."

"I guess you're right," Natsuo said, looking down at his lap.

The ferry pulled into the harbor at the mainland, and Natsuo waited his turn to drive down the gangplank and onto the road.

The drive to Endeavor Financial was a short one. We pulled up to the towering building, and Natsuo parked his car. We took the elevator up to the executive offices, and Fuyumi was waiting for us by the entrance to the conference room.

"Hey, Shoto," my older sister said, smiling and wrapping me in a hug.

"Hey, Fuyumi," I said, hugging her back. "Anything to report?"

"Nothing too interesting, no," she said.

"I guess that's good," I said, making my way into the conference room.

The board, who were seated around the long table, all looked up when my siblings and I entered the room.

"Now that the little boss man has arrived, shall we begin?" Keigo Takami, affectionately called "Hawks" by a lot of our employees, who was also our best accountant said.

"Yes, we shall," I said coolly, taking my usual seat at the head of the table.