Inheritance: A My Hero Academia AU

Shoto Todoroki

I stared at the elegant bars of the massive wrought iron gate in front of me, and at the big, daunting, brick house beyond it.

"You ready, Shoto?" Natsuo asked me, putting a hand on my back.

I let out a long breath and nodded.

"Alright then," Fuyumi said, pushing the gate open.

The three of us walked up the long gravel path up to the house in a line, the tiny stones crunching against our shoes. With every step we took, the more real that this felt.

We stopped on the doorstep of the big house, and Natsuo looked at me for confirmation before reaching up and knocking on the door.

A frightening old woman dressed like a nun opened the door a crack and peered out at us.

"My my, if it isn't the Todorokis," she said.

"Hello, Ms. Shuzneji," Natsuo said.

"How many times do I have to tell you just to call me Recovery Girl?" the old woman said, opening the door wider. "It's what all the patients call me."
Fuyumi, Natsuo and I stepped across the threshold into the big, old fashioned foyer.

"You must be the youngest Todoroki that I've heard so much about," Ms. Shuzneji said with a sweet smile. I immediately revoked my description of her being "frightening". "She'll be so happy to see you."

I returned the smile, though it was forced.

Ms. Shuzneji led us up a flight of stairs and down a hallway. We passed a couple other nuns and a few patients dressed all in white. Ms. Shuzneji stopped in front of a door at the end of the hallway, with my mother's name written on a little plaque by it.

"I'll leave you all to it," the old woman said with another one of her kind smiles, shuffling away.

"Do you want us to go in with you?" Fuyumi asked.

I looked back at the door, and reread the nameplate, surprised that I'd made it this far. I shook my head. "No, thank you. This is something that I have to do on my own."

"Okay," Fuyumi said with sympathetic eyes.

"If you need anything, we'll just be downstairs," Natsuo said.

I nodded.

My two siblings walked away, and the nerves returned full force. I swallowed and made myself reach for the doorknob. I opened the door, and there she was, sitting in a chair in front of the window, looking out at the beautiful grounds, the sunlight reflecting off of her white hair. She turned to look at me, and she looked just the way I remembered her, before she toppled over the edge. Tears stung in my eyes as I stood in the doorway, frozen, not sure what I should do.

"Shoto? Is that you?" my mother asked.

"Yeah," I managed to choke out. "Hi, Mom."

My mother smiled, and she opened her arms. I didn't hesitate to rush into them, and I couldn't hold the tears back anymore. I leaned into my mother's embrace, crying like a child, and she stroked my hair.

"It's alright, Shoto," she whispered. "Everything is alright now."

"I'm sorry, Mom," I sobbed. "I'm so, so sorry."

"Shoto," my mother said, taking my tear streaked face in her hands and making me look up at her. "You have nothing to apologize for."

Another bout of tears came, and I threw my arms around her neck. She hugged me back, and I felt that she was trembling. When I pulled back, I saw that she was crying too.

"Is something wrong, Mom?" I asked, worried that I had upset her in some way.

"No," she said, shaking her head and wiping her eyes. "No, honey. I'm just really, really glad to see you."

"Me too," I said, glad that I'd come, and thankful that Midoriya had knocked some sense into my thick skull.